(Like most of you, I imagine, I am constantly listening to records… and constantly having thoughts about them…)
Robin Trower – Bridge of Sighs (CHR 1057, 1974)
I picked this up out of a bargain bin recently, a much beloved heavy blues rock record of the early 70’s (20th greatest British blues rock album of ALL TIME according to “Louder” which is “The Home of High Voltage Rock N’ Roll” so they should know). I got the original U.S. 1974 pressing, green Chrysalis labels, solid VG+. Listening to it you certainly wouldn’t think “oh right it’s the guitar player from Whiter Shade of Pale innit” but there it is (come to think of it… is there a guitar on “Whiter Shade of Pale”?… is Trower even on that record???? ah well you get the point).
On his second solo outing after leaving Procul Harum, Robin Trower went full Hendrix to the extent that the whole album is kind of like stumbling into a pub hosting a local Jimi tribute band. And while that sounds like an insult, who in their right mind doesn’t like Jimi Hendrix? Trower is more than up to the task axe-wise, the tunes are excellent and sufficiently exploratory, and even the singing is solid (James Dewar, also on bass). And the recording is fantastic, engineered by Geoff Emrick, Beatles’ studio legend. The guitar sound is epic, seems to jump out of the speakers like the amp is just sitting, like, RIGHT THERE. In fact the overall sound is so good and Trower is doing such a credible job of explosive Hendrix-derivative axe-borne facemelting that listening to it I found myself puzzled by how bored I was. “Why is this just not… quite… melting my face?” It hit me pretty quickly, about halfway through track 2, side 1. The drumming is pedestrian. Not bad, but definitely not good, and certainly not Mitch Mitchell-level transcendent. This record gave me a newfound respect for the mighty MM. If you’ve ever wondered (and you likely haven’t) what a Hendrix record would sound like with an above average pub-rock drummer, well, here you go. It ain’t exactly Spanish Castle Magic. Mitch Mitchell – the Elvin Jones of 60’s rock.
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook (MGV-4013, 1959)
I’ve owned this record for years, pulled it from a dusty thrift store somewhere I think, I can’t remember. Recently I got around to cleaning it and giving it a listen. It’s an original 1959 U.S. mono and for its age in decent shape, a tolerable pad of surface noise that quickly becomes part of the sonic wallpaper (the experience is much aided by my Miyajima mono cartridge… I’d hate to imagine what this would sound like with a stereo cart). This LP is known as “Volume 1” on Discogs though it’s not denoted as such anywhere on my record. Obviously Ella recorded a lot of Gershwin songs and… I think they were originally released as a box set, part of her larger project, Ella Sings the Complete American Songboox. I can’t say that to my ears this is the most inspired Ella – she sounds a little tamed by the dense Nelson Riddle arrangements. But to be fair it’s hard to really hear these recordings any more because they are so iconic. Also, like the greatest singers, Ella is a magical experience at any level of engagement. Because I take Ella’s greatness as a given, what struck me listening to this recently was – and I’m stating the blatantly bloody obvious here but what the hell – MAN the Gershwins wrote a lot of great tunes. And many of them, songs so embedded in the musical vernacular that they seem like they could have originated in the King James Bible, actually were written for long forgotten musicals that no one under the age of a hundred has ever heard of. “The Man I Love” – from Strike Up the Band. “Nice Work If You Can Get It” – from Damsel In Distress. Just incredible.
