rod stewart ~ soulbook ~

for me, football season is over for the next few months.  time for something different or back to the usual stuff here.  music for one.

the brown eyed girl loves rod stewart.  so i gave her a copy of his latest cd for christmas.  it’s been in her car cd player ever since.  fine with me as it’s a very good lp.  rod sings up some old motown stuff with the best of them.  from the opening, ‘it’s the same old song’, to the closer, ‘just my imagination’, with stops in between.  like my favorite on the cd, ‘love train’, the theme song for the tv show ’soul train’.  the entire cd is filled with great stuff top to bottom.  you like old r & b?  you like rod stewart?  then you need this cd in your collection.  simple as that.

rod stewart has been around since the mid 60’s.  he first hit the radar with the band, the small faces.  which also featured ronnie wood who is now with the stones.  after rod split with the faces he teamed up for a spell with jeff beck as jeff’s lead singer.  now that kids was a band.  jeff ripping the place up with his guitar and rod laying down some fine bluesy vocals. 

the concert poster that follows is from a show i was lucky enough to see in the late 60’s at the shrine exposition hall next door to the actual shrine concert hall in los angeles.  imagine that.

the exposition hall was more like a basketball gym than a concert venue joint.  hardwood floors and no seats.  you sat your ass on the floor or you got up and boogied.  or both.  at any rate, that concert with jeff beck & rod stewart, the moody blues, and ten years after was probably one of the best concerts i ever saw and i saw tons of them.  from the stones to led zep and the who.  jimi, the dead, zappa, the doors, and the byrds just to name a few.

at any rate, that one show was killer.  it’s hard to imagine a line up like that.  just incredible.  even more so was the fact that ten years after played two sets and nearly set the place on fire with each set.   jeff and rod had to follow their last set.  they did indeed fill the bill and then some.

rod stewart has been around a long long time.  the guy just keeps on being an amazing vocalist.  he never ceases to amaze me.  to me, and i mean this with all due respect to both gentlemen, rod stewart is the tony bennett of my generation.  you may not like that but it is what it is.  rod is a phenomenal talent that just keeps on ticking.  check out his new stuff.  ’soulbook’.

jmh

a ‘country music’ christmas

for whatever reason, the brown eyed girl gave me an early christmas present this year.  even though she doesn’t share my love for country, make that old and real country music, i do on occasion catch her tapping a foot or two in the car when i have some hank sr or III or spade or bob or gram blasting on the car stereo.  and she does do stuff like buying me country cd’s she knows i’ll enjoy or like…

the gift in question, the book, ‘country music–the people, places, and moments that shaped the country sound’, by richard carlin, with photography by raeanne rubenstein, 2006.  the book is a nice history of country music.  any country fan would be or should be proud to own the book.  though it doesn’t delve into the minutia of the genre but it does hits most of the high notes with a nice page or two with lots of photos i haven’t seen before.

a hefty tome on nice glossy paper and the perfect book for that coffee table or tv tray.  easy reading and well worth the price.  originally $35.  but you can find it on amazon from $8.99 to $14.  a steal of a deal and i would recommend hitting them up before they are all gone.  the brown eyed girl found mine in a discount store here in so calif for $9.99.

‘country music’ covers just about everybody from the beginnings to plastic fantastically now-a-days lame nashville.  though the nashville of today stuff is minimal and is at the end of the 330 page book.  for my money, any book that devotes a page or so with photos of spade cooley and a two page spread on gram parsons and the byrds is alright by me.  if you enjoy history and country music all rolled up into one sweet package then you really ought to find this book and put it in your book self or give it to someone who will give it a good home.  this is a good book that deserves better than discount store book selves and amazon clearance sales.  though you sure can’t beat the current prices.

since i’m already here.  VHI, not generally one of my favorite tv channels, has been running the 2 hour (with commercials) 1982 concert movie of the rolling stones, ‘let’s spend the night together’.  it’s worth a look and a tivo.  though the first half has sound problems, the second half sorta sorts that out and kicks things up a notch or two.  not country music?  ‘never under estimate the influence of country music on rock ‘n’ roll.’– keith richards.  nuff said.

jmh

just another old country album(?)

one of my friends wrote in his blog last week something along the lines that, why would he want to write about an album that was like three years old?  yeah, why?  i mean i do it all the time.  some of the music i’ve written about is at least 30 or 40 years old.  some even older in the case of ella fitzgerald.  i really don’t see anything wrong with it because you just might turn someone on to the music that had never heard it before.  a good thing to be sure.

the cd in question today is one i’ve had in the car pretty much since i bought it a few months back.  i play it over and over.  cranked up at serious levels.  of course, the brown eyed girl doesn’t like to hear it more than once a week but that’s fine.  at least she’ll tap her foot now when i do play it and she’s in the car.  trust me that’s a good sign.

well, the cd is from 1999 and it’s by hank III, ‘risin’ outlaw’.  yeah, it’s ten years old.  i’ll tell you what, this cd is what country is all about.  hank III has put out some really nice country stuff.  country stuff that is head and shoulders above anything going on in pop country these days.  ‘risin’ outlaw’, is what country music ought to be.  though sadly that’s not the case.

hank III and the boys take a trip down the country western hillbilly highway with this one.  some of the finest pickin’ and harmonies since hank senior and the boys.  count on it.  from the opening track, ‘i don’t know’, to the last, ‘blue devil’, the band kicks it out with all their collective hearts.

a few of my favorites are, ‘on my own’, a great drinkin’ tune if there ever was one.  and ‘cocaine blues’, a fine tribute to johnny cash.  along with the haunting, ‘thunderstorms and neon signs’, perhaps one of the finest road songs ever written.

do yourself a favor and find hank III’s, ‘risin’ outlaw’.  buy it.  play it.  loud.  then you’ll understand.  boy howdy, country music at it’s all time best.

jmh

a brief history of music

my friend, jwfh, sent me this in an email a week or so ago.  it is pretty much self explanitory.  at any rate, he started his fall jazz history class last night.  i hope it went well.  i’m sure he’ll venture more into this during the semester and year.  thanks, doc.

jmh

time for some music or a break in the non-action or one for triggerman

yeah, i’m still on vacation here in the land of the lotus eaters.  what can i say?  at any rate, you’re probably wondering why i’m here.  right?  well, i’m here to give you my simple opinion about hank3’s new cd, ‘assjack’. 

boy howdy, it kicks some ass.  sure, it’s not country by any stretch of anybodies imagination.  ok, maybe someone who still sprinkles peruvian marching powder on their weed then lights it up.  ah, breathe deep.  atom heart mother.  digressions.

just for the record, i have in the long ago past, done the above on a few occasions.  no more.  capisco?  i hope so.  i am also not advocating such use and/or behavior and/or use of any illegal substances.  period.  so please don’t get your panties all tied up in a knot.

this cd, ‘assjack’, is some serious heavy duty punk, speed metal, death metal stuff and i love it.  crank it up, kids.  the typical punker’s anthem of, ‘fuck you, motherfucker’, it doesn’t get much better.  plus a nice tight wall of sound that thumps the inner ear and child. 

i’m not sure if i’d sit in on this at a concert venue due to my advanced age and all but i’ll tell you what.  when i feel the need to piss off the neighborhood after a bottle or three of some primo dago red, ‘assjack’, will be my go to let’s piss the folks off cd.

every tune from the first to the last gets some and hits notes we all need to hit every once and a while.  my favorite being, ‘cocaine the white devil’.  or maybe, ‘no regrets’. 

at any rate, buy this cd if you like it loud.  punk rock loud.

TURN IT THE FUCK UP!!  WAY UP!!!!  hank3’s guitars want to kill your mother.

‘assjack’,  by hank3

jmh

KING OF ROCK, KING OF POP, GODFATHER OF SOUL MIGHTY, MIGHTY MEN (a re-posting of a friend’s blog)

my old friend, doctor john harrelson, has written a couple of nice things about the history of pop music.  i’m re-posting them here to get the word out a bit more.  history comes in many colors.  musical history as well.  for many of us musical history, is just as important as the more regular stuff.  i hope you enjoy john’s blogs.

jmh

KING OF ROCK, KING OF POP, GODFATHER OF SOUL
MIGHTY, MIGHTY MEN
Part One—Dedicated to Drew and to Jason

Was Elvis the King of Rock? Was Michael Jackson the King of Pop? Can you even doubt that James Brown was the Godfather of Soul?

First, Pop[ular] music. Before 1930, Popular Music was very much associated with regional taste/culture and narrow exposure. The first guy to appreciate the possibilities of capturing a national audience was Bing Crosby. Incorporating Jazz phrasing learned from Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden and a great sense of song choice, Crosby was the first commercial entertainer to use his recordings as a substitute for his live performance. He figured the exponential impact correctly and was a successful entertainer into the 60s and lingered on into the late 70s [See his duet with David Bowie in a Christmas special doing “Little Drummer Boy.”]

Frank Sinatra is the next memorable icon, though hardly the only singer of the late-30s and 40s to be a PopStar. Many Big Bands featured romantic, handsome and/or talented vocalists who were a major feature. Trumpeter Harry James, drummer Gene Krupa, and clarinetist Artie Shaw were musicians who courted movie stars, engaged in mis-behaviour, and were very much like Mick Jagger, Glen Campbell, or Chris Robinson.

Frankie Laine, Snooky Lanson, even Tennessee Ernie Ford were singer/stars of the 50s that were on the radio, television and selling great quantities of recordings. Then came Elvis Presley.

In 1954 and 1955 Elvis started a revolution—though he did not invent it. Singers who based their entertainment approach on Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five, Bullmoose Jackson, Roy Milton, Louie Jordan, Bill Haley, were causing a ruckus, filling the gap left by the sudden decline of the Swing Era bands. Nat ‘King’ Cole, Charles Brown, and some crooner types brought fantastic textures to the market place. Elvis, though, got young people excited.

Many young folks were drawn to the visceral realm of Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and the new DooWop genre. The realm of the Crows, the Robins and two hundred more was exciting, new, and not like any of the music before 1945. Elvis drew from these sources and his own White cultural music, Hard Rock Gunther, Bill Monroe, and Bob Wills. [Check his first version of “Milk Cow Blues” a tune that dates back to Kokomo Arnold, where Wills probably learned it.]. Elvis, with his band, brought together a vast number of disparate elements that became Rock-a-billy and, less than four hundred days later, “Rock and Roll.”

Once the label was firm, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Little Richard, and Carl Perkins were under the same ‘new’ umbrella. But, as businessmen will do, the real deal was quickly sharing the genre with Georgia Gibbs and Pat Boone. By 1958 the “Bobbies” fucked everything up. Some were talented (Bobby Darin), some were vapid (Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton). Some were not Bobbies at all (Bobby Paul Anka and Bobby Tommy Sands) and some were too late (Johnny Burnette and Jimmy Clanton). Ricky Nelson took a while to get over his own celebrity, but he did contribute some great songs. The Everly Brothers took the simple device of singing in thirds and performed some fantastic songs.

Link Wray did the magnificent “Rumble.” Johnny & the Hurricanes did the cheerful but useless “Rocking Red River Valley.” Elvis got out of the army and did two killer tunes; “Marie is the name of his Latest Flame” and “Little Sister.” Then he folded into a shameful pile of has-been. Periodically he would offer an amusement (“Viva Las Vegas”) or a piece of crap (“Girls, Girls, Girls”). He got pseudo-operatic with “You Gave Me a Mountain” (and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”). He got maudlin (“In the Ghetto”). He tried to be hip (“U.S.Male”). He tried to be cultivated (“My Way”). But, in reality, his creative days were over in 1958, and his genuine power was gone after 1961.

But he was the figure who got young folks excited. That is why Elvis is considered the King of Rock’n’roll. –JWfH

THE KING OF ROCK, THE KING OF POP AND
THE GODFATHER OF SOUL
PART TWO—Dedicated to Justin and to Dahvia

So it is apparent that Elvis has virtually no power after 1961. Girl groups, the Shirelles, the Chantals, the Ronettes, the Chiffons, and more to come, are a dominant segment in the market-place. Duane Eddy made the guitar a more prominent voice, leading to Dick Dale, the Chantays, and a tide of instrumental Surf bands. The Beach Boys opened the door for the Surfaris, Jan & Dean, and the other side of the Surf genre, that of the vocal groups. This offered the opportunity for the Ronnie & the Daytonas (from Memphis), the Cobras (studio band?), and the Pyramids (with a Black guitarist!) to enter the genre. The last gasp of Surf music was “New York’s a Lonely Town” by the Tradewinds in 1965.

The Folk Music Scare was in full effect. From 1958’s Kingston Trio hit “Tom Dooley” [nee “Duhla”] through Peter, Paul, and Mary, Folk music was a commercial arena. The Back Porch Singers, Pete Seeger, and the essential Bob Dylan, were to provide the foundation for the 1965 rise of a new sub-genre—Folk-Rock. Barry McGuire, the Mamas and the Papas, the Lovin’ Spoonful, and, importantly the Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield inhabited a realm that was only American. (Except of course, those pesky Brits were as good at this as they were at copping our Blues and other styles and genres. Check Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon, and the Beatles.)

1960 to ’64 is a rich and overlooked era in Rock/Pop/R&B. Obscure events and records (Reparta & the Delrons, the Cookies, three-and-four track tape machines, Fender amplifiers improved, cheaper, efficient microphones, Sam Cooke leaving the Gospel genre, et al.) The Four Seasons managed to update the DooWop style as far as it could be taken. MoTown went from Smokey Robinson, the Marvelettes, Little Stevie Wonder to a huge stable of hit-makers that were always present in the charts (‘64-’74). Stax Records developed from “Green Onions” and “Last Night” to a significant contributor to American culture.

When the Beatles emerged, young people once more became excited. And with that excitement came rapid change and creativity. A Buddy Holly clone became the leader of the Bobby Fuller Four. The Warlocks, a Memphis Jug Band imitation, became the Grateful Dead. King Curtis opened a Hollywood Bowl concert. A pair of albino brothers left Texas and found their way to acclaim. A mild sub-wunderkind from the late 50s became Sir Douglas.

The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, and Paul Butterfield stimulated a curiosity in young Americans about their own inheritance. Thus B.B.King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and a clutch of Chicago-based Blues musicians gained notoriety and increased their influence. The Folk folks had reintroduced Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny & Brownie, Jesse “Lonecat” Fuller and ten more, so the Blues scene flourished.

Between ’65 and ’72 the acceleration of ideas was nearly unbelievable. The Moody Blues went from a sophisticated R&B ensemble to an incredibly sophisticated orchestral presentation. Eric Clapton developed from a convincing heir to Blues authenticity to an intense Jazz-inspired [but not informed] improvisational-ist. The Yardbirds, a very experimental-minded Blues band, spawned the foundations for Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jeff Beck’s Group, and eventually Led Zepplin. Miles Davis created “Bitch’s Brew,” as much a landmark of change as any such ‘event’ in American music history.

The Beatles traveled from a fantastic Rock band to a bunch of Rock’n’roll musicians who made it a habit to trample on boundaries. The first 60 songs fall away from memory when “Rubber Soul” appeared. That work was pushed aside for the impact of “Revolver,” which was faded by “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The final LPs by the group stand as holy grail items.

As the Beatles became the four individuals, an expectation developed that a “New Elvis/Beatles” phenomena would develop. The two leading qualified candidates were Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Of course, Stevie Wonder had been famous since 1963, he was blind, and, he was Black. While the atmosphere for Black artists had changed since Count Basie’s 1935 reference to racism, Nat ‘King’ Cole had died before benefiting from changes, and Ray Charles had gone forward to new boundaries, America would not realign its’ habits or tastes for Wonder. Elton John received support from some quarters simply because there was a vacuum of power.

At this point [1974] Michael Jackson was a novelty, associated with the Jackson Five. The Jackson Five had not matched MoTown’s best acts—the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and the stellar Supremes. Since Wonder had taken Berry Gordy to task, wanting new terms with his recording contract. Marvin Gaye soon wanted the same. The Jackson’s tried for similar renegotiations but separated from MoTown and benefited from this decision. Gordy kept legal ownership of the Jackson Five name and could not really exploit the family’s earlier efforts. Further, Gordy was unconnected to Michael’s rising fame.

If you want to really understand Michael Jackson’s place in the greater scheme of Rock/Pop history realize that he had twenty-seven super hit songs. Nine of those were with his brothers involvement. Only three of his ‘long playing’ discs had deep impact. Twenty-three of his solo singles failed to attract any attention.  Contrast this with the Beatles having 21 Number One singles and one Number Two (in six years). Then, as individuals they had many hits (“Imagine,” “Jet,” “My Sweet Lord”).

Year Title Highest Chart Slot
1969 “I Want You Back” 1
1969: “Who’s Lovin’ You”(b-side of “I Want You Back”) 1 [False statistic]
1970: “ABC” 1
1970: “The Love You Save” 1
1970: “I’ll Be There” 1
1970: “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
1970: “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
1971: “Mama’s Pearl” 2
1971: “Never Can Say Goodbye” 2 [Cover of a previous hit]
1971: “Maybe Tomorrow” 20
1971: “Sugar Daddy” 10
1972: “Little Bitty Pretty One” 13 [Cover of a previous hit]
1972: “Lookin’ Through the Windows” 16
1972: “Doctor My Eyes” [Cover of a recent hit]
1972: “Corner of the Sky” 18
1973: “Hallelujah Day” 28
1973: “Skywriter” – 25
1973: “Get It Together” 28
1974: “The Boogie Man”
1974: “Dancing Machine” 2
1974: “Whatever You Got I Want” 38
1974: “Life Of The Party”
1974: “I Am Love (Part 1)” 15
1975: “Forever Came Today” 60
1975: “All I Do Is Think of You” (B-side of “Forever Came Today”) [False statistic]

CBS releases (The Jacksons)
Year Song title US chart
1976: “Enjoy Yourself” 6
1977: “Show You the Way to Go” 28
1977: “Dreamer” – 22
1977: “Goin’ Places” 52
1977: “Even Though You’re Gone
1978: “Different Kind Of Lady”
1978: “Music’s Taking Over”
1978: “Find Me a Girl”
1978: “Blame It on the Boogie” 54
1979: “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” 7
1979: “Destiny” – 39
1980 “Lovely One” 12 29
1980: “This Place Hotel” 22
1981: “Can You Feel It” 77
1981: “Walk Right Now” 73
1981: “Time Waits For No One”
1981: “Things I Do For You”
1984: “State of Shock”(with Mick Jagger) 3
1984: “Torture” 17
1984: “Body” 47
1984: “Wait”
1987: “Time Out for The Burglar”
1988: “2300 Jackson Street”
1989: “Nothing (That Compares 2 You)” 77
1989: “Art Of Madness”

Long Player releases
1972 Got to Be There * Released: January 24, 1972
1972 Ben * Released: August 4, 1972
1973 Music & Me * Released: April 13, 1973
1975 Forever, Michael * Released: January 16, 1975
1979 Off the Wall * Released: August 10, 1979 * Label: Epic (EK #35745)
01 – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
04 – Get On The Floor.
05 – Off The Wall
1982 Thriller * Released: November 30, 1982 * Label: Epic (EK #38112)
03 – The Girl Is Mine
04 – Thriller
05 – Beat It
06 – Billie Jean
07 – Human Nature
08 – P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
1987 Bad * Released: August 31, 1987 * Label: Epic (EK #40600)
01 – Bad
02 – The Way You Make Me Feel
07 – Man In The Mirror
08 – I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
09 – Dirty Diana
10 – Smooth Criminal
11 – Leave Me Alone
1991 Dangerous * Released: November 13, 1991 * Label: Epic (EK #45400)
08 – Black Or White
2001 Invincible * Released: October 30, 2001 * Label: Epic (EK #69400)

“—” denotes albums that weren’t released or were released but did not chart.

______________+++++++++++_____________+++++++++++++____________

Now you can compare these facts with Rod Stewart’s career, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles. Figure out that Peter Frampton means nothing. That means van Halen, AC/DC, Nirvana are not imperatives. The Who accomplished something, but Boston and Aerosmith are only significant, not essential.

To many participants in Pop Music, Van Morrison, RadioHead, Tupac Shakur, and your favorite act mean nothing. If Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, Madonna is the Queen Mother, Britney Spears is a Princess, and the royal blood-line is dependent on the genetic information provided by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. –JWfH

ramblings and catching up, sorta. plus a doc h and the rio laudanum cowboys update

the brown eyed girl and i are back from vegas and our wedding.  it was a smashing time and i’m trying to get photos together for a blog about the deal.  easier said than done.  plus, i’m getting sidetracked with other stuff like cleaning out photos in some files.  and other things that creep in and take over my time for a spell.  yes, i know.  just remember, patience is a virtue.

on an other note, for those that remember i did a review of my friend, john harrelson’s latest cd a few weeks ago, Doc H and the Rio Laudanum Cowboys.  good news is the cd is now available at cd baby.  click the link to go there and buy it.  at least visit and check stuff out.  though you should buy the cd.   doc h and the boys, is country western at it’s best.  just do it because it’s not the crap you hear on country radio these days.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/harrelson4  or you can see it at http://cdbaby.com/style/369
or http://cdbaby.com/style/360

jmh

“Doc H and the Rio Laudanum Cowboys”, a CD Review

that’s the title of the current cd by my friend, john harrelson.  it’s been playing on the car cd player since last friday.  now, i’ve got it on my media player as i type.  the more i listen to it the more i like it.

Doc H and his usual band of suspects: brian chapman, bass and stand-up bass; steph kuhn, drums; jeff ross, guitar and steel(ed) guitar; and jwfh, himself, on vocals, guitar, accordion, mandolin, piano, harmonica, bottleneck guitar and 12 string guitar; kick out some fine country and western music.  oh, yeah, turn it up!

jwfh, told me this cd is about as country as he can get.  kids, that’s fine by me because it’s good stuff.  stellar stuff.  12 tunes and 9 of them are john harrelson country originals that were written over the past few years.  john’s usual take on love, life and playin’.  plus, a very interesting little snippet at the end of the stones countrified, ‘19th nervous breakdown’, that is if you let the cd just track on.  a nice short sorta country version of the old mothers of invention tune, ‘my guitar wants to kill your mama’.  a fine example of john’s humor.  yeah, frank’s too.

john harrelson stands alone as one of the only truly original singer song writer players of the 60’s that’s left standing.  yeah, he’s been at it for more than 40 years.  writing and playing jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and country.  it would be hard to find anyone anywhere that could pull off all those genres.  and he pulls them off all very very well.  this cd in particular.

musically john’s playing style is all his own.  if you listen closely to his guitar licks you’ll hear some folks out of the past.  however, he’s no eric clapton disiple that’s for sure.  though jeff beck, keef and brian do come to mind.  there’s some fine pickin’ and grinnin’ on this cd from everyone involved.  no doubt about it.  like i said, this one is growing on me and it just might be john’s best effort so far.  but then i’m just an old country honk as well as a friend of john and his music.

at any rate, Doc H and the Rio boys, is now high up on my play list.  trouble is, the only place you can find it right now is at rhino records in claremont, ca.  or contact john personally.  you can find him on myspace.  trust me, it would be well worth your trouble to do so.  the cd should be available soon on http://cdbaby.com  you can search his name there.

find this cd.  buy it.  play it.  LOUD!!!! ‘Doc H and the Rio Laudanum Cowboys’.  country thangs don’t get much better.  count on it.  a nice bit of country fried meat and potatoes.  and after several listens you get the fact john is spooning on the country gravy.  bring it, my friend.

 

john harrelson

 

jmh

hank, country music and jesus

this was written last night,  after a day of listening to the cds and an evening sipping vino. there’s a few bumps in here but you’ll get the picture.

if you’ve been paying any attention to this place you’ve noticed i’ve been listening to, ‘the un-released recordings – hank williams’, an awesome 3 cd set.  simply amazing stuff to be sure.  i thank the brown eyed girl for giving me the collection as a birthday gift.  i will always treasure your thoughtfulness.  thanks, babe.  

kids, if you love your old country music by a man that’s been screwed by the grand ole opry and the humps that wish to make him a minor footnote in country western music then this cd collection is for you.  it is also most certainly not anywhere near today’s country music crap.

hank williams, country and jesus.  a simple homage to the main simple man of country music.  that’s what this cd collection is.  i haven’t heard anything anywhere near this stuff for many a year.  old.  simple.  pure.  country.  played and sung by a bunch of drunken jesus sorta lovin’ folk just tryin’ to make a livin’.  my goodness. 

if you’d mind your own bidness you wouldn’t have time to be foolin’ with mine.  lordy.  can you?  can you, the us of a government?  sorry, that’s a drift. 

un-released old 1940’s live radio recordings mastered into only what a cd can conjure up.  yeah, i know.  vinyl is on a comeback tour.  i been there and done that and i’ll stick with a cd, thank you.  no mp3 or ipod either.  there ain’t no high or lows to be found there.  highs and lows be what this and other old country rocker blues jazz boys need and love.  hank and the band nails it on this 3 cd set.

yeah, ok.  you may not be into jesus.  fine, that’s your bidness.  however, if you love the real country pickin’, singin’ and peddle steel deal then you best get over it and hunker down with the king of country, hank williams and his, ‘the unreleased recordings – hank williams’, 3 cd set.  oh, yeah.

‘pictures from life’s other side’.  ’searching for a soldier’s grave’.  ‘tennessee border’.  ‘on top of old smokey’.  and 50 others.  some of the best country i’ve heard in a very very long time.  trust me.  

thank you, jesus.  thank you, lord.  thank you, glimmer twins, for that country bon mot.  and more importantly, thank you hank and the band.

sweet, jesus.  TURN IT UP!!!

jmh

saddling up

it’s been awhile since i’ve sat down here at the computer and pounded something out.  well, today is the day.  i’m feeling the need to yammer about some music that’s been playing a lot in the car since i picked it up last friday.  now, it’s on here and jamming out over the jbls.

i stumbled onto an old austin city limits last thursday evening.  one from 2006.  van morrison to be exact.  van morrison doing his country thing.  yeah, van does country.  that show was amazing.  jaw dropping amazing.  some of the finest country i’ve heard from a non country artist in a good long while.  thankfully, i got into it from the beginning.  an hour of van’s wonderful voice and a band that kicked some serious ass.  steel guitar to die for played by a lady i’ve never seen before and i have no idea what her name is.  if anyone reading this can help me out in that regard, please do so.  she was playing licks off a triple neck steel that at one point made me cry.  yeah, that’s right. 

the next day i was having some java with my friend, jwfh.  as usual i went into rhino records and wandered around for 45 minutes or so cherry picking this and that.  an otis redding dvd with all the good stuff on it.  and a stones live dvd from 1975 recorded here in la la land.  sweet to be sure.

as far as i know there isn’t a recording of the van morrison austin city limits show.  the closest you can come to it is his 2006 lp ‘pay the devil’.  i picked it up as well.  as jwfh said, it isn’t one of his best and the band isn’t that good.  but i’ll tell you what, the band is adequate and satisfying.  the steel player on the lp isn’t the steel player on the show but paul godden does a good enough job for me.  as does everyone else on the lp.  bob loveday, violin; geriant watkins, piano; mick green and johnny scott on guitar; paul riley, bass; ian jennings, double bass; and bobby irwin, drums.

this lp is sorta an ode to his dad who was a big country fan.  i like it. you might too.  though at one point yesterday the brown eyed girl told me enough of van and his country we need to listen to something else.  no, she’s no fan of country but she puts up with me up to a point.  you can’t always have it all.

at any rate, there’s some nice covers of some old standard country stuff from, ‘there stands the glass’ to ‘your cheatin’ heart’ and ‘half as much’.  if you like country this is an adequate and satisfying lp.  an lp done by probably one of the few singer and players that you can pretty much be assured you need ALL of his stuff in your collection.  folks, there ain’t very many artists out there that you can say that about.  the stones.  maybe john lennon.  otis redding.  and there just isn’t anybody else.  count on it.

jmh