Well, we're back with a third Discography series, although this year we're settling in for a monthly as compared to weekly schedule. We've also changed the name, switching to the Gary Beatrice Discography in honor of late and beloved friend - and nobody enjoyed the Discography more than GB. I think we all knew it was getting towards the end when Gary told us that he wanted to take a little break from writing up his weekly submissions. We all miss him terribly and while we certainly don't need any help remembering him, it's nice to have his name associated with a project where good friends get together to discuss music (something he loved to do).
As you know, most Discography weeks are free-form, that is, we just write about what ever we're in the mood to discuss. This leads to a lovely eclectic if not anarchic feel. However, sometimes we include thematic weeks, and this will be one of them. This week's theme was suggested by the routinely excellent Jack Schultz, although it's not great songs about the Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. Instead, it's Odd Collaborations. Primarily, it's songs or albums that bring together two seemingly disparate artists. In my well-paid role as Commissioner I've tweaked the theme slightly to allow for songs or albums wherein an artist is pursuing a path that seems completely at variance with their previous efforts. I try to avoid using the immense powers of the Commissioner's Office and would certainly not have blocked the Vida Blue trade - although I might snap my fingers Thanos-like and eliminate half of American voters.
This time we have a lovely mix of old friends (some who are returning from a little break) and new friends. We won't bother with formal introductions. One of the best things about the Discography is that we get to know so much about each other simply from reading the posts.
Miranda Tavares
Stephen Lynch
Nate Bell
For an unusual pairing theme, I
chose Larkin Poe's rendition of a Leadbelly tune, Old Riley.
It's strange to see and hear 2 very young, very white, females cover a tune from a southern African American man living in the very present shadow of actual slavery, not many years distant in his lifetime.
Old Riley is a quick and jaunty tune, and like many of the quicker blues tunes, the music and rhythm almost make a person forget the darkness of the source material. So, Old Riley is about a black man in the south, running from a hound "Rattler" that has been set upon his heels.
I think it's not only important to have young folks still singing in these old styles, but for all of us to remember the reality behind them. After our long National Nightmare, real truth in song, poetry and history, and we have dramatically seen, it vital to growth for us all.
Anyways, that's all this dumb white guy has to say. Here's the song, hope you like it.
Alice Neiley
HERE'S MINE.
Sorry, I suck ;).
As Scudder predicted, I had an extremely difficult time choosing which song to post here, as there are so many wacky combos in the music world – Patty Griffin and Melissa Etheridge is just one that I was pondering, so you can see why I struggled. Ultimately, I decided to go with the second option – odd genre/song choices for particular artists.
Here goes: Akie Bermiss. I’ve just recently fallen in love with him--that’s right, him, not just his voice…although maybe they’re blending in my mind a little. I saw him live with Lake Street Dive two summers ago, just after he joined the band as their new keyboardist, when people were still allowed to gather and live music was still allowed to happen, and I was as enthralled by him as by Lake Street Dive, which, for those of you who know my obsession with that band, is saying something. He’s a perfect addition to the band, not only because his stage presence is stellar, and he has similar Instagram goofiness to the other four, but because he is an incredible musician with a “hello, let me melt you into a puddle now” voice. He has some records of his own out in the world, mostly original R&B/soul tunes.
At the same live concert mentioned above, Bermiss performed a cover of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One”, which was otherworldly and understated at the same time. He significantly slows down the tune, adding a distinct funk and diverting from the melody to add more bluesy notes to the chord. The original is nothing to sneeze at either, mind you. It’s a solid tune, and ALMOST won a Grammy for album and song of the year but lost to Celine Dion’s “Heart Will Go On”. That’s fairly impressive given the popularity of Titanic--no other song stood a chance anyway. That said, ANY song that was in close competition with anything by Celine Dion is a peculiar choice for a band like Lake Street Dive, but ultimately worked magically like everything else they do. Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any better, at 2:09 on the line “look at what we won’t be missing”, Rachel Pryce (Lake Street Dive’s bombshell “wheredidthatvoicecomefrom” lead singer) jumps in to harmonize above Akie, and the tune, as well as the listener’s heart, is full and complete. Just like that.
Jim Grace
My name is Jim Grace, recently invited by Gary (thanks!) to this blog. I know Jack Schultz personally as well. It's a pleasure to virtually meet the rest of you. My selection is Rough Mix (1977) by Pete Townsend (The Who) and Ronnie Lane (Faces and Small Faces). The title certainly reflects the eclectic nature of the music as well as the current category suggested by Jack. Only the instrumental title track is co-written by the principals, and features Eric Clapton. All participated in the British revival of "skiffle" music in the 70s, which had previous incarnations in the music of the early Beatles as well as Irish blues rock great Rory Gallagher and other artists. So, what is skiffle? Wikipedia: "The origins of skiffle are obscure but are generally thought to lie in African-American musical culture in the early 20th century. Skiffle is often said to have developed from New Orleans jazz, but this claim has been disputed. Improvised jug bands playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the 20th century. They used instruments such as the washboard, jugs, washtub bass, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw and comb-and-paper kazoos, as well as more conventional instruments, such as acoustic guitar and banjo." Back to Rough Mix: Ronnie Lane's compositions including Nowhere to Run hold particular poignancy in light of his diagnosis of MS, which eventually took him from us. Townsend got personal on Misunderstood, a humorous reflection on his self-professed streak of narcissism. The closing track Till the Rivers All Run Dry is a gorgeous, slow tempo cover of Don Gibson's country hit. In between are straight ahead hard rockers as well as gorgeous ballads. This is one of my favorite records of all time, all genres. In the 70s I literally wore out my vinyl copy, on which tears were shed and beer was spilled.
Bob Craigmile
To be young (is to be sad, is to be high).
Here again is one Ryan Adams, recently absolved of “sexting”
an underage girl.* NOT absolved of being a complete prick, and harming women
who wanted to make music without being manipulated by a prick.
I will offer no defense of his assclownery; I will say that
I think he grew up in a troubled environment that made a mark on his psyche.
“It’s a fair cop, but society’s to blame”. “Right, we’ll be arresting them
too!”
Sorry.
I, as some of you know, went through a divorce and latched
on to this motherfucker’s sad songs as a way of coping or whatever it was I was
doing. He is a bit of a genius for
songcraft in my opinion. He’s especially
gifted at sad songs.
Genius doesn’t excuse behavior. Richard Feynman, Louie CK, et al. So what if
you’re brilliant? You’ve still got to be an authentic human without inflicting
your shit onto people, usually women in their cases. This is my moral
imperative I guess. Kant complain.
Sorry.
But before the unpleasantness was known about Mr. Adams, he
did this song with David Rawlings, perhaps best known as a collaborator with
Gillian Welch and a “newgrass revivalist” folkie or “Americana” musician; and
he is a badass, crazy good on an old Epiphone archtop guitar, he can apply a
capo mid-song with great deftness. This is just not done by humans.
Dave is not a rocker. Ryan Adams is a bit of a rocker. But they’re both in that “Americana” genre,
so it’s maybe not THAT odd. Still I think that Adams plays heavy metal for fun.
Rawlings is probably more of a jazz guy (having attended Berklee College of
Music). Listen to them using your favorite services and you’ll hear two very
distinct styles. They agreed long enough
to do this song which Rawlings has performed live (saw him do so a few years
back). It’s a great song.
https://youtu.be/g_c1YM53Wwo (RA)
https://youtu.be/BEjcIJcFN8s (DR)
https://youtu.be/i7knB3VtAqY (moment of
one-hand badassery at around 1:52).
*https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9145563/Ryan-Adams-CLEARED-sexting-underage-female-fan-FBI-investigation-no-evidence.html
Jack Schultz
Bruce Springsteen (with Michelle
Moore)
What happens when you combine one of America’s all-time best rockers with a gospel singer to produce a rap tune? How about Rocky Ground, from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball album. Bruce is supported by Michelle Moore (youth director at a Baptist church, who does the rapping) and the Asbury Park-based Victorious Gospel Choir. Like many Springsteen songs, it has its uplifting moments. Of course, the Boss hits us with cold hard reality in the end. “You try to sleep, you toss and turn, the bottom's dropping out. Where you once had faith now there's only doubt. You pray for guidance, only silence now meets your prayers. The morning breaks, you awake but no one's there.” Life is hard, you hope and pray for help and some breaks to go your way, but ultimately, it is up to you to fight the daily existential battles.
We saw this live in Atlanta in 2012, on the opening night of the first tour without Clarence Clemons. It was an emotional night for everyone. Rocky Ground was and is a special song with its traditional spirituality adeptly combined with gritty, dark, contemporary reality.
Lynette Vought
John McLaughlin
In the last few weeks, my
experience of listening to this song has taken on the character of a beautiful
virtual reality setting with rich, vibrant colors and sounds. Every time I hear
it, it has felt like I have taken a much needed seven-minute vacation, and I
come back refreshed.
I think the reason
it does that for me is because in this piece, McLaughlin (a student of Eastern
thought and of guru Sri Chinmoy) and Remember Shakti reveal the relationship
between improvisation and spirituality, so that while each of the musicians
produce beautiful, unique melodic and rhythmic lines from the heart, they also
create an intricate interplay between each other. It’s not so much that they
are playing a “song” as they are engaging in a mutual meditation that takes
them to a different level of awareness.
For me, listening to Lotus Feet is like hitching a ride with these musicians during their spiritual meditation as they make their way to a quietly creative place, and like a guru’s lotus feet, they show me a path to a few minutes with the divine.
Dave Kelley
There are a number of songs I considered for this month's themed blog post. I considered the immensely bizarre combination of Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Then I remembered that I fucking hate "The Little Drummer Boy." Doesn't every woman who has just gone through childbirth really want a drum solo from a kid???? Only the Paul McCartney Xmas song whose name I refuse to mention is worse.
Next I considered the version of "Stairway to Heaven" that Led Zeppelin did with Tiny Tim, but then my fever broke, I woke up, and I realized that shit never happened.
I will go with the odd pairing of Drive By Truckers serving as the backing band for the great but long overlooked Motown singer Bettye Lavette. She had little interest in working with a loud rock band known primarily for screaming guitars, but she lacked the standing to tell the record company to fuck off.
"The Scene of the Crime" is a fantastic record. I am including two songs. "Before the Money Came" which she co-wrote with Patterson Hood and "Talking Old Soldiers" which is an amazing cover of an Elton John song and IMHO the best thing on the record.
Good to have the blog back. Some things never change. The domestication of cats and dogs continues unabated, Donald Trump still fucking sucks, and goetta remains the food of the gods.
Gary Scudder
John Coltrane, Naima
Alice Coltrane, Journey in Satchidananda
This is an odd combination, not solely musically but also religiously - and, I guess, emotionally. The Discography veterans know all too well my love of John Coltrane, and also of the saxophonist's well-documented spiritual quest (I'm not the only one from our crew who has discussed Coltrane's brilliant A Love Supreme over the years). Coltrane was raised Christian and had grandfathers on both sides of his family who were African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church ministers. His first wife, Naima, was a Muslim convert and helped intensify his spiritual yearning. He wrote this song for her and it's supposed to be his favorite of all his compositions, and that's saying a lot when you're talking about John Coltrane compositions. Eventually the marriage fell apart, as marriages tend to do. His second wife Alice shared a fascination with Indian philosophy and religion with him, and she was also a talented pianist who played with his band for the last few years of his life. After his death she eventually moved to India, studied under several swamis, including Satchidananda (the inspiration for the second song), converted to Hinduism, taking the name Turiyasangitananda, and started her own ashram which she ran for years (so, essentially, she wasn't giving it the pop star poser treatment). The final note would be that while this is an interesting story - and I can certainly relate to the quest - sometimes this works musically and sometimes it doesn't. I love Naima and like Journey in Satchidananda, but Coltrane's own Om, where he repeats passages from the Bhagavad Gita and the Tibetan Book of Dead makes me doubt the existence of a compassionate God (or at least a God who cares about my ears).
