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Bruce Springsteen
The Ties That Bind
While Springsteen was recording what would
become his 80s double album The River , he
presented his record company with 10-song
album The Ties That Bind which included some
River songs in different versions (a much better
You Can Look among them) and other songs. But
then he withdrew it and went back to record more. The River included
radio-friendly songs (Hungry Heart, Sherry Darling, Cadillac Ranch)
alongside deeper material (the title track, Independence Day) and while
fans loved it, critics found it uneven. This big box includes The River
and The Ties That Bind remastered, and another disc of unreleased
material from those sessions. Some songs are slight (the Buddy Holly-
referencing Cindy), repeat ideas heard better elsewhere ( Be True,
Loose Ends), and nod to heroes (Chuck Berry on From Small Things,
Roy Orbison on The Time That Never Was ) but a few are excellent (the
pop drama of Whitetown, the white-knuckle anger of Roulette, the taut
Night Fire where Springsteen has never sounded wound so tight). In
the box are also a book and DVD/Blu-Ray discs which include a doco
and live footage. It’s expensive and like the earlier Tracks collection one
for hardcore Boss followers.
Various Artists
Jon Savage’s 1966, The Year a
Decade Exploded
The double CD soundtrack to
his book of the same name,
this should close the case
by including key Beatles and
Dylan tracks (but obviously
couldn’t). Yet it makes its case in
garageband singles (The Seeds,
? And the Mysterians, Count
Five), hits (Lovin’ Spoonful’s
Summer in the City, Wilson
Pickett’s Land of 1000 Dances,
the Who’s Substitute), near hits
(Dusty Springfield’s Little By
Little, Lee Dorsey’s Working in
a Coal Mine), early psychedelia
(Electric Prunes, 13 th Floor
Elevators, Yardbirds’ Happening
Ten Years Time Ago) and crucial
songs by James Brown, Love
and the Velvet Underground
among others.
Sonic Youth
Washing Machine
The current vinyl reissue of Sonic
Youth includes the essential
Dirty and Goo, but also this often
overlooked double from 1995
which was fluid and free-flowing.
Guitarist Thurston Moore said
Goo and Dirty had been stiff, but
now they’d found a way to play
more naturalistically . . . which
explains why Diamond Sea was
20 minutes long (edited to five as
a single), the title track 10 and the
instrumental Untitled was actually
the coda to the nearly five-minute
opening track Becuz. Should
have been their breakthrough but
sold only half of its predecessor
Experimental Jet Set . Deserved
much better.
Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
Elton's longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin was just 20
and infatuated by the American West and The Band
when he wrote the words which Elton took straight
into country-rock, punctuated by ballads and closing
with the furious Burn Down the Mission. His first fully
satisfying (almost concept) album.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
One of the few essential double albums from the
decade which seemed to be spawning them on a
weekly basis. The emotional and musical breadth of
the 17 tracks ran from flat-tack rock'n'roll (Saturday
Night's Alright for Fighting) to poignant ballads
(Candle in the Wind), angry stories (Danny Bailey)
and the honky-funk of Bennie and the Jets. If you are
impressed – and you should be – then move on to
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
and it's belated sequel The Captain and the Kid (2006).
His new album Wonderful Crazy Night is his 32nd –
so where to start?
Songs From the West Coast (2001)
After plenty of indifferent albums in the 80s and 90s,
this blend of country, rock and stories sounded like
classic Elton again, even if by this time hit singles
eluded him.
The Diving Board (2013)
In his almost 50 year career, Elton had enjoyed a
number of “return to form” albums and this was one.
Serious, adult and less rocking than some, but his
piano playing had rarely been as accomplished. And
as with all these above, another with lyricist Taupin.
Which might tell you “how to buy”?
visit
28 SUMMER EDITION 2016
MUSIC
Further Listening
He was a boozing brother-in-arms for the late John Martyn's harrowing
separation album Grace and Danger (1980) which was shelved for a
year because it was thought too dark and depressing.
For more from Graham Reid visit
By Graham Reid