And Happy 73rd Birthday to Booker T. Jones Multi-Instrumentalist and Songwriter for Booker T. & the M.G.s who have backed Neil Young on occasions and having been the house band at Stax, played on the many classic songs from that label. Booker T. was born in Memphis in 1944.
This is probably the first Neil Young song I ever heard, way back in 1969, as one of my mates brought a cassette of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, his second solo album following the 3 he made with Buffalo Springfield, into school. I was blown away, and remain so nearly 50 years later, by pretty much everything he’s done before and since. Yes, he’s made some turkeys, but his genius manages to shine through even when he’s trying to be inaccessible. I love the famous quote of his after his 3rd album Harvest was a massive hit and the single from it Heart of Gold became his only number one: "Heart of Gold was the song that put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there." Happy Birthday Shakey!
Guys, I think it's time to start a new thread because these are really starting to repeat. You only have to google the title of the song and Not606 Music thread and you can find the earlier entry. For example, we did a whole Neil Young thing only a short while ago with all these on. Have we really got to the end of our imagination.?
On Armistice Day, the most appropriate group I can think of is James Reese Europe's Hellfighters. I am fascinated by this band who were amongst the first musicians to introduce jazz-orientated music to the Old World. "Memphis Blues" was composed by W C Handy. This American band played in France during the first world war.
Show me the link TSS, because I can't recall posting these songs before and today is his birthday after all, I just wanted to honour that.
Well Neil Young has recorded 44 solo albums so far, plus his appearances with Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, the Stills-Young band, and probably stuff I’ve forgotten. I’m sure not all those have been on here before, and what does it matter anyway? I think we can be forgiven for a bit of self-indulgence on his birthday! Plus, of course, the postings by Saints Alive and aberdude, not to mention Ian Thumwood, are pretty much always original and many are tracks I for one have never heard before.
I would be gutted if this thread is pulled because it has really opened my ears. I can't say that I have liked everything but it just makes me realise that although I thought I had a pretty wide-ranging taste, there are huge swathes of different music that I have been aware of. Regarding birthdays, it is worth recalling that the first "official" jazz record was recorded 100 years ago when the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded this track. They are hugely controversial as most people who are in to jazz consider them to be something of a fraud. However, there is a brilliant book called "Remembering Bix" that was written by Ralph Berton that recalls his friendship with the legendary Bix Beiderbecke and mentions the shock value of this ODJB caused. Whilst the authenticity of this band's music will always be subject to endless debate, it you consider that prior to this music was pretty much limited to Classical, folk music and "light classics", this band really kicked open the door for not only jazz but I would argue rock.
