Medleyville

THE GREATEST ROCK MOVIE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN

True, one could consider The T.A.M.I. Show: Collector's Edition, now finally available from the folks over at Shout! Factory, as "just" the single most frantically paced, ultra-high-decibel time capsule of an extraordinary era ever preserved on disc. Or even, as Quentin Tarantino most assuredly claims, "in the Top 3 of all rock movies."

I will go all that one further, however: The T.A.M.I. Show (as in Teenage Awards Music International) is absolutely essential viewing to anyone and everyone who consider themselves fans, followers, and/or students of popular music.

Period.

Allow me to elaborate. The dozen acts herein (co-hosts Jan and Dean sing whilst skateboarding across the opening credits) did indeed come "From All Over the World." Not to mention everywhere across the musical map as well: Kicked off by "the guy who started it all," Chuck Berry duck-walks us all the way from St. Louis to New York City, where the about-to-be-renovated Brill Building sound is sung most proudly and loudly by none other than Lesley Gore (whose proto-feminist lyrics and attitude herein should have all you brand-new Runaways fans repositioning the birth of girl-rock once and for all).

The magnificent Motor City is then represented by Smokey Robinson, along with superstars-in-waiting Marvin Gaye (who performs two songs soon to be recorded by a waiting-in-the-wings Rolling Stones) and The Supremes (poised to leave behind forever their branding as "those no-hit Supremes" with an historic string of global million-sellers).

Meanwhile, England swings via Billy J. Kramer with his Dakotas plus Gerry and the Pacemakers (four of impresario Brian Epstein's other clients unfortunately occupied overseas at this point in time, putting finishing touches onto Beatles For Sale, it seems).

Why, even what we now know and love as that runt of the musical litter, garage rock, is represented by none other than the aptly-named Barbarians and their (I kid you not) one-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton. A special note must here be made of The Beach Boys' four-song set, propelled practically through the roof by their drummer, Dennis, as this particular footage was removed from most every existing print of The T.A.M.I. Show soon after its original theatrical release in 1964 and has only now been fully reinstated in all its harmony-drenched, sun-kissed splendor.

And then! As impossible to pin down geographically – not to mention musically or even vocally – as he remained for the rest of his career comes the one, the only James Brown.

Now it's been said before, but I'll just have to say it again (and again and again): His performance in The T.A.M.I. Show remains one of the most jaw-dropping, above-kinetic, gut-and-thigh-ripping performances ever executed. Anytime, any place, by anyone. Everything you may have heard about this man and these particular eighteen minutes (e.g., "the single greatest rock 'n' roll performance ever captured on film":Rick Rubin) is absolutely, 1,000 percent true. Just look at it yourself if you don’t believe me … or everyone else who has ever seen it.

Somehow, those newly rolling, original Stones – with Brian Jones and even Bill Wyman's vocal mike present – arose to the task of following Brown, and their performance closed the event, and the film, with a mixture of pure, simply pimply beat 'n' soul that wins over even many of the pole-axed teens who’d just survived Brown’s set.

Finally, cue the entire cast and assembled dancers (watch closely for a very young Teri Garr) back onstage to frug a mighty big storm up around Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and, scarcely two hours after it all began, the curtain drops.

What novice director Steve Binder and his crew captured, and what today is immaculately preserved upon The T.A.M.I. Show DVD, is busting-full of rich musical (I repeat: James Brown) and cinematic (Diana Ross' eyes literally filling the screen during "Where Did Our Love Go") moments that have been oft-shot by everyone from D.A. Pennebaker to Martin Scorsese since, but never truly duplicated. For what T.A.M.I. managed to mount and maintain all those years ago irrefutably remains the highest of bars for concert events, and films thereof, to reach even today.

It may, sorrowfully, have taken nearly half a century to make it into our homes, but this film has not returned anew one single frame, nor scream, too soon.

Trust me, Steven Van Zandt is right: You have never seen, nor heard, anything quite like this before.

Musician/writer Gary Pig Gold is the co-founder of the To M'Lou Music label.

Posted by Medleyville at 04:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Reissued Bunkhouse debut shows band’s honky-tonk side

In the 1990s, The Jayhawks were prime progenitors of "alt-country" or "roots rock," labels that often came to describe singer/songwriters or folk-leaning bands who dabbled in twangy guitars or dared sport cowboy shirts without a hint of hipster irony.

So it should shock no one that their newly reissued, long out-of-print 1986 Bunkhouse Records debut contains a traditional country feel.

The surprise, rather, at least to those who don't already own one of the original 2,000 vinyl-only copies of The Jayhawks (a.k.a. "The Bunkhouse Album" and reissued by Lost Highway) is that it veers so far into straight-ahead honky-tonk territory, at times it sounds like a different band altogether. To that end, while the intertwined lead vocals of guitarists Gary Louris and Mark Olson would be the hallmark of The Jayhawks' subsequent three albums (before Olson departed in the mid-'90s, with several more lineup changes to follow), Olson handles the duties on nearly the entire record, with Louris serving as more of a prominent backup singer.

The approach favored by these Jayhawks – Louris, Olson, bassist Marc Perlman (like Louris, a fixture in the band) and drummer Norm Rogers – is laid out from the start of leadoff cut "Falling Star," which opens with pedal steel that envelopes the disc and contains a shuffling beat. It is a formula that dominates the disc and suggests The Flying Burrito Brothers as a strong influence.

The fledgling Jayhawks prove adept at this, but to their slight detriment they don’t branch out beyond it, making this by far the most unoriginal of their seven albums. Similarly, there are a disproportionate number of songs devoted to well-worn country music themes: namely heartache, stints in jail and boozing (there are at least five that deal with the latter topic, a number that even Merle Haggard might consider excessive).

The band wears these clichés proudly, as when Olson declares in "Misery Tavern," upon setting foot in his saloon of choice, "Honey, I stopped in to drink/Tomorrow I’ll be back." That said, there are moments where they nail the sweet sadness that makes for the kind of barroom standard that Olson just might hear in that roadside gin mill, such as "Let The Last Night Be the Longest (Lonesome Memory)."

Later, the barroom stomper "Good Long Time" -- not coincidentally, one the album's standout tracks -- at last finds both Olson and Louris singing lead, a taste of the harmonic interplay between them that would mark the band's material beginning with 1989's Blue Earth and make 1992's Neil Young-esque Hollywood Town Hall essential listening for the "No Depression" set. Back in 1986, however, there was not yet an identifiable label for that genre, and as this reissue shows, The Jayhawks were still a ways off from the sound that would help define "alt-country."

Who knew that nearly 25 years ago, just calling them a bunch of country boys from the Twin Cities would have sufficed?

-- By George Henn

Posted by Medleyville at 05:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Songwriter Rob Morsberger blends craft with content

Murdered civil rights workers, naturalist Charles Darwin, the blacklisting of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo – these are not typical topics found in pop songs.

Then again, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Rob Morsberger is not your typical pop musician. For one thing, he's classically trained. And when he's not pursuing his solo career, the versatile Morsberger is working as a sideman (his credits include Crash Test Dummies, Marshall Crenshaw and Dan Zanes) or as a TV composer (most notably for PBS' NOVA series).

On his recently released album, The Chronicle of a Literal Man, the New York-based Morsberger explores a variety of subjects in a, well, literate manner, but there’s plenty of melody to go along with the wordplay. Morsberger recently discussed his background, his approach to songwriting and more.

Medleyville.us: As a classically trained pianist, how often do you find yourself speaking to other musicians in terms they don’t really understand?
Rob Morsberger: "That's an interesting question. I would say at this point never. I’ve been immersed in different types of music making for so long. Maybe when I was straight out of music school, which was a quite a long time ago, I was pretty green and needed a lot of re-educating in terms of a lot of things, [including] how to appreciate how world-class a musician could be who doesn't read music or how brilliant a three-chord song can be. … I had to unlearn some biases and prejudices from my classical education. But at this point, most of the people are incredible readers and amazingly proficient professionals, so it’s kind of a nonissue at this point."

You were born in Oxford., Ohio, and grew up in Oxford, England?
Morsberger: "That's right, and my sister was born in Oxford, England. We have an Oxford thing. My father [Philip Morsberger] is an artist, and all through the years I was growing up and beyond, he's had some amazing teaching gigs. So his first teaching gig was at Miami University [in Oxford, Ohio] – that’s where I was born – and then ultimately he ended up running the art department at Oxford University."

In keeping with the Oxford theme, I was wondering, how many pairs of Oxfords are in your shoe collection?
Morsberger: (Laughs) "Absolutely none. In fact, people who come and hear me play expect me to be barefoot onstage, and typically I am."

In the title track to your new album, you rhyme "empire" with "quagmire." When it comes to writing lyrics, do you follow any rules of thumb with regard to using an obvious rhyme or a near rhyme, or just word choice in general?
Morsberger: "As far as technical things like rhymes, I do try to keep to a pretty high standard. I try to find exact rhymes for the most part, but not always.

"About the specifics of [songwriting], I don’t really have rules, other than there has to be something interesting going in the lyric for me to want to continue with it. I want there to be some kind of compelling twist, or the subject matter really has to speak to me in some kind of personal way that’s important or interesting to me for me to want to continue working on it and finish it."

Does that mean you’d never write a song where in the chorus there’d be a barrage of "yeah yeah yeahs" and typical things you’d find in pop music writing?
Morsberger: (Laughs) "No, it doesn’t mean that."

Talk about the song "Jolly Old Farm" and its accompanying short film.
Morsberger: "That song tells the story about the murder of [Michael] Schwerner, [Andrew] Goodman and [James] Cheney, who were famously murdered in Mississippi in 1964, when they went down to register black voters. It was sort of a turning point in the civil rights movement and the history of this country. I was uniquely aware as a young boy of their story because my father was doing a lot of politically and socially oriented pictures at that time in his career. He did a whole series of images based on the well-known FBI missing poster with their three faces.

"So it was partly that I was always very aware of that story, and as I’ve grown older, my respect for my father has grown also [along with] my appreciation for his [art]. My first three records have his artwork on the cover; the booklet for this record has a reproduction of one of the drawings he made of [Schwerner, Goodman and Cheney].

"I asked my friend Dave Davidson, who lives near me, [to make a film for the song]. He’s a total rock ’n’ roll freak. He spent his youth going to Maxwell's [in Hoboken, N.J.] all the time, he really loves pop music and he’s also very connected to black themes and civil rights stories, so he was the perfect person to ask to do it.

"I’m not in the film [which is now on my Web site]. It’s really about the story and my father's pictures, which I would say is the primary element in the film."

Tell me a funny or unusual story related to your sideman work.
Morsberger: "I had a funny e-mail exchange with Brad Roberts, who is the Crash Test Dummies singer. On the new record, he wrote all of the songs with my friend Stewart Lerman, who co-produced my latest record. This one song in particular called 'Songbird' just kills me. It sort of has this William Blake thing going; it's basically a dark look at nature. To me, it's such a thrill to hear those kinds of ideas being expressed in a great pop song that has a real emotion weight to it – the marriage of ideas and emotions, which is something that I try for as well.

"So I wrote to Brad to tell him how much I love this song and exactly what I liked about it … and he wrote me back this note appreciating my compliment and then [proceeded to] talk about a technical aspect of his songwriting that he was particularly proud of that had nothing to do with what I was enjoying about the song (laughs). It was like a parallel conversation."

-- Introduction and interview by Chris M. Junior

Rob Morsberger on tour (schedule subject to change):

* May 14: Iron Horse – Northampton, Mass.

* May 15: City Winery – New York

* May 16: Jammin' Java – Vienna, Va.

* May 22: Martyrs' – Chicago

* May 24: Club Passim – Cambridge, Mass.

Posted by Medleyville at 01:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hoodoo Gurus, No Second Troy, Otis Redding and more

* Hoodoo Gurus -- Purity of Essence (Virtual Label/ADA)

Australia's underrated Hoodoo Gurus (who reformed in late 2003, in case you haven't heard) live by that old saying "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."

Purity of Essence (due May 11), the band's first since 2004's Mach Schau, echoes such late 1980s efforts Blow Your Cool! and Magnum Cum Louder -- and that's a good thing. The Gurus' guitars still pack plenty of punch (they're upfront courtesy of an in-your-face mix by Ed Stasium), and few bandleaders can balance the serious and the silly like Dave Faulkner.

* No Second Troy -- Colors (No Second Troy)

In his band's bio, No Second Troy keyboardist Mike Beach talks about trying to navigate the middle ground between today’s pop and indie music, and in doing so makes a reference to pre- and post-"Clocks"-era Coldplay.

Beach's Washington, D.C.-based band really has a lot more in common with The Shins and Rogue Wave in terms of pop sensibilities, attention to detail and good indie instincts – in other words, having the nerve and the smarts to throw in just the right amount of twists and turns to keep things interesting and a little different. Colors (out now) has plenty of crafty gems, with "The Black and White Movie" and "This Is the End of Me" far and away the best of the album's 12 tracks.

* Otis Redding & His Orchestra -- Live on the Sunset Strip (Stax/Concord)

On the official Otis Redding site, there's apparel for sale that bills the late singer as the King of Soul. For a short time, Redding was indeed soul royalty, and Live at the Sunset Strip (due May 18) captures him the year before his death at age 26.

The double-disc Sunset Strip, recorded over multiple shows at the Whisky a Go Go in 1966, is explosive from start to finish and includes Redding chart hits (such as "These Arms of Mine," "Mr. Pitiful" and "Respect") as well as some notable covers (among them an awkward rendition of The Beatles' "A Hard Day’s Night" and an extended take on James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag").

* Susan Cowsill -- Lighthouse (Threadhead Records)

Nearly five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, the storm and its aftermath continue to be a source of inspiration (not to mention frustration).

For her second solo album, Lighthouse (due May 18), Susan Cowsill draws from what she and her longtime adopted hometown have lost and endured since August 2005, and some of the results are quite moving. "Sweet Bitter End," "ONOLA" and "Crescent City Sneaux" stand out among the originals; Cowsill also delivers a great rendition of the Jimmy Webb-penned "Galveston." Guests on the disc include Jackson Browne and Waddy Wachtel.

* Anne McCue -- Broken Promise Land (Flying Machine)

Anyone who’s ever wondered what Sheryl Crow might sound like if she were a tad grittier and backed by a ballsy, bluesy band ought to check out the latest from Nashville, Tenn.-based Anne McCue.

On Broken Promise Land (due May 18), singer McCue also handles guitar, keyboard and vibes duties, and the songs she had a hand in writing – particularly the kickin' "Don't Go to Texas (Without Me)" and the spooky "Ol' Black Sky" – are the best of the bunch. Ex-Wilco drummer Ken Coomer keeps the beat on most of the songs.

-- By Chris M. Junior

Posted by Medleyville at 09:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Improv school spawns Derek and the Darling

They met at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improvisational and sketch comedy school in New York. But these days, instead of trying to make audiences laugh, Derek Nicoletto and Sammi Garett are focusing on connecting with crowds through their original music under the billing Derek and the Darling.

Nicoletto, formerly with the band Telling on Trixie, became fast friends with Garett while classmates at UCBT. Once he found out she was a recent graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, "we started gearing all of our scenes toward music things," Nicoletto says.

Talk eventually turned to forming a band. Nicoletto was already working on recording new music and was close to finishing his song "Hustler With a Rescue Plan" when he asked Garett to add some backup vocals.

And with that, Nicoletto found himself a new music partner.

"I didn’t really plan on going out and finding a woman and making it a duo," he says. "It just kind of happened that way, like it dropped out of the sky."

The electronic/pop-flavored Rockface (7 Trick Pony Records), the recently released Derek and the Darling EP, features "Hustler With a Rescue Plan" and four other songs written (either apart or together) by Nicoletto and Garett.

Moving forward, they plan to work with additional collaborators as a full-fledged band, with the Darling part of the act's name possibly representing the two other musicians now performing with them.

"That’s kind of what it's turning into," Nicoletto says. "It's kind of fun to see how this is evolving."

-- By Chris M. Junior

Derek and the Darling on tour (schedule subject to change):

* May 6: Bowery Electric – New York

* May 14: Up or On the Rocks – Hartford, Conn.

* May 28: Donovan's Pub – Detroit

* May 29: Amp Rock Lounge – Chicago

* May 30: Lanhuck’s – Evansville, Ind.

* June 1: Cosmic Charlie’s – Lexington, Ky.

* June 2: Loudhouse Coffee – Greenbrier, Tenn.

* June 3: Cicero's – St. Louis

* June 5: Lee's Summit Downtown Days – Lee's Summit, Mo.

* June 7: Jerry's Bait Shop – Lee's Summit, Mo.

Posted by Medleyville at 09:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)