Another week, another broken hot water heater.
Random five, describe!
- Allman Bros - Don't Keep Me Wonderin' (live). I can appreciate the Allman Bros' talents, but on the whole they've never been able to reach the level of essential, in my estimation.
- The Sundays - I Won. This little flash-in-the-pan band, with that Smiths-y guitar sound, and that very English singer... somehow this album grabbed me, in 1990, and it has yet to grow old. Odd.
- John Mayall - Bernard Jenkins. It's just Clapton's guitar and Mayall's piano. Makes you realize that even the best rock guitar players will sound simple next to a great piano player. While Clapton is wheedling away, one or two strings at a time, Mayall is playing bass, rhythm chords, and a bit of a lead accompaniment. And when Clapton sits back on a verse, and Mayall steps it up, it's obvious that Mayall could easily handle this one on his own.
- John Coltrane - Cousin Mary (alternate take). One of my favorite Coltrane tunes. He doesn't go all sheets-of-sound on this, and the melody is nice.
- The Cure - Happy The Man. One of their early B-sides. Guessing, I'm going to say that this was recorded around the time of The Top... (looking it up... I'm right! It's a B-side to "The Caterpillar"). I've always dug this one. For The Top, Smith was almost done with the minimal gloom of the Faith era, but hadn't fully embraced the catchy pop side of the Japanese Whispers singles. So, The Top stuff feels a little unsettled, experimental, transitional. Lots of interesting stuff.
Try it yourself!
I’m pretty sure great piano players actually have two brains.
Pink Floyd – Astronomy Domine
Oh, Syd. “Neptune, Titan, stars can frighten.” It’s a terrible line, and yet it’s so strangely charming.
Little Richard – Rip It Up
Speaking of pianists, it’s funny how certain bandleaders, like Little Richard and Fats Domino, often produced tracks that didn’t rely on their piano playing at all. They were great performers in part because they assembled great bands.
The Black Gate Opens (ROTK soundtrack)
One does not simply… Howard Shore came up with some very memorable motifs, but for me the real gem of this soundtrack is his instrumentation. The orchestra must have been sprawlingly huge, what with the choir and the exotic solo instruments. Glad to see he’s scoring The Hobbit as well.
Otis Redding – Chained & Bound
More of his standard early-period 6/8 ballad template. Don’t hate! I mean, it’s still Otis, he just cranked out a lot of these, and they’re all the same.
Starseeds – Elsewhere
Very pleasant downtempo trance, if you’re into that sort of thing, which I sometimes am.
“Candy Man”, Gary Davis. This song come out back in nineteen five, way back yonder — I wa’n’t nothin but a boy back then. Salty Dog. Fatt’nin Hog. Davis’ falsetto is kind of amazing.
“Calvary Cross”, Robyn Hitchcock, keeping in the fingerpicking vein. This is one of the unreleased tracks from A&M. Long, sweet instrumental introduction, mellow vocal. Sly reversal of a Bryan Adams lyric. It’s all there!
“The New Iberians”, Joe Craven: folk fiddle tunes mashed up and set to new beats. This genre seems like it holds unlimited potential. One of the source tunes is big Modesto-Kid favorite “Who’ll Rock the Cradle”.
“Mr Kennedy”, The Soft Boys. A perennial candidate for my favorite song evar.
“Trouble, I’ve had it all my days”, John Hurt. Back to fingerpicking. This picking pattern would work really well for “Prodigal Son”. If only one could learn to do it!
bonus track, “Darktown Strutters’ Ball”, Mound City Blues Blowers