Herbie, Boston, Purgation and a little Brubeck
Recently, I was listening to the Herbie: Fully Loaded Soundtrack at work. I'm sure you're wondering why we play something like that regularly at the store since it is filled with all things that are essentially "crap," but it works for staying awake during a long, dull day of music retail. On the album, there's a cover of Boston's "More than a Feeling" by Ingram Hill that isn't particuarly special, other than it's a cover by a fairly popular band on a Disney soundtrack. But in listening to the fairly by-the-numbers cover, it got me thinking about the original and songs like it.
For the moment, I'll speak about a few mid-seventies/eighties hard rock songs. These are the songs that are more or less fairly popular, but also have a deeply personal impact upon the listener. "Comfortably Numb" or "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd come to mind, as do quite a few others. They are songs that seem to soar, and when they are over, they've purged the listener of whatever it was bothering them. Three Dog Night's "Old Fashioned Love Song" or "Maggie Mae" by Rod Stewart have this affect too. They are songs that tell a story, convey some personal meaning and usually have hit it big.
What's a shame is when songs like this hit the airwaves, then find themselves so popular that they've become so a part of of the modern culture that they seem to take on vein of cliche. They're still great songs, however.
"More Than Feeling" starts out quiet with this almost church bell guitar work, it also begins with sunrise. The brief guitar solo sounds like it is in the process of excising demons from the soloist, especially how he slides down the neck. You almost don't need the lyrics to really capture the effect of the song, the musicianship does that on it's own. But, like I did when preparing for this post, you beign to listen, and the lyrics begin to work on you. You hear the bit of hopefilled sorrow in them. The whole image of watching your lover walk away in the morning while you do anything you can to avoid the emotionality of it.
Songs like this can be like a long, slow, cheep beer drank from the bottle after a night full of them. When everything has settled down and you're left to your memories. Songs like this bring up those universal memories of love and loss that are also so intensly personal that there's nothing you can do about it. After all, haven't we all known a Marriane?
And the Song: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/510942.html
Also, something I'd like everyone to check out. This is a version of "Take Five" done by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in the seventies. It's a whole hell of a lot of fun. It also was the first time Brubeck played with Paul Desmond, which was not long before his death.
Take Five was one of those songs with a strange creativity that's become pervasive in Western culture. What I find interesting is how the song doesn't seem to have much of a core to it, like the players are rolling around a bassline that's not quite there. When you listen carefully, you realize that the real experimentation is within the rhythm section. For something that's so iconic, it's rather brilliant.
Of course, the more I've read, and the more I've talked to Meera about it, the more I've learned that that was just the idea they had back in 1959 when they cut the record to begin with. She was also the one to send me this version. So sit back, take about sixteen minutes out of your day and enjoy.
http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572695.html
For the moment, I'll speak about a few mid-seventies/eighties hard rock songs. These are the songs that are more or less fairly popular, but also have a deeply personal impact upon the listener. "Comfortably Numb" or "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd come to mind, as do quite a few others. They are songs that seem to soar, and when they are over, they've purged the listener of whatever it was bothering them. Three Dog Night's "Old Fashioned Love Song" or "Maggie Mae" by Rod Stewart have this affect too. They are songs that tell a story, convey some personal meaning and usually have hit it big.
What's a shame is when songs like this hit the airwaves, then find themselves so popular that they've become so a part of of the modern culture that they seem to take on vein of cliche. They're still great songs, however.
"More Than Feeling" starts out quiet with this almost church bell guitar work, it also begins with sunrise. The brief guitar solo sounds like it is in the process of excising demons from the soloist, especially how he slides down the neck. You almost don't need the lyrics to really capture the effect of the song, the musicianship does that on it's own. But, like I did when preparing for this post, you beign to listen, and the lyrics begin to work on you. You hear the bit of hopefilled sorrow in them. The whole image of watching your lover walk away in the morning while you do anything you can to avoid the emotionality of it.
Songs like this can be like a long, slow, cheep beer drank from the bottle after a night full of them. When everything has settled down and you're left to your memories. Songs like this bring up those universal memories of love and loss that are also so intensly personal that there's nothing you can do about it. After all, haven't we all known a Marriane?
And the Song: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/510942.html
Also, something I'd like everyone to check out. This is a version of "Take Five" done by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in the seventies. It's a whole hell of a lot of fun. It also was the first time Brubeck played with Paul Desmond, which was not long before his death.
Take Five was one of those songs with a strange creativity that's become pervasive in Western culture. What I find interesting is how the song doesn't seem to have much of a core to it, like the players are rolling around a bassline that's not quite there. When you listen carefully, you realize that the real experimentation is within the rhythm section. For something that's so iconic, it's rather brilliant.
Of course, the more I've read, and the more I've talked to Meera about it, the more I've learned that that was just the idea they had back in 1959 when they cut the record to begin with. She was also the one to send me this version. So sit back, take about sixteen minutes out of your day and enjoy.
http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572695.html
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7:56 PM
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