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Forgotten Music Thursday: The Turtles

2012-01-26T06:02:00.077-05:00

The Turtles are another one of those great bands from the 1960s that almost nobody except the baby boomers who came of age during the Lyndon Johnson Administration will remember. The quintet had a nice run during the second half of the decade as they landed many folk influenced soft-rock hits on Top 40 radio. Despite the political turbulence of the era their music was typical of the sunny, Southern California sound popular at the time, offering tight, pleasing harmonies and upbeat, melodic arrangements. Formed by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman in Los Angeles the band began their career with a fine cover version of a Bob Dylan song, "It Ain’t Me, Babe" that became a top ten hit in 1965 and their popularity grew from there.

In short order they had two more hits, "Let Me Be" and "You Baby" and then in 1967 The Turtles became huge with the tune that really made them famous. "Happy Together," their only #1 record, was one of the most popular songs of the decade and if young people today know the band at all it will be through this monster chart-buster. Their follow-up to that smash hit was the exuberant "She'd Rather Be With Me" which went to #3. The group's next couple of years continued to be fruitful. They had successes with "You Know What I Mean," "She’s My Girl," "Elenore," "You Showed Me," "Can I Get To Know You Better," and more.

The team of Kaylan and Volman really were The Turtles. They led a band with a constantly changing supporting cast that at one time included Chip Douglas who later went on to produce The Monkees. After The Turtles disbanded the duo, believe it or not, did a complete musical metamorphosis by joining Frank Zappa in The Mothers of Invention followed by a separate career where they were known for a long time as Flo & Eddie. At various times they also sung with Bruce Springsteen, T. Rex, and Alice Cooper. In the '90s there was a Turtles reunion and Kaylan and Volman are still active in the new century as you can see on The Turtles official website.

Here are videos of The Turtles singing "She'd Rather Be With Me," and "Happy Together." Next is a live TV performance of "You Baby" and finally we'll close things out with Jimmy Durante introducing the band on TV apparently lip-syncing "Can I Get To Know You Better."

J. Geils Band - Full House (1972)

2012-01-18T17:42:00.010-05:00

Simply put, The J. Geils Band's Full House is one of the finest concert albums in rock history and that's because street-wise bar bands like these guys are always more comfortable on stage where they can play with wild abandon than they are in the confines of the studio. While the group always made good records they paled in comparison to this 1972 five-star classic recorded at Detroit's Cinderella Ballroom.

This great party outfit had three great assets, including the bandleader's guitar, but the two biggest stars were lead singer Peter Wolf, who could strut his stuff as well as Mick Jagger did, and harmonica player Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz), whose instrument was often featured in the lead role on many of this Boston sextet's most memorable songs. His most notable contributions to this set are on the frantic instrumental "Whammer Jammer" and "Lookin' for a Love" the group's best known tunes from the early years. Salwitz just might be the most exciting harp player in rock history.

While keyboard man Seth Justman wrote some hits for the band ("Give it to Me" and "Must of Got Lost") they always excelled at covering great R&B and blues songs and this eight track platter is loaded with them. The guys roar through Otis Rush's "Homework," The Contour's "First I Look at the Purse," and John Lee Hooker's slow but scorching blues, "Serves You Right to Suffer." The only original is the Geils/Wolf collaboration, "Hard Drivin' Man" and it too is a barn burner.

In recent years Wolf has become an outstanding solo act who has made some terrific music and Geils has recorded two CDs of high quality vintage jazz but a long time ago they were both members of a band that should go down in history as America's answer to The Rolling Stones.

Read more about Peter Wolf's latest CD, Midnight Souvenirs, and J. Geils' recent jazz work, Toe Tappin' Jazz.

The Top 5 CDs of 2011

2012-01-05T06:04:00.085-05:00

Bloggerhythms' top five CDs for 2011 are more mainstream than in previous years. Two of them are by long time veterans (Shelby Lynne and The Jayhawks) and the other three are releases by relative newcomers even though Adele has already reached superstardom. In a year when recent online news stories wrote about the probable death of the CD all of the albums on this list should be purchased in their entirety, not just track by track on iTunes.

Overall it was a very good year for recorded music.

1. Dawes – Nothing is Wrong
With only their second release these SoCal boys hit paydirt in a big way. Twenty-five year old songwriter Taylor Goldsmith offers a rare combination of pleasing vocals reminiscent of Jackson Browne, melodic songwriting with deep hooks ("Time Spent in Los Angeles"), and intelligent, moving lyrics ("A Little Bit of Everything"). If you're a fan of Hall of Famer Browne this CD is for you. It's the comeback album he never made. The 70s star even lends his background vocals to "Fire Away" and "Everything" features a guitar solo that is a dead ringer for David Lindley. Visit Dawes website.

2. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart
The eponymous, mostly acoustic debut from this new Seattle sextet (who only formed in 2009) proves they are on a pace to become one of America's truly great bands of the future. As with Dawes their songs are both musical and intelligent and they have an outstanding piano player in Kenny Hensley. Seattle's City Arts Magazine named the group as Puget Sound’s best new band for 2011 and they've already been on Conan O’Brien's show. The best tracks are "Lost in My Mind" and "Down in the Valley" but everything here is worthy. You can find The Head and The Heart's website here.

3. The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time
Band founders, singers, and composers Gary Louris and Mark Olsen are finally together again with their vintage lineup for the first time in over a decade and a half. The surprisingly excellent Mockingbird Time proves how much these two veterans must have missed working together and how fans were shortchanged by their lost collaboration. "She Walks in So Many Ways" is vintage Jayhawks and it's only the tip of the iceberg on this top drawer comeback CD. The quintet is also great in concert as you can read here.

4. Shelby Lynne – Revelation Road
Is Shelby Lynne capable of making a mediocre CD? Apparently not. One of country music's most intelligent singer-songwriters is back with a sparsely produced set of songs on which she wrote, sang, and played every note. It's a very personal album that deals with the deep tragedies of her childhood. Her pain is felt by listeners on "Heaven’s Only Days Down the Road." Once again, Steve Earle's sister-in-law releases the music she wants to give to the world on her own label, Everso Records, so she never has to compromise with the major companies. Here is Shelby's official online home.

5. Adele – 21
With only her second full length work, twenty-one year old British rocker, Adele Adkins, (hence the CD's title) released the blockbuster album of the year. With a deep, bluesy, alto voice she sounds much older than her age as she belts out terrific songs like the radio hits "Someone Like You," "Rumor Has It," and "Rolling In the Deep." She co-wrote most of the material so she's a double threat, not just a vocalist. Many year end "best of" lists rank 21 several notches higher than just fourth runner-up which is a testimony to how good the other CDs on this list are. So far, Adele's disc is the biggest seller of the 21st Century. Read more about the young singer at her website.

Forgotten Music Thursday: Chicago - Hot Streets (1978)

2011-12-29T06:05:00.020-05:00

Hot Streets is an album I was completely disappointed with and had no respect for when it was first released in 1978. I couldn’t believe what happened to my guys! Was it too much too soon after Terry Kath died or was it Chicago just didn’t care anymore? While the album hasn’t changed with the times I have, and I now view Hot Streets in a completely different light than I did in 1978. While I will never consider this record high art and it will never show up on lists of Chicago's great works I now view it as a fine pop album.

If there is a problem with Hot Streets it is the songwriting, not the musicianship. I find the musicianship on this disc to be impeccable throughout the entire album and it is the reason why I like it. The band's "chops" elevate mostly ordinary songs. Both Danny Seraphine on drums and Laudir deOliviera on percussion are superb. Anyone who enjoys percussion will love these guys here. Newcomer Donnie Dacus, who replaced Kath, turns in some fine guitar work, especially with his solo on the title track. Of course I miss Kath, whose lead solos and rhythm guitar would have added more punch and given the songs a harder edge, but there is nothing we can do about that. The horns are crackling too!

"Alive Again" and "Hot Streets" are two songs I loved off the album twenty-six years ago and I still do today. The opener is one of the finest songs Chicago ever recorded after they made their decision to go mainstream and, in my opinion, it is trombonist Jim Pankow's last great composition. Robert Lamm's title track is a perfect throwback to earlier times with it's jazz-rock vibe and a really fine Walt Parazaider flute solo. "The Greatest Love On Earth" is an unpretentious ballad. Dacus' "Ain't It Time" is another favorite. The singing robots at the end of "Show Me The Way" are still troubling and I still question Peter Cetera's motives and lyrics to "Little Miss Lovin" but in 2011 I find Hot Streets to be very listenable.

One should note that Hot Streets is also the first album Chicago recorded with new producer Phil Ramone after the firing of James William Guercio who guided their career until then. It was also the first not to feature the famous Chicago logo on the cover. Instead there is an awful picture of the band prancing around and jumping into each others arms. Ugh!

Various Artists - Let It Snow (2011)

2011-12-21T16:20:00.006-05:00

Let It Snow is this year's Christmas CD from Starbucks and it's another good one. The Seattle coffee chain's annual collection of seasonal tunes are always among the best compilations assembled for the holidays. A lot of thought has gone into every single one of their Christmas discs and, as always, they combine tracks by famous heritage artists with more current stars (along with a couple of complete unknowns) yet somehow they make all of the songs feel as if they belong together.

At first glance I was disappointed when I saw Brenda Lee's name on the song listing. "Here we go again," I thought, "the same old stuff." But what to my wondering eyes should appear was not "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" but her version of "Jingle Bell Rock." Yes, it's a very famous song by an artist we always hear from at Christmas but it's a different version than the one we are normally exposed to so my faith in Starbucks was restored. They always offer something a little different without getting too far out on the edge.

Death Cab for Cutie is accounted for with a slower version of "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" then we are normally accustomed to and Alison Krauss brings a genuinely unknown tune to the table with "Shimmy Down the Chimney (Fill Up My Stocking)." A once popular, but long forgotten jazz singer, Julie London, is represented with her version of "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," and an up and coming unknown, Rosie Thomas, sings the title track.

The Starbucks tradition of eclecticism continues with Duke Ellington's very unusual take on Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" called "Sugar Rum Cherry" and another artist not normally associated with Christmas, Fiona Apple, sings "Frosty the Snowman." Bob Dylan released a Christmas album two years ago for charity. One of the tracks from his disc, "Must Be Santa," shows up here. Bing Crosby is on board too, but he’s not singing "White Christmas." Instead he does "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." Yo Yo Ma closes the disc out with a beautiful treatment of "Silent Night."

Andrea Bocelli, Neil Diamond, The Ronettes, Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley are all featured on this CD too.

All of the Starbuck's Christmas CDs are quite enjoyable because they make good song choices and don't just rehash the same tired old versions.

Sugarland - Gold and Green (2009)

2011-12-13T08:48:00.007-05:00

Gold and Green, the first full-length Christmas CD by the country duo Sugarland combines five new, original tracks with five more famous Christmas songs that they previously released only as a bonus disc on a now hard to obtain version of Sugarland's 2006 album, Enjoy the Ride. The limited edition was a Wal-Mart exclusive.

The covers include the religious carols "Silent Night" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," the pop-classic "Winter Wonderland," and two songs normally aimed at kids, "Holly Jolly Christmas," sung by Kristian Bell and "Nuttin' For Christmas." All are nicely rendered and Jennifer Nettles voice carries the day on most of them. The last song is far less juvenile than usual because it's given a bright bluegrass arrangement that elevates it into an entirely different realm. It's nice to see the country stars reworking a tired old holiday tune by turning it into something unique.

The real gems here though are the Nettles - Bell originals. "City of Silver Dreams" is an almost melodramatic look at a rural girl's first visit to New York City at Christmas. The same can be said of "Coming Home" in which Nettles comes across more like an R & B diva than a country star. Bell's "Little Wood Guitar" is the tale of a little girl who received a guitar for Christmas. The other new tracks are the title song and "Maybe Baby (New Year's Day)."

Tom Jurek of All Music Guide has wrongly criticized Gold and Green as "an obvious, cloying exercise in marketing, and holds little artistic merit." He also wrote that it was "canned and pre-packaged." Jurek isn't the only one with harsh words for this disc, but I disagree. Even taking into consideration the subject matter, and the fact that this is a country music CD, none of the originals descend into sappiness, a too common occurrence plaguing the genre these days. Give Sugarland credit. They didn't fall into the usual Christmas album trap. They recorded something different and it's a surprise that paid off well.

She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas (2011)

2011-12-01T06:08:00.017-05:00

Cyber Monday was the impetus for a lot of great music deals from Amazon. The massive online store even offered some downloads for as little as $1.99 per album, a price too good to ignore. One of these bargains was A Very She & Him Christmas the latest CD by singer-songwriter M. Ward and his singing partner, the terminally cute actress, Zoey Deschanel.

The third release by the pair is an unoriginal but pleasing take on twelve mostly famous Christmas tunes. More sparsely arranged than She & Him's first two discs, many of the songs consist of little more than solo acoustic guitar supporting Deschanel's sometimes multi-tracked vocals. Some light percussion, ukulele, keyboards, and electric guitar occasionally spice up the songs and Ward duets with her on a few tracks, taking the lead on one. Deschanel has a voice good enough to do the job but it isn't especially distinguished or powerful. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "The Christmas Song" are not easy songs to sing but she manages to successfully navigate her way through both of them.

As usual, the duo shows off their love of mid-60s pop. There is a version of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and two songs from The Beach Boys' original Christmas album: their huge hit "Little Saint Nick" and a nice take on the seldom heard "Christmas Day." Other staples include "The Christmas Waltz," "Silver Bells," "I'll Be Home for Christmas, and "Blue Christmas." "Sleigh Ride," features some nice 60s electric guitar playing by Ward.

The only misstep is the pair's take on "Baby, It's Cold Outside." It doesn't hold up against a lot of other versions and even if it did people must stop doing this song now! It's so overused and abused every December that I can't take it anymore.

The album cover is also decidedly retro and the liner notes are presented in the form of a signed Christmas card. These two are always about keeping things in the past.

The CD's light production makes A Very She & Him Christmas a little different from what you might expect from a Ward and Deschanel record but that isn't a bad thing. This isn't a party album. These mostly gentle offerings are suitable for a quiet Christmas Eve at home.

Forgotten Music Thursday: The Kinks - Celluloid Heroes (1972)

2011-11-24T10:06:00.008-05:00

One of the great lyrical conquests of the Classic Rock era is The Kinks "Celluloid Heroes" a single from their 1972 LP, Everybody's In Show-Biz. It was not a hit but album oriented stations sometimes played the longer, superior, LP version that runs 6:19, around two minutes longer than the 45 RPM. Neither composer Ray Davies nor The Kinks ever put a better song on vinyl.

Davies was inspired to write "Celluloid Heroes" by the many stars embedded on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame. His thoughtful lyrics generate a lot of emotions that complement a gentle, pleasing melody and arrangement. The lyrical centerpiece of the song is the line "Celluloid heroes never feel any pain and celluloid heroes never really die." Those words hit me hard every time I see an old movie star still so vibrant and alive on film who is no longer with us. The line "Don't tread on dearest Marilyn because she's not very strong" is the antithesis of her onscreen personality and so accurate. Also mentioned are actors George Sanders, Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Bela Lugosi, Rudolph Valentino, and Bette Davis. Davies is able to convince us that he knew these stars intimately even though he never met them.

While many important and famous people from the past such as Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Ben Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln are well known to us none of them seem alive today. There are paintings, busts, and photographs of these individuals, and even their own writings, yet they all feel like the historical figures they really are. Many of the film greats from Hollywood's golden era who have passed on continue to walk, talk, sing, dance, and cry on film today, but after you listen to "Celluloid Heroes" reality sets in. That is what makes the song so very, very sad.

Listen to Celluloid Heroes now.

Cesar Rosas - Soul Disguise (1999)

2011-11-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

Cesar Rosas, the "other" singer and guitarist for Los Lobos, the great Los Angeles quintet, is not as well known as frontman David Hidalgo and he is a less prolific composer than either Hidalgo or bandmate Louis Perez. However, he shouldn't have to take a back seat to them because Rosas is a better vocalist than his legendary group's lead singer and his original songs are just as rewarding as those written by the Hidalgo/Perez team.

Rosas' one and only solo CD, Soul Disguise (1999), rocks just as hard as his band did in their early years and stylistically it is reminiscent of their debut, How Will the Wolf Survive. The guitarist is also a versatile singer who can handle horn-fueled R & B ("E. Los Ballad #13"), traditional Mexican folk music ("Angelito" and "Adios Mi Vida"), and even a soulful ballad ("Better Way"). Much of the rest is straight ahead rock highlighted by "Little Heaven," the blues influenced "Tough To Handle," and the Jimi Hendrix inspired title track. The band is just as adept as he is and all-star accordionist Flaco Jimenez ably assists them on both of the tunes sung in Spanish. One of the two covers on this twelve track disc is a really hot version of Ike Turner’s "You’ve Got to Lose" that continues to burn long after the song ends.

Rosas didn’t try anything new on Soul Disguise but if you like Los Lobos you will like this CD a lot too.

Seamus Kelleher - Another Side Of Town (2011)

2011-11-14T08:49:00.012-05:00

One of the great things about the Internet is that it gives everyone exposure to news, information, and entertainment that they would not have normally been exposed to without it. The web is why a recording artist who has only acquired a local following can have his music heard at anytime, worldwide, at little or no cost. Such is the case with Irish-American guitarist, Seamus Kelleher, who just released his second solo CD, Another Side of Town. Kelleher has a cult following from New York City to Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore but to anyone living out of the area he’s quite unknown. I always liked his lead guitar work with Blackthorn, a Celtic-rock band from Philadelphia that he was an important member of for around fifteen years.

Another Side of Town is even better than Kelleher's debut, Four Cups of Coffee, because it's more stylistically unified while avoiding all of the traps that make everything on an album sound redundant. Kelleher can rock hard when the situation calls for it and there were hints on his first CD that he wanted to be a rocking bluesman with a special affection for fellow Irishman Rory Gallagher. However, on this new outing he presents himself more as a folk-rocking singer-songwriter who plays a lot of acoustic guitar.

Six of the ten tracks are originals. One is a new, better version of the title track from Coffee now featuring singer Charlene Holloway on harmony vocals, two new instrumentals with acoustic foundations, ("Guitar Dreams" and "The Huttlinger Rag") and three more very personal tunes. "The Other Side of Town" was inspired by a very serious fall Kelleher took five years ago that made him realize how lucky he is to be alive each day. "Reno Winter's Sky" is a very moving non-political tribute to the brave fighting men and women of our military. "Thank You For The Music" is about Kelleher's love for the music of Leonard Cohen.

Kelleher has good taste in his choice of cover versions. He admits his take on Ralph McTell’s "Streets of London" does not top the original but he puts a pleasingly unique spin on it. To keep it fresh he changes the melody sightly in spots in order to make the song his own. His growling version of "House of the Rising Sun" shows off what he can do with a rock guitar, and "Galway Bay" (recorded by Bing Crosby many years ago) allows him to revisit his roots. "The Shepherd's Boy" is included because the singer simply loves this song written by a late, dear friend.

Instead of printing lyrics Kelleher offers us some background information regarding the inspiration behind each track. It helps elevate all of the songs to a higher level, even the ones that might be considered filler without them.

Kelleher will probably never be a star but that shouldn't stop you from embracing this fine talent.

Kenny & Leah - All About Love (2011)

2011-11-07T15:54:00.006-05:00

Saxophonist Kenny Solderblom and his wife, Leah, are seasoned jazz veterans who make music for a specific audience: fans of the great American songbook. That's not to say others won't like what they hear but for those listeners who have a special affinity for the genre the couple’s fifth CD should prove to be quite impressive.

All About Love is an aptly named collection because love is the subject of almost every song. Most of the tunes pre-date the rock era but they are spiced up with Kenny's modern sax playing that helps make the whole affair more appealing than it would otherwise be to a younger audience. Leah's strong vocals prove she would have made a fine big band singer.

The Solderbloms' excellent studio hands make sure everything is humming along smoothly, especially veteran Jay Leonhardt on bass and all-star Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar. There is nothing remotely progressive or alternative about the music but every arrangement is so well-crafted and so expertly played that one tends to notice those assets more than the songs themselves. Pianist and music director John Oddo was successful in preventing the sessions from descending into sappiness even though he uses a real string section on five tunes, a musical device that most modern pop musicians shun in favor of empty sounding synthesizers. The decision to use strings in lieu of electronics gives the CD more depth than it would otherwise have.

Tracks include, "The More I See You," “Dream a Little Dream of Me," "Frenesi," George Gershwin’s "The Way You Look Tonight," and Oscar Hammerstein’s "I’ll Take Romance." Leah included two originals, "Play That Tenor Sax for Me" and "Leah’s Lullaby," and Kenny is featured on the instrumental "Our Love is Here to Stay."

Except for the forced pose on the CD cover that almost make the Solderbloms look like Olympic figure skaters All About Love is a totally satisfying genre exercise.

You can purchase the new disc on their website.

The Jayhawks Live At The Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA, October 22, 2011

2011-10-28T06:59:00.117-04:00

As good as Gary Louris is The Jayhawks were never quite the same band without his partner and co-founder Mark Olson so it's good to see the latter back in the lineup after a long absence of more than a decade. The duo recently revived the highly regarded quintet who rocked out in front of a packed audience last Saturday night at the old Keswick Theater, a locally famous, art deco, former movie venue in the suburban Philadelphia village of Glenside.

The lineup for the evening consisted of the best supporting cast Louris and Olson ever assembled during the band's long history. In addition to Louris on electric guitar, harmonica, and lead vocals and Olson on acoustic and lead vocals the band included original members Marc Perlman on bass and long-time songwriting member Tim O'Reagan on drums. He and Karen Grotberg, their keyboard player during their glory years, also helped out with the singing.

The set started off a bit unpolished and the sound mix wasn't what it should have been, but it only took a couple of songs for the band to find their groove. Once they did the Minneapolis outfit offered the very appreciative crowd a whole night of duets with strong harmonies on almost every tune, something most rock bands either can't or won't do.

The Jayhawks are about the songs, not musical showmanship. Louris is a fine lead axeman but his solos were quite brief. He seldom improvised and he played it fairly close to the vest all evening, never straying too far from the original arrangements.

Louris and O'Reagan sang on a couple of the group's latter day songs with the drummer even taking lead on one. The two main frontmen did quite nicely on a cover of the moldie oldie "Love Hurts" but the rest of the evening appeared to focus on the group's just released, self-written CD, Mockingbird Time and their two critically acclaimed masterpieces, Hollywood Town Hall (1992) and Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995).

The set list included "Blue," "I'd Run Away," "Take Me With You (When You Go)" and much more. A big surprise was a fine rendition of "Miss Williams Guitar" a song about Olson's ex-wife, folkie Victoria Willliams. Missing were "Waiting for the Sun," "Bad Time," and "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me."

Neither Olson nor Louris spoke very often during the entire gig. They seldom announced the names of their songs and they never even introduced the band, two things they need to improve on.

Overall the veteran roots rockers gave us a concert worthy of their reputation and no one returned home disappointed.

The evening opened with a brief set by a former Grammy nominee, Tift Merritt, whose seemed to please only a few in the crowd because her songs all came from the same mid-tempo frame of reference. She needs more inspiration to hold your interest despite the fine pedal steel player who accompanied her.

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

2011-10-19T06:01:00.016-04:00

No doubt about it, "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida," the 1968 album and song by Iron Butterfly, is a relic from a different age. Every classic rock fan has an opinion about this 17:05 track that took up an entire side on the vinyl disc from which it came. It's a song that listeners either love or hate. There appears to be no middle ground. While it's really quite a simple composition based around a very famous riff it represents all of the excesses of the psychedelic era: extended guitar jams featuring both fuzz and wah-wah pedals, lots of electric organ, and long drum solos. The title is based on the phrase "In The Garden of Eden."

The San Diego quartet featured organist, singer, and songwriter Doug Ingle and seventeen year old electric guitarist, Erik Brann. The rhythm section of Lee Dorman on bass and Ron Bushy on drums rounded out the lineup. The band wasn't a one hit wonder (their followup LP, Ball, also went into the top ten) but "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" was so astonishingly successful compared to everything else the band released during its career that it is the only song anyone ever associates with them. The album sold four million copies and spent a year in the top ten.

Aside from the riff, the highlight is the drum solo located smack dab in the middle of the track. I'm not the only wannabee drummer who attempted to play along with Bushy on any table, countertop, or hard surface we could find. His simple, but fast paced playing on the floor tom-toms made his work as accessible as any drum solo ever put on tape. At almost three minutes Bushy's famous pounding doesn't overstay its welcome. Dorman's heavy bass foundation supported the riff throughout the song while Brann showed some surprisingly accomplished fret work for a young man his age. Ingle's singing was nothing out of the ordinary even though the church organ sounds he produced coming out of the drum solo were quite a pleasing respite from the loud and heavy rock on the rest of the record.

Flipping the LP over revealed more pop-oriented songs than one would expect, especially after listening to the often overblown affair on the other side. These five tunes sound especially bland and dated today primarily due to Ingle's frequently annoying organ work that too often took the lead over Brann's guitar. Among the songs are are "Termination," "Flowers and Beads," and "Are You Happy?"

Iron Butterfly had their fleeting, fifteen minutes of fame based on one truly spaced out, hippie anthem. Fond memories of my youth will make me love the song forever regardless of its quality.

A Brief Tribute To The Clash

2011-10-06T06:36:00.077-04:00

I never understood the punk culture any more than I do the current hip-hop scene but then I’ve never been the rebellious type. Both genres are filled with way too much venom and in the case of the punkers their rebelliousness often included large doses of self-loathing. Somehow, no matter how ticked off I am at something or someone, I've never had a desire to stick safety pins in my cheeks.

It was all too much for someone who grew up during the days of flower power, and peace, love, and understanding. Unlike many bands of the 1960s, Johnny Rotten and his ilk were truly rebels without a cause but, fortunately, there was one big exception: The Clash!

Why were The Clash different and far better than their so called peers? First, they weren't just shooting bullets indiscriminately at targets that included everyone but themselves. Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Topper Headon, and Joe Simonin, never appeared to hate just for the sake of hating. They had a social conscience to go along with their anti-establishment persona.

Also, Strummer and Jones could write music. They possessed a flair for melody and song construction that others didn't have and they understood that a good tune often needed those deep hooks that get under your skin and won't let go. (Listen to "London Calling" and "Train In Vain" for examples). In addition, they weren’t afraid to turn the amps down below "10" when the mood called for it. That helped "Hitsville UK" become a perfect pop record that was hardly identifiable as a punk song. Even the stadium friendly "Should I Stay or Should I Go," and "Rock the Casbah" from the otherwise quite unfulfilling Combat Rock, are more pop than punk.

The English quartet's deep appreciation of ska and reggae often showed up in their work and they also held their rock 'n roll ancestors in high regard, a quality not commonly found among punk-rockers. The group's affection for Elvis Presley became apparent on their album cover art to 1979’s London Calling. They also released a remake of Bobby Fuller's "I Fought the Law."

The Clash weren't just the best band of their genre. They were a legendary outfit that deserve the accolades they've been receiving for over thirty years.

Forgotten Music Thursday: Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade (1974)

2011-09-29T06:56:00.085-04:00

Billy Joel's second Columbia album, and third overall, is among his least remembered records. It was inevitable that Streetlife Serenade, the followup to Piano Man, wouldn’t have the same impact as his major label debut because the earlier platter was such a huge success. While Streetlife will never make any list of Joel's masterworks it definitely doesn't deserve its fate of completely falling off the musical radar. Here he still presents himself more as a singer-songwriter than the rocker and showman he became during his major hit making years.

Joel, who hasn't recorded a new studio album since 1993's mediocre River of Dreams, still performs Piano Man’s most popular songs in concert today. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," the arena rock anthem "Captain Jack," and the title track are all staples of classic rock radio. What Streetlife lacks are those kind of songs, the ones that embed themselves in your head for eternity.

Easily the best track on the album is "The Entertainer," a rock 'n roll commentary about what it's like dealing with the business side of making records highlighted by it's pointed lyrics about "Piano Man" being edited down to fit on a single. Joel sings, "It was a beautiful song but it ran too long, if you want to have a hit you’ve got to make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05." The song is perfect for the baseball stadiums Joel performs in today but he never makes it part of his set list.

The upbeat "Los Angelenos" is an observation on the left coast's biggest town from someone who, at the time, was a transplanted New Yorker. Joel grew up on Long Island, in an area where families had longtime roots. He sounds astonished when he tells us "Los Angelenos all come from elsewhere." It's one of the better songs on the LP.

The rest of Streetlife is filled with decent tunes, the kind that will make you say "that’s nice" when you hear them, but they will immediately disappear from your brain about ten minutes after you stop listening. Among these are "The Great Suburban Showdown," "Roberta," "Weekend Song," and "Streetlife Serenader." The album also suffers because, in spots, it doesn’t offer the detailed songcraft Joel is known for. There are two instrumentals. Did life on the road prevent him from fully developing "The Mexican Connection" and "Root Beer Rag?" They're both easy to listen to but neither is anything more than pleasant filler.

If you haven't played Streetlife Serenade in a long time, or you have never heard it at all, now is the time to take it out for a test drive. An album doesn't have to be a classic to be satisfying and, if you're worn out listening to Joel's often overplayed radio hits, this may feel like fresh, new music to you. Remember, minor artwork needs love too.

US Rails

2011-09-22T06:05:00.132-04:00

US Rails may have sowed their seeds in Philadelphia but they are currently living all over the globe. Their second CD, Southern Canon, was just completed in Germany where acoustic guitarist Joseph Parsons currently resides. Bassist Scott Bricklin lives in Paris. Ben Arnold (keyboards) still makes The City of Brotherly Love his home as does drummer Matt Muir. Tom Gillam (lead and slide guitar), the only member not from the town where America was born, hails from another, even better musical locale, Austin, TX.

These no nonsense roots rockers have an interesting back story. About ten years ago local college radio station WXPN, 88.5 FM, licensed to the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania, asked a couple of local singer-songwriters who had already released their own CDs to put a band together for a music festival they were hosting. Parsons, Arnold, and Bricklin teamed up with a fourth member, Jim Boggia, to form the harmony laden, adult-oriented rock band, 4 Way Street, named after an old, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young LP. The new band, thanks to WXPN’s help, acquired a small but loyal following. I saw them live at The Point, in Bryn Mawr, PA, a tiny venue where I attended numerous concerts. 4 Way Street’s gig was the best one I ever saw at the now defunct and greatly missed coffeehouse.

Just as satisfying was the group's one and only CD, Pretzel Park. While the quartet didn’t sound too much like CSN&Y, the CD had very cool, well thought out harmonies that captured the spirit of the famous classic rockers. "Change Gonna Come," "Shoot the Moon," and "Barbed Wire" were the perfect synthesis of four voices blending together for the common good. Other favorites include Parson’s "Ceremony" and Boggia's "Several Thousand." The latter was covered by California Transit Authority, the new band led by former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine on their debut CD, Full Circle. (I may be the only person in the world to have two different versions of Boggia's song on his ipod.)

Unfortunately, because 4 Way Street was never able to spread their wings beyond the Philadelphia area the quartet eventually went their separate ways. Then last year Parsons, Arnold, and Bricklin, without Boggia, joined forces with Muir (who was an unofficial fifth member of 4 Way Street both live and in the studio) and Gillam in the fledgling US Rails.

While the new outfit's predecessor used a folk-rock template as the foundation for their music the addition of Gillam established US Rails as a real rock band. Vocally, the four and five part harmonies are still there, though less prominent than before, and all five take turns singing lead. Their diverse vocal styles range from Arnold's soft, but not unappealing rasp to Parsons' deep, rich, baritone.

Gillam is a versatile axeman, and while he does get a chance to show off his chops with US Rails his role with them requires that he often exhibit some restraint. However, if he was ever featured in a situation where he could truly cut loose in a jam band or power trio format he could easily scorch your ears (in a good way).

The band's eponymous debut opens with "Lucky Stars." It's a song that sounds as if it belonged to 4 Way Street because all five voices blend beautifully while they tell us how happy they are to be "banging on our drum and strumming our guitars." The song possesses everything that was best about their old band. Parson's acoustic "Gonna Shine" brings their melodic talents to the forefront. It's a sunny pop song that sticks easily in your head. Arnold's "Rainwater" also fits the mold but Bricklin's "Rockin' Chair" is the polar opposite. It's raw and raunchy and is blues-rock at its finest. Gillam's "Shine Your Light" is a rousing rock anthem. Each track is an example of how versatile a band can be when everyone is a talented writer.

Even better is Southern Canon released just a little over one month ago. Bricklin opens the proceedings with the boogie tune, "Heart Don't Lie." He also rocks out with "18 & Lonely." Gillam and Muir collaborate on the rocking "Live Like We Love," while Arnold is sincere when advising us all to "Do What You Love." Parsons takes the pop route again with the uptempo love song, "Heartbeat Away." Two ballads close out the thirteen song set. Arnold wears his emotions on his sleeve with "You're My Home" while Gillam shows he is not just a rocker but also a soulful balladeer on "Old Song On the Radio."

Read more about US Rails at ReverbNation.

The Band of Heathens Make Believers of Everyone

2011-09-15T06:27:00.211-04:00

Austin's The Band of Heathens often sound like The Grateful Dead. They can improvise with best of the jam bands but they also manage to avoid the interminable extended solos of The Dead because their rock 'n roll is more structured and more song oriented. They can harmonize as well as Jerry Garcia and his buddies did and, as a bonus, when they play with a horn section you can also hear traces of The Band in their arrangements.

The Band of Heathens were born after the core of the sextet, Gordi Quist, Colin Brooks, and Ed Jurdi, all lead vocalists, multi-instrumentalists, and solo singer-songwriters, decided they liked working together as a group after sitting in with each other on stage back in Austin.

Both of TBOH's first two CDs were recordings of live shows, a daring move almost unheard of from a new band. Live from Momo's (2006) and Live at Antone's (2008), were both recorded in their home town. It took them until their eponymous third release (also 2008) for them to actually go into a studio to make an album. Fortunately, their songwriting acumen, singing, and musicianship are all fully developed talents that prove they are just as comfortable in that colder, sterile, more exacting environment.

The Heathens converted everyone into followers on August 9, 2011 during a show that was part of the weekly, free, summer, outdoor music series, Concerts on the Square, in Exton, Pa. The three vocalists/guitarists on the front line were the obvious stars but their organist, Trevor Nealon, and the rhythm section of John Chipman on drums and Seth Whitney on bass were given a lot of room to groove. In fact, many of the evening's best solos came from Nealon's fingertips.

Currently, the best way to learn about Quist, Brooks, Jurdi, and company is to download their new, free (GREAT PRICE!) two hour concert and three bonus studio tracks from their website. It's a great introduction to the group. The show celebrates The Heathens five years together with twenty tunes from Momo's on November 26, 2010. I don't know how long the downloads will be online so you may want to open their gift to you right now. Highlights include well received concert staples such as "You're Gonna Miss Me, "Say," and Odysseus."

Their latest studio CD, released this past April, is Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster's Son.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice - Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)

2011-09-08T05:53:00.111-04:00

Andrew Lloyd Webber's detractors will throw his later Broadway musicals in your face every chance they get but in 1970 Webber was a hot commodity in the rock music world. That was the year he and lyricist Tim Rice put together one of the greatest rock albums of all time, Jesus Christ Superstar.

For those of you unfamiliar with Superstar the double LP was one of the very early rock operas and it taught many music lovers unschooled in the ancient genre what it was all about. Superstar was a true opera, not a musical. It possessed the characteristics of most classic operas: no spoken dialogue, clearly defined characters whose parts were sung by specific voices, reoccurring musical themes, a cohesive story, and a libretto. However, there were two major differences between it and traditional operas. First, Superstar was rock music and secondly, in its original version, the release was strictly a studio production. At the time Webber and Rice didn't have the funds to bring the opera to the stage so they chose a more economical option and decided to record an album in the studio as a one time deal.

Webber and Rice created quite a controversy with their work. To many, Superstar was blasphemous and anti-Christian, let alone inaccurate, and it can be argued that followers of the faith had some legitimate concerns. However, it's possible the loose interpretation of the production's ending and the ensuing ruckus that surrounded it occurred because the composers never considered the work to be a religious statement. Instead, they used the story of the last days of Jesus as a metaphor for what can happen when people become obsessed with celebrity and the cult of personality. The final track, "John Nineteen: Forty-One" is an instrumental named after a passage in the Bible that when abbreviated and paraphrased basically says, "and they laid him in the tomb........" There is no mention of resurrection, saving souls, or afterlife. That, coupled with what many believed was the inherent "sinful" nature of rock music, infuriated the devout Christian community.

Nevertheless, the album was a resounding success. Murray Head's (Judas) "Superstar" and Yvonne Elliman's (Mary Magdalene) "I Don’t Know How to Love Him" were both major hit singles on Top 40 radio.

Jesus was played by Ian Gillan, best known as the lead singer of the British hard rock quintet, Deep Purple. Gillan's most famous vocal is easily the band's riff-filled signature tune, "Smoke On the Water," but his all-time best performance is his very moving, emotional, and almost melodramatic take on side four in which he magnificently portrays the conflicted and tortured Son of God on "Gethsemane (I only Want to Say)." The song should have won Gillan a "Best Vocal Performance" Grammy.

Other highlights included "Hosanna," King Herod’s Song," "The Last Supper," "Damned for all Time/Blood Money," and "What's the Buzz/Strange Things Mystifying." While the album’s songs often feature the traditional rock lineup of guitar, bass, and drums the arrangements are often expanded to include a rock orchestra that gives the production a majestic flair that suits a protagonist who was King of the Jews.

Even with its considerable length Webber and Rice's production is never pretentious because of the depth of its subject matter. Every note of Superstar has significance. Forty years later it’s still unique and one of the most inspired rock records in history.

Edgehill Avenue - Just Out of Sight (2011)

2011-09-01T06:00:00.029-04:00

The mighty fine but little known Southern rock outfit, Edgehill Avenue, are back with Just Out of Sight, another workmanlike effort worthy of your consideration. After Rambler, their excellent full-length debut, showed off their musical chops and songwriting capabilities they followed it with a brief live CD, Off the Edge, that proved they're also a great stage band.

As with all of Dixie's best rockers this Kentucky quintet functions as a complete unit. They put the band and the music ahead of personality or stardom. Their new release is an honest, six-song EP that relies on heartfelt lyrics, an appropriately earthy lead singer (Drew Perkins) who complements the songs perfectly, and good musicianship from everyone involved. Even though this mid-tempo disc is not as eclectic as their debut you will still find a lot to like about it, right down to the pleasing cover art.

While Southern rock was extremely popular in the 70s, and it never completely went away, the days when groups like The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Outlaws all reached the top of the American music charts are long gone. There are a lot of rock fans who miss the genuineness these bands offered and we should be grateful to Perkins and his group for their attempts to help the South rise again. Dickie Betts once wrote a song for the Allmans' called "Revival" and that is just what we need. Hopefully Edgehill Avenue can lead the way.

Read more about Edgehill Avenue on their website and buy the new EP here.

Forgotten Music Thursday: Various Artists - The Legendary Story of Sun Records (2002)

2011-08-25T06:08:00.045-04:00

The Legendary Story of Sun Records is worthy as an educational tool even if you're not fond of all of the music this double CD set has to offer. Just as film appreciation and history classes require that certain movies need to be shown as part of their curriculum, this 2002 release with thirty (Yes, thirty!!) songs on each disc is mandatory listening for anyone wanting an education in the history of rock 'n roll, country, R&B, blues, and American popular music in general.

This very interesting and mostly listenable release has a number of huge, early rock 'n roll hits. Jerry Lee Lewis does "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" and "Great Balls of Fire." Carl Perkins’ original "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Matchbox" (later covered by the Beatles) are here too, as well as Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," but the real treasures lie with the more obscure tracks that are featured in abundance. Some are rarities, some were regional hits, and there are even a few "B" sides. Due to the diversity of stuff Sun released it is possible that you will not like every track here but, in order to fully understand owner Sam Phillips' influence on rock music, it is important for you to listen to all sixty remastered tunes. I guarantee that the songs you do like will outnumber the ones you don’t.

Little Junior's Blue Flames check in with the original "Mystery Train," (1953) one of the songs Elvis Presley recorded for Phillips that helped the singer acquire his RCA recording contract less than two years later. Little Junior's real name was Herman Parker. He once was a sideman with Howlin' Wolf.

A vocal quartet whose members were all serving long stretches in Tennessee State Penitentiary, dubbed The Prisonaires, were brought to Sun Studio in shackles to record the hit single, "Just Walking in the Rain."

Rufus Thomas had a hit with with "Bear Cat," a response to Presley's "Hound Dog." Phillips lost a lawsuit claiming this record was too similar to Big Mama Thornton's original. One listen tells you why the plaintiff won.

Neither of the two discs have any solo Presley recordings. His Sun sessions have been covered extensively throughout the years on his own retrospectives, most recently on the excellent Elvis at Sun, a nineteen song collection featuring all of his best singles for Phillips. However, The King is here on three tracks as part of the Million Dollar Quartet, the group recordings he made for the label with Lewis, Perkins, and Cash. You could count them as a very early supergroup, way before the term ever came into our lexicon in the late sixties.

In addition to those artists listed above the lineup on this set includes Roy Orbison, Howlin' Wolf, Charlie Rich, bluesman Little Milton, Earl Hooker (John Lee's first cousin) , Sonny Burgess, Bill Justis, Anita Wood (Elvis's pre-army girlfriend) and many, many more.

The liner notes include a history of Sun and each song title is accompanied by a brief story about its creation. The remastered sound is excellent. If you want to know what Sun Records was all about there are a lot of rewards for you to sample on this outstanding compilation.

The Legendary Story of Sun Records is available at Amazon.

Rory Gallagher - Notes From San Francisco (2011)

2011-08-18T06:15:00.121-04:00

For a man with a short career there certainly are a lot of urban legends surrounding Jimi Hendrix. True or not, he supposedly said a lot of wonderful things about other musicians, and considering his iconic status in the rock world, if you ever had your name connected to one of the many compliments attributed to him it would only help your reputation. Such was the case with Rory Gallagher. Hendrix is credited with answering "I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher" when he was posed with the question of what it was like to be the world’s greatest guitarist.

Gallagher has often been referred to as the "Irish Hendrix" and he has a worldwide reputation as being a pretender to Hendrix’s throne. Unfortunately, his reputation has not carried over into the United States due to the fact that he didn't tour here very often and his records weren't always immediately available. Those factors, when combined with his death in 1995 at the fairly young age of 47, caused many American rock fans to only know him by reputation. However, Gallagher has recently been making news because of a new double set CD just released from Eagle Rock Entertainment, Notes from San Francisco.

In late 1977, the guitarist and his band completed a very long, six month World tour and then flew to San Francisco to record a new album. The producer was Elliot Mazer, famous for working with a host of classic rockers, including Neil Young, Janice Joplin, and The Band. Despite the heavy hitter in the control room Gallagher was very unhappy with the results so he shelved the finished product in January 1978 and broke up the band he played with for the last five years. Fortunately for fans, earlier this year Donal Gallagher, Rory’s manager and brother, allowed his son, Daniel, to resurrect the album and remix it for release as disc one of this new package.

Disc two was another discovery previously never before offered to the public. It features twelve live songs culled from four shows in December 1979 recorded in San Francisco’s Old Waldorf Theater where Gallagher returned to the more stripped down sound of the power trio he preferred. According to the record company's press release Daniel Gallagher included the live show to prove why his uncle shelved the earlier studio album.

Gallagher has long been considered one of the pioneers of the power trio format with his first band, Taste, in 1966. It was the same year Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker formed Cream.

The attractive cover art is just part of the overall fine packaging. It includes some terrific pictures of the great city by the bay and handwritten notes and lyrics by Gallagher himself.

If you prefer something a little more polished the long forgotten studio album is for you. If you prefer the simpler, edgier, grittier guitar assault you may find the live CD more to your liking. Either way Gallagher fans should find comfort in the fact that they finally have some new music to rock out to.

Keith Richards - Life (2010)

2011-08-11T06:43:00.088-04:00

I've never been a big fan of The Rolling Stones. I like them but don't love them. My favorite Stones songs are "Jumpin’ Jack Flash," "Gimme Shelter," and "Mother’s Little Helper." I also like "Tumbling Dice" but most of Exile on Main Street is too muddy and too raw for my tastes. Despite my ambivalence toward the band, Life, by Keith Richards is among the most interesting autobiographies I've ever read. Because the 547 page book is a very detailed narrative you can tell that Richards was truly involved with its creation. It's not just the work of his collaborator, James Fox.

You have to be amazed by The Stones' great guitarist for his candidness about his wild, hedonistic lifestyle. He makes no excuses for his exploits, never sugarcoats them, and he is equally blunt about his family and his former and current bandmates. At the same time he possesses a soft spot for many of the people who have passed through his life. It's easy to believe he's being brutally honest about everything even though, as with most memoirs, there are detractors such as Mick Jagger’s former squeeze, Marianne Faithful.

The Glimmer Twin covers all aspects of his life. He discusses his parents (who he refers to as Doris and Bert), including his feelings about his Mother's longtime affair, the fact that his Father was a good guy who lacked ambition, and his closeness to his maternal Grandfather. Richards tells us how he met Jagger, Brian Jones, and the rest of the original Stones. He talked about Ian Stewart, the band’s founder, who was later fired by their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, before they became stars simply because he didn't fit into the band’s carefully cultivated public image. Stewart is one of Richards’ soft spots, so is Charlie Watts, the famous quintet's drummer, and there is also a lot of room in his heart for saxophonist Bobby Keys and the late Gram Parsons.

Unlike a lot of scandalous "tell all" books Richards doesn't just dish out the dirt. He expounds about how the blues influenced his music and how music influenced his life. He spends considerable time explaining how he became one of the pioneers of five-string open tuning for the guitar, how Oldham singled out Jagger and Richards as the band’s composers and essentially forced them to be the men who would carry the load. One of his most interesting and astonishing musical stories is about how there are no electric guitars on "Jumpin’ Jack Flash" and "Street Fighting Man." Both songs feature heavily distorted acoustic guitars that are made to sound like electrics.

We learn of Richards' long heroin addiction, the very seedy details describing how he injected drugs, the effect they had on his sanity, his physical health, and the many close calls that potentially could have cost him his freedom and put him behind bars for many years. Lurid details of syringes, the great pains he and his hooked friends would take to score their next high, and the excruciating pain of crashing back into sobriety as the high dissipates, are vividly detailed by one who lived the lifestyle daily. The agony of going cold turkey to get off the junk forever is also portrayed as another necessary evil that serves as a final punishment. Fortunately, Richards got off the deadly hard stuff in 1978 yet he continued to use cocaine well into the new century and only stopped because he needed brain surgery after falling out of a tree.

The former addict is proud that Rolling Stone Magazine listed him number one every year for almost a decade as the rock star most likely to OD. Richards felt the joke was on them by annually defying the publication’s predictions. When he finally dropped to number nine on the list he was definitely disappointed.

Regarding the guys in the band, we read how Richards and Jagger had a very close friendship for almost twenty-five years before the latter contracted a case of the dreaded disease the author calls LVS. If not caught in the early stages the disease is almost always fatal to rock bands. In his world LVS stands for "Lead Vocalist Syndrome," the affliction that makes lead singers believe they are more important than the rest of the band. Fortunately, the controversial frontman was cured before The Stones heart stopped beating.

Then there is the tale of how Jones turned into a complete "asshole" during 1969, his last year with the group. Drugs, and his huge rock star ego, fueled his firing two weeks before he drowned in his swimming pool. For almost two years he had been missing concerts and recording sessions and the band got sick of covering for him.

We also learn of Richards' relationships with Watts, Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor, and Ron Wood.

Richards fathered two children and had a long affair with actress/model/junkie Anita Pallenberg who had previously dated Jones. After sobering up he left Pallenberg and is now married to Patti Hansen for almost thirty years. Together they had two more daughters.

The book's coarse language and its casual writing style suggest that Richards was speaking into a tape recorder and his words were then transferred into print in lieu of sitting down at a keyboard and typing out a manuscript. If so, the informal atmosphere suits the personality of the author quite well. Frequently, Richards injects short essays written by family members and friends into his story because they may have a better understanding of specific incidents than he does.

There should be no surprise to anyone who reads this book that Richards traveled in a totally self-centered world of debauchery. He still genuinely loves those close to him even if his lifestyle caused him to either neglect them or hinder their well being (read about his first two children with Pallenberg for proof). Richards knows he is lucky to have survived it all and he is totally lucid, not a burnout like Ozzy Osborne. He has some regrets, but not many, and to this day, in addition to his family, he still cherishes his life, his music, and The Rolling Stones.

Read more about Keith Richards at his website. Buy the book from Amazon and preview passages from it here.

Alex Steinweiss - Album Art Pioneer (1917 - 2011)

2011-08-04T05:59:00.347-04:00

Alex Steinweiss, who died July 17th at age 94, belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a non-musical invention. He is credited with inventing album cover art. In 1939 Columbia Records hired him to create advertising for their label. Upon arrival he noticed how drab the covers for most 78 RPM records were so his new job took on a different role. In an interview with Steinweiss after his retirement he said, "The way records were sold was ridiculous. The covers were brown, tan, or green paper. They were not attractive, and lacked sales appeal."

Steinweiss seldom used pictures of the artists. Instead he drew covers that corellated with the music inside. The designer retired in 1973 when he decided his work was too out of date for the rock and roll generation but not before producing, what he claims, were about 2,500 album covers.

Steinweiss's first creation, pictured above, was for a 1939 collection of Rodgers and Hart songs. According to Wikipedia, his original cover for the 1949 soundtrack to South Pacific, seen here at left, is still being used today and you can buy it on CD from Amazon.

Newsweek Magazine wrote that sales of Beethoven's "Eroica Symphony" by Bruno Walter "increased ninefold" when the cover was illustrated with the artist's work.

Back in the day, when I was less careful with my money, I must confess that more than once I purchased a record because I was attracted to its cover. Unfortunately, these purchases more often than not turned out to be a mistake proving Steinweiss was correct. Good cover art could sell the music inside.

By the late 60s many of the top artists were putting almost as much work into their album covers as they did the music. It's safe to assume that if it hadn't been for Steinweiss some of our most iconic rock album covers may not exist today. Would Abbey Road have the same impact in a plain brown wrapper? How many people have taken the London tube to EMI Studios just to get their picture taken at the famous crosswalk? I surely am not the only one.

Steinweiss has his own website that displays many of his best covers.

Forgotten Music Thursday: Five 60s Pop Bands

2011-07-28T06:06:00.121-04:00

The recent passing of Rob Grill, the former lead singer of The Grass Roots, got me to thinking about how many great American pop-rock bands there were in the mid to late 60s. To any baby boomer glued to the radio during the golden age of Top 40 these hitmakers were a big part of your listening experience. Most of these artists had the usual shelf life of two to four years on the charts and, while many continued to tour and record, most took to the oldies circuit to survive (if they survived at all). So, as a tribute to Grill let’s take a look at some of these groups who haven't had a hit in over forty years and are mostly unknown outside of their generation.

We’ll start with Grill's own band. The Grass Roots were a quartet that didn't have a permanent horn section but most of their best singles featured horns. Early hits such as "Where Were You When I Needed You" and "Let's Live for Today," were produced with just the standard guitars, bass, and drums but they quickly became one of the earliest white, mainstream bands to regularly offer listeners a brass section. All of their vintage stuff had them. Grill was a fine singer who had a little bit of blue-eyed soul in his voice. All of the group's assets meshed together nicely on records such as "I'd Wait a Million Years," "The River is Wide," "Sooner or Later," "Temptation Eyes," and their signature piece, "Midnight Confessions," a song they are lip-syncing here.

The Association, a septet best known for their vocals, had a brief run on the charts, and while they came to fame with the catchy riff filled rocker, "Along Comes Mary" and the bouncy, boisterous, wall-of-sound hit, "Windy," they were best known for their harmony laden ballads. "Cherish" is considered one of the most romantic songs of all time and it was played at virtually every wedding in the 60s. My personal favorite was the organ filled, "Never My Love." Other minor hits included the ballad "Everything That Touches You," and sunny soft-rockers "Time for Living," "Goodbye Columbus," and the psychedelic "Pandora’s Golden Heebie Jeebies." Listen to "Never My Love."

Paul Revere and the Raiders were sometimes sneered at as a gimmick because of their leader’s name (His real name is Paul Revere Dick) and because they wore American Revolutionary War military uniforms on stage including the famous tri-corner hats popular during the colonial era. They also became TV stars with a regular gig on Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is. The slapstick comedy bits they performed on the show didn't help their reputation any but don't let any of that fool you. In 1965 they were one of the hardest rocking outfits around. Singles such as "Hungry," "Kicks," "Good Thing," "Just Like Me," and "Him or Me, What's it Gonna Be" flat out kicked ass. Later hits such as "I Had a Dream" and "Too Much Talk" were more pop oriented. Eventually lead singer Mark Lindsey used both his good looks and his even better voice to become a solo star who charted with "Arizona." In the 70s The Raiders returned with the topical "Indian Reservation." Here are the Raiders in full slapstick mode rocking out to "Good Thing" with a Goldie Hawn lookalike dancing up a storm and then a slightly more serious performance of "Kicks."

Gary Puckett and The Union Gap mimicked the Civil War both on stage and in their photos. The band was really superfluous. On their singles they were drowned out by Puckett's very good but melodramatic lead vocals and a full orchestra the producers utilized on every one of their hits. The Gap's songs were very popular but they kept retreading the same territory on every record both with their sound and subject matter. Nobody seemed to mind in 1967 but by twenty-first century standards their lyrics appear downright creepy. Both "Young Girl" and "This Girl is a Woman Now" referred to potential forbidden love. What did Puckett want to do with those young ladies? On "Lady Willpower" he gave the woman an ultimatum: "It's now or never give your love to me." Not one of the better bands of the period but they were extremely popular for a couple of years. Other big hits included "Woman Woman" and "Over You." Listen to them on TV, in uniform, playing their best song here.

The Happenings were not a band. Instead they were a white vocal group that blended Beach Boy style harmonies, Do Wop, and Rock n' Roll into one of the biggest hits of the 60s. "See You in September" is hardly forgotten but they also took songs from pre-war America and turned them into smashes that fit their style. Most notable among them are the loudest versions of George Gershwin's "I’ve Got Rhythm" and Al Jolson's "My Mammy" that anyone had ever heard. They also had a hit with a cover of Steve Lawrence's "Go Away Little Girl." I saw them live a few years ago harmonizing in an oldies revue. Lead singer and founding member Bob Miranda formed a new version of the group in the 90s and he still has the same great voice that led the original members to the top of the charts way back when. Here they perform Gershwin's song on The Smothers Brothers Show.

Ben Vaughn - Vaughn Sings Vaughn, Vol 1, 2, & 3 (2005 - 2007)

2011-07-21T06:05:00.047-04:00

Ben Vaughn is not a household name but I have a feeling it's OK with him because the grin on his face never seems to fade. It's probably because he has had a successful career as a producer (count the legendary Arthur Alexander among his credits) while writing music for TV shows (He's responsible for the original music for Third Rock from the Sun and That 70s Show) and still touring and maintaining a recording career. Retro-rocker Vaughn began recording in the late 80s when he acquired a cult following in Philadelphia and his native South Jersey. Now residing in California he still returns home frequently to play in front of audiences who know him well. He is quite entertaining live.

While most of his earlier CDs have been worthwhile, the best way to experience Vaughn is through the three discs he released in succession over the last five years, Vaughn Sings Vaughn, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (VSV). His latest band, Ben Vaughn's Desert Classic, is a tightly knit unit that uses his fine baritone voice to bolster thirty-six roots rock and pop songs. Most of his music has a sense of humor without becoming too campy because it also has a touch of seriousness, maybe even some sadness, below the surface. Vaughn is not a novelty act.

The VSV series contains rerecorded versions of his better known older tunes as well as a bunch of new ones to keep things fresh. Vaughn’s music comes from the 60s and even though he incorporates a lot of other influences into his arrangements he is definitely a roots musician. All of the instruments he uses are real, there are no synths, so he and Desert Classic aren’t faking it anywhere.

Vaughn’s repertoire includes "I’m Sorry, but so is Brenda Lee," "Shingaling With Me," "Beautiful People (Need Love Too)," "Rhythm Guitar," and "When Free Love Reigned." Two tunes he performs live that aren’t on any of the VSV releases: "Seven Days Without Love Make One Weak," from Rambler 65, and a song he never recorded, the hysterical "I Want to Kill Mike Love," reveal his smirking personality.

You can buy each volume of VSV separately, or as a complete set at a reduced price, through Vaughn’s website.

Here is the original recording of Brenda Lee, not the version on the VSV set, Darlene, and two early songs not on any of the three CDs, Daddy's Gone for Good, and My First Band.