Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

Jazzmat: Beware the Dashiki-Wearing Coltrane Associates on Impulse! Releases Employing Psychedelic Fonts

Feb 272009

Burnt!

John Coltrane‘s ’60s records were my entry into any appreciation I have to this day for jazz. I love most of the dozen or so albums I own from this period, but Coltrane is responsible for one of the great toxic waste bins in the jazz section of any store or online retailer. I’ve got nothing against dashikis or psychedelic fonts, in fact, I love them. But put them together on an Impulse! release and I’m not buying. I’ve been burnt one too many time – twice, in fact – by Coltrane albums packaged in this manner, and I won’t be burnt again.

Sorry, Pharoah. I’m sure you’ll understand.

After buying a few “pyschedelic” Coltrane albums I steered clear of possibly Pharoah Sanders’ best works, but I probably saved myself the money and effort of trying to get into countless other “psychedelic jazz” wankfests. If for no other reason, I’m confident my bias against attempts by Impulse! to tap into the psychedelic rock era were justified by the line I swore I would never cross:
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Battle Royale: Rock’s Most Powerful Third Banana

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 262009

UPDATED AFTER THE JUMP!

Who is rock’s most powerful third banana? This question may remind you of an old Battle Royale to determine the best song written by a third-string songwriter, but we’re looking for something less specific and broader. We should consider the overall influence any #3 band member, regardless of songwriting or singing skills. Take Brian Jones, for instance, a non-writing, non-singing member of The Rolling Stones whose presence alone nearly eclipsed that of the band’s two obvious leaders. George Harrison is an obvious favorite in this battle for his mix of songwriting and singing, lead guitar chops, comedic timing, and diplomacy. Other contenders might include Jerry Harrison, who recently lost out to Tina Weymouth for the title of second-most crucial member of Talking Heads; Graham Nash (within CSN); Rick Wakeman; and Rick Danko.

Two other possible contenders require a ruling by the judges. While he was in Roxy Music, did Eno rank as second or third banana? (Has history elevated his banana rank?) And what about Colin Moulding, who somehow managed to be third banana in a band with only one other member worthy of bananahood?
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Who Is the Second-Most Crucial Member of Talking Heads?

Posted by Oats

Feb 252009

Inspired by a mini-debate in the Cool Pass thread, I’d like to toss this query into the Hall.

A few ground rules:

1) Eno most certainly does not count.

2) No Talking, Just Head, by The Heads, the Byrne-less incarnation of the band, is completely irrelevant.

3) Much as I kind of want to, we should not hold Jerry Harrison‘s production credits for cheesy ’90s alt-rockers like Live and Big Head Todd and the Monsters against him.

4) At the same time, I resolve to not let my undying love for “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Club color my opinion.

Tina Weymouth is an obvious choice, even from a purely musical basis. The bass lines to “Psycho Killer” and “Once in a Lifetime” are iconic pop hooks in and of themselves. Me, I’ve always loved a lesser-known one, “Found a Job.” But does her constant head-butting with Byrne add or subtract points?

I feel bad for Harrison, the utility player. People probably credit other people (Byrne, Eno, Adrian Belew) for the best guitar and/or keyboard bits on Talking Heads songs. But they could get pretty atmospheric, and a subtle player like him might have had something to do with that, right? Plus, he co-wrote “Heaven”; that’s got to count for something.

Chris Franz is not the most versatile musician in the world, but I think he was the perfect drummer for this band. He was especially good at keeping the beat grounded, as they got more and more polyrhythmic. Plus, he seems like the most agreeable band member, a personality type they obviously so desperately needed to keep things from totally melting down. Maybe he should’ve joined The Ramones too.

So right now I want to give the edge to Weymouth, but I can be convinced otherwise.

Rick Derringer Says, “Put Me in the Foyer of Fame!”

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 242009

With the Second Annual RTH Foyer of Fame’s Partial Lifetime Achievement Award and Chili Cookoff on the horizon (stay tuned for the announcement of a mid-March date!), The Back Office recently received an interesting letter from semi-legendary ’70s rocker Rick Derringer. It turns out music business friends of Rick had been asking him when he was going to get consideration for our partial lifetime achievement award. Rick was unaware of the Foyer of Fame, but after a few minutes of investigation and consultation with an old friend and Foyer inductee, he came to the conclusion that this was an honor suited for his diverse talents and oddly influential career. Following the jump, we share Mr. Derringer’s letter. Although the Foyer cannot promise any last-minute adjustments to this journeyman-packed event, we will take his plea into consideration.
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In Through the Out Door

Posted by northvancoveman

Feb 242009

Ever come in through the out door of a favorite artist’s career?

I am sure we have all had this experience. You discover an artist whose music you come to treasure. You plunder their back catalogue for all the gems and eagerly await all the great albums to come. Only they don’t come.

I would love to say I followed XTC from Drums and Wires, but the truth is the first time I listened to a full XTC album was Nonesuch. I later went on to discover all the excellent stuff they had done, but, sadly, I had checked In Through the Out Door of XTC’s career.

Have you had a similar experience?

Cool Pass

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 242009

Which rocker gets a Cool Pass from you? For all you can tell this rocker made little significant contribution to his or her band other than a major injection of cool. For this reason alone you, highly discriminating Townsperson, has given this rocker a Cool Pass. For me it’s Brian Jones, and it’s not all about his hair.

History tells us that Jones was integral in the Stones coming together and developing their R&B-based sound, but watch an early clip of the band, before he was completely wasted, and tell me his animal magnetism doesn’t create rock’s first Isoceles Triangle of Cool with Jagger and Richards, no matter how what subtle or exotic touch he was adding to a song. What other band’s third banana always threatened to steal the audience’s attention the way a young Brian Jones did? Maybe Eno, if he was considered a third banana after Ferry and Manzanera? Brian Jones, you have earned a Cool Pass from me. You’ve each got one Cool Pass to hand out, if you deem it necessary.

You Be the Judge: Newly Surfaced Beatles Outtake?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 232009

A friend just passed this along to me. I’m giving it my first listen as I prepare this post. I see there’s already discussion on the YouTube page about the veracity of this clip, supposedly a newly surfaced, 11-minute outtake of “Revolution #1.” Regardless, I’m sharing this as a healing measure with Townsman db. We’ve had a rough day, but we’ll be better rock nerds for it, I’m sure.

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