Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced(1967)/Axis:Bold as Love(1967)/Electric Ladyland(1968)

This week (in celebration of my birthday) I am going to try and point out a couple of albums that came out the year I was born.

Jimi Hendrix's first two albums were released the same year as the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, Cream's Disraeli Gears, Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The Doors (self titled) and of course my own personal debut (birthdate 7/7/67).

 

Through my early teen years, I remember seeing the usual history of Rock n' Roll footage of Hendrix playing the Monterey Pop Festival making feedback with his guitar and then setting it on fire. For a small town boy in North Platte, NE, I didn't get it. As teen years grew on, the sound of the electric guitar does something to a young man's hormones and his testosterone. Which I believe why hard rock guitars and teenage boys go together so well.

In my senior year of High School, I bought a cassette that Warner Brothers had released called Kiss the Sky.  This was my first time I sat down and listened to Jimi Hendrix. I was NOT on any chemicals of any kind at the time. I remember finishing the tape(yes it was a cassette) and picked up the phone to call a friend and couldn't remember why I was calling him. I blamed it on the "far out" "psychedelic" music of Hendrix.  Years later, in college, It seemed the only people who gushed over Hendrix were stoner guys and guys who idealized everything that was classic rock radio and tried to replicate it on college radio.

I am continually thankful for all the wonderful misfits I've come to know in my life. I feel like if it weren't for those misfits, I wouldn't be the unique individual I am today. In 1988, I met a unique individual named Carl Hanson. Carl was known around Kearney for being the guy who dressed (and played) like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Carl was looking to put a blues trio together and asked me to play drums. I went to Carl's apartment and he made a cassette tape of Jimi Hendrix and SRV songs. He had a VHS copy of the 1973 Jimi Hendrix documentary. So, we went to my apartment and watched it from start to finish. It was like a crash course in the greatness that was Hendrix. Carl was ecstatic about Hendrix and the excitement was palpable. So, then we would go to his apartment listen to more Hendrix and just jam on Hendrix and SRV music. For my growth as a drummer, this was the point where I found the magical "groove" and was able to reach that point where everything I had learned about in rudiments and syncopation and technique just flowed from my brain to my hands and I just played. I stopped thinking about what to play and just did it. It was absolutely liberating. He taught me about the intro to Little Wing when the drums come in to propel the song into the next dimension and the rolling toms of Manic Depression gave me a rhythmic challenge I didn't know I could conquer. The frenetic playing of Mitch Mitchell on Fire was just out and out playing. At first, I thought Mitch's drumming was just a variation on the Keith Moon school of wild abandon playing. I soon learned it was much more. Even in his recent 2008 passing, it's been reported that Mitchell was a huge fan of jazz drummers and has even been called by many drummers as "the Elvin Jones of Rock Drumming".  Soon thereafter, I went back home and put on the tape that Carl had given me. I played it in my car, my walkman and anywhere else I could soak it in. I was hooked. Something about Jimi and his new interpretation of the blues just smacked me into another world. Even as I write this and read back what I've written, it's hard to convey how revelatory this music was to me.  We practiced hard for a month and half (or so) and played a Halloween party and Carl performed the live stuff just like Jimi did..dialogue and all. For example, we played Jimi's cover of Like a Rolling Stone and he quoted the part about the song being written by Bob Dylan and then pointing to Noel Redding and saying "That's his grandmother over there!" Well, the party-goers for this venue didn't get that. It was funny to see the looks of bewilderment.

 

Of course, through the years, many of the songs from Jimi's debut have been covered by many who felt his influence. In the summer of 1989, a handful of my friends and I went to Omaha to see Metallica on their ...And Justice for All tour.  When guitarist-Kirk Hammett took his mandatory guitar solo spot, he played an instrumental version of  Hendrix's Little Wing. Kirk's Little Wing I was absolutely stimulated to know that this band would inject some Hendrix into the set. I still wonder how many of the fans that night caught that nod to Jimi. There's the Dana Carvey (as Garth Algar) scene in Wayne's World where Garth can't control his thrusting pelvis while Foxey Lady plays on the jukebox. Garth's Foxy Lady I remember loving Joe Satriani's unplugged performance of Jimi's May this Be Love. Joe Satriani -May this be Love

Over the years I have listened to Are You Experienced? so much that I have actually become tired of it. I recently downloaded the Live at Monterey concert that the Hendrix family had remastered. It's still an exhilirating concert with Jimi covering the Troggs-Wild Thing and his classic performance of Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone.  Another sure sign of Jimi's influence is the many times that we have heard guitar players (while soloing) quote the signature phrase from Third Stone from the Sun.  Santana Third StoneI think every time I've seen recent footage of Carlos Santana, he's managed to include that riff into whatever solo he's playing.

 

I feel like I'm rambling on about Hendrix and not the albums. But, then again, I could listen to Are You Experienced, Axis:Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland all in one sitting because they're all so good!

One of the songs I loved to play was Manic Depression. Both my brother and I could play it on bass and drums(respectively). So, it was fun for us to jam with other guitar players to see if they could play it. I'm not sure we ever found anybody.  I think his childhood friend Hobbs could play it. Another song I used to love to play(still do) is Come On(Let the Good Times Roll) off the album Electric Ladyland. With our blues trio- Boogie Chillun', Mike, Jayson and I played a lot of obscure blues tunes. But, then again, we wanted to be a bluesy power trio with some funk and soul mixed in. One of the most memorable times I have playing Hendrix songs is a night when up and coming blues act-Indigenous was in town as was Lincoln based -Baby Jason and the Spankers. We had worked up a version of a Baby Jason song called Funky Thang. So, they wanted to hear us play it. But, in the same night, Mato Nanji (guitar) and his brother Pte (bass) of Indigenous were there and got up on stage and played Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Return) with myself on drums and I'm happy to say I held my own, rocked the house and have my own personal story to pass on for years to come.

 

It's hard for me to talk about each one of the albums by the "Experience" separately.  Are You Experienced is a great introduction to the talent that was Jimi Hendrix..not to mention the talent and sound presented by the trio of musicians. When you get to Axis:Bold as Love, the aural barrage of experimental music and interpretation of the blues and music in general goes that next step further into Jimi's imagination. I absolutely love the power behind the songs Spanish Castle Magic, You Got Me Floatin', and Little Miss Lover.  But, I am mystified by the beauty of Bold as Love, Castles Made of Sand and (of course) Little Wing.  For years, I've heard people like my peers and others criticize Jimi for his loud use of feedback and psychedelic style and dismiss it as just that. But, when I hear the beauty of those songs, I beg to differ.

By the time Jimi got around to making Electric Ladyland, Jimi was at the peak of his popularity and could do whatever he wanted. I have watched the Classic Albums edition of Electric Ladyland many times. This is the album where Jimi had sounds in his head for what he wanted and not only used his famed "Experience" band of Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, He also enlisted the talents of such musicians as Steve Winwood, Mike Finnigan, Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Al Kooper, Dave Mason and Buddy Miles too.  My Favorites off of Electric Ladyland include: Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Chile(both of them), Come On(let the Good Times Roll), Rainy Day Dream Away, and All along the Watchtower.  Of course, these are the songs that everyone knows. But, the whole album is really another great listening experience from start to finish.

Most of my love for these albums come from the drumming of Mitch Mitchell.  As a drummer myself, I connected with the drumming of Mitch and how he interpreted Jimi's playing into a style that was unique in itself.  When Hendrix died, I was too young to know who he was and it wasn't until his legend grew after his death that I truly appreciated it.  For me, both Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix and their fired up treatment of the blues are a big part of what gets me excited about music.  When SRV passed away in August of 1990, I was absolutely thrown for a loop. I had only seen him a month before his passing.  When Mitch Mitchell passed away in November of 2008, I was saddened of course because I always had hoped that Mitch would have made some new recordings in the (almost 40) years since Jimi had died that were just as great as the stuff he did with Hendrix. But, the legacy and influence of the Jimi Hendrix Experience is captured on 3 great albums from the years of 1967 and 1968....absolutely incredible considering a lot of artists can't even finish one album in a two year period.

As I write this, I have concluded that I have bought these 3 albums at least 4 times. While in college and working at Dustys, I bought them on vinyl.  After seeing a Guitar magazine feature on Joe Satriani in the early 90's,  I remember seeing Satch sitting at his CD player with a CD copies of these albums. So, I thought how cool it would be to have these on disc. In 1993, Alan Douglas re-released these albums with new album artwork and remastered recordings through MCA records(the original were through Warner Bros records).  So, I bought those versions of them.  In 1997, Jimi's dad-Al Hendrix won the rights to Jimi's recordings and then released them again with the original album artwork. So, I bought them again. Those are the copies I currently own. Now in 2010, Sony Music Entertainment is rereleasing them once again with an accompanying DVDs.  I'm not sure I really want to buy yet another version of these albums yet again. I'm just not that interested in riding the consumer treadmill again on this one.

But, if you don't own any of these, I highly recommend them...after all I bought them 4 times.

Rolling Stones-Exile on Main Street

There's an old saying..."You're either a Stones fan or a Beatles Fan."  I don't know who said it or who started this rivalry. But, I was roped into that thinking too. So, I grew up with 3 older sisters that were Beatles fans, I play drums and I share a birthday with Ringo Starr. That being said...I am definitely a Beatles fan. I don't know what it was about the Rolling Stones in the 80's (my formative years in discovering music). But, they never lit me on fire that much. I thought Tattoo You with songs like Start Me Up and Waiting on a Friend were cool.  They became bigger and bigger and somewhere along the line became known as "the Greatest Rock and Roll Band".  I had respect for them. But, I wasn't crazy about them. When you're not a big fan and someone says something's "the greatest", I either investigate the claim or disagree with the statement. I chose the latter. But, with a lot of online hubbub about the deluxe reissue of 1972's Exile on Main Street, I figured I would talk about the one album by the Rolling Stones that I own and truly enjoy. I actually started this blog a few weeks back and am now rewriting it. Unlike many rock fans, I don't believe the Stones to be the end-all be-all band. I have never subscribed to that thinking. I'm sure many people feel that way about Zeppelin and the Beatles.

 

The opening drum and guitar intro to Start Me Up is very iconic. It's still iconic enough that you can't escape the song at sporting events as the song is blared from the loudspeakers. But, in my youth and younger years of drumming, I was more interested in drummers that were faster, louder and had more technique. I have realized this hampered my true appreciation of music(see my blog on AC/DC),  In my "immaturity", I found the drumming of Charlie Watts rather boring. In 1984, the ARMS benefit concerts for Ronnie Lane and MS were staged with an all-star band featuring Charlie Watts and The Who/Faces drummer Kenney Jones. This was actually historic in that the revered trio of guitar players that launched their careers from the Yardbirds all performed on the same stage together. In case you're not a guitar fanatic, those 3 players would be Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Well, Jeff Beck enlisted the help of his drummer(at the time) Simon Philips. Well, Simon can make any competent drummer look like a hack. The truth is that Charlie Watts is a very solid timekeeper and backbone of the Rolling Stones.

I have never seen the Stones live. But, everyone I've ever known that has seen them has said good things about their live show.
In 1989, as part of the KSCV college radio station staff, my friend Bob and I had the privilege of interviewing Joan Jett guitarist Ricky Byrd.  While interviewing him, we discovered that Ricky is a HUGE Rolling Stones fan ...especially former guitarist Mick Taylor. Mick Taylor had replaced original guitarist and founder Brian Jones in 1969. When Ricky talked about Mick Taylor and the Stones, the excitement was immensely contagious for any music fan. So, with Mick Taylor on Exile, I am immediately interested.

About 10-12 years back, I had been asked by a small "coffeehouse" band (two guys with guitars and bass) to play some percussion with them. It was a great learning experience.  Most of the music was original songs. But, one song that they had been performing was Little Too Loose from the album Exile on Main Street.  I had heard bits of the album before. I'm sure in my Dustys days that the album had been played by either Eric or Forrest.  I remember thinking it was rather raw and kinda cool. But, beyond that, not much. Well, my friend-Joel had a cassette copy of Exile and wanted me to learn the drums for Little Too Loose and just listen to the album.  I listened to it. But, in my own arrogance, I figured Charlie Watts drum parts were so easy that I could play them no problem. But, the fact is that subtleties of a building a song from quiet to epic is hard to teach or convey. It really must be felt. Little Too Loose is one of those songs. The drums are simple. But, when Charlie kicks in with the drum fill to finish the song, it's powerful and well...it just works.
So, I continued to listen to the borrowed cassette copy and reluctantly gave the cassette back when I was asked. So, when I found a used copy of the late 90's remaster of the double disc album, I jumped at it.
I like this album because of its simplicity and the rawness.
According to 1001 Albums, the recording of Exile on Main Street was anything but a harmonious effort. It was recorded in an unsuitable mansion that was once a Nazi Headquarters in France. Charlie Watts couldn't speak French. Mick Jagger had a new bride named Bianca and they would disappear from the recordings. That added to the grumblings for an album that took 12 months to record and mix. Thus, Exile became Keith Richards' proverbial baby. That may be why I really love this album. I really like Keith's solo work better than the big Stones projects. Maybe it's the larger than life myths about Keith's substance abuse and longevity. Maybe it's the grit and raspiness he exudes. I'm reminded of a 1981 sketch on Saturday Night Live.  This particular episode's host was Tim Curry. Curry was in a sketch as Mick Jagger in his "First Primetime Special....ever(or evah)".  Tim Curry prances around as Jagger and does quite a good job. Of course, one of the recurring characters was Joe Piscopo's impression of Frank Sinatra. So, Piscopo's Sinatra comes on as a guest of Curry's Jagger and compliments him by saying "I like what you do with that Richards' kid..y'know the one who looks like walking death!"
Tim Curry as Mick Jagger (unfortunately, the clip I found does not include the Sinatra bit)


Yes, Keith (or Keef) does look like "walking death". But, he survives and he thrives. It's been widely reported that he was Johnny Depp's inspiration for his Oscar nominated turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. One of my favorite tracks on Exile is minus the lead vocals of the quintessential frontman-Mick Jagger. That song is Happy featuring guitarist Keith Richards....

I even bought the Sheryl Crow and friends-live from Central Park because Keef is on the album performing Happy
Honestly, I've ben trying to write about this album since the end of May. The truth is that when I originally bought this on CD, It wasn't an album I was putting on constantly and playing it in the car and carried it everywhere I went. I would occasionally put it on my computer at work (with the volume low).  I loved the grittiness of the sound, the horns, the varied influences of blues, country, along with gospel backing vocals. I think the reason I loved this album was more about the lack of mainstream hits. I felt like this album was a secret that music lovers and rock n' roll junkies shared.  The general public know the big hits like Start Me Up, Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack Flash and maybe Honky Tonk Women. But, people who follow (and love) music (or maybe it's just me) love Exile because it's like a lesser known entity and unknown masterpiece in the history of Rock n' Roll. 

As I've been searching for something to write about this album, I've been listening to Exile on my MP3 player with my headphones and I just love it. The production just knocks me out. I also recently bought a used DVD copy of the Martin Scorsese's Concert film : Shine a Light. Five of the songs on the DVD are from Exile on Main Street and in this film, they really do shine through(no pun intended) . I also checked out a copy of the 40th anniversary of the Stones' live album -Get Yer YaYa's Out.  I have really enjoyed the charm of who Charlie Watts is as a drummer. He's funky. He swings and he's rock steady.  When he smacks his snare drum, you feel the backbeat from head to toe. He really is underrated as a drummer. Another part of writing this blog is to further break down those walls I had put up for acts and bands that I thought I couldn't (or didn't want to) like. As I watch the DVD and listen to the live album, I may even be swayed to thinking the Stones are THE World's Greatest Rock n' Roll band.....maybe

U2-Joshua Tree

Last night, I dialed up this album on my MP3 player and the memories flowed in yet again. So, I thought I would put some ideas down.

According to 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, 

Joshua Tree marks the point in U2's long and gloriously inconsistent career at which they woke up to the possibilities of studio technology, expanded their sound from a post-punk chug, and found grandeur, abstraction, and finesse.

In the spring of 1987, I was about to finish my 2nd year of college. I'm not calling it my sophomore year because of certain reasons.The band-U2 and their worldwide success were slowly bubbling up from underground status to ubiquitous superstardom. MTV was 5-6 years old at the time and the band had been in solid rotation with songs from their albums War and The Unforgettable Fire.  They definitely had a raw feel in their sound in those early years. They had grown up out of the punk movement of the late 70's to become the most well-known band to come out of Dublin since Thin Lizzy.  I have memories of my friends Mick and John coming back from Denver to see U2 during their Unforgettable Fire tour. They had nothing but great things to say about it. Even Modern Drummer magazine had a feature in their Style and Analysis column on the playing style of drummer Larry Mullen Jr.

I became more and more interested and slowly became a fan....but not a "Fanatic". Of course, my college years were filled with lots of great music and great memories to go along with them.

I remember there being a distinctive buzz about Joshua Tree.  Obviously, technology was different then. You couldn't get an online sampler for an album or "full album streaming".  My roommate Brian and I lived on the 2nd floor of Men's Hall at UNK(formerly Kearney State College).  I think Brian may have had a subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine.  But, I distinctly remember having the RS issue with the band (circa 1987) in my hand and reading it while listening to the album. That was part of the excitement of new music in those days. There would be a buzz about the album and then you would buy the album and either be blown away or really disappointed.

We found out that one of the guys on the 1st floor had a copy of Joshua Tree.  He let us either borrow the album or a cassette copy of it. We dropped the needle(love that antiquated term) on my little stereo and just let it soak in. This was in late April/early May. So, it was early Spring and it seems like the weather was just beautiful and the music was in harmony with each other.  For me, the description of this music was and is still intangible to put into words.  This was U2. But, it wasn't as raw as their earlier works. The music wasn't "IN-YOUR-FACE". It wasn't abrasive at all. But, it was very (simply) musical.

As I look back, the first 3 or 4 songs off the album were in some pretty heavy rotation on MTV. But, the opening with Where the Streets have No Name then into I Still haven't Found What I'm looking for then the first single Without or Without You! establishes a strong foundation and the rest of the album just flowed from there. I believe I actually ended up buying the album at Record Town in the Conestoga Mall(I hadn't started working for Dusty yet).  I used to have many conversations about music with my friend John G in Hastings NE.  I believe that summer I took my LP copy to his house to dub it onto a cassette because my tape deck just didn't have the greatest fidelity when it came to cassette replication. He had obtained a bunch of U2 singles with unreleased B-sides and we tacked them onto the end of the cassette. This is because this was the beginning of bands recording albums that were longer than 45 minutes. It was always nice to put one album on one side of a 90 minute cassette and then another side on the other. John put the B-sides and then some live tracks from Unforgettable Fire.  It was really cool! But, what should I call the 90 minute creation? He had a cassette single box with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For .  Since we couldn't find a title for the 90 minute experiment, that's what we called it. So, now I had a cassette copy to listen to for mobile purposes in the car and on my walkman.
In the various music news stories about this album in 1987, the band used to refer to the recording of this album as a discovery of American music styles.

 

 

As a music fan and kid from Nebraska, I had already digested a lot of different music. But, even in 1987, I still had a lot of styles that I had yet to discover. The first 3 songs play out. They are great songs and ended up making great singles as well. It was exciting to see those original videos of the band playing on the rooftops of LA for Where the Streets Have No Name and walking the streets of Vegas in I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. But, when Bullet the Blue Sky kicks in with Larry's drumming, It's alive and moving. The band is now creating a musical landscape as opposed to a pop record with snappy catchy tunes. Bullet the Blue Sky also features the lyric that would be the title for their next album/live project/full length movie-Rattle and Hum.  As I listen to the songs after Bullet the Blue Sky, the songs run together.  They are well crafted songs. As I listen to the guitars of the Edge and then musical landscape he creates from the music.  In Red Hill Mining Town and In God's Country, I am taken on a cross country trip with the sounds of the Edge's pulsating driving guitar sounds.  The triplet rhythm of Trip Through Your Wire has always been a favorite. It's as if the band is exploring the musical sounds of American Country music and the Blues of the Mississippi Delta all in one.

I was mere months from my employment at Dustys Records in the summer of 1987.  Which meant it would be months before I would discover a kindred spirit in my friend and Dustys employee Forrest.  I would still say that Forrest became (to me) the biggest U2 fan I would ever know.  Forrest was known as the Dustys employee with the taste for college underground/alternative bands. Still, to this day, when I hear (early) U2, REM, and the Replacements I automatically think of my "misfit" brother in music.  To put it in MTV speak of the day, He was the "120 minutes" guy and I was the "Headbangers Ball" guy. We never were at each other's throats about each other's music likes. But, U2's Joshua Tree was a common fave between the two of us. My college radio friend Bob started hanging out at Dustys a little more often. He and I became quick friends. After 23 years, I would venture to say that Bob is still one of my best friends.  After enough time, Bob managed to talk to Dusty and secure himself a part-time job at the store. Shortly thereafter, the 3 of us became great friends.  We did many things together. Most of it was done heavily intoxicated. But, we had a good time and still have our lasting friendships.  One of the things we all did together (in 1988)was go to the movie theater and see U2's concert film Rattle and Hum.  We didn't just go see it once. We saw it multiple times. I remember reading and hearing that movie was considered a bit of a box office disappointment. I couldn't see why.  All the music fans I knew had seen and generally liked it. But, there are some great compelling moments in the movie. From the Beginning where the movie is all in black and white to where it slowly comes into color at SunDevil stadium in Tempe AZ.

 
As I started writing this blog, I found it hard to sit and analyze this album.  When I listened more of it today on my way home from work, I came to two conclusions.
1) This album was more about the memories and the connections I made with friends than about the "historical" aspect of it.
2) This album was released at a time when I started to realize that good music(in my mind) was more than up-tempo rockers. There was music that was melodic and musical and engaging that resonated deep within myself.

U2 seemed simple then. The movie Rattle and Hum painted a picture of fun loving guys that toured the USA and discovered the music of America that most of us take for granted.  I thought today how engaging and lighthearted Larry Mullen Jr. was in the movie. But, as time went by, the band I knew as U2 became even bigger than I guess I ever wanted them to be. This is 1987 and before the band entered their 90's/over the top stage. Which is a point of discussion and disgust for me and perhaps other fans of this era.

Somehow, in the 90's, U2 lost their credibility with me. They stopped seeming like a band for the (certain) people and more for....well ...everybody.  When I see anything related to U2 in a current sense I usually refer to them as "The band formerly known as U2".  I enjoyed bits of Achtung Baby but never felt like I did for the band in the 90's.  Brian Klosterman says in his book Fargo Rock City

Serious U2 fans tend to be completely humorless(at least when they talk about early U2 records), and they award Bono an almost religious respect. This is because they feel Bono "stands for something" Even when U2 decided to become the '90s version of KISS and evolved into a bloated commercial monster, U2 fans insisted this was "camp."  To rational outsiders, it seemed like U2 was ripping off blind old fans who refused to judge them as a mortal rock band.  And maybe they were. But-if that was truly the case-I give Bono well-deserved kudos for his ability to sell himself as a messianic figure during the 1980s and then reap the capitalistic rewards for that performance ten years later.

Now, it seems like people still praise U2 for who they were. They want to go see U2 live because it's

U2!!!!!

I just don't think their current stuff has the longevity and the creativity of anything from War, Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree.  ....and I have great memories to go along with them.  Yet, I’ve watched some of the live performances of some of the songs of this album and WOW!  The band still does deliver in a magical way onstage.

Dave Brubeck Quartet-Time Out

In College, my Friend(and fellow drummer) Mick was instrumental in expanding my interests in music and introduced some great jazz players and recordings. One of them he told me about was the polyrhythms of Joe Morello with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Hmmmm...sounded COOL to me. Over the past 20 years, this became the epitome of COOL piano jazz for me.

I had Mick dub off a cassette tape of Time Out for me. I would pop it in the deck occasionally. I loved the swinging simplicity of the quartet of piano, drums, sax and upright bass. Beyond the simplicity of the four piece is an intimate combo with time signatures that were beyond what I was used to in my obsession with Rock.

In the Summer of 97, My brother and I loaded in the car for a trek to Colorado for my niece's wedding. Part of our several treks to Colorado always seemed to include a stop in Loveland at the outlet stores to buy MORE MUSIC!! I remember on those treks listening to the Beatles(of course), Queen, the Police, Ben Folds Five and a bunch of others. But, I bought Dave Brubeck's Time Out as part of Columbia's Jazz Legacy Remasters series. During that weekend filled with tons of family time and interaction, I would sneak away to listen to this CD with headphones. It still is my go to "chill out/relax/Piano Jazz" CD.

It starts off with Blue Rondo A la Turk in 9/8 time. But, yet it lets me sit back and relax and it starts to swing nice and easy. It may have featured Dave Brubeck as band leader. But, this effort is definitely a band playing together. Paul Desmond on Sax that gives this recording added character with Eugene Wright on upright bass keeping everything grounded. Of course, it is Joe Morello's solo piece (in 5/4 time) Take Five that still has the legs of longevity that keeps this album going. This piece(written by Paul Desmond) is still used for commercials and movies. According to Wikipedia, "Upon his death in 1977, Desmond left the rights to royalties for performances and compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross, which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 per year" Not too bad for a song written for a drum solo.

One of the movies I particularly love that features this song is "Pleasantville" where Jeff Daniels as the Diner owner starts painting in colors as you hear "Take Five" playing as the underlying score. I almost always listen to this album immediately after watching that scene or until the movie is over.

This is an album I keep on my MP3 player at all times and listen to it at least once a month.

The Police - Synchronicity

In the summer of 1983, I was 16 years old. The family vacation that year included a trip to Kansas City and the famed "Worlds of Fun"(WOF) and "Oceans of Fun(OOF). We stayed in KC for a day or two. We went to WOF one day and then to OOF the second. After a day at OOF, we drove down to St Joseph, Missouri to spend the night. We checked into our hotel room, ate supper and decided to check out the local shopping mall. I remember perusing through the cassette racks at the Musicland store in St. Joe. I found the new releases and was drawn to a blue, yellow and red album cover of the Police's Synchronicity.

I owned a few singles (45's) of the Police such as "Don't Stand So Close to Me", and "Every Little Thing She does is Magic" and "Spirits in the Material World". But, I think this may have been my first full length album by one of rock's greatest trios. I think "Every Breath You Take" had been released as the first single. I remember being less than impressed over the single. But, it was the Police and I have always felt that there were better songs on the album that what the record company had picked out as the singles. So, I was anxious to hear what else this album had to offer.

From the opening track "Synchronicity I", I thought it was just mindbending to take a word SYN-CHRON-I-CI-TY and fit it into a lyric.


The Second track "Walking in Your Footsteps" takes me by surprise with the line:

"Hey Mr Dinosaur. You really couldn't ask for more.

You're God's favorite creature. but you haven't got a future"

-so let me get this straight....this is a song for Dinosaurs? Interesting..

I remember reading the tiny lyric sheet in my cassette to the next song "Oh My God". Was this Sting asking God to fill up the space between God and man ...or is this Sting's lament to ex-wife...or both. Then, at about 3 minutes, it hits me that Stewart Copeland is just driving it home with some of my favorite drumming ever.

Andy Summers takes over lead vocals on the next song with his off-key, off kilter and avante-garde
"Mother". What always makes me chuckle is the line in this song

"Every girl I go out with becomes my mother in the end!"

This album became such a soundtrack to my teenage life. The Police was one of my Top 5 bands of my High School years. This album became so engrained into my music heritage that it's hard not to zone out the music while listening.

Side One ends with Synchronicity II which (at the time) seemed like just another song. But, when the video was released on MTV, it gave the song new energy and vibrance. I remember discussing the lyrics

"Many Miles away something crawls from the slime at the bottom of a dark Scottish Lake"

 

....Hmmm Lochness Monster...cool!

Over the years, Side two was just the side of the album with all the hits starting with "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your finger". I loved these songs. But, I remember my weekly viewing of NBC's Friday Night Video Fights for that year either featured the Police with one of these songs or a Def Leppard song.

The album is rounded out with the songs "Tea in the Sahara" and the morbid "Murder by Numbers"

After buying this album, I became a full blown Police fan. I would buy the rest of the albums and I even had a 1984 Police Calendar hanging on my wall. If I didn't buy them at first, I would borrow the LP's from my classmate-Rick English who was also a big fan. I was always envious that Rick saw the Synchronicity tour in Denver. I wish I'd been there.

I'm sure as an older brother, my love of the Police filtered down to my brother Mike. As I stated in my note on Dave Brubeck's Time out, Mike and I would listen to the Police box set-Message in a Box as we would drive up into the Rocky Mountains.

For me, the music and the memories go together. I've met people who weren't Police fans and I couldn't believe it. I felt insulted by this probably because I had great memories associated with this music. The Police eventually reunited for a tour in 2007. The band is still made up of 3 great musicians. There are some songs on the live DVD The Police – Certifiable that Sting does have the vocal range he once had. I wish I could have seen one of these reunion shows. But, with the unbelievable price of concert tickets (and this was a reunion tour), it’s hard for me to make the trips for these things anymore.

Van Halen (self titled)

Here I go with more memories associated with the music mentioned in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear before You Die". Today..Van Halen's 1978 self titled debut.

By the time I became a fan of Van Halen, it was 1982 and they were 5 albums into their recording career. I had heard their cover of Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman". Thought it sounded pretty rockin'. Like most of mainstream America, I was aware that guitarist Eddie Van Halen was now married to TV star Valerie Bertinelli too. Oh and the lead singer was named David (like me). My Buddy-Mick introduced me to the album Diver Down on his "Ghetto Blaster/Boom Box and I was hooked. EVH was doing things on the guitar that I didn't know could be done(check out Cathedral from Diver Down). From there, I went back and bought everything by Van Halen including their 1978 debut.

I remember buying the LP of this way back in North Platte and playing it on my older sister/hand me down/GE Stereo with turntable, AM/FM Radio, and 8-track player and just sitting back and listening to it over and over.

The album opens with the song "Runnin' with the Devil". At that time in the 80's, there was a big movement in churches to discourage kids from music with any reference to THE DEVIL. So, me being a good Christian boy, was a little leery of this song. Obviously, this SoCal quartet were not choirboys by any stretch. As the 1001 book states,

 "from the car horns that usher in 'Runnin with the Devil' to the pummeling of 'On Fire', it is an unbeatable blend of sonic swagger and lyrical lust".

As a teenage boy with lots of testosterone, that's what I wanted to hear...no doubt about it. Alex Van Halen was the most Kick-ass Rock drummer I'd ever heard. Eddie was incredible on his ground breaking solo piece - "Eruption". Michael Anthony's bass rumbled and his high backing vocals complemented lead singer David Lee Roth's over the top antics. He was the "DAVE" I wanted to be...confident with an undeniable swagger. Even Years later (mid 90's) when Nissan used VH's cover of the Kink's "You Really Got Me", I could still feel the power of the MIGHTY VAN HALEN.

"Ain't Talking About Love" was one of the songs from the Roth era that was carried over into the "Van Hagar" days. I still remember seeing VH in 1986 and watching Sammy Hagar standing on top of the lighting rig singing this one. This is great for its simple chords and Eddie's creative pickings to give the song its individuality.

"I'm the One' was the Boogie/Shuffle Double Bass groove that made me go crazy for Alex Van Halen and his drumming prowess.

"Jamie's Cryin" started Side 2 of the LP off with a simple descending intro fill and a rock solid groove that was so good that Tone Loc sampled this intro for his 1988 hit "Wild Thing". I was so enraptured by that fill that when Tone Loc had a hit with it in 1988, I felt it was my duty to educate everyone who hadn't heard the VH original. Of course, Michael Anthony's signature High Harmony vocals fill out the chorus for this classic too.

Rock Fans and guitar historians still write about the significance of the first VH album. I just know it's part of my musical history and my teenage years(and beyond).

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

On February 17th in 1972, Pink Floyd premiered a new piece of music entitled “Eclipse” at London’s Rainbow Theater. It evolved into the album Dark Side of the Moon.

 

What can be said about DSOTM? Many people have memories of Pink Floyd (whether it be The Wall or Dark Side). Usually, it's been in the dark, late at night and possibly under the influence of some herbal jazz cigarettes...

 

"Dude...FLOYD on disc!"

According to Wikipedia, It was an immediate success topped the Billboard 200 for one week. It then remained on the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988 to be longest charting album of all time.

For me, I probably have many of the same memories as most when it comes to this album. As I drove home from work this past week, I thought about Abbey Road studios and the memories of this album I associate with this album. Todd Rundgren said in a Rock n Roll history documentary about the 70's that a lot of bands felt they could make their musical masterpiece akin to the greatness associated with the Beatles'-Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For the 70's and Pink Floyd, DSOTM was their "Sgt Pepper" Achievement.

I originally bought my LP copy of DSOTM from the used LP bin at Dustys Records. I had been working there and had heard about the greatness of the LP. But, had yet to experience it. I put the LP on my stereo in my first college basement apartment. I kept the volume low and listened to it in the dark. I was immediately swept away by the swirling swooping keyboards of On the Run executed by Richard Wright and the perfected emotional guitars of David Gilmour.

According to "1001 Albums",

 "Anxious to shed their psychedelic shackles, the band gathered in Nick Mason's kitchen to compile a short list of things that bothered them. Those pressures being - Time, Money, Madness, and Death"

 

For me, it wasn't until years later that I paid closer attention to the themes in the music. It may have been the 1995 concert film and CD-Pulse (where the band performed the album in its entirety) that heightened my awareness of this album.

My former roommate took the music from DSOTM and combined images of video "feedback". He put it all on a video tape. He was very proud of it.....and rightly so...DUDE, IT WAS COOL!

Then, in 1995-96, there was a rumor in the early days of internet usage, that while playing DSOTM you could sync up the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz such as the character Dorothy beginning to jog when the band sings 'no one told you when to run'. It was said that the band wrote the album to accompany the 1939 movie. Both Nick Mason and David Gilmour deny it. Roger Waters described the rumours as "amusing" and producer Alan Parsons says the movie was never mentioned while recording the album.   I was actually working in a Video rental store at the time and all this talk piqued my interest. So, I checked out a copy of the Wizard of Oz and took it home and tried this little experiment. Some say it matched up perfectly. It did? Wizard of Oz is a 2 hour movie. DSOTM clocks in at 42:30. So, I don't think so. Just a really cool coincidence.

I love how this whole album just flows. It should never be broken up.....never played on shuffle. If you listen to the themes of Time, Money, Madness and Death, You can hear them start with the myriad of sounds of the opening track "Speak to Me" which builds into "Breathe in the Air". "Breathe in the Air" just feels like a breath of fresh air. It just relaxes my senses. It's like at the end of a long hard stressful day, David Gilmour reassures me by saying

"Breathe in the air, Don't be afraid to care"

 

Onto the swirling keyboards of Rick Wright that pans from one side of your speakers/headphones/earbuds to another with "On the Run". By this time, I am completely engrossed with the aural landscape that has enveloped my head....the laughter, the explosions prompting my brain with endless scenarios which take me down to almost sleep.....then....

TIME....tick tock tick tock, alarms going off, grandfathers clocks ringing. The ticking continues. Nick Mason begins to play around his drumkit on the toms and other percussion to set off...

"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day!"

Wow! a dull day really is just simply watching the moments TICK away.

"....and then one day you find, ten years have got behind you"

the events I experienced 10 years ago don't seem like they were that long ago. In the song, you have the dichotomy of Rick Wright's lilting vocals mixed with the subtle yet raspy vocals of David Gilmour.



Great Gig in the Sky is up for anyone's interpretation. It is a vocal improvisation by British session vocalist Clare Torry. In a few short takes, Torry improvised a wordless melody to Wright's emotive piano solo.

Money .... the subject that became something the band didn't have to worry about after this album. Roger Waters quote about this LP in "1001 albums" (from 2003) "We still had a common goal, which was to become rich and famous." David Gilmour has said that after this album, they became lost in themselves and their riches which reflects in the title of their next album "Wish You Were Here".

This is an album of a band with great musical talent along with fantastic production to make a great album....one of the greatest.
I could go on and on. I'm not going to touch on every song. To me, most of the music that touches us sometime in our lives is an intangible thing that can't be put into mere descriptive words. When I hear this album, I think of the myriad of my college friends and associates(many of who I still keep in touch with thanks to FB)....among those...Matt, Mick, McKinney, Vodie, Forrest, Bob and a lot of others.