Profanity
To know me even slightly is to know I’m an insufferable snob about Cuban music, which is unquestionably the chief manifestation of God on Earth. Not just a snob, a bit of a purist. I frequently sit around snooty hipster parties bragging, falsely, that I never buy any recordings made after about 1955. (Truth: one, I have often bought later recordings than that; two, who has the cash for CDs when they are rebuilding their kitchen; three, I never get invited to parties like that.) There are cases, though, where I can comfortably hold two opposing opinions at once. (You are shocked.) Ry Cooder’s slide guitar work on the Buenavista Social Club album is one: I would have argued against it, on essentially religious grounds, but now that it’s done I think it’s absolutely gripping and I love listening to it.
So I just found out there’s a group called the Mammals that recorded a sort of countryish bluegrassy version of “Chan Chan,” one of the sacred Cuban standards. I was all ready to ignore it, but it turns out to be really difficult not to like. It’s sung to pieces by Tao Rodriguez, who may have benefited from having Pete Seeger for a grandpa, or not, who knows. They are giving away samples for free at their website, and I put a copy in my collection for your downloading convenience. So you have no excuse for not being completely familiar with these guys. I totally intend to go see them if they ever get off the east coast.
