What Goes Around
Tinkers Jam is an acoustic jam circle that has been hosted by Ms Charli Alexander on Sunday afternoons for about 25 years, and after all that time, it is still full of surprises, new converts, returning vets.
I’ve been attending, through some extended periods more regularly than others, for about seven years. It’s always a treat to sing and play (and socialize) with some of the friendliest and best musicians anywhere, including singer Charli (who has a big birthday coming up).
I’m a lover of all kinds of music, and, though there’s more singer-songwriter stuff than I’d like to hear, and I don’t add alot to the bluegrass pickin’, there’s also a wide variety of songs being played any given week. Last week, Billy sang “Thunder Road” (Robert Mitchum’s only hit, unless you count that other kind of hit), bassist Dr. Jim went to guitar for a nice version of “Moonlight in Vermont” (with a bass solo by temporary sub Mark), John did “Choo-Choo-Ch-Boogie,” Blackie, the resident pop-sixties encyclopedia uncharacteristically did Judy Collins’ “Song for Duke,” and I did “The Great Pretender.” And we also covered “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Trouble in Mind,” and many others, including “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” on ukulele.
And that’s another thing: the instrumentation varies, too, from guitar to violin, mandolin, flute, dobro, harmonica, bouzouki, cabasa, and yodel.
It’s eclectic, just the way I like it.
Movie Music Top Ten
There are lots of wonderful movie soundtracks out there, some that can stand alone as great works of art, some that are inseparable from the movies they accompany. Some are perfect for the movie as well as perfect for listening while you dream up your own movie.
Nino Rota’s La Dolce Vita
Here are my top ten favorite movie soundtracks:
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All of Nino Rota’s Fellini soundtracks, especially Casanova (which is better than the movie), La Dolce Vita, and Amarcord (I couldn’t pick one)
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Vertigo (Bernard Herrmann), a beautiful score to complement this dreamlike film
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Fahrenheit 451 (Bernard Herrmann) a case of the music being better than the movie; I listen to the soundtrack fairly often, but once was enough for the flick
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Diva (various) some opera, some atmospheric piano, some eclectic noodling, but it’s all mysterious
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Taxi Driver (Bernard Herrmann) his last soundtrack; very different from his previous work, it creates the ideal mood for the New York street settings
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The Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) by Ennio Morricone–often imitated, never matched
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The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Jon Brian) again the quirkiness of the movie brings out the quirky beauty of the music
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Koyaanisqatsi (Philip Glass) in this case, the music is as important as the movie, and they must be experienced together
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Psycho (Bernard Herrmann) I know, Bernard Herrmann is on here a lot, but he’s my favorite film composer after Nino Rota, and the “hook” from Psycho’s shower scene is one of the most identifiable cultural referents ever
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A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles) I didn’t intend to include any music biopics or documentaries, and this isn’t really either of those (except that it kind of is)
Temperature Tunes: Top Ten
In honor of the crazy fluctuating temperatures these days in big d, here’s my list of best songs relating to temperature (with an attempt to avoid song titles using “hot” to mean “lustful” or “sexy” and “cold” to indicate lack of romantic interest.)
Sly and the Family Stone
1. Hot Fun in the Summertime (Sylvester “Sly” Stewart) My favorite single of all time, this song by Sly & the Family Stone hit #2 on the pop charts in October ’69. Excellent vocal arrangement!
2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Frank Loesser) This 1949 tune has been recorded by many male-female duets.
3. Warm Valley (Duke Ellington) The title of this Ellington classic is actually a euphemism for a certain part of the female anatomy. But reminds me of Tehachapi, California.
Cole Porter
4. Too Darn Hot (Cole Porter) This great song was part of the 1949 musical Kiss Me, Kate, but my favorite version is Ella Fitzgerald’s, from The Cole Porter Songbook.
5. Button Up Your Overcoat (De Sylva/Brown) A nice little ditty from 1928: “Take good care of yourself–you belong to me.”
6. Heat Wave (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The 1963 Motown version by Martha and the Vandellas beats Linda Ronstadt’s 70s version.
7. Something Cool (Billy Barnes) A torchy song I’ve heard called the saddest song ever written. I have a great version by June Christy.
8. In the Heat of the Night (Alan & Marilyn Bergman/ Quincy Jones) The 1967 Ray Charles single of this song is a classic performance.
9. 96 Degrees in the Shade (Clark, Cooper, Coore) A reggae song I’ve heard bands do live but have never owned a copy of.
10. Cold Sweat (James Brown) Perfect way to wrap it up: a song with the word “cold” in the title that’s about heat! James Brown’s song was a #7 hit in 1967.
That’s it. I’m sure I left out some good ones.
Vocal Groups: Doo-Wop Box Set, Disc 4
I got sidetracked by some other musical treasures before I could really get back and listen to the fourth and last disc of the Rhino Doo-Wop Box, Vol 2. More great stuff, and just like the other three volumes, a nice mix of hits and obscurities. The years covered are the last big years before the British Invasion, 1960-1963.
The big hits are some of the biggest of the era. Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl” hit #1 on Pop and R&B. It was a single I owned as a kid, and listened to and imitated incessantly. At least, until “She Loves You.” Other familiar songs on this disc are Curtis Lee’s “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” Little Caesar and the Romans’ “Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me of You)” (not a favorite of mine), The Cleftones’ “Heart and Soul,” and “Heartaches” by The Marcels. Another hit that played a part in my musical life is “What’s Your Name?” by Don and Juan. There was a brief period of time when, during my musician friends’ singalong gatherings, we’d get on a kick and tag every song we sang with this song’s tag: “What’s your name, what’s your name?/ Shooby-doo-wop-wa-ahhhhh.” From “My Girl” to “Helplessly Hoping,” every song ended that way. But I don’t drink like that any more.
Among the other lesser-known numbers is The Falcons’ “I Found a Love,” with a great early lead vocal by The Wicked Pickett. And there’s a neat novelty song, “Arabia,” by The Delco’s. According to Billy Vera’s liner notes, songwriter Juanita Henson, a white woman, started Ebony Records in Mishawaka, Indiana, and searched among the small black population for candidates to sing this song, which hit #1 in Pittsburgh but missed everywhere else.
Frank Zappa‘s Ruben & the Jets LP
A curiosity Vera doesn’t discuss is the writing credit for The Penguins’ 1963 song “Memories of El Monte.” Frank Zappa and Ray Collins are listed as the songwriters. Zappa and Collins, of course, recorded the paean to doo-wop Ruben and the Jets several years later. Frank Zappa, in In His Own Words, says: “The very first tunes that I wrote were 50’s doo-wop, ‘Memories Of El Monte,’ and stuff like that. It’s always been my contention that the music that was happening during the 50’s has been one of the finest things that ever happened to American music and I loved it.”
Top Ten New Year’s Resolution Albums
I love to make lists. I haven’t resolved to cut down on listmaking this year. Plus, I just read it’s good to put top-ten lists on your website (in a Time article about the top ten reasons to love top-ten lists–it’s one of the top ten articles I’ve read this week).
For New Year’s Day, and all the days to follow this year, here are my top ten New Year’s Resolution Albums:
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Resolution–Andy Pratt This is a nice album, which for awhile after it came out in the mid-seventies I thought was a masterpiece; I don’t listen to it much anymore, but it is inventive, well-produced, and gathers together some of the most desperately hopeful songs I’ve ever heard on one record.
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Starting Over–John Lennon/Yoko Ono OK, I know John got shot as this album was being finished, and I do still associate the music with that unhappy event, but it’s an album about contentment, about “starting over.” Which makes the whole Mark David Chapman thing all the more tragic.
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1999–Prince He had already become successful and critically acclaimed by the time this album was released, but this is the one that announced Prince as a major force in popular music, and the title song especially seems to represent the energy he was creating at the time. (And I still hear it played on New Year’s Eve.)
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Smile–Brian Wilson It’s the story behind this wonderful album 35 years in the making that makes me think of New Year’s resolutions: get out of bed, quit staring off into space and scribbling goofy poetry, and assemble all these scraps of songs that have been floating around all these years into a masterpiece. Of course, Brian had the help of The Wondermints–lots of help.
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An Evening with Wild Man Fischer–Wild Man Fischer An album that presents a certified nutcase Frank Zappa unleashed, for the most part unsupervised, in the studio. It’s the least-produced of the songs (all of side two) that are so full of joy and spontaneity that they should make us all resolve to be less inhibited and more accepting of others’ shortcomings, and our own.
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Dream Girls movie soundtrack Just because Jennifer Hudson, the American Idol also-ran dismissed by Simon Callous, got to rub it in Simon’s face, becoming a prizewinning superstar by being picked to be in the movie, by doing a great job in her first acting role, and by singing the hell out of “And I Am Telling You…” But, uh, what’s she been doing since then? Hmmm…
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A Love Supreme–John Coltrane This revolutionary spiritual statement expressed all the hope and new insights John Coltrane was experiencing after a life of inner conflict. Then he died just two years later.
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Way Out West–Mae West A resolution album for me, even though it really sucks, because it was made by a sex icon way past her prime, vamping her way through “Shakin’ All Over,” “Day Tripper,” and other “modern music” with a back-up band that could have been her great-grandkids.
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Modern Times–Bob Dylan A resolution album for me (and it doesn’t suck) because it was made by an icon way past his prime, vamping his way through a great and varied set of loping originals with a back-up band that could have been his kids, and singing about Alicia Keys, who could be his grandkid.
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Live at the Apollo, 1 & 2–James Brown He’s just starting to take the greater pop music scene by storm and he’s so full of hopeful exuberance, singing so many of his classics, like “Try Me” and “You’ve Got the Power.” The live audience feels it, and decades later, listening to the record in my room, I feel the optimism, too.
Running/Breathing 