David Axelrod Classic or Dud

I've totally been jonesing for Song of Innocence all day.

Damn, can't find it. Putting on Deodato instead.

both good choices. one of my favorite songs of all time. check out Common People that was also produced by Axelrod.

I bought Introducing The Four King Cousins the other week, hoping it would be Axelrod with chicks singing, but it is not really noticeably Axelrod. Quite nice, all the same.

just released :

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514TWx612%2BL._SS500_.jpg

all 2 of the 'electric prunes' albums, one album by entity called, 'pride' (ie. axelrod and his usual studio sessioners going spanish)
and, (!!!) an extra disc of instrumental versions/alternate versions of the whole lot.

oh, and the complete interview with wax poetics reprinted.

its all absolutely brilliant.
i much prefer the versions without the vocals.
best tenner i have spent in ages.

wow! well, that makes me glad i never forked out for the prunes stuff. or glad and somewhat less ashamed.

yeah .. me too.
i hung on in there living with tracks on compilations etc.
but to have the whole lot in one v. nice package makes this rather essential.
i guess it also reveals just how fucking short those original albums were.
3 albums = 76 minutes.

need an axelroad remix album like that free design shit on stones throw

i bet dj shadow has already made one for 'personal use'.

swizz samples axelrod on the new lil wayne

yeah - i heard that.
i realised all these hip hop folks have urged me go off and buy the source material and as such i have stopped listening to the sample tracks as i prefer to just soak up the far superior originals.

woah, this looks amazing. what does the pride sound like ? i bought the common people record just for the axelrod produced tracks and even though the rest of the record wasn't produced by him, what he did on that record is incredible.

That comp actually came out a couple of months back and I've been meaning to pick it up but haven't. I overlistened to Axelrod/MacDermot and similar back in the days when I really excited about DJ Shadow but I'm probably ready to go back to it now.

Pride is very different to the rest of this set.
A laid back, very restrained affair.
Basically, it's his studio gang of the day doing a commercial acoustic light rock album (upon the demand of the record label) with a lot of spanish guitar and castanets adding a certain vibe throughout.

Over to DA (c. Wax Poetics interview) :

"But Pride is very weird, there was no group ever called Pride. It was just a name. And it was studio guys. Earl Palmer was the drummer, and Don Randi's the keyboard player. Tommy Tedesco and Lou Morrel and Al Casey on guitar, Arthur Wright plays bass. Gary Colemans the percussionist. And then a very talented guy named Nooney Rickett sang all three voice parts. I would overdub him three different times for the harmonies. The he doubled them"

Being honest the vocals (with lyrics written by Davids son, Michael), become a little too innocent 60's harmonies for me, but as an extra add-on its fascinating.

I was just listening to the handful of Electric Prunes stuff I've downloaded over the years. My favorite stuff comes from the Axelrod albums though I've never heard them in full. Glad to know that new collection is out there. (Then again I think the originals are easily gotten at Amoeba, too.)

hes doing a great job with obama, too

i am listening to instrumental tracks and they are srsly mindblowing. makes u see the electric prunes in a whole new light.

How's the relatively-recent self-titled disc? FWIW, the AMG review (which appears on the linked page) is all effusive praise.

super-good

I found this album of his last week in a cheapo used CD bin from the early nineties about the Holocaust, wasn't too sure about it so I didn't pick it up. Good, bad, anyone?

after some thought, i got this today as i decided i really should listen to this.
so i found the repackaged version as the original cover was simply dreadful.

original cover :

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/314DQ6AJAVL._SL500_AA130_.jpg

stateside reissue :

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NPGhH4S3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

the music itself is typically great and very much in line with the rest of his catalogue, the problem is the vocals.
lots of outbursts and randomness.
and lyrically, as to be expected, it's a dark listen, as it tells a story :

"axelrod tells the story chronologically in four parts - moving from the foreboding "krystallnacht", to jarring scenes of jews being transported to concetration camps, "trains", to a grim account of the factory like efficiency of the most notorious camp, "auschwitz", and concluding with the morbidly liberation, "Gas Chamber".
"

graphic isn't the word.
here is the final sections lyrics :

"the dead, in large and spread out piles
eyes bursting out of their heads
the gold from teeth is removed and then
the bodies are pulled out and thrown into
elevators, that will take them up
into the ovens
the chamber is then hosed down
and the blood stains are
made to disappear

the are now ready for the next ....
two thousand
"

not one for sunday morning, but i'm very glad to have heard it.

yow, never heard of that one ... i've been eyeing the new-ish Cannonball Adderley Axelrod Years double disc for a while now ... Any recommendations?

i've been eyeing the new-ish Cannonball Adderley Axelrod Years double disc for a while now

now that one is absolutely brilliant. go get.
makes me upset that the actual albums from which the tracks have been lifted are not getting re-released on cd, but digital only.

woah

The psychedelic jazz composer David Axelrod (pictured) is not the same David Axelrod who masterminded Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but this Axelrod is more important for our purposes here at Pitchfork. This Axelrod got his start producing ridiculously lush soul records for Lou Rawls before going on to work his swirl on weirdos as diverse as jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and garage-rock freaks the Electric Prunes. And, weirdly enough, his work is probably more widely heard these days than it was when he was at his 70s peak, thanks to all the rap producers who have plundered his catalogue extensively. On songs like Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode" and Lil Wayne's "Dr. Carter", a lot of what you're hearing comes straight from Axelrod.

Over the coming months, VTech's Timeless Concert Series will honor Axelrod, along with a few other influential producers and arrangers--crate-digger faves all-- in a ridiculously cool-sounding set of events. The shows will take place in Los Angeles, at California State University's Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex. On April 5, Axelrod will perform along with a 26-piece orchestra at the series' final show, with turntablist J.Rocc opening.

The other shows will also feature orchestras and opening act DJ/producers; the openers will design a set based on the headlining composer's work. The first concert, on February 1, will feature Ethiopian jazz OG Mulatu Astatke and a 15-piece orchestra, with opening sets by Cut Chemist, Quantic, and Stones Throw label head Egon. On February 22, chamber musicians Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson will debut their "Suite for Ma Dukes", which pays tribute to deceased stoner-rap deity J. Dilla. That program promises special guests in addition to the usual orchestra and DJs. Since Dilla's past collaborators include guys like Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes and Common, and since those guys love paying him tribute, this could be a seriously star-studded affair. The March 15 show will feature the Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai, a 30-piece band, and opening sets from Madlib and DJ Nuts.

damn.
i'm on the wrong continent.
according to mojo, he's not been too well recently, and the royal albert gig is supposedly going to made available properly (ie as opposed to via his website).

Axelrod w/out Earl Palmer diminishes in value about 50%, imho.

I finally got that Axelrod/Adderley double disc comp mentioned above -- tasty stuff! Definitely some kitschy 70s stuff -- the 'Soul Zodiac' narrations in particular -- but plenty of monster grooves.

http://mikeparrish.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/david-axelrod.jpg

infanticide specialist david axelrod

uh oh ..

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/david-axelrod-cancels-timeless/

the bug bit hard last week so i sourced copies of Earth Rot and Seriously Deep.
Expecting Earth Rot to be the standard $tateside reissue as per amazon listing, when it arrived this morning its actually an Aus pressing on Ascension Records with different cover.
Actually I think its the original cover, as opposed to the rear artwork that $tateside used .. but I'm not certain.
so now I need to find out if this reissue was the same as the remastered job $tateside did, or pre-remastered.
I realise it's a long shot, but anyone know ?
Oh, and both are great (though Earth Rot is the better of the two as it fits with the Songs of.. duo rather nicely whereas Seriously Deep is more of a groover with lots of 70s disco synths), but then i am somewhat hooked on this stuff at the moment.

If I recall, the Austrailian reissues on Ascension were the first legit rereleases of any of his Capitol stuff. I have the Ascension Cds and recall hearing the Stateside Experience one and thinking it was very similarly mastered.

this guy worked with obama, right?

got a little worried when i saw this thread revival !

i mean, there was a lot of news/activity a few years back, and reissues etc, but all gone very quiet since those shows were cancelled.

oh, and i picked up the $tateside edition of 'earth rot' as well.

it's different to the aus edition, the tracks are split differently, and the remastering is more 'bright' than the aus.

seen in the new mojo that there is a cannonball adderley/axelrod album being reissued - the black messiah.

so will be tracking that down.

Black Messiah is great, except for the Mike Deasy tracks.

So what about a S&D for all the easy listening stuff Axelrod was involved in?

Anybody else that deep into Axelrod productions and affiliations?

Because I quite like the David Rose stuff. It's schmaltzy, sure. But there is an underlying Axelrod feel to those albums, especially the Bible.

would not class my knowledge as deep ..
just all of the solo/collab albums which have been reissued on cd (oooh for the auction to get a proper reissue !)
eg : lou rawls, the electric prunes material, letta mbulu albums, soul of bible/zodiac, david mccallum, his venture into psych - heavywater etc.
nothing too deep.
would love to hear more of his easy listening material.

heavywater = hardwater.

doh.

I love the Hardwater album - that's where Axe nicked Pete Wyant from to play on his own albums. Also in that light psych vein is the Common People (Of the People/By the People/For the People), but Axelrod's actual contribution to that album has been disputed by band members in recent years after the album received a short lived CD reissue.

The easy listening stuff is pretty cheesy - you have to be pretty dedicated to get through some of it.

There's the David Rose stuff, which I mentioned, and the Bible is probably the best of this stuff. He also did an album of redone versions of old hits i.e. 'The Stripper', 'Holiday for Strings', etc. but on Capitol with Axelrod producing. Something Fresh is all Rose originals from '69 (I think?), again with Axe producing. The Bible didn't sell well and was deemed to have a cover that was too weird for a David Rose album (looks like this), so the title and cover photo was changed to this (this is what my copy looks like, but the actual label on the record still bills the album title as "The Bible", so all they did was put already pressed vinyl in new sleeves — I wonder, is it a paste over too, like the Beatles Yesterday and Today? I've never tried looking).

He also did albums with Maria Cole (Love is a Special Feeling), one with Ann Dee (Free Again), Tina Mason (Something Special) and a really odd one, arranging and producing for Tennessee Ernie Ford (imagine TEF singing over Earl Palmer and you're pretty much there - it's strangely awesome).

One of my favorite Axelrod things is the 45 he produced abd arranged with the sunshine-y group Moorpark Intersction. Side A is awesome, but side B was an Axelrod original tune, so it has a very important place in his trajectory.

Sorry, I blabber when it comes to Axelrod.

One of my favorite Axelrod things is the 45 he produced abd arranged with the sunshine-y group Moorpark Intersction. Side A is awesome, but side B was an Axelrod original tune, so it has a very important place in his trajectory.

blabber away !

i have both these tracks - they were featured on a psych comp that andrew sandoval put together, book a trip, .. brilliant stuff.

oh, and that tina mason album was reissued with tons of extras .. soo good.

and yes, hardwater hits the spot when in the mood for 60s psych excess.

There's a really good album by Clara Ward (Soul & Inspiration) where Axe and HB gave her the Lou Rawls treatment — very similar to the Letta Mbulu stuff. It received a digital reissue, but the original LP still remains one of my most desired Axelrod records.

There's one other group on that Book a Trip comp that's slightly Axe-affiliated, if I remember correctly. I have it; just need to to dig it out. There was a volume two, but I haven't heard it: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/nowsounds-exd.asp?id=4417

ta for the reminder, i used to have a pretty bad vinyl rip of that clara ward album .. will have to check if its on one of my other computers.

and like you i haven't got volume 2 of 'book a trip'.

oh, and in case you weren't aware, several of the tracks on the 6 volume $tateside/talcum soul compilations are produced by david axelrod/hb.

"FOR THEN
WILL YOOOOOOU
BEEEE LIEEEEVE MYYYYY
MEEEEEEEESSSSSAGE
MEEEEEEEESSSSSAGE
MEEEEEEEESSSSSAGE
MEEEEEEEESSSSSAGE

...~that you are destroying your land
and it is coming to pass
that instead of sweet fruits and waters
there is a growing~ ROT-TEN-NESS"

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7678074/david-axelrod-dead-musician-producer

From my Instagram:
"If I can speak free and grandiose for a moment, I have to say that the news of David Axelrod's death -while not surprising given his age and the reclusive nature of his later life- is something I have been dreading for a long time. His music, his influence, his entire demeanor and world philosophy. . . all have been inspirational and life changing for me, to say the least. Truly, I feel like I was shaped by and given guidance to through his music and life. Discovering Songs of Experience at 19, pretty much by chance, was one of the best things I've ever had happen. A decade and a half later and I still get chills when I hear the floaty opening strings of 'Urizen' or the soft guitar chords on 'Holy Are You.' I've heard these songs hundreds of times and they are still able to evoke an entirely heartfelt and honestly genuine feelings of simultaneous wonder and fascination. Some of his music was too beautiful for words, some of it so bleak it was very nearly impossible to take in at all. The soundtrack to life. Endless possibilities. Profoundly influential to my life and even my own music, it goes without saying that despite never meeting or even seeing him in person, I have always felt a connection. Truly a man's best work."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQKE_qeApIy/

=(

Well said

RIP

I still remember how mindblown I was when I heard his first album before realizing it was something from the late 60's. So unique and ahead of its time.

nobody could record a ride cymbal like the axe. there's a reason he was sampled so often.

My introduction to him was the self titled album on mo'wax. I was checking him out primarily due to praise from DJ Shadow but didn't really know what it would sound like, and I think the opening track little children provided the all-time most disorientating and unexpected first listen to an album I've had, but I still love that track & album.

Gone back to Earth Rot quite a few times over the past few years, that album has such a strong atmosphere, I often end up listening to it a few times in a row

Boring and obvious, but i never get tired of the two Songs albums

The choice is boring and obvious, not the music!

RIP, one of my favorites of all time

had a similar experience as ogmor, first hearing the mo'wax comp and falling in love with it

then i looked up all of his various albums and it blew my mind figuring out that someone had invented trip hop in the 60s before hip hop had been invented

sorry mo'wax album, not comp

Been posting Axelrod rarities/anecdotes on my Instagram all morning. Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/austintayeshus

prices for cd editions on amazon have gone nuts.

no idea if this is since the news, or they were already high due to them all being out of print.

that said, this is in fopp for £3 on cd

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7QPevyZ22wg/SZGlrh5f_3I/AAAAAAAAAOs/0h10s2p3FqI/w1200-h630-p-k-nu/Soul+Zodiac.jpg

one of my favourite albums.
such a mad timestamped exercise in sonic gorgeousness and excess.

I'm sorry in advance for self-obsessed longposting. . .

. . .but. . .

. . .exactly what I didn't want to see happen is what's happening.

Before I go any further, I should say that I probably never would have known about David Axelrod's music if it wasn't revived via sampling in hip hop. But even when I first heard 'The School Boy' at 19, I knew that this was music that was too good to just be confined to loops and drum breaks. This was something truly transcendental and worthy of being appreciated as its own entity. So, while it is true that hip hop played an integral role in the increased notoriety of his music, I have always been steadfast in the thought that his music was much better appreciated outside the confines of, "Hey this is the dude Dr. Dre sampled."

As the memorials started rolling in Sunday night and yesterday morning, there was a recurring theme: something along the lines of "He was hip hop before hip hop." This is such a misguided and disappointing way for him to be remembered. In my experience, one of the most unforgettable things about discovering his music was that the entire package was so much better than any loop or drum break could have ever indicated. And, the further down the David Axelrod rabbit hole I descended, the more I discovered that, in most cases, not only did the samples not do his music any justice whatsoever, in many cases, his best and most rewarding works were those that were untarnished by sampling.

Hip hop was a huge part of my life in my early days as dedicated music fan. But, the older I get, the less use I have for it and, while I don't really care to spend time with it anymore, David Axelrod's music has persevered and still remains some of my favorite music of all time. There is always something to go back to, or something else to be discovered in his output. All the while, hip hop has revealed itself to be something that was very good for me at a certain time in my life, but was ultimately something I grew out of.

Axelrod's music was around long before hip hop and I daresay it will endure long past its relevance. To revise history in the wake of his death by saying that his music was only suitable after hip hop recontextualized it is oddly arrogant and very distasteful. This has been an ongoing narrative since he released the self-titled album on Mo'Wax in 2001 —and it's always bugged me— but it really seems to have kicked into high gear the past couple days. It's reaching a point where I feel like, if any new listeners do check him out through songs that have been sampled, it will ultimately be doing his greater catalogue a disservice.

Okay? Okay.

A kind of unfortunate follow-up to your heartfelt post, but I came to post this: http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1436-david-axelrods-hip-hop-influence-in-7-highly-sampled-songs/

I have to say, I did not know Axelrod at all before the news of his death. I've been enjoying the two Songs albums for the last couple of days, and not just the Endtroducing bits. So I guess I agree with you.

Seeing that piece on pfork this morning is what really got me thinking critically about the whole thing.

I hear what you're saying Austin but surely there's room for people to like music on their own terms?

also sorry but nothing I've ever read about axelrod up to now came off half as arrogant as your post

congratulations on growing out of hip hop though

based on his instagram, seems to me that austin knows axelrod's music better than most people and would prefer axelrod to be remembered for what he did, instead of for who sampled him. that doesn't strike me as "arrogant".

ah but it is

"you're not appreciating this music correctly!"

also lol wtf @ "tarnished by sampling"

late great i don't want to put words in your mouth but it certainly looks like you've devoted the last half hour straight to being mad at austin's post

well it was a pretty shitty post

Someone disrespected hip-hop on ILM. THIS SHALL NOT STAND.

ur borderline racist views on hip hop are well documented sir

adjectives are for cowards, just go right out and call him a racist

nah

ok. are we done disgracing the memory of the late david axelrod yet?

i really liked the song "the truth" by pride which is also, as happens half the time i hear a cool song, on caribou's 1000 song playlist. not typical axelrod, but a good song.

that was thirteen years ago anyway

oh, jeez, another one of _those_ things. i can't even remember the names of the drugs i was addicted to thirteen years ago! how the hell do you remember this shit?

A few things. . .

I didn't think I would have to explain further about preferring songs that were "untarnished by sampling", but. . . well, I actually don't have to because, in my initial post, I said:

the entire package was so much better than any loop or drum break could have ever indicated.

Also, there is nothing to indicate I'm forcing any style of appreciation on anyone. I simply said I take issue with it. Of course I would love if people hear 'The Edge' and then go seek out more and end up getting freaked out and blown away by Earth Rot. But the whole narrative of "he is one of the foundations of hip hop" really does a lot to devalue how innovative his music was long before hip hop even became a possibility.

The Pride album is actually a lot more status-quo Axelrod than it first appears: all of the songs are originals and Carol Kaye, Earl Palmer and Don Randi are all in the band for the duration. It's one of his most introspective works and, on some days, I'd say it's my favorite.

And, finally, for anyone interested in some really long reads, several years ago on my blog I did some very in-depth write-ups on his first four albums:
Song(s) of Innocence
Songs of Experience
Earth Rot
David Axelrod's Rock Interpretation of Handel's Messiah

I had originally intended to work through his entire catalogue in such fashion, but it became a little too taxing on me, as my marriage and my drinking were simultaneously permuting into chaos. I do have some rough drafts still saved for a few of the follow ups. Maybe I'll revisit the idea. . .

Axelrod's music was around long before hip hop and I daresay it will endure long past its relevance.

uhhh. cmon. late great otm.

RIP btw.

Seriously Deep is one of my favorite headphone albums.

i didn't discover axelrod cos of hip hop but via an NME associated cassette, 'Whats Happening $tateside' that came out in '86, however, i would suggest that i was then able to buy all the cd reissues cos of hip hop.
very much doubt his catalogue would have been picked up and dusted down by $tateside etc if it weren't for the renewed interest.

and yeah, 'seriously' deep is a gorgeous listen, but the same could be said for all of his solo albums (apart from requiem : holocaust .. )

Austin otm, although I think the idea of hip-hop as something that's going to fade in the long run is pretty reductive. It should be relatively uncontroversial to say that Axelrod's music has a distinct, inherent value of its own and that there's no reason not to prefer it to the musicians who sampled him or to want to remember him entirely outside of that context.

agree w all that

putting down hip-hop to build up axelrod is bullshit and to the extent austin did that i disagree, but also axelrod does not = hip-hop.

Sorry. I managed to make it worse, somehow.

. My point is: the source material is pretty dynamic to yield such varying results. And I think that's wholly impressive.

I've always taken this (wrt Axelrod's music or any other that's been sampled to produce wide variety of results) as a credit to those sampling producers foremost.

I can't even wrap my head around that. Agree to disagree.

all that aside ..
personally, i would just love a proper anthology/boxset of the non-album/non-solo material.
all the odds and sods that he produced that were only released on 7" singles here and there.
suspect there is so much more that has not had the reissue treatment.
of course this would probably be a logistical nightmare re licences/masters etc,
but still, we can but hope.
if not that, then how about a proper reissue of 'the auction' ?
that would definitely keep me happy for a while.

You can't agree to disagree if you can't even wrap your head around it! I can understand not agreeing with the notion, but cmon man it's not some cryptowacko stance that just can't be grasped. Sample-based productions can reflect the talent and skill of the producer. The sample can be totally transformed, re-contextualized, etc. This is just basic shit. I have to assume you're just prejudiced against sampling as art.

why would you assume that all he said was that it sampling tarnishes the original work

whoops stray "it"

there is nothing to indicate I'm forcing any style of appreciation on anyone

doesn't square with

This is such a misguided and disappointing way for him to be remembered

journalists writing glowing obits about the death of a fairly esoteric musician making the fact that he was often sampled in hip hop - popular music that their readers are likely to have heard - a prominent feature of said obits

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

are 'critics'/people really calling david axelrod a foundation of hip hop or whatever, because that's hella stupid

has anybody ever sampled pink floyd's "atom heart mother", it has funky drums and an orchestra iirc

no and no

the 66-70 Capitol comp is one of my most treasured records. the david mccallum cuts are so majestic.

the rappcats remembrance is really good

http://www.rappcats.com/axelrod/

had no idea about this little number at all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu0jibUVvEM