The Joy Of Cooking

The Joy Of Cooking was a women-led hippy country-folk-light rock band that made three albums and almost attracted enough attention to make it. Led by singer-songwriter-pianist Toni Brown and singer-guitarist (and occasional songwriter) Terry Garthwaite, they produced some interesting music that sounds today like it could only have come from the late sixties- early seventies. Their debut 1971 eponymous record contained the spirited Hush and Brownsville/Mockingbird, both songs featuring percussion and piano breaks that swing and strong vocals from Garthwaite. Too Late But Not Forgotten is a country/folk reminiscent of Carole King. Garthwaite's Did You Go Downtown is a funky jam/romp that goes on just a bit too long. The sad housewife lament of Red Wine At Noon features newly minted feminist sentiment. With Garthwaite's guitar almost imperceptible in the mix, the band is piano, bass, drums and congas, and while the percussion helps keep thing interesting, Brown is a skilled pianist but not really much of a soloist, and the piano leads are often disappointing. This improves a bit on the next two records. Garthwaite's raspy Janis Joplin-esque voice and Brown's smooth contralto make for some nice harmonies. 

Closer To The Ground 1971 was a step forward. The opening title track is a nice percussion-led jam of a song, and Brown's piano seems like an instrument capable of a lead break much more than on the first record. Other highlights include the rocking Humpty Dumpty, the organ-driven A Thousand Miles, the pretty good country break-up tune First Time, Last Time, and another percussion-driven romp Laugh, Don't Laugh that closes the record. The rest isn't terrible, and half solid is better than less than half.

Castles 1972 benefits from improved songcraft, the addition of a real guitarist on two songs, horn and string charts by Jim Horn on four songs, and generally better production, even though all three records were produced by John Palladino. The uptempo Don't The Moon Look Fat And Lonesome kicks things off with nice duet vocals. Three-Day Loser benefits greatly from Jim Horn's horns. Castles is a good Carpenters song, and again the strings and horns add to the song. Beginning Tomorrow is one of Brown's best songs, and again Jim Horn fattens up the sound, and Let Love Carry You Along is a nice tune with a good chorus and good uncredited flute. But again, that's only half the songs, and the rest are a notch or two below.

Brown and Garthwaite would return with Cross Country 1973, recorded in Nashville with local talent, and The Joy 1977. Both Brown and Garthwaite released solo records in the 70s-80s, and Garthwaite released a number of new age/spiritual records more recently. In 1976 Garthwaite was featured on a 45 rpm direct-to-disc audiophile jazz recording titled San Francisco Ltd. that received a limited release, and is a rare and fun find in a used record shop. I've always been partial to Closer To The Ground, but Castles is at least as good. After Fanny,  Joy Of Cooking was one of the earliest women-led bands to get a recording contract.

Zappadan 2021

Zappadan was initiated in 2006 on the defunct blog The Aristocrats. The idea was a 17-day celebration of everything Zappa running from the day of his death (Dec. 4) to the day of his birth (Dec. 21).

There is a Facebook page, and a Tumbler, and Twitter. And there are even a few blogs that make new contributions this year, including CirDecSongs, The Idiot Bastard's Son, and Aaron Pryor's Adventures Into The Well-Known. But the days of many bloggers having much to do with Zappadan seem mostly gone. It is a shame really, since the life of the iconoclastic American Composer is most certainly worth celebrating. 

I usually discuss the year's Zappa additions to the collection, but I did not add any recordings to the stacks this year. I have all the Zappa I probably need, even as more posthumous stuff gets released all the time. In fact, I actually got rid of one Zappa album this year, the pretty terrible Just Another Band From L.A.  from 1972. I continue to be shocked/amazed/disappointed at the short-lived (1970-71) Flo and Eddie version of the Mothers and find the four records they recorded to be some of the least interesting within the Zappa oeuvre. 

What I did do this year is watch Alex Winter's Zappa movie, and listen to the 2-CD soundtrack. I would have to say that the soundtrack is absolutely not the best place to start your Zappa journey, but it probably contains a few goodies for the diehard fan. The movie, on the other hand, while not breaking much new ground, tells much of his story quite well, and hits the highlights of both his musical and political lives.

You can explore my previous Zappadan posts here, and happy Zappadan to all!

The Best of 1971 Fifty Years On

There has been a lot of discussion this year of the music from 1971. And why not. It was 50 years ago, and it was a fine year for music (or was it?). Before I began this post, I went and looked at 1971, but I also looked at 1970 and 1972 to see if there was anything particularly special about 1971. Honestly, it seemed to me that 1970 was just as interesting as 1971, but 1972 did not seem to live up to the 1971 standard. Anyway, it's covid days and distractions are welcome, so let's just say that 1971 was special. I know it was special to me, because I was very into music and I was sixteen years old. Music (and lots of things) from your impressionable teen years can leave a mark. I was surprised just how many of the classics from 1971 I own and still enjoy.

So you can browse the "Best of 1971" sites for yourself, and when you do you'll find many of these classics:

Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers

Joni Mitchell Blue

Marvin Gaye What's Going On

Carole King Tapestry

Allman Brothers At Fillmore East

Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells A Story

T Rex Electric Warrior

John Lennon Imagine

Funkadelic Maggot Brain

Led Zeppelin IV

Harry Nilsson Nilsson Schmilsson

David Bowie Hunky Dory

Beach Boys Surf's Up

Janis Joplin Pearl

Yes The Yes Album, and Fragile

Grateful Dead Grateful Dead (Skull and Roses)

Santana III

 

That does look like an impressive list. In addition to artists, it was an incredible year for engineer-turned-producer Glyn Johns. In 1971 he produced The Who's Who's Next, The Faces' A Nod Is As Good As A Wink (arguably the best records by those two bands), and Boz Scaggs' Moments and Boz Scaggs And Band. He was a busy guy. 

 

And 1971 also included some other bright spots that may not be as well remembered as the classics, but that were no less interesting and/or influential. Some of these include:

 

Can Tago Mago - I didn't get hear Can until many years later, but it amazes me that this record came out in 1971. This music seems so alien to the era, and so different from anything else then, or now.

The Kinks Muswell Hillbillies - Maybe their last great record, and definitely the end of a spectacular five-year run.

Fleetwood Mac Future Games - Bob Welch and Christine McVie head the band in a new direction. Serious candle-lit stoner rock jams.

Laura Nyro Gonna Take A Miracle - Songwriter Nyro, with help from LaBelle, does an all-covers record that stands the test of time. A lesser-known gem that still sounds great.

The Rascals Peaceful World - Although it further alienated their pop fans, this smooth jazz/rock hybrid is a great record that went almost completely neglected.

Elton John 11-17-70 - The big lists like to talk about Madman Across The Water, but this is such a singular and riotous Elton John record, and Madman was only OK.

 

New York Rock Ensemble Roll Over - Great record, great band, should have been, could have been...

The Band Cahoots - Their fourth, and last near-perfect studio album.

 

Poco From The Inside - Paul Cotton's first with Poco, and one of their better ones all things considered.

 

Ten Years After A Space In Time - Again, maybe their last great record at the end of a string of them. Includes the hit I'd Love To Change The World. 

Oh, I almost forgot. 1971 was the year of The Sons Follow Your Heart (the one without horns), the title track of which contains my favorite guitar break, by the fantastic Terry Haggerty.

Bob Dylan Time Out Of Mind 1997

A while back I mentioned Mary Lee Kortes' brilliant live performance of Dylan's Blood On The Tracks. In that post I also included my list of "best" Dylan albums. I got only one comment regarding (mainly) Dylan's Street Legal, an album I am quite fond of, but still one that I didn't deem worthy of the "best of" list. But the whole thing got me going and checking out the many Best of Dylan and Dylan Albums Rated entries on blog and professional publication articles. 

And I began to realize that I maybe never heard Time Out Of Mind more than once, and maybe never. I love Dylan's better work, and as a fan, I bought I don't know how many really crappy Dylan records in the eighties and nineties, only to regret those purchases. I mean, from 1979 (Slow Train Coming, which is pretty good if you don't mind the proselytizing) to 1993 (World Gone Wrong, which could just be called Dylan Gone Wrong) there was a lot of serious dreck. In fact, looking back on his career, he's made more mediocre and worse records than great ones. I know, there's almost always something worth hearing, but if you own all the Dylan albums, you've bought a bunch of terrible records along with the classics.

I went and took Time Out Of Mind out from the library, and by golly, it is indeed a keeper. Even with Daniel Lanois producing (in my view, not a great sign), the record has some of Bob's great songs and performances, and much more than half of it is right there with his best work. I'll let you read everyone else's song by song rehash, but suffice it to say that almost everything is excellent, and everything else is at least solid. I disagree with those who feel that Make You Feel My Love is a lesser track, and even the 16-minute Highlands that ends the album is good Dylan. 

So what do you know, I've got ten now. They are:

Bringing It All Back Home 1965

Highway 61 Revisted 1965

Blonde On Blonde 1966

John Wesley Harding 1967

New Morning 1970

Blood On The Tracks 1975

Desire 1976 

Time Out Of Mind 1997

Love And Theft 2001

Modern Times 2006

The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble

Based on the idea of a rock/classical fusion, they got a deal with Atlantic. Hey, it was 1968, the time of anything goes. The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble 1968, their eponymous debut, is a curious achievement. The band sounds like a weird blend of The Blues Project, The Association, and Moby Grape with classical trio and quartet interludes thrown in for good measure. Sometimes the classical bits were included in the middle section of a pop song. Three of the members- Michael Kamen (keyboards, oboe, horn), Dorian Rudnytsky (bass, cello), and Marty Fulterman (drums, oboe, horn) were Julliard trained and the other two were rock guitarists (Brian Corrigan, guitar, Clif Nivison, lead guitar). It's a crazy story. And remarkably, the record plays quite well today. Sounds of Time and Began to Burn are solid pop-rock for 1968. The Bach Trio Sonata in A is a straight reading, and just fine. The early Michael Kamen-penned You Know Just What It's Like is the best rocking moment, and the psych-pop of Studeo Atlantis is pretty daring, really.

The follow-up, Faithful Friends 1969 is a real treat, and like nothing else. That's not always a good thing, but these guys could really do rock, and really do classical, and they could also combine some quartet sounds with rock to nice effect in a way not heard anywhere else, at least not until some of the prog rock of the late seventies, and this is still different in a not-bombastic way that is great. Now, to be honest, it's mostly a rock album, and a pretty good one. I'm Too Busy, Asking Too Much, Kite Song, and the Hendrix-penned Wait Until Tomorrow highlight side one. Thinking of Mary's baroque pop, the classical Aria and the remarkable classical-pop fusion of Brandenburg (with Bach themes and new pop lyrics sung by band members, and a rocking ending) close out a strong set. 

Their third release, the strange Reflections 1970, was a collaboration between the band and Greek pop/theatrical composer Manos Hatzidakis. Hatzidakis wrote the music, while NY Rock Ensemble members wrote lyrics, played and sang. The work was ostensibly recorded for a soundtrack to a film that never was made. The music is good enough, but the sound has little to do with the rock/classical fusion of the band, and it is a difficult listen today. It was their last record for Atlantic, and may have been a contractual obligation choice for the band, who were on their way to Capital Records and a slight shortening of their name to New York Rock Ensemble.

In 1971, Roll Over arrived, and it is nothing short of a classic. The band, now down to a foursome with the departure of Corrigan, produced what I feel is their strongest set. They toured the record extensively, and why they didn't become more well-known is beyond me. They put on an excellent live show, and the record didn't have a bad song on it. They even performed some shows with classical orchestras, doing a rock set and a set with orchestra- before anyone else in rock even dreamed the idea. The two ballads Fields Of Joy (later covered by Lenny Kravitz) and Beside You (later used by Kamen for the movie What Dreams May Come) are the only use of their classical instruments. The rockers are all solid. I reviewed the record some years ago here.

The good news is that bands didn't get dropped right away after disappointing sales in the early seventies, so they soldiered on with Freedomburger 1972. Freedomburger, with its cover depicting Washington crossing the Delaware on a giant hamburger, was a fine follow-up to Roll Over, albeit with a less cohesive (or more varied) song selection. A fine cover of A Whiter Shade of Pale, with classical instruments and Kamen's soulful vocal, is great. The band writes and plays a ton of killer tunes, among them More Like The Master, Magic Lady, Shuffle, Barrel Full Of Wine, Carry Me Up, and Raise Your Barriers. I'm Sending A Friend To You is heartfelt, and almost everything works. Looking back today, they must not have been promoted right, because they were certainly talented enough, and these last two records are rock solid.

Michael Kamen tried to give it one more go with his 1973 solo debut titled New York Rock. Bass player Rudnytsky is still in the fold, and the "band" is rounded out with ace studio musicians David Sanborn, Hank DeVito, Larry Packer, and Dennis Whitted. Kamen revists Carry Me Up from Freedomburger and writes the beautiful Everything That Touches You. The rest is all over the place, and a little too ballad-heavy. But the classical quartet shows up for Christophene and the J. S. Bach cowrite Winter Child. All My Trials and 1984 are good, but not everything works as well.

And so another one bites the dust, never to be heard from again. Ou contraire. Not this time. Bassist Rudnytsky has gone on to make a living playing cello and bass in Los Angeles for TV and movies. Drummer Marty Fulterman, with a name change to Mark Snow, has written music for more than 100 TV series and movies, including the entire X-Files series. Michael Kamen went on to score more than 60 movie soundtracks, and collaborate with rockers (Metallica, Pink Floyd) on symphonic/rock projects. Kamen was nominated for two Academy Awards, and won three Grammys, two Golden Globes, two Igor Novello Awards, and an Emmy.

Everything except Reflections is worth hearing, and Roll Over and Freedomburger are highly recommended. Faithful Friends comes awfully close, and features their unique rock/classical fusion.

Erin McKeown Kiss Off Kiss 2021

 

There is a new Erin McKeown record and it is right there with her best work. The record was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos fame, and it has a cohesive, and quite rocking, sound. Most of the songs deal with relationships, and it doesn't sound like those relationships are going particularly well. Of course this topic has resonated in many great records, so this one continues the long tradition of the break-up record. 

 

Cupido Stupido kicks things off in fast, punky style. Litany For A Minor Character has a nice riff and wordy lyric. Melancholy rocker On/Off Heart follows with a hooky chorus and a fine classic rock lead guitar break. Switch Shadows is an airy ballad, while Details Of The Crime has a slinky, "mysterious" guitar part. Go Along/Get Along returns to the fun pop-punk vibe, and details a relationship style just built for animosity. Business Of Show has a guitar figure that sounds like Andy Summers of the Police, and it rocks.

 

The second half is just as good. My Own Baby Now is a bluesy pop of a breakup song (I'll be my own baby now) with a sax break from Steve Berlin. What happens when a girl breaks up with a girl to date a guy inspires the vitriol of Is/He Does/He, a hook filled nasty pop-punk tune that has one of several rather graphic lyrics on the record. The title track is a another solid rocker followed by Landing Spot, an atmospheric piece with spoken word lyrics and great instrumentation. Today/Sex is another fast spiky rocker with solid drive and again with the sex-filled lyric (no innuendo here). The mid-tempo rock of Little Miss Mister with spare verses and big chorus ends the record as strong as it began.

 

Special merit goes to the band. Trent Baarspul (guitar), Damian Erskine (bass), Reinhardt Melz (drums), and Erik Duetsch (keyboards) all have their shining moments, and Melz is especially effective at pushing the rhythms forward. Erin's guitar and Berlin's sax fatten it all up nicely. Ms. McKeown is a fabulous singer that just seems to get better, and her songwriting continues to to produce great material. This one joins We Will Become Like Birds 2005, Hundreds of Lions 2009, and MANIFESTRA 2013 as one of her finest.

Gerry and the Pacemakers Greatest Hits 1965

Today, Gerry and the Pacemakers are mostly a footnote in the early British beat scene, and the British Invasion bands that followed the Beatles to America. Between 1963-1965, they released five LPs in America, and this hits package was the last of those five. They had three #1 hits in the UK, but only managed to climb to #4 in the US with Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying and #6 with Ferry Cross The Mersey. Those two hit ballads might mean that the rocking side of the band is less well known in the U.S. After 1966, they never again dented the charts in the U.S. or the U.K., although there have been a few compilations and a live BBC issue. The only hit missing (and you probably won't miss it) from this LP is You'll Never Walk Alone, Rogers and Hammerstein's number from Carousel, which became a football fan singalong in the U.K.

This is one of those records to stumble across in a used record store. Having not heard many of the songs, you'd be likely to keep browsing, but if you are a fan of other British Invasion groups (Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, The Hollies), you should pick this one up. How Do You Do It sounds like a Herman's Hermits hit, Willie Dixon's My Babe sounds like early Stones, It's Gonna Be Alright and I Like It could be the Beatles, and the aforementioned ballads are classics. I bought it for Ferry Cross The Mersey and was delighted at the quality of the entire record. Oh, and they were recorded by none other than Sir George Martin, so it sounds good, too.

Van Morrison Latest Record Project Volume 1 2021

I read the early, mostly negative reviews, and I was admittedly taken aback. I'm a huge Van Morrison fan, and I've been pretty amazed and impressed with most of his work in the last 20 years. The five (five!!) albums he released between 2017 and 2019 (Roll With The Punches, Versatile, You're Driving Me Crazy, The Profit Speaks, and Three Chords And The Truth) were all above average at least, and represent a remarkably strong period.

So, here's the good news: Van Morrison can still write a good melody, or borrow a good blues riff and make it his own. He's been doing both forever, and while a lot of them sound the same, he's a talented songwriter. The band on this record is highly talented and the recording sounds good. Whoever is playing the Hammond B3 is especially skilled. The backup singers are rather forward in the mix on many songs, and they sound great. 

But here's the rub: The best way to thoroughly enjoy this record is to not understand the English language. Lyrically, Van is very upset about a lot of things these days. His wife of 25-plus years left in 2018, and he's still a mess about that, and not in just a sad way, but clearly dealing with some anger issues. He's mad at the music business. And the media in general. And psychiatrists. And Facebook. And Covid restrictions. Additionally, he thinks everyone that doesn't love him, and maybe those that do love him and thus emulate his work, are all just jealous of his enormous talent. Finally on his list of complaints, is the fact that he is the only authentic rebel left. 

And (I know, how could there be more?), Van seems to think that the music he's making now sounds so different that people don't get it, and they should realize that he's progressing and get over it. Trust me, the only thing really new about this record is how totally bat-shit crazy Van Morrison sounds when words come out of his mouth.

There's been one or two of those angry songs on many of his records over the last 30 years or so. But this one has, by my count, something like 19 of them. Holy crap, there's 28 songs on the 2-CD set, and two thirds are him whining and complaining and being paranoid. And this is only Volume 1?

With brutal editing, this could have been a pretty good single disc release. At over two hours long, it is a disaster.

Jazz from the 1950s and 1960s

I'm a melody kind of guy. Raised on pop and rock with some folk mixed in, music fits me better when I can hum or whistle along. So the jazz I most like is the cool jazz and West Coast jazz of the fifties and sixties that lived in the same moment as the bebop and hard bop that I find overly aggressive and challenging. I understand that those hard boppers are highly talented and wildly creative, but they are clearly not mellow, and I like my jazz mellow. So here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order (well, actually alphabetically).

Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue 1967 is classic blues/jazz at it's best. Burrell fronts a great band, including Stanley Turrentine, and everything comes out perfect.

Nat "King" Cole's After Midnight 1957. Before becoming a pop crooner singing with an orchestra, Cole was a pianist who led a jazz trio, and was widely considered one of the best. In 1957 Cole returned to his roots for the last time, and recorded this amazing session. If you never knew Cole as a jazz pianist, this is the place to start. The trio, supplemented by percussion, and horn (and violin) soloists, swings like crazy, and Cole's singing and piano are both stellar.

I can add nothing to the discussion of this great record. Sunday At The Village Vanguard 1961 is everything it is touted to be, and deserves the hype today as much as it did on it's release. Both Sunday At The Village Vanguard and Waltz For Debbie 1961, recorded at the same session, have been in print and available for purchase since their release. The pinnacle of the piano trio, with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, the three operated almost as one mind with six hands. You can just sit and enjoy it, or you can study it to death, either way, it holds up.

The Chico Hamilton Quintet featuring Buddy Collette 1956 is a fascinating West Coast jazz ensemble. Drummer Hamilton is joined by sax/flute/clarinetist Collette plus bass, cello, and guitar. It is an unusual ensemble, and they are spectacular. 

At The Pershing: But Not For Me 1958 was one of the biggest hits of it's time, staying on the charts for 108 weeks. It includes Jamal's first version of Poinciana, and it is a delightful record. Swinging and easy to love. 

Sinatra'a In The Wee Small Hours 1955 might be the very first concept album, and Sinatra would return to themed records several more times in the 50s and 60s. Great songs, Nelson Riddle's arrangements, and Sinatra at the peak of his understated power, it is one of Sinatra's finest.

Peggy Lee Ultimate Peggy Lee 2020

How many of these apply to you?

1) I love the classic 50s-60s era of great jazz and popular song.

2) I love a great female voice/singer.

3) I love a well-crafted song, delivered in a fine arrangement.

4) Good sound enhances my enjoyment of music. 

5) I'm not sure I am familiar enough with Peggy Lee.

If you can answer yes to a few of those (I'm good for all five), you need to hear this record. Available on CD or a very nicely pressed 2 LP set, the mastering job is excellent and the sound is impressive. The song selection is also good, with a few that don't usually make it to most of her "best of" sets. Of course there are many compilations by Lee out there, and her Decca and Capitol work are usually mutually exclusive, so it is also nice that this one contains three essentials from her mid-fifties Decca stint along with her Capitol work.

And then there's Peggy Lee's voice and sensual delivery. She is unique in her delivery. Sexy, but never coquettish, Lee whispers in your ear like a woman that knows.

Great songs (five that she wrote), great singer, great sound.

Drive-by Truckers The Three Great Alabama Icons 2001

I grew up in north Alabama back in the 1970s when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. I'm speaking, of course, of the three great Alabama icons: George Wallace, Bear Bryant, and Ronnie Van Zant. Now, Ronnie Van Zant wasn't from Alabama, he was from Florida, he was a huge Neil Young fan but in the tradition of Merle Haggard writing Okie From Muskogee to tell his dad's point of view on the hippies in Vietnam, Ronnie felt that the other side of the story should be told. Neil Young always claimed that Sweet Home Alabama was one of his favorite songs and legend has it that he was an honorary pallbearer at Ronnie's funeral, such is the duality of the southern thing
...and Bear Bryant wore a cool lookin' red checkered hat and won football games, and there's few things more loved in Alabama than football and the men who know how to win at it. So when the Bear would come to town, there would be a parade. Me, I was one of them pussy boys cuz i hated football, so i got a guitar but a guitar was a poor substitute for a football with the girls in my high school. So my band hit the road, and we didn't play no Skynyrd, neither. I came of age rebelling against the music in my high school parking lot. It wasn't until years later after leaving the South for a while that I came to appreciate and understand the whole Skynyrd thing and its misunderstood glory. I left the south and learned how different people's perceptions of the Southern Thing was from what I had seen in my life, which leads us to George Wallace...
...now Wallace was, for all practical purposes, the governor of Alabama from 1962 until 1986. Once when a law prevented him from succeeding himself, he ran his wife Lurleen in his place and she won by a landslide. He's most famous as the belligerent racist voice of the segregationist South, standing in the doorways of schools and waging a war against the federal government that he decried as Hypocritical. Now Wallace started out as a lawyer and a judge with a very progressive and humanitarian track record for a man of his time, but he lost his first bid for governor in 1958 by hedging on the race issue against a man who spoke out against integration. Wallace ran again in '62 as a staunch segregationist and won big and for the next decade he spoke out loudly. He accused Kennedy and King of being communist and he was constantly on national news representing "the good people" of Alabama
...and ya know race was only an issue on tv in the house that i grew up in. Wallace was viewed as a man from another time and place, but when i first ventured out of the south I was shocked at how strongly Wallace was associated with Alabama and its people. Racism is a worldwide problem, and it's been like that since the beginning of recorded history and it ain't just white and black, but thanks to George Wallace, it's always a little more convenient to play it with a Southern accent
...and Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd attempted to show another side of the south, one that certainly exists, but few saw beyond the rebel flag and this applies not only to their critics and detractors but also their fans and followers. So for a while, when Neil Young would come to town, he'd get death threats down in Alabama. Ironically, in 1971, after a particularly racially charged campaign, Wallace began backpedaling and he opened up Alabama politics to minorities at a rate faster than most northern states or the federal government. Wallace spent the rest of his life trying to explain away his racist past and in 1982 he won his last term in office with over 90% of the black vote, such is the duality of the southern thing
...and George Wallace died back in '98 and he's in hell now, not because he's a racist. His track record as a judge and his late life quest for redemption make a good argument for his being, at worst, no worse than most white men of his generation, North or South. Because of his blind ambition and his hunger for votes, he turned a blind eye to the suffering of black America and he became a pawn in the fight against Civil Rights cause
...fortunately for him, the devil is also a southerner

Del Amitri Fatal Mistakes 2021

Welcome back, Del Amitri. Almost 20 years after their last album, they're back, and while it doesn't sound like "they never went away", it is close enough.

And they didn't completely go away, as there have been four Justin Currie solo records in the meantime. While they weren't Del Amitri records, Currie is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the band, so those solo albums also came pretty close.

So, does it live up to their reputation for lovely, catchy melodies coupled with Currie's dark lyrics and yearning voice. In short, yes it does. 

A brief review of a band that has had some success, and should have had more. After an odd eponymous debut in 1985 that sounded nothing like the band they would soon become, they made five solid albums between 1989 and 2002. They released 21 singles, several that cracked the top 20 in the UK, and a few that made it into the US charts, including Kiss This Thing Goodbye from Waking Hours 1989, Always The Last To Know from Change Everything 1992, and Roll To Me from Twisted 1995. Not Where It's At and Some Other Sucker's Parade from Some Other Sucker's Parade 1997, and Just Before You Leave from Can You Do Me Good? 2002 were solid work that went mostly ignored. For my personal tastes, Some Other Sucker's Parade is as good a rock record as any, and all of their records after the debut are worth hearing. Their Best Of, Hatful Of Rain 1998 is an excellent display of their abilities. But without hits and only moderate sales outside the UK, they were summarily dropped by their record company in 2003. 

They reassembled and briefly toured in 2014 and 2018, which brings us to Fatal Mistakes. Not quite the rocker that Some Other Sucker's Parade was, there's still plenty to tap your foot to. You Can't Go Back, All Hail Blind Love, Musicians And Beer, and Losing The Will To Die are all solid rockers, and the slower material holds up well. The closer, scathing seven-minute Nation Of Caners finds Currie full of vitriol. It's Feelings has a jaunty rhythm and a classic Currie vocal with a hooky chorus.  The classic Del Amitri elements are all there, and the songwriting is solid.

If you never heard of Del Amitri, you're not alone, but you've missed out for sure. If you're a fan and you're not sure about this new one, there's no need to hesitate.

St. Vincent Daddy's Home 2021

St. Vincent's new Daddy's Home is another strong outing from an artist who continues to expand her musical vision. Watching and listening to her progressive career path from Marry Me in 2007 to today has been a fascinating and rewarding experience.

Pay Your Way In Pain opens the record on a strong note with distorted pop that recalls 2017's Masseduction as much as anything on this record. Down And Out Downtown features great guitar, vocals, and background vocals and has a big, dramatic sound that is found on much of the album.The funky, sparse title track features Thomas Bartlett's Wurlitzer piano to fine effect. A Lennon-like dream state surrounds the airy vocals and hot guitar of Live In The Dream. The Melting Of The Sun and The Laughing Man are slower mid-tempo pieces that continue the well-crafted song and lyric writing evident everywhere.

The twisted rock of Down, with fine synths and St. Vincent's signature hot guitar lets you know not to mess with this woman. More great guitar, as well as mellotron, and Greg Leisz's pedal steel guitar embellish Somebody Like Me. My Baby Wants A Baby is a great lyric with more fine background vocals, and ...At The Holiday Party is a great melody and lyric that also features the horns of Evan Smith and Michael Leonhard. The record ends on the sweet romantic note of Candy Darling.

St. Vincent/Annie Clark shows off her prodigious talent on every track. But she owes a debt of gratitude to several others. Throughout the record, the vocals of Lynne Fiddmont and Kenya Hathaway add greatly to the arrangements, as does Thomas Bartlett's Wurlitzer piano, and Evan Smith's sax.

And then there's Jack Antonoff. As he did on Masseduction, Antonoff co-writes half the songs, produces the record, and plays drums and keyboards throughout. A pop sensation as a producer and multi-instrumentalist, Antonoff has produced and written songs and albums for Sara Bareilles, The Chicks, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, Pink, and others. The guy is a hook machine that knows how to assemble a modern pop hit like almost no one else, and seems to do this while enhancing, not replacing, the artist's inherent strengths. St. Vincent made great records before Antonoff (producer John Congleton made Actor, Strange Mercy, and the stellar St. Vincent) but there is clearly magic in Antonoff's skill set.

It is hard for me to think of another artist to appear on the scene in the new millennium that that has produced a more interesting, and progressive, body of work. That she could follow her last two releases with one this good is nothing short of extraordinary.

Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe has had a stellar career as a performer, producer and songwriter. 

As a producer, he helmed the first five Elvis Costello records, the Damned's debut, Graham Parker's first and third, two of then wife Carlene Carter's releases, and most of his own efforts as well as quite a few others. As a songwriter, he had minor hits with his Cruel To Be Kind, So It Goes, and (I Love The Sound Of) Breaking Glass, while other artists made good with (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding, I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll), and The Beast In Me. As a performer, he played bass, sang, and wrote for Brinsley Schwarz, Rockpile, and Little Village, and most famously as a solo performer. In the 1990s he reinvented his solo career as he transitioned from pop-rock basher to a more mature, introspective, acoustic-guitar based modern pop crooner.

His solo debut (after six records with Brinsley Schwarz from 1970-1973), 1978's Jesus Of Cool (released in the US with a somewhat different song selection as Pure Pop For Now People) included I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass, So It Goes, Heart Of The City, They Called It Rock, and Marie Provost. The songs are all top notch, displaying Lowe's penchant for melody and lyrical humor. In 2008, Yep Rock released a deluxe version that includes all the songs from both US and UK versions as well as a number of excellent singles released before the album. It is a great record made even greater in the deluxe version.

Next up was Labour Of Lust 1979. Containing Lowe's biggest US hit, Cruel To Be Kind, the record is a strong outing with many other killer tracks including Switch Board Susan, Without Love, Cracking Up, and Skin Deep. Recorded by Rockpile while simultaneously recording Dave Edmund's Repeat When Necessary, the two records show off the strength of Rockpile, with Lowe (bass and vocals), Edmunds (guitar and vocals), Billy Bremner (guitar and vocals) and Terry Williams (drums).

Rockpile would feature on several other Edmunds records as well as Carlene Carter's Musical Shapes 1980, and the only release under the Rockpile name, 1980's Seconds Of Pleasure. Seconds Of Pleasure was a very strong outing, and featured great songs Heart, Play That Fast Thing (One More Time), and When I Write The Book from Lowe's pen. Early pressings of the LP included a four-song 7 inch EP titled Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds Sing The Everly Brothers, and they do a fine job emulating their heroes with acoustic guitars and sweet harmonies.

1982 saw Nick The Knife, a decent follow-up to Labour Of Lust with a more eclectic sound. A slower version of Rockpile's Heart, Let Me Kiss Ya, Too Many Teardrops, and Burning are all good songs, and the rest of it holds up pretty well, too.

The Abominable Showman 1983 contained some good songs in Ragin' Eyes, Time Wounds All Heels, and Man Of A Fool, but it's not his finest hour, and remained out of print for twenty years until a recent reissue in 2017. It's well worth hearing, but not his best.

1984 saw Nick Lowe And His Cowboy Outfit, which contained his classic Half A Boy And Half A Man, as well as You'll Never Get Me Up In One Of Those, the instrumental Awesome, and L.A.F.S. Half A Boy And Half A Man is one of Nick's finer funny lyrics, although it may be a bit too true for some of the females in the audience.

The Rose Of England 1985 (also credited to Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit) was a stronger record than he had made in a while. Darlin' Angel Eyes, She Don't Love Nobody, 7 Nights To Rock, and I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll) are all good, and most of the record holds up quite well, even if it didn't exactly tear up the charts.

In 1987, Nick played bass on John Hiatt's Bring The Family. The album, arguably Hiatt's best, featured Hiatt (guitar, piano, vocals), Ry Cooder (guitar), Jim Keltner (drums), and Lowe. While not a Nick Lowe record in any sense, it is one of the finest records of 1987 (and maybe all of the 80s), and a near perfect singer-songwriter outing.

1988 brought Pinker And Prouder Than Previous, his best work since Labour Of Lust, and a tragically neglected release. Cobbled together from recordings in at least four studios, it contains both some of Lowe's best songs as well as a number of excellent cover song choices. Wildest Dream, Crying In My Sleep, I Got The Love, and Lover's Jamboree are all great Lowe songs. Love Gets Strange, Black Lincoln Continental, and Big, Big Love are well-chosen covers. Another one that remained out of print for almost twenty years, it is a highlight of his pre-1990 output.

Party Of One 1990 saw Nick produced by his old pal Dave Edmunds, and it is a good record that sometimes sounds just a little too slick for Nick Lowe. You Got The Look I Like, What's Shakin' On The Hill, and All Men Are Liars are the standouts. The last of Nick's pop-rock records, it feels like he needs something new.

In 1992, the foursome that recorded Hiatt's Bring The Family reunited as a band and released their eponymous album, Little Village. How the band that made Hiatt's classic, and included such great writers and performers, could produce such a disappointment is beyond understanding, but the record was dreadful. This was not the something new Nick needed.

Something new came along just in time in the form of The Impossible Bird 1994. A landmark record, The Impossible Bird finds Lowe writing an entire record of strong songs, accompanied by a stellar band (including rockabilly great, guitarist Bill Kirchen), and a stylistic change from the pop-rock of his

previous work to a more casual, country-Americana-rockabilly, thoughtful adult sound that also finds him singing with a new depth of feeling that is impossible to ignore. This is the pivot point for Lowe in which he becomes the singer-songwriter he is today. I'd tell you which are the great songs, but that would be 11 of the 13 tracks. 14 Days, 12-Step Program, Soulful Wind, and Lowe's cover of True Love Travels On A Gravel Road are all fantastic. Easily one of the best records of the 1990s, hands down.

Hard act to follow? Not for Nick. Dig My Mood 1998 sees Lowe step into the role of crooner and continues the remarkably strong songwriting of The Impossible Bird. This one is Nick's version of Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours, all moody heartbreak and resignation, and all quietly fabulous. Faithless Lover, Lonesome Reverie, What Lack Of Love Has Done, Man That I've Become, High On A Hilltop, and I Must Be Getting Over You all find Lowe writing at a very high level, and delivering his woeful lyrics with feeling and nuance. Ivory Joe Hunter's Cold Grey Light Of Dawn concludes the record in fine style.

The Convincer 2001 carries on, and even betters Dig My Mood. Homewrecker, Lately I've Let Things Slide, Cupid Must Be Angry, Has She Got A Friend?, and Let's Stay In And Make Love are among the better songs, and a cover of Johnny Rivers' Poor Side Of Town fits perfectly. The easy swing of these simple live in the studio arrangements, and the perfect delivery of Lowe's singing make for a fine record indeed.

In 2004, there was Untouched Takeaway. A live record documenting the tours for The Impossible Bird and The Convincer, it is a nice document that shows off a bit more energy in the live shows than on the studio outings.

2007 brought At My Age, and the string of excellent work continues unabated. Laid-back arrangements, skilled band, great songs, and Nick's crooning vocal style all working to perfection. A Better Man, I Trained Her To Love Me, Love's Got A Lot To Answer For, and The Other Side Of The Coin are just a few of the great songs.

The Old Magic 2011 lives up to it's name, and follows the formula in place since Dig My Mood. Stoplight Roses, House For Sale, 'Til The Real Thing Comes Along, I Read A Lot, and Restless Feeling are some of the good ones, but the whole record holds up in the same way as the other recent releases. All the same great elements are on display here. Any and all of the Nick Lowe records between The Impossible Bird and The Old Magic are worth owning, and outshine much of what is available in new music in the new millennium.

Quality Street:A Seasonal Selection For The Whole Family showed up in 2013. Lowe gives us his unexpected take on mostly less-known holiday chestnuts, and writes a few new ones that hold up quite well. The sound is similar to his recent work, with a blend of country, rockabilly, torch songs and pop, and avoids the worst of the holiday record cliches in style. His own I Was Born In Bethlehem, A Dollar Short Of Happy (written with Ry Cooder), and especially Christmas At The Airport add some new tunes to the genre, and the whole affair is a refreshing take on the holiday record.

Since 2014, Lowe has toured with Los Straitjackets. He has released a number of singles and EPs recorded with them, and a live album, The Quality Holiday Revue Live 2015, featuring songs from the holiday record as well as others from Lowe's catalog and a couple of Los Straitjackets instrumentals. The most recent EP, Lay It On Me, was released in 2020. A digital live album that documents their fine non-holiday shows together, Live At Haw River Ballroom (available at Bandcamp) was also released in 2020.

Of course there have quite a few compilations. Basher: The Best Of Nick Lowe 1989 is a good single disc best-of that covers his pop years pretty well. The Doings 1999 is a four-disc box set that covers everything up to and including Dig My Mood on three CDs and adds a CD of mostly unreleased live recordings. Quiet Please...The New Best Of Nick Lowe 2009 is a two-CD affair that covers a lot of ground and includes almost a CD worth of his work since 1994. So you get a good sampling of everything. A limited edition included a DVD with a 2007 live performance and a number of song videos.

What a great career. The records he made with Brinsley Schwarz are worth checking out when you find them in the used record shop. His production work with Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and others produced some of the better late 70s- early 80s records. Jesus Of Cool, Labour Of Lust and Pinker And Prouder Than Previous are early classics. The Impossible Bird might well be his best single effort. All of his work between 1994 and 2011 is stellar in a quiet, nuanced way and displays some top quality songwriting and singing. And he keeps chugging along, touring and releasing new music that maintains his reputation as a skilled craftsman and entertainer.

David Byrne American Utopia on Broadway Original Cast Recording 2019

So, if you have HBO, hopefully you've already seen the Spike Lee film of this fine stage presentation. Currently streaming on HBO+ and HBO on Amazon, it is an excellent show. And by show I mostly mean concert, although it is carefully choreographed and includes spoken interludes between songs that do not detract from a killer live performance, and give it a bit more of a theatrical quality than your typical rock concert. Not that David Byrne has ever been particularly typical. 

The song list includes four songs from Byrne's American Utopia 2018 solo release, his most well-received solo outing since the disbanding of Talking Heads. It also contains nine Talking Heads songs and six songs from either his other solo recordings or contributions/duets with other artists, plus one Janelle Monae protest song. So there is something like a 60/40 split between solo career and Talking Heads material.

Byrne, along with Talking Heads, is already responsible for one of the greatest concert films (and soundtracks) of all time, the inimitable Stop Making Sense. That tour was also theatrical in it's presentation, beginning with Byrne on acoustic guitar, accompanied by a boom box, singing Psycho Killer, and then slowing adding band members each song until the entire nine-member troupe is Burning Down The House.

American Utopia is even more theatrical in performance. Alongside Byrne and two dancer/singers, a keyboardist, guitarist, and bassist, and no less than six percussionists/singers (all of whom move around stage in carefully scripted moves by choreographer Annie-B Parson) turn the songs into stunning visual as well as musical theater. The music holds up quite well by itself. The soundtrack eschews the between-song narratives, and presents the songs in their staged order, and it is simply a splendid record. Song selection is close to perfect, with obscurities, or at least less obvious choices, showing up to excellent effect. So not a greatest hits by any stretch, but even better. 

The four songs from the original American Utopia studio release are all highlights, and nothing disappoints. The multiple percussionists make the band extra special. The whole ensemble is talented as heck, and really everything works. Byrne is in a celebratory mood, and positivity is the theme. Even without seeing the show, the soundtrack is excellent. If you've seen the show, it seems indispensable.

Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas has had an unusual career, especially for someone who has been singing professionally for such a long time. Her first recording was in 1959 and her most recent, the magnificent Love Is The Foundation, in 2020.

She recorded a string of singles for the Minit and Imperial labels in the early and mid-sixties. Her biggest hit during this time was Wish Someone Would Care, which reached #17 on the Pop charts in 1964. But several other singles were very strong, including the original recording of Time Is On My Side (the Rolling Stones first top ten hit in the U.S.), It's Raining, Ruler Of My Heart, Cry On, and Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand). This era is well-documented on two near-identical compilations Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans (Razor and Tie) and The Irma Thomas Collection 1961-1966 (Capitol). There are others that also include some of her early seventies work, and while they are more inclusive, they are not better at all. And that's because her work for Chess, Canyon, Cotillion, and Fungus records between 1967-1974 just isn't as good as her earlier work, and in some cases, is poorly produced and downright disappointing. The "lost" records Full Time Woman (recorded in 1971, released in 2014) and In Between Tears 1973, are not her best work, and should probably be avoided.

Thomas continued recording the occasional single throughout the seventies with little success. She never stopped live performance completely, and used the stage at The Lion's Den, the New Orleans club she owned with her husband (until Katrina), to perform as often as she wished. She has also participated in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for many years and remains popular in her home town. 

In 1986 she began a long association with Rounder Records, releasing nine albums and two compilations between 1986 and 2009. All of her Rounder releases were lovingly produced by Scott Billington, including the fantastic Sing It! 1998 with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson, and the Grammy-winning After The Rain 2006, recorded in the aftermath of Katrina. Not to mention her last original studio album release until 2020, Simply Grand 2008, which features a different piano player on each track, and overcomes it's cute premise with outstanding performances by the pianists, as well as Thomas. Good song selection, skilled bands, and Irma's mature soulful singing are the hallmarks of her Rounder output, and you can't go wrong with any of it. Her Rounder material has been the subject of two compilations, If You Want It, Come And Get It 2001 and The Soul Queen of New Orleans: 50th Anniversary Celebration 2009. There are only two songs that appear on both sets, and the latter also includes three new songs recorded in 2009. Then again, Sing It! and After The Rain are well worth owning.

And now, after ten years without a new release, Newvelle Records released Love Is The Foundation in 2020 as part of their four-LP The New Orleans Collection. The recording quality and performance of Irma Thomas and a crack ace band, the top notch song selection, and the sumptuous vinyl pressing all make for an exceptional experience. At 79 years old, Ms. Thomas not only can still sing, she inhabits these songs with her powerful and deep soul. It sounds like hyperbole to me, too, but it isn't. Newvelle recordings are only available as (high-priced) vinyl, but it is still almost too good not to hear.

A sixties soul queen matures into a contemporary gifted blues and soul singer with impeccable taste and deeply profound feeling. Her earliest work as well as her most recent outshine most if not all of the competition. A rare jewel, a treasure.

Poco From The Inside 1972 and A Good Feelin' To Know 1973

Poco were an interesting country-rock band that probably deserved bigger success. The band soldiered on in one form or another into this century, and toured until 2013 with at least one original member, Rusty Young. They got their start in 1969 with Pickin' Up The Pieces, the title a reference to the recently dissolved Buffalo Springfield, from whence both Jim Messina and Richie Furay came. 1970 brought Poco, with a more rock-oriented sound, great songs by Furay, as well as Messina's You Better Think Twice, and the 18-minute jam on Nobody's Fool that set them apart from most country-rock acts of the day, with Rusty Young's remarkable pedal steel guitar playing emulating a Hammond B-3 organ. The record also introduced Timothy B. Schmit, whose bass and high vocals replaced Randy Meisner's, as would happen again in 1977 in the Eagles line-up. In 1971, Poco released Deliverin', a live album that sold better than the first two. And with that, Jim Messina left to begin a producing career that turned into five years in Loggins and Messina.

 

So in 1971, Poco version three replaced Jim Messina with singer/songwriter/guitarist Paul Cotton. Messina left ostensibly due to Furay's dominance of the group. Ironically, although Furay wrote most of Poco's songs on the first three records, Cotton, Schmit, and Young would begin songwriting duties from this point forward, and take on more writing duties on successive albums.
 

From The Inside 1971 features a more mature sound than Poco had produced previously. Produced by Steve Cropper, the recording is excellent. Hoe Down and You Are The One hearken back to the good times, foot-stompin' country of the previous records, but Paul Cotton's Bad Weather and Ol' Forgiver have a darker tone, and his Railroad Days just rocks. Schmit writes the title track, and it is a lovely song and a fine vocal delivery. And Furay delivered three of his finer love songs in What Am I Gonna Do, What If I Should Say I Love You, and Just For Me And You. And again, sales were disappointing.

 

A Good Feelin' To Know 1972 is another strong outing fairly similar to From The Inside, but with even less country leanings. The record features a solid-rocking cover of the Steve Stills-written Buffalo Springfield song Go And Say Goodbye, and Furay's title track would go on to be one of the early band's most recognizable songs. Overall, the songs, while good, don't always sound like the same band. Cotton's Keeper Of The Fire and Early Times are not his strongest writing, and Furay's Sweet Loving is a bit overblown. Schmit's I Can See Everything is sweet and fine, and he even writes the solid rocker Restrain. Overall, it is a good record, with solid playing, singing and writing for the most part. Produced by Jack Richardson, it was supposed to seal their forward momentum and open them up to new fans, but it did not.

 

It wasn't enough for Richie Furay, who recorded Crazy Eyes in 1973 with one foot out the door to join The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. After Furay left, Poco continued as a quartet with Young, Cotton, Schmit, and Grantham until Schmit left to join the Eagles in 1977. The original line-up reunited in 1989 to record Legacy as a one-off. Young and Cotton carried on until 2006, and Young kept the name alive touring until at least 2013. Any of the first five Poco records is recommendable. The first one is historic as a rather early country-rock outing, while From The Inside is my personal favorite.

Mary Lee's Corvette Blood On The Tracks 2002

Audacity: a willingness to take bold risks.

Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks is one great record. This live performance by Mary Lee Kortes and her talented band from 2002 covers the record song by song in its entirety, and is both audacious and remarkably good. Of course the song selection is excellent, it is after all one of Dylan's finest, and one of the best breakup records of all time.

Kortes, for her part, has a strong voice with just a bit of keening edge that helps, especially on the more angry songs. The band is tight, the arrangements true to the original, and the recording is good, especially for a live outing. And how many more times are you going to listen to the original?

So, what are the best Dylan records? (Speaking of audacity!) 

Here's my list:

Bringing It All Back Home 1965

Highway 61 Revisted 1965

Blonde On Blonde 1966

John Wesley Harding 1967

New Morning 1970

Blood On The Tracks 1975

Desire 1976

Love And Theft 2001

Modern Times 2006

Katie Love Ready Or Not 2015

Here's one I just cannot understand. In 2015 this totally great new pop-soul record comes out. I have no idea how I discovered it. I thought I had it on vinyl (I think I got confused with Duffy's Rockferry, which is similar looking), but I apparently bought the digital at iTunes, something I rarely do.

The record is excellent. One solid song after another. Pop-soul with nice arrangements, Katie Love has a fine voice, and everything is in place. Sort of old school in 2015, but done to near perfection.

And then what? I can't be sure. The record company, Red Tree Records, is Canadian, and was tweeting as recently as last year, but the website at redtreerecords.com no longer exists. There are a few songs by Katie Hess and Katie Love Hess that are country at Amazon and iTunes, and those songs predate this record by five years or more. It looks and sounds like the same woman, but who knows.

The title track kicks things off in fine style with nice horns and a catchy chorus. The funky Made For love follows, with hot organ and horns, and Love's great pipes. Waitin' On You is classic soul with more fine organ and horns and another hooky chorus. Gone rocks a bit harder, with syncopated horn charts and sweet background vocals. The pleading soul ballad that is I Can't Help It has an Amy Winehouse vibe, and Love sings it with style. The second half holds up well, with strong ballads Walk Away and Heal This Heart and more rockin' soul-pop in Shake Your Tree and Kick. The Reggae-lite of The Good Life rounds it all out in fine form.

The whole thing has a good beat and you can dance to it. 

I wish I knew who wrote the songs, the musicians and producer, but alas, you get no information with the digital purchase. And five years later, no new music from Katie Love. It may not be "great", but it is consistently strong, and there are no weak tracks. Highly recommended.