Does anybody really know what's going on here? Probably one of the oddest records you will ever hear, unless you are completely jaded by Japanese noise & IDM. A legend to those who know him, but if you have only heard his collaborations you need to hear this, because it explains nothing. I chose this song merely because it's playing right now... This album is a giant standing on the shoulders of giants, the (pen?) ultimate of LA studio excess. What more can you say?
02 Nov 04 ·n-jeff: What more can you say?
What would be the ultimate, then?
;�) 02 Nov 04 ·konsu: There's always something more, I guess I confused the context? (see parentheses)
This track makes you wish you had some of the title. A crazy mix of marimba, sax, and sitar grooving in a rock-jazz mode. Probably his best work from the period, apart from his great jazz-mass from the previous year with Lalo Schifrin. This album is full of now sound madness, with Oliver Nelson leading most of the set in good form, but the two PH directs himself, this one and "Guv-Gubi" make the record worth seeking out.
One of the better records of this ilk, surely for this one, which is hard to find and is such a typically great theme. Kojak, of course, was the blowpop sucking detective played by Telly Savalas. And like the "Rockford Files", "Baretta", and "S.W.A.T.", deserves it's place in the not-so-rare groove DJ file. With the obligatory Moog sound leading the melody, it becomes instantly recognizable (and dateable). Whoever the cats are on this session are cutting some decent shit for sure. They also turn out a surprisingly funky version of the M.A.S.H. theme, as well as the three aforementioned. The crazy Peter Pan cover art is there, with cute stuff like poorly drawn representations of Alan Alda looking at a martini glass, and Gabe Kaplan's finger being bit by Baretta's Cockatoo!!
I almost know nothing about the Chad Mitchell trio, except that John Denver was in the group. I'm not even sure that this is the same guy for that matter. I guess it's really not too suprising that an old folkie would team-up with geniuses like Bob Dorough & Stu Scharf for a little boot in the ass, since those guys seemed to be working a lot of crossover pop material. That's really the reason I picked this up, basically to see what could happen.
The record ends up being incredible actually. Imagine a mix of "golden throat" type schmaltz, Tom Rapp-ish hip folk, Nilssonesque melodrama, and the poetic and jazzy humor of Scharf & Dorough and that will sum it up. It can grow on you for sure.
This track is in the sort of word jazz thing in a highly characterized way hard to describe without taking up too much space... just listen. I think this was a piece from an Alan Arkin LP. Suppose I will have to get one of those now.
19 Mar 06 ·b. toklas: The album "Chad" on Bell records is the one to get.
Great songs (by Jake Holmes, Joni Mitchell and others) and fantastic arrangements. Hal Blaine and a couple of other wrecking crew members and great musicians are on it, too. In places it also reminds me of the group H.P. Lovecraft. So it might even be interesting for lovers of psychedelic music (not for those who hate strings, of course). I wonder if I should call it a masterpiece. 18 Apr 07 ·artlongjr: I second that on the "Chad" album...it's terrific. There's a 7-minute plus cover of Tim Buckley's "Goodbye and Hello" on there that rather stunned me, since it seems like a very challenging song to sing. The H.P.Lovecraft connection comes through Chicago producer Bill Traut, who owned Dunwich Records (the album is a Dunwich production). Traut was involved with H.P. Lovecraft, and of course the Shadows of Knight.
Oh, my... I know that she gets played to death, and has her lion's share of recommendations on these pages, but I have to mention this one.
For an artist considered sexy in any context this really takes it high. The track just makes you wanna light the candles, pour the cava, burn the buddah, and get freaky-sticky all over the couch! I mean come on! A total love down... Reminds me of the best stuff from the Moments/Sylvia Robinson camp... Smooth smooth soul. And with one of the most sultry voices in recorded history, it's just insane.
