Twenty two years ago, I was sitting at Dancer's the infamous night club and tittie bar and chatting up with Melissa who at that time was considered a good friend and I had hopes of taking her out for supper but to make a long story short it didn't work out for me but she had a long sad look on her face and she came up to me and said "Have you heard the news? Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in Alpine Valley". And it turn out to be a very sad day for me, in fact this hit home much harder than Elvis Presley in 1977.
To me, Stevie Ray was the last of the true guitar heroes. He was the shining light in the muck that was called hair spray metal or subpar pop. Nobody could do Hendrix as well and sometimes better than SRV. His version of Voodoo Chile was a constant play on my stereo. And when he fell into a life and death struggle with drugs till he got over that and was enjoying a new and exciting second chance till that fateful Aug 1990 helicopter crash that took him away from us.
I have my own tribute to SRV, I still have the back cover of his longbox CD The Sky Is Crying with him on it on my cluttered stereo, looking out into the world and it has been a mainstay on my shelf since getting it from Relics in 1991. Live Alive was one of the earliest albums I got on CD, (my good friend Dennis Lancaster made it his first ever cd buy) and even he was high he can still play guitar like no other. But in the early years he was one of Austin Texas' best kept secrets till he managed to play Montreaux in 1982 and played a wild set but got booed off the stage by the stuck up pricks in the audience. However David Bowie was there and offered him to play guitar on what would be the Let's Dance album and Jackson Browne offered studio time for SRV to do his own album which would be Texas Flood.
Certainly Stevie Ray had owed a lot to Albert King and Jimi Hendrix but he also highly influenced by Lonnie Mack who he managed to co produced Mack's Strike Like Lightning and may have put in a good word at Epic for Road Houses And Dance Halls. Vaughan may have also played on James Brown Living In America although the Gravity album that Volcano reissued mentions nothing of this. Vaughan was influenced by his brother Jimmie to which they would record the one and only Family Style in 1990 to which my favorite song was Long Way From Home to which the guitar riff is the price of admission to hear.
While Texas Flood got things straight and to the point, Couldn't Stand The Weather is more varied and even adds element of jazz and slow blues to the mix, Soul To Soul a bit more nodding to rhythm and the blues and adding Reese Wyanis to keyboards. Live Alive, what can you say, despite some muddy sound SRV gave us the FM classic Willie The Wimp. Everything leads to In Step, which in 1989 introduced the world to the new SRV sound which was a much more polished sound (thanks to Jim Gaines) and hits by the score with The House Is Rockin, Cross Fire and Tight Rope but also paying homage to Howlin Wolf (Let Me Love You Baby) and barrelhouse rock and blues (Scratch n Sniff). Then hooking with Jimmie with Family Style, a album which was good in some places and questionable in others (I never gotten into much into the voice over that almost bogs down Brothers) but still was a sign of things to come. And then Alpine came and then....
There's no shortage of repackages out there, The Greatest Hits packages are good and have the hits or highlights. The Sky Is Crying gives us some outtakes and paying more homage to Lonnie, Jimi and Jimmie and Albert but gives the bittersweet Life By The Drop as SRV's final statement which stings. There's also some post SRV live albums, the Montreaux Concert is the best of them and includes two shows, the infamous and famous 1982 show and the triumphed 1985 return to which SRV is treated to a hero's welcome. Live at Carnegie Hall is a 1984 performance which features brother Jimmie and Dr John on keyboards. In The Beginning is a 1980 showcase and shows SRV and Double Trouble in its humble beginnings. Blues At Sunrise is straight ahead slow blues.
Like Hendrix, SRV didn't record many studio albums, he only recorded four proper ones. And he's never made a bad album, nothing short of a B plus. For my generation, SRV was the last true real guitar hero for me. Even though he may have taken a cue from Lonnie Mack or Jimi Hendrix, he found a way to make it his own style. He could switch from playing lead guitar to rhythm without missing a beat. And still be humble enough to talk to you after a show in the process. There'll never be another Stevie Ray Vaughan.
At least that's what I Think.
Albums:
In The Beginning (1980 reissued by Epic in 1992) B+
Live At Montreaux 1982 & 1985 (Epic) A-
Texas Flood (Epic 1983) A
Couldn't Stand The Weather (Epic 1984) A-
Soul To Soul (Epic 1985) B+
Live Alive (Epic 1986) A-
In Step (Epic 1989) A-
The Vaughan Brothers-Family Style (CBS Associated 1990) B+
The Sky Is Crying (Epic 1991) A-
Live At Carnegie Hall (Epic 1984, reissued 1995) A-
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
The Two Sides Of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Once upon a time in the South there was a little rocking Southern band by the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd that came from the swamps to record classic albums for MCA before a plane crash took the vision and thoughts of Ronnie Van Zant to the Great Beyond. To which survivors started their own band and did the unthinkable: reunite with a brother singer and became a cliche upon itself.
There's no bar band that ever escaped some yayhoo screaming PLAY FREE BIRD or SWEET HOME ALABAMA at some hole in the wall bar out in the middle of nowhere. Free Bird was the lesser seller of Sweet Home, it hardly got any airplay unless it was FM radio but since the beginning of the CCC owned classic rock stations either song is being played at some spot in the world as we speak. Once an anthem, it's as overplayed as they come. And while both are great songs, they pretty much fall under something I could listen to once a year and then that's that.
Nevertheless, Skynyrd the Original cannot be topped due to the wry and sly song writing ability from Ronnie Van Zant and with a triple guitar lineup of Ed King, the late great Allen Collins and sole remaining original band member Gary Rossington they took southern rock and boogie to a whole new level. The first album is just about perfect with each song in its rightful spot. The insane beginning of I Ain't The One, the yearning Tuesday's Gone, the bar band staple Gimme Three Steps and Simple Man, every song on side one was many a band learning it for the bar faithful. Although side 2 slips a bit, Things Goin On and Mississippi Kid rarely get played on the radio and Poison Whiskey a Van Zant PSA about the dangers of rotgut these songs have a charm on their own. Which leads into Free Bird, which turns out to be the song most associated with Ronnie, a song about defiance and having a come and gone way to which they would jam out the last 5 minutes with a fury of lead guitars from all three guitarist. Long time ago, it came out on Al Kooper's Sounds Of The South label, which was distributed by MCA but the first album sold well enough for Second Helping, more fun stuff and songs that were as good as the first. To where Sweet Home Alabama picks up where Free Bird left off, a Southern gentleman's FU to Neil Young's Southern Man. To which these two songs, forever playing somewhere would be the basis of the After Ronnie Lynyrd Skynyrd would rewrite time and time ago. I think Second Helping is a bit better than the first album, there's no wasted songs anywhere to I Need You, the funny Don't Ask Me Any Questions, the boogie Swamp Music and The Ballad Of Curtis Loew which marvels on how well Ronnie Van Zant could look back in the past and create memories and turn it into a original song and not the cliche. And of course Working for MCA which still may be the best song about working for a major label for all the good or bad. Ronnie seemed to have no patience for those pencil pushers or the city slickers stealing his money. And then another anti drug song The Needle And Spoon and the album classic Call Me The Breeze. You heard them all before on the radio but it still sounds good when you put the record on.
While critics have not been kind to Nuthin Fancy or Gimme Back My Bullets, they were probably recorded at the time all the band would be fucked up to perform, new drummer Artimus Pyle gave them a more harder rocking beat. And these two albums were the most played at my place. Nuthin Fancy featured the last album Al Kooper produced and it was the best recorded. Saturday Night Special was the main hit but Ronnie is fed up and ready to shoot his Cheatin Woman, wants to ride the rails on Railroad Song and still remains I'm A Country Boy. Second side gives a hard rocking romp On The Hunt, wonders If I'm Losing due to fairweather friends, and adds a pre war blues romp on Made In The Shade before concluding with Whiskey Rock N Roller.
Gimme Back My Bullets showcases The Honkettes, the female singers that would from that day forward would be a part of Skynyrd. Tom Dowd produced this and the mix was terrible but it still had great songs (the remastered cleaned up the sound much better). The title track and the power driving Double Trouble to which Ronnie proclaims if he fell into a rose bush he still coming out smelling like SH---. I found myself playing Every Mother's Son a lot during high school and Trust still rings true like it did today. And they find themselves raiding J J Cale again with I Got The Same Old Blues Again. For the first time, some of the songs on side 2 sounded weak, like they needed a break but still Searching and All I Can Do Is Write About It, the latter sees Van Zant getting a bit cynical as he sees the creeping concrete coming closer to take away childhood memories. It may have been seen slight back then but Ronnie was way ahead of his time even on the throwaways. The two slight songs are Roll Gypsy Roll and Cry For The Bad Man
But the band's drug and booze habits were weighing things down so they decided to get clean and sober but before then gave the world One More From The Road, a album that has the hits and what they were famous for, right down the 10 minute ending of Free Bird. It still remains an album to get if you wanted to hear how damn great they were. By then Steve Gaines joined up and he may have been the best guitar player and plus he could sing too.
Street Survivors to me is like what In Step from Stevie Ray Vaughn was. They got cleaned up, they went and made their best album and then the plane crash that ended the best version of that band (in SRV's case it was a helicopter). An early recording of One More Time from a early session is on it but the rest are sure fire hard rocking classics, from What's Your Name to That Smell to Steve Gaines playing swing guitar on I Know A Little and then dueting with Ronnie on You Got That Right. Even I Never Dreamed may have been slight it still fits in well and then a cool cover of Merle Haggard's Honky Tonk Night Time Man. Steve Gaines takes over on vocals on Ain't No Good Life. If later albums were an indication, Gaines would play a big role but then a 1977 plane crash took both him and Ronnie and Skynyrd would be silenced for 10 years afterwards.
Since then MCA has repackaged their albums and added bonus cuts and B sides. Skynyrd's First and Last album was a early session featuring Ricky Medlocke on drums for a collection of rough and wild southern rock (Preacher's Daughter, Wino, Down South Jukin'). MCA would reissue it with even more tracks and some that would feature later on other albums including a wobbly take on Free Bird. Legend, the 1990 scrapes the bottom of the barrel with outtakes from Street Survivors and the Sweet Home Alabama b side, the 7 and half minute Take Your Time. There are tons and tons of greatest hits out there and basically it's for those who only want the hits although their albums were so much more. The Free Bird Movie Soundtrack is a rougher live performance which isn't too bad.
And then rising from the ashes, the survivors returned to do a live album Southern By The Grace Of God and the Skynyrd returned with Johnny Van Zant doing the vocals. Not a bad album by any means a version of Free Bird is sung by the crowd. Which begins the second phase of Skynyrd which continues to this day. Johnny Van Zant may be a better singer than Ronnie says the critics, but Ronnie trumps both him and Donnie and the songwriting department. The 1991 comeback album for Atlantic was basically flat I thought but The Last Rebel was much better but by then a revolving door of personnel begain. Ed King and Randall Hall would be replaced down the road by Ricky Medlocke who left and formed the harder rocking Blackfoot with late great Jackson Spiers on drums, and Hughie Thomassen of The Outlaws but instead of adding their own songs and vocals, chose to pretty much to be guitar playing sidemen on later albums. After making 2 albums for Atlantic, they did a an acoustic one off for Capricorn (Endangered Species) and then over CMC International (Later Sanctuary) for Twenty best known for Travelin' Man a song that Ronnie comes back from the grave to sing it with Johnny and Donnie Van Zant. Kid Rock appears on Vicious Cycle.
While most original members have died (Bob Burns, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkerson, Allen Collins, Ronnie, Steve & Cassie Gaines) or left (Artimus Pyle) The Lynyrd Skynyrd that is still around is not like the band of long ago and far away. Moving to Roadrunner Records in 2010 they begin to update their sound to something like Nickleback (Bob Marlette who produced their recent two albums may have something to do with that). Although Gods & Guns and the latest Last Of A Dying Breed are good in their own way, they have more to do with the new rock sound that Nickleback is known for I certainly don't think Ronnie would ever stoop down to do anything in protools, the original Skynyrd sound was rough and tumble, the way Southern rock and roll is meant to be. Marlette's production seems to smooth up the edges a bit too much for me although Last Of A Dying Breed works a lot better than Gods & Guns did. In some ways it might be their best of the Johnnie Van Zant led band. No, it doesn't hold a candle to early albums but take it for what's worth, it's got enough of the new modern rock but still a nod toward the country and southern rock. As long as Gary Rossington and Johnnie Van Zant with Rickey Medlocke remain together, I won't count them out. Neither should you.
The Albums:
Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd (MCA 1973) A-
Second Helping (MCA 1974) A+
Nuthin Fancy (MCA 1975) A
Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 1976) A
One More From The Road (MCA 1976) A-
Street Survivors (MCA 1977) A+
Skynyrd's First and Last (MCA 1978) B+
Gold And Platinum (MCA 1979) A-
Best Of The Rest (MCA 1982) A-
Legend (MCA 1988) B-
Skynyrd's Innyrds (MCA 1990) B+ (There's many best ofs out there, this was the only one I reviewed)
Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions (MCA 1998) B
Free Bird The Movie (Cabin Fever/MCA 1996) B
The new Skynyrd
Southern By The Grace Of God Tour (MCA 1987) B
1991 (Atlantic 1991) C+
The Last Rebel (Atlantic 1993) B-
Endangered Pieces (Capricorn 1994) B
Twenty (CMC 1997) B
Edge Of Forever (CMC 1999) C+
Vicious Cycle (Sanctuary 2003) NR
Gods & Guns (Roadrunner 2009) C
Last Of A Dyin Breed (Roadrunner 2012) B
Side Projects:
Rossington Collins Band/Allen Collins Band
Anyplace Anytime Anyhow (MCA 1980) B
This Is The Way (MCA 1982) B+
Here, There And Back (MCA 1983) B+
Returned To Scene Of The Crime (Atlantic 1986) C
Love Your Man (MCA 1988) C
Solo Flytes (MCA 1999) B (collection of Rollington/Collins, Allen Collins, APB, Steve Gaines tracks)
Steve Gaines:
One In The Sun (MCA 1987) B+
Artimus Pyle
APB (MCA 1983) C
Artimus Venomus (Deadline 2007) C+
There's no bar band that ever escaped some yayhoo screaming PLAY FREE BIRD or SWEET HOME ALABAMA at some hole in the wall bar out in the middle of nowhere. Free Bird was the lesser seller of Sweet Home, it hardly got any airplay unless it was FM radio but since the beginning of the CCC owned classic rock stations either song is being played at some spot in the world as we speak. Once an anthem, it's as overplayed as they come. And while both are great songs, they pretty much fall under something I could listen to once a year and then that's that.
Nevertheless, Skynyrd the Original cannot be topped due to the wry and sly song writing ability from Ronnie Van Zant and with a triple guitar lineup of Ed King, the late great Allen Collins and sole remaining original band member Gary Rossington they took southern rock and boogie to a whole new level. The first album is just about perfect with each song in its rightful spot. The insane beginning of I Ain't The One, the yearning Tuesday's Gone, the bar band staple Gimme Three Steps and Simple Man, every song on side one was many a band learning it for the bar faithful. Although side 2 slips a bit, Things Goin On and Mississippi Kid rarely get played on the radio and Poison Whiskey a Van Zant PSA about the dangers of rotgut these songs have a charm on their own. Which leads into Free Bird, which turns out to be the song most associated with Ronnie, a song about defiance and having a come and gone way to which they would jam out the last 5 minutes with a fury of lead guitars from all three guitarist. Long time ago, it came out on Al Kooper's Sounds Of The South label, which was distributed by MCA but the first album sold well enough for Second Helping, more fun stuff and songs that were as good as the first. To where Sweet Home Alabama picks up where Free Bird left off, a Southern gentleman's FU to Neil Young's Southern Man. To which these two songs, forever playing somewhere would be the basis of the After Ronnie Lynyrd Skynyrd would rewrite time and time ago. I think Second Helping is a bit better than the first album, there's no wasted songs anywhere to I Need You, the funny Don't Ask Me Any Questions, the boogie Swamp Music and The Ballad Of Curtis Loew which marvels on how well Ronnie Van Zant could look back in the past and create memories and turn it into a original song and not the cliche. And of course Working for MCA which still may be the best song about working for a major label for all the good or bad. Ronnie seemed to have no patience for those pencil pushers or the city slickers stealing his money. And then another anti drug song The Needle And Spoon and the album classic Call Me The Breeze. You heard them all before on the radio but it still sounds good when you put the record on.
While critics have not been kind to Nuthin Fancy or Gimme Back My Bullets, they were probably recorded at the time all the band would be fucked up to perform, new drummer Artimus Pyle gave them a more harder rocking beat. And these two albums were the most played at my place. Nuthin Fancy featured the last album Al Kooper produced and it was the best recorded. Saturday Night Special was the main hit but Ronnie is fed up and ready to shoot his Cheatin Woman, wants to ride the rails on Railroad Song and still remains I'm A Country Boy. Second side gives a hard rocking romp On The Hunt, wonders If I'm Losing due to fairweather friends, and adds a pre war blues romp on Made In The Shade before concluding with Whiskey Rock N Roller.
Gimme Back My Bullets showcases The Honkettes, the female singers that would from that day forward would be a part of Skynyrd. Tom Dowd produced this and the mix was terrible but it still had great songs (the remastered cleaned up the sound much better). The title track and the power driving Double Trouble to which Ronnie proclaims if he fell into a rose bush he still coming out smelling like SH---. I found myself playing Every Mother's Son a lot during high school and Trust still rings true like it did today. And they find themselves raiding J J Cale again with I Got The Same Old Blues Again. For the first time, some of the songs on side 2 sounded weak, like they needed a break but still Searching and All I Can Do Is Write About It, the latter sees Van Zant getting a bit cynical as he sees the creeping concrete coming closer to take away childhood memories. It may have been seen slight back then but Ronnie was way ahead of his time even on the throwaways. The two slight songs are Roll Gypsy Roll and Cry For The Bad Man
But the band's drug and booze habits were weighing things down so they decided to get clean and sober but before then gave the world One More From The Road, a album that has the hits and what they were famous for, right down the 10 minute ending of Free Bird. It still remains an album to get if you wanted to hear how damn great they were. By then Steve Gaines joined up and he may have been the best guitar player and plus he could sing too.
Street Survivors to me is like what In Step from Stevie Ray Vaughn was. They got cleaned up, they went and made their best album and then the plane crash that ended the best version of that band (in SRV's case it was a helicopter). An early recording of One More Time from a early session is on it but the rest are sure fire hard rocking classics, from What's Your Name to That Smell to Steve Gaines playing swing guitar on I Know A Little and then dueting with Ronnie on You Got That Right. Even I Never Dreamed may have been slight it still fits in well and then a cool cover of Merle Haggard's Honky Tonk Night Time Man. Steve Gaines takes over on vocals on Ain't No Good Life. If later albums were an indication, Gaines would play a big role but then a 1977 plane crash took both him and Ronnie and Skynyrd would be silenced for 10 years afterwards.
Since then MCA has repackaged their albums and added bonus cuts and B sides. Skynyrd's First and Last album was a early session featuring Ricky Medlocke on drums for a collection of rough and wild southern rock (Preacher's Daughter, Wino, Down South Jukin'). MCA would reissue it with even more tracks and some that would feature later on other albums including a wobbly take on Free Bird. Legend, the 1990 scrapes the bottom of the barrel with outtakes from Street Survivors and the Sweet Home Alabama b side, the 7 and half minute Take Your Time. There are tons and tons of greatest hits out there and basically it's for those who only want the hits although their albums were so much more. The Free Bird Movie Soundtrack is a rougher live performance which isn't too bad.
And then rising from the ashes, the survivors returned to do a live album Southern By The Grace Of God and the Skynyrd returned with Johnny Van Zant doing the vocals. Not a bad album by any means a version of Free Bird is sung by the crowd. Which begins the second phase of Skynyrd which continues to this day. Johnny Van Zant may be a better singer than Ronnie says the critics, but Ronnie trumps both him and Donnie and the songwriting department. The 1991 comeback album for Atlantic was basically flat I thought but The Last Rebel was much better but by then a revolving door of personnel begain. Ed King and Randall Hall would be replaced down the road by Ricky Medlocke who left and formed the harder rocking Blackfoot with late great Jackson Spiers on drums, and Hughie Thomassen of The Outlaws but instead of adding their own songs and vocals, chose to pretty much to be guitar playing sidemen on later albums. After making 2 albums for Atlantic, they did a an acoustic one off for Capricorn (Endangered Species) and then over CMC International (Later Sanctuary) for Twenty best known for Travelin' Man a song that Ronnie comes back from the grave to sing it with Johnny and Donnie Van Zant. Kid Rock appears on Vicious Cycle.
While most original members have died (Bob Burns, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkerson, Allen Collins, Ronnie, Steve & Cassie Gaines) or left (Artimus Pyle) The Lynyrd Skynyrd that is still around is not like the band of long ago and far away. Moving to Roadrunner Records in 2010 they begin to update their sound to something like Nickleback (Bob Marlette who produced their recent two albums may have something to do with that). Although Gods & Guns and the latest Last Of A Dying Breed are good in their own way, they have more to do with the new rock sound that Nickleback is known for I certainly don't think Ronnie would ever stoop down to do anything in protools, the original Skynyrd sound was rough and tumble, the way Southern rock and roll is meant to be. Marlette's production seems to smooth up the edges a bit too much for me although Last Of A Dying Breed works a lot better than Gods & Guns did. In some ways it might be their best of the Johnnie Van Zant led band. No, it doesn't hold a candle to early albums but take it for what's worth, it's got enough of the new modern rock but still a nod toward the country and southern rock. As long as Gary Rossington and Johnnie Van Zant with Rickey Medlocke remain together, I won't count them out. Neither should you.
The Albums:
Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd (MCA 1973) A-
Second Helping (MCA 1974) A+
Nuthin Fancy (MCA 1975) A
Gimme Back My Bullets (MCA 1976) A
One More From The Road (MCA 1976) A-
Street Survivors (MCA 1977) A+
Skynyrd's First and Last (MCA 1978) B+
Gold And Platinum (MCA 1979) A-
Best Of The Rest (MCA 1982) A-
Legend (MCA 1988) B-
Skynyrd's Innyrds (MCA 1990) B+ (There's many best ofs out there, this was the only one I reviewed)
Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions (MCA 1998) B
Free Bird The Movie (Cabin Fever/MCA 1996) B
The new Skynyrd
Southern By The Grace Of God Tour (MCA 1987) B
1991 (Atlantic 1991) C+
The Last Rebel (Atlantic 1993) B-
Endangered Pieces (Capricorn 1994) B
Twenty (CMC 1997) B
Edge Of Forever (CMC 1999) C+
Vicious Cycle (Sanctuary 2003) NR
Gods & Guns (Roadrunner 2009) C
Last Of A Dyin Breed (Roadrunner 2012) B
Side Projects:
Rossington Collins Band/Allen Collins Band
Anyplace Anytime Anyhow (MCA 1980) B
This Is The Way (MCA 1982) B+
Here, There And Back (MCA 1983) B+
Returned To Scene Of The Crime (Atlantic 1986) C
Love Your Man (MCA 1988) C
Solo Flytes (MCA 1999) B (collection of Rollington/Collins, Allen Collins, APB, Steve Gaines tracks)
Steve Gaines:
One In The Sun (MCA 1987) B+
Artimus Pyle
APB (MCA 1983) C
Artimus Venomus (Deadline 2007) C+
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Jason And The Scorchers
Somewhere along the line last month of all the happenings going on, little did the major music mags ever mentioned of the passing of Perry Baggs, the longtime drummer holding the backbeat to one of the earliest cowpunk bands of the 1980s Jason And The Scorchers who died at age 50 from diabetes I think and a frail body that simply wore out over the years of hard rocking. But Baggs also was instrumental into playing gospel at the local church and was in the process of recording a gospel album before his death. Anyway here's a blog that celebrates more about Baggs than I can give. http://tim-ghianni.blogspot.com/2012/07/please-bang-drum-slowly-for-jesus-and.html
Jason And The Scorchers were way ahead of the times and like their more country counterpart Rank And File gave the world the start of what was called cowpunk. Sounding more like an amped up Hank Williams, they roar out of Nashville with a 1982 independent album called Reckless Country Soul, which the world has never heard of. Who are they to desecrate Hank Williams by speeding the songs up to wreckless abandon? Word and interest got around and they managed to score a contract with EMI America to issue another EP, Frevor to which they had a alternative hit with a cover of Absolute Sweet Marie. I didn't jump on board till I heard White Lies, their single off Lost And Found to which they worked with Terry Manning, combining originals with some lost country honky tonk hits of long ago and far away, Lost Highway and I Really Don't Want To Know. Lost And Found actually made my list of the top ten albums of 1983 and it sold well enough for a second album Still Standing to which Tom Werman produced. While some claimed that Werman may have smooth out all the rough edges, I found this album to have aged quite well, whereas Lost And Found may have been done in by the booming drums mix of Terry Manning. Still Standing also focused more on the original songs, the only cover was the Rolling Stones 19th Nervous Breakdown. The record didn't sell very well and they left for A & M for the underrated Thunder And Fire (Produced by Barry Beckett), Jason was co writing with some of Nashville's best songwriters at that time (Tim Krekel, Steve Earle, Dan Schlitz). In some ways Thunder & Fire remains their best in terms of songs flowing from one to another. When I first heard the album I didn't think much of it but I recall playing When The Angels Cry a lot in the late 80s and early 90s. It's the only album that Andy York compliments Warren Hodges on guitar, York would eventually move on to John Mellencamps band and Hearts And Minds
Thunder And Fire also flopped and Jason decided to call it a day and disband the Scorchers. He made a 1992 album One Foot In The Honky Tonk for Liberty but in 1995 they decided to give it a go again. This time signing with a more sympathetic label in Mammoth and recording A Blazing Grace with Jeff Johnson back in tow. Atlantic picked them up for Clear Impetuous Morning and then returned them back to Mammoth for the live Midnight Roads And Stages Seen. But Mammoth folded and Jason return to a solo career and the band splintered apart.
In the time since then, The Scorchers have reunited from time to time but by the time they got around to do Halcyon Times, Perry Baggs was too sick to continue. Still the fire and gasoline that is Jason and Warren Hodges delivered one of their best albums ever, even with the new guys in tow (Al Collins and Pontus). It was one of that those albums that you had to get from the band themselves for that time they decided the hell with majors and do it themselves.
Being a big fan of theirs I am very biased in terms of what to look for or what to get. You're better off with Both Sides Of The Line, a EMI comp that puts Fervor and Lost And Found Together but that is out of print as well as Essential Jason And The Scorchers Volume 1: Are You Ready For The Country which adds the title track to the EP and LP mentioned above as well as a couple old live cuts. Still Standing was issued by Capitol and adds three bonus cuts to the original EMI album (also issued on CD years ago but also out of print). Reckless Country Soul was reissued as a full album by Praxis/Mammoth in 1996 and is the best indicator of the early years on just how punky and great they were back then although the sound quality isn't that great. The Mammoth albums also have a fine quality of their own although this was a more mature Scorchers but still intense when they want to be.
In short, nothing before or after was quite like Jason & The Scorchers who made rock and roll fun, and made converts of those who wanted to hear something different than the new wave keyboard dominated crap of the 1980s. They didn't sell many records but God almighty they rocked harder than any band of the 80's.
RIP Perry Baggs
Dedicated to the memory of Jack Emerson who left us too soon (Manager of the band).
Albums:
Reckless Country Soul 1982 (later reissued with more bonus tracks 1996) Mammoth A-
Fervor EP (EMI America 1982) A-
Lost And Found (EMI America 1983) A-
Still Standing (EMI America 1986) B+
Thunder And Fire (A&M 1989) B+
A Blazing Grace (Mammoth 1995) B+
Clear Impetuous Morning (Mammoth/Atlantic 1996) A-
Midnight Roads And Stages Seen (Mammoth/Hollywood 1998) B
Halycon Times (Courageous Chicken 2010) A
Compilations:
Are You Ready For The Country (EMI 1993) A-
Both Sides Of The Line (EMI 1995) A-
Still Standing (Bonus tracks) (Capitol 2002) A-
Jason: Too Long In The Honky Tonk (Liberty 1992) B
Jason And The Scorchers were way ahead of the times and like their more country counterpart Rank And File gave the world the start of what was called cowpunk. Sounding more like an amped up Hank Williams, they roar out of Nashville with a 1982 independent album called Reckless Country Soul, which the world has never heard of. Who are they to desecrate Hank Williams by speeding the songs up to wreckless abandon? Word and interest got around and they managed to score a contract with EMI America to issue another EP, Frevor to which they had a alternative hit with a cover of Absolute Sweet Marie. I didn't jump on board till I heard White Lies, their single off Lost And Found to which they worked with Terry Manning, combining originals with some lost country honky tonk hits of long ago and far away, Lost Highway and I Really Don't Want To Know. Lost And Found actually made my list of the top ten albums of 1983 and it sold well enough for a second album Still Standing to which Tom Werman produced. While some claimed that Werman may have smooth out all the rough edges, I found this album to have aged quite well, whereas Lost And Found may have been done in by the booming drums mix of Terry Manning. Still Standing also focused more on the original songs, the only cover was the Rolling Stones 19th Nervous Breakdown. The record didn't sell very well and they left for A & M for the underrated Thunder And Fire (Produced by Barry Beckett), Jason was co writing with some of Nashville's best songwriters at that time (Tim Krekel, Steve Earle, Dan Schlitz). In some ways Thunder & Fire remains their best in terms of songs flowing from one to another. When I first heard the album I didn't think much of it but I recall playing When The Angels Cry a lot in the late 80s and early 90s. It's the only album that Andy York compliments Warren Hodges on guitar, York would eventually move on to John Mellencamps band and Hearts And Minds
Thunder And Fire also flopped and Jason decided to call it a day and disband the Scorchers. He made a 1992 album One Foot In The Honky Tonk for Liberty but in 1995 they decided to give it a go again. This time signing with a more sympathetic label in Mammoth and recording A Blazing Grace with Jeff Johnson back in tow. Atlantic picked them up for Clear Impetuous Morning and then returned them back to Mammoth for the live Midnight Roads And Stages Seen. But Mammoth folded and Jason return to a solo career and the band splintered apart.
In the time since then, The Scorchers have reunited from time to time but by the time they got around to do Halcyon Times, Perry Baggs was too sick to continue. Still the fire and gasoline that is Jason and Warren Hodges delivered one of their best albums ever, even with the new guys in tow (Al Collins and Pontus). It was one of that those albums that you had to get from the band themselves for that time they decided the hell with majors and do it themselves.
Being a big fan of theirs I am very biased in terms of what to look for or what to get. You're better off with Both Sides Of The Line, a EMI comp that puts Fervor and Lost And Found Together but that is out of print as well as Essential Jason And The Scorchers Volume 1: Are You Ready For The Country which adds the title track to the EP and LP mentioned above as well as a couple old live cuts. Still Standing was issued by Capitol and adds three bonus cuts to the original EMI album (also issued on CD years ago but also out of print). Reckless Country Soul was reissued as a full album by Praxis/Mammoth in 1996 and is the best indicator of the early years on just how punky and great they were back then although the sound quality isn't that great. The Mammoth albums also have a fine quality of their own although this was a more mature Scorchers but still intense when they want to be.
In short, nothing before or after was quite like Jason & The Scorchers who made rock and roll fun, and made converts of those who wanted to hear something different than the new wave keyboard dominated crap of the 1980s. They didn't sell many records but God almighty they rocked harder than any band of the 80's.
RIP Perry Baggs
Dedicated to the memory of Jack Emerson who left us too soon (Manager of the band).
Albums:
Reckless Country Soul 1982 (later reissued with more bonus tracks 1996) Mammoth A-
Fervor EP (EMI America 1982) A-
Lost And Found (EMI America 1983) A-
Still Standing (EMI America 1986) B+
Thunder And Fire (A&M 1989) B+
A Blazing Grace (Mammoth 1995) B+
Clear Impetuous Morning (Mammoth/Atlantic 1996) A-
Midnight Roads And Stages Seen (Mammoth/Hollywood 1998) B
Halycon Times (Courageous Chicken 2010) A
Compilations:
Are You Ready For The Country (EMI 1993) A-
Both Sides Of The Line (EMI 1995) A-
Still Standing (Bonus tracks) (Capitol 2002) A-
Jason: Too Long In The Honky Tonk (Liberty 1992) B
Crabb Corner Retrospective
From 2003 to 2006 I wrote a bunch of blogs for the now defunct MSN Groups Network. From the previous four parts I have selected the best of the bunch before they all faded into neverland.
The course of the The Four Part of Crabb Corner was written in that order when it appeared on a different site. Basically they are there for perserving what's left of a hobby that continues to be 10 years onward.
More to come as I try to preserve things before that other website goes into oblivion too.
The course of the The Four Part of Crabb Corner was written in that order when it appeared on a different site. Basically they are there for perserving what's left of a hobby that continues to be 10 years onward.
More to come as I try to preserve things before that other website goes into oblivion too.
Best Of Crabb Corner Part 4
Bumfuk Egypt is the to the left of Tim butt two hahaha. (from Subscription Blues 10/17/03)
More
venom and bile to spew, at our wonderful clear channel owned MIX 96.
Monday, when i felt well enough to get out there, I went to the Dollar
Store only to hear the dyke queen Melissa Ethridge's crappy song, and
then good ole Uncle Krackup's Drift Away, a song that has been on the
number one most overplayed piece of crap for the last seven months.
Don't Radio and Records even make a attempt to change their top ten at
all anymore? This is the reason why people dont wanna listen to radio
anymore, same ole crap every hour on the hour. Oh did i say the Dollar
Store had MIX 96 on? Sorry got my radio stations mixed up, it was KDAT,
another soft rock station with the same playlist as SHIX 96. Of
course, at work on MIX 96 they were playing the same damn Melissa Dyke
Ethridge song and then Uncle Krackup (im not making this up). Same
songs, different radio stations. And you wonder why I wanna blow up the
radio transmitter. Oh yea, Sheryl Crow, another reason (please shoot
me). (Subscription Blues 10/18/03)
this
story centers on the eventual closing of Long Wong's, a Tempe based area
dive bar, to which you can get greasy buffalo wings, and watery
spegetti for two bucks a plate. When I lived in that area in the late
80s, Long Wongs was the place to eat very cheap, and that place was the
basis for the Tempe sound at that time, The Gin Blossoms, Dead Hot
Workshop and the Refreshments would later go on to major labels later
on, but for them, they were just as unknown once you left the Tempe
scene. But in the twenty years since I was a resident of that town, old
buildings down in the downtown Tempe have been torn down and made way
for newer, more posh looking and higher rents. Only the Jack In The Box
next door have remained, and I suspect that they too will be forced to
locate in the future.
True story number two.
Elvis Del Monte, was a charater in himself. When the Gin Blossoms
preformed at Chuy's that july 1992 day, he got up to do his Elvis
impersonation of Little Sister, which he did forget the words, but he
more than made it up with his karate kicks. And I too, thought that he
was part of the band too, but when they played the Cedar Rapids Freedom
festival one year later, he was not there.
Julie
Hurm-Tessitore. This woman I remember sat next to me at Chuy's, and
gave me the story of the Gin Blossoms since i havent heard of them at
that time; I went to Chuy's on the ideal that the Sand Rubies, another
Tucson band was gonna be there. Somehow, at Chuy's I managed to find a
sofa right in front of the stage and she came up later, she was also
friends with a band called Echohouse who opened for the Gin boys.
Anyway, she passed away from cancer early this year, and they will have a
benefit for her with the reunion of Beats The Hell Out Of Me, a metal
band from Phoenix. Even though I only met her that nite in July, I do
remember her.
But getting back to Long Wongs,
its a dive no doubt, its small, cramped and very smelly, in fact I was
there only to go to the bathroom when i was there last august. Even for
five minites of being there, the memories still remain. Kinda reminds
me of my days at the OK lounge in Marion IA, the last known performance
of Paraphernalia. The OK was torn town to make way for the Nancy Miller
Public Library, which smells a lot better than the OK did. (The Closing
of Long Wongs 11/6/03)
Another
rant to amuse you with. Went to FYE yesterday, and found three used
CDs. Again, I wish these dammed stores would quit putting out scratchy
CDs and charging them 8 bucks for them, and also, quit writing on the
disc. Nothing boils da crabb more than hot water is buying a cd with
somebody writing their freaking name on it. If your not gonna keep your
CD, DONT WRITE ON IT! (Punk Soup 11/09/03)
On
the subject of Don Gibson, he died monday he was 75. Don Gibson to me
wrote some of the best songs of the 50s and 60s, and some of the
darkest songs to boot. Who could argue with Oh Lomesome Me, Blue Blue
Day, Sweet Dreams and I Cant Stop Loving You. My personal fave is Oh
Such A Stranger, a song so dark and despair it makes Ian Curtis look
tame. BMG cant keep a decent Don Gibson best of in print, but try to
find RCA Country Legends (Buddha), or All Time Greatest Hits
(RCA-deleted), or I Wrote A Song (RCA-long long deleted but availble via
Bear Family) for a good idea of what he can do. (Don Gibson RIP From
Bottom Of The Barrel 11/21/03) Note: Arthur Conley died on that week as
well.
I don't wanna work, I want to bang on the drum all day (the link still works!)
Dave Dudley has taken his Big Rig and have head to the Great Beyond. (End Of Year thoughts 12/29/03)
Outside
of what i liked, 2003 was another disappointing year. We lost our last
true record store in town, lost the best damn Mexican restrauant in the
state, and the last true classic country radio station in favor of yet
another faceless Top 40 hip hop station. And of course, we lost June
and Johnny, Warren Z, Ty longley, Don Gibson, and distant cousin Elliott
Smith. On the plus side Rhino did reissue Rank And File, Wounded Bird
gave Root Boy Slim back to the masses, and we got some decent blues
complations as well. And the Townedgers finally did get off their cans
and put out a new album. But in the long run, Britney This, Fred Durst
That and Micheal jacksons problems all outdistanced the good, Time/Life
music barfed up the same ole 70s complations once again and the RIAA
terrolized the computer users of the world. Universial promised us
some cheaper cds, but all that was was the usual dangling the carrot in
front of the horse. You want cheap cds, its still the pawnshops, so
look there.
I dont expect any of you to go out and buy
everything a artists puts out, but if a artist or band had a classic I
think you should know about I would tell you about it. If I influenced
you to buy a Blue Rodeo or a Bottle Rockets or the Romantics then I did
my job, If I warned you bout a crappy cd and you avoided it ditto. But
in the end it dont matter, it all comes down to what sounds good to
you. Thats the magic of music, a song that may sound sappy, but will
make you remember the good times in your life, and no smart assed
comment will change that. Good music is timeless, regardless.
(Acknowledgements 12/23/03)
Final thought for
that year came from End Of The Year Thoughts and hard to believe five
years later it still remains true. Visionary I'm not, but I know a
cockroach that you keep killing and it keeps coming back.
Britney Spears will never amount to much more than a Pop Tart and a 4th rate one at that.
Da Crabb's Corner I predict will last longer than Britney Spears' wedding. (He's Back 1/5/04)
It already has, bro! 
Hoop ( A reply to above note He's Back 1/5/04)
Hoop ( A reply to above note He's Back 1/5/04)The Best Of Crabb Corner Part 3
What I'm doing here is saving some of the highlights of blogs that
are in the Crabb Corner. It's a very long and tedious work but I am
finding some classic moments in the history of blog. Hope they bring
back memories for you too. RS 2008
Mama's don't let your daughters grow up to be CD collectors, otherwise chances are you will have to wait a while to be grandma. (Summer's Halfway Gone 7/19/03)
With all the jails getting crowded, it dont make sense to put downloaders in jail. But then again, ain't the reason why CD sales are down is that there is too much Crappy CDs out there already? (The Downloading Problem 7/19/03)
State Center is located almost center of state, where everybody waves at you, even when your a stranger. The train goes through the downtown area, with some of the old signs of long closed up shops still hanging. Small town at its best.
Mama's don't let your daughters grow up to be CD collectors, otherwise chances are you will have to wait a while to be grandma. (Summer's Halfway Gone 7/19/03)
With all the jails getting crowded, it dont make sense to put downloaders in jail. But then again, ain't the reason why CD sales are down is that there is too much Crappy CDs out there already? (The Downloading Problem 7/19/03)
As you may have heard, C.R had a tornado in
the city limits for the first time since 1965. The National Weather
Service have said, that this was a F2 Tornado that had its beginnings in
the Vinton area as a weak F1. KGAN reports The Covington tornado was
about 300 yards wide and on the ground for about a quarter mile. The
Peace Avenue twister cut a 200-yard-wide swath for a quarter mile.
However, further reports link Covington/Peace Ave CR tornado, and the
Vinton are one and the same.
The Tornado or Funnel cloud that
was sighted over Springville and then to Martelle, was probaly a very
weak F1, but nobody has confirmed that. (Tornado In The Area 7/22/03)
Today,
it pains me to say that Cedar Rapids is losing the last reminding
record store in town, the only one that sold vinyl. After July 29,
Relics records will be a thing of the past. And believe me, there won't
be another record store in this town ever again. (Bye Bye Relic Records
7/26/03)
I was surely remiss in not including
Freddie and the Dreamers in my list of sixties bands, but was "I'm
Telling You Now" and "You Were Made For Me" much different than Gerry
and the Pacemakers "How Do you Do It" or even some of the Beatles songs
of the era. As to the silly way they looked and acted was it any worse
that Kiss a decade later. Harvey in a response to a blog Bands Not
Cost-Effective 7/17/03) RS Note: Freddie And The Dreamers were a pretty
good Manchester UK Band in the 60s but at that time Crabb didn't care
much for Fred Garrity and company. But after buying Best Of Freddie And
The Dreamers (EMI 1993) in Phoenix this year, Crabb missed the boat on
that one. They were a fun band. RIP Fred.
You have a point, Statman. I think Freddie & The Dreamers knew they were
riding on the coattails of the Beatles into their 15 minutes of fame, and
their music reflected the fun and innocence of the time. I don't think they
were ever meant to be taken seriously, and they are pretty much remembered
as a novelty act. 'How Do You Do It' was actually offered to the Beatles to
record, but they turned it down. So Gerry & The Pacemakers took it to the
bank instead. (Starman commenting on Harvey's blog on Freddie 7/19/03)
riding on the coattails of the Beatles into their 15 minutes of fame, and
their music reflected the fun and innocence of the time. I don't think they
were ever meant to be taken seriously, and they are pretty much remembered
as a novelty act. 'How Do You Do It' was actually offered to the Beatles to
record, but they turned it down. So Gerry & The Pacemakers took it to the
bank instead. (Starman commenting on Harvey's blog on Freddie 7/19/03)
Surprised
that Hastings or Reprise didnt stick a 18.99 price tag on the Neil
Young Remasters. Wally world was selling Neil's stuff for 9.86, to
which i did buy Hawks and Doves. It's mainly Country on one side, Folk
on the other. And I suppose that On The Beach has actually sounded
better 29 years later. But I still remain partial to Re Act Or, in
terms of rocking out, sure Rust Never Sleeps or Ragged Glory is better,
and sure Neil pretty much mailed it in, and sure I still perfer T Bone
over the overblown Shots, But Neil and Co. still do a rocking Southern
Pacific.
Grades
On The Beach A-
Hawks and Doves B+
Re Act Or B+
(The Neil Young albums finally reissued 8/22/03)
Is
it just me or am I tired of seeing Rafeal Palmero touting Viagra on
every baseball game? All the viagra in the world aint gonna help the
Texas Rangers go UP in the standings. (Or was it steroids instead?
From a blog 8/22/03)
I thought that Ozzy singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame was even funnier (Starman replying to a blog 8/22/03)
Among
other things, anybody heard of the 70s band Linn County? They were
probaly one of the earliest Iowa bands to get on a major label, they
recorded two albums for Mercury, and more obscure album for
Phillps. Myself, I never heard any of their albums, but Steven Miller,
no relation to Steve (fly like a eagle) Miller, leader and keyboardist
has passed away at age 60 due to bad liver. There was talk of putting
Linn County's albums on CD, but nothing has ever materized on it.
Stephen Miller would go on to play for Elvin Bishop and Grinderswitch,
another band who made albums i have yet to hear. Miller did return to
reform Linn County for a one off reunion in the late 90s. (Stephen
Miller RIP 8/25/03)
I drove over 1000 miles on a
rental car from Phoenix to Prescott, to Kingman via Route 66, then to
Oatman and then to Needles, and back across to Bullhead City and back to
Kingman, then to Flagstaff via Route 66 again, then to Phoenix.
Best
bargains were found at Hastings, found JR Walker's Shotgun/Road Runner 2
on 1 cd for 5.99. The Kingman Hastings had Wet Willie 2 for 3.99, and
the Flagstaff Hastings had The Dictators Go Girl Crazy for 4.99.
Kingman
has grown twice since my last visit in 1996, I dont recall they had a
Hastings back then, but Kingman is still a very dusty and dirty town, I
thought bout making a retirement there, but probaly not. Who knows in
20 years from today, it will be a bigger city.
I only ate at
Fuddruckers one time there, and I'm beginning to think that Tramps is
right, they are getting to be overpriced. Still like their big burgers,
but their fries suck, and after i eat there, i end up going to the can.
Best place for a cheap pizza buffet, Eatza Pizza (all you can eat for
4.50 day and nite), and it dont come back to haunt you later.
Arizona
Route 66, from Toprock to Seligman is one of the most picturesque
drives, and is one of the last long strech of Route 66 still around.
Definly worth the hour and half drive off the Interstate. (Arizona trip
2003)
RIP Warren Zevon (blog 9/8/03)
It
had to happen, but four months after June Carter Cash passed away,
Johnny Cash has joined her. Its kinda hard to listen to Where You There
(when they crucified My Lord) or Peace In The Valley without a few
tears now. Certainly, JC made some of the most enduring country singles
of the 50's and 60s, only to have Columbia boot him in the 80s and
spent six years at Mercury as a secondary artist, and then they let him
go. Fortuly, Rick Rubin took him at American Recordings, stripped the
sound down to his guitar and vocals, and turned him on to a new
generation of kids. For his last video he made Nine Inch Nail's Hurt
his very own. Only Willie Nelson did more for music at age 70.
Johnny's loss is irreplacible. (notes on Johnny Cash's passing 9/15/03)
Steve
Van Zandt's Underground Garage website to which his undying love of
garage rock is a labor of love. Knocked me out for the inclusion of a
obsure video of the 13th Floor Elevator's Your gonna miss me. You must
see this to believe this. (end of summer 9/20/03) RS Note at this time
Robert Palmer died as well.
I can't really understand Chuck D's claim that hip-hop is a natural
progression from the blues, either. There are some similarites, such as
subject matter that deals with various social problems, but that's where it
ends for me. Blues has a real finesse, and most of it is never in your face
or obnoxious; a quality woefully missing from the hip hop paradigm. The
link between a musical form that exudes pure emotion and cuts right to the
soul, and the yelling, crotch-grabbing idiocy of rap, is a weak one
indeed---at least to these ears anyway. Starman commenting on Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues (from the RS Crabb Presents the Blues blog 9/27/03)
progression from the blues, either. There are some similarites, such as
subject matter that deals with various social problems, but that's where it
ends for me. Blues has a real finesse, and most of it is never in your face
or obnoxious; a quality woefully missing from the hip hop paradigm. The
link between a musical form that exudes pure emotion and cuts right to the
soul, and the yelling, crotch-grabbing idiocy of rap, is a weak one
indeed---at least to these ears anyway. Starman commenting on Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues (from the RS Crabb Presents the Blues blog 9/27/03)
Congrats
to Da Cubs for doing something they havent done in 95 years, win a
divisional series. One down, two to go. GO CUBBIES. (Reality Blues
10/6/03)
Finally to conclude this part. My Trip to Ames and the closing of Mi Casa
The
last yearly run to Ames has taken place. Highway 30 from Cedar Rapids
to Tama/Toledo is a hour drive with no towns along the way, most of it
is a two lane ride, nice if you don't have a 10 ton diesel on your tail,
while the car in front of you drives ten miles under the speed limit.
The treat is after Marshalltown, take a right and go down half a mile
and turn left and your on your way to Ames on the old Lincoln Highway.
With the fall leaves turning colour here and the sun shining it almost
has a surreal look and feel, something like being back in the early
years when you can take a leisurely drive and not have to worry bout
betting ran over by some diesel truck driver.
State Center is located almost center of state, where everybody waves at you, even when your a stranger. The train goes through the downtown area, with some of the old signs of long closed up shops still hanging. Small town at its best.
Next stop Colo, they are rebuilding and remodeling the old gas station and hotel on the main drag of Lincoln Highway.
And
its on to Nevada, a town that I used to lived in when I was seven years
old. We lived on the outskirts of town, but cant tell you where its
at. The Ben Franklin there is still in business, back then it was the
place to buy records. Mother found a copy of Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe
(with picture sleeve RIP sob) for 30 cents. Amazingly Mom always had a
good ear for music too. Anyway, Nevada this year had their homecoming
dance canceled with the local rowdies broke out the prinicpal's windows
to his car. Every homecoming the kids do TP the high school everyday
that week, but too much rowdyism and no homecoming dance. However, that
did not stop some parents from renting out the VFW to have a
alternative dance. Ah, good ole Nevada.
And the
trip ends at Ames. Where the local Mister Money pawnshop had only two
cds for da crabb, and Hastings had the rest. However, the copy of T REX
electric Warrior that i got, was very scratchy. Hope it plays.
In
Ames, they have a noise ordinace, so when the local Union Pacific train
rolls by, they have these sublimated train horns blaring from
speakers. When I was there earlier, I did noticed that the horn sounded
much different than it was at the Nature center, turns out it was all
speakers and not the actual train. Gawd the things that amuse me.
And
I suspect that the Union pacific will not stop at Mount Vernon anymore
now that Mi Casa has closed shop, breaking this mexican food lover's
heart. I guess the memory of the big burly engineer stopping the train
to get a quik take out order will probaly be what i remember most of Mi
Casa. Another memory is Gwen always complaining that i didn't order any
desert. Told her did that one time and I almost didnt make it home
without pooing my pants.
But Mount Vernon to
Ames is two hours and ten minites, and Taco Time aint no Mi Casa, but it
will do for now when i am there. After all, the nearest Taco Time is
two time zones away. Why did I go to Ames? I donno, the bargain
hunting bug bit me on the ass and pointed that direction. For the next
trip, it will probaly be Mad city again before the snows hit. The
bargains maybe caught up for now and da crabb will not buy anymore for a
while, but even you know that there will be a next time. (10/8/03)
I'm singing the No More Mi Casa blues. My favorite mexican restrauant in
Mount Vernon has now closed, so I cant take you to the best Mex in the
area. Havent been there in two weeks, and when i get there, theres a
For Rent sign hanging. Guess its back to Moreno's (which also would
close three years later. You can't seem to keep a good Mexican place in
business very long.....
The Best Of Crabb Corner Part 2
Geez, dont anybody remember Louis Jordan? (A Dozen before there was rock and roll 6/9/03)
And
then next weekend is the Linn Country Fair, for the first time they
having free admission and free parking. The headlines are Quiet Riot,
with local flunkies Large Midgets opening. You may wanna arrive later on
so you don't have to stomach their butchering of I'm Too Sexy and Pena Calida. The closing of the fair has Loverboy, and the free country
concert is John Micheal Montgomery. (All The Fun At The Fair 6/7/03)
Rain, in DC? Can you imagine that? Brooksie responding to a blog 6/7/03
Gawd,
I hate going to IA city anymore, no good record stores and downtown is
not shopper friendly with less parking spots to park at. (R.S 6/12/03)
If
you watch the corporate label shuffle as much as i do, you tend to see
that even they don't have their stuff together. Looks like MCA name
banner is bout to be retired in favor of Geffen records, but in all
theory, its still all Universal to me. For years, Geffen was one of
the more profitable labels back in the late 80s as it own, before MCA
bought them out to be yet another satellite label for Universal. Since
MCA has such a bad rap, the Vivendi/Universal bigwigs think retiring
that name would generate more business under a different label, they
call it restructuring. I call it a fast shuffle myself. But MCA Nashville
will still be known as MCA since country acts fare better on MCA Nashville. Good thing we don't work at a major label, we be outta job.
(All The Fun At The Fair 6/12/03)
Mary Bono has
her eyes on the RIAA presidency after Hilary (not related to Clinton)
Rosen, takes her million bucks and goes into retirement. And they say Prostitution don't pay. (More Is Less 6/14/03)
You shouldn't be surprised to learn that brother Neil young has once again
delayed his four album reissue of On the Beach, Hawks and Doves,
American Stars and bars, and Re act or, what the hell is his problem?
Does he thinks that these releases suck or not good enuff or whats the
deal? Hell with it, i just record Re act or off the record to my own
disc then. By the way, these four reissues have been delayed now by
twelve years. Could be worse, you could wait for the Dave Clark five
reissues. (Neil Young Reissues delayed again 6/14/03) RS Note: The NY
albums actually did get issued later in the year.
It
begin with a stuck stationary front on top of us for two whole weeks
while a Bermuda high, so strong out in the eastern hemisphere that this
damn front didn't move, which meant our friend the gulf of Mexico gave us
so much ample moisture that it rained every damn day, and we not
talking light rain, it was heavy and it accumulated into the rivers,
creeks and lakes, making them raging rivers in their own way. It was definitely the worst weather event that I've ever been associated with, my
folks got their basement flooded big-time twice in that cursed year. I
fared better by living in a part of Cedar Rapids that was in higher
ground, but roads by the Cedar River were underwater for all summer, it wasn't till august that it was safe to drive by the river. It was much
worse for those who lived by the Mississippi River, the river was five
miles outta its banks during the worst of the flooding, and of course
you have seen the pictures
It didn't occur to me, till
when i was driving to st Louis in September and seen condemmed houses on
highway 61, seeing the mud line on the house showing how high the water
got, and some cases, it wasn't unusual to see them six to eight feet
high. It took the Mississippi a good five months to return to its
banks. Even when i was by the arch, the Mississippi was still over its
banks there, flooding the street by the river still. No matter where ya
drive, if you were close to the river, the smell of moldy muddy waters
was in the air.
But what i remember most during
that cursed month of june, was it poured, thundered and the rain was
extreme. It was so bad, that getting to Iowa city in july, there was
only one road to get there, it was Highway 1. You couldn't take
Interstate 380, and hiway 965, the Iowa River was over the bridge there,
and even though the interstate bridge wasnt close, the water was close
on the bridge. And the traffic at the four way at highway 1/US 30 was
from mount vernon to almost the cedar river bridge. Just simply a
miserable time for anybody who was in the midwest. (The Floods of 93
6/22/03) RS sidenote: Compared to the 2008 flood, the 2003 was a walk
in the park, 15 years ago the flood wasn't around the old place i used
to live at, this year's flood went all the way to the Public Works
Building on 6th St. Not something we want to ever go through again.
Two
years ago at this point, I was in Seattle with Isabella, buying out cd
stores and having great moments together watching the moon rise above
Puget Sound on a 11:45 PM sunset, one of the more beautiful settings
ever saw. Hopefully, next year I will be able to once again watch the
sunset into the ocean while the moon rises. But that was two years ago,
two months later the whole world changed before our eyes, sometimes
things dont work out, and although there are times to which I miss the
Spokane Snake Lady; whereever she may be, I hope she's safe and
hopefully she has found what she was looking for. (Halfway Through The
Year-Crabb Remembers Seattle 6/28/03)
I remember
classicrock.about.com chat days, and they were some great days (or
nights, i should say). Sometimes it was so chaotic on Friday or Saturday
nights, that you couldn't keep up with the flow of the conversation,
but once most of the people had left, that's when the good chat started
coming down, and come down it did! Although classicrock and oldies
rooms were truly nice and, as you said, we met some great people there,
by far the best people are here in da Roost! If i had been looking for a
chat room home and found this one, i would have stopped my search right
here! (Hoop in a reply 6/28/03)
Did a
bargain hunt yesterday in Davenport/Moline area. Not much to really
report, the I-74 bridge to Moline is still one lane both ways, first
time, i took the long way over via I-80. Bigger mistake, took forty five minutes to get to the pawnshop. All that effort for a Isley brother's
Heat is on and Split Enz best of. The other pawnshop in Davenport has
slim pickings over there too, picked up John Illsey's Glass (the other
guy in dire straits and a boring album too), and Chance the Gardner (a
uncle tupelo soundalike band but with more lousy vocalists). Problem
is, the pawnshops are not taking any more CD's, which leads to the lousy
selections. Half the wonder is where People are taken their unwanted
stuff, sure aint the CD warehouse, probaly the local landfill?
Had
lunch at a Chinese buffet (not surprised are you?). Then bit into a
dried out chilly pepper. OMG Hottest damn thing I ever ate. I see why
they make those things into pepper spray, took me a good fifteen minutes
to get my breath back. For some quality entertainment, we saw some
kids get arrested for taking some beanbag chairs at the store next
door. Ah, life in the big city, can't beat quality entertainment
watching some 12 year old trying to outrun a store clerk on their tail.
(Davenport bargain hunts 7/1/03)
An intelligent carrot....the mind boggles. (Blog 7/12/03)
Finally to end this chapter, JT's Trip To Arizona 66
Last
October I attempted a day trip out of Las Vegas to drive the Kingman,
Oatman, Needles section of the old Route 66. I say attempted because
little did I know that my trip would be ill fated and my planned route
impassable. I did make it to Kingman and Needles via alternate route,
but not Oatman.
I set out from Las Vegas across
Hoover Dam into Arizona. The scenery was awesome as I climbed up and
out of the curvy road section winding from the Dam. As I crested a hill
suddenly a long strait Highway 93 and Arizona seemed to just spread out
before me. The sky was overcast, and I encountered a few sprinkles along
the way. I didn't see any significant rainfall though.
A
couple hours out of Vegas including a stop at the Dam for a few quick
photos I found myself in Kingman, Arizona. I stopped in at the
Powerhouse Visitor Center and walked across the street for photos of an
old Santa Fe steam engine sitting predominantly there in a square. I also
had a most excellent bacon cheeseburger and vanilla shake at Mr D'z
Route 66 Diner.
Tummy and gas tank full I was
looking forward to climbing up the Black Mountains to Oatman on the old
Route 66. I ended up never getting that far. I had driven maybe twenty
miles or so out of Kingman when I noticed a pickup up ahead pulled off
on the soft shoulder of the road. I then noticed the reason that the
pickup had pulled off was that a creek (which normally would have been a
dry creek bed) was raging over the road in flood stage. The road was
completely impassable at this point. There had been enough rain up in
the mountains earlier that had all flowed down and caused the flood.
Cars
on both sides of the creek were coming to unexpected complete stops. It
didn't look the creek was going to be subsiding any time soon so at
this point I had two options. Either back to Kingman and Vegas the way I
had just come, or backtrack to I-40 and go to Needles that way and then
back up to Vegas that way.
I chose the via
Needles route and set off in that direction. After getting off I-40 and
getting a few miles up Highway 95 towards Vegas I came to my second
completely unexpected stop of the day. I waited an hour here in a string
of cars before and behind me while an accident scene further up the
road was cleared and somebody was air ambulance d out. Finally traffic
started moving again and a couple more hours up 95 I was back in Vegas.
I
plan to be out that way again in October this year. I may attempt this
drive again and I'll certainly be keeping my eye on those low water
crossings. (7/13/03, JT's Arizona Trip)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Archives: The Best Of Crabb Corner Part 1
I'm thinking Crabb's Corner will be a twice a month, with stories
and news you will find handy. Even though I may not respond all the
time, I am always checking to see who's popped in to write something.
Anyway, this is as close to a syndicated column that i will ever get,
not that the village voice will ever print Crabb's Corner, or Goldmine
or even the Penny Saver, and so far judging from your kind reviews, this
hasnt been a waste. Feel free to start a conversation, or you can read
the daily happenings of RS CRABB, either way Im glad your here. This
will either be a regular occurance, or this might be the last thing i
write (haha-just kidding). Either way gang, this might take a while so
pull up a chair.................... (What Is Crabb's Corner 1/16/03)
Probaly
another reason why i am still by myself, is that I dont pick out the
best romantic music. Sure, we all swear by Avalon by Roxy Music for
that perfect mood music, but then after that all bets are off, although
one nite I did play Freedy Johnston's This Perfect World and it went
over pretty good. One romantic excursion found Bob Marley's Legend on
the boombox. I found, that Bob Marley is perfect for those imtimate
moments which are very few and far between. (Valentine's Day And Other
Assorted Stuff 2/13/03)
From 7th wave http://tsimon.com/rockroll.htm
if i copied and paste it right. Probaly one of the better rock and
roll/oldies webpages that i seen so far. For those who remembered it,
try www.beakerstreet.com
This was the show that i grew up listening to back in the high school
years when it was on AM KAAY from little rock. Unfortly its only on from
seven to midnite sunday nites, and for dial ups, you get a lotta
buffering, but you can check out the playlist each and every week. I
do. (RS note: Both links still work).
If hip hop boycotts buy Pepsi, I will buy more Pepsi Products. (News And other views 2/18)
What
I remember most bout Seattle, is when I do look at the pictures that
was taken on that trip was how blue the skies get when its nice and
clear. I dont think I ever seen such bluest skies anyplace that i have
traveled. I aslo regretted that I didnt spent much time at Experience
Music Project Building next to the Space Needle. The EMP is a day long
affair with all what happens up there. But since my last visit, I have
forgotten many of the places that I ate at, Taco Time and the Olive
Garden was easy to remember, but the mexican places names sound so
similar, I tend to forget the name, although I did recall going to El
Rancho, after I got off the plane. There was also a Mexican Restraunt
on Wheels across the street from the former Midway Drive In, which may
have been better than our beloved Taco Time. I did speak with the guy
who owned this Food-on-wheels, and he started out in Arizona and
migrated to the NW, and he says that he does make a good livin from it.
Next
to nights in the desert, when the moon shines down on Downtown Seattle,
are one of the most breathtaking views, I have had the pleasure of
knowing. It's probaly more romantic when your watching the sunset on
the harbor or by the ocean. When I do go to a big city, I tend to
remember the positives rather than the negatives. I would love to come
back up there again, to continue to discover what Seattle does offer.
(Bargains In Seattle 2001 2/19/03)
I remember
from previous discussions in da chatroom and elsewhere, bout gas prices
might pop around three bucks a gallon, and I poopooed that notion, well
seems like reality is settling again, as I see the prices jump another
ten cents in another week. Out in the remotes in california, it seems
that gas is now over two bucks a gallon, some as high as two fifty a
gallon (somewhere out in the Calfornia/Nevada border I fathom). Good
thing I got some before going home. We R at dollar sixty two, and
dreams of dollar gallon gas are now fading as a arizona summer.
Needless to say if prices keep getting higher, the leisurely trip to
Davenport, Waterloo, and Mad City will certainly be few and far
between. Can you say EBAY? (The Latest & The Lamest 2/2703)
Bo
Diddley, sez Bo dont do no rap, rap has no meaning and it wont last as
long as he will. That's why i love Bo Diddley, Bo Knows Music and Bo
Knows Rap is Crap. (The March 10th Playlist 3/10/03) RS 2008 thought,
that was the week that Hank Ballad passed away.
I
dont think any of my previous GF's knew how much of a music fanantic I
was when they couldnt get me outta the music stores, and that included
the more recent one. But then my fate was sealed when Mom would drop me
off in the Woolworth's music section and she come back half hour later
and I was still there, sorting through the forty fives there. She may
have created a music monster there. (Crabb Writings 3/2/03)
I typed up my list, puter locked, lost it. My attention span has timed out. Trampus (April 17th Playlist 4/17/03)
Guess
Sheryl Crow loves this area, she be playing in the Mark In Moline in
June as well, tickets are 35 to 75 bucks. WTF is this? Why would
anybody want to pay 75 bucks for a seat, do we get free beer and brats
with this? Or at least a De Caf Pepsi in the process? For that price, I
do expect a Lap dance and a kiss on the cheek if Im gonna to pay
seventy five bucks to see Rock's biggest Hyprocrite screeching her soft
rock bulloney. But then again, if i want to hear that, i can watch two
cats fight it out at 3 AM in the morning. Then again, I rather now
hear Sheryl do her own butcher version of Come, the worst moment on the
new Fleetwood Mac album. Then again, Sheryl will have to go on without
my presence cuz on that nite i have to get my toenails removed, so
sorry. Maybe next time, when you lower your overpriced ass down by
bout forty bucks.
Seastarr responds.
Hello dear sweet crabby,
I
know you're "crabby" about the cost of the tickets to see certain
mediocre groups or has-beens and I can't agree with you more, the prices
are outrageous!! However, (and you knew you would hear from me on
this one, didn't you?? I have to justify why I do spend money in that
direction:
1. You can't take it with you.
2. My kid's don't deserve the money right now, so why not spend it.
3. It's something that me and my husband have in common and LOVE to do together.
4. The pre party and ambiance (is that a word?) are a "high" all by themselves.
5.
I don't wear much jewelry, nor do I have an expensive wardrobe, so why
not 75 bucks on a concert? (Or shall I really scare ya and tell ya that
Fleetwood Mac was over 100?? X 2 people? )
6. We are not world travelers, just concert Junkies and may I say, I guess I can wear another crown...."Concert Queen".
Lmao,
I love your comments, Crabby, I just had to give you mine, Seastarr (from Eating Crow 5/18/03)
RS 2008: Yup I knew Sis would respond in her own way ;-)
Half
Priced books and cd's (Madison, Des Moines, Phoenix,Seattle), problem
with this place is that the cds are not with the case, so you have to go
up to the cashier to get them, and usually they are scratched, since
they stole them in plastic bags, and when they take them out, the
cashier is careless, leaving surface scratches from not being handled
carefully. They do have a bargin bin, again hit and miss, and the CD's
are in the case. They R probaly thinking that nobody wants them so they
dont have to worry bout getting ripped off. (Favorite Hangouts 5/21/03)
RS Note: Half Priced Books was not in the CR area at this time but they
would open up a store in Marion in 2005.
Finally,
this will be the last posting for this subject matter. Robert
Oettinger, the owner of Oettinger's Music, a haven for old classic and
cheap instruments has passed away this week. Since he figured in the
development of the music by providing some cymbals and drums in the
formative years of da crabb's music. He had worked in stints with
Hiltbrunner's Music (RIP), and West Music, before starting his own
instrument store in 1975. Along with Old Man Keeney (RIP), to which i
brought my old lamented Zickos Drumset, Mr Oettinger was instrumental
for the beginnings of Paraphernalia, and later Route 66/Townedgers.
He will be missed. (Memorial Day Top Ten and other thoughts 5/22/03)
Final word on this part by Trampus
When
I read da Crabb's writings about his travels and bargain hunting I feel
like I know Charles Kuralt, who used to do the sunday show about
america, always coming up with the true feel for an area.
I know Seattle well and da Crabb went right for its main themes like
second nature. The sky, the sunsets, the off ramps, the downtown market
area, the university district, the general flavor in exquisite detail
but as if you were hearing it in a casual conversation.
I think you have found your calling Crabby or at least a great
extension to your passion for bargain hunting. I'm impressed.
Your friend, Trampus
Bob Seger And The Detroit Sound
Once upon a year Bob Seger was one of the toughest sounding rockers to ever come out of Detroit in the mid 60s. Detroit has always been a hotbed of music with the Motown sound but they were also famous for some of the more radical rock sounds out of that area. You couldn't get anymore radical than The Stooges and the Motor City Five who wrote the book on punk rock and just play radical. Kick Out The Jams with a cross bred of blues, garage rock and Sun Ra turned out to be an uneasy listen at my place during the 70s. There was Scott Morgan and the Rationals, The Amboy Dukes with Conservative radical Ted Nugent. Terry Knight and The Pack made a couple of tough sounding Lucky Seven recordings before Knight left and the rest became Grand Funk Railroad.
But none of them had the strange aura of turning back on his past more so than Bob Seger, who like The Pack, recorded a bunch of singles for Cameo/Parkway including Heavy Music with one of the more infectious bass lines to open up a song. In some ways Seger, had two careers, one being the Detroit rocker and second being the more 'mature' artist and going more Muscle Sholes than Detroit in his music. It's a mystery why he has turned his back on the past, in fact most of his early albums still hold up and are even better than the latter day stuff he turned out. When he moved to Capitol after Cameo/Parkway folded, he made the trippy, hippie dippy sound of Ramblin Gamblin Man the album, to which the drummer lays down a heavy beat and then the famed organ sounds take over. One of the best 2 minutes of rock ever committed to 45 me thinks. But the album also included failed singles Tales Of Lucy Blue, the chaos that is Ivory and the war protesting song 2 + 2 = ?. It also gives the world the very trippy White Wall and the dark brooding Black Eyed Girl. Dave Honaker contributes Gone to the equation, the only contribution from other guys that made up the Bob Seger System. And perhaps that's why Bob kinda disowned this period, that Ramblin Gamblin Man suffers a bit of growing pains and trying to figure what to do at times but one thing is for certain. Bob Seger was his best when he's a straight ahead rocker. And White Wall is a perfect example of the chaoticness of trying to do everything all at once.
The next set of albums take chaos to more extremes that Noah, the album Seger has disowned from the start and outside of the title track, nothing else really stands out. Junking the System, Bob made the completely acoustic Brand New Morning, just him and guitar which shows Seger was ahead of the unplugged movement. Problem was it was kinda boring. Mongrel was better, he was working with a band again and had a minor hit with Lucifer which got some airplay.
For a couple years Seger left Capitol to go with Palladium/Reprise for three albums of note: One was Back in 72, a album historic for the fact that it was one of Bob's best efforts that he's never put on CD and at the rate things are going may never will. This record I tend to think is the template that would become Night Moves. Slightly overrated by critics and fans it does have the original version of Turn The Page, which would work better on the breakout Live Bullet but I prefer the original due to it's weariness of being on the road back in 72 going through hicktowns and having the old folk make fun of the long hair freaks that invade their neck of the woods. It also has Rosalie, a song which Thin Lizzy would cover later on. Smokin' OPs the next album is Seger at his mad best, with a hard charging Bo Diddley, a sloppy but fun romp through Love The One You With and a desperate sounding If I Were A Carpenter, my favorite version of that song. And through all that, even manages to find a scratchy copy of Heavy Music Part 1 to complete the album too. And Seven may have been the best overall Seger album with a hard charging Get Out Of Denver leading things off.
The album sold okay but not enough to keep Seger on Reprise so he moved back to Capitol and started changing things by adding more southern rock to his style with Beautiful Loser although Seven was much better, Seger decided that this would be the starting point for his CD reissues. But I think he was under the gun for something to sell so the next album turned out to be Live Bullet, which features Bob doing some of his favorite songs in front of a hometown crowd and it turned out to be the turning point. Renaming his band the Silver Bullet Band, this lineup was his best and most rocking. And somewhere along the way, Bob must have been listening to Bruce Springsteen and perhaps made his most loved recordings of the late 70s.
Night Moves was the perfect antidote of my high school years to which most of the songs do remind me of certain things, the love that got away in Main Street and the title track. He also had a hits with Rock And Roll Never Forgets, Sunspot Baby and a wicked version of Mary Lou which was the only track done with the Live Bullet band for at that time, Seger was working with some of the finest players out of Muscle Shoals Alabama and he would return there from time to time. Stranger In Town (Aka Night Moves 2) continued this new found sound with more of a eye for top forty radio (Hollywood Nights, Old Time Rock And Roll) and even a play for ballads such as the mind numbling We Got Tonight a song Pop Dose mentioned at one of the all time worst. It's really not that bad and it did top the charts in 1979 thereabouts. But I noticed a bit of recycled tunes that the cover of Ain't Got No Money sounds lots like The Fire Down Below. And Brave Strangers might be Bob's response to The Four Seasons Oh What A Night.
By Against The Wind, Bob became more MOR than rock and roll and having the Eagles help out on vocals didn't help either although I like this record better than Stranger In Town. You'll Accompany Me is a fine ballad, Long Twin Silver Line showed that Bob could rock when he wanted to and Her Strut was super cool too. But alas for myself this was the final album that I really listened to, anything after just sounded like either Springsteen or Mellencamp imitations although The Distance had moments like Making Thunderbirds but Jimmy Iovine added too much El Lay session pump and pomp for production. And then there's Like A Rock to which Seger could live on the royalties of that song itself as he lend it out to Chevy on those annoying commercials of the next 20 years.
Which leaves that the next two albums The Fire Inside and It's A Mystery which the latter may have been Seger's all time worst album. Nothing really stood out and then since the record sold so poorly he decided to retire. To which the rehashings begain with the Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits 2 which basically was Beautiful Loser/Night Moves/Stranger In Town/Against The Wind cherry pickings. Capitol did reissue Seger's early albums (Sans Noah, Brand New Morning and Back In 72) in the 1990s but since then Segar made Capitol take them off the market. The only time Bob did acknowledged the past was a brief Early Years Volume 1 which Wal Mart sold and it has Get Out Of Denver and a couple hours but still refuses to do anything with Noah or Lucifer for songs.
In 2006, Seger surprised the world and myself by making Face The Promise, a album that was his best since Against The Wind. This time, he went down to Nashville and picked some of the finer session players there and even getting Kid Rock (a big fan) to contribute Real Live Bottle. Balancing strong rockers with good ballads this album proved at even at his advanced age that Seger can be one of the best songwriters on the planet. After just about giving up on him on It's a Mystery, Face The Promise showed maybe there's still life left in Bob.
The Ultimate Hits, or Rock n Roll Never Forgets really sums up the classic rock years and rounds up all the good and bad of Beautiful Loser and beyond but does adds Ramblin Gamblin Man. Biggest complaint seems to be adding the useless Little Drummer Boy and leaving out The Fire Inside. But for an overview of the classic period you can do worse, plus it sells for 12 bucks at Wally World.
Maybe some day the world will get to hear the early years before Night Moves but as long as Bob stays alive and shrugs it off I doubt if we will. Sad, cause at that time, Seger was one of the top 10 best hard rockers to come roaring out of Detroit.
Albums:
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (Capitol 1968) B+
Noah (Capitol 1969) C+
Brand New Morning (Capitol 1970) B-
Mongrel (Capitol 1970) B
Back In 72 (Reprise 1972) B+
Smokin OPs (Capitol 1972) A-
Seven (Capitol 1973) B+
Beautiful Loser (Capitol 1974) B-
Live Bullet (Capitol 1975) A-
Night Moves (Capitol 1976) A-
Stranger In Town (Capitol 1978) B
Against The Wind (Capitol 1980) B+
Nine Tonight (Capitol 1981) B
The Distance (Capitol 1983) B-
Like A Rock (Capitol 1986) B-
The Fire Inside (Capitol 1991) B-
It's A Mystery (Capitol 1995) C
Face The Promise (Capitol/Hideout 2006) B+
The Early Years Volume 1 (Hideout 2008) B+
Ultimate Hits/Rock N Roll Never Forgets (Capitol 2011) B+
But none of them had the strange aura of turning back on his past more so than Bob Seger, who like The Pack, recorded a bunch of singles for Cameo/Parkway including Heavy Music with one of the more infectious bass lines to open up a song. In some ways Seger, had two careers, one being the Detroit rocker and second being the more 'mature' artist and going more Muscle Sholes than Detroit in his music. It's a mystery why he has turned his back on the past, in fact most of his early albums still hold up and are even better than the latter day stuff he turned out. When he moved to Capitol after Cameo/Parkway folded, he made the trippy, hippie dippy sound of Ramblin Gamblin Man the album, to which the drummer lays down a heavy beat and then the famed organ sounds take over. One of the best 2 minutes of rock ever committed to 45 me thinks. But the album also included failed singles Tales Of Lucy Blue, the chaos that is Ivory and the war protesting song 2 + 2 = ?. It also gives the world the very trippy White Wall and the dark brooding Black Eyed Girl. Dave Honaker contributes Gone to the equation, the only contribution from other guys that made up the Bob Seger System. And perhaps that's why Bob kinda disowned this period, that Ramblin Gamblin Man suffers a bit of growing pains and trying to figure what to do at times but one thing is for certain. Bob Seger was his best when he's a straight ahead rocker. And White Wall is a perfect example of the chaoticness of trying to do everything all at once.
The next set of albums take chaos to more extremes that Noah, the album Seger has disowned from the start and outside of the title track, nothing else really stands out. Junking the System, Bob made the completely acoustic Brand New Morning, just him and guitar which shows Seger was ahead of the unplugged movement. Problem was it was kinda boring. Mongrel was better, he was working with a band again and had a minor hit with Lucifer which got some airplay.
For a couple years Seger left Capitol to go with Palladium/Reprise for three albums of note: One was Back in 72, a album historic for the fact that it was one of Bob's best efforts that he's never put on CD and at the rate things are going may never will. This record I tend to think is the template that would become Night Moves. Slightly overrated by critics and fans it does have the original version of Turn The Page, which would work better on the breakout Live Bullet but I prefer the original due to it's weariness of being on the road back in 72 going through hicktowns and having the old folk make fun of the long hair freaks that invade their neck of the woods. It also has Rosalie, a song which Thin Lizzy would cover later on. Smokin' OPs the next album is Seger at his mad best, with a hard charging Bo Diddley, a sloppy but fun romp through Love The One You With and a desperate sounding If I Were A Carpenter, my favorite version of that song. And through all that, even manages to find a scratchy copy of Heavy Music Part 1 to complete the album too. And Seven may have been the best overall Seger album with a hard charging Get Out Of Denver leading things off.
The album sold okay but not enough to keep Seger on Reprise so he moved back to Capitol and started changing things by adding more southern rock to his style with Beautiful Loser although Seven was much better, Seger decided that this would be the starting point for his CD reissues. But I think he was under the gun for something to sell so the next album turned out to be Live Bullet, which features Bob doing some of his favorite songs in front of a hometown crowd and it turned out to be the turning point. Renaming his band the Silver Bullet Band, this lineup was his best and most rocking. And somewhere along the way, Bob must have been listening to Bruce Springsteen and perhaps made his most loved recordings of the late 70s.
Night Moves was the perfect antidote of my high school years to which most of the songs do remind me of certain things, the love that got away in Main Street and the title track. He also had a hits with Rock And Roll Never Forgets, Sunspot Baby and a wicked version of Mary Lou which was the only track done with the Live Bullet band for at that time, Seger was working with some of the finest players out of Muscle Shoals Alabama and he would return there from time to time. Stranger In Town (Aka Night Moves 2) continued this new found sound with more of a eye for top forty radio (Hollywood Nights, Old Time Rock And Roll) and even a play for ballads such as the mind numbling We Got Tonight a song Pop Dose mentioned at one of the all time worst. It's really not that bad and it did top the charts in 1979 thereabouts. But I noticed a bit of recycled tunes that the cover of Ain't Got No Money sounds lots like The Fire Down Below. And Brave Strangers might be Bob's response to The Four Seasons Oh What A Night.
By Against The Wind, Bob became more MOR than rock and roll and having the Eagles help out on vocals didn't help either although I like this record better than Stranger In Town. You'll Accompany Me is a fine ballad, Long Twin Silver Line showed that Bob could rock when he wanted to and Her Strut was super cool too. But alas for myself this was the final album that I really listened to, anything after just sounded like either Springsteen or Mellencamp imitations although The Distance had moments like Making Thunderbirds but Jimmy Iovine added too much El Lay session pump and pomp for production. And then there's Like A Rock to which Seger could live on the royalties of that song itself as he lend it out to Chevy on those annoying commercials of the next 20 years.
Which leaves that the next two albums The Fire Inside and It's A Mystery which the latter may have been Seger's all time worst album. Nothing really stood out and then since the record sold so poorly he decided to retire. To which the rehashings begain with the Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits 2 which basically was Beautiful Loser/Night Moves/Stranger In Town/Against The Wind cherry pickings. Capitol did reissue Seger's early albums (Sans Noah, Brand New Morning and Back In 72) in the 1990s but since then Segar made Capitol take them off the market. The only time Bob did acknowledged the past was a brief Early Years Volume 1 which Wal Mart sold and it has Get Out Of Denver and a couple hours but still refuses to do anything with Noah or Lucifer for songs.
In 2006, Seger surprised the world and myself by making Face The Promise, a album that was his best since Against The Wind. This time, he went down to Nashville and picked some of the finer session players there and even getting Kid Rock (a big fan) to contribute Real Live Bottle. Balancing strong rockers with good ballads this album proved at even at his advanced age that Seger can be one of the best songwriters on the planet. After just about giving up on him on It's a Mystery, Face The Promise showed maybe there's still life left in Bob.
The Ultimate Hits, or Rock n Roll Never Forgets really sums up the classic rock years and rounds up all the good and bad of Beautiful Loser and beyond but does adds Ramblin Gamblin Man. Biggest complaint seems to be adding the useless Little Drummer Boy and leaving out The Fire Inside. But for an overview of the classic period you can do worse, plus it sells for 12 bucks at Wally World.
Maybe some day the world will get to hear the early years before Night Moves but as long as Bob stays alive and shrugs it off I doubt if we will. Sad, cause at that time, Seger was one of the top 10 best hard rockers to come roaring out of Detroit.
Albums:
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (Capitol 1968) B+
Noah (Capitol 1969) C+
Brand New Morning (Capitol 1970) B-
Mongrel (Capitol 1970) B
Back In 72 (Reprise 1972) B+
Smokin OPs (Capitol 1972) A-
Seven (Capitol 1973) B+
Beautiful Loser (Capitol 1974) B-
Live Bullet (Capitol 1975) A-
Night Moves (Capitol 1976) A-
Stranger In Town (Capitol 1978) B
Against The Wind (Capitol 1980) B+
Nine Tonight (Capitol 1981) B
The Distance (Capitol 1983) B-
Like A Rock (Capitol 1986) B-
The Fire Inside (Capitol 1991) B-
It's A Mystery (Capitol 1995) C
Face The Promise (Capitol/Hideout 2006) B+
The Early Years Volume 1 (Hideout 2008) B+
Ultimate Hits/Rock N Roll Never Forgets (Capitol 2011) B+
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