River in Reverse discussion
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verbal gymnastics
- Posts: 13666
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 6:44 am
- Location: Magic lantern land
And as if that wasn't enough Paris Hilton was on TV showing off her incredibly expensive engagement ring and thereby understanding the whole concept of poverty and of the day. 
There was much furore about the lack of African artists at Live 8 in the UK.
I'm certain as lostdog pondering a sign/post.
There was much furore about the lack of African artists at Live 8 in the UK.
I'm certain as lostdog pondering a sign/post.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
I used a bad example obviously, but don't miss the point. Elvis has as much right to comment upon the Katrina situation as I do on human rights violations in other countries. Its a human thing.lostdog wrote:Um, well, yeah, lots of people did that, actaully. Especially at Live8.pophead2k wrote:Is someone going to knock Live Aid next because most of the performers were not African?
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Mr. Average
- Posts: 2031
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 12:22 pm
- Location: Orange County, Californication
About 300 posts in reverse from this one someone excerpted an Amazon.com-posted comment about the genius of Lowell George of Little Feat. Lowell was brilliant. But he can only be considered 'genius' within the vehicle called "Little Feat", and band that, for me, ranks as number one to Elvis Costello's position as #2 as the most misunderstood rock/pop/jazz/blues artist of modern times.
Mention "Little Feat" to someone and they almost reflexively associate the band with Southern Rock. The Lowell George Feat's transcended that straight-jacketed label in a huge way.
AT's "On Your Way Down" was covered by Little Feat on thier third album called Dixie Chicken. Lowell and fellow founding member Roy Estrada were Mother's and learned lot's from Frank. It was on Dixie, arguably, that the jazz influences of the band started to flourish. However, because Lowell was a remarkable slide player, many instantly associated the slide with a country/southern sound, as he did much to pioneer it's use in Rock. I think him a contemporary of Duane Allman, but not sure which led. The Little Feat version of the Toussaint classic is much stronger, in my opinion, then the version on River in Reverse. If you get a chance, compare and contrasts the two. It's worth the time to hear the golden throat Lowell in action...
If you get a chance to hear these Lowell/Feat songs, your impression of Little Feat will be shattered:
Skin it Back
The Fan
Day or Night
Day at the Dog Races
Fat Man in the Bath Tub
Gringo
Hi Roller
Down Below the Borderline
Rock and Roll Doctor
Teenage Nervous Breakdown
Two Trains
You want to hear a brilliant vocalist, listen closely to original Two Trains (Dixie) and Rock and Roll Doctor (Feats Don't). Incredible waste of a life to drugs.
Posted here because I think it rare that a cover version transcends teh original (rare...not impossible). In the case of "On Your Way Down" on River in Reverse, it pales next to the Dixie Chicken read by Lowell and the Feat.
Mention "Little Feat" to someone and they almost reflexively associate the band with Southern Rock. The Lowell George Feat's transcended that straight-jacketed label in a huge way.
AT's "On Your Way Down" was covered by Little Feat on thier third album called Dixie Chicken. Lowell and fellow founding member Roy Estrada were Mother's and learned lot's from Frank. It was on Dixie, arguably, that the jazz influences of the band started to flourish. However, because Lowell was a remarkable slide player, many instantly associated the slide with a country/southern sound, as he did much to pioneer it's use in Rock. I think him a contemporary of Duane Allman, but not sure which led. The Little Feat version of the Toussaint classic is much stronger, in my opinion, then the version on River in Reverse. If you get a chance, compare and contrasts the two. It's worth the time to hear the golden throat Lowell in action...
If you get a chance to hear these Lowell/Feat songs, your impression of Little Feat will be shattered:
Skin it Back
The Fan
Day or Night
Day at the Dog Races
Fat Man in the Bath Tub
Gringo
Hi Roller
Down Below the Borderline
Rock and Roll Doctor
Teenage Nervous Breakdown
Two Trains
You want to hear a brilliant vocalist, listen closely to original Two Trains (Dixie) and Rock and Roll Doctor (Feats Don't). Incredible waste of a life to drugs.
Posted here because I think it rare that a cover version transcends teh original (rare...not impossible). In the case of "On Your Way Down" on River in Reverse, it pales next to the Dixie Chicken read by Lowell and the Feat.
"The smarter mysteries are hidden in the light" - Jean Giono (1895-1970)
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scielle
- Posts: 672
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 4:14 pm
- Location: Berkeley, CA; London, UK; Montreal QC; Toronto ON; New York
On a somewhat related note - The Down Beat site has an in-depth audio interview on their site w/ H. Connick Jr. about the rebuilding of NOLA and New Orleans piano players. Some v. interesting stuff to be heard. Direct audio link here:
http://www.downbeat.com/harryconnickjr.ram
http://www.downbeat.com/harryconnickjr.ram
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Otis Westinghouse
- Posts: 8856
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: The theatre of dreams
Chartbustin' Elvis Pt.2..................
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discogra ... aid=774736
The River in Reverse
Released: June, 06, 2006
Record Label: Verve Forecast
Peak Position: The Billboard 200 #103 on June 24, 2006
Does anyone have access to U.K. data regarding charts there?
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discogra ... aid=774736
The River in Reverse
Released: June, 06, 2006
Record Label: Verve Forecast
Peak Position: The Billboard 200 #103 on June 24, 2006
Does anyone have access to U.K. data regarding charts there?
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sweetest punch
- Posts: 6011
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
- Location: Belgium
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sweetest punch
- Posts: 6011
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
- Location: Belgium
A re-entry of the album in the billboard Jazz charts (problably because of the Grammy's):
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/c ... 5&g=Albums
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/c ... 5&g=Albums
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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scielle
- Posts: 672
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 4:14 pm
- Location: Berkeley, CA; London, UK; Montreal QC; Toronto ON; New York
Did EC and George Stroumboulopoulos go shirt shopping together in Toronto?
Here's an EC and AT interview aired on CBC's The Hour last summer:
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1046
Lots more interviews from The Hour - including one with Ron Sexsmith with EC content -
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/showcategory. ... interviews
Here's an EC and AT interview aired on CBC's The Hour last summer:
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1046
Lots more interviews from The Hour - including one with Ron Sexsmith with EC content -
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/showcategory. ... interviews
Re: River in Reverse discussion
http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/201 ... lipst.html
Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame
Benny Spellman
Benny Spellman, singer of 'Lipstick Traces' and 'Fortune Teller,' dies
Sunday, June 05, 2011
By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune NOLA.com
Benny Spellman, the vocalist whose double-sided recording of “Fortune Teller” and “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” is an enduring classic of New Orleans rhythm & blues, died Friday in Florida after a long illness. He was 79.
Mr. Spellman was born in Pensacola, Fla. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge on a football scholarship; at Southern, he also began singing.
Back in Pensacola in 1959, Mr. Spellman encountered New Orleans R&B band Huey Smith & the Clowns. The band’s vehicle had broken down; Mr. Spellman offered to drive them back to New Orleans. He elected to remain there after falling in with the burgeoning rhythm & blues community centered around the Dew Drop Inn.
He became one of the many artists to give voice to producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint’s voluminous 1960s output. In 1962, Minit Records released a 45 rpm single with Mr. Spellman singing “Lipstick Traces” on the A-side and “Fortune Teller” on the B-side. Both songs were written by Toussaint under the pseudonym “Naomi Neville.”
“Lipstick Traces,” with Irma Thomas on backing vocals, proved to be Mr. Spellman’s most significant national hit, reaching No. 28 on Billboard’s R&B chart. He also contributed backing vocals to Ernie K-Doe’s smash recording of another Toussaint song, “Mother-in-Law.”
Given his limited national exposure, Mr. Spellman worked the Gulf Coast and local circuit, performing at parties, dances and whatever gigs came up.
“I wasn’t making that big money like K-Doe,” Mr. Spellman once said. “I’d play three gigs (in one night) to make more money.”
Indicative of the enduring nature of his recordings, many artists would later cover songs originally recorded by Mr. Spellman. The O’Jays, Ringo Starr and Alex Chilton all later did “Lipstick Traces.”
The Rolling Stones and The Who each did versions of “Fortune Teller.” “Raising Sand,” the Grammy-winning, million-selling 2007 collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, contained a spooky version of “Fortune Teller.”
After the market for New Orleans rhythm & blues dried up in the late 1960s, Mr. Spellman largely retired from the music business. He worked for many years at a beer distributorship.
He suffered a stroke some years ago and was unable to attend an August 2009 ceremony at Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge inducting him into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. At the time, he resided in an assisted living facility in Pensacola.
Instead, “Deacon” John Moore and Hall of Fame president Mike Shepherd traveled to Pensacola and personally presented Mr. Spellman with the plaque noting his induction.
“Thank you Lord. After all these years, I finally made it,” Mr. Spellman says in a video of the presentation. “I waited a long time for ya’ll to elect me to the Hall of Fame. I’m still living; all them other cats are gone. I don’t want to be honored when I’m dead. I want to be honored when I can still move.”
Survivors include a daughter, Judy Spellman. A funeral is scheduled for June 10 at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, 140 West Government Street in Pensacola, Fla.
Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame
Benny Spellman
Benny Spellman, singer of 'Lipstick Traces' and 'Fortune Teller,' dies
Sunday, June 05, 2011
By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune NOLA.com
Benny Spellman, the vocalist whose double-sided recording of “Fortune Teller” and “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” is an enduring classic of New Orleans rhythm & blues, died Friday in Florida after a long illness. He was 79.
Mr. Spellman was born in Pensacola, Fla. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge on a football scholarship; at Southern, he also began singing.
Back in Pensacola in 1959, Mr. Spellman encountered New Orleans R&B band Huey Smith & the Clowns. The band’s vehicle had broken down; Mr. Spellman offered to drive them back to New Orleans. He elected to remain there after falling in with the burgeoning rhythm & blues community centered around the Dew Drop Inn.
He became one of the many artists to give voice to producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint’s voluminous 1960s output. In 1962, Minit Records released a 45 rpm single with Mr. Spellman singing “Lipstick Traces” on the A-side and “Fortune Teller” on the B-side. Both songs were written by Toussaint under the pseudonym “Naomi Neville.”
“Lipstick Traces,” with Irma Thomas on backing vocals, proved to be Mr. Spellman’s most significant national hit, reaching No. 28 on Billboard’s R&B chart. He also contributed backing vocals to Ernie K-Doe’s smash recording of another Toussaint song, “Mother-in-Law.”
Given his limited national exposure, Mr. Spellman worked the Gulf Coast and local circuit, performing at parties, dances and whatever gigs came up.
“I wasn’t making that big money like K-Doe,” Mr. Spellman once said. “I’d play three gigs (in one night) to make more money.”
Indicative of the enduring nature of his recordings, many artists would later cover songs originally recorded by Mr. Spellman. The O’Jays, Ringo Starr and Alex Chilton all later did “Lipstick Traces.”
The Rolling Stones and The Who each did versions of “Fortune Teller.” “Raising Sand,” the Grammy-winning, million-selling 2007 collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, contained a spooky version of “Fortune Teller.”
After the market for New Orleans rhythm & blues dried up in the late 1960s, Mr. Spellman largely retired from the music business. He worked for many years at a beer distributorship.
He suffered a stroke some years ago and was unable to attend an August 2009 ceremony at Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge inducting him into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. At the time, he resided in an assisted living facility in Pensacola.
Instead, “Deacon” John Moore and Hall of Fame president Mike Shepherd traveled to Pensacola and personally presented Mr. Spellman with the plaque noting his induction.
“Thank you Lord. After all these years, I finally made it,” Mr. Spellman says in a video of the presentation. “I waited a long time for ya’ll to elect me to the Hall of Fame. I’m still living; all them other cats are gone. I don’t want to be honored when I’m dead. I want to be honored when I can still move.”
Survivors include a daughter, Judy Spellman. A funeral is scheduled for June 10 at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, 140 West Government Street in Pensacola, Fla.