Hype is overated...

But here's a little gem that is un-overatable Yes dear friends, I give you a man who single-handedly (but with two hands instead of one!) nearly destroyed my nasal passages in 1982. A man worshiped and cravenly used by our dear departed Frank Zappa. A man whose hat alone is bigger than life...and the head it sits upon. A man who, not unlike the possum his ownself, can mispronounce two simple words, i.e. "for you" and make you grin so hard you get a boner. Who is this man, you ask? Quit pestering me, will ya? Yes, yes, of course, it's Johnny "Guitar" Watson and he's a real mother for ya. "The Hits" (Best of the Funk Years) is everything you could want in a JGW anthology. That is it has the one great song he's actually known for, a couple of others you might remember fondly and a whole slew of late seventys dreck that is so dreadfully wrong...it's right. It was 1982. But I digress. That's the year I discovered that Johnny was something other than an insanely delirious voice spouting flambe' vocals on Zappa records. He was an artist in is own right. At the time I was a part time gigilo for a rather wealthy former debutante with a penchant for partying and to listening to Mr. Watson while she did. And, as she was footing the bill, I was happy to oblige. The only unfortunate outcome of all this is that I cannot listen to "Real Mother For Ya" without needing to evacuate to this day. And currently he's in heavy rotation in the car. You can see the potential for disaster. Anywhoo (was I complaining earlier of people being windy?) "Ain't That a Bitch" is good too, perhaps "Superman Lover". But listening to the children's choruses in "Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty" is not for the feint of heart. Don't say I didn't warn you. "Com'ere Grutar"!

ps: His tone sucks. You won't care.

Ed--March 30

My buddy Chuck gave me a copy of Scott Miller's Citation. I like most of it. I think it probably falls into that catch-all category they've dubbed "Americana." It's got some country without relying heavily on the three or four shopworn themes Nashville seems to be leaning on ( we're country and proud/don't we live in a by-God great country; mama took the baby and run off from daddy who was drunk and whuppin' em; let's party country-style [with a Carribean beat], etc.). Also some Springsteeny, rockish stuff and some Greg Brown-like storytelling songs. If you hit the link, listen to "Eight Miles a Gallon." Jim Dickinson produced it, and Ry Cooder is a guest player.

Also, our man Arch (who listens to more new music than most of the musicians I know) loaned me The River in Reverse, a collaboration of Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. Recorded in NY after Toussaint evacuated, it features songs from the both of them. With the exception of a few of Elvis's tunes that kind of ramble around, a lot of the tunes are laid right in the pocket with fine rhythm and horn sections. Good version of the Joe Stampley/Uniques standard, "All These Things" (which I wasn't aware Toussaint had written); also "On Your Way Down, " which made Toussaint a few bucks thanks to Little Feat.

What goes around ...

Haven't much new to post this week because I've been listening primarily to Robert Palmer's Drive thanks to yorolpal's post on it. What a great album. Also been listening to that Tom Jones & Jools Holland CD I posted earlier about. Go here to see another great video from that project. I'm in retro rock & blues land, and I'm not in a hurry to get out.

P.S. Glad to see someone else is enjoying Rachael Yamagata (see Bluefootball's last post).

Quick message to yorolpal from the Mortman!

Found this on MySpace. Too funny.

No More Lengthy Blow Hole

Guilty as charged. Windyness no more. Just playlist.

Rachael Yamagato - I Want you
Sinatra - Learnin' the Blues
Prez Prado - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Angelique Kidjo - Summertime
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Agua de Beber
Art Blakey Live - Moanin'
Art Farmer with Benny Golson - Killer Joe
Yonder Mountain String Band - Midwest Gospel Radio
Jackson Waters - Come Undone

Like or not? Story behind every song. You guess.

Pollen John and George and Ringo ... with a side of pet dander

Ah, and the weeks fly by ... into hay fever hell. My blog has a clog. I've been sick with drippy sneezy allergy/cold symptoms but still have a few new listenings to post (besides the dull throbbing of my sinuses).

Got my signed advance copy of Jonatha Brooke's new CD from her website yesterday. One listen through and I'm enjoying it very much. Always need a few listens though to pick favorites, etc, though.

I also downloaded six "lost" BE mp3 tracks from Duke Boyne's site (scroll down his page). Very enjoyable. (I think I had these on a cassette from Mr. Jaibird years ago. Remember cassettes?)

Thanks to my brother Jay, I was directed to Bekka Bramlett's site to watch three 2006 videos of her dueting with the great Sam Moore. I highly recommend you going there and hitting the video button. Being the daughter of Delaney and Bonnie, it's no secret where she got those stellar cords. Of course, at 71, Sam is still one of the finest soul singers alive. If you missed his last CD, Overnight Sensational, you need it in your collection.

And please check out my comment to yorolpal's (aka Doghouse Riley) last post to get a video dose of great Tom Jones. Also, my copy of his recommended Robert Palmer CD, Drive, is supposedly in the mail.

Hope I am past this sneezefest next week. Same blog time, same blog channel ...

Enui is boring...

Boy, there sure are some windy sumbitches in here. You'd think they had something else to do other than listen to obscure (read failed, dead or, just maybe, brilliant...you pick) artists and then blow hole about it at length to this tiny choir. I say that with love, of course. This week I'VE been mainly listening to the voices in my head saying k-k-k-k-k-kill y-y-y-your pa-pa-pa-parents to which I always reply "stop stuttering!!" Well, that and Robert Palmer's "DRIVE". One look at the pasty, puffy, glassy-eyed rotter on the CD cover and it's self-evident why he died so young...he was having fun. You should try it sometimes. Like the previously mentioned Tom Jones, Palmer is another genius at covering other's material better than they did it in the first place. Just listen to his reading of Lieber/Stoller's Hound Dog. Sit down Elvis, let alone Big Mama Thornton, was it? Not a stinker on the CD. And nothing remotely like Simply Irresistible or Addicted to Love or any other of his umpteen hits...just covers of new to old chestnuts roasted afresh by one of the truly great, yet unheralded stylists of our times. But then why take my word for it? Because I'm right, I guess.

Ed-3/18

This week I've been listening to an album recorded in Germany, live with a big band featuring European gypsy guitar phenom Biréli Lagrène. Biréli was a child prodigy gypsy jazzer, who is arguably (and aficionados of GJ argue, believe me) the best gypsy jazz player living today. I'll get a bit deeper into this fascinating field in another post. You can see five of the best gypsy jazzers in this YouTube video. Biréli (the guy in the white shirt) and two other reigning GJ giants, Angelo Debarre (the guy who starts the song) and Stochelo Rosenberg trade licks in this outstanding version of There Will Never Be Another You during the same performance.

But the live album I've been listening to shows Biréli's chops as a straight-ahead jazz player. I uploaded this version of Caravan (be sure to stay on the page long enough to let the file load into online player).

I don't know much about the album--there are announcements of personnel in German--but whoever did the arranging was really good and, as you'll hear by listening to the version of Caravan, there are some other great musicians playing there. If any of my friends here wants a copy of it, let me know, and we'll figure out a way to get it to you

It's a statement about how little I've listened to jazz in the past twenty years that I'm just now getting to know Biréli's playing. He's been around for a long time. Did a live album with Jaco Pastorius in 1986. Played with a lot of folks, like Larry Coryell. and Gil Evans. The fact that he can move freely between straight-ahead jazz and the very restrictive genre of gypsy jazz shows him as a truly remarkable player.

Finally, if you find yourself interested in the live performance videos, watch Bereli's solo.

90s Submergence and BE (& welcome newbies)

Sure is nice to see some more people in our cybercorner! I spent some time this week compiling a 3-hour mp3 CD for a young (under 30) co-worker whose musical tastes were somewhat revealed to me on his MySpace page, so I decided to see if I could turn him on to some similar stuff that I like. It was a hit. There wasn't a song he didn't like!

Anyway, all that's to say that I was listening to mostly edgy 90s rock like Adrian Belew, Mike Keneally's Beer For Dolphins, Kevin Gilbert, XTC, Oingo Boingo, The Rubinoos ... you get the picture.

Interestingly, after running into drummer Duke Boyne at The GroanUps gig in Hot Springs last week, I put quite a bit of the music of his former band, BE, on the CD. That's what I've been listening to in the car all week -- the Thistupidream and Avalanche CDs by BE.

I miss BE. They were great. Period. Mark Summerlin, their guitar player, is doing some solo stuff now, as evidenced on his MySpace page. Nice.

Have a nice week newbies! You, too, Ed (Vince says hi). Keep your ears open ...

P.S. AG, I like that Bob guy a bunch, plus he has a fantastic site layout.

Ed March 13--A trip to the country

I took a little break from "lost in the 50's with Miles and Bird" to listen to a 2002 Buddy Miller album I'd not heard, Midnight and Lonesome.

I was raised on country music and spent some of my formative years playing with Ernie Gardner and the Country 4 at the Shirley VFW. I still like it on occasion. But I just can't tolerate the stuff Nashville's putting out now, which is just so...well...manufactured. Oh, I understand the market dynamics of mass production for mass consumption--god knows, it's what pays my mortgage. And most of the stuff hitting the country charts is craftfully produced by phenomenonally talented people. But I can't handle it. Maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe those in the previous generation were declaring similarly, "Merle Haggard, he's just a cheap, drugstore knockoff Lefty Frisell."

Buddy Miller, he's different. Real handmade country. Damned fine guitarist, (even if he's not as fast and slick as Brent Mason). He plays exactly the right stuff; like nobody else. Good singer. Good songwriter. Good producer. I don't get tired of listening to him.
Listen to some Buddy Miller if you any kind of tolerance for country and haven't heard him.

Speaking of country, Bill from AR Rec. & CD Exch. pointed me to the blog of of friend of his, Red Neckerson. If you enjoy old country and rockabilly, this is a great blog. He's using a free file sharing service that also might be worth a look. Hit some of the song links.

BTW, keep on reading here. Our buddies AG, and Bluefootball have first-here posts with some stuff worth checking out.

Okay, My Back's to the Wall

Ed invited me to join his blog. He's also invited me to sit in with his band. The blog is the easier of the two, plus I don't have to stay up late. Since I thrive on easy, and love to express my opinion, how can I resist?

Here's what's been playing on my Zen this past week.

I'm intrigued with any arrangement of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," because I think it's one of the best songs ever written. It's hard to beat the original Charlie Mingus recording, however, this past week I've listened to versions by: Joni Mitchell (my second favorite) - she wrote the lyrics and Jaco's on the recording; and Jeff Beck. I'd forgotten how much I liked Beck; it looks like a Jeff Beck download weekend is coming up.

Also on the top of my jazz list is the Charlie Hunter Trio. (I discovered them on eMusic.com.) Check out "Cueball Bobbin'" on "Copperopolis." I'm working my way through Charlie's catalogue. I can't get enough of Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton's "Larry & Lee," especially their solid groove on "L.A. Underground." I burned "Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio" to CD and listened to it in both the car and the office. He's still my favorite on tenor sax.

I recently read something in Nightflying about a singer/songwriter I knew from Dickson Street in the 70s - Crow Johnson. She's an author now. Once again I searched eMusic.com and found "Coyote With Whiskey On His Breath" from a 1995 album "Painting Stories Cross the Sky." I've got to dig for some more Crow. This led to a quest for another blast to my past with the "Best of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen". A rousing live version of "Don't Let Go" quickly took me back to my days at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. A lot of music was rolling through Austin in the early to mid-70s: Augie Meyers and the Western Head Band, Rusty Weir, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Steve Fromholz.

Like Ed, I'm always perusing the music section at the library. The Springdale Library (Member since 1959) has been an unbelievable resource for some great tunes. Most recently I've enjoyed two essentials: "The Essential Yo-Yo Ma" and the "Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection." I'm a big-time sucker for orchestrated film scores. Check out "A Walk on the Wild Side." Damn, who's that on flute?

One of the best values my wife has discovered is "Paste Magazine's Sampler." It arrives every month and is full of reviews, interviews, and the best part: a CD with 20 or so songs. We've discovered artists we never heard of and rediscovered bands we hadn't thought about in awhile. The latest CD features Son Volt, Norah Jones, Barenaked Ladies, my wife's favorite - Hem, and my daughter's favorite - Sleeping in the Aviary, plus fifteen or so other artists.

Right now I've got 3,850 songs on my Zen and 1,250 movies I've Tivo'd. When am I going to find time to listen and watch? It's just one more thing to worry about. And it's almost 11 p.m. So much for not having to stay up late.

AG: First post

Howdy, everybody!

I recently got turned onto a guy that's been around for awhile, I just somehow missed his music. Check out Bob Schneider . His site loads a very personable intro into his music, more like a radio interview than a promo. Check out the song Bullets from the Lonely Land album. Nice funk groove with interesting, accessible lyrics. There are a bunch of interesting tunes out from this guy - Mudhouse being another one that seems to cross genres more than most of the pop tunes you hear these days. And, don't miss Sons of Ralph.

Another recommendation I have along the same lines is Jet The Band Click on the little player gizmo at the top right and move up to "Are you Gonna Be My Girl) - reminds me of tunes we all grew up with, but with a fresh (and need I say popular with the younger generation) tone. Lots of good stuff, and I've heard them play acoustic with just keys and a guitar, they're the real deal, not a bunch of studio enhanced pretty boys.

And this might just make you puke...
My daughter is very much a teenager, and as such, commandeers the XM radio in my car. Which, is OK, because I like getting exposed to new stuff. Sometimes.

She typically says "OH this is my favorite song!" about every other song, so that's not new. Then, the other night, we're in the car and I hear "Take a look at my Girlfriend..." and she exclaims "THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE SONG!" I'm like "SuperTramp? Really??" and then, it happened.

Rap. As soon as the first eight bars were over, just a beat with sugar-rap on top. Including fantastic "lyrics" like this:

I mean she even cooks me pancakes
And alka seltzer when my tummy aches
If that ain't love then i don't know what love is

uuuuuhhhh, make it stop, make it stop. Cupid's Chokehold by Gym Class Heroes. There's even a video of this travesty available at iTunes. I sometimes think the accessibility of editing software has not been such a good thing...

|set rant off|
AG

Ed--March 11

My weekly trip to the library turned up east/west by Bill Frisell. There's a guy that lives on his own patch of land. Probably not going to be competing with John Pizarelli for dates at the Carlyle. This is a live double album, one disc recorded at a club in Oakland, the other at the Vanguard in NY, both with the same drummer, but with different bass players. I think each concert is supposed to reflect its regional identity, but the nuances are pretty subtle once you get up there where the air thins out.

This week I've also been paying a lot of attention to an instructional DVD by guitarist Corey Christiansen on quartal harmony: chord structure based on fourth intervals, rather than thirds. It's pretty fascinating stuff for a dilettante like me. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I can hear it used a lot in straight-ahead jazz, but also quite a bit by Donald Fagen; even Tony Rice. I went to a concert and clinic Corey did here in Fayetteville last year. Frank's bud, Ted thinks he's somewhat of a poseur, but I really enjoyed it, especially the clinic.

In the car (when you have two teenagers and two TVs going in the house, the aural enviornment is mostly saturated), it's been primarily XM jazz, NPR drive time and Razorback basketball.

This week's standard is Joy Spring by Clifford Brown.

Morty sez: Step up to the plate ...

I don't know about you Ed, but it's starting to feel awful lonely here. All other invitees: aren't you listening to anything? Even that voice inside your head that is telling you to kill your boss or your mother-in-law? Tell us about it. We won't judge ya or psychoanalyze ya. Promise. Just think, we can fill scads of webpages without killing a single tree! Follow the simple instructions and keyboard shortcuts. Use the Force if you have to. Join us soon, or I'll be forced to post the lyrics to the Monkees theme and you won't be able to get the tune out of your head for a week ...

Mortadella, the Italian Bologna, says "What Time is it Not?"

Back in the mid-80s when Prince's protege band The Time broke up, Prince decided to form a new protege band around the keyboard player of the last version of The Time, St. Paul (Peterson). The band was called The Family, included The Time's drummer and that Jerome fella, and had one self-titled record released in 1985. They recently reformed and I happened across their MySpace page. I always liked this Prince-formation, so I dragged out my CD (import) of the 1985 release and listened to it a bit this week. Shiny 80s synth-funk ala the purple guy and one of my secret indulgences.

Also been listening to several of Doug Powell's CDs. He's a power pop whiz from Nashvegas. Toured as an opening act with Todd Rundgren in '96. Is also an author and graphic design/flash wizard. He got some acclaim at the turn of the century (first time using that phrase in the 21st) with a Nashville band called Swag that included members from Sixpence None The Richer, The Mavericks and Wilco. They appeared on Conan once and the video is posted on Doug's site.

Doug also seems to have a large collection of cool teardrop-shaped electric guitars ala Vox Phantom-type (see graphic).

Those were my big listens of the week, along with a generous dose of NPR and AirAmerica radio. Be sure to tune in next week: same Blog time, same Blog channel!

Ed--March 4

On the strength of some very strong critical reviews I dl'ed "The Crane Wife" by the Decemberists. Not my cup of tea. There's a very specific 70's prog rock sound I can't exactly put my finger on: The Moody Blues without the orchesta? maybe Jethro Tull or Procol Harum...? Artsy lyrics and big production. Anyway, lots of other folks liked em', but it'll probably get lonely in my download folder unless Thomas takes a shining to them.

On the other hand, I made a trip to the Fayetteville library this week (good selection of music) and picked up "Boys and Girls in America" by The Hold Steady. I kind of like these guys, even though listening to this album front-to-back makes you want to go on a three day carrot juice cleanout diet. Boys and girls exploring various altered states of consciousness in America. Lots of obvious Bruce Springsteen influence. I could listen to this going down the road somewhere.

Also one cursory listening to Bob Dylan's "Modern Times," during a bike ride last Sunday. You know, you never find yourself saying, "Jeez, I wish he'd written just one more verse to that song."

This week's jazz study material: Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" and "Oleo" by Sonny Rollins. I've probably bitten off more than I can chew here.

OK, so what are you listening to?