bedsitter23

It’s an undeniable classic from when you hear those first words “Wise men say...”. Elvis is and was the Worlds Greatest Performer and in 1961 back from the army and into Hollywood, he had a level of stardom mere mortals can only imagine

It’s probably no wonder against that back drop, Presley delivers a song with a vulnerability that few other singers could ever match.

The song is a juxtaposition of the beloved singer who leaves the stage and the adoring crowds for a lonely backstage. It’s as striking of an image as any in pop music. Elvis seemingly knew this since he used the song as his finale for years. It would be the closer of some of his most famous concerts and was the final song of the last concert he ever performed.

The song only went to #2, denied by “The Peppermint Twist”. It was originally “Can’t Help Falling in Love with Him” by a team writers who had a hand in writing or producing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, “What a Wonderful World”, “Shout”, “I will Follow Him” and “Twistin the Night Away”

I would be lying if I didn’t say one of my favorite songs of the 90s was the cover by UB40. Featured in some terrible 90s movies like Sliver and Speed 2, it would go to #1 on the charts. I can’t place my finger on why I love their version, but I am sure it’s not only the horns, but how they play against Ali Campbell’s croon that make it work (as they did on Al Green’s “Here I Am”) Pure ear candy.

Almost simultaneously in 1993, Bono started singing the song. It fit well into what he was trying to do with Macphisto and Zoo TV. His solo version would appear on the soundtrack to Honeymoon in Vegas. It’s a barely two minute fragment with Bono overlaid on an Elvis interview about a favorite poem.

What I like about the Bono version is the opposite of the Elvis version. Bono sounds so insincere. It is likely Macphisto’s finest moment. It is no coincidence that this takes place as Bono was spending time in Frank Sinatra worship. The singer of the song has sung the song so many times, he is simply going through the motions. He is the beloved matinee idol decades on, still lonely as ever at the end of the day outliving his friends and lovers. Like the Beatles performing “Your Mother Should Know” in the Magical Mystery Tour, they are all entertainers who are not permitted to do anything else but entertain.

There are many versions of this song including Arlo Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Stereogum gives a fairly definitive (and incredibly diverse list) which includes The Stylistics, Cameo, Klaus Nomi, Pearl Jam, 21 Pilots, Beck and Zayn Malik.

Lydia Lunch is an artist that occasionally will pop up on my radar. She has also amassed a career that is nothing short of amazing.

She started out in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, which appeared on the compilation "No New York", effectively creating a genre called "No Wave" and infleuncing noise rock permanently.

In the 1980s, she pushed the limits of music, collaborating with like minded folks like the Birthday Party, Sonic Youth, Foetus, and others, and was making her own recordings, writing books through her own press, and making indie films. Essentially, what she was doing in the 80s was paving the way for the trends of the 90s (self-publishing, indie movies, spoken word). To the point, in the 90s, even DC Comics was having her write (through Vertigo, with Toxic Gumbo).

So her credentials are bona fide. Checking in with Lunch in recent years, she has gotten a lot of acclaim for working with a guitarist named Cypress Grove. Grove is probably best known as a devotee of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, became a collaborator with Pierce, and has championed Pierce's music, as a driving force in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Session Project- three albums of which people like Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, Mark Lanegan and others.

It's faint credit though just to label Grove a Pierce disciple. He's a very accomplished and unique musician in his own right. he weaves in blues and Spanish folk and the kind of Americana that you would find in the likes of Nick Cave and some other Lunch cohorts.

2014's collab A Fistful of Desert Blues was a critical hit which brough Lunch back on to my radar, and strong proof that she is still going strong in her 4th decade of music. So i was interested in checking out her split LP (with Grove) with Italian neofolksters Spiritual Front, Especially, as it featured Lunch covering "Hotel California".

I wasn't familiar with Spiritual Front, but I have really been interested in neofolk (or apocalyptic folk, if you prefer) for the last few years, and especially digging through the back catalog of Current 93.

For me, it combines the folk and goth genres that I love, much in the way of combining say Fairport Convention and Sisters of Mercy. Of course, although this genre is right down my alley, I found out that like every genre, 95% of it's crap. Current 93 and others like Sol invictus may be masters, but they are the exception, not the rule. Which of course, it is with all genres.

Also, this genre uncomfortably seems to draw in a lot of people who seem to be interested in say Ernst Rohm, some more explicitly into nazi regalia, while others uncomfortably just blur the edge. That's a bit unsettling.

I wasn't familiar with Spiritual Front, but they do seem to be pretty good at what they do, and as far as I can tell aren't explictly Right wing. Like industrial music (which neofolk seems to pair up with quite well, which may be ironic, but quiet is the new loud, and like metal and goth, you have to play it straight, and sometimes it lends to parody).

In any case, Twin Horses, the collab LP hasn't got the buzz that Fistful of Desert blues has, which is probably fair. It's nothing spectacular. The SF stuff I do like, including a cover of WASP's "L.O.V.E. Machine" done as a goth dirge.

As far as "Hotel California", i really wanted to like it. it seems on the surface, perfect. All the Crowley-influenced lyrics delivered as near spoken word by Lunch; but I suspect it's familiarism. The joke gets played out. if everyone wasn't so well acquainted with the song, it would probably work, but since we know what is coming, it seems like a joke,

The rest of the Lunch/Grove stuff is of various quality- some strong, some forgettable. Over all, this LP is one that will probably not make a Favorite Album list at the end of the year, but is a bit of a nice diversion to spend time with.