"A minha menina"

Os Mutantes - A minha menina (1968)

Brazilian fusion pop!



Os Mutantes (The Mutants) were a Brazilian power trio. Two men, one woman, all three sang, all played instruments, and the band always had lots of guests on their albums. This is off of their first, eponymous album. Influenced by the pop vocals and psychedelic guitar sounds coming out of England and America, they fused it with the native dance rhythms of Brazil.

Lyrically it's a straight love song. She's his girl, he's her boy, and everything is right with the world. Musically the verses are very 60s pop. Vocals that harmonize tightly together over upbeat chords and fast drumming. The chorus has some fat fuzz effects on the guitar, giving us an angry edge to the song, but lyrically there is nothing to back up the anger. It's just a cool effect. The break is really interesting. There's some psychedelic guitars, some acoustic guitar licks, and some vocal noises that sound like hot and heavy breathing to me. Overall it's a fun pop song from a band I'd never heard of but that has fans. Indie act A Band of Bees (or The Bees if you're from the UK) got some early recognition covering this song in 2002 and Beck's 1998 album Mutation was named after the band. And in a hell of a coincidence, (because I just flipped to this song randomly as I usually do) Os Mutantes is apparently a favorite band of David Byrne - who was featured in yesterday's post.

"Heaven"

Talking Heads - Heaven (1979)

I would have guessed this was David Byrne based on the voice, but I never would have guessed this was a Talking Heads track.



The guitar is a little twangy, giving it the country influence the book mentions. We've also got simple piano, or at least a synthesizer set to upright. The drum part is almost overwhelming to me; repetitive, too loud, and frankly both dull and too much. The bass line here is moving as fast or faster than the piano during most of the song. Due to the fact that the guitar is playing an atmospheric twang part, the bass becomes a real driving force of the song; really keeping it moving along with the non stop drums - which is ironic considering the lyrics.

The song is about the afterlife, but a version of Heaven few would consider positive. It is a place where "nothing ever happens" and "it will not be any different, it will be exactly he same". Never has Heaven been described in such a way that no one, save people with anxiety that too much is happening and lovers of boredom; would ever want to go. It could be interpreted as very zen, nothing that ends doesn't begin again. but I just think it sounds terrible. Not that the song is terrible, the word play is fantastic: "the band in heaven, they play my favorite song/Play it one more time, play it all night long". It just does a great job of describing a place I wouldn't want to go.

"Private Dancer"

Tina Turner - Private Dancer (1984)

Much has been written about Ms. Turner's legs, divorce, solo career and more. Let's try to focus on the song.

This is the full 7:11 length album cut. The radio edit is less than four minutes long. The song was written by Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler for his band. They recorded it in 1982, but he ultimately decided that the lyrics didn't work for a male vocalist. So it was shelved without a vocal added to it. The lyrics are about a high class prostitute; though Tina Turner claimed that she thought it was about performing for private parties for rich people as she had done in the past.

The song sat in the vault until Tina's manager and Knopfler's manager got together and decided Tina should sing the song. Legal obligations meant that the band had to record a new version for Tina to sing over; and in an odd twist of fate, Knopfler was unavailable to perform on the track. Mega star guitarist Jeff Beck was asked to play guitar instead. He provided a solo that Knopfler thought was rubbish. I like it, though I'm not sure if it goes with the rest of the tune.

So let's talk about the tune, it's a soulful song from the 80s, so you know we're going to get some sax. Sure enough, before the twenty second mark we've got a saxophone in the picture. Before the vocal comes in, the song sounds like a smooth jazz/quiet storm style lite jazz piece. The verses and choruses sound very different. In the verse, Tina's voice is low, stays in one small part of her range and the music is all in a minor key. The chorus gives us a much larger part of Tina's range, and it fluctuates between major and minor keys. The piano plays a major part in both sections. Louder than the guitar, holding together the chords and giving embellishment.

My favorite part is the bridge between the second and third chorus. The first part is a vocal part with funky fuzzy electric bass going on under it. Then we get a sax solo that is very reminiscent of the early sax bit, and every bit a "sexy 80s jazz sax solo". you could play just that part and ask people where it was from and they would name a dozen different TV shows or movies with slinky women, maybe a murder, a scene in the rain; and all of them would be from the 80s. The guitar solo that comes after it (with Hammond organ accompaniment) is slinky and sexy and I like it, but by this point in the song, I've forgotten it's a Tina Turner R+B song and have begun to feel like it's just a smooth jazz number from a forgotten album. It doesn't really sound "dancer" to me, though the "private" part shines.

The end is so repetitive. The verse is a repeat, then she sings parts of the chorus over and over again. I think the album version could have been cut short, but still left in the solos. The radio edit eliminates the sax but leaves in the guitar solo.

"Tutti Frutti"

Little Richard - Tutti Frutti (1955)

Tutti Frutti, good booty/ If it don't fit, don't force it.

In November 1955, the world had heard Bill Haley, and Big Joe Turner, and Chuck Berry, but were still months away from Elvis' breakthrough and more than a year away from Jerry Lee Lewis. Little Richard must have driven every old person in America off the deep end. A flamboyant, makeup wearing, pompadour having, piano smashing mad black man out to teach every young person "just what to do". The original lyrics ( a taste of which are above) would have gotten Little Richard an obscenity trial in the 90s, and worse in the 50s.

Using Fats Domino's backing band, Richard (the story goes) was unhappy with how the recording session was going; feeling like he was too restrained. During a break, he started playing a song that was a big hit for him in the black night clubs he was touring at the time. The musicians jumped in and the producer (who would later go on to work with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Herb Albert, and Sly and The Family Stone - among others) knew that he had a hit if he could clean up the lyrics. The record label brought in a ringer to clean up the lyrics and a hit record was born.

At the time, Pat Boone's cover was more successful than Little Richard's original. Fortunately time has been on Little Richard's side. I've linked the Boone version for completionists, or the just curious, but once you've heard the rollicking original, Boone's cover just seems pallid.

"Paradise City"

Guns N' Roses - Paradise City (1987)

Instantly recognizable.

The guitar lick that opens this track exemplifies the song. Sounds simple and upbeat but when you listen it's actually far more complex than you first thought. The drum beat that kicks in forces you to clap along. It actually reaches into your ears and grabs your pecs and your delts and your biceps and makes your clap your hands together.

There is a synthesizer running through the song. It's really easy to hear at 0:42-1:01 before the first guitar solo. Axl and Slash fought bitterly over the inclusion, but ultimately Axl won. It's the only song on the album with a synth, but the rift between the two only got bigger. Slash gets even on the track by ripping up some incredible solos and dominating the double time section at the end of the song.

Lyrically the song is heavy. Sure the chorus is fun for the whole family (Slash did try to introduce the line "where the girls are fat and they've got big titties, but the rest of the group shouted him down) , but the verses are serious business. A juvenile delinquent abandoned by everyone ends up with the death penalty after undisclosed crimes, and the nation is all heading down the same path. Pretty heavy stuff for a metal band out of L.A.

"Hard to Handle"

Otis Redding - Hard to Handle (1968)

So Otis Redding was the Tupac of his day.

This track is off of the second of four posthumous albums filled with mostly previously unreleased songs. Released almost a year after his death, this was the forth single off of the album, and it didn't chart as well as the others, but has stood the test of time, being covered by many artists, including being a live favorite of The Blues Brothers, a campy production number sung by Mae West and the breakout hit of the 90s blues-rock band The Black Crowes.

The back up band here is effectively Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Drums, guitar, keyboard and bass were all played by members of the group originally brought together as the Stax Records house band. Horns on the track are by The Memphis Horns, another group affiliated with Stax. When you are backed by ten of the top soul session musicians in the world, you are bound to make a gem. Put Otis Redding's soulful wail on top and there is no doubt this song swings.

The lyrics are so boastful. This style of music goes back a long way, blues musicians, and Irish folk songs both make use of a I'm-the-best-man-for-you kind of structure. Today, modern rap music is full of boastful rhymes about the singer's wealth and sexual prowess. Otis sings about what a great lover he is, and the best damn back-up group assembled helps him sell it. You got to give it to the man, even after his death he's helping men get laid.

"Every Breath You Take"

The Police - Every Breath You Take (1983)

A Stalkers Anthem.

Often misinterpreted as a love song, this and Isn't She Lovely? should be removed from wedding DJs bags across the country. It's clearly about a woman who left a man, and now he follows her around town stalking her every move. It's an obsession that, due to the way the fade out plays it up, is clearly never going to stop.

The guitar part was done in one part and was apparently inspired by classical composer Bartók. I've listened to about a half dozen Bartok pieces today and I don't hear it, but six pieces out of the hundreds he wrote doesn't mean anything. Bartók sounds upset to me, lots of pounding frustrations out like a hammer. The guitar lick is more precise, like a surgeons knife. He switches keys without missing a step and it cuts though the whole song without overwhelming the other little things going on. The drum part is fairly simple. Apparently Sting didn't let Stewart Copeland play what he wanted, Sting wanted simple on this track. Sting's own bass part is straight eighth notes with next to no embellishments. Sting also plays keyboards on the track. Heck, the man sings his own back up vocal parts towards the end.