The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday, folks, and hope everybody is enjoying their weekend. I’m happy to embark on another excursion into the great world of music, “visiting” six great tracks from different decades. Hope you’ll join me.

Dooley Wilson/As Time Goes By

Today, our little journey starts all the way back in 1942 with what has to be one of the greatest motion picture soundtrack songs of all time. I actually cannot believe it took me more than six years to cover As Time Goes By, which of course was featured in what probably is the movie I’ve watched most often: Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Peter Lorre. The plot, the filming, the amazing cast – call me a silly sentimentalist, but they just don’t make them like this anymore! As Time Goes By was written more than 10 years earlier in 1931 by Herman Hupfeld for a Broadway musical called Everybody’s Welcome. The tune was first performed by Frances Williams when the show opened on October 31, 1931. The first recording by Rudy Vallée occurred in July 1931. But it was American actor, singer and musician Dooley Wilson whose performance in Casablanca (as Sam) made the song a household name. Play it, Sam, play As Time Goes By.

Steely Dan/Aja

It’s really tough to follow a timeless classic like As Time Goes By, so we have to go to arguably the best album by one of the most sophisticated jazz pop-rock bands I know: Steely Dan and their gem Aja. Released on September 23, 1977, the album recently hit its 45th anniversary. As a fan of the Dan, I’ve covered the ingenious partnership of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and music from their sixth studio recording many times, for example here and here. But this is the first time I feature the album’s title track in The Sunday Six. Like all other tracks on Aja, it was co-written by Becker and Fagen. If I see this correctly, it’s the album’s only tune that didn’t appear separately on a single at the time.

Son Volt/Drown

Alrighty, time for some rock, coz you just can’t live without it! Son Volt only entered my radar screen last year when the alternative country and Americana rock band released their latest album Electro Melodier. It was love at first sight! The group around singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Farrar was formed by him in 1994 after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, another alt. country outfit he had co-founded in 1987. Son Volt’s studio debut Trace appeared in September 1995, which I covered here. To date, the band has released 10 albums. In addition to Farrar, the current members include Chris Frame (guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass) and Mark Patterson (drums). One of my favorite tunes on Trace is Drown, which all except one of the additional tracks on the album was penned by Farrar.

The Prisoners/Hurricane

Are you still with me? If you haven’t done so already, buckle your seatbelt, since it’s gonna get stormy and, as such, the ride could get a bit bumpy with great retro-style garage rock by The Prisoners. I have to give a shoutout to fellow blogger Max from Poper Pop, who brought the British band on my radar screen when he recently featured one of their tunes. Formed in 1980 in Rochester, England, The Prisoners released four albums during their initial run that latest until 1986. They subsequently reformed for several live gigs and issued a one-off single in 1997, which is likely their final release. Since the group broke up, their members Graham Day (vocals, guitar), James Taylor (organ), Allan Crockford (bass) and Johnny Symons (drums) played in a broad range of other bands. Perhaps most notable were The Solarflares, who featured Day and Crockford and essentially reprised the sound of The Prisoners. Here’s The Hurricane, written by Day and off The Prisoners’ 1983 sophomore album The Wisermiserdemelza – my kind of garage rock!

Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters/Cry Woman

How about some African music that sounds shall we say a bit different than what I usually feature? As far as I know, not even fellow blogger Graham from Aphoristic Album Reviews, who in my book has an encyclopedic knowledge of music and, among others, features artists from Africa and other non-English speaking regions and countries, has covered this act. According to this review on Pan African Music, Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters are a duo comprised of Nyati Mayi, a Congolese singer who plays a stringed instrument called the lulanga, and soFa, a Belgian DJ and producer, aka the Astral Synth Transmitters and soFa elsewhere. Apparently, soFa became aware of Mayi’s music via social media and remixed one of his tracks. Their partnership evolved into Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters and their first album Lulanga Tales, which appeared last month on September 16 – I love these types of stories! Here’s a track from their debut titled Cry Woman. I find this music very relaxing, almost meditative. Check it out!

The Chambers Brothers/All Strung Out Over You

For our final stop today, let’s go back to the ’60s and some groovy psychedelic soul by The Chambers Brothers. Formed in Los Angels in 1954 as a four-piece, the group of four brothers initially focused on performing folk and gospel music throughout Southern California. They remained little known until 1965 when they started to perform in New York. American folk, blues and jazz artists Barbara Dane, who toured with The Chambers Brothers, introduced them to Pete Seeger who in turn helped them put on the bill of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. By the time they released All Strung Out Over You as a single in December 1966, the group – George Chambers (washtub bass, electric bass), Lester Chambers (harmonica), Willie Chambers and Joe Chambers (guitar) – had added drummer Brian Keenan. Written by Rudy Clark, the tune also became the opener of The Chambers Brothers’ debut album appropriately titled The Time Has Come, which appeared in November 1967. They recorded seven additional studio albums until 1975. George Chambers and Keenan passed away in October 2019 and October 1985, respectively.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of the above tunes. Hope there’s something you dig and you’ll be back for the next trip. In fact, selfishly, I hope it’s going to be before then!

Sources: Wikipedia; Pan African Music; YouTube; Spotify

Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday kind of sneaked up on me. While as I have noted before my sentiments are mixed about his music, there is no doubt Robert Zimmerman is one of the most significant artists of our time. I feel Dylan’s life has been extensively covered, so instead of putting together yet another biographical write-up, I’d like to celebrate the music poet’s birthday with a list of songs I dig.

It’s hard to believe Dylan has had a close to 60-year recording career. That’s just mind-boggling! I’m generally more drawn to his early work. I will also admit I’m much less familiar with his post mid-’70s catalog. This playlist starts with the first Dylan song I ever heard many moons ago: Blowin’ in the Wind. I still think it’s great. The post wraps up with a tune from his last album Rough and Rowdy Ways, a true late career gem that really surprised me!

Blowin’ in the Wind – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (May 1963)

The Times They Are a-Changin’ – The Times They Are a-Changin’ (January 1964)

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – Bringing It All Back Home (March 1965)

Like a Rolling Stone – Highway 61 Revisited (August 1965)

Just Like a Woman – Blonde on Blonde (June 1966)

Lay Lady Lay – Nashville Skyline (April 1969)

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (July 1973)

Tangled Up in Blue – Blood on the Tracks (January 1975)

Hurricane – Desire (January 1976)

Goodbye Jimmy Reed – Rough and Rowdy Ways (June 2020)

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

Clips & Pix: Bob Dylan/Hurricane

Hurricane has been among my favorite Bob Dylan songs for a long time. I’ve always dug the amazing violin playing by Scarlet Rivera, which gives the tune a very distinct sound. And while the lyrics take some creative liberties, I think Hurricane represents excellent cinematic story-telling and is one of the most compelling protest songs I know.

Co-written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy, Hurricane is the opener of Dylan’s 17th studio album Desire that came out in January 1976. The above clip is from Dylan’s appearance on the American live concert TV series Soundstage in December 1975.

Hurricane tells the story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, an American middleweight boxer who along with his friend John Artis was wrongfully convicted of a triple murder that occurred at a bar in Patterson, N.J. in 1966. After he had been sent to prison, Carter continued to maintain his innocence and, helped by a writer, published his autobiography in 1974. Knowing about Dylan’s civil rights engagement, Carter had a copy sent to Dylan.

Bob Dylan visiting Rubin Carter in prison in December 1975

Prompted by the autobiography, Dylan visited Carter in prison in December 1975. He and Levy wrote Hurricane thereafter, based on the book and news accounts. Dylan also raised money for Carter’s legal defense during two shows of his Rolling Thunder Revue tour at the time.

Following the autobiography’s publication, two of the prosecution’s key witnesses changed their testimony. In 1976, Carter’s and Artis’ convictions were overturned, but only a few months later, both men were found guilty again during a second trial. Appeals continued. Artis was paroled in 1981. In 1985, a U.S. district judge in New Jersey exonerated Carter, noting the prosecution had been “predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.”

Carter was finally set free in November 1985, after 19 years in prison. He relocated to Toronto, earned Canadian citizenship and became an advocate for people who like him had become victims of judicial injustice. From 1993 until 2005, he was executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. Carter passed away from prostate cancer in April 2014.

After Carter’s second conviction, Dylan had moved on and never performed Hurricane live again. Apparently, Carter was still grateful for everything Dylan had done for him and did not hold the artist’s apparent lack of interest after his second conviction against him.

Sources: Wikipedia, Songfacts, YouTube