Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,527
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Post by Confessor on Mar 21, 2019 11:05:06 GMT -5
Regarding that Vintage Rock magazine I mentioned a few posts back, a writer called Matt Shepherd wrote about Elvis' later career. Here is a small portion of the article: It's very easy to write off Presley in the 1970s as someone who just recorded love songs about heartache, following his separation and ultimately divorce from the only woman he ever married, Priscilla.
But behind the headlines of his fading away, there really was still a lot of great music, even in the later years. While there are lots of songs that fit the melancholic mould, like Always On My Mind and Separate Ways, if you dig a little deeper into the King's 70s catalogue, you will discover blues, country, gospel and, yes, rock 'n' roll. For actual music, it's possibly his most remarkable decade.Sorry to say that I couldn't disagree more. With the exception of, maybe half a dozen great singles ("Return to Sender", "Viva Las Vegas", "Guitar Man", "Suspicious Minds", "In the Ghetto"...and I'm struggling to think of a sixth), Elvis's '60s and '70s output was basically dire. Yes, it's true that in the 1970s Elvis still tackled blues/country/gospel/rock 'n' roll material on occasion, but the execution was always lacklustre IMO. I had a friend whose Dad was a massive Elvis fan and he used to play me some of his mid-60s to late-70s albums from time to time, and they were always rubbish. After coming out of the army in 1960 or whenever, Elvis did too many substandard film soundtrack albums, too many cringe-inducing recordings, too many schmaltz ballads, and too much easy listening pap. For me, when it comes to Elvis, only the early Sun Records stuff and some of the late '50s RCA stuff is really worth a damn. By the early '60s, Elvis had ceased to be a vital voice in rock and pop, and was instead well on his way to becoming a parody of himself. I'm with John Lennon, when he said, "Elvis died the day he went into the Army."
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Post by berkley on Mar 21, 2019 11:13:49 GMT -5
Regarding that Vintage Rock magazine I mentioned a few posts back, a writer called Matt Shepherd wrote about Elvis' later career. Here is a small portion of the article: It's very easy to write off Presley in the 1970s as someone who just recorded love songs about heartache, following his separation and ultimately divorce from the only woman he ever married, Priscilla.
But behind the headlines of his fading away, there really was still a lot of great music, even in the later years. While there are lots of songs that fit the melancholic mould, like Always On My Mind and Separate Ways, if you dig a little deeper into the King's 70s catalogue, you will discover blues, country, gospel and, yes, rock 'n' roll. For actual music, it's possibly his most remarkable decade.Sorty to say that I couldn't disagree more. With the exception of, maybe half a dozen great singles ("Return to Sender", "Viva Las Vegas", "Guitar Man", "Suspicious Minds", "In the Ghetto"...and I'm struggling to think of a sixth), Elvis's '60s and '70s output was basically dire. Yes, it's true that in the 1970s Elvis still tackled blues/country/gospel/rock 'n' roll material on occasion, but the execution was always lacklustre IMO. I had a friend whose Dad was a massive Elvis fan and he used to play me some of his mid-60s to late-70s albums from time to time, and they were always rubbish. He did too many substandard film soundtrack albums, too many cringe-inducing performances, too many schmaltz ballads, and recorded too much easy listening pap. For me, when it comes to Elvis, only the early Sun Records stuff and some of the late '50s RCA stuff is really worth a damn. By the early '60s, Elvis had ceased to be a vital voice in rock and pop, and was instead well on the way to becoming a parody of himself. I'm with John Lennon, when he said, "Elvis died the day he went into the Army." Elvis peaked very early and all his best work was done in the 50s but I wouldn't say the 60s stuff was dire - I like quite a lot of it, hits like His Latest Flame or Little Sister, and so on. Also produced one of my favourite Christmas albums (though his Blue Christmas re-produced nearly note for note the Drifters version). But yeah they were mostly pop songs, not the inspired rock n roll or rockabilly of his early years. I still find quite a lot of it enjoyable, though the proportion of good material shrunk steadily as his career continued.
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Post by beccabear67 on Mar 21, 2019 12:59:26 GMT -5
There's a good book on the early years with Elvis titled The Blue Moon Boys... I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. There are books I will never read because they are notorious in musician circles as crap. There's one on Sandy Denny I avoided even when it was the only book available. I waited and a great book was finally written about her without leaving out any truth. Some books are also just fannish which is okay, but they will usually gloss over anything uncomfortable in favor of the established promotional character. Andrew Loog-Oldham has written a bunch of books which cover the early days of the Stones among other things. Ron Wood also wrote one that at least has some cool stuff on his earlier group The Birds and growing up near future Fenmen and Pretty Things... these are okay if the library has them or you don't pay much. I have one Loog-Oldham book titled just 'Stoned' still but not what I would call a keeper generally.
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Post by berkley on Mar 26, 2019 17:15:52 GMT -5
I don't see the "Rest in Peace" thread, or whatever it was called so I suppose this would be the place to mention that Scott Walker died a day or two ago. After having a big hit in the mid-60s with The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More as a member of the Walker Brothers (not actually brothers, IIRC), lead singer Scott left to begin a solo career, doing Jacques Brel covers and writing more and more adventurous material of his own. David Bowie was a big fan but commercial success faded as he became increasingly experimental with his albums. There's a nice write-up at the Guardian online, which is where I saw the news.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,527
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Post by Confessor on Mar 26, 2019 19:44:21 GMT -5
I'm not a massive Scott Walker fan, but I do rather like his seemingly easy listening '60s symphonic pop songs, which were actually all about prostitutes and hard drugs. That juxtaposition of safe pop with the sleezy underbelly of life is deliciously bizarre. I only own one LP of his and that's a compilation of his late 60s stuff, but he was one of pop music's true characters.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 27, 2019 11:26:18 GMT -5
I've been listening to Sky Blue the new Townes Van Zandt album. I'm always leery of new albums by musicians who have been dead for 20+ years. But the chance to hear anything new by Townes is worth the risk. This is raw Townes...just he an and acoustic guitar recording at journalist Bill Hedgepeth's home studio. The recordings were done in 1973, just after Townes' peak recording period of 68-72. Two new songs. A few covers. A couple of older songs re-worked...and a couple that would be recorded by Townes later on. I'm still digesting. But any Townes is good Townes. And this is a glimpse into the artist at work at the peak of his power.
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Post by berkley on Mar 30, 2019 4:21:58 GMT -5
I'm not a massive Scott Walker fan, but I do rather like his seemingly easy listening '60s symphonic pop songs, which were actually all about prostitutes and hard drugs. That juxtaposition of safe pop with the sleezy underbelly of life is deliciously bizarre. I only own one LP of his and that's a compilation of his late 60s stuff, but he was one of pop music's true characters. Yeah, even though I consider myself a fan, I'm definitely a late-come and not very knowledgeable one. I never became aware of Walker until back in the late 90s and since then have only managed to pick up his first few solo records on cd, an early (80s or 90s?) "Best of, compilation, and a couple of his recent releases.
Walker was possessed of one of those jaw-droppingly great voices, an effortless baritone that could easily have allowed him to pursue a career as an Engelbert-style crooner had he so desired, but he stayed true to his muse and sacrificed commercial success and financial security to make the music he felt compelled to make. Much respect.
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Post by berkley on Mar 30, 2019 4:26:50 GMT -5
I've been listening to Sky Blue the new Townes Van Zandt album. I'm always leery of new albums by musicians who have been dead for 20+ years. But the chance to hear anything new by Townes is worth the risk. This is raw Townes...just he an and acoustic guitar recording at journalist Bill Hedgepeth's home studio. The recordings were done in 1973, just after Townes' peak recording period of 68-72. Two new songs. A few covers. A couple of older songs re-worked...and a couple that would be recorded by Townes later on. I'm still digesting. But any Townes is good Townes. And this is a glimpse into the artist at work at the peak of his power. Like (I imagine) a lot of people, I know of Townes Van Zandt mainly through Steve Earle, but I'm definitely interested. Still haven't listened to much in the way of his own performances, though - where's the best place to start, just begin at the beginning with his first recprds, or what?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2019 10:24:09 GMT -5
I've been listening to Sky Blue the new Townes Van Zandt album. I'm always leery of new albums by musicians who have been dead for 20+ years. But the chance to hear anything new by Townes is worth the risk. This is raw Townes...just he an and acoustic guitar recording at journalist Bill Hedgepeth's home studio. The recordings were done in 1973, just after Townes' peak recording period of 68-72. Two new songs. A few covers. A couple of older songs re-worked...and a couple that would be recorded by Townes later on. I'm still digesting. But any Townes is good Townes. And this is a glimpse into the artist at work at the peak of his power. Like (I imagine) a lot of people, I know of Townes Van Zandt mainly through Steve Earle, but I'm definitely interested. Still haven't listened to much in the way of his own performances, though - where's the best place to start, just begin at the beginning with his first recprds, or what? Any of his albums from ‘68-‘72 are great. “The Late Great Townes Van Zandt” is generally considered his best album though. I’m also very fond of “Townes Van Zandt” from 1969. “Our Morher the Mountain” (also 1969) has some incredible tracks, but also some that are seriously over-produced by Jack Clement. “Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas” is a fantastic live album in a very small venue. It was recorded in ‘73 so it has him playing most of his biggest songs. I’m also really fond of “Together at the Bluebird Café” which has Townes, Steve Earle and Guy Clark alternating performances. That performance was just 18 months before Townes died. As best I can tell it’s his last recorded work.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 13:33:44 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 11, 2019 21:31:42 GMT -5
Earlier this week, a colleague of my wife told her “I’ve got these two tickets for Jesse Cook on Thursday but I really can’t go! Would you like them?”
Soooooooooo... Tonight has been a pretty cool evening!!!
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Apr 12, 2019 4:54:26 GMT -5
Like (I imagine) a lot of people, I know of Townes Van Zandt mainly through Steve Earle, but I'm definitely interested. Still haven't listened to much in the way of his own performances, though - where's the best place to start, just begin at the beginning with his first recprds, or what? Any of his albums from ‘68-‘72 are great. “The Late Great Townes Van Zandt” is generally considered his best album though. I’m also very fond of “Townes Van Zandt” from 1969. “Our Morher the Mountain” (also 1969) has some incredible tracks, but also some that are seriously over-produced by Jack Clement. “Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas” is a fantastic live album in a very small venue. It was recorded in ‘73 so it has him playing most of his biggest songs. I’m also really fond of “Together at the Bluebird Café” which has Townes, Steve Earle and Guy Clark alternating performances. That performance was just 18 months before Townes died. As best I can tell it’s his last recorded work. Thanks for mentioning the 1969 Townes Van Zandt lp. I bought a copy when it was reissued in the late Eighties but hadn't listened to it since then. I was lukewarm to it at the time, being deep in my Australian grunge phase. But, boy, do I love it now. Top-notch songwriting.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 1, 2019 11:23:35 GMT -5
My middle son sent me this short article and cast on the lasting effect of 1959s jazz albums. Which was interesting and something I'd been thinking about. Beyond those that they talk about...Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Time Out, The Shape of Jazz to Come and Mingus Ah-Um (they give short-shrift to Mingus though) there are a ton of great jazz albums from 1959. Chet - Chet Baker The Genius of Ray Charles - Ray Charles (well...kind of jazz). Anatomy of a Murder - Duke Ellington Porgy & Bess - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong The Genius of Coleman Hawkins - Coleman Hawkins I could go on. Davis released four albums in '59 and every one was brilliant. Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver all released extremely strong albums that year.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 1, 2019 11:49:24 GMT -5
And this made me think about 1959, the year in singles. Because albums were still an anomaly in 1959, largely used for jazz and classical music, though other genres were beginning to produce albums at an increasing rate. So I decided to try to figure out my 25 favorite singles from 1959. No pulling tracks from albums (so no So What? definitely one of my five favorite songs of all time). So for what it's worth. Roughly in order but not necessarily always in order.
What’d I Say - Ray Charles
El Paso – Marty Robbins
Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
Memphis, Tennessee - Chuck Berry
Cigarettes and Coffee Blues – Lefty Frizell
Long Black Veil – Lefty Frizzell
White Lightnin’ – George Jones
I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Some Day – Fats Domino
Heartaches by the Number – Ray Price
Beyond the Sea – Bobby Darin
Under Your Spell Again – Buck Owens
Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton
Charlie Brown – The Coasters
Shout – Isley Brothers
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town – Johnny Cash
I’m Ready – Fats Domino
Harlem Nocturne – The Viscounts
Back in the U.S.A. – Chuck Berry
Kansas City – Wilbert Harrison
I Want to Walk You Home – Fats Domino
Let the Good Times Roll – Ray Charles
Road Runner - Bo Diddley
I Ain’t Never – Webb Pierce
Little Queenie - Chuck Berry
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes – Dinah Washington
And a couple that could make the list on any given day...
It Doesn’t Matter Anymore – Buddy Holly
Rooster Blues – Lightnin’ Slim
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,527
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Post by Confessor on May 1, 2019 17:00:03 GMT -5
My middle son sent me this short article and cast on the lasting effect of 1959s jazz albums. Which was interesting and something I'd been thinking about. Beyond those that they talk about...Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Time Out, The Shape of Jazz to Come and Mingus Ah-Um (they give short-shrift to Mingus though) there are a ton of great jazz albums from 1959. Chet - Chet Baker The Genius of Ray Charles - Ray Charles (well...kind of jazz). Anatomy of a Murder - Duke Ellington Porgy & Bess - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong The Genius of Coleman Hawkins - Coleman Hawkins I could go on. Davis released four albums in '59 and every one was brilliant. Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver all released extremely strong albums that year. Yeah, I saw this article on Facebook yesterday, but, like you, it's something that I'd noticed myself. An awful lot of my favourite jazz albums came out in 1959 (with a few from 1960 too). Obviously 1959 was a stellar year for jazz, but it helps that I happen to like cool jazz and post-bop. An awful lot of those 1959 records fall into those sub-genres. I think Coltrane's Giant Steps was 1960, though recorded in '59. I only know that because I only bought the LP two weeks ago and I've been reading the rear sleeve. Other amazing jazz albums from 1960 would be Miles Davis' Sketches from Spain and Gil Evans' Out of the Cool. Also, Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else from 1958 is a great album. All in all, 1958-1960 is a hell of a two year period in jazz.
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