Top Ten Of The Week-Still Got The Blues

The big news of the week was Clarence Clemons passing away from a stroke he suffered last week and died Saturday.  Which means that the E Street Band as we know it is over.  You can't replace Mr. C, I mean who is Bruce going to get?  The dude from John Caffery's Beaver Brown Band?  Anyway, this week, found plenty of new blues cds in the 2 dollar bins up at Half Priced Books.  Even got the GF hooked on Too Slim & The Taildragger's Shiver CD.   Anyway, she had to work last night so she missed out on my Sunday Night Rock n Roll show but Chloe The Wonder Dog, did jump into the rocking chair with me and we rocked out to some Black Country Communion.  And then she didn't mind some Thelonious Monk too.

Plenty of tunes to talk about, and only 10 openings.

1.  I Want A New Drug-Huey Lewis & The News 1983  Oh the MTV era to which they played music videos, long before most of you downloaders from the internet were born.  The internet has been fun but I think it also took away the majority of record stores that I used to hang out.  Record Bar out in Westdale used to partnered up with MTV for some music deals, only problem was we didn't get MTV here till September of 1983.  Huey Lewis beforehand played harmonica for Dave Edmunds and Thin Lizzy before putting his own band together and struck it big with this top ten hit single.  But while up at the dentists last week, crap radio station KDAT played this song before going back to overplayed American Idol shit song by some oversinging female.   Seems like every GD place you go in CR has KDAT in the background.

2.  Amber Jean-Neil Young 1985 (released 2011)  Neil has been very busy reissuing some of his archival works and the new one focuses on his International Harvesters Band of 1985.  Recorded during Old Ways but not issued till this live version can be found on his A Treasure CD, which is more country than rock.  Still rocks in its own way.

3.  Stoned Again-Too Slim & The Taildraggers 2011  I think KUNI played this on their Blues Alley show on Sundays and it was one of those 2 dollar CDs that was worth a listen.  Imagine my surprise when Nicole woke up from her sleep and asking what I was playing.  And she really liked it.  Kinda has that ZZ Top vibe if you think about it.

4.  Amazed-The Offspring 1997  Yes radio overplays their better known hits.  And basically I never cared all that much till I found Ixnay On The Hombre at the pawnshop about a week after this got released back in 1997.  Reviews and sales were so so but I recall giving this a B plus and calling it a pretty good listen.  I'm still surprised that radio never played this song, I think I liked this better than Gone Away which was a hit.

5.  Watching The River Flow-Ben Waters With The Rolling Stones 2011  Another 2 dollar buy was Boogie 4 Stu, a tribute to Ian Stewart, the late great piano player for The Rolling Stones.  I don't know much about Ben Waters, I think he's more a British jazz musician but got involved with this project that celebrates the music influences of Stewart that he managed to get Charlie Watts to play drums on the majority of the tracks and on this Bob Dylan cover, even got Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Bill Wyman to record the first song that this lineup has done since Steel Wheels.  First time Jagger actually did anything this bluesy since Let It Bleed.  Which is saying something.

6.  The Battle For Hadrian's Wall-Black Country Communion 2011  Heavier than their first and not to sit back on their laurels BCC went right back into the studio and pumped this album out.  Glenn Hughes pretty much sings on most of the tracks but on here it's Joe Bonamassa doing the lead singing.  Joe's been very busy of late, only a few months ago, he put out his own solo album out Dust Bowl in April.  BCC 2, would sound nice on the radio if modern rock ever promotes them.  But then again you're better off hearing them on satellite radio than on KRNA or KFMW.  Ixnay on KDAT smartypants.

7.  N.S.U.-Cream 1967  Not the 10 minute version on Live Cream but rather the much shorter that appears on Fresh Cream.

8. Sleep-Flight 16 1998  The reason why I like cheap cd's is that it lets me listen to bands on the cheap.  Flight 16 was one of many bands signed to a major label in the late 90's, made a tax loss album and then disappeared from the limelight.  All Music Guide didn't give them a good review but in essence I have been playing their forgotten album for 550/Sony Music quite a bit this year.  Sounding a bit like a lighter Alice In Chains (or poppier) you have to dig deep into the CD to get to this creepy track with plenty of delay guitar work here.  For a pawn shop classic, this would qualify as one since there's plenty of them on sale for 3 bucks shipping and handling from Amazon dot com.  Half Priced Books had one in the buck bins for ages.

9.  Diggin A Hole-Big Sugar 1996  Highly regarded in Canada but mostly ignored in the States, Gordie Johnson has lead this Blues/Reagge band through some pretty good albums although 500 Pounds and Heated were the only 2 that was released in the US. Spent most of the last decade helping out Gov't Mule and Warren Haynes but sounds like he's returned back to Big Sugar.  Hard to tell if he's a blues man or a Jam artist, my guess is the latter.  Gary Lowe, the dreadlocked bass player has been with him for years and had a revolving door of drummers (one of which Crash Morgan was killed in a car accident in Waterloo IA around 95 or 96) but my fave is Alan Cross, who bashes away on the cymbals on Ride Like Hell.

10.  Bluebird-Buffalo Springfield 1968  Finally, this is not the version on BS Again, but rather that long jam version that came out on the 2 LP Buffalo Springfield and the Heavy Metal Superstars Of The 70's comp that Warner Music put out in the mid 70's that has a much brighter mix than the Atco version.  With the interplay of guitars between Stephen Stills and Neil Young this actually foretells of the jamming that would be forthcoming on the Four Way Street live album as CSNY.  The 8 Track Version of Blue Bird was chopped into 2 parts on the Heavy Metal  LP.  Buffalo Springfield regrouped to do some live dates after a successful reunion last year, but missing Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin who both passed away.

Looks like The Rock n Roll And The Brains Blog has now made it to 300 views, making it the most read or accessed blog in the R.S. Crabb blogspot site.  I'm certain somebody out there must have linked it to their site or something other. Whereas the Offspring site only had four views.  Way things are going we may clear 900 views this month here, maybe a 1,000 which would be a first.  Still would love to see Andy McKie release the damn album before we're all dead but Hip O Select hasn't returned any of my calls, but they did reissue Teena Marie's stuff for Motown.   Not the same thing at all..................................