5th Estate, Delaney & Bonnie, Ray Manzarek on SPUN.COM reviews by Joe Viglione

Ray Manzarek on SPUN.COM
The Golden Scarab
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Ray Manzarek:Golden Scarab [Lemon]NEWPrice: $13.98List Price: $17.98You Save: $4.00

Reviews:More than Full Circle and Other Voices, The Golden Scarab is the best embodiment of the Doors by one of the three surviving members, and it is amazing it wasn't a huge underground smash. With mentions of moonlight drives tightrope rides, titles of past Doors tunes in The Solar Boat, drummer Tony Williams, guitarist Larry Carlton, bassist Jerry Scheff, and producer Bruce Botnick generate an eerie sound behind the singer, creating a title track as mysterious and fun as anything by Morrison and company. With intense rhythms and tons of creativity, Ray Manzarek brings us on a musical journey as unique as The Phantom's Divine Comedy, and if Robbie Krieger brought the commercial element to the Doors' gravy train, it is clear here that the eldest of the quartet had more a hand in the development of the Doors persona than he may have been given credit for. One can't fault Robby Krieger and John Densmore for stretching out with Butts Band, but there is a certain responsibility hit artists should have to their audience. The Bright Midnight releases finally address those concerns, but decades before the opening of the Doors tape vaults, that sound from L.A. Woman was most obvious on {&"The Purpose Of Existence Is?} on this solo effort. Yes, Ray Manzarek veers off into his jazz leanings; given the players on this, how could he not? But he gives enough of a taste of past glories to make The Golden Scarab accessible, spoon feeding his musical styles to those who couldn't get enough of the music he was associated with. It's dramatic and cohesive, making more sense than Jim Morrison much of the time, with more controlled insanity. It is amazing that such a fine work as The Golden Scarab escaped the masses, and shameful that classic hits stations don't add this to their incessant repertoire. Had Jim Morrison lived, this is the path the music of the Doors should have taken. Smooth and demanding of repeated spins. ~ Joe Viglione,
All Music Guide

Carmina Burana
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Ray Manzarek:Carmina Burana

Reviews:
This is a staggeringly different piece of music for those who only know the Ray Manzarek of Light My Fire or L.A. Woman fame. The 1983 collaboration with Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi holds many revelations. As the post-Morrison Doors splintered off into various side projects, Manzarek's notable The Golden Scarab and The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control to the Krieger/Densmore schizophrenic unit known as the Butts Band, as well as guitarist Krieger's jazz-flavored solo discs, the journeymen musicians opened windows beyond the music of the Doors. Carmina Burana's power emerges from the fusion of musical forms, heralded by Manzarek's sincere approach to the project. The liner notes give an explanation of German composer Carl Orff's rediscovery in 1935 of the Medieval poems found in 1803 from 13th century "renegade monks and wandering poets." The modern-day minstrels that Manzarek and Glass are add a contemporary twist to the music Allen Lannon helped bring to America in 1954, when it was first performed on these shores in Boston. There are seven primary musicians who back the chorus, which features ten principal singers conducted by Michael Riseman. The music is intense, evocative, and highly spiritual, with Larry Anderson's drums adding something the rebels from hundreds of years ago would probably be proud of. A four-page pink booklet with Latin and English translations comes with the vinyl LP, and it's all wrapped up in an old-world-meets-new-world setting, including illustration by Hieronymus Bosch, his work previously showing up in rock & roll on Deep Purple's self-titled Tetragrammaton release, itself a pretty heady production. Ray Manzarek's Carmina Burana went out of print after its 1983 vinyl release on A&M, and the artist expressed hope in a January 2002 interview that the music would be re-released on CD. It's too good to remain in the shadows as a cult item, traded on E-Bay or fetching high prices at record shows. It was the popularity of the Doors which gave their keyboard player the opportunity to record such a beautiful and compelling work, and hopefully that significance will lead to these 16 selections finding a wider audience. As an educational tool, it is exquisite; as a listening experience, it is a tremendous addition to the Doors' library. Manzarek's own father liked it, which pleased the artist very much. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

posted by wri at 1:19 PM 0 comments

Delaney & Bonnie Reviews on SPUN.COM by Joe Viglione

The Best Of Delaney & Bonnie
http://www.spun.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=843256Delaney & Bonnie:
Best of Delaney & BonnieAtcoGenre:Album Rock , Blue-Eyed Soul , Blues-Rock , Pop/Rock

Reviews:Bonnie Bramlett released Groupie, the song she co-wrote with Leon Russell, as an Atlantic single in December of 1969. Almost two years later in September of 1971, Karen Carpenter took it to the top of the pop and adult contemporary charts under the name Superstar. It may not have been Bramlett's favorite rendition of one of her songs, but it was phenomenal and deserved success for the talented singer/songwriter beyond her appearances on the TV show Roseanne. Groupie (Superstar) is the highlight of a simply great collection of musical expression by the underrated and abundantly talented duo known simply as Delaney & Bonnie. Goldmine/Discoveries magazine contributor Joe Tortelli is very detailed in his six-page liner notes/track listing to this 18-song compilation. It includes their two Top 20 hits from 1971, Never Ending Song of Love and Only You Know and I Know; the excellent double-sided minor hits Free the People and Soul Shake; three tracks from their Jimmy Miller-produced legendary live Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour With Eric Clapton (and George Harrison); a thrilling rendition of Piece of My Heart tracked two years after Janis Joplin but tipping the hat, no doubt, to Aretha's sister, Emma Franklin, who did it before both these gals -- this best-of basically concentrates on the Elektra, Stax, and Atlantic recordings. The pity here is that this isn't a double CD containing the Leon Russell and Jackie DeShannon tapes released on GNP Crescendo as Genesis, some material from their final album on CBS and maybe a version of Let It Rain, the magnificent song Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote with Eric Clapton for his 1970 solo album produced by Delaney. There are great photographs of the "friends" -- saxophone player Bobby Keyes, horn player Jim Price, bassist Carl Radle, drummer Jim Keltner, and Bobby Whitlock, as well as the singers. This album contains musicianship by all of the above, plus Dave Mason, Gram Parsons, Duane Allman, Alan Estes, and so many others, especially Rita Coolidge, who performed Superstar on Mad Dogs & Englishman -- the world's first taste of lovely Coolidge before she became a hit artist herself a half-dozen or so years later. Hearing Free the People and its revolutionary sound for rock & roll radio, along with Bonnie Bramlett's extraordinarily passionate The Love of My Man, one wonders what it takes to get the world to recognize a diamond this polished. The plethora of name musicians aren't here for show, they are all working their tails off, and the result is a true masterpiece of rock/R&B/pop and blues clocking in at 69:39. The downside is that it really should be twice as long, and they have enough legitimate music -- as stated -- to fill a double CD. For now this is a unique time capsule which lives up to the title "Best Of." ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
posted by wri at 1:15 PM 0 comments

FIFTH ESTATE on SPUN.COM
http://www.spun.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=888278The Fifth Estate:Ding Dong! The Witch Is Back!: The Fifth Estate, 1964-1969NEWPrice: $12.98 Temporarily out of stock. Label:JubileeGenre:BubblegumReviews:In the mid-'60s, Wayne Wadhams performed in a band called the D-Men that evolved into the Fifth Estate. They went Top 15 in 1967 with a novelty remake of the Wizard of Oz tune Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead!. Their only hit on Jubilee Records is very misleading. This group should be as sought after as Moulty & the Barbarians. This is a very generous collection of demos: songs they wrote for the Righteous Brothers and Cilla Black, and covers of Buddy Holly's It's So Easy'' and John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom. This album really goes across the '60s spectrum, which makes it so fun and so unique. The rhythm tracks to I Wanna Shout/Tomorrow Is My Turn sound like the Ventures performing in your living room; the second portion of the song descends into a dirty In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida-type riff. With all the cult fascination for Roky Erickson and the Chocolate Watchband, it is amazing what the 64-plus minutes on this disc reveal, and even more amazing that this music isn't as sought after as so many other bands from that era. A novelty hit, after all, hardly has the lustre of a Standells riff or ? & the Mysterians' organ passages. The unreleased 1966 single How Can I Find the Way sounds like Barbara Harris of the Toys. The liner notes on the back of the CD call this "A real first: the complete recorded output and memoirs of a group who recorded for four labels between 1964 and 1967." The demo for their breakthrough hit, the cover from The Wizard of Oz (as well as the hit version) is here, and when you play that next to Love Isn't Tears Only, their demo for the Righteous Brothers, the abilities of these New Englanders comes totally into focus. It would've been perfect for the Walker Brothers or Tom Jones. The McGregor Clothes jingle is lifted carefully from Chad & Jeremy's 1964 hit Yesterday's Gone. Murray the K even makes an appearance -- a tape from his WINS-AM show recorded in 1964 appears in between songs four and six. Early work by future producers Bill Szymczyk and Phil Ramone are also included; the liner notes by Joe Tortelli are as thorough as his lengthy essay in the Delaney & Bonnie package for Rhino. The 28 tracks, featuring 26 songs, the Murray the K bit, and the clothing jingle would be a good study course in the life of a rock band who hit it big, and all their work that went in between. Wayne Wadhams is a major producer who has worked with jazz act Full Circle on Columbia, among many others. As producer David Foster emerged from the Canadian band Skylark, the history of producer Wadhams compiled here with his Fifth Estate is more than just a good study. As stated, this is a real period piece for collectors of vintage '60s music. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide