I have been approached to make some of my musical preferences known. My musical tastes run the gammut between the classics, rock, country, folk, Celtic, blues, jazz, fusion, and a host of other genres. One might say I have a very catholic taste, when it comes to music. By this I do not imply the religion, but rather the term "catholic", as an adjective derived from the Greek adjective 'καθολικός' or (katholikos), meaning "whole" or "complete".
Like just about any other human on the planet, what I listen to normally has a lot to do with the mood I'm in. I will go on record as saying that there is not much new music out there nowadays, that actually appeals to me. I really did like the Crash Test Dummies, though I simply couldn't get into the so-called Metal Bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Def Leppard, or even Guns and Roses. There are the odd releases which will get my attention, but in the main, a lot of it is pure crap, churned out by talentless people whom the record industry and the media more specifically, would have us believe are 'stars'. Yeah, right...
I grew up in an era where musically, we were totally spoiled. More importantly, it was the listeners who decided who was good and who wasn't. We didn't have folks telling us who to listen to. The music spoke for itself. My music was that of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Even so, I also had a good exposure to my folks' music from the War Years and the Big Band era such as the 30s and 40s. Count Basie, Artie Shaw (and his fabulous vocalist, Billie Holiday), the Cotton Club's Duke Ellington, Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Fats Waller and Gene Krupa.
Even to this day, I still get a little sentimental/nostalgic when I hear Glenn Miller's 'Moonlight Serenade' or 'String of Pearls', Artie Shaw's 'Stardust' or Satchmo's 'Ain't Misbehavin'. This is truly 'old school' music which still retains it's appeal to anyone with a musical bone in their body. I think about my late step-Dad and how dashing he must have looked back in the day with his RAF uniform, as he sprinted towards his AVRO Lancaster bomber. I think about how much my Mom misses him nowadays...
Music can be a fiercely personal affair, I guess. I think what we end up preferring says something about ourselves, or we'd like to believe that it does. We want it to speak of where we've been, what we believe in. I never ask someone if they like a certain tune. I can remember a period in my life when it was important that you know what music you were supposed to like, if you wanted to 'fit in'. Fortunately, most if not all of the music which was "in" was pretty freakin' great by it's own merit. Over the years though, I have developed an appreciation for most genres which are played well.
I like music which conveys a message. Or which tells a story that I personally can identify with. I like songs which have a melancholy air to them, which speak of love and loss and redemption. I love inspirational songs, which tell a tale of hardship and overcoming it. Stan Rogers' 'The Mary Ellen Carter' comes readily to mind to mind. I suppose in the end, I show a marked preference for songs that manage to convey emotions, on one level or another. When listening to any song though, I have to be able to hear and understand the lyrics. Enunciation is critical to any decently produced song. And that is one reason why most new-age, recently released music leaves me cold.
I know... some wise-ass out there is going to say: "Yeah? Well what about the Kingsmen? What about Louie Louie, which was written by Martin Berry (no relation to Chuck Berry...)? To this day, nobody knows what the Hell the lyrics were to that song! It didn't make any sense!!"
Okay...here ya go. Straight from 1963, the transcript for the original lyrics to "Louie Louie". Enjoy!
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby,
said a-we gotta go
A fine little girl she waits for me,
Me catch a ship a-cross the sea,
Me sail that ship ah all alone,
Me never think how I'll make it home
A-Louie Lou-ay,
nah, nah, nah, nah,
saying we gotta go,
oh no
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby,
said a-we gotta go (Shout)
Three nights and days I sail the sea,
I think of girl oh constantly,
A-on that ship I dream she there,
I smelt her rose, ah in her hair
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby, said a-we gotta go
(Okay, let's give it to 'em right now !)
(See) Me see Jamaica, the moon above,
It won't be long me see me love,
Me take her in my arms again,
I’ll tell her I’ll never leave again
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
woh baby,
said a-we gotta go
I said we gotta go now
The first one outta here Let’s go!
The song by the way, was actually done in the form of a Jamaican ballad...
There is too much 'music' out there nowadays which speaks only to hopelessness, rage, contempt, disrespect and basically can be rendered down into one big, incessant whine about how 'bad' people should think I am, how hard done I've been by life due to my roots or how the world owes me a living because: "I'm so special". If you gotta ask or beg for respect, you don't deserve any. Respect, just like love and hate, has to be earned. I imagine by now, those OC Transpo employees are finding that out firsthand...
That is also why rap music doesn't even register on my musical radar... Let's face it, if you have to try to convince the world that you're bad... you're NOT! Just like young thangs on the streets wearing t-shirts proclaiming they're 'sexy' or 'hot'. Again, if you gotta wear a shirt to tell people you are... you're so-ooo NOT!
I love music that celebrates life, love, music and dance. Leahy's "Call to Dance", was a phenomenally successful tune, which conveyed just that. Leahy (pronounced LAY-he) are an incredibly talented group of brothers and sisters, for those who like their music on the traditional-Celtic side. Their life story reads like a Hollywood movie; a large family raised without a television on a farm in the small town of Lakefield, Ontario. In fact, their life story was so compelling that it became the subject of an Oscar winning documentary—The Leahys: Music Most of All. The film foretold the success that would follow.
http://www.leahymusic.com/
Another fabulous Celtic group, this one from Cape Breton, are The Cottars. Though very young, their style is pure, lilting and unblemished. My very favorite tune of theirs is a piece written by Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean. 'Ready For The Storm' will have the hair standing up on the nape of your neck.
http://www.thecottars.ca/
The late Stan Rogers is of course, one of my very favorite male vocalists. He grew up in Ontario but made his home in the Highlands of Cape Breton, NS. He became the self-styled voice for the beleaguered fishermen of Atlantic Canada, with such tunes as 'Make and Break Harbour' and 'Fogarty's Cove'. He is loved and venerated by all those who have ever been so fortunate as to hear his voice. There are two 'a cappella' songs which Stan performed with his band, which became signature pieces and can be heard recited word for word, in just about any pub in the Maritimes. These are 'Barrett's Privateers' and 'The Northwest Passage'. Both fabulous... both classic Stan Rogers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Rogers
Along the same Celtic vein, The Rankins during their relativelty short life span as a group, produced a marvellous body of work. Hailing from the tiny fishing village of Mabou in Cape Breton's Inverness County, they were among the very first (pre-dating Leahy...) to electrify Canada with the new Celtic sound.
http://www.therankinfamily.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rankins
I have come to embrace Celtic and Maritime music as my own. Not through accident by having been born there, but by choice. There are Acadian as well as English and Scottish roots in my family tree. No surprise then that Loreena McKennitt should also be one of my very favorite Canadian talents. She is a storyteller from another age, with a voice like gossamer. Ms. McKennitt is in a class all of her own.
http://www.quinlanroad.com/
I have lived in the Maritimes longer than anywhere else, so far in my life. I chose to move there, to become one of them, to adopt their culture. The Maritimes (indeed all of Atlantic Canada...) are important to me. Not only for the wild beauty of it's coasts, but for the colour and character of those who call it home. Groups such as Great Big Sea, Rawlins Cross and others have done much to champion the Atlantic provinces' culture, philosophy, joy of life and creativity.
http://www.rawlinscross.ca/community/forums/reel-n-roll
http://www.greatbigsea.com/
Far from being Celtic but also one of my favorite male talents, Jesse Cooke makes my list of "most talented guitarists in the known Universe". Tall, lanky and soft-spoken, his style defies classification, although you will find a strong flamenco influence to it. If any person can wear the mantle of 'virtuoso' with apparent ease, it is Jesse. I have had the unrivaled pleasure of playing onstage at Ottawa's NAC with Jesse on three separate occasions, while a member of Samba Ottawa.
http://www.jessecook.com/
Sure, I listen to many other genres of music. From AC/DC to Alice Cooper, from Patty Loveless to Martina McBride, Aaron Tippin to Travis Tritt, Ricky Scaggs to ZZ Top, Lee Roy Parnell to Loverboy, Bob Marley to Bocephus, REO Speedwagon to Ashley MacIsaac, The Judds to Journey... But it will always be a song or a tune that has soul, that has emotion to it... a song that actually says something.
Like just about any other human on the planet, what I listen to normally has a lot to do with the mood I'm in. I will go on record as saying that there is not much new music out there nowadays, that actually appeals to me. I really did like the Crash Test Dummies, though I simply couldn't get into the so-called Metal Bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Def Leppard, or even Guns and Roses. There are the odd releases which will get my attention, but in the main, a lot of it is pure crap, churned out by talentless people whom the record industry and the media more specifically, would have us believe are 'stars'. Yeah, right...
I grew up in an era where musically, we were totally spoiled. More importantly, it was the listeners who decided who was good and who wasn't. We didn't have folks telling us who to listen to. The music spoke for itself. My music was that of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Even so, I also had a good exposure to my folks' music from the War Years and the Big Band era such as the 30s and 40s. Count Basie, Artie Shaw (and his fabulous vocalist, Billie Holiday), the Cotton Club's Duke Ellington, Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Fats Waller and Gene Krupa.
Even to this day, I still get a little sentimental/nostalgic when I hear Glenn Miller's 'Moonlight Serenade' or 'String of Pearls', Artie Shaw's 'Stardust' or Satchmo's 'Ain't Misbehavin'. This is truly 'old school' music which still retains it's appeal to anyone with a musical bone in their body. I think about my late step-Dad and how dashing he must have looked back in the day with his RAF uniform, as he sprinted towards his AVRO Lancaster bomber. I think about how much my Mom misses him nowadays...
Music can be a fiercely personal affair, I guess. I think what we end up preferring says something about ourselves, or we'd like to believe that it does. We want it to speak of where we've been, what we believe in. I never ask someone if they like a certain tune. I can remember a period in my life when it was important that you know what music you were supposed to like, if you wanted to 'fit in'. Fortunately, most if not all of the music which was "in" was pretty freakin' great by it's own merit. Over the years though, I have developed an appreciation for most genres which are played well.
I like music which conveys a message. Or which tells a story that I personally can identify with. I like songs which have a melancholy air to them, which speak of love and loss and redemption. I love inspirational songs, which tell a tale of hardship and overcoming it. Stan Rogers' 'The Mary Ellen Carter' comes readily to mind to mind. I suppose in the end, I show a marked preference for songs that manage to convey emotions, on one level or another. When listening to any song though, I have to be able to hear and understand the lyrics. Enunciation is critical to any decently produced song. And that is one reason why most new-age, recently released music leaves me cold.
I know... some wise-ass out there is going to say: "Yeah? Well what about the Kingsmen? What about Louie Louie, which was written by Martin Berry (no relation to Chuck Berry...)? To this day, nobody knows what the Hell the lyrics were to that song! It didn't make any sense!!"
Okay...here ya go. Straight from 1963, the transcript for the original lyrics to "Louie Louie". Enjoy!
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby,
said a-we gotta go
A fine little girl she waits for me,
Me catch a ship a-cross the sea,
Me sail that ship ah all alone,
Me never think how I'll make it home
A-Louie Lou-ay,
nah, nah, nah, nah,
saying we gotta go,
oh no
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby,
said a-we gotta go (Shout)
Three nights and days I sail the sea,
I think of girl oh constantly,
A-on that ship I dream she there,
I smelt her rose, ah in her hair
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
oh baby, said a-we gotta go
(Okay, let's give it to 'em right now !)
(See) Me see Jamaica, the moon above,
It won't be long me see me love,
Me take her in my arms again,
I’ll tell her I’ll never leave again
A-Louie Lou-ay,
oh no
saying we gotta go,
yi, yi, yi, yi, yi
Said a-Louie Lou-ay,
woh baby,
said a-we gotta go
I said we gotta go now
The first one outta here Let’s go!
The song by the way, was actually done in the form of a Jamaican ballad...
There is too much 'music' out there nowadays which speaks only to hopelessness, rage, contempt, disrespect and basically can be rendered down into one big, incessant whine about how 'bad' people should think I am, how hard done I've been by life due to my roots or how the world owes me a living because: "I'm so special". If you gotta ask or beg for respect, you don't deserve any. Respect, just like love and hate, has to be earned. I imagine by now, those OC Transpo employees are finding that out firsthand...
That is also why rap music doesn't even register on my musical radar... Let's face it, if you have to try to convince the world that you're bad... you're NOT! Just like young thangs on the streets wearing t-shirts proclaiming they're 'sexy' or 'hot'. Again, if you gotta wear a shirt to tell people you are... you're so-ooo NOT!
I love music that celebrates life, love, music and dance. Leahy's "Call to Dance", was a phenomenally successful tune, which conveyed just that. Leahy (pronounced LAY-he) are an incredibly talented group of brothers and sisters, for those who like their music on the traditional-Celtic side. Their life story reads like a Hollywood movie; a large family raised without a television on a farm in the small town of Lakefield, Ontario. In fact, their life story was so compelling that it became the subject of an Oscar winning documentary—The Leahys: Music Most of All. The film foretold the success that would follow.
http://www.leahymusic.com/
Another fabulous Celtic group, this one from Cape Breton, are The Cottars. Though very young, their style is pure, lilting and unblemished. My very favorite tune of theirs is a piece written by Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean. 'Ready For The Storm' will have the hair standing up on the nape of your neck.
http://www.thecottars.ca/
The late Stan Rogers is of course, one of my very favorite male vocalists. He grew up in Ontario but made his home in the Highlands of Cape Breton, NS. He became the self-styled voice for the beleaguered fishermen of Atlantic Canada, with such tunes as 'Make and Break Harbour' and 'Fogarty's Cove'. He is loved and venerated by all those who have ever been so fortunate as to hear his voice. There are two 'a cappella' songs which Stan performed with his band, which became signature pieces and can be heard recited word for word, in just about any pub in the Maritimes. These are 'Barrett's Privateers' and 'The Northwest Passage'. Both fabulous... both classic Stan Rogers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Rogers
Along the same Celtic vein, The Rankins during their relativelty short life span as a group, produced a marvellous body of work. Hailing from the tiny fishing village of Mabou in Cape Breton's Inverness County, they were among the very first (pre-dating Leahy...) to electrify Canada with the new Celtic sound.
http://www.therankinfamily.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rankins
I have come to embrace Celtic and Maritime music as my own. Not through accident by having been born there, but by choice. There are Acadian as well as English and Scottish roots in my family tree. No surprise then that Loreena McKennitt should also be one of my very favorite Canadian talents. She is a storyteller from another age, with a voice like gossamer. Ms. McKennitt is in a class all of her own.
http://www.quinlanroad.com/
I have lived in the Maritimes longer than anywhere else, so far in my life. I chose to move there, to become one of them, to adopt their culture. The Maritimes (indeed all of Atlantic Canada...) are important to me. Not only for the wild beauty of it's coasts, but for the colour and character of those who call it home. Groups such as Great Big Sea, Rawlins Cross and others have done much to champion the Atlantic provinces' culture, philosophy, joy of life and creativity.
http://www.rawlinscross.ca/community/forums/reel-n-roll
http://www.greatbigsea.com/
Far from being Celtic but also one of my favorite male talents, Jesse Cooke makes my list of "most talented guitarists in the known Universe". Tall, lanky and soft-spoken, his style defies classification, although you will find a strong flamenco influence to it. If any person can wear the mantle of 'virtuoso' with apparent ease, it is Jesse. I have had the unrivaled pleasure of playing onstage at Ottawa's NAC with Jesse on three separate occasions, while a member of Samba Ottawa.
http://www.jessecook.com/
Sure, I listen to many other genres of music. From AC/DC to Alice Cooper, from Patty Loveless to Martina McBride, Aaron Tippin to Travis Tritt, Ricky Scaggs to ZZ Top, Lee Roy Parnell to Loverboy, Bob Marley to Bocephus, REO Speedwagon to Ashley MacIsaac, The Judds to Journey... But it will always be a song or a tune that has soul, that has emotion to it... a song that actually says something.
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