Faith No More – Angel Dust

It’s been one of those weeks when a quiet moment of inactivity has been hard to come by, and last night was no exception.  I headed up to Santa Monica to support my friend Sean’s big show at the Temple Bar.

I like the Temple Bar.  It’s dark, well appointed, and they usually have a lot of great music. It’s a shame they’re closing down after ten years of success, but that’s how the scene goes.  Start with a bang, do a decent business and close it down when it starts to get stale…so you can remodel and open as an entirely new space!

Such is the life cycle of the LA Club.

But I digress.  I was over at the bar taking pictures, because having my camera gives me something to do, when this Asian girl walked up to me.

“What are taking pictures of?”

I explained I was trying to take a picture of the TV.  She started talking cameras with me and laughing at my jokes.  Suddenly I thought to myself:  “Is she hitting on me?”  I already have a girlfriend, and I really didn’t find her attractive, but I was flattered and was mentally patting myself on the back thinking:

“Oh yeah…you still got it!”

Then (as if on que) she stopped laughing, handed me a flyer for a band she was promoting and walked off to the next guy.

So, I guess I don’t still have it.  And that’s the news…humbling isn’t it.

Anyways, such happenings often leave me wistful for the glorious past. And the glorious past makes me think of the nineties, and the nineties make me think of Faith No More.  It should come as no surprise that someone who likes Mr Bungle also likes FNM, they practically go arm and arm…although FNM was the more mainstream of the two bands.  And in 1992 they reached their peak with their fourth studio album “Angel Dust.”

Personally, I like to think of it as their second album since the band never really took off until Mike Patton joined the band, and this was his second album with them. Their pre-Patton days were not very pretty.

Originally formed in 1982 as Faith No Man (gag) with Mike “The Man” Morris as singer, but by all accounts he was a bit to much of an asshole, so they dumped him and became Faith No More.  The band tried out a number of singers, including a young Courtney Love, before finally going with Chuck Mosely on lead vocals.  They released their first album “We Care Alot” in 12985 on the small Mordam label before getting picked up by Slash records and putting out their first full length album “Introduce Yourself” in 1987.  The only hit was a revamped version of their single from the first record ‘We Care Alot,’ which wasn’t too bad and got some time on the MTV video rotation.

But the band was not doing well, despite their modest success. Plagued by friction and fighting, the band had descended into sheer collective hatred.  Mosely was fired for his crappy behavior and guitarist Jim Martin suggested a young kid named Mike Patton to replace him.  Patton was still playing with Mr Bungle at the time, but soon dropped out of college to join the band.  All the music was already recorded, but in two weeks Patton had written all the lyrics for what would become the bands biggest album to date, “The Real Thing.”  Soon the band was a household name, and now the hated nemesis of The Red Hot Chili Peppers who felt that FNM has stolen their sound…to which I say “In your dreams RHCP!”

But it was their next effort that really hit me on a hard gut level that “The Real Thing” didn’t.  As “The Real Thing” was dominated by Patton’s singing and songwriting, 1992’s “Angel Dust” would find the whole band becoming more involved in the recording process and Patton experimenting with new sounds and direction for the group.  Where most bands would have followed the success of their previous album by sticking to the same formula, FNM decided to take a risk…and it paid off.  Mirroring the album artwork (a snowy white egret on the front and a butcher shop window on the back) the sound would run the gamut between beauty and barbarism. It would be the known as the final album before Jim Martin left the band.

The new found cohesion in the band made for great listening with songs like ‘Midlife Crisis,’ ‘Be Aggressive’ and ‘Land of Sunshine’…but the album also does a great job with their cover of ‘Midnight Cowboy’ as well as super heavy tracks like ‘Crack Hitler.’ Not only was the music heavy and raw, but also made use of samples from such a varied array of artists as Simon and Garfunkle to the Kronos Quartet.

“Angel Dust” finds a sonic balance that few artists or their albums could ever hope to achieve and it does so extremely well.  The group would make two more albums after this…each more experimental than commercial, before they called it quits, but the influence of the album  cans til be heard in music today though the likes of Korn and Linkin Park to name a few.

Pulling it off my shelf the other day, I was surprised how well the music had stood the test of time, especially when so much from that era has now been tossed in the novelty music bin.  But the part of me that knows better, knows that it won’t be long before college kids are hosting 90’s parties, and music like this will be heard once again.

If I didn’t like it so much, I’d shudder at the thought.

Sixto Rodriguez – Cold Fact

Wednesday night ended up being much drunker this week than I expected…but I’ve really come to enjoy the idea of the mid week tension breaker. Billy and Brian showed up around 9ish and started in on the beers and Sailor Jerry. Then Deven appeared after 11 with two old friends Crum and Tyo (their last names…not their first.)

Tyo is what we call a magnificent asshole. The kind of guy who will tell you exactly what he thinks, regardless of the situation…then tells you to fuck off. I love him anyway because he has one of the sickest collections of sixties era furniture I’ve ever seen, and he collects the most disgusting high-end audio equipment you could imagine. The kind of shit that was designed in Germany and costs several grand.  Jeff buys that stuff like groceries.

But Tyo has a real thirst for funk and jazz, like myself…and Wednesday night found us deep in my loft digging through said sections for treasure and playing a little game of “have you heard this?” One of the albums I pulled out was Sixto Rodriguez’s 1970 album “Cold Fact.”

Unless you’re one of the crate diggers over at Soul Strut, or fan of finding obscure music, you probably don’t know Sixto, but that’s why I’m here, and why I write about this kind of thing. It deserves to be known. It doesn’t seem to fall into any particular genre, but seems to borrow a little from the latin, funk, folk and psyche categories and forms a unique creature of it’s own.

Sixto was born in Detroit, the son of middle class Mexican immigrants.  In 1967 he released his first single ‘I’ll Slip Away’ under the name of Rod Riguez on the Impact Label.  It would be another three years before he released anything else, and not until he signed on to Sussex records where he cut two albums: “Cold Fact’ and ‘Coming From Reality’.  But although of high quality, neither album took off.  Most critics didn’t get it and the album sold poorly, leading the label to drop Sixto who subsequently gave up his career as a musician.

But then something strange happened.  He albums began to gain steam over seas in countries like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. By 1975 the original run of “Cold Fact’ was sold out and an Australian label called Blue Goose Music bought the Australian rights to Sixto’s catalog, giving both albums their first major label release.  This was all news to Sixto, who discovered that his album had gone platinum in South Africa.  He toured Australia twice, once in 1979 then again in 1981 before he went home and resumed a normal life.

With a voice somewhere between Cat Stevens and Jose Feliciano, Sixto’s music definitely falls under the label of ‘deep’ with his semi political leanings and social commentary.  The best album cuts include the smooth ‘Sugar Man’ (which you may recall from the Heath Ledger movie: Candy ) my favorite ‘This Is Not A Song, It’s An Outburst’ and ‘Rich Folks Hoax.’

And of his two albums, “Cold Fact” remains the best.  Sixto can still be found playing occasionally under the name Rodriguez…although mainly in Australia.  Check it out, folks.

Frank Sinatra with the Red Norvo Quintet – Live in Australia, 1959

I kind of wish I could say my grandparents had turned me on to Frank Sinatra…because that would sound kind of cool and make it seem as if I had had some kind of hipster grandparents who dug the jazz and knew all the ingredients of a good gimlet.

But, alas, neither set seemed very interested in music at all.  I’m not even sure they were aware that music existed.  My Mother’s parents owned a ranch and raised cattle and quarter horses.  My Dad’s parents…

Well, my Dad’s parents lived in Yuba City.   Google it.

In the end I discovered Frank through people my own age when my friends and I entered our “Lounge” phase in college, Sinatra became a large part of our lives very quickly.  Disgruntled by the fact that no one in our group was in a fraternity, and we weren’t invited to any of the formal parties, we began to throw our own “Lounge Parties.”  And they were a huge hit.

This was nice because the ladies enjoyed the suave atmosphere, music and drinks…and we

enjoyed the ladies.  That and we hired doormen to keep the Greeks out.But regardless of your affiliation or age group, Frank Sinatra is a man whose music has sort of a universal appeal.  This is due not only to the fact that Frank was an amazing badass, but more from his incredibly great taste in producers and musicians.  Frank knew who to pick and when and it served him well. This is what set him apart from his Rat Pack compatriots, and kept his career strong for as long as it lasted. 

When I started listening to Frank, I was a huge fan of his live 1966 album “Sinatra at the Sands.” Here you find Frank in full Vegas mode backed by none other than the Count Basie Orchestra with Quincy Jones producing.  It’s an excellent time capsule for the period, and full of great music…but I wanted more.

More of the more pensive Frank who cut the concept album with Jobim. More of a jazzier Frank.

And in 1997 I got my wish when Blue Note records released the recording of “Frank Sinatra with the Red Norvo Quintet, Live in Australia, 1959 ” It’s quite a mouthful for a title, and as far as I know the only Sinatra recording Blue Note has released, but it ranks up there as one of the best live recordings of the man I’ve ever heard. 

The sound quality is far from stellar…but it was 1959, and despite of the lack of high quality recording equipment, the absolutely stunning energy of the performance lifts this album higher than it might otherwise be. Have a listen to the curtain dropping version of ‘Night and Day’ above.  So stylized by Red Norvo’s Quintet as to be unrecognizable at first, the crowd gives an audible gasp when Frank transitions right into it…smooth as silk.  

Any question that Frank was only as good as his backing band dissipates with the first listen, although that is no swipe at Norvo and his group.  Quite the contrary, it’s Norvo’s sparse arrangements and shimmering vibe work that allow Sinatra the freedom to really stretch his voice on this recording.  And that feeling of relaxed enjoyment from Frank that pushes the envelope here, as is evident on this recording of ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ where he takes a dig at some guy in the front row. 

It’s a feeling of real joy and enjoyment that seems to seep from every nook of this record…right down to Frank’s banter with the obviously enraptured audience.  And after a listen you may count yourself among their number.

The Grateful Dead – American Beauty

Anyone ever watch “Freaks and Geeks?”

It was probably the best and most honest show about high school that I’ve ever seen. Less drama and more insane awkwardness than you could hope for, it was so good that the network canceled it after one season. 

Because why wouldn’t they? 

The people who made that decision are probably the same people who signed “According to Jim” to it’s third season.  But I digress…

The series finale of “Freaks” has the main character discovering the Grateful Dead, and one of the heads loans her “American Beauty.”  Her hippy guidance councilor sees her with it and says something like “Ahhhh….American Beauty.  I wish I’d never heard it, just so I could hear it again for the first time.”

And that kind of sums up the nostalgic feeling the album invokes.

Released at the end of 1970, the Dead’s fifth album ranks among their best along with “Workingman’s Dead.”  It also included one of the band’s biggest and most recognizable hits, ‘Truckin’…which I believe was only toppled by 1987’s “Touch of Grey.”  It was during that late 80’s resurgence that my generation was reintroduced to the magic of the Dead. ‘Ripple,’ another great song from “American Beauty,” was voted as our class song at our high school graduation.

There were a lot of stoners in my class.

But, the album was also great for a number of other reasons.  Recording had begun only a few months after “Workingman’s Dead” was completed and the band found themselves without their veteran sound crew.  The Dead had been scheduled to participate in the Medicine Ball Caravan Tour, but had to back out…the crew was still on board though and had to go on without them, taking producer Bob Matthews with them.  That’s when staff engineer Stephen Barncard stepped in to the empty producers seat and started making magic.

The album was also marked by a notable absence of guitar work by Jerry Garcia, who had switched over to the more country tinged feel of pedal steel guitar work that became a signature sound on the record.  The recording also took a historically awesome twist when Garcia ran into mandolinist and songwriter David Grisman at a baseball game and invited him to play on the record. 

Such was the beginning of a musical partnership that would last until Garcia’s death in 1995.

All history aside though, “American Beauty” stands as a wonderful testament to what the Dead played best: American music, in all it’s varied glory.  From the opening strains of ‘Box of Rain’ to the closing tune of ‘Truckin,’ the album meanders like a country road leading to a barn dance.  It was the first time the concert staples ‘Sugar Magnolia’ and ‘Friend of the Devil’ were heard, and the last album to feature Micky Hart when he took a four year break from the band.

If you never heard an actual Dead album, this is the place to start.  If you have, it’s a good time to hear it again for the first time.  Buy it now!!!

(NOTE: And if you look at the title on the album by Kelly-Mouse Studios, it can also be read as “American Reality.”…Pretty cool!)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – The Spoken Word Adaptation

I know this really doesn’t count as an album.  But I figure it doesn’t really fall under the general definition of an audio book either because:

1.  Most audio books are at least 5 disks long, and those are usually the abridged versions.

2.  Most audio books have just one dude reading the book, and nothing more.

Hunter S Thomson’s Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas:  The Spoken Word Version is so much more for the following reasons.

1. It’s only one disk.

2.  It has a full dramatic cast portraying all the characters, as well as an incredibly rich sound design that includes sound effects and music.

It is for these reasons that I decided it merited a place in the list…that and the fact that it fucking rules.

Every year I am forced to make the five and half hour drive up the central valley of California to see the family.  In years past, all I had for entertainment was a stack of CD’s, a bag of road snacks and the odd traveling companion.  Until I discovered the joy of audio books.

Nothing else can quite kill off what would normally be five hours of boredom.

With a cast that includes Harry Dean Stanton as the narrator, Jim Jarmusch as Hunter Thomson, and Maury Chaykin as Dr Gonzo this spoken word edition goes beyond the realm of most audio books and weaves an entirely entertaining and immersive tale that will quicken even the longest road trip.

Gone is the single voiced narrator of most recorded tales, replaced with a barrage of sound and music and a chorus of characters and voices that draw the listener in and portray the book in ways that the Terry Gilliam film never even touched on. Yes, above all else, this recording captures (in my humble opinion) the true spirit of the book.  Jut listen to the sample of the opening chapter below.

If that doesn’t grab you, then you may be dead.  Call 911.

I seldom take a raod trip to Vegas without it, as it seems to set the proper tone for the visit and gets my liver amped up for the coming flood.

Various – The Super Breaks Series

 

Do you like samples?

Not the free ones that they hand out at Costco…even though they are delicious. But the one’s that are used to back up a good song (or a bad one.) Usually they are slices of old funk or soul, usually they are the best shit you never heard, and usually they are incredibly rare and hard to locate.

Some albums do you the favor of listing where their samples came from in their liner notes…but some don’t.  So, if you’re looking for the goods it wasn’t always easy.  At least it wasn’t until books like The Sampling Dictionary, or websites like The Hip Hop Directory came out.

I’ve always said a good compilation is the best bang you can get for your buck…aside from a good mixtape. And one of the better series that came out was the Super Breaks series on the BGP (Beat Goes Public) label.  They lay down a bread crumb trail that any aspiring beat head will find easy to follow.

In the late 80’s this subsidiary of Ace records got their hands on the virtual goldmine that was the Fantasy label and began sifting through their  vaults.  The results are nothing short of stunning.

You’ll find easily recognizable tunes like Jean Jaques Perrey’s ‘E.V.A.’ used by Gangstarr for ‘Just to Get a Rep,’ or the original Linda Lyndell version of ‘What a Man’ covered by En Vogue.  The rest you may not immediately recognize…but are good enough to make you want to find out who sampled them and for what.

Besides, who wouldn’t want a good copy of William De Vaughn’s seminal pimp classic ‘Be Thankful for What You Got’ or Rufus Thomas’ ‘The Breakdown (Part 2).’ Or the stomping good time tunes of The Fatback Band’s ‘Got to Learn How to Dance’ that I must have searched forever to find. Fans of good old soul and funk will find hits galore here.

Yup, the good folks at BGP have done good work, and not just with this series.  Be on the lookout for their other collections like the ‘Acid Jazz’ series by Giles Peterson and the smooth soul crooning of ‘Sweet Taste of Sin’ as well.

It’s all good baby!  Go get em HERE!!!

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – Deja Vu

The Police. Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Eagles…

All great bands.  All great musicians.  All hate some, if not all, of their band mates.

What is it about a band full of guys who can’t stand eachother that makes for such great music?  I guess there could be many reasons but, I’m gonna take volatility for $400, Alex.  Luckily, most of these bands have found a way to overcome this cycle of loathing. 

It’s called money.  Big truckloads of cash can do a lot to ease the stress of mutual hatred.

At least it’s worked a lot lately with a bunch of older bands. Like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

In 1968 Buffalo Springfield was breaking up, and after finishing the final album.  Stephen Stills found himself with a lot of extra time on his hands.  David Crosby had been let go from the Byrds the previous year, and the two began jamming together.  Graham Nash, then with The Holies, had met Crosby when the Byrds toured the UK in 1966 and had maintained contact since.  Then, on one magical night at a party, Nash persuaded Crosby and Stills to perform on of their songs with Nash singing an improvisational harmony…and a legend was born.

As it turns out Graham was fed up with The Hollies and promptly quit to give this new group a try.  After a rejection from Apple Studios, the group was picked up by Atlantic thanks to the sure hand of the legendary Ahmet Ertegün, who was a huge Springfield fan. Because of their volatile musical histories, the band used their surnames as the bands new title to ensure that if any member left, the band would not continue without him.  After hammering out some contractual problems, the band headed to the Studio and recorded their self-titled first album, which was released in spring of 1969.

The album was a smash, but presented the band with a major problem.  With the exception of their drummer, Dallas Taylor, Stills had handled most of the intrumentalization himself.  It was an impressive feat, but if the band was to tour, they needed another guy. 

That’s where Neil Young came in.

After some more contractual tweaking, Neil was added to the band and the moniker as well…and the tour began.  After a trial by fire at Woodstock and a near miss escape from the disaster at Altamont, CSNY released their new quartet back album, “Deja Vu” in March of 1970.  Brimming with supernatural harmonies and great music to back them up, the album quickly topped the charts with it’s mixture of pop, rock, country and roots music.

Hit’s like ‘Carry On’ and “Teach Your Children’ would help propel it to the top for years afterward and cement it a place in rock history.  Shortly after the tour the band imploded, although they still continue to tour and record from time to time.(read every few years)

Thank God for the money, eh?

Carol King – Tapestry

-Carol King?

Yeah, what of it?

-My mom listens to that crap! What are you smoking?

Crack…with a little speed sprinkled on top.  I call it speedballing!

-But, Carol King?!?!

Have you listened to the album?

-No, but…

Then shut up and take notes.

I too found it weird that I would like an album like this…until I listened to it and said: “Damn…that’s that shit, right there!” Hell, I would never have picked it up if I hadn’t been perusing the ‘Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time’ list, spotted it and gave it a spin.

More people should give that method a try.

I’ve always had a soft spot for singer/songwriters…or anyone who has a profession that has a slash in it.  I admire multitaskers.  Born in Brooklyn, King learned piano at an early age before moving on to singing. While attending Queens college, she made some new musical friends like Neil Sedaka (who wrote “Oh! Carol” for her,) Paul Simon and Gerry Goffin.  It was her partnership with Gerry that would launch her career.

The two formed a partnership working as songwriters for Aldon Music, who was churning out hits all through the sixties.  Their first big hit was ‘Will You Love me Tomorrow?’by the Shirelles which topped the charts in 1961 and was later covered by folks like Dusty Springfield, Laura Branigan and The Four Seasons.   The two eventually married and had two daughters.

Over the course of their career, the two penned a slew of hits like ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ for the Monkees, ‘The Loco-Motion’ by Little Eva and ‘(You Make me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ for Aretha Franklin.

As the sixties came to a close, King and Goffin grew apart and divorced, as King began to focus on her own singing career.  After a few failed albums( “Now That Everything’s Been Said” and “Writer”), and modest hits, she had yet to crack the top 10.

Until 1971, that is.

That’s when King released “Tapestry,” a piano fueled folksy collection of her early hits and new compositions.  You know she struck gold when “Tapestry” held the title of best selling pop solo album ever until it was de-throned by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” twelve years later.  The Lp is chock full of wonderful singles like ‘I Feel The Earth Move,’ ‘It’s Too Late’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend.’ And the vibe is warm and inviting…and sometimes rocking!

“Tapestry” Still remains a landmark album and a testament to the power of the singer/songwriter era of the early seventies. 

And you don’t have to smoke crack to enjoy it.