Week 27 & 28

I officially past the 300 album mark. My head is spinning trying to comprehend the number of songs consumed. As if finding the time to listen to all this music isn't hard enough, finding the time to work on this blog continues to be a challenge. Life is just too complicated sometimes - it's the vast array of choices we are offered in today's world. Instant data in absurd quantities available anytime and just about anyplace. More on that later, but for someone like me who has a hard time figuring out what I want to do next - sensory overload kicks into high gear - out comes Capt. ADD. For example, reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles while listening to Led Zeppelin. Who does that? It's times like these when you have to say no to a vice and just accept there aren't enough hours in the day. While my motto is - "I'll sleep when I die!" - exhaustion wins and priorities suffer. Prime example is this blog - on which I have consistently been overdue lately. Hope you're ready to get the "Led" out (7/5-7/18):

Bert Jansch - Jack Orion
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Rolling Stones - Jamming With Edward (CD & Vinyl)
Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies
Joe Perry - Joe Perry
Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
U2 - The Joshua Tree (CD & Vinyl)
Aerosmith - Just Push Play
Justin Timberlake - Justified
Keb Mo' - Keb Mo'
Keb Mo' - Keep It Simple
Muddy Waters - King Bee
The Doors - L.A. Woman
The Ramones - Leave Home
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (CD & Vinyl)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II (CD & Vinyl)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III (CD & Vinyl)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (CD & Vinyl)

Alanis Morissette was extraordinarily pissed when she released Jagged Little Pill and especially so on the track You Oughta Know. Not exactly a secret, but little known is this theme where Flea appears as a guest performer. Dave Navarro who was also a RHCP at the time sat in and what resulted was the anthem for women that states vividly - DON'T SCREW WITH MY EMOTIONS!!! Point taken. This album never gets old to me. Hand In My Pocket, Ironic, You Learn, Head Over Feet, All I Really Want all are songs that haven't gotten stale 15 years later. Glenn Ballard knows how to produce albums that sale and this album hit a homerun spawning 6 singles, 3 of which hit #1 on the US Top 40.

U2 had already established themselves as a successful touring band prior to The Joshua Tree. However, The Joshua Tree was the album that catapulted them from great to epic status. There is a tight little musical connection this week with this album as Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Van Morrison & Bob Dylan all greatly influenced Bono to go in the direction for this album. This album marked U2's birth into the roots of music, which proves that to go forward sometimes you have to go backwards. As for the connection, well Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin for anyone that is blatently aware of that fact) did a "rockumentary" about the electric guitar called It Might Get Loud which features himself, The Edge (U2) and Jack White (The White Stripes). In addition to this connection this week features albums by all the influencers, sans Van, for The Joshua Tree. Been a while since I have made this statement, but this album certainly makes it on my Top 10 must have albums on a deserted island.

Keb Mo' was first introduced to me through a PBS special which paid tribute to Muddy Waters. He performed the Muddy classic I Can't Be Satisfied with a slide steel solo on stage and I was floored. After that I knew who he was and added him to my wish list. Keep It Simple was my favorite album of the two from this week and the title-track was a big reason. The lyrics embody my views on life these days:

Well I went down to the local coffee store
The menu went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor
Decaf, cappuccino, or latte said the cashier
I said gimme a small cup of coffee and let me get the hell up outta here

While I do not drink coffee - the sentiment is there - life is too darn complicated. Which goes back to my point in the intro about how overwhelmed we are with information we are. As Keb Mo' says, let's just Keep It Simple. None of this music is what many consider "classic" blues, but all the elements are there and I highly recommend Keb Mo' if your interested in roots music.

I found it very interesting that Plant doesn't have any writing credits on Led Zeppelin and the album has credit to Jagger. The early days Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham were primarily a band covering classic blues tunes reworked into the sound we all distinctly recognize as Led Zeppelin. If anyone ever wants a lesson in blues look no further as Zeppelin often "borrowed" from many classic artist - primarily Willie Dixon. See Week 3 if you're not familiar with Dixon. While I love all three of their first albums, hands down my favorite Zeppelin album is IV, which contains my favorite song When The Levee Breaks. Earlier I mentioned It Might Get Loud; in the film Jimmy Page visits Headley Grange, which is a manor in England, where the band recorded the majority of IV. In the film he talks about how Bonham got the drum sound featured on Levee by having his kit set up in the front entrance. I won't spoil the movie in case anyone wants to watch, but it's full of great little bits and bobs of this sort. Again, if I had to pick one of the four albums to have on a deserted island, IV would be the one I'd have to take. Or perhaps Physical Graffiti.....hmmmm!?

Week 24, 25, & 26

Halfway through the year and not yet halfway through my ever growing collection. I feel like I have gotten closer to a personal Independence Day as my life seems to have settled down some to allow more room for music once again. With that I have made some changes to the look of the blog, basically because I was just bored and to make it fresh. I will probably make frequent changes to help keep it visually appealing.

Please notice that I have added a link above to Daytrotter. The stuff they are doing is way too cool and many bands I follow are on there. Check them out and explore some new bands - it's worth the time. Plus the illustrations they have are super cool.
 (vinyl)
Ready, FIRE, aim  (6/14-7/4):

R.E.M. - Document
Jim Croce - I Got A Name (vinyl)
Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (vinyl)
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll (vinyl)
Nirvana - In Utero
Nirvana - Incesticide
Ry Cooder - Into The Purple Valley
Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock N' Roll
Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Love Revolution
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long

Chatham County Line - IV

Marc Ford - It's About Time (The Black Crowes)
Ron Wood - I've Got My Own Album To Do (Rolling Stones)
The Joe Perry Project - I've Got The Rock N' Rolls Again (Aerosmith)
Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds - Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds (Guns N' Roses)

R.E.M. is just not one of my favorite bands, but Document contains my two favorite songs by them - It's The End Of The World and The One I Love. At a Jr. HS talent show some friends of mine performed the latter tune and I instantly loved the song, but this was WAY before I had any idea who R.E.M. was or any band really to that point. For a band that isn't really a hard core rock band - this song has some cojones.

Perusing through the extensive vinyls available at Nice Price Books (Carrboro branch) I came across this Janis Joplin album and passed on buying it several times. Eventually the temptation was too great and I broke down on popping on it. The record - I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! which is Janis' debut solo album. It has no "classic" tunes, but this album is solid. It isn't her normal blues rock, but rather a soul/R&B style sound not unlike James Brown or classic soul music of that era. I was pleasantly surprised with my purchase. The CD re-release includes some bonus tracks, but the version I have is as it was originally released.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts!! What a cool name for a rocker and band!? Of course the title track is well known by everyone - I Love Rock N' Roll. What may not be known by many - self included - was that it is actually a cover. The album also includes a cover of Crimson And Clover by the Tommy James and the Shondells. I'm not sure if there is a true queen of female rockers, but I'll be casting my ballot for Joan in if there is ever an election.

Nirvana isn't tops on my list of classic bands and neither of these albums did much in the way of changing my opinion. In Utero contains the hit Heart Shaped Box, but I preferred Incesticide despite it's lack of radio hits. Despite being an Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin fan Cobain captured how commercial rock was becoming in the era with Aero Zeppelin . Perhaps he was just angry at not having the same success, but regardless of his reasoning he hit the nail on the head.

Since I've gone into grand detail on how much I like Lenny Kravitz - I defer to the review from allmusic above for It Is Time For A Love Revolution. It captures my thoughts more precisely than I could re-create myself. I will also punt my review to allmusic again for Maroon 5 with It Won't Be Soon Before Long. When I was listening my ears were convinced I was hearing a Justin Timberlake album. Turns out they agree.

Q: What do Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Izzy Stradlin have in common?
A: Both worked with Slash most recently on his latest solo album featuring a plethora of lead singers and other famous musicians. Izzy also played rhythm guitar with Slash in this rock n' roll band called Guns N' Roses. And that is where our theme for this week comes from - guitarists and their solo albums - which completes the circle that started at Slash's solo album. This posting the solo efforts of Izzy Stradlin, Joe Perry, Ron Wood, and Marc Ford made it into rotation. As noted above, the bands from which they hail are rock royalty.

Marc Ford's Two Mules And A Rainbow and Cry, Moan & Wail are two marvelous tunes. Marc's voice and guitar style are a perfect fit. His first departure from The Black Crowes led to It's About Time which showed he was overdue to make his own album. Ford enlisted Berry Oakley Jr. for this album, the son of The Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley. As stated in a much earlier post, Berry Jr. also played in Bloodline with Joe Bonamassa in which he used his father's "Tractor" bass. Fender copied all the specs of that bass to market as the Berry Oakley model.

Long time member of the Rolling Stones also member of The Faces & Jeff Beck Group - Ron Wood. Doing research I came across the Ronnie Wood Gallery and was amazed at just how talented he really is. In addition to being perhaps one of the best slide guitarists of all time, he has created some great art. Are you ready for a crazy 360 degree connection this week? Ronnie released his solo debut the same year as It's Only Rock N' Roll. You could almost consider it a dual Stones release as Jagger and Richards both contributed to Ronnie's I've Got My Album To Do while Ronnie first appeared on a Stones record. The plot thickens though as the aforementioned I Love Rock N' Roll was quoted by author Merrill as "a knee-jerk response to The Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)'." To further complete the loop, Ronnie has an upcoming new solo release that will feature none other than - Slash and Flea. Whew!! What a tangled musical tapestry!?

Joe Perry and Izzy round out the solo albums with even more connections. G'NR covered the Aerosmith tune Mama Kin and the bands toured together early in the Gunner's career. These two albums have one very large thing in common - ripping guitar work with less than perfect songwriting. Both I've Got The Rock 'N Rolls Again and Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds are great albums that showed off the talents of guitarists ready to do there own thing just like the ones above. So here's to guitarists with egos to do their own album!!! Notice all albums start with that one letter word "I".......yeah that's a stretch, but not too big of one.