Song of the Week – Billboard On the Moon, Dirk Hamilton

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dirkIGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

Back in the day before CDs, downloads and streaming, people bought their music on vinyl albums from record stores. The 12” album covers often had extraordinary artwork but also were large enough to publish vast amounts of information – liner notes. They included biographical info, lyrics and production credits. I would occasionally be induced to give a record a listen because I read the liner notes and thought the instrumentation was interesting or found some familiar names in the musician credits.

That was the scenario that first led me to listen to singer/songwriter Dirk Hamilton’s debut album, You Can Sing On the Left or Bark On the Right (1976). The album was on ABC Records and was produced by Dan Katz who also produced Steely Dan (one of my favorite bands) on the same label. In fact Katz brought in a slew of the session musicians — Elliott Randall, Jeff Porcaro, Victor Feldman, Larry Carlton — that played on the Steely Dan albums to work on Hamilton’s record. Instinct told me this album would be good.

Well, I wasn’t disappointed but it wasn’t because of the crack musicians. It was Hamilton’s terrific songwriting that won me over. He writes with wit and humor, and has a keen eye for detail. His lyrics use clever wordplay and rhymes.

After two records for ABC, he moved on to Elektra/Asylum where he also made a couple of albums. The first for E/A was titled Meet Me At The Crux (1978) and received excellent critical notices. In 1990, Steve Pond of Rolling Stone included it on his list of “glorious one-shots and overlooked gems” of the 70s.

Here’s the cut that Hamilton refers to as his “least unknown song,” from Crux.

I liked these records so much that in the summer of 1978 I used my affiliation with WZBC (Boston College’s radio station) to arrange an interview with Hamilton before his gig at the Last Chance Saloon in Poughkeepsie, NY. (Before the interview I was having dinner with my girlfriend at a nice restaurant. I hurried through it fearing that I was going to be late for the interview. She accused me of caring more about the interview than being with her. At that moment I did.)

Fast forward to the present.

I was reading my Facebook news feed recently and what popped up? A notice that Dirk Hamilton would be performing at a funky little art gallery in Berkeley called the Art House. How this ended up on my feed I’ll never know, but I took it as a sign that I should check it out. My wife and I arrived early and were the first ones in the door other than the guy that runs the place – and Hamilton. In this intimate setting I was able to have a nice chat with him.

He told me that he dropped out of the music business for a few years back in the 80s, but quickly returned. He was born in Indiana, grew up in California and now lives in Texas where he’s still writing, recording and performing. He has a strong fan base in Italy and spends a couple of months doing concerts there every summer.

Sometimes the music business just isn’t fair. If it were, you all would already know about Hamilton and have some of his music in your collection. It’s not too late.

Enjoy… until next week.

Steveslist: My Top Five Favorite Live Songs

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In honor of my mate Steve, who is in Phoenix as I write, getting ready to draft in the NL LABR auction Sunday, I conjured this list. For, tis Steve who started this little subset off.

I am listing my very five favorite live tunes. I am sure we all have favorites, and I tried to find the vinyl/CD version of each, which is where I first found them. The odd song out is Richard Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights, from the album of the same name, and which is a great album cut, and even better live one.

Anyway, here we go, starting with my all-time favorite live Hendrix song, which is also my favorite Hendrix song period. Recorded with Band of Gypsys (featuring Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass) who recorded one album–a live one–performed and recorded December 31, 1970, at the Fillmore East.

The entire album is great, but Hendrix’ playing on Message of Love–his ridiculous mixing of rock and blues and jazz chords and progressions–along with playing that sounds so casual and relaxed, and yet is so visceral with every note just perfect.

Tell me if you have ever heard a more beautiful and riveting live guitar performance, and I will be happy to listen.

Going next to the Fillmore West, Combination of the Two  kicks off Big Brother and the Holding Company’s phenomenal Cheap Thrills album. Killer James Gurley guitar, great percussion, and of course the great Janis Joplin. This song is different for a rocker, but it is so very right.

Maybe the best duel lead guitars trading licks on any song ever. Dickie Betts and Duane Allman cutting notes with razor blades, along with Berry Oakley bass that digs down into the earth’s magma. That song would be One Way Out.

This was tough, because I had to try and choose from Sweet Jane and Rock and Roll from Reed’s great Rock’n’Roll Animal album, and I guess just because the latter cranks through so perfectly–to me anyway–I picked it.

If you have never seen Richard Thompson play guitar live, you are missing out one of the great performers and players on earth. One of the wittiest songwriters, too. I have seen Thompson live nine times, and he always plays this song, sometimes with guests (I have seen him play it twice with Henry Kaiser). My fave part is his playing with his tuners with his fret hand, while crunching royal with his pick hand.

 

 

Night Music: The Beatles, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”

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One of the problems of the Beatles is that the music has been heard so often for so long that it’s hard to bring fresh ears to it. Gene’s comment about the innovations of this great hit brought me back to try to listen as if I haven’t heard it 10,000 times before.

Another issue is what mix one is actually listening to. I’m not enough of a student to talk about innovations. What I can say for sure listening to this clip is that it is a marvelously appealing concoction, that each of the instrumental lines and each of the vocal harmonies is utterly distinct and greater for being a part of the whole than notable on its own. Plus the song, as seemingly simple as it is, is really three songs in one lovely shell.

One can imagine any band taking one of the three sections and turning it into a hit pop song, but it is perhaps the schizo genius of Lennon-McCartney filtered through George Martin, with other important voices at hand, that makes this music not only simple pop but appealingly and enduringly complex.

This curiosity, with the German version of the song laid over the English lipsynch, shows that singing in one’s native tongue brings more passion (but the German version was a big hit with Germans). So there is that.

Night Music: The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”

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This may be the most iconic Stones song. But in a recent concert in Newark they invited Lady Gaga to join in.

I like Lady Gaga as an artist. Her songs and performances are often powerful.

And I think she sings great in this clip. But she isn’t Merry Clayton and these Stones aren’t those Stones. All things considered, Lady Gaga is a plus. And so was Taylor Swift.

Crazy.

(Morning Music: Reading this in the light of day, I realize I didn’t make my point. What I said I meant, but what I didn’t say (except by using the Bad Music category) I also meant. This is terrible.)

Beatles vs. Stones: A Soundcheck Smackdown

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I went to the recording of the radio show, Soundcheck, tonight, at the NY Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Dubbed Soundcheck Smackdown, the program was something of a debate about who was/is better, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

Hosted and refereed by Soundcheck host John Schaefer, who wore the zebra stripes and had a yellow penalty flag that he threw once, and a whistle that went unemployed, maybe because he swallowed it when Ophira Eisenberg popped the f-word into her argument for the Stones, as in the Beatles asked to hold your hand, but who didn’t imagine fucking all of the Stones. Round to Stones.

Eisenberg’s partner on the Stones team was Bill Janovitz, who wrote a highly-praised essay about Exile on Main Street in the 33 1/3 book series and another book about the 50 most meaningful Stones songs.

Team Beatles was Paul Myers, who is an author and musician and the older brother of his partner, Mike Myers, who is known as the keen wit and lover of language who created Wayne’s World and Austin Powers. Notably the Myers brother have very similar body types, wore matching black t-shirts with the words “John&Paul&Ringo&George” on them, but had dramatically different hair colors (Paul pure white, Mike pure brown).

I don’t know when the show will air, but you can check the Soundcheck site for the airdate.

Before the show we were all handed index cards and pencils and asked to write in 20 words or less why we liked the Beatles or the Stones. I think the Beatles are more important culturally, but after thinking about this more than I had earlier in the week, I came up with this:

“The Beatles were the soundtrack of my life in middle school. The Stones were the soundtrack of my life in high school. I have to go with the Stones.” (What I actually wrote on the card was only 19 words, and probably better).

I think you might enjoy the show, so I’m not going to go into much detail here. But SPOILER ALERT, there was one thing to talk about that gives away who won. Sort of.

Before the show John Schaefer asked how many people favored the Stones. My sense was that all of us who went Stones knew that the Beatles were really better/more important, and our applause was half-hearted, lacking confidence.

The debate had many jabs and ripostes and good theater, but it was clear as it went along that the Ophira and Bill’s argument that the Stones were all rock ‘n’ roll-y, good for sex and burning stuff down, was a better argument than the Myers’s argument that the Beatles changed all of culture riff (even though that is almost certainly true, in a way).

At the end of the show, John Schaefer polled the crowd again about their favorites. This time, the Stones fans, buoyed by Team Stones excellent performance, cheered robustly and with confidence. But the Beatles fans were still louder. No minds were changed, but a rollicking good time was had by all.

The following two songs are the one’s each team chose as their band’s most emblematic:

Each team was also asked to name the other band’s worst song. Team Stones did quite well, though the song they cite is terribly catchy, while Team Beatles latched onto some obvious flaws in a Stones’ tune that time has embiggened. Or, at least, revealed virtues that overcome some of the disco silliness.

Night Music: Tom Robinson Band, “2-4-6-8 Motorway”

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This song and the album it was on came out in the height of the punk fervor, and TRB made their name and street cred by being vocal advocates in the Rock Against Racism concerts in the UK in 1977 and 78. I played it a lot, loved the beats and the politics, but their tendency to agitprop gave their anthems extra power, especially the theatrical (Sing If You’re) Glad to Be Gay, and also wreathed them in the wafting odor of political rectitude. But not their first single, which is a car song.

Night Music: Led Zeppelin, “Communication Breakdown”

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220px-Hindenburg_burningI loved the idea of Led Zeppelin before the first album came out. When it did, I collected my lawn mowing and car washing money and got my mother to drive me to the music store (I was 12, and enthusiastic) and on our way through the shopping center somebody, another person, said hello to me.

But I really didn’t care, because I had the brass in pocket to buy the new Led Zeppelin album that I’d never heard, but I knew was great.

Now, other leaps of faith in ensuing years did not fair so well, but that first Led Zeppelin album is, to my mind, one of the greats of all time. File it under first album apotheosis, this is the record that wooed me and won me.

The second album is equally great, by the way.

So, you know. For tonight’s music, let’s look at the way the Zep handles Communication Breakdown on their Physical Graffiti tour. Not really there, if you’re listening. They’re preening more than playing, right?

But Zeppelin at their best? That’s heaven.

Steveslist – Top 5 Songs Of 2 Minutes Or Less

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This list was a lot more difficult than the seven minutes or more. In fact, I probably could do a best of one minute or less, but I ruined it now.

I’m off to LABR tomorrow, so I probably won’t post again until next week. Peter should’ve saved his 10 posts from today and spread them out to cover for me.

Again, no ranking here. Too great, too challenging.

Disclaimer – These aren’t about Beatles vs. Bob Dylan vs. Rolling Stones. These aren’t necessarily the “correct” choices that you can find on every other internet or magazine list. These aren’t about who was the first to do this or that. Steveslist doesn’t care. These are about what I reach for and what turns my crank and what makes me smile.

Not sure I knew there was music this crazy before this. Loved loved loved the Misfits back in the late ’70s and even dragged my college buddies out to see them one night at the 4th Street Saloon in Bethlehem, the Lehigh Valley’s place for punk. (Now they probably tell their grandkids, “Grandpa saw that band a long, long time ago” whenever they pass some knucklehead kid in the mall with a Misfits shirt.)

This version jumps a little at the beginning, but every other youtube version didn’t sound right to me.

The Dickies were quick, short (common dickie traits) and full of covers. This is an early original. It was on 10″ white vinyl and fairly hard to find at the time.

You couldn’t beat Lee Ving for mean-spirited. Fear’s appearance in “The Decline Of Western Civilization” is arguably the highlight of the film.

When he appeared in the original “Flashdance” I had mixed feelings.

“Back From Samoa” was on my all-time top 50 list, I forget where.

Dylan, Springsteen and Costello working together couldn’t touch these lyrics.

The Supershit 666 EP is my all-time favorite piece of recorded music. Last year when I was working a shit third-shift data entry job while enduring a non-compete I would play it every night to begin my shift, drowning out the awfulness of Pitbull and Mumford and Sons on the radio.

Everyone on earth needs this EP. Seriously. The youtube fidelity sucks and I apologize for that. It’s not Supershit’s fault.

KISS Shocker: They Won’t Perform at Hall of Fame Induction

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kiss socketsWe like to have fun with Kiss, who have had a long and storied career.

But now they’ve done it. Somehow these guys have turned a fast start and then years of grinding mediocrity ever afterward into something even Barry Bonds can’t claim: Membership in a Hall of Fame.

But rather than celebrate the moment, put on one of those wild HoF jams that burnish careers, a dispute between the founding members and the current members will keep Kiss offstage (and maybe even some inductees out of the Barclay Center).

Sad, really sad.

LINK: Physical Graffiti is 39 Years Old Today

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Screenshot 2014-02-25 11.55.14On this day in 1975, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti was released. The website Gothamist included it in their series NYC Album Art, which includes the album cover, a story about the album and other stuff that readers here might enjoy, including a YouTube playlist.

The Physical Graffiti entry in the series includes NY Times critic John Rockwell’s Top 10 list for 1975. He lists Zep’s big album as an honorable mention and points out in the intro that he likes new music, which is why his list is topped by a couple of youngsters, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith.