Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul

For our second 'feel' album we could probably have chosen any Stax album. As Otis himself put it in a Rolling Stone interview: "At Stax the rule is: whatever you feel, play it. We cut everything together - horns, rhythm, and vocal. We'll do it three or four times, go back and listen to the results and pick the best one. If somebody doesn't like a line in a song, we'll go back and cut the whole song over. Until last year, we didn't even have a four-track tape recorder. You can't overdub on a one-track machine."

In the end we chose what Keith Richards called, "The album that soothes a broken heart".



It wasn't uncommon for the back cover to act as advertising, imploring the idle browser to buy and take an album home. Back covers weren't shy (because they had the space) to advertise more explicitly, promoting other albums by the artist too. Here they did both, showing covers of his three previous albums; The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (1965), Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965) and The Soul Album (1966).

As was typical, they tried to talk directly to the potential listener..."This dictionary, created especially for you, is the undeviating vocabulary of its author OTIS REDDING. Searching for something interesting to enjoy? Here...put this album on your turntable and listen to OTIS. If you should hear a word you don't understand, get your OTIS REDDING DICTIONARY OF SOUL and look it up!"

This was no doubt aimed the white audience Otis Redding had started to tap into. Released in October 1966, Dictionary of Soul was his fifth album and the last to be released before his death in December the following year. After the success of Otis Blue, Redding was increasingly attracting a crossover audience and in early 1966 he performed at the famous Whiskey A Go Go club on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip in front of a predominantly white audience, becoming one of the first soul artists to play in the western United States.

It certainly did its job on at least one member of the Stones.

Playlist #1

Here's a selection of tracks from the first 12 records featured on The Turnaround (a few of the videos may not work on all devices). 

1. Words (Between The Lines of Age) by Neil Young (Harvest)

If this doesn't play, just search YouTube for 'Neil Young In A Barn'!

2. Westering by Hiss Golden Messenger (Poor Moon)

3. New Morning by Bob Dylan (New Morning)

4. Kingpin by Wilco (Being There)

5. I'm Waiting For The Man by The Velvet Underground & Nico

6. Little Red Rooster by The Rolling Stones (Get Stoned)

7. Everydays by Buffalo Springfield (Buffalo Springfield Again)

8. Done Somebody Wrong by The Allman Brothers Band (At Fillmore East)

9. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars by Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

10. Say You'll Be Min by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (Going Up The Country single)

11. Travelling Man by Bert Jansch (L.A. Turnaround)

12. Rock and Roll by The Velvet Underground (Loaded)

L.A. Turnaround by Bert Jansch

I'm a sucker for this kind of back cover. Part insight into the recording process and part peek into the atmosphere around it. The photos are a mix of the recording sessions in a Sussex manor house (captured via mobile recording studio in an Airstream caravan), plus shots of Jansch out and about when the sessions moved to Sound City in California, looking every inch the Scotsman.

The album was for a long while out of print and so became something of a 'lost classic'. Three tracks surfaced on the 2000 compilation Dazzling Stranger, but the album didn't see a proper reissue until 2009, when it was put out on Drag City Records. Perhaps most famously, Jansch himself didn't even have a copy of the album until Johnny Marr of The Smiths gave him a rare copy (Source: BBC). Although another story has Jansch himself having to bid on eBay for a copy.

The album was produced by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith and, originally released on the Famous Charisma label following the demise of Jansch's previous band Pentangle, it was a comeback album of sorts. An Uncut review called it the 'best ever Sunday morning LP'. It went on to add, "When Charisma owner Tony Stratton-Smith hired former Monkee Michael Nesmith to produce Jansch’s 1974 debut for the label, the idea seems to have been to make a record that could bring the folk icon to a wider audience. As it happened, the stunning LA Turnaround became one of Bert Jansch’s least-heard albums. Otherwise, though, mission accomplished: Nesmith brought Red Rhodes, pedal steel genius of his own First National Band, and the greater part of the record is simply Rhodes’ sublimely intuitive playing intertwining with Jansch’s. Throughout, Bert’s deep-rooted British balladry meets Nesmith’s experiments in avant-country, and on songs like the sparkling, hypnotic “Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning”, it’s difficult to imagine how anyone could fail to love it."

In a recent interview, again for Uncut, on whether Jansch was easy to work with, Nesmith recalled, "Yeah, he was for me, I liked him. I didn't know anything about him before that record. Bert was a discovery for me, a wonderful discovery. It was particularly interesting when he got to LA, because he brought all his background with him, but got immersed into the country music bar scene, which is its own particular animal here. That was fun to watch happen. He and Red played really well together."

Some of that bar scene is clearly captured on the back cover.

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Bought before I had heard them play a note. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis were enthusiastically recommended to me while at a festival they were playing recently. So I bought this at the on-site record tent in anticipation they might sell out if they were as good as I was expecting. I wasn't disappointed. Their rockabilly-infused blues is perfect festival watching and listening, seamlessly mixing covers with originals. This is a 7" off their first album, a cover of Going Up the Country backed with Say You'll Be Mine.

 

Devotees to all things analogue, they have built a home studio dominated by antique recording equipment. There records are part of the whole package too, with 50s styling and thick, heavy-weight vinyl thrown in. Apparently, the vinyl was also cut by Lewis using his own equipment at The Exchange Mastering Studios.

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

I have mixed feelings about ‘100 Greatest‘ lists. At best: They can introduce you to new music or make you revisit music you already own but have neglected. At worst: They are unimaginative and lazy lists with the same old albums and artists always featuring (albeit, you may argue, for good reason). I'm still a sucker for them though...

Occasionally you can be surprised. Years ago I saw a list of the 100 ‘coolest’ albums. While the term is about as subjective as they come, quite a number of albums I had never heard of featured. Three stuck in my mind and this was one of them (the other two were No Other by Gene Clark and Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson).

The back cover turns out to be by the 'King of Liner Notes', Stan Coryn. This comes from a time (and genre) when liner notes were feted for their literary qualities. For this album Coryn evocatively reports from one of the recording sessions. Among other liner notes, he wrote those for Lee Hazelwood, Dean Martin and Everly Brothers' albums. Even the back cover seems to exude an effortless cool.

The photograph on the back was taken by Ed Thrasher. His NY Times obituary noted his, "work proved integral to the success of many...albums and helped define the look of rock. His overall art direction included commissioning photographers, typographers and illustrators for albums including the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Are You Experienced,” Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks,” the Grateful Dead's “Anthem of the Sun,” the Doobie Brothers’ “Toulouse Street” and even Tiny Tim’s purposely cheesy “God Bless Tiny Tim.” An expressively moody self-portrait of Joni Mitchell appearing on the cover of her 1969 album “Clouds,” also started a small trend for musicians to create the art for their own records."

Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East

The stories of those who surround a band can sometimes be as interesting as those of the band members themselves…this is also the first contribution from a reader (thanks Dad!).

The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East, often viewed as one of the truly great live albums, was recorded by Tom Dowd at the height of the band's power on 12th and 13th March 1971 and before guitarist Duane Allman's death in 1973. It resulted in a classic double album with a very distinctive cover featuring black & white photographs taken by Jim Marshall of the band posing casually with their cased equipment which had been piled up against a brick wall. Duane was always appreciative of the band's road crew and insisted that the back cover of the album should replicate the front but with the band replaced by their roadies. So, the same setting was used to depict (from left to right) Joseph ("Red Dog") Campbell, Kim Payne, Joe Dan Petty, Mike Callaghan and Willie Perkins. Red Dog, Kim and Joe Dan are holding cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer which, in view of the album's success, was probably as good an advertising campaign as the brewers could have devised themselves. The beer was provided by the photographer as a reward to the roadies for lugging out and stacking the band's heavy equipment for the photo shoot. None of the pictures of the band for the cover were actually taken at the Fillmore East but near the band's headquarters in Macon, Georgia.

"Red Dog" was a red-haired Vietnam veteran and Kim Payne had only just been checked out of a hospital after recovering from being shot by a policeman. He had been stopped for speeding 3 days after the Fillmore concerts. Kim was also the co-writer of one of the band's well-known numbers - "Midnight Rider". Joe Dan played bass in one of Dickey Betts earlier bands - "The Jokers" and Mike Callaghan was a soundman and bus driver for "The Roemans", the backing band for Tommy Roe. Willie Perkins had a degree in business management and had been brought in to replace the band's Tour Manager, Twiggs Lyndon, who was in jail awaiting trial for murder. One of his responsibilities was to look after the books and it wasn't long before he found that the finances were in a mess and that, even as a roadie, he was making more money than anyone else in the band.

At "Red Dog's" suggestion, the back cover also acknowledges Twiggs' absence by having a separate photo of him superimposed on the brick wall beside the track listing.

Words by John Seaton, drawing on Scott Freeman's Midnight Riders - The Story of The Allman Brothers Band and Skydog - The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe.

Jim Marshall took countless iconic photographs of musicians, from early 1960s images of Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village through to Woodstock, where he was chief photographer (not the first Woodstock photographer mentioned on these pages. Henry Diltz features in the Buffalo Springfield Again entry. Diltz is also described as the official photographer (as, I have discovered, was Elliott Landy), so I guess you are allowed more than one). Marshall also famously photographed Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival, and Johnny Cash at San Quentin. For more visit www.jimmarshallphotographyllc.com

Interview with M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger

This week I have had the good fortune to trade emails with M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, whose Poor Moon was an early album to feature on The Turnaround. He kindly shared his thoughts on the importance of album art and introduced me to the recordings of Terry Allen.

M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger (Paradise of Bachelors)

The Turnaround: How important is the imagery you use on your album covers and how involved do you get in the designs? 

M C Taylor: It's pretty important. I need to feel that there is a connection between the imagery on the album cover and the music, even if nobody else does. I've been fortunate thus far to be able to actualize the ideas I have in my head with the help of Brendan Greaves, who has done the design and layout for all of the HGM covers except the very first one. I think good artwork can be rendered ineffective if it isn't properly laid out. I was also very lucky to have Alex Jako do the line drawings for Poor Moon, her work is unparalleled.

The Turnaround: I read somwhere that you specifically wanted to reference the Nonesuch Explorer Series on the Poor Moon album art. What appeals to you about those designs?

M C Taylor: I like their starkness. They feel classic to me. They feel connected to the music and to other albums in the series. There is an obvious effort to frame the drawings that appear on those covers using a lot of open space, and there is an clear attention to (and affection for) font.


Example from the Nonesuch Explorer Series (www.computeraudiophile.com)

The Turnaround: Did re-recording versions of songs for Poor Moon that originally appeared on Bad Debt change the way you felt about them?

M C Taylor: Not really, no.

The Turnaround: Any thoughts on a favorute piece of back cover art?

You asked this question and I was thinking of the back cover of Terry Allen's Lubbock (On Everything). It's a picture of him covering his face with his hands, wearing a hat. It's an evocative image.

Hiss Golden Messenger have just announced a split 7" with Micah Elephant, released on Paradise of Bachelors, and are working on a new album.

Expect Lubbock (On Everything) to feature here at a future date.


M C Taylor in the studio working on the new album (Paradise of Bachelors)



www.facebook.com/HissGoldenMessenger
http://www.paradiseofbachelors.com/
http://www.tompkinssquare.com/



Buffalo Springfield Again by Buffalo Springfield

Back covers can often allow the band to display their influences and they don't come much more explicit that this. On their second album, released in 1967, Buffalo Springfield listed "friends, enemies and people we don't know from Adam for their influence and inspiration". 

 

Jimmy McDonough's Shakey credits the hand-lettered illustration to Henry Diltz, a musician (he was a founding member of the Modern Folk Quartet) and photographer. He was the official photographer for Woodstock and the Monterey Pop festivals and also co-founded Morrison Hotel Galleries, specialising in fine art music photography. The album itself only credits Eve Babitz for the cover illustration (who also designed album covers for Linda Ronstadt and The Byrds) and album design to Loring Eutemey (who designed many of Atlantic's covers for the likes of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane).

In a band with strong personalities and individual songwriters (Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay), the back cover is careful to list out specific roles, reflecting growing tension within the band and that they were often working separately. It probably also reflects music company desire, post-Beatlemania, to promote the separate personalities of each group member in order to broaden their appeal.

The credits also make apparent the lack of a consistent bass player. The original bass player, Bruce Palmer, was often absent due to drug charges and ultimately deported back to Canada. As Neil Young's hand-written liner notes for Decade, his 1977 compilation album recall: "Mr Soul: recorded by the original Springfield at Atlantic's New York studios after a gig at "Ondine's". Shortly after this Bruce Palmer, bassist, was busted and deported to Canada. Eventually we got him back to U.S. but made many records without him. Broke [Stephen] Stills' heart and mine too that he wasn't on all our records".

The credits for Young's "Mr Soul" note that it is "[r]espectfully dedicated to the ladies of The Whiskey A Go Go and the woman of Hollywood". There has been much debate over the meaning of the song, but this seems to acknowledge that somewhere in there are Young’s frustrations at the price of fame and the hollow female attention that it can engender...maybe.

Loaded by The Velvet Underground

"Loaded has always been my favourite VU record. This song [Rock and Roll] is just one of the many reasons why." Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

 

The Rolling Stone review of the time noted that "the Velvet Underground on Loaded are more loose and straightforward than we've yet seen them". As such it is the first to feature in what I hope to be a series of 'feel' albums. Loose sounding records that really sound like a band in a room playing together. Limited overdubs and no metronome in sight. And ideally, with this mood reflected on the back cover.

Choosing Loaded belies that fact that it was recorded amid growing tension within the band. It is the last album to feature Lou Reed, who quit shortly after it had been recorded. The back cover provides a peak into the recording process, or at least the recording studio. It shows the studio setup for the band, but perhaps tellingly only features Doug Yule (John Cale's replacement after White Light/Whiter Heat), who had taken a more prominent role.

According to the Wikipedia entry: "Reed also felt snubbed by being listed third in the credits on the album; and by the large photo of Yule playing piano; and by all the songwriting credits improperly going to the band, rather than Reed himself."

The photograph used for the back cover was taken by Henri Ter Hall. As the Lost Loaded Shots notes: "In 1970 Dutch photographer Henri ter Hall, then living in New York City, shot The Velvet Underground during the recording sessions for Loaded. His image of the almost-empty recording studio appeared on the back cover of the album."