This world is not my home
SOUL STIRRERS "He's My Guide"
I'm finishing up a piece on Sam Cooke now. The gist is that his work with the Soul Stirrers is much "better" than the solo career, and while this argument is simplistic and has been overstated with time, I realize that I've just listened to this one song over and over again about thirty times and I can't say I've ever done that with any of Cooke's more cotton candyass baby I really would like to smooch with you down at the boardwalk type tunes. With time, this opinion is changing, though. Like most opinions I used to hold so vehemently, I find myself just jettisoning them slowly towards a place of digging everything. Well, almost everything.
I was thinking about this a lot this last weekend. It stemmed with seeing Damon & Naomi play a really groovy set on Friday night, Jackie O opening up a levitational and heavy set in honor of a friend of theirs who died unexpectedly, very lovely/ intense. [Damon to me: Do they always sound like Gong? (and not meant as an insult!)] Anyway, great as always to see those two -- I really like them as people; though we've never been too close, but I just admire them for doing things so intently and smartly and so well, like from the get-go. Exact Change kicks ass, and I can't wait to read the "new" Pessoa book!
My point though is that they had Michio from Ghost playing with them and everythime he played it was so brilliant it was like "Ohh right, there's a monster in the room and he isn't sleeping!"but they also had this dude playing David Sanborn Kenny G style late '70s soprano sssssmoove style, and it was really quite a disconnect. I hated it and really liked it at the same time. And I was thinking that you should always do at least one thing that you would have not been into at all ten years ago, that was somehow completely against all the beliefs you held sacred at the time. That's what the gospel obsession is like for me, and I bet D&N's new sound would feel the same way to them. I am probably entirely wrong, of course.
I have a CD somewhere with like 4 different takes of "My Guide," I should grab that out later. I know I've posted at least one other Soul Stirrers tune here before and there are other amazing gospel acts I've yet to post at all, but the Stirrers were my own personal gospel "gateway drug," the band who turned me on to this music, so I feel like it's OK to err in overexposing them a tad. I partly like this song because Cooke avoids his "ahhh-woooahh-uhh-uhh-woah-wooah" trill on it, but mostly just 'cause it rules.
Note to self: you really should make your blog either a lot more intellectual or more about your small and intense group of friends who lead fabulously exciting lives and stuff. Otherwise, why even step inside the blogosphere? Have I mentioned before that "blogosphere" is one of the neologisms I hate the very most? It's true. That opinion will likely never change. I do not hate the word as much as I despise emoticons, however. Is there a band called Emoticon, yet? Death to sideways smiley faces!!!!
I'm finishing up a piece on Sam Cooke now. The gist is that his work with the Soul Stirrers is much "better" than the solo career, and while this argument is simplistic and has been overstated with time, I realize that I've just listened to this one song over and over again about thirty times and I can't say I've ever done that with any of Cooke's more cotton candyass baby I really would like to smooch with you down at the boardwalk type tunes. With time, this opinion is changing, though. Like most opinions I used to hold so vehemently, I find myself just jettisoning them slowly towards a place of digging everything. Well, almost everything.
I was thinking about this a lot this last weekend. It stemmed with seeing Damon & Naomi play a really groovy set on Friday night, Jackie O opening up a levitational and heavy set in honor of a friend of theirs who died unexpectedly, very lovely/ intense. [Damon to me: Do they always sound like Gong? (and not meant as an insult!)] Anyway, great as always to see those two -- I really like them as people; though we've never been too close, but I just admire them for doing things so intently and smartly and so well, like from the get-go. Exact Change kicks ass, and I can't wait to read the "new" Pessoa book!
My point though is that they had Michio from Ghost playing with them and everythime he played it was so brilliant it was like "Ohh right, there's a monster in the room and he isn't sleeping!"but they also had this dude playing David Sanborn Kenny G style late '70s soprano sssssmoove style, and it was really quite a disconnect. I hated it and really liked it at the same time. And I was thinking that you should always do at least one thing that you would have not been into at all ten years ago, that was somehow completely against all the beliefs you held sacred at the time. That's what the gospel obsession is like for me, and I bet D&N's new sound would feel the same way to them. I am probably entirely wrong, of course.
I have a CD somewhere with like 4 different takes of "My Guide," I should grab that out later. I know I've posted at least one other Soul Stirrers tune here before and there are other amazing gospel acts I've yet to post at all, but the Stirrers were my own personal gospel "gateway drug," the band who turned me on to this music, so I feel like it's OK to err in overexposing them a tad. I partly like this song because Cooke avoids his "ahhh-woooahh-uhh-uhh-woah-wooah" trill on it, but mostly just 'cause it rules.
Note to self: you really should make your blog either a lot more intellectual or more about your small and intense group of friends who lead fabulously exciting lives and stuff. Otherwise, why even step inside the blogosphere? Have I mentioned before that "blogosphere" is one of the neologisms I hate the very most? It's true. That opinion will likely never change. I do not hate the word as much as I despise emoticons, however. Is there a band called Emoticon, yet? Death to sideways smiley faces!!!!
posted by Mike McGonigal at 7:00 AM
3 Comments:
...a pleasure to stumble onto 'Buked & Scorned late tonight and find writing and sounds that kept my attention. Goodnight from Cambridge UK. Tom Raworth
Mike-
Happy to have learned of your blog, thanks...
I think you should re-think the sanborn/g elision, though. 1st, sanborn is an alto player primarily, 2nd he's good and has some cool history (see Butterfield Blues band) His high points for me: "Young Americans" and the great second solo album by John Simon _Journey_
-rick brown
yah soul stirrers thanks and ...its all about the Sam Cooke lick...the oooh uuh ooh uuuh mmmmm shit that he does in the middle of phrases whether secular or spiritual its all deep. I just rediscovered Piece of Clay by Marvin Gaye and listended to it about 40 times in 2 days .... again its all about the 3 Marvins doing the oooh uuuuh mmmmm ooohh knowatumseyin? It just gets so in you that you can't take it out.
I like the blog...
Luv JP
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