Harry Belafonte

Artist: Harry Belafonte

LP: Swing Dat Hammer

Song: "Grizzly Bear"
[ listen ]

Today I woke up to the news that it was Harry Belafonte's 90th birthday! I set aside this award-winning 1960 album of prison chain-gang songs before I headed to work so I wouldn't forget to post it here when I got home. But then after work I zipped over to Uptown Cinema to catch the terrific Oscar-nominated German film TONI ERDMANN before it leaves town on Friday.

Near the end of the film there's a funeral scene where the son of the deceased laments that they didn't play Harry Belafonte as instructed, since he was his mother's favorite singer. So I've really had a Harry Belafonte kind of day. He keeps popping up everywhere! Belafonte's got so many wonderful songs, it's too bad nobody remembers him for anything but that one banana song. Granted, it was his only top 10 hit, but "Grizzly Bear" goes all the way to #1 in my book. Happy Birthday, Harry!

[ Harry Belafonte — Then and Now ]

Pilot

Artist: Pilot

LP: Pilot

Song: "Over the Moon"
[ listen ]

This morning I woke up from a strange dream. I had been visiting a university here in Seattle, but had traveled out into the city and ended up on Capitol Hill. Trying to get back to the U to meet a deadline, I hopped into someone's old jalopy on the north end of Capitol Hill (near 10th Ave & Roanoke by where I used to work), believing it to be a time travel machine (the keys were in the back seat). Realizing after I'd gotten it started that it was just a normal jalopy and that, if I were to drive it to the university it would amount to stealing, I turned off the engine and went to the house where the thing had been parked in order to apologize. 

The folks who owned the jalopy turned out to be a super friendly and eccentric hippie couple around my age, in their mid-40s. They showed me all of their collections (I don't remember what they were), we talked about cars, and the female half of the couple explained that she had been organizing her collection and doing lots of packing that required being down on the ground, and that had been hard on her knees. She showed me her knees and, indeed, they were all squishy and weird, like Play-Doh. I told her she needed to take it easy. Finally I said I really did need to get back to campus, and they encouraged me to stop by later to hang out some more, even to bring a friend if I'd like! I woke up feeling over the moon about having made a new friend...even if it was only in my dreams. 

The three fellows in Pilot all went on to work with other musicians, such as 10cc, Kate Bush, and The Alan Parsons Project (Parsons was producer on this, Pilot's 1974 debut LP). It's just too bad the Pilot didn't go on to become a longer-running series. You can read about the band here and go here to pick up Pilot's 2014 reunion CD.

Los Tres Caballeros

Artist: Los Tres Caballeros

LP: Los 3 Caballeros

Song: "Volvere a Buscarte"
[ listen ]

Here's another one from my favorite classic Mexican trio—Roberto Cantoral, Benjamin Pérez de León and Leonel Gálvez Polanco. You can read about them as The Three Knights here (I suppose that does sound a bit classier than "The Three Cowboys") and then find Spanish-language liner notes included below.

[ Roberto Cantoral — Benjamin Pérez de León — Leonel Gálvez Polanco ]
[ Los Tres Caballeros ]

Brian Burd

Artist: Brian Burd

LP: 7" single

Song: "Quels Jours de Paix (Oh Happy Day)" 
[ listen ]

It's Oscar Sunday—Oh Happy Day! It's been a very fine day, indeed. After hitting the gym in Ballard this morning, I felt compelled to drive south to the Georgetown neighborhood to grab some breakfast at Square Knot Diner. I was reading my six-month old copy of "Film Comment" and noticed that the gal next to me at the counter was reading a copy of "The New Yorker." I commented that it was nice to see someone else reading a paper copy of a magazine. A conversation ensued, and we eventually ended up talking about the Academy Awards. We are both big Oscar nerds! In fact, she had even printed out several extra copies of the Official 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Ballot, so she gave me one, which saved me from having to try to make a trip to Kinko's sometime before the show. Both she and I are pulling for MOONLIGHT and LA LA LAND, but she also extolled the virtues of TONY ERDMANN, which I have yet to see. I've got it on my list.

All the while I was thinking that Jennifer (that's her name) would be a really fun new movie buddy, but it was such a lovely conversation that I didn't want to risk turning it weird by suddenly asking (in sultry low purring voice), "I've had such fun. Do you mind if I get your number?" My friend Edwardo told me I should have mentioned how much I LOVE Bette Davis and waved my hands a lot, and then everything would have been fine. I wish I'd thought of that. 

In any case, it was a wonderful morning, and I've got an Oscar Ballot courtesy of Vanity Fair, via Jennifer at Square Knot, and I found this Brian Burd 45 at Georgetown Records right after my meal. (In sultry low purring voice) "Mr. Burd is one of the sexiest fellows I've seen on the front of a record in quite some time." I'm pretty sure the Black Sabbath backing Brian here is not the one I'm already familiar with.

Hugo Barrington

Artist: Hugo Barrington

LP: Presenting Hugo

Song: "'Des' We 'Des'"
[ listen ]

Hugo Barrington would like to remind you that legal representation is the right of every Jamaican citizen. In other good news, even after embarking on a legal career under the name Hugh Faulkner, Hugo never gave up on his music. You can read more about Hugo Barrington's work as Executive Director of the Legal Aid Council in Jamaica here, go here to find out how he's staying connected to his music, and read his biography at the United Reggae website here.

[ Hugo Barrington in 2014 ]

The Stargazer Lilies

Artist: The Stargazer Lilies

LP: We Are the Dreamers

Song: "Endless Days"
[ listen ]

Everyone knows I'm not in the loop when it comes to new music. I'm basically quoting my grandmother when I say things like, "Music nowadays sounds like cheap copies of what's already come before!" But it's true. Most new singers and bands sound like they're trying awfully hard to sound just like someone else who's already done what they're doing, but better and before. Other new bands are just completely idiotic, since there's actually a large fan base for that sort of thing right now. In other cases, quoting my grandma again, "They sound like trash cans banging together!"

This all serves to introduce my very first posting of a record created within the current decade—this 2013 release by The Stargazer Lilies. I found this lovely (pink vinyl!) album at Everyday Music when I traded in a couple of bags full of records and CDs last weekend. While I admit they do remind me of the early music of Lush, but played at 23 rpm through an extra layer of gauze, The Stargazer Lilies do their thing equally well and they sound different enough, I say. They certainly ain't no trash cans. You can visit the band's website here.

[ The Stargazer Lilies ]

Art Garfunkel

Artist: Art Garfunkel

LP: 7" single

Song: "A Heart In New York" 
[ listen ]

Speaking of things that aren't my bag, if I had to list ten male musical celebrities whose chest hair I'd most like not to see, Art Garfunkel would be right up there with Roy Orbison and Buck Owens. "A Heart In New York" peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981, marking Garfunkel's last appearance on that chart.

Al Jarreau [1940-2017]

Artist: Al Jarreau

LP: 7" single

Song: "Trouble In Paradise" 
[ listen ]

True, Al Jarreau isn't my usual bag when it comes to '80s pop music. Yet there's always been something about his 1983 "Trouble In Paradise" single that's drawn me in—something even beyond the delightfully generous profusion of electronic hand-claps sprinkled throughout. The song peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning sporadic airplay on Yakima's 107.3 KFFM.

Alwin Lopez Jarreau has always seemed so upbeat and friendly. Of course, it would be a real struggle to be a downer while wearing a turquoise v-neck sweater with '80s confetti flourishes and a fly-away fringed white scarf. But I've just learned that, in the mid-1960s before he launched his music career, Al worked in San Francisco as a rehabilitation counselor for people with disabilities. The notion of rehabilitation comes through in Jarreau's music, even in "Trouble In Paradise." 

I'm not all that familiar with many of Al Jarreau's other songs, but it was still sad news to hear that he had died. Here's hoping his positive energy has already begun to rehabilitate any Trouble In Paradise he finds on the other side. You can read more about the man and his music in The New York Times.

 

Al Jarreau

[ March 12, 1940 — February 12, 2017 ]

We will miss you, Alwin.

The Barry Goldberg Reunion

Artist: The Barry Goldberg Reunion

LP: There's No Hole In My Soul

Song: "Sittin' In Circles"
[ listen ]

Little baby Darla has been healthy and growing; she was the belle of the ball at the Vashon Island Williams Family Dinner this past Sunday; I've got an exciting new position at work; Valentine's chocolate was 50% off at Fred Meyer today. So many things have been going my way! I know it won't last forever, but it sure is nice to be strolling on Happiness Street for awhile. This moody 1968 Barry Goldberg Reunion song is one of my all-time favorites.

[ Love For Sale. ]

The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda

Artist: The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda

LP: Calypsos

Song: "You Can Go (But You'll Return)"
[ listen ]

Song: "Sager Boy"
[ listen ]

The Talbot Brothers, who were all the rage in Bermuda when this LP was released back in 1957, have asked me to wish you Happy Valentine's Day, from you to them. They would have told you themselves, but Archie, Austin, Bryan, Ross, Roy and Cousin Mandy are no longer with us. Roy Talbot, who was the last surviving member of the group, died in May of 2009. So anyway, Happy Valentine's Day!

The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda on YouTube:

[ "Bermuda Buggy-Ride" ]

[ The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda ]