Discography Year Two - Week 43

It's the 43rd week of the second year of our Discography music discussion and summer has decided, finally, to show up in Vermont. Oddly, we're well into summer and there has been precious little convivial splendor. I'm blaming it on all of us being crazy busy, and also the general gloom of living in a burgeoning police state.  Happily, several of us here in the #YankeeHellhole will  be getting together tonight.  Pending my adventures in jury duty I'm hoping to get back to the Natti and Miami sometime in July, but that may depend upon how many jury selection processes I can ruin with impassioned speeches.

Last week I proposed that we have time for one more theme week before we shut it down for the year.  I have no volunteers so far, and I'm certainly happy to come up with some challenge (it's sort of what I do for a living).  Any takers?

Dave Wallace

Arthur Buck - I Am The Moment

I've mentioned that I'm a fan of Joseph Arthur, and I've previously included one of his songs on this blog.  In addition to his solo albums, Arthur frequently collaborates with others and, in a pairing that feels inevitable, he has joined with fellow serial collaborator, Peter Buck, to form a new group, Arthur Buck.  I think their new album is excellent.  I Am The Moment is the lead track.

Kevin Andrews

Ry Cooder’s latest album, The Prodigal Son is his first in six years. It combines spirituals, gospel, and americana as only he can. After playing all over the world he returns home to his roots, so to speak, and to Burlington tonight. I don’t get excited to see a show more than this one. Ry is a legend and still crushes the slide guitar at 71. This song, Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right was written 80 years ago by Blind Willie Johnson and is more topical today than ever given the lame biblical-ish excuses to detain children. Check out that nine stringed guitar.

This song is a Ry classic if you’re interested. While you’re on The YouTube find Gentrification, also on the new album. It should be subtitled Here comes the Googleman.

Dave Kelley

"Baby What You Want me to Do"  Elvis Presley   1968 Comeback Special

Elvis is often remembered as a caricature.  Late period fat Elvis wearing way too much jewelry and some pretty ridiculous clothes comes to mind.  He was also in so many bad movies in the 1960's which featured mostly mediocre at best songs.  He frittered away so much time and talent by letting Colonel Parker control his career.  Jon Landau, Springsteen's long time manager and consiglieri, was interviewed multiple times for the excellent four hour documentary about Elvis that recently aired on HBO.  His amazement and utter disgust for the way Colonel Parker hijacked Elvis's career came through in abundance.  The Colonel did not serve Elvis, Elvis served him.

We should never forget what a unique and amazing talent he was.  Much of the DNA of rock music traces back to him.  Not only was he movie star handsome, but he had an amazing voice, charisma and stage presence virtually unmatched in the history of American popular music, and some pretty mean chops on the guitar.  He also chose tremendous songs to cover.  Other white musicians did sanitized versions of African American songs to make them bland enough to avoid scaring white people.  Think of Pat Boone covering Chuck Berry.  That is rather like Erkel covering NWA.   Not Elvis though.  He made no effort to hide the sexuality and "dangerous" aspects of the songs he covered.  Throw in some leg twitches and pelvic thrusts and away he went.

This is a cover of a Jimmy Reed song performed during his amazing 1968 television comeback special.  He had not been on tour for many years because of all of the movies he did, and the HBO documentary revealed he initially refused to come out of the dressing room to do the show.  In this clip, he is surrounded by his original band.  Sadly DJ Fontana the drummer died recently meaning that everyone on the stage is now gone.   Elvis's talent and charisma just oozes from the screen.  I also love the shouts and exclamations made periodically by the band.  Freedom and joy are beautiful things, and that is what I get out of this performance. 

Phillip Seiler

This week we learned that kids as young as 3 are having to represent themselves in front of immigration judges in this utter hellscape of a country. Seriously. This is so evil and farcical as to be unbelievable. Here is but one example of this travesty and absurdity.

I lurch from utter despair to rage to helplessness with astounding speed. So thank whatever higher power you believe in that this exists:

For a moment, it is good to be a dreamer again.

Gary Scudder

Charles Mingus, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Truthfully, I go back and forth on Mingus, which speaks more eloquently of my lack of musical sophistication than any doubts about his excellence.  This song is an homage to the passing of Lester Young, who I really like and can't believe that I haven't featured any of his songs (this is why I'm already looking forward to Year Three of the Discography). There are so many great Lester Young songs it's difficult to know where to start: Just You, Just Me; I Can't Get Started; These Foolish Things, etc. And, of course, so many wonderful songs like All Of Me from his collaborations with his close friend Billie Holiday (cue Alice Neiley). Anyway, after Young's passing Mingus wrote this song in memory of him.  We should all have such an extraordinary celebration to mark our passing.  Years ago I officially chose Mike Kelly to officiate at my memorial (which will actually be about three people having wings at RJs, which is more than I would have figured). Beyond his unquestioned excellence, Mike has three things going for him: 1) he's twenty years younger than me, 2) he has an encyclopedic knowledge of music and literature (so plenty of those obscure references that I love), and 3) he won't cry at the ceremony.  So, MK, your job is to come up with something as good as Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; I'm not planning on going anywhere soon, but, damn, this is a great song, so you'd better get started.