Tosh's Jukebox Tunes Volume 4

 

Tosh's Jukebox Tunes: Volume 4

We Need More Pulp in Dangerous Times

 

We Need More Pulp in Dangerous Times by Tosh Berman

I'm With Pulp, Are You? by Mark Webber

 

I'm With Pulp, Are You? by Mark Webber

Pulp: This is Hardcore by Jane Savidge (33 1/3 Books)

 

Pulp: This is Hardcore by Jane Savidge (33 1/3 Books)

The Best Non-Fiction Books I Have Read in 2022

 

The Best Non-Fiction Books I Have Read in 2022

My Favorite Albums of All Time (Part 13)

 

My Favorite Albums of All Time (Part 13)

Book Musik - "Side by Side: Selected Lyrics by Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge (Faber & Faber)

 

Book Musik 036 – Side by Side: Selected Lyrics by Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Book Musik

Tosh and Kimley discuss Side by Side: Selected Lyrics by Robert Wyatt and Alfie Benge. Wyatt started his music career as a founding member of The Soft Machine in the 1960s and released his first solo album in the early 70s. Alfie, his wife, manager, and creative partner is an artist who has done all of his cover art as well as writing many of his lyrics. Robert and Alfie are former card-carrying members of the Communist Party of Great Britain and avid followers of ‘pataphysics – the science of imaginary solutions. The tension between serious and playful, political and dreamy is a key feature in their work. This collection of lyrics and artwork is a beautiful testament to their inspiring collaboration.

Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17

Book Musik · Book Musik 036 – "Side by Side: Selected Lyrics" by

"Side by Side: Selected Lyrics" by Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge; Foreward by Jarvis Cocker (Faber & Faber)

 

I never met anyone who dislikes a Robert Wyatt album. That's impossible. It's like saying that there are people who don't like good weather. I first discovered Wyatt's music when he was in The Soft Machine. I followed his music path in a very unorganized manner. I was (and still am) blown away by his masterpiece "Rock Bottom."

Nonetheless, then again, the majority of his work is in that Masterpiece category. Wyatt is a songwriter/singer, but he also sings other people's music and words. What's remarkable about his talent is that once he does a song, it becomes a Robert Wyatt song. His cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer." However, the original is lovely; the Wyatt version becomes something profound and moving by his understated jazzy and somewhat hairy vocal. In such a manner, he reminds me of Nina Simone in that he can capture something deep and personal when he covers another's song. 

For years now, since "Rock Bottom," Wyatt has worked with his wife Alfie Benge in such a manner that they become one body. Either by her doing the art for the covers or writing the lyrics, it's hard to separate the essence of their working relationship. "Side by Side" (boy, that is an accurate title) is the two's selected lyrics, mostly on the Wyatt solo recordings. Benge did contribute words to other composers, but the majority seem to be for Wyatt recordings.

Faber & Faber, the publishers, has put out "Selected or Collected Lyrics" books that are remarkable. Other artists covered have been Kate Bush, Scott Walker (a personal favorite), Jarvis Cocker, and Billy Bragg. They all have a similar design and look, and it is a superb series. "Side by Side" is remarkable on various levels. Wyatt and Benge are very literary, and the words stand out well on a page. Without looking at the back credit for copyright permission, it can be challenging to know who wrote which lyric. Throughout the book, Benge writes a brief afterword expressing what the song is about, but not for every piece. Wyatt's lyrics are either playful or very direct when it concerns politics. In that sense, Wyatt reminds me a bit of Bertolt Brecht. Both have a talent for sharing a sense of time and place. The works they did together on a beachfront home in Spain are sensual, witty, and observant of their neighborhood. There is a travel diary or journal touch in their work that you pick up enlightened and profound information. One is always placed as the narrator confronting what's around you. A point-of-view is an essential aspect of reporting a journey or place. Wyatt and Benge have that talent.  

Benge was an assistant film editor on the Nicolas Roeg film "Don't Look Now" (1973) and a good pal of the actor Julie Christie. There are cinematic touches in her lyrics/poetry that give the work a layered texture essential in all writings.  Wyatt is full of wordplay, but he can also be forthright, primarily when he writes about a political topic, which he does with great moral ability. Politics can be a turn-off for many people. Still, Wyatt and Benge have a technique of inviting the listener/reader into their world. Therefore you are looking at an issue through their eyes. Although, they do pretty much point out atrocities worldwide due to Fascist or corporate capitalist interests. 

"Side by Side" works as literature as well as song lyrics. If you know the songs, some pieces you can't avoid the melody in one's head.  The Wyatt/Benge book opens up the textures in the songs, and therefore a deep dive into the beautiful ocean that is Robert Wyatt and Alfie Benge.

-Tosh Berman

Tosh's Favorite Albums of 2020

 Keep in mind these are albums I purchased in the year 2020. Some of the music is old, but it's new to me. And in no special order - My favorite albums of 2020 are:

The Bachelor Pad -"All Hash and Cock"

Ennio Morricone - "Peur Sur La Ville"

Jack Nitzsche -"Jack Nitzsche"

The Quick - "Untold Rock Stories"

Jarvis Is... - "Beyond the Pale"

Dan Penn - "The Fame Recordings"

Sparks - "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

Egisto Macchi - "Sud e Magia"

V.A.- "Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults"

A Raincoat - "Digalongamacs"

The Preachers -"Moanin'"

Various ‎– "More Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar"

Charlie Parker ‎– "The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection"

David Bowie - "Is It Any Wonder?"

Extended Organ ‎– "Vibe"

King Crimson ‎– "THRAK"

Vince Taylor & His Playboys* ‎– "Vince Taylor Rocks!"

Marc Bölan* ‎– "Electronic Musik"

Kenny Graham And His Satellites ‎– "Moondog And Suncat Suites

Tosh & Kimley discuss their favorite lyric collections. Including collections by Sparks, Cole Porter, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Kate Bush, Ira Gershwin, Scott Walker, Jarvis Cocker and more…

Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17

Book Musik 003 - Lyric Collections by Book Musik

"Sundog: Selected Lyrics" by Scott Walker (Faber & Faber)

ISBN: 978-0-571-32857-4

The great beauty or sadness of Scott Walker is how slow he moves in the 20th century.  From the very beginning as a teenage singer to now is a magnificent journey.   There are many who have long careers either in writing or music, but Scott Walker has always been a consistent quality-artist, who took his time, and not waste our time.   "Sundog: Selected Lyrics" is a remarkable book just focusing on Walker's lyrics.  As I read them, I can hear the music, but also I try not to listen to the melody that comes to the words (due to memory) and take the text away from the song.  It's very clear to Walker and to Eimear McBride, who wrote the introduction, that these are lyrics and not poems, but to me, there is a fine thread standing between poetry and lyrics -especially in the mind of Scott Walker.  

"Sundog" is part of a series that Faber and Faber have been publishing over the years. For instance, there is a Jarvis Cocker book of lyrics as well as Billy Bragg.    I suspect that Cocker may have something to do with the series, because he was (or still is) the editor at F&F.   They all have the same elegant design and reading the Jarvis book as well as Scott's, they stand alone as literature.  Walker is a genius in what he does.  Reading the lyrics without the music in the background is like watching sculpture made out of words.  In this sense, to me, he's very much a poet.  He's not a lyricist in the sense of Cole Porter or Elvis Costello, but more of a sound artist who uses words.  The brilliant aspect of his lyrics is that Walker can write about terrible violence or emotional distress but be funny at the same time.  He has this incredible talent for throwing in one or two words or phrases that cut the violence of the piece and make it almost like a music hall entertainment.  It's the contrast between his words, which are carefully written and thought out.  When you hear his music, the words sometimes matches with the intensity of the sound, but a lot of times he throws in something ridiculous and it's really funny.  The intensity of the work lightens up, but never loses its seriousness or purpose.  It's a balancing act.  In a way, it is like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" yelling out "Here's Johnny." 

"Sundog" is superb poetry, or if you wish, song lyrics.   I read the book in one sitting, but I'm going to go back to it again and again.  The textures and how the word (or wordings) are placed on the page is equally important to the spaces in his music - where you reflect on what's happening aurally, as well as the sound mixing in with his magnificent voice.  Great book.

Jarvis Cocker's "Mother, Brother, Lover"

This sounds like an insult, but its a compliment.  Jarvis Cocker is a low-rent Noel Coward.   I am a huge fan of song lyrics turned into books.  Some of my favorite are Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin.  There is something sweet about reading lyrics away from the music world - and into the world of books.   Of course the works were originally meant to be with the melody, but by reading the lyrics as text, it gives the work another dimension.
"Mother, Brother, Lover" is almost an non-literal diary for Cocker, as a lot of the songs are based on real incidents, real people, but of course re-done by the magic of Jarvis.   All the hits are here, but a lot of B-Side pieces as well as works he wrote for others.   And yes, the other songwriter he reminds me of is Ray Davies.  The common thing he has with Davies and Coward is a sense of place (U.K.) and shared national point of view of the world because of the location.   Also Cocker has a knack of writing that goes directly to the subject.  He doesn't hide behind language, which is sometimes great of course, but for someone like Jarvis, he needs to be direct and quick.  His genius if he has it, is his character.  And reading "Mother, Brother, Lover" you get a lot of character, which by the way is excellent.


Jarvis Cocker on his book.


Even doing a Chuck Berry tune, Jarvis Cocker somehow makes it into a Kentish Town/Camden sound.


And Jarvis turns Elvis into a Kentish Town romantic.  With Duane Eddy.