Doug McCombs of Tortoise interviewed [Listen 44:00 min] – Starting With A Bass Line

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S02 Ep08 -Doug McCombs-Starting with a bassline

Interview Date: April 27, 2012 @8pm EDT

Special Guest: Doug McCombs of Tortoise (Part 1 of 1) This multi-instrumentalists is one of the founding members of Tortoise. Tortoise is an instrumental band that is considered by most critics as one of the main forces behind changing the grunge scene and bringing a fresh sound to the 2000’s. McCombs also plays in bands Brokeback, and Eleventh Dream Day. Tortoise also has connections and/or collaborated with The Sea And Cake, Beck, Eleventh Dream Day, Poster Children, Slint, The For Carnation, Isotope 217, Zwan, and even put out a collaboration album with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Most of these great works have been released by Tortoise’s long time record label, Thrill Jockey. Currently they are touring Europe. http://www.trts.com/ Please note: We are posting a full concert by Tortoise next week!

Album Cover Artwork Trivia and Questions

This week I thought I would change things up a bit and test your “record cover art knowledge.” Some are easier than others; let’s see how you do?

1)On the 1974 North American cover, what two cars are recognizable on Kraftwork's famous album "Autobahn"?

2) Tom Waits is sitting in a diner on the record “Nighthawks at the Diner”; how much does the sign in the window show a breakfast costs?

3) What is Bob Dylan holding on the album “Bring It All Back Home”? Follow up question: which records are noticeable in the picture?

4) The inside gatefold of Zeppelin IV is a picture of what?

5) The Abbey Road cover was said to depict a funeral, with each member being a different character. Can you remember who was what?

6) What colors were used in the Elvis Presley letters on his first album?

7) What is Amy Winehouse sitting behind on the album “Back To Black “?

8 ) On the record “Elephant” what are Meg and Jack White both sitting on?

9) Radiohead's "Kid A" cover art is a picture of white and blue mountain range. What color is the sky?

10) In CSN&Y's "Deja Vu", what does the gun that Crosby is holding appear to be pointing at?

11) What title takes centre space on P.I.L's album "Album"?

12) On Randy Newman's "12 Songs", what are the chairs in the yard turned towards?

13) Who painted the cover art work on Charles Mingus's "Mingus Ah Um"

14) Where did David Montgomery get the models from for the nude cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland"

15) Did Jimi like the cover?

16) Who were the people who were originally intended for the front cover but were excluded afterward on the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"?:

17) What was the name of the cow on the front cover of Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother"?

18) What's the design on the cover of Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures"?

19) What happened to the boy pictured on U2's "Boy", and "War" albums?

Answers: (No Cheating!)

1)  a Mercedes and Volkswagen Bug

2) $1.85; but the Breakfast Steak with French Fries is only $0.10 more.

3) Dylan is holding a cat and a magazine. The records are: The Folk Blues of Eric Von Schmidt (Prestige Label), The Impressions (Keep on Pushing), Robert Johnson (King of the Delta Blues Singers), Ravi Shankar (India's Master Musician), Lotte Lenya (Sings Berlin Theatre Songs by Kurt Weill) and Another Side of Bob Dylan appears behind Sally Grossman (wife of Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman).

4) a tarot card called “the hermit” ; if the image is held vertically against a mirror, a man's face can be seen hidden in the rocks below the hermit.

5) George Harrison was supposed to be the Grave digger, Ringo was the undertaker, Lennon was the priest and of course Paul was ‘Dead’. http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1044.html

6) Elvis (pink), Presley (green). the knockoffs: the Clash’s London Calling and maybe Rain Dogs by Tom Waits.

7) A Chalk board.

8 ) A travel trunk. There are six different versions of the cover and the image is supposed to be a picture of an elephant face with Mag and Jack being the Ears.

9) Red. The image chosen by Tom Yorke was meant to represent the War in Kosovo in Serbia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War

10) Dallas Taylor's gonads

11) "Album”

12) a TV

13) Neil Fujita

14) Random girls picked up from clubs and bars in central London.

15) No. He hated it.

16) · Leo Gorcey - was modelled and originally included to the left of Huntz Hall, but was subsequently removed when a fee of $400 was requested for the use of the actor's likeness.

· Mohandas Gandhi - was modelled and originally included to the right of Lewis Carroll, but was subsequently removed. According to McCartney, "Gandhi also had to go because the head of EMI, Sir Joe Lockwood, said that in India they wouldn't allow the record to be printed".

· Jesus Christ - was requested by Lennon, but not modelled because the LP would be released only a few months after Lennon's Jesus statement.

· Adolf Hitler - was modelled and was visible in early photographs of the montage, positioned to the right of Larry Bell, but was eventually obscured by Johnny Weissmuller in the final image.

· Germán Valdés - was considered to appear in the first row, but he declined the offer and suggested to replace his image by a Mexican craftmanship known as "Tree of Life". Ringo Starr agreed and placed it in the lower right corner of the cover.

17) Lullabelle III

18) Graphic transcription of the signal of a star going nova

19) He became Ireland's skateboard champion

Source for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band (5/29/12)

Picture sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Dylan_in_Toronto2.jpg