Elvis Presley - "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (1966)
From the soundtrack album Spinout, where Elvis plays a part time rock band leader and part time race car driver. Three different women want to marry him. It couldn't be more of a Marty Stu movie if it tried.
This song's got a convoluted recording history. Let's break it down. Originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan in 1962 as a demo, that version was only available on bootleg and didn't get released until 2010. A bootlegged live version, recorded in April 1963 in New York was the most commonly heard version of the song for years, by Dylan at least. This version that played over the Walking Dead season one finale is now the only version by Dylan easily available on line. I think it's the 1963 live version, but I can't promise. Anyway, back to the brief story of the Elvis version. In August of 1963 Bob Dylan played at the Civil Rights march in Washington DC along with many others. One of those was Black folk singer Odetta. in January of 1965 Odetta released an album called Odetta sings Dylan that included her take on the song. Now Elvis didn't need Odetta's version to record Dylan, he was a fan, and covered at least a couple more Dylan tunes during his later career, mostly informal never released stuff, but still; he knew the guy. So why is the Odetta version an important step? It's clearly the version Elvis, his producer Felton Jarvis, and his musicians based their version on.
I'm hearing two acoustic guitars, one playing an almost slide-like wailing occasional lead. The other playing chords. The only real percussion is a tambourine doing just about the most laid back tambourine I've ever heard. I really like the walking bass on this track. It's a great sound and not overly loud or brash. Actually that bass is just about all that keeps the instruments on this song from being an old folk recording, it's too clear and was obviously done in a studio. Elvis gets forgotten a lot in today's fast paced musical world, but his voice here is not to be denied.
Showing posts with label folk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label folk. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
"Cyprus Avenue"
Van Morrison - "Cyprus Avenue" (1968)
"It's too late to stop now!"
This is a stream of consciousness style vocal over blues chords. So in that way it's like a Dylan tune. But then we've got flute, violin, and harpsichord. At that point it sort of crosses into chamber or baroque pop. It's hard to imagine a song with a harpsichord playing blues. It's like a electric blues rocker from the same time period, except instead of electric guitar it's got a violin. Instead of a harmonica it's got a flue. Instead of Hammond organ it's got a harpsichord and instead of electric bass it's got an upright bass. It's really long and rambling, so how does this all work? Well, Van Morrison is Northern Irish. So he's got the folk in his blood. And the rambling story thing is pure Irish as well.
Apparently this was a regular closing song for Van Morrison on the road. He would play it as an encore and his wild performances and interaction with the fans and the band were seen as influenced by James Brown, and in turn influencing on Bruce Springsteen. The song always got wild in concert and was so popular that he named his 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, the line he always used to close the song, and the whole set.
"It's too late to stop now!"
This is a stream of consciousness style vocal over blues chords. So in that way it's like a Dylan tune. But then we've got flute, violin, and harpsichord. At that point it sort of crosses into chamber or baroque pop. It's hard to imagine a song with a harpsichord playing blues. It's like a electric blues rocker from the same time period, except instead of electric guitar it's got a violin. Instead of a harmonica it's got a flue. Instead of Hammond organ it's got a harpsichord and instead of electric bass it's got an upright bass. It's really long and rambling, so how does this all work? Well, Van Morrison is Northern Irish. So he's got the folk in his blood. And the rambling story thing is pure Irish as well.
Apparently this was a regular closing song for Van Morrison on the road. He would play it as an encore and his wild performances and interaction with the fans and the band were seen as influenced by James Brown, and in turn influencing on Bruce Springsteen. The song always got wild in concert and was so popular that he named his 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, the line he always used to close the song, and the whole set.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
"Rimmel"
Francesco De Gregori - "Rimmel" (1975)
In Italy, the call him 'The Poet Prince'
Italian singer-songwriter De Gregori was born in Rome in 1951. He was fascinated by American music, particularly folk rockers like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. As the 70s opened and James Taylor and Neil Young topped the charts he grabbed his guitar and began recording. His first few albums were moderately successful but the album Rimmel was a huge success. He began to include other instruments and write more love songs, including the title track "Rimmel". It's a ballad, sung to a former lover. Rimmel means mascara in Italian. It's hard to make out meaning in a poetic foreign language song, but it seems like he is sad that it is over, and perhaps she is sad as well.
The piano is a different instrument for De Gregori, but the song carries it well; makes it sound like a Billy Joel song from the same time period. There's also a quiet organ playing in the background, which along with the quiet background singers makes me think of Dylan. He ties the whole song together with his own simple acoustic guitar, another Dylonesque touch. Francesco calls the ex his Venus of Mascara, when she is standing in the rain, which gives you an idea of how creative his lyrics can be. This moment in the song comes when she asks him if he still has a photograph of her where she is smiling, but not looking. He responds yes, quickly and without thought, which leads to the last lines of the last verse, and the saddest couplet I've heard in a while. "/you said: 'it is all that you have of me,'/ it is all that I have of you." (De Gregori).
In Italy, the call him 'The Poet Prince'
Italian singer-songwriter De Gregori was born in Rome in 1951. He was fascinated by American music, particularly folk rockers like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. As the 70s opened and James Taylor and Neil Young topped the charts he grabbed his guitar and began recording. His first few albums were moderately successful but the album Rimmel was a huge success. He began to include other instruments and write more love songs, including the title track "Rimmel". It's a ballad, sung to a former lover. Rimmel means mascara in Italian. It's hard to make out meaning in a poetic foreign language song, but it seems like he is sad that it is over, and perhaps she is sad as well.
The piano is a different instrument for De Gregori, but the song carries it well; makes it sound like a Billy Joel song from the same time period. There's also a quiet organ playing in the background, which along with the quiet background singers makes me think of Dylan. He ties the whole song together with his own simple acoustic guitar, another Dylonesque touch. Francesco calls the ex his Venus of Mascara, when she is standing in the rain, which gives you an idea of how creative his lyrics can be. This moment in the song comes when she asks him if he still has a photograph of her where she is smiling, but not looking. He responds yes, quickly and without thought, which leads to the last lines of the last verse, and the saddest couplet I've heard in a while. "/you said: 'it is all that you have of me,'/ it is all that I have of you." (De Gregori).
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
"Mykonos"
Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos" (2008)
Off of their second EP, which was recorded after their first album but released before it.
Who is the song about? Possibly lead singer and songwriter Robin Pecknold's brother, but no one is saying. Why is the song titled Mykonos, a Greek Island in the South Agean, halfway between Turkey and Greece? The song does mention the island in the chorus for the first half of the song, but the island is not known for 'snow tipped pines'. It does have quite a lot of coast line, being an island, but I don't know if it can be considered a 'gentle coast' being composed almost entirely of granite.As for the 'ancient gate' mentioned, there is a famous church in the town of Chora on the island that is called Our Lady of the Side Gate, so we may have a match.
The song is two distinct portions with a quiet bridge in between them. The first section is broken up: Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus. The second section is broken up: Chorus 2, Verse 3, Chorus 2, Verse 4, Chorus 2 (repeat until fade). The first section is somewhat straight forward indie pop. A gentle acoustic guitar leads the instruments, and a bass isn't really heard until the first chorus. The drums are predominantly bass drum and tambourine with a few cymbal hits. The rhythm is basic 4/4 time with the accent on the 2 and 4. It begins to fade out around two minutes in and just as you think that this short little song is over it gets great. The bridge is nothing but multi part harmony. The second part of the song is faster, and louder than the first. The bass is more prominent, and you can hear a lot more tom from the drums.
Most of what makes this song great is the transcendent vocals that start at the bridge and continue to the end of the song. Comparisons are often drawn to Simon and Garfunkel or The Beach Boys, but I agree with those that say Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are the closest antecedent. I saw them play live in 2009 and they were just as tight live as they are recorded. At various points, all five of the members are singing and those strong vocals take an indie/folk/pop group that rivals others based solely on beard quantity; and makes them a really special thing.
Off of their second EP, which was recorded after their first album but released before it.
Who is the song about? Possibly lead singer and songwriter Robin Pecknold's brother, but no one is saying. Why is the song titled Mykonos, a Greek Island in the South Agean, halfway between Turkey and Greece? The song does mention the island in the chorus for the first half of the song, but the island is not known for 'snow tipped pines'. It does have quite a lot of coast line, being an island, but I don't know if it can be considered a 'gentle coast' being composed almost entirely of granite.As for the 'ancient gate' mentioned, there is a famous church in the town of Chora on the island that is called Our Lady of the Side Gate, so we may have a match.
The song is two distinct portions with a quiet bridge in between them. The first section is broken up: Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus. The second section is broken up: Chorus 2, Verse 3, Chorus 2, Verse 4, Chorus 2 (repeat until fade). The first section is somewhat straight forward indie pop. A gentle acoustic guitar leads the instruments, and a bass isn't really heard until the first chorus. The drums are predominantly bass drum and tambourine with a few cymbal hits. The rhythm is basic 4/4 time with the accent on the 2 and 4. It begins to fade out around two minutes in and just as you think that this short little song is over it gets great. The bridge is nothing but multi part harmony. The second part of the song is faster, and louder than the first. The bass is more prominent, and you can hear a lot more tom from the drums.
Most of what makes this song great is the transcendent vocals that start at the bridge and continue to the end of the song. Comparisons are often drawn to Simon and Garfunkel or The Beach Boys, but I agree with those that say Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are the closest antecedent. I saw them play live in 2009 and they were just as tight live as they are recorded. At various points, all five of the members are singing and those strong vocals take an indie/folk/pop group that rivals others based solely on beard quantity; and makes them a really special thing.
Monday, February 6, 2012
"Bok Espok"
Kepa Junkera - Bok Espok (1998)
From the album Bilbao 00:00h
The eighth album of Basque folk musician Kepa Junkera involved over forty folk musicians from around the world. Junkera was born in Bilbao Spain which is where the album got its name. This track he worked with Swedish folk rock band Hedningarma. Junkera plays the Trikiti, a traditional Basque accordion-like-instrument that is almost always pared with tambourine. In this track he lays down a few riffs over and over again to lay down a base line and lets other musicians shine over them. Hendningarma is known for performing with a rock beat (which you can hear on the track from start to finish) and Yoik singing, which is the tight harmony vocals you can hear in the song. Two other traditional instruments show up in a lot of Kepa Junkera songs. The Alboka is a double single reed instrument, which means that it is like two clarinets shoved together in one instrument. It is thought to be Northern African or Arab originally, and made it's way into Spain during the Arab conquest. It remains an important instrument in Basque music. I can't quite hear it distinctly in this track, but I think it may be doubling the vocals. The other instrument is the Txalaparta which is wooden boards played by two musicians with large wooden sticks. It's like a small section of a huge over sized xylophone.
From the album Bilbao 00:00h
The eighth album of Basque folk musician Kepa Junkera involved over forty folk musicians from around the world. Junkera was born in Bilbao Spain which is where the album got its name. This track he worked with Swedish folk rock band Hedningarma. Junkera plays the Trikiti, a traditional Basque accordion-like-instrument that is almost always pared with tambourine. In this track he lays down a few riffs over and over again to lay down a base line and lets other musicians shine over them. Hendningarma is known for performing with a rock beat (which you can hear on the track from start to finish) and Yoik singing, which is the tight harmony vocals you can hear in the song. Two other traditional instruments show up in a lot of Kepa Junkera songs. The Alboka is a double single reed instrument, which means that it is like two clarinets shoved together in one instrument. It is thought to be Northern African or Arab originally, and made it's way into Spain during the Arab conquest. It remains an important instrument in Basque music. I can't quite hear it distinctly in this track, but I think it may be doubling the vocals. The other instrument is the Txalaparta which is wooden boards played by two musicians with large wooden sticks. It's like a small section of a huge over sized xylophone.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
"Needle of Death"
Bert Jansch - Needle of Death (1965)
Neil Young stole his melodies and Jimmy Page ripped off his accompaniments.
This Scottish folk singer eventually inspired Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon and Donovan; as well as founding the folk-rock-jazz group Pentacle. This, his most known song in his whole career was written about a friend of his that died of drug addiction. Jansch himself was not a drug user, and in fact lived and performed until late last year.
He was known for his quality acoustic guitar finger picking. This song is not a master class in the skill, but it is serviceable. He does manage to follow his voice up the scale while still maintaining the backing playing. The end is also particularly poignant as the vocals die out and the guitar stumbles into minor before finishing.Other songs off the album really show off what he can do on the guitar, but this one is more about the lyrics.
He starts off describing the mind set of the drug addicted: /When things go wrong each day/You fix your mind to 'scape your misery/. He then goes on to discuss how the addicts actions are perceived by loved ones: /How strange, your happy words/Have ceased to bring a smile from everyone/. His description of the parents standing at the addicts funeral is heart breaking: Your mother stands a cryin'/While to the earth your body's slowly cast/Your father stands in silence/Caressing every young dream of the past/. The most poetic line in the whole song is in the heart of it, as he describes the actual taking of the drugs: One grain of pure white snow/Dissolved in blood spread quickly to your brain/. Powerful words, simple melody, pure British folk.
Neil Young stole his melodies and Jimmy Page ripped off his accompaniments.
This Scottish folk singer eventually inspired Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon and Donovan; as well as founding the folk-rock-jazz group Pentacle. This, his most known song in his whole career was written about a friend of his that died of drug addiction. Jansch himself was not a drug user, and in fact lived and performed until late last year.
He was known for his quality acoustic guitar finger picking. This song is not a master class in the skill, but it is serviceable. He does manage to follow his voice up the scale while still maintaining the backing playing. The end is also particularly poignant as the vocals die out and the guitar stumbles into minor before finishing.Other songs off the album really show off what he can do on the guitar, but this one is more about the lyrics.
He starts off describing the mind set of the drug addicted: /When things go wrong each day/You fix your mind to 'scape your misery/. He then goes on to discuss how the addicts actions are perceived by loved ones: /How strange, your happy words/Have ceased to bring a smile from everyone/. His description of the parents standing at the addicts funeral is heart breaking: Your mother stands a cryin'/While to the earth your body's slowly cast/Your father stands in silence/Caressing every young dream of the past/. The most poetic line in the whole song is in the heart of it, as he describes the actual taking of the drugs: One grain of pure white snow/Dissolved in blood spread quickly to your brain/. Powerful words, simple melody, pure British folk.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Withered and Died
Richard and Linda Thompson - Withered and Died (1974)
The book gives us three paragraphs of at least 4 sentences each. Only one of them is actually about the song. The rest is about the group, the drama surrounding them, and the rest of the album.
This sounds like an old English ballad; this version just the latest in a long line of people covering an old Child Ballad, this time with a hint of American country music. In fact it is an original song, written in 1973 by guitarist Richard Thompson. His wife Linda takes singing duties here, giving this brand new tune an air of timeless desperation. The tone of this song is so down, but her voice makes us long to hear a hope, a "better" ending. Alas, it is not to be. It is a very good, and very sad song.
Richard's guitar playing has some of that "twang" that we've come to associate with cowboy country and even has some slide guitar in the background. The solo in the middle of the song definitely has a country feel. The other distinctive instrument is the concertina. I suppose it could be an accordion, the liner notes list John Kirkpatrick as playing both instruments on the album, but it sounds high pitched to me, so I'm guessing concertina. In fact, Richard and Linda are both English, and this is considered to be an important album in the English folk rock genre. So set aside all your previously held assumptions about where the song came from, or what genre the song fits into. Just listen to it, enjoy it, and go have a good cry in your tea for a while.
Friday, October 28, 2011
"Northern Sky"
Nick Drake - Northern Sky (1970)
Described by NME in 2009 as "the greatest English love song of modern times".
I've listened to some Nick Drake. So have you, a Volkswagen commercial ten years ago made sure he rose in the popular consciousness. This has the same backbone as many of the other songs we've heard; it's the same tuning to his guitar, and he's got the same whispering/murmuring/telling-your-heart secrets voice he usually does. What makes the song special are the differences. There are three different keyboard instruments at work here. Laying down a bass line the others dance on is an organ. The piano is the one doing most of the light touch work. It plays the fewest notes and yet has the loudest sound in the mix. They use it to do accents. The interesting keyboard is the celesta. It's an upright piano looking instrument, that sounds like a glockenspiel mixed with a vibraphone. You can hear it through the whole song, it's the one that sounds like church bells ringing. All three keyboards were played by John Cale, formerly of The Velvet Underground. Another important piece of why this song is so enjoyable is the drums. Very few sources mention the oddity of drums on this album. Nick Drake doesn't often use drummers, and in fact they are almost non existent on his final album Pink Moon. In this song the drums are nothing crazy, just a steady beat that keeps the song going, high hat, snare, maybe some tambourine or a wooden block. The drummer was Mike Kowalski, who was at the time, the drummer for The Beach Boys. Even more unsung is bass player Dave Pegg. His bass playing in this song is very background, but he was a pioneer in the electric folk sound for bass players. He went on to join Jethro Tull in the 80's. This song's got quite the pedigree.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sixteen Tons
Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons (1955)
"...another day older and deeper in debt."
A song about the plight of the working man. Paid in company script so he could never save cash and get out of debt. The narrator is so in debt that he asks St. Peter not to take him yet, because he still owed the company. This cover was recorded in 1955 and was as big a hit as the early Rock and Roll it was up against on the charts. Originally recorded in 1946 with just a simple acoustic guitar to make it sound like it was from an even early time; this version was jazzy and upbeat for having such a serious tone. Clarinet, muted trumpet and upright bass are held together with a set of brushes on a basic drum set. Producer Lee Gillette claims that the finger snaps provided by Ford were just his way of helping the band come in but Gillette loved it and left them in the mix. The image of a vocalist and band performing together on a recording is so foreign to modern audiences, but it was the only way to do things back then, and it provides perfect stories like that, that lead to great little add-ons that can really make a song a classic.
Monday, September 5, 2011
"Quelqu'un ma dit"
Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un ma dit (2002)
Yes, that Carla Bruni, First Lady of France. She married President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008. This release is from her first album in 2002.
It's a simple beautiful song. Starting with nothing but guitar and very blessedly unproduced vocals, it slowly adds a very subtle piano for lower chords, a brief violin and another guitar. The kind of song most people think they can pick up on guitar in a couple of hours, but the real challenge lies in trying to reproduce that voice. It is one that has known things, and has strength and humor, yet the song itself is a plea. Someone told me that you loved me still, is that still possible?
It's a simple beautiful song. Starting with nothing but guitar and very blessedly unproduced vocals, it slowly adds a very subtle piano for lower chords, a brief violin and another guitar. The kind of song most people think they can pick up on guitar in a couple of hours, but the real challenge lies in trying to reproduce that voice. It is one that has known things, and has strength and humor, yet the song itself is a plea. Someone told me that you loved me still, is that still possible?
This is not a song for a bright summer day people. It makes me long for hot chocolate and a fire. And a warm blanket. And someone to tell me that they love me too.
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