Edwyn Collins made a remarkable and unexpected comeback with Gorgeous George, and it's not hard to see why. The album represents a consolidation of Collins' skills as a songwriter, demonstrating both his vicious wit and his effortless melodicism. Working with former Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and bassist Claire Kenny, he develops the hardest-hitting musical attack of his career, but it's also surprisingly versatile, capable not only of glam rock, but also jangle pop, folk-rock and blue-eyed soul. And while Collins can occasionally be accused of lyrical sniping – the attack on Guns N' Roses in "North of Heaven" is simply silly – there's no denying that when his words and music hit the same target, such as on the darkly catchy Iggy Pop tribute "A Girl Like You," the results are wonderfully cerebral pop music.
Having found himself back in the commercial limelight with Gorgeous George, Collins followed it up with the equally – possibly even more – delightful I'm Not Following You. Trademark wit blended with passion intact and with key sideplayers drummer Paul Cook and bassist Clare Kenny helping out among many others – including a wonderfully scabrous vocal cameo by Mark E. Smith on the very disco "Seventies Night" – Collins tries all sorts of different things and more often than not comes up with the goods. "The Magic Piper (Of Love)" was the understandable lead single, catchy and with more than a little bite to it, drawing from finger-snapping hep-lounge Vegas sources and his own fun lyrics: "My girlfriend she got blotto/Half cut in Santa's grotto/It turns out he's a dirty old man." Add to that some just right flute and a clever brass sample that suddenly turns into an orchestrated sample from the Velvet Underground, and the man still has it. It's one of many joys throughout, with Collins showing a musical heterodoxy that would probably stupefy most other bands or acts.
Edwyn Collins sounds more relaxed and assured than ever on Doctor Syntax, his fifth solo album. Responsible for virtually every single sound on the album, other than some treatments and programming from Sebastian Lewsley and drums by Paul Cook, Collins focuses all of his energy into crafting fascinating postmodern tunes. Though there's a lo-fi feel to the beats and samples and only a modest amount of texture added to the guitars, it's a remarkably lush and layered-sounding album. Indeed, it even brings to mind the quasi-medieval rumblings of Momus and the mystical frivolity of Baby Bird, without those artists' trademark lunacy. Themes of Beatles adulation, condemned ex-lovers, and introspective questioning fit nicely with Collins' moody, quirky vibes. Gone is the rage and noise of I'm Not Following You, and in its place is a focus on sometimes gentle melodies and emotions. "Splitting Up" might be the most beautiful song Collins has ever recorded, as tender guitars paint tone poems over beckonings of "I'm feeling down/I'm splitting up"; just when the song appears to be over, three minutes of even more personal soul-revelations drive it into the stratosphere.
Before Woodstock and Monterey Pop, there was Festival. From 1963 through 1966, Murray Lerner visited the annual Newport Folk Festival to document a thriving, idealistic musical movement as it reached its peak as a popular phenomenon. Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Howlin’ Wolf, Johnny Cash, the Staple Singers, Pete Seeger, Son House, and Peter, Paul and Mary were just a few of the legends who shared the stage at Newport, treating audiences to a range of folk music that encompassed the genre’s roots in blues, country, and gospel as well as its newer flirtations with rock and roll…
A native of Xenia, Ohio, 17-year-old Una Mae Carlisle was performing in Cincinnati when Fats Waller heard her in 1932 and decided to give the young lady a boost into show business. It's not surprising then that she emulated Waller in style and repertoire. Her first recording date as a leader occurred in London on May 20th 1938. Una Mae takes "Don't Try Your Jive on Me" at a faster clip than the famous version by Fats Waller and His Continental Rhythm. Her piano is solid, the band swings and she has a pleasantly smooth voice. These qualities blossom during "I Would Do Anything for You" and especially throughout George Gershwin's "Love Walked In." Leonard Feather, composer of "My Fightin' Gal" and several other abject blues numbers based on unsavory topics, collaborated with Carlisle on "Hangover Blues"…
This 1975 Kudu album by Joe Beck was never reissued on CD in the United States but available only as a Japanese import on the King label. Beck is a masterpiece of mid-'70s funky jazz and fusion. Beck retired in 1971 to be a dairy farmer. He returned to make this album his opus. Featuring David Sanborn, Don Grolnick, Will Lee, and Chris Parker, all of the album's six tracks were recorded in two days. Overdubs were done in another day and the minimal strings added by Don Sebesky were added on a third day. "Star Fire" opens the set and features the interplay of Beck's riffing and lead fills with Sanborn's timely, rhythmic legato phrasing, and the communication level is high and the groove level even higher. On "Texas Ann," another Beck original, Sanborn hits the blues stride from the jump, but Beck comes in adding the funk underneath Grolnick's keyboard while never losing his Albert Collins' feel. On "Red Eye," Beck's two- and three-chord funk vamps inform the verse while Sebesky's unobtrusive strings provide a gorgeous backdrop for Sanborn, who stays in the mellow pocket until the refrains, when he cuts loose in his best Maceo Parker. The deep funk of Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin's "Café Black Rose" showcases the band's commitment to groove jazz with a razor's edge.