Current Favorite SongTM: Spoon's "The Underdog"
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by Marty Barrett at Friday, June 20, 2008
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--5.28.2008--Podcast: Edmund Fitzgerald on the MTA The latest Fogelfoot effort strives to weave a tale of maritime peril on the railbound Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.Influences here were Gordon Lightfoot and Johann Pachelbel, and I believe it is the only instance in western literature in which a former Bay State governor is linked with a line from "Evangeline." That said, it probably stinks and you'll hate it. See also: The Flight of the Mavervorl on iTunes Labels: fogelfoot, massachusetts, music, podcast posted
by Marty Barrett at Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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--2.13.2008--Sniff 'n' My Lady To keep myself from going insane, I allow 15 minutes a day for Internet goof-off time. So this morning I tracked down Jay Ferguson's "Thunder Island," which I'd been thinking of recently as a great example of 70's Southern California use of the word "Lady" in songwriting."Sha la la la la la My Lady," sings Ferguson. In fact, he says "M'Lady," which is even better. "Thunder Island" is from one of Ferguson's solo albums. Prior to this, he had been in Jo Jo Gunne and Spirit, famous for the song "Nature's Way." Not necessarily a one-hit wonder, Ferguson has instead worked steadily since the 60's. You just never knew you were listening to his work. Ferguson's animated performance of "Thunder Island" in this video made me think of the backup singer from Sniff 'n' the Tears, whose 1978 song "Driver's Seat" is one of the most satisfying songs ever recorded. But it appears that the powers that be didn't think lead singer Paul "Sniff" Roberts was interesting enough in the video, so the camera focused instead on backup singer Noel "'n'" McCalla, whose energy exceeded the requirements of the song. Not knowing anything about the band, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Noel just showed up off the street that day and the band was too polite to tell him to leave. "We were one of the first bands to tour post-Franco Spain," stated Paul Roberts on the band's website. "I think Franco-American Spaghetti-O's smell like vomit," I stated on my website. Previously: Tearing that hotel down contextually; Bob Dylan's kelping hand; Nature loves her little surprises See also: Sniff 'n' the Tears, Jo Jo Gunne posted
by Marty Barrett at Wednesday, February 13, 2008
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--11.16.2007--Bob Dylan's kelping hand While Bob Dylan has done just fine without relying on my opinion, I am worried about his legacy as reflected in a section of lyrics that has always made me want to pop an aneurysm.Dylan's beautiful love song "Sara", from his 1976 album "Desire" (which includes "Hurricane") is his second most well known song about his ex-wife. He name-checks the first in "Sara" in a self-referential move worthy of rappers: I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells,Here's the line that bothers me. It comes near the end of the song: Now the beach is deserted except for some kelpI think the most important lines are the last two, but he painted himself into a corner by falling in love with "when I needed your help", because what does one rhyme with help? If I asked you who was at the restaurant, for example, and you said, "No one but the bar towels," I would punch you. Don't get cute with me, pal. Life is too short. Kelp. When you say that something is deserted, you mean that it is devoid of humans or living things. So you could say that a house is deserted except for some mice. By mistakenly introducing kelp, Dylan became responsible to list every other non-living thing on that beach, and should have also said: Now the beach is deserted, except for some kelp, sand, crabs, lobster parts, Pepsi cans, french fries someone forgot about, a Butterfinger wrapper, a murder of cormorantsIf Dylan could have just let go of "help", he could have been faithful to the beach imagery throughout the song and maintained the integrity of the powerful final lines of that quatrain. Here's a dazzling substitution: Up to the sandbar, the cormorants WADEor, just as powerful but not employing the kelp logical fallacy: Out in the harbor, the musk seals doth YELPNot only are these suggestions lyrically sound, but they also impress the listener with a deeper understanding of the song, as well as of the desires of cormorants. You might have an issue with "doth yelp", pointing out that it would be better to have said "yelped", but as my "All That Jaws" collaborator Brian Descheneaux has observed, there is a precedent in Dylan's lyrics for padding the verb: Outside in the cold distance, a wildcat DID GROWLI encourage you to submit your own versions of the kelp stanza, and I will present these worthy alternates to Dylan the next time I see him. Previously: The Other Side of the Mirror...; The Smog Cutter: It was all yellow; Tearing that hotel down, contextually; You go back and revise; "A cormorant will snack on us all." posted
by Marty Barrett at Friday, November 16, 2007
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--11.01.2007--The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival The American Cinematheque at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre is a good place to see a movie. The audiences are of varied ages, and not so relentlessly young and hipsterish that I think I'm living in the land of Logan's Run.The lady who sold me popcorn was older and sullen, rather than young and sullen, and looked a little like Janice from The Muppets. I felt like I was in Cambridge. Recently I saw a double feature of documentaries presented by director Murray Lerner: The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, and Festival, which still spent a lot of time with Dylan but which also focused on Odetta, Johnny Cash, and dozens of other acts from the festivals of 1963-'65. I enjoyed the first movie, released this year, because I hadn't seen a lot of the footage before. While the climax was obviously Dylan's "going electric" with "Maggie's Farm" in 1965, footage of the younger Dylan with Joan Baez tuning his guitar for him (no wonder they broke up), Dylan actually smiling, and Dylan interacting - albeit minimally - with the audience were fun to see. The myth is that Dylan surprised the crowd with electrification in '65, and that he was booed. While we can hear boos from the audience, and while his acoustic encore is greeted with almost palpable relief, there were no cries of "Judas!" like he got when he took the act to England. Director Lerner spoke between the movies. "Remember, I was there," he said in response to the mythology that has been generated by Dylan's final performance at Newport, "and people swear to me that it was the audience booing or the journalists booing or people behind the stage booing. There were selected people booing, and it came mostly from the journalists." Festival, released in 1967, was by comparison a much better movie. It was edited with audience and band interviews, and was more reminiscent of the Maysles Brothers' later Woodstock film than the raw presentation of chronological Dylan footage that made up Other Side of the Mirror. My favorite parts of Festival were Odetta's performances. She brought the house down. And Peter, Paul, and Mary (especially Mary Travers) put on a great show, while Peter Yarrow seemed a little toolish and Joan Baez seemed in love with her voice to the detriment of the music. When I am an old man, I want to dress like Son House and Mississippi John Hurt, on alternate days. Festival also featured cloggers, a jug band, and the Georgia Island Sea Singers. I can imagine that none of them knew what to make of Dylan, and Donovan, and Baez. Still, everyone seemed clean cut. The biggest letdown for me was that Phil Ochs was not included. He was a Newport mainstay but was always overshadowed by Dylan. Very little footage of him exists. I am looking forward to the release of Roy Karch's "Underground Tonight Show", a New York City cable access show from the 70's. It featured a drunken performance by Ochs in his decline that was still very good. The rights are still up in the air, so I am not holding my breath. Buy: Festival Labels: los angeles, movies, music, pop posted
by Marty Barrett at Thursday, November 01, 2007
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--9.19.2007--Current favorite songTM: Tim Armstrong's "Wake Up" posted
by Marty Barrett at Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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