Kevin Kinney is the soul of this band, his aching voice sounds a little like Rod Stewart. And his band definitely rocks. Maybe he sounds like the Bodeans lead singer.
Paste Magazine named this album the 39th best ‘Southern Rock album of all time. Guitarist Buren Fowler, whose name is not known to me, is as good as any playing in what we are loosely calling the Southern rock genre. You can tell he’s listened to a little Dickey Betts in his day and Skynyrd.
‘I’m going straight to hell’ is fun song.
I have a six degrees of separation with Kinney, which I will tell below.
But first if you want a really interesting take on how Paste defines Southern Rock, go here.
OK, so for my story. I was alone in WUXTRY in Athens, Ga. , except for the guy behind the register. Peter Buck (REM) walks in, apparently not too unusual, he worked at WUXTRY for a while before REM took off. I used to buy from him. So anyway, Buck goes flipping through the music. We chat a little I think it was 1991 or 92 so probably much of the music was in the already established CD format.
He said he recommended Kevin Kinney’s ‘McDougal Blues’ a solo album from the Drivin’ and Cryin’ frontman –which Mr. Buck had produced.
But the thing was I already had it. On cassette tape. I think I copied it from someone else who bought it. RIpping off the artists, though I didn’t really have that level of awareness at the time, even tho I was a grown-up.
So I had it on cassette and opted to go with this Los Lobos CD that I’d had my eye on: Kiko, one of my early CD purchases.
I started to kick myself later thinking I should have bought the Kinney disc, scooped up the REM discs and ask Peter to sign them for me.
But I never was much for that kind of thing. In the end I bought Kiko and was on my way. Great band, saw them at the Marin County Fair north of SF years later.
How many were there at the Alabama Booksmith in Homewood to get a book signed? Looked to be about 200. Amazing.
Sorry I couldn’t stay. Greg Garrison, his son Wes, and I were on the way to a debate sponsored by AL.com, and we would have slowed your two-hour signing process way down.
You and me made note of not seeing each other in a long time. Last I remember was lunch at Niki’s West, your favorite Birmingham dining spot. But that was a few years ago.
Mike Oliver, Rick Bragg at Alabama Booksmith in Homewood
We talked about getting together and having a sit-down talk to catch up. I joked we could spend two hours alone talking about our ailments. And, hell, we’re only 58.
This writing thing, or more specifically, the living thing, hasn’t always been easy but I want to compare your memories to mine over a cup of something, probably coffee.
The goal: Find lots of stuff to laugh about.
I want to reminisce about when we went on tour of West Jefferson Correctional Institution and had lunch with the inmates. Yeast rolls and butterbeans. There was Juicy and the Captain.
Walking out in the yard, the inmates shouted at us: “And the walls came tumbling down.” This was in the wake of the St. Clair prison riot in 1985 and the reason you and I went on this tour of West Jefferson. It led to a story on how the riot went down and prison conditions, which alas, haven’t changed much.
By the way, that Biblical quote (and John Cougar-Mellencamp song) shouted by the prisoners: You turned that into the opening of the story – another Rick Bragg special.
I remember when we got in some pretty big trouble for publishing the inmate’s list of demands.
I remember when we wrote together you’d tap something on the keyboards of our old VDT’s, look at me with a smile, stand up and say: I’ve got to walk that one off.
We can reminisce about the series of stories on foster children lost in the system which won some awards and a big luncheon thank-you from the National Social Workers Association.
We can talk about going to see Tom Petty in Atlanta. Road trip with several other Birmingham News folks, Dennis Love maybe? We’ll remember it.
We can talk about the big party after your first book signing for “All Over But the Shoutin’.” It was Atlanta and several of us ended up crashing on your floor. Or maybe it was you crashing on the floor. We’ll remember it. Luckily you lived right across the street from one of the oldest if not THE oldest Krispy Kreme establishment in America.
Rick Bragg goes for a walk with his mother, Margaret Bragg, who is the inspiration for his new book, “The Best Cook in the World.” (Photo by Terry Manier)
I remember you, me and Howard joining up and navigating the streets of San Francisco. We were looking for fine dining and wound up in a burger joint. It was a good burger joint though.
I can remind you of how my wife, Catherine, pointed out with semi-feigned indignation because my name was in the “Shoutin”’ book (page 158) but NOT her name.
You grabbed a book and wrote on the title page: ‘Dear Catherine, You’re in the book now, Sunshine.’
She loved it.
We got plenty to talk about, my time in California, your wedding in Memphis, Randy, families and friends. I mainly just want to follow up and make sure we do make a plan.
ALBUMS: Dion and the Belmonts 24 Original Classics (1984); Dion (1968)
MVC Rating: Classics 4.5/$$$; Dion 4.0/$$
If you are going to cover Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix you better do it like Dion did it by totally deconstructing, making it virtually unrecognizable from the original.
He made it a slow smoldering, jazzy nightclub song : . ‘Excuse me while I kiss the sky’ he sings slowly, quietly, dragging the words out, and the line dissolves into flute, be-bop scats and an ethereal echo effects.
You may not like this treatment, click on link above to hear, but if he tried to do it like Hendrix, it would surely be a fiasco. On that song I give kudos for the creative arrangement.
Now on to the songs he was known for. Dion came out of the doo-wop New York City scene, where you got up a group of friends in the neighborhood and sang on the porch or stoop.
He hooked up with Bronx buddies: Fred Milano, Angelo D’Aleo, and Carlo Mastrangelo.
And of course you snapped your fingers as your voices — being the main musical instruments — blended in perfect harmony. Dion came from that scene and –became one the top singers in the era of the late 1950s after Elvis went into the Army and before the Beatles and British invasion.
Songs like Runaround Sue, which is addressing presumably an ex-girlfriend in a non-complimentary way:
People let me put you wise– Sue goes out with other guys
In the Wanderer, Dion is the macho loverboy who has goes from town to town loving and leaving them.
Oh well, there’s Flo on my left and then there’s Mary on my right
And Janie is the girl well that I’ll be with tonight
And when she asks me, which one I love the best?
I tear open my shirt and I show “Rosie” on my chest
Dion had lots of hits both as a front man for a band, (the Belmonts) and by himself. But the street corner dude was apparently hiding a heroin habit that began in his teens. Disappearing for a while he re-emerged with a softer folksy style that brought the hit ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ about the slain leaders.
Dion had a very soulful voice and feel for the song. The two-disc compilation I have is a great place to start. But I’ve found his discography to be deep. He did great songs that are sometimes hidden on albums like Born to Be with You. Beautiful.
He also did a very personal song, that may be one of the best and honest ‘getting sober’ songs ever done called ‘In Your Own Backyard.’ Listen to it below:
This is about breaking it down. All the way down. To the word.
Word is John Archibald and Alabama Media Group won a Pulitzer Prize last week, awarded for a series of John’s columns that had words that often shined a light on injustice. It’s a huge deal in the journalism business to be given this, the highest award in our line of work.
But what does AL.com’s winning the Pulitzer Prize mean for readers?
John Archibald gave readers insight into an investigation of the governor with examination of dozens of impeachment documents. These are the words from a bodyguard’s journal.
If nothing else, it’s a confirmation that there’s been effort and success at being a watchdog in the public’s interest and an advocate on the right things, the right side.
On the controversy over Confederacy monuments, Archibald said:
At this point in our history – after natural and manmade disasters, after church bombings and scarlet letters on our chests that had nothing to do with football, after the Civil Rights Movement, after revolution and reconciliation, after hard-fought progress and a quest for better hearts, is this really our story?
A 150-year-old war in which our forefathers sought to leave America rather than allow freedom for all?
Is that who we are?
I know what the Pulitzer award means for me:
More proof that words are precious; words can connect us. Or tear us apart.
Words that Archibald used to expose hidden wrongdoings have had effects, both immediate and repercussions we haven’t even seen yet. His words have begun (or continue) the dismantling –slow as it seems — of corrupt politics in Alabama, where deals have for too long been made for the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.
ALBUMS: Diamond ‘Beautiful Noise’; Streisand: ‘My Name is Barbra’
MVC Rating: Barbara — 3.5/$; DIamond -3.5 –$$
This is not my cup of tea. I don’t deny their success and know they have some passionate passionate (yes 2x) fans, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.
There is nothing connecting these two selections other than I have them in my collection. I just thought I’d do them in the same review given my perception of them is of two MOR balladeers with Top 40 chops and talent I appreciate — but don’t enjoy very much. I am filing them in the D’s for Diamond.
The Diamond album I bought used because the cover said it was produced by Robbie Robertson famed member of the Band. He even plays guitar on some tracks.
Babs is a great singer. Not a fan of the song selection on this one. The Sweet Zoo song made me bite down on a leather belt until it was over. Why Did I Choose You — well after the ‘you’ in this heard this song, he was wondering the same thing. This was a tie-in to a TV show and it did become a Gold record (500,000 in sales.)
The Diamond album is a little better. But he reminds me too much of a perpetual Elvis in Vegas act. His Top 40 hits in the 70s are a guilty pleasure, even the inane ones (which covers about all of them).
Shilo, Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rose, Song Sung Blue, and so on.
Oh and I should give props to Barbra for much of her acting career, except I don’t know if I could stomach ‘A Star is Born’ these days without a little dramamine.
UPDATE 6:22 p.m. 4/21: Back from record stores. Long walk. I got two records one at each shop at 5 points. Roy Clark’s ‘ Spectacular Guitar.’ He’s one of the best guitarists and perhaps underrated by rock fans. Grass Roots, some personal reasons I picked ‘Golden Grass’ which I will talk about at a later date. Fine day to shop, came in under $15 for two I wanted. Don’t tell Catherine. I’m still trying to find the right time to tell her about my growing stack of albums.
I did confess to getting Neutral Milk Hotel’s Aeroplane record on newly minted vinyl during a recent road trip to see family. It’s an album I had on CD, but I love it and couldn’t resist a purchase at WUXTRY in Athens, Ga., where the band lived and, I believe recorded the album.
Hey all,
I published another Countdown update on AL.com. Click here.
I am going right now to 5 pts. South to Record Store Day at the two stores there, Charlemagne and Renassance. And Seasick little later.
I’m still taking this week all in as my colleague and friend John Archibald won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
I’m off …….Oh wait a minute!
Coincidence or not department. The Difford and Tilbrook vinyl record I have as my latest review has a song I singled out “Picking up the Pieces.”
My five snippits I introduce to AL.com readers today contains the Average White Band’s famous hit ‘Pick up the Pieces’ a totally different song from different eras and genre………wow.
OK maybe not so Wow but it is kind of strange…OK maybe not strange at all (I’m going now).
Listen to the AWB video piece of my post and watch the (totally white) crowd try to dance … funny (OK I’m going now.)
Couple of nice songs, most notably ‘Picking up the Pieces.’
‘Tears for Attention’ finally gets your attention after a dozen listens, now seems to be a very good song to me after first dismissing as slooow..
But my main reaction is how this is SO not as good as Squeeze, whom I really enjoyed, especially Argybargy and East Side Story, which I will review when I get to the S’s. Difford and Tilbrook were the core of Squeeze. The Squeeze sound is still there with this one but there’s a lack of energy, a lack of mussels (from a shell.)
I will say though that ‘Picking up the Pieces’ I would rate in the Top 5 of all Squeeze songs.
This is one of those records I may keep out for further listens because there’s something subtle at work that may actually work with further listens. Here’s the thing: I know they can sing and I know they can write songs. I’ just asking to sing louder and write better.
I talked on the phone recently with my niece Rachel. She is 11 and lives in Boulder, CO. Her favorite show is Riverdale, and she loves to talk about it.
I learned this TV show was adapted from the old comic books featuring Archie and Betty and Jughead and Veronica and Reggie.
I was a big Archie fan when I was Rachel’s age. I had stacks of the comic books, and I watched the cartoon on Saturday morning.
K.J. Apa is Archie in Riverdale
I know nothing about CW’s TV rendition of Riverdale , except that it’s not a cartoon and is very popular with the tween and early teen demographic.
Over the phone with Rachel I started singing “Sugar Sugar’ from 1969.
Sugar, uh uh uh uh uh uh,
Ah honey honey, uh uh uh uh uh uh You are my candy girl And you got me wanting you
Talk about a take-you-back-in time little ear worm. I still remember the words.
“I like the new version,” Rachel said, interrupting my reverie.
New version? Of Sugar, Sugar?
L-R My daughters Claire, Emily and niece Rachel. Emily and Rachel watchh Riverdale. It’s Rachel’s favorite.
How could they remake the best song ever by a cartoon character. ‘Sugar, Sugar’ was the No. 1 song for the year 1969.
Here’s what ENews at eonline.com says: “Sugar, Sugar” was originally performed by The Archies, a group of fictional characters from The Archie Show. The song shot to No. 1 on the Billboard 100 chart and stayed there for four weeks, topping songs by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
See what I’m talking about? Archie Andrews sold more 45’s of ‘Sugar, Sugar’ than songs by Marvin Gaye, Elvis, and the Beatles? Also the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder. It beat songs like ‘Proud Mary,’ ‘Suspicious Minds,’ Spinning Wheel’ and on and on. (Actually Wilson Pickett did a pretty good soulful version in 1970.)
Archie Andrews. With Betty on tambourine. And the other wonderful cartoon musicians.
Listen to Archie’s phrasing when he sings ‘Oh sugar, pour a little sugar on it honey,’ deftly juxtaposing sugar with the sweetness of honey. A brilliant bit of wordplay there.
The real Archie?
What’s not to like: there’s the double-knee crunch dancing of Betty and Veronica; Archie playing a mean rhythm guitar that looks like a Gibson Les Paul; and all sorts of cartoon shenanigans like Archie and Reggie turning into a frog or rabbit when kissed.
That kind of splendid imagery can’t happen in Riverdale with live actors, I don’t care what kind of special effects you have these days.
But Rachel insisted the Josie and Pussycats version at Riverdale is by far the best Sugar, Sugar.
In the updated version, they have changed the name of the song to ‘Candy Girl (Sugar, Sugar).’ by Inner Circle featuring Flo Rida, (Vocalizing, I suppose for Josie and the Pussycats). It’s a modern song and the show is a far cry from the Archie of Saturday mornings past. Parents need to know that Riverdale is a drama about a group of teens that’s based on the classic Archie comics.
Archie? With a teacher? Maybe things have become, well, real. Maybe too real.
Here’s the new version, with a new rapping intro:
Rachel, my niece, gives a solid thumbs up to the Riverdale version.
I am partial to the old version, the No. 1 hit in 1969. Maybe the competition will spur cartoon Archie to come out of retirement and get the band back together. (He’s been virtually unheard of since that bitter break-up song in the 70s: ‘I Don’t Need You to Carry a ‘Toon.’)
Which one do you like best?
(To comment, click on the headline and scroll to the botttom of the story. For more on the song and the Archies see here.)
ALBUMS: Brothers in Arms (1985); Making Movies (1980); Dire Straits (1978)
MVC Ratings: Brothers, 4.5/$$$; Making Movies, 4.0/$$$; Dire Straits, 4.0/$$$
I was hesitant about doing Dire Straits. They have become so big that it is almost cool to hate them. Like the Eagles; people love to hate them. That hate campaign was generated I believe by the classic character ‘The Dude’ played by Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski.
But I think it’s unfair. Both to the Eagles and Dire Straits.
Just because you have heard Hotel California 343,000 times doesn’t make it a bad song. Just because the “Walk of Life” sits in your head ready to come to life at anything resembling the Hammond B3 organ intro to the song, doesn’t mean it’s terrible. Annoying, maybe.
But Dire Straits and the Eagles are very good, yes, great bands. I’ll deal with the Eagles later in my blog, soon actually when I get to the ‘E’s’.
It’s the phenomenon of the cliche’ — a word or phrase overused to the extent it becomes dull. But how did it get to be a cliche’ to begin with? People used it, liked it. It was, at the end of the day, a way to put a bottom line on it. Moving forward, if you know what I mean.
Do the walk of life to that one hotel that’ll let you check in but never check out. But of course that’s so 1970s.
I especially like Dire Straits because of a concert I saw at the Agora Ballroom in Atlanta in my formative years. It was Nov. 8, 1980. They were just out, touring America off Making Movies, their third album, and were relatively unknown or at least unknown enough to be playing the US in these smaller venues.. The now-defunct Agora was large for a nightclub but still a small venue for a concert. It was previously called Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom. It burned down in 1983 (some stupid with a flair gun…no, wait that’s another tune, sorry.)
As I remember the Agora was across the street from another great venue, The Fox Theater.
Knopfler (left) and Dire Straits
We sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the stage. I still vividly remember the now emblematic guitar solo from Sultans of Swing and watching his hands move through the chords and his finger-picking as it increased speed.
Knopfler is one of a few electric guitarists who doesn’t use a pick. With a pick, I’d imagine he would sound a lot like Eric Clapton. But the finger picking takes a little sting out. It is distinctive and slightly muted.
That doesn’t mean he can’t crush some chords as he does in the very popular “Money for Nothing,’ arguably one of the top recognizable riffs after Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water,’ or the Stones’ Satisfaction (or ‘Honky Tonk Woman.’)
It was Nov. 8, the day before my 21st birthday , and I was taking it all in. I was sipping Toohey’s out of an Australian oil can. (It would be several years before they upped the drinking/nightclubbing age from 18 to 21.)
The small venue, the front row seats and the friends (including Catherine, my soon-to-be wife, made for one of my most memorable concert experiences ever. Dire Straits went on to sell an astronomical 100 million albums over their career. (The Eagles have sold even more, 150 million).
That’s not to say that I think Dire Straits was the greatest band ever.
Although, Knopfler sings a bit like Dylan, he certainly was no match for Bob in the songwriting department. See what I just did before I say, his lyrics sometimes wandered into cliche’.
That’s all from this department although stay tuned for my piece on the Eagles and related: Mark Knopfler’s soundtrack album, Local Hero. Great movie, great soundtrack.
If you have any doubts about whether this man can play, watch the Sultan’s video to the end. And to think I saw that about six feet away.
Below are some links and excerpts from stories I wrote about my new status at AL.com
It’s all good. Really good.
Bottom line: I’m now going to be writing full time as a columnist. Here’s part of what I wrote and published on AL.com Friday.
A little over a year ago I wrote a column that pulled out the tried and true trope: I have some good news and bad news.
My ‘good’ news was that despite what I had previously announced in a column, I did not have Parkinson’s disease after all. I did not have that dreadful brain degenerating disease that left Muhammed “The Louisville Lip” Ali speechless, and makes Michael J. Fox shake and tremble like he has just been pulled out of an ice fishing hole.
I didn’t have it. But I had something else.
There was that word ‘but.’
Oliver listening to and writing about one of his 678 vinyl records stored on bottom shelf. Despite a degenerative brain disease, he vows to review them all. (Mike Oliver).
My wife, Catherine, scolds me when I use the word ‘but’ after a declarative clause. “When you say ‘but,'”she says, “You are negating everything you said in the first part of the sentence.”
But, but, but … I argue. (I always argue semantics).
But it’s true in this case. Not having Parkinson’s was NOT good news. I was misdiagnosed (not uncommon). I didn’t have Parkinson’s; I had Lewy Body dementia, which in general leaves its patients with a shortened lifespan. The average lifespan after diagnosis is five to seven years, usually much shorter than the lifespan expected after an Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diagnosis.
I was diagnosed about 18 months ago at age 56. So, I have a little time, I think.
Today I wrote more specifically (to theAl.com audience ) about my countdown and record review:.
So I’ve told you earlier I was going to be doing more writings on AL.com, and some of it will relate to the countdown of my vinyl records.
I have vowed in my blog that I will count down my collection of 678 vinyl records before I succumb to a degenerative brain disease called Lewy Body dementia.
I’m 58 now and it appears I have enough records to last me about two years, although I am feeling deadline pressure.
