I Don't Know much about Jazz but I like..... Django Reinhardt's Nuages

I can't remember where I first heard of Django Reinhardt but I have had this collection for more than 30 years now. Whenever I play it I end up playing it more than twice, marvelling at the playing and innovation.

Reinhardt  and Stephane Grappelli actually started together in a band with Reinhardt's brother. The liner notes on this album do not say who plays on what but from the sound I suspect many of these recordings date from then. Here is a link to a nice documentary on him.

Recorded mainly in the 30's and 40's  it has many of Reinhardts' standards including Djangology and Nuages.

Reinhardt's playing is quite distinctive as he had to modify his style after two of his fingers were paralyzed after a fire in his caravan in 1928.  Many jazz guitarists have tried to replicate his style since.  Woody Allen's movie Sweet and Lowdown starring Sean Penn was a great sideways tribute to Django with Penn's character trying to emulate Django's playing.

Song of the Day 3: Neil Young Thrasher

A seemingly typically elliptical song from Neil Young Thrasher was release on his 1979 Rust Never Sleeps album.  However behind the imagery is a blistering attack on Crosby Stills and Nash and a poetic explanation for his departure.  He could not get more explicit than that "So I got bored and left them there,  They were just deadweight to me, Better down the road without that load".


His use of geological metaphors for the band and what they were up to is one of the most inspired pieces of writing in his or anyone's career.  "I searched out my companions, Who were lost in crystal canyons, When the aimless blade of science slashed the pearly gates" "They were lost in rock formations" and finally that he knows when the The Thrasher/Reaper comes "When the thrasher comes, I'll be stuck in the sun, Like the dinosaurs in shrines, But I'll know the time has come, to give what's mine"    But he is not ready yet.

Here are the full lyrics if you want to explore more

THRASHER by Neil Young
--------
They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew.
And I was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun.
Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.
It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends I still don't understand.
They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.
So I got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's T.V.,
It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode.
Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and air-conditioned bar.
But me I'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrashers comes, I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

Damn Right I've Got The Blues : RIP Johnny Winter

I first came across Johnny Winter listening to Muddy Waters' Hard Again in my last year of High School. Johnny's production and guitar work combined to give Muddy's career a late lift and introduce many to the Blues.  

I did not pick up any Johnny Winter solo albums until years later when I picked up The Deluxe Version of Second Winter. What a great find that was not only the original 3 sided album but also a blistering live set including supposedly of brother Edgar's Frankenstein and a great version of Tobacco Road.  Second Winter includes a superb version of  Highway 61 Revisited, a Little Richard cover and a great collection of originals.  Johnny is on fire throughout playing what he termed power blues.

Johnny apparently partied hard with the best of them and lead a pretty troubled life.  Sad that he has gone but as always with musicians they are only as far away as their records.

Song of the day 2 : I can't cry hard enough - Victoria Williams and The Williams Brothers

The first version of I can't cry hard enough that I heard was by Victoria Williams. I first heard of Ms Williams when I picked up  a copy of Sweet Relief a benefit cd of her songs recorded by Lou Reed, The Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Pearl Jam and others recorded to help her with her battle with MS. She is an eccentric singer/songwriter who has been married to both Peter Case and Marc Olsen of The Jayhawks

This song is on her Swing Statue album and I was immediately taken with it.  I noticed that it was written by Andy and David Williams who accompanied her on it on backing vocals.  Intrigued I eventually found out they were no relation to her, Andy Williams' nephews and the same Williams Brothers that were on The Partridge Family way back.   Their version is almost as good!

Journey Through The Past 32 - Ann Peebles

I first became aware of Ann Peebles when I heard I Can't Stand the Rain in 1974 when it was a hit in NZ. At that stage I was very anti disco and so while I liked it I could never really admit it!!!    

Then in 1978 Graham Parker was unashamedly recognising his soul and r'n'b roots covering Chain of Fools, Hold Back the Night and Ann Peebles I'm Going to Tear Your Playhouse Down - Here is Graham's and here is Ann's version. 

All the songs were recorded at Hi Studios in Memphis by the great Willie Mitchell and while the collection is not as strong as what Willie achieved with Al Green there are some great songs on this collection including Part Time Love, (You Keep me) Hanging On and a real favourite Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love.

Song of the Day 1 : Van Morrison Wonderful Remark

A new series of posts starts here : Just picking a single song that I really enjoy.  I have a few versions of this relatively obscure song.  This version of Wonderful Remark was the first version I heard on the the wonderful soundtrack to the minor Scorcese Movie The King of Comedy. It has Robbie Robertson on guitar and played over the closing credits.

Favourites : Shivaree and Ambrosia Parsley's sonic experiments and melodic gifts

I bought I oughtta give you a shot in the head for making me live in this dump from a sale bin in a small CD store on Main St Pasadena.  I had heard Goodnight Moon and quite liked it and knew the album had been getting good reviews.

I was immediately taken by the vocals of Ambrosia Parsley which combine childlike mannerism and the jazzy Tom Waits style approach. Her songs  are a mix of at time harsh and aggressive tracks and then little melodic melodramas.   In many respects to me she sounds like a female Sparklehorse with a similar sonic signature.  This is well illustrated on Arlington Girl, Bossa Nova and Idiot Waltz.  Not every one's cup of tea for sure but I liked it.

The follow up album Rough Dreams received limited worldwide release and I was lucky enough to pick up a copy when it came out. It had a number of standout tracks Thundercats Resido Casino and Gone too far stood out for me.  There is real quality here but it would never be mainstream.  Not afraid to experiment - Like in 2004 when each week she sang the weeks news headlines each week for the year.

However I really do feel that she deserves more recognition than she gets.