Day: May 11, 2016

The “Daily Music Break” reminded me how much I love the early 70s albums from Ry Cooder via an excellent video of him performing “Jesus on the Mainline” from the “Paradise and Lunch” album.

I first heard this album when I was 19 and played it on heavy rotation for a few years.  The mixture of vintage blues, country and jazz guitar styles with modern slide and gospel arrangements wasn’t like anything I’d heard before.  During my commutes today I listened to most of the remastered “Paradise and Lunch” on headphones – highly recommended to enjoy all the different guitars and styles happening on every song.  “All Over Now” and “Fool for a Cigarette” are standout arrangements.

The other albums that I enjoy from this early 70s period are “Into the Purple Valley” and “The Slide Area”.

I’m going to revisit his soundtrack from “Paris, Texas” which has some excellent and very sparse slide guitar and the always amazing “Buena Vista Social Club” which I’m expecting will have a resurgence as Cuba opens up to U.S. tourism.

 

I came across this amazing short video by the “Nerdwriter” through the “Daily Music Break” newsletter this week.

I learned a new term, the “mu chord”, watching this.  This essentially involves adding either a 2nd or a 9th to a traditional major triad and is apparently mostly attributed to Steely Dan.  The intro to Deacon Blues is perhaps the best example.

The video also highlights Larry Carlton’s subtle guitar frills and the compressed mid-range horn arrangements by Tom Scott that allow the excellent saxophone solo by Pete Christlieb to jump out of the mix.  He’s also responsible for the sax solos on Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable” and on “FM (No Static at All)”.

The drumming is provided by Bernard Purdie (the most recorded drummer) who has played with James Brown, Aretha Franklin (musical director for 5 years in the 70s), and a host of others.

His legendary Purdie shuffle (triplets against a half-time backbeat) can be seen in this video and heard on the Steely Dan songs, “Kid Charlemagne”, “Babylon Sisters”, and “Home at Last”.