ALBERT HAMMOND – It Never Rains in Southern California – (CBS) – 1972

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Franko

Albert Hammond - It Never Rains In Southern California

Hammond again.

Check out my other comments for Hammond detail.

I came relatively late to Hammond so there are a few albums to listen too but there is no hesitation because they are a joys, of variable proportions.

Hammond is a great songwriter and a complete songwriter. He has enough sense to know that he has to keep his music, lyrics and melody interesting. Too often songwriters fall into a trap where they are forever rehashing their hit sound or, worse, pandering to someone else’s hit sound.

Sure every epoch has its own dominant sound but there is always enough room to move around within that sound allowing you to distinguish yourself and to show your worth, or at least, your individuality.

Hammond is one of those artists.

Across the albums I have heard he works within his preferred instrumented singer songwriter field but he remains quirky by putting in some sharp lyrics and some quirky instrumentation. Rarely do his albums sound the same from first song to the last.

I said this about his next album, “The Free Electric Band” from 1973: “There is much to like about this album. The most obvious points of comparison on the musical scene is Elton John (you can also hear Paul Simon, Jerry Jeff Walker and Leonard Cohen), though here the lyrics are more potent and the themes more coherent. What Elton has is simple though admittedly catchy songs and a nice clean, crisp sound (with Elton's distinct clean vocals) which doesn't date quickly whilst Hammond experiments a bit with instruments and song structure and his themes are darker or more complex. Despite a couple of big hits in  the US including a Top 10 (he only had one Top 20 in England for the single "Free Electric Band ( #19)) he never graduated to the fame of Elton. This is a pity because on the back of this album I think we could have used a little more Hammond/Hazlewood and a little less John/Taupin”

I think that applies to this album also though less so.

This is Hammond’s first solo album and he is finding his feet in the singer songwriter field of the 70s. He is looking for an audience, or looking for an audience to please. That’s not to say it’s a bad album because it’s not. There are at least two magnificent (and signature) songs and a couple of other standouts but it just doesn’t allow Hammond to be especially quirky.

Also, it does flow on well to his second album. Most artists have difficulty finding material for their second album after using all up on the first. Hammond doesn’t have that problem, though I suspect if you had grabbed songs from this album and the next you would have one of the best singer songwriter albums ever. As it stands you have two very good albums with their fair share of exceptional tracks.

His songs of love, love lost and (perhaps) a restless life are vivid. He draws from experience and he has the knack of painting aural pictures. This is the boy from Gibraltar, who lives the Mediterranean lifestyle, before globetrotting to grey London and sunny California (and other places in-between). The search for “place” and the people you meet along the way has happened before and since but Hammond is eloquent in his writing.

The album was produced by Albert Hammond and Don Altfeld and was arranged by Michael Omartian. All tracks are written by Albert Hammond and his old band mate from Family Dogg, Mike Hazlewood. Despite the co-write the usual Hammond stylistic touches are clearly evident.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Listen To The World – if Donovan had hung out in the Caribbean then he may sound something like this. Not bad but slight
  • If You Gotta Break Another Heart   – another bouncy tune. Mama Cass covered it (also in 1972).
  • From Great Britain To L.A. –    the English musician in search of fame. Cleary autobiographical and quite funny and heartfelt.

We came from Great Britain to L.A.

Where the groups from England play

Swing Auditorium, Hollywood Palladium, Civic Hall

She said she had a house up in the hills

Lived on orange juice and pills

California, sweet California, bless you all!

California tastes so good like coffee should

I can't put it down, but that's not all

If only they had soccer here, Watney's Beer

And the BBC, and the Albert Hall

  • Brand New Day – nice but not especially memorable
  • Anyone Here In The Audience – more autobiography about the working singer and not unlike something Ray Davies of The Kinks would write. Some country influences have invaded also. Lovely.
  • It Never Rains In Southern California – In another comment I had said this: “Anyone who wrote and sang "It Never Rains in Southern California" has to be cut some slack. Surely it's one of the best songs to come out of the California singer-songwriter movement in the early 70s. That it was sung and written by a Gibraltarian (London born) lad is surprising but also testament to the seductive charms of California – sun, sand, sex. London at its most swinging-est never really competed and could not soothe the nerves like the aphrodisiac that is California. Hence the ode to California in Hammond's hit "It Never Rains in Southern California" …get it?”. On listening to the song again I must say, yes it is still catchy with perceptive lyrics, but those lyrics are both cynical and optimistic. It’s still a great song.
  • Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels    – names, tags, numbers and labels we give ourselves. Familiar singer songwriter lyrical concerns.
  • Down By The River – faux bouncy Americana  and not unlike Dexy's Midnight Runners
  • The Road To Understanding   – quite long
  • The Air That I Breathe – The Hollies had a big hit with this in 1974 ( #6US, #2UK) but this version is much more complex if not as regal. It was also done by Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers, for his 1973 solo album “Star Spangled Springer”. In the 1990s, Radiohead was successfully sued for plagiarism (for their song "Creep") which has a similar chord progression and melody.

And …

This was his big breakthrough but it’s a little underwhelming. It still better than most …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1972     It Never Rains In Southern California The Billboard Hot 100 #5

1972     It Never Rains In Southern California Adult Contemporary #2

1972     Down By The River The Billboard Hot 100 #91

1972     Down By The River Adult Contemporary Chart #38

1973     If You Gotta Break Another Heart The Billboard Hot 100 #63

Album

1973 #77

England

Singles

1972 It Never Rains in Southern California #51 (apparently – some sources do not list it)

Album

—

Sounds

From Great Britain To L.A.  

MP3 attached

Albert Hammond – From Great Britain to LA

It Never Rains In Southern California 

live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pyC7WnvLT4

recently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqCOsywvts

unplugged

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjG2p9gxPPo

The Air That I Breathe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HglphdXqMg

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvKlUfVb90Y

in Spanish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBlyxDAfDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvevInEzo1k

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/it-never-rains-in-southern-california-mw0000091292

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Never_Rains_in_Southern_California_(album)

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hammond

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/albert-hammond-mn0000933781/biography

Website

http://www.alberthammond.net/

Trivia

  • His son, Albert Hammond, Jr., is a solo musician and also a member of The Strokes.
Posted in Singer Songwriter | Tagged | Leave a comment

JIM KWESKIN – America – (Reprise) – 1971

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Franko

Jim Kweskin - America

Jim Kweskin is one of the great, lost and forgotten heroes of American music.

It’s not that he didn’t have his time in the sun.

He did.

But his time passed and his audience got older and he failed to pick up any new devotees.

At his peak in the mid to late 60s he was never less than interesting. The zeitgeist of that time was one of musical experiment. Styles were mashed up. Pre-rock styles were explored. It wasn’t enough to just write good pop songs so artists dug deep into the American musical heritage. Performance and writing were sometimes secondary to inventiveness in this environment.

On the back of this, and the folk explosion of the early 60s, came Kweskin and his Jug Band.

Yep, there was a time when jug rock bands ruled the airwaves. Well, not quite, but jug bands did find an audience (mainly amongst university students and musical archaeologists) and did capture some of the market.

The jug band tradition dates back to white Appalachia and black southern rural field workers but the early 60s folk revival brought a renewed appreciation of the style.

Wikipedia define a jug band as “a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper (kazoo)”

The Jim Kweskin Jug Band was perhaps the most famous (used loosely) of the jug bands but there were others like the Even Dozen Jug Band, whilst elements of the style were also to be found in the Lovin’ Spoonful, The Grateful Dead and Country Joe and the Fish, The 13th Floor Elevators and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The beauty of Kweskin and his band though is they were not traditionalists. There was a good dose of humour and more than a passing lip service to the music of the 1960s. They were in love with pre-rock country, folk, ragtime, trad jazz, and pop but they didn’t despise rock and roll either.

As the jug band “boom” faded many of its practitioners took those influences into rock and what became roots rock whilst others like Kweskin went solo and dug deeper into Americana, folk and pre-war music.

There are very few originals compositions but Kweskin digs up obscure (and not so obscure) songs and puts his mark on the same. What songs he chooses and how he styles his albums (and I suspect he has a lot of creative freedom as there aren’t major marketing considerations) give him as personal and singular voice as any singer songwriter.

This is personal music but I suspect people like Kweskin and Leon Redbone are happy to keep traditions alive and also keep the music relevant by drawing analogies between the past and the present.

The result I love listening to even if there is little broad appeal.

It’s a pity about the appeal because when you listen to this music it’s like listening to a history lesson to music. I love reading history and it wasn’t unusual for me to listen to a song and then rush off to my Encyclopaedia Britannica and read up on whatever the song was about.

This music still has that effect on me, though I now tend to use google or Wikipedia (groan).

The best of the music, though, manages to also capture the emotional content of the song not just the historical detail. Kweskin knows how to hit that mark, and throw in some humour also.

“America” was always going to be an ambitious title for an album. Kweskin has rounded up a batch of songs that, perhaps, tell of his love of the different forms of American music. Interestingly the songs he has chosen are largely “conservative” songs that he has rejigged for a more questioning audience (circa 1971).

There is no snide sarcasm, or grand ironic posturing though he does take the piss (albeit gently) on some of the songs. It’s as if he is saying; these songs are part of America’s musical fabric and it's not fair they have been taken over and become associated with the conservative (both political and musical) right, so it’s time to share them with everyone again.

Both the purists and avant-gardists will be happy as Kweskin does the songs straight enough for the former and with a knowing wink of nearly undetectable cynicism for the latter.

1971 perhaps wasn’t a very optimistic year in America…this album of old Americana leans to the dark and melancholy. The only song with a bit of fight, “Okie from Muskogee”, which was adopted by the middle and the right, is affectionately done though with a hint of that aforesaid cynicism and perhaps, maybe, a little irony.

Another point of interest is the specific mention of Mel Lyman: “co-starring Mel Lyman and the Lyman family”. Lyman had been in the Jim Kweskin Jug band before becoming a self-styled guru with a 100-member commune (the Lyman Family) in Boston. How much of an influence he was on Kweskin generally and on this album specifically (on which he played harmonica and sings)  I don’t know but, clearly, he was an influence. Check out the links below,

Otherwise, the cover art is a great piece of collage : Sgt Peppers goes Americana.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Back in the Saddle – (Ray Whitley, Gene Autry) – A truly lovely version of the Gene Autry cowboy song – part jug, part avant-garde but wholly reverential.
  • Sugar Babe – (Mance Lipscomb) – a beautifully realised version of the Mance Lipscomb Afro-American blues standard.
  • Okie from Muskogee – (Merle Haggard, Ray Burris)- Phil Ochs had already brought Merle Haggard’s statement to the “left wing” masses (his audience). I'm not sure what Haggard’s intent was – his brand of patriotism is somewhat higher than the audience who made this into a # 1 country hit for him. It is a fun song and it is a song, I suspect, “long hairs” loved singing along to. Perhaps Kweskin takes the piss here but who knows.
  • 99 Year Blues – (Julius Daniels) – arr by the Lyman Family- This song by Black bluesman Julius Daniels was made famous through its inclusion on a Folkways “Anthology of American Folk Music” album compilation from 1952 though the song dates back to the 20s. It is one of those typically death oriented fatalistic songs you hear from old American. And well done at that.
  • Rambling Round Your City  – (Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter)- Guthrie’s words on Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene” melody. this is only marginally cheerier than the last tune. Woody had a melancholy side. If you go through the great depression you aint gonna be playing sunshine pop, if you know what I mean.
  • Amelia Earhart's Last Flight – (David D. McEnery) – written and performed by Red River Dave McEnery in the late 1930s. McEnery was a western singer and leader of The Swift Cowboys group. This is quite a beautiful song (and history lesson) with especially gorgeous music. You can’t dance to it though.
  • Stealin'  – (The Memphis Jug Band) – the jug is turned down a little on this one despite being written by a jug band. I wonder where you learn to play the jug? Are there any jug teachers out there?
  • Old Rugged Cross – (Rev George Bennard) – this is the old (it dates back to the 1920s) rugged gospel song done by everyone south of the Mason Dixon line.
  • Dark as a Dungeon – (Merle Travis) – the classic Merle Travis song – quite depressing
  • Old Black Joe – (Stephen Foster) – arr by the Lyman Family- and why would you end the album with an old Stephen Foster minstrel song? Holding up a mirror or wilfully obscure? Either way Kweskin plays it straight and it is quite haunting and melancholy like a lot of those John Ford films from the 30s.

And …

Excellent …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

Nothing, no where

Sounds

Back in the Saddle

MP3 attached

Jim Kweskin – Back In The Saddle Again

Rambling Round Your City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sedUlS16S1M

Amelia Earhart's Last Flight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CIogWl6VlY

Old Rugged Cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0KUouUKuX8

Old Black Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddWPby64O4s

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G_134pX4XA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwtnA6xos1Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-DpTJrxT0o&list=PLAEDA65DDD2CFA19B

Review

http://www.trussel.com/lyman/quantumnoise.htm

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mel-lyman-p100112

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_kweskin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Lyman

http://www.trussel.com/f_mel.htm

Website

http://jimkweskin.com/

Trivia

—

Posted in Alt Country, Americana, Folk, Folk Rock | Tagged | 6 Comments

ALAN PRICE – Between Today and Yesterday – (Warner Brothers) – 1974

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Franko

Alan Price - Between Today and Yesterday

A mate gave me this some years ago.

Thanks Mitchell!

I relegated it and then thought twice and stuck it in a “maybe” pile for years.

So, I’m approaching it afresh.

The only other Price LP I had before this was the soundtrack to the magnificent Lindsay Anderson film "O Lucky Man" (1973), which could work as a solo stand-alone album.

Price is largely forgotten today but he was arguably the most talented of The Animals. He clearly was the most “inventive” and musically inquisitive and probably the most ambitious. After he left the group he moved through a number of styles fluidly and naturally without any sense of opportunistic genre hopping.

Wikipedia: Alan Price (born 19 April 1942, Fatfield, Washington, County Durham) is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the British band The Animals and for his subsequent solo work.

Price was educated at Jarrow Grammar School, South Tyneside. He is a self-taught musician and was a founding member of the Tyneside group the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, which was later renamed The Animals. His organ-playing on songs by The Animals, such as "House of the Rising Sun", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", and "Bring It On Home To Me" was a key element in the group's success.

After leaving the Animals, Price went on to have success on his own with his own band Alan Price Set and later with Georgie Fame. He introduced the songs of Randy Newman to a wider audience. Later, he appeared on his own television show, as well as achieving success with film scores including winning critical acclaim for his musical contribution to the 1973 film O Lucky Man!, and wrote the score to the stage musical Andy Capp. In addition, he has appeared as an actor in films and television productions.

This autobiographical concept album is ambitious in its scope and honest in its ambitions and, perhaps, is a product of its time and place.

It’s not a concept album with a structured narrative but all the songs are interlinked and thematically consistent.

Further, the album is separated into two: Side One is “Yesterday” whilst Side Two is “Today”.

Price accentuates the distinct sides by drawing from pre-rock English music styles, especially English music hall (and English variations of Trad Jazz and Broadway) on Side One, while opting for a more (only slightly) contemporary sound on Side Two.

The ye olde worlde pre rock (though still rock) sound on the album is nothing new. The Band and Dylan had done the same with American music in the late 60s as had Randy Newman with his Vaudevillian pop.

North Londoner Ray Davies of the Kinks, did the same with English music, particularly on the “Muswell Hillbillies” LP from 1971. (Not surprisingly, perhaps, Davies has subsequently said that his favourite album is The Band’s Self-Titled album from 1968).

The whole ye old worlde England thing was on a roll at the time.

This LP did well in England and David Essex took the whole concept to the tops of the English charts over a series of albums in the mid-1970s when he synthesised English music hall with glam pomp and pop. Neither act sold well in the US. Maybe they were too English? Though that doesn’t explain why a record as English as the Kinks “Village Green Preservation Society” (and just about every Kinks concept album after) sold better in the US than it did in England.

The albums other strength is the detail in Price’s song writing.

Sure, singer-songwriters are known for their autobiographical songs but those songs are usually quite narcissistically siinglular where the writer puts forward his or her emotions with no relationship to the outside world. Price here wants to show through music what it was like to grow up working class in Newcastle, England, post-World War Two (Side One “Yesterday”), and how it affected him (Side Two “Today”).

The music is still emotionally detailed though the detail is influenced by external forces (that create the person) not the usual internal ones singer songwriters are obsessed with. Sociology as opposed to psychology I suppose?

The “feel” of Newcastle (or at the least the Newcastle he grew up in) is palatable. Newcastle in England’s north was a hub of manufacturing, heavy industry and coal export during the industrial revolution and suffered accordingly with economic downturns (especially after World War Two). This music, then, is pure Zola, with a touch of Richard Llewellyn or perhaps John Ford’s film version of Llewellyn’s “How Green Was My Valley”. There is no immediacy or a call to arms but there are vivid recollections of the child of working class parents.

He draws on Davies (again) and especially on Randy Newman’s observational detail and perhaps some of his sensibility (Price covered seven Newman songs on his second album in 1967). Newman wasn’t as autobiographical as Price but he had the knack of placing himself in the place of the songs protagonists and creating a faux autobiographical song punctuated by sharp observation.

There is so much autobiographical and observational detail in the songs across the album that ultimately you really have to want to know what growing up to working class parents in Newcastle (or a place like Newcastle) was like.

Rarely, in pre punk, is this level of autobiography attempted, probably because there is a limit to commerciality. Lennon and McCartney may have written personal songs but they were not (generally) historically autobiographical. Jagger and Richards rarely attempted the same. Prior to the rise of punk this music was the preferred repertoire of Broadway writers, folk artists, some singer songwriters, some country acts like Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash and a smattering of pop acts such as Randy Newman, Nilsson, Ray Davies and perhaps Brian Wilson.

I’m not sure if Alan Price would like the description, but this LP is pitched somewhere between the poetry and observation of Ray Davies and the glam bombast of ye olde worlde England with David Essex.

The beauty is the lack of pretension and the way it manages to steer clear of bloated self-indulgence (he is not “searching for himself”).

And, yes there is some Newcastle dialect (Geordie) on the album.

I should also say the sleeve is awful and I’m not sure what the depicted teddy boy has to do with anything (apart from the teddy boy revival at the time of the album’s release). Clearly there is meaning in the sleeve through. The album’s title “Between Today and Yesterday”, the dog, the crying teddy boy, the stark room, the window, the colourful rainbow outside the window…..

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Left Over People – a bouncy way to start thought there is bite in the lyrics. There is more than a hint of Randy Newman in its tone.
  • Away, Away – the working life, the working life. Vivid in it's depiction of work in times past.
  • Between Today and Yesterday – a ballad and a beautiful one at that.
  • In Times Like These – a song about community and friendship in an economically deprived post-war England.
  • Under the Sun – another sad song about things past, or things that have passed
  • Jarrow Song – more of an up-tempo song with the narrator contemplating  moving on to London Town. It serves as a fitting end leading into the "today" or side two. Even the music changes in the second part of the song to something more contemporary, anticipating side two.
  • City Lights – The narrator arrives at the city but all is not gold. A familiar theme but well done….an quite a bit of Ray Davies and David Ackles.
  • Look at My Face – the narrator finds love
  • Angel Eyes – the narrator loses love. There is a touch of David Essex here and the song quite infectious.
  • You're Telling Me – things are starting to get heavy – organ heavy in this keyboard workout by Price
  • Dream of Delight – a touch of Paul Simon in this gentle, almost soft rock, "airing ones mind"
  • Between Today and Yesterday – the song (rehashed from side one) sums up the narrative streams and even the musical styles of the album in one song. A great end.

And …

Clearly I like Yesterday more than today (no surprises there) but an overall good album  …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

Album

—

England

Singles

1974 Jarrow Song #6

Album

1974 #9

Sounds

Left Over People

mp3 attached

Alan Price – Left Over People

Between Today and Yesterday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCg7yatsZKQ

In Times Like These

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iU7bfxAyAI

Under the Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43IXI0eFMbI

Jarrow Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlMjSESoz9A

City Lights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysQKDXByu3A

Angel Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLJDL6gd-dQ

You're Telling Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzxcXCX6FrU

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTJKpV0JJwY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ui5HbRBW4

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/between-today-and-yesterday-mw0000041680

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_Today_and_Yesterday

http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/PRICEalan.htm

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Price

Website

http://alanprice.absoluteelsewhere.net/index.html

Trivia

—

Posted in Rock & Pop | Tagged | Leave a comment

THE BEACH BOYS – Surf’s Up – (Brother/Reprise) – 1971

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Franko

The Beach Boys - Surf's Up

OK – like the last beach Boys album I commented on I already have this album on CD.

I sneak it in because I have just acquired the vinyl.

And what a piece of vinyl it is.

This is up there with the greatest of rock albums.

There is genius in the grooves.

The Beach Boys create a magnificently melancholy album about the state of the world, 1971.

I hate this but when people talk about The Beach Boys they inevitably talk about The Beatles. I suppose you have to because they were neck and neck until 1966 and The Beatles were (unintentionally and inadvertently) responsible the Beach Boys subsequent marginalisation.

But, money talks.

And, accordingly, The Beach Boys lost the race.

Also, equally devastating, they lost the “cultural capital” race.

The Beatles were hip, happening and looking forward. The Beach Boys stalled with the young-uns. They became the conservative, establishment has-beens. The newly emerging middle class rock criticism magazines (like Rolling Stone) could never fully forgive a former surf band and put the final nail in the Beach Boys cultural coffin when they sided with the Beatles.

Negative critical write ups, or worse, no write ups means sales decreased and ultimately your light isn’t going to shine if no one buys your records.

Sure, the records were rediscovered later, but who knows how the (music) world would have turned out if The Beach Boys post “Pet Sounds” had sold as much as The Beatles.

They should have.

The only thing that surprises is how quickly their audience turned on them.

I think they were being distracted by self-appointed and self-important cultural shamen.

The truth is that The Beatles were always playing catch up with The Beach Boys but after they discovered Bob Dylan and won the culture wars and, more importantly, the chart wars they (circa 1968) shifted gears. Through George Harrison, they became enamoured with the rustic experiments of The Band.

Maybe if they had lasted a few more albums they would have aped the gentle, haunting sounds of this Beach Boys album and its predecessors “Sunflower” (1970) and ”Friends” (1968).

Then again, maybe not. The Beatles always seemed to be interested in what the Beach Boys were doing musically but Lennon and McCartney really didn’t relate lyrically to Brian Wilson (or any of his lyricists) or his brothers or even Al Jardine or Mike Love for that matter. With a few exceptions Lennon and McCartney wrote love songs from year one up till the end whereas The Beach Boys did that and more. On this album they tackle civil unrest, ecology, the past, the future and various parts of the human anatomy.

Of the English musicians only Ray Davies was mining the same territory at that time.

These are observational songs about little things: trees, feet, jobs etc. The Beatles were all love songs or big picture ‘all you need is love” pronouncements. Admittedly they did it well but they weren’t, lyrically, on the same page as the Beach Boys.

As an aside I will say that Ray Davies must have been influenced by them. Cagey Ray always plays his cards close to his chest but the music the Kinks were making between 1968 – 1974 bears more of a resemblance to the Beach Boys (and coincidentally The Band) than it does to The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. I’m not trying to take anything away from Ray, who is bona fide genius, but I’m looking at his inspirations.

Every hipster doofus knows and praises the magnificent “Pet Sounds” (1966) and more often than not it seems the conversation (or at least the extent of praisers knowledge) ends there. But the Beach Boys were nothing if not prolific and that means some so-so material escaped with the gold but they did follow “Pet Sounds” with three albums that are equal to “Pet Sounds” (a big call, OK, almost equal): “Friends” (1968), “Sunflower” (1970), “Surf’s Up” (1971) and two that are a level below but nevertheless magnificent: “20/20” (1969) and “Wild Honey” (1967) and “Smiley Smile” (1967).

The average punter would be hard pressed to name a track on any of those albums after “Pet Sounds”. Still, seven great albums in five years, how many acts can say that?

This album isn’t always easily accessible and it certainly isn’t consistently commercial but there is the right mix of inspiration, musicality, inventiveness and plain weirdness that makes the album memorable.

Where the Beatles or the Stones ever this off the wall?

The Kinks were, and they suffered as well.

Brian Wilson isn’t the svengali on this album but he does ride shotgun, holding the album together. The Beach Boys trademark harmonies are there but they are gently stark creating a sense of foreboding that is palatable. If anything, when you listen to this album you get an idea of how the world was, circa 1970, and how people were reacting to those events.

The melancholy mood is accentuated by the fact that this is the Beach Boys and everything that name implies: fun, sun, surf, sex, is turned upside down. Here they are singing about civil unrest, pollution, unemployment, ageing and the loss of innocence.

The simple, evocative cover art is also most effective in putting over the mood.

The beauty is, despite the subject matter, the album rarely comes off as forced or pretentious. There are no solutions, pronouncements or sledge hammer stances. There are observations, concerns and a lot of insight.

For a band so identified with Californian hedonism their later more “thoughtful” music and particularly this album (combined with Brian’s avant-garde leanings) must have confused the fuck out of, and alienated, their audience.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Don't Go Near the Water – (Mike Love/Al Jardine) – sung by: Mike Love/Al Jardine/Brian Wilson – an ecology lesson with some pop, psych and pre- hip hop(!) thrown in. Beautiful.
  • Long Promised Road – (Carl Wilson/Jack Rieley) – sung by: Carl Wilson- a gentle and beautiful song about hope (in the face of normal everyday obstacles).
  • Take a Load Off Your Feet -(Jardine/Brian Wilson/Gary Winfrey) – sung by: Brian Wilson/Jardine- a joy, a magnificent song about feet and, err life. (Ray Davies must have listened to this).

I do them when I'm down in the tub

With avocado cream they'll take a rub

They wrinkle like a-raisins if I stay too long

I wouldn't want to do it wrong

They'll put you in the driver's seat

And to the table when you want to eat

But when you go to sit down in your chair

Something else has got to put you there

Take good care of your feet, Pete

You better watch out what you eat, Pete

Better take care of your life

'Cause nobody else will

  • Disney Girls (1957) -(Bruce Johnston) – sung by: Bruce Johnston- by new Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston, this song is a gentle and starkly beautiful ode to loves past and a positive future
  • Student Demonstration Time – (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Mike Love) – sung by: Mike Love- This is a re-write of The Robins R&B hit (and The Coasters) "Riot In Cell Block Nine" which was originally written by Elvis regulars Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Beach Boys had done the original live but Mike Love re-wrote the lyrics as a response to the Kent State Shootings in 1970 and other unfolding protest events. Weird but effective.
  • Feel Flows -(C. Wilson/Rieley) – sung by: C. Wilson-another great song. This one has an ethereal mesmerizing groove
  • Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) – (Jardine/Winfrey) – sung by: Jardine- the flipside to a lazy day in the sun …the narrator wants a job, doesn’t want aid and is positive in expectations. Odd, but, again, quite ethereal.
  • A Day in the Life of a Tree -(B. Wilson/Rieley) – sung by: Jack Rieley/Van Dyke Parks/Jardine- an ecological masterpiece. A narrative from the point of view of a tree.
  • 'Til I Die -(B. Wilson) – sung by: C. Wilson/B. Wilson/Love- very heavy – death and what is the meaning of life.
  • Surf's Up -(B. Wilson/Van Dyke Parks) – sung by: C. Wilson/B. Wilson/Jardine- "Surf's Up" is a double entendre that suggests the early Beach Boys and their “the surf is up, let’s go surfing” songs as well as later disillusionment because those days are finished ….surf’s up.

Hung velvet overtaken me

Dim chandelier awaken me

To a song dissolved in the dawn

The music hall a costly bow

The music all is lost for now

To a muted trumpeter swan

Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop

Are you sleeping, Brother John?

And …

I can’t adequately describe how good this album is …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1971 Long Promised Road The Billboard Hot 100 #89

Album

1971 Surf's Up The Billboard 200 #29

England

Singles

—

Album

1971 Surf's Up #15

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/The_Beach_Boys/Surf's_Up/a42b6a80-b542-344c-921d-15a07fdb580e/

 

Don't Go Near the Water

mp3 attached

Beach Boys – Don't Go Near The Water

Surf's Up

mp3 attached

Beach Boys – Surf's Up

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09dQmeB_NgU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMmX30uyWX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D3DUx5X8kw

Brian on drugs (talks abouth that is)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQD2g6F7y8

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/surfs-up-mw0000316801

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf%27s_Up_(album)

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/surfs-up-19711014

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11665-sunflowersurfs-up/

http://tangledupinmusic.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/album-review-the-beach-boys-surfs-up-1971/

http://coolalbumreview.com/?p=13553

http://blogcritics.org/music-review-beach-boys-surfs-up/

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/beachboys-sunflower/'

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-beach-boys-mn0000041874

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_boys

Website

http://www.thebeachboys.com/

Trivia

  • in relation to 'Til i Die – wikipedia: "After asking Brian how he came up with the chords, Don Was recalls that "he told me that he was sitting at a piano, creating geometric patterns with his fingers, trying not to move the fingers on the outside of the patterns, but limiting changes to internal movements. When he landed on a shape that both looked cool and sounded good, he wrote it down. So, essentially he created this masterpiece by contorting his fingers into really groovy shapes." However, Was goes on to say "I've absolutely no idea whether this story has any basis in truth or whether he was just making it up on the spot to entertain me."
  • Bruce Johnston on harmony and backing vocals was the 6th Beach Boy on this album (and had been since about 1965)
Posted in Rock & Pop | Tagged | Leave a comment

SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOHS – Lil Red Riding Hood – (MGM) -1966

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Franko

Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - Li'l Red Riding Hood

I have commented on another “Sam the Sham” album in a very early post on this blog, when this blog was just an email list actually.

Since then I’ve decided to flesh these things out a bit, well at least flesh them out when dealing with an act for the first time.

You can treat this entry as a first entry for Sam despite the other comment.

Sam the Sham holds a special place in the hearts of all 60s music lovers. Part garage rock, part frat rock, part dance music, part rock n roll, part genius, part showman, Sam was part of the movement of music that made no concessions to the British invasion of American music and ultimately was swept away because of his stubbornness.

Google garage and frat rock on this site for some specific historical detail on the movements but I will quote myself and say "Garage" … was an American response to the British invasion. It is fair to assume that many garage bands were inspired by the rockier side of the British invasion – The Stones, Kinks and the Who though the truth is also that many of these bands had been "frat rock" bands who incorporated elements of the new British R&B/rock to their sounds, and then – partly because of poor equipment but more so because they wanted to beat the British invasion bands at their own game – they developed a sound that was infinitely more raw and rockier”.

Perhaps this was commercial suicide but there is a grudging admiration for all those bands who refused to soften their sound to allow for post Beatle-esque pop.

1966, though, was pretty much the last roll of the dice for garage rock. People were doing “Pet Sounds” and “Freak Out’ while Sam was pretty much doing what he had been doing since the late 1950s.

This dedication to sound and energy takes the form of a rehearsed chaos. It is not music that you need to contemplate because it operates on a visceral level. Even as I sit here in front of my PC my foot is tapping and the typing on my keyboard has become more thump thump thump as I keep time to the beat and energy of the music.

Listening to this won’t have you sucking on Gitanes, straightening your beret as you look into your expresso, if you know what I mean.

Sure, we all like meaning in our music, but ultimately we like to be moved physically also and the rush you get from this music is palatable.

That’s not to say there isn’t meaning in the music.

The meaning is not in the words but in the whole package which assumes that you have to get down and dirty, sweaty and stinky and release some energy which in some ways is an affirmation of the joy of life.

And that is good enough, isn’t it?

Isn't it?

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Li'l Red Riding Hood – (Ronald Blackwell) – Magnificent! A great slab of rock n roll which is truly creepy because the narrator is a wolf about to sexually devour Li’l Red Riding Hood (well, the actual fable was creepy also) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li'l_Red_Riding_Hood
  • Hanky Panky – (Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich) – a nice slab of honkin’ garage rock. This has been done by everyone (including many garage bands) and Tommy James and The Shondells had a #46 hit with it in 1966.
  • Deputy Dog – (Grier)- a dance track for the deranged hipster
  • Green'ich Grendel – (Paul White) – Initially the song sounds like filler but it turns out to be an enjoyable garage variation of The Kinks "Dedicated follower of Fashion" but with some undeniably hip mid 60s lyrics …..
  • Mary Is My Little Lamb – (Ronald Blackwell)- this one is trading in on the title song and is, not surprisingly,  written by the same writer. It, too, is a little creepy.
  • Sweet Talk – (Ethan Daniel Davidson) – another garage thumper
  • El Toro de Goro (The Peace Loving Bull)- (Addington-Kesler) – a novelty tune that is so humorously broad in its ethnicity it anticipates 70s Benny Hill skits in many ways.
  • The Phantom – (M. Davis) – a hoot of a song with some spooky overtones. This would be a perfect tune for a retro drive-in.
  • Little Miss Muffet – (Domingo "Sam" Samudio)- another song in the Li’l Red Riding Hood vain, this time written by Sam.
  • Pharaoh-A-Go-Go – (Domingo "Sam" Samudio) – Some sporadic vocal chants and yelps stop this from being an instrumental but otherwise this is a great dance floor stomper.
  • Ring Them Bells-(Ethan Daniel Davidson) – a “groovy” tune from Sam and undeniably enjoyable.
  • Grasshopper – (D. Ward)- another novelty which throws bits of country, Tex Mex, and B Bumble B and the Stingers into a pot and creates some hard edged bubble-gum.

And …

Great fun …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1966 Lil' Red Riding Hood  The Billboard Hot 100 #2

Album

1966 #82

England

Singles

1966 Lil' Red Riding Hood  #46

Album

—

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/Sam_the_Sham_&_The_Pharaohs/Li'l_Red_Riding_Hood/2d2fb636-5652-3566-8cdb-158bb0579b50/

 

Li'l Red Riding Hood

live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM8_v4AwltM

 

Green'ich Grendel

mp3 attached

Sam the Sham – Green'ich Grendel

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlr8Krdpvuc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78MuqCPhCkw

Review

—

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-the-sham-amp-the-pharaohs-mn0000289177

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_the_Sham_and_the_Pharaohs

Website

http://www.samthesham.com/

Trivia

—

Posted in Garage, Surf and Frat | Tagged | 1 Comment

P.F. SLOAN – Raised on Records – (Mums) – 1972

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Franko

P.F. Sloan - Raised on Records

P.F. Sloan is one of those minor legends in rock music.

He is well regarded by his peers, has a devoted small following and he put out some undeniably great (and influential) music during his career.

He also was a founding father of folk rock.

To me, back as a youth in the 80s he was everything I liked – 60s, west coast, pop and rock, but thoughtful and with a cool semi mysterious persona. Listening to PF Sloan as a youth was like being in a secret gang with secret hand signals. The trouble was in those pre-internet days there was precious little PF Sloan floating about. All I had was a handful of op-shop 45s, so we had to listen to him through his song writing hits for others.

But, that wasn’t such a bad thing.

His biggest and certainly, to me, his greatest song is “Eve of Destruction” for Barry McGuire. That was (is) one of my favourite 45s. and a nice slab of folk protest done as a pop song.

This is the skill of PF Sloan – he could get any number of styles and add enough pop to make them commercial but not so much that they would lose their origins.

Sounds easy but it isn’t.

Wikipedia: “Sloan was born to an American father and a Romanian-born mother. His family moved to West Hollywood, California in 1957, where his father, a pharmacist, changed the family surname from "Schlein" to "Sloan" after repeatedly being denied a liquor license for his store. At 13, Sloan's father bought him a guitar; at the music store in Hollywood, Sloan met Elvis Presley, who gave him an impromptu music lesson.[2] In 1959, at 14, "Flip" Sloan recorded a single, "All I Want Is Loving" / "Little Girl in the Cabin" for the L.A. R&B record label Aladdin Records, which folded soon after its release….He became part of the burgeoning Los Angeles music scene, landing a job on the songwriting staff at music publisher Screen Gems, which was then the largest publisher on the West Coast, at 16…wrote hits for many performers, including "Eve of Destruction" (Barry McGuire); "You Baby" and "Let Me Be" (The Turtles); "A Must to Avoid" and "Hold On!" (Herman's Hermits); "Take Me For What I'm Worth" (The Searchers); and "Secret Agent Man" (Johnny Rivers). This last song was the theme tune for Danger Man, a British TV series that had been given a new title (Secret Agent) and theme for the U.S. market…Sloan also became a session guitarist as part of the group of L.A. session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, working with such well-known backing musicians as drummer Hal Blaine, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, bassist Joe Osborn, and bassist/keyboardist Larry Knechtel, among others”.

This album was made after a four year break and Sloan had moved firmly into singer songwriter territory. It was not a big leap for him as he had been influenced, heavily, by Bob Dylan (and perhaps Donovan), by folk, and by west coast folk rock ….all of which had roads that led to the singer songwriter style.

Likewise, his contemporaries, and distinctly similar songwriters in the east coast Brill Building scene (Carole King, Laura Nyro, Neil Diamond etc) were all moving to into singer songwriter territory.

It was inevitable he would try his hand at this.

And he grew a beard to show he was serious about it.

Fans are still mixed on this album, maybe because it is a departure from his earlier works, but all the PF Sloan stylistic touches are there.

Namely, thoughtful songs, with some sharp observation, gentle social criticism, shrouded in flavourful backing and given a smart pop overlay.

Sloan is in good voice though he probably sings too well as people expect this type of music (unfortunately) to be a little more ragged.

The whole album reminds me of Jimmy Curtiss’ solo work, an east coaster with a similar musical background to Sloan though more obscure (see this blog for words on him). There are hints of James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg in there also.

Where the album lacks is in the hooks. Sloan is a hook master but here he hasn’t managed to pull any off. So, even though the songs are never less than pleasant there isn’t that one song to go stellar which all the others can hang off.

Does that make the album a failure.

No, nowhere near it.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Let Me Be – A Sloan remake (originally on his 1966 album  “Twelve More Times”). This song works on two levels. As a song of a possessive love and as a hippy statement of faith : "Let Me Be" – think about it. The song is quite good and it grows on you, albeit slowly.
  • Way You Want It to Be – sliding into soft rock territory with a hint of Elton John here.
  • Night the Trains Broke Down – emotive and quite pleasant.
  • Moon Is Stone – hmm
  • Raised on Records– clearly biographical though a bit naff …."if it wasn’t for the music I might have said goodbye a long time ago". Music saved my soul type stuff. Ultimately though it works because of its sincerity
  • Springtime -gentle
  • Como – I'm a sucker for Spanish in songs (or generally any little bit of a foreign language thrown into a song)
  • Sins of a Family – A Sloan remake (originally on his 1965 album “Songs of Our Times”). An interesting song (quite Dylanesque) and more in the Sloan style of subversive song writing. This is an otherwise mid tempo singer songwriter song with a catchy chorus has some interesting (and possibly disturbing) things to say
  • Turn on the Light – so so though apparently Duane eddy played guitar on this.
  • Midnight Girl – a gentle love song with a samba-esque bounce
  • Somebody's Watching You – a nice guitar and violin song with the violins played as stark solos  rather than as "strings". It works

And …

 

Not always successful but certainly no worse than other singer songwriter albums of the same period. …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

 

US

nothing

 

England

nothing

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/P.F._Sloan/Raised_on_Records/7cb45dd6-327f-4890-9054-602e656bee71/

Como

mp3 attached

PF Sloan – Como

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnvwh_gbOIU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6roL2dYfM

Jimmy Webb's song about PF Sloan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_W9HLWZfOo

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/raised-on-records-mw0000852620

http://www.redtelephone66.com/2011/08/p-f-sloan-raised-on-records-1972/

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PF_Sloan

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pf-sloan-mn0000414420

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/I-Have-Been-Seeking-PF-Sloan-I-330427.html

Website

http://www.myspace.com/pfsloan

Trivia

  • the album listing an all-star cast of sessions players including Johnny Barbata, Barry Beckett, Hal Blaine, James Burton, and Larry Knechtel.
  • wikipedia: "P.F. Sloan" is also the title of a song by singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, who is better known for the 1960s hits "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Up, Up and Away". Webb released two different versions of the catchy, bittersweet composition, which seems to be about the costs and disappointments of being a creative ground breaker”.
Posted in Singer Songwriter | Tagged | Leave a comment

CHER– Half Breed – (MCA) – 1973

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Franko

Cher - Half-Breed

OK, I have to start every Cher comment with something that indicates that I have a sexual fascination with her.

Why?

Why mention:

  1. that, or;
  2. why the sexual fascination?

The answer is simple;

  1. It’s therapy;
  2. It’s a teenager thing going back decades (I have the same thing, though to a lesser degree, with Kate Bush …aaahhh the “Babooshka” video clip)

Apart from the therapy Cher may read this.

Cher, are you out there?

Read my other comments for more detail on Cher, her music generally and my sexual fascination with her (it’s “G” rated – the only people I am likely to offend are those who are into music).

In relation to the music I can say that I’m never disappointed with a Cher album.

That, of course, is a double edged sword.

Cher has a great distinctive voice and a voice I find quite comforting when I hear it.

The trouble lies in her material.

Despite being aimed at an adult market, Cher, her label or her management would package her albums as they would for teen pop stars circa 1965.

One hit, a couple of recent covers, a couple of older covers and a lot of filler written for the artist.

On the face of it there seems to be no other logic to the albums but here I think there is a little more ambition given that, even though she didn’t write the songs, some of them seem to be autobiographical.

Cher, who was of partial Native American mixed ancestry, hooked up with Sonny (who was 11 years her senior) when she was 16. Their marriage had broken down by 1972 but they continued their “Sonny & Cher” act as a business relationship. They were also parents to a young daughter, Chastity, who was born in 1968.

A number of these biographical facts can be seen overtly and covertly in the songs.

But, it still is a Cher album.

With that in mind and with the knowledge that Cher, the instruments and the production are all quite slick it’s fair to say that each album turns on the quality (or rather suitability) of the songs.

And this album is no different, regardless of any (possible) ambitions.

Cher, in full diva mode (when wasn’t she after about 1971?), attacks each song whether it requires a full frontal assault or not.

And this is the problem.

That is her style so who was advising, or, choosing the songs for Cher?

Tracks (best in italics)

  • My Love – (Linda McCartney / Paul McCartney) – the great Wings song. It may not be right for Cher but the song is so good that on this occasion it hardly matters.
  • Two People Clinging to a Thread – (Harry Lloyd / Gloria Sklerov) – first done by Cher (I believe), but a throwaway.
  • Half-Breed – (Al Capps / Mary Dean) – Another song first done by Cher and the reason to make an album. A pearl. This is total schmaltz that transcends its cabaret comparisons, almost.  The plight of the mixed identity Native American is given Vegas glitz. Cabaret protest music perhaps?  Now there is a genre. A small one. Done in Cher's full voice style this is quite affecting.
  • The Greatest Song I Ever Heard – (Dick Holler) – A Cher first recording where she pulls the emotion back a bit and does quite well.
  • How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? – (Barry Gibb / Robin Gibb) –  from the Bee Gees “Trafalgar”(1971) album and subsequently done by everyone from Michael Buble to Andy Williams. This is a little too quiet for Cher
  • Carousel Man – (Johnny Durrill) –  A Cher first recording  and a good one about a young girl who hooks up with an older man  –  "The Carousel Man wouldn’t let me off his merry go round"
  • David's Song – (David Paich) – Another original written for Cher by Boz Scaggs songwriter and Toto vocalist David Paich. It’s slight. (I believe she may have been dating Paich around this time)
  • Melody – (Cliff Crofford) – (written for Cher) – slighter
  • The Long and Winding Road – (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) – not in the least gentle, but again a good Beatles song.
  • This God Forsaken Day – (Jack Segal) – a first recording by Cher.
  • Chastity Sun – (Dash Crofts / Jim Seals) – It sounds like a song about Chastity Bono though it was written by Seals and Crofts so who knows? It is suitably emotional and quite good. Post note: subsequently, I have found that the song was originally entitled "Ruby Jean & Billy Lee" and released by Seals and Crofts on their 1973 album “Diamond Girl”. It was re-written by Cher (?) as a dedication to her first child Chastity Bono.

And …

"Half Breed" is the standout track, whilst the rest of the album is, err apache.

I mean patchy.

That was lame. I apologise to Native Americans.

I have a Cher fixation, I'm keeping this.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1973  Half-Breed Adult Contemporary #3

1973 Half-Breed The Billboard Hot 100 #1

Album

1973 Half-Breed The Billboard 200 #28

England

Singles

Album

—

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/Cher/Half-Breed/874af664-0d17-313f-aca7-ad363b972f15/

Half-Breed

MP3 attached

Cher – Half Breed

clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6E98ZRaU1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35-_niPogf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1tghvb6WqA

I could see me, Carl and Ivan in the audience at this gig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWJnAMKjB78

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDSlXiUMcVk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOSZwEwl_1Q

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/half-breed-mw0001155426

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Breed_(album)

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cher

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cher-mn0000107090

Website

http://cher.com/

Trivia

—

Cher - Half-Breed Back Picture

back cover

Posted in Adult Pop, Pop Rock | Tagged | 3 Comments

THE FOOLS – Sold Out – (EMI) – 1980

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Franko

The Fools - Sold Out

Maybe I'll get some extra google hits if I quote artist and title in conjunction with yesterday's federal election in Australia?

I had not heard of The Fools before but picked up the record because the sleeve made them look like a power pop / new wave band.

Thankfully, they are, though they have bar band roots.

Wikipedia: Hailing from Ipswich, Massachusetts, the band was previously named "The Rhythm A's", where future Nervous Eaters' Steve Cataldo, Robb Skeen, and Jeff Wilkinson were joined by singer Mike Girard and guitarist Rich Bartlett. By 1975, Girard and Bartlett teamed up with Stacey Pedrick (guitar), Doug Forman (bass), and Chris Pedrick (drums), becoming The Fools.

In 1979, the band released "Psycho Chicken", a parody of The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer", and it was an immediate hit on Boston radio stations. The group followed it up with "It's a Night for Beautiful Girls," which peaked at #67 on the Billboard charts. EMI signed the band and sent them on a U.S. tour with The Knack. Shortly after, they recorded their debut album, Sold Out.

The Fools lean more to old school power pop than new wave though the short songs punctuated by sharp guitars are an effective antithesis to the bloated prog rock and slick soft rock of the time, and could easily be assumed to be new wave.

The band, clearly, has its ear to the ground and has incorporated some electronic new wave which creates an infectious mix of new wave, pop and power pop.

The trouble is the recording.

allmusic say in their review of this album, “the band escaped the curse of New England groups suffering inferior recordings in major studios”.

I disagree.

The sound is thin and this is an inferior recording in a major studio.

Maybe it’s the mix?

The album was recorded in Florida (why Florida?) and produced by Pete Solley (who also played piano on the album).

Solley was wrong for the band.

Solley was quite an experienced musician and producer. Wikipedia: Peter "Pete" Solley (19 October 1948, London) is a Hammond organ player, pianist and a Grammy-nominated record producer. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Peter Frampton, The Sports, Wreckless Eric and many others.

But he was wrong for power pop.

For fuck sake he was in Procul Harum.

He smooths out the rough edges and probably makes the band more commercial (circa 1980) but he also makes them sound like many other bands.

So, why Solley?

He had a name for this style of music having produced the hit 1980 single "What I like about You" by The Romantics. (#49 in the US, #2 in Australia) as well as producing Australian 60s retro power pop band The Sports and 60s retro rootsy power pop band Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons  in 1979.

On the Romantics he nailed it (arguably) but on the other bands, The Sports and Jo Jo Zep, he created pop out of adrenaline fuelled old school rock. (I remember a mate, Doug, pointing that out to me many ears ago at his share house in Hawken Drive, St Lucia)

The Fools themselves, being an old school bar band, lean to the jokey end of the power pop spectrum. The music is geared to live shows and “putting on a show”, not that there is anything wrong with that, but occasionally the songs as separate entities, suffer. 

Lyrically, all the usual power pop teen concerns are here, but they are subdued.

If anything the band sounds like a lower fi follower of Grin or perhaps The Kinks (not that there is anything wrong with that either).

This is new wave power pop for adults as opposed to for young adults and teens, if you know what I mean. You would expect to see this music in films like “Valley Girl” or “The Breakfast Club” to punctuate the actions of the middle class protagonist kid rebelling against everything.

And yet, despite all that, it works, albeit in parts.

Ultimately, the songs are strong and the band plays well. There is something engaging and strangely memorable about the album which makes it a really good first album even though it may have been a great one.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Night Out – A good song but it should have more punch . The production is underwhelming.
  • Fine With Me – a song which sounds (a little) like a 60s British Invasion pop band playing their song in the 70s, if you know what I mean.
  • Don't Tell Me – punchy, full throttle power pop with some meat on the bones vocals and guitar
  • Sold Out – good but not great
  • Sad Story – the obligatory ballad and a really good one of that. It's vaguely reminiscent of Grin with Nils Lofgren.
  • Mutual Of Omaha – strange and endearing.
  • It's A Night For Beautiful Girls – a reggae feel on this one – dire. Freakin’ reggae – this must have been the suggestion of the British producer.
  • Spent The Rent – another slightly humorous one – catchy though with a thumping chuga lug (power pop) style back beat
  • Easy For You – dull
  • I Won't Grow Up  – a very funny reworking (and rewording, in part) of this song from the Peter Pan Broadway musical from the 50s. Despite its origins this is as good a statement of faith as any.

And …

Despite some flaws this is quite good …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1980 It's A Night For Beautiful Girls The Billboard Hot 100 #67

Album

1980 The Billboard 200 #151

England

Singles

Album

—

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/The_Fools/Sold_Out/efc4ac7f-df6b-3672-8b56-101ae46b9ff7/

Don't Tell Me

MP3 attached

The Fools – Don't Tell Me

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnBlst3T7bY

fame is fleeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZabXMkCe3Mg

I also like one of the user comments "Peter Solley Sucks! He produced their first album. he did a horrible job! they would've been a national hit if it wasn't for ? that tool. he almost ruined the romantics too."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP7dculV5nI

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/sold-out-mw0001878812

amazon.com “This Boston band ruled the local scene during the late 70s and early 80s, but never quite broke nationally despite these two fine records they cut for EMI. A mixture of power pop, British Invasion, and smartass zaniness well suited for that college town to end all college towns, 'Sold Out' and 'Heavy Mental' refuse to take themselves too seriously even as they also refuse to stop sinking their hooks deep into your psyche. Long-requested, finally here courtesy of our American Beat label!”

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fools

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-fools-mn0000762791

Website

http://thefools-band.com/

Trivia

—

Posted in Power Pop, Punk and New Wave | Tagged | 1 Comment

MELANIE – Garden in the City – (Buddah) – 1973

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Franko

Melanie - Garden in the City

This is another record I bought at the great University of Queensland record library sell off in 1988.

God bless those student union nerds.

The student union was controlled by the political left (very moderate left) but never assume that the left are going to understand the arts or history any better than anyone else. Formal politics of any kind are an enemy (generally) to the arts and popular culture.

Enough of that.

The albums at the University of Queensland ("UQ") were all in mint condition … sleeves and vinyl.

The reason for that was they were stored in a shelved area of a listening room located at the student union building.

The public (students) never touched the records.

That's gold there because there are idiots who don't know (or don't care) on how records are handled and stick their hands all over them.

OK, call me a record wanker but it's not rocket science.

The system in place at UQ was a simple one.

At the counter there was a catalogue of albums which you could scroll for music. You then told the monitor which record you wanted to listen to. The monitor was a old guy, who clearly not a student, called Joe. Joe only had one expression, or one that I ever saw, of detached and bored distance. Probably the best expression when dealing with university students who think they know it all. Coincidentally, I used to see Joe on my bus in Paddington (before Paddington was gentrified) and, I should say, his expression didn’t change. Joe would then pull the album, give you a set of headphones, and then point you to one of a number of authentic retro comfortable 60s era lounge chairs. You took your headphones to your chair and plugged them into the armrest. You then waited until the record was placed by Joe onto a turntable that piped the music to you at your chair.

There were a number of these listening stations.

Oh what bliss.

My only regret is that I was quite young so who knows what other treasures were on the catalogue that I hadn’t heard of then.

I don’t know why the student union sold the records, disbanded the listening room, and gave old Joe the boot.

Maybe they needed the space from the listening room?

I recall students would congregate there to watch "Days of Our Lives" though I don’t recall if that was post or pre music listening room. It would be sad to think that the popular music of the world was replaced by “Days of Our Lives” as entertainment.

Maybe the Union needed the money?

Maybe they followed everyone who ditched vinyl for the "miracle" that was the CD?

Either way, it certainly displays a disdain for “old” music, popular culture generally and anything that takes up space and needs maintenance.

This is something we still suffer from.

Anyway, their loss is my gain.

At $2, $3, or $4 a pop – which was not insubstantial (I think a pot of beer cost $1) – the LPs were a good deal. I took all my money I had on the day and then later withdrew all my precious savings (from working as a causal shop assistant at Woolworths Indooroopilly) and bought 100 – 200 albums.

With my rose colour glasses it seems they had thousands of records. I don’t know if they did and I certainly sold some of my purchases later but ultimately it was a good score and I had gained access to music, and, rare music, which wasn’t readily available in Australia then.

The internet of course has changed all that, even with expensive postage, but back then this was like striking gold.

Whilst writing this, Melanie has been pleasantly doing her thing in the background.

Melanie is nothing if not easy on the ear, relaxing, and, easy to write to. Her voice and music encourages contemplation, even if that contemplation isn’t in relation to the music.

Without deviating away from this blogs purpose, or maybe that is the purpose (?), it seems that there is an under appreciation of music as a form of relaxative (is that a word ?) therapy.

I'm not talking about muzak here, which is this theory taken to its most offensive extreme, and I’m not talking quiet music either (though normally it is).

What I mean is, how many times do we choose to put on a record whose familiarity relaxes us?

The music I'm talking about could be music that otherwise may excite us but it is the familiarity with its contents that caresses us.

Our brain clearly chooses the mood it wants to be in rather than having its mood determined by the music. Some would disagree. I will say that there are certain musics that are more likely to make you reflect and others than are more likely to excite but generally your brain has worked out what it wants first. 

And, that perhaps, is what defines a persons "taste".

Rambling. I am rambling.

Melanie caresses my brain.

Check out my other Melanie comments for background detail and general observations.

“Garden in the City” isn’t a "proper album". It was released by Buddah after Melanie had left the label and it's made up of outtakes as well as a couple of songs from the film "RPM".

It is quite good, and quite thematically consistent, probably because the songs are all from around the same time. People should be happy if they have an album recorded over a week that hangs together this well.

Melanie, apparently wasn’t, though.

This album is also remembered for its scratch 'n' sniff "smell Melanie's Magic Garden" cover.

I can’t smell anything and I scratched Melanie’s magic garden, bush and Melanie generally.

Maybe they only got that benefit on the US pressings which we didn't get on our Australian pressings. A nice gatefold sleeve though with the building cut out to reveal the countryside.

All songs by Melanie unless otherwise noted:

Tracks (best in italics)

  • Garden In The City– the song starts in an even accentuated Melanie girly voice which changes into a woman’s voice as the narrative moves on. Excellent.
  • Love In My Mind – light.
  • We Don't Know Where We're Going – (Barry De Vorzon, Perry Botkin, Jr.)- from the film RPM. An underrated film about student radicalism and the counter culture with Anthony Quinn as a middle aged professor. I liked this film as a kid, but then again I love Anthony Quinn.
  • Lay Lady Lay – (Bob Dylan)- the great Dylan song. Melanie sings from gentle to loud as is her shtick but, funnily enough, it always works really well on her Dylan covers.
  • Jigsaw Puzzle– (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)- Melanie also does well with the Jagger-Richards tunes she has covered. She takes all the male bravado and possible misogyny out of them without affecting the enjoyment of the song.
  • Don't You Wait By The Water- an attempted up-tempo blues folk tune. It doesnt really work for Melanie, well not on this song anyway.
  • Stop! I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore – (Barry De Vorzon, Perry Botkin, Jr.) – another song from the film "RPM".  A Russian gypsy (?) vocal beat is used on the chorus.
  • Somebody Loves Me – (George Gershwin) – The Gershwin song done by everyone, including Doris Day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_Loves_Me
  • People In The Front Row – a tour de force vocal from Melanie on a slightly cynical look at being an entertainer.

And …

Another good one …. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

Singles

—

Album

1972 #115

England

Singles

—

Album

1972 #19

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/Melanie/Garden_in_the_City/00922e9c-735c-3657-86db-71608216f90f/

Lay Lady Lay

MP3 attached

Melanie – Lay Lady Lay

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFknAdVvNM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeHtuwsUeRw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ca0l5KMdX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZUdzr9e2GQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-sk9abOYQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqg3kcwAgso

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/garden-in-the-city-mw0000837353 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_in_the_City

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/melanie-mn0000409670

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Safka

Website

http://www.melaniesafka.com/home.cfm

http://freespace.virgin.net/robert_ian.smith/Melanie.htm

http://melaniemusicsociety.tripod.com/Mercurio/Mercurio.html

http://www.melanie-music.org/

Trivia

—

Posted in Singer Songwriter | Tagged | 3 Comments

SPEAR OF DESTINY – Grapes of Wrath – (Burning Rome Records) – 1983

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Franko

 Spear of Destiny - Grapes of Wrath

Can you possibly comment on music that you cannot, even remotely, identify with?

I suppose the answer is, yes, but the comment can only extend to why you don’t like the style of music rather than a comment on the artists position within the style.

OK, perhaps a better answer is ….

Yes, but why would you bother?

A good question which I don’t have a well thought out answer for.

Suffice it to say that the purpose of this blog (see the about me link) is to give me the discipline to sit down and listen to the records in the pile behind me.

Most of those records I know about or I know the genre the album belongs to. But, sometimes, I have no idea what the record is like when I threw down a dollar in the op shop.

Perhaps this is a good thing.

Sometimes, you will hear something new or some style or artist that you have dismissed in the past and you will be forced to re-evaluate your position or reaffirm it.

To my continual surprise I’m often called narrow in my tastes. Maybe it’s because I dismiss certain things harshly or more likely, because I affirm what I like, so loudly. Either way I will give everything a go.

But how much is enough?

I have never heard of “Spear of Destiny” (or if I had I have forgotten about them) but I do recall “Theatre of Hate” who “Spear of Destiny” evolved out of, as well as the genre they were in.

I didn’t have much time for Theatre of Hate.

This was not a result of the band itself. It’s just that they were not in my field of interest at the time.

The band are often referred to as post punk or occasionally gothic rock and they certainly have elements of both even though they look like clean cut new soul fans or members of The Housemartins.

Ahhhh, 80s semi mainstream fashion.

Wikipedia define post-punk as “a rock music genre that paralleled and emerged from the initial punk rock explosion of the late 1970s. The genre is an artier and more experimental form of punk. Post-punk laid the groundwork for alternative rock by broadening the range of punk and underground music, incorporating elements of krautrock (particularly the use of synthesizers and extensive repetition), dub music, American funk and studio experimentation into the genre. It was the focus of the 1980s alternative music/independent scene, and led to the development of genres such as gothic rock and industrial music”.

I think they are being absurdly broad (too often postpunk seems to wrongly incorporate any band that plays punk a little off the beaten track) and generous (it certainly wasn’t the focus of the alternative and independent music scene – well not outside of England anyway)

Allmusic  describe it as: “After the punk revolution of 1977, a number of bands inspired by the d.i.y. spirit and raw sound of punk were formed. However, instead of replicating the sound of the Sex Pistols, many of these bands forged into more experimental territory, taking cues from a range of artists and styles, such as Roxy Music, David Bowie (especially Low, Heroes and Lodger), disco, dub and Krautrock. The result was Post-Punk, a more adventurous and arty form of punk, no less angry or political but often more musically complex and diverse. Many of these groups — like Joy Division or the Cure — created dark, synthesizer-oriented soundscapes while others– like Orange Juice or XTC — had a lighter guitar-based musical approach but their lyrics and music were off-kilter and often subverted traditional pop/rock song structures. Post-punk eventually developed into alternative pop/rock in the '80s”.

I like those ancestors so I should like this.

But the post punk I have heard is a little less rockier, more funkier with pseudo jazz and significant artistic (and perhaps political) pretensions.

Certainly the use of “musically complex”, “diverse”, “experimental” and “more adventurous” in this context smack of pretensions.

It was, at the time, championed by rock critics who were too old (and knew it) to like basic 1-2-3 punk.

It is, perhaps, punk for people who don’t like punk.

Ultimately, most (not all) of it is crap….clearly that is an opinion and not a statement of fact.

Not surprisingly, in the definitions above, no American bands are mentioned (I wouldn’t call, as others have, the Swans, Sonic Youth or even Suicide as post punk). Such pretensions could only exist fleetingly in the US, and then, only around Manhattan Island.

I will mention there were quite a few Brisbane bands (ever the followers) that played this crap.

I’ll never get those cover charges back.

What the fuck are you supposed to do with this music?

You can’t dance to it, you can’t read to it, it doesn’t make you think, the only emotions it generates are self-delusional ones based around posture and posturing.

It’s narcissistic and ultimately quite pretentious.

“Spear of Destiny” certainly fit the bill. Clattering drums, chants, precious nonsensical lyrics, and lots of “attitude” with a truckload of cheesy, meaningful saxophone thrown over the top.

It would be disingenuous of me to critique each song as they all sounds like one drone.

So, I will refer to Ira Robbins of Trouser Press who says: “Following the stormy existence of Theatre of Hate, singer/guitarist Kirk Brandon and bassist Stan Stammers launched Spear of Destiny. Grapes of Wrath, produced by Nick Launay, unveils a straightforward guitar/bass/drums quartet; Andy Mackay-like saxophone work provides the sole distinguishing tonal component. Brandon's songs are a drag — spare, dirgey things with hopeless quasi-Scottish melodies and self-important, insignificant lyrics. Slight Nick Cave tendencies don't add enough extremism to salvage these effortlessly ignorable tracks”.

Apparently “The Grapes of Wrath” album echoed Theatre of Hate's final demos closely.

I will say that despite all of the above that the album (and the genre generally) does achieve some sort of a noisy tone piece and it’s not overly offensive. It’s just something I’m not into, I don’t get and I can’t do anything with.

I like things poppy, rocky or …err, entertaining.

Tracks (best in italics)

  • The Wheel       
  • Flying Scotsman – there is certain drone that works here.
  • Roof Of The World – this makes Sade look like Joan Jett.
  • Aria
  • Solution – good pumping rhythms
  • The Murder Of Love  – quite good.
  • The Preacher
  • Omen Of The Times
  • The Man Who Tunes The Drums – should probably be the man who writes the songs.
  • Grapes Of Wrath – not too bad, with some nice guitar. The best song on the album, perhaps.

And …

Sell, sell, sell.

Chart Action

US

Singles

Album

—

England

Singles

1983 Flying Scotsman #83

1983 The Wheel #59

Album

#62 England.

Sounds

http://recordlective.com/Spear_of_Destiny/Grapes_of_Wrath/4cc606e8-acd1-45b7-bc4d-24c655b3b6e4/       

Flying Scotsman

MP3 attached

Spear of Destiny – Flying Scotsman

Grapes Of Wrath

live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dno6M2Ex7r4

Others

a very English band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9becn8y3CA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk84vpFXBdw

Review

http://www.allmusic.com/album/grapes-of-wrath-mw0000781010

http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=spear_of_destiny

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear_of_Destiny_(band)

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/spear-of-destiny-mn0000001311/biography

Website

http://www.kirkbrandon.com/fr_splash.cfm

http://www.stanstammers.com/

Trivia

  • Wikipedia: In addition to Brandon and Stammers, past members of the band in the 1980s included former Gillan drummer Pete Barnacle, former JoBoxers bassist Chris Bostock, former Adam and the Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni, and former Tom Robinson Band and Stiff Little Fingers drummer Dolphin Taylor.
  • Billy Duffy from The Cult was briefly in Theatre of Hate.
  • Question to Kirk Brandon: "Your music has very rarely been anything approaching conventional rock. Do you try to avoid that?". Answer: “That sort of Beatles way of writing – v-c-v-c-middle-eight-c-out – that to me is just awful.  I always try and makes things different all the time.  Stuff has to be different otherwise I lose interest in it.  Right up to today, where I detune the guitar and learn to play again.  I just got physically bored with playing the same old shapes so I had to teach myself guitar again almost, this tuning I got.  It makes you think differently.  You have to move it on.”  http://designermagazine.tripod.com/KirkBrandonINT1.html
Posted in Punk and New Wave | Tagged | Leave a comment