Friday, October 06, 2006

Number 784 - Donovan


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Number 784

Donovan

"Sunshine Superman"

(1966)
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Genre:Folk Rock
"Upon his emergence during the mid-'60s, Donovan was anointed "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan," a facile but largely unfounded comparison which compromised the Scottish folk-pop troubadour's own unique vision. Where the thrust of Dylan's music remains its bleak introspection and bitter realism, Donovan fully embraced the wide-eyed optimism of the flower-power movement, his ethereal, ornate songs radiating a mystical beauty and childlike wonder; for better or worse, his recordings remain quintessential artifacts of the psychedelic era, capturing the peace-and-love idealism of their time to perfection.
Donovan Leitch was born May 10, 1946 in Glasgow and raised outside of London; at 18 he recorded his first demo, and in 1965 was tapped as a regular on the television pop showcase Ready, Steady, Go! He soon issued his debut single "Catch the Wind," earning the first round of Dylan comparisons with his ramshackle folk sound and ragamuffin look; the single nevertheless reached the UK Top Five, with a subsequent meeting between the two singer/songwriters captured in the classic D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don't Look Back."

Donovan's follow-up single, "Colours," was also a hit, and after making his American debut at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he issued Fairytale, his second and last LP for the Hickory label. Signing with Epic in 1966, he released his breakthrough album, Sunshine Superman, which in its exotic arrangements and pointedly psychedelic lyrical outlook heralded a major shift from his previous work; the title track topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, with the enigmatic "Mellow Yellow" reaching the number two spot a few months later. Donovan remained a chart fixture throughout 1967, generating a series of hits including "Epistle to Dippy," "There Is a Mountain," and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven"; that year he traveled to India alongside the Beatles to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a journey which inspired him to renounce drug use and encourage his listeners to turn to meditation. The ambitious double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden followed, and in 1968 Donovan resurfaced with The Hurdy Gurdy Man, scoring a Top Five smash with the hallucinatory title cut; the record also yielded the hit "Jennifer Juniper."

"The Donovan revival began in earnest in 1991 when Happy Mondays titled a song in his honor for their groundbreaking Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches; he later toured with the group as well. Five years later, Donovan released his comeback LP, Sutras, helmed by producer-du-jour Rick Rubin. ther album had the misfiortune to be released after Rubin's landmark Johnny Cash record, American Recordings and was virtually ignored or misunderstood by critics. Donovan toured briefly to support Sutras and then went missing once again, playing out only sporadically. In 2004, however, he reappeared with the intimate and stylish Beat Cafe, a collection of nearly all-original songs produced by keyboardist John Chelew. Donovan also enlisted bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Jim Keltner to round out his quartet. The album also featured a pair of covers, a spoken-word rendition of poet Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle," and a startling rendition of the traditional tune, "The Cuckoo." Sony released the double-disc CD/DVD Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan, the following year." ~ Jason Ankeny
For Bob Dylan see Number 929 & Number 841
For Johnny Cash see Number 705 & Number 624
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (You have to shake your head sometimes ~ again) and the Album ranked at Number (Sign your petition here ~ again)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 64.7 out of 108

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posted by crowbarred at 5:57 pm 0 comments

Number 785 - Diesel


Number 785

Diesel

"Tip Of My Tongue"

(1992)
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Genre:Rock
Under the name Diesel American born guitarist/singer Mark Lizotte became one of the biggest selling and most awarded Australian recording artists of the late 80s/early 90s. He arrived in Perth as a child when the travels of his itinerant saxophone playing father exhausted America and the family settled in Western Australia. Mark always contended that he grew up with musical instruments in his playbox. No instrument intimidated him, but it was the electric guitar which excited him. While his siblings gravitated towards music as teachers, Mark started playing in bands, making the long treck from Perth to Sydney in 1986 to record with Innocent Bystanders. He left to form his own group Johnny Diesel and The Injectors in June 1986, adopting the Johnny Diesel persona for the first time. A stint of pumping petrol had earned him his Diesel nickname. The group's blend of Southern rock soul and r&b, plus Diesel's adept guitar playing and pop star looks quickly earned the band a strong reputation on stage, and in September 1987 they relocated to Sydney. Almost immediately, Diesel was offered a place in Jimmy Barnes' band, playing the opening slot on the Freight Train Heart tour with the Injectors as support act, and then joining the headlining Barnes band on guitar. His group was signed to a worldwide recording contract by Chrysalis and recorded a self-titled debut album in Memphis with Terry Manning (Joe Cocker, Fabulous Thunderbirds, ZZ Top).

After four years and a mini-album recorded live in London the Injectors broke up, and Johnny Diesel became Diesel , solo artist. His March 1992 Hep Fidelity album shifted the musical ground to rock-funk and soul, reached #1 in Australia and earned him awards for Best Album and Best Male Artist at the annual ARIA awards. From here a restlessness seemed to overcome Diesel, as if he felt everything should be possible but a certain 'thing' was expected of him. He released an album of new songs and reworkings of songs from the previous album with The Lobbyist, and finally got down to business on 1994's sophisticated Solid State Rhyme. But his heart seemed much more in the raw blues album Short Cool Ones he made with Melbourne bluesman and harmonica player Chris Wilson. Diesel ended up packing up his career and recently accumlated young family and relocated to America. Nothing was heard from him until October 1997 when he reappeared with Lost Soul Companion, released under his own name of Mark Lizotte. Every live encounter confirms a musician and songwriter of immense natural talent. The perfectionism that seems to take over in the studio and results in long drawn out sessions and constant rethinks robs his latter records of the spirit and life so evident on stage. ~ Ed. Nimmervoll

For Joe Cocker see Number 633
For ZZ Top see Number Number 647

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (You have to shake your head sometimes) and the Album ranked at Number (Sign your petition here)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 64.7 out of 108
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posted by crowbarred at 5:51 pm 0 comments

Number 783 - Chuck Berry


Number 783

Chuck Berry

"Sweet Little 16"

(1958)
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Genre:Rock & Roll
"Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers. Quite simply, without him, there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, nor a myriad others. There would be no standard "Chuck Berry guitar intro," the instrument's clarion call to get the joint rockin' in any setting. The clippety-clop rhythms of rockabilly would not have been mainstreamed into the now standard 4/4 rock & roll beat. There would be no obsessive wordplay by modern-day tunesmiths; in fact, the whole history (and artistic level) of rock & roll songwriting would have been much poorer without him. Like Brian Wilson said, he wrote "all of the great songs and came up with all the rock'n'roll beats." Those who do not claim him as a seminal influence or profess a liking for his music and showmanship show their ignorance of rock's development as well as his place as the music's first great creator. Elvis may have fueled rock & roll's imagery, but Chuck Berry was its heartbeat and original mindset. "

Some would say "If it hadn't been Chuck Berry, it would've been someone else" i just retort "I'm just glad it was him then"

For the Beatles see Number 489, #587, #894 & #947
For the Rolling Stones see Number 689 & #767
For Beach Boys see Number 517, #560, #576, #641 & #714
For Bob Dylan see Number 491, #841 & #929
For Elvis Presley see Number 443, #501 & #840

What does RS think about Chuck Berry?The archetypal rock & roller, Chuck Berry melded the blues, country, and a witty, defiant teen outlook into songs that have influenced virtually every rock musician in his wake. In his best work — about 40 songs (including "Round and Round," "Carol," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Back in the U.S.A.," "Little Queenie"), recorded mostly in the mid- and late '50s — Berry matched some of the most resonant and witty lyrics in pop to music with a blues bottom and a country top, trademarking the results with his signature double-string guitar lick. On awarding Berry the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors Award in December 2000, President Bill Clinton hailed him as "one of the 20th Century's most influential musicians." ~ [Source: Rolling Stone]
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number 272 and the Album ranked at Number (we create history, not Mr Berry!)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 64.8 out of 108

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posted by crowbarred at 6:55 pm 0 comments