The 500 - #207 - Abraxas - Santana

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #207
Album Title: Abraxas
Artist: Santana

Genre: Latin Rock, Jazz Fusion, Psychedelic Rock
Recorded: Wally Heider Studio, San Francisco; Pacific Recorders, San Mateo, California

Released: September, 1970
My age at release: 5
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #334, dropping 128 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Samba Pa Ti

Album cover for Santana's Abraxas.

The other day while cleaning and organizing cupboards I found a high school yearbook. It was a tome from 1985, documenting the half year I spent at H.B. Beal Secondary School, improving my grades to get into university. As I flipped through the pages I was struck by how homogeneous faces seemed. More than 90 percent of the headshots were Caucasian and the last names were almost exclusively Western European (English, Scottish, Irish, German, Dutch, Portuguese and French). Ironically, Beal was considered one of the most "multicultural" schools in London, Ontario, in 1985 because it was centrally located and offered a  wide variety of technology and industrial programs, along with arts and academic options.

H.B. Beal Secondary School in downtown London, Ontario.

Currently, I work with a wonderfully diverse group of students at a local elementary school, most of whom are first or second generation Canadians. I could easily run a mock United Nations learning activity because the mix includes students with origins in Egypt, Korea, China, Vietnam, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Morocco, Finland, Lebanon, Kosovo, Pakistan, India, Albania, Turkestan and the Bahamas.

London's demographics are changing, but not as much as my classroom would lead you to think. According to the 2021 census, the most common ethnic or cultural origins in London are still English (21.9%), Scottish (17.4%), Irish (16.8%), Canadian (12.1%) and German (9.3%). In other words, 78 percent of my hometown's population still matches the pictures and names I saw in my 1985 yearbook.

An aerial view of London, Ontario looking North from the forks of the Thames River.

I've always loved learning about other cultures and, from a young age, wanted to be considered "worldly". As a teen, growing up in the pretty but terribly vanilla city of London, this was not an easy challenge. However, I found escape and knowledge through movies at the local repertory cinema  (The New Yorker), novels and magazines at the library and used book stores (City Lights) and, of course, the music I purchased in record shops.

City Lights Book Shop in London, Ontario.

When I picked up my first copy of Abraxas, the second studio album by the San Francisco Latin Rock band Santana, it was because I wanted to appear multi-culturally hip. I'd heard two of the record's biggest hits, Black Magic Woman and Oye Cómo Va, on classic rock radio. Additionally, the band's lead guitarist and founding member, Carlos Santana, was admired by many of my friends as a generational talent. Indeed, Rolling Stone Magazine's 2023 edition featuring the 250 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time lists Carlos Santana at position #11. Granted, it was a controversial choice that resulted in heavy criticism from music fans. The Mexican-born musician was ranked ahead of highly regarded guitar legends Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones), Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Prince and Brian May (Queen).

Carlos Santan performing in the 70s.

Formed in San Francisco in 1966, the Santana band was a collaboration between Carlos Santana and keyboard player Greg Rolie. Having discovered the hippie and counterculture movement, The duo of Rolie and Santana eventually expanded to seven members, allowing them to blend elements of Latin American music with the blues and psychedelic rock sounds popular in Northern California -- Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane.

Santana 1971. (l-r): Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Michael Shrieve,
Michael Carabello, David Brown, Carlos Santana, José "Chepito" Areas

The group's debut album, the self-titled Santana, was panned by critics, with Rolling Stone Magazine writer Langdon Winner calling it "a masterpiece of hollow technique" and "a speed freak's delight – fast, pounding, frantic music with no real content." Rolie and Santana were brutally critiqued for "playing repetitively unimaginative (music) amidst a monotony of incompetent rhythms and inconsequential lyrics."

The self-titled debut from Santana (1969).

To their credit, the band responded a year later with a strong second release, Abraxas. The title took its name from the Gnostic god, with each letter of the biblical Greek word ἀβραξάς representing the seven so-called “classical planets” (those that can be seen with the naked eye –  the moon, the sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. These celestial spheres are also connected to the days of the week and the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

At the time, my friends and I were enamoured by all things mystical and magical and, in my role as Dungeon Master, I was quick to write the god Abraxas into the Dungeons and Dragons campaigns I presented each Sunday when we gathered to participate in the role-playing game. Back then, evangelicals lambasted the popular pastime, claiming it had overtones of the occult and devil worship. However, we never took it that seriously. It was a fun distraction and playing the game made me a better writer, while the statistics-heavy rulebook strengthened my arithmetic skills.

Abraxas, the album not the god, was well received by music fans and critics. Carlos Santana and Greg Rolie seem to have figured out how to blend the psychedelic sound they were after, punctuating it neatly with a blend of jazz and Latin salsa rhythms. The first three songs on side one – Singing Woods, Crying Beasts; Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen; and Oye Cómo Va – segue into each other to create a beautifully hypnotic mini-suite. I enjoyed re-listening to it as much for this blog as I did when I purchased the record in 1981. Interestingly, all three of those musical pieces were written and performed by other artists. It seems that Santana and Rolie realized their strength was in interpretation, rather than composition.

Black Magic Woman - originally written and recorded
by Fleetwood Mac (1968).

Abraxas did the trick for me in the ‘80s. It helped me feel worldly and multi-culturally receptive as I navigated high school, basement parties and Dungeon and Dragons games in what I saw as, boring and bland, vanilla London, Ontario. Little did I know at the time that Santana’s drummer was from my hometown. Graham Lear, who attended Prince Charles and Churchill Public School, as well as Clarke Road Secondary School, began his professional music career with the London (Ontario) Symphony Orchestra at age 13. Eventually, he joined popular Canadian musician Gino Vanelli and helped record on some of his earliest records. He also toured with REO Speedwagon and Paul Anka but, from 1977-1987, he was the drummer for Santana,  pounding out those sweet Latin grooves.

Lear performing with Santana in 1977.

Lear was inducted into the London Music Hall of Fame in 2018. He still plays with his own Graham Lear Trio. He lives in Niagara-On-The-Lake with his wife, Penny, whom he married in 2008. So, as it turns out, my yearning for cultural experience didn’t mean having to leave my vanilla world. Through music, it was right there.

The 500 - #208 - Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens

 I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #208
Album Title: Tea For The Tillerman
Artist: Cat Stevens
Genre: Folk Rock
Recorded: Three Studios, London, England

Released: November, 1970
My age at release: 5
How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #205, up 3 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Where Do The Children Play?

I am delighted to announce that, for the fourth year in a row, a student from the Grade 7 class with whom I work has volunteered to write a guest post. Each school year, typically around January, I share my 500 project with the class. I often use it to amplify the importance of coordinating with a peer editor to improve written work. I will show them my initial draft and then a version with the suggestions my father, a former professional writer, has shared.

This year, as June approached, I had no takers and I thought I would have to let it go. However, in mid-May, Umar approached me to look at the list. There were about nine choices available before the end of the school year and, after a short discussion, he selected Tea For The Tillerman from Cat Stevens. Umar was already developing into a strong middle school writer. As you will see, he makes even further strides with this piece. Upon reading it, my father sent me the following message...

"MARC. UMAR SHOWS EARLY PROMISE OF BECOMING AN EXEMPLARY WORDSMITH AND MUSIC AFICIONADO. HE OBVIOUSLY HAS A GOOD HEAD ON HIS SHOULDERS TO CONTEMPLATE AND ADVANCE IMPORTANT ISSUES. WELL DONE, YOUNG MAN. "

So, please enjoy this guest post from Umar.

Hey there, I’m Umar, a Grade 7 student. Today, I want to take you on a journey through the soothing melodies and thought-provoking lyrics of Cat Stevens' fourth studio album, Tea For The Tillerman.

Umar (September, 2023)

As we embark on this adventure called life, we're constantly seeking meaning and understanding about the world around us. Stevens' music speaks to this universal quest for knowledge and enlightenment, with the goal of resonating with us on a deeper level.

Released in 1970, Tea For The Tillerman quickly became a beloved folk rock classic, enchanting listeners with its introspective themes and captivating melodies. Stevens, later known as Yusuf Islam, crafted this album during a transformative period in his life, and it explores themes of spirituality, identity, and human existence.

Cat Stevens (1969).

When I first heard the name Tea For The Tillerman, I had no idea what it meant. I thought maybe a “Tillerman” was an actor or musician, and the tea was to please him. After my research, I came across the meaning of “Tillerman” which (in this context) is a man who steers a small boat. The idea of the title is that there is no one to steer the boat if the “Tillerman” is drinking his tea. In my opinion, this is a metaphor. Like a boat on open water, the events in a person’s life can change when they stop steering their boat.

An example of a wooden "till" at the back of a boat.

Stevens himself is an interesting man. One obvious example is his decision to change his name – twice. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, he realized that his birth name made it difficult to get performance gigs, so he changed it to something easier to say and remember – Cat Stevens.

Then, in 1968, the pressure of touring and the challenges of living a celebrity life took its toll and Stevens fell sick with a potentially fatal diagnosis of tuberculosis. The illness put him in the hospital for months. It was then that Stevens began a journey of reflection and prayer.

Stevens writing music while recovering in hospital (1970).

When Stevens recovered, he had a different perspective on the world and changed his music considerably. He wrote some 40 songs that reflected changes in his personal life. His music was calmer and meaningful, while his lyrics gained subtlety and a mysterious touch. In his private life he began to explore a variety of spiritual paths.

I believe Stevens decided to change his music so much during this painful period because he realized how fast life can be taken away and he realized, like we all should, that it can’t be taken for granted. I think he recognized that life is short and fulfilment at the end is important. You might say he viewed leaving that hospital as a rebirth, and a second chance for a mindful and fulfilling existence.

Tracks such as Father And Son and On the Road To Find Out capture the essence of adolescence, with its mix of excitement, confusion, and longing for independence. These songs remind us that it's okay to question authority, to forge our own paths, and to embrace the journey of self-discovery, which is something that was important to Stevens.

In 1977, Stevens received a Quran from his brother who had been on a trip to Jerusalem. After reading it, Stevens converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf – the Islamic equivalent of Joseph. because he related to the story of Joseph told in the Quran.

Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam reading a book at a coffee shop in Dubai (2007).

Stevens has definitely had an amazing and fascinating personal life but he has also had a fantastic musical career. When I first listened to this album I was amazed. My favourite song is Where Do the Children Play?

Where Do The Children Play? Single album cover.

This remarkable song showcases Stevens' songwriting talent. Initially, it presents itself with soothing music—a gentle guitar, soft keyboard, and a hint of bass. It might deceive you into thinking it's just a peaceful tune with a happy message. However, as you pay closer attention to the lyrics, you'll find it's much more than that. Where Do the Children Play? is actually a protest song, raising important questions about the future of our children in a world consumed by technological progress. It suggests we should make sure kids have space to play and where nature will find its place in the middle of our rapid technology advances. Despite its serious message, the song remains beautiful, thanks to Stevens' heartfelt vocals and guitar playing.

This song reminds me of daily life when I often see young people consumed by screens on their laptops, televisions, phones and even watches. This is now considered normal behaviour and I wonder if technology is stealing part of our childhood. But, anyone can be addicted to a screen, no matter what age. It is interesting that Stevens wrote it about the technology of the early 1970s, but it still applies today.

As I mentioned previously, this song is a “protest song” which means the theme is Stevens’ commentary on the world and how things need to change. I would go further and say the entire record is a protest. According to my research, Stevens became vocal about many social issues. Later in his life, he appeared at actual protests. and He and his wife created multiple charities to support people, particularly children in war-torn countries.

Small Kindness charity logo - founded
by Yusuf to help the most vulnerable 
victims of war.

In conclusion I was honestly surprised by this album. When I chose it from the list Mr. Hodgkinson showed me, I had no idea what it would be like. To be fair, I wasn't sure I would even enjoy it. However, that was definitely not my experience. I would absolutely recommend listening to album #208 on The 500 - Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens…aka Steven Demetre Georgiou aka Yusuf Islam.

Thanks for reading.

-Umar

The 500 - #209 - Ten - Pearl Jam

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #209
Album Title: Ten
Artist: Pearl Jam
Genre: Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Grunge
Recorded: London Bridge Studio (Seattle, U.S.A.) & Ridge Farm Studios (Surrey, England)

Released: August, 1991
My age at release: 26
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #160, up 49 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Black

When I wrote about Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic by Red Hot Chili Peppers (#310 on The 500), I related the story of a kitchen co-worker nick-named 'Boog' who introduced me to much of the alternative rock music that would become part of the mainstream zeitgeist in 1992. My favourite two discoveries in the spring of that year were, without a doubt, BadMotorFinger from Soundgarden and this week’s feature, Pearl Jam's Ten. Both were among the "Big Four" bands from Seattle who rocketed from small club obscurity to mega-stardom in 1992 -- Nirvana and Alice in Chains occupying the other two slots. Collectively, they have six records on The 500 list. It turned out that Boog, despite his unfortunate sobriquet, was a pretty good judge of music.

Around that time, my future wife and I moved from London, Ontario, to Brampton -- then a smallish city in the Greater Toronto area. As it turned out, I picked up a job with the same restaurant chain I had been the bartender and night manager of in London. However, it was 40 kilometres from Brampton in Oakville. A cassette recording of my Ten CD accompanied me on many of my daily commutes to work. It was also a "go-to" record when we entertained. At the time, my social circle was obsessed with the board game Scrabble and numerous word-battles dominated our evenings -- as we guzzled coffee and poisoned ourselves smoking cigarettes. Being a non-smoker now for more than 30 years, I can't imagine how awful our small Brampton apartment must have smelled – but, it was the ‘90s, we all just accepted that cigarette smoke was everywhere.

Our first "smoky" apartment. "Scrabble Table" at right, coffee maker
visible in kitchen - surprisingly not in use.

Pearl Jam, considered by some to be the most popular American band of the ‘90s, formed as a result of tragedy. Founding members Stone Gossard (guitars) and Jeff Ament (bass) were previously members of Mother Love Bone. However, shortly after the release of Love Bone’s debut record, the group's charismatic lead singer, Andrew Wood, overdosed on heroin.

Devastated by the loss, Gossard and Ament began writing darker, edgier music. Eventually, they connected with fellow Seattle guitarist Mike McCready, whose band Shadow had just broken up. The trio created a five-song demo cassette, hoping it would help them find a drummer and a lead singer. The cassette made its way to San Diego-based vocalist Eddie Vedder who was singing with the band Bad Radio and working part-time at a gas station. Vedder loved what he heard and began recording vocal tracks for three of the songs - Alive, Once and Footsteps. Vedder intended them to be included in a dark, mini-opera he called Mamasan. The themes from that mini-opera canl be heard in the lyrics to Alive and Once (which appear on Ten).  However,, the group opted against making their first record a concept album. The song Footsteps was shelved and eventually released as the B side for the single, Jeremy.

Pearl Jam (1991) (l-r) McCready, Ament, Vedder, Gossard and 
Dave Krusen (drums).

Gossard, Ament and McCready were so impressed with Vedder's vocal and lyrical efforts that they paid to fly him to Seattle to rehearse with the band, which in the meantime had recruited drummer Dave Krusen. A week later, 11 songs were crafted and the band was signed to Epic Records. Ten months later, Ten was released. Originally, the band wanted to be called Mookie Blaylock – the name of a point guard who was playing for the New Jersey Nets in the National Basketball League in 1991. However, the record company insisted they change their name. Blaylock’s jersey number is 10, so the name of their debut album is a nod to him and their original moniker. Over the years, band members have offered several stories about the origin of the name Pearl Jam. It seems the group enjoys fan speculation far more than solving the mystery.

Pearl Jam (1991).

My Ten album is one that I loaded in my CD player hundreds of times in the early ‘90s, and I bought their second record, Vs., the day it came out in 1993. At that time, I suspected Ten might be shuffled to the back of my CD cabinet, retrieved occasionally for a nostalgic spin. Such is the fate of many albums in my collection -- and I don’t think I am alone in doing that.

Another shot of my Brampton apartment - one of my three CD 
racks can be seen - I am sure the Pearl Jam record is in the left column.

However, in the autumn of 1995, I began my Teachers' College studies at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and, unexpectedly, my listening habits gave Ten an auditory renaissance. The 14-hour drive necessitated a litre of coffee and plenty of cassette tapes. I made a number of "mixed cassettes" to keep me occupied, but I also dug through my old collections and Ten found its way into the cassette player in my gray 1990 Chevy Cavalier.

A 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier.

This coincided with what, at the time, seemed like an end to my 10-year romantic relationship when we decided to take a break. The fifth track on Ten was the emotionally heavy ballad, Black. The lyrics, penned by Vedder, reflect on a break-up he had experienced. In the bridge, he sings the emotional lyric:

"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky, but why? Why?
Why can't it be, oh, can't it be mine?"

In retrospect, I can understand how this might sound a bit maudlin. But, as I drove through the night, on a lonely stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway toward an expensive academic risk that I desperately hoped was the right decision, the song was an emotional gut punch. I won’t say I sang along with the "doo-doo-doo-do-doo-doo-doo" chorus as I cut my way through the Canadian Shield landscape north of Lake Superior -- but I won’t say I didn't. 

The drive from London, Ontario to Thunder Bay.

Because of those long drives, Ten has a special place in my heart. I can lose myself in the incredible guitar solos on songs that include Alive, Even Flow or the tremendously underrated Porch. The lyrics to Jeremy, which were inspired by the tragic death of a high school student who shot himself in front of his English class in 1991, are powerfully prescient and I'll always get a little wistful when I hear Black -- despite the fact that everything worked out. Teachers' College was a smart idea and I reconnected with the girl of my dreams and she is still "a star in my sky".

The 500 - #210 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #210
Album Title: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Artist: Neil Young
Genre: Hard Rock, Country Rock, Proto-Grunge
Recorded: Wally Heider Studio (Hollywood, California)

Released: May, 1969
My age at release: 3
How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple of songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #407, dropping 193 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Down By The River

"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans" is a quote often attributed to Beatle John Lennon because he used it in the song Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) from his 1980 album, Double Fantasy. However, Lennon borrowed the lyric from writer and cartoonist Allen Saunders who was credited with the quote in a 1958 edition of Reader's Digest Magazine.

Saunder's meme had originally appeared (in a slightly varied form) in his American newspaper comic strip, Mary Worth. However, the sentiment is one that has been with man for centuries. Semantic precursors can be found as far back as c. 43 B.C.E. with the Latin proverb

"Homo semper aliud, Fortuna aliud cogitat" (Man intends one thing, Fate another). 

Proverb 16:9 of the Old Testament offers a similar proposition: 

"A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps." 

c. 350 B.C.E.

Personal events over the past few weeks have had me thinking about the unpredictability of life and how our "best laid plans", in the words of Scottish poet Robbie Burns, "gang aft agley" (often go astray).

As you may have gathered, this has been a week of deep contemplation. The soundtrack to many of these pensive, thoughtful moments of reflection was found in Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere -- a record full of crunchy, hypnotic guitar jams, captivating melodies and evocative lyrics that are just abstract enough to provoke introspection.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is the second studio release from Neil Young and the first that features backing band Crazy Horse -- a group of musicians who continue to tour with him today. In fact, Neil and two of the original members, Billy Talbot (bass, vocals) and Ralph Molina (drums, vocals) will perform in July (2024) in my hometown of London, Ontario, at the city’s annual Rock The Park Festival. The fourth original member, guitarist Danny Whitten, died in November, 1972 of a drug overdose.

The title track, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, describes Young's disillusionment with the music scene in Los Angeles in the late-sixties. The chorus features the lyric; "I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around", while  the verses pine for a simpler life  "back home" where it is "cool and breezy" and one can "take it easy...just passing time." It posits the notion that even a successful life isn't as fulfilling as just being "home".

I suppose that is a universal message to which we can all relate. Regardless of where we are and what we are doing, “home” beckons within. Abraham Maslow recognized this as the first step in his theory about humans’ Hierarchy of Needs -- we want our physiological needs met before anything else -- this includes shelter and safety.

In his 2018 stand-up special, Disgraceful, comedian Tom Segura puts a humourous spin on this prevailing sentiment suggesting that even when he is doing something he enjoys (attending a party with good friends or even recording the very comedy special we are watching) he is really just thinking, "I wish I was home right now."

If “life is something that happens when you are busy making other plans”, then the most meaningful way to exist is to escape the hurly-burly of our distracting commitments.

Sure, much like the mouse in Burns' classic poem, whose home is overturned by a farmer's plow, the chaos of the world will inevitably come crashing in on us. But, for a short time, we can disappear into the predictability of our favourite chair, a warm meal, a hot cup of tea and the love of those who share that place we call home. Even, perhaps, by giving this wonderful record from Neil Young and Crazy Horse another listen.