Week In Review: Davenport 45s, Saloonatics, Jones County Fair

Death never takes a day off.

George Kennedy passed away, he was 91.  One of my all time favorite actors he now joins Paul Newman and Leslie Neilsen in the Great Movie Screen in the sky.  Cool Hand Luke, Police Academy.  He might have been in The Dirty Dozen.  They don't make them like George anymore.

Jerry Maren, the last of The Wizard Of Oz munchkins  passed away from Pancreatic Cancer Sunday  He was 96.

John Thomas, guitarist for Budgie in the 80s passed away in his sleep Thursday Night.  He was 63.

Gayle McCormick, lead singer for Smith and later had a top 40 hit with It's  A Crying Shame (produced by Brian Lambert/Dennis Potter) in 1971 passed away from cancer.  Johnnie King has a tribute page dedicated to her: http://www.jonnieking.net/gpage28.html

The Great Jones County Fair have announced their lineup and it may as well by the Great Jones Ripoff Fair.  I haven't been to many shows at the fair due high priced tickets and rock acts that have one original member and the rest hired hands.  Rock is back, with Boston being the headliners and 38 Special and Dennis Deyoung opening.  This show is the cheapest by far, 30 dollars for the grand stand and 45 dollars if you want to be in front of the stage.  Carrie Underwood comes in on Friday Night and for 65-70 dollars you too can party with the best known American Idol singer.  The wheels fall off Saturday Night for the All American Bro Country Love Fest with Farce The Music's favorite band (not) Florida Georgia Line and Cole (Blows) Swindell providing comedic relief.  Up and coming Bro country Chris Lane opens.  Got 75 dollars to blow?  Here's your chance and you may want to stay off the roads.  The Iowa Patrol might be conducting road checks that night.  They might make a record profit in pulling over half drunken Bubba's in 4X4s in their confederate flags and vote for Donald Trump bumper stickers. 

A lot of band drama going on around the area.  The recently launched Saloonatics, the newest venture with Kevin Simnacher, Kim Bean and Barth Walter played at J A Tap in North Liberty Friday Night and were the host of the weekly Popcorn Jam, but keyboardist Alan Hafner decided that Friday Night's gig was his last and he texted he was done the next day.  To the rescue came Tim Duffy in a temporary role.   For the first time ever, yours truly jammed to electric drums and I must say it was quite a unique experience, although I still feel more at home behind a big bass drum.  But it was fun chatting with Kim about his cymbals (Paiste 2002 and a 404 that almost was out of my reach) and his way of polishing them up.  Black Beauty polish that you can get at any local Auto Zone store. http://www.majesticsolutionsinc.com/purchase-page/finishing-products/black-beauty-polishglaze

Nevertheless Kevin managed to get my good side on this version of La Grange, sung by Barth. 

Saloonatics facebook page site: https://www.facebook.com/saloonaticsCR 

(Popcorn Jam Photos and the new Saloonatics update  courtesy of Kevin Simnacher)

Getting out on Saturday Night I caught the tail end of Hostage's set played to a full house at Rumors. The weather was sunny and a record temp of 64 degrees was set.  So I took into a stroll downtown Cedar Rapids and stopped at Ruby's Pizza, one of the best new pizza places in town.  They have strange hours and are closed on Sundays,  but they are open for lunch and has pizza by the slice.  One topping pizza New York Style is 13.49 plus tax, about the same as my Marion favorite pizza joint Naso's.  Overall, Ruby's Pizza are excellent, and even better when you warm them up in the microwave the next day.  http://www.rubyspizzeria.com/

The downward slide continues: Iowa lost their third straight game to Ohio State Sunday 68-64 and for the third straight game blowing another lead late and couldn't come back although they had a chance to tie it up, Senior guard Mike Gesell went toward a layup and had it swatted it away.  One more chance  to tie, the Hawks turned the ball over.  It's very likely that the Hawkeyes will not any more games this season, they have blown their chance to at least clinch for a tie of the B1G Ten title due to poor performances the past four games.  Next up: Indiana at home, (Another loss 81-78) Michigan at Ann Arbor on the weekend and chances are Iowa will be playing on a Thursday afternoon and they may be one and done again.  But hey they can still make the NCAA's and be one and done.  The bench scored 10 points, the most they have in five games.  But it's looking like Iowa peaked very early in January on the Michigan State and Purdue sweep.  Don't count on Sparty or Boilermaker Joe to lose a third time.  Baseball season is starting up; The Cubs resigned Dexter Fowler after talks with the Baltimore Orioles fell through.  Oh well, we'll glad to get Dexter back.

It isn't often that I get good looking models to be friends with me via Facebook but I was surprised to see a friend request from Ashley Alexiss.  She has graced a few pictures here from time to time. A devilish sweetheart.   (Photo courtesy of Ashley herself via selfie on FB).

Jared Fogle, the dispraise child molester that used to be Subway's pitchman is now finding that prison life isn't so great. By eating fresh and getting all the foot longs that he may nor may not want, the prison population really do not like the man, if he survives that long.  So Fogle is spending much time eating his way back up to 30 pounds will eventually leave prison the weight and then some put back on him.  Vincent Yu sums it up with these observations.


"Oh man...there's almost just too much to say here.!! I mean, of COURSE Jared was gonna gain weight! He's on a diet of high protein at this point. I mean, not to be crude, but he sure is getting his share of 6inchers and foot-longs all day long! And we are not just talking about just sandwiches...we talking about man-sized mannicotti, franks and beans, corn on the cob, fresh hot egg-rolls, beef-popsicles, hairy hot dogs with saurerkraut,

.....he's not just using a Dept of Corrections SPORK--oh no..he's getting force fed by a purple-yogurt slinger, the "single-serving soup dispenser"....the 'tan -banana'

.....don't pick up the soap, Jared! You have a heat-seeking moisture missile on the way!!! (okay, i'll stop here)...for now..."

What's cool?  An officer pulling over a speeding motorist and finds out it's Gladys Knight.  He told her it was his birthday so she sang Happy Birthday to him.  Knight was the passenger in the car.  The driver got a warning.  And for his effort a picture of him and Gladys together.

No shortage of record reviews:

Tom Tomlinson/Jerry Kennedy-Guitar's Greatest Hits Volume 1 + 2 (Jasmine 2016)

In 1961  the late Shelby Singleton decided since guitar instrumentals were the "in" thing to do, he rounded up some of Nashville best session players  (Hank Garland, Harold Bradley Kelso Herston joined Tom Tomlinson and Jerry Kennedy who would take over production duties from Singleton on the Mercury/Smash Nashville  label and had many hits with The Statler Brothers, Tom T Hall, Faron Young and the old devil Jerry Lee Lewis himself) and recorded some of the better known guitar numbers, and polished them up to be more listener friendly.  Of course they don't top the original versions, Link Wray still owns Rumble although Boots Randolph gives it a more sock hop dance-able blast.  In fact, Boots does play through the songs here, and with the Nashville elite (Floyd Cramer, misspelled due to him being on RCA, Bob Moore on bass and the ever reliable Buddy Harman on drums, country's version of Hal Blaine.   What makes Volume 1 memorable is that Tomlinson/Kennedy picked out great songs, this is where the first time I heard Rumble, Guitar Boogie, Sugarfoot Rag and Walk Don't Run before the originals.  Even the old jazz standards like South and Caravan have been modernized to get the teens to dig these songs.  There's a beauty in Cam Mullins (I'm guessing) string arrangements in Golden Wildwood Flower and the playfulness of Caravan. If there's anything wrong with the album, it might be that the total time of record is 25 minutes even for 12 songs, they don't stray pass the two minute mark very often.  It's the Tom And Jerry show but Boots Randolph makes it known he's there, this version of Raunchy lives up to its name.  The record sold well enough for a followup album and Volume 2 dips more into the R and B side, a workable Green Onions and even the hard to play on drums Hide Away to which Harman adopts fairly well.  This time out Kennedy comes up with two originals and Rhythm In Motion Tomlinson cowrites and the three originals make pleasant background music. Volume 2 is more middle of the road and not as interesting.  The Magnificent Seven still a fun song to listen to. A lesser known track on here Mexico, Bob Moore ended up having a number 7 hit in 1961 and redone for this album. Another factor was Boots Randolph didn't play as much and there was more emphasis on Cam Mullins' strings arrangements.  55 years after the fact, these two albums make their CD debut.  Hearing these two albums today, you wonder what the big fuss is all about and copies of the Volume 1 can still be found in thrift stores (volume 2 is a bit harder to find).  But I grew up listening to this album and volume 1 still connects and still worth shelling out the dollars for the CD version.  Back then the major labels were still doing their best promoting rock and roll in safe versions (check out 101 Strings or Living Guitars for their oddball attempts if you dare) and for that matter Guitars' Greatest Hits got it half right.  Volume 1 still gets an A minus in my book, Volume 2 a strong B grade and overall rating of a B plus.  For a budget UK label, the sound quality of the CD is quite impressive.
Grade A-  (CD Version)

 

The Contours-The Very Best Of The Contours (Motown 1998)

They were the most gritty of the Motown R and B acts, Do You Love Me cemented their legacy once Dirty Dancing used that song in the movie and it went up to number 11 (#3 in 1962), they never did go past number 41 (Can You Do It) on later releases although Shake Sherrie is just as fun, but not as memorable.  I'm not sure what masters were used on the 20th Century Masters that replaced the Very Best Of The Contours but the mono single versions are used.  Technically, musicwise it's a mess, Barry Gordy couldn't figure out how to market The Coutours, they started out close to The Rivingtons  and like the Rivingtons, their straight doo wop song Funny is a clash of personality.  You Get Ugly is the answer record to Jimmy Soul's If You Wanna Be Happy.  The dance craze like Can You Jerk Like Me, the answer to Land Of  A 1,000 Dances.   Later in the 60s, Gordy tried to market them like The Temptations but without a David Ruffin the songs suffered, The Day That She Needed Me is better suited for the Temps or Four Tops, but Smokey Robinson gave them a winner with First I Look At The Purse (later done to greater effect by The J Geils Band).  The Essential Contours might be a better introduction, it has a couple different songs (It would have been nice to hear Baby Hit and Run and Move Mr Man rather than the slow ballads or Funny).  The original LP of Do You Love Me (get the LP version and not the GD 1988 remaster with the Dance mix of Do You Love Me-total shit) in original stereo form is a short classic LP but Barry Gordy never seem to bother much on The Contours.  Thank Grand Funk Railroad and J. Geils Band to let the people know The Contours had a bit more in them than just Do You Love Me.
Grade B+

The Awful Truth (Metal Blade 1989)

The fun of bargain hunts is trying to find oldtime CDs from the late 80s and early 90s and try to draw a bead on them.  Name association, particularly with certain producers will get me to listen to anything of note.  Sam Taylor (King's X) produced these collection of demos from this Houston band that would eventually rename themselves Galactic Cowboys and like King's X were damn good in this sort of progressive metal rock, although The Awful Truth tries to thrash out on songs like Circle or No Good Reason, they kinda fail at that, they are not Anthrax.  David Von Ohlerking does sound a bit like Doug Pinnick and the band's lyrical content as Christian Rock slanted is somewhat like King's X, only harder rocking. When they get their rock going (Higher, Drowning Man) they hold their own. Legend has it, that when Metal Blade signed them, they broke up, leaving Sam Taylor just to polish up the demos.  It's not bad but in I think in the long run, this is more Taylor than the band in establishing that progressive metal rock that Sam Taylor is famous for.  Monty Colvin and Alan Doss would later join the Galactic Cowboys and would get better.
Grade B+

Dick Holiday And The Bamboo Gang-Everybody Knows (Dick Holiday Entertainment Group 1987)

Picture Boz Scaggs leading The News instead of Huey Lewis.  Back in the late 80s, Brad Nye (aka Dick Holiday) lead this Chicago based band around the midwest area for a few years and made a few albums, I was surprised to find this in the dollar section when I was scouring the bargain bins at Ragged Records.  Brad Nye lived a nice rock and roll lifestyle, learning from the pros (Frank Zappa, Toto, Van Halen, Hall And Oates)  and moving to Chicago to form The Bamboo Gang.  The workman like quality of songs like Wake Me Up and Falling showed Nye and company might have been primed for the big time till things came crashing down and Nye walked away, later getting religion and going for more of a Christian sound but also playing in his own band from time to time. Getting back to 30 years ago, this is good time rock and roll, somewhat akin to The Blue Band but while The Blue Band rather do the blues and the novelty, The Bamboo Gang is more interested in rock and roll.  Like Bob Dorr, Nye can write some eye rolling lyrics (Loop D Loop) but the music keeps it from being too much of a farce.  Chalk it up to too many Budweisers.  It's good time party music, Everybody Knows is a nice little classic to be discovered should you find a dollar copy somewhere around the area. https://www.facebook.com/brad.nye.12
Grade B+

Dirty Tricks-Night Man (Polydor 1976)

Lotsa heavy guitar riffs, just like the old days of Free and some of it rocks damn hard. (Black Diamond, Wait Till Saturday), but the band was cursed by Kenny Stewart, who sounds like Glenn Hughes.  The kind of vocalist I can take or leave.  Stewart tends to get hokey when he attempts to go Robert Plant and on Too Much Wine, he grates on the nerves.  And the ballads are awful too.  Saving grace: a classic Hipgnosis cover art.
Grade B-

Michael Murphy (Epic 1974)

The cosmic cowboy takes his act from A&M to Epic. And out of all the Michael Martin Murphy albums, this one has disappeared off the map. None of the songs made it to any best ofs and the album has yet to be issued on CD but in all fairness this is a fairly nice country rock album. Murphy could never really do rock and roll very well, and when he did (Renegade) his vocals fail him.  Nobody Is Gonna Tell Me How To Play My Music is a grand statement and it leads off the record.  Murphy has a sense of humor, Holy Roller is fun to hear and the two co writes with Boomer Castleman (Fort Worth I Love You, and You Can Only Say So Much) are the album's highlights. Observer, does hint of the balladry that Murphy would get a hit later with Wildfire, Observer is a bit underdeveloped and Murphy still can't rock and roll.  But what he can do best is straight country such as Ace In The Hole and Good Ole Natural Habits.  I don't understand why this album has been forgotten, it's as good as Geronimo's Cadillac but without the major hits.  It's better than Blue Sky Night Thunder though.
Grade B

Sheryl Crow-Feels Like Home (Old Green Barn/Warner Brothers 2013)

I  think I finally figured why I cannot tolerate Crow.  She tends to oversing to the point of being a don't yell at me singer.  When I think I'm going to get into her songs such as Easy or the overwrought Waterproof Mascara she comes up with a screech that makes me want to cringe.  Also there's a unwritten rule is that anybody rock and roll has to have her on a song or two, she's on a latest Willie Nelson album.   I shouldn't hate her, she does have a liberal mind, and she once in a while can do wonders, she managed to produced a Stevie Nicks album years ago that really was quite good.  So when she decided to "go country" if I could find a used copy 2 dollars or less I would take a listen. Imagine that, somebody donated a new copy to Goodwill.  Feels Like Home is really no more country than the last three or four albums that she dropped to A&M before a change of labels bought her to Nashville, in fact take away the faux paus steel guitars or cheeseball string arrangements that sinks Give It To Me and it's still a contemporary soft rock album.  Crow does try to throw in country cliche of the time and rhyme (Easy name checks Jack Johnson-how country is that but at least she didn't lower herself of Hank or Johnny name checking).  If she has to based her life on the Brad Paisley-Chris Dubois co-write of Waterproof Mascara, a song about a son with a deadbeat dad and looking for someone to teach him how to fish or drive a car (or maybe take up guitar and start a punk band and piss his single mom off), then the poor boy will be fatherless for the rest of his years. Crow finally finds her groove on the second side and gives her the best song of the album with Crazy Isn't Original (which would work better in these days and time thanks to Adolf Trump) and followup Nobody's Business, the key is that Crow does not oversing and actually follows the melody throughout both of the 2 lead off songs on side 2.  Crow is savvy enough to enlist Chris Singleton on the ballad Homesick, borrows Brandy Clark's Homecoming Queen to make it listenable and taps Al Anderson again for a Everyday Is A Winding Road type song with Best Of Times, and concludes the album with a better single mom song than Waterproof Mascara, Stay At Home Mother (although the Riding in the backseat/Sippin on a Pepsi opening line is crungeworthy but the song rebounds) but Kacey Musgraves have done these type of songs and a much better job.  Crow simply adopts to sound poor white trash but not as convincing as Musgraves or Brandy Clark.  Overall, Feel Like Home is uneven at times, Crow's vocal theatrics gets her into trouble and on my shit list.  Honestly Feels Like Home is really no different than Saturday Night Music Club or The Globe Sessions, the latter perhaps the best of her music career.  The Nashville sessions guys are top notch and the songs are skillfully played and polished for that failed country career that never took off as planned.  Justin Niebank is one the best Nashville sound guys out there. So in the end, I can say Feels Like Home is her best since The Globe Sessions.  Don't let her bullshit you, she's still a soft rock and roller than country star.  We'll see where the next album takes her music adventures.
Grade B



Sons Of Texas-Baptized In The Rio Grande (Razor & Tie 2015)

Southern rock today is much different than the era of Skynyrd or Charlie Daniels or even ZZ Top. Today's southern rockers tend to add more metal to their music or become descendants from Pantera. Sometimes it works (Texas Hippie Coalition, Black Stone Cherry), sometimes it doesn't (many various nameless bands that have come and gone).  Sons Of Texas is based from McAllen and a year ago released Bapitzed In The Rio Grande and right off the bat, they showed their Pantera in Never Bury The Hatchet.  SOT is no different than your average Five Finger Death Punch, unlike FFDP, SOT has a bit of blues in their tunes and even hints of THC, the title track shows they have that Southern Metal sound and it's their best song.  In fact Side 1 does contain the better moments up to the grungy Nothing King.  Producer Josh Wilbur ( Lamb Of God) has a hand in co writing the songs and getting a definite metal sound.  However the metal onslaught gets a bit blogged down on side 2 and the lone ballad September is awful, SOT is better off doing the hard rock.   For second generation keepers of the flame that is Pantera or Hell Yeah,  Sons Of Texas  aren't bad.  But after awhile Mike Morales's bellows tend to get a bit tiresome, we have heard that one before time and time again.  They're not exactly original, but if they can maintain the inspiration that became Baptized In The Rio Grande  (the single)  Sons Of Texas might be a household name if they can find a more hands off producer and a more original sound. After all they are better and a bit more believable than F.F.D.P.
Grade C+

Singles Going Steady Medley: Davenport Scrapings (Photo credit: Mark Lee Goodale)

Turkish Holiday/Things I Saw Happening At The Fountain On The Plaza When I Was Visiting Rome or Amore-Buck Owens (Capitol 2330)  1968

A rare single that shows Buck playing Spanish guitar  The B Side is the second longest title of a song since Ray Stevens Jeremiah Peabody (edited down due to space considerations) Pills. I don't recall country radio playing this song though.  Amazingly, this 45 laid around the Salvation Army for a few months, a jukebox copy but plays very nice.  Back then Buck can do almost anything that came to mind since he consistently hit the top ten country charts.  This was not one of them.

Up To Maggie Jones-The Mills Brothers (Dot 45-17295) 1969
Color It Cool-Billy Vaughan (Dot 45-17314)   1970

Elevator music both songs. Up To Maggie Jones co-written by Bobby Russell of Honey fame and arranged by George Tipton (Nilsson).  Mills Brothers recorded for Decca for many years and then spent a long time at Dot Records.  Back then major labels did give these forgotten pop vocalists lots of records that sold for the old folks and most can be found on the cheap at thrift stores.  This song sounds better suited for Dean Martin.  Billy Vaughn, for many years redid songs for the muzak crowd, once in a while masquerading as somewhat rocking (Swinging Safari, Mr. Moto) but Color It Cool is another attempt for Vaughn to showed he could jazz it up for the young generation.  That didn't work either.   Dot Records would later become more of a country label and both The Mills Brothers and Billy Vaughn  would follow ex head of that label Randy Wood to Ranwood.  Both of these records even without record sleeves are in VG plus condition.  Wonder why.

A Long Time A Long Way To Go-Runt (Todd Rundgren)  (Bearsville X31004)  1971 #92

This charted on the KCRG super 30 at around number 25 for a week or two. Todd managed to score a couple of top ten local hits with We Gotta Get You A Woman and Be Nice To Me and even today it's hard to fathom this even made the chart.  It sounded unfinished, an afterthought even after Be Nice To Me did do fairly well here but only number 71 on the Billboard top 100.  It didn't help that Bearsville was distributed via a label specializing in  manufacturing   8 tracks and later went out of business. Warner Brothers then picked them up and Todd continued to perfect his craft and become one of the more successful do it yourself musicians out there.  And a great producer too.

Keep Them For A Hobby-Carolyn Chipman And The Beachcomers (Bett Coe A-104)  1963

A rare rockabilly single from Chipman who sounded a lot like Wanda Jackson and she had the pleasure of having the Jordanaires singing backup. Further research turns up that Bettie Colebaugh who wrote this song and B side Over All Over started up Bett Coe Records.  Colebaugh came from Moline Illinois and this label was based out of Chicago.  Further research also showed that Bett Coe Records wasn't in business too long, 1963.  Colebaugh was that rare woman owning her own record label.  Not sure what happened to either Colebaugh or Chipman after this single went unnoticed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0jp-HCRkSQ

Baby Talk-Jan And Dean (Dore 522)  1959 #10

I recall K-Tel issuing The Dore Years from Jan And Dean and most of them were forgettable girl ballads.  Didn't like it much but I have a fondness for this top ten hit and B side Jeanette Get Your Hair Done, very early golden age of rock and roll with lots of echo and lots of sax, and lots more of echo.   Produced by the tandem of Herb Alpert and Lou Alder, still learning the ropes of management.

Stardust-Billy Ward And The Dominoes (Liberty 55071) 1957  #12

They go back to King Records and Clyde McPlatter and Jackie Wilson but by the time they got to Liberty Records both of those guys went on to solo careers.  At this time, The Dominoes became The Platters knockoffs and this was their highest charting song on Liberty.  B Side Lucinda is a calypso song, not exactly memorable either.  But the harmonies are kinda nice.  I'm really amazed how nice this record sounds. Vanessa who owned this record had it in a sleeve, the record did get played, but perhaps Vanessa was a audiophile who must have changed her needles a lot.  Wherever she's at, I salute her!

(I Wanna) Love My Life Away-Gene Pitney (Musicor MU-1002) 1961 #39

The first of many top forty hits from the late great Gene Pitney, although I'm surprised about the low billboard chart showing, it did hit top ten on the local charts.  I tend to find Gene a acquired taste of times, I love this song and It Hurts To Be In Love but I didn't care much for Town Without Pity, or the ballads.  B side I Laughed So Hard I Cried is kinda blah.

Up To My Neck In High Muddy Water-Linda Ronstadt (Capitol 2110) 1968 #93

Followup to Distant Drum but this stalled at number 93 and dropped out a week later. It shows the vocal power of Linda although the song is no big deal. Less said about B side Carnival Bear the better.  It's more suited for Judy Collins.

Truck Driver's Queen-Charlie Moore & Bill Napier (King K-5782)  1963

King Records was legendary for two things.  Rhythm and Blues and hillbilly music.  The label that gave us James Brown also provided great hard country and Moore & Napier was part of the King artists.  As a teenager, I was into the FM album rock and the now stale component known as classic rock but I had interest enough to seek out budget priced various artists that Gusto Records through out.  It was Gusto, a small Nashville independent corporation that brought King Records in the early 1970s and did issue 8 track mix tapes of the hits of forgotten hillbilly artists. The 8 track in question was 16 Greatest Original Bluegrass Hits  (later reissued on CD via Hollywood/Gusto HCD-132) and for a cheapo put together album, it's worth hearing.  Moore & Napier recorded a few singles on King mostly bluegrass in the style of Flatt & Scruggs.  While 45 Cat has the other side In A World Of Broken Hearts as the plug, Truck Driver's Queen did get played on the radio and was worthy enough for inclusion to be on the Bluegrass collection.  Moore & Napier are best known for their truck driving songs, to which King/Gusto threw together a 8 song EP CD, their other album still in print are gospel songs.  But in reality, they never did top Truck Driver's Queen, their first 45.



Finally Joey Feek went to heaven today after battling cancer.  She was 40.  Thoughts and prayers to Rory Feek and family.

Week In Review: First Bargain Hunt Of The Year, New Music,

Last week we were dealing with snow and cold, by the end of the week, the front went through and temps warmed up to the fifties for a brief spell Saturday.  Thursday, a big wind event had speeds up to 63 miles an hour and shingles and semi's were being blown off the road.  Saturday turned out to be the first bargain hunt of the year to Davenport (where else?) and to find the new location of Co Op Records, a few doors down from Chuckie Cheese.  While it is nice to see a new record store, the problem was CO OP had not much for music, most of the inventory came from the old Locust Street location.  Brief stops were at Ragged Records to which I picked the new Mondo Drag but not the Multiple Cat new release, which record store clerk Benjamin Crabb is now playing in that band.  Which means next time I'm in town I may have to pick it up.  Spring must be coming down there in Davenport, the evil Redwing blackbirds were out and about terrorizing fellow joggers.  It wasn't all bad, I had a nice looking female jogger smile and waved at me as she jogged on by.   Alas, nothing was found at the thrift stores and most of the jukebox 45s from the last Salvation Army visit were gone.   Probably off to the local landfill.  Sign of the times:  The K Mart on Brady Street is now history, as well as the Aaron's store, which got located someplace else.

Friday Night I ended up working most of the night so I only caught the last set of Blue Scratch at Checker's Tavern.  It was kind of a confusing set so to speak, last month Catey Recker was going to take a couple months off to go back to school but here she was closing down the set.   Matt Johnson, the drummer did a much better job laying down the beat this time out, the guess was that when they played last month there, they may have not did much rehearsing and it sounded like that.  This time out, they were more tighter, although the whole gig ended on a awkward note, unlike closing things with Tush, they chose a song I wasn't familiar with and they quietly turned their amps off and started to tear things down.  Next week Blue Scratch moves on to Ramsey's Winery in downtown Marion.

Sunday jam at Rumors brought out some of drumming heavyweights, Rocky Smith, Matt Johnson  joined up, with Dave Bonham's last jam in town before his move to Davenport next month.  It probably came as a shock to hear Little Wing end on a Bolero beat via Derek And The Dominoes and soul singer Ernest getting into his bag of tricks, freaking out the local drummer on Got My Mojo Workin.  I should have threw in a copy of Muddy Waters live at Newport when I gave my Impulse High hats to him. While jam sessions have been fun, the glut of drummers has cut into playing time on stage but for the most part on idle I sit and chat with fellow musicians.  Usually Terry McDowell, taking most of the night off and comparing notes on how to do songs.  Certainly, every drummer has their own way of playing to the music and I'm no exception.  Even the most experienced will stumbled upon a beat or two, or slag through something that they are not used to play or never played that song.   I'm amazed on how a few of my contemporaries can't seem to master around the Rocky Mountain Way beat.  Or the baffled Texas Shuffle to which I spent many a time on You Tube watching them and it still doesn't translate to my playing.   So basically it's a art of improvisation and not throwing yourself off the one beat.  If I can come off stage and get kudos and good jobs, then I managed to do my job of keeping the beat.  I may not the best of the double bass drum rollovers, but I keep  a driving beat to make up for that shortcoming.

In 1944, Clare McIntosh took in a movie at the old Circle (later Camelot) Theater only to lose his wallet in the process.  While various owners have kept the movie theater going for years, nobody could locate the wallet and the theater closed down.  It has since reopened at The Talent Factory, a showcase featuring comedy acts and perhaps local bands.  But on renovating the old place, somebody found McIntosh's wallet while upgrading the upper apartments.  The guess is that Clare may have sat in the upper balcony and his wallet fell through. The owner of the place Larry  Sloan   managed to locate the wallet's owner back to McIntosh who is still living and lives in Runnels Iowa.

Tornado porn: On June 8, 1966 a Tornado tore through Topeka Kansas. Mike Leavanworth, stopped at a Estate sale and managed to find a treasure trove of color photographs and aftermath of this twister of 50 years ago and managed to put them out on flickr. The old photos tell quite a story: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46064258@N08/sets/72157650634571973

While Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town got nice record sales of His Master Voice Without The Dog Awards last week, Joey + Rory's Hymms made number 1 on the  country charts, selling something like 68,000 copies.  Which is saying something that Best Buy and Wally World didn't have that album.  While Joey Feek continues to cling on to her life, she's actually lived long enough to see the Gaither released album make the charts in a high position.   It's not rock or roll and why does Record World continue to look at such mindless wonder and not pay more attention to Look At Me Kayne West or Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick, or The Weekend is that Kayne, Kendrick, Drake and whoever doesn't appeal to me and basically music has been going down the pooper for many years.  And Joey + Rory are more in-tuned to country that I used to know rather than the stalker bro-country of Old Dominion and the Florida Georgia Chipmunks.  And the Feeks seem to be more down to earth than the who dats that are Cane Brown or what Farce The Music pokes fun at.  And Joey Feek remains a fighter, she's lasted longer than the prognosis gave her back in November.  You haven't seen her name in the passing list.

We will never work with each other again department:  Looks like the guys in Deep Purple would rather not share the stage ever with Richie Blackmore again, judging by the war of words between them and Richie.  Originally Ian Paice was open to the idea of even Richie showing up, but the DP manager said NO!!!!! and Ian Gillan, Blackmore's thorn in the side lead singer of the classic years would rather have Richie watch from the seats.  If it means anything, Steve Morse and Don Airey who have been in the band a long time (Morse has been Blackmore's replacement for over 20 years) will get to share the stage, and perhaps David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes might have a hand on these things.   It's a shame really to see bickering between the two camps because of old pranks gone wrong or prima donna acting, Blackmore's indifference on the Battle Rages On tour that finally put things to a head and Blackmore quitting soon afterwards.  To which we are never ever getting back together comes to mind and even in the honor of being inducted into a Hall Of Fame to which real fans have them in their own HOF beforehand, that bygones can't be bygones even for 15 minutes.  Kind of like the Peter Cetera Vs Chicago thingy.  I suppose singing 25 to 6 or 4 in E minor does work well for Petey since the dude is now 71 and can't hit that A minor high notes he once did.  We all get old and change comes.

We will never work with each other again department 2:  When voters stayed at home in droves in 2014, Mitch the Bitch McConnell, Joni Wonderbags Ernst won because of voter indifference.  Don't blame me, I voted and not for the Iowa Screech.  Since Andy Scolia died a couple weeks ago, McConnell, acting like the true authoritarian almighty along with senile old fuck Charles Grassley, with Orrin Hatch and South Carolina fuckface Lindsay Graham all say they will not even consider replacing Scalia till a new POTUS is elected.  Bullshit politics working as usual and of course the Grumpy Old Pussy party, has done nothing for the people unless Koch Industries buys another congressman.  While Obama has not done much for my liking his second term (TPP will put him in cahoots with Slick Willie's 1996 Telecom Act), he has managed to somehow do his job a lot better than the War Criminal Bush Jr and Haliburton Chaney.  Basically our democracy has been a laughing stock all over the world since Teabaggermania got into congress and it makes me fucking sick to see how the GOP controlled anything refuses to work with compromises and have no fucking ideas of their own for healthcare, although Rafael Cruz promises to carpetbomb those ISIS folks damn women and children and Donald Trump wanting to build a wall.  Meanwhile Ms. Ernst who thinks 7.25 an hour is perfect minimum wage, despite the fact that prices continue to go up  and who works minimum and having two/three jobs and still not breaking even, Ernst thinks they are the freeloaders.  Ernst got in on the bullshit platform of jobs jobs jobs and making Washington squeal.  Grassley, and McConnell did put in a judge when the bad bit actor Reagan was president his last year now says that it's wrong to even think about a new Supreme Court Justice in a election year.  This is why there should be term limits for these career bullshit artists, who a long time ago did their job but now have gotten too fat on lobbyists bribes and the Koch Brothers greasing their palms.  But then again, the system has been geared toward the rich and not the middle class or poor.  Voters in 2014 had the chance for change and finally getting rid of the Kentucky Turtleface, Koch fucking douchecanoe but everybody stayed home and the old bitch is back and doing a damn thing.  There's not a single Republican that's even worth a second look; Jeb Bush dropped out of the race and Ben Carson is close to as well.    Which leaves us, John Kasich, the less extreme out of a bunch of war happy chicken hawks, but you have Big Mouth Trump,  Marco Rubio and Rafael Theodore Cruz, the new 3 Stooges of hypocrisy.  At least Bernie Sanders has some sort of ideas to get America going in a different direction, Hillary Clinton can't be trusted, she's too cozy with Wall Street.  Basically I'm sick of seeing a Bush or a Clinton in the white house, and most of the news you see are tilted toward the GOP or Hillary.  But the obstruction that Grassley and McConnell have been doing for many years needs to go and term limits is one way of doing that, voting by the people for the people and get the old fucks out of congress.  The only hope is the see the ghosts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the rest who drew up the Constitution rise from the dead and give us a walking zombie revolution to oust the do nothing Koch suckers that has thrown this country into the fucking toilet since 9/11.  But the damage was started with a B movie actor being president in the 1980s and starting the trickle down economics that have done nothing for the working man, unless you were born into rich royality, or a fucking career politician.  If you're not, then you're screwed.  It's not the poor that sucking this country dry, it's the major corporations and the subsidies that they continue to get be it Big Oil, or The Church, or The NFL.  Let that sink in a while.

Not safe for work:  50 years of Playboy Centerfolds have come to an end since the magazine has decided to scrap the Centerfold of the month.  Many a dream date can be found at this site, which might disappear after a while. http://imgur.com/a/Uxug4

Due to the demand of last week's dream date picture: Ashley Graham.  Here ya go Tad! 

Of course Nicole Arbour had to cry about her S.I. cover.  Which I can assure you that Arbour will never grace a Your Dream Date here at Record World, unless I decide on a Fruit Loops Wacko of the Week.  In other words Nicky poo, jealous much? http://www.salon.com/2016/02/23/dear_fat_people_shlock_vlogger_freaks_out_over_ashley_grahams_sports_illustrated_cover_barbie_had_to_look_like_she_eats_cheeseburgers_to_make_feminists_happy/

Looks like Cheryl Tiegs has joined on the bashing too.  http://www.people.com/article/cheryl-tieg-slams-ashley-graham-cover?xid=socialflow_facebook_peoplemag
I have no time nor patience for has been ex beauty models who's time was gone about 40 years ago. This jive talk about every model should have 36 inches and anybody who doesn't is fat is reason why this world is going to hell in a handbasket. You wanna be skin and bones Miss Tiegs have at it but a full figured woman is much more fun.  History has shown that.

Like the rest of the music faithful, I had high hopes of the HBO Martin Scosarce Mick Jagger series called Vinyl but just about everybody and everything have called it trash.  What was supposed to be a show about music and the record industry in the 70s has turned out to be a pale version of Good Fellas and not in a good way.  In typical Martin S fashion plenty of F and MF bombs are dropped, plenty of gory violence is there but what is lacking is actual music. Contrary to 1973 The New York Dolls weren't heard outside of New York and the bit actors trying to be Peter Grant or Robert Plant don't help either.  While Richard Hell can be Lou Reed Jr (an asshole more or less for those who know him) his review of Vinyl has been spot on.  The HBO show continues to limp on for next Sunday.  Let's see if they have anything remotely related to music than Casino 2-Recording Industry Version.

Mark Lee Goodale is part of 45 RPMs.com and unlike me, he seems to have better luck scouring places to get vintage 45s.  I'm sure he's got about 20 or 30 of things on my want list but this week looks like he found a copy of Louie Louie by Paul Revere And The Raiders on a orange label.  The guess is that this might be a UK or Canadian copy. If it's a US version that would be a rarity. It's looks to be a US copy judging by the photo. http://www.45rpms.com/shop/

Another viewpoint of the Grammys: http://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11014172/grammys-2016-review-spotify

Ratings:  I guess we're coming down the mountain, going from 251 views on Jan 25 to now 50 today even with updates of the latest blog.  I guess Russia got bored with us or read everything from the archives.  Looks like we'll be back in the 2,000 views valley from here on out.

Just like last season Iowa started strong and then flopped toward the end.  Whatever they had in sweeping Michigan State and Purdue is now long gone, looking like shit once again and Wisconsin beating them 67-59.  It seems like they built Carver Hawkeye Arena on ancient Indian burial grounds for once again the Carver Hawkeye jinx hit the home team, shooting 32 percent and watching The Badgers throw up three point baskets with ridiculous ease. The anti Iowa network ESPN rubbed it in the fans faces again, picking Iverson's windmill jam as number 2 in the plays of the day, but that's the least of Iowa's problems.  The bench scoring scored two baskets and Jarrod Uthoff who transferred down to Iowa will go 0-5 against his former team. It's simple to see that Iowa's starters are either running out of gas or become very tentative and timid since barely scraping by Minnesota and then Penn State whopping their butt.   It's one thing to start out strong but it's much better to finish strong and keep winning in March, rather than falling apart and losing.  What seemed to be a lock on winning their first B1G ten title, is now fading away with each bad showing and loss.  Doesn't matter, Iowa will make it to the NCAA with 20 wins but all signs are pointing to another one and done in the B1G ten tourneys and NCAA.  And every chance of Iowa stumbling, another dig from the likes of ESPN and the ESPN reject on Fox Sports  Colin Pumpernickel.  It's not been a good week for Iowa sports, with the wrestling team being upset at home by NC State and the Iowa women looking even more clueless then the guys with Penn State girls whopping them. 81-68 and being down by 19 at the half. Penn State girls are in rebuilding mode, with a 11-17 mark. The girls now 17-12 still have an outside chance to win 3 games to finish with 20 wins but that will take a couple wins before the season is over and perhaps a couple of wins at the B1G tourneys.  In other words they got their work cut out for them.   Just like the men.

Passings: Sonny James, legendary country music star who started his career playing fiddle on early Jim and Jessie recordings then hit a number one record with Young Love in 1958.  Known as the Country Gentleman, he later recorded for Columbia in the 1970s and Monument later on.  Died of natural causes Sunday, he was 87.

Monday marks the year anniversary of the death of Davy Jones of the Monkees.  In reality he's been gone for 4 years but the strangeness of being born on Leap Year's Day and dying makes it a fluke of sorts.  While the cute Monkee is no longer around but in recordings, his band mates are putting together a new album with help with some rock and roll heavyweights and Adam Schleisnger from Fountains Of Wayne helping.  Which means it might be worth hearing when it's done. But Davy Jones will appear posthumous on a old song or two. 

Record Reviews:

Mondo Drag (Riding Easy 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE7Kq2iP0UU
Like their retro rock brother Parker Griggs and Radio Moscow, Mondo Drag continues to have a love of late 60s and early 70s rock and roll, at times borrowing from the likes of Hawkwind and Meddle era Pink Floyd but unlike Radio Moscow, Mondo Drag is more of a band collective rather than the guitar hi-jinks of Radio Moscow, who kinda lost me after their first album. A few years ago, The Drag recorded a nice debut on Alive Naturalsound called New Rituals and then broke up and then reunited.  Working again with Pat Stolley (The Multiple Cat, Tripmaster Monkey), they return with a album that does the late 60s proud, in fact Zephyr damn near sounds like Mark 1 Deep Purple Book of Talisyn fame. Crystal Visions Open Eyes, owes to Kyuss at time, desert rock as imagined coming from the Midwest, (since the release of this album a year ago, they have moved to Oakland).  And the 7 minute Plumajilla starts out in a Hawkwind haze and then disappears into a Magna/Yes/Pink Floyd ending.  In a throwback to progressive rock of the 70s, there are 7 songs that total 34:40, an EP by today's standards.  Had I known this album sooner, it would have graced the 2015 best of list.  A year later it still sounds damn good.  Their new album The Occulation Of Light is due this weekend.  That will be on my want list.  Next to Porcupine Tree, Mondo Drag is one of the best new prog bands. https://www.facebook.com/mondodrag/
Grade A-

Sun Ra-Greatest Hits Of Sun Ra And His Arkestra (or Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel) (Evidence 1999)

Perhaps the most outrageous of them all, Sonny Blount aka Sun Ra can play straight uptempo bop jazz one minute and then the next go out in to outer space dimensions with free jazz freakouts or chants. This is not exactly easy listening as in muzak jazz, Sun Ra can play it straight before deciding to add weird elements to his songs  We'll Wait For You, for comparison try MC5's Starship or Weasel's Ripped My Flesh by Mothers Of Invention.  Anyway, this overview, Evidence compiled 18 songs from 16 different albums, a handful of 70 plus records that Sun Ra put out on his own and sold at concerts when he was alive.  Evidence in the 1990s issued something like 21 of them.  Sun Ra's always had a top notch group with him, Marshall Allen and John Gilmore figured greatly.  The second half of the album does begin to get going, right around We Travel The Spaceways, and into the jazz meltdown of Thither And You, the jungle drums of Yucatan and Sun Ra's organ work on Otherness Blue and The Order Of The Pleasure Jesters is pure genius.  He even tries funk on The Perfect Man.  Still, Sun Ra's extreme free jazz moments are not for everybody although he's more tamer than Albert Ayler or Om era John Coltrane.  Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra Volume 1 is the best introduction, or Nothing Is, the two albums that came out on ESP Disk years ago. But for an overall view of what Sun Ra did best, Greatest Hits does work.
Grade B+

Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons-Chameleon (Mowest 1972)

In the history of rock and reviewing albums The Four Seasons output can be a clusterfuck.  And most of their albums were uneven listening, the only albums I could sit through were Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, their bizarre meeting with Jake Holmes and Who Loves You, their 1976 comeback album with the way overplayed December 1963 and lesser known Silver Star as highlights.  Their Motown years continues Bob Gaudio's foray into middle of the road light rock although Chameleon is really better than what I would expected.  Frankie has two of his own, the failed single Love Ain't Here Like It Used To Be, a precursor to My Eyes Adored You and even for them a couple of harder light rockers as Sun Country and When The Morning Comes.  It might be a bit more consistent than Who Loves You the album, but without that big hit that got them through such as Who Loves You and (yep) Oh What A Night.   In that strange time of the early 70s, the thought of The Four Seasons and even Bobby Darin on Motown nobody could picture, Darin would signed with Motown and did a few singles and songs enough to make a posthumous album when he passed in 1973.  The Four Seasons on the other hand would drift on by, on to Warner Curb for a brief stab at the top forty a couple more times before becoming a oldies act.
Grade B

Nothing But Thieves  (RCA Voleur) 2016

Alternative music of the 2010s is so much different than what I was used to hearing years ago.  Most of those bands are now gone or a few remaining members have reunited and carried on with some fanfare (Lush, Primitives).  If I stayed too long at Best Buy convincing myself to buy something I usually end up regretting the whole thing so basically anybody new had better convince me that paying 8 dollars for an up and coming band that their music is worth hearing more than once.  So I give you Nothing But Thieves a band that has that Muse vibe in them, or Radiohead and even Jeff Buckley from reviewers who gushed over this new debut.  Granted I'm not a Muse nor Radiohead fan and Jeff Buckley's Grace rubbed me wrong from the word go, all said bands have their moments, you know my opinions of the overrated Kid A, but another band that reminds me of NBT is the forgotten Under The Influence Of Giants that made a one and one album for Island a decade ago but NBT is more in line of Muse,  Conor Mason is a fine vocalist, he does have that high yodel that recalls Bono or Thom Yorke.  For songs they pass by in the more acceptable 2 and a half to three minute range, the only four minute song on the album is the weeper Lover, Please Stay. And Painkiller actually has a guitar line that recalls early 90s grunge in a way.  Still, they have an eye on the alternative rock side of things with the smothering Excuse Me and the dancelike trance of Ban All The Music and Graveyard Whistling.  The slight drawbacks is when they slow things down to a crawl, Tempt You (Evocatio) the last song is a yawner.  Still, I give NBT credit for keeping my attention span going through most of the record, and perhaps some day they'll compete with Muse and Radiohead in musical headlines.  On this album, they keep things short and to the point.  That accounts for something.
Grade B+

King's X-Ear Candy (Atlantic 1996)

While people look back on less memorable albums of twenty years ago, I propose that in their time King's X was very far ahead of the times and didn't share into the grunge rock movement. Their harmonies came from the Beatles and Ty Tabor had envisions of trying to capture that Beatles spirit with a bit spiritual awakenings.  They might have been a Christian Rock band under rock pretensions. Their Atlantic years did spawn some surprises (Out Of The Silent Planet, Gretchen Goes To Nebraska) but even Love Faith Hope and Dogman found themselves in the cut out section a half year later.  But once they shed themselves of Sam Taylor in favor of Brendan O Brien on Dogman they stumbled but on Ear Candy they recovered quite nicely and in my opinion remains their best overall Atlantic album. Arnold Lanni was a better fit as producer than Brendan and the songs should have been played more often on radio rather than Soundgarden, songs like Mississippi Moon, which in deed capture Ty Tabor to be as important as a lead singer although Doug Pinnick gave a bit more color to songs like Looking For Love or Run or 67.  In some ways this album reminds me of Stone Temple Pilots Tiny Music, which also came out twenty years ago, Ear Candy having a lot of variation in their songs and music and why it didn't break as well as Tiny Music might be blamed on biased radio and a indifferent Atlantic promotions team that didn't do King's X any favors.  Sometimes classic albums don't get their due till years after it's been completed and forgotten till some rabid fans or a music mag coming across it by accident.   And maybe a decade from now, somebody will discover Ear Candy and elevate it into the classic albums of the 1990s. (I can only do so much, unless one of the 52 readers of the day goes out and listens to this on You Tube and then rave about it in their blog).   In a strange sense of irony, a year later when King's X moved over to Metal Blade to do Tape Head, their first for the label, some now out of work DJ was laughing at the fact that King's X was still around and was singing the praises of some band called Limp Bizkit and calling that the future.  Only problem is King's X made better albums, Limp Bizkit simply made noises.  And King's X still made viable and good to great albums but with Ear Candy they simply made their finest overall.   And it still holds up after 20 years.
Grade A 

Pentatonix  (RCA 2015)

Tad made an interesting point about new music and he reviewed the latest Tedeschi/Trucks album which you can read from here: http://tadsbackupplan.blogspot.com/2016/02/theyll-get-by.html
Though I cut back on reviewing new music this year I have made some exceptions.  The latest Nothing But Thieves which has some substance to that album, and I have heard mixed reviews on the 2 CD Dream Theater album,which would have bored me to death.  Pentatonix has some history, winning the third season of The Sing Off, to which Epic dropped them and RCA picked them up, which is strange since Sony Music owns both labels.  But this Arlington Texas based vocal group, who managed to wow the masses with their covers of other people songs, decided to do their debut album with original material. Now Accapella vocal groups are not new, The Nylons have done this, Bobby McFarren ditto and even the Manhattan Transfer, and let's not forget The Persuasions, Pentatonix updates their perfect pitch vocals with beatboxing, and other fun sounds and their songs are peppered with hip hop beats.  A Capella groups, once the novelty wears thin, end up being somewhat a freak show but Pentatonix cover's of other now music bands and artists showed they have lots of creativity to go around.  Na Na Na is this year's version of Happy, it's infectious and fun to sing along till about the 20th time the radio station plays it, then it's not so fun.  For sheer balladry Take Me Home is nice, and perhaps songs like Cracked, and Ref will be included on those soft rock radio stations.  However somebody should have told Jason Derulo to stay the hell home when he screams those high notes on If I Ever Fall In Love, Pentatonix didn't need him anyway.  For a band that relied on covers before this album, they should not give that up either.  I do admit I'm not a big fan of the the Great Sing Off TV show or The Voice, and the don't yell at me singers tend to get on my nerves in a split second (see Jason Derulo), but I do think there's some substance into this album not to get it a indifferent grade.  They're excellent vocalists and they're good at what they do.  Let's just call this a left field excursion into something I don't listen to much, worth a few plays and see what the future brings for them.  As for myself, I'll go with a more rock minded band.
Grade B-

Album Of My Youth: Kevin Salem-Soma City (Roadrunner 1994)

Salem was part of Dumptruck, a band that made a couple albums for Big Time and played on one of them before moving to a solo career.  Salem, along with Blue Mountain became the two regular rockers signed to the ultra metal Roadrunner Records in the early 90s and it's hard to fathom Kevin Salem sharing the same label with Coal Chamber and later Slipknot and it should have not worked. But Kevin put together a hell of a backing band featuring members from Roscoe's Gang (Keith Levanault, drummer extraordinaire).  If anything, Salem was compared to Freedy Johnston, since he appeared on Johnston's Can You Fly, but unlike Johnston was a bit less flashy.  Produced by Niko Bolas (Warren Zevon, Neil Young), there's a bit of garage polish on the mix and Lighthouse Keeper has a Freedy influence, but the band owes more to Crazy Horse or Roscoe's Gang, with Syd Straw providing female vocals to songs like Forever Gone or the sad ballad of Shot Down, and Diviner echoes of Crazy Horse comes through the lead guitar player.  Failed single Will would have been a nice add to the alternative rock and roll side of things.  If there's a complaint, it might be that the album does goes on a bit too long, it clocks in at 53 minutes, In A Whisper tends to wear out its welcome at six minutes plus, but it's the last song. But between that and Lighthouse Keeper it's a consistent listen throughout. This was one of those CDs that Jerry Scott played a lot at Relics Records in the 90s and if you went up there in 1994 you couldn't escape it. To which I think we were better off anyway rather than the second rate grunge crap that was going around.  In 1995 Kevin Salem opened for Blue Mountain at Gabes in Iowa City and I got to see Salem's acoustic show at B J's Records, I didn't make it to the show, my girlfriend at the time got food poisoning and we made the long trip back to Cedar Rapids.  Salem would make one more album Glimmer for Roadrunner before they dropped him and he went on to production work and raising a daughter.  He's made two albums since but from what I have read about them, they're not as rock and roll as Soma City. An underrated classic album of the 1990s from an artist that deserved a better fate.
Grade A-  



   

Week In Review: Grammy 2016, The Fossiltones, Vanity

The 2016 Grammys(Whatever TM) are now in the books and Taylor Swift won album of the year with 1989, Kendrick Lamar took home 5.  And critics faves Alabama Shakes won 4. The awards that mattered most was Buddy Guy winning blues album of the year with Born To Play Guitar and Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell taking two awards home for their albums. Girl Crush by Little Big Town also won two awards for best country and country duets.  In some ways the awards mirrored the victories that Stapleton and Little Big Town won for the CMA's last fall.  The Eagles paid tribute to Glenn Frey with Take It Easy with Bernie Leadon playing the lead and Jackson Browne singing the song.  Lady Gaga did a nice Bowie tribute and the Hollywood Vampires gave Lemmy a sendoff with a riotous cover of Ace Of Spades.  The list of winners are found here: http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-58th-grammy-awards-2016-the-complete-list-of-winners

Also: http://burnwoodtonite.blogspot.com/2016/02/hey-heywere-grammys.html

And if you read this far, Bob Lefsetz, in repeat mode delivers this: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2016/02/16/the-grammys-4/

In the long run, while Little Big Town's Girl Crush won country single of the year, Joey + Rory's If I Needed You might be the song that outlast Girl Crush for sentimental value. Joey Feek's strong will to continue to live has been one shining light in the year already full of musicians dead or dying.  If anything Joey had managed to live to see the Grammys and see their new album released on the 12th and she made it to Valentine's Day. http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/how-joey-rory-still-won-despite-grammy-loss/

Somewhere along the way, Vanity, who best known for her early 80s hits and starring on Purple Rain passed away at age 57, Kidney Failure was the cause.  Years of drug abuse and crack additions didn't help but she eventually conquered those demons and turned her life around, singing gospel music for the Lord before the Lord called her home.

In search of a song: The Fall's Hit The North: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar15/articles/classic-tracks-0315.htm


I managed to take in seeing two bands Friday Night, Toxic Blonde played at Cedar River Landing, and The Fossiltones, at Rumors.  Led by Dawn Sedlacek aka Riot Dawn, Willie Wells, the ever busy Terry McDowell and Troy Harper, Toxic Blonde played through a scathing set list of Ozzy Osborne, and Harper is one of the best multi players out there, he can play either guitar, drums or bass and be damn near perfect, especially on the the RHCP's version of Higher Ground. Terry McDowell has been extremely busy of late, working through four bands and playing Toxic Blond Friday Night, Flex the next night and still made it as host drummer for the Sunday jam session at Rumors.  The Fossiltones, led by Joe Hutchcroft was more classic rock 60s, and pulling out a few interesting tricks, Summertime Blues (The Rush version), Baby Please Don't Go (the AC/DC version) and Rockin In The Free World.  As advertised, they are Old Guys That Do Rock.  No arguments from this side of the fence. https://www.facebook.com/The-FossilTones-Old-Guys-That-Rock-557882714312449/?fref=ts

Another weekend and this walking flu crap still remains and made going to Iowa City a coughing hell, no matter how much cold meds I took or drinks I had.  It didn't help when buying a Blue Oyster Cult CD and getting home and finding that the wrong cd was in the jewel case.  Somebody wasn't doing their job it seems, I don't think Kirk would have accepted that one.  I finally returned the borrowed CD back to Sweet Living Antiques and ended buying a couple records in the process.  But I should have stayed home since I was still feeling miserable from the GD walking flu.

Sunday was the Valentine's Day Rumors Jam and a better than expected turnout was there.  The Acoustic Kitties hosted the show but also special guest stars were In The Attic once again and Blue Scratch, where all the band members were there, including Julie Gordon, taking over for Cate Becker, who is  on leave.  A more detailed report of that show can be found here: http://townedgers.blogspot.com/2016/02/highlights-from-valentines-day-popcorn.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-ballad-of-mike-love-20160217
Mike Love is not well liked and with good reason.  He comes off as a pompous asshole who wants to have all the attention to himself.  When he tours as part of The Beach Boys, it's only him with his hand picked crew.  When what's left of the original boys got back together for a 50th anniversary tour, Love pretty much fired them all after that was over and gone.  And being Mr. Conservative hasn't done him any favors either.  Rolling Stone dishes the dirt or tries to build up Love's ego on this interesting story. 

Last year, Popeye's opened to great acclaim and many weeks of full parking and a waiting time of a half hour to get waited upon.  Since then a new Popeye's has opened on the SW side on Edgewood Road and F Ave, unlike last year, the place has been very quiet and not having the line of cars waiting to get their tea and chicken.  The novelty has worn off it seems.

Half Priced Books closed for a couple days to rearrange the CD and LP section and add the VHS alongside.  In some ways this new and improved actually isn't new and improved, this looks like most of the HPB stores that crams the dollar LP section into one big bottom layer on the record section and the 45s are tossed in in a smaller spot.  Basically, it has been slim pickings even with this new look, and doesn't bode well in the two dollar bins, but the clerk assured me that they'll spend some time off and put the names in ABC order. I don't like the new look but what can you do?  Plus they ripped up the carpet.  The guess is that new carpeting will be on order.  After all, the carpet has been the original ever since they opened up in Marion 10 plus years ago.

I think it is safe to say that gas prices have finally reached bottom at a 1.32 a gallon, it soon will be spring which means everything will be going back up to 2 dollars a gallon and more.  I don't envision a dollar a gallon anymore in this life, too many greedy bastards and OPEC won't allow that.  But for now, it's nice to have a full tank under 20 dollars for that rare occasion.

And the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival returns back to Davenport at LeClaire Park this year after taking 2015 off due to financial concerns.  The shows will take play July 1 and 2.  Rain or shine.

Are the Iowa Hawkeyes running out of gas?  They played so so enough to beat a winless Minnesota team at home by four points and then went up to College Station to have Penn State kicked their ass 79-75 in a game which made you think it was closer as the score indicated. It wasn't.  Iowa turned the ball over 13 times, couldn't get bench help in scoring and continues to miss free throws when they need the points.  Only 6,500 Penn State fans were in attendance, to which they all stormed the basketball court after they won the game.   The lackadaisical performance of Iowa in the past three games is beginning to look like last year when they ran out of gas at this point and flopped in the tourneys.  With four games left in the regular season, Wisconsin comes to town with away game at Ohio State, a home game with Indiana and up to Ann Arbor with Michigan to conclude the regular season.  All four remaining games are not cupcakes, Wisconsin has won 7 straight, Ohio State is always tough at home and Indiana is tough anywhere, ditto Michigan.  Whatever the case, the wheels are beginning to fall off and perhaps a week off might help the Hawks refocus.  Spending extra time at the free throw line working on getting the ball through the rim might help too.

Here's a milestone.  Jim Brown turned 80 years old today.  Perhaps the best NFL running back of all time, Jim retired at the top of his game to get into movies.  Even at age 80, Jim Brown still looks like he can gain 1,000 yards.  The man is unstoppable.  Happy Birthday Jim!  http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/28/jim-brown-cleveland-browns-hall-of-fame-nfl-greatness


Your dream girl: Ashley Graham.
(Photo: S.I.) 

In a era of skin and bones Ashley Graham managed to grab the Sports Illustrated cover of being one of the plus size models to grace the cover.  And I say that's all right by me. 
A collection of Reviews:

Peter Paul And Mary (Moving)  (Warner Brothers 1962)

Much beloved by the faithful, Peter Paul and Mary jumped on the folk music boom of the early 60s but unlike The Chad Mitchell Trio which sounds dated now, their music still sounds fresh at times.  While their second album didn't have the big hit like If I Had A Hammer or Lemon Tree and had a darker tone to it, it's still sound fabulous to me.  The sad undertone of Puff The Magic Dragon, the 60s version of Cat's In The Cradle about imaginary dragons I can relate to, growing up I didn't have many friends so I made plenty up in my mind but anyway.   Nevertheless, this album has my all time favorite PPM song, which is not Puff The Magic Dragon but rather Big Boat, a failed single that I did find a excellent copy for a quarter at the downtown Salvation Army.   And should have been included on their best of.  In the CD era, Peter Yarrow and Warner staff producer/engineer Lee Herschberg managed to make the CD sound even better than it originally came out on LP.  The recording is damn near perfect.  The songs, well they do vary, after all, it was the folk era, and there's was plenty of subpar folk songs out there too.   Fortunately  Peter Paul and Mary managed not to do too many of them back then.
Grade B+

Pousette-Dart Band-Amnesia  (Capitol 1977)

Richard Thompson must have loved this album so much that he would name his album a decade later Amnesia.  Just kidding of course.  Jon Pousette-Dart and company was a soft rock band that made a couple albums for Capitol, this one was probably their best known and best selling but the reviews were so so.  Bland country rock it was called and maybe they had a point.  The title track has a melody that could rival Poco or Pure Prairie League and Norbert Putnam who did produce the latter band gives it a nice laid back country sound.  Side 1 had the better stuff, Fall On Me managed to be heard on the ABC show Lost and Country Line has that peaceful easy feeling of light country rock.  Side 2 takes a bit more effort to stay awake, they really didn't have it them to rock out.  The sounds of easy listening late 70s.  Harmless, somewhat listenable.

Grade B

Yes-Big Generator (Atco 1987)

As much maligned as they were, the 80s version of Yes, I actually liked a lot, 90125 showed they could do pop rock with a progressive twist (Changes, It Can Happen) but Owner Of A Lonely Heart got played to death and nowadays is a channel changer.  The long awaited followup, works for side 1 and Love Will Find A Way, their  most power pop attempt ever but Final Eyes falls flat and Holy Lamb may have been left off the CD.  Almost Like Love they could have rival OMD or ABC for dance pop. The only true rocker Rhythm Of Love did nothing on the top forty charts and the title track shows a bit of funk.  My favorite two songs are the aforementioned Love Will Find A Way despite some of most cringe worthy of lyrics, with the line I eat at Chineu or whatever the hell it's called the major fart.  And the dark Shoot High Aim Low, featuring a cool Trevor Rabin acoustic lead.   Despite the two turds on side 2, it's not a total washout, but 90125 wins out on consistency and inspiration. By then Yes was going through the motions of coming up with 90125 part 2 and the tossed off line of Love Will Find A Way doomed it from being Owner Of A Lonely Heart part 2.  Things would get more chaotic with Union and Talk before Rabin opted out. The LP version seems to have a better bass mix whereas the CD version of Generator the bass was polished clean off the mix. Still a minor classic in my book.
Grade B+

Warren Zevon-Semtinental  Hygiene (Virgin 1987)

For the late Warren Z, his comeback album of 1987 was unexpected. Asylum gave him the boot after 5 albums and a best of, and he was paired up with the guys from REM, with Mike Stripe only on Bad Karma, and plate of all stars helping out.  Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the guys from the Eagles, Jorge Calderon, even George P Funk Clinton on the dance ditty Leave My Monkey Alone.  The title track should have been a hit and if there was a perfect world would sit side by side with Werewolves Of London, including mad Neil Young guitar.  In terms of sarcastic songwriter, Zevon updates things on Detox Mansion, Trouble Waiting To Happen and The Factory. Or the classic Even A Dog Can Shake Hands, done with Mike, Bill and Peter.  No wonder they ended up doing more jamming on cover songs and call it Hindu Love Gods. Next to that band of unknowns that backed him on on the live Stand In The Fire, REM was the 2nd best band for Warren Z.
Grade A-

Ornette Coleman-Ornette On Tenor (Atlantic 1962)

In other words, Free Jazz becomes Anti Jazz in five songs.  But this time out Jimmy Garrison and Ed Blackwell are the rhythm section, and for free jazz Garrison is perhaps the best bass player ever, he would later help shape up the classic lineup of John Coltrane.  Blackwell is a bit more expressive than Billy Higgins, but not as explosive as Elvin Jones.   The key track is Cross Breeding, to which starts out just like Free Jazz, but stops in favor of a extended Coleman blowout on tenor saxophone.   The improvisation (I wouldn't say the song) is shorter than Free Jazz although Free Jazz is more unified. The problem of free jazz is that the listener is forced to seek out each member of the band playing of what they're feeling at the time and for many casual listeners it will come out as white noise and notes all over the place but pick and choose what's Ornette is doing, or Don Cherry is doing and you might walk away impressed.  On the lesser songs on side 2 Eos, and Ecars I found myself more into what Jimmy Garrison was doing on the bass and how he was holding the songs more together. Or how Ed Blackwell was throwing drum rolls around Garrison while Coleman and Cherry duked it out. Compare this to Free Jazz or This Is Our Music and it falls short. But even with the shortcomings On Tenor is unlike anything else in jazz at that time and does have moments of pleasure and intense exchanges between Coleman and Cherry.  But not quite enough to call it a classic though.
Grade B+

Album of my youth: Humble Pie-On To Victory (Atco 1980)

As much as Steve Marriott was loved and worshipped, Humble Pie started out as a meeting between Steve and Peter Frampton, fresh from his time with The Herd who recorded a couple singles and albums on Fontana.  As Safe As Yesterday Is was a fine debut but put on Andrew Oldham's Immediate label, which was falling apart, but nevertheless it was a fine combination of blues, rock and folk.  I tend to favor the acoustic Growing Closer on the UK version rather than Natural Born Bugie which A&M tacked on when they issued it, along with Town and Country on the Lost And Found 2 fer.  By the time they got to A&M, Marriott was starting to throw more boogie blues into the music and after their shining moment of Rocking The Fillmore with the 12 minute jam a thon that was I Don't Need No Doctor, Frampton left for a solo career and Clem Clempson took his place. Smokin gave us Hot And Nasty and 30 Days In The Hole, and the success of Smokin' showed The Pie going more toward R and B soul, with mixed results.  The final album Street Rats on A&M was a clusterf**k, despite a cool cover of Terry Reid's Let Me Be Your Lovemaker, Marriott thought doing musak covers of The Beatles Rain and Drive My Car would be the way to go, and the record did go...into the cut out bins amid poor reviews, so they broke up.

Five years later, Marriott reformed The Pie with Jerry Shirley and they added Bobby Tench (Jeff Beck Group) and Anthony 'Snooty' Jones to replace Greg Ridley and Atlantic signed them to their Atco branch for two albums.  It actually starts out great with failed hit single Fool For A Pretty Face and a nice cover of Baby Don't You Do It.  But the problem was, Steve Marriott's voice was shot all the hell after years of screaming and Johnny Wright added a very boxy mix.  The tuneless Further Down The Road, is painful to hear Marriott try to scream out those words and in the process made Tom Waits sound more tuneful.  It didn't help that Marriott chose a cover of Otis Redding's My Lover's Prayer and couldn't sing that one either.  He did better on Over You which seemed to fit in his limited vocal range.

Some of my favorite songs off this album is You Soppy Pratt aka You Can't Do That and Get It In The End, both wouldn't make any best of collection but the song benefits from some soul sister backing and Jerry Shirley's expressive drumming.  Infatuation might have been picked for a second 45 had Fool For A Pretty Face charted higher than it's number 58 placing.    Bobby Tench, didn't offer much either, he contributed the sloppy reggae Savin It that ends side one.  And it's not worth mentioning either.

The initial grade to this album was a C plus.  It was better than Street Rats but not by much.  It's interesting to know that Humble Pie always had a great run at covers and Baby Don't You Do It is no exception.  But the sad fact remains that even in 1980  Humble Pie's time have come and gone.  They soldiered on for 1981's Go For The Throat, which has better production from Gary Lyons but they had to rely on covers of All Shook Up and even the Small Faces' Tin Soldier.  The surprise was that Atco/Atlantic thought enough to reissued them in a halfassed way on CD in the early 90s and I brought both of them to replaced a scratched copy of On To Victory.  You can live without both albums as well, without Peter Frampton or Greg Ridley, Humble Pie relied way too much on covers and half baked boogie songs.   Given that, Fool For A Pretty Face remains a closet classic.  Collectibles issued both albums as a 2 on 1 CD.  In this day and age, I still cannot recommend On To Victory as a must hear, but since I associated myself with off the wall music it has grown on me to raise the grade from a C plus to a B minus and that still might be a bit too generous to give a grade to. Whatever the case, On To Victory was a last gasp for the remaining few faithful who supported the efforts of The Pie.  Even Universal didn't think adding Fool For A Pretty Face was worth putting on their Humble Pie best ofs. I disagree, it was a much better song than the awful Rain.

Grade B-

Townedger Radio: Repeat of radio show number 11 (2/18/16)

Playlist: 

Litany (Life Goes On)-Guadalcanal Diary
Dance With The Devil-Cozy Powell
Let There Be Drums-Sandy Nelson
I Can't See You-Tim Buckley
Strange-REM
Another Bubble-Robyn Hitchcock
Buckeye-Johnny And The Hurricanes
Boogie-John Hartford
Hope-Mason Profit
I Know About Me (Don't Know About You) The Townedgers
Pussy Pussy Pussy-Light Crust Dough Boys
Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night-The Turtles
Ain't It Amazing Gracie-Buck Owens
Call On Me-Bread
Morning Song-Compost
Sick Of Me-Descendants
Real World-Mighty Lemon Drops
Something's Telling Me-BoDeans
Black Metallic-Catherine Wheel

Late news: the 2016 inductees to the Blues Hall Of Fame in Memphis this year.

Elvin Bishop, John Mayall, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson and the Memphis Jug Band have been named as this year's inductees into the Blues Hall Of Fame.

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They'll be recognized at a ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee on May 4 - the night before the 37th annual Blues Music Awards. The artists were voted in by a panel of "blues scholars and industry veterans." The Hall Of Fame say: "Each of these musicians has carved his place in blues history. 

"Bishop's beginnings with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to his more recent recognition for the 2015 Blues Music Awards Song of the Year have elevated him to the highest stature in blues music.


"Clearwater, Johnson, and Mayall each boast careers that have spanned more than a half century, and their talent has not waned as they each continue to produce music and to perform for devoted audiences. The Memphis Jug Band's music crossed the racial divides of the first half of the twentieth century and inspired many musicians to follow in their footsteps."

Forgotten Bands Of the 80s-The Toll

Here's something that was different in 1988, a narrative rock band from Columbus Ohio, famous for The Godz and later Big Back Forty, and there was nobody quite like The Toll.  The comparisons have been U2 but The Toll owed more to The Cult and Jim Morrison and The Doors.  And Brad Circone was part Ian Asbury and part Jim Morrison.  But dig a big deeper and Circone is more influenced by the likes of Sigmund Freud, F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to name a few. 

The Toll was marketed as alternative rock and their debut album The Price Of Progression was a 9 song debut, but at 56 minutes it was one of the longest single albums ever put out.   There are three epic narrative songs on Progression, the 10 and half minute Johnathon Toledo, which next to Mike Jackson's Thriller, the longest video ever made.  It's interesting to hear Circone do a narrative about visiting a Indian souvenir shop and telling the story of how the white men took over what used to be where Indians were free to roam and putting them in reservations.  It's one of those you have to hear to believe it.  Even more stunning was the 10 and a half minute Anna -41-Box about a abused woman plotting revenge on her abusive and evil husband.  The third 11 minute song, Living In The Valley Of Pain might be an anti religion song.   The late Mick Ronson (David Bowie) appears on the final track Stand In Winter which other music sites suggested would have made a classic track for The Toll had Geffen Records promoted them right.    The Price Of Progession, had shorter songs,  Smoke Another Cigarette and Tamara Told Me got some airplay on the old 99 plus radio station and Jazz Clone Clown is where they do sound like The Cult.  While the U2 comparison is overreaching, The Toll does have a credible rock and roll sound.  But being on a major label, while enabling them to make an epic album like The Price Of Progession and getting Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero to produce and give it that rock and roll sound, Geffen was clueless on how to promote them.  In 1988, Geffen was more interested in Guns And Roses and Aerosmith and if The Toll was going to remain on Geffen, they had to focus more on shorter rock songs and cut out the spoken narratives since Jonathon Toledo failed to connect with the MTV generation.

The followup Sticks And Stones and Broken Bones, was issued three years later. The Toll did put together a new album but Geffen rejected it.  That album had 12 songs and while Circone did shorter narratives on songs like Happy or Hear Your Brother Calling, the only song longer than 7 minutes was the last song Sweet Misery.   While the record wasn't bad, the music was a bit all over the place and the jury is still out if Matt Wallace was the producer suited for The Toll.  There's elements of Midnight Oil, especially on the backing vocals.  It might suffer from too many songs and perhaps the major label indifference shows the band a bit frustrated.  For a second album, it pales next to the inspired sounds of The Price Of Progression but Sticks And Stones And Broken Bones holds it's own and is worth seeking out if you're into good 90s Midwestern rock and roll.

But by 1991, Geffen had a major breakout band in Nirvana, Guns And Roses had Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 and The Toll was another tax writeoff and soon after Geffen bid them bye bye.  The Toll broke up in 1992, but has reunited a couple times, in 1993 when Ronald Koal died, they did three songs and in 2011 got back together for another one off after the death of Andy Davis, radio station programmer. http://www.columbusmonthly.com/content/stories/2011/02/the-reunion.html

 Life after rock and roll The Toll have made into the working world. Rick Selk is an attorney, Brett Mayo is energy management director at Ohio State University, Greg Bartram is a photographer and Brad Circone is an highly successful consultant and owner of Circone and Associates. http://www.circone.com//#home

And while the guys have gone to more successful ventures, those who witness The Toll playing live have mentioned that they have always put on a great show in their time together.  In the archives of 80s rock and roll The Price Of Progression remains their classic moment in the spotlight.  And still is a must listen for those who like a bit of story telling in those 10 minute songs that The Toll was good at.

The albums:
The Price Of Progession (Geffen 1988) B+
Sticks And Stones And Broken Bones (Geffen 1991) B

http://www.thetollisdead.com/