Tag Archives: music

R.I.P. Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn

Posted on by
Reply

Wow. Two rhythm section legends gone in a little under a month. So sad.

After having lost one of the greatest drummers in Rock & Roll history, Levon Helm, on April 19th, today I woke to find that Soul, R&B, and Rock & Roll bassist Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn has died at the age of 70.

Duck Dunn epitomized the quiet groove master bass player, having served in that role in the house band at legendary Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee for years.

That house band, Booker T & The M.G.s, with members Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Dunn, and Al Jackson, Jr., were the backing group on most Stax recordings from 1962 (Dunn joined in ’64) through 1970, including those by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, and Albert King, just to name a few.

Duck would continue to record and play with Booker T & The M.G.s off and on throughout his life, and the list of other musicians with whom he recorded and toured is simply unbelievable: The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Levon Helm, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Guy Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Roy Buchanan and Arthur Conley.

Back in March 2011, I wrote a post about the 60th birthday of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar, and in that post I included an old clip of Booker T & The M.G.s playing their biggest hit, Green Onions, and I just can’t think of a better video to include here in tribute to Duck Dunn.

The bass line is one of the most recognizable ever recorded, and watching Duck you see a young man who is deeply locked into the groove, feeling it in every cell of his body and throwing it down.

It’s a thing of stunning beauty!

R.I.P. Duck Dunn, and thanks for all the incredible music.

Video Fridays: Elton John

Posted on by
1

On Wednesday, I wrote about how much I love a new retro Soul Rock band called Alabama Shakes.

Then, this morning, a friend of mine sent me a clip of a performance by someone whose music isn’t ostensibly thought of as Soul music, and yet he was one of the many great British artists of the 1960s and 1970s who, inspired by American Soul music, infused their own music with the kind of deep feeling and passionate vocal delivery that had been largely missing in pop music up to that point.

While Elton John suffered a long, slow decline into mediocrity starting around 1974, his catalog prior to that decline is some of the most beautiful, deeply felt, funky, and oh so soulful music ever.

With a simple trio — Elton on piano and vocals of course, Dee Murray on bass, Nigel Olsson on drums — and lyrics from fellow Brit and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, there’s a series of performances from 1970 and 1971 BBC broadcasts on YouTube that are nothing short of spectacular. It’s just incredible how lush and powerful the music is with such a small ensemble. But John, seemingly with little effort, coaxes so much sound out of the massive grand piano that dwarfs him, Murray’s melodic bass lines hold down the bottom end, Olsson’s drums, loaded with subtle syncopation, hold down the rhythm, and their occasional three-part harmonies bring it all together.

Since I couldn’t pick just one, here are some of my favorites, with the last one featuring a 1972 addition to the band, guitarist Davey Johnstone on mandolin.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Alabama Shakes: Defibrillator Music

Posted on by
Reply

Seriously, if you happen to suddenly experience cardiac arrest and there’s no defibrillator in sight, the next best thing would be an iPod playing the debut album, Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes, with the volume turned all the way up.

Seriously, if you listen to Boys & Girls and still don’t have a pulse, well, you’re a zombie and have bigger problems to deal with.

As is evident from past entries I’ve posted (e.g. Post 1, Post 2, Post 3), I LOVE Soul music.

But, as I mentioned in a post from May 2010, I also love Rock & Roll music from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s.

Perfect for me, then, that Alabama Shakes plays the most delicious blend of old-school, lo-fi, passion-filled Soul Rock music that I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Out in front with a voice reminiscent of Etta James and Janis Joplin, and yet a voice all her own, is the amazing powerhouse: Brittany Howard. There are times on this record when she startles with sudden bursts of feeling, bursts that the lo-fi, analog production can barely handle, which adds a rawness that I like a lot. Give me some analog noise over squeaky clean, hyper-produced, obviously digital music any day.

Now, add Heath Fogg’s tasty hollow-body guitar licks and a spot-on rhythm section, and you’ve got the makings for some great, great music.

Here are three illustrative performances from Later with Jools Holland.

Enjoy!

Comedy From The Craigslist Musicians Section

Posted on by
1

Since I’m always on the lookout for my ideal music collaborator, I’m a regular reader of the Craigslist musicians section.

The ads in this section, very regularly, are cringe-inducing, either for just how far they are from my ideal, how far they are from reality, or both.

An example of something that meets both of these criteria might read something like this (fictionalization by me):

Are you ready to rock?!

40-something metal heads looking for bandmates to write songs and kick ass! Influences include: Slayer, Megadeath, Anthrax, and Pantera.

We’ve been playing guitar for two years and are ready to bang our heads all the way to fame and fortune.

Need bass player, drummer, road manager, and groupies.

Then, occasionally, someone else who reads these things regularly posts a parody ad and just nails it.

This morning, I read one of those, and just had to share:

bellingham musicians

i am looking to become a rich and famous musician, but i don’t really want to ever practice, but i have a plan on how i can accomplish my goal with your help.

step one: if you play an instrument meet at cornwall park at noon on saturday with your instrument
step two: start a band with the other people who show up with their instruments
step three: get a record deal or something
step four: receive awards, make millions, and give me 10% for being the founding member.

thank you for your time and money

R.I.P. Levon Helm

Posted on by
4

Apropos my post from yesterday, sadly, what had been forecast has come to pass: the great Levon Helm has died.

Honestly, after what I’ve written about Levon already, and considering all of the remembrances and tributes out there on the internets and those to follow, there’s really not much more for me to add.

He was one of the greats, a HUGE influence on me, a voice that I will hear in my head and treasure in recordings for the rest of my life. For that, I feel tremendously grateful.

As has been widely noted, Levon was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1990s, losing his voice for a time, but then he came back with a vengeance, releasing two Grammy winning albums, touring, and collaborating with fellow music legends in the Midnight Ramble shows he hosted at his barn/studio in Woodstock, New York.

Having posted a video yesterday of Helm at the zenith of The Band’s career, I thought I’d choose something from his late comeback, to honor how vital and amazing he was until the bitter end.

Rest in peace, Levon. You’ll be missed.

Levon Helm and the Preemptive Obituary

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday this tweet appeared in my Twitter feed:

By the end of the day, dozens of retweets later, it was clear how dearly loved Levon Helm, legendary drummer and vocalist of legendary music group The Band, truly is, operative word = is.

Then, this morning, I came across this headline (emphasis in bold added by me):

Levon Helm Was The Real Voice Of America

…and before I even clicked on the link to read the Esquire article by Charles Pierce, I rushed to read the standard news reporting on Levon’s passing, only to find that, as of this writing, he hasn’t actually died yet.

And, before I could process how uncomfortable it was to see a writer referring to Levon Helm in the past tense before he’d even passed, I clicked on the link to read the preemptive obituary only to find that the headline had been changed to:

Whip to Grave: Levon Helm, the Real Voice of America

Now, I don’t know if Charles Pierce changed the headline because he realized how people might react to an obituary for someone who hasn’t died yet, or because the new title fit the premise of his piece better. The latter is compelling, because the phrase “whip to grave” refers to a lyric in a song from The Band’s first album, 1968′s Music From Big Pink, a tune titled We Can Talk, a powerful statement about America’s often stark contradictions.

As for the former, I’ll probably never know, but the question seems irrelevant when you consider something Pierce writes in his last paragraph:

I wanted to write all of this before he passed. I wanted to thank him for the way he sang, and for the throb of his drums, and for the way he helped point the way home for all of us who thought we’d lost our country. He brought us back to what was really important: the fugitive grace of a young democracy, that America, for all its flaws and shortcomings, for all its loss of faith in itself and its stubborn self-delusions, was a country that was meant to rock.

For me, the thought of losing Levon stirs up the sadness of having already lost Band members Richard Manuel in 1986 and Rick Danko in 1999. (A post of mine from September 2010 sings praise for Danko specifically.)

But Levon Helm deserves the credit that Pierce gives him, as he was the only American in a band full of Canadians, he was their street cred as purveyors of Americana music, his southern drawl was unmistakable and his Arkansas roots oozed from his music.

He will be missed when he’s gone, but for now I join in the celebration of his life and the many glorious musical gifts he’s given us.