I had a good listening week. One new artist, new to me anyhow, and some Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Jumping right in, I have been listening to a group that goes by the name Bloke. I wonder what kind of a bloke they are. I get the feeling that they would be a couple of nice blokes. I have to give their new album Living Without Expectations more time to marinate in my brain. First and second impressions are good so I look forward to a more focused listen. Stay tuned.

The Mamas & The Papas 20 Greatest Hits

I nominate this album for the Golden Earworm of the Year Award. This collection of sing-a-long classics has 20 great songs. I sang along to most of them. And I got earworms from most of them, which made for interesting times as they jousted for playing time. Appropriate for Valentine’s Day, “Dedicated To The One I Love” has been the earworm of the day. Just look at these songs. If you are of a certain age, these were the songs we heard on the radio and most likely bought at the record store. Interestingly, The Hudson’s Bay store in Grande Cache is where I purchased my first Mama’s and Papa’s record, if memory serves me well (Bob Dylan & The Band, This Wheels on Fire from The Basement Tapes). What my memory does serve me well is that these songs have been a staple of my listening pleasure for a long time. Just look at the line-up of songs on this album. I can’t help but sing along as I peruse this list of songs.

A1 California Dreamin’ 2:39

A2 Dedicated To The One I Love 2:05

A3 I Call Your Name 2:18

A4 12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) 2:47

A5 Creeque Alley 2:48

A6 Dancing In The Street 3:47

A7 For The Love Of Ivy 3:49

A8 Go Where You Wanna Go 2:26

A9 My Girl 3:35

A10 Look Through My Window 3:05

B1 Monday Monday 3:12

B2 Words Of Love 2:13

B3 Twist & Shout 2:45

B4 I Saw Her Again Last Night 2:50

B5 Dream A Little Dream Of Me 3:24

B6 People Like Us 3:23

B7 You Baby 2:15

B8 Got A Feeling 4:01

B9 Trip, Stumble & Fall 2:35

B10 Straight Shooter 3:10

Manhattan Transfer Extensions

Vocal jazz, pop fusion, and even a touch of disco are featured in this album. This album’s most widely known song, “Birdland” by Weather Report, won the Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award in 1981.  Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics for the vocalese version on the album, and Janis Siegel received a Grammy for her vocal arrangement of “Birdland.”

Extensions as an album is an extension of Manhattan Transfer as they entered a new era for the group. Extensions was the first album with Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Massé in early 1979. It was also their first album with Jay Graydon in the producer’s chair and their first to contain songs that were hits in both the jazz and pop categories. The song “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Disco chart and No. 30 on the Hot 100. “Trickle, Trickle” reached No. 73 on the Hot 100. The album reached No. 55 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. This album is also a good place to start if you are new to Manhatan Transfer.

Darrel Mansfield The Vision

Darrell Mansfield is an American vocalist, harmonica player, songwriter, recording artist, and performer of various genres, including gospel, contemporary Christian music, blues, blues rock, rock, country rock, and soul/R&B. He is considered a pioneer of the Jesus Music movement of the 1970s and has influenced countless contemporary Christian music and mainstream artists.Darrell Mansfield is good at what he does on this album, which is pretty much straight-up gospel music. Both Christians and the rest of humanity can enjoy a decent album.

Crank up the volume and get ready for some rocking and rolling. Bloke showed up in my inbox labelled as a psych/rock band. I can’t argue with that assessment.

Henry Mancini The Pink Panther

This is classic Mancini, which is another way to say that this album is good to listen to from start to finish. And it’s always fun to hear the instantly recognizable Pink Panther theme song.

Herbie Mann The Best of Herbie Mann

I was busy and distracted while I played this album. That did not stop me from enjoying the album, I had to stop several times just to let the music unfold in my brain. This is an excellent overview of Herbie’s recordings and an excellent introduction if you are new to his music.

Machiavel Urban Games & Breakout

I drew a blank when I pulled the Urban Games album from the library. I did not remember owning this album, let alone listening to it. I pulled it up on Discogs and discovered that I not only had this album, which was released in 1979, but I also had another, Break Out, from 1981. Urban Games didn’t do much for me musically, even though Wikipedia tells me that Urban Games was probably the band’s most successful album. It attempted to move away from the Eurock style and proposed songs leaning on disco (“Dancing Heroes”), hard rock (“The Dictators”), reggae (“Over the Hill”), and Eurock still (“City Flowers”). The album Break Out, produced by Derek Laurence in 1981, did not succeed like Urban Games. I like the Break Out album more than Urban Games. Break Out is more cohesive and consistent, with the band taking a harder rocking approach on the album, moving away from their early sound, which was more synth/psych. The vocals have the swagger and edgy growl that seals the harder, rockier sound they play on Breakout, compared to Urban Games. All in all, these two albums gave me a pleasant listening experience.

The remainder of my week was spent with Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Gold 

Burnin’

Exodus

Legend

Each of these four albums could be called a greatest hits record; two are a collection of hits, Gold and Legend, and the other two, while original, are loaded with songs that should be on greatest hits lists. I listened to these albums in the above order and felt sad when the last song on Legend finished. I have to return to Jamaica and score some of his early stuff. I got my groove on listening to these four albums. I can’t pick the best album from these contenders. I can’t pick one song that moved me (physically or emotionally) more than any other song. Bob Marley and the Wailers have a unique spot in music history. They had a massive role in what was to become a new genre of music, reggae. There were hints of what would become reggae in the island’s skiffle music, rocksteady, and ska by bands such as Toots and the Maytals. Still, Bob Marley and the Wailers put Jamaican music, reggae, on the music map in the same way that The Beatles popularized what was to become rock and roll. It is rare for one person or one group to have such an influence on the future of music.

Bob Marley and the Wailers did that, and their influence can be heard in the reggae music of today’s top artists. It’s hard to imagine rap or hip hop without the influence of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Countless bands and solo artists have recorded their take on the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Eric Clapton did his take on I Shot The Sheriff. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Claptons only number one in the US. In 2003, Clapton’s version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The influence of reggae can be heard in the music of bands such as The Clash and UB40, as well as in popular culture in movies and novels.

Pardon my rabbit trail. I get on with something I like as much as the Marley music I just listened to and can write page after page. I will no longer detain you on Bob Marley and the Wailers; go out, buy their records, and enjoy their music.