Jimmie Haskell – ”California ’99” (1971)

Some albums are more fun to own than to listen to. Jimmie Haskell’s California '99 is one of these. The record must be defined as some sort of rock opera with a rather odd content. Recorded in the early 70's it looks into the future, to the faraway 80’s and 90’s. USA is bankrupt, people eat insects that in turn feed on cannabis (which grows in the central region of the country, in the insects and marijuana corridor). USA is also renamed California and love is for the lower classes, almost forbidden. And not to mention, there are no clocks anymore, instead music is played - slow tempo in the morning and then faster and faster as the day goes by. To know what time it is, you just listen to the music.

The main character chooses not to be part of the military, instead he gets an alternative assignment, Situation 19 - Love as your burden. He must love three people simultaneously, namely Claudia, Jessica Stone and Barbara. Moreover, he must find and fall in love with them in that specific order. He gets two years to do this, he fails it will be the military anyway.

Yeah, the story goes something like that. Tom Gamache wrote it. When I’ve read online about the album a lot of people come back to the idea that the creators must have smoked large amounts of dope. Wonder why...

Jimmie Haskell has been a productive person, both as a writer and arranger of music. He has also acted as a conductor a lot during his career. He has received an Emmy and a number of Grammies. Besides various artists, Jimmie has been involved in a lot of soundtracks, such as Big and The Color Purple.

The music at California '99 is nothing out of the ordinary, honestly, and not as weird as the story. The album consists of about as much story telling as music. Personally I think the narration becomes a bit boring after a while, even though the story itself is crazy enough. But if you’ve heard it once, you don’t need to hear it again. Different guests appear - Joe Walsh, Big Wanda And The Wombats, Jimmy Witherspoon and others. Some songs are covers, while others are written by Haskell. An odd bird on the album is The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down where Jimmy Witherspoon sings. A perfectly OK song, but a little odd in this context. The record ends with a cover of Peter Townshend's Underture.

The best thing about the album is the cover. You can unfold it into a poster, as large as six album covers. Some weird photos with accompanying descriptions on one side, and a map of the United States (no, California, of course) on the other. That’s kind of neat.

As mentioned, the music on the album might not justify a purchase, but the foldable cover along with the generally freaked out content still makes it fun to have in the collection. How the story ends is not revealed here, look up the album for yourselves.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Overture

2. Appopopoulisberg

3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

4. Jessica Stone

5. To Claudia On Thursday

Side B

1. Prelude

2. California Fairy Tale

3. Barbara

4. Underture

Dire Straits – ”Brothers In Arms” (1985)

This is one of the first LPs in my collection. I got it when I turned 13, the same year it was released. I remember it well, my birthday took place at Sweden’s west coast where we sometimes spent a few weeks in the summer. I became a teenager, and began increasingly to say farewell to my childhood. The sun was shining just like the day before, it was hot but something was still different.

Part of getting older was to start creating your own identity and in that process your own record collection. Brothers In Arms was a step along that way. Besides children albums that lingered on the shelf, the album had company by some KISS albums I received from my brother because I sometimes cleaned his room, Magnus Uggla’s Välkommen Till Folkhemmet, and at Christmas -85 Paul Young’s Secret Of Association showed up. Slowly but surely the children albums disappeared to give room to rock 'n ' roll. Brothers In Arms is part of the foundation of my collection, one of my first albums and has accompanied me for almost 30 years.

With that being said, it doesn’t mean I think it's an amazing album that is played daily at home. Truth is that I practically never listen to it today.

Brothers In Arms is Dire Straits fifth album and their most successful. The album is the seventh best selling album ever in the UK, and has spent countless number of weeks at the number one spot on national sales charts all around the world. It has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide. Brothers In Arms was also the first album that sold more in the CD format than in the vinyl format, for a time in 1985 it was difficult for other companies to release CDs since all the available CD manufacturing was occupied by Brothers In Arms.

Something that helped make Brothers In Arms such a success was the classic video for Money For Nothing. I remember how cool I thought it was, computer-animated and all. It was at the time MTV was new, fresh and cool and music videos were discussed extensively in the schoolyard. And that Sting helped with the singing made it even more interesting.

 

The reason I don’t listen to Brothers In Arms today is not that it's a bad album, because it’s not. It's a good album. It’s rather that I went further in my music listening and left this one behind after some years. After intensive listening in my early teenage years, I have also associated it with this particular period in my life, and have found it difficult to relate to it as an adult. But the truth is, it has now passed enough time since this album was played, so I can actually appreciate it again. When I listened through it before writing this text, I realize it is with new ears I listen to it.

Money For Nothing no longer feels like I’ve heard it too many times. Instead it feels quite fresh and its cool guitar hook really sounds great. The Man 's Too Strong is as good as before and the title track is still beautifully melancholic and slightly suggestive. The opening song So Far Away is actually better than before and the beautiful Why Worry has probably become even more beautiful. And still really dislike the hit Walk Of Life, Your Latest Trick and One World.

 

I will still probably not listen very often on Brothers In Arms in the future, since I have so much else to choose from today. But I have certainly gained a renewed respect for the album and actually think it's really good.

Tracklist

Side A

1. So Far Away 3:59
2. Money For Nothing 7:04
3. Walk Of Life 4:12
4. Your Latest Trick 4:46
5. Why Worry 5:22

Side B

1. Ride Across The River 6:58
2. The Man’s Too Strong 4:40
3. One World 3:40
4. Brothers In Arms 7:00

 

 

Roxy Music – ”Stranded” (1973)

Roxy Music’s third album and the first without Brian Eno. This was one of 2013 Christmas presents for my mother, who had been hunting in the town’s stores for used LPs. This must surely have been a funnier Christmas gift hunting than the usual on Wal-Mart, H & M or the local book shop. I am happy to receive more Christmas gifts like this.

Despite Roxy Music's legendary status, the band is a relatively unexplored area for me. But it feels great that there is still unknown territory even within rockn’ roll’s more well-known areas. On the album cover you’ve got Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend Marilyn Cole, who was also the Playmate of the Year 1973. Ferry had a habit of putting his girlfriends on the band's album covers. Although it’s relatively daring it’s still innocent compared to the cover on the subsequent Country Life, which my wife doesn’t allow lying around when we get visitors at home.

 

There are many who believe that this is Roxy Music's best album, one of these is actually Brian Eno. Personally, I also think it's a very good album. You’ve got a mix between some fast paced numbers, such as the classic opening track Street Life, and quieter pieces like Psalmor the beautiful A Song For Europe. Many of the tracks must be described as almost epical, with its various twists and parts. Epic glam and art rock. The great Mother Of Pearl is an example of this, which after a loud and messy intro takes a completely different turn. Also Amazon takes a somewhat unexpected turn into a more dreamy path after some initial minutes with a completely different sound.

 

Rolling Stone magazine wrote at the time:

 

Roxy Music has been unable to cross the Atlantic so far, but that should change with this album. Stranded is one of the most exciting and entertaining British LPs of the Seventies.

A really great album without any real weak tracks, according to me. Bryan Ferry, the main songwriter, confirms his expertise and talent as a composer. Perhaps it’s the absence of Brian Eno that makes Stranded lacking a little of the previous album For Your Pleasure’s more strange and difficult pieces. If this is positive or negative is a matter of taste, personally I think both albums are great.

 

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. Street Life 3:27
2. Just Like You 3:34
3. Amazona 4:12
4. Psalm 8:04

Side B

1. Serenade 2:55
2. A Song For Europe 4:44
3. Mother Of Pearl 6:53
4. Sunset 6:00