Grace Slick and The Great Society

Collector's Item 1971

Grace Slick and The Great Society was a band in 1965-1966. Grace Slick was the lead singer but went to Jefferson Airplane to replace Singe Anderson. Jefferson Airplane recorded the two biggest songs The Great Society sung, White Rabbit and Someone to Love, since Grace Slick composed the songs.

In Someone to Love the guitar and drums feel like they are each doing their own thing, yet it still seems to work together. The chorus bridges the gap between them the most. It is an interesting song. The song Sally Go ‘Round the Roses’ has an Indian feel to it, it is unique. There is a lot of dissonance in the song and what sounds like distortion of the guitar. I enjoyed it

White Rabbit feels like a snake charmer. Visualizing the music in my head, I see people sitting on carpets in the desert charming snakes and smoking hookah at sunset. The lyrics are in the last two minuets of the six-minuet song, a big lead up to a few words at the end.

Overall, the recordings have a rusty sound to them. It seems like the band is in a garage recording music. To me, it gives an amateurish feel that is pure instead fraudulent. The music is carefree, open and unplanned just like the era it was made in.

The Beatles

The Beatles (aka The White Album)

1968

The Beatles wrote this album after they traveled India. At the time they were recording the album the band began to fall apart. According to author Mark Lewisohn, Ringo Starr actually quit the band during some of the recording of some the songs so Paul McCartney plays the drums on some of those songs. I found some of the elements The Beatles incorporated into their interesting and odd. In Back in the USSR, The Beatles incorporate the sound of an airplane flying above in the song. The airplane sound plays throughout the song and gives it a feel traveling. The last part of the song is the airplane landing which gives the song its conclusion instead of words or a melody. They sort of do the same thing in the Glass Onion. At the end of the song, everything stops from the guitar, drums, bass etc, and the only thing playing is string instruments in an entire different melody and tempo with no words and it all slowly fades out. To me, it gave the song sort of a tragic ending.  Wild Honey Pie is another odd song for me. It sounds as though The Beatles are deranged back woods village people looking for food. They incorporated that same sound a bit into The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill. Rocky Raccoon comes close to the backwoods country people sound as well.

I like Martha My Dear. It starts out with a few instruments and gradually adds more instruments into the song. I like the stop time with the tuba in song, it has a playful feel to which I think is appropriate sense they refer to Martha as a silly girl.

I love Blackbird! I think that is because I have heard it so much and in movies it’s always played during a inspirational/crossroads moment. The song has an inspirational feel to in the lyrics and instrumentation. They also incorporate singing birds moving water sounds into the song. It makes me think of a dawn breaking by a creek in a peaceful forest. The simple sound of the tap on a wooden block (which keeps the beat in the song) also contributes to the inspirational and peaceful feel of the song. 

Rock N Roll

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley 1956

This self titled album was the King’s first recorded album. This first album launched Elvis’s career and stardom. Today people still considered Elvis Presley as the King of Rock N Roll, which is fitting considering the sex spell he cast upon the females of the 1950’s according to many churches of the day. His music makes you want to shake and sway your hips. In Tutti Frutti, Elvis’s spell is cast on me and I shake my hips like Elvis did on Ed Sullivan.  Even the songs that have a slow melody, like I Love You Because, put you in a daydream of Rock N Roll romance and calms your hips down to a sway. In I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry, Elvis brings out his country roots and twang. I think it is fitting since the song is about losing a woman. Ultimately, in my opinion, Elvis is timeless and this album is no exception. As soon as I started playing this album, my roommates came out of their holes and began to discuss the how much they loved Elvis and how Hott (yes, capitalized with two t’s) he was. Almost sixty years after this Elvis released this album, masses of young women still idolize him.

The Trumpet

Chris Botti in Boston 2009

Chris Botti is a world class jazz trumpeter. I enjoy the smooth notes he plays on the trumpet. It has a feeling of class to it. His music has a lot of consonance and often performs with orchestras. In this album, Chris Botti in Boston, he highlights the trumpet playing with the Boston Pops orchestra. Normally, when I think of trumpets images of the military and Taps comes to my mind, but the music that Botti plays from the trumpet made me rethink the rigid style I normally associate with the trumpet and transforms the trumpet into a classy instrument. There is one high note he plays in Ava Maria that blows me away even though the trumpet is known for its high notes Botti plays them softly and powerfully at the same time. Another song I enjoy is Cinema Paradiso. It pairs the piano, cello and trumpet together beautifully, not to mention Yo Yo Ma is on the chello. The cello starts out with the melody then Botti comes in and takes over the melody with the trumpet with the melody jumping back and forth between the cello and trumpet. Beautiful to my ears! 

Kind of Blue

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis 1959

From this album, Kind of Blue, it is easy for me to understand why so many still appreciate Miles Davis today. The smooth notes he brings out of the trumpet in his melodies bring a calming and soothing rhythm to the soul. The long notes of the trumpet settle on the ear in their perfect consonance. Davis begins with upbeat melodies and uses the cymbol on the drums to keep the beat, which is subtle and not overbearing as a drum would be. Except in Blue in Green, this is my favorite song from this album. I love how the piano and trumpet dance together in this duet. I feel as though I am dancing with them when I listen. After Blue in Green, the album picks back up with All Blues that has a metropolitan feel of the 1950’s era; it’s mysterious sounding. Throughout the entire album, the rhythmic world of Miles Davis carries me away and I forget the past week’s troubles. That is why I love to listen to this album, especially after a long week of work.  I would also suggest glass of pinot noir to compliment this album.