Assorted Ravings and Rantings on Music #5

Assorted Ravings and Rantings on Music

Entry #5

"Let Your Light Shine On Me" - Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson is unquestionably one of the greatest slide players of all time, who throws around slide licks as if he was exorcizing demons from the depths of his soul and builds a harsh, cold, painful atmosphere at the very core of its tone. Though, his voice holds just as much weight to me, and this song is one of the finest demonstrations of why he was such an incredible vocalist. While Charley Patton's voice was naturally rough and battered, this track is where you can fully realize that Blind Willie actually had a normal, quite smooth voice, and the first half of the song where he utilizes it is quite beautiful and spiritual in its own right. At 1:34 though, he shifts back to his deep, guttural growl, amplifying the spiritual message of the song as a shelter from the cruelty and pains of the world around him. That's when it becomes clear why Blind Willie's voice strikes so intensely: that voice is not just a gimmick or a theatrical trick. That voice is who he is deep inside, the soul who endured his mother dying when he was young, the soul who endured lye being thrown at his young eyes by his stepmother turning him blind, the soul that endured deep poverty and pain in his life despite his records selling. Anytime he uses that voice, he is pulling out the horrible tragedies and suffering he keeps within and converts it into a bleeding, devastating medium of expression. That's what makes it so seamless during the song when he switches to it because, when it comes in, it is like the shell is removed and we see the true Blind Willie and the true pain and heart of his soul. 

This music isn't scary, it is heartbreaking because it is about real pain, real heart, real soul with no strings attached or theatrical gestures. It is one of the peaks of human expression, period, because that voice is the voice of every one of us who wishes we can pour that much real blood into our communication but fail to do so. This is just why the blues mean so much to me, it's real, deep music to me, not wasting time with trivialities and facing some of the most difficult parts of life head-on and finding ways to deal with it. Relistening to Blind Willie Johnson recently has only served to strengthen my belief in the sheer magnificent power of this artform

Stone Flower - Antonio Carlos Jobim

I think I have somewhat settled my opinions on the dude have been somewhat finalized. Now, I do think the guy was incredibly talented. Most of his tunes are quite beautiful, and his piano playing is wonderfully minimalistic while being both pensive and playful at times. He had a gifted ability to arrange, and albums like Wave demonstrate his ability to really take you someplace else with his beautiful little melodies, guitar lines, and arrangement capacities. Yet, I don't think he is nearly the towering genius he is made out to be, mainly because I think sometimes he borders on becoming easy listening. Now, I am not saying he is easy listening: most of the time, his arranging and melodic senses help him whip out tunes that are emotionally affecting but untrivial, but that problem does exist, which is why he was able to work with guys like Frank Sinatra in the first place.

I'm not trying to denigrate his creativity and I still think Wave is a classic precisely due to the atmosphere that can really carry you away, nice little melodic ideas in each song that stay with me, and the richness of the sound, but Stone Flower already shows his limitations to fully expand on it. He tried to explore new directions in bossanova, and he was successful on a lot of the songs, but he isn't able to find a proper coherent unity to the record, which is why quite a few of the songs aren't really that memorable or are just solid. Though, many excellent songs on it: "Children's Games", "Choro", "Stone Flower", "God and the Devil", and maybe even "Brazil" as well (but it is a little too long without much originality). I just don't really think Jobim fully pushed himself to the limits on this album, which is why I fail to see it as a classic. In general, Jobim's music is just a wee bit too accessible in general to the point his music ends up not being as consistently great as his reputation suggests. Still, that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn to love the beauty of Wave and appreciate some of his boundary-pushing on Stone Flower. I just think one should manage expectations around the guy.