The Beatles

The most important band ever. No matter what kind of modern music you like, it just wouldn’t be the same without The Beatles. No band, set the bar higher musically, or influenced the world more profoundly. They tossed off generational anthems like it was nothing, and their mastery of recording technique has yet to be surpassed. Just saying the name of the band awakens all my senses with memory and happiness. The Beatles might be the best thing that happened in the 1960s. Here are a few of my favorite Beatles items.

- Paul Epstein

I’d Love To Turn You On At The Movies #230 - Ed and His Dead Mother (1993, dir. Jonathan Wacks)

In the early ‘90s, after falling completely in love with his character Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, I became sort of fixated on consuming all the other films in which Steve Buscemi starred. That included a lot of late-1980s/early-1990s independent vehicles that were very hit and miss. Ed and His Dead Mother was one of the hits for me. It was one of the first Buscemi flicks that I watched period, let alone one of the first ones that I saw where Buscemi played a (relatively) normal schlub and not a psychotic, violent creep. Ed is also a comedy, which was (and really still is) my forte; my first love. And even though Buscemi was absolutely hilarious in most of his roles, he didn’t do a lot of comedic movies in his early days - at least not that I had seen. Buscemi’s turn as Ed, a sweetly naïve hardware salesman from small town Iowa is simultaneously charming and disturbing.

Ed is the third and final effort by American director Jonathan Wacks. Wacks is perhaps best known for his first film, the George Harrison (yes, THAT George Harrison) co-produced Powwow Highway, or for producing the cult favorite Repo Man. Buscemi plays the titular Ed Chilton, the ultimate mama’s boy. Ed receives a visit from a kind of shifty snake oil salesman (John Glover) from a company called Happy People, Ltd., who offer to reanimate his dead mother for a fee. After some consideration and a lot of resistance from his live-in Uncle Benny (Ned Beatty), Ed decides to go through with it. At first Ed is thrilled to have his mother back, as she picks up where she left off when she died, cooking and cleaning and generally helping Ed keep his life in order. But over time, as her behavior grows more and more irrational and bizarre, (hunting and killing living things for sustenance, for example), Ed must make a decision on what to do about mother.

The film itself is any indie film nut’s darling. In addition to Beatty, Glover and Buscemi himself, the film also stars a handful of other fairly well-known character actors, like Miriam Margolyes, Gary Farmer, Eric Christmas and especially Rance Howard, father of Ronnie and Clint, who plays the town preacher shopping at Ed’s store for tools to use to murder his unfaithful wife. The film also has one of the more curious set design choices I’ve ever seen. For the most part, the film looks like 1993, when it comes to wardrobe and hairstyles and things like that, but location-wise, the small Iowa town that’s supposed to be being portrayed here looks almost more 1953. Whether this was a conscious decision or a happy accident is beyond me, but somehow it works, adding yet another layer of strange to an already eccentric film.

Steve Buscemi is still one of my all-time favorites and I still tend to try to watch everything he appears in. Wacks, on the other hand, never directed another full length after Ed and His Dead Mother was released, most likely due to the poor box office activity of all three of his feature films. This would also explain why, up until 2018, the DVD was long out-of-print as well. This is a shame too, because I consider Ed to be kind of an indie classic. A deep cut that never tries to be anything it’s not. It’s just a quirky little comedy, in the tradition of Floundering or Living in Oblivion, with a little bit of a dark and macabre edge to it. Not a zombie film per se, but definitely a seasonally-appropriate film that offers a fresh take on portraying the undead.

- Jonathan Eagle

I'd Love to Turn You On #195 - Kenny Rankin - Silver Morning

Here’s a gift for the holiday - something rare, warm and beautiful. You may have never heard of Kenny Rankin - he was never a top ten artist, he garnered little airplay, and he barely penetrated public consciousness. However, if you were among those lucky enough to have discovered this artist of uncommon gifts during his heyday in the 1970’s, (although his career stretched from the mid-60’s to ’07) you were given a mighty respite from tumultuous times. Kenny Rankin’s magic was very simple for me. His music evokes a state of calm. His voice is a magnificent instrument of sooth and healing, and his music is inviting and approachable. My favorite album by Kenny is 1974’s wondrous Silver Morning, because it so beautifully balances his own compositions with world class covers and exudes the gauzy comfort of happier times. While clearly of another time, there is paradoxically, a timeless quality about this album. It always seems to make emotional sense.

Kenny Rankin’s greatest gift was his angelic voice. One of the great interpreters of song in the rock era, his versions of Beatles songs endeared him greatly to the authors, with his version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” being played at George Harrison’s memorial service. On Silver Morning he takes on both “Blackbird” and “Penny Lane” to amazing effect, turning them into patented jazzy vocal swingers. He reimagines complex arrangements into equally complex different arrangements which replace many instruments with the power of his own voice. But Kenny Rankin did not skimp on musical muscle. The performances are lush and full featuring the cream of 70’s jazz and rock session cats. Rankin has a way of getting inside the most iconic songs’ melodic core and adding his own cool sensibility to it, giving it life outside of its classic original. Take his amazing version of Curtis Mayfield’s undeniable “People Get Ready.” Rankin takes the song to a place of folk-soul bliss, mellower than Mayfield’s, yet with a new sheen of beauty driven by John Sebastian’s beautiful harmonica playing and Rankin’s own nylon-string guitar strumming. Also covered on this album are Baden Powell’s lovely “Berimbau,” Gordon Lightfoot’s “Pussywillows Cattails” and a sublime version of Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”

However, my greatest affection is for the Rankin originals on this album. The title track “Silver Morning” is an orchestral ballad that never fails to lift my spirits. It is the musical equivalent of a warm patch of sunlight on a Persian rug during the dead of winter. It is a welcome and comforting presence in the room. Equally beautiful is “Killed A Cat,” a downbeat memoir of his youth growing up in New York City. And no song on this album has thrilled me more over the years than the exhiliratng “In The Name Of Love.” The first time I heard this song, shortly after getting my first acoustic guitar, I just about lost my mind. This guy was doing everything I could have aspired to accomplish in the cultural open-wound that was the early 1970’s; he played like a demon (Dylan had used him on some mid-60’s sessions), he had a voice that was like mercury coated with honey: controlled yet liquid, and his arranging sensibilities were both honoring the past and totally forward-looking. This song was really something, and it still feels that way when I listen to it 43 years later. Nothing else is quite like this, and very few albums have had such a consistently tranquil effect on my psyche as Silver Morning has. Need a remedy for today’s political nightmare? Take Kenny Rankin and call me in the morning.

-         Paul Epstein

Several Species of Small Furry Thoughts

George Harrison – Early Takes Volume 1

I loved the Martin Scorcese PBS special Living In The Material World and I assumed this was going to be kind of a soundtrack to the movie with hits, a couple of rarities, maybe some annoying snippets of talking from the movie. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Early Takes Volume 1 is an enormously important piece of the George Harrison puzzle. With years and reflection time has proven George to be as important a Beatle as John and Paul with his understated and underestimated guitar work and more than few of the Beatles’ greatest songs bearing his name as the author. Early Takes collects songs from throughout his post-Beatles career (frustratingly devoid of meaningful liner notes, so pinpointing who is playing and when is almost impossible) and presents them as stripped down demo versions. These are not throwaways however. Each song captures a warm intimate moment with Harrison giving his all to the performance. His vocals are passionate and lend added depth to classic songs like “Run of the Mill,” I’d Have You Anytime” or “Behind That Locked Door” from his epic All Things Must Pass album. Removed from the context of Phil Spector’s overbearing production, these songs share a poetic fluidity and direct emotional resonance with Dylan’s work of the period. Speaking of the bard, there is a solo take of “Mama You Been On My Mind” which George co-wrote with Dylan. It is followed by a touching version of The Everly Brothers’ weeper “Let it Be Me,” which clearly had a special place in George’s heart. I found this collection to be completely wonderful to listen to and an essential part of my understanding of the quiet Beatle. The Volume 1 part gives me great hope that there might be more of the same.

O’Brien Party Of 7 – Reincarnation: The Songs Of Roger Miller

What O’Brien’s you ask? Why our very own O’Briens. Musical siblings Tim and Mollie O’Brien bring along various husbands and children and take on one of America’s greatest songwriters, Roger Miller. When I looked over the songs the first thing I noticed was, with the exception of “King Of The Road,” these were not Roger Miller’s most famous songs. That’s good, because Miller wrote so many fantastic songs, people need to be exposed to more than “Chug-a-lug” and  “Dang Me.” Miller’s greatest talent was never being predictable. He never wrote a line that went the way you expected it to go yet he managed to put his finger on as many universal truths as just about any popular songwriter in American history. He was funny and poignant, and often at the same time. The various O’Briens bring the familial warmth and collective talent that the material deserves. Mollie has one of the clearest and most naturally appealing voices in music and Tim has a tremendous ability to make every song his own. His melodic mandolin playing and spot-on arranging abilities never fail. He has done for Roger Miller what he did for Dylan on his Red On Blonde tribute record. Breathing new life into historically important material is a daunting and difficult task, and doing it with such obvious joie de vivre an even taller order, but Colorado’s own O’Briens pull it off beautifully.

Janet Feder – Songs With Words

It’s not a surprise that Janet Feder’s musicianship is stunning - a completely original amalgam of traditional technique and avant-leaning accents. She can be favorably compared to Derek Bailey or John Fahey. It isn’t a surprise that her album Songs With Words is an audiophile’s dream: it is recorded in surround, using the Sonoma Super Audio system. Her albums always sound good, and she is a perfectionist in the live setting as well. It is not a surprise that Songs With Words is a musically powerful work of art; Janet Feder is nothing if not thoughtful and receptive. The surprise comes in her beautifully evocative voice, which is debuted on her new album.  Janet usually inhabits the rarified world of instrumental guitar geniuses with her contemplative, classically informed compositions, but on Songs With Words, she ventures into the vocal realm to great effect. Most startling is her rendition of Dylan’s “Blowing In The Wind” which she takes in new musical directions while keeping the emotional destination intact. What a challenge! Take one of the most recognized and lionized songs in modern music and turn it on its ear, making it your own - a tall order that Ms. Feder pulls off with relaxed aplomb.

Janet’s guitar playing remains a wonder. Her prepared, percussive style is the perfect blend of searching for and then finding home. She explores the outer reaches of sonic possibility yet never loses the thread of melody and beauty. It is so rare to find an artist who achieves this level of technical brilliance on her instrument and can still bring you to your knees with the emotional impact of her performing abilities. Songs With Words does just that: it lifts the mind and then holds the heart in that elevated space.

 - by Paul Epstein