VARIOUS ARTISTS
TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL: REFLECTIONS, VOL. 1
2003 – PLANET BLUEGRASS
Produced By STEVE SZYMANSKI
1. Wild Mountain Thyme – James Taylor
2. Wall Of Death – Shawn Colvin
3. The Fox – Nickel Creek
4. Bluest Man In Town – Del McCoury Band
5. John Hardy – Bela Fleck & Tony Trischka
6. Sutters Mill – Dan Fogelberg
7. Rings – Leo Kottke
8. Deadwood South Dakota – Nanci Griffith
9. The Mighty Clouds Of Joy – Sam Bush & John Cowan
10. Sometimes – Jonathan Edwards
11. Keep Those Homefires Burning – Left Hand String Band
12. John Henry – Johnson Mountain Boys
13. Land Of The Navajo – Peter Rowan
14. Lipstick Sunset – John Hiatt
Someone handed me this little piece of Colorado music for free…not sure where or when. Released in 2003, this album contains moments from years at the Telluride festival. Although the liner notes claim that this is an album of highlights from the first fifteen years of Telluride, the songs are actually all from the years 1990 through 1995. Very much to their credit, the folks at Planet Bluegrass resisted the temptation to include the obvious hits from the artists (it’s a good list), and instead focused on songs that are lesser known, but certainly not lacking in quality. The result is a surprisingly entertaining album filled with incredible playing, singing, and better songs than you would think. Starting off with James Taylor is fine…that the song is not “Fire And Rain” or “You’ve Got A Friend” is downright refreshing. And it’s consistently fine from there.
Shawn Colvin gives a nice rendition of the Richard & Linda Thompson classic, “Wall Of Death”. The instrumental prowess of Bela Fleck & Tony Trischka, Leo Kottke and Nickel Creek is well worth hearing, and Nanci Griffith and Jonathan Edwards are in great voice. Some of it is weaker, like “Mighty Clouds Of Joy” (a gospel soul song completely lacking soul), The Dan Fogelberg track (ordinary), and Left Hand String Band (they could have picked a better song for the album), but overall, this is a surprisingly good sampler of what to expect from Colorado’s best festival. Not sure where you can buy it…probably eBay (like I said, mine was free), but if you can scare up a copy, it would be well worth your while. Not to mention that the sound quality is really exceptional, and that the feel of the festival is captured quite nicely. A cool live compilation, worth seeking out. _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
THE BEATLES
PLEASE PLEASE ME
1963 – PARLOPHONE
Produced By GEORGE MARTIN
1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. Misery
3. Anna (Go To Him)
4. Chains
5. Boys
6. Ask Me Why
7. Please Please Me
8. Love Me Do
9. P.S. I Love You
10. Baby It’s You
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret
12. A Taste Of Honey
13. There’s A Place
14. Twist And Shout
It all starts here. In 1963, rock and roll was as close to dead as it ever was, before or since, when along came the debut album by The Beatles. The pairing of the band with producer George Martin was genius, but the pure chemistry and talent of the band themselves was huge as well. Even on their first album, Please Please Me, while the band was still searching for its studio identity, recording a lot of cover material, and rushing to complete a 14 song album in just ten hours (a feat that bands like Def Leppard have no concept of), the magic of what they were capable of was quite apparent. They just hadn’t perfected it yet. There are moments on Please Please Me that may not seem huge, until you remember that the album came out in 1963, when the idea of an album being nothing more than a loose collection of singles and filler was still very much alive.
The highlights are the original material, led by “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Love Me Do”. The songwriting magic of Lennon and McCartney was already growing into a powerhouse. George Harrison was not writing yet, but he does get two lead vocals (“Do You Want To Know A Secret” and “Chains”), while Ringo gets to sing “Boys”. The songs are short…nothing here reaches the three minute mark. But the album does capture the live energy of the early Beatles, and even the weaker moments for them (many of the covers) would have been highlights for just about any other band. The Beatles had plenty of better albums to come, but Please Please Me is a good reminder of how it all got started, and of how the band sounded when they first started recording together. It’s also a testament to the work that Martin did throughout their career. Not their best, but not a bad album by any means.
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BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER
1996 – JEEPSTER
Produced By TONY DOOGAN
1. The Stars Of Track And Field
2. Seeing Other People
3. Me And The Major
4. Like Dylan In The Movies
5. The Fox In The Snow
6. Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
7. If You’re Feeling Sinister
8. Mayfly
9. The Boy Done Wrong Again
10. Judy And The Dream Of Horses
Just gonna put this right out there…if you came to rock, you’re at the wrong album. Scotland’s Belle And Sebastian (named for a children’s cartoon) play straight up pop music, and they don’t seem to care a lick that their music contains not a hint of distortion or heaviness. Singer/guitarist Stuart Murdoch has a somewhat whiny delivery, which can make him at times sound a little bit on the creepy side. But, he also has a knack for writing great melodies. On the band’s second album, If You’re Feeling Sinister, Murdoch is at his peak. This is a sweet sounding album that is loaded from front to back with melodic genius. But you must know…Belle And Sebastian is not for everyone. The closest this album gets to heavy is the harmonica work on “Me And The Major”, an addition that gives the track a most welcome jolt of energy.
So, if you can deal with the soft (not even) rock that is Belle And Sebastian, and if you can deal with Murdoch’s weird vocals, then this may just be THE band for you. This album is like a throwback to the psychedelic pop of the late sixties. It’s dreamy, it’s pretty, but more than anything, it’s got melodies to last forever. And ever. This album has been critically lauded as a masterpiece, and it’s easy to hear why…every song is just melodically perfect. Oh, sure…the horns and the strings and the winds are nice, and the guitar work is nifty, and it’s even very clever lyrically (the song titles alone attest to that), but if you love a good melody, a good catchy song, then this is what you want to hear. And for that lone, Stuart Murdoch is one big huge musical genius. The band is still going, but they have yet to match the power of this album (although The Boy With The Arab Strap comes close). Something different…dig it!
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'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER
1996 – JEEPSTER
Produced By TONY DOOGAN
1. The Stars Of Track And Field
2. Seeing Other People
3. Me And The Major
4. Like Dylan In The Movies
5. The Fox In The Snow
6. Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
7. If You’re Feeling Sinister
8. Mayfly
9. The Boy Done Wrong Again
10. Judy And The Dream Of Horses
Just gonna put this right out there…if you came to rock, you’re at the wrong album. Scotland’s Belle And Sebastian (named for a children’s cartoon) play straight up pop music, and they don’t seem to care a lick that their music contains not a hint of distortion or heaviness. Singer/guitarist Stuart Murdoch has a somewhat whiny delivery, which can make him at times sound a little bit on the creepy side. But, he also has a knack for writing great melodies. On the band’s second album, If You’re Feeling Sinister, Murdoch is at his peak. This is a sweet sounding album that is loaded from front to back with melodic genius. But you must know…Belle And Sebastian is not for everyone. The closest this album gets to heavy is the harmonica work on “Me And The Major”, an addition that gives the track a most welcome jolt of energy.
So, if you can deal with the soft (not even) rock that is Belle And Sebastian, and if you can deal with Murdoch’s weird vocals, then this may just be THE band for you. This album is like a throwback to the psychedelic pop of the late sixties. It’s dreamy, it’s pretty, but more than anything, it’s got melodies to last forever. And ever. This album has been critically lauded as a masterpiece, and it’s easy to hear why…every song is just melodically perfect. Oh, sure…the horns and the strings and the winds are nice, and the guitar work is nifty, and it’s even very clever lyrically (the song titles alone attest to that), but if you love a good melody, a good catchy song, then this is what you want to hear. And for that lone, Stuart Murdoch is one big huge musical genius. The band is still going, but they have yet to match the power of this album (although The Boy With The Arab Strap comes close). Something different…dig it!
Well Roma I don't completely agree with your premise on this one. Belle And Sebastian and especially this album is for everyone... who makes the effort. I'm a rock lover (of the harder kind) through and through but this album is completely genre bending and is the work of some real geniuses just because of those great melodies you talk about. I can't recommend this album enough to everyone who has ears. But I think your conclusion confirms this already.
FRANK BLACK & THE CATHOLICS
DOG IN THE SAND
2001 – SPINART
Produced By NICK VINCENT
1. Blast Off
2. I’ve Seen Your Picture
3. St. Francis Dam Disaster
4. Robert Onion
5. Stupid Me
6. Bullet
7. The Swimmer
8. Hermaphroditos
9. I’ll Be Blue
10. Llano Del Rio
11. If It Takes All Night
12. Dog In The Sand
Frank Black is really Black Francis of The Pixies, who is really Charles Michael Kittredge Thompson IV. Known for his fairly insane approach to music with his legendary former band and on his early solo recordings, Black went through a calmer and somewhat mellowing period in the nineties, which resulted in some pretty dull albums. Dog In The Sand is the album where Black began to return to his on the edge persona, which makes this not so much a comeback album, but a beginning of a comeback album. The band does add instrumentation beyond electric guitar, bass and drums with some pedal steel and keyboards being incorporated into the mix. Still, for a guy who made his name making the unconventional music that he did with The Pixies, this is a pretty tame and safe outing.
The biggest highlight here is “St. Francis Dam Disaster”, a song that makes many references to the forgotten southern California dam that failed in the late 1920’s that remains the second deadliest disaster in that state’s history. “Blast Off” stretches things out at over seven minutes. “Llano Del Rio” is about a California commune from the 1910’s, and the rest of the songs are at least interesting. The band rocks efficiently, and Black is in fine voice, but ultimately, what makes Dog In The Sand an ordinary album is the lack of Frank Black taking chances. The album is efficient, well played and written, but more than anything, the best description here is safe. And if you’re a Pixies fan (or even a fan of Black’s early solo work), you know that you don’t want Black to be safe…you want him reckless, a little insane, and with more Black Francis going on than Frank Black.
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EURYTHMICS
SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)
1983 – RCA
Produced By DAVID A STEWART, ADAM WILLIAMS & ROBERT CRASH
1. Love Is A Stranger
2. I’ve Got An Angel
3. Wrap It Up
4. I Could Give You (A Mirror)
5. The Walk
6. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
7. Jennifer
8. This Is The House
9. Somebody Told Me
10. This City Never Sleeps
Out of the ashes of disco in 1983 rose this stunning second album by Eurythmics, and dance pop would never be the same again. Dave Stewart makes the synthesizer the main instrument here, and the beats are infectious indeed…but what really carries this album into a new world are the powerhouse vocals of Annie Lennox. The first real look we got at her was on MTV in the video for the title track. Tall, assured, a little scary, and a Howitzer of a voice. This album is best remembered for that quirky title track and the equally as excellent “Love Is A Stranger”, but there’s more to this than just the two hits. “Wrap It Up” (an Isaac Hayes cover), “I Could Give You (A Mirror)”, and “Somebody Told Me” are perfect showcases for the huge vocals of Lennox. It’s her voice alone that makes this an important album.
Of course, the title track is perfect, and “Love Is A Stranger” is not far behind. And, in spots, Stewart’s synths sound fresh today. But mostly, that sound has become stale and even more plastic than Eurythmics had intended them to be. The synthesizers are what keeps this album from the maximum rating, but it’s still terrific. The duo went on to release six more albums in the eighties before going on to their respective successful solo careers, and their sound moved to a more guitar oriented flavor pretty quickly. But if you were a child of the eighties, this is the album that Eurythmics were made of. And she can still sing like nobody’s business, but it was a bit more exciting with that short flaming red hair, the black suit, and the whip. The eighties were all about image, and Annie Lennox had it big time…along with that incredible voice.
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WHISKEYTOWN
PNEUMONIA
2001 – LOST HIGHWAY
Produced By ETHAN JOHNS
1. The Ballad Of Carol Lynn
2. Don’t Wanna Know Why
3. Jacksonville Skyline
4. Reasons To Lie
5. Don’t Be Sad
6. Sit & Listen To The Rain
7. Under Your Breath
8. Mirror, Mirror
9. Paper Moon
10. What The Devil Wanted
11. Crazy About You
12. My Hometown
13. Easy Hearts
14. Bar Lights
By the time Pneumonia, Whiskeytown’s third album, was released in 2001, the band had been broken up for nearly two years, and Ryan Adams was already in the midst of a fine solo career. His album Heartbreaker was already out, and Pneumonia was finally released as part of the promotion of his second album, Gold. It had been heavily bootlegged, and was, until its release, kind of a legendary lost album. It was also an album made by a band that was in a state of flux, with a revolving door of band members and a sound that had changed a lot from their debut album to this. The result is that it’s not as strong as folks would like it to be, and its legendary status faded away rather quickly once it was out. But it’s still a fine album, a band that was finding their new direction, which would have been interesting had they stayed together.
Of course, one of the undeniable truths about music is that Ryan Adams is a whale of a songwriter. And there are some great ones here…”Jacksonville Skyline”, “The Ballad Of Carol Lynn”, “Sit & Listen To The Rain”…songs that ranks among his best works. As is usually the case with Adams, there is some filler here, but not too much as to take the album down too far. His Whiskeytown partnership with Caitlin Cary is as strong as ever, and new member Mike Daly, a multi-instrumentalist, is a great addition. This is a decent farewell for the band, although it’s not as strong as the perfect predecessor Strangers Almanac. Whiskeytown was moving into a less country oriented direction along the lines of what Wilco was doing at the time this was recorded. If you’re a fan of Adams, and Whiskeytown, then this is necessary. A very good album from an almost great band.
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THE TEMPTATIONS
THE TEMPTATIONS SING SMOKEY
1965 – MOTOWN
Produced By SMOKEY ROBINSON
1. The Way You Do The Things You Do
2. Baby, Baby I Need You
3. My Girl
4. What Love Has Joined Together
5. You’ll Lose A Precious Love
6. It’s Growing
7. Who’s Lovin’ You
8. What’s So Good About Good Bye
9. You Beat Me To The Punch
10. Way Over There
11. You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me
12. (You Can) Depend On Me
The Temptations were one of Motown’s finest acts, boasting five exceptional singers who had access through the label to the finest of producers and songwriters. Their long string of hits and exceptional ability kept them at the forefront of soul music and vocal groups for a long time, before tragedy took over the original lineup (four of the five died young) and ended up with the group being an infighting shadow of its former self. But in 1965, they were fortunate enough to be handed the extremely magnificent talent of Smokey Robinson, who not only produced this early album, but also gave the group 12 songs. Some of it is less than exceptional, but the group had huge success with a couple of Robinson’s contributions. With top notch singers David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams, this had the potential to be great.
The most famous and most successful track from the album is “My Girl”, which Robinson hadn’t recorded with his own group, The Miracles. This version is pure magic, as is “The Way You Do The Things You Do”. Another standout is “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”, which was also successfully done by The Miracles and The Beatles. Some of the songs lack the power of these three, but it’s the great singing of The Temptations that makes this really worth having. This is overall a most impressive album, with the five singers at the top of their game. This is the album that really pout them om the map, setting the stage for even greater and more important successes, which included a long string of top ten singles between “My Girl” and 1973’s “Masterpiece”. This is one of Motown’s greatest acts, and this is a great introduction to their classic period and a big reason why Motown was the great success that it was.
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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
THANK YOU
2003 – ATLANTIC
Produced By STONE TEMPLE PILOTS & BRENDAN O’BRIEN
1. Vasoline
2. Down
3. Wicked Garden
4. Big Empty
5. Plush
6. Big Bang Baby
7. Creep
8. Lady Picture Show
9. Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
10. Interstate Love Song
11. All In The Suit That You Wear
12. Sex Type Thing
13. Days Of The Week
14. Sour Girl
15. Plush (Acoustic)
Stone Temple Pilots gets a lot of crap for being so-called “Pearl Jam sound-alikes”. The only real problem with that idea is that STP sounds pretty much nothing like Pearl Jam, or any other band under the grunge umbrella. The band was actually from San Diego, not Seattle, and had been playing for almost a decade when their debut album, Core, came out in 1992. The actual differences between Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots are many, but the main difference is that STP was a band of songs and incredible depth in its sound. In fact, a listen through Thank You, a greatest hits collection released a decade after Core, will reveal not a single guitar solo. Not because of any kind of punk ethic, but because the band was really all about the songs, and their singer, Scott Weiland, was the true focal point of everything that the band did.
The songs from Thank You are taken mainly from their first four albums, with one bad track (“Days Of The Week”) from the unsuccessful Shangri-La-Dee-Dah, an unnecessary acoustic live version of “Plush”, and the previously unreleased “All In The Suit That You Wear”. Thank You is also notable for the strong tracks that are not here: “Dead And Bloated”, “Crackerman”, and their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days”. In all, this is a good compilation, but you’d be better off with the band’s first four albums. Core, Purple, Tiny Music and No. 4 are all more cohesive, and do a much better job of showcasing the band’s strengths than this out of order collection of hits. Those hits are fine songs, but there’s a lot more to this band than just these songs. A good collection, but it’s just simply not an outstanding one. STP is better heard on the original albums.
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MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS
REV UP: THE BEST OF MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS
1989 – RHINO
Produced By DON SNOWDEN & JAMES AUSTIN
1. Jenny Takes A Ride!
2. Little Latin Lupe Lu
3. Shakin’ With Linda
4. I Like It Like That
5. I Had It Made
6. Break-Out
7. Shake A Tail Feather
8. Just A Little Bit
9. Takin’ All I Can Get
10. You Get Your Kicks
11. Sticks And Stones
12. Baby Jane (Mo-Mo Jane)
13. Joy
14. Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly
15. Sock It To Me – Baby!
16. Too Many Fish In The Sea & Three Little Fishes
17. I’d Rather Go To Jail
18. Liberty
19. Long Neck Goose
20. Rock ‘N Roll
Mitch Ryder was the original blue-eyed soul singer, who discovered the power of rock and roll along with the Springsteen ideal of music as religion…and became with the Detroit Wheels, for a couple of years, the hardest rocking American band there was. The original Detroit Wheels albums can be tedious, loaded with filler and tough to listen to. Which is why you need this excellent Rhino retrospective. Released in 1989, Rev Up contains 20 tracks…all of the essential Mitch Ryder tracks from 1965 through 1971. Along with sixteen Detroit Wheels classics, there are also a pair of Ryder solo tracks from the late 60’s, as well as a couple of 1971 tracks from the lone album by his band Detroit, including the take of Lou Reed’s “Rock ‘N Roll” that inspired the later heavy live version from Rock And Roll Animal. This is powerful stuff, and was, for a minute, the great hope for rebirth of rock and roll in America.
The centerpiece is, of course, their biggest hit, “Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly” from 1966, which still gets airplay nearly 50 years later. It’s everything that was great about this band…it’s fast, danceable, and loaded with a punk like energy a full decade before the birth of punk. Every track here is great…this compilation is perfectly chosen, and even though Ryder is almost a forgotten man, it’s absolutely essential. This is what rock and roll was supposed to be in the first place, and Ryder’s ability to rock out with the huge amount of soul that he did sets him apart from his contemporaries. In 1966, The Detroit Wheels were the heaviest…a year later, everyone was just as heavy or heavier, and the Wheels began their descent into semi-obscurity. But their influence can still be felt today, and this album is the best way to hear why they are so revered.
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