On behalf of everyone at DFD, we’d like to wish all of our damn fine visitors a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2010. This year DFD celebrated its 1 year anniversary, and as we approach a new decade, we look forward to sharing a wealth of outstanding, overlooked musical gems. So to close out ‘09, here is Phish’s rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” from their New Year’s Show at Madison Square Garden . Happy New Year!
It doesn’t get much better than a live “Morning Dew” and while most Dead fans prefer versions from the late ’60s/early ’70s, I like the ones from the ’80s with Brent Mydland jamming on his B-3, Phil dropping a huge bass bomb on the dancing fans and Jerry singing as if his life (and our lives) depended on it. While the song may be about the end of the world, listening to it will make you feel like our time here is worthwhile.
Today’s track is a world premiere on Damn Fine Day!
Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers album is often referred to as a masterpiece carved from chaos, a work of art assembled from anarchy. That may have been true of the circumstances under which it was recorded, but the basic components of the record—the songs—were always fully formed. A remarkably prolific Alex Chilton began the album’s 1974 sessions by taping simple blueprints of the material he intended to use. In contrast to the perverse and occasionally dour touch of the eventual record, these sparkling acoustic demos—of which “Thank You Friends” is a highlight—prove that innate songcraft was at the heart of the Third sessions.
Sugar Ray sprang from the beaches of Orange County in Southern California about 15 years ago, mixing pop, funk, a bit of hip-hop, metal, and alternative rock. Top 40 chart success came fairly regularly in the late ’90s and up until 2001, with such pop hits as “Every Morning,” “Fly,” “Someday,” and “When It’s Over.” The band’s been less visible in recent years, but today they return with a brand-new album, Music For Cougars, released on Pulse Recordings. Our selection du jour, “Rivers,” is the rare B-side from their 1997 hit “Fly,” and it also comes out today on an EP of “Fly” rarities. While the band may be described as candy-coated crunch or surfer music for the ’90s, I think some of their songs will survive the years as a fond reminder of some of the better pop music from its time.
Whereas in London the literate pretended to be illiterate and claimed that “the truth (was) only known by guttersnipes,” there were no such art/class hang-ups on the early New York punk scene. Richard Hell—often credited with being the model upon which Malcolm McLaren hijacked the punk sensibility and imported it to London—was an unabashed aesthete, with a convulsive cerebrality, as can be heard on this elegant rumination upon time. Between Robert Quine’s viciously lyrical guitar runs, he can barely fit all the words in. Hell seemed to lose interest in the music racket pretty quickly and wisely dropped out of the game with his dignity intact, with no compromising latter-day attempts at reviving his musical career to his discredit.
Released five months after his celebrated, tie-dyed (and unscheduled) appearance at the historic Woodstock festival, John Sebastian’s solo debut, titled simply John B. Sebastian, is an intimate, laid-back, folk-pop flavored gem. One of the album’s most memorable tracks is the lovely “She’s A Lady”—a paean to Sebastian’s wife. Featuring some sparkling acoustic guitar work from Woodstock compadres David Crosby and Stephen Stills, the tune also evokes images of Renaissance-era chamber music thanks to the brilliantly understated string quartet and recorder accompaniment. Being in love and expressing it in song has rarely sounded this perfect. Clocking in at a mere one minute and 45 seconds, many a listener, upon hearing the tune, wished it could have gone on forever.
The heavens surely must have parted to beam a divine blessing on the session for The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You,” recorded in New York City in the fall of 1958. A spartan rhythm section invokes a hypnotic, come-hither groove, creating a spacious ambience for Nate Nelson’s “voice of champagne” lead, a wash of moon-kissed harmonies, and haunting “doo-bop she-bops,” bathed in glorious reverb. It’s a moment that performers, writers, and producers pray for, when magic is conjured and artistic and commercial victory prevail. Under the supervision of legendary record man George Goldner, one of the premier R&B vocal groups takes the Dubin/Warren standard and makes it all their own. Tune into “I Only Have Eyes For You” for a private moment with that special someone or for a blissful respite from the noise of this earth. The stars are out tonight.
Jazz performers have a robust history of adapting popular music to their sensibilities, often resulting in revelatory new windows on the underlying compositions (such as Sonny Rollins’ “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” John Cotrane’s “My Favorite Things,” and Jimmy Giuffre’s “Music Man” suite). Roland Kirk’s explorations took him through wildly varied offerings of 20th-century popular songcraft. His arrangement of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “I Say a Little Prayer” is more than an instrumental workout for exuberant soloing. Kirk (released before he added “Rahsaan” to the front of his name) and his band focus on the last word in the title, making it a celebratory incantation that every player is a part of. Listen to the brief but giddy drum rolls punctuate the chorus—possessed, caught up in the moment, whatever you call it, every aspect of the performance makes for a warm and dazzling eight minutes of connectedness.
This song, from NRBQ’s ninth album, is in a tradition that ties it to “She Loves You” by The Beatles. While the object of desire is given a thumbs up in one song and a thumbs down in the other, both describe a relationship between friends. Lennon and McCartney’s narrator is prodding a pal to realize a woman is in love with him, but this song describes a relationship that is given an ominous forecast. None of this would matter if the track in total wasn’t the perfect churning engine that it is. “A Girl Like That” is also a prime example of the band’s distinctive sound, mixing clavinet and electric guitar into one thick, interwoven tapestry, which rolls across the incessant but undulating rhythm section.
