Author: Syd Fablo

Don Caballero – What Burns Never Returns

What Burns Never Returns

Don Caballero – What Burns Never Returns Touch and Go Records tg185cd (1998)

Understanding and liking this album will take a certain recognition.  Reviewer audiojunkie said this album “was the first time [he] had ever heard the drums played as the lead instrument.”  This is a useful description of how the album revolves around solos by drummer Damon Che.  There really aren’t guitar (or bass) solos, and there are no vocals.  This also means that there isn’t a lot of melody to latch on to, just shifting and complex rhythms.  Probably the closest comparison would be to a more rock oriented version of Steve Coleman‘s M-Base music, which made melody secondary to rhythm.  Don Caballero’s biggest achievement is focusing on drums and rhythm so much without grounding the music in African-derived rhythms.  This one won’t be for everyone, but heartier souls should give it a chance to grow on them.

Neil Diamond – 12 Songs

12 Songs

Neil Diamond – 12 Songs American Recordings 8-2876-77508-2 (2005)

People seem to have this bizarre faith in producer Rick Rubin, like he can waltz in and “save” the career of any aging star fading into obscurity with declining sales.  Not so.  Take 12 Songs for instance.  Unlike the American Recordings series with Johnny Cash or on Electric by The Cult, Rubin is all wrong for Neil Diamond.  Cash’s biggest asset was that voice, which in spite of its age could still captivate with its gravelly power.  Cash also could command with that voice, and stripped down settings put that voice on a pedestal — like Paul Robeson‘s recordings accompanied by only Lawrence Brown on piano.  Diamond, however, was always at his best with a very smooth and nuanced bombast.  Well, all that is gone here.  Nothing left to see or hear, just a fish out of water.  Rubin would have been much better served looking back to his breakthrough work with The Cult, where he — again — stripped down the production but at the same time preserved some (OK, amped up) of the ridiculously fun machismo.  Rubin may have dumped what was weighing Neil Diamond down in adult contemporary purgatory, but he also threw out most of what makes Diamond likeable in the first place — that swagger!  Final conclusion: a swing and a miss.

Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village: Sounds From the Scene in 1961

Bob Dylan's Greenwich Village: Sounds From the Scene in 1961

Various Artists – Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village: Sounds From the Scene in 1961 Chrome Dreams CDCD5074 (2011)

Although it’s become fashionable for certain contrarian Millennials to bash Bob Dylan as “talentless” or make some other snarky comment about him, attempting to position themselves as distinctly beyond whatever he represented, almost anyone with a pulse knows him as one of the major icons of 20th Century pop music.  So, this collection is an attempt to portray the sounds already circulating in his slice of New York City in 1961 when he first arrived fresh-faced from Minnesota and tried to make it as a musician.  There is a lot of music packed into these two discs.  But some themes draw themselves out.  From this evidence, the urban folk revival seemed a lot like an attempt to find authenticity.  It was a break from the big, orchestrated pop and jazz that dominated commercial music of the 1950s.  It had a do-it-yourself quality.  These were much the same impulses that spawned punk rock in the following decade.  Though, in hindsight, many of the white musicians in the movement were, quite frankly, too uptight and inhibited to make really great lasting recordings–punk proved more lasting more often.  Compare some of the afro-american blues represented here, like that from Lonnie Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, there is a stark contrast in authenticity.  So the “new” folkies often failed, but in their failure they took a step in the right direction.  Dylan landed in the middle of all this, and there’s no doubt the ways he took influence.  Indeed, this collection makes a few choice selections of songs that Dylan liberally borrowed from to make his own songs like “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” (“Who’s Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I’m Gone)”), “Ballad of Hollis Brown” (“Pretty Polly”), and “Restless Farewell” (“The Parting Glass”).  Dylan soared above his influences, at least most of them.  Greenwich Village in the early ’60s was an incubator, but it also had a local, provincial and slightly closeted nature that was as much a limitation as the key to new breakthroughs.  Anyone wanting to understand the roots of Bob Dylan and, maybe more importantly, to understand the cultural catapult that sent him onward an upward to write things like “The Times They are A-Changin’, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Tombstone Blues,” “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and all the others will find a treasure trove here.

Johnny Cash – Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian

Bitter Tears: Ballads of the Americna Indian

Johnny Cash – Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Columbia CS 9048 (1964)

Behind a lot of Johnny Cash’s work lies a firm belief in egalitarianism, the idea that every person has inherent worth and should be treated fairly and equally.  To the extent that he recorded a lot of “patriotic” music it might be said that it was partly because he viewed egalitarianism as part of a core national identity.  There is no better example of Cash’s commitment to egalitarianism and social justice than Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.

The theme of the album is the treatment of native Americans (“American indians” would have been considered the most respectful term at the time).  Songs cover topics like treaties (specifically, the Treaty of Canandaigua) between the government of European settlers and native nations in the context of recent breaches by President Kennedy (“As Long as the Grass Shall Grow”), the creation of a written language of the Cherokee by Sequoyah (“Talking Leaves”), the military service and tragic death of Ira Hayes (“The Ballad of Ira Hayes”), and a humorous jab at the crushing defeat of an invading U.S. government military force led by George Armstrong Custer by allied Native tribes at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 (“Custer”).  It was highly unusual for celebrities to highlight native American issues in 1964, though the Freedom Movement or Civil Rights Movement focusing mostly on African-Americans was still underway.

Cash worked closely with Peter La Farge on the album, who wrote five of the eight songs but does not appear on the recordings.  La Farge was a fixture of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s.  He was a performer of very limited means, but Cash liked him personally.

The musical tone of the album is similar to Cash’s other early 60s albums, with rather minimal instrumentation in a folk-like setting.  He tends toward a very respectful approach to the music, making the topics seem dignified and important.  But the subject matter puts this more in a class with protest albums like Dylan‘s The Times They Are A-Changin‘ from the same year than anything coming out of Nashville at the time.

Bitter Tears is somewhat divisive among fans.  For some, it represents the epitome of Cash’s integrity, a testament to his image as something of a crusader for noble causes.  To others, this is a contrived, heavy-handed political statement lacking in purely musical merits.  For me, it’s some of Cash’s most admirable work, maybe a little uneven, but with a passion and significance matched with the simple folk stylings that were effective and endearing.

Fire in My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel

Fire in My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007)

Various Artists – Fire in My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007) Tompkins Square TSQ 2271 (2009)

A collection of obscure gospel tracks spanning many decades.  The material goes all over the place, but largely focuses on sort of an alternate history of modern gospel that emphasizes the do-it-yourself ethic that allowed the music to flourish even without much commercial viability.  The music is generally “raw” as the subtitle suggests.  The vocals, while often coming from talented vocalists, can veer off or miss notes as if these were all one-take affairs.  None of that really matters though.  This music isn’t about polish and shine as much as soul and feeling.  It’s also a showcase for a wide range of personalities and styles.  Street performer Flora Molton (with “Heard It Through the True Vine”) sounds like she could have subbed on guitar in Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band circa The Spotlight Kid.  It’s interesting too how gospel acts pretty freely borrowed from each other.  So Gospel Writers‘ “Same Man” is basically a re-write of The Staple Singers‘ “I’m Coming Home,” and Brother Willie Blue‘s “I’m Pressing On” borrows heavily from the melody of The Five Blind Boys of Alabama‘s “He’ll Be There.”  This is a great set for anyone with an interest in gospel music.  It may not be an ideal place to start for those entirely unfamiliar with the genre.  Though the more open-minded of independent rock and soul fans probably won’t take much convincing to warm to this infectious, lively music.  Pretty much everything here is at least good, though the third disc doesn’t quite match the first two.

Johnny Cash – Water From the Wells of Home

Water Fromt he Wells of Home

Johnny Cash – Water From the Wells of Home Mercury 834 778 (1988)

Cash made some real stinker albums through the 1980s.  Often this was the result of lunging from one producer to the next, trying to pair him up with whatever style seemed like the most commercially viable fad that year.  Water From the Wells of Home was a little different in that Cash actually spent an extended period of time working on the album, instead of his usual practice of pulling together songs, relying on the producer to find a “sound” for the album, and then showing up and doing the actual recording in a brisk fashion.  The album also employs what would be a growing trend for aging stars: enlist guest performers to try to draw in new audiences.  For all that effort, the album is still pretty mediocre.  Cash is clearly putting in more work to his singing than he had in a while, and most of the guests give this a real go.  The production style is clear and crisp, without a lot of obvious gimmickry, so it has aged a little better than some other 80s efforts.  But the backing band provides only the most hackneyed, nondescript support, to the point that this often feels like a karaoke session.  Then there is the title track, a duet with Cash’s son John, which is really dreadful.  So this album isn’t particularly successful, though it showed the potential still locked in Cash’s rich baritone voice, now a little older and coarser.  In many ways, this was the album that set the stage for Cash’s American Recordings comeback in a few years, by keying in to his voice in a more direct and unencumbered way, letting the man sing what he likes without being beholden to some trendy country subgenre that didn’t quite fit.  What remained, though, was to strip away the unnecessary guest spots, and get rid of the horrible backing band.  Rick Rubin would realize this shortly, and make it happen soon enough.

Mark Stewart – As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade

As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade

Mark Stewart – As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade Mute STUMM 24 (1985)

Mark Stewart always seems to make music the hard way.  He takes the most harsh, unpalatable material as his source and from there tries to service (a) a beat and (b) a slogan.   It’s maybe no surprise that an album titled As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade is going to have some political content of a certain variety.  But Stewart’s greatest achievement really lies in his industrial hip-hop beats.  They do serve him well as a rallying cry amidst the rubble.  They also provide a sense that an artist can eschew anything of contemporary commercial value and still work out a beat that connects with listeners (admittedly, not all listeners, but still…).  That’s the really radical aspect of this endeavor — it has no need for the establishment.  This falls on the militant side of things, but strangely enough like Flipper across the pond, this is music that at its core tries to be incorruptable.  It’s a lot more frightening and satisfying than Ministry, a U.S.-based band that comes to mind in this arena.   It’s also a bit harder edged that Moebius‘ early 80s work, which otherwise has some similarities.  It is worth picking up the expanded CD reissue of the album, because the bonus tracks there definitely help the album, which almost starts to slip on side two.

Sun Ra – “Night of the Purple Moon”

"The Night of the Purple Moon"

Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra – “Night of the Purple Moon” El Saturn LP 522 (1972)

Not the greatest entry in the Sun Ra catalog, but an intriguing one.  Backed by a small combo, “The Night of the Purple Moon” is interesting in how Sun Ra’s own keyboard playing is up front.  Let’s face it, most Arkestra albums feature a lot of great performances from many different quarters, making it seem a bit silly to focus in too much on any one performer.  This album avoids that altogether by stripping down the raw numbers a bit so that Ra is clearly heard.  John Gilmore predominantly plays drums instead of sax, which may be a disappointment to some listeners, but he’s at least adequate as a drummer.  There are a few tracks that meander, but also some particularly good ones.  What stands out most in Sun Ra’s playing is how he navigates the limitations of the rather primitive keyboards he uses.  Some of his instruments don’t provide much in the way of dynamic range.  To get around that, he plunks and jabs the keys in ways that hold little intrinsic melodic or harmonic interest, but add rhythmic subtlety that subverts the flat dynamics.  In many ways, he’s using his skills as a good arranger to structure his own solos.

Another reviewer already said it, but it bears repeating.  Sometimes, for a particular mood, only Sun Ra will do.  “The Night of the Purple Moon” is the perfect album for a certain frame of mind, like on a mellow Saturday night.