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
Al GreenI Can't Stop(Vinyl - Blue Note, 2003) ****
Genre: Soul Places I remember: Marbecks Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:You
Gear costume: I Can't Stop Active compensatory factors: Although recorded in 2003 and produced by Willie Mitchell, this all sounds like classic Al Green to my ears. And classic Al Green is about as good as it gets - horns, Al's distinctive vocals (although a little less prominent in the mix at times), bass and drums locked in - all here! Where do they all belong? Brother Al Green is firmly of the Memphis soul family. Next stop would be a compilation like The Very Best Of Al Green.
Talking Heads Take Me To The River (edit)/ Thank You For Sending me An Angel (version) (Sire, SRE 1013, 1978) Talking Heads Psycho Killer/ Psycho Killer (accoustic version sic) (Sire, SRE 1013, 1979 sic) A few weird things going on here - Psycho Killer appeared on the album 77, which was released in 1977, so why it took NZ two years to release it, I don't know; the B side can't spell acoustic; and Take Me To The River chops a minute and a half off the album version...why?? Bizarre. An apt word for this smarty pants brigade. Smarty pants in a good way though! But I'm getting ahead of myself here, Talking Heads were the band du jour for all us white middle class hipsters attending our first year at Auckland University in 1977. I am normally suspicious of the hip new thing so it actually took a weekend live in course on American poetry run by my friend Roger Horrocks to win me over. Someone brought the record along and it was played during that weekend. Sorted. 77 is full of spiky tension, jerky rhythm and nervousness (David Byrne's voice is utterly distinctive). Psycho Killer is all of that and more. Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire! Take Me To The River is the opposite of all that - it's all about the groove (Al Green - the song's co-creator, is the master of groove). Needless to say it was a big hit in NZ in 1978. Clearly the band wanted to send a signal! Say one thing once - why say it again? Hidden gems: The acoustic version of Psycho Killer (NOT to be confused with the Stop Making Sense version below) is okay but it escapes me why they put this on the B side - there must be a reason...Thank You etc is not that exciting and the reason I never actually bought the difficult second album (More Songs About Buildings And Food) in the first place.
