Category: Music
I was born in 1973, which was an incredible year for recorded music. As I look over the list of albums released that year, I’m struck again and again by the number of influential recordings, and also by how many of them are important albums for me all these years later. The following is a small sampling of some of the music made in 1973.
Hall & Oates – Abandoned Luncheonette | John Fahey – After The Ball | David Bowie – Aladdin Sane | Wings – Band On The Run | Lou Reed – Berlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire | Donald Byrd – Black Byrd | Emerson Lake & Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery | Allman Brothers – Brothers And Sisters | Bob Marley – Burnin’ | Al Green – Call Me | Dave Holland – Conference Of The Birds | Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop | Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstacy | Chick Corea & Gary Burton – Crystal Silence | Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon | James Brown – Doing It To Death | Elton John – Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player | Sly & The Family Stone – Fresh | Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters | Steve Miller Band – The Joker | Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly | Chuck Mangione – Land Of Make Believe | King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues In Aspic | Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On | Return To Forever – Light As A Feather | Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin – Love Devotion Surrender | John Lennon – Mind Games | Gary Burton – The New Quartet | Robert Fripp & Brian Eno – (No Pussyfooting) | George Carlin – Occupation: Foole | John Cale – Paris 1919 | Billy Joel – Piano Man | Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle | The Who – Quadrophenia | Wings – Red Rose Speedway | Genesis – Selling England By The Pound | McCoy Tyner – Song Of The New World | Sun Ra – Space Is The Place | Yes – Tales From Topographic Oceans | Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin’ Simon | ZZ Top – Tres Hombres | Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle
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I did this before work this morning. It’s possible I have too much free time.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHU8CM1fbG4&w=560&h=315]
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napkin poem
how many times in how many bars
on how many napkins
text bleeding into the cheap paper
better suited for soaking up
condensation and mistakes
the band is playing “A Felicidade”
we are talking but not talking
text and subtext and saxophone
trying to avoid monkey clapping
loose lips sink ships
/ / /
28 February 2014
Zola, State College
Never heard “A Felicidade”? Enjoy.
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pages
I opened the file
it contained two pages
of quotes from journalists
gushing about you
but not one from me
I have been neatly
edited out of your biography
struck from the record
of your accomplishments
left behind by the parade
of your admirers
where once you eagerly
sought my counsel
now your people
send group messages
on which my name
is one among many
it’s only fair
I’ve excised you as well
opened up my biography
removed the pages
on which you’re mentioned
leaving a slight fraying
on the binding, nothing more
/ / /
25 February 2014
Oak Street
on listening to Bach’s six suites for unaccompanied cello
out in the living room
Rostropovich is playing
Bach’s cello suites
he takes the first
at breakneck tempo
the familiar intervals
whipping by as if heard
from the window
of a passing automobile
while in the bedroom
two bodies entwine
smiling laughing sighing
heat pours off the radiator
onto already sweaty skin
as the cello comes
to the climactic end
of the 1st suite
in the silence her yes
slips out softly
his low note of passion
as they begin again
masked by the climbing vine
growing from the cello
at the start of the 2nd suite
/ / /
11 February 2014
Oak Street
he talks to his lover about music
I’ve heard this song before but I never noticed this bit here where they sing your name. No, seriously. I’ll play it again. Listen. Right after this line. I’m sure they sing your name. Just once, with some tasty harmony, too. I didn’t notice it the first fifteen times I listened to it today. But for some reason, on the sixteenth time through, it hit me. I had to go back several times to be sure. But I’m sure now. Every time it gets to that part, even if I’m doing something else, I get these little goosebumps on my arms and my cheeks get red. It’s the funniest thing. I can’t believe you don’t hear it. It’s so clear. Maybe if you got closer to the speakers. Come right down here on the floor. Close your eyes. Now just focus on the music. OK? I’m going to start the song. Wait. Wait. Almost there. Right … now. Did you catch it? It’s the coolest thing. Anyway, I just wanted to play that for you. I wanted you to know that I find you in the everyday places. In the small things. You pop up unexpectedly like a patch of wildflowers seen quickly along the highway. A brief flash of color and then it’s gone and I’m not even sure I saw it but it stays with me.
/ / /
30 January 2014
Oak Street
I asked on Facebook and Twitter for your suggestions regarding the best album to play to an alien visitor who landed on Earth and asked to know what rock music is. The Beatles were mentioned four times, with two mentions each for Chuck Berry, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Here’s the list:
- Tracy Kristen Parker: Radiohead, The Bends or The Beatles, Abbey Road
- Dmitri Matheny: Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
- Dave Bonta: The Ramones (first album), Metallica, Garage Days Revisited
- David Beckett: Chuck Berry, The Great 28
- Rita Jean: Fleetwood Mac, Rumors
- Lucious Dick Tacoma: T.Rex, Electric Warrior or AC/DC Back in Black
- David Hill: Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II
- Don Levy: The Beatles, Revolver
- David Menestres: Chuck Berry, After School Session
- Max Johnson: Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
- Adam Niewood: Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy
- Patrick McCurry: U2, Joshua Tree
- Peggy Lalone’s husband: Alice Cooper, Zipper Catches Skin
- Dean Bonner: Steve Hillage, Light In The Sky
- Annine Everson: The Beatles, Revolver
- Stephen Buono: Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
- Brett Porter: The Beatles, White Album
you
Dave Von Ronk is singing
about John Henry and bamboo.
I’m sitting at my desk, waiting
for the sun to rise, thinking
about the same thing this morning
I was thinking about last night.
30 December 2013
State College
Dizzy Gillespie At Newport, 1957
wailing
everyone is wailing
trumpets splitting
the blue Rhode Island sky
bringing the crowd
to its feet
in a surge
the dam breaking
women in summer dresses
men in linen pants
white short-sleeved shirts
they swirl and jump
hands grabbing
sweat on their foreheads
back on stage
Dizzy is dancing
thick black glasses
years ahead of his time
bell pointing at heaven
the saxophones slither
as the song builds
to a crashing avalanche
loud enough
to compete
with the howls
from the lawn
when the ending comes
it takes the people a moment
to realize it’s over
then their screaming gets
if anything
louder
until Dizzy says
“silence”
and the crowd obeys
just another collection
of instruments
on this summer afternoon
28 December 2013
State College
I turned to Twitter (follow me) and Facebook (friend me) many times this year for ideas about things to read, listen to and watch. Then I compiled those suggestions here. And now I’ve compiled the compilations. Enjoy!
- Your favorite fantasy series
- Your favorite Doctor Who stories from Big Finish
- Your favorite TV themes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8
- Your favorite undersea films
- Your favorite Westerns
- Your favorite podcasts
- Your favorite recent albums (May)