Yow! The Best Rock and Roll Screams

Roger Daltrey of The Who

Our greatest rockers are people who apparently never used their “indoor voice.” Why should they? They were future rockers! Anyhow, the other day I was thinking that the one ingredient basic to any good rock and roll song – besides a guitar solo, of course – is a blood-curdling scream.

It could be an expression of rage and defiance, like Roger Daltrey’s classic scream at the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” or it can be a cathartic release of pain and frustration, like John Lennon in “Well Well Well.” Screams can be ominous and threatening, like Axl Rose in “Welcome To The Jungle” or it can be just plain weird and inexplicable, like Jim Morrison in “When The Music’s Over.”

Screams can be old and trailblazing: Bo Diddley and Little Richard loved to scream, although Richard’s were more like a shriek and Bo’s were more like a holler. They can be punk (The Stooges), they can be metal (Iron Maiden), they can be funny (Tenacious D) or they can be very soulful (Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett). As Eddie Murphy once said about James Brown’s famous scream, “He wrote that.”

So let’s celebrate the weekend with a dozen cool rockin’ screams. Turn it up!

MP3: “Welcome To The Jungle” (live) by Guns N’ Roses

MP3: “Shout Bamalama” by Eddie Hinton

MP3: “Run Diddley Daddy” by Bo Diddley

MP3: “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown

MP3: “TV Eye” by The Stooges

MP3: “Piece Of My Heart (live) by Big Brother and the Holding Company

MP3: “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard

MP3: “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Edgar Winter’s White Trash

MP3: “Hold On To Your Hiney” by Wilson Pickett

MP3: “Well Well Well” by John Lennon

MP3: “When The Music’s Over” (live) by The Doors

MP3: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who

YouTube: Greatest Rock Screams (thanks to GuyFaux2007)

Donald “Duck” Dunn, R.I.P.

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, whose swampy thick bottom grooves anchored many classic soul hits from the 1960s, has died at the age of 70. He was on a tour of Japan with his friend and former bandmate in Booker T. and the MGs, Steve Cropper.

Dunn was an integral part of the Memphis soul sound as bassist for the MGs, the house band for Stax and Volt records. He died Sunday morning after finishing two shows at the Blue Note Night Club in Tokyo, Cropper said in a posting on his Facebook page.

He played with Muddy Waters, Sam and Dave, Freddie King, Otis Redding, Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart among many others. Dunn played bass on the Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and was a member of Levon Helm’s RCO All-Stars.

With Cropper, Dunn played on tour with the Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd). In the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers Dunn played himself and was famous for drawling the line “We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline!”

Donald “Duck” Dunn obituary in the Memphis Commercial Appeal

MP3: “In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett

MP3: “Nobody’s Fault But My Own” by Otis Redding

MP3: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty

MP3: “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” by the Blues Brothers

MP3: “Time Is Tight” by Booker T. and the MGs

Runnin’ Out Of Christmas

Well, what I really should say is that we are running out of things to say about Christmas.  We already took our potshot at the right-wing TV pundits, and we already did our “tired of Christmas” thing and of course the good ol’ commercialization of Christmas thing.  We can still do the ol’ Peace on Earth thing …

But we’re not running out of Christmas tunes!

MP3: “A Jordan Xmas” by Tracy Morgan

MP3: “Christmas Time Is Here Again” by My Morning Jacket

MP3: “Monster’s Holiday” by Lon Chaney Jr.

MP3: “Santa Claus Blues” by Louis Armstrong

MP3: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Foghat

MP3: “Christmas On The Bayou” by Lonnie Brooks

MP3: “Santa Claus Done Brought Himself To Town” by Justin Wilson

MP3: “You Ain’t Getting S*** For Christmas” by Red Peters (Not Safe For Work!)

MP3: “I’ll Be Your Santa Baby” by Rufus Thomas

MP3: “I’ve Got A Great Big Christmas Tree” by the Werewandas

MP3: “Sleigh Ride” by the Ventures

MP3: “Perfect Gift” by Natalie Hemby

MP3: “Jingle Bells” by Wilson Pickett

MP3: “Santa’s Got A Brand New Bag” by Gary Walker & the Boogie Kings

MP3: “Trim Your Tree” by Jimmy Butler

MP3: “Italian Jingle Bells” by Lou Monte

MP3: “Santa’s Gone Surfin'” by the Malibooz

MP3: “A Visit From St. Nicholas” by Bob Dylan

Happy Birthday, Paul!

One of the greatest songwriters and singers in rock and roll, Paul McCartney turns 67 on Thursday (June 18).  With the Beatles and later as a solo performer and bandleader, McCartney created some of the best (and worst) music in rock and roll history.  He isn’t as cool today as he was in the 1960s, or in the early part of the 1970s, but even at the twilight of his career McCartney is still a formidable talent.  His album Electric Arguments, released as The Fireman late last year, was considered to be one of the year’s best and a return to form for McCartney.  A collaboration with fellow legend Bob Dylan may be in the works – if it happens, that would be another milestone in an incredible career.

In 1965 McCartney wrote “Yesterday,” which the Guinness Book of World Records says is the most covered song ever.  It has been covered more than 3,000 times and in the 20th century alone the song was performed more than 7 million times.  We thought about doing a marathon with different covers of one song (as we did a few weeks ago on Bob Dylan’s birthday) but thought it would be more fun to just dig up songs from throughout McCartney’s career.  So after the jump you have some of McCartney’s best music as performed by others, as well as a few versions of “Yesterday.”  McCartney may be rather unfairly judged by his output over recent years, but most of this shit rocks.  Happy birthday!

30 Days Out (From Christmas): Soul

                 

Day Seven – When popular soul and R&B artists of the 1960s and 1970s turned their attention to Christmas music, the result was usually delightful.  Much like the artists at Motown, singers like Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and others applied their incredible talent to make these holiday tunes quite special.  The Aretha tune enclosed here today is from her very first seasonal album This Christmas, released this year.

MP3: “Jingle Bells” by Wilson Pickett

MP3: “Frosty The Snowman” by Shirley Alston

MP3: “White Christmas” by the Drifters

MP3: “Christmas Time” by Ray Charles

MP3: “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway

MP3: “May Christmas Bring You Happiness” by Luther Vandross

MP3: “Soulful Christmas” by James Brown

MP3: “Deck The Halls” by Jackie Wilson

MP3: “My Grown Up Christmas List” by Aretha Franklin

MP3: “Xmas Twist” by the Twistin’ Kings

Soul Of The Departed

We are still trying to right our barbaric ways.  Sunday (Nov. 2) is the celebration of All Souls’ Day, remembering those souls who may be on the way to heaven, but for some reason they haven’t arrived yet.  Yesterday we name checked the Saints, those beatific types who are already upstairs partying with the Man; All Souls Day is for those who haven’t gotten there yet because of a minor infraction and they’re still serving their time.  The Catholic church says they haven’t yet achieved the “Beatific Vision.”

So today, let’s flip our catechism to those dearly departed who achieved their “Beatific Vision” while they were on earth – yes, I’m talkin’ about Soul singers!  “Do you like good music?” (Let’s hear an “Amen!”) “Ha! That sweet soul music!” This is dedicated to those soul singers who are no longer with us.  Don’t they all look great, ya’ll?

MP3: “Please, Please, Please” by James Brown, R.I.P.

MP3: “Can’t Stop A Man In Love” by Wilson Pickett, R.I.P.

MP3: “Hands Off My Baby” by Mary Wells, R.I.P.

MP3: “Never Can Say Goodbye” by Isaac Hayes, R.I.P.

MP3: “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (Levi Stubbs, R.I.P.)

MP3: “What A Woman Really Means” by Donny Hathaway, R.I.P.

MP3: “I Love You More Than Words Can Say” by Otis Redding, R.I.P.

MP3: “Breakfast In Bed” by Dusty Springfield, R.I.P.

MP3: “Drown In My Own Tears” by Ray Charles, R.I.P.

MP3: “Ain’t That Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye, R.I.P.

MP3: “Strokin'” by Clarence Carter, R.I.P.

MP3: “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” by the Temptations (Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams and David Ruffin, R.I.P.)

MP3: “We’re A Winner” by the Impressions (Curtis Mayfield, R.I.P.)

MP3: “Chain Gang” (live) by Sam Cooke, R.I.P.

MP3: “Sweet Soul Music”  by Arthur Conley, R.I.P.

Famed Producer Jerry Wexler dies at 91

Jerry Wexler, the man who coined the phrase “R&B” and help launch the careers of Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and many others at Atlantic Records, died today at age 91. Check out the rest of the story from the Associated Press. Wexler is featured in the excellent documentary about late producer Tom Dowd called “Tom Dowd and the Language of Music.” It has been playing on the Indepedent Film Channel (IFC) this month, so check it out if you get a chance.

Lost Classics! ‘Wicked’ Pickett Does Disco … Or Not

The artist who released A Funky Situation in 1979 was not a happy camper.  Through most of the 1960s, Wilson Pickett was THE MAN, cutting hits like “Land of 1,000 Dances,” “In the Midnight Hour,” “Mustang Sally” and many others.  But by this point in the late 1970s his career had taken a steep downturn.

When A Funky Situation came out “Wicked” Pickett had this to say: “We no longer make records like we feel. We have to make records according to what they will play on the radio. Anytime you’ve got artists singing songs, doing grooves that they don’t want to do, it’s terrible.”  The way you did “grooves” back then was disco.  Pickett’s new label wanted him to make a disco album.