Vern Gosdin, the voice they called him died yesterday at age 74 from
complications of a stroke. Vern is best known for Set Them Up Joe and
his 1988 CBS album Carved In Stone but goes back as far as 1966 by
recording with Gene Clark on Clark's first album since leaving the
Byrds, Gene Clark with The Gosdin Brothers. Gosdin also recorded for
Warner Brothers/Elektra, Compleat Records and Columbia.
I do not
like the new MSN layout for Christgau's Consumer Guide. Too damn
cumbersome and it don't work on dialup. Christgau has a thing against
Ryan Adams, he gave both Cardinology and Follow The Lights C grades,
but He did give praise for Neil Young's Fork In The Road (gave it an A
minus)
Young's green-car protest album tops his
impeach-the-president protest album because he knows more about cars
than he does about presidents. In fact, he loves the gas guzzlers of
yore so much that he went into the business. His goal: a "heavy metal
Continental" that gets 100 mpg on "domestic green fuel." Young's music
has never run as smooth as his automobiles, and his Volume Dealers chug
along like the reliable transportation they are. But putting his tunes
and falsetto into overdrive, he's so into his subject he turns it over
10 different ways. Here be truckers and traffic jams, heroic mechanics
and failed bailouts, "the awesome power of electricity" and "cough up
the bucks," hoods to get under and worlds to collide. Young sees beyond
the "old"--a word that comes up a lot--on-the-road utopianism. But
there's not a hint of mea culpa in the guy, or guilt trip either. "Just
singing a song won't change the world," he knows that. But songs are his
job, and his reserves are apparently inexhaustible. A Minus
Strange email of the day from a woman from Mingles. And there's a reason why she's still single. Letter starts as follows...
I'm curious, On the 7th day we rest? You don't happen to know bout clean and unclean food, do you?
Isabella is that you?!? If not, lay off the brown acid baby, it has eaten away most of your brain.
Two thoughts from Bob Lefsetz that make sense.
Miranda Lambert’s "Gunpowder & Lead" is a better rock track than anything by the Hold Steady or TV On The Radio.
Keith Urban can play the guitar better than anybody in Nickelback.
Yeh,
I tend to think TV On The Radio is a bit overrated too, mainly their
last album which everybody raved about I didn't get it at all. If you
want hear a good album check out the Booker T album Potatoe Hole, with
Neil Young and Drive By Truckers helping out. It's on sale for 8 bucks
at Best Buy.
With the side project gaining full steam ahead, I
try to keep up on the latest and greatest out there but I seem to be
slipping or don't care at all. But there's some new stuff to talk of.
If it makes you want to buy the music then I did my job. Besides there
is life after classic rock anyway, as I've been trying to tell you the
past seven years.
1. These Things by Tim O'Reagan 2006 Late of
The Jayhawks and much later The Leatherwoods, Tim made this tax write
off for Lost Highway/Universal and added Gary Louris and Mark Olsen to
the recordings. Didn't sell and made a beeline to the bargain bins. At
times sounds alt country like the Jayhawks, other times Matthew Sweet.
Some people still think Wilco is the best rock band of the decade of
Y2K. Me, I perfer The Darkness.
2. Breaking The Law-Judas Priest
1980 Our cover band is doing this song and had to use this as a
reference so that when we go to practice next weekend, I'll remember
where the breaks are at. Never was much into JP as my zit faced
classmates of 30 years ago but I think this song was the most new wave
sounding Rob Hartford and company got. On a side note, Gay and Lesbians
can now legally get married here in the state of Iowa. I know channel
9, good for them but I don't want to see that every damn time I turn on
the TV. Have some fucking descendents for a change. Or when a smoking
debate comes up, they gotta show some asshole smoking. Always amazing
when you want to see pics from last weekend's tornado you gotta go
online, whereas the newscast is showing smokers or gay married couple.
3. Yeah Yeah Yeah-The Vibrators 1977 My opinion of the whole thing.
4.
Les Invisibles-Blue Oyster Cult 1988 After the dogpile called Club
Ninja, BOC returned with a concept album of sorts and got the original
lineup back to do this. This is more of Albert Bouchard then the rest
of the band but Imaginos turned out to be their comeback album but final
album with the original lineup. Fell out of print for years before
American Beat Records reissued it along with the much maligned Club
Ninja.
5. You Can't Win Them All-10 Years After 1972 Rock n
Roll Music To The World was the last listenable TYA record and Target
had this in the three dollar bins. Alvin Lee was a blazing guitar
player but his lyrics were pretty empty most of the time. But then
again comparing this to the crap on KZIA, he's Bob Dylan. Lotta boogie
on RNR Music To The World and I still enjoy it.
6. Take A
Picture-Filter 1999 I never cared much for screamo or whatever Richard
Patrick was putting down and listening to his best of The Very Best
Things, I'm still not convinced. But the Real Rock Station KRNA
continues to play this every day. They also play that Local H song
that's about 15 years old. I certainly think Local H did better with
What Can I Tell You from their ignored Pack Up The Cats album of 1998 to
which you can get for a buck (plus 3 dollars shipping and handling)
from Amazon dot com. But then again, I don't think much of the real
rock stations, cuz like the top forty stations, there's little
substance. Plus it gives me a fucking headache too.
7. Be Nice To me-Todd Rundgren 1971 I had a bad month.
8.
39-Queen 1976 The most prettiest song that Queen ever came up and it
was the B side to You're My Best Friend. Sometimes it would be nice to
hear this song on the radio but since radio has overkilled the hits,
perhaps it's better to discover this yourself in the privacy of your own
home.
9. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place/Don't Bring Me Down/It's
My Life Medley-David Johansen 1982 This got some airplay on MTV back
when MTV was Music TeleVision and not Moron TV as it is today. Also some
airplay on KKRQ in the early 80s. Johansen you know is the lead singer
of New York Dolls (what's left of them) but he did have a cult
following in his solo years. He does the Animals proud, in fact does a
better version of these songs then Eric Burdon did with the reformed
Animals around that time. Johansen almost blew his street cred with
Buster Poindexter with his Hot Hot Hot single a few years later but have
reformed the New York Dolls (what's left of them) and actually had made
a decent album a few years ago. Also there's a new New York Dolls
album coming out in May with Todd Rundgren producing. Will it be good
you ask? Stay tuned.
10. It's All Good-Bob Dylan 2009 New Bob
Dylan and no he can't sing, never really did, but has such an
understanding of American music and the blues that you can forgive him
for that reedy, shotty voice. Together Through Life it's called and yes
we have gone through life together.
Who knows,maybe we'll do better next week. Stay Tuned.
