Just an old guy sittin' around playin' albums....

The sacrifices I make 4 U people. Of course, summa my faverite people R U people. So....
Fri was nothin but sunshine & high, whispy clouds & temps in the low 60s, so after sucking up some sun on the front porch w/ my 1st 2 cups of coffee I came back inside & put some music on NEway, 2 help motivate me 2 pay the bills.
I figured I'd go 4 something big & dramatic while I MT'd my checking account -- Beethoven's 5th Symphony, mayB?
Shockingly, I discovered I don't have NE Beethoven in the house(!). So I put on Dvorak's New World Symphony instead, hoping 4 something soothing while I went bankrupt....
I'd 4gotten how loud & dramatic the New World can B. The version I have on vinyl un4tun8ly is NOT the glorious Antal Dorati/Royal Philharmonic Orch per4mance (I have a squeaky old Vox cassette of that), but tho my version sounded kinda listless & stuck in the mud in places -- parts of it R hardly recognizable -- there were also parts that worked well enuf (especially during the gorgeous "Largo" movement) 2 get me thru the accounts-payable portion of the aft's activities.
Only thing 2 do then was lighten-up! ...Slowly....
Started w/ this wk's nominee 4 Neglected Album of the Week, Judie Tzuke's STAY WITH ME 'TIL DAWN -- dramatic, sweeping, orchestrated singer-songwriter stuff from 1979 that could almost pass 4 art-rock. Tzuke released 2 albums on Elton John's Rocket Records, & co-wrote a song w/ Elton on his 21 AT 33 album, but tho the dramatic title track of STAY was almost a hit, overall Judie couldn't give away albums in America. When released by MCA/Rocket, STAY WITH ME's suggested sales price was $3.99, MCA hoping 2 turn more people on 2 a new artist. It didn't work, & her follow-up 1980 album SPORTS CAR sold even fewer copies.
Which is 2 bad, cos STAY WITH ME shows some definite singing & songwriting talent, & they sure didn't hold back on the production budget: The album is like a Who's Who of late-'70s studio pros: Simon Phillips & Peter Van Hook on drums, Roy Babbington & Mo Foster on bass, Morris Pert on percussion, Ray Warleigh on sax, some string arrangements by Elton's old buddy Paul Buckmaster, Clannad's producer Steve Nye on keyboards & engineering, etc. Most of the big dramatic solo spots go 2 Tzuke's songwriting partner & future husband, guitarist Mike Paxman.
But I musta grown up a bit since the last time I played this album, cos the dramatic opener, "Welcome to the Cruise," now strikes me as a Dpiction of a pretty negative & selfish start 2 a love affair. Tho the musical backing is still dramatic & atmospheric enuf, Tzuke sounds pretty Dmanding: "Don't want no darkness in my days/Don't want no clouds to fill my skies/Don't take my time/Don't question what is on my mind/Don't ever try to live my life...."
Course she doesn't make these Dmands all at 1nce & she still has a sweet, kinda airy voice -- but the msg I get is she's telling her potential lover up-front: Don't ask me NE questions or make NE Dmands & things'll B great! Luckily, Paxman still gets an Xcellent dramatic gtr solo in the middle break....
Sevral trax I wanted 2 hear again kinda disappointed me. "For You" is a pretty, overdubbed a-capella # where sevral overdubbed Judies singing in harmony R later joined by a string quartet. It's nice, & the lyrics in the middle R kinda good, but it's not the hushed knockout I remembered.
"These Are the Laws" sorta repeats "Welcome to the Cruise" from the other direction -- now it's the male partner who's setting the rules. MayB. 4 awhile I thot this could B a song about religion, & could B pro- or anti- Dpending on how U want 2 read it: These R the laws, & 4 what I get, that's OK; or These R the laws, & they're 2 much. Doesn't Cm resentful, tho it also doesn't Cm comfterble, & it's still got that big dramatic production....
The sleeper: The album's 2nd track, "Sukarita," I long-ago dismissed as some kinda jilted pop lovesong, 2 lite 2 B very important. Well, this time thru I noticed it built-up a really good momentum & hadda chorus that sticks in yr head + some nice dramatic blasts from the keyboards, & Judie's singing is really good as the song picks up steam, & I just hadta play it right thru again. Shoulda bn a single.
After all this sweeping, NRgetic stuff it's no suprise that the 1st side winds down w/ a mellow #, "Bring the Rain," which is pleasant enuf tho not distinctive -- but if the side Nded w/ the doomy, after-the-bomb-lovesong title-track, then we'd have a heckuva strong side of music here, Dspite my reservations. But I'm probly reading 2 much in2 what was probly just an overproduced pop album from 30 yrs ago. On 2 something else.
In fact, on 2 the 1600's, where Amazing Blondel's ENGLAND (1973) apparently hails from. I'm a sucker 4 their 1972 album FANTASIA LINDUM, which 2 me sounds like a 17th Century concept-album about their home, England's Lincolnshire county. Like FANTASIA LINDUM, ENGLAND features a 1st-side suite of pieces mostly played on lutes, flutes & acoustic gtr (w/ some very subtle strings). Tho the musical accompaniment is impressive, when this trio raises their voices in harmony it's really amazing. Main-songwriter John David Gladwin's solo vocals can B a touch on the effeminate side, but they fit in w/ the time-period the group was harking back 2.
The 1st-side suite, "The Paintings," has 2 great sections: "Seascape" (w/ a stirring vocal chorus by the 3), & "Landscape," which is more subdued. The closing, "Afterglow," I think is rushed -- & the whole suite totals 16 mins; not a minute is wasted. I wouldn't have minded if it had a little more breathing room. MayB someday I'll play the 2nd side of the album....
On2 something more modern -- Brian Eno, by way of Happy the Man's "Precious Laughs," of course....
Eno makes Happy the Man sound positively NORMAL. I've bn getting 2 know Eno's 1st 2 solo albums in bits & pieces (the CD-player is still working, thank Ghod. I have more CD's coming + there's stuff around here I've barely listened-2 yet). On HERE COME THE WARM JETS (1974), "Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" & "Baby's On Fire" R both HILARIOUS! I had 2 play them both again immediately so I could laff some more. "Paw Paw" features great squiggly keybs from Eno, & "Baby" has some great screechy gtr from Bob Fripp. & then there's the rather arch way Eno sings both songs. Not that Eno was trying 2 B a comedy act, as far as I know....
Other trax may take some more listens. "Third Uncle" has a nice driving rhythm. "Mother Whale Eyeless" is intresting. "Cindy Tells Me" has some intresting lyrics.... I'll B listening 2 much more of this. Like what I hear, so far.
More music write-ups soon, time permitting. Also planned 4 the future: Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Bruce Cockburn, more Nektar, It's a Beautiful Day (yeah, sure), Spirit, Mahavishnu Orch, Weather Report, Return to Forever, David Sancious and Tone, Pentangle, Brand X, Clannad, & more....
Currently reading: Nothing much....