A Lifetime-Plus of Music

    From solo jazz piano to a heavy dose of funk, it is rarely a dull day on this continuous journey of musical exploration.  Today we have the next offering from George Clinton and Parliament, “Mothership Connection”.  This album is rated #4 on digitaldreamdoor.com’s Top 10 Funk Albums of All Time.

     Simply put, this album is pretty much all filthy funk.  I love it, there is no other way to say it.  Sometimes Parliament can get a little bit too far out there, and even on this album, when George Clinton is offering his version of black people in space, it could get unusual, but this album just hits hard and solid on every single track.  We get it started with “P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)”, and the stage is set for 38 minutes of groove.  “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” follows and is just as good, with an outstanding horn section that makes me think of my good friend Matt and his love for horns and funk music.

     Like I said, every track on this album is excellent, but one of the smoothest is “Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication (The Bumps Bump)”, which may be the single greatest song title ever.  Even casual funk fans will probably recognize the second to last song on the album, “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)”…  “We want the funk, give up the funk, we need the funk, gotta have that funk”…   It’s just… so good.

     Different moods for different days, but on a busy day like today, I’m glad I had this groove to get my day and week going.  There have been some good ones already, but top to bottom, this is definitely my favorite Parliament album so far.

    Sunday morning has always been my favorite time for mellow, quiet music.  Whatever frivolity has ensued on Friday and Saturday has given way to that day when you rest, not only from the past week, but the weekend as well.  This morning, I discovered the perfect choice to compliment my quiet Sunday morning.  The album was “The Koln Concert”, by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, and was rated as the #7 jazz album of all time on gq.com.

     The album captures a fully improvised performance, just Keith Jarrett and his piano.  I have always been a big fan of piano concertos in the classical arena, particularly Mozart, so even though very far from that style, the sound of the solo piano echoing through this concert hall in Cologne, Germany is very soothing.  The subtle mix of chord rhythms and the occasional frenzied run up the keyboard produces a sound that is just so warm.  The performance is over an hour, and is broken down into four parts to be able to be released on a record.

     At times, hints of ragtime and gospel surface in the sound, while maintaining a really nice balance of heavy and light tone.  As I finish this thought for the evening and prepare for another hectic week, my Sunday winds down with another listen to this beautiful performance.  I tend to think and focus better with instrumental music, and I sense this album will be a frequent future soundtrack when I’m striving to focus and decompress all at the same time.  Sweet dreams to all… and thank you Keith Jarrett.

    Out of all of the amazing front-men singers we have experienced so far, there is nobody with the combination of creative talent, flamboyant performance chops, and the singular ability to command an audience like Freddie Mercury.  In 1975, Queen released “A Night at the Opera”, one of their most celebrated and successful albums.  It is quite the eclectic mix of songs, even more than I expected.  The album is rated #128 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of all Time.

     The record opens a fairly typical Queen song, a mix of rock and theatrics, “Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To…)”.  More of Freddie’s over-the-top presence emerges on “Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon”, and then I was thrown my first curveball.  As the rocker “I’m In Love With My Car” kicked in, I quickly realized that wasn’t Freddie singing.  I looked it up, and it was drummer Roger Taylor, who also wrote the song.  As I have said many times, I usually enjoy hearing the others in the band take a run on lead vocals, but in this case, if you have the best front man in the world, you might want to just let him do all of the singing.

     Next comes the well-known song “You’re My Best Friend”, and it is now confession time.  For over 40 years, every time I have heard of this song, it reminds me of the song “Come On, Get Happy” by the Partridge Family.  Listen to both and tell me I’m wrong…   but I do love both songs, so no harm done at all.  The song “’39” follows, and it quickly reminds me of the type of anthem they might sing at the end of a Premier League football match in Wembley Stadium.  And wait a minute… THAT’S NOT FREDDIE, EITHER!!  Yes, this song has guitarist and astrophysics PhD Dr. Brian May on lead vocals.  It works better than Roger Taylor’s song, but again, let’s have Freddie do the singing here.  Apparently, whenever they played this song live, that’s exactly what they did.

      Other favorites include “Seaside Rendezvous”, another hysterical Mercury top-shelf performance, and the song “Love of My Life”, which has a great preview of their grand finale embedded in the music.  That’s right, as expected, the climax of this imaginative album is the timeless classic, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a true masterpiece composed by Mercury.  We are ALL guilty of singing along with this one in our cars like Wayne & Garth, and it really is a beautiful, if slightly absurd piece of music.  It fits in well with Freddie’s overall place in the spotlight.  The album bids farewell with an instrumental performance of the UK anthem, “God Save The Queen”, composed and primarily performed by May.

     Queen is a one-of-a-kind act, and certainly another act who shined brightest on the big stage.  In two stadiums filled with the biggest acts in the world, they completely stole the show at “Live Aid”, and like a few other acts, I will always regret I never was able to see the amazing Freddie Mercury show live in person. 

    As we get closer to the explosion of punk rock, we encounter the debut album of Patti Smith, and her highly acclaimed album, “Horses”.  This album is rated #26 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  I did give this record multiple listens, but unlike some of the other avant-garde albums like The Velvet Underground, I never really warmed up to this release.

     The record opens on an interesting note with “Gloria: In Excelsis Dio”, which blends in Smith’s own composition with Van Morrison’s “Gloria”.  I do like the creativity and enjoyed this approach, and there is a certain flatness to her voice that is not unlike Van Morrison.  I love the title of the next song, “Redondo Beach”, as my dad lived there for several years when I was a young boy, so I have great memories of that California beach town.  The song itself wasn’t quite as memorable.

    I would say my favorite song is “Kimberly”, and there is a woeful angst to the song “Break It Up” that I appreciate.  The music and chord structures and songwriting are well-done, and I can understand why this album represents another important step forward in this genre, but there just wasn’t enough of an appealing hook to really grab my attention.

    After a run of monster albums that included “Tommy”, “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia”, The Who finally took a bit of a breather, at least in my eyes, on their 1975 album “The Who By Numbers”, which features connect-the-dots sketches of the band on the album cover, drawn by bassist John Entwistle.  I have listened to this album before, and my recollection was that there were two songs on it that I really liked, and the rest of the record was relatively uninteresting.  Nothing has significantly changed my opinion after this most recent encounter.

     The album opens with the funky beats of “Slip Kid”, which is a great, if relatively less celebrated song by the band.  The next song is “However Much I Booze”, and as was the pattern with The Who, whenever a song was too close to being autobiographical, Roger Daltrey would insist Pete Townshend would sing the song.  The song is oddly happy and up-tempo, given the topic.  The other really strong track of the album, “Squeeze Box” comes next.  “Mama’s got a squeeze box she wears on her chest…”  one of the more unusual double-entendres from the band, but a great song.

      The rest of the album isn’t as memorable, but I do like the ballad “Imagine A Man”, which sounds like an extension of “Quadrophenia”, and “Success Story” is a really good rocker I don’t recall from before.  This song is written by John Entwistle, and it is one of his best.  Like many of the classic bands of the 1960s and 1970s, the middle of the decade was not a high point for the band, as many of the band members, particularly Townshend and drummer Keith Moon were sinking further into their respective struggles with alcohol and other substance abuse challenges.  That said, the sheer talent of the group helped them keep this album on track, even during a low point and as noted, there are some definite keepers on this record, not just as many as fans had become accustomed to by then.

    Today we transition from frivolous, excessive, absurd and ridiculous to impactful and emotional.  Both experiences absolutely have their place in rock and roll, but at the end of a long and lonely drive today, the powerful album that is “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd was a welcome change.  The band’s follow-up to the massively successful “The Dark Side of the Moon”, this album is also a home run, and was rated #264 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  I will touch on the music aspects of this record first, then address the personal connection subsequently.

     Written completely by Roger Waters, with assists from the rest of the band on the music, the album serves as a sorrowful ode to their former band leader Syd Barrett, who had departed the group with a multitude of personal issues.  Very autobiographical in nature, the record also tackles their cynicism with the corporate and business side of the music industry, and Waters’ own struggles as he felt the band members growing further apart.  “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, which is a two-part piece that opens and closes the album, beautifully pays tribute to Barrett and to all who carry on and fight their own battles without us.  It is a remarkable composition, with limited but highly significant vocals sung by Waters, and in tandem, the two pieces run greater than 25 minutes.  The music is dynamic and is wonderfully light and intensely heavy all at the same time, building on their boundary-stretching creativity from the previous record.  The next two tracks, which close side one and open side two, are both well-known Floyd tracks, “Welcome to the Machine” sung by David Gilmour, and “Have a Cigar”, which I just recently learned was sung by guest vocalist Roy Harper, who was immortalized by Led Zeppelin on their third album.  Heavy on the intensity once again, these two confront the inflexible and cold world around us, both in work and in life.

     Next comes the beautiful title track, also sung by Gilmour.  I always wondered how Roger Waters and David Gilmour worked out who would sing which songs, especially given their complicated relationship and the creative leadership role that was assumed by Waters, but both have their place and Gilmour does a perfect job on this song (and album) which I will address in greater detail below.  The opening notes, produced as if listening to a static radio or scratchy album, give way to the crisp acoustic guitar and the lamenting lyrics.  This song can pack a wallop like few others when we are looking back, or perhaps ahead.  In summation, this five-piece album is absolutely fantastic, and both David Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright, who is equally outstanding on this record, both have professed this to be their favorite Pink Floyd album.

     A profound piece of art, this album takes me back to the 1980s in many ways.  I will touch on the silly side first, then get more serious.  The song “Have a Cigar” was always a favorite of my friend Mike, and not only did he sing or play it frequently, he even used one of the lyrical citations as inspiration for our intramural basketball team….  “It’s a helluva start, It could be made into a monster, if we all pull together as a team…”.  I couldn’t agree more, Mike.

     Now for the serious side of this album.  Our collective discovery of this album coincided with the tragic death in early 1986 of one of our friends from high school.  As many of my friends, and one in particular, grappled with the awful emptiness and sense of loss this moment presented, I believe the song “Wish You Were Here” served as the soundtrack for how we all felt, especially those closest to him.  After many years of sadness and difficult steps, that group of friends all eventually found their way and place in life, but the feelings of loss and emptiness never fully go away.

     What does it mean to miss someone?  I miss people like Brandon and Eric and so many others who left us way too young.  You can miss someone you haven’t seen in 36 years, someone you haven’t seen in two months, in two weeks, someone you just saw yesterday, or someone sitting right next to you.  It is always a moment to contemplate the mix of longing for what was, and in some cases, the opportunity to also look ahead to what might be.  Of all the songs I listen to across this 500+ journey, there are very few, if any, that move me the way “Wish You Were Here” does.  Take the time today to listen to this song, and if you still have the chance, reach out to that person you miss, and tell them “I wish you were here.”

“How I wish, how I wish you were here, We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,

Running over the same old ground, what have we found, the same old fears… Wish You Were Here.”

    So… today is an interesting one, the world of truly theatrical rock that started with Alice Cooper, among others, takes a step forward with KISS, and their first live album, and fourth album overall, “Alive”.  One of the most interesting questions to ask is how successful would they have been if they had skipped the makeup and circus-like performances?  If I had to judge on this album alone, I have to say, I’m not sure they would have made it very far.  A very unique and unusual collection of performers, of course the two alphas in the group are singer-guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist-vocalist Gene Simmons, with classic lineup members Ace Frehley on guitar and Peter Criss on drums and the occasional lead vocal.  Very surprisingly, this album is rated #305 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, but if KISS has to be on the list, there are better albums, mostly subsequent studio recordings, that better suit the purpose.

     I’m sure this may be a tough pill to swallow for devout KISS fans, but I just didn’t really care for much of this album.  There are several songs from KISS that I actually do like, but only one of them emerged on this album, the party favorite, “Rock and Roll All Nite”.  The rest of the album, is a collection of early KISS songs, none of which really have a hook for me at all.  As I thought about it while I listened to this album, the entire sound of this concert reminds me of what some random TV producer who was making a Hardy Boys episode might use to portray an anonymous rock band (minus the makeup, platform boots, and fake blood) in the 1970s.  Loud guitars, high-pitch vocals (mainly from Stanley), and the usual accompanying bass and drums, but there is nothing remotely fetching or appealing about any of these.  The vocals are crass and rough, the guitar solos and chords are remarkably bland for the most part, and the mix on bass and drums is almost non-existent.  The drum solo from Peter Criss on “100,000 Years” wasn’t too bad, but the hooks on other subsequent KISS tracks, even from their disturbing non-makeup reboot in the mid-1980s, are mostly absent on this album.

     To make matters worse, this album was essentially re-recorded to improve the sound after the shows, something the band denied for many years.  If this is the improved “after”, I would have hated to hear the “before”.  It is also littered with some very cringe-worthy and cliche callouts to the crowd with the overwhelming “WHO WANTS TO PARTY” theme, it is all just very painful for the most part.

     Like I said, while I’m not a big fan of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and how they have evolved the KISS brand over the years, I do have several old school KISS songs that I really like, such as “Detroit Rock City”, “Shout It Out Loud”, my favorite, “Calling Dr. Love”, and even Peter Criss’ unusually sweet ballad “Beth”.  Unfortunately, none of those songs had been released at this time, so my one and only stop with KISS is limited to the early and not-so-interesting material of the moment.

    Next, we have Bruce Springsteen’s third album, “Born to Run”.  With this album, more and more of the “E Street” band comes together, with more presence from “Little” Steven Van Zandt and Max Weinberg, along with continued support from legendary sax player Clarence Clemons.   This is a breakout album for Bruce, and I think this will be difficult to top as a collective piece.  Well received critically and commercially, this record is rated #21 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     If I had to sum up this album sound in one word, I would use the word “big”.  Even the softer songs have a bigger sound, one landmark of the quality of this project.  The album opens with two hallmark Springsteen songs, the emotional “Thunder Road” and the celebratory piece “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”.  Probably my least favorite song on the album is “Backstreets”, which closes out side one.  It’s alright, just a bit long and redundant for my tastes.

     Side two opens with the dramatic and explosive title track, which is a great energy builder throughout the track, it is Bruce and the band hitting on all cylinders.  The bass runs by Garry Tallent really stand out and it is such a dramatic burst as they build to the finish.  From its earliest days, I have always loved this song, even before I had much appreciation for the rest of Springsteen’s work. 

     “She’s the One” is another big and theatrical song that really reflects the passion and energy and Bruce brings to the stage.  “Meeting Across the River” and “Jungleland” don’t move me quite the same way, but there is enough great material on this album to validate all of the success and praise realized on “Born to Run”.  Not unlike the Eagles yesterday with “One of these Nights”, Bruce cemented his status as another mega-star of the 1970s with this great record.

    Today we have the 4^th album from the Eagles, “One of These Nights”.  I consider this to be the best of the four I have heard so far, as they continue to evolve as an act and refine their sound.  The original members are all still in place here, with Don Felder again added as another guitarist to build out their rock sound.

     This album is clearly Randy Meisner’s high point with the band, literally and figuratively.  Not only does he co-write and sing lead on one of the best songs, “Take It to the Limit”, he also hits some ridiculously high harmony notes as he riffs in falsetto at the end of the title track, “One of These Nights”.  The rest of the album is their furthest step away from their country-rock roots, although you can still hear traces of that sound on songs like “Too Many Hands”, yet another Meisner song, and a nice ballad from Don Henley, “Hollywood Waltz”.

     My other favorite song on this album is another strong Glenn Frey on the sad, but sometimes true ballad “Lyin’ Eyes”.  Ironically, the last song is titled “I Wish You Peace”, written and sung by Bernie Leadon.  Another melancholy ballad, this actually served as Leadon’s farewell as he left the band following this album.

     Overall, like I said above, I think this is the most polished, complete, and authentic record to date from the Eagles.  It has that very mid-1970s sound, and was their biggest commercial success so far as they continued to reinforce their place as one of the most consistently successful acts of the 1970s.

    Another stark transition, from funk & soul to the subtle, understated album from Willie Nelson, “Red Headed Stranger”.  This is a hallmark album in his career, and is recognized as much, rated #237 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  It is also rated as the #3 Country album of all time, on tasteofcountry.com. 

     Not unlike Marvin Gaye with “What’s Going On”, this was the first album where Willie seized full creative and artistic control over the production and recording of his music.  What resulted was a concept album, an extended story of songs telling the tale of a western cowboy who killed his wife and her lover, and went on the run.  What is most fascinating and unusual about this album are the completely understated accompanying musical arrangements.  Many of the songs are just Willie singing, with a single acoustic guitar.  Occasionally, a harmonica, a drum or a piano works its way into the mix, but not much more.  The other interesting factor is that there are several recurring melodies, like the “Time of the Preacher” and “Red Headed Stranger” that keep resurfacing during the connected songs throughout the album.

     This album also contains one of Willie Nelson’s most famous singles, “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain”, affectionately referred to in “Luckenbach, Texas”.  Overall, I listened to this album several times to fully grasp the story and the collection of melodies.  It was easy to do so, as I have always loved Willie and his voice, and it is so exposed and isolated on this record, it is easy to imagine him playing this album from beginning to end on an empty street corner in a small country town.

     If I wasn’t convinced before, I certainly am now… As my uncle’s truck said, “Willie Nelson for President.”

“Don’t cross him, don’t boss him, He’s wild in his sorrow, He’s ridin’ and hidin’ his pain

“Don’t fight him, don’t spite him, just wait ‘til tomorrow, Maybe he’ll ride on again…”