Although unimpressed with Janis Joplin’s backing band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, at the Monterey Pop Festival, he recognizes the lead singer’s giftedness: “Her voice was a sawtooth blade that cut through the smoke and boredom.” He is brutally honest about the emotional obstacles he faced as a young performer: “One reaches the point where the nerves are trying to climb up through the skin and escape the body. I enjoyed these transitions and found that they did not distract from the story-at-hand, but others may feel differently. Instead, Webb juts back and forth between specific events that occurred during his drug-hazed, skirt-chasing and hit-making years and his humble childhood. It is not, however, written in chronological order. ‘The Cake and the Rain’ is ultimately a beautiful timepiece which commemorates the late 1960s and early 1970s. When he first meets singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, who would end up recording ‘Galveston,’ ‘By The Time I Get to Phoenix’ and ‘Wichita Lineman,’ Campbell zeroes in on the songwriter’s mane of hair and asks curtly when Webb is planning to get a haircut. In the early stages of his career, he pours his energies into fast cars and married women. Yes, Webb is thorough and has an excellent memory for details, but moreover, his use of language and imagery is unique, whether recalling his humble childhood in Oklahoma, his up and down relationship with his father or the loss of his mother. What I mean is that you’ll get much more than the Five Ws answered here. True, if one was not familiar with these characters, the stories might fall flat-it’s hard to say, but I believe Webb gives enough background and detail to even please the unaware. ![]() ![]() What also kept me on the page was his reactions to the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Connie Stevens and more. Simon has had a momentous year: He completed what he has said will be his final tour, was the subject of a major biography ( Paul Simon: The Life by Robert Hilburn) and delivered his 14th studio album-a gem that solidifies his status as a bold, striving, wholly unique tunesmith.In Webb’s first book, ‘Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting’, the songwriter demystified the craft but, in his memoir, we see the stories behind his greatest songs as well as his youthful rise to success. He zigs and zigs while other composers lazily zag. This album is a powerful reminder that Simon often eschews easy-flowing, rhyming lyrics in favor of songcraft that is more musically intricate and intellectually stimulating. ![]() Pleasant surprises abound throughout the album: Marsalis contributes to the New Orleans flavor of “Pigs, Sheep And Wolves,” Lovano adds improvised lines to a jazz rendition of “Some Folks’ Lives Roll Easy” and Simon pursues a blues-inflected aesthetic on “One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor.” On 1980’s One Trick Pony, Eric Gale’s nylon-string guitar is a striking feature of “How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns” on this new arrangement, Marsalis’ muted trumpet takes the spotlight, injecting a poignant mood. ![]() On the arrangement of “Can’t Run But” on In The Blue Light, Simon is backed by the classical ensemble yMusic, giving the song a significantly different vibe. On Simon’s 1990 album, The Rhythm Of The Saints, the song “Can’t Run But” features talking drums, the Brazilian instrumental group Uakti and sly guitar work by J.J. On this collection of 10 tunes that Simon previously recorded between 19, the singer offers new studio renditions that recast the material with fresh arrangements, and in some cases, different lyrics. On his new album, In The Blue Light, some of those intriguing textures are provided by esteemed jazz musicians: trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Printup, saxophonists Joe Lovano and Walter Blanding, guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist John Patitucci and drummers Jack DeJohnette, Steve Gadd and Nate Smith. Over the course of his storied career, Paul Simon, 76, has explored sonic textures in a way that has marked him as more artistically adventurous than many rock singer-songwriters of his generation.
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