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.