Happy Friday and welcome to another installment of this series featuring six songs from a specific year. In case you’re new to it, Chris & Max Pick… is the continuation of a recurring feature fellow blogger Max from PowerPop initiated in June 2023, which included the years 1955 through 1995. I’m aiming to cover each of the remaining years until 2024. Max generously agreed to support the effort by supplying one song for each post. Following are our combined picks for 1998.
Dixie Chicks/Wide Open Spaces
Kicking things off are Texas pop-flavored country and bluegrass trio Dixie Chicks, who since June 2020 have been known as The Chicks. They were formed in Dallas in 1989 and since 1995 have included co-founders Emily Strayer (harmony and backing vocals, banjo, dobro, guitar) and Martie Maguire (harmony and backing vocals, fiddle, mandolin), as well as Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, Omnichord). Wide Open Spaces, penned by singer-songwriter Susan Gibson, is the title track of their fourth studio album, which appeared in January 1998. It marked their major label debut, commercial breakthrough and the first release with Maines.
Bonnie Raitt/Lover’s Will
Bonnie Raitt is one of my longtime favorite music artists and slide guitarists who incorporates blues, rock, folk and country. In April 1998, she released her 13th studio album Fundamental. To me, the standout track is Lover’s Will, written by the great John Hiatt. He had first recorded the song for his 1983 album Riding with the King. Hiatt also penned what became Raitt’s biggest U.S. hit on Billboard’sMainstream Rock chart in 1989: Thing Called Love, which reached no. 11. Hiatt had previously included it on his May 1987 studio album Bring the Family.
Lenny Kravitz/Fly Away
Lenny Kravitz first entered my radar screen in the early ’90s with his great April 1991 sophomore album Mama Said. I’ve since listened to the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist on and off. Fly Away, written by Kravitz, is a track from his fifth full-length album 5, released in May 1998. The catchy rocker also became the fourth single and one of Kravitz’s bigger hits, especially in the UK where it topped the charts, his only no. 1 there to date.
Lucinda Williams/Right In Time
This brings me to another artist who I’ve come to love over the past few years, especially after having seen her open for Bonnie Raitt in Philly in June 2022: Lucinda Williams. The roots-oriented singer-songwriter’s 45-year-plus career almost got derailed in November 2020 when she suffered a stroke. Thanks to rehab she recovered and start touring and recording again, though she hasn’t been able to resume playing guitar. Right In Time, written by Williams, is from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and also became the first single of her acclaimed fifth studio album from June 1998.
Barenaked Ladies/It’s All Been Done
This next pick takes us to Canada and Barenaked Ladies, who combine an eclectic mix of folk and pop rock with humorous lyrics. Founded in Toronto in 1988, they developed a following in their home country in the early ’90s before breaking through in the U.S. with their July 1998 fourth full-length album Stunt. It entered the Billboard 200 at no. 3 and became their bestseller. The album also reached no. 20 in each the UK and New Zealand. Off Stunt, here’s It’s All Been Done, penned by then-band member Steven Page – catchy and quirky!
Fatboy Slim/Right Here, Right Now
Since I mentioned Max in the intro, you may have wondered what happened to his pick. The wait is over: Right Here, Right Now by Fatboy Slim, a song I had not seen coming. Fatboy Slim is a stage name of English musician, DJ and record producer Norman Cook who helped popularize the so-called big beat genre in the ’90s. Big beat (yes, I had to look it up in Wikipedia!) is “an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno.” Right Here, Right Now, off Fatboy Slim’s October 1998 sophomore album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, became one of his biggest hits. It was particularly successful in the UK where it surged to no. 2.
Valley Lodge, Brainstory, Pillow Queens, The Brother Brothers, Ian Hunter and Pearl Jam
It’s Saturday, which is the time of week where I take a fresh look at newly released music. All picks are included on albums that dropped yesterday (April 19).
Valley Lodge/Daylights
Valley Lodge are a power pop band from New York City who released their eponymous debut album in August 2005. Cheap Trick, T. Rex, Big Star, Raspberries, Thin Lizzy, Matthew Sweet, Slade and the Kinks are among their influences. The group’s current lineup includes Dave Hill (vocals, guitar), Phil Costello (vocals, guitar), John Kimbrough (guitar), Eddie Eyeball (bass) and Rob Pfeiffer (drums). Daylights is the fun opener of the group’s fifth and latest album Shadows in Paradise.
Brainstory/Peach Optimo
Brainstory are a Los Angeles-based trio whose sound AllMusic characterizes as smooth and trippy, blending psychedelic jazz and pop. Comprised of Kevin Martin (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Tony Martin (bass, vocals) and Eric Hagstrom (drums), Brainstory debuted in November 2019 with the album Buck, releasing an instrumental version and a version with vocals. They are now out with their second full-length album, Sounds Good, which pretty much sums up the music! Here’s Peach Optimo.
Pillow Queens/Like a Lesson
Irish indie rock band Pillow Queens were formed in Dublin in 2016. Their members are Pamela Connolly (vocals, guitar), Sarah Corcoran (bass, backing vocals, pump organ), Cathy McGuinness (guitar, backing vocals) and Rachel Lyons (drums, backing vocals). After a series of singles, they released their debut album In Waiting in September 2020. Off their third and new album Name Your Sorrow, here’s Like a Lesson.
The Brother Brothers/Brown Dog
New York-based folk duo The Brother Brothers consist of Adam Moss and his identical twin brother David Moss. AllMusicnotes their harmony-laden pop draws from Americana and first-generation rock & roll. Initially, Adam learned the fiddle and David picked the cello, and they played in different bands in different locations. It wasn’t until they both lived in Brooklyn that they started their duo. Their first full-length album Some People I Know appeared in October 2018. Their latest is titled The January Album. Here’s Brown Dog. Those vocal harmonies are neat!
Ian Hunter/People
Until February 2023 when I came across Bed of Roses by Ian Hunter from his album Defiance Part 1, I had not realized what an extensive solo career he has had since 1975. The former Mott the Hoople lead vocalist and guitarist who turns 85 in June continues to fire on all cylinders. Like last year’s predecessor, Defiance Part 2: Fiction features collaborations with prominent guests, such as the late Jeff Beck, Lucinda Williams and Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes. Here’s People featuring Cheap Trick (Tom Petersson, Robin Zander & Rick Nielsen) and Def Leppard lead vocalist Joe Elliott.
Pearl Jam/Running
Wrapping up this new music review are Pearl Jam. I’ve yet to more fully explore the Seattle rock band who were formed in 1990. Their present line-up includes co-founders Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar, backing vocals), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Jeff Ament (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), together with Matt Cameron (drums, percussion, backing vocals) who joined in 1998. Running, credited to the band and producer Andrew Watt, is a track from their 12th and latest album Dark Matter. This rocks nicely.
Happy Hump Day and welcome to another edition of my weekly feature, which takes a closer look at songs I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. On March 30, singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman turned 60, something I would have completely missed, had it not been for fellow blogger Dave who pens the excellent A Sound Day and posted about the happy occasion. Not surprisingly, he also included my pick this week: Fast Car, a song that was instant love the moment I heard it for the first time!
Fast Car appeared in April 1988 on Chapman’s eponymous debut album and like all other tracks on this gem was solely written by her. It also became Chapman’s first single and biggest hit, topping the charts in Canada, Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands and Portugal. In the U.S., it peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, while in the UK it climbed to no. 5. The song also hit certification thresholds in various markets, most notably in the UK where it reached 4x Platinum last month (2.4 million certified sold units).
Not only only did Chapman’s expressive, relatively low voice grab my attention right away, but I also immediately loved the acoustic guitar part. Together with Talkin’ about a Revolution, the second single that also received lots of radio play back in Germany at the time, it made me buy the album on CD and subsequently a companion songbook for guitar. That’s when I fully realized how great the lyrics of these two songs are, as well as the other tracks on the album.
Fast Car tells the tale of a woman who likes to escape her dreadful life and tries to convince her unemployed and unsupportive partner to come with her to build a better future, recalling a time when he made her feel great while they were driving in his car. Thematically, it reminds me of The Animals‘ 1965 hit single We Gotta Get Out of This Place co-written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Here’s a clip of Chapman playing the song at the June 11, 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at London’s Wembley Stadium – an impromptu performance that changed her career trajectory, as explained further down in this post.
At the 1989 Grammy Awards, Chapman won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Fast Car. The song was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In Rolling Stone’s 2004 inaugural list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Fast Car was ranked at no. 167. In the most recent February 2024 revision, the song came in at no. 71, matching its position in the September 2021 update. Fast Car also made Pitchfork’s August 2015 list of The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s at no. 86.
SecondHandSongslists close to 100 cover versions of Fast Car, mostly by lesser known artists. The most notable exception is country singer-songwriter Luke Combs who included a decent rendition on his fourth studio album Gettin’ Old that came out in March 2023. Not only did he score a major hit reaching no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hitting no. 1 on the Country Airplay chart, but Combs also won Single of Year at the 2023 Annual Country Music Association Awards. Chapman took home Song of the Year, becoming the first Black woman to ever win a CMA award. Here’s Chapman’s amazing live performance with Combs at this year’s Grammy Awards where Combs was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance. Gosh, this is just great!
Here’s another cool rendition of Fast Car by Black Pumas, an intriguing partnership between producer and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Quesada and singer-songwriter Eric Burton. According to AllMusic, they fuse cinematic neo-soul, light psychedelia, and a touch of urban grit. Black Pumas released their cover of Fast Car in August 2020.
Following are select additional insights from Songfacts:
In the BBC radio series Striking A Chord, Chapman talked about the meaning of “Fast Car.”
“It very generally represents the world that I saw when I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, coming from a working-class background, being raised by a single mom and being in a community of people who were struggling,” she said. “Everyone was working hard and hoping that things would get better.”
“It wasn’t directly autobiographical,” she continued. “I never had a fast car. It’s a story about a couple and how they are trying to make a life together and they face various challenges.”
The catalyst [for Fast Car – CMM] came on June 11, 1988, when Chapman was on the bill at the Nelson Mandela birthday concert at Wembley Stadium along with big names like Whitney Houston, Peter Gabriel, and Jackson Browne. She did a three-song set in the afternoon that included the apropos “Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution,” but not “Fast Car.” She thought she’d done her bit and could relax and enjoy the rest of the concert, but as the show stretched into the evening, Stevie Wonder was delayed when the computer discs for his performance went missing, and Chapman was ushered back on stage again. In front of a huge prime-time audience she performed “Fast Car” alone with her acoustic guitar, wowing the crowd and building quite a buzz. The song raced up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, landing at #5 in the UK on July 16 and #6 in America on August 27. In the US, her album also hit #1 on that date.
Combs’ version keeps a tight grip on the original’s iconic guitar riffs, with a gravelly vocal delivery that sometimes mimics Chapman’s. It’s worth noting that Chapman is known to be very selective about who gets to use her work.
Combs has said that “Fast Car” was his first favorite song, and he learned to play guitar using it. He’s such a fan of the original that he refers to himself as a “girl” in the fourth verse to preserve the lyrics.
[Producer – CMM] David Kershenbaum wanted to create a sonic landscape that allowed Tracy Chapman to shine. Recognizing the delicate balance required when adding additional players to an acoustic artist’s work, Kershenbaum opted for a meticulous approach.
He recorded Tracy and her guitar on a digital machine, then brought in five studio drummers and five bass players to lay down tracks. Kershenbaum carefully curated the mix, picking and choosing until he struck gold with the winning combination of Denny Fongheiser on drums and Larry Klein on bass. [There is also Ed Black on guitar – CMM]
“The combination of Denny and Larry was the correct one,” he told Billboard. “Many times, they are all that’s playing along with Tracy. It’s a third of the record. So, I had to be careful that they were really supporting what she was doing and not distracting because she had to be in at the forefront of this.”
Sources: Wikipedia; Rolling Stone; SecondHandSongs; AllMusic; Songfacts; YouTube
Maggie Rogers, Will Hoge, Nicolette & The Nobodies, Trummors, Mark Knopfler and Blue Öyster Cult
Happy Saturday and welcome to my latest weekly look at new music releases. All picks are on albums that came out yesterday (April 12).
Maggie Rogers/So Sick of Dreaming
First up is Maggie Rogers, a singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Md., combining folk, dance and pop in her music. By the time she began writing songs in 8th grade, Rogers had picked up the harp, piano and guitar. She gained popularity in 2016 at the age of 22 with Alaska, a song she wrote while attending a master class at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. By that time, Rogers already had released two independent albums. Her first label release Heard It in a Past Life, which came out in January 2019, debuted at no. 2 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. Off her third and latest album Don’t Forget Me, here’s the pleasant So Sick of Dreaming.
Will Hoge/Good While It Lasted
Will Hoge is an Americana and southern rock singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tenn., who I first featured in July 2020. In 1997, he released an EP with his band at the time Spoonful, but it wasn’t successful and the group disbanded. After self-releasing a live CD and his first studio album Carousel, Hoge managed to get a deal with Atlantic Records in early 2002. While it was short-lived, it resulted in his major label debut Blackbird on a Lonely Wire in March 2003. Good While It Lasted, co-written by Hoge and Hayes Carll, is a song from his new album Tenderhearted Boys.
Nicolette & The Nobodies/Better Days
Ontario, Canada-based Nicolette & The Nobodies win the prize for best band name this week. Glide Magazinenoted the group is led by singer-songwriter Nicolette Hoang, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. Their Bandcamp page describes them as “heavily influenced by the songs and stage presence of 60’s and 70’s country starlets” while retaining “the gritty rough edges of outlaw country.” From their debut album The Long Way, here’s Better Days. The song’s rock vibe immediately grabbed me.
Trummors/I Can Still Make Cheyenne
Trummors are a country rock duo from Taos, N.M., consisting of multi-instrumentalists David Lerner and Anne Cunningham who rely on a rotating cast of musicians. Their AllMusicbio notes they came together in 2010 in Brooklyn, New York and released their debut album Over and Around the Clove in 2012. Off their fifth and latest album, appropriately titled 5, here’s I Can Still Make Cheyenne, a song with a nice country vibe. Like all other tracks on the album, it was written pre-pandemic.
Mark Knopfler/Two Pairs of Hands
After Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits in 1994, the British guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer launched a solo career. The first album under his name, Golden Heart, appeared in March 1996. While not comparable to Dire Straits, Knopfler has continued to enjoy success with his solo albums. Off his 10th and latest, One Deep River, here’s the opener Two Pairs of Hands, written by Knopfler. I’ve always loved his distinct guitar-playing!
Blue Öyster Cult/Don’t Come Running to Me
Rounding out this post are Blue Öyster Cult. Formed in 1967 on Long Island, N.Y., the rock band first entered my radar screen with the great Don’t Fear the Reaper sometime in the late ’70s. Their 15th and latest studio album Ghost Stories is a collection of unreleased tracks they started but didn’t finish between 1978 and 1983, as well as three covers of Animals, Beatles and MC5 songs, Ultimate Classic Rockreported in a review. Here’s Don’t Come Running to Me, a pop rocker that stylistically would have fit on Mirrors, Fire of Unknown Origin or other BÖC albums from the late ’70s/early ’80s.
Phil Ochs, Brilliant Yet Widely Obscure Troubadour
Coincidentally, I stumbled across this previous post when searching my blog for something else and thought it would be worthwhile republishing. This piece, which has been slightly edited, first appeared about 4.5 years ago. I realize it’s lengthy but hope you’ll find it worth your time, especially if you’re into protest singer-songwriters.
Phil Ochs, Brilliant Yet Widely Obscure Troubadour
What do Robert Allen Zimmerman and Philip David Ochs have in common? Both wrote brilliant protest songs in the ’60s. The difference? Robert changed his name to Bob Dylan and became one of the most famous music artists of our time. Philip chose to perform as Phil Ochs and remained largely obscure outside singer-songwriter circles. That’s a shame!
Until recently, I had never heard of Phil Ochs myself. Then I saw somebody ranting on Facebook that Bob Dylan undeservedly gets all the credit for being this brilliant protest singer when the recognition should really go to Ochs. The truth is while both artists at some point were important protest singer-songwriters, none of them invented the genre. According to Wikipedia, the tradition of protest songs in the U.S. long predates the births of Dylan and Ochs – in fact going all the way back to the 18th century.
One of the important forerunners to the 1950s and 1960s protest singer-songwriters were the Hutchinson Family Singers, who starting from 1839 became well known for singing about social issues, such as abolition, war and women’s suffrage. And let’s not forget Woody Guthrie, who was born in 1912 and started learning folk and blues songs during his early teens. Over a 26-year-period as an active music artist, Guthrie wrote hundreds of political, folk and children’s songs. He was a major influence on numerous other songwriters who in addition to Dylan and Ochs included Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, Harry Chapin, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and many other former and contemporary artists.
Hutchinson Family Singers in 1845 painting by an unknown artist
‘I get it,’ you might think, ‘but who the hell is Phil Ochs?’ Sadly, it’s a pretty rough story, and it doesn’t have a Hollywood happy ending.
Ochs was born on December 19, 1940 in El Paso, Texas. His dad Jakob “Jack” Ochs was a physician from New York, and his mom Gertrude Finn Ochs hailed from Scotland. The two met there and got married in Edinburgh where Jack was attending medical school at the time. After their wedding, they moved to the U.S. Jack joined the army as a doctor and was sent overseas close to the end of World War II. He returned as a sick man with bipolar disorder and depression.
Jack’s health conditions prevented him from establishing a successful medical practice. Instead, he ended up working at a series of hospitals around the country and frequently moving his family. As a result, Phil Ochs grew up in different places, along with an older sister (Sonia, known as Sonny) and a younger brother (Michael). His father was distant from the family, eventually got hospitalized for depression, and passed away from a brain bleeding in April 1963. Phil’s mother died in March 1994.
Phil Ochs as a teenager playing the clarinet
During his teenage years, Ochs became a talented clarinet player. Prior to the age of 16, he was principal soloist with the orchestra at the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio. Although Ochs had become an accomplished classical instrumentalist, he soon discovered the radio and started listening to the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.
Initially, Ochs wanted to become a journalist. Well, he of sort did, combining his interest in writing about politics with music. During his journalism studies at Ohio State University, he met fellow student, activist and future folk singer Jim Glover in the fall of 1960, who introduced him to the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and The Weavers, and taught him how to play guitar. It wouldn’t take long before Ochs merged his interest of politics and music and started writing his own songs. He preferred to characterize himself as a topical rather than a protest singer.
Glover and Ochs started performing as a duo called The Singing Socialists and later The Sundowners but broke up before their first professional gig. Glover went to New York, while Ochs started performing professionally at a local folk club in Cleveland. In 1962, he went to the Big Apple as well and soon established himself in the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Ochs described himself as a “singing journalist,” explaining his songs were inspired by stories he saw in Newsweek. By the summer of 1963, he had developed a sufficiently high profile and was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, along the likes of Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary.
Ochs’ debut album All The News That’s Fit To Sing, an allusion to The New York Times‘ slogan “All the news that’s fit to print,” appeared in 1964. Here is Ballad of William Worthy. The tune tells the story about an American journalist who traveled to Cuba despite the U.S. embargo and was forbidden to return to the U.S. Check out the brilliant lyrics of this tune – safe to assume Ochs’ words didn’t endear him to the Johnson Administration.
In 1965, Ochs’ sophomore album I Ain’t Marching Anymore came out. Here’s the excellent satirical anti-war tune Draft Dodger Rag, which quickly became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam war movement.
After Ochs’ first three albums with Electra Records had gone nowhere commercially speaking, he signed with A&M Records and in October 1967 released his fourth studio record Pleasures Of The Harbor. Unlike his first three folk music-oriented records, the album went beyond folk, featuring elements of classical, rock & roll, Dixieland and even experimental synthesized music. Apparently, the idea was to produce a folk-pop crossover. While the album included great tunes, it’s safe to say it didn’t bring Ochs commercial success. Here is Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends, which became one of Ochs’ most popular songs. The tune was inspired by the case of a 28-old woman who was stabbed to death in front of her home in Queens, New York, while dozens of her neighbors reportedly ignored her cries for help.
Tape From California is Ochs’ fifth album. Released in July 1968 on A&M Records, it continued his shift away from straight folk-oriented protest songwriting, though he was far from abandoning topical songs. The War Is Over is a tune that was inspired by poet Allen Ginsberg who in 1966 declared the Vietnam war was over. Ochs decided to adopt the idea and organize an anti-war rally in Los Angeles, for which he wrote the song.
Phil Ochs’ final studio album came out in February 1970. Weirdly, it was called Greatest Hits, even though it was not a compilation but a collection of 10 new tracks. Most of the record was produced by Van Dyke Parks, who previously had appeared on Tape From California, contributing piano and keyboards to the title track. Greatest Hits featured an impressive array of guest artists, including Clarence White and Gene Parsons, both from the Byrds; Ry Cooder; Jim Glover; and members of Elvis Presley’s backing band, among others. The album cover was an homage to Elvis, showing Ochs in a gold lamé suit reminiscent of the outfit Elvis wore for the cover of his 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong greatest hits compilation. Here is Jim Dean Of Indiana, a tune about the actor James Dean, who like Elvis was one of Ochs’ idols.
Greatest Hits was Ochs’ final attempt to connect with average Americans, who he was convinced weren’t listening to topical songs. Disillusioned by key events of 1968, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the police riot in Chicago around the Democratic National Convention and the election of Richard Nixon, Ochs felt he needed to be “part Elvis Presley and part Che Guevara,” as Wikipedia puts it. Ochs supported the album with a tour, performing in the Elvis-like suit and being backed by a rock band, singing his own songs, along with tunes by Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard. But his fans weren’t sure what to make of the “new Phil Ochs.”
Pretty much from there, things went downhill for Ochs. He developed writer’s block and slipped into depression and alcoholism. He did not release any additional records. On April 9, 1976, Ochs committed suicide by hanging himself in the home of his sister Sonny. He was only 35 years old.
I’d like to conclude this post with a few quotes I found on Life of a Rebel, a blog dedicated to Ochs. “As a lyricist, there was nobody like Phil before and there has not been anybody since,” said fellow folk singer Dave Van Ronk. “He had a touch that was so distinctive that it just could not be anybody else. He had been a journalism student before he became a singer, and he would never sacrifice what he felt to be the truth for a good line.” In a note to Ochs in 1963, Pete Seeger wrote, “I wish I had one tenth your talent as a songwriter.” And what did the mighty Bob Dylan tell Broadside magazine in 1964? “I just can’t keep up with Phil. And he’s getting better and better and better.”
– END –
If you’re still here, thanks for reading this post, which first was published on October 13, 2019.
Beans, Scott Stapp, Potato Beach, Cory Well, James Clarke Five and The Black Crowes
Happy Saturday and welcome to my weekly new music review. All featured picks can be found on albums that were released yesterday (March 15)
Beans/Dreaming Daisy
First up are Australian psychedelic garage rock group Beans from Melbourne. An announcement on the website of their label Fuzz Club Records notes the band is fronted by Matt Blach, drummer of rock band The Murlocs who also hail from Melbourne. Boots N Cats is Beans’ third full-length album after All Together Now (2020) and Babble (2018). Boots N Cats “bounces between organ-driven garage-rock wig-outs, breezy psych-pop and groovy funk instrumentals.” Here’s Dreaming Daisy.
Scott Stapp/Deadman’s Trigger
Scott Stapp is best known as lead vocalist and lyricist of post-grunge rockers Creed who he co-founded in Tallahassee, Fla. in 1994. After Creed had disbanded in 2004, Stapp released his first solo album, The Great Divide, in November 2005. During the hiatus of Creed who had reunited in 2009, Stapp resumed his solo career and is now out with his fourth and latest album Higher Power. Meanwhile, Creed emerged from hiatus in July 2023 and will tour the U.S. and Canada starting in April. Here’s Deadman’s Trigger co-written by Stapp, Blair Daly, Marti Frederiksen, Scott Stevens and Zac Maloy.
Potato Beach/Please Waste Your Time
Potato Beach are another psychedelic garage rock band, from Vienna, Austria, who were formed in 2020. From their Bandcamp profile: Anja, Peter, Sven, Lili and Jannik try to make everything sound like the 60s, even though they live in 2022. Because they are not cool enough to move to L.A., they are trying to bring the seductive sound of bands such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Allah-Las and La Luz to Austria. Off their first full-length album Dip In, here’s Please Waste Your Time – that cool retro grabbed me right away!
Cory Wells/Natural Disaster
Cory Wells, not to be confused with the former Three Dog Night member of the same name, is a California singer-songwriter who AllMusicnotes blends acoustic EMO and cathartic power folk. Initially, Wells focused on metal and hardcore and was a touring member of post-hardcore band Movements before shifting to a quieter style and releasing his 2018 debut EP How to Tear Apart the Ones You Love. His second and latest full-length album is titled Harboring the Hurt I’ve Caused. Here’s Natural Disaster, co-written by Wells, Anton DeLost and Sarah Thompson.
James Clarke Five/Ghost
James Clarke Five is the solo project of British power pop artist James Hughes. He was a co-founder and the keyboarder of ’80s English new wave band The Cherry Boys. After their breakup in 1984, he also co-founded indie pop outfit Exhibit B whose 1988 album Playing Dead became a cult classic. Hughes launched James Clarke Five in the early 2000s. His latest album under that moniker, Zoom and The Gadflies, has “a common theme inspired by the music that excited me as a child,” Hughes explained in a statement, “people like Adam and The Ants, and also the likes of T. Rex and the ‘production style’ of the Glam Rock era.” Here’s Ghost, a song about bittersweet reflections on childhood and the passing of time with a neat harpsichord-driven sound!
The Black Crowes/Wanting and Waiting
Rounding out this post is music from the new album by The Black Crowes, the group’s first since their third reunion in 2019. Initially formed in Atlanta, Ga. as Mr. Crowe’s Garden in 1984, the band around brothers Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson has seen numerous line-up changes and much drama, especially between the brothers. In late 2019, they told Howard Stern they had resolved their differences. The group conducted a 2022 tour around the 30th anniversary of their Shake Your Money Maker debut album. Off their new studio project Happiness Bastards, here’s the great Wanting and Waiting. The Black Crowes are touring behind the album starting in early April.
Sources: Wikipedia; Fuzz Club Records website;Potato Beach Bandcamp page; AllMusic; Shameless Promotion PR press kit; YouTube; Spotify
Tomato Flower, The End Machine, Ghost Work, Slow Hollows, Norah Jones and Dion
It’s Saturday, which means time to take a fresh look at newly released music. All six picks are from albums that came out yesterday (March 8).
Tomato Flower/Harlequin
Tomato Flower are a Baltimore-based group, including Austyn Wohlers (guitar, vocals, synthesizer), Jamison Murphy (guitar, vocals), Ruby Mars (bass) and Mike Alfieri (drums). Their website notes a transition from psych pop on their early (2022) EPs to a “more urgent, raw, emotionally immediate” sound on their debut album No, “the band’s first effort made entirely in person, the first thing tracked in a studio instead of in a bedroom.” Here’s Harlequin credited to all members of the group. The song’s laid back feel drew me in.
The End Machine/Killer of the Night
The End Machine are a hard rock and heavy metal band formed in 2018. Their current lineup features co-founders and ex-Dokken members George Lynch (guitar) and Jeff Pilsen (bass, backing vocals), along with Girish Pradhan (vocals) and Steve Brown (drums). In March 2019, The End Machine released their eponymous debut album. Off their third and latest, The Quantum Phase, here’s Killer of the Night. Heavy but melodic rock and decent vocals sold me!
Ghost Work/Erase the Morning
Ghost Work, according to their Spotify profile, are a new group of current and ex-members of four other bands: Vocalist and guitarist Aaron Stauffer (ex-Seaweed), guitarist Sean Husick (ex-Milemarker), bassist Dustin Perry (Snapcase) and drummer Erin Tate (ex-Minus The Bear). Following their June 2020 debut You’ll Be Buried With, they are now out with their second album Light a Candle for the Lonely. Here’s Erase the Morning. Good driving rock song!
Slow Hollows/Soap
Slow Hollows is a solo recording project of Los Angeles singer-songwriter Austin Feinstein. Initially, Feinstein founded Slow Hollows as an indie rock band in 2013 when he was a teenager. After three albums released between 2015 and 2019, the group disbanded amicably in early 2020. Feinstein, now 26 years old, continued to write songs. The result is a reinvented Slow Hollows and a new album, Bullhead. Here’s Soap.
Norah Jones/Running
It’s hard to believe more than 20 years have passed since Norah Jones launched her recording career. Her highly successful 2002 debut album Come Away With Me won five Grammy awards. Most of the subsequent albums by the singer-songwriter and pianist were also well received. To date, Jones has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Since her lounge jazz-flavored first album, Jones has evolved, infusing elements of blues, country, folk and pop in her music, demonstrating she’s not a one-trick pony. Off her nineth and latest album Visions, here’s the lead single Running, which first appeared on January 18. Neat pop song with great vocals!
Dion/I Aim to Please (feat. Danielle Nicole)
I’m thrilled to close this post with new music by Dion DiMucci, better known as Dion. At 84 years, the wanderer is marching on and sounds amazing! With Girl Friends, the versatile singer-songwriter continues a streak of tasty blues-flavored collaboration albums, following Stomping Ground (November 2021) and Blues With Friends (June 2020), which I reviewed here and here at the time. Girl Friends showcases female artists, such as Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeschi, Sue Foley and Danielle Nicole. Here’s the neat I Aim to Please, featuring Nicole.
What you always wanted to know about…Will the Wolf Survive?
Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment of Song Musings where I break down songs I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. This post is about an underrated, yet compelling band whose name I had known for decades but only started to explore a few years ago: Los Lobos who blend rock & roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues and soul with traditional Spanish music like cumbia, bolero and norteño. My specific pick is Will the Wolf Survive?
Will the Wolf Survive? was co-written by David Hidalgo (lead vocals, guitar, accordion, lap steel, percussion) and Louie Pérez (vocals, drums, bajo quinto), who co-founded Los Lobos in East Los Angeles, Calif. in 1973. The song appeared on their sophomore studio album How Will the Wolf Survive?, their first major label release from October 1984. It also appeared separately as the album’s second single.
Will the Wolf Survive? became Los Lobos’ first charting single in the U.S., climbing to no. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching no. 26 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks. The single also charted in The Netherlands at no. 38. The album peaked at no. 47 on the Billboard 200 and spent an impressive 34 weeks on the chart. Los Lobos were still about three years away from briefly becoming an international household name with their rendition of Ritchie Valens’ 1958 rock & roll adaptation of Mexican folk song La Bamba.
While La Bamba put Los Lobos on the map and is a terrific cover, there is so much more to this versatile group I was fortunate to see a year ago in New Jersey during their 50th anniversary tour. Will the Wolf Survive? is only one of many examples that prove the point. SongfactsexplainsThe “wolf” is a metaphor for a man who is striving to survive in a world that has outcast him: “Running scared, now forced to hide, in a land where he once stood with pride, but he’ll find his way by the morning light.” Here’s a nice live version captured in 1989.
According to SecondHandSongs, Will the Wolf Survive? was covered by outlaw country artist Waylon Jennings in 1986 and The Sidekicks in 2005, who appear to be a studio band associated with L.A.-based independent country and bluegrass label CMH Records. Jennings included the song as the title track of his March 1986 studio album. It also became the second single and a no. 5 hit on the country charts in each the U.S. and Canada.
“It was great!” Perez said of Jennings’ take on the tune, as documented by Songfacts. “Tony Joe White [an American singer-songwriter best known for writing Polk Salad Annie and Rainy Night in Georgia, who collaborated with Jennings – CMM] introduced him to the song, took the record over to him one day, and Waylon recorded his own version.”
Following are some additional tidbits from Songfacts:
The title for this song and album was derived from an issue of National Geographic, which contained an article headed: “Where Can the Wolf Survive?” Drummer and songwriter, Louie Perez, told Rolling Stone this headline resonated with Los Lobos, who had struggled for success in the US having come from Mexican roots: “It was like our group, our story: What is this beast, this animal that the record companies can’t figure out? Will we be given the opportunity to make it or not?”
This song was produced by T-Bone Burnett, who served as a backing guitarist for Bob Dylan before venturing into music production.
The overall theme of the song is about trying to sustain something that the band believed in that they saw slipping away. “We [Mexican-Americans] saw the importance of preserving our culture, and of passing along the traditions of our fathers,” Perez explained to American Songwriter. “So it’s all of that wrapped up into one song. But it’s about America … I always thought of myself as an American kid. I grew up on Carl Reiner sitcoms. It all becomes kind of intuitive. Stuff bubbles to the top when the time calls for it. All of it is instilled into that one song.”
JJ Grey & Mofro, John Bramwell, Norah Jones and Mark Knopfler
This happened faster than anticipated. The latest Spotify Release Radar playlist made me realize there is additional great new music I missed. Here’s another attempt of catching up – I have a funny feeling it won’t be the last! 🙂
JJ Grey & Mofro/Wonderland
JJ Grey & Mofro are a southern soul and rock band formed as Mofro in 2001 by John Higginbotham, aka JJ Grey, and Daryl Hance who had played music together since the mid-’90s. Since their 2001 debut Blackwater, the group who subsequently adopted their current name have released nine additional albums, including their latest, Olustee, which came out last Friday (February 23). Based on my first impression, the music is fun with a nice dose of soul. Here’s a sample, Wonderland. Featuring an upbeat vibe, great harmony singing, a driving drum beat and neat horn work, this is my kind of music!
John Bramwell/A World Full of Flowers
English singer-songwriter John Bramwell first gained prominence as front man of alternative rock trio I Am Kloot, which he co-founded in Manchester in 1999. After their break-up in 2016, Bramwell resumed his solo career he first had launched in 1989 under the moniker of Johnny Dangerously. Last Friday, he released his new album The Light Fantastic, which his website characterizes as almost a complete U-turn from his Kloot-days. Darker clouds have been banished, there are now strings and four-part harmonies and a dozen gloriously exhilarating, beautifully crafted observed songs about life, humanity, the universe and everything else. Here’s one of them: A World Full of Flowers.
Norah Jones/Staring At the Wall
When singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere in 2002 with her debut album Come Away With Me and the top 40 U.S. single Don’t Know Why, I was immediately hooked with her lounge jazz-oriented music and her cool vocals. Fast-forward 22 years and seven albums to Jones’ new single Staring At the Wall released February 22. Co-written by her and producer Leon Michels, the song is from her upcoming ninth studio album Visions scheduled for March 8. Since her aforementioned debut, Jones’ music has evolved, infusing elements of blues, country, folk and pop, demonstrating she’s not a one-trick pony. I like Staring At the Wall a lot!
Mark Knopfler/Watch Me Gone
I suppose Mark Knopfler doesn’t need much of an introduction. After he quietly dissolved Dire Straits for good in 1995, Knopfler launched a solo career and released the first album under his name, Golden Heart, in March 1996. While not as successful as Dire Straits during their heyday, the British singer-songwriter and guitarist has done pretty well. Knopfler’s latest song, Watch Me Gone, which appeared on February 22, is the second upfront single from his upcoming 10th solo album One Deep River set for release on April 12. Like on his previous post Dire Straits albums, it features ex-Dire Straits keyboarder Guy Fletcher. Still very much sounds like Mark Knopfler!
Sources: Wikipedia; John Bramwell website; YouTube; Spotify
Earlier this month, I proclaimed this year I would give more attention to music history. And while I still don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, I thought what the heck and decided to take another dive into the past and see what comes up, this time for January 30!
1958:Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley entered the UK Singles Chart at no. 1, the first single ever to debut in the top spot. Presley also holds the distinction of being the solo artist with the most no. 1 songs on that chart, 21 times, including three re-releases of songs that previously had reached the top spot. And, yep, that’s more than The Beatles, the band with the most no. 1 singles in the UK, though there’s a tie when you exclude Presley’s three aforementioned re-released songs. Jailhouse Rock was co-written by the songwriting and production power house of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
1961:The Shirelles reached the top of the U.S. charts with Will You Love Me Tomorrow, aka. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?. Not only did the song become the first no. 1 for an African American girl group on the Billboard Hot 100, but it also marked the first big hit for the songwriting duo of Carole King and Gerry Goffin.The Shirelles would return to the top of the U.S. pop chart one more time, in 1962, with Soldier Boy. Ten years after The Shirelles had scored their first no. 1, King would record her own rendition of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? for her iconic Tapestry album.
1969:The Beatles performed their last public gig, an impromptu concert on the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters in London. Joined by their friend Billy Preston on keyboards, they performed nine takes of five new songs as people gathered in the streets and on rooftops close by to watch and listen: Get Back (three takes), Don’t Let Me Down (two takes), I’ve Got a Feeling (two takes), One After 909 and Dig a Pony. They also played a snippet of God Save the Queen. After about 40 minutes, police ascended the roof, and the concert came to an end shortly thereafter. Fortunately, the historic performance was captured on film. Beatles fans got to see footage in the 1970 documentary Let It Be and Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series The Beatles: Get Back. And, yes, they passed the audition!
1971:Neil Young played The Needle and the Damage Done during a concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall. At first sight, it may seem a bit arbitrary to call out a song Young frequently performed at the time, except that this particular take was recorded and ended up on his fourth album Harvest. Released in February 1972, it became Young’s best-selling album and also was the best-selling album of 1972 in the U.S. The Needle and the Damage Done was inspired by musicians addicted to heroin, who Young knew, including his former backing guitarist Danny Whitten who passed away in late 1972.
1988: Australian rockers INXS hit no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with Need You Tonight. Co-written by the band’s guitarist Andrew Ferris and vocalist Michael Hutchence, the funky song first appeared on their sixth and most successful studio album Kick, released in October 1987. While INXS scored four other top 10 singles on the U.S. pop chart, Need You Tonight was their only no. 1. The song also enjoyed significant chart success elsewhere, including the UK and Canada (each no. 2) and New Zealand and Australia (each no. 3), among others.
Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; YouTube
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