Ears Like a Hawke
Let's Connect!! --->>>
  • Home
  • Song of the Day
  • Album Reviews
  • Artist Studies
    • Steely Dan
  • Industry Happenings
  • Friends of the Hawke

Darondo - Listen To My Song: The Music City Sessions

5/7/2012

3 Comments

 
Picture
Spotify Listen Link: Darondo – Listen To My Song: The Music City Sessions


I know little if anything of Darondo other than what these bios can tell me. William Pulliam is described as a soulful crooner from Berkeley, CA who got his first guitar at the age of eight. Even though he trained as an electrician, the guy could not ignore his musical aspirations (in some odd way, that's encouraging personally). In 1970, he cut his first single as Darondo, being described as an "earthier, street-smart Al Green."

After his third single, "Legs," this guy's career came to a screeching halt. He was a pimp for the majority of the remaining decade, then began hosting a local cable series of showcases in 1981. By the late 80's, after a traveling stint to Fiji, he returned to Berkeley to study physical therapy. His music has still remained a treasure to collectors though, being so rare and coming from a man who let go so early. 

This album includes the three singles, as well as cuts from the sessions of the early 70's.  Apparently in 2005, the sessions were brought up for enhancement over in the Bay Area, and he was brought in to fill in some missing vocals and guitar parts. He was said to have certainly not lost his touch, and, as music tends to, was pulled back in by the inspiration of the song.


"I Don't Understand It" starts things off, and the vocals are just barely understandable. Granted, this is a funk album, so that's not completely the point, but it does make the track harder to handle. It's not the recording that causes it either - every other element is crystal clear. It the laziness in the voice that prevents us from knowing about half of the words of the song. Though, honestly, I'm not sure there are very many other words than "baby" and a hastily mumbled "I don't understand it."

Well, hopefully that's not a sign of things to come. Track two is "I'm Gonna Love You" and starts off with a very rock beat lead in, almost reminiscent of "Light My Fire." Still can't totally understand the words as they come out, but now I'm desperately trying to ignore that fact. The music's pretty good in itself. The beat's really done well with the drum set, and the horns provide the right umph in all the right places. If you can hear beyond the words themselves, you're probably in good shape.

"Didn't I" comes up next, led in with a gentle funk guitar strum, just enough to get your foot tapping. The vocals are a few more octaves up, and so much easier to understand than the previous songs have been. You can imagine this guy crooning into a mic to the girl to didn't appreciate his attempts at making her happy. There's a lower voice that comes in under it, which is all right, but a little jaunting at first. The attempts at harmonies as it plays on are pretty nice, without being over the top in flash and show. The song as a whole is just lighter and easier on the ears.

Well we just got slapped in the face with some funk guitar heading into "Luscious Lady." Now this is what I'm talkin' about when we're trying to look at some good 70's funk. I think there's a line that goes something like "pretty little thing - I wanna bite yah" that I'm going to choose to ignore a little. The song's not clear, but it's not so muffled that you're struggling to enjoy it. The horns keep up so much of the beat that you'd almost want to group them in with the percussion section. Things drop out toward the end and wind down so damn well.

"Get Up Off Your Butt" is, by all accounts, meant to be a dance song. It's six minutes long, which could be a little much for a funk song, even when it's meant for the dance floor. We loose his voice again for most of the words, but it's pretty unnecessary for such a number. Actually, I'd almost venture to call it intrusive - just let us feel the groove and play your guitar bro!

Back to a shorter track, we get "Gimmie Some." Bah, this just gets really annoying. There's this good funkadelic guitar riff throughout, but it's not anything I'd want to hear over and over just because of the voice. It's one thing to pull in some falsetto for emphasis, but it's a whole other to rely on it throughout an entire track. It just makes things sort of rough on all of us.

"I'm Lonely" is much more up the style of the 70's croon, where there's not one voice by-itself, and the harmonies are pretty high up there on the scale. It does break down to just Darondo, who basically sounds like he's crying it out throughout the song. This is... ouch. I've seen breakdowns toward the end of songs, but never one that takes up the entire number. I get that you're hurting dude, but this is just torture on us all! Get up and get over it... please?

I seriously thought "Biddy Biddy Bum Bum" was playing when I was walking back toward my room during "Do You Really Love Me." He's asking for a definite confirmation - I mean, he does include a number of reallys in the actual question during the song. The music itself is actually just slightly off from the funk we've been experiencing. This time it's got a flute line throughout that almost says hippy outdoor jam fest, keeping up a nice wave-y dance feel. Mind you though - he's still going on about being lonely. Oi vey, this guy is sort of really sad.

"The Wolf" brings the tone way back down, telling the story of this old man and his memories. I don't totally know what this is about, given how I still can't understand half of what this guy's going on about. Funny thing is, this guy's voice, combined with Sam Bush's looks, are exactly the combo that a guy from home is. I don't consider this to be a compliment, because he doesn't live up to Sam Bush in regards to looks or talent nearly enough, and we know that's the better half.

In an extremely 60's/70's sounding pop-funk song, the next one is "Saving My Love." His voice is all sorts of up and down throughout the spectrum, never sticking to one octave for more than a few sentences, and usually traveling throughout in one line. The best part is probably this saxophone break around 1:30 that goes by entirely too fast, but at least it's there. It's some of the strongest horn playing I've heard on the album, both in playing and volume. It happens again around 2:30 as well. Now, if only we could ditch the words, we could have a pretty neat song on our hands here.

"Listen To My Song" is the title track and next one on the docket. There's what I suppose is supposed to be sexy, low talking at the start, but it's hard to make out any of the words (or maybe even want to at this point). Some of the notes are just right, but so many are so, so very wrong. This is bad karaoke at its finest, and does absolutely nothing good for the album as it stands on its title track-ness. Anywhos, the visuals for it are pretty funny - relive the hey days with me y'all:


Yay, finally, what I've actually been looking for - Charles Bradley-esq funk music. "King's Man" screams of roots in a way I expected but have been missing throughout this album. Of course the vocals aren't crisp, but who the hell expects that anymore from this guy? Maybe letting go of that will help me like the whole thing so much more. Okay... trying... trying.. bah, it's tough. At least this time it works just a little more with the music, making everything so much more tolerable. Damn it, now I want to see Budos again...

"Question Mark" is slow. Way slow. And it's a lot of whining - that's the only way I can really put it. This almost feels like a part two for "I'm Lonely." At least though, I can tell you picturing this guy in the studio at work is totally easy. I mean, picture this: a tall, skinny black man, staying and swaying at the mic like Ray Charles, but without the right groove or feel for the music. His eyebrows totally go up as me sings the high notes (ugh, stupid literal visual of a head voice) and he tries man, he really, really tries.

Alright, alright, we've got a redeeming guitar line going to "Qualified." This is good man, real good. This whole letting go of the vocals aspect is sort of nice, at least for this track where the instruments are pretty much playing the epitome of funk rhythms. He really doesn't say too much either! Ahhh, a nice relief to the ears.

"Sexy Mama" sounds entirely familiar, so if it's a cover, someone help me out and let me know. It's obviously a complimentary song. It's also a pretty simple one where the beat remains constant throughout every portion of the band. He does drop low for a few notes that actually is a little startling, but when you get used to it, it's not exactly bad, just different. I can give this one some credit - it's classic and groovy in just the way it needs to and should be, if four nothing else than to provide some redemption for this album.

The final song is "Thank You God." I mean, it's an appropriate ending - I can't understand a damn thing he's really saying (damn was probably the wrong word choice - I maybe can hear him thanking the Father). It's a slow mover, I'm guessing just meant to be a closer to the album. This may be blasphemous, but this song really needs to be over. It's just not very good.


Added to My Playlist:
  • "Luscious Lady"
  • "Qualified"

Okay, well, that's over. It wasn't absolute torture, but it was a tough one. Have to say though, it's always interesting hear the roots of any genre from any point in time / part of the country if for nothing else than to learn where things came from. At least there was that.

3 Comments
    Google
    Custom Search

    Author

    My name's Janelle. I'm a fan of music.

    Archives

    January 2017
    January 2016
    December 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011

    Categories

    All
    10000 Reasons
    18 Months
    1968
    1978
    1982
    1984
    1995
    1996
    2003
    2007
    2008
    2009
    2010
    2011
    2012
    2012 Grammy Special
    2012 Grammys Special
    2013
    2013 Grammys Special
    2014
    2015
    2015 Grammys Special
    2016
    2016 Grammys Special
    2017 Grammys Special
    21
    2478fcc7c85e9
    2 Chainz
    33 1/3
    4
    4x4129e74cfccd9
    6b17225b62
    80s
    Acoustic
    Adele
    A Different Kind Of Truth
    A Different Ship
    A Dramatic Turn Of Events
    Adult Alternative
    Afro Cuban
    Ahmad Jamal
    A Holiday Carole
    Aimee Mann
    Alabama Shakes
    Album Review
    Album Reviews
    Album Title Goes Here239d00844a
    Alexander Glazunov
    Alex Storer
    Al Jarreau
    All Rebel Rockers
    Alternative
    Alternative Folk
    Alternative Hip Hop
    Alternative Rock
    Al Walser
    Ambiant
    Americana
    Amy Winehouse
    Anakin
    And If Our God Is For Us44b8fff38b
    Andrae Crouch
    Andrew Davis
    Anthrax
    Arabia Mountain
    Area 52
    Arrow
    Art Rock
    Artuno Sandoval
    Arun Shenoy
    Astral Weeks
    Avicii
    Bach
    Bad Jokes
    Bangarang
    Barbara Streisand
    Barbra Streisand
    Baroque Pop
    Barton Hallow
    Based On A T.r.u. Story
    Bbc Philharmonic
    Belmont
    Benny Benassi
    Best Of
    Best Song Written For Visual Media
    Beyonce
    Big Beat
    Big Krit
    Biophilia
    Bjork
    Black And White
    Black Taxi
    Blake Shelton
    Blind Pilot
    Blood Bank
    Blood Pressures
    Blueeyed Soul05b96abb11
    Bluegrass
    Blue Moon
    Blues
    Blues Rock
    Blunderbuss
    Body And Soul
    Body Talk Pt 3
    Bond The Paris Sessions40ce2eefdd
    Bon Iver
    Bonnaroo
    Bonnaroo Special
    Bonnie Raitt
    Booker T Jones9ee767620b
    Born Free
    Born This Way
    Bowen
    Boys & Girls
    Bozza Nova
    Brahms
    Break The Spell
    Brian Setzer
    Bring It On Home
    Britt Nicole
    Broadway
    Brothers Osborne
    Bruce Springsteen
    Bruno Mars
    California 37
    Calvin Harris
    Camp
    Canton Jones
    Carly Rae Jepsen
    Carole King
    Ccm
    Cee Lo Green
    Celtic Punk
    Ceremonials
    Chaal Baby
    Channel Orange
    Charlie Wilson
    Cheif
    Cherub
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Section
    Childish Gambino
    Choral
    Chris Botti
    Christian Pop
    Christian Pop Rock
    Christmas
    Chris Tomlin
    Cinema
    Circles Around Me
    City And Colour
    Classic
    Classical
    Cloud Maintenance
    Coheed And Cambria
    Coldplay
    Cole World: The Sideline Story
    Come Around Sundown
    Comeback
    Comedy
    Comedy Rock
    Cool Jazz
    Cosmogramma
    Country
    Cso Resound - Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Live
    Cuban
    Cut/Copy
    Daft Punk
    Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
    Dance
    Dance Pop
    Dance-pop
    D'angelo And The Vanguard
    Danger Mouse
    Daniele Luppi
    Danny Brown
    Darondo
    Das Racist
    Daughtry
    Dave Koz
    Davenport Cabinet
    David Guetta
    Dawes
    Deadmau5
    Dean Taylor
    Dear Diz (every Day I Think Of You)
    Delta Spirit
    Derek And The Dominos
    Diddy-Dirty Money
    Dispatch
    Dispatch Ep
    Dj
    Dominionaire
    Donald Lawrence And The Company
    Don't Think
    Doo-wop
    Doo-Wops & Hooligans
    Dream Theater
    Dr John
    Dubstep
    Duck Sauce
    Duets Ii
    Duets With The Dames
    Dylan Connor
    Ed Sheeran
    El Camino
    El Debarge
    Electric Blues
    Electro House
    Electronic
    Electronica
    Electronic Dance Music
    Electronic Music
    Electronic Rock
    Electropop
    Elephant
    Elvis Costello
    Ema
    Eminem
    Eric Benet
    Eric Church
    Erin Mclendon
    Eurodance
    Experimental
    Experimental Rock
    Feist
    Female
    Film Soundtrack
    Fire & Ice
    Fitz And The Tantrums
    Flogging Molly
    Florence + The Machine
    Flower Punk
    Flying Lotus
    Folk
    Folk Blues
    Folk-Noise
    Folk Rock
    Follow Me Down
    Foo Fighters
    For The Good Times
    Foster The People
    Four Hands & A Heart
    Frank Ocean
    Frank Sinatra
    Fruit Bats
    Fun
    Funk
    Funk Rock
    Fusion
    Future Worlds
    Futuristic Soul
    Gaia
    Garage
    Garage Punk
    Gerald Albright
    Gerald Clayton
    Gillian Welch
    Glee Cast
    Glee The Music The Christmas Album Value 2
    Glossary
    Gold
    Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
    Gorillaz
    Gospel
    Gotye
    Greatest Hits... So Far!
    Hands All Over
    Hard Rock
    Harry Connick Jr.
    Heartless Bastards
    Heavy Metal
    Hello Fear
    Hello Tomorrow
    Here We Go Magic
    Heroes
    Hip Hop
    Hip-hop
    Holiday
    Home Again
    Horse Power Ep
    House
    Hugh Laurie
    Hunter Hayes
    I Can't Live Without You
    Impressions
    I'm With You
    In Concert On Broadway
    Indie
    Indie Folk
    Indie Pop
    Indie Rock
    Industrial Metal
    Instrumental
    Instrumental Rock
    Irish Pop
    Jack Bruce
    Jack Bruce & His Big Blues Band: Live 2012
    Jack White
    James Durbin
    Jamie Grace
    Jay-Z And Kanye West
    Jazz
    Jazz Fusion
    Jazz Pop
    J. Cole
    Jeff Beck
    Joan Osborne
    Joe Jackson
    ... Just A Matter Of Time
    Just Charlie
    Kaleidoscope Dream
    Kanye West
    Karen Elson
    Kaskade
    Kathleen Edwards
    Katy Perry
    Kelly Clarkson
    Kevin Hearn
    K Flay
    Khaira Arby
    Kid Rock
    Kim Burrell
    Kings Of Leon
    Kirk Franklin
    Kirtan
    Kiss
    Kisses On The Bottom
    Krishna Das
    Kristjan
    Lady Gaga
    Larry Carlton
    Lasers
    Last Train To Paris
    Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
    Leaving Richmond
    Leonard Cohen
    Let Them Talk
    Levels
    Lioness: Hidden Treasures
    Listen To My Song: The Music City Sessions
    Little Broken Hearts
    Little Hell
    Live
    Live Anada
    Live At Cecil Sharp House Ep
    Live At The Blue Note Tokyo
    Live At The Royal Albert Hall
    Live From Beyond Hell Above Heaven
    Live From The Underground
    Lmfao
    Locked Down
    Long Live All Of Us
    Lost In Time
    Loud
    Lounge
    Love Letter
    Lupe Fiasco
    Making Mirrors
    Man In Motion
    Marie Naffah
    Mark Ronson
    Maroon 5
    Mastodon
    Matt Redman
    Megadeth
    Melody Gardot
    Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster
    Metal
    Metals
    Michael Brandt Demaria
    Michael Buble
    Michael Franti & Spearhead
    Michael Kiwanuka
    Middle Eastern
    Midnight Boom
    Miguel
    Mistaken Identity
    Mom Dad0e99b45cc3
    More Monsters And Sprites Ep
    Mto Plays Sly
    Mumford And Sons
    Muse
    Music Is Better Than Words
    My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
    Mylo Xyloto
    Neo-prog
    Neo Soul
    N.E.R.D.
    Nero
    New Age
    New Music Friday
    New Music Tuesday
    New Prog
    New Wave
    New York City
    Nicki Minaj
    Nico Osborne
    Night And Day
    Nightmare Revisited
    Nine Types Of Light
    No
    Norah Jones
    Norman Brown
    Nothing
    Nothing But The Beat
    Nothing Is Wrong
    Old Ideas
    Once: A New Musical
    One Song At A Time
    Original Broadway Cast Recording
    Our Machine
    Outlaw Country
    Overexposed
    Parody
    Past Life Martyred Saints
    Pat Metheny
    Paul Mccartney
    Peter Kater
    Piano
    Pickin' Up The Pieces
    Pink Friday
    Pitbull
    Planet Pit
    P!nk
    P!nk
    Pop
    Pop Instrumental
    Pop Punk
    Pop Rock
    Pop Vocal
    Port Of Morrow
    Post-Britpop
    Post-grunge
    Post-hymnal Anthematic
    Post-Punk
    Post-punk Revival
    Power Metal
    Power Pop
    Primal Fear
    Progressive Bluegrass
    Progressive House
    Progressive Metal
    Protest
    Psychedelic Rock
    Pub Rock
    Punk Rock
    Rachel Platten
    Radioactive
    Radiohead
    Random Accessed Memories
    Random Discoveries
    Rap
    Rare Groove
    Rave On Buddy Holly
    R&B
    R&b
    Recommendations
    Red Baraat
    Red Hot Chili Peppers
    Red River Blue
    Reggae
    Reggaefusion
    Relax
    Remixes
    Requests
    Richard King
    Rihanna
    Ringo 2012
    Ringo Starr
    Rize Of The Fenix
    R. Kelly
    Robyn
    Rock
    Rock And Roll
    Rock 'N' Roll Party Honoring Les Paul
    Rock Opera
    Rodrigo Y Gabriela & C.U.B.A.
    Rolling Papers
    Romantic
    Rome
    Roses
    Royal Tailor
    Rumbadoodle
    Russian National Orchestra
    Sam Bush
    Sarah Jarosz
    Save The World
    Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
    Second Chance
    Seraphic Fire
    Seth Macfarlane
    Setzer Goes Intru-Mental!
    Shamrocks
    Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
    Shemekia Copeland
    Short Of The Sun
    Showtunes
    Sia
    Sigh No More
    Singer Songwriter
    Singer-songwriter
    Sixx:A.M.
    Ska
    Skrillex
    Slipstream
    Sludge Metal
    Smashing Pumpkins
    Smooth Jazz
    So Far
    Soja
    Solo Albums
    Some Nights
    Sorry For Party Rocking
    Soul
    Soul Time!
    Soundtrack
    Southern Hip Hop
    Southern Rock
    Special Edition Post
    Speed Of Darkness
    Standards
    Steampunk
    Steve Aoki
    Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra
    Stomp And Smash
    Stoner Rock
    Storm Corrosion
    Strange Mercy
    Stranger
    Strength To Survive
    Stronger
    St Vincent
    Sunshine Pop
    Susan Boyle
    Swedish House Mafia
    Synthpop
    Talk That Talk
    Techno
    Teenage Dream
    Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection
    Tenacious D
    Th1rt3en
    That's How We Roll
    That's Why God Made The Radio
    The 2nd Law
    The Absence
    The Antlers
    The Band Perry
    The Beach Boys
    The Bird And The Submarine
    The Black Keys
    The Black Lips
    The Bristol Sessions
    The Cars
    The Chemical Brothers
    The Chieftains
    The Civil Wars
    The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
    The Cranberries
    The Credins
    The Decemberists
    The Devil Makes Three
    The Edges Of Twilight
    The Fall
    The Ghost Who Walks
    The Gift
    The Harrow & The Harvest
    The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack
    The Hunter
    The Hybrid
    The Journey
    The Kills
    The King Is Dead
    The King Of Limbs
    The Lady Killer
    The Light Dreams
    The Little Willies
    The Lonely Island
    The Love Album
    The Lumineers
    The Metropole Orkest
    The Music City Story
    The Road To Memphis
    The Shins
    The Staves
    The Tea Party
    The Truth About Love
    The White Stripes
    Thrash Metal
    Together
    Tony Bennett And Various Artists
    Top 10
    Torches
    Traditional Pop
    Traditional Vocal
    Train
    Trance
    Tribute
    Trip-hop
    Tripper
    Tron: Legacy Reconfigured
    Turtleneck & Chain
    Tv On The Radio
    Tv Soundtrack
    Unbreakable
    Unique
    Until Now
    Valient Thorr
    Van Halen
    Van Morrison
    Various Artists
    Vernon Reid
    Voice Of Ages
    Volbeat
    Volume One
    Voyageur
    Wakey!wakey!
    Warren Haynes
    Wasting Light
    Watch The Throne
    We Are The Tide
    We Don't Know Any Better
    Weird Al
    Welcome Reality
    Weloveyoursongs.com Artists
    What It's All About
    What Matters Most
    When You're Through Thinking Say Yes
    White Denim
    Wild And Free
    Willie Nelson
    Wind Rock Sea And Flame
    Winner Selections
    Wiz Khalifa
    Wonderland
    World
    Worship Music
    Wrecking Ball
    Ya Rassoul
    Yelawolf
    Yellowcard
    Young The Giant
    YRM (Your Righteous Mind)
    Ziggy Marley
    Zonoscope

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.