An oldie but a goodie:
This one is a rebuttal to anyone who thinks America was in some kind of malaise during the Carter administration. No, we were experiencing a cultural crest. And we were optimistic, perseverant, and knew how to have a damn good time.
A culture in decline cannot do that. The Soviets could never have done that.
What do you have?
I’m going for some Oscar Peterson.
It was politicians, Carter in particular, that had malaise.
I still miss my polyester leisure suit. But, even more, I miss my custom made three-button sharkskin suit from the Sixties. Man! Did I look and feel cool in that one!
Who Killed The Electric Car always makes me think of the Carter years. If you have an hour and a half, it’s worth a look at how we got snookered by big oil.
Okay, some music
Can you imagine turning on the Tonight Show or something and seeing some artist you’ve never heard of do anything remotely like that Springsteen performance?
But in the 1970’s, (close to) that level of talent was everywhere and in so many different genres.
The culture was just sizzling, even if it was amped up on coke and strung out on heroin at either end of the creative process.
This is great Boo, I got my feet tapping at work here.
The 70’s: what’s not to like? Well, OK, bellbottoms, stagflation, and my hair (oy!). But other than that the 70’s rocked!
OK, I admit I have a soft spot for these guys. Cotton candy for the ears (I never know if my embedding is going to work so here’s the link as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY)
OK, if we’re talking Bee Gees, let’s hit their zenith, in my view:
It builds a real funk power, every verse sounding better than the last, and then comes that strange and beautiful bridge…
I like the funk in that, but it just ain’t danceable. And the thing about the Bee Gees at their best is that you just want to dance and sing and feel joy.
You know, “Whatcha doin’ on your back?”
“Stayin Alive” is probably their zenith in terms of dance perfection, but I’ll admit that it doesn’t lay down the funk the way many other gems do.
I think “You Should Be Dancin” is their most complete dance song, although I also love “Night Fever” and “More Than a Woman.”
If you’ve never heard Dread Zeppelin’s versions of these songs, you are missing out. They are hard to find.
Dread does a pretty good job in reinventing a few of those songs, but they made a hash of “Jive Talkin'”, which put me in the mood to see and hear the original, from the freaking Mike Douglas Show:
BTW, a local art movie house showed a collection of clips of James Brown on TV appearances in the late ’60’s/early ’70’s. The piece that gobsmacked me was from a week JB co-hosted the Mike Douglas Show. There was an extended dialogue between JB and David Susskind after Susskind laid out what he viewed as the proper path forward for black people, and JB about lost his mind. I can’t find the video segment online, but it’s captured in a great bio of James, “The One” by RJ Smith.
http://books.google.com/books?id=lJZR6UkJFNEC&pg=PT210&lpg=PT210&dq=james+brown+david+su
sskind+mike+douglas+show&source=bl&ots=Gepg14xvh5&sig=i0bEFOX0Q2PeIs6jGRaFGgrthSU&hl
=en&sa=X&ei=XwwOU_xH5cDZBcuZgYgC&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=james%20brown%20david%2
0susskind%20mike%20douglas%20show&f=false
It’s most remarkable when the overmatched Susskind tries to scramble to secure footing by saying, “Jimmy, there’s a new survey…”.
James waved his hands in agitated, outraged disgust: “We don’t want the survey! The survey’s out there in the street!”
I see your “Best of My Love” and raise you one “We Are Family”:
http://youtu.be/_Oiu9jW-VyE
With commentary: http://masscommons.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/morning-song-we-are-family/
OK, keeping in that mood, here’s Quincy with Ashford and Simpson.
Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Doobie Brothers, Earth-Wind-Fire, Joan Armatrading and Smokey Robinson.
Joni Mitchell was touring with Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny and other greats:
Smokey was Crusin:
Great Joni! I’ve never seen footage of that band live, though I’ve heard recordings. That was great. Could have lived without the stupid Coyote, but, oh well.
I guess the best response to live Joni is live Steely. This one’s a classic because it’s a blistering performance, hotter than the studio version, but also the classic drunken intro, where the guy has to be reminded who the band is and introduces them as “Mr. Steely Dan Whatever” – and the guy was their truck driver! One of their roadies! (Why would you listen to this guy and think he should be driving for a living)
I looked it up because it struck me as implausible that someone would work for Steely Dan and not know the name of the band, but according to Steely Dan: Reelin’ in the Years, as quoted on everything2.com, that is correct. He thought Donald Fagen’s name was Stevie Dan. He was, in fact, driving drunk and crashing their truck all the time, but the band liked him and thought he was hilarious, so they wouldn’t fire him. Like something out of Hunter S. Thompson.
Perfect pop-soul confection. SO fun to sing, and great orchestration:
In my YouTube search, I discovered that the same title is used for a song on the Broadway musical “Bonnie and Clyde.” I clicked on it, thinking they might have subversively reappropriated this gem. Instead, it’s a truly horrible original song. How dare they! Leave Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose alooooooone!
OK, I guess the theme here is fun and the 70s pretty much. Here are some.
I like the way this song assembles itself, keeps variety in the individual pieces and variation in how they are assembled, but still stays funky and silly as hell:
And here’s some, I think, not universally known Stevie:
Here’s Tower of Power doing one of their hottest tunes (they’re not always good, but this tune is good), with a Swiss singer sitting in.
Here Eddie Palmieri with his original band, Harlem River Drive, doing their theme song.