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When that old folk song, “Hallelujah I’m A Bum” meets Bo Diddley(R.I.P) (and that ain’t no Johnny Otis whistlin’ “Willie and the Hand Jive”
I heard a Bo Diddley tribute on local college station KALX and they played songs influenced by him, and hardly ANY Bo-Diddley. Ugh. That’s not what we need. We need more BO DIDDLEY (at least they played The Animals “The Story of Bo Diddley” alongside “I Want Candy” and The Smiths).
Roommates put on The Doors’ Morrison Hotel and I had to walk into the other room and start playing piano, and something like this song (made famous by The Temptations) started being played (by me, I suppose)—& I remember the old AM/FM split which seriously SCREWED up so many baby-boom, generation Xers and still leaves its bad trace. What am I talking about? The SNOBBERY—FM is better than AM; the kind of white power segregation that resulted from that (even if it wasn’t the INTENTION). Point is “Roadhouse Blues” is in NO WAY a better song, let alone performance, than “I Can’t Get Next to You.” I’ve seen the light! And Whitfield and Strong DO NOT get enough credit up there with Holland Dozier Holland or Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards, etc. The amount of classics they wrote is stunning (maybe they’re quite happy as behind the scenes guys).
“What Have They Done to My Song, Ma?” (what have they done to my brain, ma? They picked it like a chicken bone, and now I’m half-insane)”
David Berman (and co.)’s best, most consistent album since I left the band a decade ago. Maybe no particular standout song like the best of Bright Flight, but even its title (with its forward-looking threat doubling as a place of peace and solace) points to that “perspective from a hill” DCB prophesized back on 1996’s Natural Bridge; Lookout moves eyes, whether famous, pretty or petty…
From circa 2005, a contemporary country hit by the younger brothers of the late Ronnie Van Zant; one of which was more known for his work in 38 Special (while Donnie Van Zant imitated his dead brother alongside Ed King in Strawberry Alarm Clock tribute band); and, yes, if any part of “Hold On Loosely” was at the very least a not-so-guilty pleasure for you, this newer song has some of the same spirit; and it was a pleasure to hear it again, on a country show hosted by Nick Swisher and sponsored by Bank of America and the voice of The Oakland Athletics.
Some amazing sounds here. Chuck is smart enough music scholar to embody the spirit that crosses the petty categories that separate genres—so you get the sad beauty of Willie Nelson’s “Undo The Right” meeting ‘80s classy earthy snarl as if The The teamed up with John Doe and Jeffrey Lee Pierce
I got to sandwich these guys when they came to SF with Silver Jews (though I ended up getting an expensive ticket when we waited for Yonatan Gat to pick up his lost credit card). Anyway, they were one of those bands that were definitely much more about live theatrics and shock value stunts than anything else, and therefore promoter people lap that up in San Francisco, and now they’re on Drag City without the pyrotechnics, but it will hopefully help Yonatan Gat get some of his solo songs out there, once Barack Obama becomes president and acoustic music becomes fashionable again (not at the expense of electric music, but ultimately for its enhancement).
Yeah, I dig her style at the Indy 500 going after the guy who cut her off as she came out of the pit stop, and yes I do have much sympathy for Scarlett Johansson when people criticize her version of Tom Waits. I wonder if she got to meet and talk toTom Waits about music, and if she’ll continue (people say the one original song is the best performance on the album), and yes I hope she does. I don’t really follow her that much, and don’t know the myth of what she is supposed to represent (or her image) viz-a-viz the other Hollywood people. I became aware of her through Ghost World, and she always has a certain cred (that she may not have for others) for me because of that. I didn’t care for Lost in Translation much; I wish she had been in Groundhog Day instead. I believe this album is definitely a cry (and as such is GREAT) by an actress who is hemmed in by HOLLYWOOD and wants to try other things that get out of the overcommercial demographic niche marketer types (even if she covered Waits in exactly the wrong way; flattening the songs rather than taking his voice…)
I think Mr. Cave may very well be defying many prejudices about music and getting better and better
GOOGLE IT—there’s a youtube version of him performing it, probably circa 1965 when he had a minor hit with it. He reminds me of Roy Orbison as a vocalist, or Nat “King” Cole if he had grown up listening (or watching) James Brown but still wanted to be Nat “King” Cole as much as possible…
Because sometimes you just have to…(well, maybe YOU don’t…) but this one goes out to an old NYC friend Mike Lyons.
