Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Van Morrison Live At Orangefield 2024, New Arrangements and Duets 2024
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Jesse Winchester 1944-2014
I was already a huge fan of Jesse Winchester when in 1977 my then pregnant wife, Kathryn, and I went to see him in concert at Bogarts, a small venue in Cincinnati. Winchester was a draft evader that had gone to Canada in 1967. He was allowed to return to the US after Jimmy Carter’s amnesty for draft evaders in 1976. Kathryn was resplendent in a long white muslin dress with our first child inside her protruding belly. I was never prouder to be out with her. We arrived late and it appeared every seat at every table was occupied. Undeterred, we ventured down front to discover that a small table with three chairs right in front of the middle of the stage was empty. We couldn’t believe our luck. It was one of those meant to be moments. It was like having the band in your living room. With the intimacy of the closeness to the band, it remains to this day one of my all-time favorite concert performances.
I first became aware of Jesse Winchester when, after the breakup in 1970 of the Lemon Pipers (for whom I played bass), I moved to Wilmington Vermont with a three piece group I had formed with my best friend from high school. The band failed and I moved in with a group of hippies, one of whom became my beautiful wife. We will soon be celebrating 53 years together.
It was there that I was turned on to Jesse’s Winchester’s self-titled classic 1970 eponymous first album. It was produced by Robbie Robertson and recorded by Todd Rundgren. It contains The Brand New Tennessee Waltz, the first song he ever wrote, Yankee Lady (a favorite), and the haunting Quiet About It. It’s the place to begin if you’re not familiar with Winchester.
His 1972 release, Third Down, 110 To Go, is my favorite of all his albums. It displays the beautiful lyrics, simple arrangements and minimal instrumentation that are typical of all his recordings. It is near perfect in it’s deceptive simplicity. Just listen to it. Bob Dylan once said, “You can’t talk about the best songwriters and not include [Jesse Winchester] ”.
The 1974 release, Learn To Love It, has the catchy and endearing Third Rate Romance written by Russell Smith, later of the Amazing Rhythm Aces. The heartfelt Mississippi You’re On My Mind shows the fondness Winchester had for his southern roots.
In 1976 he released Let The Rough Side Drag. The title song is a lyrical expression of his philosophy of life. I find all his songs both poignant and uplifting. The album ends with a reprisal of his first song, The Brand New Tennessee Waltz. It was eventually covered, as were many of his compositions, by Joan Baez, Ralph Stanley, the Everly Brothers and Patti Paige, who had recorded the original Tennessee Waltz 50 years earlier.
Nothing But A Breeze 1978 contains Twigs and Seeds, a humorous plea for ganja legalization, and a nifty little tune titled Rhumba Man. The album features a who’s who supporting cast of Ricky Scaggs, James Burton, Emmylou Harris, Ann Murray and Nicolette Larson.
1981’s Talk Memphis showed his special affinity for Memphis, as his family moved there from Mississippi when he was six. He was influenced by the sounds of rhythm and blues and rockabilly via radio stations like WDIA and WHBQ where Dewey Phillips was playing the mixture of black and white artists that came to characterize Sun and Stax Records. The title song Talk Memphis is an homage to this early influence. This album also contains his only US Top 40 single, Say What.
In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
In 2009 he released his tenth studio album, the well-received Love Filling Station.
In 2012 a tribute record to Jesse, Quiet About It, was released that featured Jimmy Buffett, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Lye Lovett, Roseanne Cash, Allen Toussaint and Lucinda Williams.
Jesse Winchester passed away in 2014. His final album titled A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble was released later that year with liner notes by his friend Jimmy Buffett, who recorded six of Winchester’s songs over the years. The record was nominated for two Grammys. Rolling Stone called it “one of the most moving, triumphant albums of Winchester’s 45 year career “ and “a gentle collection of playful songs about love, memory and gratitude”. The same could be said for most of the songs he ever wrote.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
The Lemon Pipers Green Tambourine 1968 Jungle Marmalade 1968
Friday, March 21, 2025
Tracy Nelson Life Don't Miss Nobody 2023
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie Lesley-Ann Jones
Friday, March 7, 2025
Donald Fagan, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs The New York Rock and Soul Review: Live at the Beacon 1991, The Dukes of September Live at Lincoln Center 2014
Not every release you might enjoy needs to be important. Sometimes just "fun", or "nice" or "cool" is all that's needed. That's how I feel about these releases. Neither of them is a good as a good Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, or Michael McDonald record (Well, maybe not McDonald). But they are well worth your time to hear them.
Both feature the three stars. The New York Rock and Soul Review features additional guest stars worthy of their appearance. And both are backed up by stellar backing musicians and vocalists.
The New York Rock and Soul Review: Live at the Beacon includes Phoebe Snow, Charles Brown, and David and Eddie Brigati, covering Rascals hits, soul gems, Brown's blues, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers hits. We get hot guitar from Jimmy Vivino and others, and great horns from Cornelius Bumpus and a great horn section. What's not to like?
Twenty years later the three got together and toured. The band included Steely Dan regulars plus all-pro horns and backup singers. Without the guests, we get that much more of Steely Dan and McDonald/Doobies, and considerably more Boz Scaggs, which can only be good. A few choice soul covers round out the set, with the Isley's Who's That Lady? being a standout.
You don't need these records, but you'll probably enjoy your time spent with them.
Friday, February 28, 2025
Dwight Yoakam Brighter Days 2024
Monday, February 24, 2025
Eva Cassidy I Can Only Be Me 2023, Walkin' After Midnight 2024
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Overlooked Gems
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Louis Cole nothing 2024
Monday, January 27, 2025
Todd Snider Trouble 1994
Lonnie Mack The Wham of That Memphis Man! 1963
Instrumentals Wham!, Memphis, Bounce, Down and Out, Down in the Dumps, and Susie-Q all feature killer, absolutely super hot guitar. And not just a phrase here or there, but extended solos. Hot licks on Baby What's Wrong and Why, coupled with Mack's blue-eyed soul vocals make for some genuinely rocking soul/blues. Where There's A Will, Satisfied, and I'll Keep You Happy all feature his impressive vocals as well as fine saxophone solos. There isn't a weak track.
Guitar really wasn't played this way before Mack did it. Ok, there were the Ventures, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, and other rock instrumentalists, and plenty of guitar solos by guys like Ike Turner and James Burton, but the blending of blues and rock in more than four-bar, extended solos was unique to Mack. Not only his guitar, but his soulful singing put him in a category with very few white singers.
That's why Jimmy Guterman in his 1992 book The Best Rock 'N' Roll Records of All Time put this record at number 16. Admittedly Guterman's is an unusual and somewhat controversial list, but this record clearly deserves more praise than it typically receives, and it's a pure joy to hear.
The list of accolades on the Lonnie Mack Wikipedia entry is impressive. I like this quote from Duane Allman, "Now, [in 1963], there was a popular song on the radio called 'Memphis'—an instrumental by Lonnie Mack. It was the best guitar-playing I'd ever heard. All the guitar-players were [saying] 'How could anyone ever play that good? That's the new bar. That's how good you have to be now."