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Friday, December 2, 2016

Son of FRoWN

A SMiLE Odyssey, 1967-2011, Part Two


With this release,fans were euphoric, not simply because, at five CDs, it was the most comprehensive compilation of the band's catalog yet, but especially owing to a motherlode of SMiLE material on Disc 2, ten heretofore unreleased tracks:
  • "Our Prayer" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson) – 1:07
  • "Heroes and Villains" [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 2:56
  • "Heroes and Villains" (Sections) [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 6:40
  • "Wonderful" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 2:02
  • "Cabinessence" [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 3:33
  • "Wind Chimes" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 2:32
  • "Heroes and Villains" (Intro) [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) - 0:35
  • "Do You Like Worms" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 4:00  Released with extra lyrics as "Roll Plymouth Rock" on Brian Wilson's 2004 Smile album
  • "Vegetables" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 3:29
  • "I Love to Say Da Da" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson) – 1:34  Released with extra lyrics as "In Blue Hawaii" on Brian Wilson's 2004 Smile album
  • "Surf's Up" [*] [+] (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) – 3:38
None of this music had been officially released heretofore, at least not in the United States, so all of it received a great deal of attention.  The "Our Prayer" presented here is the original, before the Beach Boys added more vocals to it for release in 1968; conversely, "Cabinessence" (which here probably ought to have been titled "Cabin Essence," according to its original spelling) included the dubbed in lead-vocal, as on the 20/ 20 album.

Of particular interest were the various permutations on "Heroes and Villains."  Not only was there a never-before-heard detour in the song ("In the cantina, margaritas keep the spirits high...") but also an unexpected verse:

At threescore and five,
I'm very much alive
I still got the jive to survive
With the Heroes and Villains.

On another track there is a series of instrumental riffs on the "Bicycle Rider" chorus, followed by chants, running nearly seven minutes, which seem to ad lib on the words of the title:  "Heroes and Villains" (Sections).  The phrase is run through a series of different rhythms as the backing track changes, and then plunges into a free-fall of voices out of pitch and out of tempo and finally resolves to another series of chants on the title.  The appended tag evokes a barnyard, with a familiar vocal riff on top, going "Hmmmm  Hmmmm Hmmmm dum de de-doobie do," into the fading sunset.  In line with the intended modular construction of SMiLE, this sort of tag might have been used in other set pieces as well, reflections in a colorful musical kaleidoscope. Adding to that effect, the general sequence, which appears to be spontaneous and  random is actually a well-planned and rehearsed composition.  (Bootlegs dedicated to these sessions alone reveal that a lengthy session of vocal takes was required to achieve this apparent chaos.)



 Speculation:  Might the "Sections" be the intended Part 2 flip-side to the originally-planned single release?  Many fans seem to think so, but the sequence would have had to be pared down considerably to fit on one side of a 45.

DISC 2



Fast-forward eleven years.  Could the rumors be true?  Has Brian finally found the means to finish the god-damned thing at last?

Well, yes and no.

Yes, Brian Wilson and his band determined to put the available music together in a logical way, record it, and undertake a world concert tour to spread the word, some 47 years after the SMiLE project had been ditched.  Van Dyke Parks came to the rescue with lyrics, old and new, while Brian's bandmate, Darian Sahanaja, shaped the material into a three-part suite, with bridge passages added to allow the songs to flow into one another; one of the album's most successful transitions, indeed one of the best moments in the entire reconstruction, was the beautiful segue from "Wonderful" to "Song for Children" ("Look" from the original sessions).  After a month's rehearsals, the band was able to recreate the original instrumental parts better than anyone could have hoped, and Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE was off and running.

But was this really the long-awaited SMiLE album?
  


David Hajdu, Ellington specialist and critic-at large, hailed Brian Wilson's achievement in an essay titled, "Brian Wilson and the Lost Masterpiece."  He denied, however, that it signified the completion of SMiLE.  Hajdu observed that the project was intended for the Beach Boys, for whom Wilson's current group was in no way an adequate substitute.  More importantly, he wrote:

     "The work seems reverse-engineered not only to fulfill the historical promise of the original but also to satisfy the larger myth that has grown around it.  The CD is a compelling argument for Smile's singularity as a masterwork of long-form pop; but it should not be mistaken for evidence of it.
     "Unlike the early Beach Boys records that made Wilson's outsized reputation, the new version of Smile is essentially a performance piece documented on CD, rather than a work inextricable from the recording medium... The mis-en-scene of the new Smile is the concert hall, not the studio; and so the CD denies Smile the essence of Wilson's aesthetic."

There was one more release, however, that seemed to settle the issue.






And finally:

This enormous box set purports to be the Holy Grail of rock-era recordings, the aborted SMiLE project of 1966.  Had that "lost" album appeared in its own time, its potential impact has been the subject of much speculation and endless debate, but little is certain beyond the alternate, but forever unfinished, universe represented by this collection.

The collection includes five CDs (four of which explore the studio sessions for all the recordings), two LPs, and two 45-rpm singles; though there are many repetitions of the song titles, no version of any of them is repeated from elsewhere in the set.

My own listening and understanding SMiLE has been enhanced by a book by music scholar Philip Lambert, Inside the Music of Brian Wilson.  The entire book is valuable; the chapter devoted to SMiLE is full of wonderful discoveries and conclusion, beginning with the posit the much of the album consistently uses the notes of "How Dry I Am."  A good part of it also shows how the rising motif in "Heroes and Villains" is reflected in all sorts of ways in other tunes.  As I muse, I'm sure I'll steal a thought or two from this book. 




Philip Lambert

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra

DISC 1

The main attraction for most is the first CD, which again attempts to mold the pieces into a coherent whole.  What we get, however, is a Beach Boys' version of Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE, created from nearly the same template that produced the 2004 CD.  Unavoidably, there are many sudden stops along the way, as there are no bridge passages to connect the pieces.  Some of the songs appear as instrumentals because no vocals were recorded at the point of origin.

The set's producers, in some instances, have included "fly-ins," electronic transfers from one recording to another:  the background vocals heard on "I Love to Say Dada," or those added to "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," for instance.   The most egregious example of this sort of electronic fig leaf is the insertion of Brian's lead vocal into "Surf's Up."  Digital technology has made such tweaking possible in a way that could not have been done before.

In following the order conceived for the new Brian Wilson & Co. version, the compilers present a forty-eight minute performance of SMiLE segments arranged in a logical order as it was originally intended, but it still could never have been the record Brian envisioned in 1967. As far as anyone knows, SMiLE was imagined as a standard-length pop LP comprising one theme on the first side, and another on the second.  Among rock musicians of the time, putting the material out on two LPs would have been almost unprecedented (shortly afterward, double-LP sets by the Mothers of Invention and Bob Dylan appeared on the market).  Even if it had been possible, the present mock-up of SMiLE presents three thematic units-- America and the Western frontier, childhood innocence, and an "elements" suite.
Accordingly, the fourth LP in the box set is occupied by different versions of certain songs, in stereo or session excerpt.

Perhaps the main obstacle to the release of SMiLE back in the day was the fact that there was too much music to include on a single LP, nor would a double LP solve the problem credibly:  three into two can't go, except as a mixed number.

I should mention that my favorite track on this disc is among the bonus cuts following the main event:  the thrilling eight-minute "Backing Vocal Montage," and by listening to this track alone one can get a general idea of what Brian Wilson was after in the studio.

   

VIDEO OF THE MILLENNIUM

At any rate, after grooving to all the session material (the first disc is too familiar already), I'm ready to comment on it, disc by disc.

DISC 2

The order of presentation of the remaining discs adheres to the pattern set forth on the first, rather than in chronological sequence.  The first two tracks, therefore, are devoted to the opening "Prayer" (or "Our Prayer" as it was titled in 1969 on 20/ 20).  Near the beginning of the session, one of the group suggests that "Prayer" could be a distinct song, Brian replies no, that it was simply the "intro to the album"; in spite of this, it became a separate track somewhere between the recording recording session and its initial release. 

A bit later in the session, it becomes obvious that Brian and other members of the group have ingested LSD ("You guys feeling the acid yet?") and are awaiting hashish joints from Dennis to enhance their experience even further.  None of this, however, seems to affect their performance of the a cappella piece as it proceeds section by section between breaths. 

The remainder of the disc focuses solely on "Heroes and Villains," again section by section, including transitions between sections, for a total of thirty-four tracks.   Some highlights and observations:

Track 29, the "Heroes and Villains" verse remake, which for a long time was thought to be "Barnyard," because of its rustic-sounding theme, uses a baritone ukulele (!) played with a stick to simulate the sound of plucked violin strings.  There are two versions of this theme, one as a straight instrumental and the other featuring a scat vocal by Carl Wilson.

Track 30, labeled "Heroes and Villains" organ waltz/ intro is used instead as part of the "Fire" segment of the "Elements Suite."  It seems to make a lot more sense that way.

Tracks 33-35 never ceases to amaze me with its dual intersection of "boys... and...girls..." among the backing vocals of the penultimate verse.

Track 36, after the proper "Heroes and Villains" segments, presents a piano and vocal performance by Brian which purports to represent the entire suite, including "I'm in Great Shape" and the real "Barnyard."  These snippets are used as "fly-ins" on the SMiLE reconstruction on Disc 1.

The last track introduces the laughter aspect of Brian's concept, a joke ending wherein Brian gets caught in the microphone.  Later on in the set there is a similar situation that has him falling into and trying to escape from the key-hammers in his piano.

"Our Prayer"


DISC 3


We actually hear Brian in sessions for the following tune naming it "Do You Like Worms?," for reasons no one involved is able to remember.  The first part, with the vocal line Rock, rock, roll, Plymouth Rock roll over," uses what I think of as the "mantra" section of "Heroes and Villains," adding the lyric "Bicycle rider, now see what you've done to the church of the American Indian."    The second, and final part repeats a Hawaiian motif which adds layers of instrumental and vocal parts with each iteration.

The instrumentation includes twelve-string electric guitar, upright piano with taped strings (played by Van Dyke Parks), harpsichord (played by Brian Wilson), upright bass, Fender bass (played by Carol Kaye), tympani, parade drum, and, late in the tune, conga drum.


"Do You Like Worms"

Following this there is a medley of an old folk tune, "The Old Master Painter," and "You Are My Sunshine" (aka "My Only Sunshine") with the lyric sung by Dennis Wilson, featuring a ten-piece orchestra augmented by four cellos.  Another version of this medley, dubbed "Barnshine" in the old bootleg days, features arco bass along with the cellos to get the rhythm and tempo right.

"Cabin Essence"

One of the most breathtaking sessions of the album are around the three-part "Cabin Essence" (aka "Cabinessence").   The first two sections, "Home on the Range" and "Iron Horse," are performed twice before the finale, "Grand Coulee Dam."

Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield
Over and over the thresher and hovers the wheatfield

The leisurely "Home on the Range" verse features in accompaniment a homespun banjo (Carol King again) and a "doing, doing, doing" backing vocal behind Carl Wilson's lead, portraying a peaceful life on the Western prairie.  One of its pivotal moments occurs around a triangular figure with a harmonious and a harmonica playing in contrary motion, following a melodic rise that echoes the main theme .  The "Iron Horse" section declaims a stark contrast, conjuring a locomotive hurtling across the landscape, the huge chorale under the lyric"Who Ran the Iron Horse," anticipating a similar chorale behind he song's finale.  Here the imagery changes its title punning with the notion of coolie Chinese laborers building the railroad. The percussion itself suggests the laborers' driving spikes.  The backing banjo of the first section morphs into an insistent sitar on the tag, itself based on a single note.

How in hell does a rock and roll idol come up with such a brilliant composition and a stunning arrangement?  Beats me.  It's hard not to deify him.

This astonishing suite brings to a close the "Americana" part of the album, which had begun with "Heroes and Villains" and now beginning a segment about childhood innocence.  First comes "Wonderful," issued previously in a version entirely different for Smiley Smile.   The lyric relates the story of a girl's life, begins with her infancy and proceeds to  her growing up, and ending with a sigh and her devotion to her parents among the tribulations of life.

Within the sessions, there are three distinct versions of "Wonderful":  



"Wonderful"

(The version with "Walk with Me, Henry" continues to puzzle me.


*********************************************************
In my rotation:

  • The Gram Parsons Anthology:  Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels (Rhino, 1967-73)
Like many others, I supposed, I first heard the voice of Gram Parsons on the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo album in 1968.  For the short time he was in the group, he exercised a profound influence on their song material and performance style, pushing them in the direction of what then was called country rock, which Parsons pioneered.  Some of the Byrds' material is included on this double-disc compilation, along with material recorded by the International Submarine Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and under Parsons's own name, wherein he recorded many delightful duets with Emmylou Harris.  I'm happy to have found this collection in the local branch of the Lake County Public Library.


A long time ago, an internet friend of mine once shyly confessed that, at times, he liked this album better than Pet Sounds.  I'm not sure of that, but I do love this album (another friend of mine, Ray, hates it thoroughly).  This is the sound of English flower-pop of the '60s, which is beautiful to the ears of those who adored the so-called British Invasion.  There's only one pop hit here, "Time of the Season," but the record maintains a consistently high level of composition, performance, and production.  









Joe Henderson, ts; Larry Young or Herbie Hancock, pno; Ron Carter or Paul Chambers, b; Joe Chambers, d.

I often wonder why this album, released 28 years after it was recorded, was not snapped up immediately by Alfred Lion at Blue Note Records.  The personnel here is a veritable gauntlet of Blue Note artists, and the music was at the forefront of hardbop in the mid-sixties and is even now.

Shaw and Henderson were bandmates on Horace Silver's Cape Verdean Blues, which was released shortly before this recording, and Woody would reunite a bit later with Young on the latter's Unity album.  The differences between those two albums define the changes Shaw was undergoing at the time toward a modal approach to playing.

Had it been released in a timely manner, this would have been the first album to be put out under the name of Woody Shaw, who was all of 20 years old at the time.

My own copy of the record was one of two Shaw releases paired under the title Last of the Line, referring to his trumpet predecessors Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, and Freddie Hubbard.  Woody deserved this appellation, but alas was afforded little of the esteem bestowed upon players who were his inferiors. 





The Spotlight Kid:  Zoot Horn Rollo, gtr; Rockette Morton, b; Drumbo, d, perc; Ed Marimba, d, perc, marimba, pno, harpsichord.  Clear Spot:  same, except Morton, Drumbo out; add Roy Estrada, b; Milt Holland, perc; The Blackberries, backing vocals.
These two albums represent Captain Beefheart's desire to break into mass popularity; hence the inclusion of relatively tame, radio friendly ballad material alongside the more challenging stuff one might expect.  They may not be the "best" Beefheart, but these two albums are the ones to which I return most.  In the opinion of some, The Spotlight Kid (produced by Don Van Vliet) is inferior to Clear Spot (produced by Ted Templeman), but to me they seem to be of one piece, perhaps the result of listening to them back-to-back, as on this CD release.  I don't think I could live without "White Jam"* or "Grow Fins" from Kid, or "Low Yo Yo Stuff," "Big Eyed Beans from Venus" ("Mister  Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note.... and let it float") or "Long-Neck Bottles" from Spot:

 Woman likes long-neck bottles
And a big head on her beer.

 *Yes, this title means exactly what you think it means, and the performance could be characterized as "orgasmic," especially after the jarring shift in rhythm in the middle of the song.  I can't think of a better musical example of pure joy, Beefheart's vocal, plus his mouth harp, a bottle-neck slide electric guitar, a bass guitar, a drum kit, and a percussionist in a blues-soaked tableau.

I also suspect that "Long Neck Bottles" may imply the same sort of thing.




  • Various artists, The Doo-Wop Box 1, Vol. 3:  Doo-Wop's Golden Age (Rhino, 1956-59) (Amazon page)
Triplets, anyone?  To boomers of a certain age, this disc (one of four included in the box), will transport them to their childhoods.  Among its treasures:  "Maybe," by The Chantels (the only girl group represented here); "Hushabye," by The Mystics; "I'm So Young," by The Students; "Little Star," by The Elegants; "Tears on My Pillow,"by The Imperials (before Little Anthony received his own billing); "Get a Job," by The Silhouettes; "I Wonder Why," by Dion and the Belmonts; and so many more, most of them familiar to me, but some new experiences also.  It's nice to have all this stuff in one place.

I'm So Young

with Woody Shaw, tp; LaMont Johnson, p; Scotty Holt, b; Jack DeJohnette, d.
If not for the late '60s Jackie McLean records I don't own, I might have included this record in the the post I made about Jackie's mid-60s Blue Notes.  Woody Shaw is a great point of interest to me, as is Jack DeJohnette.  All of the compositions here are by either McLean or Shaw, with the exception of Cal Massey's "Toyland."

While not quite up to the standards set by his earlier records, this is a rewarding listen.



I was fortunate to attend this performance by the guitar master and his compatriots.  All three of them get a chance to shine in solo roles, and shine they did.  As difficult to play as Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle" is, this group performed it with style.
Setlist:

Alone Together
Trinkle Tinkle
Impressions
Penultimate (L. Coryell)
Insensatez
Spaces Revisited (L. Coryell).  dialogue for guitar and drums






I brought this compilation to the performance to have it autographed but ended up listening to it a few days later.  My favorites by far are "Stiffneck" with Elvin Jones, the passionate "Lady Coryell," and "Spaces (Infinite)," which unites Coryell with John McLaughlin.  There are a couple of clunkers here as well, but on the whole I wish all fusion were this good.

update:  Just a few months after I saw him perform, Larry died in New York of heart failure on February 19, 2017.

 R.I.P,  LARRY CORYELL




IN MAH CAH!


This is my own compilation of Brian Wilson's stuff, from 1987 until 2012, that has been issued all over the place:  bonus tracks, tribute albums, special-issue compilations, etc.  For no particular reason, I find my little project an absorbing listen and have consequently elevated it to car status, a rare privilege indeed.

If you squint a little bit, you can see my track list below:

NB:  track 24 (Paul Shaffer's "Metal Beach") could not quite fit this graphic.



Oddsly and endsly enough, there is a lot to love in this homemade comp:  the backing track to the Brian Wilson's band version of "Surf's Up"; the a cappella rendition of "Your Imagination"; "California Living Doll" (which originally was a flexidisc included with Barbie dolls); the haunting melody of "Everything I Need," with lyrics by Tony Asher and the voices of Brian's daughters singing lead.  Lotsa cool stuff.



Dick Griffin, tb; Carlos Ward, as, flute; Ricky Ford, ts; Charles Davis, bs; David Williams, b; Ben Riley, d.
On the Duke Ellington-LYM email list, someone who had been asked to name his favorite non-Ellington albums suggested this one, so I downloaded it from Amazon.  Immediately I sensed Ibrahim's debt to Duke, especially on the final cut, "Sameeda."  Three saxes and a trombone, without rhythm accompaniment, moan out a chromatic theme that chills me the same way Ellington's "The Mooche" conjures images from one's soul.  The tunes here all carry the flavor of Ibrahim's native South Africa.

The baritone saxophonist, the late Charles Davis, anchors this octet-- named Ekaya--  much in the manner of  Harry Carney in Ellington's organization.  As a soloist, however, Davis is something else again, a truly original stylist on his instrument.  There will be more of this artist in future posts.





Abdullah Ibrahim

 NEXT:  My Bitch About The NCTE

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