Best of What’s New

Happy Saturday, and welcome to what to me feels like one of the busiest weeks in new music so far this year. All featured tunes in this post appear on albums or EPs released yesterday (June 2).

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats/Buy My Round

Kicking off this week’s picks is Denver, Colo.-based Americana-influenced singer-songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff who is best known as the frontman of Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, a band he formed in 2013. To date, they have released three full-length studio albums and two EPs including the latest, What If I. Rateliff has also issued three solo albums. Off the new EP, here’s Buy My Round, co-written by Rateliff and Mark Shusterman, a keyboarder and vocalist who is a touring musician with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.

Lanterns On The Lake/Real Life

English indie rock band Lanterns On The Lake have been around since 2007. Their AllMusic bio notes the group’s music draws on Neil Young folk influences and post-rock instrumental sounds of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Low. Apart from their debut Gracious Tide, Take Me Home (September 2011), they have come out with four additional studio albums, including their latest, Versions of Us. Their current line-up features original members Hazel Wilde (vocals, guitar, piano, lyricist) and Paul Gregory (guitar) who also is the band’s producer, along with Bob Allan (bass) and Angela Chan (violin, cello, viola). Here’s Real Life credited to Wilde (lyrics) and Lanterns On The Lake (music).

Craig Stickland/Firing Line

Craig Stickland is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter who grew up in Toronto. His full-length debut studio album Starlight Afternoon, which came out in February 2020, impressively was nominated for the 2021 Juno Award for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year. From his new release, an EP titled Lost in the Rewind, here’s Firing Line. Stickland wrote this tune 15 years ago.

The Aces/I’ve Loved You For So Long

The Aces are an alternative pop band from Provo, Utah. Their origins date back to when sisters Cristal Ramirez (lead vocals, guitar) and Alisa Ramirez (drums, vocals) were eight years old. After adding McKenna Petty (bass, vocals) and Katie Henderson (guitar, vocals) in 2008, they formed The Blue Aces and released two EPs before becoming The Aces. Their first full-length album When My Heart Felt Volcanic (April 2018) followed after they had signed with Red Bull Records. Here’s the title cut from their third and latest studio album I’ve Loved You For So Long. The tune is credited to all four members of the band, as well as songwriter and producer Keith Varon.

Cowboy Junkies/Shadows 2

Canadian alternative rock and Americana quartet Cowboy Junkies were formed in Toronto in 1985. They are best known for their 1988 sophomore release The Trinity Session, which remains their best-selling album in Canada and the U.S. and their highest charting in the U.S. Except for co-founding member John Timmins who left the group before they recorded their 1986 debut album Whites Off Earth Now!!, Cowboy Junkies remain in their original formation to this day: Alan Anton (bassist), as well as siblings Michael Timmins (guitar), Peter Timmins (drums) and Margo Timmins (vocals). From their latest album Such Ferocious Beauty, here’s Shadows 2, penned by Michael Timmins.

Foo Fighters/The Teacher

Wrapping up this weekly music revue are Foo Fighters who are now out with their previously announced album, But Here We Are, their first since the untimely death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in Bogotá, Columbia in March 2022 at the age of 50 during the band’s tour in South America. A brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year, But Here We Are is a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family, the band said at the time, adding the 10 tracks run the emotional gamut from rage and sorrow to serenity and acceptance, and myriad points in between. Here’s The Teacher, a dark-sounding 10-minute track credited to the entire band.

Following is a Spotify playlist of the above and a few additional tunes.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Foo Fighters website; YouTube; Spotify

Graham Nash Shines On New Album Now

Let me get to the point right away. Graham Nash sounds absolutely amazing on Now, his seventh solo album and first in seven years, which came out last Friday (May 19). Prior to Now, sadly, I only knew Nash as a brilliant member of Crosby, Stills & Nash, sometimes enhanced by Neil Young, as well The Hollies. Unlike Young and to some extent Crosby, I didn’t follow Nash’s solo career, which he launched in 1971. That will change now – no pun intended!

“I find myself in between totally in love and totally pissed off,” Nash told Billboard in what could be called a perfect summary of the album. The feelings of love refer to artist and photographer Amy Grantham who Nash married in April 2019 after leaving his second wife, American voice actress Susan Sennett in 2016. The “pissed” aspect reflects Nash’s activist side, which is still burning in his belly, 50-plus years after he wrote Chicago to support the so-called “Chicago Eight” who were charged with conspiracy over anti-Vietnam War protests disrupting the 1968 Democratic National Convention in the windy city.

Let’s take a closer look at Nash’s new set of songs. He kicks it off with what essentially is the album’s title track Right Now. The nice mid-tempo rocker also became the lead single on February 21. In a press release record label BMG issed at the time, Nash said, “I believe that my new album Now is the most personal one I have ever made.” I particularly love the guitar action by Shane Fontayne and Thad DeBrock, as well as the work by Todd Caldwell, Nash’s longtime keyboardist who also produced the album.

On A Better Life, Nash asks parents to leave a better life for their children. The inter-generational message is somewhat reminiscent of Teach Your Children, a song Nash wrote in 1968 while still being a member of The Hollies. It first appeared in March 1970 on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Déjà Vu album. Nash’s vocals sound sweet, especially when he harmonizes with himself!

On the country-flavored Stars & Stripes, a tune with a CSN vibe and beautiful pedal steel work by DeBrock, Nash muses about the seemingly never-ending conflict and division among people. At the same time, he’s not entirely pessimistic. “Thank God that I do live in America – a very beautiful country with many faults, and so much more going for it.” Nash told Variety. “I know that here that I have the right to speak my mind, even if people don’t agree with me.” Let’s hope that will always continue to be the case!

Stand Up, a second single that appeared ahead of the album, is another tune revealing Nash’s activist side by asking people to play an active role in society, not sit on the sidelines: Stand up for what you believe/Stand up for those you love/Stand up for what you want/Stand up for what you need/stand up, take a stand/ lend a hand, if you can.

Buddy’s Back is a beautiful tribute to the amazing Buddy Holly. Appropriately, the tune features vocals by Allan Clarke, who together with Nash co-founded a duo in the late 1950s, which in 1962 evolved into The Deltas, a band that in December of the same year renamed themselves as The Hollies. The name reflected their admiration for Hollie. Obviously, the tune’s Buddy Holly vibe isn’t a coincidence. Man, I love this!

The last track I’d like to call out is I Watched It All Come Down. According to Billboard, the album’s oldest track addresses Nash’s “occasionally turbulent relationships with Crosby, Stills and Young.” Nash explained, “Basically, it’s about my delight with the music that we made all these years and dissatisfaction because we could’ve done more.” The pretty string quintet arranged by Cladwell gives the tune a chamber pop feel.

“I just want people to know you can still rock at 81,” Nash said to Billboard. “I’m 81 now, for f–k’s sake! Holy sh-t! And I’m very happy in my life. I’ve been around a long time, as you know. I’ve made some fine music in my life, with my fantastic musical partners. And I feel there’s still more of it coming.” Here’s a Spotify link to the album:

And, btw, Nash doesn’t keep it to new music only. Since mid-April, he has been on the road for the Sixty Years of Songs & Stories Tour. I completely missed it, including the recent opportunity to see him in New York City where he played City Winery for three consecutive nights! Upcoming dates in June include gigs in California, Arizona and Colorado. The current schedule is here.

Sources: Wikipedia; Billboard; BMG press release; Variety; YouTube; Spotify

On This Day in Rock & Roll History: May 4

While my music history series is an irregular feature, this time, I did not want to wait for another 10 weeks before putting together the next installment. Plus, May 4 turned out to be a date I had not covered yet. As always, this content reflects my music taste and is not meant to present a full accounting of events.

1956: Rockabilly and early rock & roll pioneer Gene Vincent recorded what would become his signature song at Owen Bradley’s studio in Memphis, Tenn.: Be-Bop-a-Lula. Vincent wrote the music in 1955 at US Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Va. while recuperating from a motorcycle accident. The song is also credited to his manager Bill “Sheriff Tex” Davis who claimed he wrote it together with Vincent. Another version is the lyrics were penned by Donald Graves who Vincent met at the hospital and Davis subsequently bought out his rights to the tune. To make things even more confusing, in yet another version, Vincent maintained he came up with the tune’s words, which were inspired by a comic strip called Little Lulu. What is undisputed is that once released in June 1956, Be-Bop-a-Lula became Vincent’s biggest hit in both the U.S. and the UK, peaking at no. 7 and no. 16, respectively.

1967: The Young Rascals (who later became known as just The Rascals) reached the top of the U.S. pop charts with Groovin’, the title track of their third studio album released in July of the same year. The tune was co-written by band members Felix Cavaliere (lead and backing vocals, keyboards) and Eddie Brigati (backing and lead vocals, percussion). Gene Cornish (guitar, harmonica, backing and lead vocals, bass) and Dino Danelli (drums) completed the group who were still in their original lineup. Groovin’, their second big hit after Good Lovin’ (February 1965), reflected Cavaliere’s newfound interest in Afro-Cuban music. The tune featured a conga and a Cuban-influenced bassline played by prominent session musician Chuck Rainey, one of the most recorded bass players who also worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan and Quincy Jones. Groovin’ also became The Young Rascals’ highest-charting single in the UK (no. 8) and Australia (no. 3).

1970: A peace rally at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio against the U.S. incursion into Cambodia ended in what became known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre. After more than 300 students had gathered on campus to protest the expansion of the Vietnam war, 28 National Guard soldiers emerged and fired tear gas at the crowd, followed by about 67 rounds of bullets over 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others. Unbeknownst to the protesters, Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes had stationed the National Guard on campus and declared martial law, superseding First Amendment rights and making any assembly illegal. Among the protesters was Jerry Casale who subsequently became a co-founder of the band Devo. Another student who was there that day decided to drop out of school, work as a waitress for a while and eventually head to England to form a rock band. Her name: Chrissie Hynde, of the Pretenders. But the most immediate outcome of the May 4 massacre was the song Ohio, written by Neil Young, and released as a single by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of the shooting.

1987: Prominent blues harmonica player and vocalist Paul Butterfield, best known as the founder and leader of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, died from a drug overdose in his Los Angeles apartment at age 44. Butterfield formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1963. Between 1965 and 1971, they released a series of studio and live albums. After their breakup in 1971, Butterfield formed a new group, the short-lived Paul Butterfield’s Better Days, who put out two albums. Afterward, Butterfield launched a solo career. In 1986, he released his final studio album, The Legendary Paul Butterfield Rides Again, an unsuccessful comeback attempt with an updated rock sound. Butterfield’s physical and financial condition started to deteriorate in the early ’80s after he became addicted to heroin, a possible attempt to ease symptoms from serious and painful intestinal inflammation. Here’s Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s rendition of Robert Johnson’s Walkin’ Blues, off their sophomore album East-West, featuring guitarist Mike Bloomfield.

1991: Texas Governor Ann Richards declared ZZ Top day in the Lone Star State. According to an article in the Deseret News, which weirdly is a Utah paper, Richards led a Capitol ceremony honoring the Houston-based rock band, which ended its 120-city “Recycler” tour in Austin Friday.”You’ve heard me talk an awful lot about how proud Texas is of its music industry,” Richards said. “I can’t think of a group better than ZZ Top.” While setlist.fm doesn’t include ZZ Top’s above-noted May 3, 1991 Austin gig, it lists their show in Lubbock, Texas the night before – close enough! Here’s one of the tunes they played, Concrete and Steel, the opener of Recycler, their 10th studio album released in October 1990 – sounds like it was inspired by Sharp Dressed Man.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music Calendar; This Day In Music; Deseret News; Setlist.fm; YouTube

The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday and I hope you’re feeling groovy. Once again, I’d like to invite you to accompany me on another excursion to visit music from different decades in different flavors. As always, the time machine will make six stops. Fasten your seatbelts and off we go!

Bob Brookmeyer & Stan Getz/A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

Our first stop takes us to the fall of 1961. That’s when jazz musicians Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone, piano) and Sten Getz (saxophone) got together for a studio album appropriately titled Recorded Fall 1961. Brookmeyer, who began playing professionally in his teens in the 1940s, was a pianist in big bands led Tex Beneke and Ray McKinley, before focusing on valve trombone beginning in the early 1950s. Over a 50-year-plus recording career, he has released numerous albums as leader or co-leader and worked as a sideman for Manny Albam, Gerry Mulligan and Jimmy Giuffre, among others. Getz first gained prominence in the late 1940s playing in Woody Herman’s big band. Influenced by João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim, the tenor saxophonist also helped popularize bossa nova in the U.S. Recorded Fall 1961 was the fourth of six albums on which Getz and Brookmeyer worked with each other. The record also featured Steve Kuhn (piano), John Neves (double bass) and Roy Haynes (drums). Here’s their beautiful rendition of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, a British romantic popular song written in 1939 and published the following year, with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin.

Lenny Kravitz/Low

For this next tune, let’s jump 57 years forward into the current century. In September 2018, Lenny Kravitz released his 11th studio album Raise Vibration, his most recent to date. Following challenges in his early career, where some clever music industry officials told him he didn’t sound “black enough” while others opined his music embraced too many influences of artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, the American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and actor has established himself with more than 40 million records sold worldwide and multiple awards. After Kravitz had finished the supporting tour of his 2014 album Strut, he was uncertain about his musical direction. At the same time, he rejected the advice from others to collaborate with producers and songwriters who know how to score hits. Low turned out to be the catalyst that spurred the artistic creativity that led to Raise Vibration, which I previously reviewed here. Like most other tracks on the album, the groovy tune was solely written by Kravitz. The “oohs” in the song are posthumous vocals by Michael Jackson.

The Guess Who/These Eyes

These Eyes by The Guess Who is a tune I must have earmarked for a Sunday Six several months ago, but for some reason, I didn’t use it until now. The Canadian rock band’s origins go back to 1958 when Winnipeg singer and guitarist Chad Allan formed a local group called Allan and the Silvertones. In January 1965, the band, then called Chad Allan & The Expressions, released their debut album  Shakin’ All Over. The group’s cover of the Johnny Kidd & the Pirates song also became their fourth single. The band’s American label Quality Records thought it would be clever to disguise their name by crediting the tune to Guess Who? Not only did the publicity stunt work but it also gave birth to their new name. These Eyes, co-written by band members Randy Bachman (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Burton Cummings (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, flute except), appeared on The Guess Who’s fourth studio album Wheatfield, which came out in March 1969. It was also released as a single and became the group’s highest-charting tune in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time, reaching no. 6. In Canada, it climbed to no. 7, marking their fourth top 10 hit. The Guess Who are still around as a touring act, including original drummer Garry Peterson, and maintain a fairly busy touring schedule.

Traffic/Riding High

If you brought up traffic in May 1994, our next stop, I think most folks would have assumed you were referring to cars, not the English rock band that had broken up for the second time in 1974. Following the reunification of the surviving members of Traffic for a one-off tour in 1994, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi decided to revive their writing collaboration. They had maintained a working partnership since Traffic’s second break-up, with Winwood playing at least on one track of most of Capaldi’s solo albums. This resulted in Far From Home, an album they released as Traffic. Between the two of them, Winwood and Capaldi played nearly all of the instruments. Here’s the groovy opener Riding High, which all except one of the other tracks was co-written by the partners. Unfortunately, Capaldi passed away in January 2005 at the age of 60.

Crosby, Stills & Nash/Wasted On the Way

By the 1980s, it’s fair to say the greatest days of Crosby, Stills & Nash were behind them. This doesn’t mean they had lost their ability to sing in sweet perfect harmony and record great songs. One example I was reminded of the other day is Wasted On the Way, a beautiful tune penned by Graham Nash. It was included on CSN’s fourth studio album Daylight Again, released in June 1982. While it generally didn’t match the performance of the predecessor CSN, both in terms of chart placement and sales, Daylight Again did pretty well, especially in the U.S. where it climbed to no. 8 on the Billboard 200 and sold one million copies by January 1993, gaining Platinum certification. They went on to release four additional albums, including two with Neil Young. This harmony singing is just sheer magic!

Television/Friction

And this, my friends, once again brings us to the sixth and final stop, in the ’70s. American punk-era rock band Television first entered my radar screen last year when fellow blogger Max from PowerPop featured Marquee Moon, the cool title track of their debut album that came out in February 1977. On that same record was another tune titled Friction. In fact, I could have picked pretty much any other song from that great album. Like Marquee Moon, Friction was written by Tom Verlaine, the group’s frontman, lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboarder. Technically, Television are still around, though their status looks in doubt with the death of Verlaine from cancer on January 28 this year.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist featuring all the above tracks. Hope there’s something you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; The Guess Who website; YouTube; Spotify

Members of Crazy Horse and Neil Young Debut As Molina, Talbot, Lofgren & Young

After 53 years, the current members of Crazy Horse and their on-and-off leader throughout this period Neil Young decided to do something they had never done before: Instead of creating new music together, they each recorded songs individually and compiled them on a new album, All Roads Lead Home, which appeared last Friday (March 31). For the first time, they also released music as Molina, Talbot, Lofgren & Young. Inevitably, it makes you think of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Ralph Molina (drums) and Billy Talbot (bass), the only consistent members of Crazy Horse since the band’s official inception in 1969 on Young’s sophomore album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Nils Lofgren (guitar) who first joined in 1970, each wrote three tunes. Young contributed a solo version of Song of the Seasons, a tune that first appeared on the album Barn, which he released with Crazy Horse in December 2021. I reviewed it here at the time.

From left: Nils Lofgren, Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot and Neil Young

The four artists pointed to the dreadful pandemic to explain their approach. Sure, travel restrictions would have made gathering more challenging, not to mention the fact that getting sick would have put each gentleman at significant risk – after all, they aren’t exactly 18 any longer! Yet, modern technology could have overcome physical separation. Simply put, they could have recorded their parts individually and exchanged them via digital files. Of course, the latter would be hard to imagine for a band like Crazy Horse who have been known to create music together in the moment – a spontaneous approach that while it resulted in various outcomes has served them well overall!

In their review, Ultimate Classic Rock rightly notes All Roads Lead Home feels like “four solo records collected in a single home”. They add, “That makes for a scattered and occasionally unfocused listen, already a characteristic of recent Young and Crazy Horse albums.” That doesn’t bother me at all. True, there’s no apparent overarching vision or theme here, but I actually think the resulting variety of the songs enriches the listening experience. Also, unlike Neil Young and Nils Lofgren, frankly, I hadn’t exactly thought of Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot as songwriters. Looking at previous albums released by Crazy Horse without Neil Young, such as Crazy Moon (1978) and Left For Dead (1989), reveals Molina and Talbot had done some occasional writing in the past.

I’d say ’nuff talk, let’s get to some music! The opener Rain is one of the songs by Talbot who also provides lead vocals in addition to acoustic guitar and piano – the first time I recall hearing Talbot sing! He’s backed by the Billy Talbot Band featuring Matt Piucci (electric guitar, organ, acoustic guitar, vocals), Michael Hamilton (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, baritone bass, vocals), Mark Hanley (slide guitar, electric piano, vocals), Ryan James Holzer (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Jack Hughes (organ, piano, vocals), Tommy Carns (bass guitar, steel guitar, vocals) and Stephen Junca (drums, vocals). According to Talbot’s website, the Billy Talbot Band has been around since 2004 when he launched his solo career with the album Alive in the Spirit World – who knew! This all works for me!

You Will Never Know was penned by Lofgren. He also sings lead vocals and plays all instruments, including guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion. One of his brothers, Tom Lofgren, who is a musician as well and performs with his brothers Mike Lofgren and Mark Lofgren in a trio known as The Lofgren Brothers, is credited with vocals. I love Nils’ slide guitar work on this song, which has a bit of an Eagles vibe, especially once Tom sings harmony vocals. Love Will Keep Us Alive anybody?

Here’s Young’s aforementioned solo version of Song of the Seasons. You could say supplying only one tune that isn’t even new is a bit of a measly contribution. Again, I’d like to see the upside here. While Neil Young is very well-known as a prolific singer-songwriter, the same cannot be said about Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot. As such, I like the fact that both guys are given room for three tunes each on the album! Coming back to Song of the Seasons, apart from singing, Young plays guitar and harmonica, making it classic acoustic Neil Young. This stripped-back approach and sound is a key reason why I fell in love with him in the first place many moons ago!

One of the album’s highlights is Look Through the Eyes of Your Heart, written by Molina. With its rugged sound, it’s got a Crazy Horse vibe, though perhaps not as rugged as you could imagine it when Young goes grunge. Like Talbot, Molina who sings lead chose to be backed by musicians other than his Crazy Horse bandmates: Marco Cecilia (guitars), Francesco Lucarelli (tremolo guitar), Anthony Crawford (acoustic guitar) and Marco Melino (drums). Backing vocals are provided by Brad Stock and Sonny Mone. I like how this tune came out!

Let’s do one more, The Hunter, another song co-written by Talbot. Like in his previous above tune, Talbot is singing lead and playing piano and guitar on this ballad, with backing by members of the Billy Talbot Band. In this case, the line-up is slightly modified and includes Payton Jerde (bass, vocals) in addition to Holzer, Hamilton, Junca and Hughes. In a post on Neil Young’s website neilyoungarchives.com Talbot explains the tune which he co-wrote with Ryan James Holzer came out of sessions with the band in late 2017. Once again, I have to say I’m impressed with the outcome!

So, what do you think? While All Roads Lead Home doesn’t break new musical ground, I feel it’s not only a pleasant listening experience, but it also elevates the profiles of Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot as songwriters. And, who knows, perhaps the Crazy Horse formula has changed forever! Plus, who would have thought we’d see another band that has “& Young” as part of their name!

The last words shall belong to the members. “After Billy and I talking, we finally realized it was time to have our own album together..along with Nils, and the big guy, we thank wholeheartedly, adding a song,” Molina said in the aforementioned post on neilyoungarchives.com. “We now have what we feel is a good one.”

“I loved working on the All Ways Lead Home project,” Lofgren stated. “Thrilled to share it now. After 53 years of friendship and music, it was a joy to participate.”

“Playing with these guys for over 50 years is one of the greatest joys of my life,” added Young.

The album isn’t available on Spotify, most likely because of Young’s well-publicized beef with the streaming platform (you can hear his explanation in this interview snippet with Howard Stern), though you can stream it on Apple Music and I assume other platforms. Following is the tracklist:

01 Rain (Billy Talbot)
02 You Will Never Know (Nils Lofgren)
03 It’s Magical (Ralph Molina)
04 Song Of The Seasons (Neil Young)
05 Cherish (Billy Talbot)
06 Fill My Cup (Nils Lofgren)
07 Look Through The Eyes Of Your Heart (Ralph Molina)
08 The Hunter (Billy Talbot)
09 Go With Me (Nils Lofgren)
10 Just For You (Ralph Molina)

Sources: Wikipedia; Ultimate Classic Rock; Billy Talbot website; neilyoungarchives.com; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Another Sunday is upon us and I hope everybody is feeling groovy. It’s time again to embark on another trip to visit music from different decades and in different flavors, six tunes at a time. Let’s do it!

Lou Donaldson/That Good Old Feeling

Our first stop today is June 1957, which saw the release of Wailing With Lou, a studio album by Lou Donaldson. The American jazz alto saxophonist who is now 96 years officially retired in 2017 after a 64-year career as an active performer. Here’s an excerpt from the bio on his website: Jazz critics agree that “Sweet Poppa Lou” Donaldson is one of the greatest alto saxophonists of all time. He began his career as a bandleader with Blue Note Records in 1952 and, already at age 25, had found his sound, though it would continue to sweeten over the years — earning him his famed nickname –“Sweet Poppa Lou.” He made a series of classic records for Blue Note Records in the 50’s and takes pride in having showcased many musicians who made their first records as sidemen for him: Clifford Brown, Grant Green, Blue Mitchell, Donald Byrd, Ray Barretto, Horace Parlan, John Patton, Charles Earland, Al Harewood, Herman Foster, Peck Morrison, Dave Bailey, Leon Spencer, Idris Muhammad, and others. Coming back to the above-mentioned album, here’s the beautiful Donaldson composition That Good Old Feeling. The recording featured various of the above-listed jazz musicians, including Bryd (trumpet), Foster (piano) and Morrison (bass), along with Art Taylor (drums).

The Blasters/Crazy Baby

After having been eased in with smooth jazz, let’s visit 1980 and pick up the speed with great music by The Blasters. I first read about this American roots rock band on Cincinnati Babyhead’s blog. Formed in Downey, Calif. in 1979 by Phil Alvin (vocals, guitar) and his brother Dave Alvin (guitar), together with John Bazz (bass) and Bill Bateman (drums), the group had an initial 6-year run before they first broke up. Various incarnations of The Blasters have since been led by Phil Alvin who together with Bazz has been the only constant member. The current line-up also includes cofounder Bateman who rejoined in 2008. Crazy Baby, co-written by Ron Volz and Ron Wemsman, appeared on the band’s 1980 debut album American Music. It’s got a cool retro rockabilly vibe!

Bee Gees/To Love Somebody

Time to go back to the ’60s and a beautiful early song by the Bee Gees. Co-written by Barry Gibb and his brother Robin Gibb, To Love Somebody first appeared in June 1967 as the second upfront single of the group’s international debut studio album Bee Gee’s 1st, which came out in July of the same year. Prior to that, they had released two albums in their native Australia only. To Love Somebody reached no. 17 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 49 on the UK Official Singles Charts. Ten years later, the Bee Gees would rule the charts in both the U.S. and the UK, as well as many other countries with their no. 1 soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever, which spawned multiple no. 1. singles. Oftentimes, the Bee Gees are associated with the disco era, but early songs like To Love Somebody show there was much more to the group. You can read more about the Bee Gees in my four-part series from December 2020 here, here, here and here.

Cordovas/High Feeling

Now, let’s set our music time machine to the current century, more specifically to October 2020. That’s when Americana and country rock band Cordovas released their third full-length studio album Destiny Hotel. The four-piece group from East Nashville, Tenn. first entered my radar screen in the summer of 2018 when I caught them during a free concert in a park not far from my house. Their multi-part harmony singing proved to be an immediate attraction. So was their sound that reminds me of bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Band, Grateful Dead, Eagles and Little Feat. Led by bassist Joe Firstman, Cordovas have been around for more than 10 years. Here’s the album’s opener High Feeling. These harmony vocals and the warm sound are right up my alley!

Pink Floyd/Us And Them

This past Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon, one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums, an appropriate occasion to go back to March 1, 1973. Developed during live performances before work in the studio began, the eighth studio release by the British psychedelic and progressive rock band was a concept album revolving around dark human themes, such as conflict, greed, time, death and mental illness. One of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon is a sonic gem that not only represents one of the peaks in Floyd’s recording career but also a highlight in sound engineering provided by Alan Parsons. It catapulted Pink Floyd to international stardom and perhaps somewhat ironically made its members pretty wealthy. For more on this album, you can read an excellent recent post by fellow blogger Bruce from Vinyl Connections. Us And Them, composed by Richard Wright with lyrics by Roger Waters, became the album’s second single in February 1974 after Money from May 1973. A reissue, The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary, is set to appear on March 24. Among others, the box set includes remastered edits of the studio album and The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley 1974.

Son Volt/Route

And once again it’s time to wrap up another musical journey. For the last stop, our time machine takes us to September 1995. Alternative country and Americana rock band Son Volt first entered my radar screen in July 2021 when their most recent studio album Electro Melodier appeared. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Farrar formed the group in 1994 after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, another alt. country outfit he had co-founded in 1987. To date, Son Volt have released 10 albums. Apart from Farrar, the current members include Chris Frame (guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar),  Andrew DuPlantis  (bass) and Mark Patterson (drums). Route, penned by Farrar, is a nice crunchy rocker off their 1995 debut album Trace. It’s got a Neil Young and Crazy Horse vibe, which in my book usually is a great thing!

This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist that includes all featured tunes. I gladly oblige and hope there’s something you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; Lou Donaldson website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday and I hope everybody is doing well. Earlier this week, the passing of David Crosby at age 81 once again reminded us we shouldn’t take music artists of his generation who fortunately are still with us for granted. One consolation is their great music will live on as long as this planet exists – that’s one of the incredible beauties of this art form. Let’s celebrate with another excursion into the amazing world of music with six tunes and, yes, Crosby will be one of our stops.

Bobby Timmons/Moanin’

Today, our trip starts in 1960 with groovy music by Bobby Timmons. The American jazz pianist and composer, who started performing during the first half of the ’50s, was best known as a member of Art Blakey’s band The Jazz Messengers, who he first joined in 1958. After his initial stint with this group, he moved on to Cannonball Adderley’s band in October 1959. Timmons was instrumental in creating soul jazz, a subgenre blending influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and R&B. Several of his well-known compositions were written while he was playing with the two aforementioned bands. One is Moanin’, which first appeared as the title track on a 1958 album by The Jazz Messengers. I’m featuring a version Timmons subsequently recorded for an album released under his name in 1960, This Is Here Is Bobby Timmons. On his first album as the sole leader, Timmons was backed by Sam Jones (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums).

The Rainmakers/Rainmaker

Let’s jump to the ’80s for our next stop and The Rainmakers, an American pop rock band from Kansas City. When my former bandmate and longtime music buddy from Germany first introduced me to them with their third studio album Tornado, released in 1987, I instantly loved their jangly guitar sound. Formed in 1983 as a three-piece bar band and fronted by singer-songwriter Bob Walkenhorst, The Rainmakers have put out seven studio albums to date. While their most recent release, Cover Band, dates back to 2015, The Rainmakers still appear to be around as a touring act. After two breakup periods from 1990 to 1994 and 1998 to 2011, the band has been together in their original lineup since 2011. In addition to Walkenhorst (guitar, vocals), their current members include Jeff Porter (guitar, vocals), Rich Ruth (bass, vocals) and Pat Tomek (drums). Here’s the seductive Rainmaker, off the aforementioned Tornado album.

Little Village/Take Another Look

Little Village were a supergroup founded in 1991 by Ry Cooder (guitar, vocals), John Hiatt (guitar, piano, vocals), Nick Lowe (bass, vocals) and Jim Keltner (drums). They had worked together on Hiatt’s eighth solo album Bring the Family (May 1987) and decided to form a dedicated band during a break from their own musical projects. Like most supergroups, Little Village were short-lived and only released one eponymous album in February 1992. After a supporting tour of the U.S. and Europe, they disbanded later that same year. While the album didn’t do well commercially, it received a nomination for the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or a Group. The record also peaked at no. 23 on the UK Albums Chart. Here’s Take Another Look, credited to Little Village and featuring Lowe on lead vocals.

Grateful Dead/Shakedown Street

Time to pay a visit to the ’70s with a funky tune by the Grateful Dead. While in July 2018, I jokingly declared I had evolved to become a Deadhead from a bonehead, the reality is my knowledge of the Dead remains fairly limited and mostly includes their earlier albums. As such, I had completely forgotten about Shakedown Street, the groovy title track of their 10th studio album from November 1978, produced by the great Lowell George who is best known as the original frontman of Little Feat. Composed by Jerry Garcia with lyrics by longtime collaborator Robert Hunter, the tune also appeared separately as a single, but like most of their other singles, it was dead on arrival and didn’t chart anywhere. The album performed better, reaching no. 41 and no. 42 in the U.S. and Canada, respectively. I guess the Dead were never about chart success in the first place. Regardless, I dig this funky tune, which soundwise reminds me a bit of 10cc’s Dreadlock Holiday. That tune predated Shakedown Street by about four months.

Los Lobos/Made to Break Your Heart

Our journey continues in the current century. We’re going to September 2015, which saw the release of Gates of Gold, the 15th studio album by Los Lobos. I would argue this group blending rock & roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños, is not just another band from East L.A. where they were founded in 1973 as Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles. They are also much more than La Bamba, their great rendition of the tune first popularized by Ritchie Valens. It became a no. 1 single for Los Lobos in the U.S. and many other countries in 1987 and remains their best-known song. They remain active to this day and released their most recent album Native Sons in late July 2021. I reviewed it here at the time. For now, let’s listen to Made to Break Your Heart. Co-written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez, two of the four co-founding members who are still with Los Lobos, the tune is the opener of the above-mentioned Gates of Gold.

Crosby, Stills & Nash/Long Time Gone

Time to wrap up another trip and come back to celebrate the music by David Crosby. In order to do that, let’s go back to May 1969 and the eponymous debut album by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby who was a brilliant musician but had a volatile character co-founded CSN in 1968 together with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, after he had been dismissed from the Byrds. With Nash joining from The Hollies and Stills coming from the dissolved Buffalo Springfield, CSN are an early example of a supergroup. They became even “more super” when Neil Young joined them as a fourth member in August 1969, just ahead of Woodstock. Among my favorite tunes on CSN’s debut is Long Time Gone, one of the album’s two songs solely penned by Crosby. Another gem on the record, Wooden Ships, was co-written by him, Stills and Paul Kantner. Stills also joined Crosby on lead vocals for Long Time Gone.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist of the above songs. As always, I hope there’s something that tickles your fancy.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

John Fogerty Finally Feels Like a Fortunate Son

John Fogerty managed to acquire the majority of his historic song catalog from Concord for an undisclosed amount, giving him the U.S. and worldwide publishing rights to most of the songs he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival. This marks the end of Fogerty’s 50-year quest to finally own this music, a remarkable story that was first reported by Billboard. It broke just in the wake of Jeff Beck’s death and I almost would have missed it.

According to Billboard, the reclaimed CCR copyrights cover more than 65 songs, mostly written by Fogerty, including gems such as Proud Mary, Down on the Corner, Fortunate Son, Bad Moon Rising, Up Around the Bend and Green River. Concord, which owned the rights since 2004 when it acquired CCR’s original record label Fantasy Records, retains the CCR master recordings in its catalog. They will also continue to administer Fogerty’s share of the publishing catalog for an unspecified amount of time.

John Fogerty signing publishing rights deal with Concord (Photo: Julie Fogerty)

This whole saga started in 1967 when Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz offered CCR, who were then still called The Golliwogs, the opportunity to record a full-length album. When they signed a deal with the label, John Fogerty didn’t realize Fantasy would also own the publishing rights to his songs. Fogerty who extricated himself from Fantasy in 1974 made repeated attempts to gain control over his early CCR catalog to no avail. After his relationship with Zaentz had soured, he even refused to perform CCR songs during his concerts until the late ’80s, since he didn’t want Zaentz to profit from any royalties.

Things took a turn to the outright bizarre in 1985 when Zeantz sued Fogerty for copyright infringement, claiming his song The Old Man Down the Road essentially was the music of Run Through the Jungle, a CCR tune to which Zaentz owned the rights. Fogerty prevailed and was also successful in his efforts for reimbursement of legal fees, though it required taking the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1989, it appeared Fogerty through mediation had reached a deal with Zaentz to finally buy his publishing rights, but it fell apart when according to Fogerty Zaentz doubled the price at the last minute, something he couldn’t afford.

While Fogerty signed with Concord after they had acquired Fantasy from Zaentz in 2004 and they reinstated artist royalties to him, Fantasy wasn’t ready to sell any of the publishing rights as recently as 18 months ago. That’s when according to Billboard, he and his wife and manager Julie Fogerty realized that under U.S. copyright law, rights to his compositions would begin reverting back to him in a few years as the songs turned 56 years old, but that wouldn’t have included rights outside the U.S. I think it’s safe to assume this legal context played a role in reaching a deal.

John Fogerty with his wife and manager Julie Fogerty (Photo: Kyle Spicer)

“As of this January, I own my own songs again,” John Fogerty said in a statement on his website. “This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs. I also have a say in where and how my songs are used. Up until this year, that is something I have never been able to do. I am looking forward to touring and celebrating this year!”

Added Julie Fogerty: “I was always hoping for a miracle that John would own his songs, and I’m so blissful knowing that this has finally come true for him. The songs he wrote for CCR were going to start reverting in approximately three years, continuing for each year forward. I thought to myself that if there was anything I could do to make that happen now, it would be that miracle that we have been waiting for more than 50 years. I began to produce a plan to purchase his publishing right now. In doing so, I enlisted the help of Irving Azoff, Jason Karlov, Susan Genco and we were able to secure the US Rights in addition to Worldwide Rights, which would not have been part of the copyright reversions. I am so joyful, grateful, and excited for John.”

Billboard rightly notes that Fogerty’s purchase decision stands in contrast to other artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, who recently sold their publishing rights for millions of dollars. Of course, nothing would prevent John Fogerty from doing the same. But after a 50-year quest, for now, he’s planning to hang to his publishing rights and for the first time in his life enjoy control over this music.

I’m happy for John and like to wrap up this post with clips of some of the songs he now fully owns. I’m also throwing in a Spotify playlist with these and some other tunes from his 55-year-plus recording career.

Proud Mary – Bayou Country (January 1969)

Green River – Green River (August 1969)

Bad Moon Rising – Green River (August 1969)

Down On the Corner – Willy and the Poor Boys (November 1969)

Fortunate Son – Willy and the Poor Boys (November 1969)

Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Pendulum (December 1970)

Here’s the aforementioned Spotify playlist:

Sources: Wikipedia; Billboard; John Fogerty website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Welcome to another Sunday Six where I take little journeys into the beautiful world of music, including different eras and different flavors, six tunes at a time. Hope you’ll join me!

Jeff Beck/Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers

Earlier this week, we lost one of the greatest guitarists in rock history, Jeff Beck, who suddenly passed away near his home in Southern England at the age of 78 from bacterial meningitis. As such, it feels right to start today’s mini-excursion in March 1975 and Blow By Blow. Beck’s second album that appeared under his name followed Beck, Bogert & Appice, the eponymous and only release by the short-lived power trio Beck had formed after he had dissolved the Jeff Beck Group. Beck gained initial prominence as a member of The Yardbirds where he succeeded Eric Clapton. For a short time, he intersected with Jimmy Page. Somewhere I read all three of these British ‘guitar gods’ grew up in the same geographic area. Unlike Clapton and Page, Beck never achieved huge chart success or record sales. It didn’t take away anything from his brilliance. Here’s his beautiful instrumental rendition of Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers, a tune written by Stevie Wonder. I was happy to see it’s Beck’s most streamed track on Spotify.

The Walkabouts/Nightdrive

We will visit the ’70s one more time. For now, let’s continue our trip with a stop in December 1994 and Setting the Woods On Fire, the seventh album by The Walkabouts. Before continuing, I’d like to give a shoutout to fellow blogger Hotfox63 who covered one of the band’s other records last December, which brought them on my radar screen. The Walkabouts were formed in Seattle, Wa. in 1984. Inspired by folk and country music from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, the group released 13 studio albums before they disbanded in 2015. Their rich sound also drew from other genres and artists, such as Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel. This brings me to Nightdrive, a song off the above-mentioned album. It’s credited to all members of the group, who at the time included co-founders Chris Eckman (vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, lyrics) and Carla Torgerson (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, cello), along with Glenn Slater (piano, organ, accordion, loops), Michael Wells (bass guitar, harmonica) and Terri Moeller (drums, percussion, backup vocals) – love that tune!

R.E.M./It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

And we’re on to the ’80s with a song by R.E.M. I had earmarked for a Sunday Six several months ago. Coincidentally, fellow blogger Mike from Ticket to Ride just took a look back at the studio catalog of the American band that started in 1980 in Athens, Ga., and was active until 2011. While I like R.E.M. for their melodic songs and jangly guitar sound, I only know them based on certain songs and have yet to take a deeper dive into their albums. One of the tunes I’ve been aware of for a long time is It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Credited to all members and co-founders of the band – Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, backing vocals) and Bill Berry (drums, backing vocals), the tune first appeared on R.E.M.’s fifth studio album Document released in September 1987, their most successful at the time. It also became the record’s second single but didn’t match the success of the lead single The One I Love. I’ve always dug both tunes.

Bruce Cockburn/Wondering Where the Lions Are

When I was recently in Germany, I met with my longtime friend and music buddy who has given me many great tips since the days when we were bandmates during the second half of the ’80s. One of the artists he mentioned during our recent get-together is Bruce Cockburn (pronounced KOH-bərn). Frankly, other than the name, I wasn’t familiar at all with the Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. Where do you start with an artist who has been active since 1967 and released 30-plus albums? Admittedly, I took a shortcut and checked Spotify. The most streamed tune there is Wondering Where the Lions Are. While I can’t tell you at this time whether it’s Cockburn’s best song, I liked it right away. Included on his 1979 album Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaw, the tune is his only U.S. top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching no. 21. In his native Canada, it got to no. 39 on the mainstream chart and no. 7 on the adult contemporary chart. Overall, it looks like Cockburn has been most successful in his home country. Based on another album I heard, he appears to be pretty versatile and definitely is an artist I’d like to further explore. For now, here’s Wondering Where the Lions Are, which like all other tracks on the album was penned by Cockburn – a beautiful folk tune that reminds me a bit of fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot!

Southern Avenue/Control

Time to pay a visit to the present. When it comes to contemporary artists one of the bands I keep coming back to are Southern Avenue. The group from Memphis, Tenn., which has been around since 2015, blends blues and soul with flavors of contemporary R&B. I also love the racial diversity they represent.  Southern Avenue are Israeli blues guitarist Ori Naftaly; three amazing African American ladies, lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson and her sisters Tikyra Jackson (drums, backing vocals) and Ava Jackson (backing vocals); white bassist Evan Sarver; and African American keyboarder Jeremy Powell. Tellingly, in 2016, they became the first new act signed to Stax Records in many years. Control, co-written by Naftaly and Tierinii Jackson, is from the band’s most recent third studio album Be the Love You Want, released in August 2021, which I reviewed here at the time. The funky tune also appeared separately as a single leading up to the album’s release. I find this music is full of soul and pretty seductive.

Byrds/So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star

The sixth tune means we’re once again about to reach the final stop of yet another music excursion. Let’s make it count with a ’60s gem by the Byrds: So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. Co-written by co-founders Roger McGuinn (credited as Jim McGuinn) and Chris Hillman, the tune has been characterized by Byrds expert Tim Conners as “an acerbic, but good-natured swipe at the success of manufactured rock bands like the Monkees.” While I’m not a fan of how The Monkees came to be, I love their music. Plus, once Don Kirshner was out of the picture, the group’s members started playing their own instruments and getting more control over their music. So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star first appeared in January 1967 as the lead single of the Bryrds’ fourth studio album Younger Than Yesterday, which came out the following month.

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist featuring each of the highlighted six tunes. Hope there’s something for here!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

Song Musings

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment of Song Musings, a weekly feature taking a closer look at tunes I’ve only mentioned in passing or not written about at all to date. Today, I’m turning to Unknown Legend by Neil Young, one of my favorite artists.

Unknown Legend is the opener of Harvest Moon, which I think is one of the best albums by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter, released in November 1992. Young wrote this great country-flavored tune prior to the release of his 1978 album Comes a Time. Some critics saw a stylistic similarity to that record, pointing in particular to the song Motorcycle Mama – other than the motorcycle and a female singer supporting Young on vocals, it doesn’t seem to be very obvious to me!

The gorgeous backing vocals in the refrain of Unknown Legend were provided by Linda Ronstadt. The album’s co-producer Ben Keith played the great pedal steel guitar on the recording. It’s a simple yet beautiful song!

Even though Unknown Legend wasn’t released as a single, it proved to be popular, reaching no. 38 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album continued Young’s commercial resurgence that had started with his two previous releases Freedom (October 1989) and Ragged Glory (September 1990), eventually outselling both. In Canada, Harvest Moon also won the 1994 Juno Award for Album of the Year. Here’s a nice “electric” live version of the song.

Following are some additional insights about Unknown Legend from Songfacts:

The woman in “Unknown Legend” is Neil Young’s wife (at the time), Pegi Morton Young. The two met in 1974, while Morton was working as a waitress at a diner near Young’s ranch.

The song talks about a waitress, now mother of two, who had once lived a life of travel and restlessness. The chorus harks back to her years of riding a Harley Davidson through the desert, with its chrome and steel “Collidin’ with the very air she breathes.” The song sounds both triumphant and sad. It laments the woman’s situation (“Now she’s dressin’ two kids, lookin’ for a magic kiss”) while celebrating the wild rambling imagery of her past, all while sweetly observing her graceful movements across the diner floor.

A historically interesting note is that “Unknown Legend,” which is an ode to Pegi, appeared on an entire album Young had made about keeping marriage alive. “This album here [Harvest Moon], it’s about making things last, how to keep that interest, how to keep the fire burning,” Young told New Musical Express in 1992. “Never get bored with the fact that you’ve been with someone for a long time, it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Relationships should enrichen with age, that kind of thing.”

The marriage did indeed enrichen for over a decade after the song’s release, but then collapsed. In that same New Musical Express piece, writer Gavin Martin prophetically wrote, “No marriages are easy, rock ‘n’ roll relationships are particularly fraught. Placid and healing on the surface, Harvest Moon doesn’t try to deny the troubles and heartbreak beneath.”

Pegi spoke a lot about her divorce from Young on her album Raw. It’s an interesting dynamic – the “Unknown Legend” herself singing candidly about the harsher aspects of being married to the man who once immortalized her in song.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube