Monday, May 31, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 22: After The Goldrush

After The Goldrush - Neil Young (1970)

Few lines in song have captured my imagination as well as "Look at mother nature on the run in the 1970's". Written for an abandoned screenplay by Dean Stockwell, Shakey presents us with a dichotomy of visual stimulus in this lyrical masterpiece. I've never quite grasped what the song is about, but I've always pictured a spiritual awakening brought on by extra-terrestrial visitors, who allow the lucky to go "flying mother nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun". Not bad for a song intended for a western. CSN were never better than when Neil was with them, and his solo work is a vast catalog of excellence. Peruse it at will.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 21: Donald and Lydia

Donald and Lydia - John Prine (1971)

O' Henry enters the popular song. Presented here is the fully formed story of two outcasts who love each other one night "from ten miles away". The twist ending still grabs you after repeated listenings, as do some of the finest similes in the English language. John Prine would never reach the heights of perfection that he scaled on his first album, but then again, who could? He places a career's worth of classics onto one 44-minute platter, and anyone who loves a good yarn should get to know each and every character that stalks those grooves.

God bless YouTube, they are giving us two classics for the price of one here, as well as an informative interview!!!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 20: In The Heat Of The Morning

In The Heat Of The Morning - David Bowie (1967)

Before he became Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke was a struggling singer/songwriter trying to figure out his sound. Of course, later on he would realize that a sound was irrelevant and change his with every consecutive album. However, deep within a period of laughing gnomes, Oedipal uncles and silly boy blues, the former Mr. Jones wold pen a song that would be introduced to many of his younger fans via the 2000 BBC compilation Bowie at the Beeb. It is a luxury not afforded to any of his other '67 gems. Maybe it's my long-standing love of the Toytown movement of Psychedelia, but this material has always been my favorite of his career. It is the sound of a truly unique artist in popular culture testing out the waters for the first time.



Then in 2008, The Last Shadow Puppets brought it back with a brilliant cover!

Friday, May 28, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 19 : Jeremy Bender

Jeremy Bender - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1971)

They have been soft and they have been hard. They have been epically subtle and they have been obviously epic. They have been reviled and they have been given a reappraisal. They are ELP, and they are the reason I love Progressive Rock. Discovering Tarkus in my father's record collection years before I even knew Peter Gabriel was in Genesis, they entranced me with their cover art. After dropping the needle on this Cotillion Records release I was taken to a strange land, with strange creatures called Tarkus and Manticore. And oh, those synthesizers!!! This story of Jeremy, a cross-dressing "man of leisure" was a happy-go-lucky respite after the previous earth-shaking mythology (even if I had no idea how one "spends his pleasure in the evening sun"). Clocking in at just under two minutes, I regard no end-of-a -side mixtape filler higher(except maybe Terrance & Phillip singing "Uncle F**kah").

Thursday, May 27, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 18 : Grocer Jack

Grocer Jack (Excerpt From A Teenage Opera) - Keith West (1967)

1967 was a year for many musical milestones, including Sgt. Pepper, The Smile Sessions, Their Satanic Majesties Request and Piper at the Gates of Dawn. However, a simple tale of a dying grocer sparked the British imagination as well, catapulting the song to #2 on the Pop Charts. It is similar in a way to songs from Brian Wilson's masterpiece, not just because they both come from unfinished albums, but they were both trying to take teeny-bopper pop to a more sophisticated level. They were reaching for the heights set by the Beatles on Rubber Soul and Revolver. Of course, '67 was to be the Beatles' year for groundbreaking material but the pop experiments of lesser-known artists, like this diamond-in-the rough from producer Mark Wirtz and singer Keith West, are ripe for rediscovery, especially in the psuedo-psychedelic scene indie rock has found itself mutating towards.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 17 : Waterloo Sunset

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks (1967)

Ray Davies embraces his English heritage on this song, no longer worrying himself with American blues derivatives. Actors and lovers Terrance Stamp and Julie Christie are name-checked as they meet in the Waterloo Station, but even celebrity sightings cannot bring our narrator out of his house. There is no need for him to bother with such trivial details when he can gaze at the sunset from the comfort of his window. Isolation has never sounded so poetic, beautiful and anglophilic through and through. Ray Davies would become the king of the British Narrative in popular song, inspiring Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn and many others along the way. And it all began with a #2 hit in England that didn't even chart here.




Even Prog Rockers love this song!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 16 : Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey

Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey - Paul & Linda McCartney (1971)

Paul McCartney made a valid case for medleys in rock and roll with Side 2 of Abbey Road. With this ditty off of his second solo album, he encapsulated that idea into a single song in just under five minutes. Memories of my father screaming, "But We Haven't Done A Bloody Thing All Day!" while listening to this on a portable cd player at our summer lake trailer always brings a smile to my face. Along with Let Him In and C Moon, I believe this is McCartney at his most mischievous, satirical and fun. His solo and Wings work have been overlooked for far too long. It's time for a re-evaluation. Thankfully, they are starting to be reissued this year. The ball's in your court, Rolling Stone!



And here's an easy-listening version from Paul's craziest project Thrillington!

Monday, May 24, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 15 : Casimir Pulaski Day

Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens (2005)

In a perfect world, this would be a chart-topping single, overplayed on the airwaves like so many modern singer/songwriter ballads before it. But this track, it stands to reason, would never lose its potency, no matter how many playlists watered it down with an incessant familiarity. Songs about death aren't usually blessed with such a vibrant awareness of life. Propelled along by a skeletal guitar reel, growing with ever-building instrumentation and voices,this stark questioning of faith from a devout Christian author speaks volumes in its six minutes. Images of youth, love, sorrow and doubt cascade through the listener's mind until it reaches it's conclusion that our maker "takes and he takes and he takes". It leaves us touched to our core, lost in an emotional flood of remembering the time when we ourselves lost our innocence. I don't think this Illinois album cut could sound any better, unless of course it was being introduced by Casey Kasem

Sunday, May 23, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 14 : Jesus Walks

Jesus Walks - Kanye West (2004)

Let's try to forget about this. Also, let's remove this image from our minds. Finally, let's erase this vision as well. The man in those clips is quite a polarizing character, but so was Madonna, Ringo Starr, and Johnny Rotten. Rock and Roll is based on shock and awe. Kanye is a household name because of his outbursts, but even without them, I dare to say he would be too. No one else in modern hip-hop is as brave in their lyrical honesty or cutting edge production (many of today's standards were developed by Kanye himself). I believe he doesn't take himself as seriously as we think he does either. Give a fresh listen to this groundbreaking modern classic and remember why Kanye is so important. Indeed, we do need you Mr. West.



And he made three versions of the video....gotta love variety



TOP FIVES!!!!!!: Musical Numbers in Non-Musical Films

With the 365 project occupying most of my blogging time, I asked my dear friend G-Skillet to make you all a top five worthy of his expertise in music and film. He came through with flying colors. Enjoy!

Top 5 "Musical Numbers" in Non-Musical Films:

1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen - Wayne's World



2. "The Banana Boat Song" by Harry Belafonte - Beetlejuice



3. "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Harry Richman - Young Frankenstein
Performed in the film by Peter Boyle & Gene Wilder.



4. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields - Bringing Up Baby
Performed in the film by Cary Grant & Katharine Hepburn.

5. "Blue Shadows (On the Trail)" by Randy Newman - The Three Amigos
Performed in the film by Chevy Chase, Steve Martin & Martin Short.



I started coming up with a bunch of random lists to see what I could think of that would be interesting, and still keep with the "music" theme of the blog. Most of them are movie related, as you probably expected. I just haven't had time the last few days to really work on much.

Can't wait to see more, G-Skillet!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 13 : What I Did For Love

What I Did For Love - The Cast of A Chorus Line (1975)

And show tunes enter the list! Having made some sort of a living in regional theater for the past nine years, it's kind of insane that I wasn't affected by this standard until last year. I was doing a revue of Broadway classics, and this song was to close the second act before the curtain call performance of another Chorus Line classic, One. Our director explained to us the importance of the song, of imagining what we would feel like if we woke up tomorrow and all of this performing was gone. One listen to it made the previous words unnecessary . This is one of the finest songs ever written from a performer's point of view. Having taken a break from the acting/singing/kinda dancing world, this song rings even more true now. A Chorus Line is more important than just about any musical out there. I hope to see it live one day, and try my hardest not to sing along at the top of my voice to this gem.

This video is presented in incredibly grainy black and white, but it is the original cast performing on Broadway, so what you can see is priceless!

Friday, May 21, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 12 : Biko

Biko - Peter Gabriel (1980)

My words will pale in comparison to the great music critic Tom Moon's. I will just add that I discovered this song on the Woodstock '94 soundtrack and it opened my eyes to the majesty of the past, present and future work of that weird guy from the Sledgehammer video. This is why I love Genesis. This is why I love the music of South Africa. This is why I love songs of freedom. This is why I love Peter Gabriel.

For those of you who have never seen Cry Freedom, whose scenes are used in this video, I encourage you to do so.



And Paul Simon's version ain't half bad either:

Thursday, May 20, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 11 : Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?

Where Do You Got To (My Lovely)? - Peter Sarstedt (1969)

Film is such a lovely medium for the perfect placement of a pop song:




And, with this prologue to The Darjeeling Limited, I became aware of Peter Sarstedt. A Moderate hit in America (#70, Bilboard Hot 100), it stayed at # 1 for a month in England, tying for song of the year at the Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting with David Bowie's "Space Oddity"(What heady times for music!)! A ballad of deep hurt and disappointment, the narrator's lovely has become too worldly for his embrace, yet he knows that she stills bears the scars, deep inside, yes she does. Peter received late acclaim in the states due to its 2007 rediscovery, and his other works, both funny and poignant, deserve the same treatment

This video is a great visual lesson in the obscure (for Americans at least) names and places used throughout this hypnotic song.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 10 : Summer, Highland Falls

Summer, Highland Falls - Billy Joel (1976)

Turnstiles is one of the most criminally underrated albums of all time. The scope and brevity of the songwriting and musicianship have kept me coming back to it much more often than The Stranger, Piano Man, or The Nylon Curtain , albums that usually are credited as Joel's best. One of the main drawing points is this piano-led ballad, featuring one of the finest Clarinet solos on any rock record! Joel's words of a decaying love never seem bittersweet, just statements of fact that both lovers realize are true. This honesty had not been seen in "Love-gone-wrong" songs since Paul Simon's Dangling Conversation. It is a shame Billy doesn't enjoy writing pop songs anymore, because I am sure he has more gems like this floating around in his head.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 9 : Come Pick Me Up

Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams (2000)

A cheating, stealing low-down girlfriend is told what's what (the lines about using the bed for sleeping instead... so good!!) in this, the finest song ever written by the greatest songwriter of '00-'01. While many of Adam's tunes have been exceptional since, he has never captured a painful moment with such expertise as this again.



Watch him blow Letterman's mind (sans the "F" and "S" words) below

Monday, May 17, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 8 : 60 Years On

60 Years On - Elton John (1970)

This was the song that opened Live In Australia W/ The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the first album by Sir Elton I ever owned. It haunted me for years, with its message of fear against aging. It is even more powerful on his US debut, when, at only 23, Elton sings the song with youthful conviction that rivals the Who's early singles. However, he accomplishes it with vibrant strings instead of distorted guitars and explosions (Not that that's a bad thing.. I Adore The Who) One up Reg!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 7 : MacArthur Park

MacArthur Park - Richard Harris (1968)

Although I came to this song via Weird Al, it has never left my heart since hearing the original version by the late, great Albus Dumbledore. Jimmy Webb's surreal telling of a love affair gone wrong is complemented by strings, horns, and oh, that instrumental break!! However, what makes it is Harris' reading: at times melancholy, but never without strength and an actor's eye for showmanship. Greatest....One-Hit Wonder.....Ever!!!

Here's a video of the song featuring film clips from the illustrious career of Mr. Harris.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 6 : Walk Away Renee

Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke (1966)

Following on the string-laden heels of yesterday, I present the first baroque pop song. The Harpsichord-driven tune was written by the band's 16-year old keyboardist Michael Brown. So good that artists as varied as the Four Tops, Bon Jovi and Badly Drawn Boy have covered it, but all pale in comparison to the heartbreaking original.

Friday, May 14, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 5 : Moonlight Mile

Moonlight Mile - The Rolling Stones (1971)

It's fitting that this is my first song on the list with a string arrangement, because it is one of the finest examples of rock and roll with violins ever . Majestically arranged and conducted by the great Paul Buckmaster, the Stones reach a height of beauty not seen by them since As Tears Go By, and rarely seen since. Listen to it about 3:30 in the morning with headphones on while staring at the stars.... you just might cry.

This video makes the case that the song should have been featured prominently in Atonement. After watching it, I couldn't agree more.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 4 : Crane Wife 1 & 2

Crane Wife 1 & 2 - The Decemberists (2006)

A Japanese folk tale retold as a prog/folk centerpiece. The seeds for Hazards of Love were sewn here with grace, beauty and the underlying sadness that permeates the best of Colin Meloy's work.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 3 : Rocky Raccoon

Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles (1968)

Everybody's favorite procyon is scorned by Magill or Lill or Nancy (which everyone knew her as) and seeks out revenge on her new man Dan (I'm starting to feel like Dr. Seuss!). McCartney's country ballad never loses its charm, even on the impressive track listing of the White Album.

Here's some little kids acting it out for ya!!



Tuesday, May 11, 2010

JDIZZY's 365 # 2 : Visions of Johanna

Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan (1966)

Exhaustion and Longing (for Joan Baez?) exemplified in 8 transcendent minutes...Dylan's masterpiece

JDIZZY's 365 # 1 : Supper's Ready

Ok, so today I finally made the move to Philly that I have been planning for over a year. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have decided to undertake a momentous blog series... A year long one to be exact. A little background: I filled up my girlfriend's IPOD with my 350 favorite songs last May. The Criteria was simple. An artist could only be featured once unless it was a group side and then a solo one (hence all the Beatles could be listed individually as well as being included as a whole, but just once each). Now, to mark this new start, I have pushed the number up by 15 and will release my list one song a day until its is finished. When possible I will include both a video, as well as a Lala widget that includes a free listen to the entire album it is pulled from.....errr....just kidding, apparently Lala is shutting down on May 31...RIP!!!. I hope this list inspires others to do the same. Let me know about it, because I would love to follow your 365 as well.

Supper's Ready - Genesis (1972)

The Apocalypse set in the English Countryside. Also the finest side-long epic in Prog. So good somebody on Wikipedia wrote a dissertation on it.