In response to Rick Dennis' and The Blues Hound's "Deserted Island" top-ten picks, here are my favourite albums for when I'm
eventually exiled to the dark side of the moon ...
"The Editor's Bikini Atoll Pick"
Situated midway between Hawaii and the Philippines, Bikini
Atoll is where they stuck a bunch of captured German & Japanese
warships, boxes of live bunny rabbits n' stuff and then blew it all
to hell with a couple of atomic bombs. This was about fifty years
ago. Ground zero at Bikini Atoll has since been paved over with a
huge concrete slab about a hundred feet thick. Bring your
skateboard!
The scientists waited a few years before relocating the original
inhabitants back onto the atoll. These poor people fared only slightly
better than the rabbits. Likewise, so did a few folks in southern
Washington & northern Oregon when military "scientists" purposely
released radiation from the nuclear plant down there in the early 60's
to see what long-term effects radiation had on real-live Americans.
Like the folks from Bikini Atoll, their medical records are also most
likely "classified" and their current health problems sure to be
attributed to "second-hand smoke."
Back in 1958, while my folks were stationed at Rockcliffe
airbase (Ottawa), the military would spray the perimeter of the
"married quarters" every couple of weeks with pesticide, to confuse
the mosquitoes. Hundreds of us kids would run behind the tractor,
playing tag or "war" inside the huge clouds of DDT, a fog so thick
you couldn't see more than six inches. As a result, my antennae are
now brittle and my thorax is prematurely shedding it's exoskeleton.
This might explain why my taste in music is rather mutated
from the mainstream; somewhat dark and devoid of polka.
Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique Symphony", Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't
Fear the Reaper", Steve Miller's "Journey From Eden" and "The
Crucifixion" by Phil Ochs were at first included in my top-ten list.
I removed them because they were too boppy...
Come, sit down and join me in a feast of mercury-contaminated
sardines and a man-sized swig of diet lysol. Here on the perimeter,
there are no stars ...and the ragged paper you desperately clutch has
probably been bleached with chlorine!
JIMI HENDRIX - Electric Ladyland: on this double album,
Hendrix probably had more control on the final product than on any
other of his albums. His version of Dylan's "All Along The
Watchtower" remains among the most powerful and ominous studio
statements of the 60's ... brilliant guitar work unsurpassed in both
performance & creative engineering. Among the live tracks,
"Voodoo Chile" (a jam actually) presents a mystically-maniacal
meshing of blues genius & technology which inspired a generation
of present-day rock and blues guitarists. Even Stevie Ray Vaughan
learned and duplicated Hendrix solos from this album.
My favourite
track, "1983" reveals perhaps, a unique affinity between paratrooper
Jimi and the realm of the dophin "...I awake from yesterday,
alarmed that the war is here to stay ...so my love, Katarina & me
decide to take a last walk thru the noise to the sea... not to die but
to be reborn, away from the land so battered and torn. Oh say can
see it's really such a mess ...every inch of Earth is a fighting mess
...giant pencil n' lipstick tube shake screamin' pain, & continue to
rain arctic stain from silver blue to bloody red ... it's straight
ahead." After some impressive overlaid guitar tracks of aquatic-like
vibrato chords, whale-cry feedback and harmonized lead lines of the
fanfare theme ("1983" was later faithfully recorded by a full
orchestra - note for note, feedback squeal by feedback squeal), Jimi
finally breaks into a blistering diatribe, repeating a line which
sounds an awful lot like "... and man is full of sh#t." Interspersed
throughout is Hendrix's searing blues guitar and effects wizardry.
JONI MITCHELL - The Hissing of Summer Lawns: Both
timeless and avante guard, the jazz-genius and sardonic brilliance
behind Joni Mitchell's melodic voice has yet to be surpassed. This
album's line-up of fine musicians (Larry Carlton, Robben Ford,
Wilton Felder, etc.) is itself, impressive. One of my favourite tracks
is "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow": "...truth goes up in vapors, the
steeples lean. Winds of change, patriarchs, snug in your bible belt
dreams ... God goes up the chimney, like childhood Santa Clause
... the good slaves love the good book, a rebel loves a cause."
PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of The Moon: A rare album by an
obscure band of druids who had all their musical gear stolen back
in 1969, this little gem is a delight for those who refuse to read a
clock in metric time. Great for squinting at black holes!
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH - I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die:
Although this album includes the notorious "Fish Cheer" - ( give me
an F - What's that Smell?') protest diddley, I rarely play that track
any more. "Magoo" is the mother of all tracks on this classic vinyl.
Just buy a gallon jug of Royal Rouge vino (and whatever pills are
for sale at your local junior high), grab your Sanyo ghettoblaster and
jog on down to the nearest body of water (any ocean or stagnant
swamp will suffice). About half-way through the jug, crank on
"Magoo" ...repeatedly, real loud. "Sometimes, when I look into your
eyes ... the hurt and pain I see, makes me want to cry ... the sky so
big and the earth so small ..." - at this point, the sound effects of a
huge wave obliterating the entire universe washes over the
otherwise uncluttered track. Hey... check it out, dude!
DAVID GILMOUR - (first LP, self-titled): The intense and
innovative guitarist from Pink Floyd persued his own project for a
while back around 1980. Much like a prayer, "Short and Sweet" is
a powertrack mantra conveying lyrics which remind me of a psalm
I once heard. Perfect for sipping Malibu from a coconut beneath the
swaying psalm trees of Bikini Atoll. "Raise My Rent" touches on
Gilmour's blues guitar style, though the format is more of a glorified
jam. "There's No Way Out of Here" perhaps depicts the mirth of a
stratocaster-wankin' fool who mistakenly landed on Bikini Atoll
under the impression it was swarming with sunbathin' models.
EDGAR WINTER - Entrance: (Epic BN 26503) Recorded in 67,
this fusion jazz/rock/blues album, produced by Edgar Winter (co-written by Johnny Winter; some bass by Tommy Shannon), is in
many ways still light years ahead of similar attempts to combine
elements of soul with every style of music imaginable. Think of
Leonard Cohen on steroids, Miles Davis on mescaline and
Screamin' Jay Hawkins on RU486 - with George Martin on
Drambuie overseeing the occasional orchestral embellishment. Rick
Derringer's jazz guitar brilliance, coupled with Edgar's impressive
sax, dynamite vocals and consistently disturbing lyrics will knock
your sternum off-centre!
SPIRIT - The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus: Another
beautifully-constructed and delightfully-disturbing masterpiece for
those who believed the world was gonna end in 68, this album
(their fourth, I believe) even surpassed their first album in writing
and production quality. "Nature's Way", their classic environmental
statement/ballad was later re-recorded on another Spirit album,
complete with a chamber orchestra. Loaded with melodic hooks,
inventive arrangements and intensely-focused lyrics dealing with
love, social and enviromental issues, this album offers a variety of
tracks to suit your most maniacally high mood, low mood or figiting
expertise in the usage of green Kryptonite and the crossbow.
STEPPENWOLF - Steppenwolf: As a child, songwriter John Kay
escaped from behind the Iron Curtain only to discover the west was
screwed up too. A romantic anarchist with a passion for true democracy,
he probably managed to avoid getting assassinated by
hopping on a Harley. Because of his blindness, the feds left him
alone, figuring he'd snuff himself on Route 66. The staccato
chopping of Goldy McJohn's keyboard was the signature sound of
this first album. John Kay's gritty voice and battleaxe lyrics in
"Born to be Wild", "The Pusher", "Desperation", "The Ostrich" and
Willie Dixon's "Hootchie Kootchie Man" made these raw-edged
rock anthems classics which have carried on to the next generation.
The mostly Canadian band moved to L.A. to record this album.
THE COLLECTORS - "Grass & Wild Strawberries" (Warner
Bros WS1774): Something of cosmic proportions happened on the
Pacific west coast in the late 60's and the civilized world missed it.
Claire Lawrence, Bill Henderson, Howie Vickers, Ross Turney
and Glenn Miller (from B.C.) collaborated with poet/playwright
George Ryga to record an album in L.A. The musical textures are
ecclectic, bouncing back n forth between the genres of The Doors,
The Byrds and Arthur Brown. Loaded with great harmonies,
melodic hooks n' twists and intense guitar & sax playing, this
timeless cruisin' music would surely liven up the cockpit of both the
Enola Gay or the starship Enterprise. Beam me up, Oppenheimer!
BRUCE COCKBURN - "Stealing Fire": Shielding my eyes with
a Delfon shield and saluting the glowing red radioactive sunset
above Bikini Atoll with a toast of Come-Back-Salmon vodka from
a lead shot glass, I wallow in ecstacy, surrounded by bare naked
ladies singing "Lovers in a Dangerous Time." ...or is that the Bruce
Cockburn version? I'm disoriented ...the scorching Cockburn lyrics
"got to kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight" rings loud and
true as I spot the silvery glint of bomb-bay doors opening, in the
heavens directly above me. "If I had a rocket launcher, some
sonofab..."
These records make great gifts. Don't forget, kids ...ONLY 117
SHOPPING DAYS left til Xmas!
In response to Rick Dennis' and The Blues Hound's "Deserted Island" top-ten picks, here are my favourite albums for when I'm
eventually exiled to the dark side of the moon ...