From The Mind(?) Of Damon Warmack: October 2012

This is basically some background for my ~~reluctant~~ nickname, The Black Burt Bacharach.

I remember reading an interview with bassist/composer/producer Marcus Miller when he was promoting his 1997 CD, Live & More. One of the high points of the record was his cover of People Make The World Go 'Round by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. In this article, Marcus refers to Thom Bell as "the Black Burt Bacharach", siting their shared use of odd time signatures, complex chord changes and catchy melodies all within a pop song. For whatever reason, that quote stuck in my mind.

Cut to about 13 years later. As I'm apt to do, I made my Facebook status the VERY tongue-in-cheek "Damon Warmack is the Black Burt Bacharach!". My buddy, the amazing drummer Skeeto Valdez, saw this, took it and ran with it. We were hosting a weekly jam session at Alvin's in Detroit at the time and he began ~~and never ceased~~ calling me "Damon The Black Burt Bacharach Warmack" then.

So, Bell, Biv DeVoe. Now you know.

Be Good,
DLW

Once again, this is from a blog I posted several years ago on ~~MySpace~~ another website. I'm posting this here in the hopes of revisiting this idea next year to see what's changed. at any rate, here we go...!

Hello all!

As cliche as it is, I've decided to post a list of the top ten albums/songs that make me happiest as of right this moment.

Note: these are in no particular order and they don't feature me (how narcissistic would THAT be?)

1) The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker- Prince: Even though my brother had Sign O The Times on wax when it came out, I didn't discover this gem until '95 or so when I read a list of what D'Angelo was listening to. When I finally heard it... whoa! Musically, it's like the antithesis of When Doves Cry; there are at least 3 bass parts. The lyrics are almost this stream-of-consciousness kinda thing; food orders, bubble baths, Joni Mitchell quotes... Wow.

2) All 'N All, I Am and Faces- Earth Wind & Fire: Ah. The late-70's triumverate of EWF albums. All 'N All was recorded after the group had lost producer/songwriter/arranger Charles Stepney to a heart attack the year before. Maurice White took a vacation in Brazil and came back with he inspiration for this project, the result being the best tip-to-tail EWF album. I Am was the first EWF project that was written without the rest of the band's input. Maurice, David Foster and Allee Willis composed the bulk of this record with great results, but you can see the reins tightening (no in-house band songs, Phillip Bailey leads only one of the 9 songs on the album...). Faces wasn't a huge commercial success for the band (a double-album that "only" went gold when it came out) but it has the distinction of being the last "true" EWF album in content, concept and creation. It was the last EWF project that featured cats like Larry Dunn and Al McKay (who left the band shortly after the making of this album) writing material for the band.

3) Pages- S/T: I probably lost 99% of the people reading this blog with this title. The two guys that founded this band, Steve George and Richard Page, wrote songs and sang background for the likes of Al Jarreau, Kenny Loggins, Tom Scott, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan and more. And after THIS group disbanded, they went on to create Mr. Mister (of Kyrie and Broken Wings fame) .

4) The Way Up- The Pat Metheny Group: The Magnum Opus in the PMG book, a band with a 25 year history of 10 minute compositions. Word is, this song/album was a reaction to music becoming shorter, smaller and dumbed-down.

5) Amandla- Miles Davis: While I admit that nothing on this CD is as compositionally strong as Tutu and Portia from the previous record, I think that Amandla makes a more cohesive statement as a whole.

6) Fantasy-EWF: This is perhaps my favorite song ever. It's the song responsible for me playing music in general and bass guitar in particular.

7) Thiller- Michael Jackson: Now, I actually like Off The Wall more than this album, but the moments that work on here, REALLY work. Everyone knows all of the hits from this record; the beautiful intro and outro to Human Nature ("Looking Out..." Has anyone else noticed that Michael pronounces the "t" in "Out" like a "d"? He does this everytime he sings that word. I dare you to go and check for yourself), the groove on Billie Jean and so on. I like some of the smaller moments; His background vocals on Baby Be Mine, the little vocal tics he does in the middle of the 3rd verse of Thriller (3:12), etc... But the coup de grace for me is every element of the the album's last song, Lady In My Life.

8) Star Of A Story- Heatwave: Out of the many, many (MANY) great songs that England's Rod Temperton has written (Always And Forever, Boogie Nights, Rock With You, Baby Come To Me, Thriller...), this one may very well be my favorite. From the first orchestra-and-sythesizer low note, to the Fender Rhodes ostinato, to the unique drum part, to the lyrics that are romantic without being trite (they only refer to the subject of the song as "Angel", which is a telling trait), to the almost-fugal counterpoint of the chorus vocals. AND there are just enough harmonic twists to keep things interesting.

9) Mistura Fina- John Patitucci: This album is a slow burn. I liked it when it came out, but it's grown to become one of my favorite Patitucci projects. This particular CD is rooted in the expansive musical culture of Brazil.

10) This Is It- Kenny Loggins: One of several fruitfull collaborations between Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald, I enjoy This Is It the most because of it's subject matter. At a glance, it almost seems like a typical relationship song but it's actually a message to Kenny's dad. The senior Loggins was going through a major surgery and was having doubts about whether or not he was gonna make it out okay. This Is It was Kenny's way of telling his dad that you have some say in these moments in your life and you have to go out and fight for them.

Details as I find the time to post them....

Be Good,
DLW