When There Are Two
I’ve been listening to Procul Harum a lot lately. I agreed to do a gig with some friends playing a set of their tunes, I periodically agree to do something like this and then resent the effort I’ve had to put in before coming round again. It’s always worth it to get under the skin of other keyboard players and other writers of music in general. The lyrics in the Procul Harum back catalogue don’t always have the grand, elegant vagueness of A Whiter Shade of Pale and are frequently nautically themed. Which is a bit turd let’s face it. The chord choices and the way the melody weaves through them are constantly interesting and surprising though. Take this tune, A Rum Tale:
It plods along in a fairly sweet diatonic fashion before modulating down a semitone halfway through the chorus, it more or less works too. Then it modulates down a minor third for it’s grand middle section. The whole thing is a masterclass in what not to do but it works. These are the things that thrill me.
Pilgrim’s Progress is another favourite:
I’ve always enjoyed Matthew Fisher’s “Bach for Beginners” organ style, it’s not difficult to play but it’s beautifully executed and weaves through the chord changes thoughtfully. This style of playing is a more interesting alternative to organists just playing solid chords through tunes and it’s an option you only have in quieter bands.
The thing that actually is difficult about recreating Procul Harum’s music is the fact that they are very much a two keyboard band. Whenever I’ve played their stuff I’ve been on my own and some kind of compromise gets made. It’s set me off thinking of the fact that I’ve always loved bands where piano and organ duties are handled by independent players. It takes responsible guitar playing to allow room for this to happen but it’s always worth it with the right line-up. The immediate example that springs to mind is the Band, they always nailed it.
It works in this instance because Richard Manuel always sticks to driving rock and roll rhythm piano playing, there’s never a piano run to drag your ears away from Garth’s improvisations on the organ. It always struck me that the Band were in awe of Garth’s musicianship, maybe Richard was especially so and that led to him being a disciplined back up player. It really worked anyway, we all know that.
One of the greatest bands I’ve ever heard sported this two keyboard line-up, Full Tilt Boogie. They were best known for their singer Janis Joplin, who I’m sure you know died before they really got going. She didn’t make it to the end of recording the album which everybody knows as Pearl. It’s an almost painfully short album to me, a lot of 60s albums are short but on this one the knowing it’s all I get to hear of this line-up really nails it in. There’s no restraint from anyone, everybody is showing what they can do and it’s considerable. There was hardly any live footage as the band’s life was cut short with their singer’s. This is at should be, my heart sinks a little whenever I see the bands who’ve lost an iconic lead singer limping on with substitutes. You can see them in the fantastic Festival Express documentary from 2003. Also as always you can count on Dick Cavett as an archivist of the era, he really delivered on this one getting Janis and the band in two months before her death.
More Truth from My Boss
You might not agree with everything he says but I think Liam nailed it this week when he disparaged the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I doubt he gave much forethought to it but that’s why you get the truth. I can rant about them knowing I’ll never be invited but Liam has had a go at them after hearing about his nomination, it’s very on brand but a lot of people soften in their punk attitude when the accolades start coming their own way. I hate the fact that musicians turn up in shitty suits and sit at tables and applaud each other politely for achievements like a bunch of sales reps in Milton Keynes. We don’t get into this industry for all that shit, our day to day job is a series of nights out so the idea that everyone needs a night out is redundant. Getting together for the crappest night of the year with a load of corporate sponsorship, tuxedos and slick, career spanning, souless medleys played by polished session automatons under Cirque de Soleil lights is an insult to the thing we do. Sure there are some good moments that end up on youtube afterwards but I’d rather that they just happened in studios or at gigs. There’s always something offensive about who the organisation leaves out and who they let in. Leave the awards ceremonies to accountants, software engineers, hairdressers, solicitors and marketing strategists. Honour musicians by buying albums and going to gigs. Fuck the Hall of Fame. Fuck the Brits. Fuck Knighthoods too but that’s another story.