Hi Eleanor

I already heard about this story, it's great to realize that Bob Dylan's influence, to whatever it may amount, is at least present in the American juidicial system on the level of being recited regularly by judges, lawyers & possibly by jury members as well.

If there's anything he rebelled against, together with his complaints against the political system it's the lack of justice in the world.

What immediately is to be observed though is the superficial way in which he is being recited. His lines can be squeezed into any argument no matter what it stands for.

Hattie Carrol

A highlight of stupidity in the article though is how Dylan's immortal masterpiece 'Hattie Carrol' is explained.

“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” deals with an unjust sentence for the antagonist, it suggests that Mr. Dylan has a conservative streak cloaked in cynicism that runs contrary to his common portrayal as a figurehead of the idealistic liberal civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s "

He may not be the leftwinger he once was any longer, but seeking for justice to be done to the woman in the song & people to be compared with her, has nothing to do with any kind of 'conservative streak' whatsoever.

I consider the song to be one of the most empathic songs ever, one of most deeply humanistic statements in a musical context ever.

This guy doesn't get it at all.

William Zantzinger?

Also the silly statement that 'William Zantzinger' was the right spelling clearly shows the guy doesn't understand that songwriting is not the same as journalism; 'Zanzinger' just sang more easily than with the 't' in it.

Also 'ten children' fits into a the rhythm of the song's phrasing much easier then 'eleven children'.

Also they claim that he adapts a real story so that it fits into a song more easily, as if that would be a weakness, a lack of will the reveal the truth.

Same silly analysis; what matters ofcourse is the song, not the literal content of a story.

The real story is for journalists & historians, if they can lay their hands on it that is.

What is songwriting about ?

A songwriter wants to capture the spirit of a story and fit it into a framework that can be labeled 'literature' or 'poetry', not 'journalism',  thus serving a certain general morality of 'an audience' and/or that of the writer himself.

I'm a intense pupil of Dylan, to which there are limits ofcourse.

Everybody can fit whatever he said, may have said, sung or written into his own framework, no law against it as far as I know.

Okay, made my statement about this.

USB Record players

I know about the record player with USB entrance. Thanks for thinking about me when you got to know about it.

It's of no value to me however, I'm a vinyl slave, ( nothing will ever replace it ), just like millions of other vinyl fans. Even lots of today's kids love vinyl; you saw how magical it can be at your birthday when I took the 1960 record player with me & all the original old singles, the original  sleeves.

The whole ritual about it; it's like original medieval books, egyptian tablets, cave inscriptions, you name it.

Playing vynil is an event, a happening, a party in itself, an act of creativity almost, which digital will never be as far as I'm concerned; it's a technically fantastic yet 'cold' procedure.

Love CD's still, don't get me wrong there.

The Fair-Haired Woman video

Added sunday's river shots to my first version of the 'Fair-Haired Woman' video today, I'm really happy with it.

It's 100% different from the other two videos, I just know you'll like it, too; can't wait to show it to you.

Nils

(c) 2011 Odyssee publishing

           Cuby & the Blizzards anno 2010 :

                ouderwetse kwaliteitsband

      Foto's (c) 2010

       Nils Wieland

16 november 2010 Amsterdam

Veel bezoekers van het optreden van Cuby & the Blizzards gisterenavond in de Kleine Komedie zullen zich vanuit een ‘sentimental journey’ motivatie aldaar vervoegd hebben; zo ook ondergetekende. Het overgrote deel van de toeschouwers was dan ook tussen de 45 en 60 jaar. Desalniettemin waren er toch nog zo’n 15 % a 20% bezoekers van rondom de dertig op komen dagen, een manifestatie uitsluitend voor jeugdige bejaarden werd het uiteindelijk dus niet.

Verleden C + B

Wie-o-wie zou of kon de absolute god van de nederlandse bluesgitaar, Eelco Gelling, een musicus van absolute internationale allure, ooit in the Blizzards vervangen? En welke bezetting dan ook ging de unieke chemie die de band met name in de periode 1966-1970 in diverse bezettingen openbaarde ooit nog evenaren, laat staan overtreffen?

'Cats Lost'

Daniel Lohües heeft middels de met met Harry Muskee produceerde meest recente C + B productie´Cats Lost’ de spijker op de kop geslagen. Hij kwam tevoorschijn met een veelzijdig CD concept waarin de kwaliteiten van alle huidige, meer dan uitstekende muzikanten, ook live prima belicht kunnen worden en de sterke punten uit het verleden opnieuw kunnen floreren.

Weinig echte slow ballads

Wat me bij het beluisteren van de CD opviel was dat Harry Muskee schijnbaar aan zijn sinds lange tijd prevalerende Nederlandse accent, een euvel waar hij in z’n jonge jaren nauwelijks last van had, het een en ander heeft bijgeschaafd. Gisteren trok hij, met name in de (helaas) enige echte slow ballad van de show, Robert Johnson’s ‘Ramblin on my mind’, met een ouderwetse, aan ‘Somebody will know someday’ & 'Ginhouse Blues' herinnerende oerkracht van leer, daarin in het begin helaas even geinterrumpeerd door een over-enthousiaste fan achterin de zaal. Muskee liet zich niet echt storen en pakte vrijwel feilloos de draad weer op.

Meer slepende ballads

Dit hoogtepunt sterkte mij in de opvatting dat Harry Muskee meer super slepende ballads á la The sky is crying, Sweet little angel, Crying tears en natuurlijk Five long years ten beste zou moeten geven, daarin ligt, gelukkig, nog steeds zijn letterlijk grote kracht.

Trombone solo

De trombonist van de band mocht in genoemde Robert Johnson klassieker overigens een zeer uitgebreide solo ten beste geven die prima in het BIMhuis had kunnen weerklinken. Deze solo werd briljant gespeeld overigens, petje af!

Erwin Jawa

Erwin Jawa liet in onder meer dit nummer overigens opnieuw horen tot welk subtiel spel hij in staat is. Zijn prachtige volume contrasten en ingehouden blues frases prefereer ik overigens boven zijn (overigens overtuigende) krachtpatserij in nummers als ‘Apple knockers flophouse’. Hij heeft zijn leermeesters diepgaand bestudeerd en speelt aanmerkelijk losser en tegelijkertijd gecontroleerder dan voorheen. Hij heeft een in zijn situatie begrijpelijk ‘Eelco syndroom’ (zo ooit aanwezig), al lang achter zich gelaten.

Hans La Faille

Dat drummer Hans La Faille nog altijd een talent van formaat is bleek jammer genoeg alleen in de meer jazzy nummers of geprononceerde gedeeltes in meer ‘straighte’ blues of rocky stukken. Hij is eigenlijk te goed voor standaard ritme structuren en kan daarin zijn fantasie en power niet goed kwijt. Hij zou meer ruimte moeten krijgen om ook in die standaard stukken in ieder geval nu en dan met meer prikkelende patronen, weefsels of structuren te voorschijn te kunnen komen. 

Blazers grote aanwinst

De blazers-sectie was echt een geweldige aanwinst voor de band; hun super strakke licks geven de band de extra lift waardoor de euforie grens gisteren geregeld overschreden kon worden. Er stonden drie blazers op het toneel maar ze klonken al één zeer overtuigend, buitengewoon swingend en strak soundblock.

Nieuwe songs

De nieuwe songs klonken bij vlagen verassend vanzelfsprekend: nummers als TV Blues, The Devil made religion en The blues is a habit (lekkere titels trouwens), vormen gezamenlijk prima nieuw songmateriaal voor deze geroutineerde bluestrein.

Nieuwe bassist

Bassist Feico Neidam is een gedegen vervanger van super bas-legende Herman Deinum. Hij verricht zijn taak zeer vakkundig hoewel zijn wat saaie uitstraling middels funky getimede kledij misschien wat opgevijzeld zou kunnen worden. Een euvel overigens waar de hele band, behalve Erwin Jawa, een beetje aan lijdt. Dat was vroeger wel anders herinner ik mij hoewel Harry Muskee’s onvervangbare eigen uitstraling natuurlijk niet veel opsmuk behoeft.

Helmig van der Vegt

Last but not least was er dan nog het toetsenfenomeen Helmig van der Vegt die zo mogelijk nog beter speelt dan vroeger. Moddervette, fantastische ondersteuning vormende hammond partijen, achteloos gespeelde, allesbehalve eenvoudige jazzy arrangementen, een sublieme timing; alsof het allemaal niks kost, wat een topper is hij nog steeds!

C + B geen tegenvaller

Nee, C + B viel me niet tegen gisterenavond en vrijwel alle bezoekers van ‘de Kleine Komedie´gisteren dachten er net zo over. Over twee jaar of zo, als de heren denk ik opnieuw in Amsterdam zullen zijn, ga ik zeker weer kijken, waarvan akte.

Nils Wieland

Hi Betty

Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKQzyMdLJa4&feature=related

Nils

Hi Betty

Colourfilm's been around since the 30's, so nothing strange there, it's just (quite recently it seems) turned up from vaults yet unknown to me, just like an unknown, very early yet wonderful work of Rembrandt or whatever. I've seen countless photos of them from those days, it's 100% authentic; this footage is from february 20 1962 the info says which I believe to be rather precise.

Someone said it must have been a very old camera cause the quality is quite poor for its time.

The sound is remarkably good, though not 100% synchronized here and there & possibly recorded seperately

The drummer by the way(not visible) is Pete Best, or at least it must be him, & it's by far the best drumming I've heard from him. Heard quite a few recordings with him on it, mostly private live tapes released on an album in the seventies & the official Tony Sheridan & the Beat Boys album (the Beatles backing up there, renamed by the record label ) which is on Polydor & on which The Beatles did a few songs on their own as well.

George was still seventeen here by the way (so this was quite probably five days before he turned 18 on february the 25th) & was kicked out of Germany on the Beatles' previous club engagement because of it.

A jealous club owner had him thrown out because the Beatles were 'supposed to' have set a cinema on fire, which is a story in itself.

The original release of this Tony Sheridan album, (he was a mediocre singer from England), I saw on sale at Concerto recordshop for 200 guilders somewhere in the nineties, (I seem to remember it was 1992), which would now be worth at least the same amount in Euros, if not the heck of a lot more.

The single 'My Bonnie' by the Beatles from that album lead to the discovery of the Beatles by Brian Epstein, which ultimately lead them to fame.

Brian Epstein had a record shop in Liverpool called 'NEMS' & fans kept asking for this (also german) single realease, which he'd never heard of, so he went to take a look at the Cavern; he was 'sold' at first sight for a variety of reasons, most convincingly by their staggering charisma.

Nils

© 5/1/2010 By Nils Wieland - Odyssee Publishing

 

 

 

There’s lots of of people around the world who love Scott Walker’s singing abilities both as a solo singer as well as with the Walker Brothers. Surfing around on the on the internet a general comment on him goes something like this: “What a great voice!’’, “What an incredible singer!’ or “I just adore his voice!”.

 

Not having heard him sing one still wouldn’t have the slightest clue why his singing is as good as all these fans think it is.

 

Analyzing Walker’s vocalizing one finds that it’s not just the sound of his voice in itself that’s appealing, it’s also the association his sound effectuates; it could be described as a noble, masculine sound with a distinct ‘operatic’ touch to it, such as in pop music only vocal top royalty like Roy Orbison & Elvis Presley had.

 

Why not even giants like these two men, incredible talents as they may have been, were simply not in Scott Walker’s league is, in my opinion anyway, due to the following reasons.

 

Using a term term like Schubertian elegance & grace to define his ‘sound’ more in depth is definitely a description to more precisely qualify Walker’s unique voice many would agree upon.

 

Beside this so admired elegance there’s his subtle & highly accurate phrasing & pronunciation generally only found with great jazz & classical musicians.

 

The fact that Walker’s 60’s producer, John Franz, send him to a classical teacher to improve on his breathing technique, beside his of course maturing grasp on music in general, added even more depth to his vocalizing on his sixties & early seventies solo albums.

 

On top of this his sense of timing is exceptional as well, which, together with the earlier mentioned, resulted in his incomparable ability to express what’s in a song, what a song actually represents on a deeper, spiritual level.

 

In the end the highest reachable level of musicianship, some may not realize this, is supposed to be about expressing as deeply as possible what’s hidden in a melody, an arrangement or in a lyric.

 

Before coming to a conclusion one might add that Walker could never have climbed to the heights he reached without such a thing as (obviously) inborn deep musical vision.

 

So apart from his superb talents as a songwriter, lyricist & producer, all these formidable technical vocal abilities were servants to Walker’s need to express himself artistically.

 

Anyway; that's how yours truly would define how Scott Walker ( originally named 'Noel Scott Engel', whose voice to some is the voice of an angel indeed) could become pop’s most gifted singer.

 

© 4/6/2010 By Nils Wieland - Odyssee Publishing

 

 

 

Not many disagree on the fact that 'Strawberry Fields Forever' is John Lennon's 'piece de resistance' as well as the Beatles' finest hour. Forty two years after its initial release the song & the video remain to be great enigmas in the history of popmusic. I guess not even the Beatles themselves ever got to the exact bottom of their masterpiece.

The song is more an event than anything else and still the baffling experience & complete mistery it appeared to be at first hearing. One could at best describe the concept & shape of this work as consisting out of  inexplicably transfigured energy channeled straight from a black hole somewhere in the universe.

Production, arrangement, lyrics & video have the definition 'ART' written all over their elegant embodiments. The video reveals that the Beatles' charisma had evolved up to ungraspable levels; they'd become living incarnations of art itself. Watch & enjoy this monumental example of 'total kunst'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7NoOhmVMac&NR=1

© 12/12/2009  by Nils Wieland - Odyssee publishing

Ringo Starr: ultimate 60’s popdrummer

It’s funny how rumours that don’t reflect reality in any kind of way, in the musical area as well as in any other, become ‘truth’. What’s worse, they seem to become ‘truth’ simply because people 'say so’ or have heard something being said 'somewhere'.

An example of this mechanism is the hard dying rumour that Ringo Starr wasn’t ‘all that good’. I’ve often wondered: did people coming up with this nonsense story actually ever listen seriously to the man’s actual drumming? Or do they simply not know what makes a drummer 'good'? Quite obviously they don’t.

Of all the tracks I’ve heard Ringo Starr play, studio or live recording, there's hundres of them around, I remember only one being somewhat sloppy. In ‘You’ve really got a hold on me’, from the ‘With the Beatles’ album of 1963, the tempo slows down a bit somewhere halfway for a couple of seconds, but that’s about all I’ve ever found of Ringo Starr that wasn’t 100% perfect. My opinion is that Ringo Starr drummed some Beatles songs exceptionally well, and that the rest of his recorded performances are simply wonderful, excellent, whatever label one might want to attach to it, and often considerably better than just that.

I’ve also heard it said that The Beatles first drummer, Pete Best, was actually ’better’ than Ringo Starr. One listen to any Beatles recording with Pete Best will tell you you a completely different story: Pete Best simply wasn’t good enough. His looks were OK, that much is true, but as a drummer and as a personality he absolutely didn’t fit in. Also he lacked Ringo’s great sense of humor and unique charisma. As we all know, humor & special charisma were as much part of the Beatles package as anything else.

A good pop drummer never gets in the way of a song, does everything to make the song flourish, and that’s exactly what Ringo Starr did in the Beatles' songs.

Let me give some examples of well known Beatles songs while focusing on percussion aspects: I’ve always loved Ringo’s drumming on ‘Please Please me’. It’s so precise, alert & well timed, especially, simple as it all may sound to some ears, the fills before the B part & the B Part drum arrangement itself (:"I don’t wanna sound complaining "etc.)

His handling of ‘I feel fine’ for instance is a great piece of drumming as well ; in that song, in the couplets, he works the cymbals flawlessly (where he plays a riveting Rumba motive) . The weird ‘Ticket to ride’ drum arrangement & the magical ‘Rain’ and the simple yet really well performed drum parts of 'She said, she said', 'Baby you're a rich man', 'Get back', the list is endless, are memorable recordings in his personal drumming oeuvre as well.

Richard Starkey's superb playing on legendary hits as ‘She loves you’ & ‘I wanna hold your hand’ could not possibly have been done as adequately by anyone else in the whole world, I think.

The point is that nobody ever really listens analytically to Beatles drum arrangements, which is exactly why they're so good; they're all totally part of the song arrangement structure.

In the earlier sixties Ringo played, (he probably still does), lots of South American percussive motives, especially rumba & cha cha motives; they’re to be found all over the place in Beatles songs of that period.

His probably most prominent drumming performance, amoung many highlights in the early Beatle years, was the finale of ‘Long tall Sally’ where his never ending 12 bar fill triggers the song into its fabulous climax, making McCartneys shattering Little Richard inspired vocals even better than they already are.

Talking bout McCartney; insiders claim, talking bout real insiders here, that much of Ringo’s playing was inspired by McCartney, not too bad a drummer himself (he played the drums on ‘Ballad of John & Yoko’) . Even if true, and/or how much of it might be true, ( as only Ringo & Paul McCartney themselves could one day possibly disclose) , Starr’s flawless technical ability & superb taste on the drum kit remain beyond discussion.

Again, anyone with any depth in musical knowledge who studies Ringo Starr’s drum legacy, in his Beatle years that is, must conclude that the guy was simply born to be the Beatles’ drummer. His solo years for obvious reasons are not included this article.

His most artistically high reaching drum Beatle performance is no doubt to be heard on ‘A day in the life’. Everything about this song is incredibly well done, sure. Still, one can enjoy the song even more by lending an open ear to the great & beautifully atmospheric tom fills Ringo scatters around here. Unforgettable pop drumming to an unforgettable pop song as far as I’m concerned.

My conclusion can only be that Ringo Starr, in his particular field, which is concise & adequate, no freaking around pop drumming, is nothing less than a phenomenon: an ‘out there’ lonely ‘Star’ with just one ‘r’.

© 12-20-2009  by Nils Wieland - Odyssee Publishing