Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 17, 2024 10:24:38 GMT -5
I really want to listen to more Herbie Hancock. My knowledge of his output is slim and rather scattershot: I know 1973's Head Hunters, the song "I Have a Dream" from his 1970 album The Prisoner, and his 1983 breakdance hit "Rockit", but that's it. Certainly, there's a whole lot of his early Blue Note stuff that I'm completely unfamiliar with. The track you posted is perhaps a bit too Hard Bop for my tastes; what's the rest of the Empyrean Isles album like? I generally like slightly mellower, less frenetic jazz from this era...Cool Jazz especially. Based on that, what would you say would be a good album for me to start with from his early Blue Note period? Also, is The Prisoner a good album in its entirety, do you know? There is somewhat mellower (well, to my ears maybe) material mixed in with the more hard/post bop on albums from that era. Empryean Isles and Maiden Voyage are pretty legendary albums and do make good starting points, though on those you may be drawn more to tracks like these? Curious to hear what you think. I'm kind of cherry picking tracks again here, but these are off of his sophomore effort My Point of View which might be of interest as an earlier starting point: As for The Prisoner, I personally think it is a solid album overall, it gets a little overshadowed by the ones I previously mentioned I think. At times it gets a little looser feeling, not quite free jazz, but has some nice layers and things going on I find enjoyable. I hope some of that helps! OK, thoughts... I rather liked "Oliloque Valley"...that's much more Cool Jazz that the other number from this album you posted. "A Tribute to Someone" and "And What if I Don't Know" from My Point of View are also rather nice. I could definitely imagine myself enjoying listening to those tracks of an evening. My favourite track from among these, however, is "Maiden Voyage" from the album of the same name. That's a really great track. Maybe it's just the title, but it seemed to have a slightly nautical vibe to it to my ears. If the rest of Maiden Voyage is like that, I think we might have a winner for me to check out. |
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Confessor
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Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jul 17, 2024 7:20:51 GMT -5
Carrying on with my Top 10 albums of 1964... #3 - Wednesday Morning, 3am by Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel's debut album was a bit of a flop upon release. It did very little, commercially speaking, outside of their native New York City and the Greenwich Village folk scene of which they were a part. It was only when the album was re-released in the States in 1966 and in the UK in 1968 – with the duo by then having found international success with subsequent releases – that Wednesday Morning, 3am began to chart. It's an album that finds the duo firmly in a purest folk/protest guise, with several of the tracks being sung in the overly earnest tradition of the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, or the Chad Mitchell Trio. Although the album does include a handful of covers – including a serviceable rendition of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" – what was clear, even at this early stage, was that Paul Simon's songs were something special. In particular, "Bleecker Street", "Wednesday Morning, 3am", and the original acoustic version of "The Sound of Silence" (prior to it having guitar, bass and drums overdubbed on it to transform it into the hit version most people know) are standouts. Special mention as well to the utterly sublime arrangement of the 16th century Latin mass "Benedictus", in which Simon and Garfunkel's voices intertwine beautifully, against a sparse acoustic guitar and cello accompaniment. Rather than go with "The Sound of Silence", I've instead chosen Simon's haunting "Bleecker Street" to showcase the album. Named after a street in Greenwich Village (where Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum is located, comic fans!), it's an alienated look at the darker side of the local beat and folknik scene. There are some interesting religious overtones in the song's lyric too, as the observer casts a melancholy eye over the neighbourhood's homeless, lonely, and ill-fated… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 17, 2024 7:12:51 GMT -5
3) Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles I really want to listen to more Herbie Hancock. My knowledge of his output is slim and rather scattershot: I know 1973's Head Hunters, the song "I Have a Dream" from his 1970 album The Prisoner, and his 1983 breakdance hit "Rockit", but that's it. Certainly, there's a whole lot of his early Blue Note stuff that I'm completely unfamiliar with. The track you posted is perhaps a bit too Hard Bop for my tastes; what's the rest of the Empyrean Isles album like? I generally like slightly mellower, less frenetic jazz from this era...Cool Jazz especially. Based on that, what would you say would be a good album for me to start with from his early Blue Note period? Also, is The Prisoner a good album in its entirety, do you know? |
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Confessor
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Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jul 16, 2024 22:54:18 GMT -5
I may be completely off the mark here but i have a vague feeling that they used parts of this melody in some other song of theirs that I like better. Did they ever indulge in this kind of recycling of material or am I imagining things? Regardless, I think I might look for this cd. I only know their hits, for the most part, and I'd like to check out some of the albums. This sounds like it could be a good one to start with. No, to my knowledge (and I'm a pretty big BB's fan) they never used the melody of "All Summer Long" again. There were very rare occasions when they recycled a melody, but that was usually taking an older song and putting their own words to it, like they did with the Four Freshmen's "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring", when they re-wrote the lyrics and turned it into "A Young Man is Gone" from 1963's Little Deuce Coupe album. They later released a live recording of "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" on Live in London from 1969. Of course, they also re-wrote the words to Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" and turned it into "Surfin' USA", but they never covered the original Berry tune (at least not on record). "A Young Man is Gone" is pretty much an isolated example of that kind of recycling and I'm struggling to think of another. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 16, 2024 10:02:50 GMT -5
#4 - Roger Miller - Roger and Out
You're gonna roll your eyes at this, but the only thing I know of Roger Miller's is "King of the Road". I'm pretty sure that's the only hit he had over here in the UK. That's a decent enough song though, but if I'm honest I do kinda tend to file it under "novelty song" in my mind. Listening to these two tracks that you've posted, I'm coming to the conclusion that Miller is definitely a novelty act -- or at least a comedic one. I don't hate those two tracks, but at the same time I'm not going to be in a rush to seek out his albums, I'm afraid. Clocking in at a super svelte 23:42 this almost feels like an EP, except it has 12 tracks. Yep...you read that right. The longest song here is 2:37 and seven of the songs clock in at under two minutes. Damn, that is a brief album! There are some other super-short '60s albums that I'm familiar with, like Nashville Skyline (26:46), Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful (26:48), and Friends (25:32), but the only one I can think of that beats Roger and Out is The Ceyleib People's Tanyet, which clocks in at a measly 21:14. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 16, 2024 9:14:24 GMT -5
4) Paco de Lucía and Ricardo Modrego - Dos Guitarras Flamencas en Stereo Wow! That's a nice track you posted to highlight the album -- it kinda sounds semi-classical. It's impressively played too. That said, I'm not sure it's really my thing, insofar as I'm not sure I could ever imagine myself putting stuff like this on the hi-fi. But it's certainly a striking piece of music. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 16, 2024 7:58:19 GMT -5
I read the Twelve yesterday... Marvel's answer to JSA it is not. It's also really dark and depressing, but pretty decent none the less. I would definitely read more about the Phantom Reporter and the Golden Age Black Widow (by far the most interesting characters) Rockman ACTUALLY finding an undergound kingdom and maybe have a big war with the Mole people could also be fun. I love The Twelve! I was buying it as it came out and have re-read it at least twice since then. J. Michael Straczynski's script and characterisation is excellent, giving each member of the group a very distinctive personality, and Chris Weston's art is a great fit for a story about Golden Age heroes in the modern world. I really would've liked to have seen a continuation of the series -- or at least the continuing adventures of the Phantom Reporter and the Golden Age Black Widow. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 16, 2024 7:29:39 GMT -5
More top albums of 1964... #4 - All Summer Long by The Beach Boys The Beach Boys released four albums in 1964 – three studio albums and a live record – something that is unfathomable from the perspective of today's music industry. Of the four, it's All Summer Long that I'm picking for my list. The album mostly eschews songs about surfing and hot rods (which had been the group's mainstays up to this point), and instead focuses on more universal teenage themes. This was the first album that the band's chief songwriter and producer Brian Wilson created after having heard the Beatles, with his own competitiveness spurring him on to create his most accomplished and complex material to date. The album is arguably the apex of the band's early "fun in the sun" period and was also the start of Wilson's musical progression towards later mature albums like Pet Sounds and Friends. Standout songs on All Summer Long include the title track, along with "Little Honda", "Wendy", "Don't Back Down", and the semi-autobiographical smash hit single "I Get Around". Mind you, not every track is a home run – there's some right old filler in here too – but I'd say that around two thirds of the album is damn good. Have a listen to the ebullient title track, which chronicles a series of blissful events that the singer and his girlfriend enjoy during the summer. Yeah, lyrically it's corny as all hell, but the melody is fantastic, the harmonies sound effortless, and the bouncy instrumentation – featuring boogie-flavoured bass guitar, marimba, and piccolo – perfectly captures the sunny, carefree romanticism of the lyric… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 15, 2024 19:24:38 GMT -5
#5 - Buck Owens - Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat
I knew we'd see some Buck Owens from you in this run down.  I'm not familiar with any of Owens' individual albums in their entirity, but of course I know a few songs from this album, such as the two title tracks, "Close Up the Honky Tonks", and "Truck Drivin' Man". Based on those tracks, all of which are great, I'm sure this must be a pretty good album. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 15, 2024 15:28:30 GMT -5
Got an issue of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, a couple of issues of Amazing Spider-Man, and an issue of Weird Western Tales off of eBay this week. Just chipping away at my 'Wants List'.  |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 15, 2024 8:16:49 GMT -5
Yet another one of my Top 10 favourite albums of 1964... #5 - Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo by Georgie Fame By 1964, the Flamingo jazz and blues club had become the most happening nightclub of the burgeoning Swinging London scene. It was a place where mods, "Dolly Birds", aristocracy socialites, Caribbean immigrants, and African-American military personnel all danced the night away until 5 or 6am. It was simply the place to be in London in the early '60s. Of the venue's resident bands, it was Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames who were by far the most popular. So, once Fame signed to EMI subsidiary Columbia Records in 1963, it was a no-brainer that his debut album release would be a live recording from the Flamingo. The great thing about Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo is that it makes you feel as if you're right there among the sweaty bodies, spilled drinks, and clouds of cigarette smoke: the album carries the swinging, high-energy atmosphere of '60s club life and the attendant Rhythm & Blues scene like nothing else. It's almost like listening to an aural documentary record! The album features a great selection of R'n'B, ska, soul, and blues numbers, designed to get clubgoers' feet moving, and, while it failed to chart, it sold steadily over subsequent years – helped in part by Fame's later hit singles (including three UK number 1's). Although it's far from being a "hi-fi" recording, there's an honest and sensuous energy to Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo that is hard to beat. This was one of the must-have LPs for young partygoers in mid-60s Britain. Here's a sweaty-sounding cover of Rufus Thomas' "Do the Dog" from the album… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 15, 2024 7:38:49 GMT -5
5) Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! I must confess that I've never heard of Eric Dolphy before. The musicianship on that track you posted is very good, and I do kinda like the slinky quality of the music, but in all honesty, this is a little too Avant-garde for my tastes. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 14, 2024 18:40:58 GMT -5
6) Dave Pike and His Orchestra - Manhattan Latin Ahh...good ol' Dave Pike. The cool folks I used to hang out with in the Camden scene in London during the mid-90s would listen to his stuff on occasion. Someone did a cassette tape of his Noisy Silence/Gentle Noise album for me back in the day, which contains the sublime, sitar-drenched "Marthar". Manhattan Latin isn't an album I'm familiar with, but based on the track you posted, I would probably enjoy it. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 14, 2024 12:58:13 GMT -5
Next up on my Top 10 albums of 1964... #6 - Folk Singer by Muddy Waters It's not the first time we've seen this album in this 1964 run down, and there's not much more for me to add that Slam_Bradley didn't already say in his excellent write up. The album's title was a none-too-subtle attempt to cash in on the then-current folk music boom, but make no mistake – this is not a folk album: it's Mississippi Delta Blues through and through. As Slam has already mentioned, this is Waters' only acoustic album (not counting compilations of his early Alan Lomax sessions from 1941, of course) and it's a treat because of that alone. Folk Singer is a moody, intimate-sounding set of recordings, mostly taken at slower tempos, with Waters very often playing so softly that the listener wants to lean in closer towards the music to hear what's going on. There's a haunting, "down at the crossroads"-style forlornness to many of the tracks and the whole album oozes with Mississippi mud. It's also a superbly recorded and engineered album, courtesy of producers Ralph Bass and Willie Dixon; there aren't too many albums recorded in 1964 that audiophiles still rave about in 2024, but this is one of them! I don't want to pick out the same tracks that Slam did, so I'm gonna instead go for "Long Distance"… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 14, 2024 12:53:17 GMT -5
#6 - Otis Redding - Pain in my Heart
Nice pick. Again, I'm not familiar with the album in its entirity, but I know a good 3 or 4 tracks from it via their appearances on an Otis Redding compilation CD I have. You really can't go wrong with Redding's music. |
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I'm not familiar with any of Owens' individual albums in their entirity, but of course I know a few songs from this album, such as the two title tracks, "Close Up the Honky Tonks", and "Truck Drivin' Man". Based on those tracks, all of which are great, I'm sure this must be a pretty good album.