Sarah Vaughan//Lullaby Of Birdland

All that indie rock coverage of last week really put me in the mood for some solidly brilliant old timey shit. Enter: Sarah Vaughan.

Here's a controversial statement about Sarah Vaughan that I hold true: I think she's as good as Ella Fitzgerald (who she opened for at The Apollo in 1943, after winning one of their famed amateur nights). Some music fans would probably consider physically harming me for that one, but there it is. Don't get me wrong, she's completely different. But she's definitely as good.

Just listen to that tone. It's deep and rich and dark. While Ella has a smoothness to her voice which is completely unrivaled (and while she would definitely win in a scatting contest), Sarah's got this richness that's all kinds of magical (not to mention that she can also hold her on in scatting, which is evident in this track). Her nickname, "The Divine One," was well-earned.

Vaughan was also from Newark, which is kind of a soft spot for me. I often walk by the street named for her by NJPac on my way from the office to Penn Station. It makes me smile. In fact, as noted on Wikipedia (and verified on my commute):

In 2004-2006, New Jersey Transit paid tribute to Miss Vaughan in the design of its new Newark Light Rail stations. Passengers stopping at any station on this line can read the lyrics to one of her signature songs, "Send in the Clowns", along the edge of the station platform.

There's also the matter of the slew of jazz greats that she freqeuently had behind her, including Dizzie Gillespie, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and Charlie "Bird" Parker. Of course Birdland, the club named after Parker, is the subject of this song.



Lullaby of Birdland.mp3

Lullaby of birdland,
That's what I always hear,
When you sigh.

Dee Dee Warwick//You're No Good

Ok, so Good (Weather) Week, might be turning into Premature April Heat Wave Week and that’s, well, no good. But, what are you gonna do? A month ago, it was snowing.

For a song called “No Good,” this is pretty delightful—double tracked vocals that peak a little in that awesome fuzzy 60s analog sound, that super hot overdriven guitar that comes in about halfway through and one hell of a rhythm section! Ohh, baby. Bestill my heart.

This is another track from the excellent Girl Group Sounds comp, which I discussed a bit back in February. This might come up at least one more time this week. Turns out Girl Groups were really into the word “good.”

Dee Dee Warwick (or Delia Mae Warrick) (and yes, sister of Dionne Warwick and cousin of Whitney Houston) repped for The Bricks back in the 60s and 70s. She started singing in the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ in the late 50s, forming a gospel group with Dionne and another famous relative, Cissy Houston, called The Gospelaires. By the early 60s, she was cutting a solo record for Jubilee Records. By the early 70s, she was on Atlantic. Sadly, Dee Dee died in 2008 at the age of 63 after a long struggle with narcotics addiction.



You're No Good.mp3

I broke a heart
Who’s gentle and true.
I left a boy for someone like you.
I beg his forgiveness on bended knee
But I wouldn’t blame him if he said to me,
You’re no good, you’re no good
Baby, you’re no good.

“Good” is one of those words that grade school teachers make verboten in long formal essays. It’s so unspecific that it can mean everything from morally excellent to high quality to well-behaved to genuine, it’s understandable why this word gets banned. On the other hand, we have not learned our lesson and we will continue to have a Good Week.

Ted Leo//Biomusicology

On Saturday, May 5, 2007, I was with my friend Pat (who now plays in Any Day Parade) and we were seeing Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at Webster Hall. It was an amazing show. Live, Leo rips songs to shreds with what seems to be never-ending energy. He covered (of all things) a Chumbawumba song, and made it sound incredible. He also shouted out Essex County, the county in New Jersey where both Pat and I grew up. We yelled “JERSEY!” back, obviously to show our support.

Even though Leo is a Jersey boy (born in South Bend, Indiana, but grew up in Bloomfield), I didn’t hear him until I was in Michigan. I remember being in my friend Tash’s car with our friend Dan. Dan put this album on and this song started up and I had to stop mid-sentence to ask, “WHO IS THIS?” So good.

There’s something about Ted Leo’s energy and songwriting that hooks you immediately, like somebody grabbing you by the throat, but in a friendly way. In a way that makes you want to say, “hey, I liked how you grabbed me by the throat! Can you do that again?”



Biomusicology.mp3

All in all, we cannot stop singing.
We cannot start sinking.
We swim until it ends.
They may kill and we may be parted
But we will ne'er be broken hearted.

Dionne Warwick//Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Tomorrow morning, WAYYY TOO EARLY, I will be on a plane leaving for San Jose, Costa Rica. I’m going to visit my friend Annie, who has been stewarding this house for the summer. I’ve never been to Costa Rica. In fact, I’ve never been anywhere in Latin America, so I’m totally excited! I’m overdue for an international jaunt.

There’s some good news and some bad news to this. The good news: today we are going to listen to DIONNE WARWICK singing a song written expressly for her by BURT BACHARACH. The bad: there isn’t going to be an OSS post for a full week. I’ll miss you guys.

So obviously, this song it about a very different San Jose, but I think some of the lyrics still apply. Indeed, I may be “going to find/some peace of mind.”

Something of note about Dionne Warwick, besides that when her career was slowing down in the late 90s she decided to become a spokesperson for Psychic Friends Network, is this : she was born just down the road from where I’m sitting right now (The Bricks), in East Orange, NJ. EO!!!! Also interesting is that Warwick made the Top 250 Delinquent Taxpayers List published in October 2007, as she currently owes the government $2,185,908.08 (thanks Wikipedia). Hot damn. I thought I was broke. Maybe she can pay that and the government can start up some kind of Dionne Warwick Stimulus Package. Everybody gets 50 cents and a copy of the “Walk On By” single.

As for Burt Bacharach, he is a supremely cheesy song-writer, but somewhat self-consciously so, which puts him delightfully over on the kitschy side of the cheese-kitsch continuum. There’s some real talent under that kitsch, which you can really hear in this song, which is AWESOME. And damn, I really like those backup vocals! Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah.

And on that note, see you next week.



Do You Know the Way to San Jose?.mp3

ONE LAST (TOTALLY UNRELATED) THING BEFORE I GO: My BFF, Ange, is DJing tonight with Mia from Electrelane at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg. It's going to be sweet, so skip the free RAA show and come there instead to help me decide if it's really worth it to sleep for only three hours pre-flight or if I should just stay up all night instead.

LA is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star.
Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass,
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas.

Silver Jews//People

Before the song of the day, some cool news! We were featured in The Metro today. Neat!

Ok, down to "business":

Oh my god! I know I’m losing cred points as I type this, but Silver Jews were one of those bands that I for some reason hesitated to check out, even after numerous friends constantly told me how much I would adore them.

Reasons they cited:
1. Steve Malkamus! Yeah, they knew how much I loved Pavement
2. Catchy smart 90s indie sound
3. “I love them, you’ll love them”

Reasons they forgot to cite:
1. They’re from New Jersey! Seriously, how did you guys miss this?

Well, another score for friends, I did start loving Silver Jews a few years ago (only 17 years late!). And I do love starting my week off with this song, off their 1998 album, American Water.



People.mp3

Silver Jews just released a new album last month called Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.

People ask people to watch their scotch.
People send people up to the moon.