Music Milestones, 1968: The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat

The Velvet Underground were way ahead of the curve in the late 1960s, which helps explain the modest commercial success during their lifetime. However, the Velvets’ following grew over time and they were hugely influential after their demise, becoming a central reference for all the bands that emerged during the punk and post-punk eras. As Brian Eno famously said, their debut record The Velvet Underground and Nico may have only sold 30,000 copies in its early years, but "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band". Indeed, their approach to music, which consisted of adding avant-garde elements to abrasive rock and roll songs, while an oddity in their time, proved truly groundbreaking. Although my favorite record by the Velvets is their debut, I choose White Light/White Heat to review because here they take the experimentation displayed in their first record to new heights. “White Light/White Heat” starts off the record at fervent pace, with a piano line reminiscent of the earlier “I’m Waiting for the Man”. “The Gift” combines Lou Reed’s spoken word piece told in a blank voice by John Cale on the left speaker, with an entertaining instrumental on the right speaker. In “Lady Godiva’s Operation”, the British myth is perverted by a tale of a botched surgery of said legend, accompanied by a very hummable guitar tune. “I Heard Her Call My Name” heralds the arrival of punk and heavy metal music, where Reed’s rabid singing is surrounded by a copious amount of distortion. The record closes with “Sister Ray”, a one-take full-on jam named after Ray Davies of the Kinks. “Here She Comes Now” stands quietly amidst the frenzy in White Light/White Heat:

Music Milestones, 1967: Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen

In my view, Leonard Cohen is first and foremost an accomplished poet and novelist. Indeed, Cohen garnered critical acclaim for his literary work well before delving into music, and was a late bloomer in the 1960’s folk scene. Cohen’s musical path is therefore quite distinct from other singers/songwriters such as Bob Dylan or Simon & Garfunkel, who quickly rose to pop stardom early in their lives. Despite his late musical debut, I think that Cohen made good use of his experience to write songs with greater depth and lyrical quality than those by his peers. Songs of Leonard Cohen is my favorite Cohen record. Here, Cohen’s singing and guitar playing are harmoniously complemented by a string section and backing vocals, which help create a musical environment that perfectly accommodates his masterful lyrics. “Suzanne”, an awe-inspiring song filled with symbolism, opens the record with a mystical tale about an acquaintance of Cohen. “Sisters of Mercy” tells about the so named muses and the wonders that they work upon their subjects. “So Long, Marianne” is perhaps the most upbeat song in the record, albeit in a bittersweet way. In “Teachers”, Cohen seeks teachers of the heart, who turn out to teach love in somewhat cruel ways. “Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye”, a beautiful parting song, should be a fine introduction to Songs of Leonard Cohen:

Music Milestones, 1966: The Beatles – Revolver

Pop/rock reached its maturity in 1966, and strong releases such as Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, Aftermath by the Rolling Stones and Face to Face by the Kinks would easily contend for the best record of this year if the Beatles were not around. However, the Fab Four managed to outshine their peers with the brilliant Revolver, the experimental nature of which crucially ushered in the psychedelic era.

Despite all the experimentation that underlies Revolver, the record is a surprisingly cohesive blend of a wide range of tunes. George Harrison contributed a significant share to the songwriting, penning three indelible songs: the caustic “Taxman”; the Indian-tinged “Love You To”; and the lovelorn “I Want to Tell You”. Elsewhere, the Lennon/McCartney powerhouse was at its finest and yielded several nuggets. Highlights of the songwriting duo include the mellow “Here, There and Everywhere”, the cathartic “She Said She Said” and the comforting “And Your Bird Can Sing”. “Tomorrow Never Knows” closes the record, pushing the boundaries of pop/rock music to a whole new territory.

I leave you with “Eleanor Rigby”, which I think is the saddest and most moving song in Revolver:

Music Milestones, 1965: Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage

Herbie Hancock is undoubtedly part of my triad of favorite jazz pianists, together with Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Heavily influenced by his tenure in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, Hancock’s style is rather different from that of his predecessors, and was pivotal for the development of hard bop in the 60s and jazz fusion in the 70s. While Hancock released several groundbreaking jazz fusion masterpieces, I tend to prefer his hard bop period, and therefore picked a record from that era to review here.

 
Maiden Voyage consists of five original compositions, no fewer than three of which became jazz standards. Hancock intended the title track to convey "the splendor of a sea-going vessel on its maiden voyage", and its strong rhythm section, accompanied by Freddie Hubbard’s capricious trumpet, successfully delivers the message. “The Eye of the Hurricane” is a more erratic piece, where the seemingly wayward musical elements suggest a storm underway. The hurricane subsides and gives way to “Dolphin Dance”, a piece that is indeed quite danceable and closes the record with a mellow tone.

Here is the title track for a fine introduction to Maiden Voyage:

Music Milestones, 1964: John Fahey – Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes

Drawing from folk and blues of the 20s and 30s, John Fahey reinvented steel-string acoustic guitar with modern compositions, which helped lay the ground for a new form of self-taught fingerstyle playing that was traditional yet refreshingly novel. Fahey’s work was therefore instrumental for the advancement of American Primitivism, inspiring numerous acoustic guitar players from Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho to Sir Richard Bishop and Jack Rose.  Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes is probably my favorite Fahey record, and constitutes an excellent introduction to his vast discography. “Sunflower River Blues” opens the record with a melancholy melody that displays Fahey’s guitar-picking at his best. The sounds of sadness find their way into the follower “When the Springtime Comes Again”, which eventually evolves toward a statement of rejuvenation and hope. “The Downfall of the Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill” is perhaps the eeriest song in the record, where a haunting flute accompanies Fahey’s feverish guitar and evokes a certain Western imagery. The music atmosphere lightens up in “Take a Look at that Baby”, a pretty little tune reminiscent of youthful love. For a taste of Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes, have a listen to the opener “Sunflower River Blues”:

Music Milestones, 1963: Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Although folk music was being played throughout the United States in the early 60s, its listenership was mostly limited to college and bohemian circles before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan came out. This record extended the reach of folk music to a wider audience, and thereby heralded the prominent role that singers/songwriters would have in popular culture from then on. It is therefore no surprise that The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is among the first 50 records preserved by the National Recording Registry, alongside with other seminal works such as Scott Joplin’s ragtime compositions, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings and Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is the second record released by Bob Dylan and the majority of the songs therein are original versions, the cover of traditional “Corrina, Corrina” being the only exception. The whole record is a successful blend of protest statements, love songs and lyrical surrealism. The protest statements are perhaps most vehement in “Masters of War”, a harsh denunciation of the war industry with arrangements based on the English medieval song "Nottamun Town". My favorite love song, although Dylan did not conceive it as such, is “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” where a sweet guitar melody underlies bitter words of unrequited love. The best piece of lyrical surrealism is arguably the closer “I Shall Be Free”, a true whirlwind of a song where the singer namedrops everyone from JFK to Elizabeth Taylor.

I invite you to listen to one of my favorite songs in the record, “Girl From the North Country”, performed live by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969:

Music Milestones, 1962: Jacques Brel – Les Bourgeois

A forefather of modern chanson, Jacques Brel is a Belgian icon who played a crucial role in expanding francophone music to a worldwide audience. Indeed, Brel’s literate and theatrical approach to singing and songwriting would prove highly influential on followers such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Scott Walker and many others. 

Although I am fairly familiar with Brel’s discography and own several of his records, Les Bourgeois is the one that I repeatedly return to with great pleasure. The title song is a jovial tale of three unruly youngsters who grow old and conservative, accompanied by cabaret music that aptly captures their coming of age. The cabaret music continues with “Les Paumés du Petit Matin”, where Brel portrays the life of such early morning misfits. Brel pays a mournful tribute to his homeland in “Le Plat Pays”, where cathedrals are the only mountains. Les Bourgeois is moreover filled with many other gems, with “Madeleine”, “Bruxelles” and “Le Caporal Casse-Pompon” being personal favorites of mine.

Once again, I highlight the closing track of the record, “Rosa”, a tango in which Brel sings about carefree youth while teaching Latin 101:

Music Milestones, 1961: Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington – The Great Summit

 

Although the two founding fathers of jazz took about 60 years to join forces and make their first studio record together, the long wait was definitely worthwhile. A special acknowledgement is due to producer Bob Thiele, the architect behind The Great Summit who managed to gather these two jazz greats in Manhattan for a meager two days of recording.

Despite the short duration of this reunion, The Great Summit offers 17 outstanding compositions by Ellington effortlessly interpreted by Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars. The record begins with “Duke’s Place” where Ellington sets the stage with an infectious piano melody, which bolsters Armstrong’s singing about the wonders of such a joyful joint. Armstrong’s trumpet is more prominent on “Cotton Tail”, where he also displays some of his excellent scat ability. “It Don’t Mean a Thing” is another favorite of mine, although I must admit to prefer Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of Duke’s classic on her Songbook.

The Great Summit closes with the beautiful “Azalea”, which was composed by Ellington with Armstrong in mind, and where their piano and trumpet combine to harmonic perfection. Have a listen:  

  

Music Milestones, 1960: Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain

My favorite period of Miles Davis’ oeuvre is the late 50s, when he released the masterpieces Workin’, Cookin’, Relaxin’ and Kind of Blue, as well as Birth of the Cool (an essential compilation of earlier work produced in the late 40s). However, I pick Sketches of Spain for its odd place in Davis’ discography. In fact, this record arguably contains the least jazzy music that he ever put out; I dare say that the music here is hardly jazz. 

After listening to and marveling at Joaquín Rodrigo’s composition for classical guitar Concierto de Aranjuez, Davis teamed up with longtime collaborator Gil Evans to produce a record revolving around this piece. Davis and Evans eventually delved deep into Spanish music, and ended up conjuring a soundscape tinged with Hispanic flavor. The record opens with the second movement of Concierto de Aranjuez where classical guitar is front and center, with adept accompaniment by Davis on flugelhorn and trumpet. Horns gain momentum in the haunting “Will-o'-the-Wisp”, another Spanish piece from Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo. The last three tracks of the album are original compositions by Evans, and successfully give continuity to the flamenco-flavored procession of the two aforementioned covers.

I leave you with the album closer, “Solea”, perhaps Sketches of Spain at its jazziest:

Music Milestones

While reorganizing my music collection, I came up with the idea of making a retrospective of the records that have so far been most influential in my life as listener. I will therefore post short reviews of these inspiring records as regularly as possible, and accompany each review with a snippet highlighting a particularly meaningful track. Due to the narrow scope of my music collection, this retrospective starts for the year 1960 and runs through 2012.

This retrospective is of course highly personal, and your views on my selection are therefore very welcome. More specifically, I am interested to know which records you would pick for each year. So, do have your say...

Enjoy the tunes!