Who Does Jens Lekman like?
The following are songs that Jens Lekman has sampled or interpolated…
Beat Happening – Gravedigger Blues (sampled in Pocketful of Money)
Left Banke – I’ve Got Something On My Mind (from Black Cab)
Lekman’s music has intrigued me ever since I heard Pocketful of Money, which samples Calvin Johnson’s baritone in a way that seemed to defy logic. Even though it’s a sample, there is an intimacy between the two male voices that gives the impression the two were recording together in the wee hours of the morning. And yet they were recorded more than a decade apart. Johnson’s vocals don’t come in until halfway through the song, but when they hit, they hit deep. It’s erotic in a way that—I’m pretty sure—Johnson never intended. But that! That is the beauty of Lekman’s sampling technique. I felt compelled to write this post because apparently, Lekman has had consistent trouble clearing rights for his music.
The following was posted on his website:
“Sample laws. Can anyone come up with something more retarded ? Here’s my philosophy: If I sample something that is in any way recognisable, I think it’s fair to ask for permission, credit the source and pay them a percentage of my record sales. But I can’t do that because when you clear a sample you have to pay for 100,000 to a million copies in advance. Clearing the samples for my new record has been estimated to cost at least $400,000. I would be in debt for the rest of my life. So I’m left with two options: risking it or replacing them…
The message from the court is plain and simple: ‘Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way.’ [ed. note: this is a verbatim quote] This was back in 2005, when Bridgeport Music Inc. managed to eliminate the de minimis doctrine. Since then I’ve heard rumours of software being developed with the sole purpose of identifying samples, no matter how small, hidden or unidentifiable. There’s money to be made by suing artists and Bridgeport and others have made it their business. So I don’t know about risking it.
Replacing them is also out of the question. The beauty of the collage technique is that you’re using sounds that have never met and were never supposed to meet. You introduce them to each other, at first they’re a bit shy, clumsy, staring at their shoes. But you can sense there’s something there. So you cut and paste a little bit and by the end of the song you can spot them in the corner, holding hands. The magic is in the mistakes, the scratches and dust from the vinylrecord, the echo from something that happened a few bars ago and most importantly the new context in which they are placed.
I hate to say it but most of all I’m upset with my record label Secretly Canadian. It was two weeks ago now that they said “Hey, we just had a meeting and decided that you’re gonna have to remove all the samples”. I love those guys and I’ve really enjoyed working with them and want to continue doing so. I also understand their concern. But they come up with this NOW ? When the record is already finished ?
I’m scared this record would become my own Chinese Democracy, eternally delayed or never released. So I’m gonna take a little while to figure this out and if I can’t find a solution I’ll just put the songs up here and move on. I have a lot of stuff to do cause when I was a teenager I went to a fortune teller who told me I would die young.”
Pocketful of Money is like the poster child for the legalization of samples. But on the other hand, Puffy’s sampling of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir in Come With Me is the antithesis. That is to say: unimaginative, obvious and unabashedly derivative. And yet, Puffy’s is the legal one. Mostly because he has a fatcat record label to back him up. Lekman is unfair to accuse Secretly Canadian, who doesn’t have the hundreds of thousands of dollars handy that it would take to clear this record. But imagine how great this record could’ve been, had Lekman been on Bad Boy records. This is also the likely reason that there are many Jens Lekman unreleased singles floating around. Have you heard the song that samples Paul Simon?
It’s sad to think that some of these songs almost didn’t happen. This post certainly does not contain all of the songs that Lekman has sampled, but it’s a start. Please chime in you’ve got some that aren’t on this list. Or, maybe it’s best if you don’t.
Samples from the new album:
Jerry Goldsmith - Theme from Sandpebbles
Renaldo and the Loaf - Hamba Hadu
The Tough Alliance - Take No Heroes
Willie Rosario - By the Time I get to Phoenix
Patrick Mkwamba & the Four Brothers - Dai Ndiri Shiri
Gal Costa - Baby
You Showed Me the Fun in the World: Shirley, Lee & Songs About Hugging
You Showed Me the Fun in the World: Shirley, Lee and Songs about Hugging
Shirley and Lee never wrote a song that was not about dancing or having fun. And that takes discipline, don’t you think? If remembered at all, they’re best know for the song “Let the good times roll.” Their version however, has been tarnished by a variety of appropriations, and obscured by a number of covers, perhaps most famously by Sam Cooke.
My personal associations of this song mostly relate to pop-culture conceptions of the American 50s. You hear this song in bad commercials trying to evoke the era; you hear it appropriated in Johnny-rocket style faux 50s diners and you hear the song on “oldies” stations. The song has become an icon of nostalgia. But a nostalgia for the myth of the 50s, not a reality. Not unlike Woody Guthrie’s “This land is your land,” the song has come to represent something that was never on its agenda. This should not be the fate of the song, nor for Shirley and Lee. I’ll tell you why.
Shirley & Lee - Let the good times roll
The sound of Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee was cultivated in one the musically richest cities on the planet, and they came to the music business at an unusually young age. The two were good neighborhood friends, living in New Orleans, and at the age of 15, they developed a dream to become rhythm & blues stars. Not far from their neighborhood was the legendary Cosimo Recording Studio. The kids thought they could become pop stars if only someone would record them. After much pestering at the studio, a recording engineer told them he would record one track, if they would pay him $2.00. Many weeks—and soda pop deposits later—they raised the money. They dressed in their Sunday best and recorded “I’m gone.”
After the studio waxed the vinyl, the kids took the record and disappeared back into the fray of New Orleans. A couple weeks later, Eddie Mesner of Aladdin records was visiting the studio. The story goes that the engineer was testing out the equipment, and he played used magnetic tape from a previous session. That tape held Shirley & Lee’s “I’m gone.” Mesner was captivated. He pressed the engineer to give him information about the kids. No one even knew their names. So, the search began. Weeks were spent combing the neighborhood for Shirley & Lee. Eventually, they were discovered and invited to a recording session. This is where it gets interesting.
Shirley & Lee recorded their first singles in the sultry Louisiana summer of 1952. Nearly all of their duets were love songs about one another, which earned them the nickname of “Sweethearts of the Blues,” but there is no evidence were lovers. Yet, there is so much chemistry in their songs, it’s hard to imagine they weren’t…
One can only fantasize what their live shows were like. Picture this: teenagers Shirley & Lee playing a rent-party with a second-rate p.a. singing their very hearts out where the only item on the agenda was Having Fun. They sang about rocking and rolling, before the term rock & roll had really been coined. Rocking and rolling—at the time—was still a reference to certain…nighttime activities.
Whether it was their age, or the times, one might think their lyrics are naïve and repetitive. I would argue they are deliberately focused. Consider some of their titles, “Feel So Good,” “I Feel Good,” and “I Want to Dance.”
Here is an excerpt from one of their representative tracks.
When I saw you
I saw everything
I saw the fun in the world
And diamond rings
All the money in the world
I wouldn’t take for you
When I saw you
I saw everything
I wanna hug you
Kiss you and
be mine for keeps
In my opinion, Shirley & Lee made some of the most spirited, profoundly fun-time music ever made. And yet, historically, they were living under the strain of racial injustice in the south. There is no evidence of strife in their songs. This is often the case with music. One could theorize that the harsher the conditions, the more spirited the song, if only to balance the circumstances.
Their songs had influence outside of the American R&B niche. Their records were shipped to Jamaica and found an attentive audience. Early Jamaican DJs, with their souped-up systems, migrated to parties around the city and found that Shirley & Lee cuts were guaranteed floor-fillers. It was these same DJs, like Coxsone Dodd, who would start their own recording studios and later cover Shirley & Lee songs. One duo who based their style on the New Orleans kids was Derrick & Patsy. The two covered “Let the Good Times Roll,” to great effect.
Derrick & Patsy - Let the good times roll
When Derrick sings, “Come on baby, trrrrilllll my soul” and Patsy sings back, “Come on baby and let’s close the door….ohhh, ohhh, I’m in the mood,” the original intentions of the song are palpable. I can’t say so much for future versions. Dance songs today have ramped up the bass, and toned down the optimism. Many pop hits have an aggressive sense of seriousness and lyrics suggest cynicism and bitterness, as if partying were more a task than a privilege. And that’s fine. But Shirley & Lee project a philosophy of happiness that is hard to beat. Plus, they sing about hugging:
“I want to dance” (L. Lee)
[…]
I wanna hug
I wanna kiss
I wanna hug because I’m feeling good
I wanna laugh
Until I cry
I wanna laugh because I’m feeling good
In 1962, after several records misfired, Shirley & Lee went their separate ways. Leonard Lee attempted a solo career as “Mr. Lee.” It didn’t go very far. Shirley also went on to do solo and studio work. She recorded with the amazing Brenton Wood (“Oogum boogum song,” “Gimme little sign”) as Shirley and Alfred (Wood’s real name was Alfred Swift). You would’ve thought the group would’ve been magic, but they sunk after a meager output of singles. Shirley also went on to sing back up vocals for the Rolling Stones on Exile on Main Street, who were presumably fans of the original pair.
Much later, in 1974, Shirley recorded the track “Shame Shame Shame,” with Sylvia Robinson (of Mickey and Sylvia), and the track went to #1 on the soul charts. The success inspired one last reunion. Under the name of Shirley & Co., Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee came together for one last session. The label they were recording for was seduced by the disco fad, and insisted the record fall in style. The Shirley & Co record went the way many of great artists caught in disco fad (remember what happened to Fred Astaire?). That is to say, down. The single from the record, “Disco Shirley” was a complete flop. However, Shirley & Lee never lost sight of their original motives. The last song they would ever record was called, “I like to dance.”
~Michael Neault
Works consulted
Kolanjian, Steve. “Shirley and Lee: Volume 1” Collectables records.
Luie Luie Liner Notes
The following are the liner notes from Luie Luie’s first, and last album, which was recently re-issued on CD. I transcribed the following notes from a ridiculously poor inkjet printout copy of the vinyl’s rear sleeve. It took me a long time, so I hope you enjoy these. Here’s a song to get you in the spirit.
Luie Luie - Touch Me With All Your Heart
Editor’s note: All spelling, punctuation and formatting SIC
LUIE LUIE is an irresistible, uncompromising legend in music today. This handsome artist’s magnetic charm and romantic rhythms permeate all through his music…wherever he plays. A Master Musician, LUIE LUIE will make you come – and glad you came.
A Super Showman, he will sting you with his searing songs, and pierce your innermost with his pearly trumpet. He will caress you. He will force your feet to fidget and seduce your silent hands. His beat will blow your head.
His legato demands respect, and thrills to a whisper. His Drum Solos conquer competition, and capture every crowd. His Captivating Rhythms from all nations call comers to comradeship. LUIE LUIE has the power to melt the multitudes from the ice and iron your indescribable admiration.
Like an Electric Storm, LUIE LUIE takes over his listeners with absolute authority, and destroys any and all disbelief. His tremendous, terrifying Trumpet sounds like a quartette of Trumpets, a fantastic feat never before accomplished.
This inborn Music Master proves to you that you will know byu his deeds, and LUIE LUIE does it in the NOW! So YOU can Hear, and See and Feel and TOUCH, TOUCH, TOUCH, THE INFINITE…
This tall Music Matador oozes his music from ten fingers, two feet, two knees, his mouth and a thousand brains, and in this all inclusive posture combination of mind and body and muscle and spirit, overwhelms the strong, the meek, regardless of age, sex or religious relationships. “TOUCHY” is his brain-child.
LUIE LUIE plays his intimate music beyond the keyboards, past the drums, outside the Trumpet. His galaxy of instruments cannot contain him. His garrulous Guitar strings spellbind you into space…Flamenco flaming. Approaching the avatar, LUIE LUIE projects meaningful music to tenderly touch your Soul. You will thankfully draw a deep breath and relax comfortably wherever you are.
LUIE LUIE tells you that YOU ARE ALIVE, and GLAD and PROUD to be permitted the privilege of just listening and just watching and just enjoying and just FEELING so much better. So come now and HEEL THYSELF…
LUIE LUIE valued friend and Mystic Master, Hamid Bey from Egypt, donated a fountain of Faith and strongly foretold his fabulous success. “TOUCH OF THE PHARAOHS” is presented in this album to his honor.
On Land or Sea and in the Air, LUIE LUIE, has got to be the only one of his kind in the world.
WHO?… A harmonious and superior blend of North and South Americas with the all the spice and mystery and romance of Mother Mexico prominently sandwiched and topped with “TOUCHY”.
WHY?… Because LUIE LUIE loves his music with a fanaticism found no where else. And he loves ALL THE PEOPLE from everywhere.
In succeeding albums you will relish his special effects in music, a contrived menagerie of beaming Carusos in beautiful barnyard beatitudes. You will hear the Roosters too. And LUIE LUIE will walk your dog for you.
Marvelous Merriment Meanders and everyone wonders how in the world LUIE LUIE does it all by himself. Undisturbed by any other musician, LUIE LUIE, although ethereally and self taught, serves you his pure music, flying thru countless numbers with the agile ability to switch instantaneously to a distinguished mundane manner.
Brilliant! .… A Genius in his unique, unequaled interpretations.
Organ, Piano, Guitar, Drums, Trumpet… He plays them all. Put any of 24 instruments within his long reach and he’ll play it. Name your number LUIE LUIE will leap at it like a tiger—and leave you breathless…. He’s an actor and a comedian whose vocal improvisations will cajole and tantalize you.
LUIE LUIE won the title “Best Talented Soldier in the U.S. Army” on the Talent Patrol and Soldier on Parade TV shows at ABC Studios, New York City hosted by Arlene Francis.
He has recently played on the Ray Duncan Show, NBC TV, Hollywood. He appeared with Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore in the motion picture “Change of Habit”. He has also worked with Ruta Lee, Linda Cristal, and Tio Blas on TV Pilots. He is slated for feature roles in several Sy Bartlett motion picture productions. He has served as Musical Director for Joe Cranston Productions, Hollywood.
In addition to Music, LUIE LUIE also excels in MARTIAL ARTS. He is an authority and originator of “MANAZO” fighting. What is faster than greased lightning? “MANAZO”, an open hand combat method of blinding speed. LUIE LUIE claims he can flip the light switch and jump into bed before the light goes out.
He created the “MANAZO MONKS”, a communion of powerful men and enchanting music delightfully graced in flawless motion, cadenced to split second timing.
LUIE LUIE is also an accomplished Artist in Murals… Paintings in oils up to 30 feet long. His canvasses will thrill the most discreet.
Multi-lingual, LUIE LUIE is madly devoted to the devout from the main springs of humanity. Here is a man to be reckoned with… a King in his playground. Enjoy him. LUIE LUIE will play for you… and play with you. You are forced to forget your troubles.
LUIE LUIE pulls people apart with his magic music… and then, tenaciously ties them together again in proper balance. Children and grown-ups become wild about his treatment and come back begging for more, more of LUIE LUIE. He can hold a true Trumpet note for 7 mountainous minutes. An incredible performance while enraptured agnostics wait hopefully for an explosion. AND THEY GET IT!
LUIE LUIE will astound you with his boundless energies and will play six hours straight thru, without stopping for the dinner bell. This to the utter amazement of audiences all over town. He has set capacity records in every showplace he has visited.
Willing, warm women wonder and equally mystified men meditate.
We have a CHAMPION.
Signed,
Jack Star
President, Penstar productions
P.S. THE GREATEST SINGLE ACT IN THE WORLD.
