jefferson street
Aug-21-2004, 06:38 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
 | so now we are on to the last S&G album. a great one. it sits at my number 2, but sometimes takes third to P,S,R&T. ´Song For The Asking´ is a short song, but none the less beautiful. it is one of my favorite S&G songs. to be honest, i actually like the demo version of Bridge Over Toubled Water more (without the third verse). it is more accessable, to me. ´So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright´ is also an incredibly wonderful song. the guitar playing on this song is genius. i also heard an interesting thought that it was a symbolic goodbye to Artie, as Artie wanted to be an achitect (sp?). The Boxer is another song that i have always loved and the story behind it that i read on http://www.thedreamerofmusic.com gave me even more appreciation for the song. one of my other favorite songs from S&G is ´The Only Living Boy In New York´. what a beautiful song! i could listen to it over and over again. this is a great album and a good one to close the curtains to for this incredible duo.
i am very interested and excited to hear all of your thoughts on this very different and wonderful album.
Track Listing:
Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa
Cecilia
Keep The Customer Satisfied
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
The Boxer
Baby Driver
The only living Boy in New York
Why don´t you Write me
Bye Bye Love
Song for the Asking |
Robinsonsmywmn
Aug-21-2004, 06:53 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| Bravo!! well said Jefferson street! I shall say that this album is one of a kind Art pulls "Bridge" off great."El Condor Pasa"One of my favorites I don´t get it,but it is interesting to listen to. "Cecilia" and "Keep the customer.." are both great tunes to tap your fingers to.Ahh "Baby Driver" what a great fast tune to sing to,(no one can pull off the harmonizing part like Artie and Paul!! S&G do a great version of "Bye, Bye, Love". Well what else can I say? This is my opinions, and views of this wonderful masterpiece of an album.Hope you enjoy them, Thanks! |
Micky
Aug-23-2004, 00:34 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| Wow! I almost missed this one...lol
Where would I put this one? Probably about # 2 or 3. This was the first record I heard that was written by Paul and performed by S&G. I can see myself now, aged about 5 or 6. Sat on the sofa with my 2 year Old sister, listening to BOTW playing on the record player.
It´s funny because this was a memory that had faded into the depths of my mind, hidden away somewhere in a little room waiting to pop out. Then, when I was about 16 or 17, I heard it again. Oh I´d heard some of the better known tracks like ´Bridge...´ and ´The Boxer.´ But songs like ´The Only Living Boy In New York´ wasn´t played on the radio, nor was ´Song For The Asking.´ As they played I suddenly felt I´d heard these before, but how and where was unclear, until that is mum spoke up. "We had the album and we also had their Greatest Hits album," she said. Bang! I was back in our front room, aged 5 or 6, sat on the sofa intrigued by these wondrous sounds emanating from the speakers of our simple stereo.
So on that score it would have to be #2, because of the nostalgia value.
Of course as a 5 or 6 year old I had no idea of how difficult this album was to put together. All the problems with Artie not being in the studio when the bosses started banging on the door asking where it was and what was the delay.
Since finding out such info I can almost feel the tension in the album. And this is exacerbated by the fact that Paul sings alone in a number of the songs, doubling his own vocals to try and re-create that sound.
Somehow the album doesn´t have the wholeness of Bookends, or the other previous albums, because of the fact that Artie wasn´t always there. And when he was there, there was huge tension between them both.
And yet it is very obvious just how much Paul loved and cared for Artie when you listen to two of my favourite songs on the album.
´The Only Living Boy In New York,´ is so beautiful, one of Paul´s best of that time, imo. It´s a wonderful good luck song to a dear friend, who he is (at this point) obviously missing.
´Song For The Asking´ is again a beautiful song and stands side by side with TOLBINY imo. It´s almost a platonic Love song. I almost get the feeling Paul´s saying "come back home, and I´ll do all these things for you because I love you and I need you back home. I´m missing you like hell....I´ll change just for you! Just come home!...Please!
Artie´s voice on ´Bridge...´ goes without saying, it´s a beautiful song and needs nothing more than that saying.
But saying that, I do love Paul´s versions of Bridge better because he takes the song back to where he intended and gives it a grittiness lost in the album version. After all, the lushness was all Artie and Roy and not Paul.
´El Condor Pasa,´ is another one of those songs I remember from childhood. But it was also played a lot on the radio. I believe Paul´s first outing into the realms of world music and a really great one. It kind of reminds me of ´50 ways...´ because it the kind of rhyming song you could teach a child. It´s a bit of fun that doesn´t need to make sense.
´The Boxer´ makes me think of my time in Germany, much like Kathy´s Song. I can see myself looking out through the rain drenched window of the living room and S&G playing through the headphones....blisss!
´Why Don´t You Write Me,´ is another of those songs aimed at Artie and "Where the hell are you?" kind of thing...lol. It is also noted, by Paul himself, as a little embarrassing because it was his first (failed) attempt at Reggae. I personally like it as it´s a bit of fun and enjoyable to listen to. I love the way Paul uses his voice, he sounds very different at times.
´Cecillia,´ I think is one of the few occasions Paul & Artie enjoyed themselves during the making of BOTW. Sitting in the living room of a rented house in California, with Eddie (Paul´s brother) just making sounds on what ever they could get a hold of. Eddie played the piano stool...lol Somewhere along the line a guitar with it´s strings loosened was also played. A great bit of fluff!
I could be here all night doing this lol!
All in all it´s a great album, but not as whole as Bookends IMO...and I think that´s more of a personnel issue that actual fact. I´ve heard and read so many interviews about the making of BOTW that it´s imprinted on my brain and so I know of the stresses and the strains of it´s creation. It´s a shame they went through so much to produce this excellent album.
Well that´s it...
Hugs
Me
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