God, The Carpenters are so much better than we secretly thought they were when our mothers would iron clothes while listening to their records (or maybe that was just me)! What a voice. What a loss. Whatabodyofworktoleavebehind.
Nobody did soft prog better than Caravan. One of the originators of the CanterburySound, they explored jazz, rock and psychedelics on their first two albums, but embraced folk much stronger on this title track of their third. Greatest Hits packages are usually the way to see if you will appreciate an artist's work. InTheLand OfGrey&Pink is quite substantial as an introduction to Caravan's completely distinctive sound. Grab Waterloo Lily, Cunning Stunts along with the previously mentioned duo as well. You'll want more after this little masterpiece, I can feel it.
So, although I was gonna write about how great this song is, with its references to towns along Interstate 81, now I am simply in awe of thisgroupandtheirability to finish something that "The Master" couldn't. I would love to write more...... I'm just kind of in shock!
Agit-punks Against Me faithfully cover this song? what is going on today?
This is the song that finally made hip hop cool for your parents. How could it not, with that infectious tune, sixties beat and deep lyrics that most of us have never analyzed. It just goes to show how insanely brilliant Andre 3000's side of Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below is, and although Big Boi is only featured in the video, it gave the group its biggest hit. Taking nothing away from the power of songs off of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, Atliens, Aquemini, Stankonia and Idlewild, this kills off any sterotype left about hip-hop's relevance and power. It is truly the people's music, and it is a people with no color, creed or national origin. It is what George Clinton always hoped for, "One Nation Under a Groove".
Britpop, punk, country, and slowcore ... Told you it was universal!
How strange for us, that generation whose parents raised them on the music of the 1960's, when we discover Smile. Usually, after years and years of hearing Hawthorne, Ca's best singing their odes to cars, surfing, and theromanticismofteenagers, we are exposed to Pet Sounds. It tends to stop us in our tracks, realizing through themagnificentsingles and albumtracks that Brian Wilson was just as in touch with turning modern pop into "Classical" music as Lennon and McCartney were. Then, we begin to hear whispers of something more, something shrouded in mystery: A Lost Album, that eclipses everything being made in 1966, months before Sgt. Pepper changed the way we heard music. Smile is as good as those forty years of myth-making imagined. When the finished version was released in 2004, it was praised, loved and cherished. The album that the evil Mike Love hated was a commercial and artistic smash. Yet, it wasn't a surprise. In the late sixties and early seventies, The Beach Boys released tracks from the session across a widespatteringof formats. With Brian becoming a mental and physical recluse, they were forced to go back to these tracks to get his compositions on their releases. They hit on the majestic "Surf's Up" in 1971. Using original backing tracks, enhanced by new vocals singing Van Dyke Parks' lyrics, they worked hard to complete this ode to the loss of the California Dream. But they couldn't finish it. Something long forgotten was missing in the ending coda. Here is where the story takes on an air of myth, yet it reportedly truly happened. Brian Wilson, absent from the entire session because he didn't want to resurrect old ghosts, stormed into the studio, reciting the lyrics to "Child Is The Father To The Man", the missing lyrical finale to Smile's proposed centerpiece. The fact that "Surf's Up" was released was a miracle. The fact that it is the best song The Beach Boys ever recorded cemented Smile's legend, which kept us waiting for the the day when Wilson's "Teenage Symphony To God" would take its place among the greatest music the western world has ever produced.
One upon a time there was an English prog band named Procol Harum. They wrote an amazing song called " A Salty Dog", which pretty much ruled in every way possible with its seafaring imagery and all around awesomeness. Then, in 1993, along comes Andrew Lloyd Webber's ex-wife with a water-based concept album that oddly enough, features this song. You don't expect West End divas to cover such material. You really don't expect them to nail it. Ms. Brightman captures the entire point of the song almost as good as the venerable Harum. It opened my eyes to here strange, strange career which I have enjoyed from latterdayconceptalbums to Christmasmusic . Yep, I know, I wrote her off too, but you really should listen to her records. You'll be surprised how cool she is, like if Kate Bush was on Broadway.
You know, maybe people just sing this song really well. Here's Dream Theater's former drummer Mike Portnoy singing it for his fabulous former side project, now "only" group, Transatlantic!
There has always been a part of me that loves MOR pop rock. I would include the mighty Gap, along with Blood, Sweat & Tears (after their first album) and The Grass Roots as the finest examples of the genre. Gary Puckett wanted to write his own songs with his band, but with a record contract in their face, they recorded the triumvirate of Jerry Fuller-produced classics "Woman, Woman", "Young Girl" and "Lady Willpower". "Lady.." wins out here because, although the three songs are essentially the same, Willpower is less creepy and more positive than the former two. Of course the selling point is Gary's baritone, which is often overlooked in rock vocalist lists, but is one of the all time greats. He's still out there today on the oldies circuit and there are worse things you could do than go and enjoy an hour or two with some great music.
This is probably the rarest song on the 365 . It came to me on a complete fluke, while listening to my Grocer Jack channel on Pandora. The song stopped me in my tracks, and I instantly looked it up on Amazon and purchased the disc it came from. This is some heady psych pop, ladies and germs. This duo would go on to write "Temptation Eyes" for The Grass Roots, as well as otherhitsfor various artists. However, this demo for a psychedelic album that was never released shows that beneath the popular surface of late 60's music, many geniuses wallowed in obscurity. It is why reissues like these are so important. This album seems to be gone from Amazon now, but you can purchase it from their UK store. I can't recommend this haunting tale of a faded star that is today's choice or its counterparts enough.
Thank you Velvet Goldmine for putting this song in your film, but not on the soundtrack. You forced me to go internet exploring for years, eventually finding out about Mr. Pratt. Andy Pratt put out one perfect album and a number 78 single before disappearing back into obscurity. He still plays today, and his work is in dire need of discovery, as evidenced by the lack of songs available on youtube and his albums being out of print. Remember friends, if Todd Haynes likes it, it's gotta be good!
Roger Daltrey covered it quite well, but didn't sing in Annie's voice!
Roly Salley plays bass guitar for Chris Isaak. He also wrote one of the best songs ever written. It took the golden god of rock and the voice of an angel to make the world notice it. Their version is more produced then his, but it is timeless in a way that makes the tune even stronger, with Plant's weathered but still majestic voice weaving betwixt Krauss' perfect instrument. It is quite an honor when people cover your work. It's even more so when they perfect it.
When did it become cool to hate Green Day? I completely missed that bandwagon. I must have been thinking of my formative teenage years, which I'm pretty sure were soundtrackedbyDookie from '94-'96. Insomniachaditsmoments of joy too, then Nimrod came around during my senior year and presented us with the perfect graduation song. Warningpoppedup to keep the party going in College. Then, at 24, alienated and confused by the first four Bush years, Green Day stepped up with a Rock Opera and said through it that we was not alone. American Idiot is probably the stopping point for many a fan of the band. It's where they became our generation's Who, giving us our Tommy. It's also the best writing they have ever done, as well as the most honest. For those who don't appreciate the theatricality of Green Day's last six years, I suggest you take out your old cassette of Kerplunk! and weep about what might have been. For the rest of us, let's bask in this multi-part movement of Punk Rock Opera Glory!!!
Living in the Wisconsin resort town aptly called Wisconsin Dells in the middle of winter was a sobering experience for me. Every morning, driving to work, I was greated by the sleeping giants of amusement parks, water slides and various other tourist traps closed for the season. I was told that the population was in the millions during the summer, but in the cold days of February, only about 2,000 inhabitants braved the weather. Moz ran through my head the entire time I was there. His paeon to being trapped in a coastal town during the wrong months summed up my experience perfectly. I don't think he ever sang, wrote or gelled better than he did on VivaHate, coming off of The Smiths high, announcing a solo career that would stillbegoingstrong over twenty years later..... Just not as strong as this.
The Beatles wrote many a song about their hometown's streets, fields and girls. Oddly enough, they never hit on the river that flows there, into the Irish Sea. It must have been because that geographical location was already well spoken for by late 1964. The Pacemakers were one of many Merseybeatbands that found success in the wake of Beatlemania. They just happened to pen the movement's anthem in the form of this ballad. It is a sentimental longing for home that pulls the right amount of heartstrings to make it universal. The Pacemakers'catalog has plenty of qualityentries, but this piece is right up there with The Fab Four's best.
It seemed like Gerry Rafferty was done in 1978. Legal battles over contracts for his formerband had left him unable to record for three years. Now, with his second solo album finally coming to fruition, he had to deliver something. Turned out all he needed was a saxophone solo by Raphael Ravenscroft. A global phenomenon after its release, Rafferty never replicated its success. Sometimes the perfect single really is the beginning of the end, although he does have awealthofsolidmaterialtoperuse. However, the saxophone was cool again, and that's all that matters (Even if the riff might have been stolen!).
Release on Wham!'s album Make It Big, this was George Michael's first solo single in the UK, and showed beyond the shadow of a doubt that Andrew Ridgeley was completely expendable. Michael would go on to craft someofthegreatestcontributions to the recorded British legacy, but none would ever match the excitement that this recording demonstrated to all 21 countries where it topped the charts: This is a major talent that we almost slept on. No one would surprise us this much until Justin Timberlake's solo debut.
What does a band do when competing with the folk rock reign of Fairport Convention in Britain? Well, if you are Steeleye Span, you make a fewpopsingles that get you on TopOfThe Pops, and then you RAWK!!!!!! What has always made Steelye stand out from the pack is how they truly put the rock in their beloved genre. No example of this is clearer than this eight minute-plus murder ballad. Electric Guitar replicates traditional instrumental passages so flawlessly that it sounds like these ancient songs were written with a stratocaster in mind. Steelye is largely unknown in America, at least more so that Fairport. Commoner's Crown, their seventh album, is the perfect introduction to their impressive catalog, and its content might even do my purpose for posting one better: It might become one of your favorite lps, regardless of genre.
Never has experimental music been so poppy! Animal Collective can veer from perfection to unlistenable on the same album, never caring if the general public follows. Oddly enough, they always seem to, as they have become one of the most successful indie bands out there. Let's hope they always continue to keep the balance, perfectly manufactured here on their best single, which starts with pointless noise and turns into sunny Am gold. Mark my words, these guys have "career artists" written all over them!
Gary White was a bass player who was a member of such forgotten bands as Circus Maximus (with Jerry Jeff Walker) and The Lost Sea Dreamers. He was also an incredible songwriter. In 1970 he played on Linda Ronstadt's seminal, underrated second album Silk Purse. She must have felt the same about his work because she recorded three of his songs for the disc, including today's selection. The album wasn't the huge hit Capital was hoping for, as they were trying to follow-up her success with The Stone Poneys' rendition of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum" "Long, Long Time" stalled at number 25 on the charts and the album never rose over 103. Retrospect has been much kinder to the song. It is Linda's purest work. Her voice feels every line of pain that Gary stitched into his lyrics, and the Nashville studio cats backing her up weave a gentle pillow for her to cry on. Linda's strength was that atherpeakshesangeverysonglikeshehadwrittenit. It is a feat severely lacking in most non-writing performers today. Studying her body of work should be part of every American Idol's competition process.
Here's a lovely duet with Bobby Darin I couldn't resist posting.
Steely Dan capture a loser's defiance towards his failures perfectly in today's selection from one of thebestalbumsevermade, Aja. Steely Dan were the kings of character sketches and studio perfection. Try as you might, you will never hear a note out of place on any of their songs. Instead of sounding AOR and over-polished, it has always given Steely Dan an air of mystery and, oddly enough, street cred. They have influenced artists as diverse as Bobby Conn and Mika, and since their 2000 comeback, have been going strong in both group and solowork between Walt and Donald. Let's hope these last ten years was just a preview for what is to come.
I almost put up a cover, but no one could ever make this song any better.
The power in this little girl's voice is mind boggling. Andrea started a longtraditionof Annies with this original recording, but I don't think anyone's ever bettered it. An orphan wondering what her parents who gave her up are doing should never sound this beautiful, but it works on levels that transcend its genre and subject matter. This is the single reason why, as a child, I wanted to be performer..... there, I said it. I've often talked about how Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy are my favorite musicals. Followed by Sweeney Todd, Annie is right up there at number four.
