Ohrenschmaus

No music tonight. You have all been too naughty today.

Beggar’s Banquet has always been my favourite album by the Stones. To be honest I have never been a huge fan of the band, maybe it is because they were always there. And they still are. Or at least they think so. No Expectations is dominated by Brian Jones slide guitar on the right channel. Jagger said it was one of the last times Brian Jones was involved in something he cared for. About a year after the recording he was dead. I love that the guitar sounds like a drunk staggering along. The song was recorded with open mikes in a live setting and it has this intimate home feel. It is a slow blues ballad which adds to the cosy atmosphere. Jagger seems to be lamenting. I always expect him to burst into tears in a second. Not a typical Stones song.

Not to have any expectations is an attitude I aspire but hardly ever attain. You cannot be disappointed if you don’t expect anything. But you can very well be surprised in a good way. With music this happened many times to me. Let’s take Astral Weeks Van Morrison’s milestone album from 40 years ago. I had read so much about its ingenuity: a white man singing the blues like no other etc. that I was totally underwhelmed when I heard it for the first time. It was so not there, so ephemeral, passing me by completely. Other artists like Joni Mitchell or The Smiths I discovered by pure chance without knowing anything about them not even their name. And their music immediately became a part of me.

There is also a meta aspect of this idea. I had planned to write about a song per day or maybe five per week but I would like you not to expect this posting frequency by me as you will surely be disappointed soon. Fortunately there are only about two and a half people following this blog so the letdown will be limited. And I beg you not to expect anything from the music. Only then your mind will be open to enjoy it. To be maybe hit or penetrated by it. But if you want me to write about a song you would like to discuss about please feel free to do so. As the main purpose of blogging for me besides concentrating myself on something is to communicate with others and to exchange views and thoughts.