Balarama Music

Relieving Some Stress

{Aug 08}

Doug1970s the clash No Comments

It’s been a stressful week for me, guys. I’m not here to use this website as a means to map out my thoughts & feelings, but it’s been one of those weeks I’m glad to see over. What this website is for, however, is great music so let me share some with you today that I’ve been enjoying this late night. We all have those songs that calm us down when we’re stressed. They take it away, make everything all right, get us smiling, whatever. Like you guys, I have my few, but there’s one of them that just might be the best stress-reliever ever. Of course, I’m going to share it with you, but let’s get a little back-story on the song first. For that, let’s re-visit The Clash again, shall we?

“Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS.” This 1977 quote by Mark Perry is almost prophetic for describing that era of punk. Some dub it the end of the first wave of punk. Some put it as the definitive end of “true punk.” It doesn’t really matter to be honest, but over the years, the quote has stuck to the band and to the era. It’s not like it was unwarranted. The Clash were a punk band on the highest pedestal. They came on the scene with only a few shows here & there and just blew people away, some would say even matching the current kings of punk The Sex Pistols. They were good, scathing, raw, and pure. They were the punk band. But before the band made their true impact on the punk scene, they were snatched up to CBS. They signed the label with the “enemies” and “sold out.” It was a smack to the people who had supported them and the movement at the time and while The Clash would defend their decision, it would ultimately turn out to be a slap to their face as well. For starter’s, their contract was a joke and later used as an example on what not to sign for new bands. It left the young band with virtually all of the costs for tours, recordings, remixes, artwork; you know, pretty much most of the things that a band needs desperately? More

Frusciante Friday: John’s Peak Period

{Jul 09}

Doug2000s frusciante friday, john frusciante, red hot chili peppers 3 Comments

Yay! Another Frusciante Friday! I can’t really express the elation I feel being able to write these ones up…and that’s not sarcasm. Being completely honest, I once warned my fiancée that I would be “as giddy as a tween Jonas Brothers fan” when the new Frusciante album was released. And guess what? I didn’t disappoint. [Sigh] Let’s move on, shall we?

In all seriousness, I talk about John Frusciante a lot here in this blog. Quite honestly, he’s my favorite musician, but he’s also right up there with the best guitarists of all time, was part of one of the biggest bands ever (the best parts too), and is probably one of the most musically diverse artists out there. The man is a great musician – there’s no doubt about it – and with anything great, there’s always a peak period in their career/life. Athletes have it, television shows have it; hell, even some people’s relationship’s have them. Just like Shaq had his best run during the three-peat with the Lakers & Seinfeld shined bright popping Bubble Boy, John Frusciante had a peak period as well. Writing that though is a little cryptic; almost like I’m writing it as if he stopped making music or is making bad music now. No, he hasn’t “jumped the shark” by far and hopefully he has another peak period, but with his sporadic career thus far, Frusciante has really had one truly great peak period and obviously that’s what I’d like to talk about today.

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Beatles Countdown #77: Within You, Without You

{May 04}

Doug1960s george harrisson, the beatles No Comments

George Harrison’s second of three Indian compositions for The Beatles (and no doubt his best) shows up on our countdown at #77: “Within You, Without You.”

“He’s clear on that song. His mind and his music are clear. There is his innate talent; he brought that sound together.” There’s no one better to introduce the song than John Lennon who described the song as one of George Harrison’s best songs. Indeed, “Within You, Without You” is an overlooked gem on The Beatles’ magnum opus Sgt. Pepper’s. Actually, it’s not just overlooked; it’s often been dismissed as a low point on that album. Crazy, huh? If you compare the song with the rest of the album though, you can get an inkling as to why though. The song plays out like a eulogy of oppressed ideas and the depressing nature makes it stick out compared with the rest of the album. While “A Day In The Life” & other songs tackled dark subjects as well, each had their own brisk section or redemption somewhere within. Harrison tried to do just that by tacking on laughter to the end to “lighten the mood,” but most at the time took that as The Beatles mocking Harrison’s sole songwriting effort on the album which didn’t really lighten any mood. But the song does deserve a ton of praise. It’s easily Harrison’s strongest Indian piece while with The Beatles and the lyrics on spiritual exploration fit in perfectly with the Summer Of Love at the time. In fact, the lyrics so moved famed musician Stephen Stills that he had them carved onto a stone monument onto his yard. I doubt someone would put that effort in for a song described as a “low point” on any album.

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Frusciante Friday: Tricky Interpolations

{Apr 09}

Doug2000s john frusciante, red hot chili peppers, tricky No Comments

So I just realized today that I haven’t covered any hip-hop for the site yet. I also realized that today is Friday which means only one thing: Frusciante Friday! Luckily, Frusciante is such a varied musician that he has done collaborations with a bunch of hip-hop artists so we have a lot to choose from. My original pick for today will have to be saved for later as it’s an interpolation of a popular Beatles’ song (so I’d like to do it following that song in the countdown), but luckily, the song I have for you guys today is also an interpolation!

I know a bunch of you guys are scratching your head at that big word I just used twice so let’s go over that first off. For a straight definition, interpolation is the abrupt change of elements while still continuing the first idea. This process was generally used in the classical world in order to stretch out musical ideas & phrases to give diversity to pieces (and, let’s be honest, as filler too). A great example of this would be Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 10. Look at that – classical music discussion in a blog post about hip-hop music; now you know why you keep coming back for more. Anyway, interpolation still goes on today, but it is now known widely as the same practice as “sampling” & “covering.” While covering is just a bad term to lump it with, sampling & interpolation are not that far off in reality. In fact, it’s one of those things where all interpolations are samples, but not all samples are interpolations. A good example of the difference would be the classic sampling war over “Ice Ice Baby.” We all know it samples Queen’s “Under Pressure,” but the lyrical and musical differences in the songs are huge with the only thing really connecting them is that (in)famous bass line. The rest of the music is changed, the tone is quite different, and the lyrics don’t even belong in the same grouping. See the difference? But if that’s a good indication as to what isn’t an interpolation, then what is? Well our song choice today is!

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Beatles Countdown #78: No Reply

{Apr 08}

Doug1960s john lennon, the beatles No Comments

John Lennon’s first complete story & the opening track to The Beatles’ fourth album stakes it claim on the countdown at #78: “No Reply.”

Written about a man unable to get in touch with his unfaithful girlfriend & the pain that follows, “No Reply” would be John Lennon’s version of “Silhouettes,” a 1957 hit by The Rays with a similar topic. John had originally written the song for Tommy Quickly, one of Brian Epstein’s artists, but John realized the potential of the song & saved it from becoming one of “The Songs Lennon And McCartney Gave Away.” The song would become John’s first complete story and their music publisher Dick James commented on how Lennon was improving in his songwriting seeing as this song actually resolved itself. Before that, John (and apparently Dick James) had thought that his stories drifted off from the subject matter in a vague open-ending way instead of finishing the story. Lennon would go on to write a bunch of timeless stories with the absence of his songwriting-ADD (i.e. “The Ballad Of John And Yoko”), but “No Reply” definitely started him down that style of songwriting. While it was primarily a Lennon song, Paul would claim that he helped with a few missing elements to the song which was the custom for the duo at the time. John never spoke out against this and his silence must be his concurrence; the two really only disagreed on the credit for three songs in their whole career. Three out of hundreds! More on that later and back to the song…

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Beatles Countdown #79: Michelle

{Apr 08}

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Coming in at #79 is one of Paul McCartney’s most acclaimed & recognizable compositions from 1965’s Rubber Soul: “Michelle!”

One of the most memorable songs from the band’s folk-rock album, the genesis of “Michelle” actually began around 1959 as it was one of the first instrumental pieces Paul wrote. Back then, he wrote all of his songs on his first guitar, a right-handed Zenith that he turned upside down to be able to play. Songs like “I Saw Her Standing There” had their beginnings in this stage of Paul’s songwriting, but “Michelle” stood out as it was his first attempt at playing in a finger-picking style. While he was inspired by the song “Trambone” by Chet Atkins, the style foreshadowed Paul’s future desire to break out of the rock style of writing songs as this style was fairly innovative at the time. Originally called “Instrumental In C,” the song started to get more life during John Lennon’s stay at art school. He would invite Paul & George out to college parties where French culture happened to be a huge trend. Trying to fit in, Paul would sit in the corner playing the song while making up French words to match the song. Years later when prepping for the recording of their first true landmark album, John suggested that Paul pay some serious attention to the composition.

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Beatles Countdown #80: Martha My Dear

{Apr 07}

Doug1960s paul mccartney, the beatles No Comments

At #80 is yet another Paul song. If we take a look back at the songs we’ve covered so far, fifteen of them have been by Paul. Fifteen! Now sure, George & Ringo don’t have as much to add to the countdown and maybe we’ll see a lot of John later on, but for right now – Paul is dominating this list. But with songs like the one below, it’s easy to see why. From The White Album, here’s one of the highlights from the first disc: “Martha My Dear.”

“Martha My Dear” is a very catchy song in a music hall style that recounts the lover’s affection for the titular Martha. Now, who is Martha? Well, as we’ve seen in some songs already like Lovely Rita, the song doesn’t always have to be about someone, but here, we can gather some ideas about who the song is about. Since the song’s release, some have speculated that the song is about Paul McCartney’s ex-fiancée Jane Asher who Paul had just recently broken up with. Paul himself has said that some of the lyrics could have been written about her such as the line “…when you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to a bit of what is all around you.” However, while fans have speculated, Paul has come outright and stated who the song is about…though he’s said contradictory things. The first identity Paul has said is his sheepdog named Martha. In Many Years From Now, Paul stated that it was about his dog in a very affectionate kind of way. Martha was his first pet and according to John Lennon, Paul was very “cuddly” around the dog. Knowing this, it would be easy to view the song as that. Paul was gone a lot and didn’t want his dog to forget him and plus, “silly girl” seems to fit more to a mischievous dog than a bothersome ex. However, Paul has also stated that the song is about his muse. In A Hard Day’s Write, Paul stated that his dog was named after his muse, the voice in his head that helps him with his music, and that the song was about said muse. Looking at these possible scenarios, the song probably fits in most with his dog, but it could easily be a combination of any of them or perhaps all three. Only Paul really knows and I’m sure he’s forgotten by this point in his life.

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