Lehrerosity

I had meant to title this post 'Virtuosity'. It had been supposed to be (beat that for convoluted) about Tom Lehrer ("America's most brilliant creative genius in 200 years"). But Odeo would not let me upload a single track of his. So instead here's a bunch of songs - in random order (don't thank me) - that conceivably fall under this head. Once the Lehrer idea started getting thwarted, I thought I'd stick with other instances of cool singing. Later, I decided to bend that rule as well. It's my podcast, anyway. And as you may be able to see, it is still titled Lehrer. Ignore that. Listen to the music - brief descriptions below.


The first three tracks are from the album Hush by Bobby McFerrin and Yo-yo Ma. They start off with a cover of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, then settle into a decidedly more traditional Vivaldi tune. The third track, the highlight for me, is Bach's Musette -- with an identity crisis for the ages up front. Don't miss this.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth tracks are from the album Joan Baez in Concert vol. 2. This is one I grew up with. Every Bengali male I know has at some point wanted to wrap Joanie up and take her home with them, and that's based purely on her Greatest Hits album. (After all, any babe who writes Diamonds and Rust for her man, Bong Dylan, is just the ultimate fantasy.) Believe me, this concert album far surpasses any other recording of hers that you may have heard. It only came out on CD recently, and I gobbled it up like a madman when I saw it.

The tracks I have chosen here are, in sequence, Ate Amanha, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, and Geordie. Ate Amanha is a Portuguese love song that sings of sorrow with wild abandon. My mother used to sing it, stripped of meaning, leaving just the happy bits. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You is actually the first track on the album. (In fact, i wanted it to be the first track on the podcast, but odeo wouldn't let me.) This was recorded five years before Messers Page and Plant got to it (yes, believe it). I heard this version fifteen years before I heard that one. It blows me away every time I hear it. Geordie follows Babe on the album. For me, the transition is organic. What a beautiful song.

The seventh track is Melancholic Ecstacy from the Indian Ocean album Desert Rain. If you haven't heard (of) Indian Ocean, I'm guessing you didn't go to college in India. This is, quite simply, one of the best fusion bands going. My only beef with them is that they don't improvise enough when playing live. But don't let that take anything away from the beauty and the technical perfection of the music. Track 10 is also from the same album.

Tracks 8 and 9 are by the a-capella group The Persuasions, from the album "Might As Well... The Persuasions Sing the Grateful Dead". Check out Ship of Fools and Black Muddy River, and tell me if you see the world the same way again.

*****

That's the list, happy listening. And when you're done with that, here's what I found on Youtube. Tom Lehrer music videos! Ignore the visuals and get yourself a load of:
Pollution
The Masochism Tango
New Math
Poisoning Pigeons in the Park
We Will All Go Together When We Go

and finally, someone else doing the classic I Hold Your Hand In Mine.

There's also a little video available on youtube of the man from more recent times. Enjoy!