The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday and, to those celebrating, Happy Easter! Once again, I’d like to invite you to join me on another imaginary travel through time and space to visit some great music of the past and the present. Let’s all have some fun together!

Sonny Rollins Quartet/When Your Lover Has Gone

As has become customary, we’ll kick off our journey with some beautiful jazz by the Sonny Rollins Quartet. After tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins had worked with Miles Davis and been part of the trumpeter’s band, he asked the members of Davis’ “First Great Quintet” – John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (double bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums) – to back him on an album titled Tenor Madness and released in October 1956. Here’s When Your Lover Has Gone, a 1931 composition by Einar Aaron Swan. The tune became a jazz standard after it had been featured in Blonde Crazy, a picture released the same year, starring James Cagney.

The Damned/Stranger On the Town

Let’s pick up the speed and next head to October 1982, which saw the release of Strawberries, the fifth studio album by The Damned. AllMusic notes they were the first UK band to release a punk single (New Rose) in 1976, followed by the first UK punk album (Damned Damned Damned) the following year. Subsequently, they also began incorporating psychedelic and garage rock into their music. And other genres. Stranger On the Town, a track from Strawberries and another great tip from my dear longtime German music friend Gerd, has a cool soul vibe. The song is credited to band members Rat Scabies (drums, synthesizer), Captain Sensible (guitar, backing vocals, Paul Gray (bass) and Dave Vanian (lead vocals).

Southern Avenue/Be The Love You Want

Time to jump back to the present and pay a visit to one of my favorite contemporary bands: Southern Avenue. The group from Memphis, Tenn., which has been around since 2015, blends blues and soul with flavors of contemporary R&B. Southern Avenue are Israeli blues guitarist Ori Naftaly; lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson and her sisters Tikyra Jackson (drums, backing vocals) and Ava Jackson (backing vocals); bassist Evan Sarver; and keyboarder Jeremy Powell. Be The Love You Want, co-written by the group’s co-founders Naftaly and Tierinii Jackson, is the title track of their third and most recent studio album. Released in August 2021, I reviewed it here at the time.

The Doors/The End

This next stop takes us back to January 1967 and the eponymous debut album by The Doors. My proposition is the epic closer The End. The bone-chilling lyrics, which as usual were written by lead vocalist Jim Morrison, initially revolved around the break-up with an ex-girlfriend but grew more complex over time with Oedipal themes of loving the mother and killing the father. Songfacts notes Morrison always remained vague about the meaning. The hypnotizing music was credited to the entire group who in addition to Morrison included Ray Manzarek (organ, piano, bass), Robby Krieger (guitar) and John Densmore (drums).

Matthew Sweet/Girlfriend

The most recent occasion we stopped by Matthew Sweet on The Sunday Six dates back to late January 2023. I’d say it’s time for another visit. In October 1991, the alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter put out his third studio album Girlfriend. It was the first that made the charts in the U.S., reaching no. 100 on the Billboard 200. While Sweet subsequently had higher-charting albums, Girlfriend was certified Gold (500,000 certified sold units) by RIAA in April 1995, becoming the first of two to date. Here’s the title track.

Pink Floyd/Time

Once again, we’re reaching our sixth and final stop. Let’s make it count with what I feel is an amazing track from one of the sonically most compelling albums I know: The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd’s gem from March 1973. I could go on gushing about it but trust you know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to believe this music is 51 years old. Here’s the mighty Time, credited to all four band members Roger Waters (vocals, bass, VCS 3 synthesizer), David Gilmour (guitars, vocals), Richard Wright (organ, piano, synthesizers, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums, percussion).

What’s missing? Of course, the Spotify playlist featuring all of the above goodies. Here you go and hope to see you again!

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday, and I hope everybody’s weekend is off to a good start. As frequent visitors of this blog know, it’s the time of the week where I take a fresh look at the latest new music releases. All picks are on albums that dropped yesterday (March 29).

Chastity Belt/Chemtrails

My first pick today are Seattle, Wash.-based indie rock band Chastity Belt. They were formed in 2010 by Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar), Annie Truscott (bass) and Gretchen Grimm (drums). Their AllMusic bio describes them as taking cues from both the politics of the riot grrrl scene and the intricate, moody guitar-based sound of early-’90s Pacific Northwestern indie bands like Sleater-Kinney and Autoclave. Off their fifth and latest album Live Laugh Love, here’s the great-sounding Chemtrails, credited to all members of the group.

VIAL/Apathy

VIAL are an indie punk trio from Minneapolis, Minn. They have been around since mid-2019 and include guitarist KT Branscom, bassist Taylor Kraemer and drummer Katie Fischer. VIAL’s late 2019 debut EP Grow Up was followed by their first full-length album Loudmouth in July 2021. They are now out with their sophomore album Burnout. Let’s listen to the closer Apathy. Nice banger with some dissonant touches!

Holiday Ghosts/Big Congratulations

Holiday Ghosts are an indie rock band from southern England, who I first featured in a new music review last April. From their AllMusic bio: Taking inspiration from vintage garage rock, surf, and bands like Violent Femmes, Holiday Ghosts’ clattering, playful indie tunes emerged in 2017 with the band’s self-titled debut, which also drew on early punk influences. Their line-up includes founder and multi-instrumentalist Sam Stacpoole, Charlie Murphy (guitar, vocals), Ben Woods (bass, vocals) and Katja Rackin (vocals, drums). Big Congratulations is a neat upbeat track from their fifth and new album Coat of Arms.

The Secret Sisters/Paperweight

The Secret Sisters are a Muscle Shoals, Ala.-based Americana duo of siblings Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle (née Rogers). Since their 2010 self-titled debut they have released four additional albums, including their latest Mind, Man, Medicine. Primarily recorded at the storied FAME Studios, the album includes contributions from Alabama Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell and prominent multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell who has worked with the likes of Paul Simon, Willie Nelson and Levon Helm. Here’s Paperweight, which showcases the ladies’ tight harmony singing and features fiddle work from Campbell – neat!

The Rocky Valentines/Stick It Out

The Rocky Valentines is a new indie rock project of Charles Martin. Here’s more from Bandcamp: On their debut LP, “Erase,” Rocky Valentines frontman Charles Martin sings that he feels like “a one-man band.” He’s not specifically singing about the lack of bandmates on “Scream and Shout,” the album credits aren’t exactly littered with other names either. With an assist on bass throughout from Steve Dail (Project 86, Crash Rickshaw), and a recording credit for his father, Jason Martin (Starflyer 59), the younger Martin does the bulk of the work himself across the LP’s eight tracks. Here’s the pleasant pop rocker Stick It Out.

Sheryl Crow/Broken Record

Rounding out this review is new music by Sheryl Crow. When she released predecessor Threads in August 2019, which I reviewed here at the time, Crow said she wasn’t planning any additional full-length albums. Her explanation was sad but understandable: most folks, especially younger people, cherry-pick songs and create their own playlists instead of listening to entire albums. As such, Crow’s announcement of Evolution in early November 2023, together with the first upfront single Alarm Clock, came as a pleasant surprise. Subsequently, three more songs came out prior to the album. Here’s one that didn’t: Broken Record, solely penned by Crow.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; VIAL website; The Secret Sisters website; The Rocky Valentines Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify

Song Musings

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment of my midweek feature, in which I take a closer look at songs I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. Today’s pick resulted from an online chat in early March with fellow blogger Matthew, aka as The Observation Blogger in the wake of his post about Leonard Cohen’s I Can’t Forget. Check out his blog when you have a chance!

The aforementioned interaction prompted me to write about a song I loved from the very first moment I heard it: First We Take Manhattan, as covered by Jennifer Warnes.

Of course, Leonard Cohen connoisseurs know the Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist penned this gem. But it was Jennifer Warnes who first recorded it for her stunning sixth studio album Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen. The versatile American singer-songwriter is best known for collaborations with the likes of Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan and Cohen. She first worked with the Canadian artist in 1972 when she sang with Cohen on his Bird On the Wire European tour.

Sadly, Warnes’ fantastic rendition of First We Take Manhattan fell far short of the chart success of Up Where We Belong and (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, her hugely popular 1982 and 1987 duets with Joe Cocker and Bill Medley, respectively. The single did best on the Canadian Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks where it peaked at no. 6. On the equivalent Billboard chart in the U.S. it climbed to no. 29. Cohen subsequently recorded the song for his February 1988 studio album I’m Your Man and also released it as a single. It missed the charts altogether!

In addition to Warnes’ compelling vocals, which stand in stark contrast to the bone-chilling lyrics that at least in part are about terrorism, I’ve always dug the amazing lead guitar work on this song. It was provided by none other than Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of my all-time favorite blues rock guitarists.

Roscoe Beck who together with Warnes co-produced Famous Blue Raincoat and also played bass was friends with Vaughan and asked the Texan to play guitar on the recording. Apparently, Vaughan showed up with no equipment and ended up using one of Beck’s old Fender Stratocasters. After working out some technical challenges, the guitar virtuoso finished recording his takes at 4:00 a.m.!

The song’s official video, directed by Paula Walker, was filmed in New York City. It features SVR playing his beat up “Number One” Stratocaster on the Brooklyn Bridge. Cohen appears in the video as well, together with Warnes.

First We Take Manhattan has also been covered by a number of other artists, most notably R.E.M. and Joe Cocker. SecondHandSongs counted 50 versions. Here’s Cocker’s rendition, which he included on his 17th studio album No Ordinary World, released in October 1999 in Europe, followed by the U.S. in August 2000.

Following are some additional insights from Songfacts:

If you’re a bit puzzled by this song, that might be the point. Cohen took a shot at explaining it in the April 1993 issue of Song Talk. The Canadian singer/ songwriter said: “I felt for sometime that the motivating energy, or the captivating energy, or the engrossing energy available to us today is the energy coming from the extremes. That’s why we have Malcolm X. And somehow it’s only these extremist positions that can compel our attention. And I find in my own mind that I have to resist these extremist positions when I find myself drifting into a mystical fascism in regards to myself. [Laughs]”

“So this song, ‘First We Take Manhattan,’ what is it? Is he serious? And who is we? And what is this constituency that he’s addressing? Well, it’s that constituency that shares this sense of titillation with extremist positions. I’d rather do that with an appetite for extremism than blow up a bus full of schoolchildren.”

Bassist and longtime Cohen associate Roscoe Beck produced the cut. He recalled to Uncut: “I was working on Jennifer Warnes’ record of Leonard’s songs, Famous Blue Raincoat, so I called him in Montreal to ask if he had any new material for it, and he played me, ‘First We Take Manhattan.’ I was stunned. Leonard had written on keyboards since the early ’80s, but this was a much more heavily synthesized, Eurodisco approach.”

“I was also taken aback by the lyrics,” he added. “They scared me. The singer’s character seemed mentally unstable, and I wondered what the song was about. Leonard says it’s someone who’s an outsider, demented and menacing. I had an eerie feeling about it.”

Leonard arranged his version in Montreal, and he and I finished it in LA,” Beck concluded. “He’d stacked female backing vocals that were quite a surprise. The song was such a departure from the folkiness of his past. It was a fresh start.”

The Jennifer Warnes version starts out with some spoken German radio about a Berlin disco in which some US servicemen were killed only a few months after they recorded the song. Beck commented: “It seemed prophetic of that, and 9/11 too.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Jennifer Warnes website; YouTube

A Female Artist of Whom I Can’t Get Enough

This post first appeared recently as a contribution on A Sound Day, a great blog by Dave. It has been slightly edited and reformatted to fit the style of this blog. Thanks again, Dave!

I can’t believe Turntable Talk 24 is upon us and Dave keeps coming up with great topics. This time, he asked us to share our thoughts about a great female artist we dig. There are so many to pick from: Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams and Sheryl Crow are some that come to my mind. And yet I knew immediately who I wanted to write about, and it was none of the aforementioned amazing ladies. If you looked at the featured image, you already likely know who I decided to pick: Bonnie Raitt.

Once again, it was my dear longtime German music buddy Gerd who first brought this incredible slide guitarist and performer on my radar screen. It must have been around March 1989 when Raitt’s 10^th studio album Nick of Time came out. Among others, it features her rendition of John Hiatt’s Thing Called Love, which you’ve probably heard, even if you don’t follow her.

Let me give you a bit of background on Raitt, who was born Bonnie Lynn Raitt on November 8, 1949 in Burbank, Calif. She grew up in a musical family. Her dad was John Raitt, an actor and acclaimed Broadway singer. Bonnie’s mom, Marjorie Haydock, was a pianist and John’s first wife. According to her online bio, Raitt was raised in LA “in a climate of respect for the arts, Quaker traditions, and a commitment to social activism,” all important influences that shaped her future life.

Raitt got into the guitar at the age of eight, after receiving a Stella as a Christmas present. According to an AP story in a local paper, she taught the instrument herself by listening to blues records – yet another example of a self-taught musician who turned out to be exceptional! In the late ’60s, Raitt moved to Cambridge, Mass. and started studying Social Relations and African Studies at Harvard/Radcliffe.

She also began her lifetime involvement as a political activist. “I couldn’t wait to get back to where there were folkies and the antiwar and civil rights movements,” she notes in her online bio. “There were so many great music and political scenes going on in the late ’60s in Cambridge.”

Three years after entering college, Raitt decided to drop out to pursue music full-time. She already had become a frequent performer on the local coffeehouse scene, exploring slide guitar blues and other styles. Soon thereafter, she opened shows for surviving blues legends, such as Fred McDowell, Sippie Wallace, Son House, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Word spread about her great talent, which led to her first record contract with Warner Bros.

Since her 1971 eponymous debut, Raitt has released 17 additional studio albums, as well as three compilations and three live albums. Over her now 50-year-plus career, she has received 15 Grammy Awards. Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and is also listed at no. 54 and no. 187 on Rolling Stone’s 2023 lists of 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, respectively.

Like many artists, Raitt’s life wasn’t all easy peasy. She struggled with alcohol and drug abuse but became sober in 1987. “I thought I had to live that partying lifestyle in order to be authentic, but in fact if you keep it up too long, all you’re going to be is sloppy or dead,” Raitt told Parade magazine in April 2012, adding, “I was one of the lucky ones.”

Now on to the real fun part – some music!

From Raitt’s above mentioned self-titled debut album, here’s Mighty Tight Woman, written and recorded by blues singer, pianist and songwriter Sippie Wallace in 1929.

One of my all-time favorites by Raitt is her rendition of Angel From Montgomery, a country tune penned and first recorded by John Prine. She included it on her fourth studio album Streetlights that came out in September 1974.

This next track takes us to the ‘80s and a groovy track titled Can’t Get Enough. Co-written by Raitt and keyboarder Walt Richmond, it appears on Raitt’s 1982 record Green Light. 

I simply cannot skip the aforementioned Nick of Time. As much as I love Thing Called Love, I’ve decided to highlight Love Letter. That song was written by another Bonnie, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer Bonnie Hayes.

I just love this lady and could go on and on. I’d like to give a nod to Raitt’s catalog from the current century. In February 2016, she released her 17^th studio album Dig In Deep. I saw her for the first time during the tour that supported this album. Here’s the great Gypsy In Me, a song penned by Gordon Kennedy and Wayne Kirkpatrick.

Last but not least here’s the cool Stonesy Livin’ for the Ones, co-written by Raitt and George Marinelli, longtime guitarist from her backing band. This track is from Raitt’s most recent album Just Like That…, which appeared in April 2022. I would go as far as calling it her best to date.

Sources: Wikipedia; Bonnie Raitt website; Associated Press; Parade; YouTube

Brit Floyd Shine, Celebrating 30th Anniversary of Pink Floyd Album The Division Bell

When I saw earlier this year Brit Floyd would return to Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa., I decided right away to look for a ticket. Five years ago, the British Pink Floyd tribute band had blown me away at the same venue with incredible renditions of the English rock band’s music and an impressive stage show. As such, I had high hopes. Showtime finally came last Saturday, and once again Brit Floyd delivered the great gig in the sky!

The genius behind Brit Floyd is founder and musical director Damian Darlington, who also provides vocals, guitar and lap steel. Prior to forming the band in Liverpool, England in 2011, Darlington had played for 17 years with long-running Aussie tribute The Australian Pink Floyd Show. According to his bio, between the two tribute groups, he has fronted more than 2,500 live gigs over the past 28 years. That works out to approximately 90 shows per year – an impressive track record!

Doing Pink Floyd’s complex music justice live requires an army of a backing band, and Brit Floyd has many mightily talented artists who are all listed on the group’s website! Apart from Darlington, Saturday’s performing band featured Ian Cattell (vocals, bass), Edo Scordo (guitars, vocals), Matt Riddle (keyboards, synthesizers, Hammond organ, vocals), Randy Cooke (drums, percussion), Ryan Saranich (saxophone, percussion, guitars, bass keyboards), as well as backing vocalists Chess Galea, Genevieve Little and Eva Avila.

Brit Floyd leader Damian Darlington (center), with Ian Cattell (left), who has been with the band since 2011, and Matt Riddle, a member since 2017 (photo: Brit Floyd website)

In addition to The Division Bell, Brit Floyd mostly drew from Pink Floyd’s ’70s albums, especially The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, as well as Meddle and Animals. They also gave a nod to the Syd Barrett era with Piper at the Gates of Dawn and touched on A Momentary Lapse of Reason, which like The Division Bell falls into the band’s late stage after they had parted ways with Roger Waters.

The show included two sets that were divided by a 20-minute intermission, as well as an encore. It all added up to more than 2.5 hours of magnificent live music. As much as I love The Dark Side of the Moon, I would have been okay with fewer tracks from that gem and a few more songs from the Barrett era. But Brit Floyd essentially recreated Pink Floyd’s 1994 final concert tour, The Division Bell Tour, which was captured on Pulse, their third live album released in May 1995.

Time for some music! The band explicitly encouraged taking photos and video, as long as you wouldn’t use flash and would respect the folks around you – to me, both goes without saying! Let’s kick it off with the opener of set 1, Astronomy Domine. Co-written by the brilliant Syd Barrett and Floyd keys man Richard Wright, the instrumental is the first track on the band’s debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn released in August 1967.

While The Division Bell isn’t my favorite, I felt a concert tour that celebrates the 30th anniversary of Floyd’s 14th studio album warranted capturing at least one track. The Division Bell marked their final regular studio project. The Endless River, released in November 2014, features posthumous contributions from Wright who sadly passed away from lung cancer in September 2008 at age 65. High Hopes, composed by Gilmour, features lyrics by English novelist, lyricist and journalist Polly Samson who has been married to Gilmour since 1994. One of the highlights of Brit Floyd’s mighty rendition was Darlington’s lap steel action!

Initially, I had been reluctant to capture Dogs, a 17-minute track. I also didn’t anticipate Brit Floyd would throw in the preceding short Pig On the Wings (Part 1), effectively playing the entire side 1 of Floyd’s January 1977 Animals studio album! My arms felt comfortably numb afterwards, but as a Pink Floyd nut, I thought it was worth it! Both tracks were written by Waters. On Dogs, he was joined by Gilmour on vocals. The Darlington-Edo Scordo harmony guitar action and Matt Riddle’s neat keyboard work were the highlights of Brit Floyd’s great set 1 closer.

Hey you, are you still out there? Cause I just got started! This brings me to the second set. As much as I was tempted to capture the majestic opener Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), the thought of filming another 10-minute-plus track was a deterrent even to me. Instead, the first song I captured from this set is Hey You, a favorite off The Wall. While I really dug Floyd’s 11th studio album when it came out in November 1979, nowadays, it’s no longer in my top 3, though perhaps still in my top 5. Hey You was solely written by Waters who essentially had taken over the group. Generously, he shared vocal duties with Gilmour on this track.

If I could only pick one Pink Floyd album, it would either be The Dark Side of the Moon or Meddle. The latter foreshadowed the sonic brilliance of The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Here. Here’s One of These Days, Meddle’s charging instrumental opener. It was credited to all four members of the band at the time, i.e., Gilmour, Waters, Wright and Mason. Once again, Brit Floyd delivered the goods while Cattell doing a great job playing that pulsating bass part, while Darlington was shing like the sun on lap steel. Be careful, you might get blown away!

I deliberately held back on filming tracks from The Dark Side of the Moon, especially obvious choices like Money or The Great Gig in the Sky. That said, just like in 2019, the latter was a highlight of the night. But I couldn’t entirely ignore this masterpiece, so decided to go with another gem, Us and Them, co-written by Waters and Wright.

Once again, I resisted capturing an audience pleaser and, yes, another highlight of the night, Comfortably Numb, the final song of set 2. But at the last second, I decided to film the encore, Run Like Hell, another track of The Wall. While it’s not among my favorites, I know many other folks dig it, so here you go. Plus, the light show went into interstellar overdrive!

In addition to The Great Gig in the Sky and Comfortably Numb, there would have been many more choices of tracks I could have filmed. If you visit my post about Brit Floyd’s 2019 gig, you can find these two songs and four additional tracks I captured at the time. Of course, you could also simply check Brit Floyd’s YouTube channel, which features many excellent (professional) clips. My only beef is they are 9-plus years old and, as such, capture a largely different band. That said, Damian Darlington has always surrounded himself with top-notch musicians, and earlier lineups of Brit Floyd sounded just as compelling as the current group.

Here’s the setlist from last Saturday:

Set 1:
• Astronomy Domine – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
• Learning to Fly – A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
• High Hopes – The Division Bell (1994)
• Take It Back – The Division Bell (1994)
• Coming Back to Life – The Division Bell (1994)
• Sorrow – A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
• Keep Talking – The Division Bell (1994)
• Pigs On the Wing (Part 1) & Dogs – Animals (1977)

Set 2:
• Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) – Wish You Were Here (1975)
• Hey You – The Wall (1979)
• Time – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Breathe (Reprise) – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• The Great Gig in the Sky – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Wish You Were Here – Wish You Were Here (1975)
• One of These Days – Meddle (1971)
• Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1 – The Wall (1979)
• Us and Them – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Money – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
• Comfortably Numb – The Wall (1979)

Encore:
• Run Like Hell – The Wall (1979)

If you dig what you’ve seen and heard and are interested in catching Brit Floyd during the U.S. leg of their current tour, upcoming gigs include Syracuse, N.Y. (tomorrow); Erie, Pa. (March 27); Atlantic City, N.J. (March 29 & 30); Johnstown, Pa. (April 1); and Toledo, Ohio (April 2). The full schedule is here. I’d say, if you dig Floyd, you really can’t go wrong with Brit Floyd.

I’m leaving you with a Spotify playlist capturing all tracks of the show, mostly pulling from the Pulse album to make it as authentic as possible.

Sources: Wikipedia; Brit Floyd website; Setlist.fm; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

I hope everyone is spending a great weekend and like to invite you to join me on another Sunday excursion into the beautiful world of music. As always, the travel itinerary includes six stops in six different decades with tracks in different flavors. Let’s do it!

Dexter Gordon/I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Cry

Our trip today starts with relaxing jazz by Dexter Gordon, an American tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader who fellow blogger Randy from Mostly Music Covers brought to my attention recently. Gordon is recognized as one of the most influential early bebop musicians. Between 1940 and 1986, he recorded numerous albums as a leader and as a sideman for the likes of Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and Herbie Hancock. Gordon included an instrumental rendition of I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Cry, a 1944 torch song and jazz standard, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, on his studio album Go!, released in December 1962. He was backed by Sonny Clark (piano), Butch Warren (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums).

Joe Ely/Musta Notta Lotta Gotta

Let’s pick up the speed with a neat rock & roll song by Joe Ely, another great artist who was recommended to me a while ago, by Max, writer of the PowerPop blog. The Texan singer-songwriter and guitarist became one of the most influential artists on the Austin progressive country scene in the 1970s and ’80s. Musta Notta Lotta Gotta is the title track of Ely’s fourth studio album that came out in 1981. The fun song, penned by Ely, has a bit of a Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls of Fire vibe!

John Mellencamp/Troubled Man

Our next stop takes us back to the current century. In September 2014, heartland-turned-roots-rock singer-songwriter John Mellencamp released his 22nd studio album Plain Spoken. Like the soundtrack to Mellencamp’s musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (2013) and his previous two studio albums No Better Than This (2010) and Life, Death, Love and Freedom (2008), Plain Spoken was produced by T Bone Burnett. During Mellencamp’s tour that supported the album, country singer-songwriter Carlene Carter was the opening act. Eventually, this led to their great 2017 collaboration album Sad Clowns & Hillbillies. Here’s Plain Spoken’s opener and first single Troubled Man.

Little Richard/Ready Teddy

Let’s jump back 57 years coz that how we roll on The Sunday Six; or rock & roll in this case. While he called himself Little Richard, the flamboyant artist was a giant of ’50s rock & roll. One of the most exciting performers, Richard also wrote and co-wrote gems like Tutti Frutti, Slippin’ and Slidin’, Long Tall Sally and Jenny, Jenny. These were all songs on his March 1957 debut album Here’s Little Richard. As was common at the time, it essentially was a compilation of Richard’s singles that had appeared earlier. One of four non-originals songs on the album is the amazing Ready Teddy. It was co-written by John Marascalco and Robert Blackwell and first recorded by Richard. Feel free to snip along!

Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Lucky Man

Let’s now head to November 1970 and the eponymous debut album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Aka. ELP, the English progressive rock supergroup had been formed earlier that year by Keith Emerson (keyboards; formerly of Nice), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer; formerly of King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion; formerly of Atomic Rooster). While much of progressive rock hasn’t been love at first sight for me, I immediately dug Lucky Man, which Lake had written as a 12-year-old on the acoustic guitar. Admittedly, the folk rock-oriented song is not what you typically associate with progressive rock. The Moog synthesizer solo by Emerson at the end is one of the first rock compositions to feature a Moog as a solo instrument.

Donald Fagen/Trans-Island Skyway

We’re reaching our sixth stop, which means time to wrap up another Sunday music mini-excursion. Let’s end it on a groovy note with a song by Donald Fagen from his second solo album Kamakiriad, released in May 1993. The concept album revolving around the the protagonist’s travel in a high-tech car, the Kamakiri (Japanese for praying mantis), marked Fagen’s first collaboration with his then-ex Steely Dan partner Walter Becker who served as producer and played guitar and bass. Here’s Trans-Island Skyway, penned by Fagen who also wrote most of the other songs by himself.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist of the above tracks. As always, I hope there’s something you like!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Another week has flown by, and I’d like to welcome you to my latest look at developments on the new music front. All tracks are on albums that came out yesterday (March 22).

Velcros/Starting Now

Velcros are a rock band from Leipzig, Germany. Their Bandcamp page describes the trio’s music as “a fusion of Tom Petty’s undeniable charisma and the raw, unfiltered energy reminiscent of the punk bands such as The Hives or The Wipers.” In July 2023, Velcros released their debut EP Spit Takes. Starting Now is the catchy opener of the group’s first full-length album Strange News From the Vault. The music and lyrics are written and performed by Fabian Bremer, Nicolai Hildebrandt and Manuel Markstein.

Barely Civil/Not Fine

Barely Civil are an American indie rock band from Wisconsin. They formed in 2012 and are influenced by Emo groups like Modern Baseball and Sorority Noise. Their AllMusic bio notes the group released their debut EP Year of the Dog in 2016. Barely Civil are Connor Erickson (vocals, guitar), Alex Larsen (guitar), Eric Doucette (bass, vocals) and Isaac Marquardt (drums). Off their third and latest album I’d Say I’m Not Fine, here’s Not Fine. I’d say it’s not bad!

Waxahatchee/Bored

Waxahatchee is a music project of indie folk and indie rock singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. Crutchfield formed Waxahatchee in 2012 after the break-up of pop punk band P.S. Eliot she had co-founded in 2007. Starting with 2012’s American Weekend, six albums have appeared to date under the Waxahatchee moniker including the latest, Tigers Blood. Here’s country-flavored Bored, which first appeared as the second upfront single on February 13.

Charlie Parr/Bear Head Lake

Charlie Parr is a rootsy blues and folk singer-songwriter from Minnesota. Since his July 2002 debut Criminals and Sinners, Parr has released more than 15 additional albums. His influences include Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Reverend Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Mississippi John Hurt and “Spider” John Koerner. From his new album Little Sun, here’s Bear Head Lake. And, yes, there are vocals. They start at around 2:23 minutes into the track after a pretty acoustic music intro.

Van Houten/Never Did Come Back

Van Houten are an English psychedelic pop group from Leeds. From their Soundcloud profile: Van Houten’s core is based on life long friendship, an inability to exist without each other, and an obsession with creating a sonic mixing pot of intimate lo-fi rock + cavernous Shoegaze. Their sound envelops the listener, combining upbeat pop melodies and hooks with downbeat lyrics one minute, before full introspection and aural catharsis the next. Off their debut album The Tallest Room, which took seven years to make, here’s Never Did Come Back.

Adrianne Lenker/Free Treasure

Wrapping up this post is new music by indie folk singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker. Lenker is also the lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter of indie folk band Big Thief she co-founded in 2015 with Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals). Lenker wrote her first song as an eight-year-old and released her solo debut album Stages of the Sun in January 2014 when she was only 14. She attended Berklee College of Music on a scholarship provided by Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Lenker’s sixth and latest album is titled Bright Future. Here’s Free Treasure, which like all other songs on the album was written by Lenker. She sounds great!

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Velcros Bandcamp page; Van Houten Soundcloud page; YouTube; Spotify

Song Musings

Happy hump day and welcome to the first post-winter installment of Song Musings 2024 – yep, as of yesterday, spring has officially started, at least for folks in the Northern Hemisphere. In case you’re new to my recurring midweek feature, these posts dig deeper into songs I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. This time, my pick may surprise some of my regular readers: Sailing by Christopher Cross. Yep, a track that’s on the lush side but I’ve always dug it.

Written by Christopher Cross, Sailing was featured on his eponymous debut album that came out in December 1979. The song also appeared separately as the album’s second single in June 1980. It became one of the San Antonio singer-songwriter and guitarist’s best-known and highest-charting songs, topping the Billboard Hot 1oo in the U.S., as well as the pop charts in Canada. Elsewhere, it did best in New Zealand (no. 8), The Netherlands (no. 18) and Ireland (no. 21).

In addition to enjoying significant chart success, Sailing won three Grammys in 1980 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Arrangement of the Year. It also helped the Texan win the Album of the Year and Best New Artist categories. Sailing and the album were produced by multi-Grammy winning Michael Omartian who also played piano on it and arranged the strings. Apart from Cross, Omartian has worked with the likes of Steely Dan, Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart.

Sailing was one of the first digitally recorded songs to chart. It also is widely considered as a classic example of the yacht rock genre. Drawing on smooth soul, smooth jazz, R&B and disco, yacht rock was popular between the mid ’70s and mid ’80s. At the time it was known as West Coast or adult-oriented music. The term “yacht rock” was only created in 2005 by the makers of an online video series of the same name, which followed the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Here’s a live version of Sailing, which apparently was captured in September 2022.

Cross has said Sailing was inspired by an older friend from high school who would take him sailing as a teenager to leave the troubles of everyday life behind for some time. Apparently, this friend was like an older brother to Cross during what was an emotionally difficult time for him.

During his Grammy acceptance speech Cross noted that while Sailing was his favorite song on the album, it wasn’t meant to become a single initially. Later, he told Songfacts he didn’t believe Sailing was going to be a hit, thinking it “was way too introspective.” Given how wrong Cross was, perhaps it’s not suprising Sailing was covered by a number of artists over the decades. SecondHandSongs counted 85 versions. Here’s a neat a cappella rendition Take 6 recorded for their 2018 album Iconic.

Following are some additional tidbits from Songfacts:

In a Songfacts interview with Christopher Cross, he told the story of the song: “I was just at home sitting in this cheap apartment, sitting at the table. I remember coming up with the verse and chorus, and the lyrics to the first verse of the chorus all came out. These tunings, like Joni [Mitchell] used to say, they get you in this sort of trance, so all that came out at once: ‘It’s not far down to paradise…’ The chorus just sort of came out.”

“So I got up and wandered around the apartment just thinking, ‘Wow, that’s pretty f–kin’ great.’ I just thought, ‘That’s really cool.’ So then I sat down and had to try to come up with other stuff to make the rest of the song, but I thought I had something there.”

“Then it took about two years before I had a bridge to that song, because the modality of the modal tuning thing, it gets pretty linear, and you’ve got to be careful. There are writers – I won’t mention who – whose songs can get kind of boring because everything’s this modality. So I knew I needed to lift the song out of that modality in the bridge and make key changes.”

“It took about two years before I came up with the bridge that changes all the keys to where it lifts, but it was a pretty special moment.”

Michael Omartian, who was Cross’ producer, also contributed keyboards and background vocals to the album. Omartian has worked on many hit songs – he co-wrote “She Works Hard For The Money” and produced “We Are The World” with Quincy Jones. Jay Graydon, who is also a hit songwriter and producer, played guitar on the Christopher Cross album. He singles out Omartian and David Foster as guys who are great to have in sessions. “These guys are just incredible musicians,” he told Songfacts. “I’m pretty good at doing string stuff and synth overdubs, and of course guitar overdubs and stuff, but you bring good guys in, then it gets really masterful.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; SecondHandSongs; YouTube

Musings of the Past

Coincidentally, I stumbled across this previous post when searching my blog for something else and thought it would be worthwhile republishing. This piece, which has been slightly edited, first appeared about 4.5 years ago. I realize it’s lengthy but hope you’ll find it worth your time, especially if you’re into protest singer-songwriters.

Phil Ochs, Brilliant Yet Widely Obscure Troubadour

What do Robert Allen Zimmerman and Philip David Ochs have in common? Both wrote brilliant protest songs in the ’60s. The difference? Robert changed his name to Bob Dylan and became one of the most famous music artists of our time. Philip chose to perform as Phil Ochs and remained largely obscure outside singer-songwriter circles. That’s a shame!

Until recently, I had never heard of Phil Ochs myself. Then I saw somebody ranting on Facebook that Bob Dylan undeservedly gets all the credit for being this brilliant protest singer when the recognition should really go to Ochs. The truth is while both artists at some point were important protest singer-songwriters, none of them invented the genre. According to Wikipedia, the tradition of protest songs in the U.S. long predates the births of Dylan and Ochs – in fact going all the way back to the 18th century.

One of the important forerunners to the 1950s and 1960s protest singer-songwriters were the Hutchinson Family Singers, who starting from 1839 became well known for singing about social issues, such as abolition, war and women’s suffrage. And let’s not forget Woody Guthrie, who was born in 1912 and started learning folk and blues songs during his early teens. Over a 26-year-period as an active music artist, Guthrie wrote hundreds of political, folk and children’s songs. He was a major influence on numerous other songwriters who in addition to Dylan and Ochs included Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, Harry Chapin, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and many other former and contemporary artists.

Hutchinson Family Singers in 1845 painting by an unknown artist

‘I get it,’ you might think, ‘but who the hell is Phil Ochs?’ Sadly, it’s a pretty rough story, and it doesn’t have a Hollywood happy ending.

Ochs was born on December 19, 1940 in El Paso, Texas. His dad Jakob “Jack” Ochs was a physician from New York, and his mom Gertrude Finn Ochs hailed from Scotland. The two met there and got married in Edinburgh where Jack was attending medical school at the time. After their wedding, they moved to the U.S. Jack joined the army as a doctor and was sent overseas close to the end of World War II. He returned as a sick man with bipolar disorder and depression.

Jack’s health conditions prevented him from establishing a successful medical practice. Instead, he ended up working at a series of hospitals around the country and frequently moving his family. As a result, Phil Ochs grew up in different places, along with an older sister (Sonia, known as Sonny) and a younger brother (Michael). His father was distant from the family, eventually got hospitalized for depression, and passed away from a brain bleeding in April 1963. Phil’s mother died in March 1994.

Phil Ochs as a teenager playing the clarinet

During his teenage years, Ochs became a talented clarinet player. Prior to the age of 16, he was principal soloist with the orchestra at the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio. Although Ochs had become an accomplished classical instrumentalist, he soon discovered the radio and started listening to the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

Initially, Ochs wanted to become a journalist. Well, he of sort did, combining his interest in writing about politics with music. During his journalism studies at Ohio State University, he met fellow student, activist and future folk singer Jim Glover in the fall of 1960, who introduced him to the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and The Weavers, and taught him how to play guitar. It wouldn’t take long before Ochs merged his interest of politics and music and started writing his own songs. He preferred to characterize himself as a topical rather than a protest singer.

Glover and Ochs started performing as a duo called The Singing Socialists and later The Sundowners but broke up before their first professional gig. Glover went to New York, while Ochs started performing professionally at a local folk club in Cleveland. In 1962, he went to the Big Apple as well and soon established himself in the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Ochs described himself as a “singing journalist,” explaining his songs were inspired by stories he saw in Newsweek. By the summer of 1963, he had developed a sufficiently high profile and was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, along the likes of Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary.

Ochs’ debut album All The News That’s Fit To Sing, an allusion to The New York Times‘ slogan “All the news that’s fit to print,” appeared in 1964. Here is Ballad of William Worthy. The tune tells the story about an American journalist who traveled to Cuba despite the U.S. embargo and was forbidden to return to the U.S. Check out the brilliant lyrics of this tune – safe to assume Ochs’ words didn’t endear him to the Johnson Administration.

In 1965, Ochs’ sophomore album I Ain’t Marching Anymore came out. Here’s the excellent satirical anti-war tune Draft Dodger Rag, which quickly became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam war movement.

After Ochs’ first three albums with Electra Records had gone nowhere commercially speaking, he signed with A&M Records and in October 1967 released his fourth studio record Pleasures Of The Harbor. Unlike his first three folk music-oriented records, the album went beyond folk, featuring elements of classical, rock & roll, Dixieland and even experimental synthesized music. Apparently, the idea was to produce a folk-pop crossover. While the album included great tunes, it’s safe to say it didn’t bring Ochs commercial success. Here is Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends, which became one of Ochs’ most popular songs. The tune was inspired by the case of a 28-old woman who was stabbed to death in front of her home in Queens, New York, while dozens of her neighbors reportedly ignored her cries for help.

Tape From California is Ochs’ fifth album. Released in July 1968 on A&M Records, it continued his shift away from straight folk-oriented protest songwriting, though he was far from abandoning topical songs. The War Is Over is a tune that was inspired by poet Allen Ginsberg who in 1966 declared the Vietnam war was over. Ochs decided to adopt the idea and organize an anti-war rally in Los Angeles, for which he wrote the song.

Phil Ochs’ final studio album came out in February 1970. Weirdly, it was called Greatest Hits, even though it was not a compilation but a collection of 10 new tracks. Most of the record was produced by Van Dyke Parks, who previously had appeared on Tape From California, contributing piano and keyboards to the title track. Greatest Hits featured an impressive array of guest artists, including Clarence White and Gene Parsons, both from the Byrds; Ry Cooder; Jim Glover; and members of Elvis Presley’s backing band, among others. The album cover was an homage to Elvis, showing Ochs in a gold lamé suit reminiscent of the outfit Elvis wore for the cover of his 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong greatest hits compilation. Here is Jim Dean Of Indiana, a tune about the actor James Dean, who like Elvis was one of Ochs’ idols.

Greatest Hits was Ochs’ final attempt to connect with average Americans, who he was convinced weren’t listening to topical songs. Disillusioned by key events of 1968, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the police riot in Chicago around the Democratic National Convention and the election of Richard Nixon, Ochs felt he needed to be “part Elvis Presley and part Che Guevara,” as Wikipedia puts it. Ochs supported the album with a tour, performing in the Elvis-like suit and being backed by a rock band, singing his own songs, along with tunes by Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard. But his fans weren’t sure what to make of the “new Phil Ochs.”

Pretty much from there, things went downhill for Ochs. He developed writer’s block and slipped into depression and alcoholism. He did not release any additional records. On April 9, 1976, Ochs committed suicide by hanging himself in the home of his sister Sonny. He was only 35 years old.

I’d like to conclude this post with a few quotes I found on Life of a Rebel, a blog dedicated to Ochs. “As a lyricist, there was nobody like Phil before and there has not been anybody since,” said fellow folk singer Dave Van Ronk. “He had a touch that was so distinctive that it just could not be anybody else. He had been a journalism student before he became a singer, and he would never sacrifice what he felt to be the truth for a good line.” In a note to Ochs in 1963, Pete Seeger wrote, “I wish I had one tenth your talent as a songwriter.” And what did the mighty Bob Dylan tell Broadside magazine in 1964? “I just can’t keep up with Phil. And he’s getting better and better and better.”

– END –

If you’re still here, thanks for reading this post, which first was published on October 13, 2019.

Sources: Wikipedia; Life of a Rebel; YouTube

The Black Crowes Are Flying Again

Ray Davies and Dave Davies. John Fogerty and Tom Fogerty. Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher. Oftentimes, it appears rock & roll and brotherly relationships just don’t mix well. Some inflict wounds too deep to heal. Only few manage to overcome their differences. The latter apparently include Chris Robinson (57) and his younger brother Rich Robinson (54), who after they had not spoken to each other for eight years decided to revive The Black Crowes for the third time in late 2019. They are now out with Happiness Bastards, their first new album of original music in 15 years.

One could be forgiven to think that after a successful tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1990 debut album, the two brothers wanted to continue to shake their money maker. In addition to the new album, The Black Crowes are launching their international Happiness Bastards Tour on April 2 in Nashville, Tenn. Whatever might drive the Robinson brothers, this much is clear: not only has the new album, released last Friday (March 15), received mostly positive reviews, but the music surely sounds great.

Chris Robinson (left) and Rich Robinson

From the official album release statement: Serving as a salute to their past and a celebration of the present and future, the new album…includes 10 new tracks, with a very special feature from GRAMMY-winning country superstar Lainey Wilson on “Wilted Rose.” Produced by GRAMMY Award-Winning producer Jay Joyce, the project emphasizes The Black Crowes’ influence as one of the most vital rock bands of this generation. Following decades marked by sex, drugs, fights, breakups, and divorce, Happiness Bastards finds the brothers leaving their bullshit behind and leaning into their creative common ground to deliver their most compelling work to date.

While I feel sorry the Robinson brothers’ past toxic woes resulted in missed birthdays, health crises, birth of children, marriages and divorces, as noted by Billboard, I have limited patience for what largely looks like self-inflicted rock & roll drama. I’d say it’s time to check out some music!

Here’s the great opener Bedside Manners. Like all other tracks on the album, it’s credited to both brothers. The lyrics are about the unforgiving music industry’s ruthless game, explains the official album release statement. Rich told Billboard the song came together in 5 minutes, similar to what had happened 30 years ago with She Talks to Angels, one of their most popular songs. “This one f-king plopped out and it was so great, Chris and I were both right there with it,” he said. The result sounds mighty sweet!

Most tracks on the album are up-tempo, “loud” blues rockers from start to finish. Cross Your Fingers sets a bit of a contrast with a quieter acoustic start, before picking the intensity level about 40 seconds into the song. Like the next track, Wanting and Waiting, which I’m skipping here since I included it in my most recent weekly new music review, Cross Your Fingers first appeared as a single.

This brings me to the aforementioned Wilted Rose featuring Lainey Wilson. Billboard points out the country singer-songwriter has frequently worked with producer Jay Joyce. The soulful country song about the journey of a man, who has lost both, love and his way, marks the band’s first-ever collaboration. “It’s an honor to wail on this record with these legendary, pioneering rockstars,” Wilson said. Wilted Rose, a mostly acoustic track that remains on the slower side throughout, also first appeared as a single, two days ahead of the album.

On the great Stonesy rocker Dirty Cold Sun the intensity picks up again. The song bites back against a toxic relationship with the confidence of someone thriving even when faced with the frost of a former flame, the official album release statement points out.

Let’s do one more: Kindred Friend, characterized as a piano-tinged ballad about making the most of the present and moving on from the past. The album’s closer could be viewed as an olive branch from Chris to Rich. Not only is Chris the group’s vocalist, but he also pens the lyrics for their songs, while Rich composes the music. Billboard calls the ballad “Beatlesque.” I’m more reminded of Bob Dylan.

“These guys came to town like a freight train. Ready to lay it down, no bullshit. Old school real, live and raw,” said Jay Joyce. The songwriter and session musician has also produced for the likes of The Wallflowers, Tim Finn, Emmylou Harris and Eric Church. “They brought the OG magic of their early albums along with some young punk spirit. I was honored to have captured it.”

As far as the members of The Black Crowes are concerned, the official album release statement only notes the Robinson brothers, leaving no doubt who is in charge. ‘Who else is in the group?’ you might wonder. Sven Pipien (bass, backing vocals) is the third core member. He first joined the band in 1997. Additional musicians on the album include Nico Bereciartua (guitars), Erik Deutsch (keyboards) and Brian Griffin (drums), as well as backing vocalists Vicki Hampton, Joanna Cotton and Robert Kearns (backing vocals). Jay Joyce also contributed additional guitars and keyboards.

“Happiness Bastards is our love letter to rock n’ roll,” Chris summed up, as reported by Rock Cellar. “Rich and I are always writing and creating music; that has never stopped for us, and it is always where we find harmony together.” Added Rich: “This album is a continuation of our story as a band. Our years of experience writing and making music and touring the world are represented in this record, and we were brilliantly guided by one of the best producers in the business, Jay Joyce. I am incredibly proud of what we put together.”

Sounds like brothers in full harmony? One really would hope so after their eventful past. That said, Billboard noted Chris and Rich spoke to the publication separately instead of giving a joint interview. They also keep their own dressing rooms on the road. Perhaps maintaining a certain distance works out better for the two.

Sources: Wikipedia; The Black Crowes website; Billboard; Rock Cellar; YouTube; Spotify