JP Rangaswami

Friday night blues. Today’s selection contains Lead Belly (CC Rider) Billie Holliday (Billie’s Blues) Robert Johnson (Cross Road Blues) Sonny Boy Williamson, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Count Basie, Big Bill Broonzy, Arthur Crudup, Lionel Hampton and T-Bone Walker.

The Calcutta boy in me was so exhilarated to hear the sitar in Norwegian Wood. A journey that went to Traffic’s Paper Sun, passing through Paint It Black (Stones) Sunshine Superman (Donovan) Tomorrow Never Knows and Within You Without You (Beatles). Offhand I don’t know the first song the other side of the Atlantic that used sitar.

The sun’s out, it’s a beautiful crisp autumn day. Neil Young. Live at Tuscaloosa. Really like the treatment of some of his standards: Old Man, Harvest, Time Fades Away, Alabama, Heart of Gold and particularly Out On The Weekend.

Friday morning. Time for some Yes. Starting with The Yes Album. Been a few years since I heard this. Last saw Steve Howe a few years ago, haven’t seen the band in years.

Delving into my Beatles mono CD collection. I could listen to them all day. But wait, I did that with Bowie today. So let me correct that. I could listen to them all night. For many of the earlier albums, I really enjoy listening to the mono recordings.

Spending time today listening to David Bowie. An interesting selection in this box set. Helps me realise just how many musicians he collaborated with. Brian Eno, Rick Wakeman, Marc Bolan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mick Ronson, Peter Frampton, Robert Fripp, Nile Rodgers to name a few.

Decided to spend the evening listening to Janis Joplin. An amazing talent, very very missed. This is a 3 CD box set (I’ve a penchant for unusual collections of music by my favourite artists). Wish I could have seen her perform live. Went to two different Threadgills in Austin years ago, just as a pilgrimage. May her soul rest in peace.

Still in a Blind Faith mood. Today I’m listening to the LA concert. Some fascinating liner notes. A real sense that neither Clapton nor Winwood liked large crowds. Not because of crowd size, but because they had to play very loudly, something neither liked.

Indulging myself. Four discs of Joni Mitchell. A quartet in four acts. I’m familiar with half the songs but have heard the rest much less often. Some never. Never played this through start to finish. Never even taken the cellophane off the box. Till today. Never too late.

Can’t describe the feeling and emotion I have, hearing the opening notes of this amazing album. I get transported. Memories come flooding back. Back to the early 1970s, the people I was with, many long gone. The person I was, also long gone. The joy I experienced and continue to.

Been a long day. Gently working through a delicious Nadorcott while listening to a Martin Scorsese presentation of The Blues. Produced by someone called Gibney. Alex of that ilk.

After a few hours of the Duane Allman collection, I’ve segued to one of his colleagues in that set, Eric Clapton. A decent box set covering his career. Right now I’m happily wandering through his Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Derek and the Dominoes years. Joyous.

Spending the morning listening to a few hours of Duane Allman in his different guises playing with different sets of musicians. Not just the Allmans, Derek/Dominoes and Delaney/Bonnie but Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Otis Rush, Boz Scaggs, the Dead, Laura Nyro, Clapton et al.

Time for some more @SteveWinwood. Today I felt like some Nine Lives, I don’t give this album enough attention. The Winwood-Godwin-Neto combination is strong.

Big fan of Alvin Lee. While I really enjoyed Ten Years After, I was truly enthralled by On The Road To Freedom, with Lee joined by Mylon Lefevre. This sort-of-follow up didn’t hit me quite as hard, though I still like it a lot. Some wonderful treatments eg TYA’s Love Like A Man

My copy of Here and Now has a brilliant second disc. It contains live versions of Ventura Highway, Don’t Cross The River, Daisy Jane, I Need You, Tin Man, Muskrat Love, Woman Tonight, Only In Your Heart, Lonely People, Sandman, Sister Golden Hair, A Horse With No Name. Majestic.

Starting Saturday the way I mean to carry on. A gentle foray into early Dead, probably a bit more out-there than anything else they recorded. Still very enjoyable, though it took me a little while to get adjusted. A few listens fifty-odd years ago did the trick.

I “circle” back to this album regularly. An all-acoustic concert, involving two of my favourite musicians and nobody else, choosing some of their favourite songs (and mine as well). The album turns 56 this coming week. Such a pleasure to listen to. A privilege.

Yes, another compilation. Listening to this album for the second time in a few weeks. Love @SteveWinwood. Given the sheer length of his career, collections that span his different existences make sense. A lovely album.

Sergeant Pepper is an 129-day album from which I learn something new every time. Magnificent. Mahatma Gandhi (erased) and Hitler (sidelined) before final shot. Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, recorded during the 129 days, but not on album, released as a double A sided single.