Monday, September 30, 2024
The Weeklings Raspberry Park 2024, Fantastic Cat Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat 2024
Friday, September 6, 2024
John Mellencamp
That's certainly not how the story started. Mellencamp's first two recordings, Chestnut Street Incident 1976 and The Kid Inside 1977 were both inferior efforts. The Kid Inside was rejected by his record company and not released until 1983 after he'd had a few successful singles under his belt. His second release, A Biography 1978 was only sold in the UK and Australia, where I Need A Lover became a top ten hit. So I Need A Lover was included on his second American record, John Cougar 1979, and was a minor hit in the US. Then came Nothing Matters And What If It Did 1980, which included two quality top thirty singles in Ain't Even Done With The Night and This Time. The record received a luke warm response in the press, but the singles were enough to keep Mellencamp going, and in 1982 he had his first #1 hit record with American Fool, which contained the hits Jack And Diane (#1) and Hurts So Good (#2), and several other good ones, Hand To Hold On To and Weakest Moments.
Finally in 1983 John Cougar Mellencamp (the first use of his real last name on the cover of a record) made Uh-Huh. The first of several critically acclaimed records, Uh-Huh was also his first solid record the whole way through. The singles are front-loaded on side one with Pink Houses, Crumblin' Down and Authority Song, but the whole record is good. From there he moves on to Scarecrow 1985, another killer and where Mellencamp begins to write political songs of the American heartland. Rain On The Scarecrow was an impassioned plea for the American family farm, and became his theme song for thirty years of Farm Aid concerts with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. Four singles charted.
The Lonesome Jubilee 1987 followed, and became one of his most successful records. The record is still rock, but contains country/folk/Americana influences and features violin and accordion to good effect for the first time. Heartland vignettes and more tales of rural America, not to mention another trio of hot singles including the fine Cherry Bomb, make for a very strong outing. Big Daddy 1989 continues in a similar vein, but is a bit darker owing to Mellencamp's second divorce. The singles didn't fare all that well, but the record continued Mellencamp's sales success.
After two Americana styled successes, Mellencamp eschewed the violin and accordion and returned with a back to basics rocking record, 1991's Whenever We Wanted. It's the hardest rocking record of his career, and it's a winner. Get A Leg Up, Now More Than Ever and Again Tonight all cracked the top 5, and the record was top 20 and went platinum. More importantly, it rocks like crazy from start to finish with all killer, no filler material. It is the debut of David Grissom with the band, and his big guitar sound beefs up the record considerably.
Both Human Wheels 1993 and Dance Naked 1994 were well received and included strong singles. Mellencamp sounds a little like he's coasting, but the records are both good. What If I Came Knocking from Human Wheels was his last #1 single. Then in 1996 comes Mr. Happy Go Lucky, and for the first time in a while, it receives mixed-to-negative reviews. With only one top 40 single (his last), and some weaker tracks, it portends Mellencamp's becoming something other than the big rock star filling stadiums. John Mellencamp 1998 goes a long way towards the same end. While Your Life Is Now and I'm Not Running Anymore are strong, the album as a whole is less satisfying. Reviews were better than the previous record, but they weren't stellar. Rough Harvest 1999 contains acoustic versions of some of Mellencamp's back catalog favorites recorded in 1997. It's a contract obligation record, and saw generally middling reviews.
Cuttin' Heads 2001 was well received and again showed Mellencamp mixing some rock with the folky sound that soon would dominate his work. It's got some good ones and some strong political statements. Trouble No More 2003 is a covers record of mostly blues and folk songs. Spare acoustic arrangements feature Mellencamp's voice to good effect, and the song selection is pretty good, at least if you like old country/folk music.
Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits 2004 is one of the finest "best of" collections anywhere. For 25 years Mellencamp made a mess of great singles, and they are all here, along with two new songs that hold up to the hits just fine. If you're a casual fan, this is all you need. It is nearly flawless, and well curated and sequenced.
Freedom's Road 2007 is the last sort-of rocking record he will make until 2023. It's a strong outing with a rootsy sound that reminds one of The Lonesome Jubilee. A bunch of good songs, lots of politics and social commentary, and the vocal backing of Little Big Town all add up to a late career winner. The next two, Life, Death, Love and Freedom 2008 and No Better Than This 2010 were both produced by T Bone Burnett, and both were well received in the press. Mellencamp once said that Life, Death, Love and Freedom "is as good as just about any record ever made." It's not, but it's OK. I'm never wild about Burnett's production jobs. No Better Than This was recorded in historic places such as Sun Studios and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia and released to critical acclaim that baffles me no end. I've never been much of a lo-fi fan.
In 2010 On the Rural Route 7609 was released. It's an unusual four CD deep dive that mostly avoids the hits for songs Mellencamp feels might have been neglected, along with a few demos and acoustic works in progress. It's really for die hard fans.
From 2014 to 2022 Mellencamp released Plain Spoken 2014, Sad Clowns and Hillbillies featuring Carlene Carter 2017, Other People's Stuff 2018 (a compilation of mostly folky recent cover songs), and Strictly A One-Eyed Jack 2022. All of these records are rooted in folk/country/acoustic sounds with Mellencamp's ragged vocals. Springsteen duets on three on Strictly A One-Eyed Jack. The critics liked most of them, and I suppose you've got to respect the artist that remakes himself into something different instead of trying too hard to be his younger self.
And finally there's Orpheus Descending 2023. Yes, it's still Americana, but it has more kick than his other recent work. It's lyrically dense and Mellencamp's voice is almost shot, but it is a strong return to form, almost as good as The Lonesome Jubilee, and a late career high water mark.
What does one need from this expansive catalog? Words and Music is great, and probably all that most people really need. The Lonesome Jubilee is very good, and Whenever We Wanted is as good a rocker as anything ever. More recently Freedom's Road and Orpheus Descending are worth hearing.
There's a great quote in the book from Mellencamp himself. "I know why people don't buy my new albums. It's the same reason I don't buy the new Rolling Stones albums. I've got the good ones already."
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Greg Kihn 1949-2024
Between 1996 and 2012 he was a San Francisco area disc jockey. He also wrote four horror novels and several other books.
He continued to perform live until 2019. He had chart hits with the #2 Jeopardy, The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em), and Lucky. All of his records are worth hearing, but his early work really shines. He produced one perfect record, his sophomore effort from 1977, Greg Kihn Again. With covers of Buddy Holly (Love's Made A Fool Of You), Bruce Springsteen (For You), and Kihn's own Real Big Man, Politics, If You Be My Love, and the wonderful Madison Avenue, the record is a pure pop gem. His work is available for streaming, and there's a few YouTube videos. Kihnsolidation 1989 or the even better Greg Kihn Band: The Best of Beserkley '75-'84 2012 are fine compilations of his early work.
Monday, August 12, 2024
Updated Stereo System Again
Friday, July 26, 2024
Dr. Dog Dr. Dog 2024
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Paul McCartney Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes) 2024, One Hand Clapping 2024
I have an ongoing love/indifference relation ship with Paul McCartney. I think some of his songs are great, and I think much of his music is just OK.
Let me make one thing clear. I'm no Paul denier. First and foremost, if he never wrote a song or played some amazing bass part, he's still worthy of great fame just for his singing. He's a really great singer, right there with, well, anybody. As a bass player he is unique. He played bass with the Beatles like it was another lead instrument, not just foundational. Sure, others have done the same, but there are some McCartney bass lines that it seems no one but he could create. Drive My Car comes to mind, but there are tons of them.
Then there's songwriting, and Paul is a gifted songwriter that leans a bit too far toward the sentimental sometimes. I often think that if he had produced one record every six or seven years, they could have included only his best songs, and every one of them would be untouchable. Of course he'd need a producer to cut the wheat from the chaff, as it were. But if he had done so, his work and reputation would be different from what we have. I haven't listened to some of his records more than once, but again, there's always something there that's darn good.
We don't need to compare him to Lennon, and as circumstances will have it, that's not very fair. But for all of Paul's lesser output, there's Some Time In New York City, the most god-awful dreck released by any ex-Beatle. So Paul made some mistakes along the way. And he made some gems. One of those gems would be Band On The Run, regarded by many as the pinnacle of Paul's solo work. I know there are other opinions, but face it, it's in the top three no matter how you cut it.
And that brings us to the recent Paul McCartney releases, both associated with Band On The Run. The first is Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes). As fantastic as Band On The Run is, it may be even better stripped of some of it's, well, production. This is a fun listen, and if you love Band On The Run, you should get to hear it. It reveals a lot about the record in some fun and exciting ways, and it strips the veneer off of a record that apparently didn't require it. It is only available in a 2 CD or 2 LP deluxe Band On The Run, or streaming.
Then there is One Hand Clapping. Basically the soundtrack to a "Let It Be" style video of the band, made shortly after the release of Band On The Run, in studio. The recordings are of McCartney and crew playing recent Wings songs, Beatles hits, oldies, and odd covers. The set is just killer. If anybody thought that Wings were not an actual band, and just Paul's boys, this should set the record straight. There are some twee moments, but not many, and there's a lot of rocking. The recording is very good, clear and clean. Like a live recording without an audience. In fact it sounds like a tour rehearsal much of the time, and that's good.
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard may his his strongest recent work, but these gems from the golden days of Wings are great bonbons for his fans.