This one slipped between the cracks earlier, having now passed my “C” section. But upon hearing of his death today it feels appropriate to put it up.
He was 85.
Love that album cover. The album itself shows off the nimbleness and pecision of Clark’s finger-picking. In this one, he seems to want to show that he can do a little of everything, Spanish, jazz, blues, classical. A little heavy on the Latin easy listening numbers, but they do take you to a patio in Mexico or Texas.
When he decides to go fast on his acoustic guitar, he blazes like Alvin Lee on electric.
I remember Clark from his Hee Haw TV days, the corniest show that I couldn’t quit watching. “ If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.’
ALBUMS: Chronicle (1976); Green River (1969); Willy and the Poor Boys (1969); Mardi Gras (1972).
MVC Rating: Chronicle 5.0 Green River 4.5; Willy and the Poor Boys; Mardi Gras 4.0
In the liner notes. (Stop. Need to explain: Liner notes are essays, histories or any little write-up written on all that ample space on the cover, jacket or sleeves of records. It’s a way to give some history, preview the new record or point out something. They all but disappeared when CDs came out b/c space was so tight on the much smaller recordings.)
But I digress.
In the liner notes, Greil Marcus makes a reference to ‘striking a chord.’ Marcus is the godfather of rock writers who once wrote for Creem. Five points if anybody remembers that influential magazine. Anyway, I continue to digress. So Marcus wrote this in the liner notes to ‘Chronicle,’ the 20-song greatest hits double -record released after the group broke up.
So here in part is what he wrote:
“Making music against the grain of the post San Francisco pop music of the Sixties, Creedence struck a true chord with records that were clean, demanding, vivid and fast — with what might be called straightforward lyricism.”
The keyword here is chord. Listen to Creedence and you will notice rock and roll chords, minor chords that sound just right, rhythm guitar out front. Chords are different notes that make a nice sound when they get played together.
I could go a dozen ways in a post about CCR. My first two 33 and-a-third RPM LPs were ABC by the Jackson 5 and Cosmos Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Up Around the Bend, Run Through the Jungle, Long as I Can see the Light.) Excellent stuff.
Loved both albums. I was into Michael Jackson early. Basically Michael and I were the same age so it was about 9 or 10 when I got into MJ. I remember Mama Pearl jumping out of the radio, and of course the best — ‘I Want You Back.’ Both of those albums, ABC and Cosmos Factory, are long gone from my collection. Although I think I still have Wilson Pickett’s 45 ‘Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You.’ As I write this, I’m thinking now how I came to like such disparate music. J5 and CCR were far apart except for two things: they connected to a lot of people and had something you can’t manufacture — talent.
They were hit machines.
I remember I was about 9 or 10 when I got Cosmos Factory from my father who was out of town on a business trip and came back with the album. He knew I liked CCR because on long trips from Georgia to see grandparents in Texas, I’d flip the dials on the radio. ‘Looking out My Back Door’ was big then as was ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’ which my mother loved. Probably ‘Rollin’ on the River.’
This was some family harmony tied to music by these long haired rockers who sounded like they crawled out of the bayou we just drove past in Louisiana. But they were actually from the SF Bay Area, Fremont, I think. A town that would be many years later where my employer ran the local paper there (in addition to a handful of other papers.)
One of the best and emphatic protest anthems against school violence (and war), was Neil Young’s ‘Ohio,’ played on this 1970 record with his on and off again band-mates. It , unfortunately, still resonates with current events.
That song is about the shooting death of four students at Kent State May 4, 1970, during the height of the Vietnam war protests and one of the better songs on this live two-record set.
TIn soldiers and Nixon’s coming; we are finally on our own; this summer I hear the drumming; four dead in Ohio.
This album is kind of controversial in that it is hated by some as a bloated artifact, loved by others for the classic songs and music.
I agree. On both accounts.
The extended jams are impressive but too long on record. Keep the song with jams, Ohio and Southern Man to name just two, just edit a bit. Save 20 minutes.
Keep all Neil Young songs. But get rid of such non-gems as 49 Bye Byes, and The Lee Shore, there’s another two or so worth pruning. Savings another 20 minutes. There you go, down to one album. And a great album. Less is more.
Young is clearly the stand-out and, as you’ll see later when we get near the end of my countdown, I have lots and lots of Young. One of my favorites. I finally got to see him live at his annual Bridge School concert in California with my daughter Emily. Paul McCartney was headliner. Videos below show CNSY doing an enduring classic, ‘Teach Your Children.’ and ‘Southern Man,’ an angry rebuke of southerners for some of the horrors of racism and slavery. Lynyrd Skynyrd fired back years later with a sharp rebuke of thier own, seemingly admonishing him for painting with a broad brush.
I hope Neil Young will remember, Southern Man don’t need him around, anway.
ALBUMS: Marshall Crenshaw (1982); Field Day (1983)
MVC Rating: Crenshaw 4.0/$$$; Field Day 4.0/$$$
I don’t want to say Buddy Holly-lite. Because I’ll bet that’s been done before in a description of Marshall Crenshaw.
So I won’t say it and instead say Buddy Holly-light. Because there is some pure holy Buddy Holly in there. Light not lite.
Had Buddy survived the plane crash, he likely would have progressed far ahead of Crenshaw right now. I say that because Buddy Holly was an incredible hit song writer whose songs have held up for decades. For goodness sakes, the Beatles themselves named their band in homage of Buddy Holly andthe Crickets.
Crenshaw’s good. He has a nice soothing sound, catchy songs about girls and, well girls.
Crenshaw is a singer-songwriter who creates song that are imminently fun and fast. Great to listen to at a dinner party out on the porch on warm spring day. Twangy guitars, strong vocals and great songs. It often all starts with song craft. If the songs sometimes may sound tossed off, that’s part of the point.
This one appears nearly new, but I know it’s not. I remember buying this in Birmingham in 1986. Critically acclaimed, the band is in the same musical neighborhood of XTC and the Smiths, both of which I have on vinyl and will be reviewed later.
The Cure, led by Robert Smith, use personal song lyrics and create a dark ethereal sound that at times nears the neo-Gothic space of Sisters of Mercy.
I can see why my record looks so new: It is, taken overall, depressing and angst-filled, which I could only take in small doses. A renewed listen to this however reveals some strong musicality.
The Smiths provide a touchstone. Only the Smiths had a keener grasp on irony and humor. Also, the Smiths had Johnny Marr’s strumming and jangly guitar sound which was more suited for my earbuds anyway. The Cure are a bit icier, a little more electronic (in a punky way).
This is a compilation album of songs over time with some shifts in band members. (I think Robert Smith is the only remaining original member). As they evolved, some of the darkness went away for cheerier tunes, if not lyrics. Probably not lyrics.
An example is the Close to Me video below: The lyrics are not sunshine and light. At least from what I can understand. But the tune itself is quite poppy and catchy.
ALBUMS: Street Language (Crowell, 1983); Burton Cummings (1976)
MVC Rating: Crowell 3.5/$$; Cummings 3.5/$$
What a surprise to play both of these again. Remember I’m doing this in alphabetical order (sort of). So as I wind down the C’s I find these disparate but not so disparate albums.
I got my money’s worth, probably $3 each in 1980s dollars because there is some good music here.
Randy Crowell
Crowell may best be described as a country rocker. A little too commercial country for my taste, but there’s good singing and some good guitar and sax and a some really good, if not overproduced, songs. I’ve heard this is not his best album, which the consensus seems to be is ‘Diamonds and Dirt. But in a used record store, I think it retains its $3 value, maybe $4 if we gotta do the inflation deal. The opening two cuts are worth $3 alone. My favorite song, though, is Oh King Richard a catchy homage to legendary race car driver Richard Petty. Pretty good song.
Oh and Crowell covers a song (She loves the Jerk) by John Hiatt, who also plays on the record.
Burton Cummings on the other hand is a different cat. Lead singer of the Canadian band the Guess Who, he is often thrown in as one of the top rock vocalists in the biz, at least in the 1970s realm. Judging from the album cover and the video below, he also probably had the worst taste in jackets of any singer in Canadian history anyway. The video, with Burton in his pink jacket, does show off his storied vocal skills. (You’ll have to click twice to get to the video on YouTube but it’s worth it.)
But before he went solo, he and Guess Who bandmate Randy Bachman wrote an incredible string of hits (These Eyes, American Woman and Share the Land to name a few). Last I heard they were in a dispute over royalties, which Bachman claims benefited Cummings at the expense of himself. Not that Bachman should be hurting for cash. His post-Guess Who band, Bachman Turner Overdrive, had some major hits. (You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet and Taking Care of Business.)
So, Cummings’ solo album? Fair to middlin’. Voice is strong and he shows it off in a jazzy way.
Interestingly, Cummings covers ‘You ain’t seen Nothing Yet’ deconstructing it down to a piano bar lounge song. That takes away everything that was good about the song, namely the crunch of electric guitar introducing the stuttering title line.
This album, however, stands (get it) on ‘Stand Tall’ the song, anthem that was a wordwide bestseller. And if you sung it like Cummings, you’d probably keep the money too.
ALBUMS: Wheel of Fire (1968); Disraeli Gears (1967)
MVC Rating: Wheels 4.0/$$$$;l Disraeli, 4.5/$$$$$
Listening to these now after all these years, they sound to my ears like historical archives.
It’s like finding old Da Vinci sketches that were mind blowing at the time. But now while those flying machines are fun, they don’t really take you anywhere.
Hearing and evaluating these albums properly would be to project yourself to the late 1960s and so you could hear it for the first time. That electrified blues rock must have been mind blowing upon first and early listens.
But it’s a little bit like when I was around 9 or 10 hearing Wilson Pickett and James Brown for the first time. This was so foreign from the bubblegum music of the day such as the Partridge Family, the Osmonds and Bobby Sherman. (I put the Jackson 5 in a category by themselves, beyond bubblegum.)
Still, you will notice, I give these records high grades because, well, they deserve them. Disraeli being my favorite gets 4.5.
‘Strange Brew,’ and ‘Sunshine of your Love’ were the two hit songs off of Disraeli Gears. ‘White Room’ off of Wheels of Fire was their second biggest selling single after Sunshine.
Listening to them as historic artifacts doesn’t mean they can’t be loved, but for me it’s more that I admire and wonder about some of these. Less blues on Disraeli and more of the psychedelic tinge that for better or worse would go on to influence groups like Deep Purple, Sabbath and, even, Jimi Hendrix. Or was it Hendrix, with a 3-piece band as well , influencing Cream?
But no matter the song, there was always the expectation Eric Clapton’s stinging guitar would come slip and lash. Jack Bruce on bass, Ginger Baker on drums and Clapton could surely make some noise for a three piece. I remember one of the Beatles responding to the question about how the Beatles got to be the best rock band in the world.
And one of the Beatles said Cream might be doing some thing better or more progressive than the Beatles. Nice political humble answer.
The little sticker says “Time In A Bottle” from the ABC TV Movie starring Desi Arnaz Jr. “She Lives”
ALBUMS: You Don’t Mess Around with Jim (1972).
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$
The title cut, not to be confused with his hit, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, who if you will remember is the ‘baddest man in the whole damn town’ (and we are talking Chicago here.)
These two well-done novelty-like tunes are very similar in tone and plot. But funny as they are, they don’t really reflect the bulk of his life’s work. It was a life crammed into a very short time. He was 30 when a small plane he was on crashed in Natchitoches, La., Sept. 30, 1973 upon take off. It clipped a pecan tree in darkness. He was headed for a show in Austin, Texas.
According to bio info, in no certain order, born in South Philly of Italian-American parents in 1934, married wife Ingrid, converted to Judaism, worked as a welder and contruction worker in college, attended Villanova, enlisted in Army National Guard to avoid being drafted, had to go through basic training twice due to his “authority’ problem.
He once said, the nation will be prepared, “If ever there was a war where we have to defend ourseles with mops.”
The table-turning bravado in his two ‘mess around’ songs notwithstanding, the body of Croce’s songs was bittersweet and nostalgic and tear inducing, especially when falling on the right person’s ears at the right time. OK, Croce almost made me cry here with a couple of his sad songs on this, his third album. He was a deft writer.
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you
Tears. And then there’s this from Photographs and Memories:
Photographs and memories
All the love you gave to me
Somehow it just can’t be true
That’s all I have left of you
Gulp. And that’s not even including the song about asking his Mamma and Daddy to send him some money to Sunday Mission, Box Number 10. Or asking the operator to help place the call.
Maybe all that heartbreak was behind why he had to write lines like:
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim
Jim Croce never got to see his full success.
Many of his songs were released or went big after his death. He’s one of those artists where we say (sadly) if only they had lived, what music we would have.
Well, we were lucky that we got some very good music.
OK so it’s spicy rockabilly. Extra spicy. Hot sauce, dirty rice.
It’s actually an Elvis parody record. Except for the fact that there is some good music on here, it’s a novelty record. With Howard Stern humor that was funny as heck in the 6th grade. Only thing that saves it is some searing rockabilly guitar and some artless Elvis vocal ticks.
From the song ‘Aloha from Hell.’
Gonna take a week offGonna go to hellSend ya a postcardHey I'm doin' swellWish you were hereAloha from Hell.
That song is one of the tamer songs. I hope I didn’t really think record was all that funny even when I was 25 or so. But there is some demented rockabilly, for sure.
ALBUMS: KIng of America (1986); Imperial Bedroom (1982); Get Happy (1980); Armed Forces (1978)
MVC RATING: King 4.0/$$$$; Imperial 4.5/$$$$; Get Happy 4.0/$$$$; Armed Forces, 4.5/$$$$
I may have mentioned this before but Elvis Costello substantially opened my world to another kind of music. The Beatles first moved something inside and paved the way for this growing interest, or love, of music.
Because of the Beatles I found the Rolling Stones, the Who, CCR, Clapton, etc. Other paths, including my Dad’s records, led me to Louis Armstrong, jazz, and later different paths led me to Motown, Stax, Johnny Cash, the 11-year-old Michael Jackson, and so on. My Mom, I remember liked folk music, such as Peter Paul and Mary, and some Top 40 off the car radio in the 1970s. I actually remember singing along with mom and siblings to How Do You Do as we were driving. That song you may remember is one I have declared the Best Worst Song of all time.
By high school I was listening to mixed-tape cassettes I made, painstakingly, often on a theme. “Soft Rock” or “Hard Rock” or Best of Southern Rock” or, and this is true, I had one mixed tape called “Eclectic Mix.” As you can see my imagination was boundless. Not. My Eclectic Mix probably consisted of country rock and folk, a Rolling Stones song and a Dylan cover. With maybe an Al Green song. (No, that would be saved for my “Love songs” tape.)
But when I was in my last year of high school — “78 is great”– I somehow came across Costello. I actually had a store-bought tape of Costello’s debut and arguably his best — but that’s a big argument. “My Aim Is True’ was not radical in that it was busting new barriers, like the Beatles or the Clash for that matter.
This is melodic, angry, catchy and highly literate pop and rock coming out at a time when punk was making a lot of noise. I didn’t really get the Sex Pistols’ appeal beyond screaming about being pissed off. Now Costello was pissed in a literate and often amusing way.
While we, HS seniors, were playing air guitar to Stairway to Heaven, Dream On, Free Bird and Frampton Comes Alive, along comes a guy bold enough to steal the King’s name. Wearing thick black ugly glasses, mind you. Damn.
As a songwriter he’s near genius.
But it was like nothing I had heard; I couldn’t get enough. Besides the cassette, I bought five albums over time of Costello. One, This Year’s Model, is missing from my collection, and it may have been the best. But the four (above) that I still have are excellent. And they are all different, even though marked with his distinctive vocals and artful lyrics. (Last thing, whomever I lent This Year’s Model to, just leave it on my porch, no questions asked. Come to think of it I’m missing a number of albums over the years, such as Bob Marley’s Natty Dread, and Deep Purple Made in Japan which had Highway Star and a scorching performance by Ritchie Blackmore. As usual, I digress).
Back to Costello, listen to these songs in video. The ‘Detectives’ video is, if you hang with it through the opening loud distortion, a pretty remarkable live performance of a clever song.
Memorable line: ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take;
She’s filing her nails while they are dragging the lake.’
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
excellent. And they are all different, even though marked with his distinctive vocals and artful lyrics. (Last thing, whomever I lent This Year’s Model to, just leave it on my porch, no questions asked. Come to think of it I’m missing a number of albums over the years, such as Bob Marley’s Natty Dread, and Deep Purple Made in Japan which had Highway Star and a scorching performance by Ritchie Blackmore. As usual, I digress).