One-man-bands
Thursday, 28 February 2008
A while ago I read a bit of my own blog and realised that I could spare me the effort that I am doing. I think that many people would be far more happy with a daily rare tune from my collection, in stead of my endless personal ramblings about songs that have only meaning for me. But hey, why take the easy way if there is a difficult one?
Today I visited my Post Office Box (PO box 75459, 1070 AL AMsteram) and found another envelop of Ruud Verkerk in it. This time he surprised me with a CD compilation of one-man-bands. And just as the Play that record CD’s, the artwork is a labour of love. I will try to reproduce as much of it as possible, but thhe photo’s are small and in low resolution.
One-man-bands! I have not yet written about this genre. That is because I hesitate to write about all the things that really interest me. If I am passionate about something, I want to do it justice. And a few lines, like I usually write in this blog, are not what is on my mind when I think of Gary Glitter, Ad Visser, The UK Meteorz, primitive synthesizers, singing animals or one-man-bands, just to name a few things that have not found their way into this Soundtrack yet.
I can’t play any instrument; I don’t think I will ever come close to play music that I would love to hear myself, so I don’t think I will take music lessons. But if I could, I would be a one-man-band. Total control, no discussions, the freedom to do whatever you want, I wonder why so many people prefer to be in a band with three or four other persons. But apart from the social factors, there is also a musical factor. There is something about the sound of one-man-band music that I love. It is often primitive, far from perfect, and raw. That is what often gets lost in bands with more than one musician.
The idea that one person plays several instruments at the same time is fascinating, because it is clear that this means that there have concessions to be done. It is amazing what sounds some one-man-bands can produce!
Ruud Verkerk writes that there have been and still are, one-man-bands in every musical genre, country and epoch. I prefer the more rock’n’roll oriented ones, but I wouldn’t mind having to listen to a one-man Bollywood orchestra or a one-man-Beatles-band. (Hasn’t that been done yet?)
Here is a track that from Ruud’s beautiful compilation: B.O.M.B. One Man Band with Baby I love you.
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And here is a video of a one-man-band live in action: Professor Gizmo!