Black Sheep

23 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by garystormsongs in Music I Love

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Black Sheep, Foreigner, Lou Gramm, Louis Grammatico, Mick Jones, Spooky Tooth

Black Sheep was a local band from Rochester, New York featuring a nice Italian boy as lead singer named Louis Grammatico. They put out three albums that received little notice. Then at the invitation of Mick Jones, of Spooky Tooth, Louis auditioned for an, as yet, unnamed band. The result was the corporate rock phenomenon, Foreigner, for which he changed his name to Lou Gramm. He became the cloying archetypal voice of stadium rock.

But before all that, I loved this naked song, “When It All Makes Sense.” Electric piano. No drums. Simple beautiful guitar solo, threading a single line. The quietness of the arrangement manifests the feeling of lying awake at night. And Gramm displays consummate virtuosity in his singing. The song opens in a vibratoless scratchy voice, as he whines about the ordinary travails of getting along with his lover. But then in the chorus he realizes:

When the moon is alone in the sky and weeping
And the one you love lies beside you sleeping
That’s when it all makes sense.

And the fullness and passion and warmth fill his voice. Mellifluous high tones. Perfect phrasing. Beautiful.

Larry Crozier, Louis Grammatico, “When It All Makes Sense,” WB Music Corp. and Open Love Music Inc. (ASCAP) (1975). From Black Sheep, Encouraging Words, Capitol Records, ST-11447 (1975). Photography – Lavey-Pincus.

Dando Shaft

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by garystormsongs in Music I Love

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calliope, Dando Shaft, Kalyope Driver, teamster, unamplified

Dando Shaft came out with three albums in the early 1970s. How this song prances: “Kalyope Driver.” They pronounce it “KÁL-ēē-ōp.”

The original calliopes produced music by forcing steam through banks of whistles. They were played by a keyboard or by mechanical means, after the workings of a player piano. Carried on wagons drawn by teams of horses, driven by a teamster, they were a standard feature of circus parades and, because they were extremely loud, would alert people from miles around that the circus was in town. The shining calliope pipes were arranged in rows from tallest to shortest and the wagons were gaudily painted.

In this song, the Kalyope Driver is much more than a teamster. He is a mystical or godlike pied piper who calls all humanity to a better world. As I hear the words:

Kalyope driver guard the train
Ignorance will strike again
As darkness tries to hide the rows
Of rose that bloom among them

Take your time the world is spreading
Heading down toward the answer
Kalyope driver blow your horn
If only for to warn them
For to warn them
For to warn them

This song is in the aeolian mode, and the minor harmonies mingle hope and foreboding. At the heart of the aesthetic ideology of Dando Shaft is a renunciation of electricity. As far as I know, they never used electric instruments. The guitars, the drums, the fiddle, and even the bass are all unamplified, except by studio or stage microphones. The music is structured with layers of texture. Overlaying the ornate tabla beats, the patterns plucked on the mandolin are counterpoised against the picking on the guitar, creating complex polyrhythms.

Dando Shaft, “Kalyope Driver,” No publisher (No date). From Dando Shaft, Dando Shaft, RCA/Neon Records, NE5 (No date). Album design – Not credited.

Joan Armatrading

02 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by garystormsongs in Music I Love

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Back to the Night, Christian, Jesus, Joan Armatrading, love, religious

She is so strong, she can be completely vulnerable. Some of her songs, like this one, “Dry Land,” make me weep without tears. She is rough and imposing and yet tells such wondrous tales of the heart.

Clear back to land I’m rowing
Clear the deck let me touch your soul
Maybe I’ll bring you back a gift of love
I’ll promise you so much more

Never has there been another song that describes a yearning for true love with such piercing beauty. The song turns on the metaphor of being long away to sea. She craves peace and calm in the object of her love. Her singing aches with desire. She asks to touch the soul of another. But, surprisingly she says, “maybe” she will bring a gift of love. There is, even in this deep passion, a hint of reticence. And this guardedness is of a piece with the remainder of this album in which she talks to or sings about another person, who in two instances is named Jesus, and she has been rebuffed more than once and is clearly wary of reaching out.

From one song to the next, from one album to the next, Joan Armatrading explores great diversity of style and arrangements that range from her solo guitar or piano to an ensemble that seems to embrace all humanity. At times her voice is deep, almost growling, and then she quavers high and pure. While the songs speak of a spiritual longing, they arouse numinous understanding in those of us lucky enough to listen.

It is possible to interpret this album, Back to the Night, as an allegory for a Christian spiritual journey. But I think this album is response to a troubled relationship or unrequited longing. The religious yearning she invokes is, I think, metaphorical. Yet I feel she is calling us all, as privileged companions on her quest to understand the true nature of human love.

Joan Armatrading and Pam Nestor, “Dry Land,” Almo Music Corp./Essex Music Inc. (ASCAP) (1975). From Joan Armatrading, Back to the Night, A&M Records, SP 4525 (1975). Art direction – Fabio Nicoli; Photography – Clive Arrowsmith.