26 June 2013 (Day 177) – When Two Acts Collaborate

Through music’s rich history there has been a strong tradition of established acts recording with each other.  Some of these have clearly been initiated through friendship or mutual admiration.  In some areas, especially jazz and blues, collaborations emerge between musicians who had become familiar with each other by playing together as session men on other artists recordings.  There are the tribute collaborations that occur when an established act wishes to help an early inspiration by producing or appearing on that acts comeback album.  And then there are what I could term as “wish list” collaborations when an established act specifically approaches a peer with an invitation “to jam” (and then invariably chooses never to release the results - Prince and Miles Davis anyone?)

As it is, I’ve already played a few collaborative albums – The Orb and David Gilmour, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lou Reed and Metallica among them.  What surprised me was the sheer number of candidates just on my iPod, including these five gems:

(# 472) John Legend and The Roots – Wake Up! (2010)

This is a collaborative albums consisting largely of soul covers put together by modern day soul man Legend and hip hop masters The Roots.  The choice of songs clearly reveals an intention to produce a socially aware album in the mould of Curtis Mayfield’s 70s efforts.  Indeed, the opening track is Hard Times, a Mayfield number originally recorded by Baby Huey and The Babysitters.  For me the highlights of this spectacular album come from their attempts to make over some classics of the genre – an epic 2 track version of Donny Hathaway’s Little Ghetto Boy, a truly soulful version of Marvin Gaye’s Wholy Holy and a long loose meander through Bill Withers’ I Can’t Write Left Handed.  But topping everything is a convincing attempt on Humanity (Love The Way It Should Be) a reggae number originally recorded by the hitherto unknown (to me) Prince Lincoln Thompson.

(# 473) Brother Jack McDuff and David ‘Fathead’ Newman – Double Barrelled Soul (1967)

I discovered this album totally by accident when the disc was accidently placed into the digipak of another album I purchased.  This consists of lengthy soul instrumentals by organist McDuff and sax player Newman who have appeared on countless albums in my collection. For the most part, the tracks are easy going and just manage to contain enough energy to prevent them lapsing into lounge music although Esperanto goes perilously close.    Their version of Sunny is quite entertaining seemingly incorporating the James Bond Theme into the rhythm.  This is definitely one for lovers of the work of Booker T and the MG’s or The Bar-Keys.

(# 474) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (2007)

This is another covers album, this time of a range disparate Americana soundings tunes selected by musical archivist/musician/producer T-Bone Burnett for bluegrass singer Krauss and rock god cum world music warbler Robert Plant.  Despite the billing it is Krauss’ honeyed voice that dominates the majority of tracks with Plant providing, at times, subtle support.  As producer Burnett provides a wonderfully sparse yet nuanced production sound that complements them beautifully.  Strangely enough the album’s highlight, Please Read The Letter, was co-authored by Plant having appearing on his Walking Into Clarksdale album with Jimmy Page.  Fortune Teller, Killing The Blues, Tom Waits’ Trampled Rose and Townes Van Zandt’s  Nothin’ are all rendered convincingly.

(# 475) Various Artists – Judgement Night Original Soundtrack (1993)

The movie is merely OK but this soundtrack is sensational.  Using the template established by the Run DMZ and Aerosmith version of the latter’s Walk This Way, each track on the album is a collaboration between a hard rock or alternative act and a hip hop act.  The albums starts with all guns blazing with Helmet and The House Of Pain on Just Another Victim, a track in which the former’s brutal guitar attack is perfectly complemented by the latter’s rap and sampling.  Falling which follows this is almost as good as Teenage Fanclub start working abound with Tom Petty’s Free Falling only for De La Soul to cool things down with a typical rap. The title track mashes Biohazard and Onyx to sound like Body Count and Slayer and Ice-T sound right at home on Disorder, effectively a cover medley of songs by The Exploited.  Freak Momma sees Mudhoney providing the music background for a typically inventive Sir Mix-A-Lot rap and Missing Link by Dinosaur Jr and Del the Funkee Homosapien sounds like a great lost early Red Hot Chili Peppers track.

(# 476) Canned Heat And John Lee Hooker – Hooker ‘N’ Heat (1971)

This is one of the finest blues albums ever released.  For the most part it is a John Lee Hooker solo album with support at times from the Heat’s Al Wilson, whose last recording this was.  Whether its Hooker's playing and stomping or Wilson’s harmonica the first disc and the early part of the second is full of great blues numbers such as Send Me Your Pillow, Sittin’ Here Thinkin’, Driftin’ Blues, You Talk Too Much and Bottle Up And Go.  But the real business are the tracks where Hooker joins Canned Heat for a turbocharged boogie session.  The final three tracks, Let’s Make It, Peavine and an electrifying 11 minute Boogie Chillen No. 2 are as good as this type of music gets.

By the time I’d finished listening to the last album here I was at home attempting to get my thoughts together for this post.  Word was coming from our nation’s capital that the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd was challenging the current Prime Minister and his former Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard for his previous post.  Later on it was revealed he had succeeded.  Clearly collaboration is not a term that is familiar for either leader.