R.I.P. 2016 Part 2

As the year ends, magazines and blogs are getting their "year in music" specials ready. And you can bet that on the top of everyone's list will be the death of David Bowie last January. As hard it is to argue with that, it would be unfair to let it overshadow the passing of many other important musicians in this wretched year. I published a partial list in the spring and it is with regret that I must compile a second one, with artists who have made such beautiful and timeless music and whom we lost between April and December 2016.

Thank You For The Music

Leonard Cohen (singer, poet)
George Michael (singer, Wham!)
Scotty Moore (Elvis' legendary guitarist)
Alan Vega (Suicide, the NYC band)
Rick Parfitt (singer, Status Quo)
Leon Russell (singer, songwriter, pianist)
Greg Lake (bass/vocals, King Crimson/ELP)
Dave Swarbrick (folk rock fiddler, Fairport Convention)
Phil Chess (producer, co-founder of Chess Records)
Prince Buster (Jamaican ska legend)
Mose Allison (jazz/blues pianist and singer)
Pete Burns (singer, Dead or Alive)
Sharon Jones (soul singer)
Candye Kane (jazz/blues singer)
Bobby Vee (early 60's pop idol)
Billy Paul (soul singer)
Kay Starr  (40's jazz singer )
Toots Thielemans (jazz harmonica)
Bernie Worrell (Keyboards, Parliament/Funkadelic)
Bap Kennedy (singer, Energy Orchard)
Eddie Harsch (drummer, The Black Crowes)
Craig Gill (drummer, Inspiral Carpets)
Nick Menza (drummer, Megadeth)
Alphonse Mouzon (jazz drummer, Weather Report)
Alexandrov Ensemble (Red Army Choir, plane crash Tu-154)
Preston Hubbard (bassist, Fabulous Thunderbirds/Roomful of Blues)
Henry McCullough (Spooky Tooth/Animals/Wings)
Bobby Hutcherson (jazz vibraphonist)
Wayne Jackson (Trumpet, The Mar-Keys)
Teddy Rooney (60's psych band The Yellow Payges)
Matt Roberts (guitarist, 3 Doors Down)
Danny Smythe (drummer, The Box Tops)
Lewis Steinberg (Booker T. & the M.G.'s)
Keith Gemmell (70's art rockers Audience)
Roye Albrighton (guitar & vocals prog rockers Nektar)
Sandy Pearlman (Blue Öyster Cult)
Padraig Duggan (Celtic band Clannad)
Glenn Yarbrough (folk singer, The Limeliters)
Mick Zane (guitarist, metal band Malice)
James Woolley (keys, Nine Inch Nails)
Ab Tamober (drummer, Dutch psych band Earth and Fire)
Jerry Corbetta (keyboardist and frontman for 70's band Sugarloaf)
Micky Fitz (singer, English punk rockers The Business)
John D. Loudermilk (songwriter, musician)
Gilli Smyth (vocals/lyrics for prog rockers Gong)
John Berry (early Beastie Boys member)
Don Ciccone (Four Seasons)
Leonard Haze (drummer, Y&T)

Nina Simone "Verve Jazz Masters 17" rec.1964-66 (comp.1993)*****

This is one of a few overlapping Nina Simone compilations in my collection. The perennial problem of buying compilations: you find yourself having almost all of the artists' best songs, then you have to buy another one for this or that song, then you have to buy the original albums -even if you already have 80% of the songs- because your record collection isn't complete without them etc. After awhile you end up owning the same songs three or four times and still always missing something. My advice: Buy only one compilation per artist, just the hits. If you like what you hear, slowly start collecting the original albums. Verve Jazz Masters covers a short 3-year period (with one exception) of a decades-long career, but it's full of classic songs. Jazz is, of course, a somewhat restrictive label for Simone, whose music also encompassed folk, blues, gospel, soul and classical music. Classical was actually her first love, as she was a child prodigy pianist. The pride of her community in a Southern U.S. town which raised money to send her to the most illustrious U.S. music school, New York's Juilliard academy of music. Money shortage and racial discrimination shattered her dream of being the first major African-American concert pianist and, despite later successes, this seems to have left her with a permanent bitterness. I remember seeing her perform when I was young, at the Katrakio theatre in my birthplace Nikea and thinking she was too dry and aloof - that, and being impressed by her playing, as I only knew her as a singer. She was then living in Europe, and enjoying a second career boom, sparked by the use of her song "My Baby Just Cares for Me" on a mid-80's TV ad. This is also the only song here not from the 60's - originally recorded in the 50's, it's included here as a live 1987 recording. Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" is also a live version of an early hit, and Rodgers & Hart's "Little Girl Blue" another try at the classic jazz songbook. "Love Me Of Leave Me" starts as playful jazz pop, but it's mostly notable for the amazing classical piano solos. "See-Line Woman" and "Work Song" veer closer to gospel and soul, while there are also slow mournful ballads, from the orchestral "Wild Is The Wind" to the almost renaissance folk "Black Is The Color..." and Billy Holiday's heartbreaking "Strange Fruit", one of many anti-racist songs in Simone's repertoire. She was very active in the Civil Rights movement and her own compositions ("Four Women", "Mississippi Goddamn" are included here) are angrier and more aggressive than most protest songs of the era, while she also inhabits with relish the persona of the vengeful Pirate Jenny, the servant girl who orders the death of her bosses in Brecht's same-named song. Most numbers feature a small jazz band, while in others her voice is complemented by big orchestral arrangements. The latter include "I Hold No Grudge", Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas", and the definitive versions of often-covered classics "I Put a Spell on You" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". Almost every song here is a masterpiece, so it's easy for me to recommend it. The only problem with this CD lies in what isn't here (i.e. "Sinner man", "Feeling Good", " Young Gifted And Black" etc.) but isn't that what always happens with compilations?

***** for Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair,  I Put A Spell On You, Love Me Or Leave Me, My Baby Just Cares For Me, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

**** for Little Girl Blue, I Loves You Porgy, Ne Me Quitte Pas, Wild Is The Wind, See-Line Woman, Strange Fruit, Pirate Jenny, Four Women, Mississippi Goddamn, I Hold No Grudge

The Brian Setzer Orchestra "Wolfgang's Big Night Out" 2007🎄🎄🎄

If there's one rocker whose name is forever linked to Christmas, that would be Brian Setzer. The former singer/guitarist of the greatest rockabilly revival group The Straycats branched out into swing during the mid-90's with his big band The Brian Setzer Orchestra. They released a number of Christmas CD's, but I won't be presenting one of those today: this one has a different, yet quite Christmas-y in its own way concept: playful swing versions of some of the most famous classics, starting with Beethoven's 5th Symphony, retitled "Take the 5th" - as in "I refuse to incriminate myself, so I'll take the 5th". Talk about starting off with a bang, doesn't get any better than this! The horns and drums sound the loudest but, as always with the B.S.O., there's some quite flashy guitar playing as well - just to showus that Ritchie Blackmore isn't the only rock guitarist to play Beethoven! It's followed by "One More Night With You" (actually Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King"), one of only two tunes with vocals, which he sings with the help of a female chorus - Classical music done in Rat Pack Vegas-style, and very successful to boot! The girls return on "Honey Man" (a.k.a. Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee"), urging him to play "Faster!Faster!" - and he does, you can mentally see his guitar throwing sparks! Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" is another fast tune that allows him to display his speed, while the other Beethoven track "Fur Elise" is given a more romantic Django-like gypsy swing flavour. The worst piece of classical music ever (Mendelssohn's wedding march) is spruced up and mingled with Wagner's "Lohengrin" to make it a bit less cliché. The title is, once more, a comical play of words: "Here Comes The Broad" (as in "here comes the bride"). Setzer continues his irreverent stance, giving Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" a mambo introduction and renaming "The Blue Danube" into "Some River in Europe". He intersects small musical phrases stolen from all over (from the French national hymn to "Smoke On The Water") and enjoys playing with the songs' titles. And, since Christmas is never far away with Setzer, he closes the album with the old English carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" done up in 60's spy-movie fashion and employing a heavier Hendrix-like style on guitar. A fun album that got Setzer one more Grammy nomination, this time in a most unexpected category as Best Classical Crossover Album - and rightly so, as he managed to transform ages-old overtly familiar melodies with playful and imaginative orchestrations, danceable rhythm, swinging drumming and his nimble guitar work. The album cover illustrates that idea by having the band posing as serious pouting composers on the one photo and partying rockers on the other - except for the guy (2nd on the left) looking like J.S. Bach, he just pouts twice! I'm pretty sure it's because Setzer forgot him. Get over it, Johan Sebastian! It's Christmas, live a little! Dance, drink, have some fun🍸 for Chrissakes!

**** for Take The 5th (Beethoven's 5th symphony), One More Night With You (Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King), Honey Man (Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee"), For Lisa (Beethoven's "Für Elise")

*** for Wolfgang's Big Night Out (Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik"), Yes We Can Can (Offenbach's can-can "Orpheus in the Underworld"), Swingin' Willie (Rossini's "William Tell Overture"), Sabre Dance (Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance"), 1812 Overdrive (Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture"), Take A Break Guys ("God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen")

** for Here Comes The Broad (Wagner's "Lohengrin"/Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), Some River In Europe (Strauss's "The Blue Danube")

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you all!

Red Star Belgrade "Telescope" 2000***

Red Star Belgrade was formed on 4 March 1945 by the "United alliance of anti-fascist Youth", a satellite organisation of the Yugoslavian Communist Party which had been the backbone of Tito's partisan army and which had just emerged victorious from WWII. It was soon taken under the wing of the country's Ministry of Interior and established as one of the most successful Balkan clubs ever, even winning the European football Cup in 1991. They branched out in many different sports, but until recently I didn't know they also had a music department. What confuses me is that they chose to base their band in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Could it be part of a communist plot to corrode the “land of the free and the home of the brave” from the inside? Are singer/songwriter Bill Curry and his wife Graham Harris a couple of sleeper agents like The Americans' Philip and Elizabeth Jennings? They could hardly have found a better cover than that of an all-American alt-country musicians couple. But let's afford them the benefit of a doubt and suppose they're legit. One might then say that by the time they released their third album "Telescope", they had reached songwriting maturity but hadn't quite settled on their sound yet. Opener "Telescope" reminds me of 80's paisley underground band Green On Red. Other rockers in the same vein (think of a hybrid between Big Sleep, Velvet Underground and Gram Parsons) include "No Pound", "Count Me Out", "Uncle Tupelo" - the latter namechecking the alt.country pioneers who seem to have influenced RSB. "Dreaming 'Bout You" and "The Bottle" are Byrds-y folk rock, and "Long Cold Day" a sad piano ballad. "Nixon Stamp" has the trademark country pedal steel sound, while "Strum 'N Rhyme" and "Highway To Hell" (yes, the AC/DC hard rock anthem, unrecognizable in this form) offer more upbeat country. Two of the best songs touch on, uncharacteristically for American bands, international politics: The disillusionment in the state of post-revolutionary Iran in the beautiful ballad "After The Revolution", and the drama of Kossovar refugees in the bluesy "The Border" - another unexpected Balkan reference, after the band name. On a whole "Telescope" is quite varied and eclectic,which is both its strength and weakness, as it can feel a bit disjointed at times. Fans of Wilco, Giant Sand and Ryan Adams should definitely check this album out...**** for After The Revolution, The Border *** for Telescope, Dreaming 'Bout You, Strum 'N Rhyme, Highway To Hell, Nixon Stamp, No Pound ** for The Bottle, Count Me Out, Long Cold Day

Stillwater "Stillwater" 1977***

I got this LP from the €1 basket, mostly on the strength of the record label Capricorn Records, home to the Allman Brothers and other Southern rock bands. The band name also sounded very familiar, but that was misleading: Stillwater were the fictional 70's rockers in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous. No relation to these guys, who seem to have used Lynyrd Skynyrd as their role model, down to the 7-member, 3-guitar line-up. Now, I know there are 8 people posing on the back cover, but one of them apparently isn't a band member: he's Hank Hasler, "owner of Hank Hasler's Tavern and close personal friend". Which one? Well, my money's on the bearded guy with the black T-shirt with Hank Hasler's Tavern printed on it. The sign on the wall advertises "Topless" and I sincerely hope it's not Hank serving you topless. I'd much rather imagine Daisy Duke, thank you very much. That's what shaped my idea of the South from a young age, anyway: Daisy Duke in tiny shorts, General Lee (the car, not the historical person), and uncle Jesse's moonshine. And Lynyrd Skynyrd, since I discovered them. Not that Stillwater are Skynyrd's twins, mind you.

The guitars rock hard enough, but the sound is less bluesy and there's no equivalent of Van Zant's gritty baritone vocal. Theirs is a more polished AOR sound, closer to Skynyrd offshoot Rossington Collins Band. My personal favourite here is "Out on a Limb", an excellent AOR number featuring blazing guitars, jazzy piano, funky bass and intricate vocal harmonies reminiscent of Jefferson Starship. The album also contained a Top 50 hit in "Mindbender", which has a crazy lyric about a talking guitar. A voice box is used to successfully simulate the talking guitar effect, while the music sounds like a combination of Frank Zappa and the Allman Brothers. "Sam's Jam" is a long Southern rock jam that gives the players some room to stretch."Sunshine Blues" sports some nice boogie woogie piano and country guitar, while "Universal Fool" with its proggy keyboards flirts with Asia/Journey-like AOR, and "April Love" is an acoustic folk ballad with CS&N-like harmonies. "Fantasy Park" and "Roll-n-Roll Loser" are typical, unexceptional, southern rockers. The band would release one more album before breaking up (though there have been sporadic reunions) partly because their label ran into financial trouble and couldn't support them properly. The 2 albums they made in the 70's will fit well in any Southern/Classic Rock collection. Contrary to the general belief that "Stillwater" has never been re-released, discogs mentions a 2013 CD version - though the original vinyl is more readily available, cheaper, and sonically preferable when it comes to this kind of music. Not to mention the album cover with the raindrops and double ouroboros snakes, which looks great on the 12' format.

**** for Out on a Limb, Mindbender 

*** for Sam's Jam, April Love, Fantasy Park

** for Roll-n-Roll Loser, Sunshine Blues, Universal Fool

George Martin "In My Life" 1998**

Often referred to (by, among others, Paul McCartney) as the fifth Beatle, Sir George Martin has scored music for the theatre and cinema, and has produced and arranged many records. Despite that, he'll always be remembered mostly for producing (almost) all our beloved Beatles albums - the exception being "Let It Be". His contributions (the string quartet on "Eleanor Rigby", piano solo in "In My Life") were on the spot and helped raise some already great songs to the level of masterpiece. So it's no surprise that he returns to the Beatles songbook here. What is puzzling is his oddball choice of collaborators, ranging from talented musicians (Jeff Beck), less talented musicians (Celine Dion), talented non-musicians (Robin Williams) and non-talented non-musicians (sorry Goldie Hawn!). He tries to give new twists to the familiar tunes and is only intermittently successful. Opener "Come Together" by actor Robin Williams & jazz singer Bobby McFerrin is pleasant enough, if redundant. On the contrary, re-imagining "A Hard Day's Night" as sensual late-night jazz with Hawn imitating Marilyn Monroe is a bold and interesting move. Jeff Beck on electric guitar delivers a masterful instrumental jazz-rock version of "A Day In The Life", ditto for acoustic guitarist John Williams on a beautifully orchestrated version of "Here Comes The Sun". Virtuoso violinist Vanessa Mae gives her own classical interpretation of "Because", aided by a choir. Celine Dion turns everything into pop mush and "Here There & Everywhere" is no exception. The orchestration is reminiscent of James Bond movies, of which Martin has scored a couple. Phil Collins delivers a medley from "Abbey Road". The comedians try to inhabit the characters in the songs as if they were movie roles: Billy Connolly impersonates a circus ringmaster on "...Mr. Kite", while Jim Carey tries different voices as he obviously doesn't have an idea who "The Walrus" is supposed to be. It's said he was inspired by a character from "Alice Through the Looking-Glass" but I guess only John Lennon knows for sure, and he isn't around to explain. Martin also reprises here his instrumental music from the "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack, which has to be the less-played side of any Beatles record. For those who don't own the LP, side A contained the songs and Side B the orchestral movie score. Nobody ever turned it around to listen to Martin's composition, so he must have thought it was worth another chance and included it here. Another Martin instrumental is "Friends And Lovers" a beautiful orchestral piece that segues into the centrepiece of the album "In My Life". It features Sean Connery reciting the words of the song, backed by a sad piano and strings. I'm sure it was supposed to be a sensitive and affecting epilogue, but I found it fairly ridiculous. The album was designed to be Martin's final statement, at the age of 72. As it turns out, he lived enough to celebrate his 90th birthday and only passed away earlier this year. It was one of the shocking deaths of 2016, only instead of "I can't believe that Bowie (or Prince) is dead" it was "I can't believe George Martin was still alive". No disrespect meant - the man left a tremendous legacy behind. Any time you want to celebrate it, play The Beatles' Rubber Soul or Revolver. Not this CD.

*** for Come Together (Robin Williams & Bobby McFerrin), A Hard Day's Night (Goldie Hawn), A Day In The Life (Jeff Beck), Because (Vanessa Mae), Here Comes The Sun (John Williams), Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Phil Collins), Friends And Lovers (George Martin)

** for Here There & Everywhere (Celine Dion), I Am The Walrus (Jim Carey), Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (Billy Connolly), The Pepperland Suite/March Of The Meanies/Sea Of Monsters (George Martin), In My Life (Sean Connery)

Fleshtones "Hitsburg Revisited" 1999***

I remember first seeing The Fleshtones at the AN Club in '98. I had heard a few of their records and went in expecting to have a rockin' good time. You see The Fleshtones may have burst out of the New York punk scene of the 70's, but they were never angry or aggressive. Their music was rooted in Rock'n'roll and Soul tradition, played in a nervy and animated manner, as if they were determined to get everybody to dance - or, in any case, bounce around like a rubber ball thrust to the wall with maximum velocity. And, let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed. They played a highly energised set, connecting with the audience and acting like a real party band. During the encore they left the stage (not that AN really has much of a stage to separate bands from the audience) and started walking around the club, playing. Even the drummer took a piece of his set with him, banging on it while he was making the rounds. Round and round they went, until they were up the stairs (AN is a deeply underground club, in more senses than one) and out on the street. They had to unplug the guitars, of course, but they took the party to the street and, before I could follow them out of the club, they disappeared. I left thinking: now these guys know how to throw a rock'n'roll party better than any other band in the business! "Hitsburg Revisited" (the sequel to 1996's "Hitsburg") is one of their more party-oriented albums, as it contains revved-up covers of vintage R'n'Roll and R&B artists that influenced their sound.
Most of the songs, even those by famous artists, are relatively unknown (the mark of a good covers album) and originate from the 50's or early 60's. Often they improve on the originals: The Stylistics' "Rock and Roll Baby" was a tepid soul number which they turned into a rock scorcher reminiscent of Wooly Bully, and Eddie Cochran's "Little Lou" was one of his weakest songs. Mel Torme's "Comin' Home Baby" is the only famous tune here, and The Fleshtones' rendition is more groovy and less manic than most of the songs here. Other highlights include their versions of Andre Williams' "Going Down To Tia Juana", Frankie Avalon's "Don't Stop Now", and The Young Rascals' "Find Somebody". "Keelee's Twist" is a groovy instrumental, "Voodoo Voodoo" a punky attempt on LaVerne Baker swampy R&B, and "Take My Love" sports a manic blues harmonica. "Soul City" is a song written by Lou Reed in his songwriter-for-hire days before Velvet Underground. "Tearing Me Apart" fits well with the the rest, despite being written by a contemporary band to the Fleshtones (Canadian punks Teenage Head, in 1979). "I'm Over Twenty-Five (But You Can Trust Me)" is a barrel of laughs. Written by Sammy Davis Jr in a pathetic attempt to reach to the "flower power" generation (can you imagine Sinatra doing that?), the original was so inadvertently funny it didn't even need Zaremba to adopt such a camp singing style. The album ends with one of the strongest numbers, The Fleshtones'own garage soul raver "Hitsburg USA". It is a testament to the band's songwriting ability that they could match -and even surpass- the artists that influenced them, and it was to become a staple of their live repertory. Judging from recent youtube clips, 17 years after I first saw them, the band still rocks, so if they come your way this is one party you don't want to miss!

**** for Comin' Home Baby(Mel Torme), Don't Stop Now(Frankie Avalon), Take My Love I Want to Give It All to You (Little Willie John), Going Down to Tia Juana(Andre Williams), Find Somebody(Young Rascals), Tribute to Hank Ballard/Switch-A-Roo(Hank Ballard), Tearing Me Apart(Teenage Head), Soul City(Hi-Lifes), Hitsburg USA

*** for Rock and Roll Baby(Stylistics), Little Lou(Eddie Cochran), Voodoo Voodoo(LaVerne Baker), Keelee's Twist(Joey Dee & The Starlighters)

** for I'm Over Twenty-Five But You Can Trust Me(Sammy Davis Jr)