Brinsley Schwarz Shouting At The Moon 2025

Brinsley Schwarz (the man, not the eponymous band) has had a long and interesting career. He first formed Kippington Lodge with schoolmate Nick Lowe in 1967. The band renamed itself Brinsley Schwarz after their lead guitarist in 1969. Along with Schwarz and Lowe on bass, the band included Bob Andrews on keys and Billy Rankin on drums. In 1972 Ian Gomm was added on guitar. The band made six records between 1970 and 1974, all of which are well worth hearing. Nick Lowe wrote the majority of the songs, although Schwarz, Gomm and Andrews also contributed. 

After a brief stint touring with Ducks Deluxe, Schwarz formed The Rumour with Bob Andrews back on keys plus Martin Belmont (guitar), Andrew Bodnar (bass), and Stephen Goulding (drums). The Rumour released three records between 1977-1980, but are best known as the band behind Graham Parker. Parker and the Rumour made Parker's first five records between 1976-1980. Schwarz toured again with Ducks Deluxe, and also Carlene Carter and Garland Jeffreys. Then for twenty years in the 90s and 2000s, he was a professional luthier. 

The Rumour reformed behind Parker from 2011 to 2015, releasing two more records. After the Graham Parker and The Rumour reunion Schwarz returned to recording as a solo artist. This is his third solo record after Unexpected, a self released album in 2016, and Tangled in 2021. All three were produced by James Hallawell, who also played keyboards. Schwarz plays all guitars and basses, and there's drummers, occasional strings, and on this new one, tasty sax by Simon Taylor. All three are good records, but this new one is wonderful all the way through.

What does it sound like? Well, Nick Lowe, The Band, Mark Knoffler, the Rumour, Brinsley Schwartz (the band), maybe a touch of later Steely Dan. Schwartz has a smokey voice and plays great, understated guitar. Tasty lead breaks abound. He's not flashy, but always right and smooth in a George Harrison, Hugh McCraken, Robbie Robertson, Larry Carlton sort of way. James Hallawell plays hot keys, especially when he uses the Hammond B3. Simon Taylor's sax is always just right, and sounds like a whole horn section on a few. There's some swinging almost jazz, some driving rock with wah-wah guitar, some acoustic balladry, some bluesy moments, even a funky one. We get serious, romantic, and humorous lyrical content, a bitter lover's tale about an unappeasable woman, even a gorgeous Graham Parker cover. No weak songs at all.

The recording is very good, with an organic sound where every instrument can be heard contributing. Everything in place. I don't think I can communicate how good it is. If any of this sounds interesting to you, I implore you to give it a listen.

Best of 2025

 

Galactic and Irma Thomas Audience with the Queen. My #1. (The rest are in no particular order.). Irma Thomas continues to produce one late-career masterpiece after another. After The Rain 2006, Simply Grand 2008, Love Is The Foundation 2020, and now Audience with the Queen. Galactic shines with songs, arrangements and knockout playing.

Sloan Based On The Best Seller. Canadian pop-rockers continue a hot streak. 

Ricky Byrd NYC Made. Veteran rocker and long-time Blackheart makes a great record. It doesn't need to be complicated, it's rock 'n' roll.

Gyasi Here Comes The Good Part. Bowie/Bolan hybrid brings back the 1970s without stealing every riff. Great songs, solid musicianship, right attitude.

London Suede Antidepressants. Since their return in 2013, London Suede has made five well-received records. Glam is not dead. See Gyasi above.

Wet Leg Moisturizer. A big step forward from their solid debut, and a fine record all around.

Haim I Quit. Another big leap forward from their previous work, See Wet Leg above.

Van Morrison Remembering Now. Van returns to greatness. Shockingly good after several years of real junk. Remarkable recovery, and way unexpected.

Mavis Staples Sad and Beautiful World. Mavis never shies away from politics, protest or faith. A great song selection, lots of reverent guests, and Staples' magnificent, weathered voice. Revel in her very deep and spiritual soul.

Peter Holsapple The Face of 68. Holsapple has been a part of much great music. In the dBs, as a touring pro with REM and Hootie and the Blowfish, in the Continental Drifters, with Chris Stamey as a duo, and on his solo records, Out of My Way in 1997, and Game Day in 2018. He puts it all together on this new one.

Honorable Mention Just Part of the Whole Release: David Bowie Montreux Jazz Festival. This 2002 concert recording was broadcast on radio and unofficial versions have been around. Technically it isn't a new release of its own, but it is two of the CDs in the 13 CD I Can't Give Everything Away (2002-2016) box set. The tour was promoting Heathen, so eight of the twelve songs from Heathen are included, and the live versions beat the studio ones. Well chosen career highlights fill the rest. But wait, there's more, for the final encore, Bowie and the band play all of Low. It is a monster show. The set is available for streaming.

Honorable Mention Reissue/Compilation: Fleetwood Mac Like Crying: The Songs of Danny Kirwin. Every song Kirwin wrote for Fleetwood Mac and released on Then Play On, Kiln House, Future Games, and Bare Trees in chronological order. Kirwin's songwriting, guitar and singing during Fleetwood Mac's most oft-neglected period. Kirwin's songs were balanced with those of Christine McVie and Bob Welsh. Isolating Kirwin's songs is a lovely exercise. Digital only release, at least for now.

Zappadan 2025, Cheaper Than Cheep 2025, One Size Fits All 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe 2025

Well it's that time again. The annual celebration of Frank's life and artistry from Dec. 4 to Dec 21. There are plenty of previous entries at this blog, just click Frank Zappa. There are also others that celebrate around the net. Break out in song or just play some percussion. And vote.

I have been both overwhelmed by the sheer volume, and underwhelmed by the excitement provided by the archival releases of Frank's work from the vault. There have been great ones of course, but not unlike the Grateful Dead, we really don't need every live gig Zappa ever performed released to the music buying public.

But this is Zappa's best band during his period of greatest musical treasure. Some may argue that the original Mothers of Invention were his best band, and I certainly must respect that as an equally valid opinion.

Cheaper Than Cheep was a two hour video Frank produced for television in 1974. Technical difficulties that apparently could not be corrected without modern technology left the video and it's audio in the can until now. This is the same six piece band (plus Jeff Simmons) that made One Size Fits All later in 1974. The only previously available live recording by this group is You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Volume 2 (The Helsinki Concert). 

Highlights are many. Inca Roads is great, as is Let's Make The Water Turn Black, Dupree's Paradise and More Trouble Every Day. Ruth Underwood shines on everything, but especially RDNZL. The video is currently available on YouTube for your entertainment.

They really opened the flood gates for the 1974 band this year, as they also released One Size Fits All 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe. The original record is one of Zappa's best, and the Deluxe version includes over a CDs worth of outtakes, basic tracks, and alternates that are at least as good as most of those things. But wait, you also get two CDs of a live performance recorded in Rotterdam in September of 1974. Great performances of Florentine Pogen, Montana and Cosmic Debris shine, and the entire show is special. (OK, the drum solo is too long, but aren't they all?)

So if you aren't sick of new/old Zappa live recordings, they've delivered two this year that are as good as any of them. Happy Zappadan!

Stranger Cole Rough and Tough 2025

 

Stranger Cole isn't the household reggae name that Marley, Tosh, Cliff, Heptones and Steel Pulse are, at least in the USA, and that is a shame. He released his first single, Rough and Tough, rerecorded here, in 1963. Throughout the sixties and early seventies he released over 70 singles as a solo performer and also in duet with Patsy Todd, another woefully neglected Jamaican singer. A star of the pre-reggae rocksteady and ska styles, he started releasing albums from 1976 through 1986, after which he took twenty years off and was employed in a variety of jobs in his adopted home of Toronto. He returned to recording and touring in 2006.

This new record presents new recordings of several of his hits from the sixties- the title track, Bangarrang, Crying Every Night and Just Like a River. Added to those are a variety of covers, some of which seem like odd choices, yet they come off as inspired. War's Low Rider and Marley's No Woman, No Cry make perfect sense. Journey's Don't Stop Believing and Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants to Rule the World done reggae style are both fun and barely recognizable. Everything else on the record is just delightful, and rock solid.

The band is talented, the recording is excellent, and the 83 year old Cole is a fine singer. What, you didn't know there was great new reggae? 

Television Marquee Moon 1977, Adventure 1978

My brother plays this game I call "If Golf". He discusses a good round with me, and he'll say, "If I hadn't three-putted those last two holes, I would have had an 82", or some such thing. I tease him about it, because of course that isn't what happened. I also recognize that it is the way he analyses his game performance, and one of several reasons that he is a better golfer than I am. What's that got to do with Television?

Television released Marquee Moon in 1977 to critical acclaim and disappointing sales (except in the UK, where it made it to #30 on the charts). The next year, they made Adventure, which was again well received critically, and again didn't sell. Then the band broke up for multiple reasons, only one being their lack of sales.

But "What If" Adventure had been the debut followed by the masterpiece of Marquee Moon? Would things have been different? Adventure is a good record, and would seem to be more accessible than Marquee Moon. It may have attracted more listeners with its easier to take, somewhat less challenging sound, while still being smart art punk just right for 1977. Then Marquee Moon would have been a bold, dramatic step forward and been successful. Then maybe Television would have had a career like Talking Heads or the Ramones, two bands they shared the CBGB stage with.

Probably the records weren't marketed enough, or correctly, and that's why they didn't sell. But Marquee Moon has become such a highly praised landmark of a record, and it is such a killer, it seems a shame that it went mostly ignored when it was released. 

"What if" you wished you could hear a record with similarities to Marquee Moon? Well you can. Just dance on down to the record store, or Bandcamp, or your streaming service, and check out Evolution Here We Come from 2022 by Chris Forsyth. The guitar interplay between Forsyth and Tom Malach is interestingly angular and similar to the fascinating work of Television. Not a clone, but not so far removed  either.

A Few Power Pop Gems

Power Pop. The sound of melodies and hooks produced by big guitar-based rhythms and sweet harmonies. Usually. The sound dates back to the Beatles, Who, Beach Boys and Byrds. The tag was originally applied to Raspberries, Big Star, and Badfinger in the early seventies and later to Romantics, Dave Edmunds and Dwight Twilly. I took a stab at definition by example back here.

Since the eighties, there's been many a great power pop band. Only a few, and those are often on the fringe of the genre, have become big stars. The rest develop cult followings and tour clubs like mad to make a living. Whatever music you like, it can be hard to keep up, and so some slip through the cracks. Like most of these:

Splinter The Place I Love 1974. This overlooked gem was released on George Harrison's Dark Horse label and features Harrison producing and playing guitar. Never straying far from Badfinger/Beatles territory, the harmonies and songwriting are excellent.

Beagle Sound On Sound 1992. A Swedish band that sounds surprisingly American. None of those awkward non-English phrasings. Pretty much perfect power pop. The 1993 follow-up Within is good, too.

Something Fierce (MN) A Sound For Sore Ears 1996. Not to be confused with the Houston punk band with the same name, This Something Fierce pounds out catchy toe-tapping melodies.

Ice Cream Hands' Memory Lane Traffic Jam 1997 (great title) is a great place to start. The Good China 2007 rivals and maybe even betters it. Aussie band does power pop like they were born to it. 

Sloan's latest is right there with their best. It's been since the late nineties that they put together a string of three great ones, but 12 2018, Steady 2022, and now Based on the Best Seller 2025 are all excellent.

I've also updated the the Labels list over on the right so there is now a Power Pop label you can click on to see all of the Power Pop related entries.

Jerry Lee Lewis Rock & Roll Time 2014

Jerry Lee Lewis was the wild man in the early days of rock and roll and rockabilly, crashed his career early when he scandalously married his 13 year-old cousin, reinvented himself as a country star in the seventies (his greatest success), was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in the inaugural class, toured regularly throughout his life, had his best selling album in 2006 (Last Man Standing, a duets record), and died in 2023. Nine years before his passing, at age 79, he made this record.

What makes it so good? 

1. Jerry Lee Lewis was a great singer. His phrasing, his depth of feeling, his swagger, he really is a fine singer. He's different at 79, but not enough to matter.

2. Great songs. Two by Kris Kristofferson, two by Chuck Berry, others by Jimmie Rodgers, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Reed, Al Kooper and Ronnie Van Zant, Chris Kenner and Dave Bartholomew, Mack Vickery, and an obscure one by Bob Dylan.

3. Fine sympathetic and supportive production from Steve Bing and Jim Keltner, who also plays drums. 

4. Killer band. Jerry Lee plays piano in his idiosyncratic style while Keltner and Rick Rosas hold down the rhythm, and then there's an army of talented guitarists: Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Neil Young, Kenny Lovelace, Waddy Wachtel, Doyle Brammel III, Nils Lofgren, James Walbourne, Greg Leisz, Robbie Robertson, Jon Brion, and Derek Trucks. 

5. Unlike the two successful records before this, it's not a duets record, so Jerry Lee gets to shine without sharing the spotlight.

It was, for all intents and purposes, his last record. Talk about your late career masterpiece.

Allen Toussaint 1938-2016, Jon Cleary Occapella! 2012, Stanton Moore With You In Mind 2017

 

Allen Toussaint was a producer, songwriter, pianist, singer and arranger of skill and renown. He produced many hits for New Orleans artists in the sixties. He continued to produce for many non-New Orleans artists throughout the 20th century, and recorded twelve solo records. His late career solo output was outstanding, including The Bright Mississippi 2009, Songbook 2013 and American Tunes (2016).

His work is represented by many wonderful records. His own seventies output is summarized on The Allen Toussaint Collection 1991. His writing and producing can be enjoyed on Holy Cow! The Best of Lee Dorsey 1985, any of a number of Irma Thomas compilations such as Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans: The Irma Thomas Collection 1996, or any of the fine records by The Meters, who were his house studio band for many years. He arranged the horns for The Band's great live Rock of Ages 1972.

Jon Cleary, a New Orleans transplant, made his delightful tribute Occapella! in 2012. The record features Cleary on all instruments on eight of the twelve songs. Like most New Orleans artists, Cleary is reverential, and having a real good time. You will, too.

 

Stanton Moore entered the studio in 2017 shortly after Toussaint's passing and cancelled previous plans for the session so he could honor Toussaint. His deft trio is joined by mostly New Orleans guests singing or playing horns on another selection of Toussaint's marvelous songbook. 

One of Allen Toussaint's famous compositions is Everything I Do Gone Be Funky. The title sums up his career. Dive into Allen Toussaint's output, and you gone be funky too.

Vulfmon Dot 2024

Vulfmon is the stage name of Jack Stratton, a keyboard/guitar/drums multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer and principal in the band Vulfpeck. Vulfpeck has released 10 records and/or EPs in their brand of modern funk/soul since 2011. This is Vulfmon's third solo release.

The record features an electronic/funk/soul/pop hybrid that is highly accessible and toe-tapping enjoyable. Vulfmon lets others do the singing for the most part, while he writes, produces and plays a variety of instruments. The first three songs feature vocals from Evangeline Barrosse. Got To Be Mine (jaunty keyboards), Letting Things Go (mellow, whispery vocals), and Tokyo Night (lovely vocals over piano and a sax solo) get things started in fine form. The fast pop of It Feels Good To Write A Song has hot drums and bass from Vulfmon. The guitar riff on Little Thunder rocks, and the harmonies are good. There's even a guitar break.

Too Hot In LA has a funk-light bass line and squiggly synth that has a Prince-like sound. Brian Wilson's Surfer Girl is given an instrumental treatment with only Vulfmon's guitar and Drew Taubenfeld's gorgeous pedal steel guitar. It's an interesting diversion. Nice To You is funky R&B with high falsetto vocals from Little Yacov and interesting lyrics. Disco Snails is just plain hilarious, with multiple obvious rhymes. Hit The Target closes things on a sweet pop instrumental note, and a beautiful, voice-like saxophone that has some sort of processing applied.

There's a touch of Louis Cole's modern experimentalism, and there's plenty of skilled pop craftsmanship. It doesn't feel like an important record, it's just fun. I'm looking forward to exploring his other records as well as those from Vulfpeck. This one is well worth checking out.

Boz Scaggs Detour 2025

Boz Scaggs has been here before, and the results are always excellent in a very mellow, laid-back jazz way. But Beautiful 2003 and Speak Low 2008 were both fine late night jazz entrees, and this one is at least the equal of those outings.

Accompanied by a jazz piano trio, Scaggs sings everything with sensitivity and nuance normally reserved for the finest jazz vocalists. If you heard the two mentioned above, you already know that he can deliver jazz vocals as fine as everything else he does in soul, blues, and rock.

Song selection is a lovely dip into the great American songbook and features some songs that not everyone has recorded, at least not recently. There are familiar tunes (The Meaning of the Blues, The Very Thought of You, Angel Eyes) and there are less familiar ones (Detour Ahead, Once I Loved, Too Late Now) that set this collection apart from and above the usual jazz standards collection and makes it sound more interesting than dragging out only the oft-covered songs. In addition to the jazz there are two lovely surprises. Allen Toussaint's It's Raining opens the record, and the rendition is stellar in a quiet way. Scaggs' own I'll Be Long Gone from 1969 is included in an interesting arrangement that is lovely. 

Two things make this record special. One is Scaggs' voice, and the phrasing he has so clearly developed for jazz. The other is pianist Seth Asarnow, whose playing and arranging are sensitive and deft. 

Since 1969 Boz Scaggs has made nineteen records, and there isn't anything close to a disappointment in the catalog. Make that twenty.

Martha Velez Escape From Babylon 1976

Martha Velez acted on the stage in the sixties, and in movies and TV throughout the eighties and nineties. Her voice is big and brassy, and must have been effective from the stage.

Velez's first recordings were with the folk group Gaslight Singers in 1963-64. Her debut solo record, the bluesy Fiends and Angels in 1969, which featured a cast of famous musicians, failed to be her big break. It's a good record, and well worth a listen. She recorded three other stylistically eclectic records in the seventies that went mostly neglected. 

In 1976 Martha Velez went to Jamaica to record a reggae record with Bob Marley producing and The Wailers providing instrumental and backup vocal support. It sounds nothing like anything Velez did before or after. It is also the only record Bob Marley produced for another artist.

Money Man opens the record and the Velez/Wailers combo sounds good on a Velez original that might not be the best fit for a reggae version, but it mostly works. There You Are follows, and it is an excellent take on a Marley original. Wild Bird, another Velez-written tune is an odd folk melody for reggae, but it works and benefits greatly from the I-Threes and a fine Velez vocal. The side closes with Disco Night, featuring less than stellar lyrics, but a strong performance and swell horns from the Zap Pow Horns.

Side two kicks things up a notch. Marley's Bend Down Low is a good fit for Velez, and again the stellar Wailers and I-Threes produce a song worthy of any good reggae mix tape. Happiness repeats the formula again for a hit. Another Velez tune, Come On In, is a blast. It sounds like a Marley written song, and is strong vocal from Velez. The record ends with a cover of Marley and Peter Tosh's Get Up, Stand Up. Velez does a fine job, even if it can't improve on Marley's version, or the definitive version from Tosh's Equal Rights. 

The record is just 31 minutes long, and then it's over. Side two is perfect.

Album Art

The stereo rack sits in the corner of the living room. Above it in the corner are two framed album covers. In this picture, it's Kim Richie's Rise and The Honeydogs' Love and Cannibalism. They worked together because the colors are similar and they are both collage designs. The selections change frequently. Usually there's a theme.

Like highways. That's the back cover of Jimmy Buffet's A1A and Tower of Power's Back to Oakland. 

Or Blue. Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue and Joni Mitchell's Blue.

Or love. Stacy Kent's In Love Again and Nat King Cole's Love Is the Thing.

Or paintings with animals. Dylan's painting from the cover of The Band's Music From Big Pink and Calexico with Iron and Wine's In The Reins. 

Here's Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with Billy Cobham's Spectrum. 

These two work nicely with the color of the wall. Donovan's Barabajagal and Ten Years After's Cricklewood Green. They are both from the same time period, and they are great records.

OK, breasts. I don't think these stayed up all that log. The Rondstadt is my favorite of her records, and the Marilyn Monroe is better than you'd think. It includes her famous Happy Birthday, Mr. President as well as songs she sang in movies, such as Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. The cover is the gatefold picture she did for Playboy magazine. I'm guessing it sold well.

And then there's the Christmas season. I don't own all that many holiday records, but I have these two combos that I rotate year-to-year.

John Fahey's Christmas Guitar is a very lovely record. The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra's Nutcracker is a classic recording, and good, but there are better versions of the material. Perfect cover though.

Diana Krall's Christmas Songs and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' It's A Holiday Soul Party. Both are fun holiday covers, and also happen to be fabulous music.

And there we have it. There's a bunch of combos I didn't remember when I was taking the pictures, so maybe I'll return to this later, or I'll do it when I'm discussing two different records. If I leave anything up too long, the director of home decor keeps me updating fairly regularly.

Maria Muldaur One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey 2025

Maria Muldaur had a big hit in 1974 with Midnight at the Oasis. The eponymous debut it came from featured blues, country, folk, and pop stylings. She made several others with similarly varied styles, but none of them met with the success of the debut, and nothing charted after 1978. Well, unless you count the US Blues chart, where she's placed 10 records in the top 15 since 1996. One of them, Heart of Mine: Maria Muldaur Sings Love Songs of Bob Dylan was #1 in 2006. Since her debut she's made some 37 mostly blues records.

Victoria Spivey was a blues singer, songwriter, and actor. She made a series of singles in the 20s and 30s, and sang in musical theatre throughout the 40s. She returned to blues in the sixties, both as a recording artist and also as a record company owner.  

On One Hour Mama, Muldaur puts on her best sultry voice to cover a dozen of Spivey's excellent compositions. Musical backing is provided by wonderful New Orleans styled jazz bands, and the arrangements capture the rhythmic swing the style is famous for. There's plenty of great playing. Taj Mahal and Elvin Bishop make cameo appearances. 

If you've kept up with Maria Muldaur, you know she never stopped making solid records. If not, now would be an excellent time to catch up. 

Ricky Byrd NYC Made 2025

 

Ricky Byrd has been around the block a few times. Lead guitar, backup vocals, and songwriting with Joan Jett's Blackhearts for more than ten years. He's in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Touring and/or recording guitarist with Roger Daltry and Ian Hunter, and at least 25 other artists you're familiar with. He's made four previous solo records. So, a journeyman with a deep resume and plenty of talent. He can sing. 

It's a message record. The message is rock hard and have fun.

Songs are consistently strong. He wrote all of the songs, one a co-write with Southside Johnny Lyons. (Ya Get) 1 Life kicks things off with a reminder to get the most out of it. Glamdemic Blues is a tribute of sorts to Queen and glam rockers. Rhapsody in Blues (One For Jeff) is a fine instrumental in Jeff Beck fashion. Sweet Byrd of Youte and Transistor Radio Childhood dig a nostalgic groove. Alien asks what Bowie's Starman might think of our messy planet. Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Demise (Has Been Greatly Exaggerated) is what it sounds like. Then Along Comes You, Anna Lee, and Best of Times are sweet (rocking) love songs. Nothing deep, and nothing trite.

Music is terrific. Arrangements are varied and dynamic. He's got an A-list team of musicians helping him out. The recording is very good. Lots of hot guitar, hooks for the choruses, gang backup vocals, Uptown Horns on a couple. Bass, drums and keys are all killer, staffed as they are by fellow professional ace musicians. Byrd's vocals are out front, and you can hear what he has to say.

Bryd lists his inspirations as Raspberries, Stones, Yardbirds, The Who and Sam Cooke. This record sounds like that in a blender. There's a lot of sub-genres of Rock 'n' Roll these days. This one is the original, straight up. I know, it's only rock 'n' roll, but I like it.

Have A Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box 1998

Here's another in my mission to discuss my collection of box sets. This is another Rhino product, and it is excellent, so long as you want to hear this stuff again. The set consists of seven jam-packed CDs, with 160 songs arranged chronologically from January 1970 with Edison Lighthouse's Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) to April 1979 and McFadden and Whitehead's Ain't No Stopping Us Now.

The set features songs immediately recognizable from '70s commercial radio. That means there are songs in multiple genres, including Rock, Soul, Funk, Disco, Singer-Songwriter, and Pop, including quite a few cringe-worthy tunes. The only thing missing is Country music, with the exception of a few crossover hits. These are not deep cuts- everything here was a radio hit, at least top twenty on one of several possible charts. Many selections represent one-hit-wonders like Starland Vocal Band, The 5 Stairsteps, Gallery, Paper Lace, Five Man Electrical Band, and Jigsaw. The chronological presentation makes for a nice exploration of how music evolved (not much really) during the '70s. 

The set comes with a very good 89-page book that includes a couple of good essays, one of which, The Tackiest Decade in the History of Civilization, makes a strong case for it's premise. The book also includes a short blurb about each song, and plenty of pictures of artists and pop trivia. It is a fine package as these things go.

Rock: American Woman (The Guess Who), Rock And Roll Part 2 (Gary Glitter), Radar Love (Golden Earring). Soul: Have You Seen Her (Chi-Lites), Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder), Let's Stay Together (Al Green). Funk: The Payback Part 1 (James Brown), Theme From Shaft (Isaac Hayes), Tear The Roof Off The Sucker (Parliment). Disco: We Are Family (Sister Sledge), I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby (Barry White), Disco Inferno (The Trammps). Singer-Songwriter: Fire and Rain (James Taylor), Sometimes When We Touch (Dan Hill), Wild World (Cat Stevens). Pop: You're So Vain (Carly Simon), Chick-A-Boom (Daddy Dewdrop), The Morning After (Maureen McGovern). 

If you're interested in just how eclectic the tracks are, it is probably easier to just take a look at the track listing at Discogs. The crazy thing was that you could easily hear any of these songs back-to-back on the same radio station in the '70s, before stations started specializing in only one genre. It's probably not one you'll sit and listen to repeatedly, but it's a great source for several '70s playlists, and a fine example of reissue programming.

Dwight Yoakam Dwight Sings Buck 2007

And why not? Buck Owens is and has always been the primary influence on Dwight Yoakam. It's hard to imaging anyone else doing a better job of covering Buck Owens' songs, although Vince Gill and Paul Franklin did a great job on Bakersfield 2013 in tribute to both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. In fact, if you like this, that would be a great one to pick up next.

Yoakam generally does these great songs true to the original arrangements. Even some of the pedal steel guitar leads are lifted directly off the original Buckeroos recordings. And why not? Buck's originals are some of the best country music of the sixties and seventies, especially when Nashville was adding strings and "fancy" arrangements to many country hits of the day. In fact, it is in rebellion against that slick Nashville sound that Owens and Haggard staked their claim to a more basic, more direct sound, which came to be known as the Bakersfield sound.

So what is different between this and listening to Owens' originals? Well, the recording is fuller and more modern, with more bass, than the somewhat thinner sound on Buck's originals. And Yoakam has a different voice than Owens, less reedy, a little deeper, and with even more twang and that hiccup thing Yoakam does. But that's about it. The band here is exactly the way the Buckeroos were staffed. Yoakam's acoustic rhythm, Josh Grange on pedal steel, Kevin Smith on bass, Mitch Marine on drums, and the excellent Eddie Perez on lead guitar and harmony vocals (filling the big shoes of Don Rich from the Buckeroos). Bobbye Hall plays some additional percussion. 

Every song is a winner. Buck wrote most of them himself, and the rest are carefully chosen songs that fit right into Buck's style, like Act Naturally and Close Up The Honky Tonks.

Buck Owens' fans with large collections might not need this, unless they also happen to like Yoakam. And why not? Dwight Yoakam fans should own this so they can understand what inspired his work. Plus, as Yoakam records go, this one has nothing but good songs on it, not unlike This Time. A+, five stars.

Pete Townsend and Ronnie Lane Rough Mix 1977

Here's one that deserves to be ranked among the better rock records of it's day, and certainly more revered than it seems to be. Townsend was asked to produce a solo record for Lane, and instead it became this lovely duo recording. The record, other than the recognizable voices, mostly bears little resemblance to The Who or Faces records, and stands as a singular recording in either artists oeuvre.

Songwriting is shared democratically, and Lane comes through with several excellent examples of his work. Nowhere To Run is a great lyric and vocal, Annie is sweet melancholy, Catmelody is a fine old time rocker, and April Fool is the English folk music that features in much of Lane's solo work. 

Townsend contributes Keep Me Turning, which sounds like one from Who Came First, Misunderstood, a great ode to being the mystery man, Heart To Hang On To which features the two stars alternating lead vocals, the magnificent, observational Street In The City, which has a grand string orchestra arrangement by Pete's father-in-law, and My Baby Gives It Away, a spritely appreciation of a, shall we say, generous lover. It rocks.

They are both credited with writing the rocking jam title track with Eric Clapton adding hot lead guitar. Clapton plays dobro on a couple others, Pete Evans adds harmonica to a couple, Mel Collins plays sax on Catmelody, Henry Spinetti's drums and Rabbit Bundrick's keyboards feature on most of the record. 

The heartfelt Don Williams cover Till The Rivers All Run Dry closes the record on a sentimental note.

There's nothing quite like it in either artist's other work by The Who, Faces, or their solo outings. Two great songwriters that clearly enjoy each other produce an exceptional work of understated elegance.

Cher 3614 Jackson Highway 1969

 

I'm not what anyone would call a big Cher fan, but I've never had anything against her either. I enjoyed her 60s singles with Sonny, and over the years she's put out a string of interesting and enjoyable singles, often shifting styles and genres, and being a consummate performer on stage, film, and video. I like her attitude.

I recently discovered her duet single with Harry Nillson of A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day), produced by Phil Spector from 1975. It's worth checking out on YouTube. The b-side is Cher doing (Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin' On, from the 3614 Jackson Highway album. I love the version of A Hangin' On (same song) by Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis on their Our Year record from 2014, and Cher's version is good.

And so, I sought out 3614 Jackson Highway. In 1969, Cher had had a string of unsuccessful singles and had fallen out of favor with the new hip (hippie) music fans, and so she went to Muscle Shoals in an attempt to revive her career. Long story short, it didn't work, although in 1971, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves would start her 70s revival.

The Jackson Highway record features the hit-making Muscle Shoals rhythm section, a core of great back-up singers, mostly well chosen and trendy cover songs, and production from Tom Dowd and Jerry Wexler. Well-arranged horns and strings embellish a few songs. How could it not be good? Maybe the better question would be How could it not be a hit? 

It was a flop, and Atco dropped her immediately. And it just makes no sense at all, except that the record buying public had decided that Cher just wasn't cool anymore, and so the record didn't sell. 

There's eleven songs, and the first nine all work. She does a perfectly fine For What It's Worth, and the aforementioned Hangin' On is good. Her (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay is surprisingly good, taken with a more mellow vibe than Otis Redding. I Walk On Guilded Splinters is another surprise success. There's three Bob Dylan songs (Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You, I Threw It All Away, Lay Baby Lay), and they all work just fine. Only the last two songs bring the rating down a notch. The awful "stay for the kids" message of Save The Children is pretty bad, and absolutely no one should ever try Do Right Woman, Do Right Man after Aretha Franklin did it. (There's a mixed bag of outtakes on the 2018 CD reissue that mostly add little value.)

Why review a record from 1969 that nobody bought new? Well because it's a good record made by an interesting artist with the inimitable Muscle Shoals rhythm section, and you haven't heard it. I mean, the odds that anyone living today has heard this, other than dyed-in-the-wool Cher fans, is extremely low. But if you are even remotely interested, I'll bet you'll like it. 

Gyasi Here Comes The Good Part 2025

 

Maybe you are someone who loved Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, or Mott The Hoople's Mott or T Rex's Electric Warrior, or anything by Slade, and you wish that the glam era wasn't so short-lived in the seventies. Well, Gyasi (pronounced Jah-See) is here for you.

The record kicks off with the pounding Sweet Thing, big buzzsaw guitars and hooky melodies. Lightening follows, another pounding rocker that's just fine. Snake City features a nice skronky lead break and a chorus made for arena sing-alongs. Solo bass starts off She Says, and then it kicks into high gear, driving fast and hard with big guitars and another catchy chorus. Street Life is riff rock of high caliber, and then American Dream is the big ballad that sounds like a Ziggy outtake (a good one), ending the first side in fine style.

Side two comes driving out of the gate with Cheap High, a fast and furious workout with a smoking lead guitar. Big crunching guitar announces Baby Blue, with another riff supporting a catchy melody and more wailing lead guitar. Bang Bang (Runaway) rocks hard, Star starts off like a lost Led Zeppelin track and then morphs into a Mott the Hoople song. Piano is featured on 23, and it's a mid-tempo number with an interesting rhythm and yet another searing lead break. The record ends with Grand Finale, a sweet Bowie-inspired ballad with synth strings and a sentimental lyric, that turns into a big arena ballad before it ends, and closes with a hot lead guitar.

Throughout the record, Gyasi sings in an affected nasal style that is a cross between Bowie and Marc Bolin, and also employs a strong Robert Plant falsetto for the high parts. Melodies are strong, lyrics are good, and the band is tight. 

What more could a glam rock fan ask for?

The Golden Era of Rock 'n' Roll 1955-1963 2004

During the 1990s and early 2000s the reissue market took off like crazy. Motown, Stax/Volt, Atlantic and others all released box sets of their back catalog hits, usually with nice booklets with essays and track information. Rhino Records and Hip-O Records both did excellent work in the reissue field, and especially in various artist compilations. This set is a companion to The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll set I discussed way back here.  

This is one of the better compilations of it's ilk, and hits most of the highlights (with the usual licensing issues) that one might want in covering this early rock and roll era. Bill Haley, the Moonglows, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent and Carl Perkins show up on the first CD (the set is nicely chronological). The Ventures, Dion, Del Shannon and Roy Orbison populate the third CD. All the names you might remember or that you may have studied through reading about the era are here, but so are some of the lesser artists such as The Bobettes, Lee Andrews and the Hearts, The Five Satins, Shirley and Lee, and Joey Dee and the Starlighters. Their songs are more familiar than their names in most cases.

It isn't quite the revelation that the Roots of Rock 'n' Roll set was, as that one explored the era before rock really took over the airwaves, and was a deep dive into less familiar music and varied genres. But for someone born in the seventies or later, much of this material might be quite alien, and perhaps even as revelatory. And if you were listening to the oldies station in the sixties or seventies, much of this will sound pleasingly familiar, and some of it will be new. The set ends in 1963 with The Angels' My Boyfriend's Back, The Chiffons' He's So Fine, and The Beach Boys Surfin' USA. Let's just say they nailed the landing.

I've explored a number of Box Set collections in the past, and the good ones are mighty fine listening. You can check those entries out here. Additionally, most of them are available at bargain prices these days. I'm going to try to review the remainder of these sets in my collection in the near future. Stay tuned.

Lindsey Buckingham Go Insane 1984

Lindsey Buckingham seemed to relish his chances to go solo, and he makes a concerted effort not to sound like Fleetwood Mac. Which makes sense, but it also means that Mac fans would have mixed feelings about Buckingham solo. His first was very good with just a few exceptions, and I guess this one could be assessed pretty much the same way. 

The records open with the rocking I Want You, with tinny keyboards, speeded-up vocal section, and smoking hot lead guitar, with a hook for a chorus. Nice way to kick things off. The title track is next and has layered keys, layered vocals, sharp percussion, with another catchy chorus. The warbly high register that is his vocal on Slow Dancing is classic Buckingham. The pulsing beat and and complex arrangement keep a simple tune interesting. I Must Go gets a little more experimental, and that either detracts or you like it. Lots of keyboards, but it runs for a minute or two longer than it has ideas. And then Play In The Rain brings the crazy theme to the fore, with quiet vocal parts interrupted by clamorous percussion segments. Then the Indian instruments come in to raga the song out. 

Flip over to side two and Play In The Rain continues, starting with the raga, then shifting back to alternating vocal sections with percussion and big keyboard/guitar segments. It all comes together to rock out the ending. The slinky rock of Loving Cup is familiar territory for Buckingham, and rocks pretty hard. We get a hot guitar solo, and a big stadium-rock sound. It's good, but again seems to milk the motif for a few extra minutes. Bang The Drum opens without drums (of course), and the "bang the drum" chorus is catchy with  those eighties synths and layered vocal harmonies. The song ends on the banging drums (thank goodness). The D. W. Suite (honoring Dennis Wilson) is in three parts. The gentle opening section with Scottish folk overtones morphs through some cacophony into a Beach Boys inspired, harmony packed song, and then into a march of the familiar Scottish folk song "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" (or something awfully close) that serves as a funeral march for the recently deceased Wilson. It's a bit out there.

Listening to it after a long time away made for fun and intriguing listening. I suppose if you didn't like Tusk you probably won't like his early solo work (this is his second). Side one is better than side two. The record plays for 38 minutes, and even at that, some of it feels like it's stretched out a bit. And so yes, it's very good, with a few exceptions.

Spinning Vinyl

So this session had a theme of 80s vinyl. Sometime between 1988 and 1991, new releases stopped being issued on vinyl except for mega-hits, and CDs took over. But the early and mid 80s, while crammed with terrible synthesizer pop, also saw some of my favorite artists making great records. All of these are very special to me. 

Things started with XTC's English Settlement 1982, side two with No Thugs In Our House, Yacht Dance, and All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late). I've always loved the chorus of No Thugs, "No thugs in our house, are there dear, We made that clear, We made little Graham promise us he'd be a good boy". Sure, as long as an adolescent male tells you they'll be good, it's all set. Both Yacht Dance and All Of A Sudden are also great. "Life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits but there's something missing in the middle". English Settlement has always been my favorite XTC, and for an unknown reason I bought the expensive two LP import version when it came out, which was vastly superior to the single disc US version that had five less songs.

Next up, The Clash London Calling 1980, also side two. Side two isn't the hit-packed side one or side four, but it's very good. Spanish Bombs, Clampdown and the call to arms of The Guns of Brixton, "When they kick at your front door, How you gonna come?, With your hands on your head, or on the trigger of your gun". Even the weak side kicks ass.

Then it was side two of Elvis Costello's Trust 1981. I typically think of Imperial Bedroom as my Costello highlight, but I may need to reconsider. With songs like New Lace Sleeves, From A Whisper To A Scream, Different Finger, and White Knuckles, the side just slaps you in the face. The Attractions were such a great band.

Next I pulled out one I hadn't listened to in I don't know how long. Talking Heads Remain In Light 1980, side one with Born Under Punches, Crosseyed and Painless, and The Great Curve. It was listed as a best of the year along side London Calling on every such list. At the time of release, Ken Tucker wrote in Rolling Stone, "Remain in Light yields scary, funny music to which you can dance and think, think and dance, dance and think, ad infinitum." It was a thrill to hear after so long a time.

Side one of Robert Palmer's Pride 1983 followed. This was Palmer's last record before the one-two punch of Power Station's 33 1/3  and Palmer's Riptide, both with Tony Thompson, Andy Taylor and Bernard Edwards and featuring Some Like It Hot and Addicted to Love. But Pride is no slouch, and side one features the title track, Want You More, Dance For Me and You Are In My System.

Finally we get to 1986 and Joe Jackson's three-sided vinyl version of Big World. Side three with Soul Kiss, Tango Atlantico, Home Town, and the snark of The Jet Set, all demonstrating Jackson's gift for skilled and varied composition. Recorded live without any overdubs or sonic trickery, Big World is an outstanding example of a super tight band firing on all cylinders. 

It was a fine, if brief, romp through the stacks, sticking to favorite records by favorite artists with the speakers singing loud and clear.