presenting my record collection

Monday, 13 July 2015

Various Artists "From Clarksdale to Heaven - Remembering John Lee Hooker" 2002***

Born in Mississippi in 1917, John Lee Hooker was around almost as long as the blues itself, devising a new urban blues boogie style, scoring his first hits in the 40's and experiencing a late career rebirth with 1989's "The Healer" that lasted until his death in 2001. These late records were full of guests from the blues and rock world, lining up to play the blues with one of the last original pioneers of the genre. Many of them are also featured here to pay tribute to the master bluesman and help raise money for a charity in his name. The result is entertaining but uneven, as it often happens with such tribute albums. Although most of the songs are J.L.Hooker originals, the end result mostly reflects the players themselves. A bit of the old DNA is in evidence in the opening soulful performance of "I Want to Hug You", sung by his daughter Zakiya backed by Johnnie Johnson & Bobby Murray. The classic "I'm in the Mood" is given a generic hard rock treatment by Jack Bruce and Gary Moore (now both also sadly deceased). Not bad, but I much prefer their slow take on "Serve Me Right to Suffer". Yes, it does sound like any other Gary Moore ballad, albeit a very good one. In any case, neither song sounds anything like the original. "Bad Like Jesse James" (by Vince Converse backed by Leo Lyons and Ric Lee from Ten Years After) comes somewhat closer. "Baby Lee" and "Little Wheel" are even more faithful, played with gusto by 60's veterans Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and Andy Fairweather-Low (Amen Corner and, more recently, Roger Waters' band). The acoustic "Ground Hog Blues" also sports a quite original feel, not surprisingly since T.S. McPhee (from The Groundhogs) has played with Hooker since the 60's and was one of the first people to introduce him to British audiences. Colosseum's Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax adds a welcome jazz twist. On "I'm Leaving" they rock harder, as they're joined by Humbie Pie guitarist extraordinaire Clem Clempson. Jeff Beck offers his guitar pyrotechnics to the Hooker-like boogie "Hobo Blues" and the traditional gospel "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor adds workmanlike boogie "This Is Hip" and Peter Green takes on "Crawlin' King Snake", one of Hooker's most famous tunes. Of all the superstar guitarists involved in this project, Green was (in his Fleetwood Mac days) once the greatest. Inspired by religion (and drugs) he took a break in 1970 and never completely returned. His folk-blues guitar playing here is beautiful but very different and inferior to his old style, while his vocals sound like they're from beyond the grave. The remaining two tracks are the most intriguing as they come from half-finished J.L.Hooker projects: Greggs Eggs' blues-soul "The Business" (vocals by Suzanne Sterling) was destined for the next Hooker CD but never recorded by him due to his death and "Red House" features the great man himself backed by Booker T. Jones on organ and Randy California (from Spirit) on guitar. It was supposed to appear on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album and it's typical late-period J.L.Hooker, a nice slow jam with his trademark mumbling vocals. Not an extraordinary find, but a fine epitaph nevertheless.

**** for I Want to Hug You (Zakiya Hooker & Johnnie Johnson), Baby Lee (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), I'm Leaving (T.S. Mcphee, Dick Heckstall-Smith & Clem Clempson), Serves Me Right to Suffer (Gary Moore), Red House (John Lee Hooker & Booker T & Randy California)

*** for I'm in the Mood (Jack Bruce & Gary Moore), Bad Like Jesse James (Leo Lyons, Ric Lee, Vince Converse), Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Jeff Beck), Ground Hog Blues (T.S. McPhee & Dick Heckstall-Smith), This Is Hip (Mick Taylor), Little Wheel (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), Crawlin' King Snake (Peter Green), The Business (Greggs Eggs), Hobo Blues (Jeff Beck)

Saturday, 11 July 2015

Ry Cooder "Chicken Skin Music" 1976****

Ry Cooder is probably best known as a soundtrack composer, producer and serial collaborator. The story of how he discovered the Cuban veterans of the Buena Vista Social Club and brought them out of retirement and into international stardom, well that's the stuff of legend. We'll get into the details when we present that record. His own recordings showcase his deep knowledge of American history and roots music as well as his instrumental prowess, most notably on slide guitar. As usually happens with his albums, "Chicken Skin Music" reads like an encyclopedia of American traditional music, incorporating the sounds of Mexico and Hawaii. He opens and closes with a couple of Leadbelly songs. Often an inspiration for Cooder, Leadbelly was certainly a larger-than-life character: A folksinger and brawler, he spent a big part of his life incarcerated and was discovered and recorded in the infamous Angola prison camp in Louisiana during 1933/1934 by the archivist Lomax brothers. His good behaviour and winsome ballad "Goodnight Irene" moved the notoriously hard governor enough to grant him early release. "The Bourgeois Blues" is an anti-racist song written from personal experience, warning black people about the harsh treatment they can expect in northern cities, where they flocked in great numbers during the recession. It won him lifelong friends in the American Communist Party and lifelong enemies in the FBI. In his own fine version Cooder accompanies himself on bottleneck guitar, bajo sexto, mandola and French accordion. It's followed by traditional "I Got Mine", a jug band-style song embellished with horns and "Always Lift Him Up", a country song he mixes with the Hawaiian tune "Kanaka Wai Wai" (with Cooder on Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar). The old country hit "He'll Have to Go" and the classic "Stand by Me" are transformed by Flaco Jimenez's accordion into great Tex-Mex mariachi ballads. "Smack Dab in the Middle" is a rhythmic R&B number, followed by country ballad "Yellow Roses" and guitar instrumental "Chlo-e". Especially for those last 2 songs Cooder flew all the way to Honolulu to record with Hawaiian guitar legends Gabby Pahinui and Atta Isaacs. "Goodnight Irene" closes the album with another Mexican flavoured performance with Jimenez and his band. All in all, a solid album exhibiting Cooder's instrumental talent, expertise in all styles of American roots music and penchant for unusual and exotic sounds which would culminate with his forays into African and Latin American music in the 90's onwards...

**** for The Bourgeois Blues, He'll Have to Go, Smack Dab in the Middle

*** for I Got Mine, Always Lift Him Up/Kanaka Wai Wai, Stand by Me, Yellow Roses, Chlo-e, Goodnight Irene

Friday, 10 July 2015

The Moody Blues "Days Of Future Passed" 1967*****

Another concert I recently saw in Amsterdam was that of the Moody Blues. The audience in these two concerts (The Who and Moody Blues) had an average age of 60+, quite the opposite from what happens in Greece where, regardless the kind of music, concert-goers are mostly young with the odd middle-aged person here and there (Of course, the crisis may have changed that, too). Why that happens in The Netherlands, I don't know. Is it a sign of youth turning away from rock? Of the deep influence pop music had in Sixties' Holland? Or of the Dutch baby boomers being really active and immersing themselves in all kinds of activities when Greeks of their generation mostly just go to the tavern? Anyway, it made for an enthusiastic audience. The band featured 3 members from the classic line-up, Justin Hayward (guitar & vocals), John Lodge (bass, guitar, vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums, though a second drummer was required as he couldn't physically pull off the whole gig). The other two played with undiminished prowess, while the rest of the musicians were also very good - especially the two ladies contributing vocals, flutes, saxes, keyboards and more. My only objection is the "psychedelic" screen projections, obviously meant to replicate a 60's light show but actually looking like a Windows Media Player visualisation. The music was a melange of pop and progressive rock drawing from all stages of their career. Not that I'd mind had they stopped in 1972, when they took a break after a string of 7 masterful albums which began with this one, arguably one of the cornerstones of pop and rock music.

The Moody Blues at Heineken Music Hall,
Amsterdam 25/6/2015

Funnily enough, the original idea behind it belonged to a member of that most maligned profession, a record company executive. Having devised a new enhanced stereo recording technique, Decca Records sought for the right sound to showcase the new technology and came up with a (previously unimaginable) mixture of pop and classical music. They even chose the piece, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 and enlisted a pop group to play. Only they had other ideas. Instead of working on their symphony parts, they hijacked the orchestra and had them play their own music, a song suite replicating the different hours of a typical day. The result was so good that no-one was upset by their mischief and the album was released with much fanfare, Despite the fact that neither album nor single bothered the Top-10 at the time, it signalled the opening of new horizons and the birth of the Progressive Rock genre, The orchestra bridges the songs together and takes the spotlight on the symphonic opening and closing parts, but the Moodies' sound is in itself very rich, as it's embellished with flute, sitar and, most notably, mellotron - a tape-replay synthesizer emulating the sound of an orchestra which came to dominate prog rock in the 70's. The album begins with "The Day Begins", an orchestral piece cleverly previewing some of the themes that will follow, in symphonic form. A spoken intro and instrumental bridge are followed by the majestic ballad "Dawn Is a Feeling" and the playful "Another Morning" evoking vivid images of children playing. Another orchestral interlude is followed by psychedelic rocker "Peak Hour". The Afternoon is comprised by Hayward's lyrical "Tuesday Afternoon" and Lodge's "(Evening) Time to Get Away". The first part was also released as a single and is a beautiful melody with great vocals, acoustic guitar and mellotron. "The Sunset" somewhat echoes The Beatles' flirtation with Indian music while Evening's second part "Twilight Time" is an upbeat psychedelic rocker typical of the late 60's. Which leads us to "Nights in White Satin", one of the all-time greatest ballads in the history of music. It's impossible to calculate how many couples have slowdanced to this song holding each other tight, how many lovestruck youths have written it on cassette compilations for their loved one or dedicated it to them on the radio. Emotive vocals, majestic strings, breathtaking melody: no wonder it's never off the airwaves - just turn the dial long enough and it'll pop out. I'll hazard a guess that, as long as there are lovers and music, it'll keep getting played. The original album ends with a short narration by Edge, but this edition adds no less than 10 bonus tracks: Alternate versions of "Tuesday Afternoon", "Dawn Is A Feeling", "The Sun Set" and "Twilight Time" prove that the songs work fine even taken out of context, while a live version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" provides a link to their R&B roots. Single tracks "Fly Me High", "I Really Haven't Got The Time" and "Leave This Man Alone" are fine specimens of Beatles-y pop, while "Love and Beauty" and "Cities" veer closely to the more intricate sound of the album. All in all, an influential bona-fide classic - no record collection is complete without it...

***** for Dawn Is a Feeling, Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?), Nights in White Satin, Tuesday Afternoon (alternate version)

**** for Another Morning, Peak Hour, The Sunset, Twilight Time, Fly Me High, Love and Beauty, Cities, Dawn Is A Feeling (alternate version), The Sun Set (alternate version),Twilight Time (alternate version)

*** for The Day Begins, Morning Glory, Lunch Break:Intro, (Evening) Time to Get Away, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, I Really Haven't Got The Time, Leave This Man Alone

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

The Who "My Generation" 1965*****

I just caught The Who at Amsterdam, the last stop of their Who Hits 50 tour. Once more they didn't disappoint (I also saw them a couple of years ago, when they presented the whole Quadrophenia album). Of course their age shows, the manic energy of their 60's concerts is gone (and so has, thankfully. the destruction of their instruments onstage) but they can still play a rippin' good show. I guess that when they can't do it anymore, they'll just stop. They played music from all stages of their career, including two songs from this, their 1965 debut. It has been called "the hardest rocking LP" ever, a valid statement given the time of its release. Its relentless youthful energy provided the blueprint for much of the subsequent garage rock, heavy metal, and punk. Opener "Out in the Street" is a powerful garage/R&B number with a catchy chorus. It's followed by "I Don't Mind", the first of two James Brown covers (the other is "Please, Please, Please"). It may seem a strange choice for a hard rock band, but The Who (with their previous names, as the High Numbers and the Detours) were the house band of the mod movement, known for its meticulous dress code, love for scooters and soul music - hence The Who's early moniker "Maximum R&B". "The Good's Gone" is a great garage rocker with drawling vocals and "Much Too Much" sports a Dylan/ Byrds folk rock sound. "La-La-La-Lies" is a melodic Beatles-y number and "It's Not True" a mocking song featuring a Stones-y beat, Beatles-y harmonies and Townsend's trademark power chords. "My Generation" itself is an iconic song, an open call for rebellion against the older generation, topped by the infamous "I hope I die before I get old" line. I'm not sure how they feel playing it now that they've hit 70. Musically it's also a very aggressive song:

Townshed's guitars are loud and distorted, Moon attacks his drums more furiously than anyone in memory and Daltrey's delivery is an angry and frustrated stutter (When I first heard him sing "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-fade away", I was half-expecting to hear f-f-f-fuck off). Not to be outdone, Entwistle puts in the coolest bass break I've ever heard. "The Kids Are Alright" is an autobiographical piece. As Daltrey told us, it came from feeling trapped in the role of a husband and father when je was just a 20 year old kid who wanted only to play rock 24/7. "Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away...Bells chime, I know I gotta get away/And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind/Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright/The kids are alright" Musically, the first impression is that it sounds like the Beatles. Then you think yeah, if the Beatles had swallowed a bagfull of speed, causing Ringo to grow a couple of extra hands! Now, The Who weren't blues influenced like their contemporaries Animals/Stones/Yardbirds etc, but they did include a loose but aggressive blues jam in "I'm A Man". Halfway through it disintegrates in a haze of guitar feedback, manic drumming and disjointed piano keys banging. "A Legal Matter" is about divorce (pretty rare for that time since rock'n'rollers were barely out of their teens) and it's the first song sung by Pete Townshed rather than divorcee Roger Daltrey. The album closes with "Ox", a monumental surf instrumental all distorted guitars (predating Hendrix by a couple of years) and frantic drumming played at double speed. The fact that Keith Moon was barely 19 at the time beggars belief! The Who quickly outgrew this phase and wrote more sophisticated songs but, for sheer energy and power, they never surpassed "My Generation". And neither has anyone else, for that matter!

***** for My Generation, The Kids Are Alright

**** for Out in the Street, The Good's Gone, It's Not True, A Legal Matter, The Ox

*** for I Don't Mind, La-La-La-Lies, Much Too Much, Please Please Please, I'm a Man

Sunday, 5 July 2015

Blues Wire 031 "Who's Calling?" 1987 ****

The black device on the coffee table is called a telephone.
The round thing in its middle with the holes is a dial.

Blues Wire were an electric blues band from Thessaloníki. They started their career in 1983 as Blues Gang and quickly established themselves as one of the best European blues bands. Bluesmen visiting Greece in the 80's-90's would often enlist them as their backing band because of their deep knowledge of the genre. They've backed Louisiana Red, Katie Webster, John Hammond, Carey and Lurrie Bell, Angela Brown and many others. I've often had the opportunity to see them play in my hometown of Athens and, having seen many famous blues artists live, I can honestly say The Blues Wire were up there with the best of them. This album was their first under the "Blues Wire" moniker. The production is way ahead of all other albums of the Greek Alternative scene of the time and thankfully free of 80's trappings that ruined "electric blues" albums of that era. It is definitively electric but less rock than, say, Gary Moore or Johnny Winter. Instead it stays closer to its roots, with a sound similar to classic Chicago Blues and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. The playing is excellent throughout and the orchestration features two guitars (lead and rhythm or slide), bass, drums and the occasional keyboard and harmonica. Highlights include Howling Wolf's "Who's Been Talking", Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" (similar to Buddy Guy's version, but recorded a few years earlier) and Zaikos originals "Fat Meets Bones" (instrumental) and "Blues Junkie" (with female lead vocals). But my absolute favorite is the fantastic reworking of Sleepy John Estes' 1929 hit "Diving Duck". They don't write lyrics like that any more: "If the river was whiskey/and I was a diving duck/ I would dive to the bottom and never would come back". Wasn't there a prohibition in 1929? Yes, there was! I can't help but make the connection with Greek Rembetika of the same time, always singing the praises of hashish despite the fact it was illegal.

**** for Who's Been Talking, Diving Duck, Fat Meets Bones, Blues Junkie
*** for Mustang Sally, Crying for My Baby, Bye Bye Baby, Because Of You

Friday, 3 July 2015

Blk Jks "After Robots" 2009****

Wikipedia lists 13 bands in the category South African indie rock groups and another 17 in the category South African alternative rock groups. Interestingly, based on the photos provided, all except one are white. Blk Jks is the one exception. Could it be that black South Africans resent rock because it is the music of their "former" oppressors? Or is this the result of the cultural ban from the West during the appartheid years? It didn't seem to stop white South Africans from keeping up with the latest developments in rock. Maybe African culture is just rooted too deep for other influences to survive in its shadow. But, in the case of the Blk Jks, survive they did: Besides the traditional African music influences, traces of indie, new wave, funk and prog rock combine to create a unique musical amalgam often compared to TV on the Radio. Songs alternate between styles and languages (English, Zulu, and Xhosa) and confound music journalists in their attempt to pigeonhole them. Opener "Molalatladi" is the stand-out track and, in its vocals and structure, overtly African. Yes, the spidery guitars come from the Santana/Hendrix rock tradition, but we've seen that before with African bands, most notably Tinariwen and their Malian brethren. "Banna Ba Modimo" is more adventurous, combining Mars Volta's grungy prog with Balkan horns and even a short rap. I'm not sure whether I like it, but I can't help but admire the ambition behind it. "Standby" is their most user-friendly piece yet, an indie rock ballad, sung in English. "Lakeside" is more accomplished, a proggy piece reminiscent of Radiohead. It brought the band unexpected fame (and money, I hope) when it was included in the EA's FIFA 10 Playstation/PC Game. "Taxidermy" features falsetto vocals, noisy guitars and drumming that momentarily gel together only to disintegrate again in chaos. "Kwa Nqingetje" is an almost experimental atmospheric piece and "Skeleton" a dub/funk combination with prominent horns and loud guitars. "Cursor" is a slow and sprawling indie-dub while "Tselane" takes us full circle to Africa. This time, though, it's simplicity itself: just hypnotic vocals and acoustic guitars, providing a much-needed respite from the dense sounds that preceded it. At the time of its circulation, "After Robots" received rave reviews, but (if I'm not mistaken) sold rather poorly. Maybe it was too complicates for the general public. Or maybe it wasn't properly promoted by the record company. In any case, it seems to have disappeared completely . As for the EP and CD that followed it, until I googled them earlier today I didn't even know of their existence. If you like your music to take you to interesting and unexpected places, I suggest you try Blk Jks. You won't regret it...

**** for Molalatladi, Lakeside, Skeleton

*** for Banna Ba Modimo, Standby, Taxidermy, Tselane

** for Kwa Nqingetje, Cursor

Thursday, 2 July 2015

Deacon Blue "Our Town - The Greatest Hits" 1987-1994(Orig) 1994(Comp)***

This album was my introduction to Deacon Blue. When I want to get into a band, I start either with a Best-of or with their most famous album. I guess you can also start with a couple songs on youtube or even download a whole album from piratebay, but if I'm even remotely interested in a band, I have to have a CD (or LP, of course). My first impression of the band was that it reminded me of (fellow Scotts) the Waterboys, so I wasn't surprised to learn they used to tour together in the 80's. Further listening of his compilation revealed Deacon Blue (named thus after a Steely Dan song) to be a more pop/soul oriented band. Prefab Sprout or Dexys Midnight Runners would be a better comparison. "Our Town" compiles almost all of the singles and adds 3 previously unreleased songs. I'll present them in chronological order, starting with their 1987 debut "Raintown", which obviously refers to their native Glasgow. I know because I was in Dutch class with a Glasgow girl and distinctly remember her response to us Mediterranean fellows complaining about the Dutch weather. She said "What are you talking about? At least here it doesn't rain every day!" "Raintown" is a short of concept album relating to everyday life in an urban working-class neighborhood. Hence come songs on love, longing and difficult relationships like the Waterboys-like folk of "Chocolate Girl" and soul of "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)", songs of strife and social inequality like soul/R&B "Loaded" and of chasing your dreams: DB's greatest hit "Dignity" is about a man hard at work, saving for a small boat and dreaming of the good times he can have with it. From 1988's "When the World Knows Your Name" we get the pop/soul "Queen of the New Year", the Springsteen/U2-like "Love and Regret" and the upbeat hits "Real Gone Kid", "Wages Day", and Van Morrison-influenced "Fergus Sings the Blues". The album reached No.1 in the UK, while follower "Fellow Hoodlums" (1991) went to No.2. It continued on the same direction, mixing a soul rhythm section, folk-ish acoustic guitars and fiddles and expressive, soulful vocals. From here we get "Your Swaying Arms" and "Cover from the Sky", a folk/pop number featuring Lorraine McIntosh on lead vocals. The album's high point was the effervescent "Twist and Shout", a catchy combination of pop and Cajun zydeco reminiscent of the Talking Heads. From EP "Four Bacharach and David Songs" we get pop tearjerker "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". Despite the success of their previous albums, "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" (1993) saw a change in direction towards alternative rock and even dance music (probably as a result of hiring Paul Oakenfold as a producer). "Your Town" and "Only Tender Love" seem to use U2 as a role model while "Will We Be Lovers" is more dance-oriented. Of the 3 new songs, "I Was Right and You Were Wrong" continues in the new alternative rock direction and was released as a single, while "Bound to Love" and "Still in the Mood" are two nice songs in the familiar folk/soul style of their earlier records. I'm satisfied with this collection, but still not convinced to delve further: these 4 or 5 songs from each album must certainly be the cream of the crop. Who knows if the rest of the album is worth buying? Maybe I should look it up on youtube, or even download from piratebay, just to make sure...

**** for Dignity, Real Gone Kid, Fergus Sings the Blues, Chocolate Girl, Twist and Shout

*** for Wages Day, Your Swaying Arms, I Was Right and You Were Wrong, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring), Your Town, Queen of the New Year, Only Tender Love, Cover from the Sky, Love and Regret, Will We Be Lovers, Loaded, Bound to Love, Still in the Mood