November 2020 Challenge Thread: The End Is Near

Catch up for
D Jilla said:
Day 13: World Kindness Day
Play an album from an artist known for their kindness/generosity. Bonus points if they've been kind to you personally.
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I don't really know if Steve Morse is known for kindness or generosity but he seems so to me.

Let's listen to What If by Dixie Dregs. I choose this album because I grew up listening to The Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1 which used Take It Off The Top for its theme song.

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And in a rather lovely turn of somethingorother when I started taking music lessons again this year I was given the Steve Morse Alternate Picking Lesson to start with, first to brush up technique and then to analyze into chords. When I figured out how fast triplets are at 120 bpm I was scandalized. Seriously?! I yelled at my teacher declaring that I had no ambition to play fast, only loud. Well, not really but I'd like to think I did.

(As an off-topic bonus video while I'm in a nostalgic, sentimental mood I'd like to share another theme song used in The Friday Rock Show for the Quiz segment of the show. This is a fantastic film from 1972 of Van Der Graaf Generator playing Theme One [the composition itself has an interesting BBC Radio One history]. I'm not sure I can honestly fit this in otherwise since I'm not much of a VDGG fan owing to Hammill's singing, which is a pity since the band could really rock, as this short film shows.)
 
Day 14: Every Other Day Is A-hole Day?

Art Blakey & The New Jazzmen - Live In Paris ‘65 (Sam Records, 2020 Limited Mono Pressing)

This is likely to be a controversial one but its a story which has always shocked me. It centres around the jazz pianist Jutta Hipp and an incredibly horrible moment caused by drummer Art Blakey. Hipp had just moved to New York from Germany and was visiting a club where Blakey was performing. Leonard Feather was introducing her to the nightlife and musicians, and Blakey came over to ask if she wanted to perform on stage with him. She was flattered but said she was tired and would struggle to keep up with Blakey’s speedy playing style. Later Blakey introduced Hipp to the audience and unexpectedly said that she had agreed to play with him. Hipp awkwardly got on the stage and began to play but Blakey came in at break-neck speed and she couldn’t keep up. At the end Blakey stood up, pointed to Hipp and said to the audience “And this is why we don't want the Europeans coming and taking out jobs”. Combined with the fact that Hipp was already an incredibly nervous person, who always felt inferior compared to her peers (who she saw as heroes) and its hard to imagine that this didnt have an impact on her decision to quit music.

I will caveat this by saying that I think Blakey was generally a nice person, he certainly took a large chunk of what we consider to be jazz legends under his wing during their early days. But that one incident always stands out to me.

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Day 14: Every Other Day Is A-hole Day?
If there's a special kindness day, I guess that means every other day is asshole day. Play something from a noted asshole. Bonus points if they've been an asshole to you personally 😂.
Lou Reed - Transformer
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I really do enjoy the trope of the difficult curmudgeon artist. I have several albums that would have fit well into this category though unfortunately a few [see: Adams, Ryan and West, Kanye] have recently fallen from the ranks of charming assholes to problematic assholes. That was never the case with Lou, he always struck the right balance between combative and annoyed, you couldn’t help but enjoy his ornery behavior. He had one of the best smirks in Rock & Roll.

To wit, here are some amazing interviews of Lou sparring with the Australian press...

 
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Day 14: Every Other Day Is A-hole Day?
If there's a special kindness day, I guess that means every other day is asshole day. Play something from a noted asshole. Bonus points if they've been an asshole to you personally 😂.

Well, @TenderLovingKiller® took my first choice. And I think described the difference between a charming asshole and a problematic asshole perfectly.

The only artist that's been an asshole to me personally is Bruce Willis, but I never got around to buying Return of Bruno.

So I'll go with the Artistic Asshole. I don't think Neil is intentionally difficult, but he goes where the muse drives him. If he's not feeling it he's onto the next thing, leaving bands in his wake. I think the best description of this is when he ditched the Stills Young Band tour halfway through, leaving Stephen Stills this note via a telegram: “Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat A Peach. Neil."

Stills-Young Band ~ Long May You Run

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I'm a little behind, so I'm going to skip around a bit as I catch up.

Day 13: World Kindness Day

Dolly Parton - Jolene

I haven't engaged with her personally, but she's the queen of kindness. How many books has she given to children? Over a million? She's a treasure.
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Day 13: World Kindness Day
Play an album from an artist known for their kindness/generosity. Bonus points if they've been kind to you personally.

This was an easy one for me.

Alejandro Escovedo is one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever been blessed to know. As an artist who supports tapers, he's put me on the guestlist for loads of shows. And his right hand man, Mike Thompson, would always call me ahead of time to make sure everything was set and to check if I needed anything. That's right - Alejandro always had his people check with me to see if I needed anything. I mean, c'mon. What artist does that for a taper?

Alejandro hasn't swung thru in a few years. This is the last time I saw him in 2014. It's a duo show with Alejandro on guitar and Susan Voelz on violin. It smokes. So does the recording. Enjoy!





Alejandro Escovedo - Burn Something Beautiful



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GritNGlitter said:
I'm a little behind, so I'm going to skip around a bit as I catch up.

Day 13: World Kindness Day

Dolly Parton - Jolene

I haven't engaged with her personally, but she's the queen of kindness. How many books has she given to children? Over a million? She's a treasure.
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GritNGlitter said:
Day 12: Still Fresh
Lilly Hiatt - Walking Proof

Love Lilly, and this album didn't disappoint
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These women are a double rainbow.

 
Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

Supergrass - The Strange Ones

I was surprised how quiet these picture discs are. I would have prefered them on black vinyl with the original artwork but, it's still a great boxset, tons of extras.

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Day 15: Clean Out Your Fridge Day

Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie

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As a kid, when this album started on the weekends (usually preceded by the churning sound of a CD carousel player), it meant it was time to start doing chores. Needless to say, I have mixed emotions with this record.
 
D Jilla said:
Day 15: Clean Out Your Fridge Day
Play something that'd get you motivated for the task. Also, major bonus points if you actually do clean out your fridge (pics or it didn't happen).
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Osibisa - Happy Children

If you clean out your fridge today, you should try this. (I am not cleaning out any fridge today.)

Years before the big labels made a fortune in the 80s selling big brand US/UK artists performaing "World Music", Osibisa showed what could be done. They weren't alone in accomplishing that, of course, but they were certainly their own thing.

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I didn't find a particularly inspiring youtube of early 70s Osibisa. If you know or can find one, please reply.
 
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