Every time Tom visits, it kinda reminds me of when I was a kid and my grandparents would come into the house with a bag of goodies. He's always got a CD and new music that I've either never heard or haven't paid nearly enough attention to. He's like my own musical Santa Claus. This time it was an EP by Brooklyn based Country Rock artist Willie Breeding. The CD hasn't left my player yet. (I'll give it back soon. I swear!)
I didn't get into the so named country rock until I lived in the South and because of this, I attribute most of the good stuff to Southern musicians. Now that I'm a Northeast girl again, I thought my days of discovering nearby local boys that want to make me rip my jeans and take swigs straight from the bottle while simultaneously crying into it were over. I'm so happy to find I was wrong.
The EP starts out with the title track "Grey Skies". I know we're all sick of the descriptive musician batter but hear me out on this little bit of cake mix. Picture Rufus Wainwright after a three week bender, standing out in the rain with a beat up cowboy hat hanging halfway off his head and holding his own beating heart in both hands while trying to play an old acoustic guitar thats seen so many better days with his teeth! Ok. That didn't quite get it. It's more like, Ryan Adams but with real sadness and swagger. These aren't fabricated love songs, they're real and if you can get past the sweetness of his voice, you can feel that he means it. Breeding's songs are chuck full of life and sadness and the two mix perfectly. Lyrics like "I know where to find you/and I know where you've been/and you're not worth the trouble you get in", collimate exactly what we look for in a sweet country folk ballad, simple and heart picking.
I'm looking forward to picking up his full length album Cheap Vodka Rain very soon. I'm looking at it like a crush. This isn't a love affair that will last forever (I save those for the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle) but for now it fits and it's good enough.
I recently acquired a USB turntable. It's an inexpensive one. I found it refurbished on woot.com for sixty dollars whereas I've seen it for over a hundred retail. Despite it not being direct drive, (I'm spoiled, I know) I couldn't help myself. It's been set up for awhile but due to some frustrating software issues I've only recently started really playing with it again. It's got me digging through old LPs and 45s that I haven't messed with in awhile, recording them to mp3 and dragging the tracks with me via iPod on my daily train commute.
I've been making empty promises to friends and other music geeks that I'd start putting together a decent mix compilation once I got the thing working. I'm starting on that but in the interim I've been copying most of my Stiff collection to mp3. On trying to make good on a request, I recently copied over my Live Stiffs comp and have been listening to it pretty frequently for the last few days. It's got me back into the swing of the power pop and re-established my girlish crush on the Stiff Foundation Of Goofy Looking Motherfuckers. It's like a homecoming and I missed these boys an awful lot.
Although my record, Live Stiffs is actually the reissue of Stiffs Live, the original concert of all Stiff artists took place in 1977, a year after the Stiff label was created. The artists on this early tour consisted of Larry Wallis, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury (& The Blockheads), Wreckless Eric and some other guy named Nick Lowe. Although each song is credited to the individual artist, most of the show consisted of all artists playing with the others. (i.e. Ian Dury played the drums for Wreckless Eric whereas Nick Lowe played bass for Larry Wallis' performance) The result is a delicious tasting brew of the beginnings of England's New Wave scene.
Although the entire compilation is these early Stiff boys at their finest, my absolute favorite is Wreckless Eric's Semaphore Signals. (I've posted a youtube video with Eric's Live BBC 1980 recording of this song. If you're short on time, hop ahead to 6:58.)
This litle gem (God I love the internet) is from the tour itself and features the video of the comp recording of Eric performing Reconnez Cherie as well as a young Nick Lowe talking about his impending fame.
All this said, the best part of this comp is the last track featuring the whole group singing Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll. You're going to have to pick the record up yourself up to hear it though.
Part of the joy of being a record collector and music lover is the discovery. Sometimes the whole thing feels like some sort of fantastic treasure hunt. Sure, you'll sometimes go awhile not finding anything new that shakes you up. Sometimes things will begin to feel stale. You start to think maybe you've reached the end, that there's nothing new to throw you into an electric frenzy. Then it happens. You get turned on to something new and it shakes you all up and you begin to remember why you're in it in the first place.
This happened to me recently and I'm still riding the afterglow. After being alerted to a show happening the same night and the blurb description of this guy, Sixto Rodriguez, sparking my interest I showed up to check it out. It couldn't have been better. The soft spoken, Michigan born Rodriguez managed to hold the attention of everyone in that little room from the first song until the last. He only released two studio albums, Cold Fact in 1970 and Coming From Reality in 1971. If you can only pick up one of his albums (seriously try for both though!) I am already madly in love with Cold Fact. The following song, Sugar Man is from that album:
For more info on Sixto Rodriguez, visit: sugarman.orgjavascript:void(0)
Cyril Jordan & Paul Kopf, Magic Christian @ Johnny Brenda's: Fishtown PA 9.5.08
Ryan and I were fortunate enough to see Cyril Jordan (of Flamin' Groovies fame) play with his new band, Magic Christian Friday night. Now, before I start going off into some sort of drooling fan girl rant about how Cyril Jordan grinned at me at least twice (possibly three times) I really have to say that I sincerely enjoyed myself at this show. I can tell the kind of time I'm having by how big the grin gets on my face and Friday night it just wasn't going away at all. It is, all pleasantries aside, totally fucking awesome to see one of the people who's music you've listened to so many times, blaring out of the stereo, dancing in the corner of the kitchen singing at the top of your lungs, right there live and in person. Standing there, having that guy less than two feet away from you and knowing they wrote that song..yea, that song..the one that gets stuck in your head all infectious like. I'm glad I haven't lost that. Years of show going sometimes wears you down. You end up like the rest of them, standing in a corner head-bobbing looking somewhere between confused and bored because really you've seen this all before. Realizing you're still capable of being all starry-eyed and infatuated, well, it just feels straight out cool and that's how I felt Friday night at Johnny Brenda's in Fishtown.
Ooooh I love The Plexi!
I'm not sure what I expected from this quartet of old rockers. I went only hoping that I would get to hear The Groovies' Shake Some Action played live and even just that would have been enough and worth the price of admission. (And oh, how it was!) However, I was surprised. The band did play a few covers as was expected. Their version of The Who's Out In The Street was right on as was The Plimsoul's Everyday Things. For fun, and maybe as a tribute to four of the most famous pop boys, The Beatles' Any Time At All was revisited and sped up and executed perfectly. All night we were told they'd be delieving the real thing, and these boys, they did. Original song, The Real Thing is a kick ass tune with an underlying blues sound but fast enough that yes, you can in fact totally dance to it. However the highlight was the new tune Tomorrow Never Comes. With a psychedelic intro reminiscent of early 13th Floor Elevators and echoing guitar riffs that would give Pete Townshend a reason to swoon, this song is a perfect trip back to a time when rock and roll was sweet and sloppy and could get all over you in just a few long notes.
You can't tell but he's totally making eyes at me in this one.
One of my favorite things about Magic Christian is that the members are a collaboration of three different bands, each instrumental in their contribution to almost three decades of rock and roll. Eddie Munoz of eighties new wave band The Plimsouls manages to make playing the bass look as easy as tapping your little hipster chunk heeled foot. I don't believe the man's facial expression changed once the entire evening and yet he was a delight to watch play. On drums, 70's punk pop darlings, Blondie's Clem Burke managed to not break a sweat as the band pumped out one fast paced jangly guitar power pop song after another. The only member of the band who does not appear to have an affiliation with any previous recorded band is front man Paul Kopf who both looks and sounds like he was meant to play with these boys. And then, there's Cyril. Really this band is his baby. Watching him on stage, rocking out with his trademark striped shirt and Plexiglas guitar, the smile and spark in his eyes not once leaving his face, you get the feeling that he needs to be there. It's in his blood and he's sincere. Granted The Flamin' Groovies were a remarkable band in their heyday, but like most good and sacred things, time keeps moving on and what we have rarely stays the same. My kudos to Cyril for not milking that horse unlike other pop rockers who utilize what they were back then to make a buck today. (Hey Chilton, I'm calling you out man!) Cyril has managed to put together a band that represents almost thirty years of rock and roll and yet manages to keep it fresh with new tunes that still keep your head bopping and your heart racing and for a little bit, it still feels like 1969, and we're there waiting for it all to be discovered.
(Been a little swamped lately with the real world. I'll try to get to posting a review of MC's Evolver within the next few days...In the meantime, I love youtube and you should too...)
Turn Up The Heat - Magic Christian (Live in Portland 9/22/07)
When we first started talking about doing a music blog, Ryan and I discussed if we should keep it obscure or if it was ok to throw in some of the better known albums as we relearn to write. I've opted to put in one of my all time favorite records because it's an album I'm passionate about and as this blog is in part for me, an exercise in learning to write reviews, it may be easier to write about music that I have been able to relate to at various stages of my life.
I moved to The Fan District of Richmond VA in 1999. I had yet to discover and accept my true love of power pop back then. It happened when I stepped inside the local record shop, Plan9. "You and Your Sister" was playing over the store stereo and I was instantly enthralled. I asked the bored looking hipster boy behind the counter what this was and he pulled out the record for me. I took it home, played it on repeat and then eventually, through I Am The Cosmos, found Chris Bell's better known band, Big Star. It was the begging of a musical love affair for jangly guitars and fast beats that I still carry a burning torch for to this day.
The Jynx in late 1964 or early 1965. This photo was taken by David Hoback's father, Earl, with a Polaroid camera. Left to right--David Hoback (rhythm guitar), Bill Cunningham (bass), Mike Harris (lead vocal), DeWitt Shy (drums), and Chris Bell (lead guitar).
It would be impossible to talk about Chris Bell's solo work without discussing Big Star and the relationship with Alex Chilton a bit more in depth. Before the birth of Big Star, Bell played in another Memphis band called Jynx. Chilton, also a Memphis local would come to see Jynx play and eventually sang lead vocals at a couple performances. Thus sealed the meeting between two men who would later form one of rock's most notable and influential power pop bands. Chilton eventually moved on and joined the teen group The Box Tops while Bell continued to play in various garage bands around Memphis. Two of these bands, Icewater and Rock City, featured a revolving set of musicians which included Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. Chilton was asked by Bell to join this group and did soon. Soon the four musicians settled into one band and decided on the name Big Star, named after a local Memphis grocery store.
Depressed by #1 Record's failure in commercial sales, Chris Bell left the band to pursue his solo career. After recording numerous demos in Memphis' Ardent studios, the only real physical release during Bell's lifetime was a single on Car Records which included "I Am The Cosmos" on Side A with a B Side of "You And Your Sister". The above album, entitled after Bell's greatest pop song (personal opinion of me!), the album I Am The Cosmos, was actually released in 1992, 14 years after Chris Bell's death, by Rykodisc and mostly includes unreleased tunes from after his time with Big Star, due to his untimely death in 1978. Of course the two released on the Car single deserve attention. I Am The Cosmos is easily one of the most passionate songs ever written and Bell's haunting vocals and lyrics instill listeners with the primal fear and desperation that comes with our need to cheat loneliness. You And Your Sister is an innocent and melodic love song featuring Alex Chilton on background vocals. The Rykodisc release features an acoustic version of the song as well as the original release on the Car label. I Got Kinda Lost could easily have been a Big Star song and reminds us of how significant Bell's influence was on the first Big Star record, something that eventually became overshadowed by Chilton's later popularity.
Big Star, via Chris Bell was the real thing that turned me onto power pop. Like an addict who couldn't get enough, I quickly devoured all of their albums and soon moved on to other power pop delights such as Dwight Twilley, Pezband, the Boston based Real Kids and Big Star Memphis contemporaries, The Scruffs. I will forever be thankful to Chris Bell's music leading me to these places. Although one can't deny Alex Chilton's songwriting skills and that Big Star could never have really been Big Star without his distinct vocals, Chris Bell was the beginning and the tenderness that balanced out Chilton's more icy personality. He was, in a sense, the biggest star.
Ted Nugent before the (hilarious!) reality shows and (also hilarious?) Cat Scratch Fever. This is the second Amboy Dukes record which follows in the wake of the psych hit Journey To The Center Of The Mind. Because of this it is often, and unfortunately overlooked. Although it does not contain the same level of drug-laced psychedelia of its predecessor, (likely due to Nugent's influence- an ardent anti-drug campaigner) it is an unbelievably worthwhile listen. Although the entire album deserves attention ("Inside The Outside" is a fantastic track as is "Shades of Green and Grey") from fans of late 60's psych rock and Nugent fans alike, the gem of this particular album is the band's clever two minute long cover of Frankie Lymon's "I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent." All in all this record is a total gem and worth getting your hands (and ears!) on.
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