LETTERS FROM THE ROAD: Pete Droge
Pete Droge
This week, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD features the legendary Pete Droge (OMG!)… we are MASSIVE fans here at Outlandos. Hopefully you will be, too.
Incidentally, for a refresher, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD is our guest post series where we invite musicians we are utterly nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. Three rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music, and the weirder the better. Fun stuff!
What I love about this post from Pete (and I hope I don’t embarrass him too much) is that number one, he was a tad skittish, as a lot of folks are about publishing a blog, if blogging isn’t your usual thing, perfectly human reaction (and its nice to know our idols are human). It’s great though is that none of it has to be perfect, it just has to be genuine for me — and for you — to dig it. And Pete’s got genuine in spades, as you can read below. But what’s more is, this idea of his is quite smart… if you’re going to dive into an iconic catalog, chronologically doesn’t always make sense. This would make a good book actually, a guide to the best order in which to sift through iconic catalogs. You up for that Pete?
Thanks for letting me twist your arm to do this one!
Dear Music Fan Who Is Not up to Speed on JJ Cale, Leonard Cohen or Gram Parsons,
I find that where you enter an artist’s catalog can make a huge difference on how they connect with you. Case in point, my friend who thought, “I really should check out this Bob Dylan cat that so many hipsters are into… hmm where to begin? How about his first album?” Seeing as Bob is so adored for his writing and his first record consists of mostly covers this is probably not the best place to enter his body of work (If you have not heard his version of Man of Constant Sorrow go get it right now… George Clooney, eat your heart out). I digress. I have many times served as mid wife in the birthing of a newborn Dylan fan. I am always shocked, outraged and ultimately jealous of anyone who is naive to all things Bob. Generally speaking, with Bob, I would point the newbie towards Bringing It All Back Home. Side One is Bob 101. Opens with Subterranean Homesick Blues, need I say more? Side Two, Bob 201. Opens with Mr. Tambourine Man and closes with It’s All over Now, Baby Blue, and in between those two, Gates of Eden and It’s Alright Ma, (I’m Only Bleeding). After that, I would point them to more records from the 60s like Highway 61, Times They Are a Changin’, and Blonde on Blonde before sending them out to other eras (Oh Mercy, Time Out Of Mind, Infidel, Planet Waves, Blood on the Tracks, Basement Tapes and so on).
Enough on Bob. I’m sure you are all up to speed already. Let’s get to some folks that some of you may not be into.
JJ Cale. I remember the first time I heard JJ Cale… or John as his friends call him… yes, that’s right, the name John Cale was taken (ok musical hipsters, John Cale was a member of what seminal ban? Anyone… anyone? Yes, THE seminal band of all seminal bands, the Velvet Underground. Very good). I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, the first time I heard JJ Cale. In my Datsun 210, on the once great rock station KISW (Seattle’s Best Rock). I know this song, but holy shit — this is way swampier than Clapton’s version, I thought. It was of course the original version of Cocaine that Eric had the big hit with. This track stopped me in my tracks. So, I would recommend to anyone who wants to look into JJ Cale start with the album it comes from, Troubadour. It was his fourth record. Next stop… go back in time to his first record Naturally (which opens with another song Clapton had a hit with, After Midnight)… then jump ahead to Okie, then back to his second record, Really, then his fifth, Five. By this time, if you are not a total fan who is ready to devour every note he has ever laid down, then I would suspect that you are a cold blooded reptile from another planet. You will never get it and I am sorry for you (that sounds a tad harsh… sorry). Moving on.
Leonard Cohen. Again, I was in transit when Leonard Cohen’s music really got to me. We were on a cross-Canadian tour, early winter 1996, supporting Neil Young. Something about curling up in my bunk with Leonard’s voice on the headphones soothed my paranoia about the bus careening off the road (I was also reading Kafka on that tour and suffering from codeine-induced stomach aches. Good times, indeed. And my fans wonder why I don’t tour anymore). I digress. With Leonard, I would make a case for taking things chronologically. By the time he made his first record in 1967, he was already a successful poet, so he had the word thing together (listen to me — “he had the word thing together” — now I am beginning to feel very self-conscious about my writing here… don’t give in… push on… it’s only a blog after all… it is supposed to read like a first draft). Songs of Leonard Cohen, Side One, song one: Suzanne. Great place to start. But wait, some of the songs on this album, though incredible, might not quite their hooks into the uninitiated. Bearing this in mind, I started to compile a list of cuts you could grab on iTunes… I got to his second record and realized almost all of my picks are on a compilation album The Essential Leonard Cohen. Now let me be clear, I do not condone you buying this collection and calling it good. But, it’s a good place to start. Props to Leanne Ungar & Bruce Dickinson for putting together a great intro to LC. (Bruce Dickinson was the lead singer of what heavy metal band? Anyone… anyone? Yes, that’s right… Iron Maiden. Something tells me it’s a different guy, what do you think?) I digress. This is a good place to start. The one spot I think they miss is an album produced by Phil Spector called Death of a Ladies Man. It does stand out within LC’s catalog as a bit of an odd bird. And I would say it’s a record you should buy — if for no other reason than because you can brag about owning it at dinner parties. Try it and watch your hipness quotient go thru the roof (you could also collect some stories about Phil actually brandishing a pistol during the sessions and this will surely impress your dinner guests). I digress. Leonard’s work is always so thorough and complete, I can’t imagine not owning all of the records. If there are songs that don’t get you right away, keep listening. And really go to the words. Be with the words. Lyrics don’t get better.
Gram Parsons. With Gram, I would take the opposite approach as we did with LC. Start at the end and work your way back. He was interested in what he called “cosmic American music.” Others would later make it sound way less interesting and call it country-rock. And many would give the late great Gram credit for inventing it (as much as I love Gram and his legacy I always felt like this was not very accurate. To me, that is like saying someone invented soup. Maybe Monsanto will genetically modify country-rock and claim a patent for it. If you don’t get this joke, rent Food Inc.) I digress. Gram did have a vision though. Sadly, his career was cut short by a heroin OD in 1973. I would start with both of his solo records at once. GP and Grevious Angel. At first, if you are having trouble with the frailty of his vocals and you are thinking, “it sounds like he just smoked a huge doobie,” keep in mind, he probably did. Many of you will recognize the voice of a young Emmy Lou Harris singing harmony. Next step is to move back in time to the group he formed with Chris Hillman, The Flying Burrito Brothers. 1969′s Gilded Palace of Sin. Then check out the record he made when he was a member of the Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo (This is a total classic record that makes lots of all time best album lists). From this classic, we are entering into terrain more suited to the already established super fan, so if by this point, you feel you qualify, get Burrito Deluxe, the International Submarine Band’s Safe at Home (his first official record). And then you can start digging into the live stuff (he had an amazing road band and some of the live stuff is among my all time favorite live recordings).
I will sleep like a baby tonight, knowing that in my small way I may have helped you to find your way into a wealth of music that these three artists have given us.
Happy listening,
Pete Droge
Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Jeremy Messersmith, KATE BRADLEY, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Pete Droge —
1/5/10
Categories: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE • KATE BRADLEY • LETTERS FROM THE ROAD • OUTLANDOS MUSIC
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[...] This week, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD features the legendary Pete Droge (OMG!)… we are MASSIVE fans here at Outlandos. Hopefully you will be, too. Incidentally, for a refresher, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD is our guest post series where we invite musicians we are utterly nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. Three rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music, and the weirder the better [...] [...]
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