Mahavishnu Orchestra was founded by John McLaughlin. Not by Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, not by Swami Satchidananda. By John. McLaughlin. That tells you pretty much everything you need to know about why I hate fusion.
Month: January 2016
Los Van Van
I’ve heard Los Van Van referred to as “the Rolling Stones of Cuba.” I assume this doesn’t mean they released 10 years’ worth of classic albums, followed by 40 years of crappy ones.
Little Walter
His name was Walter. He was little*. That’s all I got.
(*His given name was Marion, and for all I know he was, a la Randy Newman, six feet tall.)
Leon Russell
The two songs that come to mind when I think of Leon Russell are “Right Place, Wrong Time” and “Frankenstein.” The former is by Dr. John, the latter by Edgar Winter. Which basically means I have no idea who Leon Russell actually is.
LaVern Baker
If someone told me that the only way I could ever hear LaVern Baker’s “Saved” again was to actually become saved, I’d … well, I’d need to think about it. On the one hand, it would be hard to give up boys. On the other, especially when you consider my luck with boys, LaVern starts to look pretty good.
Big Daddy Kane/Kool Moe Dee/Kurtis Blow
A while back, our weekly alternative paper described a shop that was closing downtown as “the O.G. of local collectives.” Further proof that white people should never try to come up with clever uses for the term “O.G.” I would call this list a tribute to some actual O.G.s, but these guys are so O, they were around before the Gs took over rap. I guess that makes them pre-O.G.s?
King Curtis
Every time I see the name King Curtis, it makes me think of prog rock band King Crimson. That’s about all they have in common. For one, you could probably play King Curtis’s entire discography in less time than it takes to play one King Crimson song. For two, I actually like King Curtis.
k.d. lang
Patron saint of L …. L …. L …. Lawrence Welk fans everywhere. If you get that joke, you are a diehard k.d. lang fan. If you know who Lawrence Welk is, you are old.
Kate Bush
If you ever want a laugh, ask my friend Pete to do his rendition of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” There’s a lot of “R” action: “Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrunning up that road, Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrining up that hill.” Part of the reason it’s funny is that it’s exactly what Kate Bush sounds like when she sings it, except not on purpose.
Johnny Cash
Of all the “artists I can’t believe I skipped in round 1,” Johnny Cash is probably at the top of the list. Not being a country music fan, I actually like Johnny Cash. (Mariachi horns in “Ring of Fire”? Awesome.) Clearly I was rushing to get to Joni Mitchell.
Playlist of the Day 