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Whats on your turntable tonight?

For me its the first or very early LP's of:
Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South"
Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue
Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer"
and,
Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
slipknot1
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
Thanks fellas, I'll look for both. I agree loomis, Brooker is one of the better UK singers. He, Van Morrison, little Stevie Winwood, Steve Marriott, Paul Jones (Manfred Mann), and Paul Rodgers come to mind. All obviously indebted first and foremost to Ray Charles, as too are so many US singers. Brooker is sort of the British Richard Manuel (The Band, of course), not only singing similarly (though Manuel is very, very special to me, as he is to Eric Clapton), but playing piano in the same style---block chords, rather than laced with gratuitous arpeggios ala Elton John and Billy Joel (blech). 
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
richard manuel's a real good analogy--i hear him as somewhat sweeter-sounding than ray charles, but he had in any event a great, soulful voice. i like all your other picks, too, but steve marriott was my main man--he's the great white soul shouter.
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bdp24
9,788 posts
 
Ray Charles sets a standard white men can aspire to, unlike Howlin' Wolf, who is unreachable. The middle ground is Big Joe Turner, the greatest male singer I ever saw and heard live. Backed by The Blasters!
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@bdp24

I would add Joe Cocker. Totally influenced by Ray Charles.

I agree about gratuitous arpeggios. I guess it comes from playing piano alone in cocktail bars at hotels. I prefer Benmont Tench style - playing for the song rather than overplaying. Oscar Petersen was great too.

Pee Wee Ellis once said (and I am sure he is not the first by far), "in music it is often more important what you dont play! It can be frightening to leave space.

This is very true in drumming - judicious placement of space is really important. The rhythm or groove is as much about the space as it is about what is played. Space creates feel. Space can also be thought of as dynamics - softer notes create space and contrast - great grooves have different layers of dynamics.

I think you could start a thread about leaving notes out and musicians that excel at it. Like great art - the blank spaces on the canvas are actually part of the overall composition - but amateurs dont understand that and try to fill it all in.
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bdp24
9,788 posts
 

Yes, shadorne, Joe Cocker---I knew I was leaving out somebody! You possess musical wisdom to an unusual degree, my man, and your words, with which I agree 100%, were a pleasure to read. "Playing for the song" is the musicianship I crave, listen for in others, and employ myself. It sounds unimpressive to many, not "obvious" enough---too subtle. It takes a certain level of maturity and self-confidence to play with taste and economy (as your "it can be frightening to leave space" line acknowledges), and is what separates the men from the boys.

I first witnessed it in a drummer when I saw and heard Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield) live in 1969. Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, and Ginger Baker were my standard at the time, and it was a shock to learn there was another, very different, approach to playing drums. I had to learn how to play all over again, this time with a completely different objective---musicality, not empty virtuosity and self-congratulatory displays of pointless technique.

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