Hello 2021!
Happy 2021! There seems to be a lot of pressure on 2021 and if we are in the business of personifying years, I would feel a little sorry this one. I cannot even fathom a realistic way for the year to come close to achieving the mountain of expectations we have. It would almost be easier if 2021 came out as the ne’er-do-well child of the devil and 2020, ala the Match commercials of 2020, or 2021 was the Drug Free America commercial from the 80s; the tagline was, “I learned it from watching you.”
While this is all tongue and cheek, I do sincerely wish you a happy new year and may your new year bring positive aspirations and at least a crate of new records. There rest will take care of itself.
Hello (Prince of) Darkness!
Leading up to the turn of the year, I found myself digging through a few rabbit-holes. The more interesting path continued from last month’s modern jazz/soul/fusion playlist. In my attempt to continue digging and discovering more music, new and old, the November 2020, Record Store Day, self-titled release by Jazz Sabbath, popped into one of my feeds. One listen and so begun the downward spiral.
At first, I assumed, it’s a cover. It was just interesting version of a song I had not heard in a very long time, Fairies Wear Boots. But then I was listening the original, by Black Sabbath. In this case, Black Sabbath is like a potato chip, you cannot have just one. For an album that is more than 50-year-old, it is still amazing.
After Fairies, then Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, Rat Salad and then the realization/satisfaction that this is an interesting study into a band that has a really good half century old catalog of music, hell an interesting study into the second Black Sabbath album alone. Of course, as you pull one string, you wind up with I then found jam-band covers, jazz, a variety of metal, electronic dance, and even kid-tune covers of those originals. It is so interesting to see the perspectives; who are the artists taking liberties with the songs versus who presents straight-forward versions; who just places what the hear versus who is genuinely trying to honor and respect the songs in their original version or even in their newer interpreted version.
Back on topic. After coming up for air from the rabbit-hole that easily took over a week, I landed on a play list of covers. Some are straight forward. Some are interesting twists of what the Prince of Darkness, Tomy Iommi, Bill Ward, and of course, Geezer Butler presented back in the 70s and 80s and beyond. It is different spin on what is expected but I think that’s what it is about, new perspectives. From Charles Bradley’s interpretation of Changes (see below), offered as a remembrance of his mother and how life perspective changes, to the thousands of Black Sabbath covers you can find on Youtube, Black Sabbath has permeated beyond that 4 piece from the UK that started back in 1960-something.
Some of my favorite Black Sabbath covers are from the Swedish rock/pop outfit, the Cardigans. Nina Persson’s almost playfully jazz-pop version in Iron Man and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, are always welcome. But instead of the obvious, I added one of my favorite interpretations, Black Sabbath, repurposed for the song Heartbreaker.
Enjoy!
This month’s playlist is below & on my playlist, here.
001 - Snowblind - Brownout - Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath, Vol II - 2016
002 - Fairies Wear Boots - The Casualties of Jazz - Kind of Black - 2004
003 - Changes -Charles Bradley (feat. The Budos Band) - Changes - 2016
004 - N.I.B. - Brownout (feat. Alex Marrero) - Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath - 2014
005 - Heaven and Hell - Rockabye Baby - Lullaby Renditions of Black Sabbath - 2010
006 - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - The Lounge Brigade - The Lounge Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath - 2002
007 - Never Say Die - Driving Mrs. Satan - Popscotch - 2013
008 - Sweet Leaf - Galactic - We Love'em Tonight (Live at Tipitina's) - 2001
009 - Iron Man - Four Tet - Everything Comes and Goes: A Tribute to Black Sabbath - 2005
010 - Paranoid - Weezer - Weezer (Teal Album - 2019
011 - Children of the Grave - Jazz Sabbath - Jazz Sabbath - 2020
012 - War Pigs - Brass Against (feat. Maya Azucena) - Brass Against II - 2019
