For Today I Am A Boy
Possibly my favorite musical release of the year has been I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons. A bit surprising, perhaps, considering that it doesn't feature guitars and southern twangs, and delves into the world of fluid gender identity and operatic-like drama. And other stuff, too, like a guest vocal from Rufus Wainwright (whose Want Two is another one of my this year's faves). Anyway, I find this record very moving and shot full of soul. So, I duly record it in my CD "A" annex.
I realized I had to mention this recording as I was listening to Crocodiles by Echo and the Bunnymen, which I forgot to spin when I was at the beginning of the "E" vinyl. I remember reading about these guys in Rolling Stone in '80 or '81 when I was living in the sticks (probably listening to Styx). I was intrigued but a little afraid. Wasn't "New Wave" a code word for "gay"? I was a pretty uptight teen, ever-vigilant to the accusation of "fag" and so forth. Even though I hardly felt like a super-masculine dude (and never will, for that matter), I was too afraid not to drop my hard-rocking front--despite the fact that I had grave doubts about the musical merits of April Wine and Triumph (an evolutionary rock and roll dead end, I innately realized). So, what if there had been an Alternaken, who put effort into checking out the new sounds from England and wore a long trench coat and one of those Ian McCulloch mushroom haircuts? I would have had the shit beaten out of me, that's what. Anyway, I eventually jumped on the New Wave bandwagon in my senior year of high school (when it hit the American Top 40) and thought I was being quite daring for listening to The Human League and Soft Cell. Then, when I went to college, there were Ian McCulloch clones everywhere. Ha, ha! Anyhow, a quarter century down the line, I dig listening to Echo and the Bunnymen and Thin Lizzy.
Back to the Everly Brothers on vinyl. Two records, made twenty years apart that display the EB's attempts to adapt to the prevailing pop music scenes: Wake Up Little Susie(re-recorded) and EB 84. On the cover of the Wake Up Little Susie record, Phil and Don look a little wary. Goddammit, their expressions seem to say, the Beatles are taking their thing and running with it! So, they try frantic Little Richard covers ("Lucille") and Hollywood pop ("Chloe"; "Jezebel") and so forth. Who was this record aimed toward? Young pop music buyers or late twenty-somethings nostalgic for their fifties youth? It's on Columbia's Harmony imprint, which reading between the lines of its promotional copy--"the Harmony label is your guarantee of superb artistry and quality at a price well within the means of every record collector"--sounds a lot like studio scraps to me.
EB 84 was a big label (Polygram), big budget comeback record for the brothers Everly. Produced by Dave Edmunds, with contributions from Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne, it's a mostly successful attempt to "update" the Everly's sound. In 1984 terms that means, synthesizers! Not as obnoxiously obtrusive as I remembered, either. The McCartney tune, "On the Wings of a Nightingale," is dramatic and soaring. Did it chart? There's a pretty dull rearrangement of "Lay, Lady, Lay" (check out the Isley Brothers' ten minute version, if you want an interesting rearrangement of that song) and other glossy confections. Besides the McCartney song, my favorite is the album's closer, Don Everly's delicate, "Sleep." Not up to their classic levels, but worth picking up if you find it in the cheapo vinyl bins.
On CD's we've spun John Coltrane's Live at Birdland and Crescent. On these two discs we find Coltrane in a smoldering mode, nearing his volcanic last musical phase. Birdland is notable for "Afro Blue" and the intensely moving dirge, "Alabama"--'Trane's solemn prayer for the little girls who were killed in the church bombing in Birmingham.
Crescent is a lovely late night listen. There's something to be said for a powerful player like Coltrane reining in his power, hinting here and there at the force within him. Some lovely ballads. Recorded six months before A Love Supreme, it prepares the soul for the coming storm.
Tomorrow: we blast off with Ascension.
I realized I had to mention this recording as I was listening to Crocodiles by Echo and the Bunnymen, which I forgot to spin when I was at the beginning of the "E" vinyl. I remember reading about these guys in Rolling Stone in '80 or '81 when I was living in the sticks (probably listening to Styx). I was intrigued but a little afraid. Wasn't "New Wave" a code word for "gay"? I was a pretty uptight teen, ever-vigilant to the accusation of "fag" and so forth. Even though I hardly felt like a super-masculine dude (and never will, for that matter), I was too afraid not to drop my hard-rocking front--despite the fact that I had grave doubts about the musical merits of April Wine and Triumph (an evolutionary rock and roll dead end, I innately realized). So, what if there had been an Alternaken, who put effort into checking out the new sounds from England and wore a long trench coat and one of those Ian McCulloch mushroom haircuts? I would have had the shit beaten out of me, that's what. Anyway, I eventually jumped on the New Wave bandwagon in my senior year of high school (when it hit the American Top 40) and thought I was being quite daring for listening to The Human League and Soft Cell. Then, when I went to college, there were Ian McCulloch clones everywhere. Ha, ha! Anyhow, a quarter century down the line, I dig listening to Echo and the Bunnymen and Thin Lizzy.
Back to the Everly Brothers on vinyl. Two records, made twenty years apart that display the EB's attempts to adapt to the prevailing pop music scenes: Wake Up Little Susie(re-recorded) and EB 84. On the cover of the Wake Up Little Susie record, Phil and Don look a little wary. Goddammit, their expressions seem to say, the Beatles are taking their thing and running with it! So, they try frantic Little Richard covers ("Lucille") and Hollywood pop ("Chloe"; "Jezebel") and so forth. Who was this record aimed toward? Young pop music buyers or late twenty-somethings nostalgic for their fifties youth? It's on Columbia's Harmony imprint, which reading between the lines of its promotional copy--"the Harmony label is your guarantee of superb artistry and quality at a price well within the means of every record collector"--sounds a lot like studio scraps to me.
EB 84 was a big label (Polygram), big budget comeback record for the brothers Everly. Produced by Dave Edmunds, with contributions from Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne, it's a mostly successful attempt to "update" the Everly's sound. In 1984 terms that means, synthesizers! Not as obnoxiously obtrusive as I remembered, either. The McCartney tune, "On the Wings of a Nightingale," is dramatic and soaring. Did it chart? There's a pretty dull rearrangement of "Lay, Lady, Lay" (check out the Isley Brothers' ten minute version, if you want an interesting rearrangement of that song) and other glossy confections. Besides the McCartney song, my favorite is the album's closer, Don Everly's delicate, "Sleep." Not up to their classic levels, but worth picking up if you find it in the cheapo vinyl bins.
On CD's we've spun John Coltrane's Live at Birdland and Crescent. On these two discs we find Coltrane in a smoldering mode, nearing his volcanic last musical phase. Birdland is notable for "Afro Blue" and the intensely moving dirge, "Alabama"--'Trane's solemn prayer for the little girls who were killed in the church bombing in Birmingham.
Crescent is a lovely late night listen. There's something to be said for a powerful player like Coltrane reining in his power, hinting here and there at the force within him. Some lovely ballads. Recorded six months before A Love Supreme, it prepares the soul for the coming storm.
Tomorrow: we blast off with Ascension.
posted by ken at 12:28 PM
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