What In The Hell Is Jim Listening To?

Since I have nothing better to write about, I'm going to tell you what CDs I'm currently listening to in my car. Oh, boy!

(Hey, if you've got nothing better to do with your time than read me, you've got no right to complain.)

GRAND FUNK - E Pluribus Funk

The most interesting thing about this recording is the background behind the packaging.

Well, OK, if that was THE most interesting thing about it, I wouldn't be listening to it. There are a couple of good tunes. Footstompin' Music is swell if you like boogie and I Come Tumbling has some really interesting interplay between the guitar and bass. However, the rest of the songs are either hopelessly outdated (People, Let's Stop The War) or a bit too schmaltzy for my taste (Loneliness), so let's talk about the packaging.

(Hmmmmmm. People, Let's Stop The War might not be as outdated as it seems. However, I'm not going to open up that can of worms here. Rock 'n Roll!)

When this record originally came out (as a record, in 1971) Grand Funk was one of the biggest selling groups in the world. They had just broken The Beatles record for fastest sell-out of Shea Stadium for a concert. So, what did they do to commemorate that fact? They printed the record sleeve for this one in circular fashion, rather than the usual square, and made it look like a huge coin. It was completely silver and had the faces of Mark Farner, Don Brewer and Mel Schacher on the front, with the inscription "E Pluribus Funk". On the obverse of the coin, they put... Shea Stadium! Well, you can't get much more self-serving than that. Or brilliant.

Of course, the CD packaging is square, and in more ways than one, so the kitchiness is utterly lost. Oh, well.

GRAND FUNK - Bosnia


An in-concert reunion album from the 90's, with a complete orchestra (conducted by Paul Shaffer) for backup. Also includes appearances by Peter Frampton and Alto Reed (from Bob Seger's band).

This one suffers from the same lack as all of their albums from We're An American Band onward. Mel Schacher had his balls cut off. The bass player, the strongest musician in the group, was relegated to the background. Thus, the growling punch that made some otherwise weak albums worth listening to is gone. Still sort of fun to hear these tunes played with orchestral backing, though.


BERLIN PHILHARMONIC - Prokofiev, Symphonies # 2 & 7

If Prokofiev had been born in 1956 in Detroit, instead of 1891 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and he had dropped some acid, he would have been the white Jimi Hendrix.

(That's the type of statement nobody can easily dispute. It contains no facts, other than the dates, and supposes something that was utterly impossible during the person's real life. I don't really believe it, but what the hell. I felt like saying something totally ridiculous and that works as well as anything else.)

Prokofiev's Second Symphony is my favorite piece of classical music. It is tremendously forceful, a bit dissonant, and generally beats a couple of recurring themes into the ground - not unlike heavy metal. You'll rarely find this one on any classical aficionado "favorites" list. They'll mention his First Symphony, which is more classically structured, as well as his piano concertos and, of course, Peter And The Wolf. Fine music, all, but I prefer his more experimental stuff.

(Also, one of the first things I learned to play on the bass was his "Sleighride" section of the Love For Three Oranges suite. However, I digress.)




FOCUS - Focus Three

Vastly underrated progressive rock quartet from Holland. They had a Top 40 hit in the 70's with a quirky instrumental called Hocus Pocus, which contained a whole bunch of yodeling(!), and a couple of searing guitar solos, over a hard rock rhythm track. That came from an album called Moving Waves. This one was the follow-up, a two-record set.

Thisj Van Leer was the vocalist, keyboardist and flute player. He had a marvelous voice, although he usually used it only for oddities such as the afore-mentioned yodeling. Almost all of Focus' output was instrumental. His flute vibrato was magnificent and he went on to play as a sideman in various jazz ensembles after this group broke up. Jan Akkerman played guitar and other stringed instruments - lute among them - and threw vicious heavy metal guitar licks into baroque-inspired jazz pieces. They were the two members involved in every incarnation of the group. For this recording, the bassist was Bert Ruiter and the drummer Pierre Van Der Linden. They both get extended solos on this one, so if you like that sort of thing, then you'll enjoy this. If not...

(Being a bass player, I love extended bass solos. However, some people consider them the musical equivalent of waiting for your number to be called at the registry of motor vehicles. Being a bass player, I hope those people's eyes rot out.)

(Jeez, that wasn't very nice of me. Make it their livers instead.)



AC/DC - Back In Black

What can I say about AC/DC that hasn't already been said about slamming a baseball bat into your kidneys repeatedly? Well, let's see.

AC/DC come from Australia. Slamming a baseball bat into your kidneys repeatedly doesn't.

I suppose that's about it.

Look, either you like AC/DC or you hate them. They're the rock and roll equivalent of The Three Stooges, except there's five of them and they aren't as funny, but they sell more records. Mostly a guy thing - and a straight white drug-taking guy thing at that. The only band that found more ways to arrange three chords was The Ramones, but they played their songs at least twice as fast, so it was more of a challenge for them since they had to fill more space. And there you have it, whatever it is.

See you tomorrow with more meaningless filler!