Lucero: Llorar

Rancheras were made fun of by us East Los kids, and I suppose the obviousness and sometimes corniness of these popular Mexican songs brings that on. But, like American pop songs, every once in a while, good stuff shines through.

Here's the pretty and popular Lucero, singing a tale of love lost, first in the studio version, then live.

Cuts for Cooky: Ask the Lonely

No matter what, wherever you are, I'm there with you, rooting you on. 

Cuts for Cooky: Donny Hathaway, "For All We Know"

Cuts for Cooky: Amalia Rodrigues, Mariza, Cristina Branco

I've a work in progress on Occupy, but it'll have to wait, as it's way too involved. I've a lot to say, as befits me prolix.

But one of the weird things about EM08 is the far reach, indeed, infecting virtually all corners of the world. I heard an interview today with a Portuguese man, and he was very angry yet plaintive about the state of things, as Portugal's just one more in the line of suckers with Greece, Italy, France and Spain who were looted by Goldman and the rest of the American thugs. The interviewer said that the situation looked grim, and the man verbally shrugged; "that's why we have fado."

I thought it was an artistic answer.

First up, the doyenne, the late Amalia Rodrigues, then the beautiful Mariza, and, in one of my favorite kind of formats, Cristina Branco in an informal chamber setting; a living room. She kills it.

Cuts for Cooky: X: I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts

I saw X last year, actually Exene and Doe, and when they played this, one of my favorite X tunes, it was so moving, because of the times and the personal feeling of being under the gun.

What an appropriate anthem this song is for today's crazy world... I don't know where this version was shot, but it's quality is bad. In some ways it adds to the punk aesthetic, much like the vid of White Girl I posted a while back.

Stick around til the bitter end; Doe basically love trashes LA. I'm headed back for an extended visit in about three weeks. I can't wait.

Cuts for Cooky: Lady Gaga's The Edge of Glory

I'm not a Gaga fan, but recognize her talent, although it can be hard to find through all of the gratuitous garishness of her shows and production. Take this song in its album version and it's a dance tune, but as a ballad with just her singing with piano and it's better.

Leave it to the Stern Show's long history of bringing out the best in talent, whether in interviews or performing. It just figures that after her appearance, I'd post a song of hers; it's all Stern's fault. What's missing  here is the long preamble where she goes into the genesis of the song, how it's about her grandfather who at the time was dying, and her grandmother who wouldn't leave his side. Gaga explained that she told her grandmother that he didn't want to die in front of her, that (being Italian) he was too proud. So she convinced her grandmother to leave after having been there for something like two weeks, and a couple of hours later he passed. Gaga used being on the edge as that moment when one is about to cross over.

I guess I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories, and her setup made the song moving to my sappy sentimentality. As DeNiro says to Minnelli toward the end of New York, New York; "Sappy Endings."

Cuts for Cooky: Jimi, Villanova Junction

Seldom recognized amongst most rock aficionados, Villanova Junction is a great kickback song for a lazy afternoon. As with Third Stone from the Sun he here echoes the influence of Wes, and creates a mood of introspection that I bet would surprise those only superficially familiar with his music. Jimi headlined Woodstock, and by the time he came on much of the crowd had left; like Jim Gray leaving, I wish I could make a short film with those who walked out on history and see what they think of their decision now. Nonplussed and as usual rising to the occasion, Jimi's Woodstock version is the best take.

Cuts for Cooky: Esperanza Spalding

Every once in a while I come across a young artist that really brings it. Just today I was checking out Olly Moss' graphic art and plan on hittin' it with a piece, he's that good, as in a Saul Bass heir. This piece, however, is about a musician.


Esperanza is so self-possessed it's a marvel. Jesus I've been in college and wondered how in the hell those kids even got in. Home-schooled, vibrant, articulate, smart as a whip, she's a triple + threat; bass, voice and pen. And at age 28 or so, along with Christian Scott, is one of the youngins devoting herself to jazz! For all of the ragging I do on kids these days, Esperanza -- as befits her name -- gives us old farts hope.


There's tons of her performance stuff out, but I'm posting these interviews because I think it's important for Renee to hear Esperanza talk about her life.

Cuts for Cooky: The Pierces, "Boring"

One More Time

One of my favorite configurations in music is a great singer and a piano. The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans albums (and the recent release of the outtakes on the complete version) are special works of art, like the rarest jewels, never to be duplicated.

So here we are one more time with Teena Marie and a piano, running down one of her classics, If I Were a Bell. If you've ever been close to a great singer it's really something else, and I don't know how Donnie withstood this. She pulls out all the stops, and this particular rendition is not an easy song to sing -- there's some technique flowing here.  Stick around to the end which packs a punch and a good line by Donnie.

La Dona: Homegirl Teena Marie

The shocking news of Teena Marie leaving was a mule kick in the gut. Lady T was only 54.

An Angeleno all the way, I love how on her Wiki she spoke about rollin' down Crenshaw, bumpin' sounds. Like it or not, that's LA and we've made a cultural rite out of it.

Here's a joint from not too long ago. When it first aired I remember Fish and I watched it and were just digging her representin' LA at the Apollo, pimpin' ill at will. I think the fact that this is a recording of someone's TV while watching SatA would have just made her smile. Love you homegirl.

If I were a bell...

Cuts for Cooky: Jackie DeShannon

Jackie DeShannon in '68, in what the caption on NPR's site called the "notorious Laurel Canyon," situated a bit north of LA in the Hollywood Hills.

Jackie DeShannon was interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air" hosted by Terry Gross, and I have to admit, I was pretty taken. Her legend precedes her, of course, and I can remember being a terribly young boy and thinking she was cute, in the way that the teen girls were then to a little boy; kinda grown up, but way more fun and unattainable simply cuz I was a kid.

There are some quibbles with technicalities on the comments of the "Fresh Air" page, but I kinda think certain of the audience were listening to or for other things than I was. DeShannon's story, making it as a writer as a teenage girl (!) and using it as an entry into performing, is incredible enough. But she's very candid about her place as a woman in that men's world of that time; that's the bigger message, I think, and one that I felt important for Renee to know about. DeShannon said something very poignant about this subject in a very succinct manner; listen for it.

It's always cool to turn Renee onto the icons of my generation. I happened to be driving and the interview came on and I pulled over to text her back in LA to listen up. I just had a feeling that she'd dig DeShannon. Sure enough, Daddy knows his girl.

There's an element, maybe it's depth - whatever that means but hopefully conveys - to DeShannon that reminds me of Karen Carpenter and Patsy Cline. I don't know exactly what it is, but there's weight, a dimension to their singing that I like. And too, I like the dichotomy; pop songs with that je ne sais qua. It reminds me of what Brando said one time about Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow;" how it's utterly insipid - can it be any more puffy than little blue birds flying over a rainbow? - and yet, it brings tears to your eyes when you watch "Dorothy." I suppose some would also say it's analogous to soul and black singers, but I don't think so, because listening to Marvin Gaye, who for my money is soul embodied, produces a very different feeling for me. The life experiences, manifested in the different genres and feeling, no doubt have something to do with it.

Collaborating early on with Jimmy Page - whom she would date, break up with and allegedly be the inspiration for "Tangerine" on Zeppelin III - and Randy Newman, the first a certified legend and the latter a stellar writing and performing pro, it seems Jackie DeShannon is never mentioned when it comes to great musicians of that era. This week she's being inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and I think her having roots in writing has something to do with having that depth.

Earlier today, I happened to come across a maker of preserves, June Taylor, here in Berkeley. She crafts everything by hand from organic ingredients culled from local growers as well as her own. During our conversation, she mentioned that she was in Santa Monica recently on a research mission, to a special collection of 16th century books on preserve making. This is something that's utterly lost on today's mechanized, bigger, stronger, faster, society - craftsmanship and knowing one's place in history, the mother of all subjects. (I recommend her: www.junetaylorjams.com)

I mention June Taylor because I think craftswomanship has something to do with Jackie DeShannon, because she has an obvious love and affection for historical influences. Plus, the act of crafting a song is a much different process than, say, performing it. I don't mean to diminish performers, because I have all the respect in the world for comedians, actors, singers, musicians, but I happen to be prejudiced; I think an artist of the caliber of a Ralph Ellison - even if he basically only produces one work - is, in general a far more profound artist. To make a crude analogy, writing implies thoughtfulness and a material process in time, while performing is not thinking but doing in the moment.

This is my favorite Jackie DeShannon song, one of her earliest, performed here on the happening show of the time, "Hullabaloo." One of the elements I appreciate on this song is its production which has a Phil Spector feel. I also love good riffs - Page has said that Zep was, if nothing else, a riff heavy band - and this is one, a simple arpeggio with panache. Watch for her miscue in the beginning as this is lip synched; it's pretty cute as she catches herself. In the NPR interview, it's interesting to hear her talk of the way she had to present herself, and to then watch her shimmy shamming here in light of that.

I do know this now after hearing her interview; it's easy to see why she's adored by musicians and fans alike.

Cuts for Cooky: Etta James, Sugar on the Floor

I heard Miss Etta sing this not too long ago, and though she's lost a lot of technique and skill because of age - she sings exclusively sitting down these days - I remarked to Fish that she still brings it. That's due to the fact that she's lived, something that can't be taught, only experienced. And what a life, one that Beyonce's portrayal can only hint at.

This song, written by disco princess and sometime Elton John collaborator Kiki Dee, was prefaced when I heard her later version as being her mama's favorite song. This version's from back in the day as her afro attests to, and she here says it's her own favorite.

Yesterday You said Tomorrow

I'm out of the current music scene, but every once in a while come across someone that catches me; Christian Scott's one.

I heard him in an interview on NPR a while back, and he impressed me with his intelligence and poise. Then I heard his chops and kept him on my radar. Last Sunday, I saw him on his promo tour for his album. From his "Diz-angled" axe to his incorporation of other styles and influences - such as hip hop - this young man and his band - all young as well - can kill it.

Here's some footage from the gig - non-edited, because I'm lazy like that.

Cuts for Cooky: Peter Grant

I've been thinking of a way to broaden this category, so here's the first stab, a mention of Peter Grant.


Dude was so much larger than life that before a schlep like me had the slightest inkling of the way the world turned, I'd heard of Grant. It was probably in passing; a mention in one of the 70's staples like Creem or Interview (before it turned into the ho-rag it is), and no doubt in connection to reading about Led Zep. To call Zep's manager "just a manager" is like calling John Wooden "just a coach." He's that important.



That's Grant with Page and Plant. His claim to fame is the payouts he secured for Zep, reportedly 90% of the gate. This is of course impossible these days, but he was shrewd enough to know he had the biggest act in the business and he leveraged that fact to the hilt.


Even more was his personality, one that didn't suffer fools easily. His no nonsense approach in conjunction to him being physically huge (read: fat) led to his reputation. Put it this way; I didn't know the name of any other manager back in the day.



I think that's Bill Graham in the pic too.


The 60's and 70's were pivotal for obvious reasons, and it boiled all the way down to business. Take sports and Curt Flood's landmark stance for free agency, an historic act that forever changed pro sports. So too with Zeppelin and popular music, which with them paved the way for many other things, not the least of which is the shift from singles to AOR, or album oriented rock. That in turn led to making over radio stations, our MTV and Internet back then, and the way they approached playlists and advertising. It was not uncommon to tune into LA's mainstays KLOS, KMET or the legendary KPPC (always hard to get a clear signal on the latter, though) and hear full albums from back to front, often with a small break just to flip over a record.


DJs were also given freedom to create their own playlists and some would play lesser known tracks. This was how I taped a live performance of Zep's short-lived precursor, the Jimmy Page-led "New Yardbirds." On that tape I recorded Zep's mainstay, Dazed and Confused, which was flying under the banner then of I'm Confused and in a slightly less pretentious form.


History repeats itself, and now radio solely concentrates on singles - that's where the pr is. Concerts are now huge for the most mediocre talent; need I name names?


Lawyers run everything. [rolls eyes]


Here's a great story, whose truth I can't vouch for. It comes courtesy of the source for the first pic, one "Dara Lawlor," at:
http://advocatodiabolo.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/have-one-on-us/

This is a great rock ‘n’ roll story. It’s about Led Zeppelin boss Peter Grant’s exchange with a hotel manager as he was settling the bill following a typical night of room thrashing. The hotel manager was jealous that they were able to throw tvs out the window and not face the consequences.

Grant looked him in the eye, smiled, and said something along the lines of “you’re frustrated aren’t you?..I bet you’d love to do it too….Here have one on us” and added an extra $490 to the bill. The manager promptly ran up stairs and fired a tv from the top floor!


It wasn't all milk and cookies back then, and Zeppelin would have been a success with or without him. Yet there's no doubt among Page, Plant and Jones that their mega success was in no small part due to the fiercely loyal Peter Grant, the manager who changed the game.

White Girl: Exene

To have been of age in the late 70's/early 80's was to have experienced bizarro world. The move to "greed is good" was gearing up, and yuppies were everything I hated. LA was leading the nation in terms of coke consumption and, as usual, vapidity, but one of the ironies about being an industry town is the enormous overflow. Thus, punk's perfect petri dish was set.

The first time I heard X I'd already heard of them, but when Thrust threw in a casette in the dash of Los Angeles I casually pushed "off." Love at first listen it wasn't.

Later, I saw the cover...

...and decided any band that would have a cover as cool as that deserved a second chance. Besides, Ray Manzarek was producing, so the curiosity quotient went up a notch.

The thing that got me was their contrasts; Zoom was this rockabilly dude, Doe the Levis wearing blue collar dude, Bonebrake seemed like a skateboarder, and then there was this weird, ultra pale goth kinda nerd chick, eponymously named Exene.


And she "sang" kinda off, but somehow that off kilter approach worked in contrast to Doe's straightforward approach. An analogy could be drawn to Flav's craziness in contrast to Chuck's normal delivery in PE.

In her own way back then she was kinda cute.


Having been a musician, I acknowledged their talent in a sea of mediocrity - let's face it, while punk was fun, there were tons of bad hacks. The fact that there were so many good bands then is because there was such a huge pool to begin with coupled with unprecedented will to give them venues. So the music grabbed me, but then I started to read Exene's lyrics and I was really sold then. I love live shows, and that period delivered, but of them all, X stands out. It's cliche' to say, I know, but it's true; X was and is a great live band.

The reason I'm committing something here is because I found out not long ago that Exene has been diagnosed with MS. That bummed me out. I hope she does alright.



The following vid is jacked; dropouts and a real rough look complete with bad audio; there are slicker versions, but this one captures their live spirit better.