From 1969, here's the original classic lineup of the aforementioned Procol Harum...
......and their seraphically beautiful "Pilgrim's Progress."
Pilgrim -- get it? It's not rocket science, kids.
As long-time readers may recall, this song is something of a Thanksgiving tradition around here. Which is, of course, a pretentious way of saying I'm too lazy to come up with a new gag. Quel surprise.
In any case, enjoy the cranberry sauce and stuffing, everybody!!!
And be of good cheer; Weekend Listomania -- and a particularly cool one -- returns tomorrow!!!
PS: I have a really wonderful story about the instrumental fade-out of that song -- it involves a brilliant short film (a proto-music video, actually) shot by and starring some old college friends of mine circa 1970 -- and I'm going to tell it here one of these days. Promise.
Attentive readers nay recall that last week I waxed enthusiastic about former Blake Babies and Lemonheads chanteuse/alt-rock cover girl Juliana Hatfield.
Specifically, about her new album of ELO covers. I also mentioned that this was the third tribute album Hatfield had done in the last couple of years, and that I had enjoyed the one from 2018 devoted to Olivia Neutron Bomb Newton-John.
Anyway, the short story (yeah, I know) is I was moved the other night to revisit said album, and damn if this track didn't blow my tiny mind.
Seriously, I had never considered the original of that as much more than well-crafted commercial kitsch, but Hatfield's version really got under my skin, albeit in a sort of minimalist-ironic way. And I never would have believed this possible, so kudos to Bruce Welch and John Rostill, the two guys from Cliff Richards' legendary backup band The Shadows, who wrote the thing,
Coming tomorrow: I flip out over Metallica's version of "Hopelessly Devoted to You."
Yes, my irrepressibe and highly-paid Asian belle du boinkFah Lo Suee and I will be heading to beautiful downtown Bedminster, New Jersey for a few, er, holes of golf (heh heh -- he said holes) and then a shower. (And then, tomorrow, an after-dinner dramatic reading of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Republican theological consultant and Speaker of the House Michael Johnson).
So regular postings here will necessarily be sporadic until next week.
That being the case, and in the meantime, here's a fun little project to help us wile away the hours until either we or our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ™ return. To wit:
Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop, Rock or Soul Song/Record Inspired or Influenced in Some Way by Western Classical Music!!!
No arbitrary rules here, and obviously by classical music we mean everything from the Baroque period up through the 20th century and all that minimalist Philip Glass shit. So don't give me any of that Gregorian Chant mishegass, 'cause I don't want to hear it.
And that said -- my totally Top of My Head Top Five is:
5. B. Bumble and the Stingers -- Nut Rocker
Like dig, man, Tchaikovsky! Actually, considering that Emerson Lake and Palmer later covered this, you can make a convincing case for the proposition that these guys invented prog rock, in which case, of course, may they roast in hell. I should add that up until yesterday I had no idea that this was credited to the notorious Kim Fowley.
4. The Toys -- A Lover's Concerto
The Brill Building meets Bach's "Minuet in G Major" and then they all go out to Lindy's for a piece of cheesecake.
3. The Byrds -- She Don't Care About Time
The B-side of "Turn! Turn! Turn!", better known as the one where McGuinn plays Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for the middle guitar break. Sublime on every level.
2. The Floor Models -- Enough's Enough
Written by the late great Andrew Pasternack, who also plays Rickenbacker 12-string on the Bach-ian second guitar solo.
And the Number One classical gas, there's no arguing this and if you even try to suggest something else I'm gonna come to your house and ring the doorbell and run, absolutely has to be...
1. Annie Lenox -- Walkiing on Broken Glass
I seriously think, no kidding, that this is among the greatest pop records ever made.
Oh! that tinkling piano! Oh! those pizzicato strings! And Oh! Lennox's (non-auto-tuned) vocal!
Hell, let us not mince words -- it's one of the best songs written and recorded in the English language in the last several decades, and if Lennox had done nothing else, she would still deserve respect from mere mortals like us as a result. Also: can we please give it up for John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie in the video? Thank you.
Alrighty, then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
[h/t Tim Page -- this one's for you, pal, and feel better ASAP!]
Okay, this is so fabulous I can't stand it. From his just released Dolenz Sings R.E.M. EP, please enjoy once and future Monkee Micky Dolenz and his absolutely glorious cover of those kids from Athens' "Radio Free Europe."
That's just freaking great by any objective standard, and I say that as somebody for whom R.E.M.'s Murmur is one of his top twenty favorite albums. I should add that the brilliant production is by Mike Nesmith's son Christian, who also did spectacular work on Dolenz' 2021 album of Nesmith covers.
Meanwhile, as a little postscript, please enjoy this video of Dolenz and the R.E.M. guys celebrating the release of the new album in their old stomping ground last week.
I gotta say, if you had told me back in the 80s, when R.E.M. were the hippest alt-rock band in the universe, that something like the above would actually happen, I would have accused you of huffing drugs more potent than any I had ever imagined.
"...Although it has been variously framed as a friendship, a rivalry and a partnership of convenience, the best way to think about the relationship between these two geniuses is as a love affair. As far as we know [emphasis mine] it wasn’t a sexual relationship, but it was a passionate one: intense, tender and tempestuous,,,"
"As far as we know..."
Jesus, what a putz. Seriously, somebody is really overdoing it in the wishful thinking department.
I should add that I am now pitching a book which re-interprets the entire post break-up ouevre of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in similar fashion. Wish me luck.
Faithful readers are aware of my fondness for these kids, and doubtless share my enthusiasm for their ouevre, but the above is just totally swoon-worthy.
I mean, wow...it's like they were genetically bred to cover the song.
Coming tomorrow: Franz Ferdinand & Imelda, the leading Rolling Stones tribute band from the Phillipines, performs the entirety of Hackney Diamonds in Tagalog.
I KEED, I KEED!!!
PS: I'm at the point now where the below doesn't even strike me as farfetched any more.
And no, not thoughts on the new album. Which I have avoided going on about here previously because I don't have all that much to say about it.
Other than, that while it doesn't dishonor their legacy, it mostly strikes me as sounding like a collection of middling Stones B-sides (which is not a bad thing) and that the only song that really, really rouses me from my pastoral torpor (unsurprisingly) is Keith's big slow number.
And I can live with that.
Anyway, reason I bring up the Stones is twofold. To begin with, I'd never seen this clip -- a remake of "Love in Vain" -- before a few days ago, and I don't know exactly when it was done and why, but it just knocks me out, and I thought I'd share.
Seriously, when people talk about those guys being the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world, that's the kind of thing they're talking about.
Secondly, I mention the Stones because, coincidentally (heh) they're the subject of this week's Weekend Essay Question.
And so to business. To wit:
...and your favorite obscure Stones track -- i.e.,not one of their hits, or even an often-referenced album cut -- is...?
In case you were wondering, mine is this one -- the ridiculously out of tune guitars and backing vocals notwithstanding. The song just kills me, and I always wanted to cover it.
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