different bands and artists took to various ways of creating, thriving and dealing with this pandemic. what we have here is los lobos’ response, at least part of it. what started out as a side project to keep them busy and sharp, turned into a tribute to the bands and songwriters from los angeles that were early influences on their lives, careers, and music.
initially trading tracks over the internet, and then gradually getting back into the studio, they compiled over sixty songs, and then whittled it down to twelve that are presented here (plus one original – the title track). there will be a few artists recognizable to the mainstream crowd (jackson browne, buffalo springfield, beach boys), there are some chicano influences (thee midniters, lalo guerrero, willie bobo and mario paniaga) to give us some spice, and some garage rock like the premiers and the blasters (the latter of which were essential in getting los lobos their first break in the business).
the liner notes are great (again, this is why i buy cds and not downloads when i can), and help flesh out the process of the project. but they also give us their thoughts on each song and artist they chose. a quick example:
‘bluebird/for what it’s worth’ by buffalo springfield
when police clashed with young music club goers on the sunset strip in 1966, stephen stills wrote ‘for what it’s worth’. ‘bluebird’ was the follow up single. here the band flips the order and makes it a medley, with david replicating the searing guitars of both stephen stills (left channel) and neil young (right channel). steve: buffalo was a really big influence on the band. like los lobos, they were ployglots unique to their time. louie: we knew we wanted to do a buffalo springfield song, and ended up with two because we couldn’t decide: david: with ‘bluebird’, i have wanted to do that song since i was 15, and ‘for what it’s worth’ is still relevant today. when i was a teenager, buffalo springfield was one of my favorite bands. i just pitched the idea” ‘let’s see how close we can get to the originals. just for the fun of it’.
it’s pretty damn good.
just a real fun album that would go great with your next backyard barbeque.
just a quick little post to bring your attention to an interesting series that has been showing on hulu for a couple of weeks now. it features the legendary producer rick rubin interviewing paul mccartney in a studio setting. they explore and dissect various tracks from the beatles’ catalogue, as well as some of paul’s solo material. they also delve into the history of the band, their relationships, and then their ultimate demise. paul is candid but respectful. i gained new found respect for ringo. i think my favorite element is how he describes how creative and revolutionary they were in the studio, always supported by their longtime producer george martin. broken up into 6 bite size episodes, i think every beatles fan will find it useful.
at the very least it is a good appetizer for the much awaited documentary coming out soon by peter jackson – ‘get back’.
trey anastasio was scheduled to join derek and susan’s band for an upcoming 2019 show at the lockn’ festival. they were looking for songs for their set, and when a couple of selections from the legendary ‘layla’ album by derek and the dominoes came up for discussion, someone said ‘why don’t we do the whole album?’. and so they did.
‘layla and other assorted love songs’ was recorded in 1970 and featured eric clapton and duane allman on guitars. clapton admitted later in life that ‘layla’ was actually inspired by his infatuation with his friend george harrison’s wife, pattie boyd.
the album figured prominently in young derek’s life. it was played often in the household, partially because his uncle butch was one of the drummers for the allman brothers band. his namesake comes from the title. derek primarily plays slide guitar, and duane is widely considered to be one of the greatest slide guitarists in rock and roll history.
although a few songs from the album have figured prominently in tedeschi trucks setlists over the years, they had to do some rehearsing to get themselves and trey up to speed on the lesser known songs, not to mention create horn charts. but tedeschi trucks is quite simply one of the best touring bands in the country right now, and they rose to the occasion. doyle bramhall also sat in on guitar, and so with him, trey, derek and susan playing rhythm and/or lead, the jams can get a tad cacophonous at times. but they all treat the source material with great respect and energy. that would have been a great show to see. i have embedded a few selections below.
one last note (taken from derek’s liner notes – another reason i still like to buy the physical cd if possible). when derek and susan were doing some research for who wrote one of the songs, derek got a chill when he saw the official release date of ‘layla’ – november 9th, 1970. the day susan was born.
mrs. redeyegin and i are contemplating going out to red rocks to see them in a couple of weeks. if we make it i will let you know.
i have been drawn to this band’s unique sound ever since i first heard them in 2010. this is their fourth album, and it is at least as good as anything they have done so far. when describing their sound, one often runs across the phrase ‘spaghetti western’, and there is some value in that. many of the songs offer up aural landscapes featuring echo saturated melodies, soaring vocals, and dreamy orchestral flourishes. and all of this is packaged in catchy, well crafted songs. all i can say is you just have to listen to a few songs to get an idea of their sound. my guess is that you will either like them immediately, or you will decide that it’s just not your thing.
ben schneider founded the band in 2010, and he is the main songwriter. hailing originally from lansing, michigan, he now resides in los angeles and works primarily out of whispering pines studio. the studio, originally built in the 70’s by aretha franklin’s bandleader, provided some of the inspiration for the theme of this album.
schneider and his band imagined all the country and soul artists who might have played there, and created a cast of fictional characters and their stories. it is presented as a concept album, and the liner notes ask you to listen to it sequentially and all the way through in one sitting. there are small transitional segments narrated by an emcee, which gives it the feel of a seventies tv music show. schneider says he wanted it to ‘feel like a long lost classic you missed somehow – nostalgic and familiar in a way, but you can’t quite put your finger on it’. and i think that seems about right.
maybe you are going somewhere this summer where you can kick back and try to read a book or two. and maybe you were looking for something to expand your musical knowledge as well. i know that is on my agenda soon, so send me some suggestions if you have time. here are a few things i have read in the last few months that you might find of interest.
chris hillman – ‘time between’
this is an autobiography, chronicling his entire career, which is fairly substantial. if you are a fan of the byrds, the flying burrito brothers, gram parsons, and even his foray into country with the desert rose band, then i think you will find this engrossing. as with most musician biographies, he starts off with his childhood, and then gets into how he got started in the music business. as an aside, i should note that i usually skim through the early sections like this, as i usually find them to be only moderately useful in understanding their later careers. more on that later. but once he gets to the explosive path to stardom for the byrds, and how the original group crashed so early, you start to get hooked. throughout the entire book, chris is humble and fair to his musical partners. this is not a sex, drugs and rock n roll tell all, but rather a true and multi talented musician trying to let everyone know how it all went down on a musical level.
one things he mentions is that there are only a few people who knew gram parsons best, himself and emmylou harris being two of the three, and he delves into their relationship, both bad and good. i was not at all familiar with his career after the flying burrito brothers, specifically the desert rose band, but it was interesting to see how he kept things going, and then dealt with some health issues he suffered and eventually survived. because at the end of the day, he is a rock and roll survivor, and a voice of reason in what is often an unreasonable career.
my only quibble is his need to give an accounting of all the various bend members in all of the iterations of all the various bands he was in, and sometimes you just lose track of who they are. but overall it is a labor of love about the music he made, and the stories he felt were worth telling.
jeff tweedy – ‘how to write one song’
partially a follow up to his autobiography from a couple of years back, partially a companion piece to his solo album he put out in january, it is mainly a tutorial from a prolific songwriter to anybody interested in understanding his approach to the craft, and how to incorporate it into their own process. as a tweedy/wilco fan, i found it very interesting. it helps explain his unique lyrics and the sheer volume of his work. he pretty much writes every day. if you are thinking ‘well, i am not a songwriter, and have no intentions of being one’, i can say that there are life lessons in there if you choose to be open minded, which i hope i am. he has a very disciplined approach, every day. and i think that if you approach every day with whatever inspires you and set aside time like he does, you can have a better chance of achieving your goals.
richard thompson – ‘beeswing’
another autobiography, this one spanning his early life up until 1975. i assume there will be a follow up book for the rest of his career. but fans of thompson, of which i am certainly one, will know that this was maybe the most groundbreaking part of his career. his membership in fairport convention is very important, and he goes into great detail about how that band evolved and grew over time. analogies are often useless in the music world, but i do not think it is too far of a stretch to give a rough equivalency to their american counterparts – the band. both were at the forefront in organically fusing folk and rock traditions into a unique and honest way. the difference of course being that fairport folk inspirations were from the english and celtic lexicon.
there is also the explanation of why he eventually left fairport convention and went out on his own to a solo career, partially with his wife linda thompson. and then their eventual divorce.
like chris hillman above, he really steers away from the tell all aspect you often find in rock books, and instead is humble and honest with himself and his own shortcomings. it is a very well written book in my opinion. i am looking forward to the next one.
barney hoskyns – ‘small town talk’
this is probably one of the best chronicles of the musical history of a small town in new york called woodstock. i had read it before, and it has been out a while, but i thought i would tackle it again as i am going to woodstock in a couple of weeks to go see the above mentioned richard thompson play at levon helm’s barn for a two night run. kind of a bucket list thing. if you are interested in dylan’s post motorcycle crash period, the band’s early years, basement tapes, albert grossman, van morrison moondance period, and so much more, you may find this interesting. it is not about the famed concert, which as you may know was not actually held at woodstock. it is about a small town that had a rich musical and artistic community way before dylan got there, and a unique character that survives to this day.
holly george-warren – ‘janis, her life and music’
i am only partially through this one, and so i will give a full review soon, but so far it is as advertised – a full and fair rendering of her amazing and tragic career. at this point she is still in high school, but contrary to my opinion above, it is real clear that her early life very much informed the demons that would haunt her until her untimely death. as i was reading the other day i wondered if there were any good documentaries covering the same material, and so i watched this last night:
hope you enjoy. let’s go see some live music. heading out to see billy strings this friday.
