"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
21 Nov 2018 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: bohemian rhapsody
06 Oct 2018 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: the cowsills, the rain the park & other things
The Cowsills released “The Rain, the Park and Other Things” (think “the Flower Girl) in 1967 on MGM Records. Fast forward to 2018. Wish Nails, owner and operator with her husband, Steve, of Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, wakes up from a dream and believes the Cowsills should record their hit, “The Rain, the Park and Other Things” a cappella, submit it to the Grammies for consideration in the a cappella category and if any group could pull it off it’s The Cowsills. To make a long story short here is the single release of “The Rain, the Park and Other Things – A Cappella” by the Cowsills.
And the ole family band can still pull off a stunning full-band version of their classic, as evidenced by this 2004 Los Angeles performance:
25 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: rap, triplets
25 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: steely dan, the second arrangement
After the 1977 release of Steely Dan’s massive commercial and artistic triumph Aja, band masterminds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, having taken most of 1978 off, reconvened in 1979 for a follow-up, which would be Gaucho.
One of the first things they got on tape was a song called “The Second Arrangement”, and all involved in its creation were extremely proud of the song. In fact, Backer and Fagen are said to have considered it to be among their best.
But in cueing the song up for playback, a junior studio engineer accidentally erased most of the recording.
The band attempted to re-record the song, but they couldn’t come up with a take that satisfied notorious perfectionists Becker and Fagen. The song, which might have given Gaucho a third hit single, never appeared on record. It was replaced on Gaucho with the more somber and shadowy “Third World Man”.
Over the years demos and bootlegs of the song have turned up, giving fans a glimpse of how glorious the Gaucho album could have been with the inclusion of this gem.
Below are two representations of “The Second Arrangement”. The first is a muddy working demo from the Gaucho sessions. The second, a live performance by Steely Dan tribute act Twelve Against Nature, is fleshed out with a horn section in an attempt to show what the lost final version may have sounded like.
Pour out the wine, little girl
I’ve got just two friends in this whole wide world
Here’s to reckless lovers
We all need somebody
Stashed in the yellow Jag
I’ve got my life and laundry in a Gladstone bag
You should know the program
Just one red rose and a tender goodbye
[One last goodbye]
And I run to the second arrangement
It’s only the natural thing
Who steps out with no regrets
A sparkling conscience
A new address
When I run to the second arrangement
The home of a mutual friend
Now’s the time to redefine the first arrangement again
It’s a sticky situation
A serious affair
I must explain it to you somehow
Right now I’ll just move back one square
Here comes that noise again
Another scrambled message from my last best friend
Something I can dance to
A song with tears in it
Old friends abandon me
It’s just the routine politics of jealousy
Someday we’ll remember
That one red rose and one last goodbye
[One last goodbye]
Then I run to the second arrangement
It’s only the natural thing
Who steps out with no regrets
A sparkling conscience
A new address
When I run to the second arrangement
The home of a mutual friend
Now’s the time to redefine the first arrangement again
