Pat Metheny Group The Falcon and the Snowman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack EMI America 1985

Pat Metheny Group The Falcon and the Snowman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack EMI America 1985 CAT #SV-517150

Lee's Summit's Pat Metheny scored this entire soundtrack and of note, it featured the single, "This Is Not America" which featured David Bowie on vocals. That's pretty amazing.

The movie was a spy drama loosely based on the true story of two American spys who sold secrets to Russia in the Cold War. The movie was well-received, although, it's nothing that has stood the test of time. However, under the current political landscape, movies like this are occasionally mentioned and newly remembered. It also starred Sean Penn, so it's a footnote in his career.

As an album, it's like most of Metheny's work. Noodles around jazz-fusion and guitar driven landscapes. It's well-done and if you're a fan, I'm sure it's great. From my point of view, it's a little broader than his albums and incorporates a lot of touches you'd expect in a film score, mor orchestration, moodiness, and again, Bowie's vocal track to center around.

Official Trailer

Pat Metheny Group First Circle ECM/Warner Brothers 1984

Pat Metheny Group First Circle ECM/Warner Brothers 1984 CAT# ECM1278


As easy as it is to get lost or bored of a Pat Metheny's Jazz Fusion (it's just an acquired taste), this album's opener, "Forward March," kind of gets you excited. It's an out of tune, abstract, march song that still sounds familiar. It gives you hope this album will give you more than the slick production and jazz fusion forays into rock and world music.

After that, it's like all most the other Metheny albums. Well done jazz fusion. Very intricate and impressive musically without being a challenging listen.

First March

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls ECM 1981

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls ECM 1981 CAT# ECM 1-1190

Lee's Summit native Pat Metheny made a lot of albums, with a lot of different people. This one is supposed to be pretty good. Listening to it, it sounds dreamy, there's elements of prog-rock mixed in, but I'd rather talk about something else.

My dad gave me this album. Not because he's a Metheny fan or anything, just because he hordes records and came across this one. Years ago, my dad was decorating his garage with vintage things. Just random stuff he'd come across on Craigslist. For Father's Day or his birthday (can't remember which) I gave him a stack of LPs and an old Fisher Studio Standard turntable I had lying around, just to fit the vintage motif in his garage and because I didn't want to go anywhere I try to buy a present.

My father grew up in a time when vinyl was king. I remember growing up with my parents playing albums pulled from there Peaches wood crate that set next to a Sony stereo system. However, as my parents got older and moved from place to place, the stereo stopped being a part of household and my dad started tuning into talk radio instead of the local classic rock station. Point is, giving him a record player and some albums wasn't introducing him to anything new. Rather, it was giving him back something from his past.

I didn't really think giving him a turntable would be any sort of problem. I just thought he'd play the old albums he still had, maybe buy a few that he lost along the years, but mostly, I thought the turntable would just be a conversation starter in his garage/man-cave. What happened is that my dad went full tilt on records. He moved his man-cave to the basement and it became nothing but records and turntables. Every time I came over, more records would be there, another receiver or another turntable. He started trying make it a lifestyle, buying tee shirts related to vinyl and turntables. Texting me about finds and "digs". He got to know other area collectors by going to Estate sales and stores.

At first, I didn't mind, I'd thumb through his new stuff, he'd grab local stuff for me when he saw it. But anymore, it's a bit too much, I can't keep up. There's also the annoyance of him thinking it's "cool." Similar to a millennial bragging about a bullshit Ryan Adams LP sounding great on a Crosley turntable, he began to think of the hobby as cool, something unique to him. Vinyl isn't inherently cool. And, collecting vinyl is anything but cool. It's a nerdy hobby. It used to be filled with weird old guys it sweatpants that loved to talk about Elvis Presley, which is anything but cool. Sure, there's a revival. However, despite the revival, it doesn't make an obsessive vinyl collector with a Rush t-shirt anymore attractive or cool.

Regardless of hipness, one thing that is true for most new collectors is that he or she gets a bit value-obsessed. The question, "What's it worth?", becomes a huge part of the vocabulary. This was most certainly true of my dad, although, I think he's slowed down on that aspect. This record came to me at his height of what's-it-worth-syndrome. At his job, he has access to some sort of cellophane wrapper and he was using it to re-seal old LPs. When I first asked, he described it as an easy way to preserve albums. To which I'd reply, shrink wrap isn't a good way to store records, it's a only a good way to warp them as the shrink does what the name implies, it shrinks over time and puts pressure on the record eventually warping it if you don't break the seal. However, it became apparent that it wasn't really about preserving them, it was an attempt to elevate the value.

The first time he showed me this record, he bragged about it's sealed condition. And if that were correct, yeah, it's true, mint condition Pat Metheny albums do hold some value to nerdy audiophiles. However, when I looked at it, it was painfully obvious it wasn't an original seal. The wrap it was thin and not typical. But, the dead giveaway was the water-stains along the spine. I didn't have the heart to call him out, just said, "Yeah, that's cool."

He probably tried to trade this off and couldn't and that's probably good because I don't see a bunch of re-sealed LPs at his house anymore. It's a shady practice and most people see through it. Eventually, he gave this LP to me, still re-sealed. I opened it up, thinking maybe it is legit, but no. It's got scuffs, it's got signs of usage, it's not mint. It still plays nice and all, I'm just saying, the weird re-sealing thing could have really pissed someone off if he sold it on eBay. And, it's weird, right?

Pat Metheny Group S/T ECM 1978

Pat Metheny Group S/T ECM 1978 CAT #ECM 1-1114

This is the first album released by Lee's Summit native Pat Metheny under the name the Pat Metheny Group. Don't really need to go into the group members, because they're listed rather stylishly on the cover, This group created a string of well regarded release up through the 80's.

The music is very technical and sophisticated. It's on ECM, which is kind of a big deal for 70's and 80's jazz. The players are all great. The music kind of floats and noodles around a lot. Like, you'll leave the room for 5 minutes thinking you'll come back to another song and Lyle Mays is still slowly pounding out the same chord progression on his keyboard while Metheny just kind of splashes his guitar around. It's heavy in electronic instruments, but still sounds organic. Listening to it, even if it's not your thing, you can understand why it might be someone else's.

Also, below is a link of this guy on YouTube getting all sorts of pumped for a reissue of this LP. It's called an "Unboxing" video, which is these record collectors on YouTube just opening up packages of records they received in the mail, which is an actual thing that other people like to watch. They don't play the records due to copyright laws, which begs the question why are people so into watching these videos. I guess there's writing a blog on records nerdy, then there's next level YouTube nerdy.

This Fucking Guy and YouTube Unboxing Videos...

David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group This Is Not America Single EMI 1985

David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group This Is Not America Single EMI 1985 CAT# 8251

Further proof that Pat Metheny's skills are not to be scoffed at. He collaborated with one of the most admired pop-stars of all time, David Bowie. Metheny did soundtrack work for the 1985 John Schlesinger film, The Falcon and the Snowman. I don't have the album, yet, but I do have this single featuring David Bowie on vocals.

The song is cool, it's got Bowie's signature vocals and Metheny noodling around on guitars and synths. When I finally got around to this release, I had grandiose plans to discuss how cool Kansas City can be. Here's this jazz guitarist from Lee's Summit with enough clout to get the most stylish rock star of a generation (lifetime) to work with him. Then Bowie died, and now I just want to talk about how much I love David Bowie.

I've always been really attached to music, it's something that always brought a smile to my face, it's always helped me through tough times and helped make the good times better. My earliest memories are of me sitting in the back seat of the family station wagon and notifying my parents whenever a Beatles track came on the radio. I was proud of being right, at least they always told me I was. As I got older, the love for music just became stronger, I started to notice that sometimes (often) my enthusiasm for it wasn't the same as everyone else's. To this day, my closest friends are those who share the same enthusiasm for music.

Somewhere around 3rd or 4th Grade, I think my mom started to realize I was seeking out things that were different. Challenging myself to seek out music that wasn't on the radio, the deep cuts. I started digging through my parent's LP collection trying to find something new for me to get into. My mom pulled out a beat up copy (all my parents' albums were beat up) of David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and pointed out the backside liner note which stated, "TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME."

So I did. That album opened me up. Before it, the strangest tracks I was digging on were "I Am the Walrus" by the Beatles or Doors albums. Here's this album that tells a story about an interstellar rock star, an androgynous one, and the music isn't backwards, but it's from another planet when compared to the Appetite For Destruction cassette I was fond of. It opened things up for me. I had to seek out more albums like this. I bought Rykodisc reissues of Bowie's catalog. Then it was finding more of the glam rock Bowie championed in the 70's. And that sent me down the path I'm at today....this rabbit hole of continually seeking out another album, seeking out another genre or style. That's how Bowie opened me up, I mean the guy touched almost every genre throughout his catalog, how could it not.

For a long time, there was a full-fledged Bowie obsession. While it's cooled down since high school and college, I'm still very much a fan of his music. In college, I wrote a paper about Bowie's androgynous Ziggy character and how, in a way, it made gay cool. Of course, I embellished the point for the purpose of my paper (the professor pointed this out, not me), but what is important about the story is that it made gay acceptable for me. Obviously, in 4th grade, I wan't comprehending what Ziggy was about. Ziggy, to 4th grade me was asexual, which was odd, but I wasn't old enough to understand sexuality.

As a young adult reading about it, it became a bit more clear. Bowie's sexuality was up in the air, probably bisexual, but pretty clear, not a straight laced heterosexual. And, I want to be careful here, because I've never had it in me to hate, but as a heterosexual teenager, the idea of homosexuality is well, queer, for lack of a better term. Even my aunt is gay, I knew that before Bowie, but I just kind of choose to ignore it to avoid confusion. At that age, it's easier to question things that are different from you rather than accept them. And sometimes, you just don't bother to come to terms with it. But, here is this guy, this hero of mine, who was different than me, who was gay. I had to accept that. So, beyond the music, I credit Bowie for making me a better person.

Rest in peace David Bowie and thank you.

This Is Not America

Pat Metheny with Charlie Haden & Billy Higgins Rejoicing ECM/Warner Brothers 1983

Pat Metheny with Charlie Haden & Billy Higgins Rejoicing ECM/Warner Brothers 1983 CAT# ECM 1271

Usually after 3 minutes of hearing Pat Metheny noodle around, I've decided I have something better to do. I literally have a closet full of his albums on the account he's local, but I'm not sure I'll ever get it. I mean, I get that he's great at guitar and all, it's just a lot of guitar masturbation all over the place on these LPs.

Pat Metheny is a Kansas Citian, though. I think it's pretty safe to say, he's Kansas City's most accomplished guitar player. I mean the guy made a kajillion albums like this, he's been giving a ton of Grammy's, and been voted best guitarist by guitar magazines over and over. It's pretty impressive. He was born outside of Kansas City in Lee's Summit, Missouri. By age 15, his jazz guitar styling was catching the eye of teachers. After graduation, he briefly attended a school in Florida, but they apparently realized there wasn't much left to teach him and offered him a job. He would wind up taking a teaching job eventually, at one of the most prestigious music schools in the country, Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he was an assistant teacher with legendary vibraphonist, Gary Burton, leading the way. By the late 70's, he'd perform regular with Burton, from there, the guy just started recording and touring. When you look at his body of work, it looks like it must have been non-stop.

But yeah, I kind of kid on Pat Metheny. It's very good music, just not really my cup of tea. I get why people like it, as stated above, he's extremely talented. The ECM releases are great because the label was so focused on quality, typically pressed on virgin vinyl, well sleeved and tastefully designed. This album features Charlie Hayden from Iowa, but took his first paying gig nearby in Springfield, Missouri. Billy Higgins is amazing drummer who played with just about everybody important in the post-bop era.

The Calling from the album, it's most of side 2.