Charles Bukowski - Notes of a Dirty Old Man

I first came to know about Bukowski in the early 80's, though I have recently learned that I read an article or two in rock magazines in the 70's before I knew who he was. Now, he is not particularly r'n'r - his music of choice was classical - but damned if he didn't influence a large number of musicians - from punk rockers to Bono - and he has certainly helped me put down some words now and again.

This book is a collection of columns he wrote for a Los Angeles free paper, Open City, who admired his work and allowed him pretty much free reign. He had mostly written poetry at this point so these were experiments in prose and the subject matter would range - as it would in his poetry - from wild fantasies to real life experiences, with plenty of overlap. This is all from a fairly early stage in his writings, where he would really lay down the lines with a mix of drunken power and evocative imagery. Later his writing would be a little more straight-forward, but I really appreciate this style where he would describe things in fantastical terms - making the prose quite poetic. Yes, the stories could be vile and he describes himself as cowardly, misogynistic, violent and at times boorish, but it was also quite real - whether the tales were factual or not. The pain, the jealousy, the misanthropic tendencies, the troubled relationships could all come across very humanly - and was very easy to relate to.

I always said that, as much as I dug his writings, I did not particularly ever want to meet him, because I expected that I would not like him in person. But, I have collected a number of his books - and was lucky enough to live in Hollywood nearby a bookstore run by a friend of his who would always stock his stuff, new & old - and while I appreciate just about everything of his, the early works stick with me and are what I would recommend to anyone. I have an early pressing of this book so I don't know if there were any changes in later pressings (the cover of mine is a B&W variation on the one pictured), but this and his Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness are the books that I go back to most often (as their conditions would readily tell you). You may not like him or some of his stories, but you can certainly learn something about writing from these.

Here's the original cover:

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Released just 5 months after the ground-breaking Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited

continues with Dylan's fascination with combining electric r'n'r with his poetry and, combined with the previous album, marks his two most defining albums.

Opening with the hit song "Like a Rolling Stone", driven by Mike Bloomfield's guitar licks and Al Kooper's organ (which he claimed to barely know how to play at the time), this tale of cynicism, resentment and revenge became one of his most acclaimed numbers and another song with innumerable covers, most notably Jimi Hendrix's terrific take on it. "Tombstone Blues" is a fast blues-rocker that Dylan rambles over in his inimitable way, with more classic lines like "the sun isn't yellow, it's chicken" as Bloomfield blasts out riffs around him. He slows things down a bit for the sultry blues of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", another song with such a great feel and swing that it gave us many fine covers - Leon Russell did a particularly wonderful one - fitting, since Dylan worked this one out on the piano. He takes a number of blues riffs and mashes them together for "From a Buick 6" and gives us an upbeat, funky number, with more cool organ work and fun lines like "she walks like Bo Diddley" and the blues-y "well, if I go down dyin' you know she's bound to put a blanket on my bed". Another of his finest closed the first side of the vinyl, "Ballad of a Thin Man', with the piano and organ working the minor chords together to create a spooky mood, while his abstract lyrics give a feeling of isolation and confusion as he repeats "something is happening but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones". There's been lots of speculation as to who the Mr. Jones was, including Dylan himself. Again, lots of other groups did fantastic versions of this, including, of all people, the Grass Roots.

One of his more lovely melodies opens up side two in "Queen Anne Approximately", a song more of love than revenge and is quite evocative, even in the simple lyrics  "won't you come see me, Queen Jane". The title track is driven by slide guitar and, humorously, a siren whistle that was handed to Dylan before they cut the take to add some variety. The song is filled with mini-stories and plenty of characters, all intersecting on Highway 61, including the opening tale of God & Abraham!  He gets more quietly serious in "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (despite the odd title), telling of a trip to Juarez, Mexico with many twists and turns, all told obliquely, with references to Edgar Allen Poe, Kerouac, and more. The acoustic "Desolation Row" is the epic number on this album, a fine ballad in his more traditional style with added acoustic guitar licks moving around Dylan's lyrics.

Again, this record, along with Bringing It All Back Home, basically defined Dylan's style from here on out. Of course, he would surprise people here and there, but these are the blueprints for his work and are a couple of the most influential records in r'n'r. Another essential outing.

recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 26 - The All Togethers at the Gold Spike

Saturday Dec 28 - The All Togethers at the Dillinger

Sunday Jan 19 - Delta Bombers at Bar 702

Sunday Feb 9 - Astaires at LVCS w/the Toasters

Friday Jan 17 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Jan 24 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Sat Jan 25 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Mar 14 - Delta Bombers - Gold Mine Tavern, Henderson

What have I forgotten? Lemme know! Is everyone slowing down for the holidays? Haven't heard about many cool gigs for a while.

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home

On this, his 5th studio album, Dylan began his experimentation with r'n'r, using an electric band for the first half of the album while returning to his acoustic side for the second half. But he managed to alienate his old fan base on both sides - offending the purists with his electric experimentation and with his move away from his protest songs to more personal and abstract lyrics in his acoustic numbers. Ironically, this has become one of his most well-known and iconic albums, precisely because of these moves.

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is an upbeat talking blues that most people will know from the early "video" that was done with Bob and his placecards - and guest appearances by the likes of Allen Ginsberg - not to mention great lines like "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows", which gave name to a leftist political group. While still electric, with some nice, melodic guitar lines, "She Belongs to Me" is a laid-back ballad-y number and is followed by the powerfully acerbic "Maggie's Farm", documenting his move away from the protest scene and those trying to hold him back. He returns to a low-key love song in "Love Minus Zero / No Limit", similar in style to "She Belongs to Me" - far from a rockin' raver - simply another nice Dylan tune with some electric guitar added. But "Outlaw Blues" is a harder blues, again referencing his move away from the protest scene and "On the Road Again" is one of his absurdist, wildly abstract lyrical inventions, which led to multiple parodies. He updates "Motorpsycho Nitemare" in "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream", though here with cool electric guitar lines intertwining with his acoustic as he surrealistically rambles about American society.

The acoustic side opens with his "Mr. Tamborine Man" (although, again, there are some electric guitar lines throughout), which is beautifully done and would shortly become the breakthrough smash hit for the Byrds. "Gates of Eden" follows, which contains more abstract lyrics but seems vaguely political and certainly sounds like a judgement on the American society. With its descending guitar line and minor chords, "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is one of Dylan's most successful songs, with many memorable and oft-quoted lines and plenty of venom. But, it's impossible to name any one as Dylan's best, as immediately following is the terrific "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", a beautifully sad parting song that again has had innumerable covers - most quite well done.

Again, there is no way to claim any one song or album is Dylan's best, but this is definitely a record that everyone should own and another that helped change the face of popular music forever.

Louis Jordan - The Best of

With his blend of jazz, swing, big band and jump blues (which he helped to create), Louis Jordan was one of

the most successful African-American musicians of the 20th century, selling millions of records, crossing over to the white audiences and appearing in numerous movies. This multi-instrumentalist is known primarily as a saxophonist and singer and his comedic personality won over many fans throughout his several decade career. His style pre-dated r'n'r and was highly influential on early practitioners such as Bill Haley.

This 20 song set includes many of his best known tunes, from the jumpin' boogie-woogie of  "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie", "Caldonia", "Beans and Cornbread" and "Let the Good Times Roll" (which did end up in many r'n'r combo's repertoires) to the jovial "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" and "Barnyard Boogie", to the party tune "Saturday Night Fish Fry", to the jokey marriage warning of "Beware" to some slower numbers like "Knock Me a Kiss" and "Blue Light Boogie", to the Calypso-like "Run Joe" and "Early in the Mornin'" to the nursery rhymes of "School Days" to the always-relevant "What's the Use of Getting Sober". He has a tune called "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" that is not related to the Gerry and the Pacemakers song, but is a slow blues, as is "Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door" and "Nobody Knows You When You Are Down and Out".

This is an excellent selection of pre-r'n'r jump blues, with plenty of humor and fun and swingin' times. I am not as familiar with this genre as I would like to be, but this certainly seems to be a great place to start learning!

Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan

On this, his 4th album, Dylan made a conscious effort to tone down his political rhetoric and simply write songs - and some damn good ones - which prompted the album title. But, he is still solo here - mostly guitar and harmonica but occasionally piano, as well. Even though he had not yet ventured into his electric phase, he garnered criticism just from his lyrical move.

In any case, the record opens with a terrific number, "All I Really Want To Do", which became one of his most famous tunes due to hit covers by both Cher and the Byrds. Here he continues to add occasional Jimmie Rodgers-esque yodels and giggles, showing that he did not take himself overly serious here. "Black Crow Blues" is a fairly straight-forward blues number with Dylan tackling the piano as his backing, rather than guitar, though he still managed to blow some harp, also. His more rambling, folk style is more apparent in "Spanish Harlem Incident" and the emotionally charged "Chimes of Freedom". He does another Guthrie-inspired "talking blues" in "I Shall Be Free No. 10", where he gets downright silly, especially when - but hardly limited to - threatening Cassius Clay!

He is much more serious in "To Ramona", a tender love song set to a waltz-beat, of all things, with a more distinct melody than many of his, causing this to be described as one of his "most realized songs" by critics. "Motorpsycho Nitemare" would be revisited later as "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream", though the tale here is a humorous take on the old farmer's daughter joke. Another classic from this album is the wonderful and oft-covered "My Back Pages" with its terrific refrain "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now". There's a highly familiar descending melody in "I Don't Believe You" that I can't place and he borrows from a Scottish folk song for the vitriolic (but still lovely) "Ballad in Plain D", detailing his breakup with former album cover mate and lover, Suze Rotolo. A bookend to "All I Really Want To Do", the closer "It Ain't Me Babe" was also covered by many and made a hit at least once or twice (the Turtles took it highest) and was also a bitter rebuke to a former lover.

This is definitely a classic album, with some of Dylan's most memorable, early tunes. Many Dylan records should be in everyone's collection and this would be one.

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

As I have said numerous times, I am always surprised by the albums that I have not reviewed here - this one

is particularly puzzling as I went through a big Dylan phase a while back and thought that I talked about most of his records that I own, but it looks like I haven't. ANYWAY...

On this, Bob's debut album, his Woody Guthrie influences are highly apparent - his style, songwriting, choice of covers and entire attitude are all based on Guthrie and his mythos. There are "talking blues" - a favorite of Woody, and there is a reference to him in "Talkin' New York" - covers of songs like "House of the Rising Sun" that WG did, and even an ode titled "Song to Woody". Of course, Dylan had a new, youthful attitude and would grow to be completely unique, but his debt to Guthrie is obvious.

Here he has yet to have gotten too terribly political at this point, other than the politics of being a young folksinger in NYC. He talks more of his personal life than anything else, but with humor and wit. "In My Time of Dyin'" shows just how well he studied his traditional blues as well as the folk stylings of "Man of Constant Sorrow", the passionate "Fixin' to Die", and the re-worked, upbeat "Pretty Peggy-O". His cover of "Highway 51" shows beginnings of his later "It's Alright Ma" while his take on "Gospel Plow" highlights some percussive harmonica playing and spirited singing. He "borrowed" friends' arrangements, such as Eric Von Schmidt's "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" (where he credits Schmidt) and Dave Van Ronk's take on the old "House of the Rising Sun", which in turn gave the Animals their idea for the song.

Of course, Dylan had to play the wandering hobo, so the inclusion of John Lair's "Freight Train Blues" is logical. I've never heard the original (that I can recall), but here it is done as a yondelin', Jimmie Rodgers' styled number, showing off what he could do with his voice. The afore-mentioned "Song to Woody" is a serious homage and the album is closed with Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean".

While this record may not have shown the genius to come, it is a strong debut for this young folk-singer and showed that his heart was in the right place and that he was passionate and dedicated. Certainly a strong debut.

Woody Guthrie - A Life

Woody Guthrie is, of course, the man who revolutionized folk music in America and showed its strength and power and showed that you could modernize folk music and didn't have to simply rely on the old songs. This legacy brought us Bob Dylan, among many others, which alone makes Woody a man worth knowing!

I quite enjoyed the background on Woody’s family, disturbing though it was. His father was, ironically, a bigot, anti-Socialist, money-hungering man who took advantage of people, got into violent brawls and apparently participated in the murder of an innocent black family. His sister set herself on fire during an argument with their mother, and his mother – who taught him many of the old-country folk songs - was mentally unstable and diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, as rare malady. Certainly an odd background for this man-of-the-people.

But, what a life he did manage to lead! Traveling through the country, a restless man never able to stay put for very long, he went from coast to coast, with some success on the radio in the LA area and success with Alan Lomax and the Communist party in NYC. Of course, the nomadic ways did not help his struggling family (he seemed to manage to impregnate his wife any time he wandered through their small town in Oklahoma) but, while he was not there in person, he did seem to try to send money whenever he could – and whenever he didn’t simply give what he had to strangers.

He would come back to his wife and kids or bring them to him but eventually, it all became too much for them and they left him. He settled in NYC and fell in love again with a dancer, Marjorie, and settled down (as much as he could) with her and their new family. He spent time in the merchant marines and the army and wrote continuously – there are numerous quotes from quite personal and lewd letters that – while certainly trying to make him more human – seemed embarrassing as obviously no one else was supposed to read these. But this, and later, almost Lenny Bruce-esque performances that lapsed into rambling talks and berating the audience, apparently were symptoms of Huntington’s Disease, inherited from his mother.

Following the horrific death of his daughter, Cathy, by fire - like his sister and his father – this marriage fell apart and he eventually married a third time (Anneke), sired another daughter, severely burned his right arm, which meant that he could never play guitar properly again, and started succumbing to ravages of Huntington’s. This proved too much for Anneke, and Marjorie stepped in again to help care for him until his death. In a terribly, sadly, ironic twist, he came to prominence again with the folk boom of the late 50’s and early 60’s when he was far too sick to capitalize on it. He enjoyed the company of the young turks who would visit and pay homage to him, but could not ever perform again.

Klein does a great job here of bringing the man to life and showing all his weaknesses and foibles as well as his talent and his horrible descent. A strong tale of Americana and a man whose songs are now a part of this country’s legacy.

recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Friday Dec 20 - The Lucky Cheats at Brendan's Pub inside the Orleans

Saturday Dec 21 - The Psyatics w/Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow, Gene Loves Jezebel, Pet Tiger and Midnight Clover
Saturday Dec 21 - The Lucky Cheats at Brendan's Pub inside the Orleans

Thursday Dec 26 - The All Togethers at the Gold Spike

Saturday Dec 28 - The All Togethers at the Dillinger

Sunday Jan 19 - Delta Bombers at Bar 702

Sunday Feb 9 - Astaires at LVCS w/the Toasters

Friday Jan 17 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Jan 24 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Sat Jan 25 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Mar 14 - Delta Bombers - Gold Mine Tavern, Henderson

What have I forgotten? Lemme know! Is everyone slowing down for the holidays? Haven't heard about many cool gigs for a while.

Woody Guthrie - The Ultimate Collection

I have been reading Joe Klein's biography of Woody, A Life, (more on that when I've finished it) so was interested in hearing more of his music,

since my vinyl Woody selection is pretty sparse. Found this 2-CD set for a reasonable price, so picked it up. While this is filled with 50 songs, the "booklet" is simply a basic biography with no information on the songs. From reading Klein's book, I assume that the tunes are taken from different sessions, as some sound like it must be the Almanac Singers (with Pete Seeger) and there are many other (mostly unnamed, with a couple of exceptions) guests throughout. Although he did record extensively with Moses Asch - apparently hundreds of cuts - with friends popping in and out of the sessions, so conceivably these could all be culled from those, but I don't think so.

In any case, many, if not all, of his classic songs are here - originals and covers, such as "This Land is Your Land" (of course), "House of the Rising Sun", "I Ride An Old Paint", "Do Re Mi", "Talking Dust Bowl Blues", "John Henry", "Pretty Boy Floyd", "The Biggest Things Man Has Ever Done", "Jesus Christ", "When That Great Ship Went Down", "Tom Joad", "So Long It's Been Good To Know You" and tons more.

Of course, this is strictly old-time folk music mixed with bluegrass, blues and what-have-you, with plenty of politically-inspired lyrics - and sometimes the message overshadows the memorability of the song. Some simply include Woody and his guitar, some have several added instrumentalists and vocalists, which is the way that Guthrie would perform - sometimes on his own, sometimes with any number of extra friends. The Almanacs did an album of sailing songs, and several of those make appearances. It quickly becomes apparent how many songs that Woody performed have since become traditionally iconic and part of American mainstream - and funny how many of these that we would sing in grade school were originally Communist manifestos, inspiring workers to unionize and fight against unfair treatment and the bourgeoisie.

This seems like a fine starting point for those interested in learning more about Guthrie, the man who was one of Bob Dylan's biggest influences. Of course, there are many more collections, which I may have to check out when I have a chance.

recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 12 - The All Togethers at the Gold Spike

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers and the Lucky Cheats w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip
Friday Dec 13 - The All Togethers at the Bar 702 and at the LV Container {ark at 11:00 AM

Saturday Dec 14 - Astaires at Yayo Taco

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Friday Dec 20 - The Lucky Cheats at Brendan's Pub inside the Orleans

Saturday Dec 21 - The Psyatics w/Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow, Gene Loves Jezebel, Pet Tiger and Midnight Clover
Saturday Dec 21 - The Lucky Cheats at Brendan's Pub inside the Orleans

Saturday Dec 28 - The All Togethers at the Dillinger

Sunday Jan 19 - Delta Bombers at Bar 702

Sunday Feb 9 - Astaires at LVCS w/the Toasters

Friday Jan 17 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Jan 24 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Sat Jan 25 - the AllTogethers - 35 Steaks and Martinis

Friday Mar 14 - Delta Bombers - Gold Mine Tavern, Henderson

What have I forgotten? Lemme know! Is everyone slowing down for the holidays? Haven't heard about many cool gigs for a while.

John Cale - Slow Dazzle

Possibly my favorite Cale solo album, Slow Dazzle came after Fear and before (just 8 months before!) Helen of Troy and has similarities to both, but is more of a pure (as much as Cale ever is) r'n'r album. Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera both makes appearances here again, as does Chris Spedding and the sound is consistently great.

It never really occurred to me that "Mr. Wilson" was a tribute to the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, as it is darker and more eccentric that any BB number, but once learning that, I can see some musical influences in the song - and Brian certainly has his darker side. "Taking It All Away" is a mid-tempo piano number, with a nice chorus buoyed by a female chorus that moves into one of the tougher songs here, the aptly-titled "Dirty Ass Rock'n'Roll" - not super heavy guitars, but cool licks, sliding bass, cool horn section and leering delivery. This is followed by what sounds like could have been a 70's Top Forty pop tune, "Darling I Need You", with its 50's styled r'n'r piano line and prominent horns - damn catchy! I was trying to think what "Rollaroll" sounded like and then Manzanera's guitar came in and yep, it is reminiscent of early Roxy Music - fantastic playing by Phil, too!

Side two of the vinyl album opens with one of the highlights of Cale's career - his heart-stopping, crazed cover of "Heartbreak Hotel". With its Psycho-sounding synth line, demented guitar lick, dirge-like pace, heavy rhythms and Cale's screams and shrieks, this would be appropriate in a horror movie, where the victim is "so lonely I could DIE". Breath-taking! Luckily, the mood lightens in "Ski Patrol", an upbeat, almost country-ish number that is followed by his mix of Roxy Music and David Bowie in "I'm Not the Loving Kind", an emotional, dramatic piece that is another stand-out here, for a very different reason than "Heartbreak Hotel"! Here John reveals - dare I say it - his sensitive side to great effect, with more terrific guitar playing - not sure if that's Spedding or Manzanera though. Something else I always missed was the opening line to "Guts": "the bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife" - a reference to an affair that Kevin Ayers had with John's spouse right before their June 1, 1974 concert. Obviously, this is another emotionally charged song, with plenty of barely-suppressed anger and power. Excellent. The record closed with a Cale monologue set to ambient noise, "The Jeweler", which, of course, makes one think of "the Gift" on White Light/White Heat. Nicely demented, as only Cale can be.

While there are parts that might be difficult for those not well-versed in Cale's legacy, I think that overall this is one of his more accessible records, since there is heavy rock as well as pop, noise and prose.

John Cale - Fear

This 1974 album was the first of 3 albums for Island Record, culminating in Helen of Troy. Here he is again

joined by Eno, as well as Phil Manzanera (also from Roxy Music), along with Fred Smith (I'm assuming Television's drummer), Richard Thompson, Judy Nylon and more.

This album begins with "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" which starts as one of Cale's "typical" semi-ballads, but builds in intensity and with his Velvet-esque loping/sliding bass, turns into a wild, shrieking piece of crazed genius that literally falls apart under the weight of its own madness. A bit more "normal" ballad has the unusual title, "Buffalo Ballet" while "Barracuda" is a bit of a shuffle-rocker with some cool, abrasive, sawing guitar bits. "Emily" is a stark, haunting, piano ballad with waves crashing in the background, sounding ominous rather than relaxing, and a chorus of female backing vocals. There is a weird mix of cheerful, Christmas-like bells and dark melodies in "Ship of Fools" making for an oddly alluring tune.

A cool guitar riff opens "Gun", not unlike Cale's abrasive take on "Heartbreak Hotel" from Slow Dazzle, which gives us a good rock'n'roll number with a terrifically noisy lead break which was apparently done with Eno sonically manipulating Manzanera's guitar signal as it was played! Terrific stuff!  Continuing with his penchant for esoteric titles, "The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy" has an old-time r'n'r shuffle feel with light, poppy vocals over it and Judy Nylon sounding quite sexy in her muffled vocals. More Beatles-esque pop in "You Know More Than I Know", which more nice female backing added, before closing with "Momamma Scuba", which again reminds me a bit of his take on "Heartbreak Hotel", with the rhythm and riff being just "off" enough to keep you on your toes while still grooving.

I think that pretty much everything that Cale did in the 70's is well worth owning and this is another exceptional record.

John Cale - Helen of Troy

Released in 1975, the same year as the great Slow Dazzle, Helen of Troy came out without the consent of Cale, who didn't consider it completed, although he did as much as he could immediately after finishing the production of Patti Smith's Horses. Of course, it's hard to say what he wanted it to sound like, but this is one of his faves for me. Interesting note - I must have an early pressing of the vinyl because, per Wikipedia, later releases removed "Leaving It Up To You" due to the reference to Sharon Tate, even though this was 6 years after her murder.

As was Slow Dazzle, this is more of a "rock record", with personnel including Phil Collins (!) on drums, Eno on synth and Chris Spedding on guitar. The opener, "My Maria" shows how Cale was able to combine his semi-ballad songwriting within a rock format, and Spedding's guitar really drives this, while the keys and female backing singers give it a lush feel. The title cut has a terrific, driving beat along with a truly dramatic and cinematic horn section and fine washes of noise from Eno.

Changing gears radically, "China Sea" sounds fairly bubblegum - hell, I think the main chord progression was used in a Partridge Family song! - complete with loads of harmony vocals. "Engine" moves from a piano ballad to a pounding, discordant monster, reminding me of Cale's at-times-slightly-off-key piano bashing in the Velvets. There seems to be a bit of Roxy Music influence in "Save Us", though with a bit more edge and aggression, and "Cable Hogue" is an arty ballad. Strings dominate the beautiful love song "I Keep a Close Watch" ("on this heart of mine") while one of the highlights of the record is his rockin' version of the Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso", which became as famous for this version as much as for Richman's original. Cale's reading is a bit more vicious than the Lovers and Spedding adds a cool, repeating slide guitar line.

Another stellar cut is the afore-mentioned "Leaving It All Up To You", a terrifyingly emotional number, with Cale shrieking as if from the confines of the straight jacket on the cover. One of the more unusual numbers is the slow-blues-rock of Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do" - not something that I would expect from Cale, but somehow he makes it his own, with Spedding being quite restrained in his playing. The album ends with the dark, extremely dramatic "Sudden Death". sounding like the heavy soundtrack for a noir scene.

Another superb outing, despite Cale's own reservations. Excellent for those who don't mind some artful drama with their hard rock.

John Cale - Paris 1919

Paris 1919 is Cale's 1973 solo album, similar in feel to Vintage Violence, although more produced and

lush. Per Wikipedia, the title is a reference to the Versailles Conference which led to the rise of the Third Reich and Cale was quoted as saying that it is "an example of the nicest ways of saying something ugly", which does tend to describe his use of lovely melodies with obscure and macabre lyrics.

Recorded with a backing band made up of members of Little Feat, along with orchestration from the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, the sound is a mix of rock and strings, as in the opener "Child's Christmas in Wales" - most likely autobiographic in nature. The oddly-titled "Hanky Panky Nohow" is a string-laden ballad ballad with a catchy chorus while the orchestra dominates "The Endless Plain of Fortune". A bit less ponderous is the lovely ballad "Andalucia", which shows off John's vocal range and is followed by one of his heaviest numbers, the pounding hard-rocker "Macbeth". The title cut is reminiscent of orchestrated pop by bands like the Beatles or the Move, complete with sound effects and layers of harmonies. "Graham Greene" is an eclectic, almost reggae-ish tune, with again a bit of a nod to later Beatles psych-pop while "Half Past France" is a simple ballad and the closer, "Antartica Starts Here" is a quiet instrumental.

Again, this is Cale as a balladeer more than a rock'n'roller or an avant-noise master, but as a songwriter, few can match him.

John Cale - Vintage Violence

It was probably mid-to-late 70's before I discovered Cale's solo work - a bit after I had heard the first couple of Velvet Underground albums that included Cale. While his solo albums don't contain the noisy abandon that appears on some of the Velvets' work, his songwriting is superb here and, although he apparently doesn't think much about this, his 1970 debut, there is a lot of variety and emotion.

The tunes here are generally melodic and straight-forward - at least compared to some of his other work. Not to say that they are light-weight - there are some terrific numbers here. "Hello There" is a true pop cut, while "Gideon's Bible" includes lush harmonies and a slide guitar mimicing string parts. "Adelaide" is almost goofily upbeat, with silly call-and-response vocals and peppy harmonica. He creates a string-laden pop ballad in "Big White Cloud" and "Cleo" is a organ-driven, light-hearted pop number with child-like female backing vocals. The first side of the vinyl closed on a more serious note with "Please", another ballad with almost a country feel in the slide work, though with enough of Cale's oddness to keep it from being too predictable.

"Charlemange" opens up side two with another quiet, but amazing, tune, with more slide/steel guitar work, and a wonderful melody and dramatic chorus. More upbeat, in a country-rock kinda way is "Bring It On Up", which will remind you of a number of other songs, though you might not be able to pin down any of them! One of my all-time favorite Cale songs is the gorgeous acoustic guitar ballad "Amsterdam" - truly a masterpiece of stripped-down songwriting - pretty much just John and his guitar (harmonizing with himself) in a incredibly emotional tale of love lost. Damn near brings me to tears every time I hear it. This is followed by another fantastic, organ-dominated, powerful, somewhat surrealistic heavier number in "Ghost Story" - another highlight of the record. This stops suddenly and leaps into an upbeat rocker, "Fairweather Friend", to close out the album.

This record probably came as a bit of surprise to Velvets fans as there is almost none of the dark, abstract noise that he contributed to that group, but this is a wonderful debut for Cale, the solo artist, who would continue to surprise and change, as his former comrade-in-music, Lou Reed, did.

recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 5 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 6 - The All Togethers at the Gypsy Den Courtyard
Friday Dec 6 - Beau Hodges Band - Pearl Theater
Friday Dec 6 - The Unwieldies at the Plai

Tues Dec 10 - Astaires at Artifice

Wednesday Dec 11 - The All Togethers at the Beauty Bar
Wednesday Dec 11 - Delta Bombers/Remedies at the Griffin

Thursday Dec 12 - The All Togethers at the Gold Spike

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers and the Lucky Cheats w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip
Friday Dec 13 - The All Togethers at the Bar 702 and at the LV Container {ark at 11:00 AM

Saturday Dec 14 - Astaires at Yayo Taco

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Dec 21 - The Psyatics w/Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow, Gene Loves Jezebel, Pet Tiger and Midnight Clover

Saturday Dec 28 - The All Togethers at the Dillinger

Sunday Feb 9 - Astaires at LVCS w/the Toasters

What have I forgotten? Lemme know! Is everyone slowing down for the holidays? Haven't heard about many cool gigs for a while.

Rod - The Autobiography - Rod Stewart

As these things tend to do, Rod starts the book with his harrowing tale of an engine going out on a plane. I’m

sure that this was quite frightening at the time, but the re-telling just makes it sound like something that almost every air traveler has experienced at some point – though this was more serious than most. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that with all that Rod has experienced in his life, there would be something that was more emotionally charged than this.

Once he gets these faux-dramatics out of the way, though, and starts to tell his tale of growing up in post-war London, it does read better. Since I do not care for sports at all and know next to nothing about soccer, when he rambles on about the game he again loses me. He also has chapters dedicated to digressions about his love of model trains and (real) sports cars, both fairly dull subjects to me.

He runs through the recording of his first albums incredibly quickly – just a few paragraphs for each of the first three – and jumps into his time with the Faces. I understand that he has a long career to cover in the space of a 300-some page book, but it was a bit disappointing to not learn more about his most creative and inspiring time.

Quite a lot of the book is spent on his many relationships and his philandering. Again, it is understandable that this working class bloke would want to brag about all of the blond, leggy super-models that he has bedded, though it gets a bit tedious. He does at one point claim to be somewhat ashamed about some particularly bad behavior, but he did sabotage most of these trists himself, one way or another.

He does also admit to being pretty much the personification of everything that punk rock was rebelling against in the music biz – and, in fact, seems to be quite proud of this fact. He muses that after punk hit big, he put out a ballad and hit big with it. Of course, his “Do You Think I’m Sexy” was pretty much the epitome of the crassness and bad music that punk wanted to eradicate.

Regardless, if indeed this really is Rod writing the book, he is not bad – better than many r’n’r autobiographies – even though I wish that he had spent more time on some of the nuts’n’bolts of the business, though I’m sure many of his fans would disagree with me on that point. All-in-all, a decent read, if you’re not looking for any deep insight into the music biz.