Author Archives: Lawr Michaels

Afternoon Snack: For Lemmy, Knopfler, and all Guitar Players Everywhere

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I started looking for this video the day Lemmy left us, with the intent of posting it as my little tribute to the guy.

When I looked on YouTube, I could not find it (apparently the skit was on a BBC series and the posting was a copyright violation) so I had to scrounge.

The video really speaks for itself and, it is way funny and cool (and must have been a blast to do).

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7e3_1375973597

 

Lunch Break: “Jar (Jar) of Whiskey,” Metallica (sigh, Star Wars)

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jarjarDon’t get me wrong, I love the first six Star Wars films. In fact I saw the new one, The Force Awakens last Friday, and I will review the film at my Mastersball site Wednesday.

But, the local rock station was doing Star Wars for lunch last Friday which meant space songs mostly, but this one cracked me up because it is such a stretch, so right, and a pretty tight little sort of pop tune for Metallica (whom we rarely cover, if ever here).

(BTW, reading the comments under the video is a very strange seemingly non-sequitur randomoness that is kind of funny in a sad and weird way.)

Movies: Josh White, “You Won’t Let Me Go”

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I don’t really have nearly as much of a familiarity with the blues–at least their origins–as I do Brit Pop, and New Wave, and 60’s pop and a lot of other musical categories that would be nothing without Robert Johnson and the Reverend Gary Davis.

And, I am a serious TCM junkie, in addition to my dependencies on just about everything else in life, and I have been watching Westerns a lot lately, for what reason I do not know other than I like them. Westerns do seem to speak to a simpler time, though I am surely not suggesting we turn back the clock on much of anything.

But, the exploration and development of the West was indeed the romantic period of America’s bloodline like King Arthur is to England, Samurai are to Japan, and Star Wars is, for example, to space movies.

Well, the other day, as I was surfing through the channels and on the Western channel, the film The Walking Hills was on.

Unfortunately, it was about 40 minutes into the film, and what grabbed my attention was the motley group gathered around a fire ring in the desert, when suddenly Josh White broke into a great song, playing guitar and singing.

I did not know who Josh White was, and I had never heard of The Walking Hills, so I went to the IMDB and looked up the film, and discovered a boatload of good shit.

Like:

  • Directed by John Sturges, in 1949. Sturges was the son of Preston Sturges, and also directed The Magnificent Seven (which is a riff on The Seven Samurai), Bad Day at Black Rock, and The Great Escape, among others.
  • The Walking Hills is considered to be the only “noir western.”
  • Preston Sturges was the king of the screwball comedies, having made Sullivan’s Travels, The Lady Eve, and Remember the Night, among others, and was among the first screenwriters to use his skill to move into direction, and then control of his films during the heyday of the Hollywood system.
  • The Walking Hills featured a ton of folks who were great character actors during those golden Hollywood years, but that most of us grew to know via television. Among them:
    • Edgar Buchanan: Uncle Joe in Petticoat Junction, Shane, and The Talk of the Town.
    • John Ireland: Spartacus, Red River, and Day of the Nightmare.
    • Arthur Kennedy: Was in a zillion movies, including Lawrence of Arabia, Elmer Gantry, High Sierra, and Emmanuel on Taboo Island (I guess even actors have to eat?).
    • Randolf Scott: Big western star in the 40’s and 50’s, was in Sam Pekinpah’s Ride the High Country, Santa Fe, and My Favorite Wife.
    • Ella Raines: OK, I had never heard of Ms. Raines, but man was she hot in this film. Swear.
    • Josh White: A blues musician who recorded with Leadbelly, among others, and who made me search hither and yon in for the song White sang at the campfire, but I couldn’t. I had never heard of White either, and the beauty of the campfire scene is White really focused as much on playing guitar as singing. And, he could really play.  Anyway, this is what I could find to share that gives you an idea:

 

 

Lunch Break: Aerosmith, “What It Takes?”

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Along with Rush and Lynyrd Skynrd, Aerosmith was another band I gave very little thought to during the 70’s and into the late 80’s.

I do confess that Sweet Emotion is great little guitar song, but aside from that, not much the band did tickled much of anything in me till Pump came out in 1989.

As with lots of other bands who had a defined sound, Pump was surely Aerosmith, but it was poppy and accessible like 1984 was for Van Halen, and I really thought the album was a pretty strong effort all around.

But, none of the songs nailed me like the Beatles homage, What It Takes?

From the chorusy solo that points to Let It Be, to the bridge background vocals with the band harmonizing “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” to the lovely droning arpeggios and fade that are sort of a blend of Let It Be and Hey Jude this is just a great tight little cut that always makes me smile.

Nothing fancy, but in a perfect way, this is sort of the Beatles way much of the time, no matter how complex getting to simple was.

 

Afternoon Snack: Lynyrd Skynrd, “What’s Your Name?”

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Lynyrd Skynyrd were another band who really made it right when I was in the throes of punk and new wave and listening to the exciting new bands who were reinterpreting rock rather than expanding it under existing rules.

For that reason Freebird just put me to sleep. Remember though, I was 25 when the band hit it big, and I had already had my fill of arena rock and ten minute songs and 12-minute extended guitar solos.

But, with age, I have learned the core band–most of whom died while I was in London in ’77 and when punk had just grabbed me–was a pretty clever guitar band of pretty good musicians with a pretty fun sense of play and humor.

Who knew?

Along with some other bands I did dismiss (like Rush, but not like Styx, Kansas, Toto, et al) I have been listening to the Skynyrd lately and love Mr. Saturday Night, Gimme Three Steps (penned by JJ Cale), and Ooh That Smell among others and they are great little pop/guitar tunes with clever words.

What’s Your Name, however, tops the lists of my faves, so here are the guys laying it out there.

Afternoon Snack” Def Leppard, “Armageddon It”

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Def Leppard is a band I paid no attention to during their heyday, and truth is, I have listened to some of their stuff of late, and it all kind of sounds the same.

But, this song–which is clearly in their sound wheelhouse–is just a great little pop/rock tune with great drums and fun (if simple) guitar pyrotechnics.

You can love it or hate it, but it is a perfect little pop tune.

Schadenfreude Turns Funny

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I have been listening to some new stuff (Mountain Goats, Built to Spill) of late along with some older stuff (Rush, Lynyrd Skynyrd) and was sifting through time and thoughts trying to figure out what to post when the awful song, A Young Girl, by Noel Harrison popped into my mental playlist.

I hated that song then and it seemed perfect to post here under awful songs. so I went to trusty YouTube and found a pretty good clip of the song from the TV show Hullaballoo (which featured Petula Clark hosting).

Truth is the song was not as horribly awful as I remembered, but in the process I found this great Smothers Brothers clip that seems so perfect as we anticipate the Donald Trump/Ben Carson/Carly Fiorina Show/debate later tonight.

This is the Brothers at their political core and best, but Harrison is really pretty good, and all this reminded me that Rex Harrison’s progeny was also on the TV series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E..

Anyway, the “I told you so superior thoughts” that went with the sarcasm I planned for A Young Girl sort of dissipated and this is what you get.

For the archivists, here is the hit, that now reminds me of the great 1985 film by Agnes Varda, Vagabond.

 

Afternoon Snack: Roxy Music, “Prarie Rose” meets Talking Heads, “The Big Country”

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I cannot same that I am as crazy about Roxy as my mate Gene, but I do indeed love them, their sound, and a shitload of their songs.

I have my loves–Out of the Blue, Virginia Plain, and All I want is You–but Prarie Rose has something to it that pushes beyond being just a favorite Roxy tune.

Aside from being just a wonderful piece of music and lyric, their are links to both Talking Heads (The Big Country) and Big Country’s In a Big Country, that line being core to Roxy first.

Here are the Heads, live in a song that sort of has that great feel between driving and laid back thanks to great drumming laying down that fantastic groove.

Here is Roxy from a few years back, and though the hand held IPhone camera is way shaky, the audio is pretty good, and Phil Manzanera just fucking kills his solo even if we cannot really see him (check the video behind Ferry and I think that is a simulcast?)

Stuart Adamson’s fine Big Country band will be saved for another day!

Sunday Funnies: Chico Marx, Lucinda Williams, and Hayes Carll and friends

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I was stumbling around the television channels on Friday, in search of something funny or challenging, or even both.

As documented here before, I am a big fan of the Cartoon Network’s night time adult diversion, Adult Swim, which presents the most cutting edge/satire/intelligence of any station anywhere.

One show I love on Adult Swim is “Squidbillies,” which features the incorrigible Early Cuyler, a red neck squid who lives with his son, Rusty, Grandma, and sister Lil in the Appalachians where he makes meth and white lightening from pine cones while the family purports to supply “peanuts and hairdoos.”

It is pretty irreverent and good fun (if you watch, check the different hats Early wears).

Well, Squidbillies has a pretty good alt country theme song, and lo and behold, when I watched Friday, I heard Lucinda Williams singing the theme.

So, here is that:

But, in search of Lucinda on YouTube, I found this great little jam that features Hayes Carll, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Unknown Hinson, Rhett Miller, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, David Rawlings, Todd Snider, Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams and that was also on one episode.

If that wasn’t enough, I then found “A Night at the Opera” on TCM, , and though I have seen it a lot (I am sure more than 50 times) it still kills me (all their movies do).

But, I thought this great clip of Chico (and his very long fingers) doing his nominal piano thing made it more than worth presenting his rendition of “All I do is Dream of You.”

Night Music: Django Rheinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, “Minor Swing”

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I have noted during my infrequent posts this summer that it was a crazy busy one. Like, I have never had as since I retired from ATT, I get to do what I want when I want.

That meant time in Pismo Beach, New York, Chicago, Yosemite (Diane had to go back to New York in this gap, but I got to go home), Chicago, Lake Tahoe, and then the Northern California Russian River area for our annual trek to performing arts camp.

I just never imagined when I had more time available, that I would be busier than when the “structure” having a job presents.

Music was indeed involved in a few of these treks. In the middle of July, my band, TheBileTones got to pretend to be a real rock’n’roll band, playing a pair of gigs in the Chicago area, and the Yosemite trip was with our core music community friends, so a lot of picking was attempted during that week.

But, nothing is like the Cazadero Performing Arts Camp, where I basically play in one band or another all day long, and even get to try some solo acoustic stuff and really experiment with both songwriting and styles.

This year I took my friend Dennis Fortin’s “Gypsy Jazz” class. Dennis is a great guy and teacher, and a killer on Telecaster, able to play a myriad of styles. I have played with him at camp having fun doing Dear Mr. Fantasy, One Way Out, and also Stop Dragging My Heart Around.

In fact, Dennis plays in a local bay area Gypsy Jazz band cleverly called “Eclair de Lune.”

Another class I took was string band, offered by my good friend, teacher, and mentor, Steve Gibson, and within that class Steve presented the song “Minor Swing” by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.

Though I do indeed have a couple of Django/Stephane CD’s, I have never tried to play anything of the Paris Swing ilk, and it is some tough stuff. Interesting, chord shapes, great rhythms, and fantastic jamming and improvising much of the time.

I realize we all have subjective notions about what is rock’n’roll, but I challenge you to find any song anywhere that is as smoking hot as this tune. These are unbelievable musicians, but what really suggests how masterful and in the zone they are, listen to how often in the background a voice pops through the instrumental with a “yeah” type sound.

Anyway, things slow down. I can catch up. And listen and write more

Woo hoo.