Category: Music

January 25th — Hello, National Holiday

Today is Etta James’ birthday. Tell Mama, Etta James is 73 today.

[B]orn Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles (1938) to a single mom who was 14 years old. Etta sang in gospel choirs in Los Angeles, moved to San Francisco, sang doo-wop, and was discovered there by the famous Johnny Otis when she herself was just 14 years old. He asked her to sing a song with him called “Roll With Me Henry,” and he was so impressed that he took her down to Los Angeles to record with him — without telling her mom. They renamed the song “The Wallflower,” and she nailed it perfectly on the first take in the recording studio. It became a big hit, shooting to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts in 1955.

It was in 1960 that she first sang the song she’s now most famous for: “At Last.” The song was written 20 years before, and it had been performed by the Glenn Miller Band in the 1940s, but her version is by far the best known, and it’s considered her signature song.

Above from a longer profile today at The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor.

Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records’ legendary producer, describes Etta James as “the greatest of all modern blues singers…the undisputed Earth Mother.” Her raw, unharnessed vocals and hot-blooded eroticism has made disciples of singers ranging from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt. James’ pioneering 1950s hits – “The Wallflower” and “Good Rockin’ Daddy” – assure her place in the early history of rock and roll alongside Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles. In the Sixties, as a soulful singer of pop and blues diva compared with the likes of Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, James truly found her musical direction and made a lasting mark.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Miss James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, same year as Creedence, Cream, the Doors, Sly and the Family Stone, Van Morrison and Dick Clark if you still need a clue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVI254QGSQ4

Just close your eyes and listen.

Listening To

Rosie Flores by Rosie Flores

Produced by Pete Anderson, Rosie Flores’ debut made her out to be the female answer to Dwight Yoakam. Flores probably felt like that image straitjacketed her, but from a musical standpoint, it worked beautifully, incorporating Flores’ San Antonio roots into Anderson’s California country vision. Songs include “Crying Over You,” “Somebody Loses, Somebody Wins,” and “Blue Side of Town,” which Patty Loveless wouldn’t do nearly as well the following year.

iTunes

Thanks Nora.

Best lyric of the day

God may forgive you, but I won’t
Yes, Jesus loves you, but I don’t
They don’t have to live with you, neither do I
You say that you’re born again, well so am I
God may forgive you, but I won’t
I won’t even try

“God May Forgive You (But I Won’t)”
Sung by Rosie Flores (Iris DeMent has a great version, too).
Words and music by Harlan Howard and Bobby Braddock.

The song at the end of True Grit

. . . is “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” sung by Iris DeMent.

You’ll need the soundtrack album to get that version, but you can pick up her 2004 version for 99¢ from iTunes.

Here she is with another song, “Let the Mystery Be,” with Russ Barenberg on guitar, Jay Ungar with the fiddle, Molly Mason on bass and Donal Lunny with the bouzouki (a Greek instrument similar to a mandolin).

Redux post of the day

First posted here four years ago today.

Music of the Hemispheres

“Listen to this,” Daniel Levitin said. “What is it?” He hit a button on his computer keyboard and out came a half-second clip of music. It was just two notes blasted on a raspy electric guitar, but I could immediately identify it: the opening lick to the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar.”

Then he played another, even shorter snippet: a single chord struck once on piano. Again I could instantly figure out what it was: the first note in Elton John’s live version of “Benny and the Jets.”

Dr. Levitin beamed. “You hear only one note, and you already know who it is,” he said. “So what I want to know is: How we do this? Why are we so good at recognizing music?”

The New York Times

An intriguing article. One thing though. If you attend a concert by any well-known performer there are always those that react to the first few notes. But there is the larger group that doesn’t seem to catch on until the lyrics begin.

But more from the article:

Observing 13 subjects who listened to classical music while in an M.R.I. machine, the scientists found a cascade of brain-chemical activity. First the music triggered the forebrain, as it analyzed the structure and meaning of the tune. Then the nucleus accumbus and ventral tegmental area activated to release dopamine, a chemical that triggers the brain’s sense of reward.

The cerebellum, an area normally associated with physical movement, reacted too, responding to what Dr. Levitin suspected was the brain’s predictions of where the song was going to go. As the brain internalizes the tempo, rhythm and emotional peaks of a song, the cerebellum begins reacting every time the song produces tension (that is, subtle deviations from its normal melody or tempo).

“When we saw all this activity going on precisely in sync, in this order, we knew we had the smoking gun,” he said. “We’ve always known that music is good for improving your mood. But this showed precisely how it happens.”

Funny how they keep finding out that sex, drugs and rock and roll really are good for you. As if we didn’t know.

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Because I can’t imagine being able to do this

. . . it just fascinates me.

PLAYBOY: Then let’s talk about the work you did together. Generally speaking, what did each of you contribute to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting team?

LENNON: Well, you could say that he provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, a certain bluesy edge. There was a period when I thought I didn’t write melodies, that Paul wrote those and I just wrote straight, shouting rock ‘n’ roll. But, of course, when I think of some of my own songs — “In My Life” — or some of the early stuff — “This Boy” — I was writing melody with the best of them. Paul had a lot of training, could play a lot of instruments. He’d say, “Well, why don’t you change that there? You’ve done that note 50 times in the song.” You know, I’ll grab a note and ram it home. Then again, I’d be the one to figure out where to go with a song — a story that Paul would start. In a lot of the songs, my stuff is the “middle eight,” the bridge.

PLAYBOY: For example?

LENNON: Take “Michelle.” Paul and I were staying somewhere, and he walked in and hummed the first few bars, with the words, you know [sings verse of “Michelle”], and he says, “Where do I go from here?” I’d been listening to blues singer Nina Simone, who did something like “I love you!” in one of her songs and that made me think of the middle eight for “Michelle” [sings]: “I love you, I love you, I l-o-ove you . . . .”

PLAYBOY: What’s an example of a lyric you and Paul worked on together?

LENNON: In “We Can Work It Out,” Paul did the first half, I did the middle eight. But you’ve got Paul writing, “We can work it out/We can work it out” — real optimistic, y’ know, and me, impatient: “Life is very short and there’s no time/For fussing and fighting, my friend….”

PLAYBOY: Paul tells the story and John philosophizes.

From the September 1980 Playboy interview published in January 1981.

Imagine

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no posessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

John Lennon (1940-1980)
Lennon was killed 30 years ago tonight.

Today’s Photo

I own all the Beatles studio tracks on CD, so the announcement today that the iTunes Store has The Beatles is of little consequence to me. But, at least at this writing, I love the photo at Apple.com.

You can buy the thirteen albums and the two Past Masters albums and more as a box set from iTunes for $149.

Of course, you can get the The Beatles Stereo Box Set in real CDs for $129.99 from Amazon.

Never on Sunday

The first foreign language tune to win the Best Song Oscar was Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά (Ta Paidia Tou Piraia), which is Greek for “The Children of Piraeus.” In the U.S. the song was known as “Never On Sunday,” which is why I thought of it today. It was written by Manos Hadjidakis and performed in the 1960 movie Never on Sunday by Melina Mercouri. Mercouri got an Oscar nomination and won Best Actress at Cannes for her performance as the prostitute with a heart of gold.

Here is the Greek lyric, followed by an English translation. Following that is the lyric written for English singers by Billy Towne, the lyrics we heard in 1960. This was a very popular song in the U.S. with both instrumental and vocal covers.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d say a little something was lost in translation.

(The links below are to iTunes samples. They will open web pages, not iTunes.)

Ap’ to paráthiro mu stélno éna dío
Ke tría ke tésera filiá
Pou ftánun sto limáni éna ke dío
Ke tría ke tésera puliá,
Pos thá thela na íha éna ke dío
Ke tría ke tésera pediá.
Ótan tha megalósun óla na gínun
Levéndis giá hári tu Pireá.

Óso ki an psáhno
Den vrísko álo limáni,
Tréli na m’éhi káni
Apó ton Pireá,
Pu ótan vradiázi,
Tragedia m’aradiázi
Ke tis peniés tu alázi.
Gemízi apó pediá.

Apó tin pórta mu san vgo
Den ipárhi kanís
Pu na min ton agapó,
Ke san to vrádi kimithó
Kséro pos, kséro pos
Pos tha ton onireftó.
Petrádia vázo sto lemó
Ke miá ha-, ke mia ha-,
Ke miá hándra filahtó
Giatí ta vrádia karteró
Sto limáni san vgo
Kápion ágnosto na vro.

Óso ki an psáhno
Den vrísko álo limáni,
Tréli na m’éhi káni
Apó ton Pireá,
Pu ótan vradiázi,
Tragedia m’aradiázi
Ke tis peniés tu alázi.
Gemízi apó pediá.

Pos thá thela na íha éna ke dío
Ke tría ke tésera pediá.
___________________________________

English translation:

From my balcony I send
One, two, three and four kisses to the world
Over the docks of Piraeus fly
One, two, three and four seagulls, I am told

How much I’d love to have
One, two, three and four boys, proud and fine
And when one day they grow up
They’ll be manly and strong
For this precious port of mine

And when I come out of my door
There is no one in the world, there is
No one I don’t love
And every night I close my eyes and I
Sleep and I know
I’ll dream of them just like before

Jewels around my neck
A good-luck charm I carry
Because the night falls and I long
To find a perfect stranger
And seduce him with my song

So much I’ve tried
I’ve never found a port
To captivate my heart
As Piraeus does

And when the night falls
The air is filled with songs
With tunes and sounds and laughter
Bursting with life and youthful calls
________________________

U.S. lyrics (to match the film, I guess):

Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday a Monday
A Monday is very very good
Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday a Tuesday a Tuesday
In fact I wish you would
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday a Thursday
A Friday and Saturday is best
But never ever on a Sunday a Sunday a Sunday
Cause that’s my day of rest

Most any day you can be my guest
Any day you say but my day of rest
Just name the day that you like the best
Only stay away on my day of rest

Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day a hot day a wet day
Which ever one you choose
Or try to kiss me on a grey day a May day a pay day
And see if I refuse

And if you make it on a bleak day a freak day or a week day
Well you can be my guest
But never ever on a Sunday a Sunday the one day
I need a little rest
Oh, you can kiss me on a week day a week day a week day
The day to be my guest
________________

Title song from soundtrack

Melina Mercouri vocal from soundtrack

Most popular U.S. vocal, The Chordettes

Pink Martini 1997

Anastasia 2010 (lovely)

Genius

Die Zauberflöte — The Magic Flute — premiered in Vienna 219 years ago tonight; libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. That night Mozart conducted the orchestra, Schikaneder played Papageno.

Mozart died less than 10 weeks later at age 35.

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

Hiram Williams was born on this date 87 years ago. We know him as Hank. 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.

Yes, that is June Carter in the video.

Redux post of the day

I thought this was interesting enough to bring back. It was posted in 2006.

Sounding Off

NewMexiKen is reading Mark Katz’s Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. It’s a well-regarded book that I am finding interesting, though actually I was looking more for a history of the early recorded music business. Katz’s interest is mostly from the musicologist point of view.

Still, some interesting stuff.

One of the most basic manipulations is splicing, in which passages recorded at different times are joined together. The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967) provides a famous example. The Beatles did over two dozen takes of the song, none of which completely satisfied John Lennon. But he did like the first half of Take 7 and the second half of Take 26. So he asked George Martin, their producer, to put the two together. Unfortunately, they were in different keys and tempos. The two takes, however, were related in such a way that when one was sped up and the other slowed down so that the tempos matched, the pitches also matched. Thus the two takes could be joined, the splice occurring at about 0:59 on the word going in “Let me take you down ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields.” Although the splice is nearly undetectable, the slightly altered speed of Lennon’s voice helps give the song its distinctively dreamlike quality.

Another passage notes the impact of the Depression and free radio on the phonograph business:

“In 1927, 104 million discs and 987,000 machines were sold; by 1932, the numbers had plummeted to 6 million and 40,000.”

Maybe our present day music industry should quit its whining.