Category: pop

Rio

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Twenty-six years later I finally got around to tracking down the video to Michael Nesmith’s ‘Rio’ and I ask you: has there been even a single music video better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnpcTsy10dE

I think not.

A-Ha’s “Take On Me” comes close as a video, but when you compare the songs themselves, contest over. And when you consider that, until Nez blazed across the sky, ‘music video’ meant film of a band performing, not visions of Salvador Dali, it’s even more remarkable to see him flying through the sky with three Carmen Mirandas aboard.

The song stops me in my tracks every time I hear it (I own both ‘The Older Stuff’ and ‘The Newer Stuff’) but watching the video again for the first time in 20 years was overwhelming. I officially don’t care if my own genius goes unrecognized by the masses; Nez has been his fans’ best-kept secret for four decades and he don’t care.

The first music video to win a Grammy, ‘Rio’ was first featured in ‘Elephant Parts’ the same year MTV played their first video. (Guess who invented MTV? Yup; Nez. Bonus Question: What was the first video MTV played?)

You could buy ‘Elephant Parts’ at Amazon (and I’d get fifty cents) but buy it from Nez’s Video Ranch instead. Yeah, I need the money more than he does, but there are loftier ideals at work this morning.

Driving Miss Minnie

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[az]6306012419[/az][az]B0002W4T4O[/az]Although I’m not completely up to date on actresses half my age (well, not quite) it was impossible to ignore Minnie Driver’s cuteness (I mean it in the best possible way) in the movie ‘Return to Me.’

Not long after I saw it for the first time one of my music magazines, probably the now-defunct ‘Tracks’, delivered a sampler CD with Minnie’s “Everything I’ve Got in My Pocket” on it. Driver was a singer before her acting career, so it’s no surprise that the vocals on the tune are warm and personal; just enough breathiness to sound intimate without losing the open friendliness in the lyrics.

Her second album was just released, meaning I’m falling behind, as usual.

On Winter Trees, the Fruit of Rain

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[az]B000AOENJA[/az]David Gray’s “Life in Slow Motion” has spent a lot of driving time with me of late, and I especially find myself waiting for “Ain’t No Love.” Gray has a way of playing the piano slowly while rushing through the lyrics at double-speed, creating tension that still seems to flow without effort.

About a man trying to convince himself that he’s lost faith (okay, in my head that’s what it’s about, but when I listen to a song, it’s about what I say it’s about, right?) there’s plenty of sad imagery involving a little girl which tugs at me with thoughts of my own little one, but there’s also enough word painting to make it a lyric-writing lesson. I especially like the opening of the last verse:

 On winter trees the fruit of rain Is hanging trembling in the branches Like a thousand diamond buds

As always, it’s surrounded by an album full of excellent writing and performing, and includes lots of groovy extras on the DVD side of the dual-disc format.

The Grassies

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Northern California now has a music award.

The Grassies are the Northern California Artistic Achievement Award. Named in part for The GrassiesGrass Valley, where the first awards will be presented, and in part for the grassroots artists they honor, The Grassies are an idea long overdue. Originally intended to be a purely musical award, we The Grassie(Co-Founder and Primary Evangelist Andy Gonzales and Know Your Music writer, Grassies Co-Founder and Anamchara Eolais Joel D ‘spinhead’ Canfield) realized it needed to encompass the arts in general to match our vision.

The First Annual Grassies will be the highlight of the Nevada County Music Expo on April 28th, 2007; all the pertinent info is at The Grassies website. While most of the awards are given to artists and others in music-related fields who are still on the rise, the Masters and Mentors Award is a special award for a grassroots artist who has, in some sense, made it. This year’s recipient is The King of Surf Guitar, Mr. Dick Dale.

The Expo will include workshops, live performances, vendor booths of all kinds from local bands, stores, and other artists, food, and more. Admission is free.

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For? (8)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Another lazy post based on searches, and my best guess at what you were looking for.

In no particular order:

  • “dido my love is gone” – still one of my favorite songs; here you go
  • “another carsong” – I’m writing one; does that count?
  • “doesn t mean i don t love you” – oh, good
  • “i changed the lock on my front door” – Lucinda Williams’ song with no chorus
  • “imogen heap” – ah; I’ll have to borrow rush’s CD and write about this amazing performer
  • “kid” – my least favorite Pretenders song. For some reason, one of their most popular. Must be me.
  • “parting glass” – a lifelong favorite from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, featured in “Waking Ned Divine“
  • “squirrel nut zippers evening at lafitte s” – great jazz, featuring the luscious voice of Kathleen Whalen. Possibly a unique album.
  • “te hoe poti i tahiti” – I am at a total loss; I know no Tahitian music whatsoever, except for the collaboration between Chet Atkins and Mark Kopfler (on ‘Neck and Neck’) playing ‘Tahitian Skies‘

Annie Lennox Bare – What a Thought

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Last year, rush bought her mom and I Annie Lennox’s album “Bare” and it’s barely been out of my CD player ever since. A full review is in order, but for the moment I’ll simply comment on the stunning and mesmerising vocal arrangements. The melodies themselves are often quite simple, but Annie’s voice in layer upon layer creates quite an emotional experience.

Somehow I still don’t own “Diva” or “Medusa”, but perhaps they’ll make nice coming home presents for Best Beloved when she’s finally released from her three-month hospital stay.

Searching in Memphis?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Every week, about a dozen searches are performed here at KnowYourMusic.com for the phrase ‘walking in memphis’ which is what led to the additional header at the top of the page.

Anyone know the source of this interest? Wanna share it with me? I’m particularly fond of the tune, and particularly proud of my commentary on it, so I’m curious how others feel about both the tune and the commentary.

Amazing Instrumentals

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

A while back we referred to Nickle Creek’s “Smoothie Song” as the first instrumental to reach the top of the AAA charts. An astute and musically enlightened reader, Craig Handyside, asked about the AAA charts and drew my attention to one of the greatest instrumentals ever written or performed, reaching the top of the pop charts in 1967, Mason Williams’ “Classical Gas.”‘

[az]B000002KAK[/az]First note that the AAA charts are a reasonably recent phenomenon in the music world and as far as can determine, not available online so we can’t do much research into their history. However, if we cast aside all this “which chart are we using” pontificating, “Classical Gas” surely stands, if not alone, at least head and shoulders above the plethora of guitar instrumentals before and since.

Williams has been oft quoted explaining the song’s original title “Classical Gasoline” and the fortuitous mistake that shortened it to “Classical Gas“, carrying the additional groovy connotations of ‘gas’ which Williams hadn’t even considered in the original title. The original release on the Mason Williams Phonograph Record seemed doomed to commercial failure as an album, since this blistering jazz, rock, acoustic guitar instrumental was surrounded by country music, silly pop songs, novelty tunes and elevator music (all of which is spectacular beyond belief),

For example, “The Prince’s Panties” engages in fantastical word play and mental imagery while leading to a painfully punny finale, all the while accompanied by silly, spritely, hummable music. The country tune “Long Time Blues” is worthy of airplay on any country station in any decade. While Williams has included “Classical Gas” on two recordings, the “Phonograph Record” and “Classical Gas” with Mannheim Steamroller, the final track on the “Phonograph Record”, “Baroque-A-Nova” actually appears on all three existing Williams albums in different arrangements; one choral, one guitar, and one [az]B0000005MN[/az]Chip Davis/Mannheim Steamroller special deluxe extra.

Williams, a brilliant guitarist, composer, and comic writer, has received too little praise and recognition for so great a contribution to the arts. Here’s hoping for another solo effort or even another collaboration with Mannheim Steamroller.

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For? (4)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Finally catching up on recent searches. In descending order (I’m a database guy; I do things this way):

  • “walking in memphis”—Ah, Marc Cohn‘s voice and piano . . .
  • “what s it s like to be the bad one” and “to be the bad one”—Actually, it’s “No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man; to be the sad man behind blue eyes . . . ” Often touted as the best rock album of all time (it’s at least in the top 10) “Who's NextWho’s Next” needs more time than I have at the moment. Half beautiful ballad, half angry snarling, “Behind Blue Eyes” is often overshadowed by its position on the album, which places it just before one of the all-time-great crankers, “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” We’ll come back to it; honest.
  • “gypsy jazz”—Django, or Robin Nolan?
  • “beethoven”—mentioned in Boating with a Finn and Renaissance Woman’s Journey Within
  • “jude cole”—”A View from Third Street“
  • “tank”—Jumping Japanese Jazz!
  • “boyz 2 man”—nope
  • “circle of two”—Though I’ve never heard Steve and Annie Chapman, you’ll find all you need to know at their website, including links to buy their music.