January 2021 Challenge Thread - It's All One Song! And One Raffle!

Day 24: “I got the revolution blues”

78AD3FAD-ACA2-4AC3-BB4C-B353187DA85A.jpeg

peter gabriel - biko

7A3C01CC-B354-4438-8278-DEB3ACB318C5.jpeg

September '77
Port Elizabeth weather fine
It was business as usual
In police room 619

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

When I try to sleep at night
I can only dream in red
The outside world is black and white
With only one colour dead

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

And the eyes of the world are watching now
Watching now
 
Day 24: “I got the revolution blues” – Play something referencing a crime or historical event.

Gonna go on the nose for this one. Revolution Blues is directly predicated on Charles Manson and his followers. Hell of a jam, and I love the bass work on it, but it sure is dark.

"Well, I'm a barrel of laughs, with my carbine on
I keep 'em hoppin', till my ammunition's gone
But I'm still not happy, I feel like there's something wrong
I got the revolution blues, I see bloody fountains
And ten million dune buggies comin' down the mountains
Well, I hear that Laurel Canyon is full of famous stars
But I hate them worse than lepers and I'll kill them in their cars"

Neil Young ~ On the Beach

1611517639319.png
 
Day 24: “I got the revolution blues”
Play something referencing a crime.

Elvis Costello - Spike
Featuring: Let Him Dangle - A song about Derek Bentley, a British teenager who was involved in the murder of a police officer in 1952, and sentenced to death by hanging. There's also a movie about the incident called Let Him Have It.

EC.jpg
 
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat” – In the late 80’s Neil got sued for making albums that didn’t sound like Neil Young albums. It’s Opposite Day, play something that was a departure for an artist, or something with an unexpected guest appearance.

You won't find another artist who's willing to break musical ranks like Neil. The man has no fear and will follow any path that interests him at any moment. Per today's theme, it's gotten him in trouble on occasion. Neil don't care. He's gonna play what he wants, when he wants, and that independent spirit of his has earned the biggest slice of the LP pie in my collection.

But here's the rub - when you have full context, the complete story from Neil about what he recorded and why, most of his weirdo records make perfect sense. And I'll choose one of those for today's theme. Case in point - Trans. This is one of two LPs, along with the rockabilly record Everybody's Rockin', that caused David Geffen to blow a gasket and sue his own artist. Neil filed countersuit. Both lawsuits were dropped. Geffen ended up apologizing to Neil. Neil carried on with his quirky music.

Trans is full of synclavier, synths and vocoder. On the majority of tracks (6 out of 9), it's a very synthetic, robotic record. But when you reel in the context, it becomes more clear. From 80 to 82, Neil was focused on a therapy program to assist his son Ben, born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak, with communication. The mechanical theme of Trans mirrored his efforts to communicate with Ben.

"At that time he was simply trying to find a way to talk, to communicate with other people. That's what Trans is all about. And that's why, on that record, you know I'm saying something but you can't understand what it is. Well, that's exactly the same feeling I was getting from my son."

And there's your rub. And that's why Neil Young is so damn great. A sorely underrated record.

I saw the Trans tour twice in '83 - once completely solo and the second time with a solo set followed by The Shocking Pinks. As David Geffen fumed, I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.




Neil Young - Trans

20210124_235111.jpg
 
Last edited:
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat”

Beck "Sea Change" (2002 Geffen; 2016 reissue pressed ay Pallas)

Beck was always a sort of chameleon, but "Sea Change" still marked a significant departure. This is when he shed that playful prankster persona and decided to wear his heart on his sleeve and release a truly mature record, one that is withstanding the test of time.

IMG_1252.JPG
 
Last edited:
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat”
Tomahawk - Anonymous
BD36814D-E183-4729-93C7-3C861EFB72BB.jpeg
while this album sounds like nothing that they had done before (or since :cry:) this is what I had first had hoped when I first got into them when their first album dropped and I had saw Mike Patton had a new project by the name Tomahawk. “Recorded after the departure of bass player Kevin Rutmanis, the songs on Anonymous are based on Native American compositions researched by guitarist Duane Denison.”
 
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat”
In the late 80’s Neil got sued for making albums that didn’t sound like Neil Young albums. It’s Opposite Day, play something that was a departure for an artist, or something with an unexpected guest appearance.
Paul Simon - Graceland
A30721FF-9B5F-44DF-8B4A-2FFFB8B2272E.jpeg
Graceland was a major departure for Simon; incorporating the mbaqanga music of South Africa into his traditional folk music style also lyrically he moved away from linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic, abstract, and satiric portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. While Simon would continue to work with many of these artist over the remainder of his career he never made another Graceland.
 
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat”
In the late 80’s Neil got sued for making albums that didn’t sound like Neil Young albums. It’s Opposite Day, play something that was a departure for an artist, or something with an unexpected guest appearance.

I think this was the first Tom Waits album I bought, originally on cassette when I was in high school. I played trombone at the time, so I went on the name alone. I wasn't aware of how big a departure it was at the time. But the more I've listened to Tom, this is an obvious switch for him sonically.

Tom Waits ~ Swordfishtrombones

1611598953094.png
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat”
In the late 80’s Neil got sued for making albums that didn’t sound like Neil Young albums. It’s Opposite Day, play something that was a departure for an artist, or something with an unexpected guest appearance.
Paul Simon - Graceland
View attachment 85246
Graceland was a major departure for Simon; incorporating the mbaqanga music of South Africa into his traditional folk music style also lyrically he moved away from linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic, abstract, and satiric portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. While Simon would continue to work with many of these artist over the remainder of his career he never made another Graceland.
Click to expand...

I loved Paul Simon in Christmas Vacation!
 
Day 25: “Everybody’s Rockin’, Rockin’ to the dancing beat” – In the late 80’s Neil got sued for making albums that didn’t sound like Neil Young albums. It’s Opposite Day, play something that was a departure for an artist, or something with an unexpected guest appearance.

I'm going with the CD from this weird little project from Pulp's Jarvis Cocker that couldn't be more of a departure from Pulp's sound.
It's tongue in cheek, it's trashy, it's fun

9B033180-A46D-45DD-9175-71D5E76EE987.jpeg
 
Day 24: “I got the revolution blues”

Nina Simone — Nina Simone Sings The Blues

image.jpg

It’s not “Mississippi Goddamn”, but “Backlash Blues” will remain one of those tracks that reference civil rights, Vietnam, and other historical/political events that Nina became known for discussing.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
No joke, as a little kid I genuinely thought Chevy Chase sung this song.
Click to expand...
Wes C. Attle said:
I loved Paul Simon in Christmas Vacation!
Click to expand...
Over the holidays we (re)watched Elf and Christmas Vacation.
My son hadn't seen either. I think Elf has aged better (my son liked it more too, he really enjoyed the first Vacation movie and the Christmas one was a let down).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top