Whats on your turntable tonight?

slaw, okay, now I get it---if you're writing about it, it's an LP! Red vinyl---my favorite LP color. Clear is pretty cool, too. Non-black LP's are sometimes noisy though. Let us know how the s/t vinyl sounds, ay?

reubent, Nick had Los Straitjackets touring with him recently, acting as his opening act and backing band. Their bass player is an old, old friend of mine (we met the first day of 7th grade, way back in September of 1962!), and we were playing together in a 3-piece band when LS offered him the job. Pretty cool band.

@boxer12, the Old & In The Way album is in fantastic sound quality, isn’t it?! It’s original release was on the audiophile label Acoustic Disc. I used it as audition material back in the ’70’s. T Bone Burnett’s Truth Decay on Takoma does too (be sure to get the version pressed by Chrysalis Records; the mastering engineer who did the version pressed by Allegiance cut off the ending of the song, after the false ending. Impatient! ;-).

Speaking of Desert Rose, Chris Hillman’s Sugar Hill Records albums are great musically and sonically, assuming you don’t mind Bluegrass. Chris and fellow Desert Rose Band member Herb Pedersen have done a bunch of albums together. And the lead guitarist of The Desert Rose Band---John Jorgenson---was in the instrumental guitar trio The Hellecasters. Like Los Straitjackets, but on a virtuoso level.

Ah yeah, the debut Butterfield album! That was a game-changer, having a huge effect on us suburban white teenage musicians, making the British blues-wannabe’s we had been listening to and learning from irrelevant and obsolete. Dylan had heard Mike Bloomfield’s guitar playing, and hired him for his next couple of albums, saying Mike was the best guitarist he had ever heard (as seen in the Scorcese documentary on Dylan, which is fantastic). I saw Bloomfield live only once, in The Electric Flag in 1968 (with the great Buddy Miles on drums). the doors had a real hard time following them on stage ;-), sounding rather anemic in comparison.

Ya ever hear what Sonny Boy Williamson told The Hawks (later The Band) when he jammed with them in ’65? He had just returned from a UK tour, where he had been backed by a lot of the British "Blues" bands. He told them "They (the British players) want to play the Blues in the worst way, and that’s just how they play it." Good one, Sonny Boy! He and The Hawks made plans to tour together, but Williamson dropped dead before it could happened. They instead became Dylan’s road band, touring with him 1965-6. I have two old friends/bandmates who saw them together at The San Jose Civic Auditorium in late ’65, which I now would kill to have been at. I wasn’t hip to Dylan yet; he seemed like a beatnik to me ;-), weird and kinda scary.

@reubent, oh the LP itself is the same, B & N just arranged to have the cover signed by the guys before the shrink wrap was put on, as a B & N exclusive. B & N HAVE had some special pressings done of some titles, like colored vinyl, but The Marty Stuart isn’t one of them. Just kinda cool to have the autographs.

For one of my birthdays my woman got me a framed Rockpile (Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, Terry Williams) concert poster signed by all of them except, ironically, Terry. Also ironic is that the poster includes the show's opening act, Pearl Harbor, whose band I later (2003) worked in!

@spiritofradio, how much time ya got? ;-) There is a lot that could be said in answer to your question, but I’ll be as brief as possible.

Of all the ingredients that go into the making of music, for me by far the most important is the song (Jagger and Richards are mistaken ;-). For me, the song is to music as the script is to a film. Now, not all music is made with the song itself as the priority or focus. Jazz, for instance. The song structure is used as the starting point for musical improvisation; what the musicians play is arguably more important than the song itself. At least that’s the way I see it. Similarly, I don’t care for avant-garde, abstract film (except those of David Lynch ;-).

I became a music lover a couple of years before albums became the Rock ’n’ Roll format, the 7" 45 RPM single being what it was presented on. It was Pop music: Girl Groups (a LOT of them), R & B sanitized for white people, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Dion (a great singer, by the way), Roy Orbison, The Four Seasons, etc; 2-1/2 minute songs on the radio. In that period, there was an iron-clad way music was made: professional songwriters were employed by music publishers to do writing (much of in the famous Brill Building in NYC), and a number of songs a week were chosen to record; a singer (or singers) was (were) offered the song to record; the chosen singer was sent into the studio to do as the hired producer instructed; a contractor hired studio musicians as requested by the producer (depending on the vision he had for the song).

(As that was going on, Garage and Surf Bands starting making albums that remained largely regional. Once in a while one would break nationally, such as Paul Revere & The Raiders. However, only fanatics cared enough about music to devote that much time, energy, and money to that facet of life).

The Beatles changed all that: A self-contained unit, writing, playing, and singing all the music. Yes, Brian Wilson had been doing the writing for The Beach Boys, they had been doing all the singing, and Brian was producing. But he had The Wrecking Crew playing the instruments on his recordings while the other guys were on the road (including Glen Campbell taking Brian’s place on bass).

Suddenly, ALL groups were now expected to write, play, and sing everything on their albums. How many people are good at all three? In the singles era, only the best songwriters had their material recorded, only the best singers were offered songs, and the studio musicians? All right, we’re finally getting to the point! ;-)

When John Hiatt---all his albums having been commercial failures---was given one last chance to get a hit, he was allowed his choice of any musicians he wanted. Who did he choose? Ry Cooder on guitar, Jim Keltner on drums, and Nick Lowe on bass. Why do you imagine he chose them, out of all the musicians in the world? Because they are not just great on their instruments, but because they are great SONG PLAYERS.

Studio players are expected to play in support of the artist: the songwriter or singer usually. To make the singer sound good, or the featured instrument/musician, or the entire ensemble, not himself. Cooder liked Keltner’s playing so much, he arranged his recordings around JIm’s availability. He is also a favorite of Dylan, John Lennon, George Harrison, Bill Frisell, and Randy Newman. When I heard Keltner’s song parts on Randy’s Good Old Boys album, my concept of what great drumming was about was changed forever. Such artistry, such musicality, such taste!

Yet Keltner in a Modern Drummer interview said he wished he played more like Roger Hawkins. Roger who? ;-) Hawkins was the drummer in the house band at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the studio the great Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler took his assignments to record. Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs, many others. You've heard the term "pocket", right? Hawkins had the deepest pocket I've ever heard.

Playing for the song, or the artist, or the entire ensemble---a very different thing than just being in a band. Different priorities, different skill set. There are many great drummers who could NEVER be a studio musician, Keith Moon  perhaps the most obvious. I got offered a recording date by a small-time engineer/producer I know, a single song going onto a movie soundtrack. The basic tracks were recorded with just myself, the singer, and a bass player. After the first take, the producer asked me to "play more" (fills, etc.). I said okay (I was a hired hand, satisfying the customer---the producer---is what it's all about), and played a little busier. It still wasn't enough for him, and he asked me to play more like Keith (apparently a favorite of his ;-). The singer (a son of one of the Lennon Sisters!) asked "This is a 60's-style song. Is that appropriate?" The producer said "Sure, The Who made records in the 60's." I knew what the singer meant, and that the producer didn't. Another take, and he asked for some fills at a particular point in the song. I said "That would walk all over the singer, the melody, the lyrics." To my utter astonishment, he said "Oh, I don't care about that." !!!

I later learned that after I left the studio, the producer laid down his own drum track (he's a multi-instrumentalist), and sent the finished track to the soundtrack producer, who rejected the track. The music producer then sent the mix containing my part, which was excepted. Even famous drummers suffer rejection. Keltner and another drummer were hired by Elton John for the album he produced for Leon Russell. After some recording with both drummers, Leon asked Elton to get rid of Keltner, he wanted more in-the-pocket, "meat 'n' potatoes drumming. What would he have thought of Neil Peart?!

Tarpaper Sky by the always dependable Rodney Crowell. Great songs, singing, and musicianship (he has a great band). As for SQ, the drums and guitars sound pretty good, but for some reason this New West album doesn't sound quite as good in other ways as do some titles in their (and Rodney's) catalog. There is a slight lack of transparency, a thin veil (or as J. Gordon Holt called it, a "skrim") between listener and Rodney's voice. Not bad, but noticeable and mildly disappointing. Not anywhere bad enough to disqualify the album, however!

A raving Rocker (featuring great piano playing by 1st-call Nashville drummer Eddie Bayers, and cool guitar solo by Steuart Smith), a Blues shuffle (more piano by Eddie), a Cajun tune, a Gospel with Rockabilly flavoring (and a VERY cool guitar solo), some in singer/songwriter style. Guest appearances by Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Chely Wright, Shannon McNally, and Ronnie McCoury. This is a really good album.

@spiritofradio, Jim Keltner met Jeff Porcaro when the latter was only 16 years old (and already a monster player). Jim says Jeff told him what an influence Jim had been on his playing, and Jim told him to listen to Roger Hawkins (in a Modern Drummer interview, Jim said he wished he played more like Roger).

Hawkins is one of my three all-time favorite drummers, though fans of Neil Peart-style drumming (or that of, say, Ginger Baker, or Keith Moon, or any other Rock band drummer) may not understand why. As Duke Ellington said (also attributed to Count Basie and Miles Davis): "The notes you don't play are as important as those you do." Words of wisdom.

Great question slaw. A few I can name off the top of my head that are as close to perfect as any I’ve heard (excluding The Band’s first two albums, which go without saying ;-) :

Bob Dylan: Blonde On Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Planet Waves, a few others

The Beatles: Rubber Soul, Revolver (if you remove "Yellow Submarine" ;-)

The Flamin’ Groovies: Shake Some Action

Dave Edmunds: Get It

Rockpile: Seconds Of Pleasure

The Dwight Twilley Band: Sincerely

Iris Dement: My Life

John Hiatt: Bring The Family, Slow Turning

Rodney Crowell: The Houston Kid

Buddy Miller: Your Love And Other Lies, a few others of his

Julie Miller: Broken Things

Procol Harum: A Salty Dog

The Beach Boys: Smile

That’s enough outta me.....

@slaw, The Thorns album is SO fine! Hard to miss with three good songwriters ;-) . I know Matthew Sweet and Pete Droge are huge Brian Wilson fans (I’m less familiar with Shawn Mullins), which may explain the advanced chord structures of the songs (much more sophisticated than those of Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, which are rather pedestrian), the superb melodies, and of course the excellent vocal harmonies. Good recorded sound quality, plus the drumming of Jim Keltner, always a plus.

Is the album available on LP? I have the CD.

ghosthouse, one of my most fun gigs was backing Don (Sugarcane Harris) & Dewey on a set at The Foothill Club in L.A. (a place that booked pure American Rock ’n’ Roll and Rockabilly artists) in the late-90’s. Don & Dewey had been on Specialty Records in the mid-late 50’s (along with Little Richard), and had a couple of minor hits (you may have heard their "Justine", a real barn burner). Don went on to work with Frank Zappa, but hey, a guy’s gotta eat ;-). Don showed up for the gig quite high, and was a real sweet guy. Dewey showed up dressed to kill---a sharp suit and shoes, tie pin and cufflinks.

We had no rehearsal (shades of Chuck Berry), so before each song their bassist (the only musician they "carried") would call out the key and "feel" (shuffle, straight-8, etc.), and count it off. High pressure playing! I love playing for real Rock ’n’ Roll audiences---they dance!

My thoughts on The Dead are over-simplified. I loved the first three albums, and saw them live in ’67, in Golden Gate Park (with The Airplane and Country Joe & The Fish). At that time they were still kind of a Garage/Biker Band, sounding more like they drank beer & wine and ate cross-tops (trucker’s little white pills) than took acid everyday, and that’s what the first album sounds like. Notice the fast tempos?

The 2nd and 3rd album are psychedelic classics, my favorite in the genre. It was when, having become pals with the harmony-singing groups and their members, they made their two Country-Rock albums that their limitations became a problem for me. Not everyone can sing, and singing close harmony is very difficult, particularly live (C, S, & N re-recorded some of their Woodstock vocals in a studio. They were seriously out-of-tune). I just don’t consider Garcia and Weir good enough singers to pull it off: amongst other weaknesses, they both sing flat, and together sound very "sour".

Garcia and Hunter sure wrote some good songs (I performed "Friend Of The Devil", a song I love, in a band), but Garcia and Weir were no Don & Phil Everly or John & Paul. They shoulda stuck to what they were good at. There are pictures of Garcia playing banjo (!) on the grounds of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in the early-mid 60’s (playing Folk music; he was of course a huge Bluegrass lover, but was undistinguished at playing it, never progressing beyond beginner level). I never saw him there, but started playing at Frat kegger parties on the campus in the late 60’s. Those Frat boys sure like their beer! They got me drunk for the first time, well below the legal drinking age.

Phil Lesh is a monster bassist, and Garcia has his own guitar style (a notable achievement). Bob Weir is a pretty weak rhythm guitarist (listen to Don Everly, John Lennon, and Buddy Miller to hear how it’s done well), and I’ve never liked the sound of double-drummers. On his own, Bill is, well maybe it’s better I keep my opinion to myself. ;-) Pigpen’s Farfisa organ playing was pure Garage Band, pretty cheezy. His numerous replacements were undistinguished Hammond players, nothing special.

Playing improvised music is dominated by Jazz and Bluegrass musicians, whose skill and abilities far exceed those of Rock (and many Blues) players. Ask one about The Dead, and my opinion of them will seem generous ;-). For those hungry for high-level improvised guitar playing, give a listen to Danny Gatton. He was fluent in Jazz (he cited Les Paul as a major influence), Rockabilly (he worked in Robert Gordon’s band), Hillbilly (he was a master at the Merle Travis style), Bluegrass (he started on banjo), and is a true guitarist’s guitarist. There are a lot of videos of him available for watching on YouTube.

Aw boxer12, I was just kiddin'. I actually DO like The Dead, at least when they do what they're good at, which isn't singing. It just so happens I love, love, love harmony singing, and superior chord progressions, melodies, arrangements, etc. In other words, songs. That's not their forte'.

It was also not Zappa's, imo. I know he was a pretty smart and talented guy, but his talent was not at what I value in music. Plus, I found him to be a little too pleased with himself, and more than a little smug. Just my take on him, and I don't expect everyone to see it as do I.

I may as well ask here, seeing as how all ya'll get a lot of LP's shipped to you (until recently I've always done my music buying in person. Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood is awesome!) :

Last Sunday (10-25) I placed a $200 order online at Elusive Disc Music. On Tuesday I received an email stating the order had been shipped via USPS, with an estimated delivery date of Monday (11-3).

Yesterday (Thursday 10-29) afternoon I walked down to the mailbox and got the mail (which included the CD by Jamie Hoover and Bill Lloyd I had bought on Discogs). Early in the evening I checked the tracking number supplied by EDM, and was surprised to see that the package had been delivered at 12:58 that afternoon (the notice said the package had been left "in or around" my mailbox. ?). I knew then there was a problem, but I went back to the mailbox to double check, and nope, no carton.

My street (which is in the shape of a rectangle) is unusual in that there is not a mailbox in front of each house, but rather a bank of 24 all together (as in apartment buildings) on one of the curves of the street. Each box is rather small (like a Post Office box), but there are two large locking bins below the 24 boxes. When a package is too large to fit in the mailbox, the carrier puts it into one of the bins and leaves the key to open it in the mailbox of the designated recipient. Once the key is inserted into the bins' lock it cannot be removed (except by the carrier).

I decided to hang out at the mailboxes today (Friday 10-30) and wait for the mail carrier to arrive. I went down at 11:30 and was surprised to discover that he had already been and gone. Drat! And there was something else: Whereas on Thursday there was no key in either of the big bins, on Friday there was, meaning something had been put in it, and the resident who had been given the key to open it had already done so.

So I drove the main Post Office for my area, told the clerk behind the counter the whole story, and provided her with the USPS tracking number for the package. She took all the info, and said she would give it to my carrier when he returned to the facility.

Upon arriving back home I called Elusive Disc and told them what was up. The guy on the phone was great, apologizing for the problem. What I especially liked was that he seemed truly appreciative when I replied that it was not their fault. He said to call back Wednesday or Thursday, and they would then address the situation. Why not Monday, I wonder?

Anyway, I doubt I'm the first of us who has had this happen. I taped a notice on the bottom bin, telling all my neighbors that a package addressed to me had been mistakenly delivered to someone else, and asking if anyone had "seen it" ;-) .

How can I expect this situation to be resolved? I don't know if Elusive Disc insures all their shipments, but their order form does not offer any. Bummer.

Yup @j_damon, I bought the Old & In The Way album at the time of it’s original release, as previously mentioned somewhere here. I agree, the Dead were a live band, not a studio one. However, their first three studio albums captured them pretty well. When I saw them in ’67, they sounded just like the first album.

The Dead and The Band did that famous tour across Canada in a train together, along with Janis Joplin. There are pics of Janis and Band bassist/singer Rick Danko singing together (Danko simultaneously playing a mandolin. All the members of The Band were multi-instrumentalists. Pianist Richard Manual was a great drummer, playing most the drums on The Basement Tapes, and half the songs on The Band’s brown album), with Garcia in the background.

When The Band played The Hollywood Bowl in 1970, they were given carte blanche for their opening act. Guitarist Robbie Robertson and organist Garth Hudson were huge fans of pianist Bill Evans, with whom Miles’ drummer Jack DeJohnette had worked, so they had Miles open the show. The two bands did some jamming together, though without Miles. DeJohnette and Band drummer/singer Levon Helm became lifelong friends.

Exactly @slaw. I haven’t heard the first Section album (the only one I’ve heard and owned) since the 70’s; who knows, perhaps I would like it now. On the other hand, what I look for in music is pretty specific. I call my taste in music narrow and deep; I view that of some others as wide and shallow (not meant in the pejorative sense).

At the time I heard The Section album, it didn’t satisfy my musical appetite. But I was making a larger point: that any given group of musicians that one likes may not necessarily make music one also likes. That concept is timeless.

I like The Section as backing musicians, but I don’t (or at least didn’t) like the music they made on their own. I feel the same about their current incarnation, as The Immediate Family. I LOVED Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, and Nick Lowe backing John Hiatt on the latter’s Bring The Family album, but when all four made an album as Little Village, I found it to be not very good.

For me, it’s all about "the song", and realizing it’s potential. Just like a movie script, the actors being the musicians. the director the producer.

Dang @tomic601, yer swell. Both Charlie and Butterfield were living in San Francisco in the late-60’s/early-70’s, and showing us white boys how to play Blues. Robben Ford came to town in ’71, with his family band, The Charles Ford Band (named after the dad), with brothers Pattrick (drums) and Mark (harp, vocals). The guy in my senior year of high school band joined them on bass, which he has never let any of us forget ;-) .

Musselwhite heard Robben play, and offered him a job in his band. That was the end of The Charles Ford Band! Next thing we knew, Robben was in L.A., working with Joni Mitchell, then Miles Davis and George Harrison. I used to see him play in little bars around town, just as I did Lucinda Williams around L.A. before she broke big with her Car Wheels album (once in a pizza parlor with about a half-dozen people in the room). I still prefer to hear live music in small venues.

Mike Bloomfield left the Butterfield band after their East-West, album, starting The Electric Flag with Buddy Miles, Barry Goldberg, and Harvey Brooks. One of the best bands I ever saw! the doors had to follow them on stage at that show (the Santa Clara Folk/Rock Festival in the Summer of '68), and paled miserably in comparison.

I just gave a listen to the new Immediate Family single, and hey, it’s pretty good. A nice Blues shuffle, pretty cool. The guitarists play too much like Englishmen for my liking (Les Pauls’ with too much sustain and distortion), but I’m picky that way.

@slaw, that drum on "Built To Last" sounds like what you think it is, what’s called a concert bass drum. The same drum in a shallower depth (drumhead-to-drumhead) is played in marching bands at football games, and is then referred to as a marching or parade bass drum (for the obvious reason ;-) . Both sound as they do because they are 1- much larger in diameter than a drumset bass drum (28" minimum, usually larger), so there is less tension on the head, and 2- played with a "mallet", a stick with a large felt ball on the end that strikes the head, the felt creating a sound with less "attack" than does a normal drumstick’s wood or plastic tip. Good ear there buddy!

By the way, one of the reasons John Bonham’s bass/kick drum had it’s well-known unique sound was that he played a 26", as opposed to the more common 20" (Ringo’s kit on the early Ed Sullivan shows and the ’64 U.S. tour, and one of Ginger Baker’s two kicks), 22" (Ringo’s subsequent kits, and Baker’s second kick. Keith Moon’s double-kick set contained two 22"), or the occasional 24" (many Big Band drummers including Buddy Rich, as well as Mitch Mitchell and Carmine Appice). The second reason was he used no muffling in the drum or on it’s heads, playing it "wide open". The third was he had it distant mic’ed, not close mic’ed. And fourth, he "buried" the felt bass drum beater into the head; that means instead of letting the beater bounce off the head after each note, he kept the beater pressed tight against the head, which tends to kill the natural resonance and ringing of the head, a form of damping.

@bslon: Josie Cotton's Convertible Music! I've had the album since it's initial release (love her hairdo, makeup, and outfit, and the T-Bird she's sitting in on the cover ;-), as well as the 12" 45 of "Johnnie Are You Queer" on Bomp Records that preceded it. Cool chick!