It's been two weeks since we had straight line winds tearing up the place and knocking most of our trees down. My brother and a tree expert have done double duty chopping and chainsawing their way through the brush and branches to make this place not so much looking like a war zone. For the most part I have donated over 200 cds to various thrift stores and adding more selection to their crappy cd section. As for selling cds, that's another story. It's not a buyers market and I haven't sold very many. Of course it don't help when I do sell that the USPS short changes me and they send them back with due postage and put it over the address to where it's supposed to go. It pisses me off to think that I'm made out of money, just like the GD dentist that sent me a 26 dollar bill for something I didn't get. I can't save any money where people and things are nickel and dimeing me to death. It adds up and not in a good way. Workwise, we should be back in Cedar Rapids in about a week. The scanners are still not working up there but that's not my worry if they can't get them going. But in the meantime, my manager has treated me well and our group managed to go out for supper a couple times last week. I don't believe they were impressed of going to Eastwood's in Solon, after all it was a bar and the personal pan pizza was from Tombstone and the flies were thick inside but the fish sandwiches and tenderloins were good from what I heard.
I was thinking of taking a break from water detail in the basement and head to Madison for the annual Summerfest this weekend, the weather is supposed to be dry and see what's going on up there. Which means I'll be dropping off more unwanted items and picking up more things I don't need but I remain a bargain hunter regardless. With waterproofing taking all of the summer budget this year it will be the only vacation that I'll get till fall.
In defense of the CD: http://grantland.com/features/the-case-for-cds/
Another musician has passed away: Johnny Winter, best known as one of the best blues rock guitarists (although some mag called him the 63rd best guitar player ever WTF?) died at age 70. He was in the process of starting a late summer tour and a new album coming out September 2 called Step Back. He had a great backing band in the early 70s that featured Rick Derringer and Bobby Caldwell, but Johnny was instrumental of jump starting Muddy Waters' career with the 1977 Hard Again album with a classic version of Mannish Boy. Winter's YEAH yelling gives it more power. He had recorded for Columbia, Blue Sky, MCA, Point Blank/Virgin and Megaforce. And now is jamming with Muddy Waters once again. RIP.
Reviews:
Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac Live At The BBC (Fleetwood/Castle/Sanctuary)
A collection of performances that were around the end of Green's tenure with the Mac and Jeremy Spencer's Kiln House sessions the first CD starts out rocking with Rattlesnake Shake/Searching And Fighting For Madge and never lets up. I rather play the rocking CD rather than the tedious blues Cd that is disc two. Even though Jeremy Spencer has a genuine love of Elmore James, I prefer his Buddy Holly tributes more even down to that trademark Holly hiccup. Danny Kirwan gets shortchanged but they do pick the best of his numbers from Then Play On, (Although The Sun Is Shining, Like Crying). The Kiln House songs begin to reveal a new Mac, more intent on playing rock and going away from the blues that was their calling in the early years. It does point the way to where Fleetwood Mac would wind up, but their journey is just starting. Not essential but is worth hearing.
Grade B
Grateful Dead-Dick's Picks Vol 18. (Madison, Cedar Falls Feb 1978) (Real Gone)
Legend has it that this is the best bootleg show of The Dead and it captures them in the dead of winter, traveling through blizzards in Madison and Milwaukee before coming to our neck of the woods, The Uni Done in Cedar Falls. A very lengthy 3 CD set (over 3 and half hours of Dead music), Dead heads will tell you that the second cd that runs 70 and half minutes has a medley of them playing over an hour without taking a break. And then disc three going through yet another hour long medley before concluding with Around and Around. They tended to rely on Chuck Berry to end sets, Johnny B Goode ends disc 2. But with 65 minute medley of Estimated Prophet/Eyes Of The World/Playing In The Band/The Wheel with Dark Star thrown in there, this is where you can picture Dead Heads dancing in the strobe lights while Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir trade off guitar leads. While the reviewer says the songs on disc 1 are not as good, I beg to differ, they do ride the groove on Good Lovin, Passenger and Deal sound a bit more intense than on the 1982 Dead Set that Arista put out. None of the songs are under four minutes, shortest being Johnny B Goode and Bob Weir kinda overdrags It's All Over Now but for going with the groove, the band was quite on. Another note is that Donna Godchaux is almost absent, you hardly hear her except for the chorus and sometimes an oh yeah here and there, a far cry from her presence on Europe 72 Volume 2 to which you wanna turn her mic off, to which maybe somebody did on these 78 concert showings. If you enjoy Jerry Garcia's lead guitar going into other space, you'll love the second CD, but if you're not a fan you'll be bored. But still, when they played Dane County and the Uni Done, The Dead were sounding inspired and unified. Maybe I should have been there to see these shows, but didn't care for the foot of snow that hit Madison that night either.
Grade B+
Mailbag
On the Subject of Mach Five, I wrote a review about this band in Amazon years ago and forgot somebody did a reply to it. Larry Davis responds to the original review posted here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R31V8O6OFL4HB0/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000006DI4&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=5174&store=music#wasThisHelpful
Hey, true that this should have been more successful than it was, BUT you didn't get the impression that M5 were Britpop-sounding?? If anything, this NY band was like Oasis but more straight-up powerpop. "Shiny Shirt" shoulda been a single. The 2 songs that really should have cracked it were "This And Back Again", a PERFECT powerpop gem completely, and "Here's A Call", driven by Beatlesque horns, shoulda been deemed a classic.
Here's the thing though...most people (if any) that know of the band locally in NY, knew that Jeff & the boys never stopped making music after being dropped...Jeff is prolific with his own studio...the band recorded 2 followup EP's themselves..."Tie Me Up & Hold Me Down" and "Save Your Soul", with more killer tunes like "Maybe You're A Product" and "Had About Enough"...drummer Don DiPaolo left the band for his own solo career and self-released a great record called "Everything You Wanted". All the band needed was a better publicist because the label was not enough and Jeff is like McCartney, in quality and prolificness, with his NY Britpop tunes that kill. I will make copies of the followup if needed...and Jeff fell off the planet it seems...he's a powerpop genius.
I do know that drummer Don DiPaolo, besides releasing a solo album became a DOCTOR...and Jeff, he supposedly changed the band's name to Varispeed or it was a new band entirely, but I THINK he left the music business...I found him on Facebook a couple years ago and he apparently entered the corporate world...the pic was him with a shirt and tie on, like you wouldn't think he was a musician at all or in a band...either he got fed up (chewed and spit out by the music biz), or pressure from his wife to get a "real job"...I HOPE he didn't sell his studio or guitars...
William Thibault on Three Dog Night review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2TWWEICSMX5YY/ref=cm_aya_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00000DWFS#wasThisHelpful
I always tripped out at the fact that It's for You was on here, but never heard that there was a longer version out there. Did they just extend the jam at the end? One of the most underrated songs is their version of Nobody, which i think was the first single. Didn't chart high, but they did a great version of it.
Since I managed to get over 100 views in a day, for your reward I get to tap into my playlist of songs that I have been playing over the week. I get bored very easy with Satellite radio since they tend to overkill lesser songs of bands who classic rock overkill is the problem of free radio today. Being somewhat retired from the top ten biz, I do like to share what's on the playlist: Why not, if it gets people to seek them out on their own then I did my job. That's all that matters eh?
PLAYLIST: (Photo: Jerry Doucette)
Let's Stick Together-Bryan Ferry (Let's Stick Together)
All That You Dream-Little Feat (Waiting For Columbus)
Trampoline-Joe Henry (Trampoline)
Living Through Another Cuba-XTC (Black Sea)
Samson And Delilah-Grateful Dead (Dick's Picks Volume 18)
I Fought The Law-The Crickets (Still In Style)
Ghost Riders In The Sky-Johnny Cash (Silver)
Although The Sun Is Shining-Fleetwood Mac (Then Play On)
Thoughts-Vanilla Fudge (Complete Atco Singles Collection)
Mama Let Him Play-Doucette (Mama Let Him Play) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfGTA-kkf2o
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