Well, its Friday and you know what that means. In this case, my lovely Oriental hide-the-kosher-salami consultant Fah Lo Suee and I will be recovering from an epic Manischewitz binge occasioned by the latest Cease Something going on in the Middle East.
Which means that posting by moi will be at best fitful until next week.
But in the meantime, consider if you will this excerpt from Nick Tosches' Unsung Heroes Of Rock 'n' Roll, still the only rock book that knows what it's talking about (or so said the late great Samuel Beckett in the Foreword, despite the fact that he was dead at the time):
The history of rock 'n' roll has been obscured by a great deal of misknowing and ignorance, and by a great many lies. There are those who believe that rock 'n' roll was a sudden, magical effusion; that a young man named Elvis Presley one day rose, dipped his comb in water, swept his hair into a duck's-ass, bopped out into the world, and created -- thank God, Alan Freed was there to give it a name -- rock 'n' roll. This is perhaps the most popular and abiding myth. It is merely another lesson learnt from that cherished American history book that taught us that Peary went to the North Pole alone.At the other extreme, there are those who believe that rock 'n' roll was created by black people, than seized and commercialized by whites. This is merely a lesson from a revised edition of that same cherished history book. One could make just as strong a case for Jews being the central ethnic group in rock n roll's early history [my emphasis]; for it was they who produced many of the most important records, wrote some of the best songs, cultivated much of the greatest talent, and operated the majority of the pioneering record companies.
I happen to think Tosches is right about this, in the main, which is to say that rock-and-roll, more than any other form of American music, has always been a mutt. Of course, you may disagree; if so, feel free to do so in the comment section. In any case, in the spirit of the above, here's an obviously pertinent and yet inclusively diverse little project to wile away the hours until I return:
Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop/Rock/Soul/Folk/Country Record/Song Either Written By, Performed By, or About Our Jewish and Arab Brothers and Sisters!!!
And my totally top of my head Top Ten (but for you marked down to Top Nine) is:
9. Gene Pitney -- Mecca
My late great comic songwriter friend Gregory Fleeman used to close his club act with a cover of this that was without question the all time funniest thing I have ever seen/heard on a stage.
8. 10cc -- Wall Street Shuffle
Featuring the great Grahame Gouldman (a nice Yiddish kid from England) on bass. And a song about money -- who'd have thunk it?
7. Desmond Dekker -- Israelites
I have no idea what this song actually means, by the way; I've been told it reflects rather unflatteringly on my fellow Red Sea pedestrians, but given its Jamaican patois I've never really been sure.
6. Ray Stevens -- Ahab the Arab
From 1961, when you could apparently get away with stuff like this. Although in the current climate -- who knows?
5. Two Live Jews -- Oy It's So Humid
When we say these guys are def, we really MEAN....etc.
4. The Regents -- Barbara Ann
Regents singer Chuck Fassert, like his brother Fred (who wrote the song) were of Iranian descent, so you can imagine the irony when that asshat John McCain sang this one as "Bomb Iran" during the 2008 campaign. And yes, I know that Iranians -- or Persians, as they're called in that fekakte Disney flick whose title I won't mention-- are not technically considered Arabs. So sue me.
3. Fountains of Wayne -- Strapped for Cash
Another song about money written by a Jew -- what are the odds?
2. The Blues Project -- No Time Like the Right Time
Left to right: Mssrs (Andy) Kulberg, (Al) Kooper, (Danny) Kalb, (Steve) Katz, and (Roy) Blumenfeld. Not for nothing did they call these guys the Jewish Beatles.
And the Numero Uno "Iceceberg, Goldberg, what difference does it make to the Titanic?" hit of them all simply has to be --
1. Gefilte Joe and the Fish -- Walk on the Kosher Side
"And the members of Hadassah go..."
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
9 comments:
Well, since you already picked The Israelites. (and just what the hell is Desmond Dekker doing with his face in that video and why?) I'll go to my next choices:
Road To Peace - Tom Waits
Abdul And Cleopatra - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers (although Jonathan has said Hospital is about the Jewish Princess experience, so maybe include that one, too.)
I'm unfamiliar with that Jewish Princess song -- I'll get on that pronto. 😎
No fair taking Blues Project. So I'm going with Wake Me, Shake Me, also Blues Project.
Well, there's the entire Bobby Zimmerman catalog. The entire Paul Simon catalog.
And thanks to the presence of Mickey (Michael Steven Hartman) Hart, let's throw in the Grateful Dead, too!
There's this guy, Bobby Zimmerman, that has written a few good songs. And then there is this (Talkin' Hava Negeilah Blues ) https://youtu.be/UCm0f2QigmI?si=afATt503Z9Kd3pbx
Anybody here ever wonder what a collaboration between Al Kooper and Donald Fagen might result in? Asking for a friend.😎
What, no Neil Diamond?? ;-) Let’s remedy that!
Of course, as a songwriter, I’m not throwing any shade at pop masterpieces such as “I’m a Believer”; damned good song and the horrible human being Jann Wenner should have earbuds playing it duct taped to his ears until the Monkees get put in the RRHOF.
But as a performance artist…well, his super-MOR 1970s incarnation was objectively some of the worst pop ever, but I’m going to single out his turn as a Protestant revival preacher in the train wreck that is “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show”.
As far as others, haven’t seen Kinky Friedman and his Texas Jewboys mentioned yet…
Good point about Kinky.😎
Let's put aside the Cure's tribute to Camus, 'Killing an Arab' and Neil Diamond's being served a baked ham in 'The Jazz Singer' and note that Lou Reed was so secular that his ethnicity was totally occluded.
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