Recent Rock Turtleneck honorees R.E.M. have launched a viral, guerilla teaser campaign to build anticipation of their forthcoming record Accelerate, due in March. For each of the 90 days leading up to release, a short, enigmatic video is posted at ninetynights.com. Some, like #25 here, filmed during their "non-show" public rehearsals in Dublin this past July, have a very Dont Look Back cinema verite feel to them.
Web 2.0 gimmicks aside, the brief clips released on ninetynights.com are exciting. The band, who supposedly were barely communicating in the past few years, sounds truly invigorated. There is ample reason to believe that the Bill Berry-less R.E.M., who Michael Stipe once called a "three-legged dog," might not need to be put down just yet. In a refreshing departure from the mid-tempo Ambien Trilogy of Up, Reveal and Around the Sun, Accelerate features just ten songs and gets in and gets out in under 40 minutes. Could it be a Document for the end of the Bush years?
Best of all, if you need a ringtone of their first single "Supernatural Superserious," you don't even have to wait one night.
“Tomorrow is a Long Time” by shuber YouTube is the Gerdes Folk City of the 21st century, where anyone with an acoustic guitar and a dream can have their music "reflect from the mountains so all souls can see it." The YouTube Bob Dylan cover version is practically a musical genre unto itself. Some of them are god-awful. Some are hilariously awful. Some are well-intentioned but dull. And every once in a while there is a stunner.
Shuber’s cover of the 1963 Dylan folk ballad “Tomorrow is a Long Time” certainly falls into the latter category. Ms. Shuber perfectly captures the tune’s sense of youth, longing and melancholy. And her haunting, faraway gaze as she stands in her Beatles-postered bedroom lets us know she’s feeling every word of it.
Though written in 1963, “Tomorrow” took a long time to make it to an actual Dylan album, appearing as a live version on 1971’s superb Greatest Hits, Vol. II. It’s easy to see why. While a beautiful song, it is similar in tone to some other early-Bob ballads, including “Girl of the North Country” and “Boots of Spanish Leather.” He continues to play it live on his Never-Ending Tour. Shuber is only the latest in a long line of musical luminaries who have taken a crack at “Tomorrow is a Long Time.” Most notable is Elvis Presley, who did a terrific version which first appeared buried on, of all places, the 1966 soundtrack to Spinout. It’s proof that Elvis was still capable of making a fine, thoughtful record, even while he was phoning it in as an actor by day. It’s the only Dylan cover the King ever released, and Dylan himself has named it as his favorite. (It's now available on a compilation called, of course, Tomorrow Is A Long Time.)
Way back when he was cool, Rod Stewart put his stamp on the tune on his flawless 1971 LP Every Picture Tells a Story. He also put his stamp on the title, adding the word “such.” And Nick Drake’s recently released rarities compilation Family Tree also featured a version.
Congratulations, shuber on winning your first T-Neck award. In celebration, several versions of “Tomorrow is a Long Time.”
With the exception of Feist's "1234," Spoon’s infectious confection “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” was the catchiest “alternative” record of the year. But unlike the Canadian chanteuse's iPod jingle, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" received virtually no mainstream airplay.
“Cherry Bomb” is also the latest in a grand tradition of white-rocker takes on the Motown sound, with a tight 4/4 beat, pulsating bass, tambourine, vibraphone, great charts and tons of studio reverb. As with so many other things, the idea of aping the House of Gordy began with the Beatles. “Drive My Car” from Rubber Soul was conceived as their version of Motown via Liverpool. Following in the Fabs wake were Elvis Costello’s Get Happy LP, the great Jam single “A Town Called Malice” and the English Beat’s cover of the Smokey Robinson classic “Tears of a Clown.”
As Rock Turtleneck reported in 2007, Spoon’s album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a delight from start to finish. You are highly encouraged to purchase it from your favorite digital or brick-and-mortar retailer. Congratulations, fellas on winning the prestigious Rock Turtleneck T-Neck award. In celebration, a new-wave Motown primer:
YouTube: Spoon, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" (Charming Homemade Video by aussiethetenor)
Writer's Guild strike be damned, Rock Turtleneck crossed the picket line faster than you can say "scab-tastic" in order to hand out its first annual "T-Neck" music awards at Teaneck Municipal Amphitheatre in Teaneck, NJ.
In keeping with Rock Turtleneck's mission statement, the T-Necks celebrate the hidden alleyways and abandoned catacombs of music. We will be presenting these awards from time to time over the coming weeks. Dim the lights.
Best Steely Dan homage: Wilco, “Impossible Germany” Complex time signatures. Fluid,Coltrane-quoting guitar solos. Haiku-like references to the Far East. There’s a reason why garage bands rip off the Ramones and not Steely Dan.
Congratulations, boys on winning the first-ever Rock Turtleneck T-Neck award. From here, the sky's the limit.
In celebration, a live-in-the-studio clip from the Sky Blue Sky bonus DVD, plus a live mp3 from 2007 (get the full show from rbally here. And to bring it all back home, Steely Dan’s languid and bittersweet “Deacon Blues.” This is the day of the expanding man.
YouTube: Wilco, “Impossible Germany,” from their personal studio/funhouse The Loft, Chicago 2006
After almost two weeks of using highfalutin adjectives like “mournful,” “impressionistic” and “Gershwinesque” in the historic RT/R.E.M. countdown, it’s time to change gears to music that brings to mind words like “disgusting,” “tasteless,” “idiotic,” “immature” and “scatological.”
This week friend and fellow rock-blogger Douglas Donelan fired over an mp3 of a long-forgotten 80s new wave novelty called “Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage” by the tastefully named group Killer Pussy. “TENIB” received heavy airplay on the legendary Long Island new wave station WLIR in the early 80s. It was an important part of my musical diet growing up across the Long Island Sound in Connecticut, but it fell off my radar in 1984 or so.
Musically, “Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage” recalls the B-52’s and Lene Lovich, but thematically, it’s all Springsteen. The Bard of the Boardwalk has touched millions with his sympathetic portraits of blue-collar Joes, who toil in a factory to support their high-school-sweetheart-wife with two kids and a baby on the way, and have a few beers with the old gang on the weekends in the hopes of forgetting their crushed hopes and dreams.
Compared to the plight of a teenage enema nurse, however, Joe Six-pack has it pretty damn good:
They must have left a chapter out In student nursing classes They never taught me all about Those tubes and lubes and asses
They told us, “Put the nozzle in - There’s really nothing to it. It’s not a very pretty job But someone’s got to do it."
The work is sh*t, the pay is low I labor night and day I’d quit but I’m so broke I know I’ll never find a way
Remarkably, Killer Pussy has yet to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, despite having more good songs (one) than Patti Smith and the Dave Clark Five combined. Herewith, for your listening and downloading pleasure:
The day of reckoning is here. #1 in the Rock Turtleneck/R.E.M. countdown: “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
For all the debate, conjecture, filibustering, vitriol and brouhaha that went into the selection of the R.E.M. top five, all were in complete agreement over the #1 R.E.M. song: “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry), the second track in the top five from their 1984 LP Reckoning.
“So. Central Rain” has everything that makes R.E.M. special. ‘Tis both slow and mournful, fast and upbeat, easy to understand and completely incomprehensible. It also has an eccentric, inconsistent abbreviation of the word “south,” no doubt courtesy of RT honoree J.M. Stipe.
The spine of Reckoning says “File Under Water” which was an in-joke to record retailers (remember them?) looking to stock the album. Reckoning is full of water-related imagery. This is especially true of “So. Central Rain,” which draws parallels between the protagonist’s dysfunctional relationship and a Texarkanian deluge, with “rivers of suggestion driving me away.” But as with many of R.E.M.’s best numbers, the music is what really does the talking. With Peter Buck's chiming, Roger McGuinnish opening lick, Macca-esque melodic bass courtesy of Mike Mills and Bill Berry’s urgently off-kilter drumming, the song has a drive and yearning that grab you from the first note, and haunt you long after the howling coda. I have heard “So. Central Rain” hundreds of times, and I get chills every single time Mills (I assume) starts pounding the piano. The 45 of "So. Central Rain" (here written as "S. Central Rain") nicely takes the edge off with a drunken jam session. "Walter’s Theme," their uncommisioned jingle for their favorite Athens BBQ joint, is followed by a barely coherent, but super-charming take on Roger Miller's country classic “King of the Road.” These can now be found on the must-own comp Dead Letter Office.
Below, the first televised performance of “So.Central Rain” on Late Night with David Letterman. The band was still touring behind Murmur, and after doing "Radio Free Europe," decided to play a song that was “too new to be named.” Following that is the official video wherein Mr. Stipe sang live so as not to lip-synch.
I'm sorry, but there's more: A stunning aqua-medley of "Time After Time," Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" and "So. Central Rain" from the Document tour, and available on their other, out of print rarities comp In the Attic. Plus a side order of "Walter's Theme" and "King of the Road." Dig in.
YouTube: R.E.M., "Too New to be Named" (aka "So. Central Rain," Late Night with David Letterman, fall 1983)
YouTube: R.E.M., "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry), official video w/live vocals by J.M. Stipe
Birdy and a hand for #2 in the RT/R.E.M. countdown: “Begin the Begin”
With a tightly-wound riff, a burst of feedback and locomotive-like drums, “Begin the Begin” came roaring out of our hi-fi speakers in August, 1986, heralding a bold new era for Rock Turtleneck honoree J.M. Stipe and his R.E.M. co-horts Berry, Buck & Mills. The opening track on R.E.M.’s fourth LP Lifes Rich Pageant, “Begin the Begin” sounded like nothing the band had done before. Confident and uncompromising, it rocked with nary a trace of the band’s “college rock” modesty. And the whole album had a bigger, more open sound, thanks to producer Don Gehman, who had helped John Cougar Mellencamp rain on the scarecrow.
After almost breaking up during the recording of the impressionistic Fables of the Reconstruction, with its maps and legends of auctioneers and local eccentrics, “Begin the Begin” and other Pageant tracks like "Fall on Me,""I Believe" and "Cuyahoga" showed a band with newfound purpose and commitment, a band who had begun to take a look at the world beyond Athens, GA.
The title was a takeoff on the famous 1938 Irving Berlin song “Begin the Beguine,” beguine being a spirited type of ballroom dance. Yet the lyrics - which Stipe actually enunciated clearly - were closer to the agitprop one might find on a Soviet propaganda poster: "Silence means security/Silence means approval”; “Life’s rich demand creates supply in the hands of the powers.” Perhaps R.E.M.’s best all-out rocker, “Begin the Begin” still sounds thrilling and fresh. When it gets to the bridge, a point where many songs stop for a breather, it manages to pick up in intensity.
“Begin” has begun to be an anthem for the band itself, a call to get back to where they once belonged. It was track one of 2006’s perfectly compiled …And I Feel Fine: the Best of the IRS Years and the first song they played at last year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (with much-missed Bill Berry back on drums). Let’s hope they can indeed begin again.
Herewith, studio and live versions of “Begin the Begin” in mulitple formats, plus a little “Begin the Beguine.” It’s not just for the Greatest Generation anymore.
YouTube: R.E.M., "Begin the Begin," Dekalb, IL, 10/21/86
YouTube: R.E.M., "Begin the Begin," w/Eddie Vedder, Washington DC, 10/11/04 Vote for Change Tour
YouTube: R.E.M., "Begin the Begin," 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony, New York
The Rock Turtleneck/R.E.M. countdown has gained momentum #3: “You Are the Everything”
In “You Are the Everything” from R.E.M.’s major-label debut Green, RT honoree J.M. Stipe asks you, the listener, to “eviscerate your memory.” And in one fell swoop, R.E.M. expands our vocabularies and our horizons.
“Eviscerate” means to disembowel or surgically remove. He is asking us to retrieve the memories that are deep and distant, in this case the time before the NHTSA began regulating child safety seats:
Here’s a scene: You’re in the backseat, laying down The windows wrap around to the sound of the travel and the engine All you hear is time stand still in travel You feel such peace and absolute stillness still That doesn’t end but slowly drifts into sleep The stars are the greatest thing you’ve ever seen And they’re there for you For you alone, you are the everything
While an academic type like Sting would use the contemplation of the heavens to remind us of our insignificance, Stipe instead uses it as an affirmation of our connectedness. It is easy to see why he has become the spokesman for sensitive souls everywhere. “You Are the Everything” was a breakthrough for the band musically as well. In an effort to keep things fresh after five brilliant but relatively straightforward rock albums, the band members began switching instruments. Guitarist Peter Buck began playing mandolin, bassist Mike Mills took up the accordion, and Bill Berry switched from drums to bass. The resulting sound recalled the pastoral country rock of fellow instrument whores The Band.
Though a tad uneven,Green captured the band in transition from alternative darlings to the mainstream stars they would become with Out of Time. The title was a nod to the band’s eco-friendliness, the big dough they were now making as part of the Warner Bros. stable, and perhaps even the faux naivete of songs like “You Are the Everything,” “Hairshirt,” "Stand" and the wonderful, untitled track 11. The cover was orange.
Herewith, an unfortunately short 1991 clip of R.E.M. playing “You Are the Everything,” followed by the studio and live versions of the tune. And for comparison and contrast, “Rockin’ Chair” by the Band, from their magnificent, eponymous second album.
YouTube: R.E.M. “You Are the Everything” (Holland 1991, Out of Time promotional tour)
The Rock Turtleneck/R.E.M. countdown continues #4: “7 Chinese Bros.”
No. 4 in our historic countdown of favorite R.E.M. songs is a spin on an old folk tale from the band’s second LP, Reckoning.
In many ways, “7 Chinese Bros.” is the quintessential early-R.E.M. song: jangly, plangent Rickenbacker guitar, melodic bassline, quirky drumming and a hearty dose of Athens eccentricity courtesy of RT honoree J. Michael Stipe. Peter Buck’s single-string guitar line anchors “7 Chinese Bros.” somewhere between the Antebellum South and the Middle East. The lyrics, however, are more difficult to pin down. Fortunately, an all-night search of the Rock Turtleneck collegiate archives has dug up an out-of-print Cliffs Notes summary of the song's narrative arc:
"A boy enters some sort of tavern-like establishment. Smelling his sweet, short hair, a woman who is already seated suggests to the boy that he pull up a set so as to sit next to her. In a freewheeling conversation, there is talk of taking in a symphony at some point. Wrapping one’s heel in bones of steel is also discussed as a possibility. At the same time, presumably on the other side of the world, seven Chinese brothers ingest huge amounts of ocean water – so much so that 7,000 years of bedrest are required undo the immense discomfort.
As the Chinamen tend to healing themselves, we discover that the woman has left the tavern, and the well-groomed boy is confident, or at least hopeful, that she will return. "
I can proudly attest that in its heyday, “7 Chinese Bros.” caused a roomful of Gen-X’ers to dance and sweat and sing at the top of their lungs as if this story was torn straight from the pages of their own lives. I saw these fine gentlemen play this and many other songs at the Agora in Hartford, CT on July 20, 1984 and it was literally a life-changing experience. Dozens of concerts later, it’s still the best night of music I’ve ever seen.
Herewith, a dynamite clip of the band several weeks before the Hartford show. This is from the Capitol Theatre, in Passaic, NJ, which I hear is lovely this time of year. Thereafter, you are directed to enjoy mp3s of “7 Chinese Bros.” and its doppelganger “Voice of Harold,” from the outtakes comp Dead Letter Office, wherein Mr. Stipe eschews his lyric sheet for a Southern Methodist church program. Both are... a must.
YouTube: R.E.M., "7 Chinese Bros." Passaic, NJ June 9, 1984
Happy birthday to James Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who turned 48 this past Friday.
Almost 24 years after murmuring "I can't see myself at 30" on Reckoning's final track, "Little America," Mr. Stipe and his bandmates Peter Buck and Mike Mills are fighting for their relevance and trying to undo the damage of their three limp post-Bill Berry records. Their new CD, Accelerate, comes out on March 31. After a triumphant series of public rehearsals of new material in Dublin this past May, the hope for this record is high.
This week, in recognition and celebration of Mr. Stipe's birthday - and of his immense gifts as a songwriter, lyricist and performer - we will be counting down Rock Turtleneck's five favorite R.E.M. songs, selected in a raucous, hotly contested Iowa-style caucus.
#5: "Nightswimming" Our countdown begins with this lovely, Gershwin-esque ode to youth's gay abandon from the slightly overrated 1992 opus Automatic for the People. "Nightswimming" showed that just as the band was able to evoke beauty by being oblique, they could do it just as effectively when being direct. The version of "Nightswimming" that appears on Automatic was actually a demo, with a string arrangement added later by Zeppelin bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones (the Mike Mills of his day). With its lovely, ciruclar piano figure and soaring melody, "Nightswimming" sounds like what used to be called a "standard" - a sophisticated, literate song that could take on different meanings depending on the vocal stylist interpreting it. In fact, it's easy to imagine Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson or even Ol' Blue Eyes (may God rest his soul) cozying up to Stipe's wistful lyrics:
September's coming soon I'm pining for the moon And what if there were two Side by side in orbit Around the fairer sun
"Nightswimming" deserves a quiet night, but you can enjoy it right now. First is an mp3, then a terrific performance below from Later with Jools Holland featuring just Mr. Stipe and Mike Mills, followed by the "official" video of the official version.
