The Four Seasons - "Beggin'"

 

I often think about the fact that most people stop listening to new music in their 30s.  I realize that partially applies to me too, but I do make an effort to listen to new music with an open mind.  So when I hear something new on the radio and like it, I have a moment of self-congratulation.  

This happened recently when I heard a song on 96X I didn't recognize but quite liked. Shazam told me it was "Beggin'" by Maneskin, and I was feeling pretty happy with myself for "discovering" a new song.  When I got home and did some digging, I realized:

• The song came out in 2017, on their debut EP "Chosen", and at seven years old, I'm not sure it still qualifies as "new". 
• Upon reflection, it occurred to me that the arrangement borrowed heavily from the Violent Femme's "Add It Up" (1983).  
• And finally, I realized it was a cover of the 1967 song by the Four Seasons.  

As a big fan of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, I was disappointed that I did not immediately recognize it.  Although it was not one of their major hits, Frankie Valli even performed "Beggin'" when we saw him at Chrysler Hall in 2022.  In my defense, Maneskin does a great cover with the arrangement sounding more like the Violent Femmes than the Four Seasons.  

So the self-satisfaction of being open minded enough to take in new music evaporated, but I was left with a new-ish cover, arranged in a classic, college-alternative 1980s idiom.  Still good stuff.

Maneskin - "Beggin'"

Violent Femmes - "Add It Up"

The Four Seasons - "Beggin'" 

PS -- At about the same time, I heard on 96X "Sad in Carolina" by Dexter and the Moonrocks -- an actual new song that's great.

Angels of Light - "I Pity the Poor Immigrant"

 

Almost three years ago, Miles Seaton, a founding member of Akron/Family, died in a car accident.  I learned of Akron/Family, one of the coolest bands you've never heard of, from Butch Lazorchak during one of our many musical exchanges.  I struggle to define Akron/Family, but imagine Tortoise and other post-rock bands, channeling 1967-era Brian Wilson.  

My favorite LP of theirs is the "Akron/Family & Angels of Light".  The story behind this LP is a little complicated: it's a split LP, ostensibly between two bands: Akron/Family and Angels of Light, but Akron/Family plays on all the Angels of Light tracks.  

Angels of Light is the neofolk persona of Michael Gira, founder of the noise rock band The Swans.  I'm a big fan of The Swans and have several of their LPs, but did not know about Angels of Light until Butch turned me onto them.  Michael Gira runs his own record label, Young God Records, and was the first to sign and promote Akron/Family, with Akron/Family serving as the backing band for many Angels of Lights releases.  

The full LP deserves its own review (see the Pitchfork review: "...Gira's fatherly measuredness is a nice foil to Akron's hyperkinetic mini-opera..."), but for the moment I'll just spotlight their cover of Bob Dylan's "I Pity the Poor Immigrant", from his 1967 LP "John Wesley Harding".  I'm a sucker for obscure Dylan covers, as well as Gira's drawling baritone.  

For the moment, Akron/Family is defunct, and Seaton's death might keep it that way.  Fortunately, they left a significant discography to explore.  

Angels of Light (with Akron/Family) - "I Pity the Poor Immigrant"

Bob Dylan - "I Pity the Poor Immigrant" (live 1976, with Joan Baez)

I pity the poor immigrant
Whose strength is spent in vain
Whose heaven is like ironsides
Whose tears are like rain
And who eats but is not satisfied
Who hears but does not see
Who falls in love with wealth itself
And turns his back on me

 

The Beach Boys - "Wild Honey" (LP Review)

Like most people, my knowledge of The Beach Boys ceases from about 1967 (resulting from the whole "Smile" / "Smiley Smile" debacle) until their emergence in the 1980s as a nostalgia act.  Doing some detailed reading in their discography reveals they continued to release LPs pretty regularly until about 1980.  The reviews of some of those LPs are pretty good (corresponding to the ascendancy of Carl Wilson within the band's hierarchy): Allmusic gives 1967's "Wild Honey" 4/5 stars, 1968's "Friends" also gets 4/5 stars, 3.5/5 stars for 1969's "20/20", 4.5/5 stars for 1970's "Sunflower" (it also made Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest LPs of All Times"), and finally 4/5 stars for 1971's "Surf's Up".  That's a pretty strong showing for five LPs, with only 1969's "Do It Again" as the only song from this period that most people will recognize. 

So it was with some anticipation that I looked forward to hearing "Wild Honey", which in 2001 was appended to "Smiley Smile" and various contemporary outtakes for a bonus CD.  Had I just received a forgotten gem from this unexplored portion of their discography? 

No.  No, I had not.

I can't speak for the other LPs listed above, but "Wild Honey" is a really bad LP and no amount of nostalgic revisionism can change that.  The title track is mildly interesting, sounding like Stevie Wonder with a theremin, but I think it stands out only because the rest of the soul-inspired songs fall flatter than does "Wild Honey".  "Darlin'" pauses the Stevie Wonder theft long enough to steal from the Four Seasons.  The best two tracks are 1) "Country Air" which although written for this LP would sound at home on "Smile" or "Pet Sounds", and 2) "Mama Says", a reworking of the acapella  break from "Vegetables" (left off "Smiley Smile" but present on "Smile"). 

The double CD is worth getting, but adjust your expectations for "Wild Honey".  The Beach Boys excursion to Motown has as much skill and authenticity as Robert Van Winkle brought to rap some 22 years later... 

Standout songs: "Country Air", "Mama Says"

Songs that appear: "Wild Honey" (live 1972), "Darlin'"

Skip 'em songs: the rest.

Final score: 3/10. 

The Beach Boys - "Heroes and Villains" (forgotten song)

For most people, The Beach Boys discography mysteriously ends in 1966 with "Good Vibrations".  Largely forgotten is the single that followed, 1967's "Heroes and Villains", conceived as the center piece of the aborted "SMiLE" project that devolved into the less ambitious "Smiley Smile".  The single failed to duplicate the success of "Good Vibrations" and Brian Wilson's subsequent disappointment brought a messy end to the friendly competition with The Beatles.  It's a good song, but it really only makes sense in the larger context of SMiLE's cryptic theme of "journey across America".

Poking around on YouTube the other day, I was surprised to find the number of different videos for the song that most people don't know exists.  It turns out that Capitol Records held a video contest for 2011's (re-)release of SMiLE, and many of the submissions found their way onto YouTube.

There are many arrangements, demos, outtakes, etc. of this song, but basically they fall into 2 general categories: the simpler, ~3 minute version from Smiley Smile, and the more complex, ~5 minute version from SMiLE.  The latter has the "cantina" break, and is often prepended with two opening acapella tracks "Our Prayer" and "Gee". 

Smiley Smile version:

• studio version with surfing clips from Peter Clifton  ca. 1969
• live version ca. 1972/1973 (Mike Love manages to ruin this version)
• live version ca. 1978
• live version 2012 (not great, but you have to enjoy the reunion performances before Mike Love ruins those too)

SMiLE version:

• Brian Wilson solo live arrangement ca. 2004 (exceptionally good)
• live action contest entry 
• winning contest entry (with obvious "Yellow Submarine" influences)
• a surprisingly violent live action, possible contest entry

The Equals - "Police On My Back" (the song remains the same)

My previous post was about The Clash covering a rebellious song, so let's do another.  "Police On My Back" was originally a 1967 single by The Equals.  Don't worry, nobody in the US has heard of them either.  But if you're a Gen Xer, you might remember Eddy Grant's 1983 hit "Electric Avenue" -- that's the same Eddy Grant that was fronting The Equals in the late 60s.  Now you know.

I learned of this song from Sandinista!, the 1980 sprawling, ambitious, wreck of a triple LP from The Clash.  I keep threatening to review Sandinista!, but truthfully it is simply too daunting.  In the meantime I'll just chip away at it, starting with arguably the best track on the LP.

The Equals: no, that's not Austin Powers IV or "Listen to the Flower People"-era Spinal Tap, it's a lip sync version on Beat-Club, ca. 1967 (version 1, version 2), studio version

The Clash: studio, live in Jamaica, live in Tokyo, live in ???