I was cruising YouTube looking for my
favorite guitarist, Joe Pass, and I ran across a number of videos
featuring him and, of all people, Roy Clark. Joe Pass is the
consummate jazz guitarist, combining lightening-fast finger work,
tons of tone and control, a melodic sense that amazes; everything a
master jazz musician can ask for. And here he is playing with that
fat guy from Hee-Haw? What’s up with that?
This is the Roy Clark I was familiar
with. It’s the total package: corny trick-lyric country tune,
predictable contemporary Nashville arrangement, strumming his guitar
with no cord- in short, pure Hee-Haw material.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPYimEYrvNA
Now, I always knew Clark had serious
chops. Here he is knocking out some fret board burning licks, but
still in traditional country picker mode
But then I find these many videos with
Pass. I was expecting Clark to be so totally out of his element that
it would be embarrassing both to him and to the listener. Boy howdy!
Was I wrong. Roy holds his own and is obviously held in great esteem
by Joe.
So don’t dismiss musicians just
because you think know what they’re all about and you don’t like
what they play. You may be missing out on something great.
“You Can’t Judge a
Book By Looking at the Cover”
Ellas Otha Bates aka Ellas
McDaniel aka Bo Diddley
If you’ve read my earlier posts, you
know Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is the best. Period.
Not only was he himself a great composer but he also found and
encouraged greatness in others. His theme song, “Take the A Train,”
was written by Billy Strayhorn. Another of his classic signature
songs, “Caravan,” was written by Juan Tizol, Ellington band
member for 20 years and the only world-famous practitioner of the
valve trombone. Here is the original 1937 Ellington version.
A classic can be interpreted many ways
by many artists. My favorite guitarist, Joe Pass, has recorded
“Caravan” many times, none so better than on Portraits of Duke
Ellington, my favorite Joe Pass album.
Pass revisits the song in another trio
setting on The Giants, an album with Oscar Peterson and Ray
Brown, respectively my favorite jazz pianist and acoustic bassist.
Part of what makes a classic is its
durability. Not only must a classic appeal to musicians and listeners
alike, but it must withstand and survive a variety of musical
approaches and settings. Sometimes it’s a full orchestral version:
Sometimes it’s done in the hip new
sounds of the 60’s, featuring the boss guitar sounds of The
Ventures.
Or in the singing and ringing steel
guitar stylings of the Brooklyn brothers Santo and Johnny of
“Sleepwalk” fame.
Even a Stray Cat can do a rocking take
on it.
And if you can believe it, by an
acoustic guitar, clarinet and accordion trio.
So next time you can’t find anything
to watch on TV (like almost anytime,) hop on them Internet tubes,
search for a favorite song, and see what you come up with. You might
be pleasantly surprised. After all, that accordionist totally rocks!
‘Though the dogs may
bark the caravan moves on.’
Indian proverb quoted by Kipling,
1891
“Ground Control to Major Tom, your
circuit's dead, there's something wrong”
With the uncanny accuracy of a latter
day Nostradamus, more than 40 years ago David Bowie predicted
current events in Enid. There is something very wrong indeed: The
Rocket is lost in space and its circuits are dead. KEIF 104.7, our
local classic rock radio station, is no longer broadcasting and its
signal has been forever banished to the cold, heartless silence of
outer space.
The newspaper recounts the long history
of infractions committed by the ownership of the station and I am
sure the rescission of their license was carefully considered by the
FCC and unfortunately unavoidable. As for me, I don’t give a
feather or a flying fig for the laws and regulations that led to The
Rocket’s demise. All I know is a valuable musical resource is no
longer available in Enid, and our community is the poorer for it.
Counter to the current corporate radio
playlists, The Rocket played a wide ranging variety of music, albeit
within the classic rock format. KRXO 107.7, the major classic rock
station in Oklahoma, seems limited to the same one, two, or three
thousand predictable warhorses of the 1970s and 1980s,
concentrating on mainstream rock radio hits. KEIF often played
somewhat lesser known tracks by those same stars and occasionally
mixed in artists that lamestream radio ignores. The day before the
axe fell, I heard them play Robert Palmer. Not Addicted to Love or
Bad Case of Loving You (written by Altus native Moon Martin),
but one of Lowell George’s best compositions, Sailing Shoes,
segueing intothe Palmer penned Hey, Julia, seamlessly
followed by the Allen Toussaint classic Sneakin’ Sally Through
the Alley. It was nine and a half minutes of radio rapture
cranked up to eleven.
To incompletely quote Sir Elton John,
“And I think it's gonna be a long
long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find”
a station as much fun to listen to as
the late, great KEIF 104.7, The Rocket.
Not to mention that we will probably
never hear a Gospel weather forecast ever again.
Joe Walsh leaves Kent State University to join The James Gang just a year before “tin soldiers and Nixon coming.” The power trio releases “Yer’ Album” in 1969, followed by “Rides Again” a year later and “Thirds” in 1971. Singles “Funk #49” from the second album and “Walk Away” from the third barely make the charts but both LP’s go gold. Both songs are now recognized for their groundbreaking guitar riffs and heard daily in classic rock formats around the globe.
Walsh launches his solo career with "Barnstorm" in 1972, followed in 1973 by "The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get" featuring the monster hit “Rocky Mountain Way.” This establishes him as a major star.
Everything gels on the 1975 release "So What." Guitar work, vocals, production, and arrangements all come together in one of the finest rock albums ever. “Welcome to the Club,” “Falling Down,” and the reimagining of “Turn to Stone” from "Barnstorm" are as good as rock gets. Need more proof? Check out “Welcome to the Club.”
In this same year, knowing guitar genius when they hear it, The Eagles recruit him to replace founding guitarist Bernie Leadon just in time for "Hotel California."
Joe Walsh maintains his career outside The Eagles and scores his last major solo hit in 1978 with the hilarious confessional “Life’s Been Good,” a deadpan take on how tough it is to be a rock star. After Linda Ronstadt’s former backup band goes from superstar to supernova in 1980, Walsh continues to tour and record on his own, rejoining The Eagles on their many comebacks.
So what is old Smokin’ Joe Walsh doing at age 65? Releasing an album of songs about his life and how he sees the world. "Analog Man" is a really good album. And like much of his work, it took a number of listenings before I figured that out (just as I had to listen to "So What" for a couple of years before I had the “ah ha!” moment.)
The title cut is geezer protest music: “Welcome to cyberspace, I’m lost in a fog, everything’s digital, I’m still analog.” “Lucky That Way” is an updated “Life’s Been Good” 30 years later. And to prove he has not lost his sense of the absurd after all these years, “Fishbone” is a moving tale set to a lumbering hard rocking beat about his girlfriend and the fishbone stuck in her throat. “Band Played On” is a riff on the Titanic and bemoans the fact that too many people can’t see the icebergs threatening the world, too many others are just ignoring the dangers around us, and too many more are lying about the fix we’re in. Glug, glug.
Watch the title cut and more at Guitar Center Sessions.
Two songs on "Analog Man" are of particular note and reflect the perspective of age and experience, maybe even approaching wisdom.In “One Day at a Time,” Walsh notes his 20 years of sobriety and celebrates the way he got sober. “I got help from something greater that me.” I can just see that meeting in the basement of some Hollywood church and somebody standing up and saying “I’m Joe, and I’m an alcoholic.”
My favorite song is “Family.” Neither sentimental nor maudlin, Joe Walsh, fantastically successful rock star, finds that what he was always looking for and what he now treasures above all else is his family.
Listen and see if this doesn’t resonate with your life. It certainly does with mine.
Cyril, Charles and Art, the New Orleans-based Neville brothers, started their musical careers as The Hawketts. In 1954, they scored a regional hit with “Mardi Gras Mambo.” The song is now a mainstay at Mardi Gras, being particularly popular in the Second Line.
The Hawketts morphed into The Meters, becoming the house band for Allen Toussaint, the legendary New Orleans performer, writer, arranger and producer. In 1966, Toussaint produced Aaron Neville singing the soon-to-be classic song, “Tell It Like It Is.”
The hit single reached No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 2 on the pop charts. But Neville gained little, financially, from the song’s success. Without a follow-up hit he was dropped by his record label and by 1968 he was working again as a longshoreman to support his family and himself.
A decade later, in 1977, the four brothers reunited to officially become The Neville Brothers. Their 1981 album, "Fiyo on the Bayou," celebrated the spirit and culture of New Orleans with “Hey Pocky Way” and “Brother John/ Iko Iko.” It also sparked a new interest in Aaron Neville as a solo vocalist through his interpretations of “The Ten Commandments of Love” (if you listen to the original by Harvey and the Moonglows you’ll find there are only 9 commandments in the lyric) and Nat King Cole’s signature tune “Mona Lisa.”
In 1989, The Neville Brothers team with Daniel Lanois, producer of albums by artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, and U2. Lanois, in collaboration with Brian Eno, brought an interesting new edge to the band’s sound and pushed the Brothers further afield in their choice of material. Dylan’s anti-war indictment “With God on Our Side” sounds as if it were sung on a battlefield cemetery. Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” is followed by “Sister Rosa,” a tribute to Rosa Parks and her part in the history of America. The title cut on the album is “Yellow Moon,” written by Aaron Neville. It is essential Neville Brothers: Aaron’s plaintive tenor over a rhythmically complex deep mid-tempo groove. Brother Charles puts the polish on with tasteful, jazzy sax work.
Jump 25 years forward. It’s January 2013. It’s been 57 years since Aaron Neville joined The Hawketts. It’s been 47 years since Aaron Neville topped the charts with “Tell It Like It Is.” And what is Aaron Neville doing at age 72? He is releasing a new album paying homage to the artists and songs that most influenced him as a teenager.
My True Story is a collection of great songs from the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Doo-wop is the matter at hand and the album delivers on its promise, especially on the title cut.
and the album closer, The Fleetwoods’ wonderfully titled “Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams.”) How can you not love an album by a man who has been singing for almost 60 years and includes not only “Under the Boardwalk” but “Work With Me Annie” and “Tears on My Pillow” as well.
“It's been a long, a long time coming But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.” Sam Cooke
In 1963, 50 years ago, the TV remote control and touchtone phones were invented.
The last TV episode of "Leave It To Beaver" was broadcast as was the first episode of "General Hospital." And to be unseen by American viewers for many years, in England the BBC presented the first episode of "Dr. Who."
In game 1 of the World Series, LA Dodger’s left-hander Sandy Koufax fanned 15 Yankees and set a record. Sam Cook and his band got arrested in Louisiana for trying to register into a “whites only” hotel.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. voiced the American ideals of equality and justice by proclaiming, "I have a dream." On the portico of the Alabama State Capitol, newly elected Governor George Wallace was proclaiming "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!"
In Dallas, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
~~~
America was in turmoil and transition. The changing cultural landscape was reflected in music as well. At the 1963 Grammy Awards, Henry Mancini won Record of the Year and Barbara Streisand won Album of the Year. The Best Rock and Roll Recording statue went to that dynamic duo Nino Tempo and April Stevens for that rockin’ little number Deep Purple!
But Bobby Bare snagged Best Country and Western Recording for Detroit City.” Peter, Paul, and Mary won two awards, Best Folk and Best Vocal Performance, for the Dylan protest song Blowin’ in the Wind.
At the 1964 Grammy’s, both the Record and Album of the Year awards went to jazz legend Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto for The Girl from Ipanema. Henry Mancini was again a winner with the iconic The Pink Panther Theme. The Best Rock and Roll Recording was Petula Clark’s Downtown
Not radical departures from the middle-of-the-road Grammy culture.
But with the album "Dang Me/Chug-a-lug," Erick, Okla., native Roger Miller swept the country and western category and pointed Nashville in a new direction. Bill Cosby helped define and refine stand-up comedy on the Best Comedy Performance winning "I Started Out as a Child."
And the spectacular leap from the '50s into the '60s was best signaled by the arrival of Best Performance By a Vocal Group and Best New Artist of 1964 winners, The Beatles.
"There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'. "
— Bob Dylan
Christmas always has been the most musical holiday of the year to me. Our home was, and is, filled with music almost every hour of the season. My father would even move speakers outdoors to share our celebration with the entire neighborhood.
The genre was Christmas music with little or no exclusion. The playlist included Gene Autry, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra featuring the Morman Tabernacle Choir, Louie Armstrong and Duke Ellington, Jo Stafford surrounded by her children for “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” (still among my favorites, a beautiful voice now all but forgotten,) even Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Coleman from a radio production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
One of the biggest selling Christmas songs ever was sung by an eleven year old girl from Oklahoma City.
Other personal favorites include:
• Jethro Tull, with their progressive reworking of We Three Kings, particularly appropriate in light of the recent loss of jazz giant Dave Brubeck.
• The Roches, as showcased in their performance of several Christmas carols HERE.
The Kingston Trio, whose album The Last Month of the Year is my favorite album of Christmas music. It is not the usual collection of hoary old chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but rather a celebration of Christmas with songs outside the traditional canon, balancing the secular with wonderful celebrations of the sacred.
• And a special mention of Yale, Oklahoma born Chet Baker, whose unnecessarily tragic life is documented in the film "Let’s Get Lost." His collection of seasonal standards, Silent Nights, is far from his best work. The songs are short and the arrangements are tediously conventional. But every now and then you can hear, in an all too brief solo, the soulful, quiet genius that was Chet Baker.
I’ve saved my absolute favorites for last.
• Stan Freberg, the comedian of the clever arrangements and impeccable production skills, produces a scathing indictment of the commercialization of Christmas in “Green Christmas.”
• John Henry Faulk was a folklorist, earning a master’s degree in that subject at the University of Texas, a radio and television personality, and life-long civil rights crusader. In the 1950’s he was a leader in the fight against the blacklisting of artists resulting from the rabid, paranoid, and eventually hatefully incoherent anti-Communist ravings of Joseph McCarthy. An accomplished storyteller, his reminiscence of a Christmas long past is an entertaining, moving, and finally joyful definition of the true spirit of the season. And although it makes no mention of the Star of Bethlehem, the Three Wise Men, the shepherds in their fields, the hosts of heavenly angels singing praises in glorious adoration, nor the birth of Jesus the Christ, it illuminates and celebrates the true meaning of the season better than any of the music above. Listen, laugh, and learn. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
