The Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

Here's a classic. I was at a great poolside party yesterday and the host mentioned that if he were to meet an untimely demise, he'd like the Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line" to be played at his funeral.

Maybe it's a morbid thought, but I hardly see the harm in taking some control of your final arrangements. Then someone asked if I had any idea what I'd like played for me. The truth is that I haven't turned my mind to it, but maybe now I will.

The Traveling Wilburys were an English-American supergroup made up of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. Can't really go wrong with that crowd.

They recorded two albums in 1988 and 1990, though Roy Orbison died before the second was recorded.

"End of the Line" is a pretty upbeat song for, well, the end of the line. But maybe that's the way it should be if you've done things right.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Guy Clark: "Dublin Blues"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

Every now and then, I fool around with songwriting. Not that I think I'll ever be any good at it. I don't. But I am so impressed with the craft that I can't help but dabble in the process just on the possibility that something interesting and unexpected might happen when I put words to music.

Mostly I just love great songwriting. If I knew what it was about it that I loved so much maybe I'd be better at it myself, but I do recognize quality when I hear it.

Guy Clark is a phenomenal songwriter. He's had a great career writing mostly in the country / folk / Americana genre. Those who have recored his songs include Jerry Jeff Walker, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Ricky Scaggs, Steve Wariner, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Rodney Crowell, Asleep at the Wheel, and Jimmy Buffet. And a lot of artists have charted with songs written by Clark.

He is also known for helping Steve Earle develop his career and for his friendship with the late Townes Van Zandt, whom Clark credits as a major influence in his own songwriting.

There are a lot of names mentioned here that you may know better than Clark's, but he's probably okay with that as long as the royalty checks keep on rolling in.

The song below, "Dublin Blues," performed by Guy Clark, was on my iPod for the longest time. It really does set a mood.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Hot town, summer in the city

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

Okay, let's go for the obvious today for our Sunday music post: The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City."

It was a #1 hit on the Billboard charts in August of 1966 and was written by Mark Sebastian, the brother of band principle John Sebastian, and Steve Boone.

It does a not bad job of giving the feel of sweltering heat in an urban setting, complete with honking car horns and jackhammer sounds. Unbelievable heat in an urban setting is certainly where I found myself this week. I don't think I had ever noticed before that wind could feel that hot.

Anyway, back to the song. The Lovin' Spoonful had a bunch of hits in the mid-'60s, including "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Daydream," and "Do You Believe in Magic."

I've always been partial to the band because they typified the relationship between the earlier folk music scene of the '50s and '60s and what became the rock and pop of the '60, much of which that music influenced. That's one of my hobby-horses, but I won't bore you with it.

As for "Summer in the City," I suppose we can say that something has actually made it as a cultural marker when it's featured on The Simpsons, as the song was in an episode called "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge."

(As a totally gratuitous aside, John Sabastian had a #1 single in 1976 as a solo act with "Welcome Back," the theme song to the Welcome Back, Kotter television show, which, if you have been living in an alternate universe for awhile, or you're just young (same difference), you may not know was John Travolta's first vehicle to stardom).

Without further ado, I give you "Summer in the City." Stay cool.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

"Woman of Labrador" by Figgy Duff

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

In a little less than two weeks I will be on my way to Labrador, which is, of course, a part of Newfoundland and Labrador. If you are in the U.S. and don't know a great deal about Canadian geography, get a map, go to the east coast of Canada, find the island of Newfoundland and then go more or less north until you hit Labrador.

My wife was born in a small town in Newfoundland and then relocated to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador as a child. Her father worked at the U.S. military base there, which may be the only reason I had ever heard of the place growing up in the U.S. It was a stop along the way for American soldiers who had to cross the Atlantic Ocean and in that context I'm fairly sure I'd heard it mentioned now and again.

So, I will be there soon. I am assured it is a beautiful place with breathtaking landscapes. I'm sure that's true. My wife will arrive a week before me for what they call a come home week, which should be pretty self-explanatory. I'm looking forward to it.

The song featured below is called "Woman of Labrador," which is an absolutely haunting tune written by Andy Vine. I know very little about him except that he is still working as a musician on the west coast of Canada and is best known for having written this song.

The performance is by a legendary Newfoundland group called Figgy Duff, with Pamela Morgan on vocals.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Trout Fishing in America -- the band, not the book

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

It's the weekend in the middle of the summer and, once upon a time, that meant I would be at a music festival somewhere in North America. Life has gotten busy over the years and more recently I just haven't been able to get to many of these fabulous summer events.

About 25 years ago, I met a couple of guys, who, at that time, were living in Houston, Texas, who had come up to Canada to play at the Summerfolk Festival in Owen Sound, Ontario. The power duo, called Trout Fishing in America, had already been around for a while but they were just starting to blow away audiences in Canada at a few festivals and clubs.

At Owen Sound that first year, I struck up a conversation with the bass player, Keith Grimwood, about baseball, which is a serious addiction for the man. A few years before, Keith's beloved Houston Astros had been beaten by my beloved New York Mets in the epic 1986 National League Championship Series and he and I made a connection about that and some other things and have been friends ever since.

Over the years, we've gotten together at various events all over Canada and the U.S. I even went down to Arkansas, where they now live, to visit several years ago.

Keith and Ezra Idlet, the guitar player in the duo, are what you would call hard working musicians. I've seen them in venues large and small and if you think making a living in the music business is an easy thing, think again. Audiences give plenty back, but I've seen Keith and Ezra jackass serious poundage in equipment up the back stairs of bars over the years to know what I'm talking about.

I've also heard enough stories from these guys, both good and not so good, to fill several dozen blog postings and have even been a party to a few, like the time we almost found ourselves in the middle of riot when some local kids decided to get drunk and trash our campground. (It's a long story). On the up side, I also remember the time we all drove through the night to a gig in New England as the previous night turned into a new day with the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. I still remember how that felt.

You should know that Trout Fishing in America is by now a four-time Grammy-Award-nominated band, so I think things are working out for them.

In the clip below they are playing with a number of others, but the group is really the two of them, though the ensemble effect here is really cool. I just picked it off of YouTube, but I think it's a live performance in Lima, Ohio.

If these two come to your town, do check them out. You'll be glad you did.

This number is absolutely one of my favourites. It's called "Murrell's."

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Petula Clark takes it "Downtown"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

Weekends are for nostalgia, at least for me. On Saturday nights I can frequently be found surfing Youtube videos for songs long forgotten by most.

Last night I happened upon a clip of Petula Clark singing one of her biggest hits, "Downtown."

I must admit that back in the day I had a rather large crush on Ms. Clark, but who wouldn't? Look at that face. Now, I should also confess that I was awfully young to be having a crush an anyone when this song was released, but it's true nonetheless - color me precocious.

"Downtown" was a hit for her in 1965. It was written by Tony Hatch and, apparently, composed with The Drifters in mind. I did not know that, though that would have been interesting. Something else I didn't know is that Clark re-recorded "Downtown" in 1976 with a disco beat. Oh well, no one's perfect.

Anyway, I love the original and, you will agree, she looks absolutely smashing in this clip, which, as an example of early music videos, is quite the period piece.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Billy Bragg at the Clearwater Festival: June 18, 2011

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

I traveled to near New York City for the Clearwater Folk Festival this weekend. I was born and raised a few miles away from the festival site but moved away years ago. I still try to get down for this annual event whenever I can.

If you don't know, this festival has been the brainchild of music and political organizing legend Pete Seeger so, as you might imagine, the weekend has significant elements of political activism associated with it - lots of tables for all sorts of progressive causes in addition to all the great music.

It's a terrific place to pick up clever bumper stickers. For example, my favorite of the weekend was "My Comedy Channel? Fox News. My News Source? Comedy Central." Yeah, that's about right. I picked up a few of those.

Besides 90 plus year old Pete and Arlo Guthrie and so many others, Billy Bragg was there to do a crisp one hour set. If you are at all worried that progressives in America lack the passion to take the fight to the crazies on the right, the audience response to Bragg's message might put your mind at ease. It was quite moving really.

Bragg is a fine musician, but a great speaker and political voice as well. One of the key messages of his stage patter was that we should try to understand the fears of those who have, perhaps only temporarily, aligned themselves with the right-wing. We should continue to respect the source of many of their anxieties as we make our case that their interests are not served by aligning with the likes of Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Good message.

Here's a clip of Bragg doing There is Power in a Union, in this case at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in England in 2010. He did the same number this past weekend at Clearwater and it was powerful. Excellent stuff.

(Cross-posted to Lippmann's Ghost.)

John Coltrane: "My Favorite Things"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

I like jazz. I even understand it after a fashion having played sax and guitar for a lot of years. On good days I even make a few bucks in a local band, though no one will ever confuse me for a talented jazz musician, in fact, it's blues and rock we play in our band. Still, I get some of the music theory behind jazz and know what I'm listening to when it's being played. Best of all, I know enough to be especially amazed and delighted when real geniuses pick up their axes and do the things they do.

Speaking of which, I've been listening to John Coltrane today. I can't get into everything the man did, particularly the spacier, atonal stuff, but there is so much in his repertoire that is incomparable.

Much as Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things" may by now be a musical cliche for some, maybe like Brubeck/Desmond on "Take Five," I still rank it among my favorite (both of them, really).

The thing about "My Favorite Things," the title track from a 1961 album, is that it is a modal rendition of the classic. Without getting into too much detail, modal music allows the jazz improviser to really forget about the changes the rhythm section is playing and just get into, as completely as possible, an improvisational head space.

In other words, in more typical jazz improvisation, the soloist has to be thinking a little bit more about what the accompanists are playing and play, more or less, within those chord changes -- with an emphasis on what is changing. In modal music, for reasons that have to do with the purity of the musical structure and the fact that it doesn't change, the soloist can climb inside his or her performance in a way that can be truly magical. Now, I am sure that every Berklee grad can give you ten reasons why what I just said is wrong or oversimplified, but I'm close enough.

This is what Coltrane is doing on "My Favorite Things," as are the other players when it comes their time to improvise.

The instrument Coltrane is playing in the clip is a soprano saxophone, or straight sax. It sounds higher than other saxes but it is played in exactly the same way. I once read that Coltrane liked it because it could be played faster than other larger saxes, like a tenor, which is the instrument with which a lot of people associate him.

Coltrane was known as someone who took very seriously the spirituality of music. The clip is about 10 minutes long, and, if you are anything like me, and have the time to listen all the way through, I think you will notice it is simply and purely a meditative experience. Very cool.

I should say that it's McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Steve Davis on bass.

(Cross-posted to Lippmann's Ghost.)

Phil Ochs - protest singer for his time and ours

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

A few weeks ago a friend gave me a copy of a relatively new documentary about the life and times of singer-songwriter Phil Ochs. Ochs wasn't all that famous in his own time and certainly is not a name that would mean much to those who didn't live through the 60s, but he was a very talented example what I suppose would be called a writer and singer of protest songs.

The doc is called There But For Fortune. I think it has been in theatres. In any case, I highly recommend it. It is very well done though quite sad as it depicts Ochs' rise and fall, which culminated in his suicide in the mid-70s.

The music in it is amazing and it reminds us how much the man had to say and how he left us way too soon.

A while back I wrote something in defence of Bob Dylan to counter the claims by some that his concert in China recently in no way attempted to chastise the Chinese government over their human rights record. He didn't even sing the songs that might have carried that kind of message like Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They Are aChanging. Fine, but as I wrote, while Dylan penned some fine songs that have been used to good effect as protest vehicles, he rejected the label of protest song singer. By his own admission, he did this in part because he understood that such a label was likely to be career limiting.

In contrast, Phil Ochs seemed to run headlong in the direction of protest, with lyrics that could not be mistaken for anything other than what they were: an attempt to take the stuffing out of those responsible for injustices and all manner of unfairness in our society wherever it might be found.

Not to crap on Dylan because I really do love his music, but many of his tunes we typically think of as protest songs are oblique enough to appeal to a wider audience and don't always perhaps name the injustice so boldly, which can serve to make a wider audience more comfortable with what he is saying. I know it's not that cut and dried, but as a rule protest songs tend to be a little more ham-fisted and Dylan was/is more "artistic" than that.

Ochs, on the other had, while very clever, tended to name the beast even if it meant taking a swipe at those who were more on his own side.

For example, in one introduction to the tune featured below, Ochs defines a liberal as "ten percent to the left of center in good times. Ten percent to the right of center if it effects them personally."

The song is Love Me, I'm a Liberal and for my money it speaks across generations to the difficulty many progressives continue to have holding true to their principles especially if they are largely driven by the requirements of electoral success. On that point, I note that the picture below features Ochs at a campaign rally for 1968 Democratic presidential hopeful Eugene McCarthy. If that means nothing to some of you, I would not be at all surprised.

Have a listen to Ochs below, and listen closely to the lyrics. You'll be glad you did.

(Cross-posted to Music Across the 49th)

Moby: "Pale Horses"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I like Moby. A lot.

Emerging from his roots on the club scene, Play (1999) and 18 (2002) were great (and justifiably celebrated) breakthrough albums that took his ambient, chill-out sound mainstream, pop electronica but with such amazing depth and such transcendent feeling that it stands apart, at least to me, from anything else of its kind.

His latest album, Destroyed (2011), is the latest addition to my iPod. It's really good, if somewhat derivative and not quite at the level of his best work. And his best work, I think, is Wait For Me (2009), less pop than Play but in a way the epitome of everything Moby is about as an artist, an artist at the very peak of his talents.

It isn't often that I listen to an album all the way through for the first time and without reservation consider it a masterpiece. I'm not talking about Sgt. Pepper's or Dark Side, just about new albums that have come out in recent years. Green Day's American Idiot comes to mind, as does Portishead's Third. I'd also say God is an Astronaut's All is Violent, All is Bright, and maybe Vienna Teng's Dreaming Through the Noise and Thea Gilmore's Avalanche. (You get the point. I'm sure you have your own list.)

Well, Wait For Me belongs in that exclusive category. It's an incredible album, and if you're not familiar with it, I recommend it highly. One of its best songs is "Pale Horses." Here's the video. Enjoy.

Pink Floyd, reunited: David Gilmour joins Roger Waters for "Comfortably Numb"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This hardly needs an introduction. Pink Floyd fans everywhere know just how significant this was. I am still in awe.

Last year, David Gilmour told Roger Waters that he would join him to perform "Comfortably Numb" on Waters's tour of The Wall. It was a return favour for Waters performing with Gilmour at a Hoping Foundation charity event. It was just a matter of when and where, but London seemed to make sense, and last Thursday, at London's O2 Arena, there was Gilmour atop the wall, and for a brief time, I'm sure, the world seemed perfect.

I heard about it on Twitter and quickly went to YouTube. A clip was up, but it wasn't the whole song. The next day, I went to Brain Damage, my favourite Floyd site, and found what I was looking for, a clip of the whole song along with a second of "Outside the Wall," the show's final song, performed after the wall comes crashing down, the most intimate part of the show. Gilmour was there again, and so was Nick Mason, Floyd's drummer.

These are the three remaining members of Pink Floyd. (Rick Wright, the keyboardist, died in 2008 -- see here and here. Syd Barrett, one of the band's founding members, died in 2006 -- see here.) I cannot really explain what it means to me, and of course to so many others, to see the three of them together again, if only for a short time, if only for a couple of songs. Live8 was incredible, and this... this was what so many of us had dreamed about for so long. Yes, of course, I'd love it if they would reunite for a tour, but that might be hoping for too much. These one-offs seem more likely, and they are amazing.

Pink Floyd has been my music since I was a teenager. I have fairly eclectic tastes and I like a lot of music, a lot of different singers and musicians. I have thousands and thousands and thousands of songs on my iPod. But Floyd has always been much different for me. I love them and their music in a way that goes well beyond anything else. It is deeply personal for me, an indescribable connection that seems to go to my very core.

I saw Gilmour, Wright, and Mason as Pink Floyd at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts in 1994. I saw Gilmour here in Toronto several years ago. I saw two of Waters's Dark Side shows, and, last year, two Wall shows, in Toronto and also in Buffalo. There were times at both Wall shows when I felt like I would just break into tears, so intense were my feelings. I could hardly believe it was real, that I was really there, and the sheer enormity of it all really got to me. This music, my music, the music that had been with me for so long, for so much of my life, the soundtrack of my life, that was what was being performed, and it overwhelmed me.

And that was without Gilmour. I can hardly imagine how I would have felt had I been there on Thursday in London. All I can say is that for all that Pink Floyd has meant to me, and for all that Pink Floyd has gone through over the years, it is so wonderful that at long last there is peace, that Gilmour and Waters can perform together, and with Mason as well, briefly reunited, reconciled, making us all so extremely happy.

Here, via Brain Damage, are the clips. Enjoy. 

Paul Simon's got a new album

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry 

I saw Paul Simon at Massey Hall in Toronto last night. Great show. He's flogging a new album called So Beautiful or So What, which is getting terrific notices.

If I counted correctly, he's got an eight-piece band with him that is simply unbelievable. I loved it when the lead guitarist picked up a baritone sax or when the drummer started playing rhythm guitar. It seemed like these guys could do anything. And the tenor sax player was making me crazy -- almost enough for me to throw my own horn in the dustbin (not quite).

Most people know this, but Paul Simon is not a nostalgia act -- never has been. There was never any fear that the audience would become frustrated that he didn't play enough of the older hits because everyone was there to hear what the man can do, what he can still do as he quickly approaches 70. Not that he isn't a consummate showman, though, so, yes, he trotted out a few of the classics from the '60s and the '70s.

For a long time now his thing has been about a great rhythm section, world music influences, always great songwriting, and superb musicianship. It was nice to see lots of young people in the audience as well.

Here's something from the new album called "The Afterlife."

(Cross-posted at Music Across the 49th.)

Sarah Harmer: singer-songwriter and activist

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By R.K. Barry

A few years back I was involved in organizing a fundraiser for a candidate running for the Canadian Parliament from a riding (district) in Toronto. The candidate in question was my lovely wife, Marilyn Churley, who by then had already had a distinguished political career as a member of provincial parliament in Ontario over a couple of decades and as a cabinet minister for a part of that stretch.

Marilyn decided it was time for a change, and although the campaign was ultimately unsuccessful for a number of reasons I won't bother to go into here, it was quite a ride.

The fundraiser was billed as a celebration of Marilyn's 20 years of public service. A number of Canadian celebrities were on the program, including politicians, journalists, musicians, and actors (such as Shirley Douglas, a famous Canadian actress who is the mother of actor Keifer Sutherland and the daughter of Tommy Douglas, the man considered to be the father of Canada's wildly popular government health-care system -- all information for any American who might be reading this).

A highlight of the evening was a few songs offered by celebrated singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, who had done some important environmental work with Marilyn and was supporting her in the campaign. Unfortunately, the videographer was not able to patch into the soundboard, so the audio is from an open-air microphone. Still sounds pretty good.

I love Sarah Harmer's music. Beautiful voice, beautifully crafted songs.

At one point, the camera breaks away from the stage to take some audience shots. Marilyn is the one in the orange dress at about the 2:25 mark. As an added point of interest, a few moments later the camera is on Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada (a left-wing social democratic party), which, if polls hold, might have an electoral breakthrough on May 2nd, the day of the upcoming federal vote. In this case a breakthrough would mean supplanting the Liberal Party of Canada as official opposition, still behind what is likely to be a continuing conservative government. Jack is the one in the dark jacket and white shirt at about the 7:30 mark. Again, all Canadians would know this, but Americans are, alas, less likely to follow the exciting world of politics north of their border.

Not that you were asking, but you won't see me in any of the shots because I was in the shadows stage managing, which is typically where I like to be.

Anyway, back to the music. Sarah did a great job, as always. Some of you will notice that the MC is Jian Ghomeshi, formerly of the singing group Moxy Früvous and more recently of CBC Radio's Q.

Here's Sarah on stage that night:

(Cross-posted at Music Across the 49th)

Irish music by Solas

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By R.K. Barry

I seem to love best whatever style of music I'm listening to at any given moment. Unfortunately, I also seem to love playing best whatever musical instrument is in my hands at any given moment, which guarantees that I'll never be all that good at any of them (but that's another story).

I have been a fan of Irish music since my father raised us on a steady diet of Clancy Brothers' records back in the day.

Since then I've learned to play some tin whistle and Irish flute as well as guitar in the Celtic style. From time to time I'll try to find my way to a local session, which, if you don't know, is what Irish musicians call a musical get together.

One of my favourite Irish bands is a group out of the U.S. called Solas. Although they play Irish traditional instruments at the highest level, to my mind they transcend traditional boundaries by a fair bit.

I remember buying their first CD when it came out in the mid 90s. I haven't followed them closely enough to know how or to what extent the membership has changed over the years, but I suspect it has. For me the person most identified with them is Seamus Egan on flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, guitar and bodran. Other members are Winifred Horan on violin and vocals (who I see has been there from the beginning); Mick McAuley on accordians, concertina, low whistle and vocals; Eamon McElholm on guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Niamh Varian-Barry on vocals.

I'm pretty sure Ms. Varian-Barry is new because I wouldn't miss noticing someone with whom I share a last name (Barry that is).

The style is wonderfully percussive and energetic. Great stuff. The link to their website is of course above if you're interested in what they do.

To be honest, I'm not sure of the membership of the band in the YouTube clip below, but it is the kind of music they play no matter the line up.

(A listening note: this kind of music is best heard at volume, so a pair of headphones or good speakers would add dramatically to the experience).

(Cross-posted to Music Across the 49th)