When it was first released and for very many years to follow, I listened to a cassette in my car almost constantly. It’s surprising really how many years of near constant usage (nay abuse) they would suffer with very little complaint although it was essential to keep a pencil in the car. Nowadays, I probably listen to Aja more often than not. Not sure why but maybe it demands less of you in the listening experience? I know that when it was first released I thought it a total let down apart from the obvious couple of tracks, though I did still adore Josie. I went back to it after a decade or so and gave it another listen a few nights at the gym. Not exactly inspiring music for the gym but it did allow to realise that I’d overlooked a masterpiece after soaking in it for a few days.
Part of the problem with the Royal Scam is that I feel I have to pay more attention to it (should I think about it at all) so now when I’m doing household chores or making dinner, more often than not it will be Aja. My wife had been discussing the Dan with one of her work colleagues and when I picked her up the other day, Aja was playing. She immediately had to text her friend and tell her what we were listening to. Deacon Blues as it goes. Her friend replied to say that she thought it sounded like lounge music, though not in a disparaging way. I can see her point and tend to agree with it quite a bit. A lot of what is on offer with Aja is probably more subtle and very little of the Scam could be described as such.
Via Larry Carlton saying that he didn’t play on Gaucho when questioned, I found it somewhat intriguing that Third World Man was from the Scam sessions. The first thing I thought was, “Why didn’t this make the grade?” Initially I thought it sounded too mellow and didn’t really seem to have the ‘in your face’ production as I would describe it on the Royal Scam. Then again, maybe it was mixed to fit in more with the sound of the other tracks on Gaucho? But after hearing that it was earlier, it then seemed to me that it didn’t quite belong on that album. And the song? Beautifully crafted and recorded, Larry playing wonderfully understated, beautiful guitar throughout over the ever-present swell of that keyboard. I still thought it would have been shouted down by the other tracks on Scam so may not have played well with the other tracks? I think that the salient point that I'd missed was that it shared some thematic parts with Sign in Stranger so that they may have thought, dare I say it, that they’d repeated themselves?
As my wife picked me up to go out for dinner last night, I hopped into her car and playing at volume was Caves of Altamira. She often comments when she thinks that I may have things a little too loud but obviously not when it is of her choosing. Bluetooth now reigns and not a cassette to be found anywhere but still a sublime experience.
