Listening Log - 06/20/2014 Muddy Waters: ‘The Folk Singer’ (1964): Save for 1977’s comeback ‘Hard Again,’ this 1964 LP, recorded at the peak of Muddy’s powers, is usually regarded as his best studio date. And accordingly, its solid throughout. But it’s closer “Feel Like Going Home” that really gets you there. [B plus] Muddy Waters: ‘At Newport 1960’ (1960): New to this one, and not only is it likely the best record I’ve heard from a true legend of blues, it also seems to best personal favorite live albums of any genre I can think of (Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Live at the Star Hamburg,’ Johnny Cash’s ‘At Folsom Prison,’ and James Brown’s ‘Live at the Apollo’ being those albums). In 35 minutes, Waters made history with his electric blues in front of a live audience; then, in the months and years that followed, he did the same for home audiences who, for the most part, had never heard live blues on record before. And just as ‘Hard Again’ proved that this ageing lion could still put a tiger in your tank, half a century out from ‘At Newport’s release, even its rep didn’t prepare me for how revolutionary this sounds. [A] Chuck Berry: ‘Chuck Berry Twist’ (1962): Once Xgau’s pick-hit for Chuck, I’m guessing in the years since, he’d admit it’s been bested. True this packs no less than 11 out of 14 stone-classics — “Maybellene” and “Roll Over Beethoven” right up front, then a relative lull that’d still be gold for just about anyone else, then, bang: “Let It Rock,” “Reelin’ and Rockin’,” “School Days,” “Almost Grown,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Thirty Days,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Rock and Roll Music,” and “Back in the U.S.A.” (whew), all back-to-back-to-back. But every single one of those plus plenty more immortals like “Havana Moon” and “I Want to Be Your Driver” appear on the dud-less Great Twenty-Eight,’ to my mind a peerless comp (read: more masterpieces stuffed onto a single solitary CD than you’ll find anywhere else in recorded rock). Plus all of them sound better on that early ‘80s disc than they do on this ’62 LP, and somehow more of-a-piece as well. Still, back then, and for several decades after, it’s easy to get why others deified this set the way I have its descendant. [A minus] Peter, Paul and Mary: ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’ (1962; B minus): Sure it’s uneven, sure it’s dated, sure even when it was released people rolled their eyes, and sure the version here of Pete Seeger’s superb “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” somehow makes one of the most moving songs of the era sound slight. But not so with “500 Miles,” its own slight, quotidian lyricism finding a disarming harmony in the voice of these forever-ordinaries. Likewise “Cruel War,” portentous to a fault but also damn straight is it righteous. Small successes from small talents, and take me out to the ol’ shed before you make me listen to “Bamboo” again, but oh if the folkies aiming for this kind of thing got even half as close today. Unblurbed: Howlin’ Wolf: ‘Howlin’ Wolf’ (1962; B plus) Patsy Cline: ‘Sentimentally Yours’ (1962; B minus) The Everly Brothers: ‘It’s Everly Time’ (1960; A minus) Aretha Franklin: ‘The Electrifying Aretha Franklin’ (1962; B plus) Nat King Cole: ‘Where Did Everyone Go?’ (1963; B minus) Thelonious Monk: ‘Monk.’ (1964; B plus) Thelonious Monk Quartet w/ John Coltrane: ‘At Carnegie All’ (2005; B plus) Shakira: ‘She Wolf’ (2009; B) V/A: ‘The Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara’ (2005; A minus) Astor Piazzolla: ‘The Rough Guide to Astor Piazzolla’ (2005; B)
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 09:40:55 +0000
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