David Axelrod Classic or Dud

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