http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 21 Dec 2004 12:39:04 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/12/21/123904.php Jon Kleinman When I was in college, a friend lent me a copy of Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson; once I started reading the book I couldn't put it down. Maybe it was Hunter S. Thompson's inimitable writing style, maybe it was the vicarious thrill I got reading about all the debauchery and violence, but something compelled to read that book again and again. Many years later, Sonny Barger - former president of the Oakland Hell's Angels and godfather to outlaw bikers - published his autobiography. (Titled, of course, Hell's Angel) The same morbid curiosity that made Thompson's book so fascinating to me compelled me to buy a copy. I guess the book sold pretty well; the movie rights have been sold and a screenplay is being developed. As John Kerry might have said, "Who among us doesn't have a twisted fascination with outlaw bikers?" The crime novelist James Elroy never minced words when discussing Hollywood producers who option his books. "It will never get made, and if it does you're gonna f*** it up!" The same can probably be said of Barger's biography: if the movie is actually made we'll likely be treated to a made-for-cable travesty starring a bunch of former Dawson's Creek cast members and crammed with product placements by everyone from Harley Davidson to The Gap. But, hey, we can still dream, right? Barger's website actually has a message asking people to please stop e-mailing him suggestions for who should play him in the movie. I don't have any strong opinions about who should play Sonny, Terry the Tramp or Mouldy Marvin. However, I've got a few ideas about what kind of music ought to be in the soundtrack of a Hell's Angels movie. Before I start talking about music, let me lay down a few ground rules. Rule Number One: no song which has been flogged to death by "classic rock" radio is allowed. No Skynyrd, no ZZ Top. No "White Rabbit" when the Angels are turned on to LSD by Kesey and the Pranksters. And, for the love of God, nothing by George Thorogood! Rule Number Two: nothing from the Easy Rider soundtrack. I know that film featured some outstanding music, but why re-invent the wheel? And finally, Rule Number Three: this list is strictly a reflection of my personal musical tastes. I'm a huge fan of blues, funk and vintage soul. I don't know if that's the kind of music outlaw bikers listen to in real life, but that's the kind of music my imaginary movie soundtrack will feature. Soul music doesn't get any deeper than the sides James Carr recorded for Goldwax Records in the sixties. Carr's most famous song was the gut-wrenching ballad "Dark End of the Street." The raw intensity of Carr's vocals transforms a simple tale of forbidden love into a brooding meditation on the nature of danger and recklessness.In a similar vein, there's "Blackjack" by Ray Charles; on the surface it's a slow blues about a gambler down on his luck, but Brother Ray's aching vocals transform the song into something deeper. There are a number of blues songs that convey a tangible sense of menace, making them all suitable for a movie about outlaw bikers.Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" combines hard-bitten lyrics with Albert's stinging guitar and a strong backbeat courtesy of Booker T and the MG's. On the opposite end of the musical spectrum is Junior Kimbrough's "You Better Run." Junior Kimbrough plays in a style called Mississippi Hill Country blues; his music is droning and hypnotic, with few chord changes.One of Stevie Ray Vaughan's deepest, darkest blues tunes was the minor key workout "Tin Pan Alley." Any one of these tunes would make an excellent background for the Angel's many turf wars and run-ins with the law. In his autobiography, Barger describes the seventies as a "gangster era" for the Angels; Barger himself got heavily into drug dealing during that era.No song better captures the bleak mood of America's inner cities-Oakland included- in the seventies than War's "Slipping into Darkness." The Neville Brother's "Brother Jake", "Gun" by Gil Scott-Heron and Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" are other great examples of funk tunes that reflect the turmoil and violence of inner city life. Of course, there's more to the life of an Outlaw Biker than crime, violence and jail time. These guys really know how to party; Hunter S. Thompson thoroughly documented this side of Angel life in his book. There aren't many people around these days who remember Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites, but back in the 60s and 70's, they made some incredible music together. Nick had a gruff, soulful voice and wrote some great lyrics; Bloomfield was a guitar virtuoso. "Drinkin' Wine", Nick's ode to alcohol abuse, is one of the best tunes recorded by the short-lived sixties band Electric Flag. "Dancing Fool" is another great Bloomfield/Gravenites collaboration-it can be found on Bloomfield's Live at the Old Waldorf album. John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun" has been recorded too many times to count, but the version he did with Canned Heat on the Hooker and Heat album has got to be the most Dionysian rendition I've ever heard of Hooker's signature tune. In my day, the ultimate soundtrack for any type of debauchery was the music of Parliament and Funkadelic. "Super-Stupid" and "Cosmic Slop" are two of my favorite songs by the more rock-oriented Funkadelic. Some of the more memorable tunes by the dance-oriented Parliament include "Up For the Down Stroke" and the anthemic "Give Up the Funk." Outlaw Bikers biggest contribution to mainstream society may be their unique sense of style. Both Thompson and Barger provide readers with vivid descriptions of the stripping down and customizing which transformed stock Harley Davidson "full-dressers" into outlaw choppers. As Barger writes, "(Choppers) weren't the easiest bikes to ride, but what the hell, we looked cool." Presumably, a movie about the Hell's Angels would include lots of great shots of those chromed out, flame painted choppers cruising the streets of Oakland. A great musical background for these scenes would be "What is Hip", the grinding funk workout by fellow Oakland residents Tower of Power. "Superbad", by godfather of soul James Brown, is another funk tune that embodies the strutting machismo that is such an essential part of the biker mystique. Of course, no musician will ever do "macho" as well as Muddy Waters; "Mannish Boy" has got to be one of the most testosterone-drenched songs ever recorded. Well, that concludes my imaginary soundtrack. Maybe one day you'll be at the local multiplex, and find yourself watching a promo for a movie about the Hell's Angels featuring Justin Timberlake pretending to ride a 2005 Harley Fatboy while wearing a few thousand dollars worth of faux-biker gear from The Gap. When you hear Lenny Kravitz start to sing a really bad cover version of "Born to Be Wild", don't say I didn't warn you. Music23501@blogcritics.org Tue, 21 Dec 2004 12:39:04 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/12/07/221844.php Jon Kleinman2004 may have been a grim (for democrats, anyaway) year politically, but there were some outstanding blues recordings released this year. It's been an especially good year for music that combines blues and soul: The Bo Keys' Royal Sessions and Pat Boyack's Voices from the Street recall the heyday of Stax records. Here is my list-in no special order- of the best blues of 2004. Hound Dog Taylor Release the Hound Bruce Iglauer started the Alligator Records label back in 1971 specifically so he could record Hound Dog Taylor. Hound Dog's Chicago blues was the musical equivalent of the "Chopped Hogs" outlaw bikers used to ride in the 60's and 70's- it was stripped down to the bare essentials and pulsating with raw power. These live recordings from the Alligator vaults feature the ragged slide guitar and whiskey-ravaged vocals Hound Dog was famous for.The Bo-Keys The Royal SessionsThis instrumental album takes listeners back to the glory days of Stax Records and Memphis soul. Royal Sessions was recorded at the studio of legendary soul producer Willie Mitchell, and features Skip Pitts, who played guitar on Isaac Hayes immortal theme from "Shaft." Standouts include down home versions of "Coming Home Baby" and "Back at the Chicken Shack", as well as the meditative ballad "I Remember Stax."Charlie Musselwhite SanctuaryCharlie Musselwhite is a musician who's payed his dues. Back in the early 60's, Charlie was part of a small clique of "White Blues Kids" who pushed racial barriers by hanging out in Chicago's blues clubs and jamming with the musicians. Sanctuary, however, is not a recording that tries to revive the classic Chicago sound. Songs like "Homeless Child" and "Train to Nowhere" have a strong gospel feel, while "Snake Song" and "The Neighborhood" have a brooding, menacing quality. Sanctuary is by far the most innovative recording Musselwhite has made in years.Bobby Rush Folk-FunkFor years, Bobby Rush has been known as the "King of the Chitlin' Circuit", playing for mostly black audiences in the south. Rush was introduced to a wider audience when he was featured in the PBS "Year of The Blues" series, and Folk-Funk is a recording aimed at the "crossover" (aka "white") audience. Even though he's been trying to win more white fans, Rush has carefully avoided the clichés that often plague mainstream blues recordings. Folk-Funk relies on impassioned vocals and a tight, percolating rhythm section rather than the endless guitar and harp solos that are all too common in the blues today. Pat Boyack Voices From the StreetAnother recording that will bring back memories of the hey-day of Memphis soul. This recording features a large cast of guest vocalists-including WC Clarke and Marcia Ball. Voices From the Street is essential listening for any fan of soul-blues: the gut-wrenching ballad "First Comes the Grieving" and the funky "Shotgun Slim" sound like they could have been recorded for Stax records back in the sixties. Curtis Salgado Strong SuspicionCurtis Salgado's music isn't strictly blues-he combines elements of blues, soul and rock-but blues fans usually enjoy his music. Highpoints of Strong Suspicion include a cover of Johnny Copeland's "Born All Over" and the tongue-in-cheek "Money Must Think I'm Dead." Slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth also appears on several tracks. Music23037@blogcritics.org Tue, 7 Dec 2004 22:18:44 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/11/26/181402.php Jon KleinmanNo one can ever accuse Johnny Winter of being dull. Since the late sixties, Johnny's been blowing away rock and blues audiences with his growling voice and flamboyant guitar playing. An albino with an impressive mane of shoulder length white hair, Johnny Winter brings new meaning to the term "White Blues." In addition to his considerable musical gifts, Johnny Winter has always had a distinctive sense of style.Back in the seventies he was fond of capes and outrageous bell-bottoms. In the eighties and nineties, he began favoring black sleeveless shirts that showed off his extensive tattoo collection; some publicity shots showed him shirtless, revealing the huge multicolored dragon's head tattooed on his chest. Guitar slingers come and go, but Johnny Winter has established himself as an unforgettable persona in the annals of blues and rock music.Like his music and stage persona, Johnny Winter's career has also been anything but nondescript. Believing they had discovered rock and roll's next guitar-god, Columbia Records offered Johnny a record-breaking advance back in 1969. Johnny and his band went from sleeping on floors to living in mansions virtually over night. Unfortunately, the rock and roll lifestyle took its toll on Johnny Winter; in the early seventies he was hospitalized due to a combination of substance abuse and clinical depression.After cleaning up his act, Johnny released the aptly titled "Still Alive and Well" and continued to play rock and roll throughout the mid seventies. In the late seventies, Johnny returned to his blues roots by teaming up with his idol Muddy Waters. Winter produced and played on such landmark Muddy Waters albums as "Hard Again" and "I'm Ready."In the early eighties, Johnny found himself recording for the prestigious blues label Alligator Records. Johnny recorded three albums for Alligator - "Guitar Slinger", "Serious Business" and "Third Degree" - before ultimately moving on to Pointblank Records in the nineties. Although all of Johnny's Alligator recordings are well regarded, "Third Degree" is arguably the best of the lot.The first two albums that Johnny recorded for Alligator were both produced by Bruce Iglauer, the label's founder. Word has it that there was a great deal of tension in the studio between Johnny Winter and Mr. Iglauer, who has always had a reputation for stubbornness and perfectionism.For "Third Degree" production chores were taken over by Dick Shurman, and the result is an album that greatly surpasses Winter's first two Alligator efforts. "Third Degree" is the first Johnny Winter album to feature Dr. John on piano, and was the first album in years to showcase Johnny's steel guitar playing by including two acoustic tracks. In addition, Johnny's original bandmates Tommy Shannon and "Uncle John" Turner make a guest appearance on the Elmore James tune "Shake Your Moneymaker." "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "Mojo Boogie" are both wonderful showcases for Johnny's electric slide playing; he makes his Gibson Firebird scream and howl during his solos on these tunes.Another highpoint is the moody ballad "Tin Pan Alley" which features Dr. John on piano in addition to gut wrenching guitar and vocals from Johnny. "Evil on my Mind" and "Bad Girl Blues" are the two acoustic numbers, and Johnny's prowess with a National steel guitar does not disappoint. With its heartfelt performances and wide variety of blues styles, this recording is clearly one of the high points of Winter's career. "Third Degree" is essential listening not only for Johnny Winter fans, but for anyone with an interest in blues guitar. Music22649@blogcritics.org Fri, 26 Nov 2004 18:14:02 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/11/26/180646.php Jon KleinmanThe back cover of "My Labors and More" shows a black and white photo of Bill Graham's old Filmore West auditorium, located on the corner of Market and Van Ness streets in San Francisco. That same building is now a Honda dealership, and the legendary concert promoter Bill Graham left us a long time ago. The photo is a wistful reminder of a bygone era, and in many ways the same can be said for the music on this disc. Nowadays, blues acts tend to fit into neat, easy-to-recognize categories. You've got your Chicago revivalists, with their slide guitars, harps and Elmore James covers. And of course there are the guitar slingers, whose endless solos never seem to stray too far from Hendrix/Stevie Ray territory. While there are blues artists out there today that genuinely push the envelope, they often seem to be overshadowed by the acts that deliver more predictable crowd-pleasing music.Nick Gravenites and his running buddy Mike Bloomfield (the guitarist on this disc) are two sorely overlooked figures in the history of blues and rock and roll. Mike Bloomfield was one of the original sixties "guitar gods", best remembered for his work with the Butterfield Blues Band and the "Super Session" album he recorded with Al Kooper. He also played lead guitar for Bob Dylan when he first "went electric"; he was onstage at the notorious Newport Folk Festival when Dylan was booed by folk-purists. Bloomfield died in the early eighties, but remains an idol for blues and rock guitarists to this day. Nick Gravenites remains an even more obscure figure than Bloomfield. In the early 60's Chicago, Nick was part of the small clique of "white blues kids" who pushed racial barriers by hanging out in Chicago's south side blues joints and jamming with the musicians. He was a close friend of Paul Butterfield, writing the song "Born in Chicago" for the Butterfield Blues band. In the late sixties, Nick and Bloomfield formed the short-lived rock and soul band Electric Flag. After The Flag broke up, Nick and Mike still performed together regularly; Nick's gruff voice and wry lyrics can be heard on Mike's "Live at the Old Waldorf.""My Labors and More" captures Nick and Mike live at the Filmore West, cranking out a unique blend of rock, blues and soul that you just don't seem to hear live onstage anymore. Nick's lyrics are introspective and contain a healthy dose of wry humor; as a songwriter, he's always known that the blues can be about more than just black cat bones and mojo hands. The man is also one fine vocalist; blues fans who believe that white vocalists can never measure up to their black counterparts may change their minds after listening to this disc. In addition to the fine lyrics and vocals, this disc has more than enough hot soloing to satisfy Bloomfield fans and other electric guitar hounds. The band backing Nick and Mick included a piano, organ and a four piece horn section. A band this size doesn't need to rely so heavily on the guitar as a rhythm instrument; as a result Bloomfield plays in a flowing, lyrical style that is noticeable free of the power chords and boogie riffs that are so often heard today. While clearly influenced by blues greats like BB and Albert King, Bloomfield's lyrical style often feels reminiscent of the best jazz horn players. All in all, a recording guaranteed to make you (to borrow a line from Tom Petty) "bust a move and remember how it was back then."Note: For some inexplicable reason, this disc includes three previously unreleased studio tracks in addition to the live material. The less said about these tracks, the better. If you'd like to learn more about Nick Gravenites, Mike Bloomfield and the other "white blues" kids of Chicago, check out "If You Love These Blues: an Oral History of Michael Bllomfield." By Jan Mark Wolkin and Bill Keenon. Nick Gravenites used to write an autobiographical column for Living Blues magazine, these columns can be found archived at www.bluespower.com Music22648@blogcritics.org Fri, 26 Nov 2004 18:06:46 EST