blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with the 60's

Life on the underside
5 Out Of 5 Stars

By taking all the romantic aspects out from the musical visions others may have had concerning New York City, the Velvet Underground upended the NY Art scene by recording an album about kinky sex, mad drug use, pimps and dealers and femme fatales. Andy Warhol attached himself to the band's skewed vision and began to shepherd them, bringing singer/model Nico along. In 1967, The Velvet Underground and Nico was released, and during the Summer Of Love, nobody really got it. But as the famous quote (accredited to Brian Eno) goes, the Velvet Underground may not have sold many albums, but everyone who bought a copy formed a band.

Nowadays, the album is heralded as a seminal piece of the rock and roll puzzle, and listening to it years later will surprise you as to just how well the album has held up. The center of attentions were singer/songwriter Lou Reed and multi-instrumentalist and art-music fan John Cale. They teased and tormented conventional pop structures while still delivering hooky songs (like "Sunday Morning" or the haunting "All Tomorrow's Parties") before Cale would whip out a viola and draw his bow across some squealing noise ("Black Angel's Death Song"). There's even the fact that Nico's voice had just a mysterious quality to it that added to her allure. When she emotes on "Femme Fatale" that you're just a clown, it drawls out as "clowan."

But what attracted the bulk of the attention (and still does to this day) was the way the band cavalierly treated the dark underbelly of sex and drugs. Reed's "Venus In Furs" explicitly describes the trappings of an SM ritual with a mistress who wants you to "kiss the boots of shiny leather." The fixation of drugs in "Waiting For My Man" and the actual rush of using in "Heroin." There is the push-pull of addiction in an unromantic light that is positively brutal in its almost journalistic qualities. The Beatles were singing about a day in the life, Reed was saying "heroin be the death of me."

It's that kind of non-romantic bluntness that makes the best material on "The Velvet Underground and Nico" so compelling. While the group (it should be added that Maurene Tucker was the first great female rock drummer) rode the pulse of primitive and proto-punk music, they'd lose Nico by the next album and find their way to even more abrasive topics on "White Light White Heat." All the VU albums that featured the line up of Cale, Reed, Tucker and bassist Doug Yule are essential listening, this is the first step off a very steep cliff. Even today, it can be a difficult listen, but it is one of those kind of albums that bent the musical direction of bands to follow.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Femme Fatale" The Velvet Underground and Nico

An excellent overview of an American Icon
5 Out Of 5 Stars

At 36 tracks across two discs, "The Essential Pete Seeger" pretty much invalidates other, older compilations and sum up his time on Columbia Records. While Seeger was still recording albums into his 80's, this takes the prime period of his recordings and spreads it out.

Pete Seeger was an icon for all the best reasons. Picking up a banjo and guitar to makes statements about the nature of the times took courage then as it does now (quick, name on popular artist who uses his recorded output for challenging statements...could you?) and even got him blacklisted. Songs like "Talking Union" or the anti-Vietnam protest "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy," he not only found himself surrounded by controversy but actively courting it. He was the rare artist to put his beliefs before his career, even as it threatened his livelihood and even though he would ultimately be vindicated.

You'll also find the songs that Pete wrote or adapted that became hits for others, such as "Turn Turn Turn" (The Byrds), "If I Had a Hammer" (Peter, Paul and Mary), and "Guantanamera" (Trini Lopez). With both the adaptations of "Guantanamera" and "Wimoweh," a strong argument can be made the Seeger was one of the earliest purveyors of what everyone now calls "World Music," as he had the forethought to include them in he live concerts (and are both here as live versions).

Even with those convictions, Pete Seeger also approached his music with a wit and sense of humor. "Little Boxes" is a stinging indictment of class conformity, yet it's actually a pretty funny song. Same with "Talking Union." But there's no escaping the anger that underscores "Which Side are You On?" What will remain his lasting legacy encompasses songs like these, but the gentle heart that could deliver a searing protest of war ("Where Have All The Flowers Gone") along side the civil rights anthem of peace in "We Shall Overcome."

I was fortunate enough to see Seeger live at the 50th Anniversary of The Newport Festival. Even at his advanced age, his body may have been frail but his voice was a force of nature. Like all his best work, he was the conduit for the music and the audience, leading call and response verses and choruses till the throngs of people that filled the field sang in unison. Even typing this now brings back chills. Few artists can lay claim to making culture bend in their direction, and Pete Seeger is such a man. While even two discs of music is incomplete (no "Good Night Irene"?) but this set is as easy an instant collection for a man whose greatness will remain an influence not just on artists still taking cues from him today, but those who will come along.

Current Mood: listless
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy" Pete Seeger

Hungry and Young Beatles Mount Their Plan for World Domination 2 1/2 Minutes at a Time
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second edition of The Beatles "On Air - Live at the BBC" is a collection of songs to remind you just how young and hungry The Beatles were in their early days. With a couple of exceptions, you've heard the studio versions of these a million times over, and the most rabid of fans likely have the bootlegs. But it's fascinating to hear how they sink their teeth into "I Saw Her Standing There" (complete with a 1-2-3-Fooour! count-off) or the already precise interlocking harmonies on the likes of "Chains" and "And I Love Her."

The intros and interview profiles also show how the Beatles were already establishing their individual personalities in the band format. George can be heard clowning around in the "Absolutely Fab" segment and Paul has fun with his old school house on "5E." The between songs banter is often as interesting as the songs themselves, but still, this was the height of Beatlemania, and each little 2 minute firecracker was a shout heard everywhere. "On Air - Live At The BBC Vol 2" still has a raw sound to it, and shows that George Martin was a main component to The Beatles' sound, but there's no escaping the amount of energy on display here.

What this disc also does is make me wonder why "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" has yet to see a reissue, or for that matter the compilations "Love Songs" and "Rock and Roll." There's obviously still an audience for all of these, so why are they still in the tape vaults? In the meantime, enjoy this, and Volume One, of The Beatles as they take over the world, one sonic boom after another.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "I Saw Her Standing There - Live" The Beatles

Comes up Short
3 Out Of 5 Stars

A spotty if still relevant compilation of Velvet Underground songs, this entry into the budget "Icon" series is a tough one to categorize. Every song here is revolutionary for its time, but the quality between the recordings was and remains spotty. The young Lou Reed already has the part down of underbelly poet, and songs like "Waiting For My Man," "Heroin" and "Venus In Furs" de-romanticize New York City long before punk rock found it fashionable to do so. But it does so at the expense of Nico, who's voice on "Femme Fatale" would be on my short list for any Velvet's anthology. I also would have preferred the studio versions of "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane" instead of the live versions included.

You're better off getting individual albums, and especially "The Velvet Underground and Nico" (aka "Peel it Slowly and See"). "Icon" makes a good toe-dippper, but it ultimately is not enough.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Waiting For My Man" Velvet Underground

All the Best, Remastered and Remembered
5 Out Of 5 Stars

What this "Best of Simon and Garfunkel" collection does is, simply, lay out all their amazing singles on one hour-plus CD. It outshines the original "Greatest Hits" by not overlapping songs and by having a much improved quality of sound. Sure, you've probably heard half (or more) of the songs in high rotation on classic pop radio stations, but hearing them in digital clarity really does - and I hate to use the cliche here - bring them back to life.

More than anything else, the best of these singles highlights the exquisite harmonies these men had together as well as spotlights the strengths of Paul Simon's and Art Garfunkel's singular voices. Garfunkel's young, angelic choirboy voice still elicits chills on "Bridge Over Troubled Water," while Simon's leads often show a potency that can be unexpectedly forceful ("Hazy Shade Of Winter"). Yet they are still at their best when the voices blend as they do so beautifully on "Scarborough Fair" or the 70's reunion hit "My Little Town."

The non-hits work in the collection's favor. Short of buying the complete collection box set, the pickings here are choice. "The Only Living Boy in New York," "Old Friends/Bookends" (the song they opened their concert with when I saw them a few years back) or the live version of "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her" will please the curious who are looking for more than just the hits. Some of the songs are a bit goofy/dated ("At The Zoo" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song"), but they can be forgiven when something as magnificent as "The Boxer" or as joyous as "Cecelia" play. For the value per dollar, "The Best of Simon & Garfunkel" is as good as you're going to get.

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Current Mood: creative
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Hazy Shade Of Winter" Simon & Garfunkel

Time and place.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Craftily mixing the best of the British Invasion energy to Blue Eyed Soul, The Rascals ran up a string of terrific hit singles in the 60's and early seventies. "Time Peace" mixes those singles with a few choice album selections (many of them covers) to prove that vocalist Eddie Brigati, keyboardist/vocalist Felix Cavaliere, guitarist Gene Cornish, and drummer Dino Danelli were more than just a singles act, even if their albums were frequently spotty affairs. After all, who can't resist the infectious joy of "Good Lovin'" or the relaxed flow of "Groovin'?"

You'll also find the singles "You Better Run" (later a hit for Pat Benatar) and "How Can I Be Sure" (covered by of all improbable people, David Cassidy), but misses one of their most important singles of their career, "People Got To Be Free." Some of the earlier singles ("I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" being a major offender) are of a primitive recording quality and labor under dated production effects (switching the vocals from stereo left to stereo right in "Mustang Sally"), but this was the mid-sixties. Forgive those things and you have a document of The Rascals that holds together better than most bands of the same period.

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Current Mood: full
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Groovin'" The Rascals

Every Generation gets its Stones compilation.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Just as 40 Licks was released to cover the Rolling Stones' 40th anniversary, it's time for a 50th Birthday set. "Grrr!" states the story of The Stones in multiple formats: you can purchase this album in 2, 3 or 5 disc sets. Way to market yourselves, guys.

That doesn't take away from the power of The Stones and their often ingenious singles. The first CD alone is a primer for rock and roll history, with "Satisfaction," "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Sympathy for The Devil" alone being the kind of songs bands would chew their hind legs off to compose...or even come up with a guitar lick as memorable. You'll also get a trio of the early, greasy Stones with "Come On," a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and Mick and Keith laying down some early blues with "Little Red Rooster." It's the kind of early material most compilations tend to skip over.

Disc two contains plenty of latter classics, like "Miss You," "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up." But it also reminds you why the band once titled one of their single disc sets "Sucking In The Seventies." It makes you stuck with weaker material like "Angie" or "Emotional Rescue," along with the 80's material that was the band turning into a polished hit machine. Some of these songs hold up surprisingly well, like "Undercover of The Night," but "Anybody Seen My Baby" could have been left off and I don't think I'd have noticed.

Of the new songs, "Doom and Gloom" has serious swagger while "One More Shot" runs on fumes, really. But that still makes a whole batch of Jagger/Richards composition (along with a couple covers, like the aforementioned Buddy Holly song and "Harlem Shuffle." And no-one keeps a beat like Charlie Watts. Like all Stones collections, you can't always get what you want (She's So Cold"), but sometimes you get what you need. Or depending on which set, what you pay for.

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Current Mood: full
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Harlem Shuffle" Rolling Stones

Weather Report
4 Out Of 5 Stars

I've often thought that the Grateful Dead entered the sessions for "Wake of The Flood" with an attitude of having something to prove. They'd ended a long standing deal with Warner Brothers records and decided to start their own record label (the initial catalog number was GD01), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan had passed away, and it had been some years since their last studio album "American Beauty." New keyboardist Keith Godchaux, and his wife Donna on backing vocals were in the studio for the first time as Dead Members (they'd already been featured on the two prior live albums). This was a new era for the band and they kicked it off with a stellar set.

"Wake of The Flood" continues the Dead's psychedelic folk-rock, with the team of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter locking up five of the disc's seven numbers, Keith joins Hunter for "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" and Bob Weir delivers the epic "Weather Report Suite," one of the loveliest songs the group has ever done. "Stella Blue" features a passionate yet sad vocal from Garcia, and the chipper "Eyes of the World" has since become a deserved Dead Classic.

Still, it's Weir's three part and thirteen minute epic "Weather Report" that makes "Wake of The Flood" a keeper for me. Weir lays down a great vocal and Keith adds impeccable piano to the track, and the "Prelude" is simply beautiful. Ending with the jazzy "Let it Grow," the band previewed the kind of epic/suite styled recording that would come to full bloom on "Terrapin Station." Of the bonus tracks, the live rendition of "Eyes of The World" is the best of the three, and the early version of "China Doll" (released in a completed version on "From The Mars Hotel"). As a whole, "Wake of The Flood" found the band ever evolving, with a little jazzier side than before and a mellow groove over all. Even though it produced no real "hits" for the band, it remains a hidden gem in their discography.

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Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Weather Report Suite" Grateful Dead

We All Live On
5 Out of 5 Stars

Lovingly restored and recolored, the Blu-Ray of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" is an opening of a time capsule, with the dust of years wiped clean. The mix of traditional animation and the Peter Maxian designs still holds a fascination to this day, with the sound quality now absolutely stunning. Granted, the imaginations behind much of the movie was lysergically enhanced, but it adds to the time-charm of the movie. I can't recommend this enough to Beatles Fans, who already know the songs and probably many of the scenes by heart.

Extra Credit due Dept: I really dig the 'cell' reproductions included in the Blu-Ray package. The bonus interviews with surviving members of the cast and crew are brief but delightful, but the VH1 Interview with the surviving Beatles from the '99 DVD release might have been a nice addition. You can choose between mono and 5:1 surround, depending on your purist nature, and the sequence for "Hey Bulldog" has been reintegrated into the film seamlessly. It's a must own, and I now anxiously await future Beatles' Blu-Rays.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Pepperland
Current Music: "All You Need Is Love" The Beatles

The Basics of Bob
4 Out Of 5 Stars

At two discs and 30 songs, The Essential Bob Dylan is about as basic a primer to America's Greatest Living Songwriter. Thing is, as O write this, it is 50 years ago this week that "Blowin' In The Wind" was first released, and that means your 30 songs doesn't even merit a song per year. Dylan-Philes would not be satisfied with that few songs, but then Dylan-Phobes might get a better notice of what all the fuss is about.

Despite the mythic mumble mouth of legend, Dylan has a killer knack for melodies, which is why some of his songs have made surprisingly odd cover versions. "If Not For You" was an early hit for Olivia Newton John, "Mr Tambourine Man" helped define The Byrds, and Rod Stewart did a heck of a version of "Forever Young." There's even the covers that outshine Dylan's own, like "Mr Tambourine Man" and Jimi Hendrix' definitive version of "All Along The Watchtower." After all the years, the songs of Bob Dylan can still hold relevance, as "The Times They Are a Changing" making an appearance in the movie "Watchmen" opening credits.

All of Dylan's periods are represented, including the Christian moment and his latter day resurgence ("Jokerman," "Everything is Broken"). What is amazing is just how consistent Dylan is. No covers albums, no attempts at lounging it, no albums of "revised" materials (live albums discounted). There are far two many songs omitted to make this perfect, but this Essential is perfect for a casual music fan.

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Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Blowin' In The Wind" Bob Dylan

Open and Closed Cases
5 Out of 5 Stars

The Doors' debut rewrote the songbook for how rock bands could behave. Essentially a power trio without a bass player, these four men bent and twisted conventional rock forms and dropped a fully-formed masterpiece on the first try. Jim Morrison exuded sensuality and anti-authoritarianism from the moment he opens his mouth on "Break On Through To The Other Side" and commands his followers to give up convention and follow him into his lizard kingdom.

Drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger added texture more than structure, but the secret weapon was keyboardist Ray Manzarek. His organ and electric piano work often formed the foundations for the rest of the band to improvise on top of. The Doors could then run the gamut of stunning pop melodies ("Light My Fire") to the mystical ("Crystal Ship") all the way to the apocalyptic retelling of the oedipal complex, "The End." They were also fearless enough to take a Kurt Weill song and utterly reclaim it, or make Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man" into a psychedelic blues rivaling Janis Joplin.

If there was any problem with "The Doors," it was that it's too perfect; The Doors had a hard time living up to the aftershock. Still, this was the birth of an American Classic Band, and "The Doors" maintains its potency 40 years later.

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Back Door Man" The Doors

Deliciously Retro
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The Explorers Club and "Grand Hotel" are so behind the times that they've made a minor miracle in their album. It's like eating the old three level jello deserts from my childhood. There was a frothy foam on the top, a whipped creamy middle and the juicy, fruity jello bottom. The music on "Grand Hotel" is layered almost the same way. The top seems comprised of foamy Beach Boys and California harmonies, the middle a pastiche of Herb Alpert and Sergio Mendes, the juicy main portion a mixture of such iconic song masters as Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell, The Association, a touch of Beatles, Mama's and Papa's, The Turtles, and so many other ingredients that you'll get lost in the many chambers. When you put a song called "Sweet Delights" on an album that shamelessly pays homage to The Tijuana brass, you know you're probably headed for a love/hate relationship...like seconds on your deserts.

It makes "Grand Hotel" idiosyncratic and a bit frustrating. To be able to record an album in this day and age that slavishly recreates this classic pop sound without being a punchline takes serious dedication and talent. Yet you wonder what lead singers Wally Reddington, Jason Brewer or Dave Ellis really sound like when not aping Brian Wilson, as brilliant as "Run Run Run" or "Any Little Way" sound. Or to uncover if the band's love of the sounds they've recreated are genuine or some kind of grand art project? Or, you may ask yourself, why over-analyze The Explorers Club? "Grand Hotel" is a breath of ocean breezes that'll give you good vibes...even if this is music you'll also think your mother should know.

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Sweet Delights" Explorers Club

Quintessential
5 Out Of 5 Stars

I usually try not to give 5 star reviews to best of packages, but "Experience Hendrix" does everything right. Let us also face a dubious reality; Jimi Hendrix has been repackaged and reissued as much as, if not more than, The Doors, The Beatles or any other great artist to have ceased to be. How many versions of "Hey Joe" do you need, after all? However, with 20 songs from 5 albums, extensive liner notes, a lot of great pictures, "Experience Hendrix" beats any other single disc Hendrix anthology out there. It's also given a loving remaster, with the squeals of Hendrix guitars and the phase-crazy production in all its experimental glory.

All the songs you'd expect would be here ("Foxy Lady," "Purple Haze" and - even though I could go the rest of my life without hearing it again - the Woodstock version of "Star Spangled banner"), along with chocks of Hendrix incredible work. The delicate "Little Wing" always gets my juices going, "All Along The Watchtower" is one of those rare moments where an artist completely claims another writer's iconic work (Dylan) and the not as frequently heard songs from the uncompleted "First Rays of The New Rising Sun" show what Hendrix was imagining his future to be like. This is classic stuff, and issued in a classy set.

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "All Along The Watchtower" Jimi Hendrix

When you turn back time, this is what you should find
4 Out Of 5 Stars

By far the best of Cher's many hit collections, this single disc "Very Best Of" takes the bulk of her top tens (even with Sonny) from assorted labels (Warners, Geffen, MCA, Casablanca) and packs the CD to its running limit. As Cher is one of the few performers to have managed a multi-decade run of chart toppers (she's been in the Top Ten every decade since the 60's, lastly in 2002), this is a testament to her longevity. She's also the oldest woman in rock history to top the charts, when "Believe" did so in 1998.

What makes Cher such pop flypaper? It's that she's such a force of personality that she could adapt to changing trends and genres, and still sound like herself. While some may find this facile, when pop is concerned, it is pure gold. It means you can get the hippie vibe of "I Got You Babe," the pure camp of "Gypsies Tramps and Thieves," the Casablanca Disco of "Take Me Home" and one of the first of the huge Auto-Tune hits in "Believe." Behind it all is Cher's deep, resonating vibrato of a voice, plowing into each song with both her skill and the song's need. Who else could take the sweet-syrup of Diane Warren's ballads and the lit-rock of Bob Dylan and claim them as her own?

More than anything else, Cher is a great song stylist. There are 21 songs here, and I can easily think of another half dozen that could have come on board. (My best choices would have "Walking In Memphis," the Marc Cohn hit and "We All Sleep Alone," or some of the Black Rose or Gregg Allman album tracks.) However, for pure pop history and chutzpah, "The Very Best of Cher" takes the prize for Cher collections.

Burlesque - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Current Mood: chery
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Just Like Jesse James" Cher

Wow, two incredible composers. As half of Leiber and Stoeller, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoeller wrote such classics as "Stand By Me," "Hound Dog," "Yakety Yak," "Love Potion #9" and as producers, hits like "Stuck In The Middle With You."

Nick Ashford and his wife, Valerie Simpson wrote Motown standards like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By," as well as his own hits like "Solid."

Current Mood: crushed
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Jailhouse Rock" Elvis Presley

In The Jingle Jangle Morning
5 Out Of 5 Stars

This best of was released in 1967, after four full length Byrds albums. It was the peak of The Byrds' creativity and influence. Despite a fluid lineup, they crafted a sound that fell somewhere between the folkiness and beat poetry of Bob Dylan and the melodic propulsion of The Beatles. For many listeners, The Byrds were the band that introduced them to Dylan, and for other to Pete Seeger. Even today, Roger McGuinn's jangling twelve string Rickenbacker guitar holds sway in groups ranging through Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, R.E.M. and The Decemberists.

This expanded edition still sticks to the guidlines, as it stays to singles up to 1967. While this may annoy fans of the country rock that began to dominate once "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" was released, it does make for a consistency in sound. (2003's "Essential Byrds" covers the following peeriod in addition to the first four albums.) It also shows the songwriting prowess of the band members, specifiaclly McGuinn and Gene Clark. They could take folk (Seeger's "Turn Turn Turn") or psychedelia ("Eight Miles High") and still shape it for their signature sound. Clark's own "Fell A Whole Lot Better" was such a landmark that Petty chose it for his first solo album, "Full Moon Fever." (And for a really twist, find Roxy Music's version of "8 Miles High.")

One of the real tests of a greatest hits collection is if it holds together as an album. "The Byrds' Greatest Hits" does exactly that. By mixing in the groups superb singles with prime album cuts, it makes the CD play like a unified whole. It holds up as one of The Byrds most endearing and enduring albums.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Turn Turn Turn" The Byrds

Searchers Return
4 Out of 5 Stars

Original Searchers John MacNally and John Pender were the core of the original incarnation of The Searchers, playing on such classic songs as "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets for My Sweet." Frank Allan had been in the band from the late sixties on. Even if the hits had long stop coming, The Searchers soldiered on. Then, it seems, time caught up with them again. Their brand of jangle pop had been flaunted by everyone from Tom Petty to REM, and in 1979, Sire Records (home to Talking Heads, Ramones, etc) signed them for a new album.

The resulting "The Searchers" was a total surprise. Instead of reviving old hits or trying to chamge their sound, the band carefully selected modern songs from current writers and claimed them as their own. The biggest shocker was "Hearts In Her Eyes," written by Will Birch and John Wicks for English new wavers The Records' second album. It is the album's best song by a huge margin and should have been a comeback hit. The guitar and harmonies were tailor made for The Searchers' brand of music and performance, enough so that this is one of those rare instances where the cover outshines the original.

On other songs, such as Tom Petty's "Lost In Your Eyes" or Mickey Jupp's "Switchbaord Susan" (more famously covered by Nick Lowe), the same formula applies. Overall, this is one of those 60's comeback albums that doesn't fall flat or feel like cheap nostalgia. They followed this album with the equally well done "Love's Melodies" a year later. It's taken them a while to finally see their CD release, and it is well worth getting them if you're an 80's lover.

Come Dancing: The Best of The Kinks 1977-1986

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Hearts In Her Eyes" The Searchers

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Morrison: A Fantasia
5 Out Of 5 Stars

Sometime in the mid 60's, a young James Morrison was walking along the Sunset Strip in California, frustrated that his musical aspirations were constantly hitting a brick wall. A girlfriend invited him out to the Canyon to rest and mellow out, and she mentioned that she had a few musician friends hanging out with her. Maybe Jim would like to meet them? He agreed and hitched a ride into the hills.

Once he was there, Jim's lady-friend introduced him to her friend Graham. Jim was familiar with The Hollies and told Graham that he liked his stuff. Would he liked to hear some of his own material? When Graham agreed, Jim picked up a guitar and began a frenzied version of "Break On Through." Graham smiles, he likes this young kid's assertiveness. Then he has an idea. "Jim," he says, "slow it down a bit and maybe add a shuffle to it?" Jim thinks a moment, works the chording out in his mind and plays it like Graham suggests. Both Jim and Graham light up; this arrangement sounds incredible. Telling Graham he has a ballad he really likes and thinks would be huge if people heard it, Jim strums the opening portion of "Light My Fire."

A friend of Graham's, Stephen, likes what he's been hearing from across the room. He picks up his guitar and began picking out some sliding, blues lines. Morrison follows Stephen's lead and bends the song into a slow, folky blues song. All three like what they hear. "What else have you got," asks Stephen. Jim, delighted, pulls out a notebook filled with poetry and opens it to "Riders On The Storm." As Jim begins to play, Stephen begins to improvise the vocal line. Graham is so stoked that he pulls his third friend, David, in to listen. By the end of few hours, the four of them decide to form a collaborative and call is CMNS, their initials in alphabetical order. Stephen hits the record button on his brand new home reel-to-reel and the four of them begin to capture the moment. They even work up an incredible harmony arrangement to take "The End" to a new level.

Well, OK, this never happened. But if it DID, then somehow, James Lee Stanley and Cliff Eberhardt found the reels. Like James' collaboration with John Batdorf did to The Rolling Stones on "All Wood and Stones," James and Cliff take The Doors' classic repertory and folk it out. The duo have an all star guest list that includes Timothy B Schmit of The Eagles, Peter Tork of The Monkees, Paul Barrere of Little Feat, Laurence Juber (who has played with Paul McCartney & Wings), and Chad Watson on Bass. Even more remarkable is that Doors members John Densmore and Robby Krieger pitch in. It was even Densmore's suggestion to Stanley to take on The Doors after he'd heard "All Wood and Stones."

With the blessing of the two Door-keepers, James and Cliff deliver a diverse and delightful reading of classics like the aforementioned songs, as well as classics like "People are Strange," "Crystal Ship" and "Touch Me." I love the way that the pair interchange vocal duties. Cliff is gruff and hardy, James is clear and full. They make great harmonies and trade leads. The guitar playing is wonderful (and having seen James live, up close, I can attest to his guitar prowess), and is captured in rich tone. With both the exceptional musicianship and full endorsement of the original creators, "All Wood and Doors" is how cover albums should be done.

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Crystal Ship" James Lee Stanley and Cliff Eberhardt

Ain't No Song like and Old Song, Charlie
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Paul Simon himself has expressed his belief that "So Beautiful or So What" is his best album in 20 years (although with "You're The One" and "Capeman" in that stretch, not exactly much to brag about). Elvis Costello hypes the work in the CD's liner notes. Critics in the major rags are comparing it to "Graceland." Me? Too much hype for what is, basically, an old songwriter taking the time to explore his relationship with God and a Guitar.

Granted, the songs on "So Beautiful" feel more lyrical than anything since "Graceland," but that doesn't make it a classic. Simon is again exploring the tricky interchange between rhythms and melody, which does merit the "Graceland" comparisons. Only on the song "Dazzling Blue" do all the separate parts fully integrate, more often than not, they merely grate. The novelty of working a sermon from 1941 into the opening song "Waiting for Christmas Day" wears out its welcome pretty fast. Frankly, there are way too many "God and his only son," heaven, afterlife and the glory of creation songs here for my tastes. If I really wanted a gospel album, I'd have gone searching for one. A fine line exists between the Spiritual and the Religious, and "So Beautiful" crosses it far too often.

Where Simon excels, as usual, are on the ballads. "Dazzling Blue" and "Questions for The Angels" are worth the cost of the CD, and the second half of "Love and Hard Times" is beautiful. Simon also shows his sense of humor/irony on "Rewrite," where a lost soul tries to redeem himself, and on "The Afterlife," where, no matter how good or noteworthy your life has been, you still have to do the paperwork. The title song, finally, may sum up why the album is garnering the hype it has. Simon has spent much of his career trying to string a tightwire between the glorious and the horrific, and at his best ("American Tune," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "My Little Town") he has created songs worthy of the great American songbook. The song "So Beautiful or So What" aims for that pantheon, and comes pretty darn close to making the mark.

That makes four really good songs surrounded by five others that reflect past glories. As Paul Simon begins encroaching into an advanced age (he recently hit 69,) there's nothing wrong with writing good songs that recall the greatness of your past. Like the Elton John/Leon Russell album "The Union," there's nothing wrong with making albums that are thoughtful and strongly made. It's just not fair to be calling "So Beautiful or So What" an instant classic. It's certainly not a "So What," but it's also no "Still Crazy After All These Years."

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "The Afterlife" Paul Simon

Sometimes you get what you read
5 Out of 5 Stars

Keith Richards has lived in his own universe since his teens; as guitarist for the Rolling Stones, he's managed to not only become one of the defining guitarists of our lifetimes, he's also become such an out-sized personality that even those folks that don't really care about rock and roll know who he (and Mick Jagger) is. His exploits are the stuff of legend, his excesses and abuses would have destroyed dozens of men, and somewhere along the way he's had a hand in writing some of the last century's greatest rock and roll riffs.

You'd think with all that abuse, there wouldn't be much of his brain left to store all those memories. But big surprise. Not only does he play the steel strings like madman, he has a mind like a steel bear trap. Unlike Eric Clapton's biography that seemed to just be passage of passage of "I formed a band, we got wasted and recorded songs and I don't remember much," Richards manages to pull great amounts of detail from the entirety of his life, along with co-writer James Fox. Richards' ego is as loud as his guitar and "Life" puts all on full exhibit. It's interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, and often not very complimentary. While there are times I was wanting for more details (like the passing of Brian Jones, for example), Richards doesn't gloss the issue away. This includes his many brushes with law enforcement and some of the notorious trials, like the Toronto bust that almost took him down.

He also minces no words when it comes to his fellow Stones. Ronnie Wood takes his knocks, there's plenty of anecdotal - and mostly complimentary - stories about Charlie Watts, but plenty of savaging of Mick. Richards' defends Jagger as a brotherly relationship, and that anyone else knocking Mick should be ready for Keith to "slit their throat." On the other hand, there's an awful lot of direct hits on his bandmate, including one rather physically descriptive comment that will give you reason to wonder about why Mick insisted on the giant inflatable weenie was part of the Stones' '72 tour.

While I highly recommend this book, Richard's seems to be running out of interest in the last few years of his life. The final two chapters burn through the 80's on in near abbreviated manner, which may not matter much to folks who think that everything from "Steel Wheels" on was ultimately forgettable. He skims through it all in surprisingly brisk fashion. Regardless, "Life" is a terrific rock and roll book.