Black and White: The White Tent The Raft

Jane Siberry: The White Tent The Raft

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So far this week, my fellow Star Makers and I have done a good job of covering the black part of our theme. The white songs that have appeared so far have been linked to black musical counterparts. But there are many fine songs with white titles, that are not linked to anything. The White Tent The Raft is one of these.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Jane Siberry’s songs are always straightforward and sweet, based on what I’ve posted of hers before. But I usually think of her songs as being rushes of surreal imagery, with shifting musical settings under the words. It’s like being woken suddenly from a dream. You are left with a jumble of pictures and feelings that almost make sense. There are repeating motifs, whose meaning is just beyond your grasp. You want to go back to sleep, and reenter the dream, in hopes that it will sort itself out. And every time I listen to Jane Siberry’s best songs, I have that sense of reentering a dream. The White Tent The Raft is a fine example of what I mean.

Black and white : Black girl

Leadbelly : Black Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night ?)

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Leadbelly is one of my personal heroes. He was a fantastic performer, and played these simple folk songs with a rare and infectious enthusiasm that is not so common nowadays.

The story of his life reads like a novel (one that I'd love to write), with murders, brothels, prisons, escapes, a pardon from a governor and finally the protection that the Lomax family provided him.

This country boy from Shreveport ended up playing for an audience of New York liberal intellectuals and scholars. Strange destiny.

How this ex-con and criminal spoke with a gentle and almost feminine voice in the interludes between his songs, and how he was said to be kind to children, has never ceased to surprise me.

This song, an adaptation of the folk number "In the Pines", is as dark and threatening as a night in the piney woods of West Louisiana and East Texas where Lead spent the beginning of his life.

Black and White: X Edition

X: Under The Big Black Sun

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X: White Girl

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I have to take advantage of this week's topic to feature one of my all-time favorite bands, X. Considering how good they are, I can't believe they aren't more popular and acclaimed. So it goes.

But don't take it from me. Listen to the tunes, man.

Black and White: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Richard Thompson: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

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We finally have a theme that allows me to post this.

There is, perhaps, no hoarier cliche in all of pop music than the tale of the “good” girl who falls for the “bad” boy on a motorcycle. The girl’s disapproving parents lurk in the background. And she is punished by the tragedy that ends these songs. Presumably, she learns her lesson. The classic example of this is Leader of the Pack. Here is teenaged angst, distilled for the edification of the masses.

But Richard Thompson takes this cliche and transforms it by the simple expedient of taking his characters seriously. These characters are a little older, and on their own, so the parents are not involved. So, the overblown emotions are gone, as is the morality tale. Instead, Thompson gives us a man and a woman who love their personal freedom. The romance of the story is real and heartfelt. James, the “bad boy”, has a noble spirit, and Thompson has us rooting for him. And, in Red Molly, James finds a worthy successor.

Black And White: Black And White

The dB´s: Black And White

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Time to claim some bonus points again, while simultaneously showcasing this gorgeous powerpop song by the underrated dB´s. Which stands for decibels of course.

Black and white : The Graham Parker 1976 edition

Graham Parker and the Rumour : White Honey

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Graham Parker and the Rumour : Black Honey

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This is the second contribution by an Acclaimed music forum member.
So, thanks to Harold Wexler for his great idea. Harold also provided the following comment :

Parker put these songs with diametrically opposed titles on each of his first two albums (which were both released in 1976). "White Honey" is the exuberant, soul-tinged lead track on Howlin' Wind ("White honey, get it from the candy man/White honey-EE, any time I think I can"); "Black Honey" is a downbeat, mostly acoustic, gypsy-flavored ballad from Heat Treatment ("Oh, black honey's in my soul").

Black and White: Paint It Black

The Rolling Stones: Paint It Black

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Grieving takes you through a range of emotions. The one that most people don’t like to talk about is rage. But, really, it makes sense. Why wouldn’t you be angry that a loved one was taken from you? Still, just as we do not speak of it, I do not know of many songs that describe the anger of loss. That could be because it’s such a difficult subject. Or it could be because The Rolling Stones nailed it more than forty years ago, and there’s just nothing more to say.

Color My World: Mood Indigo

Charles Mingus: Mood Indigo

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Let's take a moment to appreciate one of the least renown colors of the rainbow. It's not a primary color, or even a secondary one, but it's one we couldn't live a full life without. I'm talking about indigo, that mysterious lady of the night who bridges the gap between blue and violet.

This song's composer Duke Ellington knew the power of indigo, a color even "bluer" than blue itself. The bottom lines is that you ain't been blue until you've had that mood indigo. It's not a pushy color, but it can bring you down just the same, right down to your shoes...

For a standout vocal version, try Frank Sinatra's stellar rendition on Wee Small Hours. (When you've loved and lost like Frank has, you know a little bit about the blues, and indigo moods.)

Color My World: Primary Colors Edition

Suzanne Vega: Small Blue Thing

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Small. Blue. Thing. Three short words which combine to form an intricate puzzle. There is a sense here of small, as in insignificant. Blue here may represent sad. Or, taken together, this small blue thing may be something rare and precious. All of this is in Suzanne Vega’s lyric, for the listener to puzzle out. The solution to the puzzle changes every time I listen. And that makes this one of Vega’s best songs.

Bruce Cockburn: Red Brother Red Sister

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Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian artist who made several albums there before anyone in the United States ever heard of him. So, we had a lot of lost time to make up for. Here, Cockburn addresses the topic of prejudice against Native Americans. We Americans tend to shunt this subject aside; we have “more important things to worry about”, seems to be the attitude. But, judging by the number of Canadian artists I have heard address the subject, the subject is much closer to the surface there. I would like to hear from our Canadian readers on this. Cockburn has delivered some strident political messages in some of his songs, but here he keeps it low key, and the song is better for it.

October Project: Sunday Morning, Yellow Sky

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The original lineup of October Project only lasted for two albums. Then, Mary Fahl, whose lead vocals were so much a part of there sound, went solo and the group broke up. More recently, I heard that they got back together without Fahl, but I regard that as a different group using the name. The original lineup is heard here, with Fahl’s soaring alto at the front.

Sunday Morning, Yellow Sky depicts a man in desperate straits. His redemption lies in the dream of a lover, or perhaps the blessing of an angel as he sleeps. This song is also open to multiple interpretations. But the importance of dreams is clear. The song closes with a quote from Alice In Wonderland, as Alice falls down the rabbit hole. We the listeners know what dreams await her, but she does not.

Color My World : Little Red Shoes

Loretta lynn : Little Red Shoes

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I asked my friends at Acclaimedmusic forum for suggestions, and they came up with very intersting proposals. Some of them were not my cup of tea, but I really like this Loretta Lynn monologue backed by a Jack White arrangement. The story is, in the old-school country tradition, sentimental almost to the extreme, but it works. The Lynn-White pair may seem odd, but in the end the result makes sense. Many thanks to BillAdama for picking this song.

Color My World: Red (Elegy)

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer: Red (Elegy)

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From Wikipedia:

The term "elegy" originally denoted a type of poetic meter (elegiac meter). It commonly describes a poem of mourning, from the Greek elegeia (ἐλεγεία) derived from elegos (ἔλεγος)—a reflection on the death of someone or on a sorrow generally. As such, it may be classified as a form of lyric poetry. An elegy can also reflect on something that seems strange or mysterious. Additionally, "elegy" (sometimes spelled elégie) may denote a type of musical work, usually of a sad or somber nature. The term "elegy" is not to be confused with "eulogy."

Some of you know I've been in the Atlanta area (away from my Florida home) caring for my aging/ailing mother for the last two months - sadly, she passed away early Sunday morning, July 19...

It was the seventh anniversary of the death of Dave Carter - this song (originally released on his now out-of-print 1995 solo album Snake Handlin' Man and re-released posthumously on Seven is the Number) seems synchronistically appropriate...

Color My World: Orange

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Orange

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In 1994, the bassless holy trinity of Jon Spencer, Russell Simins and Judah Bauer colored my world with an exciting musical statement called Orange. Good to find it still sounds remarkably fresh today. "I see a worm up on a platform... I got the blues... can I scream?" By all means, Jon.

Color My World : Pale Blue Eyes

The Velvet Underground : Pale Blue Eyes

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I have a special love for the third VU album, even if critics tend to praise the first two. Of course, Cale is gone but these more conventional pop songs are really sweet. After 1969 VU really sounds like the first Lou Reed solo albums, and Lou Reed IMO is one of the major American songwriters. Amazing guitar work.

Color My World: The Court of the Crimson King

King Crimson: The Court of the Crimson King

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In the early seventies, AM radio was the home of the hits. There were forty songs, with ten emphasized, and you would hear them over and over in the course of the day. To escape this, my brothers and I listened to FM radio. This was where new music lived. And in the early seventies, new music meant art-rock. Nowadays, the label progressive rock is more often used, but art-rock was what we called it then.

In art-rock, the extended jams of sixties music had given way to longer compositions. Songs would shift rhythms mid-song, and unusual time signatures were often used. The arrangements emphasized a big sound. The worst results of this have aged poorly, and sound pompous and overblown to a modern listener. But the best of art-rock still sounds amazing today. And King Crimson were right at the top, along with Yes, Peter Gabriel era Genesis, and only a few others.

The Court of the Crimson King tells of a tournament and pageant at a medieval castle. The imagery is rich and multicolored, fittingly for our theme. The music matches the grandeur of the described events. There is no story, just a rich parade of images and a powerful evocation of mood.

Color My World: Sixteen Blue

The Replacements: Sixteen Blue

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It's common rock and roll currency to appeal to the pathos of adolescence. Here The Replacements lament how difficult it is to be sixteen, bored, and naive. Great song from a really great album.

Songs Called Songs: The Front Porch Song

Robert Earl Keen, Jr.: The Front Porch Song

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My picks this week were kinda jokey, but this one I really love.

By chance, Robert Earl Keen, Jr. and Lyle Lovett happened to live in the same neighborhood while students at Texas A&M. They quickly became friends playing their guitars and singing together on the front porch of Keen's rental house. This song, which they co-wrote, is one of the results of those sessions. Both artists have recorded nice versions. I picked Keen's because his title fits this week's theme. (Lyle calls the song "This Old Porch.")

It's chock full of great lyrics, so give it a whirl.

Songs Called Songs: This Song Has No Title

Elton John: This Song Has No Title

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I've mentioned elsewhere that I have mixed feelings for Elton John. I think he has put out a lot of crap in his career. But he was my first favorite artist when I was about 10 years old, and for that I'll always have a place for him in my library. Also, for every song that I dislike, there is another that's excellent.

This is one of the good ones.

Songs Called Songs: Song to a Seagull

Joni Mitchell: Song to a Seagull

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It’s hard to imagine, after all these years, how bizarre Joni Mitchell’s debut must have sounded at that time. Ostensibly a new folk singer, Mitchell played folk music from an alternate universe. Early fans tore their hair out trying to play her guitar parts, not realizing that Mitchell used her own tunings. Her vocal lines used interval jumps that had never been heard on the folk circuit before. And the production on Song to a Seagull, the album, emphasized this sense of alienness.

The song is about the freedom Mitchell sought vs the restrictions she felt. The seagull is free of any expectations from humanity. As Mitchell sings, “no dreams can possess you, no voices can blame you.” By contrast, the human world is represented by the city, which Mitchell calls, “an island of noise in a cobblestone sea”. These may be the words of a not-much-more-than-teenager from the sixties, but the poetry still works.

Paul Desmond: Song to a Seagull

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Mitchell’s music has always made sense to jazz artists, and the sentiment of Song to a Seagull could easily describe the freedom that some artists find in jazz. So it only makes sense that jazz artist Paul Desmond would be drawn to the song. Desmond was the sax player for Dave Brubeck for many years. This track shows that his recordings under his own name were just as fine.

Songs called songs : Song For Ireland

Dick Gaughan : Song for Ireland

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As Dick Gaughan (see his bio here) says on his site :

"Song for Ireland" was written by Phil and June Colclough and it is not an Irish song, it is an English song about Ireland. Spot the difference. I do know what I'm talking about as I was the first person ever to record it ( Handful of Earth, 1981 ) and Phil and June are/were friends of mine (June is now deceased) and they're English.

And to make things easier, Dick Gaughan is Scottish (but his paternal grandparents were irish), so it's easy for him to sing this song from a stranger/neighbor point of view.

Beautiful song.

Songs Called Songs: September Song

Willie Nelson: September Song

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September Song was has words by Maxwell Anderson. Anderson was a famous playwright and novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1933. Ha also was well known and highly regarded for his screenplays. The music is by Kurt Weill, who was best known for this song and the music for The Threepenny Opera. The song comes from a Broadway musical from 1938, Knickerbocker Holiday.

Anderson was a pacifist and anarchist who used Knickerbocker Holiday to criticize FDR as being a “fascist”. Nowadays, we think of President Roosevelt as the epitome of liberalism, but at the time he was criticized from the left as well as the right. Knickerbcker Holiday ran on Broadway for less than a year, and has been all but forgotten since.

But September Song has become a standard. The song is not at all political. Kurt Weill would later marry singer Lotte Lenye, and September Song would become her signature tune. There are any number of jazz versions, with and without vocals. Frank Sinatra recorded it. Even Lou Reed did a version. But Willie Nelson’s take on it is my favorite. It comes from Stardust, Nelson’s album of standards. If Nelson ever wants to do more of this, I’d like to know about it.

Songs Called Songs: The Motorcycle Song

Arlo Guthrie: Motorcycle (Significance of the Pickle) Song

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This one is fairly self-explanatory.

I don't want a pickle, I just wanna ride on my...

Songs Called Songs: Swimming Song

Loudon Wainwright III: Swimming Song

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Loudon Wainwright III -- father of Rufus and Martha by ex-wife Kate McGarrigle, and of Lucy Wainwright Roche by Suzzy Roche, who we featured below -- has made a career of wryly humorous, folky songs which hide deeply personal insight below seemingly mundane lyrics.

The oft-covered Swimming Song, which first appeared on Attempted Moustache in 1973, is a perfect early example. Though the lyrics are nominally nothing more than a list of where and how Wainwright spent the summer swimming, the subtext of phrasing and tone tells a familiar backstory of a narrator with a brash and unapologetic awareness of his self-destructive ego and show-off personality. The banal and obvious title is a masterstroke: it calls our attention to the transparency of the song's surface, encouraging us to dive in deeper.

Songs Called Songs: Hammond Song

The Roches: Hammond Song

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The Roches’ second album was Nerds; in it, they tried to stretch out, and explore their rock side. If that had been the first thing I heard from them, I might have left the matter there. Nerds has a few good moments, but not enough to stay with them.

But I got on board with their self-titled debut. This is a mostly acoustic album. Producer Robert Fripp adds what he calls “fripperies” to some tracks, but the focus is on the songwriting and the Roche sisters’ wonderful vocal harmonies. Hammond Song is a perfect example. The song depicts a free-spirited woman who is going to Hammond to be with her boyfriend, despite the serious misgivings of her family. This is a standard set-up for numerous pop songs. But Hammond Song is unusual, because it presents the point of view of the disapproving family. The vocal harmonies feature chords that barely resolve, beautifully reflecting the emotional tension of the situation.

Songs Called Songs: The Pina Colada Song

Rupert Holmes: The Pina Colada Song

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It must have been a ton of fun to be an adult during the 1970s when this kind of stuff was happening. Not saying the tunes were always great, but the yacht rock lifestyle had its moments. I mean, who doesn't like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?

Songs Called Songs: Radio Song

R.E.M.: Radio Song

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This collaboration between R.E.M. and rapper KRS 1 appeared on R.E.M.'s 1991 mega-hit album Out of Time.

I always felt that it got a bad rap (no pun intended) from R.E.M. fans who just couldn't reconcile the fact that their favorite band was performing with a hip-hop artist. I never really had that problem myself and have always liked the track.

But... for those of you who prefer your R.E.M. rap free... here is bonus version of the song from the band's appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1991.

R.E.M.: Radio Song (Live)

Songs Called Songs: The Anyway Song

Lullaby Baxter Trio: The Anyway Song

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Sometimes instead of finding great new music, it finds you instead. When I had a radio show back in college, they had a bin where once a year the DJs could take a CD to keep from the promotional items we had received because there simply wasn't room to store/listen to them all. I got there late and one of the few things left was a CD by an artist I hadn't heard the music of, but whose album I had seen a few reviews for and whose album art (see above) I thought was adorable, so I grabbed it. Turns out, the album was wonderful and I loved every second of it. It's a strange whimsical mix of sometimes country, sometimes jazz-infused folk that teetered on children's music at times. Since then I've included this track (a lovely piano ballad), my favorite from it, on a number of mixes and gotten other people to fall in love as well. It is out of print as far as I know, but available at insanely cheap prices now, as well as digitally.

Before hearing the song I loved the name of it. I've always been a fan of the word "anyway", as my late grandmother was a pro at using it to politely change the course of a conversation she wasn't sure she wanted to go any further. I went through a stage where I used the word more often than I should have as well. It's a great catch-all, and I think the word, not like the song and the album, is wildly underrated.

Songs Called Songs: Ohio River Boat Song

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Ohio River Boat Song

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Ohio River Boat Song by the Palace Brothers was the first musical sign of Will Oldham as a musician, and I´ve been an ardent admirer ever since I bought that lofi 7" on the Drag City label back in ´93. So it was quite a treat to hear a much more upbeat version of this delicate lament for love lost a couple of years later, when Oldham decided to re-record it under the Bonnie "Prince" Billy moniker, this time backed by Nashville´s finest session players.

"And her dance is like the gleam of the sunlight on the stream,

and the screeching bluejays seem to form her name when screaming

But my heart is full of woe for last night she made me go,

and the tears begin to flow as I sing the whole day through..."

Songs called songs : The Anchor Song

Björk: The Anchor Song

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Björk is unique. To me she's the perfect incarnation of the Artist, unpredictable, with a genius that takes her and the listener to strange and virgin musical landscapes, just like the ones on her native Iceland. And her voice...

With time I realized that all the artists I love have a voice, and that vocals is to me the best instrument ever. Here she just sings with the backing of three Coltrane-like saxophones, and takes us into one of her weird fairy tales.

If I was Odysseus and she was a mermaid, never would I have made it to Ithaca..

Songs called songs: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Fleet Foxes: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

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This blog tends to focus on well established bands and artists that have stood the test of time. We have an informal, but pretty well adhered to, rule around here that we stay away from the hot new bands that are burning up the blogosphere. I hope my colleagues will forgive me if I make an exception for the favorite sons of the music blog universe, Fleet Foxes.

I have told my wife a few times that Fleet Foxes have actually changed my life. I know that sounds absurdly hyperbolic, but it's actually true. I remember when I was younger I used to buy a new album by a beloved band and play it over and over and over again. I would memorize every note and every word. It would go with me everywhere I went, sometimes for months. These albums became intertwined with certain eras of my life in ways that are still powerfully evocative today. However, the advent of the digital age changed all of that. I started acquiring a lot more music, and I started paying a lot less attention to it. There were still great albums coming out, but even the best of them were competing in such a rich field that they were never able to dominate my mental space the way certain music did when I was in high school and college.

Then along came Fleet Foxes. This album has reminded me what it's like to truly love an album. I know every note, every word. I have played it a few times a week for a year now. It is powerfully intertwined into this era of my life.

Maybe they aren't your taste, and maybe they're too modern for this blog, but when I saw a chance to post a song from a band that I truly love, I couldn't resist.

Check it!

Basslines: The Chain

Fleetwood Mac: The Chain

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When I told my wife about this week's theme, she told me that I had to post Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" from the classic 1977 album Rumours. Of course, she's the Fleetwood expert... not me. This is her take on the track.

Although he is honored in the name of the band, John McVie is arguably the least recognized of the members of Fleetwood Mac (that is, the five most well-known and long-lasting members). He doesn’t provide lead vocals like Lindsey, Stevie, or Christine, and he’s not an ebullient showman like his partner-in-crime Mick. What he provides, however, are solid basslines that make up the backbone of several of the band’s hits.

That’s never more apparent than with The Chain, off the mega-selling album Rumours. Besides the fact that its lyrical content represented the well-known turmoil going on in the band at the time, the most interesting aspect of this song is that it actually started out as two separate pieces. John, Mick, Lindsey, and Christine had worked out the part that begins with John’s memorable bassline (about 3:00 in), but that’s all they had – a great musical demonstration, but certainly not a complete song. Enter Stevie with a song she had written during the Buckingham Nicks days. After some resistance by Lindsey, the group decided to put the two together, with Stevie’s contribution leading off. It was a perfect fit.

So, here’s The Chain – featuring two demonstrably different musical movements, with an unforgettable bassline seamlessly tying them together.

Basslines : The Guns of Brixton

The Clash : The Guns of Brixton

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Speaking of reggae...

Those guys were one of the rare white bands who could play reggae and make it theirs.

Basslines: No Woman, No Cry

Bob Marley and the Wailers: No Woman, No Cry

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I have mentioned elsewhere that the bass line is essential to the workings of funk. The other place where this is true is reggae. Rock typically has the rhythm in the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar, with the lead guitar playing a line that helps propel the song along. Reggae, on the other hand, has the rhythm in the drums and two guitars, with the bass playing the line that propels the song.

My introduction to reggae was Bob Marley’s album Natty Dread. The music on this album is a perfect example of what I mean. The song that first grabbed me off this album was No Woman, No Cry. I am not alone in this: the song routinely turns up on Bob Marley tribute albums, and is one of Marley’s most covered tunes. What surprises me is how many cover versions somehow lose the bass line. It’s just not the same song without it.

Basslines: Back in the Goodle Days

John Hartford: Back in the Goodle Days

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Haven't had a good Hartford post on here in a while... so why not serve up a nice, progressive, bluegrass bassline?

Randy Scruggs does the honors here on "Back in the Goodle Days" from Hartford's classic Aereo-Plain album from 1971. The bassline here is simple and understated, and at times buried a bit in the mix. It does, however, set the tone for the track right from the start and provide a strong, loping beat for the rest of the band (Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, Norman Blake, and Hartford... a tremendous line up) to play over.

The interaction between Scruggs' bass and Hartford's banjo in the song's intro is especially soothing.

Basslines: Gigantic

Pixies: Gigantic

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Every time I tried to think of a bass line this week, this was the song that popped into my head. It's simple and quiet, but very effective. And it's also the second contribution of the week from Kim Deal (who was better known as "Mrs. John Murphy" when this one was recorded).

Basslines: Rapture

Blondie: Rapture

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I love the bassline in Blondie's "Rapture". Since it is, at least in part, a rap song, I would be surprised had it NOT had a great beat. It was, in fact, one of the first hit songs to contain rap music back in 1981. Maybe having a popular band with a gorgeous lead singer helped rap be more palatable to the mainstream at the time. Whatever the case may be, I think this song is great. When I first heard it I hated it, I thought it was strange, but then again I was young. Now I find it completely unique, fun, and somewhat ahead of its time. Any song that can blend the funky beat, the rap music, the sultry and delicate female vocals and be by a new wave bands gets props in my book.

Basslines: Stool Pigeon

Kid Creole and the Coconuts: Stool Pigeon

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This week, there has to be some funk. So here it sort of is. You will hear people talk about a “heavy” bass line. This is the sort of line that rumbles you out of your seat, and out onto the dance floor, even in places where there isn’t one. I challenge you to listen to this one, and try to sit still. In the dictionary next to the definition of heavy bass is a sound sample of Stool Pigeon.

Kid Creole is August Darnell, and he uses his given name when he does studio work on other artists’ projects. As Kid Creole, he builds from a disco/ funk base, adds a healthy dose of Latin jazz and pop, and then tops it off with light touches of any kind of music you might hear on the streets of New York City. The result is an often fascinating music al stew. Add lyrics that reflect Darnell’s wicked sense of humor, and I’m in. Incidentally, The Coconuts are the female backup singers.

Basslines: Cannonball

The Breeders: Cannonball

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As one early commenter already has hinted at, The Breeder's "Last Splash" is one of the stand-out, must-haves in any talk of recently notable use of funky basslines. The 1993 hit has become a vestige for the alternative rock of the 90s. Josephine Wiggs' awesome bassline makes the song, without it, I am not sure it would have been that memorable.

Basslines : We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place

The Animals : We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place

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Great bass lines are sometimes quite simple. Other examples : Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" or Pink Floyd's "Money".

You'll learn a lot about the song on this great Wikipedia article. The bassist is Chas Chandler (the last guy on the right on the picture), who was Jimi Hendrix's manager and who helped launch his career.

I'm posting this from my office, at lunch break. I really gotta get out of this job.

Basslines: Sex In A Pan

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Sex In A Pan

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I've seen Bass Player magazine's only three-time Bass Player of the Year several times with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the man deserves every Grammy. But fast isn't the only way to be funky, as aficionados of Stanley Jordan, Bootsy Collins, and their next-generation proteges well know. Founding Flecktone Victor Wooten gets full credit for letting this tune trip up to the edge of smooth without ever tipping over into tripe.

(Also, when did this theme turn into a feature on bass players, instead of basslines?)

Basslines: A Remark You Made

Weather Report: A Remark You Made

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Usually, a bass line is part of the rhythm of a song. This is normally true in jazz, rock, bluegrass, you name it. And I will have some examples of that later this week. But here, the bass plays a melodic line. One could even argue that the bass has the main melody, with a counter melody in the saxophone. And I have always wished that someone would take the bass line here and write words for it. and record it. The first words would be, “A remark you made...”.

To make this work, Weather Report had to have Jaco Pastorius on bass. Pastorius, as you can hear, had an amazing tone; his bass sang. In addition to Weather Report, Pastorius leant his talents, in his too brief lifetime, to the Pat Metheny Group, and to Joni Mitchell during her jazz period. All these years later, he is still sorely missed.

Basslines: Oz is Ever Floating

Oysterhead: Oz Is Ever Floating

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Primus bassist Les Claypool is renown among the Bonnaroo crowd for his earth-shattering, jazz-informed slap-and-bounce rhythms, and for good reason: where other rock and jamband bassists are content to hover in the background, Claypool plays up front and center, creating complex octave-spanning bass lines, melding heavy slap-bass style, drifting into full chords and improvisation mode as needed.

Claypool's style is so powerful and distinctive, in fact, I didn't even need to check the label to confirm his presence, along with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and Police drummer Stewart Copeland, on their highly recommended one-shot supergroup album The Grand Pecking Order. Though to be fair, Claypool's nasal tenor whine is equally unmistakable.

Basslines: The Real Me

The Who: The Real Me

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When I think of great bass players, there are a few who come to mind. Many are jazz players, and I'll consider posting one of them later in the week, but the rock/pop player that comes to my mind most quickly is John Entwistle. His style is so unique and powerful. Entiwstle once said of The Who that they really didn't have a proper bass player, and in many ways that was a true statement. There was no one in the band who stood back and thumped notes over and over for the purpose of holding the music together. Instead, Entwistle used his instrument to create powerful melodic and harmonic structures within the songs.

The Real Me, the first (real) track from Quadrophenia, is a great example of how a bass can add just as much detail and depth to a song as a lead guitar or keyboard.

Smile: Your Smile's a Drug

Patrick Park: Your Smile's a Drug

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Patrick Park is a singer-songwriter who, like many, hasn't gotten a fair shake due to record label issues. His 2003 debut album "Lonliness Knows My Name" should be known by more than it is, there are many great folk-pop songs on there that college girls should be swooning over. He reminds me a bit of Rhett Miller's folkier more melancholy side.

The song's title tells us most of what we need to know. He has fallen for a girl who's smile he is addicted to. Despite knowing that pursuing a relationship with her will mean a lot of work and possible torment, he can't seem to help himself. She smiles, and he loses all sense of what's good for him.

Smile: Your Smile Stops The Hands Of Time

Roddy Frame: Your Smile Stops The Hands Of Time

[purchase]

Roddy Frame was signed by David Bowie when he was only 16 years old. Since then, he has produced a long string of hit albums in the UK and has had some limited success in the US. As much as I loved Aztec Camera when I was in high school, it is Roddy's solo work that has stood the test of time. The all acoustic album, Surf, is his best work. This song is one of a couple of slow moving, but beautiful, tracks from that album.

Smile: The Cheshire Cat Song

Gilbert Hetherwick: The Cheshire Cat Song

[purchase, by download only]

I wasn’t about to let this week go by without honoring the most famous smile in western literature. But I also didn’t know of any particular songs on the subject, and I certainly didn’t have any. So, I went hunting. And I found that there seems to be a rule that, in order to tackle this subject, you have to be someone I never heard of. Try it yourself, and see if you get the same result. Obviously, however, I did find something I like.

Gilbert Hetherwick was once a record store manager in a shop that sold classical music to the people of Louisiana. He began writing to people at the record companies, telling them how to improve their albums. Soon enough, Hetherwick had a job at one of these companies, and in due time, he rose to be the head of the classical division at Sony/ BMG. So what would someone like that do with his spare time? Why, he would write and record a psychedelic rock musical, based on Alice in Wonderland and the life of Lewis Carol. Oh yes, of course.

The Cheshire Cat Song comes from that musical, Dreams For Alice. And the song is on the soundtrack album, from 2002. The songs were written over a ten year period, and given to friends, before the whole thing was released as an album. I can find no information to indicate that the show was ever staged. The version of The Cheshire Cat Song on Dreams For Alice is marred by a production full of the worst cliches of psychedelic rock; here are corny electric guitar parts and heavy reverb on the vocals, for starters. But, in 2008, Hetherwick returned to these songs for a live album. Now The Cheshire Cat Song has a nice mostly acoustic arrangement, and the quality of the songwriting comes through much more clearly. This is the version I chose.

Smile : (You Caught Me) Smilin'

Sly & The Family Stone : (You Caught Me) Smilin'

[purchase]


Simple, melodic, fun, just like a smile ... illegal smile ? With Sly, it's likely...

PS : Can somebody explain me the meaning of this AMG review (I mean the part about the lyrics). Maybe I got it wrong, but why does the guy think the hedonistic lyrics feel so wrong ? Is it because what happened to Sly next (his addiction)? Or is it that this man thinks that being hedonistic is wrong ? Why would an artist be necessarily depressed to write great things ? And is smiling when you're hurt a forbidden thing ?
I'm just wondering...

Smile: Bathsheba Smiles

Richard Thompson: Bathsheba Smiles

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In the bible, Bathsheba is the beautiful woman who causes David to turn away from God. How could anyone have such a powerful allure? According to Richard Thompson, it’s her smile. His lyric describes this power in some detail. And that’s all there is to the song. But it’s enough.

Smile: When You Smile

The Dream Syndicate: When You Smile

[purchase]

The Dream Syndicate´s ´84 album The Days Of Wine And Roses is one of the great debuts of all time if you ask me. Right up there with the first signs of life from the Velvets, the Stooges, the Doors, the Modern Lovers and Television, to name but a few kindred souls. Just check the bittersweet, feedback-drenched (that´s their guitar wiz Karl Precoda btw) When You Smile for proof.

"When you smile, I don't know what to do
´cause I could lose everything in a minute or two
and it seems like the end of the world when you smile..."

Smile: I Can't Stop Smiling

Velocity Girl: I Can't Stop Smiling

[Purchase]

I can't stop smiling
And I am not sure why I'd want to anyway.

I can't say rock and roll is known for it's utter joy. It's difficult to be edgy when you can't stop smiling. All the same, Washington D.C.-based 90's rock band Velocity Girl made a fantastic pop-rock song about that feeling when you can't seem to wipe the goofy grin off your face, and did it well.

This particular song is from their aptly-named sophomore album "Simpatico!", and is one of my favorite Velocity Girl tracks. The band broke up in 1998, but singer Sarah Shannon has since released a few solo albums.

Smile: Winsome Smile

Chris Smither: Winsome Smile

[purchase]

Acoustic bluesman Chris Smither does the blues exceptionally well, but his wry vocal mannerisms and fast fingerstyle are also surprisingly well-suited for upbeat songs such as this one. Listen carefully, though -- while the song is celebratory on the surface, there's a mature dissonance between the tune and tempo on one hand, and the lyrics on the other. Cue the last verse:

Time will wound all heels, and it ain't pretty
With any luck at all, she'll find some dope that you can pity
Your loss is measured in illusions
And your gain is all in bittersweet intelligence
And your winsome smile will lose some of its innocence...