music now & then – Music New to You from the Past and Present

Dave Grohl’s 2013 plunge into documentary filmmaking “Sound City” mines the history of the recently shuttered studio where Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was recorded. Grohl weaves many story lines together in his film, from the people who built and ran Sound City, to the technology that made the studio famous and the later technology that doomed it, to the string of major artists that passed through its unassuming front door. He concludes with a strong statement about the virtues of musicians hunkering down in a studio till inspiration and perspiration get it just right, and shows us what he means by releasing “Sound City 606”.

Check out the trailer for “Sound City”, then listen to one of the first songs released from the CD featuring Paul McCartney rocking as hard as he has since “Helter Skelter”.

Here’s a link to page on the Sound City Studio website that lists every album recorded there: Sound City Recordings. It is an amazing list, and the very first album ever recorded there was Spirit’s masterpiece “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus”. If you’re not familiar with that album or have forgotten what a tour de force it was, listen to “Nature’s Way” and “Mr. Skin”.

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Folk rock is getting plenty of attention these days. With Mumford & Sons taking Best Album honors at the 2013 Grammy Awards, and John Mayer recalling the influences of the Laurel Canyon artists of the late 60’s and 70’s in his 2012 release “Born and Raised” (see our post from January 27 John Mayer), acoustic music and heart-felt songwriting are back.

The Avett Brothers were 2013 Grammy nominees for their sixth album “The Carpenter”, a Rick Rubin production. We don’t know if the Avetts would claim him as an influence, but Jackson Browne’s 1974 classic album “Late for the Sky” shares some of the moods and breadth of “The Carpenter”, and Browne was among the central figures of that Laurel Canyon era. Enjoy listening to “Winter in My Heart” from the Avetts and the title track of “Late for the Sky”.