5 Songs Friday, May 30
The beginning of a busy weekend for the Writing Place
Wynonie Harris “Please Louise” 1953 single available on 28 Big Ones. I used to think all Wynonie Harris songs sounded pretty much alike, though this never bothered me as that jump blues wild-man template he mastered always left me exhilarated. But this rather obscure cut is different. His vocal is a little more subtle, and the groove less intense. Well, it’s less intense until it turns to a double time mambo thing for the actual verses of the song. Harris doesn’t let the shift bother him. He subtly matches the rhythm but stays in the quieter vocal style of the chorus. Of course, he gets the lustful desire for Louise in the way he holds the notes for the words “Please Louise,” and the tenor sax note that follows is right there with him. The rhyme scheme is as simple as it gets – “Baby can’t you see / If you fall for me / I know you will agree / We’ll be as happy as can be / Baby you and me / Through eternity.” But this is a song built on feeling, not words. And the feeling is a yearning, eager craving.
The Blue Sky Boys – “Promise of the Lord” 1964 from Precious Moments. Bill and Earl Bolick sang beautifully together in the Blue Sky Boys off and on from the 1930s to the 1970s. They were part of the first wave of brother acts in the country and western field, and their influence on the Everly Brothers is obvious. In the 1960s, they got back together to make a few records and play the big folk festivals. Their style never changed much, and this record, other than the sonic clarity, could easily have come out in the 30s. I’m not sure which brother sang the high harmony and which the low part, but it doesn’t matter – the duo are like one voice, even when they are slightly out of sync. “Promise of the Lord” is one of those Southern Biblical songs that can sound so hopeful as they promise to be meek and loving. It’s the exuberance of the performance that makes this special, though.
Louis Armstrong – “Panama” recorded 1950 released 1957 on New Orleans Nights. Take an early jazz standard – written in 1912 – and give it to a genuine all-star band of players who knew the tune from the beginning of their musical education. That’s Louis Armstrong on trumpet, Jack Teagarden on trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Earl Hines on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Cozy Cole on drums. When Armstrong assembled his bands for his return to his New Orleans roots in the late 40s, it was a genuinely exciting ensemble. It was not in touch with the new directions in jazz at the time, but it was not simply a nostalgic revival, either. These players all still had something to say on their instruments. Armstrong’s solo here is a triumph, as is the one by Hines. Bigard and Teagarden are merely excellent. This is five minutes of pure exhilaration.
Badfinger – “Sympathy” 1979 from Airwaves. This was essentially the last hurrah for Badfinger, who had broken up a few years earlier when Pete Ham died. Guitarist Joe Tansin, the writer of this particular song, essentially formed a new band with Joey Molland, the other main force in the classic Badfinger line-up, and they realized that if they wanted any traction with record labels, they needed to revive the previous name. So, this song bears only the slightest resemblance to the more famous Badfinger material, and that’s mainly in the sound of Molland’s voice. I don’t think this is a classic, by any means, but it does have a nice feel to it that seems like a cross between ELO and Andrew Gold. I like the idea of a guy sitting by the phone waiting to offer sympathy to somebody who may need it one day.
The Carter Family – “Lonesome For You” 1931 available on Anthology Vol. 1 (1929-1932). There you have it – the ridiculously influential and always welcome guitar stylings of Maybelle Carter, and the clear vocals of her in-laws, the married couple Sara and A.P. They made seemingly hundreds of recordings in their heyday, and this is a typical example of how enticing they could be. Sara and A.P. alternate singing two views of a couple that has split up. Each is lonesome for the other, neither seems capable of getting back together. The situation seems fixable to our modern sensibilities, but there was a time when a man might have to go far to make money while a woman couldn’t leave the homestead because he wasn’t making enough money. That’s just one possibility of the reason for the separation. But the sadness comes through the vocals and guitar, as does the resignation to their fate.