This is topic-adjacent, but how did weed come to be called chronic?

You should do the whole REM catalogue to see how they transformed over the years. I should do an REM thread on Guybrush's forum (There's already one here buried down in the archives somewhere). Have to get off the keyster first though.

Yep, get that *rse in gear, rs ! As for me, I'll see how I get on with the recs so far before I explore the whole R.E.M. story...

:laughing: Blimey, 20 minutes is only half-way into an Allman Brothers jam !

Yeah, i suppose it is. It doesn't necessarily mean I'd put REM in my top 3 bands or anything, they've just got a lot of records and I like them enough to buy most of them. The gentle melodies of Buck, Stipe, and Mills were a constant companion through my mid to late teen years, so REM will always have a special place in my heart.

Speaking of REM, I somehow forgot to include this tune, which is on the same record as "E-Bow the Letter" - great stuff:



On the topic of Beefheart, what's your favorite record from his discography?

If memory serves, it was Dre's first album 'The Chronic' that popularized that slang - I think it was Snoop (or maybe Dre) that misheard 'hydroponic weed' as 'hydrochronic weed'. Or maybe someone who they were smoking with was high and mispronounced it - but anyways, they adopted 'chronic' as a shorthand for that weed and well, I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story, given how well Dre's debut sold.

^ Yes, I've had the same experience: music I loved in my mid to late teens have an unassailable (© OH) place in my heart - which neatly leads into:-

Trout Mask was my favourite for years, briefly displaced by Spotlight Kid when it came out, then it was back to TMR, although for the last 30 years or so, I'd say Strictly Personal was my fave. If you want other people's opinions, album-by-album, on Beefheart's discography, this thread created by Trollheart makes an interesting read:

https://www.musicbanter.com/general-...eart-week.html

And how about you, SGR: What's your favourite Miles Davis album?

Also, in a clumsy attempt to get back on topic, is Capt. Beefheart an indie artist?

Interesting...if I were to guess, I would've pegged you as a 'Safe as Milk' fan. The woozy, circuitous electric blues of his early years. Happily surprised though! I'm fairly familiar with Beefheart's discography and I gotta say, I'm not sure what you saw in 'Spotlight Kid' (enlighten me, if you're at all inclined), I found that album to be rather dull, at least in terms of Beefheart's standards.

Favorite Miles album, damn. That's a difficult one. To be frank, I think that might change month to month, but if I had to give an answer at this very moment I'd say 'Filles De Kilimanjaro'. For the most part, my favorite period of Miles was his second great quintet - and this album represented the end of that - and hinted at new beginnings (his fusion work). Tony Williams, as young as he was at the time, was a complete savant on the drum kit - as was often the case in this time period Wayne Shorter's influence and compositions had a serious influence and drive on the group. Miles, being the ever-effective bandleader rallied the likes of Shorter, Williams, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Ron Carter together to make some absolutely delicious moods. I believe Gil Evans even had a hand in this one in terms of composition and arrangements, and of course, being a big fan of 'Porgy and Bess' and 'Sketches of Spain', that's a plus for me. It's just a really surreal and cerebral album that sits at a very interesting point in the evolution of Miles' sound. One of those jazz records that you could throw on while working or on a road trip or during some housecleaning. It just takes you places. One of those few records that's just as effective regardless if you're sober, drunk, or high - or a mixture. A seriously unsung and beautiful record.



Runners up: A Tribute to Jack Johnson, On the Corner, In A Silent Way, ESP, and of course, Kind of Blue.

Best Miles Davis album: Sketches of Spain hands down

I prefer Bitches Brew.

It's got a lot of redeeming factors but one thing that's always irked me about that record is how high and how shrill Miles' trumpet sounds in the mix. For the Gil Evans stuff, I think I prefer Porgy and Bess as a whole.

Edit: Because Miles has a lot of celebrated albums, even some of his celebrated stuff is missed by many. Take for example this incredibly beautiful piece that opens up Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet:



Or the entirety of the film score he did for the 1958 French film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (his album score has the same name) - listening to it makes you feel like a cool but castoff detective, down on his luck, smoking a cigarette while you walk the sparsely lit streets of New Orleans in the '50s - and goddamnit, the cigarette just won't stay burning:

Everyone realizes that it's just your opinion but somehow it's still annoying


Yeah a film famous for the soundtrack and the female lead (imho the single greatest French actress): "The best performance, by far, is that of Moreau, because Malle includes extended scenes of her essentially doing nothing—wandering the streets of Paris at night and contemplating her troubles—and he had the inspiration to notice that Moreau doing almost nothing is an absorbing spectacle in itself."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icJw9HXXoXA

Probably my favorite track from that soundtrack


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvwB...lesDavis-Topic