November is the month for indulgence, right? If we do it correctly, we have too much food, football, and if it’s an even-numbered year, politics. The holiday spirit of overdoing things applies to music, too. RSD Black Friday is now as entrenched as the April version of Record Store Day, even though it’s a few years younger. And, of course, November is the month the record labels ramp up their release and production schedules to make sure there are plenty of records out there to fill any music fan’s stocking. Here's what I'm still binging on from last month.
• Bruce Springsteen, Only the Strong Survive (11/11) - No E Street Band, and Bruce himself adds very little instrumentally to his new record, a small dash of guitar and piano here and there. He wanted to make a vocalist record this time, so he hired musician/producer Ron Aniello to create faux-urban soul and R&B arrangements of some classic heavy-hitters in the genre. Bruce’s song choices are top-shelf and you likely know most of them, even if you think you don’t. Tyrone Davis’ “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” the Temptations’ mighty “I Wish It Would Rain,” a scorching version of the Four Tops’ “When She Was My Girl,” and the more obscure Jerry Butler gem “Hey Western Union Man” all grabbed me on the first listen. The Boss is in fine voice, the music is smooth and rich, Only the Strong Survive is an easy and enjoyable listen for folks who want to be reminded of the golden age of American rhythm and blues without putting a lot of time into digging up the originals.
But as fine as the album is, it’s in no danger of replacing those originals. At 73, Bruce’s voice is in fine shape, still powerful and agile. It works fine for the belters like the title song, but he’s never had the kind of silky smoothness in his singing that made some of these songs unforgettable. “I Wish It Would Rain,” in particular, is missing the subtlety and heartbreak of the Temptations' (and even Rod Stewart’s) version. The musical arrangements ultimately come off as a little too carefully (read: digitally) constructed, too. Overall, they lack the leap-out-of-the-radio dynamism of the original singles. They do a fine job of mimicking their sources, but ultimately sound like the somewhat airless one-man-band studio creations they are. Bruce has talked about an ongoing series of covers albums in his future, says he still plans to make country and classic rock versions. Have at it, Mr. Springsteen, you’ve earned the right. I expect like this one they’ll be a fun listen and not in any way essential.
EARWORM: "When She Was My Girl" - Perfectly encapsulates everything enjoyable about the album.
• Fitz and the Tantrums, Let Yourself Free (11/11) - Make no mistake, this L.A. band makes modern sounding pop music. The songs are big, booming, supremely hooky, and electronically studio-scrubbed within an inch of their lives. But I can’t escape the feeling that what they do is some kind of art, too. The band that keeps coming to mind as I listen to them is the B-52s, another group that used conventional pop music tools to creatively turn the genre on its head, dancing through the subversion. But where the B-52s traded heavily in their weirdness, especially with Fred Schneider’s yelping vocals, Fitz and the Tantrums sound more focused on simply making unstoppable dance music first, with a satisfying level of quirkiness second. Their lead singer, Michael Fitzpatrick, is a strong and charismatic singer, comfortable with adding soul, rock, pop, even hip-hop, elements to the songs; kinda like the B-52s if they had been fronted by Bruno Mars. The songs are faster and more insistent than Schneider and Co.’s, and more immediately hooky, but the arrangements and instrumentation are as every bit as left-of-center and surprising. I had a lot of fun listening to Let Yourself Free the first time I heard it, and I’m still having fun after a bunch of listens.
EARWORM: "Moneymaker" - Hooky, goofy, and irresistible - like the rest of the record.
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Live at the Fillmore 1997 (11/25) - A lovely holiday season gift from the Petty estate. Tom and his band were one of the greatest American live acts in rock history, case closed. I saw them a half dozen times, spanning their career from a small Houston club in 1978 up to their second-to-last tour. Tom was right alongside Jagger, Springsteen, Sir Paul, and very few others in his ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand. His personal charisma was always outsized, the songs were stone rock classics, and the band crackled with brilliant musicianship every time. A new TPHB live album is always a great thing, but a little background is needed to explain why this particular release is so welcome.
Tom and the guys started 1997 with a 20-gig residency at San Francisco’s Fillmore, a smaller venue than they were used to in those days. 1997 was post-Wildflowers, post-Traveling Wilburys, post-Into the Great Wide Open, and post- their 12x platinum-selling Greatest Hits. The Heartbreakers were huge on a global scale by that point. To play a smaller room, but still accommodate the throngs of fans who wanted tickets to the smallish arena, they scheduled twenty consecutive Fillmore shows from January to February, and professionally recorded the final six. The band played different setlists every night - big hits, deep album cuts, and an array of astounding cover songs. For every mega-hit like “Free Fallin’” or “American Girl,” you get an obscure early TPHB gem like “The Wild One, Forever,” or a sublime cover of a Little Richard, J.J. Cale, Chuck Berry, or Rolling Stones song (just scratching the surface here). Roger McGuinn shows up in person to join in on a few well-chosen Byrds tunes, as does the great John Lee Hooker, who brings his deep urban hoodoo blues. Tom and the Heartbreakers sound like they’re having a whale of a time, and so does the crowd. Live at the Fillmore 1997 feels like the doors being opened to a once-in-a-lifetime private party after all these years, and it’s as glorious a celebration of American rock and roll as anybody could ask for.
A brief note on the packaging: I added the 3LP vinyl version to my collection immediately. There’s a 6LP vinyl box version, too, with twice as many songs, but it costs three and a half times what the smaller set does. There are a lot of tchotchkes with the bigger set – a backstage pass reproduction, a book, some photos, guitar picks, a poster, etc., but no matter how you slice it, those are some damn expensive trinkets that I probably wouldn't look at more than once. I’m happy to enjoy my three slabs o' vinyl and stream the rest.
EARWORM: "Call Me the Breeze" - There are too many terrific covers over three records to choose, so I flipped a coin and it came up JJ Cale.
• Bill Frisell, Four (11/11) - I’m always hesitant to write about a new jazz album, I get the feeling that there’s not much of an audience for them and it won’t be something people will rush out to hear on my recommendation. But what the hell, I’m totally digging this one so it makes the cut for November.
Adding to the esoteric nature of Four, it’s not even a traditional jazz combo, there’s no bass player. Frisell plays his usual Telecaster guitar, joined by Greg Tardy on sax and clarinet, Gerald Clayton on piano, and Johnathan Blake on drums. It doesn’t have that recognizable jazz swing, it moves slowly and is largely exploratory by design. Frisell has said in recent interviews that he didn’t finish writing the songs before he brought them to the studio, he intended the pieces to be jumping off points for group improvisation. The four musicians ended up with an album of subtle beauty that plays nicely as a background music while you’re attending to other things, and as fascinating musical telepathy that rewards a focused listen. The songs tend to wind around the melody and shape shift as the musicians interact with each other, but they’re by no means directionless; there’s always a satisfying melodic structure they come back to. These songs are always going somewhere, and typically take a lovely, if often unexpected, route to get there. At times, as in “The Pioneers,” the melody is as straightforward as a pop ballad. Frisell is a master of the jazz fingerpicking guitar style, listening to him trade solos with Tardy’s reeds is Four’s beautiful center.
EARWORM: "The Pioneers" - Probably the most accessible song on the album for jazz newbies. Also great for jazz oldies.
The Petty is a joy to behold. He seemed so omnipresent when he was alive that I just kind of took him for granted. Moreover, I didn't think he was that much of an enigmatic performer. The band never failed to kick ass but pale, blonde Tom just seemed to get washed away in the stage lights. I sure as hell miss him now, however.