HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 127 - THE BAD BOYS - IKE TURNER, JIMMY REED

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 127

Just because you are incredibly innovative and everyone looks up to you doesn’t necessarily mean that your life is in order, and our two featured artists for today’s show prove that point rather handily. Ike Turner may well be the most demonized figure to ever touch an instrument, thanks partially to his own behavior, and partially to a Hollywood movie that sanctified his ex-wife while portraying him as Rasputin of the chitlin circuit. Ike has been attempting to rebound from this public relations nightmare ever since, but first impressions usually stick, especially when it comes to celebrities. Subsequent jail sentences, drug problems and violent incidents didn’t help his cause much, either. Nevertheless, the man opened doors for a lot of people, created some groundbreaking music, and his live revue served as a Lewis and Clarke expedition for others to follow. For all of these reasons, Ike can rightfully claim a hallowed place in the American music canon. So can Tina, whose intensity and raw sexual energy went way beyond anyone who came before her.
Jimmy Reed has a bad reputation of his own, but in a completely different manner than Ike’s. Where Ike was bullying and autocratic, Reed relied almost entirely on others, sometimes just to help him stay on his feet. On recordings, Reed sounds like one of the most affable guys you’d ever want to meet. His music is the aural definition of laid back. The problem here is that there was a reason for that laid back sound. Reed had an affinity for alcohol that took precedence over virtually everything else in his life, and the stories that linger since his passing are superficially funny, but ultimately terribly sad. Regardless of the circumstances of their lives, both of these men opened doors and provided something new for others to carry on. Today’s show features highlights from both of their careers, as follows;

1) Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie - Pinetop Smith
2) Rocket 88 – Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats
3) I’m Blue (Gong-Gong Song) – The Ikettes
4) Matchbox – Ike Turner
5) It’s Gonna Work Out Fine – Ike and Tina Turner
6) River Deep, Mountain High – Ike and Tina Turner
7) Proud Mary – Ike and Tina Turner
8) I Ain’t Got You – Jimmy Reed
9) Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby – Jimmy Reed
10) Big Boss Man – Jimmy Reed
11) Baby What You Want Me to Do – Jimmy Reed
12) Bright Lights Big City – Jimmy Reed

Further Listening and Suggested Tracks

1) Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie - Pinetop Perkins
2) Shoop – Salt ‘N’ Pepa
3) How Many More Years – Howlin’ Wolf
4) I Ain’t Got You – The Yardbirds
5) Ain’t Got You – Bruce Springsteen
6) Ain’t Got You – Solomon Burke
7) Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby – Dale Hawkins
8) Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby – Eric Clapton
9) Big Boss Man – Elvis Presley
10) Big Boss Man – Jerry Lee Lewis
11) Shame, Shame, Shame - Jimmy Reed
12) Shame Shame Shame – Bryan Ferry
13) Honest I Do – Jimmy Reed
14) Honest I Do – The Rolling Stones
15) Honest I Do – Aretha Franklin
16) Going to New York – Jimmy Reed
17) Baby What You Want Me to Do – John Cale
18) “ “ - The Byrds
19) “ “ - The Everly Brothers
20) “ “ - Etta James
21) “ “ - The Stray Cats
22) “ “ - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
23) Bright Lights, Big City - The Animals
24) “ “ - Neil Young
25) “ “ _ Them, featuring Van Morrison

THE WINTER OF 1965

WINTER 1965

While reviewing the list of songs that we cover for today’s show, I’m struck by the diversity of material that was popular back in 1965. There is literally something for everybody here, from orchestral pop music to electrified blues, from girl-group pop to civil rights anthems. I think it would be hard for a young music fan to comprehend that all of this music co-existed – not just on the same chart, but usually on the same radio station. Times have changed, and I’m sorry to say that I do not think that they changed for the better. I’m not saying that there isn’t good new music available – there is certainly plenty of that; All I’m saying is that the old days of one-stop shopping on your AM radio has vanished, and in its place are dozens of segmented, corporatized stations that determine playlists by demographics instead of diversity. It’s interesting to note that during the civil rights era, Sam Cooke would be played on the same station that played Bert Kaempfert when today, you’d have to change the station to hear Justin Timberlake and John Mayer. Today, the radio has divided us into tiny little pieces, and separates us from one another. In 1965, though, the radio brought us together. This show celebrates the diversity that radio used to represent.

Featured tracks from today’s show are;
FEATURED SINGLES
1) Red Roses for a Blue Lady – Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra
2) Yeh Yeh – Georgie Fame
3) A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
4) Stop! In the Name of Love – The Supremes
5) New York’s a Lonely Town – The Tradewinds (as a “Great Miss’)
6) Shotgun – Jr. Walker & the All Stars
7) Tired of Waiting for You – The Kinks
FEATURED ALBUM TRACKS
8) Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Bob Dylan
9) All I Really Want to Do – Bob Dylan (edited….into…)
10) All I Really Want to Do – The Byrds
11) Little Red Rooster – Sam Cooke
12) Please Let Me Wonder – The Beach Boys

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 2

How Music Changed, Part 2

- THE DEATH OF EUROPEAN TRADITION (STRAUSS, DEBUSSY, SATIE, DVORAK, BURLEIGH)
Today we start in one place, and end someplace completely different. We continue our series on “How Music Changed” in America by focusing on how serious music shifted away from its established base and started to accept American ideas, even allowing American ideas to infiltrate (ye gads!!). If you recall, our previous show focused on the birth of the recording industry, and musically, on two great tenors whose operatic abilities caused the American ‘everyman’ to become familiar with professional music. This common familiarity with professionalism is why we have a music industry today, and that is why I consider the early tenors to be extraordinarily influential on the development of American music. However, they did little to provide America with its own musical identity. Today’s show will attempt to explain the subtle shifts that took place, allowing American culture to develop an identity of its own, one that would overwhelm external forces. Next week, we will look closely at the internal influences, but for today, let’s start in Europe.
As the 20th century approaches, the mores of the music business are firmly established. Germany is the center of all serious music culture. With Beethoven and Wagner as forebears, their reputation simply overwhelms most other cultures. Opera grows more and more popular, and Italy also develops a unique identity. It is the global craze for opera that fuels composers, musicians, and vocalists, aided in its course by the newfangled ‘phonograph’ (soon to be referred to as a brand name, the ‘Victrola’). The music’s availability turns common people into ‘fans’, and a global industry is born that cannot adequately accommodate the lengthy song structures of ‘classical’ music.
Richard Strauss, a German, represents a break with the past by avoiding ‘classic’ compositional forms. Rather than symphonies, he prefers to write ‘tone poems,’ a more ‘condensed’ form of composition, but he writes plenty of operas, too. In France, a few composers are detecting a shift in styles. Claude Debussy, along with Maurice Ravel, is the most significant of the bunch, and they compose music that is drastically different from the sturm and drang of Germanic composers. Instead of writing in ‘classic’ form, they write impressionistically, relying on sensibility and subtlety for inspiration. Debussy writes a piece entitled “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn.” He writes another three-part composition called “La Mer (The Sea)”. Suddenly, the fat lady with horns on her head (Wagner’s “Valkyries”) is rendered quaint. Others are inspired and write along similar lines, including Erik Satie, who suggests a total break with tradition, and composes songs with strange impressionistic titles, such as “Desiccated Embryos” and “Trois Gymnopedie” (loosely translated as ‘Three Gymnasts’). This work would eventually have a profound influence on ambient writers like Brian Eno.
Meanwhile, in America, the country is so busy growing that the changes in Europe barely register on our popular culture. African slave culture, besides providing labor, inadvertently provides entertainment, especially when European-Americans parody their culture, notably in the songs of Stephen Foster and minstrelsy (we cover this in show #3). Looking for inspiration and a way to break from Germanic tradition, a Czech named Antonin Dvorak comes to America, and is suitably impressed by America’s own developing indigenous musical culture. However, it isn’t the ‘serious’ musicians who aped European styles that impress him, nor is it the black-faced minstrels singing “Old Black Joe” and “Old Folks at Home.” Dvorak recognized that America’s unique identity came from Native American and African American influences. Dvorak befriends an African-American musician named Harry T Burleigh, who familiarizes him with Negro spirituals and plantation songs. While Burleigh provides Dvorak with inspiration, Dvorak assists Burleigh in obtaining a publisher. Some of the first examples of authentic African American music were then published by Burleigh. Meanwhile, Dvorak uses the experience as inspiration for his 9th Symphony, commonly called the “New World Symphony.” Indeed, it was a new world, as America would subsequently become the focal point of 20th century music.


Music from today’s show includes;
1) Thus Sprach Zarathustra – Richard Strauss
2) Clair de Lune – Claude Debussy
3) Golliwog (a Cakewalk) – Claude Debussy
4) Trois Gymnopedie – Erik Satie
5) Deep River – (Negro Spiritual)
6) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Paul Robeson
7) New World Symphony – 2nd Movement – ‘Largo’ – Antonin Dvorak
8) Garth Largo – from “Largo”


FURTHER LISTENING AND SUGGESTED TRACKS;
1) Salome – Dance of the Seven Veils – Richard Strauss
2) Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn – Claude Debussy
3) La Mer – Claude Debussy
4) Bolero – Maurice Ravel
5) Daphnis et Chloe – Maurice Ravel
6) Gymnopedie (as orchestrated by Claude Debussy) – Erik Satie
7) Embryons Desseches – Erik Satie
8) Music for Airports – Brian Eno
9) Go Down Moses – Paul Robeson
10) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – The Soul Stirrers, with Sam Cooke
11) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Jerry Garcia
12) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – UB40
13) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Beyonce

SO WHAT'S NEW?

Play Show

“American Hit Radio” is a show that attempts to encapsulate, explain, and just have some fun with the popular musical culture of our country. Naturally, this requires us to dig into the past and spend a great deal of energy on the music of previous eras. The whole point of our program is to revitalize our music heritage and hear it as something alive, fresh, and profoundly influential on the music of today. Because of this, people often ask us about today’s music scene. What do we think about it? What do we listen to when we aren’t working? Do we listen to new music, or are we ‘stuck’ in the past?
Some listeners have even criticized us for spending so much energy on past decades that we tend to overlook contemporary music. For example, we recently aired a show dedicated entirely to the great tenors of the early 20th Century (oh, stop moaning about it. Listen up and I bet you’ll enjoy the show…). Okay, that show didn’t exactly have mass appeal…I guess we’re asking for it, aren’t we?
We understand where these opinions are coming from. While we don’t plan on altering our basic approach to the music we choose to play, and we are completely dedicated to entertaining AND (hopefully) educating our listeners, we also recognize that we may be overdue for a response to this viewpoint.
Therefore, we plan on taking a break every now and then from our normal routine so we can discuss contemporary music. There are no rules to follow, no qualifications that must be met, and no specific style that we feel compelled to cover. For our ‘contemporary’ programs, we will simply play a few songs from new artists and/or new albums that we love…or hate. What matters is that we have opinions about today’s music, too, and we will use these shows to play a few songs and share our own opinions on ‘new’ music. As always, your own opinions are very welcome, so let us know what you think!
Here’s a list of artists and songs discussed in today’s show;

1) Always Love - Nada Surf
2) Rich Wife - The Long Winters
3) Fire Island, AK - The Long Winters
4) Another Fine Day - Golden Smog
5) 5-22-02 - Golden Smog
6) No Radio - Dirty On Purpose
7) You Don't Have Far to Go - Candi Staton
8) Blinking Lights - Eels
9) The Trouble With Dreams - The Eels

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 126 - BLUES HARP GREATS

How Music Changed, Part 126 - Blues Harp Greats

Anybody can recognize how old harmonica players influenced later harmonica players, but not everybody can hear the profound effect they all had on contemporary music. Sonny Boy Williamson I and II (yes, there were two distinctly different people who went by the name of Sonny Boy Williamson, and they were not related – but that’s another story for another show) are the original heroes of blues harmonica, mostly through Sonny II’s affiliation with the original King Biscuit Flour Hour Program (a name that many classic rock fans will recognize for hosting live concerts). Little Walter changed the face of the instrument by blasting his harp through a distorted amplifier and frightening everybody half to death with his menacing stage presence. That combination set the standard for blues harp until this very day, but the influences of these harpists lie even deeper when you listen to the material that they introduced to our culture.
Sonny Boy Williamson (I) gave us “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,” which was subsequently made famous by Hot Tuna, The Grateful Dead, Johhny Winter, the Yardbirds and scores of others. Remember “Eyesight to the Blind,” from the Who’s “Tommy”? It was written by Sonny Boy (II). Elvis Presley’s version of “Mystery Train” might be the single most influential rock and roll recording ever! Do you know where he got it from? Little Junior, who later became famous as Junior Parker. The Rolling Stones took “I’m a King Bee” from Slim Harpo, and I hardly know where to begin when it comes to the influence of Little Walter. Besides being the most technically gifted and innovative harp player of his time, he is also credited with making the blues harp a solo instrument for the electric age. Do you recognize any of the songs that he helped to popularize? How about “Key to the Highway” (Derek & the Dominoes, for one), “My Babe” (The Animals, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Foghat) or “Mellow Down Easy” (the Black Crowes even took a stab at this one)?
Junior Wells also has an influence that goes beyond mere name recognition. The Allman Brothers Band turned “You Don’t Love Me” into a twenty minute free-form masterpiece. His work with Buddy Guy had a profound influence on some of rock’s biggest icons, from Jimi Hendrix (“Catfish Blues”) to the Blues Brothers (“Messin’ With the Kid”). Latter day heroes of the harmonica such as Paul Butterfield, John Mayall and Charlie Musselwhite helped to popularize the instrument as a staple of contemporary rock music. From these not-so-humble beginnings, the influences spread like wildfire throughout our music culture, and you can be sure that today’s pop music would be drastically different if not for these pioneers.
Here is a list of songs covered in today’s program, plus a few “Bonus Track” suggestions for further listening;
1) Good Morning Schoolgirl – Sonny Boy Williamson I
2) Eyesight to the Blind – Sonny Boy Williamson II
3) BONUS – Cool Disposition – Sonny Boy Williamson II
4) BONUS - Fattening Frogs for Snakes – Sonny Boy Williamson II
5) Train Whistle Blues –Blind Boy Fuller, feat. Sonny Terry
6) Mystery Train – Little Junior’s Blue Flames (Junior Parker)
7) I’m a King Bee – Slim Harpo
8) BONUS - Maxwell Street Jam – Carey Bell (from “And This Is Maxwell Street”)
9) Baby Please Don’t Go – Muddy Waters, feat. Little Walter
10) Juke – Little Walter
11) BONUS - Blues with a Feeling – Little Walter
12) BONUS – Key to the Highway – Little Walter
13) BONUS – My Babe – Little Walter
14) Off the Wall – Little Walter
15) BONUS – Mellow Down Easy – Little Walter
16) BONUS – Hay Lawdy Mama – Junior Wells
17) You Don’t Love Me Baby – Junior Wells
18) BONUS – Hoodoo Man Blues – Junior Wells
19) Catfish Blues – Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
20) BONUS – Messin’ with the Kid – Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
21) King Biscuit Time Theme – James Cotton
22) BONUS – Cotton Crop Blues – James Cotton
23) I’ve Got My Mojo Working, part 1 – Muddy Waters, feat. James Cotton
24) Born in Chicago – Paul Butterfield Blues Band
25) BONUS – East West – Paul Butterfield Blues Band
26) Room to Move – John Mayall
27) BONUS – Chicken Shack – Charlie Musselwhite

As for the artists who have been influenced, try these on for size;
1) Good Morning Schoolgirl – The Yardbirds
2) Good Morning Schoolgirl – The Grateful Dead
3) Good Morning Schoolgirl – Hot Tuna
4) Good Morning Schoolgirl – Johnny Winter
5) Eyesight to the Blind – The Who
6) Mystery Train – Elvis Presley
7) Mystery Train – The Band
8) I’m a King Bee – The Rolling Stones
9) Baby Please Don’t Go – Van Morrison and Them
10) Baby Please Don’t Go – Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes
11) Key to the Highway – Derek & the Dominoes
12) My Babe – The Animals
13) My Babe – Foghat
14) My Babe – The Fabulous Thunderbirds
15) You Don’t Love Me – The Allman Brothers Band
16) Catfish Blues – Jimi Hendrix
17) Messin’ with the Kid – The Blues Brothers

BACK TO WHAT WE DO BEST (OR MOST OFTEN, ANYWAY...)

SPRING 1962

Back in the days before we took it upon ourselves to cover the London Observer’s List of ‘50 Albums that Changed Music’, we used to have a format. Remember those days? Granted, it took only six weeks to cover the Observer’s entire list, but it feels as though it took much longer than that…at least it feels that way to us. So today we are returning to our format of focusing on a specific time period and playing some of the best music from that era (with the occasional ‘bad hit/great miss’). Aah, the good old days….
Today’s show focuses on popular music from the Spring of 1962. If you were around at that time, you might have been inclined to presume that the days of rock and roll music were waning. The vital and youthful energy (or primitive stupidity, as some might have seen it) of rock and roll music was being replaced by something more sophisticated. It was a new form of R&B that de-emphasized the hard, swinging rhythms of earlier R&B, in favor of a more straightforward beat that actually owed a tremendous debt to rock and roll. Some people called it ‘Soul’ music. You also might notice that each and every artist from the ‘top 40’ section of today’s show is Afircan-American (with the exception of an arguably racist ‘Bad Hit’ called “Speedy Gonzales, performed by a master practitioner of bad taste, Mr. Pat Boone). The rise of African American artists to the forefront of our musical culture could also be attributed to rock and roll’s integrated stylization. Rock and Roll might have been losing its energy, but its after-effects lingered, resulting in a removal of the barriers that prevented Black artists admittance onto the national “pop” charts. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that these very same after-effects are what eventually led to the removal of other barriers as well, ultimately resulting in the civil rights movement. Hail, hail rock and roll!!!
For good measure, we also feature a few selected tracks from two significant album released during the Spring of ‘62. Representing the old school of thought is Frank Sinatra’s gorgeous album, “Sinatra and Strings,” an album whose beauty is undeniable. Nevertheless, this style of music appeared to be under siege. First came a direct attack from rock and roll. Then, the fledgling R&B/Soul artists infiltrated enemy lines. Finally, the folk movement broke the back of the conservative music establishment by ignoring conventional, classic song forms. Bob Dylan made his debut the same month as Sinatra’s album. What else could possibly go wrong? A bunch of long-haired young men from England were listening to every note, and waiting for their own orders to attack….

Here’s a list of songs that we cover in today’s program;
1) Something’s Got a Hold on Me – Etta James
2) I Can’t Stop Loving You – Ray Charles
3) Night Train – James Brown
4) BAD HIT – Speedy Gonzales – Pat Boone
5) Having a Party – Same Cooke
6) Soul Twist – King Curtis
7) Twist and Shout – The Isley Brothers

8) Talking New York Blues – Bob Dylan
9) Song for Woody – Bob Dylan
10) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra
11) Stardust – Frank Sinatra

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 1

The Great Tenors - Enrico Caruso and John McCormack

WITH TODAY'S SHOW, WE BEGIN AN ENTIRE NEW SERIES THAT WILL BE POSTED EACH FRIDAY.
Thanks to the Observer's List of "50 Albums that Changed Music," we were inspired to create our own list. Naturally, though, we could not limit ourselves to a mere 50 entries. Furthermore, it appeared ludicrous to rate them in any order other than chronological - how can you possibly quantify the intrinsic value and historic impact of, say, Leadbelly and Ornette Coleman? Ridiculous to even try, right??? So, our list runs chronologically, and it covers the past 100 years!!!! We start (naturally) at the beginning of recorded sound. Our intent is to present 250 shows (!!!!) and we will run them in semi-chronologiical order - meaning that next week we will move to the midpoint of our list - show #126 - and then we will return with show #2, then #127.... get it?
When we are done, we hope to have presented a fully realized account of American music culture for the past 100 years.

So, then, here is a list of songs (and suggested 'bonus' tracks for further listening) from today's show;

Most Influential Artists of the Past 100 Years
#1 – 1906 - The Tenors – Enrico Caruso and John McCormack

1) Enrico Caruso – I Pigliacci/Vesta la Giubba (On with the Show)
2) Enrico Caruso – Rigoletto: La Donna e Mobile (Woman Is Fickle) (Verdi)
3) Enrico Caruso – Santa Lucia (Neapolitan Song)
4) Enrico Caruso – O Sole Mio (My Sunshine)
5) Enrico Caruso – Torna A Surriento
6) Enrico Caruso – Rossini: Tarantella Neapolitana – La Danza (2000 ReMix)
7) BONUS – Enrico Caruso – Celeste Aida
8) BONUS – Enrico Caruso – Rigoletto: Bella Figlia dell’Amore (Verdi)
9) BONUS – Enrico Caruso – Over There
10) BONUS – Enrico Caruso – La Traviata
11) John McCormack – Una Furtiva Lagrima (Donizetti)
12) John McCormack – Mother Machree
13) John McCormack – Kathleen Mavourneen
14) John McCormack – It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
15) John McCormack – She Moved Thro’ the Fair
16) John McCormack – The Star of the County Down
17) BONUS – John McCormack – The Sunshine of Your Smile
18) BONUS – John McCormack – The Irish Immigrant
19) BONUS – John McCormack – Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair
20) BONUS – John McCormack – I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen

50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, Part 6

50 Albums that Changed Music, Part 6

We made it! This finishes our review of The London Observer’s choice of 50 albums that changed music. Although I have disagreed strongly with many of their selections (and can hardly believe the order – Spice Girls (!) ahead of Jimi Hendrix(!!)???). Nevertheless, we owe them a great debt for providing inspiration for our own upcoming program. Starting this week, we will be airing twice a week, and after much thought (and six weeks of suffering through somebody else’s list) we have decided to dedicate our extra day to our OWN list of influential music. After much consideration, our list has expanded to a whopping 250 entries, and covers a full century of fabulous, culture-altering music. We will feature one artist (or grouping of artists) per show – which means that we expect to be busy for the next FIVE YEARS!!!!!!!
Thank you again, Observer……
Tune in Fridays for more information. Meanwhile, here is the balance of albums as they appear on the list created by the Observer;

43) Primal Scream – Screamadelica
44) Talking Heads – Fear of Music
45) Fairport Convention – Liege and Leaf
46) The Human League – Dare
47) Nirvana – Nevermind
48) The Strokes – Is This It
49) De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
50) LFO - Frequencies