Out With the Old

What better way to kick off the New Year than by clearing out the last of the old. I would've posted these last couple of pieces, but as they were gifts, I didn't want to risk spoiling the surprise.

After a series of sketches I did based on some of my favorite blues artists, my cousin offhandedly remarked that she would like a drawing of the eminent violinist, Jascha Heifetz. It stood to reason as she herself is a fine player of both the viola and violin. And so, I took a few and sketched one out for her.

In addition to being an enormously influential musician, Heifetz was also quite a wit and very quotable. One of my favorites: "No matter what side of an argument you're on, you always find some people on your side that you wish were on the other side."

Even Bad Wolves Can Be Good...

Our final musician this week is one Domingo Zamudio...better known as Sam the Sham of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.  Born in Dallas, Texas (1937), Sam took on his trademark loungey robe and turban and named his band the Pharaohs after Yul Brynner's character in The Ten Commandments.  In '65, the band had it's biggest hit with "Wooly Bully", which managed to climb the charts in an otherwise British Invasion dominated period.  And while "Wooly" remains a bar song classic, it was their other hit, "Li'l Red Riding Hood" that first captured my imagination.  On one hand, it's a sort of cute song full of innuendo...but on the other, Sam's method of growling out the lyrics (he adopted the moniker "Sham" as indicative of his vocal ability) along that fat bass line turns it in something creepy and almost otherworldly.

A Candy-colored Clown They Call the Sandman...

Another week in music for this round of drawings, starting with the darkly spectacled, angelic-voiced Roy Orbison.  A favorite of my dad (Happy Father's Day, dad!), I've been listening to Roy's tunes since I was a lad.  Born in Vernon, Texas, Roy would first record for the legendary Sun Records before becoming a regular hit-maker in the 1960's.  Personal tragedy and difficulty adjusting to the changing sounds, Roy  faded from the limelight for much of the 70's and 80's before experiencing a revival as the 90's rolled around. After success with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne as the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys and a final hit album with Mystery Girl, Roy passed away in 1988 at only 52. Though the use of "In Dreams" as a favorite of the psychotic Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet added a disturbing lilt to the song, it remains perhaps my favorite of Roy Orbison's catalog.

"I take sounds and change them into words."

My final musician isn't quite the flamboyant icon he once was...but, in many senses, he's become a cornerstone of modern music (and one of the most frequent musical crossword answers, alongside Yoko Ono).  That of course is Brian Peter George St. Baptiste de la Salle Eno, or simply Brian Eno.  Eno has worked as a musician, a producer, a multimedia artist, and a technological innovator.  His professional music career began with his two album tenure with Roxy Music, after which, he went on to record a multitude of solo albums, collaborations with the likes of David Bowie, John Cale, and Robert Fripp, and has produced albums for The Talking Heads, Devo, and U2.

Ah, The Name is Bootsy, Baby...

Our second iconic musician funked things up...simply because I couldn't have done this week without doing the beloved Bootsy Collins.  William Earl Collins has been a major part of the funk universe playing with such acts as the J.B.'s, Parliament, Funkadelic, and his own Rubber Band in addition to lending his talents to many others.  Bootsy is easily identifiable by his Star Bass if not is outlandish wardrobe and veritable cavalcade of amazing glasses (I am a particular fan of the ones that look like a mini-boom box...).

If You Want Blood, You Got It...

This week were Back in Black with bad music puns and iconic musicians.  Kicking things off is the great Angus Young from AC/DC, which he and brother Malcolm formed the band in 1973.  After trying a number of different on-stage outfits, he adopted the schoolboy on the suggestion of his sister.  Now that we've got that down...Let There Be Rock!

He Who Got the Most Moneymakers Shaking...

Blues Legend Elmore James was perhaps most famous for his extreme technical ability on the guitar and his employment of a slide, earning him the nickname King of the Slide Guitar.  "Shake Your Moneymaker" is probably one of James' most swell known tunes, and his stirring sound and shouted vocals still pack a heckuva wallop.

"Way Down in the Hole..."

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits, one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters in sound and presence, probably requires little by way of explanation on my part.  Though I was first exposed to Tom's music through his soundtrack work for Jim Jarmusch, it was the early, melancholy satire of his piano blues number "The Piano Has Been Drinking" that sent me on a dive through his catalogue.  While his gravelly growl of a voice might have some of the acquired taste of a strong Scotch, if you've not heard his stuff, you owe it to yourself as a music lover to taste a bit of a true original.

"So You Go Your Way, Wild One/I'll Try and Follow..."

Charismatic frontman for Irish rock band, Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott seemed to have an interesting mix between a sweet shyness in interviews, and the definite strut and swagger of the rocker on stage. Phil, unfortunately, passed away too young and the rock world lost yet another diamond in the rough.

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart, singer/songwriter and creator of the great genre-fusing wall of sound and energy known as Sly and the Family Stone.

Tipitina Tipitina...

Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair or simply Fess, was a New Orleans singer and pianist. Fess taught himself to play on a piano with missing keys. A long career of ups an downs, or popularity and rediscovery came to an end in 1980. His tunes and distinctive playing style are well worth a listen.

One of Us Put a Spell on You...

Maker of perhaps one of the most famously covered songs, Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins was definitely in a category all by himself. The wild on-stage theatrics came after the drunken recording session that gave us the wild, concussive recording of "I Put a Spell On You". A fascinating icon, Screamin' Jay is well worth catching in his on-screen performances in Jim jarmusch's Mystery Train and Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango.

Flash Lightnin'

This quick portrait of Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins sets off what was to be a series of musicians. As it was first, it's not my favorite of the bunch. I think I may revisit Hopkins...if only because he had the coolest glasses I've ever seen...not to mention that I don't think I've heard a guitar sound so mournful as his.