Summer, Part 3: Brazil

David Byrne's eye-opening Brazilian collections introduced many of us to the wealth of Brazilian popular music available. Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim were staples at my house, but these anthologies, seemingly randomly assembled, were really instrumental in expanding my love of all things Brazilian. Gal Costa, Maria Bethania (more on her work soon), Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, and more -- yes, this could be titled "Now That's What I Call Duh!" but at the time, it was a revelation, and still a great beginning for newbies.













I wasn't too impressed with Putumayo's earliest collections, but in the last 10 years, they've put together some of my very favorite CDs, and not just in the field of Brazilian music. "Brasiliero" is mostly upbeat, with a good match of older and newer artists, and "Brazilian Cafe" continues the mood. "Samba Bossa Nova" is a more traditional sounding collection, with all the romance that seems to be the hallmark of the Portuguese language, and "Brazilian Lounge" --- well, it seems that everyone has put out a lounge collection, but again, Putumayo ups the ante with this fantastic collection, Brazilian to the core with subtle contemporary touches. Another favorite!

Summer, Part 2

While Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys captured the summers of my boyhood, the Sir Douglas Quintet remind me of the late-college summers I never had. I mean I could have been listening to the SDQ, lounging on the porch sipping a beer in the warm summer afternoon, but I lived in Bellingham so summer was two days of heat and 3 months of hazy & wet, and besides, I was probably listening to Genesis. Forgive me, dear reader, the follies of my youth.



Doug Sahm may have been the first Cosmic Cowboy, a mixture of Texas drawl and San Francisco hippie. Who else would write a song titled "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day"? Doug started playing clubs in Texas early, then came the Sir Douglas Quintet, where their agent tried to cash in on Beatlemania by presenting them as a British band along the likes of Freddie and the Dreamers or Gerry and the Pacemakers. Yeesh. Anyway, the Sir Douglas Quintet fused Mexican norteno with blues and Haight Ashbury rock. Their albums can be spotty, so pick up "The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet" for a taste. Doug Sahm was a treasure (and the later Texas Tornadoes albums are a hoot too.)

Guilty Pleasure ? (or Skeleton in the Closet)

There are certain "guilty pleasure" albums I don't mind admitting to, because although they may be poppy or embarrassing, they're still good (the Turtles, T.Rex, the Rezillos). But there are some things that you just shouldn't admit to, and liking, no, LOVING the Tijuana Brass is one of them. Allow me to defend myself. First, there's the iconic cover from "Whipped Cream". A pre-teen growing up in a strict Catholic/military household had few opportunities to behold the female form in anything revealing, so when I stumbled upon this LP in my father's collection, I was struck as if by lightning. (My father didn't buy records; I think he won most of his collection in a card game when he was deployed overseas, a collection that included -- without irony -- several Peter, Paul and Mary LPs, with their early Dylan cover versions...) Yeah, so the cover is one thing, but the music was actually an ear-opener for me. It was my first exposure to something that wasn't White Bread American. Okay, so maybe it really was pretty white bread-ish, but it sounded exotic to me. I loved the (fake) bullfighting arena sounds of the first album ("The Lonely Bull"), the (fake) clop-clop-clopping of the horse down the old brick streets in "Volume 2", and the wistful allure of the sad trumpet, as the sun sets over a sleepy village in Spain.
But I never bought the TJB Christmas album; I do have standards.

The Boys of Summer

After the soggy 4th, the sun returns, so this is the official start of summer, and of course, the Beach Boys are the forever reigning Kings of Summer. So you've got a Greatest Hits collection or two, but I wanted to point out a few Beach Boys albums you really must own, if you don't already. Note: these are best to pick up in the two-fer mode, 2 LPs and bonus tracks on 1 CD. As great as these albums are, not all the tracks are keepers, so having almost 30 songs to pick from increases the value of each CD.


First up, "The Beach Boys Today!/Summer Days (and Summer Nights!). Brian Wilson's ballad writing took a great leap forward on "Today", and the (formerly) Side Two run of "Please Let Me Wonder", "I'm So Young", "Kiss Me Baby" and "She Knows Me Too Well" is as perfect as moonlight on the beach. Throw in the "Summer Days" gems "Girl Don't Tell Me", "Help Me, Rhonda", "Let Him Run Wild", "You're So Good to Me" and "California Girls", and you've got summer on a platter.


Everyone knows that drugs didn't do Brian Wilson any favors, but he still managed to write some great songs during this period. "Smile" was The Most Famous Album That Never Was, Brian's attempt to top the Beatles after "Sgt. Peppers". It never came out in its original form, but shards surfaced over the years, and "Smiley Smile" was the first release after what was to be "Smile" was cancelled -- some "Smile" tracks, some weirdness; as one of the Beach Boys said, instead of a home run, it was a bunt. Still, you need to hear "With Me Tonight", "Wonderful", "Let the Wind Blow", and especially "Country Air" and "Little Pad". Dylan and the Band got the credit for the whole rustic, return-to-the-roots tone of the era, but these 2 albums are infused with the joy of nature.



"Friends" is probably my single favorite Beach Boys album. I love its homespun charms, its handcrafted feel. Not too much in the way of classic harmonies, but some of the best songs of their post-"Good Vibrations" career. A classic example is "I Went to Sleep", in which Brian portrays a sunny day at the park, sprinklers, birds -- and time for a nap. It has the sweetest melody, and the fact that he could write a song about the joys of snoozing outside -- this is a really left-field comparison, but it reminds me of some of Syd Barrett's gems. Childlike, concise, innocent -- these qualities both Brian and Syd share. Maybe they were too open to the world and drugs cocooned (and eventually shattered) them, but at their best, they were brilliant.

...And The Final Few Laps Before We Hit the Showers!

Marcia Griffiths: Dreamland
Not surprisingly, there's not a whole lot of women reggae artists. Marcia has sung with Bob Marley, the title track was written by one of the original Wailers, and it's a mellow collection, simply produced and performed.



The Front Line: Virgin sampler
Again, samplers and anthologies are a great way to expose yourself to reggae, and the best compilations (like this one) work very well as albums. Vocal harmony groups, toasting, even some dub -- another fantastic collection.



I-Roy: Don't Check Me with No Lightweight Stuff
The Big Three toaster/DJ's of rockers reggae were Big Youth, U-Roy and I-Roy. Each had their distinctive style and sound (I-Roy would punctuate his raps with what sounded like the dry heaves). I am totally in the dark about most of this album, but I enjoy the crap out of it.




Easy Star All Stars: Dub Side of the Moon
There's no way this should work, but it does, and not in a Weird Al parody way, but as actual music. No kidding! Who knew Pink Floyd could take the heat of a reggae beat?

Okay, Enough About Reggae For Now..

Thank you, patient reader, for getting through my reggae marathon. I promise you, the end of the course is in sight...
So, what's the deal with Bob Marley? You can find his stuff in the pile 'o crap bins at Wal-Mart -- isn't he supposed to be really good? Yes, but...licensing can be pretty dicey in Jamaica, apparently. Just as Bob couldn't seem to control the fruit of his loins (heck, how many kids did he have???), neither could he control which or how many contracts he must have signed, so his early works have been packaged and repackaged with varying consistency and quality. Ironically, most of these bogus discs are the result of a great partnership between producer Lee Perry and the early Wailers. Much of what Bob later recorded for Island Records is a reworking of these earlier tracks, as was the same for many reggae artists -- Toots and the Maytals and Burning Spear for Island, the Mighty Diamonds and the Gladiators for Virgin are just some examples. Island made reggae an international sound, not without some controversial 'sweetening' for Western ears (guitar solos, keyboard gloss).
So here's Part 1 of my favorites, neither essential nor Desert Island, but a fan's collection, in no particular order:



Bob Marley: Kaya
Many of these are recuts of earlier versions, and there's more of the better known tracks on "Legend", which apparently everybody in the world owns (spend the extra bucks and buy the 4 CD box set "Songs of Freedom" if you can -- a fantastic career overview, and proof that Bob was still writing great songs until the end), but this and "Exodus" are usually the first Marley CDs I reach for.



Burning Spear: Chant Down Babylon
The subtitle is "The Island Anthology", and this is the best of his work for Island Records. A good investment, since you get the best tracks from his first 4 albums on Island, plus dub and extended versions. You also get the (shudder) 80's studio production and the irritating Energizer Bunny drumming of later releases, but there's the Dead cover "Estimated Prophet" to pull it out. Winston Rodney (who IS Burning Spear) has a smoky, jazzy voice (my wife insists he's braying) and the tracks from the album "Social Living" are mesmerizing.



The Upsetters: Super Ape
Lee Perry, again an Island release, in the full force gale of his genius. Sludgy, dubby, magnificent.



Toots and the Maytals: The Very Best of..
Toots has been called the Otis Redding of reggae, and it's true that American soul music is essential to his music. Again, much of these are revisited versions, but man, what a catalog of songs!

Dubwise, Part 2

So eventually, dub took off, and there are basically two schools: less is more, and kitchen sink. (I made these up.) Some dub stripped things down to the bone,and this may be the root of "all reggae sounds the same" -- you'd think there was only so much you could do with a bass/drum rhythm and the occassional 'chunka-chunka' guitar vamp -- and in most cases, this would be true. The genius of the best dub producers was their ability to use these basic elements and play them off each other, sonically and rhythmically. Augustus Pablo and "King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown" is one of the classics of this style, as is "Pick A Dub" by Keith Hudson and "Dub Me" (Morwell Unlimited Meet King Tubby's). Now these aren't hard and fast rules -- vocals float into the mix on "Pick A Dub", but generally, these are roots dub.

For me, it took a while to discover the genius in these albums. I was more a fan of the kitchen sink productions of (early) Lee Perry or the fantastically over-the-top "African Dub All-Mighty" series. Lions roaring, doorbells ringing, toilets flushing -- this was Spike Jones dub, and just the thing to hook a novice like myself.
For a taste, pick up on the Blood and Fire samplers. This label is run by reggae fans of the highest caliber, and they reissue the best (like the Morwells and Keith Hudson). Lee Perry is a stickier wicket -- too much of his catalog is over-indulgent and just plain weird, but for many folks, that's his genius. And we'll get to his Marley connection next...