Month: September 2019

New Single: The Sunset Sinners “Always Time For One More Beer”

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Is there a rock song that could be a more perfect fit for the BourbonAndVinyl ethos than one entitled, “Always Time For One More Beer”? I think not… Check this tune out:

It seems in these dark and divisive times that rock is receding as a cultural force. Radio and the charts have seemingly turned their back on guitar-oriented rock and roll. Gone are those 70s heyday of squealing guitar and rocking tunes. As if it were an answer to a call to battle, four men have emerged from America’s heartland, prepared to make a stand for rock ‘n’ roll. These four men, Tony Bowell (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Chris Brungardt (lead guitar), Brad Johnson (bass) and Blake Blackim (drums), call themselves the Sunset Sinners. And as faithful readers of B&V know, we like to support local music around here, B&V Goes Out Drinking, Supports Live Music: Kansas City’s Amanda Fish. I can tell you, I really dig this band.

As it turns out, this past weekend was Kansas City’s vaunted Plaza Art Fair. Friday night is usually the big party night, and this year was no exception. The Rock Chick and I went down into the mayhem, if only for a few hours, to check out art and “party arty.” On Saturday, after brunch, she dropped me off back on the Plaza for one of my drinking walkabouts… a small vestige of the old days. You can drink beer on the streets, and who doesn’t love that? It’s harmless as during the day it’s more of a strollers and dogs vibe…I seem to remember trying to explain “My Old School” by Steely Dan to some kid who just graduated from William and Mary, but I digress. As it so happens, a friend of mine Drummer Blake was in town from Salina for the Greta Van Fleet concert (Concert Review: Greta Van Fleet, Kansas City’s Starlight Theater, Sept 21, 2019). I met up with him at the Fair and we dropped into a local tavern to talk rock and roll. It just so happens, Drummer Blake is the one and only Blake Blackim from the Sunset Sinners. I met Blake, originally, in the Drum Room (a bar downtown) before a Black Sabbath concert, which is pretty auspicious when you think about it (Black Sabbath Live & The Four Horsemen of the Salinapocalypse).

The Sunset Sinners are formed around some pretty straightforward and important principles. First and foremost, these cats are focused on the music. They came together out of a sheer love of rock and roll. I can’t stress enough, it’s all about the music for these guys. With America divided the Sunset Sinners founding principle that partying and rock ‘n’ roll is something that can bring us all together seems to have crystalized in their first single, “Always Time For One More Beer.’ These guys are all about fun and you can hear that when they play. I advise everyone who can – see these guys live, you will thank me.

The Sinners describe their music as a new genre, one they call “Whiskey Barrel Rock.” It contains elements of a Southern Rock Revival and Red Dirt Country. It can almost be described as a crossover between rock and country, a perfect mix on a Saturday night. It’s as if Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chris Stapleton and Blackstone Cherry had a baby and they named it, Sunset Sinners. There’s a heavy dose of 70s rock and roll here. Nasty guitar with a bite, big drums, it’s all good. You can tell these guys grew up listening to the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet and the aforementioned Skynyrd. Although I must admit, their sound on the new single is much more muscular than pure Southern Rock… courtesy of that great lead guitar from Chris Brungardt.

The new track starts off with a sweet little slide guitar part but then the drums kick in and it’s off to the races. I can hear the Southern Rock and the Black Crowes influence almost immediately. Tony Bowell’s impassioned vocals are right up front and spot on. The guitars soar over the bedrock rhythm section. This song is the perfect, Saturday night, honky-tonk, and (obviously) beer drinking song. They’ve even got a great video out on YouTube…

https://youtu.be/k0VjeSh3co8

Actually there are a bunch of great video clips of Sinners’ concerts out on YouTube as well, with my particular favorite being a cover of ZZTop’s “Just Got Paid.” Search YouTube on the Sunset Sinners and behold the rock ‘n’ roll.

One of the cooler things abut the Sunset Sinners, is that they have a strong following and close relationship with Veterans, first responders, cops, current troops, and oddly, bikers. You likely noticed the biker part of that in the video… I think it’s great that local and national heroes have been drawn to the music these guys play. And frankly, I dig the whole biker vibe too. Not every biker is an outlaw folks, and not every outlaw is a biker.

Asked what’s next for the Sunset Sinners, Blake tells me there’s more new music on the horizon. He and the rest of the band are writing and putting together new tunes as I type this. I think we can be hopeful that we’ll see at least an EP, Greta Van Fleet style, sometime soon. The band doesn’t seem to be caught up in a bunch of aspirational bullshit, they’re playing merely for the love of rock ‘n’ roll, which is music of the purest form. I think everyone should crack a cold one and put on “Always Time For One More Beer.”!!!

Keep your eyes on this band, they just might single-handedly revive rock and roll!!

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Concert Review: Greta Van Fleet, Kansas City’s Starlight Theater, Sept 21, 2019

~ kcorsini ~ 4 Comments

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*Photo taken by the intrepid wife of your intrepid B&V blogger

September in Kansas City is my favorite time of year. Typically the mercury in the thermometer drops down into the 70s for highs and the sun takes on a golden glow. Many of my favorite things happen in the fall — the local Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City Chiefs’ football, and often the stray outdoor concert. I never quite expected all three of those events to occur over the course of one weekend, but whose complaining? I may need to exchange my blood with a group of Swiss school children to recover, but other than that ‘m not too worse for wear.

After a day spent hanging out at the Plaza Art Fair, the Rock Chick and I loaded up in the car, picked up some friends of ours, and headed out to the beautiful Starlight Theater. I love shows out there and have since I saw Elton John there in the 80s (Elton’s Retirement From Touring Takes Me Back to His KC Starlight Theater Show July 6, 1982). There was a serious threat of rain on Saturday so the schedule was moved up for everything. Sadly, I missed the opening act and had just got to my seats when Greta Van Fleet, pictured above, came on stage. I applaud their efforts to get the show in despite a threat of storms and luckily they were able to do a full show without a drop of rain falling.

Before I knew what was happening, the lights went down and under the cover of a heavy fog machine, four men who probably aren’t even 25 stepped out on stage and transported me back to 1975 – to an era when rock and roll still ruled the world. I loved everything about this show. These guys even dress like rock stars – lead singer Josh Kiszka was wearing a jump suit that Freddie Mercury would have envied. I’m as hetero as anybody you’re gonna find but that Sam Kiszka on bass guitar is just one beautiful human being… he reminded me of the hottest girl in my high school.

I had peaked at the setlist and originally was disappointed to see they only play about a dozen tracks. I thought, well this will be a pretty brief show. I was, as usual, wrong. These guys jam out quite a bit and there were choice keyboard, guitar and drum solos. The show lasted over an hour and 45 minutes…They opened up strong with “The Cold Wind” which led to a quick version of the old classic, “Kansas City.” Sure, many have done that, but I still appreciate the gesture.

After that, GVF was off and running with guns, er I mean guitars blazing. Jake Kiszka’s guitar was front and center all night long. I can’t say enough about Danny Wagner’s drumming as well. Although I must say, the unheralded star might be Sam Kiszka whose bass and keyboard playing was outstanding. Every time he hit a bass string, my cloths shook, so heavy and loud were these guys. Josh’s vocals were as soaring and amazing as they are on record. That was my question on these guys… can they cut through the hype and deliver on stage? The answer is a resounding YES!

After cranking it up for “Safari Song” and “Black Smoke Rising,” Sam handed off his bass and sat down at the keyboards. They got laid back and played “Flower Power,” “Age of Man” and “You’re the One” which saw Jake go from his lone electric guitar to an acoustic guitar. The sheer joy that guy plays with is awesome. He and Jake do the Plant/Page, Jagger/Richards, meet at the front of the stage and lean in toward the microphone to harmonize thing. The theater was packed and the response from the crowd was raucous.

They finally turned it back up towards the end of the main set, with a song called “Black Flag Exposition,” which featured the most epic guitar of the night. That led to the rocking “Watching Over” and the perfect set ender, “When the Curtain Falls.” The latter song was epic rock at its best. The encore continued the high energy guitar rock, with two of my all time favs by these guys “Lover, Leaver, (Taker, Believer)” and finally “Highway Tune.” Josh let the banshee wail out for those.

As I wandered out to my car I stopped into the men’s room. There was a guy in there with an L.A. Guns t-shirt… He saw my C.B.G.B t-shirt and said, “They’re bring it back, they’re bring back 80s metal, man.” Before I could respond, some other guy turned and said, “No way man, these guys are 70s rock, Zeppelin, Aerosmith, like that…” I just smiled and ducked out to the parking lot. It’s great to see that kind of rock and roll excitement, all courtesy of the amazing Greta Van Fleet. See these guys wherever and whenever you can.

I don’t know if these guys are the “saviors of rock and roll” but they are damn fun to see in concert. I was supposed to see them last summer but Danny Wagner hurt his wrist… I almost hesitated to go see these guys this time around but damn I’m glad I did!!

 

The Who Return With Spirited New Single, “Ball And Chain”

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I, for one, was really bummed when the Who called it quits in 1984 after the tepid live album, Who’s Last. They’d released two albums in the early 80s that I really enjoyed. Although, in retrospect, perhaps those LPs weren’t up to their “classic” standards. To be honest, the first Who album I ever bought was Face Dances, an album I remain fond of to this day. I loved “You Better You Bet” and “Another Tricky Day.” I still quote the latter song when friends are having a tough time… “this is no social crisis, this is you having fun…”

Even I will admit 1982’s It’s Hard was not a great Who album. I did love the title track. And the single, “Athena” still holds some charm for me. And of course, I can still remember being on kitchen duty, sweating to death over an industrial dishwasher and having the crew chief put “Eminence Front” on the boom box and turning it up real loud. Everybody in the kitchen swaying and nodding to the music. Townshend isn’t fond of that song but everybody else on the planet loves it. Sorry, Pete… I even liked the video for that song, which is almost embarrassing to admit these days.

One of the reasons people frowned on those last two Who studio albums was because the Who, unlike Zeppelin, decided to carry on without their drummer. Keith Moon passed away after the album Who Are You and many folks thought the Who lost a lot of their power. Kenny Jones of the Faces joined but he was a much more economical drummer, much different than the sound Moon generated. It didn’t help that Townshend had also launched a solo career (his first three albums are essential listening) and was also mired in a bad heroin habit.

It was probably inevitable that the Who would reunite, they were far from spent creatively. I finally saw them in concert for the first time in 1988 when they reunited and pulled together a giant ensemble of a band and did a stadium tour. Townshend was struggling with his hearing loss and only played an acoustic guitar. There were like 30 people on stage with them on that tour but they still conjured some of the sturm and drang of their glory days. That was only the first of many reunion tours of course. They’ve toured on Tommy and Quadrophenia alone. I saw them in 2000 in Denver with my friend Stormin’, and it was just Townshend, Entwistle, and Daltrey with Ringo’s son Zak Starkey on drums and it was phenomenal. It was like it was 1975 again. Zak drums more like a Moon than a Starr, if you get what I mean.

At the time, I just kept thinking, when are these guys going to get into the studio and record a new album? Townshend is a songwriting genius and the band sounded great with Zak on drums, why not? Then, sadly John Entwistle passed away in Vegas on coke, which is the way rock stars should go, if you ask me, and that seemed to forestall any new music from the Who. Luckily the Who soldiered on with Pino Palladino on bass.

We finally saw the first new music in over 24 years from the Who in 2006 (save for two singles on a greatest hits compilation, “Real Good Looking Boy” about Elvis and “Old Red Wine” for Entwistle), when they released the concept album, Endless Wire. Well, I call it a concept album but the first half was a collection of songs and the second half was a mini-opera (Townshend is so fond of his operas), called “Wire And Glass.” My college roommate Drew, who expanded my love and knowledge of the Who, loved Endless Wire. I trust Drew’s musical instincts implicitly, especially about the Who, but the album left me somewhat cold. It just didn’t feel like the right way for the Who to hang it up on.

Over the last several years I keep reading comments from Daltrey that his voice is eventually going to fail him. He’s been trying to keep working, within or outside the Who to keep his “instrument working.” I get that. He released the great collaboration album with Wilko Johnson, Going Back Home, which everyone should own. He’s toured with the Who and on his own to keep his voice up. He also released a solo album last year, As Long As I Have You, which was heavy on soul covers. Daltrey almost scrapped the project but Townshend heard some demo’s and volunteered to play rhythm guitar on the album.

I don’t know if that was the spark that led them back into the studio as The Who, but whatever led them there, I’m just glad they’ve got an album coming out. I’ve heard the rumbles about their age or that there are only 2 original members left etc etc. As long as Townshend can write songs and Daltrey can shout them, I say carry on lads! As Elton John once said about the Stones, would any one have had the balls to tell Muddy Waters he was too old to go on? Muddy would have pulled a razor and cut a fool for saying that to him… well, Howlin Wolf certainly would have had a razor, maybe not Muddy.

The Who have released the first single from their upcoming album WHO entitled “Ball And Chain.” There is some subterfuge here as the song was originally put out on a Pete Townshend greatest hits package a few years ago, with Townshend on lead vocals under the title of “Guantanamo.” Why they changed the name is anyone’s guess but this is a pretty politically charged track… maybe the name change helps with managing political backlash but still allowing Pete to get the point across. Townshend’s original track is almost all acoustic and his vocal is almost a growl. It was a track I liked enough to purchase when it first came out… Here is the original version:

“Ball And Chain” is a nice update of this track. Usually you see artists like Sting or Phil Collins remake solo versions of songs previously done with their band but in this case Townshend did the reverse and took a solo tune back to the band. While Townshend’s is almost all acoustic, this version has more traditional sounds we expect from the Who. It starts with a beautiful cascading piano. The first time I heard this I thought maybe Daltrey’s voice had finally gone Dylan on him and it was gone but on repeated listens I realized he’s just trying to approximate Pete’s growl on the original version. His singing is as strong as ever. There really is no better interpreter of Townshend’s vision than Daltrey. The chemistry remains impeccable. Unlike the laid back acoustic nature of “Guantanamo” Pete adds some fierce power chords to this track. I love his electric guitar on this song. It’s a tough, strident track. These guys still rock. It may not be “Won’t Get Fooled Again” but it’s still got that great Who bite. Where are the kids today writing protest music? I don’t hear any… Sigh. Here is the Who version:

Needless to say, we love this track down at B&V. I can only hope this portends a strong album… Any new music by legendary bands like The Who, Paul McCartney, or the Stones should be celebrated with a national holiday involving bourbon and dancing around. Which, ironically is how I’ll be spending my weekend…

Cheers!

RIP Ric Ocasek – Singer, Songwriter, Producer for New Wave/Rock Band The Cars Has Passed Away

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*Photo taken from the internet, from ABC News and likely copyrighted

Well this one is gonna leave a mark… more bad rock and roll news this past weekend when it was announced that the Cars’ lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and all around seemingly nice guy Ric Ocasek passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday. On the heels of Eddie Money’s loss on Friday, it was a tough weekend. While my love of Eddie Money may have been singular to me, everybody loves/loved the Cars. My heart goes out to all his family and friends.

People tend to think of music in terms of “decades.” We often hear about the 60s or the 70s when people try to quantify and qualify music. I guess if you’re trying to get your head around a certain era or a certain sound it makes some sense. I don’t think music, music trends or the arc of certain bands’ careers fit neatly into those boxes. The Cars (and well, Eddie Money for that matter) certainly don’t fit neatly into the 70s or the 80s box. There was a decade in music from 1975 to 1985 that you can carve out, with it’s own distinct vibe and that’s where the Cars fit in (and really it’s more like 1978 to 1988). You could argue that with Van Halen, they may have ruled that “sub-decade.” Many of those bands started off as straight forward (for lack of a better description) 70’s rock bands and then morphed in the era of synths, drum machines and MTV to survive the first part of the 80s. No one made that musical transition more seamlessly than the Cars, helmed by Ric Ocasek.

My god, the music this band made was just phenomenal. The Cars sprang seemingly out of nowhere from Boston (although Ric Ocasek and bassist/vocalist Benjamin Orr had been knocking around in bands long before that). They were a quintessential Boston band. Hell, Ocasek had even hired David Robinson of the Boston band The Modern Lovers (Digging In Deeper: B&V Artists/Albums To Expand Your Music Collection – Don’t Be Afraid!) as his drummer… both Ocasek and Jonathan Richman (leader of the Lovers) were huge fans of the Velvet Underground whose music influenced both groups.  Inspired and excited with his new drummer, Ocasek responded with a batch of songs that would become the Cars’ (Ocasek, Orr, Robinson with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and lead guitarist Elliott Easton) masterpiece debut album, The Cars. They should have named that album The Cars Greatest Hits because it is a perfect record – and one of the greatest debut albums of all time. They were able to fuse rock and roll and the blossoming New Wave sound into something uniquely their own.  The songs on that debut record… “Good Times Roll,” “Moving In Stereo,” “My Best Friends Girl,” “Just What I Needed.” Big rock with great, twitchy vocals. Ocasek and Orr’s vocals with Easton’s economical guitar solos and Hawkes ever present keyboards was the perfect mix.

They followed up in 1979 with what may be my favorite Cars’ LP, Candy-O. The Vargas painting on the front cover, with a beautiful woman on the hood of a muscle car… it’s iconic to me. There was no sophomore slump for the Cars. You couldn’t escape those first two albums, they were so huge…those records were the soundtrack to my high school years. They’d had so much success Ocasek was able to indulge his more experimental side with their third record, 1980’s Panorama. While that was a commercial and critical setback, it still had some great songs – “Gimme Some Slack,” “Touch And Go,” and a song I like to play for my wife, “Don’t Tell Me No.” I think that’s when I saw them play on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow show, the closest I ever got to seeing them live… They rebounded in 1981 with the more “pop” album Shake It Up which has my all-time favorite Cars’ track, “Since You’re Gone.” As a brokenhearted teenager, post-breakup (my first), mooning over lyrics like “Since you’re gone, well, the moonlight ain’t so great” was habitual.

It was 1984’s Heartbeat City that blew the Cars into the stratosphere… they ruled the airwaves and MTV. With hits like “Drive” (sung beautifully by Orr), “You Might Think” and “Magic” the Cars were even bigger than in the early stage of their career – and believe me they were already huge. It was at that time when geeky looking Ric Ocasek ended up dating and marrying supermodel Paulina Porizkova, leading all of us nerds out here to think we had a shot with the prettiest woman in our lives. Any time I saw an average dude with a smokin’ hot lady, I’d say, “That’s the luckiest guy you’re gonna find, this side of Ric Ocasek.” There was a lot of conflict on Heartbeat City – Orr wanted to write more, Robinson was pissed as Ocasek used drum machines vs his drumming. They never quite recovered from that conflict… after the uninspired Door to Door the Cars split up for good. Orr and Ocasek never reconciled and Orr passed in 2000… sad indeed.

The thing that really set the Cars apart, for me, are the lyrics. Ocasek wrote more like the Beat poets he admired than a traditional songwriter who tells a story, like say, Springsteen. The lyrics for “Hello Again” read like a string of bumper stickers: “You might have forgot/the journey ends/you tied your knots/you made your friends/you left the scene/without a trace/one hand on the ground/one hand in space.” That’s a great way to start a song. Bowie is always heralded as the artist who was out there for the misfits. And yes, he was. But Ocasek ranks right up there with Bowie for all of us outcasts. He wrote songs about geeky guys lusting for the prettiest girl in school. It may comes as a surprise to readers of B&V, but I wasn’t exactly “popular” in high school… I blame the acne. Ocasek’s vision spoke to me. He wrote and sang with an icy coolness, a detachment that seemed to come from the outcast, the person sitting on the edge of the party, people watching. And yet, he still wrote with a vulnerability that was so honest. He did all of that while making us want to dance… the music of the Cars, like much of the music of that decade was just fun.

Ocasek went on to produce for a lot of different bands ranging from Suicide to Weezer, to name but a few. Everyone who worked with him raved about what a great guy he was. Ocasek even produced a couple of tracks for No Doubt which I never realized. He could make edgy music yet had a great ear to make songs radio friendly. He had to be amazing to work with in the studio. The Cars did reunite for one last album in 2011, which was sadly long after Benjamin Orr had passed… I wish he and Ocasek could have reconciled prior to Orr’s death… maybe now they can. The resulting 2011 album Move Like This, with the remaining members of the Cars save Orr was one of those unexpected treats and great, late-career albums that B&V was built on. I would recommend it to anybody. It wasn’t Candy-O, but it was a strong record. Sadly now that sound, that voice has been silenced. All I can think regarding Ric Ocasek is, “since you’re gone, well, nothings makin’ any sense.”

RIP Ric Ocasek. Your music will last forever… and not just because of Phoebe Cates’ topless scene in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, set to “Moving In Stereo.” Although I’m sure that won’t hurt…

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Friday New Music DJ’ing & Greta Van Fleet’s New Single, “Always There”

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This past Friday was a lot like other Friday’s here at the B&V labs. I had returned from a long week of travel in the service of my corporate masters that found me in Phoenix and St. Louis. I’m usually pretty burned out after all of that “work” and I’m typically anxious to seek the comfort of my own home, my own bar and more importantly my own stereo. The American Royal BBQ was taking place this weekend, and the Rock Chick and I could have headed down there, but it’s only fun if you know someone whose actually competing so you can get free samples of freshly smoked beast. Otherwise you’re just hanging around in a smokey parking lot. I get that experience at Arrowhead Stadium 8 times a year…oh yes, I get my fill on smokey parking lots.

One of the great things about a Friday at home with the Rock Chick is our propensity to start doing some musical exploration. Many a Friday, I’ll turn the DJ duties over to my intrepid wife, the Rock Chick, and she’ll serve up a host of classic rock and alternative tracks that lasts well into the wee hours. Gone are the days where we had our drunken dance parties… now we just drink and rock, and let’s face it, I never danced so much as convulsed. I’m rhythmically challenged on the dance floor.

Lately the DJ parties have gotten even better since we now have Spotify here at the house. We can now actually explore outside the confines of our own music collection. After a long and respectful homage to the late Eddie Money who passed FridayRIP Eddie Money, B&V Mourns The Loss of the “Money Man”, I actually took the DJ helm and found a Spotify playlist, “New Rock.” Pretty straightforward on the title there… Not a hugely creative bunch down there at Spotify… I started paging through all the new music that’s come out and damned if I wasn’t a tad surprised at all the stuff that’s already out or coming out.

After wading through some music I should have avoided (the Goo Goo Dolls are still around? Puddle of Mudd?), I discovered there’s a whole lot of music coming out that I’m excited about. I had heard that Liam Gallagher, erstwhile singer of Oasis had a new album coming but I had no idea he’d put five songs out already. The Who have released their first song from their impending album, which I was thrilled about. It’s been 12 years since their last LP and all I can say is, it’s about time. After that I found a playlist entitled “New Alt” and quickly turned the DJ duties over to my wife… that music is more in her wheel house. I did hear some great new stuff…and yes, eventually we’re going to have talk about this new Iggy Pop album.

All of that said, there was a method to my madness in pulling up the New Rock playlist. I was looking for (and found) the new track from millennial Zeppelin fans Greta Van Fleet. I had heard it and wanted to play it for the Rock Chick. Much has been said and much has been complained about in regards to Greta Van Fleet. Me, I’m a fan. I tend to agree with PNW Bob who says, “they don’t deserve the hype or the backlash.” I still can’t believe it’s been two years since the Rock Chick burst into my office and said, “I don’t know who this Greta Van Fleet chick is but she sounds like Zeppelin…”

The new track, which I’ve read was a surprise, is entitled “Always There.” It was cut for a soundtrack to some movie, “A Million Little Pieces” which I will profess to knowing nothing about. I don’t know whose in the movie, nor do I care. All I care about is new GVF. I actually knew they were in the studio making new music and had heard there might be another album, the follow up to last year’s Anthem of a Peaceful Army, but maybe they just cut this single. I certainly hope we’re treated to more new Greta… I’m seeing them in concert next Saturday with my friend, Drummer Blake and I must say, excitement is brewing here at the B&V labs. Naturally, I will dutifully report in with my thoughts after the concert.

As will be no surprise to recurring readers of B&V, I really like “Always There.” The track starts off as a bit of a strummer… with Jake Kiszka melding acoustic and electric guitars. Josh’s vocal starts nuanced before later turning on the Plant-banshee wail. The real star on this track is Sam Kiszka on bass. His lilting, rolling bass carries the song along and takes it to “Over the Hills And Far Away”-classic territory. Danny Wagner’s drum fills are a perfect compliment to the rolling bass line. At about the half way point Josh turns up the vocal volume and a choir like backing vocal comes in to elevate the whole thing to 11.   Nobody makes music like this any more, especially at their age. I think they’re slowly finding their own voice (despite my “Over the Hills…” comparison, I just can’t stop doing that). I look forward to whatever these guys do next, and I can’t say that about a lot of bands these days.

Do a little musical spelunking next weekend… see if you find something you didn’t know about, it’s good for the soul. And check out this new GVF track, its something that you will definitely enjoy.

Cheers!

RIP Eddie Money, B&V Mourns The Loss of the “Money Man”

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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*Photo by your intrepid blogger, of our B&V Eddie Money vinyl collection

All of us here at B&V were stunned when we heard the news today, oh boy, that 70s/80s Rockstar, singer Eddie Money passed away today at the age of 70 from esophageal cancer. I knew he was in ill health and had cancelled his summer tour, but I had no idea it was this serious. My condolences to his family, fans and friends… While most of the headlines today are going to read something along the lines of “Singer of “Two Tickets To Paradise” and “Baby Hold On To Me” has passed away,” there was a lot more to Eddie Money than those two seminal tracks from his debut album. He started as a New York cop and ended as an international rockstar… I’ll never forget his trade mark style of singing out of the side of his mouth. When I took my latest driver’s license photo, right before they snapped the pic, I said out of the side of my mouth, “are you going to take the pic?” When I saw the photo I said to the Rock Chick, “Look, I’m Eddie Money…”

Now many of you may be scratching your head and thinking, Eddie Money? We at B&V are on the record as fans of the Money Man, Humor – The Song Stuck In My Head From Vacation: “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” . For many of us who came of age in the late 70s/early 80s, we remember just how kick ass Eddie Money was. From 1977 to 1986, or 1988 if I’m being generous, Eddie released a series of great, straight forward rock and roll records. Never as important as Springsteen or as popular as Tom Petty, Money was just fun! Bruce may be lurking in the Darkness On The Edge of Town, but Eddie was asking, “Hey, man, uh, Where’s the Party? From Eddie Money to Can’t Hold Back, Eddie’s albums delivered… well, with the exception of Where’s The Party, which after the title track didn’t have much to recommend itself…although my buddy Dennis used to swear by the track “The Big Crash.”

While the two tracks I mentioned above, “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Baby Hold On” were big there were so many great deep tracks from Eddie Money. His cover of “You Really Got a Hold One Me” was definitive, in my opinion. I can pick a deep track on almost each of his albums that should have been a hit: “So Good To Be In Love Again,” “Life For the Taking,” the reggae tinged “Running Back,” “No Control,” “Club Michelle,” or “Calm Before the Storm,” are all great tracks everybody should check out. The man just rocked… not metal, just meat-and-potatoes, soaring rock and roll.

I got on the bandwagon early, in 1978 when I picked up both Eddie Money and his second album, Life For the Taking. Some might complain that Eddie faced the sophomore slump and I’ll admit the debut was better, but with the title track, “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” (later covered by Joe Walsh), “Rock And Roll the Place” and the best track on the album, “Gimme Some Water,” Life For The Taking is still an amazingly strong album… “Slap my horse in the ass, with my last dying gasp, my brother could hear me say… gimme some water…” Hell, yes!

Eddie had his demons… mostly drink and drugs. I think some of the success probably went to his head and his third album while still strong was a step down from those first two. Although I’ll always be fond of Playing For Keeps because of the track “Trinidad.” It was his fourth album, which benefitted from a boost from MTV and some funny videos that really broke Eddie world wide, No Control. “Think I’m In Love” was the big hit and remains a track I love. I was a freshman in college and that song still evokes memories of that troubled year… My favorite track was the rockin’ opening track, “Shakin’.” He wrote a great tribute track to the then just-deceased John Belushi, “Passing By the Graveyard,” that could have been a warning to himself.

I had tickets to see Eddie on that tour, with April Wine opening for him no less, but due to circumstances beyond my control I didn’t see it. I had to wait to see him live until Eddie’s “comeback album,” Can’t Hold Back, which followed the commercial disappointment of Where’s the Party. I saw him twice on the Can’t Hold Back tour… once in KC with my roommates Drew and Dennis, and once on the Boston Commons with my buddy Matthew while I was living in Boston during the summer of ’87. Eddie did not disappoint in concert. Watching him rock out with the Boston skyline in the background is a definite concert highlight.

Sadly, after that I lost touch with Eddie Money. I was vaguely aware of the song “Walk On Water,” but the magic after that seemed to disappear. Grunge came and all music fundamentally changed. Music like Eddie’s was relegated to the classic rock stations in towns and cities across the country. But every now and then I found myself putting “Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star” on my stereo and turning it up loud…

Rest in Peace Eddie… You were a big part of my junior high to college  years and I’ll always be fan…Tonight, with a tall tumbler of vodka… I may just be turning that song up again… “My mother says I’m lazy, my girlfriend thinks I’m crazy, but I wanna be a rock n roll star…”

 

B&V Returns From Vacation With A Playlist: Songs of Home

~ kcorsini ~ 4 Comments

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“Home is where the heart is…” – Pliny the Elder

The Rock Chick and I share a love for the open road. There’s nothing like jumping in the car and driving long distances with music blaring and the wind and sun flowing in the windows. I just have that Jack Kerouac ‘On the Road’-jones, I suppose. While I’ve spent most my life in Kansas City, there’s a gypsy soul in my heart and I love to keep moving. Last week the Rock Chick and I jumped in the car and headed out to points West, to the mountains, to see our daughter and have a little vacation. Things get stressful here at the B&V labs and sometimes you gotta get away… see different stuff, talk to different people, try on different clothes.

Now, I’ll be the first person to admit what a privilege it is to be able to go on a vacation. Not everybody can take off work and actually travel. I will also be the first person on the planet to profess his undying love for my wife and child. We are typically a very good squad to travel with, a very tight-knit group. Those caveats aside… after about three days on the road with my family, I just can’t wait to get back home. I miss my own bed and pillow. I like sitting on my couch in front of my TV drinking my bourbon. Paying $14 a drink didn’t help things. And whilst I love my family, no matter what group you’re traveling with, eventually you’re gonna hit a wall. What starts off nice turns, well, for lack of a better word, crabby. Three people in a confined space doesn’t always work. I travel for my work so my time at home is sacred. Naturally on the back end of my vacation, after spraining my ankle by stepping in a hole, whilst gazing up at the beautiful mountain scenery (because I love the mountains and they hate me… I just don’t perform well at altitude), my thoughts turned to home… which then turned to rock and roll songs about home.

When I got back home last week, I found that we’d finally sold my wife’s deceased father’s home. It’s out in the country, literally in the middle of nowhere. The guy who was renting the place moved out and left a mess. Even at the zenith of my bachelorhood, I couldn’t have imagined living in the filth this guy did. We gathered a squad of intrepid friends  who went above and beyond the call of duty and helped us clean out the two barns. It was a dystopian nightmare in those fucking barns, but we cleaned it all up. My thanks to all of them. As I was going through all of my late father-in-law’s belongings, it felt bittersweet. I was close to him. I was glad to be cleaning up the place but kind of sad to let go of this last vestige of “him.”

I have to admit, the sheer volume of stuff in that barn made me think of George Carlin’s definition of home, as just “a place for your stuff.” My father-in-law was a bit of a hoarder. He had over 200 guns. I’m not a gun guy… I’m still baffled by that. More confusing still was his collection of over 180 large, semi-trucks. These were adult Tonka toys. He had a full size road-grader. He had several fire trucks. He needed a really big place for his stuff. As I cleaned out his barn, under a sign that read, “Free Beer… Tomorrow,” I couldn’t help but think about mortality and the passing of time. But more importantly, having just returned home from a brief vacation, I thought about the nature of “home.”

Is “home” just a place for our stuff? Here was this big farm, actually a ranch since he ran cattle on the land, full of big trucks and guns but at the end of the day my father-in-law lived by himself. He always seemed to have a girlfriend, but I never really got to know any of them because as soon as I learned their names, they were gone. I think he was a happy man but do we ever know the mind of others? We got down to see him as much as we could but he lived in a pretty remote area. Is life really about who dies with the most toys wins? Do we just stack up our money and stand on top of it to decide who has the most value?

The only thing that I could come up with as I pondered these deep thoughts in a cavernous barn full of refuse, is that “home” is more than just a building where we keep our stuff. It’s a feeling. I gazed over the group assembled in that barn, three close friends and my wife, and reflected on seeing my wonderful daughter the week before and I realized, “home” is not a building. It’s not what Carlin thought it was, “a place for my stuff”… it’s this network of friends and family. I think Billy Joel sings it best in the song “You’re My Home,” when he sings the line “Well I’ll never be a stranger and I’ll never be alone, wherever we’re together, that’s my home.” Not to be maudlin folks, but as my friend Alfonse always says, “it’s all about love.”

I hope that where you are you are surrounded by family and friends, that you are truly home and happy… As always you’ll be able to find this playlist on Spotify under the title “BourbonAndVinyl.net Songs of Home.” I will add any suggestions to the playlist made in the Comments section… I have to admit, I was surprised at the number of really sad songs about home… what is it about home that causes such longing? There are a host of emotions in these songs… but doesn’t home always evoke a host of emotions? From longing to get back home to longing to hear from someone whose left home… it’s all here.

  1. Aerosmith, “Home Tonight” – The ending track from Rocks, I love the guitar coda.
  2. Cinderella, “Coming Home” – These guys were the bluesiest of the hair bands. I’ve always dug them.
  3. Genesis, “Home By the Sea” – An epic, almost creepy track from them.
  4. Paul McCartney, “Eat At Home” – Ok this song is about sleeping with your spouse, but the metaphor works.
  5. The Beatles, “When I Get Home” – Great deep track by the Beatles.
  6. Neil Young, “Homegrown” – Great track that finally got released on American Stars N Bars. 
  7. Silvertide, “Ain’t Comin’ Home” – Great little hard rock song from a band the Rock Chick turned me onto.
  8. Roger Daltrey & Wilko Johnson, “Going Back Home” – Title track from an overlooked gem of an album.
  9. Led Zeppelin, “Bring It On Home” – Bluesy, bluesy Zep.
  10. Chuck Berry, “Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)” – Chuck issuing an edict to his woman to get on back home. We all miss somebody out there on the road.
  11. Bush, “Baby Come Home,” – From the great late period record, The Sea of Memories. 
  12. Scorpions, “Coming Home” – For the Scorpions, home was the stage!
  13. Eric Clapton, “Lonesome And a Long Way From Home” – From his first eponymous solo album. Great track.
  14. Boston, “Let Me Take You Home Tonight” – Lame come-on, or great song. I’m leaning toward the latter.
  15. Delaney and Bonnie, “Comin’ Home” – With sizzling lead guitar by Clapton.
  16. CSNY, “Our House” – “With two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard…”
  17. Ozzy Osbourne, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” – Great Ozzy track from a great album.
  18. The Allman Brothers Band, “Please Call Home” – I love this song. I love both their first two albums Artist Lookback: The Allman Brothers’ First Two Albums, 1969-1970.
  19. Phil Collins, “Take Me Home” – Phil gets a bad rap, but who doesn’t dig this song?
  20. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Hometown Blues” – I have these all the time… but when I leave I just end up coming back.
  21. Joe Walsh, “Home” – Laid back, longing from his Barnstorm era.
  22. Eddie Money, “Take Me Home Tonight” – I hear the Money-man is ill. Here’s to a speedy recovery!
  23. Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, “Got To Be A Better Way Home” – From Asbury Park’s other great export…
  24. Bruce Springsteen, “My Hometown” – Speaking of New Jersey…
  25. Jackson Browne, “The Naked Ride Home” – Title track from a great Jackson Browne LP…in which he convinces a young lady to ride home with him, naked. I could never pull that off.
  26. Little Steven, “I Don’t Want To Go Home” – From the great Soulfire LP, LP Review: Little Steven’s ‘Soulfire’ A Triumphant Return To His Solo Career.
  27. Paul McCartney, “(I Want To) Come Home” – The saddest, sweetest song on here.
  28. White Stripes, “There’s No Home For You Here” – The Stripes say good bye to somebody.
  29. B.B. King, “Nobody Home” – B.B. doing a great kiss off song. It’s a shame when you can’t go home.
  30. Bruce Springsteen, “All The Way Home” – From the great Devils And Dust album.
  31. Tom Petty, “Home” – From the deluxe edition of Highway Companion. 
  32. Billy Joel, “You’re My Home” – The best description of my vacation…
  33. Gregg Allman, “I Believe I’ll Go Back Home” – Great blues from his next to last solo album, Low Country Blues. 
  34. Motley Crue, “Home Sweet Home” – Classic song by the Crue.
  35. J. Geils Band, “I’ll Be Coming Home” – I still can’t believe these guys weren’t bigger in the 70s. What a great, overlooked band.
  36. Blind Faith, “Can’t Find My  Way Home” – “Cuz I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home…” I think we’ve all been there.
  37. Elvis Presley, “Stranger In My Own Home Town” – The King, returning to Memphis and finding himself a stranger.
  38. Iggy Pop, “Home” – From the great, Brick By Brick. 
  39. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Country Home” – A quintessential 7-minute jam from Neil and most importantly, the Horse!
  40. Rod Stewart, “Oh God, I Wish I Was Home Tonight” – Rod doing the “call my girlfriend back home” song.
  41. The Vaughan Brothers, “Long Way From Home” – Stevie Ray and Jimmie laying it down.
  42. Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Comin’ Home” – Good ol’ southern rockers, headed home.
  43. David Byrne, “Everybody’s Coming To My House” – A song in which David invites everyone to his house, and then sings, “And I’m never going home.” Hysterical.
  44. Robert Cray, “I Can’t Go Home” – People forget how big the bluesman became in the late 80s.
  45. Led Zeppelin, “Baby Come On Home” – Early track that only came out on an album on Coda. 
  46. Sam Cooke, “Bring It On Home To Me” – The best voice in the world, doing one of the best songs in the world.
  47. Simon & Garfunkel, “Homeward Bound” – The folkies best song in my opinion.
  48. The Allman Brothers, “Leave My Blues At Home” – Steppin’ out and leaving your blues at home… God knows we all need to get out more.
  49. Roger Waters, “Home” – “Everybody has a place, they call home.”
  50. Buffalo Springfield, “On The Way Home” – This upbeat Neil Young track sums up how I feel when we load the car for the trip home…
  51. U2, “A Sort of Homecoming” – Epic, earnest… “I am coming home…”
  52. Stephen Stills, “Go Back Home” – Gut bucket blues… I seem to be drawn to bluesy numbers for this playlist.
  53. Bruce Springsteen, “Long Walk Home” – One of his finest late period songs. About geopolitics but it works.
  54. Foreigner, “Long, Long Way Home” – Epic rock song.
  55. Steely Dan, “Home At Last” – Steely Dan chronicling Odysseus’ famous trip home from the Trojan Wars.

There it is folks! Hug a loved one. Cheers!