Category Archives: Uncategorized
Chrissie Amplett dead
The news today from New York that Aussie rock-star Chrissie Amplett, lead singer of The Divinyls, had died was a shock: she was only 53. Yet she had been battling MS since 2007; reports from the US aver that she was still performing, with a new husband in a new band. She refused to lay down and die.
She was unique, unparalleled, peerless: Christina Amphlett was the sui generis Aussie rock star. Just where did she get her massively energetic, pouting, style from? Rock historian Glenn A Baker reported that US audiences didn’t know what to think of her; her sexual allure was more up-front than the dynamic Janis Joplin (whose fleeting career just made it into the 70s before her suicide). 1981 was the year of their debut (even though Divinyls made five albums all told, they were really a singles band, and that’s how I will document their career). And what a debut “Boys in town” was. At 4 minutes it was long, but who cares when it’s a great song! Already patent was Chrissie’s dominance of the band. And notice the hair over the eyes and the Star Wars-type microphone stand, small signs of her latent aggressive nature. The next year the esoteric “Science Fiction” was released; another top song, it should have done better than #13 here. Just love her achingly high screeches toward the end—and they are in tune (listen to “Elsie” too). ’85 saw the huge “Pleasure & Pain” (at 4 mins again). By now she had added lots of theatricality to the performance: now lying on the floor, now doing an hysterical dance routine, now back on the floor. And how could I omit her famous pouting! Was this lady troubled? Maybe. Was it all an act? Maybe not. But we were now witnessing the mature Chrissie, as she virtually monopolizes the gigs—the guys simply provide her musical platform. Up there on the stage she says “Take notice of me, I’ve got things to say!” We obeyed! On to “Elsie”, an early hit with the fans. Uncategorically this time, Chrissie is disturbed, maybe demonic with her horrifying, Linda Blairesque outburst as she ambulated along the aisles..
Wikipedia categorises Divinyls as New Wave (that grouping which took in everything of the 80s that wasn’t mainstream) and Pop Rock. The latter is a good fit. These guys were responsibile for the some of the best songs in that category. Actually, I dare you to name another Pop Rock band from our shores. Gang Gajang were missing the “rock”; Split Enz were too pop; while INXS, Australian Crawl and Cold Chisel were all straight rock’n’roll bands. Ah ha, I’ve thought of a band: Dragon, the greatest Oz (yea I know, they’re Kiwis)pop rock band ever.
1990 was the big year for The Divinyls, all due to the song “I touch myself”. US crowds were shocked, mystified. Seems that noone in rock history had ever made masturbation the title of a song—Chrissie had no apparent boundaries. Shocked or not, the song went right up to #4 on Billboard; in Oz, where we always support out own, it was #1. The whole world took note of this song: we must be a sick lot to rejoice in such a fornicatory practice. “Boys”, “Pleasure” and “SF” were technically better songs, but it was the topic that the four songwriters latched onto that brought the huge sales.
Chrissie was reportedly suffering from two potentially fatal diseases: multiple sclerosis and recurrent breast cancer. She was the iron lady of rock; she willed her persona upon our stages. But not even her God-given strength could overcome these serious afflictions. I’ve just watched all of Divinyl’s big hits. One thing just struck me: Chrissie never smiled once. May she Rest in Peace.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYzQb6cc5E
Chrissie Amplett dead
The news today from New York that Aussie rock-star Chrissie Amplett, lead singer of The Divinyls, had died was a shock: she was only 53. Yet she had been battling MS since 2007; reports from the US aver that she was still performing, with a new husband in a new band. She refused to lay down and die.
She was unique, unparalleled, peerless: Christina Amphlett was the sui generis Aussie rock star. Just where did she get her massively energetic, pouting, style from? Rock historian Glenn A Baker reported that US audiences didn’t know what to think of her; her sexual allure was more up-front than the dynamic Janis Joplin (whose fleeting career just made it into the 70s before her suicide). 1981 was the year of their debut (even though Divinyls made five albums all told, they were really a singles band, and that’s how I will document their career). And what a debut “Boys in town” was. At 4 minutes it was long, but who cares when it’s a great song! Already patent was Chrissie’s dominance of the band. And notice the hair over the eyes and the Star Wars-type microphone stand, small signs of her latent aggressive nature. The next year the esoteric “Science Fiction” was released; another top song, it should have done better than #13 here. Just love her achingly high screeches toward the end—and they are in tune (listen to “Elsie” too). ’85 saw the huge “Pleasure & Pain” (at 4 mins again). By now she had added lots of theatricality to the performance: now lying on the floor, now doing an hysterical dance routine, now back on the floor. And how could I omit her famous pouting! Was this lady troubled? Maybe. Was it all an act? Maybe not. But we were now witnessing the mature Chrissie, as she virtually monopolizes the gigs—the guys simply provide her musical platform. Up there on the stage she says “Take notice of me, I’ve got things to say!” We obeyed! On to “Elsie”, an early hit with the fans. Uncategorically this time, Chrissie is disturbed, maybe demonic with her horrifying, Linda Blairesque outburst as she ambulated along the aisles..
Wikipedia categorises Divinyls as New Wave (that grouping which took in everything of the 80s that wasn’t mainstream) and Pop Rock. The latter is a good fit. These guys were responsibile for the some of the best songs in that category. Actually, I dare you to name another Pop Rock band from our shores. Gang Gajang were missing the “rock”; Split Enz were too pop; while INXS, Australian Crawl and Cold Chisel were all straight rock’n’roll bands. Ah ha, I’ve thought of a band: Dragon, the greatest Oz (yea I know, they’re Kiwis)pop rock band ever.
1990 was the big year for The Divinyls, all due to the song “I touch myself”. US crowds were shocked, mystified. Seems that noone in rock history had ever made masturbation the title of a song—Chrissie had no apparent boundaries. Shocked or not, the song went right up to #4 on Billboard; in Oz, where we always support out own, it was #1. The whole world took note of this song: we must be a sick lot to rejoice in such a fornicatory practice. “Boys”, “Pleasure” and “SF” were technically better songs, but it was the topic that the four songwriters latched onto that brought the huge sales.
Chrissie was reportedly suffering from two potentially fatal diseases: multiple sclerosis and recurrent breast cancer. She was the iron lady of rock; she willed her persona upon our stages. But not even her God-given strength could overcome these serious afflictions. I’ve just watched all of Divinyl’s big hits. One thing just struck me: Chrissie never smiled once. May she Rest in Peace.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYzQb6cc5E
Chrissie Amplett dead
The news today from New York that Aussie rock-star Chrissie Amplett, lead singer of The Divinyls, had died was a shock: she was only 53. Yet she had been battling MS since 2007; reports from the US aver that she was still performing, with a new husband in a new band. She refused to lay down and die.
She was unique, unparalleled, peerless: Christina Amphlett was the sui generis Aussie rock star. Just where did she get her massively energetic, pouting, style from? Rock historian Glenn A Baker reported that US audiences didn’t know what to think of her; her sexual allure was more up-front than the dynamic Janis Joplin (whose fleeting career just made it into the 70s before her suicide). 1981 was the year of their debut (even though Divinyls made five albums all told, they were really a singles band, and that’s how I will document their career). And what a debut “Boys in town” was. At 4 minutes it was long, but who cares when it’s a great song! Already patent was Chrissie’s dominance of the band. And notice the hair over the eyes and the Star Wars-type microphone stand, small signs of her latent aggressive nature. The next year the esoteric “Science Fiction” was released; another top song, it should have done better than #13 here. Just love her achingly high screeches toward the end—and they are in tune (listen to “Elsie” too). ’85 saw the huge “Pleasure & Pain” (at 4 mins again). By now she had added lots of theatricality to the performance: now lying on the floor, now doing an hysterical dance routine, now back on the floor. And how could I omit her famous pouting! Was this lady troubled? Maybe. Was it all an act? Maybe not. But we were now witnessing the mature Chrissie, as she virtually monopolizes the gigs—the guys simply provide her musical platform. Up there on the stage she says “Take notice of me, I’ve got things to say!” We obeyed! On to “Elsie”, an early hit with the fans. Uncategorically this time, Chrissie is disturbed, maybe demonic with her horrifying, Linda Blairesque outburst as she ambulated along the aisles..
Wikipedia categorises Divinyls as New Wave (that grouping which took in everything of the 80s that wasn’t mainstream) and Pop Rock. The latter is a good fit. These guys were responsibile for the some of the best songs in that category. Actually, I dare you to name another Pop Rock band from our shores. Gang Gajang were missing the “rock”; Split Enz were too pop; while INXS, Australian Crawl and Cold Chisel were all straight rock’n’roll bands. Ah ha, I’ve thought of a band: Dragon, the greatest Oz (yea I know, they’re Kiwis)pop rock band ever.
1990 was the big year for The Divinyls, all due to the song “I touch myself”. US crowds were shocked, mystified. Seems that noone in rock history had ever made masturbation the title of a song—Chrissie had no apparent boundaries. Shocked or not, the song went right up to #4 on Billboard; in Oz, where we always support out own, it was #1. The whole world took note of this song: we must be a sick lot to rejoice in such a fornicatory practice. “Boys”, “Pleasure” and “SF” were technically better songs, but it was the topic that the four songwriters latched onto that brought the huge sales.
Chrissie was reportedly suffering from two potentially fatal diseases: multiple sclerosis and recurrent breast cancer. She was the iron lady of rock; she willed her persona upon our stages. But not even her God-given strength could overcome these serious afflictions. I’ve just watched all of Divinyl’s big hits. One thing just struck me: Chrissie never smiled once. May she Rest in Peace.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYzQb6cc5E
Chrissie Amplett dead
The news today from New York that Aussie rock-star Chrissie Amplett, lead singer of The Divinyls, had died was a shock: she was only 53. Yet she had been battling MS since 2007; reports from the US aver that she was still performing, with a new husband in a new band. She refused to lay down and die.
She was unique, unparalleled, peerless: Christina Amphlett was the sui generis Aussie rock star. Just where did she get her massively energetic, pouting, style from? Rock historian Glenn A Baker reported that US audiences didn’t know what to think of her; her sexual allure was more up-front than the dynamic Janis Joplin (whose fleeting career just made it into the 70s before her suicide). 1981 was the year of their debut (even though Divinyls made five albums all told, they were really a singles band, and that’s how I will document their career). And what a debut “Boys in town” was. At 4 minutes it was long, but who cares when it’s a great song! Already patent was Chrissie’s dominance of the band. And notice the hair over the eyes and the Star Wars-type microphone stand, small signs of her latent aggressive nature. The next year the esoteric “Science Fiction” was released; another top song, it should have done better than #13 here. Just love her achingly high screeches toward the end—and they are in tune (listen to “Elsie” too). ’85 saw the huge “Pleasure & Pain” (at 4 mins again). By now she had added lots of theatricality to the performance: now lying on the floor, now doing an hysterical dance routine, now back on the floor. And how could I omit her famous pouting! Was this lady troubled? Maybe. Was it all an act? Maybe not. But we were now witnessing the mature Chrissie, as she virtually monopolizes the gigs—the guys simply provide her musical platform. Up there on the stage she says “Take notice of me, I’ve got things to say!” We obeyed! On to “Elsie”, an early hit with the fans. Uncategorically this time, Chrissie is disturbed, maybe demonic with her horrifying, Linda Blairesque outburst as she ambulated along the aisles..
Wikipedia categorises Divinyls as New Wave (that grouping which took in everything of the 80s that wasn’t mainstream) and Pop Rock. The latter is a good fit. These guys were responsibile for the some of the best songs in that category. Actually, I dare you to name another Pop Rock band from our shores. Gang Gajang were missing the “rock”; Split Enz were too pop; while INXS, Australian Crawl and Cold Chisel were all straight rock’n’roll bands. Ah ha, I’ve thought of a band: Dragon, the greatest Oz (yea I know, they’re Kiwis)pop rock band ever.
1990 was the big year for The Divinyls, all due to the song “I touch myself”. US crowds were shocked, mystified. Seems that noone in rock history had ever made masturbation the title of a song—Chrissie had no apparent boundaries. Shocked or not, the song went right up to #4 on Billboard; in Oz, where we always support out own, it was #1. The whole world took note of this song: we must be a sick lot to rejoice in such a fornicatory practice. “Boys”, “Pleasure” and “SF” were technically better songs, but it was the topic that the four songwriters latched onto that brought the huge sales.
Chrissie was reportedly suffering from two potentially fatal diseases: multiple sclerosis and recurrent breast cancer. She was the iron lady of rock; she willed her persona upon our stages. But not even her God-given strength could overcome these serious afflictions. I’ve just watched all of Divinyl’s big hits. One thing just struck me: Chrissie never smiled once. May she Rest in Peace.
Chrissie Amplett dead
Beach Boys: God Only Knows
‘God only knows’ by the Beach boy is one of the great songs of the 20th century. Yea, that’s what I said. A big statement, I know, but just have a listen to it. What you have here is the consequence of a musical genius, Brian Wilson. This ballad appears on the monumental Pet Sounds (1966).
Brian is the eldest of the Beach Boys and their default leader, being the primary songwriter. And the one singing the everpresent falsetto—that’s Brian too. Brian suffers from depression, exacerbated by his drug habit. But the Lord has been merciful to him in that he has retained his musical chops.
Read some of their wraps, facts:
§ “Allmusic has stated that their ‘unerring ability…made them America’s first, best rock band’”;
§ The group have had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them United States Top 40 hits (the most by an American rock band), four of those reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (‘I get around’, ‘Help me Rhonda’ ‘Kokomo’, and the magical ‘Good Vibrations’ (US & UK).
§ The Beach Boys have sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide and are listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”;
§ In 1995, nearly thirty years after its release, a panel of top musicians, songwriters and producers assembled by MOJO magazine voted Pet Sounds “The Greatest Album Ever Made.” It was number one in New Musical Express’s list “The 100 Best Albums”. In 1997, Pet Sounds was named the 33rd greatest album of all time in a poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 2006 Q magazine readers voted it the 12th greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th century; in 2001 the TV channel VH1 placed it at number 3. The Times magazine ranked it the greatest album of all time.
§ It also placed number two on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time behind only Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The album has inspired many progressive rock bands and was later named as one of Classic Rock magazine’s “50 Albums That Built Prog Rock”. Brian Wilson’s desire to remove himself from the popular music scene of the mid-1960s into more creatively enriching and artistically fulfilling album led to Rolling Stone Magazine ranking Pet Sounds as the second greatest album of all time.
The Beach Boys began as a family band out of Hawthorn, California (where the heck is that, you ask! It’s a suburb of Los Angeles). The band consisted of three teenage brothers (in order of age) Brian, Dennis, and Carl, their cousin, Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Who was the singer? They all sang, lead or harmony. That was their strength. They are arguably the best harmony band ever (other candidates are Crosby, Still and Nash, and The Hollies). Father Murry was the initial manager; he signed them to the huge Capitol label.
The BB’s wrote the American Song Book for a generation, albeit mostly based on that favourite, western commodity, surf. Take a listen to some of their early offerings, such as ‘In my room’, ‘Little Surfer (a girl)’, ‘Wendy’, ‘Little Deuce Coupe’, ‘All Summer Long’, ‘Girls on the Beach’. It’s a mosaic of summer, surf, cars and romance: no wonder they appealed to teenage America. They were also popular in Oz (with surf beaches to rival the US): ‘Good Vibrations’, ‘Do It Again’, ‘Cottonfields’ and ‘Kokomo’ all went #1 here. And there’s the classic ‘Surfin’ USA’, which brilliantly sums up their oeuvre.
As I said, ‘God only knows’ was on the legendary Pet Sounds set (1966), which went platinum in the US. It’s a well-known fact that it heavily influenced the Beatles, who in the next year released their epochal ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band’. By way of alternative, Brian was enthralled with The Beatles Rubber Soul (1965): great musicians feed off one another. Other hits on Sounds are the gorgeous ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’, a real tear-jerker: I love it so much. It was co-written by Brian and Tony Asher, a young lyricist Brian met in a Hollywood studio. He sure writes nice lyrics. Another popular hit was ‘Sloop John B’. Then there’s the ethereal instrumental, ‘Let’s Go Away For A While’, with Brian’s sparkling orchestration the highlight.
For you songwriters out there, here’s some technical stuff: It was a traditional Caribbean folk song that had been suggested to Wilson by group member Al Jardine. Al updated the chord progression by having the IV, D♭ major, move to its relative minor, B♭ minor before returning to the tonic, A♭. Brian did the rest.
Paul McArtney selected ‘God only knows’ as his favourite song ever—I’m in good company! This serene ballad begins with a brilliant intro: man, Brian is so damn good! Just feel that strong bass enter. Carl (guitar), has the lead vocal, as usual. The verse is so pretty, it rivals Shakespeare. Then comes the chorus, with the sensational BB’s harmonies, something to die for! The song’s ending is pure joy: 3 or 4 (count ‘em’) voices harmonising, so cool! These guys are definitely one of the great bands of our time.
PS. Note, on the live video there’s no Brian. Probably writing another classic.
Blessings,
Ralph
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Ralph Gilbert
421 Grange Rd
Seaton, 5023
South Australia
mob. 0448 899 224
Beach Boys: God Only Knows
‘God only knows’ by the Beach boy is one of the great songs of the 20th century. Yea, that’s what I said. A big statement, I know, but just have a listen to it. What you have here is the consequence of a musical genius, Brian Wilson. This ballad appears on the monumental Pet Sounds (1966).
Brian is the eldest of the Beach Boys and their default leader, being the primary songwriter. And the one singing the everpresent falsetto—that’s Brian. Brian suffers from depression, exacerbated by his drug habit. But the Lord has been merciful to him in that he has retained his musical chops.
Read some of their wraps, facts:
§ “Allmusic has stated that their ‘unerring ability…made them America’s first, best rock band’”;
§ The group have had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them United States Top 40 hits (the most by an American rock band), four of those reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (‘I get around’, ‘Help me Rhonda’ ‘Kokomo’, and the magical ‘Good Vibrations’ (US & UK).
§ The Beach Boys have sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide and are listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”;
§ In 1995, nearly thirty years after its release, a panel of top musicians, songwriters and producers assembled by MOJO magazine voted Pet Sounds “The Greatest Album Ever Made.” It was number one in New Musical Express’s list “The 100 Best Albums”. In 1997, Pet Sounds was named the 33rd greatest album of all time in a poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 2006 Q magazine readers voted it the 12th greatest album of all time; critics of German magazine Spex voted it the best album of the 20th century; in 2001 the TV channel VH1 placed it at number 3. The Times magazine ranked it the greatest album of all time.
§ It also placed number two on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time behind only Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The album has inspired many progressive rock bands and was later named as one of Classic Rock magazine’s “50 Albums That Built Prog Rock”. Brian Wilson’s desire to remove himself from the popular music scene of the mid-1960s into more creatively enriching and artistically fulfilling album led to Rolling Stone Magazine ranking Pet Sounds as the second greatest album of all time.
The Beach Boys began as a family band out of Hawthorn, California (where the heck is that, you ask! It’s a suburb of Los Angeles). The band consisted of three teenage brothers (in order of age) Brian, Dennis, and Carl, their cousin, Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Who was the singer? They all sang, lead or harmony. That was their strength. They are arguably the best harmony band ever (other candidates are Crosby, Still and Nash, and The Hollies). Father Murry was the initial manager; he signed them to the huge Capitol label.
The BB’s wrote the American Song Book for a generation, albeit mostly based on that favourite, western commodity, surf. Take a listen to some of their early offerings, such as ‘In my room’, ‘Little Surfer (a girl)’, ‘Wendy’, ‘Little Deuce Coupe’, ‘All Summer Long’, ‘Girls on the Beach’. It’s a mosaic of summer, surf, cars and romance: no wonder they appealed to teenage America. They were also popular in Oz (with surf beaches to rival the US): ‘Good Vibrations’, ‘Do It Again’, ‘Cottonfields’ and ‘Kokomo’ all went #1 here. And there’s the classic ‘Surfin’ USA’, which brilliantly sums up their oeuvre.
As I said, ‘God only knows’ was on the legendary Pet Sounds set (1966), which went platinum in the US. It’s a well-known fact that it heavily influenced the Beatles, who in the next year released their epochal ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band’. By way of alternative, Brian was enthralled with The Beatles Rubber Soul (1965): great musicians feed off one another. Other hits on Sounds are the gorgeous ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’, a real tear-jerker: I love it so much. It was co-written by Brian and Tony Asher, a young lyricist Brian met in a Hollywood studio. He sure writes nice lyrics. Another popular hit was ‘Sloop John B’. Then there’s the ethereal instrumental, ‘Let’s Go Away For A While’, with Brian’s sparkling orchestration the highlight.
For you songwriters out there, here’s some technical stuff: It was a traditional Caribbean folk song that had been suggested to Wilson by group member Al Jardine. Al updated the chord progression by having the IV, D♭ major, move to its relative minor, B♭ minor before returning to the tonic, A♭. Brian did the rest.
Paul McArtney selected ‘God only knows’ as his favourite song ever—I’m in good company! This serene ballad begins with a brilliant intro: man, Brian is so damn good! Just feel that strong bass enter. Carl (guitar), has the lead vocal, as usual. The verse is so pretty, it rivals Shakespeare. Then comes the chorus, with the sensational BB’s harmonies, something to die for! The song’s ending is pure joy: 3 or 4 (count ‘em’) voices harmonising, so cool! These guys are definitely one of the great bands of our time.
PS. Note, on the live video there’s no Brian. Probably writing another classic.
Chet Baker I get along
This lovely song was written by the legendary Hoagy Carmichael in 1939. Hoagy was a primogenitor of the Bacharach–David combo, writing vapid love songs for a public bereft of joy. His most renowned song is “Georgia on my mind”, which became the signature tune of blues artist Ray Charles. Carmichael penned around 40 songs that entered the charts.
Chet Baker does this song a treat. He has such a sedate, even insouciant, air about him, which suits the lyric. He tackles this song tentatively: he surely couldn’t sing any softer. The boyish Chesney Henry Baker Jr. learned to sing in church, like so many black stars before and after. He got his early break when selected by Charlie Parker to play in his entourage in 1951 (Chet was just 22). His talent on trumpet and flugelhorn were evident to all, but his early claim to fame was the song “My Funny Valentine”, which he sang as a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. His wispy, innocent, cherubic tone was a winner. He transferred the poignant, pathetic treatment of that song into his other big hit, “I get along without you”. This skinny kid from Oklahoma was now an icon of the West Coast “school of jazz”. His boyish, pretty looks led one jazz scribe to describe the promise of his early career as “James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one”. Wow! Some wrap. Yea, James Dean minus the strut. Baker did feature in a move in ’55; but he felt more at home in the jazz scene.
And that became his downfall. In the US jazz scene of the 50s jazz meant drugs (examples are Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan and John Coltrane). Baker became a heroin addict early on, and it eventually killed him. Just like Hendrix, he died alone in a European hotel room (in Amsterdam). What a tragedy. Such a waste of talent. Just take a look at the photos in his later life: he became a spectre, a mere shell of the young man he’d been, heavy lines drawn on his face, looking and sounding like the wretch he had become.
He was 59 when he died. However, just two years before, he played in his last gig, at the home of jazz in London, Ronnie Scott’s. The intimate setting was perfect for Chet: the audience could soak up his pathos. To embellish the night, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison were on deck. They were there to pay their dues to this moribund jazzman. Both songs were magic. Elvis sang “The Very Thought of You”, while the reclusive Morrison did a great version of “Send in the clowns”. Considering Chet’s state, these songs were funereal. Another one bites the dust. RIP.
CSN Marakesh Express
This was Crosby, Stills & Nash’s first and only venture into pop (no Young here: he’d never be part of a pop song!). CSNY were an album band: Déjà Vu was a huge seller; it went to #1 in both the US and The Netherlands. All told they only released about 20 singles in 30 years. Nevertheless, ‘Marakesh’ was a mild hit, reaching 28 in the US, 17 in the UK (Oz unknown). It’s a fun song; maybe they should have done more like this and they might have found a new audience. Then again, with Crosby’s swinging, drug-induced moods, and Young’s want to do his own thing, I must be dreaming. Which brings us back to this song; it really does feel like a pleasant dream. Nash does a splendid lead vocal; it’s only in the chorus that all three sing, rendering their customary, consumate 3-part harmonies. The song, about a train trip to Marakesh, has something of the magic about it. Who would ever think about travelling to Marakesh (in Morocco)? Just what were they on at the time?
What holds the song together is the incessant keyboard, which provides the song its fun element. If the live version is anything to go by, then the keyboardist was a session muso. Then again, it could have been performed by the multi-talented Stills.
I’ve given you two versions, studio and live. The studio version has a fuller sound, what with bass, drums and that keyboard. But if you want to hear some slick guitar by both Nash and Stills, then play the second one.
An anecdote. This song was released way back in ’69. How can you tell? Mr Crosby is quite thin in the first pic. One thing though: the extra kilos haven’t affected his lovely, harmonious voice.
Ralph's World of Music 