Today’s interviewee is James Taylor circa 1970 (there are actually a couple of interview segments and a great performance of Riding On A Railroad, one of my all time favorite songs). What you will discover from the interview is that James wasn’t really acting in Two Lane Blacktop….he is really that laconic. I actually think it’s one of the things that make me love James so much. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think!
A week or so ago I posted Simon and Garfunkel’s 1969 TV special as a Monday Matinee. The next day, I was telling a friend about the special and describing some of the highlights including the performance of America.
My friend asked if I had ever heard the Yes cover of America. I admitted that I hadn’t, even though I’m a Yes fan, and that I was intrigued by the fact that Yes had covered the song. When I finally got home and listened to the Yes version of the song I was unbelievably pissed! What a tone deaf interpretation of a beautiful song. While I love Jon Anderson, and fully believe that he could have done an amazing version of the song, his phrasing and the groups musical interpretation destroyed one of the best songs ever written. The melody was lost, the meaning was lost, and we were left with an exercise in musical excess. Let me be blunt it was a piece of shit and I hereby declare it to be the worst cover song of all time. Since it is Two’fer Tuesday you don’t have to take my word for it, you can decide for yourself. First up is America (the beautiful) by Simon and Garfunkel which is quickly followed by America (the 1972 abomination) by Yes.
I would like to issue a challenge to all of the readers of this blog to try to identify a worse cover song and post a comment identifying your nomination for worst cover song of all time. I will keep track of all of your nominations, post about them, and after a month or so stage an on-line vote to select our collective pick for the all time worst cover song of all time. Come on…..join in and let’s have some fun identifying some really bad music!!!!
I clearly remember going to see Two Lane Blacktop in 1971 and being completely enamored with the film. It featured two of my favorite musicians, James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, both of whom were quite laconic in the movie. I myself was a man of few words back then which you might find hard to read if you are frequent reader of this blog. It also didn’t hurt that the movie was all about fast cars…..back in the late 1960s early 1970s I was absolutely muscle car crazy. For those of you that aren’t from the US, I don’t know if the term “muscle car” will have any meaning for you but if you take a look at the Pontiac GTO Judge that Warren Oates drives in the movie you will get an idea about what muscle cars were all about.
The movie was not very successful (I can honestly say that I have never met a single person that has seen the movie). Fortunately for you, I found a copy on YouTube and now you can have the opportunity to relive my experience from 1971. Before showing the movie I thought you might like to learn a little more about it so here are some highlights that I borrowed from Wikipedia…..
Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird.
Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April 1971 issue, but the film was not a commercial success. The film has since become a cult classic. Brock Yates, organizer of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (better known as the Cannonball Run) cites Two-Lane Blacktop as one source of inspiration for the creation of the race, and commented on it in his Car and Driver column announcing the first Cannonball.
Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule film of U.S. Route 66 during the pre-Interstate Highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue. As such, it has become popular with fans of Route 66. Two-Lane Blacktop has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as Vanishing Point, Easy Rider, and Electra Glide in Blue.
In 2012, the film was added to the National Film Registry
So, without further ado, here is our feature for today! I hope you enjoy it…..as always, let me know what you think.
RIP Dennis!
Tonight’s session is a 1971 concert by James Taylor. It is yet another of the great BBC singer/songwriter concerts from the early 1970s (God bless the BBC for recording and preserving these concerts for future generations to enjoy). James gives a wonderful performance, my favorite song is “Riding on a Railroad”…..let me know yours. The set for the concert is provided below…..enjoy!
Setlist
If you like James Taylor be sure to check back tomorrow for a great Monday Matinee post featuring James Taylor as an actor. He was a busy boy in 1971! Trust me….you don’t want to miss this one………
Update: My friend Gerard commented on this post indicating that he was unable to view this video. If you also had that problem please post a comment and let me know where you live so I can try to track down the issue. Also, please try the alternate link below to see if it works any better (there is an ad that you have to watch at the front of this one but it might be worth it if it works for you)…..
I think this is the best interview so far (the title above says it all). Great performances by Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Stills and some really great discussions during the interview part of the show. As always, let me know what you think!
My friend Gerard posted a comment over the weekend that I have been thinking about constantly. The heart of the comment was “Why do we like the music that we like?” It was a very simple and straight forward question but as hard as I have tried I cannot come up with a simple answer. I haven’t given up…….when I come up with a good response I will post about it. In the meantime, I encourage other people to post replies to Gerard’s comments with their answers.
I bring up Gerard’s comment today because the subject of today’s post is a good example of why his question is so hard for me to answer. I fell in love with a song called Under The Milky Way the first time I heard it and it is still one of my all time favorite songs. I don’t love The Church, the group that recorded the song, although they are quite talented. I bought their album, Starfish, that contained Under The Milky Way and never bought anything else that they recorded. Hell, I never really even seriously listened to any of the other songs on the album…..but I wore out the vinyl grove for Under The Milky Way. Why????
It’s not a complicated song but it speaks to me in a strange way that I can’t explain. The lyrics are great but there are phrases that I latch onto and identify with………
And it’s something quite peculiar,
Something that’s shimmering and white.
Leads you here despite your destination,
Under the milky way tonight
It is a mystery to me but I will figure this out and we will talk about it more in future posts. For now let’s listen to three different version of Under The Milky Way (the original, an interesting acoustic version, and a version that the group performed in 2010 when they were inducted in the Australian Recording Hall Of Fame)…………
Official Video
Acoustic Version
Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Hall Of Fame 2010
Does this song affect anyone else or is it just me???
Today’s Monday Matinee offering is a classic 1969 Simon and Garfunkel TV special that had not been seen in many years until it was released in DVD format as part of a 40th Anniversary release of Bridge Over Troubled Waters. The special was originally aired on US TV at on November 30, 1969 (it was later shown on BBC which is apparently the source of this version). Here is what thevideobeat.com has to say about the special.
Controversial and rare TV show containing in-studio rehearsal and recording, road travel, political viewpoints, concert performances and video montages of key events of the 1960s.
The program was originally to be a “Bell Telephone” TV special but when they saw the finished product they said, “No!” When video images of JFK, RFK and MLK were shown while “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” played, the Bell Telephone executives commented, “They’re all democrats, why no republicans?” Simon & Garfunkel said, “Is that what you see? How about they were all assassinated?” Simon & Garfunkel met with CBS and they sympathized with the content and agreed to air the program.
Songs include: “America,” “So Long Frank Lloyd Wright,” “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” “Scarborough Fair, ” “El Condor Pasa (If I Could),” “Punky’s Dilemma,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Mystery Train,” “Feeling Groovy,” “The Boxer,” “Homeward Bound,” “Sounds Of Silence,” and several others.
Seeing Simon and Garfunkel at the height of their power in 1969 is definitely worth an hour of your time but this video offers much more that that. Watch it and let me know what you think……..
I don’t talk to much about Country Music in this Blog but I have to comment on the passing of George Jones this weekend. Without a doubt George was the greatest country singer of all time. I can’t think of any better way honor his passing than this great performance of He Stopped Loving Her Today, the song he will always be remembered for……
If you listened to this song and didn’t have a tear in your eye by the end you don’t have a heart!
So…..as a general rule, I do not go in for the classic rock reunions but I am making an exception for Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, and the rest of the Guess Who when they were running across Canada once again back in 2000. I saw the Guess Who back in the early 70s (unfortunately without Randy) and they were amazing. I am happy to say the band has not lost a step in the intervening years. Really good stuff from my favorite Canadian band, I think you will enjoy this.
One of the things that I liked best about this concert was seeing the respect that Burton and Randy have for each other. Never thought I would ever see Burton singing a Bachman Turner Overdrive song….miracles never cease!
Today I have a terrific recent interview with Gordon. Some things get better with age…..Gordon is one of those things. Enjoy the interview!
As a bonus here is a great clip of Burton Cummings imitating Gordon singing various songs. Burton clearly has a lot of love for Gordon as do most Canadians and this American.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 