It Was 48 Years Ago Today

...that Sullivan told the band to play.

Top 8 Rock Instrumentals

I could've come up with a more creative title, but I got up at 5am today.

Typically, I'm all about the music and less about the lyrics (though, as I age, that polarity (and my hair) has begun to gray). Instrumentals still seem to be too much for me usually, like too much of a good thing. I need a melody. (Obviously, this is excepting of classical music.)

Still, some of my fave songs ever are instrumentals. There's some magic combination, I'm not sure what it is; it's almost where you almost forget that there's no singing or vocal melody at all. Here are my best examples of that:

1. Jessica - Allman Brothers

2. Flying - The Beatles

3. Overture - The Who

4. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (Live At Fillmore East version) - Allman Brothers

5. La Villa Strangiato - Rush

6. Mo Better Blues - Terence Blanchard & Branford Marsalis

7. YYZ (love the Exit Stage Left live version) - Rush

8. Riviera Paradise (I was 15 when I saw this Austin City Limits version. Changed my life.) - Stevie Ray Vaughan

[6.] I was 16 when this movie came out. The title tune was so formative for me... the layers of emotion in the playing have stayed with me most of my life:

Awe, Some

There's only a couple musicians/songwriters I've ever really been in awe of. My dad drilled into me an aversion to hero worship - so it's difficult to ever emotionally go back to the way I felt in high school, when I screamed and jumped up and down at the sight of the Crowes or the Chili Peppers coming out for a concert.

Beethoven, Dylan, Beatles, Paul Simon... I am in awe of their natural abilities.

Beatles aside - for whatever reason, I always come back to Paul Simon and his solo career.

His music is also in another rare category for me - I never get sick of listening to it. Never. And it's not like he was very prolific, or at least Elton John-prolific (Randy Newman said, "Elton John put out six albums while I was brushing my teeth"). I just hear new things in the music every time, and much of it goes beyond my own musical ability.

I've been back in a There Goes Rhymin' Simon phase. Every song is a classic, every note played by Simon and his classic bunch of session guys perfection (my fave session band - say what you will about Steely Dan or Beach Boys). I wanted to post a vid of a completely underrated classic on this album, Learn How to Fall, but there's no good one to put up. If you don't know it, do check it out. Instead, I'll feature what I consider the best performance of the centerpiece of Rhymin' - American Tune. Garfunkel's harmonies and the extra bridge just take the song into space. Close your eyes and absorb.

Butlin's British Breed

I'm always interested in hearing / researching where odd musical influences come from in my favorite stuff. Lately, obsession comes in the form of the almighty Kinks. Long have I loved some of their tunes, but I guess the time was right in my brain for diving into full-on love.

I think what's especially appealing to me right now (at this time in my life) about Ray Davies's tunes, is the vaudevillian, light-hearted, talent-show-Tiny-Tim kind of thing in so many of these songs. Maybe it's that the arc of my musical listening has brought me far away from my original influences of overblown FM-radio 70s ungashtupt rock, back towards the folky, simple, stripped-down aspect of songwriting where this style comes from.

I was talking about it with Kari in the car today - the proletarian parents of these poor, lower-class, post-war British kids could only afford one vacation a year - to these summer seaside resorts like Blackpool (city) or Butlin's. Tales of these places are common in interviews and bios of famous Brit rockers. When they were kids, much of their primary musical influence came from the music played at these places - vaudevillian, showy nostalgia tunes that harken back to the 20's. Old Timey Music. And when they grew up to be budding young rockers, they gigged these places.

George Formby, the great Brit ukulele player, was a major influence on George Harrison. Queen - Seaside Rendezvous. Stones - Something Happened to Me Yesterday. Beatles - I Will. Ringo's entire Sentimental Journey album. Dire Straits - Les Boys. And, like half the Kinks' best songs. More Kinks insight later.

Yes, I said 'ungashtupt'.

Vinyl vs InterWebCloudHighway

Long have I been an antiquarian, in music-fanboy terms. The best music always came out in the past. Mostly before I was even born. There have been many exceptions for me, but I'll save that for another brain dump.

When you listen to that music on vinyl, something happens. It's almost like a time machine - but it's muscle-memory; it's visceral - the feeling I get is warm and passionate. Vinyl sounds like the womb.

When measured on a graph, you can see the difference in decibels for vinyl vs CD/DVD, and how the human ear hears it. There's an arc, including a higher treble plateau. Also, the dynamic range is wider with vinyl. I really think there's something innate inside of us that is attracted to the analog curve. I think we want a quieter, but more dynamic sound.

I believe the future is headed towards cloud media storage on one hand, and a continually self-sustaining vinyl industry, though comparitively tiny, which will feed another part of our intellect and desire, on the other. CDs will be out eventually. But they couldn't replace my vinyl collection anyway. Not even really a great try, if you ask me.

My buddy Chris tipped me off a few years ago about a boot version of Abbey Road called "The Black Triangle" - it's an incredible mastering of my favorite album of all time, and the history of it is pretty cool too. The audio sounds bloody amazing. Thing is - it's a VINYL mastering! Nuf said.

On a complete tangent, had to post this Split Enz tune. First saw this a little while ago on Merlin Mann's blog, and have since fallen in love. So cool. And kooky.