Month: September 2021

Review – Standing In the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, A Surprise Gem

~ kcorsini ~ 12 Comments

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I think Chrissie Hynde has just always been cool. Born in Akron, she moved to London to work in the Malcolm Mclaren/Vivienne Westwood boutique SEX and was smack dab in the middle of the burgeoning punk rock scene. I think she was even involved in an early incarnation of the Clash. Finally she formed her own group, seminal rock band The Pretenders with James Honeyman-Scott (guitar), James Farndon (bass) and Martin Chambers (drums). We all loved the Pretenders. I can still remember sitting in study hall in junior high school and hearing “Brass In Pocket” for the first time. There was this gorgeous blonde girl who was a year older than me – and what teenage boy isn’t fascinated by an older woman? – and she was walking across the room with a Coke in her hand… dirty blonde hair slightly out of control (and this was before the Big Hair 80s) as Chrissie sang, “I’m gonna make you, make you, make you notice…” Oh, I noticed. I always think of that blonde gal when I hear that song…never knew her name, but I digress.

Sadly after their great second LP, the creatively titled Pretenders II, they sacked bassist Pete Farndon who later OD’d. Right after they sacked Farndon, lead guitarist Honeyman-Smith also died from a narcotic misadventure. Heroin and coke are treacherous my friends. But Hynde (rhythm guitar/vocals) soldiered on with Chambers still on drums. Three years after that second LP, the last with the original line-up, they released Learning To Crawl (1984). I remember my old college roommate Drew bringing that one back from the record store. It was virtually the soundtrack to that semester in college. Drew played the crap out of that record. That’s what inspired me to go back and finally purchase their first two albums. I’m still very glad to have that precious vinyl.

I’ve only seen the Pretenders once in concert. And, I’m embarrassed to say it’s only because they were opening for the Stones. Not that I’m embarrassed about seeing the Stones, I’m embarrassed that I’ve never made more of an effort to see the Pretenders as headliners. Chrissie was awesome that night. She introduced a reggae song they were going to play by saying, “Mick and Keith and the Stones have introduced us to so much great music, but I don’t think they get the credit they deserve for helping to introduce the world to reggae music.” Like I said, Hynde is just cool. They were a great opener that night and Hynde’s voice is still amazing. Her vocals are tough yet sexy.

I reconnected in a big way with the Pretenders when they released their last LP, Hate For Sale. I thought that was a great, late career record from them. It went into high rotation here in the B&V labs in much the same way Learning To Crawl did back in Drew’s college room. Alas, due to Covid the Pretenders were unable to tour behind Hate For Sale. When they do, I’ll be standing at the ticket counter with my money in my hand… Hynde was like a lot of us, I suppose, and was stuck at home last year. The story goes she heard Dylan’s epic single, released last year, “Murder Most Foul” and was inspired to explore his catalog. She started recording acoustic versions of Dylan’s tunes at home and sending them to Pretenders’ current lead guitarist James Walbourne. He’d add something and send it back. Collaborating has served them well.

I think Hynde put a lot of these performances out on the Pretenders’ website over the course of last year… or maybe it was their YouTube channel. There are so many avenues artists have to get their work out, I have trouble keeping track. I did hear at some point early this year that Hynde was going to release a Dylan covers LP. But, speaking of being unable to keep track, while I was anxiously awaiting Hynde to release this Dylan covers LP, it had actually been released already… in May. Either I had my head stuck up my proverbial rear-end or Hynde’s publicist is for shit. I was reading something about Dylan recently and in the comments someone said, “Chrissie Hynde does a great version of “Blind Willie McTell” on her Dylan’s cover LP.” Argh, I couldn’t help but think… how’d that one get by me?

Coincidentally I’ve been listening to Dylan quite a bit lately. He’s just released Springtime In New York, Volume 16 of the Bootleg Series and like Neil Young’s Archives Volume 2, I’ve been immersed in that for the last few weeks. It’s no secret around B&V that I’m a huge Dylan fan, of all his music not just the Bootleg Series. I am such a fan that I also love cover versions of Dylan’s songs. With Chrissie Hynde’s (relatively) new LP, Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan, I’ve had a confluence of a lot of things I love: Dylan, covers songs and Chrissie Hynde’s vocals. I do so love a cover song. It’s like a two-for-one. You get to enjoy the performance by the artist covering the song but it also evokes the memory of the original. To find out that Hynde did that rare thing – recorded an entire album of covers and in this case, rarer still, to record an entire LP of songs by another artist – I had to jump in with both ears.

This starts and ends for me with Hynde’s voice. She uncovers the vulnerability and in some cases melancholy in these songs in a whole new way. The entire album is awash in velvety acoustic guitars that feel like they’re gently massaging my temples. There are no drums or messy adornments here. It’s the raw emotion of the track focused on Hynde’s vocals. This is a great record to accompany a late night bourbon. I absolutely love her song selection on this LP. She didn’t gravitate toward big “hits” from Dylan’s catalog. This isn’t her doing “Like A Rolling Stone” or “Mr. Tambourine Man.” For the most part, she dug deeper into his catalog and, much to my delight, mined a lot of gold from his later catalog. She chose some of Dylan’s most intimate and intensely personal tunes. It all makes for an absolute gem of a record.

Of the nine tracks, only three would be considered to be from Dylan’s “Classic” period. “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” is beautifully rendered here. It’s all Byrds-y chiming guitars. “Tomorrow Is A Long Time,” a song made famous by Rod Stewart, is a beautiful finger-picked track. The last track is from the seminal LP, Blood On The Tracks, “You’re A Big Girl Now.” I think Hynde just knocks “Big Girl Now” out of the park. I felt the sadness or pathos of a breakup in this song to my core. Hynde’s voice milks the regret out of this song for all it’s worth. It’s a real highlight. Her voice is like the warm hug of an ex lover saying a final farewell.

Perhaps because I’m spending so much time with Dylan’s work in the 80s lately, I was delighted to see that the bulk of this material dates from that time. “In The Summertime” is a great opener and in Chrissie’s hands comes across as a warm greeting. It’s downright joyful. “Sweetheart Like You” has always been one of my favorite Dylan songs. Rod, who is no stranger to covering Dylan, also did this track. I wake up every morning with Chrissie singing in my head, “She used to call me sweet daddy when I was only a child…” Again, the emotions she wrings out of the song has me cheering for more. “Blind Willie McTell” is a wonderful addition here. Hynde acquits herself well on one of Dylan’s greatest tracks. I also really liked “Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight.” One of Dylan’s most personal tracks, “Every Grain of Sand” is also deeply moving in this version as well. It feels like Hynde – who has seen a lot – is in the confessional…

This is one of those little, fabulous records that will never get much attention. But to hear how committed and into these performances Hynde is makes it quite a gem. I keep listening to this record and find myself looking up at the speaker having discovered some new nuance Chrissie pulled out of the lyrics. I urge everyone to check this one out. It’s good for the soul. And lets all thank God Chrissie Hynde is still out there making a wonderful noise.

Review: Guns N’ Roses Drop Another “New” Song “Hard Skool”

~ kcorsini ~ 4 Comments

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Now this is more like it…

Long time readers know of our love for Guns N Roses here at B&V. When Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined the band to go on tour a few years back we were hoping for new music. I saw them in 2016 and it seems like yesterday. It took a while but finally 2021 has seen the release of new GnR music. A few weeks ago they debuted a “new” song in concert named “Absurd.” Shortly after they played it live, the studio version was released to the public. It’s actually not a new song but a reworked Chinese Democracy outtake that was originally called “Silkworms.” Our reaction was… disappointment. It was an odd choice for their first track in 13 years. I couldn’t help but lament, this is what they came up with after being back together for five years?

I spent most my week listening to solo Lindsey Buckingham. My old college roommate, who I’ll call Walt (named changed to protect the guilty) would be proud… he was a big Buckingham fan. Walt is the only person I knew who owned Buckingham’s second solo disc, Go Insane. He played it in the room enough that I was the one who almost went insane. Lindsey recently released his latest solo, self-titled LP. Its the record that got him fired from Fleetwood Mac. I liked it but it’s too artsy for mass consumption. Lindsey plays all the instruments. The man needs to bring in some other musicians to play off of but I’m getting off topic. I wasn’t sure what, if anything I’d be writing about this weekend. This time of year, one must never underestimate new music Fridays. The rock gods smiled on us with the latest GnR track. Beautiful fall weather, football and now some “Hard Skool.”

Yesterday indeed saw the release of a second new GnR track, “Hard Skool.” Yet again this is a track who’s origins date back to yes, the Chinese Democracy days. It appears that instead of holing up during the pandemic and writing brand new material GnR are content to just rework leftover stuff from Axl’s vault. If that’s what we’re left with, I will say I’m relieved that at least “Hard Skool” is a kick ass song. While “Absurd” sounded like a bad Nine Inch Nails cover band, “Hard Skool” at least sounds like a Guns N Roses song. At their best GnR sounded dangerous, perhaps almost menacing and this track captures that alchemy. We are once again reminded that at one time, Guns N Roses were the greatest rock band on the planet.

The track opens with a great, rolling, Duff McKagan bass line. I don’t think Duff gets the credit he deserves as a bass player. He did some amazing work last year on Ozzy’s last LP, Ordinary Man. When the guitars kick in on “Hard Skool” there’s no mistaking that this greasy blues rock metal is Guns N Fuckin’ Roses, baby. While this is a Chinese Democracy outtake, it sounds like it could have been on one of the Use Your Illusions discs. It has that unhinged “Back Off Bitch” or “Right Next Door To Hell” vibe. I can not say enough about Slash’s lead guitar on this track. His solo is classic. There’s even a spacey, Led Zepplin-y bridge in the middle where everything slows down except for drums, Duff and Slash. Slash has such a distinctive tone when he plays. And let me say, kudos to Axl on the vocals. He sounds great. I don’t know if these are vocals from 13 years ago or not but he sounds like a man possessed. Nobody does pissed-off, scorned lover vocals like Axl. On this track, everybody shows up and does what they do best. It’s a great GnR track.

Here is the link to the new song, if you haven’t heard it you’ve gotta check it out:

If I have any complaint, I still wish these guys were collaborating on new music rather than just  being content with reworking Axl’s leftovers. After five years I would have expected that to have happened. Of course this could be an Axl ego thing, one never knows. He may be refusing to move forward with new stuff until he tidies up his music backlog. I hear they’re going to release an EP with the two new tracks (“Absurd,” “Hard Skool”) and several cover songs including, apparently, a version of Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets.” It kinda makes me feel like this is more of a touring exercise than full-fledged band reunion. Although for me, it can never be a real reunion without Izzy Stradlin but that’s another topic. For now we can just be happy with some new savage rock n roll…Nobody does it better than GnR.

Review: New Showtime Documentary: Bitchin’ – The Sound And Fury of Rick James

~ kcorsini ~ 5 Comments

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I am many things. I am not, however, funky. One merely has to casually glance at me and realize, there’s no funk there. I can rock but I just can’t roll. Believe me, in the old days, I certainly tried to be funky. But I’m not someone who should ever be seen on the dance floor. I’m the consummate wallflower. I have tried to get into funk music but it just never connected. I’ve purchased LPs by Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic (a group whose records my brother owned, The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein) and various Motown acts like the Temptations. I could just never get into it. Little did I realize those acts were very strong influences on 70s/80s pop star, Rick James.

I came back from a trip a week or so ago and the Rock Chick smiled and said, “I’ve found a documentary I think you’d enjoy…” I was a tad surprised when I saw it was a new Showtime documentary about Rick James. The actual title was Bitchin’ – The Sound And Fury of Rick James, which I thought was a mouthful… however, now that I’ve seen the doc, it’s certainly fitting. I was surprised the Rock Chick thought I’d dig this documentary, although I’m quite pleased she did. Of course she knows how much I enjoyed Questlove’s Summer of Soul documentary… I’ve always thought of James as a funk artist and someone who is, if I’m being honest, a little outside of my wheelhouse. I didn’t really realize how many of his songs were “crossover” hits. A song was described as “crossover” when it crossed over from the Soul Charts (aka the Black Charts) to the mainstream Pop Charts. All that industry speak just means it was a song by a black artist that’s popular amongst a white audience, which seems like a badly outdated construct anymore. Rick James was out there making wildly popular hits in the late 70s/early 80s before Michael Jackson and Prince struck chart gold in the 80s. Rick James, in many ways, was the guy who blazed the trail for those other artists.

I was unaware, or had forgotten a lot of Rick James’ story. It’s a fascinating tale. Frankly when I think of James these days its usually in the context of the Dave Chappelle skit about him, “I’m Rick James, Bitch,” which is too bad because Rick had an amazing career. He hailed from Buffalo, New York. In the ’60s he joined the Army Reserve to avoid having to go to Vietnam. As his career as a multi-instrumentalist was taking off the Army life wasn’t to his liking so he deserted and moved to Canada. When in Canada he actually formed a band called the Mynah Birds with… rubs eyes and checks notes… Neil Young. I knew that but had forgotten all about it… I think Young had some Mynah Birds on his first Archive box. Rick and Neil had met on the thriving Toronto folk scene. Bruce Palmer was the bass player. They were signed by Motown and recorded a few singles… until someone dropped the dime on James for desertion. He ended up back in Buffalo in jail. Young and Palmer loaded up in Young’s hearse and drove to L.A. where they formed the Buffalo Springfield.

Once he was released, he and a friend named Greg Reeves traveled out to California. They both auditioned for bass player in the new Super-Group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Despite his relationship with Young, they chose Greg Reeves. It’s like James was living some sort of Forrest Gump existence. He was tricked into taking acid by Jim Morrison… He gave up on the folk-rock thing and moved back to Buffalo where he formed the Stone City Band. He was absorbing all sorts of influences – folk rock, Motown, the funk of Sly and George Clinton – but he was mixing in a little bit of a rock sensibility. They were signed by Motown. One of his early hits was “Mary Jane.” It was the first Rick James’ song I ever heard. I was in junior high and despite the fact that marijuana was merely a rumor – something the druggy  kids out behind the school were smoking or some of the older brothers of my friends were involved with – we all got a sly smile on our faces when we heard it… “Mary Jane is not a girl, the song is about pot!” Oh, we thought we were so cool and subversive. We mentioned James along with Bob Marley to prove were hip to the weed thing.

James went on to release the mega hit “Super Freak.” Everyone knew that track. It was one of the biggest crossover songs ever at the time. It gave him a ton of freedom and power. Motown tapped him to produce other artists including Smokey Robinson. He even formed a Girl-Band, The Mary Jane Girls and wrote their big hit, “In My House.” On his tour behind the Street Songs LP, opening act Prince must have been paying close attention as he would go on to repeat the formula to even greater success. It never dawned on me that Rick James was a big influence on Prince and other artists at the time. Hell, I even remember him producing Eddie Murphy’s only hit single, “Party All The Time.” I vividly recall watching the video for that song when I was in college… Eddie couldn’t sing but I thought it was cool when Rick James strolls out of the control booth and strides to the mic to sing with Murphy at the end.

But alas, all that success wouldn’t last. As usual it was a combination of hubris and well, drugs. Cocaine, and more specifically, crack cocaine were Rick James’ downfall. And women… there were a lot of women. There were problems with the law – as Dennis Quaid once said, “Drugs are fun, then fun with problems and finally, just problems.” Rick was arrested for holding a woman hostage and torturing her because he thought she stole his coke. He ended up doing time for that. As with so many stories, this was turns out to be a little sad. MC Hammer sampling “Super Freak” probably paid James more money than the original hit which is sad because MC Hammer is beyond lame. In the end Rick James passed at the tender age of 56. He never did overcome the demons of coke and booze.

Even with the somewhat sad ending, this was a great documentary on a fascinating character in the pantheon of rock n roll and pop music. Again, I think that Rick James’ career was trailblazing for a lot of Black artists who followed him. The guy may have been reduced to a punchline by Dave Chappelle but he even owned that. This is something any music fan would enjoy. I highly recommend checking this one out. As Rick would say, “It’s such a freaky scene.”

B&V’s Favorite “Comeback” LPs

~ kcorsini ~ 1 Comment

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“Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years, rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear” – LL Cool J, “Mama Said Knock You Out”

Everybody loves the drama of a good comeback. If you think about Hollywood there’s really only two story lines. There’s the story where our hero struggles, but all good things come to him in the end. I don’t know about y’all but “happily ever after” doesn’t usually happen in real life, at least to me…with the exception of the Rock Chick of course. The other story line that Hollywood loves is the comeback. Our hero gains fame or fortune but somehow, usually through some personality flaw or the machinations of some villain, our hero falls. It’s how the hero handles that adversity that fuels the drama. He struggles and then finally rights the ship and makes, yes, the comeback. That’s certainly the formula they used for the Freddy Mercury and Queen movie, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ In that case, I’m not sure how historically accurate it was.

All of that said, there have been some great comebacks in rock n roll. There are many cases where a band or artist makes it big but then… loses it. Whether they succumb to drug abuse or the pressure of fame gets to them, the artist drifts creatively. The Rock Chick continually marvels at these bands/artists who work all their young lives to get famous and sell records, who finally “make it” only to lose their shit. I kinda understand that whole thing. I don’t think anybody has any conception of what real, big fame is like. The artist perhaps feels isolated, turns to drugs or some other self-destructive behavior. Or maybe just freaked out by their fame, the artist changes their musical approach or fires the band. Certainly hubris plays a big part in all of this… I’m thinking specifically of Axl Rose who thought he was Guns N Roses. Never underestimate band chemistry, Axl.

There are many cases of big stars who eventually faded. For some odd reason I’m thinking of Sly Stone when I type these words. But for every star who eventually faded, against all odds, there are artists who have made the improbable comeback. They have somehow been able to summon the creative fire of their early success and create an album or a series of LPs that solidify their legacy and place in the rock n roll pantheon. There are many of these “comeback” albums that I just love. As I was thinking about this concept, I thought I’d share our favorites with you. There’s something about an artist with their back against the wall who comes out swinging that I’ve always loved… but then I’ve always been the underdog.

  • Elvis Presley, From Elvis In Memphis – The greatest comeback ever belongs to the King. His evil manager Colonel Tom Parker had Elvis stuck on a treadmill of making basically the same movie over and over again. The King wasn’t even doing concerts anymore. The Colonel had rendered the King irrelevant. The one time in his career Elvis bucked the Colonel was when he decided to do a television special at the end of ’68. Longtime fans were nervous… did Elvis still “have it?” Indeed he did. He mesmerized on the Comeback Special. But how to follow it up? Elvis went back home to Memphis and recorded one of his strongest albums, From Elvis In Memphis. “Stranger In My Own Home Town” still brings chills up and down my spine. Had he not come out with a strong LP after the TV show the comeback would have fizzled… The Memphis album as it came to be known solidified the comeback… Alas Colonel Parker took over again and put Elvis on the Vegas concert treadmill but that’s another story.
  • Muddy Waters, Hard Again – The 70s saw a bunch of new musical trends and they all led away from the blues and blues rock that had dominated in the late 60s, early 70s. Muddy kept putting out LPs in the early 70s with diminishing returns. One might describe his 70s output as disappointing. Muddy acolyte, blues master Johnny Winter approached Muddy about producing an LP. Muddy agreed. They assembled a topnotch backing band and the alchemy struck gold. The version of “Mannish Boy” on this album is definitive for me…
  • Johnny Cash, American Recordings – Johnny Cash was washed up and left for dead by the Country Music establishment. He was doing dinner clubs with an ensemble of musicians. Uber producer Rick Rubin attended one of those dinner club shows and approached the Man In Black about doing a stripped down album. American Recordings, his first of several LPs with Rubin, was stark and fierce. The liner notes were a copy of something Johnny wrote on lined notebook paper. It was a staggeringly successful return. “Delia’s Gone” was my favorite but there’s a lot to like. He does everybody from Nick Lowe to Danzig. It was the beginning of one of Johnny’s most fertile periods.
  • Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind – Even a diehard Dylan fan like me had given up on Bob by the late ’90s. The last LP I’d bought of his was Oh Mercy! almost a decade prior. Dylan had holed up and done a couple of albums of folk covers. I ignored them at the time – although I love them now – but those records recharged something in Dylan. Time Out of Mind feels like mortality itself reaching out to deliver a message It’s a late career masterpiece. It led to a series of great LPs in what can only be called a late career renaissance.
  • Paul McCartney, Flaming Pie – McCartney’s late 80s/early 90s losing streak was the thing of legend. I don’t think anybody was paying attention to him any more. It verged on being embarrassing. After he collaborated with the remaining Beatles on the Anthology Series, McCartney was able to reconnect with his creative spark. Flaming Pie was an amazing record and McCartney has been on a winning streak ever since, culminating in McCartney III last year.
  • George Harrison, Cloud Nine – Odd that there are a couple of ex-Beatles on this list… After his early solo success with All Things Must Pass, Harrison’s career had stagnated. The last thing I expected in the late 80s, driving around Ft Smith, Arkansas was to hear a great Harrison song, “Got My Mind Set On You.” Harrison had brought in Jeff Lynn of ELO fame to produce. Clapton and Ringo show up to help out. Cloud Nine led to the Traveling Wilburys and nice little late career surge for George, an underrated Beatle.
  • Warren Zevon, Sentimental Hygiene – Zevon had so many career collapses and comebacks I struggled to pick just one record here… I picked Sentimental Hygiene because it’s one of his greatest records. The title track features a blistering Neil Young guitar solo – recorded in one or maybe two takes. Everyone should be listening to Warren Zevon and for God’s sake if any of you have any pull – get him into the Rock Hall of Fame, please.
  • Neil Young, Freedom – Speaking of Neil Young… the 80s were a terrible decade for him. He was actually sued by his record company for “Purposely making uncommercial music.” Sigh. While many of the songs on Freedom had been around for a while, the album hung together as a whole. “Rockin’ In the Free World” in both its acoustic and electric versions is an iconic Young tune. It was a real return to form and set Neil up for a very creative decade in the 90s. Neil’s always got something left in the tank.
  • The Allman Brothers, Seven Turns – You could perhaps describe this as a reunion album more so than a comeback album, but I love it and it was so good to hear the Allman Brothers make new music in 1990. They had a great three or four LP run after this. “Good Clean Fun” and the title track remain amongst my favorites.
  • Aerosmith, Permanent Vacation – I had loved 70s Aerosmith but then they just fizzled into a morass of heroin and stupidity. I thought Done With Mirrors was a better album but it was this LP that brought Aerosmith back to center stage. While “Angel” bothers me, I loved “Dude Looks Like A Lady,” and “Ragdoll” with his greasy slide guitar. The world is always better off when Aerosmith is rocking.
  • Metallica, Death Magnetic – The Load and Reload albums sold well for Metallica but man, they left me cold. St Anger was to these ears, unlistenable. But then in 2008 Metallica dropped this gem of a record and everything clicked for me in terms of Metallica. This comeback LP got me on their bandwagon for good… I went back and purchased all their first four LPs and they are amazing.
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication – In the video for the first single from this album, the amazing “Scar Tissue,” the Chilis look like someone beat the shit out of them. They’d certainly had a rough go of it. Lead guitarist John Frusciante had quit. Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction fame had joined and left. They were considering doing an electronica based record. But Flea reached out to Frusciante who was fresh out of rehab – his heroin addiction can only be described as harrowing – and John decided to return to the fold. The results were proof Frusciante is the only person who should be playing lead guitar for the RHCPs. I saw this tour, still a very dark vibe from these guys but it was a great show. They went on to even greater heights until Frusciante quit again after Stadium Arcadium… only to return again. Fingers crossed for a new album from these guys.
  • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, The Rising – Bruce had disbanded the E Street Band, his longstanding back up band and wandered in the wilderness through the 90s. He’d gotten them back together for a reunion tour but wasn’t sure he could still write rock songs. When the tragic events of 911 unfolded, Springsteen was inspired. He was walking down the street and a fan had yelled to him, “We need you now, man.” He responded with one of his greatest sets of songs ever. The Rising was a measured and inspired response to a horrible tragedy. It’s truly one of his finest hours.

If you’re feeling like a little rock n roll comeback drama, I highly recommend every LP on this list. I’ve been cranking Cloud Nine all day. I do so love the title track. Hopefully rock n roll drama is the only thing you’re facing out there today and everything is going well. Take care of each other out there!

Cheers!

Eddie Vedder: New Song, “Long Way” From The Upcoming Solo LP, ‘Earthling’

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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“Her love was but a haunting, she left but never went away…” – Eddie Vedder, “Long Way”

I have a vague memory of the first time I saw Eddie Vedder. I think – and I could be wrong, I often am – it was his cameo in the Temple of the Dog video for (and song actually) “Hunger Strike.” In the video, he was lurking in the tall, weedy overgrowth at the edge of a beach like some menacing highway bandit. As I recall as he sang his parts, he seemed slightly unhinged, like he was tearing the words out of his soul. Other than that I only saw grainy, concert footage with him swinging around the lighting rigs, up above the stage, like an unhinged grunge Tarzan. I was dating a woman at the time who turned me onto Pearl Jam’s seminal first LP, Ten, something which I’m sure I never appropriately thanked her for. Between those two LPs, Temple of the Dog and Ten, I knew I’d forever be on this guy’s bandwagon. I don’t think I’d ever seen a man with the intensity of his vocal delivery. My “fandom” was only solidified when I saw Pearl Jam live at Red Rocks outside of Denver on the Vitalogy tour in 1995.

Pearl Jam may have had its commercial ups and downs but I stuck with those guys through it all. I was there for Binaural and Riot Act – the Riot Act tour was the only time I’ve seen Pearl Jam with the Rock Chick, still incendiary despite the downpour – and those two albums were probably their commercial nadir. I think everything they’ve done since 2006’s self-titled LP has been exceptional rock n roll. And, while I was slow to warm to Gigaton that LP grows in my estimation with every repeated spin. The thing about Pearl Jam is even on their darkest, least commercially oriented records there was always those one or two tracks that are transcendent for me in the way their early LPs were for all of us. Typically that’s a result of either Eddie Vedder’s songwriting or his singing. He may be one of the last of the great front men…

While many of his peers struck out to go solo, Vedder never seemed to want to make a big splash on his own. Most of the solo tracks of Vedder’s that I had in my collection were songs from either soundtracks or tribute albums. He did “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” on that I Am Sam Beatles-centric soundtrack. I seem to remember he rocked out on a solo performance of “I Believe In Miracles” on a Ramones’ tribute LP. In 2007 Vedder did the entire soundtrack for the film Into the Wild and at the time it was considered his solo “debut” album. The Rock Chick gave me that record as a surprise gift that year. Vedder said he modeled Into The Wild after Pete Townshend’s early solo recordings, Who Came Next. I really liked the song “Hard Sun.” After that Vedder released an LP that may have been strange to some – Ukulele Songs – that I actually enjoyed. It was what a solo record used to mean in the way back machine – something idiosyncratic and completely different from your day job.

As far as I knew, sitting here today Vedder had no plans for anything major on the solo front. He’s released some tracks, including a great cover of Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up,” that he recorded at his home studio in Hawaii during Corona. Vedder lives in Hawaii with his former model wife and family where he records what he wants when he wants and then every half a decade or so goes on a boys-weekend excursion with his pals in Pearl Jam. Can we all just admit right now that Eddie Vedder “won” grunge. Anyway, this Wednesday, Vedder released a surprise, new single “Long Way” with an announcement that his next solo record Earthling will be coming out at some undetermined point in the future.

New Eddie Vedder, sign me up, yes please. I was intrigued and immediately sought the song out. “Long Way” and the rest of this impending solo album were produced by Andrew Watt… who I may have to start referring to as Uber-producer since he blew me away producing last year’s Ozzy Osbourne record, Ordinary Man. “Long Way” features not only Watt on guitar/keyboards but Josh Klinghoffer formerly of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on guitar and Chad Smith currently still in the Red Hot Chili Peppers on drums. I hope that wasn’t awkward. Watt called in Chad Smith to play drums on that Ozzy LP I mentioned before, they seem to be pals. Also on the track on the Hammond B-3 is Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers and I don’t know if it’s his presence here but a lot of people are describing this track as sounding like Wildflowers-era Petty.

To describe this song as sounding like a Wildflowers excerpt is not an exaggeration. I hear it most in the chorus which sounds almost slightly auto-tuned, which would stun me if it is. It begins all acoustic strumming with easy but insistent drums. It chugs along… like someone on the freeway. Actually Vedder sings the chorus, “She took the long way, on the freeway” and perhaps that intonation of “free,” in long, drawn out notes is what conjures the Petty vibe. The song has a great two-part guitar solo in the middle. The song is so evocative of driving down the highway, headed toward something or as was usually my case in the old days, away from something. The lyrics are all about a failed relationship that leaves the protagonist haunted. How familiar is this lyric: “He’d taken more than his share, trying hard not to awaken the voice of regret in his ear.” Yeah, been there… “wishing the past would disappear.” Vedder’s voice is in one of those transcendent places I spoke about earlier in the post. This is a beautiful, haunting, midtempo track that really sticks with me.

Everyone should check this track out, if only to hear Vedder sing in such a committed way. This is a beautiful song. I don’t know what this portends for Earthling, his new album but it’s a great start. This is one of those great, musical surprises I was hoping that 2021 would bring. I knew musicians were squirreled way in their studios making splendid noise. Enjoy this one folks!

Cheers!

George Harrison’s Magnum Opus ‘All Things Must Pass – 50th Anniversary’ Edition

~ kcorsini ~ 8 Comments

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“Sunrise doesn’t last all morning, a cloudburst doesn’t last all day. Seems my love is up and left you with no warning, its not always going to be this grey…” – George Harrison, “All Things Must Pass”

Since its been a whole month since this new 50th anniversary version of All Things Must Pass came out on August 6th I’ll have to admit to you, it’s taken me a while to get this piece written. Other things kept popping up from Plant/Krauss to Metallica that prevented me from getting this done. The original LP/vinyl version of George Harrison’s first (official) solo album All Things Must Pass was three albums long – already a magnum opus – the 50th anniversary edition is 5 CDs. That’s a lot to digest. I had been shying away from sharing my thoughts on big editions like this that are focused on one album. Well, I’ve been shying away from anything like this by anybody but Prince. Prince’s “deluxe editions” are always packed with an enormous amount of unreleased material. John Lennon did a 50th anniversary edition of Imagine and I didn’t even check it out. I figured it would be all roughed out demos and “alternate takes.” Only the true collectors could delve into those waters. The box set that changed my opinion on this was CSNY’s Deja Vu – 50th Anniversary. That set blew me away. And admittedly I’ve been in a heavy celebration of all the great music of 1971 all year long…

I remember when the sitcom Seinfeld was on television. Seinfeld was a huge Superman fan. It reignited a debate from when I was a kid. The question always was, are you a Batman fan or a Superman fan? We like to create rivalries on all things it seems. Supposedly, which side you fall on in this debate tells us something about your personality. For the record, I’m a Batman fan. He was darker… his origin story was more violent and horrible. Anyway, there was a similar debate when I started listening to music – are you a Beatles guy or a Stones guy? In the late 70s when I first started listening to music, I was 100% a Stones guy. Not surprisingly, my brother who usually tends to line up on the opposite side from me, was a Beatles fan. Frankly, all these years later I believe it’s possible to be a fan of both… the Stones and the Beatles, not Superman and Batman… you have to make a choice on the latter. For Beatles fans, it wasn’t enough to be a Beatles fan, you had to declare a “favorite Beatle.” Purists, what are you going to do? I think, and I would never dare to speak for him, my brother was a George fan. George was the quiet Beatle. I think George was considered the quiet Beatle because he could never get a word in edgewise with McCartney and Lennon hogging the spotlight. I always thought of him as more the sullen, frustrated Beatle. He wrote songs like “Taxman,” or “You Like Me Too Much.”

When the Beatles finally disintegrated in acrimony, they all went on to solo careers. For years Harrison had been stockpiling songs. Lennon and especially McCartney prevented his songs from making the released Beatles albums. His contributions to the Beatles’ last LP, Abbey Road, couldn’t be ignored however. The songs “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” were the best songs on the album. Sinatra once covered “Something” in concert and announced it as the best song Lennon/McCartney ever wrote… probably too much bourbon for Frank. There was some thought that McCartney was threatened by Harrison’s amazing development as a songwriter and that was another contributing factor in the Beatles break up. McCartney’s penchant for doing dozens and dozens of takes on trifles like “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” or “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” couldn’t have helped. Lennon used to refer to those types of songs as McCartney’s “granny-style” music.

Harrison really had developed as a songwriter and with Lennon/McCartney keeping his songs off the Beatles records he had this incredible number of great songs he was sitting on. Uber-producer Phil Spector had worked with the Beatles on what would become Let It Be and had worked with John Lennon on his early solo stuff. Harrison decided to bring him in for All Things Must Pass. Spector’s “wall of sound” was considered the perfect background for Harrison’s “reedy” voice. I’ve always liked his voice, I’m not sure where that assessment comes from. The burst of creativity that is All Things Must Pass is nothing short of breathtaking. It was a statement to the world, George Harrison would be silenced no longer. It was a double album with a third LP sub-titled Apple Jams all packaged in a small box. Three LPs was almost unheard of in the 70s. I remember going into my brothers room and marveling at the enormity of it all. He had that box and the Concert For The People of Bangladesh which was also a triple- LP packaged in a large box. Those are probably worth some money these days. I don’t know where my brother got all this bread to buy these giant box sets but clearly his allowance was larger than mine.

To me, All Things Must Pass is the greatest solo LP from any Beatle. Ok, I could probably do without the Apple Jams third album. Like most people who discovered rock n roll in the 70s I started off as a big McCartney fan. Then by college I’d shifted to being a Lennon guy. I love their solo work but nothing compares to All Things Must Pass. The sheer volume of top shelf material here is astounding. Harrison has spent the end of ’69 up at Woodstock with Dylan and the Band and his obsession with the sitar ended and he rediscovered playing guitar. That experience supposedly inspired “Run of the Mill,” a track that ends the first album. He also covers Dylan’s “If Not For You.” “My Sweet Lord” was the first single, one of Harrison’s signature songs. So many great tracks: “Wah Wah” about the guitar, a farewell to his former bandmates in the title track, “Let It Down,” “Beware of Darkness,” and so many more. Every track on the first two albums could have been a hit. Maybe if Harrison had held back some of these tracks he could have solidified his solo career in the early days. There’s rock and roll, folk influences, gospel chords and of course, Eastern religion plays heavily here. It was an explosion of creativity that signified everything Harrison was into and everything he was about. It’s enormous yet a very personal statement. “Awaiting On You All” has been running through my brain non-stop all month. I’m a non believer and I’m singing, “the lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see.” I’m not sure that’s true but what a great song and sentiment. 

The band backing him on this album is also quite extraordinary. Clapton brought all the guys he’d met while on tour with Blind Faith from the opening band, Delaney and Bonnie inlcuding Jim Gordon (drums) and Carl Radle (bass). Those guys went on to form Derek and the Dominos. Ringo shows up as well as John and Yoko on a track. Tellingly, only McCartney is absent. If you dig deep enough it’s a who’s who of British rock. Ginger Baker from Cream plays drums on a track. Klaus Voorman, bassist friend of the Beatles is here. Peter Frampton is on acoustic guitar. Billy Preston and Bobby Whitlock show up on keyboards. Dave Mason, guitarist of Traffic is on the LP. Alan White, later of Yes shows up on drums. Spector’s “wall of sound” approach usually included multiple drummers, guitars and backing singers on all songs. One could imagine him saying, “More guitars and drums and you two in the back, pick up those tubas and play something… horns, more horns.” The sound is all encompassing and powerful. It’s really incredible.

All of that said, I really dig the bonus material here and believe me, with three discs of it, there is plenty. Disc 3 on the CD version of the box is probably my favorite. It’s Harrison laying down demos of the tracks for Spector. It’s just Harrison, typically on acoustic guitar with Ringo on drums and Klaus Voorman on bass. That’s a similar line up of who recorded Lennon’s Plastic Ono album. Just Lennon and that same rhythm section. I think Spector’s decision to add all the backing musicians and turn it up to 11 was the right decision but I like these quiet, stripped down versions. They’re all (for the most part) fully realized songs. It makes for a much more personal statement from Harrison. The focus is more clearly on the lyrics. It feels like you’re sitting around the campfire jamming. They aren’t all acoustic tracks, “What Is LIfe” is still a rollicking rocker in this stripped down form. These early takes are so different from the released LP I found them fascinating. There are a few unreleased tracks here too. “Going Down to Golders Green” is a track he gave to another artist. There are two Eastern themed songs, “Om Hare Om” and one I really dug, “Dehra Dun.” Considering the unreleased stuff, he could have done three LPs without the jam LP. “Sour Milk Sea” was another acoustic track that would have translated well to an electric, full-band version. “Awaiting On You All” has different lyrics which include a swipe at the Pope which I thought was funny.

Disc 4 continues the demos theme. It’s mostly acoustic but this time just George alone with an acoustic guitar. I like “Everybody/Nobody” which was not included on the LP. “Beautiful Girl” is a track that eventually saw the light of day on the album Thirty Three & 1/3. “Tell Me What Happened To You” was an interesting outtake as is “Nowhere to Go,” which finds George alone on electric. “Cosmic Empire” is a track that I thought could have been a hit with a band. It’s a great little ditty. “Mother Divine” is another track I wish he’d pursued. Don’t get me wrong, I dig the acoustic versions of these songs presented here but it does hint at the fact there was so much more here.

The final disc, disc 5, has outtakes featuring the whole band backing him up. “Hear Me Lord” sounds like a jam that could have been a Derek and the Dominos outtake. What a great, big rock n roll tune that one is. George and the band do a funny rendition of “Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Gang of Mine.” The lyrics of this version of “Isn’t It A Pity” start off with “Isn’t it so shitty, we do so many takes, now we’re doing it again.” I wonder if that is a swipe at McCartney or Spector? They even include a version of the Beatles’ “Get Back” that is a sloppy delight. I like the bluesy “Down to the River (Rocking Chair Blues).” The bluesy, acoustic “Woman Don’t Your Cry For Me” is completely different than the version released on Extra Texture. The musicians he has in the studio with him really were extraordinary.

There is so much to like in these unreleased demos and outtakes. It does remind me of the recent 50th anniversary edition of CSNY’s Deja Vu. The quality of the unreleased stuff is on par with what was finally released. It just underscores what a huge, freeing, creative burst this album was for Harrison. I’ve come to appreciate a lot of George’s solo work over the years but this box really reconnected me to his masterwork. It’s well worth the investment of time.

Cheers!