The Joe Vig Top 40
Sunday, April 12, 2009
April 2009
Please note. Because so many discs are flying into the mailbox I'm going to be logging them here in no particular order for March & April of 2009. The "Top 40" is now published on http://www.gemmzine.com Gemm Magazine - so go there also for the monthly listings.
Thanks JV
Scott Couper (Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and Jay Couper (Production, engineering, drums) have been a formidable duo ever since Richard Nolan of Third Rail discovered them back in the early 1980s.
Syd's The Way We Found It is a smart and professional collection of 12 tracks (including an interlude and a prelude), ten songs that Danny Weinkauf and Syd produce in a fashion that is attractive to the ears. Recorded at Beltayne Studios in Williamstown, Vermont and mastered at the legendary MWorks in Cambridge, Massachusetts, songs like "Far Away" have drama, solid musicianship and something to say.
THE CHICKEN SLACKS "CAN YOU DIG IT"
Calvin Arnold's "Funky Way" (to treat me) is a great indicator of what this veteran Boston soul/funk/r&b group puts out in the live clubs on the scene. Walking across Willie Alexander's "Mass. Ave" one Thursday night in April, 2009, a loud rendition of The Temptations/Rare Earth "Get Ready" (not on this disc) was blasting throughout Central Square - the Chicken Slacks Soul Revue playing to a packed Cantab upstairs where Little Joe Cook kept the college students entertained for years.
Piano/organist The Reverend Curtis Jerome Haynes and drummer Justin Berthiaume co-produced the CD, engineered by Chris Lannon who worked with Girls Night Out back in the 1980s, and though the times have changed from the days when GNO were putting a thousand people into the Channel Club, packing hundreds into the Cantab in this 2009 economy is a major accomplishment. Vocalist Durand Wilkerson takes John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See The Light" and pulls all the pop stylings out of it, bringing it purely into the realm of Stax/Volt. "Any Other Way" could be the reincarnation of Clarence Carter on this R & B party disc.
With J.Geils actually out and about these days performing at The House Of Blues as well as in the mid-west, and Duke & The Drivers releasing their exquisite "Harder Than Before" disc.
(see Calvin Arnold
http://fleamarketfunk.com/2007/04/18/calvin-arnold-funky-way/ )
CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS "LOST TUNES" 15 tracks from Mott The Hoople, Spooky Tooth, Blue Cheer, Kingdom Come and others is a tremendous disc, reflecting the beauty found in Mojo Magazine's "I Can See For Miles" compilation, thought not packaged as elegantly, it still is an inspiring blend of wonderful music. "Open The Door Richard" from Thunderclap Newman reinforces the brilliance of that terrific album that spawned a tune from The Strawberry Statement - "Something In The Air" (not included on this disc, but flavors of it remain in "Open The Door, Richard")
Harder Than Before Duke & The Drivers
Hadar Noiberg
¶ 1:14 PM
Please note. Because so many discs are flying into the mailbox I'm going to be logging them here in no particular order for March & April of 2009. The "Top 40" is now published on http://www.gemmzine.com Gemm Magazine - so go there also for the monthly listings.
Thanks JV
Scott Couper (Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and Jay Couper (Production, engineering, drums) have been a formidable duo ever since Richard Nolan of Third Rail discovered them back in the early 1980s.
Syd's The Way We Found It is a smart and professional collection of 12 tracks (including an interlude and a prelude), ten songs that Danny Weinkauf and Syd produce in a fashion that is attractive to the ears. Recorded at Beltayne Studios in Williamstown, Vermont and mastered at the legendary MWorks in Cambridge, Massachusetts, songs like "Far Away" have drama, solid musicianship and something to say.
THE CHICKEN SLACKS "CAN YOU DIG IT"
Calvin Arnold's "Funky Way" (to treat me) is a great indicator of what this veteran Boston soul/funk/r&b group puts out in the live clubs on the scene. Walking across Willie Alexander's "Mass. Ave" one Thursday night in April, 2009, a loud rendition of The Temptations/Rare Earth "Get Ready" (not on this disc) was blasting throughout Central Square - the Chicken Slacks Soul Revue playing to a packed Cantab upstairs where Little Joe Cook kept the college students entertained for years.
Piano/organist The Reverend Curtis Jerome Haynes and drummer Justin Berthiaume co-produced the CD, engineered by Chris Lannon who worked with Girls Night Out back in the 1980s, and though the times have changed from the days when GNO were putting a thousand people into the Channel Club, packing hundreds into the Cantab in this 2009 economy is a major accomplishment. Vocalist Durand Wilkerson takes John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See The Light" and pulls all the pop stylings out of it, bringing it purely into the realm of Stax/Volt. "Any Other Way" could be the reincarnation of Clarence Carter on this R & B party disc.
With J.Geils actually out and about these days performing at The House Of Blues as well as in the mid-west, and Duke & The Drivers releasing their exquisite "Harder Than Before" disc.
(see Calvin Arnold
http://fleamarketfunk.com/2007/04/18/calvin-arnold-funky-way/ )
CLASSIC ROCK PRESENTS "LOST TUNES" 15 tracks from Mott The Hoople, Spooky Tooth, Blue Cheer, Kingdom Come and others is a tremendous disc, reflecting the beauty found in Mojo Magazine's "I Can See For Miles" compilation, thought not packaged as elegantly, it still is an inspiring blend of wonderful music. "Open The Door Richard" from Thunderclap Newman reinforces the brilliance of that terrific album that spawned a tune from The Strawberry Statement - "Something In The Air" (not included on this disc, but flavors of it remain in "Open The Door, Richard")
Harder Than Before Duke & The Drivers
Hadar Noiberg
¶ 1:14 PM
Monday, March 02, 2009
March YES, Symphonic Stones, Alizon Lissance
The Definitive Buddy Guy opens with an insightful "Sit and Cry (and sing the blues)", vintage recording opening up this Shout Factory release which is a good one-disc, but certainly only an overview and not "the definitive".
This version of the Blind Faith CD, most likely the initial issue from Polydor/RSO in the digital format, has two bonus tracks that are worth seeking out. Recorded at Morgan Studios, October 7, 1969. Both the 8 song CD with the bonus tracks and 6 song traditional version have the same catalog #825-094-2. There are additional vinyl album covers as well to seek out (a la the Jimi Hendrix Band Of Gypsies "Puppet" cover) It is extremely rare now, a budget version was issued rather quickly, replacing the bonus disc. Perhaps because the two extra tracks, "Exchange & Mart" and "Spending All My Days", just don't sound like the polished Blind Faith that we know and love, that producer Jimmy Miller labored over. Clapton's guitar is unique, sounding more like he's joining The Seeds, and the band drops the beat about thirty-eight seconds in. But, come on, it's rare Blind Faith and it is fun! The entire song is just over three minutes while the instrumental, "Exchange & Mart", comes in at 4:18 and has the essence of BF, though it still is dramatically different...different enough. As for other Blind Faith rarities "Sleeping In The Ground" (not on this single disc) appeared on Eric Clapton's Crossroads box, and then showed up on Blind Faith "Deluxe Edition" with a previously unreleased mix as well as a slow blues version. This stuff is fun and, no, I haven't listened closely to Disc 2 of the Deluxe to see if the powers that be pulled "Exchange And Mart" out of the long jams. These 2 tracks have charm and make this pretty special. Jimmy Miller left Island Records for The Rolling Stones. But when Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood spent months jamming without a finished project Chris Blackwell invited Jimmy Miller to dinner and asked him to produce Blind Faith. According to Jimmy it took 3 days and 3 nights of non-stop work, but the masterpiece that emerged is rock and roll legend. Expert Review by Joe Viglione
Stephen Stills elegant "Spanish Suite", the 13th track on Man Alive, the first studio album from Stills in 14 years, is indicative of the fine music within, a true milestone of a recording that will, no doubt, get lost in the depths of Stephen's vast catalog. If you factor in that 1991's "Stills Alone" was just that - a pure solo effort - and that James Chrispell of AllMusic.com called (paraphrasing him now) 1984's Right By You disc a CD whose title reviewed the disc (didn't another critic say that about Neil Young's Time Fades Away, that if you replace the word "time" with Neil Young the title reviewed the disc - Neil Young Fades Away?) - well this could be called Stephen Still's Positive Revenge because track by track it is a keeper, a very strong selection of music production, vocal prowess and superb and catchy melodies and chord changes. It is vintage stills from "Ain't It Always" (which sounds like Paint It Away...or you could sing "Young Fades Away" to the melody) to the heartfelt "Piece Of Me", there are lots of things to like about Stills working with Herbie Hancock, Neil Young and Graham Nash. In fact, "Piece Of Me" would've fit nicely on the Rusty Kershaw album Young played on, the many facets to this complicated artist all come together on this long-awaited outing. Hopefully Stills will stay in the studio and give us more...along with those rare Jimi Hendrix sessions he has in his vault. "You'll judge nobody ever out of anger" he sings on "Wounded World" which is "full of love lies". Great stuff.
This dreamy recording - Symphonic Live - is vintage Yes. Now that might seem like a redundant statement, but truth be told, in a world where artists are morphing into variations of what they once were, this sublime presentation adds to the legend in a way that "Symphonic Tributes", say - The Symphonic Stones, could never be. The ethereal atmosphere is expected and on "Standing On Sacred Ground" it works to fine effect. "Don't Go" has superb drama, but the Symphony aspect still takes the hard rock edge off the group. Where Procul Harum drove the orchestra to their pounding heights, the backing here builds a pleasant foundation to give Yes a superb platform. Very listenable and extremely effective. Joe Viglione 8:58 PM 3-2-09 Lou Reed's birthday
Marianne Faithfull doing Melanie Safka doing Marianne Faithfull is what you get when Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend performs on a majestic version of "Ruby Tuesday" backed up by the London Symphony Orchestra. It's a reunion of sorts for Jagger and Faithfull, as the lead singer of the Rolling Stones follows his ex with a similar version of "Angie," with deeper textures than the original pop hit. This elaborate package comes in a cardboard sleeve with six pages of photos and liner notes, and is a worthwhile addition to the Rolling Stones' catalog of music. Sure there are "symphonic" albums of music by Creed, the Beatles, Depeche Mode, heck, even Symphonic Star Trek, but this package, all in black with silver ink, of course, is something special. "Angie" is downright eerie. Perhaps the late Michael Hutchence wasn't the best choice to open up the voices, beginning with his rendition of "Under My Thumb," but at least he's not awful. It's tough to make such diverse compositions as "She's a Rainbow," "Gimme Shelter," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" melt into each other with little definition, but they do that here, fading into background Muzak without a cutting voice like Faithfull to pronounce the mood. Faithfull walks away the star of the show on this project produced by Chris Kimsey, a triumphant survivor who witnessed some of this music's emergence the first time around. In that light, having the operatic Maire Brennan vocal on "As Tears Go By" comes off as a twisted joke.
for more click here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hjfixqugldhe
Alizon Lissance
The title track of this intriguing dozen songs from Boston veteran Alizon Lissance tosses some splashy Bonnie Raitt influenced pop/rock bordering on country into a full array of musical styles (there's a video version embedded on the disc for your computer). Lissance asks the question "Maybe you can be my dream come true" on this album she composed and co-produced. It's a Who's Who of Boston veterans including her former bandmates from Girls Night Out, vocalist Didi Stewart and guitarist Wendy Sobel along with Myanna on tenor sax. That's 4/7ths of that famous group. Add the redoubtable Ed Spargo on bass, Steven Paul Perry from Luna/Berlin Airlift, the great Ducky Carlisle engineering, the thrice great Richard "Rosy" Rosenblatt on the engineering boards as well, and this would've gotten substantial play on 93.7's Boston Music Showcase if this writer were still producing that program on Curt Gowdy's old WCGY. Track 11 "It'll Be Alright" is a slow and stirring tour-de-force (hey, blame my computer for the tracks jumping around), but 11 segues very nicely with track #1, and that's the sign of a true pro, Myanna's sax wailing through this terrific piece. Imagine Ian Hunter covering the drama here? After many spins of this disc, "It'll Be Alright" is emerging as my favorite track. "Only Time Will Tell" is a pensive, moody number that Etta James could have a ball with. You can hear traces of mega songwriters Karla Bonoff and Harriet Schock in the background, but it is pure Lissance, her personality in control as she paints with different time signatures and vocal expressions. As hinted at in this review, Alizon runs the gamut, "Broken In Two" talks about affairs of the heart - a theme that Girls Night Out explored, but here Lissance is identifying the feelings through an uptempo country romp with boogie woogie piano and harmonica. "Icy Blue Heart" is a jazzy, bluesy cabaret-moment-in-a-spy-movie adventure with prompt piano stabs that tug at the ex-lover, a soothing vocal from Alizon, and a lovely organ/piano Spooky Tooth/Traffic feel creating a nifty undercurrent. Good sounding, well performed, and with classy graphics, it's nice to see all her friends coming out to play with Alizon and the truly inspiring result that is "So What About You." Expert review by Joe Viglione 3-4-09
RUIDOSO
The New Christy Minstrels under the Direction of Randy Sparks
Biography
http://www.producersinc.com/Sec-BandInfo.php?BandID=108
¶ 4:55 PM
The Definitive Buddy Guy opens with an insightful "Sit and Cry (and sing the blues)", vintage recording opening up this Shout Factory release which is a good one-disc, but certainly only an overview and not "the definitive".
This version of the Blind Faith CD, most likely the initial issue from Polydor/RSO in the digital format, has two bonus tracks that are worth seeking out. Recorded at Morgan Studios, October 7, 1969. Both the 8 song CD with the bonus tracks and 6 song traditional version have the same catalog #825-094-2. There are additional vinyl album covers as well to seek out (a la the Jimi Hendrix Band Of Gypsies "Puppet" cover) It is extremely rare now, a budget version was issued rather quickly, replacing the bonus disc. Perhaps because the two extra tracks, "Exchange & Mart" and "Spending All My Days", just don't sound like the polished Blind Faith that we know and love, that producer Jimmy Miller labored over. Clapton's guitar is unique, sounding more like he's joining The Seeds, and the band drops the beat about thirty-eight seconds in. But, come on, it's rare Blind Faith and it is fun! The entire song is just over three minutes while the instrumental, "Exchange & Mart", comes in at 4:18 and has the essence of BF, though it still is dramatically different...different enough. As for other Blind Faith rarities "Sleeping In The Ground" (not on this single disc) appeared on Eric Clapton's Crossroads box, and then showed up on Blind Faith "Deluxe Edition" with a previously unreleased mix as well as a slow blues version. This stuff is fun and, no, I haven't listened closely to Disc 2 of the Deluxe to see if the powers that be pulled "Exchange And Mart" out of the long jams. These 2 tracks have charm and make this pretty special. Jimmy Miller left Island Records for The Rolling Stones. But when Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood spent months jamming without a finished project Chris Blackwell invited Jimmy Miller to dinner and asked him to produce Blind Faith. According to Jimmy it took 3 days and 3 nights of non-stop work, but the masterpiece that emerged is rock and roll legend. Expert Review by Joe Viglione
Stephen Stills elegant "Spanish Suite", the 13th track on Man Alive, the first studio album from Stills in 14 years, is indicative of the fine music within, a true milestone of a recording that will, no doubt, get lost in the depths of Stephen's vast catalog. If you factor in that 1991's "Stills Alone" was just that - a pure solo effort - and that James Chrispell of AllMusic.com called (paraphrasing him now) 1984's Right By You disc a CD whose title reviewed the disc (didn't another critic say that about Neil Young's Time Fades Away, that if you replace the word "time" with Neil Young the title reviewed the disc - Neil Young Fades Away?) - well this could be called Stephen Still's Positive Revenge because track by track it is a keeper, a very strong selection of music production, vocal prowess and superb and catchy melodies and chord changes. It is vintage stills from "Ain't It Always" (which sounds like Paint It Away...or you could sing "Young Fades Away" to the melody) to the heartfelt "Piece Of Me", there are lots of things to like about Stills working with Herbie Hancock, Neil Young and Graham Nash. In fact, "Piece Of Me" would've fit nicely on the Rusty Kershaw album Young played on, the many facets to this complicated artist all come together on this long-awaited outing. Hopefully Stills will stay in the studio and give us more...along with those rare Jimi Hendrix sessions he has in his vault. "You'll judge nobody ever out of anger" he sings on "Wounded World" which is "full of love lies". Great stuff.
This dreamy recording - Symphonic Live - is vintage Yes. Now that might seem like a redundant statement, but truth be told, in a world where artists are morphing into variations of what they once were, this sublime presentation adds to the legend in a way that "Symphonic Tributes", say - The Symphonic Stones, could never be. The ethereal atmosphere is expected and on "Standing On Sacred Ground" it works to fine effect. "Don't Go" has superb drama, but the Symphony aspect still takes the hard rock edge off the group. Where Procul Harum drove the orchestra to their pounding heights, the backing here builds a pleasant foundation to give Yes a superb platform. Very listenable and extremely effective. Joe Viglione 8:58 PM 3-2-09 Lou Reed's birthday
Marianne Faithfull doing Melanie Safka doing Marianne Faithfull is what you get when Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend performs on a majestic version of "Ruby Tuesday" backed up by the London Symphony Orchestra. It's a reunion of sorts for Jagger and Faithfull, as the lead singer of the Rolling Stones follows his ex with a similar version of "Angie," with deeper textures than the original pop hit. This elaborate package comes in a cardboard sleeve with six pages of photos and liner notes, and is a worthwhile addition to the Rolling Stones' catalog of music. Sure there are "symphonic" albums of music by Creed, the Beatles, Depeche Mode, heck, even Symphonic Star Trek, but this package, all in black with silver ink, of course, is something special. "Angie" is downright eerie. Perhaps the late Michael Hutchence wasn't the best choice to open up the voices, beginning with his rendition of "Under My Thumb," but at least he's not awful. It's tough to make such diverse compositions as "She's a Rainbow," "Gimme Shelter," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" melt into each other with little definition, but they do that here, fading into background Muzak without a cutting voice like Faithfull to pronounce the mood. Faithfull walks away the star of the show on this project produced by Chris Kimsey, a triumphant survivor who witnessed some of this music's emergence the first time around. In that light, having the operatic Maire Brennan vocal on "As Tears Go By" comes off as a twisted joke.
for more click here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hjfixqugldhe
Alizon Lissance
The title track of this intriguing dozen songs from Boston veteran Alizon Lissance tosses some splashy Bonnie Raitt influenced pop/rock bordering on country into a full array of musical styles (there's a video version embedded on the disc for your computer). Lissance asks the question "Maybe you can be my dream come true" on this album she composed and co-produced. It's a Who's Who of Boston veterans including her former bandmates from Girls Night Out, vocalist Didi Stewart and guitarist Wendy Sobel along with Myanna on tenor sax. That's 4/7ths of that famous group. Add the redoubtable Ed Spargo on bass, Steven Paul Perry from Luna/Berlin Airlift, the great Ducky Carlisle engineering, the thrice great Richard "Rosy" Rosenblatt on the engineering boards as well, and this would've gotten substantial play on 93.7's Boston Music Showcase if this writer were still producing that program on Curt Gowdy's old WCGY. Track 11 "It'll Be Alright" is a slow and stirring tour-de-force (hey, blame my computer for the tracks jumping around), but 11 segues very nicely with track #1, and that's the sign of a true pro, Myanna's sax wailing through this terrific piece. Imagine Ian Hunter covering the drama here? After many spins of this disc, "It'll Be Alright" is emerging as my favorite track. "Only Time Will Tell" is a pensive, moody number that Etta James could have a ball with. You can hear traces of mega songwriters Karla Bonoff and Harriet Schock in the background, but it is pure Lissance, her personality in control as she paints with different time signatures and vocal expressions. As hinted at in this review, Alizon runs the gamut, "Broken In Two" talks about affairs of the heart - a theme that Girls Night Out explored, but here Lissance is identifying the feelings through an uptempo country romp with boogie woogie piano and harmonica. "Icy Blue Heart" is a jazzy, bluesy cabaret-moment-in-a-spy-movie adventure with prompt piano stabs that tug at the ex-lover, a soothing vocal from Alizon, and a lovely organ/piano Spooky Tooth/Traffic feel creating a nifty undercurrent. Good sounding, well performed, and with classy graphics, it's nice to see all her friends coming out to play with Alizon and the truly inspiring result that is "So What About You." Expert review by Joe Viglione 3-4-09RUIDOSO
The New Christy Minstrels under the Direction of Randy Sparks
Biography
http://www.producersinc.com/Sec-BandInfo.php?BandID=108
¶ 4:55 PM
Sunday, January 04, 2009
January 2009
Joe Viglione's writings are on the New York Times.com, Pandora.com, Zune.com, Windowsmedia.com, Limewire.com, BitTorrent.com, Second Spin.com, LastFM.com, Blockbuster.com, Steve Lukather.net, Shirley Bassey.com, Texas Pop Festival.com,VH-1.com, Billboard.com, AOL.com, MTV.com, ArtistDirect.com, AllMusic.com, AllMovie.com, Barnes & Noble.com, 0ldies1150.com, MP3.com, Rhapsody.com, ITunes.com, Legacy Recordings/Sony-BMG site, FYE.com, WherehouseMusic.com
1 The Book of Taliesyn Deep Purple
A year after the innovative remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On," England's answer to Vanilla Fudge, was this early version of Deep Purple, which featured vocalist Rod Evans, and bassist Nick Simper, along with mainstays Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. This, their second album, followed on the heels of "Hush," a dynamic arrangement of a Joe South tune, far removed from the flavor of one of his own hits, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." Four months later, this album's cover of Neil Diamond's Top 25, 1967 gem "Kentucky Woman," went Top 40 for Deep Purple. Also like Vanilla Fudge, the group's own originals were creative, thought-provoking, but not nearly as interesting as their take on cover tunes. Vanilla Fudge did "Eleanor Rigby," and Deep Purple respond by going inside "We Can Work It Out" -- it falls out of nowhere after the progressive rock jam "Exposition," Ritchie Blackmore's leads zipping in between Rod Evans smooth and precise vocals. As Vanilla Fudge was progressively leaning more towards psychedelia, here Deep Purple are the opposite. The boys claim to be inspired by the Bard of King Arthur's court in Camelot, Taliesyn. John Vernon Lord, under the art direction of Les Weisbrich, paints a superb wonderland on the album jacket, equal to the madness of Hieronymous Bosch's cover painting used for the third album. Originals "The Shield" and "Anthem" make early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd appear punk in comparison. Novel sounds are aided by Lord's dominating keyboards, a signature of this group.Read more here:
http://www.oldies1150.com/music/albums/5326/review
2)TOWELHEAD Movie review on MSN
Calling this motion picture Towelhead makes the filmgoer blink for a second, as the original title, Nothing Is Private, is a bit less leading and more descriptive. Director Alan Ball creates an immediately uncomfortable setting when a young girl is sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend, betrayed by her mom, and shipped off to her frighteningly overbearing father. The central theme is the dysfunction of everyone around the 13-year-old protagonist, Jasira (played by 18-year-old actress Summer Bishil), and how the perpetual victim of circumstance has to find a survival mechanism while surrounded by huge amounts of chaos. Read more here:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/towelhead/
3)Merle Haggard: New Light Through Old Windows on Legacy
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Merle-Haggard/New-Light-Through-Old-Windows.aspx
4)Pendragon - And Now Everybody To The Stage HMV.com
This very classy limited-edition triple-disc box entitled And Now Everybody to the Stage... features an 18-song, 15-track DVD with bonus material to boot -- 240 minutes total running time along with two audio discs containing 146 minutes (of the same material). Filmed and recorded on May 22, 2006, at the Wyspianski Theatre in Katowice, Poland, this music from the Believe 2006 tour finds the band rocking out with a harder edge. For a group that is a cult favorite, And Now Everybody to the Stage... is an enormous package usually reserved for more commercial acts, the set including a four-page booklet and eight-panel fold-out box. The slick textured presentation is a follow-up to the 2002 DVD Live...
At Last and More, taking things a step further. Drummer Fudge Smith is replaced here by Joe Crabtree, but few if any non-fans will notice, as the music is as pristine and exotic as ever, culminating in a tremendous version of Am I Really Losing You? The song is so sublime here that it screams out FM radio hit, although that kind of creature is a rare bird in the new millennium. Frontman/songwriter Nick Barrett is clearly enjoying himself re-exploring titles like Nostradamus, As Good as Gold, Breaking the Spell, and Masters of Illusion, all found on the earlier DVD Live...
At Last and More, only this time out the handsome and youthful Crabtree adds some new energy to the venerable but aging group. A bit heavier here in concert than on the retrospective The History: 1984-2000, this deluxe treasure contains a band history, an interview with Nick Barrett, and other extras including The Progumentary, a home video recording. [There's also a regular DVD edition without the two audio discs.] ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
http://www.answers.com/topic/and-now-everybody-to-the-stage-2006-album-by-pendragon
5)Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules on AOL.com
Breaking All the Rules is a good, solid effort by Peter Frampton which would have been better had he decided to break a few rules. The problem here is that Frampton is treading water, in familiar territory, singing and playing within the confines of a well constructed safe record. There is a brilliant hook in "Going to L.A." which might have been a hit had co-producer David Kershenbaum given it a little of what he would inject into Tracy Chapman seven years after this. A strong vocal from Frampton as well as a strong performance, but a failure to do what his last three albums did: generate a Top 20 hit! Billy & Bobby Alessi's "Rise Up" is in the pocket, one of the album's highlights, though it tends to sound like John Cougar's 1979 chart climber "I Need a Lover," chock full of the sound from that record and a little out of place here. Vanda and Young's eternal "Friday on My Mind" is decent, certainly better than Alice Cooper guitarist Michael Bruce's version, but not typical of Peter Frampton's repertoire and almost unnecessary. Read more here:
http://music.aol.com/album/breaking-all-the-rules/31277
6.Alice Cooper's EASY ACTION on Second Spin.com
http://www.secondspin.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2391683
7.Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes - Tooth, Fang & Claw
As Ted Nugent's dominant persona took over the sound as well as the band name, Tooth, Fang & Claw brought his Amboy Dukes concept a step closer to the stadiums than its predecessor, Call of the Wild. The bandmembers don't get photos on the back this time, it's just Nugent being a madman up against some Fender and Marshall amps. The songwriting credits on the originals are all his now as well. "Lady Luck" plays as if the "American Woman" riff by the Guess Who got inverted, placed upside down in the middle of the song, and then finds itself coated in Ted Nugent's flashy and glitzy guitar work. The instrumental "Hibernation kinda touches upon the "Journey to the Center of the Mind" riff just for a moment and veers off into points unknown. Where on previous albums, Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom and even Call of the Wild, there was musical experimentation, the axe is front and center on this platter and all the experimentation is now with notes and how fast they can be played -- and in what order. Read more here:
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4554723/Ted_Nugent_s_Amboy_Dukes_-_Tooth__Fang_and_Claw
8.Brainbox
Brainbox is also a late ‘60’s, early 70’s Dutch rhythm & blues/psychedelic band, in which Jan Akkerman played before he went on to form Focus.
Review by Joe Viglione
Holland’s Brainbox was part of the North- European Invasion consisting of Stockholm’s ABBA, Shocking Blue from the Netherlands, Denmark’s the Savage Rose, and, of course, Blue Swede, a convergence a bit more subtle than the British Invasion and spanning over a decade. While H.P. Lovecraft kept changing members around the drummer, this band would release a record with totally new people in 1972, that work entitled Parts. Yet the original Brainbox does have qualities somewhat resembling the earlier H.P. Lovecraft, and is a worthwhile collection of musically diverse and eclectic performances. The decent liner notes call this “progressive pop,” and in some respects it is, though they shift gears from the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” to the 17-minute plus original “Sea of Delight,” and take lots of other directions in between. The Damned had a song called “New Rose,” which is where the French record label got its name, and there was the aforementioned Savage Rose, but Brainbox start the album with “Dark Rose,” a blend of Jethro Tull meets the Mothers of Invention. Brainbox ups the ante by sliding into Tim Hardin and a very credible cover of “Reason to Believe” a full two years before Rod Stewart would get a B-side hit with it (the original A-side of the “Maggie Mae” single), they pull off a chameleon-like change on this to become folk rockers. Casimirz Lux has a very appealing voice with a bit of Stewart’s rasp, making “Reason to Believe” a highlight of the album.
Read more here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Brainbox/+wiki
http://www.last.fm/music/Brainbox
9)707
Recorded in Hollywood on Valentines Day, 1981, 707 open the set up with "Live with the Girl," which could be Deep Purple's "Highway Star" gone pop. "Feel This Way" follows with the same Cars-ish thumpa thumpa riff and '80s high-end vocal setting the stage for what is found throughout this close to 46-minute concert CD. It's a spirited romp through music that .38 Special and Loverboy embraced -- think Crowded House with less creativity but a serious enough approach. That these fellows are almost as forgotten as late-'70s rockers Whiteface (or the even more obscure group White Witch from the earlier '70s) makes this release all the more appealing. It's nice to know someone cares about the music they made! Even when a Beatlesque piano opens a tune like "Rockin' Is Easy" with its Utopia/Todd Rundgren chorus, it is still solidly locked in a time warp and can't help remain an exhibit solely for those who enjoy these dated sounds. Read more here:
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=mhZQJWCPFWR2GdBn7NBJTLxY2g2LJGLrsmnhJdKvyf9DwXjSV4SC!16413001&pid=17550&aid=744078
10)Art Garfunkel & Amy Grant The Animal's Christmas
Writer David A. Milberg calls The Animals' Christmas, the 1986 album by Art Garfunkel with Amy Grant, "one of the best Christmas albums of the '80s ...[featuring] 'Carol of the Birds.'" ... It's a unique concept and quite a different Christmas album in presentation and feel. The London Symphony Orchestra backs up the vocals of Amy Grant and Art Garfunkel alongside co-producer and lyricist Jimmy Webb's piano. Conducted by Carl Davis with the Kings College School Choir, the album fuses pop legends with classical musicianship to good effect. On the upside for consumers, none of these tunes are familiar "Christmas classics" hammered into the consciousness during the holidays. The churchlike feel of the project keeps "The Creatures of the Field," "Just a Simple Little Tune," "The Friendly Beasts," and other titles from being able to break out on seasonal radio next to tracks from Phil Spector's Christmas Album, Brenda Lee, Bing Crosby, and the other perennials who show up on the airwaves around Thanksgiving time and beyond.
Read more here:
http://www.store.limewire.com/store/app/pages/album/Album/productId/131628
11)Steve Lukather.net
England Dan & John Ford Coley - Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive (1979, Big Tree, 76015)
The sincerity of their days on A&M Records has turned to total formula by the time Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive came around — and Robert Louis Stevenson expert, author Ray McNally, makes it clear in his book on Mr. Hyde that the true pronunciation is Dr. Jeekill (as in, "I Kill and Hide"). It is quite a paradox that this justified attack on the Hollywood system uses the mispronunciation of this famous title which Hollywood forced upon the world. Were these singers that clever to have slipped this in as a sly parody? Probably not — because the sentiment in the poem here is right on, but the execution of the title track, is as musically contrived as it sounds. This album shows the worst, and the best, of this productive duo.
http://www.stevelukather.net/Session.aspx?id=228
12)Lita Ford In Concert (Cleopatra Records)
http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20698300
Nazz/Stewkey Biography on Texas Pop Festival.com
http://www.texaspopfestival.com/artists/nazz.htm
13)The Nazz/Stewkey
What does Robert Antoni have in common with Vincent Furnier? Both men fronted 1960s bands called Nazz and came up with theatrical stage names — Alice Cooper for Furnier, and Stewkey for lead vocalist/keyboardist Antoni. Stewkey first got the idea for the name Nazz from Richard "Lord" Buckley, a preacher/rap artist from the '50s and '60s who proclaimed "the Nazz" is coming — meaning the Nazarene, or Christ. The Yardbirds' single "The Nazz Are Blue," the flip of "Shapes of Things," also probably added a tilt toward Nazz as the name of this innovative ensemble.
14)Kerry Kearney Welcome To The Psychedelta
http://www.fye.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=6254805&extid=df00033
15)Deepfield Archetypes & Repetition
on Pandora.com
http://www.pandora.com/music/album/deepfield/archetypes+repetition
16)Peter Noone Biography on VH-1.com
His friend John Lennon sang "Remember remember the fifth of November" in the song "Remember" off of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, and on that day in 1947, the eternally young Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone was born in Manchester, England. The son of Joan Blair Noone and Denis Patrick Noone, he was raised in a Roman Catholic family that included five children of diverse ages, brother Damon along with sisters Denise, Suzanne, and Louise. Read more here:
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/noone_peter/bio.jhtml
17)Pure Prairie League Fire It Up
http://social.zune.net/album/Pure+Prairie+League/Firin+Up/d31b8500-0100-11db-89ca-0019b92a3933/details
18)Composing The Beatles' Songbook (Blockbuster.com)
An eighty minute documentary on the songwriting of Lennon & McCartney titled Composing The Beatles Songbook but including commentary by Johnny Rogan on songs written by the pair that were utilized by other artists -Billy J. Kramer, Peter and Gordon, Cilla Black and others. A dozen panelists including Rolling Stone Magazine's Anthony De Curtis, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice and Klaus Voorman discuss the songwriting of John and Paul and that catalog's influence. ~ Joe Viglione, All Movie Guide
http://www.blockbuster.com/movies/composing-the-beatles-songbook-lennon-and-mccartney-1957-65.html
19)Bobby Hebb's SUNNY on Mp3.com
http://www.mp3.com/albums/85706/summary.html?tag=albums;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=artalb
That's All I Wanna Know on FYE
http://www.fye.com/That-s-All-I-Wanna-Know-Front-Page_stcVVproductId5983427VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm
20)Grand Funk's Mark Farner on Visual Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSIQ5KdweE&feature=channel_page
21)Gabriel Gordon Gypsy Living
http://www.wherehouse.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2405970
THE T-BONES No Matter What Shape
Others
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)/Sippin 'N Chippin' 2008
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=334056&aid=55716 ¶ 8:15 AM
Joe Viglione's writings are on the New York Times.com, Pandora.com, Zune.com, Windowsmedia.com, Limewire.com, BitTorrent.com, Second Spin.com, LastFM.com, Blockbuster.com, Steve Lukather.net, Shirley Bassey.com, Texas Pop Festival.com,VH-1.com, Billboard.com, AOL.com, MTV.com, ArtistDirect.com, AllMusic.com, AllMovie.com, Barnes & Noble.com, 0ldies1150.com, MP3.com, Rhapsody.com, ITunes.com, Legacy Recordings/Sony-BMG site, FYE.com, WherehouseMusic.com
1 The Book of Taliesyn Deep Purple
A year after the innovative remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On," England's answer to Vanilla Fudge, was this early version of Deep Purple, which featured vocalist Rod Evans, and bassist Nick Simper, along with mainstays Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. This, their second album, followed on the heels of "Hush," a dynamic arrangement of a Joe South tune, far removed from the flavor of one of his own hits, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." Four months later, this album's cover of Neil Diamond's Top 25, 1967 gem "Kentucky Woman," went Top 40 for Deep Purple. Also like Vanilla Fudge, the group's own originals were creative, thought-provoking, but not nearly as interesting as their take on cover tunes. Vanilla Fudge did "Eleanor Rigby," and Deep Purple respond by going inside "We Can Work It Out" -- it falls out of nowhere after the progressive rock jam "Exposition," Ritchie Blackmore's leads zipping in between Rod Evans smooth and precise vocals. As Vanilla Fudge was progressively leaning more towards psychedelia, here Deep Purple are the opposite. The boys claim to be inspired by the Bard of King Arthur's court in Camelot, Taliesyn. John Vernon Lord, under the art direction of Les Weisbrich, paints a superb wonderland on the album jacket, equal to the madness of Hieronymous Bosch's cover painting used for the third album. Originals "The Shield" and "Anthem" make early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd appear punk in comparison. Novel sounds are aided by Lord's dominating keyboards, a signature of this group.Read more here:
http://www.oldies1150.com/music/albums/5326/review
2)TOWELHEAD Movie review on MSN
Calling this motion picture Towelhead makes the filmgoer blink for a second, as the original title, Nothing Is Private, is a bit less leading and more descriptive. Director Alan Ball creates an immediately uncomfortable setting when a young girl is sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend, betrayed by her mom, and shipped off to her frighteningly overbearing father. The central theme is the dysfunction of everyone around the 13-year-old protagonist, Jasira (played by 18-year-old actress Summer Bishil), and how the perpetual victim of circumstance has to find a survival mechanism while surrounded by huge amounts of chaos. Read more here:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/towelhead/
3)Merle Haggard: New Light Through Old Windows on Legacy
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Merle-Haggard/New-Light-Through-Old-Windows.aspx
4)Pendragon - And Now Everybody To The Stage HMV.com
This very classy limited-edition triple-disc box entitled And Now Everybody to the Stage... features an 18-song, 15-track DVD with bonus material to boot -- 240 minutes total running time along with two audio discs containing 146 minutes (of the same material). Filmed and recorded on May 22, 2006, at the Wyspianski Theatre in Katowice, Poland, this music from the Believe 2006 tour finds the band rocking out with a harder edge. For a group that is a cult favorite, And Now Everybody to the Stage... is an enormous package usually reserved for more commercial acts, the set including a four-page booklet and eight-panel fold-out box. The slick textured presentation is a follow-up to the 2002 DVD Live...
At Last and More, taking things a step further. Drummer Fudge Smith is replaced here by Joe Crabtree, but few if any non-fans will notice, as the music is as pristine and exotic as ever, culminating in a tremendous version of Am I Really Losing You? The song is so sublime here that it screams out FM radio hit, although that kind of creature is a rare bird in the new millennium. Frontman/songwriter Nick Barrett is clearly enjoying himself re-exploring titles like Nostradamus, As Good as Gold, Breaking the Spell, and Masters of Illusion, all found on the earlier DVD Live...
At Last and More, only this time out the handsome and youthful Crabtree adds some new energy to the venerable but aging group. A bit heavier here in concert than on the retrospective The History: 1984-2000, this deluxe treasure contains a band history, an interview with Nick Barrett, and other extras including The Progumentary, a home video recording. [There's also a regular DVD edition without the two audio discs.] ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
http://www.answers.com/topic/and-now-everybody-to-the-stage-2006-album-by-pendragon
5)Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules on AOL.com
Breaking All the Rules is a good, solid effort by Peter Frampton which would have been better had he decided to break a few rules. The problem here is that Frampton is treading water, in familiar territory, singing and playing within the confines of a well constructed safe record. There is a brilliant hook in "Going to L.A." which might have been a hit had co-producer David Kershenbaum given it a little of what he would inject into Tracy Chapman seven years after this. A strong vocal from Frampton as well as a strong performance, but a failure to do what his last three albums did: generate a Top 20 hit! Billy & Bobby Alessi's "Rise Up" is in the pocket, one of the album's highlights, though it tends to sound like John Cougar's 1979 chart climber "I Need a Lover," chock full of the sound from that record and a little out of place here. Vanda and Young's eternal "Friday on My Mind" is decent, certainly better than Alice Cooper guitarist Michael Bruce's version, but not typical of Peter Frampton's repertoire and almost unnecessary. Read more here:
http://music.aol.com/album/breaking-all-the-rules/31277
6.Alice Cooper's EASY ACTION on Second Spin.com
http://www.secondspin.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2391683
7.Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes - Tooth, Fang & Claw
As Ted Nugent's dominant persona took over the sound as well as the band name, Tooth, Fang & Claw brought his Amboy Dukes concept a step closer to the stadiums than its predecessor, Call of the Wild. The bandmembers don't get photos on the back this time, it's just Nugent being a madman up against some Fender and Marshall amps. The songwriting credits on the originals are all his now as well. "Lady Luck" plays as if the "American Woman" riff by the Guess Who got inverted, placed upside down in the middle of the song, and then finds itself coated in Ted Nugent's flashy and glitzy guitar work. The instrumental "Hibernation kinda touches upon the "Journey to the Center of the Mind" riff just for a moment and veers off into points unknown. Where on previous albums, Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom and even Call of the Wild, there was musical experimentation, the axe is front and center on this platter and all the experimentation is now with notes and how fast they can be played -- and in what order. Read more here:
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4554723/Ted_Nugent_s_Amboy_Dukes_-_Tooth__Fang_and_Claw
8.Brainbox
Brainbox is also a late ‘60’s, early 70’s Dutch rhythm & blues/psychedelic band, in which Jan Akkerman played before he went on to form Focus.
Review by Joe Viglione
Holland’s Brainbox was part of the North- European Invasion consisting of Stockholm’s ABBA, Shocking Blue from the Netherlands, Denmark’s the Savage Rose, and, of course, Blue Swede, a convergence a bit more subtle than the British Invasion and spanning over a decade. While H.P. Lovecraft kept changing members around the drummer, this band would release a record with totally new people in 1972, that work entitled Parts. Yet the original Brainbox does have qualities somewhat resembling the earlier H.P. Lovecraft, and is a worthwhile collection of musically diverse and eclectic performances. The decent liner notes call this “progressive pop,” and in some respects it is, though they shift gears from the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” to the 17-minute plus original “Sea of Delight,” and take lots of other directions in between. The Damned had a song called “New Rose,” which is where the French record label got its name, and there was the aforementioned Savage Rose, but Brainbox start the album with “Dark Rose,” a blend of Jethro Tull meets the Mothers of Invention. Brainbox ups the ante by sliding into Tim Hardin and a very credible cover of “Reason to Believe” a full two years before Rod Stewart would get a B-side hit with it (the original A-side of the “Maggie Mae” single), they pull off a chameleon-like change on this to become folk rockers. Casimirz Lux has a very appealing voice with a bit of Stewart’s rasp, making “Reason to Believe” a highlight of the album.
Read more here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Brainbox/+wiki
http://www.last.fm/music/Brainbox
9)707
Recorded in Hollywood on Valentines Day, 1981, 707 open the set up with "Live with the Girl," which could be Deep Purple's "Highway Star" gone pop. "Feel This Way" follows with the same Cars-ish thumpa thumpa riff and '80s high-end vocal setting the stage for what is found throughout this close to 46-minute concert CD. It's a spirited romp through music that .38 Special and Loverboy embraced -- think Crowded House with less creativity but a serious enough approach. That these fellows are almost as forgotten as late-'70s rockers Whiteface (or the even more obscure group White Witch from the earlier '70s) makes this release all the more appealing. It's nice to know someone cares about the music they made! Even when a Beatlesque piano opens a tune like "Rockin' Is Easy" with its Utopia/Todd Rundgren chorus, it is still solidly locked in a time warp and can't help remain an exhibit solely for those who enjoy these dated sounds. Read more here:
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=mhZQJWCPFWR2GdBn7NBJTLxY2g2LJGLrsmnhJdKvyf9DwXjSV4SC!16413001&pid=17550&aid=744078
10)Art Garfunkel & Amy Grant The Animal's Christmas
Writer David A. Milberg calls The Animals' Christmas, the 1986 album by Art Garfunkel with Amy Grant, "one of the best Christmas albums of the '80s ...[featuring] 'Carol of the Birds.'" ... It's a unique concept and quite a different Christmas album in presentation and feel. The London Symphony Orchestra backs up the vocals of Amy Grant and Art Garfunkel alongside co-producer and lyricist Jimmy Webb's piano. Conducted by Carl Davis with the Kings College School Choir, the album fuses pop legends with classical musicianship to good effect. On the upside for consumers, none of these tunes are familiar "Christmas classics" hammered into the consciousness during the holidays. The churchlike feel of the project keeps "The Creatures of the Field," "Just a Simple Little Tune," "The Friendly Beasts," and other titles from being able to break out on seasonal radio next to tracks from Phil Spector's Christmas Album, Brenda Lee, Bing Crosby, and the other perennials who show up on the airwaves around Thanksgiving time and beyond.
Read more here:
http://www.store.limewire.com/store/app/pages/album/Album/productId/131628
11)Steve Lukather.net
England Dan & John Ford Coley - Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive (1979, Big Tree, 76015)
The sincerity of their days on A&M Records has turned to total formula by the time Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive came around — and Robert Louis Stevenson expert, author Ray McNally, makes it clear in his book on Mr. Hyde that the true pronunciation is Dr. Jeekill (as in, "I Kill and Hide"). It is quite a paradox that this justified attack on the Hollywood system uses the mispronunciation of this famous title which Hollywood forced upon the world. Were these singers that clever to have slipped this in as a sly parody? Probably not — because the sentiment in the poem here is right on, but the execution of the title track, is as musically contrived as it sounds. This album shows the worst, and the best, of this productive duo.
http://www.stevelukather.net/Session.aspx?id=228
12)Lita Ford In Concert (Cleopatra Records)
http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20698300
Nazz/Stewkey Biography on Texas Pop Festival.com
http://www.texaspopfestival.com/artists/nazz.htm
13)The Nazz/Stewkey
What does Robert Antoni have in common with Vincent Furnier? Both men fronted 1960s bands called Nazz and came up with theatrical stage names — Alice Cooper for Furnier, and Stewkey for lead vocalist/keyboardist Antoni. Stewkey first got the idea for the name Nazz from Richard "Lord" Buckley, a preacher/rap artist from the '50s and '60s who proclaimed "the Nazz" is coming — meaning the Nazarene, or Christ. The Yardbirds' single "The Nazz Are Blue," the flip of "Shapes of Things," also probably added a tilt toward Nazz as the name of this innovative ensemble.
14)Kerry Kearney Welcome To The Psychedelta
http://www.fye.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=6254805&extid=df00033
15)Deepfield Archetypes & Repetition
on Pandora.com
http://www.pandora.com/music/album/deepfield/archetypes+repetition
16)Peter Noone Biography on VH-1.com
His friend John Lennon sang "Remember remember the fifth of November" in the song "Remember" off of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, and on that day in 1947, the eternally young Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone was born in Manchester, England. The son of Joan Blair Noone and Denis Patrick Noone, he was raised in a Roman Catholic family that included five children of diverse ages, brother Damon along with sisters Denise, Suzanne, and Louise. Read more here:
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/noone_peter/bio.jhtml
17)Pure Prairie League Fire It Up
http://social.zune.net/album/Pure+Prairie+League/Firin+Up/d31b8500-0100-11db-89ca-0019b92a3933/details
18)Composing The Beatles' Songbook (Blockbuster.com)
An eighty minute documentary on the songwriting of Lennon & McCartney titled Composing The Beatles Songbook but including commentary by Johnny Rogan on songs written by the pair that were utilized by other artists -Billy J. Kramer, Peter and Gordon, Cilla Black and others. A dozen panelists including Rolling Stone Magazine's Anthony De Curtis, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice and Klaus Voorman discuss the songwriting of John and Paul and that catalog's influence. ~ Joe Viglione, All Movie Guide
http://www.blockbuster.com/movies/composing-the-beatles-songbook-lennon-and-mccartney-1957-65.html
19)Bobby Hebb's SUNNY on Mp3.com
http://www.mp3.com/albums/85706/summary.html?tag=albums;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=artalb
That's All I Wanna Know on FYE
http://www.fye.com/That-s-All-I-Wanna-Know-Front-Page_stcVVproductId5983427VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm
20)Grand Funk's Mark Farner on Visual Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSIQ5KdweE&feature=channel_page
21)Gabriel Gordon Gypsy Living
http://www.wherehouse.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2405970
THE T-BONES No Matter What Shape
Others
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)/Sippin 'N Chippin' 2008
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=334056&aid=55716 ¶ 8:15 AM
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Spring/Summer Top 40 - May - June - July 2008
About this Summer's "Top 40"
August 13, 2008
Can't believe how quickly the summer has flown by! There are stacks of CDs, DVDs, movies and other intellectual property I'm working diligently to get on this blog.
1)The Dark Knight
2)Ian Lloyd O-de-Po
3)Deep Purple Around The World 4 DVD Set
4)Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
5)Vincent Bugliosi "The Prosecution Of George W. Bush for Murder" (Book)
6)Santana - Multi Dimensional Warrior (double CD)
7)John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band (DVD)
8)Dick Cavett Rock Icons (3 DVD set)
9)Downtown Mystic
10)Denny Jiosa Dreams Like This
Happy reading.
Joe V. 1:31 PM
#1 The Dark Knight
Though not perfect BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT is far and away the best comic book film in movie history, bringing the audience a level of seriousness that had escaped Spiderman; an element that was sought by the X-Men, but which that franchise due to scripts that lacked staying power and less substance than was promised.
Read the lengthy Joe Vig essay on THE DARK KNIGHT on my rock journalist page: http://rockjournalistjoevig.blogspot.com/
In the Land of O-De-Po
#2
For those of us who have enjoyed decades of music from the Stories frontman on record, along with watching Ian Lloyd onstage since the early 1970s, the CD "In The Land of O-de-Po" shows the full depth of this journeyman's artistic vision. He and co-producer Tony Sankitts put "Brother Louie" into a techno-dance shuffle that acts like an entre to this new sound. "Side By Side" has his immaculate voice dancing around a terrific melody which reflects the packaging. Lloyd performs with his son David's band, Social Hero, and he brings an intensity found on this disc to the band's live performance. The role is more of one in the background, clearly giving the group its focus as well as some superb backing vocals. It would be helpful if Social Hero would put their dad front and center, playing the youthful energy against the polished experience of a true rock & roll original. If Social Hero added the music of "In The Land Of O-de-Po" to their repertoire they would be a formidable ensemble. Indeed, in-between Social Hero originals this CD should be played in its entirety live onstage - the way Carole King presented her Fantasy album to her devoted audience. The title track is remarkable. A very satisfying and important work from an individual who has yet to peak.
http://www.machinedreamrecords.com/ianlloyd/
#3
Deep Purple Around The World Live is a delicious box that provides an amazing glimpse into the group that released 7 albums between 1968 and 1972, finding the double live album as the sales catalyst to launch them into history. This is a FOUR DVD Box from Eagle Vision which takes that double album concept into another dimension. India 1995 starts things off with a bonus feature of eight songs from Seoul, 1995 - Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice with Steve Morse on guitar. A 34 page booklet on slick paper is inside this handsome case which features six faces on the cover.
"A wealth of previously unseen material" it's a bootleggers worst nightmare and a fan's dream come true.
4 ALICE COOPER ALONG CAME A SPIDER
Alice Cooper is a total pro in these decades after he launched to superstardom and his product is of consistent and very high quality. "Along Came A Spider" is a nice addition to the Cooper collection. "The One That Got Away" is good pop/rock - the only problem for long-time fans is that we are waiting for the next "Under My Wheels", "Ballad Of Dwight Frye", "Is It My Body." Perhaps it is time for a reunion of the original members of the Alice Cooper Group and a production party with Bob Ezrin at the helm. "Along Came a Spider" is certainly good stuff, and a great title ripped from a Morgan Freeman movie about a semi-serial kidnapper. Alice was just a little more fun when he dipped into the culture, penning "The Man With The Golden Gun" even though they were passed over for the James Bond movie theme. "Wrapped In Silk" discusses getting passed by...good solid product delivered by The Coop, but it is time for something more. Alice is always fun, but Buzzy Linhart and Ian Lloyd have released new albums with more adventure, heart and inquisitiveness. Their performances are more attractive. Alice needs to pair up with journeymen like Lloyd and Linhart to pen a terrific new album and blow everyone away. This one is good, but Alice has the potential to always be great. Why be good when you are great?
This is the Jack Nicholson Joker while Ian Lloyd's new disc is, say, Christian Bale playing Batman. Nothing here has equaled the Heath Ledger barometer...but we'll keep looking for the G spot and the Holy Grail.
SIDE NOTE:
What's truly odd in this day and age is that Wikipedia has instant information on so many things that were hard to track down in the time before the internet. An information explosion is certainly fun, as is this disc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Along_Came_a_Spider_(Alice_Cooper_album)
5)VINCENT BUGLIOSI THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER
Vince appeared on Visual Radio #411 for 50 minutes or so chatting with me about serial killer George W. Bush. It's stunning stuff and some critics are calling this one of my best interviews. Well, Vince is pretty automatic, he's the prosecutor who put Manson away, and in this book he builds a very strong case for why another psychopath who was not at the scene of the crime (or who just visits the scene of the crime on Thanksgiving and Christmas) should be put away for good. It's brilliant - and tough - stuff. We hope to post some of the interview on YouTube in the near future. 3:30 AM July 20, 2008.
6)MULTI DIMENSIONAL WARRIOR - SANTANA
Found this double CD from Santana on my doorstep - release date is September.
I'm giving it a few spins right now - great stuff, of course, what's not to like about Santana, one of the most famous guitarists in the history of mankind who is still underrated. How do you sell more albums than anyone else in the guitar scene yet not have the prestige and underground luster of Jimi Hendrix? It's not that millions and millions of musicians don't kiss the ground Carlos walks on, I'm not saying that at all, I'm just saying he is IN the Hendrix category, a unique arena, but does not get the credit for his innovative style. More on this impressive collection soon.
7)John Lennon PLASTIC ONO BAND DVD from AllMovie.com
Description by Joe Viglione
More than a second look at Beatle John Lennon's first solo album, this edition of the "Classic Albums" DVD series is closer to an analyses of the work - just as the songwriter/singer used the vehicle for self-analyses. With contributions from those involved in the recordings, bassist Klaus Voormann, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, EMI Studios engineer Phil McDonald, tape operator John Leckie as well as Dr. Arthur Janov, co-founder The Primal Institute, which had a big impact on Lennon and the creation of the album, the fifty-three minute television special revisits the trio of 45s which preceded the album, "Give Peace A Chance", "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma", building up to the revelation of how this seemingly simple disc with beautiful melodies crafted for "Hold On", "God", "Isolation" and others is actually quite complex in construction and message. Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner, journalist Richard Williams, Beatles author Mark Lewisohn and others contribute commentary to the documentary, however it is the nine bonus tracks which really bring this DVD to another level. Read more here:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=4:434386
8)DICK CAVETT ROCK ICONS
Description by Joe Viglione
This deluxe and quite elegant package is a delicious presentation from Shout!Factory that houses these interviews and vital performances with the touch of class they so richly deserve. Dick Cavett's ability to bring great guests with terrific chemistry together along with his gift of gab and decent sense of moderation sets the pace and separates his show from the programs which demanded stricter formulas. It's the colloquial tack which allowed all the guests to participate so that some of the interviews become sort of superstar panels. The combination of his straight-laced nerd approach interacting with so many hippies - The Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Sly Stone - as well as the more reserved (as far as rockers go), George Harrison, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and a diverse selection of movie actors, Margot Kidder, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Gloria Swanson and even a football player, Dave Meggyesy, resulted in a free for all with Cavett the sometimes shy and reticent ringleader. Meggyesy talking about his book, "Out Of Their League", which seems to have vanished from the face of the earth (well, you can get it on Amazon for forty-one cents), is conspicuous in just how unimportant he is by comparison. The fact that a music company is issuing the project with the emphasis on the "Rock Icons" doesn't render Chet Huntley's appearance moot, in fact, the addition of individuals clearly outside of the world of music adds to the drama - though Meggyesy - obviously - does not inspire compelling talk on the same level of a Raquel Welch and, being out of his league - as his book prophetically notes, it is apparent why he is an unknown today while the "icons" made their mark and stood the test of time. Read more here:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=16:73296
9)DOWNTOWN MYSTIC "Read The Signs"
A subtle psychedelic cover with a purple hue is what houses this rocking bit of
post-Flamin' Groovies/Byrds style of brash pop, the authenticity missing from 99%
of Tom Petty's releases. "Eyes Of The World" and "A Way To Know" contain no-nonsense
pop by the quartet which features Robert Allen, Bruce Engler, bassist Paul Page and drummer extraordinaire Steve Holley. Listen to the wild guitar lines on "A Way To Know", the kind of core music that's been missing on the radio waves.
10Denny Jiosa Dreams Like This
Superb album from jazz artist Denny Jiosa - more thorough review to follow...
11)Nat King Cole The Very Thought of You
12)Lissa Schneckenburger Song
14)STILL CROOKED by CROOKED STILL
Review by Joe Viglione
This third album, Still Crooked from Crooked Still, is an elegant package of superbly crafted musical styles taking country/folk as the deep foundation and veering off into exhilarating and exciting directions. Starting things off with a haunting version of the late Ola Belle Reed's "Undone In Sorrow" the album begins much like The Youngbloods Elephant Mountain when "Darkness, Darkness" opened that lp almost forty years before. Producer Eric Merrill doesn't need drums to propel this quintet, the fiddles a blazin' on a two and a half minute entry entitled "The Absentee", like the equally lively "Poor Ellen Smith", keep things flowing in a square dance sort of way. The slick twelve page booklet has lyrics to all the titles, "Captain Captain", serious and slow, making for a good read while the music plays. The devotion to the styles embraced is spot on, a reinvention of Sidney Carter's a cappella "Pharoah" from Rounder Records release of the many Alan Lomaxtapes, this one found on the compilation Southern Journey, Vol. 1: Voices from the American South, is stunning - even more so when you compare it to Carter's - or take the effort to actually put Sidney Carter's voice as the intro to this string-heavy rendition and hear the tremendous results. Picture the tempo of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" cut in half, slowed down so that Aoife O'Donovan can pour her emotions all over the track. It's amazing stuff, and it can hardly be called "bluegrass" or be locked into one genre. Where Ray Charles gave us Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music back in 1962, Crooked Still bring those expressions into the new millennium. "Florence" is credited to T.W. Carter 1844 and is a more traditional country take, in the fashion of guitarist Peter Calo's excellent Cowboy Song from 2001 where he took traditional songs of the American frontier and recreated them.
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:anfqxzrjldte
15)Men Without Wax Anchor
16)Jann Klose
17)Vance Gilbert "Up On Rockfield"
18)The Complaints Sunday Morning Radio
19)Dana & Susan Robinson 'Round My Door
20)
21)
22)Oasis Disc Manufacturing INSPIRATIONAL Volume VIII #4 Radio Sampler
Another beautifully packaged collection of songs from Oasis Manufacturing, though
titled "Inspirational" some of these performances are as Gospel as Gospel gets.
Darren Prater's "My Redeemer" starts things off, the Alaska String Band contribute
"Farther On", the Kansas based Antioch Church deliver "Never Ending Love" from their
Live It Loud album. This compilation flows smoothly without the usual "various artists" hodge podge syndrome; each track listenable and professionaly performed.
48)Jann Klose "The Strangest Thing" CD
This album was released in August of 1999. It features the songwriter/singer in a laid-back setting with folk/jazz overtones. Klose is in good voice here though the material tends to wander.
49)Deep Purple "Hush"
Song Review by Joe Viglione
Deep Purple's phenomenal version of "Hush", written by country/pop songwriter Joe South, took the Vanilla Fudge style of slowing a song down and bluesing it up another step, venturing into the domain of psychedelic heavy metal. Covered by Kula Shaker in the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer other versions were recorded by Billy Joe Royal, Gotthard , former Ritchie Blackmore lead vocalist Joe Lynn Turner on his 1997 Under Cover album of song interpretations and even John Mellencamp. But once the tune received this rendition's indellible stamp no one could touch it again, not even the songwriter. South's lyrics are highly suggestive, beyond Van Morrison's "Gloria", straight into Louie, Louie territory with: "She's got a loving like quicksand... It blew my mind and I'm in so deep/That I can't eat, y'all, and I can't sleep." Or as Aimee Mann sang, hush hush because voices carried this one right by the censors with Jon Lord's quagmire of thick chaotic keyboard sound meshed with Ritchie Blackmore's guitar. Tetragrammaton Records single #1503 went Top 5 in August of 1968, 4:11 as originally released on the Shades Of Deep Purple album, 4:26 on Rhino's 2000 reissue The Very Best Of Deep Purple. For more click here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:fbfoxcy0ldte
50)LAZY DEEP PURPLE Song Review
Expanded to ten minutes and twenty-seven seconds on the blockbuster Made In Japan live album, "Lazy" plays at 7:19 in its original incarnation from the Machine Head disc, a snappy blues/rock number with minimal lyrics and superb playing. The progression from Deep Purple In Rock to Fireball to Machine Head can certainly be felt in the grooves here, for "Lazy" is anything but; it can only be considered laid back because it comes in between the two gargantuan riffs that make up "Smoke On The Water" and "Space Truckin' " which sandwich it on side two of what Warner Brothers thought would be the break-through disc for Deep Purple. Jon Lord's dragons and dungeons organ pervades the opening while some tasty Ritchie Blackmore guitarmanship plays over the shuffling vamp awaiting Ian Gillan's appearance. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:3xfqxxlsldje ¶ 11:34 PM
August 13, 2008
Can't believe how quickly the summer has flown by! There are stacks of CDs, DVDs, movies and other intellectual property I'm working diligently to get on this blog.
1)The Dark Knight
2)Ian Lloyd O-de-Po
3)Deep Purple Around The World 4 DVD Set
4)Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
5)Vincent Bugliosi "The Prosecution Of George W. Bush for Murder" (Book)
6)Santana - Multi Dimensional Warrior (double CD)
7)John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band (DVD)
8)Dick Cavett Rock Icons (3 DVD set)
9)Downtown Mystic
10)Denny Jiosa Dreams Like This
Happy reading.
Joe V. 1:31 PM
#1 The Dark Knight
Though not perfect BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT is far and away the best comic book film in movie history, bringing the audience a level of seriousness that had escaped Spiderman; an element that was sought by the X-Men, but which that franchise due to scripts that lacked staying power and less substance than was promised.
Read the lengthy Joe Vig essay on THE DARK KNIGHT on my rock journalist page: http://rockjournalistjoevig.blogspot.com/
In the Land of O-De-Po
#2
For those of us who have enjoyed decades of music from the Stories frontman on record, along with watching Ian Lloyd onstage since the early 1970s, the CD "In The Land of O-de-Po" shows the full depth of this journeyman's artistic vision. He and co-producer Tony Sankitts put "Brother Louie" into a techno-dance shuffle that acts like an entre to this new sound. "Side By Side" has his immaculate voice dancing around a terrific melody which reflects the packaging. Lloyd performs with his son David's band, Social Hero, and he brings an intensity found on this disc to the band's live performance. The role is more of one in the background, clearly giving the group its focus as well as some superb backing vocals. It would be helpful if Social Hero would put their dad front and center, playing the youthful energy against the polished experience of a true rock & roll original. If Social Hero added the music of "In The Land Of O-de-Po" to their repertoire they would be a formidable ensemble. Indeed, in-between Social Hero originals this CD should be played in its entirety live onstage - the way Carole King presented her Fantasy album to her devoted audience. The title track is remarkable. A very satisfying and important work from an individual who has yet to peak.
http://www.machinedreamrecords.com/ianlloyd/
#3
Deep Purple Around The World Live is a delicious box that provides an amazing glimpse into the group that released 7 albums between 1968 and 1972, finding the double live album as the sales catalyst to launch them into history. This is a FOUR DVD Box from Eagle Vision which takes that double album concept into another dimension. India 1995 starts things off with a bonus feature of eight songs from Seoul, 1995 - Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice with Steve Morse on guitar. A 34 page booklet on slick paper is inside this handsome case which features six faces on the cover.
"A wealth of previously unseen material" it's a bootleggers worst nightmare and a fan's dream come true.
4 ALICE COOPER ALONG CAME A SPIDER
Alice Cooper is a total pro in these decades after he launched to superstardom and his product is of consistent and very high quality. "Along Came A Spider" is a nice addition to the Cooper collection. "The One That Got Away" is good pop/rock - the only problem for long-time fans is that we are waiting for the next "Under My Wheels", "Ballad Of Dwight Frye", "Is It My Body." Perhaps it is time for a reunion of the original members of the Alice Cooper Group and a production party with Bob Ezrin at the helm. "Along Came a Spider" is certainly good stuff, and a great title ripped from a Morgan Freeman movie about a semi-serial kidnapper. Alice was just a little more fun when he dipped into the culture, penning "The Man With The Golden Gun" even though they were passed over for the James Bond movie theme. "Wrapped In Silk" discusses getting passed by...good solid product delivered by The Coop, but it is time for something more. Alice is always fun, but Buzzy Linhart and Ian Lloyd have released new albums with more adventure, heart and inquisitiveness. Their performances are more attractive. Alice needs to pair up with journeymen like Lloyd and Linhart to pen a terrific new album and blow everyone away. This one is good, but Alice has the potential to always be great. Why be good when you are great?
This is the Jack Nicholson Joker while Ian Lloyd's new disc is, say, Christian Bale playing Batman. Nothing here has equaled the Heath Ledger barometer...but we'll keep looking for the G spot and the Holy Grail.
SIDE NOTE:
What's truly odd in this day and age is that Wikipedia has instant information on so many things that were hard to track down in the time before the internet. An information explosion is certainly fun, as is this disc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Along_Came_a_Spider_(Alice_Cooper_album)
5)VINCENT BUGLIOSI THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER
Vince appeared on Visual Radio #411 for 50 minutes or so chatting with me about serial killer George W. Bush. It's stunning stuff and some critics are calling this one of my best interviews. Well, Vince is pretty automatic, he's the prosecutor who put Manson away, and in this book he builds a very strong case for why another psychopath who was not at the scene of the crime (or who just visits the scene of the crime on Thanksgiving and Christmas) should be put away for good. It's brilliant - and tough - stuff. We hope to post some of the interview on YouTube in the near future. 3:30 AM July 20, 2008.
6)MULTI DIMENSIONAL WARRIOR - SANTANA
Found this double CD from Santana on my doorstep - release date is September.
I'm giving it a few spins right now - great stuff, of course, what's not to like about Santana, one of the most famous guitarists in the history of mankind who is still underrated. How do you sell more albums than anyone else in the guitar scene yet not have the prestige and underground luster of Jimi Hendrix? It's not that millions and millions of musicians don't kiss the ground Carlos walks on, I'm not saying that at all, I'm just saying he is IN the Hendrix category, a unique arena, but does not get the credit for his innovative style. More on this impressive collection soon.
7)John Lennon PLASTIC ONO BAND DVD from AllMovie.com
Description by Joe Viglione
More than a second look at Beatle John Lennon's first solo album, this edition of the "Classic Albums" DVD series is closer to an analyses of the work - just as the songwriter/singer used the vehicle for self-analyses. With contributions from those involved in the recordings, bassist Klaus Voormann, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, EMI Studios engineer Phil McDonald, tape operator John Leckie as well as Dr. Arthur Janov, co-founder The Primal Institute, which had a big impact on Lennon and the creation of the album, the fifty-three minute television special revisits the trio of 45s which preceded the album, "Give Peace A Chance", "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma", building up to the revelation of how this seemingly simple disc with beautiful melodies crafted for "Hold On", "God", "Isolation" and others is actually quite complex in construction and message. Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner, journalist Richard Williams, Beatles author Mark Lewisohn and others contribute commentary to the documentary, however it is the nine bonus tracks which really bring this DVD to another level. Read more here:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=4:434386
8)DICK CAVETT ROCK ICONS
Description by Joe Viglione
This deluxe and quite elegant package is a delicious presentation from Shout!Factory that houses these interviews and vital performances with the touch of class they so richly deserve. Dick Cavett's ability to bring great guests with terrific chemistry together along with his gift of gab and decent sense of moderation sets the pace and separates his show from the programs which demanded stricter formulas. It's the colloquial tack which allowed all the guests to participate so that some of the interviews become sort of superstar panels. The combination of his straight-laced nerd approach interacting with so many hippies - The Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Sly Stone - as well as the more reserved (as far as rockers go), George Harrison, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and a diverse selection of movie actors, Margot Kidder, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Gloria Swanson and even a football player, Dave Meggyesy, resulted in a free for all with Cavett the sometimes shy and reticent ringleader. Meggyesy talking about his book, "Out Of Their League", which seems to have vanished from the face of the earth (well, you can get it on Amazon for forty-one cents), is conspicuous in just how unimportant he is by comparison. The fact that a music company is issuing the project with the emphasis on the "Rock Icons" doesn't render Chet Huntley's appearance moot, in fact, the addition of individuals clearly outside of the world of music adds to the drama - though Meggyesy - obviously - does not inspire compelling talk on the same level of a Raquel Welch and, being out of his league - as his book prophetically notes, it is apparent why he is an unknown today while the "icons" made their mark and stood the test of time. Read more here:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=16:73296
9)DOWNTOWN MYSTIC "Read The Signs"
A subtle psychedelic cover with a purple hue is what houses this rocking bit of
post-Flamin' Groovies/Byrds style of brash pop, the authenticity missing from 99%
of Tom Petty's releases. "Eyes Of The World" and "A Way To Know" contain no-nonsense
pop by the quartet which features Robert Allen, Bruce Engler, bassist Paul Page and drummer extraordinaire Steve Holley. Listen to the wild guitar lines on "A Way To Know", the kind of core music that's been missing on the radio waves.
10Denny Jiosa Dreams Like This
Superb album from jazz artist Denny Jiosa - more thorough review to follow...
11)Nat King Cole The Very Thought of You
12)Lissa Schneckenburger Song
14)STILL CROOKED by CROOKED STILL
Review by Joe Viglione
This third album, Still Crooked from Crooked Still, is an elegant package of superbly crafted musical styles taking country/folk as the deep foundation and veering off into exhilarating and exciting directions. Starting things off with a haunting version of the late Ola Belle Reed's "Undone In Sorrow" the album begins much like The Youngbloods Elephant Mountain when "Darkness, Darkness" opened that lp almost forty years before. Producer Eric Merrill doesn't need drums to propel this quintet, the fiddles a blazin' on a two and a half minute entry entitled "The Absentee", like the equally lively "Poor Ellen Smith", keep things flowing in a square dance sort of way. The slick twelve page booklet has lyrics to all the titles, "Captain Captain", serious and slow, making for a good read while the music plays. The devotion to the styles embraced is spot on, a reinvention of Sidney Carter's a cappella "Pharoah" from Rounder Records release of the many Alan Lomaxtapes, this one found on the compilation Southern Journey, Vol. 1: Voices from the American South, is stunning - even more so when you compare it to Carter's - or take the effort to actually put Sidney Carter's voice as the intro to this string-heavy rendition and hear the tremendous results. Picture the tempo of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" cut in half, slowed down so that Aoife O'Donovan can pour her emotions all over the track. It's amazing stuff, and it can hardly be called "bluegrass" or be locked into one genre. Where Ray Charles gave us Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music back in 1962, Crooked Still bring those expressions into the new millennium. "Florence" is credited to T.W. Carter 1844 and is a more traditional country take, in the fashion of guitarist Peter Calo's excellent Cowboy Song from 2001 where he took traditional songs of the American frontier and recreated them.
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:anfqxzrjldte
15)Men Without Wax Anchor
16)Jann Klose
17)Vance Gilbert "Up On Rockfield"
18)The Complaints Sunday Morning Radio
19)Dana & Susan Robinson 'Round My Door
20)
21)
22)Oasis Disc Manufacturing INSPIRATIONAL Volume VIII #4 Radio Sampler
Another beautifully packaged collection of songs from Oasis Manufacturing, though
titled "Inspirational" some of these performances are as Gospel as Gospel gets.
Darren Prater's "My Redeemer" starts things off, the Alaska String Band contribute
"Farther On", the Kansas based Antioch Church deliver "Never Ending Love" from their
Live It Loud album. This compilation flows smoothly without the usual "various artists" hodge podge syndrome; each track listenable and professionaly performed.
48)Jann Klose "The Strangest Thing" CD
This album was released in August of 1999. It features the songwriter/singer in a laid-back setting with folk/jazz overtones. Klose is in good voice here though the material tends to wander.
49)Deep Purple "Hush"
Song Review by Joe Viglione
Deep Purple's phenomenal version of "Hush", written by country/pop songwriter Joe South, took the Vanilla Fudge style of slowing a song down and bluesing it up another step, venturing into the domain of psychedelic heavy metal. Covered by Kula Shaker in the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer other versions were recorded by Billy Joe Royal, Gotthard , former Ritchie Blackmore lead vocalist Joe Lynn Turner on his 1997 Under Cover album of song interpretations and even John Mellencamp. But once the tune received this rendition's indellible stamp no one could touch it again, not even the songwriter. South's lyrics are highly suggestive, beyond Van Morrison's "Gloria", straight into Louie, Louie territory with: "She's got a loving like quicksand... It blew my mind and I'm in so deep/That I can't eat, y'all, and I can't sleep." Or as Aimee Mann sang, hush hush because voices carried this one right by the censors with Jon Lord's quagmire of thick chaotic keyboard sound meshed with Ritchie Blackmore's guitar. Tetragrammaton Records single #1503 went Top 5 in August of 1968, 4:11 as originally released on the Shades Of Deep Purple album, 4:26 on Rhino's 2000 reissue The Very Best Of Deep Purple. For more click here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:fbfoxcy0ldte
50)LAZY DEEP PURPLE Song Review
Expanded to ten minutes and twenty-seven seconds on the blockbuster Made In Japan live album, "Lazy" plays at 7:19 in its original incarnation from the Machine Head disc, a snappy blues/rock number with minimal lyrics and superb playing. The progression from Deep Purple In Rock to Fireball to Machine Head can certainly be felt in the grooves here, for "Lazy" is anything but; it can only be considered laid back because it comes in between the two gargantuan riffs that make up "Smoke On The Water" and "Space Truckin' " which sandwich it on side two of what Warner Brothers thought would be the break-through disc for Deep Purple. Jon Lord's dragons and dungeons organ pervades the opening while some tasty Ritchie Blackmore guitarmanship plays over the shuffling vamp awaiting Ian Gillan's appearance. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:3xfqxxlsldje ¶ 11:34 PM
Monday, April 07, 2008
Top 40 for April 2008
April is under construction...stand by!
1)Kris Delmhorst Shotgun Singer
If Songs for a Hurricane, Kris Delmhorst's album from 2003, was deep and thought-provoking, this fifth solo CD (excluding side projects and EPs) released five years later, Shotgun Singer, wraps up that psychological web with sound modifications that go deeper and denser. The artist seems to take liberally from George Martin's efforts on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and transfer those embellishments to the needs of a songwriter/singer in the same way that Emitt Rhodes emulated the first Paul McCartney solo LP, McCartney. The dangling vocal on "Midnight Ringer" squeezes out all emotion possible while the instrumentation goes about its business filling the available spaces in highly entertaining fashion. Keep in mind, all this praise isn't saying that this is "the next Sgt. Pepper's" or anything of the sort, what is obvious is that Delmhorst picks up on great work and uses what came before to interpret her new ideas, forging a sound that is both original and appealing. Picture Joni Mitchell deciding to step into Brian Wilson's treasure chest of sound effects and very consciously — and cautiously — blending them like some aural chemist to interact with the words and melodies. "Blue Adeline" is simple yet majestic, the cymbals working as if they offer their own notes, the song following the path set by another K.D. — k.d. lang — on her masterpiece, Ingénue, which this artist clearly owes much to. That debt, though, is perhaps on another level, say the dark recesses that the Velvet Underground's Nico explored, yet fashioned to translate well to the arena where Delmhorst chooses to reside. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfwxz9jldde
2)The Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-1969
Where {^The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966} had
its moments with eight commentators giving us the
beginnings of Stones history, this part 2 - {^The
Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-1969} with a dozen
critics and musicians interviewed - is truly superior
in its approach and in direction, a perfect segue to
the un-named part 3 of this trilogy from {@Chrome
Dreams/Sexy Intellectual}, the very excellent {^Keith
Richards Under Review}. Critic {$Keith Altham} is on
all three documentaries as is {$Tom Keylock}, and
they add wonderful insight, notably {$Altham}'s
essential critiques and historical perspective.
{$Thomas Arnold} is the narrator, as he is on the
Richards disc, replacing {$Mandy O'Neal} from the
first volume, and the storyline is meatier as the
"greatest rock & roll band in the world" move into
these new phases of psychedelia and what followed, the
time labeled their "golden era" with guitarist {$Mick
Taylor} and producer {$Jimmy Miller} enhancing the
sounds the band would generate. The previous
documentary ended with {&"(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction"} while this edition opens with
{&"Sympathy For The Devil"}, interesting bookends with
so much territory to cover. Even die-hard Stones fans
who know much about the history will embrace the
clips, the perspectives and the chronology.
{$Alan Clayson} calls {&"Ruby Tuesday"} The Stones
version of {&"Yesterday"}, attributing the initial
writing of {&"Ruby Tuesday"} to {$Brian Jones} -
{$Keith Altham} also bringing up the fact it was a
{$Brian Jones} composition which {$Keith Richards} and
{$Mick Jagger} added to; Clayson also notes how {$Bill
Wyman} came up with the riff to {&"Jumpin' Jack
Flash"} - the many instances of this "plagiarism", as
Clayson calls it that is part of the Stones legend,
though the DVD doesn't go further into{$Marianne
Faithful} co-writing "Sister Morphine", $Ry Cooder's contribution to the hit version of {&"Honky
Tonk Women"}, {$Mick Taylor}'s work on {&"Time Waits
For No One"}, and the late {$Jimmy Miller} saying that
{$Billy Preston} actually wrote {&"Shine A Light"}.
One could do a family tree on the alleged songwriter
contributions, which this documentary actually
initiates in a way. For the fans the inclusion of
{$Anita Pallenberg}'s idea for the backing vocals on
{&"Sympathy For The Devil"} and {$Marianne Faithful}'s
action of giving {$Mick Jagger} a book which helped
develop the idea is essential food for thought on the
making of {^Beggars Banquet}. Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jifrxzyhldae
3)Nick Drake "Under Review"
Though die-hard Nick Drake fans may find this hour and a half docu-biography superfluous, the general public doesn't have much of a clue about this puzzling but important musical figure. As with the Kate Bush entry in this "Under Review" series, the "review and critique of" Drake and his music is a wonderful introduction that gives a "Cliff Notes" look at him in a very warm and respectful way. With Fairport Convention alum Ashley Hutchings and Dave Mattacks as well as biographers Trevor Dann and Patrick Humphries, Incredible String Band's Robin Williamson and the usual insiders that Sexy Intellectual/Chrome Dreams track down to participate, the brief life of Drake is covered in such an engaging way that the unfamiliar viewer will most likely want to pick up on his music after hearing Drake's story. The Velvet Underground connection is touched upon and John Cale would've been a nice touch had he been interviewed for this; that's not a complaint, only a nod that the intense fan base of that group would certainly help spread the word with more efficiency. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB78AAE02CA45A079FCCE457FFD6663F2DED93&sql=10:wnfqxzegldae
4)
Kerry Kearney Welcome To The Psychodelta
http://bluestown.blogspot.com/2007/02/kerry-kearney-welcome-to-psychedelta.html
5)Kris Delmhorst Songs For A Hurricane
The woman who played fiddle and sang on Carl Cacho's excellent Spark album releases a dreamy and elegant 50 minutes of music over 13 titles. Kris Delmhorst's Songs for a Hurricane do not overpower like Stacie Rose's and Deb Pasternak's fine and more rocking endeavors. This artist is subtle in her approach with music that comes up behind you and a voice that breathes through the speakers. The eight-page booklet stretches the lyrics to all the songs in scroll-like fashion down four of the pages, a good way to get this extensive material into the listener's hands. The packaging is very old world with a weather vane pointing southwest. "Blow me down and leave my lying in your wake," she sings on the title track, and there's no doubt it's a passionate albeit dysfunctional relationship, commentary that the person in question would "rage" and "rain" and how "you could see it coming on for miles." Boy, hasn't everyone been there. It's music to take to heart, and though Neil Young made a similar comparison on his original while Bob Dylan was referencing fighter Rubin Carter, Delmhorst uses track eight to wake the sleeping giant, having lulled you into a trance with "Waiting Under the Waves," and on "Weathervane" she does dip into that world where Rose and Pasternak explode on record. The production by Delmhorst and Billy Conway is commendable, and the different instruments by a host of musicians find their place, all the elements part of a fabric. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCEE455FBD666342DED93&sql=10:0cfoxqlaldse
6)LIVING LEGENDS THE GATHERING
This seven track CD entitled The Gathering has an intuitive drive and some controlled power that makes it appealing on many levels. Thirty-two minutes and three seconds total time harkens back to the days when vinyl lps held 15 minutes per side and, for a prolific bunch like Living Legends, the audience might feel a bit slighted though others may consider that the rappers are putting a heavier emphasis on this septet of sound essays than overloading the cd. The title track has an eerie keyboard juxtaposed against a solid beat and percussive sounds; it's the second longest piece on the disc, dips into Richard Matheson territory with a nod to "I am legend", and is a good way to kick things off: with a nice bang. "She Wants Me" follows with a hypnotic variety of sparse sounds under the narrative flowing into a killer chorus about a drugged-out psychotic bisexual girlfriend the protagonist met on myspace. It's territory Willie "Loco" Alexander covered in the 70s with a similarly-titled song MCA refused to release on the second Boom Boom Band lp, "Nazi Nola (She Wanted Me)", the stretch from heavy punk/R & B to R & B/rap not as far thematically as one might think. It's the rhythm and blues that is the common denominator with more misogyny infiltrating the funky "Pants On Fire", each track needing a parental guidance sticker. "War And Peace" has a slinky Parliament/Funkadelic guitar line that drifts under the verses which give in to a chant of "If you want to make war end you gotta start with peace...", a heavy vocal chorus of "war" a la Edwin Starr's classic 1970 hit the frosting on the cake. "Luva Changer" is even heavier funk/r & b with Stevie Wonder overtones pulled from the eternal soul textbook Songs In The Key Of Life}. While there's no direct lift of a famous hook such as Luckyiam's sample of Three Dog Night's "Easy To Be Hard" titled "Cruel" on his Myspace page, there are tons of nods to musical pieces strewn throughout The Gathering, the two minute and forty-three second "Samba" an interesting diversion before the tour-de-force final track. "After Hours" (Extended Euro Mix), the grand finale, is almost like a rap version of Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby", a narrative that goes on for almost eight and a half minutes and even fades out a la Reed when Lou speaks directly to drag queen Rachel. Here {Living Legends} update that 70's classic with: "I want to give a shout out to Baby Rio, to Andy Kahn and all the hipsters...that shirt cost $60.00 that you just spilt Katsup on it...now it's really limited edition..." The rant veers off into a bit of other similar raps from {$Armand Schaubroeck}'s 1978 nod to {$Lou Reed}'s {^Street Hassle}, the epic Ratfucker. The Legends continue to admonish the listener: "You shouldn't do drugs that are harder than you...(expletive, expletive, expletive)...how about you have a mind of your own man...if you're downloading this for free you're never going to get (expletive) again..." The keys and horns are a perfect blend of jazz and pop while the chorus pulls in some of the charm the group {$War} utilized on songs like {&"Why Can't We Be Friends"} ... "Living legends...we invented fun..." They didn't invent a good time, but this ever growing bunch certainly know how to perpetuate it and prove that on {^The Gathering}.
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American Speedway
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfuxz9jldae
Piss Ant Piss Off
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REW* That*sr*ite
Review by Joe Viglione
Minimal underground rock has always had a place on college radio and in the caverns that cater to live music, jangly and primitive instrumental backing that has attitude by musicians who play for the fun of it. Mark Alexander and Teresa Starr of The Echoes take full advantage of the genre as does this ensemble on Rew*'s that*Sr*ite CD. On "Skeletonz" the lead singer wants to bare her soul, if the person she's singing to will reciprocate, right after "u annoy me", an essay full of relationship negativity that refuses any chance of reconciliation. This is an album chock full of soap opera dilemmas, one of the most effective being "u suck" which has so much invective and X rated language that rappers Living Legends might blush were they to do a cover of it. It also happens to have a great melody and is most useful when a highly sexual relationship is over and it is time to throw bottles at the wall. Combining the angst of L.A. punk rockers Piss Ant with the spirit of The Echoes results in a risqué approach to light sounds and pretty melodies smashing into heartache...and the mania that sometimes follows. The title track, "that*s rite", is a slinky, creepy Doors-influenced song about movin' on with the charismatic front woman matter-of-factly walking out the door. "megan", on the other hand, is a Lou Reed-ish ballad from his Coney Island Baby period and will appeal to fans of that classic cd; the subtle guitar lines are a pleasant touch Read more here:
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Pierre Elaine "Litterature"
"Arrivederci" opens this creative and highly listenable album by Pierre Eliane of France. Available only in Europe, it was released in 1984. Eliane sings entirely in French, and although they say rock & roll is an art form most effective in English, this techno/dance album works musically and vocally. Eliane's best material is the tunes he pens about people, from "Isadora Duncan (A Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu Danses)" to the closing title, "Song to Len." In between is the album's finest track, and the one of two titles, along with "Song to Len," to have any English — "Willie Take Care," dedicated to "Loco" Alexander, the Bostonian who toured Europe as a member of the Velvet Underground and recorded for Capitol with the Lost, ABC/Dunhill with Bagatelle, MCA as leader of the Boom Boom Band, and RCA Europe as a solo artist. As intriguing as "Etoile Hlm," "Paroles de Nuit," and "Ou Que Tu Alles" are on Eliane's disc, it is his tribute to Alexander which has a manic intensity, slashing guitars, deranged vocals, and true rock & roll passion. It opens with a slow techno stomp and simply and quickly falls into the tense chorus. Eliane's voice creates a hook with his "aaahhh" — almost an answer to Alexander's "uh yuh uh yuh," which was a battle cry in the dungeons of Boston rock music. The production by Manfred Kovacic is really extraordinary.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wpftxq80ld6e
KRIS DELMHORST STRANGE CONVERSATIONS
Recorded simultaneously with her Shotgun Singer CD but issued prior to that release, the difference here is that Kris Delmhorst takes established writings by the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Rumi, e.e. cummings and a variety of other established wordsmiths, finding not only inspiration in their thoughts, but embracing their artistry within her own in much the same way that author Sena Jeter Naslund found motivation for the novel Ahab's Wife in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Walt Whitman probably never envisioned his "A Passage to India" translated into "Light of the Light," a production that might feel a bit out of place on this country/folk disc, but still works within the context because Delmhorst is a confident (and accomplished) musician and visionary who won't let a genre interfere with what she chooses to discuss. It is also the most radio-friendly track and has "hit" written all over it. Strange Conversation sounds like it was influenced by the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo more than poetry from long ago and contains the Delmhorst stamp to such an extent that unless one is familiar with the source material they'd miss the fact that this is a collaborative effort. Self-produced in North Reading, MA with engineer Chris Rival on the boards, the sound is very consistent with this artist's other releases while stylistically dipping into other bags. The cover art of piles of books against the color green suggests a spoken word disc and hardly indicates that such an exciting palette of sound is contained herein.
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http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fzfpxqrdldhe
RATFUCKER Armand Schaubroeck
The darkest and best of Armand Schaubroeck's onslaught of recordings from the '70s, this descent into the gutter is the underground version of Lou Reed's Street Hassle. Both recordings were released in 1978, and both feature the artist on the cover with sunglasses reflecting a twinkle from the light. Schaubroeck may have been mimicking what Reed put out to the world — Street Hassle was released in March of 1978, Ratfucker recorded in June and released sometime after — but regardless of the intentional cop, Schaubroeck sure is persuasive. Street Hassle is Reed once again on the outside looking in; as with Berlin, his narration is detached from the violence he explores. Armand Schaubroeck, on the other hand, is a convicted criminal, so the rat with a knife through its throat on the front cover, dripping blood on Schaubroeck's hand, is totally believable. "Ratfucker," the title track, is the best Lou Reed song Reed never wrote, but there is no doubt this is spawned from the former leader of the Velvet Underground's work. The three minutes and 47 seconds of depravity are perfectly recorded, unlike the Richard Robinson/Lou Reed experiment with "binaural sound." No — Ratfucker has the sound and the vibe promised by Street Hassle, the unnerving, cold, heartless tale of a man who robs babies and sells them for 4,000 dollars to perspective parents: "Anything you want C.O.D. baby/C.O.D. on my block."
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfuxqu5ldde
Cactus Live
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9fyxzqjldse
Mat Treiber
Born in Montreal, 1979, New York folk rocker Mat Treiber, married to chanteuse Roxanne Fontana, has released this five-song EP on the same label as his wife (Etoile Records). Produced by Benji King, who played keyboards on Fontana's splendid debut, Love Is Blue, this collection has a lot in common with fellow New Yorker Matt Turk. Concise pop songs like "She's Got It Good" are radio-friendly, crisp productions. No-nonsense performances and no-pretension vocals bring tunes like "Sinking Fast" back to your consciousness after you've walked away from the disc. Treiber's voice, particularly on this cut, is almost a clone of Soft Cell's vocal sound on "Tainted Love," although this song is more basic rock than that techno hit. The fade has great interaction between the guitar, keys, and drums. Treiber makes a chameleon change with his reading of "Victoria the Queen," sounding like a British balladeer.
http://www.mp3.com/albums/477159/reviews.html
ROXANNE FONTANA "LOVE IS BLUE" Produced by Dino Danelli
Review by Joe Viglione
"The Whirlygig" defines this album produced by the Young Rascals' Dino Danelli, a driving original with Fontana's distinctive voice sounding like a techno Jackie DeShannon, a mesmerizing hook, and dark keyboards and production by Rascals drummer Danelli. It's hard to figure out exactly what a "Whirlygig" is, perhaps some kind of ancient graffito writing by teachers and skywriters. There's a reference to Brian Jones, and if the music doesn't sound like early Rolling Stones, she certainly has their attitude, and Marianne Faithful's to boot. "Spring in Love" is a thumping Nico kind of rock/dance episode, again Danelli adds a real mood. "Your Monkey Slides" slinks in with more drama and less intensity, "When you're done with me where will you land?" Mysterious and inviting stuff. Recorded at Bombshelter Studios in New York, the "bombshelter" mix of the title track is the first of two versions. This is an exquisite rendering of the smash Paul Mauriat and his orchestra's number one instrumental from January, 1968
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Roxanne Fontana souvenirs d'amour
souvenirs d'amour - all music guide review
Roxanne Fontana's 1999 release was produced by the Rascals' Dino Danelli and had more of a dance feel. This self-produced, ten-song CD shows musical growth and is a fun excursion into Fontana's vision of new wave and power pop. "Eyes of the Defeated," with its dense guitars by the artist, dark vocal, and underground rock vibe, is a successful blending of pop and punk. Dressed like a '60s British artist on the inside cover, a la Twiggy, the Italian Fontana reminds one of a rock & roll Francoise Hardy, a Marianne Faithful without the despair. "Deep Sea" is a compact, nearly three-minute trip featuring fellow Etoile artist Mat Treiber on guitar. (Treiber married Fontana in between the release of her first album and Souvenirs d'Amour.) On "Roman's Holiday," the singer's voice dances over plucky guitar and drums set far in the background. Fontana does a fine job producing herself, and the record is a departure from the sound forged on the debut disc. Gordon Raphael's flute adds to the mystery, with that "She's a Rainbow" style the Rolling Stones played with. In fact, that song would be a perfect cover for Fontana, who wrote all the titles here except for McTell's "Michael in the Garden," the wonderfully dreamy opening track. Laurent "Lolo" Piacentino's drums create a nice foundation for Fontana's questioning vocal. Read more here:
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1130420,00.html
Francois Hardy "Maid In Paris" AOL.com
Recorded in France, Maid in Paris contains six songs by Francoise Hardy sung in English, and six songs in French. "Only You Can Do It" is a subdued Dusty Springfield. Her delightful voice is backed by strings and very '60s pop guitar, bass, and drums. You can hear flavors of the production from Marianne Faithfull's version of "As Tears Go By," but Hardy's voice is not as fragile as Faithfull's. This material would fit nicely in a Bikini Beach movie with Annette & Frankie. The cover has Hardy with psychedelic pillows in a crate, dressed in black like some renegade version of the Velvet Underground's Nico. She doesn't have the homogenization or the range of a Celine Dion, but she should have dominated the U.S. charts during the era of Lulu and Petula Clark. "I Wish It Were Me" is representative of this disc; it's a subtle theme like Cher's "The Way of Love," and clocks in at two minutes and 20 seconds (only the final song, "Je N'Attends Plus Personne," tops the three-minute barrier). "Another Place" adds a little drama, and is one of four that Hardy wrote on her own -- she co-writes seven other titles here -- and performs one tune written without her help. "How Ever Much" is a very pleasant French re-creation of the Phil Spector sound -- heavy on strings, with backing vocals right off Red Bird Records. It ends the English speaking side in very Shangri-Las like fashion. What is appealing about the French side is that the listener doesn't have to understand that language and the words to be entertained. The music speaks for itself. Where the French language doesn't lend itself to rock & roll, as a pop vehicle, it is pleasant to the ear. Unlike her Reprise album Alone, where she is more Americanized than Nancy Sinatra, looking like a voluptuous folk artist on the cover,
http://music.aol.com/album/maid-in-paris/466030
The Singing Nun
Françoise Hardy she's not, but to American audiences The Singing Nun proved that the French language lent itself to folk music better than to rock. Hitting number one in November of 1963, "Dominique" was a catchy song that children could grasp and, like the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie," which was breathing down the song's neck on the charts, few in the U.S. could figure out the lyrics. Philips packaged this album in immaculate black-and-white with three color sketches included in an album portfolio inside the sleeve, three items drawn by the folksinger -- Soeur Sourire, which means "Sister Smile," the stage name for Jeanine Deckers -- known inside the Convent as Sister Luc-Gabrielle -- and to the outside world as -- not Sally Field's Flying Nun but -- the Singing Nun. With more than the three color paintings by Sourire, the expensive presentation has 12 pages inside the gatefold containing a story by K. Stanton about the Convent at Fichermont, which the writer says is "the very Waterloo in fact, where Napoleon met his defeat." Nine of the pages are sketches by F. Strobel which accompany Stanton's essays about the Singing Nun and her guitar named "Adele."
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http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=617742007220
25)WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon's exquisite "What the World Needs Now Is Love" leads off this collection, and it's quickly followed by a cover of the Dusty Springfield hit "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," as well as a version of "It's All in the Game," making for a very recognizable three songs in a row on this 1968 release featuring as its title her 1965 Top Ten hit, originally on the This Is Jackie DeShannon album. What THIS is, is another stellar set of vocal performances with DeShannon being produced and arranged by a dazzling array of industry names. "So Long Johnny" is a pop tune by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which sounds so much like their Dionne Warwick work it is interesting to hear another great singer in that setting. "Windows and Doors" follows the same formula, while "Changing My Mind" could have been straight from the session that produced Petula Clark's "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love." Bacharach tracked the hit on his own, while Calvin Carter, who produced the For You album, collaborates with Bacharach and David on a number of songs here. Dick Glasser's production of "Little Yellow Roses" is the only one of the dozen songs with his participation; the country ballad is a real departure from the rest of the album, even with the arrangement by Jack Nitzsche. There are five arrangers in all, and an interesting cover concept. Jackie DeShannon appears on the front barefoot against a tree, holding a bouquet, while on the back cover she holds the bouquet with two boys, a Caucasian and an African American. It wasn't something you saw often in the '60s, and truly held with the sentiment of the title track. Tony Hatch's "Call Me" ends the album, and you knew from "Changin' My Mind" that those involved here were listening to Hatch's work, his influence among the many in the grooves of this fine recording.
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http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:What%20the%20World%20Needs%20Now%20Is%20Love:1921004596
26)Roger Williams - Born Free with Bobby Hebb's SUNNY
by Joe Viglione
In October of 1966, Roger Williams had his seventh Top 40 hit with an instrumental version of the song from the film Born Free. There are four songs from movies on this disc: an elegant "Strangers in the Night" from A Man Could Get Killed, "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, and the theme from The Bible. Not content to leave it up to musical sleight of hand à la Liberace, Williams uses the scales to counter the brilliant orchestration which is arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. When tackling a big Frank Sinatra hit, one must pull out all the stops. He takes the Association's "Cherish" and makes it a pure delight. Tension between the piano and the band is precious; Hy Grill's production is outstanding; Roger Williams' touch works so well with the accompaniment that there is drama in the grooves. Some instrumental artists can fall into that "Muzak" trap, but not Williams, "Edelweiss" opening with voices that Ray Coniff was so fond of, but they only come in on the chorus, leaving the music up to the pianist and orchestra. Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" gets a superior treatment. Where Dusty Springfield had orchestration which hinted at the James Bond theme, Ralph Carmichael pushes the orchestra to the limit and this jazz/swing version dances around the nuances of Hebb's composition, the piano dominant with the big band following Roger Williams' lead. Hebb has stated that he's recorded it twice and (outside of live versions) he doesn't want to perform it a third time, but some hip producer could always sample his voice and slip it over this stunning rendition for a few cameo appearances. The song is timeless, and this instrumental in the right film could bring the Born Free album by Roger Williams back into the charts Read More Here:
http://www.sunonline.ca/album/68398/review
On Billboard.com
http://www.billboardevents.com/bbcom/discography/more.jsp?JSESSIONID=nfJ7HvFfhzTFQ5pmSg41XxnLCKXn7xBj07Z5yf7sCDhDhST04J4r!20980050&tp=albums&pid=2590&aid=55957
27) Ken Elkinson Revelry on Windows media
http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20507632
28) DEEP SPACE on Starpulse.com
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Jefferson_Starship/Discography/album/P195171/R218193/
Jefferson Starship
Deep Space/Virgin Sky
Release Date: 1995
Running Time: 74:12
Label: Intersound
Rating:
Deep Space/Virgin Sky is a 74-minute live album which was recorded at The House of Blues in Hollywood in the mid-'90s. Grace Slick makes a rare guest appearance, participating on "Wooden Ships" and singing her songs "Lawman" and "White Rabbit," as well as ex-brother-in-law Darby Slick's "Somebody to Love." On this version, though, it is Slick Aguilar from the KBC band who has pretty much received the mantle that Jorma Kaukonen and Craig Chaquico handed down, his harder rock sound falling somewhere in between the arena rock of Chaquico's Starship work (before he went jazz) and the San Franciscan sound that is Kaukonen. Also interesting on Deep Space is the song "Dark Ages," originally released by MCA recording artist World Entertainment War in 1991. Darby Gould was in that group and brought this exquisite song along with her. It's an amazing composition, one of the high points of the new material. And have you kept tabs on how many bandmembers utilize portions of Darby Slick's name? He never graduated from the Great Society to the Jefferson Airplane, but with "Slick" Aguilar and Darby Gould, the tradition continues...somewhat. There is some great stuff on Deep Space, from the Nona Hendryx tune "Women Who Fly" to a brilliant Rowan Brothers composition, "Gold," from their ill-fated Columbia release. "The Light" is also one of Paul Kantner's best post-Mickey Thomas Starship copyrights, the kind of thing that could rejuvenate Jefferson Starship if the co-leader could come up with one of these more than once every decade. The studio versions of some of these previously unreleased songs did see the light of day in 1999 on the Windows of Heaven album released on CMC, but that puts a spotlight on the sad nature of the record business -- RCA should be issuing the new albums from this veteran group every year. That the material is being scattered across the universe on a variety of labels, Intersound and CMC and others, is a slap in the face to a band who was and still is such a part of the RCA/BMG legacy. It also gives reason to praise Intersound and CMC for giving the world this important music. There are great moments as well as weak on this live set, though Kantner's "Shadowlands" and "I'm on Fire" work, and Marty Balin's "Miracles," as well as his version of Jesse Barish's "Count On Me," are always a treat. Balin's "Papa John is a touching tribute (the whole album is dedicated to Papa John and Gretchen Creach), but squeezing all the lyrics and liner notes onto four pages (an elaborate collage of photos in outer space illuminate the other four pages) makes for tough reading. Jefferson Starship through the '90s is a band playing for the fans, allowing taping of live performances, and always ready to throw a few surprises your way. Deep Space is an important document of a band constantly in flux. When Gracey goes off-key, it's all documented for posterity, no overdubs, the way the true fans love it. Her intro to "Lawman" shows why she brings star power to the table. Darby Gould (and Diana Mangano, who is not on this particular disc) have the chops they need to develop their personalities to truly fill Slick's shoes, and to allow this important act to survive in the 2000s. Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
29)Imaginery Long Lost Pride
When Lion Music executive Lasse Mattsson introduced guitaristBob Katsionis to Swedish singer Bjorn Jansson -- merging the prolific Greek musician with a talent from further north -- a new chapter in the group Imaginery's history began. Not to be confused with new age ensemble Imaginary (note the one letter difference), the album Long Lost Pride contains ten very hard rocking episodes that contain creativity and bite. Opening tunes "Hypnotized" and"The Sign f Today" have enough melody and balanced tempo to keep one's attention, a tough formula to execute, and one that Katsionis and Jansson achieve with the help of bassist Olof Sundfeldt and drummer Mark Adrian. "Roughly Scratched but Alive" clocks in at almost six minutes (nothing here is under four) with a terrific opening riff and an equally strong hook close to one used by the Bee Gees, of all people, on their song "Alive" from 1972's To Whom It May Concern disc. The difference is that Imaginery's title will be limited by the style -- a metallic onslaught that is top-notch for those who follow the intricacies of loud music. Click here for more:
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Jay Geils biography
http://www.krokusblues.ru/?page=catalog&step=artist&id=9
Aram Schefrin's Blog
http://aramschefrin.blogspot.com/
http://aramschefrin.blogspot.com/2008/01/found-another-review-of-construction-1.html
Ten Wheel Drive was a band that formed after Genya Ravan's all-female band Goldie and the Gingerbreads broke up. Around the same time Michael Zager and Aram Schefrin were also looking for a band as well. After being introduced to each other by their managers and also after filling the entire brass section Ten Wheel Drive was officially born. The thing about Zager, Schefrin, and Ravan is that they all came from a different musical background, so they all had to find a way to mix and match these to create the best possible formula for Ten Wheel Drive, and they did an amazing job.
Their first big show was in 1969 at the Fillmore East in New York where halfway through the show Genya Ravan decided that her voice and the music behind it wasn't quite enough for the crowd so she decided to take off her vest and perform the last half of the show topless.
Shirley Bassey "This Is My Life"
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Bassey,_Shirley/Discography/album/P3082/R487650/
Little Steven - Live At Full House
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Live%20at%20Full%20House:1922552974
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Little+Steven++Joe+Viglione&btnG=Search
REW* THAT*s*RITE
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BABE02CA45A079FCFE452F5D6633A2DED93&sql=10:0cfixzlgldke
SHIRLEY BASSEY REVIEWS
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=shirley+bassey+++Joe+Viglione&btnG=Google+Search
Live at Carnegie Hall - Barnes & Noble.com
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=21471149623
Live at Carnegie Hall - Billboard.com
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=HsLbHQ4Dtsxm3v8BXSl7v93GZTSFPTJz3xQdb3kvT2LCLFB7DZRn!2045449040&pid=3563&aid=20489
And I Love You So - UK Bonus Tracks/Artist Direct.com
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1118240,00.html
This Is My life Starpulse.com
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Bassey,_Shirley/Discography/album/P3082/R487650/
I Love You People
http://apoxonrox.blogspot.com/2006/12/i-love-you-people-1968.html
38)Herb Ellis Live
There are only about 38 minutes of performance on Live, a DVD featuring seven titles by Herb Ellis on guitar, accompanied by Dave Maslow on bass, but it is the expected fine playing by the veteran from the Oscar Peterson Trio, Casa Loma Orchestra, and so many other legendary ensembles that makes this DVD a keeper. Recorded live in February of 1986 at the Triangle Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota it looks like a pretty good Public Access TV presentation -- though the long shot is definitely a bit blurry -- make that annoyingly out of focus! However on a sonic level the material sounds good and the maestro effortlessly lets the notes pour out. Ellis and Maslow perform "Days of Wine and Roses," "Here's That Rainy Day," "Sweet Georgia Brown," and other familiar tunes in their brief set. It's very entertaining work and if you're not in the mood for watching this instrumental DVD, it works very well as background music.
Read More Here
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39)Dame Shirley Bassey Does Anybody Miss Me Aol.com
http://music.aol.com/album/does-anybody-miss-me/435522
http://www.google.com/search?q=shirley+bassey+++Joe+Viglione&hl=en&start=20&sa=N
40)Dionne Warwick's HERE WHERE THERE IS LOVE
Mention of Shirley FYE.com
http://www.fye.com/Here-Where-There-Is-Love--Collectors-Choice--Vocals---Easy-Listening_stcVVproductId9996052VVcatId459729VVviewprod.htm
BONUS TRACKS! Extra reviews
Sister Kate Kate Taylor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCDF6C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:fcfuxq95ldfe
Livingston Taylor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD86C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:0cfuxq95ldfe
Liv
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD86C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:acfuxq95ldfe
Anni Clark A Light For Liza
http://www.mp3.com/albums/443313/reviews.html
Lenore Lenore
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E453F5D6643E2DED93&sql=10:kjfuxqukld0e
Lenore Summer Dancing
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E453F5D6643E2DED93&sql=10:aifoxqyaldhe
Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452F8D6623D2DED93&sql=10:avfexzy5ldfe
Pat Burtis Radium Girls
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F8D6673B2DED93&sql=10:jbfuxqrkld6e
Pat Burtis Clarify
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F8D6673B2DED93&sql=10:0nfwxq80ldte
Carl Cacho
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F9D6623D2DED93&sql=10:fjfuxq90ldje
Kris Delmhorst Songs For A Hurricane
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FAD6653F2DED93&sql=10:0cfoxqlaldse
Deb Pasternak Home
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FBD6673C2DED93&sql=10:hxfexqqaldfe
Deb Pasternak Eleven
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FBD6673C2DED93&sql=10:fzfrxql0ld0e
Evan Brubaker Third Floor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F4D665352DED93&sql=10:fnfrxqljldke
Evan Brubaker Halfmoon not reviewed
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F4D665352DED93&sql=10:fxfuxqykld6e
Jonathan Kingham self-titled 1997
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452FCD6663F2DED93&sql=10:fvfqxqe0ldse
Charlie Farren Live At Club Passim
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452F9D6643C2DED93&sql=10:09frxqtsldae
Garrin Benfield
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD96C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:hbfuxqekldde
¶ 3:48 PM
April is under construction...stand by!
1)Kris Delmhorst Shotgun Singer
If Songs for a Hurricane, Kris Delmhorst's album from 2003, was deep and thought-provoking, this fifth solo CD (excluding side projects and EPs) released five years later, Shotgun Singer, wraps up that psychological web with sound modifications that go deeper and denser. The artist seems to take liberally from George Martin's efforts on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and transfer those embellishments to the needs of a songwriter/singer in the same way that Emitt Rhodes emulated the first Paul McCartney solo LP, McCartney. The dangling vocal on "Midnight Ringer" squeezes out all emotion possible while the instrumentation goes about its business filling the available spaces in highly entertaining fashion. Keep in mind, all this praise isn't saying that this is "the next Sgt. Pepper's" or anything of the sort, what is obvious is that Delmhorst picks up on great work and uses what came before to interpret her new ideas, forging a sound that is both original and appealing. Picture Joni Mitchell deciding to step into Brian Wilson's treasure chest of sound effects and very consciously — and cautiously — blending them like some aural chemist to interact with the words and melodies. "Blue Adeline" is simple yet majestic, the cymbals working as if they offer their own notes, the song following the path set by another K.D. — k.d. lang — on her masterpiece, Ingénue, which this artist clearly owes much to. That debt, though, is perhaps on another level, say the dark recesses that the Velvet Underground's Nico explored, yet fashioned to translate well to the arena where Delmhorst chooses to reside. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfwxz9jldde
2)The Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-1969
Where {^The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966} had
its moments with eight commentators giving us the
beginnings of Stones history, this part 2 - {^The
Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-1969} with a dozen
critics and musicians interviewed - is truly superior
in its approach and in direction, a perfect segue to
the un-named part 3 of this trilogy from {@Chrome
Dreams/Sexy Intellectual}, the very excellent {^Keith
Richards Under Review}. Critic {$Keith Altham} is on
all three documentaries as is {$Tom Keylock}, and
they add wonderful insight, notably {$Altham}'s
essential critiques and historical perspective.
{$Thomas Arnold} is the narrator, as he is on the
Richards disc, replacing {$Mandy O'Neal} from the
first volume, and the storyline is meatier as the
"greatest rock & roll band in the world" move into
these new phases of psychedelia and what followed, the
time labeled their "golden era" with guitarist {$Mick
Taylor} and producer {$Jimmy Miller} enhancing the
sounds the band would generate. The previous
documentary ended with {&"(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction"} while this edition opens with
{&"Sympathy For The Devil"}, interesting bookends with
so much territory to cover. Even die-hard Stones fans
who know much about the history will embrace the
clips, the perspectives and the chronology.
{$Alan Clayson} calls {&"Ruby Tuesday"} The Stones
version of {&"Yesterday"}, attributing the initial
writing of {&"Ruby Tuesday"} to {$Brian Jones} -
{$Keith Altham} also bringing up the fact it was a
{$Brian Jones} composition which {$Keith Richards} and
{$Mick Jagger} added to; Clayson also notes how {$Bill
Wyman} came up with the riff to {&"Jumpin' Jack
Flash"} - the many instances of this "plagiarism", as
Clayson calls it that is part of the Stones legend,
though the DVD doesn't go further into{$Marianne
Faithful} co-writing "Sister Morphine", $Ry Cooder's contribution to the hit version of {&"Honky
Tonk Women"}, {$Mick Taylor}'s work on {&"Time Waits
For No One"}, and the late {$Jimmy Miller} saying that
{$Billy Preston} actually wrote {&"Shine A Light"}.
One could do a family tree on the alleged songwriter
contributions, which this documentary actually
initiates in a way. For the fans the inclusion of
{$Anita Pallenberg}'s idea for the backing vocals on
{&"Sympathy For The Devil"} and {$Marianne Faithful}'s
action of giving {$Mick Jagger} a book which helped
develop the idea is essential food for thought on the
making of {^Beggars Banquet}. Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jifrxzyhldae
3)Nick Drake "Under Review"
Though die-hard Nick Drake fans may find this hour and a half docu-biography superfluous, the general public doesn't have much of a clue about this puzzling but important musical figure. As with the Kate Bush entry in this "Under Review" series, the "review and critique of" Drake and his music is a wonderful introduction that gives a "Cliff Notes" look at him in a very warm and respectful way. With Fairport Convention alum Ashley Hutchings and Dave Mattacks as well as biographers Trevor Dann and Patrick Humphries, Incredible String Band's Robin Williamson and the usual insiders that Sexy Intellectual/Chrome Dreams track down to participate, the brief life of Drake is covered in such an engaging way that the unfamiliar viewer will most likely want to pick up on his music after hearing Drake's story. The Velvet Underground connection is touched upon and John Cale would've been a nice touch had he been interviewed for this; that's not a complaint, only a nod that the intense fan base of that group would certainly help spread the word with more efficiency. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB78AAE02CA45A079FCCE457FFD6663F2DED93&sql=10:wnfqxzegldae
4)
Kerry Kearney Welcome To The Psychodelta
http://bluestown.blogspot.com/2007/02/kerry-kearney-welcome-to-psychedelta.html
5)Kris Delmhorst Songs For A Hurricane
The woman who played fiddle and sang on Carl Cacho's excellent Spark album releases a dreamy and elegant 50 minutes of music over 13 titles. Kris Delmhorst's Songs for a Hurricane do not overpower like Stacie Rose's and Deb Pasternak's fine and more rocking endeavors. This artist is subtle in her approach with music that comes up behind you and a voice that breathes through the speakers. The eight-page booklet stretches the lyrics to all the songs in scroll-like fashion down four of the pages, a good way to get this extensive material into the listener's hands. The packaging is very old world with a weather vane pointing southwest. "Blow me down and leave my lying in your wake," she sings on the title track, and there's no doubt it's a passionate albeit dysfunctional relationship, commentary that the person in question would "rage" and "rain" and how "you could see it coming on for miles." Boy, hasn't everyone been there. It's music to take to heart, and though Neil Young made a similar comparison on his original while Bob Dylan was referencing fighter Rubin Carter, Delmhorst uses track eight to wake the sleeping giant, having lulled you into a trance with "Waiting Under the Waves," and on "Weathervane" she does dip into that world where Rose and Pasternak explode on record. The production by Delmhorst and Billy Conway is commendable, and the different instruments by a host of musicians find their place, all the elements part of a fabric. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCEE455FBD666342DED93&sql=10:0cfoxqlaldse
6)LIVING LEGENDS THE GATHERING
This seven track CD entitled The Gathering has an intuitive drive and some controlled power that makes it appealing on many levels. Thirty-two minutes and three seconds total time harkens back to the days when vinyl lps held 15 minutes per side and, for a prolific bunch like Living Legends, the audience might feel a bit slighted though others may consider that the rappers are putting a heavier emphasis on this septet of sound essays than overloading the cd. The title track has an eerie keyboard juxtaposed against a solid beat and percussive sounds; it's the second longest piece on the disc, dips into Richard Matheson territory with a nod to "I am legend", and is a good way to kick things off: with a nice bang. "She Wants Me" follows with a hypnotic variety of sparse sounds under the narrative flowing into a killer chorus about a drugged-out psychotic bisexual girlfriend the protagonist met on myspace. It's territory Willie "Loco" Alexander covered in the 70s with a similarly-titled song MCA refused to release on the second Boom Boom Band lp, "Nazi Nola (She Wanted Me)", the stretch from heavy punk/R & B to R & B/rap not as far thematically as one might think. It's the rhythm and blues that is the common denominator with more misogyny infiltrating the funky "Pants On Fire", each track needing a parental guidance sticker. "War And Peace" has a slinky Parliament/Funkadelic guitar line that drifts under the verses which give in to a chant of "If you want to make war end you gotta start with peace...", a heavy vocal chorus of "war" a la Edwin Starr's classic 1970 hit the frosting on the cake. "Luva Changer" is even heavier funk/r & b with Stevie Wonder overtones pulled from the eternal soul textbook Songs In The Key Of Life}. While there's no direct lift of a famous hook such as Luckyiam's sample of Three Dog Night's "Easy To Be Hard" titled "Cruel" on his Myspace page, there are tons of nods to musical pieces strewn throughout The Gathering, the two minute and forty-three second "Samba" an interesting diversion before the tour-de-force final track. "After Hours" (Extended Euro Mix), the grand finale, is almost like a rap version of Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby", a narrative that goes on for almost eight and a half minutes and even fades out a la Reed when Lou speaks directly to drag queen Rachel. Here {Living Legends} update that 70's classic with: "I want to give a shout out to Baby Rio, to Andy Kahn and all the hipsters...that shirt cost $60.00 that you just spilt Katsup on it...now it's really limited edition..." The rant veers off into a bit of other similar raps from {$Armand Schaubroeck}'s 1978 nod to {$Lou Reed}'s {^Street Hassle}, the epic Ratfucker. The Legends continue to admonish the listener: "You shouldn't do drugs that are harder than you...(expletive, expletive, expletive)...how about you have a mind of your own man...if you're downloading this for free you're never going to get (expletive) again..." The keys and horns are a perfect blend of jazz and pop while the chorus pulls in some of the charm the group {$War} utilized on songs like {&"Why Can't We Be Friends"} ... "Living legends...we invented fun..." They didn't invent a good time, but this ever growing bunch certainly know how to perpetuate it and prove that on {^The Gathering}.
Read more here:
American Speedway
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfuxz9jldae
Piss Ant Piss Off
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB78A6E02CA45A079FC3E453FED6623E2DED93&sql=10:0xfexqy0ldke
REW* That*sr*ite
Review by Joe Viglione
Minimal underground rock has always had a place on college radio and in the caverns that cater to live music, jangly and primitive instrumental backing that has attitude by musicians who play for the fun of it. Mark Alexander and Teresa Starr of The Echoes take full advantage of the genre as does this ensemble on Rew*'s that*Sr*ite CD. On "Skeletonz" the lead singer wants to bare her soul, if the person she's singing to will reciprocate, right after "u annoy me", an essay full of relationship negativity that refuses any chance of reconciliation. This is an album chock full of soap opera dilemmas, one of the most effective being "u suck" which has so much invective and X rated language that rappers Living Legends might blush were they to do a cover of it. It also happens to have a great melody and is most useful when a highly sexual relationship is over and it is time to throw bottles at the wall. Combining the angst of L.A. punk rockers Piss Ant with the spirit of The Echoes results in a risqué approach to light sounds and pretty melodies smashing into heartache...and the mania that sometimes follows. The title track, "that*s rite", is a slinky, creepy Doors-influenced song about movin' on with the charismatic front woman matter-of-factly walking out the door. "megan", on the other hand, is a Lou Reed-ish ballad from his Coney Island Baby period and will appeal to fans of that classic cd; the subtle guitar lines are a pleasant touch Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB78A6E02CA45A079FC3E453F9D6623F2DED93&sql=10:0cfixzlgldke
Pierre Elaine "Litterature"
"Arrivederci" opens this creative and highly listenable album by Pierre Eliane of France. Available only in Europe, it was released in 1984. Eliane sings entirely in French, and although they say rock & roll is an art form most effective in English, this techno/dance album works musically and vocally. Eliane's best material is the tunes he pens about people, from "Isadora Duncan (A Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu Danses)" to the closing title, "Song to Len." In between is the album's finest track, and the one of two titles, along with "Song to Len," to have any English — "Willie Take Care," dedicated to "Loco" Alexander, the Bostonian who toured Europe as a member of the Velvet Underground and recorded for Capitol with the Lost, ABC/Dunhill with Bagatelle, MCA as leader of the Boom Boom Band, and RCA Europe as a solo artist. As intriguing as "Etoile Hlm," "Paroles de Nuit," and "Ou Que Tu Alles" are on Eliane's disc, it is his tribute to Alexander which has a manic intensity, slashing guitars, deranged vocals, and true rock & roll passion. It opens with a slow techno stomp and simply and quickly falls into the tense chorus. Eliane's voice creates a hook with his "aaahhh" — almost an answer to Alexander's "uh yuh uh yuh," which was a battle cry in the dungeons of Boston rock music. The production by Manfred Kovacic is really extraordinary.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wpftxq80ld6e
KRIS DELMHORST STRANGE CONVERSATIONS
Recorded simultaneously with her Shotgun Singer CD but issued prior to that release, the difference here is that Kris Delmhorst takes established writings by the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Rumi, e.e. cummings and a variety of other established wordsmiths, finding not only inspiration in their thoughts, but embracing their artistry within her own in much the same way that author Sena Jeter Naslund found motivation for the novel Ahab's Wife in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Walt Whitman probably never envisioned his "A Passage to India" translated into "Light of the Light," a production that might feel a bit out of place on this country/folk disc, but still works within the context because Delmhorst is a confident (and accomplished) musician and visionary who won't let a genre interfere with what she chooses to discuss. It is also the most radio-friendly track and has "hit" written all over it. Strange Conversation sounds like it was influenced by the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo more than poetry from long ago and contains the Delmhorst stamp to such an extent that unless one is familiar with the source material they'd miss the fact that this is a collaborative effort. Self-produced in North Reading, MA with engineer Chris Rival on the boards, the sound is very consistent with this artist's other releases while stylistically dipping into other bags. The cover art of piles of books against the color green suggests a spoken word disc and hardly indicates that such an exciting palette of sound is contained herein.
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fzfpxqrdldhe
RATFUCKER Armand Schaubroeck
The darkest and best of Armand Schaubroeck's onslaught of recordings from the '70s, this descent into the gutter is the underground version of Lou Reed's Street Hassle. Both recordings were released in 1978, and both feature the artist on the cover with sunglasses reflecting a twinkle from the light. Schaubroeck may have been mimicking what Reed put out to the world — Street Hassle was released in March of 1978, Ratfucker recorded in June and released sometime after — but regardless of the intentional cop, Schaubroeck sure is persuasive. Street Hassle is Reed once again on the outside looking in; as with Berlin, his narration is detached from the violence he explores. Armand Schaubroeck, on the other hand, is a convicted criminal, so the rat with a knife through its throat on the front cover, dripping blood on Schaubroeck's hand, is totally believable. "Ratfucker," the title track, is the best Lou Reed song Reed never wrote, but there is no doubt this is spawned from the former leader of the Velvet Underground's work. The three minutes and 47 seconds of depravity are perfectly recorded, unlike the Richard Robinson/Lou Reed experiment with "binaural sound." No — Ratfucker has the sound and the vibe promised by Street Hassle, the unnerving, cold, heartless tale of a man who robs babies and sells them for 4,000 dollars to perspective parents: "Anything you want C.O.D. baby/C.O.D. on my block."
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfuxqu5ldde
Cactus Live
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9fyxzqjldse
Mat Treiber
Born in Montreal, 1979, New York folk rocker Mat Treiber, married to chanteuse Roxanne Fontana, has released this five-song EP on the same label as his wife (Etoile Records). Produced by Benji King, who played keyboards on Fontana's splendid debut, Love Is Blue, this collection has a lot in common with fellow New Yorker Matt Turk. Concise pop songs like "She's Got It Good" are radio-friendly, crisp productions. No-nonsense performances and no-pretension vocals bring tunes like "Sinking Fast" back to your consciousness after you've walked away from the disc. Treiber's voice, particularly on this cut, is almost a clone of Soft Cell's vocal sound on "Tainted Love," although this song is more basic rock than that techno hit. The fade has great interaction between the guitar, keys, and drums. Treiber makes a chameleon change with his reading of "Victoria the Queen," sounding like a British balladeer.
http://www.mp3.com/albums/477159/reviews.html
ROXANNE FONTANA "LOVE IS BLUE" Produced by Dino Danelli
Review by Joe Viglione
"The Whirlygig" defines this album produced by the Young Rascals' Dino Danelli, a driving original with Fontana's distinctive voice sounding like a techno Jackie DeShannon, a mesmerizing hook, and dark keyboards and production by Rascals drummer Danelli. It's hard to figure out exactly what a "Whirlygig" is, perhaps some kind of ancient graffito writing by teachers and skywriters. There's a reference to Brian Jones, and if the music doesn't sound like early Rolling Stones, she certainly has their attitude, and Marianne Faithful's to boot. "Spring in Love" is a thumping Nico kind of rock/dance episode, again Danelli adds a real mood. "Your Monkey Slides" slinks in with more drama and less intensity, "When you're done with me where will you land?" Mysterious and inviting stuff. Recorded at Bombshelter Studios in New York, the "bombshelter" mix of the title track is the first of two versions. This is an exquisite rendering of the smash Paul Mauriat and his orchestra's number one instrumental from January, 1968
Read more here
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:a9fexq90ldae
Roxanne Fontana souvenirs d'amour
souvenirs d'amour - all music guide review
Roxanne Fontana's 1999 release was produced by the Rascals' Dino Danelli and had more of a dance feel. This self-produced, ten-song CD shows musical growth and is a fun excursion into Fontana's vision of new wave and power pop. "Eyes of the Defeated," with its dense guitars by the artist, dark vocal, and underground rock vibe, is a successful blending of pop and punk. Dressed like a '60s British artist on the inside cover, a la Twiggy, the Italian Fontana reminds one of a rock & roll Francoise Hardy, a Marianne Faithful without the despair. "Deep Sea" is a compact, nearly three-minute trip featuring fellow Etoile artist Mat Treiber on guitar. (Treiber married Fontana in between the release of her first album and Souvenirs d'Amour.) On "Roman's Holiday," the singer's voice dances over plucky guitar and drums set far in the background. Fontana does a fine job producing herself, and the record is a departure from the sound forged on the debut disc. Gordon Raphael's flute adds to the mystery, with that "She's a Rainbow" style the Rolling Stones played with. In fact, that song would be a perfect cover for Fontana, who wrote all the titles here except for McTell's "Michael in the Garden," the wonderfully dreamy opening track. Laurent "Lolo" Piacentino's drums create a nice foundation for Fontana's questioning vocal. Read more here:
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1130420,00.html
Francois Hardy "Maid In Paris" AOL.com
Recorded in France, Maid in Paris contains six songs by Francoise Hardy sung in English, and six songs in French. "Only You Can Do It" is a subdued Dusty Springfield. Her delightful voice is backed by strings and very '60s pop guitar, bass, and drums. You can hear flavors of the production from Marianne Faithfull's version of "As Tears Go By," but Hardy's voice is not as fragile as Faithfull's. This material would fit nicely in a Bikini Beach movie with Annette & Frankie. The cover has Hardy with psychedelic pillows in a crate, dressed in black like some renegade version of the Velvet Underground's Nico. She doesn't have the homogenization or the range of a Celine Dion, but she should have dominated the U.S. charts during the era of Lulu and Petula Clark. "I Wish It Were Me" is representative of this disc; it's a subtle theme like Cher's "The Way of Love," and clocks in at two minutes and 20 seconds (only the final song, "Je N'Attends Plus Personne," tops the three-minute barrier). "Another Place" adds a little drama, and is one of four that Hardy wrote on her own -- she co-writes seven other titles here -- and performs one tune written without her help. "How Ever Much" is a very pleasant French re-creation of the Phil Spector sound -- heavy on strings, with backing vocals right off Red Bird Records. It ends the English speaking side in very Shangri-Las like fashion. What is appealing about the French side is that the listener doesn't have to understand that language and the words to be entertained. The music speaks for itself. Where the French language doesn't lend itself to rock & roll, as a pop vehicle, it is pleasant to the ear. Unlike her Reprise album Alone, where she is more Americanized than Nancy Sinatra, looking like a voluptuous folk artist on the cover,
http://music.aol.com/album/maid-in-paris/466030
The Singing Nun
Françoise Hardy she's not, but to American audiences The Singing Nun proved that the French language lent itself to folk music better than to rock. Hitting number one in November of 1963, "Dominique" was a catchy song that children could grasp and, like the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie," which was breathing down the song's neck on the charts, few in the U.S. could figure out the lyrics. Philips packaged this album in immaculate black-and-white with three color sketches included in an album portfolio inside the sleeve, three items drawn by the folksinger -- Soeur Sourire, which means "Sister Smile," the stage name for Jeanine Deckers -- known inside the Convent as Sister Luc-Gabrielle -- and to the outside world as -- not Sally Field's Flying Nun but -- the Singing Nun. With more than the three color paintings by Sourire, the expensive presentation has 12 pages inside the gatefold containing a story by K. Stanton about the Convent at Fichermont, which the writer says is "the very Waterloo in fact, where Napoleon met his defeat." Nine of the pages are sketches by F. Strobel which accompany Stanton's essays about the Singing Nun and her guitar named "Adele."
Read More Here:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=617742007220
25)WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon's exquisite "What the World Needs Now Is Love" leads off this collection, and it's quickly followed by a cover of the Dusty Springfield hit "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," as well as a version of "It's All in the Game," making for a very recognizable three songs in a row on this 1968 release featuring as its title her 1965 Top Ten hit, originally on the This Is Jackie DeShannon album. What THIS is, is another stellar set of vocal performances with DeShannon being produced and arranged by a dazzling array of industry names. "So Long Johnny" is a pop tune by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which sounds so much like their Dionne Warwick work it is interesting to hear another great singer in that setting. "Windows and Doors" follows the same formula, while "Changing My Mind" could have been straight from the session that produced Petula Clark's "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love." Bacharach tracked the hit on his own, while Calvin Carter, who produced the For You album, collaborates with Bacharach and David on a number of songs here. Dick Glasser's production of "Little Yellow Roses" is the only one of the dozen songs with his participation; the country ballad is a real departure from the rest of the album, even with the arrangement by Jack Nitzsche. There are five arrangers in all, and an interesting cover concept. Jackie DeShannon appears on the front barefoot against a tree, holding a bouquet, while on the back cover she holds the bouquet with two boys, a Caucasian and an African American. It wasn't something you saw often in the '60s, and truly held with the sentiment of the title track. Tony Hatch's "Call Me" ends the album, and you knew from "Changin' My Mind" that those involved here were listening to Hatch's work, his influence among the many in the grooves of this fine recording.
Read more here:
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:What%20the%20World%20Needs%20Now%20Is%20Love:1921004596
26)Roger Williams - Born Free with Bobby Hebb's SUNNY
by Joe Viglione
In October of 1966, Roger Williams had his seventh Top 40 hit with an instrumental version of the song from the film Born Free. There are four songs from movies on this disc: an elegant "Strangers in the Night" from A Man Could Get Killed, "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, and the theme from The Bible. Not content to leave it up to musical sleight of hand à la Liberace, Williams uses the scales to counter the brilliant orchestration which is arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. When tackling a big Frank Sinatra hit, one must pull out all the stops. He takes the Association's "Cherish" and makes it a pure delight. Tension between the piano and the band is precious; Hy Grill's production is outstanding; Roger Williams' touch works so well with the accompaniment that there is drama in the grooves. Some instrumental artists can fall into that "Muzak" trap, but not Williams, "Edelweiss" opening with voices that Ray Coniff was so fond of, but they only come in on the chorus, leaving the music up to the pianist and orchestra. Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" gets a superior treatment. Where Dusty Springfield had orchestration which hinted at the James Bond theme, Ralph Carmichael pushes the orchestra to the limit and this jazz/swing version dances around the nuances of Hebb's composition, the piano dominant with the big band following Roger Williams' lead. Hebb has stated that he's recorded it twice and (outside of live versions) he doesn't want to perform it a third time, but some hip producer could always sample his voice and slip it over this stunning rendition for a few cameo appearances. The song is timeless, and this instrumental in the right film could bring the Born Free album by Roger Williams back into the charts Read More Here:
http://www.sunonline.ca/album/68398/review
On Billboard.com
http://www.billboardevents.com/bbcom/discography/more.jsp?JSESSIONID=nfJ7HvFfhzTFQ5pmSg41XxnLCKXn7xBj07Z5yf7sCDhDhST04J4r!20980050&tp=albums&pid=2590&aid=55957
27) Ken Elkinson Revelry on Windows media
http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20507632
28) DEEP SPACE on Starpulse.com
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Jefferson_Starship/Discography/album/P195171/R218193/
Jefferson Starship
Deep Space/Virgin Sky
Release Date: 1995
Running Time: 74:12
Label: Intersound
Rating:
Deep Space/Virgin Sky is a 74-minute live album which was recorded at The House of Blues in Hollywood in the mid-'90s. Grace Slick makes a rare guest appearance, participating on "Wooden Ships" and singing her songs "Lawman" and "White Rabbit," as well as ex-brother-in-law Darby Slick's "Somebody to Love." On this version, though, it is Slick Aguilar from the KBC band who has pretty much received the mantle that Jorma Kaukonen and Craig Chaquico handed down, his harder rock sound falling somewhere in between the arena rock of Chaquico's Starship work (before he went jazz) and the San Franciscan sound that is Kaukonen. Also interesting on Deep Space is the song "Dark Ages," originally released by MCA recording artist World Entertainment War in 1991. Darby Gould was in that group and brought this exquisite song along with her. It's an amazing composition, one of the high points of the new material. And have you kept tabs on how many bandmembers utilize portions of Darby Slick's name? He never graduated from the Great Society to the Jefferson Airplane, but with "Slick" Aguilar and Darby Gould, the tradition continues...somewhat. There is some great stuff on Deep Space, from the Nona Hendryx tune "Women Who Fly" to a brilliant Rowan Brothers composition, "Gold," from their ill-fated Columbia release. "The Light" is also one of Paul Kantner's best post-Mickey Thomas Starship copyrights, the kind of thing that could rejuvenate Jefferson Starship if the co-leader could come up with one of these more than once every decade. The studio versions of some of these previously unreleased songs did see the light of day in 1999 on the Windows of Heaven album released on CMC, but that puts a spotlight on the sad nature of the record business -- RCA should be issuing the new albums from this veteran group every year. That the material is being scattered across the universe on a variety of labels, Intersound and CMC and others, is a slap in the face to a band who was and still is such a part of the RCA/BMG legacy. It also gives reason to praise Intersound and CMC for giving the world this important music. There are great moments as well as weak on this live set, though Kantner's "Shadowlands" and "I'm on Fire" work, and Marty Balin's "Miracles," as well as his version of Jesse Barish's "Count On Me," are always a treat. Balin's "Papa John is a touching tribute (the whole album is dedicated to Papa John and Gretchen Creach), but squeezing all the lyrics and liner notes onto four pages (an elaborate collage of photos in outer space illuminate the other four pages) makes for tough reading. Jefferson Starship through the '90s is a band playing for the fans, allowing taping of live performances, and always ready to throw a few surprises your way. Deep Space is an important document of a band constantly in flux. When Gracey goes off-key, it's all documented for posterity, no overdubs, the way the true fans love it. Her intro to "Lawman" shows why she brings star power to the table. Darby Gould (and Diana Mangano, who is not on this particular disc) have the chops they need to develop their personalities to truly fill Slick's shoes, and to allow this important act to survive in the 2000s. Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
29)Imaginery Long Lost Pride
When Lion Music executive Lasse Mattsson introduced guitaristBob Katsionis to Swedish singer Bjorn Jansson -- merging the prolific Greek musician with a talent from further north -- a new chapter in the group Imaginery's history began. Not to be confused with new age ensemble Imaginary (note the one letter difference), the album Long Lost Pride contains ten very hard rocking episodes that contain creativity and bite. Opening tunes "Hypnotized" and"The Sign f Today" have enough melody and balanced tempo to keep one's attention, a tough formula to execute, and one that Katsionis and Jansson achieve with the help of bassist Olof Sundfeldt and drummer Mark Adrian. "Roughly Scratched but Alive" clocks in at almost six minutes (nothing here is under four) with a terrific opening riff and an equally strong hook close to one used by the Bee Gees, of all people, on their song "Alive" from 1972's To Whom It May Concern disc. The difference is that Imaginery's title will be limited by the style -- a metallic onslaught that is top-notch for those who follow the intricacies of loud music. Click here for more:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCFE456FCD6673B2DED93&sql=10:kxfuxqqsld6e
Jay Geils biography
http://www.krokusblues.ru/?page=catalog&step=artist&id=9
Aram Schefrin's Blog
http://aramschefrin.blogspot.com/
http://aramschefrin.blogspot.com/2008/01/found-another-review-of-construction-1.html
Ten Wheel Drive was a band that formed after Genya Ravan's all-female band Goldie and the Gingerbreads broke up. Around the same time Michael Zager and Aram Schefrin were also looking for a band as well. After being introduced to each other by their managers and also after filling the entire brass section Ten Wheel Drive was officially born. The thing about Zager, Schefrin, and Ravan is that they all came from a different musical background, so they all had to find a way to mix and match these to create the best possible formula for Ten Wheel Drive, and they did an amazing job.
Their first big show was in 1969 at the Fillmore East in New York where halfway through the show Genya Ravan decided that her voice and the music behind it wasn't quite enough for the crowd so she decided to take off her vest and perform the last half of the show topless.
Shirley Bassey "This Is My Life"
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Bassey,_Shirley/Discography/album/P3082/R487650/
Little Steven - Live At Full House
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Live%20at%20Full%20House:1922552974
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Little+Steven++Joe+Viglione&btnG=Search
REW* THAT*s*RITE
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BABE02CA45A079FCFE452F5D6633A2DED93&sql=10:0cfixzlgldke
SHIRLEY BASSEY REVIEWS
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=shirley+bassey+++Joe+Viglione&btnG=Google+Search
Live at Carnegie Hall - Barnes & Noble.com
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=21471149623
Live at Carnegie Hall - Billboard.com
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=HsLbHQ4Dtsxm3v8BXSl7v93GZTSFPTJz3xQdb3kvT2LCLFB7DZRn!2045449040&pid=3563&aid=20489
And I Love You So - UK Bonus Tracks/Artist Direct.com
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1118240,00.html
This Is My life Starpulse.com
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Bassey,_Shirley/Discography/album/P3082/R487650/
I Love You People
http://apoxonrox.blogspot.com/2006/12/i-love-you-people-1968.html
38)Herb Ellis Live
There are only about 38 minutes of performance on Live, a DVD featuring seven titles by Herb Ellis on guitar, accompanied by Dave Maslow on bass, but it is the expected fine playing by the veteran from the Oscar Peterson Trio, Casa Loma Orchestra, and so many other legendary ensembles that makes this DVD a keeper. Recorded live in February of 1986 at the Triangle Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota it looks like a pretty good Public Access TV presentation -- though the long shot is definitely a bit blurry -- make that annoyingly out of focus! However on a sonic level the material sounds good and the maestro effortlessly lets the notes pour out. Ellis and Maslow perform "Days of Wine and Roses," "Here's That Rainy Day," "Sweet Georgia Brown," and other familiar tunes in their brief set. It's very entertaining work and if you're not in the mood for watching this instrumental DVD, it works very well as background music.
Read More Here
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BADE02CA45A079FCEE455F8D6653A2DED93&sql=10:0pftxqydldse
39)Dame Shirley Bassey Does Anybody Miss Me Aol.com
http://music.aol.com/album/does-anybody-miss-me/435522
http://www.google.com/search?q=shirley+bassey+++Joe+Viglione&hl=en&start=20&sa=N
40)Dionne Warwick's HERE WHERE THERE IS LOVE
Mention of Shirley FYE.com
http://www.fye.com/Here-Where-There-Is-Love--Collectors-Choice--Vocals---Easy-Listening_stcVVproductId9996052VVcatId459729VVviewprod.htm
BONUS TRACKS! Extra reviews
Sister Kate Kate Taylor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCDF6C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:fcfuxq95ldfe
Livingston Taylor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD86C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:0cfuxq95ldfe
Liv
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD86C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:acfuxq95ldfe
Anni Clark A Light For Liza
http://www.mp3.com/albums/443313/reviews.html
Lenore Lenore
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E453F5D6643E2DED93&sql=10:kjfuxqukld0e
Lenore Summer Dancing
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E453F5D6643E2DED93&sql=10:aifoxqyaldhe
Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452F8D6623D2DED93&sql=10:avfexzy5ldfe
Pat Burtis Radium Girls
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F8D6673B2DED93&sql=10:jbfuxqrkld6e
Pat Burtis Clarify
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F8D6673B2DED93&sql=10:0nfwxq80ldte
Carl Cacho
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F9D6623D2DED93&sql=10:fjfuxq90ldje
Kris Delmhorst Songs For A Hurricane
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FAD6653F2DED93&sql=10:0cfoxqlaldse
Deb Pasternak Home
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FBD6673C2DED93&sql=10:hxfexqqaldfe
Deb Pasternak Eleven
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455FBD6673C2DED93&sql=10:fzfrxql0ld0e
Evan Brubaker Third Floor
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F4D665352DED93&sql=10:fnfrxqljldke
Evan Brubaker Halfmoon not reviewed
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E455F4D665352DED93&sql=10:fxfuxqykld6e
Jonathan Kingham self-titled 1997
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452FCD6663F2DED93&sql=10:fvfqxqe0ldse
Charlie Farren Live At Club Passim
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FC3E452F9D6643C2DED93&sql=10:09frxqtsldae
Garrin Benfield
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7AAEE02CA45A079FCBEE5CFCD96C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:hbfuxqekldde
¶ 3:48 PM
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
MARCH 2008 TOP 40
THREE #1 STORIES THIS MONTH
"You Can't Always get What You Want" Remix from '21'
THRILLER 25th Anniversary Edition
NORMAN GREENBAUM interview
TRIPLE #1 This Month
Norman Greenbaum and The Rolling Stones
1)Norman Greenbaum
1)"You Can't Always Get What You Want" Re-mix of Rolling Stones/Jimmy Miller classic
1)Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition
2)"The Age Of Shiva" by Manil Suri - Book Visual Radio #406
3)Painting With Words & Music - Joni Mitchell DVD
4)Something Simple Stuart Davis
5)World Entertainment War
6)American Speedway
7)Pato Banton & Friends
8)The Transmitters
9)The Quick Mondo Deco
10)Mar y Sol - Classic Rock Retrospective
1.Rolling Stones Remix
Awesome! Jimmy Miller would be so proud!
2)The Age of Shiva - Manil Suri
3)PAINTING WITH WORDS & MUSIC - JONI MITCHELL
Review by Joe Viglione
Joni Mitchell's exquisite voice and guitar playing are on display in this satisfying hour-and-a-half-plus of the iconic performer directed by Joan Tosoni and filmed in an intimate setting. The dominant instruments are, no surprise, the singer's voice and her guitar, which is heavy with liquid effects. Much effort went into the circular set and the six cameras have unobstructed views with graceful pans and elegant zoom-ins. Mitchell is the set designer and editorial director with her own paintings adding to the decor, positioned on the walls that swing around the set. There's a two-and-a-half minute discussion of the event before actress Rosanna Arquette introduces the star and the festivities begin. A semi-pensive and solo "Big Yellow Taxi" opens the show, Mitchell not worried about being under this stunningly beautiful microscope that is the colorful set and the all-revealing eye of all these cameras. "Just Like This Train" has the singer close to her artwork and strumming the guitar as if with a paint brush, quite possibly an intentional metaphor from the clever singer always exposing her intuition with a bit of flair. She announces the band early on, just prior to "Night Ride Home," and the musicians ease into the program like drawings that quietly and slowly come to life. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:39fqxqukldae
4.Stuart Davis "Something Simple" The prolific Stuart Davis has some nice slices of pop on "Something Simple, "Deity Freak" with its compelling hook of "party like a pop star" is as infectious as it gets. "The River" is an invitation to jump in, energetic but still holding on to a bit of Al Green's sentiment from his similarly titled tune. "Sugar Bullets" is another great hook, it's just that the set-up isn't as intriguing. Perhaps he should bring this back to the drawing board as the world could use a melody such as this on the airwaves, nice different stylistic swings inside the production to which makes the music all the more appealing. You can hear lots of Elvis Costello influence though Davis personality has no problem making things his own. The bonus audio cd contains samples from the singer's audio book, Love Has No Opposite and, as spoken word goes, it may be tough for some. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCBEF5CFEDC6C3E349D8EDB&sql=10:3zfrxzejld6e
5.World Entertainment War
This is truly the "lost" Jefferson Starship album by soon-to-be Grace Slick replacement Darby Gould (Darby, of course, the name of Grace Slick's ex-brother-in-law who wrote "Somebody To Love").
This 1991 disc is interesting and important as a Jefferson Starship artifact. Vocalist Darby Gould would step into Grace Slick's shoes, all documented nicely on Jefferson Starship's own Deep Space/Virgin Sky disc from 1995, and her emergence here is a nice starting point for a singer who still works with the legendary 70s group well into the new millennium. In fact, it's not a stretch to say this material follows the Paul Kantner solo efforts of the 1970s, though not with as much vision and charm. The key song, "Dark Ages, written by vocalist Rob Brezsny, became an important part of the J.S. 1990s set and is a keeper. A melody with strong commercial potential, the message also cuts through better than anything else on this self-titled disc. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCBEF5CFFDB6C3C399D8EDB&sql=10:apfyxqq5ldje
6 AMERICAN SPEEDWAY Ship of Fools
AMERICAN SPEEDWAY "SHIP OF FOOLS"
The title and opening track to Ship Of Fools by American Speedway is a no-nonsense, hard-hitting Ramones-gone-metal blitzkrieg moment that blends into a two and a half minute track they call...American Speedway". With both the CD title and group name branding the first two solid efforts/tracks the album continues with a consistent and relentless high energy mix of sizzling guitars and spitfire vocals. Though stylistically a light year or two away from the aforementioned Ramones this quartet faces the same dilemma that venerable punk band experienced - as good as this material is, and it is very good, it is firmly locked into one style with little hope for a Top 40 hit and no chance of playing to anyone outside of its realm. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dxfexzqhldae
7.Pato Banton & Friends
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB78ADE02CA45A079FCBEC5CFDD96C3D3D9D8EDB&sql=10:azfyxzejld6e~T0
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCBEF5CFFDE6C3F3F9D8EDB&sql=10:azfyxzejld6e
8.The Transmitters I Fear no-one...
Jangle jangle tucked inside cacophony is just part of the mantra of the Transmitters on I Fear No One..., a 22-track album that is a combination of non-stop erratic mania mixed in with avant-garde ambient-flavored musical experiments. The notes on this CD scrapbook are frustratingly threadbare except for the track listing of the 14 or so musicians who show up to perform on specific songs/essays. A cover of the Velvet Underground's "Ferryboat Bill," once embraced on a mini-four-song bootleg EP before being legitimized on Another View, is a nice run-through but not as true to the spirit as other Velvets-inspired pieces like "Ache." Total beat poetry stream of consciousness in that song: is he singing "Another mad crush another man abuses"? Who knows? — it's another mad descent into a quagmire of electronic sounds — one of the previously unreleased tracks recorded around London, and one of the more impressive ones. Moody music with a pessimistic point of view announced over the musical wanderings and so different from the harsh punk of "Paper Boy," a 35 second 1978 track from the album 24 Hours. It's all a bit more cohesive than Half Japanese but still disorganized enough to keep this music firmly stuck in the realm of college radio with little chance of mainstream crossover. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifuxzygldae
9THE QUICK MONDO DECO
Earle Mankey worked with Sparks and the Dickies, and the type of understanding necessary to translate sounds from those experimental groups is a plus on Mondo Deco, from the original Quick. As with the other major Kim Fowley and Mankey discovery, the Runaways, this band was released on Mercury in 1976, and it is one of the best examples of fun new wave to escape unscathed from all the hype. Unfortunately, it failed to sell in big numbers, but the album is terrific, a real underground gem. Guitarist Steven Hufsteter writes impressive and energetic pop; "Hillary" and "No
No Girl" are two excellent examples. The Runaways should have cut "Anybody" — it could have been their breakout hit. With its tight bassline and perfect
hollow underground rock drums, Mondo Deco has lots of treats hidden among its ten tunes. Read more here:
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10)CLASSIC ROCK RETROSPECTIVE:
MAR Y SOL with Emerson Lake & Palmer, J Geils Band, Cactus
After Monterey Pop, Woodstock, the Atlanta Pop Festival, and Isle of Wight, the Mar Y Sol: First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival was more than anti-climactic, and the resulting double-record set runs almost like a supplement to the similar Medicine Ball Caravan film soundtrack. The Allman Brothers Band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and B.B.King may have been legitimate headliners, but Osibisa were hardly a household name, and "Bedroom Mazurka" by Cactus on this LP makes one wonder why half that band would ever want to leave Vanilla Fudge to create a watered down Black Oak Arkansas. A five-minute-plus version of "Looking for a Love" by J. Geils Band rips the album wide open; it's a terrific performance by a terrific up and coming band that had barely dented the Top 40 with the tune three months before this concert, held on April 1, 2, and 3, 1972. Atlantic executive and album producer Tunc Erim should've known better than to follow Geils' up-tempo raver with 13 minutes and 20 seconds of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. Despite the heavy use of violin, this was not the Velvet Underground, and the manic early fusion is just a little too progressive to balance out the program. It's great to hear Jonathan Edwards perform two songs for almost eight minutes; his originals are highlights here, and like J.Geils Band, he was making his music in Boston and had recently charted on the Top 40, but this festival wasn't going to do for these artists what Woodstock and its triple-vinyl set would do for the acts on that enterprise. While Dr. John and John Baldry bring legendary status to the affair, Nitzinger and even Herbie Mann are a bit of a stretch for what is called a "pop" festival. Jean-Charles Costa's liner notes are lengthy, but don't tell us much about the event. Read more here
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Artist: Various Artists
Title: Mar Y Sol: The First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival
Date: 1972
Label: Atco Records SD-2-705
Cover Photography: David Gahr
Inside Liner Photography: Wendy Lombardi
Art Direction & Album Design: Richard Mantel
Check out this great site for Cover Art
http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/coverartlinks.html
11)Marty Balin HEARTS & OTHER FAVORITES
This best-of Marty Balin's two EMI albums, released in 1990, features four songs from the 1981 Balin LP and five from the harder-to-find 1983 Val Garay production of Lucky. Some say that the signing of David Bowie to EMI during his 1983 Let's Dance phase came at a cost to artists on that label, Balin included. It would account for this small output from such a major talent. "Hearts went Top Ten in 1981, followed by the Top 30 "Atlanta Lady (Something About Your Love)" four months later, both written by Jesse Barish, who also penned "Do It for Love" off Lucky, included on this set as well. It is rather astonishing that there is only one Marty Balin composition here, and it is a co-write at that. He's one of four songwriters who came together to pen "All We Really Need" from Lucky, making a clear statement that both EMI releases focused on Balin the singer. There are two things wrong with this picture. In the first place, the guy who wrote "Miracles," "With Your Love," and a number of classic Jefferson Airplane tracks only has one co-write each on his two solo albums. Meanwhile, Jesse Barish, author of "Count on Me" and other tracks on both the Spitfire and Earth Jefferson Starship albums, gets double the output on both of Balin's solo discs than the star himself. The second item is that the record should have been issued in 1982. The Lucky recordings were made between August and December of 1982, with too much time in between. Val Garay was hot with the number one worldwide smash "Bette Davis Eyes" for Kim Carnes two months before "Hearts" hit; for an artist of such depth, both in the songwriting and the vocal departments, it was shameful that EMI couldn't put a follow-up together more quickly, and one that was more in line with what the artist was all about. Read more here:
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12.Cactus Live
For hardcore fans of Cactus, and/or Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, the boogie onslaught of this first live concert in over 30 years by the updated version of this venerable group should do the trick. It's a solid effort by a band that never offered any surprises, and the inclusion of harp player Randy Pratt and non-descript vocalist Jimmy Kunes keeps things in line with past efforts. Sure, guitarist Jim McCarty goes into overdrive on Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm," but the current lineup of Blue Cheer in 2007 just happen to give the style at play here a little more punch. The encore of "Rock N Roll Children" from this outfit's 1971 release, One Way...Or Another, rambles along with vocalist Kunes looking and sounding like any member of the audience jumping on-stage to have some fun with a trio of rock & roll legends. Without any frills there's little to differentiate the music here from any other collection of yesterday's stars getting together to reminisce. In fact it could be Starz, or a reunion of Flint, former members of Grand Funk Railroad, playing this hard-driving blues/rock in any typical nightclub in suburban America. The camera work is very public access TV, the lighting inconsistent, and the direction rather pedestrian. Plus there's no "Take Me for a Little While" or "You Keep Me Hanging On" for fans to key into, perhaps the biggest let down. Read more here:
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13)Kim Carnes by Kim Carnes
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14)Andi Sex Gang - Inventing New Destruction
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15)Glenn O'Brien's TV Party THE HEAVY METAL SHOW
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16)Blaze Bayley Alive in Poland
17)Nick Drake Under Review
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18)Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Greatest Hits Live
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19)Hurricane "Over The Edge"
Over The Edge is a superb ten song collection of close to 46 minutes of album rock from the latter end of the 1980s, AOR metal with hooks and clever twists that bring it a cut above the expected fare the plethora of hair bands gave the audience in that era. With the same irreverent fun that made Ratt's "Round & Round" so listenable the songs here venture from the 3 to 5 minute range, whipped into shape with superb riffing behind a heavy chorus and Kelly Hansen's very on-target vocals. When you listen to Hansen sing the hits of Foreigner eighteen years later on the Alive & Rockin' DVD it is like tuning in to a Doors' clone band when the real thing is preferable - and in Foreigner's case, potentially available. The problem with Hansen's version of Foreigner is that the new line-up would be better off re-exploring some of the songs the new players were affiliated with, most notably the material on this exemplary disc. "Messing With The Hurricane" is inspired rock & roll, rising above the metal trappings with solid beats and some guitar majesty from Robert Sarzo, yes, the brother of Quiet Riot's Rudi Sarzo, just as bassist Tony Cavazo is the brother of Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo. Hurricane is Quiet Riot without the sneer, no-nonsense metal produced by Mike Clink a year after he helped put together Appetite For Destruction, and for those who like that Guns 'n' Roses classic this album has much to offer. "Messin' With A Hurricane", a theme song for sure, is more than slightly reminiscent of GnR and coming four years after Scorpions' Top 10 hit, "Rock You Like A Hurricane", it probably found some inspiration in that popular metal gem. Check out how phonetically similar the endings to both "hurricane" songs are. Love It To Death/longtime Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin is listed as Executive Producer and "Insane" not only has an opening ripped right out of "Billion Dollar Babies", the title is the centerpiece word from Cooper's "Ballad Of Dwight Frye". Don't think it isn't intentional, the slowed-up version of "I'm 18" is perfect for the Nights with Alice Cooper radio show and a commendable slow reinvention of Alice's break-through song. Read more here:
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20)Gary Morris Live
As with Quantum Leap's Mel Tillis Live, Gail Davies Greatest Hits, and Lee Greenwood Live the material here appears to have been filmed at Orlando, FL's Cheyenne Saloon and Opera House, which hosted a number of country acts for The Nashville Network's Church Street Station program. Unlike those three DVDs, the announcer here is initially absent, as is the usual "Church Street Station" logo and other identifying marks. What this disc does have in common with one of the aforementioned collections is Denise Price and the duo of Jimmy Price and Cliff Downs (aka Downs & Price) performing smack-dab in the middle of this concert, as they do on Gail Davies Greatest Hits. The music is fine and Morris is in his usual rich, bellowing voice, singing in a shirt that needs pressing...or how about a wardrobe change after "The Love She Found in Me," as he's pretty soaked in sweat by this point. Gary Morris doesn't move around much, but he can get somewhat chatty mentioning Orlando before going in to an original, "No Place to Hide," which isn't even listed on the packaging's "Featured Tracks" section. "Headed for a Heartache," from his 1981 self-titled album, sounds great augmented by this proficient backing band, the singer in suit jacket and thoroughly engaging, though still pretty stationary. Denise Price comes in eighteen-and-a-half minutes into the set with a sassy "Can't Even Get the Blues," toning it down for an authentic and quite elegant rendition of Anne Murray's "Could I Have This Dance?" Read more here:
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21)New Ladies of Country
One of the better collections of performances from The Nashville Network's Church Street Station show recorded at The Cheyenne Saloon & Opera House this features four main artists and works better than other DVDs in the series because there is less extraneous material and more performance. Kathy Mattea opens things up with the country tune "Ball & Chain" (not to be confused with Janis Joplin's rendition of Big Mama Thornton's classic or Tommy James pop tune with the same title). Her rendition of "Someone Is Falling In Love" is styled after the Kenny Rogers/Helen Reddy reign of 70s/80s middle-of-the-road easy listening style, and her voice fits the melody perfectly. The band behind Mattea is lively, including a guy and a gal on backing vocals who keep the movement happening behind her. The guy, John Thompson, steps forward to duet on "Put Yourself In My Place which is a good change for this all female presentation. Lorrie Morgan starts off with Olivia Newton John's big 1975 hit "Please Mr. Please, titled Please Me Please on the DVD case. She also covers Lionel Richie's 1984 hit, "Stuck On You", which lends itself beautifully to this format as if written for country. Read more here:
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22Greg Lake
This eponymous live audio CD culls its ten tracks from Greg Lake Live, a more extensive DVD which has even more familiar material from the Greg Lake history/repertoire than this spin-off disc. In that respect, this presentation in its truncated form is rather redundant. When other artists from the time period (though not necessarily from the same genre) like Leslie West have their own "Official Bootleg Series" of CDs including fancy titles to keep the fans on notice, one has to ask why Lake isn't getting the same kind of treatment. He certainly deserves it. Yes, there are credits galore in the four-page booklet and the music is as precise and powerful as one expects it to be, but the question remains -- do rabid fans of prog rock want a less than full-length concert when the DVD offers so much more? Also keep in mind that many of Lake's solo recordings are live, including a 1981 CD which reflects the DVD title to this concert, Greg Lake Live. Confusion reigns, even for the die-hard fans. Now on to the music. It's as good as you would imagine, the singer/guitarist in fine form spinning a magical "In the Court of the Crimson King" as well as a dirge-like "21st Century Schizoid Man," both from the brilliant 1969 King Crimson debut. Sure, the fans will appreciate those classics getting the glossy progressive treatment, the eerie cutting edge of the original versions now polished by time and not as provocative, but the difference between them is stark and the bombast present here doesn't add to the legend, it merely gives another perspective.
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23 Reboundin' Jen Murzda
24. Living Legends The Gathering
25.Queen Under Review 1980-1991
26)Sex Gang - Live At Ocean
The Borman Chain" opens up the proceedings like Marilyn Manson without the drag. Perhaps the best description of this very underground tape is Pere Ubu meets Marilyn Manson, the visuals very out of control at the beginning, so much so it feels like a bootleg looking for respectability. Which for the deep-catalog fans of Sex Gang Children is probably a plus - some added integrity to this goth sensation who include in this package an "image gallery" as well as two and a half minutes of backstage footage as bonus features. There are just a few words and credits on the back cover, no liner notes, so appreciate the grunge/machine shop industrial bent of the concert because what they do give is a lengthy set list. Seeing a goth band putting its makeup on does have advantages for the fan base, but it's the erratic tape that followers will cherish. Read more here:
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27)John Baglio
28KRIS DELMHORST's SHOTGUN SINGER
29)Chris Barber
Review by Joe Viglione
The redoubtable Chris Barber is joined here by many guests, including Andy Fairweather Low and Graham Lyle. The title Can't Stop Now: European Tour 2007 is a bit misleading, as this terrific collection of songs (running well over an hour) was compiled from a variety of sources dating back to 1985, 1988, 2006, and early 2007. The four-page booklet is jam-packed with information, but you can go to the legend's own website, Chrisbarber.net, to get the dates, players, and even more information. The sound is superb, and although he could very well be George Burns singing "I Wish I Was 18 Again" on the title studio track, "Can't Stop Now," Barber should be allowed the frivolity that fans will find charming — a charm that could irritate the uninitiated into breaking dishes when they hear his voice. But the music is absolutely beautiful from start to finish, with Fairweather Low's contributions, including the medley of "Lay My Burden Down" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," recorded in February of 2006 at the Riverfront Theater in Newport For more click here:http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:k9fixzlhldse
30)PORTSMOUTH SINFONIA
In 1974, Columbia Records took advertisements out for this project produced by Brian Eno and conducted by John Farley, and those ads blared "Indisputably, the worst orchestra in the world." "It was awful," stated a Mrs. Betty Atkinson from New Musical Express, adding, "I want my money back." And this statement came from the Evening Standard: "One member...was caught secretly practicing and had to be thrown out." This was the classical version of Mrs. Miller, with Eno among the 33 "band members" on display on the front cover. "Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 31 (Excerpt)" is pretty funny, but if your cup of tea is to hear Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, Bach, Bizet, Holst, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini bastardized, you are probably one of the few who appreciated the sequel. Antilles released Hallelujah two years later in 1976, and there seems to be little excuse for it. Making an intentionally bad record is an art form — Lou Reed did it with Metal Machine Music to stick it to his record label, and that record is as unlistenable as the Portsmouth Sinfonia's Plays the Popular Classics, but it is far more valuable in collectors' circles.
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31 Kathi McDonald
"Insane Asylum"Kathi McDonald was one of the friends recruited by Big Brother & the Holding Company to perform on their two post-Joplin releases, Be a Brother and How Hard It Is. David Briggs, producer of the second Alice Cooper album Easy Action and multiple early Neil Young discs is at the helm on Insane Asylum. With arrangements by The Jefferson Starship's Pete Sears, this is a showcase for the chops and musicianship of McDonald. There's a terrific reading of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" (which Janis Joplin covered years earlier), and an interesting first track co-written by McDonald and Pete Sears, "Bogart to Bowie," with Nils Lofgren on guitar and Bobbye Hall on percussion. The photos of McDonald on the back cover are chaotic and beautiful, a cartoon caricature of these adorns the cover, the illustration by Seiko Kashihara. With Ronnie Montrose on guitar and Pete Sears on keys for a heavy version of "(Love Is Like A) Heatwave," you basically have Big Brother & the Holding Company/ Montrose/Jefferson Starship covering Martha & the Vandellas. This 1974 recording was a year before Linda Ronstadt repeated Martha's feat of going Top Five with the song. There is something about the record that feels like the band is holding back. That evaporates with what may be the best performance on the disc, "Threw Away My Love," the second Sears/McDonald original. Kathi's great, bluesy vocal fights and Journey's Neil Schon on guitar give the track lots of soul, which is missing in much of the record. Read more here:
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32 Garland Jeffreys Escape Artist
Escape Artist is veteran Garland Jeffreys sounding very Elvis Costello, with clean Bob Clearmountain production and guest stars like David Johansen, Nona Hendryx, Lou Reed, Adrian Belew, Randy and Michael Brecker, and many others. It is a very satisfying pop disc. Jonathan Richman has his band Modern Lovers, Willie Alexander wrote a song with the same name, and David Bowie wrote "Modern Love"; Jeffreys' "Modern Lovers" has nothing to do with any of them except that he comes from the same underground scene as all of the above. A good idea is a good idea, and this is another good song with that title. "Christine" also works. It's a fun pop romp helping make this one of Jeffreys' most cohesive discs. "Ghost of a Chance" is a clever tune about a relationship with no hope; there is a solid, harder version of Rudy Martinez's "96 Tears" with some very cool guitar making it the most radio-friendly track. Jeffreys' vocals are in great shape, in control, and almost menacing. The back cover has him reading a New York Post with former president Jimmy Carter declaring an emergency, with very movie film-like photos/poses by the artist. "Innocent" takes the album other places, going into a Romeo Void or Cars '80s place. It's very catchy, very new wave meets techno. "When it comes to sex/You're using your special effects/...We're gonna ruin all the records in the fingerprint file." Classic Garland Jeffreys lyrics. Read more here:
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33) 2 Decades on the Bus with Garcia and the Greatful Dead
Summer of Love
Performed by: Rock Scully, David Bean, Dane Edmondson,
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34.Bob Mould Circle of Friends LIVE
Released exactly two years after being recorded on October 7, 2004, at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., this is a lengthy and terrific concert from Hüsker Dü founder Bob Mould and some highly innovative and respectful friends. The four-piece unit tears into "A Good Idea" from 1992's Copper Blue album, when the music was marketed under the name Sugar, and they do a great job with it. Richard Morel's keyboards lift riffs from Cars bandmember Greg Hawkes' inventory of ideas, while Verbow's Jason Narducy on bass may as well have been with his mentor from the very beginning, his backing vocals and rhythms a perfect complement to the methodical and raggedly dreamy "Hardly Getting Over It." The legendary lead singer then dives into a solid wave of Buzzcocks-styled slashing guitar and unintelligible vocals, making for some great rock & roll on "Could You Be the One," recorded with lots of close-ups and taped with a dark hue. The music itself certainly makes for good listening, but the incessant darkness captured by the cameras and the lights flashing through "I Apologize" tends to make repeated viewings a bit of a chore. "Hoover Dam" is also veiled in blue light while issuing the power -- and the glory -- with keys, drums, and bass swelling behind Mould's guitar to give a truly united grunge outpouring with splendid backing vocals and a lead guitar solo lifted directly from the Neil Young scrapbook. Read more here:
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35)SPECIAL EDITION: 2 Joni Mitchell DVDs
Joni Mitchell Special Edition combines two previously released videos/DVDs, 1999's Painting with Words and Music along with 2003's Woman of Heart and Mind. These are both excellent discs to have, the one problem being that some of the "bonus" tracks on Woman of Heart and Mind turn out to be some of the performances from Painting with Words and Music and so the consumer is getting a bit of déjà vu and double exposure. That's not as egregious as pulling the live performances off of Marianne Faithful's Dreaming My Dreams and re-releasing the DVD with only the biography narrative and interviews, but it shows a disturbing trend among name artists having their material released and re-released in the same fashion; Greg Lake another case in point with CDs and DVDs that contain variations on the same title, with some of the same recordings. The Susan Lacy written and directed biography has so much information packed into the story that the producers could easily have gone back into the vaults and beefed up the bonus aspect of this package. Read more here:
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36.The Amboy Dukes Marriage on The Rocks / Rock Bottom
Marriage On The Rocks/Rock Bottom
Amboy Dukes' Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom is a very musical record, more experimental than their releases on Mainstream Records, not as soaked in the
Pat Travers blues-rock which the follow-up, Survival of the Fittest embraced, and not as rocking as The Call of the Wild, which would be released about four years after this on Warner Brothers' Discreet label. Interesting to note the mutation of the Nugent sound with every label change. This work on Polydor is certainly more in the Ten Years After bag (especially on Survival of the Fittest, Live), with keyboards up
there in the mix almost equal to Ted Nugent's guitar. The entire first side is composed by Nugent, and the first song, "Marriage/Part 1: Man/Part 2: Woman/Part
3: Music" sounds more like Jethro Tull than anything else. It's a nine-minute-and-three-second progressive blues number and it is highly listenable. Just looking at the image of the four bandmembers staring up from the darkness on the back cover shows as much of an identity crisis in the presentation as is revealed in
the music by the Amboy Dukes on this disc. Featuring Ted Nugent is low-key on the cover; he eventually would get co-billing with the band name and find fame
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37.The Amboy Dukes (debut)
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38.STOMPERS SCRAPBOOK Review by Joe Viglione
Sal Baglio has never had the opportunity to show his innovative guitar prowess in the context of his Stompers, a vision he brings to the music of Andy Pratt as well as his own Rock E. Rollins Bowie-inspired work. The excitement of The Stompers as a live band overshadowed the fact that Baglio is a superb instrumentalist on the level of Pratt's other guitar genius Mark Doyle, or Ian Hunter axeman Mick Ronson. In 1994, Boston-area label Botown, founded by the late booking agent Mickey O'Halloran, released The Stompers: Greatest Hits Live, an important document of New England's Stompers in the environment where they shined -- on-stage. Live Scrapbook 1979-1983 goes a step further with 15 songs collected from various times and places, "This Is Rock 'N' Roll" from The Paradise nightclub dated February 13, 1979, to a rendition of "You're the One" from New York's Palladium, April 23, 1982. It is in that song that the listener can hear Sal Baglio's ability to get the audience into his performance, the band playing with objectivity while the singer brings the crowd into the mix.
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39.WCOZ Album
review by Joe Viglione
Radio stations sponsoring compilations of local recording groups was the rage in the '80s, and some important musical time capsules were created. When acts hit from those discs, those time capsules turned into collectors' items. The first volume of now-defunct radio station WCOZ's The Best of the Boston Beat (named after DJ Lesley Palmiter's excellent Sunday night local music program) was issued on WCOZ Records, manufactured by Infinity Records, in 1979 (the station's major competition, by the way, was Infinity Broadcasting). This second set, released in 1981, is on the Starsteam label out of Houston, TX. Starstream Records/Big Music America may have been a company which specialized in radio station LP projects, as the disc came with a ballot for voting on the album's best track and there was a national 25,000 dollar grand prize and a "record contract" (no specifics other than that). "Big Music America has gone into major cities all across the country to solicit tapes," is the claim on the back cover. Years after the regional album's creation, no such "battle of the bands" mentality is necessary. Classic tracks by the Jon Butcher Axis, Balloon (who featured future Joe Perry Project lead singer Charlie Farren), soon-to-be Boardwalk recording artists the Stompers, along with Johnny Barnes and a band with future producer Chris Lannon as guitarist, Midnight Traveller, give the album credibility the contest could not. Musically, the best tracks are "Shutdown" from the Stompers, "Roll Me" from Johnny Barnes featuring the gifted Craig Covner on guitar, Charlie Farren singing "Political Vertigo," and a classic early rendition of "New Man" by the Jon Butcher Axis, more driving than the remake on their Polygram debut. Anne English gets a nice runner-up status with "All I'm Waiting for Is You," while the other artists provide a snapshot of a moment in Boston music history. "Rock on the Radio" by Mark Williamson and American Teen is mainstream hard pop, while Midnight Traveller travels that same road. Read more hear:
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40.Billy Holiday
Entertainment for Home Video's (aka Efor Films) Billie Holiday: The Life & Artistry of Lady Day now finds itself part of the Jazzmemories series from Music Video Distributors, here given the alternate title The Genius of Lady Day. On the front cover MVD uses a Scott Yanow quote from AMG, which -- plus a few more paragraphs on the back -- is just about all of the written information the viewer can expect on this otherwise generous package of Billie Holiday film clips merged with a 30-minute biography. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:igae4j177wav
If you enjoy this Top 40 there are more links to more reviews:
http://joevigfirstimpressions.blogspot.com/
¶ 12:02 PM
"You Can't Always get What You Want" Remix from '21'
THRILLER 25th Anniversary Edition
NORMAN GREENBAUM interview
TRIPLE #1 This Month
Norman Greenbaum and The Rolling Stones
1)Norman Greenbaum
1)"You Can't Always Get What You Want" Re-mix of Rolling Stones/Jimmy Miller classic
1)Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition
2)"The Age Of Shiva" by Manil Suri - Book Visual Radio #406
3)Painting With Words & Music - Joni Mitchell DVD
4)Something Simple Stuart Davis
5)World Entertainment War
6)American Speedway
7)Pato Banton & Friends
8)The Transmitters
9)The Quick Mondo Deco
10)Mar y Sol - Classic Rock Retrospective
1.Rolling Stones Remix
Awesome! Jimmy Miller would be so proud!
2)The Age of Shiva - Manil Suri
3)PAINTING WITH WORDS & MUSIC - JONI MITCHELL
Review by Joe Viglione
Joni Mitchell's exquisite voice and guitar playing are on display in this satisfying hour-and-a-half-plus of the iconic performer directed by Joan Tosoni and filmed in an intimate setting. The dominant instruments are, no surprise, the singer's voice and her guitar, which is heavy with liquid effects. Much effort went into the circular set and the six cameras have unobstructed views with graceful pans and elegant zoom-ins. Mitchell is the set designer and editorial director with her own paintings adding to the decor, positioned on the walls that swing around the set. There's a two-and-a-half minute discussion of the event before actress Rosanna Arquette introduces the star and the festivities begin. A semi-pensive and solo "Big Yellow Taxi" opens the show, Mitchell not worried about being under this stunningly beautiful microscope that is the colorful set and the all-revealing eye of all these cameras. "Just Like This Train" has the singer close to her artwork and strumming the guitar as if with a paint brush, quite possibly an intentional metaphor from the clever singer always exposing her intuition with a bit of flair. She announces the band early on, just prior to "Night Ride Home," and the musicians ease into the program like drawings that quietly and slowly come to life. Read more here:
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4.Stuart Davis "Something Simple" The prolific Stuart Davis has some nice slices of pop on "Something Simple, "Deity Freak" with its compelling hook of "party like a pop star" is as infectious as it gets. "The River" is an invitation to jump in, energetic but still holding on to a bit of Al Green's sentiment from his similarly titled tune. "Sugar Bullets" is another great hook, it's just that the set-up isn't as intriguing. Perhaps he should bring this back to the drawing board as the world could use a melody such as this on the airwaves, nice different stylistic swings inside the production to which makes the music all the more appealing. You can hear lots of Elvis Costello influence though Davis personality has no problem making things his own. The bonus audio cd contains samples from the singer's audio book, Love Has No Opposite and, as spoken word goes, it may be tough for some. Read more here:
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5.World Entertainment War
This is truly the "lost" Jefferson Starship album by soon-to-be Grace Slick replacement Darby Gould (Darby, of course, the name of Grace Slick's ex-brother-in-law who wrote "Somebody To Love").
This 1991 disc is interesting and important as a Jefferson Starship artifact. Vocalist Darby Gould would step into Grace Slick's shoes, all documented nicely on Jefferson Starship's own Deep Space/Virgin Sky disc from 1995, and her emergence here is a nice starting point for a singer who still works with the legendary 70s group well into the new millennium. In fact, it's not a stretch to say this material follows the Paul Kantner solo efforts of the 1970s, though not with as much vision and charm. The key song, "Dark Ages, written by vocalist Rob Brezsny, became an important part of the J.S. 1990s set and is a keeper. A melody with strong commercial potential, the message also cuts through better than anything else on this self-titled disc. Read more here:
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6 AMERICAN SPEEDWAY Ship of Fools
AMERICAN SPEEDWAY "SHIP OF FOOLS"
The title and opening track to Ship Of Fools by American Speedway is a no-nonsense, hard-hitting Ramones-gone-metal blitzkrieg moment that blends into a two and a half minute track they call...American Speedway". With both the CD title and group name branding the first two solid efforts/tracks the album continues with a consistent and relentless high energy mix of sizzling guitars and spitfire vocals. Though stylistically a light year or two away from the aforementioned Ramones this quartet faces the same dilemma that venerable punk band experienced - as good as this material is, and it is very good, it is firmly locked into one style with little hope for a Top 40 hit and no chance of playing to anyone outside of its realm. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dxfexzqhldae
7.Pato Banton & Friends
| Review | by Joe Viglione |
| Overflowing with guests, Pato Banton and Friends gets right down to business with a catchy reggae-pop opening track, "Bubbling Hot," to start things off. Ranking Roger is the first colleague to blend his talents with Banton and they are a perfect match, the lyrics flow in quick succession but are easily understood, and the zany sound effects add much to the musical concoction. The "Ska Remix" of "Spirits in a Material World," featuring Sting, is a good and abrupt change of pace, and a sign of things to come: that the reinvention of American pop hits will be the highlights on this disc — not as much because the melodies are familiar but that Banton and crew seem to put more effort into these classics. It certainly shows. They do a fine job on this nugget from the Police, with offbeat sounds swimming inside the vibe the two singers set. Stephen Morrison showing up on a cover of the Rascals' "Groovin' " is perhaps the most effective production here, and evokes an immediate smooth and easy feeling in the listener. The "positive summertime vi-bray-tion" is a super blend of Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere's melody with dancehall. Pulling "Baby Come Back" out of the mothballs, the 1968 classic by Eddy Grant's Equals is also terrific, UB40 adding their talents to another one of the highlights on this CD. | |
Read more here:
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8.The Transmitters I Fear no-one...
Jangle jangle tucked inside cacophony is just part of the mantra of the Transmitters on I Fear No One..., a 22-track album that is a combination of non-stop erratic mania mixed in with avant-garde ambient-flavored musical experiments. The notes on this CD scrapbook are frustratingly threadbare except for the track listing of the 14 or so musicians who show up to perform on specific songs/essays. A cover of the Velvet Underground's "Ferryboat Bill," once embraced on a mini-four-song bootleg EP before being legitimized on Another View, is a nice run-through but not as true to the spirit as other Velvets-inspired pieces like "Ache." Total beat poetry stream of consciousness in that song: is he singing "Another mad crush another man abuses"? Who knows? — it's another mad descent into a quagmire of electronic sounds — one of the previously unreleased tracks recorded around London, and one of the more impressive ones. Moody music with a pessimistic point of view announced over the musical wanderings and so different from the harsh punk of "Paper Boy," a 35 second 1978 track from the album 24 Hours. It's all a bit more cohesive than Half Japanese but still disorganized enough to keep this music firmly stuck in the realm of college radio with little chance of mainstream crossover. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifuxzygldae
9THE QUICK MONDO DECO
Earle Mankey worked with Sparks and the Dickies, and the type of understanding necessary to translate sounds from those experimental groups is a plus on Mondo Deco, from the original Quick. As with the other major Kim Fowley and Mankey discovery, the Runaways, this band was released on Mercury in 1976, and it is one of the best examples of fun new wave to escape unscathed from all the hype. Unfortunately, it failed to sell in big numbers, but the album is terrific, a real underground gem. Guitarist Steven Hufsteter writes impressive and energetic pop; "Hillary" and "No
No Girl" are two excellent examples. The Runaways should have cut "Anybody" — it could have been their breakout hit. With its tight bassline and perfect
hollow underground rock drums, Mondo Deco has lots of treats hidden among its ten tunes. Read more here:
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10)CLASSIC ROCK RETROSPECTIVE:
MAR Y SOL with Emerson Lake & Palmer, J Geils Band, Cactus
After Monterey Pop, Woodstock, the Atlanta Pop Festival, and Isle of Wight, the Mar Y Sol: First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival was more than anti-climactic, and the resulting double-record set runs almost like a supplement to the similar Medicine Ball Caravan film soundtrack. The Allman Brothers Band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and B.B.King may have been legitimate headliners, but Osibisa were hardly a household name, and "Bedroom Mazurka" by Cactus on this LP makes one wonder why half that band would ever want to leave Vanilla Fudge to create a watered down Black Oak Arkansas. A five-minute-plus version of "Looking for a Love" by J. Geils Band rips the album wide open; it's a terrific performance by a terrific up and coming band that had barely dented the Top 40 with the tune three months before this concert, held on April 1, 2, and 3, 1972. Atlantic executive and album producer Tunc Erim should've known better than to follow Geils' up-tempo raver with 13 minutes and 20 seconds of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. Despite the heavy use of violin, this was not the Velvet Underground, and the manic early fusion is just a little too progressive to balance out the program. It's great to hear Jonathan Edwards perform two songs for almost eight minutes; his originals are highlights here, and like J.Geils Band, he was making his music in Boston and had recently charted on the Top 40, but this festival wasn't going to do for these artists what Woodstock and its triple-vinyl set would do for the acts on that enterprise. While Dr. John and John Baldry bring legendary status to the affair, Nitzinger and even Herbie Mann are a bit of a stretch for what is called a "pop" festival. Jean-Charles Costa's liner notes are lengthy, but don't tell us much about the event. Read more here
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Artist: Various Artists
Title: Mar Y Sol: The First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival
Date: 1972
Label: Atco Records SD-2-705
Cover Photography: David Gahr
Inside Liner Photography: Wendy Lombardi
Art Direction & Album Design: Richard Mantel
Check out this great site for Cover Art
http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/coverartlinks.html
11)Marty Balin HEARTS & OTHER FAVORITES
This best-of Marty Balin's two EMI albums, released in 1990, features four songs from the 1981 Balin LP and five from the harder-to-find 1983 Val Garay production of Lucky. Some say that the signing of David Bowie to EMI during his 1983 Let's Dance phase came at a cost to artists on that label, Balin included. It would account for this small output from such a major talent. "Hearts went Top Ten in 1981, followed by the Top 30 "Atlanta Lady (Something About Your Love)" four months later, both written by Jesse Barish, who also penned "Do It for Love" off Lucky, included on this set as well. It is rather astonishing that there is only one Marty Balin composition here, and it is a co-write at that. He's one of four songwriters who came together to pen "All We Really Need" from Lucky, making a clear statement that both EMI releases focused on Balin the singer. There are two things wrong with this picture. In the first place, the guy who wrote "Miracles," "With Your Love," and a number of classic Jefferson Airplane tracks only has one co-write each on his two solo albums. Meanwhile, Jesse Barish, author of "Count on Me" and other tracks on both the Spitfire and Earth Jefferson Starship albums, gets double the output on both of Balin's solo discs than the star himself. The second item is that the record should have been issued in 1982. The Lucky recordings were made between August and December of 1982, with too much time in between. Val Garay was hot with the number one worldwide smash "Bette Davis Eyes" for Kim Carnes two months before "Hearts" hit; for an artist of such depth, both in the songwriting and the vocal departments, it was shameful that EMI couldn't put a follow-up together more quickly, and one that was more in line with what the artist was all about. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wbfpxq95ldte
12.Cactus Live
For hardcore fans of Cactus, and/or Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, the boogie onslaught of this first live concert in over 30 years by the updated version of this venerable group should do the trick. It's a solid effort by a band that never offered any surprises, and the inclusion of harp player Randy Pratt and non-descript vocalist Jimmy Kunes keeps things in line with past efforts. Sure, guitarist Jim McCarty goes into overdrive on Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm," but the current lineup of Blue Cheer in 2007 just happen to give the style at play here a little more punch. The encore of "Rock N Roll Children" from this outfit's 1971 release, One Way...Or Another, rambles along with vocalist Kunes looking and sounding like any member of the audience jumping on-stage to have some fun with a trio of rock & roll legends. Without any frills there's little to differentiate the music here from any other collection of yesterday's stars getting together to reminisce. In fact it could be Starz, or a reunion of Flint, former members of Grand Funk Railroad, playing this hard-driving blues/rock in any typical nightclub in suburban America. The camera work is very public access TV, the lighting inconsistent, and the direction rather pedestrian. Plus there's no "Take Me for a Little While" or "You Keep Me Hanging On" for fans to key into, perhaps the biggest let down. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9fyxzqjldse
13)Kim Carnes by Kim Carnes
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dzftxqq5ldke
14)Andi Sex Gang - Inventing New Destruction
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15)Glenn O'Brien's TV Party THE HEAVY METAL SHOW
http://wc03.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:406649
16)Blaze Bayley Alive in Poland
17)Nick Drake Under Review
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18)Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Greatest Hits Live
Read More Here:
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19)Hurricane "Over The Edge"
Over The Edge is a superb ten song collection of close to 46 minutes of album rock from the latter end of the 1980s, AOR metal with hooks and clever twists that bring it a cut above the expected fare the plethora of hair bands gave the audience in that era. With the same irreverent fun that made Ratt's "Round & Round" so listenable the songs here venture from the 3 to 5 minute range, whipped into shape with superb riffing behind a heavy chorus and Kelly Hansen's very on-target vocals. When you listen to Hansen sing the hits of Foreigner eighteen years later on the Alive & Rockin' DVD it is like tuning in to a Doors' clone band when the real thing is preferable - and in Foreigner's case, potentially available. The problem with Hansen's version of Foreigner is that the new line-up would be better off re-exploring some of the songs the new players were affiliated with, most notably the material on this exemplary disc. "Messing With The Hurricane" is inspired rock & roll, rising above the metal trappings with solid beats and some guitar majesty from Robert Sarzo, yes, the brother of Quiet Riot's Rudi Sarzo, just as bassist Tony Cavazo is the brother of Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo. Hurricane is Quiet Riot without the sneer, no-nonsense metal produced by Mike Clink a year after he helped put together Appetite For Destruction, and for those who like that Guns 'n' Roses classic this album has much to offer. "Messin' With A Hurricane", a theme song for sure, is more than slightly reminiscent of GnR and coming four years after Scorpions' Top 10 hit, "Rock You Like A Hurricane", it probably found some inspiration in that popular metal gem. Check out how phonetically similar the endings to both "hurricane" songs are. Love It To Death/longtime Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin is listed as Executive Producer and "Insane" not only has an opening ripped right out of "Billion Dollar Babies", the title is the centerpiece word from Cooper's "Ballad Of Dwight Frye". Don't think it isn't intentional, the slowed-up version of "I'm 18" is perfect for the Nights with Alice Cooper radio show and a commendable slow reinvention of Alice's break-through song. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifixq85ldse~T2
20)Gary Morris Live
As with Quantum Leap's Mel Tillis Live, Gail Davies Greatest Hits, and Lee Greenwood Live the material here appears to have been filmed at Orlando, FL's Cheyenne Saloon and Opera House, which hosted a number of country acts for The Nashville Network's Church Street Station program. Unlike those three DVDs, the announcer here is initially absent, as is the usual "Church Street Station" logo and other identifying marks. What this disc does have in common with one of the aforementioned collections is Denise Price and the duo of Jimmy Price and Cliff Downs (aka Downs & Price) performing smack-dab in the middle of this concert, as they do on Gail Davies Greatest Hits. The music is fine and Morris is in his usual rich, bellowing voice, singing in a shirt that needs pressing...or how about a wardrobe change after "The Love She Found in Me," as he's pretty soaked in sweat by this point. Gary Morris doesn't move around much, but he can get somewhat chatty mentioning Orlando before going in to an original, "No Place to Hide," which isn't even listed on the packaging's "Featured Tracks" section. "Headed for a Heartache," from his 1981 self-titled album, sounds great augmented by this proficient backing band, the singer in suit jacket and thoroughly engaging, though still pretty stationary. Denise Price comes in eighteen-and-a-half minutes into the set with a sassy "Can't Even Get the Blues," toning it down for an authentic and quite elegant rendition of Anne Murray's "Could I Have This Dance?" Read more here:
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21)New Ladies of Country
One of the better collections of performances from The Nashville Network's Church Street Station show recorded at The Cheyenne Saloon & Opera House this features four main artists and works better than other DVDs in the series because there is less extraneous material and more performance. Kathy Mattea opens things up with the country tune "Ball & Chain" (not to be confused with Janis Joplin's rendition of Big Mama Thornton's classic or Tommy James pop tune with the same title). Her rendition of "Someone Is Falling In Love" is styled after the Kenny Rogers/Helen Reddy reign of 70s/80s middle-of-the-road easy listening style, and her voice fits the melody perfectly. The band behind Mattea is lively, including a guy and a gal on backing vocals who keep the movement happening behind her. The guy, John Thompson, steps forward to duet on "Put Yourself In My Place which is a good change for this all female presentation. Lorrie Morgan starts off with Olivia Newton John's big 1975 hit "Please Mr. Please, titled Please Me Please on the DVD case. She also covers Lionel Richie's 1984 hit, "Stuck On You", which lends itself beautifully to this format as if written for country. Read more here: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fwxzqhldae
22Greg Lake
This eponymous live audio CD culls its ten tracks from Greg Lake Live, a more extensive DVD which has even more familiar material from the Greg Lake history/repertoire than this spin-off disc. In that respect, this presentation in its truncated form is rather redundant. When other artists from the time period (though not necessarily from the same genre) like Leslie West have their own "Official Bootleg Series" of CDs including fancy titles to keep the fans on notice, one has to ask why Lake isn't getting the same kind of treatment. He certainly deserves it. Yes, there are credits galore in the four-page booklet and the music is as precise and powerful as one expects it to be, but the question remains -- do rabid fans of prog rock want a less than full-length concert when the DVD offers so much more? Also keep in mind that many of Lake's solo recordings are live, including a 1981 CD which reflects the DVD title to this concert, Greg Lake Live. Confusion reigns, even for the die-hard fans. Now on to the music. It's as good as you would imagine, the singer/guitarist in fine form spinning a magical "In the Court of the Crimson King" as well as a dirge-like "21st Century Schizoid Man," both from the brilliant 1969 King Crimson debut. Sure, the fans will appreciate those classics getting the glossy progressive treatment, the eerie cutting edge of the original versions now polished by time and not as provocative, but the difference between them is stark and the bombast present here doesn't add to the legend, it merely gives another perspective.Read more here:
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23 Reboundin' Jen Murzda
24. Living Legends The Gathering
25.Queen Under Review 1980-1991
26)Sex Gang - Live At Ocean
The Borman Chain" opens up the proceedings like Marilyn Manson without the drag. Perhaps the best description of this very underground tape is Pere Ubu meets Marilyn Manson, the visuals very out of control at the beginning, so much so it feels like a bootleg looking for respectability. Which for the deep-catalog fans of Sex Gang Children is probably a plus - some added integrity to this goth sensation who include in this package an "image gallery" as well as two and a half minutes of backstage footage as bonus features. There are just a few words and credits on the back cover, no liner notes, so appreciate the grunge/machine shop industrial bent of the concert because what they do give is a lengthy set list. Seeing a goth band putting its makeup on does have advantages for the fan base, but it's the erratic tape that followers will cherish. Read more here:
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27)John Baglio
28KRIS DELMHORST's SHOTGUN SINGER
29)Chris Barber
Review by Joe Viglione
The redoubtable Chris Barber is joined here by many guests, including Andy Fairweather Low and Graham Lyle. The title Can't Stop Now: European Tour 2007 is a bit misleading, as this terrific collection of songs (running well over an hour) was compiled from a variety of sources dating back to 1985, 1988, 2006, and early 2007. The four-page booklet is jam-packed with information, but you can go to the legend's own website, Chrisbarber.net, to get the dates, players, and even more information. The sound is superb, and although he could very well be George Burns singing "I Wish I Was 18 Again" on the title studio track, "Can't Stop Now," Barber should be allowed the frivolity that fans will find charming — a charm that could irritate the uninitiated into breaking dishes when they hear his voice. But the music is absolutely beautiful from start to finish, with Fairweather Low's contributions, including the medley of "Lay My Burden Down" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," recorded in February of 2006 at the Riverfront Theater in Newport For more click here:http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:k9fixzlhldse
30)PORTSMOUTH SINFONIA
In 1974, Columbia Records took advertisements out for this project produced by Brian Eno and conducted by John Farley, and those ads blared "Indisputably, the worst orchestra in the world." "It was awful," stated a Mrs. Betty Atkinson from New Musical Express, adding, "I want my money back." And this statement came from the Evening Standard: "One member...was caught secretly practicing and had to be thrown out." This was the classical version of Mrs. Miller, with Eno among the 33 "band members" on display on the front cover. "Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 31 (Excerpt)" is pretty funny, but if your cup of tea is to hear Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, Bach, Bizet, Holst, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini bastardized, you are probably one of the few who appreciated the sequel. Antilles released Hallelujah two years later in 1976, and there seems to be little excuse for it. Making an intentionally bad record is an art form — Lou Reed did it with Metal Machine Music to stick it to his record label, and that record is as unlistenable as the Portsmouth Sinfonia's Plays the Popular Classics, but it is far more valuable in collectors' circles.
read more here
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fwxqlhldhe
31 Kathi McDonald
"Insane Asylum"Kathi McDonald was one of the friends recruited by Big Brother & the Holding Company to perform on their two post-Joplin releases, Be a Brother and How Hard It Is. David Briggs, producer of the second Alice Cooper album Easy Action and multiple early Neil Young discs is at the helm on Insane Asylum. With arrangements by The Jefferson Starship's Pete Sears, this is a showcase for the chops and musicianship of McDonald. There's a terrific reading of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" (which Janis Joplin covered years earlier), and an interesting first track co-written by McDonald and Pete Sears, "Bogart to Bowie," with Nils Lofgren on guitar and Bobbye Hall on percussion. The photos of McDonald on the back cover are chaotic and beautiful, a cartoon caricature of these adorns the cover, the illustration by Seiko Kashihara. With Ronnie Montrose on guitar and Pete Sears on keys for a heavy version of "(Love Is Like A) Heatwave," you basically have Big Brother & the Holding Company/ Montrose/Jefferson Starship covering Martha & the Vandellas. This 1974 recording was a year before Linda Ronstadt repeated Martha's feat of going Top Five with the song. There is something about the record that feels like the band is holding back. That evaporates with what may be the best performance on the disc, "Threw Away My Love," the second Sears/McDonald original. Kathi's great, bluesy vocal fights and Journey's Neil Schon on guitar give the track lots of soul, which is missing in much of the record. Read more here:
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32 Garland Jeffreys Escape Artist
Escape Artist is veteran Garland Jeffreys sounding very Elvis Costello, with clean Bob Clearmountain production and guest stars like David Johansen, Nona Hendryx, Lou Reed, Adrian Belew, Randy and Michael Brecker, and many others. It is a very satisfying pop disc. Jonathan Richman has his band Modern Lovers, Willie Alexander wrote a song with the same name, and David Bowie wrote "Modern Love"; Jeffreys' "Modern Lovers" has nothing to do with any of them except that he comes from the same underground scene as all of the above. A good idea is a good idea, and this is another good song with that title. "Christine" also works. It's a fun pop romp helping make this one of Jeffreys' most cohesive discs. "Ghost of a Chance" is a clever tune about a relationship with no hope; there is a solid, harder version of Rudy Martinez's "96 Tears" with some very cool guitar making it the most radio-friendly track. Jeffreys' vocals are in great shape, in control, and almost menacing. The back cover has him reading a New York Post with former president Jimmy Carter declaring an emergency, with very movie film-like photos/poses by the artist. "Innocent" takes the album other places, going into a Romeo Void or Cars '80s place. It's very catchy, very new wave meets techno. "When it comes to sex/You're using your special effects/...We're gonna ruin all the records in the fingerprint file." Classic Garland Jeffreys lyrics. Read more here:
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33) 2 Decades on the Bus with Garcia and the Greatful Dead
Summer of Love
Performed by: Rock Scully, David Bean, Dane Edmondson,
Read more here:
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34.Bob Mould Circle of Friends LIVE
Released exactly two years after being recorded on October 7, 2004, at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., this is a lengthy and terrific concert from Hüsker Dü founder Bob Mould and some highly innovative and respectful friends. The four-piece unit tears into "A Good Idea" from 1992's Copper Blue album, when the music was marketed under the name Sugar, and they do a great job with it. Richard Morel's keyboards lift riffs from Cars bandmember Greg Hawkes' inventory of ideas, while Verbow's Jason Narducy on bass may as well have been with his mentor from the very beginning, his backing vocals and rhythms a perfect complement to the methodical and raggedly dreamy "Hardly Getting Over It." The legendary lead singer then dives into a solid wave of Buzzcocks-styled slashing guitar and unintelligible vocals, making for some great rock & roll on "Could You Be the One," recorded with lots of close-ups and taped with a dark hue. The music itself certainly makes for good listening, but the incessant darkness captured by the cameras and the lights flashing through "I Apologize" tends to make repeated viewings a bit of a chore. "Hoover Dam" is also veiled in blue light while issuing the power -- and the glory -- with keys, drums, and bass swelling behind Mould's guitar to give a truly united grunge outpouring with splendid backing vocals and a lead guitar solo lifted directly from the Neil Young scrapbook. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BA8E02CA45A079FCBEF5CFEDA6C39389D8EDB&sql=10:h9fexz9gldde
35)SPECIAL EDITION: 2 Joni Mitchell DVDs
Joni Mitchell Special Edition combines two previously released videos/DVDs, 1999's Painting with Words and Music along with 2003's Woman of Heart and Mind. These are both excellent discs to have, the one problem being that some of the "bonus" tracks on Woman of Heart and Mind turn out to be some of the performances from Painting with Words and Music and so the consumer is getting a bit of déjà vu and double exposure. That's not as egregious as pulling the live performances off of Marianne Faithful's Dreaming My Dreams and re-releasing the DVD with only the biography narrative and interviews, but it shows a disturbing trend among name artists having their material released and re-released in the same fashion; Greg Lake another case in point with CDs and DVDs that contain variations on the same title, with some of the same recordings. The Susan Lacy written and directed biography has so much information packed into the story that the producers could easily have gone back into the vaults and beefed up the bonus aspect of this package. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfrxqqsldde
36.The Amboy Dukes Marriage on The Rocks / Rock Bottom
Marriage On The Rocks/Rock Bottom
Amboy Dukes' Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom is a very musical record, more experimental than their releases on Mainstream Records, not as soaked in the
Pat Travers blues-rock which the follow-up, Survival of the Fittest embraced, and not as rocking as The Call of the Wild, which would be released about four years after this on Warner Brothers' Discreet label. Interesting to note the mutation of the Nugent sound with every label change. This work on Polydor is certainly more in the Ten Years After bag (especially on Survival of the Fittest, Live), with keyboards up
there in the mix almost equal to Ted Nugent's guitar. The entire first side is composed by Nugent, and the first song, "Marriage/Part 1: Man/Part 2: Woman/Part
3: Music" sounds more like Jethro Tull than anything else. It's a nine-minute-and-three-second progressive blues number and it is highly listenable. Just looking at the image of the four bandmembers staring up from the darkness on the back cover shows as much of an identity crisis in the presentation as is revealed in
the music by the Amboy Dukes on this disc. Featuring Ted Nugent is low-key on the cover; he eventually would get co-billing with the band name and find fame
Read more here:
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37.The Amboy Dukes (debut)
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BADE02CA45A079FCFE453FBD664342DFC93&sql=10:fbftxqr5ldje
38.STOMPERS SCRAPBOOK Review by Joe Viglione
Sal Baglio has never had the opportunity to show his innovative guitar prowess in the context of his Stompers, a vision he brings to the music of Andy Pratt as well as his own Rock E. Rollins Bowie-inspired work. The excitement of The Stompers as a live band overshadowed the fact that Baglio is a superb instrumentalist on the level of Pratt's other guitar genius Mark Doyle, or Ian Hunter axeman Mick Ronson. In 1994, Boston-area label Botown, founded by the late booking agent Mickey O'Halloran, released The Stompers: Greatest Hits Live, an important document of New England's Stompers in the environment where they shined -- on-stage. Live Scrapbook 1979-1983 goes a step further with 15 songs collected from various times and places, "This Is Rock 'N' Roll" from The Paradise nightclub dated February 13, 1979, to a rendition of "You're the One" from New York's Palladium, April 23, 1982. It is in that song that the listener can hear Sal Baglio's ability to get the audience into his performance, the band playing with objectivity while the singer brings the crowd into the mix.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB78ABE02CA45A079FCDE452FBD6673B2DED93&sql=10:fnfuxqqaldse
39.WCOZ Album
review by Joe Viglione
Radio stations sponsoring compilations of local recording groups was the rage in the '80s, and some important musical time capsules were created. When acts hit from those discs, those time capsules turned into collectors' items. The first volume of now-defunct radio station WCOZ's The Best of the Boston Beat (named after DJ Lesley Palmiter's excellent Sunday night local music program) was issued on WCOZ Records, manufactured by Infinity Records, in 1979 (the station's major competition, by the way, was Infinity Broadcasting). This second set, released in 1981, is on the Starsteam label out of Houston, TX. Starstream Records/Big Music America may have been a company which specialized in radio station LP projects, as the disc came with a ballot for voting on the album's best track and there was a national 25,000 dollar grand prize and a "record contract" (no specifics other than that). "Big Music America has gone into major cities all across the country to solicit tapes," is the claim on the back cover. Years after the regional album's creation, no such "battle of the bands" mentality is necessary. Classic tracks by the Jon Butcher Axis, Balloon (who featured future Joe Perry Project lead singer Charlie Farren), soon-to-be Boardwalk recording artists the Stompers, along with Johnny Barnes and a band with future producer Chris Lannon as guitarist, Midnight Traveller, give the album credibility the contest could not. Musically, the best tracks are "Shutdown" from the Stompers, "Roll Me" from Johnny Barnes featuring the gifted Craig Covner on guitar, Charlie Farren singing "Political Vertigo," and a classic early rendition of "New Man" by the Jon Butcher Axis, more driving than the remake on their Polygram debut. Anne English gets a nice runner-up status with "All I'm Waiting for Is You," while the other artists provide a snapshot of a moment in Boston music history. "Rock on the Radio" by Mark Williamson and American Teen is mainstream hard pop, while Midnight Traveller travels that same road. Read more hear:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB78ABE02CA45A079FC3E457FFD665382DED93&sql=10:kpftxqyhld0e
40.Billy Holiday
Entertainment for Home Video's (aka Efor Films) Billie Holiday: The Life & Artistry of Lady Day now finds itself part of the Jazzmemories series from Music Video Distributors, here given the alternate title The Genius of Lady Day. On the front cover MVD uses a Scott Yanow quote from AMG, which -- plus a few more paragraphs on the back -- is just about all of the written information the viewer can expect on this otherwise generous package of Billie Holiday film clips merged with a 30-minute biography. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:igae4j177wav
If you enjoy this Top 40 there are more links to more reviews:
http://joevigfirstimpressions.blogspot.com/
¶ 12:02 PM
Monday, January 28, 2008
Top 40 February 2008
1)60's Summer Love - P.P. Arnold, Bobby Hebb, Sonny & Cher & more
2)Iggy Pop Live In San Fran 1981 - Iggy Pop
3)Rock & Roll Outlaw Tour Japan 2003 / David Peel
Electric and Unplugged versions
4)Destroy All Monsters Grow Live Monsters
5)David Kubinec Mainhorse Airline: The Geneva tapes
6)And I Write The Songs - Various Artists
7)Cy Curnin The Returning Sun
8)Marquee Club 25th Anniversary Various Artists
9)Jon Macey & Steve Gilligan - Everything Under The Sun
10)Quincy Jones Live In Montreux 1996
For the rest of this month's TOP 40 - Scroll here:
#1
60's Summer Love
The First Cut Is The Deepest - P.P. Arnold
The "Sixties Summer Love" 50 track double CD from Universal Music Group UK (probably a release for sale on television) is as attractive as The Beach Boys "Endless Summer" lp. Really! Tracks by The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Bobby Hebb and this lovely P.P. Arnold track will keep you glued to this collection.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9frxqyrld6e
2)Iggy Pop Live In San Fran 1981
It is tough to compete with The Stooges and Fun House when it comes to menacing rock & roll/ punk with as much ambiance as attitude. With a bootleg type feel, Live San Fran 1981 is still able to rise above the predictable with a few choice cuts to satisfy those devoted to Iggy's music. Opening with a decent "Some Weird Sin" from 1977's Lust for Life, this set is not comprehensive, and that it is so haphazard is actually a plus here. The obligatory "TV Eye" and "1969" are included, but outside of the title track to "Lust for Life," everything else will be obscure to people not acquainted with the Stooges' brand of mayhem. The core of the album is in support of the 1981 Arista release Party, and the second track, "Houston Is Hot Tonight," is one of the more manic and exciting cuts here. It sounds like a bizarre and revamped sequel to "White Light/White Heat" by the Velvet Underground with plenty of grunge to bring it over the top. "Rock & Roll Party," "Eggs on Plate," "Pumpin for Jill," and "Bang Bang" are the other titles from Party, those five tracks being half that album represented here on the twelve live tunes. "Dum Dum Boys," the only track from 1977's The Idiot, has eerie guitars and a sinister vocal that propels and differentiates it from most of the show on display in this package. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfpxz9hldke
3) R and R Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Unplugged Version
David Peel/Lower East Side
If the companion CD to this disc, Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Unplugged Version, is David Peel and this line-up of his Lower East Side Band being somewhat restrained, this combination of punk rock/psychedelic magic is mayhem and pandemonium in a very good way, out-of-control rock that is infectious and most welcome. The thirteen minute "Space - Free Tommy Chong" has guitars reaching into psychedelic outer space before the song descends into a repetitive "Free Tommy Chong" mantra, which is exactly what one suspects and expects from Peel. If you've followed this sixties/seventies rock revolutionary figure for all of ten minutes it takes little imagination to figure what his next lyric will be, but the surprise is in the playing. Behind the stoned-out village idiot persona the song titles conjure up is a clever and right-on rock and roll experience that has vibe, groove and that essential intuitive "something" that makes for repeated spins. read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0jfixq8rldje
3 1/2)David Peel/Lower East Side R&R Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Electric Version
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kjfixq8rldje
4)Destroy All Monsters Grow Live MonstersReview by Joe Viglione
Originally in the VHS format from Lobsterland Videos,, this bizarre film makes the translation to DVD splendidly. With some material recorded between 1973 and 1977, the collage of images and exotic sounds is kind of like colorizing an original print of the movie Night of the Living Dead and putting it into a blender with Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack to Planet of the Apes. Intentionally made to be hard to describe, there's an eight-page interview with filmmaker and Destroy All Monsters bandmember Cary Loren, and it is helpful. If ever a compilation DVD needed extensive liner notes, this is it, and MVDVisual smartly puts the instructions on the back of this musical version of a chocolate chip cookie mix. For those who felt the Mentors El Duce Vita too immature and vile, and the Chesterfield Kings' Where Is The Chesterfield King? a victim of extreme haphazard disarray, the erratic vibrations splashed under these cinematic cuts give new meaning to the term "art for art's sake." Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0nfrxqlkldfe
5)David Kubinec's MAINHORSE AIRLINE:Geneva Tapes
David Kubinec's MAINHORSE AIRLINE:Geneva TapesReview by Joe Viglione
David Kubinec released Some Things Never Change in 1978, an album on A & M produced by John Cale, and that brought him to the attention of Velvet Underground fans, but had these lost tapes from Mainhorse Airline had that major distribution perhaps history would be different. The Geneva Tapes feature ten performances from vocalist/songwriter Kubinec who, along with drummer Bryson Graham, were found by a young keyboard player and future member of The Moody Blues and Yes, Patrick Moraz, and his bassist/cellist friend Jean Ristori. If it sounds like a minor supergroup, well, it is as Bryson Graham went on to play with Spooky Tooth and Gary Wright and Ristori became a mastering engineer of note, working with many of the bands this music reflects. The unique combination of these musical gents generated some compelling and heady sounds that turn out to be a tremendous find. Though labeled "progressive rock", the truth is that Mainhorse Airline on these lost tapes from 1969/1970 prove a wonderfully psychedelic/progressive band with some heavy pop leanings. "What The Government Can Do For You" seems cut right out of 1960's San Franciscan rock while "Blunt Needles" recalls The Blues Magoos seeking out the heavier sounds of The Amboy Dukes. A Kubinec/Moraz composition, "The Passing Years", is heavily influenced by early Deep Purple by way of Procul Harum, but it's the colours of British psychedelia that is the frosting which makes the mix most engaging. Pale Sky is a paradox in a bit of a quandary. It could be the U.K. Kaleidoscope, The Small Faces or The Electric Prunes, a delightful combination of sixties psychedelia swirling through the speakers with an adventurous Moraz building eerie sounds that complement Kubinec's vocals perfectly, perhaps Eddy Pumer and Peter Daltrey's U.K. band Kaleidoscope influencing the music within, their Brit rock psychedelia edge added to this experimental progressive concoction. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:h9fwxz9gldfe
REMEMBER TO READ ROCK JOURNALIST JOE VIG'S BLOG AS WELL!
http://rockjournalistjoevig.blogspot.com/
6)And I Write The Songs
Review by Joe Viglione
One of the most eclectic singer/songwriter compilations you'll ever encounter, And I Write The Songs: 34 Singer/Songwriter Classics works on many levels by gathering extraordinary original songs by a diverse group of original artists. The fact that the album that opens with Richard & Linda Thompson and closes with James Brown ought to tell you the mission - and in-between there's some unforgettable music like Joe Jackson's "It's Different For Girls" a step away from Kirsty MacColl's driving "Theres A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears Hes Elvis". Certainly Tim Hardin's "The Lady Came From Baltimore" is as deserving as Neil Sedaka's lilting "Our Last Song Together", but putting those titles kitty-corner to Roger Miller's "King Of The Road"...well... perhaps Hardin would've been the better segue. The CD is a strange mix of country singer/songwriters like Jim Stafford and Billy Ray Cyrus just a few cuts apart from Elton John's "Daniel" and Rod Stewart's "Mandolin Wind". Nils Lofgren, Chris De Burgh and Rosie Vela will, no doubt, be pleased to be included, as will Lloyd Cole, and where Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" has a relationship to Marianne Faithful's "Broken English", at least as label mates, they share little with Dillard & Clark. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:avfixq9hldje
7)Cy Curnin The Returning Sun
On 2005's Mayfly, lead singer of the Fixx Cy Curnin had mainstream keyboardist Bill Champlin and guitarist Bruce Gaitsch (both of Chicago/Peter Cetera fame) working with him; but fear not, with Lou Reed/Marianne Faithfull bassist extraordinaire Fernando Saunders, and the equally "faithful" (to Curnin's solo work) Billy Ward, Curnin comes up with a super contemporary album of pop hooks and high-tech sound on this outing, The Returning Sun, released two years after Mayfly . Opening track "We Might Find It" nicks exactly from the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" Simple Minds riff, recycling it 22 years after that song hit number one. And if track two, "Remember Me When I'm Gone," isn't playing with the Simple Minds title ("...don't you forget about me when I'm gone..."), well, going to that source and bringing it back to the future is the trick, and this veteran artists pulls it off majestically. "Falling Apart Together" blends Europop with just a dash of some machine shop industrial to very good effect. Meanwhile, the title track eases up a bit, perhaps some techno/folk with island flavorings, reverse reggae under a very nice melody. Real staying power here, "The Returning Sun" possibly being a double entendre — some musical prodigal son returning to his roots — perhaps in light of what went down on the Mayfly disc!Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fjfpxz9hldhe
8)MARQUEE CLUB 25th ANNIVERSARY ANGEL AIR!
It might seem overwhelming when music from Dr. John to Marillion and Status Quo all comes together under one roof, but as usual with Angel Air, this project is built with the fans in mind. Just pick any track, Ian Matthews showing the upstart post-new waver's how it's done on "Lonely Hunter", a terrific track followed quickly by an interview as are most of the tracks on this Derek Burbridge directed 15 track epic. Osibisa's "Paper Match" starts things off in a lively fashion, Harold Pendleton and Barbra Pendleton inserted immediately after with some interview footage and then into an historically sublime Chris Barber and Dr. John together on "Little Lisa Jane". Climax Blues Band offer up their hit, a terrific rendition of "Couldn't Get It Right", the footage getting a little dark, which only adds to the charm as the audio's great. A Phil Collins interview follows a unique "Welcome" from John Watts' The Cry while a Status Quo tape from 1972 is pure dynamite.
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCBEF5CF8DD6C3F3C9D8EDB&sql=10:09frxzlgldje
9)EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN Jon Macey & Steve Gilligan
Steve Gilligan and Jon Macey are two veterans of the Boston music scene and their debut cd as a duo, EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN, is a very interesting look into the respective psyches of singer/songwriters who spin the "England Dan & John Ford Coley"/"Seals & Crofts"/"Batdorf & Rodney" formula a different way. Under the production of Barry Marshall this half of the modern-day Fox Pass band utilize Gilligan's exotic instruments (Mandocello, Mandolin, Dobro, Harmonica) and Macey's sometimes cynical look on life (a kind of twisted optimism offered to make the listener think) to come up with a dozen tracks that are pretty evenly distributed.
Jon and Steve write five songs each and co-write two, you can't get any more democratic than that. For those who have seen the pair step out of their FOX PASS gigs and perform, it is a real treat. Unplugged is so in-vogue and will continue to be so as the new "older generation" takes Jonathan Richman's advice and turns it down. Though Fox Pass tends to explode onstage (and are one of the finer groups in all of New England), the intricacies of what these refined musicians are communicating are not easy to duplicate. It's also important to note since the release of the "Too Much Perspective" release from Macey's Parade in the 1990s, Jon Macey has unleashed a solo disc, a "debut" album from Fox Pass, and now this unique side-project. Is "Talking Metaphysical Blues" a laugh at Bob Dylan's expense or just taking the advice of National Lampoon's "Deteriorata" parody of "Desiderata" - with its final line of "Give Up!" With lines like "Soon as I was released/I went off to find myself a priest. But they churches they had all been sold, they're condos now or so I'm told; it's a cruel world." It's music worth exploring if you can withstand the angst. Is this the sequel to Mick Jagger's "The Girl With The Faraway Eyes"?
"Showed me some swine before which to throw my pearls..." Can't wait for the You Tube hit. their website is here:
http://www.jonandsteve.com/home.html
Photos of Jon & Steve at the Kirkland 4/1/06 taken by Robert Barry Francos
http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/551751987yQzRZK
10)
QUINCY JONES LIVE AT MONTREUX 1996
The thing about Quincy Jones masterful approach to any musical genre he decides to dip into is that it is so professionally executed one can sit back in awe as well as be totally entertained and enthralled with the product. 50 Years in Music: Live at Montreux 1996 features a powerful orchestra that knows its place and allows guests like David Sanborn and Chaka Khan to be seen and heard in a new light. Sanborn is slow and steamy on "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" while Khan gets to convincingly sing "Miss Celie's Blues" with a young Brody Buster on harmonica. "Q" conducts the Northern Illinois University Jazz Band under the direction of Ron Modell and the slick 24-page booklet is most essential reading to go along with this sublime listening/viewing experience. Dedicating to Ella Fitzgerald a wonderful "Shiny Stockings," Patti Austin comes out with a silky smooth voice, and the gigantic band suddenly draws back and sounds like they are performing at an intimate little 3 A.M. nightclub. Prominent drums with light guitar and bass and Jones bringing in other elements, horns, piano, in a very major way -- is as ensemble perfect as can be imagined. Phil Collins is able to shed his superstardom and show what a really great voice he has, and an appealing low-key personality so different from how he is presented in the world of mainstream progressive rock ... Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fwxzljldde
11)John Baglio
What I Left Behind: New CD from John Baglio
By Joe Viglione/ recordreview2001@yahoo.com
Fri Feb 01, 2008, 03:22 PM EST Malden -
Malden - On his Web page, http://myspace.com/johnbaglio , John Baglio says his influences range from “Elton John to Rage Against the Machine to Mozart.” The fellow who fronted Malden’s legendary group “Tribal Wisdom” has indeed changed genres with a beautiful set of piano-based pop songs.
The new music replaces the hard-hitting grunge/dance fury that was that led to a riot on Lansdowne Street on August 2, 1996 when Tribal Wisdom played Aerosmith’s nightclub, The Mama Kin Music Hall. The Boston Red Sox couldn’t have been pleased with the all-out melee it caused, and some say it led to the band being blacklisted on the local club scene in spite of their large draw.
Fast forward a dozen years and the then-23 year-old lead singer is now a 35-year-old writer/producer with an impressive mix of sounds on the title track, “What I Left Behind.” It boasts elegant and clever piano riffs flush against explosive sounds, in a mix that translates well through the Myspace audio.
If the name Baglio sounds familiar, it’s perhaps the fact that John is a cousin of Salvatore Baglio, an East Boston guitarist/singer also with a new CD, “Memory Theater.” That Baglio performed at the Paradise Theater in a band called The Stompers back on June 29, 1978, when John was about 5 years old.
“Sal Baglio & The Stompers” went on to local fame with the hits “One Heart For Sale,” “Coast To Coast,” and “Never Tell An Angel.” The Malden connection is that The Stompers were represented by the late Mickey O’Halloran, and released a disc on O’Halloran’s “Botown Records” label, based here in this city.
In early January, John was visiting with his friend Gary Cherone before Cherone headed off to begin recording the next Extreme album and kick off the Extreme tour. Perhaps Extreme could pick up on “Deliverance” from the new John Baglio album, an uplifting spiritual number with strings and heavy acoustic guitar and drums.
The Malden Observer caught up with John Baglio on Jan. 8, the birthdays of Elvis Presley and David Bowie. read more here:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/news/x1059372650
THIS IS A TRILOGY OF ROLLING STONES DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE "UNDER REVIEW SERIES",
STONES 1962-1966, STONES 1967-69, KEITH RICHARDS
12)The Rolling Stones Under Review: 1962-1966 Review by Joe Viglione
With the immediacy of You Tube and other internet information streams it is tough to accept the tag-line "Ultimate review and crtical analysis of the music and career of The Rolling Stones" that adorns the back of this DVD package, The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966. The big tease is the videoclips - gorgeous video clips - The Stones sitting on a stage while they present Howlin' Wolf on the TV show Shindig, Buddy Holly with a snippet of "Peggy Sue" and delicious Rolling Stones tracks on film, all too short, and spliced alongside the commentary from Melody Maker magazine's Chris Welch, R & B singer Chris Farlowe (who was also under Andrew Loog Oldham's umbrella and had hits with Jagger/Richards material), Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor - who had performed with Mick Jagger in the band Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys- and others. The Dave Clark-leased video of "Paint It Black" live on Ready Steady Go and bits of "It's All Over Now" from The Red Skelton Hour are not as satisfying as finding full renditions of songs on the internet. That none of the guests point out that Mick clearly mouths the "f" word during "It's All Over Now" on TV in 1964 is as shocking as the fact that the singer got away with it, no pause and rewind available in the day allowing the moment to vanish for a few decades. The lip-synched rendition on Skelton's program might have the record playing "I used to love her", but Mick says into the camera "I used to (obscenity) her", and that's definitely worthy of discussion, if not by Red Skelton well, perhaps from their former bodyguard, Tom Keylock, who is interviewed at length here. Also distressing for purists is that you can do a quick Google search and come up with Felix Aeppli's Ultimate Guide 1962-2002 which has the actual dates of those TV moments along with images of 45 RPM covers, different from those displayed on this DVD. Read more here:
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13)Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-69
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14)Keith Richards Under Review
This is an extraordinary two hour plus documentary on Keith Richards from Sexy Intellectual/Chrome Dreams which works much more effectively than the Rolling Stones Under Review 1962 - 1966 from the same company, probably because Keith is such an enigma as well as being the most fun personality/antagonist of the group. A stellar cast of rock critics and insiders help tell the story of the "pirate" guitarist along with music instructor/author Wolf Marshall who plays many famous Rolling Stones riffs throughout this production. Some of the same faces from the aforementioned 1962-1966 Rolling Stones Under Review return here - "original" Stones guitarist Dick Taylor, as he is called, former bodyguard Tom Keylock, about fourteen in all with an alphabetical by first initial group of biographies of the guests embedded as a bonus track. Divided into sixteen titled chapters narrator Thomas Arnold pulls the story together with his vocal authority, though the project tends to focus on The Stones more than the lead guitarist. Author Robert Greenfield has much to offer, his book Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones chock full of tales of Richards and company, biographer John Perry picking up the same theme while the discussion turns to Exile On Main Street. The director does a fine job of slipping pertinent clips of "Tumblin' Dice" and "Happy" into the mix as well as a very nice blend of Keith performing a solo rendition of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" which drifts into Wolf Marshall playing the riff and a key moment of Mick Jagger and the band performing part of a live version of the tune. Read more here:
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These are all part of a trilogy of Rolling Stones DVDs from Music Video Distributors, much like "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby" and "Mother's Little Helper" were all a trilogy of druggy singles from The Stones in 1966 (though not all in a row, Lady Jane and Paint It Black were in there too)
15)Edwin Starr Story
This documentary of soul singer Edwin Starr starts off with the man himself talking about Northern Soul phenomenon which he is so much a part of. It is just one of the many treats in this hour and forty-eight minute documentary on Starr's life and his music. "War" was such a monster hit in the U.S.A. in the summer of 1970 that it seemed to linger at #1 a lot longer than the 3 weeks credited it, but The Edwin Starr Story gives the viewer a more complete look at his extraordinary career and reinforces Edwin Starr's importance in the soul music firmament. Read more here:
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16)Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Song Review by Joe V
For those purist fans of the early Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, a song like "We Built This City" took the path the Marty Balin-less group embarked on with "Jane" (a title Balin actually rehearsed with the group prior to his leaving for a solo career) farther into the arena rock wasteland. The four minutes and 29 seconds of "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" were a huge treat on an entirely different level. It's really more a collaboration between producer/arranger Narada Michael Walden and singers Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas than it is a Starship track. Lead guitarist Craig Chaquico is merely a guest star here, for this is a high-tech quagmire of bells, whistles, strings, and Walden's vision, building the melody into a rock-solid stomp, but for Starship, it is its zenith. If the song "Miracles" was Jefferson Starship at its most potent and creative, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is selling out, in a good way. With this tune the band evolved into the counterculture Archies, but Slick remains the Queen of Cool, and she adds a dimension of integrity, even bringing the very best performance out of Thomas, who was all things a singer for Jefferson Starship should not have been. Slick and Thomas work in unison here, not the tapestry that was her marriage with Balin's voice on "Miracles" but an effortless combination like the guitars of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, a doubling effect which intensifies the sentiment. Read more here:
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Here's an interesting cover of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMP4oQnF0IA&NR=1
Here's a strange "limewire" re-mix someone put on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8xjJguOTD_g&feature=related
17 Foreigner Alive 'n' Rocking
Foreigner's Alive & Rockin' DVD is a slick presentation from Eagle Vision which features eight of the group's sixteen hits, a classic track - "Starrider" - from the first album and a "Juke Box Hero" medley which includes "Whole Lotta Love", a nice treat since son-of Led Zeppelin Jason Bonham is on drums. Those two titles coming after the drum solo that follows "Urgent" is also a nice touch. Here's the up and the down of it, beautifully recorded at the Bang Your Head!!! Festival in Balingen, Germany for the band's 30th anniversary in 2006 and with all the players doing their corporate rock best, the purist may be chagrined to find hard rock refugee Kelly Hansen filling in for original member Lou Gramm on a package that the average radio listener might think is the original group. Only Mick Jones remains from the thirty years that have passed and, though his playing is as solid and impressive as ever, those who appreciate and care about music integrity might want some kind of a warning beyond the six photos on the cover. Foreigner never had the massive cult charm of Jim Morrison and The Doors, and that means the mainstream leanings of this group makes the tribute-band approach less offensive, but still Hal Horowitz's same criticisms of the L.A. Woman Live DVD by The Doors Of The 21st Century come into play here. Read more:
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18)Foreigner Unusual Heat
Review by Joe Viglione
Rick Willis on bass, Dennis Elliot playing drums, Mick Jones on guitar/keyboards, with the debut of Johnny Edwards from King Kobra and Buster Brown on vocals, and the 1991 version of Foreigner actually is better than one would expect. Ten of the 11 songs on the Unusual Heat CD are written by co-producer Terry Thomas, new singer Johnny Edwards, and band mainstay Mick Jones, and believe it or not, they still have that bombast and brash appeal of the group which once featured so many textures brought to life by the voice of Lou Gramm. The unusual thing about Unusual Heat is that it is actually a good product and quite listenable. Though it reportedly sold respectable numbers, this review copy was found in the dollar bargain section of a retail chain called Buck A Book, but many a great disc has been relegated to the cut-out bin. "Only Heaven Knows" kicks things off, and it could be the second cousin (or sequel) to Lou Gramm's solo smash from four years earlier, 1987's "Midnight Blue." Edwards is a stylish vocalist, and he, like the multiple replacements for Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, the Guess Who's Burton Cummings, and the Jefferson Starship's Grace Slick, has that tonal quality that can keep the public happy by keeping the sound consistent with what came before.
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19)Hurricane "Over The Edge"
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20)Bruce Sudano Rainy Day Soul
Rainy Day Soul is a complete and impressive collection of ten songs by a talented veteran who has never truly received his due. Though he and his doo-wop/disco band Brooklyn Dreams and wife Donna Summer co-wrote Summer's 1979 mega smash, "Bad Girls", Sudano and Summer also collaborating to write the country/pop hit "Starting Over Again" for Dolly Parton in 1980, this album is 180 degrees away from the sounds of all the recognizable chart action the artist has encountered over the years, a shimmering excursion into singer/songwriter folk/pop/blues with more of an emphasis on structure and message than mainstream gloss. That doesn't mean it is as raw as Gerry Goffin's obscure 1973 classic, It Aint Exactly Entertainment, the infectious hooks on "Hey Chattie", the tender "Where Would I Be" and other compositions cast that notion right aside. Sounding like another Christian singer/songwriter, Andy Pratt, opening song "Show Me Who You Are" is actually so much closer to latter-day Pratt that a blindfold test would definitely confuse fans of both artists. Thus the uptempo and spiritual nature of "Eagle In The Sky", featuring the saxophone of Jeffrey Scott Wills, should come as no surprise. A craftsman who has had chart action over the past thirty-four years prior to this solo effort, he was one of many collaborators on a 1969 Top 20 hit, "Ball Of Fire" with and for pop maestro Tommy James. That title is one of The Shondells most underrated gems and, not coincidentally, has the same sparkle that Alive and Kickin''s "Tighter, Tighter" featured, a 1970 classic rock record by a group which included this artist as keyboardist. But where the Alive 'n Kickin' and self-titled Brooklyn Dreams albums were both inconsistent, the music here is strong from top to bottom. Read more here:
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21)Brooklyn Dreams
Two years before Brooklyn Dreams would hit on Casablanca with their Donna Summer duet, "Heaven Knows," this 1977 self-titled debut appeared on Jimmy Ienner's Millennium Records imprint. Summer makes an appearance here as well on "Old Fashioned Girl," a song that is indicative of most of the material on this set, not extraordinary but respectable and quite listenable. There's nothing to jump out and grab you like the immaculate "Tighter, Tighter," the Tommy James tune Bruce Sudano hit with when he was a member of Alive 'n Kickin' in 1970, but the album works much better as a total listening experience than had the Alive & Kicking LP, displaying innovations the previous band was attempting to find. Interesting to note that Tommy James himself hit on the Millennium label in 1980 with "Three Times in Love" while Bruce Sudano returned to Ienner's fold in 1981 with a solo disc, Fugitive Kind. The material wanders a bit stylistically, but is consistently good — "Hollywood Circles" a bit of a departure from the near disco of this set, a rock & roll tune of sorts that finds itself in direct contrast with more mainstream-of-the-day titles like "Another Night at the Tango." It's no "Puttin' on the Ritz," but works in its own way. Joe Esposito, Eddie Hokenson, and Sudano are adept at blending their voices in an interesting disco-doo wop fashion, a good concept and the key thing that gives the group its identity. Tony Maiden of Rufus shows up on "Sad Eyes" (not the excellent 1979 Robert John hit) and Skip Konte's production is certainly slick enough. It's just that much of it is dated decades after the fact, the group failing to make an impact outside of their affiliation with Summer. Read more here:
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22 Alive And Kicking Alive 'n Kickin'
Review by Joe Viglione
It is amazing that an album with such an extraordinary Top Ten single as the Tommy James/Bob King composition "Tighter, Tighter," by a group with superb vocals, is filled with such half-baked and poorly performed tunes. Although the cover says in big bold letters "Produced by Tommy James and Bob King for Tommy James Ventures," the difference in performance from track to track when played next to the hit, "Tighter, Tighter," is too distinct, so much so it is startling. The album says in very fine print "arrangements by Alive & Kicking"; what it sounds like is that the band produced themselves, and slapped a Tommy James production on the first track. The vocals on each of the songs are all precise and quite soulful, it's just that the future Mr. Donna Summer Bruce Sudano has material that isn't up to Tommy James' standards. The drums on each track don't compare to the hit, with guitar playing that is even worse. "Mother Carey's Chicken" is an indication of talent wasted on weak material. There is one brief moment that almost equals the hit single, a 30-second track by Sudano and Wilson entitled "Sunday Morning." It's terrific, sounding like a hook with no song, what a shame. This isn't the tune by Spanky & Our Gang, and perhaps it's no coincidence they chose that title; this band, vocally, has a lot in common with Elaine Spanky McFarlane. Sudano had another brief flirt with chart success when his Brooklyn Dreams performed on wife Donna Summer's Top Five hit "Heaven Knows" in 1979. Tommy James re-recorded "Tighter Tighter" on his 1976 Fantasy Records album In Touch. A good song is a good song, but even Tommy James READ MORE HERE:
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23)Something Special! The Best of Tommy James & the Shondells
Tommy James & the Shondells
It's hard to conceive that seven of these 12 titles were Top 40 hits because "Gettin' Together," "I Like the Way," "Say I Am (What I Am)," and even the Shondells title track to their second album "It's Only Love" are not as radio memorable as "Mirage," "I Think We're Alone Now," and "Hanky Panky" (rumor has it some may have been "jukebox hits," added to jukeboxes but not necessarily radio play lists). The nearly a cappella "Out of the Blue" is a strange opener and shows the group's vocal prowess, a serious rock band coming off like a bubblegum Beach Boys. One can't quip with producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell crafting a sound for this group; they worked on everything here except "Say I Am (What I Am)" and "Hanky Panky" off the first Bob Mack/Henry Glover-produced disc (Mack co-wrote the second hit, "Say I Am" with James — or so it says on the original disc; it is credited to George & Barbara Tomsco on this compilation) and Henry Glover's two productions from the second album, Tommy James' original "Don't Let My Love Pass You By" and the Ritchie Cordell hit "It's Only Love." The Top 25 "I Like the Way" is a wonderful slice of '60s-style British pop and had this follow-up hit to "Mirage" given the band a Small Faces direction, it may have helped to avoid the bubblegum stigma songs like "Love's Closin' in on Me" helped them obtain. It sounds more like Tommy Roe than Tommy James, but, despite having been written by James, bassist Mike Vale, and producers Gentry & Cordell, it still rocks straight from the Paul Revere & the Raiders school of power pop. Read more here:
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24)Gerry Goffin "It Ain't Exactly Entertainment"
Seventeen songs on a double LP released in 1973 are not what fans of Gerry Goffin and Carole King's '60s pop would expect. Two recording studios in Muscle Shoals, AL, gave birth to this earthy and energetic statement. The comparison to Bob Dylan is inevitable, especially on "Reverend Bottom's Tojo Saloon," a five-minute-and-16-second party which sounds like Gerry is stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues. But the tongue-in-cheek protest of "Cherokee Medicine" is much too quaint to be as boastful as Zimmerman, Al Lester's fiddle venturing off in its own direction as the song concludes. Longtime Carole King bassist Charles Larkey co-wrote the first tune, "Down on the Street," though he's not credited as a performer here. "Chicago (You)" has a funky barroom attitude with keyboard fills that supplement Goffin's lecture. "Chicago You" is a coded message that is hard to decipher, but fun just the same, making the title of this album rather misleading. It is very entertaining to hear the guy behind so many Top 40 hits laying back and jamming on tunes that are as short as the minute-and-21 second "Sail Away Ladies (P.D.)" to the 12-minute-31-second groove of "Set Job." There are revelations all over these four sides, a semi-gospel flavor on "Maryland Again" and Goffin sounding like a very drunk Ian Hunter in a setting that Ian has yet to visit.
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25 INCREDIBLE STRING BAND LIVE AT THE LOWRY
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26 JONI MITCHELL PAINTING WITH WORDS & MUSIC 1999/2004
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27 Neil Young UNDER REVIEW 1976-2006
This release from Sexy Intellectual, part of the Chrome Dreams group of companies, is more in-depth than some outside biographies of recording artists, perhaps because Chrome Dreams is the name of the "lost"/unreleased/bootlegged Neil Young album and no doubt where these devotees got their corporate handle. It is a follow-up to the companion DVD Under Review 1966-1975 and covers the 30 years of Young's career that fall between 1976-2006 -- triple the span of time explored by the first disc. Mandy O'Neale narrates this "journey through the past" over 14 chapters alongside eight name journalists including Robert Christgau and Nigel Williamson -- who are both in conflict over the artist's Trans album: Williamson calling it "appalling," Christgau praising the disc by saying "he made only one good album during the '80s years and that was Trans." Clinton Heylin, Bill Friskics-Warren, and others help conduct this investigation and do a good job of holding the viewer's interest over the hour and 20 minutes of chatter. Neil Young's repertoire, like that of David Bowie, is so complex it begs for a bit of cataloging, and that's what these reviewers do a good job of, this "Under Review" a solid attempt at putting Young's vast catalog into perspective. Read more here:http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB71B0FD2EA45243DAC0EB55F6D86F2D5DF0&sql=10:0ifqxzthldhe
28 Modern Times Jefferson Starship
This second edition of the Mickey Thomas-era Jefferson Starship/Starship polished '80s rock is actually a weird hybrid which you could call psychedelic metal. For fans of the fragments that were Sunfighter, Baron von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun, Manhole, and other experimental Airplane offshoots, this material is much too mainstream for its own good. But it isn't the eminently dislikable Mickey Thomas who is the major culprit as much as it is producer/engineer Ron Nevison, whose homogenization of records from Ozzy Osborne to Heart displayed a glaring lack of creativity, inspiration, or sense of anything remotely resembling art. Yes, Marty Balin actually practiced "Jane" with the group prior to his leaving the Freedom at Point Zero sessions, and had he stayed onboard, the approach may have been a more progressive folk-rock. It was Larry Cox who engineered from Dragon Fly to Spitfire, co-producing the music with the very capable band. Minus Balin and Cox, the true evolution of the Airplane sound is mutated and muffled on Modern Times. Critic William Ruhlmann noted that "Stairway to Cleveland" is "as gutsy a statement of purpose as any in rock," but that tune and the title track, two ofPaul Kantner's three contributions, are the only ones with elements that stay true to the band's original mission. "Stairway to Cleveland" follows the dramatic and techno-orchestrated "Alien," which at least is better than the generic "Free" preceding it, or the second cousin to "Jane," which is "Mary." It means you have to sift through the Mickey Thomas/Ron Nevison sterilization to find the advertised product: Jefferson Starship music. Read More Here:
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29 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN UNDER REVIEW
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30 PATTY LARKIN WATCH THE SKY
31.UNNATURAL AXE on The Music Museum of New England http://www.mmone.org
In between the New Wave and the hardcore movement of Boston's 1970s came the pure punk rock of Unnatural Axe, arguably New England's most visible ambassadors of the genre. Dorchester natives, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Rich Parsons and lead guitarist Tommy White (a.k.a. Tommy "White Trash") got into playing together after discovering what they felt was the perfect mix of rock and humor - the Dictators' first album. After "rescuing" bassist Frank Dehler from The Berklee College of Music they began to rehearse in Richie's basement. In their song "Three Chord Rock" you can find their mission statement "Someday we'll be big and play out of state - Wow!" The group officially formed in 1977 and recorded a 4 song E.P. released on Varulven which became an instant sensation due to Parsons' twisted masterpiece, a punk rock song influenced by the film "They Saved Hitler's Brain". Read more here:
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32)The Buzzcocks Lest We Forget
While the Buzzcocks were on tour in 1979 and 1980, Joan McNulty, the publisher of their official fan magazine Harmony in My Head (and then-girlfriend of singer Pete Shelley), taped all their shows on cassette the way Judy Garland's husband Mickey recorded her final shows. Decades after these recordings were made, their value is obvious. After lengthy legal haggling between 1982 and the date of release, 1988, Neil Cooper of Reach Out International records was able to issue this very worthwhile series of 19 songs culled from various live performances on the tour. Who better to compile the music than the woman who gave attention to the group before anyone else in the U.S.A.? The cassette tapes were brought up to Blue Jay Studios in Carlisle, MA, the place where the Joe Perry Project, Aimee Mann, Phil Collins, and others worked, and the material was transferred from the master cassettes into organized form. Read more here:
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33)JAY & THE AMERICANS SUNDAY & ME
Nine months before "Cherry Cherry" would launch the career of Neil Diamond as a singer, he had his first Top 20 chart record as a songwriter, "Sunday and Me," the leadoff track to Jay & the Americans' album of the same name. Continuing with the Spanish-flavored sound found on 1964's "Come a Little Bit Closer" and 1965's "Cara Mia," the light pop comes in with flamenco guitar, Jay Black's familiar voice, and bullfight trumpets. "Granada" also features old-world instrumentation and Black emulating an operatic Mario Lanza more than the teen idol sound of the day. Jay & the Americans were a talented bunch, Kenny Vance and Marty Kupersmith (listed as Marty Sanders here) adding much to the mix, though the vocal harmonies are never as dense as their contemporaries, the Four Seasons. Just listen to how Vance, Kupersmith, Sandy Deane, and Howie Kane embellish Jay's voice on their Top 25 version of Roy Orbison's "Crying." The two tunes that hit from this 12-song collection did so between December of 1965 and June of 1966, part of ten Top 40 entries by the group from 1962-1970. Standards like Carl Sigman's "'Til" and Stephen Sondheim's "Maria" display a vocal prowess that Gary Puckett would also bring to radio beginning a couple of years after this. Classics IV producer Buddy Buie contributes "I Miss You (When I Kiss You)," while a J. Phillips/J. Stewart title, "Chilly Winds" — sounding like a country predecessor to Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" — is also included, Black's voice dominating while the doo wop sound is kept to a minimum.read more here:
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34 Apollo Saturday Night
by Joe Viglione
On November 13, 1963, as veteran producer/liner-notes writer Bob Altshuler explains, "Atco microphones were positioned on the Apollo stage" after the showing of a film preceding this concert, which began "a few minutes before twelve o'clock." Decades later, this material by Doris Troy, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, the Falcons, the Coasters, and Ben E. King remains a vital document of a special time when entertainment was pure and remarkable. Opening with Wilson Pickett and Eddie Floyd's version of the Falcons, the tone is set for the album, sticking to deeper cuts from the various artists' catalogs and shying away from their hits, with the exception of "Walking the Dog" from Rufus Thomas and headliner Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." The two Otis Redding tracks were taped more than a year and a half before his first Top 40 hit, while the former Apollo Theater usherette who follows Redding on this set, the marvelous Doris Troy, was riding high with "Just One Look" on the charts a few months before this taping. That gem isn't here, but her unique interpretation of "Misty" and her own "Say Yeah" are. Every one of the performances is top-notch, concluding with a finale where all concerned do a short rendition of Ray Charles' "What I'd Say." Essential entertainment.
35 Ray Manzarek Carmina Burana
This is a staggeringly different piece of music for those who only know the Ray Manzarek of "Light My Fire" or "L.A. Woman" fame. The 1983 collaboration with Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi holds many revelations. As the post-Morrison Doors splintered off into various side projects, Manzarek's notable The Golden Scarab and The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control to the Krieger/Densmore schizophrenic unit known as the Butts Band, as well as guitarist Krieger's jazz-flavored solo discs, the journeymen musicians opened windows beyond the music of the Doors. Carmina Burana's power emerges from the fusion of musical forms, heralded by Manzarek's sincere approach to the project. The liner notes give an explanation of German composer Carl Orff's rediscovery in 1935 of the Medieval poems found in 1803 from 13th century "renegade monks and wandering poets." The modern-day minstrels that Manzarek and Glass are add a contemporary twist to the music Allen Lannon helped bring to America in 1954, when it was first performed on these shores in Boston. There are seven primary musicians who back the chorus, which features ten principal singers conducted by Michael Riesman. The music is intense, evocative, and highly spiritual, with Larry Anderson's drums adding something the rebels from hundreds of years ago would probably be proud of. read more here:
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36)Pendragon "And Now Everybody To The Stage..."
This very classy limited-edition triple-disc box entitled And Now Everybody to the Stage... features an 18-song, 15-track DVD with bonus material to boot — 240 minutes total running time along with two audio discs containing 146 minutes (of the same material). Filmed and recorded on May 22, 2006, at the Wyspianski Theatre in Katowice, Poland, this music from the Believe 2006 tour finds the band rocking out with a harder edge. For a group that is a cult favorite, And Now Everybody to the Stage... is an enormous package usually reserved for more commercial acts, the set including a four-page booklet and eight-panel fold-out box. The slick textured presentation is a follow-up to the 2002 DVD Live...At Last and More, taking things a step further. Drummer Fudge Smith is replaced here by Joe Crabtree, but few if any non-fans will notice, as the music is as pristine and exotic as ever, culminating in a tremendous version of "Am I Really Losing You?" The song is so sublime here that it screams out FM radio hit, although that kind of creature is a rare bird in the new millennium. Frontman/songwriter Nick Barrett is clearly enjoying himself re-exploring titles like "Nostradamus," "As Good as Gold," "Breaking the Spell," and "Masters of Illusion," all found on the earlier DVD Live...At Last and More, only this time out the handsome and youthful Crabtree adds some new energy to the venerable but aging group. Read more here:
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37)Pendragon Past and Presence
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38)The Transmitters
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39)Jack's Waterfall - Jack Licitra
Jack Licitra has constructed an album of adult pop entitled Calling All Angels -- smooth and consistent music flowing like water moving effortlessly downstream. The moniker Jack's Waterfall becomes a perfect name for the group backing him up on these smartly crafted essays in song. You'll hear Terence Trent D'Arby in "Spirit Voices" and "The Hero"; some Jackie DeShannon in the opening track, "Vision"; and definite Steve Winwood rhythms and thoughts permeating "Believe," with the "come on take me higher" ending. Tuba, trumpet, slide guitar, congas, bells, and "assorted percussion" help build foundations under each song, delivering Licitra's positive communications. "Song of Hope" continues the message of holding on, a theme scattered throughout the album with its cover of ghosts embracing in a living room with windows illuminated, the inside of the lyric booklet like a personal ad for angels: "Calling All Angels!...Creative universe seeks talented individuals to fill it with beauty and hope." It is interesting how John R. Phillips' CD Revival Time is recorded as smoothly as this, but holds a stark and negative message, while Jack's Waterfall is like some antidote, hands reaching up out of the darkness for a life preserver. Although each song has dynamics, the album itself becomes too much of a good thing, the music on "Vuelve" a loop of melody and repeating chorus, cut from the same mold of "Vision" and "Spirit Voices." Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:axfrxq90ldfe
40)JOHN R PHILLIPS - Revival Time
Revival Time is a disturbing but terrific production and presentation by John R. Phillips, not to be confused with the late John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. One really doesn't want to venture where lyricist Blake Silverstrom is going with nine of the ten poems he has constructed, and Phillips' eloquent readings also make the listener wonder what the motivating force is here. The singer's voice is close to Meatloaf in texture, and "Conversations in Styrofoam" could be right out of a censored version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; it is dark, it is frightening, it is not something you'll want to play often. "Art Kills takes this concept, not a step further, but sideways, where it sounds like the protagonist is extinguishing the life from his lover. The entire album isn't this devastating but, though the artist and his collaborators could have moved into a Christopher Cross direction (the singer's voice is able to go from Mr. Loaf to Mr. Cross), a ditty like "I'm on the Cover of Newsweek, Mom" isn't about the celebration of success, but more like the despair of a parent whose child happens to be John Hinckley, Jr. or Timothy McVeigh. The dark joke here is that these tunes could be uplifting and wonderful, but the artists paint a different sort of picture. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfixqukldje
OVER 200 JOE VIG REVIEWS OF RECORDS UP ON eBAY
http://search-desc.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=joe+viglione&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&fts=2&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=01888&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1
41 Bonus JONI MITCHELL SPECIAL EDITION
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfrxqqsldde
42)KISS CAT TALES
Kiss drummer Peter Criss sits down, unmasked, and chats to fans at a convention called the Philadelphia Meet and Greet held on January 4, 2003.
There's about 62 minutes from the event taken with a hand-held camera that is annoyingly shaky. Criss can be heard as he speaks into a microphone but some of the audience questions are indiscernible. As the Kiss Army are a rabid bunch, and Kiss fan conventions are somewhat fun, this DVD is aimed directly at the faithful. The name Peter Criss isn't even mentioned on the packaging, instead there's a kinda sorta Kiss "logo" and the four band members in the background with "the Catman" front and center. A little bit more description would be helpful - the producers don't even tell you the exact date of this event, it's found via Google search and a ticket giveaway to a February 28, 2003 Kiss concert in Melbourne, Australia. Read More Here!
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:anfqxzegldae
¶ 7:50 AM
2)Iggy Pop Live In San Fran 1981 - Iggy Pop
3)Rock & Roll Outlaw Tour Japan 2003 / David Peel
Electric and Unplugged versions
4)Destroy All Monsters Grow Live Monsters
5)David Kubinec Mainhorse Airline: The Geneva tapes
6)And I Write The Songs - Various Artists
7)Cy Curnin The Returning Sun
8)Marquee Club 25th Anniversary Various Artists
9)Jon Macey & Steve Gilligan - Everything Under The Sun
10)Quincy Jones Live In Montreux 1996
For the rest of this month's TOP 40 - Scroll here:
#1
60's Summer Love
The First Cut Is The Deepest - P.P. Arnold
The "Sixties Summer Love" 50 track double CD from Universal Music Group UK (probably a release for sale on television) is as attractive as The Beach Boys "Endless Summer" lp. Really! Tracks by The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Bobby Hebb and this lovely P.P. Arnold track will keep you glued to this collection.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9frxqyrld6e
2)Iggy Pop Live In San Fran 1981
It is tough to compete with The Stooges and Fun House when it comes to menacing rock & roll/ punk with as much ambiance as attitude. With a bootleg type feel, Live San Fran 1981 is still able to rise above the predictable with a few choice cuts to satisfy those devoted to Iggy's music. Opening with a decent "Some Weird Sin" from 1977's Lust for Life, this set is not comprehensive, and that it is so haphazard is actually a plus here. The obligatory "TV Eye" and "1969" are included, but outside of the title track to "Lust for Life," everything else will be obscure to people not acquainted with the Stooges' brand of mayhem. The core of the album is in support of the 1981 Arista release Party, and the second track, "Houston Is Hot Tonight," is one of the more manic and exciting cuts here. It sounds like a bizarre and revamped sequel to "White Light/White Heat" by the Velvet Underground with plenty of grunge to bring it over the top. "Rock & Roll Party," "Eggs on Plate," "Pumpin for Jill," and "Bang Bang" are the other titles from Party, those five tracks being half that album represented here on the twelve live tunes. "Dum Dum Boys," the only track from 1977's The Idiot, has eerie guitars and a sinister vocal that propels and differentiates it from most of the show on display in this package. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfpxz9hldke
3) R and R Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Unplugged Version
David Peel/Lower East Side
If the companion CD to this disc, Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Unplugged Version, is David Peel and this line-up of his Lower East Side Band being somewhat restrained, this combination of punk rock/psychedelic magic is mayhem and pandemonium in a very good way, out-of-control rock that is infectious and most welcome. The thirteen minute "Space - Free Tommy Chong" has guitars reaching into psychedelic outer space before the song descends into a repetitive "Free Tommy Chong" mantra, which is exactly what one suspects and expects from Peel. If you've followed this sixties/seventies rock revolutionary figure for all of ten minutes it takes little imagination to figure what his next lyric will be, but the surprise is in the playing. Behind the stoned-out village idiot persona the song titles conjure up is a clever and right-on rock and roll experience that has vibe, groove and that essential intuitive "something" that makes for repeated spins. read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0jfixq8rldje
3 1/2)David Peel/Lower East Side R&R Outlaw Japan Tour 2003: Electric Version
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kjfixq8rldje
4)Destroy All Monsters Grow Live MonstersReview by Joe Viglione
Originally in the VHS format from Lobsterland Videos,, this bizarre film makes the translation to DVD splendidly. With some material recorded between 1973 and 1977, the collage of images and exotic sounds is kind of like colorizing an original print of the movie Night of the Living Dead and putting it into a blender with Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack to Planet of the Apes. Intentionally made to be hard to describe, there's an eight-page interview with filmmaker and Destroy All Monsters bandmember Cary Loren, and it is helpful. If ever a compilation DVD needed extensive liner notes, this is it, and MVDVisual smartly puts the instructions on the back of this musical version of a chocolate chip cookie mix. For those who felt the Mentors El Duce Vita too immature and vile, and the Chesterfield Kings' Where Is The Chesterfield King? a victim of extreme haphazard disarray, the erratic vibrations splashed under these cinematic cuts give new meaning to the term "art for art's sake." Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0nfrxqlkldfe
5)David Kubinec's MAINHORSE AIRLINE:Geneva Tapes
David Kubinec's MAINHORSE AIRLINE:Geneva TapesReview by Joe Viglione
David Kubinec released Some Things Never Change in 1978, an album on A & M produced by John Cale, and that brought him to the attention of Velvet Underground fans, but had these lost tapes from Mainhorse Airline had that major distribution perhaps history would be different. The Geneva Tapes feature ten performances from vocalist/songwriter Kubinec who, along with drummer Bryson Graham, were found by a young keyboard player and future member of The Moody Blues and Yes, Patrick Moraz, and his bassist/cellist friend Jean Ristori. If it sounds like a minor supergroup, well, it is as Bryson Graham went on to play with Spooky Tooth and Gary Wright and Ristori became a mastering engineer of note, working with many of the bands this music reflects. The unique combination of these musical gents generated some compelling and heady sounds that turn out to be a tremendous find. Though labeled "progressive rock", the truth is that Mainhorse Airline on these lost tapes from 1969/1970 prove a wonderfully psychedelic/progressive band with some heavy pop leanings. "What The Government Can Do For You" seems cut right out of 1960's San Franciscan rock while "Blunt Needles" recalls The Blues Magoos seeking out the heavier sounds of The Amboy Dukes. A Kubinec/Moraz composition, "The Passing Years", is heavily influenced by early Deep Purple by way of Procul Harum, but it's the colours of British psychedelia that is the frosting which makes the mix most engaging. Pale Sky is a paradox in a bit of a quandary. It could be the U.K. Kaleidoscope, The Small Faces or The Electric Prunes, a delightful combination of sixties psychedelia swirling through the speakers with an adventurous Moraz building eerie sounds that complement Kubinec's vocals perfectly, perhaps Eddy Pumer and Peter Daltrey's U.K. band Kaleidoscope influencing the music within, their Brit rock psychedelia edge added to this experimental progressive concoction. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:h9fwxz9gldfe
REMEMBER TO READ ROCK JOURNALIST JOE VIG'S BLOG AS WELL!
http://rockjournalistjoevig.blogspot.com/
6)And I Write The Songs
Review by Joe Viglione
One of the most eclectic singer/songwriter compilations you'll ever encounter, And I Write The Songs: 34 Singer/Songwriter Classics works on many levels by gathering extraordinary original songs by a diverse group of original artists. The fact that the album that opens with Richard & Linda Thompson and closes with James Brown ought to tell you the mission - and in-between there's some unforgettable music like Joe Jackson's "It's Different For Girls" a step away from Kirsty MacColl's driving "Theres A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears Hes Elvis". Certainly Tim Hardin's "The Lady Came From Baltimore" is as deserving as Neil Sedaka's lilting "Our Last Song Together", but putting those titles kitty-corner to Roger Miller's "King Of The Road"...well... perhaps Hardin would've been the better segue. The CD is a strange mix of country singer/songwriters like Jim Stafford and Billy Ray Cyrus just a few cuts apart from Elton John's "Daniel" and Rod Stewart's "Mandolin Wind". Nils Lofgren, Chris De Burgh and Rosie Vela will, no doubt, be pleased to be included, as will Lloyd Cole, and where Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" has a relationship to Marianne Faithful's "Broken English", at least as label mates, they share little with Dillard & Clark. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:avfixq9hldje
7)Cy Curnin The Returning Sun
On 2005's Mayfly, lead singer of the Fixx Cy Curnin had mainstream keyboardist Bill Champlin and guitarist Bruce Gaitsch (both of Chicago/Peter Cetera fame) working with him; but fear not, with Lou Reed/Marianne Faithfull bassist extraordinaire Fernando Saunders, and the equally "faithful" (to Curnin's solo work) Billy Ward, Curnin comes up with a super contemporary album of pop hooks and high-tech sound on this outing, The Returning Sun, released two years after Mayfly . Opening track "We Might Find It" nicks exactly from the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" Simple Minds riff, recycling it 22 years after that song hit number one. And if track two, "Remember Me When I'm Gone," isn't playing with the Simple Minds title ("...don't you forget about me when I'm gone..."), well, going to that source and bringing it back to the future is the trick, and this veteran artists pulls it off majestically. "Falling Apart Together" blends Europop with just a dash of some machine shop industrial to very good effect. Meanwhile, the title track eases up a bit, perhaps some techno/folk with island flavorings, reverse reggae under a very nice melody. Real staying power here, "The Returning Sun" possibly being a double entendre — some musical prodigal son returning to his roots — perhaps in light of what went down on the Mayfly disc!Read More Here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fjfpxz9hldhe
8)MARQUEE CLUB 25th ANNIVERSARY ANGEL AIR!
It might seem overwhelming when music from Dr. John to Marillion and Status Quo all comes together under one roof, but as usual with Angel Air, this project is built with the fans in mind. Just pick any track, Ian Matthews showing the upstart post-new waver's how it's done on "Lonely Hunter", a terrific track followed quickly by an interview as are most of the tracks on this Derek Burbridge directed 15 track epic. Osibisa's "Paper Match" starts things off in a lively fashion, Harold Pendleton and Barbra Pendleton inserted immediately after with some interview footage and then into an historically sublime Chris Barber and Dr. John together on "Little Lisa Jane". Climax Blues Band offer up their hit, a terrific rendition of "Couldn't Get It Right", the footage getting a little dark, which only adds to the charm as the audio's great. A Phil Collins interview follows a unique "Welcome" from John Watts' The Cry while a Status Quo tape from 1972 is pure dynamite.
Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB676AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCBEF5CF8DD6C3F3C9D8EDB&sql=10:09frxzlgldje
9)EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN Jon Macey & Steve Gilligan
Steve Gilligan and Jon Macey are two veterans of the Boston music scene and their debut cd as a duo, EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN, is a very interesting look into the respective psyches of singer/songwriters who spin the "England Dan & John Ford Coley"/"Seals & Crofts"/"Batdorf & Rodney" formula a different way. Under the production of Barry Marshall this half of the modern-day Fox Pass band utilize Gilligan's exotic instruments (Mandocello, Mandolin, Dobro, Harmonica) and Macey's sometimes cynical look on life (a kind of twisted optimism offered to make the listener think) to come up with a dozen tracks that are pretty evenly distributed.
Jon and Steve write five songs each and co-write two, you can't get any more democratic than that. For those who have seen the pair step out of their FOX PASS gigs and perform, it is a real treat. Unplugged is so in-vogue and will continue to be so as the new "older generation" takes Jonathan Richman's advice and turns it down. Though Fox Pass tends to explode onstage (and are one of the finer groups in all of New England), the intricacies of what these refined musicians are communicating are not easy to duplicate. It's also important to note since the release of the "Too Much Perspective" release from Macey's Parade in the 1990s, Jon Macey has unleashed a solo disc, a "debut" album from Fox Pass, and now this unique side-project. Is "Talking Metaphysical Blues" a laugh at Bob Dylan's expense or just taking the advice of National Lampoon's "Deteriorata" parody of "Desiderata" - with its final line of "Give Up!" With lines like "Soon as I was released/I went off to find myself a priest. But they churches they had all been sold, they're condos now or so I'm told; it's a cruel world." It's music worth exploring if you can withstand the angst. Is this the sequel to Mick Jagger's "The Girl With The Faraway Eyes"?
"Showed me some swine before which to throw my pearls..." Can't wait for the You Tube hit. their website is here:
http://www.jonandsteve.com/home.html
Photos of Jon & Steve at the Kirkland 4/1/06 taken by Robert Barry Francos
http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/551751987yQzRZK
10)
QUINCY JONES LIVE AT MONTREUX 1996
The thing about Quincy Jones masterful approach to any musical genre he decides to dip into is that it is so professionally executed one can sit back in awe as well as be totally entertained and enthralled with the product. 50 Years in Music: Live at Montreux 1996 features a powerful orchestra that knows its place and allows guests like David Sanborn and Chaka Khan to be seen and heard in a new light. Sanborn is slow and steamy on "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" while Khan gets to convincingly sing "Miss Celie's Blues" with a young Brody Buster on harmonica. "Q" conducts the Northern Illinois University Jazz Band under the direction of Ron Modell and the slick 24-page booklet is most essential reading to go along with this sublime listening/viewing experience. Dedicating to Ella Fitzgerald a wonderful "Shiny Stockings," Patti Austin comes out with a silky smooth voice, and the gigantic band suddenly draws back and sounds like they are performing at an intimate little 3 A.M. nightclub. Prominent drums with light guitar and bass and Jones bringing in other elements, horns, piano, in a very major way -- is as ensemble perfect as can be imagined. Phil Collins is able to shed his superstardom and show what a really great voice he has, and an appealing low-key personality so different from how he is presented in the world of mainstream progressive rock ... Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fwxzljldde
11)John Baglio
What I Left Behind: New CD from John Baglio
By Joe Viglione/ recordreview2001@yahoo.com
Fri Feb 01, 2008, 03:22 PM EST Malden -
Malden - On his Web page, http://myspace.com/johnbaglio , John Baglio says his influences range from “Elton John to Rage Against the Machine to Mozart.” The fellow who fronted Malden’s legendary group “Tribal Wisdom” has indeed changed genres with a beautiful set of piano-based pop songs.
The new music replaces the hard-hitting grunge/dance fury that was that led to a riot on Lansdowne Street on August 2, 1996 when Tribal Wisdom played Aerosmith’s nightclub, The Mama Kin Music Hall. The Boston Red Sox couldn’t have been pleased with the all-out melee it caused, and some say it led to the band being blacklisted on the local club scene in spite of their large draw.
Fast forward a dozen years and the then-23 year-old lead singer is now a 35-year-old writer/producer with an impressive mix of sounds on the title track, “What I Left Behind.” It boasts elegant and clever piano riffs flush against explosive sounds, in a mix that translates well through the Myspace audio.
If the name Baglio sounds familiar, it’s perhaps the fact that John is a cousin of Salvatore Baglio, an East Boston guitarist/singer also with a new CD, “Memory Theater.” That Baglio performed at the Paradise Theater in a band called The Stompers back on June 29, 1978, when John was about 5 years old.
“Sal Baglio & The Stompers” went on to local fame with the hits “One Heart For Sale,” “Coast To Coast,” and “Never Tell An Angel.” The Malden connection is that The Stompers were represented by the late Mickey O’Halloran, and released a disc on O’Halloran’s “Botown Records” label, based here in this city.
In early January, John was visiting with his friend Gary Cherone before Cherone headed off to begin recording the next Extreme album and kick off the Extreme tour. Perhaps Extreme could pick up on “Deliverance” from the new John Baglio album, an uplifting spiritual number with strings and heavy acoustic guitar and drums.
The Malden Observer caught up with John Baglio on Jan. 8, the birthdays of Elvis Presley and David Bowie. read more here:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/news/x1059372650
THIS IS A TRILOGY OF ROLLING STONES DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE "UNDER REVIEW SERIES",
STONES 1962-1966, STONES 1967-69, KEITH RICHARDS
12)The Rolling Stones Under Review: 1962-1966 Review by Joe Viglione
With the immediacy of You Tube and other internet information streams it is tough to accept the tag-line "Ultimate review and crtical analysis of the music and career of The Rolling Stones" that adorns the back of this DVD package, The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966. The big tease is the videoclips - gorgeous video clips - The Stones sitting on a stage while they present Howlin' Wolf on the TV show Shindig, Buddy Holly with a snippet of "Peggy Sue" and delicious Rolling Stones tracks on film, all too short, and spliced alongside the commentary from Melody Maker magazine's Chris Welch, R & B singer Chris Farlowe (who was also under Andrew Loog Oldham's umbrella and had hits with Jagger/Richards material), Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor - who had performed with Mick Jagger in the band Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys- and others. The Dave Clark-leased video of "Paint It Black" live on Ready Steady Go and bits of "It's All Over Now" from The Red Skelton Hour are not as satisfying as finding full renditions of songs on the internet. That none of the guests point out that Mick clearly mouths the "f" word during "It's All Over Now" on TV in 1964 is as shocking as the fact that the singer got away with it, no pause and rewind available in the day allowing the moment to vanish for a few decades. The lip-synched rendition on Skelton's program might have the record playing "I used to love her", but Mick says into the camera "I used to (obscenity) her", and that's definitely worthy of discussion, if not by Red Skelton well, perhaps from their former bodyguard, Tom Keylock, who is interviewed at length here. Also distressing for purists is that you can do a quick Google search and come up with Felix Aeppli's Ultimate Guide 1962-2002 which has the actual dates of those TV moments along with images of 45 RPM covers, different from those displayed on this DVD. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB70B0FD2EA45243D2C0EF50F6DC602D4CF0&sql=10:kzfqxq9rldae
13)Rolling Stones Under Review 1967-69
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jifrxzyhldae
14)Keith Richards Under Review
This is an extraordinary two hour plus documentary on Keith Richards from Sexy Intellectual/Chrome Dreams which works much more effectively than the Rolling Stones Under Review 1962 - 1966 from the same company, probably because Keith is such an enigma as well as being the most fun personality/antagonist of the group. A stellar cast of rock critics and insiders help tell the story of the "pirate" guitarist along with music instructor/author Wolf Marshall who plays many famous Rolling Stones riffs throughout this production. Some of the same faces from the aforementioned 1962-1966 Rolling Stones Under Review return here - "original" Stones guitarist Dick Taylor, as he is called, former bodyguard Tom Keylock, about fourteen in all with an alphabetical by first initial group of biographies of the guests embedded as a bonus track. Divided into sixteen titled chapters narrator Thomas Arnold pulls the story together with his vocal authority, though the project tends to focus on The Stones more than the lead guitarist. Author Robert Greenfield has much to offer, his book Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones chock full of tales of Richards and company, biographer John Perry picking up the same theme while the discussion turns to Exile On Main Street. The director does a fine job of slipping pertinent clips of "Tumblin' Dice" and "Happy" into the mix as well as a very nice blend of Keith performing a solo rendition of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" which drifts into Wolf Marshall playing the riff and a key moment of Mick Jagger and the band performing part of a live version of the tune. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:f9ftxzqgld0e
These are all part of a trilogy of Rolling Stones DVDs from Music Video Distributors, much like "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby" and "Mother's Little Helper" were all a trilogy of druggy singles from The Stones in 1966 (though not all in a row, Lady Jane and Paint It Black were in there too)
15)Edwin Starr Story
This documentary of soul singer Edwin Starr starts off with the man himself talking about Northern Soul phenomenon which he is so much a part of. It is just one of the many treats in this hour and forty-eight minute documentary on Starr's life and his music. "War" was such a monster hit in the U.S.A. in the summer of 1970 that it seemed to linger at #1 a lot longer than the 3 weeks credited it, but The Edwin Starr Story gives the viewer a more complete look at his extraordinary career and reinforces Edwin Starr's importance in the soul music firmament. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hnfqxzygldke
16)Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Song Review by Joe V
For those purist fans of the early Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, a song like "We Built This City" took the path the Marty Balin-less group embarked on with "Jane" (a title Balin actually rehearsed with the group prior to his leaving for a solo career) farther into the arena rock wasteland. The four minutes and 29 seconds of "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" were a huge treat on an entirely different level. It's really more a collaboration between producer/arranger Narada Michael Walden and singers Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas than it is a Starship track. Lead guitarist Craig Chaquico is merely a guest star here, for this is a high-tech quagmire of bells, whistles, strings, and Walden's vision, building the melody into a rock-solid stomp, but for Starship, it is its zenith. If the song "Miracles" was Jefferson Starship at its most potent and creative, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is selling out, in a good way. With this tune the band evolved into the counterculture Archies, but Slick remains the Queen of Cool, and she adds a dimension of integrity, even bringing the very best performance out of Thomas, who was all things a singer for Jefferson Starship should not have been. Slick and Thomas work in unison here, not the tapestry that was her marriage with Balin's voice on "Miracles" but an effortless combination like the guitars of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, a doubling effect which intensifies the sentiment. Read more here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB7BB0FD2EA45243D2CAE456FFD6623C2DED93&sql=33:djfyxv8gldfe
Here's an interesting cover of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMP4oQnF0IA&NR=1
Here's a strange "limewire" re-mix someone put on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8xjJguOTD_g&feature=related
17 Foreigner Alive 'n' Rocking
Foreigner's Alive & Rockin' DVD is a slick presentation from Eagle Vision which features eight of the group's sixteen hits, a classic track - "Starrider" - from the first album and a "Juke Box Hero" medley which includes "Whole Lotta Love", a nice treat since son-of Led Zeppelin Jason Bonham is on drums. Those two titles coming after the drum solo that follows "Urgent" is also a nice touch. Here's the up and the down of it, beautifully recorded at the Bang Your Head!!! Festival in Balingen, Germany for the band's 30th anniversary in 2006 and with all the players doing their corporate rock best, the purist may be chagrined to find hard rock refugee Kelly Hansen filling in for original member Lou Gramm on a package that the average radio listener might think is the original group. Only Mick Jones remains from the thirty years that have passed and, though his playing is as solid and impressive as ever, those who appreciate and care about music integrity might want some kind of a warning beyond the six photos on the cover. Foreigner never had the massive cult charm of Jim Morrison and The Doors, and that means the mainstream leanings of this group makes the tribute-band approach less offensive, but still Hal Horowitz's same criticisms of the L.A. Woman Live DVD by The Doors Of The 21st Century come into play here. Read more:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:39foxzqhld0e
18)Foreigner Unusual Heat
Review by Joe Viglione
Rick Willis on bass, Dennis Elliot playing drums, Mick Jones on guitar/keyboards, with the debut of Johnny Edwards from King Kobra and Buster Brown on vocals, and the 1991 version of Foreigner actually is better than one would expect. Ten of the 11 songs on the Unusual Heat CD are written by co-producer Terry Thomas, new singer Johnny Edwards, and band mainstay Mick Jones, and believe it or not, they still have that bombast and brash appeal of the group which once featured so many textures brought to life by the voice of Lou Gramm. The unusual thing about Unusual Heat is that it is actually a good product and quite listenable. Though it reportedly sold respectable numbers, this review copy was found in the dollar bargain section of a retail chain called Buck A Book, but many a great disc has been relegated to the cut-out bin. "Only Heaven Knows" kicks things off, and it could be the second cousin (or sequel) to Lou Gramm's solo smash from four years earlier, 1987's "Midnight Blue." Edwards is a stylish vocalist, and he, like the multiple replacements for Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, the Guess Who's Burton Cummings, and the Jefferson Starship's Grace Slick, has that tonal quality that can keep the public happy by keeping the sound consistent with what came before.
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19)Hurricane "Over The Edge"
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20)Bruce Sudano Rainy Day Soul
Rainy Day Soul is a complete and impressive collection of ten songs by a talented veteran who has never truly received his due. Though he and his doo-wop/disco band Brooklyn Dreams and wife Donna Summer co-wrote Summer's 1979 mega smash, "Bad Girls", Sudano and Summer also collaborating to write the country/pop hit "Starting Over Again" for Dolly Parton in 1980, this album is 180 degrees away from the sounds of all the recognizable chart action the artist has encountered over the years, a shimmering excursion into singer/songwriter folk/pop/blues with more of an emphasis on structure and message than mainstream gloss. That doesn't mean it is as raw as Gerry Goffin's obscure 1973 classic, It Aint Exactly Entertainment, the infectious hooks on "Hey Chattie", the tender "Where Would I Be" and other compositions cast that notion right aside. Sounding like another Christian singer/songwriter, Andy Pratt, opening song "Show Me Who You Are" is actually so much closer to latter-day Pratt that a blindfold test would definitely confuse fans of both artists. Thus the uptempo and spiritual nature of "Eagle In The Sky", featuring the saxophone of Jeffrey Scott Wills, should come as no surprise. A craftsman who has had chart action over the past thirty-four years prior to this solo effort, he was one of many collaborators on a 1969 Top 20 hit, "Ball Of Fire" with and for pop maestro Tommy James. That title is one of The Shondells most underrated gems and, not coincidentally, has the same sparkle that Alive and Kickin''s "Tighter, Tighter" featured, a 1970 classic rock record by a group which included this artist as keyboardist. But where the Alive 'n Kickin' and self-titled Brooklyn Dreams albums were both inconsistent, the music here is strong from top to bottom. Read more here:
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21)Brooklyn Dreams
Two years before Brooklyn Dreams would hit on Casablanca with their Donna Summer duet, "Heaven Knows," this 1977 self-titled debut appeared on Jimmy Ienner's Millennium Records imprint. Summer makes an appearance here as well on "Old Fashioned Girl," a song that is indicative of most of the material on this set, not extraordinary but respectable and quite listenable. There's nothing to jump out and grab you like the immaculate "Tighter, Tighter," the Tommy James tune Bruce Sudano hit with when he was a member of Alive 'n Kickin' in 1970, but the album works much better as a total listening experience than had the Alive & Kicking LP, displaying innovations the previous band was attempting to find. Interesting to note that Tommy James himself hit on the Millennium label in 1980 with "Three Times in Love" while Bruce Sudano returned to Ienner's fold in 1981 with a solo disc, Fugitive Kind. The material wanders a bit stylistically, but is consistently good — "Hollywood Circles" a bit of a departure from the near disco of this set, a rock & roll tune of sorts that finds itself in direct contrast with more mainstream-of-the-day titles like "Another Night at the Tango." It's no "Puttin' on the Ritz," but works in its own way. Joe Esposito, Eddie Hokenson, and Sudano are adept at blending their voices in an interesting disco-doo wop fashion, a good concept and the key thing that gives the group its identity. Tony Maiden of Rufus shows up on "Sad Eyes" (not the excellent 1979 Robert John hit) and Skip Konte's production is certainly slick enough. It's just that much of it is dated decades after the fact, the group failing to make an impact outside of their affiliation with Summer. Read more here:
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22 Alive And Kicking Alive 'n Kickin'
Review by Joe Viglione
It is amazing that an album with such an extraordinary Top Ten single as the Tommy James/Bob King composition "Tighter, Tighter," by a group with superb vocals, is filled with such half-baked and poorly performed tunes. Although the cover says in big bold letters "Produced by Tommy James and Bob King for Tommy James Ventures," the difference in performance from track to track when played next to the hit, "Tighter, Tighter," is too distinct, so much so it is startling. The album says in very fine print "arrangements by Alive & Kicking"; what it sounds like is that the band produced themselves, and slapped a Tommy James production on the first track. The vocals on each of the songs are all precise and quite soulful, it's just that the future Mr. Donna Summer Bruce Sudano has material that isn't up to Tommy James' standards. The drums on each track don't compare to the hit, with guitar playing that is even worse. "Mother Carey's Chicken" is an indication of talent wasted on weak material. There is one brief moment that almost equals the hit single, a 30-second track by Sudano and Wilson entitled "Sunday Morning." It's terrific, sounding like a hook with no song, what a shame. This isn't the tune by Spanky & Our Gang, and perhaps it's no coincidence they chose that title; this band, vocally, has a lot in common with Elaine Spanky McFarlane. Sudano had another brief flirt with chart success when his Brooklyn Dreams performed on wife Donna Summer's Top Five hit "Heaven Knows" in 1979. Tommy James re-recorded "Tighter Tighter" on his 1976 Fantasy Records album In Touch. A good song is a good song, but even Tommy James READ MORE HERE:
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23)Something Special! The Best of Tommy James & the Shondells
Tommy James & the Shondells
It's hard to conceive that seven of these 12 titles were Top 40 hits because "Gettin' Together," "I Like the Way," "Say I Am (What I Am)," and even the Shondells title track to their second album "It's Only Love" are not as radio memorable as "Mirage," "I Think We're Alone Now," and "Hanky Panky" (rumor has it some may have been "jukebox hits," added to jukeboxes but not necessarily radio play lists). The nearly a cappella "Out of the Blue" is a strange opener and shows the group's vocal prowess, a serious rock band coming off like a bubblegum Beach Boys. One can't quip with producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell crafting a sound for this group; they worked on everything here except "Say I Am (What I Am)" and "Hanky Panky" off the first Bob Mack/Henry Glover-produced disc (Mack co-wrote the second hit, "Say I Am" with James — or so it says on the original disc; it is credited to George & Barbara Tomsco on this compilation) and Henry Glover's two productions from the second album, Tommy James' original "Don't Let My Love Pass You By" and the Ritchie Cordell hit "It's Only Love." The Top 25 "I Like the Way" is a wonderful slice of '60s-style British pop and had this follow-up hit to "Mirage" given the band a Small Faces direction, it may have helped to avoid the bubblegum stigma songs like "Love's Closin' in on Me" helped them obtain. It sounds more like Tommy Roe than Tommy James, but, despite having been written by James, bassist Mike Vale, and producers Gentry & Cordell, it still rocks straight from the Paul Revere & the Raiders school of power pop. Read more here:
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24)Gerry Goffin "It Ain't Exactly Entertainment"
Seventeen songs on a double LP released in 1973 are not what fans of Gerry Goffin and Carole King's '60s pop would expect. Two recording studios in Muscle Shoals, AL, gave birth to this earthy and energetic statement. The comparison to Bob Dylan is inevitable, especially on "Reverend Bottom's Tojo Saloon," a five-minute-and-16-second party which sounds like Gerry is stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues. But the tongue-in-cheek protest of "Cherokee Medicine" is much too quaint to be as boastful as Zimmerman, Al Lester's fiddle venturing off in its own direction as the song concludes. Longtime Carole King bassist Charles Larkey co-wrote the first tune, "Down on the Street," though he's not credited as a performer here. "Chicago (You)" has a funky barroom attitude with keyboard fills that supplement Goffin's lecture. "Chicago You" is a coded message that is hard to decipher, but fun just the same, making the title of this album rather misleading. It is very entertaining to hear the guy behind so many Top 40 hits laying back and jamming on tunes that are as short as the minute-and-21 second "Sail Away Ladies (P.D.)" to the 12-minute-31-second groove of "Set Job." There are revelations all over these four sides, a semi-gospel flavor on "Maryland Again" and Goffin sounding like a very drunk Ian Hunter in a setting that Ian has yet to visit.
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25 INCREDIBLE STRING BAND LIVE AT THE LOWRY
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26 JONI MITCHELL PAINTING WITH WORDS & MUSIC 1999/2004
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27 Neil Young UNDER REVIEW 1976-2006
This release from Sexy Intellectual, part of the Chrome Dreams group of companies, is more in-depth than some outside biographies of recording artists, perhaps because Chrome Dreams is the name of the "lost"/unreleased/bootlegged Neil Young album and no doubt where these devotees got their corporate handle. It is a follow-up to the companion DVD Under Review 1966-1975 and covers the 30 years of Young's career that fall between 1976-2006 -- triple the span of time explored by the first disc. Mandy O'Neale narrates this "journey through the past" over 14 chapters alongside eight name journalists including Robert Christgau and Nigel Williamson -- who are both in conflict over the artist's Trans album: Williamson calling it "appalling," Christgau praising the disc by saying "he made only one good album during the '80s years and that was Trans." Clinton Heylin, Bill Friskics-Warren, and others help conduct this investigation and do a good job of holding the viewer's interest over the hour and 20 minutes of chatter. Neil Young's repertoire, like that of David Bowie, is so complex it begs for a bit of cataloging, and that's what these reviewers do a good job of, this "Under Review" a solid attempt at putting Young's vast catalog into perspective. Read more here:http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB71B0FD2EA45243DAC0EB55F6D86F2D5DF0&sql=10:0ifqxzthldhe
28 Modern Times Jefferson Starship
This second edition of the Mickey Thomas-era Jefferson Starship/Starship polished '80s rock is actually a weird hybrid which you could call psychedelic metal. For fans of the fragments that were Sunfighter, Baron von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun, Manhole, and other experimental Airplane offshoots, this material is much too mainstream for its own good. But it isn't the eminently dislikable Mickey Thomas who is the major culprit as much as it is producer/engineer Ron Nevison, whose homogenization of records from Ozzy Osborne to Heart displayed a glaring lack of creativity, inspiration, or sense of anything remotely resembling art. Yes, Marty Balin actually practiced "Jane" with the group prior to his leaving the Freedom at Point Zero sessions, and had he stayed onboard, the approach may have been a more progressive folk-rock. It was Larry Cox who engineered from Dragon Fly to Spitfire, co-producing the music with the very capable band. Minus Balin and Cox, the true evolution of the Airplane sound is mutated and muffled on Modern Times. Critic William Ruhlmann noted that "Stairway to Cleveland" is "as gutsy a statement of purpose as any in rock," but that tune and the title track, two ofPaul Kantner's three contributions, are the only ones with elements that stay true to the band's original mission. "Stairway to Cleveland" follows the dramatic and techno-orchestrated "Alien," which at least is better than the generic "Free" preceding it, or the second cousin to "Jane," which is "Mary." It means you have to sift through the Mickey Thomas/Ron Nevison sterilization to find the advertised product: Jefferson Starship music. Read More Here:
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29 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN UNDER REVIEW
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30 PATTY LARKIN WATCH THE SKY
31.UNNATURAL AXE on The Music Museum of New England http://www.mmone.org
In between the New Wave and the hardcore movement of Boston's 1970s came the pure punk rock of Unnatural Axe, arguably New England's most visible ambassadors of the genre. Dorchester natives, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Rich Parsons and lead guitarist Tommy White (a.k.a. Tommy "White Trash") got into playing together after discovering what they felt was the perfect mix of rock and humor - the Dictators' first album. After "rescuing" bassist Frank Dehler from The Berklee College of Music they began to rehearse in Richie's basement. In their song "Three Chord Rock" you can find their mission statement "Someday we'll be big and play out of state - Wow!" The group officially formed in 1977 and recorded a 4 song E.P. released on Varulven which became an instant sensation due to Parsons' twisted masterpiece, a punk rock song influenced by the film "They Saved Hitler's Brain". Read more here:
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32)The Buzzcocks Lest We Forget
While the Buzzcocks were on tour in 1979 and 1980, Joan McNulty, the publisher of their official fan magazine Harmony in My Head (and then-girlfriend of singer Pete Shelley), taped all their shows on cassette the way Judy Garland's husband Mickey recorded her final shows. Decades after these recordings were made, their value is obvious. After lengthy legal haggling between 1982 and the date of release, 1988, Neil Cooper of Reach Out International records was able to issue this very worthwhile series of 19 songs culled from various live performances on the tour. Who better to compile the music than the woman who gave attention to the group before anyone else in the U.S.A.? The cassette tapes were brought up to Blue Jay Studios in Carlisle, MA, the place where the Joe Perry Project, Aimee Mann, Phil Collins, and others worked, and the material was transferred from the master cassettes into organized form. Read more here:
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33)JAY & THE AMERICANS SUNDAY & ME
Nine months before "Cherry Cherry" would launch the career of Neil Diamond as a singer, he had his first Top 20 chart record as a songwriter, "Sunday and Me," the leadoff track to Jay & the Americans' album of the same name. Continuing with the Spanish-flavored sound found on 1964's "Come a Little Bit Closer" and 1965's "Cara Mia," the light pop comes in with flamenco guitar, Jay Black's familiar voice, and bullfight trumpets. "Granada" also features old-world instrumentation and Black emulating an operatic Mario Lanza more than the teen idol sound of the day. Jay & the Americans were a talented bunch, Kenny Vance and Marty Kupersmith (listed as Marty Sanders here) adding much to the mix, though the vocal harmonies are never as dense as their contemporaries, the Four Seasons. Just listen to how Vance, Kupersmith, Sandy Deane, and Howie Kane embellish Jay's voice on their Top 25 version of Roy Orbison's "Crying." The two tunes that hit from this 12-song collection did so between December of 1965 and June of 1966, part of ten Top 40 entries by the group from 1962-1970. Standards like Carl Sigman's "'Til" and Stephen Sondheim's "Maria" display a vocal prowess that Gary Puckett would also bring to radio beginning a couple of years after this. Classics IV producer Buddy Buie contributes "I Miss You (When I Kiss You)," while a J. Phillips/J. Stewart title, "Chilly Winds" — sounding like a country predecessor to Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" — is also included, Black's voice dominating while the doo wop sound is kept to a minimum.read more here:
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34 Apollo Saturday Night
by Joe Viglione
On November 13, 1963, as veteran producer/liner-notes writer Bob Altshuler explains, "Atco microphones were positioned on the Apollo stage" after the showing of a film preceding this concert, which began "a few minutes before twelve o'clock." Decades later, this material by Doris Troy, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, the Falcons, the Coasters, and Ben E. King remains a vital document of a special time when entertainment was pure and remarkable. Opening with Wilson Pickett and Eddie Floyd's version of the Falcons, the tone is set for the album, sticking to deeper cuts from the various artists' catalogs and shying away from their hits, with the exception of "Walking the Dog" from Rufus Thomas and headliner Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." The two Otis Redding tracks were taped more than a year and a half before his first Top 40 hit, while the former Apollo Theater usherette who follows Redding on this set, the marvelous Doris Troy, was riding high with "Just One Look" on the charts a few months before this taping. That gem isn't here, but her unique interpretation of "Misty" and her own "Say Yeah" are. Every one of the performances is top-notch, concluding with a finale where all concerned do a short rendition of Ray Charles' "What I'd Say." Essential entertainment.
35 Ray Manzarek Carmina Burana
This is a staggeringly different piece of music for those who only know the Ray Manzarek of "Light My Fire" or "L.A. Woman" fame. The 1983 collaboration with Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi holds many revelations. As the post-Morrison Doors splintered off into various side projects, Manzarek's notable The Golden Scarab and The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control to the Krieger/Densmore schizophrenic unit known as the Butts Band, as well as guitarist Krieger's jazz-flavored solo discs, the journeymen musicians opened windows beyond the music of the Doors. Carmina Burana's power emerges from the fusion of musical forms, heralded by Manzarek's sincere approach to the project. The liner notes give an explanation of German composer Carl Orff's rediscovery in 1935 of the Medieval poems found in 1803 from 13th century "renegade monks and wandering poets." The modern-day minstrels that Manzarek and Glass are add a contemporary twist to the music Allen Lannon helped bring to America in 1954, when it was first performed on these shores in Boston. There are seven primary musicians who back the chorus, which features ten principal singers conducted by Michael Riesman. The music is intense, evocative, and highly spiritual, with Larry Anderson's drums adding something the rebels from hundreds of years ago would probably be proud of. read more here:
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36)Pendragon "And Now Everybody To The Stage..."
This very classy limited-edition triple-disc box entitled And Now Everybody to the Stage... features an 18-song, 15-track DVD with bonus material to boot — 240 minutes total running time along with two audio discs containing 146 minutes (of the same material). Filmed and recorded on May 22, 2006, at the Wyspianski Theatre in Katowice, Poland, this music from the Believe 2006 tour finds the band rocking out with a harder edge. For a group that is a cult favorite, And Now Everybody to the Stage... is an enormous package usually reserved for more commercial acts, the set including a four-page booklet and eight-panel fold-out box. The slick textured presentation is a follow-up to the 2002 DVD Live...At Last and More, taking things a step further. Drummer Fudge Smith is replaced here by Joe Crabtree, but few if any non-fans will notice, as the music is as pristine and exotic as ever, culminating in a tremendous version of "Am I Really Losing You?" The song is so sublime here that it screams out FM radio hit, although that kind of creature is a rare bird in the new millennium. Frontman/songwriter Nick Barrett is clearly enjoying himself re-exploring titles like "Nostradamus," "As Good as Gold," "Breaking the Spell," and "Masters of Illusion," all found on the earlier DVD Live...At Last and More, only this time out the handsome and youthful Crabtree adds some new energy to the venerable but aging group. Read more here:
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37)Pendragon Past and Presence
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38)The Transmitters
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39)Jack's Waterfall - Jack Licitra
Jack Licitra has constructed an album of adult pop entitled Calling All Angels -- smooth and consistent music flowing like water moving effortlessly downstream. The moniker Jack's Waterfall becomes a perfect name for the group backing him up on these smartly crafted essays in song. You'll hear Terence Trent D'Arby in "Spirit Voices" and "The Hero"; some Jackie DeShannon in the opening track, "Vision"; and definite Steve Winwood rhythms and thoughts permeating "Believe," with the "come on take me higher" ending. Tuba, trumpet, slide guitar, congas, bells, and "assorted percussion" help build foundations under each song, delivering Licitra's positive communications. "Song of Hope" continues the message of holding on, a theme scattered throughout the album with its cover of ghosts embracing in a living room with windows illuminated, the inside of the lyric booklet like a personal ad for angels: "Calling All Angels!...Creative universe seeks talented individuals to fill it with beauty and hope." It is interesting how John R. Phillips' CD Revival Time is recorded as smoothly as this, but holds a stark and negative message, while Jack's Waterfall is like some antidote, hands reaching up out of the darkness for a life preserver. Although each song has dynamics, the album itself becomes too much of a good thing, the music on "Vuelve" a loop of melody and repeating chorus, cut from the same mold of "Vision" and "Spirit Voices." Read more here:
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40)JOHN R PHILLIPS - Revival Time
Revival Time is a disturbing but terrific production and presentation by John R. Phillips, not to be confused with the late John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. One really doesn't want to venture where lyricist Blake Silverstrom is going with nine of the ten poems he has constructed, and Phillips' eloquent readings also make the listener wonder what the motivating force is here. The singer's voice is close to Meatloaf in texture, and "Conversations in Styrofoam" could be right out of a censored version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; it is dark, it is frightening, it is not something you'll want to play often. "Art Kills takes this concept, not a step further, but sideways, where it sounds like the protagonist is extinguishing the life from his lover. The entire album isn't this devastating but, though the artist and his collaborators could have moved into a Christopher Cross direction (the singer's voice is able to go from Mr. Loaf to Mr. Cross), a ditty like "I'm on the Cover of Newsweek, Mom" isn't about the celebration of success, but more like the despair of a parent whose child happens to be John Hinckley, Jr. or Timothy McVeigh. The dark joke here is that these tunes could be uplifting and wonderful, but the artists paint a different sort of picture. Read more here:
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OVER 200 JOE VIG REVIEWS OF RECORDS UP ON eBAY
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41 Bonus JONI MITCHELL SPECIAL EDITION
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42)KISS CAT TALES
Kiss drummer Peter Criss sits down, unmasked, and chats to fans at a convention called the Philadelphia Meet and Greet held on January 4, 2003.
There's about 62 minutes from the event taken with a hand-held camera that is annoyingly shaky. Criss can be heard as he speaks into a microphone but some of the audience questions are indiscernible. As the Kiss Army are a rabid bunch, and Kiss fan conventions are somewhat fun, this DVD is aimed directly at the faithful. The name Peter Criss isn't even mentioned on the packaging, instead there's a kinda sorta Kiss "logo" and the four band members in the background with "the Catman" front and center. A little bit more description would be helpful - the producers don't even tell you the exact date of this event, it's found via Google search and a ticket giveaway to a February 28, 2003 Kiss concert in Melbourne, Australia. Read More Here!
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¶ 7:50 AM
