Tune Tag #37 with Jeremy Shatan of "AnEarful" Pt. 2: The Verve, Blondie, Roosevelt, Antonio Carlos Jobim, FaltyDL, Mary Timony, Faye Webster
The song-span of this bird is a jaw-dropping 60 years! From 1965 to just a few weeks ago, our time pieces of choice run the gamut from an encyclopedia to a stop-watch!
Hey, Jeremy! TAG! YOU’RE IT!
Tune Tag again welcomesof “AnEarful”!
A self-described “music obsessive” born in New York, Jeremy describes his Substack as “Giving you an earful about an omnivorous array of music, from cutting edge sounds by living composers to new (and old) classics in rock, folk, hip hop, pop, R&B, reggae, jazz, global, and more. Established 2009.”👉https://linktr.ee/anearful
Feel free to read, subscribe, and get “AnEarful” from Jeremy by clicking here!
✨This just in! Jeremy is fresh from Record Store Day Crate diggin’! Dig in, here!
Plus, check out Jeremy’s first Tune Tag from October ‘23 by clicking here!
Last week,
of TALES & RANTS joined us for Tune Tag:
Next week,
of BrittaRiffindots tags tunes for Tune Tag #38!
Jeremy’s song #1 sent to Brad: Faye Webster, “Underdressed at the Symphony,” 2024
Jeremy’s rationale: My first song was “Underdressed At The Symphony,” the title track from Faye Webster’s latest album. I shared it for two simple reasons: I’m obsessed with it (and the whole album), and it’s a 2024 release.
I’m always aiming to keep things up to the minute! As I wrote in A Song For Friday: Faye Webster, “Now, she has released the absolutely addictive “Underdressed At The Symphony,” which finds her and her regular collaborator, Drew Vandenberg, both smoothing out her sound further, leaning into lounginess, and pumping up the drama.
“After the thrill of hearing her sing with a live orchestra on 2022’s brilliant Car Therapy Sessions EP, it’s even more delightful to hear the strings and a bombastic piano nearly turn the title track into a miniature radio play…just one great moment among many.”
Brad’s song #1 sent to Jeremy: The Verve, “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” 1997
Jeremy’s response: Then, Brad hit me with that old (overplayed) chestnut from The Verve, “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” which I always thought was a great hook (borrowed from Jagger/Richards/Oldham) in search of a song. With 25 years separating “Underdressed” and “Bitter Sweet,” I’m going to assume that Brad picked it just because it had the word “Symphony” in the title, and not because any behind-the-scenes folks worked on both songs.
Brad’s rationale: Who…….? Me? Yep. “Symphony” for the devil: According to RadioX.co.uk, “The instrumental backing to the track was sampled from a symphonic version of The Rolling Stones’ ‘The Last Time,’ which was recorded in 1965 by the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra and arranged by David Whitaker.”
Why did the Stones sue The Verve? Accounts differ. According to this Wiki page, “The Verve negotiated rights to use the ‘Last Time’ sample from the copyright holder, Decca Records. However, they did not obtain permission from the Rolling Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein, who owned the copyrights to their pre-1970 songs, including ‘The Last Time.’”
Read the above link for the whole story, and where it stands now. Suffice to say, as of April 2019, Jagger and Richards agreed to return the “Bitter Sweet Symphony” royalties and songwriting credits to The Verve lead singer, Richard Ashcroft.
Jeremy’s song #2: Kenyon Hopkins, “Hard Latin,” 1965
Brad’s response: 1965….the year this soundtrack came out, and the year The Andrew Loog Oldham Symphony recorded their symphonic “The Last Time.”
Jeremy’s rationale: Sticking with the theme of obsessions, I’ve been a Kenyon Hopkins (above) fan for decades now, considering him among the crème de la crème of soundtrack composers. For whatever reason, he’s never gotten the respect of someone like Henry Mancini, whom I also love, but that just compels me to talk about him more and share his music at every opportunity!
After getting The Verve song, I remembered that some of Hopkins’ albums had come out on the legendary Verve label, known for its incredible jazz catalog, not to mention The Velvet Underground. So I picked one of Hopkins’ coolest tracks, “Hard Latin,” from the soundtrack to the now-forgotten 1966 James Garner flick, Mr. Buddwing. Someday I’d like to see the movie!
Brad’s song #2: Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Agua de Beber,” 1965
Jeremy’s response: Brad volleyed back with one of Jobim’s greatest songs, the thirst-quenching “Agua de Beber.” So fantastic...Jobim was a genius! While I love the version Brad shared, my favorite is probably the Jobim/Sinatra collaboration. They just had such chemistry:
As for why Brad chose this absolute gem, my first guess is that it’s for the Latin connection. While bossa nova has roots in Brazil and cha cha, from which Kenyon Hopkins draws in his track, and has Cuban origins, they would be classified under the umbrella term, “Latin music” - for better or worse. My second guess is that the Jobim recording features arrangements by Nelson Riddle (a longtime Sinatra arranger, as well), who also did music for movies and TV and used some similar approaches to the music of Kenyon Hopkins.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Front Row & Backstage to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.