October 16 – Turntable Talk 19 : Steve Says Go For It

Welcome back to Turntable Talk! Thanks once again to all the regular readers and welcome to any new ones. If you’re keeping count, today begins our 19^th instalment…if you’re wondering about past topics, I have previous topics indexed here. For any new readers, briefly, on Turntable Talk we have a number of guest columnists from other music sites, sounding off on one particular topic. This month, our topic is A Design For Life. I’ve asked our writers to highlight a song that sums up a great personal mantra, or philosophy of life. A song that tells how to live better, basically. I hope you’re as curious to see what they come up with as I am!

Today, we wrap it up with a pick by me, your host!

First, thanks so much to each of my guest writers , and to you for reading! I was genuinely curious to see what they would come up with and they didn’t let us down with interesting songs that each made a valid point worth remembering.

For me, there are many songs that I can relate to philosophically. Many involve just being a good person. Keith’s pick put me in mind of “Kind and Generous” by Natalie Merchant, a beautiful song and reminder of how much one special person who’s always there for you can matter and make your life so much better and more meaningful. And for basic, simple truisms, don’t forget “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles, a simple but powerful John Lennon message that makes every bit as much sense now as it did over 50 years ago.

The first one that actually came to mind though when I picked the topic was “Don’t Look Back” by the Fine Young Cannibals. It’s a great song that many seem to have forgotten by that band that briefly seemed to ruled the pop world then disappeared. Now, the lyrics in their entirety might seem a little whiny and negative, him talking about the things he didn’t have that money can buy, but the chorus often echoes through my head – ‘baby baby, don’t look back – it won’t do no good.” It fits. I’ve often felt the secret for a good life is to no little degree remembering that phrase. Unless you can build a time machine, it doesn’t really do anything good by wasting time looking back and wishing ruefully that things were different. We all make some decisions that later on, we probably regret. Some big (the ones we probably spend most time fretting about), many tiny but equally meaningful. But, since A) we can’t change them now, and B) we don’t really know that the other path we didn’t take would be so much better in the end, it’s not the most useful usage of your time. You can’t change it so leave it alone. That said, I’m not saying NEVER look back and think about what could have been different or be oblivious to your mistakes, but recognize them and move on. Spend you time making the here and now better instead of worrying about years gone by.

And as much as I liked that theme, the song that ended up being mine was one that I’ve loved since I first heard it over 40 years ago that not only sounds good but is a mantra I have to remind myself to live – “While You See A Chance (Take It)” by Steve Winwood.

His first solo hit song, off his second album (more than a decade after being a teen sensation in the ’60s with Traffic) , Arc of A Diver, for whatever reason did better in Canada than his own UK or the States, going to #3. I’d love the song if it had missed the charts, but it being so big in ’81 when I was a teen meant I heard it a lot and took it to heart. Or tried to.

Indeed, as a single guy so much of the time when I was youngish, the refrain of “while you see a chance, take it – find romance” was something I needed to keep in mind. I was always on the shy side and frankly, probably missed out on a lot of chances back when I was a young buck. Eventually it all worked out for the better, now I’m in my 50s and happily settled down with a wonderful woman I love, but it took awhile… and to get here, I had to take a chance . A big one. With my love living in a different country, over a thousand miles from home, I had to take a chance on a long-distance relationship and then on taking trips (I wasn’t one who’d had many vacations as an adult) to go see her, then eventually to relocate to be with her. Not something a cautious, shy-ish guy was likely to do. But I saw the chance and took it. That made all the difference.

The same could apply in every other aspect of life. I never was much of a gambler. A two dollar lotto ticket, sure, why not…but I’d get bored quickly after spending ten bucks in a casino and want to leave. The same held true in many other aspects of my life. I can’t number how many jobs I didn’t try for that might have been great, I might have been good in, might have paid well, all because I was too cautious. What if it didn’t work out? Would the commute be too onerous after a few months? Could I return to my old job I might not have even liked if I failed? What would I do if I had to move 100 miles to get the job? Would I miss my friends too much or would my aging mom be too upset if I wasn’t over for Sunday dinners? Too many reasons for me to not take a chance. But some of them, I probably should have.

Opportunity knocks for all of us, but some people more than others. Nevertheless, you have to know to open the door. That knocking is meaningless unless  … sing it Stevie… “when you see a chance, take it!”.

By the way, Stevie himself was taking a chance with the single and Arc of a Diver record. He could have, many execs probably told him, should have, hired studio musicians to help him out. But he played it all himself. Every instrument on the song and album, he played. He even played drums on this song… but somehow the tape was erased. So he took a chance to release it as is. He took it and it worked. And had it somehow not worked, well … maybe he would have moved on and figured to himself “don’t look back!”

May 30 – New Philosophy Put Winwood Back In Charts High Life

“A Change Will Do You Good” is a Sheryl Crow tune from the ’90s but it might as well have been the personal anthem for Steve Winwood about a decade earlier. He managed to change his philosophy on life and music, as well as his home and partner all in a short span of the mid-’80s and the result was his biggest solo work, Back in the High Life. That, his fourth solo album, came out this day in 1986.

Winwood at the time was 38, but had already been a fixture in rock for over two decades, being a young prodigy in the band Spencer Davis Group, then in Traffic and Blind Faith. However, his pace had slowed down as a solo artist, owing to a couple of things. A nearly fatal case of peridonitis (a side effect of a burst appendix) in ’72 had made him re-evaluate his priorities and begin a healthier, non-”rock and roll” lifestyle and as Rolling Stone note, his being both “a loner and a perfectionist.” Indeed, on the prior album, Talking Back to the Night, he played all the instruments himself and recorded it at home.

For this one, the project originally began similarly but he had a change of heart. In more ways than one. His marriage had begun to fail and he’d met someone new (whom he’d soon marry), an American called Eugenia. So he decided on a change of venue, left for New York and recorded most of the album there, inviting in a number of talented helpers. While Steve still composed the album and played most of the keyboards (plus guitars and mandolins at times), he did involve a host of session musicians including Nile Rodgers on guitar, Joe Walsh (who co-wrote “Split Decision” with him) on slide guitar and Chaka Khan and James Taylor, among others, for backing vocals.

It was a conscious decision by Steve to change courses. He said back then “ a recent thing that I’ve realized (is) music being entertainment.” Before, he says he thought “I’m a musician, I’m not an entertainer” but he began to realize that fan appreciation mattered too. “I spent a lot of years doing stuff where people would say ‘that’s brilliant’ but nobody bought it. That’s also a bad situation… you want to be heard.”

Heard he was. Back in the High Life rocketed up the charts and became his biggest-seller. So ready for radio was it that seven out of the eight tracks were released as singles in one market or another. Pity “My Love’s Leavin’”, the only track on the album not available as a vinyl 45! The lead single, “Higher Love” , with Chaka Khan behind him vocally, became his first American #1 single and also topped Canadian charts, and is to date his only top 10 in Australia. Strangely it only made it to #13 in the UK, where he oddly seems considerably less popular than in North America, despite being British. Subsequent singles “The Finer Things”, “Freedom Overspill” and the title track all made it into the U.S. top 20 as well and the album got to #3 there. It was also a top 10 in Canada, the UK and most “western” markets, eventually selling around 6 million copies, half in the U.S. where it’s triple platinum.

If the public adored the new version of Steve, critics were varied in their opinions. Robert Christgau rated it only “C” and called him “a wunderkind with more talent than brains” who churned out “well-wrought banalities.” Rolling Stone, on the other hand called it his “first undeniably superb record” who finally “found the knack of shining without awkwardness.” Down the road, allmusic would rate it 4.5-stars, as good as any of his calling it his “pinnacle” of the ’80s, “melding a range of aesthetics in ways that invariably connect with the listener.”

Grammy voters figured the same. The album won three Grammys, including Best Engineered as well as Best Male Pop Performance for Steve and Best Record for “Higher Love.”

June 22 – Chris Took Music From One Island To Another

 

Today we wish a happy birthday to the man Music Week called “the most influential figure in the last 50 years of British music” not long ago…and no, it’s not Paul McCartney. Nor Elton John or Mick Jagger. Happy 84^th, Chris Blackwell!

Chris may not be a household name, but if you love music, there’s a good chance you have records (or CDs) in your house only possible because of him. Blackwell was the force behind one of pop’s greatest record companies, Island.

Although born in London, it’s not improbable that Chris would consider himself more Jamaican than British. His mother was Jamaican, and he spent much of his childhood and adolescence there, the island being a territory of the UK at that time. There he developed a love of the local ska/reggae music and the lifestyle. Not long out of school he started running a chain of jukeboxes in clubs and restaurants there, finding himself more and more immersed in the music, and at age 21 he had a boating accident. He was rescued by Rastafarian fishermen, and developed even more of a fondness for the culture. In 1958, while still only 21, he started Island Records.

Their first record was a jazz piano record, but soon he was putting out local Jamaican reggae and rock-steady acts on disc. When Jamaica became independent in 1962, he returned to London and was selling records from his car. His first big break was probably signing Millie Small, and producing her record. She had an international, six million-selling hit in ’64 with “My Boy Lollipop”... on Fontana Records. Blackwell, astute businessman as well as music fan, decided to let them license the single. “Independent record labels in those days couldn’t handle hits, because (they) couldn’t pay the pressing plant in time to supply the demand.” Back home in Britain, he soon discovered the Spencer Davis Group, and expanded his interests to rock music. He remains fond of Steve Winwood (the singer in Spencer Davis) to this day. “Steve Winwood was really the cornerstone of Island Records,” he recalls. “He’s a musical genius, and because he was with Island, all the other talent really wanted to be on Island.”

Talent that soon ranged from Queen to the Cranberries to Robert Palmer. And of course, some of Jamaica’s greats, including Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals. Although Marley clearly is the best-known artist from the island, Blackwell is actually even fonder of Toots, whom he produced himself and even helped set up the Maytals backing band. “The Maytals were unlike anything else,” he’s said, “sensational, raw and dynamic… Toots, one of the purest human beings I’ve met.”

Many of Island’s later discs were recorded in their own studio, Compass Point that Chris built in the Bahamas. Eventually, Island Records were sold to Polygram in 1989, by which time they were ranked as the largest “indie” label in the world. Blackwell kept working in the company though and later with a film company, Palm Pictures.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, with that institute calling him “the single person most responsible for turning the world on to reggae music.” He was inducted in by someone more famous – Bono, from Island’s most successful act ever, U2. One more credit for Blackwell. He had the sense to sign them when CBS Records dropped them after one small distribution EP in 1979. They remain on Island to this day, 120 million or so albums sold later.

Blackwell was married to designer Mary Vinson until her death from cancer in 2004, and has two kids. Among his homes is one known as “Goldeneye”, formerly owned by James Bond-creator Ian fleming.

May 12 – Winwood A Musician One Could Have Blind Faith In

He’s a man…today he’s a 73 year old man, so happy birthday Steve Winwood!

It’s been a long career for one of England’s most prolific, multi-talented musicians, since he began playing piano in his dad’s band when he was a schoolchild and by 14 (!) he, as well as his older brother Muff, had joined the Spencer Davis Group. There he helped write hits like “I’m a Man” while still a teenager and his vocals were compared to Ray Charles, by the likes of Billy Joel. “I thought he had the greatest voice. This skinny little English kid singing like Ray Charles,” Joel says. It’s a bit of a mutual admiration society as Winwood calls the “Piano Man” one of his own major influences.

After stints with Traffic (for which he’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) and Blind Faith he launched a solo career, with nine albums to date including 1986’s Back in the High Life which sold better than five million copies; in his adopted U.S. (he and his family now reside in Nashville), he’s scored 10 solo top 20 singles. His talents were probably best showcased on Arc of A Diver, an album in which he played all the instruments and did the singing to boot.

Rolling Stone rank him the 33rd greatest singer of all-time, better than Elton John and Bruce Springsteen! They laud his “powerful, soulful tenor”. Music Radar put him among the 27 best keyboard players ever, but Guitar magazine note he’s also “an accomplished guitarist whose memorable riffs and tasteful soloing punctuate many all-time classic songs.” Although he’s not put out new material since 2008’s Nine Lives (featuring a duet with his old bandmate Eric Clapton), he’s seldom idle. He’s helped out in the studio a list of artists from David Gilmour and Dave Mason to Talk Talk, and joined Steely Dan on their last tour. And he’s toured fairly regularly himself, the last time with his daughter Lilly being his opening act.

April 18 – Steve’s Career ‘Arc’ Began To Rise

Steve Winwood saw a chance to have a solo hit, so he took it 30 years back. His single “While You See A Chance” peaked at #7 in the U.S. this day in 1981. It was the first time the once child-prodigy had been that high on the charts since 1966 when he was a teen phenom with the Spencer Davis Group.

The single came from his second solo album, Arc of a Diver. And when we say “solo”, it was just that. Steve played all the instruments himself, did all the vocals, recorded it in his home, produced the record. On this track, he played piano, organ, various synthesizers, even tambourines. He played some drums too but believe it or not, he accidentally erased the drum track and after awhile decided the song sounded just fine without them.

The only thing Winwood didn’t do entirely by himself was write the lyrics. For that he had his friend Will Jennings help out. Jennings would years later win a Grammy for co-writing “Tears in Heaven” with Winwood’s former bandmate Eric Clapton. He says of this one, it was about “realizing that you are all alone in this life and you have to do with it what you can.” Or to put it another way, it’s a great musical reminder to follow that Nike advice – “just do it!”.

The single made him a well-known name in the States (where his music was perhaps recognized before with Spencer Davis Group and Traffic) but met with yawns in his British home, where it stalled at #45. No one took to it though like Canadians. There the song got to #3, was among the two dozen top songs of the year and pushed the album to #1, the only one he’s scored there. In the U.S., Arc of a Diver peaked at #3 but Winwood would later have a #1 with Roll With It.

May 30 – Winwood’s Album One Of His Finer Things

“A Change Will Do You Good” is a Sheryl Crow tune from the ’90s but it might as well have been the personal anthem for Steve Winwood about a decade earlier. He managed to change his philosophy on life and music, as well as his home and partner all in a short span of the mid-’80s and the result was his biggest solo work, Back in the High Life. That, his fourth solo album, came out this day in 1986.

Winwood at the time was 38, but had already been a fixture in rock for over two decades, being a young prodigy in the band Spencer Davis Group, then in Traffic and Blind Faith. However, his pace had slowed down as a solo artist, owing to a couple of things. A nearly fatal case of peridonitis (a side effect of a burst appendix) in ’72 had made him re-evaluate his priorities and begin a healthier, non-”rock and roll” lifestyle and as Rolling Stone note, his being both “a loner and a perfectionist.” Indeed, on the prior album, Talking Back to the Night, he played all the instruments himself and recorded it at home.

For this one, the project originally began similarly but he had a change of heart. In more ways than one. His marriage had begun to fail and he’d met someone new (whom he’d soon marry), an American called Eugenia. So he decided on a change of venue, left for New York and recorded most of the album there, inviting in a number of talented helpers. While Steve still composed the album and played most of the keyboards (plus guitars and mandolins at times), he did involve a host of session musicians including Nile Rodgers on guitar, Joe Walsh (who co-wrote “Split Decision” with him) on slide guitar and Chaka Khan and James Taylor, among others, for backing vocals.

It was a conscious decision by Steve to change courses. He said back then “ a recent thing that I’ve realized (is) music being entertainment.” Before, he says he thought “I’m a musician, I’m not an entertainer” but he began to realize that fan appreciation mattered too. “I spent a lot of years doing stuff where people would say ‘that’s brilliant’ but nobody bought it. That’s also a bad situation… you want to be heard.”

Heard he was. Back in the High Life rocketed up the charts and became his biggest-seller. So ready for radio was it that seven out of the eight tracks were released as singles in one market or another. Pity “My Love’s Leavin’”, the only track on the album not available as a vinyl 45! The lead single, “Higher Love” became his first American #1 single and also topped Canadian charts, and is to date his only top 10 in Australia. Strangely it only made it to #13 in the UK, where he oddly seems considerably less popular than in North America, despite being British. Subsequent singles “The Finer Things”, “Freedom Overspill” and the title track all made it into the U.S. top 20 as well and the album got to #3 there. It was also a top 10 in Canada, the UK and most “western” markets, eventually selling around 6 million copies, half in the U.S. where it’s 3X platinum.

If the public adored the new version of Steve, critics were varied in their opinions. Robert Christgau rated it only “C” and called him “a wunderkind with more talent than brains” who churned out “well-wrought banalaties.” Rolling Stone, on the other hand called it his “first undeniably superb record” who finally “found the knack of shining without awkwardness.” Down the road, allmusic would rate it 4.5-stars, as good as any of his calling it his “pinnacle” of the ’80s, “melding a range of aesthetics in ways that invariably connect with the listener.”

Grammy voters figured the same. The album won three Grammys, including Best Engineered as well as Best Male Pop Performance for Steve and Best Record for “Higher Love.”

May 12 – 70? Yep, Steve’s A Man!

He’s a man…today he’s a 70 year old man, so happy birthday Steve Winwood! It’s been a long career for one of England’s most prolific, multi-talented musicians, since he began playing piano in his dad’s band when he was a schoolchild and by 14 (!) he, as well as his older brother Muff, had joined Spencer Davis Group. There he helped write hits like “I’m a Man” while still a teenager and his vocals were compared to Ray Charles. After stints with Traffic and Blind Faith he launched a solo career, with 9 albums to date including 1986’s Back in the High Life which sold better than 5 million copies; in his adopted US (he and his family now reside in Nashville), he’s scored 10 solo top 20 singles. His talents were best showcased on Arc of A Diver, an album in which he played all the instruments and did the singing to boot. Rolling Stone rank him the 33rd greatest singer of all-time and Music Radar put him among the 27 best keyboard players ever, but Guitar magazine note he’s also “an accomplished guitarist whose memorable riffs and tasteful soloing punctuate many all-time classic songs.” When not working on his own material, he’s also helped out in the studio a list of artists from David Gilmour and Dave Mason to Talk Talk and Billy Joel, who says Winwood was one of his major influences. This summer he’s back on the road, playing his greatest hits in concerts across Europe, with his daughter Lilly doing backing vocals!