Suzanne: part II

Alanna's post was so good that I have to keep it going a little longer.  For anybody out there who hasn't heard Leonard Cohen's Suzanne (which is the original)... it's not to be missed. From Cohen's first album:
Leonard Cohen - Suzanne (1967: Songs of Leonard Cohen)

Another great cover of this song comes from French pop star Françoise Hardy... she did a version in English too but you know the words by now:
Françoise Hardy - Suzanne (1968: Comment te dire adieu?)

While we're on the subject, Leonard Cohen wasn't the only person to write a great song called Suzanne... Hope Sandoval did too:
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions - Suzanne (2001: Bavarian Fruit Bread)

And lastly, to cleanse your palette, here's one by Weezer... from the Blue Album era! Slightly different spelling:
Weezer - Susanne (1994: Dusty Gems and Raw Nuggets)

Guest Post: Opposite Day

By Alanna Gluck

Cover songs are particularly telling of a musician's state of mind: one artist's yin is another artist's yang.

Nina Simone's version of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' is proof.  While Leonard laments, Nina celebrates.

Don't bring me down, Leonard!  Nina's lifting me skyward, and I'm wearing white linen and sipping something fruity and refreshing.

See you by the river!

Nina Simone - Suzanne (1969: To Love Somebody)

Preservation Act 1

I can't believe I had never heard this full album before today... it's awesome! Great early Spring music (there's a change in the weather). Here are three that popped out at me:

The Kinks - Sweet Lady Genevieve
(1973: Preservation Act 1)

The Kinks - There's a Change in the Weather
(1973: Preservation Act 1)

  - Remind anyone of Dylan's 'It's Alright, Ma'?

The Kinks - Sitting in the Midday Sun
(1973: Preservation Act 1)
  
                                                      - This one I had heard before... love it! Thanks for the                                                           recommendation M!

Barbara

If you like the French chanson and don't know Barbara then you're in luck.  Not only could Barbara sing on par with Édith Piaf, but she wrote her own songs!  The recordings of her music are something special too... they're simple, typically with very little orchestration... usually just piano and upright bass, sometimes an accordion, a little percussion, a small string section, always spare... and rarely (maybe never) a full orchestra.  This, more than anything, sets her apart from Piaf in my opinion. It was hard to choose which songs to post because they really are all great... so if you need more let me know! I suggest downloading these songs, waiting till the weather gets nice (any day now!) and taking a walk with headphones as the sun is going down (preferably when there's a decent moon out too).

Barbara - Nantes
(1963: L'intégrale Volume 3: Dis quand Reviendras-tu?)

 - Amazing key changes... she was so good at modulating creatively and effectively.

Barbara - Le temps du lilas
(1963: L'intégrale Volume 3: Dis quand Reviendras-tu?)

 - Totally parisian style accordion

Barbara - Dis quand Reviendras-tu?
(1963: L'intégrale Volume 3: Dis quand Reviendras-tu?)

 - soooo goooood

Barbara - Le mal de vivre
(1965: L'intégrale Volume 4: Göttingen)

 - Beautiful single-reed accordion... and some pretty sweet and kind of out-of-place sounding saxophone

Barbara - Septembre
(1965: L'intégrale Volume 4: Göttingen)

 - First song I ever heard of hers and still my favorite, probably for that reason. I'm very thankful for the introduction!

Barbara - L'aigle noir
(1970: L'intégrale Volume 8: L'aigle noir)

 - The drums are obviously the best part of the song, but the bass is amazing too... and the song also happens to be incredible.

Is this Good?

For some reason I feel like I shouldn't like this song... I have no idea why.  But I love it!  Am I crazy?  Does anyone else wanna weigh in on this please?

YUP

Standard Fare - Philadelphia (2010: The Noyelle Beat)

Romanze for Violin

Yesterday I got a request to post about romantic violin music (romantic being used in the musical sense)... so here goes!

       The Romantic Era in music history is generally considered to have lasted from 1800 until 1910.  In the midst of that, around the 1840's, the violin began to become a popular solo instrument, being used in short pieces, kind of like pop songs, then called Romances. But for me the truly romantic violin music is peppered throughout the oeuvres of the great romantic composers. Still however, retaining the same qualities of the Romance: lyrical, sweet melodies; short and simple in form and length; and a bit sappy (or very sappy!).  Here are some of my favorites: 

Brahms, Johannes - Waltz in A Major for violin and piano, Op. 39/5 

(2007: Kalafush, Von Wildeman)

  - Beautiful little piece... written originally for piano four hands but works great on violin.  Double stops make up for the other hands.  

Sarasate, Pablo de - Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs) for violin and orchestra, Op. 20 

(1992: Shaham)

 - Gypsy music... romantic as hell.

Chopin, Frédéric - Nocturne in E-Flat Major for violin and piano, Op. 9, No. 2 

(1904: Sarasate)

 - Played by the same guy who wrote the gypsy piece above.  This was recorded 4 years before Sarasate died. This is a truly bonafide romantic violin recording; made while the Romantic movement was still happening!

Kreisler, Fritz - Caprice Viennois, Op. 2 (1936: Menuhin, Gazelle)

Grieg, Edvard - Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45L: II. Allegretto Espressivo Alla Romanza (1928: Kreisler, Rachmaninoff)

 - And this was played by the same guy who wrote the Viennese piece above.  You've probably heard of Rachmaninoff (but maybe never heard him actually play) but you may not have heard of Fritz Kreisler.  He was a giant in the violin world.  Born in 1875, died 1962 he was known for his melodic and expressive style. He was a composer too and wrote many short pieces that are still played often today. He uses that old timey vibrato that I can never get enough of, fast and continuous. He was often compared to Heifetz in that Heifetz had the technical brilliance but Kreisler had the soul.

Here's a video of the same piece played by Guarneri Quartet frontman Arnold Steinhardt:

Music I Hated as a Child

When you're little your parents' choice in music has a big influence on your taste as you grow up. Whether or not you liked it is inconsequential... it would still affect you.  I got pretty lucky; my Dad was a big Beatles' and classical music fan and my mom liked Motown, Santana, Paul Simon, etc.  But there were certain things they used to play that I detested. Here are three examples... all of which I love now that I'm old enough to know better!

1. Some radio station where I grew up played an hour of Beatles' music every Sunday morning (and still does). Me and my brother used to call in and try to request songs (back when real people did that kind of thing). I was probably only 5 or 6 but I was a big Beatles fan already... mostly of their early rock and roll stuff.  My Dad recommended that I ask for this song; I had never heard it and he thought I'd like it. I didn't... and I was mad about it. Now I know better; it's a beautifully simple McCartney song with Lennon and McCartney singing together in harmony for most of it, both parts equally important.  It's about John and Paul's relationship which, by 1970, was strained to say the least.  I really wonder what John was thinking about when he was singing this:

The Beatles - Two of Us (1970/2009: Let it Be Stereo Remastered)

2. I couldn't stand Randy Newman's voice until about 4 or 5 years ago when I became addicted to it.  I guess since he's done a lot of soundtracks to kids movies, kids tend to like his voice. Not me though, I really hated it.  Now Good Old Boys is probably one of my top 10 favorite albums.  This is one the 12 best tracks on it:

Randy Newman - Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man) (1974: Good Old Boys)

3. I liked Steely Dan as a child. I still do. The songwriting, lyrics and musicianship in their music is just good enough to keep them from being a run of the mill L.A. contemporary soft rock band, though they sometimes dip into that realm a little too far for sure. My parents used to play 'A Decade of Steely Dan' (a greatest hits compilation) pretty often and this was one of the few songs on it that I didn't like. I always wanted to skip it. About a year ago I gave it another chance and it blew me away. It's the epitome of what makes this band good.  How come guitar solos can't be this good anymore?

Steely Dan - Bodhisattva (1973: Countdown to Ecstasy)

Katie Caron

I shared a bill with this girl whilst touring in Ontario last year.  When you're playing every night and seeing a ton of bands it's really refreshing to see someone you actually enjoy.  It was a kind of typical indie act with the ukulele, melodica, glockenspiel, etc... but the 3-piece band was loud, loose, and raw all the same.  Good stuff!

Katie Caron - Umbrella Blues (2009: The Forest Isn't Big Enough)

Katie Caron - Fun Fun Fun (2009: The Forest Isn't Big Enough)

Demons

Classic pop songs are usually the ones you're sick of.  John Lennon's 'Imagine', Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone', The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction', etc. etc. (though for the record I'm not sick of any of those songs).  And what makes them classics?  Well... for one, they're typically very simple.  No complex chord changes or melodies... just short, sweet, and to the point.

I have a memory from 2005 of being in London with some friends. One day I got food poisoning and was resting in Ted's bedroom listening to him play guitar in the other room. He's really good. And I remember thinking at that moment, "I want to move to New York City (I lived in Boston at the time) and start a band with Ted."  I was feeling very inspired. Within the next 6 months I had moved to NYC and started playing with Ted. Since then we've played in a band together for 4 years and toured around the country. But back then it was just the two of us. One of the songs we worked on was called 'Demons'. Ted had written it beforehand so I was just sort of playing along.

So what does all that have to do with classics?  Well... in my humble opinion this song is a classic.  It's simple, beautiful, short and sweet.  It makes you happy and sad and makes you think about yourself and others. For better or worse we never got to make a good recording of it but that doesn't matter for a song this good.  I went back and found the old demo we made of it and did a little remastering (not that it was ever mastered in the first place!).  If you've never heard this or haven't heard it in a while... take a listen.  Maybe you'll see what I mean when I say that this deserves to be called a classic:

Ted Lattis - Demons (remastered) (2005/2011: Demo)

Cookies

I made cookies tonight...  

seriously. 

Can you dig it?

Get down...

Brother Soul - Cookies 

(1975: Disco-Funk)

Never on Sunday

It's Sunday.  Lots of people go back to work or school tomorrow.  Even those of us who don't work the typical day job can feel the reluctancy in the air around us. But it's still Sunday.  So make the most of it... grab a cocktail and put on some old Herb Alpert vinyl (if you don't have any of his records just go down to the nearest Salvation Army with 50 cents.  They will definitely be in stock.  They usually cost a dollar but I guarantee you they'll be willing to part with them for 50 cents.)

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Never on Sunday
(1962: The Lonely Bull)
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - A Walk in the Black Forest
(1965: Going Places)
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Ladyfingers
(1965: Whipped Cream & Other Delights)

Down and Dirty!

Morton Stevens - Police Woman Theme
(1974: Police Woman)
Les Baxter - Hogin' Machine
(1969: Hell's Belles)
Lalo Schifrin - The Getaway
(1989/1994: Mission Anthology (Music from "Mission: Impossible"))
    -This song begins very similarly to this song:
     Lalo Schifrin - Burning Bridges (1970: Kelly's Heroes)
    -Which was sampled excellently by:
     Terror Squad - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (2004: True Story)
    -And then in turn was brilliantly sampled by:
     The Go! Team - The Power Is On
          (2004: Thunder, Lightning, Strike)
    -All of which (in my opinion) are Down and Dirty!