New Releases on
RARadio:
"Darkness" by
Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread"
by Simian
Mobile Disco and "Keep You"
from Actress
off the Chronicle movie
soundtrack;"Goodbye to Love" from
October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011
label sampler;
Black Box Revelation Live on
Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking Violet";
Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get
Along"; Dana deChaby's
progressive rock
One of the more intriguing stories of the
past year is the YouTube-enabled rise of Lana Del Ray, whose
nakedly emotional "Video Games" caught the attention of a
nation, to the extent that within months of breaking she was
performing on "Saturday Night Live". She caught nearly
universal criticisms for her performance, though
RARWRITER.com had no trouble with her effort. On Late Night
with David Letterman February 2 (2012) she did her hit in
its original sparse arrangement, which puts total attention
on Del Ray's natural steaminess. Letterman and Paul Shafer
seemed to love it. The performance has an honest edge to it
that is hard to describe as anything other than stimulating.
What do you think?
Flaming Lips
"I Am the
Walrus"
How many ways are there
to love the Flaming Lips' garage-band rendition of John
Lennon's Dada classic? (See Answer below video)
Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and
sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a
prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art, a
celebration of anti-art to be later embraced for anarcho-political
uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation
for Surrealism. — Marc Lowenthal, translator's
introduction to Francis Picabia's I Am a Beautiful Monster:
Poetry, Prose, And Provocation
Summer Twins are
sisters Chelsea and Justine Brown.
They write dreampop and rock ‘n roll songs with a touch of
California sun.
Born and raised in Riverside, Ca, the two
decided they wanted to start a band from a young age.
Inspired by their dad's old rock 'n roll records, Chelsea
picked up the guitar, Justine taught herself to play drums,
and they played in an all-girl band throughout their teens.
They formed Summer Twins in 2008, with a
focus on singing pop harmonies atop garage rock inspired by
the '50s and '60s. Now in their early twenties, Summer Twins
play live with an additional guitarist and bassist.
Their debut self-titled album was
released on Burger Records in January (2012).
Brooklyn-based playwright
Kyle
Jarrow has won some fine honors for his musical
theatrical craft, but along the way he has also led some
exceptionally cool bands, including The Fabulous Entourage and
Super Mirage. He is now with a new entry,
Sky Pony. Watch this live
performance of an original tune below, leaving no doubt that
Jarrow is one of the authentic singer-songwriter talents in
the country, and one doing a sophisticated brand of
electro-pop thriving almost exclusively on the coasts, at
least stateside. It has a smart lyrical and melodic quality
and a playful, sexy bounce to its funky rhythmic structure.
More on Sky Pony below.
Sky Pony
"I did indeed get married, last
May. Thank you for the congratulations. She's a very
talented actress/singer. It's been a lot of fun starting a
band with her!." - Kyle Jarrow.
Sky Pony is billed as a
husband-wife act, i.e., "It's a brand new band that combines
the "uptown" talents of singer/actress
Lauren Worsham (City
Center's Where's Charley, Goodspeed's Carnival, City Opera's
Candide) with the "downtown" sensibility of her husband
Kyle Jarrow (from the bands
The Fabulous Entourage and Super Mirage, also an Obie
Award-winning playwright for A Very Merry Unauthorized
Children's Scientology Pageant) -- as well as an
ever-changing collective of guest performers."
The quote above references an
update to this piece that first appeared on January 18. RARWRITER.com
has featured Kyle regularly on this site but hadn't been in
touch with him in awhile and was not aware of the nuptials.
Our best wishes!
Here is a description of the Sky Pony show
in January (2012) at The Knitting
Factory in Brooklyn: "...a theatrical concert experience
that may well blow your mind, featuring a talented calvalcade of special guests: backup singers
Jessi Suzuki and
Megan Stern, guitarist
Kevin Wunderlich, bassist
Eric Day, drummer
Perry Silver (of The Fabulous
Entourage), cellist David Blasher,
and raconteur Clay McLeod Chapman
(of Pumpkin Pie Show fame). Costumes and choreography (yes,
there will be both) by Eunice Bae."
Oh Portlandia:
Or Eugenia, possibly, which is the Oregon location
from which they originate, though they have that Portlandia
vibe. The Redheads are lo-fi and lo-pretension, which
somehow works, even with their lo-concept songwriting
inclinations, particularly when the band plugs in for a big
show. This video below captures this metamorphosis rather
charmingly.
Blitzen Trapper
Portland-based favorite Blitzen Trapper is touring
with fellow townspeople the Parson Redheads in March,
hitting some spots in Northern California before moving onto
this year's SXSW Festival. It'll the their first visit since
2009. You can
find there tour dates here.
BT drummer Brian Adrian Koch directed the video
below for the band's American Goldwing track “Takin’ It Easy
Too Long”.
Great
American Taxi
Produced by Todd Snider,
recorded in East Nashville, TN, third studio album is “electrified folk music for our times”
The lead track, “Poor House,”
came to them in a peculiar way while the band was playing in
Oklahoma City. They received a call from their songwriting
friend Benny Galloway, who had no idea that GAT was in
Oklahoma. By coincidence, he called to say he was driving
through Woody Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah, OK, knowing that
the Taxi boys were big Guthrie fans. Galloway showed up
about an hour before the show and ran “Poor House” by them
as a potential song they could play together that night.
Galloway obliged the band’s desire to include the track and
dropped off a demo version weeks later while all were back
home in Colorado.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Produced by East
Nashville’s critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Todd
Snider, Great American Taxi’s
third album, Paradise Lost (released October 11, 2011)
continues to occupy a top-ten Americana Airplay chart
position. The new release is described as “a mixture of
country, blues and rock blurred together,” notes
keyboardist/singer and album executive producer Chad Staehly.
“Taxi moves along the tradition of playing what is really
electrified country folk music of the common man.”
“It’s hard to imagine someone not liking
Great American Taxi. In their bone structure and general
jiggle, GAT is a modern equivalent to Little Feat, Los Lobos
and the Grateful Dead — i.e. bonhomie-rich, barroom-ready
rockers with a healthy facility with twangy stuff, all
anchored to quality songwriting, playing and presentation.
The Taxi is the whole dang package,” Dennis Cook recently
wrote in Jambase.
Great American Taxi is Vince Herman
(vocals, guitar, mandolin), Chad Staehly (keys, vocals), Jim
Lewin (guitar), Chris Sheldon (drums) and Brian Adams
(bass). On Paradise Lost, the band enlisted master folk
musicians Tim O’Brien, Barry Sless and Elizabeth Cook to
tackle songs about working class, blue-collar issues while
maintaining Taxi’s signature upbeat, country-, bluegrass-,
rock-infused, Americana-without-borders feel.
“I believe in the power of music and songs
that can generate the energy to do something,” explains
Herman. “Politics should be in music; everything’s politics,
especially music. Songwriting can draw attention to
appropriate issues of our times.” The band holds no bars in
confronting current issues like mountaintop removal, nuclear
energy, poor economic conditions, or a soldier returning
home from war.
“Taxi’s latest release has shed the
jamming and gone for the throat with focused song writing
and tight musical arrangements,” adds Staehly. “The album
combines ‘folky’ elements with straight ahead bluegrass that
was propelled by Tim O’Brien playing fiddle, banjo and
mandolin on several numbers mixed with equal parts rock ’n’
roll — think early-’70s country-rock Rolling Stones.”
The band crafted a batch of 12 songs that
follow a script of sorts, focusing on America in the new
millennium. The theme started to develop in 2010 when they
spent time in Nashville. Later that year, while on tour with
Snider in Denver, lightning struck: Snider and the band
decided to work together to create Taxi’s third album, which
was to explore what “paradise lost” means to all of us,
individually and collectively. Paradise Lost takes on issues
such as loss of childhood, loss of innocence, lost loved
ones — even the loss of the record industry.
The release wraps up a trilogy, the band
realized while working on Paradise. Their three albums
loosely sketch out three periods in American history. People
came to this country to carve out their Streets of Gold (GAT’s
first release in 2007), got caught up in a bunch of Reckless
Habits (2010) and have ended up with a sense of Paradise
Lost.
When work began on Paradise Lost, Snider
wanted the lyrics first before anything else. All five
band-members contributed. Snider helped them edit and
whittle down the catalog of songs to about fifteen tunes
before they shored up the music and headed for East
Nashville in April of 2011. There they arrived at Eric
McConnell’s house (where Snider cut his acclaimed release
East Nashville Skyline and where Jack White produced Loretta
Lynn’s Grammy-award winning release Van Lear Rose).
Staehly recalls, “The house definitely has
a certain vibe to it, maybe it’s all the old analog gear or
McConnell’s approach, but this new album from Taxi hearkens
to the sounds of both of those albums. It’s a bit raw with
all kinds of warmth and vibe to it that helps bring home
these workingman songs. Paradise Lost has an everyman’s
aesthetic to it that evokes a reminder of how things ought
to be for those in search of the elusive American Dream.”-
Cary Baker
Flat River
Band
Brothers in arms, joined at the nut and
the saddle...just for the sake of musical euphemism... How
else could you get this tight?
Brothers
Chad, Dennijo and Andy Sitze grew up playing
together in a family musical act, and it shows. They have
the kind of cohesive musical expression that can only be
achieved among family and close childhood friends. Check out
the video above and the naturalness of their precision
performance. They are probably just a songwriting
acquaintance away from breaking out following a long
apprenticeship in Missouri and Tennessee playhouses such as
Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, and countless fairs and
festivals throughout the South and the Midwest.
- RAR
___________________________
RAR Tribute
to Classic Country
Something about the
Winter months seems to put yours truly (RAR) in the mood for the slower tempos and
sweet ruminations of what we now call "Classic Country". I
grew up with this schmaltz, with particular exposure to the
songs of Hank Williams, Jim Reeves, Ray Price, Marty
Robbins, Willie Nelson, and others who were likely to be
played on AM radio in America's heartland. My first record,
given to me by my paternal grandparents, who were first
generation Nebraska homesteaders, was Reeves' version of
"Billy Bayou", the story of a Louisiana boy whose fate
seemed inextricably intertwined with quicksand. Check out the video below
for a taste of what it was like back in the '50s. (And for the record, I was a
dedicated Boy Scout, as were "we" all.) And then
after you have recalibrated your silly meter with "Billy
Bayou", please continue this journey through Classic Country
right on into heartbreak land, with Willie Nelson covers and
a RAR original.
Click on the covers shown above to
hear the individual tracks.
My little tribute above includes two covers
of classic Willie Nelson tunes leading to a RAR original,
the last provided as an example of how the influences of my
formative years have expressed themselves in my later
creative life, which is most certainly an arc experienced by
many of the readers of the site.
"Something to Think
About" is an attempt to capture that strange feel of a
Willie Nelson performance, with its scratch and jab guitar
playing so free of technique and artifice that it feels
inspired. I'm not sure that I achieved that, but the
song achieves something poetic and great, as does "Hello
Walls", a paean to abandonment and loneliness. I have an
Arkansas cousin who as a kid used to go around singing "hewwo
wahs", which speaks to the influence of this soundtrack on
my very DNA and among my native kin (rather like Kenneth, of
"30 Rock", and his brethren the "Hill People").
The "Hello Walls" cover is unadorned,
just the bald honesty of the lyric against that beautiful,
simple but dramatic melodic structure; beautiful even
with me singing it. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I was
rejected by TAXI when submitting this song regarding a
request for classic country cover tunes. They didn't find
the vocal up to snuff.)
"Hoping that You're Lonely" is the output
side of my own personal sausage factory, an original
composition that owes everything to those early County
influences. The guitar playing, however lame, owes much to
my appreciation for the far-more legitimate playing talents
of a certain "Ghosty McToasty".
(You know who you are.)
For me personally, "Hoping that You're
Lonely" taps into the same well of loneliness and
introspection that I feel from "Something to Think About"
and "Hello Walls" - bittersweet reminiscences suitable for a
cold and lonely winter's night.
- RAR
Gregg Allman's
Low Country Blues
tribute was the most played album in the Blues category,
topping a list that included LPs by Tedeschi-Trucks, Marcia Ball, Steve Miller
and even
Buddy Guy
(oh my!).
Lucinda William's
Blessed was the most
played album in the Rock category, topping a list that
included LPs by Dave Alvin, Ray
Manzarek and Roy Rogers, Robbie Robertson and
Ry Cooder.
Voyager, the Pursuit of Genius, A
Theory of Everything
FANMAIL: Rick this is one part of 4 on
YouTube...fascinating...this is a person (Alan Lomax) who
has given us a lot of cool music...the first section (Who is
alan Lomax) casts light on his father's background...v
cool....pax doug Thanks! We'll watch them all.
Lila Rose Out with Heart Machine
Oakland, CA - Canadian-born, San Francisco based
artist Lila Rose releases
her first full-length album, a genre-bending tour de force
titled Heart Machine,
Tuesday 1/10 on the Oakland based label, RTFM Records.
Co-produced by David Earl (aka SFLogicninja), the album has
been dubbed ‘cinematic indie-pop’ based on the merging of Earl’s
grandiose cinematic arrangement, and Lila’s anthemic,
emotionally driven lyrical content and striking vocals. From
high operatic vocalizations and hooky choruses to deep, haunting
harmonies, Lila’s voice leads the listener on a heartful and
epic journey of varying tone, texture and intensity. Immersed in
sonic landscapes from full orchestras, taiko drum ensembles and
big pop beats to gospel choirs, the album is an enchantingly
unpredictable journey of raw, evocative songwriting and cutting
edge artistry that pushes the envelope at every turn.
Lila’s previous releases include two singles with GRAMMY
winning producer Peter Prilesnik, and an EP titled Osmos Your
Sonica in 2009. A one-time actress and world traveller, Lila’s
passion comes through more than just her music. A strong
advocate for LGBT issues, animal rights, native rights and
environmental issues, she plans to be the first artist to
release an album whose artwork is on 100% tree-free kenaf paper.
Heart Machine will be available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby,
Bandcamp, and other online music outlets January 10th 2012. The
preview single “Obsession”, a teaser video (see below), and the coming album
can be found at http://www.lilarosemusic.com. The CD release
party is planned for Saturday February 18th, 2012, 8pm at The
New Parish, 579 18th St. in Oakland, CA.
THIS WEEK'S REAL DEAL:
Notes from RAR
MOOT DAVIS DELIVERS MAN
ABOUT TOWN
New Jersey country artist enlists Grand Ole
Opry star/Outlaw Country Sirius XM host Elizabeth Cook and
Kenny Vaughan as guests on new CD.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — From Auckland to
Austin to Nashville, New Jersey-based country musician Moot
Davis took quite a journey to make his third CD, Man About
Town, but it was certainly worth it. Davis describes his new
release as the one he likes the most because “it wasn’t
altered to suit anybody’s tastes but mine.”
Moot Davis burst onto the country music
scene in the mid-2000s. With his self-titled debut, Davis
delivered a set of timeless honky tonk that brought
comparisons to Hank Williams Sr. Entertainment Today touted
Davis as “primed to be the leader in the new insurgent
country music scene.” The kudos continued for his second
effort, Already Moved On, which about.com’s Kathy Coleman
ranked as the Fourth Best Country Album of the Year, ahead
of the likes of Dwight Yoakam and Brad Paisley.
Man About Town fulfills the promise of his earlier efforts
while also expanding into new musical territory. Tracks like
“Day the World Shook My Hand,” “How Long” and “Only You”
should resonate with fans of his earlier, retro honky-tonk
sound. “Queensbury Rules,” on the other hand, boasts a
harder, rockier sound, while “Rust” mixes country twang with
a funky beat. Davis wanted a change with this disc. “I
didn’t want to make the same album again and again.”
In a sign of his artistic growth, Davis
accomplishes several firsts on Man About Town. “Crazy in
Love With You” stands as his first duet, with the delightful
Elizabeth Cook serving as his singing partner. He also
delivers his first murder ballad with “Black & White
Picture,” a highly cinematic tale driven by Mexican-style
guitar picking.
Davis populates this CD with a number of
vivid character studies. The lead-off track, “Rags to
Rhinestones,” is a prime example of his storytelling
talents. In this classic honky-tonk number, a musician goes
from “rented rooms to mansion homes” only to squander it all
and wind up being kicked “out of bars on Lower Broadway.”
The tune came together for Davis after his buddy, musician
Dave Gleason, told him of a successful country musician
whose life and career veered off course. Davis became
intrigued by the idea of “someone who rises to a certain
level and then just dive-bombs.”
The song’s Nashville references reflect
the fact that this album is the first one Davis recorded in
Music City. (His first two, released on Little Dog Records,
were done with the esteemed producer Pete Anderson in Los
Angeles.) The ace players on Man About Town are from Marty
Stuart’s band: guitarist Kenny Vaughan, who served as
producer; pedal and lap steel player Chris Scruggs; drummer
Harry Stinson and bassist Paul Martin. Also featured is
fiddler Hank Singer, who plays with George Jones. These
guys, according to Davis, are “all serious players but they
are all regular guys too.” He describes the sessions as “one
of those things where everything comes together. It’s kinda
rare.”
Man About Town marks a return to recording
after a short hiatus as Davis extricated himself from his
Little Dog contract. A bit disillusioned with the music
business, he travelled to New Zealand to do some acting.
There, he says, “I fell back in love with music” and started
writing songs again on an acoustic guitar. He next moved to
Austin, bought a Telecaster and continued working on his
tunes. The music evolved even more upon his return to New
Jersey, where he played with some local guys. “They’d
rehearse for hours with me, just kicking songs around. It
was kind of like a therapy session.”
Growing up in New Jersey, Davis actually
was more into classic rock than country. In fact, he sparked
to traditional country from an unusual source: a TV ad. In
his early 20s, he heard Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
in a Pepsi ad and, in Davis’ words, “it just got my antenna
going.” He immersed himself in the music of Hank Sr., Lefty
Frizzell, Webb Pierce and others from the golden era of
honky tonk. This music inspired him to learn to play an
acoustic guitar and start writing songs.
A major turning point came for him when he
wrote the song “Whiskey Town.” When he played it for other
people and saw their reactions, Davis recalls, “I knew I was
onto something.” Within a year of writing that tune, he had
moved to Nashville and a year later he was flying to L.A. to
record with Pete Anderson. “Whiskey Town” also landed a spot
on the Crash soundtrack — the first of now nearly 20 song
placements that Davis has had over the years, from movies
like The Hills Have Eyes to TV shows such as Criminal Minds.
Man About Town also is the first album on Davis' own record
label, Highway Kind Records. He started the label with Paul
W. Reed, a Texas businessman who is a huge Davis fan. Davis
marvels how this friendship developed and evolved into a
business relationship too. “He really had some guts to help
get this going,” Davis admits, adding, “I find it’s always
better to be in charge of your own destiny.” Davis feels the
current music scene has created a leveled playing field that
allows the opportunity to achieve the American Dream if you
work hard enough and have some talent. “Every success is a
victory,” he exclaims — and with this new album, Moot Davis
should have many more victories in his future.
- Cary Baker
Vallejo, California - The cream of the Blues crop from
Vallejo's storied music community is coming together February 11
on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of city's restored
Empress Theatre, pictured above.
Vallejo comic Myles Weber
(right) will host a night high-end Blues
built around Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame member Alvon Johnson (The
Coasters) and a lineup including:
Bassist Don Bassey & Friends Danny Click-guitar Kevin Hayes-drums
Guy Arrostuto-keys Bob Simmons-guitar Steve Trovao-drums Wolf Wein-bass
The Jimmy Smith Band
Jimmy Smith-keys Tim Cuny –drums Pierre LeCorre-guitar Catlin Small-bass
The
Raymond Victor Band Raymond Victor -keys Diane Dutra-bass Steve Trovao-drums Dave Aguilar-guitar
Event Host Myles Weber
has worked with some of biggest names in comedy, including Robin
Williams, Rob Schneider, Louie Anderson, Ralphie May, Pablo
Francisco, Jeffrey Ross and Dana Carvey. Weber’s first comedy
album, “Lighter Than Mayonnaise,” debuted in the top 20 on
iTunes. He was also runner-up of the Best Of The Bay Area Comedy
Competition in 2009, a comedy competition that has launched the
careers of performers such as the fore mentioned Williams and
Carvey.
________
Thomas Dolby on Tour
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In the wake of his
critically acclaimed album A Map of the Floating City,
and the groundbreaking FloatingCity.com transmedia game he
co-designed, Thomas Dolby will embark on a 26-date North
American tour this March, with a rather unusual vehicle in
tow (pictured).
The Time Capsule is a chrome- and
brass-plated road trailer that seats three. With handcrafted
leather and wood fittings, and complex electrical wiring
that could have been designed by Nikola Tesla, it resembles
a Jules Verne/HG Wells-inspired time-travel machine. Inside
is a high-tech video recording suite that allows a music fan
or guest artist to upload a personal video message to the
Future. The Time Capsule will be parked in the street
outside each venue on Dolby’s month-long North American
tour, and in front of select local radio and TV stations. It
will capture hundreds of 30-second clips over the course of
the tour, assembling them into an online video montage.
Fans will be able to walk up and step into
the Time Capsule to make their own fully produced and
effected digital 30-second video clip. The clips will then
be automatically uploaded and viewable on a brand-new
YouTube channel <time-capsule.tv> along with the individual
user’s own Facebook and Twitter pages. The most viewed clips
will win prizes. Dolby’s label Lost Toy People Records is in
discussion with several potential sponsors for the project.
“If you had 30 seconds to explain to an
alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization, what
would you say?” said Thomas Dolby. “Our species may not be
around on this planet much longer, so you might as well
leave a welcome message for the next guys!”
The Time Capsule Tour kicks off at SXSW in
Austin, TX March 12-17, and will take in 24 U.S. cities and
two in Canada. A full list is at http://www.thomasdolby.com/tour,
while news, merchandise and additional perks are available
at the Flat Earth Society fan club. Anyone joining before
January 31, 2012 will earn a free download of an exclusive
three-remix Thomas Dolby EP entitled Return to Oceanea.
______________
How Cool is School?
The Amateurs
Play Improv Night at Benicia High
Begging your pardon, I couldn't help
but post this video that my daughter Gillian took on her cell
phone, featuring some tripod-like steadiness in hand-held mode.
This video is from Friday the 13th of January
(2012) at Benicia High School in Benicia, California, where my
two kids are "scholars". The occasion is "Improvisation Night"
at which students in the Improv class perform improvisational
comedy to a packed house of friends and relatives. The kids are
extraordinarily bright and topical with their humor, tending
toward cultural references but winking at a broad range of
issues, as well. Benicia High School has been one of the higher
achieving public schools in a state in which the overall quality
of public education has been in steep decline since the passage
of Proposition 13 in 1978, the property tax relief measure that
should have revealed the soft underbelly of the California real
estate market (bubbling for decades before the burst), but
instead just gutted the state's education budget. It offered tax
relief to property owners at the expense of the future of the
state's young population, until finally what was once the top
K-12 system in the nation has now disintegrated to 43rd
nationally in per-student spending, and 30th among the 50 states
in overall academic performance (according to a January 2011 Education Week's Quality Counts survey). (There has been a
rebound at the top tier university level, with California
universities recently listed by U.S. News & World Report
as having six of the top 10 state universities in the nation,
with 9 of the 10 U.C. schools listed in the top 40 nationally,
leaving out only University of California-Merced.)
The Benicia school system is the principal
reason my family moved here, as would be true of many Benicia
families, but the dark gloom that has settled over California's
K-12 education system has become characterized by staff
reductions, teacher pay cuts accompanied by increased workloads,
insane levels of administrative micro management of the
classroom, and reductions in special offerings such as summer
school programs.
None of those sad developments have dented
BHS' core strengths, which are its student population and a very
special type of teacher that has somehow found purchase in this
system and now characterizes the place. It is filled with
creative types who teach for pay while having other pursuits for
play, and they bring this extended zest for life into their
classrooms, often to great effect. The young talent that walks
those halls of academe has been sort of jaw dropping, at least
for me. I have many times stood in wonder at casual performances
of the school's jazz band, for instance, and been entertained by
rock and hip-hop units that have surfaced from that young stew.
I have no doubt that there are kids, from that group of
fortunate young, who will go on to have extraordinary lives,
including careers in high profile operations, and they will have
been launched to those heights by the support they received
through public school programs such as this captured at "Improv
Night".
The group on stage in the video above bills
themselves as "The Amateurs", which provides comedic
opportunities at their introduction (see video). They came out
for a musical cap at the end of the improv show, and I am taken
by how cool they are once they get going. Half of these band
members are still in high school, while the others are just
recently graduated. Besides being talented, they are strikingly
real.
For an old gas passer such as myself, this
Improv program, these musicians, and everything about the
obvious support they receive from family and friends at events
such as this does that Jerry Lewis thing: it gives you hope to
carry on. RARWRITER.com sends its appreciation to the talented
kids of Benicia High and the enlightened group of teachers who
direct them. - RAR
More Benicia High Talent
- Ariana Cabebe
Benicia High School Junior is a natural covering this Corrine
Bailey Rae number.
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search tool for finding artists on this and other RARWRITER Publications
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_________
Alvon Johnson
A show by Blues
performer Alvon Johnson,
shown in the video below at a 2008 show in Paris, is a bit like
stepping back to about 1963, when performers such as he crammed
aboard R&B Caravan buses and toured the "Urban Theater Circuit",
or what used to be called the "Chitlin Circuit". If the acts
were big enough, they traveled abroad to European markets that
had been open to Black performers, somewhat paralleling the
history of the U.S. clubs. Alvon was aboard those buses as a
member of the Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame band
The Coasters ("Charlie
Brown", "Yakkety Yak"), for whom he provided rich vocal
harmonies. Now years later, Johnson fronts his own band and
plays absolutely sizzling electric blues guitar, when he isn't
hamming it up with the crowd as in the video below. You can get
a better sense for Alvon Johnson blues guitarist by
checking out the
video sampler from his Website. He is an explosion of
musical expression.
Johnson is a
showman reminiscent of James Brown and Little Richard and others
from that bygone era of musical and cultural revolution. Some of
that will be brought back to life February 11, when Alvon
Johnson leads a Blues celebration of the 100 Year Old Empress
Theater in Vallejo, California (see
Bohemians in Your Town).
_____________________________________
The Chitlin'
Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll
Suggested
Reading:
To learn more about the famed "Chitlin' Circuit", so named for
the food served at these Black venues (a take-off on the
"Borscht Belt"), check out Preston Lauterbach's excellent
account.
Taking up the role previously played by the Theater Owners
Booking Association, these seminal entrepreneurs devised a new
and more flexible economic strategy that selectively targeted
the production of live performances in a seemingly endless
string of black urban venues and back-country juke joints. They
adapted the “jazz orchestra” model into smaller, more-informal
units that began to shift their attention from snappy big-band
arrangements to charismatic lead performers and especially
compelling lead vocalists. - Reviewer Roger Hahn, putting
Lauterbach's history into context.
W. W. Norton &
Company (July 18, 2011)
__________________
Drei Donà Tenuta la Palazza Vineyard
Signel-Z Selected for Winery Video
Proud fourth-generation Italian-American multi-instrumentalist
Steve Ignelzi and his jazz band
Signel-Z have been featured in a video for the
Italian win company
Drei Donà. Check out the company's Facebook page, which features the video,
which is all in Italian. This is a really cool win for a way cool guitarist and
band.
_____________________
Italian Horn
Anthony
Pappalardo's Red Affair
Channeling equal parts Guided By
Voices, Bailterspace and Flying Saucer Attack, synth and subtle
noise intertwine with short strummed songs and washed-out
shoegaze reverb guitar creating direct but layered soundscapes
throughout Red Affair. The
cover collage was created by Robert
Pollard (GBV) and the release is limited to 300 vinyl
copies and available digitally.
Continuing the home
recording tradition of My Dad is Dead, East River Pipe and
Sebadoh,
Italian Horn, the solo project of New York City writer behind
Radio Silence and Live...Suburbia,
Anthony Pappalardo,
announces the release of his Red Affair 12" debut via DAIS
Records.
___________________
Guerneville
Cabin Sounds?
The Shrouded Strangers
This fuzz-rock
track "Featherbed", from Oakland, California-band
The Shrouded Strangers, is
just awful! So why does listening to it end with a person liking
it so much?
When the surf gear community locks the
door on you, the IMPOSE doors remain cracked for any and
all refugee surf rock sounds. We let these skuzzy Oakland kids
party because they recorded their album in the meth-hut riddled
woods of Guerneville, CA. The group embraced the wild life, but
kept off the meth, and holed up in a cabin with an 8-track and
Coors tall boys to record Lost Forever. - IMPOSE
Magazine
The Shrouded Strangers
formed some time ago in Harrisonburg, VA, but after recording
their debut record, relocated to Washington, DC and got quickly
sidetracked by other projects; first, as sociopathic proto-punks
the Carlsonics, and then as incandescent psych-folkies Nethers.
In the embers of these bands they resurrected the Shrouded
Strangers, after relocating yet again; this time, 2,809 to the
west, to Oakland, California. 2008 saw the Live! In Bedlam
Towers EP, and now, Lost Forever. - Christen Thomas/PressWolf
PR
IMPOSE MAGAZINE -
IMPOSE is an independent media outlet based in Brooklyn,
with a widely-respected read on America's independent music
and cultural landscape. Originally founded in 2002 as a
print magazine, it has grown to include a daily-updated
website, a video website, a globally-distributed record
label, and national events of all sizes.
Visit IMPOSE
Site.
____________________
The Louvin Brothers
A story of hills and eyes, and hills that have eyes, and guitars, and harmonies
that leave the writer without words to express... READ MORE
________________
Baby and Album
Hilary
Duff is Back
T
iming a rebirth of one's
career with giving actual birth to a child does not
at first seem like a realistic plan...thinking more about
it, it doesn't even seem like a realistic second, third or
fourth alternative plan, but that is what former Disney
tweener-starlett-turned-pop-idol Hilary Duff has planned for the next couple
months. She has been in the studio, and you can
use this link to watch promotional videos, should
you be inclined.
I suggest that cautiously, understanding that most readers
of this site are not big Hilary Duff supporters, with
reasons ranging from demographics to musical tastes. Yours
truly is a big Hilary Duff fan, based on the age of my
teenaged daughter and our shared experience of Hilary Duff
live, which turned out to be one of the nicest concert
surprises of my entire concert-going life. Full Disclosure:
I attend concerts at a frequency only slightly greater than
that of my encounters with Bigfoot, which doesn't really
qualify me as an expert on either phenomena. That said, the
Hilary Duff performance I saw in an outdoor setting was
fueled by a top-flight band, featuring powerhouse drummer
Shawnee-Baby and
metal-guitarist Jason Hook,
and an utterly charming high energy rock performance by the
high-gleen princess of pop, who at the time had the
top-selling album in the U.S..
Hilary Duff was golden in that
period, bringing the full wattage of her natural charisma to
a collection of really strong material featuring really fine
production. I once read an interview with the guitarist
Hook, who seemed a bit thrown by the Duff organization's
commitment to first-class accommodation on all levels. He
was marveling at hotel suites with heated marble floors. (It
is interesting that Hook's Wikipedia article makes no
mention of Hilary Duff, outside of the list of acts he has
worked with, though it has clearly been his largest exposure
- he toured with her internationally. Maybe the high-end
digs didn't set well?)
That Hilary Duff is a Republican
- one doesn't sense she has a strong political bent, just a
natural inclination to blend seamlessly into the upper "one
percent" - is off-putting to someone like myself, as perhaps
is her marriage to a pro hockey player, but then she is
still very young (24) and developing in her adult vision.
(Yeah, right, the nobles obliged do that, one might rightly
say.)
As one might expect to have
happened, Duff seemed to lose her way about the time she
started exploiting her young-adult feminine charms, with
videos from her Dignity album (which had the
irredeemable qualities of co-writer/co-producer
Kara DioGuardi all over it) featuring lush
production values and top-end sound that came across as
utterly phony. The LP didn't do particularly well, though
the videos have racked up as many as 34 million views on
YouTube!
Certainly a big part of the attraction is
that the face of young-adult Hilary
Duff is a pleasure to behold,
explosive with the expressiveness that made her such a
charmingly unaffected teen actress, but now supported by a
physiognomy rather like that of the young Faye Dunaway. This
led her to be cast in a remake of the Dunaway-Warren Beatty
classic Bonnie & Clyde, from which she was paid $100K
to walk away from. There was a dispute over production
schedules and Duff's pregnancy, but there were also reports
that the film's producer Tonya S. Holly wanted to dump her
because she just didn't have the acting chops. Duff landed
her Disney gig with virtually no acting experience and has
been developing the craft while developing her career, which
is bound to present pitfalls, and the Bonnie & Clyde thing,
which even featured a public spat with Faye Dunaway herself,
probably left scars. Now Hilary Duff is getting her voice
back into shape and concentrating on an upcoming album.
Her challenge will be to find
that voice that captures her innate charm, while avoiding
the clichés that dogged her last LP. At her best, young
Hilary Duff was a mainline high of blue skies and optimism.
It isn't that easy to be that person after life has dealt a
few blows and a few wrong choices have been made. I am not
even sure it is possible to be 24 years old and not
apparently jaded, given where young Duff has been. The video
below is what it looked like with Hilary Duff when last she
seemed in the wonder of it all - life and early success.
- RAR
_________________
Suffering Ends for Legend Etta James
Legendary R&B singer Etta James has passed away at age 73. James' manager, Lupe
De Leon, confirmed that the singer died in Southern California's Riverside
Community Hospital from complications of leukemia. Her husband, Artis Mills, and
her sons were reportedly by her side.
________________________
Little Freddie King
Born in McComb, Mississippi in 1940, Fread E. Martin grew up
playing alongside his blues guitar-picking father (Jessie
James Martin), then rode the rails to New Orleans during the
early fifties where he crossed paths with itinerant South
Louisiana blues men such as "Poka- Dot" Slim and "Boogie"
Bill Webb whose unique country-cum-urban styles would
influence his own. Honing his guitar chops at notorious
joints like the Bucket of Blood (which he later immoralized
in song), he jammed and gigged with Bo Diddley and John Lee
Hooker, and also played bass for Freddy King during one of
the guitarist's stints in New Orleans. People began
comparing the two musicians' styles, hence Martin's nome-de-plume.
While well-vested in a variety of styles, nowadays Little
Freddie sounds a lot more like his cousin Lightin' Hopkins -
albeit after a three day corn liquor bender! Nevertheless,
the King sobriquet is fitting, as Freddie is undeniably the
monarch of the Crescent City blues scene. - ( from his
Website, pretty much sic)
About to Pop (March 6)
I See Hawks in L.A.
In a world that seems bursting with
Americana talent, I See Hawks in L.A. soars like a Peregrine
Falcon over the angel's folk-rock skyline
LOS ANGELES,
Calif. —I See Hawks in L.A. have
released five critically acclaimed albums since they began writing songs in
their Echo Park living rooms 11 years ago. The band’s sound layers electricity
and Southern California psychedelia over acoustic guitars and rich vocal
harmonies.
Meanwhile, fans have
always treasured the Hawks’ acoustic shows, where Rob Waller’s rich voice, the
band’s subtle guitar arrangements, and the dark, literate lyrics take the
spotlight. A three-year one-mic acoustic series hosted by the band at Cole’s bar
in downtown L.A., and memorable acoustic shows all over the U.S. with Ray Wylie
Hubbard, Chris Hillman, and Dave Alvin, have honed the Hawks’ sound.
So in 2012, the End
of the World according to the Mayan calendar, I See Hawks In L.A. will finally
release that acoustic album, New Kind of Lonely, recorded live in a circle at
Marc Doten’s Echo Park studio with lovely German microphones. Street date is set
for February 21 on Western Seeds Records.
It’s been a long and
colorful journey for L.A.’s best-known alt-country band. Countless
whiskey-fueled shows from Santa Monica to downtown to the high desert with Mike
Stinson, Randy Weeks, Tony Gilkyson and dozens of other artists spawned a
now-thriving roots country scene amidst the palm trees and yuccas. Four I See
Hawks In L.A. releases notched #1 on the Freeform American Roots (FAR) Chart,
and several have hit the Euro Americana Top 10. Dave Alvin has cited the Hawks
as “one of California’s unique treasures.”
Treks to Europe and
U.K. and repeated tours through most of the 50 states have created a solid
following scattered across the globe. “We thrive in the margins,” the Hawks
always say. New Kind of Lonely could be the recording to push them into
prominence.
On every track,
shimmering textures of Martins and Gibsons and upright bass, with touches of
dobro and some beautiful fiddle from Gabe Witcher, embellish haunted themes.
Death and loss, in very personal terms, weave into almost every song. L.A.
Americana’s favorite sister, fiddler/songwriter Amy Farris, is mourned
lyrically; the sorrow waiting at the end of every long and joyous marriage is
explored in the bittersweet “Your Love Is Going To Kill Me (Someday).”
In reaching back to
pre-electric traditions, the Hawks seem to have tapped into the mortality that
looms in the work of Hank Williams, The Stanley Brothers, and the Carter Family,
far from the feel-good suburbiana of today’s Nashville songwriting. Dark times
do need some kind of acknowledgement. I See Hawks In L.A. have taken this on.
But much of the
music is rocking and uplifting. “Big Old Hypodermic Needle,” a black humored two
beat about two best friends overdosing, is perfect for a barn dance. “Hunger
Mountain Breakdown,” in which the singer plans a dramatic ridgetop suicide, is
driven by Cliff Wagner’s kickass bluegrass banjo and Gabe Witcher’s virtuoso
fiddling. “The Spirit of Death” is hard charging Cajun rock. “I Fell In Love
With the Grateful Dead,” a compendium of the three bandmates’ Dead show
experiences over four decades, ventures into jam band territory, with lots of
notes expended on guitar and bass.
I See Hawks In L.A.
will launch New Kind of Lonely with, appropriately enough, an acoustic show at
McCabe’s (February 24), followed by an electric version of the new tunes at
Pappy & Harriet’s (March 10) in the high desert. The band will tour North
Carolina in May and will also perform at the Strawberry Festival in California's
Sierras. Over the summer they will hit the road to places new and familiar.
- Cary Baker
The Devil Makes Three
Amazing claw hammer-and-harmony
with a distinctive lead vocal...
Over the past 7
years, The Devil Makes Three have garnered
fans the old school way - playing a city, making friends, conquering fans and
moving on. When they hit the next town, venues are packed with folks that heard
from a friend in a city that the band had played before. Because of this, The
Devil Makes Three have established thousands of die-hard and devout fans. The
Devil Makes Three are songwriter, guitar and vocalist Pete Bernhard, banjo player
Cooper McBean
and stand-up bassist Lucia Turino.
All three members migrated to Santa Cruz via New England. Fellow Vermonters,
Bernhard and McBean played in punk influenced bands back home but found a common
ground in acoustic, country and bluegrass inspired music. When they met New
Hampshire native Turino out west, she taught herself the stand-up bass and a
band was born.
_______________________
Americana and Roots Music Website Puts Out
Call for Donations
"As you can imagine, operating a site with
all these features, plus a membership of close to 20,000
people and more than 100,000 unique readers each month, is
no small task."
So goes the positioning of
Publisher Kyla Fairchild and
Community Manager Kim Ruehl of the
No Depression Website.
No Depression, which takes its
name from Southern Gospel pioneer gospel pioneer J.D. Vaughan's "No Depression
In Heaven", was launched in 1995 as a quarterly print magazine covering
alternative-country music. The operation has built staff over the years and
become one of the nation's most prominent and broad-ranging sources for
information on Americana and Roots music. No Depression has received Utne Reader
Independent Press Awards for Arts & Literature coverage, and in 2004 was cited
by the Chicago Tribune as one of the nation's Top 20 magazines of any kind.
Other ventures during the company's print history included a
No Depression Tour (featuring Whiskeytown, the Old 97's, Hazeldine, and the
Picketts) in 1997; two best-of anthologies published by Dowling Press (1998) and
University of Texas Press (2005); and the No Depression Radio Show, which aired
on dozens of stations across the country in 2002 and 2003. The first No
Depression Festival was held at Marymoore Park in Seattle in July of 2009, and
the second festival was in August of 2010.
No Depression is one RARWRITER.com's favorite site, an
international treasure in terms of calibrating music fans of today to the true
north in terms of where Americana culture originates. There is an "Americana
Culture" you know, and you can find it in the audio recordings and informed
articles you find on the No Depression site, not to mention in the tributes of
the regular collection of featured bloggers.
RARWRITER.com encourages music lovers everywhere to visit the
No Depression site and send a little love in the form of a monetary donation.
Good works deserve good support! - RAR
_______________________
Phillip Rauls' Photo Archive
Photo-documenting Rock History
Former Atlantic A&R pro
Phillip Rauls will probably
eventually want to donate his extraordinary personal collection of
photographs of golden era rock luminaries to a rock museum
someplace. It is probably paralleled by few other such
collections. For now, however, he has put some of it online,
in documentary form, and you can watch it by going to his
Photolog site.
Just click on the image at right or on the link provided
here. Happy trails.
______
Stephen Paul Smoker
Following the release of an EP in 2010 and
after a year spent coming together as a live force to be
reckoned with, Stephen Paul Smoker emerge with a harder,
darker edge on their upcoming debut LP, Ripe Fruit, out
March 20 via Kilo Records. The first track from Ripe Fruit,
"Green City." Incessant stomp, gutter guitar that evolves to
squall, psychedelic canyon vocals and elements of disco all
appear in "Green City" by Chicago act Stephen Paul Smoker.
This is dirty music for dirty times...
A Lancaster, PA native, musician Stephen Paul Smoker began his
career at an early age, honing his craft as a touring musician and hired gun for
bands like MewithoutYou and the Mint. Smoker relocated to Chicago to join and
perform with childhood friend Grace Kulp and continued to tour with other acts
such as the Loto Ball Show.
Inspired by the bright sun light in his Pilsen attic which
doubled as his bedroom, Smoker created what would eventually become his debut EP
, Violent Sun / Violent Fun, a no-frills, psychedelic DIY take on indie pop.
After releasing Violent Sun / Violent Fun, Stephen formed band
and began to perform his music live. Teaming up with local Pilsen musicians
Michael Kostal, Evan DePue, Bethany Smoker, Paul Roots, as well as Gerald Baily
(Trumpeter/Black Bear Combo) and Emma Hospelhorn (Flute/Hollows) the group began
performing live in late 2010, and spent 2011 preparing for their first full
length release, RIPE FRUIT, which will be available March 20th, 2012 on Kilo
Records.
SOPA STRIKES!
RARWRITER.com had been showing the
below-referenced Hank Williams video, which was really just good
audio of a 1952 performance. That has been pulled from YouTube,
which now displays this note:
As the big record and
publishing groups press to "Stop Online Piracy" we are going to
be seeing more and more of these types of notices (left).
In this case, Warner Music has claimed
ownership of a nearly 60-year old audio tape of a Hank Williams
live performance. How withholding this cultural treasure from
the world is protecting music industry profits is difficult to
see. Read more about these issues at the
Revolution
Culture Journal. Read below what you may have missed
regarding this historic performance, captured with amazing audio
clarity considering the time.
Hank Williams
Sunset Park Show 7/13/1952
Just months before his death on New Year's Eve, 1952, the
great country singer-songwriter Hank Williams played a show
in Pennsylvania that was captured on audio tape. It is a
treasure that should be heard by every fan of great American
music. It is Williams playing with a small band and singing
beautifully. His banter with the crowd is a fascination in
itself. Take 28 minutes and remember the feel and sound of
the authentic. - RAR
__________________
Rip Cat Lands The Blasters, K.K. Martin
Rip Cat Records
announces the signing of two iconic Southern California-based music artists,
The
Blasters and K.K. Martin.
The Blasters formed
in Downey, California back in 1979 and, along with X, Black Flag, Red Hot Chili
Peppers and others, have been an integral part of the SoCal
underground/indie-rock scene since their formation. Led by brothers Phil and
Dave Alvin, the group originally signed to much-loved indie label Slash Records
in 1981 and were known as much for their grueling touring schedule as their
unique country-punk sound. Among the noted musicians that have performed as
members of the Blasters through the years: the dynamic saxophone duo of Steve
Berlin and Lee Allen; bassist John Bazz; the late Hollywood Fats (a/k/a Michael
Mann) and X's Billy Zoom, Greg "Smoky" Hormel, James Intveld, and current
guitarist, Keith Wyatt; and drummers Billy Bateman, David Carrol and current
member, Jerry Angel. The Blasters were featured in the popular 1984 film Streets
Of Fire and placed two songs in the sound track, "One Bad Stud" and "Blue
Shadows." The Blasters are currently in the studio recording a new album for Rip
Cat.
K.K. Martin was a
founding member, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter for 80's-era band A La
Carte. The group gained considerable renown as one of the most in-demand groups
on the then-vibrant Sunset Strip music scene. Exposed in the womb to the music
of Jimmie Rodgers. Robert Johnson and Hank Williams, he began touring with his
parents at age 10. K.K. was transplanted to California in 1969 and cut his teeth
on the local L.A. rock scene at age 16, landing a brief stint with the Albert
Collins backup band. Martin has performed with a Who's-Who in the music business
including Eric Burdon, Booker T, Rick Derringer, Johnny Winters, Blondie, and
currently, Lester Chambers of famed R&B/Soul group The Chambers Brothers. K.K.
was a recipient of "Outstanding Blues Artist" at the 9th Annual Los Angeles
Music Awards in 1999. In the last decade, Louisiana native Martin has
reconnected with his Blues roots. He toured with Lester Chambers of the 60's
Chambers Brothers fame, recording a project with Lester called "Blues for Sale."
Martin has continued to play extensively throughout L.A. and Orange County as a
solo act as well as with the band Roadside Revelers. His latest CD is "Naked
Blues Vol. II," which will be re-released by Rip Cat.
Orange County-based
Rip Cat Records is one of the quickest-growing independent labels in Southern
California, with a solid artist roster that includes guitarist Barry Levenson;
The 44's, vocalist Lisa Cee; Johnny Mastro and Mamma's Boys; Whiteboy James &
The Blues Express; John Marx; Little Barry G; The Mighty Mojo Prophets; and Gino
Mateo.
_______________
_____________________
KREEP: Obnoxious Vocals,
Brutal Bass/Drums - What's Not to Like?
KREEP is a hardcore metal band that features
face peeling obnoxious vocals, heavy hitting drums, huge guitar
riffs, and brutal bass lines that force you to punch the person
next to you. KREEP is a band that demands attention and gets it.
KREEP has released their exceptional debut
album ‘LEAD US NOT’ (available now on iTUNES, digital stores,
AMAZON & finer record stores worldwide). They debuted their
powerhouse skills when they played their first live show with
this line up to a sold out crowd at The Joint in the legendary
Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas NV for Xtreme radio’s annual
Holiday Havoc concert. KREEP has just released the new video
BLOODLETTING starring METAL SANAZ.
KREEP originated with potent vocalist Brett
Pirozzi putting together a band that would stand out in the
world of metal. Brett’s New York roots and the garbage he was
hearing on the radio propelled him to want to write songs that
expressed his anger with the world and music of today. Brett
began to write songs that were about things happening in life
and in the process realized that these issues affected a lot of
people in society today. That’s the heart of KREEP: angry guys
making angry music for an audience of confused people.
On drums, KREEP features the explosive and
heavy hitting, Ivan de Prume. Ivan is best known for his playing
with White Zombie and is a multi-platinum selling, Grammy
nominated artist. Ivan’s in your face, New York attitude adds to
KREEP’s musical presence and leaves listeners defenseless to his
powerful and undeniable abilities on the skins. Ivan now lives
in Oregon and his extensive technical knowledge in the recording
studio field allowed KREEP to record their new album LEAD US
NOT. KREEP has shared the stage with numerous National acts ranging
from Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Hoobastank, Hollywood
Undead, Prong, Divine Heresy, Green Jello, and many more.
KREEP is one of the premiere releases on the
new MAXIMIZED Label, the major new independent METAL & HARD ROCK
label headed by industry veteran JAY WARSINSKE. Jay has over 38
years experience in working with the likes of METALLICA, SLAYER,
MEGADETH, AC/DC, GUNS ‘n ROSES, & many more. For more info visit
www.MXMZD.com
_______________
JOSEPH SEIF VIDEO FEATURE
R
ARWRITER.com has been
holding on to an interview we did last year with
multi-dimensional San Francisco film maker
Joseph Seif. He is an
experienced fashion photographer and art director, whose
credits include independent films and music videos. He is
also a musician in his own right, leading his "shoegaze"
band Skycamp.
Seif would make a great art
director and cinematographer for our film making series the
"RAR Movie Project". This feeling about our interview
subject's unique qualifications for the job have had an
impact on the release of this interview, which is excellent
for its insight into the creative process specific to
working with light and film. Read More...
_______
_____________
James Lee Stanley & Cliff
Eberhardt Classic Doors Tracks
James Lee Stanley
is a singer-songwriter who, outside of performing as a Chinese
Linguist in the United States Air Force, has been on stage his
whole life from the age of 14. He does 300 shows a year, year in
and year out, most often with co-writer
Cliff Eberhardt. Eberhardt is a fellow
Pennsylvanian who also found his calling early and has spent his
lifetime nurturing his musical inclinations in the folk geocenters of the U.S., eventually "finding himself" in New
York. He became a Windham Hill artist, releasing his album The Long Road in 1990, which featured a duet with Richie
Havens.
Somewhere along the line, Stanley apparently
hatched the idea of doing album-long acoustic versions of
classic songs by a particular artist. The cynical and urbane
readers of RARWRITER.com may be tempted to say, "So what - we
got a guy at our local bookstore doing that, and we always have
to ask him to turn it down..."
Anyway, Stanley's first tribute was to the
Rolling Stones (All Wood and Stones, 2007), which he
recorded as a duet with fellow folkie John Batdorf. That featured a high-profile studio
band that has become the basis for a second album of Doors
covers (All Wood and Doors, 2010), in duet with
Eberhardt: Peter Tork (The Monkees),
with whom Stanley toured in 2000; Timothy B Schmit
(Eagles); Laurence Juber (Paul
McCartney & Wings), Paul Barrere (Little Feat),and Scott Breadman (Rippingtons,
Lindsay Buckingham). Also in these sessions have been
Laura Halland and Chad
Watson (David Arkenstone, Janis Ian), and for the All Wood and Doors LP founding Doors members
JohnDensmore and
RobbyKrieger.
There is, of course, no money to be made touring
talent of that caliber and vintage - just the assisted living
costs would kill the deal - but Stanley and Eberhardt tour their
acoustic interpretations steadily, and there is a video example
of them at work below. This one features their take on "Light My
Fire", which is distinguished by a brief mid-verse modulation,
but is otherwise reflective of the original. One of the problems
one might expect with doing the Doors acoustically is that the
Doors were a notably non-acoustic act, driven by
Ray Manzarek's Gothic organ
sound and Robby Krieger's
innovations on electric guitar, which continues to be one of the
most under-recognized stretches of player/composer brilliance in
all of rock history.
The synchronicity those two guys achieved with
the sensual and poetically crooning space cadet
Jim Morrison and the
ultra-sensitive drummer John Densmore
was propulsive and distinctive in spirit and sound. It has never
been replicated in any original way since the death of Morrison,
its human voice, not even in the sound of the musical expression,
though Manzarek and slide guitarist Roy
Rogers had a successful album together last year (Translucent
Blues, Blind Pig label) in which Manzarek sounds a lot like
the guy we knew in the '60s, sometimes even imitating his
deceased soul mate.
The sound of the Doors was a brief shining nugget
in music history, but if one strips away the inspiration of
these tunes' originators, what do you really have?
"Light My Fire" is in a minor key and moody, and
acoustically fit nicely under the spell of
Jose Feliciano, who may have
done is most universally appreciated recording with that song,
so where does one go with it now? Stanley & Eberhardt do a
professional if somewhat uninspired version that ends really
strong, to the point that one wishes they had started there and
backed all that atmospheric stuff back into the tune. But watch
the video below and judge for yourself. - RAR
ARIA CHARTS -
Australia's Music Chart. All links lead to ARIA.com.
Once there, drop down the Aria Charts menu to select
from a list of charts, including:
Top 50
Singles - The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
(Interscope)
Top 50
Albums - Michael Jackson, The Essential Michael
Jackson, (EPI/SME)
Digital
Track - The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
(Interscope)
X-FACTOR?
The
Raymond Victor Band
