A Lifetime-Plus of Music

   As I foreshadowed a few days ago, the “Curse of 27” was about to take another victim in 1971.  Just a few short months after finishing today’s album, “L.A. Woman” by The Doors, Jim Morrison died under mysterious circumstances in a Paris hotel room.  No autopsy was ever performed, and he was buried before much, if any verification, could be achieved by his management or friends and family.  Prior to this sad ending, some people felt that The Doors were losing their touch. Perhaps their last days as a touring act were mostly a disaster due to Morrison’s constant turmoil and substance abuse, but I think this album has some of their finest moments ever, and is probably is as good as any album they ever released, excluding their debut album.

     The sound of this record is a bit more expanded and less in line with their roots in organ and simple guitar.  There is more depth, complimented by great production and excellent session work on bass which was always a missing link with their four-piece act.  Side one includes the hit “Love Her Madly”, one of their best up-tempo songs.  No matter his issues, Morrison is great on this song.  A hidden gem on the first side is the slow blues ballad, “Cars Hiss By My Window”.  You can almost feel the isolation and desperation of a man running out of options.  You will never hear this song on classic rock radio, but it is one of their best.  Side one ends with the title track, “L.A. Woman”, the ode to their beloved and troubled home city, featuring none other than Mr. Mojo Rising himself.

     Side two opens with “L’America”, a song I recognize if for no other reason than it was clearly a song my high school rock band borrowed from in both lyric and riff.  Next comes the melancholy and oddly hopeful “Hyacinth House”.  “Crawling King Snake”, a John Lee Hooker blues cover follows, which is an appropriate and similar-sounding sequel to Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man” from their first album.  This then leads into “The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)”, one last shining moment for the poet himself to preach to his people, always backed by the consistent excellence of Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore.

     The album, and the journey of Jim Morrison and The Doors, ends with “Riders On The Storm”.  Revisiting one last time some of the scarring imagery of his youth, not only is this one of the best Doors songs ever, it is the last recorded work ever from “The Lizard King”.  The song’s lyrics have a double-tracked whisper vocal on the song, it is the last thing Jim recorded before he left for Paris.  Aside from magnificent vocals and some really haunting lyrics, the instrumental interlude featuring the hypnotic drum beat from Densmore and a phenomenal back and forth between Manzarek and Krieger ends this album with power and passion.

     The Doors were a huge component of my teen years.  After reading the book “No One Here Gets Out Alive”, by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, I was fairly well obsessed with the legend of Jim Morrison.  His lyrical genius and literary affinity, his lack of concern for standard convention, his deep, throwback crooner voice with a hint of southern drawl, and his commanding and stunning good looks made Jim Morrison the person I wanted to become, and the rock star most girls dreamed of finding.  I so desperately wanted to hope and believe the myth, as Ray Manzarek shared his own suspicions that Jim could be alive out there somewhere, playing a huge joke on all of us.  Sadly, we are just days from the 50^th anniversary of Jim’s death, Ray is now also gone, and even so, the legend of Jim Morrison remains a potent aspect of my aspirational identity, and always will.

Riders on the storm, Riders on the Storm, Into this house we’re born, Into this world we’re thrown

Like a dog without a bone, An actor out alone, Riders on the Storm.

    Today’s album is one of the more anticipated selections on this journey.  I have always known it is highly rated, but for some reason, until today, I had never taken the time to listen to “Tapestry” by Carole King.  One of popular music’s most successful songwriters, this album is loaded with great songs, many of which were most recognizable for their versions by some other artist.  Always highly regarded, this album is currently rated as #25 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     There is no time wasted, as the first song kicks in with “I Feel The Earth Move”, followed in rapid succession by “So Far Away” and “It’s Too Late”, a fantastic 1-2-3 punch to open the record.  The songs I didn’t know that completed Side One were all very consistent with the style and sound of the album, with Carole’s commanding piano and confident yet sweet voice.  Such a truly creative and consistently productive songwriter and performer, her high praise is certainly warranted.

     Side Two opens with “You’ve Got a Friend”, made much more famous later that year by her good friend and backing artist on this album, James Taylor.  Other favorites on the second side include the slightly funky “Smackwater Jack”, and the title track “Tapestry”, a beautiful song that I’m not sure I have heard before.  The final track is the incredible song “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, which of course we already have heard in its most famous state by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.  I know I mentioned this once before, but this moment is so powerful, it is worth highlighting again.  If you want to be moved to tears, and don’t feel bad if you are, because President Obama was as well, go find the performance where Aretha sings this song for Carole King at the 2015 Kennedy Center Awards.  As I noted before, this is probably the most universally powerful moment at this or perhaps any music awards event, and is second only to one other moment I will recognize in a not-too-distant future blog.

     I don’t know if I can think of someone who was as effective as a performer and songwriter for others as well, the only other obvious choice being Smokey Robinson.  It took me way too long, but this is yet another day I’m grateful for the expanding exercise of this musical journey.

    As we move slightly further away from the 1960s, we begin to usher in a new era of rock music, on many different diversifying fronts.  Today we listen to the debut album from the “Little Ol’ Band from Texas”, ZZ Top.  It won’t take you long to figure out that ZZ Top is another all-time favorite of mine, I simply love the bluesy, Texas boogie sound that is so unique to the band.  Guitarist, primary songwriter and frequent lead vocalist Billy Gibbons is a rock and roll legend, with one of the most unique and special blends of instrumental and vocal talent.  His sidekick, Dusty Hill on bass, provides a higher-end range vocal which is great for harmonies and the occasional lead, and with drummer Frank Beard, provides a very distinguishable sound.  Today’s album is the aptly named “ZZ Top’s First Album”, which according to Gibbons, was named so because he wanted everyone to know ZZ Top was going to be around a while.  I guess he was right.

     Other than setting the blueprint for their unique sound, which is instantly recognizable on the first song, “(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree”, there is nothing that enduring from their first album.  That said, it is an enjoyable listen all the way through, based mainly on the boogie rock beat of the band and the soulful, diverse and unusual rock voice of Gibbons.  Other songs I enjoyed the most included “Goin’ Down to Mexico”, a frequent theme for the Texas band, and “Just Got Back from Baby’s”.  They have their own version of a song named “Brown Sugar”, which isn’t quite as cringe-worthy as the song of a same name from the Rolling Stones.  Even as a fairly committed ZZ Top fan, the only song I recognized from this first album is “Backdoor Love Affair”.

     There will be much more from ZZ Top along this journey, it was good to get their style of Texas rock into the mix.  Some of my favorite nights ever have been spent with ZZ Top, they are definitely a big part of my rock and roll musical journey.

   By early 1971, the infamous “Curse of 27” was wreaking havoc on the world of rock and roll.  Starting way back with the original cursed rocker, Robert Johnson a stunning number of musicians had died tragically at the age of 27.  Some of the most recent victims of the time were Brian Jones from the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and sadly, today’s subject, Miss Janis Joplin.  Just a few months later, another rock legend would meet his demise in Paris, but we will save that for another day.  Janis Joplin was a tragic and talented soul, who’s posthumously released album “Pearl” went straight to Number One on the Billboard Charts.  This album is also rated as #259 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     Recorded with her last band, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, like much of her music, it is uniquely crafted covers with a few Janis originals.  It opens intensely with “Move Over”, then we have the soulful ballad “Cry Baby”.  Another great song is “My Baby”, a more bluesy ballad, but the album then hits its amazing peak, with her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”.  This song is the ultimate Janis Joplin song for me, as it blends the perfect sweetness of her singing softly with the raw and intense passion few others bring to a song as it peaks.  This song is directly followed by the last song she ever recorded, her own composition, “Mercedes Benz”, which features Janis singing with minimal accompaniment.  In this context, its hard not to get emotional thinking about her sad and painful life that ended way too short.

     One memory that stands out is a story of Janis Joplin returning to her 10^th high school reunion, after reaching significant fame and success.  All she wanted was some degree of acceptance from a group of people who had mostly ostracized her, bullied her and treated her with nothing but disrespect.  Even as she had found her amazing place in the world, somehow she was still a non-person to this group of people.  We can’t change what we have done in the past, but think about this going forward.  Your interactions with people matter, and you can choose to either be a source of good or not in the life of each person you meet.  It’s up to you. 

     Thank you, Janis, for your brief and brilliant stop here, and leaving us with such an amazing and permanent gift in your music.

     “Freedom is just another word, for nothing left to lose…” 

    The other day I was asked, when am I going to feature more country music in my blog?  Well, today is one of those days.  One of my favorite country songs is the title track to today’s albums, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn.  Like many people, I was first introduced to this song by the outstanding 1980 biopic film starring Sissy Spacek, who gave an incredible performance of Loretta.  This album is #440 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and perhaps more notably, is the #4 rated album on tasteofcountry.com’s Top 10 Country Albums of All Time.

     Living on the edge of Appalachia for the past four years has given me a greater appreciation for the rough and challenging life Loretta Lynn and so many like her were born into, coming from the hills of Kentucky.  Her story of perseverance and grace through many life challenges is a remarkable one, and she is one of the all-time living legends of country music.  This album is classic country music in its purest form.  Beyond the legendary title track, this album is full of classic country tracks that are dominated by the steel guitar and Loretta’s graceful, rural-tinted voice.  I particularly liked “Less of Me”, and the melancholy ballad “For The Good Times”, and the defiant “don’t take my man” anthem, “The Man Of The House”.  These songs quickly transport me to a simpler version of country America, with a wide network of small-town radio stations, and two-lane highways connecting the cities of America into one connected chain of country-music loving, hard working-class people.

     I don’t think there are many artists with more universal respect and appreciation than Loretta Lynn, particularly within the domain of country music, and as you listen to this album, you easily understand why.

    As we close out 1970, we look at one last album released in 1970 that has been included on the list as it is the number one selling album of 1971.  Yet another album that was in my parent’s early 1970s record collection, today’s selection is the original soundtrack album to the rock opera turned Broadway musical turned film production, “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  I have always had a passing knowledge of this music at best, and am glad I took the time to learn more about it.  Focusing on the last week of the life of Christ, leading up to his trial and crucifixion, it is a pop culture interpretation of this segment in the New Testament.

     Unable to secure funding for an actual musical show to begin with, this musical was created by two theater legends, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.  That pedigree alone got my attention.   What also surprised me greatly when listening to this album was who they had singing some of the main roles.  Jesus Christ was actually performed by Ian Gillan, who at the same time was the lead singer of Deep Purple.  Yes, from “Smoke On The Water” to walking on water, quite the dual career for Mr. Gillan.  Mary Magdalene’s role was sung by Yvonne Elliman, who would rise to fame again later in the 1970s singing “If I Can’t Have You” on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack album. 

     After listening to this album twice, musically I can see why it was popular.  Several of the songs are pretty catchy, in the vane of a rock-based musical theater manner that is intended to grow on you.  Aside from the very recognizable “Overture” and main theme of the show, other songs I appreciated the most included “What’s the Buzz/Strange Thing, Mystifying”, “Hosanna”, “The Temple”, and “Everything’s Alright”.

     Culturally and historically, I can easily see why this entire project to include the subsequent show and film were so popular.  In the early 1970s, the “hippie” rock culture continued to look for answers on their quest for peace in the turmoil of civil strife and the Vietnam War, and the safety and idealistic legacy of the Christian faith gave many a safe space to blend their teachings on Christianity and their innate family values and background with their modern love for rock and roll and anti-establishment fashion and rhetoric.  Who better to represent the aspiration for love and peace than one of the world’s most celebrated religious figures?  I’ll let others debate that, but the connotation and association of these two seemingly opposite worlds appears pretty natural to me.  It was definitely an interesting listen, if slightly on the long side, but given it’s long and successful run across many venues worldwide, it is an important piece of performance art history.

    Tonight we have recommendation number three from my son, as I allotted him ten picks on my list of albums.  Today’s selection is “Just Another Diamond Day”, by a relatively unknown British female folk singer named Vashti Bunyan.

      I can certainly attest to the fact that prior to today, I had never heard of, or heard from Ms. Bunyan.  This album was recorded as she was working to establish herself, with some assistance from the Rolling Stones’ manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham.  In a tale somewhat similar to the fable of American folk-rock artist Sixto Rodriguez, the album was initially a commercial flop, to the point where she effectively retired from professional music.  Over the course of time, more and more people discovered this album and it ultimately became highly sought after as a musical piece and collector’s item.  She eventually resumed her career, both as a recording artist and performer, many years after this initial album.

     The album is a soft and gentle listen, her voice is easy to listen to and on the upper end of the range, not unlike Joni Mitchell.  None of the songs really jumped out to me above the rest, although “Lily Pond” is recognizable as yet another deployment of the melody we know better as “ABC” or “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.  The musical accompaniment is soft guitar by Bunyan, and also includes other musicians on piano, organ, fiddle, mandolin, recorder and banjo for a classic country folk sound.

     Like this experiment as a whole, and in thanks in part to the diverse tastes of my son, I listened to a quality album I would have likely never otherwise heard, and I would encourage you to do the same.  It’s good Sunday morning music, or late evening music, like it is now as I finish my writing for today.  Goodnight all, and goodnight Vashti Bunyan.

     From one Beatle to the next, we now have the first solo release from John Lennon post-breakup, “The Plastic Ono Band”, released shortly after George Harrison released “All Things Must Pass”.  Like George’s album, it also features Ringo Starr on drums for many of the tracks, as well as Billy Preston on keyboards.   Also, like George’s album, this album is highly regarded, rated as album #85 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     I have a lot to say about this album as a whole.  To be honest, I don’t love it.  I do find it more appealing that Paul’s first release, “McCartney”, and I also noticed that Ringo did NOT appear on Paul’s album (shocker), but I rate this one a distant second to Harrison’s solo effort from the same period.  Starting with the rating itself, which I rarely challenge, I have to acknowledge the “Lennon bias” that is resident at Rolling Stone.  Like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and a few other select artists, John Lennon pretty much walked on water for Jann Wenner and the Rolling Stone crew.  I just don’t objectively see the greatness of this album, and this comes from a big John Lennon fan.

     John Lennon was obviously a very complicated person.  He did not have a healthy relationship with his mother or father growing up, and was raised primarily by his aunt.  The pain and suffering from these relationships are on center stage on this album, and I can clearly see and hear his pain in these songs.  You can also hear his audible scar tissue from his battles with the press over topics like religion, war, his love for Yoko Ono, and the trauma of his breakup with Paul and the rest of the Beatles, to a lesser degree.  The net sum of these effects ultimately drove John into some degree of musical hibernation for many years in the mid to late 1970s.

     Specifically on this album, the emotion comes through much more so than any appealing melody.  I just find a lot of this songs to be a little too raw and don’t contain much of a hook that makes me want to listen to, other than understanding the historical context of these songs in the life of John Lennon.  It also reinforces why the Beatles were at their best as a unit, specifically John and Paul.  I find John to be too far on the extreme of contextual and aggressive, where Paul is too far on the other end of schmaltzy and cheesy.  These two opposing forces pulled each other closer to the center to make great music together, but left to their own devices, there are too many songs like “Mother” and “Well, Well, Well” that overflow with much more emotion than musicality.  There are songs I like on this album, such as “Hold On” and “Isolation”, and the blunt statement of “God” is truly significant for truly understanding John Lennon, but I think that in general, John makes better music later in his solo career when he isn’t trying so hard to prove everyone wrong with regards to his relationships with Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, and the world around him.

     Two days in a row, I’m listening to albums that were in my house from an early age.  However, in this case, I’m pretty sure my parents purchased a TRIPLE album for one song.  That’s right, today we are listening to George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass”, his first major solo project released after the Beatles disbanded.  Highly regarded, this album is rated #368 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     Subconsciously, and perhaps somewhat ignorantly, I think I went through way too much of my life thinking “My Sweet Lord” was all there was to this album.  After all, it really is a great song, blending a great melody with thoughtful and personal lyrics from George.  It is the second song on side one (of six), and is the landmark single from this album.  Not until much more recently, and once again recognized with this complete listen, that the entire album is really strong and showcases how much talent George had as a songwriter, much more so than was previously realized in the Beatles.  Several other notable tracks like “Isn’t It A Pity”, which in my opinion is just as good a song as “Something” was for the Beatles, “What Is Life”, “Let It Down”, and “If Not For You” are all long-term keepers on the playlist.  As an unexpected surprise, the entire first four sides are just one easy and pleasant listen, with much of George’s signature guitar sound.  The last two sides are mostly instrumental jams, reminiscent of the days when the Beatles were a hyped cover band playing Chuck Berry and Little Richard songs all night.

     Not surprisingly, many of George’s talented peers, including Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Peter Frampton, and Ginger Baker all find their way on to this album.  It makes me happy as one who roots for the underdog, to understand more fully what an accomplishment this was for George Harrison, even as he was releasing music concurrent with Paul & John.  I haven’t yet listened to John’s album that was also released in late 1970, but this is far better than “McCartney”, released earlier in the year.  It isn’t even close. 

     Being raised in a home that loved music, I was exposed to a lot of different sounds in my early years before I started forging my own path as a music fan.  During the early years of my life, there was no artist more prevalent than Neil Diamond.  There is no way I could complete this album journey without at least one selection from Neil, or I would have to answer to my Mom.  As such, I have selected what I consider to be his most interesting and compelling album project, “Tap Root Manuscript”, released in late 1970.

     For the current day music fan, most may not fully appreciate what a successful, diverse, and occasionally hard-edged performer Neil Diamond was in his early days.  There is much more to him than being the artist of choice at Fenway Park with “Sweet Caroline”, or his schmaltzy ballads with Barbara Streisand.  It was fantastic to rediscover this album, one that I heard dozens of times in my youngest days.

     Side one opens with “Cracklin’ Rosie”, one of his most recognizable singles, and the biggest hit from this album.  I enjoyed every song that followed on the first side, a stand-alone collection of songs to include “Free Life”, “Coldwater Morning”, “Done Too Soon”, and an interesting cover of the Hollies’ classic “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”.

     As much as I enjoyed each song on side one, the real prize here is side two.  Way ahead of his time, and ahead of artists like Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel, Diamond incorporates a suite of African melodies and rhythms into a 19-minute collection of songs that stands out as a complete piece.  Like side one, I really enjoyed side two, and it was truly a walk down memory lane hearing the opener (and closer) “Childsong”, wrapped around “I Am The Lion”, “Madrigal”, “Soolaimon”, “Missa” and the impactful “African Trilogy”.  This really is an impressive composition from Neil Diamond; a much higher quality of performance than today’s cynics would ever realize.  It was also remarkable to me, as I listened to this second side, how easily I could recall they lyrics and music to songs I haven’t heard in almost 50 years.

     So, Mom, thank you for introducing me to this music once upon a time… and thanks for inspiring me to bring it back into my canon of music a half-century later.