"Sam (Cooke) had a way of singing, it was like Mahalia Jackson. She could sing a Christmas carol and people would cry. Sam had that same communication line. He could sing to an audience and he would have their complete (attention). I would look down the rows from the stage and everybody would be looking him, man. They couldn't take their eyes off him."
--Leo Morris, drummer for Sam Cooke in 1960, to Peter Guralnick, Dream Boogie: The Triumph Of Sam Cooke, p. 328
We come here today to celebrate the force of nature that was Sam Cooke (pictured below with Muhammad Ali). Badass singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, live performer, black activist, gospel pioneer, soul pioneer, crossover pioneer as performer and label owner, the list goes on and on. Hell, Sam was the first music my daughter, Leilani, ever heard.
Download "It Might Be One O'Clock" playlist [33 MB]
Longtime Loungers also know that I'm a huge fan of Doug Sahm. Well, the other day I played "Be Real" and was reminded again how much it sounds like a Sam Cooke song. That got me thinking about Sam's influence on Doug, their respective influence on later musicians, and how influence seems to travel where it damn well pleases. It refuses to conform to the needs of our record collection ... which is to say, my record collection. I know, what about MY needs?
Sam Cooke - Good Times (1964) [buy]
The final Top 20 single released during Sam's lifetime ... it peaked at #11 pop ... nods to Louis Jordan's 1946 hit, "Let The Good Times Roll" (click to watch video). However, the cadence more closely resembles the city for whom the phrase, "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler," is a badge of honor. That would be New Orleans, with its shuffling gait, bass on "the one," and drums on the off beat. The subtle rhythmic variations characteristic of the Crescent City pervade "Good Times," including the use of a marimba, which adds an unexpected (yet, geographically appropriate) Caribbean feel.
The song's multiple vocal parts point to Sam's years in gospel, not to mention his skills as a producer/arranger -- an underappreciated talent I discuss in my analysis of "Bring It On Home To Me." What's so striking about the singing is that the high tenor parts (both foregrounded, but in separate channels) are not only harmonizing with each other, they're also harmonizing with the backgrounded low tenor parts (also in separate channels). These interweaving vocal parts harken back to Sam's pioneering work with The Soul Stirrers in the early-to-mid 1950s. But, by 1962-64, he was using his gospel know-how both on stage and in the studio as a way to redefine pop music and R&B, all but inventing that hot, buttery confection called soul. More of which, later.
Doug Sahm - Be Real (1970) [buy]
Recorded in Nashville in 1970 and released under the name Wayne Douglas, "Be Real" is the perfect marriage of Sam Cooke and country music, and it comes out sounding more than a bit like Elvis Costello. Unfortunately, it was not a perfect marriage of Doug Sahm and hit single, as the tune bombed in the country market. Stupid country market.
Produced by the great Jerry Kennedy ... a guy who probably deserves his own Adios Lounge profile ... the track features a murderer's row of A-Team hotshots: Kenny Buttrey (drums), Bob Moore (bass), Pig Robbins (piano), Pete Drake (pedal steel), Buddy Spicher & Tommy Jackson (twin fiddles), Chip Young & Ray Edenton (guitars). A unique sleeper in the Sahm canon.
Elvis Costello - Blame It On Cain [Acoustic] (1977) [buy]
"Upon my first motel night in Los Angeles I was hoaxed into believing that I had been assigned the very room where Sam Cooke had been murdered. I didn't sleep much until I found out in the morning that it had occurred in an entirely different location. Such innocence was short-lived, but the infamous Tropicana became the sight of many less serious crimes, indiscretions, and comedies."
--Elvis Costello on "Motel Matches," from the Girls Girls Girls liner notes
If "Be Real" was Doug's blend of Sam Cooke and country music, "Blame It On Cain" has always struck me as Elvis' blend of Sam Cooke and Doug Sahm. In fact, According to Augie Meyers, "Elvis Costello told Johnny Carson (that) Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers were his influences." Good enough for me.
Li'l Cap'n Travis - Blue Chair (2003) [buy]
"We speed up and slow down and breathe together."
--Gary Newcomb, LCT steel guitarist
Like Doug Sahm, Li'l Cap'n Travis call Austin home, where they mix sounds with little care for your tidy taxonomic needs. In an odd way, they remind me of a pop-friendly Neil Young with The Stray Gators, especially in their wobbly harmonies and keening steel sound. However, instead of being fueled by heroin, tequila, and wailing dissonance, the Cap'n vibe is more Brill Building, Brian Wilson, and "Hey bro, pass me a fish taco."
As a studio band ... and "Blue Chair" is no exception ... LCT's secret weapon is producer Michael Crow of Grand Champeen. The singers are more or less in key, the instruments are in tune, and while there's a lot going on, the recording doesn't come off as too busy because there's plenty of space between the sounds. If you like this, I highly recommend their last two albums, ...In All Their Splendor and Twilight On Sometimes Island. Laid back, off-kilter pop rarely sounds this good.
Read more about Li'l Cap'n Travis: All God's Kids, They Wanna Rock + Turn Your Pretty Head and Walk Away
Britt Daniel - Bring It On Home To Me (2007) [buy]
There is no reason on earth that this cover should work. Spindly-ass indie rock dude from Spoon taking on the mighty Sam Cooke??? No way. I was fully prepared to gulp down the haterade. But, I'll be damned if Daniel doesn't bring it on home. Mind you, it doesn't compare to the original. But, that fact manages to be beside the point. For one thing, Daniel changes the key to fit his vocal range, so smart move there. He also doesn't sing beyond his range, which has killed a few million songs. The real triumph, though, is that Daniel cleverly takes a page out of the Cooke Book and introduces consistent rhythmic variation in the arrangement, keeping things moving, and making the song his own. I don't know how he did it, but score one for indie rock dude.
Sam Cooke - Nothing Can Change This Love [Live] (1963) [buy]
Recorded January 12, 1963
Harlem Square Club, North Miami, FL
Aside from being the greatest live album of all-time, Harlem Square Club (also known as One Night Stand) demonstrates why Sam Cooke was the greatest singer of all-time. Aside from maybe Ray Charles, Sam is the only singer who could be as silky smooth as Al Green and Marvin Gaye AND as gutbucket as Otis Redding and James Brown. He could give the white fans their crossover pop a la Nat "King" Cole, but he could simultaneously take his black fans to church, much like Brother Ray and JB. Really, any of these guys has a legit argument for greatest singer ever. I'm just sayin that when we start our R&B fantasy league, I'm calling dibs on Sam.
Harlem Square is also significant as a showcase for his red-hot backing band. Actually, the bulk of the band belonged to saxophonist King Curtis, with whom Sam was touring at the time. Curtis' men were supplemented by Sam's longtime bandleader and guitarist, Cliff White, and his tour drummer from 1960-64, June Gardner. Gardner was from New Orleans and I imagine that wasn't coincidental. His predecessor in the band, the man quoted at the beginning of this post, in fact, was Leo Morris, later known as Idris Muhammad. He, too, was from New Orleans. Sam was smart enough to know that when you wanna laissez les bon temps rouler, it's imperative to have a guy who knows how to keep bon temps.
"So come on and let the good times roll,
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls,
If it take all night long."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
It Might Be One O'Clock and It Might Be Three
Saturday, August 15, 2009
RIP Les Paul & Jim Dickinson
Old Black, Neil Young's trusty Gibson Les Paul GoldtopIf Les Paul had only invented the solid-body guitar that bears his name, he'd be rock royalty. As an icon, the Gibson Les Paul has few peers. But, Paul also transformed the reel-to-reel given to him by Bing Crosby into the first functioning multitrack recording machine. That innovation in the mid-'40s spurred the development over the next 10-15 years of two-, three-, four-, and eight-track recorders. Oh, and Les was a pretty fair jazz guitarist. All things considered, Les Paul leaves this world at the age of 94 with one of American music's most towering resumes.
To honor his memory, here's my favorite song featuring a Les Paul reference.
Meices - Don't Let The Soap Run Out [purchase]
Here's linkage to an absolutely essential LP documentary that looks to have been done in the early '80s:
The Wizard Of Waukesha -- Part 2
The Wizard Of Waukesha -- Part 3
The Wizard Of Waukesha -- Part 4
The Wizard Of Waukesha -- Part 5
Following Paul to the great gig in the sky is Memphis producer Jim Dickinson. A maverick badass, Dickinson was the punk rock Jerry Wexler. He worked with the Stones on Sticky Fingers, recorded Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers, recorded the Mats' Pleased To Meet Me (which reminds me that you should go to My Aimz Is True for some timely Replacements coverage), played with Dylan, sired the North Mississippi All-Stars, and embraced a punk rock work ethic pretty much from day one. He could've sold out, but didn't. He could've moved anywhere, but stayed in Memphis. His appreciation for the old-school R&B and country rhythm section is gospel on the Adios Lounge. All good things come from the pocket. The pocket is holy. Jim Dickinson understood that implicitly. Today, we lost one of the good ones.Big Star - Thank You Friends [purchase]
Check out the videos below, which feature some priceless quotes:
"Bad music makes you weak."
"You have to record a lot of bad music to get to the good music."
"Why should 30 million people like the same thing? It can't be very good."
"Rock 'n' roll is really all about eighth notes and how they lean. And in punk rock, everybody played them. The bass player, the guitar player, the drummer. You can't do that in the studio. Somebody has to have the quarters. Somebody has to give up a little space, so you can hear this eighth-note thing happening."
"Unfortunately, the days of rhythm section recording are over and will never be back. But, that was a beautiful thing to see. To see a song evolve and start to breathe, with space, was truly a beautiful thing."
Sunday, August 9, 2009
"Blowin' shit up and rockin' ass till it's all ashes and smoke."
New Adios Lounge mission statement? Just throwing it out there. It's either this or the thing about team-building, synergy, and never giving in to our robot overlords. Frankly, I'm torn.
Anyhoo, while I work on a post that includes the likes of Sam Cooke and Doug Sahm ... and maybe a certain EC ... let me send along a couple of shout-outs and cover some bric-a-brac.
Muchas gracias to Daniel Chamberlin of Arthur Magazine, who was gracious enough to profile two of my pieces on Doug Sahm: 'Thanksgiving Jam 1972' and the annotated review of Texas Rock For Country Rollers. Love his term "headneck." Head = doper, neck = roper (or redneck), and it refers to cosmically-oriented cowboys like Sahm, Commander Cody, etc. Dig it.
Speaking of the Dexateens, you gotta check out their HearYa Live Sessions. Four songs that you can play and download as a zip file (DL it, trust me) and a video of them doing "Grandaddy's Mouth." I'd post the vid, but you're going there anyway ... just sayin.
This PeaceDogMan.com interview with Dexateens guitarist/singer/songwriter, Elliott McPherson, contains one of my favorite sentences of all-time. When the interviewer asks about the acoustic-heavy approach of Singlewide, Elliot says, "Now that we finally recorded a soft acousticore record, I'm ready to blow some shit up and rock ass till it's all ashes and smoke."Finally, I began and ended my last post with the Minutemen and I'm ending this one in the same place. From Boing Boing, here's a brief look at Double Nickels On The Dime as it turns 25. Totally worth it for the comments alone. Wait, did I just say 25?!?! God, I'm getting old.
Word.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Ringing the Doorbell in Your Mind
When in doubt: Minutemen.
That's a personal code and I'm passing it along to you free of charge. Don't forget it. Etch it in your brain. Not many people got a code to live by anymore. To that end, I've found that playing Double Nickels On The Dime at least once a month is an excellent way to combat the effects of suburbansuckrockitosis. And if you're older than 35, doubling your dosage is highly recommended.
However, before you start cueing up Double Nickels ... which really, should already be loaded in your iPods, iPhones, and iGhettoBlasters ... check out this badass Minutemen home video from 1985. Also, if you've ever wondered, "What Would D. Boon Do?" David Rees' heartfelt tribute to D has your answer. The greatest tribute to a dead rock icon of all time.
FAIR WARNING: These videos aren't normalized to the same volume, so fluctuations will undoubtedly occur. In other words, be ready on the volume knob!
Speaking of feral guitar fire, here's J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. from 1991, buzzing and howling under the influence of Marshall stacks. It's interesting that the vid begins at the guitar solo and then works its way through the bridge, chorus, and verses. Ass-backwards as it sounds, beginning at the guitar solo isn't a half-bad idea. It's not like you can't have another solo. Still, I'm trying to think of a single tune that does this and I'm coming up blank. Anyone? OK, maybe it is a dumb idea.
Just when you thought I forgot about acoustic instruments, here's Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Earl Scruggs, and various Scrugglets tapping the americana wellspring. It looks like it was shot around the same time as Scruggs' collaboration with The Byrds, as seen in my recent Clarence White post. 1970ish. I love how Doc lays down the sweet riffs throughout his solo, immediately after which Earl mirrors those same riffs on banjo. Hall of Fame stuff. And how you can you not love the OMG! look on Randy Scruggs' face when Doc shouts, "Awww, play it now!" at the start of Randy's guitar solo.
How can something as cool as a DVD featuring the old-timey sounds of Doc Watson and the Stanley Brothers ... in one of their only TV appearances, no less ... be horribly sullied? By being part of a package entitled, Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest. Rainbow Quest?!?! You gotta be kidding me. It sounds like a musical about the Stonewall riots. Who set the damn controls to self-immolation???
How good a singer was Richard Manuel? Levon Helm insists he was The Band's lead singer, which is persuasive testimony. Here he almost out-Ray Charles' Ray Charles with this vocal performance. It's 1983, three years before his death, and according to official rock history, he's supposed to be "washed up." And yet, devastating brilliance.
I did say almost out-Ray Charles' Ray Charles. Here's The Genius showcasing some sweet piano skills and his trademark vocalistics on a 1963 Brazilian TV recording. Featuring Elbert Forriest on guitar, Phillip Guilbeau on muted trumpet, and an orchestra with David "Fathead" Newman on tenor sax, this is the Charles big band at its slow-cookin' best. The entirety of this performance is available on the DVD, Ray Charles - O Genio - Live in Brazil. If you're a Ray fan ... and come on, what sentient being isn't a fan of Ray Charles??? ... this video is beyond essential.
We come full circle with Pedro's finest scientist-rockers. What would D. Boon do? He'd tell you the truth. RIP D.
"Our band could be your life,
Real names'd be the truth*,
Me and Mike Watt played for years,
Punk rock changed our lives."
* The lyric is officially "Real names'd be proof," but that's not what D sings here.
