This NYT article creates the need to perform a public service: helping you tell apart the various David Axelrods.

— The David Axelrod mentioned in the piece is the male lead character (played by Martin Hewitt, opposite a young Brooke Shields) in 1981’s Endless Love. It’s known today mainly as Tom Cruise’s first film and as the origin of the treacly Diana Ross/Lionel Ritchie title ballad. (For the youngsters in the audience: Lionel Ritchie is Nicole Ritchie’s dad.)

— The David Axelrod most often in the news these days is the schlumpy-looking journalist-turned-consultant who is Barack Obama’s top political guy. He’s Obama’s Karl Rove (although I imply no value judgments in that comparison — just comparing roles).

— But he has a ways to go before taking the title of “best David Axelrod” from, um, David Axelrod, the genius music producer and A&R man who reached his peak in the late ’60s and early ’70s. He specialized in a couple areas. First, the more crossover-friendly end of that era’s jazz — he was the main studio muse for Cannonball Adderley (this site’s favorite jazzman) and Lou Rawls. Second, a huge, effortlessly cool, and highly cinematic sound inspired by spaghetti-Western soundtracks, which manages to sound both timeless and deliciously dated at the same time. He layered some of that sound on his work with the weirdly great David McCallum, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. actor who made some terrifically jazzy symphonic records. Not to mention on a couple great Axelrod solo albums like Song of Innocence.

Quite a lot of Axelrod’s stuff gets sampled in contemporary hip-hop, which has led to his rediscovery by a certain class of producer — not unlike what’s happened to fellow old guys Galt MacDermot and Monty Stark. The best introduction to his stuff is probably The Edge: David Axelrod at Capitol Records 1966-1970, which combines the best of his solo sides and production work.

Here — fittingly, considering the widescreen and vaguely Bond-like feel of his music — is some Axelrod set to a montage from the original Thomas Crown Affair.

More groovy Axelrod tracks to check out: “Holy Thursday,” “The Smile,” Jimmy T,” and the excellent “The Mental Traveler.”

10 March 2008

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