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DNA. These songs are in all of our DNA. I love the Rubber Soul / Revolver time period. It was like something was rumbling. We knew change was coming and The Beatles lit the flares.
Here’s a quick selection of my 5 favourite songs from Rubber Soul and Revolver. Please note, I could change my mind an hour from now.
NOWHERE MAN
The vocal intro freezes you in time. The guitar solo sounds like space travel. John sings like a young man who realizes he’s getting smarter.
I doubt The Band set out to make the greatest rock movie ever. Most bands, when they break up, dissolve into a pool of watered down press releases all citing musical differences. We’ve heard it all before. But not The Band.
They get the greatest concert promoter in the history of music – Bill Graham – to produce a farewell show. Then they get the greatest filmmaker in the history of film – Martin Scorsese – to direct and document the evening. Then they get the world’s greatest musicians together to play some of the greatest music ever made.
Things like this don’t happen anymore. Today there’s a team of people behind the scenes all going over contract details and backstage riders before their ‘treasured artists’ step foot in the door. But in 1976, it was less formal and more about the music. The Last Waltz is the sound of some hippies getting together and saying goodbye. Thanks for the trip. CONTINUE READING >
I love that nobody knows what to call this album. Four? ZOSO? Stairway To Heaven? The album with the old man with a bunch of sticks on his back? Whatever you call it, it remains one of the all time greats. And it’s always been a part of my life.
The album was released in 1971. Its been blaring out of cars and bedrooms since then. Growing up, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was the song that defined us. Appropriate because I’m not even sure what the lyrics mean. I mean – what the hell is a ‘bustle in a hedgerow?’ I heard ‘Stairway’ on Q10Zeppelin a couple months ago and it was like hearing the song for the first time. I couldn’t move. All I could envision was the performance at Massey Hall. Over the years I’ve seen countless bands ruin Zeppelin. We’re going to fix that. On April 16 you will see the album performed perfectly for the first time in history. That’s a bold statement but I’ve got the guys to do it.
One night, I laid out the four individual pictures of the lads that came with the ‘White Album.’ The four shots are so beautiful. And telling. A perfect visual match to the album. There’s something about the way they look at you in those shots. As if to say “You’re going to know this album and these pictures for the rest of your life.”
This is a unified album. There has been much talk and documentation to the contrary, but this is the sound of 4 young men coming into their own. Together. Asserting themselves. Clashing and collaborating. All in search of a great recording.
It’s not even called the ‘White Album.’ That’s just a name fans gave it. It’s official title is ‘The Beatles.’ But it’s the ‘White Album.’ Their best selling album. Their best album. Period.
Supposedly it was a miserable record for them to make. I’ve read about this. What freaked me out the most was that they didn’t have big lavish spreads of food and drink set out for them. They never did. They would argue over packages of chips or ‘crisps.’ Nip out for lunch. Come back and record. There was a work ethic in effect.
I always thought the rock star sense of entitlement spoiled the music. The Beatles never once fell victim to this. Even at times of great disagreement they would forge on, crafting songs and lending their support to each other. I can’t imagine that ever happening in this day and age. These days a minor disagreement turns into a break up and the next thing you know – everyone is calling their publicists. But not the Beatles. It all went into the music. They were beginning to get a true sense of how good they really were. The ‘White Album’ is the sound of them deconstructing their legacy and then putting it back together. Brilliant.
Bob Dylan always said that we knew nothing about him; that his music was not an indication of who he was as a man. Not the case with Roger Waters. I feel that we know a great deal about him, especially delving into The Wall
The British stiff upper lip credo is called into question here, Waters opens up and faces his demons, the post war boom echo’s vacant and the children of the 40’s are left with the fallout, the scars generated down to their next generation- Missing parents, quashed feelings of confusion, quiet desperation. Waters brings them all to the forefront on The Wall.
I can’t think of another rock album that shone a light on our parent’s legacy with such a riveting display of nerve. Vera Lynn, Bring the Boys Back Home – what other rock album goes there? For me, these are the telling tracks, the ones that bind us to the album. Waters wrestles with the loss of his father. I can see an image of him standing on a train platform, waiting for his father to get off the train. CONTINUE READING >
FREE Noon Hour Choir & Organ Concert
February 23 2012
Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra w/ Wynton Marsalis
February 23 2012
Pavlo
February 24 2012
Whitehorse
February 24 2012
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