Bodysnatchers

As was the case with Nirvana's grunge rock, I have never really been a big fan of this type of "alt rock".  While the listening guide description gives some insight into what they are trying to say (the feeling of being oppressed and "owned" by big record companies), it is not anything that I would listen to more than once - and only then because it was required!  In that regard it is similar to a lot of mid-late 20th century "serious" orchestral music - not in the atonality which those present, but in the sense of overwhelming nihilism and despair.  Life is too short to waste it on such stuff!  As an undergrad in the '70s I went to those concerts because I was required to, but have never deliberately sought out 12 tone since.  In fact, I have studiously avoided it ever since!

I say these things not as some sort of snob who doesn't like rock - I still listen to Steppenwolf and Jimi Hendrix now and then.  I am just not impressed with this style of whiney navel gazing - particularly at such high decibel levels.

Doo Wop (That Thing)

Lauryn Hill has always been an interesting performer to me.  I had not really been aware of her prior to her star appearance in the movie Sister Act II.  Although Whoopi Goldberg was officially the star, in my opinion Lauryn Hill stole the show with her incredible singing. 

The same talent which she displayed in the 1996 movie is evident here as well. The ease with which she shifts back and forth between soul singing and hip hop rap is perfectly complemented in the video by the use a split screen technique where, on the left side she appears dressed as if she could be one of the original Supremes singing soulful lines, while at the same time on the right side she is dressed in jeans and sports dreads doing rapid fire rap.  It is a captivating side by side.  The message to the listeners is clearly to be careful of those (men or women) what are only interested in that "one thing."  Be careful to not allow yourself to be manipulated by those who don't have your best interests at heart.  Good thoughts from a great singer!

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Nirvana has never been on my list of favorites.  For that matter, grunge music in general has never really appealed to me.  I realize that this song is important because of the developing trend it represents, but I still find it hard to generate much excitement about it. One of my major problems with it is the mumbling delivery of the vocal lines by Kurt Cobain.  This is probably one of the reasons I prefer Weird Al Yankovic's parody to the original song: Smells Like Nirvana http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklUAoZ6KxY 

 In particular I appreciate Weird Al's opening lines:

What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go?
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know.

Now I'm mumbling, then I'm screaming
And I don't know what I'm singing
Crank the volume, ears are bleeding
I still don't know what I'm singing

I know this is a bit unusual that I am spending more time on the parody than the actual song itself.  I guess it is because it so perfectly captures my feelings about the original.  I know that this is considered a classic, but I for one have never cared for it.  Time has not changed that opinion.

Night of the Living Baseheads

Although as a rule I don't listen to a lot of rap music, I can see how this particular one is important.  It addresses the crack cocaine epidemic which devastated many urban neighborhoods in the 1980s. The lyrics make it clear that the rappers are disgusted with those who are profiting off the backs of those whose lives are being destroyed.

Sell to their own, rob a home
While some shrivel to bone
Like comatose walkin' around

I spent several years in the early '80s in Chicago as that crack epidemic was just gathering steam and I can attest that what is being described here is an accurate portrayal of many.  While Public Enemy gained a (somewhat) deserved reputation as angry young men, in this case they have something to be angry about.

Walk This Way

I will never forget the first time I saw this video on MTV.  I was simply blown away.  I had not really paid much attention to rap prior to this, but this made me sit up and take notice.  As noted in the text, this crossover hit was really the first time that many white audiences (and folks like me) had heard much of anything by rap musicians and began to realize that they were really musicians as well as just "fancy talkers".  Seeing them hold their own in this "battle of the bands" concept really helped to cement that understanding.

I think one of the first things that grabs your attention is that it is funny.  The back and forth at the beginning really sets the stage for what is to come.  Then Joe Perry's opening guitar licks are a great hook that embeds in your mind and won't let go.  Then when Steven Tyler is ready to start singing and gets interrupted through the walls and they are off...  Great song (and video)!

When Doves Cry

I have heard this song quite a few times before but have never really listened to it in depth.  I must admit that I was surprised to learn that it did not have a bass part - something I had never noticed before.  I was aware of Prince's incredible versatility in terms of playing all the instruments and doing all the vocals on this song and much of this album (my 28 year old daughter is a HUGE Prince fan and keeps me informed of those type of things.)


I tried to find the accompanying video on Youtube but the only ones I could find were either "bait and switch" ones that actually had nothing to do with Prince or heavily remixed ones that had added the bass track that was not in the original.

Holiday in Cambodia

This was definitely a new experience. I had heard of the Dead Kennedys but had never really listened to any of their songs.  Heavy duty punk was more the music of my kids than me!  With a title like that, I was not quite sure what to expect.  However, after listening to it, it seems to me that it is really a call to realize and be grateful for what you've got because, by comparison, things could be a lot worse.  You could be in Cambodia under Pol Pot.

(I must add that I wrote the above paragraph prior to reading the listening guide.)  After reading the guide it confirmed my assessment that this was intended to be sarcastic and to challenge upscale suburban youth to consider if the things they complain about are worthy of comparing to the real suffering being experienced in other parts of the world.  I believe the current term is "first world problems."

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Tina Turner had spent the first part of her life and her career in the huge shadow of her husband, Ike.  Although she had been the out front vocalist for their group on such iconic hits as Proud Mary, it was not until years later that the general public learned of the abuse and control that Ike had maintained over her life during those years of initial stardom.  Even after their divorce, it took quite a few years for Tina to establish herself as an artist in her own right. 

This song, as well as the album from which it came Private Dancer, marked her first huge breakthrough into the spotlight and from that point on she never looked back.  The opening interplay between the bass and the synthesized "flute" sound provided the hook that kept and held your attention.  When her movie career took off the following year because of her part in Mel Gibson's film Mad Max:Beyond the Thunderdome, the question finally became "who was that guitar player that Tina Turner used to be married to?"

Like a Virgin

Madonna's history as a performer is one of constant self reinvention and this video (and the album of the same title) were the initial phase of that process.  She earlier had portrayed the image of the quirky street kid who dressed in odd ways, hung out with break dancers on the street and sang light, poppy tunes (see the video for Borderline and the virtually same character in the movie Suddenly Seeking Susan).  However, in both this song and album she makes the turn to the sly seductress - somewhat evident here with the coy double entendre but more blatant with the Marilyn Monroe imagery in another song from the same album - Material Girl.

The musical hooks are several - the opening bass line, the synthesizer chords that accompany it in the intro and persist through the song and, of course the repeated cooing of "like a virgin, ooh".  I seem to remember this being quite controversial when it came out for the mixing of her seductive singing with the white wedding gown imagery in the video. 

I know my mind works in strange ways but I can never listen to this song without thinking of Weird Al Yankovic's hilarious parody Like a Surgeon  http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=notKtAgfwDA

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

I distinctly remember that when this song came out you couldn't avoid it even if you wanted to.  It was playing everywhere!  With one of the most recognizable hooks ever (the opening bass line), it was almost a foreshadowing of the famous line from Jerry McGuire: "You had me at hello!"

The visual imagery of the video is a perfect compliment to the theme of the song.  The images morph from one to another like a dream sequence.  Dreams are often a strange mixture of things that don't normally seem to go together and this is what you get here.  David Stewart nuzzling the cow is classic!  I always thought Annie Lennox always looked a little scary here but, again it is the type of thing that you would expect in a dream.  You don't debate a dream ("who am I to disagree?") - you just go with the flow and see where it takes you! 

Sledgehammer

Peter Gabriel was one of the first to truly master the technique of using video to enhance the music of his songs.  Sledgehammer was always a favorite of mine - for the music, yes - but also for the incredible creativity Gabriel displays in the video that accompanied it.  I remember it coming out just as MTV was coming into its own and being blown away by the way the imagery he uses perfectly compliments the song.  There were a lot of other videos where the visual image and the music (especially the lyrics) didn't really mesh.  This was definitely not one of them!  He was one of the first to so extensively use the stop motion animation technique.  I seem to remember that this was also one of the most frequently played videos of all time on MTV - mainly because it was requested so often.

The music is strong enough to stand on its own however.  It is a great tune - from the mysterious little flute intro to the heavy, percussive bass and the brass intro to the soulful sound of Gabriel's voice when he comes in.  He brilliantly mixes funk, soul and rock into a truly memorable tune. The main melodic hook ("I wanna be your sledgehammer") - punctuated by solid brass chords definitely sticks in your brain.  Still one of my all time favorites!

Poncho and Lefty

This is another song that I had not previously been familiar with.  I didn't listen to much country music in those days - at least aside from the mildly country rock combinations of the Eagles.  In listening to this, it is reminiscent of some of the cowboy ballads that I remember from the Westerns I used to watch on TV as a child.  But it clearly is a bit more complex than the straightforward good/bad duality of Gunsmoke, The Rifleman or The High Chaparral.

In reading the description, it becomes clear that this is a purposefully ambiguous tale.  Did the events really take place as described or are they the somewhat distorted recollections of an old man telling of years ago?  The human mind often has an incredible ability to re-shape memories to make us look more heroic than we really are or were.  Is that what has happened here?  No one really knows for sure, and Townes Van Zandt clearly wants to leave it that way.

Pedro Nevaja

I must admit that I had never heard this before - but then Latin club music was not something that I paid much attention to during this time period.  I was much more interested in what Chicago, the Eagles, Edgar Winter and Earth, Wind and Fire were doing. 

However, in reading the description and listening to the song, I was intrigued - particularly to learn that it is considered the Latin equivalent of "Mack the Knife" which is a jazz standard that has always been high on my favorites list.  It is clearly a storytelling song, but set to a salsa beat.  I also like the frequent little quotations of West Side Story ("I like to live in Am-er-i-ca..")  The increasing intensity of the music as the story progresses definitely gives it a sense of "going somewhere" and helps to maintain interest and build excitement to the end. 

For the last 2.5 years I have been working in a congregation that is half Haitian and the other half Hispanic - with people from all over Central America and Cuba.  The beat I hear in this song has become very familiar and I am even starting to pick up enough Spanish to be able to follow the bare outlines of the story.  It makes me wish I had known about it earlier.

The Message

This is a starkly realistic depiction of life in the urban ghetto in modern America.  I grew up in Chicago in the early '70s and there were lots of neighborhoods like this one - mostly on the South Side.  Some of the worst were "the projects" that started at Cabrini Green and then ran along the Dan Ryan Expressway toward the south.  As white kids we didn't go into those places if we could help it at all. We didn't know the details of what life was like there - we just knew they were dangerous places to be avoided.

This is one of the first "socially conscious" rap songs to become popular.  Much of the rap that came before this was merely "party music" celebrating drinking, drugs and chasing women.  The Message was really the first of its kind - it gave voice to the frustrations experienced by black youth stuck in dead end situations with little visible prospect of improvement.  It helped those of us who were fortunate enough not to live there to at least have a tiny bit of understanding of what daily life was like for those who did.

Psycho Killer

I must admit that I was not a big fan of the Talking Heads in their early days.  David Byrne always seemed a bit too "out there" for my taste.   This song is almost a perfect example of the reasons why: it is a musical portrayal of the madness exhibited by the Norman Bates character in the classic Hitchcock movie Psycho.  While I had seen the movie, the song was always a bit much for me.

In reading the description in the listening guide, it does help it make more sense.  I don't know that I have ever listened to it all the way through until now.  (It was one of those songs that, when it came on the radio, I changed the station.)  However, reading the outline on p. 432-433 helps at least to make it more understandable.  The song does succeed in portraying the madness of this obviously disturbed character in a powerful way.  In retrospect it is interesting that this one always bothered me, while Queen's Another One Bites the Dust, which deals with a similar subject, never disturbed me quite as much.  I suppose a mental health specialist would find something there to explore.

Love to Love You Baby

This was the song that really launched Donna Summer's career and put her at the forefront of the disco craze.  It was considered quite raunchy at the time - with the whispers and moans that it contained being quite scandalous to many.  It helped earn her the title of "Queen of Disco" as well as some less flattering appellations from those who weren't thrilled with its suggestiveness.

The song is quite long. (17 minutes)  The Top 40 stations originally wouldn't play it due to its length until a shortened version was created to appeal to that market.  The original was specifically targeted to the dance floors of discos where the patrons demanded long, uninterrupted songs so that they could keep dancing without stopping.  The heavy driving (and quite repetitive) beat became one of the defining features of disco music.

Oye Como Va

Although Carlos Santana had been around prior to this song, this was the first time he really burst into widespread prominence and visibility.  He had learned by listening to Richie Valens growing up but had taken that and created his own style of playing.  He was one of the first Latin guitarists to make a prominent name for himself in the '70s. 

As noted in the listening guide, this song is really just constructed as a vehicle for solo playing - trading off between Santana's guitar and his organist wailing on the Hammond B3.  Even the lyrics of the vocals which come in periodically for short appearances are hardly deep.  Loosely translated they say:

Listen how it goes
My rhythm
Its good to enjoy
Babe!

Hardly Shakespeare, but the point is not the lyrics but just bridging between solos.  It is interesting that even in years since then, with all the hits Santana has had, he rarely, if ever, sings himself.  He always brings in someone else to do the vocals while he just plays.

Hotel California

This is still one of the unsurpassed masterpieces of my generation!  It was truly a sensation when it first came out and its reputation has not diminished in the intervening years.  The creativity that is exhibited by making so much out of a single repeated chord progression is still amazing! I have often used the final guitar solo section as an example of how the same progression can yield a multitude of different solo lines.  No one line is ever repeated exactly.  While I know the solo back and forth was planned out in advance between the two lead guitarists, it always retained the feel of a "live" call and response guitar battle!

A quick related story:  When my youngest son first took up the guitar as a freshman in high school, it was after years of resisting all our efforts to get him to learn a band instrument.  After about 3 months of his taking a guitar class at school, I came home one day to hear the solos from the end of Hotel California playing in our basement.  I assumed that Andrew had the radio on listening.  I was wrong.  When I walked down in the basement he was playing them verbatim with the biggest grin on his face I have ever seen!  Needless to say, the guitar has been his instrument of choice ever since!

Superstition

Stevie Wonder was an absolute sensation in the early '70s.  Superstition was his first major hit after he had negotiated full control of his music selection in his new contract with Motown.  I love the whole Motown style, but here Stevie is able to transcend the somewhat formulaic limitations that had developed by this time.  This was not your daddy's Motown!

The opening riff just keeps going and going and gives a real unity to the entire song.  I also have always loved the horn parts, which bring a distinctive and unique element to the song.  As the text notes, Stevie takes old elements of blues and combines them with new instrumentation (synthesizers) and truly makes something new out of the combination.

Stairway to Heaven

When this song first came out, I was in the early stages of learning to play guitar.  This song became one of those that every aspiring guitarist wanted to learn so that we could impress the girls with our skills.  I could manage the acoustic section at the beginning but never developed my lead skills to the point where I could tackle the second half.  Of course, there are few people alive who can match Jimmy Page's guitar skills!

This classic is another alongside American Pie that people have debated the meaning of the lyrics for decades.  However, no one has ever challenged the consensus that, musically, it one of the greatest rock tunes of all time.  When I was a teenager, the AM stations would rarely play it (too long) so it was one of the songs that drove us to start listening to FM stations that would play it. It certainly displays both sides of the high level rock bands - mellower acoustic opening leading to killer rock closing.  We loved it all - could never get enough!

It's Too Late

Now that we are getting into my era, we are coming on the music I distinctly remember.  This album Tapestry by Carole King is still, in my estimation, one of the best of all time. The string of huge hits that came off this one LP has never been matched before or since.  It marked her emergence as one of the premier singer/songwriters of the time.  She had previously written a large number of songs for other people that had turned out to be huge hits but this was the first time she had really stepped fully into the spotlight herself. 
I remember hearing James Taylor at a concert, while introducing You've Got a Friend commenting on how he would be forever grateful to King for allowing him to record it first before she did and made it into a huge hit for herself, even after Taylor did.  It is hard to overestimate the impact that Carole King had with this song and this LP.

Crossroads

As a huge Eric Clapton fan, I have always appreciated his love for and adaption of the classic blues tradition.  While I am not sure Robert Johnson would recognize this version of his tune, I think he would be grateful to know that his music was still influencing and being adapted by musicians decades after his death.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A
This is certainly a much higher energy version that Johnson's original but it also serves to illustrate the influence that Johnson and others had on Clapton's development as a guitarist.

Several of Clapton's solo albums have been heavily blues oriented.  He has never made a secret of the fact that he used to listed to old blues records by the hour as a boy and that what he heard and learned to imitate greatly influenced his developing style.

Like a rolling stone

Bob Dylan really challenged and changed a huge number of conventions with this song.  The verses are extremely long with a great deal of internal rhyming, the choruses vary in their length, he pays no attention to the previous "limit" of 3 minutes for a song and he uses a very aggressive, direct vocal style that had not previously been featured in such a prominent way.  In the lyrics he is challenging (some would say mocking) a young woman of privilege who has suddenly come down in the world and is having a hard time dealing with the "tough stuff" of life that the less well-off handle as a matter of routine.  Although the development of rap is decades later and a world removed from what Dylan is speaking of here, it is not difficult to see some of its seeds lying here which will germinate later into that genre.

I have often said that Dylan is a fantastic songwriter, but I have a hard time listening to him sing.  However, here the harsh, somewhat nasal quality of his voice is actually a very good fit for the message and style of the song.  His use of "non-standard" instruments also contributes to the unique sound of the song - heavy use of organ and Dylan's frequent turns on the harmonica. 

Good vibrations

From the intensity of the seriousness that the Beatles were developing, we now turn to "fun in the sun" on the beaches of California.  The Beach Boys response to the British Invasion featured an "all American" image focused on fast cars, pretty girls in bikinis on the California beach, and a never ending summer.  These were the guys we all wanted to be. Who wouldn't?  Brian Wilson would later enter some dark periods following his immersion in the Pet Sounds project, but that is years away.

One of the other things we all loved was the vocals.  While the standard rock band instrumentation was there (along with some more exotic instruments like the theremin), it was the incredibly cool vocals that captured and held our attention.  In this particular song, there is not a great deal of repetition in the vocals other than the "good, good, good, good vibrations" of the chorus and that is part of what makes it so interesting.  You never really were sure what was coming next. Part of Brian Wilson's songwriting genius was in making a song sound unified even when it had a lot of very different parts in it.  The overwhelming sense I always got from Beach Boys records was that they were just having a blast - and I wanted to be a part of it!

Eleanor Rigby

This is another long-time favorite Beatles tune.  One big reason is the purely string ensemble accompaniment, which was so radically different from what anyone else was doing at the time - no guitars, no drums - just violins, violas and cellos.  It was as if Haydn's string orchestra had come full circle and was now being pressed into service for the evolving rock and roll era.  This technique was copied by others later (Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Chicago - to name a few) but the Beatles were definitely among the first to bring this sound to the rock genre.

Another reason for its continued popularity is the emotional connection that are made by the lyrics.  Everyone experiences loneliness in one way or another, but for some people it can become overwhelming.  Eleanor Rigby and Father MacKenzie are two such people.  Their paths don't actually cross until her funeral - and by that time it is too late for either to help the other.  "Nobody came" to the funeral - a picture of Eleanor's life of despair.  "No one was saved" points up the futility that the priest feels in his lack of success in the field of his calling.  This is more than just a standard pop song bemoaning the loss of romantic love - it represents the existential despair that is a far too frequent aspect of modern life where people have become too disconnected from each other.  This capture of that emotion is one of the reasons it has endured all these years.

Yesterday

This has always been and remains one of my all-time favorite Beatle's songs.  For one thing, it is a thing of simple beauty.  If ever there was proof that music does not need to be complicated to be great, this is it!  The use of the solo cello was unheard of at the time, but it is absolutely perfect here.

The lyrics perfectly capture the emotion of wistful sadness that comes from having lost things that were so valuable but have now escaped our grasp - particularly when we can't figure out why it has happened. ("Why she had to go - I don't know, she wouldn't say")  I really appreciated Katy Perry's rendition of this on the 50th anniversary special this week - she looked at the end like she was really going to cry.  It was perfect for the moment and was totally appropriate for the emotion of the song.

A hard days night

Continuing the Beatles tribute week, we come to A Hard Days Night.  This always struck me as being representative of their "cheeky" side.  Adults at the time tended to view the lads as being a bit "insolent" - some of that was in response to John Lennon's foolish boast that they were "bigger than Jesus Christ".  Hard Days Night seemed to more than just a few of the adults I knew as being a little too approving of those who have been referred to in recent years as "slackers" - the lyrics complaining about "working like a dog" as if it was a bad thing and "sleeping like a log" as a good thing!  They were definitely starting to move into the more rebellious phase that would later come into full flower in some of the psychadelic songs of the Sgt. Pepper album - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, I get by with a little help from my friends, etc.

This one isn't quite there yet - it is still in the vein of the normal complaint of the man who has to work a bit harder than he might like, but is not yet ready to chuck it all.  It still retains the lighter pop feel with a slight rock edge, but nothing really too hard - yet!

Please please me

The timing of having several of the Beatles' songs on our list for this week could not be more exquisite.  It is the 50th anniversary of their first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show and the launching of full fledged Beatlemania into the U.S.  Please please me is a great example of their early style - a simple 2 minute pop song with a catchy hook, some nice little guitar riffs, and the inimitable writing style of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Last night was the broadcast of the CBS special commemorating this event. It featured lots of film of the Beatles' performances from those years.  It all seems so tame compared to what we have become used to in recent years, but it was radical at the time.  Earlier this week I was in a Walgreens and was confronted with the full cover shot of the "mophead" Beatles and the headline "It was 50 years ago today".   I am sure that I am one of the few in this class who is old enough to have been alive when that happened and when I saw that headline, I suddenly felt really old!  Has it really been that long?  It seems like it was just "Yesterday"!

My girl

I love Motown and in particular I love this song!  The opening guitar riff is one of the greatest hooks of all time!  It instantly captures your attention and tells you what song it is.  I use this song with my guitar classes all the time because it is a relatively easy riff to learn and the kids love doing it.  The song itself uses a very simple chord progression that students can play once they have learned their primary chords in G with a couple of additional minor chords thrown in for flavor.  The vocals are upbeat and happy and everybody knows them and can sing along.  My guitar class played this at a concert in the park last Spring and without being told, the whole crowd of 150 spontaneously sang with us.

The Temptations were one of the top groups at Motown and this is a great example of the reason why.  I have seen footage of them performing this song many times and it is clear that they really enjoy themselves on this one.  I particularly remember Eddie Kendrick on the lead vocal adding "I've got all the riches, baby, one skinny man can claim."   Some of their other songs (ie: "Just my imagination" and "Papa was a rolling stone") have a more bittersweet quality to them, but this one is just fun.

Be my baby

The Ronettes are a great example of the girl group trend which really came into its own in the late '50s and early '60s.  These groups were always dressed in matching cute little dresses and had their hair all done in similar fashion.  Even the Supremes in their early days were made to fit into this stereotypical look and it was not until Diana Ross began to take more charge of her own image and career that some of that began to change.

One of the notable things about "Be my baby" is the extensive use of percussion in the intro and the fadeout.  There had been other times where this had been done, but it was rare - especially for the girl groups.  It does use the standard girl trio technique of one soloist out front with the other two members behind doing background vocals that echo the lead lyrics combined with oooohs.  The chord structures here have moved beyond the basic I-IV-V of the blues tradition and added some secondary dominant type progressions - somewhat daring at the time!

Papa's got a brand new bag

And the 12 bar blues continues its further development, this time in the hands of the "hardest working man in show business."  I always loved James Brown because of the incredible energy he brought to every performance!  I also have always loved the "bark" of a good bari sax player as is heard here and later featured by Sly Stone as well as Tower of Power.  That combined with a killer horn section and the iconic guitar riff at the end of each verse definitely keeps your attention.

As with many of James Brown's songs, the whole point of this one is to get you up on your feet and dancing.  He underlines that with the lyrics here which go through a roll call of many of the dance fads that came and went during this time period - the jerk, the fly, the monkey, the mashed potato, etc.  The short rhyming couplets also prefigure some of the trends that later would develop into rap.

Don't be cruel

In another further stretching of the 12 bar blues format, Elvis Presley maintains the form musically but not lyrically - the first line no longer repeats but is complemented with a rhyming second line.  The guitar backing is definitely more reminiscent of country or rockabilly style than blues.  This combined with the doo-wop background vocals make this a very interesting combination of different styles.

It is interesting to read how the post production on this was "sweetened" with the addition of the Jordanaires and the placement of Hound Dog on the B side.  As I noted earlier in the comments on Big Mama Thornton's version of this song, the suits had to tone things down from the raw real blues style in order to make them more commercially viable for white audiences of the time.

Charlie Brown

This is another ingenious adaptation of the 12 bar blues format into a high energy pop song geared to teenagers.  It tells the story of the class clown, Charlie Brown, and, rather than criticizing him, it celebrates his antics.  Even though repeatedly it says "he's gonna get caught, just you wait and see", the high energy presentation along with the comic stop time "Why's everybody always picking on me?" hints that just maybe he will eventually get away with it.

Just as Little Richard bent the form to make the 4 bar B section a chorus, here the Coasters go further and have only the 4 bars of the first A statement change between repetitions with the remaining 8 bars (the second A and the B sections) function as a chorus.  It also features a prominent use of call and response between the vocalists and the saxophone soloist.

Long tall Sally

As a blues fan it is great to see how the genre has so deeply influenced so much of the popular music we listen to.  This is certainly an example in that Little Richard is another artist who has taken the basic 12 bar blues form and adapted it, filled it with his own unique energy and then put it out as another part of the developing rock and roll genre. 

His use of stop time is featured here and became one of the hallmarks of Little Richard's style.  As noted in the text article, he adapts the 12 bar blues format to the verse/chorus expectations of listeners by making the first two lines of each repetition vary (verses) and then keeps the third line of each group the same (chorus).  It is really an ingenious solution - enough familiarity to be recognized by blues fans combined with a recognizable strophic form for everyone else.

Maybelline

The obvious connection to 12 bar blues form is the first thing that jumped out at me in this song - although it is conducted at a breakneck pace.  The rapidly walking bass line and the constant driving backbeat of the snare drum also contribute to the energy of the song. 

As noted in the text article, Chuck Berry here combines the 12 bar blues form with the driving energy and storytelling lyric style of country music.  It definitely shows how the genres of blues, gospel and country are beginning to merge into what would soon become rock and roll.

Its mighty dark for me to travel

It is interesting how bluegrass has really started making a comeback in recent years.  My three children (ages 27-32) have all really gotten into it in recent years.  A lot of it came from the popularity of the movie O brother, where art thou? and its outstanding bluegrass soundtrack.  This is a bit of a repeat since the mini-boom in bluegrass popularity came in the '70s due to Deliverance.  As a result of that movie every guitar player tried to learn to play Dueling Banjos.

I had not heard this particular song before, but it clearly is classic high energy bluegrass.  The banjo driving the rhythm with 16th note finger picking is the dead giveaway.  That combined with the hillbilly twang on the vocals and the somewhat strained high harmony part definitely gives the feeling of being up in "the holler" in Tennessee or West Virginia.  The lyrics fit a strophic verse/chorus pattern and tell a story of love lost and found. The fiddle in the last section also adds a nice touch!

Hound dog

Last summer we went to Memphis as part of our vacation and while there we toured Sun Records.  During the tour presentation they talked a lot about how Elvis and other white performers did their own versions of songs that had previously been recorded by black singers.  This version by Big Mama Thornton was one of the ones that was particularly given as an example - she did it first and then later Elvis took it and did a version that was more "acceptable" to white audiences.

You definitely can sense the raw energy in this version.  Its not that Elvis didn't have energy in his, but there is an authentic edge and intensity here that may have been a bit much for polite white society.  Elvis scared them enough as it was!

Hootchie cootchie man

I am a blues fan so it is really a treat to hear Muddy Waters from his early days and the Chicago electric blues style.  I expect John Lee Hooker to jump in on the chorus here since this is definitely his style as well.  I listen to a lot of Eric Clapton and it is very obvious that he listened to a lot of these two artists as he was growing up and developing his playing style.  Clapton adopts and adapts a number of these techniques in his blues oriented recordings - including a cover of this that he has done.

Having grown up in Chicago in the '70s you could still hear some of these groups playing outside on makeshift stages in the summer on the south side.  In particular, we used to go to Bluesfest in Grant Park downtown and this is very reminiscent of what we would hear there.

Here's another of my favorite Muddy Waters tracks:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9rBw5E0lqQ

Mambo No. 5

I have heard portions of this before - probably as background music in a movie or TV show - but I don't think I have heard the entire thing until now.  When I saw the title, I wondered if it was the same song as the '90s hit, but it turns out that it is not.  Upon listening to it a second time I realized what it is... the opening has some strong similarities to the theme from the I Dream of Jeannie TV show.

It is easy to see how this would get people dancing.  It does have a rather infectious rhythm to it.  The brass is a bit overpowering at times, but that probably was part of the appeal.  As a brass player I do like a strong brass sound, but at some points here the trumpets are a bit piercing. 

Choo choo ch'boogie

I love this!  The uptempo blues based sound is definitely a precursor of developing rock and roll.  It is interesting to read that this was a strong influence on Chuck Berry and it is easy to see how this type of style led to a number of the songs that Berry would do later.

As I listened to it I thought of the scene in the first "Back to the future" movie where "Marvin Berry" calls his cousin "Chuck" and holds the phone out for him to listen to the "new" sound he has been looking for that Marty McFly is playing at that moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1i5coU-0_Q

Nancy (with the laughing face)

This is the classic crooner phase of Frank Sinatra - before his voice got rough from years of smoking and booze (and hanging out with mobsters... but that's for another day!)  It makes it easier to understand why the girls went so crazy for him in his early years - he was definitely handsome and this is a great example of the smooth voice that he had in those early years.

This particular song is a great example of what the text calls "light music" of the time - a simple sentimental ballad.  Although Sinatra always remained identified with the big band sound in many ways, this is a good example of his "softer" side.  In particular, the use of strings as opposed to the more standard reeds and brass stands out here.

Cool water

In listening to this it brings back a lot of memories for me.  No, I hadn't been born in 1947 when it was recorded, but the Sons of the Pioneers were favorites of my paternal grandparents - hardworking farmers in Michigan.  I was born 10 years after this recording and whenever we would visit my grandparents this is one of the groups whose music was often playing, along with Johnny Horton (I can still remember the words to "The Battle of New Orleans") and Roy Rogers & Dale Evans.

I also grew up in the time when TV westerns were quite popular.  I used to watch "Gunsmoke" every week along with Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, the High Chaparral, etc. so this is getting into very familiar territory for me.  As I listened to this, I could close my eyes and picture Roy Rogers singing a song like this as he rode across the high plains in the West looking for a cool oasis to water his horse.

Brazil

I am ashamed to admit it, but I have never heard the original of this song before.  I have only heard it in the various iterations listed in the guide: the duet between Donald Duck and the parrot, Terry Gilliam's use of it with the movie of the same name, the disco hit by the Ritchie family, etc.  It is indeed a revelation to hear the song in its original context without all the slapstick layers that have been added to it over the years.

It is good to hear a samba tastefully done by a group that obviously is familiar with the style and is able to provide variety through the free treatment in the opening section leading to the steady dance rhythm once the entire ensemble gets going.  It is also great to hear all the different variety of percussion instruments used here - many of which had not really been well known in American vernacular music prior to this time.

Black snake moan

Blind Lemon Jefferson certainly has a different sound than we are listening to today.  But in hearing this song it immediately becomes clear that it is in classic 12 bar blues form.  The AAB form of both the lyrics and the music jumps right out.  The vocals are a barely contained wail about the challenges that he faces on a regular basis - he is blind and parentless, obviously poor by not having a home capable of keeping out the snakes, he has to deal with bedbugs, etc.  This is almost a caricature of the blues - everything that could go wrong has done so!

I note that Blind Lemon is considered the first country blues star.  What I kept thinking of in listening to this was the regular routine on "Hee Haw" of the song "Gloom, despair, and agony on me..." with its pentultimate line of "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all"!

One o'clock jump

When Count Basie first begins on the piano all by himself, it is somewhat reminiscent of some of the ragtime piano playing of Scott Joplin.  When the rest of the band starts to kick in, however, it clearly becomes swing era.  This is especially true once the call and response between the reeds and the brass gets going.

I really liked the comment in the listening guide that the band sounded so relaxed that "one has the feeling that the band could probably go on all night, as long as there were still soloists waiting in line to play".   As I have stated in previous posts, one of the characteristics of superb players is that they take things that are difficult to do and make the look like they are incredibly easy!

Paper doll

This is quite a change from most of what we have listened to so far.  The simple guitar accompaniment is the first thing that grabs your attention.  Next is the fact that the solo voices over that simple guitar background - again a very simple vocal line.  The lyrics are very plaintive - a man who has obviously been hurt several times by "real dolls" who have been stolen away by "flirty guys" with their "flirty eyes".

It does set things up for an interesting transition when the second soloist comes in at a faster tempo and then the rest of the quartet joins in together.  The vocal harmonies here are delicious and point to some of the close harmony doo-wop groups that will develop further down the line.

In the mood

My first exposure to this classic tune was not listening to Glenn Miller but rather in high school pep band. We just thought it was a fun, uptempo piece to play.  Listening to Miller's band play it on this recording gives a real sense of how they not only had fun playing it, but also how they really used dynamic contrast to keep the repetitive nature of the tune from becoming boring.

In particular, I enjoyed watching the video clip of them playing it with the faces of the different players as the got quieter and quieter in each repetition, the trombones striking poses from side to side and then everyone kicking loose when the trumpets come back in with the loud statement of the theme.  The piano player looked like he was going to fall off his chair.  I know it was staged but it really added to the entertainment value of the clip.

As the text pointed out in Chapter 1, this is really in 12 bar blues form, even though it doesn't sound much like John Lee Hooker.

Caravan

As with most of Duke Ellington's arrangements, the key word here is "subtle".  He constantly shifts instrumentation, phrasing and rhythms to create an extremely interesting tableau of sound.  The drummer keeps a subtle but steady beat as the wind players weave in and out.  It is easy to see how this would create in the mind of the listener the mysterious "Orient" that few of them had ever visited but most had preconceptions about from the movies of Rudolph Valentino and others.

It was also interesting to see in the video version that the melody is being played on a valve rather than a slide trombone.  Since it is rarely used, it does add to the mysterious quality of the whole piece.

This is actually the first time I have heard this original version.  I previously had heard numerous covers of the tune by others.  My favorite of those is the one by Chicago from their "big band" album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1UebqSsg3c

Not nearly as subtle, but I love the driving Latin rhythm of that version!

Taking a chance on love

After reading the text's description of "sweet" contrasted with "hot" swing bands and the placement of Benny Goodman in the latter category, I was somewhat surprised that the first half of this arrangement sounded so smooth and, to my ears, "sweet".  What I mean is that the reeds are playing with a very mellow sound and the brass are consistently playing muted or softly if unmuted. 

It is reasonable that this type of sound would be maintained behind a vocal solo so that the soloist can be heard.  After the vocalist is finished, then the brass take a more prominent role with a somewhat firmer tone.  I am sure that some of these issues also have to do with the type of song being presented.  This is essentially a ballad, so the quieter tone is appropriate.  It is just not what comes to mind for a group defined as "hot".  Perhaps a song that is more uptempo would make that distinction more clear...

Wrappin' it up

This is an extremely entertaining call and response between the reeds and the brass.  The constantly shifting back and forth definitely keeps things interesting.  The constantly driving walking bass helps keep things moving.  It is also interesting to see the development of the swing style of the coming big band era.

The alternating solos between saxophone and trumpet also provide the opportunity to shift the backgrounds for added variety.  I also notice the use of "punches" by the brass as a response to the calls from the reeds - again a prominent characteristic of big band swing style - as is the frequent use of soli playing by an entire section.

St. Louis Blues

Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong take us now to the heart of the classic blues.    While the blues does not always mean a mournful song, this one is and it makes one feel the raw emotion of sadness and regret that Bessie Smith conveys so well. The call-and-answer between Smith's vocals and Armstrong's trumpet is exquisite.  He matches her vocal lead in extremely creative ways - never playing two phrases exactly the same.

As noted in the guide, there is the interesting "form within a form" where the B section of the typical 12 bar blues AAB form has an internal AAB contained within it and an added unique little melody before returning to the original to conclude.

I love 12 bar blues (big fan of B.B.King) and so it is great to see how this very rich form is starting to take shape through these examples.

The Blues are brewin'

I know this is not on the official list, but... wow!  Billie Holliday and Louis Armstrong together on this really make this a treat.  I had not seen this particular clip before.  While Armstrong doesn't really have the prominence here that he does in many of his other songs, hearing Billie Holliday sing the classic blues style much more than makes up for it.  It is easy to see why she became so popular.  She really knows how to deliver a song!

I got rhythm

Hearing Ethyl Merman again makes me smile.  As the listening guide notes, she was the "famous belter of songs".  I remember hearing her on TV quite often when I was a child and I remember her always letting it go full throttle whenever she sang.

This is no exception.  She lets it all hang out and the emphasis is definitely on rhythm because the lyrics are hardly deep poetry.  It is uptempo and exciting and Merman's energetic performance certainly adds to that.  As noted in the guide, the verse has more prominence here than it normally does in other Tin Pan Alley songs.  The structure is AABA in both the verse and refrain although it doesn't quite complete the final A section in the verse before returning to the refrain.

How deep is the ocean

It always is a pleasure to listen to Bing Crosby's voice.  As the one video pointed out, the timing of his appearance was perfect - his baritone voice was perfectly suited to being picked up and recorded by the new electric microphones.  This is clearly from his early period - his voice hadn't yet developed the fullness which would characterize it in later years.  However, even in these early years it is easy to see the developing smooth crooner style which will become his hallmark throughout his long career.

The structure here is clearly similar to what has been discussed in other songs of the period.  The verse serves merely as an introduction to the refrain, which is then repeated interspersed with instrumental interludes for variety.  Crosby also makes extensive use of changing dynamics to build the song to a climactic ending.

April Showers

One thing I noticed about Al Jolson's singing is that, in trying to pronounce clearly so as to be understood, he tends to overdo it so that it comes out sounding like "April-a Showers-a...."  That may have been the style at that time, but listening to it today it quickly becomes distracting and somewhat irritating.  However, it did make a little more sense after reading the listening guide's description of his background in stage theater singing prior to the invention of electric microphones and his continuance of that style in performance even after it was no longer necessary due to amplification technology.  The habits developed for live performance can be difficult to overcome in the more intimate setting of recording.

The two renditions do create different moods.  The earlier one is more raw and unrefined while the later version with the jazz orchestra backing is much smoother - particularly in the use of saxophones in smooth, mellow ranges.  Seeing as this second recording is in conjunction with Guy Lombardo's orchestra that also makes sense.  I am old enough to remember Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians being featured on almost every New Year's Eve televised celebration when I was a child and they always had that smooth mellow sound.

It does become clear in listening to these Tin Pan Alley creations right on the heels of the more freewheeling New Orleans style jazz groups.  It helps to understand how these two very different styles have each shaped modern American music in their own ways.

My Blue Heaven

This is an interesting contrast after the somewhat frenetic style of many of the Dixie jazz pieces.  It was helpful that I had read the description to understand the role of the verse here, because it would otherwise be puzzling as to why it did not return at all.  I have noticed this same pattern with some of the Christmas songs that also came out of the Tin Pan Alley tradition - a verse that serves merely as an introduction to the frequently repeated refrain.  Now those make a bit more sense.

This recording makes an interesting use of the cello for both the introduction and the interludes between repetitions of the refrain.  I also found the warbling whistling a bit unusual and am glad for the listening guide's coverage of the "bird" thematic elements to make it easier to place this all in context. 

The form does seem much easier to follow than the Dixie jazz pieces - probably because this song and others like it are being "manufactured" to accommodate a more "white" audience.

East St Louis Toodle-oo

This tune really showcases Duke Ellington's skill as an arranger.  The timbres are constantly shifting and changing as he sets different moods in the various interludes by changing the instrumentation of both the soloists and the background.  The creative use of mutes by the lead cornet player, along with vocal growls, also helps to vary the textures of the sound.  Shifts from minor to major and back again also help to maintain the interest by continually creating variety.

The drummer's use of splash cymbals is unexpected but it is a nice lead in to the muted cornet duet and the alternating clarinet duet.  The return of the original dark muted cornet theme sets the stage for a quite mysterious ending.  It is easy to see from this why people often said that, although Duke Ellington was a pianist, his real instrument was the entire orchestra.

Dipper Mouth Blues

King Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band were the first to really break out to gain a national audience with this recording.  In listening to this, I was struck by how effortless it sounds.  The good ones always make it sound that way!  The sweet clarinet part soaring above the rest of the ensemble is particularly enjoyable. king Oliver's masterful use of the plunger for wah-wah effects here is also fantastic to listen to.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that a young Louis Armstrong was playing second cornet in this band during its heyday, before going on to become the living legend that he later was.  While we know that famous people had to start somewhere, it is often interesting to come across them in some of the stops they made on the way up to the top.

Tiger Rag

With this we are starting to get into what we tend to think of as classic Dixieland jazz - the high energy interplay of cornet, clarinet and trombone with a rhythm section of banjo/piano/bass and drum set keeping things driving behind them.  There is also the frequent use of stop time with different instruments taking turns filling in the gap.

There does not appear to be a particularly identifiable melody anywhere other than in the later section where the trombone gliss section has led to our mental association with the words "Hold that tiger".  The focus is more on the weaving back and forth between the cornet and clarinet of rapidly changing parts over a walking bass line provided by the trombone.

Castle House Rag

This certainly is an energetic piece of music.  The fast tempo and the constant use of 16th notes give it almost a frenetic quality.  It also has more harmonic complexity than most of the previous examples on our listening list - the descending bass line through the first section and the ascending chord sequence in the second section.  There also is more variety of instrumentation than we have seen so far - the introduction of the bells in the middle section comes as a bit of a surprise.

The structure is somewhat difficult to follow since it changes so rapidly and frequently.  The listening guide outlines it as AABBACCDEEF.  Quite a bit of contrast - but it certainly keeps your interest as it moves rapidly through the various segments.  I imagine it must have made quite an impression on those who first heard it.

Stagolee

My initial reaction on first hearing is that it reminds me of some of the songs of Jim Croce.  I realize that this is from a much earlier period and thus the influence would run the other direction, but that is the first association that came to mind.  Croce has long been a personal favorite with his story songs that seem to follow directly from this tradition being exemplified here - the songs telling stories of "bad men" who eventually get their comeuppance either ending in prison, severe injury or death.  (eg: Bad, bad Leroy Brown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwDohEEQ1E and You don't mess around with Jim  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qUXcXuMSE)
In reading through the narrative in the listening guide and its description of the genesis of this "bad man" character in the post Civil War south as a cathartic figure, it does make sense why this would resonate with so many former slaves who were severely oppressed even while they were technically "free".  It would seem that some of this also is reflected in some of today's urban African-American music - particularly in some strains of rap and hip-hop.
It is noticeable in listening to Stagolee that the harmonic backing is becoming more sophisticated than many of the previous examples.  Also the guitar playing is moving closer to what we are familiar with in some current fingerplucking styles used even now in ballads and country music.

Long John

This is obviously a work song used to help a large group coordinate the timing of their efforts on projects where it is vital to all move at the same time.  This struck me as also being in the similar tradition as some sea chanties which also served the same purpose for sailors pulling on ropes to raise sails and such.  I use "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" with my guitar class as an example of the same type of issues.  It works there because it has a very simple chord progression of only two chords.
The immediate call-and-response technique used here makes it very easy to follow.  The leader directs the progression of the story as he moves from stanza to stanza and the group provides the immediate echo each time.  The melody is fairly simple, which is important for a large group to be able to follow on the fly, yet the leader does provide interest by varying it from time to time and the group follows.
Although the lyrics used here do speak specifically of outrunning the law, it also seems likely that early versions would have focused more on the plight of runaway slaves being pursued by slave catchers.  Both versions would rightly make use of the imagery of being chased by dogs and trying to reconnect with loved ones.

Coo coo

My initial reaction upon first listening to this was that this is a direct antecedent of what we today call the Blues.  After hearing the slow opening followed by the short banjo interlude I was expecting to hear a rough form of 12 bar blues.  That didn't materialize, but the song does demonstrate some of the techniques and characteristics which later developed into that form - namely call and response, repetition of opening lines of each stanza as the second line.  However, there are also some significant features that had not developed yet such as the adding of a B line to complement the first two A lines or the use of contrasting IV chord for the second A line.  In fact here there does not appear to be much harmonic variety in the banjo part, although there is variation in the single lines being played above the lower drone.
The call and response form of the lyrics hints at the story of a man questioning and trying to understand an independent woman.  In some ways she is portrayed as a bit of a "golddigger" who is always seeking a "sugar daddy" to provide her with the things she needs and/or wants.
This early use of the banjo is a part of the African tradition which was brought from that continent to North America by those forcibly brought here as slaves.  This tradition helped enrich American music, particularly by this stream which primarily developed in the antebellum South but has gone on to become the underlying basis of much of modern American music.

Early music

Barbara Allen - I have heard this song before since it is often used as an example of early American music.  However,  I was somewhat surprised to learn from the reading just how old it is.  I had not realized that its roots go all the way back to the 1600s in England, with its earliest documentation being in 1666.  It is a part of the British ballad tradition and had been brought to America by the early British settlers.
I had not heard this particular version before. With the use of a single, unaccompanied woman's voice it creates a very haunting atmosphere.  The repeated rise and fall of the melodic line can become quite hypnotic after several repetitions.  The lyrics present a story of a man on his deathbed who is dying from his unrequited love for the woman of the title.  When she does finally come to see him, she is very cold towards him and he subsequently dies.  However, shortly afterwards she dies as well, and they are buried in close proximity to each other.  Subsequently, a rose grows out of his grave and briars out of hers and they entwine around each other so that they are together for eternity.
Without even having guidance from the reading, it seems clear that this is one of the direct antecedents of the country music tradition of sad songs of either unrequited love or of love once possessed but tragically lost.

Soldier's Joy - This is described in the text as part of the string band tradition branch of what eventually became what we now call country music.  Before the days of recorded music, these were the principal means of providing music for communal events such as dances and weddings.
These two versions provide some interesting contrasts: The first uses a combination of instrumental and vocal.  The melody uses a structure of A-A1-A-B and the lyrics follow a similar pattern.  The second utilizes strictly instrumental without vocals and, as the spoken introduction indicates, a lower tuning than standard (D tuning).  The song seems to be characteristic of the style often used for square dancing and the instrumentation seems to be violin (fiddle),banjo and/or guitar and bass with some sort of simple percussion backing. 

Finally...

Finally received my copy of the textbook today so I now have the code to download the mp3s and begin the required listening and blogging assignments.