WSPC'S LINER NOTES-MAY 2013: SIDE THREE

Open your virtual gatefold one more time, dear listeners and cue up your copy of the classic track "Glad" from Traffic's "John Barleycorn Must Die" (released August 1, 1970) and let SIDE THREE of our celebrations begin.

SIDE THREE

TRACK 1: "GLAD REDUX"
May 12, 2013 is a day filled with celebrations as I must pay proper homage to the life and musical wonderment of singer, songwriter, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood, a fixture throughout my life and will remain so for the remainder of my life. I wish him a wondrous 65th birthday on this date.

While Winwood has always been a reticent and unassuming figure for his nearly 50 years in the music industry,  but his extraordinary skills are unquestionable. I do not know what it is about the Summer season that brings Steve Winwood to me over and again but there is something about those hot, languid days when merged with the sound of Winwood's thick, soulful voice and rich musicianship that is symbiotic as its most perfect.

My Middle School years were augmented with my introduction to his legacy through his teenage vocals and organ work with The Spencer Davis Group as well as his stint with the short lived "supergroup" Blind Faith, which also featured Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Ric Grerch. Their sole album "Blind Faith" (released August 1969), featured Winwood composed classics like "Had To Cry Today," "Can't Find My Way Home" and the amazing "Sea Of Joy," which are some of the finest representations of that musical period as well as being timeless works. And then, music was graced with "Arc Of A Diver" (released December 31, 1980), on which Winwood sang and played every note of music himself, and whose spiritual grace and rhythmic grit has sustained me ever since.

High School gave me both "Talking Back To The Night" (released August 2, 1982) and "Back In The High Life" (released June 1986) and that first summer after my Freshman year of college gave me "Roll With It" (June 21, 1988) an album of sweaty soul which was completely synonymous with that drought summer and the equally sweaty act of riding un-air-conditioned CTA buses and trains from my home to downtown Chicago summer employment at a Ticketmaster call center.

As with so much music, I am travelling backwards as I age and ever since those years, my favorite Winwood material has arrived through the music of his band Traffic, a group who effortlessly combined psychedelia, jazz, rock, folk, soul ad funk into its own inimitable sonic brew. I cannot urge you enough to seek out albums like "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" (released November 1971), "Shootout At The Fantasy Factory" (released February 1973), "When The Eagle Flies" (1974) and of course, the aforementioned "John Barleycorn Must Die."

  

Perhaps the equal of those albums is Winwood's solo debut "Steve Winwood" (released June 1977) which found me just four years ago and its warm, extended tracks carry me through the season majestically.

Long, so long has he run and long may he continue to do so. Bless you, Steve Winwood.

TRACK 2: "THE BRAZILIAN"
This date saw the birthday of Brazilian singer/songstress Bebel Gilberto as she celebrates her 47th year.

The daughter of Joao Gilberto, known to many as a pioneer of Bossa Nova, Bebel Gilberto has made a terrific mark of her own. I highly recommend her self titled second album "Bebel Gilberto" (released January 1, 2003), which merges elements of electronica, lounge, jazz and Bossa Nova into an irresistible and sultry mix that is tailor made for long summer days and nights. Happy Birthday to her!

TRACK 3: "JUST SAY YES"

Believe it or not this date also saw the 63rd birthday of Billy Squier, and my pre-teen years would have been completely different if I had not been obsessed with his album "Don't Say No" (released April 13, 1981), which was then followed by its equal "Emotions In Motion" (released July 23, 1982).  

  

Like many of you, the first song I ever heard from him was indeed "The Stroke" and I was completely convinced that it was a new song by Queen. After learning the true identity of the artist for that song, i purchased that album and played it ad nauseum throughout my 12 year old summer, bashing on my drums all along the way to high powered tracks like "Lonely Is The Night," My Kinda Lover," Too Daze Gone" and "In The Dark." He is an artist that I sometimes have to recall from my deep mental jukebox, but when I do I am so so thankful that he was there at that time of my life.

TRACK 4: "DOUBLE SHOT OF THE GLIMMER TWINS"
If I am ever asked if I am a "Beatles person" or a "Stones person," I will always, always, always honor my treasured Fab Four above all else. That is not to say that i do not have my love for The Rolling Stones though, a love that is admittedly a difficult feat to maintain when they embark upon yet another money grab mega tour. When i need to be reminded of their musical worth and outstanding legacy, I don't have to look much further than their classic double album, "Exile On Main Street," which was also released on this date, May 12, 1972.

I am not certain what I can say about this album that has not already been said but it is indeed everything you have ever heard about it, if you have not heard it for yourselves. Raw, ragged, rough and ready, "Exile On Main Street" represents The Rolling Stones in the midst of an artistic peak as they made one great album after another. To my ears, the band has never re-matched this particular era of their careers as a functioning unit, as commerce has easily outweighed creativity. but, this site is a place of celebration and this album deserves every bit of celebration it has received and will continue to receive.   

And now...the virtual gatefold closes once again...until next time!