Book Review, Dances With Wolves, By - Michael Blake

My thoughts on 'Dances With Wolves', By - Michael Blake

A top class western and much more... definitely a four Star book...

Ordered to hold an abandoned army post, John Dunbar found himself alone, beyond the edge of civilization. Thievery and survival soon forced him into the Indian camp, where he began a dangerous adventure that changed his life forever. Relive the adventure and beauty of the incredible movie, DANCES WITH WOLVES.

It is important to read a book, and, discover what the writer wanted to achieve, before putting down a review or a critique of any work. In that regard, the book is a triumph, since, it brings the reader up-close,  empathizing with the loss of ancient civilizations, through the spread of human population that has been unleashed upon the earth. It reveals the hidden world of the Comanche and other Indian tribes and their struggles as they recede deeper in to the country before running out of ground, and, before being crushed under the technical advancement of guns and cavalry that even their unsurpassed valor cannot withstand. The book helped me realize the loss that we all must share, as we build modern cities and encroach further in to a countryside, whose citizens existed harmoniously for generations, but, can no longer live without the identification of cards and the decay of a healthy life as our cultural pollution reaches them. The book, it provides a historical  and cultural landscape of the ancient Indian civilization, it is a small window with very few details, but, enough for it to be included in the reading program that anyone may design for young readers of today.

The second aspect, that a book may be judged by is the story-line. Here again, the book triumphs, taking the reader on a simple yet well constructed set of events, making for a fast paced page turner. The events help understand how a modern human could be made to fall in love with what outwardly appears as ancient barbaric ways. Eventually, he embraces the Comanche, becoming a part of the ancient tribes, assuming their ways, assuming a name and a family that they, the ancient ones, bestow upon him. His transition of identity from a western soldier in a uniform, to a Comanche warrior ornamented with bones and such is at the center of the story, and makes for a journey where the reader himself comprehends how and why a man can be influenced to drop all that he has achieved, in order to take up all that he knows nothing about.

The third aspect, that a book may be judged by, is the medium, namely the usage of language, by which the story is delivered to the reader. Strangely, here the book comes up short. The writing is a bit heavy-handed and often the metaphors fall a bit flat. It is true, that a lot of the writing tries to bring alive phraseology used by the original Indian language, Lakota, in the 1800's. The author deals with this aspect well, but, it is the pure English narrative that could have been a bit more expansive, in order to match the locales and the country and the big themes that the book is set in. The book was released in the late 80's and was responsible for resurrecting the genre 'Western' across the states. It is one of the best Western's that I have read till now.

This is a must read book, even if you have seen the movie!

Santana (Shango) An unheralded Rock Album

Shango remains one of the top rock albums in my personal list. However in the larger community, it has not got the place that it deserves as one of the top rock album of all times. But then we know that music is like wine. Each his own taste. Yes there are top album lists out there which ignore such masterpieces. Shango is a rock music destination that I have always returned to after meandering through tangents of more mainstream rock and roll. Shango is a monastery in whose shadow the weary rock traveler will eventually come back and find a cool shade to rest in. I want to pen down this genuine and heart felt review as a tribute to this timeless album.
Let us get some quick facts first about this album. Released in 1982 Shango is Santana's 12th Studio album. It produced only the one hit in the form of "Hold On". Through the years Santana moved in and out of many genres. In his career he probably can be associated with three distinct styles of music. His early career was primarily influenced by percussion based rock mix, his middle career was more jazz oriented rock and then finally straight through rock with shades and hints of afro-latin influence. Shango probably marks the beginning of this third phase.

The word “Shango” represents a deity in the Yoruba (See picture on the right) religion practiced originally in Western Africa. The deity Shango represents lightning and thunder which has a significant mention in the songs of this album. The album name is clearly linked to the Yaruba religion and this is proven by the artwork on the album cover. The artwork is stylistically identical to the folk art of the Yoruba people from Nigeria and Togo. You can see this from the two sample images represented here. The first one is from the Royal Palace Door and the second one is a traditional bag from the region. The religion spread to the Caribbean and Latin America through the slave trade that originated from Western Africa. It is clear that Santana had the original roots in Africa as a reference for this album rather than the eventual spread of the religion to the Caribbean.

Shango also represents the last bead in a string of "US - Gold" albums that the band had produced since their first album in 1969. The band’s body of work considerably diminished after Shango. They also had to wait till Supernatural in 1999 before recording another "US - Gold" album. A seventeen year long hiatus from the Gold Club.
The band lineup on “Shango” is as follows:
Carlos Santana - Guitars, vocals
David Margen - Bass
Richard Baker - Keyboards
Armando Peraza - Congas, Bongos
Graham Lear - Drums
Alex Ligertwood - Vocals, guitar
Oresto Vilato - Timbales
Gregg Rollie – Organ
The album does not boast of any stand out or stellar individual musicmanship. However the sum of the parts has a way of creating an aura and a mental illusion that is simply quite pleasurable. Alex’s vocals seem to keep the instruments keenly glued together every time they risk deviating away from the designated path. David’s bass playing also seems to fill parts where other instruments begin to pale. The band comes together and provides a colorful musical hue that one can return to and enjoy time and gain. Other great artists have offered albums where the listener will find something new each time he returns to listen. A good example is “Allman Brother – Live at Fillmore”. Duane dominates the proceedings and each time you listen there is a new little golden nugget that you discover. What is different about Shango is that it offers a package with little surprises and is meant to please the listener in the exact same way as he recalls it from the past.
The music of Shango transforms the listener into a feeling and ambiance that is important to dwell upon in this review. The album feel is one of – Youthful Adventure in a Foreign land. Surrounded by foreign tongues the youth discover the magical powers of exotic healing. “The Nile” opens the album with a story like quality. A young man confronted by a dark hued native beauty with magical powers. Transformed by the magic he discovers the wonders of nature and is subsumed in the land where he was once an alien. There is a story telling capability that many of the songs lend themselves to.
“Oxun” tells the travails of a boy engulfed by the evil spell of a lightning that ruins everything around him. Eventually though he is released by the spell and finds everlasting freedom all around him. In the Yaruba religion Oxun is considered a goddess with a generous and kind demeanor. However the rare occasions on which she loses her temper are followed by long periods of untold miseries. The actual temple of Oxun is featured in the picture here. The Yaruba believe that Oxun is the wife of Shango (The god of lightning and thunder). The lyrics of the song are very well engineered around the musical corners that the instruments lay down. Replete with dramatic starts and abrupt stops the listener can relate to the miseries that the evil spirit has inflicted.

“Body Surfing” tells the tale of a youth who is mesmerized by the pleasures of the deep blue sea, preferring to while away his life enjoying the sun and the surf. He neglects his duties as a son and ignores his father’s plea to earn money due to the unshakable devotion that he develops for a life spent by the sea. The song conjures images of youngsters running dive shops and sea sport getaways far away in the wild parts of the ocean beaches.
“Body Surfing” has a considerably slower tempo than the rest of the songs in the album. It has a far lazier pace than most of the other up-tempo songs in the album. Most of the songs are replete with tribal chants in languages that we may not recognize.
Each of the above three songs are some of the best that I have heard from Santana. They are probably the high point of this great album. They are imperfect in their finishing, yet have a beauty in that imperfection that makes them memorable. The guitars are free flowing and almost unrehearsed giving them a jammy quality that adds to the overall ambiance that the songs create. The guitar leads are in the right dose and not forced in for the sake of having a lead in each song. The timing and tempo of the bass hit the perfect note and are in complete harmony with the vocal performance. The band seems to be giving space to all its members to shine rather that one trying to outdo the other.
The album is also interspersed with a few songs that have a reggae feel.
“Night Hunting Time” has a quick paced, repetitive time duration reverse strum that we associate with reggae music. The song is sung in a vocal pattern that a singer may fall into after having one too many drinks. The slur and wobble in the voice particularly as the song opens in unmistakable and provides a drunken quality to the music. The song probably refers to urban heavy drinking youth stumbling through the streets of a hellish town and longing to be back in the sacred jungle. The song is very catch and will get the feet tapping in any party. It is a must on a night party club sort of a setting.
The other reggae sounding song on this album is “Let Me Inside”, a straight forward song that is a great crowd chorus sing-along selection for any aspiring rock band. This is again a great party pick and will get couples hitting the dance floor. It has flirtatious overtones and is done in a rhythm and tempo that definitely has a Caribbean feel to it.
The other parts of the album are primarily instrumental.
“Neuva York” is very similar to the keyboard/ organ introduction instrumentals like “Soul Sacrifice” that were the cornerstone of the Woodstock performances.
“Warrior” is the other instrumental with a lesser dependence on the organ/ keyboard sound. Both the pieces open with a melodramatic feel of an adventure movie and then transition into some clean guitar sounds with well-timed punctuations and slow downs. These instrumentals complete the album providing the links and bridges that make it a pleasurable holistic listen.
Strangely the album produced only one hit “Hold-on” which is a disappointing song and can be tolerated only because of the great tracks that surround it.
The album ends with tribal sounding chants for about twenty seconds that are accompanied by Congo rhythm. The final sound on the album is a thunder like sound that probably represents the Yaruba god Shango in its masculine lightening form.
There are lots of albums that one listens to and then eventually outgrows. Shango is definitely not one of them. One can return to this album and enjoy it time and again. The sound remains fresh and sparkling heightening ones sense to the same level at each visit. A must have in all rock collections.