#038
La Grande Bouffe Pt02:
The drinks are on me
“Boccas roxas de vinho,
Testas brancas sob rosas,
Nús, brancos antebraços
Deixados sobre a mesa:
Tal seja, Lydia, o quadro
Em que fiquemos, mudos
Eternamente inscriptos
Na consciencia dos deuses.”
Ricardo Reis
Inevitavelmente tinha de dar molho às comezainas da semana passada, na senda deste “comes e bebes” musical. E o fim-de-semana começa logo em beleza numa ponte que nos liga à M4we anterior com Manny Corchado e o seu Chicken and Booze, um boogaloo que no seu album Aprovecha el Tiempo de 1966 cozinhava o sonido do Spanish Harlem. Passo logo de seguida para este lado do oceano com Maria de los Ángeles Rodríguez Fernández, conhecida como Gelu e que neste 7” datado de 1962 até “canta fado” acompanhada pelo conjunto de Jorge Machado, o qual foi durante décadas o responsável pela direcção musical de muito programa televisivo em Portugal. Um pouco mais à frente faço uma paragem merecida num Cocktail-Party de outra personagem televisiva: Manuela Moura Guedes.
Tendo em conta a importância do assunto tive que encher o bar com todo o tipo de bebidas, what’s your poison, mate? Apesar de não ser grande adepto de whiskeys escolhi uns clássicos que, noblesse oblige, tinham de estar no menu. Do Bowie a pedir informações em como chegar ao proximo bar em Alabama Song de Weill e Brecht, ao Poison Whiskey dos Lynyrd Skynyrd ou um Quiet Whiskey interpretado por Wynonie Harris.
É incalculável a quantidade de ícones da minha juventude que bebiam como se o barril estivesse furado. “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs”. A primeira frase desculpa nitidamente a segunda quando proferida em Goldfinger pelo primeiro Bond de todos, o senhor Sean Connery, no seu sotaque de Scot com licença para matar.
Se a escolha recai a maior parte das vezes no tipo de tipple não é por mero acaso, vale tudo, é um fartar vilanagem de champagne, bourbon, mezcal ou tequila, gin, cerveja, rum e vinho. Este ultimo, por vezes chamado de néctar dos deuses, é, na voz de Andy Williams, a primeira referência que ouvi a uma bebida alcoólica na pop que se ouvia lá por casa. Desta vez decidi escolher uma versão simplesmente maravilhosa mas menos conhecida na voz ainda nova de Marvin Gaye.
Canção com o titulo do filme de Blake Edwards, The Day of Wine and Roses valeu aos seus autores, Henry Mancini e Johnny Mercer, levarem para casa o Oscar para Best Original Song assim como uns Grammys de disco do ano e canção do ano em 1963. Em 2004 o American Film Institute concedeu-lhe a posição 39 em 100 tunes cinematográficos.
Três fun facts, um importante, o segundo suficientemente nonsensical para poder aparecer aqui e o terceiro em jeito de lenda urbana para historiadores da música popular…
1: A origem da epígrafe encontra-se no poema Vitae Summa Brevis do escritor inglês Ernest Dowson.
“They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.”
2: Antes do filme de 1962 com Lee Remick e Jack Lemmon houve uma série televisiva de antologia que em 1958 e com realização de John Frankenheimer fez um primeiro approach a esta história, contando com Piper Laurie e Cliff Robertson nos principais papéis. Este ultimo e Jack Lemmon foram ambos casados com a actriz Cynthia Stone.
3: Bill Withers um dia viu o filme de Edwards no pequeno ecrã e a amaldiçoada trama amorosa que tricota a narrativa inspirou-o com a frase “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” e que o levou a gravar em 1971 o seu primeiro grande sucesso.
Mas como dizia um pouco atrás, se a maior parte das escolhas vem por associação a um estilo de destilado ou fermentado do outro lado do rótulo inscreve-se uma negação ao glamour que tantas vezes se quer associar às bebidas tendo em conta que todos os bardos aqui escolhidos sofreram de certeza umas valentes ressacas. “The only thing he’s gonna tell ya baby / Stop drinkin’ Juohnny walkers Red / Don’t drink poison whiskey, don’t you drink it boy” canta Ronald Wayne Van Zant enquanto Janis Joplin declara, numa das suas primeiras gravações, “What good can drinkin’ do, what good can drinkin’ do? / Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue.”
De qualquer forma nesse fatal deslumbramento que o álcool tem sobre o que fazemos acabamos sempre por ir balbuciando uns momentos inesquecíveis. Algures nos anos 80, para efeitos de fotografar a inclusão da Constructónica num livro sobre moda Portuguesa lá estava a turma do costume: Helena Assédio, Pedro Lata, Lena Aires e mais uns quantos, eu espojado no chão com uma garrafa de Stoli ao lado quando a dado momento ouço a fotografa Inês Gonçalves a pedir “para tirar a garrafa de vodka” ao que respondi que “não dá, é imagem de marca”. Nada de muito lindo que pudesse contribuir para a felicidade da minha mãe mas no entanto uma afirmação de soberania sobre o tipo de imagem que o Status Quo nos quer impingir diariamente.
Meanwhile back at the ranch ofereço cocktails variados, Da Chick e Rupert Holmes são os bartenders de serviço, enquanto na sala ao lado os LCD cantam sobre Drunk Girls e Ed Robertson dos Barenaked Ladies rumina would you please ignore that you / Found me on the floor / Trying on your camisole?. Imagine-se a manhã seguinte…
Para os intolerantes à lactose até temos referencias ao White Russian subscritas pela über banda de pub-rock Dr. Feelgood com o clássico dos tempos do 2001 Milk and Alcohol. Escrita por Nick Lowe depois de uma noite “mandando abaixo” um galão de Kahlúa enquanto via John Lee Hooker ao vivo se tivesse de escolher um hino não-germânico digno de qualquer Oktoberfest era esta buba de vaporosos riffs de guitarra eléctrica que demonstram a grandiosidade de uma night on the town…
Para acabar deixo dois links elucidativos:
Oktoberfest in September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eC36bQ-Ea0
e Prosit! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ62L23L7BE
para se poder compreender a escolha de Margot Hellwig a cantar Jodeln, tanzen, fröhlich sein e assim poderem já antever o que nos espera para a semana que vem.
PS: a inclusão de Carol Hunter a cantar Dr. Pepper é propositada. O que seria deste mundo sem um soft drink com sabor a cereja?
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
##############################
“Mouths purple with wine,
Foreheads white beneath
Roses, forearms, naked
And white, at the table;
Let that be the picture,
Lidia, of the two of us,
Mute, inscribed forever
In the minds of Gods.”
Ricardo Reis
Inevitably I had to pour some sauce over last week’s meals, set on top of a long table displaying this musical “food and bevvies” feast. And the weekend starts just right on a bridge that connects us to the previous M4we with Manny Corchado and his Chicken and Booze, a boogaloo that in his 1966 album Aprovecha el Tiempo cooked the sound of Spanish Harlem. I immediately spin to this side of the ocean with Maria de los Ángeles Rodríguez Fernández, known as Gelu and who in this 7” dated from 1962 even “sings fado” accompanied by Jorge Machado, who was responsible for the musical direction of a lot of television programs in Portugal. A little further ahead, I make a well-deserved stop at a Cocktail Party hosted by another tv royal: Manuela Moura Guedes.
Given the importance of the subject, I had to fill the bar with all kinds of drinks, what’s your poison, mate? Despite not being a big fan of whiskeys, I chose some classics that, noblesse oblige, really had to be on the menu. From Bowie asking for information on how to get to the next bar in Alabama Song by Weill and Brecht, to Poison Whiskey by Lynyrd Skynyrd or a Quiet Whiskey sung by Wynonie Harris.
The number of icons from my youth that drank as if the barrel was punctured is incalculable. “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs ”. The first sentence clearly excuses the second when uttered at Goldfinger by the first Bond of all, Mr. Sean Connery, in his drawl of a Scot with license to kill.
If the choice mostly falls on the tipple type it is not by chance, anything goes, it’s a smorgasbord of champagne, bourbon, mezcal or tequila, gin, beer, rum and wine. The latter, sometimes called nectar of the gods, is, in Andy Williams’ voice, the first reference I heard of an alcoholic drink in the pop that was heard at home when I was a kid. I decided to choose a simply wonderful but less known version in the still young voice of Marvin Gaye.
Song with the title of Blake Edwards’ film, The Day of Wine and Roses, earned its authors, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, the Oscar for Best Original Song as well as some Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1963. In 2004, the American Film Institute awarded it the 39th position in 100 cinematic tunes.
Three fun facts, one important, the second sufficiently nonsensical to be able to appear here and the third just an urban legend for popular music historians …
1: The origin of the title is found in the poem Vitae Summa Brevis by the English writer Ernest Dowson.
“They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.”
2: Before the 1962 film with Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon, there was an anthology television series in 1958 that, directed by John Frankenheimer, made a first approach to this story, with Piper Laurie and Cliff Robertson in the main roles. The latter and Jack Lemmon were both married to actress Cynthia Stone.
3: Bill Withers once saw Edwards’ movie on the small screen and the cursed love story that knits the narrative inspired him with the phrase “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” that led him to record in 1971 his first big success.
But as I said a little while back, if most of the choices come in association with a style of distilled or fermented drink, on the other side of the label there’s denial of the glamour that is so often associated with drinks, considering that all bards chosen here certainly suffered a few strong hangovers, “The only thing he’s gonna tell ya baby / Stop drinkin ‘Juohnny walkers Red / Don’t drink poison whiskey, don’t you drink it boy” sings Ronald Wayne Van Zant while Janis Joplin declares, in one of her first recordings, “What good can drinkin ‘do, what good can drinkin’ do? / Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue.”
Anyway, wondering what strong influence alcohol has on what we do, we always end up babbling some unforgettable situations. Somewhere in the 1980s, for the purpose of photographing the inclusion of Constructónica in a book on Portuguese Fashion, there was the usual gang: Helena Assédio, Pedro Lata, Lena Aires and a few others, I was lying on the floor with a bottle of Stoli beside me when at some point I hear photographer Inês Gonçalves asking “to leave out the bottle of vodka” to which I replied that “it doesn’t work, it’s a brand thing”. Nothing very beautiful that could contribute to my mother’s happiness, but nevertheless a statement of sovereignty over the type of image that the Status Quo wants to impose on us daily.
Meanwhile back at the ranch varied cocktails are on offer, Da Chick and Rupert Holmes are the bartenders, while in the next room the LCDs sing about Drunk Girls and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies ruminates “Would you please ignore that you / Found me on the floor / Trying on your camisole?” Imagine the next morning …
For the lactose intolerants we even have references to White Russian given by über pub-rock band Dr. Feelgood with the classic Milk and Alcohol. Written by Nick Lowe after a night “drowning down” on a gallon of Kahlúa while watching John Lee Hooker play live, if I had to choose a non-Germanic anthem worthy of any Oktoberfest it would be this demonstration of ethyl induced electric guitar boozy riffs that demonstrate the pomp and magnitude of a night on the town…
To finish I leave two explanatory links:
Oktoberfest in September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eC36bQ-Ea0
and Prosit! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ62L23L7BE
in order to explain the choice of Margot Hellwig singing Jodeln, tanzen, fröhlich sein so everyone can foresee what’s in line for next week.
PS: the inclusion of Carol Hunter singing Dr. Pepper is purposeful. What would this world be without a soft drink with cherry flavour?
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
Manny Corchado – Chicken and Booze
Gelu – Gin Gin Gin
David Bowie – Alabama Song
Manuela Moura Guedes – Cocktail-Party
Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Lena Platonos – Liqueur
Black Grape – Whiskey, Wine and Ham
Elvis Presley – Vino, Dinero Y Amor
Nina Simone – Gin House Blues
George Jones – White Lightning
Janis Joplin – What Good Can Drinkin’ Do
Thundercat – Drink Dat (feat. Wiz Khalifa)
Morcheeba – Mezcal Dream feat. Amanda Zamolo
Da Chick – Cocktail
Juncal y sus Calistros – Tequila
Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy – Boogie Woogie Cocktail
Barenaked Ladies – Alcohol
Elvis Costello – Down Among The Wine & Spirits
Carol Hunter – Dr. Pepper
Marvin Gaye – The Days of Wine and Roses
Sia – Drink to Get Drunk
People Under The Stairs – Beer
Montefiori Cocktail – Tekila Bum Bum
Dr. Feelgood – Milk and Alcohol
Loretta Lynn – Wine Women And Song
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Poison Whiskey
Sailor – A Glass Of Champagne
Flaco Jimenez – En el Cielo No Hay Cerveza (In Heaven There Is No Beer)
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – Summer Wine
Wynonie Harris – Quiet Whiskey
The Housemartins – Happy Hour
Vivi Bach & Dietmar Schînherr – Molotow Cocktail Party
Ray Charles – One Mint Julep
Elizeth Cardoso – Eu Bebo Sim
LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls
Chantereau, Dahan & Pezin – Queen Vodka
John Lee Hooker – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Wanda Jackson – Rum and Coca-Cola
Bessie Jones – Drinking That Wine
Margot Hellwig – Jodeln, tanzen, fröhlich sein