Nirvana Symphony - Toshiro Mayuzumi

Nirvana-Symphony

Toshiro Mayuzumi/NHK Symphony Orchestra with Chorus conducted by Wilhelm Schüchter

Time Records 58004

1962

I haven't done a post on any classical records although I do have a few hundred of them.  Mostly this is because I feel unqualified and have nothing I want to say about them.  I took a musical appreciation class in college and took music performance classes in grade school, but my formal musical knowledge is rudimentary at best.  There are some classical records I really love, but what am I going to say about Bach or Mozart that doesn't make me sound like an idiot?  I like and listen to all kinds of music now that I'm old, but I have always been a rock guy and that's never going to change.  That's how I approach all music, not so much in terms of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it," but rather as a visceral and emotional experience.  Classical music typically requires concentration and effort to fully appreciate whereas I'm generally just along for the ride.  Nonetheless I am going to take a crack at this record because it did make a big impression on me when I heard it.  I only became aware of this album last year when I read the memoir of Bob Dylan's former girlfriend Suze Rotolo.  She rhapsodized about the album which she heard in the early 1960s while she was dating Dylan.  Intrigued, I tracked down a copy of the album.  The Japanese version of the album has been reissued and is easy to find, but I opted for a vintage copy of the American edition because it features cover art by Yoko Ono.  I have to admit my listening experience was not as profound as the one Rotolo described in her book, but I'm not a spiritual guy.  I would say my experience was more akin to psychedelia than religion.  Mayuzumi composed the Symphony in 1957-1958 at which time he was also a prolific film composer (I am a fan of his modernist score for Mizoguchi's "Street of Shame.")  Modernism definitely informs this album, Mayuzumi even cites Schoenberg and Varèse in his liner notes.  I think film soundtrack music is also an influence, there is a program music aspect to parts of it.  However the work is most strongly influenced by traditional Japanese religious music, in particular Buddhist temple bells.  Mayuzumi went so far in his bell fascination to name his three movements "Campanology I, II and III."  "Campanology I" is titled "Suramgamah" which is the name of the Buddhist sutra sung by the chorus in the piece.  It begins slow and ominously like the soundtrack to an old horror film or a gloomy gothic romance.  The orchestra simulates the chiming of a temple bell and the music is heavy and atmospheric punctured by sharp instrumental spikes.  It has an other-worldly feel to it that is appropriate for a spiritual journey to Nirvana, although it might just as well be the soundtrack for a journey to hell since the music is so foreboding.  It gradually gives way to a more sedate passage with languorous bell chimes that announces the beginning of the sutra sung by a male chorus.  The music that accompanies the chorus consists largely of bell sounds and the sutra is soothing and mesmerizing.  Eventually the sutra abruptly shifts tone becoming more staccato and urgent boosted by slashing string notes and percussive effects ultimately becoming quite dramatic before petering away into "Campanology II" which is titled "Mahaprajnaparamita."   It is a short instrumental piece featuring sedate orchestral passages in a more Western modernist style punctuated by bits of bell type sounds.  It evolves into a drone (which I wished lasted longer) that rises to a crescendo to end the piece.  Side two opens with "Campanology III" titled "Finale" which begins with a Buddhist chant with minimal accompaniment once again typically bell-like.  The chant is polyphonic and hypnotic (Mayuzumi compares it to a Gregorian Chant in his liner notes which I think is apt.)  It is followed by a cacophonous orchestral flurry that simulates the ringing of multiple bells.  This section is extremely dynamic and powerful and I find it the most compelling music on the record particularly when the chorus joins in with the orchestra.  It gradually transitions to a more sedate passage of elongated string notes and the chorus slowly chanting producing a very pleasing drone sound.  The bell sounds return and the music swells building to a roaring climax that gradually ebbs away to the sound of chiming bells as the piece concludes.  I'm basically just crudely describing what I hear, but it is quite a musical journey.  I can easily understand why Rotolo was so taken by it.  When I listen to it late at night it does seem to have a magical almost transformative quality and I do find myself emotionally engaged by it in a manner that I rarely experience listening to modern classical music perhaps because of Mayuzumi's experience as a film composer.  I'm not a Buddhist nor am I religious, but when I was younger I read a bunch of books on Zen Buddhism so I do have some idea about what Mayuzumi's intentions are, but I think even someone who hears the word "Nirvana" and only thinks of Kurt Cobain would be engaged by this music.  As a dumb rock guy, I am not really doing this work justice, but I do believe it can be enjoyed the way rock fans enjoy progressive rock or even psychedelic rock.  It takes me on a trip.  Recommended to fans of Györgi Ligeti who dig Quicksilver Messenger Service.

The Collectors - The Collectors

The Collectors

The Collectors

Warner Bros.  WS 1746

1968

This is the debut album by the Canadian band the Collectors who released two albums in the late 1960s before evolving into the better known band Chilliwack. I'm interested in Canadian pop music so I took note of this album in the bins, but it tends to be a bit pricey so I didn't splurge on it until I fell in love with the song "Lydia Purple" which I first heard on Giant Crab's "A Giant Crab Comes Forth."  I bought the album for that song alone, but fortunately the entire album is worthwhile.  The album opens with "What Is Love" which was self-penned by the group, like all the songs on the album aside from "Lydia Purple."  It is a slow moody song with a chamber pop flavor that speculates on the nature of love.  It gradually swells to a dramatic climax before returning to the slowness it started with. "She (Will-O-the-Wind)" is a trippy portrait of the title character.  It is driven by a raga like riff and features lovely vocals and a dynamic flute solo worthy of Ian Anderson.  It is one of my favorite tracks. "Howard Christman’s Older" is the most overtly psychedelic track on the album. It is a portrait of a child genius that is driven by swelling organ riffs and howling guitars. The song evokes the majestic sound of Vanilla Fudge without the bombast.   It is followed by the fabulous "Lydia Purple" by Don Dunn and Tony McCashen which is delivered in a wonderfully atmospheric chamber pop arrangement with strings and elaborate multi-part vocals.   I think one could make a case that the song is condescending to the point of cruelty in its portrait of the alienated and delusional main character, a poor man's "Eleanor Rigby," but I'm not the one to make that case because I love it to death.   I've heard several other versions of the song but this is easily the best one and I find it endlessly compelling.   I played it over and over when I got this album and it still sends me every time I play it.   If there was any justice the song would have been a hit and I consider it one of the best songs of its era.  Side one concludes with "One Act Play" which is a striking depiction of a deteriorating relationship.  The solemn chamber pop sound of the song serves it well and it builds in power to give side one a satisfying conclusion.   Side two is devoted to "What Love (Suite)."  I am generally not a fan of 20 minute rock songs unless they are jams, but this is a pretty solid one.   It is a return to the opening track of side one but elongated and more elaborate.   The song begins with a slow, chamber pop section similar to "What is Love" but with a strong middle-eastern flavor added that gives the lyrics mystical resonance.  Unfortunately the lyrics are not worthy of the exalted music as they explore the deficiencies of human love with half-baked philosophizing that make the Moody Blues sound like Plato.  Lyrics like "what the hell is fate, screw the world, it's raped" or "blood is masculine violence" make me think someone in the band was a big Jim Morrison fan.  To some extent the bad poetry is covered up by outstanding music that moves from chamber pop to psychedelic blasts of organ driven cacophony to a jazzy sax solo and even a groovy flute solo.   The song is melodramatic and pretentious but it holds my interest and I find the changes in texture stimulating. Nonetheless I often just play side one whenever I feel like listening to the Collectors.  I am fond of this record, but I feel like it is a near miss.  It is very ambitious but ultimately it comes up short of being a psychedelic classic.  I mostly blame "What Love (Suite)" for this because side one is uniformly excellent.  This album reminds me of Love's "Da Capo" which similarly had it's brilliant first side undermined by a self-indulgent suite on the second side.  However I am the sort of music fan who respects bands who take chances even if I don't like the results.  I listen to so many albums that I like when someone messes with the formula if only because it is something different.  I recommend this album to Doors fans with a healthy appetite for chamber pop.

Yardbirds '68 - The Yardbirds

Yardbirds '68

The Yardbirds

Jimmy Page  JPRLPBX3

2017

I appreciate the irony that, after many decades of blaming Jimmy Page for the suppression of Epic Records' album of the Yardbirds 1968 performance at the Anderson Theater in New York entitled "Live Yardbirds," I ended up buying a remastered version of the concert from the great man's own website.  I've always assumed that Page was embarrassed by it and perhaps even by his association with the band itself prior to his rise to superstardom with Led Zeppelin.  However this labor of love produced by Page himself shows otherwise.  It is a very lavish revision of the project with a wonderful booklet full of photos and memorabilia from Page's tenure in the Yardbirds as well as reminiscences from the three surviving band members, Page, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty.  Page's comments demonstrate his pride in the band's work and his respect for the other members of the group.  I was deeply touched reading the booklet.  Then there is the record itself which is a dramatic improvement over the original Epic album.  Naturally the absence of the overdubbed crowd noise and applause is a big improvement although I can understand why the clowns at Epic decided to add it, much of the time the band sounds like they are playing in an empty auditorium and Dreja mentions in the booklet that the attendance at the show was poor.  Dreja attributes that to Vanilla Fudge playing down the street the same night although anyone who would pass up a Yardbirds show for Vanilla Fudge ought to have their rock fandom card revoked.  Page and his technicians have also done wonders with the sound itself.  "Live Yardbirds" sounds pretty good for a 1960s live album, but it is still kind of tinny and murky.  The new version sounds astonishingly good, almost as though it was recorded last week.  There is much better separation between instruments and the drums, harmonica and vocals in particular sound much clearer to me.  It is truly a joy to hear it with such clarity.  It literally jumps right out of the speakers.  I find this particularly noticeable on "Dazed and Confused" which sounds so much better that I wondered if it was a different recording.  "Shapes of Things" and "I'm a Man" also sound greatly improved.  The new mix brings out the robustness of Keith Relf's vocals which I've never appreciated before.  I would say he benefits the most from the new release although curiously most of his stage patter has been edited out.  He was not a big talker but I find his comments rather charming on "Live Yardbirds."  I can't believe they were overdubs added by Epic so I'm guessing Page likes his live albums streamlined.  I do not approve but I love this new version so much that I'm not going to complain.  Page even deletes the bit before "Shapes of Things" where Relf calls him "Jimmy Magic Fingers, Grand Sorcerer of the Magic Guitar" so I know he's not being petty or self-serving.  Page has already earned my eternal gratitude by this point for making such a great sounding record of one of my all time favorite concerts, but he doesn't stop there.  There is a second record documenting the Yardbirds' final recording sessions from 1968 in New York City.  Four of these tracks appeared on the CD "Cumular Limit" back in 2000 but I believe the rest have never been released before.  They give a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been the group's best studio album if they could have hung in there a little longer.  My favorite track is the hard rocking "Avron Knows" pumped along by McCarty's crisp drumming and some ferocious guitar work from Page.  It reminds me of  "Think About It" and it demonstrates the power that band packed even in their final days.  "Spanish Blood" is a moody ballad with lovely acoustic guitar work from Page.  It sounds a bit like "Only the Red Rose" on "Little Games" although in this case Relf recites the lyrics rather than singing.  "Knowing That I'm Losing You" will be familiar to Led Zeppelin fans because it is an early version of "Tangerine" from "Led Zeppelin III" although this version has no lyrics.  "Taking a Hold On Me" is a punchy rocker driven by a solid riff from the Grand Sorcerer.  The band revisits "Drinking Muddy Water" which they had done previously for the "Little Games" album.  I never had a problem with the earlier version and I don't think this one is any great improvement although it does have a rawer feel to it that I like.  The Mort Shuman/Jerry Ragovoy song "My Baby" that was popularized by Garnet Mimms in 1966 was a part of the Yardbirds' stage act during the Page era as demonstrated by the Anderson Theater show.  The band does a studio version here, but I don't think Relf can match Mimms as a vocalist.  In any case I prefer the live version.  The record concludes with instrumental versions of "Avron Knows" and "Spanish Blood" that are basically superfluous although I like both songs enough that I'm happy to hear them again.  Listening to this second record, it is so full of creativity and vitality that you would never guess the band was on its last legs.  It would have been so nice if like the Zombies, they could have gone out with a bang.  Belatedly Jimmy Page has finally made that happen.  This final statement from the band is in many ways definitive.  I think most people feel that the Jeff Beck era of the band was their high point and I agree with that, but the albums from that era are not all that satisfying.  I think if I could only have one Yardbirds album I would select this one.  The live album has some of the most exciting and exhilarating performances the band ever recorded and now they exist in pristine condition.  The studio stuff is interesting and very appealing.  The whole package is assembled with love and care - a far cry from the crass approach Epic Records took in assembling their Yardbirds albums.  I salute you James Patrick Page, you've done a magnificent job in creating what is destined to remain one of my favorite albums.  Recommended to anyone who has ever listened to "Live Yardbirds" and wished they could have been there.  This is the next best thing.

Scarlet Ribbons - Carolyn Hester

 

Scarlet Ribbons

Carolyn Hester

Coral Records  CRL 57143

1958

This was Carolyn Hester's debut album.  Although it contains no production info, I've read that it was recorded by Norman Petty in his studio in Clovis, New Mexico and I think I recall seeing a copy of the album in the Petty museum in Clovis from my visit there several years ago.  I'm a big fan of Hester and I wanted this album for many years but it took me awhile to find a copy in collectible condition at a price I was happy with.  As is so often the case when I wait a long time to get a record, I built up a bunch of high expectations about it, so when I finally heard it I was disappointed that it was not what I was expecting.  It sounded languid and genteel to me with none of the energy, earthiness and emotional impact of her 1960s folk albums which are among my favorite of the genre.  I've come to appreciate its loveliness but it is not the album I usually reach for when I want to hear Hester.  It features arguably the least interesting set of songs on any Hester album I have heard with a heavy dose of commercial folk standards.  The album opens with the title track which is much more of a pop standard than a folk song.  It was written by Evelyn Danzig and Jack Segal in 1949.  Jo Stafford had a pop hit with it and then Harry Belafonte had a hit with a commercial folk interpretation which I assume was the inspiration for Hester's version.  I don't like the song much but Hester sings it beautifully.  "I Know Where I'm Going" is an old folk ballad of Scotch or Irish origin.  It is a love song expressing desire which Hester conveys effectively with her tender impassioned vocal which sounds surprising mature considering that she was only about 20 when she recorded it.  The album gets a welcome infusion of humor and liveliness with "The Texan Boys" which is a folk song collected by John Lomax.  It is also commonly listed as "The Texian Boys."  It describes the crude courting practices of the amorous lads of Texas and Hester delivers it with winning verve.  "Danny Boy" is the venerable Irish classic which we've all heard a gazillion times.  Hester certainly has the pipes to put the song over, but I find her version deficient in emotion.  "Ye Banks and Braes" is the 18th century song by Robert Burns also commonly known as "The Banks O'Doon" which is a lament about a false lover.  Hester's vocal is very pretty but again I find it lacking in feeling.  My favorite track on the album is "The Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven" which is the country classic that has been covered by many artists.  I know it best from the Johnny Cash version which is my favorite although I also really like the Seekers' version as well.  It is a highly propulsive song with compelling lyrics.  I don't think Hester brings anything new to the song, but she sounds very engaged and I think it is one of the few songs on the album that resembles her work in the 1960s.  George Attwood's bass lines give the song some extra oomph.  Side two gets off to a rough start as Hester tackles "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" which is a traditional song that John Jacob Niles wrote a new tune for.  I first heard the song on "Joan Baez in Concert Part 1" where I didn't like it.  I have to admit I don't like Hester's version either.  I find it dull and lifeless.  The only version I like much is Nina Simone's performance of it. "The Riddle Song" is another much-covered folk song that I have little use for.  We called "I Gave My Love a Cherry" when we sang it in elementary school.  As you undoubtedly already know it consists of a bunch of odd riddles and their answers.  Hester sings it glacially slow which does let her shine as a vocalist, but aside from that I find the performance tedious and lethargic.  This is my least favorite track on the album.  The album comes back to life with the much faster paced "Lolly Too Dum" which is a silly folk song popularized by Burl Ives.  The song is too repetitious for my taste but I still find Hester's vocal spritely and appealing.  "Little Willie" is another childish folk song about courtship.  The song is a bit too cute for me, but I appreciate the lightness and humor it brings to the album.  "Hush-A-Bye" is a charming lullaby that is not the famous song of the same title that is also known as "All the Pretty Horses."  I've never heard this song before and like it better than its more famous counterpart.  The album concludes on a down note with "I Wonder as I Wander" which is a folk style hymn written by John Jacob Niles.  I generally have little use for folk hymns and this is no exception but Hester does deliver a powerful vocal that holds my interest even when the words do not.  Hester's debut shows a lot of promise.  She demonstrates her compelling vocal strength and prowess but the material is often either pedestrian or overly familiar and she sometimes struggles to invest it with sufficient feeling.  Her work in the 1960s was a lot more confident and much less stilted and genteel.  For that reason I'm a bit hesitant to recommend this album.  On the other hand Hester is one of my favorite singers and I'm happy to listen to anything she chooses to sing.  My only regret about buying it is that I waited so long to do it.  So if you are a Hester fan or a commercial folk music fan it is worth seeking out.  Recommended to fans of early Joan Baez.