Pra todos que estão sofrendo com esse calor de Brasília.

Uma singela homenagem ao melhor filme do Wim Wenders e ao Ry Cooder, que fez essa que é uma das melhores trilhas sonoras da história do cinema.

1)Ry Cooder: Vigilant man

2) Aerosmith:Toys in the attic

3)Bob Dylan:Like a rolling stone

4)Outlaws:Green grass and high tides

5)Mr. Big: Daddy,brother, lover,little boy(The electric drill song)

6)The Allman Brothers Band:Jessica

7)Janis Joplin:Summertime

8)Bermuda Acoustic Trio:Riders in the sky-Sultan of swing

9)Aerosmith:Walk this way(live)

10)Jeff Buckley:Halleluja

11)Lynyrd Skynyrd:Free bird

12)Guns n’ Roses:Estranged

13)Iggy Pop:Louie Louie

14)Led Zeppelin:Bring it on home

15)Janis Joplin:Piece of my heart

16)Ozzy Osburnes:Goodbay to romance

17)Stevie Ray Vaughan:Voodoo chile(slight return)

18)Van Halen:Jump(live)

19)Motorhead:R.A.M.O.N.E.S.(live)

20)Steve  Vai:Bad horsie

21)Guns n’ Roses:Back off bitch

22)Gun n’ Roses:Welcome to the jungle

23)Aerosmith:Dream on

24)Aerosmith:Love in elevator

25)Aerosmith:I don’t want to miss a thing

26)Guns n’ Roses:Don’t cry.

La mia playlist di queste lunghe settimane.

Credo che ci sia una canzone per ogni momento della giornata, da quelli felici a quelli un pò più cupi e tristi.

Buon ascolto.

Fredag 6. november spiller Toumani Diabaté på Rockefeller i anledning Oslo World Music Festival. Jeg bruker anledningen til å varmt anbefale det siste albumet til Diabatés gamle samarbeidspartner, Ali Farka Touré (1939-2006).

Ali Farka Touré
Savane
World Circuit Records/Playground 2006
5/6

Et verdig farvel fra blueskongen fra Mali.

I dokumentarfilmen The Blues – A Musical Journey dro regissør Martin Scorcese på jakt etter bluesens historie, og overraskende for flere bluespurister stoppet han ikke i Mississippi-deltaet. Scorcese fortsatte østover, til Vest-Afrika, der han blant annet intervjuet gitaristen Ali Farka Touré fra Mali.

Touré, best kjent for sitt samarbeid med Ry Cooder på albumet Talking Timbuktu (1994), og kalt “kongen av ørkenblues-sangerne” og ”den afrikanske John Lee Hooker”, døde av kreft i mars, 66 eller 67 år gammel. Heldigvis rakk han å spille inn dette albumet først.

Savane utgjør finalen i Hotel Mandé-trilogien, som også omfatter Grammy-vinneren In the Heart of the Moon med Ali og Toumani Diabaté og Boulevard de l’Indépendance med Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra. Dette er derimot en soloplate, spilt inn i Bamako med Tourés faste medmusikanter, og for en hypnotisk plate det er. Her dykker Touré dypt ned i sine musikalske røtter, samtidig som båndene til den amerikanske bluesen sjelden har vært tydeligere.

Omslaget viser Touré dypt tilbakelent i en stol, med gitaren over lårene, en sigarett i munnviken og ansiktet delvis skjult bak en hatt og mørke solbriller. Musikken har det samme mystiske og tilbakelente preget, med 13 stykker Sahara-blues preget av Tourés minimalistiske, men ekspressive gitarstil, drømmende melodiskisser og afrikanske harmonier.

Hans faste samarbeidspartner, produsenten Nick Gold, gir god plass og tid til Tourés stemme og gitar, samtidig som han lekkert danderer det hele med suggererende perkusjon, melodisk koring, afrikanske strengeinstrumenter som njarka og ngoni, munnspill fra engelske Little George Sueref og den såre saksofonen til Pee Wee Ellis, kjent fra James Browns band.

Tekstene er også pur Afrika-blues, der den tidligere bonden Touré ber om flere jordbruksredskaper og færre våpen, og synger om den afrikanske diasporaen, ørkenspredningen og ødeleggelsen av savannene i en miks av originale låter og malisk tradisjonsmusikk.

Savane er et bemerkelsesverdig musikalsk testamente, og vi har heldigvis ikke hørt det siste fra Touré-klanen. Til høsten får vi igjen høre hans magiske gitarspill på debutalbumet til sønnen Vieux Farka Touré.

Bonus: Mer afrikansk gull

Fire album gir fire helt forskjellige inngangsporter til afrikansk musikk. Men alle er verdt investeringen.

Si «afrikansk musikk» og det som renner musikkinteresserte nordmenn først i hu er enkelte superstjerner som svært ofte nådde ut til et vestlig publikum via franske musikkprodusenter: Youssou N’Dour, Mory Kante, Angelique Kidjo og Baaba Maal for å nevne noen. Inngangsportene til afrikansk musikk er fortsatt ofte vestlige artister, plateselskap eller produsenter – men hva gjør vel det når det blir så variert og interessant som disse fire eksemplene?

Salif Keita fra Mali er et av disse store navnene som for alvor gjorde seg bemerket i Europa på 1980- og 90-tallet. Keita er av malisk kongeslekt, men ble fornektet av sin egen far fordi han valgte en musikalsk karriere. På mange vis utgjør Keita essensen av den typiske «world music»-stjernen – han bygget seg opp et stort navn i Afrika før musikken ble finslipt lydmessig i Europa. Så rotet han seg bort i mer uinteressant fusion, jazzrock og funk i samarbeid med Joe Zawinul og Vernon Reid fra Living Color.

Men med Moffou vender han tilbake til musikken som gjorde ham til en stjerne. Albumet er i hovedsak en stille og svært vakker affære, i hovedsak spunnet rundt Keitas lyse stemme og finstemte akustiske strengelek, krydret med tradisjonelle maliske instrumenter – selv om den også rommer flere eksempler på mer dansbar musikk. Ingen tvil, Malis store Stemme er tilbake med et av sine beste album.

Når Damon Albarn i popgruppa Blur tar turen til Mali for å spille sammen med lokale musikere er det fristende å latterligjøre engelskmannen som britpopens Ry Cooder eller indie-utgaven av Peter Gabriel, men da har du ikke hørt på resultatet. For Mali Music er blitt et spennende møte der Albarn mest holder seg i bakgrunnen, samtidig som han gir hele uttrykket en innpakning som gjør den maliske musikken mer spiselig for et publikum vant til dub, chillout – det høres nærmest ut som en afrikansk utgave av Albarns hiphop/dub-prosjekt Gorillaz.

Albarn spilte inn materiale med stjerner som Toumani Diabeté, Afel Bocoum, Lobi Traore og Neba Solo, samt ukjente gatemusikanter og kom hjem til England med over 40 timers råmateriale. Etter en råmiks sendte Albarn albumet tilbake til Bocoum, som mikset inn flere biter av Mali igjen.

Og i motsetning til prosjekter som Deep Forest, der folkemusikken bare blir luftig krydder, inntar Albarn en omvendt misjonærrolle – den vestlige musikeren som med dyp respekt spiller med svært dyktige lokale musikere og sangere og stiller seg selv i bakgrunnen. Det kunne endt som en arrogant katastrofe, men ble isteden en respektfull hyllest til malisk musikk.

Men selv om det kommer mye bra musikk ut av vestlige musikeres møte med Afrika, blir det først virkelig moro når afrikanske musikere tar opp i seg vestlige tradisjoner. På 1970-tallet het den store musikalske helten i det sørvestlige Afrika James Brown, og resultatet ble en utrolig vital scene for afrikansk funk – med Nigerias Fela Kuti i spissen. Samleren The Best Best of Fela Kuti gir en uvurderlig innsikt i mesterens gyldne år og 13 minutter lange afrofunk-symfonier på 70-tallet, men mannens stadig stigende status etter hans død i 1997 har skygget for mye annen flott musikk.

Det finnes flere flott afrofunk-samlere, men juvelen i pølsa er utvilsomt Nigeria 70, som ikke bare samler to cd-plater med obskur og feiende flott nigeriansk funk. Den hever også lista for samleplater ved å inkludere en hel radiodokumentar om nigeriansk funkhistorie. Det blir nesten for mye av det gode.

Men ønsker du et innblikk i hva som skjer i Vest-Afrika i dag heter det essensielle kjøpet Africa Raps – en samling hiphop fra Senegal, Mali og Gambia. For på samme måte som James Brown var helten på 70-tallet, er det amerikanske rappere som er de store forbildene blant dagens afrikanske ungdom. Bare Dakar i Senegal, Hiphop-Afrikas hovedstad, har visstnok 2000 forskjellige hiphopgrupper, og tilgjengeligheten og den lave kostnadsgrensen for å spille inn hiphop har ført til en eksplosiv utvikling.

Det var den mer melodiske og tilbakelente hiphopen fra California som førte til hiphops store gjennombrudd i Afrika framfor de mer kalde og industrielle tonene til New York-grupper som Public Enemy og Gang Starr. Og den senegalesiske rappingen er fantastisk; her snakkes det på fransk, engelsk, wolof og malinka, og musikken er både r&b-søt og gangsta-hard – med tradisjonelle beats og synthlyder utvidet med samplinger av afrikanske stjerner som Youssou N’Dour og lokale instrumenter som kora, balafon og ngoni.

Resultatet blir en unik og lokal form for hiphop, og gruppene i Mali og Gambia stormer etter. Hiphop har bare vært stort i Afrika i ti år, men har allerede fått slik status at politikerne i Senegal ikke kan ignorere rappernes budskap.

Opprinnelig publisert i Ny Tid i 2002.

Aínda que seguramente non é a mellor aproximación posible (esa ten que ser á forza a autobiografía prevista para o 2010), Keith Richards, biografía desautorizada, de Victor Bockris, supón un divertido e necesario achegamento ao que desde fai 45 anos!!! é o motor creativo e espiritual de The Rolling Stones e un dos mellores guitarristas que ten dado o rock and roll.

Escrito á maneira dun documental, nun mosaico de voces propias, e artellado en torno á discografía do seu grupo, este libro rende homenaxe á persoa e ao icono dunha música lúcida, de raíz e talentosa que o mundo enteiro elixeu (e elixe) como medio de expresión desde fai xa máis de medio século.

Déixovos con Tumbling dice, unha das miñas preferidas dos Rolling, pertencente ao seu periodo dourado, o que vai desde 1968 a 1972, desde os discos Let it bleed a Sticky fingers.  Periodo marcado desde o punto de vista da interpretación polo uso da afinación aberta en sol (Re-Sol-Re-Sol-Si-Re), que polo que parece Keith Richards aprendeu doutro grande da guitarra: Ry Cooder.

Today, I crawled out of bed and managed to grasp my laptop. Upon prying my eyes open, one of my favorite sites (CyanTrendLand) popped up, revealing the discovery of Juliette Commagere. Soothing beats with a captivating voice, it’s a sound that draws one in and takes one on a dreamy journey until the end of a song.

Here’s CyanTrendLand’s Description:
“Juliet Commagere may appear to be a brand new face in the music world, but like many of the surprising engenes that seem to pop up out of nowhere, Commagere has some thick roots in the industry. Until now, she has been best known as the keytar-playing front woman of the band Hello Stranger, which has opened for everyone from the Foo Fighters to Kings of Leon. She also sang back up for Inara George in the Bird and the Bee. Her friends include legendary slide guitarist Ry Cooder’s son, Joachim, (her high school sweetheart), and Robert Francis is her brother. Now regarding her music…Commagere’s debut record ‘Queens Die Proudly’ was released this month. The tracks are dreamy and beautiful with an edge of emotional darkness.”

Listen on: Myspace. Check out her site: Here. Buy the album on: Itunes.

Herfst. De bladeren vallen. De kale takken komen tevoorschijn. Straks kunnen we door de bomen het bos terug zien. Tijd voor een overzicht.  Een soort van inhoudsopgave van de interessantste stukjes die in de loop van de laatste twee, drie jaren op mijn blogs zijn verschenen.

Voor mijn stukjes over de elpees van Bob Dylan volstaat deze link.

Southern muziekinstrumenten

De geschiedenis en toelichtingen bij muziekinstrumenten die mee de klankkleur bepalen van Americana en rootsmuziek.

slide gitaar
steel gitaar 
Dobro’s en National Guitars
Mandoline deel 1 en deel 2
banjo deel 1 en deel 2 

Nick Drake  

Five Leaves Left 
Bryter Layter
Françoise Hardy
postuum verschenen platen  
enkele clipjes

The Beatles of de Witte Dubbel : the Beatles in 1968, in zeven delen.
- inleiding
- Rishikesh
- John Lennon
- Paul McCartney
- George Harrison
- Ringo Starr
-  de opnamen van de Witte Dubbel elpee

De hoezen van Britse Beatles elpees

De Plastic Ono Band op het Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival Festival in Toronto, 13 september 1969 

John Lennon: Rock ‘n’ Roll/Roots 

George Harrison – Delaney Bramlett 

Favoriete songs 

Donovan – Sunny Goodge Street
Bobbie Gentry – Ode To Billie Joe
Peter Jones – Kilkelly
The Animals – House Of the Rising Sun
The Beatles – In My Life
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah en zo. 
The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses  (ook wel Gram Parsons)
Ry Cooder – Cancion Mixteca
Diversen – Delia’s Gone
Drive-By Truckers – Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife
Glenn Campbell – Guess I’m Dumb
Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
Peter LaFarge – The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
Favoriete platen 

David Crosby – If I Only could Remember My Name
Joni Mitchell - Hejira
Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights 
Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue  en  Bambu
Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt: Trio en Trio II

Voila, urenlang lees- en luistergenot voor de lange winteravonden.

David Bridie Interview– for Tommagazine.com

David Bridie Interview
By Nolan Giles

Two similar men, from two very different regions of the world, are this month celebrating an amazing 23-year partnership, which has helped bridge the social and musical gap between their homelands.

David Bridie, a seven-time Aria-winning artist and producer, enjoys a similar level of respect in our nation as George Telek does in Papua New Guinea, where he stands as the nation’s most-prized musical export.  The unlikely duo first earned collaborative success on Bridie’s band, Not Drowning, Waving’s “Tabaran” album, which was recorded in Rabaul, PNG. Since then, they have worked together on a number of internationally acclaimed albums, and have completed successful tours across the globe.

In 2009, a lifetime since their initial encounter over beer and barbecued chicken in Rabaul, the pair are heading off down our East Coast to rekindle their musical magic once more.

I don’t know how the gigs are going to work yet to be honest, I mean we both have over twenty years of music to choose from,” jokes Bridie down a crackling phone-line.

The busy Melbournian is taking time-out of concert preparation, to discuss a friendship that has joined two nations, taking TOMMAGAZINE through the difficulties and triumphs the pair have faced, as they put the remarkable music of a suffering country, on the international map.

Bridie believes that Papua New Guinea should be seen as a land of great importance to Australia, he says the nation, which has given him so much personal inspiration over the years, is widely ignored by its prosperous neighbour.

“Papua New Guinea is an incredibly fascinating place and Australia has a big link to it, I really think that this is a link that is underplayed,” he says.

“The continual playing of crime gangs, corruption and problems is what we often see on the news, but there is a lot more going on than just that.”

Around 80% of Papua New Guineas residents live in what we would class as ’sub-standard’  conditions. This, in addition with a violent tribal history, a profusion of AIDS and Indonesian logging demoralising the countries economy, sees PNG often landing in our news for the wrong reasons. However, the country is as rich culturally as one place can get, sporting over 700 unique languages, spread amongst isolated tribes, whose musical and social ways of life differ dramatically from each other.

“It is really hard to generalise about music from PNG, because there is so many different styles of music; there is traditional, there is string band, there is choral, there is rock, reggae and hip hop and on top of that you have all the different groups, with so many different cultures and languages,” explains Bridie.

“It is such an incredibly fascinating place, the country has had a massive effect on me personally,  as well as on most other people who go there. I just want to assist in whatever way I can to be involved with the musical journey of Papua New Guinea.”

Bridie met Telek on his first visit to Papua New Guinea in 1986 where he was relaxing after composing a soundtrack for a canoeing documentary on the Southern part of the island.

“I kept on hearing this song, ‘Abebe’, everywhere that I went, I’d hear it on the buses, in the music stores and in the food shops,” he says.

I ended up buying the cassette and finding out it was a song by the Moab Stringband, which was fronted by Telek. I met George and we had a barbecue and a few beers and you know things just kind of progressed from there.”

Telek strums a steel-string guitar and sings in the Tolai language, Kuanuan, and creole Tok Pidgin as well as English. His songs are a mixture of contemporary Western patterns with the traditional music of his region. Bridie has the up-most respect for the man, who was already a local hero long before they met, although he admits that that the life-long friends have more in common than one would think.

“The difference between George and myself is not as great as you would imagine, we both grew up listening to Creedence, the Beatles and the Stones,” he laughs.

“I’ve spent a lot of time up there so his music kind of rubbed off on me, and I’ve been fortunate enough to record four albums with Telek and tour around the world with him, he’s an amazing character.”

“George has grown in confidence and he has really taken on this role as an ambassador for Papua New Guinea to project another kind of picture of the country to the one that we often get in the media. He is a very proud person and he loves to fly the flag for his people when he is overseas.”

Bridie and Telek have recently been involved with World Vision travelling to remote regions of PNG and working with underprivileged musicians and children

“The World Vision thing is great because it works, I mean you really see it work, the kids there get so into their music,” he says.

“We were sent into a rural province, where the children were really starved for opportunity. They really got into it and were writing into all hours of the night and coming up with some really great material they are now creating really strong music up there.”

Bridie sees helping these communities as a rewarding task, but at the same time believes this process must be undertaken with the upmost care.

“You’ve really got to get in their and show a lot of respect and earn peoples trust,” he explains.

“The World Vision in Papua New Guinea had centres in a number of rural villages, as you could imagine with the communities so steeped in local tradition you have to make a big effort to get the elders on your side and not spook them, christianity works on the premise that sex is bad and some music can be seen as a sexual expression. I think, however that music is the best way of getting people involved, in terms of the issues in Papua New Guinea I think ignorance is a major problem with it. People just seem to think that there must be an easy way to fix the problems there and there really isn’t. I mean it can be dangerous place to work in, there are traditional, superstitious beliefs that must be taken the right way.”

Another positive facet of Bridies contribution to PNG’s musical enterprise comes in his strong involvement with the Wantok Musik Foundation. The Foundation, which was formed by Bridie and a number of others in 2006 aims to ignite cultural and economic empowerment through music in indigenous communities within Australia, as well as Melanesia. By establishing a non-profit label and offering talented artists the chance to produce commercial standard recordings, WMF have given a new lease of musical life to a numerous performers.

“The Wantok Musik Foundation has been a fantastic help in promoting Melanesian music, it also has fast-tracked the collaborations between Melanesian musicians and Australian musicians, which I feel is very important,” he says

“I love being involved at that level.”

With many of the musicians involved with the Foundation hailing from places of diminished economic needs, there is a careful line that Bridie must walk between exposing and exploiting these artists. He believes, however that the brilliant strength of character of these people, combined with his tactfulness ensures that nobody takes any bullshit.

“I think that is something that is very important to be aware of, the fact that they keep letting me go over and work with them indicates that I’m not ripping them off!” he jokes.

“All the musicians that I work with know what they want, they are very proud and very strong, we all work together and we trust each other and we all get paid the same amount of money,” he explains.

“It is a learning process working with people from these poorer backgrounds and you certainly have to go in there with a great deal of respect and understanding for them.”

As part of the Wantok’s initiative, Bridie undertook the direction of the sold-out ‘Sing Sing’ tour in the United States in May, after the success of three previous tours on a more local-level. The ambitious project featured five performances across North America from indigenous artists including Telek and the Moab String Band as well as a number of other musicians and dancers from various Oceanic countries including Australia. The concerts utilised song, dance, and video projections, to portray the stories from our often-forgotten corner of the globe.

“The American tour was amazing for me, on a whole lot of levels” he exclaims.

“The Sing Sing shows got standing ovations and full-houses every night, it was also the the first time a West Papuan performer has ever performed in the United States, so that was pretty unreal.”

“I also got to do some solo shows, which was also fantastic, it was pretty funny, the guy who does my website has a band in San Francisco and we met up and did a show together in Tucson, which was great fun. It’s an amazing place there out in the desert, its not really known for its musical background but there is a lot going on there culturally and its a beautiful city.”

The songs from that intimate performance are available to download from his website.

Bridie may be modest in describing his  major role in this phenomenal story, but it is not difficult to see that beyond this bashfulness is a humanitarian musician who can stand humbly among the ranks of Peter Gabriel and Ry Cooder.

Anyone hoping to immerse themselves in the rich musical backdrop of Bridie and Telek’s friendship can check out their stunning show at the Logan Entertainment Centre tomorrow night.

clic derecho :·: descargar
ry cooder : he’ll have to go (feat. flaco jiménez)

When The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook appeared in early 1969, the liner notes said, by way of explanation, the sampler’s goal was “hopefully to win new friends for some very creative people.”  People like Jethro Tull, the Pentangle, Frank Zappa, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, even Tiny Tim.  Warner Bros. Records, founded in 1958, was just beginning to hoist its freak flag, and in just a few years the label’s roster would be the cream of the crop.

And so the ride began: with L.A. street freak Wild Man Fischer’s “Songs For Sale” introducing “My Sunday Feeling” by Jethro Tull.  Eleven years later, the Warner Bros./Reprise Loss Leaders series ended on the sampler Troublemakers with Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols snarling, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

Well, no.  The 34 Loss Leaders samplers that appeared between 1969 and 1980 formed my musical tastes and exposed me to artists I would never have dreamed of seeking out, to people who may have been just a little too adventurous even for early-Seventies radio.  I remember calling up my local AM pop station and smugly asking the DJ to play some Zappa and the Mothers, or that flip side by the Beach Boys, only to get the response, “What?”  The Loss Leaders made me cooler than the disc jockey!

But I wasn’t alone – thousands, maybe tens or hundreds of thousands, experienced the same revelation each time a new Loss Leaders sampler was placed on the turntable.  So let’s see what you remember about the Loss Leaders:

Diane remembers: “I was too shy to go to dances, but I loved music.  I remember my brother gave me copies of The Big Ball and Appetizers, and behind my bedroom door I danced like the belle of the ball.”

This is what Kevin had to say: “I had several of the Loss Leaders albums when I was in high school… Songbook, The Big Ball, Hard Goods, and the Looney Tunes –Merrie Melodies 3-fer.  Sadly I didn’t save any of them.  But I learned so much about various bands from those, and the liner notes were always excellent.  If I had to choose just two or three songs from those sets that were really special to me (and that have not been posted in this series), they would be:  Everly Brothers, “Lord of the Manor” (Songbook) … a wonderfully creepy Southern-Gothic kind of song …  reminds me of the Louvin Brothers gone just a little psychedelic.  (And) Fleetwood Mac, “Oh Well, pts. 1 & 2″ (The Big Ball) … having known the Mac in 1977 only for Rumours, I thought part 2 was astounding and beautiful.  A soundtrack for my own imaginary desert.”

And our good friend Randy: “From the first one I bought (Big Ball? Looney Tunes? I forget) these were little treasure chests of music largely unavailable in broadcast form where I (and you) lived.  For a cash-strapped teen with a hunger for the amazing world of rock music that was exploding in the early ’70s, these two-dollar treats couldn’t be beat.  Because of these albums, everything I ever heard by Fleetwood Mac was compared to “Tell Me All The Things You Do;” every singer-songwriter had to pass muster through Randy Newman; every guitar solo made me want to hear Ry Cooder.  I probably would have discovered all these things without the WB samplers, but it would have been less fun.”

The Loss Leaders showed us the way – to the best music, to the music and the artists that maybe we would have overlooked or never known about.  The samplers gave us rockers and folkies, crooners and shouters, and artists who were just plain weird.  They reminded us that you can follow a trend or you can go against it, and it was OK.  It was OK to be just plain weird, too.  Thanks for all the support and patience you’ve shown for this series, we’ll keep it online as long as the web gods allow us to.  Here are a few more cuts from the Loss Leaders series, mainly from the early years.  And thanks, Warner Bros. and Reprise Records – for the Loss Leaders series that some of us will never forget.  That’s all, folks!

A great historical perspective on the Loss Leaders at Dustbury.com – we also stole your graphic!

Inside the WB/Reprise Loss Leaders at Dustbury.com

MP3: “Songs For Sale/My Sunday Feeling” by Wild Man Fischer/Jethro Tull (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook)

MP3: “Radio Spot – Manhattan Merry-Go-Round/Memphis” by the Faces (from The Whole Burbank Catalog)

MP3: “All That You Dream” (45 single version) by Little Feat (from The People’s Record)

MP3: “Lord Of The Manor” by the Everly Brothers (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook)

MP3: “Marijuana Hell” by Ron Nagle (from Hot Platters)

MP3: “Son Of A Louisiana Man” by Doug Kershaw (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show)

MP3: “Desert Blues (Big Chief Buffalo Nickel)” by Leon Redbone (from The Works)

MP3: “Piggies” by Theodore Bikel (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show)

MP3: “One Too Many Mornings” by the Beau Brummels (from Eclipse)

MP3: “Lick My Decals Off, Baby” by Captain Beefheart (from Looney Tunes-Merrie Melodies)

MP3: “No Mule’s Fool” by Family (from The Big Ball)

MP3: “All Bowed Down” by Geoff & Maria Muldaur  (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show)

MP3: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Bert Jansch w/Mary Hopkin (from Appetizers)

MP3: “When I Turn Off The Living Room Light” by the Kinks (from The Big Ball)

MP3: “Electric Aunt Jemima” by the Mothers of Invention (from The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show)

MP3: “Oh Well (Parts 1 & 2)” by Fleetwood Mac (from The Big Ball)

MP3: “Reuben James” by Kenny Rogers & the First Edition (from Schlagers!)

MP3: “We Shall Be Happy” by Ry Cooder (from Collectus Interruptus)

MP3: “Big Road” by Bonnie Raitt (from The Whole Burbank Catalog)

MP3: “Radio Spot – The Inner Sanctum/Bang A Gong” by T. Rex (from The Whole Burbank Catalog)

MP3: “The Loner” by Neil Young (from The Big Ball)

MP3: “No Fun” (live) by the Sex Pistols (from Troublemakers)

30 Days Out’s series on the WB/Reprise Loss Leaders

Buena Vista Social Club; o som da ilha

A Ilha de Fidel foi remexida por um americano. Era o ano de 1996, quando o produtor Ry Cooder foi à Cuba resgatar a velha guarda da música daquele país. Nomes como Ibrain Ferrer, Omara Portuondo e Compay Segundo já estavam esquecidos e, depois de uma ‘arrumada na casa’, voltaram com tudo e tocaram, inclusive, no Carnegie Hall, em Nova Iorque.

Além do disco, lançado em 96, Buena Vista Social Club virou um belíssimo documentário, dirigido pelo alemão Wim Wenders, que filmou apresentações do grupo na Holanda e nos Estados Unidos. O material, também, foi acompanhado de entrevistas feitas em Havana com todos os músicos que participaram do projeto.

Buena Vista Social Club, o filme, foi aclamado pela crítica, sendo indicado ao Oscar – na categoria ‘Melhor Documentário’- e ganhou o European Film Awards.

Buena Vista, o clube, era um lugar de dança e atividades musicais na capital cubana. Na década de 40, esse era o local onde os músicos se encontravam para tocar, beber muito rum e fumar os puros. Entre eles: Manuel “Puntillita” Licea, Compay Segundo, Rubén González, Ibrahim Ferrer, Pío Leyva, Anga Díaz. Ao longo dos anos novos membros entraram no grupo.

Em 2006, foi lançado ‘Rhythms del Mundo’, um ábum com as estrelas do Buena Vista e da música. Ibrahim Ferrer (em sua última gravação antes de morrer em 2005) e Omara Portuondo cantaram com artistas como: U2, Coldplay, Sting, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand e Kaiser Chiefs. (Com informações da Wikipédia)

Como adoro o Buena Vista, vou postar dois vídeos destes monstros sagrados da música. O primeiro é um registro da emocionante canção – que, às vezes, me faz chorar – ‘Y tu, que has hecho’. O segundo, o clássico ‘Chan Chan’. Uma obra prima gravada no palco, imponente, do Carnegie Hall (neste vídeo, confira cenas de Havana, retiradas do documentário de Wim Wenders).

“Y tu, que has hecho”

“Chan Chan”

]]> http://readjack.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/13-songs-for-a-rainy-thursday-night/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:30:46 +0000 readjack http://readjack.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/13-songs-for-a-rainy-thursday-night/ http://readjack.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/paris-texas-and-purple-haze-from-the-fingers-of-jacques-stotzem/ Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:49:00 +0000 readjack http://readjack.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/paris-texas-and-purple-haze-from-the-fingers-of-jacques-stotzem/ http://theguitarshow.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/bottleneck-basics/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:37:21 +0000 Andy Ellis http://theguitarshow.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/bottleneck-basics/

To play slide well, you need to master three skills: touch, intonation, and damping. Here are some tips to get you started on the road to bottleneck nirvana.

Touch. There’s no “right” slide-wielding finger. Duane Allman favored his 3rd finger, as did the great Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Bonnie Raitt uses her 2nd. To leave strong digits free for chording and riffing, however, many players—including Sonny Landreth and Ry Cooder—wear their slide on the 4th finger. It a good idea to experiment before deciding which finger you prefer.

Press your slide against the strings hard enough to keep it from rattling or bouncing when you pick or strum, but not hard enough to stretch the strings sharp or push them against the frets. This calls for a light, firm touch. If you’re regularly crashing into the frets, try a lighter slide (for instance, instead of a burly glass bottleneck or brass slide, try a Duane Allman-style medicine bottle) or switch to a heavier string gauge.

Intonation. To play a note in tune, park the slide parallel to and directly above the corresponding fret. Trust your ears—not your eyes—for fine tuning, and add vibrato after you’ve zeroed in on a note. When practicing, frequently reference and calibrate your intonation to open strings. For instance, when playing blues in A, use your open A, D, and E strings as pitch guides.

Damping. Use both hands to mute strings. To tame those “behind-the-slide” sounds, lightly trail your 1st finger along the strings (see Photo 1). However, those whirring noises can add character to your picked notes, so don’t feel obliged to always mute with your slide hand.

Photo 1. To mute spurious string noise, lightly trail your 1st finger along the strings behind the slide.

Muting with your picking hand is another matter. If you don’t acquire this skill, you’ll be doomed to sonic chaos. Most great slide guitarists play fingerstyle so they can mute selected strings with their fingertips while simultaneously plucking others. The basic playing position is the “all notes off” clamp (Photo 2). Lay the side of your thumb across the bass strings and press the tips of your index, middle, and ring fingers onto the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings, respectively. Unless a string is being plucked, it stays muted.

Photo 2. Use a picking hand "clamp" for serious string damping.

In Photo 3, I’m plucking the first string while keeping the others damped. This selective plucking takes a lot of finger independence, so be patient. When thumbing bass notes, you can also mute the treble strings with the karate-chop edge of your picking hand. Notice how the slide is tipped in this shot. When playing along on the first string—which is most often used for bottleneck melodies—tilt your slide to prevent it from scraping unused strings. Photo 4 shows another view of this essential technique. ♦

Photo 3. Here's the clamp in action—I've plucked the first string while muting the others.

Photo 4. Tilting the slide when playing along the 1st string eliminates scraping sounds on strings 2-6.

Listen to The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis on WRFN 98.9
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]]> http://30daysout.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/sampler-daze-the-wbreprise-loss-leaders-part-11/ Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:27:42 +0000 30daysout http://30daysout.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/sampler-daze-the-wbreprise-loss-leaders-part-11/

By 1977 Warner Bros. had quite a stable of artists producing R&B, soul, funk and dance music – or disco, in the parlance of the time.  That is what sold and what managed to get on the radio, but in truth the Warner R&B artists were as varied as the label’s underground acts just eight years before.  Cook Book, a two-LP sampler focusing mainly on the WB/Reprise R&B acts (“black” music, in the parlance of radio programmers) had a little bit of everything: pop artists (Dionne Warwick), jazz artists (George Benson), gospel soul shouters (Candi Staton), Motown alumni (Undisputed Truth, Lamont Dozier) – all put into duty in service of the Great and Powerful Disco.

I must admit, I do not own Cook Book so I cannot judge its worthiness or faults.  The four cuts included here did appear on the sampler, however.  You know, I’m not sure how these Loss Leaders samplers were marketed in the mid-1970s.  I did see ads for some of the earlier albums in comic books and in Rolling Stone;  and truth to be told, I spotted an ad for one of the later Loss Leaders and after purchasing that one I filled in the missing back copies in my collection from a coupon printed on an inside sleeve of the record.

So let’s move on to Limo, also from 1977.  Ostensibly a return to the diversity of the earlier Loss Leaders, Limo transported the usual suspects (Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, Jesse Winchester, Jesse Colin Young, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris), chart-topping singles (“Tonight’s The Night” by Rod Stewart; “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer; “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac) as well as a collection of oddities and novelties (The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band).  Another novelty was the sprightly British group Deaf School, brought to Burbank by the Beatles’ faithful press agent Derek Taylor.  Gary Wright followed his big hit “Dream Weaver” here with “Phantom Writer,” which to my ears sounds a little like “Love Is Alive.”

Limo also detoured away from the disco for the most part, featuring instead artists like Al Jarreau, who offered a live “Better Than Anything” from his third Warner Bros. album and the blue-eyed soul of Ed Sanford and John Townsend, whose offering “Moolah Mah Mazuma” was re-tooled from a previous album (that also contained their hit, “Smoke From A Distant Fire”).

Eddie Hazel, guitarist for George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic corporation, showcases his first solo album with a cover of “California Dreamin’.”   Hazel was best known for his wild 10-minute guitar solo on Funkadelic’s definitive statement “Maggot Brain.”  This is straight from the Limo liner notes: “One day in 1975, Eddie was on an airliner when he saw a UFO which (sic) took him off the plane and fed him to the universe.  When an air marshall (sic) attempted to calm him, Eddie bit the man on the neck.  Result: a year in jail, during which Eddie workied hard at developing his own style of playing, singing and writing.”  One would assume that explains his absence from Funkadelic’s most successful album, One Nation Under A Groove.  Eddie finally died in 1992, of liver failure no doubt brought on by years of alcohol and drug abuse – they played “Maggot Brain” at his funeral.

Speaking of liner notes, this would be a good time to mention the contributions of one Mr. Barrett Hansen, who compiled and annotated most of the Loss Leaders samplers.   He would take a break from this job after Limo, as most of his time was devoted to his more famous persona – radio archivist/humorist Dr. Demento.   Surely you’ve heard a Dr. Demento radio program or record in your lifetime: he’s credited with discovering the likes of Weird Al Yankovic and may be loved (or hated) for making famous records such as “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy and “Junk Food Junkie” by Larry Groce.  Dr. Demento’s syndicated radio show eventually lost member stations slicked into rigid formats by their corporate masters.  It’s heard only on a handful of stations today, but you can tune in Dr. Demento any time you want by streaming it from his website.

MP3: “Nature Boy” by George Benson (from Cook Book)

MP3: “Rubber Duckie” by Bootsy’s Rubber Band (from Cook Book)

MP3: “Love (Covers A Multitude Of Sin) by Graham Central Station (from Cook Book)

MP3: “Express Yourself” by Charles Wright and the 103rd Street Rhythm Band (from Cook Book)

MP3: “Alimony” by Ry Cooder (from Limo)

MP3: “Flamingos Fly” by Van Morrison (from Limo)

MP3: “Phantom Writer” by Gary Wright (from Limo)

MP3: “What A Way To End It All” by Deaf School (from Limo)

MP3: “Walking Blues” by Kate and Anna McGarrigle (from Limo)

MP3: “California Dreamin’ ” by Eddie Hazel (from Limo)

Inside the WB/Reprise Loss Leaders at Dustbury.com

30 Days Out’s series on the WB/Reprise Loss Leaders

Arlo Guthrie

We take a short break from our exhaustive, year-by-year look at the Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders to cite a few of the artists who appeared throughout this series with great music.  We could call it our Loss Leaders All-Star Team.  Between 1969 and 1980, the label issued 35 samplers that were available to the public, and these artists were perennials.

Arlo Guthrie - Woody’s son made 13 appearances in the Loss Leaders series, appearing on the very first sampler in 1969 with “The Pause Of Mr. Claus,” a performance that features one of his trademark comedic rap/song combinations.  The best known of these is of course “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” the nearly-19-minute-long song that made Guthrie famous in 1967 and is played on hip radio stations every Thanksgiving.  Arlo hit the top 40 in 1972 with his version of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans,” and he cut 14 albums for Warner Bros. before the label dropped him in 1983.

Randy Newman

Randy Newman - Like Guthrie, Newman was one of those hard-to-market artists but he nevertheless earned a critical following when he first appeared in 1968.  Known for writing satiric songs (often from the point of view of a reprehensible character) with beautiful melodies, Newman actually penned hit songs for other artists (“Mama Told Me Not To Come” was a hit for Three Dog Night) and had a few hits of his own, including “Short People” (1977) and “I Love L.A.” (1983).  Newman is a runner-up to Arlo, with 12 appearances in the Loss Leaders series.

Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention - Zappa and/or his band made 11 total appearances in the Loss Leaders, they even gave him his own one-disc sampler in 1970 (Zapped) to showcase all the artists on his Bizarre/Straight labels.

Van Morrison – George Ivan Morrison had a recording career in place when he came to Warner Bros. in the late 1960s.  The writer and singer of ” Brown Eyed Girl” and “Gloria” had the label bigwigs scratching their heads in 1968 when his first Warners effort turned out to be Astral Weeks; now everyone recognizes that album as a classic.  Van appeared 10 times in the Loss Leaders series; he cut 14 albums for Warner Bros.  Morrison and Randy Newman both appeared on the first Loss Leaders sampler in 1969, they both also appeared on the last non-punk sampler in 1980.

Fleetwood Mac – Originally a blues band, this British group had the fortune of being led by Peter Green until he melted down; they went through a Bob Welch period before they hired the California duo of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.  You know the rest.  The Mac made 10 appearances in the Loss Leaders series.

Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur – The first few appearances of Maria’s nine slots in Loss Leaders was with her husband Geoff, whom she met while performing in the Jim Kweskin Jug Band.  Maria hit the Top 10 in 1973 with “Midnight On The Oasis,” and from that moment on she was a solo act.

Alice Cooper – Also showing up nine times, Alice enjoyed his greatest success while with Warner Bros.  See “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out” and the album Billion Dollar Babies.

Bonnie Raitt - Bonnie’s career trajectory was similar to Arlo Guthrie and Randy Newman. She made eight Loss Leaders appearances, working for years and putting out great music with only minor success, then boom – a big hit.  But she didn’t get that one while on the Burbank label.  Although she made slight ripples in 1977 with Sweet Forgiveness and the cover of Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” Raitt didn’t reach the top (and the top 40) until 1989’s Nick Of Time on Capitol Records.  That album spawned hits with the title song and John Hiatt’s “Thing Called Love” and earned Raitt an armload of Grammy Awards.

Ry Cooder - Ry was always one of the best reasons to pick up a Loss Leaders sampler.  With seven appearances over the years, he managed to keep his music on the minds of discerning listeners.  In addition to his own worthy work, Cooder’s nifty slide guitar work shows up on records by the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Little Feat and many others.  He scored a number of films and produced the awesome Buena Vista Social Club album (1997).

Van Dyke Parks

Wild Card: Van Dyke Parks – Best known as a collaborator with the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, this ultimately California dude made only six appearances on Loss Leaders albums, but many of the tracks he contributed have appeared nowhere else.  Maybe that’s a good thing – Parks is certainly an acquired taste.  Check out his lyrics for the Beach Boys’ “Surf’s Up” and Brian Wilson’s masterpiece Smile (2004).  “Come To The Sunshine,” included here, was a minor hit for Harper’s Bizarre in the late 1960s.

Second Team: Doobie Brothers (10 Loss Leader appearances);  Little Feat (8 appearances); Beach Boys (8 appearances); Seals & Crofts (7 appearances), James Taylor (7 appearances).

MP3: “The Pause of Mr. Claus” by Arlo Guthrie (from Songbook, 1969)

MP3: “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” by Arlo Guthrie (from Pumping Vinyl, 1979)

MP3: “Mama Told Me Not To Come” by Randy Newman (from The Big Ball, 1970)

MP3: “It’s Money That I Love” by Randy Newman (from Eclipse, 1980)

MP3: “It Ain’t The Meat, It’s The Motion” by Maria Muldaur (from The Force, 1975)

MP3: “Tattler” by Ry Cooder (from Deep Ear, 1974)

MP3: “Little Sister” by Ry Cooder (from Eclipse, 1980)

MP3: “You’re Gonna Get What’s Comin’ ” by Bonnie Raitt (from Eclipse, 1980)

MP3: “Music From A Datsun TV Commercial” by Van Dyke Parks (from Songbook, 1969)

MP3: “Music From Ice Capades TV Commercials” by Van Dyke Parks (from Record Show, 1969)

MP3: “On The Rolling Sea When Jesus Speak To Me” by Van Dyke Parks (from Looney Tunes-Merrie Melodies, 1970)

MP3: “Come To The Sunshine” by Van Dyke Parks (from Deep Ear, 1974 – but this was originally an MGM single from 1966)

Inside the WB/Loss Leaders by Dustbury.com