Heroes

John Mellencamp’s Startling New Protest Songs From His Upcoming LP, ‘Orpheus Descending’

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I was surprised recently to find out that John Mellencamp is putting out a new album on June 16th, Orpheus Descending. It was merely a year and a half ago that Mellencamp released Strictly One-Eyed Jacks, an album that had three collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, including the sensational “Wasted Days.” While I did describe Strictly One-Eyed Jacks as “curmudgeon rock,” I thought it was a good album and I still don’t know why “Wasted Days” wasn’t a huge song.

While I’m very pleased Mellencamp is putting out a new album, it’s very surprising. In the early days, aka the 70s and 80s, Mellencamp put out an album every two years which was pretty standard. Actually in the beginning of his career he put out an album almost every year which sounds like a recipe for burnout. As time went on record companies backed off the album-tour-album-rinse-repeat cycle they used to force artists into and the time between albums started to get longer – and that’s just in general – but certainly applies to Mellencamp. Some artists can take six, seven or even eight years between records these days. I recently reviewed albums from Metallica (72 Seaons) and Dave Matthews Band (Walk Around The Moon) that were seven and five years in the making respectively.

While Mellencamp hasn’t taken that leisurely of a pace, his albums tend to take longer than they used to and come out every three to five years. There have been a couple of times that, like this new record, he’s recorded in back to back years. The first time was Dance Naked, which came out only a year after Human Wheels because the record company pissed Mellencamp off by saying his music “no longer fit the format.” While Rough Harvest came out only a year after John Mellencamp, I’m not including it here as it was a “contract fulfillment” record of old acoustic recordings… The other time in Mellencamp’s career that he did LPs in back to back years was when he put out the oft overlooked gem Freedom’s Road and then the next year turned around with the stark Life, Death, Love, Freedom. Mellencamp has described that latter album as a collection of “electric-folk songs.” Clearly he had something to say.

If we discern anything from these two exceptions from Mellencamp’s past deviation of his recording schedule, it’s that he only quickly records an album when he’s pissed or when he has something to say. Based on these two stunning new songs that have dropped to tease Orpheus Descending, in this case, it’s a little of both – he’s pissed and has something to say about it. There has always been a political element in Mellencamp’s music – and his public commentary – but it’s typically been less overt. It’s more effective to sing a song like “Jackie Brown” to bemoan the plight of poor minorities than to just sing, “Black, poor people are suffering.” It humanizes things to do the former vs sounding like a political speech in the latter.

This is not a political blog, but you’d have to be living in a cave not know what troubled times we live in. There are so many issues that are within our grasp to fix but our government is paralyzed with inaction. The Extreme Right are more concerned with tax cuts for hedge fund billionaires than feeding the poor or fixing our gun problem. Our nation is more divided now than at any time since the late 60s. I have been sitting here wondering why more artists aren’t doing Protest Songs, like in the 60s. Where is our “Eve of Destruction,” “Revolution,” or “Fortunate Son”? I don’t hear young bands addressing the issues of today like bands did in the old days. At least Stevie Nicks re-did the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” recently.

I guess with no new bands addressing this, it’s up to the older artists to raise their voice in protest. And make no mistake, these two new songs from Mellencamp are full on, overt, Protest Songs. I know Mellencamp is a very “plain spoken” guy but even I was startled at the naked frankness of these two songs. The first track, “Hey God” tackles the issue of gun violence in America. It feels torn from the headlines since, well, mass shootings keep happening over and over again. There 17 mass shooting events over Memorial Day weekend this year alone.

When you start a song with the lyric, “Weapons and guns, are they really my rights? Laws written a long time ago, No one could imagine the sight of so many dead on the floor…” it grabs your attention. The lyrics are a direct encapsulation of every normal Americans thinking on the issue. It’s not only a plea for change but literally a prayer to God for help. While the lyrics are great it’s the music that grabbed me on this superb song. It’s very Lonesome Jubilee-ish instrumentation with a mean slide guitar and violin solo. It reminds me of an even more serious, mellower “Paper In Fire.” This is a song that should be played at every gun protest from now on. I highly recommend this track. Here it is:

The second new track from what will likely prove to be a controversial album is “The Eyes Of Portland.” This song tackles the pressing issue of homelessness. In the past generation over a trillion dollars of wealth has been transferred from the bottom 80% to the top 1%. We’re heading for a new, terrible Gilded Age. So many of our fellow citizens are struggling to eat and find a place they can afford to live. This song doesn’t grab me as hard as “Hey God,” but it’s a good midtempo thing. It’s got the usual Mellencamp big chorus like “Our Country.” It’s an earnest track that once again, doesn’t mince words about the issue of homelessness. It speaks of mental illness, drug casualties and the need for help. It’s got a pretty stunning chorus, “All of these homeless, where do they come from? In this land of plenty where nothing gets done, To help those who are empty and unable to run, Your tears and prayers won’t help the homeless…” Here’s the second new Mellencamp song:

Like most new stuff from older bands, you’re probably not going to hear these wonderful songs on your local radio. But I recommend each of you seek these songs out. Again, this is not a political blog, but when rock n roll strays toward the political, we tend to comment on it. 70% of Americans support rational gun reform yet here are. We’ve got to push the bullshit aside and start coming back together in this country.

It’s a long, dark ride. Take care of each other out there… and blast these two new songs to get you through it.

Cheers!

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RIP Tina Turner, Gone at 83 – Singer, Dancer, Actress, Author, Rock N Roll Icon, Legend

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*Image of Tina Turner taken from the internet and likely copyrighted….

I was in the midst of finishing my post on the new Dave Matthews Band album, Walk Around The Moon, when the sad news came in that we’d lost a legend, Tina Turner. She was 83 and she was had been in ill health for a while now, but it still hit me. Another rock n roll giant gone.

I’m going to admit right off the bat, I wasn’t a huge fan of Tina’s solo music. I was never a Private Dancer guy. I did however, love her work with Ike which, since he’s an evil abuser of the lowest order, is probably not a cool thing to say. They had so many great, great songs. “Nutbush City Limits” was always a favorite – later covered by Bob Seger. “Mountain High, River Deep,” was another favorite. She did so many great cover songs from the Beatles “Come Together” and “Let It Be” to the famous CCR cover “Proud Mary.” I know Dylan encouraged Fogerty to start singing Creedence songs again by telling him, “Everybody is going to think “Proud Mary” is a Tina Turner song if you don’t start singing it again…” I’ve got bad news for John Fogerty… “Proud Mary” is owned by Tina. If you want a great album from Tina’s early work – sadly with Ike – I’d recommend Workin’ Together. It’s the disc with “Proud Mary” on it.

Tina was such a huge influence on all of my favorite rockers. When she and Ike toured the U.K. with the Stones Tina taught Mick Jagger how to dance. Many of his early moves were taught to him directly by Tina after she saw him trying to emulate her on stage, quite a generous thing. In the early 70s after leaving Ike – thank God – she starred as the “Acid Queen” in the movie version of the Who’s rock opera (an early concept LP) Tommy. Even in the 70s and early 80s when she was “in the wilderness” creatively, she was always around. I can remember watching a live broadcast of a Rod Stewart concert from 1982 where Tina sang a duet with Rod on “Stay With Me” the old Faces song. They were joined by Kim Carnes of “Bette Davis Eyes” fame. That version ended up on Rod’s LP Absolutely Live.

This is one of my favorite pics of Tina and a few friends:

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You can’t get any more rock n roll than that.

In the 80s before and after her comeback she did duets with so many of my favorite rock stars. She did a version of the Bowie/Iggy Pop penned “Tonight” that I really thought was great. She also did a duet with Clapton on a song called “Tearing Us Apart” which ended up being a great song on a so-so album. Riding high on the success of Private Dancer she and Jagger, her former dance pupil, lit up the U.S. concert at Live Aid with a scintillating performance. Tina was always money on stage. What a charismatic performer. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of her 80s music, I can still appreciate the impact she had on rock n roll.

Her re-booted career in the 80s led to a number of acting roles like the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The soundtrack from that film brought another hit, “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” I remember I worked with a guy I’ll call Rex (name changed to protect the guilty). Rex won a big award at the place we both worked. They gave him a check for some sum of money and hung a medal around his neck. Later, whenever we’d had too much wine, we’d tee up the CD player and start with live applause from the end of some live LP and Rex would stand on his ottoman in his living room and wave to the imaginary crowd and I’d place the medal around his neck like he was an Olympian. Then he’d switch the CDs to Tina’s “Simply The Best” as that was the song our company played when he was on stage winning the actual award. He would bow in his living room to me and our other friend. I have fond memories of that time and that song.

More than even her impact on rock n roll, Tina’s cultural impact was immense. Her autobiography (and later a movie) about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Ike impacted so many women. Her courage in the face of that horror show is a standard we all should be inspired by. She gave so many women the strength to walk away from a bad situation. Her story of survival, resilience and courage. She truly transcended rock n roll and music and movies to become not only an icon, but truly a legend.

The world is a little less bright today as we awake on a planet without Tina Turner.

RIP Tina.

 

New Song Alert: The Pretenders, “Let The Sun Come In” – Chrissie Hynde & Gang Return With My 2023 Summer Song!!

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments
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“We don’t have to fade to black, let the sun come in” – The Pretenders, “Let The Sun Come In”

As I mentioned in my last post, my playlist with songs about Flying, I took a small break from B&V… call it a vacation. I spent most of that time away from music, although I did find myself drawn to a number of live albums which included The Who’s latest live disc recorded with an orchestra and the Pink Floyd live performance of Dark Side of the Moon from 50 years ago. Admittedly, I’ve been a little out of what’s currently happening. While I was out tilting at windmills, some new music has emerged. And none of it excites me as much as the new single from the Pretenders (Chrissie Hynde, vocals/guitar; Martin Chambers, as always, drums; James Walbourne, guitars; Nick Wilkinson, bass), “Let The Sun Come In.” It may be my summer jam this year. Any tune that has the lyrics, “We don’t have to get fat, we don’t have to get old” is going to resonate with me. 

I’ll admit I’ve been a fan of the Pretenders since the very first album, The Pretenders, in 1979. I was in 9th grade and I can still remember this really pretty girl with wild, dirty blonde hair in study hall. They let us play rock n roll in study hall and the Pretenders’ track “Brass In Pocket” came on while this young lady strutted up to the refreshment window to get a Coke. It wasn’t love I was feeling but that young girl evoked something terribly visceral in me. She may be long gone without even knowing I existed, but she certainly made sure that the Pretenders’ song stuck with me.

Due to some band tragedy – original members John Honeyman Scott (lead guitar) and Pete Farndon (bass) both died after the second LP – the Pretenders career has been a bit up and down. They’ve always seemed to be out there making a righteous riotous sound. Every so often a track would hit my ear. After Learning to Crawl, their third LP, I became more of a “greatest hits” kind of fan, merely tracking the occasional single. But my interest in this band was completely reignited with the raucous 2020 LP Hate For Sale. If you haven’t checked that one out yet, do so post haste.

I was so enamored with Hate For Sale I picked up the Chrissie Hynde solo LP of Dylan covers, Standing In The Doorway. I reviewed that LP and actually had a reader comment that he thought it “sucked.” It was a complete departure from the usual rock sound of the Pretenders – which is typically the point of a solo album, get outside your comfort zone and do something different – and that’s why I liked it. But I understand, acoustic Dylan covers aren’t for everybody. I think Hynde is one of the most important women in rock n roll. Hynde recorded that Dylan covers album over Zoom during the pandemic with Pretenders lead guitarist James Walbourne. The upcoming LP, Relentless, was apparently written in the same manner. They were on a roll, so why stop?

This first single, “Let The Sun Come In” is, for me, the perfect summer song. The track starts with a great little guitar figure from Walbourne and Martin Chambers’ drums drive the track forward. Great little guitar solo with some unhinged harmonica as well! It’s all about not getting old and grumpy… “let the sun come in.” I love the lyrics, “To live forever, that’s the plan, the oldest living mortal man. It’s all upbeat with a great summer message, “Think big or think big things, It ain’t illegal, Open up and spread your wings, Fly like an eagle…” Let the sun come in, indeed. Cherish every day and keep pushing forward, baby. I can’t wait to crank this while I’m basting in the sun with a cold beer in my hand. Here’s the track:

I can’t wait for this new album. Chrissie and the boys just keep rocking and I’m here for it. If you’re out there and you’re adding up the years, don’t let the darkness cover you… don’t stand in your yard shaking your fist at a cloud. “We don’t have to fade to black…” Stand in your yard pumping your fist along to this song… maybe spill a little beer and jump around. It won’t kill you. I’m still relatively young and I plan on aging as gracelessly as I can…

Cheers!

 

Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kansas City, T-Mobile Center, February 18, 2023

~ kcorsini ~ 12 Comments

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“There hasn’t been a tally since Sally left the alley…” – Bruce Springsteen, “Kitty’s Back” – Photo by your intrepid blogger

O.M.G. I am so happy that I got to see Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band last night at the T-Mobile center here in Kansas City. My god, the energy in that room was fantastic. There’s been a lot of talk about ticket prices, his expanded band (4 back up singers, 4 horns and a percussionist added to the already crowded stage). All of that is just talk. The truth is in the performance. And it was, in a word, amazing. Go see this man in concert.

February 5th of 1981 a much younger Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at old Kemper Arena in the West Bottoms here in KC – I was not at that show due to a clerical error on my friend Brewster’s part – but I remember the review. I’d become a closet Springsteen fan when The River came out in 1980, about six months prior to the KC show so I was real interested to see what the reviewer said about Bruce. He said, and I’m quoting from memory which is sketchy, “I know it’s only February but we’ve just seen the concert of the year in Kansas City in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.” Not to plagiarize, but it’s February 2023 and we’ve just seen the concert of the year here in Kansas City in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The lights dropped at 7:45 local time as each member of the E Street Band filed onto the stage. I think I saw pianist Roy Bittan walk out first. One by one the gang assembled on the stage. I was surprised how thin Little Steven looked, he was heavier when I saw him on tour in support of his solo album Soulfire. Sax player Jake Clemons, nephew of legendary Big Man Clarence Clemons, was absent due to Covid. Longtime E Street back up player Eddie Manion stepped forward to take the sax solo’s and I think Jake may need to update his resume. Bruce & the Band played last night like a younger, hungrier band setting out to conquer the world, not an established institution who already have conquered the world several times over. I can’t say enough about the setlist. They played all the big songs you’d expect but a lot of the songs while recognizable, were deeper cuts. It was a lifelong fanboy like me’s dream set. Although he’s dropped “If I Were The Priest” from the setlist, which I wish I’d seen but now I’m splitting hairs. This was one of the best Springsteen shows I’ve ever seen.

They opened with the battle cry “No Surrender” which I’d only seen previously on the Born In The U.S.A. tour performed acoustic and alone by Bruce. It was a treat to hear the full band treatment. That led into one of his later tracks “Ghost” from Letter To You, and it was awesome live. It was clear mortality was on Bruce’s mind… These were just the opening salvo’s in a 2 hour and 45 minute ass kicking, booty shaking, dancing in the aisles rock n roll assault. He hit so many highlights – the Darkness On The Edge Of Town tracks “Promised Land” and “Prove It All Night” were taught and wired with energy. “Badlands,” from that same LP, ended the main set on a real high. “Out In The Street” was the only track from the aforementioned The River album and it was a giant sing along.

After destroying the room with “Candy’s Room” the band launched into an epic version of “Kitty’s Back.” I was so joyful during that performance it’s as close as I’ll ever come to religious ecstasy. I”d never seen it played live before. Every horn, every keyboard got a solo. “Little angel starts to shuffle like she ain’t got no brains…” yeah, that sums me up. Springsteen played a lot of solo’s and he was red hot on guitar. He played the classic fender from the cover of Born To Run most of the night. After “Kitty’s Back” he did “Nightshift” from his latest soul covers album. OK I’ll admit I hit the bathroom at the bar during that track but I hurried back as I wanted to be in my seat for my first ever hearing “The E Street Shuffle.” And yes, it was brilliantly faithful to the original. Three tracks in all from The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle is as close as I can come to Springsteen Nirvana. I think Bruce brought this horn section with him and thought, why not dust off these great tunes that need a horn section.

At that point Springsteen hit the only sour note of the night. He played “Johnny 99” the dour Nebraska track like it was a Vegas review. When it started to my ears it almost sounded like a country song but then the horns kicked in. They’re singing about a guy who lost his job, got drunk on Tanqueray and shot a night clerk… and dancing on the ramp off the front of the stage? I was like, listen to the lyrics folks…

At that point things got back on track with a solo acoustic version of “Last Man Standing.” It was an incredibly poignant performance and was preceded by a story from Bruce about his first band. It was one of the rare moments when Bruce spoke to the audience. He was old school last night – just barreling from tune to tune with no banter – and it made for a great performance. At that point the band just continued to blow me away – the great songs just kept coming, again, I can’t say enough about this setlist – “Backstreets,” “Because The Night,” and “She’s The One.” At one point I caught myself wiping tears away from my eyes. He played a song from one of my favorite late period LPs, “The Rising.” Moving track.

The “encore” – the band never left the stage – was an hour. “Thunder Road” led into a spirited sing along – with the lights on – of “Born To Run.” “Born To Run” is a bit of a warhorse but it sounded fresh last night. Then, for my first time ever, I got to hear Springsteen play “Rosalita.” It was sublime. Such a great performance! Just when you thought it was over they launched into “Glory Days” and then “Dancing In The Dark.” One of my favorite moments of any Springsteen show was next with “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” complete with tributes to Clarence and organist Danny Federici on the TV screens. Tears in my eyes man, tears. The final performance was Springsteen once again alone and acoustic for “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” If you weren’t moved by that performance, you’ve got something wrong with you.

And just like that, as ferociously as he’d come on stage, Bruce was gone. I stood in line and bought a T shirt. I had to have a tangible souvenir of the evening. Even the Rock Chick, who had had a bad experience at a Springsteen concert back in his “Reverend of Rock N Roll” shtick days, said to me, “Wow, that was an amazing performance.” Yes, it was dear, yes it was.

As I’ve said before in these pages, buy the ticket see the show. These legends of rock n roll aren’t going to be around forever. Time is fleeting. As Bruce said last night, enjoy right now, enjoy life, enjoy every moment. I can say that last night, I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with Bruce and his legendary E Street Band. Just an amazing, old school concert. Simply wonderful. Nobody plays rock n roll like that anymore… It was worth every penny. I’m even going to buy the CD of the performance – Bruce puts out every show now – when it’s available. It was that good.

Cheers!

The B&V Rock Hall of Fame 2023 Ballot Selections

~ kcorsini ~ 9 Comments

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It’s February 1st and so that means the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio has announced this year’s nominees for the 2023 class. The Rock Chick actually surprised me with a trip to the Rock Hall a few years back and I was very impressed with it and pleasantly surprised by Cleveland. They’ve got some great Lebanese restaurants in that town. I know that a lot of people consider the Rock Hall to be as irrelevant as Rolling Stone magazine these days. Most people don’t care about the Rock Hall, and I get it. It was Ray Davies who said, when the Kinks were inducted into the Rock Hall, “Seeing everybody here tonight, it makes me realize that rock and roll has become respectable. What a bummer.” I keep a running list of acts that would be in the BourbonAndVinyl Hall of Fame (and perhaps some day I’ll write about that) because I feel the actual Hall is so deeply flawed.

And as much as I have maligned the Rock Hall’s nominees in the past – The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees: Getting It Wrong, Again – and lamented how many worthy rock acts who should be in the Hall, who aren’t inducted – The B&V List of Artists Who Really Should Be In the Rock Hall of Fame – I can’t help myself, I look for the announcement of the nominees every year. It seems when it comes to the Rock Hall, like Zeppelin sang, “I can’t quit you baby.” As a huge fan of this music I feel it’s incumbent upon me to vote every year like I’m voting for President or Governor, like there’s something important riding on it. The fan vote is mostly symbolic but I feel like if the fans vote the elitist journalist cabal who run the thing might hear us and actually put some of the great, deserving bands who aren’t in the Hall, into the Hall. And besides, as most long time readers know, if asked my opinion on a rock n roll question, um, I’m going to weigh in.

I actually think the Rock Hall has selected a great list of nominees. It’s a great diverse group of artists from 70s soul (The Spinners) to 80s pop (Cyndi Lauper and George Micheal) to Hip Hop (A Tribe Called Quest and Missy Elliott) to Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden) to 90s rock (Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden).  Here are the 2023 nominees:

  • A Tribe Called Quest
  • Kate Bush
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Missy Elliott
  • Iron Maiden
  • Joy Division/New Order
  • Cyndi Lauper
  • George Michael
  • Willie Nelson
  • Rage Against The Machine
  • Soundgarden
  • The Spinners
  • The White Stripes
  • Warren Zevon

I can’t tell you how glad I am to see Warren Zevon on this list. I’ve been clamoring for his nomination for years to anybody who will listen… and well, most people don’t listen… You can cast your fan vote at: https://vote.rockhall.com/en/ and I hope you’ll vote as well!

Here were my votes, in order. You’re allowed 5. You can apparently vote once a day, which is extreme even for me.

  1. Warren Zevon – I have waited years to see this man’s name on the ballot. I jumped at the chance to vote for him. We posted about Zevon’s essential albums several years ago.
  2. The White Stripes – One of the best bands of all time. I hope both Jack and Meg White show up for the induction. If you haven’t gotten into the White Stripes, may I suggest their Greatest Hits.
  3. Soundgarden – I saw Soundgarden in concert for the final time on their next to last concert prior to the sad and untimely death of Chris Cornell. These guys should be a slam-dunk induction.
  4. Rage Against The Machine – I love Rage and even love Audioslave that featured Tom Morello, Tim Comerford, and Brad Wilk from Rage with the aforementioned Chris Cornell. Hard rocking and topical, these guys are one amazing band.
  5. Willie Nelson – It was a toss up between Willie and Iron Maiden, which is a sentence I never thought I’d type. In the end, with Willie getting up there in years, I felt I should cast my vote for him.

There are a ton of great nominees this year. And, I thought it was a fun break from the daily grind of my corporate masters to go out and cast my vote. I just look forward to seeing some of these performances at the ceremony. I feel like this post has been “A public service announcement with guitars…” as the Clash sang…

Cheers!

David Crosby, Founding Member of The Byrds, Crosby, Stills Nash &/or Young – Gone at 81 – RIP Croz

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*Image taken from the internet and copyrighted

I was sitting at my desk just now working for my corporate masters but really “doing next to nothing but different than the day before,” when I saw the sad news that David Crosby, “Croz,” had passed away after a long illness. He was 81. Man, what a bummer couple of weeks it’s been. First, legendary guitarist Jeff Beck passes. Then Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of the King, passes away. And now this. Crosby was a founding member of seminal folk-rock group the Byrds with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Micheal Clarke. He was a founding member of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young) and oh my god the vocal harmonies those guys could create. He was also a solo artist. I was a big, big fan. He had been on a creative hot streak of late. What a voice. I wonder how many people he sang back up vocals for? Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Phil Collins… the list goes on and on.

Crosby, as I mentioned, helped found the Byrds. I have to admit, despite my younger brother – who was always way ahead of me musically… perhaps he’s an old soul – owning several Byrds’ records I didn’t connect with until the last few years. When I discovered how great they were I went crashing through their first five albums – from Mr. Tambourine Man to The Notorious Byrd Brothers. They were the first band to take tunes by Dylan (and other traditional folk songs) and electrify them. Crosby’s vocals and rhythm guitar were a critical component of the band. He did upset the rest of the band when he substituted with the Buffalo Springfield, a perceived rival band, at the Monterey musical festival… he was sub’ing for an absent Neil Young. The man was nothing if not headstrong. When he submitted the song “Triad” about a menage a trois to the band McGuinn had had enough. He was kicked out of the band. Although the Jefferson Airplane had no problem covering it.

A staple of the Laurel Canyon music scene, it was at a party at Mama Cass’ house that he ran into Stephen Stills, newly freed from the Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash, recently freed from the Hollies. They harmonized on Stills’ “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” and they realized, “Hey, maybe we’re onto something here.” Their first LP, creatively titled Crosby Stills & Nash was a smash. They played their first concert at Woodstock! Neil Young joined and they recorded their second album, which I love, Deja Vu. At that point the group unity kinda went south. Everybody went off to solo careers. While Crosby Stills & Nash would regroup quite often, Neil only joined for a CSNY reunion a couple of times over the years – for American Dream and Looking Forward. I actually really liked those albums… although I may be the only person who did. I was lucky enough to see CSNY on the Looking Forward tour and it was great. I went with my friend the Jean Genie who was 8 months pregnant. You’ve never gotten hostile stares at a concert until you’ve gone with a pregnant woman… and I’ve vomited at concerts. I wasn’t her husband, it wasn’t my fault she was pregnant.

Crosby’s first solo album after CSNY had gone their separate ways was If Only I Could Remember My Name, a title I laughed at when I was in college. I finally picked it up a few years back and it’s absolutely wonderful. It’s one of my favorites. “Cowboy Movie” is one of his greatest tunes ever written. Crosby also did several great LPs with erstwhile friend Graham Nash whose voices intertwined to sound like angels. I recommend Graham Nash/David Crosby and Wind On The Water to any fan of CSN. I like so much of CSNY’s solo work and duo albums. All of that early, mid-70s stuff is just dynamite music.

Crosby’s solo career saw the release of only three albums over the first 40 years and five albums over the last ten years. He had two bands he was working with. The Lighthouse band did The Lighthouse and Here If You Listen. I never connected as strongly with those records but I loved Sky Trails. To me that record signaled Croz had a lot more music in him. He recorded that album in collaboration with, among others, his son James Raymond. His last record, For Free, was another great record. Laid back, super vocals, great vibe music. Both those latter LPs were the kind of albums that B&V were founded for – great late career LPs by established artists.

Crosby wrote so many great songs. “Deja Vu,” “Almost Cut My Hair,” “Guinivere” (covered by Miles Davis no less), “Wooden Ships,” “Long Time Gone,” “Delta,” “Cowboy Movie,” “Compass,” “Capitol,” and “Carry Me” just to name a few. And that list doesn’t even mention any of his songs in the Byrds. He was really an iconic, rock n roll legend. A true Rock Star. He was a big figure in the counter culture and helped inspire Neil Young to write the greatest protest song ever, “Ohio.” He produced one of Joni Mitchell’s early albums. And like true rock stars, he did have a drug problem and ran afoul of the law. He actually did some time in Texas. What rock star amongst you is guilt free? He will be truly missed. Not only for the great music from the 70s that he was most known for but for the great music he was still making. This is even more tragic as he was in the middle of a true career renaissance.

Croz, we’ll miss you man. RIP to a legend. I have to say, tonight will be a long evening delving into Crosby’s music from throughout his storied career. I guess, as Croz once sang, “I feel like letting my freak flag fly, Yes, I feel like I owe it to someone…”

It’s a long dark ride folks. Take care of each other out there. Cheers!

The Very Old, Very False Myth That The Devil Isn’t In The Details, He’s In The Rock N Roll Music

~ kcorsini ~ 6 Comments

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I was reading something the other day. It was a discussion of all the preposterous rock n roll rumors that have propagated over the years. Naturally my first thought was that myth that Zeppelin was booed off stage in Kansas City. That of course led me to the old rumor that Van Halen were actually Kiss without their make up. Gene Simmons financed their demo tape and on the debut album, Van Halen, they thank him which started the whole story. This was way before Kiss took their make up off on MTV. I know my friend Brewster was incensed by that rumor. He knew Ace Frehley couldn’t play guitar like Eddie. The only preposterous story I ever heard that seemed like it might be true was the story about a woman being murdered and recorded in the background during the recording of “Love Rollercoaster” by the Ohio Players. That primal scream a couple of minutes into the song used to scare the crap out of me.

The preposterous rumor that didn’t scare me when I was a teenager was the oldest story in the book. The myth that Satan was lurking behind all this rock n roll I loved. If anything those kind of rumors might have fueled my desire to hear more rock n roll. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Satanist but neither is rock n roll in any real sense. Of course I have to admit the cover art on the Dio fronted Black Sabbath album Mob Rules did give my mother pause…”What the Hell is this you’re listening to?” I read one time that there was a spike in teen smoking after the they put the “The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health” warning on the packs. We are collectively drawn toward danger and darkness. We thrive on risk. If they outlaw cigarettes only outlaws will smoke… or something like that? I will say, I think the professor in Animal House played by Donald Sutherland is right… The Devil is the most interesting character in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Who doesn’t love a well written villain? Paging Hannibal Lecter… Again, I’m not decrying religion of any nature… but “God makes me nervous when you get him indoors.”

The whole “Satan” thing really reached preposterous levels when I was in junior high. Supposedly, Rush, who had a pentagram in their logo actually stood for Ruled Under Satan’s Hand. It was said they held Satanic rituals in the arenas after concerts. The more I’ve learned about the guys in Rush over the years, they’re the nicest people in music this side of Dave Grohl. The most Satanic thing Rush ever did was brew their own micro beer. They said the same thing about Kiss. It supposedly stood for Knights In Satan’s Service. I mean, come on? The only thing that Kiss was in service of was commerce. Those guys had Kiss Koffins for sale. I’m willing to say that Ace might been a little dark but Gene Simmons was all about the benjamins. When I finally stopped listening to these rumors were when someone told me the exact same story – Satanic rituals after concerts – about… Journey. I was like, Steve Perry? The man has the voice of an angel? Maybe Satan was who he was singing to in “Don’t Stop Believin’?” Sorry folks this is where I get off the Satan bus.

Perhaps the first time the Satan myth popped up was about legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, pictured above. The story goes that he was an average to weak guitar player. He supposedly went down to the crossroads where he met the Devil, who tuned his guitar. After that his playing was amazing. It’s kind of a take on the whole Faustian legend if you ask me. Faust sold his soul to the Devil for ultimate knowledge and pleasure. After this alleged meeting with Satan or possibly Papa Legba, Johnson became quite the legend. I’m guessing the truth is a little different. Likely preachers, upset by the effect Johnson’s music and guitar playing was having on people – especially women – decided there must be demonic forces here. If the pretty woman in town won’t sleep with the preacher but will with the guy singing “Sweet Home Chicago,” the Devil must be at work here. And believe me, Robert was popular with the ladies… The preachers finally began to decry Johnson and blues music as the work of the Devil. And like that cigarette warning label, it probably helped his career.

It was a similar case in the 50s. When what we now call rock n roll sprung up it terrified the conservative establishment. Those folks thrive on fear in the masses. Fear divides us and keeps us docile to the powers that be. Preachers and elder statesmen in the 50s were decrying this new music as the work of the Devil to scare parents. It worked, to a degree. Frightened parents tried to keep their kids away from that primal music. Again I think they were particularly frightened of how women were reacting. Most of our history revolves around keeping women down, if you think about it. Why else would they insist that the Ed Sullivan Show only film the King from the waist up? Elvis the Pelvis as he was known. Anything that sexual has to be bad… at least it did in 50s, Eisenhower America where the female orgasm was still a myth. I’m beginning to think the Devil is the tool of the establishment. If anything parents trying to keep rock n roll away from their kids, making it seem more illicit, made the rebellious music take off like they couldn’t imagine. I know Frank Sinatra was dismayed. By the time the 60s hit, rock n roll helped lead a youth rebellion.

I remember Zeppelin was supposedly Satanic. Anybody that big had to be “in league with Lucifer.” I knew a girl in Arkansas who took my friend Doug and I out to a spot outside of town that she claimed was frequented by Devil worshipers. She said they all sat around listening to Zeppelin. I couldn’t help but think, why not Sabbath? Anyway, these “Devil worshipers” had written “Serve Satin” on the rock wall. I was like, “Satin? Like the sheets?” The young lady said they misspelled Satan’s name as “Satin” because it furthered their blasphemy. Sigh. Maybe they should have furthered their education to work on their spelling? Zeppelin’s lead guitar player Jimmy Page was into the occult and owned the former house of occultist Aleister Crowley. They had songs like “Black Dog” and “In My Time Of Dying” that scared people. This was the 70s where films like The Exorcist and Omen were current hits. There was always scary black dogs running around chewing up the good guys, Rottweilers if I’m not mistaken. Doug’s mother was fond of the movie Devil Dog, Hound of Hell. It was Zeppelin’s iconic track “Stairway To Heaven” that got the attention of everybody. Supposedly if you spun the record backwards you could hear them say “Here’s to Sweet Satan.” I will admit, when we did this when I was in high school I thought I could hear the word Satan but I think it was a coincidence. I don’t think it was planned. I remember jumping up on the couch in fear but I’m a lover not a religious crusader… yeah, I was scared. ELO made fun of it by doing a backward masking thing on “Fire On High.” When played backwards it said, “The music is reversible but time is not.” I don’t think, despite Page’s dark bent, that Zeppelin had anything to do with Satan.

It was Black Sabbath who realized the value of adopting that whole Evil thing. Instead of running away from it they realized that calling themselves Black Sabbath and having scary album artwork could actually work in their favor. Embrace the scary evil and it draws people in. So many heavy metal bands have adopted the same stance. It puts them outside the norms of society and makes them seem like outlaws and/or outcasts which is a vibe all teenagers can gravitate toward it. Let’s face it folks, Satan Sells. That’s why you’ve got Motley Crue singing “Shout At The Devil,” and people like Rob Zombie out there doing whatever you call what he does. We used to laugh at Iron Maiden and their mascot Eddie. We called them, amongst others, “Scary Monster Rock.” But you know what, they were the ones laughing all the way to the bank. The Devil is actually an accountant in a three-piece suit.

The next time you hear your grandmother or some preacher telling you that rock music – if anybody even remembers rock music anymore – is the tool of the Devil, please laugh that off. It’s the most preposterous thing in the world. Anytime the establishment wants to scare you away from something, run toward it. I’m going to spend my weekend cranking Iggy Pop’s new album Every Loser and anything by Jeff Beck, who just passed, that I can get my hands off. Because Jeff Beck played that Devil’s guitar better than almost anybody out there.

Be safe out there but break some rules this weekend. Be naughty because it feels so nice.

Cheers!

Jeff Beck, Guitar Legend, Has Passed Away At 78 – RIP Jeff Beck – Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, ‘Blow By Blow’ – Such A Tremendous Loss

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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*Image of Jeff Beck in 2014 above taken from the internet and likely copyrighted

I was in my home office trying to knock out a laborious task for my corporate masters when I took a break to look on-line to see if anything of note had happened today. To be honest, I wanted to check the news and to look at some rock n roll stuff. It was then that I saw the sad news that guitar legend Jeff Beck had passed away from meningitis. Then I read it was a hoax, then I read it was the truth, Beck had passed. Damn internet. It was then that my friend, drummer Blake, reached out with the news. It is with a heavy heart I type these words: Jeff Beck has passed at the young age of 78 years old from a sudden bought of meningitis. He was simply one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine had him in the top 5 all time if that means anything to you. He ranks up there with Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix for me. He could bend the strings…

Obviously, I am a huge fan of Jeff Beck. He had a guitar tone that was instantly recognizable. As most people know, he was one of the “Big 3” guitarist who played in the seminal English, blues rock band The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds started with Clapton on lead guitar but he quit because of his “blues purism.” He thought the band was moving too far into “pop.” Jeff Beck then came in to replace him. Eventually Jimmy Page joined the band. Imagine that dual lead guitar line up – Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck! Eventually they fired Beck and kept Page. Jeff could be, uh, mercurial. After the blues purism of Clapton, Jeff Beck really opened up what the Yardbirds’ sound. If you listen to “Heart Full of Soul” you can hear the psychedelia entering the picture. I think that was the song they’d hired a sitar player to play on, but they didn’t like the sound so Jeff just played the riff it on guitar. There was little he couldn’t do with the instrument. Coincidentally Ozzy Osbourne was able to recruit both Jeff Beck and Clapton to play on his album Patient Number 9 and had actually reached out to Page to play on the record, but he declined. As Meatloaf sang, “Two out of three (Yardbirds’ guitarists) ain’t bad.” Beck plays on the title track (Review: Ozzy Osbourne’s New Song Patient Number 9 With Jeff Beck! On Guitar) of the album and one other song.

After leaving the Yardbirds Jeff formed his own band, The Jeff Beck Group. Guitarists were a huge draw and Beck was to be the focus of the band so they used his name to cash in on his Yardbirds fame. He recruited Ronnie Wood (later of the Faces and Rolling Stones) to play bass guitar and Rod Stewart as his lead vocalist. The theory was Jeff’s guitar would pull the guys into shows and good looking Rod Stewart would draw the women. Jimmy Page, who took Beck’s job in the Yardbirds stole that very blueprint for Led Zepplin with Robert Plant. I loved the Jeff Beck Group and posted on them years ago: Artist Lookback: The (Original) Jeff Beck Group: Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood. They only hung together for 2 albums, Truth and Beckola before constant touring and treating Wood & Stewart like sidemen broke the band up. Ronnie Wood joined the Faces on his chosen instrument, guitar. Rod went solo but soon joined Woody in the Faces. The album Truth is one of the most influential albums in blues rock. It’s a stunning record. I could listen to their version of Howlin Wolf’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” and “Blues De Luxe” all day long. “Blues De Luxe” is on my “Rockers Playing the Blues” playlist. The Jeff Beck Group was supposed to play Woodstock but Jeff, who was fond of fast cars, was in a car accident and they couldn’t play. I still wonder to this day what would have happened if they’d made that iconic gig.

After the Yardbirds and the original Jeff Beck Group a lot of people may have lost track of Beck. He formed a couple of different bands and put out records. He carried on as the Jeff Beck Group with an all new line up he put together that included Cozy Powell on drums and Bobby Tench on vocals. Then in 1973 he formed Beck, Bogert, Appice with Tim Bogert on bass and Carmine Appice on drums. Carmine’s little brother Vinny played with the Dio fronted Black Sabbath on Mob Rules. Beck, Bogart, Appice did a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” on that record that inspired Stevie Ray Vaughn to cover it years later.

While that was already an incredible resume, in the middle 70s Beck decided to eschew working with a vocalist and put out two of the greatest guitar instrumental records ever. In 1975 he put out Blow By Blow which is another personal favorite. He covered the Beatles song “She’s A Woman.” He has a guitar solo titled “Constipated Duck” which may win the most preposterous song title award. He also covers Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” to wonderful effect. He worked with keyboardist Max Middleton who had been in the second incarnation of the Jeff Beck Group and it’s just a great LP. It almost feels like Jazz. He came back in 1976 with Wired, which I believe may be drummer Blake’s favorite. It was also produced by George Martin. They do a cover of Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” which is worth the price of admission.

After those highlights I have to admit my knowledge of Jeff’s work is spotty. I remember hearing his version of “People Get Ready” with Rod Stewart and it’s a sublime track:

I know he also guested on Stewart’s LP Camouflage and joined the tour but quit only a few shows in. I know Rod and Jeff Beck talked about trying to record together again for years after that – up until just recently – but they couldn’t get it together. Rod wanted to do blues stuff and Jeff’s musical tastes couldn’t be confined to the blues. It was a missed opportunity if you ask me. Their relationship was a rocky one. As Jeff said when he inducted Rod into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, “Rod and I have a love-hate relationship. He loves me and I hate him.”

While I lost touch a bit with Jeff’s work over the years I know he did quite a few critically acclaimed records over the years like Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop and Who Else!. Drummer Blake turned me onto the video – that I recommend highly – Live At Ronnie Scott’s. If you watch the audience on that DVD you’ll spot all kinds of rock royalty there to listen to Jeff’s guitar wizardry. While I didn’t keep up as much with his solo work, he was a guest guitarist on so many other artist’s records: Mick Jagger, Ozzy, Paul Rodgers and Roger Waters just to name a few. His amazing guitar skills were much sought after.

Rock and roll in the 60s was built on the backs of guitar giants like Jeff Beck. Of the three Yardbirds guitarists, Jeff probably gets the least attention. His records – from the Yardbirds to the Jeff Beck Group to his solo stuff – should be on everyone’s turntable.

It may be a Wednesday night – and I avoid drinking on weeknights – but tonight I see a tumbler of the good stuff with Truth, Blow By Blow, Wired and Beckola on the stereo. “I’ve been drinkin’ again, thinkin of when you left me.” We’ve lost a true legend today, and way too soon. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “The guy could play.”

RIP Jeff Beck, guitar legend, 24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023. It’s a sad day indeed. You will be missed.

Time is short folks. Cherish every day.

Cheers!

Review: Paul McCartney, ‘7″ Singles Box’ – **Streaming Only** – A Monolithic Life’s Work As Told In 80 Singles

~ kcorsini ~ 5 Comments

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Legend, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney turned 80 this year in June and to celebrate he put together the mother of all box sets. This new box in it’s physical form was way over the top. It’s entitled The 7″ Singles. He went back and put together a box – actually if I’m being honest it was a wooden crate, I’m not sure I could lift the thing – with eighty (80) old school, vinyl, 7″ singles. In the days before CDs and MP3 artists released vinyl 7″ singles that were also known as 45s… Open this crate and you find the actual, physical copies of 80 of McCartney’s singles with the original artwork from back in the day on the single sleeve. The crate doesn’t have every single he ever put out but the 80 singles – to match his age – certainly cover his entire career from his first solo record McCartney to his latest McCartney III. To add to it’s rather massive packaging, it came with a massive price tag, over $600. There were only 3000 of these produced, I think? These will obviously be instant collectors items. But alas, too rich for me.

My dad had a rack of singles that my brother sort of took over when we were kids. We had a little record player, I hesitate to call it a turntable and we’d listen to my dad’s old Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and Elvis records. Well he’d listen, I didn’t pay as close attention as he did. When an artist was going to put out an album – or an LP in industry vernacular –  it was proceeded, like today, by the release of a single to get the buying public lathered up for the album. An album was vinyl, 12″ and spun at 33 rpms (revolutions per minute). In those days a single was also vinyl, but only 7″ and spun at 45 rpms. Singles ruled the world before the Beatles made albums artistically relevant instead of just mere collections of singles. The irony is not lost on me that one of the guys who made albums more relevant than singles has come back with a crate full of… singles. It’s the circle of life folks… All these years removed from sharing a room with my brother and I have such a complicated turntable I’m not sure I could even play a vinyl single any more. I would have to get under the hood and change some belts underneath to change the speed. Uh, no thank you… I’m not that technically proficient.

When I saw the price tag of this thing I was an immediate “No.” Even I have limits. But then I realized McCartney had also released it for purchase in MP3 format. That made me check the streaming service I use and yes, it was also released to all major streaming services. These “non-physical” formats contain 159 songs released over 80 singles during McCartney’s solo career. It’s close to 10 hours of music. Naturally, I knew I had to spend the next three or four days listening to it straight through. Someone had to do it, it might as well be your intrepid blogger. Who else is musically obsessed enough to endeavor to do this? I felt compelled to separate this collection from the gimmickry of the packaging and see if it had any merit as a listening experience. I’m just glad I didn’t have to get up and walk to the turn table 159 times to turn the records over and I’m a vinyl guy. In truth I don’t care how anybody gets their music as long as they listen!

As I listened to this thing, I couldn’t help but feel that this might be the biggest monolithic greatest hits album ever. I mean it has 80 of his singles. By definition, when an artist like McCartney releases a single it’s probably going to hit the charts, ergo it’s a hit, be it minor or major. But then he also included 79 B-sides. Those B-sides could be anything from unreleased gems to deep LP cuts that are throwaways, or deep LP cuts that are actually great songs, or remixed or mono versions of a song, or maybe a live track. B-sides can indeed be a mixed bag. Regardless of whether you consider this the largest greatest hits album ever released or not, it certainly tells us the story of McCartney’s solo career, post-Beatles in a pretty comprehensive way. And, when you think about McCartney’s solo career – he’s a legend but there were definitely low periods in his career – this is perhaps the most courageous box set ever released. This box really tells his story, warts and all, triumphs and misses.

I didn’t start listening to music until the late 70s when I was in junior high. We are a product of our past and at that point McCartney was the king of the ex-Beatles, charts-wise. Lennon had retreated into being a house-husband by 1975. Harrison had lost his way creatively and well, I never paid attention to Ringo’s solo music. I love Ringo but… McCartney was my favorite Beatle when I started listening to music because he was who we heard on the radio most often. He had more hits in that mid to late 70s era. Even before I had really listened to music McCartney’s music was ever present. I’d hear “Another Day” in my mom’s car while we were going to the market or “Band On The Run” over the loudspeakers at the neighborhood swimming pool. As I listened to the singles, arranged here in chronological order, I began to realize that McCartney’s music has been that way – ever present – my entire life. Whether he was producing chart topping, iconic LPs or critically panned schmaltz I have always been at least aware of what he was doing. If his latest LP was a dud (especially in the late 80s) there was always a good song or two on the album. McCartney was always such a master when it came to melody even at his worst I’d find myself humming his songs… “Press” comes to mind from when I was in college…

The start of this thing really is like listening to a greatest hits package. All of those iconic early hits from his early LPs – which were panned by the critics at the time – just roll out of the speakers. “Another Day,” one of my favorite B-sides “Oh Woman Oh Why,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Hi, Hi, Hi.” I even liked the B-side, live track “The Mess” that I’d never heard before. There are just so many great songs here. I loved hearing “Mull of Kintyre” a song that was the greatest selling single in the UK until 1984 (and they may play at my funeral). I didn’t realize that McCartney hadn’t released any singles from his solo debut McCartney. It wasn’t until I heard the live version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” from Wings Over America that I realized that was the version that was the hit on radio. I couldn’t help but smile to think that bands used to actually release singles from live LPs!

Hearing “With A Little Luck” brought back memories of being in the backseat of dad’s Oldsmobile listening to Casey Kasem when that track was a huge hit. My brother had the album Back To The Egg which was supposed to be McCartney’s response to punk rock, and I used to go in his room to listen to that album just to hear the rocker “Old Siam Sir,” included here as well. My brother also had McCartney II and no one will ever be able to convince me that “Temporary Secretary” is a good song. I can’t believe it was a single.

The 80s are when the wheels came off a bit for McCartney. I have always felt that McCartney was more traumatized by the assassination of John Lennon than anybody ever realized. They were such dear friends at one time. He did respond with one of my favorite albums of his, Tug Of War. That was, for me, the highlight of McCartney’s 80s. I heard it playing in the record store when I’d gone to browse for music and I walked out with it. My girlfriend at the time was like, “You like “Ebony and Ivory”?” Well, no but listen to “Here Today.” While the 80s mostly sucked you’ll never find a better song than “No More Lonely Nights,” complete with David Gilmour on lead guitar. “Spies Like Us” from the movie of the same name is here too.

McCartney finished the 80s with his strongest LP since Tug Of War with Flowers In The Dirt where he collaborated with Elvis Costello. I love tracks from that era here – “My Brave Face,” and “Put It There” in particular. We all thought that was McCartney’s comeback but he continued to stumble until he immersed himself in the Beatles Anthology project in the 90s. He emerged from that project with (to me at least) his real comeback album Flaming Pie. Those singles are looser and rock more than anything he’d done since the 70s. Shortly after that we lost Linda McCartney and Paul recorded one of our favorite albums of cover songs and I was pleased “No Other Baby” was included here.

Since Flaming Pie McCartney has been on such a creative roll. There are so many great songs many of you may not have stuck around to hear after his creative dip in the 80s and early 90s. “Jenny Wren” with the great B-side “Summer of ’59,” “Fine Line,” “From A Lover To A Friend,” and all the tracks from Dance Tonight, especially the title track. They even included his hit from the side project The Firemen, “See The Changes.” For what it’s worth they also included tracks from his opera album(s) and his old pop standard album. There are a few non-album singles here as well. Artists used to not wait until the album was finished and would just put out a single and not include it on the next album, just a little something to keep them in the minds eye.

Over the course of listening to this monolithic collection of songs it dawned on me how breathtakingly wide the range of things McCartney can do is. Whether it’s a rocker, a classical pop song with strings, a ballad, folk, country, a few reggae moments, Christmas classics, opera, electronic pop – there’s not any genre of music that McCartney didn’t try. The man is truly fearless with a boundless imagination with a bold need to experiment and try new things. He is truly one of the most important artists of the rock era – in and out of the Beatles. While the set dips a bit in the middle, like his career, the singles are still very strong. While I can’t suggest anybody plunk down even the $80 for the MP3 version of this – it’s certainly a collection everyone should hear… maybe not all at once like I did – and explore. There may be a stray single you missed or a great B-side you’ve never heard. Like McCartney’s career in total, this set has so many gems and pleasures that I think everybody will find something to enjoy.

I want to wish everybody who celebrates it (or endures it like me) a very Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays. Having people read these crazy ramblings is the greatest gift I get every year so thank you all very much!

Cheers!

 

Review: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Return With Ecology Focused ‘New World Record’ – Third Winner In a Row!

~ kcorsini ~ 9 Comments

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Despite the fact that Neil Young, who is 77, has been quite prolific over the course of his late career, even I was surprised that he was back with a new album this quickly. When I speak of Young being prolific I’m not even talking about his Archival output from his vaults – the unreleased LPs like Toast or Homegrown or his wonderful Archive box sets – I’m talking about new material. This new album, World Record, is his third album in four years. And, more importantly it’s the first time in his career that he has put out three albums in a row with his once-and-future backing band Crazy Horse. There was a time in the 70s when he was cobbling albums together from previous recording sessions and many of his albums would have a few cuts from Crazy Horse, but he’s never done three proper studio albums in a row with Crazy Horse. Personally, I like the guitar chemistry Neil has with Crazy Horse and I considered the news that he had reconvened “the Horse” for a third go-round as good news to my ears. Clearly there will be no “soul covers” album from Neil Young like Mr. Springsteen has chosen to do… sigh. But then Neil has Everybody’s Rockin’ to atone for…

Crazy Horse has gone through quite a few changes over the years. Neil recruited drummer Ralph Molina, bassist Billy Talbot and guitarist Danny Whitten from a band named the Rockets back in ’69 for his second solo LP after leaving Buffalo Springfield, Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere. But then Neil joined CSNY for Deja Vu which helped solidify his status as a star. After all of that his relationship with Crazy Horse was sort of off again, on again. He’d recruit certain members of the band to play on certain albums. But then, in 1973 during the rehearsals for the tour in support of Harvest, guitarist Danny Whitten died of an overdose. He wouldn’t record a full album with Crazy Horse again until 1975’s Zuma. Although I’ve always considered Tonight’s The Night to be a Crazy Horse album…. Of course after Whitten passed Neil would play with Crazy Horse with guitar virtuoso Nils Lofgren taking Whitten’s place. By 1975 Lofgren was off on his solo career and Young hired Frank Sampedro to be the second guitarist in the band for Zuma. Sampedro was the perfect guitar foil for Young. Young recorded many of his great guitar epics with Sampedro egging him on, such as “Like A Hurricane,” “Cortez The Killer,” and take your pick from anything off of 2012’s Psychedelic Pill (Sampedro’s last album with Crazy Horse before he retired).

As I mentioned, this is Young’s third album of new stuff with Crazy Horse in a row. The first album he re-recruited Crazy Horse for was Colorado in 2019. This was when Nils stepped back into the band to take Sampedro’s place. I really liked Colorado. But I think we all realized that Crazy Horse was a changed entity by that time. Gone were the guitar epics that Sampedro helped fuel. There was a 13 minute epic on that album, “She Showed Me Love,” but it wasn’t as fierce as say, “Cortez The Killer” or “Ramada Inn.” Still, it was a great tune. They turned around and in 2021 they released Barn which I felt was an even better late period Young album. Frankly, I’ll admit that if you include World Record this may be Young’s best 3-album run since the 90s. Young’s main concern over the course of these three albums is the environment, climate change and the slow reaction mankind seems to be having to it. The man knows his way around a protest song.

As I said, when I heard Young had another album coming this soon, I was surprised. I’m told he had it written by July of this year, a mere seven months after Barn came out. According to Wikipedia, World Record‘s “lyrical content concerns Young “reminisc[ing] with gratitude about the gifts the Earth has given him” as well as the “state of Earth” and “its uncertain future,” as well as “Chevrolet,” a song about “Young’s relationship with cars.”” My only concern in hearing all of that was that this might be another record that Young spun up from the headlines and hadn’t taken time to write full songs for like say, Living With War. For the first time since he reconvened Crazy Horse I had some trepidation about this album. But then I heard Rick Rubin was going to co-produce the LP in his studio Shangri-La out in Malibu. I was hoping Rick would be able to curb Young’s recording ideology of “the first take is the best take,” and I started to look forward to this album more. Then I realized that Rubin is more of a “vibe guy” as a producer. Most likely he just sat cross-legged in the corner like a long haired, bearded Buddha and grooved to the musicians playing. The most he probably did from a technical stand point is hit the “record” button. Young does miss David Briggs, his longtime late producer.

I heard the first song, “Love Earth” and I chose not to write about it… I wasn’t sure about it. It was a laid back piano shuffle that brought to mind both Petty’s “The Man Who Loved Women” (recorded on ukulele no less) or Monty Python’s “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.” Those aren’t meant to be criticisms but the tune made me think of old-timey songs. It certainly doesn’t sound like “protest” music but music that celebrates the environment and asks you to do something about it. The song does have a nice harmonica solo. Now that I’ve spent last week after Thanksgiving listening to the album, “Love Earth” has bored it’s way into my brain. It is a damn catchy tune. I had heard that this wasn’t going to be a guitar driven album. I knew that they would be using a bunch of different instruments like tack piano, pump organ, harmonica, accordion, and such. I feared that this album might sound like a one man band falling down a flight of stairs. I was, thankfully, wrong. Although admittedly the instrumentation wasn’t what you’d usually think you’d get on a Neil Young and Crazy Horse album. But as I said, Crazy Horse is a different animal these days.

As mentioned, the album kicks off with the first single, “Love Earth.” I simply love that song but I’ll admit it’s a grower. That leads into a jaunty piano driven tune “Overhead.” It sort of reminds me of “Are You Ready For the Country?” I’d almost call this a country stomper of a tune. It’s an uptempo thing and might have really smoked had it been on guitar vs piano/harmonica as lead. That’s not a complaint, I’m just trying to frame the vibe of the tune. “Overhead” almost feels like a statement of purpose for the record especially on the falsetto bridge. “This Old Planet (Changing Days)” is another piano and possibly accordion driven tune. It’s a lament about climate change where Neil reminisces about beautiful days with clear blues skies and sparkling water. He’s not wrong… especially when he sings “You’re not alone on this old planet.” “The Long Day Before” is another organ/accordion driven track. It’s a pretty Neil Young ballad with a great harmonica solo. It’s one of my favorites. “Walking On The Road (To the Future)” is a great plea for people to take the best from the past but move forward into the future. It’s another track I really liked. In the chorus he follows up with his other theme beyond climate change, “No more war, only love.” Nothing wrong with those sentiments for this wannabe hippy blogger.

“The World’s In Trouble Now” is a more urgent tune. Its rocking sans guitar which is a weird thing to type. I guess there’s some guitar on the track. It could have been a real barrel house rocker but I dig the way they did it here. Neil isn’t beating you over the head he’s finessing you. I dug the lyric, “Because the earth has held me so, I will never let go.” “The Wonder Won’t Wait” is another similar track to “The World’s In Trouble Now.” It’s another track that sounds old-timey via the instrumentation but makes me wonder what it’d have sounded like with some electric guitar leading the charge. “Take some time to live before you die” is a great line and frankly, good advice. It’s another plea to act on climate change but with the laid back instrumentation it doesn’t feel like a crazy corner preacher yelling at you that the end is nigh.

For you Neil electric guitar fans out there – have no fear, we get some of that too. “I Walk With You” has an ominous guitar riff that opens it up. For a split second I was transported back to Psychedelic Pill but it’s not that incendiary. It’s more laid back than that. But man what a big riff drenched in squall. The bridge hammers it home, “The end of war, the price of life, the cost of care…””Break The Chain” is another feedback drenched guitar song. You can almost read emotion in Young’s guitar tone. It’s chugging rocker that was also one of my favorites.

The biggest, bad-ass track here is the 15-minute “Chevrolet,” an ode to cars. Which, when you think about the environmental themes on this record, it shouldn’t work at all here but it does. In the tune Young sees an old Chevrolet and wants to buy it, the car is “speaking to” him. But he asks himself, “How will it comfort me, burning all that fuel again?” It’s almost like a break up song… where he breaks up with driving down the highway in a gas guzzler. I really love this track. It’s worth the price of admission. The guitar interplay between Young and Nils is reminiscent of well, Young and Poncho Sampedro. If you do one thing after reading this review it’s crank up “Chevrolet.”

This is simply put, an outstanding Neil Young album. It’s shambolic. It might have benefited by more liberal use of guitars instead of the odd instrumentation but like the tune “Chevrolet” – it shouldn’t work but it does. For a man this deep in his career to still be putting out fantastic music with an urgent, important message it’s quite something to hear. I mean, you don’t hear Harry Styles pleading with people about climate change. And yeah, he’ll sell more albums than Neil but that doesn’t mean the music is better than Young’s.

Put this one on and use your headphones to wring out some of the nuance of the tracks. Pour a little something strong… maybe light something up if that’s your thing and groove on the power of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Be good to each other out there. And maybe recycle… it can’t hurt.

Cheers!