(Wallflower/Blues Gangster/BeatHog David Rinck waxes indigo and finds the musical treatment for it. What’s your prescription?)
The other day I had the blues
I walked down the street in my old shoes
I know you won’t believe it’s true
But even Dave Wallflower gets the blues …
Yes, even Dave Wallflower gets the blues. Had ’em for a while now. Go’n through some hard times.
But that Sunday morning a few weeks ago in Liberia, brothers and sisters, I was down. I’d just come out on a long flight from Nairobi the night before, and I was tired. I headed out of the hotel and down those beat old streets for my early morning walk.
Truly, Monrovia has got to be one of the most messed-up places I’ve ever been, bullet holes everywhere, burned out buildings, no power, wounded people and garbage in the streets. I had the blues with a capital “B,” babyface.
Now I truly believe that everything tough we live through gives us strength later in life. You know, sort of like “what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger” and all that, but how do we get through those toughest of times?
Well, as a true son of the Che Underground, I reached in my holster and pulled out my IPod for a musical pick-me-up. Here’re a few oddball musical remedies that I tried, some of which sometimes for some strange reason work for my mojo:
“Lonely Planet Boy” (New York Dolls) — It is such a lonely planet sometimes. And I know it better than most folks, traveling man that I am. Thank God for good friends who make it all a little easier.
“One Hundred Punks” (Generation X) — Yep, when I’m down, I really do hear’em sing for me! There is something so infectious about this one, and I know I’m number 101. “Kiss Me Deadly” is another tune off the same album that also seems to do the trick.
“Union City Blues” (Blondie) — Why? I don’t know, but there’s something moving about this tune. When Debbie Harry says she has “a plan,” I believe her. Skyline …
“You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory” (Johnny Thunders) — Ouch. Be careful with this one. The man with the golden arm really hurts when he tells you he “feels so cold and all alone …” Those scars are so deep, Johnny.
“Soul Love” (David Bowie) — This tune off Ziggy Stardust has somehow always recalled to me a soulful London summer in the calm before the Glam/Punk Rock storm. And when “a boy and girl are talking” about new love, well who can’t help but feel it?
“Oh Yeah” (Roxy Music) — When I’m riding in my car, I hear this one on the radio and hide the tears in my eyes.
“Little Bit O’Soul” (The Ramones) — OK, this is a cover version, but truly a little bit o’soul will see you through!
“A Fool Such As I” (John Doe and the Sadies) — You don’t dream a little dream as years go by? BTW, don’t even joke about not having this CD yet!
“Roll Over Beethoven” (Chuck Berry) — Sometimes I need a shot of rhythm and blues to chase away the blues.
“Sweet Jane” (Velvet Underground) — Those were different times, and sometimes you just need to accept that. But also, anyone who ever had a heart really wouldn’t turn around and break it.
“Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” (Bob Dylan) — We never did too much talk’n anyway.
“You Can’t Always Get What You want” (Rolling Stones) — My favorite flavor really is cherry red… you gotta be kidding.
“Jive Talking” (The Bee Gees) — How can you not boogie to this?
I don’t know, there’re dozens more. What do you guys listen to, to chase the blues away?
— David Rinck
“Late Night” (Syd Barrett) — “And the way you kiss will always be a very special thing to me … “
wow dave…GREAT post…even reading the titles of the songs gave me goosebumps…I’ve never heard the Ramones version of “a little bit of soul” but have always loved the original…I am such a huge fan of music…and music has always been my solace…I can’t even walk 10 steps on a stairwell without thinking about (with each step) either “sunshine of your love” ….dadadada da da da -- da da da. or “in a gadda da vida” da da da dadada dadada…I mean its crazy, but its true. time heals all…but it don’t…music truly does. I probably sound like I’m crazy.
>>music truly does.
Everyone’s heard that the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” is the new standard for CPR, right?
Notorious B.I.G. “Notorious”
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “The Message”
Jay-Z “Big Pimpin'”
Gap Band “You Dropped a Bomb on Me”
Fat Joe “Lean Back”
“Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nuthin’ to f**k wit”
“Margaret Flies” (The Answers) — “Close your eyes … Your topaz eyes … “
Great Dave! I don’t really get the blues, but I LOVE your song list. Mine would be almost identical.
I’d add a little Eno and maybe “Moonage Daydream”.
>>I don’t really get the blues
Bruce: That’s the most intriguing six words I’ve read all month! You mean you don’t experience the psychological state? Or you don’t understand the genre? (Or — combo platter! — you don’t understand the psychological state?)
“Get” and “blues” are both deliciously ambiguous terms. 🙂
middle-aged balding white guys with their little round world beat hats and $1,000 Fender Strats playing 12-bar lameness in corners bars has made me incapable of appreciating the blues and/or rhythm ‘n blues. I never want to hear Mustang Sally again.
>>middle-aged balding white guys with their little round world beat hats and $1,000 Fender Strats playing 12-bar lameness in corners bars has made me incapable of appreciating the blues and/or rhythm ‘n blues.
Kevin: Bwahahahahahaha! 🙂
I couldn’t make such a categorical statement, but I do understand what you mean. Once a genre is the domain of “___ purists,” the whole exercise can start smelling a little like museums.
“Bruce: That’s the most intriguing six words I’ve read all month!”
Ha…Ha…I’m glad you liked it, glad I checked the site tonight. That comment made my day!!
No, seriously…I TOTALLY understand the blues “genre”, pretty fly for a white guy…also a music teacher for over 20 years!!
I was referring to the emotional state…I don’t “feel” blue ever. Maybe it’s a French thing…or I’ve given up?? I’m seriously not in want or need for anything and don’t care much about “things” or even other people.
Psychiatric observations are always welcome but be warned…I live amongst many mental health specialists…they’re all sad and crazy!!
Kevin….middle aged bald white guys with expensive guitars playing blues is a thing of beauty and respect. Why can’t they play it???
My only gripe is with the over-use of pentatonic scales and guitarists, Geez, I can’t take any more of that either!!
When life has really got you down, there are pretty much only two approaches to listening to music… cheery, happy music to cheer you up, or depressing music that lets you wallow in your misery. Being a huge fan of vintage country music, you can probably guess which one I’ve usually chosen. I probably would have been better off with Generation X…haha.
The last time I was really down and full of stress a few years ago, I went to Fatburger (best burger chain in L.A.) to get lunch and some of the best music I’d ever heard started coming out of the juke box. It was like instant relief from all my worrying… it really just took all the weight right off my shoulders. The music was jazz, but the song was a 12-bar blues. I went over to see what was playing and it was Freddie Freeloader from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. After work I drove straight to the store and bought the album. It’s still one of my favorite albums and what I listen to when things are getting me down.
>>middle-aged balding white guys with their little round world beat hats and $1,000 Fender Strats playing 12-bar lameness in corners bars has made me incapable of appreciating the blues and/or rhythm ‘n blues.
To me, what you’re talking about makes blues a great thing, not a bad thing. Blues gives everyone a musical form to express themselves. If you’re talented, of course, you can make something great out of it… but even if you’re not talented, you can still express SOMETHING. It’s music that everyone can participate in… someone who’s been playing for many years can sit down with someone who’s just learning to play and they can instantly start making music together that sounds really good. It’s a language everyone can speak. Some of my most enjoyable experiences playing music have been just jamming on some blues with my friends.
Amen Dave! So may times I’ve just sat down with friends and played blues on the guitar. That 12-bar progression just contains everything you need to say it all.
you had me at “Jive Talkin”….The brother Gibbs. I guess its called periwinkle when you are listening to those guys.
Agreed! I do admit to having a negative auto-response to the BeeGee’s back in the day but have since learned to appreciate their compete oeuvre…but it’s their first coupla albums that still get me. Like the Moody Blues they made moodiness sound like the state of choice. There are some seriously murky, desolate poetry in there…’I Can’t See Nobody’ with Robin warbling insightful downers like:
“I walk the lonely streets, I watch the people passing by,
I used to smile and say hello, I guess I was a happy guy”
“I just can’t move myself, I guess it all just had to be”
“I used to have a brain, I used to think of many things”
— those bitter pills perfectly encapsulate depression, followed on that album by a song about miners trapped deep below the earth accepting their fate…rather a underground precurser to Space Oddity’s ‘Tell my wife I love her very much…’
They had a gift of making hopelessness sound like an ok place to visit.
And then there’s ‘Jive Talkin’, which just sounds like total fun with the bass burbling around and those exquisite harmonies.
When I’m down and deciding onna soundtrack it’s often a choice between feeding the mood or trying to alleviate it. If you are in a total state it’s often strangely satisfying to put on Nick Drake (The River Man comes to mind right away) and just melt into the floor and give in to it. But if you’re trying to actually function that might not be the way to go.
Time to be rescued by the Beach Boys. Albeit Pet Sounds and Smile (and side two of Today, and some of Surfs Up..) contain some of the most wistful music every created, for the most part even knowing the painful Life Of Brian that was going on behind the music isn’t enough to eclipse the pure joy of the songs and production. To me the Beach Boys are like turning on another sun and basking in its light.
Blues….Howling Wolf. Flat-tire beats, the most amazing Hubert Sumlin distorto guitar and the awesomely powerful moaning wail of the Wolf that could cut through anything. Totally uplifting and yet dishing up a serving of pain at nearly every moment.
“knowing the painful Life Of Brian that was going on behind the music isn’t enough to eclipse the pure joy of the songs and production.”
Amen…well put!!
Pet Sounds all the way!!
Why didn’t I mention the Beach Boys here? There’s nothing more fnu than “Fun, Fun, Fun”!
I listen to The Exterminators, DT and Terry always put a smile on my face.
>>When life has really got you down, there are pretty much only two approaches to listening to music… cheery, happy music to cheer you up, or depressing music that lets you wallow in your misery.
Dave Ellison: Allopathic versus homeopathic treatment! I like to mix the two — although the low-down stuff is better when I’m REALLY down.
The Beach Boys had good sad songs too… or songs about troubles that are uplifting at the same time.
I only realized what a great song Don’t Worry Baby is when I finally listened to the lyrics. In all these years of hearing it, I never had any idea what the song was really about… how the guy is afraid he’s going to die, but having his girlfriend makes it ok. The lyrics don’t actually come right out and say that though, they mostly just hint at what’s going on. It feels true to life because you get the good and the bad all at the same time.
Supposedly Don’t Worry Baby was his direct response to Phil Spector’s Be My Baby, and it’s hard to believe but Brian didn’t think he actually met the challenge. Don’t Worry Baby does have a formidable sense of dread…the guy who’s got to prove himself now that he’s mouthed off about his hot car, or the guy (the author) who’s got to prove himself in the recording studio or at least just keep his head together for a little while.
Not to get too algebraic (oh what the hell) but Be My Baby was to Brian Wilson what Angel Baby was to John Lennon — some kind of obsessive gold standard that was to be absorbed and studied on infinite repeat. And in BW’s case it represented an unsurpassable ideal.
That said it makes Spector’s opening drumbeat sound menacing: Buh…buhbum….BAH!…….Buh….buhbum…BAH!….
The song “Till I Die” (on Surfs Up) is both astoundingly beautiful and heartbreakingly bleak.
On the flipside if I start singing “Our Car Club” when I’m stuck in traffic it makes everything seem ironic and somehow more tolerable.
Thanks Dave and Dave for adding more about my favorite song of Brians.
Also love “In My Room”, and “God Only Knows”…I play a Bossa Nova version of the latter and it works great!!
The Injections almost always played Be My Baby at live shows, mainly for that great “Buh…buhbum….BAH!…….Buh….buhbum…BAH!….”
I thought we played it to highlight my falsetto.
I would have loved to see/hear the Injections play Be My Baby!!!
B.M.B. will now be one of my shouted requests at the *hint hint* someday future Injections reunion show…along of course with Panther Anthem and Jimmy Hoffa!
Lou Skum?? Back in the USA??
Thanks Dave…that is a rare piece of music history..unrecorded I believe. PLEASE shout it out!!
There is a great recording of Lou singing Leonard Cohens “Famous Blue Raincoat” somewhere out there…wish I could find it!!
I never thought so much about “Don’t Worry Baby”, but you guys inspired me to go give it another listen. What a deeply sad song… This reminds me a bit of Iggy Pop’s “Tonight” off of the Lust For Life album. I wonder if it was the inspiration?
Great connection David! A deeply sad and brilliant Brian for sure.
Brian looks so uncomfortable in this group singing…more of a mastermind than performer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QCZ_bv9aLc
A brilliant post, Mr. Rink… and a great thread that follows. I strain to add anything clever to the conversation as I wipe the sleep from my eyes and grap for my morning coffee. is there anything in there….?
hmmmm? Nopo! Two sips later and I’m still asleeep!