Album Study 1D (B.C): Willie Nelson - 'Red Headed Stranger'

Album: Red Headed Stranger
Artist: Willie Nelson

Submitted by: B.C.

Year: 1975 (18th studio album)

US Billboard Peak: 28th (1st in US Country Albums)
Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums: 183rd

What I know of Willie Nelson is more of the contemporary media potrayl of him.  The tax evading, pot smoking, living off the land outlaw who wrote classic songs like "On the Road Again" and the one about how he can't wait to get on the road again.  He also stars in one of my personal top 10 movies, "Wag the Dog" as basically, himself, or what we are led to believe.

I was very surprised by B.C. selection for this seeing that he has never mentioned Willie Nelson to me before.  Granted though, our talks on music are far and few due to my lack of knowledge on the subject, or as B.C. says "Matt hates music".  A false hood I may never live down that was spawned from a drunken diatribe where I mention that "live concerts tend to bore me and I hate how they go on and on".  This is where B.C. formulated that I "hate" music.  When he submitted this album he did say that this is not one of his top 3, but a bonus B.C. addition that cannot go unmentioned.

As soon as I saw the cover I instantly got a feeling that we would be taken back to the outlaw days of cowboys and such.  The track listing also peeked my interest as it showed a pattern of repeating themes in the track names, calling back to a track called "The Time of the Preacher".  I began listening to the album and was instantly drawn in by the smooth western country style ballad that Willie Nelson belts out along side the classic instruments of the genre. With a heavy feeling of traditional folk music with a western sound, Willie Nelson immediately begins to tell the story of our main character known to us as the Preacher and his love who left him for another.  Through the ballads we see the transformation from a man torn apart by his lost love into a man with rage as he becomes a mysteries ruthless gunslinger only known as the Red Headed Stranger.

Side A tells the tale of this western ballad in a traditional folk style.  Its music style paints a picture of a western scene sitting around the camp fire on a desert evening as our singing cowboy tells the tale.  The majority of the music is the sound of western twang produced with traditional "country western" instruments.  Interwoven  with these classic sounds are contemporary guitar riffs and grand piano chords, but blend in with the simple western style.  Side A tells the story arc of our red headed stranger, Side B continues the style of folk music.  Ranging from love ballads to the classic rinky dink upright piano songs pictured in many western film saloons.

I equate this album and summarize it as a western lullaby.  Willie Nelson grabs my attention with the bizzare story of lost love and croons me to sleep underneath the western stars.  The sounds of his guitar and stories of years past fill me with emotions that are still familiar and meaningful today.  I truly enjoyed this album and continue to listen to it frequently.  I look forward to hearing more Willie Nelson music and how diverse it is from this great album.

Album Study 1C (B.C): The Beatles - 'Abbey Road'

Album: Abbey Road
Artist: The Beatles

Submitted by: B.C.

Year: 1975 (11th studio album)

US Billboard Peak: 28th (1st in UK)
Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums: 14th

I think almost everyone knows of or has heard a Beatles song.  As John Lennon once said, "We're more popular then Jesus now".  Growing up listening to the oldies radio station and the traditional Sunday Beatles Brunch programming, I am very familiar with much of their catalog.  The old pop culture question, "Elvis or Beatles" was a true statement growing up as my mom is a loyal Elvis Presley fan and never cared for the fab 4 from across the pond.  There for, I have never heard a Beatles album from start to finish.

I wasn't surprised that B.C. had a Beatles album on his list, I was more surprised it was only 1.  I put this in not knowing what to expect.  I knew Abbey Road was a prolific album and probably one of the most recreated iconic album covers ever, but I didn't know where it fit in in the world of historical albums.  I didn't know where in the Beatles career this was.  I knew it was past their "pop" British invasion years and closer to the more prolific time where they redefined music.

As I started to play the album several songs from my past popped up.  "Come Together", "Something", "Octopuses Garden".   I wasn't overly impressed as a whole, wondering "who am I to judge the Beatles?"  It just seemed to be a collection of great songs.  The lyrics are solid, the songs have a heavy Blues guitar influence with the heavy riffs, picking and slides, but I questioned what makes Abbey Road so great.  And then Side B hit.

"You Never Give Me Your Money", a classic song on its own, ends with the sounds of crickets and my ears tune in to the unique sound addition to a music album, this cricket transitions us into "Sun King".  I begin to get lured into this stream of medleys as the the next 14 minute are tied together like an audible stage performance changing sets and scenes before my ears.  By the 3rd song I'm over whelmed with audible joy.  THIS IS WHY I DID THE STUDY!  The concept of an album formed through the parts (the songs), building onto each other to tell the story and emotion as a whole.  By the time the 6th song was in, I was completely emotionally pulled in, almost to tears of joy listening and feeling the music.

This 14 minute sequence of intertwined songs bring us through the 3 acts of a play in my mind, introducing the characters of the world, the challenges and triumphs of our adventure.  It even ends with an orchestrated fan faire, as you would hear during the closing credits.  Like a curtain call, many of the lyrics and melodies of earlier moments in the story take another bow during the conclussion.  As the curtain goes down and the lights come up, they tack on one last joke track just to lighten what to me was an emotional roller coaster of sound.  A near perfect ending in the same vein as the usher cleaning the last of the crowded theatre or Porky Pig saying "That's all folks".  The performance has ended.

I really want to listen to this on original LP as I listened to it as a CD rip so I got track skips between many of the tracks.  As I said earlier, this album is why I did this study.  To really learn what music has become and appreciate the work of "the album" and what it means too so many others.  Abbey Road is definitely in a special place in my heart and will remember as I drove through Illinois that memorial day in 2016.

Album Study 1B (B.C): R.E.M. - 'Fables of Reconstruction'

Album: Fables of Reconstruction
Artist: R.E.M.

Submitted by: B.C.

Year: 1985 (3rd studio album)

US Billboard Peak: 28th (35th in UK)

R.E.M. is a band I've known about for years.  One of my good friends growing up worships this band and when I ask him for his 3 favorite albums, I will be shocked if there is less then 2 R.E.M. albums on it.

What I personally know of R.E.M. is mostly through my good friend, but it is that Monster was their big commercial album just short of  when they performed with the muppets of Sesame Street singing Shiny Happy Monsters.

The first time I listened to the album I found the monotonous tone of Michael Stipe to carry on with little inflection and tone.  From track to track the lyrics seemed muddled and over whelmed by heavy guitar riffs and crashing drum cymbals.  I trudged through it, feeling as if I heard the same song again and again with little change.  The song Wendell Gee was a breath of fresh air until I found out it was the last on the list.  I felt robbed.  Not only of the value of the album, but of the huge pedestal my friends have put R.E.M. on.  Even after my second consecutive listening, I saw no real difference in my thoughts.

I took a step back and waited a few days to give it a third listening.  After being rested and clear minded I gave it a 3rd listening and focused on the lyrics.  Listening to and then later reading through the lyrics, you find the theme of lethargic anguish of the individual and of the stories of their travel.  The lyrics paint a tapestry of the individuals our traveler has observed.  

The feeling and images I see as I listen keep pointing towards a train (many references to engineers, trains, engines on various songs).  The beats give me a visual as a country side passing as the traveler writes the lyrics of his travels.  The music, which I found sounded quite contemporary for a 1985 album, keeps the momentum going and only eleganty changes pace.  This too reminded me of the movement of rail travel.

I don't know if I truly fully embraced this album, but I do believe that the more R.E.M. I hear, I will look to this album as a reference point to when the band diversified their sound.  Though this album didn't 'knock my socks' off as being great during the first few listenings, I enjoyed and look forward to hearing more of this band.

Album Study 1A (B.C): Squeeze - 'Singles - 45's and Under'

Album: Singles, 45's and Under
Artist: Squeeze

Submitted by: B.C.

Year: 1982 (compilation)

US Billboard Peak: 47th (3rd in UK)

I knew very little of Squeeze going into this album.  I even saw them live once at Summerfest with B.C.  What I knew about Squeeze is that they were a diverse 80s pop band from the UK who had a few chart toppers.  The other thing I knew was Jools Holland was a member.  I found out from B.C. when I was telling him about this show I saw called 'Later......with Jools Holland'.  B.C. replied, "he was a member of Squeeze".  This conlcudes my background knowledge of the band.

The album 'Singles, 45's and Under' is a compilation album released by Squeeze in 1982.  I wanted to avoid compliation albums in my research, but I asked my subjects to give me their 3 favorite albums, not to give me the 3 best albums that fit into my strict rules.  This compilation is an album of all their singles from the late 70s to early 80s, hence the title 'Singles, 45's and Under'.

The album starts out with heavily synthesized tracks.  The heavy beats and poppy synthesized riffs, started to wear on me.  The songs seem to keep with the same theme of unequated love and nonchalant courting intertwined with the repetitive synthesized back beat.  As the album progresses you see a shift.   By 4th track, the edge of the synthesizer is not as prevalent.  Though the songs underlining theme stays the same, the vocals and musicians start to take the forefront.

Though it is a compilation album of previous singles, I found the way that the tracks were selected showed a solid progression of the sound of the band over the half decade that these tracks were taken from.  Even during the second listening, many of the songs where I originally questioned B.C.'s choice in music, I found myself singing many of the lyrics later on in the day.

Album Study 1 (B.C.)

Subject:     BC
Albums:     Squeeze - Singles, 45's and Under, REM - Fables of Reconstruction, Beatles - Abbey
Extras:       Road, Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger, Bach - Brandenburg Concertos

BC is a friend of mine who has an incredibly diverse music palette.  A free lance critic, he has always been one to point out much needed improvements and vocalize the unsolicited suggestions.  It was no surprise that when I asked him to give me his 3 favorite albums, he came back with 5.

I will be posting a short review of each album throughout the week.