Lately I’ve been listening to the original version of Cream’s “Crossroads” a lot. I first heard that song in 1988 or so, as it was on one of the first CDs my family ever bought. It was on an Eric Clapton four CD box set by the same name. As you might imagine, I listened to those CDs a ton in my teenage years.
As an aside: the version of “Crossroads” I’m talking about is a live recording. As the band finishes, you hear applause and then somebody says “Eric Clapton [something] on vocals”. I’ve always wondered who says that? Bassist Jack Bruce, maybe?
“Crossroads” is track three on disc two (unquestionably the best of the four CDs). It’s followed by a mid-tempo Cream tune called “Badge”, which starts with a nice rolling baseline and some crunchy chords.
Every time I hear the end of “Crossroads”, I expect to hear the start of “Badge”. This is true even though I probably haven’t heard that particular combination of songs for ten or fifteen years. I’ve probably heard “Crossroads” followed by other songs at least 50 or 100 times since then. And yet I still have that aural expectation embedded in my brain. The pattern doesn’t seem to get broken. Odd, eh?
Another example is that my family’s LP of “Sticky Fingers” had a scratch on it, so I always expect to hear a little glitch or skip in the second chorus of the Stones’ “Brown Sugar”. I’m sure everybody has such formative listening patterns. What are yours?
Also, will the iTunes and MP3 generation–people under the age of, say, fourteen–be free from the Next Song Syndrome? They may never have bought a CD, so they may not acquire the same sort of listening patterns.
Last night I went to see Shine a Light, the Stones’ new IMAX film shot by Martin Scorsese. Here’s the trailer:
It’s a busy day, so no time for a full-on review, but I wanted to make a few notes:
The real star of the show is Keith Richards, who’s fascinating to watch. It’s as if his body has grown around his guitar, and is part of him. He’s ugly in the most interesting way. When he shambles out in a long cloak to sing lead vocals on “You’ve Got the Silver”, he’s like some dark priest singing incantations to an ancient god.
I want the jacket Keith wears in the opening section of the show.
Jack White simply cannot contain his glee at playing a song with the Stones. It’s very charming.
Either the band genuinely still enjoys what they’re doing, or they’ve become masters of pretense.
They stacked the front row of the audience with pretty girls, most of whom could be the band’s grandchildren.
The concert is actually a benefit for Bill Clinton’s foundation. To Scorsese’s credit, he never shows the former president after Clinton introduces the band. There’d be a real temptation to cut to him the audience.
The amount of energy that Mick Jagger puts out is shocking. And in two months he’s going to qualify for the senior citizen’s discount.
“Sympathy for the Devil” is, for my money, the best rock song ever written. There’s a great moment in movie when doors fly open at the back of the house and Mick stands there, bathed in orange light. He struts through the audience to the opening beat of “Sympathy”. He’s wearing (I think) a black ostrich feather jacket, and looks every inch the Prince of Darkness.
Clearly these dude are really old. But I still can’t not recommend this movie. Scorsese is a master, and he gives the concert footage this inertia that’s very watchable.
