I write a lot about jazz, blues, bluegrass and classical music. Those who know me even casually hear me constantly rave about my favorite funk bands - Fred Wesley & the JB Horns, George Clinton, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Sam & Funky Nation, EW&F. I've also been known to expound upon Latin music - salsa, son, even some tejano - and other eclectic genres from around the world: Gaelic, Zydeco, Marabi to name a few. Needless to say, I'm very opinionated about my taste in rock music - The Guess Who, Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Toto, Ambrosia, Hall & Oates etc. - which I guess is now called "Classic Rock," or as my young coworkers refer to it "Grandpa Rock." I almost never talk about country music, however.
Buddy Rich, being wheeled into the operating room after one of his heart attacks, was asked if he was allergic to anything. "Yeah," he replied. The ER nurse waited with pen in hand. "Country music," he quipped. I used to laugh at that anecdote uproariously when I was a kid. Although I loved bluegrass, I hated country music. It all sounded like Porter Wagoner to me. I couldn't understand or relate to it. The closest I got was country rock, groups like Pure Prairie League, American Flyer, Atlanta Rhythm Section and The Allman Brothers. Later on, in college, I used these groups as a starting point to explore country music in general. Two songwriters, in particular, served as my bridge into "real" country, Craig Fuller and Eric Kaz.
Fuller, the Columbus, Ohio native formerly with Pure Prairie League, and Kaz (songwriter to the stars) made up one half of the country rock "super group" American Flyer. The other half was comprised of Blood Sweat Tears alum Steve Katz and The Velvet Underground's Doug Yule. I stumbled onto American Flyer via Steve Katz, who I admired from BS&T and its precursor, The Blues Project. When it came to American Flyer, however, Katz took an immediate back seat to Fuller and Kaz who - between the two of them - wrote every memorable song on the group's two stellar albums: American Flyer & Spirit of a Woman.
Of all the great country rock tunes on these albums, one truly blew me away (pun intended), Eric Kaz's "Blowing Away" from Spirit of A Woman. Fuller handles the mournful lead while the haunting background vocals are intoned by a young Linda Ronstadt, one of the many stars lining up to sing Kaz's seemingly endless string of pure gold hits. The lyrics - maudlin, melancholy and wistful - are pure country and great in the hands of an able male vocalist like Fuller. But years later, in the hands of superstar Ronstadt, "Blowing Away" truly becomes transcendent on her Living In the USA album.
Truth be told, Ronstadt's version clearly shows that "Blowing Away" is a woman's song, a fact made even more evident by the other female artists like Cher and Bonnie Raitt who have recorded and performed Kaz's hit it to great acclaim. Bonnie herself says as much in this live recording of Blowing Away. Here we have a stripped down arrangement of the tune with Raitt's inimitable phrasing transforming Ronstadt's anthem into a pure country, honky-tonk torch song. A quick word on Bonnie Raitt. I'm constantly and consistently blown away by everything I hear her perform. Not only is she one of the best country vocalists of all time, she sings flawless background harmonies and plays some seriously kick-ass blues/slide guitar to boot. As her rendition of Tennessee Waltz with Nora Jones shows, she can also get down and tasty with the best of them.
But back to "Blowing Away." The song reaches its pinnacle during a live memorial concert for Little Feat frontman Lowell George. In this version, we have Fuller, Ronstadt and Raitt all sharing vocals while Kaz, the songwriter himself, backs them on keyboards. NOTE - this is a live recording of an intimate and very exposed arrangement performed in a large concert hall. From the first note, these pros find themselves fighting sound and acoustic issues symptomatic in every cavernous venue. At the opening, Linda gets a pitch and fearlessly opens a cappella. Then Craig hears his guitar is too loud in the mix and plays it down. Any musician watching spots the non-verbal communication between Linda and Craig immediately, and every time I see Ronstadt cup her left hand over her left ear at :25, I want to hug her. By the time the three-part harmony comes in, though, these cats have solved it all.
Chills!
And you know they've nailed it because Linda comes off mic after the chorus with the biggest smile on her face. That smile also promises what follows will be epic. And it doesn't get much more epic than Bonnie Raitt's turn at the verse. Whereas Linda rendered the melody straight and angelic, Bonnie bends the meter and melody, phrasing the verse in a smoky, gutsy way that indelibly stamps it all her own. Bonnie is first and foremost a musician, and this is exactly how she approaches her vocals, instinctively finding alternate notes and meters the way a guitarist, pianist or horn player develops a phrase. This time, when Fuller and Ronstadt return, Linda takes the high harmony, and for the next choruses the three create an aura and energy that transfigures the tune to another level.
Songs like "Blowing Away" helped me discover pure country music. And performances like Ronstadt, Raitt & Fuller's took me from appreciating country musicians to finally loving pure country in an of itself. Not all of it, mind you. I still don't like Porter Wagoner. But over the years, I've developed a very strong and specific taste for today's pure country artists like Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson & Martina McBride. Top-notch songwriters and performers evoking the same poignant emotions as traditional country while never compromising melody and musicianship in favor of what I call "Pop Crap". (You know what I mean -voice synthesizers, hysterical vocal histrionics, monotonous computerized rhythms and other studio gimmicks that hacks use to try and hide the fact that they can't carry a tune or play a lick.)
So the next time you check out what I'm listening to on Spotify, don't be surprised if you see some country artists sprinkled in with all the rest of the stuff I typically listen to. Good music is good music, pure and simple. And as a bonus, here's my favorite Eric Kaz tune, "Cry Like A Rainstorm," performed by Craig Fuller & Kaz together, by Linda Ronstadt, and finally by Bonnie Raitt (my favorite version, btw). Just don't expect me to start drinking Budweiser.
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