LEARNING THE HARD WAY NEVER SOUNDED SO EASY

Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings: I Learned The Hard Way
From I Learned The Hard Way (Daptone, 2010)

Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings have built a reputation over the past decade of being purveyors of the classic, mostly '60s, soul sound. A lot of their previous material, in my opinion, has leaned heavily on cloning that sound, albeit in a very good way. “I Learned The Hard Way,” on the other hand, seems more fresh and contemporary in using that sound as an inspiration instead of the foundation and is a great step forward for the collective.

The album has great synergy between all parties involved. The background singers interplay with Sharon throughout, especially apparent on the title track, while teaming up to address the one who left them scorned. It's not so much a call and response as it is tag team affair.

One of my favorite moments in the entire record is the outro of “Better Things” with the harmonizing on the fadeout featuring the background singers repeating the hook, “Better things to do/Than to remember you,” over and over while Sharon Jones ad libs. It's a classy touch that brings back a slight '60s touch that last for all of about 20 seconds, but it's such a nice nuance.

The blistering “Money” (not a cover of the Barrett Strong song of the same name) is one of the most aggressive and original tracks the group has done with its socially thematic premise. It's a step away from the love theme they've covered in various ways over three previous albums. Come Record Store Day, you'll also be able to find this as a b-side as a cross promotion with the Budos Band's cover of The Beatles' “Day Tripper” on 7-inch wax.

On a different vibe is the closing track, “Mama Don't Like My Man,” which is an acoustic affair that is stylistically different from anything I've heard from the band. If you weren't paying attention, you would think you were listening to a lost Naomi Shelton And The Gospel Queens track given its churchy feeling with handclaps providing the rhythmic timing. Upon first listen, I swore Edna Johnson, Bobbie Gant, or Cynthia Langston of The Gospel Queens were providing background vocals. To my surprise, they weren't featured, however.

Many of the Dap-Kings crew get a writing credit on the set including Tommy “TNT” Brenneck, Bosco Mann, Dave Guy, and Homer Steinwess. The group has certainly developed their own style as you hear bits and pieces that make you recall the Menahan Street Band, which features many of the same players.

It wouldn't be a modern release without spreading several bonus tracks over to different retailers. It's not a practice I'm fond of, but at least you have the option to buy the tracks individually.

Bonus tracks:

Without A Trace (Amazon)
He Said I Can (iTunes)
When I Come Home (Daptone) (If the 30-second clip from the Daptone site doesn't give you all you want to hear, you can also hear the full version of this at Rolling Stone's site.)

SONG OF THE DAY: April 13, 2010

Edie Brickell: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
From Edie Brickell And The New Bohemians: Ultimate Collection (Hip-O, 2002)

Perhaps one of my favorite covers of all time is Edie Brickell's cover of this Bob Dylan classic. It may be better than the original. At the very least, Brickell's singing voice is an easier pill to swallow. The New Bohemians do a great service by not overplaying the arrangement and simply letting it ride.

Originally, this song appeared on the soundtrack to Oliver Stone's “Born On The Fourth Of July,” which is apparently now out of print.

MINIMAL WAVE, MAXIMUM EFFECT

Crash Course In Science: Flying Turns
From The Minimal Wave Tapes, Volume One (Stones Throw, 2010)

The '80s aren't my favorite period of music, which is funny considering that was the era of my formative years. Pop music just was not in a good space throughout most of that period, in my humble opinion, although to be fair there was some great music, too.

One of my beefs with the '80s is that new wave was never a big sub-genre I cared to hear. A few weeks ago I got a promo of this set and popped it in the player even though I wasn't sure it would do much for me, but what can I say? - I'm a whore for music.

My impression overall for the musical performances themselves were what I'd call historically futuristic. The vocals certainly sound dated typically, and to an end the production does, too. There's just something about the way they use some of their synths in these tracks that sounds like something that you could hear at a rave alongside some techno here in the present. I can only imagine the effects that listening to them while under the influence of your drug of choice (not that I'm promoting that lifestyle).

For example, “Flying Turns” by Crash Course In Science on first listen doesn't sound like it was created in 1981 (minus the vocals). Those computerized, fuzzy tones that blast throughout sound like something Timbaland would have cooked up for Justin Timberlake's “Futuresex/Lovesounds” sessions as some sort of bastardized version of “Sexyback” or as a second movement to the track. (Don't front, you know that shit was/is hot no matter how many times you heard it on the airwaves).

The entire compilation has its roots in the “wave” movement whether you want to call it new wave, minimal wave, whatever. These tracks earned their name with their minimalist approach to the music as well as to their original distribution, which was either vinyl or cassette (yikes!). Whether or not they have stood the test of time – and some of these tracks have done that more than others – isn't so much the issue as is the premise of collecting a capsule of the experimentation of the period, like it or not – and this set in particular was more hit than miss.

If songs like this pique your interest, there's plenty more where they came from via Minimal Wave (the label) curator Veronica Vasicka who releases them on vinyl only. She also runs her own show on East Village Radio, a station we've highlighted here previously on Record Racks.

JAZZ AT ITS ABSOLUTE FINEST

PE Hewitt Jazz Ensemble: Cat House Blues
From Winter Winds – The Complete Works: 1968-1970 (Now Again, 2010)

Phil Hewitt, aka PE Hewitt, is not a well-known music figure these days even though he has performed at The White House in his lifetime, an honor not bestowed upon just anyone. Despite that, he's never acquired a great renown. Perhaps it was because he only had a paucity of his albums pressed between 1968 and 1970. We're talking a maximum of 100 copies, and that was only for the last album of three (“Winter Winds”). The first two albums were in a press of only 50. Suffice it to say, if you have an original of any of these, you have quite a collectible.

For the rest of us, though, all three have just been reissued on wax and disc. The packaging shows what a labor of love this was for Now Again, with its replica of the original artwork as the mini-LP sleeves show for the CD version.

It would all be for naught, however, if the music wasn't up to par. What is mindboggling is that this music was composed by a teenager – A TEENAGER! - back in 1968 through 1970. The first two albums, “Jawbones” and “Since Washington,” have a rootsy feel as found on the bass line and swinging rhythm on “Cat House Blues” (from “Jawbones,” the first album in the series). The liner notes label the first two albums as more inaccessible compared to the third, although I feel they're more true to what people typically think of when they think of the sounds of jazz. “Since Washington” follows in many of the same footsteps as “Jawbones” with a grooviness you might pine for from quintet at a jazz festival.

With “Winter Winds,” the album not the collection, Hewitt moved in a more Gary McFarland approach with the scat vocals that were written and then performed to perfection by vocalists Nina Scheller and Sonia Valldeparas. The sound is a bit more pop-jazz, if you can call it that, mostly which can be attributed to the vocal stylings. The material sprawls across emotional boundaries from the heartbreaking “Ill Love Song” to the bouncy Latin jazz of “Bada Que Bash.”

“Winter Winds,” again the single album, was released last year by Now Again but only as an expensive Japanese import. It was enough to whet my appetite, and after the first listen had me wanting more of Hewitt's music. Now, a year later, you can get the entire 3-disc set for nearly the same cost.

Amazingly, Hewitt turned away from music not long after this fruitful period, a shame given his talent level, to pursue careers that would be more apt to put food on the table such as aviation and photography. While he's quite pleased that the albums are getting to be heard again (or for the first time for many), we, the music consuming public, are the true benefactors of this work.

MAYER HAWTHORNE AND THE COUNTY IN CONCERT

(Photo from MH's Twitter page. Check the slick red suit!)

Last week, I braved knowing I'd be out late on a work night with the double whammy of already having a cold to catch Mayer Hawthorne And The County stop through my town. After a little medicine got the sniffles under control, I headed out to catch my friend Kyle (part of DJ duo Twinpeaks) do an opening DJ duties to set the mood before the Mudkids provided some local hip hop fare to get the juices flowing, too.

After a slightly later than expected start, Mayer Hawthorne And The County stepped on stage to the famous James Brown intro commonly referred to as “Are You Ready For Star Time?” While this hasn't been Hawthorne and crew's first venture on the road, it was nice to see him bring his band (minus a horn section) to really give a live (figuratively and literally) element to the show. The easy route would have been to have a pre-recorded instrumental while he sang over top of the music. However, he took the high road, and the show was that much better for it. This also allowed him later on to go on some ad libs with the band that were quite entertaining.

The major thing that surprised me was how comfortable Mayer seemed being the front man. While I'm aware that he's been in bands prior to his breakout record, this is the first time he's had all eyes on him. I've seen numerous front men not embrace the role (Dave Matthews, anyone?) with such vigor and professionalism and look so natural at it. Hawthorne was funny and witty while providing great segues, perhaps a show of his DJ prowess of knowing how to move the crowd from song to song.

His bread and butter falsetto was largely abandoned for the show, in part my guess is to keep his voice intact for the length of the tour as well as to have a stronger vocal presence. While it did sneak in occasionally, it was more often than not in the range of songs such as “When I Said Goodbye.” The crowd didn't seem to mind much, though, as nearly everyone at the packed show sang along to every word, aside from one jackass heckler after the first song. (People, if you're at a show, don't be THAT guy. You deserve whatever embarrassment comes your way with that kind of behavior, drunk or not.)

Performing nine of the twelve songs from A Strange Arrangement as well as two b-sides took up a majority of the set list (see below), but he and the band managed to sneak in a few covers such as ELO's “Mr. Blue Sky” (of which you can view a KCRW performance here) as well as a rocked out version of NERD's “Fly Or Die,” where the band got in touch with their inner-headbangers. They also got to show off their performance chops with a few extended takes on songs such as “Green Eyed Love” that lasted well past their album length.

In addition, guitarist Topher Mohr graced us with a nice pop-funk treat in an original of his entitled “Ruthless” (check his MySpace page for a listen). The song has real potential to become a radio hit if given the push. I'm working on getting an interview set up with Topher for a separate piece at a later date.

After the show, the full band (Mayer included) stopped by the merch booth for a lengthy meet-n-greet that was well-received by the appreciative crowd. I got a chance to catch up with Mayer, Quincy (keyboards), Topher (guitar), and Joe (bass) – (Quentin, on drums, was in teardown mode) at the meet-n-greet to discuss how the tour was going. All were pleased with the energy of the crowds night to night and haven't yet hit the proverbial wall during their long tour, which only gets longer with an impending European tour starting in May.

As an aside, I did get an answer to a question I had been wondering about for a while regarding the “Love Is Alright” cover found on the bonus disc of the album. Mayer's version is patterned after the Jesse James take (who is the original writer of the song) instead of the more popular version by Cliff Nobles, whose instrumental version is more well-known as “The Horse.” He explained it was simply that he liked the James version better, in part because it's such a simple and fun song with an incredibly easy one-note bass line as much of the riff.

Set list:

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'
Make Her Mine
Maybe So, Maybe No (New Holidays cover)
Shiny And New
I Wish It Would Rain
Ruthless (by Topher Mohr)
One Track Mind
Mr. Blue Sky (ELO cover)
Fly Or Die (NERD cover)
Green Eyed Love
Just A Friend (Biz Markie cover)
Just Ain't Gonna Work Out
Love Is Alright (Jesse James cover)
The Ills

Encore:
When I Said Goodbye
Work To Do (Isley Brothers cover)

STREAM THE NEW SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS NOW!

If you're interested in trying before buying the upcoming Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings album "I Learned The Hard Way," out of April 6, NPR has the full album streaming now.

Variations On A ‘Funky’ Theme…

As promised, here is the guest post from Larry from The Funky 16 Corners audioblog as he takes us deep into the world of exciting library music. Be sure to check out his site regularly. For my end of the swap, I reviewed The Equatics' reissue entitled "Doin It!!!"




Greetings all.

I was honored when Eric asked me to fall by Record Racks with a ‘guest’ post.

The tracks I bring you today are not only one of the grooviest examples of the ‘library’ music genre, but also represent a peak moment of what might be described as a’micro-genre’, that being reworkings of Keith Mansfield’s ‘Funky Fanfare’.

Keith Mansfield: Funky Fanfare
From KPM 1043 Beat Incidental (KPM, 1969)

Keith Mansfield: Funky Chase
From KPM 1043 Beat Incidental (KPM, 1969)

Keith Mansfield: Funky Flight
From KPM 1043 Beat Incidental (KPM, 1969)

Mansfield as both composer and pianist - often in collaboration with Hammond master Alan Hawkshaw (the man behind the Mohawks) – recorded some truly fantastic music in the late 60s and early 70s (and beyond that), some of it for UK sound libraries like KPM, and some under his own name for a variety of labels (some of which actually saw release in the US).

These ‘libraries’ created musical themes for a variety of uses with the music appearing in the background of motion picture and television soundtracks, behind commercials and public service announcements, and sometimes as just plain old ‘music for listening’.

The selections you’re hearing today are three variations of the ‘Funky Fanfare’ theme from KPM 1043 ‘Beat Incidental’ (from 1969). Though many beat diggers (and listeners in general) may be familiar with certain library themes, until you actually get your hands on one of the albums released by services like KPM or Bruton you don’t realize how brief many of these tunes are.

‘Beat Incidental’ includes more than 20 tracks, very few of them running in excess of two minutes, several – intended as transitional or interstitial themes, running less than ten seconds. The three tracks included here, ‘Funky Fanfare’, ‘Funky Chase’ and

‘Funky Flight’ all run between a minute and a minute and a half, and are all variations on the same instrumental theme.
‘Funky Flight’ is mainly percussion and guitar, ‘Funky Chase’ repeats that, adding vibes, and ‘Funky Fanfare’ the main theme - and no doubt the most familiar - leads with the Hammond (probably Mansfield himself, since Hawkshaw is not credited).

I’ve always found it interesting – at least since I discovered library music – how many of these pieces (including those by Mansfield, Hawkshaw, Syd Dale, John Dankworth and Johnny Pearson*) transcend their utilitarian roots and jump into another dimension entirely. Perhaps it has something to do with their original creation having to do with evocation of a particular mood, or more likely that having done so, they were appropriated by other sources where they entered the public imagination in an unforeseen way. Pearson’s ‘Heavy Action’ (from KPM1136 Industrial Panorama, go check it out on iTunes) entered a huge number of American homes in the 1970s as the theme to Monday Night Football.

If ‘Funky Fanfare’ is indeed familiar, it’s because the theme was reworked more than half a dozen times over the period of a few years, in a fairly wide variety of settings. If you take a close look at the label, there’s a reference to another version (under the ‘Funky Fanfare’ title) on KPM1038. This version was recorded with a much bigger band, includes slightly funkier drums and was used in (but not included on the soundtrack for) Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’, where it was used as I remember it from my childhood, as the background to a coming attractions interstitial from the movies.

Mansfield himself recorded the theme – retitled as ‘Soul Thing’ – on his 1969 ‘All You Need Is Keith Mansfield’ LP (released in a few different countries) with his piano in the lead, opening with a very tasty, very crisp drum break. The tune was recorded again as ‘Soul Thing’, in an arrangement approximating the KPM1038 version of ‘Funky Fanfare’ in 1970 under the name of drummer Tony Newman, with a Hammond lead that sounds a lot like Alan Hawkshaw.

Oddly enough there’s yet another instrumental version of the tune, a progressive/psyche interpretation by a Steve Hillage project called Arzachel. They take the tune at a very slow pace, renaming it ‘Queen Street Gang’.

There was also a vocal version of the song entitled ‘House of Jack’ with lyrics by R. Chris Murphy added to Mansfield’s music. As far as I can tell the original vocal version was recorded in the UK by James Royal, then again by Paul Raven* (later known as Gary Glitter) and yet again in the US (in 1971) by a largely anonymous group called The Establishment, released on the King label (probably the easiest of the three to find).

There’s also at least one other version (which may be the same as the KPM1038 recording) under the name of the Carnaby Street Pop Orchestra, which I understand to be basically repackaged (possibly remixed) Mansfield/ KPM content.

No matter how you cut it, Mansfield’s little creation has had a remarkably fruitful life, which is probably why it’s become an ear-worm of sorts, having come to represent a palpable slice of late period Swinging London (or anywhere else for that matter).

It’s interesting to hear Mansfield play with the basic theme in the three KPM1048 tracks. There are two more ‘Funky’ tracks on that album (‘Funky Link 1’ and Funky Link 2’), but neither one of them lasts more than seven seconds.

I hope you dig the sounds.

Peace

Larry

*I’ve never heard the Paul Raven version, but I have seen the label and the lyrics are credited to ‘Raven’, so it may in fact be yet another iteration of the tune

PS Make sure to check out the ‘World of Kane’ blog where Youtube clips of a number of the versions mentioned above are posted (and a few more in the comments) here.

RECORD STORE DAY 2010 RELEASES

I found this list on the Record Store Day website. Looks like a lot of goodies this year in many genres. A little something for everyone such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Beastie Boys, Wilco, Weezer, Sharon Jones And the Dap Kings, and more!