Happy New Year!

Yeah, ok. Here's what happens.

I have a few lists of "The Best of 2018", and I play them. It doesn't stop the fact that 2019 is really really gonna suck. So enjoy '18 while you still can.

Spirit In The Dark

Since this is my last post for 2018, I'm going to use it to pay tribute to Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul.  Released in 1970, 'Spirit In The Dark' is her seventeenth studio album, as well as my favorite album by Sister Re. 

What You Haven't Heard

Pick a tune. Any tune,

Now see what's in the "recommened" list, and hit one. Go from there.

Let's see what we come up with.

Now, before we begin, I have to mention that today is the third anniversary of the death of  Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. He got the diagnosis (cancer) two days after turning 70, and died two days later.

One of the deeper songs written by Lemmy, this is about all the people he has known who died of drug overdoses:

Boogie Chillun

This album was recorded live in San Francisco in November of 1962, during a time when John Lee Hooker was playing in coffeehouses and billing his shows as "real folk blues".

There is no band... just Mr. Hooker and his electric guitar. 

Bah Humbug!

Once upon a time, Columbia Records asked Miles Davis to record a Christmas song for a compilation album called 'Jingle Bell Jazz'.  So Mr. Davis decided to get his Scrooge on, teaming up with Bob Dorough, who provided the vocals and the lyrics.  Mr. Dorough was something of a nerdy, aw-shucks performer... he's best known for singing and writing some of the songs from 'Schoolhouse Rock'... but Miles brought out his darker angels.  The result was 'Blue Xmas (For Whom It May Concern)'.

No.  Not 'Blue Christmas'.

'Blue Xmas'.

Not exactly what Columbia was looking for, with its disdain for the crass consumerism that is Chrismas in America, but to their credit, they did include it on the album.  Even used it as the closing song.

It's my kind of Christmas song.

Ho Ho Ho...  And folderol.

Lucky Us

Tonight's the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. But this year, the solstice will be an extra rare one, due to a couple of other cosmic events.

First off, this year's solstice coincides with a full moon, an event that Native Americans called The Long Night.

On top of that, the Ursid meteor shower will be visible tonight, with the best chance to spot a meteor coming just before dawn tomorrow.

It's almost as if the universe is celebrating the anniversary of the forming of Jethro Tull, named after the 18th-century inventer of the seed drill.

Or not. Probably just another coincidence.

Strange Days

There's a story about the song, 'Strange Days'.  According to John Densmore, it was written in response to a decision made by himself, Rob Krieger and Ray Manzarek to sell 'Light My Fire' to Buick so the song could be used in a TV ad.  When Jim Morrison found out, he threw a hissy fit... even threatened to burn a Buick on stage if the company didn't back out of the deal.

Buick backed out of the deal.

Morrison was also puzzled by how his bandmates could sell out so shamelessly.  He began pushing the idea that they all move to an island and start over again; that they try to go back to the "Rock 'n Roll garage", so to speak.    

As albums go, I was always partial to 'Strange Days' because it has the feel of the "garage".  Of course, it's hard to pick a favorite Doors album because they're all so damn good.

Kismet

In December of 1969, King Crimson and The Nice opened up for the Chamber Brothers at Fillmore West in San Francisco.  During a sound check, the bassist for King Crimson and the keyboardist for The Nice started an impromptu jam session, and, as the keyboardist said, "Zap!  It was there!"

They agreed to get together, maybe even start a new band, once they were back in England. 

Keith Emerson was the man on the keyboards. 

The bass player was Greg Lake.

They would go on to recruit Carl Palmer, the drummer from Atomic Rooster.

Seems like some things are just meant to be. 

Rumor Has It.

Top spot on the Hot 100 today in 1968:

OK, animals. Impress me.

Another Music In A Different Kitchen

Thought I'd play the Buzzcocks since we lost Pete Shelley last week.  Released in 1978, 'Another Music In A Different Kitchen' was their debut album. 

A Three-Fer

 

(Also known as not being able to decide who to feature...)

                                                                     

Neil Innes turns 73 today.  For those who don't recognize the name, Innes was one of the zany geniuses behind The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.  Later, Innes and Eric Idle would form The Rutles, a band that made a career out of parodying The Beatles.

















The Bonzos were also the only band besides The Beatles that was featured in the BBC TV film, 'Magical Mystery Tour', performing "Death Cab For Cutie" in the strip club scene.

Which brings me to the second part of this three-fer.

Yesterday was the anniversary of John Lennon's murder by a madman.  Hard to believe he's been gone for 48 years now.

Always was partial to this song by Mr. Lennon.

There's also this gem with Lennon and Zappa.  Yeah... and Ono too.

And that brings me to the third part.

December 4th was the day when Frank Zappa left this mortal coil.  He's been gone for twenty-five years.  Don't know if Zappa and The Mothers ever met up with the Bonzos back then, but they sure were kindred spirits. 

Zappa and The Mothers recorded this song in 1966.  It could have been written about life in the USA today.

Empty

Supertramp

 

 

Rick Davies - Vocals, keyboards

Roger Hodgson - Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards 1970-1983

Dougie Thomson - Bass 1972-1988

John Helliwell - Horns

Bob Siebenberg - Drums

Mark Hart - Vocals, guitar, keyboards 1985-2002

Carl Verheyen - Guitar 1996-

Lee Thornburg - Horns 1996-

Cliff Hugo - Bass 1996-

Jesse Siebenberg - Percussion, keyboards 1996-

The group formed in London when Rick Davies broke up his band The Joint and placed an ad in a UK music paper looking for musicians to form a band. The group was financed by a Dutch millionaire named Sam Miesegaes, who put up the money after seeing Davies play in The Joint. Singing with A&M Records, they released their first (self-titled) album in 1970, and also played the Isle Of Wight Festival that year. Miesegaes pulled his financing in 1972, and the band settled on a new lineup, with just Davies and Roger Hodgson remaining as original members. Their third album, Crime of the Century, was a breakthrough, making #4 in the UK on the strength of hits "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right."

Davies and Hodgson did all the songwriting, and even though they wrote most of their songs separately, they agreed to share composer credit on all the songs, just like Lennon/McCartney or Jagger/Richards. Like the Lennon/McCartney arrangement, whoever wrote the song sang lead. Hodgson's song were spiritual and introspective: "Give A Little Bit," "The Logical Song," "Take The Long Way Home." Davies' were more pragmatic: "Goodbye Stranger," "Bloody Well Right," "Crime of the Century."

In 1979, Supertramp became one of the most successful bands in America, thanks to an album (Breakfast in America) that explored the country from the perspective of an Englishman. The band moved to California in the mid-'70s; Hodgson loved it and lived there permanently. Davies was less enthusiastic about California ("I don't think that's a place where anybody wants to settle down, not even Americans," he said), and moved to Long Island. Moving to America allowed them to keep a lot more of their income, as they would have been heavily taxed in England.

The band was originally called Daddy, but they changed it at the suggestion of their original guitarist Richard Palmer, who got the name from a 1910 book by the Welsh author W.H. Davies called The Autobiography of a Super Tramp.

There was a lot of personal tension between Davies and Hodgson, which came out in the open in a 1979 Melody Maker piece where they were both interviewed. "We've never been able to communicate too much on a verbal level," said Hodgson. "There's a very deep bond, but it's definitely mostly on a musical level."

Hodgson left the band in 1983 and released the solo albums In the Eye of the Storm (1984) and Hai Hai (1987). With two children, he spent much of the '90s focused on being a parent, and in 2010 he started touring again, happy to perform the hits he wrote with Supertramp. "I'm not one of the artists who has to say, Okay, you have to listen to my new stuff now," he said. "I'm in the service industry, and my job is to give people the most in the two hours that I'm with them."

Remarkably, Hodgson has never appeared with Supertramp since he left in 1983. The band has continued on with Davies at the helm (he owns the name), but any attempt to reunite Hodgson, even for a one-off performance, has always failed.

In 2010, Supertramp played Hodgson's songs on their tour, which Roger said violated a verbal agreement he made when he left. Hodgson says that he offered to perform some shows on the tour, but was rebuffed.

 

So without further ado, Ladies and Gents, I give you Supertramp:

Raising Hell

Because it's Sunday and that's all I got...

There Oughtta Be a Law

It's pretty clear that we live in a lawless age. Criminals aren't fighting "the law", just as "crime fighters" aren't fighting crime.You can complain about it or you can celebrate it, but you can't deny it.

Freedom Highway

Rhiannon Giddens is best known as a singer, fiddler and banjo player with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a band that began with the goal of bringing attention to the role that black musicians played in the development of Mountain music, Bluegrass and Blues, old-timey Country and early hot Jazz.

'Freedom Highway' is her second solo album.

It's A Fiddlin' Kind Of Day

Think I'll start things off with some Papa John...

You Got This Shit figgered out? Teach me.

Show me how.

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

The Kinks never got the credit they deserved on this side of the Atlantic, in no small part because they were banned from touring in this country from 1965 to 1969.  Which is too bad, because The Kinks may just be the best band to come out of the Sixties British Invasion.

Yeah, yeah...  I know...  We're all supposed to believe The Beatles were the best band ever, but personally, I find The Kinks' music to be more interesting.  More human, if you will.  More organic.

In 1970, The Kinks returned to the USA with 'Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One', which would definitely make my list of 50 best Rock 'N Roll albums.  Built around a cynical look at the music industry, it was originally meant to be part of a double album but the band never got around to making Part Two.  As Ray Davies said in a 2014 interview, "Lola Versus Powerman… was good versus evil, obviously, and in Volume Two, I sketched out how you become your worst nightmare, how the good man goes so far he becomes the evil person he always fought against. But we had to do another tour, we had the RCA deal, and we had other recording projects that we had to work towards, and it got lost, unfortunately."

But that's okay.  Part One is good enough for me.  Enjoy...

`Blank Generation

Before The Clash and The Sex Pistols there was Richard Hell and The Voidoids, spiking their hair and wearing safety pins as an anti-fashion statement.  Richard and the boys played their first gig on this day in 1976, marking what many believe was the beginning of Punk.

It's What We Do

On this day in 2005, Pink Floyd, The Kinks and Eurythmics are among the honorees inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The second annual show, which takes place in a ceremony at London's Alexandra Palace, features some momentous reunions, including the gathering of the original Kinks and a performance by the classic line-up of Black Sabbath, featuring Ozzy Osbourne.

File under the category of "Little known but interesting facts".

Volunteers

Had a request for Jefferson Airplane's 'Volunteers' a few weeks ago.  Took me awhile to find a copy that had decent sound quality but I perservered.

Enjoy.  It's a good 'un.

Rain and Snow

That's the kind of weather we've been getting around here.  Beats the hell out of drought and wildfires. 

Nothin' new 'bout that!

This post has no direction. (Of course it doesn't.)

Spanker Madness

Asylum Street Spankers started out doing covers of old dope songs mixed in with a few originals.  Since my home state had a ballot proposal to legalize recreational marijuana, I thought it would be appropriate to feature one of my favorite Spanker albums.

Don't know if the ballot proposal passed, but it was leading 56.1 to 43.9 the last time I checked.

Because They Hate Us...

Changing our clocks twice a year is associated with increases in highway fatalities and workplace accidents.  It's also associated with an increase in heart attacks and strokes.  What it doesn't do is reduce energy consumption, which is the reason why it was instituted.    

Congress could do away with Daylight Saving Time.  Sometimes, I wonder if they don't repeal it because they hate us.  Or maybe it's just a power trip.  They keep it because they can and there's nothing we can do about it.  

Think about that while you're changing your clocks.    

It's Happening All Around You

If you aren't aware of the theory of a Fourth Turning, you might want to strap on your google glasses and you'll soon see we're in the middle of one. But don't do it tonight.

Instead, strap on your favorite headphones and crank it up, coz we should party like it's 1929.

Ghost

                                                                                                     
Ghost is a Swedish metal band featuring a singer who called himself Papa Emeritus I, II and III, along with four other musicians known only as The Nameless Ghouls.  It was later revealed that Tobias Forge was Papa in his various incarnations when the original Ghouls sued him over royalties.


The third album by Ghost is good but not great, and the fourth album is kind of lame, but the first and second albums are so damn fantastic that I couldn't decide which one to feature for Halloween.  That's why I'm going to feature both.

Enjoy.  And have a spooky Halloween...

Monster A-Go-Go

The Fuzztones were part of the Garage Band revival of the 80's.  Most music critics wrote them off as just another bar band.

I say screw the critics.  These guys rock.

'Monster A-Go-Go' is their fourth studio album.

                                                         

I Got Enough Problems

Seems the gals are in the spooky mood, so I sure as hell ain't rock the boat. I know who butters my bread.

Killer

Can't think of a better way to start the Countdown to Halloween...

Heard It All Before

There's supposed to be a women's march on the Pentagon today.  The organizers hope to start an anti-war movement that will begin to rein in the Military-Industrial Complex.  Would be nice, but I don't see it happening any time soon.  The march probably won't even get any coverage from what passes as "the news" in this country.

Our overlords are determined to take us all to Hell.

I'm Starting Not to Care

The Gospel According To The MeninBlack

The Stranglers were one of the more interesting bands to come out of the London punk scene in the Seventies, perhaps because they weren't really punk.  Musically, they were more in tuned with psychedelia... Dave Greenfield on the keyboards giving Ray Manzarek a run for the money..., and their lyrics were often poetic, albeit in the same vein as Edgar Allan Poe or William Burroughs.  Their attitude, on the other hand, was more punk than most punks, which may be why so many punks hated them.  The Stranglers were willing to explore any subject, including subjects that earned them a reputation for being "hairy misogynists".

From 1977 to 1981, The Stranglers released five albums that would easily make my list of the 100 best rock albums.  After 1981, there were a few moments of brilliance, but for the most part the later albums were rather boring... insipid would be an appropriate discription..., and after Hugh Cornwell left the band, I lost interest.

'The Gospel According To The MeninBlack' is the fifth album by The Stranglers.

If We Needed Evidence That Politicians Are Evil...

Richard Nixon started the War On Drugs 48 years ago today.  Congress supported this madness.  Nothing like destroying lives and wasting other people's money for dang near half a century.

Can You Believe It?

On this day in 1955, The Chrysler Corporation launched high fidelity record players for their 1956 line-up of cars. The unit measured about four inches high and less than a foot wide and was mounted under the instrument panel. The seven inch discs spun at 16 2/3 rpm and required almost three times the number of grooves per inch as an LP. The players were discontinued in 1961.*

I did not know that. But now I do, and my knowledge of all things in the universe is neartly complete.

Suck on that, Einstein!

* I guess potholes hadn't been invented yet.

Gris-Gris

Louisiana Bayou Blues meets West Coast Psychedelia.  What's not to love?

It's Zombie Time!

The kool kids know what I'm talkin' about...

I Can Share

This is a Happy Birthday shoutout to two greats from completely different ends of the spectrum:

Steve Miller, born today in 1943, and Brian Johnson, born today in 1947.

I think I know who Mrs. 17 will favor, just as I think I know who Fauna will favor.

Me? I prefer Pink Floyd.

The Firstborn Is Dead

There's something about the stark beauty of Nick Cave's second studio album with The Bad Seeds that keeps bringing me back.  It is a paean to the American South of myth and history, and to the horror story that must have been life in that place and time for so many people.

There is no crazy quite like Ol' South crazy.  An Australian by birth, Cave captured that craziness better than most.

For The Birds

Yesterday, it seemed like a thousand starlings had gathered in the trees just north of the barn, chattering and shaking the branches.  Canada geese and Sandhill cranes are also beginning to join up in flocks, a sure sign that winter is on the way.  

The starlings made their presence known while I was cleaning the pen where I will fatten the ducks and geese that will soon become next year's meat... another sign that winter is on its way.  

Justice?

This one goes out to a certain somebody who, it seems, might not be gettin' that new gig after all. Sorry 'bout yer luck, Bart O'Kav.

Kings Of Oblivion

Not sure if I'd call the Pink Fairies a band.  They were more of a constantly shifting group of musicians that came out of the London psychedelic scene in the late 60s and early 70s.  With a taste for drugs, free music and anarchistic politics, their original line-up featured Twink of The Pretty Things on drums, Twink's girlfriend, Silver Darling, playing the keyboards, Mick Farren of The Deviants doing the vocals, and former T. Rex percussionist, Steve Peregrin Took, on guitar.  The band played one gig, then went their separate ways.

A year later, Twink recruited the other members of The Deviants... Paul Rudolph, Duncan Sanderson and Russell Hunter... to become the new line-up for the Pink Fairies.  Twink left the band in 1971 and headed to Morocco, followed by Rudolph, who would eventually replace Lemmy in Hawkwind.

Sanderson and Hunter decided to continue the Pink Fairies, briefly replacing Rudolph with Mick Wayne before recruiting Larry Wallis from UFO.  Wallis would go on to become the guitarist in the original line-up for Motörhead, but not before he recorded "Kings Of Oblivion" with Sanderson and Hunter.

My favorite line-up for the Pink Fairies is Sanderson, Hunter and Wallis.  This album is the reason why.

A New Season

 

This Space For Rent

If you have an idea of what you want to see here, let me know and I'll try to squeeze it in.

Maggot Brain

Need I say more?

Remembering The Elemental Child

Mark Bolan was killed in a car wreck on this day in 1977. 

Bolan didn't just play music.  He played with music. 

How to Make yer Missus Happy

Step 1.) Instead of having your mistress make the bed after doing the nasty, have her fix that damned pesky kitchen faucet.

Stay tuned for step 2.

Moving on, I accidentally caused computer #2 to become a boat anchor by Dancin' in the Minefield, which drug computer # 1 into suicide mode. Now, considering that computer # 4 is just a paperweight that I let Mrs. 17 use for her flight of fantasy on Friday nights, I had to lean on computer #3, which never lets me down. So thanks to an old E-machine, and of course the fact that I'm a "stable genius", all is well.

Moving on some more, did you know today would have been Steve Gaines' birthday?

I'll allow everthing but "Freebird".

Blood and Burger

James Blood Ulmer is an American musician.  He started as a Jazz guitarist, then branched out into Funk and Blues, creating a sound that some have described as "avant gutbucket".

Rodolphe Burger is a French musician, best known as the creative force behind the experimental band, Kat Onoma.

Ulmer and Burger got together in 2002 to make some music.  They recorded some songs in a studio.  Other songs were recorded during a show at the New Morning in Paris.  This album was the result, although six years would go by before it was released. 

There's some real magic here.  At least I think so. 

Enjoy...

The Last Refuge Of Scoundrels

File this one under "Stranger Than Fiction".

The fourth studio album by The Coup was scheduled to be released in September of 2001.  The original album cover featured founding member and boy genius, Boots Riley, blowing up the World Trade Center.

Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center before the album was released.  Crazy, heh?

Naturally, the record company postponed the release and insisted that the cover be changed.  Boots said he fought to keep the original cover, but finally gave in.

Anyway, thought I'd post a song from the album as an antidote to all the patriotic bloviating we're about to get hit with from those scoundrels in politics and in the entertainment... er, news industry.

Feel free to post your own antidotes.

I am Amomonus (Yeah, you got it)

On this day in 1978, Keith Moon drummer with The Who, died of an overdose of heminevrin prescribed to combat alcoholism. A post-mortem confirmed there were 32 tablets in his system, 26 of which were undissolved. Moon had attended a party the night before organised by Paul McCartney for the launch of the The Buddy Holly Story movie. He played on all The Who albums from their debut, 1965's My Generation, to 1978's Who Are You, which was released two weeks before his death.

Rockin' With The Wolf

Get your Howl on...

Labor Day Songs

Not that we have much of a labor movement these days. 

Your Ordinary Average 8 O'clock Fix

It's all your's from here on out.

Beggars Banquet

You know there's magic when the worst song on an album is "Sympathy To The Devil".

It's been said that "Beggars Banquet" is the album where The Rolling Stones came into their own.  Seems to me that this is also the album where Keith Richards came into his own; that when all is said and done, this is his album.  Recorded at a time when Brian Jones seemed to be going the way of Syd Barrett... using too many drugs, behaving erratically, losing his mind... Keith's response was something along the lines of, "Don't worry.  I got this."

And damn, did he ever get it.

Mixing kickass Rock with Blues and Country influences, "Beggars Banquet" is still one of the best albums ever.  Definitely #1 on my list of 5 greatest Rock 'N Roll albums.

The 19th

The 19th Amendment was certified on this day in 1920, giving American women the right to vote.  Since then we have seen that women can be every bit as corrupt, as vicious and as sleazy as men can be.  Some of us gals can also rock with the best of 'em.

Rock on ladies... and gentlemen.

Nobody tells you where to go, Baby

Oh Shit Major Big Edit - No Imagne Dragons tonight.

There's an "Audience" concert tonight at 9 pm (Eastern) featuring Imagine Dragons if anyone's interrested. Mrs. 17 and I will be watching, and I'll be posting the tunes I like from them. I'm sure Mrs. 17 will be posting the tunes that suck.

In the meantime:

Funhouse

I believe it was Lester Bangs who described The Stooges as one fucked up kid leading the most fucked up band in the world.  Bangs meant that as a compliment.

If you're looking for barebones, vulgar, grimy, balls-to-the-wall Rock 'N Roll, you can't do better than The Stooges.  Citing influences that range from Ornette Coleman to Clarabel the Clown to the industrial sounds that dominated the factory town where Iggy, the Asheton brothers and Dave Alexander grew up, The Stooges music has been described as raw, primitive, instinctual, too weird and too dangerous.  Think Catcher In The Rye after Holden Caulfield discovers acid and heroin.  In the era of patchouli, love beads and flower power, The Stooges were too dark and too nihilistic to attract much of a following.  It wasn't until Punk came along that the band found an audience that could appreciate them, and by then The Stooges had ceased to exist.

In 1977, Iggy appeared on The Dinah Shore Show.  During the interview, Ms. Shore asked, "Do you think you influenced anybody?"

Iggy replied, "I think I helped wipe out the Sixties."

There's some truth in those words.  That's one of the many reasons why I give "Funhouse" the #2 spot on my list of 5 greatest Rock 'N Roll albums.

Family Affair

It's been a week for family as kinfolk arrived from the Southeast and the West Coast.  They'll be here for a few more days.  I intend to spend as much time as I can with them and hope none of them drive me too crazy.  (Just kidding... sort of.)

Again?

Yep, that's right. It's Friday the 17th all over again! Didn't ya ever wonder why that is?

L-U-V

The New York Dolls only lasted three or four years, but during their brief existence they were just about the best damn Rock 'N Roll band ever.  And that first album?  Vulgar, dark and campy as all get out, it blew me away when I first heard it.  Still does all these years later.  That's why it's #3 on my list of 5 greatest Rock 'N Roll albums.

Honky Tonkin' In Bakersfield

The Bakersfield Sound was kind of the Punk of its day.  A reaction to the slick sound that was coming out of Nashville at the time, it was as rough and raw as the honky tonks that nurtured it.

Buck Owens was one of the pioneers of the Bakersfield Sound.  He was born on this day in 1929.

They Stole My Brain

Nothing is real. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you'll be free. Ain't the future great?

Songs The Lord Taught Us

What can one say about The Cramps?  Founded by husband and wife, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, they created a sound that was part Rockabilly, part Surf Music and part 60s Garage Rock, with a whole lot of Glam and Punk tossed in for the hell of it, The Cramps were masters of campy psychobilly horror.  (It was Lux who coined the term "psychobilly".)

In 1979, Alex Chilton brought The Cramps to Memphis, where he produced their first full-length album at the Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio.  That album was titled "Songs The Lord Taught Us".

Last week, I named Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti" as one of my picks for the 5 greatest Rock 'N Roll albums.  "Songs The Lord Taught Us" would be #4 on that list.

Gabba Gabba Hey!

Woke up this morning with this song stuck in my brain.  Must have been dreaming about The Ramones last night.

Quit Bitchin'

Physical Graffiti

There was a time when I thought that I might never buy another Led Zeppelin album.  This was back when it seemed like every other song on the radio was either "Stairway To Heaven" or "Free Bird".  It got to where I hated to even turn the radio on, knowing it wouldn't be long before I'd hear the opening notes of "Stairway".  (Or "Free Bird".)  And then I'd scream, "No!", as I rushed to turn it off.

So I swore off Led Zeppelin because of the "Stairway To Heaven" overkill, a decision that was reinforced by their next album, "Houses Of The Holy", which had moments of brilliance but for the most part was kind of lame. 

Then they released Physical Graffiti and reeled me right back in.

If I had to pick the five greatest Rock 'N Roll albums, Physical Graffiti would definitely make that list.   

Wanderlust

Lately, I've been dreaming about traveling.  Just toss a few things in the truck and go. 

When I was young, I used to head out on road trips once or twice a month.  I've been all over the South and to parts of the Northeast.  Made the trip to California once.  (New Mexico really is the land of enchantment.)  Been to parts of Canada and to all five of the Great Lakes.

These days, I'm lucky if I can hit the road once every five or six years.  All these critters tend to keep me tied to the ol' farmstead, so I settle for books and songs about traveling until I get a chance to go for real. 

Always wanted to see the Badlands. 

Or the Hudson Bay. 

Or Minnesota. 

Maybe one of these days...

You Must Be Insane

Ok. Here's the deal. Me and Mrs. 17 are gonna smoke this joint, and then we're gonna enjoy some tunes.

You can play along if you'd like, and we wish you would. Or you can abstain, and we'll wonder why -- for a moment. Then we'll go back to smoking joints and enjoying music.

Feast Of Wire

It's been twenty years since I first heard Calexico.  Didn't take long for them to become one of my favorite bands.  With a sound that blends Mariachi, Tejano and Cumbia, Country, Rock and Jazz, what's not to love? 

Feast Of Wire is their fourth studio album.  Enjoy!

Gettin' Down Just For The Funk Of It

'Cause it's George Clinton's motherfunkin' birthday...

I Hadda Great Thought

But Mrs 17 fucked that all up. Everyone thank Mrs 17.

So now I gotta go with shit I'd been hiding.

4 Way Street

Friday before last, Cass played a couple of songs from this album, reminding me that it had been way too long since I gave it a listen. 

Just Because...

... I feel like playing it.

What do you feel like playing?

Father of the Year - 1986

My kids and I were having an event-free day on Friday the 13th of that year, so I broke my little girl's arm, coz that's how I roll. Mrs. 17 better toe the line tonight.

The Weight of the Stone

Waiting For The Aliens

Just found out that July 2 was World UFO Day.  Seems kind of silly, but what the hell.

"Leave it all behind ya!"

On this day in 1971, American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died. He had many hits including the 1964 US #1 'Hello Dolly!', 1968 UK #1 'What A Wonderful World’ plus ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, ‘Ain't Misbehavin’, and ‘We Have All the Time in the World.’ He made frequent use of laxatives as a means of controlling his weight, resulting in his appearing in humorous advertisements for laxative product Swiss Kriss; the ads bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet, as viewed through a keyhole, with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!".

Do with that visual what you will.

Go Nuts

Consider this the obligatory 4th of July thread.

Dreaming of Canada

It's so damn hot my brain is fried...and not in a good way.

Canada's sounding real nice right now.  I hear it's 68 in Saskatoon.

Well, Again it Didn't Work

I wanna listen to this, and it won't play my way. So I'll do it the hard way.

The Unforgiven I - Can't forgive them
The Unforgiven II - Can't forgive you
The Unforgiven III - Can't forgive myself

Ridin' the Gravy Train

The Songs Of Summer

The solstice has come and gone, and the days are only going to get shorter, so we might as well make the most of it while we can.

Tonight's Feature was a Bust

Play what ya want. I don't give a shit any more.

The Madcap Laughs

Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd.  He composed most of the songs from their first album, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, as well as those wonderful singles such as See Emily Play.  Alas, while Sid was gifted with a musical genius he was also cursed with madness, and his hold on reality began to slip after that first album was released.  While touring in North America, there were nights when he would refuse to bring his guitar on stage, and other nights when he would be oblivious to tuning or play the same chord over and over again.  And so the rest of the band decided to bring in David Gilmour as the fifth member, while allowing Sid to continue writing songs and recording with the band.

At least that was the plan.

It didn't quite work out that way and the band finally split with Syd in 1968.  Not that his former bandmates walked away from him.  They did what they could.  When he began working on a solo album, David Gilmour and Roger Waters stepped in to help him finish it.  The album, titled The Madcap Laughs, was released in January, 1970, and received some good reviews.  Syd even tried to play a few gigs following its release, although it seems that his performances were erratic at best... when he bothered to show up.

Following a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital, Barrett started work on a second album, this time with help from Gilmour, Richard Wright and Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley.  The second album, titled Barrett, was released in November of 1970 and pretty much ignored until 1974, when both The Madcap Laughs and Barrett were released as a double album in the USA.

I discovered these gems in 1975.  In a bargain bin.

Enjoy.

I Feel A Rant Comin' On

Yesterday, I was getting ready to do the morning chores when I heard the opening notes from Starman by David Bowie.

I looked up to see what we owed this musical interlude to.  The old man was watching the World Cup, and I thought maybe the song was being used to hype a soccer player.  Alas, it was worse.  Instead of a feature on Messi or Ronaldo, it was a perfume ad for men that featured attractive young honkies diving into a rooftop swimming pool.

"Oh crap," I muttered.  "Way to go.  Ruin another good song."

Did I mention that I really dislike this commercial culture?  Besides, who puts on perfume before diving into a chlorinated swimming pool?  Stupid honkies.

It's been a few years, but I still haven't gotten over the ad that used Iggy Pop's Lust For Life to sell Carnival Cruise, or maybe it was Royal Caribbean.  For those who aren't familiar with the song, Lust For Life is about heroin addiction.  It includes references to Johnny Yen, a character from a William Burroughs novel who was described as "the boy-girl other half striptease God of sexual frustration and hypnotizing chickens".  The cruise commercial even changed a line in the song from, "Here comes Johnny Yen again with liquor and drugs" to "Here comes Johnny Yen again looking so fine."

Head bang on wall.  Talk about ruining a damn good song.

Sometimes they'll even ruin a bad song, like the ad that featured Sid Vicious' version of My Way to sell a luxury automobile.  Pretty sure Sid wasn't thinking about fancy cars when he butchered that old Sinatra standard.

So what's next?  Using Devo's Freedom Of Choice to sell tampons?