TIMES TO REMEMBER 28

30 Songs From ANNETTE FUNICELLO

The most popular of the Mouseketeers on the '50s TV program The Mickey Mouse Club, Annette Funicello was herded into the studio at the age of 16 to become the first female teen idol rock & roll star. Billed simply as Annette on most of her records, she hit the Top 20 five times in 1959 and 1960, and continued to record constantly in the early '60s as she moved into film stardom in a variety of California beach-culture vehicles. With her thin voice double-tracked and reverbed to achieve the necessary volume, the material was largely saccharine pop clap-trap flavored with elements of rock & roll. Kitschy overtones of Italian and Hawaiian popular music also figured strongly, and she even took stabs at surf and ska. She retired from recording in the mid-'60s to raise her family. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

ANTONIO PORTANET: Eternamente Lorca"

Edição original em CD Alain Vachier Music AVM 025

(PORTUGAL 2019, Março 29)

Depois de muitos anos Antonio Portanet voltou a viver em Portugal e voltamos a reencontrar-nos. A lembrança dos concertos e dos LPs editados em 1978 ("Muertes") e 1983 ("Noche de Cuatro Lunas") estava presente e por isso o desafio de voltar a cantar em Portugal e não só... realizaram-se alguns concertos, mas fazia falta algo... Gravar um álbum! Organizaram-se as agendas de Pedro Jóia, Norton Daiello, Vicky Marques, David Leão e nasceu o álbum “Eternamente Lorca” com a poesia de Federico Garcia Lorca e música de Antonio Portanet. 

BOB DYLAN Live At The Budokan, Japan

Original released on Double LP CBS/SONY 40AP 1100-1

(JAPAN 1978, August 21)

Sadly, this is an often underrated album! Why, I can't understand! This is a "Greatest Hits" given a live rendering! Most songs are given new exciting arrangements, with backupsingers and sax, and he sings in a more melodic fashion than his usual experimental live-style (most likely to not scare off the japaneese audience, and because he knew this was recorded). A few songs like "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Going, Going, Gone" are even given new lyrics! And it all sounds very fresh and lively indeed! The instrumentation is comprehensive, and fleshes every song out compared to the original. The full band treatment especially complements the originally acoustic songs. This album doesn't have many rough edges (save perhaps "It's Alright, Ma") and some may call this album his "sunday school" album... But as Dylan has many faces we all love, I also like Dylan when he pulls himself together and gives the audience his very best! (Kim Alsos in AllMusic)

SIDE ONE: Mr Tambourine Man; Shelter From the Storm; Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Ballad of a Thin Man; Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

SIDE TWO: Maggie's Farm; One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below); Like a Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released; Is Your Love in Vain?; Going, Going, Gone

SIDE THREE: Blowin' in the Wind; Just Like a Woman Oh Sister; Simple Twist of Fate; All Along the Watchtower; I Want You

SIDE FOUR: All I Really Want to Do; Knockin' on Heaven's Door; It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding); Forever Young; The Times They Are-a-Changin'

Bob Dylan: vocal, guitar, harmonica

Billy Cross: lead guitar

Steve Douglas: saxophone, flute, recorder

Bobbye Hall: percussion

David Mansfield: pedal steel, violin, mandolin, guitar, dobro

Alan Pasqua: keyboards

Steven Soles: rhythm guitar and vocals

Rob Stoner: bass, vocals

Ian Wallace: drums

Debi Dye, Jo Ann Harris and Helena Springs: vocals

Recorded in Japan, 28/02 and 1/03, 1978, Nippon Budokan, Tokyo

Having recorded two live albums in the recent past, Dylan was not looking to issue a tour souvenir, let alone one before the band and the complex new arrangements really bedded down. With 115 dates booked in advance, there was no sense of hurry. But Dylan had not reckoned with the determination of Sony Japan who wanted something to lay before those who had politely attended his ten shows there, his first visit to the land of the rising sun. Dylan had a new manager too, Jerry Weintraub, who also handled Neil Diamond and Frank Sinatra - both made of sterner commercial instincts even than Bob - and was unlikely to turn down so easy a pay day. But the album sold so well on import to the UK and US, particularly among those curious to hear in advance what they had booked up tickets for, that it was eventually issued in both the UK and the US, due to popular demand. Dylan later complained, rightly, «they asked me to do a live album for Japan. We had just started findin' our way into things on that tour when they recorded it.» Then the criticism continued. «Writers complain the shoe's disco or Las Vegas. I don't know how they came up with those theories. We never heard them when we played Australia or Japan or Europe. I made an album called "New Morning" and we used singers on just about every track. I used the horn sound in Nashville on "Rainy Day Women". There isn't really anything new, just a bunch of pieces put together.» But the double album was a sumptuous package all the same, with a clarity of sound to match. The front cover is a stunning colour photo by Joel Bernstein of Dylan onstage, intent and alert and in discreet eyeliner, and there was three more such portraits by Hirosuke Katsuyama on the original vinyl issue, one flanked by members of his band. The original vinyl also had a lyric book, but it was written in Japanese! It also boasted some lovely monochrome shots of Dylan in Japan.

J.J. CALE Latest Album

Original released on CD Because BEC5543727

(FRANCE 2019, April 26)

With each album, J.J. Cale just proves how good of a guitar player he is and how much influence he has had on other contemporaries like Mark Knopfler and Daniel  Lanois. A few tracks here almost sound like Knopfler playing. The first few tracks are nice country blues. If we try, is a cool acoustic track, probably the best here. "Tell Daddy" is a dreamy number, played with brushes and piano. "Maria" is almost a Lanois sounding track from his Wynona album. "Don't Call Me Joe" is another dreamy number to wrap up the album. For a set of unreleased stuff this comes over as a pretty decent Cale album in its own right even at the points when its clearly just a solo demo, which is measure of the sheer consistency of the mans artistry. Damn I really miss this guy. His take on the blues was pretty unique. (in RateYourMusic)

GRATEFUL DEAD: "American Beauty"

Original released as Warner Bros LP WS 1893
(US 1970, November 1)

A1. Box Of Rain (Hunter/Lesh) 5:18
A2. Friend Of The Devil (Dawson/Garcia/Hunter) 3:24
A3. Sugar Magnolia (Hunter/Weir) 3:19
A4. Operator (McKernan) 2:25
A5. Candyman (Garcia/Hunter) 6:13
B1. Ripple (Garcia/Hunter) 4:09
B2. Brokedown Palace (Garcia/Hunter) 4:09
B3. Till The Morning Comes (Garcia/Hunter) 3:09
B4. Attics Of My Life (Garcia/Hunter) 5:14
B5. Truckin’ (Garcia/Hunter/Lesh/Weir) 5:17

Produced by The Grateful Dead and Robin Hurley
Co-producer: Audio – Steve Barncard
Art Direction: Kelly (Mouse Studios)
Rear photo: George Conger
Recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, CA (9/70)


They recorded just three studio albums in their final 15 years, but back in 1970 the Grateful Dead somehow managed to assemble their two best works all within the space of five months: "Workingman’s Dead" and this one, their trully masterpiece. With a new producer (the 20-year old Steve Barncard, who’d recorded Garcia’s famous pedal-steel overdub for the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young hit “Teach Your Children” some months earlier) the band set up in Heider’s upper-level Studio C, birthplace of classic recordings by the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, and CSN&Y. Even with drummer Bill Kreutzmann perched just a few feet away, Barncard insisted on cutting the band’s acoustic guitars live. «That was so important – especially when there would be any interplay between the two acoustic guitars,» Barncard recalls. «The reason those rhythm tracks are so tight is because they were set up really close together, just sitting in these plastic chairs facing each other, with very little obstruction. I may have had a few small baffles around the drums, but that was it. When they were recording, they liked to be able to look at each other’s fingers, pick up on accents, and do forth. The interplay was a very big part of those sessions.»



Everything in this album it is a joy to listen to: rich in acoustic instrumentation, well-rounded backing vocals, and a subtle electric presence. "American Beauty" established the group as more than a house band for its charismatic stoner leader, Jerry Garcia (there is not a single Garcia guitar solo on the whole record). For the first time, the Dead seemed a cohesive unit with a battery of accomplished singer-songwriters, including Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. There is no “jamming” on the album, it’s all about the songs, and the perfomances serve them beautifully. Expertly played, with some gorgeous harmony singing, this is an intricate album. Its influence has resonated in successive generations of musicians but back in 1970 "American Beauty" proved to be a good career move. It ended with the existing dichotomy between those that worshiped or simply hated the Grateful Dead. Since then, there was no more reasons to extreme feelings: the band’s fans becomed united in the love for the Dead. Forty six years after, "American Beauty" remains as one of the absolute masterpieces of the pop/rock universe.

Crazy Love

CLASSICS UP TO DATE 2

CLASSICS UP TO DATE 1

The Versatile VAN MORRISON

Original released on CD Exile 88985492262

(US 2017, December 1)

"Versatile" is Van Morrison's 38th album, and follows the release of the excellent R&B and blues covers collection "Roll with the Punches" by less than three months. Like its predecessor, it's primarily a covers set, but its focus is on jazz and pop standards from the Great American Songbook with six originals added for good measure. Historically, these experiments haven't worked for rock artists: Rod Stewart delivered five overblown, badly sung collections from the canon, and Bob Dylan delivered five discs of highly idiosyncratic interpretations of the stuff. Even Boz Scaggs tried them with very mixed results. Morrison fares better than his peers due to experience - standards have peppered his set lists for decades. "Versatile" is not a pillar in his catalog, but it's not a cynical cash-in, either. Morrison surrounds himself with a septet that includes saxophones, trombone, keys, guitar, bass, and drums. Most of these tracks were recorded in hotel lounges in Ireland's County Down, adding to the slippery jazz feel. The canonical material proves a real interpretive challenge. Curiously, he opens the record with a throwaway new original entitled "Broken Record," that shows off his band's fingerpopping swing quotient but little else. He quickly recovers with a fine reading of the Gershwin's "A Foggy Day," showcasing his fluid phrasing and empathic lyric interpretation. His Chet Baker worship is well known, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he takes on "Let's Get Lost." His take is jaunty, offering tinges of Jimmy Rushing-inspired R&B while retaining its identity as a jazz tune. While his muted scat groove on Cole Porter's "Bye Bye Blackbird" is overly strident, he gives a polished, nuanced performance to the composer's "I Get a Kick Out of You." "Makin' Whoopee" contains a nice bluesy chart (Dave Keary's electric guitar playing recalls Grant Green's), but Morrison's vocal is uncomfortably stilted. Among his own tunes are two new ones - the punchy, Jimmy Witherspoon-esque "Take It Easy Baby" and the contemplative, nearly spiritual, modal, instrumental "Affirmation" with Sir James Galway guesting on flute - as well as beautifully rendered rearrangements of catalog material - "I Forgot That Love Existed," "Start All Over Again," and "Only a Dream." There is also a deeply satisfying arrangement of the traditional "Skye Boat Song" that melds Celtic soul with Celtic swing as Morrison's smoky alto sax leads the rest of the horn section's lithe groove. While he could have left off "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as it adds nothing to the the canonical versions by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, readings of "The Party's Over" "Unchained Melody" and the Gershwin closer "They Can't Take That Away from Me" are impeccable examples of Morrison's mercurial phrasing and limpid modern arrangements that make swing their top priority. "Versatile" has its flaws and will likely appeal most to longtime fans, but Morrison fully invests himself in each tune, singing them as if he wrote them. This is head and shoulders above similar efforts by his peers and a solid addition to his shelf. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

Back To The 50's - Rockin' & Rollin' 6

DIANE DUFRESNE: "Olympia 78"

Original Released as LP Barclay MOV-9.031
(FRANCE, 1978)

A1. Hollywood Freak
(Diane Dufresne/Luc Plamondon/François Clousineau) 4:25
A2. Chanson Pour Elvis (Luc Plamondon/François Cousineau) 4:32
A3. Love Me Tender (Presley/Matson) 3:52
A4. Mon P’tit Boogie Boogie (Luc Plamondon/François Cousineau) 2:49
A5. Les Adieux D’Un Sex Symbol
(extrait de l’Opéra-Rock de Michel Berger et Luc Plamondon)
(Luc Plamondon/Michel Berger) 7:00
B1. Actualités (Luc Plamondon/François Cousineau) 5:37
B2. En Écoutant Elton John (Luc Plamondon/François Cousineau) 11:33
B3. Laissez Passer Les Clowns (Luc Plamondon/François Cousineau) 7:36

Direction Musicales/Arrangements: Jimmy Tanaka
Recorded at the Olympia, Paris, March 1978

Star de la chanson québécoise, Diane Dufresne est avant tout une artiste de scène. Celle qui depuis ses débuts, accompagne tous ses disques d'un show à chaque fois plus flamboyant, plus surprenant, plus démesuré et plus inattendu, a développé une relation privilégiée avec un public, premier acteur de ses spectacles. Autre donnée incontournable de son succès : une voix unique!

DYLAN & THE BAND: "Before The Flood"

Original Released in 1974, June 20
US: 2LP Asylum AB 201 (later Columbia KC 37661)
UK: 2LP Island IDBD1
Recorded Live at the LA Forum,
between January 30 and February 14, 1974

Twelve million people applied for tickets for a forty-date tour, playing large arenas. Looking back, Dylan recalled that «it wasn't a tour where a bunch of guys get together and say let's go out and play. There was a great demand for that tour, and it had been building up, so we went out and did it. We were playin' three, four nights at Madison Square Garden, but what justified that? We hadn't made any records». He actually played one afternoon and two evening shows at Madison Square - it just must have seemed that way. Dylan had not toured since 1966 and it was now a different world; what had been adventure was now big business - «everybody had a piece of the action. The publicity people. The promoters. I had no control over what was going on». "Planet Waves" was slipped out about a third of the way through the tour, delayed by Dylan's change in title. He rarely played songs from it on stage. This led to disappointing sales of just over half a million, and Dylan returning to Columbia. This double live album - one of the first - was owed as a contractual obligation. It was been a subject of controversy among Dylan fans ever since. Rather than capture the ebb and flow of a live show, tracks were cherry-picked from four separate concerts. Even so, the album was brillantly programmed over four sides of vinyl, each with its own atmosphere, and it does convey the structure of eac show - Dylan with the Band, the Band solo, Dylan solo, the Band again and back together till the end of the show.

 On the front cover fans hold matches alight and aloft, while other shots of Barry Feinstein catch the six men onstage, intent and serious. A nightly highlight was Richard Manuel's hoarse, straining vocal on "I Shall Be Released" that is captured here on the Band's set. The critical dispute centres over the quality of the tour as a whole that was much the same from stadium to stadium. Dylan himself makes a comparison with Elvis, the 'sensitivity and power' of the Sun sessions as compared to the 'full-out' power of his 1969 TV comeback. There is an urgency and sense of rush here that makes this concert tour unmistakeable. For Michael Gray, «there is an over-speedy, breakneck quality here that does little justice to the lyrics» with Dylan simply throwing his head back and yelling, like a hound. Subtlety and nuance, forget 'em. Real fans have never liked it.

David Cavanagh revaluates the album: «it lacks the usual smugness shared by performer and audience of such affairs. This is feral, and Dylan is aggressive not cuddly. The verses are punched out... the four-man choruses are all but screamed. The next time people heard music this billious, it was being made by The Clash». He is backed upb by Tim Riley: «this is the nostalgia album that beat the oldies trap, a tour of 60s landmarks that made a glance backwards seem entirely contemporary». Paul Williams saw one of the concerts sampled here in real time and didn't enjoy watching a show from so far away - "about a mile in back of the singer's head" - is amazed how good it now sounds, and so well recorded, especially Levon's drums. It captures the moment when a great artist 'saw daylight. (Brian Hinton in "Bob Dylan Album File & Complete Discography")