Thanks to a reader's recent comment, we're gonna take a look at bluegrass pioneer, Don Reno. I suspect that he's unknown beyond hardcore bluegrassionados, but he was a giant in the field from its inception. Says Bill Malone, in his essential reference tome, Country Music USA:
"In a musical style where versatility seemed to be the norm, Don Reno, from Spartanburg, South Carolina, possessed a range of talents that almost staggers the imagination. He was a good songwriter, an excellent tenor harmony singer, a comedian, and a master of several instruments, including the mandolin, guitar, and banjo. His guitar work has often been overlooked in the flood of praise that surrounds his seminal banjo contributions, but he was one of the first men in bluegrass to play the guitar as a lead instrument in a flatpicking fashion. The stellar Doc Watson credits Reno as an influence on his own style. As a banjoist, Reno was surpassed by no one, not even Earl Scruggs, adept at both the three-finger and plectrum styles that were indebted to guitar and pedal steel playing."
Reno's banjo mastery went beyond fingerpicking techniques. He was also a killer single-string soloist, incorporating blues and jazz voicings that went way beyond strict Book of Monroe fundamentalism. For example, here he is with longtime buddy, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith (pictured left on Tele), on "Feudin' Banjos."
This was the specific recording that inspired the version in Deliverance, which Smith later established in court. Dig Reno's sweet banjo runs from :25-:42, :58-1:07, and 1:16-1:32. Brilliant.
"I think by watching Joe Maphis and Merle Travis and those kinds of guitar players on Town Hall Party, he picked out a couple things. But we were never serious about doing it in the band. Then I acquired a record, (Don) Reno and (Red) Smiley's, 'Country Boy Rock 'n' Roll.' I liked the way (Reno) played guitar on that, so I kind of learned it and brought to Clarence's attention, and in no time he played it. He just knew exactly where to go with it." --Roland White to Scott Nygaard, Farther Along: The Guitar Revelations of Clarence White, Acoustic Guitar magazine, June 1998, p. 56
You mean to tell me that Clarence White was influenced by a multi-talented guitar/banjo player with pioneering roots in bluegrass who drew upon disparate musical forms??? Shocking. What makes the White/Reno (pictured right on banjo) connection doubly sweet is that the first recording on which Clarence ever appeared was the Eric Weissberg/Marshall Brickman vehicle, New Dimensions In Banjo & Bluegrass (1963). Of course, this was better known seven years later in its incarnation as the Deliverance soundtrack. Worlds collide ... yet again.
Thanks to DJ Roky Manson, I've learned that Bob Forrest from Thelonious Monster is hosting an online radio show every Wednesday night from 8-10pm west coast time on Indie1031.com. Yes, that means tonight. And sure, it's not really radio since it's the internet, but it's Bob playing tunes and expounding on an endless variety of topics in the manner of an old-school college radio show. Check out a taste:
Incidentally, Roky is offering a full download of Bob's debut show from last week. Get it while you can. I'm sure once the kids get a hold of this information, his servers are going to crash bigtime. It's Bob Forrest, my peeps. Tuning in is a no-brainer.
Soul Asylum's historical reputation is deservedly based upon their 1986-90 peak, a 4-year hot streak of consistently great shows, strong songwriting, good to very good albums (though a bit betrayed by period production values), oddball covers, and pure balls. Since it's always nice to be reminded of this band at its best, let's revisit.
What's not as well known about Soul Asylum during this era was their equally compelling acoustic side. That's where this collection comes into play. It's a combo platter of radio gigs and Dave Pirner/Dan Murphy acoustic performances that highlights the SA high point.
2. Chevy Van [Sammy Johns] KFAI, Minneapolis, 1986
1986 was the year Soul Asylum made the jump, releasing Made To Be Broken, While You Were Out, and Time's Incinerator, the latter on the visionary XLII 90 format (pictured left). On top of the officially-released treasures is this radio gig, featuring a rare vocal appearance by bassist, Karl Mueller, on "Chevy Van." RIP Karl.
Soul Asylum's two best songs??? "Cartoon" certainly is. "Stars" has to be way up there. How many bands were better than SA in 1988? Let's get a list going. I'll start with I don't know.
"Yeah, we're just gonna drop by the studio and play the best acoustic versions of 'Never Really Been' and 'Gullible's' you've ever heard, plus throw in a couple of hilarious Cars references, k?" Saw these guys for the first time a little over a month later at the Country Club in Reseda, California, with Thelonious Monster opening. Probably Top 10 show ever.
It's hard to believe this gig took place when the future of Soul Asylum was very much in doubt. And The Horse They Rode In On is probably the band's best album, but it was roundly ignored upon its release in 1990, and A&M dropped them to focus on Soundgarden ("It's louder than love, but I don't think they know what it means").
Pirner and Murphy played as an acoustic duo throughout 1991-92 in an effort to drum up label interest, eventually getting Columbia to take a chance. Say what you will about Clarence selling out to the milk carton, Soul Asylum brought the noise for a decade before making it, with 4 of those years being years other bands would kill for. Dig it.
Basically, "James At 16" done acoustically. And god bless 'em for it.
American Pie [Don McLean] Delta Dawn [Tanya Tucker] Wildfire [Michael Murphey] Black Water [Doobies] Afternoon Delight [Starland Vocal Band] One Toke Over The Line [Brewer & Shipley] Amazing Grace [Traditional] The Gambler [Kenny Rogers] Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song [BJ Thomas] The One I Love [REM] Renegade [Styx] Rock And Roll All Night [Kiss] Luka [Suzanne Vega] Dueling Banjos [Deliverance] P-9 .... Forever Young [Dylan]
"Machine Gun" is a mostly-instrumental parable about Vietnam* that has to rank as one of the greatest performances ever captured on film. This is Jimi Hendrix at his hyper-focused best. According to legend, famed promoter, Bill Graham, challenged Jimi to play his performance straight, not shuck-and-jive the audience with his "Wild Man of Borneo" act. It worked. With Buddy Miles and Billy Cox laying down the heavy pocket for Band Of Gypsys, this was Hendrix's response to Graham. "Fuck you, Bill. Don't question me. But since you did, here's the 'no bullshit' set." Nothing but pure, sustained brilliance.
"His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay." --Jeremiah, droppin' lyrical science in the King James Bible (20:9)
Today we connect the dots between Alex Chilton and a few of his southern contemporaries in the late '60s and early '70s. We begin this journey on April 7-8, 1996, in ... Glasgow, Scotland??? Damn straight, hippie. On those two nights, Alex played now-legendary gigs at The 13th Note with Teenage Fanclub as his backup band, a formidable collaboration between master and #1 disciples. The 4/8 show was later broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and remains widely available on torrent sites. Amidst those gigs, the group also found time to cut this video at a local soundstage or at the 13th Note itself.
Please note that the Donkey Kong switch has been set to the 'ON' position.
"I Never Found Me A Girl" [Eddie Floyd] + "My Heart Stood Still" [Rodgers & Hart]
This performance tells us several things, among them one of Alex Chilton's most valuable assets. He was a folksinger in the truest sense, keeping great old songs alive in the public consciousness. True, "I Never Found Me A Girl" was a modest hit for Eddie Floyd back in the day, but he wasn't close to Otis Redding in terms of name recognition in 1996, even less so now. And while "My Heart Stood Still" was a Rodgers & Hart standard, that doesn't mean much to anyone younger than 50. The beauty of the 13th Note setlists is that they drew upon everyone from Joe Meek and the Everly Brothers to T. Rex and Ernest Tubb. Thus, among his many other talents, Alex Chilton was a missionary for the hidden gem. To wit:
Released in 1962, would anyone be shocked if Paul McCartney or John Lennon were fans of this song when it came out? That cool bridge ("Not a single word was spoken, I can tell you knew") points straight to 1963-65 Lennon/McCartney ("No Reply," "All I've Got To Do"). Ironically, from a composition standpoint, what he and Lennon were doing was introducing musical elements into The Beatles that could be said to be Richard Rodgers-esque.
Heady possibilities given that "My Heart" is an obscure version by girl-group singer, Bernadette Carroll, from whom Chilton pilfers his nod. In fact, Alex Fanclub covered two of her songs at the Glasgow shows, "Heart" and "Party Girl." Lord knows how Chilton discovered Bernadette Carroll (pictured bottom). She was in a post-"My Boyfriend's Back" incarnation of The Angels, a vocal group featuring a singer named Jiggs Allbut (pictured left). Say that name out loud. Jiggs Allbut. Really? Not only is she a looker, but one letter away from having the perfect porn name. Why am I just finding out this information?!?!
NOTHING MOVES WITHOUT A PUSH
Let's also raise a glass to Teenage Fanclub. They were an inspired choice as Chilton's backup band and not just because of their Big Star fandom, though that helped. Rather, at the time they were touring behind arguably their finest album, Grand Prix, and had consistently been touring for 5-6 years, with five excellent albums under their belt. By April 1996 they were a well-oiled machine. Whether by luck or cold calculation, the Fannies were a perfectly timed choice to support Alex Chilton. Here's one of my faves from Grand Prix, a Norman Blake special:
How can you not love this tune??? It demonstrates perfectly that Teenage Fanclub gave Chilton the necessary levels of pop and power (Neil Jung & Crazy Horse, maybe?). Norman Blake and Ray McGinley were legit guitar foils for Alex, but add in bassist, Gerard Love, and that's *four* different songwriters in one unit (including Chilton) possessing a wondrous ear for melody. Hook City.
The lilting swing in the TFC rhythm section also serves Chilton well, and that's particularly evident on the tape of the show. Much respect to then-drummer Paul Quinn, but I must again single out Gerry Love for his sweeping, inventive basslines. Speaking of McCartney. Say what you will about Chilton's artistic unpredictability, the best moments in his career invariably featured a strong rhythm section, or at least emphatic rhythm, and that's not any different here. You can take the boy outta Memphis, yo.
HERE'S WHERE THE STRINGS COME IN
"I Never Found Me A Girl" was a hit for Eddie Floyd andStax Records in the summer of 1968. What I like about the Alex Fanclub version is that it goes in a direction that plays to the strengths of Teenage Fanclub. They give Stax a power-pop shine because that's what they do best and Alex is smart enough to recognize this. And, lest we forget, the original is a great fucking song. Eddie Floyd could sing his ass off.
"The song begins with a gorgeous upper string melody played by violins and violas. Cellos play a subtle countermelody to Floyd's vocal on the verse, beginning with the line, 'It's like burning fire all shut up in my bones.' Booker (T Jones of the MGs)' most masterful touch, though, is the employment of the violins playing pizzicato during the guitar break. The effect is exquisite." --Rob Bowman, Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records, p. 151
According to Bowman, "Never Found" marks the point where strings became a regular part of the Stax sound, a development that was a direct response to the success of strings at Motown. the song was a collaboration between Floyd, Al Bell (Stax songwriter, producer, and COO), and Booker T. Jones (de los MGs). Floyd and Bell conceived of the basic idea, but it was Jones who brought it to life, playing bass, guitar, keyboard, and arranging the strings. Did you know that Booker T. was a child prodigy on several instruments and directed his high school band all four years there, during which time he also contributed baritone sax to Stax's first hit ("Cause I Love You," by Rufus and Carla Thomas), joined Willie Mitchell's band (which also happened to feature Al Jackson on drums), and co-wrote a timeless rock 'n' roll classic ("Green MF'in Onions")? Yeah, me either. He did all that before his 18th birthday. When I was 18, I was learning to do kegstands. Damn overachievers.
"Dan, what is it about Memphis?" "It ain't Memphis. It's the South" "Well, what is it about the South?" "People down here don't let nobody tell them what to do." "But how does it happen that they know what to do?" "It ain't any explanation for it." --Dan Penn to Stanley Booth, 1968
This is where the story gets interesting. Guess which Memphians Eddie Floyd and Stax were directly competing against for chart space in July/August 1968? That would be Alex Chilton and The Box Tops. True. "Never Found" was climbing the charts at the same time as "I Met Her In Church," a song written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman and cut at Moman's American Studios.
Raise your hand if you hadn't given this song its just due. "I Met Her In Church" is some of the funkiest white boy soul I've ever heard, like Brian Wilson weaned on WDIA. Penn, of course, was the Box Tops producer and he more or less ministered the band's career to its dispiriting conclusion in 1969-70. Which is why the Alex Fanclub cover of the Penn/Moman classic, "Dark End Of The Street," is so intriguing. Whatever Chilton's negative feelings about Dan Penn and his time in the Box Tops ... "Well I'm free again to do what I want again/Free again to sing my songs again" ... he knew greatness when he heard it. And "Dark End Of The Street" is greatness. That's just good science.
I'm sure it's just coincidence that both Alex Chilton and Gram Parsons both drew from the Penn/Moman well. What are the odds that two of the 20th century's most distinctive southern songwriters would find common ground in one of the 20th century's most distinctive southern songwriting tandems? The Burritos sound like a blend of James Carr and the Everlys. Alex Fanclub sounds like a combination of the Burritos, "Wichita Lineman," and "To Love Somebody." Which is to say, they sound like Slobberbone. This makes perfect sense given that Brent Best was unashamedly influenced by Big Star, Teenage Fanclub, and Gram Parsons. I mean, if you're into that whole continuum of quality songwriting thing. I'm weird that way.
I know what you might be thinking. So what if Parsons and Chilton had overlapping tastes? Aside from the venn diagram possibilities, hundreds of other groups covered Penn/Moman songs. It's not like Big Star covered GP songs. Ummm, you said what now???
They were two southern iconoclasts who chose two very different roads ... of the 20,000 available, I presume. And yet, despite their superficial differences, Alex Chilton and Gram Parsons are forever bonded by their southern music roots, that peculiar mix of R&B, country, gospel, and just enough pop to be dangerous. It bonded not just Alex and Gram, but Dan Penn, Chips Moman, Spooner Oldham, Booker T and the MGs, and thousands of other southern musicians of that era, and to a lesser extent since. Why do we not have time machines again?
Again, I'm sure it's just coincidence that Chilton invoked JC in the wake of Big Star's "Hot Burrito #2" cover. Don't worry, atheists and agnostics, this isn't conversion text. But, the impact of religion in the American experience, particularly the southern musical experience, is profound and beyond category. If nothing else, no gospel, no soul music. Is that what you want??? I thought so.
Penn and Oldham get the last word, with Moman's influence a given. Watch this and ask yourself, "How is Penn not recognized as one of the greatest soul singers ever?" Phenomenal talent on both sides of the ball.
This weekend I apply the final coats of paint to my Alex Chilton post, which has morphed beyond its original framework ... not a bad thing by any stretch. So, while we wait for that to dry, how about we celebrate our nation's existence LA styley? Sun, surf, a very large flag, Corona (5 cent deposit), and Mexican kids shooting fireworks below. Hey baby, it's the Fourth of July.
As a bonus, here's Dave Alvin's video for "4th of July," which he wrote during his brief time in X. This vid was probably shot within six months of the See How We Are sessions and is the leadoff track to Dave's 1987 debut, Romeo's Escape. Thanks to Mark Utley of Magnolia Mountain for the heads up.
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About The Adios Lounge
The Adios Lounge began in April 2008 when an old-school record collector came to terms with these new-school webs and tubes. The blog name comes from a Thelonious Monster song. If you don't know who that is, stick around and you'll find out. Some other faves include Sam Cooke, Clarence White, Grand Champeen, Superchunk, Doug Sahm, Uncle Tupelo, Funkadelic, Minutemen, Roger Miller, and Richard Pryor. But hey, enough of my yakkin'. Whaddaya say? Let's boogie.
Contact Me
Please direct any questions, complaints, offers of valuable cash prizes, and critical plaudits to Lance Davis at: pantsfucious@gmail.com.
Don Reno kickin' it
Reno's banjo mastery went beyond fingerpicking techniques. He was also a killer single-string soloist, incorporating blues and jazz voicings that went way beyond strict Book of Monroe fundamentalism. For example, here he is with longtime buddy, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith (pictured left on Tele), on "Feudin' Banjos."
You mean to tell me that Clarence White was influenced by a multi-talented guitar/banjo player with pioneering roots in bluegrass who drew upon disparate musical forms??? Shocking. What makes the White/Reno (pictured right on banjo) connection doubly sweet is that the first recording on which Clarence ever appeared was the Eric Weissberg/Marshall Brickman vehicle, New Dimensions In Banjo & Bluegrass (1963). Of course, this was better known seven years later in its incarnation as the Deliverance soundtrack. Worlds collide ... yet again.
