Category: Music

Late last year Rolling Stone released its list of the 500 Greatest Songs — “the greatest rock & roll songs of all time, chosen by a five-star jury of singers, musicians, producers, industry figures, critics and, of course, songwriters.” While the 500 is far from satisfactory in many ways, being obsessive NewMexiKen began to see how many of the 500 I had, then how many more I could acquire.

As of today it’s 499 — all acquired through perfectly legal means I hasten to add. Most are directly from CD; others are from iTunes. Among the most difficult was “96 Tears” (#210), which only recently became available on CD for the very first time (and at iTunes). Today’s addition was Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” (#403). Cochran’s greatest hits compilation was not the first CD I’ve bought just to get one tune. Though Cochran has two tunes on the 500, I had a copy of “Summertime Blues” (#73).

And the 500th song, the one I still need — “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (#484).

While the music on “Countryman” might raise the eyebrows of country purists, so will the cover. With green marijuana leaves on a red and yellow background, the cover art makes the CD look like an oversized pack of rolling papers.

The marijuana imagery reflects Jamaican culture, where the herb is a leading cash crop and part of religious rites, but it also reflects Nelson’s fondness for pot smoking.

Universal Music Group Nashville is substituting palm trees for the marijuana leaves on CDs sold at the retail chain Wal-Mart, a huge outlet for country music that’s also sensitive about lyrics and packaging.

“They’re covering all the bases,” Nelson joked.

Yahoo! News

Here’s a review from E! Online:

It’s one of those ideas that looks great on paper…rolling paper, that is. Willie Nelson, the classic American country singer lights up a bushel of reggae hits and gives his own tunes an island spin in tribute to his favorite recreational activity: blazing a giant doobie. What should be the ultimate stoner’s delight (or at least a laugh-a-minute musical oddity) disappointingly goes up in smoke the minute the music starts. With a drowsy mix of slide guitars and echoing Caribbean beats, Nelson sleepwalks through Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come” and his own “Darkness on the Face of the Earth” sounding like Jimmy Buffet with a bad hangover. It’s no wonder his former label kept this stuff locked away in the vaults for nine years. Whoever decided to put this out must have been, well, you know.

In January the Library of Congress made a momentous musical find: a tape of the Thelonious Monk quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 29, 1957, a rarity by a little-recorded and short-lived band that had major historical significance. That tape – containing nearly an hour of music – will be released by Blue Note on Sept. 27, under the title “Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane: Live at Carnegie Hall,” the record label announced.

Arts, Briefly – New York Times

Thanks to Jen for the pointer.

Adrienne Young & Little Sadie [Plow to the End of the Row (2004)] recall Alison Kraus & Union Station in their combination of traditional country and bluegrass sounds with more contemporary tunes, topped by an expressive female singer. The band — guitarist Tyler Grant, fiddler/mandolin player Clayton Campbell, acoustic bassist Amanda Kowalski, and percussionist Steven Sandifer — backs Young, who plays guitar and banjo in addition to singing lead vocals on country hoedowns like “Leather Britches”; primitive-sounding recording techniques are even employed on occasion (“Satan, Yer Kingdom Must Come Down”) to make the music sound like it comes from long in the past. But, having established its old-timey bona fides, the group proceeds to update things on country-pop songs like “Home Remedy,” a duet between Young and Grant that speaks of love in racy modern terms (with “a healthy dose of lust”), and “Poison,” which suggests the bandmembers may have U2 in their record collections and which might intrigue country radio programmers. This, then, is a band that covers a lot of bases, which may make it a good match for a younger country audience drawn to traditional music by O Brother, Where Art Thou? but also open to a hybrid approach.

All Music Guide

Thanks to Nora for the tunes.

is 64 today. Who is Lamont Dozier you say? Along with Eddie and Brian Holland, Dozier wrote a few songs you may know, among them:

Baby I Need Your Loving
Baby Love
Bernadette
Come See About Me
Nowhere To Run
I Hear a Symphony
My World Is Empty Without You
Reach Out, I’ll Be There
How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You
(Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) I Can’t Help Myself
Stop! In The Name Of Love
This Old Heart Of Mine
It’s The Same Old Song
Jimmy Mack

was born in Peru, Indiana, on this date in 1891. The following is from the web site for the PBS series American Masters:

“Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it, let’s fall in love.”

“Night and Day,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Begin the Beguine,” “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” — some of the cleverest, funniest, and most romantic songs ever written came from the pen of Cole Porter. He was unmatched as a tunesmith, and his Broadway musicals — from “Kiss Me Kate” and “Anything Goes” to “Silk Stockings” and “Can Can” — set the standards of style and wit to which today’s composers and lyricists aspire.

Night and Day was one of the NPR 100, their list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. The first note is repeated 35 times.

(Originally posted by NewMexiKen June 9, 2004; edited somewhat.)

is 90 today. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as Les Paul.

The name Les Paul is synonymous with the electric guitar. As a player, inventor and recording artist, Paul has been an innovator from the early years of his life. Born Lester William Polfus in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Paul built his first crystal radio at age nine – which was about the time he first picked up a guitar. By age 13 he was performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist and working diligently on sound-related inventions. In 1941, Paul built his first solid-body electric guitar, and he continued to make refinements to his prototype throughout the decade. He also worked on refining the technology of sound, developing revolutionary engineering techniques such as close miking, echo delay and multitracking. All the while he busied himself as a bandleader who could play both jazz and country music.

His career as a musician nearly came to an end in 1948, when a near-fatal car accident shattered his right arm and elbow. However, he instructed the surgeons to set his arm at an angle that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. Paul subsequently made his mark as a jazz-pop musician extraordinaire, recording as a duo with his wife, singer Colleen Summers (a.k.a. Mary Ford). Their biggest hits included “How High the Moon” (1951) and “Vaya Con Dios” (1953), both reaching #1. The recordings of Les Paul and Mary Ford are noteworthy for Paul’s pioneering use of overdubbing – i.e., layering guitar parts one atop another, a technique also referred to as multitracking or “sound on sound” recording. The results were bright, bubbly and a little otherworldly – just the sort of music you might expect from an inventor with an ear for the future.

In 1952, Les Paul introduced the first eight-track tape recorder (designed by Paul and marketed by Ampex) and, more significantly for the future of rock and roll, launched the solid-body electric guitar that bears his name. Built and marketed by Gibson, with continuous advances and refinements from Paul in such areas as low-impedance pickup technology, the Les Paul guitar became a staple instrument among discerning rock guitarists. This list of musicians associated with the Gibson Les Paul include Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman and Mike Bloomfield. Over the ensuing decades, Paul himself has remained active, cutting a Grammy-winning album of instrumental duets with Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester in 1977, performing at New York jazz clubs, and continuing to indulge his inventor’s curiosity in a basement workshop at his home in Mahwah, New Jersey.

(Originally posted by NewMexiKen June 9, 2004)

Download free mp3 files of all nine Beethooven symphonies from the BBC.

was born on this date in 1909. Goodman was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who thought that music might be a way out of poverty. His older brothers were given a tuba and a trombone but — just 10 — Benjamin was given a clarinet. He learned to play at a synagogue and then with a Jane Hull House band. By 16, he was in the Ben Pollack Orchestra; by 19, Goodman was making solo recordings.

In 1934, Goodman put together his own band and they played on a live NBC radio program “Let’s Dance” during the late hours in New York. It was not until the band played before a live audience at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles that it found its fans — because of the time difference, the Goodman band that was on so late in the east was heard during prime dancing time on the west coast. (It’s a good scene in the 1955 film The Benny Goodman Story.) Some date the beginning of the Swing Era to that August 21, 1935, appearance in Los Angeles.

On January 16, 1938, Goodman brought jazz to Carnegie Hall. This great concert was recorded (with one microphone), but the original disk was lost. In 1950, Goodman discovered a copy in a closet. It quickly became a best-selling record and the CD is an absolute essential.

But NewMexiKen’s favorite Benny Goodman appearance was on December 30, 1966, at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. That’s because I was there.

(Originally posted by NewMexiKen on May 30, 2004)

was born on this date in 1926. If you do not own the Davis album Kind of Blue, you should purchase it immediately. As Stephen Thomas Erlewine tells us at the All Music Guide:

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. … It may be a stretch to say that if you don’t like Kind of Blue, you don’t like jazz — but it’s hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection.

Kind of Blue was one of NPR’s 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. Listen to their report here.

(Originally posted by NewMexiKen May 25, 2004)

Steve Terrell has forwarded to me a blog chain letter. Now what I always do with chain letters is break the chain. And while, I know, that means I have passed up endless opportunities at good fortune, nothing drastic has come my way as a result yet either (I don’t think).

But a blog chain letter is different. It’s public. If you break the chain it will be known to all. When an asteroid hits the earth or Antarctica melts I could be held responsible and possibly even face litigation. So I fear I must respond to Steve.

Besides I like Steve’s blog and I’m flattered he included me.

The last CD I bought was: Madeleine Peyroux, Careless Love — but I bought it at Borders, not Starbucks so I will not be held to ridicule

Song playing right now: “This Cowboy Song,” Sting; just before: “Little Shoes,” Leo Kottke — the best part of blogging BTW is friends, but the next best part is iTunes while you blog (I have 6089 tracks on shuffle play)

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me: I’m going to cheat a little on this. Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, made me a couple of mix CDs when I was last visiting her, and I’ve been listening to them a lot. So I will pick a few from the 40 tracks — some that I found surprising, that I liked more than I would have guessed.

• “I’ve Been Everywhere.” Johhny Cash — pure Americana, pure Johnny, sounds like he was having fun, and I’m sure Tom Petty and the band were
• “You Were Meant for Me,” Jewel — I knew who Jewel is and certainly had heard this song before, but it is such a great song
• “Just A Ride,” Jem — a lot of good advice in that riff
• “Hey Ya!” OutKast — a very useful song while doing 90 on an Interstate, and pop music was invented for driving — “shake it like a Polaroid picture”
• “Pony,” Kasey Chambers — this one isn’t on the mix CDs, but I like this song and they way it’s sung, little girlie voice or not, and I have played it a lot

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton (and who I hope forgive me): Well, the last time I did pass something along to bloggers only one of the three responded, so I am feeling a little uneasy. I am going to contact five and ask if they’re interested. If they are, or when they blog it, I will add the link here.

MakesMeRalph

Musings from America’s Outback

Colorado Luis

Let’s hope that this poor soul found at The Smoking Gun hasn’t heard any rap.

A member of The Kingsmen was interviewed by the FBI in 1965.

What happened, of course, was that every rock and roll band in America played this song in their local gigs and many of the local bands did have scurrilous lyrics.

Time to upgrade.

Apple – iTunes – Download iTunes

It’s a typical story: She’s a California-raised Korean-American girl who went to boarding school in New Hampshire and then to Brown. She was discovered by talent scouts while playing music in a coffee shop. And she auditioned for Sony Music executives playing Bob Dylan’s guitar.

Well, maybe not so typical, after all.

From NPR, which has a few songs you can hear.

The Detroit Free Press tells us that Benton Harbor lifts “Louie Louie’ ban for middle school band.

“Louie Louie,” written by Richard Berry in 1956, is one of the most recorded songs in history. The best-known, low-fidelity version was a hit in 1963 for the Kingsmen. For decades, stories have circulated that the song contained obscenities.

In a letter sent home with McCord students, Dawning had said that “Louie Louie” was not appropriate for Benton Harbor students to play while representing the district — even though the marching band was not going to sing it.

But she reversed herself Thursday after consulting with parents.

It seems it was too late for the kids to learn a new song for today’s parade.

Key quote: “The FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics on the Kingsmen’s recording before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were ‘unintelligible at any speed.'”

Harry Lillis Crosby was born on this date in 1903. Known as “Bing” from a childhood nickname, he was:

[W]ithout doubt, the most popular and influential media star of the first half of the 20th century. The undisputed best-selling artist until well into the rock era (with over half a billion records in circulation), the most popular radio star of all time, and the biggest box-office draw of the 1940s, Crosby dominated the entertainment world from the Depression until the mid-’50s, and proved just as influential as he was popular. Unlike the many vocal artists before him, Crosby grew up with radio, and his intimate bedside manner was a style perfectly suited to emphasize the strengths of a medium transmitted directly into the home. He was also helped by the emerging microphone technology: scientists had perfected the electrically amplified recording process scant months before Crosby debuted on record, and in contrast to earlier vocalists, who were forced to strain their voices into the upper register to make an impression on mechanically recorded tracks, Crosby’s warm, manly baritone crooned contentedly without a thought of excess. …

His influence and importance in terms of vocal ability and knowledge of American popular music are immense, but what made Bing Crosby more than anything else was his persona — whether it was an artificial creation or something utterly natural to his own personality. Crosby represented the American everyman — strong and stern to a point yet easygoing and affable, tolerant of other viewpoints but quick to defend God and the American way — during the hard times of the Depression and World War II, when Americans most needed a symbol of what their country was all about.

John Bush for the All Music Guide

And, of course, he’s the artist with the best-selling record of all time: White Christmas.

was born in Nogales, Arizona, on this date in 1922.

Irascible, demanding, bullying, and probably a genius, Charles Mingus cut himself a uniquely iconoclastic path through jazz in the middle of the 20th century, creating a legacy that became universally lauded only after he was no longer around to bug people. As a bassist, he knew few peers, blessed with a powerful tone and pulsating sense of rhythm, capable of elevating the instrument into the front line of a band. But had he been just a string player, few would know his name today. Rather, he was the greatest bass-playing leader/composer jazz has ever known, one who always kept his ears and fingers on the pulse, spirit, spontaneity, and ferocious expressive power of jazz.

All Music Guide

Charles Mingus died in 1979. There’s an attractive Official Mingus Web.

“The Big 5 of all time, musically, are probably Mozart, The Beatles, KC and the Sunshine Band, Beethoven and The Gap Band, though some could argue that Bach deserves to be in there somewhere. Maybe sub out Beethoven?”

Joel Achenbach

NewMexiKen would include The Kingsmen.

was born on this date in 1895. The following is from the web site for
JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns:

Bessie Smith began her professional career in 1912 by singing in the same show as Ma Rainey, … Her first recording, Down-Hearted Blues, established her as the most successful black performing artist of her time. She recorded regularly until 1928 with important early jazz instrumentalists such as [Clarence] Williams, James P. Johnson, and various members of Fletcher Henderson’s band, including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Green, Joe Smith, and Tommy Ladnier. During this period she also toured throughout the South and North, performing to large audiences. In 1929, she appeared in the film St. Louis Blues. By then, however, alcoholism had severely damaged her career, as did the Depression, which affected the recording and entertainment industries. A recording session, her last, was arranged in 1933 by John Hammond for the increasing European jazz audience; it featured among others Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman. By 1936, Smith was again performing in shows and clubs, but she died, following an automobile accident, before her next recording session had been arranged.

Smith was unquestionably the greatest of the vaudeville blues singers and brought the emotional intensity, personal involvement, and expression of blues singing into the jazz repertory with unexcelled artistry. Baby Doll and After You’ve Gone, both made with Joe Smith, and Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out, with Ed Allen on cornet, illustrate her capacity for sensitive interpretation of popular songs. Her broad phrasing, fine intonation, blue-note inflections, and wide, expressive range made hers the measure of jazz-blues singing in the 1920s. She made almost 200 recordings, of which her remarkable duets with Armstrong are among her best. Although she excelled in the performance of slow blues, she also recorded vigorous versions of jazz standards. Joe Smith was her preferred accompanist, but possibly her finest recording (and certainly the best known in her day) was Back Water Blues, with James P. Johnson. Her voice had coarsened by the time of her last session, but few jazz artists have been as consistently outstanding as she.

The Red Hot Jazz Archive has many Bessie Smith songs you can hear, including Back Water Blues. Her recording, with Louis Armstrong, of St. Louis Blues is essential listening.

The coal miner’s daughter is 70 today. She was born in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, on this date in 1935. Married at 14, Ms. Lynn had four children by the time she was 17.

Loretta Lynn’s 2004 CD Van Lear Rose won the Grammy for Best Country Album. Great songs, all 13 written by Lynn. And that great honky tonk voice.