From the new EP of George Harrison/Beatles covers by My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James (under the clever, throw-them-off-the-scent moniker of Yim Yames), this song feels like a much-needed salve on my rawness today:
Sometimes I am glad I don’t know the fancy tricks of studio recording, and how they make Jim’s voice sound like it is coming to me from somewhere outside time, like it was created to someday record this song about the temporal nature of the evening, a cloudburst, love, our lives.
I’m sure it has something to do with reverb and certain knobby magic on the console, but the golden-red aura of his voice is truly exceptional here, and it feels like some kind of hope breaking through.
All the tracks are thoroughly gorgeous, and the EP is available now for just a handful of dollars.
I have an admittedly short attention span on planes. Usually I zone out with music, taking advantage of the silent hours to explore the inevitable backlog of new tunes on my iPod. If I do read, it’s often the guilty indulgence of People magazine that I only buy in airport bookshops or –even better– Reader’s Digest. On this latest trip, I found something much better.
Da Capo Music Press is one of the finest purveyors of music books out there. They asked me if there was anything in their (superb) current catalog that I’d be interested in checking out, and the first book I’ve cracked of the box they sent is the anthology Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006. The seventh year in the series, I found a lot to love here from a variety of sources last year ranging from traditional print media, online journals, and even (yay!) music blogs. The commentary varies from straight up album/song reviews to artist profiles and in-depth theoretical pieces on serious topics loosely related to music as a foundation.
The introduction by editor Mary Gaitskill explains the vibe of the anthology: “I put these pieces together like a mix tape of sounds a person might hear in life — get up in the morning, put on an old T. Rex song, go outside, hear “Gold Digger” coming out of somebody’s car, nameless electronica coming out of someone else’s. A guy walks through the parking lot whistling an aria from Bizet’s Carmen; something high and haunting leaks out of a passing boy’s iPod. Go into a store and there’s a faux cowgirl on the sound system singing some artifically sweetened blues. All day songs fly past; some get lost in traffic noise, some enter your imagination and take strange dream-shapes that get inside your thoughts and feelings and make them different.”
I loved that because she expresses exactly how the world sounds to me. People will ask me “where do you get all your ideas for posting?” And my answer is this: Once you start paying attention to the music around you, you hear it everywhere. There’s no shortage of things to listen to, experience, and write about. It’s why I love writing this blog, and it’s why I enjoy reading collections like this one.
Here are three snippets from the book to give you an idea of why you should pick it up for some good summer readin’. Guaranteed to enrich your brain 437% more than People.
CRAZY IS AS CRAZY DOES by Ann Powers What I’ve noticed about “crazy” rock musicians is that ones whose music offers the most insight into the turmoil of emotion tend to be women, and that these crazies tend to receive less hero worship than their male counterparts. . . [t]heir inner demons are in constant dialogue with a world that already demonizes anything less than neat that emanates from the feminine realm. A male artist getting crazy can come off as threatening, but he’s also often greeted as a prophet or, conversely, an endearing holy fool. A woman artist getting crazy is a different kind of mess–one that raises the general discomfort level by raising the specter of uncontrolled sexuality, irresponsible motherhood, violence done to or by the secred “gentler sex” — all elements of our common consciousness that have haunted us since Medea’s time and have never been resolved.
Your Ghost – Kristin Hersh (featuring Michael Stipe) The rest of this interesting piece looks at those who have struggled with demons, like Hersh, Daniel Johnston, Lisa Germano, Nick Drake, or Mary Margaret O’Hara.
THE BEATLES–”Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine” (Reached No. 1 on 20th August 1966) by Tom Ewing Part of a series to write on all UK #1 hit singles The brisk orchestral arrangement of “Eleanor Rigby” is tense and fussy, with something of Eleanor’s spinsterish neatness: the strings bring to mind sewing, or sweeping the steps, one of those little daily things you do unthinkingly, or instead of thinking. They also sound a little like a horror film soundtrack, and Eleanor Rigby is cinematic, and it is about horror. It’s Paul McCartney taking one of pop’s smooth-rubbed words –”lonely”– thinking it through and recoiling.
“Eleanor Rigby” remains neat to its end, so neat you might forget that this question of the lonely people hasn’t remotely been answered. For that you need the other side of the single, “Yellow Submarine.”
Intentionally or not, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yellow Submarine” make a perfect pair. Crushing isolation as the flip of a song that values limitless community — “And my friends are all aboard / Many more of them live next door.” The one set in a drably recognizable town, the other in a fantasy utopia. Recital and singalong.
A VERY SPECIAL CONCERT: The Enduring Bond Between Huey Lewis and the Developmentally Disabled by Katy St. Clair . . . The band recently celebrated its 25th anniversary by performing at this year’s Marin County Fair on a cool summer night a few weeks back. This was Huey Lewis & the News’ stomping ground, where they began two decades earlier, playing around San Rafael and Mill Valley. Suffice it to say, this show was something all my clients were looking forward to.
There are a lot of stereotypes about retarded people and most of them are false . . . [t]here is however one stereotype about retarded people that is true, one broad brushstroke that one can make about them all: Good gosh a’mighty, retarded people love them some Huey Lewis. Part of the reason is that Huey is apparently a sweetheart who does a lot of volunteer work with people who have developmental disabilities. But another big part is the music.
A bunch of people from a group home had set up camp on the opposite side of the stage, laying out blankets and picnic food. Bobbi recognized some of her friends and waved. “Huuuuueyyyy!” they all yelled back. It was just like people who yell “Bruuuce!” at a Springsteen concert, only more retarded. In fact, Huey Lewis is a retarded version of Bruce Springsteen. Think about it.
Since I’m on vacation, it’s a fine time to let someone else take the wheel for a bit, as one of you recently commented. So today we’ve got a special treat to the Fuel/Friends blog with a guest blog on a nice little set of demos from Beatle George Harrison.
I’d been entirely unfamiliar with any of Harrison’s solo work before I was recently challenged to unearth this set of demos from Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album (1970). I was surprised at the gentle and warm acoustic loveliness, not being at all familiar with Harrison’s work aside from The Beatles.
This particular pal is responsible for introducing me to a massive amount of good music, and possesses an encyclopedic library of musical minutae in his head. Not kidding, it’s like world-record material. This is his first attempt at blogging: for years now he’s just had to try and unload his vast musical knowledge on disinterested friends and poor passersby. Finally, he has a willing audience. He writes:
“Not only are these sessions amazingly historic, but they’re just beautiful — like the George Harrison cafe sessions! Art of Dying was written in 1966 and fuck me does it sound like it totally could have been on Revolver — which it would have been considered for?! But I think it probably sounded too much like Eleanor Rigby, and since it was Paul vs. George…ta da.
George sat down on solo guitar with Phil Spector in Abbey Road Studio 2, and ran through the cache of songs he had built up over the repressive last years of the Beatles. Sit back, get a coffee, put on a turtleneck if you feel pretentious enough, make like it’s the end of the ’60s, and let George play you some of the tunes he’s been collecting over the past few years.”
GEORGE HARRISON DEMOS (1970)
w/ Phil Spector (“Beware of ABKCO” sessions)
Oh, I was so lucky to get to spend Friday night seeing Feist. She is a completely charming and talented performer (not just a musician, as my friend Leora noted –”Are you gonna quote me on your blog?”– after the show). Feist really knows how to engage and enchant the crowd, but she also wields that guitar fearlessly, gets her vocal loops going, dances around in bliss to the crashing drums, and manages to be fashionable all at the same time (brown mini dress, hot pink tights).
The new songs from The Reminder sounded great live (especially “My Moon, My Man” — hot dang that’s fantastically thumping in concert) under the twinkling drapery of Christmas lights. The same imaginative, surreal qualitities that Feist brings memorably into her music videos (flying toast in Mushaboom, everyone deciding to dance in unison on 1234) seeps into her live shows too, through the morphing of her busy hands during the songs into butterflies dancing, waves rolling, or little legs walking down the front of the mike stand.
Despite having sung the song “like 4,000 times,” Feist forgot the middle verse to Mushaboom. She asked the crowd if someone who knew it would come up and fill in. An absolutely elated girl hopped up on stage, grabbed the mike as the music played, and effortlessly jumped in at exactly the right moment: “I got a man to stick it out…” It was one of those great moments of geeky fandom that just makes you happy to witness.
A very few other pictures (and the story of the snarly security guard that almost threw me out of the show) are included in this album. Remaining Feist tour dates here. I would totally love to be Feist for a week, that’s my new rockstar dream.
Here’s your new tuneage for this week’s enjoyment:
Dress Blues Jason Isbell A kind reader recommended this track from former Drive-By-Trucker Jason Isbell‘s forthcoming solo album Sirens Of The Ditch (July 10, New West Records), saying that it was “hard to get this song out of my head.” I absolutely agree, I’ve listened to it on repeat: a honeyed slowburner that feels like prophecy.
Can’t Get It Out Of My Head (ELO cover) Velvet Revolver Taking the cake for the band that the STP/G’n'F’n'R hybrid was least likely to cover, Velvet Revolver takes on an ELO cover on their newest one, Libertad, dropping July 3rd. And you know what? It’s actually pretty good and I find myself liking it a lot. Although I sometimes question Weiland’s jaunty/naughty sailor look in concert, Slash takes away the guitar solo here in sizzling fashion. Speaking of Slash, I’ve been pondering the plotline of the November Rain video lately. Have you seen this? I don’t know why I think about such things.
This Town Frank Sinatra, on the Ocean’s 13 Soundtrack Obviously a movie about swinging crime in Vegas perpetrated by fashionably-dressed men must, by law, include a Frank Sinatra tune. This one is also excellent for adding to your very own mixtape for midnight desert runs to Sin City. The soundtrack to Ocean’s 13 (which I haven’t seen yet but probably will because George & Brad told me to) is another atmospheric-cool collection by David Holmes, who also scored Fuel-favorite Out of Sight (among others). Niiice.
When Did Your Heart Go Missing? Rooney I’ve been curious about hearing this song since Rolling Stone likened it to a lost Wham! track, and yes, I hear the similarities here; it does kind of make me want to wake you up before I go go. But then I read how it is also in the new Nancy Drew movie, and in a totally geeky move I will confess to reading many Nancy Drew books in my youth. I will not see the new Nancy Drew flick (because it would probably be a similar audience to the time I saw Crossroads on opening night and I don’t want to talk about it) but I can picture this song also as a theme to daring teenage intrigue, old mine shafts, and moss-covered mansions. From Rooney‘s new album Calling The World (out July 17). Tour dates here.
Love (unreleased promo track) The Cure This song was, for some reason, dropped off the double disc extravaganza of Lennon covers to save Darfur, Instant Karma (a project of Amnesty International, out now). I could have recommended a few other tracks that could have gotten the boot instead of The Cure, whom I love, even though I can never apply eyeliner as deftly as Robert Smith. Thank God I’m better at the lipstick than he is, though.
Speaking of love and Lennon, today marks 40 years since the first public performance of “All You Need Is Love” on a massive world broadcast. Check out this fascinating post/video. Watching the way Lennon sings makes me really happy here; he just seems . . . pure.
Dear lord, this site is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a loooong time.
I was laughing out loud (like, rest-your-head-on-the-desk, hope-no-one-hears-your-stifled-guffaws laughing). It was a thing of beauty. ThingsMyBoyfriendSays.com was new to me, and exactly what it sounds like, a gal documenting random funny things that her boyfriend says — no more, no less. Choice cuts:
“I think I’ll ask the dentist to install tusks in my face so I can fully embrace my orcish heritage.”
or
(When I finally made him shave his damn beard:) “See, this is why I won’t let you have nice things. Because you won’t let me grow majestic facial hair.”
It’s voyeurism perfected in hilarious fashion. Now for your recommended weekly musical allowance:
Big Chair Travis Here’s a radio rip from the BBC of the new one from Scottish rockers Travis– a driving bass line combines with some chattery electronic effects and the smooth vocal delivery of Fran Healy. This’ll be on their fifth studio album, Open, due in the Spring. Ben Stiller is rumored to have laid down some cowbell for one of the tracks; if I ever got to do that for a band, I think I’d die happy. Travis is also headed for the scenic Indio desert of Coachella in April, if you’re lucky enough to catch that fantastic line-up.
Rhythm & Soul (live) Spoon I’ve been listening a lot to uber-talented Austin indie/punk/rock/etc band Spoon lately, digging the eclectic combo of often-acoustic guitar, thumping beats, and funky confident vocals. I think this new track (performed live this past August at the lovely Greek Theatre in Berkeley) will sound divine with the full studio treatment. Hooray! [thx Matt]
All My Loving (Beatles cover) The Smithereens I am still a little unsure as to why this album was actually necessary; it’s a complete cover of the seminal Beatles’ album Meet The Beatles (1964) by New Jersey rock band The Smithereens. Overall it is interesting to listen to, as the band walks through a series of covers that are largely faithful to the arrangments of the originals but with an edge of their own; The NY Times says, “The album manages to scream Beatles 1964 and Smithereens 2007 all at once.” See what you think of this tune — for all the hype, I don’t exactly know why anyone would listen to this when the original is available.
Rocking Chair (The Band cover) Death Cab For Cutie DCFC covers familiar ground lyrically (“Oh, to be home again . . .”) in their reinterpretation of The Band‘s grizzled soulful ballad, from the diverse new album of covers Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band (out mañana) which has some good stuff on it. Jakob Dylan’s contribution is interesting to me because The Band first came to prominence in ’65-’66 as the backing band for his pops, donchaknow.
Chasing Heather Crazy Guided by Voices I make myself a mix CD for the car every month. This is the first song on the next one. Just to entertain myself.
Our friends at the venerable Amoeba Records out in California are hosting two events worth noting in the next few weeks.
First is a chance to win tickets to one of Paul Weller‘s Hollywood shows. On Monday, February 5th, Weller will close his three-night run at the Avalon Theater with a selection of songs from his years with The Jam, The Style Council, as well as his solo years; a sort of “Best Of Paul Weller” if you will.
And, on a slightly odder note, the Amoeba in San Fran is hosting a meet & greet from Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman. Going down this Saturday, Reubens will be in-store to sign his DVDs. It’s 3pm to 5pm at the Amoeba on Haight.
While you wait in what sounds like a long line (they advise arriving early), for your listening pleasure you can enjoy the zany musical stylings of Deejay Panatomic-X. Reubens is in town to be interviewed at Sketchfest on Monday the 22nd, followed by questions from the audience in the Palace of Fine Arts.
I can’t even imagine the assortment of fans (and, potentially, costumes) that will turn out for that one. I’d totally be ready to scream real loud. And you? Oh, you know how to dance to this one:
Tequila (The Champs) – Pee Wee’s Big Adventure soundtrack
I’ve been looking for a relevant reason to post up some demos and rehearsals from the earliest incarnation of what would become The Beatles: The Quarrymen. John Lennon put together the earliest forms of this band in March 1957 with several friends. Paul McCartney joined in October of that year, followed by George Harrison in early 1958. And ever-shifting lineup ensued throughout those years with The Quarrymen playing gigs all around their native Liverpool, changing their name several times, among them The Blackjacks, Johnny and The Moondogs (in late 1959), and The Silver Beetles (in 1960), finally settling on The Beatles in late 1960. And so it goes.
A friend forwarded me an article this weekend with the subject line, Mad cool Beatles history. Reading below, I would have to agree.
Tunes from The Quarrymen are at the end.
*********************************************************** Beatles club gains protected status Fri Sep 15, 4:06 PM ET
LIVERPOOL, England – A suburban basement where The Beatles played some of their earliest gigs was given protected heritage status by the British government Friday. The Casbah Coffee Club, created in the home of original Beatles drummer Pete Best, was given Grade II Listed status on the recommendation of conservation body English Heritage. The designation means the venue, which still contains original artwork and musical equipment, is of “special architectural or historic interest” and cannot be demolished.
Best’s mother, Mona, created the club in the basement and coal cellar of her Victorian house on the edge of Liverpool after reading about the “beat” clubs popular with teenagers in London. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison — then billed as The Quarrymen — played at the club’s opening in April 1959 as a last-minute replacement for scheduled headliners, the Les Stewart Quartet.
Best later joined the band, renamed The Silver Beatles and then The Beatles. The band played the Casbah many times until the club closed in 1962. The same year, Best was replaced as drummer by Ringo Starr and The Beatles released their first single, “Love Me Do.”
The building, still owned by the Best family, features murals and paintings by members of the band and by Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia.
Bob Hawkins of English Heritage said the club was “in a remarkably well-preserved condition … with wall and ceiling paintings of spiders, dragons, rainbows and stars by original band members along with 1960s musical equipment, amplifiers and original chairs.”
“We know of no other survival like it in Liverpool or indeed anywhere else,” he said.
(From Wiki) On 6 July 1957 the band played at St. Peter’s Church garden fête. In the afternoon they played on a temporary stage in a field behind the church. After the set, Ivan Vaughan, an occasional tea chest bass player with the band, introduced Paul McCartney to John Lennon while the band was setting up in the church hall for the second set. McCartney showed the band how to tune a guitar and sang Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” and Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-A-Lula” to his own guitar accompaniment. The evening show started at 8 p.m. and cost two shillings admission. Audience member Bob Molyneux recorded part of the evening performance on a Grundig portable reel-to-reel tape recorder.
In 1994, Molyneux, then a retired policeman, rediscovered the recordings that he had made of the concert in 1957. The scratchy recordings included covers of Lonnie Donegan’s “Puttin’ On The Style” and Elvis Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House”. On 15 September 1994 Molyneux put his tape up for auction at Sotheby’s. The tape sold to EMI for £78,500, making it the most expensive recording ever sold at auction, but the recording quality was too poor to issue and the tape remains in the EMI archives.
I have obsessively been clicking over at the Contrast Podcast site for the last 24 hours or so, waiting for the unveiling of this week’s podcast (to which I contributed a track & a spoken intro piece). Our theme this time is really superb, so carve out an hour of your day to spend with your favorite bloggers as we all pick our Favorite Beatles Covers.
Since everyone and their grandma feels the need to record a Beatles cover at some point in their career, we had a lot of fodder to choose from. Beatles = great. Covers = great. An hour of this shizzle? Even better.
What a wonderful soccer-filled weekend. I love the simplicity, the urgency, the grace & beauty of the sport. The luck of the Irish (or something!) was with me this weekend because I did (mostly) well on my predictions and am tied for first place with a couple other “music lovin’ mofos” in our bloggers’ World Cup pool. Woo hoo!
Here is a linguistic/soccer-related question that occured to me this weekend during the Angola vs. Portugal game. Perhaps one of my global readers can enlighten my ignorance. I kept hearing the announcer mention the Portuguese team “Benfica.” It caught my ear because it sounds like a bit of racy slang in italiano (‘fica’ means fig, and is also slang for a, uh, certain part of the female anatomy. Ben, short for bene, meaning good). So what gives with the word “benfica”?! I know it must not mean the same thing in Portuguese, but how widespread was the jesting in Italy when ex-Fiorentina coach Trapattoni became the coach in 2004 of benfica? Anyone?
Or is it just my pathetic Italian-as-a-second-language misunderstanding, and I am embarassing myself? Wouldn’t be the first time.
Enough of that nonsense, here’s some tunes.
“Cemetery Song“ Jon Auer This has got to be the peppiest pop-song-about-a-dead-person ever penned. From former Posies member Jon Auer‘s fine outing Songs From The Year Of Our Demise (available on eMusic), the harmony-laden Beatles-esque sound fits in among 15 tracks Auer wrote for this themed-album, all written about the loss of a friend and the facets of grief. Despite the subject matter, this low-key album is surprisingly not depressing. Check out the free single (“Six Feet Under”) on label Pattern 25′s website, and buy the album on eMusic.
“So Hard To Find My Way“ Jackie Greene A fantastic upbeat, retro-sounding tune combining piano, banjo, and Memphis horns. From his new CD American Myth, Jackie is delving into more poppy arrangements than the harmonica-folk of his previous efforts, but it sounds good to me. I really like this chap and think we will be hearing a lot more from him. (PS – Did you download that Esthero/Sean Lennon duet “Everyday Is A Holiday” a few months back? I swear this song is its musical twin).
“Universal Frequencies“ His Name Is Alive Wow, it must be the summery weather, but this week’s music roundup is shaping up to be a string of ’60s pop sound tributes. This lovely offering, as will become apparent in about thirty seconds to whomever listens to it, is a complete and straight-up homage to the Beach Boys (notably, Good Vibrations & the whole Pet Sounds album). His Name Is Alive admits to listening to Pet Sounds incessantly during the writing & recording of their 1996 album Stars on ESP, from which this comes. It’s fun and kind of trips you out to hear something that could pass so smoothly for the Beach Boys, but with the addition of a female voice to the layered harmonies. Another eMusic find.
“Wait” (Beatles cover) Ben Kweller Let’s just keep the momentum going with more Beatles. See, all these songs thus far are the perfect accompaniment to some strollin’ in the sunshine. No better music for that kind of business than the Fab Four, eh? Ben Kweller was born to sing retro pop confections, and this is a feel-good cover from the Razor & Tie 40th anniversary tribute album to Rubber Soul (This Bird Has Flown, 2005). If you don’t have the album, buy it on eMusic — it’s also got some sweet tracks by Ben Harper, Ben Lee (it’s a Ben bonanza!) The Donnas, Ted Leo, and Sufjan Stevens.
“Into Oblivion“ Lisa Germano And here’s the exception to the blissfully happy lineup of songs so far this week. I’ve heard of Lisa Germano in connection with Eels, but over the years she has also worked with David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Johnny Marr, U2, Sheryl Crow, and John Mellencamp. From her latest solo effort In The Maybe World (July 18, Young God Records), this song is tailor-made for a sleep mix. Lisa’s lushly rich vocals fronting the best song Sigur Ros never wrote. Close your eyes and picture; a piano underwater, laying on your back floating on an iceberg, walking through a dark forest at 3am. Sonic bliss.
Off to catch some of the Italy v. Ghana game. Forza azzurri!
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
(2001).
I have obsessively been clicking over at the 
Name: Heather Browne
