JOHNNY CASH
JOHNNY CASH WITH HIS HOT AND BLUE GUITAR
1957 – SUN
Produced By SAM PHILLIPS
1. The Rock Island Line
2. I Heard That Lonesome Whistle
3. Country Boy
4. If The Good Lord’s Willing
5. Cry! Cry! Cry!
6. Remember Me
7. So Doggone Lonesome
8. I Was There When It Happened
9. I Walk The Line
10. The Wreck Of The Old ‘97
11. Folsom Prison Blues
12. Doin’ My Time
It’s a debut album by a man who had little experience, who had just started seriously writing songs, who was given a band of just two people to record with and who didn’t have a drummer of any kind. It’s barely 27 minutes long…and it’s a stunning and strong beginning of a career that would span six decades and nearly 100 albums. Four of the songs were released earlier…”Cry! Cry! Cry!”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “So Doggone Lonesome” and “I Walk The Line” were released as singles between 1955 and 1956…all Cash originals, which was pretty rare in that time if your name was not Chuck Berry. Cash wrote five of the songs on this album, with the rest filled out by some great cover choices…songs by Hank Williams (“I Heard That Lonesome Whistle”), Jerry Reed (“If The Good Lord’s Willin’”), and the former Governor of Louisiana, Jimmie Davis (“I Was There When It Happened”).
There is not a single misstep here. Cash and The Tennessee Two (Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant) make this sound like a full band. They keep things upbeat, even without the benefit of drums (on “Folsom Prison Blues”, Cash improvised by putting a piece of paper between his strings and fretboard to get a snare sound), and without any studio tricks. Even more than on the early Sun efforts by Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, you can feel just how intimate and close these sessions were. It’s all raw, it’s all live, and it’s the beginning of a career that would turn out to be as legendary as they come. Many of these songs are still heard today, more than sixty years later, and for good reason. This was maybe the birth of folk rock, country rock, southern rock…and the birth of the Man In Black and a huge reason why Sam Phillips and his early Sun stable was so important to almost all of the music that came after it. This is an absolute classic. You should definitely have this one.
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RYAN BINGHAM & THE DEAD HORSES
JUNKY STAR
2010 – LOST HIGHWAY
Produced By T-BONE BURNETT
1. The Poet
2. The Wandering
3. Strange Feelin’ In The Air
4. Junky Star
5. Depression
6. Hallelujah
7. Yesterday’s Blues
8. Direction Of The Wind
9. Lay My Head On The Rail
10. Hard Worn Trail
11. Self-Righteous Wall
12. All Choked Up Again
In 2010, Ryan Bingham was a real up and coming star. He had released a pair of highly promising albums, and had just won an Academy Award for his song “The Weary Kind” from the movie Crazy Heart. He was teamed with acclaimed producer T-Bone Burnett for his third album, Junky Star…what could possibly keep this guy from reaching as high as he wanted to? Junky Star shot out of the gate hot and reached number two on the Billboard country charts…but it was ultimately something of a disappointment, given the hype that came with it and the promise that Bingham had shown. Junky Star was not a terrible album by any means…it contains three very fine songs: “Strange Feelin’ In The Air”, Hallelujah”, and the powerful “All Choked Up Again” were definite winners. The problem was that the rest of the album did not rise to that same level.
Bingham, whose voice suggests decades of heavy drinking and heavy living, but who was barely in his 30’s when this album came out, was still an up and coming force, and while Junky Star did not exactly bring him to the next level, it also marked a kind of a peak for him. His 2012 follow up, Tomorrowland, did fairly well…but by the time of 2015’s Fear And Saturday Night, Bingham found himself without a record deal and without the momentum that his early career came with. Shame, because even on Junky Star, the world seemed to be all ahead of Bingham. He would ditch his fine band, The Dead Horses, soon after this, and he began producing his own albums instead of working with the likes of Burnett and former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford. Junky Star is a decent effort…but it’s too bad that he didn’t really build on what he had working for him.
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ALBERT KING WITH STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
IN SESSION
1999 – STAX
Produced By IAN ANDERSON & BILL BELMONT
1. Call It Stormy Monday
2. Old Times
3. Pride And Joy
4. Ask Me No Questions
5. Pep Talk
6. Blues At Sunrise
7. Turn It Over
8. Overall Junction
9. Match Box Blues
10. Who Is Stevie?
11. Don’t Lie To Me
Back in 1983, this actually happened. 60 year old Albert King and 29 year old Stevie Ray Vaughan were invited to do a joint jam for live television in Canada, and both artists agreed to do it. King was Vaughan’s hero, and King knew Vaughan from when he used to hang around King’s shows years before he became well known. So there was a lot of familiarity to begin with. After the show aired, it sat unknown for years. Vaughan died in 1990, and King passed away in 1992. And then, in 1999, the recordings were made public with both a CD and a DVD release. The track listings for each are different (so you may want to own both), but this should be a joy for anyone who loves great blues guitar music. This is a posthumous gem from two of the very best, and it showcases them in the best possible light.
The album is mostly King’s set of songs (the only Stevie Ray track here is “Pride And Joy”), but the coolest thing about this is that King encourages and gives Vaughan room to explore these great songs throughout. King actually WANTS Vaughan to take the solo, to take the spotlight. Another big plus here is that there are several dialogue tracks, on which King tells Vaughan to go for it and let it out, while Stevie Ray is mostly quiet and seemingly in awe of his mentor…and then when the song begins, Vaughan simply shreds, many times to the obvious delight of King. This is a rarity in which you can actually hear the master passing his torch to the young phenom, and it is received with much gratitude. This gift from almost a decade after both of these guitar giants were taken from us is truly a wonderful thing, and if you have any love for the blues…if you have any love for music, period…you should take a listen to a pair of the best sharing a stage in the absolute best way possible.
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FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
ALBERT KING WITH STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
IN SESSION
1999 – STAX
Produced By IAN ANDERSON & BILL BELMONT
1. Call It Stormy Monday
2. Old Times
3. Pride And Joy
4. Ask Me No Questions
5. Pep Talk
6. Blues At Sunrise
7. Turn It Over
8. Overall Junction
9. Match Box Blues
10. Who Is Stevie?
11. Don’t Lie To Me
Back in 1983, this actually happened. 60 year old Albert King and 29 year old Stevie Ray Vaughan were invited to do a joint jam for live television in Canada, and both artists agreed to do it. King was Vaughan’s hero, and King knew Vaughan from when he used to hang around King’s shows years before he became well known. So there was a lot of familiarity to begin with. After the show aired, it sat unknown for years. Vaughan died in 1990, and King passed away in 1992. And then, in 1999, the recordings were made public with both a CD and a DVD release. The track listings for each are different (so you may want to own both), but this should be a joy for anyone who loves great blues guitar music. This is a posthumous gem from two of the very best, and it showcases them in the best possible light.
The album is mostly King’s set of songs (the only Stevie Ray track here is “Pride And Joy”), but the coolest thing about this is that King encourages and gives Vaughan room to explore these great songs throughout. King actually WANTS Vaughan to take the solo, to take the spotlight. Another big plus here is that there are several dialogue tracks, on which King tells Vaughan to go for it and let it out, while Stevie Ray is mostly quiet and seemingly in awe of his mentor…and then when the song begins, Vaughan simply shreds, many times to the obvious delight of King. This is a rarity in which you can actually hear the master passing his torch to the young phenom, and it is received with much gratitude. This gift from almost a decade after both of these guitar giants were taken from us is truly a wonderful thing, and if you have any love for the blues…if you have any love for music, period…you should take a listen to a pair of the best sharing a stage in the absolute best way possible.
I was very pleased upon my acquisition of this upon initial release. Such pairings don't always work out, but this one really did for the reasons you described so well.
BON JOVI
SLIPPERY WHEN WET
1986 – MERCURY
Produced By BRUCE FAIRBAIRN
1. Let It Rock
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Livin’ On A Prayer
4. Social Disease
5. Wanted Dead Or Alive
6. Raise Your Hands
7. Without Love
8. I’d Die For You
9. Never Say Goodbye
10. Wild In The Streets
Bon Jovi will forever be associated with Bruce Springsteen for two reasons. The band cites him as an early influence, and both are from New Jersey. All similarities end right there. The band, led since 1983 by eternally good looking front man Jon Bon Jovi, started as a hard rock and glam metal band before moving into less glitzy and more pop oriented rock in the 1990’s. By the time of Slippery When Wet, their third album, Bon Jovi has already established themselves as a band with some catchy hooks, a bunch of hit singles, and a pair of albums that lacked any real depth whatsoever. On this album, Bon Jovi reached number one on the album charts for the very first time (something they continue to do regularly to this day), and they reached their creative peak as well. It’s not really a very high climb to the top of this mountain, but this is probably the best album you will hear from this band.
As with all Bon Jovi albums, there are two elements to listen for: the hits, and the filler. Slippery When Wet contains four pretty good MTV ready singles. “You Give Love A Bad Name” and “Livin’ On A Prayer” are a potent one-two punch, continuing the band’s consistent ability to top the charts with heavy pop singles. “Wanted Dead Or Alive” takes the old Billy Joel song “The Ballad Of Billy The Kid” to a strange new level, and how many girls swooned when Jon sang the power ballad “I’d Die For You”. All four of these songs are available on compilation albums, which is really the best way to experience Bon Jovi. As for the rest of Slippery When Wet…expect a lot of well played and well sung filler that will stick in your head for exactly zero minutes. This really is about as good as a Bon Jovi album gets…but it’s still not essential in any way. The best way to hear this period of Bon Jovi’s history is with the 1994 compilation Cross Road.
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FLEET FOXES
HELPLESSNESS BLUES
2011 – SUB POP
Produced By PHIL EK & FLEET FOXES
1. Montezuma
2. Bedouin Dress
3. Sim Sala Bim
4. Battery Kinzie
5. The Plains / Bitter Dancer
6. Helplessness Blues
7. The Cascades
8. Lorelai
9. Someone You’d Admire
10. The Shrine / An Argument
11. Blue Spotted Tail
12. Grown Ocean
The first thing that comes to mind when listening to Helplessness Blues is how much it reminds me of the early work of Crosby, Stills & Nash. That’s enough to sell me on this album…that, and the fact that their debut album was just as good, meaning that these guys were not a fluke. This folk band that came from the land of Nirvana and Pearl Jam (Seattle) shows us here that they were, indeed, the real deal. The early influences of founding members Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset were Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Brian Wilson…so, yeah. Hearing CSN in their sound is not so far off. And as good as their first album was, it’s great to hear that Helplessness Blues is even better. This band was growing and expanding and striving to make better music. Unfortunately, the Foxes went on a long hiatus after this album, resulting in a six year wait for their third album, Crack Up. Don’t have to tell you what a six year break between albums will do to a band’s momentum…so it’s the first two from these guys that you’ll want.
The title track was the lead single, and it’s fantastic. “The Shrine / An Argument” and “Grown Ocean” are also big highlights, but the truth is, there’s not a bad track to be found here. This is a real throwback to the sounds of the more groovy and laid back…yet cool…albums of the late sixties and early seventies. This album contains ghosts of guys like Stills and Dylan and Sebastian, with songs that could have been written in another era by writers who were that great. But at the same time, Helplessness Blues does not, in any way, rely on the sounds of the past. It still manages to sound modern and relevant. Despite being softer, it still has power. And above all else, it maintains a level of beauty that only the best of folk based music has been able to hold over a whole lot of years. It makes me wish that they had immediately carried on from here, but they did not. Too bad…it would have been great to hear what a third album without a long break would have been like. But that’s okay. I have this, and I love it.
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THE LUMINEERS
CLEOPATRA
2016 – DECCA
Produced By SIMONE FELICE
1. Sleep On The Floor
2. Ophelia
3. Cleopatra
4. Gun Song
5. Angela
6. In The Light
7. Gale Song
8. Long Way From Home
9. Sick In The Head
10. My Eyes
11. Patience
The Lumineers formed in Denver in 2010 when Wesley Schulz and Jeremiah Fraites teamed up with cellist Neyla Pekarek and began playing open mics together. Their list of musical influences will surprise you: they cite, among others, Guns N’ Roses, Talking Heads, The Cars, and Tom Petty. The Lumineers sound nothing like any of those artists. They have, in fact, been criticized, along with Mumford & Sons, as being as non-rock as you can get. And while they are more folk that rock, it’s unfair to put them down for that. Their self-titled first album was a hit, thanks to the single “Ho Hey”. Cleopatra was a hit as well, despite being more subdued and even more folk driven…it’s the quality of the songs that carries it, as well as the beauty of the performances. It’s a more mature album than the debut was, and it doesn’t quite hold your attention as well, but it does have some great moments.
While some of the tracks are a bit too hazy, the best songs are definitely worthwhile. The trio of named songs (“Cleopatra”, “Ophelia”, and especially “Angela”) carry the album and make it one to have. These three tracks contain everything that is good about The Lumineers, and are more upbeat, but the rest of the album doesn’t quite reach that level. Pekarek left the band in 2018, but they have released a pair of albums since this one. And despite the relative mellowness of their recordings, they do put on a surprisingly rowdy live show. It’s good that groups like this can actually get radio play in this day and age…something that not too long ago would not have been likely. Their recent outings have been less successful, but still worthy of at least a listen.
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MARIO BIONDI & THE HIGH FIVE QUINTET
HANDFUL OF SOUL
2006 – SCHEMA
Produced By LUCIANO CANTONE
1. A Child Runs Free
2. No Mercy For Me
3. This Is What You Are
4. Rio De Janeiro Blue
5. Slow Hot Wind
6. A Handful Of Soul
7. Never Die
8. On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
9. Gig
10. I Can’t Keep From Cryin’ Sometimes
11. No Trouble On The Mountain
12. I’m Her Daddy
Mario Biondi comes from Catania, Italy, where he grew up singing in choirs, and later on cutting his teeth as a backup singer for a variety of artists. Handful Of Soul is his 2006 debut album, introducing Biondi as a crooner and a jazz and soul singer who is closer to Isaac Hayes than he is to Sinatra. He sings in English, and he has a band in the High Five Quintet that really swings. Three of the songs are Biondi originals (“No Mercy For Me”, “This Is What You Are”, and “Gig”). He covers some standard material (“On A Clear Day”), but he also pulls some surprises by covering Bill Withers (“I’m Her Daddy”) and Al Kooper (“I Can’t Keep From Cryin’ Sometimes”). But it was the title track that put Biondi on the map. It’s true blue eyed soul written in part by jazz bassist Jimmy Woode, and it’s definitely the highlight of the album.
Biondi’s greatest weapon is his voice. This is a voice that you want playing in the background when you’re making sweet love down by the fire. He sings in a warm and deep baritone that blends wonderfully with the more jazz oriented arrangements, while giving the music more of a deep soul feel. And that, more than anything else, is what makes Handful Of Soul such a pleasant surprise. He’s certainly not a household name, but he’s been able to make a nice career for himself, having released twelve albums over the last fourteen years. He’s not big in America by any means…that doesn’t really happen with Italian artists, even ones that sing in English. But Handful Of Soul is definitely worth a try. Mario Biondo has enough soul in his stroll to make him someone worth hearing, and this album is a great place to start.
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WHISKEY MYERS
FIREWATER
2011 – WIGGY THUMP
Produced By LEROY POWELL
1. Bar, Guitar And A Honky Tonk Crowd
2. Guitar Picker
3. Ballad Of A Southern Man
4. Calm Before The Storm
5. Broken Window Serenade
6. Different Mold
7. Turn It Up
8. Virginia
9. Anna Marie
10. How Far
11. Strange Dreams
12. Song For You
Whiskey Myers is a Red Dirt / Southern rock and country band from East Texas. Led by a couple of guys named Cody (Cannon and Tate), they boast a three guitar lineup, they cite Lynyrd Skynyrd as a major influence, and they are definitely more rock than country. Their debut album, Road Of Life, was largely unheard. But their second album, Firewater, got them noticed and put them on the charts. The song that paved the way for them was Ballad Of A Southern Man, a song that references Skynyrd by way of the title and knowing “all the words to Simple Man”. You’ll hear the name Curtis Leow mentioned at least once over the course of the album, and at the end of “Strange Dreams”, a “Free Bird” solo almost breaks out. Whiskey Myers can definitely rock, and they wear their influences, not only Skynyrd, but Hank Williams Jr. and Waylon Jennings, proudly on their sleeves.
But the real surprise track here is the acoustic and harmonica driven “Broken Window Serenade”, a tragic love letter to a girl who never knew he was there…and about her losing battle with crystal meth. Most definitely not an easy subject to write about, but Whiskey Myers makes it work. They can rock, and they can be serious as well, which makes this band so interesting. And they have grown. Their next two albums have fared even better than this one, with 2016’s Mud having reached number four on the US country charts. Southern rock is quite alive and well, thank you, and living in the music of bands like Whiskey Myers. They’re not quite household names (and may never be), but they are putting together a body of work that is well worth listening to. Check out the six albums that are available from this band. And hope that there will be more from them.
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STIFF LITTLE FINGERS
INFLAMMABLE MATERIAL
1979 – ROUGH TRADE
Produced By GEOFF DAVID, MAYO THOMPSON, DOUG BENNETT & ED HOLLIS
1. Suspect Device
2. State Of Emergency
3. Here We Are Nowhere
4. Wasted Life
5. No More Of That
6. Barbed Wire Love
7. White Noise
8. Breakout
9. Law And Order
10. Rough Trade
11. Johnny Was
12. Alternative Ulster
13. Closed Groove
14. Suspect Device (Single Version)
15. 78 RPM
16. Jake Burns Interview By Alan Parker 6/13/01 Part One
Stiff Little Fingers was one of the many second wave punk bands that came in the wake of Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. They have also been one of the most durable, having survived a three year breakup in the mid eighties and numerous personnel changes in a career that continues to this day. Inflammable Material is their first album, and it’s electric stuff. This band started as four angry young men from Belfast, with angry songs that were mostly about life in the middle of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Led by singer and guitarist Jake Burns, Stiff Little Fingers captures here the problems of being a teenager in an environment of war. “Grab it and change it, it’s yours” was the battle cry of their most important song, “Alternative Ulster”. This is what punk was meant to be…angry, political, music to make you feel and react to the world around you.
Inflammable Material also includes their biggest hit, “Suspect Device”, a heavy, hard, fast and political steamroller of a song. “Rough Trade” takes the recording industry to task, and the rest is a blistering commentary of what it must have been like to have been young and angry growing up in the mess that Belfast was at the time. Over the years, Stiff Little Fingers has released ten studio albums, and almost twice as many live records, understandable for a band known more for their highly energetic live shows. This is their best studio album, recorded when they were still unknown and fighting just to be heard. Songs like “Alternative Ulster” and “Suspect Device” have helped them along the long road their career has taken. They are best heard live…but it’s also great to hear the album that got the ball rolling.
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