BRUFORD: FEELS GOOD TO ME (1977)
1) Beelzebub; 2) Back To The
Beginning; 3) Seems Like A Lifetime Ago (part 1); 4) Seems Like A Lifetime Ago
(part 2); 5) Sample And Hold; 6) Feels Good To Me; 7) Either End Of August; 8)
If You Can't Stand The Heat; 9) Springtime In Siberia; 10) Adios A La Pasada.
Be it Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, or even Phil
"How The Hell Did I End Up Behind A Drum Kit When I'd Always Wanted To Be
The Beatles?" Collins, you do not usually
hold high expectations for a drummer's solo career, no matter how many bonus
points he gets in the agility department. Drummers do not tend to make good
songwriters, are usually terrible at singing (a few exceptions like Levon Helm
just proving the rule), and have an inferiority complex because they never get
laid as much as the front man or the lead guitarist. For that reason, the world
did not exactly hold its breath when, after the next demise of King Crimson,
the newly freed Bill Bruford announced that, after all those years of loyal
servitude to Yes and Robert Fripp, he would finally start up a band of his own
— simply called «Bruford» for short.
The good news was that he'd managed to assemble
a somewhat spectacular lineup: Dave Stewart (of Canterbury's Hatfield and the
North and National Health fame) on keyboards, Allan Holdsworth (of Soft
Machine fame, although he only played there for a short time) on lead guitar,
and former violinist Jeff Berlin on bass; additional guests on the band's first
album included Brand X's John Goodsall on rhythm guitar, jazz pro Kenny Wheeler
on flugelhorn, and dreamy-eccentric-avantgarde artist Annette Peacock on
vocals. All the compositions were credited either to Bruford alone or to the
Bruford/Stewart team — but it goes without saying that composition is not the
most important aspect on most of these tracks.
The best thing that can be said about the
record is that, although it is technically
a «fusion» album, it is by no means a generic, predictable one. It does share
certain similarities with Brand X's Unorthodox
Behaviour, released a year earlier — jazz-fusion at the core, yet with
numerous melodic overtones that reflect the drummers' earlier symphonic-prog
experience. But it goes even further than Brand X, because the addition of
Annette Peacock to this lineup gives the music an extra
romantic-philosophical-mystical dimension: the lengthy tracks on which she is
given enough freedom (ʽBack To The Beginningʼ and especially the closing ʽAdios
A La Pasadaʼ, which she co-wrote) are easily the best on the record. On ʽBack
To The Beginningʼ, she is placed unusually high in the mix (so much so that you
can easily get a jump when the vocals burst out of the speakers), and her
avantgarde jazz singing is actually the least normal thing on the track — the
sheer contrast between the free modulation of her voice and the strict fusion
groove of the music should count as a psychedelic experience.
On ʽAdios A La Pasadaʼ, most of the time she
does not even sing, but just delivers a half-spoken monologue, while Stewart
and Holdsworth are trying to give the album a suitably grand-epic conclusion,
the former emulating a symphonic orchestra and the latter trying to combine
speedy technique with an expression of total joy at the perspective of riding
into the unknown, if you know what I mean. However, without those vocals, this
would still largely be just a tight
fusion jam with symphonic overtones — Peacock's performance gives it more soul
than anything else. Likewise, the first (ballad) part of ʽSeems Like A Lifetime
Agoʼ, where her singing is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, is clearly more
memorable and evocative than the second one, where the vocals go away and we
are just left with the fusionists having their fusionist fun.
Not that it is impossible to have your fun
along with them: after all, these are
musicians of the highest caliber, and the rhythm section of Bruford and Berlin
alone will occasionally tear you off the ground (check out, for instance, the
coda of ʽIf You Can't Stand The Heatʼ, when Stewart and Berlin are playing a
complex riff in unison and Bruford is gently, but firmly supporting them with a
tricky time signature — it's playful, but dazzling). Also, ʽSpringtime In
Siberiaʼ is largely just a melancholic jazz ballad, completely given over to
the piano and the flugelhorn, sounding like something off an early Coltrane
record (and yes, springtime can be a particularly lovely time in Siberia
indeed, although it depends). But it is difficult for me to qualify this as an
«average» or an «excellent» fusion record on the whole, as I tend to get lost
in this genre a little — it always goes for «technique» and «feel» over
«meaningful melody», and my bet is usually on meaningful melodies, which,
unsurprisingly, here largely coincide with the presence of the lady singer.
The title track, I must say, feels a wee bit
corny rather than good, almost as if they were trying to make a catchy,
clap-along «fusion-pop» ditty here, with a silly-cheerful synth tone and with
the rhythmic pattern occasionally lapsing into ska. This might irritate veteran
fusion fans and prog aficionados alike, or maybe even bring to mind unnecessary
associations with early Eighties' Genesis (of the Duke variety). However, the tune is not at all representative of
either the real fusion or the real progressive parts of the record, and can be
taken or left at will.
The general verdict should be positive — no,
the album does not exactly shatter the anti-solo-drummer prejudice, but as a
tasteful divertissement with a twist,
Feels Good To Me is probably much
better than it could have been, had Bruford assembled a less talented team or
had he decided to completely subjugate himself to the fusion formula.
Ironically, though, despite uniting the drummer from two of the decade's most
innovative bands and the keyboardist from two of the decade's most crazyass innovative bands, the album
feels totally conservative compared to all of those — then again, it was 1977, and most of the people who
were on the cutting edge in the early Seventies had already blunted their
powers, at the speed they were moving at. Regardless, a well-deserved thumbs up
for the effort is perfectly in order.
I'd say that Don Henley, preachy and evil as he may be, is also one of those drummers that is an exception to the rule...
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget Karen Carpenter. Or (arguably) Madonna. Or relatively more recently Regine Chassagne. And didn't Van Morrison pick up the sticks from time to time?
DeleteI always loved the way Peter Rivera of Rare Earth sang. Really good drummer too.
ReplyDeleteRobert Wyatt anyone? (Of course one could point out his solo career only started in earnest after he lost the use of his legs and thus the ability to drum.)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah--Mr. Wyatt. Well he could and did continue to drum with his hands; and you know Sir Paul and Dr. Phil. Anyhoodle, based on hearing him interviewed, I'm pretty sure the male spoken reciting of the refrane on Back to the beginning is Bill Bruford; although I've not seen such credit scribed anywhere. Sample and Hold has also got an excellent harmonic minor melody.
ReplyDeleteSir Paul if we're talkin musical polymaths who could also play drums quite well; although there are plenty of fine leed singers out there who are among these: Stevie Wonder, Steve Windwood, and Peter Gabriel jump to mind.
ReplyDelete