Muzzle of Bees contributor!

So for the none of you who read this blog that I don't talk to on a regular basis (and regarding my last post), I have recently been given a gig writing for the cool, regional music blog Muzzle Of Bees. Since most of my posts here were music related, I will likely not be posting new content here as much anymore--though I will post copies of the stuff that I write up for the blog.

I'm excited about this--it doesn't really pay anything, but I do get free access to shows down here that I want to review.

You can read my two prior contributions here:

top ten moments at the Chicago Wilco Show

Blitzen Trapper Review

American Music in British Voices: Rethinking the Beatles as the World's First International Cover Band

Paul McCartney often tells this great story about the first time that he and John Lennon met. Apparently, Paul had gone to see John’s band play and afterward they met up and Paul impressed John not only by his ability to play Eddie Cochran’s "Twenty Flight Rock" left-handed on a right-handed guitar, but also because he knew every word. Here it is in his own words from the recent PBS special "Great Performances: Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road" (which you should take some time and watch--it's phenomenal):



I love thinking about this historical moment. Paul sees the leader of the band he wants to be a part of and takes a chance. John's a little drunk, but is floored by Paul's natural talent. Bang: the genesis of a friendship that would change the world. Then there's also the fact that the moment centers around a great song—a song written in the newly christened, genre-melding style called rock & roll.

I’ve always been a late-period Beatles fan. When I was 14 my friends and I would listen to the White Album and bask in its multi-genre genius. We learned White Album and Sgt. Pepper tunes on the guitar and would play them at parties to audiences who’d have rather heard Depeche Mode or The Cure (so we'd play those too). It was the late albums (really, everything Rubber Soul and onward) that I have gone back to again and again over the years. I don't think I'm alone.

So despite my near, life-long fandom, it wasn’t until I got the remastered CDs last month that I had even heard some of songs off the early records. What I found, of course, were the hits that launched The Bealtes into fame, but also--rather unexpectedly--I found covers versions of now-classic, then relatively contemporary American rock songs. In fact, on the first three Beatles records there are a total of 18 songs (out of 42) by other artists.

It occurred to me that it might be fun to look into those first few records and look up the songs the Beatles covered and compare versions to get a feeling for the kind of stuff they were listening in those early Beatles and pre-Bealtes days. It shouldn't be surprising to hear that the original versions* are, dare I say, far more rich than the Beatles appropriations. I imagine that to Paul & John those songs sounded like the Beatles would eventually sound to us.

Here are a few of my (more well-known) favorites:

Roll Over Beethoven

The Beatles (go George!):



Chuck Berry:



Money (That's What I Want)

The Beatles:



(I love the Paul/John behavioral dichotomy going on in this live
clip--so classic.)

Barrett Strong:



Please Mr. Postman

The Beatles



The Marvelettes



Long Tall Sally

The Beatles


Little Richard



The elephant in the room here is that all of the appropriated songs I have chosen to present are by African American artists. I love that the Beatles covered these tunes, but it seem strange to me--tragic even--that it took the distinctly foreign (and distinctly white) voices of the Beatles before the American public at-large could begin to appreciate these songs. There is a whole other essay/post here, but this topic might make for a nice jumping-off point should you care to comment.

*Figuring out what the "original version" of any of these songs can be daunting as they were often written by professional song writers and then recorded by a variety of artists.

Thanks Mom.

Because of you, I LOVE this song by Christopher Cross (and love, even more, that Michael McDonald shows up).



You know you do too. I've gotta get this on LP--and soon.

Sufjan in Champaign

Sufjan Stevens @ the Highdive from Justine B. on Vimeo.

It was for freedom from myself and from the land...

New semester, new anxieties

Ah, Starmaster and your guide. How I neglect thee.

It's been a busy month since I started back up with school. Too much of that is too boring to mention here other than to say, I'm back--pendulum-wise--to feeling overwhelmed again. Starting my third year, it seems as though I should know more, be more engaged, doing more scholarly things: but I usually feel just as green as ever.

I'm making steps, however, to fight to become more mature in the field. I've started a new blog called Sonic Rhetorics. It will be an semi-academic space set up to get me thinking more seriously about my interests in the field. I've already done what I can to make it public with academics who have similar interests as me (via twitter)--and doing so requires that the writing and ideas expressed there need to adhere to a certain level of quality. It's a risky move, though. Putting myself out there outside of the carefully structured and gate-kept avenues of the "typical" academic avenues of conference talks and published journal articles can, in some respects, be akin to letting the whole professional community look have a look in your messy room. So, it takes me like three days to compose a blog-post (not the best use of my time, considering everything else required I should be doing).

But, I think it's a good exercise. My current plan is to go less public (no more public announcements via twitter #), but to still try to write like I AM being watched carefully. Also, it might be a good idea to start thinking about which conferences I'd like to submit to this year and also which journals and presses I should start reading more intently.

In other news, it's been an amazing end-of-the-summer/beginning of Fall music season. Still on the bill: Tonight I get to see Sufjan Stevens after emailing the venue every week since the tickets sold out in 5 minutes the night I was in Logan at our Family Reunion. In October: Avett Brothers, Blitzen Trapper, and WILCO!

when a favorite band covers your other favorite bands

School's back on--I'm taking Greek. Yes, Greek. It's intense.

In other news, the Punch Brothers are still amazing.

I just found this video of them playing Radiohead's "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box"--it blows me away how they recreate the very digital/electronic noise of Radiohead's awesome song WITH ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS.

So cool.



But that's not all--this morning I heard them play another cover of the Wilco song "Poor Places"

This one has kind of shoddy audio--there is an unseen noise off camera, but it still shows the versatility of this amazing group of musicians.




If you'd like some points of reference, here's Wilco doing their song and here's a truly amazing fan-made video of Radiohead's:

Still just totally loving Sarah Jarosz

Chris Thile on Bach