This is a song that I'm writing about bluesman Lonnie Johnson. He was great in ballad style, especially on "Tomorrow Night." So I decided a tribute was needed. Let me know your thoughts.
Play me a song, Lonnie. Make my day turn blue. My weary bones, they ache and moan, for something pure and true.
I'll pluck these strings, with your touch, so they can finally ring...and I'll fly with a bluebird, on the Cincinnati wind.
Play me a song, Lonnie. While the moon is bathing me. I walk around, this same old town, the South won't set me free.
I'll drink a bowl, warm with your soul, so this voice can finally sing...and I'll fly with a bluebird, on the Cincinnati wind.
Play me a song, Lonnie. So you can tell me why. The ghosts who keep on callin' me, they never seem to die.
In your vain, I might explain, why love is a funny thing...and I'll fly with a bluebird, on the Cincinnati wind.
Play me a song, Lonnie. Make my day turn blue. My weary bones, they ache and moan, for something pure and true.
I'll pluck these strings, with your touch, so they can finally ring...and I'll fly with a bluebird, on the Cincinatti wind.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Folkie Bob Plugs In...
As I talked about before, 1965 was a turning point in rock n' roll because two figures tried to steal rock n' roll back from the Brits, one of them was James Brown and the other was the magnificent Bob Dylan. From March 1965 with the release of "Bringing It All Back Home" to May 1966 with the release of the double album "Blonde on Blonde" Bob Dylan was the undisputed king of rock n' roll. Vital to his success were his backing musicians, who included Al Kooper on organ, and Michael Bloomfield on guitar. "Bringing It All Back Home" is my favorite album of all time, and it is significant because the first side of the album was played entirely with electric instruments and a drummer which he had never used before. The second side of the album was acoustic to demonstrate that he still had his folk sensibility and that was still effective as the interpreter for a generation. The album also featured what some call the first rock music video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Newport was the place that he chose to unveil his new sound, his new band, to an extent his new musical mission statement. Newport had been Bob's coming out party in 1963, introducing him to the world as a fresh, unique, and extremely potent songwriter and performer. At Newport in 1965, he was booed, he was slandered, and probably in the eyes of some he was hated. People thought of his new sound as hypocritical, treasonous, and disingenuous, but nevertheless Bob pursued new projects to expand and morph the sound of rock n' roll of the day.
Later in 1965 he released "Highway 61 Revisited" which contained the single "Like A Rolling Stone" which is often considered among music critics to be the greatest song in rock n' roll history. Tom Wilson produced this record but stopped working halfway through. Instead Bruce Johnston produced the second half of the record and continued to work with him in the rest of the decade. Blonde on Blonde was the first double album in rock and was as Bob described it, the time he came closest to recording "the sound within his head, that thin, wild, mercury sound.
In 1965 and 1966 he set out on a world tour and he recruited a band called the Hawks to tour with him. The Hawks were Robbie Robertson on guitar, Garth Hudson on organ, Rick Danko on bass, Richard Manuel on piano, and Levon Helm on drums. Although each member of the Hawks was a multi-instrumentalist I only listed their primary instruments. They were a tight, very talented backing band and they served Dylan well helping cement their status as probably the greatest rock act of the time, and also later in the decade as collaborators for the "Basement Tapes." The world tour was not well received and Dylan was booed viciously during most stops, most famously at Manchester, England on May 17, 1966. If you are interested in seeing what these events looked like you should rent, but probably buy, D.A. Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back" or Martin Scorcese's "No Direction Home." Shortly after the world tour Bob was in a motorcylce accident, and this caused him to become very reclusive and private, well at least more than he was already. After he recovered he decided to take a break from music and get a taste of rural family life, so he moved to Woodstock, NY with his wife Sara Lowndes.
The Hawks later followed him to Woodstock and bought a ho use there called "Big Pink." Since they would play around town and sometimes at big pink they were routinely referred to as The Band, so the name eventually stuck. The Band and Bob, eventually started playing together most days, mostly because Bob wanted to put out an album to try and make some money. They would rehearse and write from the basement of big pink and the recordings that came from these sessions were released as The Basement Tapes. They would later be heralded as some of Bob's greatest work and some of the most highly influential rock recordings.
Under the persuasion of Dylan, The Band began to record their own material under the tutelage and aid of Bob. What resulted was 1968's music from Big Pink. A raw, American, rural masterpiece that echoed from the mountains and plains of America. They used colorful retrospective narrative and created a sound that was a unique blend of traditional mountain and rural folk forms mixed with rhythm and blues. Their second self-titled album went even further thematically, featuring a cover photo of the band, dressed and groomed stylistically to look like they belonged in the 19th century. The songs spoke of an older, more genuine, but more difficult America to live in. Listen to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" "Whispering Pines" "King's Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and "Up On Cripple Creek" People often ask me what I think the perfect rock n' roll record and the answer is almost always this one. Please buy it.
Bob later made two country albums "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline" while in Woodstock. He would later move back to rock n' roll and into some adventurous places like gospel before eventually turning back to his roots with "Love and Theft" and "Modern Times."
I would speak more about the frustrations and transformations of Dylan but I am trying to make this a strictly pragmatic post and I apologize for the lack of colorful insight or anecdotal evidence. But I feel like what is here is what you need to know. Listen to The Band, they will blow your mind, listen to the three monumental Dylan rock albums, they will also blow your mind. And if you can get your hands on "The Last Waltz" by Martin Scorcese. There are two books out on the Band and Bob if you are interested as well. One is called "Million Dollar Bash" and it is about the Basement Tapes sessions and the other is called "This Wheel's On Fire" and it the autobiography of Levon Helm the longtime drummer for The Hawks, and The Band. Thank you, I'd have you anytime...DXL
Later in 1965 he released "Highway 61 Revisited" which contained the single "Like A Rolling Stone" which is often considered among music critics to be the greatest song in rock n' roll history. Tom Wilson produced this record but stopped working halfway through. Instead Bruce Johnston produced the second half of the record and continued to work with him in the rest of the decade. Blonde on Blonde was the first double album in rock and was as Bob described it, the time he came closest to recording "the sound within his head, that thin, wild, mercury sound.
In 1965 and 1966 he set out on a world tour and he recruited a band called the Hawks to tour with him. The Hawks were Robbie Robertson on guitar, Garth Hudson on organ, Rick Danko on bass, Richard Manuel on piano, and Levon Helm on drums. Although each member of the Hawks was a multi-instrumentalist I only listed their primary instruments. They were a tight, very talented backing band and they served Dylan well helping cement their status as probably the greatest rock act of the time, and also later in the decade as collaborators for the "Basement Tapes." The world tour was not well received and Dylan was booed viciously during most stops, most famously at Manchester, England on May 17, 1966. If you are interested in seeing what these events looked like you should rent, but probably buy, D.A. Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back" or Martin Scorcese's "No Direction Home." Shortly after the world tour Bob was in a motorcylce accident, and this caused him to become very reclusive and private, well at least more than he was already. After he recovered he decided to take a break from music and get a taste of rural family life, so he moved to Woodstock, NY with his wife Sara Lowndes.
The Hawks later followed him to Woodstock and bought a ho use there called "Big Pink." Since they would play around town and sometimes at big pink they were routinely referred to as The Band, so the name eventually stuck. The Band and Bob, eventually started playing together most days, mostly because Bob wanted to put out an album to try and make some money. They would rehearse and write from the basement of big pink and the recordings that came from these sessions were released as The Basement Tapes. They would later be heralded as some of Bob's greatest work and some of the most highly influential rock recordings.
Under the persuasion of Dylan, The Band began to record their own material under the tutelage and aid of Bob. What resulted was 1968's music from Big Pink. A raw, American, rural masterpiece that echoed from the mountains and plains of America. They used colorful retrospective narrative and created a sound that was a unique blend of traditional mountain and rural folk forms mixed with rhythm and blues. Their second self-titled album went even further thematically, featuring a cover photo of the band, dressed and groomed stylistically to look like they belonged in the 19th century. The songs spoke of an older, more genuine, but more difficult America to live in. Listen to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" "Whispering Pines" "King's Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and "Up On Cripple Creek" People often ask me what I think the perfect rock n' roll record and the answer is almost always this one. Please buy it.
Bob later made two country albums "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline" while in Woodstock. He would later move back to rock n' roll and into some adventurous places like gospel before eventually turning back to his roots with "Love and Theft" and "Modern Times."
I would speak more about the frustrations and transformations of Dylan but I am trying to make this a strictly pragmatic post and I apologize for the lack of colorful insight or anecdotal evidence. But I feel like what is here is what you need to know. Listen to The Band, they will blow your mind, listen to the three monumental Dylan rock albums, they will also blow your mind. And if you can get your hands on "The Last Waltz" by Martin Scorcese. There are two books out on the Band and Bob if you are interested as well. One is called "Million Dollar Bash" and it is about the Basement Tapes sessions and the other is called "This Wheel's On Fire" and it the autobiography of Levon Helm the longtime drummer for The Hawks, and The Band. Thank you, I'd have you anytime...DXL
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Five Styles of Rock n' Roll
To excerpt from Charlie Gillett's "Sound of the City" I will start with this...
"In the years from 1954 to 1956, there were five distinct styles, developed almost completely independent of one another, that collectively became known as rock n' roll: northern band rock n' roll, whose most popular exemplar was Bill Haley; New Orleans dance blues; Memphis country rock (also known as rockabilly); Chicago rhythm and blues; and vocal group rock n' roll. All five styles, and the variants associated with each of them, depended for their dance beat on contemporary Negro dance rhythms."
I will only briefly discuss these styles and the artists that made them popular because you really should be reading this in the book, but I feel like I should give you access for more one-stop shopping.
Northern Band Rock n' Roll--As I said earlier, when you think of this style you should remember Bill Haley and His Comets. This type of rock exemplified high spirits and feelings of togetherness. The tempo was almost always fast and the music was meant to get people excited. Lyrics usually never centered around heartbreak or solitude but instead were typically about the music itself or partying. See "Rock Around The Clock" and "Let's All Rock Together" or Ritchie Valens' "Come On, Let's Go"
New Orleans Dance Blues--First type of rock n' roll that really put the singer in the forefront, and as a result the rhythms were looser and less mechanical than in northern band rock n' roll. There was rarely any backup vocals and the band played a supporting role. New Orleans dance blues was made popular by a number of figures but probably most famously by Fats Domino and Little Richard. Both played chords with both hands giving their records a driving-boogie influenced feel, and in many of their songs there is a tenor sax solo 2/3 of the way through. Fats was known for his effortless vocal control and cajun accent and Little Richard was known for his wild spirit and intensity that he brought to his records.
Rockabilly--Gillett refers to this as country rock, and he is probably right. But after last lecture let's try and separate the type of country rock that Gram Parsons started and bands of today have turned into alt country such as Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Ryan Adams and The Cardinals and My Morning Jacket, and this kind. Rockabilly is a blend of blues and country and western and the distinct sound was born in Memphis and is probably credited to the vision of Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Like I said earlier in this blog, you will never get away from Sam Phillips, EVER. The reason it sounded so much different than traditional country of the time is because the guitars were heavily electrified, some even with slight distortion and all rockabilly records featured drums, were completely forbidden in traditional country at the time. The reason this style of music encompasses blues and country is not only in the rhythms, typically faster blues rhythms but played with the brightness of country guitar, but also in the way each singer added his own touch. Elvis sang in a blues style, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash sang in a country style. Rockabilly never featured saxophones or any horns for that matter and the singers were much more personal. According to Gillett this was the most complete form of rock n' roll. REMEMBER THAT.
Chicago Style Rhythm and Blues--This is my favorite type of music besides classic and most specifically southern soul. This is almost exclusively a black equivalent to Memphis's rockabilly and the main figure for this style of music is Chuck Berry. Bo Diddley is also a large figure for the Chicago blues sound and there are many other giants as well. The focus was almost completely on rhythm, and there are basically two styles, what some people call a typical "chunka chunka" blues rhythm, (Think Muddy Waters) and the Bo Diddley beat, which probably came from African drum syncopations.
Vocal Groups-The general preoccupation with rhythm is least in this form. The focus was on vocal harmonies which were rarely present in the other five styles and the tone distinction between the lead singer and his/her backup singers. To get an idea of this distinction think of David Ruffin-era Temps. Topics and singers were often more sentimental and this style became a huge outlet for black vocal groups to reach white audiences because songs could be taken slow and themes were more universal and less particular to region unlike blues which is almost always lyrically focused on location and hardship.
Alright, I hope this helps and like I said, the gist of this is what you need and if you have trouble categorizing artists this should help you. Will get more to you soon. You've been lovely, I'd have you any time...DXL
"In the years from 1954 to 1956, there were five distinct styles, developed almost completely independent of one another, that collectively became known as rock n' roll: northern band rock n' roll, whose most popular exemplar was Bill Haley; New Orleans dance blues; Memphis country rock (also known as rockabilly); Chicago rhythm and blues; and vocal group rock n' roll. All five styles, and the variants associated with each of them, depended for their dance beat on contemporary Negro dance rhythms."
I will only briefly discuss these styles and the artists that made them popular because you really should be reading this in the book, but I feel like I should give you access for more one-stop shopping.
Northern Band Rock n' Roll--As I said earlier, when you think of this style you should remember Bill Haley and His Comets. This type of rock exemplified high spirits and feelings of togetherness. The tempo was almost always fast and the music was meant to get people excited. Lyrics usually never centered around heartbreak or solitude but instead were typically about the music itself or partying. See "Rock Around The Clock" and "Let's All Rock Together" or Ritchie Valens' "Come On, Let's Go"
New Orleans Dance Blues--First type of rock n' roll that really put the singer in the forefront, and as a result the rhythms were looser and less mechanical than in northern band rock n' roll. There was rarely any backup vocals and the band played a supporting role. New Orleans dance blues was made popular by a number of figures but probably most famously by Fats Domino and Little Richard. Both played chords with both hands giving their records a driving-boogie influenced feel, and in many of their songs there is a tenor sax solo 2/3 of the way through. Fats was known for his effortless vocal control and cajun accent and Little Richard was known for his wild spirit and intensity that he brought to his records.
Rockabilly--Gillett refers to this as country rock, and he is probably right. But after last lecture let's try and separate the type of country rock that Gram Parsons started and bands of today have turned into alt country such as Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Ryan Adams and The Cardinals and My Morning Jacket, and this kind. Rockabilly is a blend of blues and country and western and the distinct sound was born in Memphis and is probably credited to the vision of Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Like I said earlier in this blog, you will never get away from Sam Phillips, EVER. The reason it sounded so much different than traditional country of the time is because the guitars were heavily electrified, some even with slight distortion and all rockabilly records featured drums, were completely forbidden in traditional country at the time. The reason this style of music encompasses blues and country is not only in the rhythms, typically faster blues rhythms but played with the brightness of country guitar, but also in the way each singer added his own touch. Elvis sang in a blues style, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash sang in a country style. Rockabilly never featured saxophones or any horns for that matter and the singers were much more personal. According to Gillett this was the most complete form of rock n' roll. REMEMBER THAT.
Chicago Style Rhythm and Blues--This is my favorite type of music besides classic and most specifically southern soul. This is almost exclusively a black equivalent to Memphis's rockabilly and the main figure for this style of music is Chuck Berry. Bo Diddley is also a large figure for the Chicago blues sound and there are many other giants as well. The focus was almost completely on rhythm, and there are basically two styles, what some people call a typical "chunka chunka" blues rhythm, (Think Muddy Waters) and the Bo Diddley beat, which probably came from African drum syncopations.
Vocal Groups-The general preoccupation with rhythm is least in this form. The focus was on vocal harmonies which were rarely present in the other five styles and the tone distinction between the lead singer and his/her backup singers. To get an idea of this distinction think of David Ruffin-era Temps. Topics and singers were often more sentimental and this style became a huge outlet for black vocal groups to reach white audiences because songs could be taken slow and themes were more universal and less particular to region unlike blues which is almost always lyrically focused on location and hardship.
Alright, I hope this helps and like I said, the gist of this is what you need and if you have trouble categorizing artists this should help you. Will get more to you soon. You've been lovely, I'd have you any time...DXL
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Everything Sounds Better In A British Accent Right?
Well, probably, except for rock n' roll. I don't mean to slight Britain for the musical exploits it gave us, don't misunderstand me, I just think when it comes down to it we just did it better. But at least for the first part of this blog I will talk about the British Invasion. Let's remember what got this ball rolling, and that is American roots music. Pretty much every British band that came over to the U.S. in the mid-sixties was obsessed with rock n' roll, the most notable examples being The Beatles, The Animals, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and to a lesser extent, the Zombies. Of course we all know that the Beatles made the biggest splash during that time period, and probably ever, but the lesser known acts are still important. Among these artists are Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Freddie and the Dreamers, and The Dave Clark Five. What made these groups so popular? Well in the case of Herman's Hermits it was probably the undeniable teenage appeal, the cuteness, and the lovey dovey songs. For the others it was a great sense for pop rhythms, harmonized vocals, and a universal subject matter. This was before rock n' roll got weird and outlandish, these guys were still keeping it simple and writing sensible, formulaic pop. Although bands like Gerry and the Pacemakers topped charts and for a brief period rivaled the Beatles as Britain's most popular band, their main problem was they didn't perfect pop-rock and they didn't progress. As a whole this is really what initially separated The Beatles. After 1965 the first wave bands just kind of got left behind. So people are going nuts in the states about these British bands and frankly it rubbed a couple of people the wrong way. This was our music to begin with, we started this whole mess and now it was our job to fix it. Enter James Brown and Bob Dylan, the saviors of American rock n' roll.
Two Christmases ago I was home in Orlando for winter break and my dad walked into my room to wake me up. I was expecting something along the lines of, "hey we are going to open presents," but instead he said "James died." I immediately knew who he was talking about. I said "you're fucking joking right?" He said he wasn't. And he calmly walked out. I sat in my bed, on Christmas Day and cried for the Godfather of soul. It's only one of two deaths I have ever cried over in my life, and needless to say it ruined Christmas for me. It was horrible. To me, James Brown was always one of those guys who was bigger than music. He always did it his way and he was the baddest motherfucker alive. He was rock n' roll, he was soul, he was gospel, he was funk, and he was definitely punk rock. Without James Brown there would be no Parliment Funkadelic, there would be no Sly and the Family Stone, or the Ohio Players, or Michael Jackson, or maybe even hip-hop period. He was the greatest performer to ever live, and in 1965 he brought his unprecedented stage show into the limelight and reclaimed rock n' roll. The song that did it was "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." The song had an infectious horn line and an unforgettable funk stop in which James would give his trademark shriek. Though the world really found him in that year he had been a successful performer since 1958. He grew up in Augusta, Georgia and endured extreme poverty. Naturally, like most kids who feel they have little future down the practical road (school, workforce) he began dancing on street corners for pennies and getting into trouble with the law for small robberies and other disruptments. The Church was his starting place like many other soul greats like Sam Cooke. He joined the Swanees, a gospel quartet in the mid-fifties. Surprisingly, this was a pretty lucrative and popular movement in the late forties and into the fifties, especially in cities with large black populations like Chicago, St. Louis, and various cities throughout the south. Much like Sam Cooke outgrew the Q.C.'s and later the Soul Stirrers and found secular music, James became the figure in the Swanees that was clearly destined for better things. He formed the Famous Flames and became their lead singer. He, along with the likes of B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner played the Chitlin' Circuit, and that lead him to his coming out party which was staged at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
The first time I passed The Apollo when I lived in New York I totally geeked out because I knew the type of talent that had walked into that building, but none more potent than James Brown. It was there that he recorded the greatest live album of all-time, bar none. Stop your inner dialogue, this isn't a matter of discussion. I suggest if you have 14 dollars in your wallet you go and buy this record, it will be the best 14 dollars you ever spend. Sam Cooke live at the Harlem Square Club is a distant second, also another record I think everyone should own. He spent the early part of his career on King Records which was a label largely associated with black music, much like Specialty Records in New Orleans. Other artists on King Records include the Texas blues great Freddy King. So James pretty much busts the door open in 1965 and brings the rawness, the ferocity, the spectacle, and most importantly the rhythm back into rock n' roll. The Chicago blues scene was still holding down the rhythmic emphasis quite firmly, but it has slipped considerably from the mainstream charts. He went on to have an insanely successful career and is responsible for developing what would later be the funk genre. He is the most sampled artist of all time. Besides the live albums at The Apollo his twenty greatest hits collection will get you where you need to go. The "Sex Machine" album is also fantastic. I also recommend reading his autobiography "I Feel Good." I own it, so if anyone would like to borrow it let me know and I'd be glad to lend it to you. Well I will continue the post on Bob Dylan next because this one feels quite long. See you in a bit...DXL
Two Christmases ago I was home in Orlando for winter break and my dad walked into my room to wake me up. I was expecting something along the lines of, "hey we are going to open presents," but instead he said "James died." I immediately knew who he was talking about. I said "you're fucking joking right?" He said he wasn't. And he calmly walked out. I sat in my bed, on Christmas Day and cried for the Godfather of soul. It's only one of two deaths I have ever cried over in my life, and needless to say it ruined Christmas for me. It was horrible. To me, James Brown was always one of those guys who was bigger than music. He always did it his way and he was the baddest motherfucker alive. He was rock n' roll, he was soul, he was gospel, he was funk, and he was definitely punk rock. Without James Brown there would be no Parliment Funkadelic, there would be no Sly and the Family Stone, or the Ohio Players, or Michael Jackson, or maybe even hip-hop period. He was the greatest performer to ever live, and in 1965 he brought his unprecedented stage show into the limelight and reclaimed rock n' roll. The song that did it was "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." The song had an infectious horn line and an unforgettable funk stop in which James would give his trademark shriek. Though the world really found him in that year he had been a successful performer since 1958. He grew up in Augusta, Georgia and endured extreme poverty. Naturally, like most kids who feel they have little future down the practical road (school, workforce) he began dancing on street corners for pennies and getting into trouble with the law for small robberies and other disruptments. The Church was his starting place like many other soul greats like Sam Cooke. He joined the Swanees, a gospel quartet in the mid-fifties. Surprisingly, this was a pretty lucrative and popular movement in the late forties and into the fifties, especially in cities with large black populations like Chicago, St. Louis, and various cities throughout the south. Much like Sam Cooke outgrew the Q.C.'s and later the Soul Stirrers and found secular music, James became the figure in the Swanees that was clearly destined for better things. He formed the Famous Flames and became their lead singer. He, along with the likes of B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner played the Chitlin' Circuit, and that lead him to his coming out party which was staged at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
The first time I passed The Apollo when I lived in New York I totally geeked out because I knew the type of talent that had walked into that building, but none more potent than James Brown. It was there that he recorded the greatest live album of all-time, bar none. Stop your inner dialogue, this isn't a matter of discussion. I suggest if you have 14 dollars in your wallet you go and buy this record, it will be the best 14 dollars you ever spend. Sam Cooke live at the Harlem Square Club is a distant second, also another record I think everyone should own. He spent the early part of his career on King Records which was a label largely associated with black music, much like Specialty Records in New Orleans. Other artists on King Records include the Texas blues great Freddy King. So James pretty much busts the door open in 1965 and brings the rawness, the ferocity, the spectacle, and most importantly the rhythm back into rock n' roll. The Chicago blues scene was still holding down the rhythmic emphasis quite firmly, but it has slipped considerably from the mainstream charts. He went on to have an insanely successful career and is responsible for developing what would later be the funk genre. He is the most sampled artist of all time. Besides the live albums at The Apollo his twenty greatest hits collection will get you where you need to go. The "Sex Machine" album is also fantastic. I also recommend reading his autobiography "I Feel Good." I own it, so if anyone would like to borrow it let me know and I'd be glad to lend it to you. Well I will continue the post on Bob Dylan next because this one feels quite long. See you in a bit...DXL
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