Buried Treasure: Live At Raji’s

[Today: One look is worth a thousand lines...]

During my recent self-prescribed time off, I set aside some time for digging around the local record spots. One of my trips was to Amoeba and Rasputin, two music stores on Telegraph Ave, near the Cal Berkeley campus. I love these establishments – their people are helpful and friendly, they stock lots of LP’s, and if you’re willing to dig around you’re bound to find something good.

Rasputin’s downstairs is almost fully given over to vinyl. Over the years they’ve waxed and waned in their commitment to LPs, but right now their basement is wall-to-wall records. So of course I had a good time digging around the funk and folk, classical and country, indie and industrial. I picked up about 12 records, all but one of which escape memory right now.

At the register I was helped by two people – a 20-something asian female (obviously a Cal student) and a tattoed, 40-something male caucasian (obviously a record store-lifer). Mr Record guy flipped through my pile and passed them on to Cal girl, who rang them up. He sorted them by new and used, and did it like a mercenary, casually tossing my funk gems and country oddballs aside with nary a glance.

But near the bottom of my pile, he came across the Dream Syndicate’s double album Live At Raji’s. He paused for a good five seconds, staring intently at it, and the look in his eyes told a million stories. “This record…” he paused, “brings back a lot of good memories.” By the five second look of it, the guy must’ve snorted a thousand lines, received hundreds of lap dances, dangled from dozens of chandeliers, and jumped from hotel balconies into hotel swimming pools – all while listening to this album.

Live At Raji’s is a really good record. It’s the kind of hard blues-rock that hardly anyone was making in the 80′s, and it’s definitely worth some ear time. I’m not sure if it will change your life, but it clearly has the power to leave a deep, deep impression.

Listen: See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

Masterpiece: Loaded

[Today: The Velvets shoot for the charts and make a masterpiece instead...]

Lou Reed has consistently written some of the best character sketches in rock, and his work (and by extension, The Velvet Underground’s) has always more closely resembled short stories than mere songs. Unfortunately, the subjects of many of those sketches (junkies, queers, etc) have combined with VU’s avant-leanings to overshadow the excellent songcraft that lies at the heart of the group’s genius.

Recorded in the summer of 1970, Loaded was the Velvets’ fourth album, and second without sturm-and-droner John Cale. Here they dispensed with Cale’s noisy nonsense and made a batch of mostly straight ahead songs that count optimism and survival as prominent themes. The songs also feature vocal harmonies that are tight and affecting, and help sell lines like “What comes is better than what came before” (from the underrated ‘I Found A Reason’). In places the group sounds for all the world like they’re doing their best Beach Boys impersonation. This is the most accessible Velvet Undergound album, by a Manhattan mile.

Much of the above paragraph has caused critics to wring their hands over this album. It’s not a traditional VU effort, and it has a pop sheen that Lou Reed would more or less eschew for the rest of his career. The fact that he left the band before production on the album was complete has tarnished its legacy. Reed himself has disparaged both the production work and track listing.

But forget all the sniping – Loaded is flawless. The title reportedly was the group’s answer to Ahmet Ertegun’s request for “an album loaded with hits.” Reed delivered an incredible cache of songs that include ‘Sweet Jane’ ‘Rock & Roll’ and ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’. None of it hit, of course. But it did prove that even when they polished things up, the VU were destined to sound uniquely like themselves – if not a bit better.

Listen: Oh! Sweet Nuthin’

10 Holiday Albums That Don’t Suck

Admit it, the holidays have barely begun and already you’re sick of the commercialization, the forced glad tidings, and most of all, those godforsaken Christmas jingles that got stale around the time you were nine years old. But no matter how much you try to resist it, there’s pretty much no way to avoid holiday music around the holidays. So if you must, here are 10 holiday albums that defy the genre and provide some good cheer for your ears:

1) Vince Guaraldi Trio * A Charlie Brown Christmas

dk says: Not only a tried-and-true Christmas classic, this is a swinging jazz album that sounds great all year ’round. Plus, it makes me want to ice skate alongside Snoopy.

the P says: What really needs to be said? THE holiday album. You all know it – now a timeless classic, and for many kids, their first taste of jazz. The original soundtrack was recorded for the CBS television Peanuts special in 1965 with Guaraldi on piano, Fred Marshal on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums. Guaraldi died of a heart attack at age 47 but managed to crank out 23 albums in his relatively short life, so give thanks when this comes on the stereo as you are decking the halls.

the P’s highlights: any songs which remind me of cartoon kids doing that Charlie Brown dance.

2) Chet Baker * Silent Nights

dk says: An incredibly mellow set of holiday standards. This is one of the best Christmas albums of all-time, and the only album Baker recorded after 1970 that’s even remotely listenable.

the P says: Slightly offbeat arrangements of holiday classics, featuring Baker on trumpet with the Christopher Mason Quartet. Recorded in 1986 at Ultrasonic Studios in New Orleans, this is one of Baker’s last recordings before his bizarre death — falling from a hotel window in Amsterdam — in 1988.

the P’s highlight: We Three Kings

3) John Fahey * The New Possibility

dk says: Fahey’s stark acoustic guitar mastery provides a welcome cover for a number of traditional holiday favorites. The title of the album refers to an arcane theological quote, but could just as easily refer to the energy and warmth that Fahey injects into this music.

the P says: One of my all-time favorite Christmas albums…solo guitar. Fahey turns traditional Christmas music into gentle ballads, with unusual, off-key tunings. Originally released in 1968 on his own label, Takoma, this is the first of four or five Christmas albums Fahey put forth during his career.

the P’s highlights: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Fantasy, Good King Wenceslas

4) Louis Armstrong & Friends * What A Wonderful Christmas

dk says: Satchmo’s rollicking holiday album features guest appearances by the likes of Dinah Washington, Mel Torme, Eartha Kitt, and Duke Ellington. With songs like ‘Christmas In New Orleans’ ‘Christmas Night In Harlem’ and ‘Zat You, Santa Claus?’ this isn’t your typical Christmas album.

the P says: Louis Armstrong might just be the voice of Ol’ Saint Nick. I really love his tracks on this album, but I’m less intrigued by those of his “friends”.

the P’s highlights: Christmas in New Orleans, Zat You, Santa Claus?

5) Elvis Presley * White Christmas

dk says: Elvis caught a lot of flak back in the day for daring to record oh-so-holy Christmas carols with his heathen voice. But the King has had the last laugh: his holiday albums have become undisputed classics, and his ‘Blue Christmas’ is a standard in its own right.

the P says: EVERY holiday song you ever knew is included on this album, and most are pretty tasteful. The cover is a special gem: top half photo of Elvis superimposed in front of a snowy Graceland.

the P’s highlights: White Christmas, Blue Christmas

6) Frank Sinatra * Christmas Dreaming

dk says: The Chairman slaps some sense into an old time batch of holiday chestnuts. His swinging version of ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ is second to none.

the P says: Great early Sinatra Christmas recordings cut between 1944 and 1950. All classics, with great orchestration to support the Chairman.

the P’s highlights: swingin’ version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town (a song I can generally do without), Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

7) James Brown * James Brown’s Funky Christmas

dk says: JB had an especially funky Christmas last year.

the P says: This disc has been stuck in the cd player of my parents’ minivan for about four years. And they do not like James Brown. But from him they have learned: 1) that the spirit of Christmas can be with you all year long, and 2) that Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto.

the P’s highlight: the day we get it out of the cd player.

8) Ella Fitzgerald * Wishes You A Very Swinging Christmas

dk says: Ella is a master interpreter of others’ songs, so she’s a natural to add some zest to those tired old holiday classics. Beware ye Scrooges: this album is very peppy.

the P says: Can you go wrong with Ella? I think not. These are mighty, mighty upbeat renditions of holiday standards originally recorded in 1960, with a re-mastered edition released on Verve in 2002. Ella’s voice is the true centerpiece here, but there’s a lot of accompaniment (read: background noise) on some of the tracks. And what’s up with the Christmas unicorn on the album cover?

the P’s highlights: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Let it Snow

9) Merle Haggard * A Christmas Present

dk says: A totally different kind of holiday album. Almost a concept album about a father trying to make ends meet for his kids at the holidays. The first half of the album features originals by Haggard, before shifting into more traditional holiday fare. Wonderfully melancholy.

the P says: Suffering, poverty, cold weather, hard times, blind faith: Merle is all about finding joy in the small pleasures. Originally released in 1973, the first half of this album is the present: the songs that Merle wrote himself.

the P’s highlight: If We Make It Through December

10) David Sedaris * Holidays On Ice (audio book)

dk says: David Sedaris is funny.

the P says: The first track on this spoken word album recounts Sedaris’ experiences working as an elf at Macy’s. “Santa has a tumor in his head the size of an olive. Maybe it will go away tomorrow but I don’t think so.” Need I say more?

the P’s highlights: SantaLand Diaries, SantaLand Diaries, SantaLand Diaries

*****

10 More That Deserve A Pair Of Ho’s…

Various Artists * A Very Special Christmas
Johnny Cash * Personal Christmas Collection
The Rat Pack * Christmas With The Rat Pack
Willie Nelson * Pretty Paper
Al Green * The Christmas Album
Various Artists * A Motown Christmas
Nat King Cole * The Christmas Song
Boris Karloff reads The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Various Artists * Phil Spector’s Christmas Album
Tchaikovsky * The Nutcracker Suite

Buried Treasure: Music For Dancefloors

[Today: Library music, and its many fanciful applications...]

DJs will go to the end of the world to find original samples, and one of the more interesting sources that they’ve taken to scavenging of late are production music libraries. For decades these production houses have created music of every mood, pace, and genre for use in commericials, TV programs, and movies. KPM – one of the most revered London music publishing houses – has provided the musical score for every corner of British society since the 1950′s.

Founded in 1780 by Robert Keith, who later partnered with William Prowse to form Keith Prowse Music, KPM really took off in the 1960′s when they began creating entire albums based around particular moods and themes. These albums were then sent out as promotional samplers to people who might be in a position to pay for such music. Those promo albums now trade for a small fortune on the open market because of their plentiful abundance of fine breakbeats that haven’t been beaten into the ground.

Featuring the work of unknown (but well-compensated) musical talents such as Keith Mansfield, Duncan Lamont, Alan Parker, Johnny Pearson, and a host of others, Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of The KPM Music Green Label Sessions charts a course through the most hip shaking moments of KPM’s vast musical repository.

It’s easy to see why crate diggers would get goosebumps over finding the tracks collected here. Always funky, these instrumental jams burble and bump with an innocent energy that sounds downright futuristic. From wah-wah guitar to fusion jazz to driving samba to dub reggae, Music For Dancefloors is a kaleidoscope of beats and rhythms that sounds fresh in any setting. Two turntables and a microphone not required.

Listen: Funky Express (re-edit) [composed by Duncan Lamont]

Listen: Samba Street [composed by Barry Morgan and Ray Cooper]

Masterpiece: Led Zeppelin IV

[Today: A memorable holiday outing...]

The morning of the Saturday after Thanksgiving 1991, Bobby Evans (my best friend since the first day of first grade – do friends get any older?), his girlfriend Dana and I jumped into his white Chevy pickup and headed into the hills outside of Eugene to cut down a Christmas tree that would later be adorned with lights and other trinkets of holiday cheer.

The land outside of town consisted of a series of parceled farmlands, each field of crops billowing steam into the frigid autumn morning, while the sound of our engine chased ducks and geese into flight across those cold, heavy fields. As we motored past these farms and towards the U-cut tree farm, Bobby’s radio fuzzed up and died, killing the classic rock melange that Eugene’s weak radio airwaves were coughing up. Without missing a beat, he clicked off the dial and launched into his own acapella version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Going To California’.

Bobby’s not much of a singer – nor does he claim to be – but his version of this song on that day has stuck with me ever since. Whenever I hear it I’m instantly transported back to that cold Oregon Saturday morning, powering down country roads, with my best friend belting out a great version of a great song by his favorite band, simply because nothing could be conjured up on the radio. And this is one of the best reasons I love music – any music fan can attest to the phenomenon – it can instantly take you back to a place in time when you were a little younger, the music sounded a little better, and maybe there was just a bit of fog on the windshield and the slightest hint of pine in the air.

Listen: Going To California

The P Speaks: Go Ask Alice

Somehow we got through an entire Thanksgiving without a single rendition of Alice’s Restaurant. Or more formally, Alice’s Restaurant Massacree. For those unfamiliar with this song, it recounts a true but comically exaggerated Thanksgiving adventure, complete with a satirical, deadpan protest against the Vietnam War draft and anti-hippie sentiment — delivered in conversation, with a guitar underlay.

This album holds a special place in my heart because it was the first album I actually owned.
Okay, inherited.
And it was a cassette.
And I was 6.
And I may have, um, borrowed it from my sister, but she went off to college and it became mine.

And it’s perfect for the 6 year-old mind: This song is called Alice’s Restaurant, and it’s about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that’s just the name of the song, and that’s why I called the song Alice’s Restaurant.

I was particularly enchanted with the twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one. And Officer Obie.

The song occupies 18 minutes on Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 debut of the same name. The b-side of this recording includes six lesser known Arlo songs, including Chilling of the Evening and The Motorcycle Song (“I don’t want a pickle, just want to ride on my motorsickle“).

So Remember:
Sing along when the chorus comes around on the gui-tar, with four part harmony and feeling.

And if you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.

And be careful where you dump the garbage.

Thanks Arlo!

10 Things I’m Thankful For

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, here’s a list of stuff I’m glad I don’t have to live without:

1) The Fillmore Auditorium – One of my favorite rooms in the whole wide world.

2) Jimi Hendrix on guitar – Has anyone else ever come close? I think not…

3) M. Ward’s croak - One of the greatest instruments in the world.

4) John Phillips’ solo album – The definition of a lost gem. Sounds fresher today than the day it dropped.

5) Hank Mobley on sax – Who’s underrated? Hank’s underrated.

6) Mike Watt’s philosophy – The ex-Minutemen bassist’s enthusiastic musings on doing-it-yourself were a prime inspiration for me to start writing about music.

7) The Great American Music Hall – Another gorgeous room, and an amazing place to see a concert.

8) My Uncle Henry – He’s passed along nearly 2000 primo albums over the last couple of years. Huge props for Henry!

9) Andres Segovia - A different kind of guitar genius, but a genius nonetheless.

10) The P - My love, my life, my wife…

*****

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The P Speaks: Happy No Music Day

Hey there! it’s No Music Day! the third edition of No Music Day, to be specific.

We can thank the writer, conceptual artist and former rock star Bill Drummond for this emerging Hallmark Holiday (celebrate by sending an iTunes download card! oh, wait…) Drummond’s background as the frontman of the late ’80s/early ’90s band The KLF gives him a certain perspective on the subject of artistic whimsy and self-reflection.

Remember The KLF? Sure you do… At the height of its success in 1992, The KLF abruptly ceased playing, deleted its entire back catalog and — for the sake of art — publicly burned more than $2 million of its earnings in 1994. Mr. Drummond has since dabbled in a wide variety of artistic endeavors. And proclamations.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Jingles will not jangle!!

Drummond came up with the idea for No Music Day in 2005 – prompted, he said, by “the feeling that music wasn’t having the effect on me that I wanted.” The concept here is as to show how important music is to people by going without it for a day. He chose November 21st because it is the day before Saint Cecilia’s Day – she’s the patron saint of music.

I especially like the comments on the NMD website… lofty and aspirational statements about the meaning of music and why it’s so important to humanity. Here’s my personal favorite:

“I am (or am not) observing No Music Day because:
No music day is pointless and stupid. Perhaps you should consider bowling instead?

I will (or will not) be observing No Music Day by:
Playing music.”

– Frakety Frak, 22/11/2006

Anyway, happy No Music Day. I think we’ll be celebrating with Mr. Frak…

Buried Treasure: Highway Call

[Today: An Allman Brother goes solo and reaps a bountiful harvest...]

In the early 70′s sincerity was still considered a virtue in music, and Richard “Dickey” Betts perfected his craft as an honest, down-home songwriter as co-lead guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band. Betts assumed a larger share of the leadership and songwriting duties in that group after the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, and authored many of the Allmans’ biggest hits, including ‘Blue Sky’ and ‘Ramblin Man’. Eventually he began to explore his own 40 acres within the southern rock sound, recording Highway Call in 1974 with a band of cohorts that included fiddler Vassar Clements and pianist Chuck Leavell. It’s an album short on solos and pretension (except for the blessed 14-minute jam ‘Hand Picked’, which roils with all the competitive fire of a back porch cutting session) and long on hot licks and southern soul.

At the heart of the album is an obvious yearning for home. This is a six song postcard from the road, written by a man who would rather be in his favorite chair in front of a fire than on stage entertaining 30,000 people (man’s gotta do…). “I’m on my way back to Georgia…” goes the opening refrain of the album, and the sincerity of Betts’ longing is carried throughout the album. Yet while he pines for home, it’s always an upbeat pining – this is the sound of someone who knows the road is leading back to his front door, and it won’t be long now.

The country in this album is literal – a vast expanse of trees and animals and land – and Highway Call was obviously created by someone who spent a good deal of time close to the soil. “Let nature sing” croons Betts. By creating such an unaffected expression of love for the earth, he’s done the next best thing.

Listen: Highway Call

Buried Treasure: The Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo De Silos

[Today: Just chillin' with the benedictine monks...]

Gregorian chants are rooted in 6th century Rome, and were the creation of their namesake, Pope Gregory the Great. These chants usually assume the shape of a hypnotic series of monophonic, interweaving Latin choruses – typically performed by male choirs during Catholic Mass. Gregorian chants have fallen in and out of favor many times throughout history, both with the church and musical scholars. But they’ve enjoyed a tremendous (and unprecedented) popular revival over the last 20 years that goes well beyond the church, and into millions of hi-fi systems in homes across the country and around the globe.

Released in 1994 by Angel Records, Chant reached #3 on the Billboard charts, and sold triple platinum. The album is the work of the benedictine monks of the Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, located in the Burgos province of northern Spain. After the album broke loose on the US charts, these monks found themselves in the unexpected position of garnering interview requests from television programs like The Tonight Show and Good Morning America. Chant reportedly sold more than a million copies in the United States within its first month of release.

Why all the fuss over an album of ancient chants that feature no instrumentation of any kind? Quite simply, this music soothes the soul in times of chaos. In 1989, astronomer Freimut Borngen named the asteroid 100019 Gregorianik in honor of the Gregorian chant – a fitting tribute to a music that stands as mankind’s most sublime artistic reach towards – and embrace of – the heavens.

Listen: Anon: Puer Natus Est Nobis