EVERY DAY BY THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA

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Every Day by The Cinematic Orchestra

I'd like for you to do some personal reflection right now and think about your favorite records.  If, for some reason, those records include the first album by The Weather ReportMister Magic by Grover Washington, JR., Straight Ahead by Abbey Lincoln, Entroducing by DJ Shadow and Since I Left You by The Avalanches, then I think you'll love Every Day by The Cinematic Orchestra.  I suppose the converse is also true—if you love Every Day by The Cinematic Orchestra then you'll absolutely love each of those aforementioned masterpieces.  If you haven't heard them yet, then trust me, it's time. 

I can't guarantee you'll think Every Day is an instant classic, but in my book it totally is.

Every Day by The Cinematic Orchestra

And, for what it's worth, here's what they sound like live.  Unreal!

The Cinematic Orchestra Live at The Royal Albert Hall

SOUND THE ALARM BY BOOKER T. JONES

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Sound The Alarm by Booker T. Jones

Sound The Alarm is Booker T. Jones's third outing in four years.  Since he took a 20 year break before recording 2009's Potato Hole, it would at least appear that the famous Organist is experiencing a career rebirth.  And that's a welcome thing because, let's face it, Booker T. is a total treasure.

But, in the early 60s, who would have thought that perhaps the most talented dude in the Stax Records house band would be making music like this today?

If you haven't been informed, there's a blueprint to Booker T.'s work from the last few years, which relies on covers of recent hits like OutKast's "Hey Ya" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and collaborations with relevant, medium-sized, main sequence stars like Matt Berninger of The National and Sharon Jones.  It's totally a gimmick, but sometimes the results were beautiful, as on the revitalizing single "Representing Memphis" from 2011's  The Road To Memphis—without a doubt one of my favorite songs from that year. Period. 

Sound The Alarm doesn't have a song as good as that—or anything nearly close to it.  You can't really fault him for that.  But the album really suffers, because, believe it or not, Booker T. Jones's organ feels absolutely superfluous and awkward on 80% of the album.  It's fine when he's just another musician on "Broken Heart"—a particularly passionate collaboration with Jay James from Bullet For My Valentine—but that song simply doesn't call for the extended organ solo he takes in the middle.  And neither do any of these songs actually. "Can't Wait," a dance number with vocalist Estelle, is such a puzzlingly bizzare endeavor, it is almost embarassing.  The only moments where Jones seems to feel at home is when he's playin' the blues as he does on  "Father Son Blues" and "Austin City Blues."  Sadly, very dull stuff.  

There are plenty of tracks on  Sound The Alarm, where Jones feels so absent, you actually forget that it's  his album.  That may actually be a good thing!

 

Sound The Alarm by Booker T. Jones

SINGLES GOING STEADY: "THE BLUES DON'T KNOCK" BY DON COVAY & THE JEFFERSON LEMON BLUES BAND

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"The Blues Don't Knock" appears on this fantastic 1969 LP by Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band

It takes a little "something" to get me to fall in love with a blues song.  That something is a combination of two things:  a significant addition of sophistication and a significant subtraction of predictability.  For whatever reason, the blues form is a seductive crutch that too many musicians lean on—and have the audacity to call themselves "songwriters."  Some make slight adjustments to the form to keep it melodically interesting, but there is a "sameness" to the blues that I can't help but feel bored by.  Sure, I'll listen to Muddy Waters At Newport, Albert King, The Blues Project (feat. Al Kooper) and a bit of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, but that's pretty much the extent of my "blues desert island list."  

But, my recent discovery, "The Blues Don't Knock" by Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band, is an example of a blues song that has a little "something."  Written by Sidney Wyche, whose songs have been covered by everybody from Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, it's greatness should be of no surprise.  This is a real songwriter's song, as evidenced by some unexpected melodic turns in the verses and the bridge.  By far the most "goosebump-y" moment of "The Blues Don't Knock" is in the final 45 seconds.  Covay sings the blues melody an octave up and his slightly strained delivery is incredibly emotive and effective.  

Listen to this song.  I also suggest listening to the corresponding album House Of Blue Light, which is fantastic, to say the least.  Guitar enthusiasts take note—the J. Lemon Blues Band features the expert John Hammond.

"The Blues Don't Knock" by Don Covay & the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band

House Of Blue Light  by Don Covay & the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band