You can always go downtown—again
One of the things that draws me to YouTube is its ability to collapse time.
I’ve written other posts before that use this then/now format, but I don’t really tire of it. So here’s another.
Petula Clark, then:
And now (she’s 80):
As for Clark’s singing, you may be surprised to learn that the great and greatly eccentric classical pianist Glenn Gould was quite taken with her.
So that thought can be a bridge to the idea that Gould also lends himself to YouTube time-traveling. His debut recording was made in 1955 at the ripe old age of 22, and it was of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. His final one, made shortly before his death at the age of 50, was of the very same piece.
I say “the very same piece.” But Gould made sure it sounded very different.
Here’s a YouTube video comparing the two versions. First we hear the opening Aria movement played by the young, uptempo, “buoyant” Gould. It runs almost twice as fast as the second, more contemplative version that follows. Then there’s a short interview with Gould on the difference between his two interpretations, in which he says (among other things):
I find that I recognized at all points, really, the fingerprints of the party responsible [the young Gould himself, of course]—I mean from a tactical standpoint, from a purely mechanical standpoint. So I recognized the fingerprint. But (and it is a very big but) I could not recognize, or identify with, the spirit of the person who made that recording. It really seemed like some other spirit had been involved, and as a consequence I was just very glad to be doing it again.
Carved onto Gould’s tombstone in Toronto’s Mt. Pleasant Cemetery are the first few measures of the Goldberg Variations—that is, the aria you hear on the above video.
Thanks for the memories.
Funny you should mention this. I’m a fan of Gould’s 1955 Goldbergs, and have had a copy of the 198? one for a while, but only a couple of days ago got around to listening to it. I hated it at first. The aria is painfully slow and very quiet, then he slams the opening of the first variation like he’s auditioning for a heavy metal band. Jarring to put it mildly. Later on there’s much to like, but I think I’m likely to prefer the earlier one overall, despite the fact that I’ve been informed that connoisseurs prefer the later.
Mac: I very much prefer the latter. It seems much deeper to me. The first seems more flashy but more shallow to me.
Although I’m no connoisseur.
“So that thought can be a bridge to the idea that Gould also lends himself to YouTube time-traveling.”
Or it could just be the cliff of a bottomless pit of Youtubing.
Very interesting. I prefer the earlier version.
I’m also a big fan of Rachel Podger, especially her recordings of the Bach Violin Sonatas and Partitas. She’s pretty young, and I’ve often wished I might live long enough to hear her interpretations of them when she grows older. They will no doubt change; one wonders how.
So… Glen Gould was a neo-neo-pianist? *grins*
Alright … since your topic here is music, and Youtube, and reprises (in the following case a shopworn standard), and since you have a number of us hairy chested, square jawed, guitar ownin’, types in your readership, I figured I’d drop this Youtube video off just in case anyone wanted to take a look at another amazing technical display. To say nothing of an obvious professional generosity flowing from what looks to be an almost bottomless well of talent.
Since you “quoted” Gould, I guess I should, paralleling, quote Bream or Parkening. But allow me to leave a link to this instead … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ7aYeU5V-w&feature=player_detailpage
Every guitarist I have shown this to recently, and I only came across it just the other day, has been “blown away”: blown away by what is clearly a trade show jam … captured on a video cam with a dying battery by a guy named Jay Cunningham.
To quote myself on a friend’s blog …
Note that Lage is playing an L5 acoustic. A design dating back to what, ’33 and before?
Thanks for that DNW. Excellent.
If you’re not familiar with it (you have to be of a certain age), you almost certainly will enjoy this: Al Dimeola, John McGlaughlin, and Paco de Lucia, in SF, some 30 plus years ago (Youtube link is to the entire 41 minute album; decent sound quality).
I’ve always regarded A Friday Night in San Francisco since it came out as one of the seminal, pure-guitar, albums of 6 string virtuosity.
@neoneocon Ah the memories. I was an over-imaginative romantically inclined teen with such a crush on Pet’ Clark; I’m pretty sure I recall seeing that original broadcast.
…she’s aged very, very well. 80? We should all be so fortunate.
Thanks!
Gould looks like John Travolta on that album cover.
@ davisbr,
Thanks for the link. I’ll take a look. A couple of the names are somewhat familiar to me. Did one of them, Dimeola, back Sinatra in his heyday?
The McGlauchlin name prompts a recollection of a “vishnu”, something or other. I think he may have been touted for his ability to hammer-note rapidly in the manner of Django.
You know, there are so many talented guitarists, and we tend to appreciate their work at different points. You could not have paid me to listen to anything with the name Joe Pass on it 20 years ago. Then, relatively recently, while driving with the radio on, I heard him backing Fitzgerald from some session recorded in the eighties(?) when I guess she was already quite elderly. I think the tune was “Girl Talk” of all things.
Maybe NPR has one or two redeeming features.
Neo,
Nice to hear Petula Clark. Seems to have come from an age of optimism. Good lord she has a tiny body … assuming her head is normal sized …
Wasn’t Glenn Gould notorious as an eccentric? For living on a diet of scrambled eggs?
DNW –
…one of the greatest guitar players of all (even now), that you might not have ever heard of: George Van Eps. The Grand Old Man of jazz guitar. A Segovia stature legend of the guitar.
Kay’s Fantasy (note: that is only one guitar you’re listening to and no, there’s no bass player, and no, it’s not dubbed lol …he was just sitting there playing with a percussionist)
I was maybe 16, a garage band wannabe rocker still struggling with bar chords lol, when I came across his album in a jazz rack in the Sac’ Tower Records.
GVE corrupted me lol; I totally changed directions. Listening to that album for the first time (about 1967 or so, ISTR), and reading the liner notes …I just couldn’t figure out how a 70-or-so year old could do all that in one pass with a single percussion accompanist using brushes on a hi-hat, or keeping the beat on a Sears catalog, and sound so very, very trio lol. Listen again, more closely: hear any string noise? Impeccable technique.
…google his name: I just discovered there’s a bunch of stuff of his out there I didn’t know existed (been years since I last tried tracking his stuff down: pre-Google era lol).
…for a long time after that GVE album (My Guitar sample) I couldn’t listen to practically anything without “hearing” technique lol.
Hmm. Since I studied by this guy’s books, I’ll include the link to a video by another major influence – Ted Greene – for your consideration too.
Neo, I’m hoping to find a free hour this weekend to listen to the 1955 recording. We’ll see if I change my mind…but that crashing intro to v1 is always going to irk me. (I’m not a performance connoisseur, either, btw: I always annoy my friends who are when I tell them that I’m usually more influenced by the quality of the recording than by the interpretation.)
That’s an awesome clip, DNW. No reason why one can’t like both Bach/Gould and, for instance, Eric Johnson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eu7ar5EKM
Davisbr,
Ok. I was wrong. The Sinatra sideman was apparently Al Viola, not Al Di Meola. Though I see in refreshing my memory as to who Van Eps was, that he did some of the same kind of work as Viola.
Your first link – with its virtuosity – puts me in vaguely in mind for some reason, of Angel Romero’s [more pop flavored and accessible] forays into jazz influenced ensemble work, what, a couple decades and more ago?
This conversation has reminded me, once again, of just how much real talent there is out there.
Mac says,
“No reason why one can’t like both Bach/Gould and, for instance, Eric Johnson …”
Or Robert Johnson.
For some reason I don’t recall that. An award winning song too. Nice Strat in pretty good shape for a maple fretboard model.
At first glance I thought he was the guitarist from the Robert Palmer/Power Station group. I had to look it up.
Thanks for the link.
Speaking of L5’s, I just priced a new one … very approximately: 16k from the custom shop. Or so I was told. The Wes Montgomery model – over 20k.
Treat them right guys. You never know how much they may be worth.
DNW: Mahavishnu John Mclaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer (Miami Vice).
Incredible Musicianship.
I remember “Downtown” when it was a hit and I was a kid in the 60s. But I think I like the recent version just as much, if not more.
On the other hand, I think I like Glenn Gould’s earlier version better. Then again, I’m not especially versed in classical music. Maybe if I had more experience with it, I might better appreciate the subtleties of the newer version.
Of course, I can’t discuss music without mentioning Bob Dylan. I do consider myself something of an expert in his music. Back in the 1960s, he was a young firebrand in his 20s, which is when he recorded much of his most famous work. Today he is 71 and he is still recording and touring. I try to see him whenever he is in my area, which is about once or twice a year. In his concerts he plays songs from all phases of his career. I guess he’s trying to satisfy as many of his fans as possible. But his live performances of his classic old songs are often very different from the familiar versions. Some of his older fans are nonplussed and confused.
As for me, I’ve said many times that I’d love to see a show consisting entirely of post-2000 songs. They’re that good. Screw the old stuff; I’ve heard that a million times. I want to hear his new stuff. How many “sixties legends” can you say that about?
rickl: I think that if you’re not familiar with the entirety of both of Glenn Gould’s versions—the ’55 and the ’81—it can be misleading. The aria on the video is just the beginning (and ending) movement, but there’s lots more. It’s a very long piece. I am familiar with both versions in their entirety and to me the later one is suffused with meaning and depth and the earlier one is just a technically brilliant race which is ultimately shallow. But I don’t think a person would get that from just the little bit you hear on the video.
I had some time today to search out Angel Romero, and in Angel Romero – Concierto de Aranjuez – Adagio (Complete) the thematic material he covers, and his technique very much reminds me of A Fri Nite in SF …its an adagio movement, and hence much more, shall we say, civilized? work lol …but that doesn’t hinder at all the video as a showpiece for his technical skills.
…very much worth a listen btw (while slowly sipping a robust Shiraz).
Ah. But you were referring more to this type of ensemble playing – Angel Romero plays Bolling Concerto 1 6 – perhaps?
davisbr Says
That is exactly the piece and the movement I had in mind.
🙂