Chris & Max Pick …songs from 1997

Happy Friday and welcome to the second installment of Chris & Max pick. Essentially, this is picking up a song series fellow blogger Max from PowerPop initially started in June 2023 with the year 1955 and ended last month with 1995. The idea of this continuation is to close the gap between 1995 and 2024.

Last week, we looked at 1996. This time, the year is 1997. I realize this post is coming earlier than anticipated. Given my other recurring features, I’m a bit reluctant to commit to yet another weekly post. That’s why I still believe an every-other-week schedule is more sustainable, but I guess we’ll see how it goes!

Big Head Todd and the Monsters/Resignation Superman

Kicking off the picks for 1997 are Big Head Todd and the Monsters, a Colorado rock band formed in 1986, who I only “discovered” earlier this year. Resignation Superman, penned by the group’s co-founder, main lyricist, singer and guitarist Todd Park Mohr, is from their fifth studio album Beautiful World, which appeared in February 1997.

Radiohead/Paranoid Android

In May 1997, British alternative rock band Radiohead released their third studio album OK Computer. I still find it hard to believe I essentially missed it at the time it came out. Paranoid Android, which like all other tracks on the album was credited to the entire group, became the lead single and one of their biggest hits. Founded in 1985, Radiohead still have their original line-up: Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, ondes Martenot, orchestral arrangements), Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass) and Philip Selway (drums, percussion).

Sarah McLachlan/Angel

Next up is one of the most stunning pop ballads I know: Angel by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. The inspiration for the song came from press accounts McLachlan had read about musicians getting into heroin to escape the pressures of the cutthroat music business. The intense ballad was the fourth single off her fourth studio album Surfacing, which came out in July 1997.

Oasis/All Around the World

Moving on to another British group who were pretty popular at the time: Manchester Brit pop rockers Oasis became an instant sensation in the UK when their August 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe topped the charts there. By the time their third album Be Here Now dropped in August 1997, their enormous popularity had spread to many other countries. Here’s the catchy All Around the World, which also became the third single. Like all other tracks on the album, it was written by Noel Gallagher.

The Verve/Bittersweet Symphony

Here’s yet another British group who hit it really big in 1997: The Verve and Bittersweet Symphony, Max’s pick. Their biggest international hit single, written by frontman and lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, also helped propel September 1997’s Urban Hymns to become their best-selling album. But all that success was bittersweet. After a lawsuit found The Verve illegally had taken a sample from a 1965 version of The Rolling Stones’ The Last Time by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra, all royalties were relinquished, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were added to the songwriting credits. In 2019, following the death of Allen Klein, the Stones’ manager at the time of the litigation, Jagger and Richards ceded the rights to Ashcroft.

Bob Dylan/Not Dark Yet

Wrapping up this post is a great song by Bob Dylan from Time Out of Mind. Many fans and critics regard the maestro’s 30th studio album, released in September 1997, as an artistic comeback. It also marked Dylan’s first with original material in seven years since September 1990’s Under the Red Sky. Here’s Not Dark Yet, a gem as far as I’m concerned!

Sources: Wikipedia; Acclaimed Music; YouTube; Spotify

The Black Keys Broaden Sound On Upbeat “Ohio Players”

Last Friday, April 5, The Black Keys released their latest studio album Ohio Players. While the pop and rap influences evidently didn’t only surprise me and have led to mixed reviews, overall, I’m intrigued with what Dan Auerbach and his collaborator for 20-plus years Patrick Carney have delivered.

Based on the hill country blues covers album Delta Kream, which brought The Black Keys on my radar screen in 2021, and a handful of other songs, I had associated the duo with a fuzzy DIY style sound, drawing from garage, blues and psychedelic rock. On Ohio Players, their traditional raw sound has evolved, thanks to prominent guests, mostly notably the genre defying Beck, Brit pop stalwart Noel Gallagher, as well as rap artists Juicy J. and Lil Noid.

The album title is a play on Auerbach’s and Carney’s Akron, Ohio roots and ’70s funk and R&B band Ohio Players. “We’ve been doing these record hangs, where we play 45s at pop-up parties and invite friends to join us, so one of the guest DJs threw on an Ohio Players 45 and it was like, ‘ahhh’,” explained Carney in a recent interview with USA Today.

Dan Auerbach (right) and Patrick Carney met in high school, began jamming together in 1986, and eventually formed The Black Keys in 2001

Ohio Players, the 12th studio album by The Black Keys, follows May 2022’s Dropout Boogie, which in turn came after the aforementioned Delta Kream. That album was preceded by Let’s Rock, their first after a four-year hiatus, during which Auerbach and Carney pursued other projects. Let’s take a closer look at the music on Ohio Players.

Since I featured the pop rock opener This Is Nowhere in my most recent weekly new music review, I’m skipping it here and go directly the second track Don’t Let Me Go. Like This Is Nowhere, it is part of the seven songs Beck co-wrote with Auerbach and Carney. The Black Keys’ relationship with him dates back to 2003 when they opened for him during his Sea Change Tour. Don’t Let Me Go is also credited to Gary Crockett, Dominic Glover and Daniel Nakamura, aka. Dan the Automator – yes, definitely more pop-oriented than previous Black Keys songs but heck, it’s bloody catchy!

On the Game is one of three songs Auerbach and Carney co-wrote with Noel Gallagher. Additionally, the track’s credits include songwriter, producer and record executive Leon Michels. Gallagher also played guitar and sang backing vocals, while Michels contributed guitar and organ. “Dan wanted to work with Noel and we’re both fans, so we kept reaching out and hearing he doesn’t have time,” Carney told USA Today. “My neighbor I golf with used to be Oasis’ booking agent for 20 years, so I asked him, “Maybe Noel will be interested?” That’s when Noel got back to us and gave us a window of four days in January (2023) in London.” Sometimes, persistence pays off!

Candy and Her Friends, co-written by Auerbach and Carney, features Lil Noid. “I was getting into underground Memphis rap from the 1990s and early 2000s, cassette tape stuff really only available on YouTube and like Three Six Mafia and Juicy J,” Auerbach explained to USA Today. “There was the “Paranoid Funk” album Lil Noid made and even being a lifelong rap fan, I’d never heard this stuff. Every time we got in the car after a record hang we’d put on his “Riding in the Chevy” and be like man, it would be fun to work with Lil Noid. He came up to Nashville and he was really cool, a total character.”

The soulful ballad I Forgot to Be Your Lover is the only cover on the album. Co-written by William Bell and Booker T. Jones, it originally appeared in 1968 as a single by Bell. A remake by Billy Idol, which he titled To Be a Lover and included on his 1986 studio album Whiplash Smile, became an international hit. The Black Keys stay close to the original.

The final track I’d like to call out is the closer Every Time You Leave, another song Auerbach and Carney wrote with Beck, as well as Greg Kurstin. The multi-instrumentalist and award-winning producer also provided backing vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion and synthesizer. Again, Beck’s pop influence shines through. At the same time, the song includes elements of The Black Keys’ traditional sound.

“No matter who we work with, it never feels like we’re sacrificing who we are,” Auerbach said in a press statement. “It only feels like it adds some special flavor. We just expanded that palette with people we wanted to work with. We were there to support them and their ideas, to do whatever we could to see that moment flourish. But when it came time to finish the album, it was just Pat and me.”

Added Carney: “What we wanted to accomplish with this record was make something that was fun. And something that most bands 20 years into their career don’t make, which is an approachable, fun record that is also cool.”

Ohio Players appears on Auerbach’s label Easy Eye Sound and is distributed by Nonesuch Records. Last week, The Black Keys announced a North American headline tour to support the album. The 31-date International Players Tour will kick off in Tulsa on September 17 and also include other cities across the U.S., such as Austin, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as Toronto, Canada. The full schedule is here.

Sources: Wikipedia; USA Today; Nonesuch Records website; YouTube; Spotify

New Song Musings

Welcome to my weekly new music review, which is coming together at the last minute due to a very busy week on other fronts. All six picks are from albums that dropped yesterday (March 1).

The Bevis Frond/Here For the Other One

The Bevis Frond are an English band around psychedelic rock singer-songwriter Nick Saloman. They were preceded by two other groups he formed, The Bevis Frond Museum in the late ’60s and The Von Trap Family in 1979. Since reviving the The Bevis Frond Museum in 1986 as The Bevis Frond, the prolific guitarist has released more than 20 albums under that name with changing line-ups. Here For the Other One is a song from The Bevis Frond’s latest album Focus On Nature. Love the cool retro sound!

Another Sky/I Never Had Control

Another Sky are a British indie group from London, who according to AllMusic combine post rock with spectral pop. The group’s members Catrin Vincent (vocals, piano, guitar), Jack Gilbert (guitar), Naomi Le Dune (bass) and Max Doohan (drums) initially met as music students at Goldsmiths, University of London. After two EPs in 2018 and 2019 they released their first full-length studio album I Slept On the Floor in 2020. Off their sophomore album Beach Day, here’s I Never Had Control, credited to all members of the group – there’s something hypnotizing about Vincent’s vocals, which together with the song’s great sound drew me in.

Shane Smith and the Saints/Field of Heather

Shane Smith and the Saints are a red dirt country band from Austin, Texas, who have been around since 2011. The five-piece is still in their original line-up of singer-songwriter Shane Smith, Dustin Schaefer (guitar), Bennett Brown (fiddle), Chase Satterwhite (bass) and Zach Stover (drums). Starting with their October 2012 debut Coast, Shane Smith and the Saints have released four albums to date. Their latest is called Norther. Let’s check out Field of Heather. I really dig the fiddle and guitar work on this track!

Ferris & Sylvester/Imposter

Ferris & Sylvester are a British husband and wife folk and blues duo from London, consisting of Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester. After meeting as solo musicians in 2016, they started writing together and independently released a series of singles and EPs. Their first full-length album Superhuman, which appeared in March 2022 on Archtop Records, debuted at no. 1 in the UK on the Official Jazz and Blues Album Chart and won UK Album of the Year at the 2023 Americana Awards. Ferris & Sylvester are now out with their sophomore album Otherness, which they explain “is for anyone who feels like an outsider.” Here’s Imposter, which features neat harmony singing and has a cool blues rock vibe.

Liam Gallagher and John Squire/Raise Your Hands

English singer-songwriters and Liam Gallagher and John Squire have come together for a collaboration album appropriately titled Liam Gallagher and John Squire. Squire who also is a painter first gained prominence as co-founder and lead guitarist of British guitar pop group The Stones Roses in the ’80s. Of course, Gallagher is best known as lead vocalist of alternative rock giants Oasis. After Squire performed as a guest during a Gallagher concert at Knebworth in June 2022, he asked the ex-Oasis member whether he’d be interested to sing on songs Squire had written for a new album. One of the great outcomes is Raise Your Hands.

Walter Trout/Bleed (feat. Will Wilde)

Wrapping this new music review is blues-rock veteran Walter Trout who over a 50-year-plus career has survived many ups and downs. This includes overcoming drug and alcohol addiction in the ’80s, surviving liver failure and recovering from a liver transplant in 1994, and on top of all dealing with dishonest management people. Quite appropriately, Trout titled his 2019 blues covers album Survivor Blues. I reviewed it here and subsequently saw him at the  Iridium in New York. I can highly recommend him – a great guitarist and an authentic no BS-type artist. Off Trout’s new album Broken, here’s the blistering Bleed featuring Will Wilde on harmonica.

Sources: Wikipedia; Fire Records website; AllMusic; Ferris & Sylvester website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

I hope you’ve had a good week and would like to welcome you to another installment of The Sunday Six. Once again, I’ve put together an itinerary that will take us to music from different genres released in six different decades.

Kenny Burrell/Weaver of Dreams

Today, we start in September 1956 when American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell released the first album under his name, appropriately titled Introducing Kenny Burrell. Burrell’s recording debut occurred five years earlier, as a 20-year-old in Dizzy Gillespie’s sextet while studying at Wayne State University. Apart from releasing a large volume of albums as a leader, Burrell recorded and performed as a sideman with Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Hodges and many others. Weaver of Dreams, co-written by Jack Elliott and Victor Young, is a beautiful track to ease us into the trip. Burrell was backed by Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums).

Atlanta Rhythm Section/Spooky

Next, let’s jump to June 1979 and a really cool song I was reminded of just the other day: Spooky, from the eighth studio album Underdog by southern rockers Atlanta Rhythm Section. Spooky’s origin is a 1967 instrumental composed by saxophonist Mike Shapiro and Harry Middlebrooks Jr. Later that year, Florida soft rock band Classics IV released a version with lyrics. Classics IV keyboarder Dean Daughtry and and the group’s guitarist J. R. Cobb subsequently co-founded Atlanta Rhythm Section in 1970. Not only did they include what became the song’s best-known version on the above album, but also released it separately as the second single in August 1979.

Oasis/Some Might Say

Time to pay a visit to the ’90s and one of the biggest alternative rock bands of that decade: Britain’s Oasis who were formed in Manchester in 1991. Their critically acclaimed and commercially successful August 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe was followed by (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? in October 1995. While critics initially were lukewarm, it became one of the best-selling albums of all time with more than 22 million copies sold worldwide. Some Might Say, who cares about the critics!

Buddy Guy/Born to Play Guitar

If there’s one blues guitarist who seemingly was born to do what he does, it’s Buddy Guy. And he put it all in words and sound on the title tack of his 17th studio album Born to Play Guitar, which came out in July 2015. When you see Guy perform live, which I’ve been fortunate to have experienced three times over the past eight years, most recently in April 2022, you get the sense it’s about more than just playing the geetar; it’s about a mission to keep the blues alive. Now 87, Guy is currently on his Damn Right Farewell Tour.

Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity/This Wheel’s On Fire

As frequent travelers on the Sunday Six music time machine know, there can be no such excursion without a stop in the ’60s. This next destination was another great suggestion by my longtime German music friend Gerd. In April 1968, English singer and actress Julie Driscoll and British group Brian Auger and The Trinity released psychedelic gem This Wheel’s On Fire as a single. Co-written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko, the song was originally recorded by Dylan and The Band in 1967. Dylan eventually released it in June 1975 on his album The Basement Tapes.

Steeleye Span/Jack Hall

This leaves us with the sixth and final stop. To wrap up, we shall travel to September 1989, which saw the release of Tempted and Tried, the 13th studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. After releasing 10 albums in rapid succession between 1970 and 1977, the group significantly slowed down the pace. Tempted and Tried only was their third album that appeared since 1977. Jack Hall, a traditional English folk song from the early 18th century, was arranged by the band’s vocalist and guitarist Bob Johnson. Steeleye Span remain active to this day with one original member (Maddy Prior) in their current line-up.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist of the above tracks. As always, I hope there’s something that tickles your fancy and you’ll be back for more.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday! I can’t believe it’s already been a week since my last new music review. Without further ado, let’s get to it. All songs are included on albums that came out yesterday (February 16).

Blackberry Smoke/Hammer And the Nail

Kicking things off today are Atlanta-based southern and country rock band Blackberry Smoke, who were formed in 2000. Starting with their 2003 debut Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime, they have released eight albums to date including their latest Be Right Here. The group’s line-up features co-founders Charlie Starr (vocals, guitar), Paul Jackson (guitar, vocals), Richard Turner (bass, vocals) and Brit Turner (drums), as well as Brandon Still (keyboards), who joined in 2009. Off their new album, here’s Hammer And the Nail, co-written by Starr and Keith Nelson, former guitarist of L.A. hard rock band Buckcherry. Tasty rocker!

Shadow Show/On a Cloud

Detroit female power trio Shadow Show blend ’60s garage psychedelia with contemporary pop rock. Founded in 2018 by Ava East (guitar), Kate Derringer (bass) and Kerrigan Pearce (drums), Shadow Show released their debut album Silhouettes in February 2020. They now return with the follow-on Fantasy Now!, which their website describes as “a huge step forward from their debut LP, reaching a more Sgt. Peppery psychedelic vision that includes swirling pop melodies, fuzz guitar hooks, flutes, tympani, backwards surprise twists, and a magical medieval acapella interlude.” With their neat harmony singing, they remind me a bit of the The Bangles but with a more edgy sound. Here’s On a Cloud – great song with a jangly guitar sound.

Cast/Faraway

Brit-pop band Cast were formed in Liverpool in 1992. Opening for Elvis Costello and Oasis in 1994 put them on the map and resulted in a record deal with Polydor toward the end of the year. Their October 1995 debut album All Change was an instant success, surging to no. 7 in the UK and reaching Platinum certification in May 1996. After their fourth album in 2001, the band split and reunited in 2010. They have since released three additional albums including their latest Love Is the Call. Their current line-up includes original co-founder John Power (guitar, bass, vocals), as well as Liam Tyson (guitar, backing vocals) and Keith O’Neill (drums, backing vocals) who both first joined in 1993. Here’s the catchy Faraway.

San Fermin/Weird Environment

San Fermin is an indie rock collective around Brooklyn-based composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. San Fermin combine indie rock, pop and classical elements into lush compositions, drawing on Ludwig-Leone’s educational background in classical music and composition. While still attending college, he worked on several film scores and operas with contemporary classic music composer and arranger Nico Muhly. To date, San Fermin have released five full-length albums. Off their latest, Arms, here’s Weird Environment. The song was co-written by Ludwig-Leone and longtime collaborator and vocalist Allen Tate.

Crawlers/Golden Bridge

Crawlers are a British rock band from Liverpool who have been around since 2018. They were founded by Amy Woodall (guitar), Holly Minto (vocals, lyrics, guitar, trumpet) and Liv May (bass). After Harry Breen joined on drums, they began performing at small venues in Liverpool. After gaining an Internet following and entering the UK charts with their single Come Over (Again) from their self-released October 2021 eponymous debut EP, they got a deal with Polydor records in January 2022. Crawlers are now out with their first full-length album The Mess We Seem to Make. Let’s listen to the pleasant Golden Bridge.

The Immediate Family/Skin In the Game

Wrapping up this weekly review is new music by ace session musician super-group The Immediate Family, formed in 2018 by Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell (guitar, vocals each), Leland Sklar (bass) and Russ Kunkel (drums). In the ’70s, Kortchmar, Sklar and Kunkel were members of The Section, an instrumental rock and jazz fusion band who individually and collectively worked on albums by the likes of Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby & Nash, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon. Wachtel was associated with The Section as well. Off The Immediate Family’s second and latest album Skin In the Game, here’s the great title track.

Sources: Wikipedia; Shadow Show website; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday and welcome to the latest installment of my weekly new music revue. All picks are from albums that came out yesterday (September 29).

Diamond Dogs/Get a Rock ‘n’ Roll Record

Diamond Dogs are a Swedish rock band initially formed in the late 1990s. Wikipedia notes their line-up has seen various changes over time, and the band announced their break-up in September 2015. They since reformed and based on a recent Facebook post, co-founder and vocalist Sören ‘Sulo’ Karlsson is part of the group’s current line-up. From Diamond Dog’s 15th and latest album About the Hardest Nut to Crack, here’s the great Get a Rock ‘n’ Roll Record – the title says it all!

Andrew Cushin/Just Like You’d Want Me To

Andrew Cushin is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from the UK who first emerged in October 2020 with Where’s My Family Gone, a song for which he had teamed up with ex-Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, as NME reported at the time. Cushin is now out with his debut album Waiting For the Rain. Here’s the excellent Just Like You’d Want Me To, which also became the sixth upfront single. “It’s a song about resilience, hope and inner belief, standing tall and knowing that better days are gonna come,” Cushin said in a statement included in a recent review by NME. The 23-year-old certainly is off to a promising start!

No-No Boy/Little Monk

No-No Boy is a music project by Asian-American singer-songwriter Julian Saporiti. His website explains, The project developed as the central component of Saporiti’s PhD at Brown University, drawing on years of fieldwork and research on Asian American history to write folk songs with uncommon empathy and remarkable protagonists: prisoners at Japanese American internment camps who started a jazz band, Vietnamese musicians turned on to rock ‘n’ roll by American troops, a Cambodian American painter who painted only the most beautiful landscapes of his war-torn home. Off his third album Empire Electric, here’s Little Monk. It’s impossible to do this unusual artist full justice here, so I encourage you to check out his website.

The Vaughns/Turn Around

The Vaughns are an indie rock band from Springfield, N.J. who were formed in 2014 after their members had met in high school. Their eponymous debut EP appeared in August of the same year. After another EP, they independently issued their first full-length album F.O.M.O. in May 2019. The following year, they signed with Equal Vision Records and are now out with their sophomore album Egg Everything. Here’s Turn Around, a nice song written by co-founding members Anna Lies (vocals, guitar, synth) and Ryan Kenter (drums, percussion). Jordan Smith (guitar, vocals) and Brian Hughes (bass, vocals) complete the band’s current line-up.

The Atom Age/New Season

The Atom Age are a punk band from Oakland, Calif., who have been around since 2009. They describe their sound as follows: A rocket propelled ode to the unhinged power of ‘60s punk and R&B, the Age are more Sonics than Hives, and more Link Wray than Jack White. From their eponymous fifth and latest album, here’s New Season, a charging punk rocker with a garage vibe!

Wilco/Evicted

While I imagine the previous bands and artists may be new to many readers, Wilco is likely a more familiar name. The Chicago alt. country-turned-alternative rock band around Jeff Tweedy emerged in 1994 as one of two groups following the break-up of alt. country outfit Uncle Tupelo. Tweedy’s former bandmate Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt. Wilco’s new album, their 13th, is called Cousin. Here’s Evicted, which like all other tracks was penned by Tweedy. It had first appeared as a single on August 1.

Sources: Wikipedia; Diamond Dogs Facebook page; NME; No-No Boy website; The Atom Age website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday! Once again another weekend seems to be flying by but, of course, we cannot let this happen without visiting six tracks from six different decades with the magical music time machine. Hope you’ll join me for the ride!

Elliot Lawrence and his Orchestra/Alto Lament

For the start of today’s journey, let’s set our time machine to 1958. That’s when American jazz pianist and bandleader Elliot Lawrence recorded Alto Lament, a smooth track by Anthony Louis Scarmolin, an Italian-American composer, pianist and conductor. Based on what I could find, it appears the track was first included on an EP titled Definitely Lawrence! and released in 1959. Lawrence’s long career started in the 1940s. After recording and touring with his own band, he gave up jazz in the early 1960s and began composing and arranging for television, film and stage. Among others, he wrote the score for the great 1971 neo-noir action thriller The French Connection starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey.

Oasis/All Around the World

After this relaxed start of our trip, let’s kick it up a notch with a song that couldn’t be more appropriate when traveling across different countries: All Around the World, a catchy tune by UK pop rockers Oasis. By the time they released their third album Be Here Now in August 1997, they already had established themselves as one of Britain’s most popular ’90s bands, only three years after emerging from obscurity with their debut Definitely Maybe. Like all other songs on Be Here Now, All Around the World was penned by the band’s lead guitarist and principal songwriter Noel Gallagher.

Tedeschi Trucks Band/Somehow

For this next pick, we shall travel back to the present. When listening to Somehow by Tedeschi Trucks Band, somehow, I keep thinking of Bonnie Raitt, one of my all-time favorite artists. Both Susan Tedeschi’s vocals and the music would make this track a perfect fit for Raitt. Written by the group’s member Gabe Dixon (keyboards, guitar, vocals) and songwriter Tia Sellers, Somehow is from their most recent studio album I’m the Moon, which came out in September 2022. Rightfully, Tedeschi Trucks Band called their fifth album the “most ambitious studio project” of their career to date. It was released in several installments, which I covered here and here at the time – terrific album!

The Kinks/Waterloo Sunset

Time to pay a visit to the ’60s. Let’s hop across the pond to London. The year is 1967 and it’s the month of September. That’s when British rock band The Kinks came out with their fifth UK studio album, Something Else by the Kinks. And indeed, that release was something else! In no small part, that’s because of the incredible lead single Waterloo Sunset, which appeared in May of the same year. Written by Ray Davies, the tale about a solitary narrator reflecting on two lovers, the river Thames and Waterloo Station is an absolute gem in the band’s catalog, at least in my book!

Roxy Music/Jealous Guy

When I first heard Jealous Guy by Roxy Music on the radio in Germany in 1981, I immediately loved it. In my youthful innocence, initially, I thought the song was the English art rock band’s own tune, not realizing they had recorded it as a beautiful tribute single to John Lennon in the wake of his senseless murder in December 1980. At the time, I already owned Lennon’s great 1975 compilation Shaved Fish, but it didn’t include Jealous Guy – definitely a miss! Originally, Lennon had recorded the ballad for his September 1971 sophomore solo album Imagine. Eventually, I borrowed a copy of that album and taped it on music cassette. Nowadays, I dig both versions equally.

James Gang/Walk Away

When you hang out with good friends, time flies – I can’t believe we’re reaching the final stop of another music time travel trip! Let’s end it with a kickass rocker by American rock band James Gang: Walk Away. Written by the great Joe Walsh, who had joined the group in early 1968, Walk Away was the opener of James Gang’s third studio album Thirds, released in April 1971. It would be Walsh’s final studio project with the band. After his departure in December 1971, he formed Barnstorm. Eventually, he was invited to join the Eagles in 1975 and continues to perform with them to this day.

As usual, the final thing I leave you with is a Spotify playlist featuring all of the above tracks. Hope there’s something you dig and you’ll be back for more!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

If I Could Only Take One

It’s it really Wednesday again? Yep, the calendar doesn’t lie. This means it’s time to pack my bags anew and head to that imaginary desert island. But before leaving, I must pick one song to take along.

It can’t be just any tune. It must be a song by an artist or a band I’ve rarely covered or not covered at all. And it must be an artist or a band whose name starts with the letter “o” since I’m doing this exercise alphabetically and did my pick for “n” last week.

For the letter “o”, some of the choices included Oasis, Sinead O’Connor, Phil Ochs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Roy Orbison and Ozzy Osborne. And my pick is a smooth Philly soul tune I’ve always loved but not covered yet: Back Stabbers by The O’Jays.

Back Stabbers, co-written by Philadelphia International label songwriters Leon Huff, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, is the title track of The O’Jays’ sixth studio album. Released in August 1972, it was their breakthrough and the first for Philadelphia International Records, a label that had only been founded in 1971. I dig the nice contrast between Levert’s rough voice and Williams’ smooth singing.

The O’Jays originally hailed from Canton, Ohio and were formed in 1958 as The Mascots by Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles while they were still in high school. They changed their name to The Triumphs before becoming The O’Jays in 1963 in tribute to Eddie O’Jay, a Cleveland radio DJ.

In 1963, The O’Jays released Lonely Drifter, their first charting U.S. single, which reached no. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also appeared on their debut album that came out in 1965. But as noted above, the group’s breakthrough didn’t happen until they signed with Philadelphia International Records and released the Back Stabbers album. By that time, The O’Jays had become a trio featuring Levert, Williams and Powell.

After 64 years, The O’Jays are still around, with Levert and Williams remaining part of the current line-up that also includes Eric Nolan Grant. In fact, they have upcoming tour dates in July and August. To date, they have released 29 studio albums, 20 compilations, one live album and nearly 100 singles. The O’Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (2004), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2005) and National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame (2013).

Back Stabbers ranks among The O’Jays most successful U.S. singles, topping the R&B chart and reaching no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only Love Train, another track from Back Stabbers, ever topped the Hot 100. Other hits included Put Your Hands Together (1973), For the Love of Money (1974), I Love Music (1975), Livin’ For the Weekend (1976) and Use ta Be My Girl (1978).

Here’s a nice clip of The O’Jays’ 2005 Rock Hall induction performance, a medley of Back Stabbers, For the Love of Money and Love Train.

Following are some additional tidbits on Back Stabbers from Songfacts:

This song starts with a piano roll that Leon Huff played. He explained in an interview with National Public Radio: “‘Back Stabbers sounds like something eerie, so that roll was like something horrible, because that’s what back stabbers are. It reflected that type of drama.”

Regarding the elaborate production and orchestral sound, he added: “Our dream was to play so many counter-melodies that came with those songs, and the orchestra was able to put that together. Plus, stereo radio had just come around, and you had a lot of space to fill up. Stereo was much more soothing than mono, so we thought about the mixes we could do. The music was funky and classical at the same time.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; O’Jays website; YouTube

Best of What’s New

Happy Saturday and welcome to another weekly new music revue. Usually, most of the artists I feature in these posts are new to me. Not so this time! All picks appear on brand new albums released yesterday.

Wilco/All Across the World

American alternative rock band Wilco were formed in 1994 by singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy (lead vocals, guitars, bass, harmonica) and the remaining members of Uncle Tupelo after vocalist and guitarist Jay Farrar had left the alternative country group. Wilco’s studio debut A.M. came out in March 1995. Unlike Trace, the debut by Farrar’s newly founded Son Volt, A.M. missed the charts. But Wilco caught up with and eventually surpassed Son Volt from a chart performance perspective. To date, the band has released 12 albums including its latest Cruel Country, a double album. While Tweedy acknowledged Wilco hadn’t been very comfortable about being called a country band in the past, even though their music always had included country elements, he said with Cruel Country “Wilco is digging in and calling it country.” Here’s All Across the World. I dig that tune and really don’t care much what you call it!

Liam Gallagher/Too Good For Giving Up

English singer-songwriter Liam Gallagher first gained prominence in the 1990s as frontman and lead vocalist of Britain’s overnight sensation Oasis. After Liam’s brother Noel Gallagher quit Oasis in August 2009, which ended the group, Liam and the remaining members decided to continue as Beady Eye. When that band broke up in October 2014, Liam launched a solo career, though for some reason, he initially didn’t want to characterize it as such. His solo debut As You Were was met with critical acclaim and debuted at no. 1 on the British albums chart. Now, Liam Gallagher is back with his third and new album C’mon You Know. Here’s a sample: Too Good For Giving Up, co-written by Gallagher and fellow British singer-songwriter Simon Aldred who is also listed as co-producer. Strong tune!

Steve Earle/Hill Country Rain

After a warm tribute to his late son Justin Townes Earle, released in January 2021, roots rock singer-songwriter Steve Earle is back with another tribute. Jerry Jeff, his 22nd studio release, celebrates the music of outlaw country singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker. While Walker wrote and interpreted many songs over more than 50 years, he was best known for Mr. Bojangles. This 1968 classic has been covered by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Dylan, among others. And now also Steve Earle, who released his solo debut Guitar Town in March 1986 following a 10-year-plus career as a songwriter and musician. “This record completes the set, the work of my first-hand teachers,” Earle wrote on his website. “The records were recorded and released in the order in which they left this world. But make no mistake – it was Jerry Jeff Walker who came first.” Here’s Hill Country Rain, which Walker first recorded in 1972 for a self-titled studio album. Great rendition!

Bruce Hornsby/Tag

When I included Bruce Hornsby in a recent Sunday Six installment, I didn’t anticipate I’d be writing about the American singer-songwriter again so soon. Best known for his 1986 debut gem The Way It Is, Hornsby has drawn from folk-rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, southern rock, country rock, heartland rock and blues rock over a 36-year-and-counting recording career. Bonnie Raitt, whose music I’ve loved for many years, called Hornsby her favorite artist in a recent interview. Perhaps I should finally take a closer look at Hornsby beyond his first two albums! ‘Flicted, his 23rd and latest would be a start. “Thanks to all of our supporters who have followed the multi-genre journey for the last thirty-six years,” Hornsby wrote on his website.”…thanks for being open to change, exploration and a bit of musical mirth and merriment along with the attempts at deep and soulful music-making through the years.” Here’s Tag, which like most tunes on the album were written or co-written by Hornsby. This may not be as catchy as mainstream pop-oriented songs like Every Little Kiss, Mandolin Rain or The Way It Is, but I’m still intrigued and want to hear more.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of the above and a few additional tunes from each featured artist.

Sources: Wikipedia; Steve Earle website; Bruce Hornsby website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Welcome to the first Sunday Six of May 2022! It’s been a bit on the chilly side in my neck of the woods. But the weather in the New Jersey-New York-Connecticut tri-state area can change rapidly, and before we know it, we may have summer-like temperatures. One thing is for sure: Spring has definitely arrived! Now that we’ve got the weather covered, let’s get to a new set of six songs to celebrate music of the past and the present.

Joel Ross/Wail

I’d like to start today’s musical journey in the year 2022 with jazz by 26-year-old New York composer Joel Ross. A bio on the website of the renowned Blue Note Records jazz label calls him “the most thrilling new vibraphonist in America.” Here’s a bit more: The Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based player and composer has a way of being everywhere interesting at once: from deeply innovative albums (Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings and Deciphering the Message, Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens’ In Common) to reliably revolutionary combos (Marquis Hill’s Blacktet, Peter Evans’ Being & Becoming) to his own acclaimed Blue Note albums: KingMaker, Who Are You?, and The Parable of the Poet. This brings me to Wail, a track off Ross’s latest Blue Note album released April 15. “Almost every take is a first take, since our years improvising together have shaped these compositions into something with more meaning than we ever could know,” he told Apple Music. Oftentimes, free-form jazz isn’t my cup of tea, but I do like this music!

Ace/How Long

Our next stop is the ’70s and a tune by British pop-rock band Ace I’ve always loved: How Long. I was reminded of the catchy song when I heard it on the radio the other day. How Long was written by the group’s frontman and keyboarder Paul Carrack. It was Ace’s debut single and appeared on their first album Five-A-Side, released in January 1974. How Long became their biggest hit, climbing to no. 3 in the U.S. and Canada, and reaching no. 20 in the UK. I think it’s the only tune I know from Ace, who were active from 1972 until 1977. Following their breakup, Carrack became a member of various prominent bands, including Roxy Music, Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics. In 1980, Carrack also launched a solo career, which continues to this day.

Willie Nelson/Night Life

If you saw my latest Best of What’s New installment, you probably noticed it included new music by Willie Nelson who just turned 88 years and remains a viable artist. This reminded me of a tune I had earmarked for The Sunday Six a few months ago after my streaming service provider had served it up as a listening suggestion. Night Life, co-written by Nelson, Paul Buskirk and Walt Breeland, was first released as a single in 1960. Wikipedia notes the following interesting anecdote: Due to financial issues, Nelson sold the song to guitar instructor Paul Buskirk for $150. The recording of the song was rejected by Pappy Daily, owner of Nelson’s label, D Records. Daily believed that the song was not country. Encouraged by the amount of money he received for the song, Nelson decided to master it at another studio. To avoid legal actions, it was recorded as “Nite Life” under the artist name of “Paul Buskirk and the Little Men featuring Hugh Nelson.” In 1963 Bellaire Records reissued the single under the original title of “Night Life,” recrediting it to “Willie Nelson.” While it may not be among Nelson’s most popular songs, to me Night Life feels like a timeless classic.

John Lennon/Watching the Wheels

Next, we go to November 1980 and Watching the Wheels, one of my favorite John Lennon tunes from his solo career. It first appeared on Double Fantasy from November 1980, which sadly turned out to be Lennon’s last album released during his lifetime. Only three weeks after the release, he was murdered by a deranged individual in front of The Dakota, the New York City building in which he was living with Yoko Ono and their then-six-year-old son Sean. Watching the Wheels also appeared separately as the album’s third single in March 1981. Unlike the two preceding singles Woman and (Just Like) Starting Over, which reached no. 2 and no. 1, respectively, in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, Watching the Wheels “only” climbed to no. 10. Interestingly, in the UK where the first two singles topped the charts, the song stalled at no. 30.

Oasis/Wonderwall

Okay, time for a stop-over in the ’90s and Wonderwall, a massive hit by English pop-rock band Oasis. Written by the group’s co-founder Noel Gallagher, the tune appeared on their sophomore album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, released in October 1995. The record became even more successful than the band’s strong debut Definitely Maybe that had appeared in August 1994. Wonderwall also was one of six singles Morning Glory spawned. It surged to no. 2 in the UK on the Official Singles Chart and also did well elsewhere: No. 1 in Australia; no. 2 in Ireland; no. 5 in Canada; and no. 8 in the U.S. and The Netherlands, among others. During their active period between 1991 and 2009, Oasis sold over 70 million records worldwide and were one of the most successful acts in the UK.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown/Fire

And once again, it’s time to wrap up another Sunday Six, and I give you the god of hellfire! The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 by vocalist Arthur Brown. The group’s initial run spanned three years and their only hit Fire, co-written by Brown, the band’s keyboarder Vincent Crane, as well as Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker. Appearing on the group’s eponymous debut album from June 1968 and separately as a single, Fire topped the charts in the UK and Canada, climbed to no. 2 in the U.S., and reached no. 3 in each Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. It also charted in the top 10 in The Netherlands (no. 4) and Austria (no. 7). After this phenomenal start and sharing bills with the likes of The Who, The Doors and Small Faces, the group ran out of, well, fire and disbanded in June 1969. They reformed in 2000 with a different line-up and Brown as the only original member, and apparently remain active to this day. Bown has also issued various solo releases and has a new album scheduled for June 24. In case you’re curious how he sounds these days at age 79, the first track is already out.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist with all the above goodies.

Sources: Wikipedia; Blue Note Records website; Apple Music; YouTube; Spotify