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Hello guys, we hope we find you well as we close out another week here with the ol’ Sorry State Newsletter. As always, thank you for reading and hopefully you come away with some good steers towards cool and fun shit. As music lovers, we come to you again with heavy hearts saddened by more passings in the world of music. This week we lost Astrud Gilberto and Tony McPhee, the former the world’s forever girl from Ipanema and the latter the UK blues guitar hero who gave Peter Green a run for his money. I hate turning the newsletter into an obituary and quite honestly there are far more eloquent tributes being made than I could ever come up with, but damn it sucks losing more great artists and makes you feel old and think about your own mortality. Certainly, in this old geezer’s case.
Astrud Gilberto helped bring the sound of bossa nova to the world and was key to my entry into the music of Brazil. A friend of ours here at Sorry State posted on his social media a story of his introduction to Astrud via the exchanging of mixtapes with an old girlfriend and how hearing her voice and music changed his life and had such a profound effect on him. That’s the power of music. Gilberto cut a slew of fun, bright, romantic and groovy records throughout the 1960s and into the 70s. Mostly sticking to the jazzy bossa format, but adding in some interesting songs and sounds along the way. She always had top writers, arrangers, producers and musicians contributing to her records, making each one different and desirable. I dig them all, but really like the ones she cut at the end of the sixties most. Namely, I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do from 1969, which sports a close-up shot of Astrud with a tear in her eye and from the following year, September 17, 1969. These were both produced and arranged by Brooks Arthur, whose New York City-based studio Century Sound would see everyone from Neil Diamond to Van Morrison record there. Arthur was a huge talent. He could write quality songs, sing them and record them in equal measure, and often did all three at once. In the 1970s he would have hits with singer Janis Ian and then later went on to have success with recording comedy albums, notably with Robin Williams. He sadly passed away last year.
On these two Gilberto albums, the sound is a little more “mature” in nature with elements of melancholy in particular on I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do. There are also some top tunes. The song Beginnings from September 17, 1969 is a banger and a great start to the record. Her record on Perception from a couple of years later called Now is a good one too, and she is credited as producer. The opener on that one called Zigy Zigy Za is a fun tune and makes me smile. Again, she is assisted by a who's who of talented musicians too long to list here. Check these records out if you dig her and need more than The Girl From Ipanema.
Tony McPhee might not be known to as many around the world as Astrud Gilberto, but his contribution to music is massive. His group The Groundhogs were active across five decades, although he was the only constant member. A killer guitarist who alongside others like Peter Green brought fresh life into blues music and was instrumental in the blues boom of the sixties. His group backed John Lee Hooker and Champion Jack Dupree on their tours. Whilst recording a single with Dupree, McPhee was given the nickname T.S. which stood for “Tough Shit” by producer Mike Vernon and at his suggestion added the initials to his name to make him sound more blues like. If you like the early Fleetwood Mac records, then you’ll enjoy the early Groundhogs albums too. The album that most people know by them is Split, featuring the song Cherry Red. That is a good album and recommended. As too are the albums proceeding it. Thank Christ For The Bomb is a good one and so is Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs which came out the year after Split. McPhee maintained an everyman’s approach to music and life, never playing overly complicated parts or acting and looking flash. It’s no wonder that the likes of Mark E. Smith and Peter Hook admired him. Over the years, it seems more and more artists have claimed McPhee and The Groundhogs as inspiration and influence for their own music. Although his solo records and later group works might not have reached critical and commercial highs, those from the sixties and early seventies are all close to essential listening, in my opinion, and you are highly encouraged to dive in and explore.
Lastly, before I go, I would like to steer you all towards a cool reissue that we recently stocked from the good folks at Iron Lung Records. It’s the 1981 single Living Underground from an Australian group called The Vacant Lot. I dig it. Four very distinct tracks that straddle the Punk, Post Punk divide. Check out the story and our take here. John Scott was spinning it the other day and at first I thought he was changing the record between songs as the sound varies so much. The last song, Multinationals, I recognized but couldn’t place. Turns out it was on the compilation Bloodstains Across Australia. I love the keyboard on this song. Those into KBD type stuff are probably already hip to this one, but if you aren’t, go check it. Being an obscure release, naturally originals go for three figures, so a big thank you to Iron Lung for this affordable reissue. Any plans to do a stateside issue of the group’s recent album?
Okay, that’s all I got for you. Back to work. Thanks for reading and supporting us and loving your music as much as we do. See you next time.
Cheers - Dom