These are based on Bruce's performance(s) not just the song itself. You might recall I have Bruce rated as the #4 artist of the baby boom era (1948 to the present). I have previously done a best of of Frank Zappa (#1), the Beatles (#2) and Bob Dylan (#3).
Bruce's Top 50 Songs
1. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), from The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (1973). Can this LP be by the same artist who had released Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. the previous year? I mean, if only because Asbury Park ran 36 minutes with 9 songs (4 minutes per), while the E Street Shuffle ran 48 minutes with 7 songs (7 minutes per). Asbury Park was rock 'n roll, party music. E Street Shuffle, well, it just had a different vibe. It has these slow cookers that build slowly to an understated climax.
But, wait, "Rosalita," specifically, is not party music? Well, yes, of course, it is. It's no slow cooker. But, still, it had a different vibe. It had these multiple parts--the verse, the chorus ("Rosalita, jump a little higher/Senorita, come sit by my fire/I just wanna be your lover, baby, I ain't no liar/Rosalita, you're my stone desire"), and then that fabulous sax-based instrumental bridge. The song meanders all over the lot, the intensity raising by the minute, and then at the end: "Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey/Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey...." and the big instrumental ending. Whew! I am exhausted everytime I hear it.
And now that I think of it, the version to hear is the 10 minute concert version on Live/1975-1985. This is the Bruce Springsteen of legend at his very best.
2. My Beautiful Reward, from Lucky Town (1992). Not a widely admired song nor from a widely admired LP, but "My Beautiful Reward" not only represents Bruce's softer side, it is his greatest softer song. The narrator is "searchin' for my beautiful reward...from the mountain to the valley floor...down empty hallways...from door to door." Finally in the 3rd verse comes the cause of the searching: "Well your hair shown in the sun/I was so high, I was the lucky one/But I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor...."
Finally: "Tonight I can feel the cold wind at my back/Flyin' high over grey fields, my feathers long and black/Down along the river's silent edge I soared/Searchin' for my beautiful reward...." There's none of the bitterness or bravado we associate with Bruce. This is the song of a sadder but wiser man. I'm not sayin' Bruce mellowed gracefully or that the real Bruce Springsteen isn't the guy who sang "Rosalita" in 1973. But he learned a few new tricks along the way.
3. It's Hard to Be A Saint in the City, from Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ (1973). This song is an almost perfect expression of cliches about city life. It's "gritty." "Those south side sisters sure look pretty.... It's so hard to be a saint when you're just a boy out in the street." The pace is rapid-fire, the song has more words than "Rosalita," but clocks in at less than half the time, just 3:13. Spitting out the lyrics is the only way to deliver them in the time allowed, and it suits the cocky attitude of the song. "I was the kind of the alley, mama, I could talk some trash/I was the prince of the paupers crowned downtown at the beggar's bash." Unlike "Rosalita," it's classic rock 'n roll--compact, concise.
4. Valentine's Day, from Tunnel of Love (1987). Another underrated song from an underrated LP. Not a slow cooker, it's even slower than that, more laconic, lazy.... "I'm drivin' a big lazy car/Rushin' up the highway in the night/I got one hand steady on the wheel/One hand is tremblin' over my heart/An' it's poundin,' babe, like it's gonna bust right on through/An' it ain't gonna stop 'til it's alone again with you.... So hold me close, honey, say you're forever mine/An' tell me you'll be my lonely valentine." All sung above a lazy keyboard vamp. Nice.
5. Born to Run, from Born to Run (1975). From the thumping, pulsating opening music to "Tramps like us/Baby we were born to run," one of the greatest anthems to youthful alienation, which is after all at the very heart of rock 'n roll. And it is the one song more than any other that made Bruce's career and legacy.
6. Secret Garden, single (1995) and also included on Greatest Hits (1995). From the movie Jerry Maguire, here again is Bruce's softer side. A beautiful ditty about a girl whose "got a secret garden/Where everything you want/Where everything you need/Will always stay/A million miles away." All sung over a hypnotic 3-note keyboard figure.
7. Thunder Road, from Born to Run. Sometimes I think this is the best song on Born to Run. On "Born to Run," it's Wendy. Here it's Mary, and Mary seems more real. "Born to Run" is more grandiose, to be sure, but "Thunder Road" is the more poignant. And while "Born to Run" presents an unrelenting wall of sound, "Thunder Road" has these quieter segments with just the piano and harmonica. A more nuanced song overall. Still I can't quite bring myself to rate it ahead of "Born to Run."
8. We Are Alive, from Wrecking Ball (2012). Another song that has found a place under the radar. But what a song it is: Bruce's most Woody Guthrie-esque song, an eloquent lament to injustice, Bruce paints a series of vivid images of its victims, those who have given everything: "A voice cried out, 'I was killed in Maryland in 1877 when the railroad workers made their stand'/'Well, I was killed in 1963 one Sunday morning in Birmingham'/'Well, I died last year crossing the southern desert/My children left behind in San Pablo/Well, they left our bodies here to rot."
Then the refrain injects the hope for justice, or for revenge, maybe, "We are alive/Though we lie alone here in the dark/Our souls will rise to carry the fire and light the spark/To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart." And while the lyrics, at least the verses, are in the form of a lamentation, the music is fast-paced and upbeat, acoustic in style with a twangy guitar riff that recalls "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and mariachi trumpets that give the song the feel of an Irish wake. What a masterpiece and one that thus far has been overlooked even by Bruce's fans. Political commentary about events long past would seem to have fallen out of favor.
9. Santa Ana, from Tracks (1998), but the song was recorded way back in 1973 (at the E-Street Shuffle sessions) and was familiar to Springsteen fans as it was regularly performed live throughout the 1970s. "Santa Ana" and "Thundercrack" are both very mindful of "Rosalita," with fairly free forms, its multiple parts. Only "Santa Ana" does all of that in 4:37. 2 verses accompanied by just guitar and a subdued keyboard. Then the whole band jumps in, and the vocal jumps in register and intensity. Then a big instrumental bridge, like "Rosalita," and a return to the quieter format of the 1st verse. But, then, a big finish on the instrumental bridge.
And, by the way, the song is hilarious. It's about "the giants of science" searching for UFOs in the desert while regular folks live and love and fight and stuff in town, in Santa Ana. Finally, "The giants of science spend their days and nights/Not with wives, not with lovers, but searchin' for the lights/They spotted in the desert on their helicopter flights/Just to be lost in the dust and the night." Meanwhile, in town, "Come waltz with me tonight, señorita/'Cause only fools are alone on a night like this." And "if it don't work out, I'm not lame, I can walk."
10. Tenth Avenue Freezeout, from Born to Run. A regular foot-stomping classic.
11. Brilliant Disguise, from Tunnel of Love. A pop-rock tune with a quieter sound than the usual E-Street Band sound, as just 3 members of the band play on the song. It was the 1st single from the LP and reached #5.
12. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) from The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle. I admit to a certain bias towards this song because I had a close friend named Sandy for many years, but she passed away about a decade ago now. While "Rosalita" is the best song on this LP, to be sure, this is a slow ballad with an atmospheric accompaniment unlike anything on Asbury Park or Born to Run. If the E-Street Shuffle has a unique voice, and it does, it is largely represented by this song.
"Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us/The pier lights, our carnival life forever/Love me tonight, for I may never see you again/Hey Sandy girl."
13. The Angel, from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
14. For You, from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. A slow ballad and then a rocker, these 2 songs opened up side 2, back-to-back, on the vinyl version of Asbury Park and, hey, when this was new, vinyl was what you got. "The Angel" is, of course, a motorcycle outlaw while "For You," well, it's about a girl who tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide and like, "It's Hard to Be A Saint in the City," Bruce crams a lot of lyrics rapid-fire into a short song. Despite the serious subject, the word play is so clever as to evoke smiles and laughter.
15. Thundercrack, from Tracks. Ditto "Santa Ana," this was recorded at the same time and also was familiar to Springsteen fans of his 1970s concerts. Gotta love the bravado of the opening lyric: "Thundercrack, baby's back/This time she'll tell me how she really feels." This is also a grand meander of a song and runs at about 8-and-a-half minutes, so Bruce really allows this one to meander.
It opens with an introductory vocal: "Her brains they rattle and her bones they shake/Oh, she's the angel from the inner lake." Then into a second introductory section with guitar/organ accompaniment and "Sha na na" vocal. Then finally into the verse at about 1:20 and after several verses and choruses, an instrumental bridge around 3 minutes, followed by guitar break and then yet another instrumental bridge led by Clarence's saxophone, then Danny Federici on the organ. 2 more verses followed by another vocal vamp on "All night, all night, all night" and a sax break to the end.
16. The River, from The River (1981). OK, now this is really serious downer music from Bruce's, well, downer period (Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River.) On Born to Run, there was always hope. Here, not so much. Well, early in the song, the chorus denoted that hope for a better life: "At night we'd go down to the river/And into the river we'd dive/Oh, down to the river we'd ride."
But "I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young/They bring you up to do like your daddy done.... Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote/And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat/We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest/No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle/No flowers, no wedding dress.... Now those memories come back to haunt me/They haunt me like a curse/Is a dream a lie if it don't come true/Or is it something worse."
17. Long Walk Home, from Magic (2007).
18. Your Own Worst Enemy, from Magic. Let's be honest, Bruce hasn't made a great LP since 1987. Well, The Seeger Sessions, that really worked. But otherwise, not since 1987. But he still writes and performs the occasional really terrific song. I mean, "I'm Alive" in 2012, for example. Here are a couple from an OK album, Magic, from 2007, though it's true that "Long Walk Home" 1st was played on the Seeger Sessions tour in 2006. There's a nice light-rock sound to both songs.
"Long Walk Home," in Bruce's words, is about "a guy (who) comes back to his town and recognizes nothing.... His world has changed. The things he thought he knew, the people he thought he knew, whose ideals he had something in common with, they're like strangers. The world he knew feels totally alien. I think that's what's happened in this country in the past 6 years."
"Your Own Worst Enemy" would seem to be about self-destruction. "You can't sleep at night/You can't dream your dreams/Your fingerprints on file/Left clumsily at the scene/And your own worst enemy has come to town."
19. Point Blank, from The River. More downer music from The River. This is said to be about a friend's drug addiction but the lyrics cast a wider net in portraying bitterness and disappointment. "I was gonna be your Romeo, you were gonna be my Juliet/These days you don't wait on Romeos/You wait on that welfare check.... Well, they shot you point blank/You been shot in the back/Baby, point blank/You've been fooled this time, little girl that's a fact/Right between the eyes, baby, point blank/Right between the pretty lies that they tell/Little girl, you fell."
20. Book of Dreams, from Lucky Town. A pretty little light rocker that appears to be about his marriage to Julianne Phillips. Much of Tunnel of Love was about Bruce's unhappiness in that marriage but this is a more upbeat story. "I'm standing in the back yard listenin' to the party inside/I'm drinking in the foregiveness that life provides/The scars we carry remain but the pain slips away it seems/Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams." (Or, on the other hand, is this about Patty? I don't know.)
21. Eric Canal, from We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006). The Seeger Sessions represents an interesting interlude in Bruce's career. Here for the 1st time is a record consisting of songs he didn't write. And it's not the 1st time he's recorded without the E Street Band. In fact, his previous record, Magic, was done without the E Street Band, but the music sounded very much of a piece with Bruce's and the E Street Band's overall output. Not so, here. Sure, there are guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, though it's an upright rather than an electric bass. More to the point, this is a "big band," that is, a 13-piece band with banjo, 2 violins, 4 piece brass band. Oh, and lots of singers, at least 4 background singers and lots of unison singing.
The idea that this is folk music is of course ridiculous. The songs may have originated that way, some of them, but the instrumentation? Not folk. But somehow it's what the songs conjured up in Bruce's imagination. And, you know what? It worked.
And in fact, "Erie Canal" was not even a folk song in its origin, it was a popular song written in 1905 by Thomas Allen. Its original title was "Low Bridge (Everybody Down)." It is a sad and nostalgic song about the conversion of the Erie Canal from mule power to engine power. To me it was the strongest song among several on The Seeger Sessions.
22. Silver Palomino, from Devils & Dust (2005). Devils & Dust is described as Bruce's "third folk album" after Nebraska and Tom Joad. I never heard it that way, it sounds a lot more like the rest of Bruce's catalog than those 2 records do. But, still, it was a pretty weak effort. "Silver Palomino" is by far the most attractive song among a weak bunch.
23. Man's Job, from Human Touch (1992). Human Touch is another of Bruce's weaker efforts. I listened to it so seldom that I only became familiar with this song when it was included on Bruce Springsteen In Concert/MTV Unplugged in 1993. "Lovin' you is a man's job, baby."
24. Viva Las Vegas, from The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003). Originally from the Elvis tribute record, The Last Temptation of Elvis (1990). By far the best version of this song ever recorded, right from the opening spoken vocal line, "C'mon, hit me, man."
25. Janey, Don't You Lose Heart, from Tracks. Originally recorded at the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, it did not make the LP but was the B-side on the 1983 single, "I'm Goin' Down."
26. When You're Alone, from Tunnel of Love.
27. Cover Me, from Born in the U.S.A. (1984).
28. Growin' Up, from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
29. She's the One, from Born to Run.
30. I Wanna Marry You, from The River.
31. Promised Land, from Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978).
32. Chimes of Freedom, from 1988 EP of the same name.
33. All That Heaven Will Allow, from Tunnel of Love.
34. Fire, single (1987). Originally from the Darkness sessions.
35. No Surrender, from Born in the U.S.A.
36. Pay Me My Money Down, from The Seeger Sessions.
37. Leah, from Devils & Dust.
38. Cautious Man, from Tunnel of Love.
39. Badlands, from Darkness on the Edge of Town.
40. The Streets of Philadelphia, single (1994).
41. Backstreets, from Born to Run.
42. My Oklahoma Home, from The Seeger Sessions.
43. Lucky Town, from Lucky Town.
44. Pink Cadillac, from Tracks. Originally from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions.
45. Jungleland, from Born to Run.
46. Johnny 99, from Nebraska (1982).
47. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, single (1985).
48. Tougher Than the Rest, from Tunnel of Love.
49. Mary, Don't You Weep, from The Seeger Sessions.
50. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live, from The Seeger Sessions.
Bruce's Top Albums
1. Born to Run (1975). It is so tempting to pick Asbury Park, which is so vastly underrated, while all the glory has gone to Born to Run. But in the end, Born to Run is just so powerful that it's just gotta be the one.
2. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973).
3. Tunnel of Love (1987). Also very underrated, the only Bruce LP that is better than any of those 1st 3 huge records.
4. The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (1974). When you think about it, Bruce's legacy is really pretty much summed up as these 1st 4 recordings--the big, early 3 plus Tunnel of Love. Everything else would be a nice career for anybody, but a legend like Bruce is based on the truly extraordinary, and that is what these 1st 4 recordings are.
5. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006). And you thought Bruce was washed up.
6. Tracks (1998). I'm not usually given to honoring collections like this but there's an exception to every rule. In this case, here's an artist who was so prolific, his outtakes are better than the best things most artists have ever done. Mostly I'm talking about "Santa Ana" and "Thundercrack."
7. Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978). The best song on the album is only rated #31, but there are so many great songs behind that one....
8. The River (1981). The River actually has more great songs on it than Darkness, but Darkness just holds together as a grand statement better.
9. Lucky Town (1992).
10. Magic (2007).
11. Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits (1995). Had "Secret Garden" and "Streets of Philadelphia."
12. Born in the U.S.A. (1984).
13. Devils & Dust (2005).
14. Wrecking Ball (2012).
15. Nebraska (1982).
Monday, July 1, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Best of Bob Dylan
When I said I was a Beatles guy, you thought I meant as opposed to the Stones. But in the beginning the big divide was the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Friends who were a year or two older gravitated toward Dylan, people my age liked the Beatles. It was a little while before the Stones were even part of the conversation.
Be that as it may, now, 50 years later, there's room for all 3. But I still have Dylan as my #3 rock artist after Frank and the Beatles and frankly I can more readily put together a list of 50 Dylan songs than 50 by the Beatles.
Bob's Top 50 Songs
This is based on his performances.
1. Desolation Row, from Highway 61 Revisited (1965). What an amazing kaleidoscope of images, right from postcards of the hanging, "the circus is in town" and a beauty parlor filled with sailors to the Titanic sailing and lovely mermaids flowing. Then there's "the riot squad they're restless/they need somewhere to go" and "at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew/come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do" and "when you asked me how I was doing/was that some kind of joke?" Eleven minutes of, well, desolation. Fellini-esque, they said, or influenced by Alan Ginsburg, which Dylan sort of confirmed, saying that "Desolation Row" came from "that New York type period, when all the songs were city songs. (Ginsburg's) poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city." Al Kooper, who played electric guitar on early takes of "Desolation Row," but not the Highway 61 version, said that "Desolation Row" was Eighth Avenue in Manhattan with its "whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets." Who, exactly, is the blind commissioner or Cinderella or Ophelia or Dr. Filth or the Phantom of the Opera? I have not even seen anybody willing to hazard a guess.
It has also been reported that the song may refer to the lynching of 3 black men in Duluth, MN, Dylan's birthplace, in 1920. The 3 were employed by a circus that had come to Duluth, and they sold postcards of the 3 bodies hanging from a light pole.
The Highway 61 version was recorded August 4, 1965, with country/folk wizard Charlie McCoy on acoustic lead guitar. An earlier version (July 29) with Kooper on guitar was released on a 2005 collection, The Bootleg Series Volume 7. It's played at a mid-tempo so that there's plenty of space to articulate and for listeners to clearly hear and comprehend the lyrics. McCoy's fills keep the music interesting without getting in the way. The vocal is understated, laconic. When 1 discovers in the final verse that the singer, too, is trapped on "Desolation Row," that seems reasonable. He's not just an on-looker, he's part of the "circus" that he describes.
2. Like A Rolling Stone, from Highway 61 Revisited. Bookends. "Like A Rolling Stone" opens Highway 61, "Desolation Row" closes it. The 2 greatest songs from 1 of rock 'n roll's greatest artists. No wonder Highway 61 rates as the greatest rock 'n roll LP of all-time. Wikipedia says the song "transformed Dylan's career and is today considered one of the most influential compositions in post-war popular music and has since its release been both a music industry and a popular culture milestone...."
It's a song about a girl who "used to dress so fine" but "Now you don't seem so proud/About having to be scrounging for your next meal.... Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street/But now you're gonna have to get used to it...." And then the famous chorus: "How does it feel/To be on your own/With no direction home/Like a complete unknown/Like a rolling stone."
But this song, unlike "Desolation Row," it's also about the music, the sensational music. Here, the music gets very much in the way, boldly, spectacularly. Al Kooper, a young and not particularly well-established guitarist, was invited to the session by producer Tom Wilson. However, it was only with Wilson out of the room that Kooper snuck over to the organ and played his now-famous organ filigree. When the track was played back, Wilson objected to the organ part saying Kooper was "not an organ player." Dylan, on the other hand, insisted that the organ be turned up in the mix.
Despite the song's 6 minute length--and the fact that many radio stations therefore would not play the song--it went to #2 on the Billboard charts. Rolling Stone has twice (2004, 2011) put the song at #1 on its list of the top 500 songs of all-time.
3. Jokerman, from Infidels (1983). "Jokerman" is Dylan's latter-day "Desolation Row," a song filled with colorful and provocative imagery: "Standing on the water/Casting your bread/While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing/Distant ships sailing into the mist/You were born with a snake in both of your fists/While a hurricane was blowing...." "Rifleman stalking the sick and the lame/Preacherman seeks the same/Who'll get there first is uncertain."
And then there's that guitar, but this time it's not country-rock of Charlie McCoy, it's the harder-edged rock 'n roll of Mark Knopfler, who also produced. In fact, the band was certainly one of the best ever assembled for a Dylan album--Knopfler and Mick Taylor on guitar, Sly and Robbie on rhythm, Alan Clark of Dire Straits on keyboards. Their polished but driving sound was perfect for "Jokerman."
But mostly there's those lyrics, that vocal. Some said it was Bob's best poetry since Blood on the Tracks.
4. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, from Blood on the Tracks (1975). Blood on the Tracks was only Dylan's 2nd LP to make it to #1 on the Billboard charts. Surprisingly, Planet Waves had been the 1st a year earlier. Highway 61 only made it to #3. Still, I doubt that most people would pick "The Jack of Hearts" as the best song on the record. Most people refer to it as a record about pain and loneliness. You know, "Tangled Up in Blue"and all that. When someone mentioned that this was among his most popular LPs, Dylan once said, "It's hard for me to relate to that.... People enjoying that kind of pain...."
But for me, there it is. The story, which I won't even try to explain, is intriguing, to be sure, and running almost 9 minutes there's many a plot twist and turn to it. But mainly there's the rapid-fire musical setting dominated by a rollicking Hammond B3 sound. It just sucks you in.
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit, from Bringin' It All Back Home (1965). One of Bob's pretty love songs, maybe the prettiest loviest of them all, utterly free of cynicism. I was surprised in reading up on this song, which was covered by Joan Baez among many, many others, that Dylan never ever recorded another song he wrote and that Baez covered, that being "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word." This would be more typical of a Dylan love song, and it would be rated right about here if he had ever recorded it.
6. Things Have Changed, single (2000). Written for the movie "Wonder Boys." "I used to care/But things have changed." Absolutely chilling. Great light-rock accompaniment.
7. Subterranean Homesick Blues, from Bringin' It All Back Home. A total breakthrough--his 1st top 40 hit (#39), one of his 1st "electric" songs, and also known for the then innovative "music video." Then there's the rapid-fire lyrics just brimming with alienation ("Twenty years of schoolin'/And they put you on the day shift") and what have now become familiar aphorisms among baby boomers ("You don't need a weatherman/To know which way the wind blows..." "The pump don't work/'Cause the vandals took the handles."
8. Romance in Durango, from Desire (1976). 1 of Dylan's many Westerns. "Hot chili peppers in the blisterin' sun" and etc.
9. Changing of the Guards, from Street Legal (1978). Another cryptic song but filled with provocative images of some medieval war or something. But my attraction is to the odd polka-like, saxophone-inflected music. Another one that just sucks you in with that sound.
10. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, from Highway 61 Revisited. Another song in the let-down category. "When you're lost in the rain in Juarez and it's Eastertime too/And your gravity fails and negativity don't get you through.... Everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough/But the joke was on me/There was nobody even there to bluff." I have to say that I am influenced in this ranking by Judy Collins' incredibly beautiful version, this probably wouldn't rate quite this high on its own merits. I said this would be based just on Bob's own performances. OK, so I lied.
11. I Ain't Got No Home, from A Tribute to Woody Guthrie (1972). The tribute was a live concert staged around the time of Woody's death in 1967. Bob plays with the Hawks, and as of 1972 there were very if any recordings available of Bob with the Hawks.
12. Positively 4th Street, single (1965). I always thought of this as "Like A Rolling Stone," Part 2. Another venomous putdown. And for me, having hung out on 4th Street (SE) in Minneapolis quite a bit during my college years, well, that just made this song more real.
13. It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry, from Highway 61 Revisited. 1st, what a great title for a song, especially 1 in which those specific words never actually appear. Just a straightforward folk-rock song, almost a defining song for the genre. I mean, what would Gram Parsons have done if this song hadn't existed?
14. Simple Twist of Fate, from Blood on the Tracks. Originally from Blood on the Tracks, of course, but Dylan and his band really nailed this one on Bob Dylan at Budokan (1979), and I vastly prefer that version. But either way, has there ever been a more concise but powerful expression of regret than "She shoulda caught me in my prime/She woulda stayed with me."
15. The Times They Are A-Changin,' from The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964). One of Bob's most famous and oft-quoted political songs, and why not? A great distillation of what people were saying or at least hoping.
16. Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, from Blonde on Blonde. If Bob was unhappy about this particular breakup, he didn't quite capture that in this rollicking rocker.
17. When the Ship Comes In, from The Times They Are A-Changin.' Apparently this is about Bob's ship but again it sure feels bigger, like the ship is comin' in for everybody, for the counter-culture, for the young, for the new age. The times they are a-changin' and when the ship comes in they'll really change. That's what I heard.
18. I'll Keep It With Mine, written in 1964, not released until Biograph (1985). The Biograph version was recorded in the Blonde on Blonde sessions. Another version, more stripped-down, almost demo quality but also from the Blonde on Blonde sessions, was released on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (1991). In fact, there were a total of 12 versions recorded, some of them incomplete. Only the 2 versions mentioned here have been released. "If I can save you any time/C'mon, give it to me/I'll keep it with mine."
19. Chimes of Freedom, from Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). A litany of injustice--e.g. "For each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail"--followed by the refrain, "We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing." A lot like "Blowin' in the Wind" in its construction, but performed with a little more anger, a little less certitude that, well, the times are truly a-changin.'
20. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, from Bringin' It All Back Home. This is often described as yet another breakup song. I don't know. The sense of loss seems to me to be bigger than that. It's not just a relationship that is over. It's everything. It's life as you've known it. And while the overall emotion is sadness, the ending provides a glimpse of hope. "Strike another match, go start anew."
21. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, from Blonde on Blonde. Trapped! "Now the Senator came down here showing everyone his gun/And handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son/And me, I nearly got busted and wouldn't it be my luck/To get caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck." And "Here I sit so patiently/Waiting to find out what price/You have to pay to get out of/Going through all of these things twice." Then, "Oh mama can this really be the end/To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again." All with that brilliant guitar/organ sound typical of Dylan's best rock 'n roll from 1965 and 1966, a sound that he would actually never again rediscover or recreate.
22. My Back Pages, from Another Side of Bob Dylan. Here Dylan questions political idealism. "Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth/'Rip down all hate,' I screamed/Lies that life is black and white/Spoke from my skull, I dreamed/Romantic facts of musketeers/Foundation deep, somehow.... My guard stood hard when abstract threats/Too noble to neglect/Deceived me into thinking/I had something to protect/Good and bad, I define these words/Quite clear, no doubt, somehow...." And then the famous refrain, "Ah but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now."
23. Absolutely Sweet Marie, from Blonde on Blonde. Another light rock love song with the famous line, "I'm sitting here beating on my trumpet... And where are you tonight, sweet Marie."
24. Gates of Eden, from Bringin' It All Back Home. This was also the B-side of the single "Like A Rolling Stone" and, so, it was very widely heard. It was probably less widely understood. It is one of the more inscrutable song from a very inscrutable artist/catalog. It is "a nightmarish vision of...corruption and decay," according to 1 source. The imagery was/is tantalizing.
25. Dirt Road Blues, from Time Out of Mind (1997). This is a very unusual Dylan song in that I just like the music, the little country riff that is repeated over and over again. It just sucks you in.
26. Unbelievable, from Under the Red Sky (1990). This was a really fallow period--after Infidels and before Time Out of Mind. But "Unbelievable" actually made it to #21 on the Billboard rock chart. It's a light rocker with lyrics more resigned than critical even of some trends in the contemporary world that Dylan found "unbelievable."
27. I Want You, from Blonde on Blonde.
28. All Along the Watchtower, from John Wesley Harding. The Hendrix version would rate higher.
29. Maggie's Farm, from Bringin' It All Back Home.
30. Tears of Rage, from The Basement Tapes. The Band's version rates higher.
31. It's All Right Ma, I'm Only Bleeding, from Bringin' It All Back Home.
32. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, from Blonde on Blonde.
33. Tangled Up in Blue, from Blood on the Tracks.
34. Let Me Die in My Footsteps, from The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1-3 (1991).
35. Just Like A Woman, from Blonde on Blonde. Seriously, this is 1 of Bob's greatest songs. It rates this low just because it is so over-exposed, I guess. I mean, I don't really ever need to hear this song ever again. But, my goodness, at the time it seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
36. Tombstone Blues, from Highway 61 Revisited.
37. This Wheel's on Fire, from The Basement Tapes.
38. Every Grain of Sand, from Shot of Love (1981).
39. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window, single (1965).
40. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963).
41. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, from Blood on the Tracks.
42. Neighborhood Bully, from Infidels.
43. Everything Is Broken, from Oh Mercy! (1989).
44. Mississippi, from Love & Theft (2001).
45. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, from The Basement Tapes.
46. Lay Down Your Weary Tune, from Biograph (1985). Written and recorded in 1963.
47. Mr. Tambourine Man, from Bringin' It All Back Home. Also over-exposed.
48. From a Buick 6, from Highway 61 Revisited.
49. I Shall Be Free, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
50. Blowin' in the Wind, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Over-exposed.
Bob's Best LPs
I'm not gonna review what songs are on each LP so much--I mean, some--but you can look up above for that.
1. Highway 61 Revisited (1965). What else? I mean, his best 2 songs ever, "Desolation Row" and "Like A Rolling Stone" are both here, and almost everything else is a classic. I've always thought this was the greatest rock 'n roll record ever. Rolling Stone magazine even has Sgt. Pepper's rated as the #1 LP of all-time. Like I've said many times, I'm a Beatles guy. But Highway 61 beats Sgt. Pepper's all to shit.
2. Bringin' It All Back Home (1965). And yet I sometimes think this is the better Dylan album. I guess I'd say, though, this Highway 61 is a rock 'n roll record and this is more of a folk record, and I'm a rock 'n roll guy. But what a year, 1965, 2 of the greatest records of the rock era. Wow.
3. Blonde on Blonde (1966). And then Bob followed Highway 61 with Blonde on Blonde. I do think that some of the love ballads here are a bit maudlin, but "Sad-Eyed Lady" works for me and the rockers are terrific.
4. Blood on the Tracks (1975). Probably only Highway 61 is as essential to Bob's legacy. Highway 61 puts him near the top of the all-time lists but this even more than that kept him there when he could have fallen--was falling, for that matter.
5. Infidels (1983). I don't think anybody would dispute that Bob is a bit casual about arranging and producing. His best work has always been when he empowered somebody to exert some control over those aspects of the music. Here it was Mark Knopfler.
6. The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3 (1991). Outtakes, alternative and live versions, etc., from 1961 through 1989. And where there are some interesting tunes from the '70s and '80s ("Angelina," "Series of Dreams"), Disc 1 covering 1961 through 1963 is by far the most significant: "He Was a Friend of Mine," "Let Me Die in My Footsteps," "Walkin' Down the Line," "Only a Hobo" and many more had never previously been released.
7. Bob Dylan at Budokan (1979). His best live record ever.
8. The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964).
9. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963).
10. Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). These all kinda run together. "A Hard Rain," "The Times They Are A-Changin,'" "My Back Pages," "The Chimes of Freedom," "When the Ship Comes In" stand out, and I'd be hard pressed to tell you which LP any of them were on.
11. Desire (1976).
12. Street Legal (1977). I loved their sound and "Romance in Durango" and "Changing of the Guards" are way underrated among Dylan's output.
13. Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 (released in 2005). There are now several live concert releases from Bob's early days. This seems to be the best and most historically significant (though, see #16).
14. Love & Theft (2001). Can this record really be a dozen years ago? My god. I just liked its sound.
15. The Basement Tapes (1975). Lots of great good humor here.
16. The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall Concert" (1998). Any early electric concert with the Band (the Hawks), and the audience was not pleased.
17. Biograph (1985). The best collection of oldies, outtakes, etc.
18. John Wesley Harding (1967). The 1st "return" to a folkie sound and the 1 that worked the best.
19. Time Out of Mind (1997). Another 1 that just sounds good. Who knew that his genius would end up being keeping a certain rock sound alive--you know, guitar-rock, basically.
20. Tempest (2012). Ditto.
21. Bob Dylan (1962). 50+ years ago. My god.
22. Planet Waves (1974). Not much admired but like JWH it had a nice folkie sound.
23. Slow Train Coming (1979). Not much admired but it had a couple of very nice tunes on it, e.g. "Gotta Serve Somebody."
24. New Morning (1970). Another of those folkie records after the motorcycle accident.
25. Modern Times (2006). Another nice light-rock record.
26. Self-Portrait (1970).
27. Nashville Skyline (1969). This is the "return" that is most widely admired but it left me a little bit cold. I mean, "Lay Lady Lay"? I don't think so.
28. Under the Red Sky (1990).
29. The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos (2010). Recorded 1962-1964.
30. Before the Flood (1974). Live recording also from 1974.
Be that as it may, now, 50 years later, there's room for all 3. But I still have Dylan as my #3 rock artist after Frank and the Beatles and frankly I can more readily put together a list of 50 Dylan songs than 50 by the Beatles.
Bob's Top 50 Songs
This is based on his performances.
1. Desolation Row, from Highway 61 Revisited (1965). What an amazing kaleidoscope of images, right from postcards of the hanging, "the circus is in town" and a beauty parlor filled with sailors to the Titanic sailing and lovely mermaids flowing. Then there's "the riot squad they're restless/they need somewhere to go" and "at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew/come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do" and "when you asked me how I was doing/was that some kind of joke?" Eleven minutes of, well, desolation. Fellini-esque, they said, or influenced by Alan Ginsburg, which Dylan sort of confirmed, saying that "Desolation Row" came from "that New York type period, when all the songs were city songs. (Ginsburg's) poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city." Al Kooper, who played electric guitar on early takes of "Desolation Row," but not the Highway 61 version, said that "Desolation Row" was Eighth Avenue in Manhattan with its "whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets." Who, exactly, is the blind commissioner or Cinderella or Ophelia or Dr. Filth or the Phantom of the Opera? I have not even seen anybody willing to hazard a guess.
It has also been reported that the song may refer to the lynching of 3 black men in Duluth, MN, Dylan's birthplace, in 1920. The 3 were employed by a circus that had come to Duluth, and they sold postcards of the 3 bodies hanging from a light pole.
The Highway 61 version was recorded August 4, 1965, with country/folk wizard Charlie McCoy on acoustic lead guitar. An earlier version (July 29) with Kooper on guitar was released on a 2005 collection, The Bootleg Series Volume 7. It's played at a mid-tempo so that there's plenty of space to articulate and for listeners to clearly hear and comprehend the lyrics. McCoy's fills keep the music interesting without getting in the way. The vocal is understated, laconic. When 1 discovers in the final verse that the singer, too, is trapped on "Desolation Row," that seems reasonable. He's not just an on-looker, he's part of the "circus" that he describes.
2. Like A Rolling Stone, from Highway 61 Revisited. Bookends. "Like A Rolling Stone" opens Highway 61, "Desolation Row" closes it. The 2 greatest songs from 1 of rock 'n roll's greatest artists. No wonder Highway 61 rates as the greatest rock 'n roll LP of all-time. Wikipedia says the song "transformed Dylan's career and is today considered one of the most influential compositions in post-war popular music and has since its release been both a music industry and a popular culture milestone...."
It's a song about a girl who "used to dress so fine" but "Now you don't seem so proud/About having to be scrounging for your next meal.... Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street/But now you're gonna have to get used to it...." And then the famous chorus: "How does it feel/To be on your own/With no direction home/Like a complete unknown/Like a rolling stone."
But this song, unlike "Desolation Row," it's also about the music, the sensational music. Here, the music gets very much in the way, boldly, spectacularly. Al Kooper, a young and not particularly well-established guitarist, was invited to the session by producer Tom Wilson. However, it was only with Wilson out of the room that Kooper snuck over to the organ and played his now-famous organ filigree. When the track was played back, Wilson objected to the organ part saying Kooper was "not an organ player." Dylan, on the other hand, insisted that the organ be turned up in the mix.
Despite the song's 6 minute length--and the fact that many radio stations therefore would not play the song--it went to #2 on the Billboard charts. Rolling Stone has twice (2004, 2011) put the song at #1 on its list of the top 500 songs of all-time.
3. Jokerman, from Infidels (1983). "Jokerman" is Dylan's latter-day "Desolation Row," a song filled with colorful and provocative imagery: "Standing on the water/Casting your bread/While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing/Distant ships sailing into the mist/You were born with a snake in both of your fists/While a hurricane was blowing...." "Rifleman stalking the sick and the lame/Preacherman seeks the same/Who'll get there first is uncertain."
And then there's that guitar, but this time it's not country-rock of Charlie McCoy, it's the harder-edged rock 'n roll of Mark Knopfler, who also produced. In fact, the band was certainly one of the best ever assembled for a Dylan album--Knopfler and Mick Taylor on guitar, Sly and Robbie on rhythm, Alan Clark of Dire Straits on keyboards. Their polished but driving sound was perfect for "Jokerman."
But mostly there's those lyrics, that vocal. Some said it was Bob's best poetry since Blood on the Tracks.
4. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, from Blood on the Tracks (1975). Blood on the Tracks was only Dylan's 2nd LP to make it to #1 on the Billboard charts. Surprisingly, Planet Waves had been the 1st a year earlier. Highway 61 only made it to #3. Still, I doubt that most people would pick "The Jack of Hearts" as the best song on the record. Most people refer to it as a record about pain and loneliness. You know, "Tangled Up in Blue"and all that. When someone mentioned that this was among his most popular LPs, Dylan once said, "It's hard for me to relate to that.... People enjoying that kind of pain...."
But for me, there it is. The story, which I won't even try to explain, is intriguing, to be sure, and running almost 9 minutes there's many a plot twist and turn to it. But mainly there's the rapid-fire musical setting dominated by a rollicking Hammond B3 sound. It just sucks you in.
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit, from Bringin' It All Back Home (1965). One of Bob's pretty love songs, maybe the prettiest loviest of them all, utterly free of cynicism. I was surprised in reading up on this song, which was covered by Joan Baez among many, many others, that Dylan never ever recorded another song he wrote and that Baez covered, that being "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word." This would be more typical of a Dylan love song, and it would be rated right about here if he had ever recorded it.
6. Things Have Changed, single (2000). Written for the movie "Wonder Boys." "I used to care/But things have changed." Absolutely chilling. Great light-rock accompaniment.
7. Subterranean Homesick Blues, from Bringin' It All Back Home. A total breakthrough--his 1st top 40 hit (#39), one of his 1st "electric" songs, and also known for the then innovative "music video." Then there's the rapid-fire lyrics just brimming with alienation ("Twenty years of schoolin'/And they put you on the day shift") and what have now become familiar aphorisms among baby boomers ("You don't need a weatherman/To know which way the wind blows..." "The pump don't work/'Cause the vandals took the handles."
8. Romance in Durango, from Desire (1976). 1 of Dylan's many Westerns. "Hot chili peppers in the blisterin' sun" and etc.
9. Changing of the Guards, from Street Legal (1978). Another cryptic song but filled with provocative images of some medieval war or something. But my attraction is to the odd polka-like, saxophone-inflected music. Another one that just sucks you in with that sound.
10. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, from Highway 61 Revisited. Another song in the let-down category. "When you're lost in the rain in Juarez and it's Eastertime too/And your gravity fails and negativity don't get you through.... Everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough/But the joke was on me/There was nobody even there to bluff." I have to say that I am influenced in this ranking by Judy Collins' incredibly beautiful version, this probably wouldn't rate quite this high on its own merits. I said this would be based just on Bob's own performances. OK, so I lied.
11. I Ain't Got No Home, from A Tribute to Woody Guthrie (1972). The tribute was a live concert staged around the time of Woody's death in 1967. Bob plays with the Hawks, and as of 1972 there were very if any recordings available of Bob with the Hawks.
12. Positively 4th Street, single (1965). I always thought of this as "Like A Rolling Stone," Part 2. Another venomous putdown. And for me, having hung out on 4th Street (SE) in Minneapolis quite a bit during my college years, well, that just made this song more real.
13. It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry, from Highway 61 Revisited. 1st, what a great title for a song, especially 1 in which those specific words never actually appear. Just a straightforward folk-rock song, almost a defining song for the genre. I mean, what would Gram Parsons have done if this song hadn't existed?
14. Simple Twist of Fate, from Blood on the Tracks. Originally from Blood on the Tracks, of course, but Dylan and his band really nailed this one on Bob Dylan at Budokan (1979), and I vastly prefer that version. But either way, has there ever been a more concise but powerful expression of regret than "She shoulda caught me in my prime/She woulda stayed with me."
15. The Times They Are A-Changin,' from The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964). One of Bob's most famous and oft-quoted political songs, and why not? A great distillation of what people were saying or at least hoping.
16. Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, from Blonde on Blonde. If Bob was unhappy about this particular breakup, he didn't quite capture that in this rollicking rocker.
17. When the Ship Comes In, from The Times They Are A-Changin.' Apparently this is about Bob's ship but again it sure feels bigger, like the ship is comin' in for everybody, for the counter-culture, for the young, for the new age. The times they are a-changin' and when the ship comes in they'll really change. That's what I heard.
18. I'll Keep It With Mine, written in 1964, not released until Biograph (1985). The Biograph version was recorded in the Blonde on Blonde sessions. Another version, more stripped-down, almost demo quality but also from the Blonde on Blonde sessions, was released on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 (1991). In fact, there were a total of 12 versions recorded, some of them incomplete. Only the 2 versions mentioned here have been released. "If I can save you any time/C'mon, give it to me/I'll keep it with mine."
19. Chimes of Freedom, from Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). A litany of injustice--e.g. "For each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail"--followed by the refrain, "We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing." A lot like "Blowin' in the Wind" in its construction, but performed with a little more anger, a little less certitude that, well, the times are truly a-changin.'
20. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, from Bringin' It All Back Home. This is often described as yet another breakup song. I don't know. The sense of loss seems to me to be bigger than that. It's not just a relationship that is over. It's everything. It's life as you've known it. And while the overall emotion is sadness, the ending provides a glimpse of hope. "Strike another match, go start anew."
21. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, from Blonde on Blonde. Trapped! "Now the Senator came down here showing everyone his gun/And handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son/And me, I nearly got busted and wouldn't it be my luck/To get caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck." And "Here I sit so patiently/Waiting to find out what price/You have to pay to get out of/Going through all of these things twice." Then, "Oh mama can this really be the end/To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again." All with that brilliant guitar/organ sound typical of Dylan's best rock 'n roll from 1965 and 1966, a sound that he would actually never again rediscover or recreate.
22. My Back Pages, from Another Side of Bob Dylan. Here Dylan questions political idealism. "Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth/'Rip down all hate,' I screamed/Lies that life is black and white/Spoke from my skull, I dreamed/Romantic facts of musketeers/Foundation deep, somehow.... My guard stood hard when abstract threats/Too noble to neglect/Deceived me into thinking/I had something to protect/Good and bad, I define these words/Quite clear, no doubt, somehow...." And then the famous refrain, "Ah but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now."
23. Absolutely Sweet Marie, from Blonde on Blonde. Another light rock love song with the famous line, "I'm sitting here beating on my trumpet... And where are you tonight, sweet Marie."
24. Gates of Eden, from Bringin' It All Back Home. This was also the B-side of the single "Like A Rolling Stone" and, so, it was very widely heard. It was probably less widely understood. It is one of the more inscrutable song from a very inscrutable artist/catalog. It is "a nightmarish vision of...corruption and decay," according to 1 source. The imagery was/is tantalizing.
25. Dirt Road Blues, from Time Out of Mind (1997). This is a very unusual Dylan song in that I just like the music, the little country riff that is repeated over and over again. It just sucks you in.
26. Unbelievable, from Under the Red Sky (1990). This was a really fallow period--after Infidels and before Time Out of Mind. But "Unbelievable" actually made it to #21 on the Billboard rock chart. It's a light rocker with lyrics more resigned than critical even of some trends in the contemporary world that Dylan found "unbelievable."
27. I Want You, from Blonde on Blonde.
28. All Along the Watchtower, from John Wesley Harding. The Hendrix version would rate higher.
29. Maggie's Farm, from Bringin' It All Back Home.
30. Tears of Rage, from The Basement Tapes. The Band's version rates higher.
31. It's All Right Ma, I'm Only Bleeding, from Bringin' It All Back Home.
32. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, from Blonde on Blonde.
33. Tangled Up in Blue, from Blood on the Tracks.
34. Let Me Die in My Footsteps, from The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1-3 (1991).
35. Just Like A Woman, from Blonde on Blonde. Seriously, this is 1 of Bob's greatest songs. It rates this low just because it is so over-exposed, I guess. I mean, I don't really ever need to hear this song ever again. But, my goodness, at the time it seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
36. Tombstone Blues, from Highway 61 Revisited.
37. This Wheel's on Fire, from The Basement Tapes.
38. Every Grain of Sand, from Shot of Love (1981).
39. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window, single (1965).
40. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963).
41. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, from Blood on the Tracks.
42. Neighborhood Bully, from Infidels.
43. Everything Is Broken, from Oh Mercy! (1989).
44. Mississippi, from Love & Theft (2001).
45. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, from The Basement Tapes.
46. Lay Down Your Weary Tune, from Biograph (1985). Written and recorded in 1963.
47. Mr. Tambourine Man, from Bringin' It All Back Home. Also over-exposed.
48. From a Buick 6, from Highway 61 Revisited.
49. I Shall Be Free, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
50. Blowin' in the Wind, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Over-exposed.
Bob's Best LPs
I'm not gonna review what songs are on each LP so much--I mean, some--but you can look up above for that.
1. Highway 61 Revisited (1965). What else? I mean, his best 2 songs ever, "Desolation Row" and "Like A Rolling Stone" are both here, and almost everything else is a classic. I've always thought this was the greatest rock 'n roll record ever. Rolling Stone magazine even has Sgt. Pepper's rated as the #1 LP of all-time. Like I've said many times, I'm a Beatles guy. But Highway 61 beats Sgt. Pepper's all to shit.
2. Bringin' It All Back Home (1965). And yet I sometimes think this is the better Dylan album. I guess I'd say, though, this Highway 61 is a rock 'n roll record and this is more of a folk record, and I'm a rock 'n roll guy. But what a year, 1965, 2 of the greatest records of the rock era. Wow.
3. Blonde on Blonde (1966). And then Bob followed Highway 61 with Blonde on Blonde. I do think that some of the love ballads here are a bit maudlin, but "Sad-Eyed Lady" works for me and the rockers are terrific.
4. Blood on the Tracks (1975). Probably only Highway 61 is as essential to Bob's legacy. Highway 61 puts him near the top of the all-time lists but this even more than that kept him there when he could have fallen--was falling, for that matter.
5. Infidels (1983). I don't think anybody would dispute that Bob is a bit casual about arranging and producing. His best work has always been when he empowered somebody to exert some control over those aspects of the music. Here it was Mark Knopfler.
6. The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3 (1991). Outtakes, alternative and live versions, etc., from 1961 through 1989. And where there are some interesting tunes from the '70s and '80s ("Angelina," "Series of Dreams"), Disc 1 covering 1961 through 1963 is by far the most significant: "He Was a Friend of Mine," "Let Me Die in My Footsteps," "Walkin' Down the Line," "Only a Hobo" and many more had never previously been released.
7. Bob Dylan at Budokan (1979). His best live record ever.
8. The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964).
9. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963).
10. Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). These all kinda run together. "A Hard Rain," "The Times They Are A-Changin,'" "My Back Pages," "The Chimes of Freedom," "When the Ship Comes In" stand out, and I'd be hard pressed to tell you which LP any of them were on.
11. Desire (1976).
12. Street Legal (1977). I loved their sound and "Romance in Durango" and "Changing of the Guards" are way underrated among Dylan's output.
13. Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 (released in 2005). There are now several live concert releases from Bob's early days. This seems to be the best and most historically significant (though, see #16).
14. Love & Theft (2001). Can this record really be a dozen years ago? My god. I just liked its sound.
15. The Basement Tapes (1975). Lots of great good humor here.
16. The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall Concert" (1998). Any early electric concert with the Band (the Hawks), and the audience was not pleased.
17. Biograph (1985). The best collection of oldies, outtakes, etc.
18. John Wesley Harding (1967). The 1st "return" to a folkie sound and the 1 that worked the best.
19. Time Out of Mind (1997). Another 1 that just sounds good. Who knew that his genius would end up being keeping a certain rock sound alive--you know, guitar-rock, basically.
20. Tempest (2012). Ditto.
21. Bob Dylan (1962). 50+ years ago. My god.
22. Planet Waves (1974). Not much admired but like JWH it had a nice folkie sound.
23. Slow Train Coming (1979). Not much admired but it had a couple of very nice tunes on it, e.g. "Gotta Serve Somebody."
24. New Morning (1970). Another of those folkie records after the motorcycle accident.
25. Modern Times (2006). Another nice light-rock record.
26. Self-Portrait (1970).
27. Nashville Skyline (1969). This is the "return" that is most widely admired but it left me a little bit cold. I mean, "Lay Lady Lay"? I don't think so.
28. Under the Red Sky (1990).
29. The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos (2010). Recorded 1962-1964.
30. Before the Flood (1974). Live recording also from 1974.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Frank Zappa's Best LPs
I've listed Frank's top 100 songs or thereabouts elsewhere. What about his LPs? Mainly I've tried to stay with LPs with original music, meaning I stayed away from Mothermania, You Can't Do That on Stage, most of the posthumous LPs, etc.
1. One Size Fits All (1975). Since the day it was released, this has always been my favorite of the 62 collections of music that Frank Zappa released during his lifetime. There are of course many posthumous LPs released by the Zappa Family Trust, at least 1 of which appears on this list, but let's face it. If none of his 1st 62 LPs appealed to you, the posthumous LPs aren't going to break through, either.
Anyway, I loved Frank's earliest work on up through Chunga's Revenge (1970), but his '70s work generally hadn't grabbed me like his '60s output had done. He especially lost me, as his chart numbers suggest he lost a lot of people, during his instrumental interlude. It was only later that I learned to love The Grand Wazoo (1972). Over-Nite Sensation (1973) was OK and Apostrophe (1974) was even better, but I've never been a big fan of Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), and now he hadn't released a new LP in a year. It was his longest silence ever. Was Frank finished?
Not by a long shot. I had seen him play live at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, CA, the previous summer (1974) with Ruth, George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock...it was Frank's best band ever. Still Roxy was a rehash of the past. I craved something new.
One Size Fits All satisfied that craving, it really hit the spot. "Inca Roads," in particular, jumped out at you. The lyrics are classic Zappa lunacy--something about a spaceship landing somewhere in the Andes, perhaps on an airstrip (an "Inca Road") constructed for that purpose. The song is George Duke's primary legacy as a member of Zappa's band. Duke sings and plays a terrific synthesizer solo. Ruth Underwood's marimba is also very prominent, especially on the herky-jerky main rhythm riff, though Frank's electric guitar also stretches out and dominates that second half of the song or thereabouts. Still, the song concludes with George Duke's minute-and-a-half keyboard solo, then more silliness, "Did a booger-bear come from somewhere out there... Did someone build a place or leave a space for such a thing to land...on Ruth, on Ruth, woo-hoo, that's Ruth." Say what?
And then of course there are "Sofa No. 1" and "Sofa No. 2," more of Frank's existential lunacy. The song pimps the philosophical lingo--"I am the heaven, I am the waters," then shifts into German, "Ich bin der chrome dinette"--well, "chrome dinette" is English, isn't it--"Du bist mein sofa." I mean, all this high-falutin' existential mumbo jumbo is German, right? Live, this was all part of a longer stage bit in which Mark Volman would pretend to be a sofa. Zappa released at least 10 different versions of the song. And, after Zappa's death, Steve Vai played lead on a version of "Sofa" for the tribute album, Zappa's Universe, and won a grammy for that performance. As much as I admire Vai's version (I always referred to it as Frank's Funeral March), the original vocal by Flo and Eddie, "Sofa No. 2," remains the standard as far as I am concerned.
1. One Size Fits All (1975). Since the day it was released, this has always been my favorite of the 62 collections of music that Frank Zappa released during his lifetime. There are of course many posthumous LPs released by the Zappa Family Trust, at least 1 of which appears on this list, but let's face it. If none of his 1st 62 LPs appealed to you, the posthumous LPs aren't going to break through, either.
Anyway, I loved Frank's earliest work on up through Chunga's Revenge (1970), but his '70s work generally hadn't grabbed me like his '60s output had done. He especially lost me, as his chart numbers suggest he lost a lot of people, during his instrumental interlude. It was only later that I learned to love The Grand Wazoo (1972). Over-Nite Sensation (1973) was OK and Apostrophe (1974) was even better, but I've never been a big fan of Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), and now he hadn't released a new LP in a year. It was his longest silence ever. Was Frank finished?
Not by a long shot. I had seen him play live at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, CA, the previous summer (1974) with Ruth, George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock...it was Frank's best band ever. Still Roxy was a rehash of the past. I craved something new.
One Size Fits All satisfied that craving, it really hit the spot. "Inca Roads," in particular, jumped out at you. The lyrics are classic Zappa lunacy--something about a spaceship landing somewhere in the Andes, perhaps on an airstrip (an "Inca Road") constructed for that purpose. The song is George Duke's primary legacy as a member of Zappa's band. Duke sings and plays a terrific synthesizer solo. Ruth Underwood's marimba is also very prominent, especially on the herky-jerky main rhythm riff, though Frank's electric guitar also stretches out and dominates that second half of the song or thereabouts. Still, the song concludes with George Duke's minute-and-a-half keyboard solo, then more silliness, "Did a booger-bear come from somewhere out there... Did someone build a place or leave a space for such a thing to land...on Ruth, on Ruth, woo-hoo, that's Ruth." Say what?
And then of course there are "Sofa No. 1" and "Sofa No. 2," more of Frank's existential lunacy. The song pimps the philosophical lingo--"I am the heaven, I am the waters," then shifts into German, "Ich bin der chrome dinette"--well, "chrome dinette" is English, isn't it--"Du bist mein sofa." I mean, all this high-falutin' existential mumbo jumbo is German, right? Live, this was all part of a longer stage bit in which Mark Volman would pretend to be a sofa. Zappa released at least 10 different versions of the song. And, after Zappa's death, Steve Vai played lead on a version of "Sofa" for the tribute album, Zappa's Universe, and won a grammy for that performance. As much as I admire Vai's version (I always referred to it as Frank's Funeral March), the original vocal by Flo and Eddie, "Sofa No. 2," remains the standard as far as I am concerned.
And Frank surrounds these 3 pieces with a number of solid rock songs, especially "Can't Afford No Shoes," but also "Pojama People," "Andy" and "San Ber-dino." But if it is Frank's utterly inspired, ridiculously catchy word play that you truly love, this is the LP for you.
2. You Are What You Is (1981). This is really quite unique among Frank's massive output. It is 1 of very very few (perhaps the only) record with no live tracks, no spoken passages, no collage or pastiche-type formatting.... It is just a collection of rock 'n roll songs--20 of them, as it happens--with a beginning, a middle and an end, and then a pause before the start of the next song.
And what a collection it is. A series of putdowns, basically, of all the charlatans and show-offs and pretensions of the day, from that old stand-by, the TV preacher ("Heavenly Bank Account") to society matrons ("The Society Pages") to supermodels ("Beauty Knows No Pain") and other jet-setters and beautiful people on drugs ("Charlie's Enormous Mouth") to failed suicides ("Suicide Chump") and many more. There's also several "love" songs of the typically Zappaesque scatalogical variety ("Harder Than Your Husband,""Goblin Girl"). Then the LP ends on a more overtly political note with "Drafted Again" ("I don't want to get drafted/I don't wanna go").
But as brilliant and as hilarious as the social commentary is, what makes this such a great record is the super-tight rock 'n roll band accompaniment by Frank and Steve Vai on guitar, Tommy Mars on keys, Arthur Barrow on bass, Ed Mann on percussion, and an army of rhythm guitars. It's just got a great rock sound with more rhythm and drive and less in the way of flashy solos and sound effects than 1 would ordinarily expect from Frank. I'm glad that not every album sounded like this, but this 1 time it was just perfect.
3. Broadway the Hard Way (1989). Late Frank, about 6 years after he had stopped charting. A totally overlooked and underestimated masterpiece, in other words. The centerpieces are, well, 3 in number. 1st, there's a sequence of 3 songs: "Bacon Fat," where Frank inserts his own political commentary into a song by Andre Williams; then "Stolen Moments," a jazz "standard" by Oliver Nelson with a lovely trumpet solo by Walt Fowler; and, finally, Sting strolls out onto the stage to sing "Murder by Numbers," which brings down the house.
Then there's the incredible "Dickie's Such an Asshole," which of course goes way back to the days of Dick Nixon. Thank goodness Frank got this on to a record, even if it was a generation after the fact. What a fabulous putdown of the tricky one. "I used to have 25 tapes/Now I only got 10/Can't remember what happened to the rest/Must a gave 'em to a friend/Gave a couple to Bebe Rebozo/Gave a couple to Pat Boone...."
And finally "Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel," a breakneck-paced rocker about poverty in America. "Republicans is fine if you're a multimillionaire/Democrats is fair if all you own is what you wear/But neither of 'ems really right 'cause neither of 'em care/About that hot plate heaven, 'cause they ain't been there."
The horn work is absolutely exquisite throughout.
4. We're Only In It for the Money (1968). It's tough to choose among Franks 1st 3 great records: Freak Out, Absolutely Free and then We're Only In It for the Money. But it seems to me that the satire of the latter is so biting, so right on, so chilling, that Money has to be the choice among that group. I mean, this is the hard stuff, mostly directed toward the adult word, the parents of Frank's fans.
"Mom and Dad:" "Ever wonder why you're daughter looks so sad/It's such a drag to have to love a plastic mom and dad."
"Mother People:" "Better take a look around before you say you don't care/Shut your fucking mouth about the length of my hair/How could you survive if you were alive/Shitty little person."
"What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?:" "All your children are poor unfortunate victims of systems beyond their control/A plague upon your ignorance and the gray despair of your ugly lives..../All your children are poor unfortunate victims of lies you believe/A plague upon your ignorance that keeps the young from the truth they deserve."
Then, of course, there's the album cover art which is a satire on the hated Beatles and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We're Only In It for the Money is meant to describe John, Paul, George and Ringo and their motivations. Sgt. Pepper's went to #1 on the Billboard charts but, hey, Frank's response went to #30.
5. Absolutely Free (1967). Frank's 2nd LP, Absolutely Free followed Freak Out! by 10 months and pre-dated We're Only In It for the Money by 11. Both present a pastiche of song pieces and parts of 1 to 2 or 2-and-a-half minutes). Money featured 18 such snippets, Free just 11, yet both timed out at 38-39 minutes. That's because each had a lengthy instrumental piece (Money featured "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny," Free "Invocation and Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin"), but Free also had a 7-minute piece of social commentary called "Brown Shoes Don't Make It:" "Life's ball/TV tonight/Do you love it/Do you hate it/There it is the way you made it..../Be a loyal plastic robot/For a world that doesn't care."
"Plastic People," "The Duke of Prunes," "Call Any Vegetable"...there's a bunch of other classics here, too, but Free also differs from Money in that here the songs more or less stand alone, while on Money Frank strings everything together into 1 single devastating critique of American life.
6. Joe's Garage, Acts 1, 2 and 3 (1979). Frank released Joe's Garage in 2 chunks--Act I and then Acts II and III. But that was almost surely a mere commercial consideration. Joe's Garage was always meant as 1 single work of art, and 1 easily hears it that way.
Joe is living the American dream. He and his friends play rock 'n roll in the garage. Girls ("Catholic Girls," "Crew Slut(s)") dig it. But then the government outlaws rock 'n roll, but Joe keeps on playing. Eventually he is sent to jail. "I've got it," he decides, "I'll be sullen and withdrawn." He plays imaginary guitar soloes in his head until finally he decides--"I wonder what it's like on the outside now"--to do as he's told so that he can return to society. (His last imaginary guitar solo is the beautiful "Watermelon in Easter Hay.")
There's a dozen great songs here though the Central Scrutinizer--Frank, narrating the story, providing the needed context and connectivity among the songs in a speaking voice--gets annoying about halfway through the record the very 1st time. Now, after 30-plus years, it's nearly intolerable. Still, the songs--from the slow blues of "Lucille" to the hard-drivin' "Packard Goose"--are so good that one tolerates it, over and over again.
7. The Grand Wazoo (1973). After 15 records, this one, the 16th, was the 1st that didn't chart. Over the course of 30 years, his instrumental records didn't chart as highly as his vocal albums and this was his 2nd straight (mostly) instrumental record. Still, The Grand Wazoo is a terrific jazzy fusion record with super horn ensemble work and great guitar and piano solos by Frank and by George Duke. The title track really says it all and "Eat That Question" has a terrific piano solo.
8. Freak Out! (1966). This is Frank's 1st record and he pulled out all the stops to shock (and delight) his listeners. How in the world this ever got released, much less charted at #130, is beyond me, it is so weird, so offensive, so, well, as the title of David Walley's biography of Frank says, lacking in commercial potential. But it obviously caught an audience that thought Frank's social satire was just what the world needs now....
"Hungry Freaks Daddy" and "Who Are the Brain Police" are classics of Frank's social satirical style, and then there's the somewhat unique case of "Trouble Every Day," which features basically rock 'n roll instrumentation without all the sound effects and interruptus the characterizes so much of Frank's early work. And the lyric and Frank's totally pissed-off vocal!
"Well, I seen the fires burnin'/And the local people turnin'/On the merchants and the shops/Who used to sell them brooms and mops/And every other household item/Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em/And they say it served 'em right/Because of few of 'em were white...." Frank goes on, however, to see the other side of the matter and to ask how it might change. "Don't you know that this could start/On any street in any town/In any state if any clown/Decides that now's the time to fight/For some ideal he thinks is right/And if a million more agree/There ain't no Great Society/As it applies to you and me/Our country isn't free/And the law refuses to see/If all that you can ever be/Is just a lousy janitor/Unless your uncle owns the store/You know that five in every four/Just won't amount to nothin' more/Gonna watch the rats go 'cross the floor/And make up songs about bein' poor."
9. Chunga's Revenge (1970). Chunga represented the start of a new era for Zappa, that being the Flo and Eddie era, and the highlight of Chunga's Revenge is the lovely doo-wop tale of unrequited love, "Sharleena," passionately sung by the former Turtles vocalists. Still, the other vocal numbers are also highly entertaining. "Would You Go All the Way" presents a fellow from the USO who cannot take no for an answer: "Would you go all the way/For the U.S.A." "Tell Me You Love Me," well, here it's just your ordinary generic fellow who cannot take no for an answer. And "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink" depicts the band getting shaken down by another of Zappa's nemeses, the fellow from the musician's union.
There are also several nice instrumentals, chiefly "Twenty Small Cigars."
10. Apostrophe (') (1974). Apostrophe (') was Frank's highest charting album at #10, mostly because it also featured his 1st charting single, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow,"which reached #86. ("Yellow Snow" was just the 1st of a 4-song cycle about, er, yellow snow and baby seals and such.) More memorable, however, is the 6 minute song of the same title ("Apostrophe"), a driving instrumental jam featuring the power trio of Frank, Jack Bruce and Jim Gordon. But along with "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," the song "Stink-Foot" also got some radio play, and the two songs went a long way in creating the image of Frank as an old slightly foul-mouthed provocateur as opposed to the truly foul-mouthed and dangerous social critic that he really was.
Finally "Kosmik Debris" is 1 of Frank's funniest assaults on the various conventions surrounding hippiedom and other new age mumbo-jumbo.
11. Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970). Weasels was the 2nd Mothers album released after Frank disbanded his original band the previous year. Weasels consisted entirely of live material, much of instrumental improvisation. Chunga opened the new post-Mothers era just 2 months later.
On the other hand, there were three "songs"--Sugarcane Harris singing "Directly from My Heart to You," the classic "Oh No," and "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama.""Toads of the Short Forest" is a pretty, melodic instrumental, and ditto "Dwarf Nebula Processional March and Dwarf Nebula," but most of the rest has a harder edge to it, mostly notably the title track, consisting of 2 minutes of total, balls-out noise and feedback. Actually, it works very nicely.
12. Over-Nite Sensation (1973). Over-Nite Sensation got Frank back on the charts and all the way back up to #32 after the mostly instrumental records Waka/Jawaka (#152) and The Grand Wazoo (Frank's 1st non-charting LP). In polite company, "Montana" is credited for the record's popularity, while among less polite company "Dinah-Moe Humm" is more likely to get the credit. "Montana" is of course an inoffensively funny ditty in the tradition of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Stink-Foot." "Dinah-Moe Humm" is probably Frank's most foul-mouthed and offensive tune ever, in the tradition of, ah, "Dinah-Moe Humm" and little else. "I couldn't say where she was comin' from/but I just met a lady named Dinah-Moe Humm/She stroll on over, say look here, bum/I got a forty dollar bill says you can't make me cum." And it goes downhill from there.
13. The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991). 1 of 3 CDs from the 1988 world tour, this one is best known for a series of unlikely covers--Ravel's "Bolero," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Purple Haze," "Stairway to Heaven," Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "The Theme from 'Bonanza.'" "Bolero" is truly a classic, basically playing the piece straight but substituting instruments, most notably Bruce Fowler's trombone, for Ravel's choices.
14. Burnt Weenie Sandwich (1970). As noted above, this was 1 of 2 LPs of Mothers material released after Frank disbanded the Mothers in 1969. This was mostly instrumental music, most notably the lovely "Aybe Sea" and "Holiday in Berlin." The vocal numbers, "WPLJ" and "Valarie" are covers of too-wop tunes, one an up-tempo celebration of white port lemon juice, the other a heartbreaker, both sung by Frank.
15. You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Volume 6 (1991). My favorite from the YCDTOSA series because it contains the truly definitive version of "Strictly Genteel," which I always understood as Frank's take on "Pomp and Circumstance." This version is from a 1981 concert. The lead instrument throughout is a keyboard synthesizer played, I believe, by Tommy Mars or Bobby Martin.
But this particular collection also includes live (of course) versions of "Dirty Love," "Dinah-Moe Humm," "Camarillo Brillo," "Catholic Girls," "Crew Slut," "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," among, well, 37 tracks in total.
16. Studio Tan (1978). Frank's lowest charting record since The Grand Wazoo 6 years earlier, there's really not a lot to recommend Studio Tan other than "Redunzl." But "Redunzl" is 1 of Frank's unquestioned masterpieces, a tour de force is instrumental riffing that always sounded to me like a satire of the music from "Leave It to Beaver" or "Mayberry RFD." After a vigorous introductory flourish, the piece settles into a more languid mood and melody alternating between John Berkman's piano and George Duke's electronic keyboards, doubled by (apparently Frank on) marimba. The pace quickens a bit and Frank enters on electric guitar. Another 2 minutes and the pace quickens again and Berkman comes back with a vigorous piano solo. Finally there's a return to the introductory theme played with new intensity to the end. Brilliant.
17. The Man from Utopia (1983). This LP is mainly noteworthy for the instrumentals "Moggio" and "We Are Not Alone," in which Frank dubbed bari sax solos by Marty Krystall on to otherwise live tracks. Both were later covered, beautifully, by the Ed Palermo Big Band. "The Dangerous Kitchen" is a funny bit of word play.
18. Hot Rats (1969). Hot Rats seemed like a big departure for Frank, coming after the Big 3 (Freak Out!, Free and Money) and Uncle Meat, basically. Hot Rats consisted of what most anybody could recognize as "songs," and that was something new for Frank. Two of the songs, as it happened, were also instant classics--"Peaches en Regalia" of Frank's pretty instrumental genre, and "Willie the Pimp" of his decidedly unpretty and deliberately offensive work, and the 2 of them coming directly back-to-back as the 1st and 2nd tracks on the record as if to say, Hey, man up, what's a little schizophrenia among friends?
19. Imaginary Diseases (2005). The highest rated of the posthumous releases, this is mostly in recognition of the instrumental "Rollo" from a live show in 1972. You hear so many familiar instrumental themes and sounds in "Rollo" that you hardly know where to start. Everything here is from 1972 and basically features the Grand Wazoo band. How could it not be a wonderful find?
20. Zappa in New York (1978). Recording in 1976, this was originally released in 1977, then withdrawn and re-released in 1978. The 1978 version is what most people heard. It has a terrific version of "Sofa" with Mike Brecker's saxophone in the lead. There are also "Big Leg Emma" and "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me," Zappa compositions but reminiscent of the '60s doo-wop that he also sometimes covered.
21. Just Another Band from L.A. (1972). From a 1971 concert and featuring Flo and Eddie. Once upon a time, I thought that "Billy the Mountain," which fills side 1 of the original vinyl, was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Since then, it's been hard to recreate the frame of mind in which it struck me that way, however.
22. Sheik Yerbouti (1979). A lot of Sheik Yerbouti didn't work, but there is the totally brilliant "Yo' Mama," a Zappa putdown song ("Maybe you should stay with yo' mama/she could do your laundry and cook for you/Maybe you should stay with yo' mama/You're really kinda stupid and ugly too") that leads into 9 minutes of the best guitar Frank ever played. But the other 73 minutes (with the exception of the wonderful "Baby Snakes") is just too much.
23. Zoot Allures (1976). "Black Napkins" being the chief pleasure.
24. Cruisin' with Reuben & the Jets (1968). Some people thought there was a real band named Reuben & the Jets. A bunch of too-wop songs from the sublime to the ridiculous.
25. Fillmore East, June 1971 (1971). The height of Flo and Eddie-ness.
There are also several nice instrumentals, chiefly "Twenty Small Cigars."
10. Apostrophe (') (1974). Apostrophe (') was Frank's highest charting album at #10, mostly because it also featured his 1st charting single, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow,"which reached #86. ("Yellow Snow" was just the 1st of a 4-song cycle about, er, yellow snow and baby seals and such.) More memorable, however, is the 6 minute song of the same title ("Apostrophe"), a driving instrumental jam featuring the power trio of Frank, Jack Bruce and Jim Gordon. But along with "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," the song "Stink-Foot" also got some radio play, and the two songs went a long way in creating the image of Frank as an old slightly foul-mouthed provocateur as opposed to the truly foul-mouthed and dangerous social critic that he really was.
Finally "Kosmik Debris" is 1 of Frank's funniest assaults on the various conventions surrounding hippiedom and other new age mumbo-jumbo.
11. Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970). Weasels was the 2nd Mothers album released after Frank disbanded his original band the previous year. Weasels consisted entirely of live material, much of instrumental improvisation. Chunga opened the new post-Mothers era just 2 months later.
On the other hand, there were three "songs"--Sugarcane Harris singing "Directly from My Heart to You," the classic "Oh No," and "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama.""Toads of the Short Forest" is a pretty, melodic instrumental, and ditto "Dwarf Nebula Processional March and Dwarf Nebula," but most of the rest has a harder edge to it, mostly notably the title track, consisting of 2 minutes of total, balls-out noise and feedback. Actually, it works very nicely.
12. Over-Nite Sensation (1973). Over-Nite Sensation got Frank back on the charts and all the way back up to #32 after the mostly instrumental records Waka/Jawaka (#152) and The Grand Wazoo (Frank's 1st non-charting LP). In polite company, "Montana" is credited for the record's popularity, while among less polite company "Dinah-Moe Humm" is more likely to get the credit. "Montana" is of course an inoffensively funny ditty in the tradition of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Stink-Foot." "Dinah-Moe Humm" is probably Frank's most foul-mouthed and offensive tune ever, in the tradition of, ah, "Dinah-Moe Humm" and little else. "I couldn't say where she was comin' from/but I just met a lady named Dinah-Moe Humm/She stroll on over, say look here, bum/I got a forty dollar bill says you can't make me cum." And it goes downhill from there.
13. The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991). 1 of 3 CDs from the 1988 world tour, this one is best known for a series of unlikely covers--Ravel's "Bolero," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Purple Haze," "Stairway to Heaven," Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "The Theme from 'Bonanza.'" "Bolero" is truly a classic, basically playing the piece straight but substituting instruments, most notably Bruce Fowler's trombone, for Ravel's choices.
14. Burnt Weenie Sandwich (1970). As noted above, this was 1 of 2 LPs of Mothers material released after Frank disbanded the Mothers in 1969. This was mostly instrumental music, most notably the lovely "Aybe Sea" and "Holiday in Berlin." The vocal numbers, "WPLJ" and "Valarie" are covers of too-wop tunes, one an up-tempo celebration of white port lemon juice, the other a heartbreaker, both sung by Frank.
15. You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Volume 6 (1991). My favorite from the YCDTOSA series because it contains the truly definitive version of "Strictly Genteel," which I always understood as Frank's take on "Pomp and Circumstance." This version is from a 1981 concert. The lead instrument throughout is a keyboard synthesizer played, I believe, by Tommy Mars or Bobby Martin.
But this particular collection also includes live (of course) versions of "Dirty Love," "Dinah-Moe Humm," "Camarillo Brillo," "Catholic Girls," "Crew Slut," "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance," among, well, 37 tracks in total.
16. Studio Tan (1978). Frank's lowest charting record since The Grand Wazoo 6 years earlier, there's really not a lot to recommend Studio Tan other than "Redunzl." But "Redunzl" is 1 of Frank's unquestioned masterpieces, a tour de force is instrumental riffing that always sounded to me like a satire of the music from "Leave It to Beaver" or "Mayberry RFD." After a vigorous introductory flourish, the piece settles into a more languid mood and melody alternating between John Berkman's piano and George Duke's electronic keyboards, doubled by (apparently Frank on) marimba. The pace quickens a bit and Frank enters on electric guitar. Another 2 minutes and the pace quickens again and Berkman comes back with a vigorous piano solo. Finally there's a return to the introductory theme played with new intensity to the end. Brilliant.
17. The Man from Utopia (1983). This LP is mainly noteworthy for the instrumentals "Moggio" and "We Are Not Alone," in which Frank dubbed bari sax solos by Marty Krystall on to otherwise live tracks. Both were later covered, beautifully, by the Ed Palermo Big Band. "The Dangerous Kitchen" is a funny bit of word play.
18. Hot Rats (1969). Hot Rats seemed like a big departure for Frank, coming after the Big 3 (Freak Out!, Free and Money) and Uncle Meat, basically. Hot Rats consisted of what most anybody could recognize as "songs," and that was something new for Frank. Two of the songs, as it happened, were also instant classics--"Peaches en Regalia" of Frank's pretty instrumental genre, and "Willie the Pimp" of his decidedly unpretty and deliberately offensive work, and the 2 of them coming directly back-to-back as the 1st and 2nd tracks on the record as if to say, Hey, man up, what's a little schizophrenia among friends?
19. Imaginary Diseases (2005). The highest rated of the posthumous releases, this is mostly in recognition of the instrumental "Rollo" from a live show in 1972. You hear so many familiar instrumental themes and sounds in "Rollo" that you hardly know where to start. Everything here is from 1972 and basically features the Grand Wazoo band. How could it not be a wonderful find?
20. Zappa in New York (1978). Recording in 1976, this was originally released in 1977, then withdrawn and re-released in 1978. The 1978 version is what most people heard. It has a terrific version of "Sofa" with Mike Brecker's saxophone in the lead. There are also "Big Leg Emma" and "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me," Zappa compositions but reminiscent of the '60s doo-wop that he also sometimes covered.
21. Just Another Band from L.A. (1972). From a 1971 concert and featuring Flo and Eddie. Once upon a time, I thought that "Billy the Mountain," which fills side 1 of the original vinyl, was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Since then, it's been hard to recreate the frame of mind in which it struck me that way, however.
22. Sheik Yerbouti (1979). A lot of Sheik Yerbouti didn't work, but there is the totally brilliant "Yo' Mama," a Zappa putdown song ("Maybe you should stay with yo' mama/she could do your laundry and cook for you/Maybe you should stay with yo' mama/You're really kinda stupid and ugly too") that leads into 9 minutes of the best guitar Frank ever played. But the other 73 minutes (with the exception of the wonderful "Baby Snakes") is just too much.
23. Zoot Allures (1976). "Black Napkins" being the chief pleasure.
24. Cruisin' with Reuben & the Jets (1968). Some people thought there was a real band named Reuben & the Jets. A bunch of too-wop songs from the sublime to the ridiculous.
25. Fillmore East, June 1971 (1971). The height of Flo and Eddie-ness.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Molly and the Mistakes
We ran into a band and a singer the other day, unexpectedly as it happens, who we hadn't heard of before. She is Molly Hasbrook. They are Molly and the Mistakes.
She is fabulous, with a big big big BIG (did I say big) voice. She sings Aretha better than just about anybody but Aretha, and also reminds 1 a little bit of Janis Joplin. '60s soul and R&B is her thing and she just nails it.
The Mistakes provide a solid, no frills backing with just guitar, bass and drums. There's no left-over sounds, everything you hear is just what's needed, no more, no less. The Mistakes have the feel of this music almost as well as Molly herself.
Recommended.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Best of the Beatles
Like I said elsewhere, I was a Beatles guy. And a Ford guy. And a Pepsi guy. Like that. But mainly a Beatles guy. I saw and heard them play on Ed Sullivan and within a few months I was in a rock 'n roll band.
1. A Day in the Life, from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band (1967). What a concept. An album with not 1 but 2 apostrophes in the title! And as everybody knows, "A Day in the Life" was really 2 songs, 1 by John Lennon, another by Paul McCartney, that magically fit together into 1 magnum opus: Lennon's a dirge about the death of an acquaintance ("he blew his mind out in a car/he hadn't noticed that the lights had changed"), McCartney's a more upbeat reminiscence of...what, exactly? "Found my way upstairs and had a smoke/Somebody spoke and I went into a dream."
And then there's the recurring line, "I'd love to turn you on." So, yes, it's a drug song. Then there's the trippy orchestral crescendo between the 2 big sections of the song, and the final piano chord that is allowed to resonate for over 40 seconds before fading away. All taken as the Beatles' effort to appeal to stoned listeners which, of course, it did. Wikipedia calls it "one of the most famous final chords in music history."
Sgt. Pepper's is generally regarded as the Beatles' greatest album. But for "A Day in the Life," however, it wouldn't even be in the conversation.
2. Penny Lane, B-side single (1967). Recorded in the Sgt. Pepper's sessions, "Penny Lane" was however released as the B-side of "Strawberry Fields Forever" in early 1967 and was later included on the LP Magical Mystery Tour. Penny Lane is a street and a neighborhood near John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool, and the song is a series of vignettes, a kaleidoscope of people going about perfectly mundane day-to-day activities, though the images are surreal and contradictory. It's a beautiful summer day "beneath the blue suburban skies" one minute, then the next a "fireman rushes in from the pouring rain/Very strange." Sort of "A Day in the Life," as it were, but in this case one that leaves a peppy, positive and uplifting impression. The song is remembered also for the piccolo trumpet solo by David Mason (not that Dave Mason).
3. All My Loving, from With the Beatles (1963). (In the U.S. the song was on Meet the Beatles [1964].) It's a pretty simple, straight-ahead pop-rock song with a great little guitar solo and (mostly) a typical soaring, enthusiastic Paul McCartney vocal. See, not all of their best music is from 1967.
4. I Will, from The Beatles (the so-called White Album, 1968). OK, a warning. I'm not just a Beatles guy, I'm a McCartney guy. Among my top 10 Beatles songs, 6 were written by McCartney, 2 by Lennon, and just 2 were true Lennon-McCartney collaborations. This 1 is a pretty, laid-back love song that proved a quarter-century later to be particularly well-suited to the voice of Alison Krauss.
5. I Want to Hold Your Hand, single (1963). (Released in the U.S. on Meet the Beatles.) A girl I knew invited me over to her house one Saturday morning to hear this record she'd bought. She put it on the turntable and left the tone arm (remember the tone arm?) in the up position, so the song just kept playing over and over and over again, who knows, maybe 30-40 times all together. Wow. What a sound. Guitars jangling, then rumbling. Today it's a quaint sound, but do you know what guitars sounded like before this? The hand claps. Perfect. But mostly, of course, there were theses great vocals with that flying leap up to the high note on the word "hand." This, a true Lennon-McCartney collaboration, is the song that changed everything.
6. In My Life, from Rubber Soul (1966). John being sentimental. He of course went through his angry, anti-sentimental periods, but nobody could be more sentimental when he wanted to be. Well, McCartney. "In my life, I loved them all/(But) in my life, I love you more." There have probably been more great covers of this than any Beatles song though Judy Collins' version is easily the best, better even than the Beatles.'
7. I've Just Seen A Face, from Help! (1965), except in the U.S. it was withheld from Help! and released on Rubber Soul (also 1965). This was a breakneck-paced love song with a strong country or bluegrass lilt to it, so that many of the early covers of it were in fact by country and bluegrass bands. Another great, enthusiastic vocal by Paul.
8. Fixing A Hole, from Sgt. Pepper's. "Fixing A Hole" is a rather laconic, laid-back song that got lost in the shuffle of the flashier material on Sgt. Pepper's, meaning, you know, "With A Little Help from My Friends" and "Lucy in the Sky" and like that. But it's a pleasant little ditty by Paul, and a slightly more insistent chorus provides just the dramatic tension the song needs.
9. All You Need Is Love, from Magical Mystery Tour (1967). A Lennon composition, this is of course 1 of the Beatles most famous songs, expressing their political philosophy about as directly as it was ever expressed. A reporter once asked why the Beatles didn't write songs against the war and Lennon said, "All our songs are against the war."
10. Yesterday, from Help!, though in the U.S. it was withheld from that LP and released later on Yesterday and Today, which featured a variety of songs from the past several U.K. LPs but that had been withheld from the corresponding U.S. releases. The fact that this song was featured in the LPs title is indicative of the song's immense popularity. It of course topped the charts in 1965. In 1999 and 2000 it was voted as the top pop song of the 20th century by the BBC and selected as the #1 pop song of all-time by MTV and Rolling Stone. It is among the most--if it is not the most--covered songs of all-time with 2,200 versions. Another McCartney composition, it's a dreary little story of lost love. "Why she had to go/I don't know, she wouldn't say/I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday." It's bad enough that she's gone, but it's my own damn fault. "I said something wrong...." Jacob Marley's chain, indeed.
11. The Night Before, from Help! Another (broken record) McCartney tune, only this one rock's and it features that more soaring type of Paul vocal, as distinguished from the less frequent and overall less appealing ("Yesterday" to the contrary notwithstanding) morose, broken-hearted type of song. But while Paul wrote and sings, part of what makes this song special is Lennon's (not George Martin) piano accompaniment. It also features a cool call-and-response format with Paul singing a line and then George (not John) singing "Ahhh, the night before."
And what an incredibly fabulous collection of songs was Help!, by the way--meaning of course the U.K. version with 14 great songs, 12 Beatles originals (2 by George) and 2 covers. The album's greatness was of course unappreciated in the U.S. where Help! included just half of those songs along with 6 insipid instrumentals from the movie soundtrack.
12. Hey Jude, single (1968). Another song with 2 quite distinctive sections, the 1st featuring Paul's heartfelt vocals. It was originally titles "Hey Jules" and was written as a consolation to Julian Lennon at the time of his parents' divorce. The standard verse/chorus sections are followed by the 4-minute long coda with a cast of thousands chanting ("Nan-na-na..."). At more than 7 minutes, it was the longest single ever to top the British charts, and it topped the U.S. charts for 9 weeks, longest ever at that time. It sold more than 8 million copies.
13. Martha My Dear, from The Beatles. Another light-hearted McCartney "silly love song," this one is about his sheepdog, but makes equally perfect sense if it had been about a woman.
14. She Loves You, single (1963). Described as the Beatles' theme song, at least to U.S. audiences in early 1964, this had been a record-setting single in Britain in 1963. In 1964 it was 1 of a record-setting 5 Beatles songs rated #1 through #5 in April 1964. It was somewhat eclipsed in the U.S., however, by "I Want to Hold Your Hand." In Britain "She Loves You" had been released previously to "I Want to Hold Your Hand." In the U.S. they came out in the reverse order. In any event, "She Loves You" had that early Beatles sound with the jangly guitars, the peppy vocals and the overall positive attitude of the pre-war years. It was never released on a U.K. album, but was included on the so-called The Beatles Second Album (1964) in the U.S.
15. Please Please Me, from Please Please Me (1963). These were the Beatles 1st single, which made #1, and 1st album in the U.K. The single was also released in the U.S. but did not chart. It was released again a year later and peaked at #3. It was never included on a U.S. LP.
16. Your Mother Should Know, from Magical Mystery Tour. Another McCartney gem, a totally overlooked song at the time but with an utterly irresistible melody once you give it a chance.
17. Dr. Robert, from Revolver (in the U.K., but Yesterday and Today in the U.S.). Apparently a genuine Lennon-McCartney collaboration, this light-rocker is about a Dr. Feelgood character, a doctor who prescribed uppers to any and all comers.
18. I Need You, from Help! The rare George Harrison contribution, this is a fairly straightforward light-rock love song but George's guitar and vocal distinguish it from Lennon's and McCartney's songs and lend a unique quality to it. It was then and is now a nice change of pace among Beatles songs.
19. Good Day Sunshine, from Revolver. Another gem of a song and vocal by McCartney, characterized by a rising, optimistic, up-lifting vocal melody. "I was alone, I (melody leaps upward) took a ride/I didn't know what I would find (melody takes big leap upward) there," and so on.
20. With a Little Help from My Friends, from Sgt. Pepper's. A song that drew attention to itself thanks to what were widely taken to be drug references, and also because of Joe Cocker's incredible cover. But with Ringo singing, this is just a nice understated song which, taken at face value, has a nice positive message about friendship. I like it better at that level.
21. I'm So Tired, from The Beatles. One of John's better efforts from his morose period, with a great contrast between an understated verse and a more intense chorus.
22. This Boy, B-side single (1963). Included on Meet the Beatles in the U.S. Pretty standard boy-band fare, it could as easily have been done by Kids on the Block a quarter-century later, and it still would have had its youthful appeal.
23. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, from Sgt. Pepper's. Get it. Lucy in the sky? With DIAMONDS?! (Lucy Sky Diamonds...LSD?!)
24. We Can Work It Out, single 1965. Another of the lost-love songs, but this 1 was written by Lennon and McCartney together, and it has a tougher sound than many of Paul's such songs. The harmonium also gives the song a unique sound.
25. Got to Get You into My Life, from Revolver. Another by Paulie. Another one with a pop, not rock, sound, but tougher than the rest thanks in part to the punchy horns. Another of those rising melodies that Paul loved to write and sang so well.
26. Golden Slumbers, from Abbey Road (1969)
27. I Should Have Known Better, from A Hard Day's Night (1964)
28. Strawberry Fields Forever, from Magical Mystery Tour
29. Across the Universe, from Let It Be (1970)
30. Flying, from Magical Mystery Tour
31. If I Needed Someone, from Rubber Soul
32. Getting Better, from Sgt. Pepper's
33. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, from Help!
34. The Long and Winding Road, from Let It Be
35. Things We Said Today, from A Hard Day's Night
36. Another Girl, from Help!
37. You're Gonna Lose That Girl, from Help!
38. Fool on the Hill, from Magical Mystery Tour
39. Every Little Thing, from Beatles for Sale (1964)
40. Oh Darling, from Abbey Road
41. For No One, from Revolver
42. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, from The Beatles
43. Here Comes the Sun, from Abbey Road
44. Revolution, the single version (1968)
45. Blackbird, from The Beatles
46. Two of Us, from Let It Be
47. Cry Baby Cry, from The Beatles
48. Lady Madonna, singe (1968)
49. Get Back, from Let It Be
50. I'm Looking Through You, from Rubber Soul
Best Beatles LPs
These are based on the original English song collections. The U.S. version of Help! was completely different than the English, however, and so in the case of U.S. releases Sgt. Pepper would be the obvious #1.
1. Help!
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band
3. Magical Mystery Tour
4. The Beatles
5. Revolver
6. Rubber Soul
7. Abbey Road
8. Please Please Me
9. A Hard Day's Night
10. With the Beatles
Friday, June 14, 2013
Minnesota Summer Music Calendar 2013
Hey Kids! Following is a list of (mostly but not all) free music in Minnesota during the summer of 2013. This is of course highly selective. It's stuff I can recommend. And just for the record here are the top 3, don't-miss free-of-charge events.
1) Blood on the Tracks. A large assemblage of local artists doing Dylan covers. 2 dates, 2 locations to choose from. It was absolutely terrific last year. If they released a CD of the proceedings I would buy.
2) Auto Body Experience at the Lake Harriet Bandshell. Correction: I had said Thursday, July 30, that is WRONG. The CORRECT info is Tuesday July 25. If you have never seen the Experience, you are missing an experience.
3) Irish Fair.
See you thair.
1) Blood on the Tracks. A large assemblage of local artists doing Dylan covers. 2 dates, 2 locations to choose from. It was absolutely terrific last year. If they released a CD of the proceedings I would buy.
2) Auto Body Experience at the Lake Harriet Bandshell. Correction: I had said Thursday, July 30, that is WRONG. The CORRECT info is Tuesday July 25. If you have never seen the Experience, you are missing an experience.
3) Irish Fair.
See you thair.
Fri.-Sat.-Sun.,
June 14-15-16
Highlights include:
|
Caroline
Smith (9 Fri), Dan Israel (2:15, Sat.) Honeydogs (9 Sat.)
|
Stone Arch Festival, Main St. NE
|
|
Thurs., June 20
|
The
Irresistibles
|
WB Marketfest
|
|
Thurs., June 27
Thurs., June 27
|
Alison
Scott
Communist
Daughter
|
WB Marketfest
The Cedar $12
|
|
Sat., June 29, 5 p.m.
|
Scottie
Miller, Ruthie Foster
|
Rolling River Fest, Red Wing
|
|
Tues., July 9, 6:30
|
Mi
Tierra (mariachi)
|
MN History Center
|
|
Wed. July 10, 12 noon
|
Steve
Kaul and the Brass Kings
|
Northrop Mall,
U of M
|
|
Sat., July 13, TBD
|
Hold
Steady
|
St. John’s Block Party, Rochester, MN
|
|
Wed., July 24, TBD
Thurs., July 25 |
Blood
on the Tracks
Auto Body Experience |
Town Green, Maple Grove
Lake Harriet Bandshell | |
Sat., July 27, TBD
|
Dakota
Street Fest
|
Dakota Club
|
|
Sat., July 27, TBD
|
Blood
on the Tracks
|
Wolf Pk. Amp.
St.L.Pk
| |
Tues., Aug. 6, 7:30
|
The
National
|
Roy Wilkins Aud. $47
|
|
Th.-Sun., Aug. 8-11
|
Irish
Fair
|
Harriet Island
|
|
Sat., Aug. 17, 5-8
|
Scottie
Miller
|
Tally’s, White Bear
|
|
Tues., Aug. 20, 6:30
|
Orkestar
Bez Ime (Balkan)
|
MN History Center
|
|
Thurs., Aug. 22, 8-11
|
Scottie
Miller
|
Wash. Sq. Grill, WBL
|
|
Thurs., Aug. 22, 7:00
|
Amelie
(movie)
|
Sheldon Theater,
Red Wing
|
|
Thurs.-Fri., Aug. 22-23
|
Lucy
Michelle & Velvet Lapels
|
State Fair Heritage
|
|
Sat.-Sun., Aug. 24-25
|
Blue
Oyster Cult
|
State Fair Bandshell
|
|
Sun., Aug. 25, 7:30
|
Robert
Cray Band
|
MN Zoo
|
|
Tues., Aug. 27, 6:30
|
Tango
Pohjan Tahden (Finnish)
|
MN History Center
|
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