Teddy Edwards – Sunset Eyes (1959)

Teddy Edwards was, with Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, the top young tenor of the late ’40s. Unlike the other two, he chose to remain in Los Angeles and has been underrated through the years but remained in prime form well into his 70s. Early on, he toured with Ernie Fields’ Orchestra, moving to L.A. in 1945 to work with Roy Milton as an altoist. Edwards switched to tenor when he joined Howard McGhee’s band and was featured in many jam sessions during the era, recording “The Duel” with Dexter Gordon in 1947. A natural-born leader, Edwards did work briefly with Max Roach & Clifford Brown (1954), Benny Carter (1955), and Benny Goodman (1964), and he recorded in the 1960s with Milt Jackson and Jimmy Smith. But it was his own records — for Onyx (1947-1948), Pacific Jazz, Contemporary (1960-1962), Prestige, Xanadu, Muse, SteepleChase, Timeless, and Antilles — that best displayed his playing and writing; “Sunset Eyes” is Edwards’ best-known original.

Teddy Edwards, who took part in classic tenor battles with Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray in Los Angeles during the mid- to late ’40s, remained a major tenorman for more than half a century. However, his decision to live in L.A. resulted in him being greatly underrated through the years. Fortunately, the superior hard bop tenor (who showed that there was more than just cool jazz being played on the West Coast in the 1950s) recorded on a fairly frequent basis throughout his career. This set features music from 1959-1960 with Edwards joined by either Amos Trice, Joe Castro or Ronnie Ball on piano, Leroy Vinnegar or Ben Tucker on bass, and Billy Higgins or Al Levitt on drums. Edwards, an underrated composer, performs six of his originals (including his most famous composition, “Sunset Eyes,” and two versions of “Takin’ Off”), Vinnegar’s “Vintage ’57,” and a pair of standards. Although there are short solos for Castro and Vinnegar, the focus throughout is on the leader’s distinctive and likable tenor. Since the great Teddy Edwards never recorded an uninspiring record, this date is easily recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz. (by Scott Yanow)

Personnel:
Joe Castro (piano)
Teddy Edwards (saxophone)
Billy Higgins (drums)
Leroy Vinnegar (bass)
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Ronnie Ball (piano on 01.)
Al Levitt (drums on 01.)
Amos Trice (piano on 03., 08. – 10.)
Ben Tucker (bass on 01.)

Tracklist:
01. Tempo De Blues (Edwards) 4.46
02. Vintage ’57 (Vinnegar) 7.13
03. I Hear A Rhapsody (Fragos/Baker/Gasperre) 3.32
04. Up In Teddy’s New Flat (Edwards) 3.07
05. Sunset Eyes (Edwards) 5.27
06. Teddy’s Tune (Edwards) 6.11
07. Takin’ Off (Edwards) 6.33
08. The New Symphony Sid (King Pleasure) 2.16
09. My Kinda Blues (Edwards) 5.12
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10. Takin’ Off (first version) (Edwards) 2.29

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Theodore Marcus Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003)

Neil Linden & The Highlanders – The Pride Of Scotland (1970)

Taken from the original liner-notes:

“Neil Linden, Scotland´s all round entertainer is certainly an artist of great and varying taltent. He started his musical career whilst serving in the famous “Gordon Highlanders”. After attending the Royal Military School Of Music, he entertained troops in Germany and had his own programme on Radio B.F.N.  – Back in civvy street Neil toured the capitals of Europe including Moscow. After his return to the U.K. he appeared in B.B.C. T.V´s “Comedy Playhouse” and “White Heather Club”. Neil also represented Scotland in “World Show” and was voted Great Britain´s No. 1 virtuoso accordeonist and Jazz Clarinettist.

“The Highlanders” were formed in 1968 and all members are very close friends of the band leader. This album is a great collection of Scottish dances, many of which are Neil´s own compositions, performed in true Highland tradition.”

And so we hear some fine old tradtional scottisch tunes in a very “old fashinoned” style … enjoy and dance, if you want !

Personnel:
Neil Linden (accordeon, clainet)
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The Highlanders conducted by Neil Linden

Tracklist:
01. March Selection (Traditional) 3.59
– My Native Highland Home
– Bydand
– The Athol AndBreadalbine Gathering
02. The Aberdeen Waltz Medley (Traditional) 3.30
– The Northern Lights Of Old Aberdeen
– Aberdeen
03. The Hock Loch Pola (Linden) 1.36
04. Argyle´s Fancy (Traditional) 3.10
– Argyle Is My Name
– Doreen´s Delight
– Marget´s Fancy
05. Reel Selection (Traditional) 3.12
– Roxburgh Castle
– The Tweedsdale Reed
– Danny Nick Nack
– Hamilton Road
– The Marquis Of Tollibardine
– The Black Bear
06. Jig Selection
– Bonnie Dundee
– The Muckin’ O’ Geordie’s Byre
– The Cock O’ The North
– John’s Jig
– Major Moir Of Vale Voque
– Colhoun’s March
07. Whistling Rufus (Kerry/Mills) 2.28
08. Bluebell Polka (Traditional) 2.51
09. March, Strathspey (Linden/Neptun) 3.27
– Neil Linden Junior
– Mrs. Linden Strathspey
– Bonnie Scotland
10. Waltz Selection (Traditional) 2.49
– Rosebud By My Early Walk
– Lassie But Annie
– Loch Rannoch
11. Jig Selection (Linden/Lowes) 4.13
– Don And Betty Jig
– Heather Hills
– Debbie’s Jig N.

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Wolfgang Dauner Group – Rischkas Soul (1972)

Wolfgang Dauner was brought up by his aunt, who was a piano teacher and gave him lessons from his fifth year. He first worked as a mechanic, but took up music professionally in 1957 when he was offered a tour with a commercial band. In 1958 he studied trumpet and piano briefly at Stuttgart College of Music, but as a jazz musician he was largely self-taught. Initially, Bill Evans was his main influence but Dauner’s restless energy and interest in experimentation and the theatrical side of performance soon led him to evolve his won musical climate and method of procedure. In 1963 he formed his own trio, with Eberhard Weber and Fred Braceful, and its unconventional performances caused a sensation at German festivals. He also worked with visiting American and European jazz stars, and had begun composing not only music, but also some bizarre, even outrageous events. In the second half of the 1960s e destroyed a violin and burned a piano on stage on one occasion, and on another he covered the heads of one of Germany’s most renowned choirs in nylon stockings so that they could only emit noises. During this period he devised and recorded Free Action, for a septet featuring Jean-Luc Ponty, Psalmus Spei, for choir and jazz group for the 1968 Berlin festival , and Dauner-eschingen, for jazz-soloists and choir for the 1970 Donaueschingen music festival. Since 1969 Dauner has led the Stuttgart radio jazz group, doing at least one broadcast a month with guest soloists such as Chick Corea, Ponty, Michal Urbaniak and Zbigniew Seifert. In 1970 he formed the group Et Cetera which combined electronics with rock rhythms.
For progressive rock enthusiasts we particularly recommend the albums RISCHKAS’S SOUL (recorded in 1969, published on Brain in 1972)

Personnel:
Fred Braceful (drums)
Wolfgang Dauner (keyboards, flute)
Siegfried Schwab (guitar)
Eberhard Weber (bass, cello)
Roland Wittich (drums)

Tracklist:
01. Reading Machine (Dauner) 5.04
02. Kamasutram (Dauner/Manus) 3.50
03. Blues Far Out (Dauner/Manus) 3.40
04. Jive Samba (Adderly) 7.28
05. Flute-Woman (Dauner) 5.42
06. Just Bring It Out (Schwab) 4.18

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The Yardbirds – The Yardbirds (Roger The Engineer) (1966)

Roger the Engineer (originally released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US, Germany, France and Italy as Over Under Sideways Down) is an album by English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1966, it is the only Yardbirds album with guitarist Jeff Beck on all tracks and contains all original material. It was produced by bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and manager Simon Napier-Bell.

Although the British edition is still officially titled Yardbirds by authoritative chart sources, such as Official Charts Company, it has since been referred to, first colloquially, then semi-officially, as Roger the Engineer, a title stemming from the cover drawing of the record’s audio engineer Roger Cameron by band member Chris Dreja.

It is the only Yardbirds album to appear in the UK Albums Chart, where it reached number 20. In the US, it reached number 52 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[5] The album’s best-known song, “Over Under Sideways Down”, was released as single in May 1966, two months before the album.

The album is included in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2012, the album was ranked number 350 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The single “Over Under Sideways Down”, along with the B-side “Jeff’s Boogie”, was recorded at Advision Studios in London on 19–20 April 1966. The rest of the album was recorded from 31 May to 4 June 1966, also at Advision. Paul Samwell-Smith and Simon Napier-Bell produced the album, which was released by the Columbia Graphophone Company in the UK on 15 July 1966 and by Epic Records in the US on 18 July 1966.

Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 349 in 2003 and at number 350 in 2012 on its list of the “500 greatest albums of all time”. (by wikipedia)

German front cover

Once Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds, the group began to explore uncharted territory, expanding their blues-rock into wild sonic permutations of psychedelia, Indian music, and avant-garde white noise. Each subsequent single displayed a new direction, one that expanded on the ideas of the previous single, so it would seem that Roger the Engineer — Beck’s first full album with the group and the band’s first album of all-original material — would have offered them the opportunity to fully explore their adventurous inclinations. Despite a handful of brilliant moments, Roger the Engineer falls short of expectations, partially because the band is reluctant to leave their blues roots behind and partially because they simply can’t write a consistent set of songs. At their best on Roger, the Yardbirds strike a kinetic balance of blues-rock form and explosive psychedelia (“Lost Woman,” “Over, Under Sideways, Down,” “The Nazz Are Blue,” “He’s Always There,” “Psycho Daisies”), but they can also bog down in silly Eastern drones (although “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” is a classic piece of menacing psychedelia) or blues tradition (“Jeff’s Boogie” is a pointless guitar workout that doesn’t even showcase Beck at his most imaginative). The result is an unfocused record that careens between the great and the merely adequate, but the Yardbirds always had a problem with consistency — none of their early albums had the impact of the singles, and Roger the Engineer suffers from the same problem. Nevertheless, it is the Yardbirds’ best individual studio album, offering some of their very best psychedelia, even if it doesn’t rank among the great albums of its era. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

The Yardbird’s best album, led by Jeff Beck with some of the greatest electric guitar playing ever recorded. Of the holy triumvirate (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page), Beck was the one who would define this band with this album, their magnum opus. Roger The Engineer sounded like nothing before it at the time; remember, this was pre-Cream, pre-‘Revolver’, pre-Jimi. Beck blended the blues with bizarre effects and Eastern inspired trippy riffs and licks. This is the album that made him a legend, for those who don’t understand why he’s so well regarded among guitarists and yet little known by most regular classic rock fans. This album is required listening for any burgeoning guitarist or serious listener of 60s rock. (Zack Fugate)

Personnel:
Jeff Beck (guitar, vocals on 03., bass on 02.)
Chris Dreja (guitar, background vocals, piano)
Jim McCarty (drums, percussion, background vocals)
Keith Relf (vocals, harmonica)
Paul Samwell-Smith (bass, background vocals)
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John Paul Jones (bass on 14.)
Jimmy Page (bass on 13.)

Tracklist:
01. Lost Woman 3.17
02. Over Under Sideways Down 2.25
03. The Nazz Are Blue 3.04
04. I Can’t Make Your Way 2.27
05. Rack My Mind 3.15
06. Farewell 1.31
07. Hot House Of Omagararshid 2.40
08. Jeff’s Boogie 2.26
09. He’s Always There 2.15
10. Turn Into Earth 3.06
11. What Do You Want 3.22
12. Ever Since The World Began 2.05
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13. Psycho Daisies 1.50
14. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 2.58

All songs written by Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jeff Beck, Keith Relf, and Paul Samwell-Smith

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On the road again …

this time I will stay a few days in Leverkusen:

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf.

With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is one of the state’s smaller cities. The city is known for the pharmaceutical company Bayer and its associated sports club Bayer 04 Leverkusen. (by wikipedia)

Morsbroich Palace

I will be back on next sunday … And I wish all readers of this blog a very good time !

Johnny Cash – A Thing Called Love (1972)

A Thing Called Love is the 39th overall album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1972 (see 1972 in music). The title song, written by Jerry Reed, was released successfully as a single (with “Daddy” as the B-side, as yet unavailable on CD), reaching No. 2 on the country charts; two more singles charted as well, while the album itself also reached No. 2 on the country album charts. “A Thing Called Love” was re-recorded by Cash for Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988), while “Tear Stained Letter” was reprised on American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). The Canadian pressing of this album has a different version of “Kate” with altered lyrics. (by wikipedia)

By the early ’70s, Johnny Cash had secured his place in contemporary music as an artist who could appeal to an unusually wide audience. A Thing Called Love reflects the breadth of his musical range, as well as his affection for vivid, character-driven lyrics. The key track here is the Jerry Reed–composed title song, an inspirational number that matches Cash’s jaunty lead vocal with the soaring tones of The Evangel Temple Choir. The rest of the album leans toward portraits and snapshots from the American South, with a strong spiritual undercurrent.

Cash offers his own “Tear Stained Letter” (a wistful ballad with an old-time feel), while his wife, June Carter Cash, contributes “Mississippi Sand” (a story-song driven by a boom-chicka-boom beat) and “The Miracle Man” (a personal testimony set to a classic gospel melody). Songs by outside writers like “Melva’s Wine,” “Papa Was a Good Man,” and “Daddy” touch on similar themes of faith, family, and mortality. The Man in Black flashes his rascally side on Red Lane’s “Arkansas Lovin’ Man,” a tune that recaptures some of his early rockabilly sound.

Personnel:
Tommy Allsup (guitar)
Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar)
Ray Edenton (guitar)
Marshall Grant (bass)
W.S. Holland (drums)
Charlie McCoy (harmonica)
Carl Perkins (guitar)
Bill Pursell (piano)
Jerry Reed (guitar)
Bob Wootton (guitar)
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background vocals:
The Evangel Temple Choir – The Carter Family
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Larry Butler – producer, piano on 03. + 05.)

Tracklist:
01. Kate (Robbins) 2.16
02. Melva’s Wine (Matthews) 2.47
03. A Thing Called Love (Hubbard) 2.17
04. I Promise You (J.Cash) 2.57
05. Papa Was A Good Man (Bynum) 2.38
06. Tear Stained Letter (Cash) 3.42
07. Mississippi Sand (J.Cash/C.Cash 3.06
08. Daddy (D.Reid/H.Reid) 2.50
09. Arkansas Lovin’ Man (Lane) 2.48
10. The Miracle Man (J.Cash/Lee) 3:30

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Tom Waits – Bone Machine (1992)

Bone Machine is the tenth studio album by Tom Waits, released in 1992 on Island Records. It won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, and features guest appearances by Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, Primus’ Les Claypool and Brain, and The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards.

Bone Machine marked a return to studio material for Waits, coming a full five years after his previous studio album, Franks Wild Years (1987). The album is often noted for its dark lyrical themes of death and murder, and for its rough, stripped-down, percussion-heavy blues rock style.

Bone Machine was included on many Best Albums of the 1990s lists, including Pitchfork where it was number 49, and Rolling Stone where it was number 53.

Bone Machine was recorded and produced entirely at the Prairie Sun Recording studios in Cotati, California in a room of Studio C known as “the Waits Room,” in the old cement hatchery rooms of the cellar of the buildings.

Mark “Mooka” Rennick, Prairie Sun studio chief said:

[Waits] gravitated toward these “echo” rooms and created the Bone Machine aural landscape. […] What we like about Tom is that he is a musicologist. And he has a tremendous ear. His talent is a national treasure.

Waits said of the bare-bones studio, “I found a great room to work in, it’s just a cement floor and a hot water heater. Okay, we’ll do it here. It’s got some good echo.” References to the recording environment and process were made in the field-recorded interview segments made for the promotional CD release, Bone Machine: The Operator’s Manual, which threaded together full studio tracks and conversation for a pre-recorded radio show format.

The cover photo, which consists of a blurred black-and-white, close-up image of Waits in a leather skullcap with horns and protective goggles, was taken by Jesse Dylan, the son of Bob Dylan. He wears this same outfit in the video for “Goin’ Out West” and “I Don’t Wanna Grow up”.

A number of the songs from Bone Machine have been used in a number of film soundtracks, and have been covered by artists in varying genres.

“Earth Died Screaming” is featured in the 1995 film 12 Monkeys.”Dirt in the Ground” was featured on the 1998 movie, “Jerry and Tom.” “Jesus Gonna Be Here” is featured in the 2005 film Domino, in which Waits appears, and has been covered by the gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama on their album “Spirit of the Century” (2001). “Goin’ Out West” is featured in the 1999 film Fight Club and has been covered by Queens of the Stone Age, Gomez, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, and Australian blues guitarist Ash Grunwald. “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” was covered by Ramones for their final studio album ¡Adios Amigos!, by Holly Cole on her album of Tom Waits covers Temptation (1995), by Petra Haden and Bill Frisell on their collaboration Petra Haden & Bill Frisell (2003), by Hayes Carll on his Trouble in Mind (2008), by Scarlett Johansson on her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008), by Squeeze on the deluxe version of their album Cradle To The Grave, and by Emily Kinney’s character, Beth Greene, on The Walking Dead fourth-season episode, “Infected” (Kinney’s musical influences also includes Waits among others). Danish band Kellermensch covered “Dirt in the Ground” on their debut album.

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. (by wikipedia)

Perhaps Tom Waits’ most cohesive album, Bone Machine is a morbid, sinister nightmare, one that applied the quirks of his experimental ’80s classics to stunningly evocative — and often harrowing — effect. In keeping with the title’s grotesque image of the human body, Bone Machine is obsessed with decay and mortality, the ease with which earthly existence can be destroyed. The arrangements are accordingly stripped of all excess flesh; the very few, often non-traditional instruments float in distinct separation over the clanking junkyard percussion that dominates the record. It’s a chilling, primal sound made all the more otherworldly (or, perhaps, underworldly) by Waits’ raspy falsetto and often-distorted roars and growls. Matching that evocative power is Waits’ songwriting, which is arguably the most consistently focused it’s ever been. Rich in strange and extraordinarily vivid imagery, many of Waits’ tales and musings are spun against an imposing backdrop of apocalyptic natural fury, underlining the insignificance of his subjects and their universally impending doom.

Death is seen as freedom for the spirit, an escape from the dread and suffering of life in this world — which he paints as hellishly bleak, full of murder, suicide, and corruption. The chugging, oddly bouncy beats of the more uptempo numbers make them even more disturbing — there’s a detached nonchalance beneath the horrific visions. Even the narrator of the catchy, playful “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” seems hopeless in this context, but that song paves the way for the closer “That Feel,” an ode to the endurance of the human soul (with ultimate survivor Keith Richards on harmony vocals). The more upbeat ending hardly dispels the cloud of doom hanging over the rest of Bone Machine, but it does give the listener a gentler escape from that terrifying sonic world. All of it adds up to Waits’ most affecting and powerful recording, even if it isn’t his most accessible. (by Steve Huey)

Personnel:
Brain (drums on 03. + 09.)
Kathleen Brennan (sticks on 01.)
Ralph Carney (saxophone clarinet)
Les Claypool (bass on 01.)
Joe Gore (guitar on 04., 10. + 12.)
David Hidalgo (violin, accordion on 13.)
Joe Marquez (sticks on 01., banjo on 11.)
David Phillips (pedal steel guitar on 08. + 13., steel guitar on 16.)
Keith Richards (guitar, vocals on 16.)
Larry Taylor (bass, guitar on 07.)
Waddy Wachtel (guitar on 16.)
Tom Waits (vocals, chamberlin, percussion, guitar, sticks, piano, bass, drums

Tracklist:
01. Earth Died Screaming (Waits) 3.39
02. Dirt In The Ground (Waits/Brennan) 4.08
03. Such A Scream (Waits) 2.07
04. All Stripped Down (Waits) 3.04
05. Who Are You (Waits/Brennan) 3.58
06. The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me (Waits) 1.51
07. Jesus Gonna Be Here (Waits) 3.21
08. A Little Rain (for Clyde) (Waits/Brennan) 2.58
09. In The Colosseum (Waits/Brennan) 4.50
10. Goin’ Out West (Waits/Brennan) 3.19
11. Murder In The Red Barn” (Waits/Brennan) 4.29
12. Black Wings (Waits/Brennan) 4.37
13. Whistle Down The Wind (for Tom Jans) (Waits) 4.36
14. I Don’t Wanna Grow Up (Waits/Brennan) 2.31
15. Let Me Get Up On It (Waits) 0.55
16. That Feel (Waits/Richards) 3.11

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