Corn Flakes with John Lennon

Music is part of me…it breathes through me…it walks with me even when I don’t consciously notice it. I don’t make music (you would not want to hear me sing :-) but it is a part of me just the same. It is, of course, the music itself…Bach or the Beatles, Coltrane or Miles or Emmylou, the Duke, the Queen, the Godfather, the King, Citizen Bob or P.E. or whomever…that informs, delights, and satisfies my soul.

That said, there are three people whose love of music helped inspire my own love of same. Two I never met, one I love more than anyone else on this planet.

The first was my mother…humming along with Johnny Mathis or the Beach Boys or Motown or whoever caught her ear and her fancy…surrounded herself with music as far back as I can remember…and, in turn, that music surrounded and comforted and thrilled me.

The second was Casey Kasem, whose warmth, sentimental dedications, fascinating trivia, and mellifluous voice kept me fine company on many a weekend hour as he counted down the American Top 40 (and I, dutifully and happily, copied the list down and kept careful track of the movement of the biggest hits of 70’s and 80’s.

And the third was Robert Hilburn, the chief rock critic of the Los Angeles Times. I read his reviews and essays and interviews with rapture and I came to find our tastes to be so similar that I sometimes bought records just because he raved about them…he never let me down. I even sent him a couple of embarrassing (now not then) fanboy letters, all of which he graciously replied to with handwritten postcards that are still among the childhood treasures I have stored in box in my mother’s house.

Hilburn’s engaging memoir, Corn Flakes with John Lennon, is a fascinating...sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, always interesting... journey through his journey through rock and roll and all of the amazing people…Elvis, Bono (who wrote the affectionate introduction), Janis, Stevie, Bruce, Michael, John and Yoko, so many others…he knew, interviewed, admired, and loved.

It’s beautifully written (the man has always had an uncanny way with words, deftly riding the line between hardnosed critic and unabashed fan and drawing us into the experience in a way that made us feel like we were his pals and he was letting us into the worlds of his heroes) and wonderfully charming and thoroughly involving.

It’s a grand ride.

Thanks again, Bob.

How Photographers Created Rock And Roll - The Picture Show Blog : NPR

How Photographers Created Rock And Roll - The Picture Show Blog : NPR

Let it Roll: Songs by George Harrison

George Harrison, the so-called "Quiet Beatle", was out shined in that band by his more flamboyant cohorts but he added some great tunes to the Beatles catalog and he burst into solo stardom with the bright burst of pent-up creativity that he called All Things Must Pass.

George never quite hit that height again but he made a lot of fine records before his death. Enough fine records that it would be hard for a single disc compilation to really do it justice...but Let it Roll: Songs of George Harrison does a pretty fair job just the same.

The big hits..."My Sweet Lord", "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", "Got my Mind Set on You", "Isn't it a Pity", "Blow Away"...are all here and they sound great on this collection.

George's tribute to John Lennon..."All Those Years Ago" (see below)...and his look back at Beatlemania..."When We Was Fab"...are also here as are lovely live versions of three of his Beatles tunes ("Something", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and "Here Comes the Sun".)

As a brief, but potent, overview of George Harrison's musical legacy, the 19-track Let it Roll: Songs of George Harrison is, well, fab.

Random Notes: The 2009 Grammy Awards

Okay, the awards don’t really matter much…who remembers them two days later?...with the Grammys the show’s the thing. I only watch two awards shows a year…the Grammys and the Oscars…and so I’m always hopeful they’ll be worth the 3+ hour investment of time they usually require of me.

Thumbs up: U2 (you usually can’t go wrong with Bono and the boys kicking off your show), Al Green and Justin Timberlake (a last minute sub for Chris Brown who was having legal problems to do with domestic assault) with Boyz 2 Men and Keith Urban, Jennifer Hudson (the performance was stirring), Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers (the kids were a bit hyperactive…but hey they’re kids…and the combination was a bit weird but, strangely enough, it worked), Radiohead and the USC Marching Band (very cool), Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (the big winners in a year when the Grammy show was jam packed with hip hop), Kanye West and Estelle, Sugarland and Adele (the Best New Artist winner), Timberlake and T.I. (my favorite hip hop performance of the night), Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl (a wonderful time was had by all…though of all of the Beatles songs he could have picked, it was a bit strange that Sir Paul decided to use the one that starts with the line “…well she was just 17 if you know what I mean…” :-), Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, and Kenny Chesney (who knew he was pals with Morgan Freeman?)

The tribute to the Four Tops…with Smokey Robinson, Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, and the last surviving Top Duke Fakir…was very sweet (though Foxx seemed to flummox the director by going one way while the other three guys went the other way.)

The tribute to New Orleans was fine but it could have been better if Lil’ Wayne could have shut up (after finishing his part with Robin Thicke) while Allen Toussaint and Terence Blanchard were playing.

The Bo Diddley tribute…with B.B. King, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, and Keith Urban…was also fine (though you might have hoped that a tribute to Bo would have been a bit more animated…)

There was something oddly cool about both Green Day and Blink-182 coming out to present awards.

Special props to M.I.A. for enthusiastically singing the hooks for the “Rap Pack”…Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I., and Lil’ Wayne…even while it looked like her water could break at any moment. The song itself…”Swagga Like Us”…was lively enough but, as these rap collaborations too often tend to go, it ended up with the four rappers seemingly trying to out-shout each other.

The appeal of Coldplay continues to elude me (please spare me your barbs, Coldplay fans…which are, of course, legion…your mileage may vary…so just let it go), Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have had better nights (ibid.), Whitney Houston seemed a bit…spaced out (but hopefully she is still on an upward trajectory), and Neil Diamond was…well…Neil Diamond (and I guess somebody has to be so there’s that…and hey Jay-Z really liked it…)

And I’m completely over “I Kissed a Girl” and Katy Perry should be too if she doesn’t want to end up a one-hit wonder/novelty act.

All in all, not a bad show…too long, of course (they cut off Stevie Wonder’s closing song) but most of the winners kept their acceptance remarks short (well until the end when Robert Plant seemed like he was going to go on for a while) and things kept moving a fairly good clip most of the night. Like I said, it was not a bad show.

Working on a Dream

As anyone who has read this blog for a length of time knows, I am totally in the bag for Bruce Springsteen. I’ve been down with “the Boss” since ’77 when Darkness on the Edge of Town came out (the “future of rock and roll” hype for Born to Run a couple of years earlier put my iconoclastic hackles up and I resisted its charms at first…ah, the foolishness of youth…)

This is not to say that all Springsteen records are created equally. There are some…Darkness, The River, Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, Live /1975-85, The Rising, We Shall Overcome…that I return to over and over finding enormous satisfaction each time; while there are others…Human Touch, The Ghost of Tom Joad, Devils and Dust…that do not draw me nearly as often (though they have their own rewards just the same.)

At first blush it seems that Working on a Dream will most like fall into the first group.

It starts with the epic tale of “Outlaw Pete” (an 8 minute story song about a cowboy maverick) and ends with the Golden Globe winning theme from “The Wrestler” (a spare, rueful elegy that somehow managed not to get an Oscar nomination) and in-between there’s vibrant, optimistic vibe that was largely missing from the last couple of CDs Springsteen and the E Street Band did together.

Songs of love and passion and redemption are the currency of this engaging record. Some of the songs…the nakedly romantic “What Love Can Do”, the optimistic “This Life”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and the infectious title track…have a sprightly bounce that will sound great booming through car stereos on bright blue summer days.

Even the bluesy rock and roll snarl of “Good Eye” hugs you like an old friend and holds on tight.

“Kingdom of Days” is a delightfully soaring number…I watch the sun as it rises and sets/I watch the moon trace its arc with no regrets…that makes as good a theme statement for the CD as any other song on it.

The playing is, of course, tight…even if Clarence Clemons’ iconic saxophone only makes a few fleeting appearances…the songs are charming and heartfelt, and Bruce is in fine voice throughout.

Yeah, I am in the bag for Bruce…and it’s records like Working on a Dream that makes me very happy to be there.

Bo Diddley : 1928-2008

The amazing Bo Diddley, one of the seminal figures in the history of rock and roll, died today. He was 79.

Paul McCartney - Birthday

...you say it's your birthday, it's my birthday too, yeah!...

So come on and dance with Paul (and me) on my birthday...:-)

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences realized that when it comes to the Grammy awards…especially the 50^th anniversary awards…it’s the music that counts. There are only so many laundry lists of record executives and shout outs to God that the audience wants to sit through so, again, they kept the number of awards they handed out on the prime time broadcast to a minimum and concentrated on presenting an eclectic array of performances. For the most part it worked to make for an entertaining show.

As far as the awards went the Academy went against the prevailing wisdom that Amy Winehouse’s train wreck of a personal life would preclude them from honoring her by giving her 5 Grammys…including plum prizes for Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year (the latter two for the ironic but undeniably funky “Rehab”.) Winehouse (above with her Mom), originally denied a visa to come to the ceremonies, performed in a small venue in London before an enthusiastic audience. Her performances of “You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab” were a bit ragged but potent nevertheless. She seems genuinely shocked by her Record of the Year win, which announced just after her performance.

Winehouse lost the coveted Album of the Year to a surprise winner: Herbie Hancock’s (below) lovely River: The Joni Letters (only the second jazz album to win the prize following the 1965 award to Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.) Kanye West lost out on this one for the third time (both Vince Gill and Usher took playful jabs at West’s petulant behavior during previous awards shows.)

The show itself was a celebration of Grammy’s 50 years with lots of Grammy favorites among those presenting awards or introducing performances. Among the very familiar faces were Quincy Jones (27 Grammy wins), Stevie Wonder (25), Cher, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, and Ringo Starr.

Alicia Keys opened the show with a duet with the youthful ghost of Frank Sinatra on “Learning the Blues” (Keys would return later for a rousing version of “No One” with some help from John Mayer) followed by Carrie Underwood romping through “Before He Cheats” backed up by a phalanx of percussionists.

Some of the performances that followed were rousing: Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang’s soaring take of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, Beyonce and the immortal Tina Turner shimmying through “Proud Mary”, Aretha Franklin and BeBe Winans leading a gospel medley, young Timothy Mitchum and Carol Woods (from the movie Across the Universe) with an amazing gospel version of the Beatles’ “Let it Be”, Kanye West’s heartfelt “Hey Mama”, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban’s majestic “The Prayer”.

Others were fun…the reunited Time teaming up with Rhianna, Foo Fighters blazing through “The Pretender” with an orchestra conducted by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and a violin solo by this year’s “My Grammy Moment” winner, West and Daft Punk’s otherworldly performance of “Stronger”, John Fogerty teaming up with rock and roll fathers Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, Feist’s understated version of “1234”.

(A couple were….um…a bit more problematic: will.i.am’s rap was lame and the duet on “That Old Black Magic” between veteran Keely Smith…still in fine voice…and Kid Rock…not exactly Louis Prima… was a bit awkward. And there was a bit too much Cirque du Soleil for my taste.)

All in all, Grammy didn’t embarrass itself during its golden anniversary show and that was all good.

2007 : The "Singles"

In these days of music downloading "singles" are kind of an anachronistic concept but that doesn't deter us here at the Rainbow from once again presenting our favorite tracks of the year. We make no claims that these are the "best" tracks that came out during year but they are the ones that that greatly entertained and/or inspired us (why am I using the imperial "we/us" when it's just me here? I dunno...just be a pal and indulge the hubris and let it go :-)

ANYWAY (he do go on sometimes, don't he? Sheesh...) here are Neverending Rainbow's 10 favorite tracks of 2007 (links to video and/or audio on each track...make with the clickety-click on the titles):

1) "Silver Lining" Rilo Kiley
(A rueful tale of love lost told with an irresistible catchy beat and a great Jenny Lewis vocal)

2) "You Know I'm No Good" Amy Winehouse
(Backed by the mighty Dap-Kings, the redoubtable Ms. Winehouse...who seems likely to actually survive '07 despite herself...throws down an soul jam as sweaty and funky as can be..."Rehab" [see below] was also mighty fine but her antics this year turned that song from being cheekily defiant to being creepily self-destructive.)

3) "Are You Alright?" Lucinda Williams
(A haunting, bittersweet plea for reconnection)

4) "Hey Eugene" Pink Martini
(A witty, sultry shout out to a guy who didn't call after a seemingly great time had at a party)

5) "Jigsaw Falling into Place" Radiohead
(A throbbing, utterly engaging rock and roll song)

6) "Heal Yourself" Ruthie Foster
(A wonderfully soulful tune of self-affirmation set to a driving beat)

7) "1234" Feist
(Yeah, the iPod commercial was ubiquitous but the song is still very cool)

8) "The People" Common
(While Kanye and 50 were having their over-hyped pissing contest, Common was quietly presenting the most engaging and inspirational hip hop of the year)

9) "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Miranda Lambert
(The Nashville Star 1st season runner-up makes a solid case for being one of the more interesting stars to come from a TV competition with this feisty and funny warning to her ex and his new love.)

10) "Radio Nowhere" Bruce Springsteen
(The Boss rants about the woeful state of pop radio over a tight, propulsive rock groove.)

In Rainbows

The methods by which we obtain music are…and have for a long time been…changing (something the major labels and the large record store chains have been loathe to acknowledge or quick to adjust to.) As CD sales continue to plummet and record stores (one of the great joys of my younger days) continue to disappear…as sites for legally downloading music multiply (iTunes is the undisputed leader, of course, but Amazon. com recently joined in the fray, and there are many other outlets…my personal favorite is eMusic, a site that specializes in “indie” labels) music fans have a multitude of ways to get their musical fixes.

Artists too are redefining the ways they get their music out to the public. Prince caused a stir earlier this year by giving away copies of Planet Earth with a British newspaper and Madonna recently jumped ship from a major label for a multi-tiered, multi-million dollar deal with a concert promoter.

Radiohead, the amazing, creatively restless and adventurous British band, has upped the ante by offering their new record, the gorgeous and beguiling In Rainbows, as a download on their website where the listener can choose how much (if anything) they want to pay for it. Fans can decide to pay nothing (according to one report more than half of them are opting to do just that) for the record and they can still download the ten tracks that make up In Rainbows (a standard CD will be issued next year and there is also a pricey box set consisting of the CD, two vinyl LPs, a 2^nd CD with bonus tracks and digital photos, lyric booklets and other artwork that will begin shipping in December.)

The audacious marketing experiment aside, In Rainbows is a remarkable rock and roll record (and for the record, I paid $10 for it…$1 a track…and it was money well spent.) From the funky “15 Step” to the all-out rocker “Bodysnatchers”…from the lush, shimmering “Nude” to the soaring, electronic washes of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”…to the love songs, grandly ruminative (“All I Need”) and gently flowing (“Faust Arp”)…from the pulsating, rock solid “Reckoner” (hear below) to soothing, mid-tempo groove (accented by haunting electronic accents) of “House of Cards”…from the throbbing rock and roll of “Jigsaw Falling into Place” to somber and almost ethereal (save for the commanding drumbeat) closer “Videotape”…the tracks are uniformly intriguing, involving, and compelling. It is, quite simply, a wonderful album.

Led Zeppelin Goes Digital

One of the last digital holdouts, Led Zeppelin, is finally coming into the 21^st Century when their entire catalog will be made available on all the major online music download services on November 13, a date which coincides with the release of their 2-disc compilation, Mothership.

A week later a remastered version of the soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same will come out with 6 songs that weren’t on the original record.

Going full bore into the digital revolution, Zeppelin ringtones and downloads will be available via Verizon.

With this release, one of the few other major catalogs that remains legally unavailable online is that of the Beatles (and rumors abound that those classic albums will be available online in the near future.)

Magic

I’ve seen at least one review of this CD that calls it Bruce Springsteen’s best record since 1980’s The River. I guess it you’re idea of a Bruce Springsteen record includes lots of soarin’ guitars and wailin’ sax solos and the E Street Band front and center (unlike the last album the band did together…the more somber The Rising…which used the band as sidemen rather than as a integral part of the overall sound) that might indeed be true (personally I think that Springsteen has made a lot of wonderful music since 1980 but to each his own when it comes deciding who the “real” Bruce is and should be.)

Magic has a lot of the classic E Street vibe…this sucker rocks and the Big Man is all over the first few tracks…with lots of radio and concert ready rockers to please the souls of Springsteen fans (like yours truly.)

But Bruce is more than a bit cranky here (the unamused look on Bruce's face in the cover photo is quite appropriate to the lyrical content of this record) at the same time…while the grooves are hard and rock solid, the lyrics are often dark and lacerating. That’s not a criticism…far from it… just a statement of fact. The opening “Radio Nowhere”, for example, is an unabashed slam against the current state of music radio set to insistent, irresistible beat while the acerbic “You’ll Be Comin’ Down” wraps a “what goes around comes around” warning in a rocker so tight that you can almost see the audience dancing as the band plays it in concert.

Clarence Clemmons, in fine form throughout, wails the opening of “Livin’ in the Future” with assurance. Bruce is in fine voice throughout the record with none of the twang that informed his last few records present (the twang fit perfectly on those records but would be out of place on the anthem-like tunes here.)

The bittersweet “Your Own Worst Enemy” lopes along at a nice mid-tempo beat while thick layers of snarling guitars and distinctive bursts of harmonica infuse the driving “Gypsy Biker”.

This is the sound of a great band working as a mighty, unbeatable unit and that’s more than cool to be sure.

Things lighten up a bit with the wall of sound paean to “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” and the relatively jaunty “I’ll Work for Your Love” (the apocalyptic references to the book of Revelation and “the dust of civilizations” making that “jaunty” comment refer to the music and definitely not the lyrics.)

The title track is a brooding rumination while “Last to Die” rocks hard but is decidedly acerbic lyrically. “Long Walk Home” (see video below) with its lacerating guitars and classic sax solo is a cautiously optimistic rocker that soars along relentlessly while the closing “Devil’s Arcade” builds from a whisper to thick crescendo of guitars and strings and then back to a whisper and up again to stunning effect.

Magic is, crankiness and all, a great record plain and simple.

Goin' Home: a Tribute to Fats Domino

Antoine “Fats” Domino is one of the towering figures in the birth and history of rock and roll and so it’s no surprise that a tribute to him would bring out an eclectic group of musical luminaries (including legendary vets like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, B.B. King, Robert Plant, Elton John, Neil Young, and two former Beatles.)

Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino is a 2-disc collection of performances (some newly recorded, others not) of Domino’s delightful songs (he wrote or co-wrote 24 of the 30 songs here) with the proceeds from the set going towards restoration of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood where the New Orleans born Domino lived until Katrina flooded him out and to the Tiptinia’s Foundation, which is keeping the unique musical heritage of Louisiana alive.

The set gets off to a rockin’ start John Lennon’s raucous take on “Ain’t That a Shame” (produced by Phil Spector) and follows that with a sprightly “I’m Walkin’” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and bluesy stroll through the title track by B.B. King (backed up by Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk.)

Both Elton John (on “Blueberry Hill”) and Paul McCartney (On “I Want to Walk You Home”) stay in their lower registers as they invoke the living spirit of “the Fat Man”. McCartney benefits from the production and piano work of the ever-amazing Allen Toussaint while John, of course, effectively tickles the keys on his track. Randy Newman slips into the sinewy groove of “Blue Monday” with accomplished ease (his grand piano playing ably aided and abetted with a sweet sax solo by Bill Liston.)

Taj Mahal and the New Orleans Social Club are gritty and funky on “My Girl Josephine” and Joss Stone is sassy and sexy on “Every Night About This Time” with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and ace guitarist Buddy Guy. Corinne Bailey Rae is confidently soulful on a live version (recorded at Tipitina’s earlier this year) of “One Night (of Sin)”.

Lenny Kravitz teams up with the Rebirth Brass Band and legendary James Brown sidemen Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker for a rock solid, horn driven jam on “Whole Lotta Loving”. And the good doctor…Dr. John…comes to the proceedings with a sly, growly, mid-tempo stroll through “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” Bonnie Raitt is fine voice (no surprise there, of course) on a rollicking medley of “I’m in Love Again” and “All by Myself” with pianist/singer/producer Jon Cleary.

Art Neville, accompanied only by his own nimble piano work, offers up some fine blues on “Please Don’t Leave Me”. Similarly, Bruce Hornsby lets his piano do a lot of the talking…and an effective “speaker” it is…on his version of “Don’t Blame it on Me”.

Robbie Robertson joins forces with Galactic for the slinky soul of “Going to the River”. Galactic later backs up Big Chief Monk Boudreaux on the dense funky rock of “So Long”.

Robert Plant is in suitably nuanced voice on the swampy blues of “It Keeps Rainin’” supported by the rock solid Lil’ Band o’ Gold. Plant later joins forces with the glorious Soweto Gospel Choir for a heavenly version of “Valley of Tears”.

Neil Young’s graceful version of “Walking to New Orleans” with the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University (from the ReactNow Katrina aid show) fits onto this disc quite naturally.

Norah Jones’ sweet, smoky voice and sweet, nimble piano playing combine for a lovely version of “My Blue Heaven” while Lucinda Williams’ full-bodied blues rasp invigorates her rockin’ take on “Honey Chile”.

Marc Broussard…with the lovely mandolin playing of Sam Bush anchoring the band to nice effect…slides surely and soulfully through a gently loping “Rising Sun” while Olu Dara and the Natchezippi Band slip down a jazzy road with “When I See You”.

Ben Harper and the Skatalites make a joyful noise with their jaunty romp through “Be My Guest” while Toots and the Maytals bring a soulful reggae groove to “Let the Four Winds Blow” and the ever-wily Willie Nelson slows “I Hear You Knockin’” to a stately stroll punctuated by softly-soaring saxophones.

Irma Thomas brings the indomitable music spirit of the Big Easy to the fore with “I Just Can’t Get New Orleans Off My Mind” featuring great piano playing and harmony vocals from Marcia Ball while Herbie Hancock leads a crack quartet through an irresistibly funky take on “I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Someday”.

Los Lobos chug and churn through their way through a potent take on Domino’s theme song, “The Fat Man”, with guitars and saxophones combining to make pure rock and roll joy.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, and Theresa Andersson bring things to a righteous close with a rousing version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”.

Goin’ Home is a grand tribute to the great Fats Domino, to the rich musical history of the city of New Orleans, and to the eternal spirit of rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin will reunite for one night to headline a tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Etregun. The show will take place at the 02 arena (next to the Thames River in London) on November 26.

Etregun, a legendary music executive and producer, died late last year. He signed Zeppelin to Atlantic in 1968 and the band recorded for them for the entirety of its existence.

Founding members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones will be joined by Jason Bonham, the son of the band’s late, undeniably great drummer John Bonham at the gig; this lineup last played together at the concert celebrating Atlantic Records’ 40^th anniversary back in 1988.

The show will also feature Pete Townshend, Foreigner, and former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman (with rumors that Mick Jagger might also show up.)

Elvis

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the day that Elvis Presley died (and I think it’s time that everyone just accepted the fact that he is indeed singing in the choir eternal in whatever you think Heaven is and let him rest in peace.)

And yes I remember where I was when I first heard the news (fresh out of college, I was toiling away in the administrative bowels of Max Factor & Co. and the ladies in the accounting department were buzzing about it. At first I thought it was just a silly rumor but, of course, it turned out to be true.)

My first exposure to Elvis was through those (mostly) dreadful movies he made (thanks a bunch, Colonel Parker) so I didn’t really get the “king of rock and roll” thing when I was boy. But I came to understand it better as I got older and got exposed to the music not cranked out for those movies.

However strange the man’s life might have gotten in his latter days, Elvis could flat out sing and work a crowd like no one’s business. From the plaintive balladry of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” to the potent soul of “Suspicious Minds” to the rock and roll joy of “Burning Love” (see live video below), Presley was in a class all his own when he was on his game.

30 years…it seems amazing that it’s been that long…but, of course, thanks to the music and the impersonators and, most importantly, the memories of everyone who ever enjoyed his music or loved him, Elvis is never going to be truly gone.

Memory Almost Full

We will eschew the “comeback” talk that is too often associated with every halfway decent Paul McCartney disc…Sir Paul has put out a lot of albums in his solo career and some have been good, others have been not-so-good, and a couple have been downright great but the man never went anywhere so he never needed a “comeback”.

Memory Almost Full, McCartney’s album released by Hear Music, the music label started by Starbucks (as I write this, coffee junkies all over the world are listening to this record on an day-long loop in all of Starbucks many, many, many stores), is an affable look back at his productive and amazing life. If you were any ruefulness engendered by his very public, very nasty divorce proceedings to make its way into his new music, you will disappointed as the look back is positive and only occasionally wistful.

McCartney is in fine form as he journeys back while looking forward…there are echoes of his past musical triumphs sprinkled liberally throughout the disc but it is, at the same time, a record that has a very modern sound. He’s got nothing left to prove…and he certainly doesn’t need the money…and you get the feeling that he was both very engaged and very loose while making this record.

The disc starts off with the sprightly, mandolin-driven “Dance Tonight”, an agreeable bit of pop fun, which is followed by the harder pop of “Ever Present Past”, a paean to the speed at which life passes and how the present is always informed by the past.

“See Your Sunshine” is an unabashed McCartney love song (complete with multi-tracked vocals over a sweetly loping beat) while “Only Mama Knows” is an all-out rocker (which in fact has strong echoes of his classic “Jet” from Band on the Run.)

“Mr. Bellamy” is one of those baroque pop character studies that McCartney has indulged in for decades (see “Eleanor Rigby”, “Penny Lane”, and “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”.) It begins with a fine horn section and finishes with a piano-driven coda.

Theme of looking back but not wallowing in the past is championed in bouncy one-two punch of “Vintage Clothes” and “That Was Me”.

The wistfully charming “The End of the End” asks that jokes be told and songs be sung on the occasion of his death (“no reason to cry/no need to be sad”) in a simple song with piano and whistling and softly swelling strings.

The disc ends with another bit of fun…the brief, dense rocker “Nod Your Head”.

This is a fine record…Sir Paul, who’ll turn 65 later this month, proves he’s still a potent force to be reckoned with the pop world.

* * * * *

More MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

The Zimmers - My Generation

Possibly the coolest Who cover ever! :-)

Somewhere Pete Townshend is smiling ruefully (or, hopefully, laughing his butt off :-)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

…it was 20 years ago today
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play…

Well actually it was 40 years ago. June 1st is the 40th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ epic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (and if you’re of a certain age that’s certainly an announcement that will likely make you feel especially old :-).

Sgt. Pepper, an audacious artistic statement in its day (the Beatles had stopped touring and had given their musical imaginations full reign in the studio), still holds up after all of these years. It is the favorite Beatles record for a lot of fans (it’s third on my personal list…after Abbey Road and Revolver and just ahead of “The White Album” and Rubber Soul…but that takes nothing away from what a great album it is; indeed it just shows how magical the band was during its brief season.)

It’s an eclectic journey…from the opening salvo of the rocking title track shifting effortlessly into the bright pop of “With a Little Help from my Friends” (yay, Ringo!); from the trippiness of John’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and George’s sitar-driven “Within You, Without You” to the jaunty sway of Paul’s “When I’m 64” and John’s “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”; from the hard groove of the reprise of the title track to the elegant melancholy of the magnificent coda “A Day in the Life”…but it’s a journey that is still incredibly rewarding.

…they’ve been going in and out of style
but they’re guaranteed to raise a smile
so I may I introduce to you the act
you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band!

- words and music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney -

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More MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

V.K. Lynne

One of my favorite things about the blogosphere is the fact that I can find, listen to, and buy interesting music from independent artists (this is one of the main reasons that I have a MySpace page.) One of my newest favorite indie artists is the amazing V.K. Lynne.

Bear with me while I unleash my unabashed fanboy for a bit:

I reviewed her engaging CD Black Halo in a previous entry (see here.)

You can here full versions of four of her songs and buy tracks on her MySpace page (see here.)

You can see her and her crack band in a video posted on You Tube (see here.)

And you can read about her with her latest project…the creation of a new EP…in a posting on her MySpace blog (see here.)

She's enormously talented, incredibly cool, and undeniably gorgeous…what’s not to like? :-)

Namaste, y’all.

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Other MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

The "Definitive" Top 10

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has released their ranking of the "Definitive 200"…200 albums that, according to them, “every music lover should own.”

Their Top 10:

1) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles (1967)

2) Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd (1973)

3) Thriller – Michael Jackson (1982)

4) Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin (1971)

5) The Joshua Tree – U2 (1987)

6) Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones (1972)

7) Tapestry – Carole King (1971)

8) Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)

9) Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys (1966)

10)Nevermind – Nirvana (1996)

The Beatles placed 4 other albums on the list: Abbey Road (#12), The Beatles (aka The White Album - #39), Revolver (#42), and Rubber Soul (#110) along with 1 solo album each by John Lennon (Imagine at #144), Paul McCartney & Wings (Band on the Run at #182), and George Harrison (All Things Must Pass at #69).

8 country albums made the cut, including 3 by the Dixie Chicks (Wide Open Spaces, Home, and Fly), two by Willie Nelson, and 1 each by Johnny Cash, Shania Twain, and Faith Hill.

17 rap albums are included led by 3 from Jay-Z, 2 each from Eminem and 2Pac and discs by Dr. Dre, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Will Smith, Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., 50 Cent, Nelly, LL Cool J, and NWA.

The 4 jazz albums to make the list were: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (#34), John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme (#78), Dave Brubeck’s Time Out (#150), and George Benson’s Breezin’ (#177).

The oldest album on the list is 1954’s In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra. The newest discs (4 of them) came out in 2004 (including Green Day’s American Idiot and Usher’s Confessions.)

It’s an eclectic and…interesting…list. Not interesting enough to get me to buy Celine Dion’s Falling into You (#97) or Kenny G’s Breathless (#107) but interesting just the same.