#080
Rouxinol namoradeiro
dá milho aos pardais
Esta semana vou pairando de raminho em raminho, nas partituras onde os passarinhos da musica popular vão edificando ninhos nas nossas memórias. Histórias de altos voos e do restolhar de asas antes de ficarmos sem pio de tão maravilhados com os trinados…
Há quem diga que pelo canto se (re)conhece a ave, mas não é bem assim, o mockingbird, o tordo-dos-remédios ou pássaro-das-cem-línguas, encontrado principalmente na América tropical e conhecido por imitar os cantos de outras aves tem direito a mais do que um poleiro: Satchmo com Listen To The Mocking Bird e os Roots Syndicate do alto de Mockin’ Bird Hill enquanto quer os Barclay James Harvest quer Carly Simon acompanhada de James Taylor no LP Hotcakes cantam ambos sobre o raio do passarito.
…como aves da mesma pena andam juntas talvez isso explique a escolha de três piscos, o robin de tanto bosque: Ray Smith a cantar Rockin Robin, canção que também poderia ter escolhido na versão dos Jackson 5 ou a Doris Day em When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along originalmente escrito por Harry Woods e interpretado por Al Jolson. Ou as Silver Convention, trio feminino que em 1975 teve direito a uns segundos de fama com o hit disco single Fly Robin Fly.
Ideia da dupla Michael Kunze e Sylvester Levay, compositores alemães de descendência checa e jugoslava era composto por três miúdas alemãs, Ramona Wulf, ex-estrela infantil à procura de uma mudança de imagem, Penny McLean e Jackie Carter fazendo a primeira formação. Carter seria no entanto rapidamente substituída por Linda G. Thompson depois de apenas algumas aparições na TV. Fly, Robin, Fly tornou-se um single número 1 nos EUA, bem como um enorme sucesso na Europa.
Junte-se dois populares provérbios: é má a ave que seu ninho suja mas gaiola bonita não dá de comer ao canário… por essa razão vou soltando mãozinhas de alpista, comidinha frugal mas rica em nutrientes afinal não é grão a grão que a galinha da vizinha enche o papo?
Os Khruangbin, de quem tanto gosto com Father Bird, Mother Bird do album Mordechai; o “clássico de garagem” Surfin’ Bird na prancha dos Ramones; The Emeralds e a tão-tão-irritante-que-é-fascinante Bird Dance, a dança dos passarinhos, piu,piu,piu; Michel Fugain & Le Big Bazar num Fais Comme l’Oiseau que não é nada mais que uma cover de Você Abusou, clássico MPB escrito por António Carlos e Jocafi e originalmente cantado pela baiana Maria Creuza. Ou uma dupla de pássaros de porte e estatura, o Big Bird da Rua Sésamo com Old Macdonald Had A Band no disco “infantil” Big Bird Leads The Band e o músico conhecido como Bird, Charlie Parker no tema Carving the Bird editado em 1949 para a Dial Records de Ross Russell.
Apesar deste intenso chilrear não posso deixar de ainda dar algum destaque à estranha Lesbian Seagull, canção originalmente gravada e lançada em 1979 por Tom Wilson Weinberg no album The Gay Name Game e posteriormente interpretada por Engelbert Humperdinck, versão que ganhou relevante notoriedade quando foi escolhida por Mike Judge para integrar a banda sonora do filme Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Nunca digam que a pop não tem nada para nos ensinar, esta canção não só é uma resposta ao estudo publicado pela universidade de Irvine sobre o comportamento sexual monógamo de certas gaivotas na Ilha de Santa Barbara como aqui se torna uma ampla desculpa para não ter que incluir o Neil Diamond e o seu Fernão Capelo…
Os bookends que tanto adoro esta semana são como vários pássaros na mão em vez de dois a voar: a escolha da primeira e ultima canção desta semana são destaques contidos em For the Birds – The Birdsong Project, uma gigante antologia de música repleta de grandes “passarões” do mundo musical e compilada por Randall Poster para beneficio da National Audubon Society. Assim começo com Stephin Merritt em If I Were a Kookaburra, um pássaro proveniente da Austrália, Nova Guiné e das Ilhas Aru, nas Molucas. E acabo com Inara George em colaboração com Van Dyke Parks em Red Tailed Hawk. Inara faz normalmente parte do duo The Bird and the Bee onde contracena com o multi-instrumentista Greg Kurstin.
Mas agarrados a essas pontas estão alicerces retirados das edições da Shika Shika, editora que se diz “sem donos para uma música sem fronteiras”. A canção escolhida para a segunda posição é Raso lark interpretada pelos cabo-verdianos Acácia Maior ft. Danae Estrela e Berlok, editada no disco A Guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa enquanto a trigésima nona são a banda folktronica argentina Lulacruza com Cucarachero De Niceforo que abre A Guide to the Birdsong of South America, primeiro disco editado pelo selo berlinense.
Este fim de semana se tiverem tempo e vontade entretenham-se em https://xeno-canto.org.
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
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This week I’m hovering from twig to twig, branching the scores where the birds of popular music build nests in our memories. Stories of high flights and the rustle of wings before we feel left speechless at the wonder at these twits and trills…
There are those who say that a bird is known by the song, but it is not quite like that, the mockingbird, mostly of the momus genus, found mainly in tropical America and known for imitating the songs of other birds (sometimes insects and amphibians as well) is entitled to more than one perch: Satchmo with Listen To The Mocking Bird and the Roots Syndicate from the top of Mockin’ Bird Hill while either Barclay James Harvest and Carly Simon accompanied by James Taylor on the LP Hotcakes both sing about the damn bird.
…and maybe because birds of the same feather fly together is a formal explanation for the choice of three robins, robin of so much wood: Ray Smith singing Rockin Robin, a song that I could also have chosen in the Jackson 5 version or Doris Day When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along, originally written by Harry Woods and played by Al Jolson. Or the Silver Convention, female trio that in 1975 had the right to a few seconds of fame with the hit disco single Fly Robin Fly.
Brainchild of the duo Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay, German composers of Czech and Yugoslavian descent, it consisted of three German girls, Ramona Wulf, a former child star looking for a change of image, Penny McLean and Jackie Carter making the first lineup. Carter would however be quickly replaced by Linda G. Thompson after only a few TV appearances. Fly, Robin, Fly became a number 1 single in the US as well as a huge hit in Europe.
Pardon a loud laugh as I join loose translations of some popular proverbs in Portugal: bad is the bird whose nest is dirty but a pretty cage doesn’t feed the canary… that’s why I’m giving away small pinches of canary seeds, frugal food but rich in nutrients, after all is it not grain by grain that the neighbor’s chicken gets filled?
Khruangbin, whom I like so much with Father Bird, Mother Bird from the Mordechai album; the garage rock classic Surfin’ Bird on a board crossing a Ramones wave; The Emeralds and the so-annoying-it-is-good Bird Dance, the bird dance, tchip tchip tchip; Michel Fugain & Le Big Bazar in a Fais Comme l’Oiseau that is nothing more than a cover of Você Abusou, a classic MPB written by António Carlos and Jocafi and originally sung by baiana Maria Creuza. Or a pair of birds of size and stature, the Big Bird from Sesame Street with Old Macdonald Had A Band on the “children’s” album Big Bird Leads The Band and the musician known as Bird, Charlie Parker on the theme Carving the Bird published in 1949 for Ross Russell’s Dial Records.
Despite this intense chirping, I cannot fail to highlight the strange Lesbian Seagull, a song originally recorded and released in 1979 by Tom Wilson Weinberg on the album The Gay Name Game and later performed by Engelbert Humperdinck, a version that gained considerable notoriety when it was chosen by Mike Judge to integrate the soundtrack of the film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Never say that pop has nothing to teach us, this song is either a response to the study published by the Irvine University on the monogamous sexual behavior of certain seagulls on the Santa Barbara Island as well as a just excuse not to include Neil Diamond and his Jonathan Livingston…
The bookends I love so much this week are like several birds in hand instead of two in flight: this week’s choice of first and last song are highlights contained in For the Birds – The Birdsong Project, a giant anthology of music filled with great “ birds” of the music world and compiled by Randall Poster for the benefit of the National Audubon Society. So I start with Stephin Merritt in If I Were a Kookaburra, a bird from Australia, New Guinea and the Aru Islands in the Moluccas. And I end up with Inara George collaborating with Van Dyke Parks on Red Tailed Hawk. Inara is normally part of the duo The Bird and the Bee where she works with multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin.
But clinging to these are foundations taken from the editions of Shika Shika, a publishing company that calls itself “without owners for music without borders”. The song chosen for the second position is Raso lark performed by Cape Verdeans Acácia Maior ft. Danae Estrela and Berlok, released on the LP A Guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa, while the thirty-ninth are Argentinean folktronica combo Lulacruza with Cucarachero De Niceforo that opens A Guide to the Birdsong of South America, the first disc in the catalogue of the Berlin label.
This weekend, if you have the time and the will, entertain yourself at https://xeno-canto.org.
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
Stephin Merritt – If I Were a Kookaburra
Acácia Maior ft. Danae Estrela e Berlok – Raso lark
Khruangbin – Father Bird, Mother Bird
Charles Trenet – L’Oiseau de Paradis
Sathima Bea Benjamin – A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Engelbert Humperdinck – Lesbian Seagull
Sonny Boy Williamson & The Yardbirds – Bye, Bye Bird
Algernon Black – The Eagle and the Thrush
Nate Najar – O Pato
George Baker Selection – Paloma Blanca
Malcolm McLaren – Duck For The Oyster
Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra – Listen To The Mocking Bird
Ray Smith – Rockin Robin
Henri Dès – La Volette
Florian Zabach – The Hot Canary
Dean Martin – Bye, Bye Blackbird
Roots Syndicate – Mockin’ Bird Hill
The Neville Brothers – Fly Like An Eagle (Masters At Work 12″ Remix)
Silver Convention – Fly Robin Fly
The Artal Orchestra – Canary Medley
Paul Parrish – English Sparrow
Jack Lancaster & Robin Lumley – Duck Escape
Doris Day – When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along
Ramones – Surfin’ Bird
Shakatak – Night Birds (Sirs Gm Flying Flamingo Remix)
Da Lata – Birds
The Beatles – Blackbird
The Hilliard Ensemble – The Silver Swanne
Norman Luboff & His Chorus – Yellow Bird
Alexandros Nathanail – Andorinha
The Emeralds – Bird Dance
Michel Fugain & Le Big Bazar – Fais comme l’oiseau
Carly Simon – Mockingbird (with James Taylor)
Big Bird – Old Macdonald Had A Band
Violent Femmes – Flamingo Baby
Charlie Parker – Carving the Bird
Barclay James Harvest – Mockingbird
Woody Woodpecker theme
Lulacruza – Cucarachero De Niceforo
Inara George and Van Dyke Parks – Red Tailed Hawk