We Like The Ladies

Mr. Lonesome:

I thought it might be time for us to discuss the ladies in our music life. There are three I’ve been listening to a lot of late: PJ Harvey (solo, plus her work with Desert Sessions Volume 9), Kate Bush, and Beth Gibbons (with Portishead) – exclusively Roseland, NYC Live, which is my favorite live album to listen to.

Something I find in common with all three is their intensity. Something about a woman’s voice in an indelible ache that has me in swoon.

I also want to make note of Mr On’ry putting “She” by Emmylou Harris on a mix cd a bit back. That song kills.

Mr. Mean:

 

I dig the ladies. Who doesn’t, right?

I can’t really figure out what to write except for maybe 3 songs by the fairer sex that rule my life. They are:

     Tammy St. John – Dark Shadows and Empty Hallways. One of my all-time favorite songs, period. I got into it because about 15 years ago I read about Saint Etienne (another favorite of mine) sampling it. I sought it out and found it on some comp. To this day, nothing of the girl-group era comes close to melting me the way this one does. I can’t describe it. I get chills every time I hear it. It’s terribly heartbreaking and beautiful all the same. Writing about it right now makes me want to hear it. Thank goodness for Youtube because I don’t have it on my new iPhone yet. “Life is so lonely, so lonely, when love has gone”…the fact she was 16 when she sang this is amazing. It is such a mature song. The measure of how much a song moves you or makes you feel something in some certain way has a lot to do with how many times you can listen to it, over and over again, and still get the same feeling. I am on listen #3 and I may listen to it another 15 times before today is over.

      Joan Baez – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. A very rare occurrence when I love the cover over the original, and the original version by The Band is a special song indeed. Joan Baez, for whatever reason, made the best version of this song as far as I am concerned. I never, ever tire of this song. I remember hearing it as a kid and something about it just stuck with me.

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Mirage. “My body’s an oasis to drink from as you please”. A postpunk classic, never released as a single, and it is my favorite moment in many fine moments by one Susan Janet Ballion and her Banshees. I have everything they have ever released, right down to a B-sides box set, and this one song just hits me every time. The first album I had by them was called Once Upon A Time – The Singles, and they actually had this on it, though it was never a single. The song is that good.

Mr. Lonesome:

Righteous. Case in point why I love this blog so much, is both of you end up expanding my palette beyond the normal. I love Siouxsie & The Banshees, but I’m not familiar with that track. I look very forward to hearing it this weekend. Joan Baez never really did it for me. I know she’s passionate, but something about her singing makes it “appear” she is pushing melodrama with it, like she’s being showy. I know it’s not her fault, it’s how her vibrato goes. Tammy St. John: that song is one I’m looking forward to seeking out too.

Are you familiar with Emily Wells, by chance? She’s fantastic. Some great Youtube performances by her. She does some amazing violin riffs that she’ll loop throughout the tune, and her voice is extraordinary.

Mr.  Mean:

Never heard of Emily Wells. Listening to “Passenger” now but it’s not doing it for me. Any song you recommend?

Some more gems I love by the ladies:

Billie Davis – Tell Him (brilliant version)

Dolly Parton – My Tennessee Mountain Home (title track off of my favorite Dolly album)

Saint Etienne – Sylvie (brilliant single in a career full of brilliant singles)

Lulu – To Sir With Love (the movie, the song, her role in the film, Judy Geeson, etc)

Dusty Springfield - I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face (gorgeous song, one of Dusty’s best moments)

Joni Mitchell – My Old Man (my favorite song by her, followed by “Chelsea Morning”)

Honey Cone – Want Ads (classic effing soul song)

Cocteau Twins – Lazy Calm (the intro to their “ambient” album – hauntingly sparse and gorgeous)

Ann Peebles – I Can’t Stand The Rain (classic Hi Records soul)

Shelley Fabares – Johnny Angel (my mom turned me on to this song)

Cathy Carroll – Jimmy Love (another heartbreaker that gives “Leader of the Pack” a run for its money about boyfriends dying)

Suzi Quatro – Can The Can (before she was Tuscadero, she kicked major ass on the charts)

The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again? (Philly soul via Gamble & Huff, one of the best soul songs)

Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose (yes, I actually do like Grace Jones musical output and her version of this song is perfect in many ways)

Lush – Sweetness And Light (I totally fell in love with Miki Berenyi when I saw the video for this and still love her)

Diana Ross – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (same emotions/feelings as with the Tammy St. John song)

Betty Davis – F.U.N.K. (hot, nasty, brutal mid-70s funk jam by Miles’ ex-wife)

I went back to Tammy St. John. That has to be at least 9 times today for that song.

One female artist we can all agree on!

Mr. Lonesome:

Try this one, specifically: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNWto4xiCcw 

I also really love her Symphony 6 Fair Thee Well and the Requiem Mix. But the above link is a great live performance of Symphony 1.

Mr. Mean:

I just can’t get into her man, sorry. Her voice makes me cringe. She reminds me of people I actually do like but her stuff just annoys me for some reason.

Mr. Lonesome:

No shame in that.

I once again failed you.

Mr. Mean:

What’s weird is her voice reminds me, at times, of Cerys Matthews. I dig Cerys’s solo stuff but never got into Catatonia at all. The violins/looping kinda annoys me, too. Odd coming from a guy who likes gadgets and synths, but I hate the looping of something organic. Play the damn thing.

Mr. Lonesome:

See, I thought you’d like the looping the most. And in fairness, she cant play the damn thing because she’s by herself, dummy. That’s why she loops the riff, so she can then play over it.

You are an enigma sometimes.

Mr. Mean:

I get that. I watched her, moron. In that case, get a damned backing band. I said I hated the organic backing, which means the violin. If she can’t write a song without layering 70 violins, then she should do something else.

Mr. Lonesome:

That is such a narrow-minded thing to say from someone who loves Pet Sounds/Brian Wilson...

Mr. Mean:

Dude what do you want from me? I listened to two songs and I don’t like her. The looping bit is a microcosm of the reason why I don’t dig her sound. Her voice ruined it for me.

Mr. Lonesome:

I want your blood, so I can then splash it on Morrissey’s face to burn his skin.

I just took exception to this line: “If she can’t write a song without layering 70 violins, then she should do something else.”

No worries.

Mr. Mean:

OK so it is a bit hypocritical of me considering my love of sequencers and drum programming. The turn off is the organic instrument fed into a chip and looped. On record, I am fine with that if you’re doing it on your own. But in a live setting, get other people to play with, plain and simple. She can obviously play the instrument. So get other people and do an ensemble of it.

On that note, I am out and done with this one. Listen to Tammy St. John and shut the hell up. 

Mr. On'ry:

 

First off, I'm really sorry to be so late to this one.  Here it goes:

I'm not really sure what to add to this other than I love the ladies so much I decided to make not one, but two comps that focused on female artists/female fronted bands.  Here's the track listing:

Vol I:

 She - Emmylou Harris

 Look At Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch

 Portions For Foxes - Rilo Kiley

 Almost Persuaded - Etta James

 Don't Come Home A-Drinkin - Loretta Lynn

 Leavin' On Your Mind - Patsy Cline

 Sentimental Heart - She & Him

 Maybe - Janis Joplin

 Set Out Running - Neko Case

 Linger - The Cranberries

 Belle of the Bar - Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles

 For The Rest of Your Life - Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions

 Danger Bird - 27

 Fancy Funeral - Lucinda Williams

Vol II

Billie Holiday - Do Nothing 'Till You Hear From Me

Connie Francis - My Happiness

Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man

Dusty Springfield - Son Of A Preacher Man

The Go-Go's - You Can't Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers - Venus Shaver

Mount Moriah - Lament

Amanda Shires - When You Need a Train It Never Comes

Bee And Flower - Riding On Empty

The Gathering - Broken Glass

Mythical Beast - Cycle/Circle

Blood Ceremony - Night of Augury

Heart - Crazy On You

Royal Thunder - Mouth Of Fire

The Runaways - Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin

There are still so many more great female fronted acts that I could make an entire 3rd comp...and I think I just might! 

Oh and Mr. Mean the thing about layering music you said was pretty effing stupid.  I know you were trying to prove a point about just not liking that particular artist but I once saw one woman on stage use various means to layer her own vocals and guitar and it was one of the most memorable performances I've ever witnessed.  She goes by the name O Paon.  Look her up.  Beautiful stuff. 

I too now want the blood and brains of Morrissey splattered all over a wall!  (oh wait, that isn't what he said...never mind I want it anyway!)  

Mr. Mean:

So it took you 5 days to reply and all you could come up with was a rehashing of your tracklists? Boring. (EDITOR"S NOTE: Yes, sadly, that is all that Mr. On'ry could muster...)

And I stand by my remarks. In a live setting, with organic instruments, play the damned things or have people who can. I want to see the musicians playing them together…that would be far more entertaining to see how they could all play and mesh together.

So tell us:  What female artists do it (or don't do it) for you?