This Week's Playlist - 10/3 to 10/7
Yes, I'm falling a little behind, but I'll catch up! This week's music included two all-cover discs and a lot of guitar. Here's the Cliff Notes:
10/3 – The Mr. Neutron Useful Instrumental Collection disc 1 & 2
My friend, the Mr. Neutron drummer, passed me this collection of primarily surf instrumentals running from the Blue Stingrays to Los Straitjackets and beyond. The Straitjackets, while not the originators of the style, are clearly the finest honed group; great chops all around, and a wicked sense of humor. They’re not a post-modern surf band, although their Mexican wrestling masks and inherent commentary (like the novelty track “Itchy Chicken”) might give you that feeling on first listen. But they obviously love the music they play and devote their serious musical skills to making it sound fresh and fun, as good surf music should be. The double set also includes some classic Dick Dale and well-known tracks by such groups as The Surfaris, The Chantays, and the Trashmen, as well as surprises like the Byrds (“Buckaroo”), REM (“Tricycle”), the Stray Cats cover of “Sleepwalk”, and the hey-I-had-forgotten-this-one “Lonely Surfer” by Jack Nitzsche.
10/4 – The Wicked Grin – John Hammond
The first all-covers disc has John Hammond, with Tom Waits producing, finding the blue notes in the Waits songbook. He doesn’t have to look too far, but Hammond’s deep swampy take on cuts like “Get Behind the Mule”, “Heartattack and Vine” and “Big Black Mariah” works as if they had been written just for him. A great set for Waitsians and Hammondites alike, and if you’re one of those who are put off by the rocks-and-gravel of Tom’s voice, this is a good way to get into the excellence of his songs as interpreted by another talented artist.
10/5 – Red on Blonde – Tim O'Brien
Just about everyone has covered one or more Dylan songs at some point in their career, and with good reason. The great variety of styles and subjects covered by Dylan – to say nothing of the power, intelligence, and craft of the songs themselves – makes it easy to find something good that suits just about any style. Tim O’Brien’s style is bluegrass, and trad country; he’s got a nice country tenor voice, and is an outstanding mandolin and fiddle player, among other instruments. So you’d think this album of all-Dylan covers would be heavy on Nashville Skyline type songs – and you’d be wrong. O’Brien’s picks include “Oxford Town”, “The Wicked Messenger”, “Forever Young”, and “Lay Down Your Weary Tune”. It all works unusually well, and I think his version of “Farewell Angelina” is definitive. Great for Dylan fans, country/bluegrass fans, and just about anyone else. Highly recommended.
10/6 – Rough Guide to Bottleneck Blues
I’m a big fan of the Rough Guide series, and am also partial to bottleneck/slide guitar styles of all sorts. This collection focuses on bottleneck blues music and musicians, both old and new (typical of Rough Guides). It’s a tasty disc with a heavy emphasis on delta blues (which – more than any other form of the blues – uses slides) and includes numbers by classic bluesmen like Furry Lewis, Blind Willie Johnson (the haunting “God Moves on the Water”), and Charley Patton as well as contemporary slide guitarists such as the late John Fahey, Bob Brozman, and Stefan Grossman. It even includes a good segue to the last CD of the week – a cover of “St. Louis Blues” by Jim & Bob a/k/a The Genial Hawaiians.
10/7 – Slidin' On the Frets: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Phenomenon
So where did all this steel/bottleneck/slide playing coming from in the first place? Delta blues fans may think it originated down South, but according to the folks at Yazoo (and others – although it may be apocryphal), it all started in Hawaii in the late 1880’s when a guy named Thomas Kekuku figured out how to play guitar with a knife edge and open tuning (fyi non-guitar players: the normal tuning of a guitar does not produce a euphonic sound when chording the open strings; in open tuning, the guitar is actually tuned to a specific chord). This Hawaiian sound swept the islands and then the country, probably brought back by sailors – particularly the Spanish and Portuguese who had originally introduced the Hawaiians to the guitar in the mid-1800’s). In the delta, guitarists adapted the technique but found that for individual performances, you got more sound by standing up and bringing the slide under the neck of the guitar rather than playing sitting down with the guitar in your lap, Hawaiian style, with the slide played over the neck. The craze for Hawaiian music in general was so great that in the 20’s, the famous Martin guitar company actually sold more ukuleles than they did guitars. As I said above, I’m partial to slide guitar, and have several albums of historic Hawaiian steel music in my collection; this is another very good one that documents the spread of the sound and its enormous success around the world, including songs from Argentina, Trinidad, France, and – one of my favorites – “Pame Sti Honolulu”, recorded by Bezos’ Hawaiian Orchestra from Greece (yes, it has both slide guitar AND bouzouki!). Also of note – and showing the sound in early New Orleans jazz – is King Oliver’s “Everybody Does It In Hawaii”. This disc is an intriguing slice of musical history, and grand entertainment to boot.
10/3 – The Mr. Neutron Useful Instrumental Collection disc 1 & 2
My friend, the Mr. Neutron drummer, passed me this collection of primarily surf instrumentals running from the Blue Stingrays to Los Straitjackets and beyond. The Straitjackets, while not the originators of the style, are clearly the finest honed group; great chops all around, and a wicked sense of humor. They’re not a post-modern surf band, although their Mexican wrestling masks and inherent commentary (like the novelty track “Itchy Chicken”) might give you that feeling on first listen. But they obviously love the music they play and devote their serious musical skills to making it sound fresh and fun, as good surf music should be. The double set also includes some classic Dick Dale and well-known tracks by such groups as The Surfaris, The Chantays, and the Trashmen, as well as surprises like the Byrds (“Buckaroo”), REM (“Tricycle”), the Stray Cats cover of “Sleepwalk”, and the hey-I-had-forgotten-this-one “Lonely Surfer” by Jack Nitzsche.
10/4 – The Wicked Grin – John Hammond
The first all-covers disc has John Hammond, with Tom Waits producing, finding the blue notes in the Waits songbook. He doesn’t have to look too far, but Hammond’s deep swampy take on cuts like “Get Behind the Mule”, “Heartattack and Vine” and “Big Black Mariah” works as if they had been written just for him. A great set for Waitsians and Hammondites alike, and if you’re one of those who are put off by the rocks-and-gravel of Tom’s voice, this is a good way to get into the excellence of his songs as interpreted by another talented artist.
10/5 – Red on Blonde – Tim O'Brien
Just about everyone has covered one or more Dylan songs at some point in their career, and with good reason. The great variety of styles and subjects covered by Dylan – to say nothing of the power, intelligence, and craft of the songs themselves – makes it easy to find something good that suits just about any style. Tim O’Brien’s style is bluegrass, and trad country; he’s got a nice country tenor voice, and is an outstanding mandolin and fiddle player, among other instruments. So you’d think this album of all-Dylan covers would be heavy on Nashville Skyline type songs – and you’d be wrong. O’Brien’s picks include “Oxford Town”, “The Wicked Messenger”, “Forever Young”, and “Lay Down Your Weary Tune”. It all works unusually well, and I think his version of “Farewell Angelina” is definitive. Great for Dylan fans, country/bluegrass fans, and just about anyone else. Highly recommended.
10/6 – Rough Guide to Bottleneck Blues
I’m a big fan of the Rough Guide series, and am also partial to bottleneck/slide guitar styles of all sorts. This collection focuses on bottleneck blues music and musicians, both old and new (typical of Rough Guides). It’s a tasty disc with a heavy emphasis on delta blues (which – more than any other form of the blues – uses slides) and includes numbers by classic bluesmen like Furry Lewis, Blind Willie Johnson (the haunting “God Moves on the Water”), and Charley Patton as well as contemporary slide guitarists such as the late John Fahey, Bob Brozman, and Stefan Grossman. It even includes a good segue to the last CD of the week – a cover of “St. Louis Blues” by Jim & Bob a/k/a The Genial Hawaiians.
10/7 – Slidin' On the Frets: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Phenomenon
So where did all this steel/bottleneck/slide playing coming from in the first place? Delta blues fans may think it originated down South, but according to the folks at Yazoo (and others – although it may be apocryphal), it all started in Hawaii in the late 1880’s when a guy named Thomas Kekuku figured out how to play guitar with a knife edge and open tuning (fyi non-guitar players: the normal tuning of a guitar does not produce a euphonic sound when chording the open strings; in open tuning, the guitar is actually tuned to a specific chord). This Hawaiian sound swept the islands and then the country, probably brought back by sailors – particularly the Spanish and Portuguese who had originally introduced the Hawaiians to the guitar in the mid-1800’s). In the delta, guitarists adapted the technique but found that for individual performances, you got more sound by standing up and bringing the slide under the neck of the guitar rather than playing sitting down with the guitar in your lap, Hawaiian style, with the slide played over the neck. The craze for Hawaiian music in general was so great that in the 20’s, the famous Martin guitar company actually sold more ukuleles than they did guitars. As I said above, I’m partial to slide guitar, and have several albums of historic Hawaiian steel music in my collection; this is another very good one that documents the spread of the sound and its enormous success around the world, including songs from Argentina, Trinidad, France, and – one of my favorites – “Pame Sti Honolulu”, recorded by Bezos’ Hawaiian Orchestra from Greece (yes, it has both slide guitar AND bouzouki!). Also of note – and showing the sound in early New Orleans jazz – is King Oliver’s “Everybody Does It In Hawaii”. This disc is an intriguing slice of musical history, and grand entertainment to boot.
posted by DJStan at 12:03 PM
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