Steely Dan - Aja (live!)

38 years ago I did not realize it, but wisdom comes with age. Still one of the best albums in my collection ..

Aja is the sixth album by the jazz rock band Steely Dan. Originally released in 1977 on ABC Records, it became the group's best-selling album. Peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. charts and No. 5 in the United Kingdom Track 1 Black Cow

 "Black Cow" was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the co-front, core members of the band Steely Dan.
Theories as to what this song means: Take your pick of a troubled relationship, an ode to self-doubt, a commentary on nightlife, a reference to Hindu culture (cows are sacred), or it could be about Thelonious Monk, the American jazz composer who is often regarded as the father of bebop.(Songfacts)

                  Track 2 Aja

 The song is pronounced "Asia," and was inspired by the continent. Steely Dan have several songs with a far-East influence, since Donald Fagen believes it is a symbol of sensuality. He told Rolling Stone magazine that the title came from a high school friend whose brother was in the army and came back with a Korean wife named Aja, although he wasn't sure how she spelled it.(Songfacts)

                 Track 3 Deacon Blues

 This song refers to The Wake Forest "Demon Deacons," whose football team struggled for much of the '70s, winning just 7 games from 1972-1975. At the same time, the University Of Alabama was a football powerhouse, winning the National Championship in 1973 and losing just one game in each of their next two seasons under the direction of their famous coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Alabama is known as "The Crimson Tide":
"They got a name for the winners in the world
And I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues"
(thanks, Ben - Savannah, GA)

 When asked about the line, "They call Alabama the Crimson Tide, they call me Deacon Blues," Donald Fagen told Rolling Stone magazine: "Walter and I had been working on that song at a house in Malibu. I played him that line, and he said, 'You mean it's like, 'They call these cracker a--holes this grandiose name like the Crimson Tide, and I'm this loser, so they call me this other grandiose name, Deacon Blues?' and I said 'Yeah!' He said, 'Cool, let's finish it.'"(Songfacts)

                 Track 4 Peg

 This song is about an aspiring actress, with the director/photographer promising her a big break. Whether he's leading her on or not is unknown, and given where the band got its name, you can't help but wonder what kind of actress Peg is.(Songfacts)

                  Track 5  Home at last

 This song is based on the epic novel The Odyssey by Homer. The hero, Ulysses, is trying to get home across the ocean after the Trojan War, but the gods keep making it difficult:
"Though the danger on the rocks is surely past,
still I remain tied to the mast"

These lyrics refer to an incident where Ulysses had all his crew block their ears so they wouldn't hear the Sirens' song and crash the boat on the rocks, but Ulysses kept his ears open and had his crew tie him to the mast so he wouldn't dive off the boat.

"Could it be that I have found my home at last?
Home at last?"

Ulysses is ever hopeful he'll get back to his wife and son.(songfacts)

                Track 6   I got the news

 Shifty, start-stop rhythms, suddenly erupting musical asides and two guitar soloists (Becker and Larry Carlton), “I Got The News” has an irresistable, non-stop energy. The magical part comes on the first bridge, with chorus vocals led by Michael McDonald

                 Track 7    Josie

 This song tells the story of a very popular girl who's the desire of all the young men in a blue-collar neighborhood. She creates quite a stir any time she returns.

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band whose music also blends elements of funk, R&B, and pop. Founded by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1972, the band enjoyed great critical and commercial success in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s before breaking up in 1981. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies".^[3] Steely Dan reunited in 1993 and has toured steadily ever since.
Recorded with a revolving cast of session musicians, Steely Dan's music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies. Becker and Fagen are whimsical, often sarcastic lyricists, having written "cerebral, wry and eccentric" songs about drugs, love affairs, and crime. The pair is also known for their near-obsessive perfectionism in the recording studio:^[8][9] Over the year they took to record Gaucho (1980), an album of just seven songs, Becker and Fagen hired at least 42 studio musicians and 11 engineers.
Steely Dan toured from 1972 to 1974 before retiring to the studio. After the group disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen were less active throughout most of the next decade, though a cult followingremained devoted to the group. Since reuniting in 1993 Steely Dan has released two albums of new material, the first of which, Two Against Nature, earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. They have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001.

Van Morrison - Northern Muse /Solid Ground(Beautiful Vision)

Beautiful Vision is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American jazz in its music. As with many of Morrison's recordings, spirituality is a major theme and some of the songs are based on the teachings of Alice Bailey. Other songs show Morrison's Celtic heritage and reminiscence of his Belfast background.


Northern Muse (Solid Ground)

Morrison commented in an interview with Hot Press in 1982 that "Some of the material [on Beautiful Vision], when it started, was more traditional. Some of the songs – like 'Solid Ground' and 'Celtic Ray' – they basically started out as folk-oriented stuff, and ... ended up being integrated as folk/R&B."

Van Morrison - When The Leaves Come Falling Down

                                   Links Morris- Rechts Dylan

Autumn, the leaves fall from the trees, who can sing more beautifully about this season than Van, here in a very good mood.

When The Leaves Come Falling Down - Plymouth 18-12-1999 (thank to the taper)

The band:Robin Aspland-Ritchie Buckley-David Hayes-Matt Holland-Bobby Irwin-Johnny Scott-Geraint Waitkins

Otis Spann - (Geb. 21Maart 1930 – Overleden 24April 1970)

Van L. naar R. Willy Dixon,Otis Spann,S.P.Leary

Otis Spann (Geb. 21Maart 1930 – Overleden 24April 1970) was een Amerikaanse blues muzikant.Velen beschouwen hem als een van de grootste na-oorlogse bluespianisten.


Live Newport Jazz 1960

Hij begon als solo artiest, maar vanaf 1952 tot 1968 maakte hij deel uit van de Muddy Waters Band.In die periode deed hij ook veel sessie werk met o.a Howlin Wolf en Bo Diddly Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac.(zie album van de week)



The Blues is Where It's At, Spann's 1966 album voor ABC-Bluesway,klinkt als een live opname maar is opgenomen in de studio.De opvolger was The Bottom of the Blues met Otis vrouw Lucille op vocals.



Otis Spann,Muddy Waters,Sammy Lawnhorne,George,,Harmonica,,Smith?

                               Otis overleed in 1970 op 40 jarige leeftijd aan leverkanker.
                        Hij werd postuum toegelaten tot de BluesHall of fame in 1980.

Neil Young - Bridge School and Painted Turtle Benefit -( Full show 09-14-19)

Harvest Moon: a daytime benefit concert on Saturday, September 14 at the Painted Turtle camp in Lake Hughes, CA (50 minutes from Getty Center). Audiences will take in performances by Father John Misty, Norah Jones, and Neil Young on a grassy hillside with unobstructed views of the performers, mountains, and a beautiful lake nestled near the Los Angeles National Forest.

 Thanks to the taper!!

1. Sugar Mountain 2. I Am A Child 3. Comes A Time 4. Heart Of Gold 5. Old Man 6. Rainbow Of Colors 7. I Do 8. Eternity 9. Green Is Blue 10. Only Love Can Break Your Heart 11. Tell Me Why 12. War Of Man 13. New Mama 14. Harvest Moon (accompanied by Norah Jones and other performers) 15. The Losing End (accompanied by Norah Jones)

Reverend Gary Davis - "Death Don't Have No Mercy"

                                     

 Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972)

Davis was born in Laurens, South Carolina, in the Piedmont region. Of the eight children his mother bore, he was the only one who survived to adulthood. He became blind as an infant. He recalled being poorly treated by his mother and that his father placed him in the care of his paternal grandmother. Davis reported that when he was 10 years old his father was killed in Birmingham, Alabama; he later said that he had been told that his father was shot by the Birmingham sheriff.
He sangs for the first time at Gray Court's Baptist church in South Carolina.
 He took to the guitar and assumed a unique multivoice style produced solely with his thumb and index finger, playing gospel, ragtime, and blues tunes along with traditional and original tunes in four-part harmony.
                                                        

                                          "Death Don't Have No Mercy"

 In the mid-1920s, Davis migrated to Durham, North Carolina, a major center of black culture at the time. There he taught Blind Boy Fuller and collaborated with a number of other artists in the Piedmont blues scene, including Bull City Red. In 1935, J. B. Long, a store manager with a reputation for supporting local artists, introduced Davis, Fuller, and Red to the American Record Company. The subsequent recording sessions (available on his Complete Early Recordings) marked the real beginning of Davis's career. During his time in Durham, he became a Christian. In 1933, Davis was ordained as a Baptist minister in Washington, North Carolina. Following his conversion and especially his ordination, Davis began to prefer inspirational gospel music.

 In the 1940s, the blues scene in Durham began to decline, and Davis moved to New York.^[2] In 1951, he recorded an oral history for the folklorist Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold (the wife of Alan Lomax). who transcribed their conversations in a typescript more than 300 pages long.
The folk revival of the 1960s invigorated Davis's career. He performed at the Newport Folk Festival. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded his version of "Samson and Delilah", also known as "If I Had My Way", a song by Blind Willie Johnson, which Davis had popularized. "Samson and Delilah" was also covered and credited to Davis by the Grateful Dead on the album Terrapin Station. The Dead also covered Davis' "Death Don't Have No Mercy". Eric Von Schmidt credited Davis with three-quarters of Schmidt's "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down", covered by Bob Dylan on his debut album for Columbia Records. The Blues Hall of Fame singer and harmonica player Darrell Mansfield has recorded several of Davis's songs.

 Davis died of a heart attack in May 1972, in Hammonton, New Jersey. He is buried in plot 68 of Rockville Cemetery, in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York.

Steely Dan - live at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (12 Aug.2006)

                                                            WALTER BECKER (right) R.I.P

Steely Dan is goed vertegenwoordigd in mijn verzameling maar vreemd genoeg nog niet veel op mijn blog ,Can't Buy a Thrill,Countdown to Ecstasy,Pretzel Logic,Katy Lied,The Royal Scam,Aja,Gaucho,Two Against Nature ,ik heb ze allemaal ,zowel op LP als op CD.Mooie ,tijdloze soms wat jazzachtige muziek met op elk album wel hoogtepunten als Do It Again,Hey Nineteen,Bodhisattva,Aja,Rikki Don't Lose That Number,Deacon Blue enz,enz..


Bodhisattva

De band toert nog steeds in verschillende samenstelllingen met als constante factor beide oprichters Donald Fagan en Walter Becker.In 1996 deden ze sinds lange tijd ook Nederland weer eens aan.Natuurlijk een ticket gekocht(veld Ahoy),ik zou vroeg wegrijden om een mooi plaatsje te bemachtigen toen mijn jongste zoon thuiskwam met..een gebroken pols!Dus inplaats van op weg naar Rotterdam zat ik in de spoedeisende hulp van het ziekenhuis in Goes.


Aya

Dat alles had tot gevolg dat ik pas om 7 uur kon rijden(aanvang concert 8 uur)en om half 9 op de plaats van bestemming was.De band was natuurlijk al lang begonnen,mijn mooie plaats kon ik wel vergeten,het geluid was halverwege het veld beroerd.Gelukkig was de band zo vriendelijk een korte pauze te nemen en kon ik me nog een mooi plekje voor het podium veroveren.Mijn meest favoriete nummers waren bewaard voor het tweede gedeelte en had ik toch nog een mooie avond.En met die pols van Jesper is het,getuige zijn gitaarspel, gelukkig ook allemaal goed gekomen.


Hey Nineteen

De Band:Donald Fagen - Keyboards and Vocals,Walter Becker - Guitar,Keith Carlock - Drums,Jon Herington - Guitar,Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery - Backing Vocals,Michael Leonhart - Trumpet,Cindy Mizelle - Backing Vocals,Jim Pugh - Trombone,Roger Rosenberg - Baritone Sax,Freddie Washington - Bass,Walt Weiskopf - Sax,Jeff Young - Keyboards and Backing Vocals


Deacon Blue

 
                               Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte, North Carolina USA

Walter Trout - The Love That We Once Knew (live at Carre,Amsterdam)

Happy Birthday Van Morrison !!! (Belfast, 31 augustus 1945)

George Ivan Morrison (Belfast, 31 augustus 1945)

 Wanneer kwam Van in beeld,dat moet in 1964/65 geweest zijn.Alle beatbandjes hadden Gloria op het repetoire staan en allemaal meezingen G-L-O-R-I-A .Het nummer was van Them ,dat aparte bandje met die zanger met die speciale stem ,de mooie eerste LP.Het was de tijd van de Stones en Beatles maar dit was net iets anders.Daarna Astral Weeks ,Van Morrison solo ,dat was even wennen,totaal anders dan de toenmalige popmuziek,maar o zo mooi ,tot op de dag van vandaag toe.Er zouden nog vele mooie albums volgen ,de een nog mooier dan de andere.Ook de ,,mindere ,,bevatten altijd wel een paar pareltjes.En dan zijn concerten,vele bijgewoont ,de mooiste waren in de ,,kleinere,,zalen als De Doelen ,en Vredenburg.De eerste moet in De Doelen geweest zijn ,de laatste in Peer ,afgelopen zomer.Zeker niet zijn beste concert maar ik had het toch niet willen missen.
Natuurlijk is onze vriend niet altijd het vrolijkste jongetje van de klas,is niet altijd even vriendelijk(understatement?)maar dat is absoluut niet van invloed op zijn muziek,en daar gaat het tenslotte om.Dus Van ,nog vele jaren en blijven doen waar je goed in bent, mooie muziek maken!!!! en en je humeur? dat nemen we op de koop toe.



In The Afternoon/Acient Highway/Get On Up

Live at the Mountain Winery Saratoga,California 31-08-2004,
Jawel,op Van,s 59ste verjaardag,Let op Martin Winning(sax)na zijn ruzie met een vlieg zie je zijn voorpret,hij gaat Happy Birthday in zijn solo verwerken,het publiek pikt het op en zingt Van toe,mooi spontaan optreden.

Dutch Van Morrison Weblog (VanFan)
http://www.freewheeler.web-log.nl/