Crabb Bits: Bob Welch, CMT, Scott Walker, AZ 30?

Something to go with your morning cup of Joe:

But first, if things go as they have been, this month might see the most readers that I have ever had in here.  Maybe a chance to crack the 2,000 views for the first time ever.  Most of the views are going once again to the Brains Blog which has been skyrocketing big time for some reason   Over 135 views this past week so perhaps some dormant website with the link has started up again or maybe some of you out there are forwarding this to Andy McKaie's email address and set a fire under his ass to reissue The Brains LP.  Geezus, can you say limited edition to about 1,000 or 2,500 or even 5,000 Andy?  Sure in the fuck beats the overblown Icon crap series that Universal continues to puke out.  Everybody has the hits Andy, try something different.  Reissue the damn album and I might just die happy.

Suicide is not the answer but once again it claims another life.  Bob Welch, the link between Peter Green and Buckingham Nicks and made some great albums for the Mac and in frail health decided to end it all today.  Dead at 65.  He made five albums for the Mac, Future Games, with the 8 minute title track, Bare Trees to which the original Sentimental Lady can be found, Mystery To Me which might be the best album of the Welch era Mac, Penguin which is all over the place and the blah Heroes Are Hard To Find.  It's hard to say if leaving Fleetwood Mac had something to do with that, but Welch did form a short lived band with Tony and Hunt Sales and Glen Cornish of Jethro Tull called Paris and made two so so albums but then had a top ten hit with a remake of Sentimental  Lady featuring help from Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood but French Kiss also boasted another top 30 hit with Ebony Eyes and Hot Love Cold World.  The second album Three Hearts boasted another hit with Precious Love but then after that the hits stopped coming although he continued to make fine albums such as the underrated The Other One (why it bombed remains a mystery), Man Overboard and the S/T album he did for RCA.  Last time I heard from Bob was on the 2006 AAO Fleetwood Mac Years And Beyond Part 2 which was only sold at FYE and I still have my copy.  What stands out is Bob penned some hilarious and insightful liner notes. But he was a bit out there, if it still up and about his website can be found here http://www.bobwelch.com/index2.htm

By now you have known that Scott Walker, the embattled Governor of Wisconsin survived the recall election and of course the left and the Unions are not happy about it.  Even though Walker barely got in the first time, he got more votes the second time around.  And I'm sure that the liberals are going to get pissed at me for saying this but in my thinking, Walker should at least finish his term out.  I'm not the only one that thinks that way. http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/blogs/item/39592   I'm not too thrilled that the big spending GOP and Koch Brothers pumped up 30 million to keep Gov. Scott in but as I explained to a perplexed Martin Daniels the other day that Walker was elected by the majority of Wisconsin folk that got tired of Jim Doyle's antics and the logical thinking that the folks in Dane Country were running the show.  Not exactly, especially when Mr. Dunderbrains Scott Fitzgerald survived the recall but he's in Red country anyway and he one of the most sleezeballs in congress outside of Eric Cantor.  Then again money buys you a lot of things when you get tired of possessions. Just buy a politician.   But then again, the Democrats' bright idea was to get Tom Barrett to run again and during the debates he had nothing to offer outside of bashing Walker left and right.  And in the end Walker ran away with something like 55 percent of the vote to Barrett's 45.  To which the recall folks should have TCB in 2010 and got out to vote back then.  Scott Walker is in, and he should at least finish the term out.

There's something about the recall process that kinda rubbed me the wrong way and I think it went back to last year when on every street corner you would encounter a recall dude asking for signatures and they would be happy to chat with you and such but once you told them that you were out of state they would start running away from me, even though I tried to tell them I was supporting their efforts, they had this mentality that I was carrying an infectious disease.  And they would all do that and it made me really wonder if it was all about them and not the state itself.  Whatever the case it may be, Scott Walker becomes the first person ever to survive a recall election and hell he could even run for Mittens' Vice President if need be.  Who knows but it won't stop me from going up to Mad City for the summer festival of bargain hunting in July.

This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of yours truly going to Arizona for the first time in his life, thus beginning a 2 decade summertime run down there to spend a week or 10 days to relive the good times of hot weather, Route 66 and tons of record stores to frequent although the number of record stores down there have dwindled down about 15 or so decent ones.  Last year we did AZ 25, the 25 meaning of years ago that I actually moved down there for about 5 months till the money ran out and the bitchy old Aunt threw me out of the house.  Allegiant Airlanes the fee specialists that has non stop flights to Mesa or Vegas keeps sending me emails about daily deals but so far I have resisted temptation to fly down there, I just have gotten to the point that I hate to fly anymore it's a bigger pain in the ass than throw a suitcase in the car and go.  I really would love to spend two weeks down there and get to see everything and spend a couple hours at Crookton Pass and let the stress of the world fade away.  Sometimes I feel more at home at Kingman more than I did at Chandler.   For now I'm only thinking about AZ but AZ 30 would be Kingman and Crookton Pass to go with Mesa or Vegas.  Whichever is cheaper.  Crookton Pass is below.



 If anybody is interested, more historic info about Seligman/Crookton Pass Line From BNSF http://www.trainweb.org/brettrw/maps/seligmansub/yamp_bell.html
 

Finally, the ACM isn't high on my list to watch.  Academy of Crappy Music awards, All Carrie Music...Oops it's CMT awards  Crappy Music Tripe,  Carrie's Music Trash,  Farce The Music had a pretty funny timeline of all the happenings and you can read it all here.  http://www.farcethemusic.com/2012/06/cmt-awards-2012-twitter-snark-recap.html

We have too many awards shows as it stands and CMT hasn't shown much country videos since Viacom bought them out from CBS Inc so basically I boycotted and really didn't give a flying fuck of the whole thing which was basically geared toward the teen crowd and rednecks, white socks and blue ribbon beer to quote the late great Johnny Russell.   Seems to be a lot of hate going on for Carrie Underwood who pretty much goes looking for people that don't like her on Twitter or Facebook.  And Carrie Nation loves her singing on just about everything but even the foolhearts out there know that she was a pop diva made up for the country crowd and then when things got right, start moving her over to pop music.  Her new album is more pop than country anyway.    Miranda Lambert continues to get more popular and glad to see that happening, she's the best songwriter to ever come out of Nashville Star (anybody remember Buddy Jewell?) and American Idol for that matter.   Carrie has better PR people at 19 Records, the label with the eye on the 19 crowd.  And anything released under 19 Records isn't worth my time or effort to even slam them.  Life is too short for that but if you want to see the results of the lesser artists on 19 Records are advised to count them in the budget bins at HP books or Goodwill.   Carrie's latest album cover reveals she's going for the pop crowd.  But then again what is real country music anymore?  Everytime I turn on 99.3 and when I hear the first two lines of a song talk about Boom Boom Speakers or going Fishing in a Truck, the button is pushed to the overplayed classic rock station that CCC owns.  However I did get talked into hearing the new Alan Jackson which critics are calling his best in years and we shall see the end result of that.  The CMTs basically is a popularity contest  since Carrie took home the best video.  In the end nobody is going to remember the CMT Awards anyway.

Joe Bonamassa-Racing Toward The Daylight (J R Adventures)

I hate reviewing Joe's stuff because I can never spell his name right whatsoever.  It's more of a chore trying his name out than hearing his music and Racing Toward The Daylight is his 13th album in a decade.  Joe continues to stay busy with his solo albums as well as helping out Beth Hart or lending his talents to Black Country Communion, the supergroup featuring Jason Bonham and lead screamer Glenn Hughes.  Joe continues to sing the blues and he sounds a cross between Paul Rodgers and more Gary Moore to which like Moore, Bonamassa has half part classic rock and half part blues, seemly outdated in this day and age and I like it fine despite it being no airplay whatsoever.  He got some guest stars, Brad Whitford on seven (count em)  tracks, forgotten screamer Jimmy Barnes (guess Hughes wasn't available) on the throwaway Too Much Ain't Enough Love and it seems Joe is more comfortable letting somebody else sing while he wails away on the guitar.  But for myself I still prefer and enjoy his nice take on Who's Been Talking (including a beyond the grave appearance from Chester Burnett) and the Robert Johnson cover of Stones In My Passway.  And of course if you want classic rock there's always Dislocated Boy.  Too bad Joe wasn't around during the album rock years, he'd be right up there with the legends.  He still remains a cult favorite but word gets around and he gets outstanding session help too.  Take away a couple of the slower blues numbers and  this will be would be a little bit better but that's nitpicking.  I'm sure Joe already progressing on number 14 as we speak and just recently issued a live Black Country Communion album to which I have no use for, I'm just not a huge Glenn Hughes fan. Racing...to me just might be the best album that Joe Bonamassa has done although he would differ.  At least Joe is keeping the rock and blues alive better than most of what's out there.  I'm sure Gary Moore would be proud.

Grade B+

Since we basically keep continuing to get the barrage of porn spam in the comments sections we have upgraded to that Godawful Captcha shit from here on out.  I welcome comments, just not the shit that takes you to porn sites or adds a virus to your computer.  This remains a music and news and views site, and we intend to keep it that way.  For your protection with love with the Crabb Security Department.

Top Ten Of The Week-Presenting My 400th Post

One month after the passing of Boone Novy, we still miss his wit and humor at work.

Our busy season has come this weekend although Saturday we were spared of working it and got to see Los Lobos to which I'm still recovering from all the fun that was had and shared.  Worked Sunday and I'm sure this weekend will be working again so basically trying to make deadlines and share the music and comments to all of my 20 dedicated followers out there. I don't see any bargain hunts forthcoming this month and still debating when to take the big vacation this year, after all I just got done with an unplanned one.  To the friends of the SW,  I'd love to hit the desert and return to my place of zen, the Crookton Pass Overpass which means the question of Vegas or Mesa again?  I'm sure the kind folks at Zia's or Hastings would love to see me frequent their places and outbuy the stores but last time I was there, I didn't buy that much so perhaps I have it all?  Judging from the last two weekends, no I don't, far from it.

Congrats to Katie Wiedeman for popping out another one and keeping the population of Earth going. But what is with the dumb names their giving their babies?  Future news maker?  Say hello to Knox Donald.

To Ultimate Classic Rock:  It's been a given that Guns & Roses never start a show on time, that they're always coming on late but still rocking it all.  Kinda like Sammy Hagar blasting about Van Halen all year.  Axl Rose isn't going to change.  How bout this....how bout showing up to see The Axl Rose Band 50 minutes after the original time of them going on?  They may not be even the takin the stage yet.  Quit Bitching.

George Marino passed away.  He worked on many recordings for Sterling Sound, KISS, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Coldplay.  And of course, Frank Marino (although I don't think they were related). He had a very distinctive way of signing his name on those late 70s dead wax area.  A one of a kind that you won't here anywhere else but the recording sector and record collectors. Died from lung cancer.  Here's something from 2009 that you might like to read http://www.sonicscoop.com/2009/06/16/vinyl-comeback-prompts-sterling%E2%80%99s-new-all-analog-vinyl-mastering-part-i/

Looking through the Archives, I couldn't find the Richard Thompson blog that I did back in 2005 and that included sorting through two hours worth of My Space blogs of 2006-2009. At least here at Blogspot everything can be found a bit easier.  My Space took a shit when they changed everything and got rid of the search engine of finding that blog.  And it hasn't changed since Justin Timberlake bought them out, very cumbersome and a pain in the ass.

After taking a couple months off, The Brains Blog has taken off into the stratosphere again with 65 views the past week.  Will somebody show Andy McKie and the rest of the Universal Group holding The Brains' albums hostage and won't reissue them on CD the blog to show there's interest in this?

So here we go, another 10 songs that defined this week.  For better or worse or less.

1.   Dream In Blue-Los Lobos 1992  You knew it was bound to happen.  We lead off the top ten with a song that started the Iowa City show from my now favorite band of today and top five all time.  Hey if they make the time and effort to meet and greet me then that accounts for alot.  I didn't realize how many songs they did off Kiko till I played the CD and started remembering the songs that were familar.  This song got extended by about 10 minutes while Bugs Gonzalez played a drum solo right off the bat.  Shout Factory has plans to release a live version of Kiko sometime in the summer.  Last time they played Iowa City was at the long gone Crow's Nest in 92 although I'm thinking they may have played Gabe's.  Further research showed they played at McBride Auditorium at the U of I in 1991.  http://loslobos.setlist.com/1991.html 

2.  On A Mission-Trick Pony 2002  Right after the turn of the new century this band was up and coming in the country world, hot chick and two goofy guys backing her up.  Heidi Newfield did most of the singing on the albums at hand, their best known was Pour Me which was part honky tonk and part Ain't That A Shame to which it borrowed a few lines and melody.  The followup album didn't do so well and Warner Brothers traded them over to the worthless Curb label and they made one so so album before Newfield went on to a solo career.  Take away the fiddles on this song and it would have given Bon Jovi a run for the rock and roll money.  Kenny Arnoff guest stars on drums.

3.  Back In The Night-Dr. Feelgood 1976  Pub rock wasn't much of a hold in the US, you heard it on the underground FM and college stations more than you did on KRNA which I don't think they ever did play this song.  The original band along with Eddie & The Hot Rods,  Ducks Deluxe, The Pirates and Brinsley Schwartz defined pub rock as three chords and the truth and most were produced by the late great Vic Maile. In the UK they recorded for EMI United Aritsts, whereas in the US, Columbia issued two of their albums, Malpractice and Sneaking Suspicion, the latter who split the band apart and Wilko Johnson would leave.  Lee Brilleaux died from cancer at age 41 in 1994 but the band continues on with replacement players.  To which the answer is given here from the last blog.  Bob Dorr loved this song so much in 1976 that he played it twice in one show and he did it again on the last Backtracks show last weekend.  I may have helped him into playing that twice.

4.  Hero-Willie Nelson with Jamey Johnson and Billy Joe Shaver 2012   Big album release of last month was the 1,500 album that Willie has released in his career and a return back to Sony Music via Legacy (He spent just about 20 years with Columbia), reunited with Buddy Cannon and calls the new effort Heroes to which we get plenty of guest stars and son Lukas playing on 10 songs and of course the worst track is Sheryl Crow trying to sound black on a Tom Waits number that almost throws this album into total disarray.   Again we rag on Sheryl Crow not because she's one of the most overrated singers of all time, in fact she does do some worthy causes and is anti GOP which we admire and credit, we rag on her because she seems to elbow herself into everybody's album that's over 50 years old.  She did that to Jerry Lee Lewis, she did that to Eric Clapton and who can forget that crappy assed cameo she did on Fleetwood Mac's Say You Will.  Too bad Legacy didn't stick that Come On Up To This House on a expanded edition so we didn't have to buy that and hear her wail away in that "don't yell at me" voice that irritates the fuck out of me.  Next time Willie get Mavis Staples or somebody with soul.  What Heroes needed was a bit more Jamey Johnson who shines on this duet with Willie and Billy Joe and Hero is a great song.  A suggestion, next time get Lukas to make his own solo album and tell Sheryl Crow to stay home.  The world will be better for it. http://www.restlessandreal.blogspot.com/2012/06/cowboy-grace-interview-with-willie.html

5.  Martian Hop-The Ran-Dells 1963  One of the things that a record collector does is he tends to look for the more obscure stuff than the everyday dude who don't have time to do that.  Family, work, change of lifestyle will do that to ya.  But in a day and age of finding 45's that are 40 years old or older in great shape is just about needle in a haystack ratio, I still take great comfort in actually finding 45's without any sleeves to protect them still exists and on the weekend trip to Iowa City, somebody dropped off a bunch of old 45s that vary in shape and condition.  This is a novelty song that can be found on They Came From Other Space to which Varase Vintage issued in 1998 and I found at Mister Money in I City about 10 years beforehand.  But never seen the actual 45 till this weekend.  The B side Forgive Me Darling (I Have Lied) could be considered Doo Wop garage.  But they'll be forever remembered with this cool tune to which Dr Demento has played on his show.

6.  No Milk Today-Herman Hermits 1966  Out of all the British Invasion bands, the Hermits are looked upon with scorn and ridicule but in reality they had a good vocalist in Peter Noone and although the garbage is still there (Mrs Brown You Got A Lovely Daughter or I'm Henry The VIII I Am) some of the other songs are hooky and quite good (Can't You Hear My Heartbeat, Must To Avoid, I'm Into Something Good).  This is kinda Hollies sounding with Graham Gouldman writing this (later of 10cc, formerly of The Mindbenders).

7.  Dragster Beach-The Dragsters 1989   Here's another forgotten band that nobody really knows about.  Another one of those odd finds in the buck bins.  They had a love of Jan And Dean, Elvis' movies (even covered Do The Clam off that classic movie Clambake) but in some ways they sound a lot like The Challengers or The Ventures of the 60s although they were babies or not even born yet.  Made one album for a Island offshoot label and would never be heard again.

8.  No Sackie Sack-H Bomb Ferguson 1959 Thereabouts?  One of the most fun CDs I have brought was something called Stompin 4 and where this came from or who made it is as unknown as it gets.  For the most part it's all uptempo rhythm and blues done by forgotten artists of the past.  H Bomb made various sides for various labels (Specialty comes to mind), this song comes from the little known Miami Recording Company of Hamilton Ohio under Big Bang.  The CD was found for 2 bucks at HP Books but this may have come from the old Ratz Records as a trade in.  Or maybe as far back as Relics.

9.  Baby Come Home-Scissor Sisters 2012  They're popular in the UK and points in between but in the US they still remain a curio.  Their new album Magic Hour gets a bit too much into Black Eyed Peas territory to my liking and most of the album is hit and miss although I hear some of the songs could get into top forty airplay if they don't watch out (Let's Have A Kiki might be that one).  At times they reveal themselves to be a disco act that is popular on the gay dancefloors and their first two albums reveal a love of the Bee Gees, Elton John and disco drums.  I bought the first, passed on the second before listening to their best album Night Work and then rediscovered Ta Dah! to which Elton John plays piano on two of those cuts.  They're on Polydor in the UK but Universal got the bright idea to relocate them to Casablanca, probably to rid of the world that Lindsay Lohan recorded for that label in the 00's.  Or maybe Ashley Simpson, either way I'm too tired to look it up but it is out there for those who wants the facts straight and then report it to me in the comments section.  I think they're safe in the UK but the album is either make or break for them here.  After all Universal keeps bouncing them from satellite label to satellite label, just like light bouncing off the disco ball.

10.  Both Sides Now-Joni Mitchell   1969  I have never gotten into Joni's albums all that much, I tried Blue and it didn't work for me and her Hits Cd shows the good and the bad of Joni.  In the end, I think I'll stick with Court And Spark if I want to hear her music and may hold out to hear Clouds to which this song appears.  Of course everybody knows about the Judy Collins big hit version but in essence this just might be my favorite Joni Mitchell song.  And when she sings "I don't understand life at all" I think she's singing it from my point of view.  I used to write songs myself but lately I tend to find out that some of the songs that I intended to write come from the original sources whoever they are and they speak for me better than I can write them.  Maybe someday when I stay away from my second home at HP Books or any of the music stores that I frequent that perhaps I can write songs from my viewpoint but I seriously doubt that will ever happen anymore.  I may be wrong though.  We'll see.


5 MO 4 YA:
Easy Lover-Philip Bailey with Phil Collins 1984
Cash Box-Jimmy McGriff 1963
Diary Of Fools-Rock Rose 1979
Telephone Operator-Pete Shelley 1983
Elvis Is Everywhere-Mojo Nixon/Skid Roper 1988

Los Lobos Set List http://loslobos.setlist.com/2012setlists/06-02-12.html

• Dream in Blue
• Don't Worry Baby
• Will The Wolf Survive?
• I Walk Alone
• One Time, One Night*
• Chuco's Cumbia*
• Teresa*
• Wicked Rain
• Come On, Let's Go
• Just a Man
• Kiko and the Lavender Moon
• Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio
• Soy Mexico Americano
• Volver, Volver
• La Veganza De Los Pelados
• La Bamba>
• Good Lovin'>
• La Bamba
  --- Encore:
• Mas y Mas* *-w/Carry Rodriguez on violin and Luke Jacobs on pedal steel
  Conrad Lozano absent from show. Juan Perez played bass for entire show

Crabb Bits: IC Bargain Hunt, Kudos and tributes.

It's been a very busy two weekends for myself.  Davenport last week and Iowa City arts festival this week and more work OT coming, I suspect that I will have to work today but have so much to share in so little time.

Saturday since I didn't have to work, I did go down to Iowa City/Coralville for some record finding and Kalone to pay my respects to Boone Novy who left us just about one month ago.   Finally found his site after the third try, which as my coworker said it was just about  20 feet from the road.  The road to Kalona is somewhat hilly with lots of spread out farmland and where the Amish live.  A lot of them had their horse and carriages to take them places but that road that I was on 540th Street I think had some out of the way grocery stores and churches which went way back.  Since the road was paved, not gravel, I didn't figure I get lost.  And I didn't. Made it to Kalona okay.

With the lateness of the trip, Record Collector will have to wait till another time but Housewerks had some off the wall CDs and even found a bunch of albums at The Salvation Army (Jimi Hendrix Cry Of Love for 79 cents!)  Stuff Etc and Goodwill had nothing really.  The biggest finds were a bunch of 45s at the Salvation Army that were in pretty good shape without sleeves.  Got 8 of them but somehow Brian Hyland's Ginny Come Lately and The Serendipity Singers Crooked Little Man managed to sneak in for the ride back to Hoarder's Palace.  Supper was at Los Portales.  And it was off to downtown to Los Lobos show.

While I was gone, Bob Dorr's Backtracks was done live in the studio and once again he didn't disappoint in the music that was requested.  Guess which songs were requested from me?  http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/ipr-studioone/guide.guidemain?action=viewPlaylist&playlistID=779121&eventID=145135

The answer will be in the next top ten, you'll have to wait for that ;-)

http://bullfrogspond.com/    Where to go if you want to know the highest chart position of a certain song.  The dudes at Besides It's A B Side at Facebook uses this as a reference.

Death never takes a holiday, Richard Dawson passed away.   He was in Hogan's Heroes and later Family Feud (can't fucking spell today, everything is either turned around or misspelled). Died at the age of 79.

Not a lot of comments have been worth posting, although the ones that I did you can read in preceding blogs.  Thanks for all the kudos and clarifications of mistakes in the original blogs. I usually go back and redo and reedit where ever is possible.  Especially on the Bugs Gonzalez gaffe.  Hard to hear what people are saying or singing but damn the music was booty shaking good.

Thanks Delta Moon for the shout out about the new album. They will be in Park Tavern tonight for the new release party.  In Atlanta.  Maybe we can get Delta Moon to play the Arts Festival next year?

More additions:
CDs

New York Dolls-The Glamorous Life (Big Ear)
The Dragsters-Stoked (Great Jones/Island)
60's Girls Group (WB)
Peter Shelley-Homosapien (Razor n Tie)

LPs!
Phillip Bailey-Chinese Wall (Columbia)
Southern Pacific-Killbilly Hill (WB)
Jimi Hendrix-Cry Of Love (Reprise)
Billy Burnette-Try Me (Curb/MCA)
Rock Rose (Columbia)

45s!

Brian Hyland-Ginny Come Lately  (ABC Paramount 45-10294)
Danny Williams-This Comedy Is Over (United Artists UA 685)
The Searchers-Bumble Bee (Kapp Winners Circle Series KJB 49)
The Browns-Oh No! (RCA 47-8242)
The Ran-Dells Martian Hop (Chairman/London 45-4403)
Jimmy McGriff-Discothque USA (Sue 123)
Dion Dimuci-Donna The Prima Donna (Columbia 4-42852)
The Serendipity Singers-Don't Let The Rain Come Down (Philips 40175)
Johnny Tillotson-Worried Guy (MGM K13193)
Rolf Harris-Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (Epic 5-9596)

Vintage Email: 2008


From Andy McKaie

Thanks for your e-mail to Hip-O Select.  Interesting suggestion regarding The Brains.  We'll look into it.

Thanks.

 Best,

Andy McKaie

From The Archives: Reuniting with Dennis Pusateri at Hy Vee May 2007


Time has a way of catching up on us.  We wake up to the morning light of the sun and see it set and watch the moon rise and all the while we get older.

It's interesting to meet with old friends that you lose touch of.   Just the other day I wonder about whatever happened to Dennis Pusateri, who we used to work at the old Pell Department back when Pearson Inc. was NCS.  And for a good couple years, we would trade back CDs to listen to and bullshit along the way working at a boring job of processing pell grant applications.  I got to meet his brother one night at Maxie's in Iowa City, a couple years later his brother was murdered in the Jim's Food parking lot, which was a couple blocks away from where I used to live at.  It still remains unsolved to this day.

But all in all Dennis was always the happy go lucky stoner dude, who never seem to run out of things to say.  Eventually he got laid off at NCS and I moved on Data Input and later the computer printing room and we lost contact, till I ran into him at Sav A Lot 10 years ago and we talked a bit.  And then disappeared.

The Hy Vee Cafeteria is the perfect place to go during lunch break.  You can do your shopping and grab a bite to eat before getting back to work and with high gas prices no trip is a joyride anymore, I have to make things count when I jump into the car.  But while sitting through a second plate of noodles and rice, this long haired person came up to me and we chatted a bit.  And it was good old Dennis coming into my life once again.  He's almost fifty now and told me that he's a grandpa now, something that I cannot picture him being of.  And as we sat and talked a while, the more he talked to more the old Dennis was there, very talkative, a bit of bullshitter and still happy go lucky, even though he says he doesn't work that much.

It's amazing how we all age and move on to other things but once when we run into somebody from the past, the old good feelings of reconizing somebody always lights up the face.  But he did say that he does pop up from time to time over at that Hy Vee quite a bit.

Perhaps I'll see him again, I know I will.  I just hope it isn't another 10 years that our paths cross again.

Los Lobos At The Iowa City Arts Festival

Under the watchful eye of a Steve Earle promo, I took my position to get ready for the forthcoming Los Lobos concert that was part of the Iowa City Arts Festival.  Originally I couldn't go because we had to work this weekend but since the programming fools messed up on a highly important job, the boss told us we could take the day off.  Which meant I could finally go see Los Lobos for the first time.

I always enjoyed their music from time to time, the 80s stuff really rocks and on certain days Kiko can move me but I started getting back into them after proclaiming their Tin Can Trust to be the best album of 2010 and then started filling the missing albums on my shelf.  When I heard they were coming up here, I had to go see them, after all the last concert I went to was John Anderson last year and Richard Thompson a few years back at Iowa City.  And Los Lobos puts on a great show which could last for 2 to 3 hours given if they feel like playing.

The opening act was Carrie Rodriguez with Luke Jacobs playing petal steel guitar and she was good but she didn't really capture my fancy all that much.  She did however got Pieta Brown to guest on Hank Williams I'm So Lonely I Could Cry.  Although the fans were gracious they were ready to see the band from East LA and quickly but we would not see the last of Carrie and Luke.  Upon further review Carrie recorded for EMI Back Porch and her best known album was 7 Angels On  A Bicycle to which she played the title track.  She's also known for being on some of Chip Taylor's albums too.  But about her later.




Los Lobos hit the stage around 9 and didn't stop till quarter after 11 and they played a wide variety of stuff and extended jams thoughout their set.  Cesar Rosas, had some microphone problems to which he wasn't exactly pleased and it showed with him throwing glares at the dude next to the stage but he still rocked hard on Don't Worry Baby the second song of the set.  He also tackled I Walk Alone from The Neighborhood.  But for the most part it was David Hidalgo's show, playing lead guitar here and there, adding some accordion towards the end of the show.  But the crowd enjoyed a lot of the Spanish songs that Rosas' sang.  Conrad Lorenzo couldn't play due to an injury so Juan Bennett (I think it was his name but damn forgot it, he had long hair and could play the bass very well) subbed for him.  The drummer was Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez and although he says he's 40, he looked 25 and played some mean drums.  More about him later too.

Somewhere along the way, Carrie Rodriguez and Luke returned to the stage to play three songs, the third (I'm guessing it was Lady And The Rose since the word Rose or Roses came up) and Rodriguez saved her best performance with her best violin solo of the show.  And Luke did some high quality steel guitar playing although once again the sound guy had him turned way too far up that he was just about drowning out the band.

Once thing about Los Lobos is that they actually made me dance around out in the crowd although I wasn't the only one.  There was 8 year old girl just dancing away to Come On Let's Go.  Then Rosas tore into a 10 minute blues song to which he, Louie and David played some nifty guitar solos before changing over to La Bamba/Good Lovin to which everybody got off their chairs and started dancing up and down the street.  I even had some hippie girl dancing next to me having a good time.  But once the song was over she disappeared into the mighty crowd.  Los Lobos came back and did another 10 minute jam encore and it was all over.  The band and David ever so personal, thanked the crowd and offered to hang around with the rest of the band for a meet and greet after the show.




Of course, I sat around the stage debating weather or not to chat up with the guys or not, I don't do well with bands that I like, they might not be so cordial and I would have to get rid of their cds if needed be. But one by one I actually shook hands with everybody except for Cesar Rosas who I didn't pick up or he just went back to the bus.  Got to chat with Steve Berlin and told him that I liked his production with the first Blasters album which he kinda looked at me funny but he thanked me for coming to show.  Louis Perez and David Hildago I got to shake their hand and told them I loved their music and come back again real soon.  Then I got chat a bit more with Bugs their drummer and the guy is super nice, super cool.  I'm sure if I asked him nicely we could have closed down the bar if need be but he made me feel like part of the band.  And some woman asked how old he was and he said he was 40, Nawwww, you looked like you're 25, you must have a fountain of youth in your back yard I said. He laughed.   Bugs Gonzalez as they say in the movies, I love you man!.

Nevertheless, this might have been one of the best concerts that I have ever seen.  Los Lobos can do it all, Spanish, rock, blues, country hell they even did a couple polka numbers and of course Kiko And The Lavender Moon as the full moon crept across the Iowa City night.  And they must have loved Carrie for she back on for the encore too, along with Luke.  And they're so low key and gracious, they make anybody a part of their family.   Even if it's 10,000 folk out in the streets dancing away to La Bamba.


A fun night enjoyed by everybody.  Including me!  But can't show you that picture, it has disappeared off the internet.


And to a lesser extent, Diana Nollen  http://hooplanow.com/2012/06/04/review-los-lobos-heats-up-the-iowa-arts-festival/   who surprised me by remembering I Walk Alone but betcha she don't know the album it came off from.


More Los Lobos Live Stuff: http://loslobos.setlist.com/

End Of Month Thoughts Of May

For the first time all month we finally got some rain.  A nice gentle rain that made everything green again, not a monsoon that went goes into the basement.  But I'm still not a fan of rain. 2008 changed all that.

Going past the old place, somebody chopped down the iris that was planted last year.  I'm hoping that maybe somebody liked them enough to take home but I'm sure it was the lawn mowing dude that went wild on the weed wacker that done them in.

Top Ten Of The Week-Get Down And Shake That Thing

Here at Crabb Radio and Top Ten's Are Us there is no shortage of music to speak of.  We have ten slots to fill and somedays it's hard to compile ten and somedaze we have more suggestions than we can fill in ten slots. But with the Davenport bargain hunts plus Half Priced Books 20 percent off and Bruce having tons of CDs at the pawnshop we may have overdone the buying.  Oh well such is life and it keeps me running.  And occupied.  I'm sure I'll be leaving a few off once again and if I do, they may have to wait till next week till we do it all over again.

And again.

And again.
And....

1.  Everything The Same (Ain't Nothing Changed)-Billy Swan 1975   There was more to Billy Swan than I Can Help, the one hit that keeps him in people's memory.  He wrote Lover Please, the last big hit for Clyde McPlatter, The King covered I Can Help and Swan was a highly sought after session player.  He recorded for Monument, had Chip Young produced his hits and had a great Memphis/Nashville collection of players backing him up.  The followup single to I Can Help, I'm Her Fool flopped but my dad loved that single enough to wear two copies of that record out but it still didn't make any best of collection.  Everything The Same, Swan repeated the song format that made I Can Help a hit and although it charted okay on the country chart (#17) but it didn't make out of the top 90, stalling at a puzzlingly 91 on the Billboard rock chart.  No accounting for people's taste but back in the mid 70s a lotta good songs didn't make high on the chart.  Bizarre fact: I'm Her Fool failed to make the country chart but peaked at number 53 on the rock chart.  And still didn't make Billy Swan's Best.

2.  Chicago Line-John Mayall's Bluebreakers 1988  The big news of the weekend was me finally finding a copy of this album that has been out of print for many years for reasons beyond me.  I bought the CD when it came out since 99 plus played it one night and it was the comeback album for Mayall.  Tony Carey produced it, the guy that gave us Fine Fine Day and once played in Rainbow but perhaps Mayall wasn't too crazy of the production or recording and just jettisoned the album into out of print history.  Making a trip to Ragged Records I finally found the CD but at 25 dollars which still is a bargain if you think about it (for more reference see last blog).  The CD version is bit more boogie than blues and it was on You Tube but here's a more jazzier and blues version taken from a recent show.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzMUNIi0wwM&feature=related

3.  Down With The Bass-fIREHOSE 1991  They were The Minutemen till a fatal van accident claimed the life of D.Boon until a fan Ed Crawford convinced Mike Watt to give it another try.  They recorded two albums for Columbia before disbanding in 1994 and recently Sony Music reissued both Columbia albums and other assorted tracks for a 2 CD set.  A bit more mainstream and tailor ready for the alternative stations that were alternative and not Metallica Alternative like Alt radio is now.  One of a few promo cd's that was found in the HP Books bin during the 20 percent off sale.  Not bragging since my wallet took a big hit of all these bargains that were found, wasn't the HP Books or Pawnshop stuff, but rather paying 6 dollars for The Who Call Me Lightning and Six dollars for The Sports 1980 And Suddenly album.  But I still had a great time sorting through the goodies to find what I wanted.

4.  Sausalito Is The Place To Go-The Ohio Express 1969  Not the same band that gave us Yummy Yummy Yummy but rather Graham Gouldman and Hotlegs playing as The Ohio Express. Another interesting 45 that I came across at HP Books that didn't cost me two cheeseburgers and a Coke to get.  Gouldman and company would later have a hit with Neanderthal Man the next year for Capitol and somewhere down the line the band renamed themselves 10cc.

5.   I Am A Predator-Ted Nugent 1981  Ted being Mr. Funnyman again and actually I enjoy this song quite a bit.  It does beat Girl Scout Cookies in terms of being silly without being insulting.  From the Epic final Intensities In Ten Cities to which Ted debuts 10 new songs for concert approval.  I don't even think the recorded charted that high (Number 51, his poorest Epic showing) but for a throwaway album, he's done much worse.  Charlie Huhn, who had a eerie soundalike for Derek St Holmes would leave to join Humble Pie for a few and now resides in Foghat.  Side note:  Ted's Epic bandmates of Derek St Holmes and Rob Grange are now playing in his band once again (but without Cliff Davies who committed suicide in 2008) and is slated to play at Tama/Toledo Casino next month.  Might be worth going to but bring earplugs or you'll be deaf like Wackmaster Teddy is.   Still plays a mean guitar, just don't  talk politics with him.

6. What I'd Say (1 + 2)-Jerry Lee Lewis 1964  From what might be the first real punk album and probably the best overall live album ever recorded.  Of course you have heard of the legend of Jerry Lee, who had two giant hits for Sun and then married his 13 year old cousin which really sent his career down the loo.  But he kept plugging away, still making great music to which the public refused to hear.  And moved over to Smash Records for a country career that gave him a second chance.  But this album Jerry Lee Lewis with The Nashville Teens Live At The Star Club in Hamburg was history in the making.  And it scared everybody off who heard this, I'm sure Shelby Singleton Jr gave a big HELL NO on this.  This was intense, Jerry Lee was on fire and the Nashville Teens were pissed off that they played most of the Star Club dates without Mr. Lewis' help.   In my time of buying music and 45 years of it, this live document remains the most intense and brutal live performance ever recorded and does give a good argument from Gibby Hayes that Jerry Lee is the devil on Jesus Built My Hot Rod.  It would take almost 30 years for any US label to release this stateside and of course that came from Rhino Records in 1992 although Bear Family would issue it via import and with a bonus track.   Play that thing right Boy, he yells at a Nashville Teen and it's hard to tell who he was barking at, guitarist, drummer, maybe all of them.  At times the playing is so over the top that the drummer can't keep up so he bashes away at the cymbals while Jerry Lee yells at the audience YOU BETTER GET ON YOUR KNEES  AND SHAKE THAT THING as if this was his final stab at being the king of rock and roll and for one night, Jerry Lee was The King.  Elvis never even came close to outdo Jerry Lee on this live outing and it even makes The Stooges and The Who look polished and disciplined.  This is the kind of music that your parents warned you about and it's not pretty.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGHz9-S0j-w 

It's what they call rock and roll.

7.  Sweet Leaf-Widespread Panic 2004  A cover of Black Sabbath's lead off from Master Of Reality it shows the versatile ways of this jam band who made a few live albums on Sanctuary back in the early 00's.  I think I like their metal reworkings rather than the James Brown  cover off Jackassolantern which a live covers album.  Cold Sweat goes on too long and 16 minutes of Ball Of Confusion with Dirty Dozen Brass Band is jamnombics gone haywire but on the other side, their 5 minute tribute to BOC's Godzilla is actually too short.

8.  Don Henley Must Die-Mojo Nixon 1989   He was a MTV icon with Skid Roper but on this effort and the album Otis, Nixon put together a hell of a lineup: Country Dick Montana on drums, Dash Rip Rock's Bill Davis and Eric Ambel on guitar and X's John Doe on bass, got the late Jim Dickerson to produce it and named the album after Otis Redding so to speak.  This got some airplay and though it was tongue in cheek, Don Henley wasn't impressed.  With Bill and Roscoe trading Hotel California licks, Mojo tells them to quit playing that crap, you're outta the band gives me a chuckle when I hear it.  Against Mojo's wishes The Eagles did reunite for a tour and album and so did the Police come to think of it.  IRS records reissued Otis for a time in the 90s but now has fallen out of print.  For the rest of them Roscoe Ambel has been a sought after producer and plays in The Yayhoos and sometimes Steve Earle's band, John Doe went back to X, Country Dick Montana died around 1996 playing for the Beat Farmers and Bill Davis still leads Dash Rip Rock.

 


9.  Walking By Myself-Jimmy Rogers 1956   He wasn't that well known as a artist for Chess Records but he was more famous for being sideman to Muddy Waters but  I think this was his best known Chess song.  Back in the old daze of cd collecting I made a habit to seek out Chess reissues on CD (at first they appeared on albums in the 1980s for Sugar Hill and later MCA when they purchased the Chess masters from Sugar Hill, not the Sugar Hill Records of bluegrass fame but the Sugar Hill Records ran by Sylvia Robinson) and never did pick up Chicago Bound till I found it at the pawnshop. Chess Blues of the 50s actually were considered more rock at times and while the American kids preferred something more sweeter and pop, the UK kids started picking up on the Chess Blues and forming their own bands.  Rogers would continue to record for another 40 years before passing away, his last album was on Atlantic and one song featuring Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

10.   In A Dream-Norah Jones 2012  She's been around for 10 years now, Don't Know Why continues to get airplay on soft rock but there's more to Norah than just that jazz lite number. The past year she played piano on Ryan Adams' comeback album Ashes And Fire and her new album shows her working with Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse on a new album that left me cold when I first heard it but now really warmed up to it Little Broken Hearts to which she reinvents herself in making a sound somewhat like Portishead. So far the album hasn't sold very well but in my opinion this may be her best record to date.  And if she sells ten more copies of Little Broken Hearts then I'll take credit for suggesting this may be one of the best records of 2012.  But at this point, anything is better than Don't Know Why since that song has been killed by the radio.  And while nobody was paying attention she did release a new album by her side project The Little Willies too.  She's been a busy little girl.


Bubbling under:

Where Have All The Good Times Gone-Van Halen 1981
I Wanna Stay Home-Jellyfish 1992
Here For The Party-Gretchen Wilson 2004
Over You-Miranda Lambert 2011
Angel Eyes-Johnny Mathis 1956

PS:  Doesn't seem like people are that interested in reading about the Bargain Hunts since the Ann Arbor one only had like 7 views and the Ragged Records blog only 6.  But then again that may be a typo on Blogspot and that more people read them.

RIP Doc Watson, who passed away at age 89.

Then and now:  The Girl on Jellyfish's classic  Split Milk CD. (1993)