Charles - My Favourite SONGS

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yup, bells ringing!

pleasure to hear kd lang singing 'save me' again. probably my favorite of hers.

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Yes Probably my favorite too violet. But Constant Craving is one I also like a lot.

 

heres kd rocking out her way.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHZNTd-YVY&feature=related

 

 

J

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OK, J, you got me and I'll have to eat a little bit of hat (but I did say I'd check in and maybe comment so here's a few pedantic comments from the professor):

 

Canned Heat - I loved those guys. They were true blues officianados.  The tune you posted, by the way, is a re-titled cover of a Henry Thomas tune called "Bulldoze Blues" recorded in the 1920's.  Henry also wrote Fishin' Blues (also using the quills, an ocarina-like instrument, a trademark feature of Henry's).

 

Here's the original:

 

Here's Taj doing Fishin' Blues followed by a recording (no video, of course) of the original:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR8IyF_uuAI

 

The Stones did a similar thing with Prodigal Son.  Except for the title, its a note-for-note copy of That's No Way To Get Along by Robert Wilkins, also recorded originally in the 20's.  Interestingly, if you have an old vinyl copy of Beggar's Banquet it doesn't give credit to Robert, but the later re-issues on CD do.  They didn't break any laws (unlike Led Zep who were succesfully sued by Willie Dixon for copyright infringement) since Robert's stuff wasn't copywrighted at the time but I think they must have done a bit of soul searching and that's why they now give credit.  Who knows.  The point is they ripped it off originally (and many early blues guys were ripped off by later blues revivalist groups).

 

Sorry, the Canned Heat thing just made me think of these things and that led me to think about how so many old blues guys got ripped off and that's a sensitive point and so ......

 

On a brighter note, you might be interested to know that Gary "chicken" Hirsh now lives in Ashland, Oregon (about twelve miles from here): he has a jazz band.  I've met him and he's a nice guy but doesn't like to talk about the old stuff.  Bogart was originally done by Fraternity of Man, who didn't last long.  It was made popular because it was featured on the soundtrack of Easy Rider.  The Country Joe and Little Feat versions are covers.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

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p.s. - If you've never heard of Willie Dixon then consider:

 

Little Red Rooster (Stones covered)

Back Door Man (Doors covered)

Spoonful (Cream covered)

and of course, You Need Love (which Zep ripped of as Whole Lotta Love)

 

And by the way, Zep ripped off a bunch of other people but for some reason I can't figure out were only sued the one time. A lot of musicians refer to this as "Pagerism."  I did find this, though, in Wiki that refers to another of Jimmy's rip-offs (of fellow Englishman Bert Jansch) and why they didn't get sued, so maybe it answers the question:

 

"Jansch followed his first album with two more, produced in quick succession: It Don't Bother Me and Jack Orion[18]—which contained his first recording of "Blackwaterside", later to be taken up by Jimmy Page and recorded by Led Zeppelin as "Black Mountain Side".[19] Jansch says:

 

The accompaniment was nicked by a well-known member of one of the most famous rock bands, who used it, unchanged, on one of their records.[20]

Transatlantic took legal advice about the alleged copyright infringement and were advised that there was "a distinct possibility that Bert might win an action against Page".[21] Ultimately, Transatlantic were dubious about the costs involved in taking on Led Zeppelin in the courts, and half the costs would have had to be paid by Jansch personally, which he simply could not afford, so the case was never pursued.[22]"

 

(Just 'cause I think the originators should get the credit they deserve).

 

John

 

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and the conversation continue

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Hey John

 

You say: "(Just 'cause I think the originators should get the credit they deserve)."

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

I think this is an original>

 

You think anyone could play this better?

 

J

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W O W ............J

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AND i just listened to henry thomas, bull doze blues, 1928.

what a gorgeous sound..........that whistle gives me chills.

 

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J - in short, nope.  Stevie was the best, right up there with Jimi and the rest of the guitar gods.  I was fortunate to have seen him in Austin once.  A powerful player.  I have most of his stuff and still listen to him (and even Jimi ocassionally).

 

I did not mean to imply that the originals are always better.  I just wanted to point out that lots of stuff got ripped off and that's a different beast.  I actually like many covers much better than the originals in many styles (that's one reason I liked all the old Ry Cooder stuff; great, inventive, covers mostly).  There are also some exceptions to this, where I think nobody has done better than the original but I'd say those are in the minority.

 

I may be repeating myself (I often do) but I like to follow the roots of any music I like and enjoy hearing the originals and the sources and influences that resulted in a new style or were important to the development of a particular artist.  Most musical styles (including Stevie) are not totally original and are built on stuff that came before.  I'm fascinated with history and this crosses over to my interest in music, I guess.  I can't help it.

 

I find that a lot of folks have no idea where music that they know came from or that it was a cover from something written in the thirties.  A number of my friends have said they like hearing about that and hearing the original.  Many have asked me to make them CD's of my vintage stuff or side-by-side recordings of the well-known cover and the original.  So I suppose I've come to think that this is something that would be of interest to more people than it really is.  I just happen to have a peculiar set of friends (and wouldn't I, me being quite peculiar ?).

 

I certainly hope you didn't take my posts the wrong way.  They weren't any sort of criticism of your choices.  I just don't think a lot of the old guys who were the roots of the blues rock era got their fair share of the spotlight so I wrote a little treatise/rant to point that out.  I should probably learn to pinch myself and wait 24 hours before I post anything; then maybe I wouldn't always be screwing it up.

 

I liked the Heat, k.d., and Country Joe vid's.

 

John

 

 

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dear john

enough of the self flagellation for now, okay

you are too much of a mirror for me

stop it

your loving friend,

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OK, Miss Violet.  I'll try and be more positive and not as sensitive.  Nice to see you around again; I thought we'd lost you here.

 

Your buddy,

 

John

 

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Hey, J - speaking of the old guys and their influence on the new guys, here's a few of Stevie with one of his biggest influences (in addition to Jimi), Albert King.  And he was a lefty too like Jimi.

 

First here's a live clip of Albert.  Gives you an idea of how good he was and you can hear where Stevie got a lot of his sound in this. He really gets going about the 4:00 minute mark so if you don't want to watch the whole thing (but its all good) then just jump to there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5dpp2iCRwM&feature=related

 

Now here's a couple with Stevie and Albert together in the studio.  Stevie gave more than credit where it was due.

 

There's some blah, blah at first and you don't get to hear Albert until about the 3:18 mark; you might want to skip to that point to hear Albert:

 

Here's another with them together.  Albert comes in at about 2:25  Albert say put that in your pipe and smoke it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXm5rEcdQ44&feature=related

 

I got to see Albert a couple of times in the sixties.  He got some good gigs after Cream covered his Born Under A Bad Sign.  He was a great influence on a lot of our generation's great bands (and Zep ripped him off a bit, too, but I won't go there again).

 

I hope you like some of this.

 

John

 

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Hi folks

 

Rebuilt my computer today so I have been off line. Very tired. Well check in tomorrow.

 

J

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x9PPtPmoy4&feature=fvw

 

such a love buddy holly - somewhere john i read he's one of your favs - so this is for you

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Gees, I haven't been to this thread in a couple of days and you're blowing my mind!  Canned Heat didn't do that song originally?  Oh man, I love Stevie Ray Vaughan!  This is as far as I've gotten, but I had to jump in and say something. 

 

You guys are great!! 

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Aw .. thanks Miss Violet.  I do like Buddy a lot; probably my fav of the original rockabillies.

 

That post reminded me of the one you put up a while back, J, of Waylon and that made me think of how lucky we all were that he didn't get on that plane with Buddy and ended up driving the truck.  Otherwise another great would have gone before his time.

 

I'm interested to hear what you think of Albert, J.  I'm with you on Stevie, though; a real guitar slinger for sure who also wrote some real good material.  I almost went to his next-to-last concert, but the girl I was dating at the time backed out of going with me and I didn't want to go by myself becasue it was going to be a bit of driving so I gave my tickets to a good friend. He played several gigs on the west coast on that tour before going east.  I'm still p.o.'d at that woman.  I might not have met my wife, though, had what's-her-name and I kept dating as I met the wife shortly after that. She'd have gone !

 

Nice to see your smiling face join us again, Pam. I'm trying to taper from posting, though, but am having to titrate; thus, the 'Pagerism' diatribe.  I do hope you like da blooz.

 

Happy Fourth of July all.

 

John

 

 

 

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john,

love the analogy...........posting titration. very good!

that's what i'm doing with listening to these incredible posts from you and J. my cns can only take a little at a time. i did, however, just get acquainted with albert king thanks to one of you. oh my.......................

reading about plagiarism - a speckle of useless information for you. led zep used to live in the huge house next door to where i grew up. they rented it from our neighbors/best childhood friends for a few years long after i'd flown, maybe late 70's, early 80's. my dear straight-laced mother used to tell me of the noise coming through the woods! and when i'd visit her i could hear them. fairport convention (i think it was them) were only about 3 miles away.

 

pam

aren't we the lucky ones, to have these musicmen feeding us all this great food for the soul

 

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That's a great story, Miss Violet. You didn't walk over with a bottle of wine or something and try to meet the lads ?  I bet they'd have let you in, being a true flower child.

 

Oooh, and Fairport Convention; I loved them (and still love Richard Thompson).  And Steeleye Span, too.  All the English folk-rock stuff.  Did you ever listen to any Jethro Tull ?  Now they put on a show and were the ultimate in English folk rock for me.

 

Gotta go get ready for a party we're attending later.  More later.

 

John

 

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Well, the wife just called and said she'd be late due to the traffic and the crowd and all.  So... thinking of Waylon, Austin, and your great humour post, Miss Violet, some random neurons fired this up.  Now, before you set out to Medford to take revenge, realize these guys are the kings of musical parody.  So this is just a bit of humor/humour but also a type of recognition (as true parody is).  Its one of my favorites by them and I think nails the Waylon style.  Anyway, I just thought a little bit of a laugh might be in order and maybe even therapeutic.  I might even play this one on my lap steel at the jam later on today if I can get anybody to play along.

 

 

And for those who don't get it, in the South it is common to have people selling and displaying towels, blankets, paintings and such along the roadside done on velvet and that usually have as the subject matter some pop icon, cutesy big-eye children or animals, flags (US and Confederate), and the like.  In the old days these were usually also places that sold fireworks.  Considered among the more elite to be a show of white trash tastelesness.  Just a bit of background for those of you who live in other places and may not be familiar with this bit of southern "culture."

 

Jonn

 

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Hey John

 

I remember when paintings on black velvet were popular here in California. Sort of like pink flamingos. They had their day and were gone.

 

I think Albert King is a great blues guitarist, but still prefer the style of stevie even though he may have incorporated a lot of kings technique. As well as other guitarists. Nevertheless he still seems to me to have his own  style which I prefer. And actually I don't have a high tolerance for the blues, I mean I reach a point of saturation pretty quickly. I guess i am pretty much that way with most music.

 

And i do like some Opera as well. Particularly Maria Callas. And especially this song, I believe it is called an aria. I'm not knowledgeable enough about Opera to know. I just know that if a woman were to sing to me with a voice as beautiful and powerful as hers I would instantly become her slave. As a side point , as with so many of the great musicians of various genres, I read she died prematurely of an accidental overdose of the sedative Qualudes.

 

Maybe we may have some Opera fans who are familiar with this selection.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBW5a77wINQ

 

Got off my butt and looked up Definitions of an Aria:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aria

 

J

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Well, I only added the Albert stuff because he and Stevie were good buds and I thought you liked the electric blues from your previous posts. I thought I gave Stevie a fair shake.  Anyway, I'll refrain from any more blues.

 

Although I find opera to be a bit too stuffy, Maria did have quite the voice.  I don't know her history but if quaaludes were the cause of her demise she wasn't alone.  They were withdrawn from the market in the US partly because so many poeple od'd on them.  Now we have benzos, brought to us by the same, thoughtful, folks in the pharma industry.

 

Maybe its time for another posting cut ....

 

John

 

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well J

your new computer is serving you well.

maria callas is the queen of opera.

yes, that is an aria. the only kind of opera i listen to. just one (usually female) voice.

or sometimes two harmonizing. that power

breaks more than glasses. the song goes beautifully with some of your pictures

on your thread.

thank you, what a treat. perhaps others will come by.

 

john, bear with us while we go to the opera for a while

 

btw. my little brother, when he was 7 and i was 14 used to tell me he wanted to

marry me when we grew up. he did marry a woman with same name as me...she

is an opera singer from scotland, very beautiful

and enormous passion to drive her voice. he plays double bass, sings, and

manages an orchestra. he gets gigs like playing for phantom of the opera for months

on end, or jesus christ superstar. i'm so proud of my wee baby brother (his chosen name

for me )

 

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john

i thinkwe sent our messages at the same time!

yes i used to listen to jethro tull, at least i had one lp.

i was not a true flower child . i tried to be for a while but during

my first acid trip i got the call to meditation and was living in

a buddhist not quite monastery for some years!

gotta go, later.........v.

 

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Close enough Miss Violet.

 

I'm not slamming opera; I just don't care much for it.  Your brother sounds like a very talented person and someone I'd like to meet.

 

I know I said I wouldn't bore you with any more family history, but you might be interested to know that my mother's oldest sister wanted to sing opera and moved to Italy to study formally.  Unfortunately, she made the mistake of marrying an Italian man who immediately informed her that in Italy "nice" married women didn't perform on the stage and her opera asperations were over (he was from a prominent family).  It was before women had asserted any power so she gave it up.  When she died my mother still had two recordings her sister made (I have them now, on 78's).  They got caught by the war and couldn't get out of Italy but she was part of the underground that smuggled allied pilots and soldiers out of Italy into Switzerland, as they were close to the border.  After the war France and England both awarded her medals.

 

So, may opera continue to influence the romantics of this world.

 

John

 

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john

great story.i'm a bit confused  - who got caught by the war? you aunt and her italian husband?

i've done too much today, my car is dead, i'm exhausted.v