Hot August Night

Today I found myself listening to this album again.

I remember this album being in our house as a child. In the days when my parents were young themselves, they used to throw elaborate and wild parties - the old fashioned way. Records would be put on the record player and lots of alcohol would be drunk.

I can only assume that it was during one of these parties that the first record of this double album got damaged. A large wedge of vinyl had broken out of the one record, so that only songs 3 onwards of the record was playable.

So for me, the album only started with 'Solitary Man' on side 1, and 'And the Grass Wont Pay No Mind' on side 2. I really only ever heard the second record (Side 3 and Side 4) in entirety.

I did not even realise that 'Red Red Wine' was a Neil Diamond song until after  I heard him perform it on the follow up live album in the late 80's.

This was for me the sum of the album before I turned ten.

For some reason which I cannot fathom, I found myself listening to this album again today. It was a conscious decision to put it on, but I dont know what prompted it. This often happens. I do something which I think is 'just because I want to' but for some or other reason I know there is something which prompted it.

Of course when you are 6,7,8 - around that age then songs like 'Song Sung Blue', 'Sweet Caroline' and  'Cracklin Rosie' are almost like nursery rhymes and quite easy to sing along to.

It is strange how the album evoked feelings rather than specific memories in listening to it now.

Also, most of the songs which I missed out on were the 'country' songs 'Crunchy Granola Suite', 'Porcupine Pie' and 'Soggy Pretzels', the later being one I could really do without.

Side 3 is for me one of the best possible sides of any live album - and side 4 a suitable conclusion.

Listening to it now, I can certainly understand the attraction to a child and the continuing attraction for an adult.

All in all a nice trip down memory lane.

The variable joys of Easy Listening

While I am working I have been listening to old vinyls. When I say old vinyls, these are literally LPs and singles which I got off ebay for 1p.  That is 1 hundredth of a Pound.  Naturally they are of varying quality – both in content as well as in physical condition.  When I work I like to have either instrumental music or  music that I am very familiar with in the background.  Something that requires actual listening and concentration impedes my work rather than helps it.

It is with this view that I ended up listening to the Easy Listening genre which my 1p box was full of.  I am talking James Last, Bert Kaempfert and Mantovani here. The true heavyweights of elevator music.

I have listened to about twelve to fifteen of these gems over the past two days and I have to make the following comments:

James Last is very variable. I have a number of his discs, ranging from the 60s to the 70s.  The best ones are those where he leads a big band ala Glenn Miller style. A lot of the arrangements are quite clever and rely on good orchestral musicianship.  There are also albums released in the 70s which are basically non stop medleys of the hits of the day.  These are often no more than close copies of the backing tracks of the original hits, with a trumpet or other brass instrument as the soloist – taking the vocal line.  These are what I would have considered the original elevator music and I must admit, they do not move me at all.

Bert Kaemfert seems a lot more musical. While his tunes are also quite brass heavy, they seem to be done within the correct orchestral context.  Even the drums and other rhythms are closely related to the way things are done. I find it hard not to at least listen to it – when I should be working. This is normally a sign that something holds my interest. I think it is in the arrangements that it works. Also his use of vocalists as part of the orchestra (humming and crooning rather than singing words) makes for something different, or typical. This depends on your contextual framework when hearing this type of music.

Mantonvani is of course very string based. This is something quite lacking in both Kaempfert and Last. While they certainly have strings in their arrangements, they are not nearly as prominent as in Mantovani’s work.  I guess this really makes Mantovani the king of elevator music. I always things back to the scene in Dirty Dancing where Mr Kellerman says that dancing should only be done to Mantovani – and that the rock/pop/soul music that the dancers were moving to was obscene. This always stuck in my mind.

Listening to it now though, it is relaxing and not that bad.  I certainly feel I get more diverse pleasure and notice the music more (even though it is not distracting and disruptive) than some of the trance or chillout music I have tried to do this with in the past.  It is also a useful timer using the records. I know that most records have roughly twenty minutes per side, so this means that my activities are at the worst split up into twenty minute segments as I have to get up and turn the record around or put it back in its sleeve and put another one on.

Curtis Harding - Soul Power

Thanks to the unerring taste of UNCUT April 2015 for bringing this album to my attention - and thanks to Deezer for bringing it to my ears. :)

This is a wonderful example of an under appreciated genre of music. Well, under appreciated by me at least. It is quite possible and quite probable that this type of music gets quite enough recognition and that there is indeed quite a scene for it out there.

For me at least, this started and ended with Lenny Kravitz. Curtis Harding seems to take a step back in having more soul roots than Lenny and embracing that. It still has some fine rock elements in it (which is why I listened to it in the first place) but there are some serious funky guitars and soulful bass licks liberally sprinkled throughout.  Curtis has the wonderful velvet soul voice which is perfect for this type of music. He sounds like an old time gospel singer at some points and of course there is a feeling of blues coming in on the sounds too.

While each song has something to recommend it - standout tracks for me are:

• I Don't Wanna Go Home
• Surf
• Drive My Car
• Cruel World

Ending the album with such a strong track like "Cruel World" makes one want to turn the record over and put it on again.

Very good!

Morrissey - Swords

These are B-sides? Really?

Morrissey always manages to maintain a high quality in his output - even in "B-sides."

His voice has not changed over the years. I would say it has improved in that he has managed to maintain the endearing quality that made it so iconic in the 80s.

His lyrics have continued to remain sharp and witty. The subject matter may have matured a little but even then, he is still standing up in the corner for the underdog and the victim of society's less honourable members.

A lovely collection of none album tracks taken from his trilogy of 'comeback' albums starting with "You are the Quarry."

1001 Albums: Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

Some of these posts will be about new albums, and some of them will be about old albums that I am hearing for the first time, or old albums I feel I need to say something about.

Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun is on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list - and for me this warranted a listening.

I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I am not a huge fan of R&B style music but this has something extra to it. It is more than a crooning of runs displaying impressive vocal talents. Erykah's voice is understated and lovely. This is music for a rainy Sunday afternoon.  It has a soft soulful sound and the instrumentation is perfect. At some point it veers a little bit towards hip hop, but in the same understated sort of way that Lauryn Hill veers towards hiphop. This is not a rap album.

I was listening to it on my way to work this morning and I certainly arrived at the office feeling relaxed and at peace.  I cannot recall specific melodies right now, which is normally a point of note for me in evaluating an album. That being said, I think this might be something that comes with repeated listening.  Sometimes the most understated melodies upon first listening then jump out at you while you are in the shower, bed, queue or some other place.

A lot has to be said for the covers of albums.  They can certainly inform you as to what to expect.  This is the case with this album. A close up of Erykah's face with a beige background led me to expect an earthy album with possible reggae roots. Earthy it was - but not reggae.

I liked it and will listen to it again.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday

If there was ever any doubt about who was the talented one in the Gallagher brothers - it is once more evidenced here. Noel is the man.

After the hipocracy of "Dig Out Your Soul" and the variable quality that came with it, here is Noel back and passionate about the songs again.

With nary a filler in the entire album, this sounds like a masterpiece waiting to be recognised.

Very nice Noel.

Rediscovered Classics: Scott 2 - Scott Walker

Listening to this album again is giving me the warm and fuzzies.  When I hear Jackie I can only think of Mark Almond's cover. He does it so well and faithfully that I expect this whole album is actually the spirit of Mark Almond in an earlier time.

This is of course a completely lyrical and vocal album. The music is completely in the background yet it does not sound like a backing track at all. Even when Scott sustains a note and there are various other musical phrases in the background (Jackie and The Girls and The Dogs), it is the voice that takes centre stage.

I have listened to this album various times, but only now realised that the orignal of Black Sheep Boy is on here. I loved the Paul Weller cover, having thought until today, that it was a Weller original.

I love this album - and I think it is something that deserves listening to on a wintery day with mist outside and visibility of less than fifty feet and the soft shadow of a fox moving through the quiet of the mist. There should be an open fireplace in the room and a nice bottle of deep red wine open - with at least one glass down and another making its happy and warm journey to the brain.