YAABA

YAABA by Francis Bebey.

Francis Bebey is a really big name in African music worldwide. Or at the very least, a really big name in getting African music recognized worldwide. Cameroonian, educated in France and the United States, it is said that Bebey "donned the mantle of a universal griot, a traditional West African councilor, musician, and historian. Indeed, Bebey was a griot for the entire world."

Bebey was "Africa's renaissance man:" a musician, a composer, a novelist, journalist, the list goes on. But here we're only a humble music blog, so we're going to focus on just one of Bebey's compositions. Yaaba is theme music to a French film released in 1989. It was shown in New York at that time, but isn't available on U.S. format anymore.

Yaaba kind of reminds me of Tetris video game music! (Which I don't mean to sound bad. It's just that it's keyboard music (to my ears at least, there aren't any traditional instruments on here at all, just keyboards), no percussion to speak of, and it progressively builds in complexity while always circling around its basic melody. It's very easy to play this one on a loop.

LISTEN.

Photo: Street people (2).

La Francophonie

While (hopefully) all of you have been listening to Bokme from yesterday, I've been listening to this out-of-print Guinean record, "Venez Voir!!" by the 22 Band. There's very little I can tell you about it, except it's a large West African ensemble, circa 1980, fusing electric with "traditional" with Cuban styles, so it sounds vaguely similar to the Rail Band and Orchestra Baobab (though not really too close). If any of you are interested in it, let me know, I've got it uploaded already in fact.

So yes, the Francophonie. Arsenal-blogging has been kind of silly this season so far, we've yet to lose, and haven't even conceded a goal in Europe, so writing it up is almost gratuitous. I watched the match yesterday, and the only thing I can brag about is that after 15 minutes of watching Alexander Hleb miscontrol every single ball that went to him and looking completely hopeless, I thought to myself, "He's now bound to set up a goal, or score, or both." Which was true! Too bad I didn't get my prediction in print!

BOKME

BOKME by Momo Wandel Soumah.

Greetings blogpeople! I wanted to say thanks to Corbett again for his posts. They were so well thought out and well written I'm a little embarrassed for myself. Must do better.

This week I'm going to share with you three of my favorite tunes from the great state of Africa. First off we'll have something from the city of Guinea. Momo Wandel Soumah was a huge star in Guinea, but as so often is the case, mostly unknown in the Western world. Here's how the Independent described his career:

A late flowering in the lengthy career of the visionary Guinean musician Momo Wandel Soumah brought him to the attention of world music fans, although the multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer never quite gained the recognition he deserved.
...
They released their first album, Matchowé, in 1992 on the French label Buda. Several well-received tours of Europe followed, but the death of two members meant that the follow-up, Afro Swing, didn't appear until 2001, on the Belgian imprint Fonti Musicali. Wandel Soumah's most recent success was as musical director of the Paris-based company Circus Baobab. In April this year [2002], they performed three sold-out shows at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

Soumah was 77 in 2002--in April he played sold out London concerts, but unfortunately by June he was dead.

Bokme is taken from the first album, "Matchowé." It was out of print but I found this track from the indispensable source of African music, Benn Loxo Du Taccu. Over there Soumah is described as a West African Tom Waits. That's not so evident on this particular song, though just like a good Tom Waits song Bokme is heavily influenced by jazz traditions without being jazz (or jazzy!). There is one interview where Wandel described his approach, and it is applicable here:

"I wanted to have jazz in my sound, but to associate it with folklore. Because I could hear something of jazz in my musical territory here. Every time I heard a jazz record, I thought that's a rhythm from here. There is the tam tam, the gingou, the little doun-doun."
...
"The bolon that we play makes the same sound as the contrabass. So I brought that in. We tuned it, and it gave the rhythm. Then I added the flute and the djembe. No drums. A jazz drummer gives the tempo with the bass drum and does his fills on the snare and the toms. The djembe does the same thing in our group.

Bokme is a lithe major scale melody played on the balafon, given different textures by a series of solos on alto saxophone, idiophone, flute, and djembe. Soumah calls out a vocal to frame and reset the song. It's really lovely, peaceful, and engaging. A great start to Monday we think!

LISTEN.

Photo: Street people (1).

More like this please

With Arsenal not playing until tomorrow, I was allowed a rare weekend of non-soccer disruption (never to be repeated until... NEXT weekend), but I did watch a lot of college football, and it was, as Brian put it, an almost perfect day. Ohio State lost, Notre Dame got embarrassed again, OU won though Baylor was respectable, Kansas won, beating I'm-a-man-I'm-forty, Missouri won. We're now one more loss from having our destiny back in our hands--it's been a crazy college football year!

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE by Link Wray.

Bill here. Corbett asked me to post this for him:

Well, it's the weekend and I'm in San Antonio, so I'm keeping it short
and sweet today. Plus, I was kinda long-winded about the Everly
Brothers...OK, really long-winded!

Today's artist is Link Wray. Wray had his biggest hit, "Rumble", on Cadence in the late 50's. He was primarily known as a guitarist and
seemed to go underground during the 60's, doing his own thing--mostly running his Maryland farm. However, the advent of the Band's first record lit a fire under Link Wray (as it did to all sensible people except maybe Marc Bolan who was otherwise occupied with alien hobo wizards) and he returned with an eponymous LP in 1970 that is truly amazing.

Credit goes to Bill for the "discovery" of this record. Today's song
is taken from "Link Wray" and it rocks HARD. This is one of the toughest, most intense slices of country-blues I have ever heard. Not only does it rock, it rocks acoustically--anyone who has ever done some home recording knows how difficult this can be. In addition to its musical charms, this song has some righteous lyrics about, well, fire and brimstone. Wray invokes some wicked Satanic imagery,
convincing me of his status as a true rock and roll badass.

So, sit down, open a beer and prepare to be amazed by the evolution of our last 50's rocker not content to let life pass him by! Enjoy the weekend and I hope to see you back here soon for my next series--"Folk Rock Redux--Blowin' Minds!"!

LISTEN.

Photo: Kit Carson Home, Taos, NM.

Maybe I know that

Just checking in. We're still waiting for a moisture meter something-or-other on the ceiling. It's getting annoying. Philip and I went to see a couple of shows the last two days. First we saw Andrew Vladeck play a little folk showcase. Mainly so we could congratulate him on finally finishing his album. But it turns out he's not finished! Give it a year or two... (Having said that, I listened to the mixes he does have and they sound fantastic. The last round I heard in June I thought were good, but these are even better. So Andrew, if you're reading this, you done good!)

Last night we went out to Williamsburg to see Alana Amram's CD release party. She was just as good as expected, but the real surprise was this band called Puddin' Tang. Very Nuggets-y, but very tight. You never think openers will be any good (especially with such a bad name, frankly), but we both thought they were brilliant.

The other day I was looking through old blog posts trying to get this year's Christmas CD started, and I came across my friend Chris's blog on building a prefab home in West Virginia. If that sounds even remotely interesting, definitely go check it out. He's a very good blogger, and the house looks like a dream already, You can only imagine all the work that's gone into it--Actually not true, because he's told you all the work that's gone into it. Add it to your RSS feed, or your bookmarks, or whatever you do.

VENTURA BOULEVARD

VENTURA BOULEVARD by THE EVERLY BROTHERS.

Today we're featuring one of the most wonderful acts in pop music, the Everly Brothers. An inspiration not only to the Beatles (the Everlys' Gibson Jumbos inspired the Beatles to ask for the same guitars from Brian Epstein) and Beach Boys, the brothers were influential on succeeding generations of country rockers (and country singers). The Everlys may have the most wonderful vocal blend ever. I think it was Gram Parsons who said they "harmonized as only people who are closely related by blood can" (or something to that effect).

Like Monday's subject, Del Shannon (but even more so), the Everly Brothers were unfairly pigeonholed by the success of their 50's singles. After being musically tutored by their father Ike (an excellent guitarist in his own right) as youngsters, the brothers found early success on Knoxville's famed WROL radio station, performing two shows a day. They were soon celebrated by the musical luminaries of Knoxville (including Chet Atkins) and were signed to Cadence where they made a string of legendary singles with the husband and wife writing team Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. The Everly Brothers' blend of Appalachian folk and close harmonies combined with a modern pop sensibility proved to be a musical goldmine in the late 1950's. Although their work continued to be just as strong after they signed to Warner Brothers in 1960 (see "Cathy's Clown", "Walk Right Back"), their last Top Ten hit was 1962's "That's Old Fashioned". This is a bit strange considering the Everly Brothers stayed contemporary right through the 60's, adding Byrds-y flourishes to their work and even recording an album with the Hollies in Britain. As with many artists of their quality, the Everly Brothers remained quite popular in Great Britain.

This brings us to today's song, "Ventura Boulevard", from the Everly Brothers' 1968 album, "Roots". This was a album length statement which pointed very clearly to many of the country rock trends that would become so popular in the 1970's. It's interesting that so many artists (probably due to the rapid style-shifting of the psychedelic years) were doing records that attempted to get them back to their "roots" ( e.g., Elvis, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Dylan), not to mention groups that were evolving toward a sound that hearkened back to a more idyllic (and probably imagined) time in American music (e.g., the Band). The Everly Brothers' "Roots" does a bit of both of these things--it both gets them back to some influential material (Jimmie Rodgers, traditional standards) while setting new trends. The latter was largely achieved by using Ron Elliott as a writer and producer for the sessions. Elliott was the brains behind the under-appreciated Beau Brummels, who themselves were recording the country rock landmark "Bradley's Barn" in Nashville. But that's a totally different story...

"Ventura Boulevard" is a lovely, sentimental song written by Elliott about a more innocent and pastoral Southern California. The lyrical content is accented by the Everlys' beautiful harmonies--I think they do a wonderful reading of this excellent song, which seems so out of step with the openly rebellious lyrics popular at the time. Rather, this song rebels through its innocence--I mean, "we had an ice cream for only a dime"? That is lovely. Even more lovely, however, is the Everly Brothers' treatment of the song. Enjoy this wonderful tune.

LISTEN.

Photo: Some Ladies of the Canyon Meet a New Friend in Runyon Cyn.

I've come awful close

With Corbett doing an admirable job with the songs (and photos!) this week, I can't get my normal bloggy fix. Hence this post! Last week some of you might have read that Porter Wagoner died. You don't need me to tell you what a legend he was. But his (frankly) weird persona always interested me, as did his Nudie suits. With his passing a few people posted songs from his album he released this summer, an album he called his best work. I have to say it's pretty engaging, and I might have to pass a selection on here.

Amy and I put Porter and Dolly on one of our favorite Christmas CDs, "One More Round, Bartender, It's Christmas!" I was sad to read that another guy we featured on that mix, Hank Thompson, is struggling with cancer. To be honest, I was surprised to find out he was still around. I've got a whole lot of Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, it's all top notch musicianship and always with a good sense of humor. Just last week I tracked down his Wednesday Night Waltz for a project I'm kinda working on. Best wishes to him and his family.

Next, this American Gangster movie, I didn't realize was a biopic. I think it grew out of this interesting article on Frank Lucas from 2000. One of the many anecdotes in the article has to do with his (possible) connection to a hit on an Italian lawyer who owed Lucas money. Gino E. Gallina, "then a Pelham Manor mouthpiece for 'top drug dealers and organized-crime figures,' was rubbed out 'mob style . . . as many passersby looked on in horror.'" I only bring this up because that hit happened thirty years yesterday, and it happened at Varick and Carmine, down the block from where Windy now lives and exactly where we watched the United match Saturday morning. Well it was interesting to me!

Finally, when Stu got back from the Iceland Airwaves, he was telling me about this traditional Iceland dinner he went to with Valgeir and the guys from Grizzly Bear. He said that one of the girls there told this too-absurd-to-be-true story about a discovery some friends of hers made in the woods while tripping on acid. And here is that story!

Late Update: Hank Thompson has died. RIP.

SISTER ISABELLE

SISTER ISABELLE by DEL SHANNON.

Hi folks,

My name is Corbett and Bill has graciously offered me the chance to guest blog this week. My natural inclination is just to post a bunch of obscure Buffalo Springfield & Byrds songs and have a folk rock a-go-go, but I'm going to try something I hope is a little more challenging.

This week's theme (apologies to those who hate things being spelled out too clearly) will be "Updated 50's Rockers--More than a Makeover". I'd like to explore a few artists who are primarily known for their hit singles in the 1950's or pre-Beatles 1960's and take a closer look at some of their later work.

Today we're going to start with Del Shannon (of Grand Rapids, MI) and his song "Sister Isabelle", a single released in 1969 on Dunhill. Shannon is best remembered for his smash 1961 hit "Runaway", with its eerie organ solo (recorded by Max Crook on his Musitron, a three-octave monophonic keyboard) and creepy lyrical themes of loss and abandonment. In many ways, Shannon's early singles (see also "Hats Off to Larry") foreshadowed the British Invasion--They had a focus on minor chords and were written by the artist himself.

However, by the mid 1960's, Shannon was far past the prime of his career. Despite being overshadowed during these years, Shannon continued to write and record, including the admirable Andrew Loog Oldham produced "Home and Away", an interesting and effective piece of psychedelia, and the ambitious "The Further Adventures of Charles Westover" in 1968. This brings us to our song for today, "Sister Isabelle". I first heard this tune while driving in Plainfield, New Jersey, listening to WFMU. I was really bowled over by it. It's sappy but tough, clever yet heartfelt. In short, it's exactly what my wife would call "Corbett-bait". I just love Shannon's yell at the end when he asks "Does He need you more than I do?" It also has an incredibly cool bridge, replete with swirly, phased choir-style vocals, nicely complementing the lyrical content. Anyway, this single reveals a writer still in strong form and I'll bet Billy Joel listened to it a few times before penning "Only the Good Die Young".

Unfortunately, as is often the case in pop-snob lore, the story does not have a happy ending. Despite being tipped as the replacement for Roy Orbison in the Traveling Wilburys, Del Shannon committed suicide by gunshot in 1990. On that note, enjoy "Sister Isabelle"!

LISTEN.

Photo: Tule, Oaxaca.

How easy could it be?

Last night we realized a little late that OU wouldn't be on regular TV, so we went up to Hill Country barbecue, where they say that they broadcast all of the Texas and A&M games. Not true. But a good meal anyway (and lots of UT fans having fun with Mike Gundy, so funny). We walked over to Duke's Bar & Grill in time for the second quarter. It was a walkover, which is fine with us!

Next week, if all goes to plan, Corbett will be blogging for you here. I am looking forward to what he has to play and what he has to say. Especially since he actually knows what he's talking about! Stay tuned.

It's not that boring is it?

I expected the first scorer to go on and win 3-1 so at halftime I was pretty resigned. Fortunately we got a quick goal (brilliant work from Alex Hleb for that by the way), and it turned into a memorable match. We've dropped four points the last two matches which is two more than I was hoping, so the pressure remains on us.

Good times today though. Oren rang at 7:30 wondering why the match wasn't on yet (he forgot that UK's daylight savings time started last week). After the match we spent some time chatting with the bartender, who was chopping up limes & stuff to fill up his service tray. That's because, as Windy told me later, I had knocked over the whole tray ("cherry juice everywhere") celebrating our second goal. I had no idea.

By the way, here are the complete highlights from the Liverpool match.

TRANSPARENT DAY

TRANSPARENT DAY by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.

I've been looking forward to posting this song for a couple of days. Not because it's really good (although it is), but ever since I put up the Judee Sill song I've had it in my head. I'd sing it to myself. But not "Jesus Was a Crossmaker." Instead I'd sing "Jesus Was a Homewrecker" or "Jesus Was an Arm-Breaker" or "Jesus Was a Drug-Taker" or "Jesus Was a Handshaker" or something else. Try it! Once I started I couldn't stop.

Moving on... I've been wanting to hear The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band forever, mostly because every single review or interview of The Clientele I've ever read it's been "this band sounds like The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band" or Alisdair Maclean saying "I wish I had written Transparent Day by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band" or something similar.

And it turns out that the first album is excellent all the way through. It's got a good amount of weirdness sprinkled through it; I can see why they only have a cult following. Transparent Day doesn't have any of that weirdness, though, just Byrdsiness, so don't worry! As always enjoy your weekend. If you're me this is a big sports weekend--Arsenal v. Man United tomorrow morning, OU v. A&M tomorrow night.

LISTEN.

Photo: Woodstock (3).

Grow a Mo for Prostate Cancer

Here occasionally we like to do things for a good cause. This month our friend Jason is spearheading a funny way to raise money for prostate cancer research. He's even got Bob Dylan helping him out. Check out the video and I'll include his appeal below the fold. I've pitched in a couple of bucks but I'm balking at growing a moustache of my own, mainly because I like being married!




[From Jason:]

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) many brothers will be growin a Mo (slang for Moustache) for The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Why...

- Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the U.K. with at least one man dying every hour from the disease.

- One man in 11 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime in the U.K.

As perhaps the most clean-shaven man you know, I would like to take up the challenge but I need your support.

A 'tache for cash - if you like.

And I've roped in a little help from my good friend - Mr Bob Dylan!

You can pledge your sponsorship to this great cause by going to http://www.movember.com/uk/donate, entering my registration number which is 120094 and your credit card details.

Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to "The Prostate Cancer Charity" clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 120094. *

Many thanks
Jason

*Please mail cheques to: The Prostate Cancer Charity, ATT: Movember, First Floor, Cambridge House, 100 Cambridge Grove, Hammersmith, London W6 0LE.

All donations are made directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity which will use the money to fund high quality research into the causes, treatment and impact of prostate cancer and to provide support and information to men and their families.

Go away trick-or-treaters

I've got my hand over Martin's mouth so she doesn't bark at anyone coming by to trick-or-treat, as I don't want to get off the couch to hand out candy before Amy gets here. Feeling lazy here's my ceiling AND my Arsenal post for today. This is what the ceiling looks like from said couch as I'm watching Arsenal beat Sheffield United 3-0.

JESUS WAS A CROSSMAKER

JESUS WAS A CROSSMAKER by Judee Sill.

Happy Halloween! They've already blocked off the streets around here so you ruffians can show up tonight and make a lot of racket. Damn kids.

Today's selection might be known to some of you old-timers. I felt a vague sense of recognition when I heard it last week. It's Jesus Was A Crossmaker by Judee Sill. Ms. Sill is an interesting case for sure. She was a troubled rich kid from Oakland. After her parents split she drifted into bad relationships, drug use, prostitution, and incarceration, but she still had enough about her to get plugged into the emerging Laurel Canyon scene, so much so that she was David Geffen's first signing to Asylum Records in 1971. But after two albums she hadn't caught her break, and she drifted back into serious drug use and fell off the map. When she died in 1979 she hadn't been heard of in years.

I picked up her debut album (on Corbett's urging) and the first song to really stand out was Jesus Was A Crossmaker. For one thing, it's the only track on the album produced by Graham Nash. And boy is it produced. Judee's voice is tracked so many times it's hard to place exactly when she starts or finishes a word, if you catch what I mean. Add that to her weird phrasing (most people soften their 'r's when they sing. But hers are hard as a rock), the unorthodox religious imagery, the choral structure, and you've got yourself a very different piece of music, even if it's superficially just a singer-songwriter new age folk piece.

This past weekend, we played this tune about six times tooling around the back roads of Woodstock (trying to find Zena Road, trying to find a grocery store, etc). It worked.

LISTEN.

Photo: Woodstock (2).