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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

ain't nothin' bland about him


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glisten - Lucky 13 Pt. 9: Back Off, Baby

A fabulous double header for you on this sunny Spring Wednesday: a pair of incredible, soul-quakers from two of the greatest bluesmen of the century. Tuck in and start downloading; these are prime vittles!

17. Bobby 'Blue' Bland - You've Got Bad Intentions

Bobby 'Blue' Bland is a Tennessee treasure and a well-known champion of the "Memphis Sound".

'Bad Intentions' is one of Bland's first pop hits; it's also an excellent example of his unique brand of velvety, soulful squalling. I don't know about you, but it took me a few listens to realize that there was no harmonica solo after the second verse... that's Bland vocalizing!

Some vicious lyrics on here, too:
"You say you can't go on living/ if you can't be by my side /Gonna send you a bottle of poison/ Please commit suicide"
Damn, that's HARSH!

tell me more about it...

No eMusic, but plenty of iTunes love if you want to get more Bland's music online. Truthfully, this might be a case where a best-of disc would serve you as well as anything.

The one you probably want is The Anthology, available from Amazon for twenty-three bucks. It charts thirty years of Bland's career over two discs; you'll find 'Bad Intentions' on there as well.
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Listen to (and download) Bland's Ray-Charles-esque heartbreaker 'Touch of the Blues' on Livin'Blues.com.
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Read this history of Bland and this lengthy Salon essay.
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Tip of th' Tofu hat to Adventures of a University Finalist, who ran a Bland post with 'Bad Intentions' way back in '05.
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If there's a worse intention than a pop to the kisser, I've yet to see it.

18. Charles Brown (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) - It Ain't Gonna Be Like That

The name Charles Brown brings Charles Schultz to mind for most people. More's the pity; they're missing out on one of the great pianists of our time.

Brown was an amazingly prolific and successful piano player throughout the 1940's. He is regularly recognized as a major influence on Brother Ray, but he's likely best known for his perennial holiday classic 'Merry Christmas, Baby'.

Charles Brown stayed active and recording for a good sixty years. His impressive career took an upturn late in life when Bonnie Raitt added him as her opening act in the nineties.

This track finds Brown behind the ivories for a trademark smooth blues song with a combo known as The Three Blazers; the cool cat on the mike is Johnny Moore (no relation to the Johnny Moore who sang with The Drifters).

tell me more about it...

Though not especially well known by the layman, Charles Brown's discography is luckily still very much in print. You'll be able to find plenty on iTunes and on eMusic... including this comprehensive five disc, 120 song set of Brown's recordings from the 1940's... well, almost comprehensive.

If you want a disc with 'Ain't Gonna Be Like That' on it, you'll have to sojourn to Amazon for this Johnny Moore's 3 Blazers reissue of their Swingtime recordings. It's nice stuff and worth a listen.

Charles Brown isn't very well served on the web, but you can still read Brown's Rock + Roll Hall of Fame induction page and his obit.

This is the requisite Charlie Brown link.

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spiffy

Twenty-six number one singles, but we're not listening until you sing in English?

Well, t'hell with that; I'm off to Bollysongs.com.

Pop-ups out th' wazoo, but live DLs; get em while they're hawt.
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"Place a rubber duck on your monitor and describe your problems to it. There's something magical about stating your problems aloud that makes the solution more clear."

But what if your problem is that you talk to inanimate objects?
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Here's a pair of oddball gaming links for you: A student who was shot and paralyzed in the Columbine killings talks about Super Columbine Massacre RPG.

Especially interesting in that the kid wants to work in the gaming industry as a sound designer.

Speaking of which, In The Pit is a sound only videogame (that requires a xbox360 controller, boo) in which you play a blind monster that stalks people thrown into your lair.
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Pimpadelic Wonderland
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It is with great excitement and a sense of relief that I welcome the first (that I know of) independently run, classical-themed audioblogs into our midst; make them feel welcome.

A big hand for classical connection, le roi s'amuse, different waters and master fade.
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As part of an effort to stop the imminent operation of the Nuclear reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, electronic elder statesman Ryuichi Sakamoto has posted a handful of tracks for downloading and remixing.
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And continuing on the nuclear theme: set aside about ten minutes, turn your speakers down and commit to watching The Legacy of Chernobyl.

Be warned: this is as sad and obscene as anything I've ever posted. It's heartbreaking, but it should be seen.

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