Tag Archives: Classic Rock

What we’re listening to today — Do It Again by Steely Dan

I admit that I blow hot and cold on Steely Dan. There is something just so… L.A. about them, so very arch. Their lyrics are so damn in-the-know that they come across like the guys in the private room in the back doing blow. And you’re not invited behind the velvet rope. They legendarily named their band after a sex toy from Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, for chrissakes. That said, you can’t argue with their sterling musicianship. Before Steely Dan became a huge success, the core members Walter Becker (bass) and Donald Fagen (guitar) worked as a backup band for Jay and the Americans. And those two, who were really the only constant through the years, always had a special knack for picking ace talent to make up the rest of the band with a particular affinity for Jazz influences. A song like “Do It Again” from their 1972 debut Can’t Buy a Thrill shows their chops off to subtle perfection.

With its loping beat and intricate raga-like guitar and percussion, I associate “Do it Again” with palm trees, warm sea breezes and a cold rum drink. Or maybe a drug deal gone bad. Famously averse to live performance, here’s an early live version of the band with David Palmer singing lead for the unwilling Fagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC7n4G5f1A4

The singing isn’t much to write home about — Palmer soon left the group and Fagen found his courage shortly thereafter, although he and Becker would always prefer the studio. But that magical groove is something else again.

What we’re listening to today — Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys

Seeing as we here in the Northeast and much of the rest of the US are locked into a seemingly endless cycle of winter, the only thing one can do is dream of warmer days and hope they’re not too far away. And what more summery music is there in the Rock canon than that of The Beach Boys?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rd53WuojE#aid=P-C2QsFwcWs

One of Brian Wilson’s archetypal pocket symphonies, “Good Vibrations” is perhaps The Beach Boys best song and arguably one the greatest tunes ever recorded in any genre. It was certainly one of the most expensive songs in its day, costing an estimated $50,000 in 1966 dollars in studio and musician fees and took roughly 6 months to be completed to Brian’s satisfaction. It captures the group at their artistic peak and before Brian became completely lost in endless tape loops and overdubbing and psychotropic drugs. Released directly after and somewhat mysteriously left off of the Beach Boys’ masterpiece, Pet Sounds, it seemed to point the way to limitless possibilities as the band and their artistic leader vied to out-duel the Beatles for pure sonic invention. But the rivalry and visionary music in Wilson’s mind could not be reproduced to his satisfaction with the studio technology of that time and the legendarily messy and drug infested recording process of Pet Sounds’ planned follow-up, SMILE, led to confusion and musical cul de sacs. The sessions and tracks became so expensive and chaotic that eventually they had to be pared down and released as the bastardized Smiley Smile, on which the single “Good Vibrations” was finally included but clearly is not really a part of. Smiley Smile was, therefore, an ambitious yet truncated album of beautifully produced but oddball compositions with limited commercial appeal. The old Surf Rock fans didn’t like the new impressionistic vibe and the Rock intelligentsia, while appreciating the technical ambition and mastery of such tracks as “Heroes & Villains” and “Wonderful”, were decidely unimpressed by an overall sound that Jimi Hendrix derided as “psychedelic barbershop quartet.” The coup de grace for Brian Wilson came with the release and massive critical and popular success of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just after the original SMILE was being shelved. Wilson conceded the concept album competition to the Liverpudlian champs and began his rather rapid decent into drug-fueled madness and artistic decline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmLel0G4QQU

But what music he and the Boys made before the crackup! And it’s just what us polar vortex-blasted souls need to carry us through until the crocuses sprout, the days grow really long and warm, the barbecue is fired up again and the baseball season starts. Wouldn’t it be nice to strip down to our shorts, crack a beer and get some sun? You’re damn right it would.

What we’re listening to today — Harry Nilsson

Image from LorberFilms.com

Just saw a really good documentary last night via Netflix streaming on singer/songwriter and soft rock superstar Harry Nilsson called Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?. As implied by the title, Nilsson is somewhat forgotten today but was fairly omnipresent in the late 1960s throughout the 70s, with several big hits recorded by him or written by him and recorded by other artists. You’ll probably recognize his tunes if not his name, which fall into what I lovingly call the “Crap Rock” genre (America, Player, Ambrosia, Bread, Bob Welch, etc). His own breakthrough was the theme song from 1969’s Oscar-winning downbeat classic Midnight Cowboy, “Everybody’s Talkin'”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz6GzKWiIAs

Although “Everybody’s Talkin'” was ironically not actually written by Nilsson, it was clear a major vocalist had arrived on the scene after many years of cult status earlier in the 60s. Of his own material, “One” is arguably his best known and also most successful single.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nB5VxPOoio

Even so, it wasn’t a huge blockbuster for Nilsson but rather for AOR staple Three Dog Night (as well as a ton of artists subsequently). Their signature blues-rock version reached #5 on the Billboard charts.

Having established himself in a short period as a hot commodity, Nilsson went on to have a huge commercial and critical success of his own with 1971’s Nilsson Schmilsson. Continue reading →

RIP Phil Everly, 1939-2014

Sad news to start 2014: Phil Everly has passed away at the age of 74 from complications due to COPD. As one half of the seminal early rock duo The Everly Brothers, Phil and his brother Don, who survives him, infused country sweetness and peerless harmonies into the fabric of Rock ‘n Roll and arguably helped keep the flame burning for, as well as inspiring, the Beatles and that other great harmonizing duo, Simon and Garfunkel, in that tenuous period between the death of Buddy Holly, Elvis’s induction into the armed forces and the fall of Jerry Lee Lewis. The full NY Times obit is here.

Here are the Everly Brothers singing their first breakout hit for Cadence records, “Bye Bye Love”, at a 1983 reunion concert, showing they had lost nothing in the over 25 years since its original release. As was their custom, as we watch them Phil is on the left and Don on the right:

Here is my personal favorite from their Warner Brothers period, 1960’s “Cathy’s Clown”, from the outstanding Walk Right Back compilation:

And another great smash hit from their Warner’s period, “Crying in the Rain” , performed here when the boys were fulfilling their military service in the Marine Corps Reserve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdaX7LG67to

Many have tried but none have succeeded in reproducing the Everlys’ supernatural harmonies. Despite their personal ups and downs through the years, the closeness that Phil and Don displayed on their many hit tracks, that unique quality of two voices remaining distinct and yet becoming one, will never fade away.

What we’re listening to on Thanksgiving — Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly & the Family Stone

Blogging could be sporadic with the upcoming Turkey Day blowout but wanted to throw this great Sly & the Family Stone tune out there for y’all because it seems just right for the occasion…

One of the last gasps from that great interracial collective before drugs destroyed the band, 1969’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” could be cited as truly revolutionary for its bass line alone. Seeming to infuse nearly every funk track to follow in the 70s, Larry Graham’s “slapping” style of percussive bass is literally the sound that launched a thousand R&B bands. And of course the pure stoned compositional genius that is Sylvester “Sly Stone” Stewart is on full display here, with enough sonic and lyrical mischief happening to bring a smile to the most jaded hipster. It may be a cliche but it happens to be true: If Prince has a musical daddy, it’s Sly Stone.

Even after a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, when you hear “Thank You” you’ll wanna shake it to the groove. So let’s take a moment to give thanks for great music and great food. And especially to the great friends & family who so importantly let us be ourselves–Thank You!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ptrc2cWRxU

RIP Lou Reed, 1942-2013

Just learned of the passing of the ultimate rock iconoclast, Lou Reed, and here is an excellent obit from Jon Dolan at Rolling Stone. Between The Velvet Underground and his solo work, there are really no words to describe his impact on the alternative rock scene. But these tunes begin to scratch the surface:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffr0opfm6I4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hugY9CwhfzE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4avM0qzEF5I

One could say it was too soon to go at 71 but he packed a lot of hard living and a helluva lot of art into those years. Really, who would have thought he’d survive this long? And what he left behind as his legacy sure ain’t too bad for a punk kid from Brooklyn who couldn’t hit it sideways…

 

What we’re listening to today – The Jean Genie by David Bowie

Certain songs sound as fresh today as they did when they were released, no matter how many times you’ve heard them through the years. Peak Bowie produced a lot of those timeless tunes with “The Jean Genie” from 1973’s Aladdin Sane being a fine exemplar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQo6zpVzt8

Featuring Bowie at the peak of his lyrical and musical powers and with a protagonist inspired by equal parts Iggy Pop and Jean Genet (yes, there was a time when rock was that openly arty), “The Jean Genie” is an inspired free associative rumination on America and a thumpingly good rock raver. Some things just get better with age and this sounds even better to me now than when I first heard it growing up (is that a comment on the uninspired nature of much of today’s rock?). And while Bowie definitely peaked a long time ago, at least he left his 70s oeuvre to stake his claim as one of the all-time greats. His flamboyant Ziggy persona has long been retired but the high flying music of that period remains as preternaturally youthful as Dorian Gray.

What we’re listening to today — Love

One of the great “lost” bands, Love were restored to their proper place in the Rock ‘n Roll pantheon by the CD-reissue mania of the 90s, when previously out-of-print LP recordings began to blessedly pop up en masse. For Love, and particularly with the adoring and comprehensive 1995 2-disc Rhino compilation, Love Story, this meant full access to most of their stunning catalog for the first time in decades. The effect of such wondrously original psychedelic music, with its heavy emphasis on brass and string sections, was nothing short of a revelation to the uninitiated and earned them a whole new generation of fans.

Just take a big ol’ toke on one of Love’s sublime and epic masterpieces, with the suitably trippy title “Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale”, to see what I’m talking about:

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

Led by the certifiable compositional genius Arthur Lee and with yeoman contributions from fellow songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bryan MacLean, Love began by making amped up pop ravers in the style of early Stones or Kinks.

Continue reading →

What we’re listening to today — Wild One by Thin Lizzy

Here’s a bitchin’ live TV version of the great Thin Lizzy song “Wild One” to start the week:

While these Irish rockers are best known for the arena rock staple, “The Boys Are Back in Town”, Thin Lizzy were far more than one hit wonders. Coming across a bit like a British Isles Bruce Springsteen, frontman and bassist Phil Lynott let his status as a black man in Dublin inform his stories of underdogs, outlaws and blue collar heroes sung in a wonderfully husky and nimble style. The harmonic twin guitar attack of Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham gave some Lizzy tunes the sweeter-than-metal appeal so evident on “Wild One” but more often a sharper edged, guitar hero power on tracks like “Boys”, “Do Anything You Want to Do” and “Jailbreak”.  Brian Downey’s professional and powerful drumming holds down the beat with precision and provides the underpinnings for the band’s hard charging and hooky tunes.

With a great, distinctive singing voice and a brilliant understanding of how to compose killer rock songs, the death of Lynott in 1986 due to drug-related organ failure at the age of 36 was a major loss even if the band was never properly appreciated in their day amidst all the Punk and Disco. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that Thin Lizzy were one of the major hard rock bands of the 70s and their body of work is still a pleasure to crank up and air guitar to. With all those great hits and their tough-sweet sound, they’ve earned our lasting Dedication.

What we’re listening to today — Baby Blue by Badfinger

The song that’s still ringing in everyone’s ears after the Breaking Bad finale by the first and best band ever signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03oVJ1WAO2U

The story of Badfinger is just about as sad and depressing as that of Walter White, albeit without the cathartic drug kingpin ego trip. Suffice to say that after an extremely promising start the group were run into the ground by the dishonesty of their manager who paid himself gobs of money from their massive escrow account and gave the artists a pittance in “allowance”; the band never really saw any profits from their amazing run of successful hit singles and lucrative record label contracts. The perception that they were merely Beatles doppelgangers also hurt them artistically as the 70s wore on and there were multiple legal imbroglios. All this bad luck and financial pressure led to the suicides of two of their key members, singer Pete Ham and guitarist Tom Evans, both of whom had also written the lion’s share of the classic hits. If ever there was a cautionary tale of how the seemingly glamorous world of Rock ‘n Roll can be a cesspool of exploitation and broken dreams, Badfinger are it. But Baby Blue and the other great hits survive the sadness and still soar–really great pop music that stands on its own merits, Beatles connections or no.