Leftovers (School Days): Grade 9

Barenaked Ladies: Grade 9

[purchase]

A game of thematic spin the bottle -- to play, just close your eyes and click randomly on the archives to the left -- calls up our end-of-summer School Days theme; perusing the excellent selections, I remember running out of time to share this lesser-known Barenaked Ladies popnumber, one of my many favorite tracks on their 1992 debut Gordon. Better late than never being the name of the game this week, I'm happy to present the most startlingly accurate portrayal of my younger self I have yet encountered in popular song.

To be fair, the song would have slid just as easily into our more recent set of Silly Songs. And being just a few years younger than these canadian masters of quickwit and geekiness, this song actually speaks to my middle school years. But I was a precocious child: it all resonates, from the pop culture references (that Rush guitar quote!) to the generally "freaks and geeks" portrayal of freshman despair and desperation. I've never been so happy to cringe as here, in celebration of a time when we were all so dorky, yet afraid to be uncool. My, how times have changed.

Leftovers (Fifty States): Arizona, Florida, North Dakota, Utah

I would have loved to have been around for this theme – even in retrospect, I can read between the [state] lines of the mad scramble in being first to post, as all 50 finally were covered, albeit with some boundary-stretching. I have perused the entirety of submissions, as well as related comments, and feel fairly confident my picks below were not mentioned!

The Nudes: Arizona

[purchase]

The Nudes (a.k.a. Walter Parks and Stephanie Winters) were a musical- and romantic–duo, he on guitar and she on cello – their sound was jazzy, moody, sultry (BH cover alert: Norwegian Wood)… and quite captivating until they went their separate ways in 1999. The first time I saw Dar Williams in a tiny bar in Ft. Myers, Florida (January 1998) she was accompanied by Stephanie (and Ellis Paul was her opener!) – post-breakup, Walter became a touring sideman for Richie Havens… and now Stephanie has joined the two of them on the road, she and Walter reuniting as Winters & Parks.

Richard Julian: Florida

[purchase]

I first saw Richard Julian at the Cleveland Folk Alliance (2000), introduced by Buddy Mondlock, who I was already a fan of – we exchanged cards, I invited him down for a house concert and put together a mini-tour as enticement. He was only just beginning to open for Norah Jones, and has since formed The Little Willies (also with Norah), as well as continuing a solo career – love this dark side of the Parrothead pendulum swing (which was written and recorded *before* the visit with us!).

Kris Delmhorst: North Dakota

[purchase]

Ah, Kris – she would have been my first house concert (January 2000), had not her flight been delayed from Boston, due to snow – I had to call/e-mail all 35 invitees and tell them the show could not go on (as they re-routed her through Texas, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale the following morning for our South Florida Folk Festival). Appetite is in my Top Ten, her songwriting so wise for someone so young – love the spare instrumentation on this tune, her heart beating for the state in which he’s never stepped foot…

Brian Joseph: Utah

[purchase]

Brian Joseph too was a Folk Alliance discovery (San Diego 2003) and a house concert artist later that year – BH, I should send you his version (with Melanie Hersch) of Walk Like An Egyptian. Brian is tall, funny and quirky - Utah, the hidden track on We’re Gonna Laugh, cleverly describes a state of long-distance mind over matter…


P.S. This theme would of course not be complete without Fruvous’ The Lowest Highest Point!

Leftovers (Advice): Don't Stop Asking

Lucy Lee: Don't Stop Asking

[Purchase]

Advice week came and went long before I was a contributor here. But Lucy Lee has some advice she'd like to impart now that she has the chance: Don't stop asking. In her case, she wants to let a guy know that just because she said no this time doesn't mean she's not interested.

You learn pretty quickly if you try to Google Lucy Lee that it's also the name of a porn star. I assure you this is not the same person. Unfortunately, there's very little information about this Lucy Lee available. What I can tell you about her is that she released one album back in the late 90s (pictured above) and that she has a tongue-in-cheek classic country style. This song is a favorite of mine. I first heard it, and in return discovered her, when I received a free compilation at a 1998 Lilith Fair for being one of the first few hundred in the door. I was impressed right away and ordered her album. Unfortunately, she seems to have dropped off the face of the planet for the most part, which is doubly disappointing considering everyone I've shared this song, or other songs of hers, with has loved them.

Leftovers (Johns): Jilted John

Jilted John: Jilted John

urchase]

"Here we go - two three four..." Every once in a while, one needs a healthy dose of Jilted John. His classic, self-titled single from ´78 is the ballad of John and Julie (and Gordon the moron of course). Produced by Martin Hannett of Joy Division fame btw, although that´s not really obvious here. Originally released on the tiny Rabid records, it took the great John Peel´s endorsement to get it picked up by a major label, after which it climbed to number 4 in the British charts. 

"I was so upset that I cried all the way to the chip shop... when I came out there was Gordon, standing at the bus stop..."

Pure genius, mate.

"Oh she's a slag and he's a creep,
she's a tart, he's very cheap,
she is a slut, he thinks he's tough,
she is a bitch, he is a puff,
yeah yeah, it's not fair
yeah yeah, it's not fair..."

Leftovers (Tricky Beats): Kissi Penny

Shudder To Think: Kissi Penny

[purchase]

I'm decent, not excellent, but pretty decent with time signatures and "tricky beats." I've owned this album since it came out in 1994, and I've just never been able to totally follow this song. The brilliant thing about it, though, is that despite my inability to track exactly what patterns they are playing, I can still enjoy listening. If anyone out there is brilliant with sort of thing, I'd love some insight.

Guest posted by Riggity

Leftovers (Little Black Book): Amy

Ryan Adams: Amy

[purchase]

The Little Black Book theme is by far the one I regret missing out on the most. Not only is it an interesting topic that allows a wealth of tunes to be explored, but the title is just clever as hell.

If you’ve read my posts here or have EVER stopped by This Mornin’…, you’re well aware of my Ryan Adams obsession. And if you know anything about Ryan, it most likely stemmed from Heartbreaker. Amy had an impressive influence on Ryan, although I haven’t found much to substantiate any intel on the real Amy. This is the one and only tune to be adorned with her moniker, but it says it all, plain and simple - an attribute which gives Heartbreaker its everlasting elegance.

“I don’t know why I let go; I want to be your friend.”

“I go to the places we used to; I feel sad.”

“Oh, I love you Amy. Do you still love me?”

Leftovers (Clothes): You Make Me Wanna Wear Dresses

Lisa Germano: You Make Me Wanna Wear Dresses

[purchase]

When Boyhowdy asked me to write a guest post a few months ago, I was beyond flattered – after the New York Minute between his invitation and my submission (in case he changed his mind!), I spent quite a few hours perusing the archives to get a feel for the taste, tone and talent of the regular contributors (impressive being a major understatement)…

I couldn’t help but experience more than a twinge of wistfulness as I read previous themes and pondered the woulda/coulda/shoulda had I been around then – now that I’m “on staff” (pinch me!), many thanks to BH for allowing this time machine opportunity to revisit Clothes Week…

Not sure exactly how the music of Lisa Germano first drifted into my ears – all I know is that when I heard You Make Me Wanna Wear Dresses, it took me back to a time of innocence, shyness and vulnerability. I immediately thought of past crushes and blushes (pre-husband, -children, -mortgage) – it’s lovely to have a suburban roof over my head (and all it represents)… but sometimes one can’t help but long for a castle in all its swoon-worthy metaphor…

P.S. I found out later that Lisa Germano played violin on tour with John Mellencamp for years – for BH: she does a h*lla cover of These Boots Are Made for Walkin’…

Leftovers (Fifty States): Washington

Robyn Hitchcock: Viva! Sea-Tac

[Purchase]

Back when I was merely a lurker here, they had a Fifty States week. This was by far one of my favorite themes, because on my computer I have a Word document where I keep lists of songs for possible mix themes and one of the largest is songs about states. Of course, I am also a bit more anal about it and require that all the songs be titled simply the states name, and of course, that the song be one I like as well. This was all in hopes that one day I would create a fifty song mix containing one song for each state. But since then I've grown to just collecting all songs with state titles I can find and like.

Anyway, during the 50 States week here, the rule was that there was to be no repeating and they'd try to get a song for every state. By the end of the week the last two states to be done were Pennsylvania and Washington. They decided to do a free for all then and any songs about the state were to be posted, whether it be cities, areas, or pretty much anything regarding the state. I wasn't contributing at the time, but I think the essential song about Washington state is Robyn Hitchcock's "Viva! Sea-Tac", Sea-Tac being the abbreviation for the Seattle-Tacoma area, and also the name of the state's largest airport. Of course, this song could also probably work for the city songs theme too, but it was the Washington state free for all that made me wish this song was included. The song plays like an ode to someone's favorite place, or perhaps even something to be heard in a Washington state tourism commercial. Hitchcock seems to put the state and its residents on a pedestal for this one, but the sentiment is more of a good-natured ribbing of those that seemed to worship Seattle during the grunge era than anything else. It also is insanely fun to listen to.

Viva! Seattle-Tacoma
Viva, viva Sea-Tac!
They've got the best computers and coffee and smack!

Leftovers (The Sun): The Sky Is So Blue

When I first joined Starmaker, I was a guest poster for quite some time. The procedure at first was that I would send my text, along with the mp3, to Paul, Dean or Boyhowdy. They would add the coding, find the image, host the file, in short do a lot of work on my behalf that I knew nothing about. So I would like to thank these three fine gentlemen again, now that I can appreciate just how much you did for me. Double thanks to Paul, who handled this all by himself at first, and also to Boyhowdy, who finally, and with immense patience, showed me how to do it all myself.

One thing that sometimes happened in my days as a guest poster is I would submit a post late in the week, and hope that one of the guys would have time to get it in before the deadline. Some of those posts never made it. This happened at the end of Sun week. So here, at last, is that post.

Jane Siberry: The Sky is so Blue

[purchase]

Jane Siberry, who now goes by the name of Issa, is a Canadian artist who never became as well known in the United States as she deserved to. No Borders Here, her stateside debut, was released on the short-lived High Street label. High Street was an imprint created by the Windham Hill label when they attempted to branch out into singer-songwriter material, but the link to Windham Hill meant that every release had to overcome the new age label. Not all of them did. But the new age label certainly doesn’t do justice to the music of Jane Siberry. Her lyrics are often enigmatic, and she sings in a sweet soprano voice, but her arrangements are often more complex than they seem, and are emotionally rich.

“The Sky is so Blue” comes from Siberry’s self-titled debut album. Originally a Canadian only release, it was eventually released here as well. The song fits the sun theme perfectly, even though it does not have the word sun either in the title or anywhere in the lyrics. The song describes one of those beautiful sunny mornings that follow a night of thunderstorms, and Siberry’s vocal and arrangement here even sound like sunshine.

If you would like to further explore the music of Jane Siberry, I encourage you to visit the website of Sheeba Records. Here you can purchase mp3s of most of Siberry’s songs at the price of your choosing. Just keep in mind that Siberry does this because she receives a greater percentage of the revenue from each song when you buy it here, instead of a third-party vendor.

Leftovers (City Songs): Memphis

Faces: Memphis

[purchase]

I joined Star Maker Machine in its fourth week, just in time for the City Songs theme; somewhere in the vast wasteland that is a blogger and audiophile's iTunes playlists I still have a huge set of songs whose titles mention various cities from Tokyo to Timbuktu. The songs seem to cluster around cities from the American South, which probably says more about my musical tastes than anything else -- heck, I could do a whole week on Memphis alone. But I picked this song up for the first time a few months later, via "New Orleans based music thing" Captains Dead, and I've always wanted the opportunity to share it.

I don't know much about short-lived Ronnie Lane/Rod Stewart/Ron Wood side project Faces, or indeed about that whole 1969 - 1975 time frame, except what I read on the blogs, but this song really makes me appreciate both classic rock and Rod Stewart, and that's saying a whole lot. John Alroy, of Wilson and Alroy ("we listen to the lousy records so you won't have to"), has this to say about the Faces canon:

My ratings of all these records are low, and there are plenty of good reasons such as the Faces' lack of originality, instrumental virtuosity, lyrical substance, and quality songwriting (did I leave anything out?). However, Stewart and company have a way of getting under your skin, kind of like drunken, partying, good-for-nothing high school buddies you can't resist hanging out with. These are the records I reach for when I'm in the mood for sheer fun.

The Bountiful Feast: A Dessert Sampler

Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley: Girl Scout Cookies

[live and unpurchaseable]

Sarah McLachlan: Ice Cream (live)

[purchase]

Crowded House: Chocolate Cake

[purchase]

Nellie McKay: Cupcake

[purchase]

David Wilcox: Wildberry Pie

[purchase]

It's a tradition of sorts here at Star Maker Machine to end the week with a "clearinghouse" post, one which throws a few disparate songs up to give a sense of the range of possibility still sitting on our "also ran" lists as the clock runs out.

Fittingly, I managed to come up with a few rare and delicious dessert selections for us to fill in the corners a bit as we transition to our upcoming theme; just as fittingly, this coming week's theme will give us a chance to offer up second helpings for those favorite songs which, for one reason or another, never really made it into the themes where they best belonged. Small portions only, folks; you're liable to burst...

The Bountiful Feast: Bread and Butter

The Newbeats: Bread and Butter

[purchase]


I know what you're thinking - why would a bread and butter song be posted in a Bountiful Feast theme? Did you know the price of wheat has doubled or more in just a matter of months? The Newbeats sing about a fellow whose baby feeds him bread and butter, cause he's her loving man. That is, before he caught her eating chicken and dumplings with some other guy, which of course is totally out of bounds. Now, it's all for the best - with the cost of wheat going through the silo roof, I don't think she could afford Jilted John anymore. Soon enough, bread and butter will be the providence of kings and queens!

The Bountiful Feast: Peaches

Kristen Hall: Peaches

[purchase]

Due to a corporate transfer, my husband, two children and I moved to Puerto Rico in early-1985 (our third was born there) – when we returned to Atlanta in mid-1989, I had lots of musical catching-up to do!

Having always had a weakness for smart lyrics and tight harmonies, I was immediately drawn to the Indigo Girls, whose Closer to Fine was emerging as an underground “hit”, on the radio and MTV - we were lucky to see them in some small venues in their early days…

But I digress – through Amy and Emily, I also became aware of the plethora of female singer-songwriters in the Atlanta area: Michelle Malone, Dede Vogt and Kristen Hall. I bought Kristen’s Fact & Fiction (cassette tape at the time), fell in love with every song… and wondered if she would have gained more recognition if her sound was not so similar to the Indigo Girls.

I was enamored with Peaches, a bouncy tune whose melody belies the poignancy of a long-distance relationship (I especially love her little sigh at the end) – one of the reasons I will *always* buy albums/tapes/CDs is for the liner notes…and this one listed vocals on Peaches by Michael Lorant (who many of us know better as Michael L. Stipe… from R.E.M.)

Footnote: Decades later, I heard about the country/pop supergroup Sugarland, a trio with Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush and Kristen Hall (who founded the band) – my Kristen Hall?!? Yes, indeed – although now, it seems, Kristen has left and filed a lawsuit against the remaining members…

The Bountiful Feast: Hot Potatoes

Kinks - Hot Potatoes [purchase]

Most Kinks aficionados end the band's classic period at 1971's Muswell Hillbillies. I humbly submit that the golden age should properly end with the following record, 1972's Everybody's In Showbiz. I admit that the album is flawed and doesn't do itself any favors by starting with 3 clunkers. But, beginning with the fourth track, this bluesy Ray/Dave quasi-duet about, well, hot potatoes, Showbiz steps its game up and pretty much stays up. Just sayin, if you're a Kinks fan and you haven't heard this one ... which I consistently find to be the case ... it's well worth checking out.

The Bountiful Feast: A Christmas Feast

If it hadn’t happened to you before now, and if you went anywhere at all today, you experienced your first assault for this year of Christmas music. Now, some of the best music of any kind ever written was written for or about Christmas, but, for the most part, that’s not what you heard. You heard grotesquely overproduced versions of familiar carols. You heard original songs that were corny/ maudlin beyond belief. And you heard arrangements of familiar holiday fare that were beyond ill-advised. And, if you were lucky, amidst the dross, you heard a tune or two you actually liked.

Certainly, this is what happens to me every year. And I cope with it by resorting to counterprogramming. I collect holiday-themed songs that are the furthest thing from any of the abuses described above, and often have a cynical edge. And it happens that three of my favorites have a food theme.

Riders in the Sky: Sidemeat‘s Christmas Stew

[purchase]

Riders in the Sky have made a career out of keeping cowboy music alive. And they have done it with a wonderful sense of humor. Here, they tackle the question, how does a trail cook produce a Christmas feast with the limited resources available to him on a cattle drive?

Mick Moloney and Eugene O‘Donnell: Miss Fogarty‘s Christmas Cake

[purchase]

Mick Moloney and Eugene O’Donell are Irish musicians whose musical careers have developed entirely in the United States. O’Donell is a wonderful fiddler, while Moloney sings and plays guitar and bouzouki. I had the great pleasure of seeing them perform a few years ago, and I recommend it highly.

A short time ago, we were cleaning out a part of our house that had not been used in many years. To our great surprise, we discovered a fruitcake that must have tucked in the back of a drawer around 1965, still in what was left of its tin. The tale told in “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” is not nearly that drastic, but it captures the fruitcake phenomenon perfectly. If anyone knows of other fruitcake songs, I’d love to hear about them in the comments

The Chieftains with Elvis Costello: St Stephen‘s Day Murders

[purchase]

By now, the Chieftains are well known for their collaborations with seemingly most unlikely musical partners. The Bells of Dublin was the first album where the Chieftains did this. Of all the artists who participated, only Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne contributed original songs.

If you enjoy the arrival of swarms of relatives for the holidays, but wonder what you were thinking when they are all still there three days later, you may enjoy Elvis Costello’s unique, (I hope!), solution to the problem.

The Bountiful Feast: Know Your Chicken

Cibo Matto: Know Your Chicken

[purchase]


You are what you eat, so - what's up with your chicken? As Cibo Matto explains, it's very important to know your bird. Considering the band's name means "crazy food" in Italian, you best listen to them.

The Bountiful Feast: Leftovers

Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit: Leftovers

[purchase]

A taste, ironically, of what is to come...

Leftovers is what I want
Don't need no fine cuisine
Give me a dime for bacon rind
Or slip me some of that old sardine...

I was introduced to London-based Johnny Flynn via two geographically disparate music blogs: the ever-excellent UK-based Song, By Toad, which covers the best of the new and burgeoning britfolk movement, and the sadly-defunct To The Dogs...or Whatever, which was based out of Australia. I haven't seen him mentioned much elsewhere, but I'm happy to do my part to spread the word about this stellar artist with an eye to the past, especially because, as a coverblogger, I would do almost anything to be able to be in London this Monday to attend the upcoming tribute to long-gone Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny, which will also feature Martin Carthy and other members of the UK neotrad scene.

Flynn's MySpace page claims Country/Blues/Folk in that order, which will probably make more sense to ears from that side of the pond more than it does to my own: his work with and without the Sussex Wit isn't what most Americans consider folk, but then, Americans tend to forget that they didn't invent the stuff. The fiddles and Pogues-gone-acoustic arrangement of Leftovers, which frames the image as metaphor for a self-depreciating girl on the rebound, are indeed a stellar example of what counts for folk in the rest of the English speaking world, and much of his other work calls back to various slices of the pubfolk and tradfolk traditions. Shades of the Kinks in there, too. Great stuff, and - lest we forget - as rooted in the British past as the Pilgrims themselves.

Our coming week's theme will be Leftovers; our intrepid contributors will be posting songs which fit previous themes here at Star Maker Machine. This song would have fit in several previous themes, including Johns and The Bountiful Feast.

The Bountiful Feast: Mac & Cheese

Mary Prankster: Mac & Cheese

[Purchase]

With a name like Mary Prankster, you can bet that the music is going to be fun. Mary Prankster makes rockin' music with a sense of humor. Those songs often also happen to be off color, like her song "Tits and Whiskey" which uses the F-word thirteen times despite clocking in at under two minutes.

This song, despite its name, isn't solely about macaroni and cheese. The song is about many foods, and more importantly, finding a guy who'll make them for you.

The Bountiful Feast: Chicken Cordon Bleus

Steve Goodman: Chicken Cordon Bleus

[purchase]

We’re doing Thanksgiving at my brother’s house tomorrow. He and his wife keep a kosher organic vegetarian household. But, out of deference to the family, they’re making chicken. So it won’t be nearly as bad as what Steve Goodman describes here.

(Actually, Bro and Mrs. Bro are great cooks. I’m looking forward to it.)

The Bountiful Feast: Uncle Dave’s Grace

Herdman-Hills-Mangsen: Uncle Dave’s Grace

[purchase]

Happy Thanksgiving to all – what better way to begin than with Grace… although not so amazing when it’s offered up by Uncle Dave!

This tune was written by Lou and Peter Berryman, a formerly-married, still-writing-and-performing-together duo who are the mistress/master of comedy in the folk/acoustic world – here is the version (a cover for BH) by Priscilla Herdman/Anne Hills/Cindy Mangsen from their At the Turning of the Year holiday recording…

The Bountiful Feast: Animal Crackers In My Soup

Shirley Temple: Animal Crackers In My Soup

[purchase]

When deciding which song to post for this week's theme, I found myself drawn to older songs of the 50's. Songs about food were plentiful back then for some reason. But as I rolled even further back, I realized that a certain curly-haired child-star had a few songs to choose from too.

In 1935, Shirley Temple performed one of her best known songs, "Animal Crackers In My Soup" for her 30th film appearance, Curly Top, a movie which featured the young actress as an orphan who charms her way into the heart of a wealthy bachelor.

The lyrics are sugary, of course, but befitting of both Temple and the time period. And it's Temple's precociousness and precision as an entertainer that made many of her films and songs so memorable.

For a video snippet of Temple's performance of "Animal Crackers In My Soup" in the film, click here.

The Bountiful Feast: Cornbread

Band of Heathens: Cornbread

[purchase]

Skavoovie and the Epitones: Cornbread

[purchase]

Tim O'Brien: Cornbread Nation

[purchase]

The house is starting to fill up with the smells of thanksgiving preparation: right now, there's butter and onions in the frypan, pecans and apples chopped fine beside 'em, and a bowlful of cornbread crumbled on the counter, all of them ready to be turned into the very best kind of stuffing. To honor my favorite part of the coming feast, here's a few great cornbread songs: bluesy americana from The Band of Heathens, fine slow-cooked ska from Skavoovie and the Epitones, and Tim O'Brien with some signature bluegrassy funk, all in tribute to this most earthy and old-school of southern soulfood staples.

PS: In the name of full disclosure, I should point out that my brother was the trumpet player for Skavoovie and the Epitones.

PPS: on a related note, head on over to Cover Lay Down for a second helping of Tim O'Brien, plus a few more coversongs on harvest, farming, and other elements of pre-table food production.

The Bountiful Feast: Boiled Potato

Blake Babies: Boiled Potato

[Purchase]

The Blake Babies were college music darlings in the early 90s. Their jangly rock style paired with the the girly and sweet vocals of Juliana Hatfield made them stand out from the grunge scene. As many will know, Juliana Hatfield went solo after a few albums with the Blake Babies and became another college music darling in her own right over the years.

This song is sung like a love song to a potato. If you replace all mentions of potato with a name it becomes a lot less odd, so it does seem like it could most certainly be a love song had they not chosen to use the words "boiled potato" instead of someone's name. But the content goes much deeper than that. Though the song is cute and jangly, you get this whole new view of it when you hear a re-worked version of it off a b-side single from Juliana's first solo record a few years later. The song, then called "Feed Me", shares the same tune and many of the same lyrics, except now instead of "boiled potato" she simply says "oh baby", and it's much more sad, and it is quite clearly about dealing with an eating disorder. I find it hard to ever hear "Boiled Potato" the same way after hearing "Feed Me".

Juliana herself has dealt with an eating disorder off and on for most of her adult life, and just recently finally went to a rehab program to try to get better. You can read about her experience on her blog where she talks about her song "Universal Heartbeat". And I have uploaded "Feed Me" here as well.

Juliana Hatfield: Feed Me

[Purchase]

The Bountiful Feast: One Meatball

Johnny Neel: One Meatball

[purchase]

I first heard the song “One Meatball” sung by my father as he shared a fond memory from his younger days. For this reason, I always assumed that the song originated in the Great Depression. As it turns out, that is not the case at all.

The original version of the song dates from 1850, and became variously known as “One Fishball” or “The Lone Fishball”. The melody was not the one we know now, and the metamorphosis into a meatball was still years away, but the story was essentially the same. The song was adapted into a comic opera in 1862, called Il Pesceballo. I found a review of the opera which tells how the song came to be written:

“Il Pesceballo is a nineteenth-century American pasticcio opera written by Francis James Child, a Harvard English professor and opera lover. The text was originally inspired by an incident which occurred to a colleague of his. One evening Martin Lane was trying to make his way to Cambridge, MA, from Boston. He discovered that he had only 25 cents, which was not enough for both supper and the fare need to get to Cambridge. As he was very tired and hungry, he stopped at a local diner and asked for half of a serving of macaroni. After he had recounted the story to his friends, he wrote a comic ballad, called the "Lay of the One Fishball." A fishball was a fried New England concoction made of potatoes and fish stock, and usually eaten for breakfast. The ballad became very popular with Harvard students, and inspired Child's opera.” *

From there, the song kicked around for many years, occasionally being collected in songbooks. The fact that the fishball was a regional dish, virtually unknown outside of New England, limited the song’s appeal. In 1944, Hy Zaret and Lou Singer created the version we are familiar with today, and the fishball became a meatball. Early recordings of “One Meatball” included one by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. The folksinger Josh White Jr. began performing the song, and became its greatest popularizer.

Nowadays, the song tends to be regarded as a kid’s song, which sometimes means that it is given a syrupy production. But version heard here avoids those pitfalls, even though it comes from an album of food songs that Disney crassly released as a tie-in with the movie Ratatouille.

* This text comes from a thread found on The Mudcat Cafe. This is a wonderful resource for researching folk and blues songs

The Bountiful Feast: Cheeseburger in Paradise

Jimmy Buffett - Cheeseburger in Paradise

[purchase]

I hear the collective groan coming from the readers. I hear it loud and clear and to you I say, "Fuck You". I am a native Floridian. I've heard Jimmy's songs since the day I was born and at 35 years old I am old enough to not need to look cool so I can say that yes....I do like Jimmy Buffett. I like him a lot and while this particular song isn't one of my favorites it's topical and probably one the flagship "food songs". So to all you groaners...eat me (pun intended).

Sadly, I've been allergic to dairy for so long I do not even remember what a cheeseburger tastes like. Nor a milkshake. I miss the hell out of real Ice Cream Sandwiches...I miss them so very much.

The Bountiful Feast: Pork N' Beans

Left Lane Cruiser - Pork N' Beans

[purchase]

Left Lane Cruiser self-describe their sound as "a shockwave through a big ol’ buttcheek". I describe it as "a blues-fueled, rock-driven sound on the verge of a whiskey rage". No matter how you describe it, "Fucking Awesome" is what it reduces down to.

The Bountiful Feast: Johnny Saucep'n

Moxy Fruvous: Johnny Saucep’n

[purchase]

I’m thinking my two-fer of songs here is a perfect segue from Ramone666’s serving… of food and… um… Bill…

Ten 10 years ago, a friend (who at the time was a record store manager) enticed me with the “if you like Barenaked Ladies, you’ll love Moxy Fruvous" philosophy – he was, of course, absolutely right and Live Noise was my first purchase, which remains in my car and is an Absolute Must for any more-than-two-hours road trip my family and I undertake. My children were raised to chime in on “don’t mention Lisa”… and even my husband, Neil Young/James Taylor devotee that he is, appreciates the a cappella version of Gotta Get a Message to You…

Boyhowdy waxed most poetically about the group a few weeks ago during our Aristocrats theme – since we’re both Falcon Ridge attendees, wondering if he, like me, secretly wished to hear Johnny Saucep’n performed at the festival. Every song on every stage is signed by ASL interpreters – this fast-paced ditty would have been quite the challenge even for Jody, the most experienced!

My aforementioned friend was devastated when the group announced a split… and still thinks they’re “on hiatus” – as with Santa, I’d prefer to continue believing as well…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And... as a ginsu knife/bamboo steamer bonus, I’d like to offer up a tune written by Maggi, Pierce and E.J., a delightfully talented and eclectic group from the Philadelphia area I hosted in house concerts a few times, and booked gigs for – they wrote this song (not available on any official recording) as an homage to Fruvous... about a different sort of cooking (shades of Joni’s “sittin’ on my groceries”, eh?)…

Maggi, Pierce and E.J.: Saucy Johnny

P.S. BH, check out their Live Covers CD...

The Bountiful Feast: Senegal Fast Food

Amadou & Mariam: Senegal Fast Food

[purchase]

After starting the week with three square meals, I thought we could all use a snack.

“Senegal Fast Food” fits our theme because of its title. The song is mostly in French, with a few lines in Amadou and Mariam’s native language, Bamako. So I have no idea what the song is about. I did find a bad translation, posted by a fan who apparently spoke English as a second or third language, but I really couldn’t make sense of it.

Amadou and Mariam are a blind couple, originally from Mali, who moved to the Ivory Coast to take advantage of that country’s superior recording facilities. Their blindness is more than just a marketing point; they met at an institute in Mali that helps blind people, in part by encouraging musical expression. Their musical style is Malian blues, thought by musicologists to be the African precursor of blues as we think of it in the United States. On this track, the traditional style is melded with musical influences from other cultures by producer Manu Chao, resulting in a fine example of what is called World Beat. World Beat is a strategy used by many traditional artists who seek to introduce their music to a global audience. And in this case, the introduction is most welcome.

I have been posting a lot of world music lately. I’m not planning any more for the rest of this week, but, if anybody thinks it’s too much, let me know in the comments.

The Bountiful Feast: Weinerschnitzel

Descendents: Weinerschnitzel

[purchase]

Welcome to Der Weinerschnitzel
May I take your order please?

Yeah, I want:
Two large Cokes, two large fries,
chili-cheese dog, large Dr. Pepper,
Super Deluxe with cheese and tomato...

You want Bill sperm with that?

NO!

13 seconds of lipsmackin´ fun. It should spell wienerschnitzel of course, but the Descendents were probably afraid of a lawsuit by the fastfood chain of the same name. And now, for the million dollar question... what on earth is Bill sperm? Answers on a postcard please.

The Bountiful Feast: Lunch

Muckafurgason: Lunch

[Purchase]

It seems like most songs about food are pretty silly, and this song is certainly no different. Muckafurgason is a band of comedians, or at least, they appeared on a Friday Night Comedy show at one point and are definitely funny. In fact, one of the guys dated Janeane Garafalo for quite a while and even wrote a song about her for one of their albums.

They opened for They Might Be Giants back in 2002, which is how I know of them. As soon as they started playing I loved them. Their brand of humor comes in the form of singing songs that sound serious and rockin', but are also about absurd things, like being afraid of bees, your favorite childhood video game systems, and in this case, singing a white boy rap about your favorite meal of the day.

The Bountiful Feast: Fish For Supper

Bob Dorough: Fish For Supper

[purchase]

The name may not ring a bell, but children of the seventies and eighties know both the songs and the voice of bebop and cool jazzman Bob Dorough through Schoolhouse Rock, a series of shorts which ran on network television throughout my childhood and theirs. But there's much more to Dorough than Three is a Magic Number -- the inaugural song for what would become a seminal childhood experience for an entire generation -- and the fifty other tunes he penned and performed during the twelve-year run of the "Schoolhouse" series.

In the jazzworld, Dorough is known for his influence on (and work with) over a half century of pianists and other jazzmen from Blossom Dearie to Mose Allison. His early gigs included tap dancer accompanist, mid-set performer for genre-stretching comedian Lenny Bruce, and musical director for the song and dance revue of boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and any jazzfan with even a basic familiarity with his work can hear the influence of all three -- tap trope, comedy timing, and song-and-dance -- in his later work. As co-writer of Comin' Home Baby, he was responsible for Mel Torme's Grammy nominations; he is especially noteworthy, in fact, for being the only "halfway decent singer" to appear on a Miles Davis album.

Dorough's solo work is often overlooked amidst his influence, but I find it delicious and delightful. Here, Dorough turns his distinctively pinched half-scat vocalese and playful sense of humor to Fish for Supper, one of my favorite tunes from my absolute favorite Bob Dorough album, Too Much Coffee Man. The song, like the album overall, features bouncy sax and hi-hat, cool bebop piano, and wryly inane lyrics sung practically in tune, and in homophonic parallel with the lead instrument. If you only introduce yourself to one new jazz musician before the century is over, make Bob Dorough the one...and start with Too Much Coffee Man, purchasable above.

The Bountiful Feast: Breakfast Blues

Trout Fishing in America: Breakfast Blues

[purchase]

Good morning! – let’s start our Food Week with the most important meal of the day, shall we?

“Trout Fishing in America is the long-standing musical partnership of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet. The name, taken from a Richard Brautigan novel, seems almost as incongruent and intriguing as a picture of this musical duo - Ezra Idlet (guitar) stands six feet nine inches and Keith Grimwood (bass), five feet five and one half inches. What is more intriguing is the musical career these two have carved out in nearly three decades of writing, recording and performing together.”

More here…

I’ve heard the song covered by Zoe Lewis and Mindy Simmons… but I always thought it was written by Ezra and/or Keith - upon googling for the lyrics, I see it was penned by Ronnie Levine, a Pensacola, Florida singer-songwriter (the tune is on his songlist… so it must be the same guy!)...

If you’re craving sticky puns, this tune-uh is chocolate full of them – orange you glad I’m finished with this gruel and honey-usual punishment? (groan)…

Tricky Beats: Polyrhythm, Part 3

Alhaji Bai Konte: Alla L‘aa Ke

[purchase]

When I finished Polyrhythm, Part 2, I wasn’t intending to do a part 3. But, since then, a thought has nagged at me. I left out what may be the most remarkable example of polyrhythmic music in all of Africa. And that is the music of the kora.

The kora is often described as an African harp because of its sound, but it is played differently. The player uses the thumb and forefinger of each hand to pluck the strings, while the other fingers adjust the tuning by moving iron rings up or down the strings. There are traditionally twenty-one strings, with ten played by the right hand and eleven played by the left. What makes kora music a remarkable example of polyrhythmic music is the fact that each hand plays a different rhythm. So, unlike the Yoruba music we heard in part 1, in kora music, the overlapping rhythms are played by only one musician, with no overdubs.

The example heard here is by Alhaji Bai Konte, a griot of the Mandinka tribe. A griot is a traditional praise singer, analogous to the minstrel in medieval Europe. The role of the griot is passed on from father to son. Alhaji Bai Konte died in 1983, but his son Dembe Konte follows in his footsteps to this day.

Tricky Beats: Shake Your Rump

Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump [purchase]

I couldn't begin to tell you how many different time signatures are in this song, but I do know this ... it's a trip, it's got a funky beat, and I can bug out to it. The second track on the Beastie Boys' landmark frankenrecording, Paul's Boutique, "Rump" is so sonically dense, there's still a handful of samples hiding in the underbrush, waiting for archaeologists to flush them out. For a great analysis of this song, head over to Ear Fuzz and read, "Anatomy of a Sample Part 2 - Shake Your Rump," a wicked breakdown of this mind-boggling collage. Fans of The Adios Lounge may remember my own "Anatomy of a Classic" featuring Sam Cooke's song, "Bring It On Home To Me." Well, this Ear Fuzz post was my inspiration. Fans of Paul's Boutique also owe it to themselves to check out the Paul's Boutique Samples and References List and their "Shake Your Rump" entry specifically. While I am prone to occasional overstatement, there is no question in my mind that this is one of the best songs on one of the best albums ever made.

As an added bonus, here's the Beasties/Dust Brothers with the demo version of "Rump," entitled "Full Clout." The fidelity isn't spectacular, but given the song's immense historical value, I'm hoping you'll cut me some slack. And in the event I'm still bloggifying next year, I may celebrate the 20th anniversary of Paul's Boutique with some sort of retrospective. Luckily, I have a little time. Until then, let's rock a house party at the drop of a hat.

Beastie Boys - Full Clout [Shake Your Rump demo]

Tricky Beats: Happiness Is A Warm Gun

The Beatles: Happiness Is A Warm Gun

[purchase]


According to John Lennon, the title for Happiness Is a Warm Gun came from the cover of a gun magazine that producer George Martin handed him: "I think he showed me a cover of a magazine that said 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun.' It was a gun magazine. I just thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something."

A complicated song, it took took 15 hours and over 100 takes to complete because of the various different time signatures; beginning in 4/4 time, the song shifts to a 3/4 time for the guitar solo in the "I need a fix... " section. This gives way to 6/8, 3/4, and 4/4 measures in the "Mother Superior... " section before returning to 4/4 for the majority of the doo-wop style ending. During Lennon's spoken-word intro, the song briefly switches into 6/4.

Lennon said the song was "sort of a history of rock and roll," as it features numerous different sections but is less than 3 minutes long. Though not particularly getting along well at the time, the band collaborated as a close unit to work out the complex rhythms and meters, which caused it to be considered one of the few true Beatles songs on the White Album. Considering the cause of Lennon's death, it has to be one of the most ironic tunes of all time.

Tricky Beats: Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band: The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)

[purchase]


When it comes to tricky beats, the king has to be Captain Beefheart, who feels 4/4 time is "mother's heartbeat music" - the guy absolutely loathes even time signatures.

"I don't believe in time, you know, 4/4 and all that stuff. Frank Zappa believes in time and we could never get it together. He writes all his music and gets sentimental about good old rock 'n' roll, but that's appeasement music." - Captain Beefheart

Based on a newsreel of the Hindenburg airship crash, The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) comes from the amazing Trout Mask Replica, the Captain's third studio album, which was produced by former schoolmate Frank Zappa. The vocal is performed by Jeff Cotton and recorded over a telephone.

Recorded in 1969, all the music for Trout Mask Replica was written in about 3 days, but it took over 8 months of practice to get it down. During this time, the band lived in a communal house, which one member described as having a "cult-like" atmosphere. Combining Blues, free Jazz and other apparently disparate genres of American music, Trout Mask Replica is regarded as an important work of experimental music and appears at number 58 on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band: Lick My Decals Off, Baby

[purchase]


Lick My Decals Off, Baby comes from the 1970 album of the same name - it spent 11 weeks in the British Top 50 and surprisingly reached #20.

In the March 1971 edition of Creem, legendary critic, Lester Bangs, wrote:

Gazing across pop music's stale horizons, past all the cynical ineptitude, pseudo-intellectual solemnity, neurotic regression and dismal deadends for great bands, there is one figure who stands above the murk forging an art at once adventurous and human: Don Van Vliet, known to a culture he's making anachronistic as Captain Beefheart.

In Lick My Decals Off, Baby this vision is extended, and even though the sonic textures are sometimes even more complex and angular than on Trout Mask, the lyrics have taken an added universality, many of them stepping back a stride from the kaleidoscopic image-clusters of last year's songs. "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" is just great bawdy music, as sanguinely sexual as a tale out of Boccaccio: "Rather than I wanna hold your hand/I wanna swallow you whole/'n' I wanna lick you everywhere it's pink/'n' everywhere you think/Whole kit 'n' kaboodle 'n' the kitchen sink..."

Captain Beefheart takes some getting used to at first, just like Ornette and Ayler and the Velvets and even the Stooges (and didn't Dylan sound pretty strange the first time we heard him?). But if it does sometimes require some patience and close attention, is also one of the most rewarding musical experiences available today. The fact is that this man's music, probably more than that of anybody else working in rock now, is breaking ground for an awesome superhighway leading us away from the decadent era of Superstars into a future where every man shall have ears to hear music beyond our wildest dreams, music like nobody's heard on earth before. I don't want to get into apocalyptic statements, but I think the time is rapidly approaching when almost all styles but free music, music encompassing everything in our traditions (even harmony and lush lyricism - dig Pharoah Sanders' new stuff) and transcending it, will begin to exhaust themselves. The same old song can keep grinding outa the AM tubes and FM tuners from here to Alhaville, but more people are getting restless to move on all the time. So I'm gonna go not so very far at all out on a limb and say that Captain Beefheart is the most important musician to rise in the Sixties, far more significant and far-reaching than the Beatles, who only made pretty collages with material from the public domain, when you get right down to it; as important, as I said, for all music as Ornette Coleman was for jazz ten years ago and Charlie Parker 15 years before that, as important as Leadbelly was for the blues Cap teethed on. His music is a harbinger of tomorrow, but his messages are universal and warm as the hearth of the America we once dreamed of. That's a combination that's hard to beat.

Pretty awesome review - pretty awesome music.

Tricky Beats: The Crunge

Led Zeppelin: The Crunge

[purchase]

Every once in a while it is essential to get the Led out, even on a blog like this.

According to Wikipedia this song resulted from a jam session where the band was trying to play James Brown-like funk. The famous line "Where's that confounded bridge" at the end of the song is a reference to James Brown, who often called out to the band, "Take it to the bridge".

The time signature on this song shifts and turns, lurches and bumps. It is class-five funky, but still coherent and interesting to listen to (although quite impossible to dance to). It is also a testament to Bonham and Page's technical brilliance. Here are the time signatures as they are listed at Wikipedia:

Intro measure:
1 x 5/8

Part 1:
7 x 9/8 (or 4/8 + 5/8)
1 x 8/8 (or 4/8 + 4/8)
Part 2:
3 x 8/8
1 x 5/8
1 x 4/8
3 x 8/8
1 x 5/8
1 x 4/8
3 x 8/8
1 x 4/8
1 x 2/8

Tricky Beats: Whipping Post

The Allman Brothers Band: Whipping Post

[purchase]

Unless you have quite literally been sequestered in some radioless juror's motel for the last forty years, you know the Allman Brothers Band, even if you don't know the various guest spots (Duane Allman made Layla what it is), side-projects (see, for example, both Gov't Mule and the Derek Trucks Band) and incarnations (aka the infamous 1978 - 1982 years) which the various members have undergone since death began tugging at their core. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for their role as "principal architects" of the Southern Rock tradition, these guys may not have cracked the top half of Rolling Stones top 100 acts of all time, but after almost forty years as a touring band and over a dozen albums turned gold, their high recognition factor speaks to their double-A rating as mainstays of classic rock radio, not to mention their roles as partial forefathers to a variety of more modern musical forms, from alt-country to jamband.

But though Southern Rock isn't known for any particularly innovative musical envelope-pushing, the Allman's ability to innovate within the confines of the powerful, typically 4/4 guitar-laden tropes of barroom bluesrock often go without notice. Case in point: familiar anthem Whipping Post, which owes its driving, overpresent pulse to the unusual choice of an 11/4 metric for the intro and verses. When the song swings into a set of pulsing triplets for the chorus, nominally framed around a twelve-beat 4/4, the transformation of odd meter into something familiar brings with it an overwhelming release and relief, making mincemeat of our hearts and souls. Bring a lighter, not a cellphone, for the encore; prepare to scream yourself hoarse, and enjoy.

Tricky Beats: Untitled 11th Track

R.E.M.: Untitled

[purchase]

I should preface this post by saying that I don't play any instruments, can't read music, and know nothing of time signatures or any other technical musical jargon. That's why most of my writing here and at my own site tends to deal more with the story behind the music, the history of the artist, or some personal connection I have to the music itself.

I must apologize then if this song is in 4/4 time. I really don't know if it is or if it isn't. I just know it has what I consider to be a tricky beat... or at least a strange one. At least one member of R.E.M agrees with me.

Peter Buck does not play drums. Not usually anyway. He's the guitar slinger... the axe man. But on this song... the untitled hidden track on 1988's Green... R.E.M.'s usual drummer Bill Berry relinquished the reigns of the drum kit to his friend Buck.

The story goes that Buck was messing around on the drums and somehow came up with the beat for this song. When it came time to record the song for Green, Berry attempted to duplicate Buck's beat, but couldn't get it quite right.

Buck explained the track to music reporter Julie Panebianco thusly. "I don't think you can listen to the record without realizing which song it is that I play drums on. Bill is still amazed. He says it's impossible to play that drum part, not that it's hard, it's just so bad, no one can play it perfectly all the way through. It's one thing to make a mistake like that, but it's another thing to do it on purpose."

So that's it. The story of one of the more unique beats in the R.E.M. discography. As for why the song itself doesn't have a title? I have no idea.

Tricky Beats: That's What You Get With People Like That On Cruises Like These

Solex: That's What You Get With People Like That On Cruises Like These

[purchase]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not adept at formally deciphering the time signatures of songs. Of course, I can tell if something sounds unique, or possesses a strange composition. But to be sure of a specific time signature just isn't my forte. Perhaps I need more training. Knowing this, I thought my approach at choosing a song which utilized them was going to be a challenge.

Ultimately, I went with Solex's "That's What You Get With People Like That On Cruises Like These," from her 1999 album, Pick Up. To be certain that my selection fit within this week's theme, I consulted Boyhowdy, who confirmed that this song uses a 7/8 rhythm. Although he also mentioned that the song overlays a couple more time signatures which adds to the songs overall tensity.

The woman behind Solex is Holland's Elisabeth Esselink. Her brand of music began while working at her own music store where she would sift through the bargain bins and sample bits and pieces from various albums and create her own musical collages. And that's just one of the reasons Solex's music is so wonderfully bizarre. It's as if she chooses some of the most unattractive sounds, but stirs them together to create some truly remarkable tracks, both surreal and exposive. Organized chaos, perhaps?

Tricky Beats: Polyrhythm, Part 2

In part 1 of this post, I discussed the polyrhythmic music of the Yoruba people of west Africa. Here, I will reveal what led me to seek out that music in the first place.

By 1980, I was sold on the music of Talking Heads. Three albums into their career, they had shown me enough that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. And at that point, the band seemingly broke up. Officially, they were on hiatus, with the promise to return, but we’ve all heard that before. So, I was nervous.

The band broke into three parts at that point. I dutifully bought the Tom Tom Club album. I sought out Jerry Harrison’s solo album. And I enjoyed them thoroughly. But nothing prepared me for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, by David Byrne and Brian Eno.

David Byrne/ Brian Eno: Help Me Somebody

[purchase]

Well, not quite nothing. I did read about the making of the album in the New York Times, and in Musician magazine. And, in those sources, I heard the term polyrhthm for the first time. I learned that Byrne and Eno had been listening to African music, and had become inspired by it. I have shared with you some of what they were listening to.

For My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Byrne and Eno created instrumental tracks inspired by the polyrhthms of African music. For vocals, they used found sounds, which in the case of “Help Me Somebody”, was a preacher recorded off the radio.

Talking Heads: The Great Curve

[purchase]

In 1981, I breathed a sigh of relief. Talking Heads were getting back together. Byrne and Eno brought the results of there musical explorations back to the band, and the result was Remain in Light.

To my ears, Remain in Light represents polyrhythmic music taken to its ultimate level. The song I have chosen perfectly illustrates this. King Sunny Ade took the job of some of the drums, and gave it to guitars, keyboards, and slide guitar. “The Great Curve” further spreads the rhythms to the horns, and to three overlapping vocal parts. Amazingly, despite the complexity of this music, Talking Heads did have a charting single off this album with “Once in a Lifetime”. Such was the power of music video and MTV at the time.

So, from something in part 1 of this post that I would imagine was unfamiliar to many readers, we have come to something I would imagine many of you have heard before. I hope you can hear it now with new ears. And thank you all for listening.


My personal journey into the music of Africa began a longer exploration of world music which continues to this day. If anyone else would like to pursue this further, I have provided some resources below to help you on your way.

- By far the best magazine I have found is Songlines. Each issue comes with a sampler cd of new world music releases. Songlines is published in England, and unfortunately, the exchange rates have driven up the price lately, but it’s well worth it if you can afford it.

- Afropop Worldwide is an invaluable online resource for all things pertaining to African music.

- Luaka Bop is the world music label founded by David Byrne after the breakup of Talking Heads.

- The other “pop“ musician who founded his own world music label is Peter Gabriel, with Real World Records.

And finally, a pair of blogs to check out:

- Benn loxox du taccu is Matt Yanchyshyn's
world music blog. It hasn’t been updated since he announced his engagement on Sept. 27, but the older links are still working as of this writing.

- Awesome Tapes from Africa is just what it sounds like. The sound quality varies, and not all of the music is great, but this music is not available otherwise, and the good stuff makes it worth it.

So that’s it for now. Enjoy your journey!

Tricky Beats: Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II

King Crimson: Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II

[purchase]


When I'd heard this week's theme was tricky beats, the first song that came to mind was King Crimson's Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II. Try and count the many different time signature shifts; I come up with 11/8, 10/8, 7/8, 5/8, 5/4 - even 4/4 gets the once over.

Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II is a blueprint for later King Crimson works - Fracture, Red, Starless and Bible Black, among others. You don't have to understand music theory to hear the beauty of guitarist/composer Robert Fripp's organized chaos at work. It's a delicate balance of tension and release in this tricky instrumental voyage - don't try and follow it yourself, just jump aboard and let the music take you there.

Tricky Beats: Polyrhythm, Part 1

Yoruba musicians with talking drums

I’ve been waiting a long time for the right theme, so I could share some world music with everyone. Now, the time has come.

In western music, notes are layered with other notes to form harmony. Over time, we have developed counter melodies and other levels of complexity in our harmony techniques. In Western Africa, the native music features simple melodies and almost no harmony at all. But the rhythm is quite another matter.

Where we layer notes and melodic lines, the musicians of western Africa layer rhythms. Many drums and rhythm instruments are needed, and sometimes each one plays in a different time signature, all at the same time. It sounds like it should be chaotic, but, once you get used to hearing it, the results are amazing. This is polyrhythm. Some of the finest practitioners of polyrhythmic music in Africa are the Yoruba people of Nigeria and nearby countries.

Babatunde Olatunji: Jin-Go-Lo-Bah

[purchase]

In the 1950s, Harry Belefonte traveled all over the world, and brought his musical discoveries to American audiences. One of these was Babatunde Olatunji. Olatunji brought the sounds of traditional Yoruban drumming to the United States, and released a series of albums here. “Jin-Go-Lo-Bah” comes from the first of these American releases, Drums of Passion Many jazz musicians have cited Olatunji’s music as an inspiration.

King Sunny Ade: Ja Funmi

[purchase]

Fast forward thirty years, and music has changed. On American radio, “Heartbreak Hotel” has been replaced by “Rapture”. In Nigeria, there have also been changes. Western popular music has reached all over the world, and native musicians have incorporated these sounds into there work. And so, the traditional Yoruban music has evolved.

This evolution took two main forms. The leading figure in the afro-beat style was Fela Kuti. And the leading figure in juju music was and is King Sunny Ade. Of the two styles, juju music is the one that best preserves the polyrhythmic features of the traditional material. In juju, some of the drums from a traditional ensemble are replaced with electric guitar, synthesizer, even slide guitar. The resulting music has a more delicate sound, but is just as rhythmically complex.


I hope everyone enjoyed part 1 of my look at polyrhythm. In part 2 later this week, we’ll see what happened when polyrhythm came to America.

Tricky Beats: Everything In Its Right Place

Radiohead: Everything In It's Right Place

[purchase]

I don't know much about time signatures, but I know that this ain't 4/4, and I know I can't dance to it. I would actually like to hear from someone who knows exactly how one would classify the time signature of this song. I hear four beats followed by six (or maybe by two groups of three). So, I'm guessing it's 10/4? Or is it just 5/4, but divided up in an odd way or with an unusual emphasis?

I honestly don't have a clue. If you know, please pass on your wisdom. I'd like to learn more about how to identify such things.

Tricky Beats: Solsbury Hill

Peter Gabriel: Solsbury Hill

[purchase]

I spent some time with this song a number of years back, nominally in order to arrange it for an a capella group I had formed from a few fellow fellows and mid-level program coordinators at the Boston Museum of Science. If I remember correctly, we actually performed it at the museum staff holiday party that year, complete with awkward choreography and lab coat uniforms, for a cumulative total of seven quadrillion geek points.

The anecdotal research on Gabriel's first solo hit often claims it's a commentary on his experience leaving long-standing prog rock forefathers Genesis; if so, it isn't a subtle one. The lyrics are clunky and graceless upon close examination, especially towards the middle of the song -- "liberty she pirouette" and "I will show another me" are the classic examples, and you can hear some pretty silly rhymes in there, too -- but Gabriel deserves the benefit of the doubt: perhaps the awkwardness is deliberate, a companion to the seven beats per measure time signature, taken together a paired statement on the band tensions alluded to in the lyrics, and the stumblestep hesitancy of leaving the group that made you famous.

That said, Solsbury Hill is one of the most natural uses of the 7/4 time signature that I've experienced. Where Manic Depression lurches through its relatively common trimeter, calling attention to itself in spades, the arrangement of beat stresses here run in pairs (4, 2, 4, 4), rather than taking the much more typical approach of wobbling back and forth between measures of four and three; the pair of 4/4 measures at the end of each chorus hardly stand out against such an even keel. The result is a song which seems perfectly danceable in the radio background, and only confronts the listener as a song of unusual metrics in cases of overanalysis.

It's so natural, in fact, that Erasure's 2003 attempt to turn the song into flat post-disco-tronic 4/4 comes off as a drag, more than slightly less natural than the original. Or maybe that's just the eighties synthbeat. Check it out:

Erasure: Solsbury Hill

[purchase]

Tricky Beats: Manic Depression

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Manic Depression

[purchase]


Manic Depression comes from The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced. It's an apropos choice for this week's theme, given that the man behind the tricky beat, drummer Mitch Mitchell, passed away earlier this week.

Manic Depression finds Mitchell in explosive form, the 12/8 drum gallop showcases the strong Elvin Jones influence on Mitch's style, a perfect foil to Jimi's psychotic psychedelic fret work. I'm pretty sure it's easier to dance to architecture than to this tune - I've a couple more fine examples of Mitchell's playing with The Jimi Hendrix Experience over in comments at my latest snuhthing/anything post: connive to thrive friday five.

Tricky Beats: Unsquare Dance

Dave Brubeck: Unsquare Dance

[purchase]

One of my earliest memories is being with my father, listening to Harry Belafonte’s Matilda, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and anything by Johnny Cash (I still know all the words to his songs) – I was born in 1954 and we had a hi-fi for the early years of my life. I will never forget the momentous occasion when my dad brought home a *stereo*… took great delight in setting it up… had me sit down on the couch, at the apex where the speakers joined to make “the sweet spot”... and played Dave Brubeck’s Take Five (on Time Out) – magic!

A song on Time Further Out was also one of Dad’s favorites – as Brubeck points out in his liner notes:

Unsquare Dance, in 7/4 time, is a challenge to the foot-tappers, finger-snappers and hand-clappers. Deceitfully simple, it refuses to be squared. And the laugh you hear at the end is Joe Morello’s guffaw of surprise and relief that we had managed to get through the difficult last chorus.

Every time Dad played the album, which was frequently, he encouraged me to attempt to clap along... quite fun and challenging for a seven-year-old child – even though the tune was only two minutes, I never could keep the rhythm all the way through… but he always did...

[ Just as I was getting ready to post this, I saw the picture of Morello (Brubeck's drummer) on the Star Maker Machine home page sidebar for this week’s theme – wah! Here I thought I was being unique and clever – well, I’m sending it on anyway, just in case someone out there hasn’t heard (or heard of) it… ]