Double trouble this week:
Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan
Vibrations - Albert Ayler and Don Cherry
Last night I finished (finally!!) slogging my way through the book Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. Ever since I forced myself to finish Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, I vowed that I'd never again force myself all the way through a book if I wasn't enjoying it. Well, that rule worked pretty well for me for, oh, about 12 years. But somehow I couldn't drop this Dylan book no matter how many times I got pissed off at the author (for bad writing, snarky putdowns of band's he didn't care for, more bad writing...oh boy, the list goes on and on). The last third of the book devolves into a bunch of gossipy passages as the author had no use for any of Dylan's latter-year music. Oh well, it's my fault for pushing on to the end.
When I got to the bottom of page 720 (ack! what a nauseating number) I closed the book and felt free. It was a little like that last day of school and the whole of summer was just waiting there. No, better yet...it was like when I used to get out of confession when I was a little kid...free at last! (Never mind that I used to make "sins" up...isn't lying a sin? Duh!)
One of the few decent things I got out of that book was the reminder that Daniel Lanois produced Oh Mercy. About 30 seconds of "Political World" confirms that. Yep, it's that signature Lanois swampy sound. A very good match for Dylan at the time.
Oh, the Alyer record? I got up this morning and was so happy that I was free of that big loada pulp that I just wanted to hear some joyous free blowing. Vibrations begins with the stately march of "Ghosts", but then the squawkin' fun begins on "Children". Think of a few of those Dr. Seuss musical instruments strapped to the belly of a mad cow.
Or something.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Article comments
1 - JR
Okay, I've got a few free jazz CDs (Ornette Coleman At the Golden Circle, Song X, a couple of live Coltrane sets), but I'm still unclear as to what exactly I'm supposed to get out of it. Like, what distinguishes good honk 'n squeak from your run-of-the-mill honk 'n squeak?
2 - Tom Johnson
What I find most rewarding out of free jazz is listening closely for the relationships that develop between musicians. If you listen carefully enough, you'll start to discern whom is playing off of whom, and from there you'll start making all the many little connections between all of the musicians involved. When I first got into jazz, I used to think that free jazz was just disorganized noise. Now I usually can't help but instantly listen for the wisps of common thought passing through a truly good band. Ornette's a great place to start, but I'd highly recommend going back to the start with the album that really started it all - Free Jazz. As "out" as it may have sounded at the time (and to new listeners even today) it's really got quite a strong melodic element and a sensible progression from motif to motif. It's good, good stuff, and if you like it I HIGHLY suggest picking up Ornette's boxset of that period's material, Beauty Is A Rare Thing. This was one of my first jazz boxsets years ago and it has continued to be one of my dearest possessions. Truly amazing music.
3 - Tom Johnson
By the way, Mark, your post reminded me how much I've been wanting to get Oh Mercy, so I went out and bought it yesterday. Beautiful stuff - as you say, the pairing of Lanois and Dylan on this album is amazing. "Most of the Time" is a song I rarely have out of my head since I heard it on the High Fidelity soundtrack . . . glad I finally own the real album surrounding it.