What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STYLE COUNCIL "confessions of  a pop group" cd,cassette,vinyl 1988

a return to a long since played favourite this morning:

their fourth full length album
a mix of soul, funk,r+b, ballads, classical styles.
lots of orchestrations and lush strings on the first half them more upbeat and poppy later on.
songs of love in its various forms (found, lost, unrequited, regret etc) and biting social commentary.
production is crystal clear and for me it is the pinnacle of Weller's strengths all on one album.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

musically, one of the most adventurous tracks Paul Weller has ever recorded.
10+ minutues of classical piano and vocals later on.








(one piece suite)

piano instrumental

(two piece suite)

True I was a gardener, once upon a time.
When the world was young and all the earth was mine
Mine to tend to, to plough and to sow.
Before mankind came and rendered all things low.
And beauty was it's first name by this I would call.
And ready the harvest for one and for all.

The orchards and the wheatfields which could of fed the world,
Were divided up like money and sold through human slaves
The rivers fresh, the hillsides that had no need of name,
Now ran red with the life blood and drunk with guilty shame.

The gentle bough was broken and twisted out of shape,
And who knows the consequences when the bough doth break,
The mother soil which reared it's young, now reared her angry head,
And rain fell down like teardrops upon the flower beds.

The blame for this I'm in no doubt, is mine and mine alone,
But so proud was I of my work, I had to share it's growth -
'Tis true I was a gardener in the time before the flood,
Now these greenfingers of mine - are stained by angels blood.

(suite III)


i'm hanging up my surfboard
i'm giving back my ring
i've had enough of choking on salty sea and fish.

i've come to the surface and come to my senses
i've come to the surface and come to my senses.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL McCARTNEY "flaming pie" cd/remastered boxset  1997

his twenty-third post Beatle collection
i regard this album as his "latter day career masterpiece".
album was produced by George Martin with assistance from Jeff Lynne and Paul McCartney
and because George an Jeff dont take crap from anyone in a recording studio Paul had to lift his game.
a couple of blues rockers on here, one features a duet with Mr Steve Miller.
a couple of other piano based rockers with the rest being ballads and acoustic based tracks..
lyrically and musically this stands up to anything from the Beatles catalogue.
tracks were recorded over a period of four years inbetween the recording of a classical album and one of his experimental albums and was the final album of his to feature vocals/keyboards from wife Linda before she died of cancer the following year.
if there were four Paul McCartney albums everyone should own then this would be one of them.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

looking back on fond days writing with John Lennon  (1) Paul McCartney - The Song We Were Singing - Lyrics - YouTube  audio with lyrics
the sad song he wrote for Ringo's children after their mother died of cancer:  (1) Paul McCartney - Little Willow - Lyrics - YouTube  audio with lyrics
the duet with Steve Miller:  (1) Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie: Used To Be Bad - YouTube  audio
the piano based title track slow rocker:  (1) Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie (Live) - YouTube  live
one of the most beautiful love songs he ever wrote:  (1) Paul McCartney - Beautiful Night - YouTube  video

and my favourite:






Somedays I look,
I look at you with eyes that shine.
Somedays I don't,
I don't believe that you are mine.

It's no good asking me what time of day it is,
Who won the match or scored the goal.
Somedays I look,
Somedays I look into your soul.

Sometimes I laugh,
I laugh to think how young we were.
Sometimes it's hard,
It's hard to know which way to turn.

Don't ask me where I found that picture on the wall,
How much it cost or what it's worth.
Sometimes I laugh,
I laugh to think how young we were.

We don't need anybody else
To tell us what is real.
Inside each one of us is love,
And we know how it feels.

Somedays I cry,
I cry for those who live in fear.
Somedays I don't,
I don't remember why I'm here.

No use reminding me, it's just the way it is,
Who ran the race and came in first.
Somedays I cry,
I cry for those who fear the worst.

We don't need anybody else
To tell us what is real.
Inside each one of us is love,
And we know how it feels.

Somedays I look,
I look at you with eyes that shine.
Somedays I don't,
I don't believe that you are mine.

It's no good asking me what time of day it is,
Who won the match or scored the goal.
Somedays I look,
Somedays I look into your soul.

---

found another track off the "Flaming Pie" album
partially recorded in the studio and partially beside a fire presumably on his Estate in East Sussex??
Linda beside him in the studio, looks like shes crying towards the end
then him solo beside the fire, he looks so anguished and pained as he stokes the fire at the end.

Goddamn that was sad!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL McCARTNEY "pipes of peace"  1983

his twelfth post Beatle effort...
contains the mega hit "say say say" with Michael Jackson...
also contains the '83 UK #1 Christmas hit, the title track...
album contains what experts describe as the first so called "mash-up" song, Tug Of Peace, a play on the previous album track 'tug of war' and the title of this album...
the obligatory ballads, a couple of soft rock tracks, a lot of love songs, singalong catchy tracks.
love the falsetto and bass playing on "so bad",a  gorgeous love song.
muso's lending a hand include Eric Stewart, Denny Laine, Ringo, Andrew Mackay and Stanley Clarke to name a few.
album ended up selling around 6 million copies worldwide...
nothing on here that would attract new fans, just a typical pure McCartney album.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

favorite wasnt released as a single but it sits alongside the best love song ballads of his career IMO






"Through Our Love"

We... Wasted Time And Again
On Things... Things We Already Knew
Born To Do... I Give My Love To You

Whenever You Get Some Time
Whenever You Get Some Time
I'd Like To Roll It All
Up In Ball
And Spend It With You
You've Got The Power Of Love
And Love Has The Power, To Make It Come True
We Can Go Through Our Love
We Can Do Things That They Said Were Impossible
Through Our Love
We Can Do All That We Want To Do
We Can Go Through Our Love
We Can Go Through Our Love

Whenever You Will Be Mine
Whenever You Will Be Mine
I Want To Be With You
Just Want To Do Whatever Feels Right
You've Got The Power Of Love
And Love Has The Power To Turn On The Light

Here We Go Through Our Love
We Can See Things That They Said Were Invisible
Through Our Love
We Can See Where We Are Going To
We're Going Through Our Love
Through Our Love We Can Learn To Do Things That They Said Were
Impossible
Through Our Love
We Can Be Blessed With A Better View
We Can Go Through Our Love
We Can Go Through Our Love
We Can Go Through Our Love

[Music Head]

this is the first McCartney album I do not have
I do have a couple after
so it's not like I had given up
probably the first time I have heard it
early 80's were my dark years for new music
the Florida years
thanks for the nudge CH
must say there are only 2 tracks I like
Keep Under Cover and Average Person
no I never liked the MJ track, the only thing I was familiar with

[CRAZY-HORSE]

not a problem MH
so you liked the two rockier tracks...
im with you on the MJ, cool video though...
and "the girl is mine" was the weakest track by far on MJ's Thriller also IMO

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ELVIS COSTELLO   "mighty like a rose" cd, 1991

a recent addition to my EC collection...
his thirteenth...
still pretty popular inhis homeland with the album peaking at #5...
was going to go back to Declan McManus for this one but Label pressure won out...
a direct follow on to the previous one, Spike, catchy, commercial soft rock with a couple of Macca co-writes...
much better than Spike though IMO
an excellent album from the get-go
up there with his best for me
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

the lead off single:






The sun struggles up another beautiful day
And I felt glad in my own suspicious way
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Despite the contradiction and confusion
Felt tragic without reason
There's malice and there's magic in every season.


From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of summer
To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf
The other side of summer.

The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace
The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice
The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows
The teenage girl is crying 'cos she don't look like a million dollars
So help her if you can
'Cos she don't seem to have the attention span.

From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of summer
To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf
The other side of summer.

Was it a millionaire who said, "Imagine no possessions"?
A poor little schoolboy who said, "We don't need no lessons"?
The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop
The pop princess is downtown shooting up
And if that goddess is fit for burning
The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning.

Madman standing by the side of the road saying
"Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes"
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Now you can't afford to fake
All the drugs your parents used to take
Because of their mistakes you'd better be wide awake.

From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of summer
To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf
The other side of summer.

The mightiest rose, the absence of perfume
The casual killers, the military curfew
The cardboard city and the unwanted birthday
The other side of summer.

The dancing was desperate, the music was worse
They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless
Goodnight, God bless and kiss "Goodbye" to the earth
The other side of summer, the other side of summer
The other side of summer, the other side of summer
The other side of summer, the other side of summer
The other side, other side, other side, other

[Ruby]

Tom Waits - Closing Time



His debut - hard to believe he was 23 when this was released. There is only one song on this album that leaves me cold and several that I love. Interesting that he had the chutzpah to stand firm and insist on an upright bass on the recording, despite it being his very first excursion into the studio - good decision - lends some serious weight. Three songs in particular have been covered by other artists whose versions pass muster (despite missing the instrumental nuances he achieved here), IMHO - "Martha" by Tim Buckley, in the year of its release too, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEeZK9j0AQU, "Ol' 55" by the Eagles which is super smooth in comparison - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86sb1AFl8Rs, and "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" by Marc Cohn, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc_x3N5Is5w. 

Tom Waits was performing this song in club when he was noticed by David Geffen and as a result signed to Asylum Records. The rest, as they say, is history ... 

[CRAZY-HORSE]

SMOKIE "changing all the time" cd, 1975

Band's second album, notice they spell their name different on this one...
later pressings of the album were credited to Smokie as opposed to the original Smokey name...
one of only two albums that charted in their homeland, peaked at #18, their biggest seller there...
two singles from this one, "don't play your rock and roll to me" and "if you think you know how to love me",
which incidently are the best tracks on here, and both were top10 hits in their homeland
still, another consistently good 'soft rock' album from one of the most underrated bands of that period...
from the album, one of the singles:

returned to this one earlier today
couldnt be bothered reposting so i added to the original post.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

thought i might run through my Ringo albums over the next week or so..
six vinyl and two on cd...
for some reason i obviously feel like i need to be punished for something LOL



RINGO STARR "sentimental journey" vinyl, 1970

his debut of 20, bloody hell, 20 albums
i wonder if anyone int he world has a copy of all twenty.
dude deserves a medal if he/she does!
a covers set of 'standards' released a couple of months before the Let It Be, the final Beatles album...
concept was created at the approval of the other Beatles well before the break-up...
covers were chosen by his family as songs they used to sing around the Living Room piano when he was young,
which is why it is a 'sentimental journey'...
the songs suit his voice and vocal tone and theyre pleasant enough to listen to but by track 10 (of twelve) i was longing to hear the runout groove...
no singles released off this one.
its an okay album, nothing bad and most definitely nothing overly good.
IM ON THE FENCE WITH THIS ONE.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

RINGO STARR   "ringo"   vinyl,  1973

his third...
album includes all four living Beatles in one guise or another...
also includes images of all four Beatles on the cover (ringo in the foreground, the other three, front and centre on the balcony)...
one cover on here, "youre sixteen", that song sounds creepy now (a 32 year old man gushing over a 16 year old girl LOL)...
the thing im finding with Ringo albums is that they are fun and enjoyable lighthearted affairs, similar to the image he had in his previous band...
all up, the best album of the three ive played so far
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

favorite, co-written with George Harrison