Jewish songs infiltrate rock 'n roll

[Ari Davidow <jmusic...>]

I'm sitting here listening to a French Klez group called "Shpil es noch
amol." This is their second recording I've bought, and it's good, but it
doesn't excite me the way the American amalgams do. I feel the same way
about them that I do about the Massel Klezmorim from Germany--definitely
friendly fireside music, but not ... with it.

So, I'm thinking about the mix of musics and reflecting on a couple of
oddball Jewish recordings that made it onto rock records. For instance, in
the penultimate album of their original lineup ("The band that plays
together"), Sixties rock band, Spirit, had a lovely heavy metalish version
of "Hine mah tov."

Then there was the lovely band, "Seatrain". This was an outgrowth of the
lovely Jewish blues/rock band, "The Blues Project." (I think everyone in
the original band was Jewish. But lots of Sixties white blues folks were.)
Anyway, the first album on Capital ("Seatrain") had two songs. The first
one, "The Story of Job," could have been by any bible-quoting Sixties
folks. The second one, however, "Waiting for Elijah," could only have come
from ... us.

Anyone think of other examples?

ari
jmusic (at) israel(dot)nysernet(dot)org

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