So Beautiful or So What

I’ve been waiting for something like this.

Waiting is what you have to do these days if you’re looking for something to fire your interest. We’re such a long way from the time when music drove our culture, when events of historical significance could happen on any given day, and classic albums spilled from the creative well with astonishing regularity. Now, in the age of single track downloads and the wholesale adoption of portable mp3 players, the importance of the album format has been called into question and, on occasion, pronounced dead.

Not everyone is quite ready to buy into this idea, however, and the latest to throw his weight behind the preservation of the album format is Paul Simon. Historically, one of music’s heavy hitters, Paul Simon has been responsible for some of the greatest albums of the last several decades, including, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘Graceland’. He’s delivered the occasional stinker as well like the ill-fated and costly, ‘Songs from The Capeman’, but generally, even when the audience is not paying attention, his music far exceeds the undernourished efforts of your average navel-gazing Indie artist. There was the sadly neglected ‘Hearts And Bones’ for example, and more recently, his 2006 album, ‘Surprise’. Made in collaboration with Brian Eno, ‘Surprise’ was criminally overlooked in Australia, where it barely cracked the top 100 before falling through the cracks. I still listen to that disc today and tip my hat to Paul for venturing such an artistic risk. The album brimmed with Eno’s famous atmospheric treatments and pushed Paul Simon’s music into neighbourhoods his traditional audience was too wimpy to hazard. They just wanted another ‘Graceland’. Too bad for them.

Paul Simon is never one to take the easy ride and stay in the middle of the road just to please his audience. Like Neil Young, he likes to get into the rough and push the artistic boundaries a little. If things should go horribly wrong, as they did in ’97 with his short-lived Broadway musical, ‘The Capeman’, he can always hook up with his old sparring partner, Art Garfunkel and go out on the road to recoup his finances.

Five years after the release of ‘Surprise’, Paul Simon is pondering the merits of the album as a legitimate art form and a generation of kids who no longer afford it the same level of importance. In this age of apps and single song downloads, Paul has not lost faith in what essentially remains his chief stock in trade. He believes the album concept can be successfully reintroduced to this new generation. That the making of albums remains a legitimate art form which should not be “discarded”.

He also believes his forthcoming, 12^th studio album, ‘So Beautiful or So What’, is his best work in twenty years. (Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?) Of course, I can’t be nearly quite so enthusiastic until I get to hear it but from what I’ve sampled thus far, I can say, I’m certainly optimistic.

The first taste arrived late last year with the appropriately titled, “Getting Ready For Christmas Day”, featuring samples from a 1941 sermon by Christian preacher and sometime Gospel singer, the Rev. J.M. Gates. Next is a song called “The Afterlife”, which I warmed to the first time I heard it. There’s humour and pathos as the singer reflects on his recent “death” and his difficulty in coming to terms with the not so blessed, hereafter.

“After I died and the makeup had dried, I went back to my place.”

He’s not scared, however, just a little disoriented. No biggie.

“Still I thought it was odd there was no sign of god, just to usher me in.”

Before he discovers that the afterlife is, perhaps, a little overrated.

“Then a voice from above sugar-coated with love, said: ‘Let us begin’”

More to the point, the afterlife seems not all that different from the one he’s just left.

“You got to fill out a form first,

And then you wait in the line.”

You’ve got to give to Paul Simon he’s the thinking person’s Rock Star and has been since 1966. Too creatively muscular to be dismissed as a Folkie wimp, he stands quite comfortably among the likes of Bob Dylan and Randy Newman as one of songwriting’s master craftsmen.

‘So Beautiful or So What’ will land in mid-April. Meanwhile, the link below will give you an insight into Paul Simon’s thoughts on the challenges faced by the artist in the present day and how he still pushes the boundaries of his craft in the pursuit and creation of new sounds to confound and entertain his audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E652VTb2ubI

‘So Beautiful or So What’ – Album Preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA81JjI40V0

“Getting Ready For Christmas Day” – Paul Simon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlmcLPACAMk

“The Afterlife” – Paul Simon

Low Country Blues

It’s been 38 years since I last bought a Gregg Allman album. Back in ‘73, when I purchased his solo debut, ‘Laid Back’, Gregg Allman was riding a wave of popularity, coming from the album, ‘Brothers And Sisters’, as a member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Back then, the single, “Ramblin’ Man” was all over the radio, along with, “Jessica”, one of the greatest guitar Rock instrumentals, ever. Actually, both of those tunes were largely attributable to Dickey Betts, the band’s new guitarist, but in the wake of the deaths of both Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, there was still a lot of love in the room for Gregg.

In ’73, he was still a poster boy for what had been dubbed, Southern Rock, that quasi genre which nobody takes seriously anymore. All my friends were fans of The Allman Brothers back then but none seemed to share my near obsession with that first solo album. I remember hearing Gregg’s spooky reworking of, “Midnight Rider”, a song he’d already done with The Allman Brothers Band and resolving to buy the album at the first opportunity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yojZ-Ksr8AE

There would be times in my future when that album would be something akin to a close friend. It was a cathartic exercise for Gregg Allman, filled with loneliness and empathy in songs like “Queen Of Hearts” and “Multi-Colored Lady”, and in the wake of his brother’s recent death, his versions of songs like, “All My Friends”, Jackson Browne’s, “These Days” and an elegiac, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”, resonated as being particularly bruised and heartfelt.

Sounds weird, but it seemed there was something beautiful in all that sadness. There was a hint of levity, with a rock-house version of the Bobby McClure and Fontella Bass song, “Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing”, but mostly, the mood of the album was in keeping with it’s title.

Wailing, electric slide guitars may epitomise The Allman Brothers Band sound, but also among its trump cards has always been Gregg Allman’s vocals. From the very outset, on songs like, “Whipping Post”, Gregg Allman has proven his skills as a credible white Blues singer. On ‘Low Country Blues’, his first solo album in 14 years, Gregg Allman is still in fine voice, and completely at home.

Yesterday morning, I was reading the latest evaluation of Rock Music’s present state of health. The diagnosis was that Rock music is, finally, dead. It’s an assertion people have been intermittently voicing since the day Elvis quit recording for Sun.

Gregg Allman’s new album then, is a small but shining beacon on Rock’s apparently, terminal horizon. Most of the songs on ‘Low Country Blues’ are versions of vintage Blues songs from the likes of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Amos Milburn and ‘Magic’ Sam Maghett. Employing the production bona fides of T-Bone Burnett, ‘Low Country Blues’ revisits these songs of the old masters in a manner that is both faithful and real. After repeated listens, little nuances begin to emerge. It’s the difference between the many shades of Blues, from the rural acoustic style of the Skip James standard, “Devil Got My Woman”, to the elastic groove of Muddy Waters’ classic, “I Can’t Be Satisfied”, to the unmistakable Chicago riffing of Magic Sam on, “My Love Is Your Love”. (ie. Sam Maghett’s “magic” can largely be attributed to his first hit, “All Your Love”. On just about everything he recorded thereafter, he continually reinvented that song’s famous riff.)

The music on ‘Low Country Blues’, performed by guests including the likes of Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), and Doyle Bramhall II, is mature, unobtrusively precise, and reassuringly honest. And rolling above it, Gregg Allman broods, growls, testifies, and swings, over the album’s dozen songs. One original composition, “Just Another Rider”, sits comfortably in the middle, between songs by Bobby Bland and B.B. King. I imagine this album would sound great in a small bar or pool hall. It sure as hell sounds good through the headphones right now, with a thimble of Irish whiskey.

So, allay that handful of dirt you’re about to throw over Rock’s coffin.

I think there’s still a faint pulse.

Down In The Flood

“Crash on the levee, mama,

Water’s gonna overflow,

Swamp’s gonna rise,

No boat’s gonna row…”

I’ve gotta say, it’s all quite surreal.

When the attention of the whole world is suddenly focused on your town, and you’re not hosting the Olympic Games, it can’t ever be good. The eyes of the world happen to be on Brisbane right now. And no, we’re not hosting the Olympics.

The city of Brisbane is under siege, bracing itself against floodwaters that continue to rise by the minute. Like most everyone else, I’m watching it all go under, on live TV.

Surreal, is, indeed, the right word.

You see, today, the sun is shining and the breezes are blowing, after many days of, sometimes, torrential rain. This morning, I walked to the store and apart from the usual post-downpour detritus on the footpath, it looked like any other day in Queensland.

Just a few kilometres away, however, neighbouring suburbs are completely under water. The dirty, though otherwise glorious, Brisbane River, is swollen, and flowing at speed. Pontoons, boats and barges have broken their moorings and been swept away, some, crashing into bridges along their route.

Even a floating restaurant broke free and drifted downstream. That the restaurant was named Drift is, merely, sad irony. It traveled under the force of the flow to a point easily visible from our office on Coronation Drive, near the recently constructed, Go-Between Bridge (named in honour of the city’s favourite cult-Rock band). Once it collided with the bridge, the floating restaurant crumbled to pieces as if it were made of matchsticks and balsa wood. We didn’t witness it first hand, of course. We couldn’t reach the office. A little further downstream, a walking-bridge also broke up and washed away.

Something like sixty suburbs are affected, being either under threat, or just under. To this point, mine not in their number. I can go outside, look around and see nothing of the tragedy unfolding all around me. And that’s why it seems so surreal.

We’ve been advised to stay off the roads unless we need to travel. Many roads are obviously cut by pockets of deep water and traffic lights, in many areas, are simply not operating. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the regiments of rubbernecks who are compelled to venture out anyway, to put their lives in possible danger and impede the efforts of emergency services, just to catch that “once in a lifetime” event on their iPhone cameras. Then, at the very bottom of the food chain, are the few, but inevitable, looters, who see nothing wrong in preying on the misery of others. They’re actually less popular than the water, right now.

Do I know anyone affected by this extraordinary act of nature? Sure I do. A friend and former radio colleague named Vanessa appeared on the TV news after being evacuated from her house. She remarked on how the community was pulling together and helping each other out. A tragedy may flush out the odd rat but, even more, it will also draw out the fundamental goodness in people. Many stories of heartbreak and true heroism are yet to emerge from all this.

A forecast peak of 5.5 metres is expected around 4 a.m. tomorrow, but Brisbane is simply the latest casualty of these floods, which now cover seventy-five percent of this very, very large state. The impact is also being felt further south, with the floods extending into northern New South Wales and even parts of Victoria.

People used to document events such as this one in song, like Charley Patton did with “High Water Everywhere”, about the great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Barbecue Bob recorded two songs about the event with, “Mississippi Hard Water Blues” and later, “Mississippi Low Levee Blues”. Another one about that same historic time was Memphis Minnie’s classic, “When The Levee Breaks”, released in 1929. Many years later, Randy Newman was even moved to write a tune about it called, “Louisiana 1927” and, completing the circle, was Bob Dylan, who paid homage to the original with, “High Water (For Charley Patton)”.  I wonder if anyone will write songs about this flood.

One of the greatest flood songs I know of is Bob Dylan’s, “Down In The Flood” (aka “Crash On The Levee”) but the song that comes into my head most often as I watch the ongoing TV coverage is, “Buckets Of Rain”. It’s not even about a flood, really. But the first few lines seem to sum it up for me right now.

“Buckets of rain,

Buckets of tears,

Got all them buckets,

Comin’ out of my ears.

Buckets of moonbeams, in my hand…”

In times such as this, people will look for comfort wherever they can find it.  I still look for it in music.

To all my friends in low places, my thoughts go out to you.

Real Gone Cats

 

Whilst its not my intention to end the year on a down note, I believe it is fitting that radioBrandon pays tribute to those whom we bade farewell during the past 12 months. Wherever possible, I have also listed the cause of death in each case.

Many of the names listed below, will probably be unfamiliar to most but that does not mean that the weight of their contribution is, in any way, diminished.

Like, Jack Brokensha, for example. You may never have heard of him during his lifetime, but as an otherwise unheralded Australian, he played a role much greater than we could have imagined possible for an Aussie musician. When Jack was introduced to Quincy Jones for the first time, Quincy’s first words were, reportedly, “So, you’rethe guy who invented Rock ‘n’ Roll vibes?”

Being a Rock musician used to be a relatively dangerous occupation thanks to limitless supplies of drugs and alcohol. In contrast, this year we saw one of the most tragically bizarre unplanned exits in the case of former E.L.O. cellist, Mike Edwards. Whilst driving along a road near his home in Devon, England, his vehicle was, suddenly, struck by an out of control hay bale. Weighing around 600 kilograms, the cylindrical hay bale had just happened to be rolling down the hillside, at great speed as he was driving by. It’s hard to imagine anyone’s fate being so ridiculously unfortunate.

As the Sun sets on 2010, here are some of the music identities to become the latest in the long line of Real Gone Cats.

———————————————

Bobby Farrell [61]: Aruban born dancer and performer best known as “the male member” with ‘70s Disco group, Boney M.30^th December (unknown causes)

Billy Taylor [89]: American Jazz pianist and composer. He wrote Nina Simone’s ’67 song, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”. Greatly honoured during his lifetime as a Jazz music Living Legend. 28^th December (heart-attack)

Teena Marie [54]: American singer and composer. 26^thDecember (unknown causes)

Bernard Wilson [64]: American R&B, Funk and Soul singer. As a member of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, he sang on songs like the original, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”. Fellow group member, Luther Vandross, had passed earlier in the year. 26^thDecember (complications from a stroke and heart-attack)

Dorothy Jones [76]: American singer and founding member of 50s and 60s Girl Group, The Cookies. They recorded “Chains” before The Beatles and provided backing vocals on hits for others like Neil Sedaka (“Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”) and Little Eva (“The Locomotion”). 25^th December (complications from Alzheimer’s disease)

Myrna Smith [69]: American singer and member of The Sweet Inspirations, on-the-road and in-the-studio backing vocalists for Elvis Presley, as well as being heard on such hits as Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and “Grease” by Frankie Valli, among many others. She also wrote songs for Beach Boy, Carl Wilson. 24^thDecember (kidney failure)

Trudy Pitts [78]: American Jazz keyboard player, vocalist and bandleader. She also recorded with the band of saxophonist, Roland Kirk. 19^th December (pancreatic cancer)

Glen Adams [65]: Jamaican keyboard player with The Upsetters, the house band of Reggae producer, Lee “Scratch” Perry. 17^thDecember

Captain Beefheart [69]: aka Don Van Vliet. A highly innovative and influential American musician and visual artist, Captain Beefheart was a rare contemporary of Frank Zappa, who he occasionally collaborated, performed (and argued) with. A real Cult hero. 17^th December (complications from Multiple Sclerosis)

Woolly Wolstenholme [63]: English vocalist, keyboard player and founding member of Prog Rock band, Barclay James Harvest.13^th December (suicide after a long battle with mental illness)

James Moody [85]: American Jazz Saxophone and Flute player. Played with Dizzy Gillespie before a lengthy career as a soloist and bandleader. (He is also the Moody in the Jazz standard, “Moody’s Mood For Love”). 9^th December (complications from pancreatic cancer)

Monty Sunshine [82]: English Jazz Clarinetist with the Chris Barber Jazz Band. That’s him soloing all over the combo’s 1959 instrumental earworm, “Petite Fluer”. 30^th November

Peter Christopherson [55]: British musician and graphic artist. He was a founding member of Coil, Psychic TV and arguably, the first-ever Industrial music band, Throbbing Gristle. Produced a long list of music videos and was also one third of the Hipgnosis design company, working on album covers for the likes of Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel. 25^th November (died in his sleep)

Mimi Perrin [84]: French Jazz Singer and Pianist who recorded with Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles and John Coltrane. (The vocal group she formed in 1959, Les Double Six, would later morph into The Swingle Singers.) 16^th November

Henryk Górecki [76]: Polish Composer, who’s “Symphony No.3” (aka the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”) [1976] finally resulted in his ‘breakout’ album [1992], reaching No.6 on the UK’s mainstream chart. 12^th November (complications arising from a lung infection)

James Freud (aka Colin McGlinchey) [51]: Australian musician, author and songwriter with Teenage Radio Stars, Models, Beatfish etc. (“Barbados”, “Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight” – 1985) 4^thNovember (suicide following a long battle with alcoholism)

Jerry Bock [81]: American Tony Award winning Musical Theatre composer and lyricist (“Fiorello!” – 1959; “Fiddler On The Roof” – 1964). 3^rd November (heart failure)

Sonia Pottinger [79]: Jamaica’s first female record producer. 3^rdNovember (complications from Alzheimer’s disease)

Jim Clench [61]: Canadian Bass player with April Wine and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. 2^nd November (lung cancer)

Jack Brokensha [84]: Australian Jazz Vibraphonist aka “White Jack”, one of only two White members of Motown’s legendary house band, The Funk Brothers. And he was from Adelaide. (really).28^th October (congestive heart failure)

Gregory Isaacs [59]: Jamaican Reggae singer/songwriter best known for his 1982 album, “Night Nurse”. 25^th October (lung cancer)

Ari Up (aka Ariane Forster) [48]: German-born singer and founder of English Punk band, The Slits. 20^th October (cancer)

Marion Brown [79]: American Jazz alto-saxophonist and ethnomusicologist. (Part of the ‘60s avant-garde Jazz scene, playing alongside the likes of John Coltrane, Archie Shepp and later, piano minimalist, Harold Budd.) 18^th October (after a long illness)

General Norman Johnson [69]: American musician, record producer and member of The Showmen (“It Will Stand” – 1961) and Chairmen Of The Board (“Give Me Just A Little More Time” – 1970) 13^th October (complications from lung cancer)

Solomon Burke [70]: American R&B singer & songwriter and undertaker (“Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”; “Got To Get You Off My Mind”, etc.) 10^th October (natural causes)

Dame Joan Sutherland [83]: Australian dramatic coloratura soprano (aka “La Stupenda” – The Stunning One, aka “Voice Of The Century”) 10^th October

William Shakespeare [61]: (aka John Stanley Cave) Australian Glam Rock singer (“Can’t Stop Myself From Loving You” 1974; “My Little Angel” 1975) 5^th October (heart attack)

Eddie Fisher [89]: American singer/entertainer and serial husband to Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Connie Stevens, etc..22^nd September (complications from hip surgery)

Fud Leclerc [86]: Belgian singer and musician. His performance in the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest scored zero points, out of a possible 45. 20^th September

Buddy Collette [89]: American tenor Saxophonist, flautist and clarinetist. 19^th September

King Coleman [78]: American R&B Singer and musician. His was the vocal on James Brown’s 1959 record, “(Do The) Mashed Potatoes”. 11^th September (heart failure)

Mike Edwards (aka Swami Deva Pramada) [62]: English Cellist and member of the Electric Light Orchestra 3^rd September(bizarre car accident)

George David Weiss [89]: American composer responsible for “What A Wonderful World”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” etc. 23^rd August (natural causes)

Charles Haddon [22]: English singer with Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. 20^th August (suicide by jumping)

Michael Been [60]: America musician and founder of The Call (“When The Walls Came Down” 1983). 19^th August (heart-attack)

Kenny Edwards [64]: American singer/songwriter, founding member of The Stone Poneys (“Different Drum” 1967) and long-time collaborator with Linda Ronstadt and Karla Bonoff. 18^thAugust (prostate cancer)

Richie Hayward [64]: American Drummer and founding member of Little Feat. 12^th August (liver cancer)

Ted Kowalski [79]: Canadian Tenor singer and a founding member of The Diamonds (“Come Go With Me”, “The Stroll” in 1957) 8^th August (heart disease)

Catfish Collins [66]: American guitarist (for James Brown, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and Parliament-Funkadelic. 6^th August(cancer)

Bobby Hebb [72]: American singer/songwriter (most famous for “Sunny” (1966). 3^rd August (lung cancer)

Mitch Jayne [82]: American Bluegrass bassist for The Dillards and actor on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ (in which The Dillards were cast as fictional Bluegrass band, The Darlings). 2^nd August(cancer)

Mitch Miller [99]: American music executive and TV host of ‘Sing Along With Mitch’ (1961-1964). He also discovered Aretha Franklin, but didn’t know what to do with her. 31^st July (after a short illness)

Ben Keith [73]: American musician and record producer and generally, a bit of a legend. Played on recordings by Neil Young and many other artists. 26^th July (heart attack)

Phillip Walker [73]: American Blues musician and bandleader.22^nd July (heart failure)

Andy Hummel [59]: American bass player, vocalist and co-founder of Big Star. 19^th July (cancer)

Fred Carter Jr. [76]: American guitarist and influential musician.17^th July (stroke)

Hank Cochran [74]: American Country singer/songwriter. 15^thJuly (pancreatic cancer)

Tuli Kupferberg [86]: American counterculture poet, vocalist for and co-founder of, The Fugs. 12^th July

Sugar Minott [54]: Jamaican Reggae singer. 10^th July

Harvey Fuqua [80]: American R&B Singer (The Moonglows); discovered Etta James; produced Marvin Gaye. 6^th July (heart attack)

Jo-Jo Billingsley [58]: American singer, best known for her role in The Honkettes, providing backing vocals for Southern Rock heroes, Lynyrd Skynyrd. 24^th June (cancer)

Pete Quaife [66]: English bass player and founding member of The Kinks. 23^rd June (kidney failure)

Garry Shider [56]: American guitarist with Psychedelic Soul band, Parliament-Funkadelic as well as musical director for the P-Funk All-Stars. 16^th June (complications from brain and lung cancer)

Jimmy Dean [81]: American Country singer who scored with the 1961 hit, “Big Bad John”. 13^th June (natural causes)

Johnny Parker [80]: English Jazz pianist. He played piano on the 1956 Jazz hit, “Bad Penny Blues” by Humphrey Lyttelton and His Band, providing a source of inspiration for Paul McCartney when he was writing “Lady Madonna”. 11^th June (after a long illness)

Ken Brown [70]: English guitarist who played with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in The Quarrymen in the days before The Beatles. 9^th June (emphysema)

Crispian St. Peters [71]: English Pop singer of hits like “The Pied Piper”, “You Were On My Mind”. 8^th June (after a long illness)

Stuart Cable [40]: Welsh drummer and founding member of Stereophonics. 7^th June (choked on his own vomit after a bout of heavy drinking)

Marvin Isley [56]: American Bass player with The Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley. 6^th June (complications of diabetes.)

Slim Bryant [101]: American Country singer, songwriter and guitarist. (He was the last surviving musician to have recorded with Country legend, Jimmie Rodgers.) 28^th May

Paul Gray [38]: American Heavy Metal Bass player and vocalist with Slipknot. 24^th May (accidental fentanyl and morphine overdose)

Ronnie James Dio [67]: American Heavy Metal vocalist, songwriter and icon. 16^th May (stomach cancer)

Doris Eaton Travis [106]: American performer and last surviving Ziegfeld girl from Broadway’s famous, Vaudeville variety revues, the ‘Ziegfeld Follies’. 11^th May (aneurysm)

Lena Horne [92]: American singer, actress, activist and dancer. She gave us “Stormy Weather” and so much more. 9^th May (heart failure)

Dave Fisher [69]: Lead singer and founding member of American Folk group, The Highwaymen of “Michael” (Row The Boat Ashore) fame. 7^th May (myelofibrosis)

Georgia Lee [89]: Australian Jazz and Blues singer. (She is credited as being the first Indigenous Australian to record Blues songs.) 23^rd April

Guru (born Keith Elam) [48]: American rapper and half of the duo Gang Starr. 19^th April (multiple myeloma)

Steve Reid [66]: American Jazz drummer. (Played with Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, James Brown, Fela Kuti and as a session musician for various Motown acts.) 13^th April (throat cancer)

Malcolm McLaren [64]: English musician and band manager (The Sex Pistols/New York Dolls/Bow Wow Wow) 8^th April(mesothelioma)

Johnny Maestro [70]: American singer (The Crests and Brooklyn Bridge) 24^th March (cancer)

Jim Marshall [74]: American Rock Photographer par excellence. He was the only photographer allowed backstage at the last Beatles concert in ’66, took that photo of Jimi setting his guitar alight at Monterey in ’67 and captured many other iconic images of the era.24^th March

Marva Wright [62]: American Blues singer. 23^rd March (stroke)

Alex Chilton [59]: American singer and musician. Lead singer of both The Box Tops and Big Star. 17^th March (heart attack)

Herb Cohen [77]: American record company executive and former manager of Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Alice Cooper and Tim Buckley. 16^th March (cancer)

Lesley Duncan [66]: English singer/songwriter 12^th March(cerebrovascular disease)

Micky Jones [63]: Welsh singer and guitarist with Prog Rock band, Man. 10^th March (brain tumour)

Mark Linkous [47]: American singer/songwriter and leader of Sparklehorse. 6^th March (gunshot suicide)

Lolly Vegas (aka Lolly Vasquez) [70]: American singer and guitarist with all-Native American band, Redbone. 4^th March(lung cancer)

Ruby Hunter [54]: Ngarrindjeri Australian singer/songwriter and actor. She was also personal and musical partner to Archie Roach.17^th February (heart attack)

Doug Fieger [57]: American lead singer and guitarist (The Knack). “My Sharona” was actually his Sharona. 14^th February (lung cancer)

Lee Freeman [60]: American rhythm guitarist Strawberry Alarmclock, famous for the 1967 ‘psychedelic’ Pop hit, “Incense And Peppermints”. 14^th February (cancer)

Dale Hawkins [73]: American Rockabilly musician and record prducer. He also wrote the swamp hit, “Suzie Q”. (kudos). 13^thFebruary (colorectal cancer)

Sir John Dankworth CBE (aka Johnny Dankworth) [82]: English Cool Jazz Clarinetist/Saxophonist and husband of Jazz singer, Cleo Laine 6^th February

Pauly Fuemana [40]: Lead singer with New Zealand duo OMC (Otara Millionaires Club) best known for the hit “How Bizarre”.31^st January (after a short illness)

Alistair Hulett [57]: Scottish-born singer with Australian Folk/Punk band Roaring Jack. 28^th January (liver failure)

Robert “Squirrel” Lester [67]: American Soul singer and second tenor with The Chi-Lites 21^st January (liver cancer)

Lynn Taitt [75]: Jamaican Reggae guitarist for The Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley and Johnny Nash and others. 20^thJanuary (cancer)

Kate McGarrigle [63]: Canadian Folksinger (Kate & Anna McGarrigle. She was also the mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright) 18^th January (clear-cell sarcoma)

Carl Smith [82]: American Country singer and songwriter (also first husband of June Carter and father of Carlene Carter) 16^thJanuary (natural causes)

Jimmy Wyble [87]: American guitarist with Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. He also toured Australia with Frank Sinatra) 16^thJanuary (heart failure)

Bobby Charles [71]: American songwriter of “See You Later, Alligator” “Walking To New Orleans” and “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do” 14^th January

Chilton Price [96]: American Country/Pop songwriter. She composed “Slow Poke” (aka “Slow Coach”) and “You Belong To Me”: 14^th January

Teddy Pendergrass [59]: American Soul singer and songwriter and lead vocalist with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. 13^thJanuary (colorectal cancer)

Jay Reatard (born: Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr) [29]: American Garage Punk musician 13^th January (cocaine toxicity)

Brian Damage (born: Brian Keats) [46]: American Punk and Rock drummer (Misfits) 12^th January (colorectal cancer)

Yabby You (born: Vivian Jackson) [63]: Jamaican Reggae singer and producer 12^th January (stroke)

Mick Green [65]: British Rock ‘n’ Roll guitarist with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas 11^th January

Willie Mitchell [81]: American musician and record producer for Soul singers, Ann Peebles and Al Green. 5^th January (cardiac arrest)

Tony Clarke [68]: British musician and record producer for The Equals and The Moody Blues 4^th January (emphysema)

…may they all rest in peace..

 

2010 In The Rear View Mirror: Part 2

Each year, I feel a need to explain, and mostly for the benefit of new readers, that the wrap up of what made the greatest impression at radioBrandon, simply comes down to a panel of one. As such, the choices are not arrived at through any accumulation of points or star ratings, genre snobbery, groveling appeasement to one label’s roster, or format restrictions of a particular radio network. Neither, are they arrived at through great consultation with others at some specially convened panel of industry experts. For the winner, no glimmering statuette is in the offing, no plaque, no bowl of fruit. To the unsuspecting recipients, comes no tangible career benefit at all.

Being merely opinion, then, it may be taken with the grain of salt, freely downloadable at the link below. By all means, feel free to poke holes in, laugh in derision at, or disagree violently with, any of the adjudicator’s decisions. It won’t make a jot of difference. (No correspondence will be, etc.)

Not that it influenced my choices in any way, I have taken a peek at the end-of-year lists put forward by several publications and online sources who chose to get in early. If any one factor in common is evidenced, it was that, in 2010, very few opinions seemed to share agreement on anything much at all. Most of the lists I’ve seen, were full of stuff so utterly obscure, I wondered if I’d even lived through the same year. Some highly rated choices, I remember having dismissed through the year as being, well, crap. Let’s see how many of those choices are still being championed, even two years from now.

Depending on how hip the source is perceived to be, the more credence is given to its choices. For example, someone who relies on the Grammy’s to position his cultural weather vane might find the choices below to be as discomforting as I did, perusing those lists compiled by some of the hipper critics. This is how the year looked through my own rose-coloured glasses…

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Rock Album: ‘Grinderman 2’ – Grinderman. It’s easy to think of Grinderman as simply being Nick Cave’s other band. Maybe, too easy, but it also affords Nick an outlet for his other personality. You know, the one that’s especially dark, as opposed to the one that is slightly less so. ‘Grinderman 2’ is a real Rock album, in the strictest sense. It has attitude and bombast and stories filled with characters you would, probably, never want to meet in real life. Deliciously loud and reassuringly unsettling.

Blues Album: ‘Living Proof’ – Buddy Guy. This really is life-affirming stuff, for any Blues fan. When Buddy says he’s “seventy-four years young”, I’m inclined to put on a halfway grin, but when he wrenches and spindles those riffs from his guitar, it always brings on a full smile. In a world filled with guitar players, its good to hear one, of Buddy’s vintage, refusing to either let up, or quiet down. If any young punk tells you the oldsters can’t cut it, hand him a copy of ‘Living Proof’, and suggest he shut the fuck up. (Why doesn’t Eric Clapton make me an album like this?) And speaking of Eric..

Best Eric Clapton Solo: “Run Back To Your Side” – Eric Clapton. Usually this award goes to a song on somebody else’s record, but this year, God got lucky. His latest solo album, ‘Clapton’, saw the maestro in a return to form, running through Blues, old Standards, Tin Pan Alley and requisite JJ Cale songs. In the ‘60s, this would have been called, ‘The Many Moods of Eric Clapton’. On this particular Blues, Eric shares licks with co-writer and second guitarist, Doyle Bramhall II, revisiting riffs from the likes of Cream’s version of “Crossroads”. Nice one, Eric. Til next year, then?

Easy Listening Album: ‘Seasons Of My Soul’ – Rumer. Really, I wish someone would give this genre a better name, that doesn’t invoke the thought of old music by mostly, dead people. It’s a pity. An artist as promising as Rumer could slip right past you, unnoticed. She was a late arrival this year but with a voice that can call upon memories of the late Karen Carpenter, England’s Rumer has produced a silky smooth debut, intended for the ears of the one you love. (Auto-tune free Ò).

Chillout Album: ‘Record’ – Zero 7. Look closer and you’ll find it is actually a retrospective of Zero 7’s best from the past decade but when I played it to a friend, he was surprised he’d never heard of this band before. We are constantly reminded that everything is new the first time you hear it. ‘Record’ compiles some of the band’s early chilled classics with Sia, long loved by a select few. In the old parlance, a Sunday morning coming down album.

Ambient Album: ‘Small Craft On A Milk Sea’ – Brian Eno. He’s worked behind some of Rock’s biggest names in the past 30 odd years but Eno makes great music himself from time to time. As an Ambient composer and pioneer, he opened our ears to a new kind of music and introduced us to many other exponents in the field. Not all of his albums have been as immediately accessible as ‘Music For Airports’ but ‘Small Craft On A Milk Sea’, made in collaboration with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams, offers some wonderful open territory for the mind to wander in.

Concept Album: ‘Here Lies Love’ – David Byrne & Fatboy Slim. The best double album about a contentious female political icon since, ‘Evita’! (Okay, it’s also, probably, the only one). I have never found Imelda Marcos to be a particularly fascinating individual and thought it curious that her life should warrant such inspiration for musical vision, but ‘Here Lies Love’ was one album I continually returned to this year. A million miles from a Broadway musical, this is adult Pop on a grand scale and a great collaboration between Messrs. Byrne and Cooke, on which neither assumed an obtrusively dominant role.

Americana Album: ‘The Promised Land – A Swamp Pop Journey!’ – The Li’l Band O’ Gold. With albums from Richmond Fontaine, Los Lobos, Ray LaMontagne, and the newly revitalised Texas Tornados, this should have been a difficult choice, but in the end it was this Swamp Pop band from Louisiana that really won me over this year. Gulf Coast Rock from the deep American South reminded me that real, organic music still exists in places where people make it for the sheer pleasure of the experience. The all-star band’s formation was also recorded for a brilliant documentary film, which, like the album, is recommended.

Country Album: ‘The Guitar Song’ – Jamey Johnson. I am compelled to point out that separate from my beloved and broad ranging ‘Americana’ this is an actual Country record. It’s hard to reconcile, that just five years ago, Jamey Johnson wrote a song for Country singer, Trace Adkins, called “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” (and if you don’t know what a badonkadonk is, you don’t live in a trailer park). How many Country artists do you know of who’d dare release a double album these days? For once, the second disc is actually warranted. Johnson is a good storyteller with an uncanny ability to write Country tunes that don’t set the teeth on edge. You may know already how I feel about Hat music, so this comes as high praise, indeed.

Soul Album: ‘You Are Not Alone’ – Mavis Staples. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there have been quite a few albums of Soul music released in the past couple of years. Most of them, by wimpy, White boys which is kinda curious, given most Black music these days, sounds like Soul and R&B’s poorer, dumber, distant cousin. And then, an album like this one comes along from a true veteran in Mavis Staples to remind us what the real thing sounds like. The title song brims with humanity, compassion, solidarity, and great reassurance.

Rock Song: “Stylo” – Gorillaz.

Way to bring Bobby Womack back into public view! The phat sound in the bottom end is magic in this song. (And Bruce Willis starred in the video clip.) I still have no idea what it’s about. The band released their brand new album as a free download from their website on Xmas Day. Haven’t listened to it yet.

Pop Song: “California Girls” – Katy Perry. Why? Was it that cupcake bra she wore in the video? Or, the unlikely cameo by Snoop Dogg? Or, the super-skin-tight yellow dress with kangaroo print she wore on her recent Australian visit? No. It was because the song spent so much time bouncing around in my head. It’s one of those ubiquitous Pop songs that had historical resonance, via an association (and then, litigation), with another song bearing that title. It was perfect fodder for Pop radio in 2010, even in places real California girls wouldn’t be seen dead in.

R&B Song: “Fuck You” – Cee Lo Green. We first had a taste of Cee Lo’s vocal talents when he hooked up with Dangermouse under the moniker of, Gnarls Barkley. Their hit, “Crazy” was one of the bona-fide classics of the last decade but when he released the angst-ridden, “Fuck You” a few months back, I figured it was his way of cutting a classic that could never be played on the radio. Of course, I was wrong to underestimate the power of money. In spite of the challenge of the title, everyone knew it was a hit record. When the song was watered down and issued for general consumption as, “Forget You”, I couldn’t believe how lame it sounded. I’ll put my money on the table right now, to bet it’ll win a Grammy next year. Let’s hope his career can recover from it.

Radio Song: “Hey, Soul Sister” – Train. There were a few others I enjoyed, but “Hey, Soul Sister” crossed more boundaries, to find an acceptance broader than any other song this year. The reason I chose it, though, is because it sounded like a radio song. This is the kind of tune people had in mind when the term, ‘radio-friendly’ was first coined. It’s also the kind of song that Pop radio would like to find a lot more of. And because radio does, what radio does, we’re well and truly over it by now. Next!

Comedy Song: “Horse Outside” – The Rubberbandits. A great man once posed the query, ‘Does Humour Belong In Music?’ The answer, of course, is: “Yes, it bloody well does!” No better funny song was released this year than, “Horse Outside” by Irish comedy team, the Rubberbandits. Anarchic, outrageous and a little bit naughty, it flips two fingers at some rather big names in the auto industry, and the wankers who drive them.

Gig (International): Just as I didn’t hear every record released in 2010, I didn’t get to see every tour, either. Of those that I did, however, it was a night at the Tivoli seeing Jeff Beck that made the greatest impression on me. Except for the venue, the Yusuf/Cat Stevens show ran a close second. Without doubt, one of the most accomplished guitarists in the world today, Jeff Beck was in top form at the end of his Australian tour, playing late ‘70s classics alongside tunes from his best album of new material in years. The room was perfect and the crowd, enraptured.

Gig (Local): Its good to support a band or two from your own home town, and through a happy coincidence, mine happens to boast one devoted to presenting the music of my hero, the late Frank Zappa. How cool is that? This year I saw Clint Allen’s 19-piece rockin’ teen combo, The Zappa Big Band, on three occasions. I know they’d pull crowds if they toured more widely but I don’t want to see them leave. Looking forward to attending more of their highly eclectic gigs in 2011.

Happy New Year,

2010 In The Rear View Mirror: Part 1

Looking back on the past year, I confess to sometimes feeling more like a librarian than a music fan. The radioBrandon mp3 music library continued in it’s unremitting expansion during 2010, to the point where processing and filing of new additions seemed to occupy an awful lot of my spare time.

In the car, I listened to many hours of BBC Radio music documentaries on a USB drive, about artists like Billie Holiday, Kraftwerk, Marvin Gaye, George Harrison Miles Davis and Bob Dylan. I also caught up on a radio adaptation of one of my favourite novels, ‘The Glass Bead Game’. I rediscovered my love of ‘70s Reggae music and listened to a lot of that on the USB, as well. Commercial radio? Didn’t need it.

It’s more convenient to scan the video clip shows on TV to find out what’s on commercial radio, or what should be. And I only listen to CDs now, when reviewing the new stuff. If it’s particularly good, I’ll rip it to a more portable mp3 format. In the past decade, the fundamental way in which I listen to music has changed, quite significantly. How about you?

When we lived in a much smaller world Top-40 radio would tell us all we needed to know. Trusted publications and album covers would fill in the gaps and flesh out the story, and between them, any kind of music fan could learn what was hip, and where to find it. It was a cultural safety net, comprised of a loose affiliation of voices on which we counted to separate the wheat from the chaff and put the best of it before us. No such reliable filter seems to exist these days. Publications and commercial radio have marginalised themselves into niches, which they have then failed to build upon and exploit. Radio, brought all the banality of last century into the present, but none of its innovation.

If you thirst for music of some quality these days, you have to actively seek it out. This is no longer that period in history where music and art meet in the mainstream. That separation, and subsequent divorce, happened back down the road apiece. Although some of them will puff up their chests and claim otherwise, 2010 was the proverbial “annus horribilis” for record companies, artists, radio and music fans, alike.

When a piece-of-crap album can debut at number one, after selling only a mere handful of copies, it represents the pinnacle of a rather small, and culturally insignificant, heap. I saw it happen on numerous occasions during the past year. The gushing accolades and industry awards nights continued in spite of it, of course, but for me, 2010 was the year the once-proud album format, became pretty much irrelevant, other than being an optional delivery system.

I’m guessing the future will be somewhat more exciting for us all. We just can’t see it yet.

On a more personal level, 2010 was the year I found reason to take better care of my health, after being briefly hospitalised with a painful lung infection back in January. Getting things like blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and body shape under better control, through riding my bicycle, and doing more exercise, has not been a great task. In April, I finally severed the umbilical connection to the mobile phone and haven’t used one since. I have not regretted the decision one bit and do not envy my friends with their iPhones and their countless, geeky, apps. I dabbled in social networking, by joining Facebook, before backing away from it because it consumed way more time than I was willing to give up. To be honest, I’d rather be listening to music and writing about the best of what I’ve heard than discovering who has the measles this week. The plan is to continue on this path in the year ahead. Sorry, Facebook.

I hope your own holiday season is proving to be fun, in spite of either the excessive rain (in my case), or excessive sunshine (in the west). So, let’s raise a glass to 2011, and ring in the new.

The beat goes on.

The Bane of 2010

Ken recently rang me to see if I’d possibly fallen and broken my hip and been unable to reach my keyboard. Thankfully, it was nothing so life threatening. I had just, inadvertently, misplaced my music mojo.

November was a curious month. For a moment there, I thought my enthusiasm for new music had deserted me altogether, but soon resolved that it was simply my pet hate of Auto-tune and the insidious but inescapable impression its made on the current pop music landscape. It turns up on everything, even on recordings by people who can sing. In 2010, the artistic bar was actually lowered to an extent where we were invited to get enthused about the kind of puffery that has a lifespan of three weeks.

It’s particularly deflating, when all you need do is, look back to a time, now well behind us, to discover something infinitely more artistic and entertaining. Music you are happy to revisit, years hence. How many genuinely classic albums (or, for that matter, songs), would you proudly hold up from the century’s first decade?

Many of 2010’s highlights have been in the reissuing of old product. The re-mastered catalogues of Hendrix and Lennon are up there, of course, along with the early Stooges albums and the freshly remastered Rolling Stones’ epic, ‘Exile On Main Street’ but it hasn’t all been good.

Elvis Presley fans, for example, had cause for confusion recently, over the “re-imagined” versions of some of the King’s anthems appearing on the ‘Viva Elvis’ album. The purist should approach this one with great caution, which begs the question. Who is this album for, exactly? True fans will rightly recoil at the perceived sacrilege. And the kids, well, they just won’t care. I guess that just leaves the Bogans. There are plenty of them, after all. Elvis was not a guitar hero, a brilliant producer, or a gifted songwriter. Elvis was a singer, the singer. Why then, in re-imagining his recordings for the 21^st century, would you bury that voice under layers of heavily treated audio fabrication? If you can endure ‘Viva Elvis’ through to the end (unlikely), you will discover the worst has, indeed, been saved for last. It varies, depending on your global region but in Australia, you will find a re-imagined version of “Love Me Tender” on which Presley’s vocal is presented in duet with… Jessica Mauboy?

Hardly an artistic tour de force, the very idea of repackaging Presley’s vocals alongside ‘artists’ he would never have been troubled with in real life, opens a potentially ugly future for the King. And, with all due respect to Jessica Mauboy, she’s not even remotely in the same league. Of the many albums in 2010 that should not have been released, ‘Viva Elvis’ is at the top of the list, convincingly beating Santana’s ‘Guitar Heaven’ into second place. It bears pointing out that, on a better diet, Elvis would have turned 75 this year. And this is how we celebrate his historic contribution?

Admittedly, the music was prepared for a Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas extravaganza, but as an album, it does nothing to enhance the memory of the man known, in career increments, as The Hillbilly Cat, The Memphis Flash and then, simply, The King.

Most new music in the charts this year has been as ephemeral as a TV commercial. Each week a few tracks by the cast of Glee seem to tumble out of the chart, only to be replaced by the latest batch of songs from the hit TV show. Every one of those songs is old, tried and tested. Every one of them is auto tuned up the yin-yang. Can those people really sing? Who could even tell? And to think The Monkees were considered the masters of pre-fabricated Pop. The Glee machinery is nothing, if not an exercise in extreme marketing. The kids like it, but it ain’t music, at least, not in the way we have previously known it to be. We now live in an era where the pursuit of fame, in and of itself, has eclipsed the desire to master an instrument. Songwriting is subjected to algorithmic analysis, to diminish the risk factor and guarantee the optimum return on investment. And instead of revealing any new classics, the modern custom is to default, consistently, to the old ones. Reinvention then, is the new look.

Remove the essence of that hoary old chestnut, “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from the latest Black Eyed Peas hit and you don’t have much left of what wasn’t much of a song, to begin with. And that same feeling of cultural emptiness pervades the rest of the album it comes from. Absent from our music in 2010 is any real sense of humanity. Beyond the triumphs of any one artist, it is Auto-tune that has delivered the greatest musical achievement of 2010. But it won’t always be this way. One day, we’ll look back on it all and laugh through gritted teeth.

Despite all my bemoaning, I am not advocating a wholesale return to what is now, dismissively, known as Dad Rock. And, in truth, it’s not all doom and gloom out there, although you can see it from here. There are some talented people out there, who can sing, who can play an instrument, who can write songs, and because of that, there is every chance you might never hear of them. They flip a middle finger to the modern convention by daring to record without the auto-tune safety net, and use actual musicians into the bargain. Heresy.

As an example, check out the clip below. Bill found this artist via the internet, and ordered the album in from overseas. It’s been available in the UK for months now, but you wouldn’t know it here in Australia. The singer’s name is Rumer and her album is called, ‘Seasons Of My Soul’. Her voice reminds me very much of the late, Karen Carpenter. The music and arrangements remind me of Burt Bacharach. The songs are good, and they’re delivered with warmth and intimacy. Yeah, I know, doomed to failure. But, all the same, I had to share it. “Slow” is Rumer’s debut single. If you like it, check out the clip for her tribute to the Queen of Soul, “Aretha”. You may even want to hunt down the album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvYUfwMBCrU

“Slow” – Rumer

I won’t be so bold as to cite Rumer as evidence of a cultural backlash but just to prove she’s not alone, here’s another example, also found by Bill. (Perhaps, I’m looking at the wrong websites!) This is a woman from Holland named, Caro Emerald. Her debut album, ‘Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor’ has been resting at the top of the Dutch album charts for most of this year. Worth a listen? You won’t find this one available locally just yet, either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgKXwQrBn5I

“Riviera Life” – Caro Emerald

And just to prove I’m not totally hung up on Easy Listening tunes in my dotage, here’s something completely different. I first heard this one yesterday and especially liked the clip. The band is a comedy Hip-Hop duo from Limerick, in Ireland, call themselves The Rubberbandits and have a penchant for wearing plastic shopping bags over their heads. Their debut song, “Horse Outside”, wins on several fronts. It ticks the boxes for humour, irreverence and potentially offensive lyrics. If you thought Mumford and Sons were fun with “Little Lion Man”, you won’t want to miss singing along with this. Expect it to rate highly on Triple-J’s ‘Hottest 100’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3J8

“Horse Outside” – The Rubberbandits

The Bed Intruder

Is this thing for real? Apparently, it is.

Sticks Tweeks sent me the links below this afternoon, and watching them, has almost left me speechless. Almost.

In the days of old, the biggest news stories were immortalised in song and today we know about names like Tom Dooley and Stagger Lee, even if we’re not sure why. Stories of murders, great natural disasters and other, man-made, catastrophes have always been preserved in song.

These days, news travels fast and the potential to discover and respond to it, immediate. Maybe, this is what John Lennon was warning us about with, “Instant Karma!” What this represents is something culturally new but with its roots firmly in the same spirit of reportage in popular song that moved Bob Dylan to tell us about folk like Emmett Till, Hattie Carroll and Ruben “Hurricane” Carter.

This new phenomenon is 21^st century-immediate, and ultimately, disposable. Inadvertently, it also reveals what is so shamelessly wrong about the record-making industry in the present day. You know, already, how I would love to see auto-tune tarred, feathered and marched out of town. But this is such an incredibly blatant example of what auto-tune can do, it makes the emperor’s new clothes seem utterly laughable. Auto-tune is the world’s biggest safety net because it renders the idea of actual talent almost redundant. Almost.

Here, though, auto-tune is almost the sideshow. Almost. Very cleverly hijacked by New York based Geek Rock band, The Gregory Brothers, the second clip was made as part of their project, “Auto-tune The News”. This is what geeks mean when using the term, “it’s gone viral”. I had to share it with you because it is just so utterly new and amazing.

Be sure to watch both clips in order.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520

The ‘news report’ in the first clip sets up the next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKsVSBhSwJg

“The Bed Intruder Song” – The Gregory Brothers

We‘ve had the accidental hero and the accidental tourist and now, an appearance in a news story has elevated Kevin ‘Antoine’ Dodson to the status of accidental cult sensation. The Gregory Brothers have stated that a percentage of profits from digital downloads will go to help Antoine Dodson’s family. Cory Worthington and Clare Werbeloff can only dream of getting this kind of exposure.

I’m 74 Years Young

This fascination I have for all kinds of music, that first motivated me, as a kid, to empty my pockets out at the record store, has always been underscored by a particular fascination with the Blues. Some music, you listen to, and some music speaks to you, moves you. It gets into the gut and it stays there.

Some people get it from Classical music, for others, its Country. For me, it’s Blues. Not surprising, in some respects, given that much of my impressionable youth unfolded to the sounds of the British Blues Revival period of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Listening to Eric Clapton and Peter Green set me on a backwards journey to discover players like Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, The Memphis Jug Band, Charlie Patton. I couldn’t believe how good this music was.

Fundamental to the Blues, is the expression of the human experience at its most primal. The incredible highs, unbearable lows, and all of that mundane minutiae filling up those bits in between. In order to connect with the listener, the Blues needs to be honest, and believable. Age and experience also bring credence. And when Buddy Guy starts into the first song on his new album, “Living Proof”, age and experience are at centre stage:

“I’m 74 years young, there ain’t nothin’ I haven’t done”

As an opening song, “74 Years Young” is a blinding affirmation that, at any age, it is great to be alive, and especially so, if you happen to be a Blues guitar hero.

“I’ve been all around the world, everywhere is home, / Drank wine with Kings, and The Rolling Stones”

I’m guessing he’s talking about the three Kings, Albert, B.B., and Freddie, and yes, he does mean The Rolling Stones. Buddy Guy has, indeed, had quite the life experience.

Even if he is talking it up, to the point of making you laugh.

“When it come to lovin’, I ain’t never done. I’m 74 years young.”

Get it while you can, Buddy. Willie Nelson had his 75^th birthday a couple of years back and delivered the famous quote: “I have outlived my dick.”

Unless the 74 years young, Buddy Guy, really does have a mojo hand, and some John The Conqueror root tucked away in a cupboard somewhere, I’m guessing his next album is going to be particularly bluesy. But that’s not even the best bit.

The song blows in on the strings of a steel bodied guitar in an easy walking lope. It conjures a dusty, country road that leads into a more urban walking groove, as other instruments join in. All the while, Buddy’s life story is spilling out. “I’ve chased some tails, ‘n’ I left some tracks/I still know how to have my fun, I’m 74 years young.”

Suddenly, the song just explodes, into one of Buddy’s merciless guitar solos, as the urban street amble arrives at the boulevards of the big city. Buddy is as savage as he has ever been as a guitarist, bringing real validation to his assertion, “Tonight I feel like I’m 21. I’m 74 years young.”

The next song, “Thank Me Someday” is another dazzling display from a man who does, apparently, get better with age, recounting his early life and his discovery of the instrument that would take him to international stardom. Along with “Everybody’s Got To Go”, these songs give us a deeper look into Buddy’s own history, from the time of his 1936 birth, into the life of a dirt-poor sharecropping family in Louisiana. Living proof, indeed.

Buddy also makes room for some justified peer recognition including a poignant duet of mutual-admiration with B.B. King, “Stay Around A Little Longer” (incredibly, the first time the two have recorded together), as well as a quiet storm guitar cameo from a Carlos Santana on, “Where The Blues Begin”.

Buddy Guy has neither slowed, nor mellowed, in his approach to the Blues, and seriously, puts most of the younger competition in the shade. As modern Blues albums go, “Living Proof” can justify all that its title implies. With many other players, including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan citing him as a major influence, Buddy Guy is regarded, for good reason, a living legend.

Sometimes, Buddy Guy’s albums have sounded a little too over the top but with “Living Proof”, he strikes a good balance of moods with typically, unmitigated flair. “Living Proof” is out this Thursday and is, quite possibly, the best Blues album you will buy this year.

The Boys Want To Rock

”I wanna rip it, rock it, really bop it, flip it, flop it, Davy Crock-it, Every time I hear that mellow saxophone.”

The boys want to Rock. At least, they did when I was a boy. Some of us never really grew out of it. The above lyric comes from a song released by R&B artist, Roy Montrell, when I was one year old. At the time, it was the honkin’ saxophone and of course, piano, that were the key instruments. By the time my teen years were in sight, electric guitars were on the ascendant. The music had undergone some changes, but the sentiment remained immutable, and the boys still wanted to Rock.

Rock music was a free ticket for the self-expression of individual liberty, in an age where alternative avenues for such, were severely limited. It was the slow-release fertiliser for what would soon explode into a global concept of youth culture. The one we grew up in. And in this new culture, the boys wanted to Rock.

Those teen years are now far away in the rear view mirror and now I get my jollies night-driving on the freeway, with a selection of tunes from the radioBrandon library blaring from the car stereo. The car, itself, may look the very essence of neglect, but the music inside, is gold. Last night, I was winding-up the volume on the sharp staccato attack of “Tommy Gun” by The Clash and marveling at the dearth of bands in 2010 who could even claim to be so passionate, bloody-minded and very much in your face, as this. “Whatever you want, you’re gonna get it!” At about 2:20 into the song, I’m hitting a big curve in the freeway as Joe Strummer spits out a mighty “Awwwraighht!” and the guitars change up a gear chiming in urgency, like a ring in a bell. It was one of those rock ’n’ roll moments that remind me that I am alive, and delighted to be so.

The car comes out of the curve and back into a straight line, as “Tommy Gun” suddenly slams shut. And then, Roy Montrell kicks in.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCE34d-gzgo

”I wanna rip it, rock it, really bop it, flip it, flop it, Davy Crock-it, Every time I hear that mellow saxophone.”

I’ve been listening to quite a lot of Rock music just lately. Not all of it new, quite obviously. I used the recent passing of (what would have been) John Lennon’s 70^th birthday to make “The John Lennon 70^th Birthday Cheddar”, now waxed, and ripening on the cellar shelf. By comparison, the efforts by the people at EMI were a little over the top. The positive result being, John Lennon has made a return to the top-10 in this week’s album chart. His newly remastered catalogue has been reissued in multiple formats including a single album, “Power To The People: The Hits”, an impressive 4xCD box, “Gimme Some Truth” and an expanded 11xCD collection, for those in a tax bracket beyond my personal experience.

Just below John Lennon in the album chart is the new Santana album. The title itself is a warning: “Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time”. The M.O. is quite simple. Carlos Santana wants to be in the charts and Clive Davis is his enabler. Like the hugely successful, “Supernatural” album before it, the new one is another all-star jamboree, ensuring the strongest commercial prospects. To give a little credit, the first four tracks are exceptional but after that, the whole idea goes south. And since when, has “Riders On The Storm” been a guitar classic? It augurs well for Bogans and will, in all likelihood, win a Grammy.

I was hoping the new Kings Of Leon album, “Come Around Sundown”, might be more promising. But it wasn’t. After the globe rogering success of the last album, and its big single, “Sex On Fire”, expectations were high. Maybe, too high. If there’s a great song on there, it wasn’t busting to get out on the first couple of listens.

No, in reaching the tastiest fruit, you sometimes need to venture through bristle and thorn. For those who believe in a music that exudes sweat, passion and a propensity toward violence, your great redeemer in 2010 is the nation’s beloved iconoclast, Nick Cave. His second album with his other band, Grinderman, is the kind of Rock record prone to attract the full five stars from the kind of reviewers who get paid to do this stuff. Put simply, the first Grinderman album was great. This one is better.

Nick creates an unsettling music that goes right for the darkest niches of the psyche and starts to fluff up the cushions. Go with it, and see if there really is anything quite as dark, in your own world of experience, or memory.

Those finger-waving do-gooders, warned us that Rock music would destroy our minds and shatter our moral compasses. Listening to “Grinderman 2” can leave me contemplating the potential truth in their arguments. Yes, in the language, and intent of Rock music, “Grinderman 2” really is that good. Quite probably, the most challenging, and genuinely rewarding, Rock album I have heard all year.

Opening track, “Mickey Mouse And The Goodbye Man”, crackles, pops and scratches down a dry but insistent bass line, before exploding into the kind of virtual world native to films by Lynch or Greenaway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JL_IbeepTs&feature=fvst “Mickey Mouse And The Goodbye Man” – Grinderman

To be brutally honest, “Grinderman 2” will, most likely, scare the shit out of some people but, nevertheless, I am genuinely heartened that people like Nick Cave still care to make music this compelling, uncompromising and, quite frankly, loud. It flips a middle finger to everything about, or in, that Petri dish Pop culture that exists on television today. With Grinderman, Nick Cave reaffirms the age-old understanding: The boys want to Rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwZXbAJ_fmk “Heathen Child” – Grinderman

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As an added bonus: a live performance of two songs from “Grinderman 2” on the fabulous, ‘Later’ with Jools Holland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2eQJhWbYhs