short story – TOpoet

Simply Banshee

May 24, 2023 topoetLeave a comment

When Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years” topped the charts here in Toronto I remember a buddy asking ‘Is that Carly Simon?’ No, it was red-head Mick Hucknall. The band’s first lp was Picture Book (1985), which at that time I had as cassette. I have that & Men and Women (1987), A New Flame (1989), Stars (1991) in my collection.

The band was good, if unexceptional, the original songs were good, if unexceptional, the cover songs ditto. It was Hucknall’s voice that sold the work. The music progressed to a more commercial, slick sound & by Stars I lost interest – verging on bland, adult contemporary as opposed to top ten.

Sinclair: Que justice soit faite! (1993), Au mépris du danger (1995): French fun with amazing engineering, & a great singer. Production was done by members of French techno wizards Cassius (whose cds I love). The music is funky, sexy & danceable with songs about love, politics & dancing. I bought these in Montreal when I used to visit in the mid 90’s as a part of learning French. I never really learned much except that lyrics are often irrelevant to enjoyment.

I made a cassette copy of of a friend’s Looking Glass (1987) lp by Siouxsie and the Banshees which I eventually downloaded as mp3. On it the band covers songs by Roxy Music, The Doors etc. They move from their Goth sound to a more alternative rock sensibility & I liked the song they chose to interpret. I’ve heard other lps but they didn’t grab me. I did eventually add Gold: a 2 cd compilation of their ‘hits’ & alternate takes.

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Wes Montgomery

May 17, 2023 topoet1 Comment

By Wes Montgomery (1923-1968) I have over 2 mp3 collections Finger Pickin’ (1996) live December 1957, Movin’ Along (1960), Boss Guitar (1963), Guitar on the Go (1966) includes tracks recorded in 1959 and October and November 1963, Bumpin’ (1965), Dynamic Duo with Jimmy Smith (1966), Further Adventures with Jimmy Smith (1966), California Dreaming (1966), A Day In The Life (1967). As stand alone: Impressions; The Verve Jazz Sides 1995 2cd compilation.

My introduction to Wes was late in his career by A Day In The Life by which time he was on the A&M label with producer Chip Taylor. I loved his mellow electric-elastic guitar tone & was amazed by his covering of pop songs like Windy & A Day In The Life. Listening to them now they are a bit too reverent & verge on muzak. But this was the Chip Taylor style.

Many jazz players enlivened their careers by working with contemporary pop material to appeal to younger listeners. His earlier work is much jazzier in a tradition way – his playing is always precise & tasteful. I love the two lps he recorded with organist Jimmy Smith & they are well worth having. The Verve sides are a delight too.

Rounding out the mp3 cds are: Herbie Mann and Dave Valentin: Two Amigos (1990); Herbie Mann and Phil Woods: Beyond Brooklyn (2004) – two fun jazzy sets with Herbie Mann. Good solid work that verges on easy listening.

Art Pepper (1925 –1982): The Return of Art Pepper (1956), Artworks (recorded 1979 released in 1984). His career was repeatedly interrupted by several prison stints stemming from his addiction to heroin. His sax is slightly aggressive, propulsive & adventurous but rarely becomes squawky. He covers jazz standards & originals.

Chico Hamilton (drummer): Man From Two Worlds (1963) Gábor Szabó, The Further Adventures of El Chico (1966). Gábor Szabó is another of my favourite easy to enjoy jazz guitarists. I picked up a double lp while I was living in Cape Breton & loved it. Another jazz player who did excellent covers of pop music. On the hits lp were tracks he recorded with Chico, so I eventually added some Chico to my collection. Solid, sometimes intellectual jazz, old-school & fun to listen to.

Here too is Wilbert Longmire’s Revolution (1969) – another jazz guitarist in the Montgomery mold in a fun funky set of mostly covers – including the Beatles’ Revolution. Finally Art Farmer (Trumpet): Crawl Space (1977) – a fine, moody, romantic set of excellent jazz that is a good introduction to jazz in a more exploratory & relaxed style.

Simone and Odetta

May 10, 2023 topoetLeave a comment

It seemed fitting to do an mp3 collection that included both Nina Simone & Odetta. Both were fiercely independent black, female folk/blues singers who paved the way for Aretha to Beyonce. Their voices are similarly husky, strong & emotional. Nina followed a somewhat more ‘pop’ route once she was established. Both left the USA for a time to free themselves from both civil rights issues & to find opportunity to create careers.

Nina Simone (1933 – 2003): an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. On this mp3 cd I have Four Women: The Nina Simone: Philips Recordings (1964 – 1966). On another mp3 collection is: ‘Nuff Said live (1968), To Love Somebody (1969), It Is Finished live (1974).

The Philips are her 7 lps for that label which includes her blistering Mississippi Goddam. She does originals & folk standards (Black Is The Color of My True Love’s Hair) & classics (Strange Fruit). The other three lps reflect her love for the BeeGees (!) & even includes some Broadway show tunes. My first Nina lp was the live ‘Nuff Said – I was reading the poetry of Langston Hughes & did a search for recordings of his songs, some of which are on this lp.

Odetta (1930 – 2008): an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and civil rights activist, often referred to as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement.” On this mp3 cd I have the hits collection Traditional Masters. She was a more traditional in her choice of material fold/spiritual & eventually feminist/political. Her voice is powerful & there is nothing understated in her lyrics even when traditional folk.

Over the past few years there have been excellent documentary biographies of each them that are worth tracking down. They were both fearless women who forced men to listen to them, to respect them. Both had creative career blocked by US fear of such voices but these women persisted & in doing so produced some fine music.

Sex Magic Quarterly (2013)

March 31, 2023 topoetLeave a comment

Sex Magic Quarterly (2013)

Sex Magick Quarterly

Savoy Brown Signs

March 22, 2023 topoetLeave a comment

I had a couple of Savoy Brown cassettes that I bought at Radio Shack way back in the early 70’s. They had a store in the first mall in Sydney. I bought my first stereo there. They had racks of deleted cassettes by bands I’d never heard of. One was Savoy Brown. I have in an mp3 collection Blue Matter (1969); Raw Sienna (1970); Looking In (1970); Street Corner Talking (1971).

Similar, at that time, to Fleetwood Mac they were a good bar blues band that changed as they lost members. Raw, Looking & street where the first I had. Blue I added decades later when I upgraded cassettes to mp3. The guitar sound is wonderful. Raw is my favourite. Looking, Street see the first changes in members & changes in direction as they move in a more r’n’b direction & on Street they cover songs like Can’t Get Next To You & Wang Dang Doodle. Raw Sienna is an underrated masterpiece.

In the mp3 collection is also Canada’s Five Man Electrical Band: Good Byes & Butterflies (1970) they had a big hit with ‘Signs.’ The rest of the lp is solid, slightly political/ecological songs. Here too is another one-hit group: Status Quo: Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo (1968). Pictures of Matchstick Men was a huge psychedelic hit & the lp is full of similar period songs including a cover of Green Tamborine. Throughout their career, they never achieved the same level of success in the USA as they have in Britain.

Next is Jimmy Cliff: retitled for US: Wonderful World Wonderful People (1969). A great ska sound by this Jamaican superstar. Besides the title song this set included the often covered ‘Many Rivers To Cross.’ Uplifting songs & great ska music. Back to Canada with The Guess Who: Best Of (1971). It’s hard to believe that the band that did the ultra jazzy Undone also rocked out with American Woman. Musical diversity that made it hard to label this band. Finally Fat Mattress (1969). anchored by Noel Redding (of Hendrix fame). Fat Mattress probably would never had surfaced without his fame. The music is unexceptional folk rock in the Traffic vein. Something for completists like myself.

Saturday Night Inferno

March 15, 2023 topoet2 Comments

The Saturday Night Fever (1977) soundtrack is one of the best-selling albums in history, and remains the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time, selling over 45 million copies worldwide. It produced 4 #1 singles & became the catalyst for the ‘hate disco’ ‘disco sucks’ movement. The soundtrack & the movie both capture a time & place perfectly.

The Bee Gees were big stars & this propelled then briefly into superstardom. I don’t think anything they recorded after this was as ‘compelling’ or as catchy. I do have some of their early work before they went supernova but am not a fan. The songs here are well-crafted & engineered. For me the standout cut is Disco Inferno which really captures the power of disco but was too dangerous at the same time – the Bee Gees were safe & never dangerous.

It also features some Walter Murphy – his updated disco-fied classical spawned a trend for this type of cover work that quickly became pure kitsch with disco maulings of big band, tangos, Gregorian chant – who remembers the slamming version of Carmina Burana?

Another disco movie sound is Thank God It’s Friday (1978). Unlike Fever this has no real plot, no family dynamics just pretty people dancing at the disco. A more representative collection & more gritty than Fever plus Donna Summer – real disco star belting out Last Dance which went on to win her an Academy award for best song. Both soundtracks are worth having & well make you want to dance dance dance.

Disco Revolution

Buffy Saint-Marie

January 25, 2023 topoetLeave a comment

I can’t say I’m a Buffy Saint-Marie fan but I do respect her as an artist & a revolutionary. I recently watched ‘Carry It On’ a PBS American Masters documentary about her career & was amazed by the ups & downs that she survived. I didn’t know that the US Government deliberately sabotaged her career – they weren’t pleased with both her antiwar & her Indian rights activities. To shut her up they ordered radio stations not play her recordings or songs she had written. Land of the free – yeah, sure.

I have an mp3 cd compilation that includes I’m Gonna Be a Country Girl Again (1968): country, Illuminations (1969) psychedelic with synthesizer to create electronically treated vocals & textures, & Soldier Blue – Best of the Vanguard Years (2003). As a stand alone I have ‘Running For The Drum’ (2008). Her ‘political’ songs are strong & fearless. Her romantic songs are tender. I loved Illuminations perhaps one of the most before it’s time recordings of the 60’s. Creatively daring, a total departure from her well-regarded folk & country roots it is still an amazing piece of work.

Also in this mp3 collection is Mercedes Sosa out of Argentina, she sings in Spanish. I read about her somewhere as being one of the best selling singers in the world! Yet, at the time, I had never heard of her. A sign of the insular world of pop music. I have a couple of her cds & here is Gracias A La Vida. She has a warm alto voice. I love the tile song & Maria Maria.

Remember Sam The Record Man? On the second floor there was tiny world music section & in a reminder bin I picked up a cassette ‘Aster’ by Aster Aweke (Ethiopian) singing in Amharic. I love the African horn sound, similar to Osibisa’s. Another warm alto the songs were emotional even though I didn’t understand them. On this cd I have Sugar (2001).

Also here is Astrud Gilberto the Brazilian bossanova singer who sang in both Portuguese & English. The Silver Collection (1991) is a nice selection of her hits. A lighter voice than the others here with a strong jazz leaning. Lots of classic Latino hits. A good introduction to her & the samba genre.

Finally Miriam Makeba out of South African. She was best known though the 60 thanks to her work with Harry Belafonte. Similar to Buffy her music was part of her social mission. Here I have Sangoma (1988) – sung in a variety African languages. Yes another warm alto voice & a great introduction to Afro-Jazz & folk music.

QBoy Ray

December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 topoetLeave a comment

The history of pop music by queer performers goes beyond Sylvester & came well before Pet Shop Boys. Some were out & some were forced out & some are neglected. This mp3 cd includes all that & more.

Forced out of the closet is Johnnie Ray. He, an amazingly popular torch singer in the early 50’s, was the prime target for teen hysteria in the pre-Presley days. I have At The London Palladium (1954); High Drama (1997 hits compilation) includes Cry (1951). Two arrests for soliciting under cover police offers pretty much ruined his reputation & career. His life is tragic & deserves a bio-film. He influence countless singers from Bob Dylan to Leonard Cohen.

Not actually queer music but an iconic queer film is Pink Flamingos (1972). I have the soundtrack release that coincided with the 25th anniversary release of the film on DVD in (1997). It is fun but mainly classic 50’s r’n’r such as I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. There needs to be a film looking at how many delinquents were queers.

From Toronto is the forgotten glamrock Justin Paige: Justin (1974) with bold songs like Sugar Daddy, Steam Queen & a cover of men in leather – this is an amazing, overlooked, historic recording. Bold lyrics done in a Joe Cocker bar-band style this is worth searching out. I bought a vinyl copy at Cheapies sometime in the 80’s based on the campy cover art & was not disappointed.

I’m sure he paved the way for Toronto’s Rough Trade: Avoid Freud (1980), Weapons (1983), O Tempora! O Mores! (1984). Carol Pope’s voice is powerful, the lyrics are funny – High School Confidential is a classic – often tackling complexity of relationships (regardless of gender). Avoid Freud is a must have in any collection.

Now a jump to another decade with Huggy Bear: sort of a compilation: Taking The Rough With The Smooch (1993) self-defined as riot grrrl “girl-boy revolutionaries.” Semi-punk with loose electric guitar, fun vocals & attitude. Perfect for queer core pogo dancers & not as dissonant as some. Similarly is Pansy Division: More Lovin’ From Our Oven (1996) a compilation of singles, unreleased tracks, demos. Total Entertainment (2003). Only Pansy has a more commercial sound – like REM but with very out lyrics & a sense of humour about lgbtq lifestyle.

Finally QBoy: Moxie (2009) One of the original few out rappers in hip hop circa 2001 – clearly a precursor to Lil Nas X but not as sexually out there as X. Not that there is conservative hip-hop but QBoy spits sex positive lyrics against a fine backdrop of samples & started to shake hiphop out of its homophobic misogynist closet.

This is the my favorite sort of mp3 cd compilation that covers a historic arch of a genre that so often get narrowed down a name or two – Elton John or Liberace aren’t the sole definitions of lgbtq music.

Emergency Birds

October 5, 2022 topoet1 Comment

On a couple of mp3 cd collections, as well as some stand-alones I have a fair bit of John McLaughlin.

Before John McLaughlin arrived on the US jazz scene he had released Extrapolations (1969) & was featured with Tony Williams’ Lifetime on the riotous Emergency (1969) two aggressive but straight ahead recordings that attracted the attention of Miles Davis who featured him on the monumental Bitches Brew (1970), Live Evil (1971) & several other Davis lps.

Davis inspired McLaughlin to create the Mahvishnu Orchestra that defined jazz-rock with an amazing series of lps: Inner Mounting Flame (1971), Birds of Fire (1973), The Lost Trident Sessions (1973 -1999), Between Nothingness & Eternity (1973 live), Apocalypse (1974) London Symphony, Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975), Inner Worlds (1976). In midst of which he recorded Love Devotion Surrender (1973) with Carlos Santana.

I love all of these jazz-rock lps. Most of which have been re-released with bonus tracks. As his Mahavishnu moniker indicates there is a more of eastern mystical influence but it doesn’t turn into proto-new age mush. My favourite is Birds of Fire. All are excellent. The Tony Williams is an energy rush that is also another highly influential lp & Williams drumming is epic.

He unplugged with Shakti (1976), A Handful of Beauty (1976), Natural Elements (1977) – turning his focus on an East Indian world music fusion. He remained unplugged with Passion Grace Fire (1983) in acoustic trio. Que Alegrias (1992) saw him return to his trio roots. After The Rain (1995) is fine tribute to John Coltrane.

Rounding of the cds is some by jazz violinist Jean Luc-Ponty: More Than Meets The Ear (1968)/ Aurora (1976)/Imaginary Voyage (1976), Jean was featured with Chick Corea’s Return To Forever & also worked with Frank Zappa! More Than is traditional while the later two are immersed in jazz-fusion. Sweet but perhaps a little too mystical.

Finally some Larry Coryell: Spaces (1970) that features him with McLaughlin, Spaces Revisited (1997); Monk ‘Trane Miles & Me (1999). Coryell us another of the jazz-fusion explorers & produced lots of great stuff before moving on, or perhaps that’s back, to a more conservative sound. Spaces is great, the Monk set offers good, solid explorations of jazz greats.

Cheesy Music A Part of Me

May 25, 2022 topoetLeave a comment

This wildly eclectic, nearly 7 hour, mp3 compilation includes: David McCallum: Music A Part of Me; Louie Shelton: Touch Me; Neil Hefti: Batman, Lord Love A Duck; T-tauri: Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; Armando Trovajoli: Seven Golden Men, Gente Di Roma; Rostal & Schaefer: The Beatles Concerto; Count Basie: Basie Meets Bond, Basie On The Beatles. The connecting thread being cheesy instrumental fun.

David McCallum co-starred in the TV show Man From U.N.C.L.E & thanks to his TV fame released a couple of instrumental lps one of which was Music A Part of Me (1966). He conducted the audio orchestra on covers such as We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Taste of Honey, as well some original pieces. Easy listening lounge music. Clearly the precursor to Symphonic Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd et al.

Louie Shelton was an in demand studio guitarist who released one lp (which I had on vinyl) Touch Me (1968) A mix of covers like Whiter Shade of Pale & some original pieces, one of which Theme For A Rainy Day is sublime perfection. Sweet chorus pops up one a couple of tracks. His playing is relaxing & never lapses into jazz.

Neil Hefti has the highest music profile here thanks to his music for TV’s Batman. He wrote a load of stuff, commercial jingles & even some movie soundtracks, including the classic Lord Love A Duck. Poppy organ go-go music with some quacking. I love the sweater buying music. It makes me want to put on a pair of white go-go boots & do The Pony.

There was an industry around remaking The Beatles, resulting in endless adaptations. I have Bach Beatles covers, Russian covers. On this cd is Rostal & Schaefer: The Beatles Concerto – another prelude to symphonic Who. One side is the ‘concerto’ the other a set of ‘impressions’ – all very tasteful but too respectful. Ferrante & Teicher for a ‘hipper’ crowd 🙂

Also looking for a hipper crowd is Count Basie with a couple of cover sets: Basie Meets Bond, Basie On The Beatles. This was/is a jazz industry – cover albums of current pop, soundtracks. Think Vitamin String Quartet. There is good playing & it is better than elevator music.

Let’s take a quick trip to Italy with a couple of real soundtracks by Armando Trovajoli. Seven Golden Men (1965), Gente Di Roma (2003). I bought the lp of Golden Men in a remainder bin at Zellar’s or maybe it was K-Mart way back in the early 80’s & I loved it then & still dote on it now. This is a prime example of those European soundtracks brimming with wordless, female scat singers. I’ve never seen this crime-caper movie & keep wishing TCM would dig it up. Gente I downloaded just to have something else by Armando but it is merely tasteful not cheesy. He has over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor almost all soundtracks.

Finally T-Tauri’s Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1998) – Out of the Netherlands comes this six-piece Symphonic Orchestra with a Rock’N’Roll attitude the violin, guitar, kettle drums & carillon. For many Pictures is classical cheese in any form. I have too many versions to count & this is as good as any of them.