Beatles Covers: A Hard Day's Night

Otis Redding: A Hard Day's Night

[purchase]

This live performance comes from Good to Me: Live at the Whiskey a Go Go, Vol. 2. It was recorded back in 1966, when Otis was at the height of his powers. While the original Beatles version of "A Hard Day's Night" concentrates its energies on the youthful exuberance of seeing your girl after a long day of work, Otis' gritter version puts more emphasis on the long day of work. And you can feel it.

Beatles Covers: All My Loving

Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins: All My Loving

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It's a little bit country, it's a little bit rock and roll - I don't even recall how this CD came into my possession but, upon googling, I find that Come Together: America Salutes the Beatles was released in 1995 and has quite an impressive line-up of engineers, singers and musicians...

Most of it is, in my opinion, fairly forgettable, with many of the tracks sounding similar to the original rather than attempting to re-invent - however, this cover by Suzy and Chet feels invested with love, playfulness and flair, taking an already-catchy song to another level in a completely different genre...

Beatles Covers: I Will

Tuck & Patti: I Will

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The Beatles became known for their arrangements and their innovative production techniques, especially in the later phase of their career. But strip all of that away, and you are left with the brilliance of the songwriting. This plays to Tuck & Patti’s strengths. They find the best written songs they can, and arrange them for voice and guitar. That’s it. So naturally, they are drawn to the music of The Beatles. I Will is a fine example of how this works. Aside from a great song, there are two elements that must be present. These spare arrangements leave neither the singer, (Patti Cathcart), or the guitar player, (Tuck Andress), a place to hide. So they must be first rate, and they are. Tuck & Patti give a jazz lilt to everything they do, and it really works here.

Beatles Covers: Help

Deep Purple: Help

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Back in 1983, I was a expanding my musical world outward from the Beatles and into...heavy metal. Not sure how that happened, but it did. I blame it on "Helter Skelter".

One day I was at a local discount store, rummaging through their bin of discount cassettes. Remember those? Coming of age in the Walkman era, cassettes were my preferred format for listening to music until CDs (remember those?) became ubiquitous. I used to love digging through those bargain bins!

But I digress. So I was rummaging through the discount cassettes, and I came across an album by Deep Purple. Newly converted to the headbanging cause, I knew that Deep Purple were a band I needed to have. So I bought the cassette, which was called Shades of Deep Purple. When I popped it in my cheap Walkman knockoff, I realized right away that this was not quite the same band as the one that recorded the ur-riff "Smoke On the Water". This was psychedelic. Some of it was quite catchy.

I did some research, and discovered it was their debut album, from 1968, and they had a different singer (and a different bassist) than the band that recorded all those '70s classics. Despite my initial disappointment however, I ended up falling in love with the album.

The early Purple were indeed a psychedelic band, in the mold of Vanilla Fudge. They often recorded long, drawn-out psychedelicized covers. (They also recorded shorted bursts of psych-pop, like their cover of Joe South's "Hush", which was the big hit from this album.) On Shades of..., they applied the Fudge formula to John Lennon's most famous cry for help. Hearing the lyrics slowed down was an eye opener.

They recorded three albums with this lineup, before bringing in Ian Gillian's leather lungs for In Rock. To my ears, Shades of... is the only one of the three that still holds up.

Or maybe it just like the memories of my younger self the album evokes. I'm definitely listening to it through nostalgia-colored glasses.

Fruits and Vegetables: Peaches

The Presidents of the Unites States of America: Peaches

[Purchase]

It's a bit under the wire here, but I realized this song hadn't been posted yet, and in my book it would have been some sort of crime to let a fruit theme go by and not post this fruit-eating anthem.

Fruits and Vegetables: The Apples and Oranges Edition

There really *is* no place like home - so comforting to once again be under my own roof, with my own family and dog... and my own CD collection!

It's taking a bit of time to catch up and get back in the proverbial "swing of things"... so I thought I'd offer up some apples, oranges and a wayward plum as my Star Maker Machine re-entry - hope you've all had a juicy summer...

Barenaked Ladies: These Apples

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What's not to love about a Canadian folk/pop/rock "boy" band singing of romance and postcards and grammar, oh my! - "these apples are delicious!"...

Osborne Brothers (featuring Steve Thomas): Orange Blossom Special

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The notes on the back of my CD state that "Orange Blossom Special ranks as probably the most popular fiddle tune of all time. Written in the mid-thirties by fiddlers Chubby Wise and Ervin Rouse, the song took its title from a southeastern train on the Seabord Airline Railroad. Originally an instrumental, verses were later added and it has evolved into a favorite showpiece for other instruments as well" - enjoy!

Suzanne Vega: My Favorite Plum

[purchase]

I remember hearing Caramel on the Sessions at West 54th TV program in Spring of 1998... and rushing right out to buy her (at that time) new CD - food has long been a metaphor for desire and, as Suzanne sings of her longing, the temptation to indulge is strong and seductive...

"Can all this fruit be free?" indeed...

Fruits and Vegetables: The Plum Blossom

Yusef Lateef: The Plum Blossom

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While scouring my music library for fruit and vegetable songs, I kept finding myself coming back to this Eastern-influenced meditation from jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef. Yusef plays the Chinese xun, a kind of flute, on this track, while bassist Ernie Farrow picks up the rabaab, Barry Harris tinkles the ivories, and Lex Humphries adds some sympathetic percussion. It all adds up to a simple, hypnotic piece as softly pretty as its title.

Fruits and Vegetables: The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

XTC: The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

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What would Jesus do? It’s a valid question. But here, XTC asked, what would we do to Jesus? Andy Partridge and Co had expressed their doubts about religion elsewhere. But here, they stated their case against the hypocrisy of the modern-day political and religious establishment. To do so, Andy Partridge created the character of Peter Pumpkinhead as a Jesus figure whose appearance threatens both governments and churches in today’s world. Peter seems more like a hippie than a minister. When the powers that be find that they cannot discredit Peter, he suffers the same fate as his predecessor.

I don’t know where Partridge got the idea for or the name of this character. But, I wonder if Peter might be related to the character Jack Pumpkinhead from The Land of Oz. Jack, as a character from a beloved series of children’s books, represents the innocence of childhood, and, as a magical creation, the belief that anything is possible. These ideas, Partridge would be saying, cannot endure in the face of the evils of the modern world. I find that this explanation for Peter’s surname adds resonance to the song for me. However, if anyone knows what Partridge was really thinking, please let me know in the comments.

Fruits and Vegetables: Raspberry Beret

Hindu Love Gods: Raspberry Beret

[purchase]

In the mid-80s, while three-quarters of R.E.M. were helping Warren Zevon record his Sentimental Hygiene album, they banged out an album's worth of covers one night. In Several years later, the results of that night were released as the Hindu Love Gods one-and-only album. Most of the songs on the album were covers of blues standards, but the standout was this rockin' take on Prince's ode to scarlet headwear.

It's a fun track, but the real reason I picked this song is because I love raspberries. They are my favorite fruit. Every time I eat one, I am reminded of summer mornings in my youth, picking raspberries from the bushes in my parents' backyard to add to my breakfast cereal. It's a memory I cherish.

Fruits and Vegetables: Bananas and Blow

Ween: Bananas and Blow

[purchase]

I'm a bit too old for Bonnaroo. Fighting crowds of up to a hundred thousand in the southern heat to hear music until the wee hours is no dream date for a 36 year old dad with waning stamina and a high preference for intimate stageside seating.

But I've been living vicariously though live recordings from the festival since it started, and the 2002 inaugural Live from Bonnaroo CD, from back when the festival was still almost exclusively a haven for jam bands and hippie funk, is as good as it gets: Galactic, Soulive, String Cheese Incident, Jack Johnson, a recently-solo Trey Anastasio, even a Les Claypool cover of an old Jethro Tull tune. Throw in Del McCoury and Norah Jones as a nod to the much broader musical diversity which would soon become the norm at the annual fest, and you've got a recipe for success well worth purchasing, whether or not you even planned to make the trip.

Neo-psychedelic oddballs Ween are technically an alt-rock or "stoner rock" band -- I saw them a decade ago, at an early HORDE tour -- but this fruity tune is a perfect example of what I love about jam band music. From the bass-and-steel drum intro to the sing-along wind-in-the-trees wail, the tune stays light and bouncy through tongue-in-cheek guitar solos and a set of silly drug-referencing lyrics clearly written for rhythmic trip than for any particular narrative sense. It's like being there, but much closer to the stage. And without all the mud, heat, long entrance lines, hilarious patchwork corduroy pants, and bad acid.

Fruits and Vegetables: Coconut

Harry Nilsson: Coconut

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OK. Let’s get this produce party started.

This strange little ditty caught my ears the first time I heard it, and it hasn’t let go all these years later. And I have no idea why. The song consists of just a few lines of lyrics, sung over and over, with only slight variations. It’s almost simple minded. The production is weird, even for the 1970s. And the groove is fun, but it never goes anywhere. So call this a guilty pleasure, I guess. But I can remember when this was all over the radio. I think it even charted. So whatever mysterious power this song has over me, at least I’m not the only one.

Similes: Slow Like Honey

Fiona Apple: Slow Like Honey

[Purchase]

As far as song similes go, this one has more than it's fair share. Pretty much every line contains a simile about how Fiona will seduce her man. My particular favorite is that she's "strong like music". It's a beautifully sensual song.

Similes: Drank Like a River

Whiskeytown: Drank Like a River

[purchase]

Slow start this week...

Here's one to get everybody ramped up again. This is Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown at their early fire breathing punk/heart breaking country best.

Body Parts: Your Feet’s Too Big

Fats Waller: Your Feet‘s Too Big

[purchase]

Fats Waller was one of the great talents from the time before jazz had a name. Starting in the 1920s, and extending into the early years of WWII, Waller’s career was a steady string of novelty songs, interspersed with a few that have become standards. His best known songs today are Honeysuckle Rose and Ain’t Misbehavin’. In 1978, the show Ain’t Misbehavin’, a revue which was a tribute to Waller’s music, made its debut on Broadway.

Your Feet’s Too Big is a wonderful display of the sense of humor that made Waller’s novelty songs so successful in their day. It also displays the musicianship that has helped his music endure, when so many of his contemporaries have been forgotten.

Body Parts: New Jersey Edition

All Gods' Children: Peace Fills Your Head

[purchase]

From the mid '80s to the mid '90s, New Brunswick, NJ had a very fertile local music scene. One of the most originals band in that scene was All Gods' Children. They were a large band (up to 14 members) with a constantly shifting lineup lead by jazz bassist and songwriter Adam Bernstein. (If you have very young kids, you may recognize Adam Bernstein as the bassist for the current queen of children's music, Laurie Berkner.) Musically, they were all over the map, covering funk, folk, soul, rock, reggae, klezmer, afropop, and avant garde jazz, with equal aplomb. They only released a handful of cassettes in their six-year run, but what really made them special was their live shows: nobody sat at an AGC show, and the band were always having as much fun as the audience.

"Peace Fills Your Head" is from their only full-length studio cassette, Zapata and Other Love Songs, from 1993. (Note: I digitized it from a well-worn cassette, so the fi is not necessarily hi.)


ISOE: Brown-Eyed Stare

[purchase]

One of the great things about All Gods' Children was that it seemed like everyone in the band could play at least two instruments. You often didn't know it until you saw various members in other bands. AGC vocalist/flautist Kate Evans was also a singer-songwriter and keyboardist, and AGC trumpeter Andy Maroko was also an accomplished guitarist. They joined forces for their own band, ISOE, and released one CD, Manhattan Lullaby in 1995. Kate's almost uncomfortably personal lyrics often dealt with relationships, including the CD's lightly funky opening track, "Brown-Eyed Stare".


Tiny Lights: Curlyeyed Open Stare

[purchase]

Although they were based in Hoboken, Tiny Lights were regulars on the New Brunswick scene. Drummer Andy Demos played percussion and various woodwinds in All Gods' Children. Tiny Lights were another band best experienced live, where they came off like Fairport Convention and Sly & the Family Stone jamming on the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus". Their most famous alum is "cellist to the stars" Jane Scarpentoni (Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, R.E.M., etc.), but she was gone by the time they released their fifth album Stop the Sun, I Want to Go Home, in 1992. The album opens with the funky "Curlyeyed Open Stare". Straightforward lyrics were never their forte.

Note: The All Gods' Children and ISOE catalogs are both out of print. The purchase links go to more recent solo albums from the main songwriters of each band.

Body Parts: Up To My Neck In You

Mark Kozelek: Up To My Neck In You

[purchase]

AC/DC: Up To My Neck In You

[purchase]

Though I'm a coverblogger at home, I tend to favor originals here on Star Maker Machine - after all, it is the popular starpower of the original which so often drives coverage. In this case, though, Mark Kozelek's dreamy, melodic deconstruction of what had been a pretty typical guitar-driven AC/DC B-side screamer deserves first billing, if only for reclaiming the power of the lyric from the less-than-subtle 1978 original. For more of the same, Kozelek's full album of slow, acoustic Bon Scott-era AC/DC covers comes highly recommended.

Body Parts: Baby Scratch My Back

Slim Harpo: Baby Scratch My Back

[purchase]

"Ahhh, itchy! And I don´t know where to scratch..." You may know Slim Harpo because the Stones covered his immortal I´m A King Bee early in their career, but that sure enough wasn´t the only trick this always laid back sounding bluesman from Baton Rouge had up his sleeve. Baby Scratch My Back was actually his biggest hit, back in ´66. Now do the chicken scratch, y´all...

Body Parts: My Liver Needs a Lawyer

The Naysayer: My Liver Needs a Lawyer

[Purchase]

The Naysayer is the music of Anna Padgett. She makes folk/country music and most of her work has a great sense of humor, as seen in this track which is take on all the classic country songs about drinking problems.

Body Parts: Foot of Pride

Lou Reed: Foot of Pride

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Here's a song to bridge the gap between last week's theme and this week's.

Back in 1992, I had an old Chevy pickup truck that had been bouncing around the family for a while. Not everything worked on it, including the gas gauge. I relied on the odometer to guess when I needed to get gas. I usually got it right. On October 16 of that year, I was driving home from somewhere, and I knew I was running low. But I was trying to make it home in time to catch the live television broadcast of Bobfest, the the huge 30th anniversary Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden. As I pulled off of Rt. 1, a mile or two from home, the engine died. I managed to steer it into an empty parking lot and mulled over my options. It didn't take me long to figure out what my priority was. I left the truck, walked the rest of the way home, watched the whole concert broadcast, then figured out how I'd get gas for my truck. It was one of those events I did not want to miss.

The concert was flawed (where were Joan Baez and the Grateful Dead?), but there were many highlights. Some even involved people other than Neil Young. One of my favorite performances was Lou Reed's take on this relatively obscure song. He stretches out the original's six minutes to almost nine, and the guitars get almost psychedelic.

I have to confess, I've never studied all the lyrics to this song. I just like the way they come pouring out, almost too fast for Lou to keep up. I remember at the time people were dissing Lou for using a lyric sheet, but I recall his defense was that the teleprompter everyone else was using just wasn't able to keep up with the lyrics for this one.

I eventually sold the truck and bought a Honda Civic hatchback. Loved that car for ten years, but I had a lot more friends when I owned the pickup.

Body Parts: Fishing in Your Eye

The Balancing Act: Fishing in Your Eye

[purchase]

This post happened by accident.

The Balancing Act was an undeservedly obscure band on the IRS label, back in the 80s. I don’t even remember how I found out about them. But I did, and I loved what I heard. Acoustic rock with great pop sensibilities, and wonderful vocal harmonies. Eventually, the IRS label went bankrupt, and all but the most popular acts, (R. E. M.), went out of print, to be lost forever, or so I thought.

Just for fun, I was searching Amazon’s download store for obscure body parts. My daughter gave me a challenge to find a song about the large intestines, and what I found for that was a guided meditation for body health. There are some intestine songs, but I will not be posting them; they all sound pretty disgusting.

So, anyway, while doing that I remembered Fishing in Your Eye. I had no hope of finding it, but, I figured, why not? You can see what happened. So, I am very happy to be presenting The Balancing Act in one of their more adventurous moods, adding a jazz flavor into their mix.

And now you know more than you ever wanted to about the thought processes of a music blogger.

Long Songs: Mortal City

Dar Williams: Mortal City

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This song took a while to grow on me; for years, I skipped past it, looking the harder, more upbeat tracks which have made Dar Williams a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary world of radio-ready folkpop.

But sit in a lonely chair, perhaps with your eyes closed, locked away from the hustle of multitasking, and really listen, and the song unfolds gloriously, revealing itself as a gorgeous piece of quiet, still short fiction, a girl in an ice storm finding her center in a frozen eternity. Dar's broken, breathy octaves were never more appropriate.

Long Songs: Longing for More Edition

The Poozies: Ma Plaid/ Freya Dances

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Ma Plaid is a traditional Scottish tune which, as recorded by The Poozies, comes in at about six minutes. But the group placed it in a medley with an original instrumental, Freya Dances, which brings the whole thing in at 7:07. It is a tribute to Mary MacMaster, who wrote Freya Dances, that it serves as the perfect coda to Ma Plaid; I cannot imagine hearing the one without the other. MacMaster and Patsy Seddon were the harp duo Sileas before joining The Poozies, and this one sounds very much like a fuller arrangement of their work in that earlier group. Kate Rusby and Karen Tweed complete the lineup.

Ma Plaid, on its surface, appears to be nothing more than a love song to a man who has departed for distant shores, and who the narrator hopes will return to marry her. She keeps the plaid that he gave her to remember him by. But there may be more going on than that. She starts by singing, “this is not ma plaid”, and proceeds to describe her plaid for the rest of the song. But whose is the plaid at the beginning? It is possible that the object of her love may be Bonnie Prince Charlie. He led an unsuccessful uprising against the British rule of Scotland in 1745, and many apparent love songs from Scotland from that period are veiled references to a yearning for Scottish independence. The matter is not certain, but Ma Plaid may be one of these songs. In that case, the plaid at the beginning would represent British rule. Following the 1745 uprising, Bonnie Prince Charlie was exiled, which would account for the departure of the lover in the song to distant shores.

Joni Mitchell: Song for Sharon

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Joni Mitchell began her exploration of jazz with the album Court and Spark, and continued with The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Hejira was the next step in the journey. On this album, Mitchell stripped down the arrangements. Most songs feature just guitar, bass, and drums. About half of the songs anticipate Mitchell’s future explorations, and these feature her first work with bassist Jaco Pastorius. The remaining songs either use no bass at all, or feature Max Bennett, who had been with Mitchell since Court and Spark. These songs represent a consolidation, as Mitchell sums up where she has been. Musically, Song For Sharon is one these “consolidation” songs. It breaks no new ground for her, but is a solid addition to her catalog.

The song comes in at just over 8 minutes, mostly because there are a lot of words. In this way, jazz freed up Mitchell; she could write the song without worrying about length, and say all that she had to say. I read the words this way: on a ride back to Manhattan on the Staten Island ferry, Mitchell’s character thinks of Sharon, a friend from childhood. Mitchell’s character imagines a letter to Sharon, and her thoughts ramble through her day, life in New York City, and how different their lives turned out. The whole thing is a verbal improvisation, more jazz than the music that accompanies it. I am not sure the letter ever gets sent, or even written.

Traffic: The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

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The whole concept of jam bands tickles me. In the 1960s, every band I cared about jammed. It was a badge of honor, and essential to what performing live was all about. When I started hearing about bands who would try to recreate the sound of their albums in concert, I found the idea offensive. I still do. But The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is something else. This is the purest attempt I know of by a band with roots in the sixties to recreate their live sound in a studio recording. Here are all the solos and mood changes one would expect in a live performance. The whole thing threatens to fall apart in several places, but never does. The result is a breathtaking listening experience.

So what is the song about? Well. Jim Capaldi of Traffic was in Morocco with actor Michael J Pollard, working on a movie that wound up never getting made. I’ll let Capaldi explain further:

“Pollard and I would sit around writing lyrics all day, talking about Bob Dylan and the Band, thinking up ridiculous plots for the movie. Before I left Morocco, Pollard wrote in my book 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.' For me, it summed him up. He had this tremendous rebel attitude. He walked around in his cowboy boots, his leather jacket. At the time he was a heavy little dude. It seemed to sum up all the people of that generation who were just rebels. The 'Low Spark,' for me, was the spirit, high-spirited. You know, standing on a street corner. The low rider. The 'Low Spark' meaning that strong undercurrent at the street level.”

Long Songs : Diaraby

Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder : Diaraby

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I first thought of posting the great Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed, but then to my surprise I realized that his song "Era Mèla Mèla" was less than 7 minutes long, so I'll save it for another theme. I first heard him on a great German compilation called Desert Blues, along with a lot of artists that became favorites of mine.

But there are other great long tracks on these two CDs, and of course, this famous Ali Farka Touré/Ry Cooder duet. Ali Farka, when this record came out, was hastily advertised by marketing executives as "the source" of the blues, while the Malian griot himself claimed that one of his masters was … John Lee Hooker. The perfect "round trip" influence between the old and the new world.

Anyway, this music makes me long for the dusty and red roads of Mali and Burkina Faso, where I made wonderful trips and made many friends in 1996 and 1999. Now I'm older, I have young kids, and cannot travel so far for the moment. But just looking at a picture or listening to such a song takes me back there for a while.

now the question is : will this post recieve more than the "0 comments" I usually get when posting something that is a little bit too "foreign" or non folk or rock ? (please consider that as a friendly teasing and an invitation to comments)

Long Songs: Marquee Moon

Television: Marquee Moon

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Well it seems like a lot of the SMMers are on summer vacation, so here's another one from the new guy.

Television sprung from the same mid-'70s CBGB's scene that gave us Blondie and the Ramones, but they weren't really punk or new wave. While their peers were putting out two- and three-minute bursts of pop energy, Television were stretching out, jamming with a purpose. The interplay between guitarists Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine was the draw, and that was never more fully realized than on the nearly 11-minute title track off their debut album from 1977.

I didn't discover Television until their 1992 reunion album. And while that's an okay album, it wasn't until I went back to their first album that I discovered what all the fuss was about. After getting past Verlaine's adenoidal vocals, hearing this song was a revelation.

Long Songs: Deacon Blues

Steely Dan: Deacon Blues

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Steely Dan, in their heyday, made a habit of being sneaky. They would use all these jazz harmonies in their music, and get people who “hated jazz” to love it. The album Aja was their commercial peak, and the sneakiness was here in full measure, if you knew what you were hearing. But with Aja, Steely Dan managed another bit of sneakiness: they took a long song to #19 on the pop chart. I know that Roundabout by Yes had charted even higher a few years earlier, but that was a 3:27 radio edit. Does anyone know if Deacon Blues was the longest song ever to reach the top 20 up to that point?

Another thing about Deacon Blues: I grew up in a non-sports household. About fifteen years after the release of Aja, I finally found out the meaning of the line, “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide...” But I loved the song anyway. There was one other sneaky thing about Steely Dan. When I asked my older brother to explain some of their lyrics, he would smile in an evil way, and say, “you’ll understand when you’re older.” Now I am, and I finally do.

Long Songs: Future Games

Fleetwood Mac: Future Games

[purchase]

I was extremely happy to see Boyhowdy post the original Fleetwood Mac version of "Black Magic Woman" last week. I'm a big fan of the Peter Green-era Mac. In fact, I almost posted their full version of "Oh Well" this week.

But I also have a soft spot for the Mac's Bob Welch years, too. In some ways, they are the lost years, when the band was searching for a new identity. They were well past their blues beginnings and their acid-rock adolescence, but had yet to mature into the LA hit machine they became when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham came on board.

They released a lot of mediocre albums during this period (1971-74), but they contain a clutch of unique, atmospheric Bob Welch songs. My favorite is the title track to their first album with Welch, "Future Games". It clocks in at over eight minutes, but it never overstays its welcome. I really have no idea what Bob's singing about; I just love the way it sounds, floating out of the speakers.

Long Songs: Matty Groves

Fairport Convention: Matty Groves

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My first thought when I learned of this week’s theme was, “There must be one of those English folk songs with tons of verses that would work this week.” And, of course, there is.

There was a time when most people in England, particularly the lower classes, were illiterate. Songs like Matty Groves served the same role that tabloid newspapers do now. And the juicier the story, the more details people wanted. And in this case, details are what they got.

As songs like this worked their way into the body of traditional material, they tended to acquire verses from other songs. So it is impossible to say what actually happened here. Enjoying songs like this is like enjoying the beauty of a patchwork quilt. And this musical quilt is a particularly fine example of the form.

Long Songs: Weird Al Edition

Weird Al Yankovic: Albuquerque

[purchase]

Weird Al Yankovic: Genius in France

[purchase]

Weird Al Yankovic: Trapped in the Drive-Thru

[purchase]

Recently, Weird Al Yankovic has taken to ending each of his albums with ridiculously long songs that are possibly even more absurd than his usual fare. If you have a half-hour or so to spare, I'd like to share those songs with you here.

The trend began with "Albuquerque" from 1999's Running with Scissors. The song is basically one large tangential rant involving rabid weasels, hermaphrodites, Leonard Nimoy's butt, and a lucky snorkel. All of these things are mentioned only to drive home the point that Al hates sauerkraut.

Did I mention that these songs might be a bit absurd?

Al followed that exercise with "Genius in France" from 2003's Poodle Hat. This time Al pays tribute to the late Frank Zappa with a track that jumps around from style to style with tons of dynamic shifts to an intentionally unsettling effect. Frank's son Dweezil Zappa plays the guitar intro to the song.

Finally... from 2006's Straight Outta Lynnwood... comes "Trapped in the Drive-Thru." If you've ever seen any of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" videos, then this one needs no further explanation.

Kudos to any of you who can make it through all three of these.

Long Songs: Rose Rouge

St. Germain: Rose Rouge

[purchase]

My first trip to Amsterdam was as an adult, in March of 2000; my wife had just miscarried after several years of earnest attempts at bearing a first child, and although the doctor advised against flying, we really needed to get away from it all. I have fond if somewhat inevitably hazy memories of a week museum-hopping and roaming the castles and small rustic villages of the countryside, sitting by the side of canals eating bread, cheese, and salami -- about all we could afford on my teacher's salary.

But my strongest memories from that week are of St. Germain's Tourist, an album whose jazz-informed rhythms, jazz-club instrumentation, and long, trance-inducing tracks emanated from what seemed at the time like every coffeeshop and bar, providing the perfect atmospheric soundtrack to what otherwise could have fast become an insular and morose period in our lives. I bought the disc at overseas prices -- a comparative fortune, back then -- and have kept it with me ever since. Rose Rouge is one of the shorter pieces on the album, but it really blows away the blues, even now.

Black and White: White Room

Cream: White Room

[purchase]

I'm still in overwhelmed/numb/mourning/introspective mode... and this song certainly fits the bill - "lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves" indeed...

From last.fm:

After bassist Jack Bruce wrote the guitar pieces, Cream’s lyricist, poet Pete Brown, grouped colorful four-syllable phrases, loosely organized around images of waiting in an English railway station influenced by the drugs he was taking. “White Room” is further noted for its unusual time signature of 5/4 in the introduction and bridge, with triplets played on toms by Ginger Baker, his thunderous bass drum part also lacing the verses. Finally, “White Room” is notable for showcasing guitarist Eric Clapton’s best known use of the Vox Clyde McCoy Picture Wah (a device used to turn off bass and treble as the pedal is rocked) in the bridge and extended solo.

Along with “Sunshine of Your Love” and “Crossroads”, White Room is one of Cream’s most notable songs, reaching number 6 on the U.S. pop charts.

A most vivid memory of my childhood is when the History of Eric Clapton album came out in March 1972 (my senior year of high school) and, since I didn't yet have my driver's license (long story there), I pitched a total tantrum until my dad gave in and took me up to the mall where I could purchase it on the release date - I still have the 2-LP set... and every snap, crackle and pop is accounted for from endless rotations in the white room of my angst-ridden teen years (is that a redundancy?)...

P.S. In researching this album to post for the purchase link, I note that White Room isn't even on it - I'd have bet money that it was...

Black and White: Black Magic Woman

Fleetwood Mac: Black Magic Woman

[purchase]

As I noted in back in February over at the coverblog, most folks have no idea that Santana signature tune Black Magic Woman is a cover song. But the 1968 original, which peaked at #37 on the UK Singles chart, is worth celebrating, too, and it's nothing like the smooth radiopop which most modern listeners associate with the classic literock radio era of Fleetwood Mac.

Instead, prepare yourself for a perfectly smooth, slightly trippy sixties sound straight out of a Vietnam-era documentary soundtrack, guitar-driven and full of funky feeling, that falls somewhere between the best of Cream and the Zombies. Note the sparse high production, which allows the listener to experience each instrument distinctly. And don't forget to stick around for the blues coda.

Black and White: My White Bicycle

Tomorrow: My White Bicycle

[purchase]

In 1966 the Dutch countercultural group Provo came up with a radical idea of scattering bicycles throughout Amsterdam for city residents to use whenever they needed. To make them easy to identify (and to prevent people from keeping them), they were painted white.

Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle" was apparently inspired by that program, but given the year (1967) and the genre (psychedelic pop), I'm betting that the title of the song is also a sly reference to LSD inventor Albert Hofmann's famous bicycle ride home from work after becoming the first person to ingest the psychedelic drug in 1943.

Tomorrow give the song an appropriately dizzy production, with backwards instruments, droning bass, sound effects, heavy panning, etc.

At the time, they were seen as psychedelic innovators. But they only managed to release one album, and now they are a a rock history footnote, known mostly for guitarist Steve Howe, who went on to make his name as a member of progressive rock band Yes.

Black and White: White Thread

Breedlove: White Thread

[purchase: warning, collector's prices only!]

I discovered the shortlived Austin-based jamband Breedlove through this song, a freebie on a mid-nineties H.O.R.D.E. festival second stage sampler; turns out it's the lead track from their only album, so I suppose they never made much of a splash. Today, lead guitarist and songwriter David Dyer enjoys a solid solo career, albeit not one successful enough to merit a Wikipedia entry.

Still, despite its somewhat unpolished arrangement, White Thread has a certain je ne sais quoi, enough to live on in my summer "funky backyard jam" playlist no matter how many times I update the damn thing.

Black and White: The White Tent The Raft

Jane Siberry: The White Tent The Raft

[purchase]

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 ?)

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

X: White Girl

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

Graham Parker and the Rumour : Black Honey

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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)

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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

[purchase]

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.