Posts tagged Folk Rock
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Cat Stevens
Jul 21st
Have you seen that commercial on TV? Stupid question right? Now I’m not even going to remember what the product is…how typical is that? OK, bear with me…older African American male approached by a younger white guy. Boy I hope I have some of this right, but you’ll get the gist..I think…kid asks the older guy as he discovers a Peter Cetera album in his collection; “Maurice…You like Cetera? Nooo, but they do (as he points to a wall full of photos of alleged conquests). The ladies love Cetera. So, if you love the ladies, by default, you love Cetera.” The kid, as some hot chick strolls by in a see flimsy see through dress says; “so…I…love Peter Cetera?” Maurice; “Yep.” How funny is that. I almost spit my beer out when I read that. In fact, now I recall it being a Heineken Light commercial. I can’t even believe I saw it because I don’t watch commercials at all if I can help it. What in the name of George Michael is Maurice talking about? I think we all know. It’s why you own a copy of ABBA’s Greatest Hits.
The Artist Formerly Known as Cat Stevens had that kind of tag back in 1970 before everyone discovered how talented he was. The emotive singer songwriter never seems to go out of style. I guess Jack Johnson and John Mayer are those types in today’s vernacular. I haven’t heard maybe two songs by each one of them, but I know they are massively popular. I’m assuming they write their own music. England’s Cat Stevens was that guy in the early 70′s. James Taylor was right there with him. So was Dan Fogelberg. And Jim Croce. And Jackson Browne. And Gordon Lightfoot. And Harry Chapin. And Bruce Cockburn. I’d mention the Bob Dylans, Johnny Cashs, Tom Waits’s and others, but I’m talking straight up AM Gold here. The ones the babes dug. It’s really hard to explain to you folks out there, but I was stuck in the backwoods of New Jersey. Things moved along kind of slow in boy-girl speak. 6th, 7th and 8th grade were murder as the hormones flew. Every song was a major love theme written for your bigger than life crush on the girls in your class. I remember Rod Stewart’s cover of Tim Hardin’s “Something To Believe” was a monster hit from Every Picture Tells a Story. Every time I hear that song to this day I think of a girl name Valerie. Don’t ask.
I’m definitely not wading into No Fly Zones or religious conversions or the disappointment that follows when one your musical heroes shut it down, but Cat Stevens had it going on. Not only did the ladies love him, but he was good. Damn good. He was a very prolific artist who churned out five very good record beginning with 1970′s Tea For The Tillerman and ending with 1974′s Buddha and The Chocolate Box. He was all over the radio, both AM and FM and was on top of the world. Steven Demetre Georgiou was born July 21, 1948. He is 62 years old today. He began singing in coffee houses and one of his earliest hits “The First Cut of The Deepest,” has been a hit for several artists including Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow. He even survived a bout with Tuberculosis. He eventually found his way back to health and Island Records, which released his music on the American subsidiary A&M Records. By 1970 it was clear Cat Stevens was going to be a major star. Fast forward to the late 70′s and Cat Stevens, after allegedy nearly drowning in the ocean, walked away from Pop music and moved back to England to study the Islamic religon. Maybe he was burnt out trying to compete with Elton John in those days, but whatever the case the Folk-Pop world lost a major contributor. I hear tell he’s resurfaced to a degree this past year, but I think the party’s over for Cat. It was a helluva ride though. Happy Birthday.
Cat Stevens – On The Road To Find Out.mp3
Cat Stevens – Tuesday’s Dead.mp3
Buy or download Cat Steven’s Greatest Hits from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Bob Dylan
May 24th
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born May 24, 1941 if the good folks at Wikipedia have their story straight. A living legend if there ever was one, I was turned on to Bob Dylan by an Uncle (who really wasn’t my Uncle) at age nine because I apparently showed an aptitude for music. No, I couldn’t play an instrument, but I guess my Uncle figured I could recognize a good tune when I heard one and I already had a 45 RPM collection going. He lent me his copy of Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (I say lent, but I don’t think he expected to ever see that baby again) to play on my close and play like device and off I went. To this day, you have to be dead to have not heard “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Positively 4th Street,” but Dylan’s career cannot be summed up by a few paragraphs some 50 years after his career began in earnest. Nineteen years from now I’ll know what it’s like to be 69 years of age, but I will never know what it’s like to be Bob Dylan.
I’ve probably seen him half a dozen times over the years, but none before 1990 (I’m sorry to say). More recently I caught him at Avalon (The House of Blues here in Boston today), Brockton, MA at some outdoor minor league baseball park with Willie Nelson and at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas about four years ago. That show was by far the best I’d ever seen him do. He’s become a bit of a caricature of himself, at least in the general public’s eye, as mumbles through songs rarely smiling, but his records…the last three anyway…are still pretty impressive. Dylan is a polarizing figure. Some people, like me, absolutely worship the guy. Many don’t care for him at all. Everybody seems to think he can’t sing. But most folks can agree that he was (and is) a great songwriter and storyteller. Influential? Faaaggettaboutit.
I always knew I could never do Bob Dylan any justice in one of my poorly written posts, but I kept thinking I would try some day. Then I started trying to follow rock star birthdays. The hope is that it would abbreviate my long winded prose and actually get my point across before eight paragraphs of nothing blew by. Well Bob, I’m sorry I chose your birthday to knock you off my bucket list of posts because I have so much more I’d like to say. I was merely a fan until Blood On The Tracks was backed up by Desire. I then became a fanatic. Greatest Hits packages are looked upon with disdain when you really love an artist. You may tolerate them to get those two new singles that you feel like you have to have, but the truth is I’ve got more Greatest Hits packages collecting dust around here than you could possibly imagine. Ever try listening to Pink Floyd songs out of order? If you can follow that thought you know what I’m talking about. I had to go back and buy everything he had done up until that point. Now I own some 35 Bob Dylan records…and I’m totally guessing.
I have several favorites amongst Dylan’s monstrous catalogue, but I keep coming back to the ones that blazed the trail for so very many artists to follow. 1965′s Highway 61 Revisited and 1964′s Bringing It All Back Home are must owns if you have any Folk leanings and consider yourself a bit of a curator of the genre. 1966′s Blonde On Blonde would absolutely be another. I was very impressed with 1997′s Time Out of Mind too. We all keep thinking he’s going to go away quietly, but he just keeps on trucking. There have a been a few clunkers since he decided he had to Serve Somebody, but I haven’t minded at all. Maybe that’s just me, but that is what makes the popular music so entertaining to so many. If we all liked the same types of girls a lot of us would be on the outside looking in no? Either way, it’s safe to say Columbia Records got it’s money’s worth out of Big Bob don’t you think?
Happy Birthday Young Bob (as Robert Cray likes to call his former self)…
Bob Dylan – Ballad of a Thin Man.mp3
Bob Dylan – Tombstone Blues.mp3
Bob Dylan – Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.mp3
Buy or Download Highway 61 Revisited from Amazon here.
My Insipid Record Collection – Joni Mitchell
Feb 14th
I was looking for an opening to post about one of my favorite records from the 70′s and I thought if I don’t do it now, this month, when will I do it? It’s not Indie music, it’s not really Classic Rock (anymore) and it’s an album that seems to have long been forgotten all around…but not by me. Folk Rock may not be your thing, but Joni Mitchell put out some of the very best records of the genre. If you don’t have copies of Ladies of The Canyon, Blue and or Court and Spark I kind of feel sorry for you. With a voice like an angel Mitchell could literally paint a picture of what she was singing about with her unique style of inflection and pitch. Her vulnerability was always a big draw in evaluating her body of work. Her music could be described as Folk music with Jazz leanings, but her voice really transcended the whole package. You may know her mostly as the author of the song “Big Yellow Taxi, Both Sides Now” or as the person who wrote “Woodstock,” but she had a string of really great songs.
It’s hard to pick a favorite among the records I mentioned above, but Court and Spark really put Joni Mitchell over the top as far as sales and radio airplay. The song “Court and Spark” was a sexy intro to her thoughts at the time and the record just explodes. “Help Me” was her take on falling in love at the speed of light and feeling a bit overwhelmed. “Free Man in Paris” is still a masterful single surviving decades of massive airplay to remain a solid track even as it makes the transition into Oldies land. It is literally the perfect single. Breezy and airy and the lyrics are tremendous. From there the record continues on non stop; People’s Parties, The Same Situation, Car On a Hill, Down To You, Just Like This Train, Raised On Robbery (the only other single of any consequence), Trouble Child and Twisted. I know every word and nuance of Joni’s wordplay and delivery. Brilliant. It went to #1 in Canada (shocking), #2 in The United States and #14 in the United Kingdom. It went Double Platinum and finished #111 in that 2003 Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of all Time poll. I still play this record, without fail, at least once a year start to finish and that is saying a ton with the number of choices I have here. I can’t recommend it enthusiastically enough.
Roberta Joan Anderson, who later became known as Joni Mitchell, hailed from the Canadian Province of Alberta. She worked in Toronto for a time (eventually teaming up with and eventually marrying Folk singer Chuck Mitchell) and Detroit before making a beeline to the Folk Rock hotbed of New York City around 1967. Mitchell performed up and down the east coast and luckily bumped into one David Crosby in a Coconut Grove, Florida club called The Gaslight South. Mitchell’s marriage eventually failed, but she kept the name and was coaxed into following Crosby west to Los Angeles. David Crosby was already a big star by virtue of his work with The Byrds, but he clearly had an eye for talent. He had no trouble getting Mitchell on track to sign a deal with Reprise Records in 1968 and getting her recorded. Joni didn’t need much in the way of backing; all she needed was a guitar, that beautiful voice and that god given talent. Her first record, Song To a Seagull (sometimes referred to as just Joni Mitchell), was followed by Clouds in 1969. Not only did she paint her own portrait for the cover, but “Chelsea Morning” and “Both Sides Now” were included on the record. Judy Collins, one of the few women…maybe Joan Baez as well…who were in Mitchell’s vocal class at the time, actually covered “Both Sides Now” with more success. Clouds ended up winning a Grammy Award for best Folk Performance. She was on her way…
I don’t think many folks would actually have foreseen the greatness that was to follow though. 1970′s Ladies of The Canyon is a masterpiece of the highest order. It begins with “Morning Morgantown” and doesn’t make a mistake for the ensuing 11 tracks culminating in “The Circle Game.” I remember a band called The Neighborhood covering “Big Yellow Taxi” with a lot of success. Everybody now knows the famous line “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” ”Woodstock” also appeared on this record (if memory serves, from reading about her last year, she wasn’t even at Woodstock…the song was written in a hotel room, but please don’t quote me), but it was immediately covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on their stellar Deja Vu record. Joni Mitchell and the boys from this group had a lot of ties. Mitchell was Canadian as was Neil Young so they had that in common. Crosby shepherded her cross country and you can bet they may have kissed a time or two as Mitchell was quite attractive in addition to her talent. But if I remember correctly she was living with Graham Nash at the time of Ladies of The Canyon. There are some who claim the C,S,N & Y song “Our House” was written about their alleged domestic bliss at the time.
Mitchell was hardly done here though. 1971′s Blue may be universally thought of as her very best piece of work. “Carey, California, The Last Time I Saw Richard” and on and on. 1972′s For The Roses yielded “You Turn Me On, I’m a Rado.” I don’t know anything about the process of genius, but I can see why Mitchell might have needed some time off in 1973, at least as far as recording goes. This is the exact point where Jazz and horns began to make their way into her music. Court and Spark was a monster. It may have been all too much for her because after Court and Spark, with the possible exception of “In France They Kiss On Main Street” from 1975′s The Hissing of Summer Lawns, “Coyote” from 1976′s Hejira and possibly “Jericho” from 1977′s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter Mitchell’s radio appeal began to fade seriously. Now radio changed a lot too, don’t get me wrong, but I can barely remember a couple of weeks of airplay for “You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care), which wasn’t even her song, from 1982′s Wild Things Run Fast. After that forget it. Now that doesn’t mean she didn’t make great records, it’s just that the public was no longer getting the news.
OK, I’ve gone on long enough about my love of Joni Mitchell’s work. She has over 20 records on the market counting the inevitable Greatest Hit packages. If you are inclined towards Jazz and don’t mind a bit of Folk mixed in with that you should be OK with her catalogue. I’m probably not going to convince anyone out there in this forum, but I felt like it had to be said. If you’re looking for a woman to Court and Spark this is the month and this is the time. Happy Valentine’s Day to all…
Joni Mitchell – Free Man in Paris.mp3
Joni Mitchell – Car On a Hill.mp3
Joni Mitchell – Raised On Robbery.mp3
Joni Mitchell – Raised On Robbery.mp3 YSI
Buy or download Court and Spark from Amazon.com here.
My Insipid Record Collection – Love
Feb 7th
OK, gather ’round children. We’re hitting the way back machine again. The magical year was 1967. The Summer of Love. The Los Angeles band we are discussing today, as we continue our Hallmark Holiday themed month, eventually came to be known as Love after temporarily calling itself The Grass Roots for a time. Apparently another L.A. band called The Grass Roots (of “Midnight Confessions” fame…talk about Guilty Pleasures…count me among the fans of that group as well) beat the Love Grass Roots to the punch by releasing a single and staking a claim to the name. I’d say it worked out well for both parties. Love was led by Arthur Lee, who called himself the first “Black Hippie” according to Rolling Stone. He was of the opinion that without him there would have been no Jimi Hendrix or Sly Stone. I don’t know about that, but what is true is that this guy was a pioneer. I can’t think of anybody remotely like him and don’t confuse him with Blues Rock legend Alvin Lee of Ten Years After fame either.
Love was a major factor in the Los Angeles music scene in the 60′s. It has been said that Lee’s role models were folks like Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and James Brown, but he took it in another direction. Love was involved in Folk Music, Psychedelic Rock and even some Latin or Spanish tinged sounding music. I can remember my childhood friend Jim’s older siblings having copies of Forever Changes and we both grew to like this record very much. We used to play it all the time while playing cards and board games. We were barely teenagers at the time and the record had been out seven or eight years by then, but like most records our “elders” turned us onto we treated it as new and fresh. And it was to us. I have to admit, I was a little slower to embrace Forever Changes as opposed to my friend Jim. I’m still a rocker at heart and Love could be construed as Soft Rock to some I suppose, but Jim would not take this record off the turntable so I absolutely absorbed it as a result. Jim and I actually got to see a version of Love behind Arthur Lee in early October of 1994 at a now defunct New York City nightclub called Tramps. The tickets were $10. I’m still dumbfounded at ticket prices sometimes. I’m gong to see another monster legend in John Mayall this Thursday night and those tickets are $27.50. Try seeing U2 for that kind of money. You can find some unbelievable entertainment bargains if you stay out of the stadiums.
Arthur Lee changed backing musicians with regularity and he allegedly struggled with narcotics and was even jailed at one point for unlawful possession of a firearm. He died in 2006, after a potracted battle with Lukemia, a tad bitter about failing to capitalize financially on his legend. His band did blaze the trail on a number of fronts though. They were the first rock band to sign on at Elektra Records, which was essentially a folk label until rock bands like The Doors put the rock stamp on the label for good. Love was also one of the first bands to release a song that took up an entire side of an LP (Long Playing record in case we’re losing you here with this walk down memory lane) when they released “Revelation” on De Capo in early 1967. One of Love’s other claims to fame was their racially mixed lineup. That didn’t happen very often in those days. Love was a very different act as rock bands go.
Arthur Lee had a lot of famous admirers. Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Jim Morrison of The Doors, William Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain, Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd can all be counted as Lee fans. The Folk Rock scene was huge in Los Angeles in the 60′s. The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield were unbelievably popular back then and Crosby, Stills, Nash & sometimes Young filled that void nicely after those bands broke up. The Mama’s and The Papa’s became wildly successful and the legendary Joni Mitchell also called that area home for many years just to name a few famous folkies. Arthur Lee and Love were as big as any of them with one exception; commercial success seemed to elude them.
Forever Changes was Love’s third record, but by then they were already fixtures at famous L.A. rock clubs like Brave New World and Whiskey a Go-Go. The thing is, Forever Changes barely dented the charts. Love already had a couple of singles from their earlier records by the time Forever Changes was released. “7 and 7 Is” and a cover of Burt Bacharach’s “My Little Red Book” had already charted for them before Forever Changes. They say that soft pop maestro Burt Bacharach didn’t care for Love’s rendition of “My Little Red Book” at all. I find that funny for some reason. The main reason Forever Changes didn’t sell as well, according to then Elektra head honcho Jac Holtzman, is that Lee didn’t like to tour. The rumor is that he preferred to stick close by his dealer. Now that’s addiction huh? Love even turned down a chance to play the legendary Monterey Pop Festival. Ouch.
Despite all the self imposed roadblocks to commercial success, Love’s Forever Changes is universally critically acclaimed to this day. It was more an album than a collection of hit singles, but you can find Love’s “Alone Again Or” covered by all kinds of diverse acts like Calexico, Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, The Damned, The Boo Radleys, Sarah Brightman and UFO. Rolling Stone says a London film company is working on a Rockumentary tentatively titled “Love Story” to chronicle the Love story. If you are like me and you like to change it up often you could do a lot worse than to work some Love into your iPod at one point or another. Enjoy.
Love – A House is Not a Motel.mp3
Buy or download Forever Changes from Amazon here.
My Insipid Record Collection – The Reivers
Jan 31st
Austin, TX is a hot bed for music. There is no denying that. If you have ever been there you can just feel the buzz on 6th Street. Deep in the heart of Texas scores of bands come and go, but an Austin band called The Reivers had a small, but fervent following. Sometimes, if you are like me and you just crave that CD you missed, you come across a record that has a lot of critical buzz many years later. The Reivers’ End of The Day has that kind of cult following. I bought this album about seven years ago or so when it finally surfaced on CD. It originally was released in 1989. I was much too busy with my R.E.M., U2 and Grunge fare of the day to have found this gem.
Austin has a nice cache of bands that either started there or have called it home at one time or another. You’re going to get a Blues and Southern Rock type sound from that zip code more often than not, but the names are still impressive even if Blues Rock is not your thing. The Reivers have more in common with Fairport Convention than Stevie Ray Vaughan, but you might recognize acts like The Arc Angels, Charlie Sexton, Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen, Eric Johnson, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, The Meat Puppets, Poi Dog Pondering, Roky Erickson, Shawn Colvin, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, The Butthole Surfers, Blue October, Omar & The Howlers, The Recliners, Robert Earl Keen and Spoon. But it’s really not about the acts you know; it’s more about the constant spirit of the bands that never get signed.
I went down to Austin for a trade show in 1998 or 1999 and made a beeline for 6th Street after my duties were taken care of for the day. I couldn’t find one co-worker willing to make the trip with me and it couldn’t have been more than a cab ride to get there as I recall. I wasn’t going to Austin and pass up a chance to sample the local wares. No way. I remember trolling from bar to bar and standing outside the door to listen to the band for a minute before I went in. I settled on a place where I heard a great solo coming from inside the bar. The place was nearly empty as I recall, but I got to see a guy named Matt Powell pushing new CD The Money & The Grass. He was selling them out of a suitcase between sets so I’m pretty sure he was unsigned. I’m looking at the CD I bought from him and it was released in 1998 by MIA Records. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I was thoroughly entertained and that this guy had a lot of talent. I just Googled him to see what he’s been up to and it seems he’s still down there dominating the free world. Good for him. I loved his CD, but my musical thirst marched on without knowing what became of him. I shook his hand, told him how much I enjoyed his show, bought his CD and off I went. That, to me, is one awesome outing. I helped out a struggling artist and saw a great show in a small venue (sorry, no recall there) in a great city and lived to tell about it.
The Reivers were one of those unknown Indie bands back in 1984 when they were known as Zeitgeist. Luckily they were forced to change their name and chose to name their band after a 1962 William Faulkner novel. The book was made into a movie in 1969 starring Steve McQueen. Of course, I didn’t know any of this prior to buying the CD, not because I’m completely illiterate or clueless when it comes to literary giants like Faulkner (even if that it is true); it was more of a function of that stuff happening before my tenth birthday. I’m still clueless when it comes to movies. I like going to the actual cinema as much as the next person, but I look at that $12 ticket and $15 worth of popcorn, candy and soda as two CDs. I just watched Spinal Tap again last night and laughed out loud again. I guess that is about my speed. Maybe I’ll meet someone who knows movies like I know music and the synergy will be exxxcellent, but I’m never going to be much of a movie expert I’m afraid.
I don’t own all of the four records released by The Reivers, but I will. They were comprised of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist John Croslin, bassist Cindy Toth, vocalist and guitarist Kim Longacre and Garrett Williams on drums. They made popular folkish music with a touch of rock and Indie credibility to it. They had stellar harmonies and yet nobody really has ever heard of them. Their story is so typical, yet they are so far under the radar I can’t name a single person I know who knows them. How sad it that? I’m listening to them as I type and I’m trying to figure out who they sound like. I know I mentioned Fairport Convention earlier, but I don’t know if it’s fair to compare Kim Longacre with Sandy Denny. It’s just that she has a great voice and I love her sound. John Croslin’s voice kind of reminds me of Australian rocker Dave Faulkner (there’s some irony no?…Meet The Faulkners) of Hoodoo Gurus fame on those rare occasions when he sings without those beautiful crunching electric guitars. I still love those guys to this day.
By the way, End of The Day is one of those records where you can’t necessarily pick a favorite. It’s not because it is blow away great either; it’s because it’s so solidly even. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that “Almost Home” from this record was covered by countrified soft rockers Hootie & The Blowfish according to our friends at Wikipedia. I have to laugh out loud when I think about Hootie. I’m always a bit ahead of the curve and buy stuff on somebody’s say so, an early review or because some girl I dated like the record, but Hootie’s Cracked Rear View can be found on some shelf in my collection with considerable dust on it. You can bet I’d love to have Darius Rucker’s money though. I just didn’t know I’d be subjected to listening to that CD so many times in so many public places. And unfortunately, it’s not the only one…I think I saw John Mayer’s Room For Squares the other day too. Ouch. At the end of the day…god I say that way too much…End of The Day is one of those massive sleepers that leave you wondering why nobody bought their records and why this band could only survive six or seven years before packing it in around 1991. I hope they are proud regardless. An awful lot of people loved this record.
The Reivers – Star Telegram.mp3
The Reivers – End of The Day.mp3
The Reivers – End of The Day.mp3 YSI
Buy or download End of The Day from Amazon here.
My Insipid Record Collection – The Waterboys
Dec 23rd
I didn’t know much about The Waterboys until somebody at The CD Store I managed in 1986 started playing them from time to time. I can remember, one of my favorite DJs from all my time in Boston, Morning Guy Tai at WFNX playing The Waterboys fairly often during his stint as the Morning Drive guy from 1985-1997. No offense to all who have come and gone since, the morning show hasn’t been the same since. Just my two cents. Anyway, Tai was a fan of The Waterboys and played several of their tracks fairly often including “The Whole of The Moon, A Girl Called Johnny, Fisherman’s Blues and World Party.” I had seen their CDs in my store (1983′s The Waterboys, 1984′s A Pagan Place and 1985′s This is The Sea), but I didn’t really know much about them except for “The Whole of The Moon” from This is The Sea.
Some of you may know Karl Wallinger, The Waterboys’ keyboardist, went on to form the band World Party in 1986. Private Revolution, their first CD, was an absolute smash hit. In a strange bit of irony I ended up seeing World Party at The Paradise (May 16, 1990) before I finally saw The Waterboys later that year at The Orpheum (November 14, 1990). Pound for pound, World Party, which was a mixed bag of folk, funk and blue-eyed soul, was much more of a commercial entity than The Waterboys ever were. “The Whole of The Moon” though, was an iconic tune that far surpassed the output of either band as far as I’m concerned. Not that “Fisherman’s Blues” isn’t an awesome tune, but “The Whole of The Moon” is on another plane and I loved World Party. Wallinger, in addition to stints in The Waterboys (1983-1986) and World Party (1986-1993, 1997-to present), he played in a band called Quasimodo that spawned a couple of members (Dave Sharp and Nigel Twist) who later surfaced in the successful Welsh rock group The Alarm. Kurt also contributed to Sinead O’Connor’s brilliant debut CD The Lion and The Cobra (1987) while simultaneously working on material for World Party. He was musical director for British version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and later fulfilled the very same role for blockbuster movies such as Clueless and Reality Bites to name just a few. Karl suffered a serious aneurysm in 2000, but he continues to work to this day after many years of rehab learning how to speak all over again.
The Waterboys, led by Mike Scott, carried on post Wallinger with their highest selling CD ever in 1988′s Fisherman’s Blues. Early Waterboys’ music was not quite the Irish and Scottish folk fest that Fisherman’s Blues was and the critics either loved this record or hated it. There was no inbetween. I bought it, of course, because “Fisherman’s Blues” was a brilliant single. According to Wikipedia The Waterboys used many local Irish musicians that routinely performed in the Irish cities of Dublin and Spiddal where they had set up shop to record this record. There were four more tracks on Fisherman’s Blues than on This is The Sea due to the three year layoff regrouping from the personnel changes. Personally, I could see both points of view regarding this record. I had no real track record or frame of reference to go on, but 1990′s Room To Roam had two soft rock hits called “A Life of Sundays” and “A Man is in Love.” The Waterboys never again had that major league thump that had made them so popular. The Waterboys turned into Mike Scott’s solo project and the 1993 release Dream Harder, while carrying on The Waterboys name, was basically a Scott solo album in much the same way the 1990 “Replacements” album All Shook Down was Paul Westerberg’s last grasp at The Replacements name. They may well have been contract fulfillment pieces for all I know, but it just didn’t feel right ya know?
OK, I know nobody is going to read this with all the year end 2009 lists being posted daily so I’ll end this post by saying Merry Christmas to all of our readers (we can count you now so thanks for moving over to WordPress with us!). I’m going to have to put up some kind of year end piece next week and I’m cramming for that dreaded post as we speak. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these Waterboys’ classics.
The Waterboys – The Whole of The Moon.mp3
The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues.mp3
The Waterboys- Fisherman’s Blues.mp3 YSI
Buy or download The Best of The Waterboys ’81-’90 from Amazon here.
Happy Thanksgiving – Arlo Guthrie
Nov 25th
I love Thanksgiving. I always have. It’s gotta be my favorite holiday. It has a different significance for me now than when I was a college kid triumphantly returning from the playground that is Boston to rural New Jersey each year. I can remember the first time we went home for Turkey from college; it was the winter of 1978. I had been gone maybe ten weeks, but it seemed like forever at that age. The night before, the best drinking night of the year, was to be spent at the local bar of choice in search of that cheerleader you couldn’t quite catch even though you had at least four years to do so. In my case, I went to North Hunterdon Regional High School in Annandale, NJ for one year (1975) before the school spun off into what is now Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, NJ. As a result I had friends in several school districts in that general area; Califon, Tewksbury, Clinton Township, Lebanon, High Bridge, Whitehouse, Washington, Flemington and Annandale just to name a few. We frequented places that included some places that I’m sure are no longer there including The Stable in High Bridge, Miller’s Tavern & The Antler Inn on the Annandale/Clinton line, The Tewksbury Inn in Oldwick, The Brass Penny in Peapack, Smiley’s on Route 31 in Clinton, The River Styx & The Brookside Inn in Califon, The Place in Glen Gardner and half a dozen other places I’m totally forgetting having been gone over 30 years now. That’s a lot of ground to cover in one night in search of an old flame right? We’d be lucky to hit three bars that night honestly…
My mother was so happy to see me I could barely get out of the house after dinner the night before Thanksgiving. My car was gone, having sold it upon leaving town, so I was at the mercy of my mother and her Buick. It would be comical if I wasn’t in such a mad hurry to meet up with my buddies. I had what amounts to a six or seven year crush on the same girl, but I wasn’t worried about her; the feeling was never mutual and I had several new unrequited loves by then. If I ran into her, great, but I wasn’t going out of my way to find her. I just wanted to pound with my buddies and talk it over. An awful lot of unchaperoned activity had gone down in those ten weeks. I might even have even had something to contribute to the ongoing “conversation” by then. I think you know what I mean (as Oasis once said).
The key on pre-Thanksgiving nights out has always been don’t drink so much that you can’t function in front of the family the next day…that would be bad…especially at 19. I guess I should preface that back in those days the drinking age was 18. It was changed in Massachusetts to 20 in 1979 or 1980 if memory serves, but I had grandfather privileges somehow. I don’t remember the specifics, but I’ve had unfettered access to alcohol since my 18th birthday. I guess that just makes me old (as he takes a sip of his Jack & Coke). I do know that after my mom left just after dropping me off for college (in tears of course), my roommate and I went down to the Bull & Finch Pub, better known as Cheers today, for a burger and a beer. That would be September of 1978. Man that was a long time ago…
By the way, I know you folks know that my paragraphs are normally too long and since we just made the changeover to WordPress.org from Blogspot I lost about two inches of margin. I feel like I’m writing straight up and down now. I’m trying to make shorter paragraphs, but it’s just not that easy. I hope you like the new setup better, but I’m still working through a million issues with The Giant Panther. I’m terminally anal and I want this site to do tricks it’s not designed to do so I’m a bit frustrated. I’m trying to get a handle on that anger. I hope you will bear with me.
Thanksgiving Day in NJ from the time I was about eight meant a near two hour drive from Tewksbury Township to Rivervale, NJ just outside New York City. I went back to that house for Thanksgiving about 2005 and it hit me how close it was. And that was after a seven hour drive that should have taken four hours. I turned down a family invite this year for that very reason. If I never have to navigate an airport, a bus station, a train station or a highway on Thanksgiving ever again it won’t be soon enough. That also goes for so called Black Friday shopping.
My mother had a brother named Charlie whom we called Uncle Charlie for obvious reasons. My love of baseball then didn’t register his moniker as slang for a curveball, but that was what he was to us. I came from a family of four and Uncle Charlie had four beautiful daughters. That meant there were eight of us kids to be managed each time Thanksgiving rolled around. The day was more about watching the Lions and Cowboys play in those days than anything else, but the main thing we absolutely had to do was stay out of Uncle Charlie’s way. He was a gruff postman who had a fuse shorter than Bobby Knight. I feared this guy and by rights he shouldn’t have been able to lay a glove on me (not that he ever did, but the fear was real…he was combustible). I can’t recall his cocktail of choice, but it didn’t take long for him to start ruling with an iron fist. One thing he did that we found interesting was he operated a ham radio and had friends all over the world. It was probably just the nation, but I can probably trace a bit of my love of radio to him. By the end of the day though, after being on relative pins and needles for eight hours or so, I was ready to head home. I loved my cousins, but it was tense at times.
WNEW-FM in New York used to play Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day and I grew to associate this tale of littering and overzealous small town police work with my favorite holiday. We all knew Christmas was headed down the pike like a steam train the second the big meal was over and that only added to our love of Thanksgiving Day. High school football, tag football in between games, the Macy’s Day Parade on TV, two NFL games and a rousing version of Alice’s Restaurant made for a big day in my youth. It still does frankly. I get up around 9 AM, hit the gym if possible, come back and make a pot of coffee and play all 18 minutes and 37 seconds of Arlo’s tale of woe. One my heroes, Bob Dylan, was mad for his father Woody Guthrie so it all comes full circle somehow for me. I listen to it once and once only every single year. I might throw in a quick listen to “Coming Into Los Angeles” afterwards, but “Alice’s Restaurant” has been and will continue to be, a staple in my house every Thanksgiving Day without fail. It just feels right. I hope you all have a great meal and have plenty to be thankful for. This economy is not going to last forever.
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant Massacree
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant massacree.mp3 YSI
Buy or Download the album Alice’s Restaurant from Amazon here.
My Insipid Record Collection – Timbuk 3
Nov 10th
Here’s an act that I really liked back in the late 80′s and into the 90′s. They were a folk duo with a drum machine called Timbuk 3. I only first heard them in 1986 when the late WBCN used to play their first single “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.” For years, and thankfully I’ve broken myself of this habit, folks used to ask me how I was doing and I’d say “Doin’ alright, gettin’ good grades” as in “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.” This band always had clever wordplay and I have always loved that kind of thing. “Fifty thou a year’ll buy a lotta beer” was another cute line from this once fairly popular song. Radio took to it pretty well and it gave these guys some footing, but I feel like I was the only one buying their records. They probably did too. I got a big kick out of them. “Shades” even made it all the way to #19 on the Hot Billboard 100 in 1986. Not bad huh?
Timbuk 3 initially consisted of a husband and wife team named Pat & Barbara MacDonald. I saw them play live on the grounds of Boston’s Channel Club back on October 30, 1991. The legendary Channel was on its last legs by then and they had opened a tiny little club for smaller acts called “Club Vertigo” in the back of the same building. That is where I saw Timbuk 3. By then they had added real live backing musicians to their band so they were now a foursome. Timbuk 3 only recorded from 1986 through 1995, but all of their records had some redeeming music on them. I was definitely a fan. I bought every single one of their full length releases. They appeared on MTV’s The Cutting Edge in 1986 and I.R.S. Records subsequently bankrolled them as a result. I don’t pay much attention to radio programming, as ludicrous as that statement sounds coming from me, as it applies to artists that aren’t getting played. I was hooked on this band immediately. Greetings From Timbuk 3, their first album starring “Shades,” was a blast. There isn’t a bad track on it and a favorite cut of mine, “Shame On You,” was apparently featured in the opening scenes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, but as you know if you read my Halloween post; I didn’t see it. According to Wikipedia, their music has been featured on over 20 combined compilations and movie soundtracks. Pretty good for a band nobody knows huh?
There isn’t much information on the World Wide Web about these guys, but they were nominated for a 1987 Grammy for Best New Artist. That must have been a huge honor for them and very well deserved in my view. They have some allegiance with both Madison, Wisconsin and Austin, TX, but I don’t have all the facts unfortunately. There next record after Greetings was Eden Alley, which again was excellent. It was kind of country folk with ironic lyrics and catchy melodies. After two records I was sold. I just bought the rest without hearing a note in advance. One of my all time favorites in their catalogue, and I promise you that ten or more of their songs are in the running, is “Dirty Dirty Rice” from their third, and some would say their best, release called Edge of Allegiance. Released in 1989 amidst the R.E.M., Soundgarden and U2 fare of the day, it is flat amazing that this band was kept alive for another six years. I don’t know a single soul that has these records, let alone treasures them like I do. “Dirty Dirty Rice” popped up on my Sony iPod like device not three hours ago at the gym and I enjoyed the heck out of it for the billionth time. It’s sometimes spooky how you know a band is out there and somebody somewhere is obviously enjoying them just like you, yet nobody you know knows anything about them…it’s kind of like being on your own musical island…
I’m going to recant this thought for one hot minute now that I just remembered something; I once gave a mixed track cassette to a friend of mine in the early 90′s. A real non starter of a music fan if I ever saw one (he’s the kind of guy who will listen to maybe 100 albums of music total until the day he dies with no desire or room for anything new…and this has been going on for 20 years already). I finally figured out that if I give away a cassette I had better make sure I still have the master because it will only be a matter of months until said giftee loses or destroys the copy I give them. Anyway, I give this guy one of my all time great cassettes with The Cure, The Jam, The The, New Order, The Clash and all the other your “B” but probably my “A” cuts of the day and wouldn’t you know, out of 90 minutes and maybe 25 songs he comes back with “I love that song Dirty, Dirty Rice.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All of the songs he could have come back with…funny…you never know what will strike someone…turns out he wasn’t so stupid after all…
Timbuk 3 was unfairly pigeon-holed as a novelty band because of “Shades.” It had those funny ironic lyrics and nobody who depended on the radio for their musical knowledge ever heard from them again. They must have been terrible right? Wrong! The truth is these folks were very good song writers and their voices blended beautifully right on through their last record in 1995. I think, unfortunately, their records are out of print these days due to public apathy. That’s a real shame, but they were very cool for my money and I just loved ‘em. So what if you’ve never heard of them? Sometimes that is what The Giant Panther is for…just in case you missed it…
Timbuk 3 – Dirty Dirty Rice.mp3
Timbuk 3 – Dirty Dirty Rice.mp3 YSI
One Track Mind – Pete Droge
Sep 12th
This is all I know about Pete Droge; a friend of mine, Stacy, who is also a masseuse, told me about this artist while I was on the table about 15 years ago. Stacy and I had worked together in a restaurant called TGI Fridays in the early 80′s. She was a very cool, make things happen chick who took a shine to yours truly about 30 years ago. Sounds sad to say now, but back in the day it was practically all I had to go on. We ran in a circle of friends that, at such a tender age, lent itself to a bit of a mutual stat culture. I don’t mean to say this in any kind of a negative way, but from time to time one or more of my buddies may well have had sex with the same woman. Most of the time I was on the outside looking in, but generally speaking eminent domain was a phallacy. My relationship, such as it was, with Stacy was not exclusive. That is not to say Stacy slept around, because she most certainly did not, but I might know two or three guys that enjoyed the same experience in a manner of speaking. Not that there’s anything wrong with that mind you. She was a blast.
The only reason I even mention it is because Stacy had great taste in music. She turned me onto a couple of bands that I might not have ordinarily caught onto. For that I will always be Grateful, if not Dead. One night, exactly one year apart almost to the day, we were enjoying each other’s company for a second time when my roommate, a temporary fix based on the departure of a long time friend, kicked down my bedroom door mid act thinking I was enjoying the company of his ex. Stacy and I enjoyed a good laugh about it, but it was always something we had in common even if our relationship was relatively temporary in its own right. I basically parted company with all parties involved on the spot, but that didn’t stop me from hiring Stacy when I needed a massage. She was terrific even sans the happy endings. One night she laid the music of Pete Droge on me. Pete is an alternative folk singer-songwriter. I guess the song that I came to post today, “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself),” appeared in the soundtrack to the slapstick comedy Dumb and Dumber later that year, but I had no idea. I just knew a friend of mine turned me onto a great song.
I’m a sucker for a simple guitar riff and a good melody. It’s not that complicated. My friends laugh at me for saying I’d prefer a woman with similar taste in music, but it’s so true. I have enough ammunition to not buy another record for my final thirty or forty years on the planet and it’s completely portable. I can see myself as a Tiki Bar owner, hello John Hiatt, in my Golden Years (ooo wop wop wop…don’t let them tell you your life’s taking you nowhere…). If I had a woman half as curious and half as musically tolerant I’d have scored big time. I want to play Back in Black and Court and Spark back to back and have her adroitly adapt without batting an eye. Perhaps that’s asking (A Touch) Too Much. I’m probably just waiting for that proverbial Car On A Hill, but it seems reasonable when you consider how many women I see at each and every show I attend. They seem to be having as much fun as I am. We just don’t seem to know each other is all and it’s a shame.
Anyway, “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself)” is a great song. I haven’t given the Final Solution much thought as it applies to women, but I get a kick out of this song’s sentiment. Since I was crushed in the 80′s, apparently never to recover, it feels like a bit of a theme song for me. Pete, of course, can just shove on to the next venue and put some salve on his wounds any time he feels like it, but I can’t play a lick of guitar. That puts me at a distinct disadvantage. You’d think after 23 years I’d have moved on to the next disappointment, but the fact is I haven’t. See what happens when you blog after midnight? It’s like truth serum. And drunk dialing. Don’t forget Sexting. Total heart on the sleeve crap. Stacy (they call me Stay-cee, they call me her) probably wishes I felt the same way about her, but I never did. Love Stinks for sure, but particularly when you are on the wrong end of the gun. Oh well. Here’s a little Pete Droge for those of you who know what I’m talkin’ about.
P.S. Congrats to The Giant Panther who recently got engaged to a great lady! Score!!!
Pete Droge – If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself).mp3
Pete Droge – If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself).mp3 YSI
Guilty Pleasures – Donovan
Sep 1st
When I was a young man I remember my father, who played a lot of fastpitch softball as I once did, had a teammate named Tommy Armstrong. I used to play bat boy for free sodas so I got to know the team pretty well. Tommy was probably seven or eight years younger than my father and, as such, was in much better touch with the world of rock music I loved so much. My father liked Booker T & The MGs “Green Onions,” but that’s as far as it got. I’m pretty sure I mentioned in past blogs how much he hated my copy of Tommy James & The Shondells’ “Crimson & Clover,” but just to reinforce it again my father and I had nothing in common musically. My mother, however, is largely responsible for the passion you see before you on a weekly basis. She played Little Richard, The Shangri La’s, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and, of course, Elvis Presley. She loved Frank Sinatra, but this is the gist of my first ten years of exposure to Rock & Roll. Hat off to ya mom…I think…
Incredibly, Tommy Armstrong would actually lend me, a nine or ten year old kid (is he crazy!?), some of his very best records. I remember him lending me The Best of Bob Dylan, Volume I & The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed. I’m pretty sure it was Tommy who lent me a copy of Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night too. Neil gets a bad rap what with “Sweet Caroline” being played every night in the 8th inning at Fenway Park and all, but he wrote some great tunes. UB40 can thank him for “Red, Red Wine” if I recall correctly as can The Monkees for “I’m a Believer.” And those are just a couple of songs he wrote, but didn’t have big hits with himself. I’m a “Kentucky Woman” fan myself, but Neil doesn’t have to apologize to anyone and I haven’t paid much attention to him since 1973. Back to Tommy’s album collection; he also lent me a copy of Donovan’s Barabajagal. I’ve been a fan of this record since I was 10 years old. I know as TV’s Craig Ferguson might opine with humor…
Donovan Leitch is a Scottish folk singer-songwriter who was wildly popular in the 60′s among the flower power set. He mixed jazz, psychedelic rock, pop, world and fusion sounds to score several top 40 hits. Most people would recognize “Mellow Yellow” or “Sunshine Superman” or “Season of The Witch,” but he has a pretty healthy catalogue of good music. He became so popular in England that he was the first artist Clive Davis ever signed to Epic Records, which was a subsidiary of CBS Records at the time. In 1968 Donovan released the single “Hurdy Gurdy Man” and received the best radio airplay he had ever had ’til that point. In 1969, The Jeff Beck Group, sans Rod Stewart, backed him on the single “Barabajagal” and he scored some credibility among the rock set. He had long been friends of The Rolling Stones’ Brian Johnson and The Beatles, but many of his songs didn’t rock hard enough for the masses. I was too young to know he didn’t rock before I started digging his music. He was and is a folkie for sure, but a good one.
Donovan was also a poet. The song I want to post today is “Atlantis.” Atlantis was originally released as a B side to a song called “To Susan On The West Coast Waiting” in January 1968 and radio programmers immediately gravitated to the stronger “Atlantis.” No offense to “Susan,” a song I enjoy myself very much, but “Atlantis” was a monster track back in the day. It starts out as a poem with some easy listening, but slightly eerie music backing the reading. It then builds until it unleashes a crescendo of great sound and harmonies. Apparently Sir Paul McCartney sang backup on this song, which I didn’t know until about fifteen minutes ago, but I just love this whole piece. It’s probably folklore, but Atlantis, which was supposedly an island near Greece, is alleged to have fallen into the sea after attempting to invade Athens. Plato is considered largely responsible for its existence in the history books, but truth or fiction, it is not fun to consider a lost city under the Ocean? Seriously, would Aquaman have been able to summon a school of dolphins to his aid without this shaky tale of an underwater community? I think not. The song was also featured in the movie “Goodfellas” during a particularly gruesome scene if memory serves. God that movie was entertaining no?
Barabajagal was a mix of jazz, rock and folk. It has some weak material on it such as “I Love My Shirt,” but I have to tell you I don’t mind any of it. “Superlungs My Supergirl” is another fun track. I can throw this onto my turntable or into my CD player and be right back in front of my close and play record player checking out the album artwork. Donovan still records to this day, but from 1966-1971 he was as popular as The Doors, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin or any of the acts surrounding the venerable one-two punch of The Beatles and The Stones. Flower power, The Summer of Love, Hippie Dippie Weathermen and many things associated with folk music and peace and love faded as the 60′s came to a close, but Donovan’s legacy is pretty cool. He was never the English Bob Dylan, but I definitely enjoyed his music antediluvian kings and all. Hail Atlantis!….
