Jack White's debut solo album is coming in April

Almost a year to the day of the announcement of the White Stripes' breakup comes a more encouraging announcement: Jack White's first solo album, titled Blunderbuss, is going to be released in late April. The first single, titled "Love Interruption", is being released next week on February 7th, with the non-album B-side "Machine Gun Silhouette". "Love Interruption" can be streamed at the link below:

http://jackwhiteiii.com/

The song serves as a very intriguing first taste of the album. It's a moody ballad that makes haunting use of an organ, acoustic guitar, and woodwind. White's lyrics use violent-sounding metaphors to describe how the singer feels about love. It almost sounds like a dark variation on the popular Fleetwood Mac sound from the '70's; Ruby Amanfu provides a Stevie Nicks-like harmony vocal that complements Jack White's disturbed Lindsey Buckingham. Let's hope that the rest of Blunderbuss is this strong.

Alex Chilton - "Free Again: The '1970' Sessions" (CD reissue)

Earlier this month, on January 10th, 2012, Alex Chilton’s 1970 album was reissued by the Omnivore Recordings label, under the title Free Again: The “1970” Sessions. My review of the original 1996 release is here; in my previous blog post, I discussed the vinyl edition of the new reissue. This post focuses on the new CD edition.

This CD features new liner notes by Bob Mehr, who gives new and welcome insights on the sessions. Contrary to the album’s title, these recordings were made during the second half of 1969, while Chilton was still a member of the Box Tops. The sessions for this album were recorded virtually in secret, because Chilton was still under contractual obligation to the Box Tops; the reason the album was titled 1970 when it was released in 1996 was to avoid any potential legal troubles that may still have arisen from the recording dates. Also, the liner notes tell the tale about the initial search for a distribution deal for the album when it was first recorded. Some label execs showed interest, but Chilton was turned off by an offer from Atlantic which was based upon the success of a single; Chilton felt that this was too much like the types of business decisions he had to deal with in the Box Tops. Also, he shopped the album to Carl and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, who liked what they heard, but nothing came of it.

The 13 tracks from the 1996 version are here, in a slightly different sequence. The “original mono mix” of “Free Again” that opens the CD is the same version that appeared on the 1996 version. The instrumental “Funky National” is appended to the end of the Big Star-like ballad “Every Day As We Grow Closer”, but to my ears, it doesn’t sound like those two tracks really belong together.

The Free Again CD contains eight extra tracks, six of which were previously unissued, and two of which appeared on a U.K. release called Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story in 2008. The ballad “All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain” is described in more detail in my previous blog post. The stereo remix of “Free Again” has a different vocal that sounds very much like the one Chilton re-recorded for the Lost Decade album, and is less preferable. There are now at least four different versions of the song in existence; the “original mono mix” on this album, sung in Chilton’s gruff Box Tops voice, is the best one. The original mono mixes of four other songs are all inferior to their final mixes. “Every Day As We Grow Closer” has denser instrumentation, and is less effective. On the other hand, “All I Really Want Is Money” has less instrumentation, but is better off with more. “Come On Honey” has a less appealing vocal. “The EMI Song” sounds almost the same, but sounds a bit less creamy toward the end. The last two tracks are demos which will be of interest to Chilton completists. Both of them sound quite personal. The piano-based “If You Would Marry Me Babe” may have been sincerely addressed to his first wife Suzie Green, although their marriage ended quickly. “It Isn’t Always That Easy”, co-written by Chilton and his Box Tops bandmate Gary Talley, is a somber ballad that likens a hotel room to a prison cell. Resembling a song from Big Star’s Radio City album, the song provides another hint as to why Chilton was longing to be “free again” from his Box Tops obligations.


Alex Chilton “Free Again: The ‘1970’ Sessions” (CD) (Omnivore OVCD-13) 2011

Track Listing:

1. Free Again (original mono mix)
2. Come On Honey
3. Something Deep Inside
4. I Can Dig It
5. The EMI Song (Smile For Me)
6. All I Really Want Is Money
7. The Happy Song
8. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
9. Every Day As We Grow Closer / Funky National
10. I Wish I Could Meet Elvis
11. Just To See You
12. All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain *
13. Sugar, Sugar / I Got The Feelin’
14. Free Again (stereo remix with alternate vocal) *
15. Every Day As We Grow Closer (original mono mix) **
16. Come On Honey (original mono mix) *
17. The EMI Song (Smile For Me) (original mono mix) **
18. All I Really Want Is Money (original mono mix) *
19. If You Would Marry Me Babe (demo) *
20. It Isn’t Always That Easy (demo) *

* -- Previously unissued

** -- Previously issued on Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story (Big Beat CDWIK2 273) 2008

Alex Chilton - "All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain"

This past week, on January 10th, 2012, Alex Chilton’s 1970 album was reissued by the Omnivore Recordings label, under the title Free Again: The “1970” Sessions. The sessions for this album were actually recorded in 1969, shortly before the breakup of Chilton’s popular blue-eyed soul band The Box Tops, and before the formation of his revered power pop band Big Star. The album was never released until 1996, when it was issued as a CD titled 1970 by the Ardent label. That CD has been out of print for some time. The reissue by Omnivore comes in vinyl, CD, and digital formats. This post focuses on the vinyl edition, as well as a 7-inch single associated with it.

Unlike the CD and digital versions of the album, which contain several bonus tracks, the vinyl LP version of Free Again features only one previously unissued track, in place of the omitted “Sugar Sugar/I Got The Feeling” medley. The song is a Chilton composition titled “All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain”. It’s a somber folk ballad that would not sound out of place on Radio City, the second Big Star album. The lyrics are deeper than in most songs from Chilton’s bands, as he sings from the point of view of a person who (along with a companion) is left to live on the streets after being betrayed by friends. Chilton’s vocal is sung in a relatively low register that lies somewhere between his Box Tops gruffness and his Big Star high notes, and he effectively conveys the hopelessness of the characters in the song. Some of the songs from the 1970 sessions (especially “Free Again”) can be interpreted as songs about Chilton being freed from his Box Tops obligations. It’s possible that “All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain” might have reflected the downside of Chilton’s newfound freedom.

A limited-edition 7-inch single was issued at the same time as the Free Again album. It contained two alternate versions of “All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain”. The first side featured the original mix, which makes it sound even more like a Big Star song. In fact, this mix reminds me very much of the song “Thirteen”, although the subject matter is clearly more downbeat. Chilton sang in a slightly higher register for this version, and the harmony vocal provided by producer Terry Manning in the song's final mix is noticeably absent from this mix. This mix has less emotional impact than the final one. The second side of the single features the song’s demo, which sounds surprisingly good. The sounds of passing cars and other street noises were dubbed in by Manning; those sounds and the raw recording quality add some extra realism to the song’s lyrics about living on the street.

The single was limited to 500 copies. The first 1,500 copies of the vinyl LP were pressed in clear vinyl, and 500 of those were sold in bundles with the single through the Omnivore website.





Alex Chilton “Free Again: The ‘1970’ Sessions” (vinyl) (Omnivore OVLP-13) 2011

Track Listing:

1. Free Again (original mono mix)
2. I Can Dig It
3. Something Deep Inside
4. Just To See You
5. The EMI Song (Smile For Me)
6. All I Really Want Is Money
7. Come On Honey
8. I Wish I Could Meet Elvis
9. Every Day As We Grow Closer / Funky National
10. The Happy Song
11. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
12. All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain *

* -- Previously unissued





Alex Chilton “All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain” (single) (Omnivore OVS7-14) 2011

1. All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain (Original Mix)
2. All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain (Demo)

Third Man Records vinyl exclusives, Part 10

Last week I received the tenth pair of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who is the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postmark, my package was sent on January 4th. I received it on the 6th.

This tenth set of items consists of a live album (pressed in black-and-blue split-colored vinyl) by the Raconteurs, recorded at the Third Man Records studio, as well as a 7” single containing “celebrity” remixes of two songs from Jack White-led bands, and a DVD documenting Third Man’s 2010 Halloween festival.

The single contains a remix of a White Stripes song by Beck (Hansen) on one side, and a remix of a Dead Weather song by Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan on the other. Both sides are labeled as A-sides, presumably so that one of the celebrity remixers will not be perceived as being more important than the other. Beck’s remix of “The Hardest Button To Button” is filled with heavily distorted techno beats that make it somewhat reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails. The staccato rhythms are sometimes striking, but are just as often annoying. For their remix of the Dead Weather’s “Hang You From The Heavens”, the guys from Queens Of The Stone Age rearrange the song into a duet between Mark Lanegan and Alison Mosshart, adding echo and filter effects to both voices. Most of the guitar work is mixed out, leaving long stretches of spare percussion that almost give the song an a cappella feel. Both sides of this single are basically hip curios for cognoscenti.

The Raconteurs’ Live At Third Man Records was recorded direct to 1” analog tape at the Third Man studio on September 14th, 2011. The usual quartet (Jack White, Jack Lawrence, Brendan Benson, and Patrick Keeler) were joined by Dean Fertita of the Dead Weather, who played keys and provided additional guitar and backing vocals. This was the Racs’ first show after a two-year hiatus, preceding just a handful of U.S. tour dates before the year’s end. The album sounds very much like a well-produced live album from the analog era. The performances are controlled, and the sound is clean, but it’s not clean to the point of digital-age sterility. There’s no new material here, unless you count the version of “Hands” with a few verses from the Who’s “I Can See For Miles” incorporated into it. But fans of the Racs’ two studio albums will not be disappointed by this well-played, well-recorded set. (For those who’ve been with the Vault service since its early days, this set has better sound quality than the Raconteurs’ Live In London album included in the second package, but has a less comprehensive selection of songs).

Update 1/11/12: The Raconteurs ended their set that night with a nearly-eleven-minute version of "Blue Veins", but this track clearly would not fit on the vinyl LP. However, as of this writing, an mp3 download has been made available at the Vault website for Vault members. It's a gloriously Zeppelin-esque extended jam that is worth hearing.

The DVD Devil’s Night at Third Man Records documents the Halloween party held at Third Man Records on October 30th, 2010, which featured performances by the Greenhornes and the Black Belles. (The term “Devil’s Night” has traditionally been used to describe the night before Halloween in Detroit, Jack White’s hometown). The half-hour “Feature Film” alternates between footage of the festivities – highlighted by the amusing interaction between hostess Elvira (a.k.a. Cassandra Peterson) and sword-swallowing performer Dan Meyer – and meatier parts involving the Greenhornes, whom we see rehearsing, discussing their then-forthcoming album titled ****, and performing songs for the studio audience while wearing ZZ Top costumes. The real pleasure of the DVD comes from the full live sets (accessed through different menu options) from the two bands involved. For their very first concert, the all-female quartet called the Black Belles (described by the hostess as “little baby Elviras in training”) played a fast-paced 10-minute set of four ‘60’s-style garage rock numbers. Both songs from their 2009 debut single are included (“What Can I Do” and the Knickerbockers’ “Lies”), but another song called “Casting My Spell On You” makes the strongest impression. Notwithstanding the ZZ Top gags, the Greenhornes’ set is no joke. Inspired by more vintage styles of ‘60’s rock, the band is able to cram 14 numbers (including six songs from ****) into a 44-minute time frame without short-changing any of them; they find enough time to deliver concise three-minute songs and British-style blues jams. Devil’s Night at Third Man Records is a fun DVD all around, but I do have one quibble: why is every aspect of this lighthearted event presented in arty black-and-white film? Some scenes just cry out for color.

A note for fellow vinyl aficionados: the forgotten practice of engraving text in the dead wax, or runout grooves between the sticker and the last track’s grooves, is evident on these items. The Beck side of the single has “a psycho disco killer” carved in the dead wax; the B-side has “Dude took my drum stick. Gave it back” carved. Side One of the LP has “There’s magic in my eyes” etched in the runout grooves; Side Two has “As if no time has passed” carved.


The White Stripes “The Hardest Button To Button (Beck Remix)” / The Dead Weather “Hang You From The Heavens (Josh Homme & Mark Lanegan Remix)” (Third Man single TMR126) 2011

Track Listing:

a. The White Stripes – “The Hardest Button To Button” (Beck Remix)
a. The Dead Weather – “Hang You From The Heavens” (Josh Homme & Mark Lanegan Remix)


The Raconteurs “Live At Third Man Records” (Third Man TMR127) 2011

Track Listing:

1. Consolers of the Lonely
2. Salute Your Solution
3. Hands / I Can See For Miles
4. Old Enough
5. Top Yourself
6. Many Shades of Black
7. The Switch and the Spur
8. Broken Boy Soldier
9. Steady As She Goes


Devil’s Night at Third Man Records (Third Man DVD TMR 130) 2011

With full live performances from:

THE BLACK BELLES

1. What Can I Do?
2. Casting My Spell On You
3. Lies
4. The Witch

THE GREENHORNES

1. Instrumental
2. Saying Goodbye
3. Hard Times
4. Underestimator
5. Going To The River
6. Too Much Sorrow
7. Song 13
8. Shelter Of Your Arms
9. Things She Says
10. Jacob’s Ladder
11. La Grange
12. Better Off Without It
13. Need Your Love
14. Lost Woman

Paul McCartney and Rockestra

The second Spotlight Album Review that I wrote for my website Rarebird’s Rock and Roll Rarity Reviews was for a Various Artists live album called Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, released in 1981. This double-LP, which has never been released on CD, was culled from four nights of concerts at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in December of 1979. These concerts were organized by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim (who was then Secretary-General of the U.N.) to benefit victims of Pol Pot’s reign of terror in Cambodia. More information about the concerts and the album can be found on the review page.

There was a documentary film called Rock For Kampuchea made about the event, but to the best of my knowledge it has never been available on DVD. For the first eight years after I created the review page for the album, my review ended with the words: “So how about a DVD release?” Apparently, my wish has never been granted. Some are predicting that the DVD format will soon be obsolete anyway. But, would someone consider releasing Rock For Kampuchea on Blu-Ray? Maybe as a streaming Netflix video? Any format at all?

Anyway, my main reason for wanting to see the documentary was to see performance footage of Rockestra, a McCartney-led ensemble of at least 20 musicians. (The full credited list appears at the bottom of the review page). Fortunately, YouTube currently has good quality videos for all three of the Rockestra numbers. They are embedded below for your viewing pleasure.







To paraphrase what Mr. McCartney said at the end of the last video, Happy New Year!

Stoney and Meatloaf (1971)

Rarebird's Spotlight Album Review #22 is complete. The subject is an album which Meat Loaf recorded in 1971, a good six years before the release of his mega-selling Bat Out Of Hell album from 1977. It was a duet album with a singer/actress called Stoney, a stage name for Shaun Murphy. Murphy later worked as a back-up singer for Bob Seger and Eric Clapton, and became a full-time lead singer for Little Feat from 1993 until 2009.

My review of the 1971 Stoney and Meatloaf album is here:

http://rarebird9.net/stoney.html

Radiohead "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase"

Continuing their unconventional methods of music distribution, Radiohead released a digital single today. The two songs, "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase" were recorded live for producer Nigel Godrich's From The Basement series. Both songs are quite impressive, not only because they could easily pass for studio recordings, but also because they have the classic Radiohead sound, more so than the songs on their recent album The King Of Limbs.



The entire performance is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 31, 2012 as The King Of Limbs: Live From The Basement. The band performed all eight songs from The King Of Limbs as well as "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase" in Godrich's basement. Naturally, a digital-only version of the audio album from the BBC program is available from iTunes as of today.



The two tracks from the single can be purchased as downloads from Thekingoflimbs.com, Amazon.com, or iTunes.

Chick Churchill “You & Me” (1974)

Besides singer/guitarist Alvin Lee, the only other member of the British blues-rock band Ten Years After who has ever released a solo album is keyboardist Chick Churchill. Churchill’s only solo album, titled You & Me, was released in 1974, when the original breakup of his usual band was all but final. Churchill wrote and produced the ten songs; besides playing the keyboards, he also arranged the strings. Two of his usual bandmates (bassist Leo Lyons, drummer Ric Lee) assisted on some tracks, as did Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, Martin Barre, Cozy Powell, Bernie Marsden, and Bill Jackman. Churchill only sang the lead vocals on two tracks, “You’re Not Listening” and “Falling Down an Endless Day”. The other tracks were sung by journeyman vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins, who performed on Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth album that same year.

As you might have guessed after reading the names of the supporting players, the music on You & Me suggests that Churchill was considering a solo career in the then-dominant progressive rock genre. The album mainly consists of mellow art-pop. Although it’s not as stodgy as some entries in that genre, You & Me is also not particularly stimulating. Churchill’s playing distinguishes the material only slightly; it’s most effective on the pretty ballad “Dream of Our Maker Man” and the instrumental “Chiswick Flower”. The opening track “Come and Join Me” resembles a Rod Stewart song from the period, but has less vigor than Rod the Mod would have delivered. Churchill is able to carry the tunes on his two vocal turns, but he was wise to tap a professional to sing on the rest of the tracks.

Churchill did not continue to pursue a solo recording career. After the breakup of Ten Years After became official in 1976, Churchill continued to work in the music business as a publisher and promoter. Since then, Ten Years After have regrouped – but that’s another story.


Chick Churchill “You & Me” (Chrysalis CHR 1051) 1974

Track Listing:

1. Come and Join Me
2. Broken Engagements
3. You and Me
4. Reality in Arrears
5. Dream of Our Maker Man
6. Ode to an Angel
7. You’re Not Listening
8. Chiswick Flower
9. The Youth I Dreamt In Slipped Away
10. Falling Down an Endless Day

Third Man Records vinyl exclusives, Part 9

Last week I received the ninth pair of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who is the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postmark, my package was sent on October 26th. I received it on the 28th.

Instead of recordings by White’s well-known bands, this ninth set of items consists of recordings in which White was a player, but where he ceded most of the spotlight to two elder statespeople who began their careers in the 1950’s. The package contains a live album (pressed in black-and-blue split-colored vinyl) by Wanda Jackson, recorded at Third Man Studios, as well as a DVD of the same concert, and a 7” single containing two 1998 recordings from Two-Star Tabernacle, a short-lived band which featured Jack White.

Two-Star Tabernacle was a late-‘90’s punk quartet consisting of a pre-Stripes Jack White, future Blanche founders Dan John Miller and Tracee Mae Miller, and future Detroit Cobras drummer Damian Lang. Their only official release before this Vault package was a 7” single recorded in 1998 with R&B veteran Andre Williams. (That single was “Ramblin’ Man” b/w “Lily White Mama & Jet Black Daddy”, released on Bloodshot Records, cat. no BS 041). Their Vault single was also recorded in 1998. The A-side is an early version of “The Big 3 Killed My Baby”, which was later recorded by the White Stripes for their 1999 debut album. This version is looser than the one by the Stripes, as Jack White and Andre Williams share lead vocals in raucous fashion. The B-side is a different version of Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man” than the one which served as the A-side of the original Two-Star Tabernacle single. Where the original single’s version was a duet between Andre Williams and Dan John Miller, this version is sung only by Miller, and it has a more straightforward consistency. Good single. (By the way: happy birthday to Andre Williams, who turned 75 on the day this blog post was published).

Wanda Live! At Third Man Records finds 73-year-old rockabilly/country/gospel legend Wanda Jackson performing a set of oldies (and one Amy Winehouse cover) at Third Man Studios in January 2011, backed by an 11-piece house band featuring Jack White. The gracefully aged septuagenarian shows remarkable enthusiasm through her ten-song set (after the house band opens the show with the Bill Justis instrumental “Raunchy”). Her gravelly voice sounds only slightly more weathered than it did 50 years earlier, and the house band’s backing gives the set a neo-‘50’s vibe that feels both modern and nostalgic. Most of the songs date from the time of Jackson’s late-‘50’s, early-‘60’s career peak, including her own hit “Right or Wrong”; that song’s newly appreciated B-side “Funnel of Love”; “Let’s Have a Party”, a song made famous by both Jackson and her one-time boyfriend Elvis Presley; and “Like a Baby”, one of the King’s lesser-known songs. It’s an entertaining set, to be sure, though it’s hardly a major event.

As for the song that is not an oldie: the inclusion of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” is arguably a case of bad timing. This concert was recorded six months before Winehouse’s alcohol-related death in July 2011, but this Vault package was delivered a few months after that tragic event. It was Jack White’s idea to have Jackson cover the Winehouse song, his reason being that Jackson was the “bad girl” of her day, and her cover of the Winehouse song enables her to sound like a more contemporary “bad girl”. But, my, how “bad girls” have changed since Wanda’s day: Jackson has lived a long life and matured into an elderly woman who can rock and roll with grace at age 73, but Winehouse self-destructed at the early age of 27 (see my most recent blog post before this one). Jackson notes during the concert that she was understandably reluctant to record the song. Jackson’s voice does fit the song well, giving it a whiskey-flavored dimension, but it’s best for the listener to forget that a 70-something is singing it. When watching the DVD of this concert, that’s not so easy to do. We see a clearly wise old woman singing lyrics about cheating, about boozing, and about her stomach dropping and her guts churning. Distasteful? A little bit.

Listening to the 40-minute concert on vinyl is adequate, but watching the DVD is a better way to experience it. Jackson’s enthusiasm and White’s control come through more clearly in the visual medium. In keeping with Third Man’s devotion to vinyl, the DVD’s packaging resembles a miniature LP jacket and inner sleeve.

Another note for fellow vinyl aficionados: the forgotten practice of engraving text in the dead wax, or runout grooves between the sticker and the last track’s grooves, is evident on these items. Someone had fun carving the text into the single: Side A has “ole tre cantu sea, ewe dud culled la nord pole ice caps una mea ego” carved in the dead wax; the B-side has “una grande tray neco see ala maledicta puta mea una borne vida” carved. Side One of the LP has “Was that Sam Malone?” etched in the runout grooves; Side Two has “I think I saw Clara Clayton” carved.


Wanda Jackson “Wanda Live! At Third Man Records” (Third Man TMR085) 2011

Track Listing:

1. Raunchy (instrumental)
2. Riot in Cell Block #9
3. I’m Busted
4. You Know I’m No Good
5. Like a Baby
6. Right or Wrong
7. Fujiyama Mama
8. Funnel of Love
9. Blue Yodel #6
10. Let’s Have a Party
11. Shakin’ All Over


Wanda Jackson “Wanda Live! At Third Man Records” (Third Man DVD TMR 116) 2011

Track Listing is same as above.


2 ★ Tabernacle “The Big 3 Killed My Baby” (b/w “Ramblin’ Man”) (Third Man single TMR111) 2011

Track Listing:

a. The Big 3 Killed My Baby
b. Ramblin’ Man