classicrockmusicblog.com

Bob Dylan – New Morning remastered

by TW on November 9, 2011

Between John Wesley Harding and Blood On The Tracks, Bob Dylan‘s New Morning often gets lost in the confusion of his early ’70′s efforts. That’s a shame, because New Morning is as a complete Dylan record as they come. This is 1970, when Dylan was in partial to full croon, showing the critics (not that he cared) that he could “sing,” and that gentle delivery serves these songs perfectly. This set of 12 tunes runs the gamut from the sunny vibe of “If Not For You” and “New Morning”; the silly charm of “Winterlude”; the scat-jazz of “If Dogs Run Free”; to the gospel-like “Father Of Night.” Like a basketball player “in the zone,” Dylan just can’t miss on New Morning. This fine remaster sonically highlights an album richly deserving of reappraisal.

{ 1 comment }

Muddy Waters – King Bee

by TW on November 8, 2011

King Bee was the first Muddy Waters’ album I ever heard, which strangely would prove to be the great blues man’s final studio recording. King Bee was the third in a series of records that Waters recorded with protégé Johnny Winter in the late 1970s. The fruitful collaboration brought Winter home to the blues and found Waters playing and singing with an intensity and joy that carried over from his electrifying performance at The Band’s 1976 swan song, The Last Waltz concert. There, he tore up the stage with a transcendent version of “Mannish Boy,” that had Robbie Robertson howling in response, as Waters seemed to channel the very spirit of the blues.

So Waters and Winter began working together in 1976, and the pair produced a trio of terrific studio albums: Hard Again, I’m Ready and King Bee. The latter, however, was the most difficult to make. Waters’ band was on the verge of breaking up as tracks were recorded for King Bee, and several of the songs that made it to final vinyl were outtakes from the Hard Again sessions. And when the album was reissued in 2004, on compact disc, the release was appended with two additional previously unreleased cuts, “I Won’t Go On” and “Clouds In My Heart.”

This is a blues album through and through, and Winter’s production does nothing but serve the music. The arrangements are lean and mean, with nod to the raw studio sound of Muddy’s early recording days with Chess Records. Blues it is, but the feel and attitude are rock and roll, pure kick-ass rock and roll.

The opener, “I’m A King Bee,” finds Waters buzzing ‘round the hives of his various honeys, as Jerry Portnoy plays a fluttering harmonica line that can be taken as the wings of the king bee approaching his target. Willie “Big Eyes” Smith keeps the boys in the pocket here – and throughout – with a powerful bass-and-snare drum beat. “Sad Sad Day,” “Mean Old Frisco Blues” and “No Escape From The Blues” are among the many highlights here – electrifying, electric blues. “Deep Down In Florida #2” is a remade romp through the backwoods and big cities of the Sunshine State, with Muddy passing through Gainesville, Newberry, Miami and other orange grove burghs.

Waters was not just a great slide and electric guitar player; his vocal phrasing and delivery were inimitable. Listen to Muddy preface “Champagne and Reefer,” with his “Alright… OK… We gone… Rollin’” before the three-note riff kicks the door in. And of those two bonus tracks: “Clouds In My Heart” could be the best song of the bunch. How this didn’t make it onto the original LP is a mystery. Longtime Waters’ guitarist Bob Margolin adds some sparkling 6-string work to this gorgeous number.

King Bee was released in May 1981, and nearly two years later (April 30, 1983) Waters died in his sleep. In a later interview, Winter said, “The most fun I ever had was working with Muddy.” Waters could channel the primal wail of the blues as good as anyone, and it must have been something to watch and hear when he was laying down these tracks well past the age of 60. Thirty years later Muddy remains the King Bee.

{ 2 comments }

10 Great Minnesota Bands and Artists

by TW on November 7, 2011

Minnesota and its cities and towns may not get the musical props of a California or New York, but the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have long and proud traditions popular music that date back to the early 1960s, when artists such as “Spider” John Koerner were the buzz in local coffee shops. Still home to many revered musicians who just never left the frozen north, I present 10 great artists from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Replacements – The Replacements started as a sloppy punk band devoted to getting drunk and singing mawkish ditties about school, work and other subjects of teen-aged angst. The band grew into a rock and roll vehicle for Paul Westerberg‘s burgeoning writing talents and became legends in the Twin Cities. Recommended album: Tim.
Prince – The chameleonic artist’s career decisions could be questioned, but the talents of Minneapolis’ most famous musical son cannot. Controversial and cryptic, funky and flaky, Prince remains an enigma and a killer guitar player. Recommended album: Sign O’ The Times.
The Jayhawks – Gary Louris‘ and Mark Olson‘s voices were a match from heaven, with Louris’ ringing highs countering Olson’s earthy lows. The influence of the Jayhawks is enormous, and the band’s 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall didn’t just kick-start the alt-country movement, it defined it. Recommended album: Tomorrow The Green Grass.
The Honeydogs – Adam Levy – the chief songwriter of the Honeydogs – is one of the most unappreciated talents in music. Levy’s gift for melody and arrangement follow the lines of masters such as The Beatles and Brian Wilson. Recommended album: Seen A Ghost.
Husker Du – The twin songwriting genius of Bob Mould and Grant Hart coalesced on the punk-rock tour de force Zen Arcade, and then was refined for the sonic barrage of New Day Rising. Recommended album: Flip Your Wig.
Bob Dylan – The most influential rock and folk songwriter of the 20^th century is still going strong nearly 50 years after his self-titled debut in 1962. By 1966, he had set a standard almost impossible for any future songwriter to aspire. Love his voice or hate it, Dylan is one of the few artists who can parody himself and get away with it. Recommended album: Basement Tapes.
Soul Asylum – Another Minneapolis act that first burst onto the bar scene playing Ramones-influenced punk. Unlike their local hero peers, Soul Asylum played to the world following the success of 1992′s Grave Dancers Union and the hit single “Runaway Train.” Recommended album: And The Horse They Rode In On.
The Trashmen – While the lakes of Minnesota are a long ways from the hallowed surfing grounds of California and Hawaii, The Trashmen weren’t deterred. And now everybody’s heard that the bird’s the word. Recommended album: Tube City! The Best Of The Trashmen.
Low – The slow-core trio from Duluth makes music as delicate as a spider’s web – songs that threaten to curl up in a ball and sleep through the long northern Minnesota winter. Recommended album: Things We Lost In The Fire.
Trip Shakespeare - The lush productions, chiming guitars and harmony vocals of Trip Shakespeare fought for recognition as grunge took over popular music in the early ’90s. You already know the winner of that battle. Recommended album: Lulu.

{ 1 comment }

10 Great Texas Bands and Musicians

by TW on November 4, 2011

Give me a “T” for Texas. The Lone Star State talks big and delivers big in its myths and music. From Abilene to Amarillo, El Paso to Galveston, here are 10 great artists who hail from Texas, which isn’t so much a State but state of mind.

Buddy Holly – In Holly’s too-short life, he perfected the art of three-chord guitar rock and influenced generations of songwriters to come. Recommended album: Buddy Holly.
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Another Texas tragedy. Stevie Ray burst onto the popular music scene in 1983 with his debut album, Texas Flood. This new guitar hero took the blues and played them with an energy and charisma that hadn’t been seen since Jimi Hendrix. His death in 1990 left a hole still un-filled. Recommended album: The Sky Is Crying.
ZZ Top – Two bearded guitarists, a beard-less drummer named Beard, and good ‘ol Texas boogie-rock took this trio from the Houston barrooms to the top of MTV airplay in the early ’80s. Recommended album: Tres Hombres.
Willie Nelson – Nelson has straddled the fence between rock, country, reggae, swing and other music genres so successfully that he appears incapable of doing wrong. Nelson can cover Nat King Cole, Jimmy Cliff or Bob Wills with ease, cracking the songs open like an egg with his ragged voice and phrasing. Recommended album: The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories?
Edgar Winter – The talented multi-instrumentalist brought “Frankenstein” to the stage, with its whirl of keyboard effects and heavy riff, and invited us all along to take a “Free Ride.” Recommended album: Edgar Winter’s White Trash.
Roy Orbison – Orbison had a voice descended directly from heaven. Whether he was singing about a pretty woman, “Crying” or traveling with his Wilbury kin, Orbison’s one-of-a-kind vocals made some of the most effective and affecting music ever recorded. Recommended album: Cry Softly Lonely One.
Flatlanders – The lonesome West Texas plains inspired the early 1970′s music by three then-unknown songwriters – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock. The self-effacing debut More A Legend Than A Band, showcased Gilmore’s high, pining drawl and the best music ever played on a saw. Recommended album: More A Legend Than A Band.
Janis Joplin – Joplin’s blistering, booze-soaked vocals turned tracks such as “Piece Of My Heart” into transcendent trips requiring no further mind alterations. Probably the greatest female rock singer ever. Recommended album: Pearl.
Butthole Surfers – What’s in a name? In the case of Butthole Surfers, everything! The bizarre rock/punk/noise meddlings of the Surfers on “The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave” and “Sweat Loaf” could only come from crazed genius. Recommended album: Locust Abortion Technician.
Michael Nesmith – Much more than just a member of The Monkees, Nesmith is one of the most under-appreciated songwriters of the 1970s. His talent was too big for the made-for-TV act, and he finally fled for the burgeoning fields of country-rock where his muse could sing truly. Recommended album: And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’.

{ 2 comments }

Chicago – Live In Concert

by TW on November 3, 2011

In the late 1960s and early ’70s – long before they fell into the smarmy trappings of Top 40 radio – Chicago was a very daring band and a very good band, prone to album-side experiments of near avant-garde rock. Along the way, they penned more than a couple handfuls of absolute classic rock tunes and cultivated a devout following, drawn to the band’s horn-driven sound and multi-talented lineup. And it’s the original “classic” lineup of seven – Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane and Danny Seraphine – we hear on these collected live tracks. The bluesy “South California Purples” features Kath’s glorious outbursts of wah-wah drenched guitar. “25 Or 6 To 4” is another six-string highlight, with one of the great solos in rock guitar. Hearing Kath dance across the fingerboard, it’s little wonder he was so esteemed by Jimi Hendrix. The cover of “I’m A Man,” almost sounds like The Allman Brothers, a full-on blues-rock rocket ride. Cetera sings with a gritty soulfulness that belies the sappy balladeer he’d become two decades later, and drummer Seraphine – one of rock’s most underrated stick men – turns in a formidable, cowbell-laced solo. “Questions 67 & 68” is a joyous melody sung sprung over horns, and the band’s first true hit. At more than 16 minutes, “Liberation” leaves plenty of room for each member to spread out. From Kath’s guitar antics and Cetera’s walking bass lines to Lamm’s keyboard vamps and Seraphine’s muscular drumming, this is a very different bird than the one that let loose “Hard Habit To Break.” Somewhere around the 10-minute mark, the music shifts from The Blues Brothers to the otherworldly flights of Ornette Coleman, with a barrage of effects, drippy organ notes and squealing horns. Just as the whole thing threatens to implode, the mood turns gentler and the tune carried to its soulful conclusion, with Kath channeling Otis Redding. That was Chicago – the real Chicago – back in the day.

{ 1 comment }

David Minasian – Random Acts of Beauty

by TW on November 1, 2011

David Minasian‘s Random Acts Of Beauty is another reminder that when you least expect it, the cosmos will conspire to open your ears to music as if for the very first time. Yogi Berra might describe this disc of sensuous and melodic prog-rock as “deja vu all over again”; me, I couldn’t keep it out of my player. Multi-instrumentalist Minasian (plays everything from guitar and mellotron to cello and cornet) weaves an intoxicating web of old-school prog that harkens back to the best of the genre’s halcyon 1970′s era. Think Camel and albums such as The Snow Goose and Moonmadness, and you’ll have some taste of this album’s flavor. Minasian even brings in Camel guitarist/vocalist Andy Latimer to play and sing on opening track, “Masquerade.” But this isn’t some half-humped dromedary hoping to get by on its master’s laurels, Minasian (an accomplished video director) himself is a master of creating mood and capturing the atmosphere of times long past. Random‘s seven tracks flow with an epic sweep and grandeur that create the aural equivalent of a fantasy novel. My only complaint is that Minasian, and his 20-year-old son David, who joins dad and plays guitar on the bulk of the tracks, have set the bar so high with this that a follow-up will be tough.

{ 2 comments }

Bob Seger System – Mongrel

by TW on October 31, 2011

Years before the Silver Bullet Band came into being and Live Bullet catapulted to him national fame, Bob Seger was recording as the leader of the Bob Seger System. Most of Seger’s early works languished in obscurity – and really still do to the present – but they are far from throwaway, “completist-only” records. My personal favorite of the period is 1970′s Mongrel. You’ll find no radio hits on this platter but it remains Seger’s hardest rocking record ever, with an urgency that only his best live performances can top.

The cover art is unlike anything before or after that would grace Seger’s albums. The painting of a young girl at a table with a dog ostensibly sitting next to her has a certain Brothers Grimm-like quality – it doesn’t exactly scream Detroit rock and roll, but it is instantly recognizable. Mongrel‘s music, however, packs a huge Motor City wallop thanks to the groove laid down by Seger (lead guitars/vocals) and System members, Dan Honaker (bass/vocals/guitars), Dan Watson (organ/piano/vocals) and Pep Perrine (drums/percussion). Take the roughest and rawest parts of R&B, the grittiest soul, raw blues and combine with a heavy, thumping rock beat and you’ve got the blueprint – make that dogprint – for Mongrel.

Seger and System start with the roaring blues-rocker “Song To Rufus,” and it’s clear the boys are eager to attack. Perrine lays down a smashing beat that drives the tune at full throttle, while Seger delivers one of his rawest vocals ever. Listen to the fury of Perrine as he hits the crash cymbal! The minor-key “Evil Edna” features a terrific organ solo from Watson that borders on psychedelic. The insistent pound of “Highway Child” and the title track find Seger back at the top of the rock mountain. “Big River” is a gentle, acoustic-tinged number that sounds like a warm-up to his later ’70′s ballads that took over rock radio. And if a song ever reflected the “Detroit Sound,” it’s Side 1 closer, “Lucifer,” with its heavy organ chords, ripping guitar solos and background vocals. “Teachin’ Blues” sounds like Deep Purple channeled through the Motor City, while the gospel-soaked “Mongrel Too,” is a soulful number with a cool arrangement of hand drums, harpsichord-esque lines and rapturous backing vocals. A cover of “River Deep-Mountain High,” earlier made famous by Ike and Tina Turner, builds to a fevered – almost jam-ish – pitch before closing the record.

If you know Seger only from his late-70′s releases and can’t stand to hear “Night Moves” again, check out Mongrel. (Note: Mongrel was last issued on CD in 1993 and has long gone out of print. Expect to pay at least $25 for a decent used copy. Better yet, track down the vinyl. I found a copy in VG+ condition for $4.)

{ 2 comments }

Lou Reed – Walking On The Wild Side

by TW on October 28, 2011

The late 1960s and early ’70s found Lou Reed on a creative tear. Coming to light first with the incalculably influential Velvet Underground before venturing off onto a solo career that continues to the present, Reed spun tales of the grittiest sides of New York City, bringing to life hustlers, hoods, drug dealers and transvestites, among others, while pulling no punches. Walking On The Wild Side is an early “best-of” live album recorded for radio broadcast while touring behind Transformer, gathering 11 Reed gems from both his Velvet Underground days and first two solo albums. Beyond Reed’s best-known tune, “Walk On The Wild Side,” are 10 tracks ranging from the full-throttle attack of “White Light White Heat,” the three-chord slide of “Sweet Jane,” the ethereal float of “Satellite Of Love” to a dream-like retelling of “I’m Waiting For My Man.” More than anything, these early live performances demonstrate Reed’s love of pure rock and roll – just guitars, bass and drums thumping out the beat. And he sounds more content here than he would for many years to come, even letting folks know it’s OK to clap during “Rock ‘N’ Roll.” Splitting the tracks is an interview where Reed discusses recording Transformer with David Bowie and Mick Ronson, his Velvet Underground days – with an incredibly biting comment about former bandmate Doug Yule – and the story behind writing “Heroin.”

{ 2 comments }

Name Changers in Music

by TW on October 27, 2011

There’s an unwritten rule in music that you should have a cool name. If you were born Oscar Melasovich, you’ll likely find it difficult to have the young girls screaming your name. (No offense Oscar). Even though their birth certificates say otherwise, here are 101 artists that we know best by their stage name. Sorry ma, but I’m changing my name from:

Steven Georgiou to Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam
Reginald Dwight to Elton John
Chaim Witz to Gene Simmons
John Deutschendorf to John Denver
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou to George Michael
William Bailey to Axl Rose
Saul Hudson to Slash
Jeffrey Hyman to Joey Ramone
Frederick Bulsara to Freddie Mercury
James Osterberg to Iggy Pop
Bruce Johannesson to C.C. Deville
Gordon Sumner to Sting
Cecil Connor to Gram Parsons
John Osbourne to Ozzy Osbourne
Sylvester Stewart to Sly Stone
Ian Kilminster to Lemmy
Marvin Aday to Meat Loaf
Joan Larkin to Joan Jett
William Broad to Billy Idol
Ellas Bates to Bo Diddley
Stuart Goddard to Adam Ant
Peter Baker to Ginger Baker
Patricia Andrzejewski to Pat Benatar
Fabiano Forte to Fabian
Michael Balzary to Flea
John Ritchie to Sid Vicious
Donald Rosier to Buck Dharma
Marc Feld to Marc Bolan
David Jones to David Bowie
Winston Rodney to Burning Spear
Don Van Vliet to Captain Beefheart
Benjamin Orzechowski to Benjamin Orr
Brad Carlson to Bun E. Carlos
Cherilyn Sarkasian Le Pier to Cher
Eric Clapp to Eric Clapton
John Mellor to Joe Strummer
Vincent Furnier to Alice Cooper
Declan McManus to Elvis Costello
Richard Monsour to Dick Dale
Malcolm Rebennack to Dr. John
Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan
Eithne Ni Bhraonain to Enya
Derek Dick to Fish
Peter Blankfield to Peter Wolf
Natalie McIntyre to Macy Gray
O’Shea Jackson to Ice Cube
Martyn Buchwald to Marty Balin
James Smith to LL Cool J
Steven Tallarico to Steven Tyler
William Levise to Mitch Ryder
Willam Scaggs to Boz Scaggs
Jiles Richardson to Big Bopper
Gary Anderson to Gary “U.S.” Bonds
Ernest Evans to Chubby Checker
Paul Gadd to Gary Glitter
John Mellencamp to John Cougar to John Cougar Mellencamp to John Mellencamp
Christa Paffgen to Nico
Lester Poifus to Les Paul
Harry Webb to Cliff Richard
William Robinson to Smokey Robinson
John Ramistella to Johnny Rivers
Charles Westover to Del Shannon
Mary O’Brien to Dusty Springfield
Richard Starkey to Ringo Starr
Joe Arrington Jr. to Joe Tex
Annie Bullock to Tina Turner
Paul Hewson to Bono
David Evans to The Edge
Vincent Craddock to Gene Vincent
Steveland Morris to Stevie Wonder
Neville Livingstone to Bunny Wailer
Eddie Jones to Guitar Slim
Chester Burnett to Howlin’ Wolf
Huddie Ledbetter to Leadbelly
Virginia Hensley to Patsy Cline
Jill Byrem to Lacy J. Dalton
Brenda Webb to Crystal Gayle
Alvis Owens to Buck Owens
Sarah Colley to Minnie Pearl
Randy Traywick to Randy Travis
Harold Jenkins to Conway Twitty
Abdullah Buhaina to Art Blakey
Kelvin Mercer to Posdnous
Andre Young to Dr. Dre
Joseph Sadler to Grandmaster Flash
Marshall Mathers to Eminem
Brian Warner to Marilyn Manson
Dana Owens to Queen Latifah
William Drayton Jr. to Flavor Flav
Randy Wolfe to Randy California
Johann Holzel to Falco
Arnold Dorsey to Engelbert Humperdinck
Gary Weinrib to Geddy Lee
Robert Cummings to Rob Zombie
Gaynor Hopkins to Bonnie Tyler
Helen Adu to Sade
Colin Flooks to Cozy Powell
Richard Hall to Moby
Ellen Cohen to Mama Cass Elliot
Stanley Burrell To MC Hammer
Prince Rogers Nelson to Prince to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince to Prince

{ 2 comments }

Elton John – Spirit In The Sky, Rare Sessions 1969-70

by TW on October 25, 2011

From the opening sweep of strings on “United We Stand” – the cut leading off Elton John’s Spirit In The Sky – there’s little doubt we’re back in the 1960s. It’s sunshine personified and stands in stark contrast to the brooding paranoia that would flow through soon-to-be classics such as “Madman Across The Water” just a couple years later. That would have to wait. Here, we have a portrait of the artist as a young man, paying homage to popular tunes of the day through a set of 10 cover songs. What shines most is the singer – John had serious range back in his young 20s, and you can hear the confidence in his voice throughout.

His selection of covers is hard to criticize: Choice cuts from Norman Greenbaum, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Badfinger and Cat Stevens all find a home here. The arrangements, however, are hit and miss. His take on Creedence’s “Travellin’ Band” pleasantly grooves, but John relies a bit too much on a guitar sound from the 1950s when he should have been looking to contemporaries like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix or John Fogerty, himself, to forge new fires. John’s cover of another Creedence hit, “Up Around The Bend,” is far better, pent with the energy that made “Crocodile Rock” such a gas and much more in tune with Fogerty’s original vision. Cool drumming, too. Badfinger’s power-pop masterpiece “Come And Get It,” sounds like it was written for (or by) John to sing. “Love Of The Common People” has a sweet, reggae-like vibe, albeit with those strings again. “It’s All In The Game” has one of the longest and strangest histories in popular music, the tune being written originally by future Vice President of the United States Charles Dawes, and later set to lyrics by Carl Sigman in the 1950s. It’s been covered by the likes of Cliff Richard and Van Morrison; under John’s baton, it sounds like a lost Tom Jones recording. British outfit Christie took “Yellow River” up the U.K. Charts to #1 in 1970, and is another of the better covers here. Motown and Elton John aren’t usually synonymous, but that’s what we get with his version of “My Baby Loves Lovin’,” a soul-laced take on this bubblegum favorite. The closing “Lady D Arbanville” is the one song here that sounds like Elton John as most of us would know him. It’s the best cut on the disc, and could sit proudly next to “I Need You To Turn To,” “The Greatest Discovery” or other such earlier fare. But the covers would soon be out the door.

Among John’s remarkable and oft-forgotten accomplishments in the 1970s, including a string of albums and hits that kept him the king of the pop-rock castle for more than half a decade, was his total self-reliance. Along with lyricist Bernie Taupin, John was composing unforgettable piano parts to everything from “Your Song” and “Bennie And The Jets” to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Philadelphia Freedom.” Just try and picture popular music without him. That he started, like everyone else, covering someone else’s tunes should give solace to budding songwriters.

{ 2 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →

Stay connected and read our feed!