The Soundtrack To my Life. 03/07/2012.

“Born To Add: Great Rock & Roll” (1983).
By: Sesame Street.
Why You Should Get It…

“Bringing It All Back Home” (1965).
By: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“Highway 61 Revisited” (1965).
By: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“JAWS” (OST): Anniversary Collector’s Edition (2000)
By: John Williams.
Why You Should Get It… I feel that I should point out something about the soundtrack to the cinematic classic, “JAWS”.
If, like me, you have the original soundtrack on vinyl, you don’t have what you think you have. The original vinyl soundtrack was a re-recording of the film score specifically for the soundtrack. Make sense?
Basically, if you have the original soundtrack to the film “JAWS”, you don’t.

This my friends, is why you really need the ‘Collector’s Anniversary Edition’. It IS the same recording as used in the film without the 70’s tape hiss etc… and it sounds better than ever!

“Banga” (2012).
By: Pattis Smith.
Why You Should Get It… The really (un or intentionally) freaky cover of Neil Young’s ‘After The Gold Rush’:

Which leads me on to…

“Americana” (2012).
By: Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Why You Should Get It… Hands in the air? Honest engine? I don’t think you should get this album. Not because it’s bad, just because as far as Neil Young & Crazy Horse standards go, “Americana” is just not that good. It also has a lot do with Neil’s choice of songs. See, there are hundreds of better versions by other people and bands out there.

That said, every single video for the album is old timey and brilliant!
This is my favourite:

“Rock Around The Clock” (1954).
By: Bill Haley & The Comets.
Why You Should Get It… Whenever I think of Rock & Roll, I think of Little Richard, Berry, Jerry Lee and then Presley. I almost never think about Bill Haley and yet he was the one who made it all popular.

“Rock Around The Clock” is a peach of a song and the album is brilliant too with none of the filler you’d expect from an old Rock band like this BUT! Sadly, this record was deleted from circulation some time ago.

I found a mint condition copy in Glasgow’s Panopticon Shop and it only cost me ₤1! I was lucky that day and that night, I danced around my house to the sound of this:

“The Complete Million Dollar Quartet” (2006).
By: The Million Dollar Quartet.
Why You Should Get It… This is one of the greatest records I own. The Million Dollar Quartet was the name given to a one-off chance jam session at Sun Records in 1956 between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. The results are GOLDEN! I’ve spoken to hardcore Elvis fanatics and they don’t even rate this record! That’s how good it is!
Never trust an Elvis fan who loves his entire discography!

See, The Million Dollar Quartet session was an unplanned jam. There are bum notes, studio chat, giggling and false starts ALL OVER THE PLACE!
It’s an utter joy to listen to and you feel like you’re right there in the room with these people.

Elvis is obviously the star of the show here and you can actually hear the awe coming from the other 3 whenever he says something.
The Million Dollar Quartet session actually highlights how amateur Presley was as a guitar player and how mesmerisingly fiery Jerry lee Lewis was as a piano player.

There’s a great moment where Elvis explains how he saw some unknown and unnamed singer do a song called “Don’t Be Cruel” and how he himself took some of Wilson’s mannerisms for his own version. The singer Presley was talking about was Jackie Wilson and you can hear it here:

Johnny Cash is particularly quiet during the entire session and Carl Perkins is…Carl Perkins but for me, Jerry Lee Lewis is the main man of the quartet and you can easily pick up on him silently plotting to wipe the floor with Elvis and as far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what he does when he rattles this off on his piano at the end of the record:

“The Chess Story 1947-1975” Volume 1 (1999).
By: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It… I’ve mentioned this 15 disc set before and I’m sure I’ll talk about it more in the future because it’s ASTONISHING! It’s probably the greatest collection of popular and rare blues music that exists. I keep being caught off guard by little tracks that I’d maybe missed before and a few days ago, this wee shiny gem had me cracking up right in the middle of the street…

I couldn’t get enough of the 15 Chess Story discs. I needed more! I dug around and discovered THIS:

“The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968” Volume 1 (2003).
By: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It… I managed to get my hands on Volume 1 of 3 which is 9 Discs worth of some of the greatest music that’s ever been!

So far, my favourite track is ‘Last Night’ by The Mar-Keys and the Rik Mayall fans among you may find it to be very familiar…

All of these albums and records come highly recommended from me to you!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

…Of course, you could spend a lot of time and money tracking all of those records down OR you could spend 11 bucks on a 12″ vinyl copy of “Love Lust Tales” from HERE which I designed the artwork for…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Soundtrack To My Life 07/06/2012
* The Soundtrack To My Life 08/05/2012
* The Soundtrack To My Life 15/04/2012

The Soundtrack To My Life. 07/06/2012.

Here’s what I’ve been filling my ears with over the past few weeks…

“The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends”. (2012).
Artist: The Flaming Lips & Their Pals.
Why You Should Get It: Over to you Wayne…

“Locked Down”. (2012).
Artist: Dr. John.
Why You Should Get It: Because although he’s usually off of his head on heroin, Dr. John has released the best album I’ve heard this year so far!
Here’s the teaser…

“Two Sides Of Dave Van Ronk” (2002).
Artist: Dave Van Ronk.
Why You Should Get It…

“The Day The Earth Stood Still” (OST). (1951).
Artist: Bernard Herrmann.
Why You Should Get It: Bernard Herrmann does it yet again! This score is well worth tracking down. It’s very unusual in that it’s scored for electric bass, electric violin and…TWO THERMAINS! Why do you need two theramins? One for treble and one for bass of course! Makes perfect sense and it also sounds GORGEOUS…

“Tadpoles” (1969).
Artist: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Why You Should Get It: Because it’s insane. All of it. It’s just insane music made by an insane band for insane ears…

“Kill Bill: Volume 1” (OST). (2003).
Artist: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It: Quentin Tarantino has outstandingly good taste in music. Every song in every single one of his movies is a stunner. From the “Kill Bill” soundtrack I’d say that this is my favourite:

“Kill Bill: Volume 2” (OST). (2004).
Artist: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It…

“Preliminaires” (2009).
Artist: Iggy Pop.
Why You Should Get It: The strangest Iggy Pop album to date, “Preliminaires” even includes Iggy singing in French! Definitely worth a listen or two…

“Moondance” (1970).
Artist: Van Morrison.
Why You Should Get It…

“Early Takes: Volume 1” (2012).
Artist: George Harrison.
Why You Should Get It: An outtake and demo collection, it’s mainly just Harrison and an acoustic guitar or two and it mostly sounds like he’s sitting right beside you…

Here are some of the albums I listened to recently which, for one reason or many, just didn’t do anything for me:

* “Stars And Satellites” (2012) – Trampled By Turtles.
* “God Told Me To” (2012) – John5.
* “Celebration Rock” (2012) – The Japandroids.
* “Live In Berkely” (2009) – Bob Dylan.

The Soundtrack To My Life. 13/03/2012.

“Bone Machine”. (1992).
Artist: Tom Waits.
Why You Should Get It: Track 3: ‘Such A Scream’.

I’m a bit of a newcomer to the work of Tom Waits (Thanks Sean!) but so far, I have four albums and…
(a) I already know that he’s a genius.
(b) I already know that I HAVE to investigate his entire discography.
With some people, you just have to don’t you?
So that’s-a-what-I’m-a-gonna-do.

Trivia: “Bone Machine” was recorded in an old cement celler and the album cover photograph was taken by Jesse Dylan, Bob Dylan’s son.

“Orange” (Single). (2006).
Artist: Fireband Boy.
Why You Should Get It:  8-Bit Nintendo Gameboy Chiptunes that will make you so deliriously happy that you’ll want to dance yourself silly all night and then jump all the way home whilst making Super Mario Bros. coin noises to yourself! …Also, you can get it for FREE right HERE!

I once caught a Firebrand Boy gig by sheer chance at the 13th Note in Glasgow because I was already at the bar when he started playing and I had a BALL!

This isn’t the gig but it’s pretty much what went down at the one I was at:

“Electric Mud”. (1968).
Artist: Muddy Waters.
Why You Should Get It: A concept album by Muddy Waters? – You betcha!

…And it’s a strange and funky beautiful thing!
Muddy gets a psychedelic makeover! Classics like ‘Mannish Boy’ and ‘I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man’ are here but they’re wildly different to the original versions. Expect backwards vocals and upside down guitars etc…and a whole lotta FONK!
Not funk.
– FONK!

“Electric Mud” was an experimental album in sound (Old meets New) and it’s cool y’know! It works! I dunno why but it really works. ‘Mannish Boy’ sounds like it could’ve been produced by a Sgt. Pepper suited Lennon & McCartney and Muddy’s take on The Stones’  “Let’s Spend The Night Together” made me walk down the street with a 1970’s Harlem swagger that could get me a severe doing around these parts.

“Wrecking Ball”. (2012).
Artist: Bruce Springsteen.
Why You Should Get It: Well. I loved Springsteen’s “Working On A Dream” album and if you did too, you should take a listen to “Wrecking Ball”.

Just like with Tom Waits, I’m a bit of a Springsteen newcomer.
I didn’t get “Born To Run” until I was 27 but I started collecting his records straight away from there on.

I like his newer stuff better than his older records and like I say, I really loved “Working On A Dream”. It was so…American? Is that the right thing to say? Almost all of the tracks on that album had me punching the air and what the hell, I even liked “Queen Of The Supermarket”. I appreciate the odd bit of corn.

Most of my pals love Springsteen and so far they all seem to agree with each other that “Wrecking Ball” is a better album but I dunno about that. It’s definitely as good as “Working On A Dream” but I never measure albums against one another.
I just like them if they sound good and this does.

To me, this record kind of feels like “Working On A Dream: Part II” meets “The Departed” Soundtrack. Turn it up and let me know what you think of it.

“LIE: The Love And Terror Cult”. (1970).
Artist:  Charles Manson.
Why You Should Get It: You probably don’t need this. I’ve been reading a book about Charlie and I just got it out of curiosity.

It is a curious album right enough.
Neil Young briefly knew Manson and he’s said that Manson had a nice voice and some decent songs. He even tried (With no luck) to land Charlie a recording contract and I get what he means. Charlie’s songs are all delivered with passion but…well, y’know, it’s hard not to think of his insane plot to wipe out everyone on the planet when you listen to the songs these days.

Guns ‘N’ Roses once covered Manson’s “Look At Your Game Girl” and that really is a pretty song  A few of the other songs on this album are repetitive twangy out of tune hippie busker rants and well, I’m alright with that. Interestingly enough, ‘Cease To Exist’ was renamed ‘Never Learn Not To Love’, altered and covered by The Beach Boys. You can find it on their album “20/20”.

Ol’ Charlie should’ve really stuck with songwriting.

“Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings”. (1990).
Artist: Robert Johnson.
Why You Should Get It: Even if your entire record collection only consisted of the small amount of music Robert Johnson recorded in his short and mysterious life, you’d have one amazing record collection!

“Blue Monday” (12″ Single). (1983).
Artist: New Order.
Why You Should Get It: Because it sounds like THIS.