by Erik R. Slagle
As Alice Cooper famously said, “School’s out for summer.” So, warmer weather is finally upon us. Spruce up your music library with some selections that can add a sunshine-y vibe to your workday!
Santana, “Moonflower”: A double album that blends the two sounds that defined Carlos Santana’s early years: Latin blues-rock and jazz fusion. Bright, fun, sometimes introspective, often danceable, it would be his last album to reach platinum status until the massive “Supernatural” two decades later.
Grateful Dead, “Shakedown Street”: To be fair, almost anything the Dead did could fit on this list. “Shakedown Street” earns the nod for its unique interpretation of the Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” and the smoky “Fire On the Mountain.” Critics pinged the Dead for subtly introducing a touch of disco to the title track, but that maybe only brightens its light springtime mood.
Cream, “Disraeli Gears”: Headed by “Strange Brew” and, of course, “Sunshine of Your Love”, this one also makes the list for its vivid, day-glo cover art.
Digable Planets, “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)”: Philadelphia-based Digable Planets hit it big with “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” in 1992. However, their debut album, “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space),” also features “Pacifics,” which was later co-opted for the soundtrack of the underground indie film “n.y. is Red Hot.” Built atop the sexy hook from Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Devika” (from the highly-recommended “Cosmic Funk and Spiritual Sounds” compilation), “Pacifics” is an unsung hero on an album that also features highlights like “Jimmi Digging Cats,” one of many songs that sample Kool and the Gang’s “Summer Madness;” “Nickel Bags,” when leans heavily on Edwin Starr’s “Easin’ In” and Herbie Mann’s “Push Push;” and “Last of the Spiddyocks,” an ode to past greats like Parker, Mingus and Powell, all lost much too soon to drug use.
Miles Davis, “On the Corner”: Critics panned it in 1972, but 50 years later it has reemerged as yet another landmark in the Miles Davis catalog. Its artwork evokes a warm, muggy summer in early 70s Harlem, and if you’re looking for something to dance to, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Herbie Hancock is front and center on many of the melodies in his last effort before his landmark “Headhunters” album. With “Corner,” Davis had laid the groundwork for the hip-hop and jungle genres that would explode from the same scene in the years ahead.
“An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer”: Have to save a seat here for Tom Lehrer, whose “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” (with it’s “Spring is Here!” opening) was on my mind when this article was penned. Lehrer not only taught listeners to off pigeons but squirrels as well. Recorded at Harvard over two nights in 1959, this concert album also features “The Masochism Tango” (not nearly as sexy as it sounds), “Oedipus Rex,” and “The Elements.” That one incredibly reels off all 102 known chemical elements at that time to the tune of “Major-General’s Song” from “Pirates of Penzance” – decades before “Animaniacs” pulled off similar tricks with the U.S. capitals and the countries of the world. Why not celebrate his ode to spring in summer, when there’s certainly no shortage of pigeons to *ahem* rain on your parade?
