Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.10.07 : Aretha Live At Fillmore West - Aretha Franklin (1971)
My second "Live At Fillmore" album although last time we were in the East (and I should warn you people REALLY didn't like my decision for the winner of that round) but (unsurprisingly) it's not my second Aretha album - I've experienced quite a lot of Aretha so far (this is my fifth album, along with a load of Aretha cover versions on other albums), but I'd never heard this album. I've generally tended to find them all extremely impressive, but hard to differentiate - which I appreciate isn't exactly the worst problem to have, but it does tend you make you think "why wouldn't I just stick with her greatest hits albums?" Right up until you realise there are actually 59 (FIFTY NINE!!!) Aretha greatest hits/compendium albums out there, anyway. Either way, I was looking forward to listening to this but expecting it to come out of it thinking "it's good, but...".
And yeah, it was a bit like that but there was a surprising number of cover versions involved - it didn't really feel like an Aretha album at all. Obviously she does them all very well, but I'm not sure you'd be happy if you went to the gig and she pulled out this random combination of tracks. I liked "I Want To Make It With You" but the "Eleanor Rigby" version is particularly bizarre - I really wasn't sure what was going on there.
The channel had eight thumbs up, a "cool", a "nice" and an "oooh!". And I'm not sure you can beat a "cool"/"nice"/"oooh!" combination. Wikipedia has what looks like a chunky entry on the album, but all it really does is list all the tracks that appear on all of the versions of this album, including the "Don't Fight The Feeling" 4 CD version which covers 3 nights of her and King Curtis playing live. And I suspect it will surprise no-one to hear I did not listen to that version. The only other thing it told me that slightly surprised me was that this album was only just a bit younger than me - Bowie is still the oldest album so far, but this isn't far behind it.
"Customers also listened to" King Curtis, Mavis Staples and Ike and Tina Turner - some slightly talented individuals there. I thought this was enjoyable and was pleased to be given the opportunity to check it out, but for me it didn't really count it as a proper Aretha album - and there are so many fine examples of such things that I'm not sure why you'd pick this one to listen to.
20.10.08 : Fela With Ginger Baker Live! - Fela Kuti (1971)
I'm not a huge fan of Fela's stuff - but was certainly intrigued to see what Ginger Baker (one of rock's most notoriously difficult individuals) would bring to the mix. And well, to my uneducated ear, the answer is "not a lot, really". It's certainly got its groove on though and I guess it's fine if you like that sort of thing with its very African rhythms, but I struggled to distinguish it from anything else in the genre - sorry! I did have to listen to this on Youtube though, and whoever put it up there included a fascinating slideshow with a lot of interesting facts about Mr Baker's 6 years that he spent in Nigeria - so at least I learned something!
The channel gave this four thumbs up and a recommendation for "Beware Of Mr Baker" which I have always meant to watch but never got round to. Wikipedia tells me this is ANOTHER 1971 album - what's going on with this round? It also surprised me by pointing out it was officially only 4 tracks - I would have guessed it was closer to 14 whilst listening to it. It also tells me there's a film out there of Mr Baker exploring African rhythms around this time - I can imagine this makes for particularly interesting viewing.
"Customers also listened to" - no idea because I had to listen to it on YouTube since it's not on Amazon. I thought there were some interesting sounds on this album but I can't help but think the backstory of this album is waaaay more interesting than the music.
20.10.09 : On The Spot - Hot 8 Brass Band (2017)
For me, the phrase "brass band" immediately brings to mind the Brighouse And Rastrick Brass Band who had a hit with "Floral Dance" when I was an impressionable age (I was nine, OK - don't judge me). And I say "had a hit" but that somewhat underplays its success - it was #2 in the charts for 6 weeks, only kept off the top by the infinitely inferior "Mull Of Kintyre". And then, of course, the whole thing was somewhat overshadowed by the considerably more bizarre version that came along the following year - and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're in for a "treat" when you click here (and I suggest you sit down before clicking the link!)
Anyways, the replacement of "Brighouse And Rastrick" by "Hot 8" leads me to imagine this is going to be a bit more contemporary (it would struggle to be less contemporary, after all). And well - it's very skilful and it sounds like they're all having a great time, but unfortunately that doesn't mean I did. The only track that stood out for me was the Sade cover "The Sweetest Taboo" - but that was mostly because I really like Sade. I mean, it's done well enough, but would I swap it for the original? No, I wouldn't.
The channel gave this one thumbs up and one "this" (whatever that means) and then listed approximately a million other brass bands who are similarly fun - I never knew there were so many (and no-one mentioned B&R!). Wikipedia somewhat bizarrely doesn't have an entry on the album, which isn't unheard of - but the band does have an entry which only mentions 3 albums whereas this is their 5th, which is unusual. It also tells me that 3 members of the band have been killed in gun-related incidents - and that was a depressing section to read, I can tell you.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of - but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued to listen to some Dr Rubberfunk. I liked the vibe of this album, but not the sound unfortunately - give me the Brighouse And Rastrick massive any time (particularly at Xmas - I love carols by a brass band).
Well that was an odd mix and no mistake - and I've written quite a lot on them, haven't I? I didn't particularly like Aretha's offering but for me she still beat the other two offerings without even trying too hard.
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