listen.

rainy days and mondays always get me down...

oh KAREN! so true....

Rainy Days and Mondays, The Carpenters

Well, rainy days don’t always get me down, I rather love them, BUT a rainy Monday can sometimes get one down.... rather a good song for a day like today.

Let’s indulge in some rainy day music, shall we?

It’s Raining, Irma Thomas
Drip drop....a great soul tune. 

I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today, Nina Simone
Yes Nina, I do too.

Early Mornin' Rain, Peter Paul and Mary
Sigh.

You’re Gonna Need Me, Dionne Warwick
my friend just shared this tune with me.... perfect for a monday, no?

That’s all. Just some good tunes for gray day.

i sold my heart to the junkman

as with most of my posts this is two days late but not a dollar short.

but i was mostly done with it so i figured i would still post it so it wasn't a waste of time.

pretend as you read this that is between 11 am and 6 pm on thursday feb 14th. THANKS!

--------------------------------

hey hey listeners.

so, unless you live somewhere where the government has outlawed a lot of western things you are somehow plagued with (or celebrating) valentine's day.

for most post modern young cynics like myself this is just a greeting card gimmick in order to make money and force people buy more stupid crap that will end up floating in that garbage landfill island in the pacific. 

that being said i figured we could enjoy some 60's girl group songs about love with a little emphasis on the  heart break aspect of love.  i really love songs about heart break -- you could say i am melancholy by nature but i think mainly i just love the juxtaposition of heart break and doo wop in a song.  they are also pretty dramatic which is hard not to enjoy.

(all these songs were brought into my life when my friend micah made me a copy of his collections of girl group songs. it was a really wonderful addition to my music library and i have become rather obsessed with some of the songs.)

OKAY! so let's start with some truths:

the first cut is the deepest, pp arnold.
she was a back up singer for tina turner and then she had a solo career. and damn if this isn't a song for the history books. first, it's true: the first cut is the deepest but you'll always try to love again. second, the trumpets.   i just can't get enough of this song.

every little bit hurts, brenda holloway
a great motown singer and a great song.  every little hurt counts. ah, life.

okay. moving on. i call this next section REALIZATION:

you don't love me no more, madeline bell
rockin song, intense back up vocals.  similar to the magnetic fields' song i don't want to get over you it's good to have this song in your music library because there may be a time when you'll need to listen to it a lot.  it'll make you feel better or it will allow you to wallow - either way IT will never leave you.

you're no good, dee dee warwick
until i got these cd's from micah i just assumed this was a linda rondstat song. oops.  you left someone for a tool bag who winds up being no good. i'm sure you're friends warned you not to.  you live and you learn, right?

let's call this next section PRIDE:

crying in the rain, carole king
i love carole king. i enjoy this song. i think the flight of the concords song i'm not crying (is that what it's called?) is a modern answer to this song. i'll just go out in the rain and sob and then you won't be able to tell - unless you're really sobbing and your face contorts in that ugly crying face, then everyone will be able to tell you are crying carol, sorry...

girl don't come, sandie shaw
does this fit in the pride section? maybe.  why do you keep asking this girl out? she keeps standing you up!  i think it's your pride. i love this song: dramatic story, brass and string instruments and her voice is really awesome.   i love how the song never gets to a point where the person realizes they are better than this girl - the girl just never shows up. ha.

and since not everything is doom and gloom the final section is LOVE:

cause i love him, aldar ray   

isn't that nice?

oh, and for good measure here's the song that gave me the title for the post:

i sold my heart to the junkman, the starlets

i believe in love
g

i'll take you there

this past tuesday ben took me and his good friend (who has since become a good friend of mine as well), amanda duarte to see mavis staples at BAM on january 22nd.  it was our christmas gift from him, and what a good gift it was.
mavis (we're on a first name basis) was a keynote at BAM's 22nd Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And then on the 22nd she performed at the opera house with her band.

and it was amazing. (not too long, but it didn't really matter)  i am not sure if i have smiled so much or clapped harder at a concert in a long time. 
the quote BAM kept throwing around from the Boston Globe was:
"Mavis Staples doesn't so much sing a song as baptize it in truth."

i mean, if that was ever said about me, i would throw it around every day of my life.  (i can aslo say that i have to agree with that statement very much so.)

her set list was pretty rad - she sang a lot of civil rights songs - a lot from her family's group THE STAPLE SINGERS.  as her dad said about Dr. King: if he can preach it - we can sing it.

i wish i had the technology to record the concert so i could share some of the versions, but i'll share the early versions i have.  just picture her voice older, smokier - having lived a little more life.

i'll take you there, the staple singers
i love this song.  long before i understood who the staple singers were. i have memories of all the cooks in the kitchen of my parents restaurant dancing around to this.

the weight, the staples singers
same as above.

heavy makes you happy, the staple singers
not the same as above. but you gotta love a song where she screams "schom-on y'all" [or however you would spell that]. and i just love a good sha-na-boom-boom, don't you?

here are some mavis staples songs i love:

until i met you, mavis staples
this song could be in a musical.  maybe it was? maybe it will be.  maybe i'll sing it.

son of a preacher man, mavis staples
i'm not hating on dusty - but this is the best version of this song. period.

if there's one thing the concert made me think it's that i want to hear mavis sing every day. i need to. the other thing it made me think about was that i really want to be a soul singer. so i guess i should start working on that dream while i'm still spry enough to shake it.

alrighty. enjoy.

Blue Monday* redux

Before we begin – let me say that I am quite a happy fellow lately.

It’s just this rain.

These gray skies and wet sidewalks.

It just begs me to fall down the (aforementioned) rabbit hole of somber folk and blues.

And fall I do – gladly.

Blues run the game, Jackson C Frank

It doesn’t get much sadder than this man’s life. And this song is just so gorgeous.

"wherever you go, the blues are all the same."

Basically his school furnace blew up – covering his adolescent body in burns, he started playing the guitar, moved to new york, and was drawn into the folk coffee house scene of Greenwich village  - then he came into money through an insurance settlement – and moved to London, released an album – which never caught on in the US – his money ran out so he had to go back to nyc and fell into a deep depression and was then cripple with stage fright.
Broke, he lived on the streets, eventually he grew very unhealthy and became a ward of the state.
A fan found him in a housing project in the Bronx and took him to woodstock, ny where he started to sing and write songs again. he died in 1999.  i mean, the man has a right to sing the blues.

fountains of sorrow, joan baez
the title says it all.  If this isn’t an evening-commute-ipod-on-repeat kinda song – I don’t know what is.

both sides, now – joni mitchell
My good friend rebecita brought this song into my life.  And shortly after being introduced to it i listened to it whilst smokin grass – and my body almost shut down. i don't listen to joni stoned anymore.  talk about a coming of age song. 

court and spark – joni mitchell
my dear friend/collaborator jesica brought this album into my life. And I am ever so grateful.

that’s a nice trend – wonderful woman bringing the wonderful joni Mitchell into my life.

Ne Me Quitte Pa, jaques brel
literlally translated it means – do not leave me – but the English version of the song is called IF YOU GO AWAY. which works – but I think do not leave me is more tragic – it’s really desperate. – especially repeated at the end.  my french pen pal, lo, sent this to me. he's filled my ipod with a lot of great music -- expect a paris-post soon...

-----------------

my knowledge of classic rock and musical tastes were heavily defined by my parents - my mom's peter, paul and mary and donovan albums (not to mention linda ronstadt and sinatra) - my dad always listening to jethro tull and the stones (and some patsy cline or hendrix) -our family taking a drive while listening to loggins and messina or gordon lightfoot.   one artist they never listened to all that much was neil young, i am not sure why - they just didn't; or they did - but i don't remember it.  as i've grown, and my tastes have matured into my own, i've folded all sorts of new genres and artists into the mix.  for whatever reason, neil young never found it's way into my music library. then this cute guy, named sean, started playing him for me -- and i am really digging it.

one day, sean and i were on our way to the MoMA and we wandered down into the york street station to hop on the F.  the platform was empty - save for one dude waiting for the train and a subway musician (an "official" one, with the MTA sign, etc.) sitting on the bench - singing harvest moon. he was really good - and the york station is so unique and the song is so beautiful - it was like a scene out of some less polished looking wes anderson movie. definitely a moment when i was very happy to be living in this city.

harvest moon, neil young

have i posted this song:

ticket to ride, the carpenters

i mean, really? just the saddest cover of this song ever, ever, EVER. if a sadder one exists - i shan't listen to it. my head might implode.  "i think i'm gonna be sad, i think it's today."  mateo, for better or worse, emailed it to me one day - and i really appreciate it.

and what somber rabbit hole would be complete without a little indigo girls?

ghost, indigo girls.

"And the mississippis mighty
But it starts in minnesota
At a place that you could walk across
With five steps down
And I guess thats how you started
Like a pinprick to my heart
But at this point you rush right through me
And I start to drown"

enough said.

 

and for good measure - here's the wonderful rosemary clooney:
blues in the night, rosemary clooney

i love music. 

to prove i don't ONLY listen to sad music -- i'll post happy stuff tomorrow.

enjoy

g

*yes, it's tuesday. i was supposed to post this yesterday - but, you know, sometimes you just don't get around to it....

 

monday blues

.....as i sit, about to head off to work.  drinking my coffee, eating my toast with peanut butter - i try to focus on the fact that this work week promises to be short one -- there's some time off on the horizon.

but that cold, wet, gray monday morning (that, ultimately is such a beautiful, november occurrence) just wanted me to lie under my blankets, listening to wnyc until it was time to get out of bed and make a grilled cheese sandwich.  alas - i did none of that.

but i did listen to some music on my subway ride. (and seriously folks - can the subways not handle a slighty drizzly morning? i had to wait half and hour for the E train at court sq.)

best song to walk down the street to first thing in the morning
hazy jane II

the first song on bryter later.  such a good album

"...what will happen in the morning when the world it gets
so crowded that you can't look out the window in the morning.

And what will happen in the evening in the forest with the weasel
with the teeth that bite so sharp when you're not looking in the evening.

And all the friends that you once knew are left behind they kept you safe
and so secure amongst the books and all the records of your lifetime.

What will happen
In the morning
When the world it gets so crowded that you can't look out the window
in the morning.
....
Let's sing a song
For Hazey Jane
She's back again in my mind.
If songs were lines
In a conversation
The situation would be fine."

sigh. i agree nick, that would make the situation fine.

LIFE!

now - knowing i needed more spring in my step before i fell down the rabbit hole of somber folk (a rabbit hole i am quite fond of -- but not every morning.)  i turned to smokey robbinson.
i want to hear songs about heart break - but i want it to be motown and a little upbeat.

tears of a clown, smokey robinson and the miracles

don't let me glad expression give you the wrong impression. A.M.E.N.

track of my tears, smokey robinson and the miracles

and how can you not appreciate  this song:

cruisin'

gwyneth paltrow (sp?) and huey lewis did their best to ruin it for a nation with their HORRIBLE movie about karaoke.  but it didn't work. so there.

and for good measure the ever-so-amazing etta james and her song

seven day fool.

love it love it love it! those back up singers?
i want to be soul singer and i won't rest until i am.

 

and i shall also direct your attention back to older melancholy post with some somber then upbeat tunes.

happy monday.
g

back in the habit and on repeat

hey kiddos. my apologies, most especially to my blogmate, for being a tad MIA -- and i don't mean the groundbreaking genre-defying English-born Sri Lankan musician -- over the past week (or so).  life just keeps on HAPPENING, you know?

anyway. i went over to Danny's the other night, and while he worked some tailoring magic on a few of my garments, we watched My So-Called Life and listened to Chris Garneau, among other things, and ever since, I've basically had this song on 24-7 repeat.

Chris Garneau - Black & Blue

it takes him about 1:45 to kick into full voice, but man, that moment kills me, each time he sings "oh, oh, i want to catch my death of cold, oh, oh, cause i'm scared i'm growing old."  be careful listening to this song on headphones late at night while it's raining and you're walking home alone to an empty bed. i'm just saying.

interesting interview with mr. garneau here, and here's a terrific video from the blogotheque takeaway show series:

#42.4 - Chris Garneau - We don't try
Uploaded by lablogotheque

on a totally unrelated note, did anyone else see the disaster otherwise known as Amy Winehouse in this clip from the Euro MTV music awards? [ADDENDUM: The clip i posted first ceased to work, so here's another with a corny intro. but it's the same performance.]

i don't know whether to cry, or laugh, or throw my computer against the wall in a fit of rage.  i mean, she's just so talented, and i'm afraid she's going to waste it all away.  look at her.  AMY: Get. Your. Shi*. TOGETHER.  Please.  if not for your sake, then for the sake of all the classic soul-revivalist lovers out there.  Please?

also, i don't remember quite how, but yesterday i ran across the myspace profile for this Brooklyn band called the Homophones.  And I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to think that a bandname like that or lyrics like "I wanna lick your popsicle" necessarily confirm that they play for my team, but... let me just say that i had a hard time finding many details about them, but they are officially on my radar.  expect more info to be relayed to you as it lands on my desk.  i like this song.

the Homophones - Everyone's Dead

on a non-musical note, here are some beautiful photos (i did not take them) from the amazing secret underground dinner party my dance group performed at over the weekend.  and more photos here.

that adorable boy-girl banjo-accordion duo were a real highlight, and apparently they perform under the name Fall Harbor, but i haven't been able to find any info about them so far.

that's all for now. bye.

>ben

killing me softly.

some days it's kinda gray out and you're a little sleepy and maybe a little overwhelmed with life.

on days like this (today) i turn to my music (well either that or my friends or my couch and muppet dvds)
but we deal with music here. so....

more often than not i turn to nina simone.
and more specifically - her softer side.

i let it cradle me.

which is why we are going to enjoy her singing some lullabies

here are songs from FOLKSY NINA

You Can Sing A Rainbow, nina simone

hush little baby, nina simone

here's aretha singing a different version:

mockingbird, aretha franklin

now how about some oh, susanna?

oh! susanna, carly simon
the first time i heard this song (on jonathan schwartz's saturday show) i cried. i think i was really emotional that day.  it's really beautiful - it's from her album into white.

oh susanna, james taylor.
from sweet baby james. such a good album.

now let's let nina sing about love:

i want a little sugar in my bowl, nina simone

cotton eyed joe, nina simone

this song KILLS ME. i love it. we've all known a cotton eyed joe one way or another.

and let's have nina sing us out - with a rousing little number?

in the evening by the moonlight, nina simone.

it's not the cleanest file (it makes weird sounds) but i love this song so -- it from her live at newport festival.  oh, to have been there!

okay. that's my playlist for a day like today.

enjoy

g

sing it, sister

i think we've got a good thing going here with all this old-school gospel, so I'm sticking with it.  because it's so good. and then maybe we can let that take us toward some soul/gospel from the 60s. who's with me??

first, a few tracks from Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, which is this incredible collection of almost 100 songs from the '20s and '30s: gospel, roots, bluegrass, etc.  it's completely out of control, and deserves way more than the cursory mention i'm giving it here. it's a masterpiece.  expect more later.  and here's a totally adorable picture of harry:

so to start, this recording of Rev. Sister Mary Nelson totally blows my mind. Listen to her voice!  no seriously, listen to it. please. this was recorded in chicago in 1927. Mary was a Pentecostal preacher in Tennessee.  she's really not fucking around:

the gambler the drunkard, the liar, and the adulterous too
well all these false pretenders, and all them hypocrites too
better get ready for judgement, better get ready for judgement morning
better get ready for judgement, my god is coming down

and i love her backup singers.

Rev. Sister Mary Nelson, Judgement

according to the notes accompanying the anthology, Texan Blind Willie Johnson (1900-1949) was blinded at age seven when lye was thrown in his face.  intense.  and then in 1949 his house caught fire, which he survived, but he got wet, developed pneumonia, and then died when the hospital wouldn't take him in because he was black.  good lord.

this call-and-response was recorded in 1930 with his wife Angeline on backup. his pipes are just about as gravelly as Sister Mary Nelson's.  amazing.  and I love the contrast with Angeline's sweet voice.

Blind Willie Johnson, John the Revelator

one last one from the Anthology: this one recorded in Chicago in 1928, "vocal quartet with guitars, tambourine, and clapping".  so good, with such a great build!

The Elders McIntorsh and Edwards' Sanctified Sisters, Since I Laid My Burden Down

next stop: MAHALIA JACKSON. pretty much universally regarded as the greatest gospel singer ever. i love this picture.

both of these songs are amazing. what a voice. i particularly love her "when the saints," recorded in 1958. not sure when "walk in jerusalem" is from.

Mahalia Jackson, When the Saints Go Marching In
Mahalia Jackson, Walk In Jerusalem

we'll end with a couple tracks from volume 2 of the Soul Gospel series that came out recently.

here's Martha Bass singing on the joys of being born again. Martha's daughter Fontella is also totally amazing, and did that hit "Rescue Me".

Martha Bass, Since I Been Born Again

and finally, from 1978 (you can totally hear the disco influence), the New York Community Choir. more call-and-response.  and love those tight harmonies on the verses!

NYCC, I'll Keep a Light in My Window

doesn't that one just make you want to put a candle in your window, and then bust a move?

god, there's so much more, but I think we'll have to leave it at that for today. enjoy.

>ben

trouble in mind

oh mercury in retrograde!  thwarting my plans for a wonderful Old Crow Medicine Show post....alas... you all will have to wait a few more days.
i know you can't stand it -- but be strong.

so in lieu of that post i bring you TROUBLE IN MIND.

now, as you are probably well aware - i rather enjoy various versions of standards/folk songs, etc. and if you ever received a mix from me  - you know i like interspersing several great versions of a rad song on mixes.

that being said -- for your enjoyment here are several versions of this amazing blues song:

TROUBLE IN MIND

"trouble in mind, that's true
i have almost lost my mind
life ain't worth livin' - feel like I could die.
i'm gonna lay my head on some lonesome railroad track
let the 219 train ease my troubled mind"

does it get better than singin' the blues?

Trouble in mind, Aretha Franklin

Trouble in Mind, Johhny Cash

Trouble in Mind, Dinah Washington

i totally underappreciate dinah washington. she is simply amazing.

and my two faves:

Trouble in Mind, Ella Fitzgerald
i love a lot of musical instruments and the electric organ is definitely high on the list (probably below accordion and above harpsichord (( i like variations of the piano the way i enjoy variations of a coffee maker)))

trouble in Mind, Nina Simone

from her live in newport album. Dammit. this song is just a masterpiece. from her "let's go boys!" to the band right up to her "bam bam bam - YEAH....allright" at the end - i am with her.

remember as the songs says:

you won't be blue always. The sun is gonna shine through your back door someday.
g

as a corollary - somehow, for me, this belle & sebastian song has been linked with trouble in mind.  So I am sharing it  as well-- like a nice wine and cheese pairing.

big john shaft

---------------------
and we've FINALLY been able to tally the BYE BYE BLACKBIRD: rock the vote!
a record number of you (NINE PEOPLE!) voted.
and it looks like liza won (I know a certain babrablogger who is very happy...)

covers for friday

boy and girls.

this heat and humidity? sigh.

you know what we need?

COVERS!!!

am i right, or am i RIGHT?

(this may or may not be because i just keep listen.ing to the songs from the melancholia post and all the new amazing barbra that was brought into my life...)

anyway. put your heart on your sleeve and get ready to FEEL.

hearts and bones, jessica molasky
the AMAZING jonathan schwartz brought this AMAZING song into my life on his AMAZING saturday/sunday show on wnyc.  he rocks and so does jessica molasky.  i wish mr. schwartz was my uncle - and we could meet up for lunch - or go see a concert somewhere every once and a while.  i digress: he said, and i agree, that not many people can cover paul simon - for most people can't convey all the emotion needed for his songs  - except ms. molasky and this cover.
tonight: pour a glass of wine, dim the lights and put this song on repeat. 
"why won't you love me for who i am, where i am?
that's not the way the world is baby..."

LIFE!

god only knows, john pizzarelli
coincidentally - ms. molasky's husband (life partner? not sure what their technical definition is) and this past may they were at the OAK ROOM. alas tickets were about $70 with a two drink minimum.... if they ever read this - you guys are amazing and if you feel like doing a show at pete's candy store in williamsburg - it would be packed. and i would be the happiest boy in the world. 

and this song? gorgeous.

hey jude, ella fitzgerald
goddammit. jordan actually threatened to hit ella in the mouth for singing this amazing cover. what a song. let her into your heart jude. do it. for ella.

a case of you, diana krall
i could drink a case of you and still be on my feet. oh joni. my life will not be complete until i give joni (and now diana) a hug.

angel of the morning, nina simone
less of a cover and more of a standard.
i'm old enough to face the dawn.
the most poetic walkin-home-after-a-hook-up song ever. period.

and for good measure - here is the feist video for my moon, my man:

have a good friday!

g