Great review, Jon!
Is a first edition paperback of the Greil Marcus-edited Stranded book of essays about critic's dester island disks worth anything?
I don't think it has a high resale value, but as a book it's worth a lot. The Nick Tosches piece is really funny and the Marcus discography gave me a good excuse to spend countless hours in used record stores in the 80s and 90s. I love Lester Bangs, and Astral Weeks is among my favorite albums, but I've always been underwhelmed by that essay; that could be unreasonably high expectations on my part, though, as I know some people who love it. The best writing in the book is Ed Ward's piece on the 5 Royales (when Greil Marcus was on Table Talk he seconded that opinion.) Read it even if you loathe fifties R&B and gospel.
Pretty much what Joe said. My favorite piece in Stranded is Ellen Willis' on the Velvet Underground. Ed Ward's piece is excellent. Like, Joe, I was a little disappointed by Lester's piece on Astral Weeks. And I love both the record and Mr. Bangs. But Lester just got a little too reverent and that essay didn't snap. The piece on the gospel collection was good too (Thomas Dorsey?). Love the Tosches also. And, like Joe, I spent hours and hours looking for Hackamore Brick (found!) and Savage Rose (found but didn't buy) after reading about them in the treasure chest in the back. It was also the first book to indicate to me that the Kinks and Beach Boys had critical constinuencies that went beyond their obvious hits.
In the pre-internet days I built my record collection around Stranded, Christgau's Record Guide for the 70s, and the Trouser Press Record Guide.
The piece on the gospel collection was good too (Thomas Dorsey?).
Yep, Precious Lord: The Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey. I think Tom Carson wrote the essay. (My copy of Stranded is in storage -- I think I have a stored copy of The Savage Rose, too! Never found Hackamore Brick; I didn't listen to it much but as I recall you aren't missing much on the Savage Rose.) Precious Lord is in print, or was within the last couple years when I found a copy for $8. In addition to providing a valuable overview of gospel's pre-eminent songwriter it's an easy way to hear many of the music's greatest performers in one spot. Not every big name is on it (no Mahalia Jackson or Sam Cooke) but Cooke's mentor, the founder of the Soul Stirrers, R.H. Harris is here, as are the Dixie Hummingbirds, whose lead, Ira Tucker, is considered by many to be the greatest gospel singer of all, and Marion Williams, Mahalia's great rival whom Dave Marsh considers the greatest American singer in any genre. As is often the case, I don't agree with Marsh about that, but she is quite a singer. I really prefer male gospel singers by and large. If you think oversinging and overreliance on melisma (American Idol singing) started with Whitney or Mariah or Celine, well it didn't. And to these ears it doesn't sound like Marion was just filled with the Spirit and cutting loose; it sounds like she had a stock set of tricks and liked to push the crowd's buttons. But YGGMV (GG=gospel great). It's not Emmett mix-related but I'm going to send "Precious Lord" (Marion Williams with a really moving intro from Thomas Dorsey), "Peace in the Valley" (R.H. Harris, a GIANT of American singing -- read Anthony Heilbut's The Gospel Sound) , and "When the Gates Swing Open" (The Dixie Hummingbirds; Ira Tucker can sing as sweet or as rough as he wants to.) ETA: I hope that's okay, Hayden. If not, sorry, I won't do it again.
I think my favorite Stranded discovery from the Marcus list was Ray Charles' Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul. Christgau pick: The Essential Tom T. Hall: Story Songs. There were many more in each case, but those two are among my most treasured and two very very very strong arguments for why critics can be valuable.
Are we just waiting on my contribution to the Emmet mix?
I believe Tommyrot and Tina are ahead of you and haven't yet contributed. hayden "Buffista Music II: Wrath of Chaka Khan" Apr 8, 2005 7:58:21 am PDT
cool, cos i'm coming up blank at the moment and what I might add is veeeery tenuous ... but cool imo :)
Hey, Jon, that's not you in the back, is it? Cause that would be weird. You're in Boston, not NYC, right?
Wow! Nicely spotted! That is me. In Cambridge on Friday. How the fuck did you notice that? I was going to post about my Day-With-The-Cast-of-Veronica-Mars in Natter, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
I'm serious about my bafflement that P-C spotted me. Did someone else (who, unlike P-C, has met me a few times and thus knows a bit better what I look like) notice it in another thread and he just came by music to ask me?
Maybe it was because you're the only person in the shot who's in focus.
