Kinky, Lefty and Cookin'
Let's begin with a Miles Davis CD: Cookin'. It's the last of the marathon sessions that yielded those four classics--Relaxin', Steamin', Workin', and, you know...
Wonderful contractual obligation fillers so Miles could move from Prestige to Columbia. It's hot stuff with Miles, John Coltrane, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and "Philly" Joe Jones on drums. It's the bridge from hard bop and cool to Miles Davis Music. There are so many high points in Miles's career after these recordings that one might overlook them. Okay, maybe that's just been me. Miles is so probing and sensitive, Trane is on his search for the lost chords, the rhythm section is Miles's best until Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams appear on the scene a decade hence. A more intelligent discussion of the Prestige sessions in a few days time....
On vinyl: Lefty Frizzell. Get his music into your life if it isn't already there. I'd highly recommend Rounder Records' Treasures Untold: The Early Recordings of Lefty Frizzell. It's just Lefty, a rinky dink piano, and other spare honky tonk backing. Lefty's voice is a kind of nasally cry that resonates downward to the chest and deep into the soul. My gosh, how can a guy sing a ballad like "Now That You Are Gone" and not have himself a serious drinking problem as poor Lefty did? That's opening up yer soul. And "The Waltz of the Angels": sublime.
I also spun one of those strange TV offer Greatest Hits records you can find (or used to be able to) in used record shops. It's called Lefty's 20 Golden Greats. Most of the material is pretty great, if more overdubbed and commercial than the Early Recordings. The best moment is probably Lefty's spine-shivering, desolate version of "The Long Black Veil." I need to get more Lefty...
Finally, from the sublime to the silly, it's Kinky Friedman's Sold American. A true early-seventies time capsule. Despite all the hoo-hah about Kinky being the first Texas Jewish Country Music Star, one has to wonder how serious the Kinkster really was about this form. Being a Jewish smart ass myself, I get a chuckle out of these definitely dated social commentaries, "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You"; "Sold American"; not to mention, the tasteless "The Ballad of Charles Whitman." I guess you could say it was the antic humor of Mad Magazine and the Yippies (the humor part) meets Texas-hippie irreverence. And maybe even a little Leonard Cohen on "Ride 'em Jewboy." I've often wondered if Kinky's mystery novels are any good.
Tomorrow and tomorrow: we take a break from the alphabet to discuss the Uncorrected Proof 2 Official Soundtrack
Wonderful contractual obligation fillers so Miles could move from Prestige to Columbia. It's hot stuff with Miles, John Coltrane, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and "Philly" Joe Jones on drums. It's the bridge from hard bop and cool to Miles Davis Music. There are so many high points in Miles's career after these recordings that one might overlook them. Okay, maybe that's just been me. Miles is so probing and sensitive, Trane is on his search for the lost chords, the rhythm section is Miles's best until Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams appear on the scene a decade hence. A more intelligent discussion of the Prestige sessions in a few days time....
On vinyl: Lefty Frizzell. Get his music into your life if it isn't already there. I'd highly recommend Rounder Records' Treasures Untold: The Early Recordings of Lefty Frizzell. It's just Lefty, a rinky dink piano, and other spare honky tonk backing. Lefty's voice is a kind of nasally cry that resonates downward to the chest and deep into the soul. My gosh, how can a guy sing a ballad like "Now That You Are Gone" and not have himself a serious drinking problem as poor Lefty did? That's opening up yer soul. And "The Waltz of the Angels": sublime.
I also spun one of those strange TV offer Greatest Hits records you can find (or used to be able to) in used record shops. It's called Lefty's 20 Golden Greats. Most of the material is pretty great, if more overdubbed and commercial than the Early Recordings. The best moment is probably Lefty's spine-shivering, desolate version of "The Long Black Veil." I need to get more Lefty...
Finally, from the sublime to the silly, it's Kinky Friedman's Sold American. A true early-seventies time capsule. Despite all the hoo-hah about Kinky being the first Texas Jewish Country Music Star, one has to wonder how serious the Kinkster really was about this form. Being a Jewish smart ass myself, I get a chuckle out of these definitely dated social commentaries, "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You"; "Sold American"; not to mention, the tasteless "The Ballad of Charles Whitman." I guess you could say it was the antic humor of Mad Magazine and the Yippies (the humor part) meets Texas-hippie irreverence. And maybe even a little Leonard Cohen on "Ride 'em Jewboy." I've often wondered if Kinky's mystery novels are any good.
Tomorrow and tomorrow: we take a break from the alphabet to discuss the Uncorrected Proof 2 Official Soundtrack
posted by ken at 1:23 PM
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