Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Raspberries Pop Art Raspberries Live 2017

 
The Raspberries. Four solid records from 1972-1974, one great "Best Of" in 1976, not long after they called it quits. Over the years they gained respect and admiration as one of the original purveyors of the Power Pop genre, along with Big Star, Badfinger, and a few others. 

Eric Carmen went on to a successful, albeit schmaltzy, solo career, and had hits with All By Myself and several big movie soundtrack songs.

And then, thirty years after the break-up, they reformed in 2004 and continued for a brief tour in 2005. Live On Sunset Strip from 2007 documents that tour's Los Angeles shows, and was released as a single CD with 13 tracks as well as a 21 track 2 CD plus DVD version. It's a solid show, and if you have it, you might not need Pop Art. It's the same tour.

The first night of the reunion was in November 2004 at the opening of the House of Blues Cleveland, and it is that show in front of a rabid hometown crowd that Pop Art documents. Available as a 2 CD, 28 track version and a 3 LP, 30 track (Record Store Day) version that includes two encores, it holds some material not captured at the Sunset Strip shows. There's two songs from the pre-Raspberries band The Choir, including regional hit It's Cold Outside. There's also three well-chosen Beatles covers: Baby's In Black, Ticket To Ride, and No Reply. Of course all the hits are here, but the show also reminds you how many good album tracks filled out their records.

The band is super tight, and augmented by three guitarists/keyboardists/singers, they can do it all to perfection. Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson are in good voice, and the harmonies are spot on. Special mention to Jim Bonfanti, a killer drummer that lights up the set. The recording is good, and there's not too much crowd noise. I'm not a huge fan of band reunions, and many times they can be downright embarrassing, but not this one. They were always an excellent live band, and three decades after their heyday, they were still on top of their game.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Peter Gabriel i/o

After just 31 years, Peter Gabriel issues his follow-up to Up. Not surprisingly, it sounds like the next Peter Gabriel record. If you're a fan, you'll want to hear it.

The songs are generally good, if a little longer than necessary sometimes. Gabriel's voice sounds great. The same excellent musicians he's used in the past are back. There is lyrical depth.The arrangements are interesting. The record is over an hour long and it drags a bit near the end, but that won't matter to most listeners.

I'm not a big fan, but I've liked a lot of his songs in the past. He does this weird thing of delivering the record in two different mixes, a Bright mix and a Dark mix, which don't really sound different enough to merit releasing them both. Given the 31 years it took to make the record, maybe Gabriel just couldn't pick one mix. I recently listened to Paul McCartney's "under-dubbed" release of Band on the Run. Now there's a different mix that is really worth a listen.

The most surprising thing about i/o is that it sounds like the next Peter Gabriel record that would have come out around 2006 if he's stayed on track. And that should come as good news to his fans.

Monday, February 12, 2024

David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 1972

It is a classic. 

The record kicks off with Five Years, the news that the world only has that much time left, and the ensuing melee that the news brings. Bowie speaks/sings the lyrics at first, and the vocal dynamic increases as the song builds. Great opener. Soul Love follows, and is another solid winner with a Bowie sax solo and a hot lead guitar from Mick Ronson. "Love is careless in it's choosing" indeed. After two mid-tempo entries, Moonage Daydream comes rushing out of the speakers, with big guitars and more sax. Alien sex never sounded hotter. Starman presents a hopeful image of the future and a visit from an alien that "knows it's all worthwhile". And lest we forget, "let the children boogie". The solid rock of It Ain't Easy continues the lyrical quest for redemption, and is more big, solid rock. 

The big balled Lady Stardust kicks off side two, and is said to be about Marc Bolan (or maybe Bowie/Ziggy), and Bowie's vocal and the lyrics are striking. Star follows, making a case for becoming a rock'n'roll star, and maintains the overall theme of the record.The uber-glam of Hang On To Yourself is a fast, sexy groupie come-on that "moves like tigers on Vaseline". Then Ziggy Stardust plays as the hero's biography built on a great guitar riff, and compares Ziggy to any number of messiahs, only this one plays guitar left hand and "took it all too far". Suffragette City brings more great guitar riffs from Ronson, sexual lyrics that are both direct and vague, and rocks like crazy. It sounds like a precursor to Rebel Rebel, and contains similarly indefinite sexuality references. The record ends with the big arena ballad Rock'n'Roll Suicide, a fitting coda which places Ziggy in the company of dead rock stars of the day while using a Baudelaire metaphor of life as a cigarette.

It still holds up today. It is arguably one of Bowie's most consistently strong outings both writing and performance. It is the pinnacle of much great work from Mick Ronson. The record is of it's time, but it is also timeless. There probably wouldn't be a glam rock category without this record.

Five stars all the way. Along with Hunky Dory, Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, and Blackstar, it is among his best, and maybe even tops the list.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds 2023

I know, it's been out for three months. But I couldn't bring myself to buy it until I heard it, and it took me a while to get my hands on one. I have been disappointed by the Stones any number of times in the past even when the "new" record received favorable press. In fact, most of the time since 1973 I've felt they just weren't making great, or even particularly good, records. I did a career overview not long ago, and as I said then, only Some Girls, Steel Wheels, and Stripped have lived up to their 60s legacy. Don't get me wrong, I think the Stones are a great band, and the records they made between 1964 and 1972 (except Satanic Magesties Request) can stand up to anyone's recorded output, but for almost 50 years they have mostly made less than stellar studio records. 

I can confirm what you have doubtlessly already read about the record. It's good. It's really very surprisingly good. It is hard to compare this one to the classics because it is clearly a modern product, recorded with a slick, clean 21st century sound. 

Several times I have discussed what it takes for a band to get it done. In my opinion, the must-have ingredients are a good singer, a solid drummer, and good songs. And by that standard, this new Stones record easily makes the grade. Mick Jagger is a better singer on this record than I have considered him to be in many moons. He's remarkably invested in being Mick Jagger again. Steve Jordan is a killer drummer, and Charlie comes back to life on two songs, so the drum thing is covered. It's that third ingredient that makes all the difference. These are better songs than Kieth and Mick have managed in a very long time. And they might not be as good as the songs on one of those 68-72 classics, but they get frighteningly close. And they still have two killer guitar players.

There's a bunch of celebrity cameos. It's pretty cool that McCartney plays fuzz bass on Bite My Head Off, but both Stevie Wonder and Elton John add nothing, and Lady Gaga's wailing on Sweet Sounds Of Heaven will have you yearning for Clare Torry. 

None of that matters. The songs are good. Almost all of them. The guitars sound like the Stones, and Mick does a shockingly good angry snotty punk better than any eighty year old should. Did I mention that the songs are good? Angry is a great opener, and Get Close, Bite My Head Off, Whole Wide World and Driving Me Too Hard all rock hard. The ballads Dreamy Skies and Keith's outstanding Tell Me Straight keep the quality up, and Sweet Sounds of Heaven sounds good today. It might not age that well. That's OK.

The Rolling Stones at 80. They up and made a solid record. Go figure.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

John Handy Hard Work 1976

John Handy had a long and successful career in jazz beginning in the late 50s. He played with Charles Mingus on at least five albums between 1959 and 1964 while also recording as a leader. He continued as a leader, recording his own bands until 1996, and appeared on some twenty-five different albums, mostly under his own name. His early work was mainstream/post-bop jazz that was generally highly listenable yet still challenging. He also worked with Indian musicians as an early Indian music/jazz hybrid pioneer in the 70s and 80s. 

This one is a mix of jazz, R&B, blues, and funk, and became a surprise jazz and crossover hit for Handy, reaching #4 on the Billboard jazz chart and #43 on the Hot 100. The title track kicks things off in high style, a funky jam with great sax and guitar solos. Blues For Louis Jordan is one of three vocal tracks, and Handy is a good vocalist, and he also throws down a hot sax break. Young Enough To Dream is a delight that features sax, keyboard, guitar and percussion. 

The sunny So-Cal jazz of Love For Brother Jack opens side two, and features Handy's sax again. Didn't I Tell You is a funky blues/jazz featuring hot keys and sax, and another solid vocal performance. The fast, driving funk blues of Afro Wiggle features Mike Hoffman's guitar to fine effect. You Don't Know ends the set with another vocal and includes funky keys and guitar. 

Handy wrote all of the songs. The band is stellar with Hotep Cecil Barnard keyboards, Mike Hoffmann guitar, Chuck Rainey electric bass, James Gadson drums, Eddie "Bongo" Brown congas and percussion, Zakir Hussain tabla (on three tracks), and Handy's tenor and alto saxes and vocals. 

I hadn't listened to it in a very long time until recently, and I'm glad I got back to it. A super saxophonist plays funky jazz with a stellar band and solid tunes, and everyone contributes to make a great record. A great find in a used record store, and of course digital and streaming availability too.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Van Morrison from Versatile 2017 to Accetuate The Positive 2023

It hasn't been easy keeping up with Van Morrison these last few years. He's been cranking out records like crazy. Since Roll With The Punches in 2017, he's released no less than nine records, including three in 2023.

Versatile 2017 is mostly a jazz album with a few Morrison originals that shows Van to be, well, pretty versatile. It is a solid record with plenty of jazz classics, and Van's originals fit nicely. I wasn't wowed by it, but it was enjoyable, and it pretty much lived up to the title. There are better versions of most of these chestnuts for sure, but Van certainly holds up his end quite well.

You're Driving Me Crazy and The Prophet Speaks, both from 2018, feature Joey Defrancesco's quartet with his Hammond B3 and trumpet plus guitar (Dan Wilson), drums (Michael Ode), and saxophone (Troy Roberts). Both feature Morrison originals as well as jazz and R&B compositions, and both are very good. Morrison seems thrilled/motivated by a different, and jazzier band, than his usual highly skilled accompanists. You're Driving Me Crazy has a more interesting song selection, especially the Morrison originals, all songs that had been recorded previously over the years.

2019 saw Van return to his own band for Three Cords And The Truth. The record features the bluesier side of R&B, and Van writes all the songs for the first time since Keep Me Singing in 2016 (which contained one cover song). The "three cords and the truth" quote from Harlan Howard refers to country music, but thankfully the record has nothing to do with country music. It is merely another very good record from Morrison along the lines of Magic Time 2005 or Keep It Simple 2008, both examples of Morrison's late career resurgence.

I reviewed Latest Record Project Vol. 1 2021 and What's It Gonna Take? 2022, both generally good music dragged down by Van's Covid and divorce inspired whining and bitching. I also reviewed Moving On Skiffle 2023, a relief after the previous two, but not a terribly exciting record.

And that brings us to the other two 2023 Van Morrison records. The first, which is available from Van's web site, is Beyond Words: Instrumental. Other than the pretty awful scatting that is the first song, most of the record is mildly enjoyable. An archival release of instrumentals recorded in the 1970s and 80s, it is mostly studio jams on generally minor musical statements, but it makes nice easy listening (in a good way). It is probably best left to the devoted.

And finally, there's Accentuate The Positive 2023. As with the previous skiffle outing, this one is all covers, except this time it's old time 50s rock and roll with a few country, R&B and pop tunes thrown in. I have mixed feelings about the record. The band is the usual stellar line-up that Morrison assembles, and many of them have been with him for a while now. They take the punch out of some of these oldies, but mostly they sound highly skilled and engaged in the material, and maybe even just having fun. Morrison sings these gems with reverence and genuine excitement and joy. In fact it is remarkable how well Van Morrison still sings. But it is an oldies cover record, and like most of those things, only one or two songs will compete with the originals.

I did a career overview back in 2011, and I have now reviewed or at least mentioned the fourteen records he's made since then in one or more of these Morrison related entries.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Zappadan 2023

It's Zappadan 2023. It might not be the biggest deal it has ever been, but there are quite a few acknowledgements of the festival.

I've reassessed my love of Frank's music this year, and have found that I have less tolerance for his juvenile, misogynistic, let's-push-the-envelope humor, and that reduces my love of at least some of his music. I also feel that his eighties xenochrony method of building songs around isolated guitar solos is evidence of his remarkable editing skills, but not evidence of his best songs in many cases.

But that still leaves a lot to love. If you are new to Zappa and want to know the best place to start, I'd say it's One Size Fits All from 1975. It is one of Frank's best bands playing some of his most accessible material. After that, you could explore any of these:

Freak Out! 1968
We're Only In It For The Money 1968
Hot Rats 1969
Burnt Weenie Sandwich 1970 
Weasels Ripped My Flesh 1970
The Grand Wazoo 1972
Apostrophe(') 1974
Orchestral Favorites 1979
The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life 1991
The Yellow Shark 1993
 
Some of my favorite Zappadan material comes from the wonderful piano player Fred Handl: 
 
Here's some other recent Zappadan posts on the intertubes:
 
And you can also check out my own past Zappadan efforts: