Lonely Avenue Remix

Not that I'm prepared to spend the money, but if I bought the box set with the remixable CD I'd just take everything off bar the vocals/guitar/bass & drums. I've come to realise that as much as I love all the rockabilly type stuff Brian's done, there isn't a single BSO track I'd put on my personal 'best of.'

I think fundamentally it boils down to all the orchestration - for me it takes away the rock'n'roll and replaces it with elevator schmaltz. I got to thinking about the BSO stuff that I own - ie everything up to this point -and how much more I'd prefer it if it didn't have all the unnecessary trumpets/trombones/everything bar the orchestral kitchen sink on it.

Bottom line I suppose is that I'm just a rockabilly recidivist -hence my desire to make everything else as near to the Stray Cats as possible!

Is there anyone else out there who is tired of all the BSO easy listening vibe, who just wishes Brian would stick to rock'n'roll?

I expect this will be an unpopular view!!

Wish those mixes happened when Bernie Dresel was still a band member so that I could listen to the drums in isolation to discover some tricks ;-)

See, I actually like that people aren't afraid to state what aspects of Brian's musical career they like the most, or the least. It helps people figure out what point of view they're coming from when they praise or bash one of Brian's albums. I think it's especially timely with the release of Lonely Avenue, perhaps the most sincere attempt at a big band album Brian's ever done, to know that the people who will criticize it the most harshly, probably aren't big BSO fans anyway.

I expect a lot of people on this board share your opinion, or at least, when given a choice, they would prefer Brian's rockin' side over the big band side. I see wildly enthusiastic and loyal Setzer fans offering less-than-enthusiastic attitudes towards the singles and song samples they've heard already. But some of those people I feel I know pretty well, and I would definitely categorize them as Stray Cats, 68 CBS, Nashvillains fans, but not necessarily BSO fans. So this new album may not be to their liking.

The BSO has been a Christmas show and a touring entity, with 2 Xmas albums and Wolfgang's Big Night Out, since 2000. So Brian's creative energies for most of the last decade have really been more on the stripped-down rockin' side. That and 30 years of Stray Cats has definitely tipped the fan base in favor of the non-BSO material.

Still, there are those of us who really enjoy the big band sounds, both mellow and rockin', and enjoy the BSO, respecting that it is really quite different than other areas of his musical career. It's hard to believe that the same guy who gave us Ignition, Rockabilly Riot, The Knife Feels Like Justice, and 13 can deliver the goods in a proper Big Band as well.

I dig the variety, and I think people that are big BSO fans also embrace the rockin' stuff. But I don't know that the dyed-in-the-wool Stray Cats devotees will swing the other way and extend the same tolerance or appreciation for strings and reeds in the BSO. It doesn't make rockabilly fans' opinions less valid, but when people start ripping apart Lonely Avenue next week, I'd like to know if the BSO ever really had a chance to win them over anyway. Are they Carl Perkins and Bobby Darin fans, or just Carl Perkins? Do Dean, Frank, and Sammy hold equal sway over them as Gene-n-Eddie? Do they listen to Charlie Feathers and Charlie Christian? The wider range one has in musical tastes, the more of Brian's music they're likely to embrace.

I expect most people who liked the BSO in the 90s will really enjoy Lonely Avenue. But most of the people here arrived post-Vavoom, so it will be interesting to see what everyone thinks, based on their preferences over Brian's very diverse musical career.

I know this: Being a fan of most everything Brian has recorded has opened me up to a virtual encyclopedia of music. For that I am very thankful.

Rock-a-Swing-a-Surf-a-String-a-Croon-a-Doo-Wop-a-Blues-a-Boogie-billy

I've been waiting for another like the Self Titled and I think this is it..
some of us need music to relax to late at night when the kids and wife
are asleep.. lately its been Diana Krall and old Frank Sinatra as well
as Astrud Gilberto so.. I'm a tad excited by all of this

+1 for the Astrud Gilberto reference!

But are we expecting this to be 'relaxing' music? I'll be honest, I've not studied the samples released thus far. I'm waiting to just buy the whole thing. I've just never thought of the BSO as elevator music, AT ALL! Different than Stray Cats? Of course it is. But this ain't no Lawrence Welk we're talking about here!

But hey - to each his own. I'll take whatever the big blond pomp dishes out.

Bear85 wrote:

I'll take whatever the big blond pomp dishes out.

What he said. I've heard it. Definitely not relaxing. Moody yes, but it ain't sleepin' music! I hope people will listen to it with an open mind. I think it's all kinds of awesome, but then I'm biased.

(okay, Lonely Avenue and My Baby Don't Love Me Blues may be mellow enough to be called "relaxing," but that's it. And in the case of the latter, "relaxing" isn't my first choice for descriptor. More like "slinky.")

Andi wrote:

Bear85 wrote:

I'll take whatever the big blond pomp dishes out.

What he said. I've heard it. Definitely not relaxing. Moody yes, but it ain't sleepin' music! I hope people will listen to it with an open mind. I think it's all kinds of awesome, but then I'm biased.

(okay, Lonely Avenue and My Baby Don't Love Me Blues may be mellow enough to be called "relaxing," but that's it. And in the case of the latter, "relaxing" isn't my first choice for descriptor. More like "slinky.")

my idea of "relaxing" is Setzer BSO. "Slinky" is a toy that NEVER followed me wherever I went.

"Slinky", "Moody", "Film Noir"....

I've only heard Lonely Ave. from the album cover video, so I'm thinking that with these descriptions and the "taste" of music, this is going to be an interesting album.

Anxiously awaiting the 13th,
hrg

HRG, Mr Surfer Goes Jazzin:


Trouble Train:

Andi,
You spoil me. Thanks!

hrg

sto-o--op it.. dont spoil it for me... no album strip tease! I want that CD in full glory on release day.
I'll even get a bottle of GlenFiddich to listen to it since Setzer digs single malt scotch and probably wrote much of it with a glass by his side!

Well said Rickabilly but I disagree with you in one thing:
one person could be a wonderful Setzer fan but on the other hand, being quite critic for whatever the reason.... those terms somehow are opposite but not necessarily.

Slim Jon Phantom wrote:

Well said Rickabilly but I disagree with you in one thing:
one person could be a wonderful Setzer fan but on the other hand, being quite critic for whatever the reason.... those terms somehow are opposite but not necessarily.

The only way that doesnt contradict itself is if the "Fan" is
an admirer of the musicians art but
bitter that the artistist personal life doesnt meet the fans
expectations.

For me that scenerio has no rational other than feeding a compulsive
obsession disorder.

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

I'll even get a bottle of GlenFiddich to listen to it

Why didn't I think of that? Add that to my list of Things To Do To Prepare For Release Of 'Songs From Lonely Avenue'!

Like a lot of you other fans out there, I prefer the musical scale when she's tipped in favor of the "White Knuckle - Watch for Falling Rocks" side, and not the "Sunday Grandma Drives To Church" side.

However, I would not compare any of the stuff Brian or BSO/etc. has done to "elevator music" - hell, I was driving around jammin' to BSO Christmas music just a few weeks ago!

I can see how, for some of you, the horn section doesn't get you going - personally, I dig that stuff. Horns are where it's at!

I've heard some little snippets off the new album ("Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin'" - Holy Moly!) - you rockers are gonna like it.

Buckle-up-for-safety-billy!

All right! Here in the middle of the road mid west, any new Setzer, Rocker or Phantom material is very welcome. Maybe where some of you are located this material is debatable but here in good old Cornfiled County where if you say rockabilly they say "rocka... what?" myself and 4 others really appreciate all of it. Thanks Brian, Surfdog, HVL and all of you that support all these different styles.

Kbilly

Easy listening? The House Is Rockin’, Buzz Buzz, Let’s Live It Up, The Dirty Boogie, This Cat’s On A Hot Tin Roof, ‘49 Mercury Blues, Americano, If You Can‘t Rock Me…well, you get the idea. I became a Setzer fan because of the orchestra. I followed all of the BSO albums as they came out and then started buying the Stray Cats music along with way. But it was the trumpets, trombones, and everything including the kitchen sink that I loved about Brian’s orchestra. All right, I do wish there was a piano in the band, but give me those horns! For me, that makes the music so exciting! I think each BSO album, for my listening enjoyment, improved as he released them and then he hit the bulls eye with The Dirty Boogie (and Vavoom! is kinda special to me too). If Brian gets new followers for the new things he tries in his music, well, that‘s a good thing. If there had been no Brian Setzer Orchestra, I’d have only Stray Cats Greatest Hits in my record collection. My collection is so much better with all of the Setzer albums in it!

Off to the track….(go Zenyatta!)

chuckling to myself reading these posts! Quite a crazy tangent to say I like to "relax" to Brian Setzer Orchestra and it gets translated to "easy listening" or "elevator" music.

We all have our paradigms and relaxing music IS brian setzer orchestra
because I like Punk and Metal as well as really wild Blues n Acid Jazz, ect.
The paradigm of "relaxing" for me is music that is not angry and aggressive. I'm a guitarist, I've never been one to remember the name of songs or the albums. I remember the guitar licks, bass riffs and drum beats..

..that is until I was turned on to BSO, now I hear the woodwinds and the brass interplay with the guitar.. Incredible..peppy, cool n swingin =r-e-laxing!

here's to a relaxing BSO album

Hear, hear, Gloria!

Even though I got into Brian's music through the Stray Cats, I don't know that I would be here without the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Although I liked the direction the Stray Cats were taking with Choo Choo Hot Fish, after they broke up, I don't know if I would have pursued Brian's solo career so fervently if the BSO hadn't come along.

I was moving away from the rockabilly and 50s rock-n-roll and starting to get into bluesy R&B and swingin' lounge music, exploring Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Louis Jordan, Louis Prima, Bobby Darin, the Rat Pack, and in walks Setzer with impeccable timing and the BSO's debut album. It was a perfect mix of all the retro stuff I loved. And Brian managed to bring back the class from the first album with a little more edge on Guitar Slinger. After a liitle more polish on Dirty Boogie, the rockin' big band's vision was fully realized on an album combining the best elements of all the previous albums in Vavoom. (Maybe a step too far into the mainstream on Gettin' In the Mood.)

Until the Nashvillains came along, I would have had the BSO as my favorite of all the Setzer bands, despite the fact that I came to the dance with Stray Cats. The BSO's still a very close second. The musicianship on display in the BSO and the Nashvillains, in my opinion, is leaps and bounds ahead of Stray Cats for me. Of course, rockabilly ain't always about the musicianship. It's more of a visceral experience. I completely understand those of you who place the Cats on a pedestal above anything that came after them. It's just not my personal preference.

Having said all this, if the Stray Cats recorded a new album, and put together a lavish Deluxe Edition package vinyl, CD, mp3, bath mat, cupholders, moon roof, and microchip to be injected behind my ear, I'd buy two!

I can't wait to gaze upon that pretty, pretty vinyl!

Give Me Some Rhythm Daddy-billy

Can anyone explain how these multi-tracks are going to be presented- on a CD/DVD for a computer with a built-in 'mixing board' software to isolate the various tracks on the fly? Or is it something else, like Brian in the left channel, Band in the right channel on a normal CD... Someone mentioned Steve Vai did a similar concept on one of his recent releases- what format did that take...?

Thanks,
Paul

celloplayer wrote:

Can anyone explain how these multi-tracks are going to be presented- on a CD/DVD for a computer with a built-in 'mixing board' software to isolate the various tracks on the fly? Or is it something else, like Brian in the left channel, Band in the right channel on a normal CD... Someone mentioned Steve Vai did a similar concept on one of his recent releases- what format did that take...?

Thanks,
Paul

While that might be really cool for interactivity as a musician, I dont
think that's too accessible to the general public. Brian records with
pro tools so those of us with at least digi002 would be able to have
fun but my guess is that you will get a collection of mixes similar to
what he did for Royer Ribbon mics so you could listen to recordings
of "guitar amp with royer 121 ribbon mic" in isolation. That in itself
would be interesting to most fans. Maybe a horns only track or bass-drums with vocals,etc?? I'm with you though for some pro tools
multitracks to have fun with!

I'd like to have separate tracks for each horn player, but can't find any info on that... Would be cool to have the tracks in such a format