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What are you listening to? Part III

Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,191
47,574
In a coffee shop.
"O Fortuna", from Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff.

Actually, the entire symphony of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.

This is brilliant stuff. Plain chant, medieval student drinking songs, lively scores.
 
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notmach67

notmach67

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2016
247
255
Dark side of the Moon
Here's some vintage Sleep with "Dragonaut"
All day man...
[doublepost=1476073880][/doublepost]Was also grooving to some Tito Puente too...


...All day.
 
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bradl

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,952
17,447
mobilehaathi said:
dockofthebay.jpg
Click to expand...

How interesting that you bring this up. While waking up on Saturday morning, I heard a really lovely interview on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. The clip was on Melissa Etheridge, and her new album, MEmphis (not a typo; ME is in caps for her initials).

While she was always known as a female 90s rocker, her voice always reminded me of a raspy Kim Carnes meets Janis Joplin, with a Dusty Springfield soul to it. For her new album, she she covers all that she can of the legends that came out of Stax Records, and her voice works with it.

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/08/49716...ical-legends-in-her-new-album-memphis-rock-an

Singer Melissa Etheridge Covers Musical Legends In Her New Album 'Memphis Rock and Soul'
October 8, 20168:29 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday

NPR's Scott Simon talks to singer Melissa Etheridge about her new album, "MEmphis Rock and Soul," a collection of covers from great artists who recorded for Stax Records.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The famed Stax recording studio in Memphis is long gone, but Melissa Etheridge conjures up the place in her new CD, a collection of covers by Stax R&B legends like Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas and Sam and Dave.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOLD ON I'M COMING")

MELISSA ETHERIDGE: (Singing) Now, don't you ever feel sad. Lean on me when times are bad. When the day comes and you're down in a river of trouble and about to drown, hold on. I'm coming. Hold on. I'm coming.

SIMON: Melissa Etheridge - where to begin? She's won two Grammys, been nominated for more than a dozen more and won an Academy Award in 2007 for best original song in the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." Her new collection is called "Me" - we'll ask her to pronounce it - "MEemphis (ph) Rock And Soul."

ETHERIDGE: (Laughter) Memphis so it's got the capital M-E just for my initials, but it's Memphis.

SIMON: All right. And that's to put the me in Memphis.

ETHERIDGE: Yeah, exactly (laughter).

SIMON: What's your feeling for Memphis?

ETHERIDGE: Oh, I have such a love, such as sweet love for Memphis. I grew up in Kansas, but when I knew I was going to do this album, when I knew I was going to dive into the Stax vault, I knew I wanted to go down to Memphis 'cause the location, Memphis, was such an important part. I believe Memphis is the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. It was where all those musicians and everybody met - right there. It's where Elvis was inspired. It's where the Appalachian music and the blues music just collided together to create this new, vibrant R&B and rock 'n' roll that was coming out.

And then you had kids that would go to church in the morning and be just filled with the gospel music. And they would run home to listen to the Grand Ole Opry - that hillbilly music. And then those two things would mix together, and all of a sudden they started making this soul music.

SIMON: Let me get out of the chute and ask you about about one song in particular. A lot of people would hesitate to do "I've Been Loving You Too Long."

ETHERIDGE: (Laughter).

SIMON: Because that's an Otis Redding song, right?

ETHERIDGE: That is one of the greatest Otis Redding songs, one of the greatest performances ever.

SIMON: Well, let - let's hear your take, OK?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG")

SIMON: OK. That's pretty good.

ETHERIDGE: I just - I love that song, first of all. And whenever I would hear Otis sing it, it just would stop me, and, you know, you get goosebumps. And you - he had such a way. And it's what - it's what soul music was. It's taking that gospel feel and applying it to heartbreak, you know, and that just - that's powerful.

SIMON: Oh, that gospel feel and applying it to heartbreak - that is a great phrase.

ETHERIDGE: (Laughter) I just made it up.

SIMON: Did you really? All right. Well, I'm going to cite you three times and then make it mine, if it's all right on you.

ETHERIDGE: Right on. You can, absolutely.

SIMON: You recorded this in Memphis, right? And what kind of experience was that like?

ETHERIDGE: I recorded it at Royal Studios in Memphis. Now, Stax, the studios that was Stax, burned down in the '80s (laughter). And so it's a museum now, which is a wonderful place that - if you're ever in Memphis, go visit the Stax Museum and the Stax Academy. It's really amazing.

And so I went to the other studio that had - that was around the same time - making music at the same time as Stax was. And a lot of the Stax artists actually recorded there. And it was another old vaudeville theater that had been converted into a studio by Willie Mitchell, who then had Hi Records. And he had Al Green and people, so still this great soul music coming out there. And so I went into the studio. It's still - I don't think they've painted it since 1960-something - and the soul music just dripping off the walls...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'VE GOT DREAMS TO REMEMBER")

SIMON: When you come out with a project like this, how do you decide whether you're going to make it a faithful and loving recreation of the original or a loving remake in your own style?

ETHERIDGE: Well, I think I had - I had to look at what I was capable of doing and then what I wanted to do. What - when I would hear a song like "I've Got Dreams To Remember" - classic, soulful song, yet how am I going to step into that and deliver this to a new generation, to my fans and say, you know, this is the music that influenced the musicians that influenced me? I want to be myself in it. I want to hold it like it's coming from me, coming from my truth, coming from my heart. And so a lot of them are very close. "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "I've Got Dreams To Remember" - very, very close to the original. It's - there's not much you can do to a perfect song like that. I just had to step up and give the performance of my life, you know, to really...

SIMON: (Laughter) Oh, that's all.

ETHERIDGE: You know, that's all.

SIMON: I don't know "Memphis Train."

SIMON: I didn't either.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MEMPHIS TRAIN")

ETHERIDGE: Now, this Rufus Thomas song - Rufus Thomas is - Rufus Thomas was probably one of the first hits of Stax. And he's "Funky Chicken." And he's just crazy. He's - wonderful stories about Rufus Thomas. And what we really wanted was we wanted to make sure we included that Memphis beat, which is that sort of snare-on-all-four beat - you know, that click - that da-da (ph).

(SOUNDBITE OF FINGERS SNAPPING)

ETHERIDGE: It's a very typical kind of Memphis sound. And I also wanted to do something that mentions Memphis because I had been there now for over a week. And I really felt a connection that Memphis had a lot to do with this music. So when we record the song, I have to admit, I haven't a clue what he's talking about - what the lyrics are. Rufus Thomas, I don't know - when you drop your handkerchief on the floor - what that means. I don't know where the Memphis train is or why train number one and two is gone and three, also, but it works.

SIMON: Yeah.

ETHERIDGE: And it's a barrel of fun. And I just wanted to open the album with it because I think it just stamps exactly where I wanted to stand with Memphis.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MEMPHIS TRAIN")

ETHERIDGE: (Singing) When I drop my handkerchief on the floor, I'm getting ready to fall. When you see me falling down on my knees...

SIMON: Melissa Etheridge - her new album "Memphis Rock And Soul." Thanks so much for being with us.

ETHERIDGE: My pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MEMPHIS TRAIN")
Click to expand...

With that, here's her cover of Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now).


BL.
 
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mobilehaathi

mobilehaathi

macrumors G3
Aug 19, 2008
9,368
6,353
The Anthropocene
bradl said:
How interesting that you bring this up. While waking up on Saturday morning, I heard a really lovely interview on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. The clip was on Melissa Etheridge, and her new album, MEmphis (not a typo; ME is in caps for her initials).

While she was always known as a female 90s rocker, her voice always reminded me of a raspy Kim Carnes meets Janis Joplin, with a Dusty Springfield soul to it. For her new album, she she covers all that she can of the legends that came out of Stax Records, and her voice works with it.

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/08/49716...ical-legends-in-her-new-album-memphis-rock-an



With that, here's her cover of Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now).


BL.
Click to expand...

Ohh, excellent, thanks for that!
 
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bradl

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
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17,447
Now.. the reason that brought me here.

The whole Melissa Etheridge MEmphis thing had me looking for something I haven't listened to in a long time: Blue-Eyed Soul. And acts that can pull that off pretty much come once in a generation. Think about it:

1960s: The Righteous Brothers, Dusty Springfield
1970s: Michael McDonald, Daryl Hall & John Oates
1980s: Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Simply Red, Spandau Ballet

The 1990s had a backlash of that, with a lot of black people coming out against it because it sounded like others were coming in to cash in on it, and because of that controversy, it kinda drifted away.

Then came UK Soul which brought it back. Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Sam Smith. But one particular guy is missing from there, and after endless 4chan memes and countless numbers of script kiddies duping you into clicking a link for information you are really looking for that goes to.. well, you know.

Anyway, after a 28-year vacation, he's back, and sounding damn good. Yep, you guessed it: you're being rick-rolled.


Damn it if it isn't isn't catchy. And you know it's good if you get Matthew McConaughey to play God and Jake Gyllenhall to play the Devil, and Jake's got moves.

finally, at 3:19 in the clip, you do get rick-rolled. :p

Oh, wait. forgot, Blue Eyed Soul. Here you go. Straight out of something Sam Smith could have easily sang.


BL.
 
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Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,191
47,574
In a coffee shop.
I have just posted this in the 'books' ("what book are you reading?") thread, but it is well worth a read.

The reason I have posted it here as well is that it is the sort of thing you occasionally find at that intersection between literature, matters of the mind, and music.

Anyway, the piece I have in mind is a profile of Leonard Cohen, - a really interesting and thoughtful piece - which sketches a picture of Leonard Cohen infused with deep respect but with sufficient integrity to depict him as he is, a brilliant artist but an aloof and complex man - which appears in the New Yorker (apparently there is a date of publication of October 17) and was penned by David Remnick.

Not only am I a fan of Leonard Cohen - I am also partial to some of the writings of David Remnick - he wrote some extraordinarily good stuff on Russia, and his book "Lenin's Tomb" is outstanding, a book that is beautifully written, and politically and culturally insightful, and - most important of all - historically fair.
 
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Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,191
47,574
In a coffee shop.
"I Am The Walrus" by The Beatles; haven't listened to this song - it is not on the usual albums I listen to - for an age. That means years and years.

(Your wonderful story, @bradl, - which - for some reason - came to mind, - I found myself grinning, just thinking of it - about your kids at the supermarket checkout reminded me of this song, and prompted me to want to listen to it on my iPod).

Wow. It is still just brilliant.
 
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