Osaka Songs - Part 2

  A friend of mine went to Japan for vacation about a month ago. Last time we spoke he was on the train headed to Osaka. While he was planning his trip he had asked me to hook him up with a Osaka playlist for when he got there. Of course I included the essential hits by Masaki Ueda, but I also found him some other great artists like Takajin Yashiki, and Masahiro Kuwana. One common theme I find with Osaka music is that they really love the blues. Which makes sense since I'm pretty sure they had a big Blues Rock scene back in the 70s, spearheaded by bands like West Road Blues Band, Funny Company,  and Ukadan. Here's some of my favorites, let me know if I should have recommended others.

Osaka Big River Blues (大阪ビッグ・リバー・ブルース) by Ukadan

Sweet Home Osaka by Funny Company

Your Osaka (あんたの大阪 ) by  Hako Yamazaki (She's from Oita Prefecture but its still a nice song)

Since coming to Osaka (大阪へ出て来てから) by Junji Ariyama (有山じゅんじ) and Masaki Ueda 上田正樹 

おそうじ Obachan by Ukadan

As a bonus, here's an updated version of Since coming to Osaka from 2007. much jazzier while still retaining the honky-tonk nature.

Hako Yamasaki/Miyuki Kosaka -- Sayonara no Kane（サヨナラの鐘）

 

From what I've read of folk singer Hako Yamasaki's（山崎ハコ）debut album "Tobimasu"（飛・び・ま・す...I Can Fly） from October 1975 on J-Wiki, she was only 17 years old when she released it and it sold 50,000 copies which was quite the miraculous achievement especially when it came out without any special promotions. It managed to reach No. 51 on Oricon.

One of the tracks, "Sayonara no Kane" (The Goodbye Bell), which was written and composed by Yamasaki and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）, must have left quite the impression on listeners. At over five minutes long, it is a bittersweet summary on a romance that has ended with a pealing bell on the hill being used as the symbol of the completion of the relationship. Through the lyrics and Yamasaki's delivery, there is a feeling of weeping over the death of what is perhaps the first love of that person. Maybe as the person grows older and more experienced with all those romantic entanglements, there is not so much drama but that first one which goes awry will always hurt. The melody is an interweaving of blues, folk and pop brought together as a contemplative piece on emotional pain and release.

Quite a few famous musicians were in the recording studio for "Sayonara no Kane": guitarists Char and Chuei Yoshikawa（吉川忠英）with the aforementioned arranger Sato also on keyboards.

A synthpop opening begins the cover version of "Sayonara no Kane" by Miyuki Kosaka（香坂みゆき）. The song was released as her 16th single in April 1984. Sato also arranged this one with those synths coming in. It's more than a minute shorter than the Yamasaki original but the bluesy feeling of melancholy and loss is still there. 

Hako Yamasaki -- Bōkyō（望郷）

 

The first full day of summer 2021 has arrived and I'm feeling it. Following lunch and working in my fan-assisted room, I'm still sensing that drowsiness threatening to envelop me until dinner. Can't let that happen. Must...work...on...blog!

So far, my impression of folk singer-songwriter Hako Yamasaki（山崎ハコ）has included adjectives such as melancholy and tenderhearted. From her debut album in October 1975, "Tobimasu"（飛・び・ま・す...Fly）, the first track is "Bōkyō" (Nostalgia), which has Yamasaki singing about a woman residing in Yokohama reminiscing about her old days in her hometown and wondering about returning even though her original home is no longer there. It's a very wistful way of expressing "You can no longer go back home again."

In a way, I've been cursed and blessed with that feeling of bōkyō since I've had two homes: one in Toronto, one in Ichikawa. No matter where I have been, I will always have longing memories of being back in the other city. However with this pandemic perhaps slowly going away, I'm glad that I was here in Toronto with the family.

Hako Yamasaki -- Yokohama（ヨコハマ）

 

The bayside metropolis of Yokohama has been the setting for many a Mood Kayo song, and it's no wonder, considering how many bars and other drinking establishments are located there. At the same time, with its ideal location by the sea, there are also plenty of opportunities for romance.

Perhaps then, it's not that common a thing to come across a Japanese folk song about Yokohama. However, singer-songwriter Hako Yamasaki（山崎ハコ）, who had actually come to live in Japan's 2nd-largest city (by population) when she was a child, created a very moody folk song about her city.

This is a track from her 4th album "Nagare Yoi Uta"（流れ酔い唄...The Drunken Song） which was released in June 1978. Simply titled "Yokohama", the setting is of a young girl in the rain, perhaps having suffered some sort of trauma, just yelling at a stationary barge in the river. It's definitely not the happiest situation but she insists that Yokohama is her home and she's fine to be living there. I wonder if it's autobiographical.

"Yokohama" starts off with a folk rhythm led by a gently propulsive guitar and Yamasaki's heartfelt vocals but then around the halfway point, a brigade of strings pours in like a flood to add some extra drama to the proceedings. Things get calm again and then the finale happens with the strings returning. No bars, no trysts...just a lass trying to regain her bearings in Yokohama.

Hako Yamasaki -- Mukaikaze（向かい風）

Last week, I was having another one of my chats with JTM, and he was telling about his latest purchases. He told me that one purchase was a Hako Yamasaki（山崎ハコ）album. I knew about the singer since I've seen her evidence of her music on YouTube a number of times and so I naturally assumed that I had already written about her on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

Well, score one for faulty memory. Scrolling down the Labels, I realized that I had yet to put up a single song by the singer/songwriter. Oops! It's time to rectify that situation.

I think this will make up for my boo-boo. I found her 2nd album "Tsunawatari"（綱渡り...Tightrope Walking）from May 1976 and boy, the opening track is amazing. "Mukaikaze" (Headwind) is definitely a keeper. I was automatically entranced by the electric piano and guitar starting things off and holding court throughout, but it is indeed Yamasaki's vocals delivering a story about the freedom of life on the street and people-watching that had me wondering about life in Tokyo during that decade. This is the type of song that I would actually like to try a tumbler of whisky with.

It's just been the one song so far, but I think Yamasaki has a voice that straddles nicely between raw and smooth. It can become soft and velvety at one point and then strong and throaty but not gravelly. At all times, though, it is resonant.

Yamasaki was born and raised in Oita Prefecture but then moved to Yokohama in her mid-teens. Through a contest, she got into the music business and released her first album "Tobimasu"（飛・び・ま・す...I Will Fly）in 1975. Right then and there, she was compared with another singer with a distinct voice, Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）. Up to 2016, she has released 24 singles and 26 original albums.