Musician • Producer • Engineer
As I said earlier, this isn’t an “oldies music blog” (first few posts notwithstanding). It’s not really a “music blog” either, although I’ll probably write more about music than about any other topic. One big area I want to explore is Mindfulness, particularly from a Buddhist perspective. Although, I’d never call myself “a Buddhist.”
Listen to Hal Blaine’s drumming on the “quiet” parts of The Mamas & the Papas’ “Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)”. No wonder the Wrecking Crew got the big bucks back then. BTW, this is a song I can put on repeat for an hour and still want to listen again. Perfect.
I say “we” because Valerie and I discovered and experienced most if not all of these together. Not necessarily stuff that was released in 2018, but that we discovered (or rediscovered) and enjoyed this past year. Various Artists, A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper Each song re-imagined by a contemporary jazz artist, sometimes recognizable, sometimes not so much, always invigorating. Hear Mary Halvorson’s “With A Little Help From My Friends” on YouTube Donny McCaslin, Blow. The new fusion? Smart jazz-rock with hooks. Great show at The Sinclair in Cambridge. Hear Donny McCaslin’s “Club Kidd” on YouTube Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Live at KEXP Old school soul, baby! These guys burned it up at Atwood’s Tavern last June. Love Jimmy James’ guitar work! Watch the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio’s half-hour KEXP set on YouTube Jenny Scheinman live at Big Ears The Mischief and Mayhem outfit veered between punk and … Read more
This is a remix I did on Jeff Sampson’s original vocal track.
This record changed my life. I was ten years old. How many of us, at around that age, heard new music because of a friend’s access to his or her older sibling’s records? Summertime — a friend said, “You ever hear U.S. Bonds?” And then (to quote Lou Reed), my mind split open. I grew up in a pre-rock family. As a little kid, I lived in the world of my mother’s music: classical and pop from the 1920s through the 1950s. I latched onto this set of RCA Victor albums she had called “60 Years of Music America Loved Best” (1959-1960). This was my musical education. The collection was eclectic, to say the least: Marian Anderson, “Go Down Moses” Vladimir Horowitz, “Variations on Themes from Carmen” Paul Whiteman, “Whispering” Perry Como, “Prisoner of Love” Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy, “Indian Love Call” Fritz Kreisler, “Liebesfreud” Harry Belafonte, “Day-O” …and … Read more
From 2018. Jeff Sampson wrote the lyrics and sang; I did the loops and guitar, and the mix.
A chugga-chugga motion like a railroad train, now! There’s an element in early ’60s pop songs – not only non-ironic optimism, but also something in the drive of the music itself – maybe the same drive that would enable an entire nation to pursue crazy goals like putting a man on the moon… and a quality in the vocals – just enough youth, just enough street – I’d swear, you can almost hear Little Eva popping her chewing gum, and I love her for that. Combine all this with the BIG SOUND they got from recording real people on analog equipment with very limited track counts, and you have something that was “of its time,” and will never come again. When I say drive, it’s not just about tempo, it’s the feel, the attitude, the sound itself. Hear it (and feel it!) in Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” (1962 – my … Read more
Almost a new year. Stop worrying so much about productivity and getting things done. Start worrying about things worth doing.
Austin Kleon
Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit — all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them.
Brian Eno
Possibly my favorite musical period is the early sixties, just before The Beatles, say, 1960-63. The Golden Age of AM Radio. Because I hold my favorite songs from that time in such high esteem, I rarely like latter-day covers (most lose all the magic that was there; others are just putrid, like Grand Funk Railroad’s sledgehammer pummeling of “The Loco-Motion”). But for the first time in a while I heard the 1969 version of “Baby It’s You” by Smith – and damn, it’s good! They’ve turned it into a totally different song, but it’s almost as compelling as The Shirelles’ 1962 original. Shirley Owens’ plaintive vocal is a diary entry, set to throbbing reverb and echoplexed guitar (arranged by Burt Bachrach!); Gayle McCormick’s aching but self-assured delivery is face-to-face, over a punchy rhythm section and tough B-3 (produced by Del Shannon!). Lust and longing, served up perfectly for two very … Read more