Recommended Albums #38

11 Feb 2013 3 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

bursting

Strawbs: Bursting at the Seams (1973)

I’ll turn this one over to an Amazon.com customer review who identifies himself as Lucius, with whose appraisal of Strawbs, one of my favorite three artists of all time, I heartily concur:

“…Strawbs are the best unknown “English Progressive” band of the seventies (aka, the Strawberry Hill Boys in the 1960’s). Of course, Strawbs never stood a chance, even in the wake of “progressive” bands such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull, and Yes (each of whom The New York Times despised back in the early ’70’s).

Because rock critcs took as a given self-evident gospel truth that the wellspring of Rock and Roll was the Blues, choirboy music never stood a chance in America. And so Dave Cousins, folkie choirboy lover of orchestral rock and instrumental virtuosity, was just rendered irrelevant for one reason or another – too “intense”, too “conceptual”, too British? Too good, I’d say.

The only song of the Strawbs I remember on the radio was “Lay Down”, which hooked me; it was the best song being aired at the time (though I suspect I heard “Part of the Union” at some point prior to that). But with Disco and the Eagles and the New Wave/Punk thing just around the corner, where were the Strawbs going to find a place? Alas.

And just as Ian Anderson has been making incredible music for 30 plus years without a word of mainstream “critical” praise, just so Dave Cousins is anonymous here in the USofA. Go figure.”

By Lucius

_________________________

Any analysis of this band I attempt is bound to end in unabashed fanspeak; so it is with the things I love too much…

Bursting At The Seams is the ideal place to start in getting your ears around the Strawbs catalog. The fourth of their seven-LP output while on the A&M label, it marks a transitional period between the more pastoral/acoustic earlier work and the “proggier”, more electric later output.

strawbs 1

But despite being plagued with the lineup changes that caused the stylistic musical shifts, Strawbs weren’t in the business of mediocrity and Bursting At The Seams is no mere “transitional album” in their catalog. Rather it is a high-water mark, along with Grave New World which preceded it and Hero And Heroine which followed–their period of greatest musical fertility and lyrical depth. New members Lambert, Hudson and Ford brought along material strong enough to stand beside–and even complement–the work of one of the most gifted writers in all of rock, David Cousins, himself at the peak of his powers. No one in all of British folk/rock or prog rock or whatever genre you place this genre-defying band had a greater gift for placing the introspective alongside the anthemic, the mystical in the company of the visceral. For a few years during this period, Strawbs (not THE Strawbs, as they are frequently misnamed) made music of a quality rarely seen before or since–a music that didn’t sacrifice beauty for power, or power for beauty.

lay down

Many, many times in the years when I was discovering this music I imagined I felt the same thing Dave Cousins experienced when he wrote the song “Stormy Down” (which appears on this album). He was “high on Stormy Down thinking of my friends below…but they had gone some other way, they did not want to know…” It would have been utterly futile explaining to my 14-year-old peers the unique beauty I found in this music. Even friends who were into progressive rock seldom scaled ecstatic heights such as these. For me it was–and is–to quote Cousins again, “a glimpse of heaven”. My friends at the time, for whom musical quality was measured quantitatively (by the number of decibels) had “gone some other way”.

But speaking for those of us who DID “want to know”, I’m thankful someone was true enough to himself to write music about the interior life, for those of us just uncool enough in our youth to care about such things. Thank goodness for songwriters like Mr. Cousins whose songs were built of such solid stuff that to this day and even in all-acoustic settings (as most Strawbs concerts now are) they bring more force and meaning to bear than so many artists of wider acclaim. And thank heavens for songwriters, Cousins being a prime example, who show us rock can be so much greater and more than butt-shaking, ear-shattering party soundtrack music.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/05/11/songs-you-may-have-missed-100/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/09/28/songs-you-may-have-missed-481/

Don’t miss: “Lay Down”

Listen to: “Tears and Pavan”

Listen to: “Stormy Down”

Listen to: “The Winter and the Summer”

Recommended Albums #37

20 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Best of the Blog, Recommended Albums Tags: ,

mona lisa

Graham Parker: The Mona Lisa’s Sister (1988)

I’ve always wondered about the tendency, when you discover an artist well into their career, to forever prefer the album that served as your introduction to that artist over the rest of their catalogue. Although it may be merely a sentimental, subjective attachment, there could also be valid reasons why this so often happens.

If that album was recommended by a fan of the artist it’s entirely appropriate that they should select that artist’s finest work in their attempt to evangelize you. And it just makes sense that, whether it’s word of mouth or a tendency for a music retailer (we used to call them “record stores”) to stock more copies of the better stuff, that a singer or band’s best work will be the most likely to blow through your transom at some point.

My introduction to Graham Parker was overlaid with all the symmetry of obsolete two-sided music media: a friend made me a cassette with the The Mona Lisa’s Sister on one side and Warren Zevon’s Sentimental Hygiene on the other. Each album has been described as a return to form by a long-established rocker, each served as my introduction to an artist, and each remains my favorite of the two artists’ respective catalogues.

I’m just gonna tell it like it is: as much as music critics rave about Howlin’ Wind and Squeezing Out Sparks–Parker’s early work from the late 70’s–to my ears The Mona Lisa’s Sister is his most satisfying record. But of course I must add the disclaimer that it was the one I heard first, so I may be biased.

This album features more acoustic guitar than on Parker’s previous work. As he described it, the desire to make a record that focused on the singer, the song and acoustic guitar in the era of blown-up Phil Collins, George Michael and Whitney Houston productions got him kicked off his record label. Sticking to his intentions to not sound like everyone else’s music, he signed on with RCA and proceeded to make an album “stripped of superfluous information, devoid of artifice, and free from the stamp of a ‘producer'”.

Cutting his vocals live as opposed to overdubbing, adding bass, keys and lead guitar only as spare enhancements, Parker made an album that still sounds good today, while much 80’s pop and rock sounds like it was buried under an avalanche of synths. Graham himself relates:

“Funnily enough, I bumped into two engineer/producers not long after the album had been released and they seemed confused by its popularity and good reviews. One thought it sounded ‘unfinished’ and the other one decided that there was something just plain wrong with it!  I knew then that I had attained Success.”

While I agree it was indeed a success (or, as Graham might say, “SUCK-sess”) in the interest of equal time I’ll reprint Allmusic Guide‘s brief and particularly unflattering review:

Graham Parker moves to his fourth record label (actually, his fifth, if you count Atlantic, which dumped him before releasing an album) for one of his less inspired efforts. When he sings “Get Started, Start A Fire,” he seems to be talking to himself, and when he resorts to covering the old Sam Cooke hit “Cupid,” he seems to be grasping for material.

Of course, I couldn’t disagree more strongly but, as a recent post on this site asserted, the appreciation of music is a very subjective thing, and one man’s “great” is another man’s “meh”. So listen and decide for yourself…

Listen to: “Don’t Let it Break You Down”

 

Listen to: “Success”

 

Listen to: “Get Started, Start a Fire”

 

Listen to: “The Girl Isn’t Ready”

 

Listen to: “I Don’t Know”

 

See also: Songs You May Have Missed #685 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)

Recommended Albums #36

11 Jan 2013 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: , , , , , ,

what the man saidcoming up

Various Artists: Listen to What the Man Said–Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney (2001)

Various Artists: Coming Up–Independent Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney (2001)

These were the tribute albums that, more than any other, changed my mind about tribute albums. My thinking as a music consumer had been: if you really love an artist, why would you waste time listening to other artists cover that artist? And other than those made for a charitable cause, why would such albums be worth the money? Aren’t they just a poor man’s version of the original? I mean, the Beatles never recorded trib– oh wait. They kinda did. What were “A Taste of Honey”, “Anna”, “Twist and Shout”, or Lennon’s Rock and Roll album but tributes to artists they admired?

Anyway, I’ve come around about enjoying a reverent–or even an imaginatively different–version of a song I love. But basically it took an extraordinary tribute album–actually a pair of them–to begin that change for me.

Listen to What the Man Said is supposedly “popular” artists’ musical tributes to McCartney. It’s actually a mix of household names (Matthew Sweet, The Finn Brothers) and lesser-knowns (Owsley, The Merrymakers).

Coming Up, described as “independent” artists, is where it gets truly indie, with Kyf Brewer, Cliff Hillis, Phil Keaggy and others, most of whom I’d never heard of before owning this CD. If you’d assume the volume featuring the “popular” artists would be the only one worth having, you’d be wrong. Matthew Sweet and company do a fine job, but the indies are mostly unsung power pop heroes, and imitating the Beatles is what they do. Their hearts are in the project, and they turn in some great performances.

Best example: Cliff Hillis’ take on “This One”, a Flowers in the Dirt album track that, frankly, McCartney didn’t maximize the potential of. It’s rare to hear anyone improve on a Beatle’s version of his own song, but Hillis does so here. In other cases, it’s a fresh energy (Michael Carpenter’s “Getting Closer”) or added harmony layers (Linus of Hollywood’s “Warm and Beautiful”) or meatier guitars (“Maybe I’m Amazed” by Virgos Merlot) or a female lead vocal (“With a Little Luck” by The Masticators) that enable you to hear McCartney’s greatness with fresh ears.

These two CDs are out of print, but still to be found. If you’re a real fan of McCartney’s work, this is music worth owning.

Listen to: “Every Night” (Matthew Sweet)

Listen to: “Band On the Run” (Owsley)

Listen to: “This One” (Cliff Hillis)

Listen to: “Maybe I’m Amazed” (Virgos Merlot)

Listen to: “Getting Closer” (Michael Carpenter)

Listen to: “Somedays” (Phil Keaggy)

Recommended Albums #35

07 Jan 2013 6 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Best of the Blog, Recommended Albums Tags: ,

ketelby

Ketèlbey: In a Monastery Garden (1959)

Most of us probably have strong feelings about the music our parents loved–either affection or revulsion. I look back as an adult at the music collection of my father with admiration: right up until age fifty or so he was buying and listening to then-current top 40 music, adding it to an eclectic collection encompassing every era since the time of big band jazz (one style he had little use for).

In every decade and in nearly every genre it seems he found something to like, and a scan of his albums and 45’s reveals his discernment of quality music: The Ames Brothers–genius. Roger Miller–genius. The Carpenters–genius. Herb Alpert, The Seekers, The Stylistics, The Spinners, Stevie Wonder, ABBA, Nat Cole, Bobby Darin, Jerry Reed, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell…the degree to which my father’s taste shaped mine is astonishing, and I only wish I’d told him sooner–like when I was shutting the bedroom door to blare my Elvis Costello records.

But Dad also took great enjoyment in what some would now call “guilty pleasure” music (although I’m sure he did so without guilt because to him music was never about hipness or cred, only enjoyment). Tony Orlando & Dawn, Sandie Shaw, Connie Francis, Bobby Sherman and Olivia Newton-John were some of the artists he enjoyed without shame. And I’m grateful that he was no elitist. From this I learned that music is for enjoyment primarily, and doesn’t need to challenge to have validity.

Thanks at least in part to my dad I know it doesn’t have to be Miles Davis, or Mozart, or Dylan to matter. And sometimes I drive around with ELO playing from my car because, whatever a critic or an ordinary hater might have to say, the enjoyment is the thing.

Which brings us (trust me) to Albert Ketèlbey. Although my dad’s record collection included more serious classical music, it was the “light music” of Ketèlbey that more often made it into the thick stack of albums the record changer would drop in succession onto Dad’s turntable.

Ketèlbey could be considered the Henry Mancini or Leroy Anderson of his time, his time being from about 1912 to the mid-1930’s. During that period the English composer made music that was more about charm than pretension, more about pure enjoyment than depth or so-called substance. And he was so successful doing it that he was able to retire to the Isle of Wight while still only in his forties.

In a Monastery Garden: The Immortal Works of Ketèlbey was the recording that the majority of the eleven kids in my family grew to love without realizing it at the time. It’s an album that was background music to our childhood years, hardly noticed, but has become dear to us since our dad passed on, as nostalgia for those innocent years grows.

Perhaps this album’s particular attraction for us among my dad’s many records is due to the built-in nostalgic feel of Ketèlbey’s melodies. That’s the magic of Ketèlbey’s impressionistic music: He didn’t rigorously adhere to authentic Persian or Egyptian styles in writing songs like “In a Persian Market” or “In the Mystic Land of Egypt”. “In a Chinese Temple Garden” doesn’t sound remotely like the music of China. Rather he immersed the listener in an imagined version of faraway places, incorporating such flourishes as birdsong, church bells, monks’ chant, and most importantly, hauntingly beautiful melody.

With no disrespect to the Bachs and Beethovens of the world, what Ketèlbey created is just as dear to many, especially in his homeland of England. There’s nothing “light” about the beauty of Albert Ketèlbey’s melodies.

Listen to: “In a Monastery Garden”

Listen to: “In a Persian Market”

Listen to: “Wedgwood Blue”

Listen to: “Bells Across the Meadows”

Recommended Albums #34

19 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

tribes

Tribes: Baby (2012)

Odd that England’s New Music Express called Tribes “Britain’s best American band”. They sound peculiarly British to me. Of course, so did The Redwalls, and they are from Chicago. I think it just might be that influences skip across the pond more liberally in both directions than ever before.

2012 was a downright depressing year for rock: the biggest newsmakers in the genre were names like The Beach Boys (50th anniversary tour), the Rolling Stones (also celebrating 50) and Springsteen (who may as well be). New rock took a back seat to Classic rock, and both were overshadowed by dance music and indie pop. That thud we all heard was the sound of a genre hitting (rock) bottom.

Maybe new rock bands aren’t ambitious enough. So seldom do you hear one even attempt to craft a polished, accessible, well-produced record–you know, the kind with audible lyrics and everything. And maybe Tribes won’t be the band to turn it all around. But at least they seem to go for it. They seem to be trying to make that great record that can be embraced by millions.

And we need it. A generation have grown up without knowing what it’s like to buy a new classic rock record. I don’t mean “classic rock” as in Steve Miller Band. I mean a rock record that is a classic. As much as I like to see a youngster wearing a Pink Floyd or Beatles T-shirt, isn’t it time a next wave of great rock bands stepped forward and made their presence felt on the charts alongside Taylor Swift and Rihanna?

The anthemic chorus of “We Are Children” is something I could hear a full arena chanting along with. “Corner of an English Field” may bring to mind Oasis in their better moments. And while “Himalaya” might not grab you at first listen, it’s a grower with a Zeppelinesque heaviness.

Tribes don’t sound like a flash in the pan to me. I’ll be interested to see where their ambition takes them next time out. And hoping they enjoy a bright future both in England where they seem to be loved, and in America where the critics have so far been less impressed.

Listen to: “We Were Children”

 

Listen to: “Corner of an English Field”

 

Listen to: “Himalaya”

Recommended Albums #33

10 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: , , ,

fab-1 fab-2

The Fab Four:

Christmas With the Fab Four (2002)

 Have Yourself a FAB-ulous Little Christmas (2002)

These two albums are a real treat for Beatle fans. Each Christmas song contains musical references to a particular song by that other Fab Four, so it’s fun to spot the corollary song–as well as plenty of more obscure, uh, Easter eggs.

It’s quite an amazing job of meshing Beatle songs with Christmas carols and even makes for a few laugh-out-loud moments. Very cool concept–one that wouldn’t work as well with any other band.

But for so many of us these musical riffs and phrases are so deeply embedded that to hear them transplanted into holiday songs is a kick.

Listen to: “Joy to the World”

Listen to: “Feliz Navidad”

Listen to: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

Listen to: “Away in a Manger”

Listen to: “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

Listen to: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

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