The Sunday Six

Welcome to another installment of The Sunday Six, my weekly zig-zag excursions exploring different styles of music over the past 70 years, six tunes at a time. This installment kicks off with jazz from 1956, followed by new jazzy pop-rock from 2021, country rock from 1976, new wave from 1984 and soft rock from 2013, before finishing up with some rock from 1967.

Charles Mingus/Profile of Jackie

I’d like to embark on this little journey with beautiful music by Charles Mingus, who is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians. Over a 30-year career, the double bassist, pianist, composer and bandleader played with many other greats like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and released about 50 albums as a bandleader. Initially, Mingus started on the trombone and later studied the cello before picking up the double bass. As a teenager, he felt excluded from the classical music world since he couldn’t join a youth orchestra because of his inability to read musical notation quickly enough due to a poor education. These experiences, along with lifelong racism Mingus encountered influenced his music that oftentimes focused on themes like racial discrimination and injustice. By the mid-70s, sadly, Mingus had ALS. Eventually, this heinous disease made it impossible for him to play bass. Mingus continued to compose music until his untimely death in January 1979 at the age of 56. Here’s Profile of Jackie, a composition from a 1956 album titled Pithecanthropus Erectus. Mingus’ backing musicians included Jackie McLean (alto saxophone), J.R. Monterose (tenor saxophone), Mal Waldron (piano) and Willie Jones (drums).

ShwizZ/Overboard

For this next tune, I’d like to jump to the present and a cool band I first featured on the blog back in April as part of another Sunday Six installment: ShwizZ. Their website describes them as a one of a kind powerhouse from Nyack, New York. Drawing a substantial influence from classic progressive rock and funk, they consistently put their musical abilities to the test to deliver a high intensity and musically immersive show. ShwizZ note Frank Zappa, Yes, P-Funk and King Crimson as their influences. The band, which has been around for about 10 years, features Ryan Liatsis (guitar), Will Burgaletta (keyboards), Scott Hogan (bass) and Andrew Boxer (drums). Here’s their latest single Overboard. Not only do I love the cool Steely Dan vibe, but I also find the clip pretty hilarious.

Hoodoo Rhythm Devils/Safecracker

Any band that calls itself the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils gets my attention. Until a week ago or so, I had never heard of this ’70s American group until I came across their tune Safecracker. According to Apple Music, Hoodoo Rhythm Devils blended blues boogie with country-rock, rock & roll and some soul. Initially, they were formed in San Francisco in 1970 by guitar teacher John Rewind (guitar), his student Lee Humphries (guitar) and Humphries’ friend Joe Crane (vocals). They were later joined by Glenn Walter (drums) and Richard Greene (bass). Between 1971 and 1978, Hoodoo Rhythm Devils released five studio albums. The group’s line-up changed various times over the years until they disbanded in 1980 following Crane’s death from leukemia. Here’s the above-mentioned Safecracker, an awesome tune from the band’s fourth studio album Safe In Their Homes from 1976. The song also appeared separately as a single that year. I can hear some Doobies in here.

The Cars/You Might Think

The Cars are a band I always realize know much better than I think I do once I start listening to their music. While I’m not very familiar with their background and can only name a few of their songs off the top of my head, I recognize a good deal of their songs when I hear them. It’s not really surprising since the American new wave and pop-rock band had hits throughout much of their career. The Cars were formed in Boston in 1976 and included Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), Benjamin Orr (bass) and David Robinson (drums). During their initial run until 1988, six studio albums appeared. After reuniting in 2010, The Cars released one more album before going on another hiatus in 2011. A second reunion followed in 2018 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In September 2019, Ocasek was found dead in his apartment in New York at the age of 75. You Might Think, written by Ocasek, is from the band’s fifth studio album Heartbeat City that appeared in March 1984. It also became the record’s lead single that same month, and one of the band’s biggest U.S. hits, reaching no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Mainstream Rock chart. Quite a catchy tune!

Lenny Kravitz/I May Not Be A Star (Light Piece For Vanessa)

For this next track, let’s go to January 2013 and the 20th-anniversary edition of Are You Gonna Go My Way, which initially appeared in March 1993 as the third studio album by Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz entered my radar screen in late 1991 when I first heard his excellent sophomore album Mama Said that had been released in March of the same year. Since he started his recording career in 1989, Kravitz has released 11 studio albums, one greatest hits collection and various box set compilations, among others. I May Not Be A Star (Light Piece For Vanessa) is a bonus track on the aforementioned 20th-anniversary reissue of the Are You Gonna Go My Way album. I came across the tune coincidentally the other day. With the only lyrics being baby, I may not be a star, it sounds like an unfinished song – still, I dig it! I assume Vanessa refers to French singer and model Vanessa Paradis who Kravitz was dating at the time the original record came out.

The Doors/Break On Through (To The Other Side)

And once again, it’s time to wrap up things. For my final pick, I’d like to jump back to January 1967 when The Doors released their eponymous debut album. It was the first of six albums recorded by all four members of the great L.A. rock group, Jim Morrison (lead vocals, harmonica, percussion), Robby Krieger (guitar, vocals), Ray Manzarek (keyboards, keyboard bass, vocals) and John Densmore (drums, percussion, backing vocals). After Morrison’s death in July 1971 in Paris, France, The Doors released two more albums, Other Voices (October 1971) and Full Circle (1972), before they disbanded in 1973. A third Morrison post-mortem album, An American Prayer, appeared in 1978. Krieger and Densmore are still alive and remain active. Manzarek passed away in May 2013. Here’s one of my favorite tunes from the band’s first album, Break On Through (To The Other Side), credited to all four members.

Sources: Wikipedia; ShwizZ website; YouTube

Pink Floyd’s Meddle Turns 50

Today, 50 years ago, Pink Floyd released their sixth studio album Meddle, yet another gem in the treasure trove of 1971 to hit the big milestone. Coming just a little over a year after Atom Heart Mother, Meddle is considered a transitional album that foreshadowed what arguably were the band’s Mount Rushmore releases The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. While the two latter records were always among my favorite Floyd albums, Meddle is a record that grew on me over the years. Nowadays, if I could only pick one, I might actually go with Meddle.

According to Wikipedia, when Pink Floyd went into the studio in January 1971, they had no clear idea what kind of record they wanted to make. Apparently, the work started out with some novel experiments that inspired what would become my favorite Pink Floyd track these days, the mighty Echoes. Unlike the group’s later albums that increasingly were dominated by themes and lyrics devised by Roger Waters, Meddle featured lyrical contributions from each band member.

Meddle inner gatefold (from left): Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour and Richard Wright

The recording sessions for Meddle stretched out over eight months from January through August 1970. That’s because Pink Floyd had concert commitments throughout that period, which forced starts and stops. During that same timeframe, the band was also working on Relics, a great compilation album of their early work with Syd Barrett. Considering all these distractions, it’s quite remarkable to me that Meddle turned out to be such a masterpiece.

There were also some technical challenges. At the time Pink Floyd started work on the album at Abbey Road Studios, the facility only had eight-track recording technology, something the band found insufficient for their needs. As such, they ended up working at other smaller studios in London, which already were equipped with 16-track recording technology.

Time for some music! Let’s start with the opening instrumental One of These Days, which is credited to all four members of the band. The dominant pumping bassline was double-tracked, with each Roger Waters and David Gilmour playing one track. The cheerful line, “One of these days I will cut you into little pieces,” was spoken by drummer Nick Mason. Songfacts notes it was “digitally warped to give it an evil sound to it” – mission accomplished!

Fearless is an acoustic tune co-written by Gilmour and Waters. According to Wikipedia, Waters played it in a guitar tuning called open G, which Syd Barrett had taught him. In this tuning, the lower E and A strings and the high e string are each tuned down by one note to D, G and d, respectively, so a G major chord can be played without fretting a string. The crowd of people that can be heard near the beginning and at end of the song is a field recording of Liverpool soccer fans chanting their anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

The final track on side one is Seamus, a country blues style song credited to all members of the band. The tune was named after a dog that belonged to Steve Marriott, the frontman of Humble Pie at the time. Songfacts notes the dog would bark and howl every time he heard music, or if someone played the guitar. In fact, the dog can be heard barking and howling throughout the entire track. Pink Floyd biographer Nicholas Schaffner dismissed the tune. Gilmour essentially admitted the song wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, saying, “I guess it wasn’t really as funny to everyone else [as] it was to us.”

This brings me to the only tune that makes up the entire side two of the album. While at 23 and a half minutes Echoes is a pretty long track, no post about Meddle would be complete without it. Once again, Echoes was credited to the entire band. The ambient sound effects and musical improvisation resemble what Pink Floyd would take to the next level a few years later on The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. I’ve really come to love this epic track!

Overall, Meddle was well received by music critics when it came out. It also enjoyed significant chart success, especially in Europe where it climbed to no. 3, no. 7, no. 11 and no. 2 in the UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands, respectively. The performance was more moderate in the U.S. and Canada where Meddle reached no. 70 and no. 51, respectively.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

Best of What’s New

It’s Saturday, which means the time has come again to take a fresh look at newly-released music. As more frequent visitors of the blog know, my favorite decades are the ’60s and the ’70s, which can make finding contemporary music that speaks to me a tough proposition. But after having written this weekly feature for some 20 months, I can safely say there’s still some new music out there I dig. Some weeks it’s a longer process to find it than others. This time, putting together the post went pretty quickly. My picks include some country, rock and indie rock. All tunes are on albums that were released yesterday (October 29).

Emily Scott Robinson/Things You Learn the Hard Way

I’d like to start with Emily Scott Robinson, who according to her website is a Colorado-based singer-songwriter: Robinson grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and turned toward guitar at age 13, after a summer camp counselor closed out the nights by playing songs by Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Dar Williams every night. She taught herself to play in the early 2000s by printing guitar tabs from the internet and singing to CDs by Indigo Girls and James Taylor. But she didn’t pursue songwriting until after seeing Nanci Griffith perform in Greensboro in 2007… Graduating from Furman University with degrees in history and Spanish, Robinson took a job as a social worker and translator in 2011…In 2013, she found kindred spirits at Planet Bluegrass’ The Song School, a songwriting retreat in Lyons, Colorado, where other participants encouraged her talent, and just as importantly, showed her that being a touring musician could be a viable financial option. I wonder how many other young artists share that view. Robinson’s debut album Magnolia Queen appeared in 2016. Things You Learn the Hard Way is a track from her new album American Siren, a mix of bluegrass, country and folk. Like all other tunes on the record, the song was written by her – pretty music, and I also like Robinson’s voice.

Jerry Cantrell/Brighten

Jerry Cantrell is best known as lead guitarist, lead vocalist and the main songwriter of Seattle rock band Alice in Chains, which he formed in 1987. While I definitely know their name, I don’t believe I’ve heard any of their music. In addition to recording six albums with the group and collaborations with Ozzy Osborne and other artists, Cantrell has released four solo albums to date, starting with Boggy Depot from March 1998. Brighten, written by Cantrell, is the title track of his new album. Nice rocker!

Charlotte Cornfield/Blame Myself

Charlotte Cornfield is a Canadian singer-songwriter who was born in Toronto. According to Wikipedia, her music has been compared to the likes of The Band, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Neil Young. Cornfield has also mentioned David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and Gillian Welch among her influences – many big names here! During her childhood, Cornfield played the piano, drums and French horn. Following her relocation to Montreal where she studied jazz drumming at Concordia University, Cornfield decided to pursue a professional career as a solo artist. Her debut EP It’s Like That Here came out in 2008. Her first full-length album Two Horses was released in March 2011. Blame Myself, penned by Cornfield, appears on her new album Highs in the Minuses, her fouth.

The War on Drugs/Change

The War on Drugs are an indie rock band that was founded in Philadelphia in 2005. Again, while I’m definitely familiar with their name, I can’t identify any of their songs. According to their profile on Apple Music, the group has been a vehicle for singer-songwriter Adam Granduciel, whose synth-infused folk-rock storytelling has drawn comparisons to Bruce Springsteen. The War on Drugs began as a duo with Granduciel and singer-songwriter Kurt Vile, who appeared on 2008’s debut Wagonwheel Blues before making a name for himself as a solo artist. Their breakout LP Slave Ambient, which landed at No. 5 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart, was named on Pitchfork’s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2011. This brings me to the band’s fifth and new studio album I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Here’s a great tune called Change, co-written by Granduciel, together with band members Anthony LaMarca (guitar, percussion, drums, vibraphone, pedal steel guitar) and Dave Hartley (bass, guitar). Based on this and a few other songs I’ve heard from the new album, I want to further explore this band.

Sources: Wikipedia; Emily Scott Robinson website; Apple Music; YouTube

What I’ve Been Listening to: Jean-Michel Jarre/Oxygène

In general, I’m not much into electronic music. One of the exceptions is Oxygène by Jean-Michel Jarre, an album I loved right away when got it on vinyl as a teenager. This must have been around 1980. I own that copy to this day and it’s still in reasonable condition.

Jarre’s third studio album, released in December 1976, first entered my radar screen when I heard the single Oxygène (Part IV) on the radio back in Germany. It became quite popular, which is remarkable for an instrumental. On the other hand, I guess I’m not surprised. The track has a memorable melody, and that spacy sound is just cool, especially if you listen to it with headphones.

Jean-Michel Jarre, who was 28 when Oxygène came out

According to Wikipedia, Jarre recorded Oxygène in a makeshift home recording studio, using various analogue synthesizers, a digital synthesizer, and other electronic instruments and effects. You can see some of the gear in the below clip of Oxygène (Part IV).

Let’s take a closer look at the music, which was all composed by Jarre. Each of the six tracks is fairly long. Here’s the opener Oxygène (Part I).

Oxygène (Part III), the third and final track on side one (in vinyl speak), is the shortest. There isn’t really much to say about the individual tracks. I find this music perfect to relax. In fact, I’ve listened to it many times over the decades in bed to fall asleep.

This brings me to Side two and the tune that started my fascination with this record that makes you feel like you’re floating in space: Oxygène (Part IV).

And finally, here’s the last track Oxygène (Part VI). The sound effects are just amazing, which is why I highly recommend using headphones when listening to the album.

Even though many music critics were lukewarm about Oxygène, it enjoyed substantial mainstream chart success, hitting no. 1 in Jarre’s native France, no. 2 in the UK, no. 3 in Sweden, no. 4 in The Netherlands and no. 8 in Germany, among others. Except for Australia where it reached no. 10, the album’s success beyond Europe was more moderate: No. 29 in Australia and no. 78 in the U.S.

I also own Équinoxe on vinyl, the follow-on to Oxygène, which appeared in December 1978. Once again, it took Jarre to no. 1 in France, though overall, the album wasn’t as successful as Oxygène. While it’s not a bad record, for some reason, I like it much less than Oxygène – not exactly sure why. Perhaps, it no longer had the novelty factor.

Jean-Michel Jarre, who is now 73 years old, is still active. Since Équinoxe he has released 20 additional albums. His most recent, Amazônia, appeared in April this year. Other than Oxygène and Équinoxe, I haven’t explored his music.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

The Hump Day Picker-Upper

For those of us taking care of business during the regular work week, I guess it’s safe to assume we’ve all felt that dreadful Wednesday blues. Sometimes, that middle point of the work week can be a true drag. But help is on the way!

With the fourth post on the fourth Wednesday in a row, it’s starting to look like I might be able to sustain The Hump Day Picker-Upper as a weekly recurring feature.

My pick for today is I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown. Written by the hardest working man in show business, the song first appeared on Brown’s album Out of Sight from September 1964. An alternate take was released as a single in October 1965. The song also was the title track of a compilation album that came out in January 1966.

The above single version of I Got You (I Feel Good) became Brown’s highest charting mainstream hit in the U.S., reaching no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his third no. 1 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. It’s hard to believe that none of Brown’s other gems like Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World or Cold Sweat ever topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Happy Hump Day, and always remember the words of the wise George Harrison: All things must pass!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

Sue Foley’s New Album Celebrates Texas Blues

If you frequently read my blog or know my music taste otherwise, this post probably won’t come as a big surprise. My latest Best of What’s New installment included Dallas Man, an excellent tune by Canadian blues veteran Sue Foley from her new album Pinky’s Blues. When the music is so great, there’s no way I wouldn’t check out the album. Well, that’s what I did, and I very much like what I heard.

Released on October 22, Pinky’s Blues is the 11th studio album by Foley who relocated to Austin, Texas in her early ’20s, drawn to the lone star state by the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Freddie King. Now, after all these years, Foley decided to pay homage to some of the blues artists who were born in Texas or ended up there.

According to a news post on the website of Foley’s record label Stone Plain Records, Pinky’s Blues was recorded last year during COVID lockdown at Fire Station Studios in San Marcos, Texas. In addition to Foley (guitar, vocals), the album features Jon Penner (bass), Chris “Whipper” Layton (drums) and Mike Flanigin (organ) who also served as producer.

Seven of the 10 tracks are renditions of songs by artists like Lavelle White, Frankie Lee Sims, Lillie Mae Donley and Angela Strehli. While there’s no Stevie Ray Vaughan or Freddie King here, it’s still a compelling set of tunes Foley picked to cover. And there are three great original songs, including the aforementioned Dallas Man.

“What you’re hearing is live, off the floor, in the moment the music was played totally spontaneously and, mainly, improvised,” Foley explained. “And, we wanted to make something representative of the Texas blues that we had been schooled on in Austin. So, we picked great songs and I wrote a few of my own to round things out. Everything on it is a labor of love.”

Well, I’d say the time has come to sample some of the goodies! Let’s start with the title track, which also happens to be the opener. Pinky’s Blues, an instrumental written by Foley, refers to her pink paisley Fender Telecaster (called Pinkie) she’s played for decades. Check out that neat sound!

Since I recently covered Dallas Man, I’m skipping it here and go to Southern Men. Originally called Southern Women, the song was written by Leonard Allen and recorded by blues and R&B artist Tommy Brown in 1954.

Here’s Hurricane Girl, the third tune written by Foley. I just love how that song is shuffling along and could totally picture Stevie Ray Vaughan play it. This is so good!

Next up: Stop These Teardrops, a tune written by Lavelle White that appeared on her debut album Miss Lavelle from 1994. What a great rendition! If you’re curious, the compelling original is here.

The final track I’d like to call out is Boogie Real Low, another great cover. The song was written by electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims and titled She Likes to Boogie Really Low. Sims recorded it in 1958.

Further reflecting on her music journey, Foley said, “The fact that I have ended up back in Austin just seems right. My home is Canada and I definitely identify as a Canadian. But I had a yearning for this music and I can’t even put my finger on why or how. It got in my soul when I was a teenager. I guess I was open and I got imprinted by the sound and the force of blues music. I saw my first blues show at 15 and I swear I’ve never been the same.”

To support the release of her new album, Foley has embarked on a large tour of the U.S. and Canada. “After being home for so long, all I really want to do is turn up and play my guitar for as many folks as I can,” Foley said. “I can’t wait to get out on the road.” Her tour schedule is here.

Sources: Wikipedia; Stony Plain Records website; Sue Foley website; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Yep, hard to believe it’s Sunday again. While I find it amazing how another week just flew by, on the upside, this also means it’s time again for my favorite feature, The Sunday Six. For first-time visitors, these weekly posts are mini excursions exploring different styles of music in zig-zag fashion over the past 70 years, six tunes at a time.

My picks for this installment include instrumental acoustic guitar music, classic rock & roll, rock, soul and pop rock. The journey starts in 2021 and then makes stops in 1959, 1979, 1967 and 1995 before it comes to an end in 2003. All on board and fasten your seatbelts!

Hayden Pedigo/Letting Go

As is often the case in this series, I’d like to start with an instrumental track. This time, instead of a jazz tune, I’ve picked some lovely acoustic guitar music by Hayden Pedigo, a 27-year-old American artist whose music I first encountered about a month ago. According to Wikipedia, Pedigo started taking guitar lessons as a 12-year-old. His diverse influences include Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ry Cooder, as well as artists of the so-called American Primitive Guitar style, such as John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Daniel Bachman and Mark Fosson. Pedigo has also studied Soft Machine and King Crimson, and jazz artists like Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders. In 2013, he released his debut album Seven Years Late. Since then, seven additional records have come out, including his latest, Letting Go, which appeared on September 24. Here’s the title track. I find this music very nice, especially for a Sunday morning.

Chuck Berry/Little Queenie

Just in case you dozed off during that previous track, it’s time to wake up again with some classic rock & roll by one of my favorite artists of the genre, Chuck Berry. I trust the man who John Lennon called “my hero, the creator of rock & roll” needs no further introduction. While of course no one single artist invented rock & roll, I think it’s safe to say rock & roll would have been different without Chuck Berry. Apart from writing widely covered gems like Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Rock and Roll Music and Johnny B. Goode, Berry influenced many other artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Faces, The Yardbirds and The Kinks with his electric guitar licks. Here’s Little Queenie, which Berry wrote and first released as a single in March 1959. The tune also became part of the soundtrack of the rock & roll motion picture Go, Johnny Go that came out in June of the same year.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers/What Are You Doin’ in My Life?

Let’s keep rockin’ with a great tune by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: What Are You Doin’ in My Life? I have to credit my streaming music provider for including the track in a recent “Favorites Mix” playlist. While this song is on my favorite Tom Petty album Damn the Torpedoes from October 1979, it had not quite registered until it was served up to me recently. I think it’s fair to say Petty’s third studio album with the Heartbreakers is better known for tunes like Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Even the Losers and Don’t Do Me Like That. What Are You Doin’ in My Life? is more of deep track. Like most of the other songs on the album, it was solely written by Petty.

Sam & Dave/Soul Man

Next I’d like to go back to the ’60s and some dynamite soul by Stax recording artists Sam & Dave. Soul Man, co-written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, became the R&B duo’s biggest U.S. mainstream hit surging all the way to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune was first released as a single in September 1967 and was also included on Sam & Dave’s third studio album Soul Men that came out the following month. The backing music was provided by Stax’s excellent house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s. In fact, the exclamation in the song, “Play it, Steve,” refers to the band’s guitarist Steve Cropper. Sam & Dave performed as a duo between 1961 and 1981. Sadly, Dave Prater passed away in a single-car accident in April 1988 at the age of 50. Sam Moore is still alive and now 86.

Del Amitri/Roll to Me

I had not heard of Del Amitri in a long time until I did earlier this week on the radio. In fact, other than the name and that tune, Roll to Me, I know nothing about this Scottish alternative rock band that was formed in Glasgow in 1980. During their initial run until 2002, the group released six studio albums and two compilations. Since Del Amtri reemerged from hiatus in 2013, it looks like they have mainly been a touring act. Only one live record, one compilation and one studio album have since appeared. Notably, the latter, Fatal Mistakes, came out this May, 19 years after their last studio album. The band’s current line-up includes original member and main songwriter Justin Currie (vocals, guitar, piano), along with Iain Harvie (guitar), Kris Dollimore (guitar), Andy Alston (keyboards, percussion) and Ash Soan (drums). Roll to Me, written by Currie, is from the group’s fourth studio album Twisted from February 1995. It also was released separately as a single in June that year and became their biggest hit in the U.S. where it reached no. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 – quite a catchy pop rock tune!

Pat Metheny/One Quiet Night

And this once again brings me to the sixth and final track. I decided to pick another acoustic guitar instrumental: One Quiet Night by Pat Metheny. While I’m very familiar with the name Pat Metheny, I believe the only music I had ever heard before is American Garage, the second album by Pat Metheny Group from 1979. That’s easily more than 30 years ago, so I don’t recall the record but oddly remember its title. Metheny who has been active since 1974 has an enormous catalog between Pat Metheny Group, his solo work and other projects. One Quiet Night, written by him, is the title track of a solo acoustic guitar album he released in May 2003. It won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. Both my streaming music provider and Wikipedia tagged it as jazz, the genre that first comes to my mind when I think of Metheny. Whatever you want to label it, it’s nice instrumental music and shall close this post.

Sources: Wikipedia; Discogs; YouTube

Best of What’s New

Welcome to another look at newly released music. This week’s installment is a pretty international and multi-cultural affair. My selections include Syrian-American and Norwegian singer-songwriters, a Canadian blues guitarist and a new hard rock band from Sweden. Unless noted otherwise, all tracks are on albums that came out yesterday (October 22). Let’s get to it!

Bedouine/The Solitude

My first pick for this week is by Bedouine (née Azniv Korkejian), a Los Angeles-based Syrian-American musician. Korkejian whose family is Armenian was born in Aleppo, Syria and later moved with her family to Saudi Arabia where they lived until she was ten. After winning in a green card lottery, Korkejian and her family moved to the U.S. In 2017, Bedouine released her eponymous debut album. The Solitude, written by her, is the opener of Bedouine’s third and new album Waysides. I really dig her soothing voice.

Okay Kaya/If I Can Help Somebody

Okay Kaya (née Kaya Wilkins) is a Norwegian-American singer-songwriter and actress from New Jersey. According to her profile on Apple Music, Raised in Nesoddtangen, a village outside of Oslo, Wilkins grew up with a brother who played in black metal bands and a mother who whose record collection became the foundation of her musical education. Early on, she was more captivated by studying dance than making music, but that changed in her late teens, when she moved to New York to work as a model. Her first songs — which she wrote on a guitar she got when she was 13 — were musical diary entries that allowed her to explore her deepest thoughts with darkly witty lyrics and delicate acoustic melodies. Wilkins began releasing her music as Okay Kaya in 2015, when the label Hot Charity issued the singles “Damn, Gravity” and “Clenched Teeth.” Her debut album Both was released in June 2018. If I Can Help Somebody is a tune from The Incompatible Okay Kaya, her just released third album.

Sue Foley/Dallas Man

After two mellow tunes it’s time to step on the gas a bit with new music by Canadian blues guitarist and singer Sue Foley. Foley who was born in Ottawa learned to play guitar as a 13-year-old. After graduating from high school, she moved to Vancouver where she founded the Sue Foley Band. By 1989 when she was 21 years old, Foley was living in Austin, Texas. Three years later, her debut album Young Girl Blues appeared. Fast forward 19 years to Pinky’s Blues, Foley’s 16th and new album, which is named after her signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster. Here’s Dallas Man, a tune written by Foley. According to this review in Rock and Blues Muse, the song is an homage to blues guitarists who came from the Dallas area, such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker and Freddie King. Love that groove!

Fans of the Dark/The Running Man

Let’s wrap up things with some melodic hard rock by Swedish band Fans of the Dark. According to this piece in Maximum Volume Music, the group was formed in the summer of 2020 by Freddie Allen (drums) and Alex Falk (lead vocals), who had known each each from high school in Stockholm. The band’s line-up also includes Oscar Bromvall (guitar) and Robert Majd (bass). In early August, Fans of the Dark released their debut single Escape from Hell, the first tune from their upcoming self-titled debut album that is scheduled for November 5. Here’s The Running Man, another song that appeared upfront on October 7. It was penned by Allen, the group’s main songwriter. Most of contemporary hard rock I’ve heard isn’t my cup of tea, but this tune is catchy and grabbed me. Also, check out this great and for a hard rock band unusual lead vocalist.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Rock and Muse Blues; Maximum Volume Music; YouTube

Clips & Pix: Ringo Starr/Rock Around the Clock

Did the world need this cover of Rock Around the Clock? Probably not. Did Ringo Starr reinvent classic rock & roll with it? Nope. Do I still love it? Hell, yes!!! In fact, when I saw the clip earlier this afternoon, it put a big smile on my face and literally made my day. This is what Ringo excels at – using his positivity and making people happy. I hope you find it as much fun as I did, which is why I wanted share this as soon as I could.

Here’s what Ringo said on his website about the song, for which the official video was released today. “Yes let’s rock! This track takes me back – rock and roll memories from when I was about to turn 15. I’d been in hospital with tuberculosis for a year or so, where I’d already spent my 7^th and 14^th birthdays, and I didn’t want to spend another one there again. I was doing well, so my mother talked to the doctors, and they agreed to let me out.”

Ringo’s website further notes he first heard Rock Around the Clock in the film Blackboard Jungle, which his grandparents took him to see for his 15th birthday. “I’m sitting there, I’d been in the hospital, don’t know much about what’s going on lately, and they ripped up the cinema!!!,” he recalled. “They just threw the chairs and went crazy. I thought, ‘WOW this is great!!!!’ I remember that moment like it was yesterday, it was incredible. And the song just rocks. So when it came to choosing tracks for this EP I thought of doing ‘Rock Around the Clock’ for all these good reasons.”

Ringo’s cover of Rock Around the Clock was first included on his recent EP Change the World that appeared on September 22. He got a little help from some friends, who in this case most notably include guitarist Joe Walsh. Watching him rockin’ out only adds to the fun. He’s also a bit of a goofball!

Written in 1952 by Max Freedman and James Myers (credited as Jimmy De Knight), Rock Around the Clock was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets and released as a single in May 1954. It became the best known and most successful rendition of the tune. Topping the mainstream charts in the U.S., UK and Australia, the tune also was Haley’s biggest hit.

Sources: Wikipedia; Ringo Starr website; YouTube

The Hump Day Picker-Upper

For those of us taking care of business during the regular work week, I guess it’s safe to assume we’ve all felt that dreadful Wednesday blues. Sometimes, that middle point of the work week can be a true drag. But help is on the way!

This is the third weekly installment of my recently launched series, so dare I say it is going to be recurring weekly feature? Perhaps, but as noted before, it all depends on time, and unfortunately, my time for blogging remains quite limited.

Today’s picker-upper is Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Admittedly, this tune hasn’t exactly suffered from underexposure, but I dug the song when I heard it for the first time and still do. Plus, I think it’s a perfect fit for this series.

Penned by Randy Bachman, Takin’ Care of Business is from BTO’s sophomore album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II released in December 1973. It also became the record’s only single in January 1974.

Talkin’ Care of Business became the Canadian rock band’s biggest hit. The song climbed to no. 3 in Canada and reached no. 12 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100. It also charted in Australia, climbing to n0. 14.

Happy Hump Day, and always remember the words of the wise George Harrison: All things must pass!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube