From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest)
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Subject: loud-fans-digest V8 #149
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loud-fans-digest        Monday, August 17 2009        Volume 08 : Number 149



                               Today's Subjects:
                               -----------------
  [loud-fans] from the web (no author credit given from bclocalnews.com)  [M]
  [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book                         [Markwstaples@aol.com]
  Re: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book   ["Michael W. Zwirn" <michael@zwirn.com>]
  Re: [loud-fans] R.I.P. Jim Dickinson  [Jenny Grover <sleeveless@zoomintern]
  Re: [loud-fans] sad news          [Andrew Hamlin <andrew.hamlin@gmail.com>]
  [loud-fans] Album(s) Of The Decade?  [Andrew Hamlin <andrew.hamlin@gmail.c]
  Re: [loud-fans] R.I.P. Jim Dickinson                 [Markwstaples@aol.com]
  Re: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book                     [Markwstaples@aol.com]
  Re: [loud-fans] Album(s) Of The Decade?  ["Brian Block" <bokonin@care2.com]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:59:27 EDT
From: Markwstaples@aol.com
Subject: [loud-fans] from the web (no author credit given from bclocalnews.com)

Les Paul, the red-headed gentleman who inspired countless musicians with
his  innovations and inventions over almost a century, passed away Thursday at
the  age of 94.
Those of us old enough to remember the 1950s have fond memories of a
ground-breaking pop single called How High The Moon. There was nothing like it
before Les Paul and his wife, Mary Ford, recorded the tune using a
multi-tracking tape recorder Paul invented, that for the first time enabled
overdubs
in the studio.
Prior to this invention, every recorded performance was made "live from the
 floor" and if there was a mistake made by one of the performers the entire
 performance had to be repeated until the track was deemed perfect.
Paul, who had been driven by a strong creative bent since his youth, came
up  with the brilliant idea of using two or more tape recorders side by side
for the  same song. This way, he reasoned, he could add layers of sound to
the song, then  blend (or "master") the layers into one seamless monoraul
whole (this was in the  days before stereo sound).
Using this technique Paul was able to accompany himself on guitar and Ford
was able to harmonize with herself on vocals, creating a virtual "wall of
sound"  on the brilliant How High The Moon.
It was a technique that revolutionized the music industry, and inspired all
 who followed, such as The Beatles' producer Sir George Martin, who cut and
 spliced raw tapes into the unique pieces of music created by the Liverpool
 quartet. It also led to true multi-track recorders that allowed blending
of  sounds from 64 or more sources.
Paul's tinkering with electronics also led to creation of one of the most
prized solid-body electric guitars, the Gibson Les Paul.
Paul, who started out on the jazz circuit in his youth, used a very large
archtop acoustic guitar in order to be heard in an orchestra of horns and
drums.  Paul had experimented with winding his own electronic pickups to
amplify his  guitar but was dismayed that the sound from the speakers would
easily reverbrate  inside the large hollowbody guitar, making a howling
"feedback" noise as the  speaker sound travelled through the guitar back to
the
speaker.
He wasn't the first to do away with the hollowbody guitar in favour of a
slab  of solid wood to defeat this unwanted feedback. But, arguably, no one
did it  better.
He sold the Gibson Guitar company on the idea and after some initial
resistance from the established guitar manufacturer, the first Gibson Les Paul
came out in 1952.
This guitar was not a runaway success at first b the Les Paul guitar was
extremely heavy and the bright-sounding ceramic pickups often "hummed" b
which  led to the creation a few years later of the "humbucker" pickup, so
named
 because the two coils of wire inside each pickup reversed the polarity so
that  the hum was eliminated.
Paul's singing guitar playing style (captured on a timeless duet album with
 another late guitar giant, Chet Atkins, called "Chester and Lester") faded
from  public popularity as the rock and roll explosion of the 1960s took
over.  However, Paul earned the undying love and respect of many of these new
rock and  rollers who utilized the "fat" sound of the Les Paul guitar,
equipped with two  or three humbucker pickups.
Jimmy Page, an in-demand studio musician in early '60s London, is perhaps
the  most famous early proponent of the Les Paul guitar. Using it through a
giant  Marshall tube amplifier, and inspired by American blues performers
like Muddy  Waters, Page created the crunchy blues-rock sound that made The
Yardbirds and  Led Zeppelin famous around the world.
Many players followed, and some players like Eddie Van Halen "refined" the
Les Paul guitar into new models b but anyone who owns a Les Paul guitar
will  tell you that there is nothing like the genuine article.
I started out playing Fender guitars, as I liked the brightness of the
single  coil pickups for country-style "chicken picking" and the option of
using
 distortion pedals for the Jimi Hendrix sound.
However, I had always wanted a Les Paul and about 15 years ago I came
across  an old Les Paul Deluxe that I couldn't resist. The Deluxe model came
out
in the  late '60s (mine is circa 1970) and utilized the smaller Epiphone
humbuckers,  which had a brighter tone than the fatter Gibson humbuckers.
It fast became my favourite guitar. The workmanship is exquisite in its
beautiful simplicity and the range of tones is perfect for any style of music,
 from jazz and pop to hard rock and blues. The neck, a shorter scale than
my old  Fender, was like playing butter when it came to bending the strings,
even when  performing my guitar-behind-the-head stunt (see video). The
Deluxe was also  lighter than earlier models, while retaining the famous
sustain
that seemed to  hold a note forever.
I never got to see Paul perform live, and envy those who did. My jazz
guitar  playing uncle, Kaare, did see Paul perform in a small New York
nightclub
during  a business trip from Denmark about 10 years ago. Kaare said Paul was
still a  brilliant player even in his 80s.
Paul did keep performing in New York nightclubs up until recent months when
 he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. He succumbed to complications
on  Thursday in hospital.
If there is an afterlife, we can be sure Les Paul is still playing his
guitar  and making sweet sounds with all his friends. How High The Moon,
indeed.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:24:10 EDT
From: Markwstaples@aol.com
Subject: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book

I don't remember who it was, but someone on here mentioned Pernice's album  
(novel soundtrack) IT FEELS SO GOOD WHEN I STOP as a year favorite.  I am  
really enjoying it too, but was wondering if anyone has read the book?   
Thoughts?  MEAT IS MURDER kind of left me annoyed with the  ending--like how so 
many indie flick's tend to not give  closure and then the credits roll.  
 
I like the excerpt he reads on the album about placing Del Shannon on a low 
 level with Pat Boone when he was young.  "Why?  Because I didn't  know 
what the f*** I was talking about."
 
- --Mark, who MUST mow the lawn--which I place on the same plane of  
enjoyment as listening to Rush Limbaugh or gauging my eyes out with a rusty  clothes 
hanger
 
 
 
 
 
"Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a  
sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world takes everything 
at  face value."   (Coupland--OMG this is a chilling thought, almost as  
scary as Kurt Vonnegut's Ice-9)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:13:01 -0400
From: "Michael W. Zwirn" <michael@zwirn.com>
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book

I haven't read it yet, but I saw Joe at a reading/performance at the Iota in
Arlington, Va. last week in which he did a few chapters. I'm interested enough
to read it, but not to pay full price for a hardback ;) As a record, by the
way, the covers "soundtrack" to the book includes some songs I really just
dislike (Rundgren's "Hello, It's Me" and the "Chim Chim Chiroo" song from
_Mary Poppins_). The Sebadoh "Soul and Fire" is very good, though.Michael W.
Zwirnmichael@zwirn.comSkype: zwirnm-----Original Message-----From:
Markwstaples@aol.comDate: 08/16/2009 01:27 PMTo: loud-fans@smoe.orgSubject:
Re: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice bookI don't remember who it was, but someone on
here mentioned Pernice's album   (novel soundtrack) IT FEELS SO GOOD WHEN I
STOP as a year favorite.  I am   really enjoying it too, but was wondering if
anyone has read the book?    Thoughts?  MEAT IS MURDER kind of left me annoyed
with the  ending--like how so  many indie flick's tend to not give  closure
and then the credits roll.     I like the excerpt he reads on the album about
placing Del Shannon on a low   level with Pat Boone when he was young.  "Why?
Because I didn't  know  what the f*** I was talking about."   --Mark, who MUST
mow the lawn--which I place on the same plane of   enjoyment as listening to
Rush Limbaugh or gauging my eyes out with a rusty  clothes  hanger
"Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a
sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world takes everything
at  face value."   (Coupland--OMG this is a chilling thought, almost as
scary as Kurt Vonnegut's Ice-9)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:49:12 -0400
From: Jenny Grover <sleeveless@zoominternet.net>
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] R.I.P. Jim Dickinson

Markwstaples@aol.com wrote:
> "If God drives a car, Hebd drive a 1973 Ford LTD Brougham sedan with a
> claret-colored vinyl roof, with oxblood leather upholstery and an opera
> window."   (Douglas Coupland)
>   

Personally, I think he'd drive a Lotus.

Jen

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:44:04 -0700
From: Andrew Hamlin <andrew.hamlin@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] sad news

I have two uncles, both agreeably eccentric, one at least a fair-sized
Zappa fan--but I learned about TROUT MASK REPLICA the same way I
learned about anything not available at the local library:  from Nick
Logan and Bob Woffinden's ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ROCK (bolstered
with Lillian Roxon's ROCK ENCYCLOPEDIA, but I don't recall a Captain
Beefheart entry in that one).  They called TROUT MASK "one of the most
advanced concepts in rock music," or words to that effect.

Found the thing in a bookstore window and brought it home.  $7.50, the
sticker still stuck to the front last time I checked.  Took me a long
time to think the $7.50 wasn't a horrible waste.  But once I learned
to love the record, no turning back.

I've probably told this story before, but my friends hated the album
so much they whipped open a dictionary to the definition of "music,"
proclaiming that Beefheart couldn't possibly meet that definition.

I haven't trusted a dictionary since...

Andy


"Will Burton lives within himself. A high school kid, new in town,
hes too much of a geek to have any hope of dating the girls he
notices in school. He lives in a room he has made a shrine to David
Bowie (with whom he has a daily one-way e-mail correspondence) and
wishes he had been born soon enough to frequent CBGB, a legendary New
York club that was one of the launching pads for punk rock."

- --Roger Ebert, from his review of the movie BANDSLAM at
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090812/REVIEWS/908129991

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:15:19 -0700
From: Andrew Hamlin <andrew.hamlin@gmail.com>
Subject: [loud-fans] Album(s) Of The Decade?

So far all I can think of is AMERCIAN IV:  THE MAN COMES AROUND by
Johnny Cash and THE FINEST THING by Lori Carson.  Tris McCall calls
Kanye West's 808S & HEARTBREAK the one album for which he'd break his
fifteen-year rule with a "gun to my head."  Chris Smith, in his 101
ALBUMS THAT CHANGED POPULAR MUSIC:  A REFERENCE GUIDE--a work he
assures me is "sans taste--listed only one album released after New
Year's Day 2000:  ELEPHANT by White Stripes (an album I like, though
it strongly suggests Zeppelin).

Anybody else's thoughts?

God probably drives a Tucker Tornado, by the way,

Andy


"Til Death Do Us Part"

- --from some spam I got the other week headed "high heels and thigh highs"

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:40:42 EDT
From: Markwstaples@aol.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] R.I.P. Jim Dickinson

Thinking about it, I see God throwing everyone a curve and driving a  
primered '76 Chevette with AM radio.
- --Mark
 
 
In a message dated 8/16/2009 3:09:48 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
sleeveless@zoominternet.net writes:

Personally, I think he'd drive a  Lotus.

Jen

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:17:01 EDT
From: Markwstaples@aol.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Joe Pernice book

I've only seen him once, in Athens at Tasty World about 5 (?) years  ago (I 
forget), and he was very personable after the show and talked about  his 
Smiths book with me and a friend of mine.  I like the Rundgren cover  myself 
(I think Hoffs and Sweet do it better though), as well as the Mary  Poppins 
tune--I like the low-fi hiss of it--it adds an eerieness  (definitely not 
shiny happy Disney), though knowing Pernice with his Masters in  Fine Arts and 
his love of black and white "Chappaquiddick Skyline" bleakness,  this could 
very well have been a premeditation for artistic effect (but so  what).  
Amazon has some used around 10 bucks--if I have the extra to spare  this 
paycheck, I think I'll buy it.
 
I like what he reads from the book about Rundgren being "off-limits" after  
a painful breakup, and that this included anyone he produced, including XTC 
and  The Psychedelic Furs.  That's youthful passion for you.  You gotta do  
what you gotta do--stop the painful association.  (If our hearts don't kill 
 us when were young, they sometimes get hurt so bad we wish we were  dead)
 
- --Mark
 
 
In a message dated 8/16/2009 2:43:44 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
michael@zwirn.com writes:

I saw  Joe at a reading/performance at the Iota in
Arlington, Va. last week in  which he did a few chapters. I'm interested 
enough
to read it, but not to  pay full price for a hardback ;) As a record, by the
way, the covers  "soundtrack" to the book includes some songs I really just
dislike  (Rundgren's "Hello, It's Me" and the "Chim Chim Chiroo" song from
_Mary  Poppins_). 

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:27:49 -0700
From: "Brian Block" <bokonin@care2.com>
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Album(s) Of The Decade?

>Chris Smith, in his 101
>ALBUMS THAT CHANGED POPULAR MUSIC: A REFERENCE GUIDE--a work he
>assures me is "sans taste--listed only one album released after New
>Year's Day 2000: ELEPHANT by White Stripes (an album I like, though
>it strongly suggests Zeppelin).>

He doesn't list KID A? Seriously? It's my least-favorite Radiohead album
since
the debut, but even though I agree that recent albums haven't had loads
of
time to change music, that seems an oversight.

Does he list any They Might Be Giants albums, though? That's the first
credibility test that comes to my mind. Their impact on the influx of
nerds
into successful rock music-making was huge, and little has changed
popular
music more than that. 


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------------------------------

End of loud-fans-digest V8 #149
*******************************