So Leonard Nimoy was not so much rock’n’roll, but he did release eight (yes, eight) albums.
Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space.
Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy
The Way I Feel
The Touch of Leonard Nimoy
The New World of Leonard Nimoy
Space Odyssey
Outer Space/Inner Mind
Highly Illogical
Who knew? Who even heard?
Of course, we all remember William Shatner’s kitchy cover of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.
But, the pair also cut a disc together, as you can see.
Still, there is no question of the influence of Star Trek and its characters on us boomers, and the cottage industry it spawned (I watched Next Generation and Voyager in addition to the original series).
There was also some music on the actual original Star Trek show, most of which was awful.
In honor of the life of the esteemed cultural icon, Spock, here is part of what was perhaps the worst episode, with some of the worst music. I do remember watching this when I was 16, and being half embarrassed, while half laughing my ass off.
But, Nimoy was indeed a mensch, as witnessed by his final message/Tweet, earlier in the week: “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.”
Irrespective, Live long and prosper, Nimoy. You were a good egg.
Cannot help it: after looking at those great asparagus graphics that accompanied The Obituaries, I had to post this great Yo La Tengo song from a great album (New Wave Hotdog/President Yo La Tengo).
BTW, as kid I hated the stuff, which my mother furiously over-boiled (did no one in 50’s and 60’s understand grilling and steaming?), thus causing the house to stink. She made the same miscue with Brussels Sprouts, btw, which I now like (grilled or roasted) a lot as well.
Diane and I, as noted here before, don’t have a lot in common musically.
Surely, my partner has a shuffle, and a bunch of tunes she likes to listen to when she is running, but virtually none of the songs are ones that interest me. She likes hip hop, and dance songs from the 90’s, mostly, although occasionally an AC/DC (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) or Boston (Foreplay/Long Time) song will sprinkle into her play list.
Not so, JCSS, which, when we discovered we each loved, caused me to download the original 1970 version from Amazon. Diane also was most familiar with that version, that featured Ian Gillian and Murray Head, although she also likes watching the movie when it appears at Easter (kind of like I enjoy watching Ben Hur at Christmas time).
What is also funny, was shortly after we both discovered a mutual love for JCSS, I was at our local recycle center, where in addition to dumping cardboard and styrofoam peanuts, there is an area where folks dump books and old records and DVDs (well, more like VHS tapes), and what was on top of a stack of vinyl but a copy of the original album (no liner notes, though). So, I grabbed it, and played it last week going through my vinyl binging.
When that album first came out, in 1970, I confess that I knew virtually nothing about Jesus historically. Having grown up as a nice Jewish boy in Suburban Sacramento, the subject just didn’t come up.
But, I did buy the cassette for some reason back then, and at least learned the Rice/Lloyd Webber take on the final week of Jesus’ life. And, I thought (and still do) that the whole work–vocals, lyrics, arrangements, and the musicianship–are just fantastic.
In particular, that body of players who delivered the guitars and bass and drums were indeed the part that has intrigued me most. Culled largely from the Grease Band, who toured behind Joe Cocker (check them out at Woodstock: killer) the principle rock musicians in JCSS play so beautifully, and appropriately, that it is almost sick.
Led by Henry McCullough (the Grease Band, and Wings) and Neil Hubbard (the Grease Band, and Roxy Music) on guitars, bass player Alan Spenner (the Grease Band, Mick Taylor, Alvin Lee, and Roxy Music), and drummer Bruce Rowland (Fairport Convention, and the Grease Band), Jesus Christ, Superstar is arguably the best of that oddity known as the rock opera. That means I like it better than either Tommy, or Quadrophenia, both of which I love to pieces, meaning this is high praise.
I do puzzle, though for usually rock’and’rollers don’t sight read symphonic charts, which I would guess is what was produced, and conversely, I have a hard time with Rice/Lloyd Webber thinking in terms of bending an “A” to a “B” starting on the seventh fret of the fourth string, with a little bit of reverb for a fill, so I do wonder just where the collaboration starts and stops.
Fortunately, it is simply a philosophical question, and in no way interferes with just how dead on the drums are, how the strumming and guitar play just enhances the words (which are very good), and how the bass interplays with both.
You can look down your nose at this work, and it might not even be your cup of tea, but no doubt these guys can seriously play.
I was really, really excited when I tried out my freshly magic-markered CD of the Hans Condor album that isn’t available on CD, Sweat, Piss, Jizz & Blood. Somethin’ Happenin’ Here, the opening track, strikes me as a cross between the Dolls, The Replacements and The Unband, as does the whole album. And that’s a good thing.
This first track is a bit more Stones-y than anything else included and I found myself unable to pull it out of player before it was complete. It’s rare these days that I can even get through most things I haven’t heard before. I’ve been through the album four times in its entirety now, so here goes:
The first four tracks absolutely smoke, climaxing with Conversations, my personal favorite. I wanted to include a youtube of that song but the only thing available is a barely-recognizable, horrible-audio live version from Philly in 2011. Believe me, it’s not worth finding, but the album version is.
Unfortunately, from there the album disintegrates into an early Replacements album, a great tune (Stitches), a good tune (Time, Rhyme, Reason) and an OK tune (Just Remember Have Fun) live among some jokesy-folksy stuff and, for me, a boring clunker (My Lyin’ Mind), which may be the consensus highlight of the album for reasons unknown to me.
Overall, I like the rawness, but certainly wouldn’t mind hearing the band with proper production either. Overall, I like the rawness, but I’d love a rhythm guitar in here too.
I’d rate the album somewhere between good and very good and it will give me something to listen to for a couple weeks. Those first four songs are mighty and I wish the rest of the album could keep up.
Today I brought my Rickenbacker along to my guitar lesson (as opposed to my bass) just because I felt like playing some guitar, and Steve pulled up this wonderful Captain Beefheart cut, I’m Glad from the album Safe as Milk.
I have that disc, as well as the seminal Trout Mask Replica, though I have not listened to either of them in years, so I sort of forgot about them. We were working on the arpeggios within the cool progression (played here by Ry Cooder) and at one moment, I stopped dead, looked at Steve, and said, “this is Ooh Baby Baby,” and Steve quickly nodded and said, “yeah, I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
Both are great, and different in their own way, but the crossover is unmistakable; however, you be the judge.
And now the inimitable Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
Tom’s SOW post, coupled with Gene’s posting of Crossroads, pointed me back here, to my fave Cream song (sorry Deserted Cities of the Heart) and the band at its core, and in my opinion best.
I don’t think any song from their catalog better displays the individual and collective power these guys held as musicians, and then as a band.
Bass and drums are great, and this is Clapton at his ripping finest, IMHO. Even if it is a funky patched lip-sync of the studio to live stuff.
This is the first installment of the “Rare Record Series.”
I was crate digging at a local thrift store a few weeks ago and came across an album by country music star Faron Young. I know very little about Young, one of my few touchstones being the great Prefab Sprout song “Faron Young.” But I bought the record because it was so old and in such good condition.
When I got home I cleaned it up and dropped the needle on it. To my surprise I recognized the very first song, “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young”, toady’s SotW.
It took me a while to figure out where I had heard the song. It was on a CD I have by a New York based rockabilly band from the late 90s called The Big Galoots. The Galoots recorded mostly originals, so I never noticed that “Live Fast…” was a cover. What a great choice.
Faron Young took the song to #1 on Billboard’s country chart in 1955. As the story goes, he wasn’t fond of rockabilly and didn’t want to record the song. He preferred more traditional, establishment country music but was happy to have a hit on his hands (and the pay that came with it) once it was released.
The song title and lyrics, written by Joe Allison, were inspired by a line from the Humphrey Bogart gangster movie, Knock on Any Door (1949). In that flick, costar John Derek says his motto is “I want to live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse.” Who could have predicted back in ’55 that this motto would come to define the rock and roll lifestyle until the more current “sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll” espoused by Ian Dury.
In 1979 Blondie updated the saying in their song “Die Young, Stay Pretty” from their hit album Eat to the Beat.
Words to live by!
Enjoy… until next week.
BTW – If you’re interested in record collecting, you may want to read this article by John Harris of The Guardian about the vinyl comeback.
Steve’s comment on my Cheap Trick entry (I think it was that one) brought up the Motors, whose first album I bought on the strength of this song, which is killer. Unlike the rest of the album.
I never could figure out why Airport was the big hit for the band. To me this song is sooooo much better. If I were their manager, this is the one I would have pushed.
We should find a top 10 or 20 albums of 2015 list and each pick or get assigned an album that we don’t have or know but we have some remote chance of liking and then review it.
I’m interested in, admittedly most likely, calling bullshit on something that’s supposed to be great or, even better but less likely, discovering something new and good.
Boss Peter could decide the list and the assignments or we could have a draft or something. Only rule is everyone has to give their album at least five entire spins.
Waddya think? (“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard” is a valid answer.)
So Leonard Nimoy was not so much rock’n’roll, but he did release eight (yes, eight) albums.
