Category: Music

Hey, Good Lookin’

Hiram Williams was born on this date 85 years ago. We know him as Hank. And arguably he is one of the two or three most important individuals in American music history. Hank Williams is an inductee of both the Country Music (the first inductee) and Rock and Roll (its second year) halls of fame.

Entering local talent talent contests soon after moving to Montgomery in 1937, Hank had served a ten-year apprenticeship by the time he scored his first hit, “Move It on Over,” in 1947. He was twenty-three then, and twenty-five when the success of “Lovesick Blues” (a minstrel era song he did not write) earned him an invitation to join the preeminent radio barndance, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. His star rose rapidly. He wrote songs compulsively, and his producer/music publisher, Fred Rose, helped him isolate and refine those that held promise. The result was an unbroken string of hits that included “Honky Tonkin’,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Mansion on the Hill,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You),” “Honky Tonk Blues,” “Jambalaya,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and “You Win Again.” He was a recording artist for six years, and, during that time, recorded just 66 songs under his own name (together with a few more as part of a husband-and-wife act, Hank & Audrey, and a more still under his moralistic alter ego, Luke the Drifter). Of the 66 songs recorded under his own name, an astonishing 37 were hits. More than once, he cut three songs that became standards in one afternoon.

American Masters

The words and music of Hank Williams echo across the decades with a timelessness that transcends genre. He brought country music into the modern era, and his influence spilled over into the folk and rock arenas as well. Artists ranging from Gram Parsons and John Fogerty (who recorded an entire album of Williams’ songs after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival) to the Georgia Satellites and Uncle Tupelo have adapted elements of Williams’ persona, especially the aura of emotional forthrightness and bruised idealism communicated in his songs. Some of Williams’ more upbeat country and blues-flavored numbers, on the other hand, anticipated the playful abandon of rockabilly.

— Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Hank Williams’s legend has long overtaken the rather frail and painfully introverted man who spawned it. Almost singlehandedly, Williams set the agenda for contemporary country songcraft, but his appeal rests as much in the myth that even now surrounds his short life. His is the standard by which success is measured in country music on every level, even self-destruction.

— Country Music Hall of Fame

Again from American Masters:

It all fell apart remarkably quickly. Hank Williams grew disillusioned with success, and the unending travel compounded his back problem. A spinal operation in December 1951 only worsened the condition. Career pressures and almost ceaseless pain led to recurrent bouts of alcoholism. He missed an increasing number of showdates, frustrating those who attempted to manage or help him. His wife, Audrey, ordered him out of their house in January 1952, and he was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry in August that year for failing to appear on Opry-sponsored showdates. Returning to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he’d been an up-and-coming star in 1948, he took a second wife, Billie Jean Jones, and hired a bogus doctor who compounded his already serious physical problems with potentially lethal drugs.

Hank Williams died in the back seat of his Cadillac. He was found and declared dead on New Year’s Day 1953. He was 29.

Seriously, why do we have holidays for Columbus and Washington, but none for Hank Williams?

Yes, that is June Carter.

Elvis 53 years ago tonight

From Peter Guralnick’s excellent Last Train to Memphis:

On September 9 he was scheduled to appear on the premier Ed Sullivan Show of the season. Sullivan, however, was recuperating from an August automobile accident and, as a result, was not going to be able to host the program, which Elvis would perform from the CBS studio in Los Angeles. Elvis sent Sullivan a get-well card and a picture autographed to “Mr. Ed Sullivan” and was thrilled to learn that the show would be guest-hosted by Charles Laughton, star of Mutiny an the Bounty. Steve Allen, who had presented him in his last television appearance, was not even going to challenge Sullivan on the night in question: NBC was simply going to show a movie.

He opened with “Don’t Be Cruel,” strolling out alone from the darkened wings onto a stage spotlighted with silhouettes of guitars and a bass fiddle. He was wearing a loud plaid jacket and an open-necked shirt, but his performance was relatively subdued, as every shoulder shrug, every clearing of his throat and probing of his mouth with his tongue, evoked screams and uncontrolled paroxysms of emotion. Then he announced he was going to sing a brand-new song, “it’s completely different from anything we’ve ever done. This is the title of our brand-new Twentieth Century Fox movie and also my newest RCA Victor escape – er, release.” There was an apologetic shrug in response to the audience’s laughter, and then, after an altogether sincere tribute to the studio, the director, and all the members of the cast, and “with the help of the very wonderful Jordanaires,” he sang “Love Me Tender.” It is a curious moment. Just after beginning the song he takes the guitar off and hands it to an unseen stagehand, and there are those awkward moments when he doesn’t seem to know quite what to do without his prop and shrugs his shoulders or twitchily adjusts his lapels, but the moans which greet the song — of surprise? of shock? of delight? most likely all three — clearly gratify him, and at the end of the song he bows and gestures graciously to the Jordanaires.

When he comes back for the second sequence, the band is shown, with Jordanaire Gordon Stoker at the piano and the other Jordanaires in plaid jackets at least as loud (but nowhere near as cool) as his own. They rock out on Little Richard’s “Ready Teddy,” but when Elvis goes into his dance the camera pulls away and, as reviews in the following days will note, “censors” his movements. It doesn’t matter. The girls scream just when he stands still, and when he does two verses of “Hound Dog” to end the performance, the West Coast studio audience goes crazy, though the New York Journal-American‘s Jack O’Brian, after first taking note of Presley’s “ridiculously tasteless jacket and hairdo (hairdon’t)” and granting that “Elvis added to his gamut (A to B) by crossing his eyes,” pointed out that the New York audience “laughed and hooted.” “Well, what did someone say?” remarked host Charles Laughton, with good humor, at the conclusion of the performance. “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast?”

The show got a 43.7 Trendex rating (it reached 82.6 percent of the television audience), and in the Colonel’s view, which he shared gleefully with Steve Sholes, really boosted Presley’s stock with an adult audience for the first time.

It was about this time that Elvis began dying his hair from its natural sandy-dark blond to jet black — “Clairol Black Velvet.”

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Rodrigo (Sanchez) and Gabriela (Quintero), the one-time heavy metal rock guitarists who turned their Flamenco and Latin roots into something truly unique, have a new album out today, 11:11 (link opens iTunes).

More passionate and exciting acoustic guitar music from the duo from Mexico City that hit it big first in Ireland.

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, which was released 50 years ago today, is a nearly unique thing in music or any other creative realm: a huge hit—the best-selling jazz album of all time—and the spearhead of an artistic revolution. Everyone, even people who say they don’t like jazz, likes Kind of Blue. It’s cool, romantic, melancholic, and gorgeously melodic. But why do critics regard it as one of the best jazz albums ever made? What is it about Kind of Blue that makes it not just pleasant but important?

Fred Kaplan tells us Why Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is so great.

The sextet consisted of Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums) and Bill Evans (piano). Wynton Kelly replaced Evans on “Freddie Freeloader.”

Everyone — every one — should own this album (if you own it, you will listen to it). It rarely costs more than $10, and you can get it from iTunes right now.

“Kind of Blue isn’t merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it’s an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence.” — allmusic

To this day Kind of Blue sells 5,000 copies a week.

Well, damn

“Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. He was 94.”

Obituary – NYTimes.com

“The only reason I invented these things was because I didn’t have them and neither did anyone else. I had no choice, really.”

Paul played every Monday night until June.

In honor of Leo Fender

Today, as noted below, is the 100th anniversary of Leo Fender’s birthday.

We honor him by citing Rolling Stone’s The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

The top 15:

  1. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
  2. Purple Haze, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  3. Crossroads, Cream
  4. You Really Got Me, The Kinks
  5. Brown Sugar, The Rolling Stones
  6. Eruption, Van Halen
  7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Beatles
  8. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
  9. Statesboro Blues, The Allman Brothers Band
  10. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
  11. Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin
  12. Voodoo Child (Slight Return), The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  13. Layla, Derek and the Dominos
  14. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
  15. My Generation, The Who

This day in Music when NewMexiKen was young

NewMexiKen is taking the day off to celebrate the blog’s sixth anniversary.
The posts today are being written by readers just like you. This is from Abq Paperboy.

1974 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” Roberta Flack.

1964 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “A Hard Day’s Night,” The Beatles.

1958 The first ever Billboard Hot 100 chart appears. The number one song is Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool.”

http://www1.excite.com/home/music/music_thisDay/0,16111,thisDay,00.html

Idle thought

iTunes, I love you.

Current 20:

  • Always On My Mind — The Essential Willie Nelson — Willie Nelson
  • Margarita — Traveling Wilburys: Volume One — Traveling Wilburys
  • 7 Deadly Sins — Traveling Wilburys: Vol. 3 — Traveling Wilburys
  • Baby Love — Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles C… — The Supremes
  • Fortress Around Your Heart — The Dream of the Blue Turtles — Sting
  • You’ve Got a Friend in Me: Toy Story …— Classic Disney Volume III — Randy Newman
  • Like the River — April — Sun Kil Moon
  • Toy Heart — Bill Monroe: Columbia Historic Edition — Bill Monroe
  • My Boo — Confessions (Bonus Track Version) — Usher & Alicia Keys
  • Theme From New York, New York — Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years — Frank Sinatra
  • Keep A Knockin’ — The Rock ‘N’ Roll Era: 1957 — Little Richard
  • Howdjadoo — Hard Travelin’: The Asch Recordings,… — Woody Guthrie
  • Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One … — The Sopranos — A3
  • Number 1 — Supernature — Goldfrapp
  • Don’t Let It Bring You Down — After the Gold Rush — Neil Young
  • All Apologies — Nirvana — Nirvana
  • Heebie Jeebies — Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America… — Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five
  • Lose Yourself — 8 Mile — Eminem
  • Instead — Bare Bones — Madeleine Peyroux
  • Pump It Up — The Very Best of Elvis Costello and T… — Elvis Costello and The Attractions

It should still be a national day of mourning

Billie Holiday died 50 years ago today. She was 44.

Considered by many to be the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, Billie Holiday lived a tempestuous and difficult life. Her singing expressed an incredible depth of emotion that spoke of hard times and injustice as well as triumph. Though her career was relatively short and often erratic, she left behind a body of work as great as any vocalist before or since.

American Masters

Or ever.

Treat yourself [opens iTunes].

Motown @ 50

“With Motown Records celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Free Press went for the gold. Our staff traveled literally coast to coast uncovering stories that demonstrate the label’s continued relevance.”

Detroit Free Press

I watched just the first three of the 50 videos (3-6 minutes each) and found them fascinating.

Pinetop Perkins

96 today and still making music.

“Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie” is one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. It was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis more than 50 years ago.

By this time, Pinetop had developed his own unmistakable sound. His right hand plays horn lines while his left kicks out bass lines and lots of bottom. It was Pinetop, along with Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, and Little Brother Montgomery, who provided the basic format and ideas from which countless swing bands derived their sound – whole horn sections playing out what Pinetop’s right hand was playing. Although Pinetop never played swing, it was his brand of boogie-woogie that came to structure swing and, eventually, rock ‘n’ roll.

Pinetop Perkins Official Web Page

Pinetop will be appearing in August at the New York City Rockin’ the River Cruise. In October he will be at the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Fesitval.

55 years ago today

… Elvis Presley recorded “That’s All Right, Mama.” During a break in a recording session consisting mostly of slow ballads, Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black began fooling around.

Sun Studio

Sam recognized it right away. He was amazed that the boy even knew Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup — nothing in any of the songs he had tried so far gave any indication that he was drawn to this kind of music at all. But this was the sort of music that Sam had long ago wholeheartedly embraced, this was the sort of music of which he said, “This is where the soul of man never dies.” And the way the boy performed it, it came across with a freshness and an exuberance, it came across with the kind of clear-eyed, unabashed originality that Sam sought in all the music that he recorded — it was “different,” it was itself.

They worked on it. They worked hard on it, but without any of the laboriousness that had gone into the efforts to cut “I Love You Because.” Sam tried to get Scotty to cut down on the instrumental flourishes — “Simplify, simplify'” was the watchword. “If we wanted Chet Atkins,” said Sam good-humoredly, “we would have brought him up from Nashville and gotten him in the damn studio!” He was delighted with the rhythmic propulsion Bill Black brought to the sound. It was a slap beat and a tonal beat at the same time. He may not have been as good a bass player as his brother Johnny; in fact, Sam said, “Bill was one of the worst bass players in the world, technically, but, man, could he slap that thing!” And yet that wasn’t it either — it was the chemistry. There was Scotty, and there was Bill, and there was Elvis scared to death in the middle, “but sounding so fresh, because it was fresh to him.”

Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

NewMexiKen photo, 2006

Leonard Cohen line of the day

I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags
that time cannot decay,
I’m junk but I’m still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Leonard Cohen, “Democracy”

Why he mattered

Ben Fong-Torres sums it up. You should read the entire, brief article, but here is the key:

Which helps answer the second question: With the J5 and the Jacksons (their name after they left Motown in 1975 and had their first personnel changes), and as a solo artist, Jackson shattered the categories that have always been part of popular music.

The J5 were the first crossover act, attracting fans of all ages, getting airplay on both Top 40 and FM “progressive rock” stations, and selling to blacks, whites – all colors. With the Motown machine behind them, they pumped out music that might be labeled “bubblegum,” but blended solid R&B, funk and rock, executed perfectly by the guys and fronted by a cute, miniature version of James Brown and Jackie Wilson.

As they grew, the spotlight stayed on Michael, who remained loyal to his brothers but scored big hits on his own – never more than with “Thriller,” whose sales have reportedly hit 100 million units since its release in 1982. With his “moonwalk” on Motown’s 25th anniversary special, he galvanized a nation.

Suddenly, he was a dancer in a league with Astaire and Kelly; he was a mainstream show-business superstar – the biggest force in pop music. Once again, colors and categories meant nothing.