Journey through the past : Steve Forbert : Alive on Arrival

Alive on Arrival arrived with a lot of "the next Dylan" hype in 1978.  There was a bit of that then. And it was not as if Dylan was not producing good music at the time - he was in one of his purple patches but had definitely moved on to less folky approach and I suppose the "no-electric" folkies were still pining.

So in 1978 - at the tail end of punk rock and the start of new wave - Steve Forbert arrives - definitely alive. He is still around and recording good music (and I have a few) but is this the one I play most often.

While at times his voice can sound a little lightweight there is no disputing how good the songwriting is, from the opening Goin' Down to Laurel, through
It Isn't Going to be that way,  You Can Not Win If You Do Not Play and What Kind of Guy?.  

Journey Through The Past : Bowie Live At QE II park in Christchurch in 1978

This would have been my first musical pilgrimage.  There have of course been many more but this was pretty special.  Bowie played two concerts in NZ that year and broke attendance records at Western Springs which I think still stand.

I had the choice of going to Auckland or Christchurch and chose Christchurch as I could scout the city for the next three years as I would be studying there.  I could also bunk down with my Aunt and Uncle, important as I was saving to be a student and needed to maximise my beer and music money.

I went down with my friend and future flatmate through uni Bruce Garland.  I remember turning up very early at QEII in the hope of catching site of the man as he came and went to sound check (of course he left that for others - but I am sure we got a few beers down).

Bowie's old schoolmate (and son of his woodwork teacher) Peter Frampton had played the same venue a week earlier and had apparently complained loudly onstage and off of the reflected sound off the stadium opposite.  It was going to be interesting whether this would have an impact on Bowie's concert.  Bowie certainly noticed it and in fact on one song (sorry my memory is not that good) encouraged the band to play to the echo.  That is what I consider makes a great showman and musician - someone who can work not only a crowd but also the venue if need be.  Mind you he had a great band with Carlos Alomar and Adrien Belew on Guitar, Simon House on violin, Roger Powell on Keyboards and Dennis Davis on Drums.

In 1979 Bowie would release Stage a double LP of the same tour with a very similar setlist (but in a very different order) to what we saw.   It became a party favourite - especially the blistering version of Station to Station.   Listening to the album after the show the quality of the show is obvious but sometimes it seems too clinical.   However a few other songs were highlights of the show and the album.  I particularly remember Kurt Weil's Alabama Song and Blackout from heroes.

The concert was well reviewed by most but I can remember one by Ray Columbus in particular, he was obviously sitting in the grandstand and had not done his homework.   He did not enjoy the show and the latter (now considered classic material) and complained Bowie did not play the hits.

I was happy though!

Favourites : Jimmy LaFave : Cimarron Manifesto

I first came across Jimmy LaFave about 20 years ago when he released his (late career) debut Austin Skyline.  I will write about that in the future but I am playing this album now so -  this is what you get for now.

Jimmy is an Austin resident who has made a career out of interpreting Dylan. His albums are always interesting and ALWAYS include one or two Dylan covers.  Cimarron Manifesto has, like his more recent albums more originals than earlier ones but it still has an excellent cover of Dylan's Not Dark Yet.  Other interesting covers include Walk a Mile in My Shoes and Donovan's Catch The Wind.   The originals are good too easpecially Home Once Again but sorry not on You Tube

Song of the day 54 ; The Youngbloods : Get Together

Jan and I went to see Steve Earle at the Civic in Christchurch a few years ago.  It was a great show with a good story behind it.  He played two songs in the encore - Nick Lowe's What So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding and Get Together.

When we got home we were both stumped by Get Together we knew we knew the song but could not remember the band.

Google was not what it is today and so we had to rely on friends to tell us who had the hit with it originally.  Thanks to David LaPlanche we had an answer in 20 minutes!

Junk Shop and Sale Bin Finds : Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Volume 6 1966-69

I came across this collection of Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Volume 6 1966-69  in a second hand store just beside the French Market in New Orleans last year. I already had most of the tracks on it (on either CD or LP and some 3 or 4 times) and, according to Jan, too much weight to get the records I had already bought onto the plane. However, it is such a good collection, and it was in such good condition that I could not be persuaded not fork out the $7 asking price.

Luckily I managed to get all the records back to Fiji and I have really enjoyed this mix of music and many times, like this morning, I can play it all the way through. I defy anyone to do that and not want to jive just a little at some stage!



In many ways this album is a tribute to both Jerry Wexler's musical vision and to his being such a complete fucking asshole.  We have to be thankful for both as many of these tracks were recorded with just four bands.  First Stax's MG's, Bar Keys and Mar Keys, and then when Jerry and Jim Stewart argued he then recorded with Rick Hall (until he fell out with him) at Fame with what became the Swampers after Wexler enticed them away by funding their own studio.  By my count about 23 of the 28 songs were recorded with these four bands.  That gives the compilation a great consistent feel.

Look at the track listing - just magic

–Wilson Pickett : Land Of 1000 Dances
–Eddie Floyd : Knock On Wood
–Otis Redding : Try A Little Tenderness
–Wilson Pickett : Mustang Sally
–Sam & Dave : When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
–Arthur Conley : Sweet Soul Music
–Sam & Dave : Soul Man
–Aretha Franklin  : I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
–Aretha Franklin  : Do Right Woman - Do Right Man
–Joe Tex : Show Me
–Otis* And Carla*  : Tramp 
–Wilson Pickett :  Funky Broadway
–Booker T. & The MG's :  Hip Hug-Her
–Aretha Franklin  ; Respect
–Aretha Franklin : ( You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Bar-Kays, The :  Soul Finger
–Aretha Franklin : Baby I Love You
–Joe Tex :  Skinny Legs And All
–Aretha Franklin : Chain Of Fools
Wilson Pickett : I'm In Love
King Curtis : Memphis Soul Stew
–Otis Redding :  (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
–Archie Bell & The Drells : Tighten Up
–Clarence Carter : Slip Away
–Aretha Franklin :  Think
–Roberta Flack : The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
–R.B. Greaves : Take A Letter, Maria
–Brook Benton : Rainy Night In Georgia

Journey Through The Past : Teardrop Explodes - Wilder

Wilder is The Teardrop Explodes second and best album.  They had broken up before their final album was released and Julian Cope went on to a successful if not idiosyncratic career of music, writing and the study of antiquities.

Wilder is a significant progression from the debut Kilimanjaro which only hinted at what they could do with Cope's ideas. It was this album that made me stick with Cope through his later period.

 Highlights include Passionate Friend, Bent out of Shape, The Culture Bunker and The Great Dominions.

Unfortunately my copy is sitting in my own culture bunker at the moment so I will have to retrieve it on one of my next trips to Christchurch. 

Song of the Day 53 : Willie Nelson : I Never Cared For You

I Never Cared For You is one of my favourite Willie songs. He wrote it early in his career. I especially like the tex-mex and spanish feel he gets out of Trigger that battered old guitar of his.

The first version I heard was on a compilation and then I heard the version on Teatro and I was hooked!  I have now managed to find an early 60's live album which probably has the best version.


                                                "I Never Cared For You"

The sun is filled with ice and gives no warmth at all
And the sky was never blue
The stars are raindrops searching for a place to fall
And I never cared for you

I know you won't believe these things I tell you
No, you won't believe
Your heart has been forewarned all men will lie to you
And your mind cannot conceive
Now all depends on what I say to you
And on your doubting me
So I've prepared these statements far from true
Pay heed and disbelieve

The sun is filled with ice and gives no warmth at all
The sky was never blue
Stars are raindrops searching for a place to fall
And I never cared for you

And the sun is filled with ice and gives no warmth at all
Sky was never blue
The stars are raindrops searching for a place to fall
And I never cared for you
I never cared for you
I never cared for you

More Muscle From The Shoals : Bob Seger

I think that Bob Seger does not get the credit he deserves and his best material is up there with Springsteen. Many of his records in the 1970s were credited to Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band when for a few of them that was not always the case.

Many of the tracks on his bigger albums;  Night Moves, Strangers in Town and Against The Wind were in fact recorded with The Swampers at Muscle Shoals Sounds Studio.

This includes most of Side 2 of Night Moves including Mainstreet and Fire Lake on Against The Wind.

Damn right I've Got the Blues ..... Derek Trucks Band - Already Free

About 9 years ago I saw a very lacklustre Eric Clapton show in Brisbane.  We had almost had dinner with him the night before.  He and Ian Botham were in the same restaurant eating outside through the window from Jan and I).  While the song choice was great (lots off Layla) the man seemed to have had his personality extracted and the show really lacked energy.  

At the time he had two support guitarists who really held the show together-  particularly the guy that looked a bit like a beefier Duanne Allman.

Unusually for me, and probably because I am not a great Clapton (Clapped Out?) fan I  had not done any research on his band and if I had I would have known the pedegree of his two "support" guitarists in Doyle Bramhill II and Derek Trucks.  Bramhill's father having played with Freddy King and Stevie Ray and Trucks apparently named after Derek and the Dominos and the nephew of Butch Trucks the Allman Brothers drummer.

Fast forward about five years and I passed a stand on new release CDs in HMV Singapore and this album caught my eye.  It was an import, which in Singapore I was never sure what it meant as all non Chinese music is imported,  other than of course it was more expensive.  Anyway I bought the CD based on its cover and some review extracts on the plastic cover. 

Great Buy and I now have a few Derek Trucks and related CDs.  But this is still the favourite by a long way.  I know others would say he has done better (especially when he ties up with his wife Susan Tedeschi in the Tedeschi Trucks Band).  It is well paced starting with a formidable bvlues infused cover of Dylan's Down in the Flood and then he is joined by Doyle Bramhill on Something to Make You Happy, then a great cover of Dan Penn's Sweet Inspiration, the blues boogie of Get What you Deserve and closes with Already Free

File it alongside Derek and The Dominos, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes and the more recent Trigger Hippy.  Great stuff.

Recent Additions - My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall

I have already written about how I rate My Morning Jacket as one of the best bands around at the moment.  Therefore it should not be surprising that I was in line to get their new album, The Waterfall when it was released a few months ago.

As has been the case with their last two album my first impressions of the album were not encouraging.  It seemed quite underwhelming.  However I have now learnt my lesson and so perservered and have now listened to it a few times - in the car and at home.

As usual - my appreciation of just how good this album is has grown with each listen.   I can understand those that decide not to put the effort in - but that is part of the problem with iPod listening.

Once again they defy simple categorisation.  One minute they are psychedelic, ethereal and slow, the next they are getting funky and coming across as the Southern Boys they are.

This is an album that does warrant playing all the way through in the order it is sequenced on record. Listening I get a real sense of something that builds with a consistent and with a clear plan.  In particular the lyrics seem to draw a connection between the environment and spirituality and along with the instrumentation and singing provide a total package. That said there are still a few standout tracks (none better than the two openers Believe (No One Knows) and Compound Fracture).   Other tracks that I enjoy include Get The Point and the closing track Only Memories Remain.

Junk Shop and Sale Bin Finds : Ramblin Thomas 1928-32

When buying records in sale bins I make the choice of which ones I am going to fork out my hard earned 50c or $ for a variety of reasons.  Some I just want one song on, others are guilty pleasures that I could never never bring myself to buy at any higher price (Hot August Night would be one of those).

However some records when I them see in a sale bin I know I am going to end up buying them even though I know nothing about them.  It might be the cover, it might be a producer or a player on them. Sometimes I think it may be worth a punt and sometimes I think that it may be undervalued and I may be able to on sell it for more.  The problem with the idea of selling records is that very seldom do - those few I have over the years I have always regretted that one night every ten years I think I wish I could play that now or when I see it in a shop for $40 or $50.

Anyway I bought this album because

• It was an old blues recording and I always like those old acoustic blues
• The record was in almost mint condition
• It was only $2 and was sure it was likely to be worth more (only one copy on sale on Discogs for $25)

It is a good as I hoped it would be, the lead-off track So Lonesome was perhaps an early influence on Canned Heat's Going Up Country but the only track I could find for you to sample is Poor Boy Blues which was also on the legendary Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, 

More Muscle from the Shoals II - Margie Joseph and Barry Goldberg

I keep my eye out for things from Muscle Shoals.  Everything recorded there is worth a listen. It has a groove that appeals to me.  As I prepared to go there last year I started doing a bit of research on what was actually recorded there or involved personnel from the Swampers.   I started to take mental notes of what was out there, what I thought sounded interesting and what I might buy. Albums titles and artists names have embedded themselves in my memory so as I sift through sale bins I seem to know when to stop and read the liner notes.  I would also add album titles it to my wantlist on the Discogs website.    Obsessive but maybe not so compulsive.

Anyway over the last six months or so I have grown my collection of Muscle Shoals Music quite a lot - some I have paid a bit for and some have been bargain basement stuff - with the emphasis on bargain!

One of my favourite recent additions has been Margie Joseph's Makes a New Impression on the Volt label.  Some of this was recorded at Stax with the BarKeys and some down the road at Muscle Shoals.

It opens with a monologue about trust and fidelity and then launches into a funky version of Stop! In the Name of Love that really let's you know what the song is all about.  Other highlights include the similarly themed  Temptation's About to Take Your Love and How Beautiful the Rain.

Very tasty all round.




A little bit more interesting is Barry Goldberg's Blast From My Past.  I knew nothing about Mr Goldberg at the time but the album has Eddie Hinton, Duanne Allman, Danny Whitten and Harvey Mandell on guitars - wow what a collection of pedigree.  I do not think that   Goldberg is a keyboard organ player that, as happens frequently for music fanatacists once I hear about an artist I start seeing his name everywhere.  So I now know that Barry started out in a high school band with Steve Miller and also played in early blues band with Michael Bloomfield.  Today even there was a connection when I saw that Barry wrote one of  the songs on a Gladys Knight album I was playing

I could not find a link to any songs off the album but here are Goldberg and Mike Bloomfield playing two of the tracks from the album Jimi the Fox and Blues for Barry and Michael .

Junk and Sale Bin Shop Finds : John Hammond Jr So Many Roads

Over the years I have collected a few John Hammond Jr records but this was a great find!!! 

Hammond is the son of yet another and more famous John Hammond Jr - one of a number of non musicians whose impact on popular music is almost immeasurable. 

The Senior Junior (so to speak) was instrumental as a talent spotter for Columbia Records, in the development of the careers of, among others Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and his guitarist Charlie Christian, and Leonard Cohen, . However he first got recognition for the promotion of the blues to white audiences.  This love must have rubbed off on his son as Junior Junior has had a strong career as a blues player.

I first heard of So Many Roads when I read about the history and development of The Band.  When they were still The Hawks and backing Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson were flown to New York to help with the recording of this album.  This is therefore one of the earliest recordings you can hear of them. 

So when I saw this for $6 in a junk bin there was no doubt I would buy it.  An added bonus is that it a pretty solid blues album with the title track, So Many Roads, So Many Trains, Who do You Love, Down in the Bottom and Baby Please Don't Go.  

Song of the Day 52 : 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)

The first version of this I heard was by the Hollies and it was awful.  

A couple of years later I heard Springsteen's version and I was hooked, magical, bawdy and cinematic. 

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in the town, the Circuit's full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York virgins by the score

And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby

Now, the greasers, ah, they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades, bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinning, babe, didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin', laughin' 'neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss's daughter
I remember, Sandy, girl
Na, na, na, na, na, baby

Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw boppin' down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too

Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
My, my, my, my, my baby
Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
Sha, la, la, la, la, baby

Journey Through The Past : Pentangle - Basket of Light

I could have put Basket of Light in the Bargain Bin series but I think it deserves a bit more status than that.

I had been looking for this both online and in shops at a reasonable price for a while.  Then I saw a  copy with a battered cover (history there I guess) for $4 in Real Groovy - as I slipped the record out of the cover I expected to see a big scratch at worst and perhaps just a lot of dirt and marks.  However I was pleasantly surprised when the record appeared in perfect condition.

Score!!

People my age in NZ will remember the opening track Light Flight as it was opening credits for a TV show.  Google tells me it was a BBC show called Take Three Girls but I think NZBC used it for some news show.

Pentangle was one of a raft of folk rock bands (Steeleye Span, Lindisfarne) that followed in the wake of Fairport Convention.  However Pentangle was blessed with some of Britain's best acoustic musicians in Bert Jansch, John Renbourn,and Danny Thompson.  Jansch heavily influencing Jimmy Page's more acoustic side.  In addition to Light Flight songs like Hunting Song  House Carpenter and Sally Go Round the Roses show the bands chops off.

Song of the Day 51 : Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin

I have already written how Led Zep III is my favourite Zeppelin album.  Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp is one of the reasons it is.  A clever little song that for the uninitiated sounds like a love song to someone with whom he expects to spend the rest of his days, walking down country lanes.  However it is song about his dog, strider, a blue eyed merle.  But he does promise to stay faithful claiming "there aint now old shep gonna happen again"

Named after the old Welsh Country Homestead it was recorded in - a place Robert Plant used often to escape the rock and roll lifestyle.  Was very pleased when he reworked it into a more swaggering song at his Wellington Concert two years ago.

Ah caught you smiling at me, That's the way it should be,
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine.

Ah all the good times we had, I sang love songs so glad
Always smiling, never sad, so fine.

[Chorus]
As we walk down the country lanes, I'll be singing a song,
Hear me calling your name.
Hear the wind within the trees, Telling Mother Nature 'bout you and me.

Well if the sun shines so bright, Or on our way it's darkest night
The road we choose is always right, so fine.

Ah can your love be so strong When so many loves go wrong
Will our love go on and on...

[Chorus]

My, my la de la come on now it ain't too far,
Tell your friends all around the world,
Ain't no companion like a blue eyed merle.
Come on now well let me tell you,
What you're missing, missing, 'round them brick walls.

So of one thing I am sure, It's a friendship so pure,
Angels singing all around my door, so fine.
Yeah, ain't but one thing to do Spend my natural life with you,
You're the finest dog I knew, so fine.

When you're old and your eyes are dim, There ain't no old Shep gonna happen again,
We'll still go walking down country lanes, I'll sing the same old songs,
Hear me call your name.

  

Journey Through The Past : Tower of Power

I first heard Tower of Power when Casey Kasem played So Very Hard to Go off their self titled third album way back in 1973.   Did not know too much about them but over the next few years ago the Tower of Power horn section started cropping up everywhere - from Elton John and Cat Stevens through  to becoming integral to Little Feat's live sound when they recorded the mighty Waiting for Columbus live set.

Like Sly and the Family Stone they were an integrated funk band but to me always seemed a little less strident.

However I always loved So Very Hard to Go and eventually got a copy of it when I bought one of those 5 original albums for $20.

Because this  album has So Very Hard to Go - I quickly found this was the one I kept returning to - highlights include the opener What is Hip and the falsetto of Get Yo Feet back on the Ground and the funk injection of Soul Vaccination.

Recently I managed to pick up an LP of this album for just $5 - bargain!

Favourites : Rosanne Cash ; 12 Songs

My appreciation for Rosanne Cash has grown steadily over the years.  Originally she probably did trade a bit on her father's name but she had carved her own unique path and is a leading light in today's Country Music world.  I have already written about last year's stunning The River and The Thread.

The List was her previous record to that and was the second recorded in memory of her father. The first was the excellent personal record Black Cadillac with some gutsy personal songs.   This was prompted by a list Johnny gave her of his favourite songs.  Here she picks a dozen of them and gives them her own treatment (sometimes helped by the likes of Springsteen and Costello).

Johnny sure had good taste.

The list include Merle Haggard's Silver Wings, I'm Moving On, Dylan's Girl from North Country, Hedy West's 500 Miles (not the Proclaimers) and Hank Cochrane's She's Got You.

I hope that she picks another dozen soon.