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Peter Himmelman — 380, 379, 378

ALBUMS: There is No Calamity (2017); The Boat That Carries Us (2014); and, ‘The Mystery and the Hum; (2007)

MVC Rating: Calamity 5.0/? Boat. 4.5/?; Mystery: 4.5/ ?


Peter Himmelman is many things.

Very good singer-songwriter is one.

Overlooked in that regard is another.

His music is kind of like — and here I go with my sometimes inane, roll-em-up, comparisons — but he’s kind of like James Taylor, John Mellencamp and Tom Petty rolled into one. (I’ve seen Peter Case and Warren Zevon also in these comparisons.) Actually, in circumstance Joe Henry might be good comparisons in that both are outstanding and underrated. (I only have Henry on digital.)

And both have a famous family connection. Henry is married to Madonna’s sister. Peter is married to Bob Dylan’s adopted daughter.

But I digressl

Peter is Peter.

He’s a rock-and-roller from Minnesota whose lyrics are informed by his Orthodox Judaism, as the message and questions raised in his songs strike universal themes: life and death, pain and joy, war and peace — both globally and internally.

Peter is also a Grammy nominated children’s music maker and composer for TV and film (Judging Amy, Bones, among others).

For more about his story and how it is part of my story see the post I did last week for AL.com. In it I tell you how Peter came to send me three rare out of print vinyl records.

I need to live with these records for a while to give them their proper due, but I can tell you there are some strong songs.

The reason I have question marks on the price rating scale for these three albums is because they are no longer available in vinyl. And the only seller I could find online on several sites including Amazon had one copy of ‘There is no Calamity,’ for $198. It looks like you will have to go digital for any of these three records. I’m going to post links to two songs each off each he sent me and two other older songs. I’d urge you to listen.

There is no calamity

There’s two songs on this are so blunt both lyrically and musically and catchy I can’t believe they are not hits. Listen to them: Fear is our Undoing

And 445th Peace Song.

He and his band rock Peace big time at the end in this live version. Studio version here..

The boat that carries us

Here’s two from ‘The boat that carries us: ‘boat’ title song and Too Afraid to Lose..

The Mystery and the Hum

I found “Hum’ to be the most rocking album.

Good Luck Charm is another one that should be on radio.

So should this one ‘Room in Davenport.’

Older favorites: Impermanent Things and This Too will Pass.

Like I said last time, pick any three Himmelman songs and listen all the way and then see if you aren’t hooked. I can’t say that about many artists.

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Thoughts on how to beat a fatal disease (blog version)

This is an opinion column from Mike Oliver, who was diagnosed  with the fatal  Lewy body dementia more than two years ago.

Acceptance of a fatal disease diagnosis is the first step.

Listen up brain. I’m talking to you.

That doesn’t mean you are not angry about it. That doesn’t mean you are not sad about it. And that doesn’t mean accepting everything the doctor says. Do research.. Ask questions. I’m not saying give up hope – for a cure, for a milder case, for, yes, even a miracle.

But be realistic.

 To avoid despair – and that’s a weighty word for giving up – you need to come clean with yourself primarily, and, then, others as you begin to become comfortable talking about  it.

I knew a person with a fatal cancer diagnosis who refused to talk about her cancer. Her friends and children eventually knew she was sick but had little to no time to prepare for her death. When she died her school-age children did not know death was even a possibility. Her death was a hard blow to handle without preparation, a sucker punch with long lasting effects.

Talking about my fatal disease, even joking about it has been my way of making this horrible thing bearable. I also talk to my brain.

Now this might sound silly but try it: Stand in front of a  mirror and say “I know I have Lewy body dementia (or Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s, or cancer, or whatever it is).

“I know you may kill me before I want to die,” I say to my reflection, talking to my brain. “But I will fight you. I will not go gently — until I can do that on my terms.”

Still standing before the mirror I say: “Lewy, I will resist your memory damaging brain attack. I hereby give you, my brain, permission to summon whatever resources you have to fight back to slow the proteins down.

“Step up brain. You are me. I am you. Together we can beat this.”

 I received an email from a reader that illustrates some of what I am talking. I am printing the email here in whole.

Anne Pinkston in Nashville brought a tear to my eyes with this email.

    —–Original Message—–

    From: Anne Pinkston

    Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2019 10:32 PM

    To: Mike Oliver <MOliver@al.com>

    Subject: Thanks for your articles

    Dear Mike,

    I am guessing you receive more emails than you can read, but still I felt compelled to write.

    I am Anne Pinkston in Nashville.

    My husband Ken, age 76, too has been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia with Parkinsonism.    Several months ago, a friend in Birmingham told me about your articles, through which you are chronicling your journey.   That night, I sat up for hours because I could not stop reading your articles.  

    At that time, Ken knew very little about his “diagnosis” and had not been ready to embrace the diagnosis.    I began to read your articles to him at breakfast.  That is how I have exposed him to everything “Lewy”.   Now, he can sometimes even make jokes.  

    Your articles have been a great inspiration for me.   I love your sense of humor and your determination to not be defeated.  I relate to your wife, Catherine.  

    Tonight, I read your article about driving.   My husband had to give up driving in September, and should have sooner.  He has not adjusted yet.  I will read your article to him in the morning, with the hope that it will help him and will make him smile.   

    I believe you and my hubby will both “beat the odds” and live longer and better than expectancy for Lewy Body, so don’t give up.  

    Thank you so much for your articles, your humor and your amazing outlook on life.  You, Catherine, and your girls are to be admired.   I am guessing you have inspired many, many people, as you have inspired me.

    So your friends pledge $$$’s if you dunk.  Well, I pledge $500 to your July Mike Madness B-ball Tournament, whether you dunk or not.  But, I think you and  Dr. J’ Erving could both do it!  Is there a link for 2019 Mike Madness pledges.

    I have been including you and your family in my prayers.

    Keep that “vinyl countdown” going!

    Anne Pinkston

Thanks Anne for making my day! –  Mike

Post Script: Keep your eye on myvinylcountdown.com for information about the charity basketball tournament. We are in early planning stages right now. But I have a feeling this year’s Mike’s Madness is going to be a doozy.

AL.com version with reader comments.

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Mark Knopfler, Kitaro 382, 381

ALBUM: Local Hero (movie soundtrack 1983); Kitaro.

MVC Rating: Local”4.5/$$$’ Kitaro, 4.0/$$$

For the Now Playing portion of my column featured on this website and AL.com, we have a movie soundtrack from Mark Knopfler that is good, very good, as is the movie.’

Local Hero,’ beautifully filmed in Scotland is a droll and understated comedy fits right in with Knopflers’s smooth sounding finger-pick work. Like all soundtracks, there are incidents of incidental music, and the album is mostly instrumental. But the overall quality is superb.

I’m adding into this review another sleepy time album -by – a musician who happens to be in alphabetical order, more or less, as I reach into the New Age and pull out Kitaro. If ‘Local Hero’ puts you in a restful peaceful state, Kitaro will just knock you out . A New Age record, for those who don’t remember, is light bright soft serve ice cream. I don’t know that image just came to mind. But I’ve enjoyed New Age musicians, such as George Winston, Michael Hedges and Kitaro.

It’s also fine background music where you don’t want the music to drown out the talk. I find that a lot of folks get into New Age music when they have little ones, nothing like a soothing Kitaro waterfall with flutes to ease those temper tantrums. Because when you finish your tantrum, you’ll be able to help the children, right?

Got that?

I highly recommend Local Hero, a good one that has held up.

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Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band –384, 383

ALBUMS: Kid Creole: ‘In Praise of Older Women (1980);’ Dr. Buzzards Original Savannah Band’Meets King Penett.

MCV Rating: KC: 4.0/$$; Dr. B: 4.0/$$

And now for something completely different. Swing influenced disco jazz.

Stony Browder and Thomas Browder AKA August Darnell, started Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah band in 1974 and it sounded far different from anything on the radio at the time.

Buzzard was more swing-y old timey whereas Kid Creole and the Coconuts was more jump jazzy and funky.

Taking a break from my Kinks and Who and Stones, I really enjoyed the throwback exotica and tropicalia of these bands. August Darnell, whose parents were Italian and Caribbean, according to Wikipedia, had a Master’s degree in English and a way with words.

The fun dance songs were flirty with steamy romance. Either of these or anything by either of the groups would be a great bargain bin find. I’ll bet Prince had some Kid Creole in his collection.

If you’re looking for something different.

 

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Carole King — 385

ALBUM: Tapestry (1971)

MVC Rating: 5.0/$$$

When I was growing up — I was about 11 when this came out — nearly all of the songs on Tapestry were on the radio. Or so it seemed. They are among the all time greatest pop songs ever written.

Rolling Stone magazine has her and writing partner Gerry Goffin at #7 on the list of greatest songwriters behind Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson and Mick Jagger/Keith Richards. She’s the highest ranking female on the list. But I could argue for an even higher rank.

I think King hops the Stones’ boys and Smokey, all brilliant mind you, and on my desert Island I’d probably take the Stones first. But from a purely objective point of view, I think she’s a No. 5 on the list. And if you pulled the two Beatles together into one rank – the No. 2 slot — she would move up to the No. 4 slot. I’m not going to do a side-by-side on these but Tapestry, the album, is astonishing in that nearly every song is a standard.

But the kicker is this: Look at what she has written for other artists including a song — Chains — covered by the Beatles. Here’s a small sampling of non-Tapestry songs she wrote:

  • ‘The Loco-motion’ for their babysitter Little Eva.
  • “Go Away Little Girl,’ Donny Osmond and Steve Lawrence.
  • ‘Up on the Roof,’ the Drifters.
  • ‘Don’t Bring Me Down,’ the Animals.
  • ‘If it’s Over,’ Mariah Carey.
  • ‘One Fine Day,’ the Chiffons,
  • ‘I’m into Something Good,’ Herman’s Hermits.

At one time I remember Tapestry being the biggest seller ever, at least for a period, eclipsing Beatles. Then I remember hearing Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ surpassed Tapestry. Don’t know if this is accurate, but it comes out of my Lewy body dementia memory that way. Tapestry is still in theTop 10 best selling album of all time.

The copy of Tapestry I have in the house is from my wife’s collection. We began dating in 1978 and were married 1981 and that involved ‘merging’ of some records and tastes. Catherine loved Tapestry and knew every word to every song. Here’s the songs from Tapestry as listed on Wikipedia.:

Side 1

  1. “I Feel the Earth Move” – 3:00
  2. “So Far Away” – 3:55
  3. “It’s Too Late” (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:54
  4. “Home Again” – 2:29
  5. “Beautiful” – 3:08
  6. “Way Over Yonder” – 4:49

Side 2

  1. “You’ve Got a Friend” – 5:09
  2. “Where You Lead” (lyrics by Carole King and Toni Stern) – 3:20
  3. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” (Gerry Goffin, King) – 4:13
  4. “Smackwater Jack” (Goffin, King) – 3:42
  5. “Tapestry” – 3:15
  6. “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Goffin, King, Jerry Wexler) – 3:59

I was learning to like some of Catherine’s music: James Taylor, for whom I skipped class to camp out and buy tickets to his sold-out concert at Auburn University in, oh, 1980 maybe; Carly Simon, whose ‘Your So Vain’ was one of the few songs I could listen to a million times without getting tired of it. Other groups she loved that I came to appreciate, for the most part anyway: Bread, America, the Carpenters and Diana Ross.

Here’s a good overview of her work by Rolling Stone.

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King Crimson — 386

ALBUM: Discipline (1981)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$

This is a good progressive album. And as I’ve stated before progressive is not my go-to genre. Those who have been following this blog know that — but also know that I admire and own some good examples: Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Yes; and Genesis.

And I also own what I’d call genre-busting proggers: Captain Beyond, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, and Crack the Sky.

It all starts on this album with ‘Elephant Walk’ with clever wordplay on the meaning or lack of meaning in verbal communication. Robert Fripp and Adrien Belew deliver some articulate and geometric guitar that blazes, stops and fills better than anyone this side of Zappa on his A-game.

But it’s the opening lyrics that set the tone in ‘Elephant Talk.’

Talk/It’s only talk 
Arguments, Agreements, Advice, Answers , Articulate announcements 
It’s only talk 

Talk /It’s only talk 
Babble, Burble, Banter, Bicker/bicker/bicker, Brouhaha, Balderdash, Ballyhoo 
It’s only talk/ Back talk 

Talk talk talk/It’s only talk 
Comments , Cliches, Commentary, Controversy, Chatter, Chit-chat/Chit-chat/Chit-chat, Conversation, Contradiction, Criticism 
It’s only talk/Cheap talk’

Better at alphabetical order than I am. Some call it ‘math rock.’ You can see for sure that Robert Fripp and crew influenced progressive New Wavers, especially the Talking Heads.

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The Greg Kihn Band — 389

ALBUM: RocKihnRoll

MVC Rating: 3.0/$

At the risk of releasing a giant ear worm, here’s the band that wrote and recorded ‘The Break-up Song.’ Don’t remember it?

How about if I add the rest of the song title. (‘They Don’t Write ‘Em) No?

How about this hint:

Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah

Yes, they don’t write ’em like that anymore.

It’s a decent song with little to say other than people are dancing to a song like you don’t hear much anymore. That may be profound. Or, like a lot of things, profundity is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the ear of the listener.

Remember this was 1981. So we can look back and say the same thing about this song.

Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah. They don’t write ’em like that any more.

Maybe we are thankful.

Some decent power pop rock on this album with the emphasis on ‘some.’ I don’t recall buying this but I must have obtained it pretty cheaply. Mostly forgotten fodder. Most of the songs are written or co-written by Kihn. But there’s a cover of “Sheila” by Tommy Roe, he of ‘Dizzy’ fame. “I’m so dizzy, my head is spinning.’

Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah.

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Robert Gordon w/Link Ray — 390

ALBUM: Fresh Fish Special (1978)

MVC Rating: 3.5/$$

Authentic 1950s rock-a-billy from the 1970s. Gordon does his best Sun years Elvis or Eddie Cochran or Gene Vincent.

Gordon along with guitar rock-a-billy pioneer Link Wray gives a by-the-note lesson in reproducing the sound of the era. And to top it off, Gordon gets a contemporary Bruce Springsteen song — ‘Fire’ — that not only sounds right at home but was so catchy it jumped on to the charts where it sounded like no other song in the Top 40 at that time..

Gordon operates in the relatively small universe of non-novelty retro sounds as put forth by the Stray Cats and Chris Isaak.

Gordon is mostly a great interpreter here rather than trying for a new or hybrid sound with rock-a-billy — unlike, say, Jason and the Scorchers who punked their billy up a bit.

As Allmusic.com writes:

He still comes off more as an enthusiastic interpreter than a musician with a vision of his own. Still, there weren’t that many American-born rock & rollers who were willing to fly the flag for rockabilly at end of the ’70s, and if other acts would surpass Gordon in imagination and impact a few years on, he certainly gets an ‘A’ for effort.”

Oh and you may notice that this is out of alphabetical order. I missed it — it was in the wrong place. It’s a ‘G’ record at a time I’m opening up the K’s.

There are others coming I’m sure. I’ll point it out when it happens . At the end, I’ll probably have several that I missed and finish with an addendum after the Original 678. Remember if you are looking for an album, you can narrow it down some by clicking on its letter in the categories at the left. Or, simply type the name into Search.

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Tom Jones — 392

Album: Tom Jones Country (1981)

MVC Rating: 3.5/$

Another day, another singer named Jones. As in Tom Jones.

First off this isn’t real country music. Secondly, is this the real Tom Jones?

On record it sounds like Tom Jones and his powerful voice is in fine form. But the cover with Jones wearing a cowboy hat looks an awful lot like Will Ferrell. No? Take a look side-by-side look of both gentlemen in hats:


The left is as it says, Will Ferrell, the right is Jones.

If you are looking for real country music sung by a man named Jones, don’t choose Tom, choose George. (George and Tammy Wynette are reviewed on my previous post.)

Now we transition from George Jones to Tom Jones and watch this smooth segue as I post a video of Tom Jones singing with Janis Joplin — who happens to be next in the myvinylcountdown.com of my 678 vinyl records.

Tom Jones and Janis Joplin having fun in a duet.

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Robert Johnson — 395

ALBUM:   King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 2 (1970 compilation)

MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$

This probably should be a 5 rating due to the massive influence Johnson had on the best rock guitarists in the world.. But I have to take a little off because the primitive sound quality certainly to my ears has an effect on its listening pleasure. This album is considered the best representation of Johnson’s work. And it’s fascinating to listen to old the old blues to see where the rock came from. But I don’t think it’s an easy listening experience. However, by turning the volume up high you can have a cathartic experience. That’s the soul coming in and sometimes it hurts.

I’m Just glad they were able to save the songs. Wiki said that there were only two known, confirmed photos of RJ>

It sounds like it was recorded in the other room. Which I think it literally was. Check out the album cover.

It’s a bit of a strain to hear and become immersed in the electric guitar mastery recorded on 1930’s equipment. But it’s well worth the listening just to hear the songs you’ve heard re-done by Clapton, Zeppelin and the Beatles. It’s a reservoir of rock and roll riffs at the ground level.

Cr0ssroads is where Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil for his musical abilities on guitar.