This is
certainly one of the great rock anthems, but what most people don’t know is
that the album from which it was taken (Jailbreak)
is quite a good one overall. Many years ago I was in a used CD store in
Rockville and was impressed by the music they were playing, which turned out to
be the Jailbreak album. Unfortunately the clerk was playing his own copy, which
was not for sale, but I kept it in the back of my mind and later picked up the
CD elsewhere.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
#76 Trust In Me -- Etta James (1961)
Yes, there
is that other Etta James song, but Barack and Michelle seem to own that
one. ;-)
Seriously,
“Trust in Me” (which was released as a single a couple months after “At Last”)
is also a great song, and is well worth a listen. Along with Whitney Houston’s “I
Have Nothing” and Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back”, it’s a fine example
of what I think of as a “diva song”: mostly slow and smoldering, but with a big
climax near the end.
Quite a
few years back (apparently 1991), I was fortunate enough to catch LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, and
Etta James in a triple-header at Wolf Trap. Unfortunately none of these R&B
pioneers are around anymore, but they certainly combined to make a lot of fine
music.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
#77 I Loved And I Lost -- The Impressions (1968)
I’ve
always felt that Chicago soul music never got the credit it deserves. In terms
of soul music, you hear much more about Detroit for Motown, Philly for the
Gamble and Huff days, Muscle Shoals, and Memphis. Even when it comes to
Chicago, people think much more about Chicago blues than about soul. Yet
Chicago produced some of the greatest R&B music of the 1960s and 1970s. In
addition to the Impressions, you had former Impression Jerry Butler, Gene
Chandler, Major Lance, Alvin Cash, Billy Butler, the Dells, the Chi-Lites, the
Marvelows, and I’m sure some folks that I’m forgetting.
Curtis Mayfield,
of course, was the driving force behind much of this success. In addition to
writing nearly all of the Impressions’ material, he wrote hits for fellow
Chicagoans Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, and Major Lance, as well as for Aretha
Franklin and the Staple Singers. He also was a producer, started his own
successful record label (Curtom), and had a notable solo career in the 1970s.
Picking
just one song by the Impressions was even harder than picking just one Steely
Dan tune. Most of the album cuts that Mayfield wrote for the Impressions are
just as strong as the tracks that got released as singles, in sharp contrast to
the filler that mars so many 1960 albums. If you like this one, be sure to
check out their other stuff – you’ll be glad you did.
#78 A Dream Goes On Forever -- Todd Rundgren (1974)
Todd
Rundgren may have been one of the most ambitious and eclectic musical figures
of his generation (note-for-note recreation of “Good Vibrations,” anyone?), but
he was never better than when he was crafting great classic pop songs. “A Dream
Goes On Forever” was never a big hit, perhaps because it was not nearly as
catchy as “I Saw the Light” or “We Gotta Get You a Woman”, but it’s one of his
most affecting efforts. A close second would be “Love Is the Answer,” whose
incredibly soulful cover version by England Dan and John Ford Coley (of all
people) deservedly hit the top 10 in 1979.
All in
all, I guess I can forgive him for producing Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album. ;-)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Serendipity #9
Pay Me My Money Down – Bruce Springsteen (2006)
Heard 2/19/2014 around 6:10, Potbelly (downtown Rockville
location)
#79 My Old School -- Steely Dan (1973)
Picking
just one Steely Dan song was really difficult, but I remember this one being
our favorite back when I was in college. When I moved down to the DC area I was
intrigued by the Annandale reference, but later learned that it referred to
Annandale-on-Hudson in New York, rather than to the town in Northern Virginia. Oh
well.
On the
other hand, R.E.M.s “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” really does refer to
Rockville MD.
#80 Nothing But a Breeze -- Jesse Winchester (1977)
I had
always liked a lot of Jesse Winchester’s material, but remember being
frustrated many years ago because the domestic Best-Of compilation didn’t
include this song, despite it being one of only two songs he ever did that
cracked the U.S. Hot 100 chart (albeit only very briefly). I was delighted one
day when, browsing through the bins of a now-defunct used CD store in Silver
Spring, I found a 25-track imported compilation that did include “Nothing But a
Breeze,” as well as my other favorites by him. I brought the jewel box to the
counter and paid for the CD, not knowing that this was one of those places that
kept the actual CDs behind the counter. Naturally I was unpleasantly surprised
when I got home to find nothing but an empty box, and highly irritated that,
despite a couple of calls to the shop, I had to drive back down to the store to
pick up the actual CD. (I never went back there again.) It was well worth the
wait, however, and as far as I know is still the only Jesse Winchester
collection containing this classic.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
#81 A Quiet Place -- Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters (1964)
Although I
listened to Top 40 radio almost constantly from the age of 12 and fairly often
even afterwards, only once can I remember actually requesting a specific song. WBT
radio (1110) out of Charlotte NC could be heard easily in Pennsylvania after
dark, and at one point I frequently listened to Rockin’ Ray’s “Sunday Night
Hall of Fame,” which was on the air from 1971 through 1995. On one show he
played “A Quiet Place”, which I had never heard before. I liked it so much that
I sent in a postcard requesting the song the next week. What I can’t remember
is whether or not he actually played it again.
The song
is widely considered to be a classic example of “Carolina Beach Music”, although
it’s much slower and more melancholy that most other CBM songs.
#82 Any Day Now -- Chuck Jackson (1962)
Soul
singer Chuck Jackson had a long recording career without a lot of big hits – “Any
Day Now” was his biggest, and it didn’t even make the top 20. It’s a great song
nonetheless, even if more people may be familiar with Elvis Presley’s cover
version.
This past
Tuesday, which was the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first
American concert (at the Washington Coliseum), the Smithsonian presented a
program featuring Mark Lewisohn, who has published several books on the Fab
Four, including the recently-released first volume of a planned three-volume
biography of the group. He noted that at one point while visiting America, the
Beatles sat in on a broadcast by famous DJ Murray the K, who let them request
songs to play. Lewisohn presented slides featuring the songs, which included a
variety of both well-known and obscure Motown tunes, along with songs by Chuck
Berry, Richie Valens, and the Ronettes. “Any Day Now” was among the songs on
their request list.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings / Valerie June at the Lincoln Theater, 2/10/2014
Concert-wise
at least, there can’t be too many experiences like sitting in the front row of
a show by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.
Since this
was my first time at the Lincoln in years, with one of the hottest acts around
(two sold-out shows) and general admission seating, I figured I’d better arrive
early, but wound up overdoing it a bit, getting off the Metro around 4:50 with
doors scheduled to open at 6:30. No line yet. I walked a few blocks down U
Street, picked up a few things at a CVS, and got back to the theater at 5:00 –
there was now a line consisting of one person. Stopped next door at Ben’s Chili
Bowl, got some chili, and went back outside around 20 minutes later, at which
point person #1 had been joined by her friend, making me #3 in the line.
More folks
gradually arrived, and with quite a bit of time to wait plenty of conversation
ensued, including a discussion of the best place to sit. We all agreed to shoot
for the front row, which turned out not to be quite as easy as it sounded. They
finally opened the outer doors around 6:45 and let people into the lobby area.
Maybe 10 minutes or so later, they opened the lobby doors so we could get into
the hall and stairs leading to the theater, but not into the theater itself. Of
course, by this point the original order of the line had not exactly managed to
hold up all that well. Miraculously, however, once they opened the final set of
doors a few members of the original group managed to secure enough front-row
seats for all of us early-arrivers. (Another note – “doors open” apparently
also meant that the outer doors remained open, at least until the show started,
which meant that the lobby was absolutely frigid. I felt really sorry for the
folks who were running the two small bars out there.)
Valerie
June opened around 8:00 for a half-hour set that was enthusiastically received
by the crowd. She characterizes her sound as “Organic Moonshine Roots Music,”
which is probably as good a description as any, with shades of country, blues,
and especially Appalachian. She has quite an unusual voice – check out “Working
Woman” (which has been getting some play on WXPN) on her web site.
The
Dap-Kings (who may be best known for providing backing
instrumentals for Amy Winehouse’s breakthrough CD Back in Black), came out around 9:00, with a short warm-up to
prepare the crowd for Sharon’s entry. Despite recently overcoming bile duct
cancer, there was no decrease in her energy level, as she prowled all over the
stage for nearly the entire set of soul originals and a few great covers (“This
Land Is Your Land” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”). Other highlights
included “I Learned the Hard Way,” “Stranger to My Happiness” (her current
single), and “100 Days, 100 Nights” (my personal favorite and the first song of
hers I ever heard), although there really wasn’t a weak moment in the show.
To get an
idea of Sharon Jones and the band live, check out this performance from SXSW a
few years back.
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