The Modern Sound

The Modernaires were an excellent vocal quintet from the 40's. They gained their reputation as one of the smoothest jazz harmony groups when they hooked up with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Their sound is so tight and aurally stimulating that is is hard to digest all at once. The thick, layered harmonies that they laid down are dense yet bright. This is the vocal group of the modern era in pop music.

The Modernaires vocal blend directly inspired groups like the Hi-Lo's and the Four Freshmen, who in turn inspired Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Paul McCartney's love of Brian's music can be seen in the vocal arrangements of songs such as "Paperback Writer," "Here There and Everywhere," and "Michelle." Connecting dots like this makes it easy to see just how influential the Modernaires are. When my mom was a kid she lived next door to Ralph Brewster (bottom of picture) who was the tennor in the group. I grew up listening to their songs but I didn't realize until recently how groundbreaking the group was.

Here are some film shorts from the era:

Jukebox Saturday Night (Ralph is the one who does the talking in the middle of the song)

I Got a Girl In Kalamazoo

The second clip also has one of the most amazing dance routines I've ever seen. Check it!

Indian Territory

This is some hardcore Okie shit. Woody Guthrie wrote this tune and his cousin Jack changed up some of the lyrics and put it to a country swing beat. Truth.

Here is a video of the song.

Funky Fresh!

Curtis Mayfield and Donny Hathaway were two great composers, arrangers and performers. Both played piano. Mayfield played bass, guitar, drums and horns too. They were fucking ill. They were ghetto prophets for the down and out. Both wrote beautiful melodies and were socially conscious. They did it for the people. Mayfield’s songs remind me of epic stories or movies.  Hathaway was more introspective and subtle. He drew heavily on French classical music.

            All of their songs bring to mind the inner city of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This was a time when Blacks in America had finally seen integration pass into law and start to slowly be accepted. At the same time however, Uncle Sam's racist draft policies ended up sending off all of the Black Community’s young men to Vietnam. The vets came back shell-shocked and addicted to the heroin produced in Cambodia (which was funded by the CIA if you hadn't already heard about that). The music represents the hope that the community had, but at the same time, these songs are brushed with a melancholy tint representing the frustration and despair living in the ghetto brings.  Bottom line : Hard times= brighter days coming.  

Here is the Curtis Mayfield Track "Super Fly" 

Donny Hathaway "Jealous Guy" 

Iranian Elections

The Iranian protests are a bitter sweet affair to watch.  I hope that the reformists keep at it. The Daily Beast has a good guide to the current leaders in Iran. 

Here is the story.

Sunshine PoP!

Its summertime and that means hot tunes with cold refreshments!  

Here are some tracks that are great for the summer:

"Aren't You Glad"-The Beach Boys

"I'd Like to Get to Know You"-Spanky and Our Gang

"Good Day Sunshine"-The Beatles

"Celia" Simon and Garfunkel 

"All Summer Long" The Beach Boys

"Ooh la la" The Faces 

"I was made to love her" Stevie Wonder 

Here is "I Was Made To Love Her"

Live On University!

There was an interesting article in today's Oklahoma Daily-the student newspaper for OU.  It was about Aubrey McClendon's donations to the Honors College.  Some of the students don't like his political affiliations and are protesting his ability to influence the college curriculum. I don't have an opinion formed about that specific issue but, the Dean of the Honors College made some very irresponsible remarks to the student reporter who wrote the article. 

Here is the disturbing response the reporter received from Dean Robert Con Davis-Undiano: "I would [make a statement], except that I don’t have a statement to make. I’m busy running the college and don’t know anything about these issues,”

It is a truly amazing comment. The Dean of the University of Oklahoma's Honors College doesn't know anything about the most important donation to his college by one of the most prominent citizens in Oklahoma?

Huh?

Someone commented online that the student who is running the petition this article is about is a black mark on the University for acting like this. What about the Dean? His comments could be seen as immature and damaging to OU's image as well.

I think that open debate and discussion should be promoted between students and the university. OU is a special place. We all come here to learn and grow. I wish the Dean had been more open, but it is our duty as students to voice our opinions and hopefully we will receive helpful, positive feedback from our Leaders.

Here is a link to the article.

Red Dirt, Green Country.

Woody Guthrie is the greatest musical/social/political person to ever come out of Oklahoma. He was the voice of a generation during the Dust Bowl, and spoke to the everyday hardships that working folks went through.  

The music he sang and wrote was a perfect representation of the best aspects of Oklahoma history.  He learned the blues from an old black man in Okemah, which, as everybody knows, is the only good way to learn the blues.  He had a strong political streak from the hotbed of populist socialism that formed Oklahoma's political landscape in the Territorial days to the depression. Most of all he was a man who straddled the economic and social classes of America and bridged the gap between intellectual east coasters and the middle American progressive farmers and union workers. 

Woody built upon the music and writings of those who came before him to create song about underdogs and hope. 

Dust Bowl Refugee