RATO RECORDS: Dezembro 2019

terça-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2019

Les 3 Premiers LPs de GEORGES BRASSENS

Édition originale en LP 10" Polydor 530.011

(FRANCE, Décembre 1952)

Édition originale en LP 10" Polydor 530.024

(FRANCE, Décembre 1953)

Édition originale en LP 10" Polydor 530.033

(FRANCE, Décembre 1954)

HENDRIX, MILES & COX: "Band Of Gypsys"

Original released on LP Capitol STAO-472

(US 1970, March 25)

"Band of Gypsys" was the only live recording authorized by Jimi Hendrix before his death. It was recorded and released in order to get Hendrix out from under a contractual obligation that had been hanging over his head for a couple years. Helping him out were longtime friends Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on the drums because the Experience had broken up in June of 1969, following a show in Denver. This rhythm section was vastly different from the Experience. Buddy Miles was an earthy, funky drummer in direct contrast to the busy, jazzy leanings of Mitch Mitchell. Noel Redding was not really a bass player at all but a converted guitar player who was hired in large part because Hendrix liked his hair! These new surroundings pushed Hendrix to new creative heights. Along with this new rhythm section, Hendrix took these shows as an opportunity to showcase much of the new material he had been working on. The music was a seamless melding of rock, funk, and R&B, and tunes like "Message to Love" and "Power to Love" showed a new lyrical direction as well. Although he could be an erratic live performer, for these shows, Hendrix was on - perhaps his finest performances. His playing was focused and precise. In fact, for most of the set, Hendrix stood motionless, a far cry from the stage antics that helped establish his reputation as a performer.

Equipment problems had plagued him in past live shows as well, but everything was perfect for the Fillmore shows. His absolute mastery of his guitar and effects is even more amazing considering that this was the first time he used the Fuzz Face, wah-wah pedal, Univibe, and Octavia pedals on-stage together. The guitar tones he gets on "Who Knows" and "Power to Love" are powerful and intense, but nowhere is his absolute control more evident than on "Machine Gun," where Hendrix conjures bombs, guns, and other sounds of war from his guitar, all within the context of a coherent musical statement. The solo on "Machine Gun" totally rewrote the book on what a man could do with an electric guitar and is arguably the most groundbreaking and devastating guitar solo ever. These live versions of "Message to Love" and "Power to Love" are far better than the jigsaw puzzle studio versions that were released posthumously. Two Buddy Miles compositions are also included, but the show belongs to Jimi all the way. "Band of Gypsys" is not only an important part of the Hendrix legacy, but one of the greatest live albums ever. (Sean Westergaard in AllMusic)

The album was only released in the UK three months later, on Track label (2406-002), with another (and horribilis) cover:

BUDDY MILES Debut Album

Original released on LP Mercury SR61280

(US, 1970)

This 1970 release by former Band of Gypsy's drummer Buddy Miles is, quite simply, one of the great lost treasures of soul inspired rock music. From the funky drive of the title track to Miles' plaintive singing on "I Still Love You, Anyway" and Greg Allman's "Dreams," the album is filled with the best qualities of both genres. Not only does Miles prove himself to be a great interpretor of songs, but with the title track and "Heart's Delight," he demonstrates his ability to write solid material on his own. Complimented by the Memphis Horns, Miles' songs soar and swing as hard as any Stax release, and his voice, underutilized when he played with the Electric Flag and Hendrix, combines the nuance of soul singing with the grit of rock. "Them Changes" is definately worth the extra effort to try to locate. (Steve Kurutz in AllMusic)

segunda-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2019

MARIANNE FAITHFULL: "A Child's Adventure"

Original released on LP Island ILPS 7 90066-1

(US, Fébruary 1983)

Nothing. Nowhere. Lightless, without luminosity. Soundless, without the accent of life. Weightless, without the gravity of the living. There was nothing. Nothing to feel or taste or scream at. If the world was formless, this was now the world. Unreality was populated as silence and hyper-insignificance. My universe was bleak, was eviscerated, was a once-filled cosmic egg drained of essence and meaning. My world was dead. My world had ended. No starlets to turn me on. No warmth of lover's legs or ass. No life around me to nag or cry. The death knights had won, and the light brigade was eternally smothered. Doctor Death has injected me with his singular brand and had conquered my realm. The great timekeeper and gatekeeper of my universe were put to their final rest. The great formerly boundless ardor had been steamrolled and crushed by the Reaper's mechanized, four-wheeled beast. Blood, spit - there were no words for anything, anymore. No sex. No friendship. No emotion. Nothing...that is until Faithfull's "A Child's Adventure".

One minute I was crushed beyond repair by heartache and loss, the next I was listening ad nauseum to "Running for Our Lives". I was happy to be running for my life, for I felt like I had a life once again. "A Child's Adventure" isn't avant-garde jazz, or opalescent psychedelic jams, or hair-whipping metal. It isn't stuffed with horror stories. There's few fingers like frightening shadows skulking to strangle your soul, though a couple of songs (like "Morning Come") with petrify you with gorgon's eyes in their sincerity and mindfulness, which can be as terrifying as a slasher flick for some. I'm not sure there's a Marianne Faithfull record that moves me more or aligns my insights in love, the memory of love and memory of pain, and with those the irresponsiblity of memory's senses. Though C.S. Lewis once wrote in The Problem of Pain that "love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal", I think "A Child's Adventure" brings its own specially trained love, and with that special training some sweet exorcism. (in RateYourMusic)

TIMES TO REMEMBER 21

THE POLICE Second Album

Original released on LP A&M AMLH 64792

(UK, October 1979)

By 1979's "Reggatta de Blanc" (translation: White Reggae), nonstop touring had sharpened the Police's original blend of reggae-rock to perfection, resulting in breakthrough success. Containing a pair of massive hit singles - the inspirational anthem "Message in a Bottle" and the spacious "Walking on the Moon" - the album also signaled a change in the band's sound. Whereas their debut got its point across with raw, energetic performances, "Reggatta de Blanc" was much more polished production-wise and fully developed from a songwriting standpoint. While vigorous rockers did crop up from time to time ("It's Alright for You," "Deathwish," "No Time This Time," and the Grammy-winning instrumental title track), the material was overall much more sedate than the debut - "Bring on the Night," "The Bed's Too Big Without You," and "Does Everyone Stare." Also included was one of Stewart Copeland's two lead vocal appearances on a Police album, the witty "On Any Other Day," as well as one of the band's most eerie tracks, "Contact." With "Reggatta de Blanc", many picked Sting and company to be the superstar band of the '80s, and the Police would prove them correct on the band's next release. (Greg Prato in AllMusic)