firstly, apologies for our mildly flaky hosting whatnot – it appears to have given up working consistantly for lent, here’s hoping we sort that one before easter, but do bear with us and if you find the ‘out to lunch’ sign up when you next pop by be sure we’ll be back terribly soon. anyhoo…
jakson’s frankly transcendant choice for a thursday reminded me of a joe tex track i’ve long loved hollering my heart out to – and in turn, that got me to thinking about the last great movie soundtrack i really got into. the ost for movie of cult denis johnson short story, jesus’ son – a it’s collection as well researched and stacked together as robbie robertson’s best work with scorsese or tarrantino’s heart felt seminal reservoir dogs/pulp fiction chart toppers.
The film itself is worth really checking out, not only for the awesome jack black before he got unfunny (because he kind of has now hasn’t he?) as well as amazing performances by samantha morton, dennis hopper and billy crudup but a pretty heartwrenching story of herion addiction, redemption, grace and compassion and some beautiful imagery.
but back to the music, its an initially odd mix of what i guess you’d call country sounds ranging from the alt- end of the spectrum (courtesty of wilco and joe henry) to country soul (which is where the joe tex thing came in) to Opry style (from the dusty vinyl enthusiasts, wetdream-worthy Louvin Brothers) right back to kitch whoopin’ cowboy and injuns but that AM radio vibe is maintained throughout the album in a way soundtracks don’t seem to manage very often.
not that i’ve bought one for years.
so for your delectation and initially inspired by jk’s Trammps post here’s another slice of philly soul from that soundtrack (though it pre-dates rubber band by a good decade). barbara mason nails that call and response thing and even though her 16 year old voice is kind of out of kilter (and tune) at the start you’ve gotta love the balls of this girl hearing fellow philadephian curtis mayfield and being inspired to write and record this tinny-wond’rous production. apologies for the squashy treble on this recording… there’s bound to be a better one somewhere – the mix pops around my headphones like a trapped mosquito at times but theres some sweet soaring strings and nice jazzy guitar buried in there too if you’ll only give it a chance.