For months now, I have been receiving James Taylor’s monthly newsletter. Click on the link to be directed to JT’s newsletter library. They are informative and entertaining. June’s newsletter talks about “shed” tours and the richness of the artists who are currently touring with the wily grandfather.
He also goes into detail a couple of times about affordable tickets and trying to ensure that people who want to see him/them have the opportunity to do so. It’s evident that JT’s career is more about the music than the money.
Now, this is not a new concept but admittedly, JT isn’t usually correlated with new and progressive music marketing and promotion. However, he hasn’t survived and thrived in the biz for the last 40 years simply waiting for Carole King to write him another hit.
At least JT has some vision and is adapting to the new world. While not earth-shattering, in itself, his newsletters show his desire to embrace new approaches and technologies to “kuneck” with his fans….you know, folks that have been following him for 30 to 40 years.
If an icon like James Taylor gets it, you’d think younger, supposedly “hipper” artists would too.
Added bonus: JT performing his non-conventional rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at Game 1 of the NBA Championship.
We interupt this vacation to bring you a urgent announcement.
Our family welcomed an impatient, but very much anticipated new arrival today. Jackson Alexander deClouet entered this world about 10 weeks early, much to the chagrin of his parents Amy & Michael Paul.
I’m happy to report that 3 lb. 11 oz., “Jack”, is doin’ great (in the words of his Daddy) and is breathing on his own. Since he was born to ONE of the best families in the world, he couldn’t miss.
We welcome young Jack to the fold and look forward to many a beach party with our newest family member.
This weekend begins our summer vacation in beautiful L.A. (Lower Alabama). We’ll be at the beach for 7 lovely days. A time to relax, have some fun and take stock of our lives. Given this objective, I need some music. Can you guys help me to construct a killer playlist for the beach? I hope so.
Simply contemplate this image….
then, give me your best. No limit on the number of songs, particular genres, or artists. Only restriction is time. I need the list by Friday night to add the music to my beach playlist. Here’s a start….
ETA2: The vids are back with a few extra delicious tidbits (see below). Don’t mean to pre-empt Colette’s Corner spotlight on David Cook, so make sure to visit the post below this one.
ETA: Sorry folks, Amos evidently pulled these off of YouTube. Believe me, they WERE really good stuff. I’ll try to find them elsewhere…
YEAH!
Amos does it again. In anticipation of his coming new CD, Last Days at the Lodge, Amos Lee provides a podcast for most of the songs on the CD. He gives an explanation of the song and some of the history behind who, what, when and why. Now, some may not be interested in the detail, but as a liner note junkie from way back, I LOVE THIS STUFF.
I like to understand where the artist was coming from when they wrote the song and what they were trying to convey or what the story is behind a key change or rhythmic riff. I know this is a lot of YouTubeness, but each one is only about 2 minutes long and gives some wonderful insight to this CD, that I’m predicting will be even a bigger hit than the first two.
Amos is a very “real” guy who is very transparent in his artistry. No hidden or mysterious innuendos or aloofness, just WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, for all you post DOS folks). It’s guys (and gals) like these that I truly appreciate. They “make the sausage” and show us all the parts, then let it stand on it’s own for us to enjoy the flavor.
He talks about music influences by Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Paul Simon, and the fact that his music comes more out of practice than theory. There are some real nuggets of insight to the artist that Amos Lee is.
So, when you have a little time this weekend, check out the podcasts for Last Days at the Lodge…right here, at Music Maven:
Ease Back
It Started to Rain
Jails & Bombs
Kid
Listen
Street Corner Preacher
Truth
What’s Been Going On?
Won’t Let Me Go
Superb.
Don’t forget to pre-order your CD at Amazon or to download the tracks from iTunes on June 24th. You will not regret it.
Here are a couple of “hot off the press” vids done expressly for YouTube by Amos, IN HIS LIVING ROOM! I love this guy….noice couch.
Baby I Want You
Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight
Notice the invitation to respond to Amos via a song “cover” and his acknowledgement that he listens to the heartfelt covers that people do of his songs on YouTube. That, is making a kun-NECK-shun.
Consider this post a testament to my Libra tendencies for fairness and balance.
Somewhat reluctantly, I watched American Idol this year even after I expressed my outrage at the “fix” AI was trying to put in to improve the talent and to avoid jumpin’ the shark for another year. I never did really land on a “favorite” and sort of ended up on the side of David Cook because I would have been for anyone but David Archuletta.
However, I noticed that many people went ga-ga (technical term) over David Cook and I really don’t know why. Really. I think he’s O.K. and can carry a tune, but I don’t see him as a particularly special talent. But, I respect other’s opinions and certainly, Colette’s, so…..Mr. Cook has a forum.
David Cook & His Idol Songs
Yes, I got roped into watching American Idol this year. I hold David Cook responsible.
The guy has an extraordinarily agile and expressive voice. He’s a genuine musician, seasoned and soulful. He blossomed before the eyes of viewers, getting more interesting, vocally various, likable and attractive as the contest ground on. And he knew how to pick a song, and make it his own.
The last quality is particularly special (and rare) in this kind of talent jamboree, which forces an array of young singer contestants to hack good (and mediocre) tunes of their choosing down to two-minute wonders. And many times, as Bobby McFerrin mentioned in a concert I recently saw by him, they feel encouraged to “over-sing” and imitate the vocal acrobatics of such uniquely gifted singers as Stevie Wonder or Whitney Houston.
But Cook figured out how to win by doing his own thing superbly, and much of the fun this season was wondering what he’d perform next and how.
A good song withstands many interpretations, in many styles. And once I started digging back to find clips of the tunes he sang, renditions by their composers and other major interpreters, I renewed my fascination with how an artist puts his/her own stamp on a melody and words sturdy enough to withstand many interpretations. So here are some of Cook’s songs, delivered by himself and others. I post them not in the spirit of, “Who did it better?” but “How does an artist shape a song to his or her own musical dimensions?”
“Billie Jean” was a mega-hit for Michael Jackson, his first really adult solo smash to me. It went to #1 on the charts in 1983, and told a dark, haunting story of being seduced and wronged. Legend has it that Jackson recorded his remarkable hiccupy vocal in one take, for producer Quincy Jones. Here is his most famous performance of the tune, on a TV show saluting Motown:
— “Billie Jean” — Michael Jackson
The remarkable Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, a seminal Seattle grunge band, seized upon the Jackson two decades later. He had the smart and gutsy notion to slow it way down, and sing it with an acoustic guitar and a mournful wail in an “unplugged” concert in Sweden. Here’s a beautiful live version of a tune he also recorded on his first solo disc:
— Chris Cornell
David Cook was inspired by Cornell’s version, and in a brilliant move adapted it for American Idol. Though he made sure that host Ryan Seacrest credited the arrangement to Cornell, Cook caught (unfairly) some flak from fans who felt Cornell was slighted by one the lavish praise by Idol judge Randy Jackson, about Cook’s creativity. Sorry, but I think Cook was very creative just for finding this arrangement, and singing the hell out of it in his own way:
— David Cook
“LITTLE SPARROW.” During Dolly Parton Week on “Idol,” Cook surprised many (including Parton) by turning to “Little Sparrow,” a tune often performed a capella by Parton. Very much in the style of an Old English ballad, on the archetypal theme of advising a young woman to retain her virtue and be wary of men, the song has a lonely beauty in this live version by Parton (clip has bad visuals, but fine vocal):
— “Little Sparrow”
But “Little Sparrow” also got a very different, deeply wrenching airing by the fabulous soul singer Bettye Lavette. She squeezes every ounce of emotion from the tune, here in a live performance of keen intensity:
“Little Sparrow” — Bettye
Lavette
What distinguished Cook’s arrangement, despite his audacity and the novelty of having a man sing it, was his use of a high, ethereal falsetto. AT first hearing, I didn’t think he nailed it. By the 10th listen, I knew I was totally hooked:
— “Little Sparrow” — David Cook
“Day Tripper” is one of my favorite Beatle songs, in the “Ticket to Ride” vein of strutting rock. The 1965 Lennon-McCartney classic, about a “Sunday driver” of a gal, who is “a big teaser” and “left me half the way there” — presumably, got him very hot and bothered, and then didn’t come through sexually. Hey, whatever– it’s got a killer guitar riff, a great vocal with Paul on leade. And here it is with a lot of silly go-go dancers, lipsynched by the Beatles:
— “Day Tripper” – The Beatles
The 1970s band White Snake grabbed the tune, and gave it a harder-edged rock treatment. That really cooked. Here’s a rare video of them performing it:
— “Day Tripper” — White Snake
Cook had great fun tweaking the White Snake version, with a streak of heavy metal and a totally hip wha-wha voice box solo. He seems to be having a blast, and it’s infectious:
— “Day Tripper” — David Cook
“Happy Together.” Early in the season, Cook showed his originality by taking on a peppy novelty tune that just exudes good vibes. It was a huge 1967 hit for The Turtles, and wound up in the soundtracks of numerous movies. The Turtles were never the greatest live band, but they’ve kept on going to this day, and here they are doing their biggest single on a TV gig in the ’60s:
— “Happy Together” — The Turtles
Though Cook wasn’t yet the heart-throb he evolved into this early in the Idol contest, his version of the song was a favorite for me. I love the playful slyness, the flirty quality, and the audacity of the final note that goes on forever. And that lifting up the mikestand like a sabre! Too too cool:
— “Happy Together” — David Cook
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for.” I’m not very conversant with U2’s music, mainly because around the time they really hit I took a long vacation of pop music. But I’m so glad that Cook re-introduced me to “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” — which anyone who was listening in at the time recognized as a mesmerizing, questing yet enigmatic ode (as I’ve discovered many U2’s songs are). Here’s the inimitable Bono and band, on a VH1 telecast performing it with Bruce Springsteen:
— U2 with Bruce Springsteen
How do you follow that? Very credibly, in Cook’s case. The swooping soaring note at the end, and the fervent intensity throughout justifies the cover completely. At the very end of the contest, and his assurance and power are hot:
— David Cook
“My Hero”: Formed by Dave Grohl after the death of Kurt Cobain and break-up of their band Nirvana, the Foo Fighters have reflected Grohl’s interest in blending music with political activism, and also provided a showcase for his songwriting skills. The hit tune “My Hero,” recorded by the Foo Fighters in 1997, is so touching, in its elevation of humble, “ordinary” people to heroic status. Here’s the band’s acoustic version:
— “My Hero” — Foo Fighters
Cook did not sing “My Hero” on American Idol, but he did his own sensitive acoustic version during the three Idol finalists’ visit home week. It wasn’t aired on TV, but it’s available on youtube, and I really hope he’ll cover it in concert and/or on disc later. The sincerity of the vocal is lovely:
— David Cook
“The World I Know”: I really dig it when people turn me on to great music I’m unfamiliar with, and I knew nothing of the Georgia-based band Collective Soul until I heard this thoughtful song of theirs on “Idol.” Once again, it demonstrated Cook’s preferance for tunes with inspiring lyrics, about things that matter — in this case, the search for meaning and tenderness in a troubled world: “Has our conscience shown? Has the sweet breeze blown? Has all the kindness gone? Hope still lngers on.”
— “The World I Know” — Collective Soul
David Cook’s rendition, clearly from the heart:
— “The World I Know” — David Cook
“Always Be My Baby”: Finally, this is the song I believe sealed the deal for Cook winning American Idol, even though it was quite a few weeks before the finale. For him to be able to rearrange a pleasant but not remarkable 2006 Mariah Carey hit into a soulful anthem of love and support triumphing over heartbreak, was really breathtaking. I hope Cook the worthy new American Idol winner, becomes Cook, the constantly evolving recording and performing artist in his own right.
— “Always Be My Baby” — Mariah Carey
— “Always Be My Baby” — David Cook
So, there. Welcome to the Music Maven “No Spin” Zone. Fair. and Balanced.
It’s not particularly easy to write about Father’s Day as this year is truly our first “fatherless” Father’s Day. Having lost Mr. D’s Dad back in late January, there are no cards to buy nor phone calls to make to express appreciation for all of the love and patience over the years.
When my own father passed away in the fall of 2005, I shed very few tears. Perhaps it was the detachment of making all of the arrangements, assisting my mother through her own grief, or a disbelief that he was really gone, but I remember feeling very strange about my outward lack of emotion.
However, just over two years later at my father-in-law’s services I was near inconsolable. I’m not a very demonstrative person emotionally, so I think my visible sadness was a little concerning to my husband’s family. While I was sad for my husband and his loss, I think the grief I was expressing was more for my own father and my own loss that I was finally able to “see” and feel only after time had passed.
So, lately, I’ve been reflecting on my father and his impact on me and my family. First, this is/was my Daddy…
For me, this picture epitomizes my father. From the cynical smirk on his face, to the ever-present cigar, the camera in his pocket and surrounded by the plants that defined his life. A horticulturist for nearly 60 years, he saw beauty in plants and flowers and loved growing and propagating all types of flora.
My Daddy experienced a significant amount of hurt and disappointment in his life, but he never used it as an excuse for anything. He was highly intelligent and intellectual with a side order of honesty and sincerity. He was a very principled man and he expected no less from his children.
In preparing this post, I scoured my vast library of pictures for a picture of he and I together when I was younger and I could not locate one. He was usually behind the camera and he wasn’t very demonstrative with us when we were growing up. A quiet and private man, he didn’t go in for a lot of hugging and kissing, so we were left to just “know” that he loved us. As an adult, however, he became much more “open”, particularly with his grandkids. In the one picture I could find of he and I together, look who is the center of attention.
He dearly loved his grandchildren and was so proud of each of them. This is one of my favorite pictures. It’s Mini-DD with my Daddy for Easter, when he was two and a half.
The joy on both of their faces is so evident. Also true to my father’s nature was his sense of “habit” and routine. Just about every picture I could find of my father in later years has him wearing this burgundy plantation shirt with all of his “essentials” packed into his breast pocket.
When he died, my mother gave Mini-DD one of my father’s pocket knives. For those who knew him, the significance of those knives is relevant as he was never without one and could always be relied upon to open a box or cut an apple. It is one of his grandson’s prized possessions.
As for his daughter….his youngest child….the girl he called “BooBoo”….I wasn’t left with a prized possession. More importantly, he left me an understanding of living a life of integrity, a love of family and history, and an example of loving a partner until your last breath.
So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Daughters, John Mayer (from Where the Light Is DVD to be released July 1st) — performance at The Nokia, L.A., 12/07.
Background: McCartney as stated that he wrote this with the Mahareshi Yogi in mind. The hill that Paul is standing on overlooks Nice, France.
Day after day alone on the hill
The man with the foolish grin
is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he’s just a fool
And he never gives an answer
But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round
Well on the way, his head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices
is talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make
And he never seems to notice
But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round
Oh, round, round, round, round, round
And nobody seems to like him
they can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings
But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round
Oh, round, round, round, round, round
And he never listen to them
He knows that they’re the fools
But they don’t like him
The fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round
The watershed year when the future angrily separated itself from the past. The world at large experienced radical change in this short trip around the sun. There are just some “pivot” years that thrust the door wide open and barge through with the winds of change. Years that provide excruciating tragedy accompanied with euphoric triumphs that set the tone for decades to come. 1968 was definitely one of those years.
Forty years ago today, Robert Kennedy died from gunshot wounds suffered when was gunned down the day before in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco. It was seemingly the boot that kicked the door in and escorted the “the revolution” of change through the portal.
I turned four in the fall of 1968 and one of my first vivid memories was of the day Robert Kennedy died. My young mind couldn’t fully understand the weight of the situation, but I had a distinct feeling that things were dire….and there was a shift of some sorts happening.
Each night, after my father came home from his business, we all sat in the living room while my mother cooked supper and watched Walter Cronkite on “the news”. I vividly remember the riots, the war, the dogs, the water hoses, the crying and the desperation coming from all three channels of that big console TV.
And, like the soundtrack in an epic movie, music provided the backdrop. To be sure, music and musicians were as affected by the times and ’68 provided the metamorphosis from the safe, idealistic music of doo-wop and surfer tunes to hard guitar licks and lyrics of conviction and angst. Music’s personality was also losing its innocence, becoming raw, painful, soulful, rhythmic, pure, free and exploratory.
In January, the Tet Offensive brought the war in Vietnam to a crescendo and directly into our homes. The posthumous hit from the great Otis Redding, Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay, ushered in the year, a short month after his tragic death in a plane crash, providing a bittersweet premonition of the year to come.
The early Spring of 1968 brought relative calm in the year of turbulent change and the #1 song in the land mirrored the docileness of the proverbial “calm before the storm”:
Honey, Bobby Goldsboro
As tempartures began to rise, numerous college campus protests were the topic of the day. And then, the powder keg of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. We watched angry and inconsolable people rioting in the streets, burning their neighborhoods and vowing retribution. Fear of the future was like a lead anvil on my chest and I was very worried for my family–my brother in particular, because he was 13 at the time and I was afraid that he’d have to go to Vietnam and I’d never see him again.
Notice The Beatles birthday cake.
When MLK was killed in early April, officials in Boston turned to the great James Brown to try and quell the violent backlash of rage and oppression in Beantown. They not only encouraged Brown to perform but actually televised the performance, via tape delay. Because of the broadcast and officials urging people to stay home and watch it on TV. James Brown performed and addressed the audience helping to Boston avert an explosive situation.
Got the Feeling, James Brown
But the world turned on….My parents continued to have their usual Summer house parties and that helped to quell some of the fears of the outside world.
That’s my Daddy, center and my Mamma in white
While they weren’t exactly playing and singing protest songs, they were all huge Johnny Cash fans and I distinctly remember them “covering” Folsom Prison Blues:
I also remember everyone under the age of 30 being completely and utterly ga-ga (technical term) over The Beatles. Perhaps the most pivotal year in their reign over Rock, 1968 saw The Beatles incorporate under the Apple Ltd. partnership in an effort to produce other arists, where they promptly signed a hot young acoustic artist named James Taylor.
Something in the Way She Moves
George Harrison was inspired to write Something from James Taylor’s melodic soul stirrer from his debut album on the Apple label, and showed up in 1969 on Come Together. In 1968, The Beatles were going through massive transformation and the outcome of their retreat to the studio from May to October was the fabled White Album. The rush of music and lyrics during this time came from The Beatles trip to India to “study” with the Maharishi Yogi, as well as John’s painful divorce. The Beatles top selling single of all time, Hey Jude, was Paul’s cathartic ode to Julian, John’s young son.
The White Album included 45 tracks of raw, multi-faceted talent that may just be the best album ever recorded. The got by with a little help from their friends, including god (and wife stealer), Eric Clapton on While My Guitar Gently Weeps:
In August of 1968, the Republicans made the fateful decision to nominate Richard Nixon as their candidate for President and a few short weeks later there was a major altercation between protesters and law enforcement at the Democratic National Convention. Tempers were on the rise and music reflected the sentiments of the day:
People Got to be Free, The Rascals
But perhaps the fall of 1968, brought the most significant changes. The space program put the first manned spacecraft in orbit in October, captivating weary Americans with the anticipation of The Last Frontier.
One of the most famous images of 1968 is the picture of U.S. Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising black gloves in solidarity of the Civil Rights Movement.
As they were protesting, the Motown Sound was taking over the charts and one particular artist, with one particular smash hit was storming the national scene.
Heard it Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
Shortly thereafter, the milestone album of Astral Weeks by the milestone artist, Van Morrison, was released in early December. The eight songs of Astral Weeks would become one of the seminal albums of the era and a literal roadmap for many soulful artists to come.
Lester Bangs summed it up pretty well in this 1979 quote:
Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks was released ten years, almost to the day, before this was written. It was particularly important to me because the fall of 1968 was such a terrible time: I was a physical and mental wreck, nerves shredded and ghosts and spiders looming and squatting across the mind. My social contacts had dwindled to almost none; the presence of other people made me nervous and paranoid. I spent endless days and nights sunk in an armchair in my bedroom, reading magazines, watching TV, listening to records, staring into space. I had no idea how to improve the situation and probably wouldn’t have done anything about it if I had.
Astral Weeks would be the subject of this piece – i.e., the rock record with the most significance in my life so far – no matter how I’d been feeling when it came out. But in the condition I was in, it assumed at the time the quality of a beacon, a light on the far shores of the murk; what’s more, it was proof that there was something left to express artistically besides nihilism and destruction. (My other big record of the day was White Light/White Heat.) It sounded like the man who made Astral Weeks was in terrible pain, pain most of Van Morrison’s previous works had only suggested; but like the later albums by the Velvet Underground, there was a redemptive element in the blackness, ultimate compassion for the suffering of others, and a swath of pure beauty and mystical awe that cut right through the heart of the work.
I don’t really know how significant it might be that many others have reported variants on my initial encounter with Astral Weeks. I don’t think there’s anything guiding it to people enduring dark periods. It did come out at a time when a lot of things that a lot of people cared about passionately were beginning to disintegrate, and when the self-destructive undertow that always accompanied the great sixties party had an awful lot of ankles firmly in it’s maw and was pulling straight down. so, as timeless as it finally is, perhaps Astral Weeks was also the product of an era. Better think that than ask just what sort of Irish churchwebbed haints Van Morrison might be product of.
The music of 1968 was a product of the times, but in many ways the times became a product of the music. Messages that couldn’t openly be talked about in “polite” company were often put to music where the messages were loud and clear but many deaf ears (i.e., anyone over 30) didn’t have the decoder.
After Nixon was elected, the country seemed to breath a collective sigh. Not a sigh of relief, but one of giving up. There would be no turning back, no return to innocence. We were all in for a penny, in for a pound.
1968 went out with a bang as one of the last bastions of early Rock & Roll, The King himself, was piped into our living rooms, LIVE and in living color, resplendid in black leather. Slim, trim and really on his game, this was the last of Elvis’ truly great performances and in some odd synergy, he was a posterchild for the changes afoot. Man, he was smokin’….
Elvis finished up the concert and the year with likely the most apt song for a country and a world that had been so wounded over the last year. Like a microcosm of life, 1968 was filled with pain, trials and tribuations but there was a bastion of hope and promise that dreams of peace, happiness and prosperity could be realized.
If I Can Dream, Elvis Presley
As for me, I received a Mrs. Beasley doll and an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas that year, so some of my anxiety was lessened by the excitement of the season, Santa Claus and family gatherings. However, I really wouldn’t rest easy for a few more years when the draft was discontinued and we pulled troops out of Vietnam. By the time I was in the 2nd grade, the riots and protests seemed to quell. However, I do remember getting Christmas cards extolling “Peace on Earth” and thinking that it was such a pipe dream. But it was an ideal…just like all of those ideals from 1968 that lived on and truly changed the world, both in song and in deed.
From his homemade, square guitar to the signature beat that made him famous, Bo Diddley was an original. He never copied anyone, but was often copied. Like many of his day he never made much money from records or performing, but he kept on doing it until he couldn’t anymore.
He had some great quotes along the way:
“A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun.”
“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.”
“I thank you in advance for the great round of applause I’m about to get.“
Bravo.
Bo Diddley
I’m A Man
Road Runner
Who Do You Love
Mad Jam
For more on Bo Diddley’s vast influence on popular music, check out his Wikipedia entry.
Rhetorical Question: Where are this generations’ Bo Diddleys?
Music Maven 
