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MORRISSEY - CALIFORNIA SUN
ARTIST:
TITLE:
California Sun
LABEL:
CATNO:
4050538486087
STYLE:
Pop Rock /
FORMAT:
Vinyl record
DESCRIPTION:
Rock / Pop Covers LP From Manchester's Favourite Son - Ltd Edition Sky Blue Vinyl.
Ever since the Smiths cut Twinkle's 1965 obscurity "Golden Lights" in 1986, Morrissey has exhibited a knack for curious covers. Usually, he saved other people's songs for the stage, sometimes sneaking a tune onto a B-side, but he never dedicated himself to covering his favorite tunes until 2019's California Son.
The punning title indicates Morrissey's keen awareness of 20th century pop culture, but instead of celebrating the surf rock of the Rivieras, Moz is stuck in Topanga Canyon and Hollywood. Opening with an interpretation of Jobriath's "Morning Starship" is something of a feint, suggesting California Son will be populated with the kind of glam cult favorites the singer has championed for decades, but nearly all of the record is devoted to the kind of pop and folk-rock songs that were recorded often in the second half of the '60s and early '70s. Balancing AM chestnuts from Roy Orbison ("It's Over"), the 5th Dimension ("Wedding Bell Blues"), and Gary Puckett & the Union Gap ("Lady Willpower") -- the kind of tunes that still keep oldies radio humming along all these years later -- with pointed songs from Bob Dylan ("Only a Pawn in Their Game"), Joni Mitchell ("Don't Interrupt the Sorrow"), Phil Ochs ("Days of Decision"), and Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Suffer the Little Children"),
Morrissey manages to confound without quite surprising. Perhaps the protest songs are intended as commentary on modern times -- if so, it's difficult to square these choices with the controversial political stances Morrissey has embraced in public -- but it's just as likely he chose these compositions because he likes their melodies and words, knowing that he can milk the melodrama out of each turn of phrase. He does that throughout California Son, sounding fully engaged in a way he hasn't in his often listless 2010s. Working with a restricted colorful palette helps, too. Perhaps it's disarming to hear chintzy synths on "Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets," but shorn of the loud, lumbering guitars that have defined his records since 2004's You Are the Quarry, Morrissey seems lithe, even spry. That's not quite the same thing as sounding young, however. By planting his flag so firmly in the past, Morrissey proudly separates himself from the present, even when he's embracing brightly digital production. In other words, he's sounding a bit like a curmudgeon, but he embraces his eccentricities, which means this contrarianism wears well on record, even if it doesn't in real life.
Ever since the Smiths cut Twinkle's 1965 obscurity "Golden Lights" in 1986, Morrissey has exhibited a knack for curious covers. Usually, he saved other people's songs for the stage, sometimes sneaking a tune onto a B-side, but he never dedicated himself to covering his favorite tunes until 2019's California Son.
The punning title indicates Morrissey's keen awareness of 20th century pop culture, but instead of celebrating the surf rock of the Rivieras, Moz is stuck in Topanga Canyon and Hollywood. Opening with an interpretation of Jobriath's "Morning Starship" is something of a feint, suggesting California Son will be populated with the kind of glam cult favorites the singer has championed for decades, but nearly all of the record is devoted to the kind of pop and folk-rock songs that were recorded often in the second half of the '60s and early '70s. Balancing AM chestnuts from Roy Orbison ("It's Over"), the 5th Dimension ("Wedding Bell Blues"), and Gary Puckett & the Union Gap ("Lady Willpower") -- the kind of tunes that still keep oldies radio humming along all these years later -- with pointed songs from Bob Dylan ("Only a Pawn in Their Game"), Joni Mitchell ("Don't Interrupt the Sorrow"), Phil Ochs ("Days of Decision"), and Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Suffer the Little Children"),
Morrissey manages to confound without quite surprising. Perhaps the protest songs are intended as commentary on modern times -- if so, it's difficult to square these choices with the controversial political stances Morrissey has embraced in public -- but it's just as likely he chose these compositions because he likes their melodies and words, knowing that he can milk the melodrama out of each turn of phrase. He does that throughout California Son, sounding fully engaged in a way he hasn't in his often listless 2010s. Working with a restricted colorful palette helps, too. Perhaps it's disarming to hear chintzy synths on "Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets," but shorn of the loud, lumbering guitars that have defined his records since 2004's You Are the Quarry, Morrissey seems lithe, even spry. That's not quite the same thing as sounding young, however. By planting his flag so firmly in the past, Morrissey proudly separates himself from the present, even when he's embracing brightly digital production. In other words, he's sounding a bit like a curmudgeon, but he embraces his eccentricities, which means this contrarianism wears well on record, even if it doesn't in real life.
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£21.49
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Last FM Information on Morrissey
Please note the information is done on a artist keyword match and data is provided by LastFM.
Steven Patrick Morrissey, better known as Morrissey, is a British singer and lyricist of Irish descent born in Davyhulme, Manchester, United Kingdom on May 22, 1959.
He was the lead singer of The Smiths, one of the most influential alternative bands in the 1980s. The group split up in 1987 and Morrissey started a successful solo career.
His first solo album, Viva Hate was released only six months after The Smiths split, in March 1988. The album's first single "Suedehead" peaked at #5, a higher position than any Smiths single had ever achieved. In 1990, Bona Drag, a collection of his solo singles and b-sides, including popular songs such as "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" and "Everyday is Like Sunday" (which also appears on "Viva Hate")
His second album 1991's Kill Uncle was not as well received as his first, with neither single achieving the Top 20. In 1992, the Mick Ronson-produced Your Arsenal was released and included singles such as "Tomorrow" and "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful". A live album, Beethoven Was Deaf, followed in 1993.
In 1994, Morrissey released Vauxhall and I, which contained "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get", his biggest hit in the United States, where it peaked at #46. Later that year, Morrissey also recorded a one-off project with Siouxsie of Siouxsie and the Banshees: they sang in duet on the single Interlude.
After "Vauxhall and I", Morrissey released Southpaw Grammar (1995) and Maladjusted (1997), both of which failed to produce a UK Top 20 single.
A period of musical inactivity followed in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was due to failure in finding a suitable label, according to a 2004 interview with Jools Holland. After seven years without a new album release, You Are the Quarry was released on May 17, 2004 (but one day later in the USA). The first single, Irish Blood, English Heart, was released internationally on May 10, 2004. The single reached number three in its first week of sales in the UK singles chart. To date, this is the highest placing chart position for Morrissey in his entire career as both a solo artist and the lead singer of The Smiths (the 2006 release You Have Killed Me also debuted at number three in its first week in the charts). It has sold over a million copies, making the album his most successful, solo or with The Smiths.
Ringleader Of The Tormentors, produced by former David Bowie producer Tony Visconti, was released in April 2006. The album went straight to the top of the UK Album charts.
Morrissey released a new Greatest Hits collection in February 2008, including two new songs: All You Need Is Me and That’s How People Grow Up, both released as singles. Morrissey is now signed to Decca Records.
In 2009, Morrissey released his latest album, Years of Refusal, which was produced by Jerry Finn, his final production credit before his death. Later in the year, Morrissey released the B-sides collection Swords.
2009 also saw the re-releases of Maladjusted and Southpaw Grammar, two of his most critically maligned albums. The Maladjusted re-release ditched two of its singles, Papa Jack and Roy's Keen, in favour of several other tracks from the period, such as I Can Have Both. Sorrow Will Come in the End, written about Morrissey's vicious legal battle with Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, was also re-instated to the UK edition. Southpaw Grammar retained all of its original tracks, albeit re-sequenced, but recieved the addition of other tracks from that time period, including the new album closer Nobody Loves Us.
Two other Morrissey releases came in 2009; The HMV/Parlophone Singles '88-'95 and Swords, the former a 3 CD compilation of singles and B-sides from Viva Hate through to Vauxhall and I, the latter a compilation of B-sides from You Are The Quarry, Ringleader of the Tormentors, and Years of Refusal.
A new Very Best Of collection was released in 2011, accompanied by a UK tour.
Morrissey's eleventh solo album, 'Low in High School', was released on November 17th, 2017. ' Low in high School' was produced by Joe Chiccarelli same producer as Morrissey’s ‘World Peace is None of Your Business’.
Morrissey's twelth studio album "California Son" is released on 24 May 2019 on the singer's label étienne and licensed on BMG, the album is a collection of cover versions. It is recorded in 2018 by Joe Chiccarelli, a frequent collaborator of Morrissey.
Morrissey's new studio album, I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, is scheduled for March 2020 release by BMG. The album was recorded in St-remy, France, with producer Joe Chiccarelli. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.