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Mike Oldfield — 286

ALBUM: Tubular Bells (1973)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$

This as many might know here was the theme song for the Linda Blair head spinning vehicle, The Exorcist, AKA ‘Get the Hell out of Me,” AKA as “Rotation, Rotation, Rotation.”

Sorry, I have to laugh to keep from recalling those horrific scenes when the Devil occupied the body of a young Hollywood actress. No wait, Blair was an actress playing a little girl who was definitely not an actress.

This movie was a cultural phenomenon. People actually had to be carried out of the theater or so the reports go.

If there was nothing else to take away from this movie — and it would be hard to take it away once it starts —and that would be that it brought to the national forefront two words.

Projectile vomiting.

Movie-goers learned from this movie that Linda Blair was fed way too much pea soup. I think if they investigate they may find the vomiting was connected to the head-spinning. You do a few 360s with your noggin and tell me you are not a little queasy.

Blair looked like a full-circle water sprinkler, only with gobs of goo instead of water.

Oh sorry. I made up some of that. But I did that to contrast what was an over-the-top extremely dramatic and tension building movie with the music, which is over-the-top, and extremely dramatic. So, perfect fit.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the movie or the music will be the bigger 1970s cultural touchstone. My bet is on the music.

The music fits the movie. It’s orchestral and symphonic in its sweep, not to mention psychedelic and dark.

Did I mention Oldfield, some kind of prodigy who could play dozens of instruments, created this at the age of 19? Wow. He apparently was in several bands as a young teen and due to family problems stayed in his room practicing guitar for hours on end, according to the well sourced Wikipedia page.

This album I bought used for $5 about a month or so ago after my man Willie Moseley, senior writer for Vintage Guitar magazine, suggested Oldfield as a top, if not the top, guitarist of all time. His suggestion was spurred by my posts about lists of greatest guitarists.

I listened. And Moseley had a point. Besides directing and other duties Oldfield spends a good time on his guitar, snapping, ripping through tubulur gongs of sound. Power chords, fuzzed tones and breakneck soloing are all there. And, what’s important it works with the music.

Good finding this record. True 1973 is a long time ago but I still remember the music played on the radio. That radio single was taken from the intro of the two-sided first album. There were many permutations and re-releases to come as the album sold an astonishing 15 million copies worldwide, including 2.6 million in the UK alone.

The music on head phones reveals repetitive riffs jumping on board one-by-one building to big and small crescendos. I flipped to Part. 2, the second side and ran into some parts that wordlessly disturbed me.

There was more tubulur bell dinging but there were unearthly sounds like phantom wolves howling — and snarls and growls of demons in the darkness as the music rose in volume and smothered the room.

I was having a flashback of Linda Blair squealing like a giant razorback. I pushed the off button, backed slowly, out of the room, and shut the door.

I need to go exorcise.

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David Olney –290, 289

ALBUMS: Contender w/ the X-Rays (1981); Eye of the Storm (1983)

MVC Rating: Contender 4.0/$$$; Eye of the Storm 3.5/$$

Five-dollar cover was a lot back in the day. That was the cost of a brand new album.

But for that $5 bill you would get into the little roadhouse club called the Casino in Auburn Ala. with live music and 50-cent longneck Budweisers. One of the best bands through was David Olney and the X-Rays. (Not to be confused with David Lindley and EL Rayo X).

He had a whole array of upbeat love songs and gritty story-songs such as Wait Here for the Cops, Oh My Love, Contender and Love and Money.

I found his 1981 album in an Auburn record store and am glad to have it. Many years later after starting this blog I picked up another Olney record for $2 at Charlemagne. It’s called Eye of the Storm. Not as good for me as the Contender album probably due to my emotional/nostalgia hook. But pretty good music nonetheless in a more Americana style.

The a capella ‘Ain’t it That Way” and the title song really stand out

WIkipedia reports that over the last few decades songs have been covered by and co-written with Emmylou Harris, Stee Earle, Linda Rondstadt, Steve Young, Del McCoury and Laurie Lewis.

He was friends with Townes Van Zandt, reported the ‘Nashville Scene,’ who said of Olney:

Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard – and that’s true. I mean that from my heart.

Beautiful love song off of ‘Storm.”

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I’m here

I am indeed here. Took a few days off over the holidays. Went to see family in Georgia. Meant or intended to blog, ruminate. But I felt repelled from going into my blog and writing for some reason. I felt empty. Not so much empty like void of all thoughts. But empty like no gasoline to go. I felt tired of thinking about my brain. My brain felt tired of being used by me. It was so bad I went to WUXTRY — my old record store from High School and college days — and and couldn’t find anything I wanted. That’s a rarity of a different level of scarcity.

Now what.

I came home Monday and went to work Tuesday only to find that Charlemagne Records after 42 years of business at Five Points on Birmingham’s Southside is shutting down. Is this a signal of things to come? Has vinyl peaked?

I don’t think so from what I read. More later on that topic.

I’m behind on my reviews for the Countdown. of my 678 vinyl records. I ‘ve added to that number through some purchases and gifts at birthdays, Christmas, etc.. Plus I’m slowing down. Heck at this rate I’ll never die.

Inecentives on this blog deal are inverted.

Like our health care.

The high deductible model incentivises people not to go to the doctor because you have to pay bucks, sometimes big bucks. So you going put off going put off going. Then your leg needs amputating. How is that good health care?

Or your chest cold turns into pneumonia and you die.

It’s always back to dying with me, isn’t it. Well it’s a thing that happens to everyone who lives. Don’t want to die? Don’t live.

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Checking the boxes on Lewy body dementia

I feel a kinship with the Lewy Body Dementia Association staffers. I’ve written for their website. I’ve laughed with them, shot hoops with them, gone to Vegas (Lewy conference) with them, worked with them to raise money for research and awareness.

They’ve been good folks. Now they’ve come out with a checklist that is giving me a headache.

But it’s not their fault.

The LBDA checklist is good. But probably because I have Lewy body dementia and I am trying to cover same dementia. Things get complicated. With a Lewy on your back.

So the source of my headache? I decided to fill in the boxes on the 2-page list of symptoms. Do I shuffle when I walk? Yes. Not all the time though. Do I have a weak voice? Yes. Sometimes. Do I have hallucinations? Yes, but rarely. Does my handwriting/typing suffer or change. Yes but well controlled with medication.

And on and on with the symptoms with me checking about 90 percent of the 40 or so boxes but I was left with a desire to add more context beyond checking a box.

LBDA recommends that you take it to the doctor where you could then give context to each of these two dozen or so symptoms. Again great idea. But by then you may have forgotten the nuances . For example, do I drool? Depends on what’s cooking, no, sorry couldn’t resist. Real answer, rarely.

So, anyway, my headache came on when I saw that i was checking nearly every box and appeared near death. When in reality, I feel OK much of the time. I am definitely not criticizing this great idea but i have one slight suggestion to make it more useful.

It’s easy as 1-2-3.

Below is a partial piece of the checklist which I have quickly filled in with my 1-2-3 grading system.

The 1 means frequently; the 2 means occasionally and 3 means seldomly or rarely. Leave blank if never.

And that’s it. I think I may try it at my next doctor’s visit and report back.

I just realized that I am glad I cut the list off where I did lest I share to the world my grading on constipation, delusions and sexual dysfunction.

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Laura Nyro and Labelle — 293

ALBUM: Gonna take a Miracle (1971

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$

Here’s a great album I picked up just about a year ago so not really a growing- up album. But I can make the link. Nyro wrote ‘Eli’s Coming’ a romping rock and roll radio hit for Three Dog Night off of a live album. I did dig that song at a pretty early age , 13 or 14.

Her original of that however is not on this one, which is an album of cover songs. The group Labelle sang throughout this album. The songs are soul and R&B that she grew up listening to in the Bronx. Song’s like the title cut, Jimmy Mack, Spanish Harlem and You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me. Now that i think about it, I was listening to these songs as well.

With Labelle chiming in, this gets real good real early. A real good record, worth looking for more of her music.

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Daily Journal Nov. 17, 2019: Birthday Vinyl

I’m not ready to judge the content therein but these three albums I received for my recent birthday are fantastic to look at.

  1. From top left it’s Bright Eyes’ “Fevers and Mirrors.” That’s a mirror which actually reflects. So you are on the album cover.
  2. Clockwise it is a new Peter Buck solo album called “I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again.” It’s a picture with a Day-Glo shine featuring a bicycle in the foreground and Peter, of REM fame, looking out over the water in the background.
  3. Across the bottom is the gatefold of “Country Squire” by Tyler Childers. It looks like the same Day Glo artist only there’s a barn a goat and a recreational vehicle involved.

This reminds me that it might be time to do another round of MyVinylCountdown cover art standouts. You can see what I did here.

I am 60 by the way, going into year four of my diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.

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Randy Newman — 294

ALBUM: ‘Little Criminals’ (1977) ‘I Love L.A. promotional EP (1983)

MVC Rating:Criminals 4.0/$$; LA 4.0./$$

I recognize the talent, the barrel-roll piano playing, the sardonic voice, the intelligent if not overly ironic lyrics illustrated by his biggest all time hit ‘Short People.’

Sure it was a send-up of prejudice and discrimination, sung from the point of view of a narrator so over the top that you couldn’t believe the singer was for real. Could you

Some people did. I would say get over yourself. But I found myself disliking this song because in 1977 it shot to No. 2 on Billboard and the refrain “Don’t need no short people round here” was always on the radio.

I thought it was funny at first but some of my best friends were short people. I came to a point where I disliked the song. I do agree with Randy Newman’s take in which Wikipedia reports he said:: “I had no idea that there was any sensitivity, I mean, that anyone could believe that anyone was as crazy as that character. To have that kind of animus against short people, and then to sing it and put it all in song and have a philosophy on it.”[

But Newman is good at what he does. having written some good songs. On this album I particularly like ‘Baltimore’ and ‘Dixie Flyer.’ I also have a single of ‘I Love LA’ — another song where you can’t take the words at face value.

Satire is funny. Satire is mean. Sometimes satire is funny because it’s mean. I get that. We get to make a choice about whether it’s funny or not and why or why not.

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Daily Journal, Nov. 12, 2019 (Tracking down a story behind a story edition) UPDATED

John Hurley’s album Delivers one More Hallelujah . Trying to find out what the writing means. Obviously a birthday note.

Stay tuned I will have more of an explanation in a story about what this is all about after I reach out to a family member.

More clues with Birmingham ties:

From a You tube post 8 years ago

WiseGuyDogs18 years ago—

@ronhurley1961 John Hurley was one of the, if not the most talented people that I have ever known. I met him when I was 17 years old in Birmingham Alabam at Bob Groves recording stuido. He was there recording a friend of mine named Mike Gunnels. He drove a red sports car and always wore sunglasses. He stayed at my house and honored me with his friendship. That was over 40 years ago and I miss him to this day. He recorded the album “Street Gospel” shortly after and it is still my favorite.

It looks like it says:

FIRST LINE: Nov –14–1973

SECOND LINE: Happy Birthday “Mom” <unsure of the last word on line 2>

THIRD LINE: All the best —

FOURTH LINE: and you have! < not sure about <have>

FIFTH LINE: Love John H

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Harry Nilsson — 295

ALBUM: ‘Aerial Ballet’ (1980, reissue of 1968 album)

MVC Rating: 4.0/ $$

Harry Nilsson won a Grammy for Best Contemporary male vocalist for the song ‘Everybody Talking at Me.’ The song by Fred Neil is a strong Top 40 ballad used in the controversial (at that time) movie ‘Midnight Cowboy.’

The song feels a little like something Glenn Campbell or Joe South might have done. The other highlight, a song Nilsson wrote, is ‘One.’ I feel like I’m the only one who likes prefers the Three Dog Nights’ version.

Nilsson had a strong voice and was a good songwriter. One also might expect he would be a little more well known. After all this is the man who gave us that classic ‘Coconut’ remedy (Put the lime in the coconut drink it all up — Not on this album.)

I think Nilsson also did the definitive version of ‘Without You,’ the Bad finger song.

A few songs have Beatlesque overtones. Nilsson was a drinking buddy of John Lennon when Lennon temporarily broke up with Yoko Ono. They were wild then.

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Willie Nelson — 298, 297

ALBUMS: Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits (1981); Always on My Mind (1982)

MVC Rating: Greatest Hits 4.5/$$$; Always 4.0/$$

My early memories of these go back to my graduation from Auburn University, my marriage, and my first career-like job as special correspondent to the Birmingham News.

I worked out of a house I rented on 15 acres of land on Nesbitt Lake Road in Jacksonville AL. Rent $250 a month. It got cold out in the country with only space heaters.

I lived there with my newly wedded wife, Catherine. (H.S. College sweethearts. Still sweethearts.) My dog, Maggie, a Border Collie/Shelty -like dog, smartest I’d ever had. (No offense Lucy, Molly and Gus.)

I was out in this idyllic corner of Calhoun at the behest of my employer, The Birmingham News. We put up a rope swing on a hill in the front yard. We were still kids, Cat and I. And having the time of our lives on a weekly paycheck of $169 (After deductions).

My beat as a reporter was Calhoun, Etowah and Talladega counties. And it was a hard scrabble living for many who lived in this area. (Writer Rick Bragg grew up around these parts and he later bought his mother a house on Nesbitt Lake Road (after we left.) I later worked with Rick at the Birmingham News building downtown on 4th Ave North and 22nd Street.

But before I end this little pre-history, I have to say living out there could also be cold and lonely and very real and alive with insects, wild turkeys, deer, stray dogs, and occasionally a loose farm animal, like a pig who had wandered from across the street. One night we stopped at the closest establishment, a little restaurant and beer joint at the end of Nesbitt Lake Road, not far from town. We noticed some young people playing cards — nothing harcore here, it was UNO, a mindless popular game at the time. We took notice because we knew the game well.. The participants included soldiers from nearby Fort McClellan. We stayed a while watching them and talking.

Next day we found out a woman in the group shot a man to death at the table they were playing cards on, the result of a lover’s spat, the police said.

In this beat out in rural Alabama, I covered murder investigations , including Audrey Marie Hilley, dubbed the Black Widow because she killed her husband with arsenic, and tried to kill her daughter and other relatives by the same method. She disappeared after being charged and lived under aliases in different states for years before being brought to justice. She died of hypothermia in the woods near a prison she had escaped.

That was one of the wildest crime cases I remember covering. I believe one of the Birmingham’s Tom Gordon covered the trial. I did cover another case of Billy Wayne Waldrop, who thought it would be good idea to carve his initials in the body of a person he killed: BWW.. Waldrop was sentenced to death and was executed about 20 years ago.

There were other stories, the infield hijinx at the Talladega 500, the body of and unidentified teenager on the side of the road in Talladega, a visit to the abandoned house where a family was all murdered years ago. The door creaked open when I pushed it. It was empty. There was and old dusty calendar on the wall opened to the month and year the slaughter had occurred.

I also met and spent some time with an ambitious deputy prosecutor from Gadsden (or near Gadsden). His name was Roy Moore. Yep that Roy Moore, the former federal judge who became famous initially for his placement and then refusal to take out from the Federal Court building a large stone carving of the Ten Commandments.

I still have a 45 record Moore gave me of some Christmas music he had recorded.

For all of this, I worked hard learning the trade that involves asking questions and communicating to readers in a most timely fashion.

On my turntable nearly every night was Willie Nelson, his soothing but pleasant voice making everything all right. Occasionally, on the weekends, I’d put on the Stray Cats. Updated 1950s music. My two albums, one a two-record greatest hit, just about covered the highlights: On the Road Again, Whiskey River, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Angel Flying too Close to the Ground (where he beats the hell out of his bass string on his guitar.) The guitar — Trigger — with the hole in it from wear. Of course his hit at the time was ‘Always on My Mind.’ Since it wasn’t on the Hits album (too new) we bought ‘Always on My Mind,’ album. it was my wife’s favorite song at that time.

Later when I moved downtown to Birmingham, I went to see Willie play at the Alabama State Fair. I was on the second row with about eight people from the Birmingham News.

The front row, at this outdoor concert with chairs. sat, wrapped in all sorts of leather, a biker gang. We tried hard not to spill any beer and cheap nachos on them.