"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
29 Jul 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: beatles, kinks, the who
(via Culture Sonar) by Mark Daponte
One of the more bizarre sayings (and something parents of an infant shouldn’t have to say to the nanny) is “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” This advice, meaning don’t throw away something good in the course of throwing out something bad, was heeded by a number of rock stars who found gems amongst musical projects they had thrown out.
The most noteworthy salvage job was Pete Townshend’s unfinished sci-fi rock opera film called Lifehouse which started as a story written around several songs. Pete recalled: “The essence of the storyline was a kind of futuristic scene. It’s a fantasy set at a time when rock ’n’ roll didn’t exist. The world was completely collapsing and the only experience that anybody ever had was through test tubes. In a way, they lived as if they were on television. Everything was programmed. The enemies were people who gave us entertainment intravenously and the heroes were savages who’d kept rock ‘n’ roll as a primitive force and had gone to live with it in the woods. The story was about these two sides coming together and having a brief battle.”
21 Jul 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: steely dan
(via The Ringer) by Derek Robertson
To look at American society over the past decade—from its memes, to its cultural criticism, to even its electoral politics—one might surmise the nation is consumed by a bitter and Manichean generational struggle, where no quarter is given and none taken over the power baby boomers wield as they cling to institutional power.
Maybe so. But there are notable exceptions, and perhaps the most notable comes from the medium through which the boomers shaped America’s cultural identity for decades: classic rock. Steely Dan, the jazz-rock combo whose musical and lyrical checkpoints include those most boomer-ish of pursuits such as cool jazz, hot guitar licks, tiki drinks, and expensive cocaine, have become an object of millennial obsession, spawning viral tweets, mash-ups, and even a custom run of streetwear emblazoned with their album art. John Mulaney and Nick Kroll wrote a bit based on Steely Dan for their hit Broadway show Oh, Hello. David Crosby, a fellow Boomer icon who’s become a Twitter favorite in his own right, earned blog press with a new Dan-inspired (and cowritten) tune. The list goes on…
Read more: How Steely Dan Became a Cult Favorite for Millennials – The Ringer
20 Jul 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: al franken, gene simmons
Al Franken describes his delightful encounter with Gene Simmons at the racquetball club.
24 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: beatles, oh darling, paul mccartney
Answer by Peter Levy:
To record the vocal for this song, Paul went into the studio each day for a week and recorded exactly one take of the lead vocal. It’s such a strenuous song to sing that he couldn’t try two times in the same day.
He also said at the time (when he was in his mid-twenties) that he could have nailed the vocal five years earlier. So he’s had trouble with the vocal from the very start.
I think that’s why he didn’t sing it in concert – it’s too hard.
These days he has trouble with a lot of vocals that he used to easily perform in concert, so it’s fair to say that he never will perform “Oh! Darling,” unless he changes the arrangement so it fits his range.
Answer by Jay Snead:
t’s a killer song to sing the way it was sung on the album. This was really hard for Paul to record even when he was 27 and on the top of his game.
If he did it early in a set, it would ruin his voice for the rest of the show. if he sang it last, he might not have the voice to pull it off.
He has an enormous repertoire and can afford to leave Oh! Darling alone.
Answer by John Nowman:
Paul went into the studio every day – over days and days in order to get his vocals sounding hoarse, which is the effect he wanted and had to nail the vocals, when finally put down, quickly before his voice let him down due to strain and effort. Lennon had similar vocal problems with Twist and Shout early in their career, as the track was left until the end of the recording session, where he had to produce the vocals in one go to prevent damage to his his vocal chords, He did it in 1 and 1/2 takes, I believe. Listen to the track and see how hoarse his voice actually was after a full day recording vocals for the LP they were working on – at this moment early in their career time and money were not a luxury then. On Revolution Lennon lay on his back for hours prior to singing the vocals allowing fluid to enter his lungs for the right sound effect. Hope this helps.
Read more: (5) Why has Paul McCartney never performed Oh! Darling live? – Quora
