An album a day #3: NINO AND RADIAH
Sept 28, 2021 7:10:32 GMT
oh oooh, Charlie O., and 4 more like this
Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2021 7:10:32 GMT
I was originally looking for an artist that we'd never really discussed and had settled on Mark Murphy, but unfortunately his albums aren't available on YouTube (check him out anyway, he's like the Beat Generation Frank Sinatra).
So anyway I've gone for an old favourite, the 1974 album by Nino Ferrer ' Nino and Radiah'.
I'm pushed for time right now, so will come back to this later, but for now here's the album.
I'll do this post in two halves, but will hopefully complete it by the end of the day, so thanks for your patience.
So who was Nino Ferrer and why Nino and Radiah?
I find the second question easier to answer than the first. Nothing about Ferrer seems fixed or easily digestible. Even his nationality was fluid and amorphous; an Italian who adopted a French nationality ( seemingly in protest at what he saw as the religious oppression of his native Italy). I can begin with his appearance: tall, gaunt, rakish with a shock of blonde hair and a dandyesque dress sense. He resembled a 70s Dr Who or perhaps a 19th century bohemian poet with a laudenum addiction, he looked like no one's idea of a pop star..but that is what he became, after a fashion.
He had a nomadic upbringing, exposing him to different cultures and perhaps contributing to a guy who always seemed to be between different stools in his career. Being a bright fellow, he studied at The Sorbonne where he immersed himself in the Paris jazz scene of the late 50s. Afterwards, he scratched some kind of living as a double bassist.
In the early 60s he started singing on a few records and by the mid sixties was having huge hits. It was chanson updated for the ye-ye era; vaguely comic, cheeky chappie stuff..Johnny Halliday recast in a Carry On movie. It's hard to get a handle on this part of his career, it's hard to get a handle on any part of his career actually. The two artists I see the most parallels with are Serge Gainsbourg and Scott Walker. With Gainsbourg he shares some jazzy funky musical settings and an enfant terrible public persona. But whereas this side of Gainsbourg was indulged by an adoring public ( to the point where it pushed SG towards the gimmicky and attention seeking), Ferrer became a more liminal presence, experimenting in the shadows. With Walker he shares a similar career trajectory, a period of huge success trapping him as a light entertainer, a role he despised. Like Walker he started sneaking his own edgier, more personal songs onto the b sides and like Walker his solution was to hit the bottle hard and start to do everything to confound expectations of him, a musical contrarian and this where it starts to get interesting for me.
The below blog gives an account of an Italian TV show Nino made in 1970. Beginning with his expected light hits, Nino suddenly stopped and came back to perform acid fried progressive rock for 50 minutes. What the hell was Nino doing?
www.badluck.co/featured/2020/1/15/nino-ferrers-mtronomie-the-lost-psychedelic-masterpiece-6eapl
From the late 60s onwards he started to make diverse and eccentric albums that seem to have little to do with each other, or anything around them.
The early 70s alone sees him go from the dark, jazzy experimental soundscapes of Metronomie to the brash, proto-glam of The Nino Ferrer and Leggs album. There are lots of nuggets to be found here, but at the same he's a difficult artist to navigate and not all of it works. That's why I'm particularly drawn to 1974s Nino and Radiah album. This is a proper album in that it has a cohesive musical tone with distinctive and memorable songs.
Edit: more tomorrow.
Crucial to the sound of this album is the Lafayette Afro Rock Band, relocated in France from The States, they bring a real tight funkiness to the album. I think this is best illustrated by third track 'Vomitation' with its full beats and driving Hammond. But the album's funkiness is often a singularly Euro one - languorous, sensual, louche. Even when it works up a sweat it does so elegantly. There's also a real melancholy to the album with the resigned ' Hot Toddy' and the drifting 'Looking For You' ( the track that first lead me to this album) that gives the album a powerful heart.
I'll leave it there, but I'll be interested in the responses. It's a masterpiece in my view.
So anyway I've gone for an old favourite, the 1974 album by Nino Ferrer ' Nino and Radiah'.
I'm pushed for time right now, so will come back to this later, but for now here's the album.
I'll do this post in two halves, but will hopefully complete it by the end of the day, so thanks for your patience.
So who was Nino Ferrer and why Nino and Radiah?
I find the second question easier to answer than the first. Nothing about Ferrer seems fixed or easily digestible. Even his nationality was fluid and amorphous; an Italian who adopted a French nationality ( seemingly in protest at what he saw as the religious oppression of his native Italy). I can begin with his appearance: tall, gaunt, rakish with a shock of blonde hair and a dandyesque dress sense. He resembled a 70s Dr Who or perhaps a 19th century bohemian poet with a laudenum addiction, he looked like no one's idea of a pop star..but that is what he became, after a fashion.
He had a nomadic upbringing, exposing him to different cultures and perhaps contributing to a guy who always seemed to be between different stools in his career. Being a bright fellow, he studied at The Sorbonne where he immersed himself in the Paris jazz scene of the late 50s. Afterwards, he scratched some kind of living as a double bassist.
In the early 60s he started singing on a few records and by the mid sixties was having huge hits. It was chanson updated for the ye-ye era; vaguely comic, cheeky chappie stuff..Johnny Halliday recast in a Carry On movie. It's hard to get a handle on this part of his career, it's hard to get a handle on any part of his career actually. The two artists I see the most parallels with are Serge Gainsbourg and Scott Walker. With Gainsbourg he shares some jazzy funky musical settings and an enfant terrible public persona. But whereas this side of Gainsbourg was indulged by an adoring public ( to the point where it pushed SG towards the gimmicky and attention seeking), Ferrer became a more liminal presence, experimenting in the shadows. With Walker he shares a similar career trajectory, a period of huge success trapping him as a light entertainer, a role he despised. Like Walker he started sneaking his own edgier, more personal songs onto the b sides and like Walker his solution was to hit the bottle hard and start to do everything to confound expectations of him, a musical contrarian and this where it starts to get interesting for me.
The below blog gives an account of an Italian TV show Nino made in 1970. Beginning with his expected light hits, Nino suddenly stopped and came back to perform acid fried progressive rock for 50 minutes. What the hell was Nino doing?
www.badluck.co/featured/2020/1/15/nino-ferrers-mtronomie-the-lost-psychedelic-masterpiece-6eapl
From the late 60s onwards he started to make diverse and eccentric albums that seem to have little to do with each other, or anything around them.
The early 70s alone sees him go from the dark, jazzy experimental soundscapes of Metronomie to the brash, proto-glam of The Nino Ferrer and Leggs album. There are lots of nuggets to be found here, but at the same he's a difficult artist to navigate and not all of it works. That's why I'm particularly drawn to 1974s Nino and Radiah album. This is a proper album in that it has a cohesive musical tone with distinctive and memorable songs.
Edit: more tomorrow.
Crucial to the sound of this album is the Lafayette Afro Rock Band, relocated in France from The States, they bring a real tight funkiness to the album. I think this is best illustrated by third track 'Vomitation' with its full beats and driving Hammond. But the album's funkiness is often a singularly Euro one - languorous, sensual, louche. Even when it works up a sweat it does so elegantly. There's also a real melancholy to the album with the resigned ' Hot Toddy' and the drifting 'Looking For You' ( the track that first lead me to this album) that gives the album a powerful heart.
I'll leave it there, but I'll be interested in the responses. It's a masterpiece in my view.