JOHNNY CASH
THE SUN YEARS
1990-RHINO
Produced By JACK CLEMENT
1. Folsom Prison blues
2. Hey Porter
3. I Walk The Line
4. Get Rhythm
5. Guess Things Happen That Way
6. Rock Island Line
7. Home Of The Blues
8. Luther Played The Boogie
9. Mean Eyed Cat
10. Big River
11. Next In Line
12. Come In Stranger
13. Train Of Love
14. There You Go
15. Ballad Of A Teenage Queen
16. So Doggone Lonesome
17. The Ways Of A Woman In Love
18. Give My Love To Rose
The early years of the career of Johnny Cash were his most consistent, and his most exciting. He signed with Sun Records in 1955 and made his first record, “Cry, Cry, Cry” (sadly not included here) and “Hey Porter”. Between 1955 and 1958, Cash was the most prolific and consistent of the Sun artists (Elvis Presley left not long after signing), but Cash was unhappy with his contract, and the fact that Sam Phillips was concentrating more on the career of Jerry Lee Lewis. Cash left Sun in 1958 for Columbia, but left behind a treasure of material.
The Sun Years collects the hits from this period nicely, but for the complete picture, you’re better off with the three disc Complete Sun Masters…pricey, but worth it. In the meantime, this album served as the definitive early years best of for Cash, and still fills that role nicely. It’s good to have “Folsom Prison Blues”, “I Walk The Line”, and “Big River” all in one place. Still highly recommended, but the bigger and bulkier mini box set of Sun Masters will make you forget this pretty quickly.
I'm not sure I ever knew before that Johnny Cash was once on Sun Records. In fact the only people on Sun Records that I was positive where Elvis and Carl Perkins. I had no idea there were so many other people for some reason. The last couple weeks I've listened to all these reissues of Sun albums by people whose name I never even heard before. Of course some are much better than others. And not all of them are rockabilly or country like I had thought. Some are kind of like 1950s R&B type Boogie music. And Howlin Wolf, who is one that I have heard of of course. And Billy Lee Riley and Sonny Burgess and Warren Smith are some of the wild and craziest rockabilly I've ever heard. I didn't know any of these names before. And some of them like Billy Lee Riley did all kinds of different albums, like country, Blues, 50s rock, even instrumental harmonica albums. Lot of it is really fascinating. Some of these songs on this Johnny Cash album here were done by several of these artists, I notice.. Like Big River.
I'm not sure I ever knew before that Johnny Cash was once on Sun Records. In fact the only people on Sun Records that I was positive where Elvis and Carl Perkins. I had no idea there were so many other people for some reason. The last couple weeks I've listened to all these reissues of Sun albums by people whose name I never even heard before. Of course some are much better than others. And not all of them are rockabilly or country like I had thought. Some are kind of like 1950s R&B type Boogie music. And Howlin Wolf, who is one that I have heard of of course. And Billy Lee Riley and Sonny Burgess and Warren Smith are some of the wild and craziest rockabilly I've ever heard. I didn't know any of these names before. And some of them like Billy Lee Riley did all kinds of different albums, like country, Blues, 50s rock, even instrumental harmonica albums. Lot of it is really fascinating. Some of these songs on this Johnny Cash album here were done by several of these artists, I notice.. Like Big River.
At one time, Sam Phillips owned the contracts of Elvis, Perkins, Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. There was a famous incident where Phillips told the four of them that the first one to bring him a gold record would get a Cadillac from him. Everyone thought it would be Elvis, but the winner turned out to be Carl Perkins with "Blue Suede Shoes".
Here's a cool song about that by Drive-By Truckers. "Carl Perkins' Cadillac"
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
CHICKENFOOT
2009-REDLINE
Produced By ANDY JOHNS & CHICKENFOOT
1. Avenida Revolucion
2. Soap On a Rope
3. Sexy Little Thing
4. Oh Yeah
5. Runnin’ Out
6. Get It Up
7. Down The Drain
8. My Kinda Girl
9. Learning To Fall
10. Turnin’ Left
11. Future In The Past
The exits of Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony from Van Halen were anything but pretty. Hagar was silently pushed out, and Anthony was replaced by Wolfgang Van Halen, and his face was removed from the pictures of the album covers on the Van Halen website…for a day. But the Van Halen soap opera is for another day. Hagar and Anthony teamed with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Joe Satriani to form the badly named Chickenfoot. This, their first album, was released in 2009, and is a surprisingly strong effort.
Hagar sounds refreshed with the new band, but the real key here is Satriani. Hagar, in an obvious stab at former bandmate Eddie Van Halen, said that they wanted Satriani because “he’s the best guitarist in the world”. On Chickenfoot, Satriani sounds absolutely possessed, and the album has more energy that anything VH had done in many years. “Oh Yeah” and “Soap On A Rope” are the obvious highlights, but there is plenty of other good material as well. Chickenfoot is not perfect, but it is a real, heavy album that should help renew your faith in the state of rock & roll. And it may be the best Hagar album since he left Montrose back in the 70’s.
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MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO.
TRIALS & ERRORS
2005-SECRETLY CANADIAN
NO PRODUCTION CREDIT
1. The Dark Don’t Hide It
2. Don’t This Look Like The Dark
3. Such Pretty Eyes For A Snake
4. Almost Was Good Enough
5. North Star
6. Ring The Bell
7. Cross The Road
8. Leave The City
9. The Last 3 Human Words
10. The Big Beast
Just a little clarity to the confusion. In 2003, Songs: Ohia recorded their last album, called Magnolia Electric Co.. In 2005, Songs: Ohia released Trials And Errorws, a live album, under the name Magnolia Electric Co., the name they used going forward. Confused? Good. Magnolia Electric Co. (and Songs: Ohia) are both the domain of Jason Molina, who has also released material under his own name. Trils & Errors was recorded live in Brussels in 2003, and has one very distinctive sound.
To say that the album is heavily influenced by Neil Young & Crazy Horse would be a gross understatement. And while Molina has nowhere near Young’s guitar or songwriting abilities, somehow the band pulls it off. Mainly because it plays as a tribute more than anything else…to the point of having fragments of Young songs pop up, including a show ending segue into “Tonight’s The Night”. The album jams, with only two tracks under 6 minutes, and it’s overall a cool show…one I would have enjoyed had I been there. It’s not perfect by any means, and it’s not Neil, but it’s still very good. Molina died in 2013 of multiple organ failure after a long battle with alcoholism.
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THE BLACK CROWES
AMORICA
1994-AMERICAN
Produced By JACK JOSEPH PUIG & THE BLACK CROWES
1. Gone
2. A Conspiracy
3. High Head Blues
4. Cursed Diamond
5. Nonfiction
6. She Gave Good Sunflower
7. P 25 London
8. Ballad In Urgency
9. Wiser Time
10. Downtown Money Waster
11. Descending
The Black Crowes hit their creative peak on their second and third albums, The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion from 1992, and 1994’s Amorica. On this album, the Crowes leave behind their homage to The Rolling Stones and create more of their own sound. The strength of the album is in the classic lineup coming completely together and working incredibly well as a unit. The snarl in Chris Robinson’s voice was never stronger. Rich Robinson and Marc Ford form an incredible 1-2 punch on guitar. The rhythm section of Steve Gorman and Johnny Colt is unbeatable, and Eddie Harsch on keys is the final, secret weapon. Bruce Kaphan of American Music Club adds some great pedal steel, and the formula for success is there.
Amorica also marked the end of the run of commercial success for the band. The lead single, “A Conspiracy” was controversial, as was the album cover, which came from a 1976 issue of Hustler. And while there are some great songs (“Gone”, “Wiser Time”, “Descending”), there was also a bit of a turn toward silliness (“Downtown Money Waster”). And the hooks that led songs like “Remedy” and “She Talks To Angels” up the charts were fading away. Still, Amorica is a great sounding album. A band coming into their own with their best lineup, not long before the wheels starting coming off.
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Of dying history
FLAT DUO JETS
GO GO HARLEM BABY
1991-SKY
Produced By JIM DICKINSON
1. Flat Duo Jets Anthem
2. The Dainty Song
3. Go Go Harlem Baby
4. You Belong To Me
5. Frog Went A Courtin’
6. No Greater Love
7. I Don’t Know
8. Harlem Nocturne
9. Wild Trip
10. Rock House
11. Stalkin’
12. Don’t Blame Me
13. Love Has Its Joke Sometimes
14. TV Mama
15. Apple Blossom Time
16. Ask Me How I Live
Long before there were The White Stripes, there were Flat Duo Jets. Coming out of North Carolina in the early 80’s, this guitar and drums duo of Dexter Romweber and Crow played loud, very dangerous sounding, and almost non-produced homage to rockabilly, old country, jazz and other strange music. Jack White has, indeed, cited this band as a major influence, and their existence still reverberates today, even though they broke up in the late 90’s. They are almost forgotten by listeners today, but musicians like White have not let them slip away.
Go Go Harlem baby is their second album, and while it’s by no means a perfect record (this band was too loose to ever record one of those), it certainly recalls everything that was so likable about them. Romweber’s energy is undeniable, especially on rave-ups like “No Greater Love”, “I Don’t Know”, and the title track. They also show what great cover artists they were, taking on songs like “Harlem Nocturne”, “Rock House”, and the unlikely “Apple Blossom Time”. This is ragged, tough music that may wear you out…but it’s also beautiful, and needs to be heard without being forgotten down the line.
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1. Sunday Bloody Sunday
2. Seconds
3. New Years Day
4. Like A Song
5. Drowning Man
6. The Refugee
7. Two Hearts Beat As One
8. Red Light
9. Surrender
10. “40”
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that U2 once was a young band coming into its own, and that they were once just releasing their third album. War is the follow up to their weakest album October, and marks a few dramatic turns for the band. A grittier sound from the guitar of The Edge is important, as is a turn towards more political fare…especially after the almost Christian rock atmosphere of October. The best thing about War is that the stand of U2 was then, as it always has been, about peace on an album that has the exact opposite as its central theme. That, and they do it without Bono’s later obsession about America.
For songs, War is a giant leap forward. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Years Day” remain two of the bands best tracks, and “Two Hearts Beat As One” isn’t far behind. It’s also hard to resist the lesser known tracks “Drowning Man:” and “”40””. War has its moments of imperfection, but it’s exciting to hear U2 putting everything all together right in front of you. Hard to believe that in the 35 years since War, U2 has released a grand total of only 12 studio albums. Really, guys? More product. Less posture! More albums like War!
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Of dying history
THE BEATLES
LOVE
2006-APPLE
Produced By GEORGE MARTIN & GILES MARTIN
1. Because
2. Get Back
3. Glass Onion
4. Eleanor Rigby/Julia (Transition)
5. I Am The Walrus
6. I Want To Hold Your Hand
7. Drive My Car/The Word/What You’re Doing
8. Gnik Nus
9. Something/Blue Jay Way (Transition)
10. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite/I Want You (She’s So Heavy)/Helter Skelter
11. Help!
12. Blackbird/Yesterday
13. Strawberry Fields Forever
14. Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows
15. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
16. Octopus’s Garden
17. Lady Madonna
18. Here Comes The Sun/The Inner Light (Transition)
19. Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry (Transition)
20. Revolution
21. Back In The U.S.S.R.
22. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
23. A Day In The Life
24. Hey Jude
25. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
26. All You Need Is Love
A few notes about this album that are pretty important. It was released by Apple Records, which, despite not having signed a new artist in 40 years, is still an active company. All of the tracks were approved upon listening by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. The only piece of newly recorded music on the album is the string section on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. And despite all of the songs having been heard repeatedly for most or all of our lives, this is actually very good.
Bringing in the seemingly immortal George Martin to produce was very smart. Martin bringing in his son Giles to help was genius. This is a mashup album, and Giles’ understanding of modern production techniques proves invaluable. The transitions are seamless, and the blending of songs could not have been done any better. There is, of course, no questioning the quality of the material. What Love comes down to is the team of Martin & Mar4tin, and they do a splendid job. The music is used in the Cirque De Soleil show, and it’s a single, quite long disc. It works. I never thought I would say that a “new” Beatles album consisting of the same material from the 60’s would be great…but here it is. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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BEASTIE BOYS
PAUL’S BOUTIQUE
1989-CAPITOL
Produced By BEASTIE BOYS, DUST BROTHERS & MARIO CALDATO JR
1. To All The Girls
2. Shake Your Rump
3. Johnny Ryall
4. Egg Man
5. High Plains Drifter
6. The Sounds Of Science
7. 3-Minute Rule
8. Hey Ladies
9. 5-Piece Chicken Dinner
10. Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun
11. Car Thief
12. What Comes Around
13. Shadrach
14. Ask For Janice
15. B-Boy Bouillabaisse
Capitol Records at one point considered Paul’s Boutique to be a failure, and pulled all promotion on it. Little did they know, the follow up to Licensed To Ill was already on its way to becoming one of the most important rap albums ever made. Paul’s Boutique was years ahead of its time, and the Beasties were quickly growing up. They were not only bringing psychedelia into the genre, but the list of sampled music resembled a mixed tape from their audiences PARENTS record collection. They pulled from everything: The Beatles, The Band, Sly Stone, Eagles, Sweet, Cameo, Donovan…the list is long and impressive. And the Beasties were learning how to layer things perfectly.
Paul’s Boutique yielded only one minor hit (“Hey Ladies”), but it has stood against time better than perhaps any of their other work…and better than a whole lot of hip hop album from its time. If you’ve ever wondered what the big deal is with the Beastie Boys, just listen to Paul’s Boutique. This is a true masterpiece, and hip hop would be wise to go back to revisit this album and start over from here. Maybe my favorite rap album ever.
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U2
ACHTUNG BABY
1991-ISLAND
Produced By DANIEL LANOIS & BRIAN ENO
1. Zoo Station
2. Even Better Than The Real Thing
3. One
4. Until The End Of The World
5. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
6. So Cruel
7. The Fly
8. Mysterious Ways
9. Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World
10. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
11. Acrobat
12. Love Is Blindness
You may have agreed with an earlier assessment of the album War, but you may not like this one. Achtung Baby could be one of the most hated albums in rock history…thus making it maybe the most underrated as well. U2 was coming off of their puzzling live album Rattle & Hum, for which they were blasted for their obsession with America, and their seemingly endless need to be taken seriously. The fact that Bono came across as a pompous ass every time he spoke didn’t help things. But the truth is, while people were busy blasting U2 at the beginning of the 90’s, they were busy making one hell of an album. People cite War and The Joshua Tree…Achtung baby is the real U2 masterpiece.
Why? First of all, exactly half of the songs were hits…not because they were great pop songs, but because they were simply great songs. Forget who the band is for a moment and re-listen to “Even Better Than The Real Thing”, “Light My Way”, “”Until The End Of The World”, “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World”. This is simply great stuff. And then there’s “One”, which is simply their most beautiful song. U2 may deserve a lot of the flack they get, but great music is great music. And Achtung Baby is great music.
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Of dying history
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bobbyb5
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