Fall
A year or two ago I wrote a Labor Day post where I characterized the holiday as the end of summer. Weather nerds predictably chimed in with the observation that meteorologic autumn begins with the Autumnal Equinox. Well, now that the equinox has come and gone nobody can complain when I say that Fall is upon us with cooler weather and shortening days. So here’s a collection of autumn songs.
Lou Reed “September Song” (comp. Kurt Weil)
Many songs that seem to be about fall are instead about being in the autumn of one’s life. So it is with this song where the singer realizes that he’s in the latter half of his life and declares his desire to spend his last precious days with the woman he’s singing to.
I like Lou Reed’s rockin’ treatment of this song. He’s appeared on at least two Kurt Weill tribute albums that I’m aware of and he seems to have a good feel for Weill’s music.
Rufus Wainwright “Harvest” (Neil Young)
This is a very nice unadorned version of the Neil Young song that really doesn’t have anything to do with bringing in the crops.
Chris Thile “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground” (White Stripes)
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a huge White Stripes fan. I find their music interesting conceptually but I just can’t stand to listen to the drumming very long. Thankfully I found this bluegrass version which I find very enjoyable to listen to.
In addition to impending mortality, many songs use autumn as a metaphor for the end of a relationship. Fall has always been my favorite season of the year and I find it disappointing that so many songwriters have such a negative view of it.
Gheto Blaster Ltd. “November Rain” (Guns N’ Roses)
This flaccid power ballad pretty much distills everything I hate about hair metal. The lyrics do work frighteningly well when retrofitted to a cool bossa nova. Maybe Axl Rose really is an underappreciated musical genius. On second thought, probably not.
This song comes from an album called Bossa n’ Roses which is, as you might expect, a collection of bossa nova arrangements of Guns N’ Roses songs. It’s one of those albums that I probably couldn’t sit through from start to finish although any individual tune is pretty good. The scary thing is that this is apparently part of a franchise, with an endless stream of bossa nova tribute albums.
Leon Redbone “Shine On Harvest Moon” (comp. Nora Bayes, Jack Norworth)
I saw Leon Redbone play when I was in college. It was the first time I had ever seen a small band with a tuba playing the bass parts. I didn’t know you were allowed to do that. Just one of those little epiphanies that make going away to college so worthwhile.
I grew up in a large city with massive light pollution, so I’ve always found the concept of a harvest moon to be rather evocative. To me it’s sort of an otherworldly event that happens far away.
Little Boxes
I recently acquired several very nice wooden cigar boxes. I like cigar boxes and I use them for storing stuff. But even I have to admit that I have all the cigar boxes I need. I was casting about for something to do with these new boxes and since I’m learning to play the mandolin I thought I might take a shot at building a cigar box mandolin. Looking around online I found quite a bit of information and plans for building cigar box guitars and ukuleles, but very little information on how to build a cigar box mandolin. Seems like the most productive thing I can do with my frustration over this is to turn it into a Cover Freak post.
Angelique Kidjo “Little Boxes” (Pete Seeger)
I’ve never seen the TV program Weeds because it’s on Showtime and I live in a basic cable household. But I love the program because they spent two seasons getting a different artist to cover this song every week to use as the show’s theme. The songs all sound different and almost all of them are keepers. I particularly love this African-flavored version.
Enormous Richard “Music Box Dancer” (Frank Mills)
This song was originally an instrumental, but these guys apparently felt that what it was lacking were demented lyrics. The line about “dainty ballerina clothes and enormous thighs” is particularly inspired.
Storybox “Let’s Go Crazy” (The Clash)
Rock journalist Jimmy Guterman put together the Sandinista Project, where he got 36 artists to each cover a tune from the Sandinista album. The results are uneven, as they often are on a project like this. Storybox does a fine job, slowing this song down a half-step and adding mariachi horns.
Richard Cheese “Man In The Box” (Alice In Chains)
What can be said about the Cheese Man that hasn’t already been said? He can make any song sound swanky.
Band In A Box “All Cats Are Grey” (The Cure)
I’ve never liked the Cure, the whiny singing and monotonous synthesizers get on my nerves. So I was prepared to not like this song. But I really dig the atmospheric chamber orchestra treatment.
I Got Nothin’
Technical Note: I’m trying out a plugin for my blog software that adds a small audio player next to the music links. If you don’t want to pop up a separate window to listen to the music you can just click on the little arrow next to the song title. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad you can still click on the old-style link.
…
I was having a problem coming up with a theme this week. I had nothing. And then I realized that if life gives you lemons you should make lemonade. And if I have nothing to post, nothing is exactly what I should post.
Big Daddy “Nothing Compares 2 U” (Prince)
A Little Richard sound-alike declares himself the “undisputed queen of rock and roll” and proceeds to do a spot-on rendition of what it would sound like if Little Richard tackled a Prince song. Highly amusing and highly recommended.
Figures On A Beach “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (Bachman Turner Overdrive)
The original is a great slice of 70s party music. This version is music for a very different kind of party.
T-Bone Burnett “Nothing In Return” (Roky Erickson)
Roky Erickson is most famous for gonzo garage rock, but he’s also written some very heartfelt love songs. T-Bone Burnett is one of my favorite musicians and songwriters, although these days he’s best known as a producer and music director for movies. Here T-Bone finds just the right shade of guileless teenage heartbreak as he sings of unrequited love.
The Persuasions “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” (Frank Zappa)
With all the religious intolerance and demagoguery going around these days, it seems like a good time to listen to FZ’s little sermon.
The Pigeons “I Who Have Nothing” (Ben E. King)
The Pigeons are what Vanilla Fudge called themselves before Carmine Appice joined the band. Even early on in their career they had the whole psychedelic-baroque style down cold.
The Worker’s Playtime
Labor unions have gotten a bad rap over the last decade or two. Some of the complaints are justified, as a shortsighted desire to squeeze every nickel out of business owners has contributed to some of the systemic problems of American industry. But there’s plenty of blame to go around on that front.
People tend to forget that things that even nonunion workers take for granted were won by the hard work of union members willing to get their skulls broken by Pinkerton goons. The 40-hour work week, paid vacations, and employer-funded health care are things that we can thank the unions for. My grandfather fed eight children during the Great Depression thanks to his union job, and I would not have had the opportunities that I’ve had in my life were it not for my grandpa’s union job.
So as you celebrate Labor Day tomorrow, put aside the beer and barbecue for a moment and show some gratitude to those who have come before you in the workforce.
Uncle Tupelo “Coalminers” (comp. Sarah Ogan Gunning)
The recent mine collapse in Chile has reminded us all that mining is indeed the most dangerous work in our world today. Thankfully the miners are alive and should be rescued in a couple of months. I do feel sorry for the one guy who had his wife and his mistress run into each other during a vigil outside the mine. That’s going to be a hellish thing to deal with after three months underground.
Lone Pine “Workingman’s Palace” (Jon Langford)
I think the fact that he’s a Welshman living in America has given Jon Langford a keen eye for the aspects of America that the natives have either grown accustomed to or would prefer not to see. There’s a great line in this song about how “everybody’s feeling strange about their lives and who’s to blame.” We’re seeing how economic uncertainty has led to a great deal of resentment toward immigrants these days. In the end the subject of the song will just meet you at the the workingman’s palace, the corner bar where things are like they’ve always been.
The Blues Band “Maggie’s Farm” (Bob Dylan)
Years before Johnny Paycheck, Bob Dylan was telling his boss to take his job and shove it. Jobs used to be so plentiful in America that if your boss was a bastard you could tell him to go scratch and go find another job. These days everybody is so anxious about keeping their jobs that bosses have free reign to abuse the help more than ever before.
I don’t know anything about his band, but I wonder if their name comes from the fact that they completely lack imagination or that they are so arrogant that in their minds they are indeed THE blues band.
David Lindley and Wally Ingram “Do You Want My Job?” (Little Village)
People need to feed their families and sometimes they have to take distasteful jobs in order to do it. It’s so sad that the guy singing this song is poisoning his home for two dollars a day so he can buy his kids sneakers.
James Madison Quartet “Work For Food” (Dramarama)
I’m not a big power pop guy, but I love Dramarama. Their album Vinyl is one of the most perfect ever made. The subject of this song is troubled but he denies a problem with his attitude.
NWOBHM
When I was growing up my local record store sold imported British music magazines. I liked reading Melody Maker and NME. I was amused at how the writers would talk up the Next Big Thing until they became successful and then they’d write about how much they sucked. Then they’d start hyping the Next Next Big Thing. I know that all critics everywhere are prone to this phenomenon, but the Brits really elevated it to its purest form. I studied the pattern of hype-and-slag the way some people study the life cycle of fruit flies.
Anyway, Kerrang! was the British music magazine I loved the most. They had an exclamation mark in their name long before Yahoo and they were real big on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Being a metal fan and somebody who’s always looking for new music, Kerrang! was right up my alley. And here are some of the bands they hyped before they started to suck.
Hellsongs “Run To The Hills” (Iron Maiden)
You have to admire the way Iron Maiden have built a career for themselves. It’s a tribute to relentless touring and word of mouth in the face of record label indifference. They work just as hard now as they did before they started filling sports stadiums.
Hellsongs does a fine job of making what was originally an angry song sound very sad.
Emm Gryner “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (Def Leppard)
This may not be the best Def Leppard song to post when I’m talking about the NWOBHM, but there aren’t a whole lot of interesting covers of their early stuff. Whatever you think of Def Leppard, the idea of a one-armed drummer is Totally Metal.
Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha “Orgasmatron” (Motorhead)
You either love Tuvan throat singing or you hate it. I find it fascinating and Albert Kuvezin is one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. Strangely enough his vocals on this song don’t sound all that different from Lemmy.
Girlschool “Race With The Devil” (Gun)
This song features a riff that’s deeply embedded in the DNA of rock and roll. Everybody recognizes the riff but most people couldn’t tell you what song it comes from. Gun was a popular band in England that featured the Gurvitz brothers, who went on to enlist with Ginger Baker to form the Baker-Gurvitz Army.
I always thought of Girlschool as the 80s version of the Runaways. Sadly there was no Joan Jett figure to survive the inevitable implosion of the band.
Tygers Of Pan Tang “Love Potion No. 9″ (The Clovers)
Not every band in the NWOBHM could become a big star. There are laws of physics that prevent that sort of thing. And so the Tygers toiled at the fringes of the movement, eventually collapsing under pressure from their record company to record more covers like this one.
