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Please help me expand my musical tastes

JayDee1503559536

By JayDee1503559536
in Music, Musicians and Bands

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JayDee1503559536 Explorer

JayDee1503559536

Posted
Posted

Hi It's been a few years since I posted here but I hope you can help.

 

Quick background story.  Born in 1961 so grew up in the early to mid 70's so I I was heavily influenced by the hard rock of the time.  You know, Zepplin, Deep Purple, etc.  Also from that time period I have albums from Supertramp The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac,  and of course Floyd and obviously Frampton Comes Alive! plus a few others. Come the early 80's chuck in Chisel and The Angels etc.

 

Now as I'm typing this I'm listening to an old Joe Cocker LP I haven't pulled out for yonks and it got me thinking.  When I was dating my now wife 30 odd years ago we used to spend a lot of Sundays going to pubs that had R and B and Jazz bands and we loved it (those were the days, live music in pubs).  Now old Joe can be a bit R and B but not really.  The only thing that could be called R and B that I've got is the Blues Brothers soundtrack.

 

I would really like some recommendations of good Jazz or R and B that I can (easily) get my hands on be it Vinyl or CD.  My musical knowledge of that time period is virtually non existent.  Start me with the must haves! 

 

TIA

John

 

 

keyse1 Grand Master

keyse1

Posted
Posted

Southside Johnny and The Ashbury Jukes and Dr Feelgood are great bands

As a general rule of thumb listen to the first 3 records of bands to get an idea if you will like them

 

 

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keyse1 Grand Master

keyse1

Posted
Posted

Elvis Costello and Graeme Parker first 3 records not specifically r and b but you might like 

Get Happy is a deliberate tribute to r and b and soul by Elvis Costello 

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mfforever Experienced

mfforever

Posted
Posted

Hi John .......... only a few years older so I know passionately the bands you posted .........   but, thank God, there are still some amazing gems out there that are worth pursuing ......

 

- Fat Freddie's Drop .....   seen them now 4 times at the Hordern and Opera House Forecourt ........  drop dead NZ band with 3 BIG brass guys, gorgeous vocals, keyboards to die for .........   hard to pin down a specific style as NZ stamp is foremost ....... would say  Big band Reggie fusion esq .......   8 minute tracks of super quality music.

 

- John Martyn - Solid Air - one of the 70s most unheard of but the bestest of that whole era ...... must hear

 

- Harry Manx ........  unique Blues / Ballad with an Indian Sitar influence ......   this guy went to India in the 80s ? and spent 5 years learning the Indian sitar that he then remade / modified into a guitar/ sitar instrument .....   seen him live lots of times ......   brilliant, especially when he played at Newtown with a crazy young Hammond Organ player ....... wow, a jam with Sitar and Hammond organ .....   had to be there.

 

- Thee Sacred Souls ..............   angelic vocals over great musos .......  style is Gospel / Soul /.  ????????? ..........    they took the Opera House down in a debut concert .......    the lead singer's voice is beyond any range know to humanity.

 

- and the usual recommendations of Nick Cave, Christian Kjellvander, Damien Jurado, Lucinda Williams, Tindersticks,  Massive Attack ( BIG recommendation ! ) Lianne Le Havis, Stevie Ray Vaughan , Glen Hansard

 

We found a great way to start finding new stuff was to get Tidal playlists ( singles of individual artists ) and then methodically to sort through their playlists for their albums .........   sadly only about a 5 % success rate but what you got was gold .

 

Great to see that you are going forward with music .............   sooooo much old stuff AND new stuff  .....    enjoy .

Monty Grand Champion

Monty

Posted
Posted

Hey John. Good luck exploring. You're in for a treat!

 

For R&B, the Blues Brothers is actually a pretty good place to start. Look at the personnel and songs and trace your way back. 

 

The guest stars really were the cream of the (then still living) crop. Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles are R&B/Soul royalty and made a ton of great music across decades. Cab Calloway is a throw back to a slightly earlier era, more big band jazz/Cotton Club. John Lee Hooker, in the movie but not on the album, is more straight blues.

 

The Blues Brothers band also contained some conspicuous greats. Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn were half of Booker T &the MGs who were the house band at Stax Records - great label. Matt Murphy was also a solid bluesman, played with Memphis Slim. 

 

Generalising, R&B stayed single oriented longer than rock. Don't get hung up on finding great albums. Start with singles/compilations/playlists and when you find something you like work across to the album.

  • Like 1

JayDee1503559536 Explorer

JayDee1503559536

Posted
  • Author
Posted

WOW. Thanks so much for the recommendations.  I'm going to track down as many as I can and give them a fair shot.  

 

@mfforever I just listened to a bit of Thee Sacred Souls on YT.  Indeed the singer is angelic but I'm not sure he matches the range of (RIP) Brad Delp 🙂

mfforever Experienced

mfforever

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi JD .........   you got me curious .........  gotta track down this Brad Delp  ...........    

 

 

and specifically, for R&b., Fat Freddie's Drop is just amazing ........   

 

I see you mention CD or vinyl as your go to, but I must say that streaming through Tidal has changed our musical life / appreciation ........ with streaming, you can go through 30 or 40 recommendations in a few hours to find great new stuff WITHOUT spending significant money on physical media ( vinyl / CD ). I am one of the original techno Luddites ( ie; not too keen on the latest tech advances ) BUT when I went to streaming I was blown away with the convenience AND CD sound quality or better.  ( and Yes, this invites much fierce discussion as to the superiority of digital  Vs  analogue  stuff ..........    but I am very happy to say that everyone is perfectly entitled to try different gear and find the best mix for their ears/budget/situation )

 

And in terms of cost, a month's subscription on Tidal ( or other great Streaming sites ) is less than the cost of  1  CD or vinyl..........   and at the touch of a button, you can check out 99% of any music mentioned in reviews, audio posts, etc 

 

Glad to see you are continuing your Music journey ........   how much fun is that !

 

 

Edited by mfforever
  • Like 2
2Brix Grand Master

2Brix

Posted
Posted

while i wouldn't have classified FFD as R&B i likewise highly recommend them (and own most of their albums on CD and vinnil)

 

@JayDee1503559536 i'll throw just one suggestion in...Average White Band...although they're probably more fuuuuunk than R&B 🤓 ☮️

 

  • Like 1
2Brix Grand Master

2Brix

Posted
Posted

and @JayDee1503559536 if you havent already, check out the various currently spinning threads

 

there's many excellent threads thar, including (imo) one of the best being FUNK: Currently Spinning 😉

075Congo Grand Champion

075Congo

Posted
Posted

Another way to look at expanding your music awareness is to go to the DISCOGS website. www.discogs.com. On the home page is an "explore" option......go there and you will see a range of music genres......go into "rock" or "jazz" and spend some time.......music titles are there in the thousands.......sounds pretty random but let us know how you get on. Also gives you a good sense of the history and development of each genre.

 

Discogs is an excellent way to find titles in either vinyl or digital disc......but like a lot of things in audio....expensive..

 

grammefriday Collaborator

grammefriday

Posted
Posted

I listen to community radio stations where programs are genre specific so you can listen to a range of styles curated by the human (not algorithm) who hosts the show. As you are in Sydney you could start with 2SER or Fbi radio whose programs, times and details can be found on their websites. 

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