Who is That Kid on the Bale of Hay?

Last week an American musical legend came to Portland and I missed him! John Prine is the type of artist that leaves a permanent mark on your soul. You remember where you were when you first heard a John Prine song! I remember where I was when I first heard OF John Prine!

I had just moved to Portland (about a decade ago) and was bellied up to a bar that no longer graces the corner of SW 1st and Oak Streets. There was hardly anyone there but the pathetic gamblers in the smoky Keno room: the shifty, middle-aged white guy with a very obvious toupée, an old Asian woman who was perpetually angry, an overweight white guy that drank endless refills of diet Coke and a youngish Latino guy who was positive that he was gonna hit the jackpot "any day now". These folks were there every night and so were my buddy Patrick and I... long story.

The only thing that made this night different was that a business man with a well-trimmed goatee and an English accent came and sat at the bar next to us. He wasn't particularly memorable for any other reason than that he was clearly not from Portland. We soon found out that he was in town from Denver and had been living in the states for about fifteen years. He was married and had some kids in Denver, but worked in Portland quite a bit.

Midway through a conversation of run-of-the-mill niceties a Dylan song came on the jukebox. Patrick and I both began humming and singing along. That's when the conversation shifted into a musical conversation. Everyone agreed that they enjoyed Dylan's music, but before the conversation ended the song did. The following song was a Stones song. The Brit, Tony, quickly lambasted them. He laughed, saying "only a true wanker could spend one decade slagging off the Queen and another keeping up appearances being knighted and all! He was right, of course!

This comment made the conversation much more interesting. It moved back towards the creativity, power and impact of Dylan. Again, he agreed, but said that John Prine was better in his opinion. Who? Patrick and I looked at each other in complete puzzlement. He charged us with tracking down some Prine albums and getting to know his music because, he promised, if we liked Dylan we would like Prine.

I never saw the man again, but I also never forgot the conversation. I immediately began looking for his stuff. I am somewhat ashamed that it took a Brit to show me one of the most talented American artists of all time. The first album I came across was, luckily, Prine's 1971 debut.

Look at him sitting there on a bale of hay with his gi-tar! I didn't even have to think about buying this album! I could tell right away that there was something I was supposed to hear. He was only twenty-five, but I would spend countless lonely nights listening to this record in the dark trying to pick his twenty-five year-old brain... WOW! This record is unbeatable! With songs like: "Hello In There", "Sam Stone", "Paradise", "Far From Me", and "Angel From Montgomery" the American musical landscape was changed forever. These songs could have been the dying reflections of a war-weary, heart-broken soldier, but instead they were the musings of a mere whippersnapper!

The only thing on par with John Prine's first album is John Prine's second album! He followed up one of the most auspicious debuts in history with an equally heart-stopping effort from 1972, Diamonds in the Rough. This album featured amazing songs like: "Souvenirs", "Late John Garfield Blues", "Sour Grapes", "Billy the Bum", "Take the Star Out of the Window", "The Great Compromise" and "Rocky Mountain Time". I am NOT exaggerating when I say that these songs are among the most distinctive, pensive, emotive, harrowing, heartfelt examples of American music.

Sweet Revenge (1973) followed Diamonds in the Rough and was also a record that demanded attention. If you don't know John Prine's name or his work, I beg you to go find his music. He is a national treasure and criminally unsung!

Dear Average American...

Dear Average American who listens to the radio while driving... I feel truly sorry for you! I just drove a 10' Uhaul truck 325 miles across northern Oregon and listened to the radio the entire way. Uhauls do not come with cd players, so that was my only option! I should have realized when I heard a rare Alice in Chains classic as the first song on the first station to come through in the morning that the rest of the drive would be fruitless. In my experience, the radio offers one or the other: a great song to start or a great song to finish. Everything in between is generally garbage! All the predictable songs came through and NOTHING else! In other words, I heard 'Radar Love', 'Don't Stop Believin' and 'Give A Little Bit' as well as the other recycled, obvious and obligatory garbage. The American radio system is like Amtrak... a hell of an idea with a lot of potential, but maddeningly insufficient!

Sunday Shopping List

If you hear all of your favorite songs on the radio then disregard this post. If you are always on the lookout for great new music then go shopping!

1. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast - 2009
2. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy - 2009
3. Son Volt - American Central Dust - 2009
4. The Walkmen - You & Me - 2008
5. Fleet Foxes - 2008

These are NOT in any kind of order. They are just damn good records from the previous year or so!

Hardcore Threats

I learned a lot about music from my father and my brother. But, the first two words I remember from my personal musical journey are: Minor Threat. As a kid in St. Louis I was pretty heavy into skateboarding. The guys I skated with were a couple years older than me and were big fans of hardcore. So much so that they would only let me roll with them if I got into their tunes. So, suddenly bands like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat were spilling out of boom boxes all around me. 

Prior to this, I was listening to R.E.M., U2, Cure and Smiths records I'd swiped from my brother's room and Zeppelin, Cream, CCR and Jethro Tull records I'd swiped from my dad's collection. I also had a few tapes of my own - Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Guns n' Roses, etc. This was all great music, but none of it prepared me for what Minor Threat would do to me...

Minor Threat was easily the edgiest and scariest (I was ten!) music I had EVER listened to! It talked about the bible, which I had been thinking about for a while and didn't quite trust. It talked about the consequences of drug use and alcohol abuse. It talked about not feeling any pressure to have sex. It talked about not feeling pressure to smoke cigarettes. It talked about the benefit of being learned. It talked about not being afraid to beat the living shit out of someone who didn't like you for who you were! It was exactly what I was looking for!

The lyrics were definitely challenging and upfront, but no music I had ever heard before was as abrasive and angry as the wild, thrashing, sludgy, surging, cacophony of angst that was Minor Threat! It shattered all my sensibilities and completely rearranged my budding musical appreciation. I am not kidding when I say that Minor Threat completely changed my life. Beginning at age ten, I was determined to seek out the underground music that, like Minor Threat, goes unnoticed by the bulk of the population.

This band was the brainchild of Ian MacKaye. A disaffected DC youth who grew up in the same neighborhood as Henry Rollins, MacKaye was disgusted by the poverty, violence and drugs which were ubiquitous in the DC area in the early 80s. Though Minor Threat only lasted about three years their music is widely regarded as the birthplace of American hardcore. In an effort to maintain control over his music, MacKaye started his own label called Dischord Records. In the years following the demise of Minor Threat, MacKaye's label would record dozens of bands in the DC area and slowly start reaching beyond the DC scene to record upwards of 50 bands.

In 1987, MacKaye's next musical contribution was the band Fugazi. They lasted for nearly fifteen years and were the epitome of the DIY ethic. Hundreds of bands around the country looked to them for inspiration and information. They always played all ages shows and charged next to nothing. They sold their records for pennies and, despite becoming a huge underground success, NEVER signed to a major. The spirit that MacKaye brought to Minor Threat echoed through the music of Fugazi and is evident in the efforts of countless other bands to this day.

Yesterday was his birthday. He is 48 years old.

McLaren is Dead

Malcolm McLaren, manager of the infamous, yet relatively boring Sex Pistols, died today in Switzerland. What!? Yeah, I said it!

The Sex Pistols were not as amazing as their offspring and followers. It's a fact that hordes of disaffected youth in Britain and the US started bands after hearing Sex Pistols records or seeing them live. However, The Pistols weren't as compelling as Public Image Ltd. (P.I.L.) - the group John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) started after the breakup. Nor were they as innovative as Joy Division whose members decided to get serious about music after seeing The Pistols slog through a frantic show in Manchester.

That said, the group were terribly important to the burgeoning punk scene in London and Manchester and became the de facto poster boys for the UK punk scene of the late 70s despite breaking up in 1978. They remain the goto group for teenagers on both sides of the pond when having a conversation about 'punk' music. Their t-shirts still sell and their mystique lives on as I suspect it will for generations. After all, with names like Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten in the band... there has to be something there, right?

Anyway, this was supposed to be about Malcolm McLaren. After his career with The Pistols, he went on to do various odd things such as selling S&M gear. Nevertheless, he didn't abandon music. In fact, he went on to make some relatively interesting stuff over the years. His 1983 club/dance album Duck Rock was actually pretty innovative and sold quite well. I recall a line in Trainspotting where Sick Boy and Renton are talking about it...

Eleanora Fagan

I don't care what anybody says, Eleanora Fagan was the greatest blues singer of all time. Who the hell is Eleanora Fagan? Luckily, as a star Eleanora didn't go by her given name. Instead, she went by the name Billie Holiday.

First of all, Billie was a beautiful woman. She was very easy to look at, that's for sure. Generations of young men were smitten with her upon first glance. But, it was her voice! Her voice is what really arrested people. I will never forget the first time I listened to a Billie Holiday song all the way through. I had bought a compilation of old blues tunes and the first song on it was "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)". Seconds after the song finished I listened to it again. It was that good!

This song shows the incredible range of Billie's voice. At times, she is nearly silent and other times she is forcefully direct. The power of this song was exciting to me in ways no other music had ever sounded to me before. I had been listening to punk, hardcore, college rock and my dad's music prior to this initial foray into the world of blues.

The other two songs that Billie sang on the comp were "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" and "God Bless The Child". All the other female blues and jazz singers that I have heard since are good for one sound or another or can be pigeonholed. But, Billie is far and away the most dynamic singer I have ever listened to in ANY genre.

I felt that way after the first note, but it wasn't until I heard the song "Strange Fruit" that I was 100% convinced that she was the unparalleled queen of the mic! This song is undeniably powerful. A stinging indictment of the racism in 1930s US culture, this song is of sincere historical importance. History aside, this song is compelling, commanding and a must for anyone interested in American history, American music or American people. Billie could make a simple word like that or when sound like the heaviest word you ever heard.

Billie Holiday, was much more than a pretty face. She was a force to be reckoned with in the world of music. Unfortunately, it was the other forces in her world that lead to her premature death in 1959 due to liver and heart issues.

Billie Holiday was born on this day in 1915. I have never heard a voice like hers. In one song she can be chilling, haunting, awe-inspiring, saddening, exciting, thrilling, etc, etc, etc. There was never a voice like hers and there hasn't been one like it since. Glad she changed her name to Billie, it suits her much better than Eleanora!

Revival Time

Just rounded out my CCR collection! I found the 1970 live album called The Concert the other day at my record shop for $3.50! Now I have them all... the self-titled album, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo's Factory and Pendulum. There is actually one album, Mardi Gras, that I don't own... however, since Tom Fogerty left the band the album just isn't a proper CCR album.

Anyway, The Concert is good, but not incredible despite the over-the-top title. CCR is a tight, engaging, inventive and nearly flawless band. Capturing Creedence live is something that should have crossed someone's mind before this album. They did have a weird live album from European shows but, again... it was after Tom left so it isn't a proper example of the band. Nevertheless, as this is their only live album that is worth seeking out I was quite pleased to find it so cheap!

Long story short... Creedence Clearwater Revival was a great band! Dare I say they were the best American rock band of the late 60s & early 70s? What say you?