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| Track list: 1. So What 2. The Gentle Rain 3. All Clear 4. Ode To A Kudu 5. Somewhere In The East 6. All Clear (Alternate Take) 7. Ode To A Kudu (Alternate Take) 8. Somewhere In The East (Alternate Take) Running time: 54 minutes Released: 1971 |
What to say about this one? Well, it was part of the big box of 25 classic jazz albums that already spawned one of the first few posts on these pages.
For some reason I have long laboured under the misconception that George Benson played Matt 'Guitar' Murphy in The Blues Brothers (soundtrack listen here) but, true to form with the other band members in that film, that was... Matt Murphy. I don't, therefore, have any real frame of reference for Benson, so the introduction on this boils down to: almost an hour long in runtime, but actually only half that because of the repetition. First impressions, therefore, aren't that positive. Lets see what actual exposure makes of it.
We start, surprisingly with a bass/drums combo that reminds me of something specific that is on the tips of my fingers but not coming to mind; doh! Look at the track name. I was expecting it to be all straight in with the guitar lead. That takes a bit longer to show up, and arguably is secondary to the structure and even the melody provided by some form of organ for the first couple of minutes. Frankly this is a really poor rendition of So What, but then anything would be. Miles Davis' piece is a masterwork; Benson's interpretation is a mugging. The majesty of the piece simply goes missing without the understatement of the original arrangement. The soft, perfectly timed interjections. None of that is present here and whilst the strains of the tune come through here and there the overall effect is more muddled and seems to prioritise the wrong things at the wrong time. The classic call/response is murdered by moving it to a fast pinging guitar and a harsh organ blast and the rest just fails to ignite. When if fades out after 9 minutes I am still shaking my head as to how that can happen.
We move onto the only other track that is on this album once. The Gentle Rain is also 9 minutes long, quite possibly also a cover, but at least is not a destruction of something I am familiar with. Its light twangy guitar and faux-tropical rhythms are pretty much a perfect encapsulation of a certain type of cheese and at least this feels like it fits together right. The guitar really is the star here, everything else fitting around it. Alas the mediocre swing and stereotyped approach wear thin before the track is half done, the constancy of the bongos boring its way into my brain in most unwelcome fashion. At least a keyboard comes along to rival the primacy of the guitar but it is all in the same vein and I think this sort of thing was out of style when it first arrived. I wonder to what extent this will be typical of the three repeated tracks; I suspect quite a large one.
I would go so far as to suggest that tracks like this are probably part of the reason that jazz was seriously uncool by the time I was born (the other part being the bonkers interpretation that all jazz is completely improvised atonal sonic mess). Its just so... uninspiring.
All Clear is a little brighter in sound but still unmistakably from the same school. There are no bongos (thank heavens!) and the percussion is less bad cruise movie music as a result, but in their place we have a cheese-laden organ part and some weird applications of strings or other backing sounds. I think these are employed with a similar effect - if not in mind, then in achievement. The whole desert island poolside cocktail bar image, crappy fake floral necklaces and bad Hawaiian shirts. I cannot take this seriously at all, and cannot enjoy it. The guitar is the epitome of playing with itself; and I have to listen to this track again?
I am seriously tempted to stop the listen before the retreads occur, but that would be against the spirit of the exercise; curse my sense of propriety, but who knows, maybe the alternate takes are genius.
Ode to a Kudu at least has the good sense to be short. It is a much softer number, more like a background hum to a quiet clinch, when the rest of the world ceases to matter for a few moments and almost fades out. Not that I would remember what that actually feels like. This track is bearable though and has a cadence that is remarkably pleasant given everything that I have typed in this post to date. Then it is past.
Oh no, the bongos are back evoking less of the east and more of Africa. A squirty, skew-whiff guitar is layered on top. It is a really odd combination that simply doesn't work. I think the worst offenders on these tracks are, in no sort of order, the bongo, the harshness of the organ sound, and the unnaturally bright sparkly air to the guitar. It's all too... clean and shiny. It just re-enforces that non-stick music for hallways, hangouts and elevators feel. There is nothing with any edge to get caught on. No roughness to rub up against - it all just slides right off, all sounding similar and leaving me feeling as though it only exists to fill time.
Time - today has been an odd one. Family time, solo time, time-rewinding magical girl time (Life is Strange starts... interestingly. Not sold on it story-wise yet as it reinforces a lot of my distaste for American High School stories, but characterisation has been improving and the central conceit is interesting enough). Now I feel like my life is on repeat as the alternate takes begin. I think All Clear is less objectionable second time around, but I still sense this is music for people who don't like music. I think I got that phrase from a friend who is no more who used it more pejoratively than is my intent here. I simply mean that it is so bland that there can be no objection, and so it must be perfect for soundtracking fondue parties with bad porn mustaches and flared suits. A child of its time, but perhaps out of step even then.
Yes, I'm talking out of my behind here, but crafting ridiculously stereotyped images of the reception of this disc in the 70s beats actually trying to describe the same things over again as reprises emerge from my speakers. To be fair, I think the alternate takes are better than the originals, significantly so. Almost listenably so. I may even like the redone Ode to a Kudu despite the extra minute added to its length. The guitar is still too spangly and self-congratulating but the subtleties of the percussion and strings in the background are handled really nicely and they draw my ear away from the central theme enough to appreciate the track.
The same cannot be said for Somewhere in the East. If anything the guitar feels more out of place here than before and, unforgivably, the track now pushes towards 10 minutes. Repeated organ chords join the hand-drums in providing elements that build up to my annoyance and everything that was wrong with the initial take of this track seems recaptured here in the only way that could move it from so plain it is bland to just plain bad. It is safe to say I am relieved as the piece finally reaches the (ghastly) conclusion it builds towards and the disc ends. Not a good one, this.
We start, surprisingly with a bass/drums combo that reminds me of something specific that is on the tips of my fingers but not coming to mind; doh! Look at the track name. I was expecting it to be all straight in with the guitar lead. That takes a bit longer to show up, and arguably is secondary to the structure and even the melody provided by some form of organ for the first couple of minutes. Frankly this is a really poor rendition of So What, but then anything would be. Miles Davis' piece is a masterwork; Benson's interpretation is a mugging. The majesty of the piece simply goes missing without the understatement of the original arrangement. The soft, perfectly timed interjections. None of that is present here and whilst the strains of the tune come through here and there the overall effect is more muddled and seems to prioritise the wrong things at the wrong time. The classic call/response is murdered by moving it to a fast pinging guitar and a harsh organ blast and the rest just fails to ignite. When if fades out after 9 minutes I am still shaking my head as to how that can happen.
We move onto the only other track that is on this album once. The Gentle Rain is also 9 minutes long, quite possibly also a cover, but at least is not a destruction of something I am familiar with. Its light twangy guitar and faux-tropical rhythms are pretty much a perfect encapsulation of a certain type of cheese and at least this feels like it fits together right. The guitar really is the star here, everything else fitting around it. Alas the mediocre swing and stereotyped approach wear thin before the track is half done, the constancy of the bongos boring its way into my brain in most unwelcome fashion. At least a keyboard comes along to rival the primacy of the guitar but it is all in the same vein and I think this sort of thing was out of style when it first arrived. I wonder to what extent this will be typical of the three repeated tracks; I suspect quite a large one.
I would go so far as to suggest that tracks like this are probably part of the reason that jazz was seriously uncool by the time I was born (the other part being the bonkers interpretation that all jazz is completely improvised atonal sonic mess). Its just so... uninspiring.
All Clear is a little brighter in sound but still unmistakably from the same school. There are no bongos (thank heavens!) and the percussion is less bad cruise movie music as a result, but in their place we have a cheese-laden organ part and some weird applications of strings or other backing sounds. I think these are employed with a similar effect - if not in mind, then in achievement. The whole desert island poolside cocktail bar image, crappy fake floral necklaces and bad Hawaiian shirts. I cannot take this seriously at all, and cannot enjoy it. The guitar is the epitome of playing with itself; and I have to listen to this track again?
I am seriously tempted to stop the listen before the retreads occur, but that would be against the spirit of the exercise; curse my sense of propriety, but who knows, maybe the alternate takes are genius.
Ode to a Kudu at least has the good sense to be short. It is a much softer number, more like a background hum to a quiet clinch, when the rest of the world ceases to matter for a few moments and almost fades out. Not that I would remember what that actually feels like. This track is bearable though and has a cadence that is remarkably pleasant given everything that I have typed in this post to date. Then it is past.
Oh no, the bongos are back evoking less of the east and more of Africa. A squirty, skew-whiff guitar is layered on top. It is a really odd combination that simply doesn't work. I think the worst offenders on these tracks are, in no sort of order, the bongo, the harshness of the organ sound, and the unnaturally bright sparkly air to the guitar. It's all too... clean and shiny. It just re-enforces that non-stick music for hallways, hangouts and elevators feel. There is nothing with any edge to get caught on. No roughness to rub up against - it all just slides right off, all sounding similar and leaving me feeling as though it only exists to fill time.
Time - today has been an odd one. Family time, solo time, time-rewinding magical girl time (Life is Strange starts... interestingly. Not sold on it story-wise yet as it reinforces a lot of my distaste for American High School stories, but characterisation has been improving and the central conceit is interesting enough). Now I feel like my life is on repeat as the alternate takes begin. I think All Clear is less objectionable second time around, but I still sense this is music for people who don't like music. I think I got that phrase from a friend who is no more who used it more pejoratively than is my intent here. I simply mean that it is so bland that there can be no objection, and so it must be perfect for soundtracking fondue parties with bad porn mustaches and flared suits. A child of its time, but perhaps out of step even then.
Yes, I'm talking out of my behind here, but crafting ridiculously stereotyped images of the reception of this disc in the 70s beats actually trying to describe the same things over again as reprises emerge from my speakers. To be fair, I think the alternate takes are better than the originals, significantly so. Almost listenably so. I may even like the redone Ode to a Kudu despite the extra minute added to its length. The guitar is still too spangly and self-congratulating but the subtleties of the percussion and strings in the background are handled really nicely and they draw my ear away from the central theme enough to appreciate the track.
The same cannot be said for Somewhere in the East. If anything the guitar feels more out of place here than before and, unforgivably, the track now pushes towards 10 minutes. Repeated organ chords join the hand-drums in providing elements that build up to my annoyance and everything that was wrong with the initial take of this track seems recaptured here in the only way that could move it from so plain it is bland to just plain bad. It is safe to say I am relieved as the piece finally reaches the (ghastly) conclusion it builds towards and the disc ends. Not a good one, this.
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