s/d David Axelrod

the prunes' "Mass In F Minor" isn't as good as release, but it's still kinda cool. not as funky.

i really love "Earth Rot" but i can see how people wouldn't like it. it's got those star trek type close vocal harmonies. there's a sample from the first mos def album on that one.

surprisingly, his new s/t album is actually really good. it was written in the 60s, and has a lot of the same players as those old records. Ras Kass's singing doesn't even distract from it that much.

he also produced a lot of Cannonball Adderly albums (and vice versa). i have "Inside Straight", "Black Messiah" and "Africa" and don't really care for any of them that much.

i used to have "Rock Messiah", "Heavy Axe" and i think "Strange Ladies" but sold them all back because i didn't really like them.

also, if you're into him, check out Lalo Schifrin's "Rock Requiem" and Galt McDermott

I have Innocence/Experience, which remind me of Leonard Nimoy in a red sports car (it's some film or other). This is a good thing, and I recommend them. I also have Heavy Axe, which is not quite so good, features female moaning and has Stevie Wonder and Carly Simon covers. It's OK though, especially if you like his 'spacious' productions.

features some truly excellent tracks

there's a highly entertaining interview with Axelrod on this week's The Treatment (available at kcrw.org). Sounds like a fun guy!

Funk Inc.'s "Superfunk" is a pretty great Axlerod-produced record.

Most of the David McCallum stuff is kinda lame. "The Edge" (sampled by Dre) is a killer track though.

I couldn't get into his Mo'Wax comeback album thouhg. and the new live in concert DVD just doesn't capture the awesomeness of his old stuff.

this hits a lot of his high points. I think I'll probably buy it later tonight before I hit the sack:

http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Axelrod-Capitol-Records-1966-1970/dp/B000SZ24J2

tombot.
we recently had a chat re the new excellent Reprise 2 cd set over here.
if you like the comp, then this should be top of your want list.

I just nabbed both volumes of the Axelrod Anthology (on Stateside) in a used bin...a little overlap with the Capitol Years set, but still essential...

and speaking of that Capitol Records collection: "The Edge", "The Fly"...were U2 fans of his?

I just nabbed both volumes of the Axelrod Anthology (on Stateside) in a used bin...a little overlap with the Capitol Years set, but still essential...

yeah same goes for the 2 cd set, 'An Exploration ..' that $tateside issued.

Giant Step's been clearing out their web store and I ended up getting that comp Tom linked for $5, worth every cent

hahaha!! no it was worth twice that without the packaging I swear

is this any good?

sorry granny i dont have that (yet)

but can confirm that this david axelrod production :

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51o7vhMPWHL._SS500_.jpg

is fantastically off the wall 1972 psychedelic space jazz brilliance.

worth it just for the 13 minute dirty guitars-n-sax album closer, taurus.

that and the cover that is.

Edge is great.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/02/14/PH2007021402043.jpg

thanks homie

― eman, Wednesday, November 5, 2008 12:05 AM (1 hour ago)

amaxing campaign

an amazing multitalented musician, this guy

good lord, the Letta Mbulu track on that Edge comp! Whoa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLFVUL63xU

i knew it was going to be the storm track.

that letta mbulu cover art is from a compilation that puts together both albums that axelrod made with her.

lots of amazing tracks, but this track is definitely one of the best.

yeah, i need that comp! otherworldly.

just be warned.
as good as the compilation is, there are no other tracks that feature storms ..

Not sure how I've made it at this forum so long without ever searching out an Axelrod thread. He is my favorite music maker, by far. I've written a lot about him on my blog, though I've slowed down over the years for a couple reasons: the reissues stopped coming (and, even though I have originals of everything, without reissues there's not really any renewed interest) and I just don't have that time anymore to delve that deeply into stuff.

The older I get, the more Earth Rot makes sense. So, I guess that'd be my favorite, but Song of Innocence is so good. I hold the Pride album in very high regard as well. I don't know. It's a tough call.

I do wish Strange Ladies would get a proper reassessment. Yes, it's a lot more slick, but the tunes are just as strong as anything from the Capitol days.

going back to the live at royal festival hall set a lot recently and thinking, as a last document, how bittersweet and odd it all is. an otherwise undocumented song ('so low' — which is very good and vaguely reminiscent of the pride stuff in how it develops), two weird covers to bookend it ('paint it black' and 'norweigian wood' which is subtitled 'spanish wood'), a slew of brilliant renditions of classics (the version of 'the edge' feels very much definitive), and fucking richard ashcroft of all people. otherwise no performances of anything post-songs of experience — which i think is ultimately disappointing for me, even if it the set is more or less essential. the album is absolutely wonderful, but the dvd is almost too much for me to endure anymore. he was always so outspoken, but as behind the scenes as possible. so, to see him out front, subtly conducting, and (rightfully) taking the spotlight after so many years makes the bottom of my throat well up significantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZVArqrmaV8

nearly four years in his absence come this february. had been hoping to see a much larger reissue campaign of his post-capitol work in his wake, but alas, it hasn't happened. still waiting for that strange ladies reissue.

his self-titled "comeback" album isn't streaming anywhere huh

without getting too much into it, his kids are very protective of his back catalogue. there isn't much out there about it, but that's the long and short of it.

axelrod-produced gimmicky awesomeness from 1967—

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrdR2JAzVqY

brothers and sisters — "the ali shuffle"

would love a boxset of Axelrod productions thats all about such tracks.
so many one-offs, several of which are on the talcum soul compilations that $tateside released back when it was a thing.

that would be pretty much a dream come true for me. so much of that stuff hasn't even been reissued.

really love the sunshine pop one-offs he was involved with. the moorpark intersection's only single was not only produced by axe, the b-side was a typically yearning and moody original tune called "yesterday holds on." seek it out. the a-side is an amazing cotton candy bastardization of hippies. i can just just imagine the early 'yellow submarine' faux psychedelic cartoon video that could have accompanied it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBbThW2ie8o

have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but one of my most top rated things from the axe archives is the self-titled 1970 album by the purposely plainly named band pride. his music has always given me visions of beautifully barren landscapes, places that are maybe not always safe. like siberia, death valley, chernobyl, australian outback, etc. but never more than on pride. it's a totally different sound for him, despite having most of the same musicians from his capital sessions. except there's only one vocalist and no strings, horns, piano - none of that (although, yep there's vibraphone because of course there is). instead filling out the sound is this amazing combination of nylon string acoustic and 12 string guitars. the cliche is that 12 string=chimey, and that's okay. but this is like anti-chime. it's a thing that only he seemed to be able to do.

the singer is nooney ricketts, the guy affiliated with arthur lee. he's got this eerie drone of a style and it works perfectly (though definitely attributed to axe's arrangement, nooney's voice also just *works* for me in this mode). i guess it has kind of a folk-rock sound?

the fucking breakdown @ 1:35. goat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DzEUnuwxGw

https://drummerworld.com/drummerworld/earlpalmer550gfseqqse.jpg

(pride - "a hope" [1970])

oh yeah the pride album is on spotify, but nearly impossible to find because of its basically anonymous name. if you are so compelled.

it's also been repackaged with the electric prunes stuff. xpost to catalogue music having the same impact as contemporary music. that was the first time i heard that material, but had known about it for at least 5 years previous. originals were pretty much gone before axe revival became a thing, so even now that album only feels about 10 or 15 years old to me.

kind of annoyed because i just uploaded the one album by nat adderley jr's mid 70s righteous funk band natural essence - only to have youtube tell me it would not be able to be seen by anyone because of copyright issues. but if it's not available to hear anywhere else, WHY!?

huff.

album is wild as hell. smooth political soul one track, firey herbie hancock mwandishi style fusion the next. then maybe filter that through a west coast version of the 24 carat black album. heck, there's even a curtis mayfield cover. not everything hits, but rad stuff - and i get the feeling it was a real family affair: cannonball and nat sr trying to start something new.

axe receives an official sleeve credit, but it really doesn't sound his style at all. still a really interesting piece of the bibliography. unfortunate that whoever holds the rights apparently doesn't want it heard very easily. of course it's been reissued on cd in japan. i have it archived from a bootleg reissue vinyl from maybe 2010s hmu iykyk

(also i'm extra salty rn because my upload of the [unrelated to axelrod] maria toledo album earned my gargantuan youtube channel off 110 subscribers a copyright strike unless i removed it. genuinely: fuck whoever did that. it was up for months with people being nice to each in the comments. PEOPLE LIKE IT. MAKE IT AVAILABLE GOD DAMMIT.)

(oh yeah: the last song on the natural essence album has a very pleasingly pretentious title: "had no beginning, has no end : simply is" - their tribute to on the corner.)

okay last thing of the oddball axe-affiliated stuff for now-

kind an obvious one? the super dope lounge album he did with don randi. pop song covers, sappily-mic'd piano that does nothing but riff on themes, and earl + carole kaye just fucking killing it the entire time. arrangements are very vintage 69 axe- but it's a bit lighter, of course. no "mental travelers" or "sick roses" here - the closest it comes is on his darkly romantic arrangement on the now famous track "the fox":

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

i first heard the album ~2002, so that little piece of that song hit me as hard as i think music possibly can on a person's first listen. i had no clue what i was about to hear when i bought that album for like 50 cents on ebay. not kidding: i remember thinking, "this guy is basically giving me the album if i pay postage." i don't know how well known it was at that time that the sample came from a fucking don randi record - but holy smokes. pretty significant moment.

rest of the album is good fluff. great cover of "mrs robinson" to kick things off, too. if you like the silly gary mcfarland style 60s easy listening sound, it's very hip; much more seriousguy face tho, because it's seen through the mind of a guy who was a former heroin junkie, failed boxer, failed drummer, but was inexplicably a very successful record producer for a short time. idk if you can hear the whole thing anywhere online. it's worth it if you dug the cheesier side of axe.

footnote: it was around that time in late 1969/early 1970 his youngest son died of a heroin overdose. big oof, but also makes all of the music he did then even more remarkable imo.

ta for the reminder re Pride.
i keep forgetting about that.
was weird how that was added to the 2cd set of Electric Prunes set, but hey, i am not complaining, at least its available.
unlike a proper clean version of 'The Auction'.
unless that has been reissued and i have missed out ?
i have a scratchy vinyl rip, and would love to have that album on cd/clean digital.
weird how it has never had the same love as his other solo albums.

I’ll always associate Axe with GTA IV

xps Austin thanks for mentioning Pride, I hadn't listened to that album in years. Such a foreboding and haunting, yet groovy vibe throughout. Visions of barren landscapes OTM. "The Death of Juan Diaz" makes me picture a western that takes place in the wasteland on the cover of Earth Rot.

Speaking of which, Pride doesn't bowl me over like Earth Rot--the environmentalist-zombie-cult choirs on that one are some of my favorite vocals on any record, and the arrangements are God-tier--but Pride is a really cool, stripped-down/introspective exploration of his singular aesthetic

yep, earth rot is definitely one of those 'singular' albums that probably would have sounded weird regardless of when it was made. i have warmed up to it a lot over the years. here's a fun fact: all of his capitol albums were supposed to sound like that with the vocals. there's no strings on earth rot because the choir is singing those parts. if you know william blake and axe's first two albums well enough, you can sort of guess how some of the parts may have gone.

unrelated to everything: this song has always seemed mildly axelrod-ish to me. don't know much about the influences at the time, but came out of the exact same scene, so i would imagine there was tons of cross-pollination happening-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew3eG3BJoYA

the association - "the time it is today" (1968)

Yeah, that Association song is pretty Axe-like, uses the same types of chords he was into (major 7ths, various suspended chords, etc.) and the bass and drums have that same Wrecking Crew-adjacent sound. I get the same vibe from "Wichita Lineman"

if you ever wanted to hear axe's two mca albums from the late 70s in full, here ya go.

(also more copyright shenanigans: i got dinged for 2 claims on this video — both of which came from goobers that sampled the axelrod records. if i'm understanding the way this works correctly, those folks will potentially see ad revenue money from this video. kinda sorta definition of bullshit.)

hi i was going to post about axe's 90s albums and something something reassessment and the big country is actually great or whatever. but honestly who cares, here's the "leading citizen"—

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xFEclCEaDA
david axelrod — "the leading citizen" (1972)

badass funk jam calling out bigots and one of the alltime-iest alltimers ever. that breakdown!

here's my initial post re:90s stuff. it's boring.
nothing super important.

recent discussions about "legacy" acts and the consistency therein has got me thinking: dude, david axelrod recorded two albums in the 90s and i hardly ever listen to them!

(tw in this link: holocaust imagery)

requiem is a notoriously difficult experience. it's the complete opposite of most of his 60s work: where that stuff was wholly unrestrained consonance about the wonders and magic of existence (for the most part), requiem is about, well, genocide. it's an album i respect more than i like. it's completely and totally jarring music. the first time i heard it, the most extreme thing i knew was probably like public enemy or something. i had zero knowledge of any sort of experimental music and didn't understand why it was so atonal. seems more like an intentional statement than something meant to be listened to for pleasure. for example: it has more idle moments that i would describe as "shrill" in the first ten minutes than most albums have in their total duration. it's almost frustratingly spare at times; those moments of intermittent silence are just uncomfortable. i still struggle with it and after knowing it casually most of my life, i think i can definitively say: this album is an acquired taste.

the big country otoh is due a huge reassessment imo. not that requiem isn't, but the big country is the next best thing after axe's "golden years." it does have a lot of those sparse dissonant passages that dominated requiem, but a lot of the old band is back around having axe mutate contemporary and classic country songs into his unique vision definitely feels like a "return to form." if i had to compare it to any of his previous albums, i'd say it most comfortably sits in the same space with the messiah album. it has that light r+b/pop sheen on it and there's moments (especially on "standing outside the fire") where it wouldn't be unsurprising to hear lou rawls pop up. not an all-out masterpiece or anything, but some of the vocal versions are very much vintage axe (and yes: there's open drums all over it and oh hey also they completely smash; ndugu!!!). i was too young at the time, but i now look back and realize the early 90s was the beginning of what i've started to refer to as "the reassessment period" — and i know "retro" will always be cool in cycles, but the 90s is where i think this kicked into high gear. examples would be: joe henderson, buena vista social club, swing revival, etc. i don't know how else to put this so i'll just say what's in my heart: polite music that maybe got overlooked initially. david axelrod made two really gimmicky moves in the 90s (presumably with the idea that he was going to see some "retro" love) and neither paid off. he was jewish so it makes sense that he would do something around ww2/holocaust (and that was definitely in the public psyche; schindler's list, national holocaust museum opening, etc.), but the big country is such a blatant attempt to cash in on the "new nashville" that was booming around the time, i have to laugh a little. requiem tanked of course and the big country never made it past promos (a cassette promo purchased from eBay in 1999 was my intro; it was officially released in 2003 but only outside of america about 8 years after it was recorded). both albums fell into obscurity and i have to kind of **smhchuckle** that around the same time axe was getting the news that the big country had been shelved, dj shadow was loading bits of songs of experience into his mpc. we know how the rest goes. definitely recommend the big country. it's cheesy and warm and wholly contains that singular axe vibe.

this is the austin content that makes my ilx subscription worth every penny! great post.

oh you're too kind. genuinely: thank you for reading.

(don't mind me btw, just doing some legacy building. also have i hammered home his arguably militant anti-fascist, feminist worldview enough? oh, not the "feminist" part? no, i guess i haven't really talked about strange ladies yet, have i?)

still waiting for that strange ladies reissue.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, January 2, 2020 4:25 PM (three years ago)

criminal. youtube link above still active as of now. yes it's ripped from my copy hooray! listen to obscure smooth jazz goddammit. it's good for you.

strange ladies-era axe ephemera: axe + mca label president mike maitland for keyboard player magazine—

https://i.imgur.com/skSq9AJ.jpg

(sorry about the quality. i have no claims to the source of that photo.)

—epilogue for the evening—

update on this:

(also more copyright shenanigans: i got dinged for 2 claims on this video — both of which came from goobers that sampled the axelrod records. if i'm understanding the way this works correctly, those folks will potentially see ad revenue money from this video. kinda sorta definition of bullshit.)

― ミ💙🅟 🅛 🅤 🅡 🅜 🅑💙彡 (Austin), Saturday, July 30, 2022 2:21 PM

i contested tf outta that bullshit and those wankateers stood down. i hold no copyrights, but also fuck your mother fucking copyrights. yeehaw bitches, subvert everything.

sorry forgot the punchline:

VIDEO

STAYS

UNMONETIZED

music should be free.

david axelrod is therapy through music.

Austin!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🥳🧁🎉🎂🎁🎈🎈🎈

possibly belated depending what time zone you're in