Dispatches from Suburbia

If I played an instrument, I would have a band called "The Simon Thomsen Sex Tape"; and other musings, rants, and disconnected ramblings.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

From my CD Collection



Quote of the Day: "He freely gave to charity/ And had that common touch/ They were grateful for his patronage/ And thanked him very much/ So my mind was filled with wonder/ When the evenin' headlines read/ That Richard Cory went home last night/ And put a bullet through his head."

-"Richard Cory"
There are certain aspects of this world that we all know and have adopted as universal truths. For example, we know that the earth is flat. We also know that sodium and chloride combine to make salt. And, of course, one of my favorite universal truths: Everybody loves Van Morrison. Nobody can honestly say that they don't enjoy "Brown Eye Girl." It's physically impossible, just like falling off the edge of the earth.

My favorite work of his comes from his first band Them. It was with Them that Morrison originally recorded the classic "Gloria." Them also recorded a fantastic version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Their version of the song was later sampled in the Beck song "Jackass" on the very likeable album Odelay).

Them does not have a very wide catalogue of music, which means that everything they've recorded can be found on the 2-disc Them anthology The Story of Them. The charm of this bands music comes from the fact that, as artists, it is fairly apparent that they do not take themselves quite seriously. They have a garage band feel to their music (albeit, an excellent garage band). Of course, Van Morrison went on to become a huge success with "Brown Eye Girl," but I recommend checking him out as a real rocker. The Story of Them is a fine, affordable anthology and one of the best jam CD's I have. It's up there with The Who Live at Leeds and the Rolling Stones and Ry Cooder's Jamming With Edward, another fun album worth picking up.

8 Comments:

At 3:16 PM, Blogger ZZZZZZZ said...

I love singing brown eyed girl in the car! When I was in high school they played it at all the dances and everyone would make up their own silly dance. good times!

 
At 8:23 PM, Blogger Erik Donald France said...

Simon, seems like we love a lot of the same music. Van is very cool, indeed. Them, too. His father lived in Metro Detroit for a while, same place as Patti Smith did (St Clair Shores). Wherever he transports himself when singing, I'd love to go there, too! Astral Weeks. . . . .

 
At 2:33 AM, Blogger Drizel said...

That so true, everybody knows brown eyed girl...Yes legends will be legends.
Ps: I had the song sang to me once, doh....whahaha....yip I have brown eyes...aaarrrggg....;-)

 
At 3:00 AM, Blogger ShadowFalcon said...

I love the Song Gloria, always reminds me of the outsiders...

 
At 7:24 AM, Blogger Danny Tagalog said...

Good call! I've never ventured beyond Brown Eyed Girl - not even listened to Astral Weeks - will remedy this a.s.a.p....

 
At 1:31 PM, Blogger JR's Thumbprints said...

I agree! Who doesn't like Van Morrison. Also, you posted about Neil Young, another favorite of mine. However, Young isn't well liked by all. Do you think maybe it's because of some of his lyrics or change in musical styles?

 
At 3:28 PM, Blogger Bird on a Wire said...

J.R.-
Young does stray from convention, which isn't always very easy to swallow, and his lyrics can be strange to say the least. Still, I think he rocks.

 
At 10:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good words.

 

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