TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. As part of a summer series about great albums celebrating their 50th anniversaries, rock critic Ken Tucker has chosen an album by the British band Roxy Music. Led by singer and songwriter Brian Ferry, Roxy Music released the album "Country Life" in 1974. The band was always more popular in England than America. "Country Life" was their first album to crack the Billboard Top 40, and it became a centerpiece of the group's reputation as innovative art rockers. Here's Ken's take on the album and its historical context.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL I WANT IS YOU")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) Somebody told me just the other day that you're leaving me. We're through. Well, if you knew how it hurt me so, then you'd change your mind. I'm sure.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: In America, we tend to like our artists passionate and direct, straight shooters. It's no wonder Brian Ferry and Roxy Music were not the most successful British exports. Ferry aimed more for archness and irony. He moans beautifully, artfully aloof. Yes, he falls in love, sometimes quite desperately. But he's not going to let his tears stain his white dinner jacket as he moves languidly toward the microphone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OUT OF THE BLUE")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) All your cares - now they seem oh so far away. All your fears I fear I once shared. Now what I know there's a future for all of us. Not so long ago, I was so scared.
TUCKER: "Country Life" was Roxy Music's fourth album, its title taken from a British fashion magazine about country life at its most posh. In 1974, the band was readjusting itself. Keyboardist Brian Eno, who'd done the most to put the art in Roxy Music's art rock on their first two albums, had left unhappy. Brian Ferry may have played the detached dandy on stage, but when it came to creative differences, he was a ruthless winner. From now on, Roxy Music would be his project, designed for a series of grand melodramas.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE THRILL OF IT ALL")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) The sky is dark. The wind is cold. The night is young before it's old and grey. We will know the thrill of it all. The time has come. It's getting late. It's now or never. Don't hesitate or stall when I call. Don't spoil the thrill of it all.
TUCKER: That's "The Thrill Of It All," one of two extraordinary cinematic compositions on "Country Life." The music there is a roiling swirl of chaos created by guitarist Phil Manzanera, saxophonist Andy Mackay and the keyboards of Eddie Jobson. Paul Thompson's drumming propels the melody forward, never permitting Ferry's vocals to go slack with his decadent ennui. The effect is to heighten and intensify the romantic agony. By the time Ferry gets to the climactic line, a quote from the American wit Dorothy Parker, you might as well live, the song has taken on a delirious intensity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE THRILL OF IT ALL")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) When you try too much, you lose control. Pressure rises. And so I'm told, something's got to give. Oy vey. High-life ecstasy. You might as well live.
TUCKER: The other high point of "Country Life" is the song buried next to last on the album, "A Really Good Time." It begins with an orchestral fanfare that ushers in Ferry singing to a woman as dissolute and hedonistic as he is. He and she share the despairing belief that a really good time can only end in a messy breakup.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A REALLY GOOD TIME")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) You're heard enough of the blues and stuff. You're pretty swell now 'cause you're pretty tough. But I don't have to tell you how hard it can be to get by. You never bothered about anyone else. You're well educated with no common sense. But love - that's one thing you really need to get by. All your troubles come from yourself. Nobody hurts you. They don't care, just as long as you show them a really good, really good time.
TUCKER: Brian Ferry, born working class, the son of a coal miner, liked to play up his blue-blood pretensions during this period. He'd be insufferable were it not for his immense talent as a chronicler of love corrupted and ruined. As a result, he, Roxy Music and "Country Life" remain thrilling.
GROSS: Rock critic Ken Tucker revisited the album "Country Life" by Roxy Music, 50 years after its release. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, autocracies. We often think of autocracies as strongman governments focused on holding power within their own borders. Our guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum, will explain how today's autocracies work together in loose networks to spread their influence globally and dismantle democracies. Her new book is called "Autocracy, Inc." I hope you'll join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at @NPRFreshAir. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering today by Charlie Kaier. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Joel Wolfram. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THREE AND NINE")
ROXY MUSIC: (Singing) You might remember how it used to be. Three and nine could show you any fantasy, parti-colored pictures now and then 3D. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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