The Sunday Six

Another Sunday is upon us and I hope everybody is feeling groovy. It’s time again to embark on another trip to visit music from different decades and in different flavors, six tunes at a time. Let’s do it!

Lou Donaldson/That Good Old Feeling

Our first stop today is June 1957, which saw the release of Wailing With Lou, a studio album by Lou Donaldson. The American jazz alto saxophonist who is now 96 years officially retired in 2017 after a 64-year career as an active performer. Here’s an excerpt from the bio on his website: Jazz critics agree that “Sweet Poppa Lou” Donaldson is one of the greatest alto saxophonists of all time. He began his career as a bandleader with Blue Note Records in 1952 and, already at age 25, had found his sound, though it would continue to sweeten over the years — earning him his famed nickname –“Sweet Poppa Lou.” He made a series of classic records for Blue Note Records in the 50’s and takes pride in having showcased many musicians who made their first records as sidemen for him: Clifford Brown, Grant Green, Blue Mitchell, Donald Byrd, Ray Barretto, Horace Parlan, John Patton, Charles Earland, Al Harewood, Herman Foster, Peck Morrison, Dave Bailey, Leon Spencer, Idris Muhammad, and others. Coming back to the above-mentioned album, here’s the beautiful Donaldson composition That Good Old Feeling. The recording featured various of the above-listed jazz musicians, including Bryd (trumpet), Foster (piano) and Morrison (bass), along with Art Taylor (drums).

The Blasters/Crazy Baby

After having been eased in with smooth jazz, let’s visit 1980 and pick up the speed with great music by The Blasters. I first read about this American roots rock band on Cincinnati Babyhead’s blog. Formed in Downey, Calif. in 1979 by Phil Alvin (vocals, guitar) and his brother Dave Alvin (guitar), together with John Bazz (bass) and Bill Bateman (drums), the group had an initial 6-year run before they first broke up. Various incarnations of The Blasters have since been led by Phil Alvin who together with Bazz has been the only constant member. The current line-up also includes cofounder Bateman who rejoined in 2008. Crazy Baby, co-written by Ron Volz and Ron Wemsman, appeared on the band’s 1980 debut album American Music. It’s got a cool retro rockabilly vibe!

Bee Gees/To Love Somebody

Time to go back to the ’60s and a beautiful early song by the Bee Gees. Co-written by Barry Gibb and his brother Robin Gibb, To Love Somebody first appeared in June 1967 as the second upfront single of the group’s international debut studio album Bee Gee’s 1st, which came out in July of the same year. Prior to that, they had released two albums in their native Australia only. To Love Somebody reached no. 17 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 49 on the UK Official Singles Charts. Ten years later, the Bee Gees would rule the charts in both the U.S. and the UK, as well as many other countries with their no. 1 soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever, which spawned multiple no. 1. singles. Oftentimes, the Bee Gees are associated with the disco era, but early songs like To Love Somebody show there was much more to the group. You can read more about the Bee Gees in my four-part series from December 2020 here, here, here and here.

Cordovas/High Feeling

Now, let’s set our music time machine to the current century, more specifically to October 2020. That’s when Americana and country rock band Cordovas released their third full-length studio album Destiny Hotel. The four-piece group from East Nashville, Tenn. first entered my radar screen in the summer of 2018 when I caught them during a free concert in a park not far from my house. Their multi-part harmony singing proved to be an immediate attraction. So was their sound that reminds me of bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Band, Grateful Dead, Eagles and Little Feat. Led by bassist Joe Firstman, Cordovas have been around for more than 10 years. Here’s the album’s opener High Feeling. These harmony vocals and the warm sound are right up my alley!

Pink Floyd/Us And Them

This past Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon, one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums, an appropriate occasion to go back to March 1, 1973. Developed during live performances before work in the studio began, the eighth studio release by the British psychedelic and progressive rock band was a concept album revolving around dark human themes, such as conflict, greed, time, death and mental illness. One of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon is a sonic gem that not only represents one of the peaks in Floyd’s recording career but also a highlight in sound engineering provided by Alan Parsons. It catapulted Pink Floyd to international stardom and perhaps somewhat ironically made its members pretty wealthy. For more on this album, you can read an excellent recent post by fellow blogger Bruce from Vinyl Connections. Us And Them, composed by Richard Wright with lyrics by Roger Waters, became the album’s second single in February 1974 after Money from May 1973. A reissue, The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary, is set to appear on March 24. Among others, the box set includes remastered edits of the studio album and The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley 1974.

Son Volt/Route

And once again it’s time to wrap up another musical journey. For the last stop, our time machine takes us to September 1995. Alternative country and Americana rock band Son Volt first entered my radar screen in July 2021 when their most recent studio album Electro Melodier appeared. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Farrar formed the group in 1994 after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, another alt. country outfit he had co-founded in 1987. To date, Son Volt have released 10 albums. Apart from Farrar, the current members include Chris Frame (guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar),  Andrew DuPlantis  (bass) and Mark Patterson (drums). Route, penned by Farrar, is a nice crunchy rocker off their 1995 debut album Trace. It’s got a Neil Young and Crazy Horse vibe, which in my book usually is a great thing!

This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist that includes all featured tunes. I gladly oblige and hope there’s something you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; Lou Donaldson website; YouTube; Spotify

Los Lobos Celebrate L.A.’s Music Heritage on New Album

Los Lobos are a band I immensely respect for their great musicianship. Admittedly, my opinion is based on a relatively limited amount of their music I’ve heard thus far. Not counting singles, their impressive catalog includes 17 studio albums, four live records, three compilations and a couple of EPs, spanning 40-plus years. When I spotted their new release Native Sons and noticed it was largely a collection of covers, I wasn’t sure what to expect. To say it upfront, I’ve been enjoying this album a lot!

I don’t mind when a music artist or a band throws in some covers on their albums. After all, that’s what two of my all-time favorite bands The Beatles and The Rolling Stones did early in their recording careers. But an entire album of covers? Plus, for a band in their fifth decade one could be forgiven to wonder whether they have run out of ideas or were looking to make a quick buck. Well, I don’t believe that’s the case here. Plus, I’ve read a half dozen reviews and it strikes me they are all very positive.

Los Lobos (from left): Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Conrad Lozano (bass, guitarron, vocals), Steve Berlin (saxophone, percussion, flute, midsax, harmonica, melodica), Louis Perez (drums, guitar, percussion, vocals) and David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, accordion)

The overarching theme of Native Sons, which was released on July 30, is that all tracks are by artists and bands who are from Los Angeles originally or found their way there. Apart from 12 covers ranging from popular artists like Jackson Browne and The Beach Boys to lesser known acts such as Thee Midniters and Lalo Guerrero, the album features one original, which is the title track.

“Well, most of the artists we covered were actually people who came to Los Angeles from somewhere else, like me,” explained the band’s longtime saxophonist Steve Berlin during an interview with American Songwriter. “That’s one of the beauties of the city—people come from all different places. But once you get there, you’re there and you know where you’re supposed to be. But the other guys in the band, they’re natives, which is where the title came from.”

Time for some music. Here’s the opener Love Special Delivery by Thee Midniters, a Chicano rock band who like Los Lobos were from East L.A. The song, co-written by lead vocalist Willie Garcia and bassist Jimmy Espinoza, was the title track of their 1966 studio album. “It’s special to me because Thee Midniters were a group that I grew up listening to around my neighborhood in East LA in the ‘60s as a kid, and I just always loved the groove to that song,” Los Lobos guitarist and vocalist Cesar Rosas told Variety. Indeed, a great garage rocker I had never heard of before! Like is the case for all covers, Los Lobos’ rendition stays pretty close to the original, which you can listen to here.

Los Chucos Suaves by Lalo Guerrero is the only Spanish tune on the album. According to Wikipedia, the guitarist, singer and farm labor activist was best known for his strong influence on later Latin musical artists. Guerrero also represents an artist who was not a native Los Angelino but moved to L.A. in the 1940s. Lalo Guerrero Y Sus Cincos Lobos recorded Los Chucos Suaves in 1949, as the explanatory notes of the below clip explain, which add Guerrero is known as “The Father of Chicano Music.” Again, I’m also including a link to the original, if you’re curious. Here’s Los Lobos’ version – just incredible how versatile this band is!

Next up is the great title track, which as noted above is the only original song on the album. Native Son was co-written by Louis Perez (words) and David Hidalgo (music). The lyrics pretty much say it all. An excerpt: …No matter where I lay my head/No matter how far I’ve run/I dream about the day you’ll take me back/I’m your native son…Love that warm sound!

Perhaps the vocal highlight of the album is the excellent version of Sail on, Sailor, a tune by The Beach Boys. Credited to Brian Wilson, Tandyn Almer, Van Dyke Parks, Ray Kennedy and Jack Rieley, the song first appeared as the opener of the band’s 19th studio album Holland from January 1973. It was also released separately as a single later that month, climbing to no. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first of only five U.S. top 50 singles The Beach Boys scored during the ’70s. Their significant ’60s chart success, especially during the first half of the decade, was history. The original is here. Now check out Los Lobos. Apart from being excellent musicians, these guys also can sing!

The last track I’d like to highlight is Flat Top Joint, originally by East L.A. compadres The Blasters. Written by Dave Alvin, the great rock & roll tune was first included on The Blasters’ debut album American Music from 1980. The explanatory notes to the below clip recall a cool anecdote: After a Blasters’ show at The Country Club in Reseda, Los Lobos handed Phil Alvin a cassette. “Hey! We’re a band from East L.A.!” Phil responded: “We’re from East L.A. too!” Later, the Blasters asked the band to open for them at the Whisky a Go Go, which eventually led to Los Lobos’ first label signing with Slash Records. There’s a second connection between the two bands. Steve Berlin was playing with The Blasters before he joined Los Lobos in 1984. Here’s the excellent original. And here’s how Los Lobos covers it. Man, that tune just rocks!

Native Sons, which appears on New West Records and was produced by Los Lobos, is the band’s 17th studio album. Los Lobos have been around since 1973. Four of their five members are original members: Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Conrad Lozano (bass, guitarron, vocals), Louis Perez (drums, guitar, percussion, vocals) and David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, accordion). As noted above, Steve Berlin (saxophone, percussion, flute, midsax, harmonica, melodica) joined in 1984.

The band is embarking on a busy U.S. tour today in Costa Mesa, Calif. The full schedule is here.

Sources: Wikipedia; American Songwriter; Variety; Discogs; Songkick; YouTube