Filth & Fire by Mary Gauthier. Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams’ guitarist/bandleader/producer up through and including her Car Wheels On A Gravel Road album) produces, plays a bunch of instruments, and sings harmony. Other musicians on the album include Peter Rowan (Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, Seatrain, Muleskinner, Old & In The Way), Ian McLagan (The Small Faces), and an excellent drummer named Rick Richards. Recorded in Austin, Texas. Mary is my favorite "new" artist. |
Me likey, ghosthouse. The verses are very similar to Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign" (same lick and groove), written by William Bell and Booker T. Jones. Cream also recorded the song, but Jack Bruce was no Albert King! |
Dave Edmunds: Get It. Rockpile: Seconds Of Pleasure. The Morells: Shake And Push. Moon Martin: Shots From A Cold Nightmare. |
reubent, did you manage to see/hear Rockpile live? They played three consecutive nights at The Country Club in Reseda, CA in 1980, with Moon Martin opening. I went all three nights; now THAT was a Rock 'n' Roll band! Moon was great too. My first wife did his Fan Club, so I got to know him a little. Wonder what became of him. |
My U.S. copy of the Rockpile album does too, reubent. The last entry, of Los Angeles Dec. 13-15, is the shows I was at. It wasn't really in Los Angeles proper, but over the Hollywood Hills in the center of the San Fernando Valley, on Sherman Way in Reseda. I gotta find a UK copy of the LP. |
@boxer12, interesting that T Bone used that album title, as his 1980 album was entitled Truth Decay. That album also features good recorded sound. |
The Band---The Making of "Rockin' Chair" & Commentary on Vocals. Producer John Simon and Levon Helm sit at a mixing console, bringing up faders to demonstrate the incredible vocal arrangement and performance of the song. Comments on The Band's vocals provided by George Harrison and Bernie Taupin. Do yourself a huge favor and watch the video on You Tube. |
Joan Osborne: Bring It On Home, and Songs Of Bob Dylan. Bring It On Home is pretty good (her and her band's take on Slim Harpo's "Shake You Hips" is fantastic! Another great recording of the song is on Lou Ann Barton's Read My Lips album), Songs Of Bob Dylan is, imo, not. His kind of songs are just not her forte'. There's no depth to the interpretation, the lyrics don't seem to have any meaning to her (though I'm sure they do). Still love ya, Joan! |
@n80, yup, I'm a big Little Walter fan, and have his Hate To See You Go LP on Chess Records. I worked with a guy up in the Bay Area (Gary Smith) who goes for the same tone outta his harp as did LW, sax-like. Gary mentored with Charlie Musselwhite for a while in the 70's, and worked in Robben Ford's band when Robben live in San Jose. If you can find it, consider buying Gary's Up The Line album (CD only), it's real good, pure Chicago style Blues. My favorite Blues is that which swings, shuffle rhythms (they're fun to play, too). Give a listen to Lowell Fulson, a song like "Reconsider Baby", a classic. |
@phomchick, great selection. Regarding the sound quality of the recording, it was made after Ry Cooder had heard his first Water Lily Records recording, and was gobsmacked. He asked 'Why don't my records (at the time, all on Warner Brothers Records) sound this good?" He eventually made his own album with the label (owned by recording engineer-extraordinaire Kav Alexander), the fantastic "A Meeting by The River". |
Great album David! It was Randy's 3rd, and his 1st (s/t) and 2nd (12 Songs) are also real good, as is the one after Sail Away---Good Old Boys (my favorite of his). It was when he started using the guys in Toto as his recording band that I lost interest in him. |
@reubent, I don’t know much about The Tubes, even though I grew up in San Jose, just 45 minutes south of their base in San Francisco. But in L.A. I was a member of the band for a singer who got her start as a dancer for The Tubes live shows, Pearl Harbour. In the early 80’s she got a record deal with Stiff Records (distributed in the U.S.A. by CBS), and moved to England to live and work. She was a member of the Stiff Records Revue package tour (with Costello, Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, etc.) and toured as well with The Clash and the rest of the Punk/New Wave crowd. She was married to Clash bassist Paul Simonon for awhile, but by the time I met her in L.A. they had divorced, and her contract with Stiff expired and not renewed. But she had made enough dough to buy a Craftsman-style house in the Silverlake district (hipster-ville) in L.A. She’s quite a sweet lady (with a vintage clothes collection you wouldn’t believe; the second bedroom in her house is a walk-in closet), and had a lot of stories to tell. I was most interested in the pianist in her UK band, the great Geraint Watkins. He later became a member of The Dave Edmunds Band, whose live album you just picked up. Great one! Geraint has a couple of solo albums of his own. |
All The King’s Men. For all ya’ll who like The Rolling Stones, on "Deuce & A Quarter" Keith Richards gets together with those HE likes: Scotty Moore (guitar) and D.J. Fontana (drums) from Elvis’ original band (Keith brought along his dad to meet them), and Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson of The Band. Recorded in Levon’s studio in Woodstock in 1996. Speaking of The Band, there is a recording from 1961 or 2 of them (when they were known as Levon & The Hawks) performing the song they did with Clapton in The Last Waltz---Bobby Bland’s "Farther On Up The Road", with Levon singing. It’s from before The Beatles had ever entered a recording studio, 3 or 4 before The Hawks went on the road with Dylan, and 6 or 7 before they (as The Band) recorded their debut album Music From Big Pink. Working together for 8 years before recording it is one reason MFBP is as good as it is. How many young R & R bands today are together 8 years before they record an album? Answer: None. So as The Beatles little-by-little got worse-and-worse as a performing band between 1962 and 1968, The Hawks were getting better-and-better. By the time they (as The Band) went in to record MFBP in early 1968, they were the best R & R band in the world. When George Harrison and Eric Clapton heard Music From Big Pink, they were in absolute awe. They weren't alone. |
Yup @n80, on Rick’s first album. I have all his solo stuff, as well as that of Levon and Garth. Robbie, uh, no ;-) . I was so happy that Levon received the recognition he did on his later albums, including three Grammies! But it was Richard Manuel from whom I really wanted an album. He never wrote another song after those on the early Band albums, his writer’s block a major factor in his suicide. The only musician’s death that brought me to tears. |
Walk Through Walls by Brian Capps, the coolest album I have heard in a long, long time! Brian was in the Roots Rock band The Domino Kings, and after leaving that band formed The True Liars, the other members all coming from the legendary Springfield Missouri combo The Morells (like NRBQ, a favorite of Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and every hip musician I know). The songs are cool, the playing very cool (bassist Lou Whitney makes his Fender P-Bass sound like an upright; guitarist D. Clinton Thompson, one of my favorites, has worked with Steve Forbert, Jonathan Richman, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, The Del-Lords, Andy Shernoff of The Dicatators, many others---he’s brilliant!; drummer Bobby Lloyd Hicks---one of two drummers the band has had---has been in and out of Dave Alvin’s band for years), and the production---by Whitney---outstanding. As an example of what’s so great about the music, many guitarists in Rock music (most, imo), when it comes time for their solo, play "riffs"---many merely blues scales they have learned over the years. The solo is not actually very much related to the song itself, but is more played out of the guitarist’s knowledge of the Blues lexicon than from any musical consideration. D. Clinton approaches guitar playing from a completely different point of view. His guitar parts, including his solos, are musical parts of the song itself, played to enhance the song, not his own stature as a guitarist. Think George Harrison, Robbie Robertson (The Band of course), and Al Anderson (NRBQ), not Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Beck, Van Halen, or any of the other "normal", blues-based players. MUCH more musically interesting, to me at least. The whole True Liars band plays that way, and it’s SO refreshing! Unfortunately, the album is out-of-print (actually, Hightone Records is out of business), and I got the last new copy available on Amazon (fulfilled by Waterloo Records in Austin. Sorry Bill ;-), for under three bucks. But used copies are available, for cheap. Do yourself a huge favor and buy the album! |
Transcontinental by Jedd Hughes. Just a kid at the time of it's release (2004), but already a real fine songwriter and singer. Good songs (chord structures, melodies), lots of good harmony singing (unfortunately not heard in most music these days), real good musicianship, good production. You know.....good music ;-) . Undoubtedly too Country for many of ya'll. |
Filth & Fire by Mary Gauthier. Don't despair, late-blooming singer-songwriters! Gurf Morlix---Lucinda Williams' guitarist/harmony singer/bandleader/producer up through and including her break-out Car Wheels On A Gravel Road album---does the same here. This is the kind of artist I hope to discover every time I listen to a new one. I'm usually disappointed---they're rare. |
Hey @boxer12, a coupla days ago I received notification of the Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" 20th Anniversary Tour. It’s coming to Portland Oregon, and general admission tickets are only 30 bucks, I believe it was. There were also tickets about twice and three times that price, so even the best seats are reasonably priced, unlike some shows these days. Too bad she doesn’t have the original "CWOAGR" tour band (Jim Lauderdale on acoustic rhythm guitar/harmony vocals/bandleader, Jim Christie---fresh off his stint with Dwight Yoakam---on drums, Kenny Vaughan---now a member of Marty Stuart’s band The Fabulous Superlatives---on guitar) to take on the road with her, but I’m sure she’ll have a good one. Everyone wants to work with Lucinda! |
I saw Lucinda on that original "CWOAGR" tour (at The Wiltern Theater, I believe), and it was then I realized I would never again be able to see her in a small room again. My girlfriend and I always went out to see her play around L.A. at the time of her s/t Rough Trade album and Sweet Old World on Chameleon (late-80’s/early-90’s), before she got her Warners deal. She played at little dives around town; one time I saw her and her original band perform in a pizza parlor, on a stage so small drummer Donald Lindley was playing a rub board rather than a drumset. There were about a half dozen people in the place, including the bar maids! A few years earlier (mid-80’s), I had gone to see The Long Ryders at Club Lingerie on Sunset, and before they started their set I saw a guy I knew (The Long Ryders fan club president), so I went over to say hi. He introduced me to this lanky blonde woman standing next to him, telling me she too was a songwriter. She looked down at the floor, seemingly embarrassed to be the center of attention. It was Lucinda. I didn’t know it at the time, but Lucinda was then married to Long Ryders’ drummer Greg Sowders (she's been through a few more since then ;-). A while later my woman and I were looking through the LP’s at Moby Disc on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks (we lived a few blocks away) when she said to me "Hey, there’s Lucinda". She was standing behind the cash register, staring off into space, probably writing lyrics. She was putting in her time being a record store clerk. Hey, a girl’s gotta eat ;-) . |
Cheater’s Game by Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison. The pair are imo on the second rung of the Americana talent pool (that’s still really good), and their work somewhat spotty (including this 2012 album). Lots of good music, well worth the five bucks I paid for it at Music Millennium. |
@uberwaltz, I LOVE that you listen to both Shania and Merle. No snobbishness! Hardcore Country purists badmouth Shania (Steve Earle dubbed her "The highest paid lap dancer in Nashville" ;-), but I like her for what she is, not dislike her for what she isn't. Sure it's Pop Country---so what? I like Pop good music! It is for the same reason I can like both AC/DC and ABBA. |
Going Down To The River by Doug Seegers. Closest singer to Hank Williams I believe I have ever heard. No boyish Alt-Country folks, Doug is the real deal, sings like a man who has done some livin’. Emmylou Harris duets with Doug on "She" (written by Gram Parsons and Chris Ethridge). Magnificent. Buddy Miller joins Doug on Hanks’ "There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight", and wrote the albums’ liner notes. Great, gen-u-ine Country music. |
Damn @boxer12, I missed that one! I looked up Blue Country Heart, and saw that Jorma has a bunch of my fave musicians on the album: Jerry Douglas (musicians don't come any better than Jerry. I saw he and his band last year in a small theater in Portland), Sam Bush, and Bela Fleck. The album is now at the top of my "Buy" list. Thanks, mate! |
Uncle Tupelo and The Replacements, the two most influential bands of their generation. Tupelo, like Big Star and The Jayhawks, had two songwriter/singers who each needed their own band. For some reason Lennon & McCartney could mind-meld where others can't. I never saw the appeal of The Replacements, but by the time they arrived I may have been too old for their brand of music. |
@northwestmouse, I love The 5 Royales. Do you have a Ravens collection? Love them too! |
Ah yeah, The Falcons, another great vocal group, out of which came Wilson Pickett. Robert Ward is legendary amongst guitarists for, amongst other reasons, his playing through the Magnatone, a very unique sounding combo amp. I worked in a band with a guitarist who had one, and I’ve never heard any other amp that sounded anything like it. |
Dial ’W’ For Watkins, by Geraint Watkins. Geraint is THE keyboard player in the Roots/Blues/Rockabilly/Hillbilly scene in the UK, and has worked in the bands of both Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe (I’ve seen Geraint live quite a few times), amongst many others. This album is on Yep Rock Records, a cool little U.S. Indi label, and was issued in 2004. Geraint is quite a character, and the album reflects his wide-ranging musical tastes and abilities. A highlight is his version of the brilliant song "Heroes & Villains", written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, and included on The Beach Boys Smiley Smile album. Geraint gives the song a Swing treatment with Scat singing (!), sounding like it could be a weird Louis Prima out-take. NOBODY else would have thought of that! If you love "Heroes & Villains" as much as do I, you just GOTTA hear Geraint’s version. |
A Collection by Marshall Crenshaw. It’s a promo-only CD from the 90’s, an overview of his career up to the time of it’s release. Marshall is a triple threat---an excellent songwriter, singer, and guitarist, with great taste in sidemen. I saw Marshall live in NYC in 1983, and it one of the best shows and bands I've ever seen and heard. Marshall had added to his trio lineup Graham Maby (from Joe Jackson's band) on 6-string baritone guitar (on every song!) and harmony vocals, and another guitarist/harmony singer (or was it a keyboardist? I don't recall.). Four singers (his brother/drummer Robert also sings)---some incredible harmony was heard that night! |
Lots of Richard Thompson. What a unique, gifted artist! |
Escape From Hollywood by The Hellecasters. They are a trio of virtuoso guitarists who play Fender Telecasters (including John Jorgenson of The Desert Rose Band), as did the man to whom the album is dedicated, the master Danny Gatton (R.I.P.). An album of instrumentals, with insanely good guitar playing. |
@jrwaudio, and Alison's band is insane! Her dobro player Jerry Douglas (who has his own band and solo albums) is the best in the world. I saw him on his last tour, playing a sort-of progressive Bluegrass/Jazz blend. No singing, all instrumental. |
The Beat: their debut, s/t album. The most exciting live Power Pop band I ever saw, including The Who. As good as The Kinks, very high praise. But The Kinks made a lot more great albums, didn't they ;-) . |
Great @uberwaltz! It’s been reissued a few times. Is the sealed copy on USA Columbia? Does it have the bonus 7" EP in a picture sleeve that was included with the first pressing? It’s Dave and Nick doing Everly Brothers songs, good versions. I have the Columbia but also the original UK version on F Beat Records, which sounds a little "better". The album has the distinctive Dave Edmunds production sound: lots of strummed acoustic rhythm guitar, direct-through-the-board electric guitar (his Gibson ES335, not Billy’s Hamer), punchy drums (too bad The Who w/Keith Moon never had him produce them ;-), very compressed, close-harmony vocals, explosive Rock ’n Roll sound. Great album! And live they were absolutely fantastic, one of my lifetime Top 10 shows (3 nights in a row in 1980 at The Country Club in Reseda, CA, with Moon Martin, who was also fantastic, opening). If you love Seconds Of Pleasure, look for the albums the four members did together as the ensemble band on a number of Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe solo albums. I can name them all if you would like. |
Phillippe Herreweghe's interpretation of Beethoven's Symphony No.9 on Harmonia Mundi. |
@n80, I actually listen to Classical a lot (especially the Baroque era), but don't usually comment on it here. While fairly knowledgeable about Popular (non-Classical) music, I can be viewed as a dilettante in regard to the serious stuff. The title I posted about is not just the 9th, but all nine of Beethoven's symphonies, in a little boxset. Listening to them all back-to-back is interesting: one becomes more aware of the composer's "tricks" (not said in the pejorative sense ;-); the frequent use of dynamic swells leading to a staccato chord punctuation. I actually prefer Mozart as a symphony composer; his are more different from one another, and he wrote far more of them. But to me, J.S. Bach is THE composer's composer. I am of course not alone in holding that opinion. I was introduced to JSB by a songwriter I was recording with in '74-'75, the only genius I've known. He was a music major first at San Jose State College and then The University of California at Riverside, and possessed perfect pitch. Learning to sing a Fugue---as I was required to do in our work---was the hardest thing I've ever done. It also instilled in me a low tolerance for "flat" singing, and out-of-tune guitars. Both are far more common than you would think! |
ABBA are imo seriously under-rated. Bjorn and Benny are excellent songwriters (in a long ago interview, Flo & Eddie declared them better than Brian Wilson!), Agnetha and Anni-Frid good singers. I own their complete catalog, and some of the girl's solo albums, one sung in Swedish. |
Me too, @jafant. Having seen John with The Jerry Douglas Band a few weeks back, I've been binging on Hiatt for the last few days. Playing right now is Slow Turning, his follow-up to Bring The Family, imo the former an even better album than the latter. Both A+'s, of course. One of our major living artists (along with Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement, good 'ol Bob, and a few others). |
Excellent @reubent, me too ;-) . Before that it was The War & Treaty, produced by Buddy Miller. For those not that familiar with Buddy, he's had a long career in music, currently serving as Emmylou Harris' guitarist, harmony singer, and band leader.
Buddy had previously played Rockabilly music in Ray Campi's band (a "real" Rockabilly, not a Stray Cat ;-), played in bands with Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, and Larry Campbell, and worked in Kinky Friedman's band. His solo albums and those with wife Julie are amongst my favorites of the past three decades
Buddy is my favorite currently working record producer, an enormously talented man. His other productions include albums for Richard Thompson, the aforementioned Shawn Colvin, Allison Moorer, Patti Griffin, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Solomon Burke, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Ralph Stanley. God I wish Lucinda would have Buddy producer her!
He is also a fantastic musician, having played on the recordings of Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, John Fogerty, Victoria Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Rodney Crowell, Frank Black, Elvis Costello, The Dixie Chicks, many others.
|
@ozzy: Love The Bottle Rockets! I never managed to see them live (I don't think they ever made it to the West Coast), but have six of their albums (on CD. LP purists: see why you should have a CD player? ;-).
|
Ooh, great band @jafant! Which album? They had back-to-back albums produced first by Nick Lowe (T-Bird Rhythm) then Dave Edmunds.(Tuff Enough), both fantastic.
|
