Shelter From The Storm

I’m starting another little side project today. I love lists. (I’ve got a few over in my sidebar if you want to take a look.) There’s something about the “organization” of lists that just suits me perfectly. I like order, organization, everything in it’s place. I have lists of things to do each day, lists of things to do tomorrow, lists of albums I need to buy, lists of albums I need to sell, lists of albums I love and like, lists of artists I need to make iTunes playlists (more lists!) for. I don’t think I’m quite as carried away as the guys from the movie High Fidelity are, but my wife and some of my friends might disagree. In 1978 I found a book titled Rock Critics’ Choice: The Top 200 Albums compiled by Paul Gambaccini. I loved going through the book and comparing my favorite albums with the ones chosen by a group of nearly four dozen journalists and critics. It was a small, simple book and most of the entries were simple listings with label info, release dates and tracks. Some of the albums featured a short blurb by a writer who had chosen it as his number one favorite. The second half of the book was even more fascinating, as each of the contributors was asked to list their Top Ten albums of all time. Gambaccini updated the book ten years later in 1987, cutting it to 100 albums but including an essay about each album and enlarging it into a “coffee book” size tome. In 2005 Rolling Stone went far deeper and released a The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time (based on an issue of the magazine from December 2003). Using what they called a “blue-ribbon panel of experts and true fans” (hey, what about me, I’m a true fan!) they published the “definitive” list for every rock and roll collector. 273 voters (singers, songwriters, musicians, producers, managers, critics, label executives and more) cast ballots. To their credit they cast a wide net: Britney Spears got a vote, as did Pete Seeger. There were no restrictions on albums, any album was eligible for a vote. They did, however, use a “weighted point system developed by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young under the supervision of the editors of Rolling Stone.” I’m not sure exactly what that means or how the “weighed” the votes, but apparently there was some “massaging” of the results. Regardless, it’s a fascinating book. Of course the first thing I did was look through it and wonder in amazement at how some of my favorite albums were not even included; how some of my least favorite albums placed so high; and at how many of my favorite albums seemed to place in just about the same general area as they would on my Top 500 list.

So, I’ve decided to begin my trek through the book, listening and writing about each of the 500 albums listed therein. I’ll probably only cover one every week or two, so it may take five or ten years for me to get through the entire book, but what the hell. It’s the journey that counts, right? I currently have about 300 of the 500 CDs in my collection, so it also means I’ll have to spring for the rest as the process unfolds. I’ll make a note in the title of each blog entry that is related to this side project so it’s readily apparent the post is about one of the Rolling Stone albums. First up, their Number One album of all-time: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.

Rolling Stone calls it “the most important rock & roll album ever made” and yeah, it’s pretty hard to argue with that. Just consider the fact that it placed number one in all three of the books I mentioned above, covering a 30 year time span. However, even though I agree with that statement it doesn’t mean it’s my favorite rock & roll album of all-time. Far from it. It’s quite possible to agree that an album is “important,” “historical,” “ground-breaking” and even “great” without actually “liking” it (however, don’t get me wrong, I do like this album a lot). I’d even go so far as to say that I might consider some albums “better” than others that I actually prefer to listen to more often. My list of “favorite” albums might not be exactly the same as my list of “the greatest” albums. Emotion, sentimentality and lots of other intangible factors play a huge part in what I “like,” what I listen to and what I consider a favorite. Eddie Rabbit’s first album may not be anywhere near as good an album as Beggar’s Banquet by The Rolling Stones, but I probably listen to it more often. I like The Beatles. I have enormous respect for The Beatles. But, I’m not a Beatles fanatic. Through the years I’ve certainly listened to St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a lot, but it probably wouldn’t place in my list of Top 100 favorite albums. It’s a classic, of course, I won’t argue with that, but I just don’t listen to it that much. On the other hand,  John Lennon’s first solo album, Plastic Ono Band, is in my Top Ten. You figure it out.

Lots better writers than I have written books worth of material on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with far more insight and wisdom that I could ever aspire to. I can only tell you what it does for me. I was eleven years old when the album was released. I was far too young at the time to truly appreciate the innovation and creativity the band brought to this particular release. Looking back now it’s easy to see, but only if taken in the context of the times. Most of the techniques, ideas and approaches to making music that they pioneered on this are second nature now. It’s probably pretty hard for anyone who didn’t grow up in the sixties to begin to understand how monumental this music was at the time, what a real listening experience it must have been when dropped upon the unsuspecting public. And keep in mind that all this fantastic sounding music with all its layers and instruments and vocals and sound effects was done with four-track tape machines! George Martin’s part in all of this cannot be overestimated.

My favorite songs from this album have always been “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better” and “Good Morning Good Morning.” I don’t care what John Lennon says, the psychedelic lyrics and sound of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” can’t be anything other than a salute to LSD. It would have to be the biggest coincidence in the history of mankind for him to have not written the song reflecting on his experiences with the drug with that title. I love the majestic construction of “She’s Leaving Home.” It’s truly breathtaking. “With A Little Help From My Friends” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” are always fun. Truth is almost every song on this album is part of my musical DNA, either through the radio, the album itself or just American culture in general. The only song that really doesn’t do much for me is “Within You Without You.” It’s one of the only songs on the album that feels “inauthentic” to me, as if the eccentric production exists mainly for it’s own sake. It’s my understanding that Harrison is the only Beatle playing on this, that the rest of the musicians are Indian. And I’m all for experimentation of this sort, I just don’t think it works on this song. I’d love to hear a version done in a more typical Harrison arrangement. And then, of course, there is “A Day In The Life,” probably the single biggest, grandest, most sumptuous “grand finale” ever recorded on a modern day album. It’s also, from what I’ve read, one of the few true collaborations between Lennon and McCartney at this point in time, being composed of two song fragments that were worked into this final piece.

You can’t mention Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band without also noting the groundbreaking cover artwork which marked the beginning of albums being considered true visual art as well. It’s also, apparently, the first album of the rock era to contain complete lyrics to songs, something that would become almost mandatory in later years. And one last thing to consider: no singles were taken from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band. It was a number one album around the world and yet no singles were pulled from it in a time when AM radio and 45RMP singles drove the record business. Truly amazing and a testament to the power of this album.

#1 Rolling Stone: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time (2003)
#1 Critics’ Choice: The Top 100 Rock ‘n’ Roll Albums Of All Time (1987)
#1 Rock Critics’ Choice: The Top 200 Albums (1978)
Somewhere between #100 and #200 on my list of all-time favorite albums

Other Listens on August 10th:
Eat A Peach by The Allman Brothers Band

In 1973 I was very deep into Kris Kristofferson. I had discovered him through his 1971 album The Silver Tongued Devil And I. The following two albums, Jesus Was A Capricorn and Border Lord, both released in 1972, were instant favorites. I also went back and picked up is first, self-titled album (later retitled Me & Bobby McGee to take advantage of the huge success from Janis Joplin’s cover). It was through Kristofferson that I first found Rita Coolidge. You could say I was a little late to the game because Coolidge had been around for some time. She’d been a featured member of Joe Cocker’s magnificent Mad Dogs & Englishmen ensemble and she’d made two fine albums of her own. But it was her third album, the 1972 release The Lady’s Not For Sale that I found first and it was all related to Kristofferson. By this time they were a couple (married in 1973). Their careers became very entwined for several years. They shared a band, they toured together, they appeared on each other’s albums and they recorded three duet albums over the next five years. I was seventeen and attending Loyola University in Los Angeles when they played together at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1973. I hitchhiked from school over to Santa Monica (not far, only about six miles) to see the show. I remember my seat wasn’t that great, but I saw some empty seats up pretty close and so after about three or four songs I got up my nerve, walked up and sat down in one of the vacant chairs near the stage. There was a printed invitation on the floor that the previous occupants had left behind. It was one of my first introductions to the jaded excesses of the music business. These people had gotten free tickets, a great seat, a personal invitation to the show and they had left after two or three songs! I couldn’t believe it. It was a great show and I was thoroughly impressed. I saw them play together several times at the Troubador, a much more intimate setting, later that year. They were always great. They’re first debut album, Full Moon, is one of my all-time favorite albums. Unfortunately, it’s never been released on CD. Go figure.

Rita Coolidge is a bit of an anomaly for me. I’m usually drawn to songwriters, artists like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash, Trish Murphy, artists who, for the most part, write their own material. It’s not often I find an artist who doesn’t write at all that I like. Linda Ronstadt is the only other notable exception I can think of off hand (well Emmylou Harris as well though she did start writing quite a bit in the last few years), though there may be others. But Coolidge always had a fantastic ear for great songs and many of the songs she recorded were new to me, I wasn’t familiar with other versions. It’s Only Love was her fifth album and it’s probably my favorite. It follows the basic blueprint of her other albums that came before it. Produced by David Anderle (he’d produced her first four albums as well), it’s an excellent collection of ten great songs. “Born To Love Me” and the title track are perfect vehicles for Coolidge’s pure, smooth, sultry, naturally romantic vocals. She has such a wonderful, unique voice that seems tailor made for love songs. Written by little known Nashville songwriter Bob Morrison (I’m guessing there was a Kristofferson connection in there as he was signed to Monument Records) they are also an example of Coolidge’s knack for finding great material that others missed. Matter of fact every song on this album is a love song. There’s one from Kristofferson (“Late Again”), one from the great southern team of Donnie Fritts (a Kristofferson sideman for many, many years) and Eddie Hinton (“Don’t Let Love Pass You By”) and a fantastic version of the Donna Weiss classic “Star.” Coolidge and Anderle take a decidedly interesting sidestep for the last two songs on the album. “Mean To Me” and “Am I Blue” are two classic jazz songs featured in a full, flat out late night jazz session setting. It’s not really my cup of tea, but I think they work very well for what they are.

Coolidge would finally find that elusive hit and huge commercial success with her next album, Anytime…Anywhere. A Top 10 album with three hit singles it also marked a noticeable turn towards a slicker, more pop orientated sound that I never found quite as appealing as her earlier earthy, country/folk flavored albums.

It’s criminal that NONE of Rita Coolidge’s early albums are available on CD. I think the first three were released on CD in Japan at some point, but they were always impossible to find and now fetch over $100 each on Amazon.com. There’s a fine two disc collection titled Delta Lady: The Rita Coolidge Anthology but it’s just ludicrous that her catalog has been so completely ignored in these days of endless remasters and reissues. The Australian reissue label Raven has just released a two-fer containing Anytime…Anywhere and Love Me Again, which is a start. Granted, those two records were probably her most commercially successful so maybe it makes sense, but they were far from her best. We can only hope that someone, somewhere will finally see the light and make an effort to get her first five albums out on CD sometime soon.

Other Listens on August 9th:
Tomorrow The World by The Shazam
Millionaire by Kevin Welch
The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash by Michael Nesmith
Why The Hell Not… The Songs Of Kinky Friedman by Various Artists
Taking The Long Way by The Dixie Chicks

While living in Syracuse, NY in 1976 I made an attempt to get a stint as a DJ at the university radio station. I didn’t get too far. Everything was going pretty well until the music director, a rather holier than though sort, asked me to write up a sample playlist of what I would like to play on a two hour show, should I be given the opportunity to try out. I dutifully put together a list of new, old and classic songs that I thought would make a great show. He took one look at it and said to me incredibly: “You would actually play Johnny Cash on this radio station?” I was listening a lot to Cash’s 1974 release John R. Cash and I think I had included either “Cocaine Carolina” or “My Old Kentucky Home” from that album. Things went downhill from there and I never got a chance to spin any records for the kids at Syracuse University. You have to remember this was 1976 and real country music was still regarded as hillbilly hogwash by many college students. How ironic that almost twenty years later, with the release of  American Recordings, Cash would be celebrated as a musical godfather and hero at many college campuses across the land.

The Man Comes around was the last album of “new” material that Cash released while he was alive (American V was released several years after his death). It continued his fruitful and productive collaboration with Rick Rubin and while it didn’t break any new ground (sticking mainly to the same style they had mined so well on the first three albums of the “American” series) it was different in one way. Cash’s voice was clearly deteriorating. Well, while deteriorating is technically the correct word to describe the process, it’s not really the right one. There’s a certain amount of negativity associated with the word “deteriorating” and the truth of the matter is that while Cash’s voice indisputably lacks the strength and vigor it once had, it’s still an amazing instrument. The key here is the material. When Cash’s ragged, frayed, almost worn out voice connects with the right kind of song it’s almost transcendent. All of the years, all of the history, all of the life, all of the good times and bad times, all of the joy and desperation, all of the hard worn knowledge and tears bleed through that voice into each word. And that happens more times on this album than we have any right to expect. However, for every mini-masterpiece there is a misfire that simply doesn’t work. It all comes down to the song.

 The album kicks off on an outstandingly strong note with three back to back songs that work so well together it’s downright magical. First comes the title song, a Cash original, and one of the best songs he ever wrote. The mystical lyrics, the driving beat, the strong melody with a great, classic hook all suit Cash’s voice perfectly. It’s an amazing performance, one of my very favorites of his later years. It’s followed by what is probably the most well known song from this period of his career, Trent Reznor’s “Hurt.” Again, it’s absolutely astonishing how well Cash inhabits this song and how well the production and the lyrics fit his voice. The accompanying video helped this song reach an audience that ten or twenty years earlier would have scoffed at the idea of Johnny Cash being relevant. Then it’s back to the roots with an acoustic reworking of his classic song from his early Sun Records days, “Give My Love To Rose.” And once again, it’s exactly the kind of song that actually benefits from the raw state of Cash’s voice at this point in time.

But, unfortunately, the magic doesn’t last. A pointless reading of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” follows that just makes no sense. To start with this is one of those songs that probably no one should ever attempt to cover. The original is such a masterpiece, such a one of a kind piece of music, that to bring anything new, distinct and original to it seems almost impossible. Perhaps the song had some sentimental value to Cash. I can’t even begin to guess why they chose to include this, but it’s simply not very good. And that’s the pattern we find throughout this album. Songs like “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” The Beatles classic “In My Life,” the Eagles masterpiece “Desperado” and the old war horse “Danny Boy,” songs that border dangerously close to sentimental, out of place souvenirs, sit right alongside magnificent, almost transcendent songs like “The Man Comes Around,” “Hurt” and ”I Hung My Head.” It’s really as if we have two separate albums here, one a near masterpiece and one that could be described as Cash’s Self Portrait (the universally panned Dylan album from 1970).

Sting’s “I Hung My Head” is another classic reading from Cash where he quite simply just “owns” the song. Another example of exactly the right kind of material that perfectly suits his voice. Cash has always been one of the best storytellers popular music has ever seen and here he turns Sting’s lyrics into a glorious, almost semi-religious sepia-toned virtual movie that continues to play inside your head whether you want it to or not. The rest of the album never quite lives up to the true gems I’ve described above, but the songs and the performances are all solid and strong. “Sam Hall” gives us a quick look into the trademark fire and passion that Cash once threw into his singing with little or no effort whatsoever. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” which looks so good on paper (and it’s even a duet with Nick Cave), never quite comes together for some reason. “Personal Jesus,” “Streets Of Laredo” and “We’ll Meet Again” round out the collection.

I saw Cash perform live at a tribute concert in New York in 1999, a couple of years before this album was released. We had great seats (third row) and I was astonished at how bad he looked up close. I really thought he couldn’t be more than a few months away from death. He managed to hang on a few more years and I’m glad he did. He left an incredible legacy of music. American IV: The Man Comes Around is certainly nowhere near the top of his best work, but it’s an admirable effort from a man who never quit, who never gave up, who was writing and recording to the very end. And the songs that do work on this album are first rate, they’ll find a home in my iTunes Johnny Cash playlist.

Other Listens on August 8th:
The Very Best Of Deep Purple 
Life Death Love And Freedom by John Mellencamp
Greatest Hits by Billy Joe Shaver
Rides Again by James Gang
Quicksilver Messenger Service by Quicksilver Messenger Service
Santana by Santana

I began collecting records when I was ten years old. The first album I ever bought was Snoopy vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen. Hey, I was a child of the AM pop radio sixties and I was only ten years old, so cut me some slack. I redeemed myself with my second album purchase, Between The Buttons, by the Rolling Stones. From there it was The Doors, Bob Dylan, lots of Motown, Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, etc. I was a collector from the very beginning. Sure, I was in it for the music, but I also loved the tangible, solid pieces of black vinyl and cardboard jackets that I could hold in my hand. Things just got worse and worse as I got older and before I knew it I had accumulated thousands of albums and hundreds of singles. It seemed I was constantly building new shelves to hold everything. Working at record stores certainly didn’t help matters much, as I got a lot things free there. For many, many years I never even dreamed of selling any of my prized possessions. I had lots (and I mean lots) of albums that I had never listened to, but it always seemed that there would certainly be time to listen to them all eventually. Even though I was still accumulating far more than I could listen to at the time, when you’re young the future seems endless and able to accommodate anything. Besides, I was terrified of the idea that I would sell something I hadn’t listened to and then years later find out how good it was and that it was no longer in print and impossible to find again. Better to hang on to everything, just in case. Then in the late 70s and early 80s I started to attend record conventions in Houston and Austin and began selling some of my duplicates. Yes, I had multiple copies of a lot of stuff. When Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe would put out a UK single with a picture sleeve and unreleased b-sides I would buy two, three, five or ten copies knowing that some day they would be worth something. I soon discovered that once you begin to sell stuff it’s a slippery slope. Throughout the eighties I was attending the Austin Record Convention as a dealer twice a year, sorting through my collection and deciding what things I was willing to part with. Of course, most of the money I made I plowed right back into buying more albums and CDs, so in reality I was just trading things out for things I wanted more. 

These days it’s all about Amazon.com and eBay. I’ve sold a lot of CDs over the past few years at Amazon. I’m at the point now where I’ve finally accepted that there’s just no way I’m ever going to be able to listen to all this stuff, there’s just too much and my years of listening are now noticeably more numbered. But, I still spend a lot of the money I make buying new stuff, so I’m still often just replacing one CD with something else that I want more. That’s OK. I listen to as much as I can.

Occasionally I’ll pull a CD from my rack and think, “OK, this can go. I’ve had this CD for 15 years and I’ve never listened to it.” So, I’ll look it up on Amazon and see what used copies are going for. Occasionally, if it’s an artist or album that I’m not familiar with at all, I’ll read some of the reviews that the fans write at Amazon. That’s how I came to discover Terence Boylan. I have a CD simply titled Terence Boylan. It’s on a label I’ve never heard of Spinnaker Records (probably his own custom label). I have no idea where it came from or how long I’ve had it. I pulled it out and decided I’d put it up for sale on Amazon. Then I read a few reviews and had second thoughts. This seems like an album I might really like. Maybe I should give it a quick listen before I sell it. Now this doesn’t happen too often, but Terence Boylan has suddenly become one of my new favorite artists and I’m really getting into this CD.

It turns out that Boylan released two albums on Asylum back in the late seventies (probably what made me pick this up originally). This self-titled CD, released in 1999, is a compilation that contains eight songs from his first album (Terence Boylan), four songs from his second (Suzy, 1980) and three previously unreleased songs most likely recorded sometime in the nineties. The album opens with a piano intro (on the song “Hey Papa”) that sounds like it came right off a Steely Dan album. Then Boylan’s voice kicks in, smooth, sweet and silvery. Background vocals and a saxophone solo and you know right away you’re in Southern California seventies territory. While I usually hate to make comparisons to other artists the best way to describe this music is a blend of Steely Dan and Jackson Browne. Throw in a little Joni Mitchell and J.D. Souther and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect. It’s got the smooth, funky, jazz-rock of the best of Steely Dan while Boylan’s songs and voice inhabit the same territory that Jackson’s one of the masters of. And yet, with all that said, he’s got a style all his own, very unique and very special. He ain’t no knockoff of anyone else. And to top it all of he’s a damn fine songwriter.

This is only my third real listen to this album, so I’m still getting to know the songs. But it’s definitely one of those albums that sounds even better to me on each listening. Right now “Dancing Shoes,” “Ice And Snow,” “Hey Papa,” “Tell Me” and especially “Trains” and “Shake It” (Ian Matthews had a hit with this in 1978) are my favorites, but that could easily change as I continue to absorb this stuff. Once I realized how good this was I immediately looked up the two Asylum albums on Amazon, found that Wounded Bird Records had recently reissued both of them and ordered them then and there. They haven’t arrived yet, but I’m looking forward to hearing more from Boylan when they do.

Other Listens on July 31st:
Velvet Gloves And Spit by Neil Diamond

I love box sets. I buy a lot of them. If there’s a box set by any artist I’m interested in, I’ll get it. The truth is I listen to each of them two or three times when I first get them, but after that not so much. Part of the appeal lies in the “extras” that often come with a box set: the rare unreleased tracks, the book or booklet with lots of essays, track information and liner notes, the photos and packaging, etc. But box sets can really run the gamut from flat out fantastic to a complete waste of time. Ideally a box set, if it’s done right, should represent the artist and/or period it covers in such a way that it appeals to someone who’s only marginally familiar with the music and to a true collector. This can be a tricky thing to accomplish. More and more the labels are getting it right, but there’s no guarantee. The worst box set I have is the Steely Dan collection Citizen Steely Dan 1972 – 1980. Not because of the music, the music is great. Because all it really contains is the first seven studio albums in their entirety with one hard to find b-side, one outtake and one demo. The complete lack of rare and/or unreleased material makes this a colossal waste of time, for me at least. I already have all the studio albums. One of my favorite box sets is a 26 CD set from Bob Dylan titled Jewels And Binoculars: The Definitive 1966 Collection. It’s a bootleg, of course, the labels would never indulge in something that extravagant. It collects all of the live recordings (and some studio tracks as well) that exist among collectors from Dylan in 1966.

The Band only made seven studio albums during their career. There is also the stellar live album Rock Of Ages and the farewell concert document The Last Waltz. Their recorded output has been recycled, repackaged, recompiled and rereleased quite a bit over the years. The first CD compilation came in 1989 with To Kingdom Come a two disc set that was marketed at the time as “The Definitive Collection.” For a two disc set it does a pretty good job and even throws in a couple of hard to find tracks. But it was hardly “definitive.” 1994 saw the release of the first box set, Across The Great Divide, a three disc affair. This time around there are two discs of “greatest hits” and one disc of rarities. Very nicely done with a gorgeous booklet containing a great essay by Chet Flippo, nice photos and track information. For those with bootleg tastes the wonderful Crossing The Great Divide (another three disc set released in the nineties) was a treasure trove of rare and unreleased material. In 2000 and 2001 Capital rereleased all of the groups albums once again, this time with tons of bonus tracks, great packaging and detailed liner notes. These really were the “definitive” editions. So, I for one, was not expecting to see this box set arrive in 2005. Did we really need another collection? Well, as it turns out, the answer is a definitive yes. A Music History is one of the most spectacular box sets ever released. Everything about it is simply stunning. Housed in a large 9″ by 10″ hardback book, it’s the perfect tribute to one of the best, most unique bands America has ever produced. Over five CDs and one DVD the producers of this compilations have pulled out all the stops.

True to the title the set is a virtual musical biography of the group. The first disc begins with four tracks recorded with Ronnie Hawkins (when they were known as Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks) recorded in 1961 and 1963. There are eight rare tracks (three of them previously unreleased) recorded under the name Levon & The Hawks in 1964 and 1965. There are tracks from the famous Dylan tour of 1966, Basement Tape tracks and early demos recorded before their first album. A fair amount of this material has never been released before and did not circulate among collectors (at least not the collectors I know). It might be of only passing interest to the casual fan, but for the collectors it’s a gold mine. Discs two and three cover the prime years for The Band, 1968 through 1971, which saw the release of Music From Big Pink, The Band and Stage Fright, one of the greatest three album runs by any group ever. One of the things that made The Band so special from the beginning was the fact that they had been playing together for almost ten years before they recorded their first album. Night after night with Ronnie Hawkins, as Levon & The Hawks and with Dylan. I don’t think any other band has ever been so well “rehearsed” for their debut album. Even after packing all the reissued catalog discs with an abundance of bonus tracks enough rare and unreleased material was still found to fill out these discs quite nicely with numerous treats. In fact, of the 102 total tracks on the box set, 32 are previously unreleased. Disc four covers Cahoots (a bit of letdown at the time after their first three albums) and Rock Of Ages. There’s only three unreleased tracks here, one of which is an outtake from the Academy Of Music shows that made up Rock Of Ages. I have a great two CD bootleg titled Academy Of Outtakes that contains a wealth of material from these shows, so it’s a little disappointing they didn’t include a bit more of those tracks here. By the time we get to most of the music on disc five The Band was beginning to come apart. There are a couple of tracks from their triumphant 1974 tour with Dylan (documented officially on Before The Flood), three tracks from their covers album Moondog Matinee and one track from Dylan’s album Planet Waves on which they served as the backing band. There are only three tracks each from their last two albums, Northern Lights – Southern Cross and Islands. I would have liked to have seen Northern Lights – Southern Cross a little better represented here, but that’s a minor detail. It’s a vastly underrated album that I don’t think has ever really gotten it’s proper respect.

The final disc, a DVD, is a great bonus. It contains nine video tracks, most of which have never been seen before. The first piece “Jam/King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” was filmed in Robbie’s studio in Woodstock in 1970 and it’s a real pleasure to watch. There are a couple of tracks from the Festival Express Tour of Canada in 1970 which have now been released on another DVD. There are two tracks from Wembley Stadium in London in 1974 (a bit disappointing) and the last three tracks were recorded in 1976 for Saturday Night Live. Video of The Band is hard to come by, so the disc is a most welcome addition to the box set.

The Band is one of my favorite all time bands. This box set is a near perfect collection of their work from the very beginning to the very end. It’s great for collectors like me that already have everything else they’ve released and it’s great for someone who doesn’t have anything and wants a good compilation of their work. Any true fan could quibble with the song selection on a set like this, but, truth be told, this box set contains the very best of The Band. The 111 page hardbound book is the icing on the cake. Incredible photos. Detailed liner notes. Wonderful essays. You really couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s probably the best box set I’ve ever seen. Kudos to producers Cheryl Pawelski and Andrew Sandoval for doing such a fantastic job and for giving this great band the homage they so richly deserve.

I listened to a lot of music even back in high school. It was mostly 8-track tapes for me in those days. I had a home player, and when I was finally old enough to drive I had a player in my car. When I’d get in trouble at home the favorite punishment of my Mom and Dad was to take away my 8-track player. They’d lock it in the trunk of the car so I had no chance at getting to it. I guess it was clear how much I loved my music, even back then. I also had a little portable player that I could carry around (a boom box if you will, way before boom boxes became popular). I remember taking it to school a few times and getting in a lot of trouble. But even though I tried to keep up with popular music, there was, of course, just way too much to really do so. Especially when my finances were pretty limited. A lot of bands slipped through the cracks. With some I might have been able to get one album, but it didn’t go much further than that. And with many more I only knew of them from the radio and was maybe familiar with a hit or two here and there. As I get older, and as more and more albums have been remastered and reissued on CD, I’ve been making a concerted effort to go back and fill in the missing pieces for a lot of these bands: The Jefferson Airplane, The Guess Who, Sly & The Family Stone, The Steve Miller Band, The Grateful Dead, Santana and Led Zeppelin are some good examples. I remember I had an 8-track at one time of Thirds by James Gang. All I remember of the album was the hit “Walk Away.” I was familiar with at least one other of their hits, “Funk 49.” But that was about all I knew of James Gang for the next thirty plus years. I’d never bought any of their albums on CD. Until recently.

A couple of years ago I read something about the first James Gang album, Yer’ Album. Now, let me say at the start that I’ve never been much of Joe Walsh fan to begin with. I didn’t really connect to his seventies solo stuff, and I’m still not sure if it was really a good idea to bring him into the Eagles. (Side note: I saw Emmylou Harris and The Hot Band open a show for Joe Walsh in 1975 at a concert hall at UCLA in Los Angeles. What a disaster that was.) But, hey, I thought I’d give this early album a try so I picked it up and listened to it a few times. There was some good stuff on the album, but even with repeated listenings it didn’t move me a lot. The band was clearly young and still finding their way. The playing was good, but the songs were lacking. Still, there was undeniably something there, a “promise” of things to come as they say. So next I picked up their Greatest Hits album. I figured if nothing really did it for me on this album then I’d just move on to other things. I found enough on the Greatest Hits album that I liked that I decided to buy their second album, Rides Again.

A giant step forward from the first release. Now, this is a rock album I can sink my teeth into. Walsh’s guitar playing is excellent throughout, from the very first notes of “Funk #49″ to the final acoustic picking on “Ashes The Rain And I.” The entire band sounds much more assured, much more confident. The time spent on the road promoting the first album certainly paid off here. And I dare say that Bill Szymczyk’s production has grown by leaps and bounds from the first album as well. But the real difference between this album and their first is the quality of the songwriting. On that front things have improved dramatically. Two of their biggest hits (and finest songs) are here: “Funk 49″ with it’s infectious riff and “The Bomber” a medley of “Closet Queen,” “Bolero” and “Cast Your Fate To The Wind.” But the rest of the songs are almost equally as strong. I particularly like “Tend My Garden” which features a delicious hook that’s not even part of the main melody of the song. I love stuff like that. “There I Go Again” is a great little pop/rock song, as is “Thanks.” The band is also quite capable of displaying a softer, acoustic side on songs like “Ashes The Rain And I” (which features a 24 piece string section directed by Jack Nitzsche) and “Garden Gate.” All in all, there’s not a weak song on the album. 

So I guess it’s on to Thirds next. If I see it on sale at Amazon I’ll pick it up. In the mean time I did get a copy of their live album, Live In Concert, as it was only $6.25 at Amazon, so I guess that one will actually be next in line. I just love the fact that all the CD reissue campaigns of the last twenty years give me another chance to go back and pick up on a lot of great music I missed the first time around. I really ever owned one Jefferson Airplane album, Surrealistic Pillow, but I’ve now gone back and added their entire early output to my collection. Same thing with The Grateful Dead, all I had before was American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, but I’ve bit by bit been buying all their other early albums and listening to them for the first time. And then there’s Led Zeppelin who I never really even liked very much back in their heyday and now can’t seem to get enough of. It’s almost like going back in time and doing it all over again. And I like to think I’m older and wiser enough now, better able to appreciate a lot of stuff that passed me by when I was young and inexperienced.

Other Listens on July 26th:

Sammy Walker by Sammy Walker (thanks Pascal!)
Hotcakes by Carly Simon
Live From The Bowery Ballrom by Kathleen Edwards
Maximum ‘65 by Various Artists
Crosswords by Larry Hosford
The Outsider by Tom Pacheco
At My Age and Jesus Of Cool Bonus Tracks by Nick Lowe

My musical landscape is littered with fallen artists. For every Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Murphy and Neil Young still soldiering on after thirty or forty years there are probably dozens of artists who released anywhere from one to five or more albums and then fell by the wayside. I remember reading back in the nineties that something like over 30,000 new albums were released each year. New albums. That’s an astonishing number when you stop to think about it. I don’t know if it’s more or less these days, but I suspect it’s probably even more. Even though record labels might be releasing fewer albums, the DIY, record, burn and sell your own CD process has probably fueled the marketplace with even more releases. Places like CDBaby, The Orchard, The Connextion and others are selling thousands (sometimes it seems likes millions) of CDs by artists most people have never heard of. Notice I said “selling.” I wonder sometimes exactly how many people are “buying” some of these albums. I’m sure there are some artists who do relatively well. After all, though I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about music, there are certainly a lot of artists I’m not familiar with who have a good following. But I’m equally certain there are plenty of artists with CDs for sale on these sites who don’t sell more than a dozen or two CDs a year, if that many.

I realized a long, long time ago, at a quite early age, that being good, hell even being great, was no guarantee that an artist would get anywhere in the music business. It was very disillusioning to my young, romantic view of the arts and the world. I’d hear so many great albums from so many artists and wonder why in the hell is this person not more popular than they are? I saw so many artists, truly impressive, significant, inspiring artists come and go leaving only their music behind. Randy Burns was one of those artists. I don’t remember how I first heard Burns. I’m pretty sure it was through his 1971 album simply entitled Randy Burns And The Sky Dog Band on Mercury. I bought it as a cut-out for 49¢ at one of the Wherehouse Records stores in Los Angeles in 1974. I probably bought it simply because David Bromberg played on two songs, I liked the cover and it was cheap. I was hooked from the very first listen. Burns has one of those voices that just sinks straight into my soul. On top of that he wrote some really great songs and his folk/country/singer-songwriter style was right up my alley.

It turned out that Burns had recorded three albums before Randy Burns And The Sky Dog Band. All were released on the eccentric ESP-Disk label in the mid to late sixties. I managed to track them all down, and while they each contained some good material I think Burns really found his voice on the Mercury album. He released two more albums, I’m A Lover Not A Fool (Polydor, 1972) and Still On Our Feet (Polydor, 1973) and was never heard from again. At least not by me. At least not for a long time. None of his material has ever been released on CD (at least that I am aware of). He’s one of those great, lost artists I wish everyone could hear and appreciate as much as I do. Sadly, not many probably ever will.

The Cat’s Pajamas was released only as a cassette back in 1991 almost twenty years after Still On Our Feet. I have no idea what Burns was up to in the meantime. A bio on allmusic.com says he continued to play music, mostly coffee houses and folk festivals, throughout the seventies and eighties. My understanding at the time this was released was that The Cat’s Pajamas was financed and released by a fan who simply wanted to see a new Randy Burns album available. I can’t remember now how I even heard it existed, but somehow I mailed off for a copy. It’s never been released on CD. I recently got around to finally transferring it from cassette to CDR.

It’s an awfully lot like seeing an old friend again when an artist you are fond of puts out a new album after a twenty year absence. But, just like attending a high school reunion, the experience can be disheartening as often as it is joyful. There’s nothing I hate more than getting a new album by one of my favorite artists who I haven’t heard from in a long time, really, really wanting to like it, to love it, to be blown away by it, only to be let down when the songs and music don’t even come close to the earlier work. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. While The Cat’s Pajama’s is not my favorite album by Burns it’s a very strong release and I would highly recommend it to anyone familiar with his earlier work (and everyone else as well).

The album is a completely acoustic affair with Burns on acoustic guitar and vocals and his old band mate from The Sky Dog Band Matt Kastner on second acoustic guitar, steel guitar, bass and vocals. Phil Rosenthal is along for mandolin on two songs. It’s what we used to call a “folk” album in the old days, but in the nineties it would have been referred to as “unplugged.” The set opens with “Jesus/Marriage Song,” two Burns originals meshed together into one performance. It’s classic Randy Burns, a plaintive melody, insightful lyrics and a moving vocal performance. Of the thirteen songs on this disc Burns only wrote three and sure enough, they are three of my favorite songs on the album. “Liela” and “The Farm Song” are both excellent examples of Burns’ songwriting skills, and I only wish he had of included a few more originals in this set.

There are three “Irish” flavored songs: “Dirty Old Town,” a beautiful reworking of an old Ewan MacColl song, “Patty Reilly” and ”Go To Sea Once More” a sea shantie done a capella. There are two Dylan covers: “One Too Many Mornings” and “Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues.” Now Dylan gets covered so often, and by so many people, that I tend to dismiss many attempts offhand. This is different. Burns has an extremely expressive voice that suits these two Dylan songs perfectly. “One Too Many Mornings” is not an especially well known Dylan song and I think that allows for an easier interpretation and Burns does a fine job with it here. “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” is a little tougher to pull off, as it’s such a classic. But again, Burns rises to the challenge, taking the number a bit slower than Dylan. The acoustic guitars provide a perfect background as Burns winds his way through the verses providing just the right amount of drama and style to breathe new life into the lyrics most of us know so well. A nice version of the Tom Paxton classic “The Last Thing On My Mind,” a Donovan cover and a Tom Pacheco song, “The Last Waltz” (which to the best of my knowledge Tom has never recorded himself), round things out. The albums ends with a great reading of “Farewell My Friend” an old Bruce Murdoch song.

I’ve heard recently that a new label, WildCat Recordings, is going to reissue Burns’ first three albums as a two disc set. They also have plans to issue a live recording with The Sky Dog Band from 1970 and a “new” album titled Only Fools Never Try (that looks from their description an awfully lot like The Cat’s Pajamas). I’ve been disappointed numerous times by new, start up labels that have planned to release things that never end up materializing. I sure hope WildCat is able to carry through with their plans and get these Randy Burns discs out soon. There may not be a lot of people waiting for them, but for those of us who are, they can’t come quick enough.

Other Listens on July 25th:
Nevada Fighter by Michael Nesmith
Rides Again by James Gang
The Other Side by Chris Hillman

I’m not much of a “jam band” fan. I’m not real big on instrumentals, especially overly protracted ones. I usually come first for the lyrics, though the melody certainly plays a huge part in the overall equation of a song. I don’t care much for long, drawn out “noodling.” I don’t mind an extended version of a song if the framework can support it. I like purpose. I like drive. I like structure. Keep me on my toes, keep me interested and I’m right there with you the entire way. But when a band starts to wonder off into lala land I get bored. That’s my biggest problem with the Grateful Dead. I have a something close to a on/off relationship with them. I’m absolutely crazy about their more “structured” material (which is usually the shorter stuff). But when they head for the hills and start meandering around in self-indulgent, seemingly endless circles I just can’t go along for the ride. I get bored. On the other hand, an album like Derek And The Dominos In Concert (later expanded as Live At The Fillmore) is an absolute treat for me. Sure, there are lots of long, extended jams but there’s structure (have I mentioned that word before?). It makes a world of difference to me. The groundbreaking At Fillmore East double album by The Allman Brothers Band (expanded not once but twice: The Fillmore Concerts in 1992 and a Deluxe Edition in 2007) is another example of a “jam” record that I can get behind. The Allmans may go on for extended periods of time but they always seem to be headed somewhere and that’s all I need.

Eat A Peach, released in 1972, was the band’s fourth album (and second double album). The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild South didn’t sell all that well, but each was very well received by the critics, each contained classic songs that would become staples of their live sets over the years and they set the stage for At Fillmore East. By the time the band hit New York for a series of shows in March 1971 they had attracted a strong cult following, due in no small part, to the incredible live shows they had been performing for the last several years. A tight, cohesive band of “brothers” the group played with a rapport and harmony that only true brothers can.

The original double vinyl album version of Eat A Peach was divided into three sections. Side one contained three new studio tracks recorded after Duane’s death. Sides two and four contained the epic live “Mountain Jam” recorded at Fillmore East during the same run of shows that gave us At Fillmore East. Side three contained a mix: one song from the March 1971 run at Fillmore East, one song from a June 1971 show at the same location and three more new studio tracks (all recorded with Duane). Anyone young and not familiar with vinyl double albums from the sixties and seventies may wonder why “Mountain Jam” was split between sides two and four, not sides two and three as one might expect. In those days many record players (but mostly the less expensive ones) would include a mechanism that would allow you to “stack” several albums on a spindle above the turntable. When one album finished the arm would move back to the outside and the next album would automatically drop down onto the turntable and begin playing. By paring sides one and three of a double album on one disc and sides two and four on another disc you could allow for this type of process letting one listen straight through two sides consecutively. Otherwise the listener would have to flip each album over after each side finished playing.

The band was midway through the recording of Eat A Peach when Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident, just two weeks after At Fillmore East was certified Gold. It became their first album to reach the Top Ten. It’s a powerful document, one that serves as a tribute to Duane as well as a remarkably bold and fearless statement by the remaining members that were carrying on with courage and determination in the face of almost unimaginable tragedy. Duane is present on all but three of the songs on the album. The fact that the three new studio tracks recorded after his death make up the entirety of side one is no accident. It’s an acknowledgement by the band that life must go on.

The album gets right to the point with one of Greg Allman’s finest songs, “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” a powerful blues/rock number reflecting on the death of his brother Duane, the fragile, fleeting nature of life and his determination to make every day count from now on. “Les Bres In A Minor” is a quintessential vehicle for Dickey Betts to lead the band through the kind of guitar based workout they were famous for. “Melissa” is another Gregg Allman classic, a beautiful, acoustic based love song, punctuated perfectly by Betts’ understated lead guitar. “Mountain Jam” is a nearly 34 minute workout that showcases everything audiences loved about seeing this band live: the dueling guitars of Duane and Dickey, the extraordinary rhythm section of Berry Oakley on bass and Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson on drums. Through it all Gregg’s organ weaves everything together and provides the foundation for everyone else to fly off from. I’ll admit, there are a few places in this extended piece that I think could have been tightened up, but it is what it is and overall it’s an incredible example of the band in their prime. “One Way Out” and “Trouble No More” are classic live blues romps done as only the Allman’s could. Betts’ “Blue Sky”, one of the biggest hits from the album is one of his best, most well-known songs, a country hymn to everything that’s right in life and love. The albums ends with just Duane and Dickey on acoustic guitar performing a Duane composition titled “Little Martha.” It’s the perfect end, in every way, to this transitional album. Their next album, Brothers And Sisters, would mark the beginning of a new era in the band’s long and tangled history. Chuck Leavell was added on piano and Lamar Williams took over on bass. There was no effort made to replace Duane with a second guitarist. No one could have stepped into those shoes.

The Deluxe Edition of Eat A Peach includes, as a second disc, the complete final Fillmore East concert the band ever performed on June 27, 1971. Only two of the nine tracks had been previously released, “One Way Out” (from the original Eat A Peach) and “Midnight Rider” (from Duane Allman: An Anthology, Volume 2). It’s a welcome addition to the increasingly large catalog of live Allman Brothers Band material from the classic years. The band is in top form as they blaze through some of their best known, best loved songs: “Statesboro Blues,” “One Way Out,” “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed,” “Midnight Rider,” “Hot ‘Lanta,” “Whipping Post” and more.

Losing a key member like Duane Allman would have crippled many bands but the The Allman Brothers Band persevered. They went on to face more tragedy (the death only a year later of bassist Berry Oakley), upheavals galore, tabloid soap operas, bad business dealings, infighting and backstabbing and considerable personnel changes. Through it all they managed to make some of the best music of the last forty years, though their output in the late seventies and early eighties suffered by comparison to their prime work from years earlier. They took an extended break during most of the eighties, but since they regrouped in the nineties they’ve been back on track (mostly). However, the firing of Betts in 2000 (for “personal and professional” reasons) marked the real end of the band for many. Greg carries on with Butch and Jai (and a semi-rotating cast of others) but it’s just not The Allman Brothers Band anymore. At some point you have to let go and move on to other things.

I lived in Texas from 1976 to 1996, except for a brief two year period from 1980 to 1982 when I was in California and Oregon. As most anyone knows Texas is a land and a culture all to its own. The same goes for the music scene. There are literally hundreds of artists and bands who, for the most part, only play the Texas “circuit.” And I’m not just talking about “county” music either. There are plenty of rock, folk, singer-songwriter, jazz, blues, even soul and rap artists who have a significant following in Texas but can’t make much of a splash anywhere else. Some of these artists accept this reality and make a damn good living just working the Texas market (with maybe a jaunt now and then into Louisiana, Oklahoma or a few other neighboring states). There a plenty of clubs, dance halls and bars to support a very thriving music scene. Some of eeked out a niche in clubs and coffeehouses in other parts of the country that support their kind of music, but it is a patchwork network at best. Of course, there are always going to be artists who are not satisfied with a “local” following and want to make it big on the national scene. Many of them spend years slogging all over the country with nothing much to show for it. Occasionally one of them breaks through. But considering the amount of talent in Texas and the popularity some of these artists attain there, it is truly remarkable that more of them don’t manage to create more of a national following. I’ve never understood it. 

Most people only know the Dixie Chicks through their “second” incarnation. They “burst” on the mainstream country scene in 1998 with the phenomenally successful album Wide Open Spaces. With two number one singles, another Top 10 single and quadruple platinum sales the Dixie Chicks were suddenly superstars, overnight it seemed. The truth of the matter is the band had been kicking around the Texas circuit for almost ten years. Their first album, as a four piece band, a very “classic cowgirl” collection entitled Thank Heavens For Dale Evans, was released in 1990. It was followed in 1992 by Little Ol’ Cowgirl. Everything about the band, including their clothes, songs and instrumentation promoted a very traditional approach to country music. But this was the early nineties. Country music was undergoing a huge transformation in Nashville with emerging superstars like Garth Brooks blurring the lines between country, rock and pop. The Chicks had a small, loyal following, but any hopes of hitting the big time seemed awfully distant. They lost one member, released a third album in 1993, lost another member and then didn’t release anything new for almost five years. But when they finally did everything had changed and everything changed. Wide Open Spaces saw the addition of Natalie Maines, major label backing, a complete image makeover, new management and new producers. In short it was a brave new world and everything just fell into place. Everything before Wide Open Spaces was shunned,forgotten, disowned. The three early records are not in print (haven’t been for a very long time) and fetch inflated prices at places like eBay and Amazon.com. As far as the band (and most fans) are concerned Wide Open Spaces was their debut album.

Now I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t pay much attention to the Dixie Chicks, even when they broke big. The songs I would occasionally hear on the radio didn’t generate enough interest for me to buy a CD. I became a fan when they became embroiled in the 2003 controversy over Maines’ remark that they were ashamed President Bush was from Texas. Damn right. They may have lost a lot of mainstream country fans during the ensuing firestorm but I’m sure they gained some fans like me as well. I picked up a copy of their current album at the time, Home, and played it some. But I was much more interested in the the 2006 release of Taking The Long Way as this was the first album to actually be written and recorded since the “incident.”

Produced by Rick Rubin, this is not a country album, it’s a pop album. Ok, sure there are fiddles and banjos, but for the most part they are mixed way down or featured in a distinctly non-country setting. This is pop music  through and through. And it’s very clear that’s the way they want it received. Just look at the cover, there ain’t a damn thing country about it: long sleek coats, high heeled shoes, dark heavy eye makeup, stark lighting. Hell this could be a Paris fashion shoot. Ringing acoustic guitars, driving drum beats and gorgeous harmonies provide the basic backdrop for most of the songs. The really good news is that this may be the best record they’ve ever made. “Not Ready To Make Nice” is certainly my favorite song they’ve ever recorded. It’s the centerpiece of the album, an angry, passionate, soaring rebuttal to everything they had to put up with in the preceding couple of years that cuts right to the heart of the matter. Songwriting on the album is a cooperative effort. All three women are credited as songwriters on all but one of the songs. Each song also features an outside hand, usually Dan Wilson or Gary Louris, though Sheryl Crow, Mike Campbell and Neil Finn also share a credit each on a song. While this kind of “group” songwriting can sometimes result in a watered-down, lackluster outcome it seems to work for the Chicks. The album is full of great songs, all fleshed out to near perfection by Rubin and the rather long list of musicians who are on board. Favorites of mine include “Everybody Knows,” the downright rockin’ “Lubbock Or Leave It,” “Voice Inside My Head” and the infectious, borderline funky “I Like It.” The album closes with the beautiful, inspiring “I Hope” that manages to cover a lot of well travelled ground without ever resorting to cliches and worn out dialogue. Keb’ Mo’ is credited as a songwriter on this and his influence is front and center. It’s unlike anything the Chicks have done before and a great way to close things out.

The Dixie Chicks had to put up with an enormous amount of shit for several years, but in the end they got their payback. Taking The Long Way may not have sold as many copies as their earlier albums but it won five Grammy’s in 2007, including the big kahuna, Album Of The Year. Revenge is sweet.

Other Listens on July 18th:
Ultimate Collection by Jerry Jeff Walker
Russians & Americans by Al Stewart
Live At Emmajoes 10/16/82 (bootleg) by Tom Pacheco

One of the most influential albums from my teen years was the original Woodstock album. A three record set it was something that me and my friends played over and over and over again. I can’t begin to count the number of levels it impacted me on: musical, lyrical, political, sociological, just everything. I was thirteen years old when Woodstock was held, fourteen when the album was originally released: in many ways an open vessel just waiting to be filled with new music, new ideas and new influences. I was first exposed to so many artists and bands through Woodstock: Canned Heat, Richie Havens, Country Joe And The Fish, Joe Cocker, Ten Years After, Sly & The Family Stone and especially Santana. Their performance of “Soul Sacrifice” is considered by almost everyone to be one of the highlights of the album. While I’m the first to admit that I’ve never been that “adventurous” when it comes to music (I tend to stick to pop, rock, folk, singer-songwriter and country) there are a few places where I’ve found things I like outside of what I might consider my “normal” parameters. I love Bob Marley and the Wailers, and though I doubt I have a single other reggae album in my collection, I have almost of of Marley’s, several in the deluxe “Legacy” edition. I’m completely mesmerized by the My Fair Lady soundtrack, though it’s the only “Broadway” album I’ve ever listened to. Santana is another perfect example. Their “latin-tinged” rock not the kind of thing I would normally be drawn to. I don’t listen to any other music even remotely like it. And on top of that a lot of the songs are instrumentals. I’ve always, since the very beginning, been drawn to words, to lyrics. I don’t listen to much instrumental music at all. But there is something about their first three albums that truly captivates and fascinates me. But, even with Santana, that’s about as far as I go, the first three albums by the original Woodstock-era line-up. I lose interest in Santana’s work after that, as the original band gradually changed and Carlos took the music in a more jazz oriented direction. And I didn’t care at all for Supernatural, his big “come back” album from 1999, which, amazingly enough, turned out to be the biggest Santana album ever, released thirty years after their debut.

Santana, the band’s debut, was released in August 1969, the same month that the Woodstock festival took place. Their performance at Woodstock and the inclusion of “Soul Sacrifice” on the soundtrack album had an enormous impact on sales for this album. It stayed on the charts for over two years, peaking at number four. It contained not only the studio version of “Soul Sacrifice” but their first big hit, “Evil Ways” which was a Top 10 single. I didn’t listen to Santana a whole lot during the actual time period when this music was released. I had two of those first three albums and of course I heard the hits constantly on the radio (“Black Magic Woman,” “Oye Como Va,” “Everybody’s Everything” and “No One To Depend On”). I hadn’t purchased anything on CD when, in 1998, Sony/Legacy reissued the first three albums with bonus tracks and so I scooped them all up immediately. What a treat it was to rediscover these three albums and spend some time really listening to them.

Santana is a tour-de-force from start to finish. From the very beginning you know right away you’re in for something special. Composed of seven members, the original line up consisted of black, Latino and white musicians. The unique sound they developed was unlike anything that came before or after. Centered around Carlos Santana’s stinging guitar, Gregg Rolie’s swirling organ and three, count ‘em three, percussionists (two on congas and various other instruments and one on drums) the band coalesced together into an amazingly tight musical unit. The album begins with “Waiting” a classic Santana track that could have easily been another hit for the band. The congas kick in first, then the drums, then another set of congas, then the organ and finally the guitar. It’s the quintessential Santana sound.  Some bands take several albums to find their footing but these guys were red hot from the get go playing together with a cohesion and accord that some bands never find.

Songwriting was mostly a group affair as five of the nine songs on the album are credited to four or more of the band members. Only “Jingo” and “Evil Ways” were written by outside sources. There’s no filler on this album. Each and every one of the tracks is something special. In addition to “Waiting,” “Soul Sacrifice” and “Evil Ways” my other favorites are “Savor,” “Jingo” and “Persuasion.”

As bonus tracks this 1998 reissue features three of the seven songs that Santana played at Woodstock: “Soul Sacrifice,” “Savor” and “Fried Neckbones” the latter two performances having never been officially released before (“Fried Neckbones” has never been released in any other form that I know of). One listen and it’s readily apparent why the crowds at Woodstock were so blown away by these guys. When the drum solo ends on “Soul Sacrifice” and the entire band kicks back in it’s pure magic. Six years later Sony/Legacy would go on to rerelease this album yet again as a two disc “Legacy Edition” this time including the entire seven song Woodstock performance and a bunch of outtakes and alternate versions. I haven’t upgraded to that version yet, but it’s on my list.

Other Listens on July 17th:
Wrap Around Joy by Carole King