Not heard that one before, Tom - nice tempo changes in basically 12/8 I think, I could see how the drummer cued some of them but not others.
I’m reminded of comments made by the late PTerry Pratchett during his Desert Island Discs interview. One of his choices was “Bat Out Of Hell”, which he said he first heard on the car radio late one night while driving up the M40. When the song ended he found himself “considerably further along the road, with no clear memory of having driven the stretch behind” (or something like that)…
I don’t know if they were part of Andy’s formative years, but the Grateful Dead were certainly part of mine, including being the first rock band I saw live in concert. Their bassist, Phil Lesh, died on October 25 at age 84. Linked here is “Box of Rain,” one of the band’s standards that he composed.
He also contributed to “Truckin’,” with its lyrics that pretty well summarize life:
“Sometimes the lights are all shining on me
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip its been.”
RIP, Phil.
I saw he passed but no, The Dead did not feature in my youth. I’m sure the first Dead song I ever heard was Touch of Grey as it charted. The Dead never seemed to get any airtime in the UK.
I listened to the odd track, most of it seems to be folk rock acoustic music like a heavier Crosby, Stills and Nash. But some earlier stuff was good though I can’t name the tracks.
Considering their “consumption” of narcotics over the (earlier) years it’s a good achievement to get to 84.
For some reason, the Dead were off my musical radar, despite that same radar encompassing Zappa, Chicago, BST, Little Feat etc.
I got dragged in due to numerous orders for me to transcribe Lesh’s basslines. So there’s several of these on my work website https://tomreadbass.co.uk if anyone’s interested.
And I thought you were much younger than me Tom. Likewise for me, the Dead were below my horizon.
I think I still am Gerald. But like many musicians, my entry into the profession was via my father’s band - and therefore I was mentored by being immersed into some incredible music from his generation. Not Grateful Dead though - I’ve only relatively recently delved into this through work stuff (as mentioned above) - but it’s unmistakably part of that same 60s/70s West Coast scene.
Oh dear. Teri Garr checks out at 79 after suffering with MS for 22 years.
Teri was a stunningly pretty woman in her youth, no tattoos, no botox, no lips so inflated she looked like a fish. No, a genuinely pretty woman. For bonus points she could also act !
Teri was in Mel Brooks Young Frankentein in 1974, a seriously un-woke film and one that made a young Andy cry with laughter. Watching clips now and I’m helpless in seconds. So many of the lines have become catchphrases.
Here’s a clip of a 29yr old Teri Garr from Young Frankenstein with an example of Mel Brooks humour.
RIP Teri
I remember her more as the unsettled wife of Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third kind.
RIP
I saw 3rd Encounters when it was first shown on TV. That was the only time so I must have thought it was ‘meh’.
ISTR there’s a DVD of Young Frankenstein in this house. It needs watching without interruption.
“Dr. Frank-en-stine?”
“Frank-en-steen”.
“You’re putting me on!”
“No, it’s pronounced Frank-en-steen”
“Do you also say Fro-derick?”
“No Frederick”
“Well why isn’t it Fro-derick Fronk-en-steen?”
“It isn’t it’s Frederick Frank-en-steen”
“I see”
“You must be Eee-gor?”
“No, it’s pronounced Eye-gor”
“But they told it was Eee-gor”
“Well they were wrong then weren’t they.”
Of course you need MArty Feldman’s facial expressions to do it justice.
Don’t forget the mobile hump - “What Hump?”
91 posts there are (were) in this topic. Quincy Jones dies at 91 this morning. A resume so vast, long and wide-reaching that it’s unimaginable not to have coincided with Andy’s formative years.
I’m actually quite saddened by that news Tom. It’s probably easier to count who Quincy never worked with rather than count those who did. Such a vast range of artists and styles.
A particular favourite, a long time favourite before it was (ab)used by Austin Powers.
And this is towards the limit of sublime, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and arranged by Quincy
Hang on Andy, are you saying you like Frank Sinatra? Yes, he had a wonderful voice and how can you not like his swinging big band songs of the 50s/60s. Either Nelson Riddle or Quincy Jones arrangements.
But you also like Motorhead. Yes, it’s possible to like such different stuff, though Lemmy singing “Lady Is a Tramp” would have been wonderful. Or Frank singing “Killed by Death”. I think some AI tools are needed here to make such things possible.
I shall go and dig out all the Quincy arrangements I have here and have a session as I have the house to myself.
RIP Quincy.
I still think his greatest move as a producer/arranger was getting Toto in as the studio session musicians to record Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.
In other news, guess who’s got tickets for Toto at Manchester AO Arena in February 2025…?
I tend not to worry too much about these things… it can bring an artist to a completely new audience.
Look at Kate Bush after her song “Running Up That Hill” was used on TV recently. She’s now talking about a new album!
RIP Quincy Jones… (I didn’t know about “The Italian Job”!)
Neither did I.
It’s just a bit annoying when a tune you like gets used for something and then everyone thinks you like because it was used on X. Much like the most wonderful theme from “Man in a Suitcase”. My mum liked that program and always watched it, I think she had the hots for Richard Bradford aka McGill Anyway I remember the theme and would use it as a ringtone but eveyone would think I liked Chris Evans and that would never do.
Ha ha! I remember when TFI Friday started and I said “That’s Man in a Suitcase”!!!
I heard Patrick Kielty sing “Creep” at the end of “Last Chance Lottery” every week on Channel 4 before I ever heard the Radiohead original!
We were watching the Netflix documentary on the USA Live Aid recording in 1985 that featured Quincy Jones. I remember his influence on several 80s artists tracks.
Somewhere in the house I have a huge jazz busking book from the 70s which had quite a few of his melodies in it, some of them were very striking and which I worked up for a small band that I was involved in.
Now I am going to have to rummage for it…