Old Timey Music for Howard and DC

HDO45331 · Post by **HDO45331** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:50 pm

Pruitt wrote:It's Stevie Ray Vaughan's birthday.

This guy was pretty good.

I saw him open for Dire Straits in a small (5,000 seat) arena in Toronto. Nothing wrong with Dire Straits, but it just wasn't fair.

When I saw him, he opened for Hank Williams Junior. Junior didn't stand a chance.

HDO45331 · Post by **HDO45331** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:01 pm

Zachary Richard is a Cajun musician in Louisiana. A good portion of his music is in French, and I don't speak the language. One way or another, he has a beautiful voice, and I would love to see him.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:32 pm

During the Columbia protests, the band and equipment was smuggled onto campus in the back of bread truck.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:07 pm

One of my favorite all-time bands is/was CCR. It is a shame that there is so much animosity now between the great John Fogarty and the other guys. Apparently John F. recently wrote an autobiography. Here's an excerpt from it that popped up in my facebook feed.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:28 pm

I do feel bad for John Fogerty for being sued for plagiarising himself, but whenever you hear a story where everybody else is apparently corrupt and/or an asshole, you can assume the teller is an asshole. Reminds me of that Eddie Van Halen article someone linked to a while back where everyone else around him was apparently an asshole.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:19 pm

Hey, George Harrison sued himself.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 11:30 pm

Aretha Franklin played a concert at the Fillmore in 1971 that was the stuff of legend. They quickly put out a live album. But I never dreamed there would be a video. Lo and behold, here it is.

Aretha was in her prime. It's fascinating to hear her covering songs by Stills and Bread, as well as the Paul Simon and Lennon/McCartney songs she's known for. She kills it on some of her classics.

The band was amazing. King Curtis playing sax, and leading a band built around what I think was his group at the time. Cornell Dupree, Billy Preston, Jerry Jermmott, Bernard Purdie.

And wait, who's that at the conclusion? Queen of Soul meets The Genius. The Soul-meter is deep in the red.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 11:54 pm

Wow, I will take some time and enjoy that tomorrow. A little over a month later, King Curtis was dead, age 37.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:07 am

A couple of weeks ago I was taking an air conditioner out of a window and while I was carrying it up the steps I suddenly thought of King Curtis. I think the story is that he died when he was carrying an air conditioner into his apartment building, and ran into some junkies who were hanging out on the front steps. Conflict ensued. Curtis died of the knife wounds.

Fortunately I avoided that, though I did stumble a bit on the stairs and my back hurt for a moment.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:44 am

In addition to leading the band backing Aretha at the Fillmore shows, as above, King Curtis and the band were her opening act. Some of those cuts were also put out as an album. Here's Curtis playing one of his '60s classics.

King Curtis and Duane Allman were friends, and recorded together as session musicians in NYC and Muscle Shoals. Curtis also worked on some material with Duane as the leader, before the Allman Brothers took off.

Duane was at Curtis's funeral. Shortly thereafter he and the Allman's played Curtis' "Soul Serenade" in a medley. This was a radio broadcast on my favorite radio station in the early '70s, WPLJ. Yes, radio was a little more exciting back then. Extra points if you get the reference (at least we thought so at the time) in the station call letters. The song has a lovely melody. If you listen to Duane's solo you can hear what he was feeling about his friend's death. Duane died a few months later.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 1:20 pm

A cross of Yes and Gentle Giant aka proggy greatness.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 2:27 pm

Really good blues man named Smokin' Joe Kubek died on the weekend.

He and his partner B'nois King played good old-fashioned Texas Blues. Always good for a listen.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:07 am

I liked the Kubek-King cut, and listened to a few more. They're a good duo. They complement each other, which is easier said than done. Never heard them before.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:18 am

Rush, if I was a more suspicious sort I'd think you are making some of these bands up. Like this Yezda Urfa thing. I never heard tell of that on WPLJ. They are just what you say. This sounds like out-takes from the early days of either band.

What do you think of this band?

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:26 am

I do have this and another album of theirs. The orchestral arrangements get a little campy at times but all in all not to bad, I guess Page's time in the Yardbirds rubbed off on them.

They're interesting in that they actually have a female vocalist, rather than a man masquerading as one which is the the typical prog thing to do.

BTW. Renaissance is still around Yezda only had two albums in the 70's.

I discovered a lot these bands through YouTube. Some guy but together long mixes of psych and prog and anything I liked I investigated.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 3:37 am

That's a cool way to explore. You are an audio archaeologist -- bands like the ones you are uncovering on Youtube were little known in their 'day' (more like minute). Now they are thin air.

I believe Renaissance was indeed better known, and some version of the band personnel get together to tour now and then. The obvious centerpoint of the band is the vocalist. Amazing range, and she uses it with artistry. Recent video suggests she's still got it. I think they've got some really fine songs. These two things separate them from virtually all prog bands in my view.

Back in the day, it surprised me that Renaissance couldn't make the leap to being a AAA ball version of Yes. I am not a big prog fan, but I had ears enough that I could grasp that Yes hit all the checkboxes for that genre. I prefer Renaissance, and was surprised more didn't pick up on them. I suppose the primary culprit was, as always in that era, lack of either pop hits or strong 'album cuts' that the free-form, college, and generally hipper radio stations might put into circulation. I thought they had the material, but I only very rarely heard it on the air, and I was a big listener to the stations that might have played it on the east coast. Perhaps there's an interesting story about the failure of Renaissance to make it kinda big, if not big, commercially.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 9:23 pm

I was reading that they were (and are) "big" in the Northeast. Seems that prog is a Northeastern/Midwest genre for some reason.

We do have to thank Ohio for these prog gods becoming actual prog gods:

I manage servers all day, not much to do except listen to music. I am thankful for the actual cratediggers/memorylaners for finding/remembering this stuff.
I weave between psych/acid folk/prog/funk. The Internet is an amazing thing.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:21 pm

There's a reason this is considered the granddaddy of them all.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:56 am

I saw them in Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey in the summer of '76. So this is the sound I recall, and like the best. Great song, epic jam.

To my ears, the Dead turned to mush not long after this. I never went to another concert. But the live material from the '70s is often pretty nice.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:45 pm

DC47 wrote:I saw them in Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey in the summer of '76. So this is the sound I recall, and like the best. Great song, epic jam.

To my ears, the Dead turned to mush not long after this. I never went to another concert. But the live material from the '70s is often pretty nice.

That's a famous show as well, wall of sound in all of its greatness.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:29 pm

Need to watch the "Wrecking Crew" doc on Netflix, but also needed to relisten to one of their great works.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:02 pm

Pet Sounds was brilliant in its day because it was so new and different. Now, it sounds (at least to me) like just another Beachboys album, albeit one with some good songs, such as Sloop John B, and Good Vibrations. So, I don't get the continued critical fawning it gets (unless it is for what is was in its day).

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:23 pm

sancarlos wrote:Pet Sounds was brilliant in its day because it was so new and different. Now, it sounds (at least to me) like just another Beachboys album, albeit one with some good songs…

I felt pretty much the same way, when I was in high school in the early 70s. As an adult I have deeper appreciation for what it was at its time, and for the vocal harmonies.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:24 pm

It's over 30 years old, so I guess this qualifies as "Old Timey Music."

Writing all afternoon while surfing through Spotify and suddenly an old girlfriend came into my mind.

Man, I wore this album out at university after we split up.

Melancholy memories, but man, this is a great song.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:21 am

The Beach Boys suck.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:20 am

sancarlos wrote:Pet Sounds was brilliant in its day because it was so new and different. Now, it sounds (at least to me) like just another Beachboys album, albeit one with some good songs, such as Sloop John B, and Good Vibrations. So, I don't get the continued critical fawning it gets (unless it is for what is was in its day).

That difference and newness has inspired countless songs, it's also one of the first concept albums and one of the first to take popular music from something to dance to to something that you listen to, also thanks to Wilson's massive intake of LSD at the time it's a great psychedelic record.

I'm not the biggest Beach Boys fan, but I love this album and love how it steared music. Plus, Giff is misguided.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:05 pm

Giff wrote:The Beach Boys suck.

Agree completely.

Although "god Only Knows" is a good song.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:07 pm

Rush2112 wrote: Giff and Pruitt are misguided.

(and Paul McCartney calls "God Only Knows" the greatest song ever written, though I'm sure somehow I'll be given shit for mentioning this.)

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:16 pm

Paul McCartney also doesn't eat meat. Fuck that guy.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:27 pm

There is so much utter suck in their early and late catalog that I bet you could shape whether a person likes or hates them just by the order you introduced them to the albums.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:29 pm

mister d wrote:There is so much utter suck in their early and late catalog that I bet you could shape whether a person likes or hates them just by the order you introduced them to the albums.

I'm sure that's accurate. I mean, I knew the big hits when I was a kid, but when I started to get into music, fucking "Kokomo" was the worst thing I'd ever heard. Which surprised me because I just heard "Don't Worry Be Happy".

Post by **brian** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:32 pm

Beach Boys might be the shittiest band to have an all-time great album. Pet Sounds is genius regardless of the story of the history/context behind it.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:36 pm

The Beach Boys aren't really a band in the normal sense of the term. The "band" is Brian Wilson. It is one musical genius who, in his years of brilliance, worked with tremendous instrumental musicians (the Wrecking Crew and others), and a group of adequate singers (the other Beach Boys).

Brian Wilson created some of the world's greatest popular music. Then he cracked up. He was under intense pressure from a controlling father and band mates who didn't want to follow his change of musical direction, He had a major coke habit, and is likely bi-polar.

Wilson's period of greatness started around '64 and ended roughly with the album Holland in the early 70s. From that time on, the Beach Boys produced pretty much nothing but dreck. Much of it contained little or no Brian Wilson. It was profitable to put out records under the Beach Boys name, so out the records went. Parasites fed on the fallen genius. But to make the past 40 years a demerit that detracts in some way from Brian Wilson's peak is the wrong way to evaluate artistic greatness.

Brian Wilson's golden era packed a lot of iconic music into a short time. His growth as a musician was explosive. He started out by basically knocking-off the vocal sound of The Four Freshmen with his brothers and two other guys, on songs that expressed simple teen-age themes. It was clever, but trite. He never dropped that vocal sound. But he found a way to integrate it with his travels far beyond the Phil Spector studio sound and with melodic compositions that were on par with the motifs of some of the great classical composers and popular music composers like Richard Rogers and the Gershwins.

Brian Wilson's stuff is timeless. Many years from now there will be people still digging his sound, and others studying how he did it. Wilson will be among the few from our era who will still be relevant.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 10:10 pm

Good stuff, DC.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 10:33 pm

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:41 am

Rush2112 wrote:Need to watch the "Wrecking Crew" doc on Netflix, but also needed to relisten to one of their great works.

That is a cool movie. Carol Kaye is one bad-ass lady.

After you watch that, watch the Paul Dano/John Cusack as Brian Wilson movie "Love and Mercy". The parts where he is creating Pet Sounds with The Wrecking Crew is great.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 7:12 pm

howard wrote:

Exactly. Apart from that one song in the 90s and those two in this century, it's pretty much crap since my heyday. I'm baffled as to how some of these young people don't recognize this. They remind me of my parents, not digging the magic sounds I got into as a teen. How uncool to keep your ears closed to the growth and change of popular music.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:59 pm

Underrated.

I'll run in the rain till I'm breathless
When I'm breathless I'll run till I drop, hey
The thoughts of a fool's kind of careless
I'm just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah
Light of the love that I found...

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 4:02 pm

Coming in out of rain to hear the jazz go down

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 5:04 pm

That ain't what they call rock and roll. Man, what a great tune.