Show Tunes: Millworker

Pearl Jam: Millworker

[live, 2004]

Emmylou Harris: Millworker

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Lavinia Ross: Millworker

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I posted the author's "original" of this song way back in 2008 for our Work theme; aptly enough, the song was written for the score of the James Taylor-penned musical "Working", based on the Studs Terkel novel of the same name. Though neither the musical nor the 1979 album this song ultimately appeared on were terribly well received, I've always liked this simple song, and ol' JT clearly does, too, or he wouldn't keep recording it, trying to find just the right balance between the resignation and the desperation of the narrator, a widowed blue-collar millworker and mother from my home state of Massachusetts.

But today is for coverage, and thankfully, a number of musicians have taken this one on, from Pearl Jam to Emmylou Harris. Here's both: the former live and ragged; the latter, recorded relatively early in Emmylou's career, a solid countrypop tune exactly as plaintive and haunting and dreamlike as you'd expect it to be - plus a warm, gentle cover I just received in the mail last week from organic farmer and occasional singer-songwriter Lavinia Ross.

Speaking in Tongues => Show Tunes: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

Girls From Mars: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

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Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen is probably best known as the song that made stars of the Andrews Sisters in 1938. But not nearly as many people know that the song was originally written, entirely in Yiddish, for a Yiddish operetta called I Would If I Could in 1932. The original songwriters were Shalom Secunda and Abraham Bloom. The English lyrics heard here are by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin. Cahn and Chaplin bought the rights to the song for $30, and reaped all of the royalties until 1961. Cahn and Chaplin used a Germanic spelling for the song title, which I have also used for the title of post, because that is how Girls From Mars have it on their album. But the picture I have chosen shows a transliteration of the Yiddish. I was not able to find a version in the original Yiddish; if you have one, please let me know in the comments. The full story of the song is told here.

Update: My thanks go out to fellow Star Maker Bert, who sent me a version of Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen recorded with the original Yiddish lyrics. Here it is:

Budapest Klezmer Band: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

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Speaking in Tongues: Asimbonanga (Mandela)

Johnny Clegg: Asimbonanga (Mandela)

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I've posted Johnny Clegg once before. I was poking at Any Major Dude to post this week cuz, well, he's living in South Africa and all, but I think the giant Blogger hiccup this week might have thrown him off. But I couldn't let it pass because I got the chance to see him in concert on Tuesday, and he sang this great anti-apartheid song. Most of the lyrics are Zulu.

I'm sharing a live version to give you the same feel that I got while hearing it.

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the island into the bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water.

Speaking in Tongues: Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)

Jim Hall: Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)

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Like many good tales, this one starts with a garden.

The gardens at the Palacio Real de Aranjuez, to be precise. The Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo wrote this concerto for guitar and orchestra in 1939 to celebrate and evoke the feel of these gardens. The original piece was a success, but not much known outside Spain.

Twenty years later, Gil Evans, another composer and arranger who'd formed a successful partnership with trumpet virtuoso Miles Davis, brought him the concerto's second movement (the Adagio). Miles loved it as much as Evans did and made it the centerpiece of his 1960 album Sketches of Spain.

This version I'm sharing was released in 1975 by the brilliant jazz guitarist Jim Hall. Since it showcases the guitar, it might be closer to the original than the 1960 version. It features a terrific supporting cast: Chet Baker, trumpet; Paul Desmond, sax; Roland Hanna, piano; Ron Carter, bass; and Steve Gadd, drums. And it may be a little sacrilegious to say, but I think I like this version a little bit better than Miles'.

Warning: long song is long. Just short of 20 minutes long. Worth every minute, though.

Speaking in Tongues: Fado Marujo

Amália Rodrigues: Fado Marujo

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To me, Portuguese has always been the language of fado. The old, seemingly timeless music from Portugal, always filled with that special kind of sadness they call saudade. Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999) was the undisputed queen of fado, or, in Portuguese, rainha do fado. She just might be one of the greatest singers you've never heard.

Speaking in Tongues: Rock el Casbah

Rachid Taha: Rock el Casbah

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I’m cheating a bit with this post. Looking at the title of the song, you might think the cheat is the fact that the title is not entirely in another language. In fact, I’m OK there. Rock in Arabic, when it refers to music, is rock, and Casbah is a place name that comes out the same in many languages. The cheat has to do with the informal rule we have at Star Maker, that songs must date from before 2000. There has always been some give there, and this one is from 2004. If you have never heard Rock el Casbah, you must. You probably know the song, but not like this. Rachid Taha is from Algeria, and he is a star in the Arab world. The music he makes is called Rai, and it is a mixture of rock energy with more traditional sounds of Arab music. Rock el Casbah was an inspired choice, not only for Rai fans, but also for introducing this music to the rest of the world.

Speaking in Tongues: Akuro no Oka

Dir en grey: Akuro no Oka

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If I hadn't already been a fan, Dir en grey would have my affection for being the only top J-rock band to ever bother playing in my town, Denver, and not just once but multiple times. I admit, we're not exactly known as a breeding ground of J-rock fans here. I mean, there's me, and…. J-rockers, when they do make it to our shores, tend to gravitate to the coasts (they're especially thick on the ground at anime festivals), with an occasional foray into Texas or Chicago.

I posted that picture of them to snag your attention, of course. Dir en grey started out in 1997 as a Visual Kei (VK) band, and their wild appearance predates Lady Gaga by at least a decade. It's fun to Goggle images of them and watch them change over the years. These days, they're fairly sedate, although you'd probably still want to hide your daughters (and maybe even your sons). Lead singer Kyo (the diminutive blond) looks more like a wee biker dude now. If he tops 5 feet I'd be surprised (he stands on a platform to sing), but don't let that fool you — his voice can bring down buildings.

Like their costumes, their sound has progressed over time. They are variously described as some flavor of metal, be it experimental, thrash, progressive, alt, screamo, or core. On the other hand, they come out with some pretty sweet ballad stuff, albeit with more raw emotion that we're used to. I can't say I like all their stuff (Agitated Screams of Maggots, for example, leaves me cold), but the things of theirs I do like, I love a lot.

In fact, I'm going to slip in one more song (and it's got a Japanese title, too, so it fits the theme) just to showcase this group a bit more. Like many other J-rock or J-pop groups, Dir en grey often releases their singles in various incarnations, usually "unplugged." Here's a pair from a more recent release, Marrow of the Bone, and I adore the unplugged version (complete with anguished emo scream). Check out the complicated yet subtle rhythm changes, from 4/4 to 5/4 to 6/8:

Dir en grey: Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomerai ni Hohoemi

Dir en grey: Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tomerai ni Hohoemi (unplugged)

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Speaking in Tongues: Ta Tudo Certo - Mas Que Nada

Tania Maria: Ta Tudo Certo - Mas Que Nada

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Tania Maria (not to be confused with R&B singer Teena Marie) is a renowned Brazilian jazz vocalist/pianist and a longtime favorite musician of mine. She started playing music with her dad's small band as a teen, took a side trip into law school, and quickly returned to her first love in the late 1960's. She's been a fixture in Brazilian jazz ever since (currently touring Europe, if you're lucky enough to catch her live).

I thrashed around for two days deciding which of her many wonderful songs to present and finally settled on this. I do like her earlier albums quite a bit, but this one showcases her at her best, sounding relaxed, confident, and energetic. Ta Tudo Certo (Everything Is Fine) is a self-penned tune with a swinging samba rhythm that segues nicely into Jorge Ben Jor's hit, Mas Que Nada (No Way!).

Speaking in Tongues: Bene Mote

Muluqèn Mèlèssè & Dahlak Band: Bèné Mote

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In the years between the end days of emperor Haile Selassie's reign in the sixties and the emergence of a brutal new regime in the mid seventies, the music scene in the poor African country of Ethiopia was flourishing. Tons of groovy records were made in Addis Ababa, in an astonishing diversity of musical styles.

More or less ethnic sounds featuring traditional instruments were en vogue, but you also got funky instrumentals with Stax-like horns, soul singers as inspired as James Brown or Wilson Pickett, and plenty of jazzy stuff to boot. Alèmayèhu Eshèté, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatqé and Tlahoun Gèssèssè were household names, but lesser known singers like Muluqèn Mèlèssè, whose fine Bèné Mote is featured here, could conjure up the magic just as well.

With vocals in the main Ethiopian language of Amharic you probably won't understand a word of it, but that all adds to the mystique. The double disc compilation pictured above would make an excellent starting point for further exploration. You won't be sorry.

Speaking in Tongues: Wunderbar

Tenpole Tudor: Wunderbar

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Tenpole Tudor was – and still is – a British band that emerged from the 1970s punk rock scene. By the time this German-titled single was released, in 1981, they had crossed over to what was loosely called New Wave, before that term referred to bands with resourceful haircuts, cheekbone-highlighting make-up and an obsession with synthethisers.

Singer Edward Tudor-Pole (his real name) had appeared, as Eddie Tenpole, in the Sex Pistols film The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, in which he performed a few songs, including the title track. In fact, he was penciled in to replace Johnny Rotten as the Pistols’ lead singer before manager Malcolm McLaren decided to break up the band which he had essentially created.

Wunderbar (the single sleeve spells it incorrectly and probably deliberately with an Umlaut, the two dots on certain teutonic vowels) reached #16 in the UK charts. The song is a cursory existential reflection that is relieved by reference to a German woman who says nothing but repeatedly exclamations of “wunderbar”, a word that means “wonderful”.

Speaking in Tongues: Hyeonshileui Hyeonshil

Nell: Hyeonshileui Hyeonshil (Reality of Realities)

[purchase]

Darius might as well have sent up a flare this week saying, "Geoviki, go wild!" And I shall, whether he wanted me to or not, heh.

This is more of a drive-by, though, and even though your first guess might have been "J-Rock", it's not (just wait a day or two….). It's K-Rock. Korean rock. The genre is kind of a lone wolf in some ways. Korean music currently hosts a flourishing pop scene, and I'm just starting to dabble in some of the K-pop groups, so I'll spare you for the moment. Korean fans look to Japan (and the west, of course) for a lot of their straight-up rock.

Nell is one of the better known Korean indie rock groups. Their influences are British bands like Radiohead, Muse, and Coldplay. This song's more of a ballad, so the rock angle is diminished, but me, I love those guys who can sing falsetto, so this is the song I'm sharing. Hope you like it too.

Deep Album Tracks => Speaking in Tongues: Loco De Amor

David Byrne: Loco De Amor

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I have found Salsa music tremendously exciting since I first heard it. But there was also a certain sameness for me, because I couldn’t understand the words. So I always wished that someone would record an album of this music with words in English. In 1989, as Talking Heads were breaking up, David Byrne granted my wish with his album Rei Momo. Keep in mind that this was long before Latin artists started to cross over, and record English-language songs or albums themselves. Being based in New York City, David Byrne was able to work with some of the legendary musicians of salsa. Willie Colon was Byrne’s bandleader for this album. Loco de Amor is a co-write between Byrne and Johnny Pacheco, and the song features vocals by Celia Cruz. Since Rei Momo had no hits, I feel justified in using it for our Deep Album Tracks theme. But I should note that the song originally appeared on the soundtrack of Something Wild, and it was added to Rei Momo for the CD release.

Deep Album Tracks: Flamenco Sketches

Miles Davis: Flamenco Sketches

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On my desert island, there are going to be times when I need to hear some jazz, and that means Miles Davis. Specifically, that means Kind of Blue. Davis heard music in his head that no one else did, and he found some of the best musicians in jazz history to play it. So, Flamenco Sketches has John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on saxes, and Bill Evans on piano. Of course, you can hear for yourself what a great trumpet player Miles Davis was. Flamenco Sketches comes at the end of Kind of Blue, and it is human nature that we can only remember so much information at a time. So, even though Kind of Blue only has five songs, it is the first four that people remember. Flamenco Sketches is a beautiful ballad with very subtle Spanish accents. It’s the kind of song you can get lost in, because it is so quiet and delicate. But it also rewards close listening.

Deep Album Tracks: Until I Believe In My Soul

Dexys Midnight Runners: Until I Believe In My Soul

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In the United Sates, Dexys Midnight Runners are regarded as a one hit wonder, on account of their 1982 megahit Come On Eileen. One may charitably ascribe such a narrow view to the insularity of a society that believes its biggest sporting codes enjoy such global popularity as to justify calling their national competitions “world series”.

Of course Dexys are not a conventional one hit wonder; in most parts of the Western world they had at least one big hit before Come On Eileen. Their 1980 tribute to R&B singer Geno Washington, titled Geno, was a #1 hit in Britain, and a big hit throughout Europe (follow-up There There My Dear was a UK #7 hit). It may well be my favourite single of the 1980s.

Geno came from the outstanding Searching For The Young Soul Rebel album. For that exercise Dexys sported the shorehand look; for 1982’s Too-Rye-Ay Kevin Rowland and his fellow nocturnal joggers adopted the Irish peasant look.

Searching For The Young Soul Rebel was one of the great albums of the ’80s. My view may be anathema to Dexys fans, but I consider Too-Rye-Ay even better. Oddly, Come On Eileen was only the fourth song from the album to be released as a single. It was #1 everywhere but in North Korea (though even there the Dear Leader locked himself in the toilet and secretly had his thoughts verge on dirty). Follow up Jackie Wilson Said, a cover of the Van Morrison song, was also an international hit. Even the sixth single off the album, Let’s Get This Straight, managed to be a UK top 20 hit.

Until I Believe In My Soul wasn’t a single, but is something of a centrepiece of the album, traversing musical genres from folk to jazz, glorious horns and fiddles, impassioned vocals, whistling, coughing, orgasmic noises and angry mumbling (including a bit of swearing), plus one of the best cynical laughs in pop, and a killer chorus.

By the way, the name Dexys takes no apostrophe. It’s a reference to the drug Dexedrine (which makes you run at midnight, you see).

Deep Album Tracks: The Beat

Elvis Costello: The Beat

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When I play the desert island disc game, one of the albums that always comes to mind is This Year’s Model by Elvis Costello. Man, this is a perfect album with nary a weak track to be found. I love Costello in all of his early incarnations but This Year’s Model probably represents his highest moment. The music here is frantic. Steve Nieve’s organ is ever present and carnival-like. Costello sings with an angry vengeance. The whole album just works.

And while I'm at it, I officially nominate This Years Model as one of the greatest road trip albums in history!

Deep Album Tracks: Tennessee Jed

Grateful Dead: Tennessee Jed

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I should probably start with an explanation. All of the posts for this theme have used album covers, so what the heck is this? As I recall, the vinyl release of the Grateful Dead’s Europe ‘72 had the words “Grateful Dead” and “Europe ‘72” printed on the shrink-wrap, but the image above is what you were left with once you peeled that off. So that is the album cover.

I had to post something by the Grateful Dead this week. They were my first favorite band. My oldest brother introduced me to them with Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. My brother was a guitar player with visions of rock stardom, and he related to Jerry Garcia as a guitar god. But I heard something different. I was drawn to the warmth of Garcia’s voice, and especially to the storytelling in the lyrics. These qualities would eventually lead me to folk music. The Dead also introduced me to the blues, and probably made it easier for me to appreciate jazz much later. So, which album should I feature?

The Dead were at the height of their powers in the 1970s. This was the time when it all came together, and before it fell apart. Listen to the live performances captured in the Dick’s Picks and From the Vault series, and compare the recordings from the 70s to those from the 80s, and you will see what I mean. But Europe ‘72 is not from either of those series. Instead, it was an official release that came out when the band was still active. The Grateful Dead had one weakness, and that was that they were lazy singers. This meant that they hit lots of sour notes when they performed live, especially in the harmony vocals. So, for their official releases of live material, they would go into the studio and redo the vocals. Europe ’72 was done this way, and the results completely justify it. The vocals are as good as the Dead could get them, and the fire of a live performance is preserved. On Tennessee Jed, I particularly enjoy the interplay between Jerry Garcia’s guitar part and Pigpen’s piano work. In the lyric, the storytelling that I so love is on fine display, and the talking dog makes me smile.

Deep Album Tracks: Aja

Steely Dan: Aja

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Music Appreciation 401: Final Exam - Counts for 25% of your final grade

Compare and contrast the previously posted "Livin' On The Fault Line" with Steely Dan's "Aja". Explain why this song would be on your desert island list.

Similarities:

Both songs were released in 1977.

Both songs were the non-hit title tracks off their respective albums.

Both songs are in the genre known as jazz-rock.

Extra credit: Both songs feature vibe player Victor Feldman.

Differences:

The Doobie Brothers exemplified the 70's laid-back California rock sound, whereas Steely Dan represented the New York City temperament: intellectual, slightly cynical, sophisticated, with a dash of sangfroid.

Aja, the song, features some of the best jazzmen around. Steely Dan (basically Walter Becker and Donald Fagan), arguably one of the best studio groups, like, ever, were known for their expertise in selecting primo sidemen. Take a look at the impressive roster for this song:

Wayne Shorter, saxophone (with Weather Report at the time)
Larry Carlton, guitar (in The Crusaders circa 1976; he was also spectacularly featured on Kid Charlemagne)
Denny Diaz, guitar Steely Dan's most consistent side member.
Joe Sample, electric piano (long-time member of The Crusaders)
Steve Gadd, drums
Michael Omartian, piano
Victor Feldman, vibes Featured in many session recordings from Frank Zappa to Miles Davis.
Chuck Rainey, bass I can't even begin to list the groups he's played with.
Timothy B. Schmit, vocals. Better known as one of The Eagles.

I'd bring Aja to any desert island exile because, well, Wayne Shorter and Larry Carlton on a Steely Dan song have got to be the pinnacle of wonderful in my eyes. And hell, they've got one of the Eagles as backing vocalists. When I wasn't listening to the Aja track, I'd be grooving on Deacon Blues because it has both Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour on guitar. Or I'd be groovin' on Peg, with Tom Scott and vocalist Michael McDonald, who is also featured on Livin' on the Fault Line, and do I get extra credit for mentioning that, too? I wouldn't be the only one with Steely Dan on an island sojourn: Rolling Stone Magazine lists it as one of their top 500 albums ever, and our very own Darius has posted 4 Steely Dan songs here, so he must love them, too!

Deep Album Tracks: Inheritance

Talk Talk: Inheritance

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A lot of albums have run through my head as I’ve considered this week’s theme, but it was Geoviki’s thoughts about the nostalgic appeal of some music that convinced me that I had to post something from Talk Talk’s 1988 album, Spirit of Eden.

What makes a great album might be a collection of great songs. But Geoviki is right that what makes a favorite album is a collection of great songs coupled with an album’s role in our personal life’s narrative.

I think Spirit of Eden is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, based only on it’s merits as art. But it also has enormous nostalgic appeal for me. I remember driving home from the San Francisco airport having just dropped off a girl who I guessed I would never see again (I was right). This album distracted me from that pain as I left the city. I also remember long nights talking with friends while Mark Hollis’s crying vocals accompanied us in the background. There are many other times when this album has been in the background of my life.

The Spirit of Eden takes a lot of getting used to. There is nothing easy or catchy about it. It’s quiet and rarely demands your attention. It develops slowly. Many of you will probably push “play” on this post, wait 20 seconds, then move on to something else. I get that, I really do. But to me it’s beautiful.

I think all of the tracks would qualify as “deep tracks”, since there are no hits from the album, so I just chose a good song that hasn’t been posted on this blog before.

Deep Album Tracks: Livin' On The Fault Line

The Doobie Brothers: Livin' on the Fault Line

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Underneath us all
There's a world that we always forget 'til it moves us,
Where the moon on the bay dances all alone.
Ramone, he draw the razor swift, it slice the air,
No more lovely dreams of those summer nights
Down in Santo Domingo.

Livin' on the Fault Line was the second album in the Michael McDonald era of the Doobies, and is considered a sleeper, only in that it didn't sell a bajillion copies like their next album, Minute by Minute, did. Unlike the rest of their stuff, this 1977 album saw no single hits, even with the Carly-Simon-penned "You Belong To Me" and a Marvin Gaye cover, "Little Darlin' (I Need You)".

The unheralded title song is probably the jazziest of any Doobies tune, on what is a pretty jazz-rock-y LP in toto. Written and sung (mostly) by guitarist Pat Simmons (although there's no mistaking McDonald's vocals in there, too), it features noted jazz vibraphonist Victor Feldman (of Seven Steps to Heaven fame).

I think the reason this album carries such affection with me is that I listened to it pretty much nonstop when I was road-tripping alone in SoCal in the summer of 1978. It's got that nostalgia thing going for it, you see, so if I were indeed stuck on that fabled desert island, I'd be playing this with memories of being young and cruising through California.

Dammit man, the Doobie Brothers broke up! Sheee-it! When did that happen? (Jack Colton, Romancing the Stone, 1984)

Samples and Found Sounds = > Deep Album Tracks: The Jungle Line

Joni Mitchell: The Jungle Line

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Joni Mitchell is one of my favorite artists. Most people who say that would probably name Blue or Court and Spark as their favorite album of hers. Many would shun my choice, The Hissing of Summer Lawns. You see, Mitchell was one of the first of the singer-songwriters, and she made her name with her confessional songs and her folk-influenced sound. But Hissing was her first attempt to break away from that. The songs are written mostly in the third person, and clearly are not confessional at all. And musically, the album represents the deepening of Mitchell’s interest in jazz. Over time, the reputation of the album has improved. In France They Kiss on Main Street and especially Edith and the Kingpin are now recognized as two of Mitchell’s best songs. But The Jungle Line doesn’t usually come up in those conversations.

Joni Mitchell built The Jungle Line from a field recording of what is identified in the liner notes as the “warrior drums of Burundi”. On top of that, Mitchell added her own acoustic guitar and synthesizer parts, and of course, her vocal. The lyric contrasts the urban jungle with the lush actual jungle depicted in the paintings of Henri Rousseau. Just as Mitchell’s instrumental parts do not tame the wildness of the source music, so too does the city fail to tame the wildness in Rousseau’s heart. This is a perfect match of music and lyric.