Holy Moses - s/t (RCA, 1971)
This was recorded in NYC at Electric Lady studio, and engineered/co-produced by none other than former Lothar & the Hand People guitarist Kim King, but Holy Moses singer/songwriter/keyboardist Billy Batson later gained some (or at least more) reknown as the singer for Minneapolis garage-rockers the Hypstrz (late '70s-early '80s) and then the Mofo Men (mid-'80s). With Holy Moses, however, he pursued more of a Neil Young/Crazy Horse roots-rock sound with a bit of country flavor and a touch of blues. Batson's singing is like Young on a three-day bender, and the rest of the band is similarly quirky, loose, and pleasingly off-kilter. The sloppy fuzz guitar leads further the Crazy Horse comparison. Holy Moses also had a self-deprecating sense of humor that made their looseness all the more endearing.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Monday, March 08, 2004
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King Eric & His Knights - Paging King Eric & His Knights (Elite, 1964)
You know, it's pretty damn hard to find calypso music in most places, even the wierdo used record joints and websites that are my second home. Recently, I've been taking an interest in calypso, so I was happy to come across this little artifact. Apparently this was the fourth album by "King" Eric Gibson and his cohorts. From what I gather, they were the house band at various tourist spots on the island of Nassau in the Bahamas (and still are to this day, it seems!) Apparently this record (and presumably their previous three) served a dual purpose of audio souvenir and tourism enticement; the cover and liner notes were put together by the editor-publisher of Florida-Bahama Life Magazine, and the album was recorded "on the spot at Nassau Beach Lodge, in the Colony Room." Actually, it sounds more like it was recorded in the Nassau Beach Lodge's bathroom with one microphone. Nevertheless, these guys swing. The primitive recording quality adds to the aggreably organic rawness of the record, with the voices out front and the guitar and drums occasionally peeking through the murky mix. You've got to love the section of the hagiographic liner notes that details how "the executives of Elite Records...have been most careful...to get the best quality of sounds available." The songs themselves are a mix of Caribbean standards ("Back to Back, Belly to Belly," "Man Smart, Woman Smarter," "Island in the Sun," etc.), originals, and even a questionable take on the pop ballad "Perfidia" that provides PAGING's nadir. I may sound like I'm being rather snarky about this whole endeavor, but despite the cheesy packaging, this really is enjoyable stuff. I'd much rather hear an old-school, lo-fi calypso record like this than some overproduced, modern-day version.
You know, it's pretty damn hard to find calypso music in most places, even the wierdo used record joints and websites that are my second home. Recently, I've been taking an interest in calypso, so I was happy to come across this little artifact. Apparently this was the fourth album by "King" Eric Gibson and his cohorts. From what I gather, they were the house band at various tourist spots on the island of Nassau in the Bahamas (and still are to this day, it seems!) Apparently this record (and presumably their previous three) served a dual purpose of audio souvenir and tourism enticement; the cover and liner notes were put together by the editor-publisher of Florida-Bahama Life Magazine, and the album was recorded "on the spot at Nassau Beach Lodge, in the Colony Room." Actually, it sounds more like it was recorded in the Nassau Beach Lodge's bathroom with one microphone. Nevertheless, these guys swing. The primitive recording quality adds to the aggreably organic rawness of the record, with the voices out front and the guitar and drums occasionally peeking through the murky mix. You've got to love the section of the hagiographic liner notes that details how "the executives of Elite Records...have been most careful...to get the best quality of sounds available." The songs themselves are a mix of Caribbean standards ("Back to Back, Belly to Belly," "Man Smart, Woman Smarter," "Island in the Sun," etc.), originals, and even a questionable take on the pop ballad "Perfidia" that provides PAGING's nadir. I may sound like I'm being rather snarky about this whole endeavor, but despite the cheesy packaging, this really is enjoyable stuff. I'd much rather hear an old-school, lo-fi calypso record like this than some overproduced, modern-day version.
Posted at
12:37 AM
Sunday, March 07, 2004
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Clifford Thornton - Ketchaoua (BYG/Actuel, 1969)
Clifford Thornton's not as unknown as most of the folks I write about here, but he's not exactly front-page news to anyone other than free-jazz cultists. He's played trumpet, cornet, and trombone with a lot of the biggies in the genre (Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray), but never made that many records under his own name before his death in the late '80s. This album was part of that golden age of free jazz that blossomed in the late '60s and early '70s when a number of key players expatriated to France and recorded a passel of great albums for the BYG/Actuel label. Some are better than others, but just about al of them are worth seeking out. This one is less celebrated than some of them, but no less worthy. Unlike some BYG albums, this one isn't a dischordant, angry, chaos-is-a-virtue roar, but rather a spacious, meditative record. It's closer in spirit to the leaner, more contemplative sound of Chicago's AACM crowd (Art Ensemble of Chicago, etc.). In fact, it's one of the more mournful free jazz records you're liable to hear, with a melancholy, almost elegiac feel to it. Even the African-inspired moments of chanting and percussion that are interspersed with the legato horn lines don't disrupt the mood. It doesn't hurt to have Shepp, Murray, Grachan Moncur III, and others on hand, but this isn't anybody's egofest, it's very much an ensemble statement with a clear vision. By the way, those who are interested in this sort of thing would do well to check out the latest link on this page's sidebar, to the blues & jazz record blog of fellow traveler Tim.
Clifford Thornton's not as unknown as most of the folks I write about here, but he's not exactly front-page news to anyone other than free-jazz cultists. He's played trumpet, cornet, and trombone with a lot of the biggies in the genre (Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray), but never made that many records under his own name before his death in the late '80s. This album was part of that golden age of free jazz that blossomed in the late '60s and early '70s when a number of key players expatriated to France and recorded a passel of great albums for the BYG/Actuel label. Some are better than others, but just about al of them are worth seeking out. This one is less celebrated than some of them, but no less worthy. Unlike some BYG albums, this one isn't a dischordant, angry, chaos-is-a-virtue roar, but rather a spacious, meditative record. It's closer in spirit to the leaner, more contemplative sound of Chicago's AACM crowd (Art Ensemble of Chicago, etc.). In fact, it's one of the more mournful free jazz records you're liable to hear, with a melancholy, almost elegiac feel to it. Even the African-inspired moments of chanting and percussion that are interspersed with the legato horn lines don't disrupt the mood. It doesn't hurt to have Shepp, Murray, Grachan Moncur III, and others on hand, but this isn't anybody's egofest, it's very much an ensemble statement with a clear vision. By the way, those who are interested in this sort of thing would do well to check out the latest link on this page's sidebar, to the blues & jazz record blog of fellow traveler Tim.
Posted at
1:26 AM
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