Imitation and Flattery

Imitation and Flattery

The Who, under Pete Townsend’s song writing leadership, became a live act beyond compare. The Beatles were tame and content to mimic their studio selves on stage. The Stones, while providing some theatrical flourishes, were similarly inclined to simply play less-produced versions of the songs most recently released (which penchant—good word, no?—continues to the present day). But The Who deconstructed their studio selves into a completely different—and more ravaging—beast on stage. Like a good artists, The Who had their imitators. One of the best was a five piece outfit called The Move. They borrowed The Who’s Theater of Destruction microphone-throwing, guitar-smashing, drum-exploding stage act. They were never as good as The Who at improvisation. Which is not much of a knock. Nobody could equal the long, Coltrane-like codas to Magic Bus and May Generation from the 1968 and 1969 tours.

But. They were a good act, with strong song writing and an attempt to go The Who one better by smashing up televisions and other household items along with the guitars and drums. Until recently, it was difficult to track down much stuff by The Move. However, in 2008 an outfit called Salvo Records issued a completest 4 disk set of Move material, both studio and live. It’s available for a bargain price on Amazon U.S. And it’s fabulous. A listen all the way through the 4 CDs demonstrates that The Move were in fact more than Who imitators. They had a distinctive and rocking style that transcended many personnel changes over the course of a short career. 

This box set is highly recommended. Rating a No Household Should Be Without. Get yours while it’s still available!

Old Guard Still Marching

Much as I love Neil Young, I have yet to get up the nerve to purchase his massive box set of decades worth of music. I’m not sure why—maybe it’s just the gigantic price tag. Although that usually wouldn’t stop me. After all, I paid $100 for my 10 CD box of Hank Williams. 

What I DID purchase recently, at a cost substantially less than $100 (more like $40, and it came with free digital download along with the CDs) is a recently issued 4 disk set of Stephen Stills. This box is AWESOME. Especially for someone like me, who never bothered to upgrade his CS&N and CSN&Y from vinyl to CD. Part of the reason is the same as why I haven’t purchased all the Beatle’s stuff on CD. I know every note by heart. The nice thing about this Stills box is that it makes a real effort to bypass the trite and go for the throat. Thus, many of the songs you know note-for-note are here in different, and more interesting, versions. 

The box is called “Carry On”, of course. And it is absolutely excellent. No Household Should Be Without. Highly recommended. Go now and Carry On!