How many times have I played Trout Mask Replica in its entirety? More than likely, about five, and I haven't listened to it in its entirety for at least 15 years. That's going to change right now. Well, unfortunately I ran out of time and could not listen to it. Guess I'll see you in another 15, Trout Mask Replica. No, wait! I am listening to it now...I am on track #6, Moonlight in Vermont. I am going to have to pause it briefly in order to eat dinner, but I will resume afterwards, while writing this and watching the NCAA tourney. I mean, I can't just sit here and listen, I have to do other things to alleviate the musical weight of this album.It's now 8pm and I am in the home stretch. What an experience. It's like a David Lynch film, Blue Velvet or Eraserhead. Especially the cover...really strange.
On the surface, it is a jumble of experimental weirdness, deep rough moaning vocals, guitars scratching out riffs in sections that fill in spaces like a puzzle that will never be solved. It's completely bizarre, but also an artistic statement of the highest order. Ella Guru is my favorite song on the album, followed closely by Frownland, Moonlight in Vermont, and When Big Joan Sets Up. If this music freaks you out, well, that's supposed to happen.
Fee fee fi fi fo fo fum, I smell smoke in the auditorium. From the soundtrack to the TV special, "Charlie and the Giant Snitches", the Coasters sing about all the bad things this kid does in high school:
1) Smokes in the auditorium
2) Gambles (throwing dice, and in the boys' gym, no less!)
3) Writes on the wall (bathroom wall? Principal's office wall?)
4) Goofs in the hall
5) Throws spit balls
6) Calls the English teacher 'Daddy-O'
7) Packs a switchblade
He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see...well, he hasn't yet so all you little narcs better keep your mouths shut...I'm lookin at you, Schroeder! Why is everybody always pickin on me? First of all, Charlie, you're obviously faking it. You're bad and you know it. Wait, is he really doing anything so terrible? He may not be a good influence, but it's not like he's slashing tires or beating people up...yet. The other kids are a bunch of suckups. Charlie will deal with them after school. But wait again...what was up with all that fee fi fo fum at the beginning? Are the other Coasters giants? Then Charlie had better listen up.
The music resembles Yakety Sax, which as it turns out was based on the sax solo from another Coasters' hit: Yakety Yak (don't talk back). Well, duh.....
The video is fantastic. The three guys have already stuck poor Charlie in the corner and later they put a dunce cap on his head. During the middle interlude, the Coaster with the sweet pompadour does an excellent dance. And how about the blackboard? CAT + DOG = ?, 2 x 8 = 19, and TEECHER. The Coasters rule.
Somewhere in 1963, the Beatles fired the first shot that announced the British Invasion. By 1966, the phenomenon had swept into every corner of the world, and talented new bands from England kept coming. I ask, who was the teen Paul Revere of this story? Possibly the scion (love that word) of some New York entertainment industry mogul (love that word as well, makes me think of molehill, of which my yard at the moment has...a few), or the hip American cousin of some enlightened British teen who knew it was just a matter of time. Then how quickly the world did fall.
Sweden's teens fell well. They formed their share of garage bands; with all those Volvos and Saabs it was only natural, right? They ingested the songs of their heroic conquerors and made their only goal the western shore? own recordings, many of which, though imitative, still stood on their own merit.
The Lee Kings released a song called On My Way, which appears on the compilation Searchin for Shakes: Swedish Beat 1965-1968. For this song, the Who is the influence of choice. The song begins with a My Generation riff, then into Kids Are Alright harmonies on the opening verse (though smoother and with a cool reverb freight train effect), a Substitute solo vocal starting at 0:40, then My Generation instrumental craziness at 1:30 (but crazier, more like what The Who did live), then, I don't know, a false ending Magic Bus kind of thing.
I like the album cover. Watching the paint dry takes patience, and you can't have patience without paint. This is quite a minimalist piece, ambient, a presence in the room. I have lost all sense of time.
There should be a horizontal line over the first a but I couldn't find an alt code. Scratchiness, sudden drum/bass, voices, birds, static, piano? whoa, wasn't expecting this piece to change. Interesting how it morphs into quasi-new age territory.
High-end production gloss. Kind of modern Stevie Wonder, or Earth Wind & Fire, but jazzier. I like the piano and the vocal layers. I can hear a little Joe Jackson in the piano. At 2:39 it enters a trippier section. The final 1:30 has a nice groove. It has an extra 0:27 of silence on the end, not sure what that's all about.
I say hail that man!...a so. Rod of Correction is one of my favorite early roots reggae tunes, primarily because of the vocals. Clancy Eccles sings with a cool deep Jamaican patois enhanced with just the right amount of reverb. Listen in particular when he sings Down in the bottom of the ocean,* 'down' has that long 'o' sound like 'cone'. Amazing. I wish he had made a children's album, can you imagine him singing tunes like Farmer in the Dell, Three Blind Mice, and This Old Man?
Like Now Be Thankful, its sunny disposition balances against a darker religious interior, but whereas Fairport's tune focuses on heretical imagery and torture from more of an inquisitional angle, Rod of Correction is pure fire and brimstone, essentially warning non-believers about the power of the Almighty. Clancy sure sounds like he's in a good mood as he sings about how Lot's wife turned a pillar of salt, down insolemnSodom and Gomorrah.
Rod of Correction was written as a political song in support of Michael Manley, for whose party, the People's National Party, Eccles was chief songwriter. Here's an interesting article about all that.
*I am curious about why we say "down in"; eg, Rick Nelson's Travellin Man...'Down in old Mexico" or "Down in old Hong Kong." What's up?
Now Be Thankful is like a tune out of medieval times, but the minstrels come bearing electric guitars, eh, Squier? So full of solemn and gomorrah nobility, self-assured and aware. But beware, take care, when you're at the Fairport Convention songs, they lurk in ye olden time castles of yore ancient kings. Join me in our minds, shall we? I'm already there. All those characters on the Full House album cover will be there, too. Dilly Dilly!
The chorus arrives somewhat abruptly, a sweet little stutter step:
Now be thankful for good things below...
It took me by surprise I must say, when I first heard it one day. It's a good hook. The chorus changes the scene to more of a Prancing Pony hobbit singalong, pints swaying to and fro. Along the lines of And We Bid You Good Night.
The words are earthy, made of stone, fire, water, a red rose blooming, the wheel. Harvest time. Good things below. The earth giveth and keepeth on givething. However, lest ye feel thine heart warmed too much, there is a dark side to this song. It's kind of twisted and masochistic, be thankful to your maker. Obey your master. Sacrifice. Accept the torture you deserve. What is this wheel anyhow? Is it this? Is it the red rose of hell?
But each time I try to say that it's really a lovely song, then I'll have to say the words all came out wrong.
Growing up, I only knew Nazareth's classic rock version of Love Hurts. The Everly Brothers sing it in their classic velvet close harmony style, each voice mirroring the other perfectly. And whereas Nazareth perform it with amped up bitterness, the Everlys sing with empathy and tenderness, offering just a hint of resentment. Their version was recorded in 1960, a simpler, more innocent time of heartbreak and longing, but perhaps with fewer avenues for expressing grief than in the mid-70s. The result is more confusion and repression, some poor soul laying in his bed staring at the ceiling, as opposed to some macho beer guzzler wailing in his Trans-Am. Of course, the sentiment is nowhere near as messed up as J Geils Band's Love Stinks.
Love Hurts was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, composers of other Everly hits like All I Have to Do is Dream and Bye Bye Love.
Paul Westerberg trashed some stuff at my college when the Replacements played there in 1987. I wish I could say I attended the show, but my brain was still in classic rock land at the time and I was therefore unfamiliar with most of their music. I probably knew a few of their songs, but nothing that made me think they were great. By the time I was older and wiser they had already broken up. My loss.
Shiftless When Idle is from their first album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash!, which also features such tunes as I Bought a Headache and Kick Your Door Down. Bassist Tommy Stinson was around 15 when they recorded it. Amazing. The song opens with a great riff and drums, somewhat akin to Dr. Feelgood's She Does It Right. Straight ahead rock n roll to inspire drinking and breaking things.
This is the most French I've ever had to type. It translates as The most beautiful music. Little sounds of nature (beautiful music), various melodies in the vocals (I swear I hear Clementine in there). Sweet little flutes, the vocals are lovely. Guitar, a sample of Vivaldi. little kid voices. There are a lot of things packed into this sweet song. Really nice.
2) Közmunka - Korruptak! (Hungary) Yeah! Hungarian punk rock! Heavy on the bass, mostly seems to come out of the right speaker. Lo-fi, Hi-energy. It's from a demo album. I like the album cover of dog biting finger as dog bones fly off behind. This is how google translated the title and lyrics:
public Works
Get up
Do you have to go
The bastard screamed
Her voice is kicking
Dawn is hostile
The state needs your body!
Neon green vest is a cold flame
You're scratching the edge of the road!
The world is humiliating!
Do you have this soul?
Who cares?
Live propaganda,
Éhbérrel.
Exposed as a banner.
Lowered forever.
Neon green vest is a cold flame
You're scratching the edge of the road!
The world, the world humiliates!
Ominous Orc drums, breath of Balrog...this is likely an intro to some intense speed demon wickedness. Setting things up for some serious headbanging. Cool metal album cover.
I Don't Mind is probably my favorite song by Buzzcocks, followed by Nostalgia, Lipstick, Everybody's Happy Nowadays, and ESP (no guitar solo, just a lick that plays over and over and over...). Boundless energy, layers of crunchy buzzsaw power chords, clever quick poetic lyrics with no time for solos. I mean, Pete Shelley only has 2:20 to get all those words out. He sprints through verse verse middle eight verse extended middle eight (with guitar accompaniment) verse. Punk Power Pop.
The main hook of the song is the brief 'chorus' that leaps out at the end of each verse:
But if you don't mi-i-i-i-i-i-ind
I don't mi-i-i-i-i-i-ind
Pete Shelley's voice rides the the melismatic rapids with ease.
