record collection revisited: J.J. Cale Anyway The Wind Blows: The Anthology

J.J. Cale is one of the greatest, and most prolific songwriters ever.  He is an innovator and originator of the "Tulsa sound" which is a combination of country, rock, folk and jazz.  He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has always shunned fame in a way even though he is aware of the significance of his great catalog of songs that he's written.  Some of the most famous being "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" covered by Eric Clapton, and "Call Me The Breeze" covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd. 

Other people to cover his songs include Randy Crawford, Maria Muldaur, Herbie Mann, Poco, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Dr. Hook, Redbone, Nazareth, The Jack Saints, Lee Hazelwood, Mark Gayden, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Pat Travers, Beck, Widespread Panic, Carlos Santana and others.  The album being put in perspective here is an anthology with 50 of Cale's best songs on it.

Cale has what is called a "laid back" sound.  It could be that he's disputed this title that the critics have given him.  But, he just has a unique style of singing and on his records has also handled guitar and keyboards along with a band that included several more musician friends of his from Tulsa including Christine Lakeland on guitar, Gary Gilmore and Bill Raffensperger on bass, Rocky Frisco on keyboards, and Jimmy Karstein on drums, just to name a few.

Disc 1

1. Call Me The Breeze
2. Crazy Mama
3. Magnolia
4. After Midnight
5. Lies
6. Changes
7. If You're Ever In Oklahoma
8. Midnight In Memphis (instrumental)
9. Cajun Moon
10. Rock & Roll Records
11. Any Way The Wind Blows
12. Crying
13. Everlovin' Woman
14. I Got The Same Old Blues
15. Woke Up This Morning
16. Cocaine
17. The Woman That Got Away
18. Ride Me High
19. Hey Baby
20. Durango (live)
21. I'll Make Love To You Anytime
22. Don't Cry Sister
23. Thirteen Days
24. Things Ain't Simple
25. Sensitive Kind

Disc 2

1. Carry On
2. Runaround (live)
3. Mama Don't (live) *Doc Watson cover
4. City Girls
5. Devil in Disguise
6. You Keep Me Hangin' On
7. Downtown L.A.
8. A Thing Going On
9. Don't Wait
10. Wish I Had Me a Dollar (live)
11. Money Talks
12. Hard Times
13. People Lie
14. Unemployment
15. Trouble In The City
16. Santa Cruz
17. Shanghaied
18. Change Your Mind
19. New Orleans
20. Humdinger
21. Lonesome Train
22. Jailer
23. Artificial Paradise
24. Long Way Home
25. Closer To You

Prolific might just be an understatement to describe the number of songs Cale has written.  Originally, he was going to be known by his given name of John Cale but could not do that because he would be confused with Welsh musician John Davies Cale who was a founder of the band, The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed.  So, he has been known as J.J. Cale and that's how fans have identified with him throughout his career.  He's written a bunch of songs and they have held up well whether they've been covered by other bands or performed by Cale himself.  Definitely look into the vast catalog of J.J. Cale songs.  Trust me, there will be at least a few that are automatically recognizable to most music lovers.

record collection revisited: Chick Corea Elektric Band

The self titled release by the Chick Corea Elektric Band in 1986 was a slight departure from Corea's work with Return To Forever, keeping that sound, but polishing it even more with the addition of '80s synthesizers and much production.  Still, this album is worth it's weight because the compositions are pretty fascinating to listen to just for what they are, blending elements of old school, "real" jazz, with those of fusion which are obviously on an electric plateau entirely.

Corea plays with many talented musicians on this album and each lineup is different (slightly), depending on the song.  The band members in the Elektric Band at the time of this recording in '86 (as Corea has had it as a side project and/or full-time band when not touring with Return To Forever), are:

Chick Corea: MIDI Rhodes, Yamaha TX816's, Yamaha KX88, Synclavier, Fairlight, Linn 9000, Yamaha KX5, Mini Moog, Yamaha GS1, Yamaha DX7 & gong

John Pattitucci: basses (upright & electric, including Smith/Jackson 6 string electric, Pollman acoustic, & Fender Jazz basses)

Scott Henderson: guitar

Carlos Rios: guitar

Dave Weckl: Yamaha, Simmons & Linn electric drums, drums 

This album is full of electronic instruments, but the sound of it doesn't really reflect that.  It's an enjoyable and adventurous recording to listen to as the songs have many cool grooves and do justice to classic jazz ("Got A Match") and electronic music/fusion jazz in the guises of songs like "Side Walk" or "Elektric City" as two examples.  Here's the full track listing.

1. City Gate
2. Rumble
3. Side Walk
4. Cool Weasel Boogie
5. Got A Match?
6. Elektric City
7. No Zone
8. King Cockroach
9. India Town
10. All Love
11. Silver Temple

Check out this record if you are a full fledged Chick Corea fan, or even if you are just interested in synthesizer driven music.

Chick Corea Elektric Band "King Cockroach"

More music from the Chick Corea Elektric Band.  This tune is "King Cockroach" also off the 1986 self titled album.  Scott Henderson on guitar and John Patitucci on bass really lock into a groove here.  Check it out.

Chick Corea Elektric Band "Elektric City"

A Happy 4th of July to everyone.  Here is some of what I've been listening to lately.  This is the Chick Corea Elektric Band featuring Chick Corea, John Pattitucci and Carlos Rios (among other musicians).  A full review of this album will be blogged soon.  But, in anticipation of that, here's my favorite track off the album so far.  This one is called "Elektric City".  Stay tuned for more songs from the Elektric Band and a full review of this album to follow later on.

record collection revisited: Miles Davis "Get Up With It"

As readers of this blog well know, I am a diehard fan of Miles Davis and most of his work, especially his groundbreaking fusion albums of the '70s.  However, by 1974's "Get Up With It", though Miles was in his prime and at the peak of creativity, there's something to this album that misses the mark.  A lot of it is just Miles, in a drug clouded haze, coming up with long instrumental pieces that can't really make a whole lot of sense to the listener's ear.

I mean, for a lot of the record he relies upon playing organ rather than trumpet and finds these odd sounding melodies that are worked with by both he and the band.  At this point in time he had a revolving door of different players he worked with as this album (like most of Miles' work in this time period), had sporadic starts and stops.  It is utterly one of the weirdest albums I've ever heard.  I'll admit it.  I am a diehard Miles fan.  But, this album, despite the fact that I bought it in order to discover what it was about, it doesn't really have much meaning.

The opening track "He Loved Him Madly" is a weird, Eastern sounding mishmash of guitar, organ and drums, trying to sound like an electrified version of a piece by Ali Akbar Khan or Raavi Shankar, but in the process, being haunting and very mysterious instead.  There is so much open space between the instruments that kind of drone in and out that include Miles Davis on organ of all things (he plays some trumpet, but not much), Dave Liebman on alto flute, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas and Dominique Gaumont on guitars, Michael Henderson on bass, Al Foster on drums, and Mtume, on percussion.

It's a modal, haunting song that stays in one spot for the duration.  "Maiysha", the second track does that same thing.  It's in a minor vamp and has a bit of a groove to it with guitar and percussion, but, there is also a lot of organ that though it fits the tune, is kind of incessant.  This is the same band for "He Loved Him Madly" except, changing flautists from Dave Liebman to Sonny Fortune.  Miles plays more trumpet here and the song changes in places, but not much, despite retaining what could be considered a reggae feel.

"Honky Tonk" takes some grooves from a couple of his other early '70s records (I think "Live Evil"), mashing them together.  So, Miles did use recycled material on some tracks.  "Rated X" is another haunting organ based piece that sounds exactly like something out of a cheesy haunted house scene on Halloween night.  "Calypso Frelimo" and "Mtume" (the name of one of the percussionists on the record), are both grooves that seem to work out OK to the ear, but can get tedious.

The only really cool tune on this record is "Red China Blues", and no, don't ask if it relates to Communism or not because Miles just gave a lot of weird titles to some of his tracks at this period in time.  What's cool about this track is the bluesy vamp and also the harmonica played by Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers, incorrectly identified as Wally Chambers on the liner notes of the record.  Wally Chambers was of course, a football player who played during the 1970s as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.   

Here is the track listing for "Get Up With It"

Disc 1

1. He Loved Him Madly
2. Maiysha
3. Honky Tonk
4. Rated X

Disc 2

1. Calypso Frelimo
2. Red China Blues
3. Mtume
4. Billy Preston

Chick Corea Elektric Band: "Time Track"

Here is a wicked track from Chick Corea's other main project aside from Return To Forever called The Elektric Band.  This footage and tune (entitled "Time Track") is from the late 1980s or early '90s.  The band features Chick Corea on keyboards, John Pattitucci on bass, Eric Marienthal on saxophones, Frank Gambale on guitar, and Dave Weckl on drums.

Mike Oldfield "Tubular Bells"

Here (for your listening pleasure) is an album that a friend of mine recently told me about.  Mike Oldfield, "Tubular Bells" from 1973.  Oldfield is interesting as he is a composer, keyboardist, and guitarist.  He writes and produces his own albums and this one particularly is of interest after hearing it.  In the middle of the composition, Oldfield name checks ALL the instruments used in the arrangement, too!  There are some amazing and utterly weird sounds that come from this record, especially towards the end of the record when Oldfield is acting like a raging monster because he gets angry about having a producer come in and tell him HOW to arrange and work on his OWN record.  Any musician can relate to that.  But, in posting this, I just thought it would be a real interesting thing to hear.

The track listing is simply Tubular Bells Part 1 and Tubular Bells Part 2.  Check it out.