I like the blues as much as any average white guy who grew up in the fifties and sixties and came to really appreciate the blues in the seventies. I knew of (and still know of) John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf and them Chicago blues dudes. I have heard the likes of Mississippi Fred McDowell and Leadbelly and Bukka White. I have even suffered through many a conversation listening to people (most of whom have made their blues purchases courtesy of the various
blues-albums-you-have-to-have articles written by so-called experts) who very seldom listen to blues extolling the godfatherness of Robert Johnson. Well, let me say this about that. I may not know the blues but I know what I like.
I like Stevie Ray Vaughan. I like the early Bluesbreakers. I like Kenny Wayne Shepherd. And I like the Terry Quiett Band. Those of you who have heard of Quiett, congratulations. You are on the tip of a career about to bust wide open. For those of you who haven't, pay attention. This guy is worth reading about and, more importantly, worth hearing. But before I type on, watch this video to acquaint yourselves with the man and the band.
Get the drift? Blues ain't always the blues, Roderick. Sometimes it is way more than the blues. When it is done right, anyway. And Quiett and his trio do it right.
They do it doubly right on their latest, Taking Sides. They rock and slide their way through twelve blues-to-rock-to-soul beauties, capturing that feel of the early Allman Brothers here and Stevie Ray there but always with a look to the rhythm--- the rhythm of the blues.
That rhythm varies, track to track. They rock, these guys, enough to plant people against their seats in a theater setting and more than enough to get people on their feet in a club. They roll, thanks to drummer Rodney Baker, who is solid if not flashy, and bassist Nathan Johnson, whose fluid fingers trip over the strings lightly when necessary, with force when called for.
The real key, though, is the guitar and voice of Quiett himself. He has a bit of the South in his voice but never lets it overpower the song, and oh, that guitar! Quiett runs the gamut from sweet and smooth to uplifting to downright raucous without skipping a beat. He bends strings, works the slide and coaxes notes from the guitar only very accomplished guitarists can create and if that doesn't mean anything to you, you're not listening. Toss aside all of those years of Rolling Stone magazines inane "100 Greatest Guitarist" lists and listen to the music, fer chrissake! Terry Quiett is one. And if he's not on your list, he's on mine. He can freakin' play and it is all over Taking Sides.
My favorites on the album are, me being a Motown fan, Two Hearts, which blends the edges of Motown with rockin' blues, and a cover version of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On. They call the Gaye cover a "bonus track." It is, in more ways than one. It shows the feel Quiett has for his music, it gives him guitar room (I love the horns as well), and it highlights Quiett's surprisingly soulful voice.
This, in fact, has reawakened my thirst for superior blues rock. I have pulled his Just My Luck album (read my review from a couple of years ago here) from my stacks and plan on listening to it tonight. As busy as I have been, I seem to have lose, now and again, the reason that I write in the first place--- the music. Time to reacquaint myself.
You can check out the Terry Quiett Band on their website, www.terryquiettband.com. I recommend it. First, though, watch this video recorded a couple of years ago. Maybe it will spur you to see these guys when they come through your area,
Frank O. Gutch Jr.
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini,
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
I remember the sixties like it was yesterday and one thing I remember is that The Beatles were strides beyond the vast majority of bands/artists, worldwide. I knew it simply because of all the cover songs being cranked out in the clubs and teen dances, they were the least covered. Not because kids couldn't dance to their music but because it was damn hard to recreate the sound. Well, after the first couple of albums, anyway. Sure, I Want To Hold Your Hand and It Won't Be Long were well within reach of the better bands of the period, but a sure way to go down in flames was to try to replicate, say, I'm Only Sleeping or Dr. Robert and by the time Sgt. Pepper hit the streets, the music was not so danceable anymore, was it (not to mention it being way beyond the expertise of even the real pros). No doubt about it. The Beatles were a benchmark band. If you could cover them, you were good, if still just a cover band.
Well, the world has caught up with them. Finally. It took a few decades, but musicians have finally come into their own, as have athletes, rocket scientists and brain surgeons. I know because as I work my way through Volumes 2 and 3 of Bullseye Canada's It Was 50 Years Ago Today, I can hear it. The slick guitar tricks, the production values, the stacked harmonies so important to The Beatles' unique sound. It's all there, on most of the tracks anyway, and not one Beatle contributed a thing to the recordings (nor was one harmed during the whole entire process).
Consider this an addendum to my review of the first volume of this "series" (it was released as, shall we say, a box set ten years previously), which you can read here. It is a breakthrough set of songs for me on two levels. One, while I am not really enamored of The Beatles anymore (I have heard enough for ten lifetimes), I am surprised to find that I am not done with their music--- rather, their songs. I find this collection of songs rather refreshing, in fact. Two, I am very surprised at the quality of musicianship involved. I have heard a few of the artists represented here, but most I have not. All get my thumbs up, if only for lack of pretension, if nothing else. The songs are presented straightforward and honestly. The "gimmicks" used come across as experiments at the least, highly successful recordings at the peak.
What it really comes down to these days are the songs, am I correct? I mean, if we live in this supposed new world of soundbyte mentality and the song is the key, it has to be all about the song. I am finding songs throughout these three volumes which intrigue and impress me.
I mentioned Sun PK in my earlier review, and The Kings and The Lolas and The Dons and even the art school angle taken by Figures at Dawn on their version of A Day In the Life. All present their chosen Beatles songs with a flair beyond the average club band and, truth be told, strike a gong at certain points of their presentations. Volume 1, to my ears, is a beauty. Volumes 2 & 3 continue with a string of greater and lesser covers, all worth hearing. To wit:
Popdudes crank up the guitars, rhythm-heavy, and toss in a bit of punk on the side to give Helter Skelter a punch in the stomach. Credit the power and the basic and bottom-heavy rhythm guitar. Give the vocalist credit, too. It takes lungs to spew like that.
What could you possibly do with Hey Jude that hasn't already been done? I have no idea, but Eight Seconds lay it out smooth and sweet and I don't miss McCartney at all. The concert piano helps as do the eerily Beatles-style harmonies. They nail the ending too. Not as easy as it sounds.
Dr. Lotech & Mrs. Hippie (featuring Terry Draper)??? Folk-Punk hipster Taxman? I didn't get it either, until I heard it. Odd but strangely pleasant take, in fact.
Dexters take I Want You (She's So Heavy) for a test drive at the local pub and make it work like crazy, complete with clinking glasses and background bar talk. This caught me completely off-guard. The organ and guitar freaking kill me. I would have loved to have been there to see this performed live. And, yes, it was recorded live.
The Dudes were genetically created to recreate songs like Please Mr. Postman. Swear to God.
Not my favorite Beatles song, by far, is Blue Jay Way, until now. Dee Long is true to the original to a large degree, but the chunky rhythm guitar and rolling bass (plus the extremely well done vocals, background and otherwise) has me rethinking my lack of appreciation for the song. What can I say except, I'm impressed!
Anger Brothers get a pass just because they cover And Your Bird Can Sing, a song which cut deep when I first heard it. A great song is a great song and in this case, The Angers perform it just fine.
Perhaps it is just this period of The Beatles, but I'm Only Sleeping is another song of great importance to me. And Phil Angotti performs it with reverence, I'm convinced.
Receiver drags Mean Mr. Mustard across the punk line and beats the crap out of him just for the fun of it. Them crazy punks, eh? Sometimes, they make me smile.
I have wondered where musical ideas come from sometimes and am wondering right now as Steve Barton assaults my senses with the damnedest version of She's Leaving Home I've ever heard. If tribute bands showed this kind of attitude toward the songs they covered, I would pay for a ticket.
Spongetones perform For the Benefit of Mr. Kite like they wrote the damn thing. See what I mean? Musicians have come so far since the old days.
I have no idea what these people were smoking when they recorded these songs, but I would mortgage my house for a semi-full.
Beatles fans, put your idolatry aside for a minute and listen to these songs with an open mind. All of you others, just enjoy them. Presented by Bullseye Canada, which is slowly opening its vaults to present us with treasures we probably didn't even know existed.
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini,
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
Back in 2005, a little known band from Florida (though I believe they lived in NYC at the time) calling themselves OAMIreleased an album (Day In the City)which swept me away with their vision of music--- a conglomeration of rock with beautiful but rarely used chord progressions and always a tinge of jazz (or maybe the unknown). A few years later, 2009 to be exact, Fisherreleased Water, another unique adventure into the harmonious side of the aural. And then, a few weeks ago, I happened upon a band from Louisville which brought elements of both bands to their music without probably not having heard either. In fact, the first track from CabinI heard melded the sounds so completely that I felt a tingle run up my spine. I knew the band had not heard either of the previously mentioned groups but I could not put the similarities behind me. Eerie? A little, but more like mysterious. How, I asked myself, do musicians so separated in time and space sound so similar on certain tracks? Especially when the sounds are not part of the mainstream of whatever genre they play? I don't know but they do, and they do so in spades with OAMI, Fisher, and Cabin. And, no, you won't hear it right off. Listen a few times and you begin to hear it, though--- the subtle touches which make a band more than just another band.
Take, for instance, Cabin's It Is What It Looks Like, which does not borrow heavily but has the virtual same aura as Fisher's Water Burial in the beginning before morphing into an OAMI-like riff. I don't know. Perhaps that is the only song that gives me this overwhelming feel that the bands are similar, but I can't lose it. The Oceanographer, another Cabin track from the album It Is What It Looks Like, continues my belief that OAMI lives under the skin, save for the killer violin solo break which is as good as it gets.
Maybe I want the bands to be similar because I love these bands and want something to grasp as a unifying writing idea. A way to get people to listen to all three. A way to pass long this music which is not receiving its fair due. I don't know. I just know I like it enough to write about it, and I don't write about music I don't like.
I like Cabin because the musicianship is above the norm, the songs are on the fringe and there is a cohesiveness to the music sadly lacking in a lot of albums these days. I remember a buddy back in the old days calling albums like this "smo-o-oth." I mean, everyone is on the same page. Everyone plays a part. But the whole.... the whole..... It's, um, smo-o-oth.
Lucky for you, you don't have to take my word for it. You can actually (and I mean actually) hear the band--- on the Net, if not live. Check the tunes out below, and be sure to watch the "Five Days With" video. Call it 'meet the band.' It impressed me enough to make me listen closer.
A bonus! Here is a track from an earlier album. Man, these guys freak me out, they're so good. Makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with the rest of the world.
.
Frank O. Gutch Jr.
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini,
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
You have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. An example: You're leafing through the record racks and you come across an album by The Burning River Ramblers. Has to be Bluegrass or Country, right? Guess again. These ramblers are mainstream rock (from Cleveland and Athens, they say on their website). Well, maybe not straight ahead mainstream rock, but mainstream enough. But seriously? With literally thousands and maybe millions of combinations they could come up with, they settle on Burning River Ramblers? What's next? A folk duo called Amplified Baby Puke? A death metal band called Flowing Sequins? Maybe I'm out of line here, but shouldn't the name of the band give you a clue as to what sort of music they produce?
That aside, if I have to listen to mainstream, please let it be to a band at least this good. I think I've had a stroke recently because a handful of bands have sounded like Oami to me lately, and I'm sure you are asking who that is. When I returned to writing music reviews after a long layoff, Oami's Day In the City was among my first. Recorded and released in 2005, the album steamrolled me and I never really understood why. I found it fresh and just outside the mainstream, or at least that's how I choose to remember it. God only knows what I actually wrote (you can read the review here), but I'm sure I meant every word of it. I listened to that album a lot back then and still occasionally pull it out to refresh my memory, usually with the thought that I should revisit it more often.
The reason that I bring that up is that {:to color a fool} steamrolls me today in the same way that Day In the City did back then. Both bands have that ability to tap dance around a song with light rhythmic touches--- sometimes syncopated, sometimes latin, sometimes just jazz-riffy--- and those touches make the difference. Surround those rhythms with smooth vocals (and a slew of vocal hooks), flowing backup, and an attitude which reminds me more than a bit of early Steely Dan, and you have a band worthy of attention.
Cleveland. The home of another favorite, Dan Miraldi & The Albino Winos. Home base for The Damnation of Adam Blessing, The Raspberries and The Euclid Beach Band. A city full of riffmeisters and chooglers (The Burning River Ramblers qualify in both categories).
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini,
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
Want to know what mainstream rock is? To me, it's anything that sounds like it could have received airplay in the early- to mid-seventies. That was the magic period for rock (or what is now known as "classic" rock) and that is what I yearn for most in this day of eighties- and nineties sounds masquerading as music. Sometimes I want to scream for musicians to put those goddamn synthesizers down, just because I hear them misused too damned much. Give me a guitar or a Hammond B-3 anyday--- well, not always. But you get my drift, don't you? I mean, enough is enough, already!
So when the Nate Jones Band's EP crossed my desk, I was more than ready. No synthesizers here, or at least not synthesizers for the sake of synthesizers. No dance music for the sake of dance. Just good solid rock the way it was once played--- for the music and for the song. Not to sound like anything or anybody. Mainstream rock, sports fans, is organic rock. No forced sidesteps toward something for the wrong reason. Straight forward rock. And not hard rock or metal or any music of sub-genre status. Rock for the sake of the song.
Jones pieced together five good ones here, one which knocks me on my keister, and they bring back the days of Bill Puka and the electric James Taylor and Jim Dawson and a whole string of artists who deserved more than they got (this list is longer than my arm, people, and my arms are long). Jesse Colin Young comes to mind on Ophelia (a Robbie Robertson tune and the only non-original). Remember Grizzly Bear off the self-titled Youngbloods' album? Something like that. What Goes Up is a bit more folkie than the rest, but it is a good folk tune. Wandering Love and Another Night, Another Town are good rockers in the vein of, say, Loggins & Messina or Stu Nunnery.
The real treasure on the EP, for myself at least, is the more electric and rocking Honest Man, complete with exceptional and tasty lead guitar and keyboards. Mid-tempo, it relies as much on rhythm as melody/harmony. This I would classify as L&M at their best, and though I never cared much for their hits, I have to admit that when they hit the note, it was a good one.
Bad thing is, I could have used maybe five more tracks to smooth things out. Sitting down to a few songs is okay, but these guys make me want to hear more. Sometimes, five just ain't enough. Here's a taste.
Frank O. Gutch Jr.
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini,
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
The things that get sat on. A friend sat on my Fats Domino 45 back in '56--- Blueberry Hill, it was. I've sat on numerous pairs of glasses (the hazards of not having glasses on, I suppose). I had to sit on a friend once when he went berserk in a tavern and wanted to fight all-comers. I always make reference to people sitting on their thumbs. I've sat through a plethora of movies, some of which I liked. I've even had the occasional wish to be sat on, mostly in reference to and with shared reverence (alongside The Rotters) of Stevie Nicks. Let's face it. Sitting is part of life. But when sitting is in reference to the many albums I receive for review purposes, I shake my head.
A prime example is one sweet EP/mini-LP from Signature Sounds Records by one Miss Tess & The Talkbacks titled The Love I Have For You. I sat on this beauty for months, moving it down the food chain for God knows how long. I kept reading glowing reviews and swore I would get to it soon, but soon seemed to not come soon enough, I guess. I finally pulled it from the bottom of a pile and put it on and, goddamn! This puppy is every bit as good as those reviews claimed.
What makes it so? I would say that it is the ease with which the band cruises down the roots highway. Yep, it's roots. And for those who don't know what "roots" is, let me give you my definition. To me, it is music riding on the back of the past, a beast full of influences tried and true over the years. Sometimes it's blues, sometimes it's R&B, sometimes jazz. In Miss Tess's case, it is rock 'n' roll and Country & Western, two genres which were somewhat married at the hip in the fifties and sixties. I mean, look at the charts. I certainly never looked upon Faron Young and Ferlin Husky and even Marty Robbins as country, not in the beginning, though they became so as the genres split. Even when I listen to Hank Williams, I hear a lot of rock 'n' roll. So when musicians look to the past, that's roots.
Miss Tess & The Talkbacks (this is a band, sports fans, not a singer with backup) step beyond just the roots in terms of influence on this one. They actually cover the artists' songs. Now, I am not a fan of cover songs. I think covers are best left for the barroom floor because they push back the originals I so want to hear all the time. But it seems musicians are right now carried away with this fad of "giving tribute" to songs, if not albums, and I have to live with it. In this case, though, I waive my dislike of fad for the musicality of The Love I Have For You.
It helps that it starts out with a great rocker from the catalog of Ted Hawkins, Sorry You're Sick. Upbeat and bouncy, the song is a perfect fit for Tess's vocal, uh, stylings, shall we say? While she rocks the vocals, The Talkbacks choogle the bandside like they were born to it. The only original, The Love I Have For You, is a flashback to the rock 'n' roll era a la Elvis and his ilk, reminiscent of late-fifties and early-sixties rock and country. Gotta give credit for picking The Alabama Waltz out of the Hank Williams songbook instead of one of the standards we hear all the time. I have most of what Hank has ever recorded, commercially at least, and am shocked that others don't dig this deep. Can't do country much better than covering Willie (no last name needed) and his Night Life is handled beautifully here. Randy Newman? I mean, Randy Newman? If Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad did not have the awful Spinning Wheel chord progression on the first line, I would like this more. It was hard for me to get beyond it after having hated that song for decades, but give the band credit that I am willing to overlook what I consider a Newman gaffe. If Tess had to cover anyone, I would think that it would be Bonnie Raitt and she and band kick a bit of jumpin' blues on Raitt's Give It Up Or Let Me Go. A good fit. Neil Young has written some fine songs over his career, but I find his country-ish songs disappointing, on the whole. Still, The Talkbacks carry Hold Back the Tears into the desert and conjure up dust and dusters. They also conjure up salty beer and salty tears. More than one man (or woman, for that matter) has tried to heal romantic wounds with alcohol. Another beer, bartender, and a quarter for the jukebox.
Like I said earlier, if anything holds this collection of songs together it is the ease with which Tess and band handle them. This listens like a great night at the local tavern, guys and gals in cowboy boots sliding over the dance floor and beer flowing smoothly. I am downright embarrassed to have missed it last September when it was released. Damn embarrassed.
While the song in this video is from a different project, it shows the basis for the praise heaped upon the band. One day, I hope to see them live, the gods willing.
Frank O. Gutch Jr.
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog,
his
own website and the
prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Saysite
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music--- drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
"I been blindsided!" said Jimmy Durante before hotcha-ing his way offstage. I always liked Jimmy and his schtick of mispronouncing names and words and his vaudevillian attitude toward music, so it is no wonder that I take on that persona now, attempting to make light of my two year battle against cover songs and tribute albums. I have made no attempt to hide my distaste of the trend, preferring instead to hear the original music shoved aside for this dip in the shallow end of the music pool by musicians of supposed worth, but maybe I should have. It would make it easier to write this, a review of an album of (argh!) covers of Beatles songs in the form of (double argh!) a tribute album, but write it I must, if only to give credit where credit is due.
And I suppose if you must give credit to anyone besides the musicians, who all knock the ball out of the park on It Was 50 Years Ago Today, it would be Bullseye Canada's head bull, Jaimie Vernon. Sure, the idea was one many had at the 40 year mark of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album (50 Years Ago Today grew out of Bullseye's CD compilation of ten years ago titled It Was 40 Years Ago Today, you see), but the brilliance here is not in the idea but the execution. When this was produced, The Beatles were executed. Beautifully. You can hear it here.
Of all the artists on this album--- fifteen of them--- I knew of only two: Goddo, an artist/band of legend in Canada, and The Kings, of This Beat Goes On/Switching to Glide fame. I also knew a bit of Jaimie Vernon's work (he is featured on Helium Kids' contribution). Twelve were artistic strangers to my ears. No longer. Not only have I fully embraced every artist's cover of their chosen Beatles track, I will be checking out their histories. This is that good.
You couldn't start a project like this off better than with Good Morning Good Morning, and when it sounds like The Lolas, it is doubly good. I scratch my head, thinking back to the days of the Beatles recording and how no one could possibly have done it justice besides them--- not in my mind--- and here I am, fifty (forty) years later and hearing a cover which makes me actually want to hear a Beatles song again. Nothing against The Beatles, but I am old enough to have lived through the transformation of rock 'n' roll to rock and have heard The Beatles, ad infinitum, to the point of boredom. I love the songs. I just don't want to hear them anymore. Until now. I was skeptical. Now I am reborn. Killer track.
The only version of Savoy Truffle I've been able to stomach since the original was Terry Manning's off of his Home Sweet Home album--- ten+ minutes of it. Yet The Dons crank out an arrangement mixing The Beatles with guitar from James Bond and I'm bopping my head with abandon. Great vocals over the top of some brassy electric guitar and pounding rhythm section. A+.
Alison Solo takes Paperback Writer into semi-punk territory, spitting lyrics over the background "paperback writer" harmonies, finishing the song with a chunky guitar flourish. Just enough Beatles with modern day embellishments. I love the song. I love this version.
I'm always kidding Jaimie about people letting him anywhere near a microphone, but it is just kidding. On Helium Kids' version of Fixing a Hole, he shows attitude worthy of his punk past. Says his inspiration came from fellow Helium Kid Jef Leeson's love of XTC. Early Andy Partridge, indeed.
Helium Kids (Jaimie Vernon & Leff Leeson)
Country/folk up any Beatles song and it couldn't be any truer to the original than Jeff Jones' version of I've Just Seen a Face. Short and sweet, just like it was written and recorded forty years before.
Jeff Jones
Why am I not surprised that Goddo would choose an early rocker to cover? Greg Godovitz has been all over the place in his long career, but he loves his roots and roots is what he gives on You Can't Do That. If you had asked me blind who it was, I could as easily have said Swinging Blue Jeans or Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas as Goddo. Outstanding in its subtlety.
Phil Vincent is a name I somehow missed in my long run in music and I don't know why. Swear to God, Canada, as much as I like to think as the Northern US, is a whole different country musically. And I Love Her has crunchy rhythm guitar, late-seventies lead guitar and solid vocals. Like REO Speedwagon might have done it in their early days.
Tom Hooper? Long Long Long? Hell, I didn't even know this song was by The Beatles. One they did not kill through overplay. Hooper nails it--- smooth vocals, instrumental background and all. Very well done.
Tell you what. Let's take Eleanor Rigby on a bit of a ride. Which is what The First Time must have said because the driving rhythm guitar pushes the song while odd semi-lead guitar over the top gives it a slightly dissonant tone. SF's The Tazmanian Devils might have played this on a really good night. I loved the Devils. Still don't understand how they missed.
The First Time
Frank Soda? Great name! Think of all the possibilities for album covers! A bit of drama in his presentation of I Feel Fine turns it into a whole 'nother song. If they ever do a Beatles stage thing similar to the one they did about The Four Seasons (What was that? Jersey Boys?), this is the arrangement they should use.
Eytan Mirsky was a mite depressed when he recorded Don't Bother Me. He says so right at the beginning. Again, just enough Beatles and just enough Eytan. Never heard it? You'll recognize it when you hear this.
Peter Kearns. Man, the intro alone of Across the Universe is worth the price of admission. Lots o' keyboards, a light bongo effect in the background and solid vocals and you have another song which stands on its own, sans Beatles. I really need to research him and all of the other cats I'm hearing here.
Sun PK, huh? They sound as much like The Arbors or Orpheus as anyone on Happy Just To Dance With You. An excellent version which makes my point that sometimes arrangements deserve a category all its own, right up there with performance and recording. The Beatles go Hollywood?
Those crazy Kings I mentioned earlier? They take For No One and simplify and upgrade. I especially like the guitar lead on the break. By the way, the band has also released a collection of songs from their early days under the title Lost Tapes of a Seventies Bar Band which is intriguing, at the very least. As for For No One, they nail it.
Out of all the songs The Beatles have done, the one I would not want to tackle would be A Day In the Life, but Figures At Dawn didn't even blink. They simply tackle it from the art rock side. Call it Music From Another Universe. Music written for the stage. It makes me smile, actually, because they do it so well, from the semi-operatic/theatrical vocals to the classical slant on the instrumental side.
Don't let the fact that you may not know any of these artists throw you. This is a first class production all the way. The bands/artists know what to do with the music and they do it very well.
Of course, Jaimie has reactivated Bullseye Canada as an all digital label, so you can forget vinyl and CD for now, but maybe..... Actually, I suggest you keep your eyes open. Bullseye pressed a very limited edition of the three CD set (of which this is only one) under the 40 Year title (see above), so you might find, if you are very very lucky, a used copy out there somewhere. You will have to battle me for it, though. After hearing these fifteen tracks, I now hunger for the whole enchilada.
Covers? Tributes? I'm not giving up my negative attitude toward the trend just yet, but this has put a real dent in my negativity, though. A big dent.
