ALBUMS: Safety in Numbers: (1978); Animal Notes (1976)
MVC Rating Safety 4.0/$$$; Animal 4.0/$$$
What is progressive rock?
I’m having this discussion with myself as I listen to my Crack the Sky albums, which have elements of prog-rock but also traditional rock (without the roll).
Some might even say progressive rock is an oxymoron.
Rock n’ roll was music that boiled up in the 1950s as white musicians appropriated black rhythm and blues.
Mega bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin made gadzillions by stealing the music, giving it a makeover (turning up the guitar and winking as they over emoted vocals to great effect). I’m being a little flip here but not untrue. Groups like the Beatles and Stones took the songs to another place; they weren’t just note-by-note renditions. But by using the old R&B as a base, they moved forward with their own sound. Besides Stones and Zep, think ZZ Top, Allman Brothers, Cream and Eric Clapton as examples.
But what about groups like King Crimson, Emerson Lake, and Palmer and the Moody Blues? Or, Queen, Soft Machine, Yes, and Electric Light Orchestra. And Pink Floyd, and Crack the Sky? These were groups that used jazz and classical concepts such as orchestral interludes, odd time signatures, and virtuoso musicianship. Some pushed it into avant-garde Dadaist music like Frank Zappa and Beefheart.
These bands either were influenced more by jazz and classical or had moved so far away from an R&B base, that it was not heard in the songs.
Of course, lots of these bands crossed over. Led Zeppelin with its fantasy themes, multi-layered guitars and psychedelia, might be deemed progressive in some contexts, like ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for example.
But I’m leaving out some key influencers: the Who with their rock operas ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia;’ the Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’ and the Beatles who were pioneers on all of it.
From their Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry chops out of the chute in early early 1960 to ‘A Day in the Life’ in 1967 which I would consider the classic example of a progressive rock song. It’s not only complex, lyrically and musically but it also is cohesive, despite many shifting parts.
So this may be a long way of saying, it’s those Beatles again. Yet they didn’t ignore their early American influenced rock n’ roll either, or ever. In their last apearance on the top of a building in London they plaed ‘Get Back’ which is about as rock’n roll as you can get.
Crack the Sky is no Beatles. But the band’s song Safety in Numbers works well with it’s opening guitar strum and catchy chorus even if that chorus is two cliche’ s bound together: “Cause there’s safety in numbers and numbers don’t lie.’
I like it.
Animal Notes is a little meatier. Invaders from Mars sounds like a 10cc or Squeeze song. Strong progressive rock instrumentation.
There’s an interesting song about Canadian Mounties, not kidding, which apparently at one point was supposed to be worked up into a concept album. Probably good decision to abandon that idea..
Counting down my 678 records before I die of brain disease.
The Cowsills deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, alongside other family acts like Sly and the Family Stone, the Allman Brothers, the Staple Sisters, the Jackson 5 and others. They could be in the family band section, if there was one.
I have to admit I just recently bought this record for $2 at Birmingham’s Seasick Records, one of several great pre-owned record dealers in the area. Nice prices and nice selection for folks like me trying to do a blog on this stuff.. Although I have 678 of my own records to count down,
Among the myriad reasons they should be in the Hall, the website post argues is that they wrote and performed the theme song for the TV show Love American Style. I loved that song and watched that show every Friday night, as a youngster. It came on some time after the Partridge Family, I believe.?
This record was a nostalgia purchase. I couldn’t resist buying it. Because it tweaked early early rock and roll memories.
I remember in 5th grade coming over to a friends house in Athens, Ga., and my friend’s brother was dancing on the coffee table with ‘Hair’ going full blast. I think it also fueled my dislike of haircuts in the late 1960s, early 1970s.
Kind of strange that this appealed so much to young kids. The song came from the Broadway musical of the same name, notorious for its nude scenes. The song was also a #2 national hit for the Cowsills. Not surprising as they turned it into a silly but arresting pop single –which is the correct interpretation of such a goofy song — as opposed to the more serious take from the musical.
And, i’m not kidding you here: They could really sing and play as this live album shows. They were the model for TV’s popular Partridge Family, and musically, they would have blown most of the Partridges back to their high school drama classes. Some were amazed at the Cowsills pulling off the Beach Boys” Good Vibrations.’ live in concert — a difficult task as the Beach Boys themselves learned because of the degree of difficulty playing Brian Wilson’s masterpiece.
The Cowsills consisted of the mother, three brothers) and sister (Susan). The live album had lots of well-played covers and introduced me to tunes I would love later like Walk Away Renee, Monday Monday, Please Mr.Postman and Good Vibrations. Devil with a Blue Dress.
This website has has a dissertation’s worth of arguments for why the Cowsills should be in the HOF.
I see that others don’t find the value in the Cowsill’s concert disc that I, in my 40 years of record collecting say it warrants. Excellent music, family band cute, lots of drama over the years and nearly virtuoso playing and, get this, Discogs is listing this record at $1 plus shipping. What? Did they make 5 million of these things?
They should be as rare as a Bobby Sherman Remembering You record, I say.
I’m serious here. Sort of.
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
I could listen to Sam Cooke sing anything. A telephone book? What’s that?
The menu at Olive Garden, maybe.
Lost too soon, Cooke was a soul singer who’s voice was smooth with a side of gravel. He could swing as evidenced by this wonderful 1963 music from the Harlem Club, re-discovered and released in 1985.
You want to ‘Twist the Night Away’, then take your handkerchief a round. Round and round. Now your dancing with the chicken slacks, er, the chick in slacks.
What if your baby been stepping out at least that’s what people say.
Sam says don’t get all violent about it, go home and tell her:
Honey it’s all right
Long as I know, long as I know that you love me
Honey, it’s all right
(And as long as she tells you it’s not true, he sings a little later).
But then again ‘You Send Me.’
Cooke’s biggest hit. He milks it at the Harlem: “I just want you to listen to this song right here.”
At first I thought it was infatuation But, woo, it’s lasted so long Now I find myself wanting To marry you and take you home, whoa
You, you, you, you send me I know you send me I know you send me Honest you do
Cooke could work a crowd. They burst out in singalong choruses nearly every song. Wish I was there.
Sam earned his chops on the gospel music scene with some magnificent God praising in a group called Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, which, if you’re into that kind of music, is some top of the line gospel.
Less than a year after this live show, Cooke was shot and killed in Los Angeles. Police ruled it a justifiable homicide, something the family has long disputed, according to a book by Fred Bronson called The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits: The Inside Story Behind Every Number.
This one was tough not to give a 5.0.
Counting my 678 vinyl records down before I die of brain disease.
Hicks prepares to sing at the bus station. (Mike Oliver)
OK, so you know us journalists. Alway looking for the irony, the anomaly, the thing that seems out of place.
It’s Friday and a couple of us in the AL.com newsroom heard about the grand opening of the intermodal bus/train station where featured live would be American Idol star and Birmingham native and barbecue entrepreneur Taylor Hicks.
We ambled on over.
So there was a big crowd of city of Birmingham folks who knew what was going on. The other half of the nearly packed bus station was made up of travelers who seemed confused by the whole shindig. There was no sign, that I saw, that said Taylor Hicks was about to perform. And Taylor is the kind of a guy who would go unnoticed in a Publix grocery store.
I’m leading up to my ironic observation.
The ribbon gets cut. Former Mayor William Bell is there, current Mayor Randall Woodfin was there and council members whom I can’t name and other city folk were there.
So what does Hicks open with. “Living for the City.’
People were dancing, waving hands, clapping, bumping to a cool Stevie Wonder funky groove. I had to admit I was nodding along to the beat.
I still had the song in my bobbing head going back to the office.
Then I remembered the words.
Taylor may have subbed out some words? Don’t know because I really wasn’t able to hear the words clearly with bus station accoustics.
Here’s the words from Stevie Wonder, which would not necessarily be the Chamber of Commerce version of the city.
-=-=–=-=-=-=-
A boy is born in hard time Mississippi Surrounded by four walls that ain’t so pretty His parents give him love and affection To keep him strong moving in the right direction Living just enough, just enough for the city
His father works some days for fourteen hours And you can bet he barely makes a dollar His mother goes to scrub the floors for many And you’d best believe she hardly gets a penny Living just enough, just enough for the city yeah His sister’s black but she is sho ’nuff pretty Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy To walk to school she’s got to get up early Her clothes are old but never are they dirty Living just enough, just enough for the city
Her brother’s smart he’s got more sense than many His patience’s long but soon he won’t have any To find a job is like a haystack needle ‘Cause where he lives they don’t use colored people Living just enough, just enough for the city
Just enough for the city Living for the city Just enough for the city Enough for the city Just enough for the city Living for the city Just enough for the city
-=-=-=-=-=-=
A great song. And Taylor did a fine job with it: In fact, Taylor sang the song in one of the rounds in 2006 when he won American Idol, so not an off-the-wall choice. It’s just there was some irony because the Wonder song isn’t exactly a love letter for the ‘the city:’
In fact it is actually a brutal and scathing critique of ‘the city.’
AL.com’s Dennis Pillion has a story this morning about the sighting of a one-in-a -million genetic anomaly, a yellow cardinal, seen in the Birmingham area.
Auburn University researchers say this cardinal is yellow due to a rare genetic mutation. It’s been photographed around Alabaster, Alabama in February 2018.(Jeremy Black Photography)
First thing I thought of was the band Bright Eyes led by Conor Oberst and his references to yellow birds in two songs of the album ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning.’
From the song Poison Oak:
And I never thought this life was possible You’re the yellow bird that I’ve been waiting for The end of paralysis I was a statuette
From the song We are Nowhere and It’s Now
Did you forget that yellow bird? How could you forget your yellow bird? She took a small silver wreath and pinned it on to me She said, “This one will bring you love” And I don’t know if it’s true But I keep it for good luck
I don’t have this on vinyl, so this is not a ‘countdown’ record. But I recommend Conor Oberst’s work, both in Bright Eyes and out of Bright eyes. Check the videos and his references to ‘yellow bird.’
ALBUM: Core of Rock, compilation, (Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, et. al. 1970)
MVC Rating: 3.5/$$$
An odd mix of popular and not so popular from the 1960s and 1970s.
I’m looking for some thread to tie them together, but is kind of a hodgepodge , that includes blues folk and a jamming drum and flute solo from Blues Project.
Janis Ian, the brainy teenager who wrote ‘At 17’, goes all Romeo and West Side story with ‘Society’s Child.’
Then there’s Cory Wells, formerly (or later) of hitmeisters Three Dog Night who should have stayed with the pack (or was this before he joined the pack). His two songs, with the band the Enemys, include a needless and poor version of Chuck Berry’s ‘Too Much Monkey Business.’
And then there’s Blues Project, hippie flute instrumentals– meh. And Van Dyke Parks is working his arrangement talents while humming Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Richie Havens’ take on ‘I Shall be Released’ is good. But my admiration here was focused on Tim Hardin, the fragile-voiced war vet who wrote and performed one of rock/folk’s most straightforward and best song ever in a career cut short by a fatal drug overdose: Reason to Believe.
if I listen long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true.
Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried
Still I’d look to find a reason to believe
I love Hardin’s voice. But Rod Stewart’s version is a forceful classic.
I realize this album was a bargain pickup so I, as I was wont to do, could glean two or three or four songs for a mixtape. I also used to discover new and good music on some of these hit-or-miss compilations. (Wait until i get you to one of my compilation purchases with a cool rave-up of a song that will make your ‘backbone slip.’ (That will be in the M’s), I think.
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
ALBUMS: Chicken Skin Music (1977); Borderline (1980)
MVC Rating.: Chicken 4.0/$$$$; Borderline 3.5/$$$
This guy has been playing roots music for a long time. He likes the slide and plays it well.
When I say roots, I mean old time rock ‘n roll, standards from various genres, including Hawaiian, Latin American, and Mexican.
Hard to pigeonhole. Maybe roots/world music.
Sounds like a mixtape titled “Eclectic Music from anywhere.”
Kind of a cross between David Lindley and Dave Edmunds and Los Lobos. He has worked with Lindley and it’s no surprise he was in a band with the great Taj Mahal earlier in life.
In fact, he has quite the resume going according to various sources including a website about him.
He’s played and recorded with Captain Beefheart, Van Morrison, Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton — just a few in a long list of gigs over the years.
Rolling Stone’s David Fricke named him the 8th greatest guitarist in a 2003 top 100 list.
Probably his best work from my perspective was Buena Vista Social Club, an album of Cuban music which Cooder produced. The album was recorded in Havana in 1997 and was like a window finally opening, letting in (and out) the fresh air of musica cubana for the world. The two albums I have here are solid. Chicken Skin Music is heavy on the island and Tex-Mex feel. Borderline, with a highlight ‘Why don’t you Try Me Tonight,’ is more old rock n roll with some Tex-Mex notes.
It’s easy listening in a good way. Both have a tossed off feel that may take some getting used to. Check out the videos because his music shines in a live setting. It’s been a pleasant experience re-playing these after some years. Cooder’s music doesn’t jump you; it seeps in.
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before i die of brain disease.
Canadian, poet, novelist, singer, songwriter and musician. Which of these things does not go with Leonard Cohen.
Some would say singer. And yet, that, and songwriter are probably what he’s known most for. His song ‘Hallelujah’ has many great covers (Jeff Buckley, Willie Nelson, k.d. lang, Justin Timberlake, just to name a few.) But some still enjoy Cohen’s own version best. I prefer Buckley’s but I do prefer Cohen’s version of Suzanne more than the interpretations by other singers.
Cohen whisper-talks in deep basstones. He doesn’t really sing. But it can be very effective as on his 1988 album, “I’m Your Man.” On this album that I have on vinyl, Cohen uses more instrumentation than usual to back his whispery poetry. It’s right catchy. Highlights include the title song, ‘First We Take Manhattan’ and probably the album’s best song, ‘Tower of Song.’ It’s kind of like old white man rap.
With Cohen, it’s all about the words. He’s basically a poet, who learned to turn his provocative verse into song. He was apparently in his 30s before he even used music as vehicle for expression. He was a novelist and poet with several published works.
Cohen’s lyrics are always enigmatic, earthy and sophisticated at the same time. Here’s some passages from ‘Tower of Song:’
Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on I’m just paying my rent every day Oh in the tower of song
Cohen died at 82 in 2016.
Rolling Stone wrote: Cohen was the dark eminence among a small pantheon of extremely influential singer-songwriters to emerge in the Sixties and early Seventies. Only Bob Dylan exerted a more profound influence upon his generation, and perhaps only Paul Simon and fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell equaled him as a song poet.
I would argue with Rolling Stone over that last statement. Lennon-McCartney, Van Morrison and even Bruce Springsteen should be in that conversation. (Springsteen would be more in the late 1970s.
My favorite Cohen lyric is from the song Anthem. Think about this one:
The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be
Yeah the wars they will
Be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold
And bought again
The dove is never free
Ring the bells (ring the bells) that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything) That’s how the light gets in
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
Porter with dad Michael at 12-month old birthday party. (Mike Oliver).
I started writing about Porter Heatherly long before I was diagnosed with my own brain disease. The first story was published Oct. 31, 2013. It was based on my visit to the Heatherlys in Opelika on Porter’s 1 year birthday.
Here’s how that story started:
Like a big boy, Porter Heatherly sat back in the infant seat like it was a throne, holding up his arm from time to time and smiling as if to acknowledge his subjects.
Two dozen people, many relatives, stood around the blond boy in the bib and sang Happy Birthday.
Cameras and camera phones snapped and flashed.
A few brushed away tears.
Porter was 1-year-old on this day, Sept. 14, 2013.
I continue.
Sara Richter and Michael Heatherly were high school sweethearts in Cullman, where they both grew up. Both went to Auburn University, got married, got jobs and settled in neighboring Opelika.
Unbeknownst to them, both were carriers of a rare genetic disorder.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==
I learned a lot that birthday visit in Opelika. It would not be my last Porter birthday visit. I met family and friends. I found out about the disease.
A Heatherlys Christmas with Porter.
Porter had a rare incurable genetic condition called gangliosidosis type 1 or GM1.
I later called the UAB specialist who diagnosed Porter.
“There is no cure,” the doctor said. “It’s an inherited disorder and progressively destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.”
She said life expectancy is about 2 years.
I also learned that this 1 year birthday wasn’t really his first birthday celebration. The parents had decided to celebrate Porter’s birthday once a month. So, in their eyes, it was Porter’s 12th birthday, going by months.
I had some quiet time on the drive back to Birmingham and the more I thought about it, the more I loved the Heatherlys’ idea of monthly birthdays.
By doing that, the parents were choosing to stretch time making the most of the time remaining. They may not have had more time, but they sure as heck could create more moments.
Told that Porter’s life expectancy would be 2 years, they chose to have more than 20 birthday celebrations instead of just 2.
The Heatherlys ended up having many more than 20 birthdays with Porter but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
I was so impressed with their decision that I asked Michael and Sara if they would help me put together a post for AL.com on each monthly birthday, the 14th that would give an update on Porter’s condition, activities and such. They bravely said yes. They bravely agreed to, in this time of grief and hardship, open up their lives for the sake of helping people and research.
The monthly posts, which were usually in Sara’s own words but sometimes in Michael’s, were successful, chronicling medical triumphs and set-backs, good days and bad days, Auburn football games attended, fishing exploits and other activities. But they couldn’t help but reveal that the nature of Porter’s illness meant that he was slowly getting worse.
Porter was regressing as he passed his 24-month birthday which was his average expected life expectancy. He continued through and past his 3rd year. All the while, he was helping raise awareness and money for research.
The irony as you can read in my earlier stories is that Auburn University was a world leader in this kind of research, a fact the Heatherlys accidentally discovered at church when they ran into a researcher there.
(A side personal note: The Auburn United Methodist Church is the same one I attended as a child when we lived for a short time in Auburn during the 1960s. And to continue with these so-called coincidences, the research was being conducted through the Scott-Richey Foundation, a research funding entity created by Dr. Frank Hoerlein, who was a friend, teacher and colleague of my father, John E. Oliver.)
Sadly, although there had been some great breakthroughs, a medicine to stop the disease’s growth or prevent the disease was not yet developed.
With GM1, Porter’s body lacks enough of an enzyme to break down GM1 ganglioside, a substance important for normal brain cell function.
The parents understood the reality of what would happen.
Porter’s smiling face, captured in memories and photographs at his 12-month birthday had, as he faced his 4th year, faded to a mostly blank stare.
Moving forward to present day, I struggle to type now because of some symptoms I’m having at night affecting my right hand and arm. If you are on this blog you likely know my story. If not check out the About Me button at the top of the page. Or a story I wrote after diagnosis.
I have Lewy body dementia, a degenerative brain disease (talk about irony).
It’s not like Porter’s, which starts at birth. But it is incurable like Porter’s. In other words, realistically, I will not get better only worse.
I have to say, I fear the blank stare.
The average life expectancy after diagnosis is 5 to 7 years.
Or, let me put it another way. My average life expectancy after diagnosis is 60 months to 84 months. Thanks Heatherlys. I’m 58 now, I’ll easily live to be 100 with the Porter method of counting.
I am also vowing to celebrate (however small the celebration) my birthday, Nov. 9, every month on the 9th.
Porter doubled his expected lifespan. Porter died, Nov. 10, 2016, at age 4.
That’s about the time that I got a confirmed diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. I just now noticed that as I wrote these words. (Note to myself: Check the date of my official diagnosis.)
At the time I wrote this for AL.com:
Porter Heatherly, the 4-year-old boy with a rare genetic disease called gangliosidosis type 1 or GM1, died Thursday morning at his home in Opelika surrounded by his parents and a hospice nurse.
“There is some kind of relief to know that the fight is now over for him, to know he is not suffering anymore,” said his mother, Sara Heatherly.
The Heatherlys say that they will continue to work to help Auburn University where researchers are looking for a cure for the inherited disorder. The disease progressively destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Porter’s father, Michael Heatherly, said between $90,000 and $100,000 has been raised for Auburn research at two fund-raisers to benefit CureGM1 Foundation.
“He’s impacted so many people through helping the research and raising awareness of the disease,” Michael said.
AL.com began following Porter soon after his first year’s birthday with monthly updates labeled Porter’s Precious Birthdays.
Sara once said in one of her updates that it was amazing how much she and Michael could love someone who couldn’t talk.
“Porter never did reach out to touch my face or things like that, but there was a special bond with him,” she said.
What did Porter do? What did his life mean? He couldn’t walk, talk or even roll over. As time went on he didn’t interact at all.
But he inspired thousands. He brought people together in a circle of love. He helped raise money for research which hopefully will help other children in generations ahead. He touched my heart.
Today, Feb. 14, Porter would be celebrating his 53-month birthday.
On this album that I have on vinyl, Cohen uses more instrumentation than usual to back his whispery poetry. It’s right catchy. Highlights include the title song, ‘First We Take Manhattan’ and probably the album’s best song, ‘Tower of Song.’ It’s kind of like old white man rap.
