Robert Palmer’s Lost Oeuvre Part I: Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley (1974)
To many people, Robert Palmer represents the power of MTV when music videos were in their heyday, a man whose sartorial talents were the great substance behind numbers like “Simply Irresistable” and “Addicted To Love”. Both numbers are products of their time and suffer greatly as a result, propelled by the videos of attractive women peddling instruments as sex machines and little else. But that was before I discovered Robert Palmer, the same Robert Palmer whose fame was a product of the badly aged MTV generation, had a much more compelling career before ever making it big.
One of the most amazing facts of stumbling upon his 1974 release Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley is the fact that this little known expat managed to lock down both The Meters and members of Little Feat, along with session greats like Cornell Dupree and Bernard Purdie to back him through an extraordinarily funky trip down NOLA inspired, hot-laced grooves. Palmer oozes charisma, and he makes clear right away that he is an excellent interpreter of other’s songs, feeling comfortable handling everything from Little Feat drug odes to Allen Toussaint R&B, mixing in his own songs with nary a change of pace.
New Classics: Looking Back On Big Echo by The Morning Benders
Of the many albums that have come out in my years as a music blogger, there are a choice few that really stand out as excellent albums and one of my favorites, the one that I will start with, is Big Echo by The Morning Benders.
It’s strange to realize that the album, or LP (whichever suits your preference) has once again taken a back seat to the single. Thanks to the internet’s ability to grant us instant gratification, most listeners no longer have the patience to sit through an album. iTunes and other per-MP3 vendors are in part responsible for this, as it’s a much cheaper deal to buy a single song for a dollar than a whole album for 10 or more.
But what of the exceptions? The listeners who do still crave a full album experience? It’s for them that I chose Big Echo, an album whose first 4 tracks are absolutely stellar as stand alone numbers, while the remaining tracks work more as a cohesive unit, one that rewards repeated listens.
Abbey Road: Reviewed
It’s an amazing thing, looking back at the entire Beatles career and realizing, damn they were good, but why couldn’t they ever have written a lyric worthy of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue” or Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” or even for that matter a songwriting epic worthy of “Born to Run”. Yet as a Beatles fan I’ve come to realize that The Beatles true talent, was that of creating entirely cohesive albums, rather than individual stand-out songs, much like that of the individual members themselves, whose separate careers, although good were nothing on a level with their whole output as a group.
You can file this away in the well thats just obvious department, but Abbey Road is a great album and not only their ultimate be all end all album as a group, but also one that succinctly summarizes what made them great on the first place. It is also an album that remains timeless upon each listen, there is not one discernable part of the record that makes you think “Oh wow well you can tell this is from 1969″. The tracks are pristine, benefitting from the band finally having overall access to a brand new studio, with 8 tracks to play with, rather than the usual 4-track limitations. (In that regard, Sgt. Peppers should be regarded as a spectacular achievement). Long having since been known as a vocal group, the harmonies on the album are precise and beautifully done, finally showing their vocals talents in all their glory. Abbey Road is more than just a collection of songs, but one of gorgeous melodies as well; from the swamp-rock rhythms of “Come Together” to the rock-and-roll bombast of “The End”. Typical of most of their works, Abbey Road never drags and features many different styles from old-time music hall “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” to summer of love acoustic numbers “Here Comes The Sun” even foreshadowing musical styles to come in songs like “Sun King” and “You Never Give Me Your Money” and containing as Frank Sinatra would often say; the greatest love song of all time, in “Something”. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid listening to the album ever, congratulations you’re probably due for some reward, but to be sure there is no ultimate album out there that would be as lasting, and as perfect as Abbey Road.
On The Cusp Album Series: Transitions, Westbound Train
On the Cusp Album series focuses on albums by unknown bands that just miss out on the Modern Classic category, if only lacking due to a few weak songs, however most of these albums could be brought up over the top by the listeners interpretation.
More on the first addition to the series after the jump
Modern Classics: Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, (2007)
Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga along with being a mouthful is a modern masterpiece. The oft-mislabeled as indie band from Austin, Texas managed to create an atmosphere on the album that unfolds much like its cover; unique little pieces go into each arrangement culminating in a work more beautiful in the eyes of its beholders as a whole. Spoon is headed up by the unique combination of songwriter/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer/arranger Jim Eno and while both play a distinctive part in the band’s sound it’s hard not to see the whole band as a unit. There are no flashy solo’s, no parts where the individual is recognized over the whole. This quality, most noticeable on this record, is perhaps what keeps Spoon going, there are no ego battles, just musicians focused on the music. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga gets the ball rolling with the caustic and sardonic “Don’t Make Me A Target” and the melodies and hooks just keep going from there, just as if Britt Daniel and Jim Eno are that sculptor who make great things out of the smallest little pieces.
As if beginning where the previous post (The White Album) left off, Don’t Make Me A Target plays out like a more bitter sibling to Sexy Sadie. Spoon also shows its skill as a rock band, but with focus on precision rather than flash. The descending guitar line reverbed with a little grit is perfect and the drums syncopate with perfect rhythm backing lyrics Lennon would be proud of before descending into organized chaos.
The second song is one odd left hook that if it had been written by Coldplay, masses of critics would have converted overnight and praised Chris Martin for the musical genius that was coming to light, in other words its good. But it also defies convention, the hook is still there, the babbling piano hook being the inspiration for the album title. The arrangement is great, with Britt Daniel’s voice doing a ghostly dance all over the place. While pushing the creative boundaries, Spoon manages to keep the ear hooked on the familiar and thats their genius.
And all the sudden the darkness lifts, the arrangement rings out with bells and horns and Motown reverb styled glory and a really nice melody, one of the most upbeat hooks in music, not just this album.
Spoon is good enough to rely on their own artistic merits, so to cover the song of a little known band (The Natural History) is an interesting choice on their part. But to their credit they have fun with it and make it their own, a circular little number with a fantastic bass line and descending guitar hooks. This is a song that will stay in your head for days.
5. Rhthm & Soul
A beautiful example of a sum is greater than all its parts, and one of their finest arrangements, again they feature a precise attack and interesting textures, and the little guitar part 2/3rds the way through fits perfectly.
The most interesting arrangement on the whole album with some great lyrics to boot. The music will keep you guessing one change to the next.
7. The Underdog
The most pop oriented song on the album provides a refreshing change of pace and organic arrangement with the low end and horns bursting at the seems, a happy cautionary tale that just makes you want to dance.
8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
A just as spooky, but vastly more organic and instrumentally textured The Ghost of You Lingers, Spoon’s experimental bits prove to be just as catchy as their precise take on rock structure. This song might not reach you the first time but it stands up well after repeated listens.
Everything is played perfectly on this song, from the precise in the pocket rock groove, to the instrumental textures they throw in to the bouncing bass line to the great descending guitar line, which is the best of the album on an album full of them.
10. Black Like Me
Already a classic from the beginning with a very Day in the Life-esque piano melody, the organic production of acoustic guitar maracas and piano with the otherworldly backing vocals is perfect. The song becomes genius at the 1:30 mark, where it breaks out of its mold with a thunderous drum fill. The Beatles would be proud.
We’re Riding out Tonight to Case the Promised Land: Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen, 1975
Escape, that’s what most people look for out of music, a way to leave hum-drum reality behind and be part of something bigger, those who play it aspire to be remembered, to leave this Earth knowing they’ve accomplished something and mean something greater than existence itself. It’s no easy thing to accomplish and there’s proof in the pudding, for every band that made it big, there are thousands of others that drifted in unrecognition, dreams never realized, their existence at best maybe a footnote in some musical history book (if they’re lucky). It takes a combination of unstoppable focus and drive to make it big, and even more to stay once you’re there, but the reward is worth the risk for if you succeed, you will be remembered for a long long time. Perhaps there was no greater example than Bruce Springsteen.
He wasn’t completely unknown before Born to Run came out, he had two albums released previously, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle which both garnered critical success and comparisons as “the next Bob Dylan” and “the next Van Morrison”, high praise but both misunderstood his genius and commercially he was a failure, only having a small gathering of fans from New Jersey, ground zero for the development of his E Street Band. Both his two previous efforts had shown his artistic promise, but for the common consumer they were too wordy and musically too busy (see Blinded By the Light) and the great songs from that time period (New York City Serenade, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Kitty’s Back, E Street Shuffle) were in danger of becoming footnotes rather than starting points. His pianist David Sancious had departed for a career in jazz fusion and his drummer at the time Vinnie Lopez would leave in 1974 after fighting with the bands manager over money issues.
He convinced his record label, Columbia, to grant him a larger budget for one last chance at making a commercially successful album, if it failed, his career would be pretty much over.
Springsteen knew that he wanted this album to have an epic scope. His album productions which were predominately heavy and warmly mixed would be replaced by a wall of sound technique (made famous by Phil Spector and Motown) to augment his songwriting in a midst of grandeur and epic beauty. He would later recall this decision saying he wanted the album to sound like “Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan, produced by Spector.” During the early writing of Born to Run, Roy Bittan, a pianist, and Max Weinberg, a drummer were added to the E Street lineup, and the modern version of the E Street Band was born. The album would take him 14 months to complete, 6 months alone were spent on Born to Run itself, with 11 guitar tracks in on the mix, and Thunder Road the albums opener is rumored to have 30 different guitar overdubs. Simply put Springsteen was a perfectionist, spending hours looking for the right sound because he had huge aspirations “When I did Born To Run, I thought, ‘I’m going to make the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made.’ “
And what a record it is, when it comes to songs, one of the most important things is the introduction, if you get a listener hooked at the very beginning, you’re pretty much guaranteed a hit song, Born to Run didn’t just have one good introduction, it has 8 of the best introductions in rock and roll. From the bittersweet harmonica and piano opening of Thunder Road, to the horn and drum swaggering rhythm of Tenth Avenue Freeze-out, to the immediacy of the snare drum and saxophone blast of Night, to the beautiful swirling piano intro of Backstreets, to the epic snare drum and guitar line of Born to Run, the low guitar rumble and high organ playing on She’s the One, to the stark piano and horns of Meeting Across the River, to the absolutely beautiful violin and piano intro of Jungleland. Born to Run doesn’t let up from beginning to end.
Lyrics are another key element of songs, ones that have a strong chorus and message are the ones that stand the test of time, and Springsteen’s on Born to Run are a thing of epic grandeur, the finest poetry ever committed to rock form. Springsteen is so detailed you not only hear his words but you can see his characters fleshed out. Mary dancing across her front porch listening to Roy Orbison singing “Only the Lonely” on the radio. Bad Scooter (Bruce Springsteen) overcoming the odds to find himself on top with a band, saved by the Big Man (Clarence Clemens) and his saxophone. Driving around at Night with the world busting from its seems, driven to escape from the menial day time job and breathe in the beauty of it all, thats just the first three, all of them are magnificently written.
Springsteen would never look back after Born to Run, becoming a huge commercial success and have a great live act. Only Dave Matthews Band would hold only a candle to the reverence with which his followers held his live act and there was no one better from the 70′s-80′s. Born to Run is by all means a classic album, and is in the Top 10, if not the Top 5 of all time.
Rap Rebirth?
This is one for all you people that are sick of how rap has become take one line autotune it drop the bass to ridiculously low levels, spend more time on the music video than the actual creativity and call it a number one hit. Rap used to be a musical tour de force to be envied, while most of music beared slight influence to predecessors, rap took samples and reworked them with a nimble lyric and rhythmic ability that few singers could match. It also unlike many musical genres had few limitations, only jazz before it had such an expansive field for creativity. N.W.A., A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were the forerunners in their sample mastery, combining elements from 70′s funk and jazz along with great word interplay, Tupac and Biggie were next, combining big personalities with big funky samples and Jay-Z and Kanye West followed. But rap has now seemingly hit a wall, creativity now plays a minor role to dance-ability, and being able to dance to a rap song is all well and good because there are times where mood and sobriety (or lack thereof) call for it. However earlier in 2009 an album by the producer BK-One, Radio Do Canibal, brought a glimmer of hope to a revival of rap’s glorious hey day, the whole album is phenomenal but to pique your interest heres a little sampler.
This song features a bass groove so downright funky Bootsy Collins and all of Parliment would have given their left nut to call it their own. Not only is this sample hopping, but the vocals themselves bring to mind the Game and Nas at the top of their game, a must listen.
This song comes off like a call back to the old school rap groups freestyle jams, its funky and the lyrics are sly, you can hear a bit of Snoop Dogg and Jurassic 5 in this.
This is a fine track and it would fit right in to Dr. Dre’s 2001, just listen to that great guitar sample and mellow production, its a great chill out song.
The Roots always frustrated because their talent as musicians seemed to overshadow their ability as a rap group, but let Black Thought assure you otherwise.
The sample on this is just on fire, organ, funky back-beat and guitar riff, J5 would have loved to have come up with this. Its a funny song lyrically as well.
Davy by Coconut Records
Heck I like this album so much I’m putting the rest of it up
