New Steve Cropper album, "Fire It Up"

[MarkRhodes]

Whole thing is not out until late April but here's the song "Far Away."

Not sure who all is in the band here. Quite a groove!

[citizenk74]

Nice tune!

[neatomic]

not bad...sounds more like -the band- than booker t...vocals are a bit tough...but croppers great understated tele chops remain (he actually used an esquire early on)...good to hear from the old master

cheers

[Rob MacKillop]

Grandad Rock. Really, it did nothing for me, and I'm a fan.

[wintermoon]

those are some pretty cringeworthy lyrics, whew!

[neatomic]

at near 80 years old, it's more like great grandad rock!

fact that he felt inspired during/after 2020 gains him some leniency! hah

btw, lyrics and vocals by Roger C. Reale


cheers

[neatomic]

just to remember the masters 4 in their prime...

duck dunn supposedly kept those same heavy flatwound strings on that bass for decades!

funny, cropper bends himself way out of tune during solo! hah...60's gear tech!

dig the marshalls

[Flat]

those are some pretty cringeworthy lyrics, whew!

Oh man. Steve oughta do a Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar album. That could be something.

[MarkRhodes]

duck dunn supposedly kept those same heavy flatwound strings on that bass for decades!

Carol Kaye said she never changed her bass strings---she just got a new bass every time they needed changing!

[neatomic]

Carol Kaye said she never changed her bass strings---she just got a new bass every time they needed changing!

tho for many a year now..clever as she is..she uses & endorses thomastiks!!..

you can't stop hip!

cheers

[Litterick]

Cropper preferred big, heavy-gauge Gibson Sonomatic strings, generally using ten and eleven or two eleven-gauge strings on the top two strings of his instrument rather than the more typical spread of nine- and twelve-gauge strings used by most of his contemporaries. This was important for the two-note sliding figures he commonly played on his highest strings.

"It sounds better when they're closer matched," Steve explains. "I hate new strings on a guitar. There are guys I love and respect that change strings after every solo. Mine, I change them when they break. I even put Chapstick (lip balm) on my strings when I put them on. I just rub it into the strings. It sort of gives you the effect of two or three days of playing them where you get the grease in there and the dirt."

From Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records
Rob Bowman
Schirmer Trade
2011

[Rob MacKillop]

In Green Onions there, Steve's second solo is rather bizarre...I like it!

Duck was solid. He never fell asleep.

[Rob MacKillop]

[citizenk74]

Cropper preferred big, heavy-gauge Gibson Sonomatic strings, generally using ten and eleven or two eleven-gauge strings on the top two strings of his instrument rather than the more typical spread of nine- and twelve-gauge strings used by most of his contemporaries. This was important for the two-note sliding figures he commonly played on his highest strings.

"It sounds better when they're closer matched," Steve explains. "I hate new strings on a guitar. There are guys I love and respect that change strings after every solo. Mine, I change them when they break. I even put Chapstick (lip balm) on my strings when I put them on. I just rub it into the strings. It sort of gives you the effect of two or three days of playing them where you get the grease in there and the dirt."

From Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records
Rob Bowman
Schirmer Trade
2011

Stephen Stills said he used to rub barbecue sauce on the strings of his bass to deaden them.

I had a bandmate who used to habitually borrow my back-up guitar because "My strings are dead." After one gig playing my guitar, so were mine.

[neatomic]

listenin to the get shorty soundtrack...scored by john lurie of the lounge lizards...but with some additional tracks

including this booker t & the mg's burner- can't be still...with the original (pre duck d) bassist lewie steinberg...

cheers

[neatomic]

great clip and hopefully revelatory to those unfamiliar with the true workings of the record biz!!! past & recent.. hah

great that sun records faves billy lee riley (by default) and respected scotty moore were involved

cheers

[MarkRhodes]

listenin to the get shorty soundtrack...scored by john lurie of the lounge lizards...but with some additional tracks

including this booker t & the mg's burner- can't be still...with the original (pre duck d) bassist lewie steinberg...

cheers

Cool! Thanks for that. I hadn't heard it before. What is that beat called? It reminds me of Charlie Watts on the Stones' "Get Off Of My Cloud." The Cramps used that beat a lot. Hell, legions did. Does it have a name?

[MarkRhodes]

One of my favorites by Booker T & the MGs

[rrbasic]

"What is that beat called?"

I played drums when I was a kid (1964-66) and that was the only "beat" I knew! I think I thought of it as a "surf" beat.

[neatomic]

yes "surf beat" was my first thought as well!!

the ventures used it a lot!

cheers

[Michael1968]

Gives warm feelings to hear n see that `Play it, Steve`is still at work for us.
Remember to have seen him with Booker T and the MGs in 1993 playing a set with Neil Young in Roskilde.

[Greentone]

I must say, before I was humbled and influenced by all the jazz artists--like Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass--I was floored as a kid by Steve Cropper and the Memphis sound. Green Onions, Hip Hug Her, Tic Tac Toe, etc., just pushed me into taking up the guitar--more so than did The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

FWIW, the "beat" that folks associate with the Stax/Volt records that feature Al Jackson/Duck Dunn/Steve Cropper/Booker T. Jones contains an elongated third beat in the 4/4 time signature. The musicians would hold off on the "4" until it got just a bit tense--then FOUR! [I read this in an article with Cropper, once.]

The other thing, of course, is massive under-playing, with a slavish devotion to the groove. Jackson was a jazz drummer. Jones, Dunn, and Cropper had chops to burn. Yet, each musician would hold off and underplay parts. Nobody would "blow." Let the end-of-measure fill be expression enough of what's what. Solos were typically efficient and served the song. If it could be expressed in an ensemble theme, rather than a showy solo, so much the better.

Check out "Time is Tight," the full song on the soundtrack of the film "Up Tight." (not the single, which is abbreviated):

This is what Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson were all about.

[Litterick]

Oxford defines ‘surf beat’ as ‘the slow rise and fall of sea level at a shoreline at a frequency lower than that of ordinary wind waves, attributed to the interaction of waves of different wavelength.’ Elsewhere, it is described as a standard rock and roll pattern, but "with an extra snare hit on the & of 2, producing the memorable kick/snare pattern, “boom, duh-duh, boom, duh.”

It is amazing what one can learn when searching for a clip of the Ventures playing to an audience of chewing girls:

[MarkRhodes]

I must say, before I was humbled and influenced by all the jazz artists--like Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass--I was floored as a kid by Steve Cropper and the Memphis sound. Green Onions, Hip Hug Her, Tic Tac Toe, etc., just pushed me into taking up the guitar--more so than did The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

FWIW, the "beat" that folks associate with the Stax/Volt records that feature Al Jackson/Duck Dunn/Steve Cropper/Booker T. Jones contains an elongated third beat in the 4/4 time signature. The musicians would hold off on the "4" until it got just a bit tense--then FOUR! [I read this in an article with Cropper, once.]

The other thing, of course, is massive under-playing, with a slavish devotion to the groove.

Great post! Elongated third beat, eh? Hadn't heard it put that way before but I know what you mean.

I love the playing on those records. I liked it when I was a kid too, but I didn't realize then how long a shadow it would cast over my musical taste as an adult. I still love simple things played just-right. (Some of my favorite country music is like that too, though it's a different groove.)

As much as I listen to jazz, and it's a lot, I often think (though rarely say, and never before here) I think improv is overrated. A solid groove that runs 3-5 minutes (and James Brown gave us a multitude of those too) is a wonderful thing in itself. Blowing over the changes is not what that music is about.

"Time Is Tight" is a desert-island tune for sure.

[MarkRhodes]

Oxford defines ‘surf beat’ as ‘the slow rise and fall of sea level at a shoreline at a frequency lower than that of ordinary wind waves, attributed to the interaction of waves of different wavelength.’ Elsewhere, it is described as a standard rock and roll pattern, but "with an extra snare hit on the & of 2, producing the memorable kick/snare pattern, “boom, duh-duh, boom, duh.”

It is amazing what one can learn when searching for a clip of the Ventures playing to an audience of chewing girls:

Johnny Smith, a jazz great, wrote that tune in 1954. VERY different feel!

[citizenk74]

I must say, before I was humbled and influenced by all the jazz artists--like Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass--I was floored as a kid by Steve Cropper and the Memphis sound. Green Onions, Hip Hug Her, Tic Tac Toe, etc., just pushed me into taking up the guitar--more so than did The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

FWIW, the "beat" that folks associate with the Stax/Volt records that feature Al Jackson/Duck Dunn/Steve Cropper/Booker T. Jones contains an elongated third beat in the 4/4 time signature. The musicians would hold off on the "4" until it got just a bit tense--then FOUR! [I read this in an article with Cropper, once.]

The other thing, of course, is massive under-playing, with a slavish devotion to the groove. Jackson was a jazz drummer. Jones, Dunn, and Cropper had chops to burn. Yet, each musician would hold off and underplay parts. Nobody would "blow." Let the end-of-measure fill be expression enough of what's what. Solos were typically efficient and served the song. If it could be expressed in an ensemble theme, rather than a showy solo, so much the better.

Check out "Time is Tight," the full song on the soundtrack of the film "Up Tight." (not the single, which is abbreviated):

This is what Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson were all about.

Right on! "Massive under-playing" is the key! Compulsive Virtuosity Display Syndrome (CVDS) is one of the major pitfalls of our craft. We must always bear in mind just who it is that pays for our services, and what it is that they want to pay for. Is it the club/bar/restaurant owners? No. They are selling other goods and services.

It's the audience. The folks who just want to relax, unwind, forget their quotidian woes for a little while - listen to some nice music, have a nosh, dance - and we really need to keep in mind that they have limited time and limited patience and limited tolerance for those who rudely ignore their paramount position on the food chain and go off on some widdly-widdley ego indulgence.

I say, give 'em a little of what they want, and they'll come back for more.

/rant off

[neatomic]

not to stray too far from steve and the boys....but it is fat tuesday...mardi gras!...and much of the above praise fits this fabulous group as well-

the funky meters!!!

little old money maker

zigaboo is one of my fave drummers ever

laissez les bon temps rouler

cheers

[neatomic]

another 2:50 of understatement

the meters- this is my last affair

cheers

ps- incidentally, josie was a nyc label that also put out lots of fine jazz records


Josie Jazz Series

JOZ-3500 - Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd - Gigi Gryce & Donald Byrd - 1962
JOZ-3501 - Cu-Bop - Art Blakey and Sabu Martinez - 1962 - Reissue of Jubilee JGM- 1049
JOZ-3502 - Alto Saxophone - Herb Geller - 1962
JOZ-3503 - Jackie McLean Quintet - Jackie McLean -1963 - with Donald Byrd, Doug Watkins, Ronald Tucker, Mal Waldron
JOZ-3504 - Ray Draper Tuba Jazz - Ray Draper - 1963
JOZ-3505 - Teddy Charles Trio Plays Duke Ellington - Teddy Charles - 1963
JOZ-3506 - Med Flory Big Band - Med Flory - 1963
JOZ-3507 - Jackie McLean Sextet - Jackie McLean - 1963
JOZ-3508 - Mingus Three - Charles Mingus - 1963
JOZ-3509 - Eddie Costa with the Burke Trio - Eddie Costa - 1963

[Greentone]

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Love The Meters. Seen them a bunch.

The Meters and Booker T carries on in the Michigan/Texas/Minnesota funk of the Fearless Flyers and Vulfpeck:

[wintermoon]

man, I sure miss playing this one in the clubs. maybe again one day....

[neatomic]

for newer bands into that bag...i liked delvon lamarr organ trio out of seattle..w jimmy james on guitar

plus i dig jimmys harmony silvertone (sears) guitar!


cheers

[MarkRhodes]

My favorite Meters tune, "Just Kissed My Baby." So funky.

[Litterick]

Here is Johnny Smith recalling dinner with Django:

[citizenk74]

for newer bands into that bag...i liked delvon lamarr organ trio out of seattle..w jimmy james on guitar

plus i dig jimmys harmony silvertone (sears) guitar!


cheers

That guitar is one of my favorite Harmonys. Not to mention that wide panel Deluxe (?). I've got one just like it, if it is a Deluxe. Octal and field-coil Heaven!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

for newer bands into that bag...i liked delvon lamarr organ trio out of seattle..w jimmy james on guitar

plus i dig jimmys harmony silvertone (sears) guitar!


cheers

I wish I could like something twice!

[Greentone]

Wow! The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio has it going on!

[jontiven]

personnel on "Far Away" by Steve Cropper is Steve Cropper on all guitars, Roger C. Reale on lead vocals, Anton Fig on drums, Beth Hooker singing harmonies and Jon Tiven on the rest (bass guitar, tenor saxophones, Hammond organ, piano). The song was written by Steve Cropper, Roger C. Reale and Jon Tiven.

[citizenk74]

personnel on "Far Away" by Steve Cropper is Steve Cropper on all guitars, Roger C. Reale on lead vocals, Anton Fig on drums, Beth Hooker singing harmonies and Jon Tiven on the rest (bass guitar, tenor saxophones, Hammond organ, piano). The song was written by Steve Cropper, Roger C. Reale and Jon Tiven.

I dig the tune! Well done!

[MarkRhodes]

personnel on "Far Away" by Steve Cropper is Steve Cropper on all guitars, Roger C. Reale on lead vocals, Anton Fig on drums, Beth Hooker singing harmonies and Jon Tiven on the rest (bass guitar, tenor saxophones, Hammond organ, piano). The song was written by Steve Cropper, Roger C. Reale and Jon Tiven.

Hey, Jon! Good to see you here.
I've been a big fan of Steve's for a long, long time. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the album. I follow him on Facebook (-which is where I first heard about the new record and decided to start this thread.)

[neatomic]

hey cool to see tiven here...remember him from the chilton days...never thought i'd see him here!..hah..small world..with time

best of luck


cheers