Under My Thumb

This is the final post of dufusdownbeat. It’s been a blast sharing my tastes in music over the last couple of years both here, at the new site, and my old site on Blogger. But all good things must come to an end, sooner or later. If you like, look me up at nonamedufus.Rock on.

Having begun to write their own songs, rather than cover Chicago blues tunes by 1966 the Rolling Stones had worked their way up to releasing an album of only Jaggers/Richards tunes called Aftermath, their 4th British album and 6th album released state-side.

Richards, in his autobiography “Life” indicates the two had more or less hit upon a formula in their early hit song writing days…

“This wave of recording and songwriting culminated in the album Aftermath, and many of the songs we wrote around this time had what you might call anti-girl lyrics — anti-girl titles too. ‘Stupid Girl,’ ‘Under My Thumb,’ ‘Out Of Time,’ ‘That Girl Belongs to Yesterday,’ and ‘Yesterday’s Papers.’

The Last Time

By early 1965 the Rolling Stones had had several #1 hits. But they were covers, extremely excellent covers mind you, of American blues artists.

In his autobiography “Life” Keith Richards recalls how he and Mick Jagger penned the first in a long line of Jaggers/Richards tunes.

“Mick and I knew by now that really our job was to write songs for the Stones. It took us eight, nine months before we came up with ‘The Last Time’ which is the first one that we felt we could give to the rest of the guys without being sent out of the room. If I’d gone to the Rolling Stones with ‘As Tears Go By’ it would have been, ‘Get out and don’t come back.’”

Richards, the guitar-playing half of the Glimmer Twins has come up with many great riffs in Stones songs. Interestingly, in the performance videos that exist of The Last Time they clearly demonstrate that it was Brian Jones who played the distinctive riff while Richards played rhythm.

Richards acknowledges he and Mick nicked the songs chorus from the Staple Singers’ This May Be The Last Time.

As Tears Go By

The Rolling Stones had been knocking around Britain in the early 60s building their reputation as a Chicago blues cover band extraordinaire. The evidence of this legacy can be found on their early albums, full of covers of legendary American blues artists.

Keith Richards, in his autobiography “Life” says the Stones actually helped America rediscover its own music.

But there reached a point where then-manager Andrew Loog Oldham realized if the Stones weren’t able to write their own songs they simply wouldn’t be able to sustain their popularity. So, as legend has it, and Richards relives in his book, Oldham locked Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in a kitchen and refused to let them out until they’d written a song. It wasn’t an easy birth but nevertheless The Glimmer Twins were born.

As Richards writes:

“We spent the whole night in that goddamn kitchen, and I mean, we’re the Rolling Stones, like the blues kings, and we’ve got some food, piss out the window or down the sink, it’s no big deal. And I said, ‘If we want to get out of here, Mick, we better come up with something.’”

What they came up with was As Tears Go By. But they didn’t think of it as a Stones song and they gave it to 17 year-old Marianne Faithfull who took it to #9 on the British charts.

Following the success of Faithfull’s interpretation, the Stones recorded their own version as part of the album December’s Children (And Everybody’s) a year later. That version peaked at #6.

It was one of three songs the Stones performed on their third appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show…

Off Beat – Babalu

When I was a kid my introduction to Cuban music, or what then was referred to as Latin music, came from the I Love Lucy Show. Lucille Ball was married to and starred with Desi Arnaz in the 50s TV sitcom.

But Arnaz was a big name in the music scene of the day leading the Latin music band The Desi Arnaz Orchestra.

Arnaz began life in Santiago de Cuba where his family owned three ranches. But after the 1933 Cuba revolution, during which his father was arrested and jailed, his family fled to Miami.

Arnaz made his way to Hollywood where he starred in several pictures in the 1940s. In one picture he met Lucille Ball. They fell in love and married. In 1951 they began the successful I Love Lucy in which, surprise of surprises, he played a Cuban Band leader. Arnaz would go on to direct and produce TV shows and films. He died in 1986 of lung cancer.

Here’s a clip of his signature song – Bubalu. Watch him really “rock out” near the end of the video.

Keef Keeps Rollin’ Along

Cuban Jazz

Our second look at Cuban music features trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Sandoval was heavily influenced by Dizzy Gillespie who came to be Sandoval’s musical mentor.

Sandoval began his career in the state-sponsored Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna. He later co-founded the band Irakere which went on to become a worldwide sensation. But Sandoval felt repressed in his own country and defected to the United States while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie’s band. The two had become fast friends after a 1977 visit to Cuba by Gillespie.

Sandoval’s life story was the subject of en excellent film called For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story which starred Andy Garcia in the title role. It details the repression he faced for attempting to play the music he wanted to play.

Here’s a clip of Sandoval and his idol…

Chan Chan

Sometime I like to mix it up at dufusdownbeat. This past weekend I was kicking back listening to some Cuban music. It’s great stuff. Makes you want to jump up and cha-cha-cha.

There’s an interesting history to Cuban music. It’s been repressed, controlled and banned. But in the end it’s become known the world over. The latest resurgence was thanks to Ry Cooder, an American slide guitarist, who in the mid 90s travelled to Cuba and recorded the album Buena Vista Social Club with some renowned traditional Cuban musicians.

Named after a members-only musical club of the 40s, the recording session featured such institutions as Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez and Ibrahim Ferrer who made such an impact they went on to successful yet brief solo careers. They died at the ages of ninety-five. eighty-four and seventy-eight respectively, all prior to 2005.

Shortly after the Cuban revolution of 1959, the government began closing down gambling halls, nightclubs and other similar establishments. Cultural and social centers such as the Buena Vista social club were abolished. These measures put many Cuban musicians out of work.

Fast-forward to 1996 and Ry Cooder’s efforts to produce and record these artists. His efforts succeeded in making an international success of the BVSC which in turn generated a revival in traditional Cuban music.

Here’s a 1999 performance of Chan Chan from a concert in Amsterdam. The venue formed a partial basis, along with a subsequent Carnegie Hall recital, of a documentary film shot by director Wilm Wenders and a subsequent live CD.

I Like To Move It

Okay, so earlier this week we looked at music from cartoon characters Yogi Bear and Alvin and the Chipmunks both throwbacks to the late 50s, when I was a kid.

Today we look at a more current cartoon tune. This one is one of my grandson’s favourites and he loves the series of movies associated with it.

The original version of the song I Like To Move It was released in 1994 by Reel 2 Real and sing by rapper The Mad Stuntman from Trinidad and Tobago. (Hey I do my research.)

But the version that eclipsed the original was in the 2005 movie Madagascar and performed by Sacha Baron Cohen, of Borat fame, who voiced the character King Julien in the film. When I’d babysit my grandson he’d watch nothing else but this movie and we’d both jump up and dance as the song played over the credits at the end of the movie. The main characters in the movie are voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith. In Madagascar2 a version of the song is performed by Will I. Am of the Black Eyed Peas.

Christmas Don’t Be Late

We’re looking at music from cartoon characters this week. One of my all-time favourites, and one of my earliest memories of this genre has got to be the classic from Davide Seville and the Chipmunks.

David Seville had a 1958 hit called Witch Doctor with which he used a variable speed tape recorder for the “oo-ee-ah-ah-ah” part of the song. Later that year he used the same technique for the fictitious Chipmunks, providing all the voices himself, and their resulting #1 song Christmas Don’t Be Late.

Seville won two Grammies for the song: Best Comedy Performance and Best Recording For Children. As a six year-old, I was in awe. And I had to have a hula-hoop.

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!

This week we’re going to get a little animated at dufusdownbeat. That is to say we’re going to take a look at music that flows from cartoons. Our first is an old favourite.

Last week, Anji left a comment mentioning she remembered her Uncle had a Yogi Bear LP when she was growing up. What? I just had to Google this. As a kid I loved Yogi and Boo Boo. Not only did he have a record, but he had a movie, too!

Yogi Bear began life in cartoon land in 1958 as part of the Huckleberry Hound Show. In 1961 he was given his own show and in 1968 he appeared on the big screen in Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!.

The voice behind Yogi was a contemporary of voice-over artist Mel Blanc and in fact replaced Blanc as Barney Rubble while he was laid up after a car accident. Daws Butler, in addition to Yogi, voiced many of my favourite cartoon characters including Huckleberry Hound, Augie Doggie, Cap’n Crunch, Chilly Willy, Elroy Jetson, Lippy the Lion, Quick Draw McGraw and many more.

Here’s one of the musical numbers from Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!…