Updates about Joe Hand and his music.
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06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011 /
07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011 /
19. Crack the Sky
I know what you’re thinking. “who???”
But this was the debut album of the year for Rolling Stone magazine in 1975.
So I’m not the only one who thinks this is a home run. Problem was the album (reportedly) never really got to market. So if they did have radio play (which I doubt), there weren’t any albums in the stores for people to buy.
Thank you itunes!!! Because it’s there instantly for us now.
When I was a teen, getting into King Crimson, Yes, Rush, Kansas and the like, Lance McDonald put Crack the Sky on his turntable. I’m forever in his debt!
I got to meet one the guitar players from CTS a couple years back (Rick Witkowski), and he didn’t believe I knew the band, and their songs. I started singing one of his own songs back at him, and he was stunned.
Crack the Sky is essentially writer John Palumbo’s manic and moody thoughts set to some incredibly difficult music, ala YES. Lots of harmonized guitar solos, 3 part vocal harmonies, woven melodic instrumental lines that really are more classical than pop, over one of the tightest and most aggressive rhythm sections you’ve ever heard.
If the Beatles played prog rock, this is what it would be.
Don’t believe me? Listen to “Ice” or “Hold On” or “ Surf City” and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.
They spent real money on the production of this CD. There are orchestral arrangements on several songs, and the production quality/mixing is magnificent.
One final thought… Joe Macre, bass player for CTS, is one of the baddest bassists on the planet. BIG influence for me. HUGE.
If you like Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Kansas, Jethro Tull, and Rush, but don’t have Crack the Sky in your collection, download the album today. Thank me later.
this guy amazes me. When your music education includes growing up around Les Paul and T-Bone Walker, and a college era that included playing with Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf in Chicago in the 60’s…. that pretty much is a young guitar player’s ideal life.
The success for Steve didn’t come easy, despite all that. After all, he did play the blues almost exclusively for a while. It took him nearly 10 years to have a hit. His first was “the Joker” in 1973.
“Fly Like an Eagle” was released in 1976, and good luck getting away from this song on the radio then. It’s SUPERBLY funky. This song represents the ultimate “Hammond” school for organists everywhere.
Stylistically, this collection is all over the map. Funk, Pop, Blues, Country, Oldies… FLY is gumbo in musical form.
Rock’n Me, Wild Mountain Honey, Dance Dance Dance, Mercury Blues, Take the Money and Run, The Window… all radically different tunes. But all with the same sparse production (unlike the “kitchen sink” albums of the time), songs that could easily be done as a band, live. That old blues training worked out well, didn’t it Steve?
No one sounds like Steve… he has a very distinctive vocal recording technique and an instantly recognizable guitar sound. My suspicion is that Stevie Ray Vaughn knew Steve Miller’s recordings. I have no proof to back this up… just my ears.
Every song on this record is a joy, with one possible exception… his odd version of “You Send Me”. Not sure how that one made it on the record, but somebody thought it was a good idea.
I think that only the Boston record has received more spins in my car radio than FLY. Which should put this recording higher on the list, I guess.
17. Charlie Brown Christmas Vince Girauldi Trio
This is the sound of a happy childhood. I know every glorious note of this recording. It does for me what no other record does for me. If I need a lift, I put this on, and I’m smiling. No matter what time of year it is.
Of course, it isn’t Christmas time until I hear this recording.
Though Vince is not exactly known as a pillar of jazz, his touch on the ivories is only equaled by the great Bill Evans, in my book.
16. You’re the One Paul Simon
BIG Paul Simon fan. BIG. Was before this came out. He’s my hero, really. What catalogue of music he’s created.
“Somewhere… in a burst of glory… sound becomes a song”
When I got this disc, I was working on a project at Reba’s Starstruck Studio in Nashville. I was always there early, so I decided to give it a whirl on the magnificent custom studio monitors. When the 2nd track “Darling Loraine” was over, I was slumped forward in the chair, amazed by what I’d just heard.
This album IMO is the finest creation in the entire Paul Simon catalogue.
The quality of sound is amazing. I had no idea a 16 bit disc could sound as good.
The production is amazing… not a hair out of place on the entire record. The imaging (stereo spectrum, for you non engineer types) is spectacular. If a shaker part begins, it is the clearest sounding shaker you’ve ever heard. You can practically reach out and touch it.
But what is strongest about YTO are the SONGS…. No one puts real life and love into songs like Paul does.
the opener "that's where I belong"... it's just sublime. “Darlin’ Loraine” is major event. “Pigs Sheep and Wolves” is an astounding political/social/media commentary, and “Getting Old” is just… cute. Really. And the title track perfectly describes blame, in musical form.
It has a couple of bizarre moments too. For “the teacher” there is a (wonderfully) odd revelation style lyric over a very ethereal sonic background. The song becomes more of a word picture than a story towards the end. The album end with “Quiet”, a meditative warning about the dangers of money, and the cares of this earth. “handcuffs on the soul… and worse…” , as he so eloquently puts it.
As with most PS music, this collection is very different than any music out there.
He’s a genre unto himself.
“YTO” is a complete thought on life, love, and spirituality, with moments of humor that Paul just can’t seem to help sprinkle on even his most serious of songs.
14… Three of a Perfect Pair King Crimson
15… Court of the Crimson King King Crimson
when I was watching MTV, around 1984-85, they had a Saturday night concert series. And there was King Crimson, “Three of a Perfect Pair”, live in Japan.
Oh my.
I had never heard or seen anything like this… it was WEIRD. And I was hooked. Since I listened to rock radio, you would NEVER hear a King Crimson song. But thanks to MTV, there was Crimson, believe it or not.
Robert Fripp, seated (for a concert, which I thought was hilarious), hardly flinching, not much more than a smirk, playing these lightning fast ostinato patterns on the guitar. Tony Levin, playing a 10 stringed Chapman Stick, which I’d never seen before. Bill Bruford with tons of electronic drums around him in this rather dazzling wall display, and Adrian Belew, evoking sounds out of an electric guitar I still don’t understand.
This was the some of the most complicated and glorious music I’d heard in my life.
Once I got the album, it only got better. The title track “Pair” and “Sleepless” just knock me out every time I hear them. Die-hard Crimson fans aren’t fans of this record, I’ve learned. But I sure am…. most likely because I saw the concert video first.
Following “3Pair” I had to get other King Crimson recordings, and that led me to the 1969 release “Court of the Crimson King”. The original KC had a completely different musical lineup, aside from founder Fripp. It featured vocalist Greg Lake, of ELP and Asia fame.
This was another “Dark Side of the Moon” for me.
“Schizoid Man” “Talk to the Wind” and “Epitaph” always transport me to another world, where music has no limitations. All of the tracks aren’t so much songs as they are journeys.
If you’ve never heard of King Crimson, and have an audio sense of adventure, give these a spin if you can find them. You’ll have to find the used CDs on the internet, as downloads are just not available. Seems there are endless remixes and remasters and collections of all sorts that have more than dismantled the original flow of the recordings.
If you want a “greatest hits” type of collection, I highly recommend the CD “the compact king crimson”. But if you're not a prog rock junkie like me, it may take some time to get used to what you are hearing…
Yeah, it’s THAT good. When something like 8 out of the 12 songs on record become hits, you know you’ve pretty much “bulls-eyed” the entertainment world. Very few albums in history have accomplished this feat… Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, the first Aretha record, Shania’s “Come on Over” and Bruce’s “Born in the USA” are the first ones that come to my mind.
We’ve heard the songs a million times, but that still doesn’t take away how great they are. This album was huge, of course. But artistically, from note one, you know you’re in for an Americana treat.
This record had recording geeks everywhere force drummers to record their drums separately. Hi hat first, kick drum next, snare drum next, fills next… it was crazy. Started a whole craze of ultimate studio drummer frustration.
Unfortunately, this was probably the only album to get that technique right, and producers from then on preferred the drum machine. Every note separate, and in time. I'd bet some drummers burned this album, or used it for Voodoo rituals, or something like that. If I was a drummer, I would have.
Sorry, I digress... back to FMF.
Is the playing fancy? Nope. Are the songs fancy? Nope. Is Tom’s voice fancy? Nope. But I dare you to find me another album that bleeds energy and honesty like this one does, while landing squarely in the pop genre.
The songwriting is stellar…words and music in perfect synergy. Songwriters everywhere need to memorize this album if they want pop success while keeping their “artistic integrity” intact.
To show you just how seriously they took the production of this record listen to my favorite track “face in the crowd”. The clave percussion hits are tuned to a note (d, in this case) and reverb’d out to create a beautiful single note ostenato pattern.
Simply put, every note, every drum hit, every word, every guitar tone is perfectly placed.
No question this is a guitar record. But you won’t find blistering solos, finger wiggling, or tons of fancy effects. Just quality tone, without much bass guitar, keyboard, or anything else to get in the way.
Which means, it’s a modern Byrds record. And it’s a beauty!
There were 4 other truly astounding records from this time period, and I feel compelled to list them, because as a collection they accompanied “Full Moon”, and dominated radio. Police “Synchronicity”, Bruce’s “Born in the USA”, John Mellencamp’s “Uh-Huh” , and John Fogerty’s “Centerfield”. Each one of them had a few hits, and long radio life.
This was essentially music’s last stand before Hip Hop and Hair Metal. A truly miserable period of pop music followed.
As a producer, I crave making a “full moon fever”. But you need the right artist, crazy money and at least 2 years to do it.
As a guy who does solo acoustic guitar gigs, no other album does for a crowd what these songs do. I doubt I’ll see another record in my lifetime that will have the affect this one does on a listening audience.
Final thought... producer Jeff Lynne’s “Armchair Theater” record. If you love “full moon fever”, buy it now. Thank me later.