Jethro Tull : For a Thousand Mothers

I think Jethro Tull gets a bit of a bum rap in the rock world. Maybe it's because, while half their songs rock heavy ("Aqualung", "Hymn 43", "Cross-Eyed Mary"), the other half sounds like they were stolen from the local Renaissance Faire. Or, maybe it's because they stole the first Heavy Metal Grammy out from under Metallica's "One", even though Metallica had completely blown the song out live on-stage for the Grammy audience not more than fifteen minutes previous.

But Tull (as the fanboys call them) can throw down some serious licks. Say what you will, but their heavy songs are heavy, full of slightly broken proggy blues riffs and furious drumming. And of course, props to Ian Anderson for actually making the flute work as a rock instrument. He gets that thing howling as angrily as any sax or guitar out there. I once knew a flautist who hated Jethro Tull because Ian just played the flute wrong, to which I can only say, "Well, fuck you then" because you're missing the whole point of rock music in the first place.

Speaking of fuck-you's, even though the title sounds like a tribute, it's not exactly Mother's Day material. This piece is a bit of a kiss off to all the mothers and fathers out there who cast doubts on the dreams of their offspring. He's made it, and he's picking you up at eight in his limo to remind you just how seriously wrong you were.

"For a Thousand Mothers" is a serious rocker, with a prog bent. The guitar hammers the riffs hard and is matched in lockstep by the bass and drums, grooving on this 6/8 (maybe 12/8?) rhythm that shifts back and forth between twos and threes. Meanwhile, Ian shreds his flute, seriously pushing it to the limits with all sorts of nasty overtones crashing over the top. There's even a killer post-verse breakdown with just unaccompanied flute. And on top of all this, Ian delivers his parental kiss-off, which is thinly disguised by a rather nice melody. Very hummable.

Then, finally, after the song has been sung and the music fades, they go at it some more. It sounds like they looked at each other and decided, "Screw it, let's jam some more," and they kick it back into gear and jam for another sixty seconds or so, which unfortunately gets the fade out a second time.

You can find "For a Thousand Mothers" on Jethro Tull's 1968 release, Stand Up, which is a great LP, even with all the fay medieval stuff.

Actually, that's stuff's nice too. I just don't want you to think I'm a pansy.

[#38]

Follow Up: Ted Heath & His Music

Whoops. I accidentally posted the incorrect song for #36. Looks like only one person grabbed it so far, but if you did, you got the wrong one. I've fixed the pointer, so all should be good now.

Sorry!

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends : Come On in My Kitchen

There's not much too this song, except that it's a nice version of a Robert Johnson classic. Delaney & Bonnie were a married couple who recorded some albums in the late sixties and early seventies with such heavyweights as Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers, Leon Russell and George Harrison backing them up. They were somewhat popular for their time, it seems.

The tune follows Robert's blues structure pretty closely with some gospel influences. There's just a little bit of acoustic guitar and piano for accompaniment, with some bongos thrown in as well. It's a very sparse, stripped down sound, so it's very reminiscent of Robert's original, and it sounds like they actually recorded this in a motel somewhere deep in the south. Again, not a blockbuster, but nice.

You can find "Come On in My Kitchen" on Delaney & Bonnie and Friends' 1971 release, Motel Shot. If you'd rather the originals, check out Robert Johnson's 2-disc Complete Recordings box set

[#37]

Ted Heath & His Music : Light My Fire

There are a lot of covers of "Light My Fire" out there. Just a ton. It's one of those songs that somehow became an easy listening staple, and every pop orchestra that ever tackled a rock song managed to cover it.

Actually, I know why. It turns out, the bands aren't covering the Doors, they're covering José Feliciano's Grammy-award winning cover from 1969. Usually you can tell, because they include José's little three-on-two breakdown at the end, as they do on this version.

The songs starts out soft, with some acoustic guitar, vibes and bongos. After a bit, the rest of the band comes in, nice and easy, but like Ike & Tina, Ted takes the beginning nice and easy, but ends the song nice and rough.

Well, as rough as you can get with this crowd.

The horn work is great, and there's not one, but two bongo solos, with another acoustic guitar break halfway through. Also, there's a little bit of organ to spice it up at the end. The arrangement is just impeccable; there's a little bit of everything to make you happy.

"Light My Fire" is off Ted's 1970's release, The Big Ones, which includes excellent covers of "Spinning Wheel" and "Nights in White Satin" among others. The record came out on the Phase 4 Stereo label. There are a number of excellent records on this label & they are distinctly recognizable by the big 4 on the cover. You can't really go wrong with one of these.

[You can listen to Ted Heath & His Music's "Light My Fire" by navigating to the post "Song036" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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The Remains : Don't Look Back

A ton of great rock music came out in the late 60's, as everybody and their brother (and sometimes their sister) wanted to be the next Beatles. And like today's interwebs, which lets everybody and their laptop write, record and distribute their own magnum opus, there were a slew of little garage bands recording actual 45's for local labels. These labels would push the tunes out to local radio and sometimes they would become regional hits.

"Don't Look Back" is a one of these garage rockers from '66. It's got a driving beat and rocks as hard as anything Green Day's released in the past ten years. It's got a hammered three-on-two stuttering stop-start chorus with excellent harmonies and a wild freakbeat breakdown smack in the middle of the tune. And the lyrics are a curious mix of hippie/punk anarchist seize-the-day attitude. It's a fantastic tune.

In the late 70's and early 80's some collectors gathered up some of these garage and psychedelic songs and pumped out a bunch of compilations dedicated to this stuff, primarily the Nuggets and Pebbles series. This one comes from the fantastic Nuggets box set on Rhino records. If you like this stuff, you can't go wrong with it. You can also find it on the re-release of the Remains' eponymous only album.

[You can listen to The Remains' "Don't Look Back" by navigating to the post "Song035" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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MC 900 Ft Jesus : Falling Elevators

MC 900 Ft Jesus is an interesting cat. Yes, his name comes from Oral Roberts, who said he was personally contacted by a 900 ft. Jesus. He's ostensibly a rapper, and he does rap on this album. But he's not very good at it. He's got that whiny-white-guy problem that most white rappers have, but the real problem I have with his lyrics, which are about serial arsonists or serial killers or surrealistic wordplay, are actually pretty sophomoric. They sound like a high-schooler's idea of Lynchian depravity. (Although he did pen the awesome, "Everybody shut up and leave me alone, I'm going straight to heaven", so, props for that.)

But he has two things going for him in my book. First, the music is good. Nice and funky, with deep bass and a driving rhythm. Second, he's got the turntable wizardry of DJ Zero, which, while criminally underused, is still astounding. I still regret I missed the one opportunity I had to see him live. Apparently, he performed a set completely on his own, and he was amazing.

"Falling Elevators" itself isn't so much a rap song as... Well, it's not a rap song at all. Really, it's a rip-off of Bitches Brew/On the Corner-era Miles Davis, with Mark (that's the MC's real name) uttering some decent spoken word over the top. But those are great Miles albums, and this is a near perfect tribute, with a driving bass line, hyper-syncopated dueling drum kits (yay!), a bass clarinet (more yay!), bongos, organ noodlings and just about anything else you can think of that would make it cool. There's even a couple of interludes where a trumpet floats in like a wraith, dominates, then dissipates into the emptiness. It's an aggressively laid-back funk jam and a thing of beauty.

Anyway, I do really dig this album, it's one of my favorites, but I find I tend to listen through the lyrics rather than to them and just hear the music. If you can do that while digging the funk, it could be right for you. "Falling Elevators" comes from MC 900 Ft Jesus' second album, 1991's Welcome to My Dream.

[You can listen to MC 900 Ft Jesus' "Falling Elevators" by navigating to the post "Song034" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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Tim Buckley : Monterey

I'm not sure what Tim Buckley was thinking. After establishing a somewhat decent career as a folk singer, he got fascinated with avant garde music, and started weaving ideas he heard from composers like Iannis Xenakis and free-jazz musicians like Ornette Coleman into his songs. He also began using the, uh... 'full range' of his voice. I guess that means he shrieks and he moans.

I know I sound like I'm knocking it a little, but both Starsailor and Lorca are two of my favorite albums. Like I explained in the article about the Mae Shi, I really dig the deconstruction of rock that manages to keep the rock, and that's what's happening here. There's a repeated riff that the band jams on over and over while Tim gasps and howls over the top of it.

The lyrics read like a hippy-dippy version of a murder ballad. Something bad went down, and the singer was involved somehow, but it's not particularly clear. Still, there's an urgency conveyed by the band and Tim's growling vocals that really sells the song to me.

It may not be your cup of tea, but that's okay, because 1970's Starsailor isn't available on CD anyway. Well, you can get a used copy for like 50 bucks. But you can buy the actual MP3s all legal and stuff, direct from Amazon for 6 bucks. Maybe from iTunes too, I have no idea.

[You can listen to Tim Buckley's "Monterey" by navigating to the post "Song033" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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Ben Vaughn : Avanti

Ben Vaughn has been writing and recording since the mid 80's, and is probably best know for his theme to 3rd Rock from the Sun. He's been in a rock band, as well as dabbled in songwriting, soundtracks, production and, of course, his own projects. He is apparently well-known for being able to faithfully recreate the sound of past decades in his recordings.

"Avanti" is a throwback to the go-go easy listening sound that the big bands took up in the early 60's in order to keep themselves "hip" with the burgeoning rock & roll consumers. They never quite got it, but created some beautiful bastardizations while trying. Stay tuned for some of those in the future. Meanwhile, Ben has captured that era in all its groovy glory. There's the swinging backbeat, the trademark Vincent Bell guitar sound, the funky Hammond, and of course the female chorale 'doo-be-doo'ing their way through the wordless vocals. It sounds like something that would be right at home in a 60's soft porn or exploitation flick. In fact, it sounds a bit like something Piero Umiliani might have written (you remember "Mah Nà Mah Nà", right?).

Anyway, "Avanti" and other pseudo-soundtrack gems can be found on Ben's 2005 release, Designs in Music. It's a solid album and a fun listen.

[You can listen to Ben Vaughn's "Avanti" by navigating to the post "Song032" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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The Ting Tings : Fruit Machine

I love the Ting Tings. Why? I cannot really say, but this was one of my favorite albums of last year; possibly the favorite. It's fun, poppy and raucous, like the good songs from No Doubt. And they really, really know how to craft a hook.

You've probably heard "Shut Up and Let Me Go" as that was a minor hit here in the states. It's a great song. They also had a hit in their native Britain with "Great DJ", which is also a great song. And you might have heard "That's Not My Name", which is another raver that makes you want to shake it like a dancer on Hullabaloo. But I think my favorite might be "Fruit Machine".

First of all, 'fruit machine' is British for 'slot machine' (you know, like 'lorry' for truck or 'loo' for the toilet). So, the song is all about a poor sucker who has it bad for the singer. He's addicted, feeding her money, looking for the payout that only comes sporadically. And she seems pretty happy about it, asking him where the money is. So it's got a sort of snotty vibe to it from the get-go. This is backed up by the driving dance beat and her chanting vocals which crescendo throughout the whole song, building a sort of happy tension that finally breaks in the end with her manically shouting "Ka-CHING!! Ka-CHING!!" You get the most out of the song if you holler it along with her and punctuate the shouts by yanking an imaginary lever. Ka-CHING!

"Fruit Machine" is off the Ting Tings' debut effort, We Started Nothing. It's a great album, as the first side is amazing and the second side holds its own. At 9 songs and 38 minutes, it's exactly the right length too.

[You can listen to The Ting Tings' "Fruit Machine" by navigating to the post "Song031" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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VHS or Beta : Night On Fire

What would happen if Robert Smith of the Cure decided to cut an album with Duran Duran back in '82? You'd probably end up with something that sounded suspiciously like VHS or Beta's Night On Fire. Seriously, the lead singer is a dead ringer for Robert, emitting a strangled bark that emulates almost exactly the way the gothic frontman sings. I think he might even might even be affecting a bit of an English accent, which is odd considering they're from Louisville, Kentucky.

And the band on this album... The bass work is a dead ringer for John Taylor's from "Rio" or even "Girls On Film". The guitar work also sounds eerily familiar, echoing songs from the same period. It's kind of spooky actually. Anyway, it's thrown over a nice dance rock beat, and suddenly you've got a club-worthy release that pays homage to that early MTV sound while still being grounded firmly in the 21st century.

"Night On Fire" can be found on VHS or Beta's 2004 release Night On Fire. Night On Fire is a great album, one of my favorite finds in 2009, especially if you like the Cure or Duran Duran. The band gets away from that formula on some of the other tracks, including some extended instrumental jams, which was a bit surprising, but they're well done. I've listened to some of the other stuff VHS or Beta has done, but it's more dance-oriented, almost to the level of, say, Daft Punk, and not really my bag.

As of this writing, Night On Fire is 0.01 dollars for a used copy at Amazon (plus shipping & handling). How can you pass that up?

[You can listen to VHS or Beta's "Night On Fire" by navigating to the post "Song030" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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