Decision, decisions, decisions!
How could I not pick an album by Otis Redding? Or the Allman Brothers Band? Or The Stooges? Rod Stewart? The Kinks? Al Green? Dylan? Willie? OutKast? Or RUN DMC?
In the end I tried to find a common thread linking R & B and country; choosing to put the spotlight on the two respective Queens of musical form. The two albums I chose are Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town by Emmylou Harris and Live At Fillmore West by Aretha Franklin.
***
An Allmusic quote from a review of her boxset:
"It's difficult to write about Emmylou Harris without lapsing into a long train of superlatives — she really does have one of the most beautiful voices of her generation, and her taste in material and skill in using her instrument is nearly faultless. However, as good as Harris is and as consistently strong as her body of work has been, one could make a convincing argument that she's been frequently underrated through much of her career — more than just a lovely woman with a pure, clear voice and a fine ear, she's championed a number of gifted songwriters before they went on to have distinguished careers of their own, matured into a first-rate tunesmith herself, collaborated with a remarkable array of artists, and has never been afraid to take her talents into unexpected directions...."
After the death of her mentor and and musical soul mate, Gram Parsons, Emmylou's first three records were a continuation of his spirit and Cosmic- American legacy. On Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, she not only forges her own identify- for the first time not covering any of his songs but embraces the burgeoning Outlaw movement shaking up Nashville. This record is a marriage of the sensibilities of Gram Parsons and Waylon & Willie. It's her most Rock n Roll attitude album. Yet she never completely abandons the Traditional--you still hear ol' Hank & Lefty. (Curiously in Nathan Rabin's Nashville or Bust entry on Harris, his write up abruptly ends before coming to Quarter Moon. I would have liked to have gotten his opinion, because I think her "the perfection problem" as he coined it, is less an issue here. I mean "Two More Bottles of Wine" and "Burn that Candle" are down right raunchy!)
Aretha Live at the Filmore West is definitely a sleeper. When people talk about the great live albums, it is rarely mentioned. To my ears though it captures everything that made her so exciting at her peak. A blistering live band --King Curtis and the Kingpins supplemented by the Memphis Horns and Billy Preston–--adds fire to her unique brand of secular gospel. A first covers heavy set is pretty good, but be patient because she comes out roaring in the second set and is absolutely amazing! An old Rolling Stone review sums up what you have in store:
"Aretha infuses R&B with pure gospel feeling, acknowledges the joys or pains of people's lives and transforms these emotions by exalting them. The process of this transformation is evident on stage: Aretha's radiance, the confidence and perfection of her impulses, the gestures, sighs, croons that she uses for soulful punctuation, her own complete involvement and the effortless control of the audience."
"Do you feel like hearin' the blues?" Aretha asks, and takes us right into "Dr. Feelgood," brimming with every funky, suggestive technique in her command, all used to maximum effect. The unbelievable gospel exchange that follows without pause...is exciting enough here to justify the record all by itself-"
"..."Dr. Feelgood," tagged with a moaning, shouting, testifying exchange between Aretha, the audience, the band and a robust backing chorus called the Sweethearts of Soul, became even more clearly a gospel–of the bedroom rather than the church."
Or as my man Arthur Conley sang:
Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it's swingin'
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Out here on the floor now
We're going to a go go
Ah dancin to the music
Oh yeah, oh yeah
(A heads up-don't listen to Aretha's album at your office in the middle of the day with the hustle and bustle of people all around. It should be played loud, with the lights dim or in the dark, to get that feeling of being swept up, of actually being at the show)
How could I not pick an album by Otis Redding? Or the Allman Brothers Band? Or The Stooges? Rod Stewart? The Kinks? Al Green? Dylan? Willie? OutKast? Or RUN DMC?
In the end I tried to find a common thread linking R & B and country; choosing to put the spotlight on the two respective Queens of musical form. The two albums I chose are Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town by Emmylou Harris and Live At Fillmore West by Aretha Franklin.
***
An Allmusic quote from a review of her boxset:
"It's difficult to write about Emmylou Harris without lapsing into a long train of superlatives — she really does have one of the most beautiful voices of her generation, and her taste in material and skill in using her instrument is nearly faultless. However, as good as Harris is and as consistently strong as her body of work has been, one could make a convincing argument that she's been frequently underrated through much of her career — more than just a lovely woman with a pure, clear voice and a fine ear, she's championed a number of gifted songwriters before they went on to have distinguished careers of their own, matured into a first-rate tunesmith herself, collaborated with a remarkable array of artists, and has never been afraid to take her talents into unexpected directions...."
After the death of her mentor and and musical soul mate, Gram Parsons, Emmylou's first three records were a continuation of his spirit and Cosmic- American legacy. On Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, she not only forges her own identify- for the first time not covering any of his songs but embraces the burgeoning Outlaw movement shaking up Nashville. This record is a marriage of the sensibilities of Gram Parsons and Waylon & Willie. It's her most Rock n Roll attitude album. Yet she never completely abandons the Traditional--you still hear ol' Hank & Lefty. (Curiously in Nathan Rabin's Nashville or Bust entry on Harris, his write up abruptly ends before coming to Quarter Moon. I would have liked to have gotten his opinion, because I think her "the perfection problem" as he coined it, is less an issue here. I mean "Two More Bottles of Wine" and "Burn that Candle" are down right raunchy!)
Aretha Live at the Filmore West is definitely a sleeper. When people talk about the great live albums, it is rarely mentioned. To my ears though it captures everything that made her so exciting at her peak. A blistering live band --King Curtis and the Kingpins supplemented by the Memphis Horns and Billy Preston–--adds fire to her unique brand of secular gospel. A first covers heavy set is pretty good, but be patient because she comes out roaring in the second set and is absolutely amazing! An old Rolling Stone review sums up what you have in store:
"Aretha infuses R&B with pure gospel feeling, acknowledges the joys or pains of people's lives and transforms these emotions by exalting them. The process of this transformation is evident on stage: Aretha's radiance, the confidence and perfection of her impulses, the gestures, sighs, croons that she uses for soulful punctuation, her own complete involvement and the effortless control of the audience."
"Do you feel like hearin' the blues?" Aretha asks, and takes us right into "Dr. Feelgood," brimming with every funky, suggestive technique in her command, all used to maximum effect. The unbelievable gospel exchange that follows without pause...is exciting enough here to justify the record all by itself-"
"..."Dr. Feelgood," tagged with a moaning, shouting, testifying exchange between Aretha, the audience, the band and a robust backing chorus called the Sweethearts of Soul, became even more clearly a gospel–of the bedroom rather than the church."
Or as my man Arthur Conley sang:
Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it's swingin'
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Out here on the floor now
We're going to a go go
Ah dancin to the music
Oh yeah, oh yeah
(A heads up-don't listen to Aretha's album at your office in the middle of the day with the hustle and bustle of people all around. It should be played loud, with the lights dim or in the dark, to get that feeling of being swept up, of actually being at the show)
