Song of the Day 62 : Tiger Woods by Dan Bern

Tiger Woods by Dan Bern always makes me laugh.  I especially like the bit about not achieving your dreams too early and of course it ain't bragging if its true

.

I got big balls, big old balls

Big as grapefruits, big as pumpkins

Yes sir, yes sir, and on my really good days

They swell to the size of small dogs

My balls are as big as small dogs

Well, it ain't braggin' if it's true

Yes sir, yes sir, it ain't braggin' if it's true

Muhammad Ali said that

Back when he was a young man

Back when he was cassius clay

Before he fought too many fights

And left his brain inside the ring

And sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

Sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

I got a friend whose goal in life

Was to one day go down on Madonna

That's all he wanted, that was all

To one day go down on Madonna

And when my friend was thirty-four

He got his wish in Rome one night

He got to go down on Madonna

In Rome one night in some hotel

And ever since he's been depressed

'Cause life is shit from here on in

And all our friends just shake their heads

And say too soon, too soon, too soon

He went down on Madonna too soon

Too young, too young, too soon, too soon

And it ain't braggin' if it's true

Yes sir, yes sir, it ain't braggin' if it's true

Muhammad Ali said that

Back when he was cassius clay

Before he fought too many fights

And left his brain inside the ring

And sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

Sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

If certain girls don't look at you

It means that they like you a lot

If other girls don't look at you

It just means they're ignoring you

How can you know, how can you know

Which is which, who's doin' what

I guess that you can ask 'em

Which one are you, baby?

Do you like me or are you ignoring me?

Do you like me or are you ignoring me?

Do you like me or are you ignoring me?

And all you need to do that is one big pair of big balls

Balls as big as grapefruits, balls as big as pumpkins

Balls as big as mine but even though my balls are big

Sometimes I wish they were bigger, even bigger

Big as the wheels on a tractor

Big as the golden arches

Big as the golden gate bridge

Big as the state of Kansas

Big as Mars and Jupiter

Big as the swing of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods

Song of The Day 61 Tom Verlaine : The Funniest Thing

The Funniest Thing has some nice observational lyrics and a gentle rhythm.

One of the few songs Verlaine wrote that could have been a hit.

But it wasn't of course.

Watching you mix up the paint
brush away the questions now
ask another favour of who ever
You say it's failure not contempt that makes an

Honest fool of you... l think I'll use a lighter blue...

There's a reason for that but I don't want to talk

Much about it... isn't that the funniest thing. I think

About it all the time but I don't want to talk much

About it. Ok, Ok, anything you say.

Striking up another match... put it to the candle there

Reading them old valentines. Trucks are going in

And out of that big garage all night... I wonder why you

Turned on me as if I was a one way street but I don't

Want to talk much about it... l think about it

Some of the time but...

Playing checkers friday night... all your brother's

Friends are drunk...opinions they get funny too.

I'm thinking of the things you said, looking at the

Bottles there... "no deposit, no return"...empty or full, it

Seems...

I do not know much about Jazz but I like ....... Lee Morgan - Search for The New Land

I really like Lee Morgan's Sidewinder album which I Chris put me onto and which appears on almost all lists of best Jazz albums.  Doing my normal research on artists and albums I like I came across many articles that said that Search For The New Land offered something a bit different.

When I read that Grant Green, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter all played on it I decided I needed to buy it.

There was a problem though.  It did not seem to be in print and older copies were going for big money.

So I started to keep an eye out for it and recently I saw on line that it had been re-released and a record store in New Zealand had it in stock for close to $40.    Doing a bit more on line searching I managed to find a copy for about 2/3 of that.

The album has a different feel (if I was a real Jazz aficionado I suppose I would say different vibe) to Sidewinder.  More introspective and less poppy (if you can say that about Jazz) than Sidewinder.

Nevertheless on the three plays I have given it so far I know I am going to enjoy this album and play it often.  The title track is an excellent way to start the album, sometimes  it starts with a slightly tentative motif but does get going about midway through its quarter of an hour.  It starts with Hancock leading things which leads into Lee's solos and at about the 10 minute mark some very restrained but very typical Grant Green guitar work comes in.

Other tracks that have made an impression on me are Melancholee and The Joker

Journey Through The Past : Girls - Record 3, Father Son Holy Ghost

I bought this record because I was going to an offshoot of The Laneway Festival in Singapore.
I knew one or two of the bands' names on the roster but little of the music.  The only artists I already had in my collection were Laura Marling and the Horrors.

So I bought a bunch of CDs to do some research.  Father Son Holy Ghost was one of them and I am pleased I did as it is pretty solid collection.

Girls was in their finals stages as shortly after lead singer and songwriter, Christopher Owens was off on a solo career (apparently his latest is worth checking out). However they put on a pretty good show.  Owens has a good voice and is a good front man - singing an acappela tribute to Whitney Houston that was better than the lady herself (which in my opinion is not hard).

While not a classic album it has four tracks that I think are pretty bloody good and that these days is a pretty high hit rate.  A few of the tracks also show off some fine guitar work  - the standout track for me is the Penultimate track - Love Like A River - I think if this had been released 20 years ago it would have been a huge hit and may now be recognised as a a classic. However some of the other tracks are up there as well, the very 80's sounding opener Hunny Bunny,  Saying I love you and Jamie Marie with its beautiful, simple and understated guitar.

More Muscle From The Shoals : Bobby Lance, First Peace

By the time Bobby Lance headed to Muscle Shoals in 1971 to record First Peace he had already tasted some success with Aretha Franklin scoring a hit with his The House That Jack Built.

First Peace was released in 1971 and to me is a real find.

It shows what could happen when The Swampers (this time with Eddie Hinton on lead and slide) got behind someone and into a real groove. On this album they are supplemented by King Curtis, his horn section and The Sweet Inspirations.  Hard to see how this album could be anything but good.

Bobby has a soulful voice, writes good songs and it is interesting on why he did not achieve wider recognition or success (maybe it was the beard :-)).

The opening Somebody Tell Me sets the scene well for what the rest of the album has in store for you.  There is some debate as to whether it is Duanne Allman or Eddie Hinton playing on More Than Enough Rain.   Other tracks worth checking out include Walkin on a Highway and  It Can't Be Turned Around.

Glad I found this!!!

Journey Through The Past : Lou Reed : New York

When I was in the third and forth form we had a girl/young women in our class who always seemed more sophisticated than everyone else.

One of the things that stood her apart was that while most of us were into Bowie, T Rex and The Sweet Tracey would expound on Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.  The Bowie connection had of course led me to Walk on the Wild Side and Transformer but apart from that at that time I did not really connect with Reed.

That came a bit (lot) later.  Over the years I had accumulated a few albums including a great double career summary called Rock'n'roll Diary.  However the first album of his I went out and bought when it was released was New York, released in 1988.  I think I bought it because at the time it was hailed as a return to form.

It was one of the first CDs I bought as well and it boasted that with the right type of CD Player and a computer connection you also had access to the lyrics.  I did not have the right player so that did not matter.

The album opens with a great three punch from Romeo Had Juliette, Halloween Parade, and Dirty Boulevard.  Mike Rathke's jagged guitar complements Reeds own rhthym work and Rob Wasserman is one of the most under-rated bass players around. All this is underpinned with producer Fred Maher's economic drumming. Right from here you know that Reed has perhaps the best band he ever played with  (apart from Metallica (joke!) that is).

Not only that his lyrical focus is keen in his warts and all homage to his hometown.


Is there an opening line to an album that sets the agenda for the rest of the album better than

"Caught between the twisted stars, the plotted lines, the faulty map that brought Columbus to New York, Betwixt between the east and west he calls on her wearing a leather vest"

On Dirty Boulevard he lays the American Dream bare with a few short versus;

Pedro lives out of the Wilshire Hotel

he looks out a window without glass

The walls are made of cardboard, newspapers on his feet

his father beats him 'cause he's too tired to beg

He's got 9 brothers and sisters

they're brought up on their knees

it's hard to run when a coat hanger beats you on the thighs

Pedro dreams of being older and killing the old man

but that's a slim chance he's going to the boulevard

He's going to end up, on the dirty boulevard

he's going out, to the dirty boulevard

He's going down, to the dirty boulevard

This room cost 2,000 dollars a month

you can believe it man it's true

somewhere a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants

No one here dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or anything

they dream of dealing on the dirty boulevard

Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I'll piss on 'em

that's what the Statue of Bigotry says

Your poor huddled masses, let's club 'em to death

and get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard

Other standout tracks to me include Strawman with its attack on consumerism, politicians and television evangelists.  "Spittin' in the wind comes back twice as hard"

One track that resonated with me at the time and still does is Beginning of a Great Adventure.  I was just starting my time as a parent and at the time his wife seemed to be encouraging him to start a family.  Lou was a troubled man and who had had a strained relationship with his own parents.  This song / poem questions his motivations for having a child.  It seems brutally honest with his reservations apparently winning out in the end as he had no children.

"It might be fun to have a kid that I could kick around

create in my own image like a god

I'd raise my own pallbearers to carry me to my grave

and keep me company when I'm a wizened toothless clod

Some gibbering old fool sitting all alone drooling on his shirt

some senile old fart playing in the dirt

It might be fun to have a kid I could pass something on to

something better than rage, pain, anger and hurt

I hope it's true what my wife said to me

I hope it's true what my wife said to me

I hope it's true what my wife said to me

She says, "Lou, it's the beginning of a great adventure"

 

Favourites : Anders Osborne - Living Room

I first came upon Andres Osborne about 5 years ago when a purchase I made on Amazon triggered a recommendation to buy his latest CD at the time, Black Eyed Galaxy.  I did and did not regret it.  I now  have 9 cds and one lp by the man.  All of them are very good.  Some are great.......

......... And Living Room is my favourite.  By a Long Way.  I find it hard to even pick a few songs off it to suggest to listen to as that will mean that I am not pointing you to others. The others are all good, in fact many artists would be pleased to have any of them as the best album in their catalogue.  But Living Room is special.

It was originally released in 1999 and I feel robbed of about 12 year's of listening.  I think that if this album had been released in the 70's it and he would have been talked about now in the same league as Lowell George and Little Feat.

He kind of is any way but in rather smaller circles than used to happen.

Anders was born in Sweden and emigrated to the US when he was 16 and is now settled in New Orleans and has clearly absorbed the sounds and soul of that city.  That is never more obvious than on this album - this is his Dixie Chicken.

So here is a selection of songs from this album.  Greasy Money, Ya Ya, Trippin' In Montana, Never is a Real Long Time, Takes Two, Highway, That's All. 

Last year when Jan and I had our musical odyssey around the US Jan's most wanted to see musician was Jason Isbell and mine was Anders.  They were playing one night apart in Colorado about 500km apart and we had to choose - so we spent time in the Vail Valley listening to Jason - not a bad choice.  I am not complaining - it just means I am yet to see Mr Osborne.  I will.

Favourites : Warren Zevon - The Wind

Last week I wrote about Townes Van Zandt's almost posthumous Far Cry from Dead and mentioned that Warren Zevon had recorded The Wind in similar circumstances.  Knowing he was dying Zevon wanted to record one final album.

At that stage it could not really have been about the money.  While Zevon had recorded a number of really good albums in the 5 or 6 years before he was diagnosed with cancer they were not great sellers and probably on reached hard core fans like me.  To say they did not bother the charts would be an understatement.

His last few albums had seemed to have predicted his situation but he denied that.  Truth was his lyrics were always a bit dark and morbid with earlier song titles like I'll Sleep When I'm Dead and Things to Do In Denver When You're Dead (the title stolen for a movie).  Therefore new songs on the albums before The Wind like My Shit's Fucked Up, MacGillycuddy's Reeks and My Ride's Here could well have just been coincidental to his situation - or maybe some kind of premonition.

Anyway back to this album.  While sentimentally many say it is better than those immediately previous albums I am not quite so sure.  They are in my opinion as good as this one.  However the backstory of Zevon determined to and struggling to complete this and the quality of that final song certainly give a poignancy not always associated with Zevon.  The story of the album is presented really well in the video Inside Out.

So what of the songs?  They are really a typical Zevon "pick'n'mix".  With a good rocker Dirty Life and Times "I'm looking for a woman with low self esteem", a plea for forgiveness with Please Stay,

Will You Stay with me to the end?

When there's nothing left

But you and me and the wind

We'll never know till we try

To find the other side of goodbye

an inspired cover of Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door with it's plea/demand to "Open up! Open up!"

The final song on the album was also apparently the final song he recorded and like Johnny Cash's last songs he could not get the vocals in a single take.  A song that I think will be played at many funerals the beautiful, simple and final "Keep Me In Your Heart" 

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sometimes when you're doing simple things
around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on
your blouse
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for awhile

These wheels keep turning but they're running out
of steam
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Journey Through The Past : Lyle Lovett - Pontiac

Pontiac was the first Lyle Lovett album I heard.

There was a cassette rolling around in a company car from memory.  It was before he became Mr Roberts and he got the attention that came with that.
Recorded in 1987 Lyle was part of the re-invigoration of country music that was occurring at the time.  However while artists like Steve Earle were bringing a rocky and earthy swagger back - Lyle was mixing Country with jazzy big band arrangements and a wry sense of humour.

I still have no idea what the opener If I had a Boat is about - it really seems to be just a nice piece of nonsense that means little other than some things are worth more to men than the love of a good woman (or man in Tonto's case).

If I had a boat 

I'd go out on the ocean

And if I had a pony 

I'd ride him on my boat

And we could all together 

Go Out on the Ocean

Me upon my pony on my boat

He has probably recorded better albums since this (I particularly enjoy Joshua Judges Ruth and The Road to Ensenada) but this really set his agenda and has some of most memorable songs including Give Back My Heart with its tale of how a one night stand tamed both the hunter and hunted

I walked on through the door and she just smiled

In a long Pony tail and a pretty white dress,

She said hi bull riders do it best

I said oh my god what's your name, my name's Lyle

Somehow I do not think thus is how he met Julia Roberts

Then we have the murder ballad of  LA County, and the big band arrangements of She's No Lady, M-O-N-E-Y and the title track Pontiac.  The latter a nice piece of poignant life observation.

Great album from a unique talent

Recent Additions : Don Nix : Going Down The Songs of Don Nix

Having recently discovered Don Nix.  I am keeping my eye out for his records and CDs.

He was an early player in the 60's music scene; hanging out at Stax Records with his school mates. , being in an early version of The Barkeys (or the MGs or whatever they were calling themselves at the time and then supporting Leon Russell early in his career.

From Wikipedia I found out that in 2002 he came out of self imposed retirement and re-recorded a lot of his old songs with a bunch of like minded luminaries.

So we have a guy with a natural feeling for the blues, Memphis Style joined by Steve Cropper, Bonnie Bramlett, John Mayall, Dan Penn, Bobby Whitlock and Tony Joe White.

The album Going Down that came out of these sessions was released on a small label in the US.  It is really worth checking out if any of those names mean anything to you.  From Going Down he works his way through a series of songs many of which I knew but had not associated with him. Songs like Same old Blues, Black Cat Moan, Palace of the King and Like a Road Leading Home and Living on The Highway.

Recommended for anyone who likes good southern blues rock.  

Journey Through The Past : Neil Young - Sleeps With Angels

Neil Young released Sleeps With Angels in 1994 In the middle of a purple patch that started with Freedom and Ragged Glory and then included Harvest Moon and (maybe) Mirror Ball and Broken Arrow.

However I really like this album - it's certainly up there with anything he did in the 70's and along with On The Beach and Rust Never Sleeps in my top 3 Neil Young albums. Perhaps the quietest of his Crazy Horse albums but maybe the most challenging in terms of atmosphere, lyrical content and theme.

To me the album has an overall theme of the  breakdown of the American Dream. It opens with My Heart and closes with A Dream That Can Last.  Pretty much the same song with different arrangements but different - with the former showing the heart of the American Dream and the latter seems to be saying that after all the problems and issues of the intervening songs there is still the dream to cling to.

The songs in between deal with death (Sleeps with Angels and Change Your Mind - addressed to Kurt Cobain, violence (Drive-by) and the image of a ghost city (Blue Eden and Safeway Cart).  The latter with its image of "Like a safeway cart rolling down street, like a sandlemark on the Saviour's feet, just keep rolling on, it's a ghetto dawn "

He plays the same song twice with different title and lyrics does this again but even more so with Western Hero and  Train of Love.  The former shows the change in heroes from those of the west chasing manifest destiny, through someone in a world war and finally to a big business tycoon.

Then there is the false ode to consumerism Piece of Crap.  The weakest song on the album but still a bit of a laugh and I remember Chris and his school mates miming to it at school camp. 

Journey Through The Past : A Far Cry From Dead : Townes Van Zandt

Far Cry from Dead was the first CD or record I bought by Townes Van Zandt.  I am not sure how he had passed me by - but I am reminded by a story I was told by an old friend of my brother Jon's. How they went to a concert in Auckland to see someone and were impressed by the opening act and it was not until years later he realised it was Townes.

Anyway this is not a bad place to start with Townes' - yes it is the end - an almost posthumous album - I guess he was in a similar condition at this stage as Warren Zevon when he was when he recorded The Wind.  However while Zevon wrote a new batch of songs that dealt with his predicament, Townes picks through his catalogue and does much the same thing.  Hence we get great, grave-like versions of Waiting Around to Die, Sanitarium Blues, Dollar Bill Blues, Tower Song and For the Sake of A Song.

Much like considering Johnny Cash's version of In My Life rather than The Beatles'  both good but one is sung with life's full experience whereas the other by someone with an understanding of life before it is lived.

Of course Townes also does Pancho and Lefty but the songs above are what we need to look for in this instance.

Recent Additions : Richard Thompson - Still

I am not sure that Still will create any new fans for Richard Thompson.  But at this stage of his career that is not really the point.

I sense that, freed from the desire and probably need to make it big, Thompson recently has just concentrated on what he is good at.

Therefore this is a typically solid Thompson album.  It has now expected mix of solid songs, terrific guitar playing and at times wicked humour. Thompson recorded the album  with the same band he recently brought to NZ in Wilco's loft with Jeff Tweedy producing.   

When I saw him in New Plymouth in March he played Guitar Heroes and Beatnik Walking off the album.  While some might enjoy the virtuosity of Guitar Heroes where Thompson plays in the styles of his various guitar heroes from Django, James Burton, Chuck Berry and Hank Marvin, it just does not come off to me and seems unusually slight.   

However I am pleased to report that  this is the the rest of the album is up to Thompson's normal standards. Standout tracks for me include All Buttoned Up, She Never Could Resist a Winding Road, Long John Silver and the aforementioned Beatnik Walking

Favourites : Tift Merritt : Tambourine

I had not listened to Tambourine in a while until the other day when I decided to put it on in the car and give it whirl again.  It had probably been at least 2-3 years since I last listened to it.


I decided to play it because I wanted to hear Laid a Highway  which was always my favourite song on the album.  However as we played the album  (twice) I was surprised at how well I knew the album after that time and realised that I must have played it more than I remembered.

This was Tift's second solo album - I had bought her first,Bramble Rose,  after it got a lot of press with Tift being promoted heavily as a next big thing.  It never happened of course.  But she has gone on to release a series of solid albums to usually pretty good reviews - if not great sales.

What I particularly liked about this album was the country soul feeling she brought to a trio of songs .
Your Love Made A U Turn  and Tambourine and the album closer Shadow in the Way.  While the rest of the album is good it is more formulaic which may explain why she has not achieved greater success.

I was interested to note that she played a show in Auckland earlier this year.  I would have gone if I had not been so far away!!!

Song of the Day 60 : Girls - Love Like a River

Love Like A River by Girls is a I think a lost classic.  If this had been released 20 years ago it would have been a huge radio hit and may now be recognised as a a classic.  However now it has only been heard by a few people and almost lost - hopefully some more people will listen to it now.  

Recent Additions : The Deslondes

An Amazon recommendation  of The Deslondes self titled debut prompted me to get the credit card out and make the purchase! As simple as that.  A country AND western band from New Orleans had to be interesting right?  Yep and No I reckon.

It is a good album and growing on me but the promotional material promised a blend soul and country that I just do not hear as strongly as I had been led to believe.  No matter once I had been through it a few times - I can celebrate it for what it is - a very good Country Album

The album kicks off with the terrific Fought The Blues and Won,  Louise - has the Johnny Cash "chugga chugga" rhythm and is one of the better tracks. Simple and True reminds me of one of my favourite unknown bands Carolina's Lou Ford and that is never a bad thing.

Favourites : Lou Ford

When I started this blog I said that one of my objectives was to cast light on bands and albums that I did not think got the recognition they deserved.  That means many of my posts are about bands that people say "who?" to.

Lou Ford shone brightly for two excellent albums and then all but disappeared.

Pity - especially when bands like Mumford and Sons can come along and play watered down versions of what others do and get all the recognition (and all the money).


I first came across the band Lou Ford on an Uncut sampler CD.  I then tracked down their first two CDs Sad But Familiar and Alan Freed's Radio and was blown away that such an unknown band could have produced such good albums and not been recognised.

The band hails from North Carolina and features brothers Chad and Allan Edwards on guitars and vocals.  They took their name from the book/movie The Killer Inside Me where Lou Ford was a sadistic sheriff.

The band has none of that feel to it playing a mix of country and rock but not quite country rock.

The brothers' harmonies are a distinct feature of the band and I really struggle to choose which of these two albums I prefer. It depends very much on the day.

However whether it is their tribute to the mighty Replacements on Replacement or the breakup songs of You Ain't Worth My Time and The Part of You.  However it is pretty hard to pick a bad song on these albums and you can check out What've I Got to Do, Sad But Familiar Storz Bar and
How Does it Feel  as well.

They broke up after these albums then reformed for another album and judging from youtube seem to still play the occasional show.  

Recent Additions : Greg Trooper - Incident on Willow Street

Some artists seem incapable of producing bad albums.  Greg Trooper is one of those.  I first heard of Greg Trooper when he was one of the lead articles in a No Depression magazine. The magazine is no longer published but it is available on line - and you can even read the article I read way back in 2001 in this link.

I bought the album that the article was promoting and over the years have picked up quite a few more including one of my favourite albums that I have written about earlier.

Incident on Willow Street was self released in 2013 and I have only recently picked up a copy.

As usual it has an impressive set of songs that always leave me wondering why he does not have more success.   I suppose is it is the type of country music that is not popular in the bigs bars which tend to be about drinking, patriotism, drinking and eating fried chicken.     All The Way to Amsterdam, Steel Deck Bridge, Everything's a Miracle, This Shitty Deal, and Mary of The Scots in Queens. are not only good examples of the best of what is on this album but are up there with any thing he has done.  

Favourites : David Bowie, Earthling

I remember talking to someone after the last Bowie Concert in Wellington (Didn't it rain!) and they complained that he had not played many hits.   To me at the time I thought it was an impressive set, demonstrating Bowie's willingness to explore and play with his back catalogue, while also stretching the listeners' worlds if they had not listened for to him for 10-15 years.

I was more than happy because the band played a great versions of The Man Who Sold The World (he's playing Nirvana someone was overheard as saying) and one of my favourite Bowie songs I'm Afraid of Americans from Earthling.  I recently upgraded my copy of Earthling from a CD I bought in Brunei to a nice new vinyl copy.


Here is the setlist that night

1. Rebel Rebel

2. New Killer Star

3. Reality

4. Fame

5. Cactus

6. Afraid

7. All the Young Dudes

8. China Girl

9. Slip Away

10. Space Oddity (Teaser)

11. Starman

12. A New Career in a New Town

13. The Loneliest Guy

14. The Man Who Sold the World

15. Hallo Spaceboy

16. Sunday

17. Under Pressure

18. Life on Mars?

19. Be My Wife

20. Days

21. Hang on to Yourself

22. Changes

23. Ashes to Ashes

24. White Light/White Heat

25. I'm Afraid of Americans

26. "Heroes"

Encore

27. Five Years

28. Suffragette City

29. Ziggy Stardust

At that time his last two albums were being heralded as a bit of return to form (thanks Tony Visconti). I like those two albums a lot but I think that calling them a return to form just really means that some people weren't listening and while I still find Outside rather impenetrable I really enjoy both hours (and I make no apology for that) and particularly earthling. 

Favourites : Eels Daisies of the Galaxy

Daisies of the Galaxy was the third Eels album (and the 5th by Mark "E" Everett).

I had bought the first album in a sale bin knowing nothing about who The Eels were solely because of it's great, and kind of freaky cover.





The follow up and second album was a pretty morose affair as E dealt with the death in the family (that some raved about) but it is this album that to me saw E really hit his stride.  I love the cover which recalls those Little Golden Books we grew up with.

The mood is about as up as he gets starting with the kick off track Grace Kelly's Blues.  Other highlights include Flyswatter, I like Birds, It's a Motherfucker to the final Mr E's Beautiful Blues.

Sam and I managed to catch them live in Brisbane a few years ago.  A terrific show with a great mashup version of Mr E's Beautiful Blues and Twist and Shout. 

Song of the Day 58 : Going Down : Freddie King and Others

Going Down is one of my favourite modern blues songs.  Written by Don Nix for Freddy King for King's Getting Ready album it has since been covered by many many blues artists.

Here are few great versions starting with Freddy King's definitive version

Don Nix himself - here and here
The Rolling Stones with Jeff Beck 
Jeff Beck and Beth Hart
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Joe Bonamassa and Derek Trucks
Leon Russell and JJ Cale

Favourites : Slobberbone : Every Thing You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today

Every Thing You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today is one of my all time favourite albums. Luckily the whole family agree which means we play it often and LOUD.

I named my blog after Some New Town a song on this album.

The song describes a friend of the songwriter who is always searching for something better in Some New Town - which is a bit like my musical search.  No matter how many albums I have, how many I think are brilliant I am ALWAYS ready to hear something new, something better.

If it was not for that continual quest I would never have heard this brilliant album.  Sadly not enough people have heard this and one album later they broke up and have only reformed for the occasional concert since.

Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today was Slobberbone's third album.  The spirit of the album title is captured perfectly by the album photo with a small town about to be hit by a huge sandstorm.  

While hardcore fans say they prefer its predecessor Barrel Chested this is really their undeniable pinnacle. Apparently recorded after a year on the road it reveals a band at the top of their form.  They mix hard edged rock, country, electric and acoustic effortlessly throughout the album. Brent Best's songs are confessional, insightful, imaginative, frantic and fun. This is one of the few albums in my collection that I can honestly say there is not a bad track on.

From the opening moments of Meltdown, through the Ode to the Replacements Placemat Blues and on through to the final song Pinball Song  (with its tale of what sounds a really wild night) the pace does not let up.

Two songs stand out as particularly original Lumberlung and Gimme Back My Dog a funny sad breakup song where the guy has lost his dog to his ex.   It is a great example of how good dumb rock can be when done well.

I recommend you give this album a chance.

Favourites : Charlie Rich ‎– Pictures And Paintings

Pictures and Paintings was a fitting last album to mark Charlie Rich's career of highs and lows.

It is interesting how difficultly this album was to classify with Discogs classifying it as any or all of  Jazz, Funk (!), Soul, Blues, Folk, World and Country.

From the opening title track (written by Doctors Pomus and John) through Jazz infused versions of Rich's own standards like Don't Put No Headstone on My Grave, Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High) and Feel Like Going Home.

Sadly Charlie was gone within 3 years and we lost another great.