The Night Jesse Winchester Made Neko Cry

"All those sweet old love songs,
Oh, every word rings true,
Sham-a-ling-dong-ding means sweetheart,
And sham-a-ling-dang-dong does too."

Wanna know the difference between a great singer and someone with a great voice? Watch this video. Jesse Winchester destroys all sentient beings with this performance of "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding," a heartbreaking slice of nostalgia done earlier this year on Elvis Costello's Spectacle. The solitary tear cascading down Neko Case's face at 3:12 is absolutely priceless. Granted, I wish I could lop off the final :30 of this vid, but whatever. Listen and weep.



Winchester can't jump octaves like Freddie Mercury or an American Idol finalist. But, what he can do is use his limited vocal range to communicate fundamental human emotions like a surgical strike to your soul. Combine that with excellent fingerpicking and deceptively brilliant lyrics and you have an all-timer of a performance.

Visit Jesse's home page

Purchase Love Filling Station, Jesse's most recent album (which contains the studio version of "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding")

PS - I'm dedicating this post to my mom, who passed away 17 years ago tonight. I'm pretty sure she would've loved this song.

Let's Dispense With The Pleasantries

The Reigning Sound L to R:
David Wayne Gaye (bass), Lance Wille (drums), Greg Cartwright (vocals, guitar), Dave Amels (organ)

I'm pretty sure I can count the number of new albums I heard in 2009 on one hand. Of course, that hand has 6 fingers, but given my love of carnies that's more positive than negative. So yeah, I got that going for me. Also, despite this dearth of new material, I'm saved by having impeccable listening tastes. I don't hear much, but what I do hear usually kicks ass. What can I say? I'm just a vessel through which awesome flows.

As it turns out, awesome also flows ... and in far greater quantities, I might add ... through the veins of Greg Cartwright, boss hoss of The Reigning Sound. Their '09 release is called Love And Curses and if you like '50s rock 'n' roll, the British Invasion, first-wave punk rock, and girl group pop this is one of your favorite bands whether you realize it or not. After all, isn't that formula a large part of what made The Ramones special? And who doesn't like The Ramones?!?! Jerks, that's who. Granted, I'm not sure why James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins is on the album cover, but I'm certain there's a very good explanation. That's how much I trust Cartwright's musical acumen.

Speaking of said acumen, while The Reigning Sound share a common lineage with Da Bruddahs, Cartwright's songs tend to be more melodic, less amphetamine-y, and by and large, far more earnest lyrically. Not cloyingly earnest, like he's thumbing through the Morrissey songbook, but there's no getting around it. Dude likes writing about heartbreak. In fact, my recent forays into The Pretenders catalog got me thinking that what I love about Cartwright's songwriting is what I love about Chrissie Hynde's songwriting. Even when the tunes make you wanna Kool-Aid Man through the garage door, a sweet pop hook is seemingly poised to impale you through the chest.

Incidentally, Cartwright (pictured left rockin' balls) helmed the equally garage-minded (and top shelf) Oblivians and Compulsive Gamblers and in September released an acoustic overview of his entire career. I think it's fair to say that more of this man's prolific output will appear in future editions of The Adios Lounge. But, first things first.

Reigning Sound - Is It True? [purchase CD] [purchase LP]

I have a favor to ask. If I ever stop enjoying these kinds of songs ... please kill me. Seriously, you'll be doing me a favor.

Reigning Sound - Stick Up For Me [purchase CD] [purchase LP]

Don't you think that the millions,
Are gettin' tired of being governed by so few,
They'll send you out to fight their war while they,
Stay at home to control you."

An obscure Vietnam War-era song by Michigan's Glass Sun, "Stick Up" is a righteous slab of working class proto-punk. A blend of Stax Records and MC5, I think the arrangement also serves as a bridge to The Reigning Sound's British Invasion roots.

Specifically, this underrated gem:

Rolling Stones - All Sold Out [purchase]

Yes, I did just call a Rolling Stones song underrated. I'll go one step further and say that Between The Buttons ... from which "All Sold Out" is culled ... is not only the Stones most underrated album, but one of the most underrated albums from this era. The last gasp of the Brian Jones era, Buttons has several subterranean classics ("Connection," "Miss Amanda Jones," "Complicated," and on the superior US version, the "Let's Spend The Night Together" b/w "Ruby Tuesday" single).

Reigning Sound - Polly Anne [purchase CD] [purchase LP]

What's that ... you're curious if Cartwright can slow it down and bring a little folk-rock introspection to the party? Done and done. This is a cryptic number about a daddy's girl living on the street. I don't know who this chick is and why she has a pocketknife and a hole in her heart, but I'm rooting for her. Why? Because of good songwriting, that's why.

If I haven't convinced you of The Reigning Sound's greatness by this point, there's no hope for you. I'm afraid it's pistols at dawn. Only my pistol is shaped like a Gretsch and shoots tequila bullets. For everyone else, here's the band at Gonerfest 2 in Memphis kicking out the jams. Word.



GET YER SOUND ON

Reigning Sound on MySpace
Reigning Sound on Facebook

L.A.'s Beautiful When It Rains

[photo courtesy of Liquid Dirt]

The Adios Lounge is now coming to you from rainy Los Angeles. That's right, the Lounge has returned to the motherland from Austin, Texas. (I'm originally from Huntington Beach). It wasn't a move I anticipated making, say, 5-6 months ago, but life has a funny way of shakin' some unpredictable action.

So, in homage to this place for which I've always had mixed feelings ... but which has been surprisingly welcoming thus far ... I wanted to offer up a song that digs deep into that bag of mixology. Most of my favorite songs about L.A. are palpably scornful in the mode of Neil Young ("L.A." and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere") and Bob Forrest ("Lena Horne Still Sings Stormy Weather" with Thelonious Monster and "L.A. Country Hometown Blues" with The Bicycle Thief). I suppose this tune isn't altogether different, but I do think the melancholy offsets the seething hatred. I know, nitpicking.

Neko Case - In California [purchase]

"Another fool playing songs that don’t matter,
For people who chatter on endlessly."

This song actually has its roots in the Pacific Northwest. In the mid-'90s, Lisa Marr was the singer and bassist for Cub, jangle-poppers from Vancouver, British Columbia, who featured the occasional drum stylings of one Neko Case (pictured right). After Cub broke up in 1997, Marr moved to L.A. to continue her music career, first in Buck, then in The Lisa Marr Experiment, from whose 2000 album 4 AM, this gem can be found.

In 2001, Neko cut an 8-song EP featuring mostly Canadian songwriters, including the aforementioned Mr. Young. Called Canadian Amp ... get it? ... it's a quiet gem in the Case catalog, which in many ways presaged her seemingly permanent move into torch-song territory (much to my rock 'n' roll loving chagrin). That said, when Neko lights that torch, it stays lit, and "In California" absolutely slays. Marr's song is a brilliantly-realized vision of Los Angeles, but it's Neko's voice, suffused with melancholy and wistful nostalgia, that elevates it to a place that can't be reached with overdubs and Pro Tools. Yeah, take that technology!

COMING SOON

A look back at two of my favorite 2009 records. I think it's gonna be two separate posts, partly to spread the love and partly because I'm lazy. Also, "Clarence White: 1971" is being staunchly researched by my crack investigative unit and I have a Maria McKee post (or two) swimming around in my brain pan. Don't worry, y'all will love it, guaranteed.