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Posts tagged Jim Gordon
Joan Baez – Gulf Winds (1976) (@256)
02 Jan 2010
(Review from amazon)
Gulf Winds of 1976 is a set of self-composed autobiographical songs, most of them written while on tour with the Rolling Thunder Revue with Bob Dylan.
For the grand finale of a title track where Baez accompanies herself on acoustic guitar. Of the rest, both the ballads and the faster numbers make use of a variety of instruments including electric guitar, piano, bass, cello, organ, violin, banjo, mandolin, percussion and synth.
There’s sublime poetics and clever word-play in Baez’s lyrical gift but not all the melodies stick in the mind. The album opens with the ballad “Sweeter For Me”, a nostalgic love song with lovely piano. It’s followed by two uptempo tracks: “Seabirds” with a jazzy flavor and “Caruso”, the lyrics of which contain a reference to “Diamonds & Rust”, the title of her popular album of the year before. Another fast number is the acerbic and lilting “O Brother” which might be a reply to Bob Dylan’s Oh Sister; it mentions Life On Mars and a ‘Bowie knife’ amongst others.
On the other slow songs, her soprano shines bright on the tuneful “Still Waters At Night” and the melancholy “Time Is Passing Us By”, whilst “Kingdom of Childhood” is a 7-minute excursion with great lyrical depth. Sad and resigned, “Stephanie’s Room” with its appealing instrumental mix is a song of romantic reminiscence. The album concludes with the acoustic opus magnum “Gulf Winds”, a 10-minute plus recollection of childhood with many a poetic twist and turn. Words of wit, yearning and loss unfold in a stream of striking imagery over a beautiful melody in her pure voice at its pinnacle. The album is worth getting for this song alone.
Line-up:
- Joan Baez / vocals, guitar, piano
with
- Donald “Duck” Dunn / bass
- Jim Gordon / drums
- Ray Kelly / cello
- Jesse Ehrlich / cello
- Larry Knechtel / piano
- Dean Parks / guitar
- Sid Sharp / violin
- Malcolm Cecil / synthesizer
Track List:
01. Sweeter For Me – 4:31
02. Seabirds – 4:32
03. Caruso – 3:45
04. Still Waters At Night – 3:04
05. Kingdom Of Childhood – 7:53
06. O Brother! – 3:20
07. Time Is Passing Us By – 3:44
08. Stephanie’s Room – 4:07
09. Gulf Winds – 10:29
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Joan Baez – From Every Stage (Live 1976) (@256)
01 Jan 2010
(Review from allmusic, amazon)
This live album was recorded on the tour supporting the release of her last studio album. Baez’s touring band is a “who’s who” of music industry legends: Jim Gordon, Drums; David Briggs, Keyboards; Dan Ferguson, Guitar; Larry Carlton, Guitar; and last, but certainly not least, legendary Motown bass player James Jamerson.
The vitriol of the opening number, “(Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around” is all over the Ford administration of her country. Otherwise, Baez’s trembling falsetto is in beautiful shape on songs ranging from Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” to “Oh, Happy Day”.
Though it is the tour of “Diamonds & Rust”, nothing of that album except the title track is represented here; rather, Baez performs five Bob Dylan songs (which get the most rousing reception), three of her better originals, including “Blessed Are” and “Diamonds and Rust” and a brace of traditional songs and covers of a handful of other composers’ work, including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.
Apart from the opening outpouring of political venom, there’s not too much controversy here — a pair of songs, “Natalia” and “The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzett”, dedicated to political prisoners and an ambitious but ultimately awkward adaptation of “Stewball” are as topical as most of the show gets.
Baez is in superb voice and the backing septet, mostly heard on the second disc, has a surprisingly lean sound.
Ultimately, From Every Stage is a good, albeit far slicker follow-up to Baez’s two early-60s live albums.
Line-up:
- Joan Baez / vocals, guitar
with
- David Briggs / keyboards
- Larry Carlton / guitar
- Dan Ferguson / guitar
- Jim Gordon / drums
- James Jamerson / bass
Track List:
CD1
01. (Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around – 2:50
02. Blessed Are – 2:51
03. Suzanne – 4:21
04. Love Song To A Stranger (Part II) – 4:53
05. I Shall Be Released – 2:11
06. Blowin’ In The Wind – 2:35
07. Stewball – 4:36
08. Natalia – 4:06
09. The Ballad Of Sacco & Vanzetti – 4:26
10. Joe Hill – 2:59
CD2
01. Love Is Just A Four Letter Word – 3:28
02. Forever Young – 3:39
03. Diamonds & Rust – 4:19
04. Boulder To Birmingham – 3:59
05. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – 3:49
06. Oh, Happy Day – 3:26
07. Please Come To Boston – 4:15
08. Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts – 8:49
09. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – 3:47
10. Amazing Grace – 4:28
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Kayak – Periscope of Life (1980) (@256)
23 Aug 2008
(Review from progarchives.com)
“Periscope life” is another competent collection of pop based songs, with simplistic structures, and straight forward instrumentation. The diversity of previous albums is maintained, perhaps even enhanced, although the 10CC/City Boy similarities are still very much to the fore.
There’s a bit more emphasis on funkier sounds this time, especially on the Jim Capaldi like “Stop that song”, the prosaic “Beggars can’t be choosers”, and the Billy Joel pop of the title track. The album improves substantially towards the end, the final four tracks being the most notable.
The instrumental “Lost blue of Chartres” has some fine Tony Banks like piano, while “Anne” moves through various atmospheres including medieval, stage show, and a sing-along 60’s sad ballad sound. “One way or another” is reminiscent of “Stackridge”, leading to the Bees Gees/Hollies influenced closing ballad “Sad to say farewell”. The orchestration and simple guitar solo on this track serve to enhance the retro pop atmosphere.
The overall feel is of a band playing so far within themselves, they redefine the meaning of the word introvert.
Line-up:
- Edward Reekers / lead vocals
- Peter Scherpenzeel / bass
- Ton Scherpenzeel / keyboards, backing vocals
- Johan Slager / guitars, backing vocals
- Max Werneer / drums, percussion, backing vocals
with
- Jim Gordon / saxophone
- Jim Price / horns
- Peggy Sandwig / backing vocals
- Katherine Lapthorn / backing vocals
- Irene Linders / backing vocals
Track List:
01. Astral Aliens – 3:40
02. What’s in a Name – 4:10
03. Stopthatsong – 3:16
04. If You Really Need Me Now – 4:16
05. Periscope Life – 3:26
06. Beggars Can’t Be Choosers – 4:40
07. The Sight – 4:01
08. Lost Blue of Chartres – 3:36
09. Anne – 4:20
10. Oneway or Another – 3:21
11. Sad to Say Farewell – 4:26
12. Theme from Spelters (Part II) (Bonus) – 2:20
13. Ivory Dance (Bonus) – 1:56
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Byrds – Notorious Byrds Brothers (1967) (@256)
22 Nov 2007
(Review from rollingstone.com)
The initial genius of the Byrds had to do with marrying the sensibilities of Bob Dylan and the Beatles out in sunny Southern California. Changes came quickly for the band, whose stylistic evolution could be tracked not just from album to album but from single to single. The surfeit of talent that made such accelerated growth possible also doomed the Byrds to fly apart, as visions and egos collided. Only three of the group’s five original members — guitarist Roger McGuinn, bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke — are pictured on the cover of The Notorious Byrd Brothers, and by its release, in January 1968, even Clarke was gone. Fired midway through the recording sessions, David Crosby is a spectral presence, having co-written a trio of the record’s most trenchant songs and casting angular shafts of light onto others with his otherworldly rhythm guitar and harmony vocals.
The best word to summarize The Notorious Byrd Brothers is transitional. It was also their first record to exhibit overt country leanings – by the Sixties’ end, everybody was getting back to the country, but the Byrds were there first, and on Notorious Byrd Brothers you can hear them saddling up the horses.
The album’s ethereal, fresh-scrubbed sound owes much to producer Gary Usher, the auteur behind countless Sixties surf-pop records and co-author of Beach Boys classics like “In My Room.” Burbling Moog synthesizers and purring steel guitars join in on the Byrds’ minty-clean folk-cosmic odes. Utopian idealism commingles with darker visions: Spiritual yearning is evident in songs that look to nature (“Dolphin’s Smile”), childhood (“Goin’ Back”) and the group mind (“Tribal Gathering”) for guidance. Stones in the pathway include hard drugs (“Artificial Energy” elliptically warns that speed kills) and war (“Draft Morning” peers inside the mind of a young man being shipped off to Vietnam). The reawakening of consciousness is ecstatically, psychedelically celebrated in “Natural Harmony.” The aura of a world in upheaval is caught like lightning in a jar on “Change Is Now,” with its evocation of hope and uncertainty, familiarity and daunting strangeness. Those combinations make Notorious Byrd Brothers a brilliant window onto an unforgettable place and time.
Line-up:
- Roger McGuinn / vocals, guitars, moog synthesizer
- David Crosby / vocals, rhythm guitar, bass
- Chris Hillman / vocals, bass, rhythm guitar
- Michael Clarke / drums
with
* Jim Gordon / drums
* Clarence White / guitars
* Red Rhodes / pedal steel guitar
* Beaver & Krause / moog synthesizer
Track List:
01. Artificial Energy – 2:18
02. Goin’ Back – 3:26
03. Natural Harmony – 2:11
04. Draft Morning – 2:42
05. Wasn’t Born to Follow – 2:04
06. Get to You – 2:39
07. Change Is Now – 3:21
08. Old John Robertson – 1:49
09. Tribal Gathering – 2:03
10. Dolphin’s Smile – 2:00
11. Space Odyssey – 3:52
12. Moog Raga (Bonus Instrumental) – 3:24
13. Bound to Fall (Bonus Instrumental) – 2:08
14. Triad (Bonus) – 3:29
15. Goin’ Back (Bonus Version One) – 3:55
16. Draft Morning (Bonus Alternate End) – 2:55
17. Universal Mind Decoder (Bonus) – 13:45
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Traffic – 1971-10-14 (Bootleg) (@256)
27 Apr 2007
Traffic
Boston Music Hall
Boston, Massachussetttes
1971-10-14
Line-up:
- Steve Winwood / vocals, guitar, piano, organ
- Jim Capaldi / vocals, percussion
- Rick Grech / violin, bass
- Chris Wood / flute, saxophone
- Jim Gordon / drums
- Reebop Kwaku Baah / percussion
Track List:
01. Medicated Goo
02. Light Up
03. Glad
04. Freedom Rider
05. Hidden Treasure
06. John Barleycorn Must Die
07. Rock ‘n’ Roll Stew
08. Many a Mile to Freedom
09. Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
10. Gimme Some Lovin’
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Traffic – Low Spark of the High Heeled Boys (1971) (@320)
26 Apr 2007
(Review from amazon.com, progarchives.com)
Following the (yet again) departure of Mason, Traffic released a new studio album. “Low Spark of the High Heeled Boys” was a big change from thequiet, largely acoustic flavour of Traffic’s reunion album “John Barleycorn Must Die”. Although the gentle opening track,”Hidden Treasure”, and the meandering, mellow closer, “Rainmaker”, were in keeping with the pastoral vibe of the previous record, sandwiched in between those are several increasingly aggressive and lyrically sour songs about that evergreentopic–life in a rock & roll band.
The venality of the business gets a workout in the 12-minute title track, a slow-building jazz-rock groove that starts with a sense of quiet menace and ends with a pealing, distorted guitar solo, with one of Steve Winwood’s most impassioned and lengthy organ solos at the song’s heart. “Rock & Roll Stew” and Jim Capaldi’s sneering putdown “Light Up or Leave Me Alone” are even more forceful, with only the groovy ecological message of “Manya Mile to Freedom” lightening the mood — even that song rocks harder than anything on “John Barleycorn Must Die”, though.
There is a lot of percussion on this record, provided by Jim Capaldi, Jim Gordon and the African percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah, the latter adding a pinch of exotic spice to the whole.This is a mellow, rather laid-back album, but one which is deceptively easy on the ear, as it needs repeated listens to be really appreciated in full.
Line-up:
- Steve Winwood / vocals, guitar, piano, organ
- Jim Capaldi / vocals, percussion
- Rick Grech / violin, bass
- Chris Wood / flute, saxophone
- Jim Gordon / drums
- Reebop Kwaku Baah / percussion
Track List:
01. Hidden Treasure (4:16)
02. The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys (12:10)
03. Rock & Roll Stew (4:29)
04. Many A Mile To Freedom (7:12)
05. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone (4:53)
06. Rainmaker (7:39)
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Traffic – Welcome to the Canteen (1971) (@224)
25 Apr 2007
(Review from progarchives.com, wikipedia)
Steve Winwood was still contracted to Island for 2 more albums, and the following year, he started work on a solo album, calling in Wood and Capaldi to assist. The Traffic name was quickly resurrected, and the album “John Barleycorn Must Die” released. For many, this is Traffic’s best album. While the title is taken from a traditional folk song, the music is a wonderful blend of prog, jazz, rock, and folk.
Traffic went on to expand its lineup in 1971. Various subsequent line up additions and changes took place, including another return by Mason. They also added Ric Grech (ex-Family, Blind Faith) on bass, drummer Jim Gordon (ex-Derek and the Dominos) and percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah. The live album “Welcome To The Canteen” offers a good summary of their work during this period.
“Welcome to the Canteen” is a surprising live album which recapitulates some of the memorable songs previously released by the band. The record itself sounds great, very energic, sometimes suggesting jazz to folk rock instrumentations. As usual, Steve Winwood engaged himself in the most fruitful side of the performance, conducting voice / organ / guitar parts. In this live session he is perfectly accompanied by Dave Mason’s solid guitar playing. The performance begins with a nervous pop / rock composition followed by the very emotional, sensitive ballad “Sad and Deep as You”, essentially played on acoustic instruments. “Gimme some lovin” which closes the album is a faster, more aggressive rock & roll tune, very efficient. My favourite songs on the record are the guitar folk sounding tune “Shouldn’t have took More…” and the very classic epic tune “Dear Mr Fantasy”. Deeply inspired and musically achieved, this album is more than tolerable.
Line-up:
- Jim Capaldi / vocals, tambourine, percussion
- Jim Gordon / drums
- Rick Grech / bass
- Dave Mason / vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
- Reebop Kwaku Baah / congas, timbales, bongos
- Steve Winwood / vocals, organ, electric piano, guitar
- Chris Wood / saxophones, flute, electric piano, organ
Track List:
01. Medicated Goo (3:34)
02. Sad and Deep as You (3:48)
03. Forty Thousand Headmen (6:21)
04. Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave (5:39)
05. Dear Mr. Fantasy (10:57)
06. Gimme Some Lovin’ (9:02)
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Dave Mason – Alone Together (1970) (@256)
24 Apr 2007
(Review from Rolling Stones Magazine, 1970)
Former Traffic member Dave Mason’s Alone Together is a good album — careful, well played, occasionally brilliant and well-conceived but it never breaks its vinyl bonds and soars.
The songwriting talent of Mason remains undiminished on Alone Together, and his easy fluid voice, long in Traffic vocalist Stevie Winwood’s giant shadow, is used to maximum effect.
The music is vintage Mason, veering here and there towards commercialism but never quite getting there, slick but not offensive. Falling in line with the rest of Great Britain, Mason chose old Delaney and Bonnie sidemen for the session, including Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Carl Radle and Rita Coolidge, plus old Mother Don Preston. Russell, as always, is much in evidence, and his piano (if it is him — the album doesn’t say and we have only internal evidence), particularly on “Sad and Deep As You,” is masterful.
The high point of the album is clearly “Look at You Look at Me,” a song Mason wrote with Trafficker Jim Capaldi, whose tight, urgent drumming on the cut moves the song along with descretion and skill. Mason’s singing is simply superb. The other exceptional cuts are “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave” (Mason is not, between you and me, a great song titlist), which features the best wah-wah guitar since Clapton’s initial exposition on “Tales of Brave Ulysses”; and “World in Changes,” with Mason’s deceptively simple lyrics pulled along by some brilliant organ work.
High commercial potential on the album is represented by “Only You Know and I Know,” which has a rick-ticky rhythm reminiscent of “You Can All Join In.” It’s really a trivial song (like others on the album, particularly “Waitin’ On You” and “Just A Song”), but it will sound great on a tinny AM radio at 60 miles an hour.
But the album is more potential than realization. It is, in a very real sense, flawless, but, as Paul McCartney is beginning to learn, great music is much better than flawless music.
Track List:
01. Only You Know And I Know
02. Can’t Stop Worrying, Can’t Stop Loving
03. Waitin’ On You
04. Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave
05. World In Changes
06. Sad And Deep As You
07. Just A Song
08. Look At You Look At Me
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Derek and the Dominos – Live At The Fillmore (1970) (@256)
09 Feb 2007
(Review from amazon.com)
This is a great, great live album. The Dominos, Eric Clapton, all-world guitarist, Jim Gordon, all-world drummer, Carl Radle, tremendously talented and experienced bassist, and Bobby Whitlock, singer and keyboardist with another world of experience, rocked the Fillmore for two days and four shows, and got captured on tape. Thank goodness.
The band lacks Duane Allman from the Layla sessions, a guitarist to equal Clapton, so the stunning and unique guitar interplay featured on that album is, sadly, missing. As far as we know, Duane appeared onstage with the Dominos twice. One appearance was not effective, drugs usually given as the reason. Another appearance was recorded by at least two sources in the audience, and is available as a bootleg entitled “Twin Flames Soul Mates”. The recordings are very muddy, still listenable, but it is very plain, again, that the two brought out the best in each other. They go at it with a vengeance, offering amazing virtuosity and musicianship for the evening. That, however, is a different band than the one on this CD.
The Dominos sans Allman is more of a smooth and polished unit, not as fiery or emotional, offering songs that get into grooves, the rhythm section backing Clapton in an amazingly smooth and seamless manner, whilst Eric wails. And I mean wails. Some fantastic soloing pours out of his guitar, blistering the audience for long minutes at a time. Jim Gordon adds a frantic drum solo that never slows to allow us to appreciate the cool rhythms, it just goes faster and faster.
Professional, poised, and having fun. The band plays songs that date to their time as Eric’s band on his first solo album, with Delaney and Bonnie, and backing George Harrison on “All Things Must Pass”. They had actually been together for awhile, and sound like it. The only non-Dominos songs on this album are “Presence of the Lord”, a Blind Faith tune, and “Crossroads”, which is an Eric Clapton concert staple dating from Cream’s “Wheels of Fire” live side. “Bottle of Red Wine” and several others are from Clapton’s first studio album, “Eric Clapton”, and Whitlock, Radle and Gordon were playing with him then.
Line-up:
* Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
* Bobby Whitlock – keyboards, vocals
* Carl Radle – bass guitar
* Jim Gordon – drums, piano on “Layla”
Track List:
CD1
01. Got To Get Better In A Little While
02. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?
03. Key To The Highway
04. Blues Power
05. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
06. Bottle Of Red Wine
CD2
01. Tell The Truth
02. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
03. Roll It Over
04. Presence Of The Lord
05. Little Wing
06. Let It Rain
07. Crossroads
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