"Dreaming Casually" by Thee Midniters slows me down in a good way. This song starts off all a-shimmer and just slinks its way into your brain. It's smooth, warm, like a piece of polished obsidian. Thee Midniters came out of East L.A. and are considered the first "chicano rock" band. They had a couple of hits. but like many other chicano acts that were uneasily categorized, they never hit it super big. I was listening recently to an interview with Sixto Rodriguez (I'm currently obsessed with [...]
I went to my friends Michelle and Jordan's wedding a couple of weeks ago. It was a super special wedding celebrating two really superb human beings. During the ceremony, the piano player played and sang "Be Not So Fearful" by Bill Fay, which I thought was incredibly sweet. The message of the song is basically, you know, move on and forget the past. These songs have been jingling in my head all winter. I'm shedding them, I suppose, with this mix. If I could curate the event, I would have you listen to it accordingly: with the cocktail of your [...]
My friend Gerard passed away this morning. He was a phenomenal musician. He was very intuitive when it came to people. He connected with you. If he liked you he let you know. Often, he let you know by ribbing you and being grumpy. He encouraged creativity. He told me to finish my book. He'd kick me in the ass when I was flaky. He was sensitive when my mother died, in a way many other people didn't know how to be. Gerard was a consumer, but not in an annoying way. He was a patron of good businesses. When [...]
This is the spastic Ronnie Spector track that's been getting me going lately. How Does It Feel- The Ronettes Tagged: Phil Spector , Ronnie Spector , The Ronettes
"Winter in America" is the title track from the 1974 Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson album. Brian Jackson was a frequent collaborator with Scott-Heron; their association was washed up by 1980, but they put out some classic albums together, with Jackson expanding musically upon what was essentially Scott-Heron's spoken word. Gil Scott-Heron is in my opinion the best poet laureate the United States never had. Gil Scott-Heron has received serious accolades for his latest album, I'm New Here , and it is well-deserved. He's never compromised being just who he is. The fact that he's a crack addict is [...]
Truck Drivers delivering toys. Pacman, Ms Pacman, and Baby Pacman rhapsodizing over the beauty of the winter wonderland. Santa riding a rocket into space. Christmas boogies. Spilled egg nog. Friendship is the wine of life. The older it gets, the stronger it grows. If you want to hear Jerry Reed singing a coked-out song about anticipating the joy of the Christmas season, download this mix. I hope you have a terrific holiday! Happy New Year and all that jazz. Christmas With The Gentlebear 2010
I don't know how I kept this song off my radar for so long. Lou Rawls recalls his childhood in the windy city, on a dead-end street, "where there was nothin' to block the wind, the elements- Nothin' to buffer them from me... to keep them from knocking my pad down- I mean, really sockin' it to me!" It's not that cold yet in New York, but the the Christmas lights are already lit on my street by the old Italian club that demands 50 bucks from business owners to fund the thing. The 99-cent stores already have [...]
I'm about to turn into one of those blogs that apologizes for not posting enough. But who am I apologizing to? Who are you? It's supposed to rain today and be a cool weekend. Will I feel the first strains of fall? I hear Scott Walker right around the corner with his baritone and bluster. Two Ragged Soldiers- Scott Walker Here's Scott singing about derelict friends. It reminds me of On The Bowery , [...]
![An Afternoon Spent [Four Months Later]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2816454_lg.jpg)
I just found this draft for a posting that I wrote four months ago. Let's say goodbye to summer, and listen to some good oldies. I've been digitizing vinyl this afternoon, and here's a selection of the goods. It's been a nice afternoon, in my sun-soaked apartment, drinking some leftover beers from a party and listening to some old favorites that used to make it on the mixtapes. Possibly my favorite track is the Four Freshmen cut, live from Purdue University in 1959: My [...]
For those of you who live in this concrete jungle called New York City, I invite you to come check out my solo comics/drawings show at Heliopolis Project Space, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Refreshments will be served, and I'll be there playing the awesome tunes and probably getting a little drunk. Here is the map. Take the G train to Greenpoint Avenue (take the India St. exit) and walk one block north to Huron. Tagged: Brooklyn , comics , E.A. [...]
To illustrate how raw Abby Lincoln could get, listen to this track off of We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. Triptych (Prayer-Protest-Peace)- Max Roach featuring Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, & Olatunji According to Nat Hentoff's liner notes, Prayer is "the cry of an oppressed people, Protest is a final uncontrollable unleashing of rage," and Peace is the "relaxed exhaustion after you've done everything you can to asset yourself." This triptych was originally conceived as a ballet, and while the majority of [...]
I've been meaning to post this one for a while. O.B. McClinton was a minor figure in the country world. This might have had something to do with being on Enterprise Records, a subsidiary of Stax Records. Enterprise released Isaac Hayes first record, and was meant to be Stax's jazz label. However, Enterprise releases ended up being quite diverse- blues harmonica, dirty funk, straight-up country- it had it all. Besides Isaac Hayes releases, the label was never that successful financially, and it folded in 1973. Randy's Rodeo was [...]
Slim Bryant died, ancient songwriter, who wrote one of my favorite songs by Jimmie "The Blue Yodeller" Rodgers, "Mother, the Queen of My Heart." He was 101 years old. Here's Jimmie singing it: Mother, the Queen of My Heart- Jimmie Rodgers This is a great old song about listening to your mother. Of course, some mothers give really bad advice. Mine didn't. In general, we should all quit drinking and gambling. Tagged: Jimmie Rodgers , Slim Bryant
Bert Sommer was once a member of the Left Banke, appeared in the original cast of Hair, and played at Woodstock. I came upon this album years ago and have a real penchant for his cover of the Paul Simon song "America." Yes, it's slightly theatrical. But it's pretty cool, and possesses a certain desperation missing from the original. America- Bert Sommer Here's Bert on the orihinal playbill for Hair . He sure had a head of it. [...]
I am a sentimental, old schmuck. Love Story- Harry Nilsson (Randy Newman) Tagged: Harry Nilsson , Randy Newman
I've always been a fan of Lou Reed's 198o album Growing Up In Public. I'll be the first to admit that I hate starting off blog posts with the phrase I've always been a fan of... , but hey, it's all I've got. Where are the words? After digging Transformer , Berlin , Coney Island Baby , and especially Street Hassle , I found Growing Up in Public at a thrift store and naturally expected to dig Lou's foray into the 1980s. And I did, but I have a [...]
Joe Tex's "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)," not to be confused with the Jackson 5 hit, has been in my head lately. I can't help but think he's referencing sundown towns in the lyrics. Not that that's what the song is about. It's more of a general plea for folks to work out their love affairs instead of give up. It seems his love is going down the tubes. The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)- Joe Tex Tagged: Joe Tex
Let's live before it's too late. Let's Live- Aaron Neville Tagged: Aaron Neville
The 1946 film Humoresque , starring Joan Crawford, John Garfield, and Oscar Levant is a real gem, and a real oddball movie. It's a New York movie at heart. Garfield is a rough and tumble guy who grew up above his father's Brooklyn grocery store (I'm thinking in my haunt of Williamsburg- it has that A Tree Grows In Brooklyn feel). It turns out he's a child prodigy violinist. He's got a plain-jane musician girlfriend, until vampy Joan Crawford comes around, turned-on by Garfield's music and ethnic upbringing. The film has amazingly witty dialogue courtesy of Clifford [...]
It's my sweetheart's birthday. So I've made this short mix of chopped & screwed love songs. I know, how can you improve upon these songs by slowing the tempo down to between 60 - 70 quarter-note beats per minute and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record scratching , stop-time , and affecting portions of the music to make a "chopped-up" version of the original? ( definition via wikipedia ). Well, at the right place and time, it strikes me as real nice. Especially in the late night hours. [...]
The Gentlebear
Listen: Smith Westerns – “3am Spiritual”
Fauve ≠ - Blizzard [EP en écoute]
PICTURE OF THE DAY
