Bill Lloyd
Another long overdue post I've been promising you guys. Suffice it to say that Bill Lloyd really hits home with me, for reasons I've explained here. This new album of his enlivened many a car trip this past summer, when I was on the road too much to keep up with blogging. You know how sometimes you're driving and listening to new music and you laugh out loud, it's so good? That was the scenario this past summer with me and Boy King of Tokyo. The fact that I haven't gotten around to posting about it is just pathetic. Pathetic, I tell you!
Now, I loves me some Foster & Lloyd -- you gotta dig their newest album It's Already Tomorrow -- but what I really love is Bill Lloyd's solo work. It's amazing how different this stuff is from the country-inflected F&L stuff; when Bill gets on his own, it's pure pop for now people. Anyone who knows Set to Pop or Standing on the Shoulders of Giants knows what a music geek Bill is. And as a music geek myself, I feel a kindred spirit.
Which is particularly pertinent for this track:
I love it that this song isn't just about 1960s music, it's about what that music meant to its fans. To us. The visceral response that kicks in, how it "forced you to jump out of your chair / Swing your arms around like a maniac / Learn the guitar / Grow your hair." Dig the syncopation of those last two phrases, the pregnant pauses -- that's what back beat was all about.
Now, if you're listening to this track on my little homemade video here -- well, I don't want to give away the surprise in the middle of the song. So go ahead and listen without reading, until you hit it. Hit what, you may ask? Don't worry -- you'll know. At least you will know if you're of a certain, erm, vintage, the correct vintage for really enjoying this track.
I'll wait while you listen.............
Of course, it begs the question -- is THIS the best record ever made? Probably not. But the fact that I said "probably" is huge. "The Best Record Ever Made" may not topple "Waterloo Sunset" or "And I Love Her" from their lofty positions in my personal rankings, but you know what? It really doesn't want to. Bill Lloyd loves those records just as much as I do. If he didn't, he couldn't do such a damn fine job of keeping their spirit alive.
So go here and buy the album already. Your car trips will appreciate it.
16 comments:
"Best" has powerful seratonin uptake capabilities. I'm the guy with the inexplicable smile in Nashville traffic these days -- either because it came on the iPod, or just because I woke up humming it. Thanks, Bill, for a little nugget of happy.
"Nugget of happy" -- I love it!
Fun. I love the record static sound effect.
Na nanana na nanana na na. Na na na na nana
And (just because it's a personal favorite) Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nanah!!!
Whoops, apparently I should have put "spoiler alert" on my comment. Hopefully people will listen to the song before reading comments.
This post is now stuck in my head. I've been thinking about the many songs which have been written as tributes to music that people grew up loving. It's a little bit like an earworm, and I will resist listing songs.
But one of the of the things that it reminded me of was am introduction from a live recording of Michael Smith performing "I Brought My Father With Me"
*** transcribed ***
When I started playing the guitar my notion of guitar playing at fifteen, being that it was approximately 1957, was this:
[Chuck Berry riff]
I would do this eight or ten hours a day.
[partial riff]
"No"
[partial riff]
"Uh, no"
[partial riff]
My dad would come to my bedroom door and give me this look that only my dad could give me -- which I now see rather frequently in the mirror but at the time -- and he'd go, "Michael . . . Give it a drink."
To this day I've never heard anyone else say, "give it a drink." But I knew what it meant, know what I mean?
****
A lovely image.
That's so delightful, I had to go find it and listen to it. And got lost sampling Michael Smith's music, which is pretty wonderful too...
I don't know that it's online.
The recording I transcribed is from Such Things Are Finely Done: Michael Smith Live at Tales From The Tavern.
Michael Smith is great (I thought for sure I'd recommended Time to you at some point).
Actually, I was probably thinking about it but didn't mention it, when I was thinking of songs about fathers in response to your (very good) post on "Suspension Bridge"
(Oh, yes, I also recommended him to somebody else, here
Anyway, yes, he's great, and I'm very glad that you were listening to him.
)
Holly, is there any chance you'd be willing to share how you create your own videos for your blog? Is it necessary to have a Mac? Thanks in advance.
No mystery or magic to it -- I use Movie Maker for Windows. I have a PC, not a Mac. The process is a little laborious but not too complicated. One catch: you have to get the soundtrack in a non-iTunes format, e.g. Windows Media Player or something else like that. If I'm working from a CD, as in this case, it's not too hard. Then just find photos on the web and you're in business...
I appreciate that, Holly. I'm going to be starting a music blog soon, but find that a lot of the youtube videos are anything but "aesthetically pleasing." This will also ease the concerns about copyright violations. Thanks again.
I'm sorry to bother you with this but I don't know anyone else to ask. Now that I've created a video - how will I upload it to a blog? I don't see an option for adding it to blogger, just youtube, facebook, etc. Thanks so much - promise I won't bother you again. Jen
Easy peasy -- click on the video icon, then click on the Browse button next to the little window -- that'll take you to your own hard drive, from which you can select the video you've made and stored. Hope this helps!
I guess there must be something missing from my movie maker software or I'm just a dummy. I've looked everywhere, but there isn't an option to view and copy the HTML code for insertion on my blog. Thanks for trying to help, Holly. J.
Try saving the video to your hard drive, to a Videos folder. Then you have it available to upload to your blog.
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