Category: Music

History’s Greatest Coincidence

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on this date in 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration; Adams, with Benjamin Franklin, was also key to its evolution.

Image of first page of Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence with edits.

Adams and Jefferson were colleagues during the Revolution, but fell apart over political differences during their terms as president (Adams 1797-1801, Jefferson 1801-1809). After Jefferson left office they resumed a remarkable correspondence that lasted until their deaths.

Also, on that same day in 1826, Stephen Foster, the first great American songwriter, was born. “His melodies are so much a part of American history and culture that most people think they’re folk tunes. All in all he composed some 200 songs, including ‘Oh! Susanna’ ‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,’ and ‘Camptown Races.'” [American Experience]

And “Old Folks at Home (Swanee River),” “My Old Kentucky Home” and “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Inside Barack Obama’s iPod

“If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder,” says Obama, who grew up on Seventies R&B and rock staples including Earth, Wind and Fire, Elton John and the Rolling Stones. “When I was at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie had that run with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Innervisions, and then Songs in the Key of Life. Those are as brilliant a set of five albums as we’ve ever seen.”

Wonder shares room on Obama’s iPod with “everything from Howlin’ Wolf to Yo-Yo Ma to Sheryl Crow,” he says. “And I have probably 30 Dylan songs on my iPod.” Though he’s partial to 1975’s Blood on the Tracks, “Maggie’s Farm” is “one of my favorites during the political season,” says Obama. “It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric.”

Rolling Stone

From each end of the Mississippi River

Today, as I’ve noted, Bob Dylan is 67. Thinking about him and listening to four decades of his music — love those iTunes smart playlists — as I was walking around doing other stuff, I concluded Dylan is arguably one of the two or three most significant Americans of the past 100 years — in music I mean.

Who else?

Louis Armstrong certainly. Chuck Berry most likely.

Keep in mind that I am talking significant and that implies influence. These are not necessarily the most important “entertainers” of the past 100 years — Sinatra and Elvis make that list. What I am asking is who had the most significant influence on subsequent music?

I say Armstrong and Dylan.

No, May 24th REALLY ought to be a holiday

Bob Dylan’s influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-conscious narratives. As a vocalist, he broke down the notions that in order to perform, a singer had to have a conventionally good voice, thereby redefining the role of vocalist in popular music. As a musician, he sparked several genres of pop music, including electrified folk-rock and country-rock. And that just touches on the tip of his achievements. Dylan’s force was evident during his height of popularity in the ’60s — the Beatles’ shift toward introspective songwriting in the mid-’60s never would have happened without him — but his influence echoed throughout several subsequent generations. Many of his songs became popular standards, and his best albums were undisputed classics of the rock & roll canon. Dylan’s influence throughout folk music was equally powerful, and he marks a pivotal turning point in its 20th century evolution, signifying when the genre moved away from traditional songs and toward personal songwriting. Even when his sales declined in the ’80s and ’90s, Dylan’s presence was calculable.

The beginning of Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s profile at allmusic.

Bob Dylan – Thunder On The Mountain

May 19th ought to be an international holiday

Dusty Hill is 59 today. It ought to be an American holiday.

The genius of ZZ Top is that they’re reverential about the blues but loose and funny about the subject matter of their songs. Their songs are laden with pop-culture references, sexual double entendres and the determined pursuit of a good time. They have written about fast cars, fishnet stockings, sharp clothes, TV dinners, cheap sunglasses and “tush.” They visually connected with the MTV generation by virtue of Hill’s and Gibbons’ long beards and fur-lined guitars. For many, ZZ Top have been the premiere party band on the planet. Certainly, they have been Texas’s foremost cultural ambassadors.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Pete Townshend is 63. It ought to be a national holiday in Britain too.

From Mod-era “maximum R&B” to rock operas and quintessential Seventies hard rock, the Who reigned across the decades as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. At their best, they distilled the pent-up energy and chaos of rock and roll into its purest form while investing their music with literary wiles and visionary insight. In their prime they were a unit whose individual personalities fused into a larger-than-life whole. Pete Townshend provided the slashing guitar work and much of the material. Vocalist Roger Daltrey injected the songs with expressive muscularity and passion. Bassist John Entwistle anchored the band with his stoic demeanor and expert musicianship. Keith Moon, one of the greatest of all rock and roll drummers, embodied their explosive energy and anarchic wit.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

And AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd is 54. So it ought to be a national holiday in Australia as well.

For three decades AC/DC has reigned as one of the best-loved and hardest-rocking bands in the world. Featuring guitarist Angus Young as their visual symbol and musical firebrand, they grew from humble origins in Australia to become an arena-filling phenomenon with worldwide popularity. They did so without gimmickry, except for Angus’s schoolboy uniform, which became mandatory stage attire. From the beginning they have been a straight-ahead, no-frills rock and roll band that aimed for the gut. “We’ve never pulled any punches,” vocalist Brian Johnson has said. “We just play music that’s fun and simple–the way our audience likes it.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Elsewhere, Jim Lehrer is 74, Nora Ephron is 67 and Kevin Garnett is 32.

Ho Chi Minh was born on May 19th in 1890. Pol Pot was born on May 19th in 1925. So probably not a holiday in Cambodia.

Idolatry

In last week’s New Yorker, Sasha Frere-Jones had an interesting profile of American Idol. It included:

“Idol” watchers have been trained to think about aesthetic concepts like arrangement and song choice, and, by the time the judges weigh in, we have already been sorting out our thoughts. The viewers need compete only with Cowell; Jackson and Abdul both give us plenty of opportunities to feel superior. The self-flummoxing Abdul is physically incapable of not reassuring the contestants. One of the few variables that Jackson seems able to track is pitch.

The Weekend Diva

The G Spot has four videos of the great gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Sister Rosetta, who died in 1973, is probably best known as an important precursor to early rock and roll. With her virtuoso rocking guitar playing, she pioneered an original sound all of her own. Musicians from Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to Bob Dylan to Isaac Hayes and Aretha Franklin have cited her as an influence, and both Little Richard and Johnny Cash have said she was their favorite singer.

100 Essential Jazz Albums

David Remnick:

What follows is a list compiled with the help of my New Yorker colleague Richard Brody. These hundred titles are meant to provide a broad sampling of jazz classics and wonders across the music’s century-long history. Early New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz, hard bop, free jazz, third stream, and fusion are all represented, though not equally. We have tried not to overdo it with expensive boxed sets and obscure imports; sometimes it couldn’t be helped. We have also tried to strike a balance between healthy samplings of the innovative giants (Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Davis, Coltrane, etc.) and the greater range of talents and performances.

100 Essential Jazz Albums

Let It Be

LetItBe.jpgThe Beatles released their last album, Let It Be, on this date in 1970. The tracks were originally recorded 14 months earlier, well before Abbey Road.

Let It Be was the only Beatles album to receive negative, even hostile reviews. The group was dissolving and the tension affected the music. Then in post-production, Phil Spector added his “wall-of-sound” treatment.

Of course, a poor Beatles album is better than most other bands best work.

In 2003, the album was re-released as Let It Be…Naked with Spector’s additions deleted and other changes. Here’s the whole story from Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide.

Living With Music

I sampled some of the songs on this playlist by Mark Bowden, the author of “Black Hawk Down,” and liked what I heard.

You may too.

That 99¢ music makes following leads like this so delightful.

Bowden also says this: “Movies have just about replaced the radio as my primary way of discovering new music.”

Movies and Living With Music each week.

Kent

Today, May 4, is an excellent day to listen to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio.”

It’s been 38 years.

On May 4, 1970 the Ohio National Guard opened fire into a busy college campus during a school day. A total of 67 shots were fired in 13 seconds. Four students: Allison Krause, William Schroeder, Jeffrey Miller, and Sandra Scheuer were killed. Nine students were wounded.

Kent May 4 Center

Here’s the news story from The New York Times.

‘Over here on E Street, we’re proud to support Obama for President’

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I’ve envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that’s interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where “…nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.”

Part of a letter to “Friends and Fans” from Bruce Springsteen.

Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever

“Day Tripper”: The Beatles
“Layla”: Derek & the Dominos
“Sunshine of Your Love”: Cream
“Oh, Well”: Fleetwood Mac
“Funk #49”: The James Gang
“Gimme Three Steps”: Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Aqualung”: Jethro Tull
“Heartbreaker”: Led Zeppelin
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”: The Rolling Stones
“The Train Kept A-Rollin'”: The Yardbirds
“Mannish Boy”: Muddy Waters
“Sunday, Bloody Sunday”: U2
“Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”: Van Halen

From a discussion at Achenblog which takes exception to a list from the London music schools.

If I understand the concept of riff properly — “a brief, repetitive musical figure designed to be the ‘hook’–or most memorable instrumental component–of a song” — then I might have to add Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

April 15th ought to be a national holiday

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was born on this date in 1894.

Bessie Smith earned the title of “Empress of the Blues” by virtue of her forceful vocal delivery and command of the genre. Her singing displayed a soulfully phrased, boldly delivered and nearly definitive grasp of the blues. In addition, she was an all-around entertainer who danced, acted and performed comedy routines with her touring company. She was the highest-paid black performer of her day and arguably reached a level of success greater than that of any African-American entertainer before her.
. . .

Some of her better-known sides from the Twenties include “Backwater Blues,” “Taint Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” “St. Louis Blues” (recorded with Louis Armstrong), and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” The Depression dealt her career a blow, but Smith changed with the times by adapting a more up-to-date look and revised repertoire that incorporated Tin Pan Alley tunes like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” On the verge of the Swing Era, Smith died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, in September 1937. She left behind a rich, influential legacy of 160 recordings cut between 1923 and 1933. Some of the great vocal divas who owe a debt to Smith include Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. In Joplin’s own words of tribute, “She showed me the air and taught me how to fill it.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

And this from a review of The Essential Bessie Smith.

. . . Bessie could sing it all, from the lowdown moan of “St. Louis Blues” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” to her torch treatment of the jazz standard “After You’ve Gone” to the downright salaciousness of “Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl.” Covering a time span from her first recordings in 1923 to her final session in 1933, this is the perfect entry-level set to go with. Utilizing the latest in remastering technology, these recordings have never sounded quite this clear and full, and the selection — collecting her best-known sides and collaborations with jazz giants like Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Goodman — is first-rate. If you’ve never experienced the genius of Bessie Smith, pick this one up and prepare yourself to be devastated.

allmusic

There are no lyrics today that surpass “Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl” for sexual imagery.

And, there is no more important recording in American musical history than Smith and Armstrong’s “St. Louis Blues.”

In listening to the earliest recordings, keep in mind there were no microphones until 1925. The artists sang or played and the sound was recorded acoustically, i.e., without electrical amplification.

Ruination Day

And the great barge sank.
And the Okies fled.
And the great emancipater
took a bullet in the head.

in the head…
took a bullet in the back of the head.

It was not December.
Was not in May.
Was the 14th of April.
That is ruination day.

That’s the day…
The day that is ruination day.

— Gillian Welch, “Ruination Day Part II”

Lincoln assassinated, the Titanic hit the iceberg, Black Sunday on the Great Plains.

April 14th.

Deep Thoughts from Bob Dylan

“I don’t trust a man who doesn’t tear up a little watching Old Yeller.”

“All of our shows are for truckers, if not about truckers.”

“They say the earth’s warmin’ up. Be careful of that global warming, and wear your sunscreen.”

“Music City USA – one of the only places where a banjo player can make a six figure income.”

“You know, every shut-eye ain’t sleep. Sometimes you’re sleeping in the ground, taking a dirt nap, saying the big Goodbye.”

“The Harmonica is the world’s best-selling musical instrument. You’re welcome.”

“Sometimes when you look at a menu, it’s hard to decide what to get. Life is like that, full of difficult choices.”

“Lipstick traces on cigarettes can get you in trouble or remind you of the wonders of the night before.”

“Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me…as opposed to when you grow up and you learn that…the pen is mightier than the sword. The world is fill of little contradictions like that.”

“I leave you with the words of Benjamin Franklin. ‘He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.’ Thank you, Ben. Peace out.”

From a Vanity Fair article about Dylan’s XM radio show Theme Time Radio Hour from which the above were all taken. There’s a bunch more other stuff.