'I'd give it foive'

Peter

There's a guy here in Toronto (I can't recall his name), who plays at a bar in Kensington Market. I've not had a chance to see him myself, but my friend has went to a bunch of performances. I've heard his CD, and he's remarkably like Waits as well. I've got to give my friend a call and arrange to see the show.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Unfortunately, the sound quality is marginal, but his lyrics...

The Hammond CD sounds interesting.

John

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

I find there's more to enjoy each time I return to his music.

FWIW, He wrote Downtown train, a hit for Rod Stewart, and Jersey Girl, something of an anthem for Bruce Springsteen.

Peter

For those of you who don't know anything about the Canadian Juno music awards, Leonard Cohen won the award for "Best Male Vocalist" a few years back.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

quote:

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or those of you who don't know anything about the Canadian Juno music awards, Leonard Cohen won the award for "Best Male Vocalist" a few years back.

---

Hmmm, What about:

• Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• Leon Redbone
• Tiny Tim
• Captain Beefheart

Who else is in the pantheon of great singers ?

Peter

To my ears Beefheart has incredible rythym, and many of his songs I consider "musical" (funny how far that word can stretch....)

For sheer beauty the best voice I have heard to date is Rebecca Pidgeon. This might be skewed, however, since her album "Raven" was one of the first CDs I played after getting a supercap.

John

Mike - any progress on the headphone research?

Initially they seemed bright to the point of being a touch shrill. However, I figured this was break-in and warm-up (new Headline, newly re-capped SNAPS2, and new Headphones). I let them run all night at a "moderate" volume, and they smoothed out a bit by morning. They still don't have nearly the same bass and slam as my regular speakers, but the level of detail is astonishing.

I haven't had a chance to try the direct-from-SuperCap cable yet, although that will happen sometime in the next week or so. I've also got a set of Sennheiser HD330's that I want to compare to the AKGs. If I prefer the general demeanor of the 330's, then I may audition a pair of the 600's.

The other thing that I was considering was using the digital power supply from the Super-Cap to power the Headline. However, I've heard that this supply doesn't provide enough volts to do the trick.

I'll know more later.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Thanks for the John Hammond tip. I took 'Wicked Grin' to a demo yesterday, it really swings through a Naim system

Peter

My favourite Waits :-

- 9th and Hennipen
- Walking Spanish
- Time
- The piano has been drinking
- What is he building in there
- The ocean doesn't want me today

..oh - and all the rest of it. Closing time is a bit dull. Pity he's not recording his 'new work.'

Jonathan

Considering your picks, have you heard "Trouble's Braids" on "Swordfish Troubones"? If not, I can almost guarantee that you'll like it.

I'm not usually a fan of "The Blues". The only reason that I can enjoy Waits' contributions to the genre is that he's such an odd character. In fact, I can enjoy this from any performer who has lots of character, like John Lee Hooker. Typical, small-town beer parlour blues bands are an anathema, in my books.

Overall, I enjoy Waits for his quirkiness and intensity of emotion. My wife hates him for the same reasons.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Of the more recent stuff, I think his latest album is one of his best and I also like the Chuck E. Weiss album he produced and sang on "Extremely Cool" or something like that.

Cheers,
Marc.

Yes it's the same guy as the R-L Jones song. Can you describe a little more that Chuck E. Weiss album ?

I bought another John Hammond Album yesterday, I couldn't find 'Got Love if you want it' but went for 'Found true Love'. He sings some of those Howlin' Wolf classics like 'Howlin for My darlin'. I tell you it's eerie how sings the blues like that. The recorded quality is not bad either.

Peter

quote:

---

"Is it the clack of the pool balls - neon's buzzin' -
telephone's ringing, it's your second cousin.."

---

One of the very best songs that wasn't written by Bob Dylan.

All the best,

David

And, yes, I love the wierd stuff (so Rain Dogs re-bought first - followed by Bone Machine) but some of the ballards are superb.

I really wish he would record the stuff from his new shows - alledgedly some of the best stuff he has ever written. I believe he has caved in a bit and is due to record a new album soon.

Jonathan

The guitarist is Marc Ribot, and some of the cuts have that special sound that Tom Waits albums have. She sings like Billie Holliday, a not altogether unpleasant listen.

For $2 it's a bargain.

Peter

i bought "wicked grin" a couple of weeks ago. unfortunately i played it last week when my system was having a tantrum.

my system is in fine voice now, and i gave it another spin today and the title of the album describes my face very well as i played thru it. great album !!!

this is the first hammond record in my collection -- at this rate i might get one or 2 more.

many thanks

enjoy

ken

In another thread you said how much you enjoyed the Blind Boys of Alabama CD. I think there's two songs from Tom Waits on that. One of those songs, "I've been Saved", or something like that, is on the Hammond album, with TW handling, err, harmony vocals. It's a blast hearing the two versions side by side!

I, too, was impressed enough to dig into the back catalogue of John Hammond. I bought a 1995 CD, the title of which escapes me because I loaned it to a friend two days after I bought it and I haven't seen it since, and I liked that too, a real blues man with 1990's recording technology.

On a Vinyl vs CD note, both the Hammond and Blind Boys CD sound so good that I for one am not craving the LP versions. And I listen to about 80% LP compared with CD

Peter