Today’s Long Song Tuesday offering is from a folk music legend, Eric Andersen. Eric’s music career has had more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco.
His career started in the early 60s music scene in Greenwich Village. He wrote a number of folk classics including my favorite, Violets of Dawn. He joined up with Columbia Records in the early 70s and released Blue River, his masterpiece. With his career on a roll, he recorded a follow-up album for Columbia called Stages and, although it sounds too strange to be true, the master tapes for the album were lost in the Columbia vaults. He left Columbia and released a number of uneven albums in the 70s and 80s but never equaled the success of Blue River until 1988 when he finally regained his artistic footing by recording and releasing Ghost Upon The Road. Ghost Upon the Road was widely acclaimed by critics and produced a song of the same name that is the subject of today’s Long Song offering. This masterpiece is clearly autobiographical and honors acquaintances who did not make through the turbulent times of the early 60s. The spoken word presentation and haunting instrumentation of Ghost Upon the Road make it unlike anything you have ever heard. Take a listen:
Speaking of those twists and turns in his career, the lost master tapes for Stages were finally uncovered in the early 90s and the album was released as Stages: The Lost Album in 1991. The album is out of print today but if you are persistent you should be able to find a used copy on Amazon like I did. Trust me when I say that your efforts will be rewarded when you finally get to listen to the album. Eric is still making music and if you enjoyed Ghost Upon the Road I encourage your to explore some of his 25+ albums. As always, let me know what you think.
Chairlift, a duo from Brooklyn, has been around since 2008 but I just recently learned of them. I really like Met Before off of their new album Something that was released last month. Take a listen:
This song reminds me of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, one of my favorite current bands. I’m anxious to see if the remainder of the new album is equally tasty. As always, let me know what you think.
So why did the Beatles break up? After more than 40 years no one knows the real story. At one time or another I think I have heard all four of them claim that they were the one that walked away first but I think I might have found the real answer and I will present evidence to make my case. First a little background.
A quick review of the Beatles catalog shows that John and Paul were responsible for the majority of songs on every album while George was given only one or two songs per album. The casual listener was led to believe that this was because that was all the songs he had that were “worthy”. This belief was of course blown to smithereens once the Beatles broke up and George’s first solo offering was All Things Must Pass, a stunning three record album completely written by George. How was that possible?
It was possible because George was a much bigger talent than John and Paul wanted us to believe. I expect that he had been bringing more to the table than they were prepared to put on “their” Beatle albums. To support this position I would like to point out that All Things Must pass, the title song on George’s first solo album had been pitched to the Beatles during the Twickenham sessions leading up to the Let It Be album. In listening to these sessions we hear take after take of the Beatles playing All Things Must Pass and guess what….they all suck! It seems pretty clear to me that John and Paul really did not have their heart in playing George’s song. Take a listen to this take that provides one example of the point I am making:
This take was made on Day 5 of the sessions…George walked out on Day 8 but was eventually talked into returning (read more about the Twickenham Sessions in this article on Wikipedia). I suspect that his mind was already made up to end the Beatles even when he returned. It must have been clear to him that he had outgrown the Beatles. Take a listen to this solo demo of All Things Must Pass (from my personal stash) that George was working on and compare and contrast the two versions yourself.
I feel compelled to offer up my “This coffee is served hot” disclaimer and state for the record that I am speculating here and don’t really have first hand knowledge of how the Beatles fell apart. You look at the evidence and make up your own mind and as always, let me know what you think.
During the past week Bruce announced that he would be releasing a new album called Wrecking Ball this spring. As part of that announcement he released a video for one of the songs on that album called We Take Care Of Our Own. Take a listen:
During this same time period the presumptive Republican Nominee for President, Mitt Romney, stated that he is not concerned about the poor. In case you missed it here is an excerpt from that interview (along with a short commentary):
Maybe it’s just me but I think these two events provide us with a pretty concise summary of the decision that we will be making this fall. The United States that I believe in takes care of it’s own and is concerned about every American. If you have a similar vision of what our country is all about, your choice is clear. Vote for Obama!
Since you have been nice enough to let me rant, here is a Bruce bonus as your reward.
So…hold tight to your anger but don’t fall to your fear and as Bruce says at the end, “Bring it on!”
To lighten the mood click the link below to watch a video called Hitler’s First Springsteen Show. I laughed until I cried…literally.
The internet is truly a wonderful thing., I am able to conduct nightly treasure hunts without ever leaving my house. In my case, the treasure takes the form of studio outtakes/archives from my favorite bands which provide me with an experience that is as close to time travel as I will ever get.
Today’s offering is from my personal treasure stash. We have traveled back to 1969 and find ourselves in the studio with Crosby, Stills, and Nash as they are working on Déjà vu, their second album. While there is plenty of amazing music from their time in the studio, what I am sharing with you today is a short chat between David Crosby and Stephen Stills. Take a listen.
We all know that the Grateful Dead were great musicians that never seemed to translate their talent into commercial success, but I think it was fascinating to listen to Stephen and David discuss plans for saving them. To the best of my knowledge neither David nor Stephen followed through with these plans but David had significant collaborations with various members of the Grateful Dead while making his first solo album, If Only I Could Remember My Name. Check it out if you don’t have it already. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. As always, let me know what you think.
This will be the first in what I hope to be a series of Long Song posts on Tuesdays. In keeping with the theme of this blog, these long songs will include some of my favorite long songs that you might not have been lucky enough to have previously heard.
This evening, I have some Be Bop Deluxe for your listening pleasure. Be Bop Deluxe was one of my favorite bands when I was in graduate school in the mid-1970’s and this song, Modern Music, is from the 1977 album of the same name. Bill Nelson was the leader of Be Bop Deluxe and this is his masterpiece. It might remind some of the second side of Abbey Road but I think it stands on its own merits. Take a listen
I have always been interested in understanding how great songs, or more generally great ideas, come about. There is a tendency to believe that great songs and ideas spring to life, fully formed, but I know that this is not true.
For those that might be interested there are a number of great business books on this topic. I highly recommend:
Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson
Dealers of Lightning by Michael Hitzik
The latter, one of my favorite books ever, captures the story of how most of the computer innovations that we take for granted today (Graphical User Interfaces, the mouse, and Ethernet among others) came about as part of the Xerox PARC project.
Bringing this post back to topic of music lets travel back in time to the mid-1970s. Bruce Springsteen is hard at work on a follow-up to Born to Run. He has lots of ideas, all at different stages of development. Some don’t have real lyrics yet or even titles. Even so, he and the E-Street band are putting them all on tape. Lets take a listen to a couple of them.
Candy’s Boy
The Fast Song
The second of these songs immediately catches everyone’s attention in the studio. It doesn’t have a real title yet but everyone calls it The Fast Song. The bones of the song are strong but Bruce is not happy with the lyrics other than some towards the end:
“She has men who’ll bring her anything she wants but they don’t know that what she wants is me”
Unfortunately there isn’t a story to support these lyrics. Who is this girl?
The first song is slow, some might say plodding, but it appears to have some personal meaning for Bruce so he keeps working on it. It is tentatively called Candy’s Boy. The lyrics hint at a back-story that is left untold but everyone fills in the gaps with their own interpretation:
“To get to Candy’s room you have to walk the darkness of Candy’s hall. Strange men from the city call Candy’s number and bring Candy toys but when I come knocking she smiles pretty…”
At some point Bruce has a peanut butter and chocolate moment, if you will, with these two songs. “Hey…lets take the beginning lyric from the slow Candy’s Boy and make it work in that Fast Song that everyone likes.” Boom! The magic happens and an incredible new song called Candy’s Room is born. Take a listen
Now..lets be truthful. I don’t have any idea if this is the way things actually happened but I do have some evidence in the form of the demos provided above. I think my interpretation of the evidence might be the way it really happened but, as always, let me know what you think.
This is the first of what is planned as a continuing series of posts. Although we all go to concerts for the music, some of the best moments are the stories that get told between songs. If you have ever been lucky enough to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert you know what I am talking about.
What I have for you today is something from my personal stash. It captures Neil Young in a 1974 concert at the Bitter End. In this piece he talks about why he quit playing Southern Man AND tells you how to make honey sliders. This is good stuff. As always let me know what you think.
Today we have a real treat for you. First Aid Kit is a Swedish duo consisting of two sisters. This video is from their new, soon to be released album. I am really looking forward to this one. I am a sucker for “blood harmony”.
You probably guess it already but in case you didn’t the video was filmed in Joshua Tree National Park. Let me know if you don’t get the connection.
In case you missed it, checkout this First Aid Kit of Fleet Foxes’ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.
This is great stuff. As always, let me know what you think?
So….any opinions on the question I posed in the last post? Let’s provide some more background information in the form of a story and see if the answer becomes any clearer.
It’s 1973, the height of the singer/songwriter era, and you have just released your first album called Aquashow on the Polydor label. The headline for the Aquashow review in Rolling Stone magazine is: “He’s the Best Dylan Since 1968”. Here, let’s take a listen.
Great news? Nope….you are officially fucked because you have just been hit with the “Dylan comparison”.
But wait, you aren’t alone. Another young singer/songwriter name Bruce Springsteen has also recently been hit with the same comparison in the April 26, 1973 issue of Rolling Stone in an article titled “Bruce Springsteen: It’s Sign Up a Genius Month”. To quote the first paragraph of the article:
“It’s more than a decade since John Hammond Sr. of Columbia Records signed Bob Dylan to a recording contract. Since then, Hammond has signed a number of other successes and, by his own admission, a number of “stiffs”. Now he has signed Bruce Springsteen, 23, of Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Hammond says. “He’s much further along, much more developed than Bobby was when he came to me.”
As it turns out, despite all of the critical acclaim, neither your first album nor Bruce’s first album has significant commercial success. Strike one
Move ahead to your and Bruce’s second albums (Lost Generation and The Wild, the Innocent, and E Street Shuffle). For this album you decide to jump to RCA, perhaps with the hope that they will promote you better. Bruce sticks with Columbia. To quote Paul Nelson’s Rolling Stone review for Lost Generation,
“Elliott Murphy’s first album, Aquashow (Polder), released 18 months ago, showed exceptional promise and intelligence, prompting many, myself included, to ready a place in the higher echelons of rock & roll for the talented Long Islander. Now after a lengthy season of hard times – new label, new manager, new producer – Murphy returns to stand, deliver, and collect. On Lost Generation, a brilliant but extraordinarily difficult LP, the artist is hurt, angry and confused by the shifting role of the hero in modern times and the growing division between intoxicating myth and sobering reality in his personal and public lives.”
Wow, commercial success seems to be a certainty, but once again, your hopes are dashed. Bruce’s fate with The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle is similar. Strike two
You and Bruce both recognize that your careers are behind with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It is time to swing for the fences or go home. For brevity we will skip the story of Bruce’s third record here especially since everyone already knows it. Bruce did swing for the fence and produced Born To Run, an absolutely stunning album. Rolling Stone ranked Born to run as the 18th best album of all time, it was a huge commercial success, and Bruce’s was launched into superstardom.
You also took your best shot with your third album, Night Lights, but its receptions by critics and listeners was mixed. Dave Marsh’s review of Night Lights in Rolling Stone touched on what he considered to be a key difference between you and Bruce,
“In 1973 and 1974 it seemed to many of us in New York that it was a tossup whether Bruce Springsteen, the native poet of the mean streets, or Elliott Murphy, the slumming suburbanite with the ironic eye, would be come a national hero first. Well we all know how that turned out, and while Murphy must be almost as sick of being compared to Springsteen as to Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, their careers have such interesting parallels that it is almost unavoidable.
The crucial difference is that Springsteen’s genius was first perceived as lyrical and turned out to be musical, while it was Murphy’s music that was originally found compelling even though his literary qualities have come to dominate.”
The only positive in Marsh’s review had to do with the first song in the album named Diamonds by the Yard. Marsh noted: “Diamonds by the Yard is such a complete success as a spooky post-Velvet Underground mood piece that it would be a mistake to write off Murphy’s career. “ This ended up being a very insightful comment since Diamonds by the Yard became a cult hit…in France, as the album bombed in the US like your first two. It was indeed too early write off your career as you later decided to move to France where you have had a “successful” European career ever since. Just A Story From America indeed.
Before we leave this story let’s once again revisit the question that was posted in the previous post. I think that some of the answers are highlighted in the background details provided above. Elliott’s music did indeed focus on literary themes as highlighted by Dave Marsh and it was indeed difficult as highlighted by Paul Nelson, too much so, in both cases, for the typical American listener. As in many cases, a genius is not appreciated in his own time or in his own homeland. Jerry Lewis….anyone?
As an epilogue, it is worth noting that Elliott produced Just a Story From America, which many consider to be his masterpiece, as his forth album after switching to Columbia. It was too late to resurrect his US career but it is indeed a wonderful album.
If this post has made you interested enough to explore Elliott’s music as captured in his first four albums, I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that all of these albums are out of print and unavailable at any reasonable price. A quick scan of Amazon indicates that your best option might be a greatest hits CD named Diamonds by the Yard. Only one used CD is listed as being available for this album and it is priced at $99.99! Now the good news. Elliott Murphy has a wonderful website that lists his complete discography, well over thirty albums at this point, and provides in depth detail on each album. More importantly it allows you to listen to the songs for free. Enjoy! As always, let me know what you think.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 