Here is an exquisitely painful audio experience. It’s from the Beach Boys recording session for “Help Me Rhonda.” Also present in the studio was the insufferable one-eyed Wilson father, Murry. Listen to this and you’ll know why one-eared son Brian fired his father as manager of the band.
Thanks to WFMU for making this timeless recording available.
I only vaguely have an awareness of country music singer Toby Keith. About all I can recall is the feud he had with the Dixie Chicks — who turned out to be right, of course, about George Bush. Stephen Colbert had Toby Keith on his show tonight. If Keith isn’t putting on a front, this guy is a total moron. The song Keith sings is the usual sort of unoriginal, by-the-numbers crap that guys like him do. Hey, talent like that goes only so far, y’know? Steve Earle he ain’t, musically or politically.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUN07/ColbertJUN19.flv 400 300]
There’s a lot of coverage about the 40th anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival. NPR has a nice segment on it with Michelle Phillips and record producer Lou Adler, who was one of the organizers of the show. [Link] Although it’s funny, because there was almost nothing about the festival that was Pop music. It was, I would say, the moment that Pop music for AM radio lost its dominance. FM alternative radio would appear in cities across the U.S. in a matter of months.
Janis Joplin singing “Ball and Chain” is amazing. One highlight among many, from the Monterey Pop Festival. I checked out the offerings of “Ball and Chain” on YouTube and found all of them lacking, so I’ve made my own video transfer.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUN07/Monterey.flv 400 300]
Oh my goodness, look how young she was! Unbelievable. So long ago.
Something I find interesting are the parallels and differences between Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Jefferson Airplane. Both were fronted by a forceful and neurotic woman, although Janis was much more bluesy than Grace Slick, of course. The Jefferson Airplane turned political, and Joplin left her psychedelic backup band behind, which I must admit was when I lost interest in her. Play the video again. Now listen to this.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUN07/IPutASpellOnYou.mp3]Hmm… what do you think?
At the moment, I’m listening to WGBH radio in Boston, which is playing “The Two Sides of Sgt. Pepper”, a documentary on the making of the album and its impact and influence, then and now. It’s pretty good, and is available for listening online. [Link]
Back on June 2, before The Bad Thing happened to my database, I had noted the 40th anniversary of the American release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and compared the audio quality of an American LP on the Apple label, and a pressing from the glory days of British vinyl, using “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Hmm. Y’know, I’m not sure myself now, which is which. I’ll have to click back-and-forth to figure it out. Just did it. Oh, it’s obvious, which is better.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUN07/LucyInTheSkyWithDiamonds.mp3]
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUN07/lucyskydiamonds.mp3]
Another May post that was lost was the Frank Sinatra LP “Come Dance With Me.”
