For years, I believed the story -- which I think the late Greg Shaw first recounted in his review of the album in my old stomping ground at the Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review -- that the percussion on this song, which is as poignant a post-Beatles love madrigal as has ever been heard by sentient mammalian ears, was achieved by its auteur dripping his own tears into a bucket. Alas, courtesy of the most recent issue of MOJO, I've learned that's your basic urban myth; Wood simply splashed water from a faucet. Like a normal person.
Curse you, MOJO, for your pernicious anti-Romantic influence!
In any case, it's still a gorgeous piece of music, and you can download it HERE; as always, if the authorization has expired by the time you get to it, just e-mail me.
7 comments:
Great song. If you can manage to put up "Beautiful Daughter" by The Move, let us know.
What's your favorite? "Rock Down Low" here.
"Rock Down Low" is a little too "rootsy" for me. Instead, I liked it when Wood leaned into the McCartney side of things, of which "Beautiful Daughter" is an exemplary example. (Not sure why this just entered the brain, but check out "Brainiac's Daughter" by The Dukes of Stratosphear to get another example of the kind of pop I like. I'll bet Wood wishes he had written it!)
"Miss Clarke and the Computer."
Astounding song...
Love that stuff too. Always liked the Move when they got a little crunchy ala "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues."
Crunchy is great, too. For me, it's just got to have that hook-filled quality to it. "California Man" is a pretty good example. "Miss Clarke and the Computer"? Love it.
If you guys want to check out an unheralded master of pop, you've got to get "The Spiral Eyes" by Peter Adams. I discovered this guy totally by accident and few months ago, and this album just floored me. Guy used to be a classical violinist and so there's lots of classical-like arrangements to his songs. You'll love it. (He just released a second CD, but I don't have it yet.)
As for crunchy, hard-hitting power pop, check out "Kon Tiki" by Cotton Mather. An absolute classic, especially with Robert Harrison's Lennon-like vocals. Awesome record. One of my favorites.
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