recommended gigs

 Friday 10-27-23 - The Unwieldies with Sara Patterson at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday 10-27-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Mabels

Friday 10-27-23 - the Minges, the Wayouts and SSR at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 10-28-23 - the Love Bombs, War Peggy, Desert Degenerates, Va Voom at Founder's Club

Saturday 10-28-23 - Shanda and the Howlers at NUWU Halloween Party

Wednesday 11-1-23 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with special guests VaVoom at the Double Down

Monday 11-6-23 - Fuzz Solow with Ash and the Endings at Red Dwarf

Friday - Sunday 11-10-23 - 11-12-23 - Tecopa Takeover with The Psyatics, Big Like Texas, Pitchfork, Catfish John and more

Saturday 11-11-23 - Black Joe Lewis at The Wall in Area15

Saturday 11-11-23 - Shanda and the Howlers with with Mozzy Dee and the Blue Ribbon Boys at the Sand Dollar

Saturday 11-11-23 - The Implosions with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at Fat Cat

Friday 11-17-23 - Fuzz Solow, 1/2 Ast, Dana Plato, DJ Atomic at the Double Down

Sunday 11-19-23 - Atom Age, the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Griffin

Wednesday 11-22-23 - Basstravaganza at the Double Down

Wednesday 11-22-23 - The Heiz at the San Dollar Downtown

Friday 11-24-23 - Franks'n'Deans at the Double Down

Saturday 11-25-23 - The Heiz with the Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday 12-2-23 - the Implosions, Los Nalgonas, Freezing Hands at Red Dwarf

Thursday 3-14-24 - The Silhouettes at the Double Down

Friday 3-15-24 - the Silhouettes with Fur Dixon and the Psyatics at Red Dwarf

Big Bill Broonzy - Trouble In Mind

 

Once again, something that I picked up at our local library - they get some good stuff at this location! - and so it is missing the liner notes, but I have picked up some background info on the record from the interwebs. Overall, this is based on one of Bill's last albums, the 1957 release of Big Bill Broonzy Sings Country Blues, recorded shortly before he succumbed to cancer. That said, his acoustic guitar playing and singing is still stellar and he proves that he continued to be one of the more important figures in American blues right until the end.

Opening with "Hey, Hey, Baby", an bouncy rag that shows his finger-pickin' prowess on the guitar and his soulful voice, he then moves into folk material that the white, college audience craved at the time, such as "Frankie and Johnny", followed by the title cut, a nicely played'n'sung blues number, while "Joe Turner No. 2" is a topical finger-picked, original folk tune, "Mule-Ridin' Blues" is a talking blues mainly used for amusement and more finger pickin', but more serious topics are in "When Will I Get To Be Called a Man", "Poor Bill Blues" is a quietly powerful blues, and then we get one of Bill's most famous numbers (rightfully), the terrific and oft-covered "Key To the Highway".

From there we get more basic blues in "Plough-Hand Blues", "Diggin' My Potatoes" is another upbeat rag, "When Things Go Wrong" and "C.C. Rider" were likely more numbers for the white audience, more self-explanatory numbers in "Saturday Evening Blues" and "Shuffle Rag", "Southbound Train" is another quiet blues (it seems that at least some of these songs were recorded with just one mic so that the guitar gets lost or drowned out by the vocals), "Hush, Somebody's Calling Me" is an upbeat gospel tune, more blues in "Louise". "Black, Brown and White Blues" gets a spoken introduction, telling about how he wrote the song about racial injustice (that other labels refused to release), then a lighter mood for "Willie Mae Blues" followed by introductions for live versions of the gospel tune "This Train" and "In the Evening When The Sun Goes Down".

Another fine album by one of the leaders of the folk/blues revival! 

Otis Redding and His Orchestra - Live on the Sunset Strip

 

"Are you ready for STAR TIME?!" Recorded live at the Whisky-A-Go-Go on April 9 and 10, 1966, this 2-CD set has three complete (?) shows of Otis and his 10 piece "orchestra" giving the kids a truly powerful soul showcase. Unfortunately, my copy came from our local library and the liner notes are missing, but I understand that Taj Mahal has some great stories of his band, the Rising Sons, opening on these nights, so search that out!

But, the music here is the star - a terrific backing band, complete with horns'n'backing singers, give Otis the foundation for his incredible voice and personality. And you certainly can't fault the set lists - of course, this is before his posthumous hit "Dock of the Bay", but some of his best are here. He moves flawlessly from upbeat dance numbers like "Security" to soulful burners like "Just One More Day", where you can hear Otis playing/singing to the audience off-mic. Once again, there's a blink-of-an-eye change to "These Arms of Mine" then another snap of the fingers and we're off on Otis' high-energy soul-filled, horn-led take on the Stones' "Satisfaction" (which the Stones would use as a template for this song after hearing Otis slay on his version), followed by the classic'n'extended "I Can't Turn You Loose". They finally take a breather before the slow'n'sultry "Chained and Bound" before the end this set with Otis' incredible performance of his hit for Aretha Franklin, "Respect".

The next set is extended over the two CD's, starting with the fast-paced rock'n'soul of "I'm Depending On You" after which Otis tells everyone to let loose since they are recording an album, which leads into the hip-shakin'  "I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Satisfaction" before taking a breather for "Chained and Bound", then a simmerin' "Just One More Day" and the first CD finished as they "put you in a groove" with the bouncey "Any Ole Way".

As we move onto Disc 2 we get the second half of the second set, with his fabulously passionate "I've Been Loving You Too Long", and the set finishes with another rave-up take on "Satisfaction". The final set of this collection opens with the insistent dance beat of "Destiny", followed by Otis giving his all in "Security", they slow down a bit but don't lose any intensity for "Good To Me", another excellent "Respect", he simmers once again in "Chained and Bound", then for the first time here we get a fast-paced take on his great "Mr. Pitiful" that flashes into another extended "Satisfaction", complete with call'n'answer segments and an outta control rave-up ending. Slow down a little for a subtly swingin' "Ole Man Trouble", then back to the dance numbers for "I Can't Turn You Loose" with a nicely prolonged mid-section to give the horns some while also (I'm sure) allowing Otis to interact with the crowd. Although he had long done his tribute to the Stones, his soul/horn take on the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" is kind of a trip, then back to his slow'n'romantic'n'steamy section for "These Arms Of Mine" before he goes full funk on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and then sending up the crowd with a final "Satisfaction".

Obviously, the repeats are inevitable since there are several sets included here, but all of the versions are solid and have their own variations as they extend things here'n'there in order to work with the crowd. The studio versions are, naturally, tighter, and sometimes the live speeds are unnecessarily accelerated, but these are all solid and fun takes. You'll want it if you're a fan or Otis or just soul music in general.

Savage Tales of Red Sonja

 

Of course, being a fan of Conan in the 70's - and being a heterosexual male - I was also a fan of Red Sonja. Also, of course, her chain mail bikini is not very efficient or logical, but it looked good on her, so I guess that is all that mattered at the time. But, she was also an independent woman, who took no shit from any man, including Conan, much to his consternation. A skilled fighter, more so than most men, she was a warrior for hire and so encountered - and conquered - as many unlikely foes as Conan himself did - and sometimes in conjunction with him.

Many of my original Sonja comics have disappeared mysteriously over time and the ones that I have are buried in storage, but I thought I would see what has been happening with the She-Devil With a Sword since my last forays in sword'n'sorcery comic purchases. I happened upon this one and thought I would take a chance.

The artwork is nice throughout - different artists on every story but all with a similar touch and all giving the Red one an ample bosom - and the stories are kind of the usual fare for this kind of thing - Sonja fights (and always wins, natch) witches, monsters, male warriors, ghosts (there's even a Hamlet joke as she crushes a skull), would-be suitors who get too handy, the occasional woman and, worst of all, her own insecurities and doubts (and, at one point, her own self incarnate).

There's a nice twist when a put-upon barmaid is seemingly taken over by Sonja's spirit, making a diversion from the usual monsters, and one writer even makes a play on original Sonja writer, Roy Thomas' name.

I liked it overall but I suppose I wasn't knocked out by it - good fun, but nothing exceptional. 

Doomsday Clock Parts 1 and 2

 

Some of the multiverse/alternative timeline stories from DC can be a bit iffy, but I am still a huge Watchman fan and have dug the various offshoots that I have read, so when I saw these at our local library (support your libraries!), I definitely wanted to check them out.

We start in the Watchmen's world where chaos reigns as Ozymandias' plot to bring the world together was uncovered when Rorschach's diary was found and verified. So, while there was a brief respite in world affairs, life is now worse than ever and at the brink of destruction. Ozy is determined to find Dr. Manhattan and plead with him to right the wrongs and finds him in the Batman/Superman timeline, which is also at the brink as superpowered beings are causing more harm than good. Accompanied by an unlikely new Rorschach, the future's Legion of Super Heroes' Saturn Girl, Johnny Thunder (master of Thunderbolt) and villains the Marionette and the Mime, they encounter many of the new world's heroes (and some villains) and indeed find Dr. Manhattan, who has his own agenda, of course.

Since it is a multiverse tale involving Dr. Manhattan, it gets even more convoluted than the usual multiverse tales but it turns out that the good (?) doctor realizes that he still has more to learn and also realizes that he himself is creating new timelines but they revolve around Superman, the epicenter of that universe, for some unknown reason. 

There are cameos and heroes galore here - pretty much the entire super-powered (and even mystical) population of Superman's world - and fights, violence'n'gore, pontifications, and an eventual resolution. Not sure that I would agree that Superman should be the center of any universe, but an interesting concept, regardless, and plenty of twists'n'turns throughout. Fans of the Watchmen will certainly want to check it out.

Lou Reed - The Bells

 

The follow up to Street Hassle, The Bells is not nearly as successful, although it is also fairly experimental - some calling it a jazz fusion record, which I'm not sure that I agree with, but I guess it's almost as close as anything!

Certainly more keyboard'n'horn-oriented, there are also lots of disco/funk rhythms, which don't necessarily work for me, although the opening "Stupid Man" is upbeat enough to be engaging. "Disco Mystic" is mired in effects, and while it has a dirgey disco beat, it also drags and there are essentially (literally?) no lyrics other than the title, which gets a bit tiring over four and a half minutes. Although the title is (purposely?) dumb, "I Want To Boogie With You" is actually a pretty strong, soulful tune, horn-drenched'n'funky, with some hip guitar licks, as well, "With You" is one of several Nils Lofgren collaborations, but Reed is singing with his over-the-top-warble and that kind of takes away from the jazzy background.

"Looking For Love" is more of a guitar rocker, starting with a noisy riff, although the full band'n'horns tend to bury the gits after the opening and there are continued vocal affectations - definitely more straight forward overall though. "City Lights", an ode to Charlie Chaplin, apparently, is a bit jazz/fusion-y, in a Zappa-ish way, with Lou this time singing in an affected baritone, "All Through the Night" is musically reminiscent of his previous "Kicks", with plenty of horns'n'keys again, and "self-consciously sleazy conversation going on in the background" (that is actually quite loud in the mix), Reed has always had a troubled relationship with "Families" and he explores that here with a funky backing slightly similar to some stuff that the Stones did on Some Girls, and everything concludes with a nod to Edgar Allen Poe in the title cut, an atmospheric, drone-y, free-jazz-ish exploration with Lou on guitar synthesizer and Don Cherry on trumpet, making it practically a successor to Metal Machine Music, albeit a bit more musical (and eventually, with lyrics), making it one of the more interesting tracks on the album.

Not as thoroughly entertaining and engrossing as Street Hassle, by any means, but an interesting follow up. I actually saw Lou on his tour for this album and while I don't remember a lot about it, I believe that a good portion of the show was more noisy/ambient and less song-oriented, although I'm sure he mixed it up. Wish I had been writing reviews back in the 70's!

recommended gigs

Friday 10-20-23 -Richard Lloyd Group and Fur Dixon with the Shakewells and the Psyatics at the  Sand Dollar Downtown 

 Friday 10-20-23 - The Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-20-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Virgils BBQ

Saturday 10-21-23 - the return of Water Landing with the Psyatics, James Jewell and Eric Wilson's Cowboy Mashup Show at the Double Down

Saturday 10-21-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 10-23-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-27-23 - The Unwieldies with Sara Patterson at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday 10-27-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Mabels

Friday 10-27-23 - the Minges, the Wayouts and SSR at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 10-28-23 - the Love Bombs, War Peggy, Desert Degenerates, Va Voom at Founder's Club

Wednesday 11-1-23 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with special guests VaVoom at the Double Down

Monday 11-6-23 - Fuzz Solow with Ash and the Endings at Red Dwarf

Friday - Sunday 11-10-23 - 11-12-23 - Tecopa Takeover with The Psyatics, Big Like Texas, Pitchfork, Catfish John and more

Saturday 11-11-23 - Black Joe Lewis at The Wall in Area15

Saturday 11-11-23 - Shanda and the Howlers with with Mozzy Dee and the Blue Ribbon Boys at the Sand Dollar

Saturday 11-11-23 - The Implosions with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at Fat Cat

Friday 11-17-23 - Fuzz Solow, 1/2 Ast, Dana Plato, DJ Atomic at the Double Down

Sunday 11-19-23 - Atom Age, the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Griffin

Wednesday 11-22-23 - Basstravaganza at the Double Down

Wednesday 11-22-23 - The Heiz at the San Dollar Downtown

Friday 11-24-23 - Franks'n'Deans at the Double Down

Saturday 11-25-23 - The Heiz at the Double Down

Thursday 3-14-24 - The Silhouettes at the Double Down

Friday 3-15-24 - the Silhouettes with Fur Dixon and the Psyatics at Red Dwarf

RIP Dwight Twilley

Dwight Twilley, Pillar of 1970s Power Pop, Dies at 72 

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I was just listening to Twilley Don't Mind and Sincerely recently and still love their 70's power pop sounds. Sad to hear of Dwight leaving us at such a young age.

Lou Reed - Street Hassle

 

Reed's 8th solo album, released in 1978, is certainly one of his finer moments as a solo artist, even though he does affect an unusual singing voice for some of the numbers. Still, the songs'n'concept, as well as the playing'n'production are all among his strongest and most creative.

According to Wikipedia, some of these tunes were originally from live tapes with the audience muted and overdubs added, which I do not recall ever hearing before. Certainly has the earmarks of an odd'n'contrary Lou Reed-ism though!

The opener, "Gimme Some Good Times", does sound like the backing could have been recorded live and has Reed in his "new", warbly voice, duetting and talking back to himself on this Velvet-ish tune, followed by the powerfully dirgey "Dirt", which certainly sounds like the streets of NYC in the late 70's, as he rails against some unnamed someone who obviously hurt him (Wiki conjectures that at least some of the record is for his ex, Rachel) - and he references Bobby Fuller for hipster credit! 

The "Street Hassle" trilogy is absolutely one of his best compositions, based on a simple, repeating string motif (that moves to guitar and later to bass as the song evolves), it begins with "Waltzing Matilda", where Lou doesn't go too overboard with his vocal affectations and apparently it refers to a male hustler's female score, but it gets very dark in the "Street Hassle" section where a woman (the same woman with the hustler?) overdoses and the reactions are callous in the extreme, and the third portion, "Slipaway", is sadly romantic but funnily, since Lou had a line "tramps like us, baby we were born to pay", the producer asked Bruce Springsteen if Lou could use that line and Bruce ended up doing a spoken bit here! In any case, it all works as a lyrically vague, but musically powerful piece.

Not that Lou was ever very PC, but his "I Wanna Be Black" (again, this certainly sounds like it could have been taken from a live recording, although his Take No Prisoners version is even wilder) is extreme even for him, but also hilarious in the extreme, especially with the female backing singers answering his lines like "and have a big dick, too"! Oddly, he adds intense vibrato to the instrumental backing for an updated take on "Real Good Time Together" which blends into a hard-edged live backing track, and that kinda power-chord edge continues in "Shooting Star", a simply cruncher with, again, Reed's bizarre singing voice giving it extra added weirdness. Horns accentuate and add a jazzy feel to the pounding "Leave Me Alone" (maybe a hint of heavier Ian Dury here, in a way) and he closes with more horns in a mid-tempo, almost straight rocker, with "Wait" (nice "doo run, doo run day" backing vocals, too!).

Certainly strange and varied, but, especially considering that this came as the punk rock/new wave scene was gaining notoriety and I'm sure that Lou wanted to stay at the forefront of that movement and, if anything, be a bit weirder than they were, maybe it all makes sense. Regardless, some really good, well-written songs, and some excellent lyrics. 

Johnny Winter - Roots

 

This 2011 covers album was Johnny's first studio record in seven years (and his second to last release ever) but he comes out strong on some of his favorite blues songs with the aid of his brother, Edgar, along with Derek Trucks and a number of other guests. Funnily, there are quotes from critics talking about how surprising it was that he was so energetic at 67 years old, just a few months older that I currently am! But, Johnny was not in the best of health and he did die a few years later. All that considered, he does a terrific job on both his singing (although it is not as strong as in his younger days, especially his bluesy wails) and on guitar. Of course, with the number of different guests, it's not always apparent who is taking the leads, but Johnny certainly makes his mark throughout the album.

He starts off with T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle" with guest guitarist Sonny Landreth, a great jump-blues number, with both Johnny and Sonny taking lead breaks and Johnny's is as tasty as ever as he mixes slide and traditional solos. "Further On Up The Road" is a nice, mid-tempo blues by Joe Medwick with guest guitar by Jimmy Vivino, there's a pounding take on Elmore James "Done Somebody Wrong" with Warren Haynes on guitar, a rough'n'ready version of "I Got My Mojo Working" with Frank Latorre on harmonica and some scorchin' git-work, a slow'n'sleek take on Little Walter's "Last Night" with John Popper on chromatic harmonica, giving it an unusual, but cool, sound, and their "Maybelline" is more of a jump blues (with some blazing git-work from Johnny and Vince Gill) than the rock'n'roll of Chuck's original version in a neat variation.

Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City" is given a pretty straight, although more fleshed out, reading, complete with great female backing vocals (ala Reed's original) and guitar from Susan Tedeschi, brother Edgar joins in on honkin' sax for the hand-clappin' take on Clarence Gatemouth Brown's groovy instrumental dance number, "Honky Tonk", with Johnny matching Gatemouth's guitar lines, and of course this collection has to include Robert Johnson's slide masterpiece, "Dust My Broom" with Derek Trucks adding a fine second slide to the proceedings There's a kinda laid-back take on Larry Williams "Short Fat Fannie" that has Paul Nelson guesting on guitar (surprised that Edgar isn't pounding the piano on this one as he did on other Little Richard cuts in the 70's, although this isn't as high energy as those earlier albums), and the CD closes with the slow, sultry blues of Walter Davis' "Come Back Baby"  with John Medeski on organ (Mike Dimeo plays the keys on the rest of the album), harkening back to some of Johnny's earlier Ray Charles numbers, although he doesn't have the gospel wail that he used to use to great effect any longer.

Solid backing from Scott Spray on bass, Vito Liuzzi on drums and Paul Nelson on guitar throughout the record that gives a great foundation for the album and Johnny's work, while maybe missing a little of the fire'n'fury from his youth, is still pretty damn terrific and still kicks most guitarist's asses mightily. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this one - recommended! 

Barbara Lynn - The Complete Atlantic Recordings

 With a silken voice, skintight capris and rockin' her Gibson guitar, Barbara Lynn is a soul icon that does not get the recognition that she rightfully deserves. I only discovered her a few years ago myself and her recordings are not all that easy to come by but our local library was hip enough to bring in this collection which I am certainly grateful for!

While not a recurring hit-maker, her tunes were still quite strong'n'soulful (even as she "borrows" from the Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do" for "Sure Is Worth It") and she did hit is big with her teenage hit "You'll Lose a Good Thing" in 1962 (which has subsequently been covered by Aretha Franklin and Freddy Fender, among others). Besides her guitar playing, Lynn was unusual in that she wrote a good portion of her own material (although not everything, of course, as was the case for many artists in the 60's), she did have some minor hits and her "Oh! Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin')" was even covered by the Rolling Stones! 

The material ranges from soul ballads to upbeat dance numbers, with a majority kinda hittin' right in between with mid-tempo signature soul tunes based on relationship troubles like "This Is The Thanks I Get", "You'll Lose a Good Thing", "Take Your Love and Run", "I'll Suffer", "Sufferin' City", "Multiplying Pain", "Why Can't You Love Me" and tons more! She even gets a bit funky with numbers like "(Daddy Hot Stuff) You're Too Hot To Hold" (definitely influenced by "Mr. Big Stuff") and the sexy "You Make Me So Hot". Interestingly enough, there is a previously unreleased cover of "Soul Deep" - the liner notes conjecture that this might be the original recording of this number - that was later a hit for the Box Tops.

She has gained more recognition as the years have gone by and continues to play'n'tour the world to this day. Really fine soul struttin'!

The Prissteens - Sandal, Controversy and Romance

 Yet another album that I'm fairly shocked that I never got around to writing about as I loved this album when it came out. Made up of three talented ladies (Lori Yorkman on vocals and bass, with Leslie Day and Tina Conellas on guitars) along with Devil Dogs drummer, Joe Vincent (who, they admit, pulled them together as a band and his talent certainly drives the record), they mix 60's girl group sounds with high energy garage rock, power pop (a big concentration on melodies and harmonies) and, of course, punk rock.

They blast out of the gate with Joe's pounding beat for the hard-edged garage-rocker, "The Hound", where the girls, singing together, brag about the guy they just caught, pop-punk combines with 60's girl groups for "I Don't Cry", telling their man he's not worth their tears, followed by more bouncy, hand-clappin', 60's influenced pop for "Run back To You", they do a nice, garagey arrangement of the McCoys' "Sorrow" (resisting the urge to do a fast, punk rock take, to their credit), then the title cut, a well-written piece of call'n'answer'n'harmony-driven garage-pop, before we get to a nice, minor-key bit of garagey harmonic sass for "What's She Got".

Finger-snappin' girl group sounds abound for "I'm Devastated", a genius cover of Wreckless Eric's "I'd Go The) Whole Wide World", more sassy garage rock for "Beat You Up" (the follow-up to "My Boyfriend's Back"?), they move into punk-pop territory for "Someday", then switch gears to crunchy, guitar-led doo-wop-styles for "Party Girl", "Let Me Run Wild" is kinda hard-edged beach/glam/garage and they wrap it all up with snappy, party/punk/pop in "Goin' Out Tonight".

Really excellent songwriting pulls this all together and the cool harmonizing highlights the fine melodies. The guitars are appropriately crunchy (no virtuosos, but that would be a detriment to this style, I think), the drums pound'n'propel and the production (Richard Gottehrer and Jeffrey Lesser) brings out the best in the tunes. Absolutely recommended. A shame they didn't last longer!

Roy Acuff - Songs of the Smoky Mountains

 

Per the (fairly brief) line notes on this CD release, these songs were 1955 re-recordings of tunes that Acuff had previously released from the mid-30's through the early 50's. These were done with his then-current touring band and they are strong'n'timeless performances of these early country/folk/bluegrass/ unclassifiable songs, both traditional and original. Backed by the Smoky Mountain Boys on dobro, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, piano, acoustic guitar and upright bass, these are classic examples of this style.

A simple 12 track album, we get some of his best-known songs, starting with the time-honored "Wabash Cannonball" and "The Great Speckled Bird" through the spiritual "I'm Building a Home (In the Sky)" and "The Great Judgement Morning", along with the secular heartbreak of "Pins and Needles (In My Heart)", the fast-paced, danceable "Fire Ball Mail" and "Night Train to Memphis", the truly morbid "The Wreck on the Highway", the story-telling tale of "The Great Titanic" and the quiet sad country of "The Precious Jewel", "Lonely Mound of Clay", and "Come Back Little Pal".

There's definitely plenty of overlap of numbers with The Essential Roy Acuff, but these versions all stay on their own, as well. This is the really early Americana/country/folk/bluegrass before there really were labels on this kind of music, but if you're a fan of the style, this is well worthwhile.

Junior Brown - Mixed Bag

 

Came upon this one quite by accident but it was at a discount price so I took a chance since I'm a big Junior Brown fan and love to hear what he does on his git-steel.

Right from the start, he's showing off his bag'o'licks'n'tricks in the appropriately titled "Guitar Man" - if there's a better player out there these days, I don't know of them, cuz Brown is a true master at his craft and on his twin instruments. Great way to open an album! Gotta love the title "Ain't Gonna Work Today" and for this one he creates one of his mid-tempo, steel-git country numbers, while in "Riverboat Shuffle" he mixes kinda Dixieland with jump-blues and country as only he can, with horns mixing with his steel, honky-tonkin' piano and lots more! He gives us a nice country ballad in "Our First Bluebonnet Spring", pulls off some rare wah-wah effects for his exotic, overseas spy number with funny lyrics, "Cagey Bea" (KGB, geddit?), another ballad in "Runnin' With the Wind", and he lets loose with his incredible flyin' fingers in "Catfish and Collard Greens", an upbeat country-blues, unbelievably fast but still tasteful - what a talent!

Bringing it back to a more sedate mid-tempo for a heartfelt (apparent) childhood remembrance for "Little Town Square", referencing both a person and a place, a similar feel for "Hard Livin' Hard" and then a bouncy urban blues in "Kansas City Blues" - love the way he combines country'n'blues licks here and there is some surprise sax soloing, as well - another country ballad in "Grow Up America" where he unexpectedly, somewhat obliquely, references modern politics in a way that doesn't really take sides, although I take it as anti-gun-violence, but then he comes back for a light-hearted grand finale with more fast-paced playin' for "The Chase" - more great work on both of his fretboards!

Junior is a modern country cat who plays real country - not the crappy pop that makes the charts these days - and is one of the best players around. I love it when he lets loose and shows off, but he can be slow'n'heartfelt, as well. If you dig old school country, you gotta dig Junior! Another good one!

recommended gigs

 Thursday 10-12-23 - the Adverts at the Dive Bar

Thursday 10-12-23 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cats

Friday 10-13-23 - Trevor and the Swinging Johnsons at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 10-14-23 - Tav Falco's Panther Burns with Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones at the Sand Dollar Downtown

Saturday 10-14-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 10-15-23 -Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Sunday 10-15-23 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cats

Monday 10-16-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Tuesday 10-17-23 - Bloodbelly Blues at the Double Down

Friday 10-20-23 - The Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-20-23 -Richard Lloyd Group and Fur Dixon with the Shakewells and the Psyatics at the  Sand Dollar Downtown 

Friday 10-20-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Virgils BBQ

Saturday 10-21-23 - the return of Water Landing with the Psyatics, James Jewell and Eric Wilson's Cowboy Mashup Show at the Double Down

Saturday 10-21-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 10-23-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-27-23 - The Unwieldies with Sara Patterson at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday 10-27-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Mabels

Friday 10-27-23 - the Minges, the Wayouts and SSR at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 10-28-23 - the Love Bombs, War Peggy, Desert Degenerates, Va Voom at Founder's Club

Monday 11-6-23 - Fuzz Solow with Ash and the Endings at Red Dwarf

Friday - Sunday 11-10-23 - 11-12-23 - Tecopa Takeover with The Psyatics, Big Like Texas, Pitchfork, Catfish John and more

Saturday 11-11-23 - Black Joe Lewis at The Wall in Area15

Saturday 11-11-23 - Shanda and the Howlers with with Mozzy Dee and the Blue Ribbon Boys at the Sand Dollar

Saturday 11-11-23 - The Implosions with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at Fat Cat

Friday 11-17-23 - Fuzz Solow, 1/2 Ast, Dana Plato, DJ Atomic at the Double Down

Sunday 11-19-23 - Atom Age, the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Griffin

Wednesday 11-22-23 - Basstravaganza at the Double Down

Wednesday 11-22-23 - The Heiz at the San Dollar Downtown

Friday 11-24-23 - Franks'n'Deans at the Double Down

Saturday 11-25-23 - The Heiz at the Double Down

Thursday 3-14-24 - The Silhouettes at the Double Down

Friday 3-15-24 - the Silhouettes with Fur Dixon and the Psyatics at Red Dwarf

American Roots - A History of American Folk Music

 

Once again, I am very surprised that I never wrote about this compilation. Not sure when or where we picked this up, but it's a fine collection of early Americana/Folk music - 4 jam-packed CD's worth!

Original country/folk/Americana/before-there-was-a-name-for-it stars like Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon and the Blue Sky Boys mix with slightly lesser-knowns like Fiddlin' John Carson and Riley Puckett, among many, many others for a good overview or these early sounds. Obviously, this is all acoustic music, mostly guitars (standard, slide and mixes) with fiddle, banjo and whatever other instruments that happened to be around (some early accordion/zydeco music, even), with spirited singing and tunes ranging from quiet murder ballads to upbeat dance numbers.

The songs range from extremely obscure to well-known numbers like "Wildwood Flower", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Frankie and Johnny", "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Blue Yodel", "The Yellow Rose of Texas", "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" and tons more - and that's just on the first couple of discs! There are also some fun ads with Rodgers, the Carter Family and more talking about their latest recordings - a neat glimpse into old-time marketing!

The discs are also in roughly chronological order with the first couple concentrating on the 1920's and 1930's and moving on from there. As we get to the third disc, the sounds will probably become more familiar to those who enjoy early bluegrass and country (and the sound quality has improved), with the likes of Bill Monroe, the Delmore Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys, Merle Travis, Gene Autry, Roy Acuff, Bob Willis and plenty of others. I'm a bit more partial to the fast-movin' bluegrass ("Mule Skinner Blues") rather than the more morose country ballads ("Red River Valley"), but they all have something to offer and are all high quality.

By the fourth disc, we are at the folk revival, with almost the entire disc dedicated to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger - absolutely essential folk/roots performers, without a doubt, but you would think that they could have added a few more different musicians, as well, but that's a minor quip.

If you are a fan of this style of music, you can't go wrong with this compilation. Sure, you may have some of the tunes, but it's doubtful that you have everything and it's great having all of this together in one set.

Dave Alvin - Romeo's Escape

 

After reading Alvin's recent book, I looked to see what solo work we had by the man and it turns out that this is the only one, a 1987 release with some of his most iconic songs - "4th of July", "Long White Cadillac", "Border Radio" and more. Although produced by the sax great Steve Berlin (who also plays on the record), the drawback of the album for me is the dated 80's production, especially on the drums. The performances themselves can't be faulted, but the 80's were an awful time for record production, unfortunately.

Here he opens with one of his most famous (rightfully) songs, the fabulous "4th Of July", in an arrangement almost identical to the terrific take done originally by X, telling a tale of a Hollywood couple whose relationship is dissolving to the point where they don't even remember that it is a holiday until the neighborhood kids shoot off fireworks. I must say that I prefer the Blasters fast-paced, rockabilly take on "Long White Cadillac" to Alvin's more slinky, bluesy take, but that might be just because I am used to the original, "Every Night About This Time" is a mournful country ballad, then he hits high gear for the wild rockabilly of the title cut, before hitting the brakes for a super quiet bluesy folk ballad in "Brother (On The Line)" and bounces back for the gospel-blues-rockin' "Jubilee Train".

"Border Radio", another tune originally done by the Blasters, is turned into another morose, pedal-steel, country ballad, "Far Away" is a mid-tempo singer-songwriter, story-song, "New Tattoo" is a bit more hard-rockin', "You Got Me" is a fun boogie blues and the finale, "I Wish It Was Saturday Night", starts as a slow country weeper and turns into a kinda upbeat, almost Dave Edmunds kinda number, but with Dave's unique touch, of course.

While his vocals might be a bit strained at time - his brother Phil was definitely the better singer - he is impassioned and his lyrics and absolutely top-notch and, of course, he git-playin' is always terrific. I think this could have been better, especially sound-wise, and probably would be if he recorded it today, but it's still a fine statement from this talented songwriter and guitarist.

Dave Alvin - New Highway

 

My amazing wife is always way more in touch with new releases than I am and she picked up this latest book from Blasters (and infinite other bands) guitarist Dave Alvin. Appropriately subtitled "selected lyrics, poems, prose, essays, eulogies and blues", Dave spells out just what you'll find in this tome.

A fine writer, his stories are, as he says at one point, "autobiographical" although "not necessarily true"! I dig what he's saying here, as memories fade, and some things just sound better once they are embellished. His lyrics occasionally don't stand on their own on a written page, but most of them are pretty damn great and tell micro-stories in the best sense - and that's damn hard to do well. 

He makes me jealous by telling tales of seeing blues and R'n'B giants at small clubs in the LA area as I realize that, while he grew up in LA and therefore had a head start on me, there were many that I could have still caught but missed as I wasn't aware of them. And he even had a chance to freakin' see Jimi Hendrix! But, I am grateful for seeing the likes of the Blasters and innumerable punk'n'new wave' n'garage bands in tiny clubs with a handful of others once I did get to Hollywood.

Reading this does make me miss LA and makes me nostalgic for the crazy times that I had there - both good'n'bad. I wish that I had been a better songwriter and had been able to capture the times and the lifestyles nearly as well as Dave did. There was a lot of heartbreak, plenty of wild times, plenty of hard times (financially and emotionally) and lots of, yes, sex, drugs, alcohol, and rock'n'roll, and ending with true, eternal love - the best gift that LA gave me.

Interestingly, he mentions John Stewart, who I happened across in the 70's and always dug, but I didn't know that he wrote "Daydream Believer" or that he was in the Kingston Trio! 

And did I ever mention that we discovered that Dave was our house-behind-us neighbor in Silverlake, but we didn't find out until we were moving out and he commented on a Tiki head we were transferring? (He has a funny story of a couple of young women walking by him working in that yard and asking if he was Kid Rock's dad!)

Talented dude, lots of great writing of all types, amazing tales of meeting and watching incredible legends and lots more. This is about as highly recommended as can be!

recommended gigs

Friday 10-6-23 - The Shakewells, the Rebel Set, Isaac The Phantom Rother at Red Dwarf

Friday 10-6-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Virgils BBQ

Saturday 10-7-23 - Huntridge Vintage Party in the Park at Circle Park featuring live music from Thee Hypnotiques and the Souvenairs from 4-7 pm

Saturday 10-7-23 - The Peculiar Pretzelmen with White Sands and Fuzz Solow at Red Dwarf

Saturday 10-7-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 10-9-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 10-12-23 - the Adverts at the Dive Bar

Thursday 10-12-23 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cats

Friday 10-13-23 - Trevor and the Swinging Johnsons at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 10-14-23 - Tav Falco's Panther Burns with Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones at the Sand Dollar Downtown

Saturday 10-14-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 10-15-23 -Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Sunday 10-15-23 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cats

Monday 10-16-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-20-23 - The Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-20-23 -Richard Lloyd Group and Fur Dixon with the Shakewells and the Psyatics at the  Sand Dollar Downtown 

Friday 10-20-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Virgils BBQ

Saturday 10-21-23 - the return of Water Landing with the Psyatics, James Jewell and Eric Wilson's Cowboy Mashup Show at the Double Down

Saturday 10-21-23 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 10-23-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-27-23 - The Unwieldies with Sara Patterson at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday 10-27-23 - Thee Swank Bastards at Mabels

Friday 10-27-23 - the Minges, the Wayouts and SSR at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 10-28-23 - the Love Bombs, War Peggy, Desert Degenerates, Va Voom at Founder's Club

Friday - Sunday 11-10-23 - 11-12-23 - Tecopa Takeover with The Psyatics, Big Like Texas, Pitchfork, Catfish John and more

Saturday 11-11-23 - Black Joe Lewis at The Wall in Area15

Saturday 11-11-23 - Shanda and the Howlers with with Mozzy Dee and the Blue Ribbon Boys at the Sand Dollar

Saturday 11-11-23 - The Implosions with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at Fat Cat

Friday 11-17-23 - Fuzz Solow, 1/2 Ast, Dana Plato, DJ Atomic at the Double Down

Sunday 11-19-23 - Atom Age, the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Griffin

Wednesday 11-22-23 - Basstravaganza at the Double Down

Wednesday 11-22-23 - The Heiz at the San Dollar Downtown

Friday 11-24-23 - Franks'n'Deans at the Double Down

Saturday 11-25-23 - The Heiz at the Double Down

Thursday 3-14-24 - The Silhouettes at the Double Down

Friday 3-15-24 - the Silhouettes with Fur Dixon and the Psyatics at Red Dwarf

John Stewart - The Phoenix Concerts

 

This is an album that, again, I originally picked up at my local library while still living in a small town in Indiana in the 70's. I knew nothing about Stewart - in fact, I literally just found out that he had been a member of the Kingston Trio and that he wrote "Daydream Believer"! - but it was from the library, so I would take a chance on records since it was free - and I found some very interesting stuff that way. Anyway, I'm currently reading a Dave Alvin book (more on that shortly) and he mentions Stewart - I literally have never seen anyone ever talk about him before - so I pulled out my burned CD of my scratchy vinyl that I found some day in the used bins.

Not sure what you would call John's style - I suppose it's a bit folk, a bit what we now call alt-country, a bit singer-songwriter, a bit bluegrass and a bit of whatever else was going on in his mind at the time.

I guess 70's singer-songwriter is a pretty apt description (this was recorded and released in 1974), with a smidge of, say, Jackson Browne mixed with some Johnny Cash warble and a good sense of melody, as with the catchy opener, "Wheatfield Lady", but the country influences are clear as the steel guitar solos. He works a little semi-yodel and some neat melodic twists in "Kansas Rain", "You Can't Look Back" is reminiscent of 60's country-pop (something that I can't quite place) and has more nice steel guitar, and in "The Pirates of Stone County Road" he sets up a childhood melodrama where the kids used to play make-believe and actually use their imagination - this is one of the longer tunes here and he builds it well with dynamics and a strong melody and he recalls - I assume - his youth. For the last tune on side one, he picks up the pace for the sprightly "The Runaway Fool of Love".

"Roll Away the Stone" (certainly not the Mott the Hoople number!) opens side 2 as a fairly quiet number, followed by one of my faves, "July You're A Woman", with a humorous intro by John (and a jokey nod to John Denver's current hit), as he describes driving with the object of his desire next to him, tempting him to pull over and "show you what I mean" - great imagery and melody on this one. He constructs another epic semi-historical tale in the 8+ minute "The Last Campaign Trilogy", obviously, a trio of songs that blend together pretty seamlessly with dynamics and talented vocalizing from his cohorts.

Side three seems (to me anyway) to concentrate on tales of the dustbowl and travels westward as he starts with "Oldest Living Son", which weaves a story of small town folks, "Little Road and a Stone to Roll" has almost a nursery rhyme melody and cadence, "Kansas" reminds us that we can't go back, "Cody" seems to be a song about an influential mentor and the side closes with another of his stronger tunes, "California Bloodlines", in which he encourages - and succeeds - the crowd to sing along with the memorable chorus.

The final side starts with "Mother Country" and a spoken intro describing the "good old days", which were not necessarily all that good for everyone, but he depicts several scenarios with descriptive lyrics, then he gives an electric, rockin' edge to "Cops" and closes the proceedings with the encore of "Never Going Back (To Nashville Anymore)", one of his more upbeat numbers (almost Bob Seger-ish) with an extended section to introduce the band.

Certainly not for everyone, but if you dig quality singer-songwriters, alt-country, and the like, check him out - eloquent'n'expressive lyrics, catchy melodies and a strong band behind him.