Thursday, August 2, 2012
...
Well, I made it halfway through the year, then got sidetracked while on vacation. I'm going to retire this blog for the time being ... but you haven't heard the last from me, Internet!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
7/4/2012
The Band -- "Across the Great Divide"
When I think of American bands, The Band is the first one to come to mind -- even though most of the band's members hailed from Canada. No matter. They understood America, the part of America that matters. The sound on this track, as on many others from their eponymous second album, is an amalgam of everything you can find in American music, in all of its genres, and yet it never sounds generic. There's a certain kind of talent that goes into pulling that off.
When I think of American bands, The Band is the first one to come to mind -- even though most of the band's members hailed from Canada. No matter. They understood America, the part of America that matters. The sound on this track, as on many others from their eponymous second album, is an amalgam of everything you can find in American music, in all of its genres, and yet it never sounds generic. There's a certain kind of talent that goes into pulling that off.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
7/3/2012
Althea & Donna -- "Uptown Top Ranking"
Joe Gibbs produced: this was Althea & Donna's one great recording. It splits the difference between funk and reggae, with memorable results.
Joe Gibbs produced: this was Althea & Donna's one great recording. It splits the difference between funk and reggae, with memorable results.
Monday, July 2, 2012
7/2/2012
Elvis Presley -- "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"
Elvis was a great entertainer, never more so, to my mind, than at the beginning of his career. Here's a relatively innocuous novelty ballad that the King made unforgettable.
Elvis was a great entertainer, never more so, to my mind, than at the beginning of his career. Here's a relatively innocuous novelty ballad that the King made unforgettable.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
7/1/2012
The Clash -- "Kingston Advice"
Unexpectedly, a song about the homeland of reggae by a band that was constantly dabbling with reggae -- yet there's no reggae sound at work here. Nevertheless, one of my favorite tracks from Sandinista! The sound is powerful without being easy, derivative, or too reliant on blunt force. For some reason, The Clash never played this one live, to my knowledge. They should have.
Unexpectedly, a song about the homeland of reggae by a band that was constantly dabbling with reggae -- yet there's no reggae sound at work here. Nevertheless, one of my favorite tracks from Sandinista! The sound is powerful without being easy, derivative, or too reliant on blunt force. For some reason, The Clash never played this one live, to my knowledge. They should have.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
6/30/2012
Led Zeppelin -- "Over the Hills and Far Away"
I'm not a huge Zeppelin fan but my daughter (age 6) has taken a shine to them. This is nostalgia for me -- one of the first songs I learned how to play on guitar.
I'm not a huge Zeppelin fan but my daughter (age 6) has taken a shine to them. This is nostalgia for me -- one of the first songs I learned how to play on guitar.
Friday, June 29, 2012
6/29/2012
Neil Young and Crazy Horse -- "Powderfinger"
Classic Americana from one of its finest practitioners. The crackle coming from that amplifier would inspire legions of imitators.
Classic Americana from one of its finest practitioners. The crackle coming from that amplifier would inspire legions of imitators.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
6/28/2012
Bruce Springsteen -- "Eerie Canal"
Another Seeger Sessions track, and another modern retelling of an old classic. My kids listened to this song (along with Springsteen's "John Henry") over and over all the way to Topeka and back.
Another Seeger Sessions track, and another modern retelling of an old classic. My kids listened to this song (along with Springsteen's "John Henry") over and over all the way to Topeka and back.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
6/27/2012
Bruce Springsteen -- "John Henry"
The Boss aquits himself well in this track from The Seeger Sessions. It's an acoustic version of the old folk classic, but not necessarily a traditional performance (of course, you'd never find drums in a genuine folk performance of the song), but it suits the style of Springsteen's more recent mode, which is a big inclusive (but still muscular) sound. Springsteen has gone in and out of vogue among the music store hipsters, but I've always been a fan.
The Boss aquits himself well in this track from The Seeger Sessions. It's an acoustic version of the old folk classic, but not necessarily a traditional performance (of course, you'd never find drums in a genuine folk performance of the song), but it suits the style of Springsteen's more recent mode, which is a big inclusive (but still muscular) sound. Springsteen has gone in and out of vogue among the music store hipsters, but I've always been a fan.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
6/26/2012
Neil Young & Crazy Horse -- "Oh Susannah"
Sometimes Neil Young is off. Sometimes he's on. When he's on, he's really on. Sometimes you get exasperated with him and start to think that he's never going to produce something memorable again, and then you get something like this, a very distinctive reworking of an old song you've been hearing all your life that makes you see the hidden genius within it. Thanks, Neil Young.
Sometimes Neil Young is off. Sometimes he's on. When he's on, he's really on. Sometimes you get exasperated with him and start to think that he's never going to produce something memorable again, and then you get something like this, a very distinctive reworking of an old song you've been hearing all your life that makes you see the hidden genius within it. Thanks, Neil Young.
Monday, June 25, 2012
6/25/2012
The Clash -- "Living in Fame"
A Mikey Dread dub of "If Music Could Talk" and one of many curiosities on Sandinista! Takes a while to grow on you, never likely to become a favorite, but still worth listening to every now and then.
A Mikey Dread dub of "If Music Could Talk" and one of many curiosities on Sandinista! Takes a while to grow on you, never likely to become a favorite, but still worth listening to every now and then.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
6/24/2012
The Who -- "Young Man Blues"
Another song that achieves its best expression on Live at Leeds, an album that shows the band at its absolute best -- this is the kind of musicianship that only comes with playing together night after night after night for years, so that each member of the band seems to know what the others are going to do before they do it. There are moments here when no one is playing rhythm -- Keith Moon plays the drums like a lead instrument instead of a rhythm instrument, and who knows what John Entwhistle is doing to his bass guitar. Pete Townsend is just making a lot of noise.
The Who certainly knew what to do with a Mose Allison tune. True to their words, this is maximum R & B.
Another song that achieves its best expression on Live at Leeds, an album that shows the band at its absolute best -- this is the kind of musicianship that only comes with playing together night after night after night for years, so that each member of the band seems to know what the others are going to do before they do it. There are moments here when no one is playing rhythm -- Keith Moon plays the drums like a lead instrument instead of a rhythm instrument, and who knows what John Entwhistle is doing to his bass guitar. Pete Townsend is just making a lot of noise.
The Who certainly knew what to do with a Mose Allison tune. True to their words, this is maximum R & B.
Friday, June 22, 2012
6/23/2012
The Who -- "Sparks"
The version from Tommy may be canonical, but the version from Live at Leeds is phenomenal -- the one I'd rather listen to.
The version from Tommy may be canonical, but the version from Live at Leeds is phenomenal -- the one I'd rather listen to.
6/22/2012
The Clash -- "English Civil War"
One of the first Clash songs that I really went crazy for. I still drive around sometimes listening to this in the car ... with the volume turned way up.
I happen to like the Sandy Pearlman production on this album, even though the heavy layering of the guitar tracks means that you can never quite get this song to sound right when you are trying to play it on your own guitar at home. A great adaptation of a traditional melody, and a reminder of what it's really like when Johnny comes marching home.
One of the first Clash songs that I really went crazy for. I still drive around sometimes listening to this in the car ... with the volume turned way up.
I happen to like the Sandy Pearlman production on this album, even though the heavy layering of the guitar tracks means that you can never quite get this song to sound right when you are trying to play it on your own guitar at home. A great adaptation of a traditional melody, and a reminder of what it's really like when Johnny comes marching home.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
6/21/2012
Horace Andy -- "Zion Gate"
Just recently figured out that this is the original verion of the dub of the same title (by King Tubby) that I dearly love. Great voice ....
Just recently figured out that this is the original verion of the dub of the same title (by King Tubby) that I dearly love. Great voice ....
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
6/20/2012
Cream -- "Badge"
One of my favorite songs from when I was in high school, still in my classic rock phase. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything in a-minor, and I have spent hours learning that guitar solo. This is definitely an Eric Clapton song, more like one of his solo outings than it is like the rest of what he did with Cream, and I'm generally not much of a Clapton fan, but there's also the George Harrison aspect of the song, which evens it out a little bit. The appeal of the song, to me, is partly nostalgic, but it's also, I think, a genuinely good song, though I can't quite figure out what makes it good. It's not in the usual sphere of things for me.
The British preference for the word "queue" (where we would say "line") is on display here as well. That doesn't affect the quality of the song; it's just something I always note when I hear it. I always thought "cue" when I was 17, and I wish someone had been there to tell me what a queue was.
One of my favorite songs from when I was in high school, still in my classic rock phase. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything in a-minor, and I have spent hours learning that guitar solo. This is definitely an Eric Clapton song, more like one of his solo outings than it is like the rest of what he did with Cream, and I'm generally not much of a Clapton fan, but there's also the George Harrison aspect of the song, which evens it out a little bit. The appeal of the song, to me, is partly nostalgic, but it's also, I think, a genuinely good song, though I can't quite figure out what makes it good. It's not in the usual sphere of things for me.
The British preference for the word "queue" (where we would say "line") is on display here as well. That doesn't affect the quality of the song; it's just something I always note when I hear it. I always thought "cue" when I was 17, and I wish someone had been there to tell me what a queue was.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
6/19/2012
Hank Williams -- "Move It On Over"
Hank Williams simply has to be the greatest American songwriter ever. There's no Shakespearean genius at work here, nothing too complicated or sophisticated. What you have instead is a kind of simple, crude vernacular that cuts straight to the heart of what music is supposed to do: it infuses you with feeling and makes you want to move. "Move It On Over" is simple genius, a song that does what American folk music does best, which is to take a crummy situation and make a bouncy little tune out of it. Williams had the appeal of a folk artist and the studio support of the commercial recording industry -- the two mechanisms could only have fused together in such a seamlessly productive way at this precise historical moment, the late 40s and early 50s, before the commercial aspect of things had taken over completely.
Hank Williams simply has to be the greatest American songwriter ever. There's no Shakespearean genius at work here, nothing too complicated or sophisticated. What you have instead is a kind of simple, crude vernacular that cuts straight to the heart of what music is supposed to do: it infuses you with feeling and makes you want to move. "Move It On Over" is simple genius, a song that does what American folk music does best, which is to take a crummy situation and make a bouncy little tune out of it. Williams had the appeal of a folk artist and the studio support of the commercial recording industry -- the two mechanisms could only have fused together in such a seamlessly productive way at this precise historical moment, the late 40s and early 50s, before the commercial aspect of things had taken over completely.
Monday, June 18, 2012
6/18/2012
The Rolling Stones -- "Sway"
Mick Jaggers' conscience catching up with him? Does he have one? I think he must, but it must only rarely have reared its head.
Supposedly, there is no Keith Richards playing on this song, just the two Micks: Jagger on rhythm and Taylor on lead. The rhythm track isn't in one of Richards' characteristic open tunings, I think. This gives the song a pretty distinctive sound: Stonesy but not Stonesy. Mick Taylor gets a little carried away at the end, but I can forgive him for that.
Mick Jaggers' conscience catching up with him? Does he have one? I think he must, but it must only rarely have reared its head.
Supposedly, there is no Keith Richards playing on this song, just the two Micks: Jagger on rhythm and Taylor on lead. The rhythm track isn't in one of Richards' characteristic open tunings, I think. This gives the song a pretty distinctive sound: Stonesy but not Stonesy. Mick Taylor gets a little carried away at the end, but I can forgive him for that.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
6/17/2012
Cream -- "Tales of Brave Ulysses"
It's easy to poke fun at what seems to us now as acid-inspired foolishness, but when you really listen this is still some pretty mind-blowing stuff. First of all, there's sheer talent: not just Clapton, but the excellent drumming of Ginger Bruce and the bass and vocals (I'm always a sucker for the higher registers) of Jack Bruce, who was most responsible for establishing the ethos of the band. This is a true power trio. Personally, I find Clapton's post-Cream career to be tepid and uninspiring. This stuff, however, is trippy and bright -- the stuff of myth.
It's easy to poke fun at what seems to us now as acid-inspired foolishness, but when you really listen this is still some pretty mind-blowing stuff. First of all, there's sheer talent: not just Clapton, but the excellent drumming of Ginger Bruce and the bass and vocals (I'm always a sucker for the higher registers) of Jack Bruce, who was most responsible for establishing the ethos of the band. This is a true power trio. Personally, I find Clapton's post-Cream career to be tepid and uninspiring. This stuff, however, is trippy and bright -- the stuff of myth.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
6/16/2012
Stonewall Jackson -- "Life to Go"
One of the quintessential prison songs of country music. Why didn't Johnny Cash ever record this one? It seems custom suited to him.
One of the quintessential prison songs of country music. Why didn't Johnny Cash ever record this one? It seems custom suited to him.
Friday, June 15, 2012
6/15/2012
Stone Garden -- "Oceans Inside Me"
Heavy psych from the potato state (i.e., Idaho), 1969. Twenty-two years later, this is the same sound that would erupt as "grunge." It's better in this earlier incarntion, though, having a freshness to it that is blunt and startling. The contemporary band that they most sound like is Cream. Good stuff.
Heavy psych from the potato state (i.e., Idaho), 1969. Twenty-two years later, this is the same sound that would erupt as "grunge." It's better in this earlier incarntion, though, having a freshness to it that is blunt and startling. The contemporary band that they most sound like is Cream. Good stuff.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
6/14/2012
The Clash -- "Last Gang in Town"
The Clash's second album, Give Em Enough Rope, has always been widely criticized as overproduced. I would argue otherwise. What do the people want? A repeat of the first album? That would open the band up to worse criticism -- worse for them, at least, because The Clash was not a band that sat still or repeated the same formulas from one album to the next.
The Clash was ideologically fronted by Joe Strummer, but the musical aesthetic of the band was solidly defined by Mick Jones, a man who understood the value of having a 24-track recording studio at his disposal. The ramschackle production of The Clash's first album was one kind of stylistic approach to recording music. This time around, with hard-rock producer Sandy Pearlman at the helm, the sound was bound to be different, but it's still The Clash. If there is a critique I have for this album, it's that most of the songs (when you listen to the album all the way through) have a sameness of sound that does not seem to fit in with the band's aesthetic, but I never find any of the individual tracks grating, and indeed several of my favorite Clash songs are on this album. There are no reggae tracks here, no rockabilly, no harmonica -- just straight-ahead rock and roll with a lot of attitude. It's still miles away from what Pink Floyd was doing.
There are many great moments on this album, but "Last Gang in Town" is an underappreciated one. True, the song might go on a little too long, but it sounds like the band is having fun. The absolute highlight of this track, though, is a moment at which Jones indulges in one of his little rock and roll fantasies: halfway through the first guitar solo, when the melody from the lead-in to the chorus is played in harmony. Punk purists would say that if you play a lead simple and loud, one track is enough. Jones wanted to try something else. The result is what I can only call the British punk sublime.
Listen to this in your car when there's no one else around, and turn the volume up.
The Clash's second album, Give Em Enough Rope, has always been widely criticized as overproduced. I would argue otherwise. What do the people want? A repeat of the first album? That would open the band up to worse criticism -- worse for them, at least, because The Clash was not a band that sat still or repeated the same formulas from one album to the next.
The Clash was ideologically fronted by Joe Strummer, but the musical aesthetic of the band was solidly defined by Mick Jones, a man who understood the value of having a 24-track recording studio at his disposal. The ramschackle production of The Clash's first album was one kind of stylistic approach to recording music. This time around, with hard-rock producer Sandy Pearlman at the helm, the sound was bound to be different, but it's still The Clash. If there is a critique I have for this album, it's that most of the songs (when you listen to the album all the way through) have a sameness of sound that does not seem to fit in with the band's aesthetic, but I never find any of the individual tracks grating, and indeed several of my favorite Clash songs are on this album. There are no reggae tracks here, no rockabilly, no harmonica -- just straight-ahead rock and roll with a lot of attitude. It's still miles away from what Pink Floyd was doing.
There are many great moments on this album, but "Last Gang in Town" is an underappreciated one. True, the song might go on a little too long, but it sounds like the band is having fun. The absolute highlight of this track, though, is a moment at which Jones indulges in one of his little rock and roll fantasies: halfway through the first guitar solo, when the melody from the lead-in to the chorus is played in harmony. Punk purists would say that if you play a lead simple and loud, one track is enough. Jones wanted to try something else. The result is what I can only call the British punk sublime.
Listen to this in your car when there's no one else around, and turn the volume up.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
6/13/2012
The Wrens -- "Ex-Girl Collection"
How many guitar tracks can you possibly layer on one song? The Wrens set out on this track to find out the answer.
The thing is, each guitar that I can distinguish in the mix seems vital; each one makes it own contribution to the sound. They all jangle together well, so that at the end of the song when it drops down to just one scratchy rhythm track, you can still hear the sound of all the other guitars ringing in your head.
Lyrically, by the way, the song is a real downer, confessional in a way that seems to make it a real put-down to oneself. Maybe the speaker of the song is a real a-hole, but he makes up for it, partly at least, with his finely tuned sense of melody.
How many guitar tracks can you possibly layer on one song? The Wrens set out on this track to find out the answer.
The thing is, each guitar that I can distinguish in the mix seems vital; each one makes it own contribution to the sound. They all jangle together well, so that at the end of the song when it drops down to just one scratchy rhythm track, you can still hear the sound of all the other guitars ringing in your head.
Lyrically, by the way, the song is a real downer, confessional in a way that seems to make it a real put-down to oneself. Maybe the speaker of the song is a real a-hole, but he makes up for it, partly at least, with his finely tuned sense of melody.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
6/12/2012
Sonic Youth -- "100%"
The purists out there might look down on me for this, but this is the Sonic Youth song that transformed me from someone who had kept hearing about Sonic Youth but never listened to them to someone who went out and bought their albums. And there's no denying it, this song is a masterpiece of noise and melody. It happened to coincide with the grunge revolution (meet the new boss, same as the old boss but with dirtier hair and flannel instead of spandex), but don't hold that against this song. The finely orchestrated wash of noise at the beginning of the song is spot-on, inimitable. The brief coda at the end is simulateneously something to look forward and something to dread beause it signals the end of a short but nearly perfect track. Play on repeat.
The purists out there might look down on me for this, but this is the Sonic Youth song that transformed me from someone who had kept hearing about Sonic Youth but never listened to them to someone who went out and bought their albums. And there's no denying it, this song is a masterpiece of noise and melody. It happened to coincide with the grunge revolution (meet the new boss, same as the old boss but with dirtier hair and flannel instead of spandex), but don't hold that against this song. The finely orchestrated wash of noise at the beginning of the song is spot-on, inimitable. The brief coda at the end is simulateneously something to look forward and something to dread beause it signals the end of a short but nearly perfect track. Play on repeat.
Monday, June 11, 2012
6/11/2012
Tom Waits -- "Fumblin' With the Blues"
The aging hipsters who still revere him might balk at this, but in the 1970s Tom Waits was, basically, Billy Joel with an edge. The edge was what made the difference. There's a nice minor-key swing to this number. My favorite song on The Heart of Saturday Night.
The aging hipsters who still revere him might balk at this, but in the 1970s Tom Waits was, basically, Billy Joel with an edge. The edge was what made the difference. There's a nice minor-key swing to this number. My favorite song on The Heart of Saturday Night.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
6/10/2012
Neko Case -- "John Saw That Number"
There's some pretty psychedelic stuff in Revelation. John the Revelator must have been taking halluciongens, or perhaps he was spending a lot of time in a cave experiencing sensory deprivation -- a traditional tactic for mystics. Fortunately, you don't have to be experiencing a psychedelic vision to enjoy this song (Revelations, however, is another story). What Neko Case captures here is gospel in the truest sense, that full-bodied moment of feeling when the spirit is in you. It's the meeting of body and spirit, and the best way to feel it is to fill your lungs with air, then belt it out. Religiously, I'm not really sure about much of anything. Music -- that's something I can believe in.
There's some pretty psychedelic stuff in Revelation. John the Revelator must have been taking halluciongens, or perhaps he was spending a lot of time in a cave experiencing sensory deprivation -- a traditional tactic for mystics. Fortunately, you don't have to be experiencing a psychedelic vision to enjoy this song (Revelations, however, is another story). What Neko Case captures here is gospel in the truest sense, that full-bodied moment of feeling when the spirit is in you. It's the meeting of body and spirit, and the best way to feel it is to fill your lungs with air, then belt it out. Religiously, I'm not really sure about much of anything. Music -- that's something I can believe in.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
6/9/2012
The Sonics -- "Louie Louie"
Possibly the best version of this song -- certainly the most savage.
Possibly the best version of this song -- certainly the most savage.
Friday, June 8, 2012
6/8/2012
Elvis Costello -- "The Beat"
One of the best tracks from my favorite Elvis Costello album. The band is tight -- great drums and organ -- and Costello himself uses the whammy bar on his Jazzmaster pretty effectively. The lyrics are not quite literary, exactly, but they are clever.
One of the best tracks from my favorite Elvis Costello album. The band is tight -- great drums and organ -- and Costello himself uses the whammy bar on his Jazzmaster pretty effectively. The lyrics are not quite literary, exactly, but they are clever.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
6/7/012
Das Racist -- "Puerto Rican Cousins"
I'd be pretending if I tried to make anyone think that I knew anything about rap/hip-hop, but I can recognize quality material when I hear it. These guys are clever, and they say things that white boys like me can't get away with saying. I'm fine with that -- and I'm glad somebody gets to say it.
I'd be pretending if I tried to make anyone think that I knew anything about rap/hip-hop, but I can recognize quality material when I hear it. These guys are clever, and they say things that white boys like me can't get away with saying. I'm fine with that -- and I'm glad somebody gets to say it.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
6/6/2012
The Dream Syndicate -- "Tell Me When It's Over"
One of the best guitar riffs of the 1980s -- and you get to hear it over and over in this song. The highlight, though, is when it disappears toward the end of the song. That's when you realize just how good a riff it is.
One of the best guitar riffs of the 1980s -- and you get to hear it over and over in this song. The highlight, though, is when it disappears toward the end of the song. That's when you realize just how good a riff it is.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
6/5/2012
The Ethiopians -- "Everything Crash"
The amazing thing about Jamaican music from this era is that people could write songs about the desperation and political strife of their lives and make it sound like a party. This isn't to trivialize what this music does, just to say that the celebration of life continues regardless of circumstances. Everything around The Ethiopians may have been falling apart, but the horns and the harmony have it together here.
The amazing thing about Jamaican music from this era is that people could write songs about the desperation and political strife of their lives and make it sound like a party. This isn't to trivialize what this music does, just to say that the celebration of life continues regardless of circumstances. Everything around The Ethiopians may have been falling apart, but the horns and the harmony have it together here.
Monday, June 4, 2012
6/4/2012
Calexico -- "Fade"
7:44 of mood and melancholy, vibes and muted trumpet. At this point, I think I could recognize a Jon Convertino drum beat with a blindfold on.
7:44 of mood and melancholy, vibes and muted trumpet. At this point, I think I could recognize a Jon Convertino drum beat with a blindfold on.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
6/3/2012
The Clean -- "Are You Really on Drugs?"
Though not as edgy (despite the title of this song) or as innovative as their earlier material, The Clean's Mister Pop as a pretty strong outing for a band that was nearly thirty years old when this came out. Here's my favorite track from the album. I was very fortunate to see these guys live in 2010 -- relatively few Americans ever get the chance.
Though not as edgy (despite the title of this song) or as innovative as their earlier material, The Clean's Mister Pop as a pretty strong outing for a band that was nearly thirty years old when this came out. Here's my favorite track from the album. I was very fortunate to see these guys live in 2010 -- relatively few Americans ever get the chance.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
6/2/2012
Pavement -- "Summer Babe [Winter Version]"
Though not my favorite song on Slanted & Enchanted, this is the song that got me hooked on the band. In retrospect, though I would have had a harder time back in the day, Pavement is the best band of its era ....
Though not my favorite song on Slanted & Enchanted, this is the song that got me hooked on the band. In retrospect, though I would have had a harder time back in the day, Pavement is the best band of its era ....
Friday, June 1, 2012
6/1/2012
Bill Monroe and Doc Watson -- "The Banks of the Ohio"
My favorite version of this classic murder ballad. Monroe and Watson's voices complement each other perfectly, and there's none of the usual clutter common to much bluegrass in this live duet recording.
My favorite version of this classic murder ballad. Monroe and Watson's voices complement each other perfectly, and there's none of the usual clutter common to much bluegrass in this live duet recording.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
5/31/2012
Bill Monroe and Doc Watson -- "East Tennessee Blues"
Some of the recently departed (and already sainted) Doc Watson's studio recordings are a little overproduced, but this song, from a Smithsonian collection of live duet recordings featuring Watson, one of the greatest and most authentic purveyors of old time, playing alongside Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass, brings out the best in both musicians. Monroe tends to skew a little closer to the spotlight on most of the recordings the two did together, but this particular track allows Watson a chance to toss off a pretty astounding lead as though it were simply second nature. Even Watson's rhythms are more complicated than most players' leads. Legend has it that Watson, blind since a very young age, used to diagnose and repair automobile and tractor engines by listening to them. Listen to this track, and you won't find that to be too unbelievable.
Some of the recently departed (and already sainted) Doc Watson's studio recordings are a little overproduced, but this song, from a Smithsonian collection of live duet recordings featuring Watson, one of the greatest and most authentic purveyors of old time, playing alongside Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass, brings out the best in both musicians. Monroe tends to skew a little closer to the spotlight on most of the recordings the two did together, but this particular track allows Watson a chance to toss off a pretty astounding lead as though it were simply second nature. Even Watson's rhythms are more complicated than most players' leads. Legend has it that Watson, blind since a very young age, used to diagnose and repair automobile and tractor engines by listening to them. Listen to this track, and you won't find that to be too unbelievable.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5/30/2012
Howlin' Wolf -- "How Many More Years"
In my opinion, Howlin' Wolf's second best track ever. Recorded by Sam Phillips when Wolf was still in Memphis, this track features Wolf's usual back-up band: Willie Johnson on a razor-sharp overdriven guitar and Willie Steele on a very powerful sounding drum kit. Add to that a young Ike Turner playing a slightly out-of-tune piano, and you've got yourself an eternal classic. Wolf's voice takes Charley Patton's as a frame of reference, then adds a matchless versatility to it.
In my opinion, Howlin' Wolf's second best track ever. Recorded by Sam Phillips when Wolf was still in Memphis, this track features Wolf's usual back-up band: Willie Johnson on a razor-sharp overdriven guitar and Willie Steele on a very powerful sounding drum kit. Add to that a young Ike Turner playing a slightly out-of-tune piano, and you've got yourself an eternal classic. Wolf's voice takes Charley Patton's as a frame of reference, then adds a matchless versatility to it.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
5/29/2012
Bob Dylan -- "Idiot Wind"
I've never quite seen the allure of Blood on the Tracks -- my favorite Dylan period is the early electric era, from Bringing It All Back Home to Blonde on Blonde, and I could pretty much leave the rest, to be honest. But this is undeniably a great track. It's got the acerbic tone and the deadpan irony that I so admire from the earlier recordings.
I've never quite seen the allure of Blood on the Tracks -- my favorite Dylan period is the early electric era, from Bringing It All Back Home to Blonde on Blonde, and I could pretty much leave the rest, to be honest. But this is undeniably a great track. It's got the acerbic tone and the deadpan irony that I so admire from the earlier recordings.
Monday, May 28, 2012
5/28/2012
Blondie -- "Dreaming"
One of Clem Burke's best drumming performances. I did see Blondie play live many years ago -- with a drum machine. It wasn't the same.
One of Clem Burke's best drumming performances. I did see Blondie play live many years ago -- with a drum machine. It wasn't the same.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
5/27/2012
The Clash -- "Overpowered by Funk"
It took me a long time to develop an appreciation for this song; I used to take it as a good sign that Combat Rock was the band's last album proper. The song has grown on me over the years, though.
Still, I find the synthesizers to be somewhat regrettable, a feeling that was all the more enhanced when I heard a short two-minute instrumental version of this song (guitar, bass, drums) on the soundtrack to Joe Strummer's short film Hell W10. You can find the instrumental version, which is raw, tight, and, I think, live in the studio, on youtube or on the Clash on Broadway 4 bootleg.
It took me a long time to develop an appreciation for this song; I used to take it as a good sign that Combat Rock was the band's last album proper. The song has grown on me over the years, though.
Still, I find the synthesizers to be somewhat regrettable, a feeling that was all the more enhanced when I heard a short two-minute instrumental version of this song (guitar, bass, drums) on the soundtrack to Joe Strummer's short film Hell W10. You can find the instrumental version, which is raw, tight, and, I think, live in the studio, on youtube or on the Clash on Broadway 4 bootleg.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
5/26/2012
The Kinks -- "Milk Cow Blues"
Aside from the lyrics, The Kinks' version of this song has little in common with earlier songs with the same (or almost the same) title. The Kinks' approach here snarls and growls, with a sound that would do Link Wray proud, and a beat that is hard and insistent. Rock and roll music at its finest.
Aside from the lyrics, The Kinks' version of this song has little in common with earlier songs with the same (or almost the same) title. The Kinks' approach here snarls and growls, with a sound that would do Link Wray proud, and a beat that is hard and insistent. Rock and roll music at its finest.
Friday, May 25, 2012
5/25/2012
Link Wray and the Wraymen -- "Deuces Wild"
One of my favorite Link Wray tracks -- according to legend, this was made up on the spot in the studio: Link started playing, the band jumped in, and the tape happened to be rolling. While it's true that there's nothing spectacularly complex going on here, still, this is the kind of thing that only a well-practiced band, one seasoned with plenty of innovation and improvisation, can pull off. As usual, Link's guitar sound is completely bad-ass. He was the first to sound like this.
One of my favorite Link Wray tracks -- according to legend, this was made up on the spot in the studio: Link started playing, the band jumped in, and the tape happened to be rolling. While it's true that there's nothing spectacularly complex going on here, still, this is the kind of thing that only a well-practiced band, one seasoned with plenty of innovation and improvisation, can pull off. As usual, Link's guitar sound is completely bad-ass. He was the first to sound like this.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5/24/2012
Warren Smith -- "Black Jack David"
Why does the fair-haired lady run off with the rootless gypsy? We'll never know, but the real shock of the song is when she refuses to come back home.
This is my favorite version of this traditional ballad. By adding a modest and restrained rockabilly beat to the song, Smith succeeds (inadvertently, perhaps) in making a creepy old song even creepier. It's a strange hybrid, but it works.
Why does the fair-haired lady run off with the rootless gypsy? We'll never know, but the real shock of the song is when she refuses to come back home.
This is my favorite version of this traditional ballad. By adding a modest and restrained rockabilly beat to the song, Smith succeeds (inadvertently, perhaps) in making a creepy old song even creepier. It's a strange hybrid, but it works.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
5/23/2012
Twin Shadow -- "Five Seconds"
Just recently heard this new single from Twin Shadow, thanks to a former student who sent me a copy. Once again, there is not only skill but an artistic vision in the way George Lewis, Jr., captures the sounds of an earlier era.
Just recently heard this new single from Twin Shadow, thanks to a former student who sent me a copy. Once again, there is not only skill but an artistic vision in the way George Lewis, Jr., captures the sounds of an earlier era.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
5/22/2012
The Velvet Underground -- "Stephanie Says"
Although the post-John Cale VU is great, this song makes clear exactly what it was they lost when he exited the band. The glockenspiel is a nice touch, as well.
Although the post-John Cale VU is great, this song makes clear exactly what it was they lost when he exited the band. The glockenspiel is a nice touch, as well.
Monday, May 21, 2012
5/21/2012
38 Special -- "Caught Up in You"
Overheard while waiting in line at a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine to take to a friend's house. Stuck in my head.
Though I was born in the 70s, I am really a child of the 1980s, and the pop culture of this era follows me around wherever I go, whether I like it or not.
Overheard while waiting in line at a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine to take to a friend's house. Stuck in my head.
Though I was born in the 70s, I am really a child of the 1980s, and the pop culture of this era follows me around wherever I go, whether I like it or not.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
5/20/2012
The Velvet Underground --"Ride Into the Sun"
One of my favorite instrumental tracks by the VU. I love the lead guitar but also the sound of the rhythm guitar: maybe it's the tempo, or maybe it's the amp, but for some reason the rhythm guitar just sounds perfect. Lou Reed's later version of the song (with lyrics), from his first solo album, is good, as well, but it just doesn't have the same essence that the VU's version has.
One of my favorite instrumental tracks by the VU. I love the lead guitar but also the sound of the rhythm guitar: maybe it's the tempo, or maybe it's the amp, but for some reason the rhythm guitar just sounds perfect. Lou Reed's later version of the song (with lyrics), from his first solo album, is good, as well, but it just doesn't have the same essence that the VU's version has.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
5/19/2012
Talking Heads -- "Burning Down the House"
One of my students (of the type who prides himself on his Pitchfork-inspired musical tastes) once said that the Talking Heads sold out after their first couple of albums. If this song is what constitutes selling out, I don't think I have any need for authenticity. This is oddness, quirkiness, idiosyncracy embodied in sound. The fact that the public happened to buy it is still mystifying to me, but it's circumstantial and not a defining quality of the music itself.
One of my students (of the type who prides himself on his Pitchfork-inspired musical tastes) once said that the Talking Heads sold out after their first couple of albums. If this song is what constitutes selling out, I don't think I have any need for authenticity. This is oddness, quirkiness, idiosyncracy embodied in sound. The fact that the public happened to buy it is still mystifying to me, but it's circumstantial and not a defining quality of the music itself.
Friday, May 18, 2012
5/18/2012
Neil Young - "Cortez the Killer"
This could have been a song so full of hippie-dippie sentiment as to make it unbearable. Instead, the minor-key melancholy is matched by the angst (and even anger) of the guitar lines. The result is that this is one of Neil Young's best songs. Crazy Horse's new rhythm guitarist, Frank Sampedro, proves himself worthy of taking the place of the late Danny Whitten. There's some technique to his rhythm guitar that is worthy of attention.
This could have been a song so full of hippie-dippie sentiment as to make it unbearable. Instead, the minor-key melancholy is matched by the angst (and even anger) of the guitar lines. The result is that this is one of Neil Young's best songs. Crazy Horse's new rhythm guitarist, Frank Sampedro, proves himself worthy of taking the place of the late Danny Whitten. There's some technique to his rhythm guitar that is worthy of attention.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
5/17/2012
The Clean -- "Point That Thing Somewhere Else"
In their early years, this band had several sounds -- the retro garage beat of songs like "Tally-Ho" and "Beatnik," the punk squall of "Scrap Music" and "Oddity," and then the Joy Division-esque post-punk of this song. They did all of it quite well, too, and had some songs that didn't fit into any of these categories. David Kilgour manages somehow to make a lot of noise on the guitar here, mostly on just one or two strings. Hamish Kilgour keeps a lean beat. At 5:28, this is one of The Clean's longer tracks, but it's well worth the investment of your time.
In their early years, this band had several sounds -- the retro garage beat of songs like "Tally-Ho" and "Beatnik," the punk squall of "Scrap Music" and "Oddity," and then the Joy Division-esque post-punk of this song. They did all of it quite well, too, and had some songs that didn't fit into any of these categories. David Kilgour manages somehow to make a lot of noise on the guitar here, mostly on just one or two strings. Hamish Kilgour keeps a lean beat. At 5:28, this is one of The Clean's longer tracks, but it's well worth the investment of your time.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
5/16/2012
The Clean -- "Beatnik"
This song is tossed off with a casual insouciance that cannot be studied, imitated, or faked, and no matter how hard you try you will never be as cool as this band was back in the day. Classic indie/alternative from well south of the equator.
I believe that this is a genuine Farfisa organ you are hearing in this song.
This song is tossed off with a casual insouciance that cannot be studied, imitated, or faked, and no matter how hard you try you will never be as cool as this band was back in the day. Classic indie/alternative from well south of the equator.
I believe that this is a genuine Farfisa organ you are hearing in this song.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
515/2012
Booker T. and the MGs -- "Mo' Onions"
In honor of the recently departed Donald "Duck" Dunn -- and because we didn't get enough "Green Onions" the first time around.
In honor of the recently departed Donald "Duck" Dunn -- and because we didn't get enough "Green Onions" the first time around.
Monday, May 14, 2012
5/14/2012
Bright Light Quartet -- "Po' Lazarus"
Four-part vocals expertly rendered -- this is one of the best versions you'll hear of this traditional folk song: refined but still authentic.
This track, from the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series released by Rounder, makes a great companion peace to the James Carter chain-gang version, also in the Lomax collection.
Four-part vocals expertly rendered -- this is one of the best versions you'll hear of this traditional folk song: refined but still authentic.
This track, from the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series released by Rounder, makes a great companion peace to the James Carter chain-gang version, also in the Lomax collection.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
5/13/2012
Bob Dylan -- "Just Like Tom Thumb Blues"
Two haikus about this song:
Dylan in confessional
mode: sounds like it was
a real rough night in Juarez.
World weary and cynical:
Dylan, you are right:
You belong in N-Y-C.
Two haikus about this song:
Dylan in confessional
mode: sounds like it was
a real rough night in Juarez.
World weary and cynical:
Dylan, you are right:
You belong in N-Y-C.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
5/12/2012
Blondie -- "Atomic"
Blondie always split the difference between the cool, streetwise swagger of New York's underground scene and the shameless whoredom of whatever was popular at the time. This was precisely what made them great.
Consider "Atomic": a pulsating beat that is more than just a little bit disco, a great guitar line that carries the song, a vocal performance -- isolated to the middle of the song, instead of following the traditional structure of verses and choruses throughout the song -- that makes up in personality what it lacks in technical proficiency. As with most great bands, Blondie would have gone nowhere without an impeccable drummer -- Clem Burke, one of the best drummers of his era.
Blondie always split the difference between the cool, streetwise swagger of New York's underground scene and the shameless whoredom of whatever was popular at the time. This was precisely what made them great.
Consider "Atomic": a pulsating beat that is more than just a little bit disco, a great guitar line that carries the song, a vocal performance -- isolated to the middle of the song, instead of following the traditional structure of verses and choruses throughout the song -- that makes up in personality what it lacks in technical proficiency. As with most great bands, Blondie would have gone nowhere without an impeccable drummer -- Clem Burke, one of the best drummers of his era.
Friday, May 11, 2012
5/11/2012
Neko Case -- "This Tornado Love You"
Neko Case makes music for people like me: people who tried for a long time to be cool but gave up on it as we settled into maturity. If this is the equivalent of easy listening for my demographic, I accept my fate willingly.
The songs on Middle Cyclone are characterized in part by a sense of the singer's growing maturity, but an even larger feature of the album is the theme displayed prominently in this, the album's opening track: the relationship between human beings and nature. Case explores this theme in a bit of an unconventional way: more Wallace Stevens observing nature on his walk to work than Henry Thoreau isolating himself by going out into the woods alone. Case seems to be questioning the expectations we have of nature. The inspiration for this song, I imagine, is the kind of comment one is likely to hear after a destructive bout of tornadic activity: I guess it was just God's will. The tornado has to happen for a reason. We look for meaning in the natural phenomena around us as though we are unwilling to admit that things like this just happen, for no apparent reason that is sensible to us. To admit that would mean that we are not the center of creation. People are baffled when nature doesn't seem to love us.
The fact is, though, that nature is quite content to go about its business without any special regard for us, which is what Case seems to be saying elsewhere (consider the album's final track -- crickets and frogs for 31:39). I can only suppose then that this song is a farce, a satire of the way the human mind tends to think that everything around us is ordered according to our own conception of things.
Maybe I'm taking the song in the wrong direction. Maybe the tornado really does love you. Then the song is simply about the two most destructive forces in all of creation: love and tornadoes.
Either way, the song works.
Neko Case makes music for people like me: people who tried for a long time to be cool but gave up on it as we settled into maturity. If this is the equivalent of easy listening for my demographic, I accept my fate willingly.
The songs on Middle Cyclone are characterized in part by a sense of the singer's growing maturity, but an even larger feature of the album is the theme displayed prominently in this, the album's opening track: the relationship between human beings and nature. Case explores this theme in a bit of an unconventional way: more Wallace Stevens observing nature on his walk to work than Henry Thoreau isolating himself by going out into the woods alone. Case seems to be questioning the expectations we have of nature. The inspiration for this song, I imagine, is the kind of comment one is likely to hear after a destructive bout of tornadic activity: I guess it was just God's will. The tornado has to happen for a reason. We look for meaning in the natural phenomena around us as though we are unwilling to admit that things like this just happen, for no apparent reason that is sensible to us. To admit that would mean that we are not the center of creation. People are baffled when nature doesn't seem to love us.
The fact is, though, that nature is quite content to go about its business without any special regard for us, which is what Case seems to be saying elsewhere (consider the album's final track -- crickets and frogs for 31:39). I can only suppose then that this song is a farce, a satire of the way the human mind tends to think that everything around us is ordered according to our own conception of things.
Maybe I'm taking the song in the wrong direction. Maybe the tornado really does love you. Then the song is simply about the two most destructive forces in all of creation: love and tornadoes.
Either way, the song works.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
5/10/2012
The Lively Ones -- "Surf Rider"
I was just starting to get into surf music at the time that Pulp Fiction came out. I had a Rhino collection of surf classics, a Dick Dale collection, and a great collection of tunes by The Shadows. This track, though, from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, is probably my all-time favorite surf instrumental.
A good surf instrumental has that classic minor-key melancholy*, some honkin' sax, and maybe some organ or electric piano to complete the sound. Of course, the guitar echoes through waves of reverb, an evocation of the pipeline: it's the perfect complement to the experience of a lone surfer at odds with nature and physics, an existential drama.
What distinguishes this track from other surf classics? All I can really say is that it just captures exactly the right mood.
------------------------------------
*Because, as the Anglo-Saxon warriors in Beowulf know, there's always another monster out there to be defeated -- always another wave -- and one of these days the killer is going to get you.
I was just starting to get into surf music at the time that Pulp Fiction came out. I had a Rhino collection of surf classics, a Dick Dale collection, and a great collection of tunes by The Shadows. This track, though, from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, is probably my all-time favorite surf instrumental.
A good surf instrumental has that classic minor-key melancholy*, some honkin' sax, and maybe some organ or electric piano to complete the sound. Of course, the guitar echoes through waves of reverb, an evocation of the pipeline: it's the perfect complement to the experience of a lone surfer at odds with nature and physics, an existential drama.
What distinguishes this track from other surf classics? All I can really say is that it just captures exactly the right mood.
------------------------------------
*Because, as the Anglo-Saxon warriors in Beowulf know, there's always another monster out there to be defeated -- always another wave -- and one of these days the killer is going to get you.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
5/9/2012
Shoes -- Side B of Eccentric Breaks and Beats
More of the same great stuff you'll find on side A.
More of the same great stuff you'll find on side A.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
5/8/2012
Big Star -- "O My Soul"
"I can't get a license to drive-a my car, but I don't really need it cause I'm a big star."
Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it seems like the whole idea of Big Star was to have fun pretending to be just that -- big stars.
I can't bring myself to take this song too seriously, but maybe I should. Drink till you drop, stay up all night: rock and roll cliches. The band was on the verge of collapse, but it sounds like they're having a good time. What matters is the sound of Alex Chilton's guitar: a sound he did not have dialled in yet on Big Star's first album. I'm guessing that he's playing through a Vox AC30, but I could be wrong. Any which way, it sounds great.
"I can't get a license to drive-a my car, but I don't really need it cause I'm a big star."
Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it seems like the whole idea of Big Star was to have fun pretending to be just that -- big stars.
I can't bring myself to take this song too seriously, but maybe I should. Drink till you drop, stay up all night: rock and roll cliches. The band was on the verge of collapse, but it sounds like they're having a good time. What matters is the sound of Alex Chilton's guitar: a sound he did not have dialled in yet on Big Star's first album. I'm guessing that he's playing through a Vox AC30, but I could be wrong. Any which way, it sounds great.
Monday, May 7, 2012
5/7/2012
Big Star -- "Dony"
I often find the brilliance of Big Star hard to explain, but I do think it's here to be found in this song, from the late Alex Chilton's lukewarmly-received 2005 resurrection of the band. If nothing else, I'd have to say that the sound coming from Chilton's amp is just right: a crunchy pop crackle, not so much distortion that it drowns out the sound of the vacuum tubes, but enough to make the edges just a little fuzzy, a little jagged. It fills up a little more space that way. The simple guitar break is classic Big Star.
The sound of Big Star always teetered between that of the Stones and that of the Beatles, and here they are mostly in Stones terrain. Derivative, perhaps, but that's one of the things we love about rock music. Past their prime, but who isn't these days? I think that Radio City was their best work, but for power-pop fans this still does the trick.
I often find the brilliance of Big Star hard to explain, but I do think it's here to be found in this song, from the late Alex Chilton's lukewarmly-received 2005 resurrection of the band. If nothing else, I'd have to say that the sound coming from Chilton's amp is just right: a crunchy pop crackle, not so much distortion that it drowns out the sound of the vacuum tubes, but enough to make the edges just a little fuzzy, a little jagged. It fills up a little more space that way. The simple guitar break is classic Big Star.
The sound of Big Star always teetered between that of the Stones and that of the Beatles, and here they are mostly in Stones terrain. Derivative, perhaps, but that's one of the things we love about rock music. Past their prime, but who isn't these days? I think that Radio City was their best work, but for power-pop fans this still does the trick.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
5/6/2012
Television Personalities -- "This Angry Silence"
There's the attitude -- the irreverence and the vicious rock minimalism -- of punk here, but the real antecedents of this song might be The Kinks and The Who. At the same time, this song is in line with what we now call post-punk, pushing toward a new way of understanding music. Each movement that comes along in the history of popular music is a kind of music criticism, making statements about how to interpret and reinterpret the music of those who came before you, making statements about what to value in what we listen to. By reasserting some long neglected rock basics here, Television Personalities was doing something new.
There's the attitude -- the irreverence and the vicious rock minimalism -- of punk here, but the real antecedents of this song might be The Kinks and The Who. At the same time, this song is in line with what we now call post-punk, pushing toward a new way of understanding music. Each movement that comes along in the history of popular music is a kind of music criticism, making statements about how to interpret and reinterpret the music of those who came before you, making statements about what to value in what we listen to. By reasserting some long neglected rock basics here, Television Personalities was doing something new.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
5/5/2012
Shoes -- Side A from Eccentric Breaks and Beats
Genius interpretations of lost classics from Eccentric Soul.
Genius interpretations of lost classics from Eccentric Soul.
Friday, May 4, 2012
5/4/2012
The Band -- "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
In honor of the late Levon Helm, the only drummer who could make Joan Baez cry.
The thing that always surprises me about this song is simply that it's so great. Though I love the traditional music of the American South -- old time, New Orleans jazz, Delta blues, honky tonk -- I have always hesitated at the celebration of Southern culture. I find songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" to be cloying and even offensive: I'm on Neil Young's side.
What this track does, though, is to go beyond a celebration of the South and its culture. It enters into a perspective: it's a story-song. Helm is channeling a voice from the past. The pathos in the song comes from Helm's vocal (and, sure, his drumming, if drums can be emotional). The sense of nostalgia that the song evokes is not cheap. The details of the story being told are a bit ambiguous, but the sense of feeling is clear enough. History sweeps on inevitably, and individuals are caught in the midst of it.
In honor of the late Levon Helm, the only drummer who could make Joan Baez cry.
The thing that always surprises me about this song is simply that it's so great. Though I love the traditional music of the American South -- old time, New Orleans jazz, Delta blues, honky tonk -- I have always hesitated at the celebration of Southern culture. I find songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" to be cloying and even offensive: I'm on Neil Young's side.
What this track does, though, is to go beyond a celebration of the South and its culture. It enters into a perspective: it's a story-song. Helm is channeling a voice from the past. The pathos in the song comes from Helm's vocal (and, sure, his drumming, if drums can be emotional). The sense of nostalgia that the song evokes is not cheap. The details of the story being told are a bit ambiguous, but the sense of feeling is clear enough. History sweeps on inevitably, and individuals are caught in the midst of it.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
5/3/2012
Tennessee Ernie Ford -- "Sixteen Tons"
Not your typical country song, this track musically explores the outer limits of what might be considered country music, eschewing the typical steel guitar and fiddle for the jazzier sound of finger snaps and clarinet, while the lyrics cut to the heart of the frustration and violence that can mar the rugged life of a miner. Ford's arrangement was probably not what Merle Travis had in mind when he wrote the song, but it works.
Not your typical country song, this track musically explores the outer limits of what might be considered country music, eschewing the typical steel guitar and fiddle for the jazzier sound of finger snaps and clarinet, while the lyrics cut to the heart of the frustration and violence that can mar the rugged life of a miner. Ford's arrangement was probably not what Merle Travis had in mind when he wrote the song, but it works.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
5/2/2012
Iceage -- "White Rune"
I have generally determined that you young people have your music and I have mine, but this song breaks the generational barrier. These Swedes may still be teenagers, but they have old souls. The sound of this track is pretty familiar -- this kind of riffing always hearkens back to Black Sabbath in these ears of mine, even if it's been filtered through hardcore and newer strains of metal -- but it's also fresh. There's something new about it, but it's also old, like it came out of Norse saga -- out of the last ice age.
Even though the vocals are in English, I still can't understand a damned thing. But no matter.
I have generally determined that you young people have your music and I have mine, but this song breaks the generational barrier. These Swedes may still be teenagers, but they have old souls. The sound of this track is pretty familiar -- this kind of riffing always hearkens back to Black Sabbath in these ears of mine, even if it's been filtered through hardcore and newer strains of metal -- but it's also fresh. There's something new about it, but it's also old, like it came out of Norse saga -- out of the last ice age.
Even though the vocals are in English, I still can't understand a damned thing. But no matter.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
5/1/2012
Ames Harris Desert Water Bag Co -- "People"
Another Eccentric Soul track, the single best recording of the series that I have yet heard. Why this was not a number one hit in 1971, I do not know.
Straight out of East St. Louis: the wah-wah rhythm guitar that holds the song together, the horn section that keeps it moving forward, the interplay between the lead call and the choral response, the spoken word social commentary -- the first time you hear it, this seems like a soul classic you could have been hearing all your life, and you wish you had.
Another Eccentric Soul track, the single best recording of the series that I have yet heard. Why this was not a number one hit in 1971, I do not know.
Straight out of East St. Louis: the wah-wah rhythm guitar that holds the song together, the horn section that keeps it moving forward, the interplay between the lead call and the choral response, the spoken word social commentary -- the first time you hear it, this seems like a soul classic you could have been hearing all your life, and you wish you had.
Monday, April 30, 2012
4/30/2012
Moe Tucker -- "Heroin"
When Lou Reed sings this song, you hear a cynical, streetwise swagger who has already made good time plumbing the depths. When Moe Tucker sings this song, you hear something different: vulnerability, hesitation, then regret. She's not sure if she wants to be here, but here she is. There's a pathos at work here that Lou Reed could not convey, for that matter, did not seem interested in conveying, and yet the song has that capacity built into it.
The second track on Tucker's imminently endearing new anthology.
When Lou Reed sings this song, you hear a cynical, streetwise swagger who has already made good time plumbing the depths. When Moe Tucker sings this song, you hear something different: vulnerability, hesitation, then regret. She's not sure if she wants to be here, but here she is. There's a pathos at work here that Lou Reed could not convey, for that matter, did not seem interested in conveying, and yet the song has that capacity built into it.
The second track on Tucker's imminently endearing new anthology.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
4/29/2012
Husker Du -- "Eight Miles High"
Bob Mould trades in Roger McGuinn's electric 12-string Rickenbacher for a heavily distorted Gibson Flying V.
The result is a great cover of a song that does not lend itself easily to interpretation. The only way to do this song right is to turn it into something else, the downside of the psychedelic vision, a frenzied moaning. One of Bob Mould's finest moments.
Bob Mould trades in Roger McGuinn's electric 12-string Rickenbacher for a heavily distorted Gibson Flying V.
The result is a great cover of a song that does not lend itself easily to interpretation. The only way to do this song right is to turn it into something else, the downside of the psychedelic vision, a frenzied moaning. One of Bob Mould's finest moments.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
4/28/2012
Moe Tucker -- "Bo Diddley"
Just got the Moe Tucker anthology today and listened to this, the first track, several times in a row. It's lo-fi, scratchy, primitive, derivative, and quite wonderful.
Just got the Moe Tucker anthology today and listened to this, the first track, several times in a row. It's lo-fi, scratchy, primitive, derivative, and quite wonderful.
Friday, April 27, 2012
4/27/2012
Nick Lowe -- "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass"
This track captures that moment when British pub rock turned into new wave. The bassline is pumping out disco, for the most part, but at this point disco had yet to be defined as the enemy to rock music, and there was a lot of musical freedom to be enjoyed. The piano solo seems to me like the work of a virtuoso who is slumming it, trying to see what he can do with one finger, and I've always loved that quality. Of course, I know very little about the piano, and I might be completely wrong.
But let's not forget Lowe's part. It's his song, after all. Here is Nick Lowe, about as young as he can be, and he still seems pretty old, a cynical bastard if ever there was one. Where would he be without the sound of breaking glass? Without a career, that's where he'd be.
This track captures that moment when British pub rock turned into new wave. The bassline is pumping out disco, for the most part, but at this point disco had yet to be defined as the enemy to rock music, and there was a lot of musical freedom to be enjoyed. The piano solo seems to me like the work of a virtuoso who is slumming it, trying to see what he can do with one finger, and I've always loved that quality. Of course, I know very little about the piano, and I might be completely wrong.
But let's not forget Lowe's part. It's his song, after all. Here is Nick Lowe, about as young as he can be, and he still seems pretty old, a cynical bastard if ever there was one. Where would he be without the sound of breaking glass? Without a career, that's where he'd be.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
4/26/2012
The Clash -- "The Street Parade"
Joe Strummer's instinct was to get out there and see what was going on out in the streets. That's what led the band members into London's famous Notting Hill riot back in the band's earliest days, and that ethos continued to inform their music until the end, even if the sound did undergo a broad transformation.
Mick Jones had also learned how to use the echo pedal (or is it a delay?), and he employs it to great effect here.
Joe Strummer's instinct was to get out there and see what was going on out in the streets. That's what led the band members into London's famous Notting Hill riot back in the band's earliest days, and that ethos continued to inform their music until the end, even if the sound did undergo a broad transformation.
Mick Jones had also learned how to use the echo pedal (or is it a delay?), and he employs it to great effect here.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
4/25/2012
Gary Numan -- "Cars"
Perhaps it's because I was listening to Kraftwerk the other day. Whatever the reason, I've got "Cars" stuck in my head.
Waxing nostalgic for the clunky robots of days gone by.
Perhaps it's because I was listening to Kraftwerk the other day. Whatever the reason, I've got "Cars" stuck in my head.
Waxing nostalgic for the clunky robots of days gone by.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
4/24/2012
Devo -- "Whip It"
Back in the mid-90s, I found a copy of Freedom of Choice in a record bin at a thrift store, and I knew immediately that I had to take it home.
I'd never before listened to anything from the album besides "Whip It," which was a staple of my youth -- not because I heard it on the FM rock radio I grew up listening to but because I remember the music video, which, like many other videos of that day, just seemed weird to my corn-fed midwestern sensibility. The album boasts several good tracks and an inventive musical ethos, but "Whip It" is still the one track that stands out the most.
Devo was weird, and I am somewhat amazed when I think back to the era in which this was a popular song. At the time, we must have had a culture (I was oblivious to it, too young) that embraced odd, creative beats like the ones Devo put on display here. It was a good moment in pop culture history.
Back in the mid-90s, I found a copy of Freedom of Choice in a record bin at a thrift store, and I knew immediately that I had to take it home.
I'd never before listened to anything from the album besides "Whip It," which was a staple of my youth -- not because I heard it on the FM rock radio I grew up listening to but because I remember the music video, which, like many other videos of that day, just seemed weird to my corn-fed midwestern sensibility. The album boasts several good tracks and an inventive musical ethos, but "Whip It" is still the one track that stands out the most.
Devo was weird, and I am somewhat amazed when I think back to the era in which this was a popular song. At the time, we must have had a culture (I was oblivious to it, too young) that embraced odd, creative beats like the ones Devo put on display here. It was a good moment in pop culture history.
Monday, April 23, 2012
4/23/2012
Kraftwerk -- "Pocket Calculator"
I haven't delved very deeply into the Kraftwerk catalog, and I probably never will. Electronic music has never had much appeal to me. But I am always willing to give a song it's fair chance, and I have to say that this track is pretty likeable at a casual listen, though the novelty wears off pretty quickly.
"Pocket Caclulator" is one of Kraftwerk's most accessible songs, the closest thing, besides "Autobahn," that they had to a hit. I listen to this and try to imagine what the response was like in 1981. Today, it seems quaint, even analog, compared to the autotuned, utterly digitized soundscape of today's music. When it comes to electronic pop music, though, I think I prefer Kraftwerk's version to the more contemporary variety.
I haven't delved very deeply into the Kraftwerk catalog, and I probably never will. Electronic music has never had much appeal to me. But I am always willing to give a song it's fair chance, and I have to say that this track is pretty likeable at a casual listen, though the novelty wears off pretty quickly.
"Pocket Caclulator" is one of Kraftwerk's most accessible songs, the closest thing, besides "Autobahn," that they had to a hit. I listen to this and try to imagine what the response was like in 1981. Today, it seems quaint, even analog, compared to the autotuned, utterly digitized soundscape of today's music. When it comes to electronic pop music, though, I think I prefer Kraftwerk's version to the more contemporary variety.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
4/22/2012
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum, and Durr -- "You're All I Need to Make It"
Part of the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series, this song is classic material from the Capsoul label out of Columbus, Ohio. Nobody outside of the Columbus region is likely to have heard this before, and without Numero's efforts this song and many like it would have vanished into the utmost obscurity -- would have ceased to exist, in essence.
A stirring falsetto lead, great harmonies, classic soul styling. When I think about the minor miracle that has taken place here -- that I, a full-fledged citizen of the 21th century -- get to enjoy this song despite the historical improbability of such a thing, I am utterly awed and amazed.
Part of the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series, this song is classic material from the Capsoul label out of Columbus, Ohio. Nobody outside of the Columbus region is likely to have heard this before, and without Numero's efforts this song and many like it would have vanished into the utmost obscurity -- would have ceased to exist, in essence.
A stirring falsetto lead, great harmonies, classic soul styling. When I think about the minor miracle that has taken place here -- that I, a full-fledged citizen of the 21th century -- get to enjoy this song despite the historical improbability of such a thing, I am utterly awed and amazed.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
4/21/2012
Fela Kuti -- "Suffering and Smiling, Part 2"
I'm still listening mostly to Best of the Black President -- it might take a year or two to digest what's on here before I can move past it to the albums, to the full-length tracks. Since I can't understand most of Fela Kuti's pidgin English, I have to rely on the title mostly to get a sense of what this song is about. It seems like a good summary of Fela Kuti's music. Granted, the music doesn't really make you smile -- it's got too much attitude, too much fiercenes -- but the experience of music in general is a kind of pleasure, so a kind of figurative smile is not too far off.
The lives of so many modern Africans, however, are filled with suffering. To be able to produce music in the kind of shattered post-colonial landscape that Fela Kuti inhabited is a kind of miracle, or maybe just a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. Regardless, this music is sophisticated and complex but also primal and instinctive. It's everything music could possible be.
I'm still listening mostly to Best of the Black President -- it might take a year or two to digest what's on here before I can move past it to the albums, to the full-length tracks. Since I can't understand most of Fela Kuti's pidgin English, I have to rely on the title mostly to get a sense of what this song is about. It seems like a good summary of Fela Kuti's music. Granted, the music doesn't really make you smile -- it's got too much attitude, too much fiercenes -- but the experience of music in general is a kind of pleasure, so a kind of figurative smile is not too far off.
The lives of so many modern Africans, however, are filled with suffering. To be able to produce music in the kind of shattered post-colonial landscape that Fela Kuti inhabited is a kind of miracle, or maybe just a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. Regardless, this music is sophisticated and complex but also primal and instinctive. It's everything music could possible be.
Friday, April 20, 2012
4/20/2012
Husker Du -- "Makes No Sense at All"
From the first second of the song -- a drum fill that's over almost before you can register it -- this song charges forward in fine form, and it doesn't let up until the last second. Even the stops are full of energy. It's not the tempo -- Husker Du had much faster songs -- it's the sense of movement. Husker Du seems to have developed here the approach that would inform their music during the latter stages of their career: pop-song appeal riveted onto the punk rock framework. It was an approach that the Pixies and Nirvana would follow to great success, but Husker Du was there first.
Thanks to MTV's 120 Minutes for introducing me to this song -- and to Husker Du -- many years ago, when I was but a lad.
From the first second of the song -- a drum fill that's over almost before you can register it -- this song charges forward in fine form, and it doesn't let up until the last second. Even the stops are full of energy. It's not the tempo -- Husker Du had much faster songs -- it's the sense of movement. Husker Du seems to have developed here the approach that would inform their music during the latter stages of their career: pop-song appeal riveted onto the punk rock framework. It was an approach that the Pixies and Nirvana would follow to great success, but Husker Du was there first.
Thanks to MTV's 120 Minutes for introducing me to this song -- and to Husker Du -- many years ago, when I was but a lad.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
4/19/2012
The Byrds -- "Eight Miles High"
3:38 of the most adventurous sonic experimentation ever recorded. Roger McGuinn trying to do John Coltrane on the electric guitar.
The Byrds kept constantly changing -- the style of their music, the band lineup -- but the constant theme of the band was musical adventurousness, sometimes looking backward to repurpose old traditions, sometimes lookng forwards to invent new ones, but often both at the same time. Whether it was drug-fueled or not is beside the point. What matters is that they were willing to take music to places where it had never been.
3:38 of the most adventurous sonic experimentation ever recorded. Roger McGuinn trying to do John Coltrane on the electric guitar.
The Byrds kept constantly changing -- the style of their music, the band lineup -- but the constant theme of the band was musical adventurousness, sometimes looking backward to repurpose old traditions, sometimes lookng forwards to invent new ones, but often both at the same time. Whether it was drug-fueled or not is beside the point. What matters is that they were willing to take music to places where it had never been.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
4/18/2012
Gillian Welch -- "Elvis Presley Blues"
Time (The Revelator) is a sometimes baffling album, but for all that it's nearly perfect, Gillian Welch's best, I think. The songs are so different, yet they all fit together. There's a deliberate hollowness to almost every track, the sound of space not being filled with sound. The album is, in a strange sort of way, a rock and roll album, even though it is on the surface an old-time revival, folk, or maybe even bluegrass album (without all of the instrumental clatter of bluegrass). If rocking describes a kind of movement, that movement is here in these songs, this one most of all, a bewondered tribute to the king of such movement.
Lyrically, this song is, like the later stanzas of Gram Parsons' "Return of the Grievous Angel," a perfect evocation of Elvis. Most homages to the man take the form of covers of his recordings, but this song takes a more contemplative approach, a slower speed, but it relies on the same kind of seventh note that helped propel Elvis along. The patented harmony sound of "Gillian Welch" is on display here, as well, a pair of voices that sometimes merge so well that they become indistinct.
What brought this song to my mind is a performance I heard on Garrison Keillor -- someone or another covering this song, imbuing it with such a sickly sweetness that I had to turn the radio off. Some songs can be covered, apparently, and some songs cannot. Let's leave this one uncovered and let the original speak for itself.
Time (The Revelator) is a sometimes baffling album, but for all that it's nearly perfect, Gillian Welch's best, I think. The songs are so different, yet they all fit together. There's a deliberate hollowness to almost every track, the sound of space not being filled with sound. The album is, in a strange sort of way, a rock and roll album, even though it is on the surface an old-time revival, folk, or maybe even bluegrass album (without all of the instrumental clatter of bluegrass). If rocking describes a kind of movement, that movement is here in these songs, this one most of all, a bewondered tribute to the king of such movement.
Lyrically, this song is, like the later stanzas of Gram Parsons' "Return of the Grievous Angel," a perfect evocation of Elvis. Most homages to the man take the form of covers of his recordings, but this song takes a more contemplative approach, a slower speed, but it relies on the same kind of seventh note that helped propel Elvis along. The patented harmony sound of "Gillian Welch" is on display here, as well, a pair of voices that sometimes merge so well that they become indistinct.
What brought this song to my mind is a performance I heard on Garrison Keillor -- someone or another covering this song, imbuing it with such a sickly sweetness that I had to turn the radio off. Some songs can be covered, apparently, and some songs cannot. Let's leave this one uncovered and let the original speak for itself.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
4/17/2012
The Smiths -- "This Night Has Opened My Eyes"
One of my favorite Smiths songs. Where Johnny Marr got these chords, I don't know; he clearly knows a lot more than he is willing to admit. He has always described himself as a rhythm guitarist, but it's a kind of rhythm that's more complicated than most guitar players' leads. One of the great things about this song, a quality shared by several other Smiths songs, is the sinuous quality of it, how the details keep changing slightly throughout the song, the phrasing varied just a bit from one verse to the next: a few notes slip away here, a few more tossed in there, some variable muting with the palm of the right hand. There's nothing sterile or canned about it. The music provides a fittingly moody backdrop for Morrissey's cloudy vocals.
One of my favorite Smiths songs. Where Johnny Marr got these chords, I don't know; he clearly knows a lot more than he is willing to admit. He has always described himself as a rhythm guitarist, but it's a kind of rhythm that's more complicated than most guitar players' leads. One of the great things about this song, a quality shared by several other Smiths songs, is the sinuous quality of it, how the details keep changing slightly throughout the song, the phrasing varied just a bit from one verse to the next: a few notes slip away here, a few more tossed in there, some variable muting with the palm of the right hand. There's nothing sterile or canned about it. The music provides a fittingly moody backdrop for Morrissey's cloudy vocals.
Monday, April 16, 2012
4/16/2012
Neko Case -- "That Teenage Feeling"
There's clearly something about a romance gone awry here, but nevertheless the title of this song always makes me think about rock and roll in general, what it's trying to accomplish, its purpose -- which is, I think, to capture a certain feeling, a certain energy, that you had when you were young: that teenage feeling. The music you listen to and the object of your affection become indistinguishable. The songs are a soundtrack to the story of your life.
Maybe it's a mythical thing, this feeling, but when you hear Dexter Romweber play guitar in that kind of stuttering way, it makes sense. Neko herself is a genius for understanding exactly what it takes to get the right sound out of a song like this. Her impeccable vocals don't hurt, either.
There's clearly something about a romance gone awry here, but nevertheless the title of this song always makes me think about rock and roll in general, what it's trying to accomplish, its purpose -- which is, I think, to capture a certain feeling, a certain energy, that you had when you were young: that teenage feeling. The music you listen to and the object of your affection become indistinguishable. The songs are a soundtrack to the story of your life.
Maybe it's a mythical thing, this feeling, but when you hear Dexter Romweber play guitar in that kind of stuttering way, it makes sense. Neko herself is a genius for understanding exactly what it takes to get the right sound out of a song like this. Her impeccable vocals don't hurt, either.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
4/15/2012
The Beatles -- "Taxman"
Tea Partiers don't have much to complain about compared to what these guys had to pay in taxes back in the day. At least the lads from Liverpool had the courtesy not to let their rant get ugly.
Great bass line. I've always liked the guitar solo. Not my favorite track from Revolver (my favorite Beatles album), but a good one for April 15.
Tea Partiers don't have much to complain about compared to what these guys had to pay in taxes back in the day. At least the lads from Liverpool had the courtesy not to let their rant get ugly.
Great bass line. I've always liked the guitar solo. Not my favorite track from Revolver (my favorite Beatles album), but a good one for April 15.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
4/14/2012
The Dirtbombs -- "Chains of Love"
Classic Motor City soul with a fuzzy punk undercurrent. Mick Collins, with his doubled-up rhythm section, updates the J. J. Barnes classic and fully does justice to it. It would be a cop-out to say that music like this defies analysis, but it's certainly advisable to let this track just speak for itself.
Classic Motor City soul with a fuzzy punk undercurrent. Mick Collins, with his doubled-up rhythm section, updates the J. J. Barnes classic and fully does justice to it. It would be a cop-out to say that music like this defies analysis, but it's certainly advisable to let this track just speak for itself.
Friday, April 13, 2012
4/13/2012
Bad Brains -- "I Against I"
I'm not generally a fan of hardcore, but then again Bad Brains was a lot more than hardcore. This song exists at an intersection of so many genres that it defies easy categorization. The historical moment in question here -- 1986 -- was one at which several creative strains of popular music were about to ossify into oppressively heavy and increasingly sterile genres -- hair metal, arena rock -- and many strains of "alternative" music were on the verge of taking themselves entirely too seriously. Bad Brains, with an already storied career by this point, was still making vital music here at the edge of oblivion. It's a challenge to catalog all of the things that Bad Brains vocalist H.R. is against, but the song is a battering rant staring down the void that pop music is always on the verge of slipping into.
I'm not generally a fan of hardcore, but then again Bad Brains was a lot more than hardcore. This song exists at an intersection of so many genres that it defies easy categorization. The historical moment in question here -- 1986 -- was one at which several creative strains of popular music were about to ossify into oppressively heavy and increasingly sterile genres -- hair metal, arena rock -- and many strains of "alternative" music were on the verge of taking themselves entirely too seriously. Bad Brains, with an already storied career by this point, was still making vital music here at the edge of oblivion. It's a challenge to catalog all of the things that Bad Brains vocalist H.R. is against, but the song is a battering rant staring down the void that pop music is always on the verge of slipping into.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
4/12/2012
The Rolling Stones -- "Jigsaw Puzzle"
This seems to be the Stones's attempt at impersonating a Bob Dylan song. There's a Dylanesque cavalcade of characters: a tramp, a bishop's daughter, a gangster, twenty thousand grandmas, and a queen, not to mention the various musicians (whom we might be able to identiy by name). There's a detached narrative voice, that of the witness to the spectacle of modernity -- one who is just trying to go about his business.
As a general rule, Dylan impersonations ought not to work, especially one by a band like the Stones, who were hardly following in Dylan's footsteps. And yet it does work.
One more reason why Beggar's Banquet is, at present, my favorite Rolling Stones album.
This seems to be the Stones's attempt at impersonating a Bob Dylan song. There's a Dylanesque cavalcade of characters: a tramp, a bishop's daughter, a gangster, twenty thousand grandmas, and a queen, not to mention the various musicians (whom we might be able to identiy by name). There's a detached narrative voice, that of the witness to the spectacle of modernity -- one who is just trying to go about his business.
As a general rule, Dylan impersonations ought not to work, especially one by a band like the Stones, who were hardly following in Dylan's footsteps. And yet it does work.
One more reason why Beggar's Banquet is, at present, my favorite Rolling Stones album.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
4/11/2012
King Tubby -- "Zion Gate (Version)" a.k.a. "Zion Gate Dub"
The song catalogs of many reggae artists are frustratingly confusing. Not even allmusic could help me to figure this one out, but I'm pretty sure that it's from the 1970s. It's only available on compilations.
Regardless, the sound on this track is amazing. It really does sound like it could have been made yesterday (except for the fact that King Tubby was shot dead in a drive-by outside his house in 1989). Bass and drum carry the song, but echo and reverb give it it's distinctive note of genius. Great snares along with some nice echoey fills.
I dare anyone to listen to this track and not like it. Just go ahead and try.
The song catalogs of many reggae artists are frustratingly confusing. Not even allmusic could help me to figure this one out, but I'm pretty sure that it's from the 1970s. It's only available on compilations.
Regardless, the sound on this track is amazing. It really does sound like it could have been made yesterday (except for the fact that King Tubby was shot dead in a drive-by outside his house in 1989). Bass and drum carry the song, but echo and reverb give it it's distinctive note of genius. Great snares along with some nice echoey fills.
I dare anyone to listen to this track and not like it. Just go ahead and try.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
4/10/2012
Gram Parsons -- "In My Hour of Darkness"
One of Gram's finest songs, and one of the most eerie tracks ever recorded. I don't know for sure that it was the last track that Gram ever recorded, but the placement as the last track on his final (posthumously released) album is fitting. Who knows what would have become of Parsons had he not overdosed. Maybe he'd be playing Vegas himself by this point. By going early, he lived out the dominant country music ethic of the time: living fast, loving hard, dying young, and leaving a beautiful memory. He also bucked the Nashville trends not by forsaking the sound but by bypassing the usual routes to getting his music made and doing it his own way.
To claim that his buddy Keith Richards, he of the cavernous face and legendary metabolism, killed Gram by pernicious influence is to overstate the case. Gram did have a sweet and good-natured soul, even if it was a little wounded, and all of this comes across in this song. Whether he had that vision in his own hour of darkness, we'll never know, but he certainly had a vision during his short but unforgettable career.
One of Gram's finest songs, and one of the most eerie tracks ever recorded. I don't know for sure that it was the last track that Gram ever recorded, but the placement as the last track on his final (posthumously released) album is fitting. Who knows what would have become of Parsons had he not overdosed. Maybe he'd be playing Vegas himself by this point. By going early, he lived out the dominant country music ethic of the time: living fast, loving hard, dying young, and leaving a beautiful memory. He also bucked the Nashville trends not by forsaking the sound but by bypassing the usual routes to getting his music made and doing it his own way.
To claim that his buddy Keith Richards, he of the cavernous face and legendary metabolism, killed Gram by pernicious influence is to overstate the case. Gram did have a sweet and good-natured soul, even if it was a little wounded, and all of this comes across in this song. Whether he had that vision in his own hour of darkness, we'll never know, but he certainly had a vision during his short but unforgettable career.
Monday, April 9, 2012
4/9/2012
J. E. Mainer and Band -- "Columbus Stockade Blues"
Hillbilly music sometimes drives me crazy -- especially the fake corn-syrup sweetness that typifies much bluegrass. But when it's good, it's really good. This track is like that -- just good. The duet vocals are the strongest point of the track, but the song has a great hook and good banjo playing to boot. And the lyrics fall into the tradition of bad man ballads, which helps out a lot when it comes to steering clear of the corn syrup.
Another one from the Alan Lomax collection.
Hillbilly music sometimes drives me crazy -- especially the fake corn-syrup sweetness that typifies much bluegrass. But when it's good, it's really good. This track is like that -- just good. The duet vocals are the strongest point of the track, but the song has a great hook and good banjo playing to boot. And the lyrics fall into the tradition of bad man ballads, which helps out a lot when it comes to steering clear of the corn syrup.
Another one from the Alan Lomax collection.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
4/8/2012
Hobart Smith -- "Railroad Bill"
One of the great gems of American folk music, this track comes from the Alan Lomax collection.
I can't tell if Smith is using finger picks, a flat pick, or just his fingers (I've tried playing the song all three ways myself). Any which way, though, the rolls are fantastic -- this is one of the best acoustic guitar tracks I can think of. Smith accompanies himself with some foot-stomping to keep the beat.
One of the great gems of American folk music, this track comes from the Alan Lomax collection.
I can't tell if Smith is using finger picks, a flat pick, or just his fingers (I've tried playing the song all three ways myself). Any which way, though, the rolls are fantastic -- this is one of the best acoustic guitar tracks I can think of. Smith accompanies himself with some foot-stomping to keep the beat.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
4/7/2012
Hank Williams -- "Lost Highway"
Though Hank Williams didn't write this song, it seems like he did. That's a compliment paid to the author of the song, Leon Payne, but it's also a point in Williams' favor: he found a song that seemed to have been made for him, and he made it his own. If the rhythm seems to bounce a little bit too much, belying the dark themes of the song, maybe that's just Hank -- he took dark things and tried to give them some bounce. It was only at the end, with the demos he recorded shortly before his death, that the springy rhythms went away for good.
The main guitar solo is a six-string electric, not a steel guitar, which is not by any means unique to Williams' catalog, but it is right for the feel of the song and gives it a more bluesy feel. This is also one of the few Hank Williams singles to feature mandolin, played in the background during the third verse. The highlight, though, of couse, is Hank's voice, which is always the case with him.
Though Hank Williams didn't write this song, it seems like he did. That's a compliment paid to the author of the song, Leon Payne, but it's also a point in Williams' favor: he found a song that seemed to have been made for him, and he made it his own. If the rhythm seems to bounce a little bit too much, belying the dark themes of the song, maybe that's just Hank -- he took dark things and tried to give them some bounce. It was only at the end, with the demos he recorded shortly before his death, that the springy rhythms went away for good.
The main guitar solo is a six-string electric, not a steel guitar, which is not by any means unique to Williams' catalog, but it is right for the feel of the song and gives it a more bluesy feel. This is also one of the few Hank Williams singles to feature mandolin, played in the background during the third verse. The highlight, though, of couse, is Hank's voice, which is always the case with him.
Friday, April 6, 2012
4/6/2012
Sarah Ogan Gunning -- "Come All Ye Coal Miners"
One suspects that Alan Lomax knew what he was doing when he recorded Sarah Ogan Gunning singing her song, which is punctuated throughout by the chronic cough of a miner in the audience. This is an angry song, a shocking song to a contemporary audience accustomed to thinking of old-time music as tame, traditional, and conservative. Though the politics of the song are a little crude ("Let's sink this capitalist system to the darkest pits of hell"), they are impassioned, and they are fully justified by the sorrowful details of Gunning's life. Here's one woman who didn't just sit idly by while the ones she loved died from the craven exploitation of their one and only resource, which was their willingness to work. I wish that I could play this song for all of the conservative politicians and pundits who casually toss the term "socialist" around. Then they'd know what a real socialist is like, and -- even if they'd never admit it out loud -- in their hearts they'd know her for what she was -- an American hero.
One suspects that Alan Lomax knew what he was doing when he recorded Sarah Ogan Gunning singing her song, which is punctuated throughout by the chronic cough of a miner in the audience. This is an angry song, a shocking song to a contemporary audience accustomed to thinking of old-time music as tame, traditional, and conservative. Though the politics of the song are a little crude ("Let's sink this capitalist system to the darkest pits of hell"), they are impassioned, and they are fully justified by the sorrowful details of Gunning's life. Here's one woman who didn't just sit idly by while the ones she loved died from the craven exploitation of their one and only resource, which was their willingness to work. I wish that I could play this song for all of the conservative politicians and pundits who casually toss the term "socialist" around. Then they'd know what a real socialist is like, and -- even if they'd never admit it out loud -- in their hearts they'd know her for what she was -- an American hero.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
4/5/2012
Robert Wilkins -- "Prodigal Son"
The live Newport version from 1963 -- clocking in at an astounding 9:40 -- is simply spectacular. The lyrics present a down-home contemporary retelling of a classic story of paternal love and forgiveness, a story that is moving regardless of your religious persuasion (or lack thereof). Even the Rolling Stones can't deny that, though one does rather suspect they were into this song more for the great blues riffs, the appeal of which is partly the way that they resemble rolls on the banjo rather than traditional Delta blues or even Bentonia blues.
The live Newport version from 1963 -- clocking in at an astounding 9:40 -- is simply spectacular. The lyrics present a down-home contemporary retelling of a classic story of paternal love and forgiveness, a story that is moving regardless of your religious persuasion (or lack thereof). Even the Rolling Stones can't deny that, though one does rather suspect they were into this song more for the great blues riffs, the appeal of which is partly the way that they resemble rolls on the banjo rather than traditional Delta blues or even Bentonia blues.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
4/4/2012
The Velvet Underground - "Stephanie Says"
Hard to believe that this song lingered in the vaults for nearly two decades, unplayed and unheard.
Hard to believe that this song lingered in the vaults for nearly two decades, unplayed and unheard.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
4/3/2012
Johnny Cash -- "The Wreck of the Old 97"
Luther Perkins worked out a nice little lead for this one. The live version from San Quentin is an essential part of a memorable performance, but the 1950s studio version has a little more twang to it.
I always numbered this song among my favorite Cash songs, but for my train-obsessed three-year-old, it's simply the best song ever. We sit on the bench by the front door of our house, and he sings along with me while I play guitar.
Luther Perkins worked out a nice little lead for this one. The live version from San Quentin is an essential part of a memorable performance, but the 1950s studio version has a little more twang to it.
I always numbered this song among my favorite Cash songs, but for my train-obsessed three-year-old, it's simply the best song ever. We sit on the bench by the front door of our house, and he sings along with me while I play guitar.
Monday, April 2, 2012
4/2/2012
Dandy Livingstone -- "Rudy, a Message to You"
Most people who know the song probably know it from The Specials' version of it, but the original is unimpeachable. An undeniable classic.
Most people who know the song probably know it from The Specials' version of it, but the original is unimpeachable. An undeniable classic.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
4/1/2012
Traffic -- "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys"
I won't bother trying to describe the improbable chain of circumstances that led me back to this song after having gone a couple of decades without it. Let's just say it was fate.
What we have here is more than eleven minutes' worth of material that doesn't wear out its welcome. The song rounds up along the border of jazz but doesn't give in to the pretensions that could have easily wrecked it. There's a jazzy sensibility to the drums that makes the song work. The piano, organ, and guitar (all, I think, played by Steve Winwood) divide up the lead duties very effectively. The lyrics have just a dash of wit, enough to keep the song from grasping too ineffectively at profundity, and, after all, there is a considerable truism here: that the mechanism that keeps the rock and roll machinery in order is, in the end, nothing more than the desire to turn a profit on some poor kid's dreams. For whatever reason, I can hear in my mind a cover of this song -- all Neil Young-style guitars, loud and crackly. Think about it. It just might work.
I won't bother trying to describe the improbable chain of circumstances that led me back to this song after having gone a couple of decades without it. Let's just say it was fate.
What we have here is more than eleven minutes' worth of material that doesn't wear out its welcome. The song rounds up along the border of jazz but doesn't give in to the pretensions that could have easily wrecked it. There's a jazzy sensibility to the drums that makes the song work. The piano, organ, and guitar (all, I think, played by Steve Winwood) divide up the lead duties very effectively. The lyrics have just a dash of wit, enough to keep the song from grasping too ineffectively at profundity, and, after all, there is a considerable truism here: that the mechanism that keeps the rock and roll machinery in order is, in the end, nothing more than the desire to turn a profit on some poor kid's dreams. For whatever reason, I can hear in my mind a cover of this song -- all Neil Young-style guitars, loud and crackly. Think about it. It just might work.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
3/31/2012
Talking Heads -- "Take Me to the River"
The Talking Heads may have been incapable of writing love songs, but they could certainly play one. To take a song like this Al Green soul classic and try to make it your own is a daunting task. The risks are great. But they pulled it off, and the world is a better place for it. There's a great live version of this from Saturday Night Live at about the time of the album's release -- it's not available on youtube, so you might have to look around a little bit for it. Tina Weymouth looks freaked out.
The Talking Heads may have been incapable of writing love songs, but they could certainly play one. To take a song like this Al Green soul classic and try to make it your own is a daunting task. The risks are great. But they pulled it off, and the world is a better place for it. There's a great live version of this from Saturday Night Live at about the time of the album's release -- it's not available on youtube, so you might have to look around a little bit for it. Tina Weymouth looks freaked out.
Friday, March 30, 2012
3/30/2012
The Soft Boys -- "I Wanna Destroy You"
Only the Soft Boys could sing a lyric like "I wanna destroy you" in such perfect harmony and still convince you that they mean it.
Only the Soft Boys could sing a lyric like "I wanna destroy you" in such perfect harmony and still convince you that they mean it.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
3/29/2012
The Band -- "Long Black Veil"
Lefty Frizell made this song famous, and I've always been partial to Johnny Cash's live version, but The Band truly did make this song their own, paying homage to its origins while applying their own sound to it. The Band's version maintains its country feel, even with the electric piano that drives the track. The harmonies are the real killer, though. Classic stuff.
Lefty Frizell made this song famous, and I've always been partial to Johnny Cash's live version, but The Band truly did make this song their own, paying homage to its origins while applying their own sound to it. The Band's version maintains its country feel, even with the electric piano that drives the track. The harmonies are the real killer, though. Classic stuff.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
3/28/2012
The Clash -- "The Magnificent Seven"
Among the few surviving remnants from Don Letts' 1981 video footage of The Clash in New York, there is a shot of a black New Yorker with a ghetto blaster jiving to "The Magnificent Seven." It's a great moment in the history of this band; a bunch of skinny British punks had come to New York, absorbed the sound of the city, and made that sound their own. The instrumental remix of "The Magnificent Seven" was even a hit on WBLS.
With this track, the first track on Sandinista!, The Clash moved into new terrain. They managed to take on a new beat without losing the muscular stride of their music. This is rap, but it's rap on The Clash's terms.
Among the few surviving remnants from Don Letts' 1981 video footage of The Clash in New York, there is a shot of a black New Yorker with a ghetto blaster jiving to "The Magnificent Seven." It's a great moment in the history of this band; a bunch of skinny British punks had come to New York, absorbed the sound of the city, and made that sound their own. The instrumental remix of "The Magnificent Seven" was even a hit on WBLS.
With this track, the first track on Sandinista!, The Clash moved into new terrain. They managed to take on a new beat without losing the muscular stride of their music. This is rap, but it's rap on The Clash's terms.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
3/27/2012
David Bowie -- "Queen Bitch"
With this track, Bowie captured a sound as close to punk as anything the New York Dolls or The Stooges ever did. The noisy crunch of the guitars, though, doesn't do anything to take away from the great pop appeal of the song. Lyrically, the song fits right in with the gender-bending dynamics of the era, but there's also a wry sense of humor to the song, which is one of my favorite Bowie tracks.
With this track, Bowie captured a sound as close to punk as anything the New York Dolls or The Stooges ever did. The noisy crunch of the guitars, though, doesn't do anything to take away from the great pop appeal of the song. Lyrically, the song fits right in with the gender-bending dynamics of the era, but there's also a wry sense of humor to the song, which is one of my favorite Bowie tracks.
Monday, March 26, 2012
3/26/2012
Elvis Presley -- "Trying to Get to You"
The first time I listened to Elvis' Sun Studios recordings, I was a college student with hair down to my collar, my musical interests veering toward the irony-laden slacker indie rock that seemed to be the best thing going in the early 1990s. Elvis wasn't really part of the scenario. But I instantly understood that there was some real power to these recordings. Elvis might not have invented rock and roll. He may not have been a genius. He might have just been the lucky bastard who stumbled upon the winning formula. But he's the guy who put those songs on the charts, and he's the one who gets most of the credit. And though rockabilly purists will sneer a little when his name is mentioned, Elvis certainly did rock with the best of them back in the early days. In the Jim Jarmusch Mystery Train Elvis v. Carl Perkins debate, I'll take Elvis.
Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black did make a lot of noise for a combo without a drummer. Even when they added D. J. Fontana to the ticket, he was mostly hitting the snare. Elvis was actually a really good rhythm guitarist; his very percussive playing added a lot to the sound of the band. Bill Black's upright bass was really the key element in this sound, though, and when he switched to the electric bass (his famous comment was something about not getting paid enough to haul the double-bass around), it was the end of something. The extra band member in these early recordings (aside from the piano here -- the only Sun track to feature it) was Sam Phillips, and the instruments he played were spring reverb and tape delay -- still the best effects you can put to use in a recording studio, as far as I'm concerned. The formula was basic, but it worked gloriously. When you listen to the songs, you can't see Elvis moving around, dancing like an epileptic or like someone who is possessed, but you can definitely picture it.
The first time I listened to Elvis' Sun Studios recordings, I was a college student with hair down to my collar, my musical interests veering toward the irony-laden slacker indie rock that seemed to be the best thing going in the early 1990s. Elvis wasn't really part of the scenario. But I instantly understood that there was some real power to these recordings. Elvis might not have invented rock and roll. He may not have been a genius. He might have just been the lucky bastard who stumbled upon the winning formula. But he's the guy who put those songs on the charts, and he's the one who gets most of the credit. And though rockabilly purists will sneer a little when his name is mentioned, Elvis certainly did rock with the best of them back in the early days. In the Jim Jarmusch Mystery Train Elvis v. Carl Perkins debate, I'll take Elvis.
Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black did make a lot of noise for a combo without a drummer. Even when they added D. J. Fontana to the ticket, he was mostly hitting the snare. Elvis was actually a really good rhythm guitarist; his very percussive playing added a lot to the sound of the band. Bill Black's upright bass was really the key element in this sound, though, and when he switched to the electric bass (his famous comment was something about not getting paid enough to haul the double-bass around), it was the end of something. The extra band member in these early recordings (aside from the piano here -- the only Sun track to feature it) was Sam Phillips, and the instruments he played were spring reverb and tape delay -- still the best effects you can put to use in a recording studio, as far as I'm concerned. The formula was basic, but it worked gloriously. When you listen to the songs, you can't see Elvis moving around, dancing like an epileptic or like someone who is possessed, but you can definitely picture it.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
3/25/2012
Desmond Dekker -- "The Israelites"
The first Jamaican recording to top the singles chart in the U.K., "The Israelites," released in 1968, had a huge impact on the music of the decade that followed. The Clash regularly performed this song during their sound checks, and the entire punk culture in the U.K. was shot through with a Jamaican influence. You hear this influence everywhere, from The Slits to Elvis Costello. Marginalized musical subcultures always prove to be a fecund source of inspiration for musical innovators, and with the "discovery" of reggae and ska, the Brits had a font of inspiration that functioned in the same way that Delta blues did to American musicians. Though some will always argue that there is an element of colonialism and exploitation at work here, I don't think that any worthwhile musical artist has ever had that kind of motivation at heart. Just listen to "The Israelites." It's a genuinely inspiring song.
This song also captures something essential to reggae and West Indian culture. The identification with an ancient tribe of exiled people is a powerful and empowering element in African American culture and in West Indian culture, though it is more pronounced thematically in reggae than in blues. Given the stately resonance of Dekker's voice, though, what we hear in the song is strength, a will to endure and overcome, not enslavement. The rocksteady beat and the Aces' spot-on harmonies fill out the picture, presenting Dekker as the Moses of his tribe, leading his people to, if nothing else, a rightful place in the culture of the Western world.
The first Jamaican recording to top the singles chart in the U.K., "The Israelites," released in 1968, had a huge impact on the music of the decade that followed. The Clash regularly performed this song during their sound checks, and the entire punk culture in the U.K. was shot through with a Jamaican influence. You hear this influence everywhere, from The Slits to Elvis Costello. Marginalized musical subcultures always prove to be a fecund source of inspiration for musical innovators, and with the "discovery" of reggae and ska, the Brits had a font of inspiration that functioned in the same way that Delta blues did to American musicians. Though some will always argue that there is an element of colonialism and exploitation at work here, I don't think that any worthwhile musical artist has ever had that kind of motivation at heart. Just listen to "The Israelites." It's a genuinely inspiring song.
This song also captures something essential to reggae and West Indian culture. The identification with an ancient tribe of exiled people is a powerful and empowering element in African American culture and in West Indian culture, though it is more pronounced thematically in reggae than in blues. Given the stately resonance of Dekker's voice, though, what we hear in the song is strength, a will to endure and overcome, not enslavement. The rocksteady beat and the Aces' spot-on harmonies fill out the picture, presenting Dekker as the Moses of his tribe, leading his people to, if nothing else, a rightful place in the culture of the Western world.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
3/24/2012
The Soft Boys -- "Wading Through a Ventilator"
I just recently discovered this track on a compilation -- it's not on either of the Soft Boys' two studio LPs, Can of Bees or Underwater Moonlight, and I'm not sure of its history. It's a killer track, though, that more perfectly embodies the Soft Boys' unique "psychedilic punk" sound than anything else I've heard from them. From the first notes, this song offers a relentless sonic assault, an uptempo snarl of bass, drums, and guitar that matches Robyn Hitchcock's verbal snarling. Somehow, though, the guitars manage to chime through the bridge, adding a great jangle-pop quality to the recording.
I just recently discovered this track on a compilation -- it's not on either of the Soft Boys' two studio LPs, Can of Bees or Underwater Moonlight, and I'm not sure of its history. It's a killer track, though, that more perfectly embodies the Soft Boys' unique "psychedilic punk" sound than anything else I've heard from them. From the first notes, this song offers a relentless sonic assault, an uptempo snarl of bass, drums, and guitar that matches Robyn Hitchcock's verbal snarling. Somehow, though, the guitars manage to chime through the bridge, adding a great jangle-pop quality to the recording.
Friday, March 23, 2012
3/23/2012
The Zombies -- "Changes"
Like The Kinks, The Zombies never fully got the recognition that they deserved. Both bands suffered from poorly timed and poorly marketed album releases, which partly accounts for why The Zombies' masterwork, Odessey and Oracle, never received as much attention as other classics from the era. "Changes" is one of the most distinctive tracks on the album.
While psychedelic music in its later form favored heavy guitars and long jams in a live setting, the earlier form represented here emphasized instruments atypical to rock music, using harpsichord, strings, horns, and experimental recording techniques in a studio setting to find new and unusual ways to fully develop the atmosphere of each song. If the real meaning and purpose of psychedelic music is not simply to glorify a drug culture but rather to engage in bold and dynamic experimentation in sound, this song is one of the best examples of genre -- even though (perhaps especially because) the instrumentation is so sparse -- Mellotron and percussion, but not at the same time, and nothing else. The most distinctive feature, though, of this track, and indeed throughout Odessey and Oracle, is the use of human voices as an instrument. This track presents one of the most inspired uses of harmony you might ever hear outside of the Beach Boys.
Like The Kinks, The Zombies never fully got the recognition that they deserved. Both bands suffered from poorly timed and poorly marketed album releases, which partly accounts for why The Zombies' masterwork, Odessey and Oracle, never received as much attention as other classics from the era. "Changes" is one of the most distinctive tracks on the album.
While psychedelic music in its later form favored heavy guitars and long jams in a live setting, the earlier form represented here emphasized instruments atypical to rock music, using harpsichord, strings, horns, and experimental recording techniques in a studio setting to find new and unusual ways to fully develop the atmosphere of each song. If the real meaning and purpose of psychedelic music is not simply to glorify a drug culture but rather to engage in bold and dynamic experimentation in sound, this song is one of the best examples of genre -- even though (perhaps especially because) the instrumentation is so sparse -- Mellotron and percussion, but not at the same time, and nothing else. The most distinctive feature, though, of this track, and indeed throughout Odessey and Oracle, is the use of human voices as an instrument. This track presents one of the most inspired uses of harmony you might ever hear outside of the Beach Boys.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
3/22/2012
? and the Mysterians -- "96 Tears"
This song is one of the all-time great garage classics, touching on early psychedelia before things got out of hand. A few important questions to be asked:
Q: Why 96 tears?
A: Because 95 was not enough and 97 was one too many.
Q: Has the Farfisa organ ever been put to better use than this?
A: No. The Mysterians have some other great tracks, but nothing else quite compares. The Monks did some great work with the Farfisa, though. Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs had a fine hit with it in "Wooly Bully." The Ventures made good use of it. In the late 70s/early 80s, there was kind of a Farfisa revival in a lot of New Wave bands. You can even hear Farfisa on a few Tom Waits tracks. But the answer is no --the Farfisa has never played such a prominent role in any other song that is quite this cool.
Q: What's the big deal about this Farfisa, anyway?
A: In case you're not familiar with the Farfisa, it sounds like a Hammond organ that's fallen out of the back of a pickup truck and then been dragged off into a cave somewhere where primitive beings toy with it until they get true primal sounds that are appropriate for genuine cavestomp music. In other words, it sounds like rock and roll in all its raw and unembellished glory.
This song is one of the all-time great garage classics, touching on early psychedelia before things got out of hand. A few important questions to be asked:
Q: Why 96 tears?
A: Because 95 was not enough and 97 was one too many.
Q: Has the Farfisa organ ever been put to better use than this?
A: No. The Mysterians have some other great tracks, but nothing else quite compares. The Monks did some great work with the Farfisa, though. Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs had a fine hit with it in "Wooly Bully." The Ventures made good use of it. In the late 70s/early 80s, there was kind of a Farfisa revival in a lot of New Wave bands. You can even hear Farfisa on a few Tom Waits tracks. But the answer is no --the Farfisa has never played such a prominent role in any other song that is quite this cool.
Q: What's the big deal about this Farfisa, anyway?
A: In case you're not familiar with the Farfisa, it sounds like a Hammond organ that's fallen out of the back of a pickup truck and then been dragged off into a cave somewhere where primitive beings toy with it until they get true primal sounds that are appropriate for genuine cavestomp music. In other words, it sounds like rock and roll in all its raw and unembellished glory.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
3/21/2012
The Sir Douglas Quintet -- "You Never Get too Big and You Sure Don't Get too Heavy That You Don't Have to Stop and Pay Some Dues Sometime"
Doug Sahm inhabited a state he called "Texas." It was with with him when he went to California. It was with him everywhere he went. Various politicians claim to be from Texas, as well, but the Texas they come from is not the same Texas that Doug Sahm came from. As Sahm claimed elsewhere, "you just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lot of soul." I've been to a place called Texas, but I don't think it was the same state Doug Sahm hailed from. The only time I've been to that Texas is when listening to the Sir Douglas Quintet.
Despite the fact that principal bandmate and master Farfisa player Augie Meyers was back in geographical Texas at the time Doug Sahm recorded this song in his pot-bust-imposed California exile, what we have here is a track that captures the essence of the man. Then again, what Sahm composition doesn't capture this essence?
Only Doug Sahm could pull off something like this: a track that mixes soul and rock so effortlessly. A track that breaks down into a bongo jam with a few abstract notes on the sax dragged out at the end, adding a little free jazz flourish. A track that could have languished in inane hippie sentiment, but is grounded by the earthy vocal performance, bringing with it traces of classic country in its inflection. A track that spans borders of all kinds, geographical and generic.
A track that has an amazingly long but still cool title, to boot.
Any artist with less soul would not be able to provide the seemless synthesis of forms and styles that Doug Sahm did on a regular basis. Sahm is a true singularity in the history of popular music.
Doug Sahm inhabited a state he called "Texas." It was with with him when he went to California. It was with him everywhere he went. Various politicians claim to be from Texas, as well, but the Texas they come from is not the same Texas that Doug Sahm came from. As Sahm claimed elsewhere, "you just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lot of soul." I've been to a place called Texas, but I don't think it was the same state Doug Sahm hailed from. The only time I've been to that Texas is when listening to the Sir Douglas Quintet.
Despite the fact that principal bandmate and master Farfisa player Augie Meyers was back in geographical Texas at the time Doug Sahm recorded this song in his pot-bust-imposed California exile, what we have here is a track that captures the essence of the man. Then again, what Sahm composition doesn't capture this essence?
Only Doug Sahm could pull off something like this: a track that mixes soul and rock so effortlessly. A track that breaks down into a bongo jam with a few abstract notes on the sax dragged out at the end, adding a little free jazz flourish. A track that could have languished in inane hippie sentiment, but is grounded by the earthy vocal performance, bringing with it traces of classic country in its inflection. A track that spans borders of all kinds, geographical and generic.
A track that has an amazingly long but still cool title, to boot.
Any artist with less soul would not be able to provide the seemless synthesis of forms and styles that Doug Sahm did on a regular basis. Sahm is a true singularity in the history of popular music.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
3/20/2012
Alan Parsons Project -- "Eye in the Sky"
So, how does a song like this get stuck in your head? Let me walk you through the steps.
1. You grew up in the 1980s, listening to FM radio.
2. You walk into the office a colleague one day, and he happens to be listening to a song that sounds familiar. He asks you if you know what it is. You say it sounds really familiar but that you can't quite figure out what it is. You haven't heard it for, what? ... decades, at least. Then he tells you what it is.
There is little chance of escape at this point. The slightest trigger over the next few weeks will send this song ricocheting through your mind for days. Be careful.
3. You are sitting in a coffee shop (always a dangerous proposition, in and of itself), reading your favorite periodical of choice. The barista is listening to mildy pretentious but tolerable indie rock, whatever's popular at the time. Then she switches to a playlist comprising early 80s power ballads.
There's that song again. This time there is no escape. For days and days, you are stuck with this song. It's your constant companion everywhere you go.
So, I haven't said anything of substance about the song or the music. As far as 80s FM hits, this isn't a bad one. I kind of like the electric piano. It's got a nice melody. Not as odious as the songs that follow on the barista's playlist.
The point is that there is something about certain songs -- they can get in your mind and stay there. You can have all sorts of objections, but it doesn't matter. The song is yours for a little while. You might as well just give in.
So, how does a song like this get stuck in your head? Let me walk you through the steps.
1. You grew up in the 1980s, listening to FM radio.
2. You walk into the office a colleague one day, and he happens to be listening to a song that sounds familiar. He asks you if you know what it is. You say it sounds really familiar but that you can't quite figure out what it is. You haven't heard it for, what? ... decades, at least. Then he tells you what it is.
There is little chance of escape at this point. The slightest trigger over the next few weeks will send this song ricocheting through your mind for days. Be careful.
3. You are sitting in a coffee shop (always a dangerous proposition, in and of itself), reading your favorite periodical of choice. The barista is listening to mildy pretentious but tolerable indie rock, whatever's popular at the time. Then she switches to a playlist comprising early 80s power ballads.
There's that song again. This time there is no escape. For days and days, you are stuck with this song. It's your constant companion everywhere you go.
So, I haven't said anything of substance about the song or the music. As far as 80s FM hits, this isn't a bad one. I kind of like the electric piano. It's got a nice melody. Not as odious as the songs that follow on the barista's playlist.
The point is that there is something about certain songs -- they can get in your mind and stay there. You can have all sorts of objections, but it doesn't matter. The song is yours for a little while. You might as well just give in.
Monday, March 19, 2012
3/19/2012
Warren Smith -- "Goodbye Mr. Love"
Of all the rockabillies out there, Warren Smith might be my favorite.
The reason to listen to rockabilly isn't to get at the origins of rock and roll, though that is one thing you'll get out of it. The reason to listen to rockabilly is that it's some of the best country music ever recorded. Rockabilly was, at the time, the latest in a series of cultural fusions between white and black music that have happened throughout the history of recorded music, but in a way it wasn't as much a fusion as it was an infusion: rockabilly is blues-infused country music, and despite all our talk about rock coming from the blues, it has just as much or even more country in it. Warren Smith isn't the only evidence of this, though he had one of the most successful formulas for producing this kind of thing: you can hear some great drumming on his tracks as well as the upright bass, along with some crude but impassioned (and kind of dirty-sounding) electric guitar played by Al Hopkins.
The problem with rockabilly, of course, especially in its archival form, is that it allows for only a limited range of song rhythms and lyrical topics. Smith was good at including the range of possibilities in his recording. "Goodbye Mr. Love" highlights Smith's skills as a vocalist (and his occasional imperfections, as well) and tends more toward the ballad side of things, but there's still a little rock in it. Here's one of his best tracks.
Of all the rockabillies out there, Warren Smith might be my favorite.
The reason to listen to rockabilly isn't to get at the origins of rock and roll, though that is one thing you'll get out of it. The reason to listen to rockabilly is that it's some of the best country music ever recorded. Rockabilly was, at the time, the latest in a series of cultural fusions between white and black music that have happened throughout the history of recorded music, but in a way it wasn't as much a fusion as it was an infusion: rockabilly is blues-infused country music, and despite all our talk about rock coming from the blues, it has just as much or even more country in it. Warren Smith isn't the only evidence of this, though he had one of the most successful formulas for producing this kind of thing: you can hear some great drumming on his tracks as well as the upright bass, along with some crude but impassioned (and kind of dirty-sounding) electric guitar played by Al Hopkins.
The problem with rockabilly, of course, especially in its archival form, is that it allows for only a limited range of song rhythms and lyrical topics. Smith was good at including the range of possibilities in his recording. "Goodbye Mr. Love" highlights Smith's skills as a vocalist (and his occasional imperfections, as well) and tends more toward the ballad side of things, but there's still a little rock in it. Here's one of his best tracks.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
3/18/2012
Woody Guthrie -- "This Land Is Your Land"
Maybe you have kids. Maybe you don't have kids. Maybe you don't have kids but you will some day.
If you have kids or will have kids some day, you need to make sure that you have driven them around out in the country with the windows down while listening to this song. Listen to it over and over again. Go visit a farm, cross some railroad tracks, look at the wide-open sky, and sing this song with them. If you have kids now or someday and you haven't done this, you are un-American. That is all I have to say about this song.
Maybe you have kids. Maybe you don't have kids. Maybe you don't have kids but you will some day.
If you have kids or will have kids some day, you need to make sure that you have driven them around out in the country with the windows down while listening to this song. Listen to it over and over again. Go visit a farm, cross some railroad tracks, look at the wide-open sky, and sing this song with them. If you have kids now or someday and you haven't done this, you are un-American. That is all I have to say about this song.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
3/17/2012
The Clash -- "If Music Could Talk"
Who exactly is responsible for this track? The fingerprints of many people are on it, not all of them official members of The Clash.
Which is quite all right, really, given the expansiveness of the band's musical vision on Sandinista! The sound of the album extends well beyond the band itself. The particular sound of this track is not the most cutting-edge thing the band has ever reached for, but it fits with the animating spirit of this very ambitious album.
Who exactly is responsible for this track? The fingerprints of many people are on it, not all of them official members of The Clash.
Which is quite all right, really, given the expansiveness of the band's musical vision on Sandinista! The sound of the album extends well beyond the band itself. The particular sound of this track is not the most cutting-edge thing the band has ever reached for, but it fits with the animating spirit of this very ambitious album.
Friday, March 16, 2012
3/16/2012
Alton Ellis -- "Dance Crashers"
Some classic soul-infused reggae from one of the all-time greats of the genre. What else needs to be said?
Some classic soul-infused reggae from one of the all-time greats of the genre. What else needs to be said?
Thursday, March 15, 2012
3/15/2012
The Clean -- "At the Bottom"
When Merge Records released The Clean's Anthology in 2003, it was a revelation to those of us who had never heard the band before. Everything sounded familiar, in part because the band was so good at swallowing up the sounds of their contemporaries from the northern hemisphere and spitting them back out as something new, and partly because The Clean had such a significant emphasis on the bands we did know (Pavement comes to mind). One song on Anthology might sound like a brilliant send-up of 60s garage beat, while the next deftly serves up New Wave tones in a rougher, more low-fi fashion, while the next draws on pure punk noise and energy.
"At the Bottom," a moody but active instrumental organized around the same three bass notes bouncing up and down throughout the song, doesn't fit into any of these categories. The studio version on Anthology has some layered guitar tracks, but the live version also included on Anthology makes just as much noise -- if not more -- which is pretty remarkable considering that the guitar is pretty much taking it one string at a time throughout. This track has a definitive 1980s guitar sound--not the chimey, chorused sound that is most typical of the era, nor the flattened out distortion of the big Marshall amps, but something different. The only way to describe it is to say that it's the sound of helicopters flying overhead.
If you want to know what a guitar could sound like in the 1980s, here's your song.
When Merge Records released The Clean's Anthology in 2003, it was a revelation to those of us who had never heard the band before. Everything sounded familiar, in part because the band was so good at swallowing up the sounds of their contemporaries from the northern hemisphere and spitting them back out as something new, and partly because The Clean had such a significant emphasis on the bands we did know (Pavement comes to mind). One song on Anthology might sound like a brilliant send-up of 60s garage beat, while the next deftly serves up New Wave tones in a rougher, more low-fi fashion, while the next draws on pure punk noise and energy.
"At the Bottom," a moody but active instrumental organized around the same three bass notes bouncing up and down throughout the song, doesn't fit into any of these categories. The studio version on Anthology has some layered guitar tracks, but the live version also included on Anthology makes just as much noise -- if not more -- which is pretty remarkable considering that the guitar is pretty much taking it one string at a time throughout. This track has a definitive 1980s guitar sound--not the chimey, chorused sound that is most typical of the era, nor the flattened out distortion of the big Marshall amps, but something different. The only way to describe it is to say that it's the sound of helicopters flying overhead.
If you want to know what a guitar could sound like in the 1980s, here's your song.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
3/14/2012
Buddy Holly -- "Blue Days"
This number, which echoes the same raw sound as Elvis' Sun Studios recordings, may not be the most quintessentially Holly-esque of tracks. It is a great song, though, even if it doesn't quite offer what we're looking for when we turn on Buddy Holly: the nerdy kid with the glasses who somehow managed to be cool in spite of himself, the adventurous popster who seemed to be pushing ahead to the next thing on the horizon. Holly seemed to be propelling himself into the future, his sound more like the early 60s at times than the 50s, but this number proves that he could also do straight-up rockabilly with the best of them.
This number, which echoes the same raw sound as Elvis' Sun Studios recordings, may not be the most quintessentially Holly-esque of tracks. It is a great song, though, even if it doesn't quite offer what we're looking for when we turn on Buddy Holly: the nerdy kid with the glasses who somehow managed to be cool in spite of himself, the adventurous popster who seemed to be pushing ahead to the next thing on the horizon. Holly seemed to be propelling himself into the future, his sound more like the early 60s at times than the 50s, but this number proves that he could also do straight-up rockabilly with the best of them.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
3/13/2012
The Sex Pistols -- "Holidays in the Sun"
At this point in history, I think we can truly start to never mind the bollocks and simply acknowledge that The Sex Pistols were a pretty good rock band. Yes, they gave some ghastly shocks to the already-moldering rock establishment (and to other establishments, as well), and the side show theatricals on their first and only US tour did rip the band apart in short order. But what strikes me these days about their one and only album proper is that it is a pretty heavily produced album, which means that in some ways it is not so out of keeping with a lot of other albums that were being made at the time. On vinyl, these first-generation punks bands (especially those of the British variety) rarely sounded as raw and direct as they did live. We've got bootlegs to prove that. It was the attitude -- and the accompanying lifestyles -- that proved shocking.
The band had a very limited range compared with, say, The Clash. The Pistols had one song formula, more or less, but it was a pretty effective one. At the time, this kind of thing was needed, a necessary corrective to the bombastic and heavy-handed approach of, say, Pink Floyd, which I think of as being the arch-nemesis of punk, and it's undeniable that the music of the Sex Pistols and comparable bands of the time is more straight-ahead, more primal, the guitar solos held back and the keyboards entirely at bay. That didn't stop Bill Price from layering things on in the sound booth, though, and listening to Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols -- especially the opening and perhaps the best track -- you have to admit that things worked out pretty well in the studio.
Musically, "Holidays in the Sun" doesn't have much to distinguish it from many of the other tracks on Never Mind the Bollocks, but it's a great way to open the album, especially with the jackbooted march that kicks off the song. Is that the fascists of the National Front, or is it the sound of studio execs in the halls of EMI? In context, I suppose it's the East German army, soldiers keeping watch over the wall. "Holidays in the Sun" has the Pistols' standard set of traditional rock guitar riffs adapted from the style of the New York Dolls, but the highlight is Johnny Rotten's half-serious, half in-jest vocal performance. What is he saying about the Berlin Wall? When the wall did come down, John Lydon didn't bother to show up. Pink Floyd, of course, was all over the place.
At this point in history, I think we can truly start to never mind the bollocks and simply acknowledge that The Sex Pistols were a pretty good rock band. Yes, they gave some ghastly shocks to the already-moldering rock establishment (and to other establishments, as well), and the side show theatricals on their first and only US tour did rip the band apart in short order. But what strikes me these days about their one and only album proper is that it is a pretty heavily produced album, which means that in some ways it is not so out of keeping with a lot of other albums that were being made at the time. On vinyl, these first-generation punks bands (especially those of the British variety) rarely sounded as raw and direct as they did live. We've got bootlegs to prove that. It was the attitude -- and the accompanying lifestyles -- that proved shocking.
The band had a very limited range compared with, say, The Clash. The Pistols had one song formula, more or less, but it was a pretty effective one. At the time, this kind of thing was needed, a necessary corrective to the bombastic and heavy-handed approach of, say, Pink Floyd, which I think of as being the arch-nemesis of punk, and it's undeniable that the music of the Sex Pistols and comparable bands of the time is more straight-ahead, more primal, the guitar solos held back and the keyboards entirely at bay. That didn't stop Bill Price from layering things on in the sound booth, though, and listening to Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols -- especially the opening and perhaps the best track -- you have to admit that things worked out pretty well in the studio.
Musically, "Holidays in the Sun" doesn't have much to distinguish it from many of the other tracks on Never Mind the Bollocks, but it's a great way to open the album, especially with the jackbooted march that kicks off the song. Is that the fascists of the National Front, or is it the sound of studio execs in the halls of EMI? In context, I suppose it's the East German army, soldiers keeping watch over the wall. "Holidays in the Sun" has the Pistols' standard set of traditional rock guitar riffs adapted from the style of the New York Dolls, but the highlight is Johnny Rotten's half-serious, half in-jest vocal performance. What is he saying about the Berlin Wall? When the wall did come down, John Lydon didn't bother to show up. Pink Floyd, of course, was all over the place.
Monday, March 12, 2012
3/12/2012
Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) – “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” (a.k.a. “In the Pines”)
Leadbelly was released from prison twice – once after being convicted of murdering another man in an argument over a woman and once after being convicted of assaulting a white man – because he was able to gain favor with influential people for his singing and playing, which he was occasionally allowed to do behind prison walls. Leadbelly’s style displays the similarities between rural white and rural African American music in the American South in the early days of recorded music, before the commercial recording industry further differentiated markets for white music and black music – that is, before black music was cordoned off discretely under the labels of jazz, blues, and gospel.
You listen to this song, and the blues as a genre do not come to mind. This song was a traditional favorite of both white and black audiences, and if the kids know it today, they probably know it from the Nirvana version. One of the lasting appeals of the "old weird America" is found in this song, with its somewhat elliptical explorations of ambiguously framed psycho-sexual tensions verging on violence. That is, this song taps into an undercurrent of the American psyche. Freud might have had something to say about this song if he'd had the chance and the inclination.
You listen to this song, and the blues as a genre do not come to mind. This song was a traditional favorite of both white and black audiences, and if the kids know it today, they probably know it from the Nirvana version. One of the lasting appeals of the "old weird America" is found in this song, with its somewhat elliptical explorations of ambiguously framed psycho-sexual tensions verging on violence. That is, this song taps into an undercurrent of the American psyche. Freud might have had something to say about this song if he'd had the chance and the inclination.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
3/11/2012
The Modern Lovers -- "I'm Straight"
At some point or another, I could probably pick through just about every song The Modern Lovers did in their original incarnation, and maybe I will. Let's just say that if "Roadrunner" is Jonathan Richman's great statement on the eternal verities of rock and roll, then "I'm Straight" is Jonathan Richman's great statement on the eternal verities of Jonathan Richman. Odd and idiosyncratic, cutting against the grain of the times, here is a statement by someone who is not afraid to be himself, even if that means he doesn't end up getting the girl in the end. It's a good thing that Richman discovered music, because if he didn't he would probably still be stalking the girl he's addressing in this song. This is simultaneously one of the coolest and one of the geekiest songs ever.
I'm sure that hippie Johnny would agree.
At some point or another, I could probably pick through just about every song The Modern Lovers did in their original incarnation, and maybe I will. Let's just say that if "Roadrunner" is Jonathan Richman's great statement on the eternal verities of rock and roll, then "I'm Straight" is Jonathan Richman's great statement on the eternal verities of Jonathan Richman. Odd and idiosyncratic, cutting against the grain of the times, here is a statement by someone who is not afraid to be himself, even if that means he doesn't end up getting the girl in the end. It's a good thing that Richman discovered music, because if he didn't he would probably still be stalking the girl he's addressing in this song. This is simultaneously one of the coolest and one of the geekiest songs ever.
I'm sure that hippie Johnny would agree.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
3/10/2012
Skip James – “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”
James’ signature falsetto is creepy and haunting and very distinct – nicely contrasting with the vocal sounds of Charley Patton and Howlin’ Wolf. His guitar style greatly differs from that of most other players of his era; he didn't use a slide. James originally recorded this song in the 1930s, but re-recorded it in 1964, when he returned to music after a long absence and an interim career as a minister. At the time he recorded the 1964 version of the song, he was terminally ill with cancer. The original, of course, has more of the authentic crackle and pop valued by collectors, but I find the re-recording to be just as haunting. This song can follow you around for days.
Friday, March 9, 2012
3/9/2012
Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother – “Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)”
The late folk guitarist and ethnomusicologist John Fahey called this track “the hottest ‘religious record’ ever made.” It’s hard to argue with him. At first, I thought that the percussion was being made by spoons, but according to Fahey it’s a tambourine. (It still sounds like spoons to me.)
This track can be found on Fahey's excellent Revenant Records collection, American Primitive Volume 1.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
3/8/2012
Charlie Patton – “High Water Everywhere”
Gravel-voiced Patton’s song about the famous and devastating Mississippi River flood of 1927. Listeners in Patton’s era would have known the event being referred to. Patton’s guitar style is incredibly intricate, involving separate rhythms for the bass notes, which are often sounded with a percussive slap, and leads for the higher notes that involve the bottleneck slide. Note also that Patton varies his vocal phrasing – he almost sounds like two different singers. This recording presents a whole lot of noise for one man. Of the great Delta blues artists, Patton is arguably the most unique, and he certainly boasts the most powerful and interesting voice.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
3/7/2012
Johnnie Lee Moore and Prisoners – “Early In the Mornin’”
A traditional chain gang song, recorded by renowned ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Note how the tempo, set by the sound of hammers breaking stone, speeds up as the workers sing. A “chorus” of convicts follows a lead singer. This track just proves that human beings will make music out of anything they have at their disposal, even if that’s only hammers and rocks and their own ragged voices.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
3/6/2012
The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Sedated"
One of about half a dozen Ramones songs that I would not want to have to live without, this one works great on almost any playlist. The sound here is a little updated: it was a good thing that the band moved beyond "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Beat on the Brat." They couldn't do the same song over and over anymore. It was a good song, but here's a slight variation on it. It still has the trademark Joey Ramone blunt/deadpan take on life in the underground scene*, but in addition to having the guitar sound toned down a little, there's even a key change here. Talk about sophistication.
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* Or maybe the sedatives being requested are not for recreational purposes but rather for medical purposes. That would put a truly unique spin on things.
One of about half a dozen Ramones songs that I would not want to have to live without, this one works great on almost any playlist. The sound here is a little updated: it was a good thing that the band moved beyond "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Beat on the Brat." They couldn't do the same song over and over anymore. It was a good song, but here's a slight variation on it. It still has the trademark Joey Ramone blunt/deadpan take on life in the underground scene*, but in addition to having the guitar sound toned down a little, there's even a key change here. Talk about sophistication.
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* Or maybe the sedatives being requested are not for recreational purposes but rather for medical purposes. That would put a truly unique spin on things.
Monday, March 5, 2012
3/5/2012
Bo Diddley -- "Roadrunner"
Not the most representative of Bo Diddley tracks, but one of his most endearing. It's a bit of a novelty number, but there's just a bit of a snarl in that guitar shuffle to give it a distinctive edge. This one works great in a playlist that features The Modern Lovers song of the same title and The Sex Pistols' version of the same. The three together pretty much give you a history of rock and roll music.
Not the most representative of Bo Diddley tracks, but one of his most endearing. It's a bit of a novelty number, but there's just a bit of a snarl in that guitar shuffle to give it a distinctive edge. This one works great in a playlist that features The Modern Lovers song of the same title and The Sex Pistols' version of the same. The three together pretty much give you a history of rock and roll music.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
3/4/2012
"Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord"
I'm not exactly a hippie or a practicing Christian, but the drama and music departments at the school where I teach just jointly put on a production of Godspell, and I have to admit that I was mesmerized.
First of all, I was raised Catholic and went through thirteen years of Catholic schooling (which might explain why I am no longer a practicing Christian). "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" was a standard when I was growing up. I just thought of it as another church song, though I do remember a rockin' version of it performed at one time by a group of singers led by my theology teacher, accompanied by the school drummer (whose name I forget) and guitarist Kevin Horn, who was rumored to be a Satan worshipper. Seeing my students put on this musical made me realize how much Godspell had seeped into the culture around me. The whole performance hit me with a wave of nostalgia but also some genuine feeling, a real positive energy, because the students who were singing these songs sang them like they meaned them.
Well, I won't be going back to church any time soon--I'm a little too analytical and perhaps a bit too cynical for that kind of thing these days--but it's nice to be reminded that Rick Santorum isn't the only kind of Christian out there.
I'm not exactly a hippie or a practicing Christian, but the drama and music departments at the school where I teach just jointly put on a production of Godspell, and I have to admit that I was mesmerized.
First of all, I was raised Catholic and went through thirteen years of Catholic schooling (which might explain why I am no longer a practicing Christian). "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" was a standard when I was growing up. I just thought of it as another church song, though I do remember a rockin' version of it performed at one time by a group of singers led by my theology teacher, accompanied by the school drummer (whose name I forget) and guitarist Kevin Horn, who was rumored to be a Satan worshipper. Seeing my students put on this musical made me realize how much Godspell had seeped into the culture around me. The whole performance hit me with a wave of nostalgia but also some genuine feeling, a real positive energy, because the students who were singing these songs sang them like they meaned them.
Well, I won't be going back to church any time soon--I'm a little too analytical and perhaps a bit too cynical for that kind of thing these days--but it's nice to be reminded that Rick Santorum isn't the only kind of Christian out there.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
3/3/2012
ZZ Top -- La Grange
Although I'm not a big fan of most of the behomoth AOR bands of the 1970s, I have to pay respect to these guys for having some pretty tight gutbucket blues. This is one of those songs that I heard so often as a kid that I never bothered to question what the song might mean until recently. (It's about a brothel, it turns out.) The song is incredibly simple, but the key change in the middle -- and then the subsequent turnaround taking the song back to A -- go a long ways toward giving the song the dimensions it needs. This song almost -- almost -- makes me think fondly of Texas, a state I've never really understood.
Although I'm not a big fan of most of the behomoth AOR bands of the 1970s, I have to pay respect to these guys for having some pretty tight gutbucket blues. This is one of those songs that I heard so often as a kid that I never bothered to question what the song might mean until recently. (It's about a brothel, it turns out.) The song is incredibly simple, but the key change in the middle -- and then the subsequent turnaround taking the song back to A -- go a long ways toward giving the song the dimensions it needs. This song almost -- almost -- makes me think fondly of Texas, a state I've never really understood.
Friday, March 2, 2012
3/2/2012
The Modern Lovers -- "Roadrunner"
Jonathan Richman is out to prove here that three chords equals one too many--but then just to show that he could do it, he adds an extra chord right at the end. I don't think I've ever heard a song recorded in the studio that sounds so spontaneous, at least not one since the invention of multi-track recording.
There's the vintage rock sound of the organ, the single streamlined guitar riff that powers the song, and above all there's the rambling creativity of the nearly-spoken lyrics. The whole thing is so simple but undeniably distinctive, the work of a particular and peculiar genius. The song offers a simple equation: rock and roll isn't about sex or drugs or anything else. It's just about driving down the highway late at night, listening to the radio--or, in other words, discovering that moment when the world seems like it's made just for you. This song offers a very different vision fom anything else being offered in the early 70s, or even since then, really, but if you've ever seen the moon shine when you're out at night and driving around, listening to the radio, you know what Richman is talking about.
Certainly a candidate for best rock and roll song of all time, as far as I'm concerned.
Jonathan Richman is out to prove here that three chords equals one too many--but then just to show that he could do it, he adds an extra chord right at the end. I don't think I've ever heard a song recorded in the studio that sounds so spontaneous, at least not one since the invention of multi-track recording.
There's the vintage rock sound of the organ, the single streamlined guitar riff that powers the song, and above all there's the rambling creativity of the nearly-spoken lyrics. The whole thing is so simple but undeniably distinctive, the work of a particular and peculiar genius. The song offers a simple equation: rock and roll isn't about sex or drugs or anything else. It's just about driving down the highway late at night, listening to the radio--or, in other words, discovering that moment when the world seems like it's made just for you. This song offers a very different vision fom anything else being offered in the early 70s, or even since then, really, but if you've ever seen the moon shine when you're out at night and driving around, listening to the radio, you know what Richman is talking about.
Certainly a candidate for best rock and roll song of all time, as far as I'm concerned.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
3/1/2012
Husker Du -- "Chartered Trips"
The first thing to note here, as in many Husker Du tracks, is the military precision of the drums. Bob Mould's hoarse barbaric yawp may not have been the kind that Whitman had in mind, but it's certainly one hell of a yawp. I don't know what kind of amp Mould used, but it sounds solid state to me: loud, flat-toned, with a lot of staticky electric distortion. It works for what he was trying to do in Husker Du.
Like all good 80s music, this song kicks at the pricks of the decade. The sound is wholly of the 80s but also apart from it, in that now-mythical territory inhabited by the outsiders: Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, and The Smiths, but also The Minutemen and Husker Du -- basically anyone who declined the opportunity to pop the collar of their polo shirt.
I once had a student who said she thought that she should have been alive in 80s because all of her favorite bands were from the 80s. I should have made her listen to this song. This song captures what it was like to be alive then, to be a misfit, to feel like nowhere was your home. Most of the great music from this decade was made out of the misery of being alive in this decade. I love the music. I wouldn't repeat the decade, though, for all the millions of the Reagan Revolution.
The first thing to note here, as in many Husker Du tracks, is the military precision of the drums. Bob Mould's hoarse barbaric yawp may not have been the kind that Whitman had in mind, but it's certainly one hell of a yawp. I don't know what kind of amp Mould used, but it sounds solid state to me: loud, flat-toned, with a lot of staticky electric distortion. It works for what he was trying to do in Husker Du.
Like all good 80s music, this song kicks at the pricks of the decade. The sound is wholly of the 80s but also apart from it, in that now-mythical territory inhabited by the outsiders: Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, and The Smiths, but also The Minutemen and Husker Du -- basically anyone who declined the opportunity to pop the collar of their polo shirt.
I once had a student who said she thought that she should have been alive in 80s because all of her favorite bands were from the 80s. I should have made her listen to this song. This song captures what it was like to be alive then, to be a misfit, to feel like nowhere was your home. Most of the great music from this decade was made out of the misery of being alive in this decade. I love the music. I wouldn't repeat the decade, though, for all the millions of the Reagan Revolution.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
2/29/2012
The Minutemen -- "If Reagan Played Disco"
There's no mistaking the signature sound of The Minutemen. On this track, as always, Mike Watt's spastic bass gives the song its funky, frenetic groove, and D. Boon's equally spastic guitar provides the perfect backdrop for his brief burst of crude but insightful punk political philosophy. What the band lacked in poetic finesse they made up for in creativity and sheer energy.
For those who weren't on board with the Reagan Revolution back in the 1980s, The Minutemen were your band. If you're still not on board with Reagan Revolution, The Minutemen are still your band. Tracks like this still sound great nearly thirty years after the fact.
There's no mistaking the signature sound of The Minutemen. On this track, as always, Mike Watt's spastic bass gives the song its funky, frenetic groove, and D. Boon's equally spastic guitar provides the perfect backdrop for his brief burst of crude but insightful punk political philosophy. What the band lacked in poetic finesse they made up for in creativity and sheer energy.
For those who weren't on board with the Reagan Revolution back in the 1980s, The Minutemen were your band. If you're still not on board with Reagan Revolution, The Minutemen are still your band. Tracks like this still sound great nearly thirty years after the fact.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
2/28/2012
Joe Strummer -- "Burning Lights"
If you can find a copy of this song, you're a luckier or more talented human being than I am. Why it hasn't been re-released after its initial 7" pressing of a few hundred copies, I don't know. The song and its singer are featured in the movie I Hired a Contract Killer, from 1990, and it's one of the best and most pure of Strummer's solo career. A simple rhythm on the Telecaster and some light percussion are all there is here, but that's enough to highlight the gentle and folksy vocal performance. I can't seem to find a copy of the 7" for sale anywhere, but you can listen to the song on youtube.
If you can find a copy of this song, you're a luckier or more talented human being than I am. Why it hasn't been re-released after its initial 7" pressing of a few hundred copies, I don't know. The song and its singer are featured in the movie I Hired a Contract Killer, from 1990, and it's one of the best and most pure of Strummer's solo career. A simple rhythm on the Telecaster and some light percussion are all there is here, but that's enough to highlight the gentle and folksy vocal performance. I can't seem to find a copy of the 7" for sale anywhere, but you can listen to the song on youtube.
Monday, February 27, 2012
2/27/2012
Prince Buster -- "One Step Beyond"
The rhythm here is one of the most intense you'll ever hear, and the sax has the kind of sound that you could only get in the 1960s. You can play the same notes, but they just don't sound like that anymore.
I can't claim to be a great expert on ska, and I sometimes get my rocksteady confused with straight-up reggae, but as far as I can tell this track is the very epitome of what ska as a genre is trying to achieve.
The rhythm here is one of the most intense you'll ever hear, and the sax has the kind of sound that you could only get in the 1960s. You can play the same notes, but they just don't sound like that anymore.
I can't claim to be a great expert on ska, and I sometimes get my rocksteady confused with straight-up reggae, but as far as I can tell this track is the very epitome of what ska as a genre is trying to achieve.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
2/26/2012
Eddy Grant -- "Electric Avenue"
I remember the video to this one from my youth. I was 9 or maybe 10, and the song and video both left me confused. I was from the far western edge of the Kansas City suburbs, in other words, a step away from nowhere, a very provincial place. I had no idea where a guy like Eddy Grant might come from, what he was about. Now I know that Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, South London, home to a large population of West Indian immigrants and their descendents, the rough place where the crooked beats come from. Now I know that England isn't just white people anymore. It would take me a while to find all of that out.
The politics of this song are one thing, represented in the video by the drowning motif. Then there's the beat, which takes the form of a revving motorcycle ride down Brixton High Street. Here is a thrill indeed. The sound of this track is electronic but organic. My own kids (ages 3 and 6) are in love with the song, and they know all the words, even if they don't have a clue yet as to what they mean.
I remember the video to this one from my youth. I was 9 or maybe 10, and the song and video both left me confused. I was from the far western edge of the Kansas City suburbs, in other words, a step away from nowhere, a very provincial place. I had no idea where a guy like Eddy Grant might come from, what he was about. Now I know that Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, South London, home to a large population of West Indian immigrants and their descendents, the rough place where the crooked beats come from. Now I know that England isn't just white people anymore. It would take me a while to find all of that out.
The politics of this song are one thing, represented in the video by the drowning motif. Then there's the beat, which takes the form of a revving motorcycle ride down Brixton High Street. Here is a thrill indeed. The sound of this track is electronic but organic. My own kids (ages 3 and 6) are in love with the song, and they know all the words, even if they don't have a clue yet as to what they mean.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
2/25/2012
The Beach Boys -- "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
The earnestness of the sentiment expressed here belies the utter sophistication of the recording. It's harder than ever now to believe that this track (along with the rest of Pet Sounds) was put together with 2-track technology.
I've always suspected that there's a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek attitude to this song -- but only a little bit. In the days before safe, reliable contraception achieved widespread availability, the option for a lot of kids was marry or abstain. There's a sweetness to the emotion being expressed here that is naive but also winning, and, I think, more genuine than not. The innocence wouldn't last forever for the Beach Boys. But here they are at their peak, poised at a moment when everything was on the verge of change but hadn't quite changed yet. This song, and the accompanying album, capture that moment in more ways than one.
The earnestness of the sentiment expressed here belies the utter sophistication of the recording. It's harder than ever now to believe that this track (along with the rest of Pet Sounds) was put together with 2-track technology.
I've always suspected that there's a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek attitude to this song -- but only a little bit. In the days before safe, reliable contraception achieved widespread availability, the option for a lot of kids was marry or abstain. There's a sweetness to the emotion being expressed here that is naive but also winning, and, I think, more genuine than not. The innocence wouldn't last forever for the Beach Boys. But here they are at their peak, poised at a moment when everything was on the verge of change but hadn't quite changed yet. This song, and the accompanying album, capture that moment in more ways than one.
Friday, February 24, 2012
2/24/2012
The Rolling Stones -- "Stray Cat Blues"
Here's a song that makes me cringe. I can't seem to stop listening to it, though.
I'm always one to enforce a separation between the singer and the singer's persona. And I'm not one to moralize about art. Still, this track seems to be crossing a border. "I can see that you're 15 years old / No I don't want your I.D." It might not be a capital crime, but Roman Polanski got in a lot of trouble for this sort of thing. Sir Mick, apparently, can get away with anything, though. Of course, it's always possible that the song is tongue-in-cheek, but given the singer's reputation I doubt it.
If we can just set the lyrics aside for a moment -- if that's possible -- we've got a great, searing, rocked-out blues number here. One of the Stones' dirtiest, grungiest best. It's got the standard Stones open-tuned rhythm track and a few notes borroweed from that stinging lead that we start hearing about halfway into "Sympathy for the Devil" (it's Keith Richards, I think, but it's hard to tell sometimes). It's got the lengthy, toned-down coda that the band played with a few times in the late 60s/early 70s. It's a great, dirty song from a great, dirty album. Let's just give Sir Mick the benefit of the doubt and assume it's tongue-in-cheek.
Here's a song that makes me cringe. I can't seem to stop listening to it, though.
I'm always one to enforce a separation between the singer and the singer's persona. And I'm not one to moralize about art. Still, this track seems to be crossing a border. "I can see that you're 15 years old / No I don't want your I.D." It might not be a capital crime, but Roman Polanski got in a lot of trouble for this sort of thing. Sir Mick, apparently, can get away with anything, though. Of course, it's always possible that the song is tongue-in-cheek, but given the singer's reputation I doubt it.
If we can just set the lyrics aside for a moment -- if that's possible -- we've got a great, searing, rocked-out blues number here. One of the Stones' dirtiest, grungiest best. It's got the standard Stones open-tuned rhythm track and a few notes borroweed from that stinging lead that we start hearing about halfway into "Sympathy for the Devil" (it's Keith Richards, I think, but it's hard to tell sometimes). It's got the lengthy, toned-down coda that the band played with a few times in the late 60s/early 70s. It's a great, dirty song from a great, dirty album. Let's just give Sir Mick the benefit of the doubt and assume it's tongue-in-cheek.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
2/23/2012
The Velvet Underground -- "Candy Says"
Here's a soft-sounding song about something pretty hard-edged, especially considering the time at which the song was written. This song effectively approximates the voice and vision of Candy Darling, the most famous transsexual of her time, and takes the gender-bending themes that were merely latent in rock and roll (my dad always thought Elvis sounded like a girl; Little Richard did sound like a girl) and places them front and center, with little ambiguity. Lou Reed kicks off the musical thematics of the 1970s two years in advance of the calendar with this one.
All that being said, what makes this such a great song is the pretty melody. Lou Reed's fragile voice seems as if it's about to veer out of key at any moment, but he keeps it in place, just barely. This song, the first track on their self-titled third album, is as close to a dare as The VU could make at the time -- to take their drug-fueled experimental rock and try to fit it into a conventional pop framework while still finding a way to break boundaries. Ultimately, though, the song is less shocking than it is human and humane. Candy has feelings. Candy feels bad about himself/herself, and life, it turns out, is not just one long party. But there's still hope. The bluebirds still fly.
Here's a soft-sounding song about something pretty hard-edged, especially considering the time at which the song was written. This song effectively approximates the voice and vision of Candy Darling, the most famous transsexual of her time, and takes the gender-bending themes that were merely latent in rock and roll (my dad always thought Elvis sounded like a girl; Little Richard did sound like a girl) and places them front and center, with little ambiguity. Lou Reed kicks off the musical thematics of the 1970s two years in advance of the calendar with this one.
All that being said, what makes this such a great song is the pretty melody. Lou Reed's fragile voice seems as if it's about to veer out of key at any moment, but he keeps it in place, just barely. This song, the first track on their self-titled third album, is as close to a dare as The VU could make at the time -- to take their drug-fueled experimental rock and try to fit it into a conventional pop framework while still finding a way to break boundaries. Ultimately, though, the song is less shocking than it is human and humane. Candy has feelings. Candy feels bad about himself/herself, and life, it turns out, is not just one long party. But there's still hope. The bluebirds still fly.
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