Hard to believe that this band would rewrite the Americana rock and roll music scene with their No Depression album and then three more albums and a severe falling out would lead Jeff Tweedy to form Wilco and Jay Farrar with Son Volt and the consensus say Wilco has been the better band, I on the other hand think of them being overrated at times. Son Volt was more to the spirit of Uncle Tupelo but the unevenness of their albums, I have not revisited all that much. But this is not about those bands.
Uncle Tupelo came from Bellevue Illinois and made a winning classic album right off the bat with No Depression. When I first heard this on KRUI, I damn near tore apart Record Collector to find that cd and basically wasn't disappointed at all between the grunge twang of Graveyard Shift, this album competed with Kings Of The Sun Full Frontal Attack as best record of 1990, with the latter winning out. While RCA wrote KOTS off, Rockville, the minor label that signed U.T. managed to make money on the band while shortchanging them. The band eventually got their masters back after a cease and detest, and the winning bidder Sony Music ended up reissuing the three albums of their Rockville tenure.
It was Farrar that dominated the songwriting although Tweedy got his share of songs as well, but to these ears, Farrar's songs stood out. Whiskey Bottle, Before I Break and Factory Belt was damn near perfect punk country garage but they could break out the acoustics well, a beautiful cover of the Carter Family No Depression and John Hardy a fork song turned into hard rock were just as good. The Rockville album was economical and to the point and while Legacy reissue of that album, they added some bonus tracks and it's a mixed bag, although a 1988 No Depression cover showed more of a country acoustic they would go after on their third and final Rockville platter. Legacy reissued the album once again, but this time adding the demos titled Not Forever, Just For Now and the heart of U.T. is there as Farrar and Tweedy would reshape their prolonged love of Iggy Pop, Garage Rock and The Flying Burrito Brothers into their own type.
Still Feel Gone the followup, may have been somewhat a disappointment but again to these ears, it was a nice followup. More rocking and less twang, this time out Tweedy's songs were just as good as Farrar, with the D Boon tribute song thundering and If That's Alright plus Nothing his finest at that point. Brian Henneman (Bottle Rockets) and Gary Louris (Jayhawks) helped out as well. But the next album, what was supposed to be their shining moment, turned out to be a downer of sorts March 16-22 1992. Produced by Peter Buck (REM) it's basically Jay and Jeff, (Mike Heidorn was on his way out, replaced by Ken Coomer on the next record). There are some fine numbers on this (Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down, Black Eye) and lotta people consider this their finest hour but for myself, I missed their stop and start punk rock and basically fell asleep most of the time. A period of transition so to speak.
After that, they signed with Sire Records and dropped their final album Anodyne and for all intent purposes as far as they would go. Coomer on drums was not as wild as Heidorn was and could keep a more straighter beat. Quickly recorded in May-June 1993 it's also famous for bringing in the late great Doug Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet) to sing on his own Give Back The Key To My Heart. In some ways this record is compromise of part rock of No Depression, part country and part acoustic of March 16-22 1992, but the chilling line of "no more will I see of you" on Steal The Crumbs may have foretold of the bitter breakup between Farrar and Tweedy. To which it ended in January 1994, to which bitter feelings still remain to this day and perhaps a reunion will never take place.
While Tweedy's star has shined brighter than Farrar in Wilco, that band jumping all over different types of music up to their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, a album that Reprise rejected but came out on another Warner Music imprint Nonesuch, which was elements of U2 and Radiohead but by then I gave up on Wilco. Son Volt was slightly better with Trace and minor hit Down and having Mike Heidorn on drums, but Farrar has been more at home with the acoustic music and honky tonk to which was the name of Son Volt's last album. But in 2000, the band sued Rockville and Dutch East Trading Company of lack of payments and eventually got their masters back. And can be found on Columbia/Legacy. They also put out 89/93 An Anthology, which cherry picks the better known tracks and adds some unreleased stuff as well. It's okay but I'd go with the original albums.
The legacy of Uncle Tueplo remains back in 1990 with No Depression and still remains one of the best 90s albums out there. But the oil and water that is Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, would make classic music together and while Wilco has been the critics and fans darling since the nasty breakup. I'll forever go to my grave singing the praises of Uncle Tupelo. We may never seen another band of their likes ever.
Albums:
No Depression (Columbia/Legacy 1990) A
Still Feel Gone (Columbia/Legacy 1991) A-
March 16-22, 1992 (Columbia/Legacy 1992) B
Anodyne (Sire/Reprise 1993) B+
89/93 An Anthology (Columbia 2002) B+
Not Forever, Just For Now (1989, later issued as bonus disc on No Depression Legacy-2014) A-
Son Volt:
Trace (Warner Brothers 1995) B+
Straightaways (Warner Brothers 1996) C+
Wide Swing Tremolo (Warner Brothers 1998) B
A Retrospective (Rhino 2000) B-
Okemah And The Melody Of Riot (Legacy 2005) A-
The Search (Legacy 2006) B-
American Central Dust (Rounder 2009) B
Honky Tonk (Rounder 2013) B-
Wilco: (incomplete)
AM (Sire/Reprise 1995) B+
Being There (Reprise 1996) B
Summerteeth (Reprise 1998) B+
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch 2001) B
Billy Bragg And Wilco
Mermaid Avenue (Elektra 1998) A-
Mermaid Avenue (Elektra 2000) B+
The Complete Mermaid Avenue Sessions (Nonesuch 2014) B+
Jay Farrar solo albums I have not heard so I didn't include them nor the Wilco albums after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Most of their moments but the weirdness of A Ghost Is Born kinda put me off buying any more after that although The Wilco Album and Sky Blue Sky are worth getting should you come across them.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Playlist 4-2-14 3rd Time The Charm?
It's a weird feeling when spring comes around and you begin to see bits of green starting to take shape on the landscape after months of brown grass or snow cover that you really don't know what to make of it. With winter 14 now in the books and hopefully done with the below zero and snow, we turn our attention to spring and hopefully no major monsoons. It's been years since I been up in Washington state and the Seattle area but to the east of that in the mountains lies Oso Washington which got buried under a ton of a massive landslide that happened two Saturdays again. In fact they had two massive landslides that faithful day. It was a nice place to go through but there was always a sense of danger that a mudslide could and would happen. They just didn't think it would happen this quickly and without warning.
A long time ago, my high school sweetheart Penny and I would begin a off and on courtship, back then I wasn't much of a catch (and still not much of a catch in this day and age) but most of our high school years she would be dating Karl aka Mudduck as everybody called him. Don't ask why I don't know the reason myself. Over time and those who follow my antics on the Townedgers Music Page, I have made songs and comments about our time together. Water under the bridge as we cross it, she has made it official that she's going down the wedding bliss aisle for a third time with her high school sweetheart Karl. Things are actually looking up for her, she recently can be seen as a door greeter at the Marion Wally World. Although me, her and Karl have intertwined throughout the years, (Karl originally married Klancy and later divorced, she worked with me in my wilderness years as a day care worker, yes working with kids!), Penny and Karl reconnected through their 30th high school reunion, and now maybe spending the rest of their years together. Seems like the perfect ending for them. As for myself, there's the continuing search for music that I overlooked in the first place. Music seems to be my mistress, or my meth depending on how you look at it.
The Mission Creek Festival starts up in Iowa City this week with the likes of Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jason Isbell being the main artists but they also plenty of working class locals trying to show off their wares. If you're in Iowa City this week, you should check it out. For you bargain hunters, there's Record Collector, Sweet Living Antiques, Housewerks and the thrift stores for your crate digging needs of vinyl and this generation 8 Tracks, CDs.
After 10 years of using this trusty old Dell computer I believe it's probably time to replace it. I just wasted ten minutes and the usual countless Shockware App hung up messages, or the stop running scripts messages that seem to make things worse than better. When things do work well, then it seems that us Americans and other corporations want to fuck things up so that they don't work. Just like starting out, using the old unreliable dialup to get on the internet and then get disconnected at the wrong time or if my brother wanted to use the phone. Three years into the hi speed life and now we're back to square one and the usual hangups if I'm researching something that my 2,000 fan base would check out before going back to the usual top ten suspects (Circumstances Beyond Control, Morgan Reese Fairhead, blah) and find useful, I'm now once again growing a ZZ Top beard waiting for the computer to thaw out from the continuous freezing. And sometimes wonder if wasting all this time on line is worth anything.
Looks like Long Wongs, a part of the Tempe/Mesa music scene is finally closing for good. Originally part of the historic Mill Street scene (which I spent many a day there and having their famous watery spaghetti) they moved down to road due of rising rent and looks like it once again the case. After April 1st, they will be history. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2014/03/long-wongs-tempe-closing.php
Bill Nelson was part of Be Bop Deluxe and made a few albums for the old EMI empire which has crumbled and now is part of the Universal labels of dominance. Another victim being ripoff by the label, he writes up this life learning lesson that he suffered for his art and didn't get paid as well. Maybe the music industry was a pipe dream all along the way. So here ya go, another horror story about the music industry. http://www.jagshouse.com/music/billnelson.html
On a brighter note, Christine McVie has rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the 2014 tour, ending her 15 year retirement of living the obscure country lady life. A possible new album in the forthcoming year that nobody will buy? We'll see but it's nice to see her back in action once again.
Vinylisms:
Betty Davis-Is It Love Or Is It Desire (Light In The Attic 1975)
Some sinister voodoo funk from the former Mrs. Miles Davis, she's funky all right but she can't sing worth shit and it shows on the creaky title song. Originally the second album for Island after Nasty Gal, Davis continued to push boundaries of sexy innuendo and suggested lyrics but a huge following out with Chris Blackwell shelved this album till Light In The Attic issued this with the rest of Betty's 70s output. Using some unknown but very good New Orleans session-men, you can hear traces of Sly And The Family Stone and Funkadelic, more of the latter than former. Betty who wrote songs for the Chambers Brothers and other folk of the 60s before turning on and getting Miles reinvents herself as the sassy and sultry sexpot on the soft porn Bottom Of The Barrel, (when she means get down, she means go south of the border young man) or the drunk party girl on Bar Hoppin' (kinda reminds me of the 1 oclock drunk chick at the old DeSoda's whooping it up). She remains an acquired taste, especially on that so called screech of a vocal but in terms of porn funk, Lady Gaga knows nothing on the subject after you met Betty. She could teach Miss Gaga or the old bag Madonna a thing or two about getting down.
Grade B
That's What I Like About Phil Harris (The Good Music Company)
Better known as the voice behind the bear in Jungle Book, Harris had a fairly successful career in big band type of music although he kinda reminds of a white Cab Calloway. In this day and age the youngsters don't care about this bygone era of music but this comp takes a look at Harris' RCA career of the late 40s and early 50s. He covers a lot of country on here (Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy, Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette, Deck Of Cards) and oodles of pop standards which is okay. But no Bare Necessities No liner notes whatsoever about the songs or about the man himself.
Grade B-
Godspell (Bell 1972)
You can tell it's another slow music day when you're putting up forgotten pop albums and rock operas. So back in the 70s Godspell was used for high school theatrical shows or the local amateur circuit for a musical. Nothing more going into music vocal class and doing Day By Day, which was a number 13 hit in 1972. But comparing this with Jesus Christ Superstar, this record is a more tolerant than the overblown JC Superstar album which I had at one time and then traded it in. There's a certain charm to this, even though it's the dreaded musical, there's some rock elements and the Finale has a bit of prog in some of the song passages. I get a kick out of Robin Lamont's flat sounding emphasis on the word Things as in Oh deal Lord, these "things" I pray when she 'sings' that line. It's probably the highlight of this rock gospel that used to be the rage when Jesus Christ Superstar was the rage and there was a scramble to come up with another rock gospel for the ages. This was more of a musical excursion than full blown out rock gospel as Truth Of Truths which was more of a answer record to Superstar although while I thought He's The Light Of The World was on Godspell, (Light Of The World is a different song) that song is on Truth Of Truths, an album got promoted big time on the old Powerline show, which showcased selected album cuts and throwing in a gospel proverb from time to time. Don't recall much of Truth Of Truths outside of the Osmond Brothers covering He's The Light Of The World, it was released on a small label and hasn't been out on CD and there's no plans for it to be ever reissued again. But Godspell still remains in print. And still can be found on vinyl at thrift stores. It's not perfect, most musical albums are not, the operatic numbers suck, but for a catchy ear worm like Day By Day it does fit perfectly in the K Tel or Have A Nice Day series. Useless trivia: David Letterman's sidekick Paul Shaffer plays organ on the Finale. While credited on the Bell album, Shaffer isn't even mentioned on the Arista CD. On a different note, David Letterman is retiring from the late show in 2015.
Grade B
Playlist of the week:
Candy's Going Bad-Golden Earring
Same Old You-Miranda Lambert
So Many Things To Say-Wishbone Ash
Move-Miles Davis
It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)-Bob Dylan
Whiskey Bottle (Acoustic Version)-Uncle Tupelo
Don't Step On The Grass Sam-Steppenwolf
Southern Girls-Saliva
Have A Drink On Me-AC/DC
Self Made Man-UFO
Late news:
Trucker Kitty is gone. If there's any links that are still up, they do not work. Best of luck to her.
The 80s tribute band to Hair metal, Poison and all things 80s Hairball has fired up their tribute band and will be making the rounds in the Midwest, they will be appearing at the Cedar Rapids Freedom Fest on the 21st of June (weather permitting) and 6 days later even appearing in Anamosa at the J n P Motorcycle Rally. Plus the usual stops at the Des Moines State Fair, The Onatonna State Fair and many others before the last show of the year in Iowa City on August 23rd. If you yearn to see real hair metal bands of that era instead, Guns N Roses, will be playing in South America with Duff McKegan subbing for Tommy Stinson as Tommy has some dates lined up with The Replacements. But for cheaper entertainment, you can't beat Hairball.
Bob Lefsetz' April Fool Story (he's good at that) http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/apple-buys-beats/
One more link to add: Bro Country and Nu Metal, one and the same! UGH! http://goosefiles.tumblr.com/post/81325674104/why-bro-country-and-nu-metal-are-the-exact-same-thing
And of course, this final thought about KISS and the Hall Of Fame hijinx. Enough Paul Stanley about if Ace and Peter wear the facepaint and taking the band a step backwards. We get it, you guys are never ever getting back together again but either the magazines or you continue to rehash it up and getting pissed off when the Hall requested the original get back together one more time. The last two albums were the closest sound you had back to the 70s and Eric and Tommy are good bandmates. Enough bickering, the Hall Of Fame doesn't mean shit anyway. Unless its fodder for the rock and roll tabloids out there. Get over yourself Paul, we can't help it if Ace's solo album at that time was the best seller of all. Ace hasn't come close of recapturing that album but it's a hell of lot better than what you and Gene put out at that time. Move on.
Ivy Doomkitty Eye Candy Pic of Month:
The original photo got deleted. But we have this one.
A long time ago, my high school sweetheart Penny and I would begin a off and on courtship, back then I wasn't much of a catch (and still not much of a catch in this day and age) but most of our high school years she would be dating Karl aka Mudduck as everybody called him. Don't ask why I don't know the reason myself. Over time and those who follow my antics on the Townedgers Music Page, I have made songs and comments about our time together. Water under the bridge as we cross it, she has made it official that she's going down the wedding bliss aisle for a third time with her high school sweetheart Karl. Things are actually looking up for her, she recently can be seen as a door greeter at the Marion Wally World. Although me, her and Karl have intertwined throughout the years, (Karl originally married Klancy and later divorced, she worked with me in my wilderness years as a day care worker, yes working with kids!), Penny and Karl reconnected through their 30th high school reunion, and now maybe spending the rest of their years together. Seems like the perfect ending for them. As for myself, there's the continuing search for music that I overlooked in the first place. Music seems to be my mistress, or my meth depending on how you look at it.
The Mission Creek Festival starts up in Iowa City this week with the likes of Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jason Isbell being the main artists but they also plenty of working class locals trying to show off their wares. If you're in Iowa City this week, you should check it out. For you bargain hunters, there's Record Collector, Sweet Living Antiques, Housewerks and the thrift stores for your crate digging needs of vinyl and this generation 8 Tracks, CDs.
After 10 years of using this trusty old Dell computer I believe it's probably time to replace it. I just wasted ten minutes and the usual countless Shockware App hung up messages, or the stop running scripts messages that seem to make things worse than better. When things do work well, then it seems that us Americans and other corporations want to fuck things up so that they don't work. Just like starting out, using the old unreliable dialup to get on the internet and then get disconnected at the wrong time or if my brother wanted to use the phone. Three years into the hi speed life and now we're back to square one and the usual hangups if I'm researching something that my 2,000 fan base would check out before going back to the usual top ten suspects (Circumstances Beyond Control, Morgan Reese Fairhead, blah) and find useful, I'm now once again growing a ZZ Top beard waiting for the computer to thaw out from the continuous freezing. And sometimes wonder if wasting all this time on line is worth anything.
Looks like Long Wongs, a part of the Tempe/Mesa music scene is finally closing for good. Originally part of the historic Mill Street scene (which I spent many a day there and having their famous watery spaghetti) they moved down to road due of rising rent and looks like it once again the case. After April 1st, they will be history. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2014/03/long-wongs-tempe-closing.php
Bill Nelson was part of Be Bop Deluxe and made a few albums for the old EMI empire which has crumbled and now is part of the Universal labels of dominance. Another victim being ripoff by the label, he writes up this life learning lesson that he suffered for his art and didn't get paid as well. Maybe the music industry was a pipe dream all along the way. So here ya go, another horror story about the music industry. http://www.jagshouse.com/music/billnelson.html
On a brighter note, Christine McVie has rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the 2014 tour, ending her 15 year retirement of living the obscure country lady life. A possible new album in the forthcoming year that nobody will buy? We'll see but it's nice to see her back in action once again.
Vinylisms:
Betty Davis-Is It Love Or Is It Desire (Light In The Attic 1975)
Some sinister voodoo funk from the former Mrs. Miles Davis, she's funky all right but she can't sing worth shit and it shows on the creaky title song. Originally the second album for Island after Nasty Gal, Davis continued to push boundaries of sexy innuendo and suggested lyrics but a huge following out with Chris Blackwell shelved this album till Light In The Attic issued this with the rest of Betty's 70s output. Using some unknown but very good New Orleans session-men, you can hear traces of Sly And The Family Stone and Funkadelic, more of the latter than former. Betty who wrote songs for the Chambers Brothers and other folk of the 60s before turning on and getting Miles reinvents herself as the sassy and sultry sexpot on the soft porn Bottom Of The Barrel, (when she means get down, she means go south of the border young man) or the drunk party girl on Bar Hoppin' (kinda reminds me of the 1 oclock drunk chick at the old DeSoda's whooping it up). She remains an acquired taste, especially on that so called screech of a vocal but in terms of porn funk, Lady Gaga knows nothing on the subject after you met Betty. She could teach Miss Gaga or the old bag Madonna a thing or two about getting down.
Grade B
That's What I Like About Phil Harris (The Good Music Company)
Better known as the voice behind the bear in Jungle Book, Harris had a fairly successful career in big band type of music although he kinda reminds of a white Cab Calloway. In this day and age the youngsters don't care about this bygone era of music but this comp takes a look at Harris' RCA career of the late 40s and early 50s. He covers a lot of country on here (Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy, Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette, Deck Of Cards) and oodles of pop standards which is okay. But no Bare Necessities No liner notes whatsoever about the songs or about the man himself.
Grade B-
Godspell (Bell 1972)
You can tell it's another slow music day when you're putting up forgotten pop albums and rock operas. So back in the 70s Godspell was used for high school theatrical shows or the local amateur circuit for a musical. Nothing more going into music vocal class and doing Day By Day, which was a number 13 hit in 1972. But comparing this with Jesus Christ Superstar, this record is a more tolerant than the overblown JC Superstar album which I had at one time and then traded it in. There's a certain charm to this, even though it's the dreaded musical, there's some rock elements and the Finale has a bit of prog in some of the song passages. I get a kick out of Robin Lamont's flat sounding emphasis on the word Things as in Oh deal Lord, these "things" I pray when she 'sings' that line. It's probably the highlight of this rock gospel that used to be the rage when Jesus Christ Superstar was the rage and there was a scramble to come up with another rock gospel for the ages. This was more of a musical excursion than full blown out rock gospel as Truth Of Truths which was more of a answer record to Superstar although while I thought He's The Light Of The World was on Godspell, (Light Of The World is a different song) that song is on Truth Of Truths, an album got promoted big time on the old Powerline show, which showcased selected album cuts and throwing in a gospel proverb from time to time. Don't recall much of Truth Of Truths outside of the Osmond Brothers covering He's The Light Of The World, it was released on a small label and hasn't been out on CD and there's no plans for it to be ever reissued again. But Godspell still remains in print. And still can be found on vinyl at thrift stores. It's not perfect, most musical albums are not, the operatic numbers suck, but for a catchy ear worm like Day By Day it does fit perfectly in the K Tel or Have A Nice Day series. Useless trivia: David Letterman's sidekick Paul Shaffer plays organ on the Finale. While credited on the Bell album, Shaffer isn't even mentioned on the Arista CD. On a different note, David Letterman is retiring from the late show in 2015.
Grade B
Playlist of the week:
Candy's Going Bad-Golden Earring
Same Old You-Miranda Lambert
So Many Things To Say-Wishbone Ash
Move-Miles Davis
It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)-Bob Dylan
Whiskey Bottle (Acoustic Version)-Uncle Tupelo
Don't Step On The Grass Sam-Steppenwolf
Southern Girls-Saliva
Have A Drink On Me-AC/DC
Self Made Man-UFO
Late news:
Trucker Kitty is gone. If there's any links that are still up, they do not work. Best of luck to her.
The 80s tribute band to Hair metal, Poison and all things 80s Hairball has fired up their tribute band and will be making the rounds in the Midwest, they will be appearing at the Cedar Rapids Freedom Fest on the 21st of June (weather permitting) and 6 days later even appearing in Anamosa at the J n P Motorcycle Rally. Plus the usual stops at the Des Moines State Fair, The Onatonna State Fair and many others before the last show of the year in Iowa City on August 23rd. If you yearn to see real hair metal bands of that era instead, Guns N Roses, will be playing in South America with Duff McKegan subbing for Tommy Stinson as Tommy has some dates lined up with The Replacements. But for cheaper entertainment, you can't beat Hairball.
Bob Lefsetz' April Fool Story (he's good at that) http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/apple-buys-beats/
One more link to add: Bro Country and Nu Metal, one and the same! UGH! http://goosefiles.tumblr.com/post/81325674104/why-bro-country-and-nu-metal-are-the-exact-same-thing
And of course, this final thought about KISS and the Hall Of Fame hijinx. Enough Paul Stanley about if Ace and Peter wear the facepaint and taking the band a step backwards. We get it, you guys are never ever getting back together again but either the magazines or you continue to rehash it up and getting pissed off when the Hall requested the original get back together one more time. The last two albums were the closest sound you had back to the 70s and Eric and Tommy are good bandmates. Enough bickering, the Hall Of Fame doesn't mean shit anyway. Unless its fodder for the rock and roll tabloids out there. Get over yourself Paul, we can't help it if Ace's solo album at that time was the best seller of all. Ace hasn't come close of recapturing that album but it's a hell of lot better than what you and Gene put out at that time. Move on.
Ivy Doomkitty Eye Candy Pic of Month:
The original photo got deleted. But we have this one.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
ICON-Aerosmith
When you grew up in the 70s, you loved Aerosmith. I know I did.
A long time ago, I was out and about over at the old Lindale Plaza (now Mall), in the old Why Not Lounge parking lot I stumbled upon the leaves of a 20 dollar bill that back then brought a few 45s, a couple albums and about 2 hours playing pinball up at Aladdin's Castle, which was most a pinball playing place. Of course being a 14 year old, a 20 dollar bill did burn a hole in my pocket and I went to Target to buy 2 albums of note, one was 10cc The Original Soundtrack for 2 dollars (strange it was already a cut out in late 1975 despite I'm Not In Love being on it) and the other was Toys In The Attic, to which I played the grooves off that album, mostly on side 2 and Sweet Emotion and No More No More, the latter one of my favorite all time Aerosmith songs, a song that classic rock radio rarely plays although Sweet Emotion is always playing somewhere on the airwaves much to my chagrin. And then we had Round And Round, one of the heaviest numbers they ever did but I never paid much attention to You See Me Crying. Side 1 had the fun title track but I didn't like Uncle Salty all that much and I did play Walk This Way before it was ruined by the Run DMC version (more about that later).
A year later I quit playing pinball for about 2 months in order to pick up Rocks and that too was a winning album, some say their best and side 1 is just about as perfect as they got, with Back In The Saddle, minor hit Last Child going into Rats In The Cellar and Joe Perry's Combination. Side 2 the best track was Sick As A Dog although I didn't like it going into Nobody's Fault and the rest was okay. I have to point out that Home Tonight a single from that album didn't chart very high if it did but it was a ballad at the end of the record that I didn't play very much, I prefer my Aerosmith rock and roll and no ballads, something that they would become famous for but more about that later.
Dream On, when it came out in 1973 wasn't much of a hit but a second release of it three years later it became one of their biggest hits ever and of course played to death on radio, but the debut was meat and potatoes Boston rock and roll with Make It and Mama Kin but also featured a wild cover of Walking The Dog and Movin Out and produced by Adrian Barber (The Rascals). A promising start but their second album Get Your Wings was much better and rocked harder due to Jack Douglas becoming producer and he would be key in the next four albums, how could you not go wrong leading things off with Same Old Song And Dance and going into Lord Of The Thighs. Recently turned 66, Steven Tyler could really think up some interesting sexual innuendos as heard on Thighs. Side 1 was almost damn near perfect with Spaced and Woman Of The World concluding that side and the second side with FM classic S.O.S. (too late) and half studio half live Train Kept A Rollin, a song that they still use for a encore. Beginning Get Your Wings and ending with Rocks, Aerosmith put together three of the most amazing albums of the 1970s. Draw The Line begin to show cracks in their drug infused haze but believe it or not, I think it serves a nice purpose and the forth winning album of the 70s, although when it first came out, I wasn't that impressed but somehow in 1977 I played it a lot. Live Bootleg, shows Aerosmith in their Cocaine fueled glory and they sure sounded fucked up with all the bizzare missed notes, feedback, thrown firecrackers from the audience and you had to be there to really believe it. Time hasn't treated this record very well but it has moments, including a early 1970's performance of them doing I Ain't Got You and Mother Popcorn to which Joey Kramer could lay a funky beat before going into fucked up beats in the 1977 tour.
And then Joe Perry and Steven Tyler had a falling out which begins the downfall of Aerosmith and Night In The Ruts, an interesting 1979 play on words title, suffers from the fallout although the album isn't too bad, No Surprize being the highlight and a loud Gary Lyons mix, the rest of album isn't that good I don't think. It's one of the albums I still have on vinyl and not on CD. But I don't play it very often, nor do I on the 1982 Rock In A Hard Place which has actually held up better than Night In The Ruts. By then Joe Perry left to do his own project (Joe Perry Project) and Brad Whitford teamed up with Derek St. Holmes for Whitford/St. Holmes and made a very spotty one off in 1981. Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay were the replacements and although Jailbait still reminded us that Aerosmith could still rocked but without Perry and Whitford the inspiration was gone. Columbia mopped up with a half assed Aerosmith Greatest Hits which used the 45 edits rather than album cuts for the hits. The drugs won out it seemed and the best American Rock Band was no more....
Or so we thought. The Joe Perry Project failed to duplicate the Aerosmith and Perry along with Whitford returned to the mothership for a new start and new album on Geffen, the much maligned Done With Mirrors, a album that the band didn't care much for, it sounds like one off demos and perhaps that was the way Ted Templeman wanted to record them. To me, it was their best since Draw The Line, the discovered how to rock and roll once again and even Tyler is still thinking up words to sing to the songs, the music mattered more. Let The Music Do The Talking is more in your face than the Ralph Morman sanged verson on the JPP 1980 album of the same name. If the songs are one take works in progess, so be it but the sloppiness fun of Gypsy Boots, The Hop and failed single Sheila is what I rather remember Aerosmith for, real rock and roll. But Done With Mirrors sold poorly and the label was wanting hits.
A couple things happened in 1987 that got Aerosmith back on the map and back on the charts. 1) Perry and Tyler appeared in the Run DMC version of Walk This Way, the original selling out of a band but back then it was actually a fresh take, they took a chance with the rap upstarts and managed to get a number 4 single from this. 2). The band hooked up with Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Prism) and hired outside songwriters to help find the missing single they sorely needed. It turned out to be the number 3 led Angel, a ballad and some say this is where the Aerosmith we knew and loved finally sold out to the major label. The band was moreorless drug free (although relapses would occur on occasion throughout the next 25 plus years) and their sound was more polished. With Fairbairn holding production and Desmond Child, Holly Knight and Jim Vallance being the paid song doctors, Permanent Vacation is Aerosmith as rock professionals The album comes roaring out with Heart's Done Time and of course Dude Looks Like A Lady (ruined by classic rock radio overplay) and St. John the record isn't bad, but side 2 has way too much filler for it to be a true Aerosmith classic album. But say what you will about 1989's Pump, it's actually better with Young Lust, Monkey On Your Back and Love In An Elevator (another classic rock radio ruination) and song for song a more listenable album. But with more and more emphasis on the slower songs (Jennie's Got A Gun and What It Takes) and reliance on the song doctors, the Aerosmith that I known and loved was gone.
Which becomes the problem with each ensuring album and 1993's Get A Grip, the ballads overtake the rock and Aerosmith started making subpar albums. I wouldn't say shitty but they disappointing to these ears and Grip is their worst since Night In The Ruts. With that came the endless supply of Greatest Hits packages from both Sony Music and Geffen themselves, Aerosmith excused themselves from Geffen with the shoddy Little Past Insanity album, which was okay but for me I had enough and for the rest of the 90s gave little notice to their return to Columbia and the forgettable Nine Lives and even worse Just Push Play. It didn't help that the band started using Marti Fredericksen for co producer and still do to this day, Fredicksen helped out Brother Cane and was part of a band called Motherland, featuring Jason Bonham on drums for a so so album for 550 Music in the mid 90s. But Marti was out of his league when it came to co producing the two drab albums in the 90s. Maybe Aerosmith was becoming a nostalgia act.
In some ways Jack Douglas returning to help out the band do their blues tribute album Honkin For Bobo helped considerably, with the boys covering some of their favorite Bo Dilddley, Little Walter numbers it felt like a return to the old days but Marti Fredericksen was still around, still maintaining a sense of looking for a hit and they didn't get on this album. But they did get the late Jimmie Johnson (Chuck Berry, Kentucky Headhunters) playing the piano. The next year, they put out Rockin The Joint, another failed live effort but it did capture Aerosmith on a good night, but then again they had to put the odious ballad I Don't Want To Miss A Thing (their only number 1 record single ever, :-( ) to put a damper on things. And then for the next six years go through different producers (failed sessions with Steve Lillywhite and Brendan O'Brien) to give us perhaps their final statement about rock and roll...2012's Music From Another Dimension.
We heard this time and time again, that every new Aerosmith is a return to their roots and they returned to Jack Douglas to help things...................And Marti Fredricksen once again, the burr in their saddle, and the one that they look for to get the elusive hit single, now long gone. Joe Perry got to sing on two numbers and there's plenty of guest stars all around (Julian Lennon and Carrie Underwood). While Can't Stop Lovin You, the duet with Underwood would have fit better on a Steven Tyler album, it serves no purpose on a full Aerosmith album and the ballads here may have been the worst things they ever done this time out. Sony Music promoted the hell out of this album, Aerosmith talked a good talk about this album but in the end, while it was better than Nine Lives and Just Push Play, Music From Another Dimension simply didn't rock hard enough and suffered greatly from bloated ballads and a hour and 8 minute total time. And too many song doctors left and right don't help things either, the usual suspects and Diane Warren too, Music From Another Dimension ends up a big commercial disappointment and another false promise of going back to their roots, but what roots are they talking about? It's certainly not the days of Toys And The Attic or Rocks, the logical guess would be a return to Permanent Vacation, to which they relied too much on the help of outside songwriters and occasionally doing a rock and roll song to make you think they have return back to their roots.
So I guess in all fairness is that the Aerosmith that I know and love so well, remains the band from the 70s all drugged up and ready to blow everybody and themselves off the stage to be the best rock and roll band in the world, to which we all rode the trainwreck all the way down and hope that the toxic twins wouldn't kill each other in the process. In some ways they do mirror The Rolling Stone of the past, knew how to rock and when they finally reached the top, coasted on past laurels and outside help to maintain their status in radio world but now as senior citizens it has proven that from here on out whatever Aerosmith chooses to put out, they will do so with a calculated eye and ear to a declining corporate rock world that has written them off as classic rockers. They have earned their way in the rock hall despite Tyler's ill advised appearance on American Idol that tarnish their street cred. Like the Stones, Their Music From Another Dimension is their Bridges To Babylon. But their Toys In The Attic and Rocks are their answer to Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed. Once upon a time, Aerosmith was the greatest rock and roll band that took the stage, even if they don't remember that from all the drugs that they took.
Albums of note (omitting the 25 greatest hits comps out there)
Aerosmith (Columbia 1973) B+
Get Your Wings (Columbia 1974) A+
Toys In The Attic (Columbia 1975) A
Rocks (Columbia 1976) A
Draw The Line (Columbia 1977) A-
Live Bootleg (Columbia 1978) B+
Night In The Ruts (Columbia 1979) C
Aerosmith's Greatest Hits (Columbia 1980) B-
Rock In A Hard Place (Columbia 1982) C+
Done With Mirrors (Geffen 1985) B+
Classics Live (Columbia 1985) B
Permanent Vacation (Geffen 1987) B
Classics Live Two (Columbia 1987) B-
Gems (Columbia 1988) B
Pump (Geffen 1989) B+
Get A Grip (Geffen 1993) C+
Big Ones (Geffen 1994) C+
Nine Lives (Columbia 1997) C
Just Push Play (Columbia 2001) C
Honkin On Bobo (Columbia 2004) B+
Rockin The Joint (Columbia 2005) B
Music From Another Dimension (Columbia 2012) B-
Joe Perry Albums (be it Joe Perry Project or solo)
Let The Music Do The Talking (Columbia 1980) A-
I Got The Rock And Rolls Again (Columbia 1981) B
Once A Rocker Always A Rocker (MCA 1983) C+
The Best Of Joe Perry (Raven 1999) B
Joe Perry (Columbia/Roman 2005) B+
Have Guitar Will Travel (Roman/Mailboat 2009) B
Whitford/St Holmes (Columbia 1981) B
Reunion (Mailboat 2016) C+
Steven Tyler-We're All Somebody From Somewhere (Dot 2016) C
A long time ago, I was out and about over at the old Lindale Plaza (now Mall), in the old Why Not Lounge parking lot I stumbled upon the leaves of a 20 dollar bill that back then brought a few 45s, a couple albums and about 2 hours playing pinball up at Aladdin's Castle, which was most a pinball playing place. Of course being a 14 year old, a 20 dollar bill did burn a hole in my pocket and I went to Target to buy 2 albums of note, one was 10cc The Original Soundtrack for 2 dollars (strange it was already a cut out in late 1975 despite I'm Not In Love being on it) and the other was Toys In The Attic, to which I played the grooves off that album, mostly on side 2 and Sweet Emotion and No More No More, the latter one of my favorite all time Aerosmith songs, a song that classic rock radio rarely plays although Sweet Emotion is always playing somewhere on the airwaves much to my chagrin. And then we had Round And Round, one of the heaviest numbers they ever did but I never paid much attention to You See Me Crying. Side 1 had the fun title track but I didn't like Uncle Salty all that much and I did play Walk This Way before it was ruined by the Run DMC version (more about that later).
A year later I quit playing pinball for about 2 months in order to pick up Rocks and that too was a winning album, some say their best and side 1 is just about as perfect as they got, with Back In The Saddle, minor hit Last Child going into Rats In The Cellar and Joe Perry's Combination. Side 2 the best track was Sick As A Dog although I didn't like it going into Nobody's Fault and the rest was okay. I have to point out that Home Tonight a single from that album didn't chart very high if it did but it was a ballad at the end of the record that I didn't play very much, I prefer my Aerosmith rock and roll and no ballads, something that they would become famous for but more about that later.
Dream On, when it came out in 1973 wasn't much of a hit but a second release of it three years later it became one of their biggest hits ever and of course played to death on radio, but the debut was meat and potatoes Boston rock and roll with Make It and Mama Kin but also featured a wild cover of Walking The Dog and Movin Out and produced by Adrian Barber (The Rascals). A promising start but their second album Get Your Wings was much better and rocked harder due to Jack Douglas becoming producer and he would be key in the next four albums, how could you not go wrong leading things off with Same Old Song And Dance and going into Lord Of The Thighs. Recently turned 66, Steven Tyler could really think up some interesting sexual innuendos as heard on Thighs. Side 1 was almost damn near perfect with Spaced and Woman Of The World concluding that side and the second side with FM classic S.O.S. (too late) and half studio half live Train Kept A Rollin, a song that they still use for a encore. Beginning Get Your Wings and ending with Rocks, Aerosmith put together three of the most amazing albums of the 1970s. Draw The Line begin to show cracks in their drug infused haze but believe it or not, I think it serves a nice purpose and the forth winning album of the 70s, although when it first came out, I wasn't that impressed but somehow in 1977 I played it a lot. Live Bootleg, shows Aerosmith in their Cocaine fueled glory and they sure sounded fucked up with all the bizzare missed notes, feedback, thrown firecrackers from the audience and you had to be there to really believe it. Time hasn't treated this record very well but it has moments, including a early 1970's performance of them doing I Ain't Got You and Mother Popcorn to which Joey Kramer could lay a funky beat before going into fucked up beats in the 1977 tour.
And then Joe Perry and Steven Tyler had a falling out which begins the downfall of Aerosmith and Night In The Ruts, an interesting 1979 play on words title, suffers from the fallout although the album isn't too bad, No Surprize being the highlight and a loud Gary Lyons mix, the rest of album isn't that good I don't think. It's one of the albums I still have on vinyl and not on CD. But I don't play it very often, nor do I on the 1982 Rock In A Hard Place which has actually held up better than Night In The Ruts. By then Joe Perry left to do his own project (Joe Perry Project) and Brad Whitford teamed up with Derek St. Holmes for Whitford/St. Holmes and made a very spotty one off in 1981. Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay were the replacements and although Jailbait still reminded us that Aerosmith could still rocked but without Perry and Whitford the inspiration was gone. Columbia mopped up with a half assed Aerosmith Greatest Hits which used the 45 edits rather than album cuts for the hits. The drugs won out it seemed and the best American Rock Band was no more....
Or so we thought. The Joe Perry Project failed to duplicate the Aerosmith and Perry along with Whitford returned to the mothership for a new start and new album on Geffen, the much maligned Done With Mirrors, a album that the band didn't care much for, it sounds like one off demos and perhaps that was the way Ted Templeman wanted to record them. To me, it was their best since Draw The Line, the discovered how to rock and roll once again and even Tyler is still thinking up words to sing to the songs, the music mattered more. Let The Music Do The Talking is more in your face than the Ralph Morman sanged verson on the JPP 1980 album of the same name. If the songs are one take works in progess, so be it but the sloppiness fun of Gypsy Boots, The Hop and failed single Sheila is what I rather remember Aerosmith for, real rock and roll. But Done With Mirrors sold poorly and the label was wanting hits.
A couple things happened in 1987 that got Aerosmith back on the map and back on the charts. 1) Perry and Tyler appeared in the Run DMC version of Walk This Way, the original selling out of a band but back then it was actually a fresh take, they took a chance with the rap upstarts and managed to get a number 4 single from this. 2). The band hooked up with Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Prism) and hired outside songwriters to help find the missing single they sorely needed. It turned out to be the number 3 led Angel, a ballad and some say this is where the Aerosmith we knew and loved finally sold out to the major label. The band was moreorless drug free (although relapses would occur on occasion throughout the next 25 plus years) and their sound was more polished. With Fairbairn holding production and Desmond Child, Holly Knight and Jim Vallance being the paid song doctors, Permanent Vacation is Aerosmith as rock professionals The album comes roaring out with Heart's Done Time and of course Dude Looks Like A Lady (ruined by classic rock radio overplay) and St. John the record isn't bad, but side 2 has way too much filler for it to be a true Aerosmith classic album. But say what you will about 1989's Pump, it's actually better with Young Lust, Monkey On Your Back and Love In An Elevator (another classic rock radio ruination) and song for song a more listenable album. But with more and more emphasis on the slower songs (Jennie's Got A Gun and What It Takes) and reliance on the song doctors, the Aerosmith that I known and loved was gone.
Which becomes the problem with each ensuring album and 1993's Get A Grip, the ballads overtake the rock and Aerosmith started making subpar albums. I wouldn't say shitty but they disappointing to these ears and Grip is their worst since Night In The Ruts. With that came the endless supply of Greatest Hits packages from both Sony Music and Geffen themselves, Aerosmith excused themselves from Geffen with the shoddy Little Past Insanity album, which was okay but for me I had enough and for the rest of the 90s gave little notice to their return to Columbia and the forgettable Nine Lives and even worse Just Push Play. It didn't help that the band started using Marti Fredericksen for co producer and still do to this day, Fredicksen helped out Brother Cane and was part of a band called Motherland, featuring Jason Bonham on drums for a so so album for 550 Music in the mid 90s. But Marti was out of his league when it came to co producing the two drab albums in the 90s. Maybe Aerosmith was becoming a nostalgia act.
In some ways Jack Douglas returning to help out the band do their blues tribute album Honkin For Bobo helped considerably, with the boys covering some of their favorite Bo Dilddley, Little Walter numbers it felt like a return to the old days but Marti Fredericksen was still around, still maintaining a sense of looking for a hit and they didn't get on this album. But they did get the late Jimmie Johnson (Chuck Berry, Kentucky Headhunters) playing the piano. The next year, they put out Rockin The Joint, another failed live effort but it did capture Aerosmith on a good night, but then again they had to put the odious ballad I Don't Want To Miss A Thing (their only number 1 record single ever, :-( ) to put a damper on things. And then for the next six years go through different producers (failed sessions with Steve Lillywhite and Brendan O'Brien) to give us perhaps their final statement about rock and roll...2012's Music From Another Dimension.
We heard this time and time again, that every new Aerosmith is a return to their roots and they returned to Jack Douglas to help things...................And Marti Fredricksen once again, the burr in their saddle, and the one that they look for to get the elusive hit single, now long gone. Joe Perry got to sing on two numbers and there's plenty of guest stars all around (Julian Lennon and Carrie Underwood). While Can't Stop Lovin You, the duet with Underwood would have fit better on a Steven Tyler album, it serves no purpose on a full Aerosmith album and the ballads here may have been the worst things they ever done this time out. Sony Music promoted the hell out of this album, Aerosmith talked a good talk about this album but in the end, while it was better than Nine Lives and Just Push Play, Music From Another Dimension simply didn't rock hard enough and suffered greatly from bloated ballads and a hour and 8 minute total time. And too many song doctors left and right don't help things either, the usual suspects and Diane Warren too, Music From Another Dimension ends up a big commercial disappointment and another false promise of going back to their roots, but what roots are they talking about? It's certainly not the days of Toys And The Attic or Rocks, the logical guess would be a return to Permanent Vacation, to which they relied too much on the help of outside songwriters and occasionally doing a rock and roll song to make you think they have return back to their roots.
So I guess in all fairness is that the Aerosmith that I know and love so well, remains the band from the 70s all drugged up and ready to blow everybody and themselves off the stage to be the best rock and roll band in the world, to which we all rode the trainwreck all the way down and hope that the toxic twins wouldn't kill each other in the process. In some ways they do mirror The Rolling Stone of the past, knew how to rock and when they finally reached the top, coasted on past laurels and outside help to maintain their status in radio world but now as senior citizens it has proven that from here on out whatever Aerosmith chooses to put out, they will do so with a calculated eye and ear to a declining corporate rock world that has written them off as classic rockers. They have earned their way in the rock hall despite Tyler's ill advised appearance on American Idol that tarnish their street cred. Like the Stones, Their Music From Another Dimension is their Bridges To Babylon. But their Toys In The Attic and Rocks are their answer to Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed. Once upon a time, Aerosmith was the greatest rock and roll band that took the stage, even if they don't remember that from all the drugs that they took.
Albums of note (omitting the 25 greatest hits comps out there)
Aerosmith (Columbia 1973) B+
Get Your Wings (Columbia 1974) A+
Toys In The Attic (Columbia 1975) A
Rocks (Columbia 1976) A
Draw The Line (Columbia 1977) A-
Live Bootleg (Columbia 1978) B+
Night In The Ruts (Columbia 1979) C
Aerosmith's Greatest Hits (Columbia 1980) B-
Rock In A Hard Place (Columbia 1982) C+
Done With Mirrors (Geffen 1985) B+
Classics Live (Columbia 1985) B
Permanent Vacation (Geffen 1987) B
Classics Live Two (Columbia 1987) B-
Gems (Columbia 1988) B
Pump (Geffen 1989) B+
Get A Grip (Geffen 1993) C+
Big Ones (Geffen 1994) C+
Nine Lives (Columbia 1997) C
Just Push Play (Columbia 2001) C
Honkin On Bobo (Columbia 2004) B+
Rockin The Joint (Columbia 2005) B
Music From Another Dimension (Columbia 2012) B-
Joe Perry Albums (be it Joe Perry Project or solo)
Let The Music Do The Talking (Columbia 1980) A-
I Got The Rock And Rolls Again (Columbia 1981) B
Once A Rocker Always A Rocker (MCA 1983) C+
The Best Of Joe Perry (Raven 1999) B
Joe Perry (Columbia/Roman 2005) B+
Have Guitar Will Travel (Roman/Mailboat 2009) B
Whitford/St Holmes (Columbia 1981) B
Reunion (Mailboat 2016) C+
Steven Tyler-We're All Somebody From Somewhere (Dot 2016) C
Friday, March 28, 2014
Rock And Roll....and Bro Country
There's no mistake in thinking that new music today is absolute garbage, but perhaps the biggest nadir is the onslaught of autotuned rap country songs that have been swamping the locally Cumulus owned country station for the past year it seems. There hasn't been one time that going to Theisen's to encounter some piece of shit song Luke Bryan or Florida Georgia Line has up, driving potential customers out of the hardware business. Never have I thought of somebody so low that the mare mention of his name would make my skin crawl and give me hives as that What Makes Corn Grow song and to follow it up with That's My Kind Of Night. But let us be fair, Bryan isn't the only one that is lowering himself to meth redneck standards.
Jarrod Niemann has been a journeyman country artist at best, his best known single a cover of a Sonia Dada song Lover Lover and from I remember from his first album Jarrod Niemann and the hung jury, it was actually, for country standards a fairly good although flawed effort. His second album flopped and now for number 3 and desperate for what's left of CD sales or radio airplay he has dropped off a turd of a new album High Noon, which is everything that is bro country and what I despise about country today. Whatever Jarrod had for his first album is now thrown out in the window. This is the kind of crap that even makes the Peach Pickers sound more like the Brill Building, complete with bathtub liquor and meth in the back. We all knew this was going to be bad even before the new Jarrod Niemann video popped up on GAC, which has their own version of Party Down South, the trainwreck unreality show on CMT. You really can't tell the difference especially when GAC shows the same 7 videos from various bro country acts.
For the past winter since it was too cold to do anything outside, I spent the 2 oclock hour watching the new videos from GAC and basically all they did was reshuffle the same videos over and over again. And you couldn't tell the difference between any of them, be it Luke Bryan, or Brantley Gilbert, Blake Sheldon, Eli Young's I'm Drunk Again, and Eric Pasley, a unknown but his Friday Night bro country video seems to get more airplay than Florida Georgia Line, which seems to falling out of favor recently. Unlike K hack, 98.1 and KISS country which don't play the female singers outside of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, GAC does throw in some girls, Kacey Musgraves Follow Your Arrow was in regular rotation and some doe eyed female singer which I never heard of always is the last one before the top of the hour. But most of the time GAC just sticks to Truck Yeah, the odious Tim McGraw number, a Zac Brown number that gotten so many plays I change the channel and of course, more Luke Bryan, or Jason Aldean, the new Willie and Waylon as they say. Real bad ass outlaw country, Riiiiiight.
Upon checking the top 20 videos of the week, we have some kind of disagreement on what's on the chart and what is on the GAC Bro Country Hour and no difference between Niemann doing shots with two other creepy looking dudes or Thomas Rhett's Get Me Some Of That, to which video hero guy gets drunk, gets knocked all over the place by other bro country dudes, falls on the floor and then gets a hand up by his love interest to which they make out and have sex before the video is over. Take me where this bar is at folks, I want in. Then it's Luke Bryan again, to which another Video studmuffing, passed out on the front of the frat house, gets slapped in the face by a pissed off girl and then proceeds to drink it up and getting hugs and kisses from scantly clad college chicks that could be Playboy pin up dolls. Wish I could go to this college too and party all day, get drunk and play mean guitar and get laid soon afterward. This is has gotten so far out of hand that Sheryl Crow, who tried and failed for the country market on her last album was on Twitter saying.......
Would someone please play a woman on the radio? Any woman. Doesn't have to be me but if I hear one more bro country song I'm gonna vomit!
I will always disagree with her stance on toilet paper but this time out I got her back on this. Unfortunately, this is what sells on country radio and it's worse than passing through a hog farm on a humid summer day after somebody fed them hogs with Taco Bell. And sad to say this is not going to get any better anytime soon. The women just love Luke Bryan to death, maybe to the point that maybe they do listen Conway with T Pain. With a right amount of southern rock, heavy metal guitar, a mohawked bass player and references to Waylon or Willie and chicken catfish dinners and love of trucks and getting drunk, this is what sells. Really no different to the old honky tonk songs of long ago and far away mind you but musically it's more today than Bob Wills yesterday. I'm sure Florida Georgia Line have no clue who Bob Wills is anyway, but they both know who Garth Brooks is since they stole his microphone and use it for their live shows.
Female country singers have always been slighted on country radio throughout their history, but perhaps the reason why they been slighted in this decade is that they're smarter songwriters and singers than the Bro mites that dominated GAC or KHAcK. Miranda Lambert and Miss Underwood have been one of the handfuls that somehow gets their videos shown or played on the radio and while one hopes that Kacey Musgraves can keep her foot in the door, the future doesn't seem to be that bright for her (but I'm rooting for her to make it). Lesser knowns such as Jana Kramer and Cassadee Pope will become footnotes. And Sheryl Crow was too late to the party anyway but nice try. She'll always have the backing of Cumulus and Clear Channel on her hits of the 90s on KTOF where you'll hear First Cut Is The Deepest or All I Want To Do on regular rotation.
Eventually the dire hope of songs of trucks, getting drunk and being drunk and passed out in the back of your pickup truck will finally have its run and be regulated to the junkyard once and for all but you can't take back 25 plus weeks of Cruise at number 1 last year that got the major labels to cast their lot with Bro Country. Which is why we still have our own source of music to listen to and not have to deal with the Catfish Dinner and namechecking a rapper to a country artist from yesterday. Sad to say we can't pick the right time to go to a hardware store, or eat at the Pizza Ranch and having to deal with Jason Aldean or Bryan's song coming on to make us lose our appetite and make a 50 yard dash out the door not to hear such shit.
But as for Jarrod Niemann, neither a new crappy video or a sell out album to the Bros isn't going help his career at all. He may have to settle to be an opening act to Luke Bryan or Mr. CS Cole Swindell on the Bros helping Bros out tour 14.
Besides he's too old anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnjBVj0z-Ro&feature=youtu.be
Jarrod Niemann has been a journeyman country artist at best, his best known single a cover of a Sonia Dada song Lover Lover and from I remember from his first album Jarrod Niemann and the hung jury, it was actually, for country standards a fairly good although flawed effort. His second album flopped and now for number 3 and desperate for what's left of CD sales or radio airplay he has dropped off a turd of a new album High Noon, which is everything that is bro country and what I despise about country today. Whatever Jarrod had for his first album is now thrown out in the window. This is the kind of crap that even makes the Peach Pickers sound more like the Brill Building, complete with bathtub liquor and meth in the back. We all knew this was going to be bad even before the new Jarrod Niemann video popped up on GAC, which has their own version of Party Down South, the trainwreck unreality show on CMT. You really can't tell the difference especially when GAC shows the same 7 videos from various bro country acts.
For the past winter since it was too cold to do anything outside, I spent the 2 oclock hour watching the new videos from GAC and basically all they did was reshuffle the same videos over and over again. And you couldn't tell the difference between any of them, be it Luke Bryan, or Brantley Gilbert, Blake Sheldon, Eli Young's I'm Drunk Again, and Eric Pasley, a unknown but his Friday Night bro country video seems to get more airplay than Florida Georgia Line, which seems to falling out of favor recently. Unlike K hack, 98.1 and KISS country which don't play the female singers outside of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, GAC does throw in some girls, Kacey Musgraves Follow Your Arrow was in regular rotation and some doe eyed female singer which I never heard of always is the last one before the top of the hour. But most of the time GAC just sticks to Truck Yeah, the odious Tim McGraw number, a Zac Brown number that gotten so many plays I change the channel and of course, more Luke Bryan, or Jason Aldean, the new Willie and Waylon as they say. Real bad ass outlaw country, Riiiiiight.
Upon checking the top 20 videos of the week, we have some kind of disagreement on what's on the chart and what is on the GAC Bro Country Hour and no difference between Niemann doing shots with two other creepy looking dudes or Thomas Rhett's Get Me Some Of That, to which video hero guy gets drunk, gets knocked all over the place by other bro country dudes, falls on the floor and then gets a hand up by his love interest to which they make out and have sex before the video is over. Take me where this bar is at folks, I want in. Then it's Luke Bryan again, to which another Video studmuffing, passed out on the front of the frat house, gets slapped in the face by a pissed off girl and then proceeds to drink it up and getting hugs and kisses from scantly clad college chicks that could be Playboy pin up dolls. Wish I could go to this college too and party all day, get drunk and play mean guitar and get laid soon afterward. This is has gotten so far out of hand that Sheryl Crow, who tried and failed for the country market on her last album was on Twitter saying.......
Would someone please play a woman on the radio? Any woman. Doesn't have to be me but if I hear one more bro country song I'm gonna vomit!
I will always disagree with her stance on toilet paper but this time out I got her back on this. Unfortunately, this is what sells on country radio and it's worse than passing through a hog farm on a humid summer day after somebody fed them hogs with Taco Bell. And sad to say this is not going to get any better anytime soon. The women just love Luke Bryan to death, maybe to the point that maybe they do listen Conway with T Pain. With a right amount of southern rock, heavy metal guitar, a mohawked bass player and references to Waylon or Willie and chicken catfish dinners and love of trucks and getting drunk, this is what sells. Really no different to the old honky tonk songs of long ago and far away mind you but musically it's more today than Bob Wills yesterday. I'm sure Florida Georgia Line have no clue who Bob Wills is anyway, but they both know who Garth Brooks is since they stole his microphone and use it for their live shows.
Female country singers have always been slighted on country radio throughout their history, but perhaps the reason why they been slighted in this decade is that they're smarter songwriters and singers than the Bro mites that dominated GAC or KHAcK. Miranda Lambert and Miss Underwood have been one of the handfuls that somehow gets their videos shown or played on the radio and while one hopes that Kacey Musgraves can keep her foot in the door, the future doesn't seem to be that bright for her (but I'm rooting for her to make it). Lesser knowns such as Jana Kramer and Cassadee Pope will become footnotes. And Sheryl Crow was too late to the party anyway but nice try. She'll always have the backing of Cumulus and Clear Channel on her hits of the 90s on KTOF where you'll hear First Cut Is The Deepest or All I Want To Do on regular rotation.
Eventually the dire hope of songs of trucks, getting drunk and being drunk and passed out in the back of your pickup truck will finally have its run and be regulated to the junkyard once and for all but you can't take back 25 plus weeks of Cruise at number 1 last year that got the major labels to cast their lot with Bro Country. Which is why we still have our own source of music to listen to and not have to deal with the Catfish Dinner and namechecking a rapper to a country artist from yesterday. Sad to say we can't pick the right time to go to a hardware store, or eat at the Pizza Ranch and having to deal with Jason Aldean or Bryan's song coming on to make us lose our appetite and make a 50 yard dash out the door not to hear such shit.
But as for Jarrod Niemann, neither a new crappy video or a sell out album to the Bros isn't going help his career at all. He may have to settle to be an opening act to Luke Bryan or Mr. CS Cole Swindell on the Bros helping Bros out tour 14.
Besides he's too old anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnjBVj0z-Ro&feature=youtu.be
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Playlist 3-26-14 The Number 5
As I sit here and take a peak of our anemic ratings for the month, we never seem to break past the 2,000 views mark and once fate is temping us with another under 2,000 mark I have managed to hit the music stores and beginning to find some new music that is worth a listen to. We're a quarter of the way through this year and we have reviewed five new albums and best ofs. And don't believe it's not going to be much of an improvement over course of time. If you gotta get the new albums, you have to go to Amazon.com to get them from people selling them. Which is where I got the new B. Tench and Len Price 3 new albums. Best Buy can't be trusted, Wal Mart is worse and the remaining record stores either have one or missing the other. This isn't the best of times for new music, but I didn't think it would be as barren as it is this year. And the way it sounds it's not likely to get any better.
This town depresses me. You go into Cedar Rapids and you have to deal with potholes the size of craters, the stop lights are fucking awful and what's even worse is the lack of brains the downtown trash display when you trying to drive through town. The abundance of cows, a derogatory comment directed at fat hispanics or black women, waltzing out into the street their damn baby carriages holding up traffic when you have the green light and you have to stomp on your breaks and seeing one of these fat cows waddle out in the street. This also applies to some white folk would take their sweet time poking through the Wally World lanes, or the goofy pawnshop couple playing tongue hockey while your trying to whisk them onward, and getting so fed up when driving by rolling down the windows and going MOO! Cows also apply to the white folk but it seems like the Chicago transplants or gringo dingos are more of the problem than solution. But my ire isn't on them as it is much on some dumb wasted sperm of a white kid in a white Infiniti sitting on his ass, high on bath salts and K2 and not going on the green arrow outside Lindale and may be the same punk ass that bothered me and the brat with his crap assed driving of two years ago while I'm driving my shit four tone Corsica and making gang signs in front of us. Which is why you should have a cell phone and call 911 and report dumbfuck drivers like this. Thank his lucky stars I don't pack a pistol when I'm driving, otherwise Mr. Punkass would be sitting there in Collins Road with four flat tires. The lack of compassion from people anymore is just mind blowing, and maybe the radiation from the Fukajamma plant has finally turned some of these idiot's brains into chesse and maybe they have become zombie nation that you see on The Walking Dead. The world ain't getting any better, especially when you have to be on the lookout for Miss Black Fanny, 2 ton cow ready to come out into the road without a second thought. But hey if you should bounce the big booty bitch off the pavement, don't worry they're make more and she'll be crying to the news that she got ran over. In this world you can't win. Not with the shit and the cows and Bath Salts wiseass looking at the green arrow and sitting there not knowing what to do. Going to hell? No you're in it when you come to Cedar Rapids, watch out for the city cows, white, black brown or yellow.
I have been in a very lousy mood as you can tell after breaking another tooth and hearing the dentist, not rich enough to say I need a new crown so I'm set back about 67 dollars. As much as I like the Dental Health Partners, I have not been very impressed with their attitude either, although I'll be dealing with the teeth cleaning bitch and hearing her cry about not having 3 teeth cleanings every year. It's called draining my insurance sweetheart and with high gas prices, high food prices, high insurance prices and a 1 percent raise, we still going into the red and can't do this. You're going to get plaque be it 1 month, 3 months or 6. I can't afford to do this every four months. But I'll give the dentist credit for getting me in fast and getting it fixed. But don't get too pissed off at me, it wasn't your tooth that got cracked. I'm 53 years old and don't need any lectures if you want to live the luxury off my insurance. You may get replaced down the road.
So it's been Murphy's law here, everything I touch and done has turned to shit and all the teams I rooted for in the NCAA's have fallen, Arizona State lost on a last second shot to which they couldn't get a rebound and Texas would put in for a basket and it came back to end their season. Been a tough year for Iowa, their habit of blowing leads and falling flat in the second half ended their season and the Iowa wrestlers also laid an egg in the NCAA. Baseball season will be here soon, so we can turn our attention on how the Chicago Cubs are going to suck this year.
But in the meantime, I continue to work on a album that nobody cares to hear about but I do so because I still believe in the magic and the power of music. It doesn't transcend outside of Radio Buzz'd or Record World but then again I probably planned it that way. Moving onward.
Ludwig Drums have discontinued making their famous (or infamous) Speed King Drum Pedals due to a supplier not making a specific part. While nice and sturdy, the bass pedal's biggest sound was a squeak that you can hear on some of John Bonham's recordings for Led Zeppelin, Jerry Shirley's Humble Recordings (Smokin) and of course some of my old band recordings (Town's Edge Rock, Paraphernalia's Live Under A Full Moon). As they say often imitated but never duplicated, the Speed King Pedal was perfect in the pounding and the friction that they could take and make your beat sound rock perfect. But in these changing days and times, drummer's tastes have actually moved on to better pedals, namely the DW 5000 Series. But still the Speed King deserves it's earned position in the drum hall of fame.
Dave Brockie, aka Odorous Urungus lead singer of GWAR was found dead in his home in Virgina at age 50. GWAR one of the bands you had to see live to believe best known album was America Must Be Destroyed but they continued to play on through the next twenty years. The Lamb Of God was influenced by GWAR.
Westdale (Death) Mall is finally booting out all remaining tenants as it goes over a extreme makeover. Spent many a time at the Camelot and Musicland stores when it was full steady go. http://homegrowniowan.com/final-photos-end-of-an-era-at-westdale-mall-in-cedar-rapids/
The band of the month from the Consortium, Steppenwolf: http://rscrabbmusicconsortium.blogspot.com/2014/03/steppenwolf-classic-years.html
And this: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/blogs/Post?basename=copyright-lawsuit-against-medina-bar-unauthorized-show-by-local-classic-rock-cover-band-caused-great-and-incalculable-damage&day=21&id=scene-and-heard&month=03&year=2014
Vinyl Lovin
The Len Price 3-Nobody Knows (JLM Recordings)
Once the darlings of Wicked Cool Records (which may now be out of order since this comes from a label formed by John Luongo, part of Wicked Cool) The Len Price 3 continues to live in the 60s with their Kinks/Who/Pretty Things type of British rock and roll which is cool to me. This is more streamlined and little more mature than the all out assault of Pictures, their classic 2010 album, but it's darker sounding as judged by The London Institute. At times they try their own variation of The Kinks' Look A Little On The Sunny Side on Couldn't Get Much Worse, which could serve as an inspiration of getting around the CR traffic as well. Like their previous albums, The LP3's songs usually work around 2 minutes at best and sometimes the songs sound underdeveloped, songs like the wonderful Billy Mason, end much too soon. No, radio will not play this (I don't think Little Steven's Underground Garage hasn't given this album much love either) and it's a shame, it's good rock and roll inspired from a time that now is forgotten. The Len Price 3 continue to make a good album in the way The Who's A Quick One was the inspiration. Here's hoping they can make a good answer record to The Kinks Something Else.
Grade A-
The Kaleidoscope-Side Trips (Epic)
A band that was even too weird for the 60s themselves The K scope (I can't spell their name half the time) made 4 albums and a best of for Epic that was showed them to be too damn schizophrenic and I didn't care for the 12 minute feedback excursion of Beacon From Mars which sounded like Jefferson Airplane on K2. The only time they got me hooked was this first album which showed David Lindley and Doug Feldthouse trying to outdo one another in oddball stringed instruments. Chris Darrow was probably the one that wrote the "hits" although the K Scope never had any but it was Lindley who was moreorless the driving factor of said band. Don't really care much for Feldthouse's turkish yodeling on Egyptian Gardens but that's nitpicking. And their blues numbers are passable (Minne The Moocher) but this is the source point for Oh Death (which Camper Von Beethoven would cover later). However the best songs are Lindley's growling through Why Try, which combines The Airplane/Country Joe And The Fish/Moby Grape into their own song and the moody Please which is one of the best songs of the 60s you never heard on the radio. A brief album (27 minutes) but they never topped this for simplicity and intensity.
Grade A-
Elvis Costello-Brutal Youth (WB/Rhino)
For a guy who's been around for 35 plus years Costello's output is case point of frustration. While coming out of the angry pub punk class of 1977 (Graham Parker, Nick Lowe) he really could do no wrong with My Aim Is True and This Year's Model but each album after that, critics continued to wet their pants over everything he done. By the time Warner Brothers got a hold of him Elvis really beginning to go into bombast and overrated albums (Spike, Mighty Like A Rose) but after doing a string quartet album, he decided to return to rock and roll. And gave us the uneven Brutal Youth. A couple of the slower songs has that GD whine that Chrissy Hynde did on her Last Of The Independents album which render it unlistenable But I can't tear into Costello, since he had the good sense to ask Nick Lowe to help out on bass on a few numbers. And Pete Thomas bashing away on drums is Costello's Rock and Roll beat right there. The failed single 13 Steps Lead Down and 20% Amnesia are probably the closest thing to the punk rock of the early years but overall, the album is bloated with stuffy ballads that don't go nowhere and goes on too long. Had Costello followed the shorter tracks of the bonus disc this would be a minor classic but like most of his output of the 90s and 00's overrated and missing some soul like the man himself but when he says that Nick Lowe should be in the rock and roll hall of fame I forgive him.
Grade B-
Best Of Ten Wheel Drive With Genya Ravan (Polydor)
A product of the early 70s, TWD was basically a three person lead band, Aram Schefrin on guitar, Michael Zager, who had bigger success being a disco producer (Spinners) and having a hit with Let's All Chant with the Michael Zager Group and Genya Ravan who was channeling her inner Janis Jopin or Lynda Pence, I'm not sure but she spends most of her time here screaming and yelling all over outrageous horn charts. TWD made three albums for Polydor, all went to the cut out bins in record time and good reason. Changing band lineups dogged all three of their releases and Polygram in the 1990s cherry picked the so called highlights. Nothing much to recommend outside of failed hit single Morning Much Better which keeps Genya in check till the end of song. If your idea of having Janis Joplin leading Blood Sweat And Tears (2nd album mind you) and throwing in the towel at the end is rock and roll so be it. Otherwise, yet another hippie dippy drone that has been buried in time. Revan actually reinvented herself as a punk mother, producing The Dead Boys' Young, Loud And Snotty in 1977 for Sire Records and appearing as a backup singer on the Blue Oyster Cult 1979 Mirrors album. She got better.
Grade C
The five albums of 2014 of this year.
Drive By Truckers-English Oceans A-
The Grass Roots-Complete ABC/Dunhill Singles A-
Beck-Morning Phase A-
Len Price 3-Nobody Knows A-
Benmont Tench-You Should Be So Lucky B+
Playlist Of The Week:
Graveyard Shift-Uncle Tupelo
Jewelery Lady-The Private Property Of Digil
No Rhyme Or Reason-30 Amp Fuse
Count On Me-Bo Deans
Blackbird Chain-Beck
Come Out And Play-The Paley Brothers
Black Cloud-Trapeze
Pony St.-Elvis Costello
Stay Tonight-Eagle Eye Cherry
Grand Canyon-Drive By Truckers
Crabby's mail box.
"great and incalculable" may seem like hyperbole, but it's really just boilerplate legalese; BMI has never lost one of these lawsuits, not even once, and they likely never will. A lot of money must be invested to make a song a hit; people who invest, including the writers, should be paid when their work is used by other parties to make money. This is the principle the entire publishing industry runs on, including also books and movies. You want to invite friends over to watch the NFL on your big screen, no biggie, but if you charge them for the privilege, the NFL will want its cut.
Moj O'Bone: in reply to the don't play covers link (listed above)
Last week I made a usual observation about the the bad refereeing that Iowa had in their lost to Tennessee which has enjoyed making it to the sweet 16 after Duke got knocked off and Tennessee blew out the team that beat Duke. 28 fouls to 14 Iowa had called on them, not that Tennessee needed any help from the refs, Iowa did their usual meltdown. However Cyclone fan and Twitter troll Wyatt Hertz left this in my inbox.
One Whining Moment… drive safely (W.H)
You'll be happy to know Wyatt that I made it home safely after watching the game on TV, although highway 1 had it's share of bad drivers and it was snowing a bit. Thank you for your concern.
Kiss Kiss.
Afterthought: Basically Wyatt, I didn't venture too far. the walk/drive going upstairs to the fridge, i have to watch out for the crap on the stairs going back to my man cave. Legend has it you may have been the dumb fuck going down the wrong way on highway 30 this week. I have plenty more whining moments you might find amusing. Vote for Trump.
This town depresses me. You go into Cedar Rapids and you have to deal with potholes the size of craters, the stop lights are fucking awful and what's even worse is the lack of brains the downtown trash display when you trying to drive through town. The abundance of cows, a derogatory comment directed at fat hispanics or black women, waltzing out into the street their damn baby carriages holding up traffic when you have the green light and you have to stomp on your breaks and seeing one of these fat cows waddle out in the street. This also applies to some white folk would take their sweet time poking through the Wally World lanes, or the goofy pawnshop couple playing tongue hockey while your trying to whisk them onward, and getting so fed up when driving by rolling down the windows and going MOO! Cows also apply to the white folk but it seems like the Chicago transplants or gringo dingos are more of the problem than solution. But my ire isn't on them as it is much on some dumb wasted sperm of a white kid in a white Infiniti sitting on his ass, high on bath salts and K2 and not going on the green arrow outside Lindale and may be the same punk ass that bothered me and the brat with his crap assed driving of two years ago while I'm driving my shit four tone Corsica and making gang signs in front of us. Which is why you should have a cell phone and call 911 and report dumbfuck drivers like this. Thank his lucky stars I don't pack a pistol when I'm driving, otherwise Mr. Punkass would be sitting there in Collins Road with four flat tires. The lack of compassion from people anymore is just mind blowing, and maybe the radiation from the Fukajamma plant has finally turned some of these idiot's brains into chesse and maybe they have become zombie nation that you see on The Walking Dead. The world ain't getting any better, especially when you have to be on the lookout for Miss Black Fanny, 2 ton cow ready to come out into the road without a second thought. But hey if you should bounce the big booty bitch off the pavement, don't worry they're make more and she'll be crying to the news that she got ran over. In this world you can't win. Not with the shit and the cows and Bath Salts wiseass looking at the green arrow and sitting there not knowing what to do. Going to hell? No you're in it when you come to Cedar Rapids, watch out for the city cows, white, black brown or yellow.
I have been in a very lousy mood as you can tell after breaking another tooth and hearing the dentist, not rich enough to say I need a new crown so I'm set back about 67 dollars. As much as I like the Dental Health Partners, I have not been very impressed with their attitude either, although I'll be dealing with the teeth cleaning bitch and hearing her cry about not having 3 teeth cleanings every year. It's called draining my insurance sweetheart and with high gas prices, high food prices, high insurance prices and a 1 percent raise, we still going into the red and can't do this. You're going to get plaque be it 1 month, 3 months or 6. I can't afford to do this every four months. But I'll give the dentist credit for getting me in fast and getting it fixed. But don't get too pissed off at me, it wasn't your tooth that got cracked. I'm 53 years old and don't need any lectures if you want to live the luxury off my insurance. You may get replaced down the road.
So it's been Murphy's law here, everything I touch and done has turned to shit and all the teams I rooted for in the NCAA's have fallen, Arizona State lost on a last second shot to which they couldn't get a rebound and Texas would put in for a basket and it came back to end their season. Been a tough year for Iowa, their habit of blowing leads and falling flat in the second half ended their season and the Iowa wrestlers also laid an egg in the NCAA. Baseball season will be here soon, so we can turn our attention on how the Chicago Cubs are going to suck this year.
But in the meantime, I continue to work on a album that nobody cares to hear about but I do so because I still believe in the magic and the power of music. It doesn't transcend outside of Radio Buzz'd or Record World but then again I probably planned it that way. Moving onward.
Ludwig Drums have discontinued making their famous (or infamous) Speed King Drum Pedals due to a supplier not making a specific part. While nice and sturdy, the bass pedal's biggest sound was a squeak that you can hear on some of John Bonham's recordings for Led Zeppelin, Jerry Shirley's Humble Recordings (Smokin) and of course some of my old band recordings (Town's Edge Rock, Paraphernalia's Live Under A Full Moon). As they say often imitated but never duplicated, the Speed King Pedal was perfect in the pounding and the friction that they could take and make your beat sound rock perfect. But in these changing days and times, drummer's tastes have actually moved on to better pedals, namely the DW 5000 Series. But still the Speed King deserves it's earned position in the drum hall of fame.
Dave Brockie, aka Odorous Urungus lead singer of GWAR was found dead in his home in Virgina at age 50. GWAR one of the bands you had to see live to believe best known album was America Must Be Destroyed but they continued to play on through the next twenty years. The Lamb Of God was influenced by GWAR.
Westdale (Death) Mall is finally booting out all remaining tenants as it goes over a extreme makeover. Spent many a time at the Camelot and Musicland stores when it was full steady go. http://homegrowniowan.com/final-photos-end-of-an-era-at-westdale-mall-in-cedar-rapids/
The band of the month from the Consortium, Steppenwolf: http://rscrabbmusicconsortium.blogspot.com/2014/03/steppenwolf-classic-years.html
And this: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/blogs/Post?basename=copyright-lawsuit-against-medina-bar-unauthorized-show-by-local-classic-rock-cover-band-caused-great-and-incalculable-damage&day=21&id=scene-and-heard&month=03&year=2014
Vinyl Lovin
The Len Price 3-Nobody Knows (JLM Recordings)
Once the darlings of Wicked Cool Records (which may now be out of order since this comes from a label formed by John Luongo, part of Wicked Cool) The Len Price 3 continues to live in the 60s with their Kinks/Who/Pretty Things type of British rock and roll which is cool to me. This is more streamlined and little more mature than the all out assault of Pictures, their classic 2010 album, but it's darker sounding as judged by The London Institute. At times they try their own variation of The Kinks' Look A Little On The Sunny Side on Couldn't Get Much Worse, which could serve as an inspiration of getting around the CR traffic as well. Like their previous albums, The LP3's songs usually work around 2 minutes at best and sometimes the songs sound underdeveloped, songs like the wonderful Billy Mason, end much too soon. No, radio will not play this (I don't think Little Steven's Underground Garage hasn't given this album much love either) and it's a shame, it's good rock and roll inspired from a time that now is forgotten. The Len Price 3 continue to make a good album in the way The Who's A Quick One was the inspiration. Here's hoping they can make a good answer record to The Kinks Something Else.
Grade A-
The Kaleidoscope-Side Trips (Epic)
A band that was even too weird for the 60s themselves The K scope (I can't spell their name half the time) made 4 albums and a best of for Epic that was showed them to be too damn schizophrenic and I didn't care for the 12 minute feedback excursion of Beacon From Mars which sounded like Jefferson Airplane on K2. The only time they got me hooked was this first album which showed David Lindley and Doug Feldthouse trying to outdo one another in oddball stringed instruments. Chris Darrow was probably the one that wrote the "hits" although the K Scope never had any but it was Lindley who was moreorless the driving factor of said band. Don't really care much for Feldthouse's turkish yodeling on Egyptian Gardens but that's nitpicking. And their blues numbers are passable (Minne The Moocher) but this is the source point for Oh Death (which Camper Von Beethoven would cover later). However the best songs are Lindley's growling through Why Try, which combines The Airplane/Country Joe And The Fish/Moby Grape into their own song and the moody Please which is one of the best songs of the 60s you never heard on the radio. A brief album (27 minutes) but they never topped this for simplicity and intensity.
Grade A-
Elvis Costello-Brutal Youth (WB/Rhino)
For a guy who's been around for 35 plus years Costello's output is case point of frustration. While coming out of the angry pub punk class of 1977 (Graham Parker, Nick Lowe) he really could do no wrong with My Aim Is True and This Year's Model but each album after that, critics continued to wet their pants over everything he done. By the time Warner Brothers got a hold of him Elvis really beginning to go into bombast and overrated albums (Spike, Mighty Like A Rose) but after doing a string quartet album, he decided to return to rock and roll. And gave us the uneven Brutal Youth. A couple of the slower songs has that GD whine that Chrissy Hynde did on her Last Of The Independents album which render it unlistenable But I can't tear into Costello, since he had the good sense to ask Nick Lowe to help out on bass on a few numbers. And Pete Thomas bashing away on drums is Costello's Rock and Roll beat right there. The failed single 13 Steps Lead Down and 20% Amnesia are probably the closest thing to the punk rock of the early years but overall, the album is bloated with stuffy ballads that don't go nowhere and goes on too long. Had Costello followed the shorter tracks of the bonus disc this would be a minor classic but like most of his output of the 90s and 00's overrated and missing some soul like the man himself but when he says that Nick Lowe should be in the rock and roll hall of fame I forgive him.
Grade B-
Best Of Ten Wheel Drive With Genya Ravan (Polydor)
A product of the early 70s, TWD was basically a three person lead band, Aram Schefrin on guitar, Michael Zager, who had bigger success being a disco producer (Spinners) and having a hit with Let's All Chant with the Michael Zager Group and Genya Ravan who was channeling her inner Janis Jopin or Lynda Pence, I'm not sure but she spends most of her time here screaming and yelling all over outrageous horn charts. TWD made three albums for Polydor, all went to the cut out bins in record time and good reason. Changing band lineups dogged all three of their releases and Polygram in the 1990s cherry picked the so called highlights. Nothing much to recommend outside of failed hit single Morning Much Better which keeps Genya in check till the end of song. If your idea of having Janis Joplin leading Blood Sweat And Tears (2nd album mind you) and throwing in the towel at the end is rock and roll so be it. Otherwise, yet another hippie dippy drone that has been buried in time. Revan actually reinvented herself as a punk mother, producing The Dead Boys' Young, Loud And Snotty in 1977 for Sire Records and appearing as a backup singer on the Blue Oyster Cult 1979 Mirrors album. She got better.
Grade C
The five albums of 2014 of this year.
Drive By Truckers-English Oceans A-
The Grass Roots-Complete ABC/Dunhill Singles A-
Beck-Morning Phase A-
Len Price 3-Nobody Knows A-
Benmont Tench-You Should Be So Lucky B+
Playlist Of The Week:
Graveyard Shift-Uncle Tupelo
Jewelery Lady-The Private Property Of Digil
No Rhyme Or Reason-30 Amp Fuse
Count On Me-Bo Deans
Blackbird Chain-Beck
Come Out And Play-The Paley Brothers
Black Cloud-Trapeze
Pony St.-Elvis Costello
Stay Tonight-Eagle Eye Cherry
Grand Canyon-Drive By Truckers
Crabby's mail box.
"great and incalculable" may seem like hyperbole, but it's really just boilerplate legalese; BMI has never lost one of these lawsuits, not even once, and they likely never will. A lot of money must be invested to make a song a hit; people who invest, including the writers, should be paid when their work is used by other parties to make money. This is the principle the entire publishing industry runs on, including also books and movies. You want to invite friends over to watch the NFL on your big screen, no biggie, but if you charge them for the privilege, the NFL will want its cut.
Moj O'Bone: in reply to the don't play covers link (listed above)
Last week I made a usual observation about the the bad refereeing that Iowa had in their lost to Tennessee which has enjoyed making it to the sweet 16 after Duke got knocked off and Tennessee blew out the team that beat Duke. 28 fouls to 14 Iowa had called on them, not that Tennessee needed any help from the refs, Iowa did their usual meltdown. However Cyclone fan and Twitter troll Wyatt Hertz left this in my inbox.
One Whining Moment… drive safely (W.H)
You'll be happy to know Wyatt that I made it home safely after watching the game on TV, although highway 1 had it's share of bad drivers and it was snowing a bit. Thank you for your concern.
Kiss Kiss.
Afterthought: Basically Wyatt, I didn't venture too far. the walk/drive going upstairs to the fridge, i have to watch out for the crap on the stairs going back to my man cave. Legend has it you may have been the dumb fuck going down the wrong way on highway 30 this week. I have plenty more whining moments you might find amusing. Vote for Trump.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Playlist 3-19-14 Sell Outs
The last official weekend of winter has come and gone and snowstorm number 38 came through with a half inch of snow and 25 degree temps the next day. Hopefully winter is finally gone after this, although two more storms before the week is out and we can say we had 40 snowstorms this winter. Why not, we're that close anyway?
Facebook has been the major hangout for myself and I have plenty of friends and classmates that continue to follow the bitchings and crabbings that make me stand out like a 4 hour erection and not in a good way I guess. I tend to overbitch over there but have to relieve some anger. Sometimes it bothers me about friends unfriending due to a observation or comment that they didn't agree with (such as an over the hill radio personality that's been inducted in the IA Rock Hall of fame twice more than he actually should and plays in a so so blues band). Life goes on, but it seems this way that those who do that reminds me of rats leaving a sinking ship while the true friends that remain friends are the ones that will party with you till the final end. A fairweather friend so to speak. But it is true that most of who you know has or have had a facebook account at some time. Maybe it's a small world afterall.....unless your car breaks down in the desert, 50 miles from the nearest town. Then it's not.
So one of the earliest Mad City bargain hunts is now in the books and the usual cry of we came we saw and bought a few things, we went home was uttered. I'm sure the next one will be Davenport again when the car's oil change is due. No decision on the summer hunts in Arizona or maybe St. Louis. It depends on how I feel, health-wise. I didn't do so well on the Arizona trip last year with bad food at the former places I like to eat at a big issue.
The mayor of Turtle River Minnesota has died, Gary Burger better known as the lead singer for The Monks who made the cult favorite Black Monk Time back in 1966 passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 72. Black Monk Time was issued on Infinite Zero in the 1990s (later reissued on another label). The Monks, like the 13th Floor Elevators did with an electric jug, used a electric banjo for a different sound. The Monks did reunite for a few Cavestomp shows in the late 90s and early 00's.
The Jann Wanner Favorite Music Hall of fame (formerly The Rock and roll HOF (hahahahaha, quit laughing) has decided to tell Chad Channing to stay home when Nirvana takes their place with the others. They're getting to be like Disneyland, pick and choose who gets in and who doesn't. Chad played on Bleach, the first Nirvana album. Whoever in that HOF that decides who gets to show up are assholes. If I was Chad, I'd crash the stage and get up there or if I was Kris or Dave, invite him up there. That would be a FU to the Hall Of Fame Kremlin Powers To Be.
Scott Asheton passed away this weekend, the drummer for The Stooges, he was 64. Heart attack. Outside of Iggy Pop, the only original member of The Stooges, and this is probably end The Stooges as we know it. Their last album Ready To Die, the first to feature James Williamson back on guitar since Raw Power was better than The Menace, their messy 2006 album for Virgin, seems to the epitaph for Scott. Iggy and James has always had traumatic times in the band and hard to tell if they're work again. James is working on a new project of his own. Don't cry for Iggy, he'll stay busy.
Joe Lala, percussion drummer for Blues Image and later played on just about every album of the 70s also checked out Tuesday. Lung cancer at age 66. Chalk one up for the Marlboro man. Smoking may be cool and makes you look cool in pictures but it is a silent killer and eventually gets you if you don't stop or stop too late. Lala's help on the first Manassas album added more variety to the songs.
Big reissue news (if I can type it). Atlantic reissues the first three Led Zeppelin albums with a bonus disc. Hey Hey What Can I Do, not on the bonus LZ 3 CD. Doubt if I'll make any effort to rebuy the whole thing again.
Finally the Iowa Hawkeyes made it to the NCAA...as part of the First Four, which means they play in a Wed game against Tennessee. If they can win 7 games, the skies the limit but this season has been a disappointment. But they caught fire in the NIT last year so maybe it might happen again.....but it didn't. Tennessee with help from piss poor officials and yet another Hawkeye meltdown in overtime, got blown out 78-65 in OT in the NCAA play in game. If the Hawkeyes decided making the NCAA's in any shape or form was the way to go, then they succeeded but their piss poor second half showing and Northwestern whopping them in the B1G tourney turned out that this season was a disappointment. The Iowa Hawkeyes blew 9 (count em NINE) leads before the halftime only to lose which might be a record upon itself. Next season, they do have new players coming in to fine tune things and perhaps Aaron White and Adam Woodbury will show more signs of aggressiveness that was missing this season. We lose Roy Devyn Marble and Meshawn Basabe and the troubled Zach McCabe to graduation. Marble did have a pretty good season although none of his shots did go in during the NCAA Play in game.
Bob Lefsetz keeps thumbing his nose at PONO, the upcoming new and exciting idea from Neil Young, calling it pointless and thumbing his nose at you, the CD and record buyer consumer who is seeing less and less new product. If there's one thing I would love to see before I die, is to see a renaissance in buying records to the point that we can get some new stores started up. We want new and improve but some of us still like the 12 inch black disc moving around in a circle playing music. Bob's time here on the planet is even lesser than myself but he's always going after tomorrow's product today and people like myself cannot afford or have these things given to us as a promotion. I am not a fan of MP3's they sound like shit and even more so when i hear them on net radio. Give me the actual product instead of the great jukebox in the sky and in the damn CPU. This year, it's hard to even find the new stuff since Best Buy has cut back and from my time in Madison all of the record stores lacked certain new stuff for me to buy. But shut up already Lefsetz. I don't fucking care about your GD Spotify. Save that shit for the next lifetime. But in the meantime, SXSW has come and gone, the big story, some fucking drunk being chased by the police ran past a barricade and struck some people in the street and killed three of them. Throw the book at the stupid fuck. In the meantime feel free to waste your time on this article about the music sellouts or how Lady Gaga took the money and ran. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/business/media/a-new-model-for-music-big-bands-big-brands.html?hp&_r=0
Vinyl Lovin:
The Grass Roots-The Complete Dunhill/ABC Singles (Real Gone)
Not really a complete overview mind you (No Smoke Without Fire, We Can't Dance To Your Music and Stealin Love are left off) but the folks at Real Gone have done a much better job than the idiots at MCA or Universal have done with shotty half assed comps and for the first time since the long missed Rhino 2 CD anthology we finally get a good idea who the Grass Roots were and that was the main person in the band was actually Steve Barri, the producer. Beginning the early years when Phil Sloan was writing the hits and they showed a more commercial folk/rock sound like the Byrds or Dylan, dusting out their own version of Mr. Jones. And of course Let's Live For Today in two versions (one would have been fine, like the fussy old crabbass that I'm am, I would have lobbied for No Smoke Without Fire since it did score on the KCRG Super 30 in 1973). Certainly the late great Rob Grilli had the charisma charm of a lead singer but they had good songwriters in Dennis Provisor and Warren Entner, but Steve Barri focused more on getting key songs from other songwriters and the band started adding more horns and AM radio ready hooks for big hits of Two Divided by Love (written by Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter), plus Temptation Eyes, Heaven Knows and Midnight Confessions. By 1972 most of the public moved on but they had regional hits like The Runaway and ultra catchy Love Is What You Make It, to which I ended up paying 10 dollars for the 1973 Lotta Mileage album and getting ripped of the process. It's not that great of a record. Which probably shows that The Grass Roots were one of the best singles band at that time out there. And hopefully Real Gone can go one further and reissued the B sides as the next project. But in the end, The Grass Roots was mostly Steve Barri's project, kinda like his answer to Three Dog Night. The best (and cheaper) overview since the Rhino Anthology went out of print.
Grade A-
Laszlo Gardony-The Legend Of Tsumi (Antilles)
What I love about finding cheap music is discovering something that I would have never bought full price. I get bored with classic rock, I get bored with overplayed music and is always looking for the lesser known when I decide to waste 2 hours at Pawn America, sorting through shitty and tossed aside CDs for 25 cents. I have no idea who Gardony is but when I was reading the booklet, i had the impression that this would be new age. But since it had a piano bass and drums trio I decided to chance it. Released through Island/Antilles New Directions back when Island was still looking for real artists and not Justin Bieber, The Legend Of Tsumi when first heard reminds me a lot of Dave Brubeck although further research shows a more Bill Evans influence. Beginning with the 8 minute Orange City, the time signature reminds me of Take Five till a more avant garde arrangement takes hold between Laszlo and Bill Moses on drums. Second favorite song is the very brief Trickster to which sorry only lasts a minute thirty eight and shows more band interplay. Still the inner beauty of the mellow tracks (Sunrise, Anne's Dream) are dreamy without falling into boring new age territory, and are probably more Bill Evans than Brubeck For a late 80's jazz piece, this album might be considered a classic in its own way, Gardony's piano work is impeccable and the band of Dave Holland on bass and the aforementioned Bill Moses on drums compliments greatly. For paying a quarter for this is quite a bargain indeed.
Grade A-
Thousand Yard Stare-Hands On (Polydor)
A Britpop band that didn't make it, this was the first of two albums that they did and basically it starts out quite good with the oddball title 0-0 a.e.t. or No Score After Extra Time and their sound wasn't much different than The Mighty Lemon Drops or The La's although somebody there must have been listening to The Ocean Blue as well. Produced by Steven Street (The Smiths, The Dylans) who at that time was one of the go to producers of Brit Pop. The Dylans were a little bit more hooky and more perferrable to Thousand Yard Stare but this record does have some moments of brilliance. Another 25 cent special from Pawn America to which I think we picked the bones clean on that place anyway.
Grade B+
Renaissance (Elektra)
Keith Relf may have been the weakest link on the Yardbirds but then again that band was legendary for their guitar players be it Eric, Jeff or Jimmy, plus they had one of the best bass player and later producer to the starts in Paul Samwell Smith and Jim McCarty a great drummer, but Relf's vocals were good in the Birds. With the Yardbirds imploding, Keith and Jim jumped ship leaving Jimmy Page to fend for himself but Jimmy got replacements that would rewrite rock and roll history. What Keith and Jim came up was Renaissance, a piano driven prog rock outfit that made a meandering album for Elektra. The 10 minute lead off Kings And Queens really isn't that bad as John Hawken's classical keyboards dominate the song and for that matter the album. Side 2 doesn't go much anywhere and Bullet, the final track makes King Crimson Moonchild seem like a rock and roll song although the strange ending kinda compensates a dull track. I give it points for creativity but it's a C plus overall album.
Playlist:
Everything Happens To Me-Sonny Rollins
Tell Me Why-Noel And The Red Wedge
Mr. Jones (Ballad Of A Thin Man) The Grass Roots
Foolish Heart-The Grateful Dead
Please-The Kaleidoscope
Ich Bin Sin Auslander-Pop Will Eat Itself
Steal My Sunshine-Len
I'm Just Not The Man To Be Tied-Soup
Show Biz Blues-Fleetwood Mac
The Departed-Iggy And The Stooges
I have no idea what the hell happened to all the pictures posted. It's not worth the effort to repost them. again.
Facebook has been the major hangout for myself and I have plenty of friends and classmates that continue to follow the bitchings and crabbings that make me stand out like a 4 hour erection and not in a good way I guess. I tend to overbitch over there but have to relieve some anger. Sometimes it bothers me about friends unfriending due to a observation or comment that they didn't agree with (such as an over the hill radio personality that's been inducted in the IA Rock Hall of fame twice more than he actually should and plays in a so so blues band). Life goes on, but it seems this way that those who do that reminds me of rats leaving a sinking ship while the true friends that remain friends are the ones that will party with you till the final end. A fairweather friend so to speak. But it is true that most of who you know has or have had a facebook account at some time. Maybe it's a small world afterall.....unless your car breaks down in the desert, 50 miles from the nearest town. Then it's not.
So one of the earliest Mad City bargain hunts is now in the books and the usual cry of we came we saw and bought a few things, we went home was uttered. I'm sure the next one will be Davenport again when the car's oil change is due. No decision on the summer hunts in Arizona or maybe St. Louis. It depends on how I feel, health-wise. I didn't do so well on the Arizona trip last year with bad food at the former places I like to eat at a big issue.
The mayor of Turtle River Minnesota has died, Gary Burger better known as the lead singer for The Monks who made the cult favorite Black Monk Time back in 1966 passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 72. Black Monk Time was issued on Infinite Zero in the 1990s (later reissued on another label). The Monks, like the 13th Floor Elevators did with an electric jug, used a electric banjo for a different sound. The Monks did reunite for a few Cavestomp shows in the late 90s and early 00's.
The Jann Wanner Favorite Music Hall of fame (formerly The Rock and roll HOF (hahahahaha, quit laughing) has decided to tell Chad Channing to stay home when Nirvana takes their place with the others. They're getting to be like Disneyland, pick and choose who gets in and who doesn't. Chad played on Bleach, the first Nirvana album. Whoever in that HOF that decides who gets to show up are assholes. If I was Chad, I'd crash the stage and get up there or if I was Kris or Dave, invite him up there. That would be a FU to the Hall Of Fame Kremlin Powers To Be.
Scott Asheton passed away this weekend, the drummer for The Stooges, he was 64. Heart attack. Outside of Iggy Pop, the only original member of The Stooges, and this is probably end The Stooges as we know it. Their last album Ready To Die, the first to feature James Williamson back on guitar since Raw Power was better than The Menace, their messy 2006 album for Virgin, seems to the epitaph for Scott. Iggy and James has always had traumatic times in the band and hard to tell if they're work again. James is working on a new project of his own. Don't cry for Iggy, he'll stay busy.
Joe Lala, percussion drummer for Blues Image and later played on just about every album of the 70s also checked out Tuesday. Lung cancer at age 66. Chalk one up for the Marlboro man. Smoking may be cool and makes you look cool in pictures but it is a silent killer and eventually gets you if you don't stop or stop too late. Lala's help on the first Manassas album added more variety to the songs.
Big reissue news (if I can type it). Atlantic reissues the first three Led Zeppelin albums with a bonus disc. Hey Hey What Can I Do, not on the bonus LZ 3 CD. Doubt if I'll make any effort to rebuy the whole thing again.
Finally the Iowa Hawkeyes made it to the NCAA...as part of the First Four, which means they play in a Wed game against Tennessee. If they can win 7 games, the skies the limit but this season has been a disappointment. But they caught fire in the NIT last year so maybe it might happen again.....but it didn't. Tennessee with help from piss poor officials and yet another Hawkeye meltdown in overtime, got blown out 78-65 in OT in the NCAA play in game. If the Hawkeyes decided making the NCAA's in any shape or form was the way to go, then they succeeded but their piss poor second half showing and Northwestern whopping them in the B1G tourney turned out that this season was a disappointment. The Iowa Hawkeyes blew 9 (count em NINE) leads before the halftime only to lose which might be a record upon itself. Next season, they do have new players coming in to fine tune things and perhaps Aaron White and Adam Woodbury will show more signs of aggressiveness that was missing this season. We lose Roy Devyn Marble and Meshawn Basabe and the troubled Zach McCabe to graduation. Marble did have a pretty good season although none of his shots did go in during the NCAA Play in game.
Bob Lefsetz keeps thumbing his nose at PONO, the upcoming new and exciting idea from Neil Young, calling it pointless and thumbing his nose at you, the CD and record buyer consumer who is seeing less and less new product. If there's one thing I would love to see before I die, is to see a renaissance in buying records to the point that we can get some new stores started up. We want new and improve but some of us still like the 12 inch black disc moving around in a circle playing music. Bob's time here on the planet is even lesser than myself but he's always going after tomorrow's product today and people like myself cannot afford or have these things given to us as a promotion. I am not a fan of MP3's they sound like shit and even more so when i hear them on net radio. Give me the actual product instead of the great jukebox in the sky and in the damn CPU. This year, it's hard to even find the new stuff since Best Buy has cut back and from my time in Madison all of the record stores lacked certain new stuff for me to buy. But shut up already Lefsetz. I don't fucking care about your GD Spotify. Save that shit for the next lifetime. But in the meantime, SXSW has come and gone, the big story, some fucking drunk being chased by the police ran past a barricade and struck some people in the street and killed three of them. Throw the book at the stupid fuck. In the meantime feel free to waste your time on this article about the music sellouts or how Lady Gaga took the money and ran. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/business/media/a-new-model-for-music-big-bands-big-brands.html?hp&_r=0
Vinyl Lovin:
The Grass Roots-The Complete Dunhill/ABC Singles (Real Gone)
Not really a complete overview mind you (No Smoke Without Fire, We Can't Dance To Your Music and Stealin Love are left off) but the folks at Real Gone have done a much better job than the idiots at MCA or Universal have done with shotty half assed comps and for the first time since the long missed Rhino 2 CD anthology we finally get a good idea who the Grass Roots were and that was the main person in the band was actually Steve Barri, the producer. Beginning the early years when Phil Sloan was writing the hits and they showed a more commercial folk/rock sound like the Byrds or Dylan, dusting out their own version of Mr. Jones. And of course Let's Live For Today in two versions (one would have been fine, like the fussy old crabbass that I'm am, I would have lobbied for No Smoke Without Fire since it did score on the KCRG Super 30 in 1973). Certainly the late great Rob Grilli had the charisma charm of a lead singer but they had good songwriters in Dennis Provisor and Warren Entner, but Steve Barri focused more on getting key songs from other songwriters and the band started adding more horns and AM radio ready hooks for big hits of Two Divided by Love (written by Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter), plus Temptation Eyes, Heaven Knows and Midnight Confessions. By 1972 most of the public moved on but they had regional hits like The Runaway and ultra catchy Love Is What You Make It, to which I ended up paying 10 dollars for the 1973 Lotta Mileage album and getting ripped of the process. It's not that great of a record. Which probably shows that The Grass Roots were one of the best singles band at that time out there. And hopefully Real Gone can go one further and reissued the B sides as the next project. But in the end, The Grass Roots was mostly Steve Barri's project, kinda like his answer to Three Dog Night. The best (and cheaper) overview since the Rhino Anthology went out of print.
Grade A-
Laszlo Gardony-The Legend Of Tsumi (Antilles)
What I love about finding cheap music is discovering something that I would have never bought full price. I get bored with classic rock, I get bored with overplayed music and is always looking for the lesser known when I decide to waste 2 hours at Pawn America, sorting through shitty and tossed aside CDs for 25 cents. I have no idea who Gardony is but when I was reading the booklet, i had the impression that this would be new age. But since it had a piano bass and drums trio I decided to chance it. Released through Island/Antilles New Directions back when Island was still looking for real artists and not Justin Bieber, The Legend Of Tsumi when first heard reminds me a lot of Dave Brubeck although further research shows a more Bill Evans influence. Beginning with the 8 minute Orange City, the time signature reminds me of Take Five till a more avant garde arrangement takes hold between Laszlo and Bill Moses on drums. Second favorite song is the very brief Trickster to which sorry only lasts a minute thirty eight and shows more band interplay. Still the inner beauty of the mellow tracks (Sunrise, Anne's Dream) are dreamy without falling into boring new age territory, and are probably more Bill Evans than Brubeck For a late 80's jazz piece, this album might be considered a classic in its own way, Gardony's piano work is impeccable and the band of Dave Holland on bass and the aforementioned Bill Moses on drums compliments greatly. For paying a quarter for this is quite a bargain indeed.
Grade A-
Thousand Yard Stare-Hands On (Polydor)
A Britpop band that didn't make it, this was the first of two albums that they did and basically it starts out quite good with the oddball title 0-0 a.e.t. or No Score After Extra Time and their sound wasn't much different than The Mighty Lemon Drops or The La's although somebody there must have been listening to The Ocean Blue as well. Produced by Steven Street (The Smiths, The Dylans) who at that time was one of the go to producers of Brit Pop. The Dylans were a little bit more hooky and more perferrable to Thousand Yard Stare but this record does have some moments of brilliance. Another 25 cent special from Pawn America to which I think we picked the bones clean on that place anyway.
Grade B+
Renaissance (Elektra)
Keith Relf may have been the weakest link on the Yardbirds but then again that band was legendary for their guitar players be it Eric, Jeff or Jimmy, plus they had one of the best bass player and later producer to the starts in Paul Samwell Smith and Jim McCarty a great drummer, but Relf's vocals were good in the Birds. With the Yardbirds imploding, Keith and Jim jumped ship leaving Jimmy Page to fend for himself but Jimmy got replacements that would rewrite rock and roll history. What Keith and Jim came up was Renaissance, a piano driven prog rock outfit that made a meandering album for Elektra. The 10 minute lead off Kings And Queens really isn't that bad as John Hawken's classical keyboards dominate the song and for that matter the album. Side 2 doesn't go much anywhere and Bullet, the final track makes King Crimson Moonchild seem like a rock and roll song although the strange ending kinda compensates a dull track. I give it points for creativity but it's a C plus overall album.
Playlist:
Everything Happens To Me-Sonny Rollins
Tell Me Why-Noel And The Red Wedge
Mr. Jones (Ballad Of A Thin Man) The Grass Roots
Foolish Heart-The Grateful Dead
Please-The Kaleidoscope
Ich Bin Sin Auslander-Pop Will Eat Itself
Steal My Sunshine-Len
I'm Just Not The Man To Be Tied-Soup
Show Biz Blues-Fleetwood Mac
The Departed-Iggy And The Stooges
I have no idea what the hell happened to all the pictures posted. It's not worth the effort to repost them. again.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
The Last Bargain Hunt: Madison Under Snowflakes
Celebrating 20 years of going up to Madison, I have seen my share of ups and downs, but perhaps this trip may have been one of the strangest trips ever gone. When I first plan this trip the weekend was supposed to be nice and sunny but by Saturday a threat of the 38th snow storm this winter, I cut short the trip and went home in the afternoon only to get stuck in a snowstorm in Dubuque and two fucking idiot drivers tailgating in the process. The Chinese buffet next to CDs 4 Change is now out of business replaced by a cellphone company. The snowstorm finally let up after getting past the Cascade exit and dumbass driver number 2 getting off somewhere there.
Madison was hit and miss again, and I almost got my car towed since it was rush hour and you can't park in the street on Williamson Street and at the St Vincent De Paul. But I managed to start the car up and high tailed and made a face at the tow truck driver with boots in hand ready to steal Redd from me and probably another 500 dollar bailout. No thank you. But on the other hand, I got to see two lesbians make out at the Mexican place, and two trailer trash couples playing suck face at Pawn America, and basically what's left for CDs is junk although I did manage to find a few oddball bands that nobody gives a shit about. This time out, Mad City Music X had nothing for me to buy, and I discovered that the best place for vinyl is Strictly Discs on Monroe Street, and that the basement that I knew nothing about had plenty of records to choose from, I picked three from the dollar bins, including the Paley Brothers' 1978 album on Sire, that I have never seen before. The good stuff is hidden in the basement and although reviews of the help have been mixed, they were courteous and helpful. I didn't stopped in B Sides and Sugar Shack due to time and weather restraints but both Strictly Discs and Mad City Music X were much more busier than the last time I stopped in. Maybe the resurgence of vinyl is making a comeback.
Half Priced Books in both locations had a few dollar cds worth getting and the Friday Night 20 percent off sale helped me in buying the first Renaissance LP (with Keith Relf) on Elektra and the other Ruben And The Jets album that came out on Mercury but didn't have Frank Zappa helping out. But both St Vincent De Pauls, Goodwills and Salvation Army had nothing that I bought. I really haven't had much luck in the previous four or five times I stopped at the Goodwills, they always seem to be picked apart. The east side Pre Played had a couple of out of print CDs that I acquired Soup and Brian Auger Straight Ahead.
But for new music, I've never seen places so scattershot. Best Buy doesn't have shit anymore, so basically you're better off going Strictly Discs or Mad City Music X or B Sides for the latest. Since I didn't pick up the new Los Lobos album at Mad City Music X, I thought the others would have it but they didn't. In the end, Strictly Discs wins out on the best place to find the hard the find, including Best Of Ten Wheel Drive as a promo CD.
Last time I spent the night at Mircotel, their room sucked, but a return visit actually has some refurbished rooms, new plasma TVs and (less) More digital channels although I couldn't tell which was which but when discovered MeTV, I didn't watch anything else. WORT remains the best Madison station but it's getting to the point that I can't get into the new music although the track they played off Beck's new album was pretty good. I might consider buying that when i get paid. However, I did buy the new Grassroots Complete Dunhill Singles.....at Moondog Music on the way home.
Life in Madison, strange as ever; at 2:30 AM, the fire truck and rescue unit was outside the hotel, I ended up opening a bottle of root beer and have it sprayed all over my coat. Some old woman at Salvation Army had her car blocking the driveway, as some poor dude trying to push her car back, she kept hitting the horn. Probably would have made a bit more difference if she took the damn thing out of park. Gas prices were 3.59 up there, the temps on Friday was about 40 degrees but a chilly NW wind made me grab my winter coat out of the car. Both lakes still have their ice blanket and I did my usual walk around State Street and seeing new buildings replacing the old and of course having Ian's Pizza for a noon time snack.
For those who venture out this way looking for record stores. there's still a few to check out but for the professional digger, Strictly Disc and Sugar Shack remain the go to places, Mad City Music X this time seemed to be picked apart.
So I'm sure Mad City will see me again, but hopefully the next time, it won't be snowing.
Madison was hit and miss again, and I almost got my car towed since it was rush hour and you can't park in the street on Williamson Street and at the St Vincent De Paul. But I managed to start the car up and high tailed and made a face at the tow truck driver with boots in hand ready to steal Redd from me and probably another 500 dollar bailout. No thank you. But on the other hand, I got to see two lesbians make out at the Mexican place, and two trailer trash couples playing suck face at Pawn America, and basically what's left for CDs is junk although I did manage to find a few oddball bands that nobody gives a shit about. This time out, Mad City Music X had nothing for me to buy, and I discovered that the best place for vinyl is Strictly Discs on Monroe Street, and that the basement that I knew nothing about had plenty of records to choose from, I picked three from the dollar bins, including the Paley Brothers' 1978 album on Sire, that I have never seen before. The good stuff is hidden in the basement and although reviews of the help have been mixed, they were courteous and helpful. I didn't stopped in B Sides and Sugar Shack due to time and weather restraints but both Strictly Discs and Mad City Music X were much more busier than the last time I stopped in. Maybe the resurgence of vinyl is making a comeback.
Half Priced Books in both locations had a few dollar cds worth getting and the Friday Night 20 percent off sale helped me in buying the first Renaissance LP (with Keith Relf) on Elektra and the other Ruben And The Jets album that came out on Mercury but didn't have Frank Zappa helping out. But both St Vincent De Pauls, Goodwills and Salvation Army had nothing that I bought. I really haven't had much luck in the previous four or five times I stopped at the Goodwills, they always seem to be picked apart. The east side Pre Played had a couple of out of print CDs that I acquired Soup and Brian Auger Straight Ahead.
But for new music, I've never seen places so scattershot. Best Buy doesn't have shit anymore, so basically you're better off going Strictly Discs or Mad City Music X or B Sides for the latest. Since I didn't pick up the new Los Lobos album at Mad City Music X, I thought the others would have it but they didn't. In the end, Strictly Discs wins out on the best place to find the hard the find, including Best Of Ten Wheel Drive as a promo CD.
Last time I spent the night at Mircotel, their room sucked, but a return visit actually has some refurbished rooms, new plasma TVs and (less) More digital channels although I couldn't tell which was which but when discovered MeTV, I didn't watch anything else. WORT remains the best Madison station but it's getting to the point that I can't get into the new music although the track they played off Beck's new album was pretty good. I might consider buying that when i get paid. However, I did buy the new Grassroots Complete Dunhill Singles.....at Moondog Music on the way home.
Life in Madison, strange as ever; at 2:30 AM, the fire truck and rescue unit was outside the hotel, I ended up opening a bottle of root beer and have it sprayed all over my coat. Some old woman at Salvation Army had her car blocking the driveway, as some poor dude trying to push her car back, she kept hitting the horn. Probably would have made a bit more difference if she took the damn thing out of park. Gas prices were 3.59 up there, the temps on Friday was about 40 degrees but a chilly NW wind made me grab my winter coat out of the car. Both lakes still have their ice blanket and I did my usual walk around State Street and seeing new buildings replacing the old and of course having Ian's Pizza for a noon time snack.
For those who venture out this way looking for record stores. there's still a few to check out but for the professional digger, Strictly Disc and Sugar Shack remain the go to places, Mad City Music X this time seemed to be picked apart.
So I'm sure Mad City will see me again, but hopefully the next time, it won't be snowing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)