Damn Fine Day

New Coat of Paint

TC — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:04:49 +0000

In 1974, Tom Waits released his raucous second album, The Heart of Saturday Night. “New Coat of Paint” invites the listener to a night on the town lit by a “bloodshot moon”. His raspy, bluesy voice is a testament to years of drinking and smoking in the shadows of back alley piano bars. Mr. Waits is a jack-of-all-trades with his crass crooner voice, his beat poetry, and his on-screen antics as an actor. Every night is a Saturday night when you play this saucy number.

Funky Pretty

TC — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:01:17 +0000

It was hard (so tough) to be a Beach Boy in the early 1970s. Shunned by the cognoscenti as musical Methuselahs, the greatest beards in all of rock watched their albums languish in stores. The members themselves felt stifled by the business and that warm California sun, so in the summer of 1972 they relocated to Amsterdam hoping to find inspiration as they recorded their next LP. They were joined by Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar of The Flames, and band Svengali Brian Wilson, who arrived after only three attempts to coax him onto a plane. This act of creative cleansing turned into an eight-month ordeal, capped by then-label Warner Bros.’ dismissal of the finished release as weak. In retrospect, perhaps that’s a tad harsh. The aspects may not have been right, but as “Funky Pretty” proves, there were gems amid Holland’s gloomy murk.

Shake Some Action

TC — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:43:02 +0000

Today’s catalog gem comes from the San Francisco band The Flamin’ Groovies. Fanzine publisher, music historian, and record label owner Greg Shaw was pivotal in The Groovies signing to Sire Records in 1976 and produced many of their great songs, including today’s track “Shake Some Action.” For those who did not catch this tune the first time around (when the album peaked at #142 on the pop charts in ‘76), you may remember its use in the 1995 classic Clueless.

Love Land

TC — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:58:36 +0000

In the early 1950’s, Charles Wright started out his musical carrer playing guitar and singing in a number of Los Angeles Doo-Wop bands. A few years later, after a brief stint as an A&R for Del-Fi Records, he ditched the Doo Wop and the day job to form Charles Wright and the Wright Sounds (eventually becoming Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band). At first, Charles and his gang stuck to R&B covers, but by the late ’60s the band found their creative groove and created a number of funktastic originals like “Express Yourself” and today’s feel good tune “Love Land”.

Candy-O

TC — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:48:05 +0000

Following up their mega-hit eponymous debut, The Cars struck back in 1979 with the Roy Thomas Baker produced Candy-O. While “Let’s Go” and “Dangerous Type” were more present on radio at the time, the title track remains a favorite and is something that always puts this writer in a good mood.

No One Will Ever Love You

TC — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:49:22 +0000

Far from being a concept album full of love songs, Stephin Merritt’s 3rd album 69 Love Songs is a collection of songs written about love songs themselves, and has very little to do with love. The multi-instrumentalist song writer pays homage to his influences throughout the collection, perhaps most clearly when he condenses all seventy four minutes and thirty five seconds of Fleetwood Mac’s album Tusk into three minutes and fourteen seconds on “No One Will Ever Love You”. Vocalist Shirley Simms is a fill-in Stevie Nicks on the track, conjuring the essence of Merritt’s muse so strongly that he often introduced her on stage as Shirley Nicks. The lyrics express frustration at a relationship that has grown too mundane for the narrator, asking “Where is the madness that you promised me?”. The sum of the song is bleak, moving, and beautiful in a way that is sincere without being slight.

Creeping Coastline Of Lights

TC — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:02:03 +0000

Unknown forces blessed this man, late of Screaming Trees, with a low, seductive timbre soaked in a woodsy mesquite that lurked in twilights deep and wide. All of his works are worth seeking out, but to hear him coil that delivery around the words of another man (see also: his double-team with Greg Dulli on a version of Massive Attack’s “Come Live With Me”), as he did on ’99’s covers slab I’ll Take Care Of You is worth the numbing quivers. His take on The Leaving Trains’ “Creeping Coastline Of Lights” bears a title tailor-made for a Lanegan interpretation, complete with woozy guitars drowning in the carefully nursed amber of a lonely glass and vibes dripping blood in an ethereal dream.

How Long Blues

TC — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:37:14 +0000

We close out Black History Month with not only one of the most important Black musicians, but one of the most important musicians in the history of the art form, Ray Charles. Known worldwide for his inimitable vocal style, today’s track, “How Long Blues” recorded in 1958 features Ray’s equally impressive piano virtuosity. Combined with the smooth sounds of vibraphonist extraordinaire Milt Jackson, this track is the perfect way to head into the weekend and end a month-long celebration of some of the greatest music ever recorded.

Sometimes I Wonder

TC — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:18:22 +0000

When Clyde McPhatter created The Drifters for Atlantic Records in 1953, no one could have imagined that group would not only create hits for 13 years with the label, but become known as one of the greatest vocal groups of all time. With a virtual turnstile of members, The Drifters had hits with 7 different lead vocalists – one of which being the iconic Ben E. King. It’s hard to believe King’s tenure with the band lasted only 12 months, but two years after his departure, Atlantic pulled a King vocal from the vaults and released “Sometimes I Wonder” in hopes of solidifying The Drifters’ chart presence and perhaps to capitalize on King’s solo success. While this tale of yearning, with a truly impassioned vocal, didn’t chart, all was not lost. That same month the band cut a little track called “Up On The Roof” and The Drifters’ legacy continued.

My Home Is In The Delta

TC — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:49:51 +0000

If this ain’t the real blues deal, the real deal period, then this ain’t a damn fine day that ends in “Y”. In the autumn of 1963, Muddy went back to the basics: acoustic guitars, a string bass, sparse percussion. The result was “Folk Singer,” with this, the leadoff track, containing the framework for much of the album. Buddy Guy handled the other guitar while Willie Dixon played bass (and produced) and Clifton James handled the traps. The impact and inspiration on music by one McKinley Morganfield–his real name–cannot be overstated. Have moisey, indeed. Or on second thought, don’t!