I always have a running list of song ideas for my weekly missive. “Crash” by The Primitives has been on it for a long time. I can’t really put my finger on the reason that I haven’t written about it sooner. But my inspiration to catch up comes from another band I’ve been listening to – Alvvays.
Alvvays (pronounced Always) is an outfit from Nova Scotia that’s now based out of Toronto. They released their second album, Antisocialites, last September. The SotW is “Plimsoll Punks.”
The first time I heard this burst of indie pop my mind began swirling with the antecedents that I was hearing in Alvvays sound. I heard Camera Obscura, a bit of Cocteau Twins and a super-sized serving of the Primitives.
There we go!!! I now have the connection I was looking for to include “Crash.”
The Primitives made a splash in 1988 with their album Lovely. Beside “Crash” the album had another song, “Way Behind Me,” that snatched a lot of airplay on indie and college radio stations.
Last Tuesday, December 12th, Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens died at the age of 62. DiNizio was the main creative force behind the New Jersey based band; its lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter.
As a power pop fanatic, I always enjoyed the music of The Smithereens and was able to see them in concert back in the late ‘80s.
They had several “modern rock” hits played by progressive FM radio stations, including “Blood and Roses,” Only a Memory” and “A Girl Like You.”
Today’s SotW was another, “Behind the Wall of Sleep” from their 1986 debut, Especially for You.
The song opens with an obscure reference to Jean Shrimpton (does DiNinzio sing Jeannie Shipton?) who was a super model that, along with Twiggy, helped set of the mini skirt craze in the mid ‘60s.
She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965
She had legs that never ended, I was halfway paralyzed
She was tall and cool and pretty and she dressed as black as coal
If she asked me to I’d murder, I would gladly lose my soul
The woman the song was about was a girl named Kim Ernst, the bassist for an all-female, Boston based band called The Bristols.
The music is equally influenced by the British Invasion and garage rock sounds of the ‘60s. All very mod. In fact, The Smithereens recorded two albums of Beatles’ covers. Meet the Smithereens (2007) was a song for song replica of Meet the Beatles. B-Sides The Beatles (2008) was just as it says – covers of Beatles’ B-sides.
On the rarities compilation The Attack of the Smithereens (1995) the band exposed some of their other early influences with covers of The Beau Brummels’ “Just a Little,” and Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Something Stupid” – fun stuff worth hearing.
Sometimes my inspiration for a SotW comes from the media I currently follow. In recent weeks Robert Plant has been making the rounds or in the news. Music biz blogger Bob Lefsetz wrote an interesting post about Plant’s interview with Howard Stern on October 17th. You can read his post and link to the Stern/Plant interview here:
These two coincidences led me to reevaluate Plant’s solo, back catalog. There are many interesting and wonderful songs to hear. One that really grabbed my attention is today’s SotW, “Shine It All Around.”
“Shine It All Around” is from Plant’s second album with the Strange Sensation called Mighty ReArranger (2005). It received a Grammy award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
And it has a very positive message, something the world can really use these days.
This is the land where I live
Paint it all over golden
Take a little sunshine, spread it all around
This is the love that I give
These are the arms for the holding
Turn on your love light, shine it all around
If you have access to a service like Spotify, please go back to listen to Plant’s solo repertoire. You will be soundly rewarded.
The War on Drugs was formed after Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel met in Philadelphia in 2003, bonding over their shared Bob Dylan obsession. Vile left after their first album, Wagonwheel Blues, was released in 2008. The “bigly” talented Vile has established a very successful solo career that is worth checking out (and should be considered for a SotW), but his departure has not resulted in the demise of TWoD.
In fact, their subsequent albums — Slave Ambient (2011), Lost in the Dream (2014) and this year’s A Deeper Understanding – have all received favorable reviews from rock critics despite numerous personnel changes. (Granduciel and bass player David Hartley have been the only constants.)
Today’s SotW is “Holding On” from the new album.
What you will notice immediately is how much Granduciel’s vocal delivery pays homage to his idol Dylan. Sam Sodomsky, of Pitchfork, expounds:
“Holding On” is decidedly action-packed. Buoyed by Meg Duffy’s winding slide guitar and a bouncing synth line, it shifts from hook to hook—dazzling with its intricacy or washing over you with its smoothness, depending on how closely you’re listening. It ends with a glimmering descending melody and pitch-shifted vocal motif, maybe the first moment in a War on Drugs song that could be described as “whimsical.”
Another great song from a great band! Fans of Dylan and Bruce Springsteen looking for something new and fresh should dig deeper.
British artist Sandy Denny was among the best singer/songwriters of the late 60s/early 70s. If you’re not familiar with her work you should check it out.
Denny started her recording in 1967 with The Strawbs. Shortly thereafter, she left to join the English folk group Fairport Convention that also counted Richard Thompson as a member.
She was with Fairport on the last two of their first three, seminal albums. She also had a key role on the fourth, Liege & Lief, although she had left the band to form a new group, Fotheringay, before its release.
Liege & Lief was recorded in the aftermath of a road accident that killed the band’s drummer, Martin Lamble, and Jeannie Franklyn, Thompson’s girlfriend at the time. Other members of the band were injured but Denny escaped because she was in a different car with her boyfriend.
This all leads to today’s SotW, “Late November,” from Denny’s first solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (1971).
It has been said that “Late November” was inspired by a dream of Denny’s that portended the fateful auto accident. Rob Young, of The Guardian, wrote:
She turned all these premonitions and real and imaginary cataclysms into song. “Late November”… encompasses all that’s great about Denny’s music: heaving with a slow, pitching swell, carrying a cargo of weird omens and morbid visions. So many of her songs from this period are set at sea or on wind-battered coasts, reflecting the enduring role the sea has played in British folk song. The folk canon abounds with shanties, press-gang songs, ballads of transportation and farewell, of superstition and of supernatural water beasts.
The song has a gorgeous melody and is sung beautifully by Denny. (As a bonus it contains a Thompson guitar solo!) It is a classic.
Denny is also well known for writing the elegant “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” that was covered adroitly by Judy Collins. Some of you may remember her duet with Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin IV’s “The Battle of Evermore.”
In the spring of 1978, Denny died of complications from bonking her head after falling down a staircase, in combination with drug and alcohol abuse. She was only 31 years old.
This SotW post was originally made in April 2009. I’m reposting it in honor of Hendricks’ passing.
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
Back in the early 70s, Joni Mitchell – one of my favorite artists – began her explorations into jazz. Long before she veered off to make her most ambitious jazz outings — Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977), Mingus (1979) or her live album with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and Lyle Mays, Shadows and Light (1980) — Mitchell recorded “Twisted” (Court and Spark (1974)) and “Centerpiece” (The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)), two songs popularized by the jazz vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
The influence of LH&R on Mitchell is obvious if you watch this video of Annie Ross performing “Twisted”:
Joni’s vocal arrangement mimic’s Ross’ which in turn was a copy of the tenor saxophone solo by Wardell Gray from his 1949 recording of “Twisted.”
LH&R are fun to listen to. They may be the most important vocal group in the history of jazz. Their influence can be heard in groups like The Manhattan Transfer. They more or less invented the style of singing called “vocalese.” Vocalese is where lyrics are sung as the parts that were originally played by instruments. It’s sort of like scat, but with real words rather than nonsense syllables.
The song of the week is “Moanin’.”
Listen to how Jon Hendricks is able to create the timbre of a saxophone with his voice. At 2:15 into the song, Ross soars to hit notes usually played by a high lead trumpet! If you’re not already, I hope this makes you a fan.
I chose the song because it is relevant given all of the current allegations (e.g. Harvey Weinstein, Lewis CK, Roy Moore, Al Franken, and sadly, our president) that have brought attention to how our patriarchal (and often misogynistic) society allows men use their positions of power to take advantage of women or keep them down. More on that later.
Amos was a piano prodigy, raised in a very strict religious family headed by her Methodist minister father. Legend has it she could play the instrument before she could talk. When she was only 5 years old she won a full scholarship to the prestigious Peabody Institute for gifted children; the youngest person to be admitted).
By the time she was a teenager she became interested in rock music. In the mid-80s she was heading a band called Y Kant Tori Read. This was a career misstep that is obvious just by looking at the album cover and press photos. (The album still commands very high prices in record collecting circles.)
Around 1990 she went solo where she really found her footing and began a very successful career with a following that is passionately loyal.
This brings us back to “God” which was on her second solo album, Under the Pink (1994).
The lyrics are edgy, taking on Christian religion and how women are portrayed as sexless (e.g. the Virgin Mary) and how that tradition has left women in a “less than” role, even today. She challenges this dominant male point of view and the subservient role of women, singing “God sometimes you just don’t come through / Do you need a woman to look after you?”
In the book Women, Sex and Rock ‘n’ Roll – In Their Own Words by Liz Evans, Amos expands on what “God” is all about.
I’ve written a song called ‘God’ about patriarchal religion, and how it’s just fucked the whole thing up. Basically I say to Him, “You know, you need a babe and I’ve got nothing to do Tuesday and Thursday this week!” lt’s unacceptable in how it’s affected people. And it isn’t just women who’ve been affected. Men have had to cut out a whole part of themselves too, which is why we have to deal with all that shit from our boyfriends! Men and women are going to have to recognize the female energy that we’ve cut out.
Beside the thought-provoking lyrics, the music is cool. During this period, Amos mostly performed and recorded solo – just her voice and piano. But on “God” she employs a full band and electronic loops. The result is a cacophony of keys, guitars, drums and effects that yield scronks and squeals that sound like seagulls swarming above.
Over the years I’ve learned that Tori Amos is the type of artist that divides people into lovers or haters. There’s no middle ground – you either get it or you don’t. I think she’s great and “God” is one of my favorite cuts!
Today’s SotW is another installment of the “evolution series.” The featured song is “I Can’t Let Go” that was written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor. (Not to be confused with the great Lucinda Williams tune with a similar title.) Gorgoni was a NY based session guitarist that played on hits for everyone from the Four Seasons to The Shangri-Las to The Monkees and Van Morrison (and more). Taylor is most famous for also writing “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning,” an odd combination, I know! He’s also lesser known as the brother of Jon Voight (and uncle to Angelina Jolie).
The original version was released in 1965 by a 19 year old Evie Sands but didn’t receive much airplay outside of her home base of NYC. It was a bigger hit by the artists that recorded and released it after her.
Poor Evie Sands was star-crossed. She released a cut of “Angel of the Morning” as a follow up to “I Can’t Let Go.” It was initially popular but sunk like the Titanic when her record company (Cameo-Parkway) filed for bankruptcy. Merrilee Rush “rushed” out her own version a few months later that made it into the Top 10!
The Hollies released their 1966 recording that topped off at #46 on the charts in the US.
The Hollies always had the uncanny ability to recognize a good song and put their own twist onto it by giving it a British beat feel with soaring harmonies. This is the best version and one of my favorite tracks by the Hollies.
Linda Ronstadt reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980 with the rendition she released on her Mad Love album.
A few weeks ago I took a mild swipe at Ronstadt, so I’m making amends today. This is a fine recording – well sung, well played and well produced. My only gripe would be that it so closely follows the Hollies arrangement.
All in all, it’s a strong cup of blue eyed soul in all three styles.
Jeff Buckley was an artist with unlimited potential that left us all too soon. While working on his second album in Memphis he drowned in the Mississippi River. His fully clothed body was found a few days later. He was only 30.
His first album, Grace (1995), was received with boundless critical acclaim. It contained his take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that may have been responsible for causing that song’s ultimate ubiquity.
Today’s SotW is “So Real,” the last song to make it onto the album. It was co-written by Buckley and guitarist Michael Tighe, who contributed the song’s distinctive riff.
“So Real” packs an emotional punch both vocally and musically. It begins with a gentle guitar figure. Buckley’s fragile voice describes a mundane situation that is “so real” to his senses – the smell of a woman’s dress.
After the second verse and chorus the song breaks into a fuzzy, distorted rave and a false ending. This builds the tension that leads into the final section of the song where the band rocks out and Buckley continues to wail.
The pain in his voice raises the possibility that the love that is so real to him may not be reciprocated. He cries “I love you, but I’m afraid to love you.”
Considering the way he died, there is another line in the song that is particularly creepy – “And I couldn’t awake from the nightmare, that sucked me in and pulled me under.”
Buckley was the son of the 60s folk and jazz artist, Tim Buckley, although Jeff only met his father once when he was only 8 years old.
Today’s SotW is the “one hit wonder” called “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” by John Fred & His Playboy Band, released 50 years ago this month.
This song is often considered a novelty because it made a play on the Beatles’ popular “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” that was released on Sgt. Pepper just a few months earlier. It even has some goofy, pseudo-psychedelic lyrics to further the parody.
Judy in disguise, well that’s what you are
Lemonade pies with a brand new car
Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight
But John Fred was no novelty. The dude had been in bands since he was 15 and made records in his home state of Louisiana since 1958.
After a hiatus to go to college, he put together an updated version of his Playboys in 1963 and began recording again on several different labels. By 1966 he was signed to the Paula label and released “Up and Down” (which is on the same album as “Judy…,” Agnes English). That song was a regional hit at home in Louisiana but wasn’t able to generate much notice nationally.
Then came “Judy…” that, ironically, booted the Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” out of the #1 position in the singles pop charts in January 1968!
The song is actually pretty good. The iconic bass line is the hook but the song would have been even better if they had ditched the cheesy string solo and let a guitar or sax rip one off instead. And if you listen to the rest of Agnes English you will hear that the band was a very competent rock & soul bar band. In fact they preceded the more popular “horn rock” groups (BS&T, Chicago, etc.) by including brass and woodwinds as full time members of the band as early as the mid-60s.
She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965
By the time she was a teenager she became interested in rock music. In the mid-80s she was heading a band called Y Kant Tori Read. This was a career misstep that is obvious just by looking at the album cover and press photos. (The album still commands very high prices in record collecting circles.)