Initials BB

Well, sorry but it's true. If you're beautiful, stylish, and charismatic, you can have a crap voice and still be a pop star. What's more, you might even convince good songwriters to create vehicles upon which to build your mystique. And years later, many might look back fondly at the era you accidentally helped define. C'est la vie.

Brigitte Bardot — Une Histoire de Plage

Brigitte Bardot — A La Fin de L'été

Takin' a Stan

One Stanley deserves another. And another dark corner of the room, long exhalations, etc. Another way to fabricate the small hours. I see no reason to pick up the pace today. And I will make every attempt to burrow into these piano chords.

Stan Tracey Quartet - Starless And Bible Black

Blues run the game

Here's one from the "busted luck folk singer" files. From being badly burned in a classroom fire to a subsequent life of depression, despair, and poverty, Jackson Frank seemed to have had enough sorrows to fill a vast catalog. Instead, he made a hauntingly pretty debut (songs later covered by folkies and non-folkies, apparently) and that's about it. From the comfortable vantage point of the listener, that's all there needs to be. I'm sure, however, that his life would've been a lot better had he been a more prolific man. Sad sad sad.

Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game

Peanuts plus

Wouldn't you know it — Songblague turns 2 years old and I'm not even around to mark the occasion. I'd say it at least warrants taking a little listen back to SB's first day on planet Internet. It's an intro tune I'm still quite pleased with.

I guess now that I'm toddling, I may as well tap into some happy childhood memories. Borrowed memories of course, since I wasn't much of a presence in 1965, when the world swooned to the jazzy pep of the Peanuts' Christmas antics. But I found a nice rip of the album (with a great helping of vinyl crackle intact) around the holidays, and have continued to be charmed by it. Especially this seminal track, which pulls off the unique trick of sounding like something appropriate for both children around the fire and drunk Santas about to collapse at the bar right around last call.

Vince Guaraldi - Christmastime Is Here

And a little 2fer Tuesday to remind you that Vince Guaraldi had some grown-up gems too. Here's something Charlie Brown and Linus might've been listening to as they celebrated the procurement of their first dimebag. I'm sure Snoopy was there too.

Vince Guaraldi - Oaxaca

Vibin'

Wow, has there really been no jazz up in this space so far?! Let's get to remedying that. This one comes from that special mid-'60s transitional period that was all too short-lived. As much as I love the freeprov that began happening around this time, Hutcherson was really good at speaking the language of bop while artfully seeking ways to push it into new territory. And that tension is really the thing. Many musicians honestly don't have the vision and discipline to handle total freedom. Some critics say that when everything's possible, nothing means anything. I don't quite believe that, but forms and limitations certainly do a lot to spur creativity. Can't have solutions without problems.

Meanwhile, I really like the mental picture of New York circa 1965 that this track evokes. Mainstream jazz was art; guys like Bobby Hutcherson got regular paying gigs, and even the rascals wore suits.

Bobby Hutcherson - Components