By Jarrett Stieber, contributing writer and guest musician for the ATL Collective
“We’ve been to 52 countries playing and here’s the thing: most countries listen to shit music. We’re here to relieve them of that,” Joe Strummer slurs backstage at the Palladium in New York City. That September concert in 1979 produced not only a pithy quote but also one of the most iconic photographs in rock history: bassist Paul Simonon smashing his Fender Precision on the stage (a photo which would become the eventual album cover for “London Calling” in December of that year).
Before “London Calling,” the Clash was a band with its back against the wall. Their preceding album, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” was commercially unsuccessful despite the quality of the music. They fired their producer and relocated to a new practice space where they did nothing but rehearse and play vicious games of soccer against each other. When their CBS record executives would come to check in on their progress, they would challenge them to games of soccer and physically beat their employers. Guitarist Mick Jones reminisced, “The band used to kick the execs in the shins and drag them to the pitch, and doing so was wonderful.”
The four musicians developed a strong sense of unity through shared anti-establishment mindsets and their new material, leading to a feisty sense of confidence toward their future. They hired Guy Stevens, a producer similarly cornered and looking to make a statement, to produce the record. Stevens’ avant-garde approach to production, which he called ‘direct psychic injection,’ kept the band in a state of frenzy during production. Stevens’ would run around amongst the band while they recorded and throw chairs and ladders. The energy and harnessed chaos comes across on the record, which shows a band clearly unified and excited to be making music. The influences of rockabilly, ska, reggae and bossa nova present in the music mix with the band’s signature coarse punk sound to create a transcendent album of music far more sophisticated than any other punk release to date.
Drummer Topper Headon benefited from the cross pollination perhaps more than any other member of the band, vocally professing how pleased he was to play his drums beyond basic rock patterns. The band also decided to pay respect to their influences by including a revamping of Vince Taylor’s song “Brand New Cadillac,” a tune the band used as a warm up before shows and recording sessions.
While most of the double album’s material was written by front man Joe Strummer, Mick Jones contributed a few songs of his own, as well as exerting his presence by forcing Strummer to re-write all the verses of “London Calling” multiple times until they were deemed acceptable. Paul Simonon also got his work on record with the song “Guns of Brixton.”
Despite the wide array of genres present on the album, and overall level of musicianship streaming through the group’s songwriting, Strummer admitted, “We’re not particularly talented but we try our hardest, it’s as simple as that. We give it all we got.” Effort and energy are exactly what those of us outside of the band get treated to every time we listen to the album, whose vinyl practically sweats every time it’s spun on a turntable. From the needle’s drop into the harsh, paranoid intensity of “London Calling” until it softly glides to rest after the Joe Strummer begs, “Stand by me…” for the last time in “Train in Vain,” “London Calling” proves exactly why bands like the Sex Pistols faded away but the Clash persevered. If this album is what London flooding will be like, then I will gladly risk living by the river Thames.
If you can possibly listen past the veneer of immaculate, lush, and imposing compositions within The Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds, it feels nearly confessional. With the help of jingle writer Tony Asher, who ended up writing most of the lyrics for Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson co-wrote a largely sentimental rock record that tackles issues like love, isolation, and moments of hazy angst. The lyrical content of Pet Sounds almost stands in direct opposition to wheelhouse Beach Boy topics: ‘”fast cars, cute girls, and sunny beaches.”
Wilson’s touring break and subsequent decision to record Pet Sounds, gave listeners the a succinct glimpse of this mastermind on tape. After listening to the Beatles Rubber Soul and catching the fever to make the “best album of all time,” Wilson flexed his one-man-band chops using band mate Mike Love – not unlike Jordan and Pippen worked on the early-mid nineties Chicago Bulls championship teams. One role was primarily supplemental. He then enlisted the rest of the Boys along with his own army of creatives to follow his flawless compositional compass. Why the obvious need for control? Where most bands team up to agree on approach, content and direction, there was obviously something blooming or dying within Wilson that couldn’t find its way into the world following democratic rock band methods. He wanted the ball.
As J. DeRogatis noted, “While psychedelic drugs inspired the Beatles to look at the problems in the world around them, they made Brian Wilson turn his attention inward and probe his emotional longings and his deep-seated self-doubts.” (Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock). Inspiration or not, by all accounts, Wilson was looking for personal meaning from within at this juncture in his career (10 albums in) and Pet Sounds comes across like a man handing over wildly complex musical and lyrical coordinates to his listeners in order to be discovered and loved.
Now, here at the ATL Collective, we’re very interested in the narrative in which our main protagonist songwriter finds him or herself at the time the chosen record was made. Whether it’s a band or folk singer, we’re looking to re-interpret the record as narrative in order to put brilliance under a microscope, capture a moment in time, and bring not just a song, but an entire story back to life through song. The centerpiece we choose to branch out of is always the primary songwriter. Tomorrow night, that’s Brian Wilson. Tomorrow night, as a group of fans, artists, and writers, we’ll give it our best to follow Mr. Wilson’s fantastic coordinates and hopefully understand what he wanted us to know. And, while taking care of his ‘pet sounds’, perhaps we’ll get an idea of what he wanted himself to know.
By Micah Dalton.
Micah is the co-founder of the ATL Collective, a touring singer/songwriter, and is looking for a cheap bike.
Attention, fans of the ATL Collective! Due to summer scheduling at Eddie’s Attic, we will no longer be doing two shows, but one at the regularly-scheduled time of 8:00pm. Doors will open at 7:00. For those who have already purchased tickets to both the early and late shows, do not worry, as your tickets have been transferred over automatically by Eddie’s Attic to the new 8:00pm show. Sincerest apologies for the inconvenience. We are looking forward to seeing you there!
Check out Francis Eagle’s version of the Kinks’ ‘Ape Man’ from the last ATL Collective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0JGJxu77AI
Little Tybee covering the Kinks’ ‘Money Go Round’
Hello old collective friends. Writing you from California, where they
don’t know how to make a biscuit or put sugar in their tea, and they
don’t have a Collective. At least not yet.
I’m going to miss you guys fiercely this installment, as you cross the
Atlantic again for Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round by the
Kinks, a record that came out when I was only six years away from
entering the world (and many of you were still some sixteen years
off). For those of you who didn’t know that I was born in 1976, the
album came out in 1970. So I don’t have a good story about walking
into Phil’s Records in my hometown and buying it on release day. But I
do remember when I heard Lola for the first time. I was 13, and it
came on our school bus radio. My memory is fuzzy as to whether the bus
had a built in radio or if Frazer (driver and possible psychopath)
brought in a boom box. But the song came on. I was laying back on the
seat watching the leaves go by my window, and I was immediately
transported to the streets of London, North Soho to be specific. I
didn’t understand all the lyrics. But I knew the song was sexy and
somehow illicit. It was racy and wrong. Yet it was so right. I
probably listened to it more than 20 times before I learned that Lola
is a dude. That was a big shocker. Took me a while to readjust. Now,
of course, I’m more open than I was then…
Lola dominates this album, as the single is pretty epic—musically,
lyrically, you name it. But the rest of the album is worthy of your
ears. And that is what we do at the Collective. Sure, you’ll hear
“Lola,” fear not. And he/she is going to sound really great. But
you’ll also hear the beautiful old-timey ballad “Introduction,” which
kicks the album off. My favorite song may just be “Strangers,” which
the Band certainly could have done a great job with. And you’ll hear
the pleading harmonies on “A Long Way from Home,” which I wonder if
Joan Jett didn’t borrow from on “Crimson and Clover.”
The album is the Kinks’ eighth, a concept album about a band that gets
a big hit and then has to fight the evil music industry machine. But
while that single theme may hover, the album is stylistically all over
the map. You’ll hear Dylan, The Beatles, The Band. There’s folk,
blues, rock, even a little metal. And there’s that classic British
dirty vocal sound and loose arrangements, which makes you feel like
they don’t give a shit if you’re listening or if they’re a little out
of time or tune.
All this to say that you are in for a kinky treat with this one, and
I’ll be cracking open the cherry-cola-flavored champagne over on the
West Coast while you’re battling the Powerman.
With love and fondness,
David Berkeley
Check out some photos from our show last night, at Eddie’s Attic.
Thanks to everyone who came out to Bridge Over Troubled Water last night! You all helped make it a great show.
Stay tuned for details about our next Collective on Sunday, May 22. Mark your calendars…
9:38 pm– I check Wikipedia and find the essential information. This is Simon and Garfunkel’s 5th and final studio album together. It won a Grammy for album of the year and reached number one on the Billboard charts.
9:41 pm- Bridge Over Troubled Water
The piano entry sounds like an old church hymn. I’m listening on YouTube, because I only have the live version in my iTunes library. I can’t help but recall Elvis’ soaring rendition. “Sail on silver girl”- this song is masterfully written- sung beautifully by Art Garfunkel’s tenor voice. I read this on the video’s comments: “My grandma is in the hospital, I failed a test, the love of my life is with someone else, I’m just having a hard time…Simon and Garfunkel give me 4 minutes and 52 seconds of reassurance that everything is going to be okay”
9:48 pm- El Candor Pasa (If I Could)
This traditional Andean folk tune from Peru enters with wooden flutes. I see on the Wikipedia page that it was released as a single along with the B- side “Why Don’t You Write Me.” Paul Simon’s crooning reminds me of his song “Duncan” from his self titled album that would be released two years later.
9:53 pm- Cecelia
One of the songs I remember from my childhood- and perhaps one of the most recognizable S&G songs. It sounds like a parade with the wild hand claps and air flutes. Certainly Paul Simon’s experiments with “world music” didn’t begin with Graceland. I see from Wikipedia that it is in fact Simon’s song. I also see that it reached #4 on the Billboard charts.
9:57 pm- Keep the Customer Satisfied
I’ve never heard this song before. I think of the Everly Brothers, the early Beatles, and a recording I heard of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Tom and Jerry” recordings before they hit it big with Columbia. Feed Your Head Music in East Atlanta has a copy and it’s amazing to hear S and G sounding like predictable radio fodder for the late 50s. This sounds like a nod to that era of music amended with the big band sounds of the 40’s.
10:03 pm So Long Frank Lloyd Wright
This is another new one for me. The chord structure sounds something like “Girl From Ipanema.” I can’t tell how tongue and cheek this song is meant. I’ve certainly never written a song about an architect. This seems like an odd choice for the album. Congas, thick strings, floating woodwinds- all with a loungy, bossa nova feel with heavy reverb on the vocals. This is my least favorite so far. I wonder how it will be covered on Sunday.
10:09 pm The Boxer
Ahhhh. This song is iconic. Simon’s classic wanderer’s lamentation told from the first person about poverty and struggle for acceptance. The chorus is a placeholder. “Lie lie lie”- he uses this instead of a finished chorus. When a musician records a scratch track of a half finished song, you might here something like this. Simon never came up with the words, so “lie lie lie” became the chorus.
10:20 pm Baby Driver
This melody just keeps moving. Sounds a little Blues Brothers- a little Honky Tonk. One poster on YouTube said that it reminded him of his first time. This is a toe tapping song. “I wonder how your engines feel?”
10:24 pm The Only Living Boy In New York
I’m ashamed to say that my history with this song comes from the Garden State Soundtrack. I can’t separate my vision of this song from the memory of Zach Braff and Natalie Portman yelling into the a bottomless pit. I was a freshman in college- living far away from home. The winters in Northern Kentucky were different from those in West Georgia, and I remember this song being played over and over during those first dark snowy months of utter freedom.
10:30 pm Why Don’t You Write Me
This sticky sweet song reminds me of the Beach Boys. It also makes me reflect on that point in a relationship where it could go either way. I know that place more than I would like to.
10:33 pm Bye Bye Love
Written by Felice and Boudleax Bryant, most know this song as a classic Everly Brother’s song- or The Cars perhaps. This recording is live and features a wicked electric rhythm with lots of tremolo, and lots of hand clapping from the audience.
10:37 pm Song For The Asking
Though I’m not sure, I would bet good money that this is Simon’s songwriting. These chord changes follow his solo projects for the next five years or so, specifically on “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.” It’s a short and sweet farewell. This makes me think about the duo’s relationship with the other folk troubadour of the day- Bob Dylan. I wonder if, given Dylan’s predisposition to write difficult, sometimes inaccessible songs, this is S and G going out of their way to remind the audience that they are there to entertain and to enrich. They make “songs for the asking.” Who knows…
Afterthoughts:
This album was recorded in November 1969- two months after Abbey Road was released by The Beatles and seven months after Nashville Skyline by Dylan. It is fitting that it is the last album by the two. Woodstock is over- the folk revival has passed its prime, the Beatles have broken up, and there seems to be a vacuum surrounding the world of popular music. The next decade will see Paul Simon forge new territory into commercial music, but this is it for the duo- the golden age will morph into something new.
We at the ATL Collective are excited to announce that we will be partnering with Yelp! for Atlanta’s Culture Club week. Stay tuned for updates on our next Collective, at Eddie’s Attic on Sunday, April 24.
