Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence - ROBERT FRIPP.
Information is not knowledge;
knowledge is not wisdom;
wisdom is not truth;
truth is not beauty;
beauty is not love;
love is not music;
MUSIC IS THE BEST - FRANK ZAPPA.
I think we're a little happier when we have a little music in our lives - STEVE JOBS.
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe - LAO TZU.
Rock and Roll is fire, man. FIRE. - DAVID BRIGGS.
Music grips you, gets into your soul -
GEORGE MARTIN
The BeatlesRubber Soul(CDs and vinyl - Parlophone, 1965) ***** Genre: Beatles pop Places I remember: I have multiple copies of this album on different formats. Friends have given me their copies, CD and vinyl versions have come from here, there and everywhere. Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Norwegian Wood (this Bird Has Flown)
Gear costume:Drive My Car, Girl, In My Life Active compensatory factors: Rubber Soul is really the start of the breathtaking studio expansion years. The breadth and depth of quality in lyrics, sound design, album cover, musicianship was all on display. It was another quantum leap onwards from the last album. Staggering really, that they could continue to do this for pretty much the rest of the sixties. Some of John's best work is on here (see above) and George was making great progress as well with If I Needed Someone. Where do they all belong? Volume 1 of the Rubber Soul/Revolver mid point world domination.
DeltaSlippin' Out(Download, originally released 1994) **** Genre: Indie English pop/rock Places I remember: Download from Alexander Geddes Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Want You
Gear costume: Color Madre,We Come Back Active compensatory factors: Okay - we've reached that point where my collection is safely tucked away in a storage facility in Albany, NZ. From henceforth until further notice, posts will sometimes come from my vinyl collection (at least the list of the next 50 or so albums I wrote before boxing them up), my Monday Night Album Club (MNAC) responses, and albums I pick up in England from August onwards. Should be a heady brew. Let's start with my MNAC entry for this week shall we: Delta's Slippin' Out album. According to A Geddes:
Delta emerged out of the ashes of Sarah Records band The Sea Urchins. I would describe them as Britpop also-rans, except it’s really more like they had their legs cut off at the starting line. As I understand it, they ended up in record label hell for most of the 90s, only managing to release a (frankly mediocre) collection of accumulated bits and bobs in '99, after getting out of their contract. In 2000, though, they finally managed to put out a debut proper, Slippin’ Out. That is the record I’m sending round for this week, and it is, to my mind, brilliant. It also, as far as I can tell, made absolutely no impact.
Alex was keen for us to provide reasons why Delta remained obscure, without outrageous success throughout Planet Rock'n'Roll. And whether that was a right and justified outcome. So here I go. First - reasons why: the name for a start is uninspiring: what kind of music will Delta offer? Who knows! Vocals are not radio friendly ones - they are of the lived in variety. Plus the lyrics are REM style muffled which I love but radio doesn't. The music is often beautiful, layered with complex arrangements - way too smart for world domination. Guitars are of an indie bent - interesting and edgy and not to a formula. Songs are complex - not 3 minutes of repeated ideas for the lowest common denominator. Do I like it? Absolutely - the Beatle inspired complexity and feel; the Mick and Keef/ John and Paul style combined singing is fantastic - I'm clearly a sucker for that; the arrangements are continually pleasing to my ear; the songs are varied and surprising. It's very rewarding and well worth my four star rating!
Where do they all belong? Indie pop with hints of Dr Dogg style woozy Beatleholicisms.
Edward BearClose Your Eyes(Vinyl - Capitol, 1973) ** Genre: Canadian pop/rock Places I remember:Real Groovy Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:Close Your Eyes
Gear costume:What You Done Active compensatory factors: Bought on the back of the single Last Song that I got from a funny little electrical goods store in Greenlane, ultimately the album is disappointing. My expectation was that Larry Evoy's great Close Your Eyes/ Last Song vocals would be scattered like stardust over other great songs on the album, but sadly - that's not the case. Generally, the songs aren't up to Close Your Eyes quality and/or Larry doesn't sing everything. Whatever the case - it's a patchy soft pop album. Where do they all belong? In one-hit wonderland with Last Song (on their previous album) and a near miss with Close Your Eyes - which I think is a much better song!
AmericaHarbor(Vinyl- Warner Bros, 1977) ** AmericaPerspective(Vinyl- Capitol, 1984) *
Genre: American pop/rock Places I remember: Real Groovy Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:God Of The Sun (Harbor)
Gear costume:Down To The Water (Harbor)
Active compensatory factors: From the mid seventies George Martin produced era of America, Harbor didn't contain any hit singles, so it tends to get forgotten about. That's unfortunate, as it's also their last to feature Dan Peek, and therefore it continues the generally appealing America patented harmony work throughout. The synths are a tad off putting on a couple of the tracks, and a few of the songs are sub par America, so, all up, it's not their best work before the fragmentation started. Speaking of which: Perspective. Oh dear. The eighties have a lot to answer for - drum machines, synths (eek) and that tinny production (clearly NOT by Sir George). Not a total waste - those vocals! But approach with caution! Where do they all belong? Diminishing returns after the golden early seventies, sad to say.
Alice ColtraneThe Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda(Vinyl - Luaka Bop, 2017) *** Genre: International music Places I remember:Real Groovy Records (for some substantial money, it has to be said) Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:Om Shanti
Gear costume: All the other tracks Active compensatory factors: A series of devotional chants set to new age style sounds, this is a long way from the progressive jazz format I'm used to from Alice Coltrane. I had heard a track on a Mojo magazine sampler of recent releases and loved what I heard. It did take a while to buy the vinyl - not sure why new release records are so expensive - what's that about? And I'm not sure how many plays this will get - especially now I've boxed up all my records and put them into a secure lock up while we head off to England. Where do they all belong? A one off - although my Buddhist chants CD is a close cousin.
Stealers WheelFerguslie Park(Vinyl - A&M, 1973) *** Genre: Scottish pop/rock Places I remember: Real Groovy Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:Star
Gear costume:Everything Will Turn Out Fine Active compensatory factors: As promised in LP 131's post, I finally caught up with a copy of this album in the $10 bins at Real Groovy. Stealers Wheel can do the instant transportation thing with me. One bit of Star and I'm instantly back in 1973 - heading off to football on a winter Auckland day in a car with some team mates when this comes on the radio. It's those creamy harmonic tones by Egan and Rafferty! Star is the star of the show. As one critic at the time said - it's 'a catchy shuffle of the Lennon-esque variety, 'Star' is 3 minutes of pure shimmering acoustic-guitar pop loveliness and honey-throated vocal harmonies, punctuated with spikes of harmonica, kazoo, woodblock, and bawdy barrelhouse piano'. Bang on! Remember them this way! Where do they all belong? Gerry obviously would head off to solo success via Baker Street and tragically, after years of alcohol abuse, pass away from liver failure in 2011. Joe Egan is still with us, thankfully.
Rory GallagherTattoo(Vinyl - Chrysalis, 1973) **** Rory GallagherThe French Connection (Recorded at RTL Studios Paris France 1974)(Vinyl - UMC 2018) **** Genre: Irish pop/rock Places I remember:Tattoo - Marbecks Records; The French Connection - Real Groovy Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:A Million Miles Away
Gear costume: Cradle Rock (as always - a real favourite of mine)
Active compensatory factors:Tattoo is a biggie in the canon. Four of the tracks were in the set list for the next few years (cf Irish Tour) and three are on The French Connection in the following year. The live versions are better (Rory is always better live) but it's still great to hear those first studio stabs at the songs from 1973. The French Connection is a recent release - recorded live in the studio - it's always great to hear Rory live in 1974 but Irish Tour (and expanded version has also just been released this year) remains the definitive statement. Where do they all belong? Still a few seventies albums to go before we head into the eighties and end game for Rory - tons of great guitaring to come then.
