Since No One Else Is Posting Anyway. . .

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Here’s another Primal Scream.

Condensed Wiki story of this band, for those who care or not:

1) The singer was the drummer for Jesus & Mary Chain.

2) They did all kinds of critically acclaimed experimental stuff early on.

3) Eventually, they decided to do a simple, straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll album, Riot City Blues, where both the songs I posted live. It was critically meh, with some severe pans.

4) This song was their biggest hit single in England. I don’t think it’s as good as the other one, but it’s good enough that I’m gonna buy the album. Will report back later if necessary. The video is easy to watch, if nothing else.

Song of the Week – Magical Misery Tour, National Lampoon; Ouch!, The Rutles

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

This has been a very Beatle-y year. We marked the 50th anniversary of Revolver and their last full concert at Candlestick Park. Then there was the release of the new Ron Howard film Eight Days a Week that celebrated the touring years. The Beatles has such a significant impact on popular culture that we can expect the next few years to be Beatle-y as well. 50th anniversary celebrations of events from ’67-70 will be commonplace. Expect a media onslaught when we reach the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper next June.

Still, this year’s focus on Beatle history has allowed me to indulge in a few esoteric aspects of Beatle fandom. For instance, I’ve been building a playlist of Beatles covers. I don’t expect this project to have an end but it currently has over 700 songs.

Another has been to listen to Beatle parodies. The first SotW is the National Lampoon’s John Lennon parody, “Magical Misery Tour” aka “Genius is Pain.”

rutles

This song is a riot but if you’re offended by the “f” word, skip it! It was written by Tony Hendra (lyrics) and Chris Cerf (music). Hendra had the clever idea to take actual quotes from the famous Lennon Rolling Stone interview with Jann Wenner and set them to music. Brilliant!!! And that’s Melissa Manchester playing the role of Yoko at the end.

The greatest Beatles parody of all was the movie/soundtrack called All You Need is Cash by the Rutles. The 14 Beatle parody songs contained within were written by Neil Innes, formerly of Monty Python and The Bonzo Dog Band. You should check them all out but today I’ll treat you to the take-off on “Help” – the Rutles song “Ouch!.”

Of course there are other Beatles parodies worth checking out. In fact the Prince of Parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic, has done three himself – Generic Blues (Yer Blues), Pac-man (Taxman) and Gee I’m a Nerd (Free as a Bird).

Part of the charm that fueled Beatlemania was the Fab Four’s good natured irreverence. It’s only fair then that they take a little bit of their own medicine.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – These Words, The Lemon Twigs

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

The Lemon Twigs – teenage brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario — are a cool new band from Hicksville, Long Island. It’s no coincidence that their aesthetic is closely linked to their west coast brethren, Foxygen, since that band’s Jonathan Rado produced their debut album – Do Hollywood.

Today’s SotW is “These Words”, a song about self-identity, by the Lemon Twigs.

The brothers have told how their musician father, Ronnie, weened them on the music he grew up with and loved, primarily the Beatles. He taught the boys to avoid common, simplistic chord progressions and the value of vocal harmonies. Those lessons were learned well judging by “These Words.”

This song has a bit of everything thrown into it. It starts off with a funky piano, synth, bass romp that quickly evolves into a baroque rock power ballad. There’s a little honky tonk piano section in the middle that keeps growing to a massive crescendo of horns and harmony until it returns to the chorus.

Brian and Michael inherited one other thing from their dad… his vinyl record collection. These are boys after my own heart!

Enjoy… until next week.

Sharon Jones Has Died

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In a week of sad deaths, I have no personal stake in the death of Sharon Jones.

I’m not heartless, I just mean that despite her gifts as a singer, and the obvious talents of the Dap Kings, I found much of their music more a simulation of other music than something organic. Music of nostalghia rather than experience.

I always put Sharon Jones in the same basket of imponderables that I put Gillian Welch, an Appalachian archivist who mimicked old styles more than create her own.

That said, Sharon Jones had a great soulful voice, as Gillian Welch did fine Appalachian holler, and with the Dap Kings made sounds that were totally derived from the old music, but live in real time. I think that means they made me think I was living in those days, though I won’t testify to that.

In any case, she has died, and left a funky body of work behind.

 

Song of the Week – Everybody’s Crying Mercy, Bonnie Raitt

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

Wow! It has been a rough couple of weeks for music lovers. In less than two weeks we’ve lost Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell and Mose Allison.

I planned to write about my favorite Leonard Cohen song, “Famous Blue Raincoat”, but I couldn’t find the time before my last post.

Then Leon Russell passed and I thought I’d write about his work with Marc Benno in the overlooked Asylum Choir. I especially like the Asylum Choir II album and suggest you listen to it on Spotify or YouTube if you’re not familiar with it. I already posted about Leon’s “Delta Lady” some time ago.

This past week has been full of MSM and social media attention to Mose Allison. Much has been duly focused on his own recordings. Other has drawn attention to cover versions such as The Who’s rockin’ take on “Young Man Blues” and the versions of “Parchman Farm” by bands as diverse as Blue Cheer, Cactus, Hot Tuna and Johnny Winter (among others).

So I’m left with few directions to take to pay tribute to these tremendous artists. But I think I’ve found a cut that hasn’t been overexposed that will do the trick. Today’s SotW is Bonnie Raitt’s rendition of Allison’s “Everybody’s Crying Mercy” from her 1973 album Takin’ My Time.

Bonnie’s recording is sultry and bluesy. The subtle harp, guitar licks, piano comps and late night bar bass all complement Raitt’s strong vocal performance.

Elvis Costello also took a run at the song on his covers album, Kojak Variety, from 1995. It’s not bad, but Bonnie’s hits the mark more effectively.

The SotW is all about exposure to songs that have been Ignored, Obscured or Restored. There are enough of those in the catalogs of Cohen, Russell and Allison to last for quite a while. Please treat yourself and go check them out.

Enjoy… until next week.