MOG - inrumford's Posts

Speaking of Sunday

inrumford — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:52:48 GMT

Church, whats that?

It's Sunday somewhere (SUTC)

inrumford — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:23:17 GMT

This is a great cover by Pete Townshend of a Dave Wakeling tune. Dave Wakeling,is an English rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for singing and writing songs for the 1980s ska bands The Beat (known as The English Beat in the U.S., as an L.A.-based band of the era had established use of the "Beat" name) as well as General Public.

The Beat’s sound was born when Dave and his bandmates started speeding up Reggae tunes, making the songs even more lively and danceable. Around the same time, local Coventry band, and eventually fellow ska icons, The Specials were developing a similar sound, but while the Specials dealt almost exclusively with political issues, the Beat mixed in romantic themes.

I'm a loser, no chance to win

inrumford — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:03:12 GMT

Put into a solo and intimate setting by it's author, this tune reclaims some of the personal angst and gut wrenching doubt of the "wonderful" adolescent experience lost in Quadrophenia.

Going Home

inrumford — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:00:59 GMT

Anyone who has served overseas (or anywhere for that matter) can relate to these sentiments.

What caught my ear today

inrumford — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:44:47 GMT

Living in the USofA, I firmly believe a goodly percentage of the general populace takes their perceived freedom for granted. Perhaps we are only as free as the perception we entertain.

Policeman broke my door down
Dragged me from my bed
I asked them what was happening
They just ignored the words I said

They waved their guns in my face
Kept screaming out my name
Something terrible had happened
And somehow I was to blame

O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name
In thy name
O freedom, what liberties are taken
What liberties are taken
What liberties are taken in thy name.

My accusers formed the jury
The Judge and the defense
The charges were made known to me
But Not the evidence

There was no guilty verdict
Yet, still I was detained
Flown to another country where
Their methods are less constrained

O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name
In thy name
O freedom, what liberties are taken
What liberties are taken
What liberties are taken in thy name.

In our determination
To defend Democracy
We must not destroy the safeguards
That underpin our Liberty

For who will pay the price if
Injustice such as this
Turns our protectors to oppressors
Angry men to terrorists?

O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name
In thy name
O freedom, what liberties are taken
What liberties are taken
What liberties are taken in thy name.

K.A.O.S. 3

inrumford — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:42:45 GMT

Jim: Oh, God!
Californian Weirdo: Sole has no eyes.
Could be Jerusalem, or could be Cairo
Could be Berlin, or could be Prague
Could be Moscow, could be New York
Could be Llanelli, and could be Warrington
Could be Warsaw, and it could be Moose Jaw
Could be Rome
Everybody got somewhere they call home

When they overrun the defences
A minor invasion put down to expenses
Will you go down to the airport lounge
Will you accept your second class status
A nation of waitresses and waiters
Will you mix there martinis
Will you stand still for it
Or will you take to this hills

It could be clay and it could be sand
Could be desert
Could be a tract of arable land
Could be a house, could be a corner shop
Could be a cabin by bend in the river
Could be something you old men handed down
Could be something you built in your own
Everybody got something he calls home

When the cowboys and Arabs draw down
On each other at noon
In the cool dusty air of the city boardroom
Will you stand by a passive spectator
Of the market dictators
Will you discreetly withdraw
With your ear pressed to the boardroom door
Will you hear when the lion within you roars
Will you take to the hills

Will you stand, will you stand for it
Will you hear, ohhhh! ohhh! when the lion within you roars

Could be your father and could be your mother
Could be your sister, could be your brother
Could be a foreigner, could be Turk
Could be a cyclist out looking for work, Norman
Could be a king, could be the Aga Khan
Could be a Vietnam vet with no arms and no legs
Could be a saint, could be a sinner
Could be a loser or it could be a winner
Could be a banker, could be a baker
Could be a Laker, could be Kareem Abdul Jabar
Could be a mail voice choir
Could be a super heavyweight, or it could be something lighter
Could be a cripple, could be a freak
Could be a wop, gook, geek
Could be a cop, could be a thief
Could be a family of ten living in one room on relief
Could be a our leaders in their concrete tombs
With their tinned food and their silver spoons
Could be a pilot with God on his side
Could be a kid in the middle of the bomb sight
Could be a fanatic, could be a terrorist
Could be a dentist, could be a psychiatrist
Could be a humble, could be proud
Could be a face in the crowd
Could be a soldier in the white cravat
Who turns the key in spite of the fact
That this is the end of the cat and the mouse
Who dwelt in the house
Where the laughter rang and the tears were split
The house that Jack built
Where the laughter rang and the tears were split
The house that Jack built
Bang, bang, shoot, shoot
White gloves thumb, Lord thy will be done
He was always a good boy his mother said
He'll do this duty when he's grown, yeah
Everybody got someone they call hom

K.A.O.S. 2

inrumford — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:38:23 GMT

The powers that be
They like a tough game
No rules
Some you win, some you lose
Competition's good for you
They're dying to be free
They're the powers that be
They like a bomb proof cadillac
Air conditioned, gold taps
Back seat gun rack, platinum hub caps
they pick horses of courses
They're the market forces
Nice car Jack
They like order, make-up, lime light power
Game shows, rodeos, star wars, TV
They're the power that be
If you see them come,
You better run - run
You better run on home

Sisters of mercy better join your brothers
Put a stop to the soap opera right now
They say the toothless get ruthless
You better run on home

You better run - run
You better run on home

The powers that be
They like treats, tricks, carrots and sticks
They like fear and loathing, the like sheep's clothing
And blacked-out vans

Blacked-out vans, contingency plans
They like death or glory, they love a good story

Sisters of mercy better join with your brothers
Put a stop to the soap opera state
They say the toothless get ruthless
Run home before its too late
You better run - run
You better run on home

Billy: Goodnight, Jim.
Jim: Goodnight, Billy.
Uncle David's Great Dane: Woof, woof, woof!

The canyon - daytime. Billy plays with Great Uncle David's Great Dane.
Paraquat Kelly: Bull heads, three red snapper, one pink
snapper and your Pacific coastal thench hosemonster fish
Cynthia Fox: Ohhh! At Sky David's juke joint of joy reports, forty
under the console giggle stick ling cod, twenty-three purple perches
four sledgehammerhead sharks, and no red snappers.
Paraquat Kelly: Hey and that'll do for the triumphant return of the
fish report with a beat.
Jim: We think of it is a mainstreet, but to the rest of the country
it's Sunset Strip. You're listening to KAOS in Los Angeles

K.A.O.S.

inrumford — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:33:23 GMT

Radio K.A.O.S. is Roger Waters. 2nd solo concept album/rock opera.

The concept is based around a 23-year-old disabled man from Wales named Billy.
Billy is confined to a wheelchair and is thought to be mentally a vegetable. However, Billy is highly intelligent but has no way of expressing himself. Billy has a twin brother Benny who is a coal miner. Billy lives with Benny, Molly his wife, and their children. Unfortunately, Benny has lost his job in the mines due to the "market forces". One night, Benny and Billy are out on a pub crawl when they pass a shop full of TV screens broadcasting Margaret Thatcher’s "mocking condescension". Benny vents his anger on this shop and steals a cordless phone. Next, in theatrical fashion, Benny poses on a footbridge in protest to the closures; the same night, a taxi driver is killed by a concrete block dropped from a similar bridge. The police question Benny, who hides the phone in Billy’s wheelchair. Benny is taken to prison, and Molly, unable to cope, sends Billy to live with his uncle David in L.A.. Billy is gifted and can hear radio waves in his head ("Radio Waves" track 1), so he begins to explore the cordless phone, recognising its similarity to a radio. He experiments with the phone and is able to access computers and speech synthesisers, he learns to speak through them. He calls a radio station in L.A. named Radio KAOS (hence the album title) and tells them of his life story about his brother being in jail ("Me or Him" track 3), about his sister-in-law not being able to cope and sending him to L.A. to live with his uncle Dave ("Sunset Strip" track 5), and about the closures of the mines ("Powers that Be" track 4). Billy eventually hacks in to a military satellite and fools the world in to thinking nuclear ICBMs are about to be detonated at major cities all over the world whilst deactivating the military’s power to retaliate ("Home" track 6 and "Four Minutes" track 7). The album concludes with a song about how everyone, in thinking they were about to die, realises that the fear and competitiveness peddled by the mass media is much less important than their love for family and the larger community. ("The Tide is Turning" track 8).

The album is dedicated "to all those who find themselves at the violent end of monetarism." This and other moments in the album--such as a segment juxtaposing a Ronald Reagan campaign slogan with clips from an old western TV show and an apparent recorded plea from American hostages not to engage in "heroics" to free them--make Waters’ political point of view quite clear.

[Jim:] "This is K.A.O.S.
You and I are listening to KAOS in Los Angeles.
Let's go to the telephones now and take a request."
[Billy:] "Hello, I'm Billy."
[Jim:] "Yes?"
[Billy:] "I hear radio waves in my head."
[Jim:] "You hear radio waves in your head?
Ah! Is there a request that
you have tonight for KAOS?"
Radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
He hears radio waves
Radio waves
The atmosphere is thin and cold
The yellow sun is getting old
The ozone overflows with radio waves
AM, FM, weather and news
Our leaders had a frank exchange of views
Are you confused, radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
AM radio waves
FM radio waves
Radio waves
Mind-numbing radio waves
Fish-stunning radio waves
Radio waves
Magic Billy in his wheel chair
Is picking up all this stuff in the air
Billy is face to face with outer space
Messages from distant stars
The local police calling all cars
Radio waves
Hear them radio waves
Radio waves
Jesus saves radio
Radio waves
Radio waves
AM radio waves
FM radio waves
All them radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
He hears radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
Hopeful radio waves
Dopeful radio waves
Radio waves
Russian radio waves
Prussian radio waves
Eastern radio waves
Western radio waves
Testing radio waves
One two
One two
Radio waves
Getting through to you
More code radio waves
Tobacco road radio waves
South to Paloma radio waves
Oklahoma City radio waves
Sitting pretty radio waves
Nitty-gritty radio waves
Radio waves
[Jim:] "Alright, that's a song called Radio Waves.
You are listening to KAOS
In Los Angeles and we've got Billy on the line."
[Billy:] "I'm from the valleys."

Prose and Cons 4 (You made it this far!?)

inrumford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:08:42 GMT

The title track with some nice Eric Clapton guitar work

Personnel: (covering the whole album)

Roger Waters - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, tape effects and vocals.

Eric Clapton - lead guitar

Ray Cooper - percussion

Andy Newmark - drums

David Sanborn - saxophone

Michael Kamen - piano

Andy Bown - hammond organ and guitar

Madeline Bell, Katie Kissoon and Doreen Chanter - backing vocals

Prose and Cons 3

inrumford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:01:40 GMT

4:58 AM SCENE VII (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin)

(The edge of a highway - somewhere in the States) The man is now alone. He is the hitch-hiker. A truck pulls up.

"Hey kid, you looking for a lift?... Get on up here."

He climbs in and whines to the truck driver. The truck driver, happy to join in the battle of the sexes, commiserates for a while. Then, realising that our hero is about to vomit all over his highly polished cowboy boots, he throws him out of the rig.

Prose and Cons 2

inrumford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:56:36 GMT

4:50 AM SCENE VI (Go Fishing)

(A cabin in Wyoming) The experiment fails. Through the trials and tribulations of self-reliance the couple polarise. She falls in love with a "friend from the East". They part.

Pros and Cons

inrumford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:52:35 GMT

4:30 AM SCENE I (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)

(A suburban bedroom somewhere near London) "Shane" plays on the TV. An Englishman, struggling with a nightmare wakes his American wife. She speaks.

Wife: "Wake up, you’re dreaming"

Man: "What?"

Wife: "You’re dreaming"

The man mumbles disjointedly about his dream. His wife soothes him back to sleep

The album concept is about a man’s midlife crisis and how he dreams of committing adultery, among other things. The album takes place in real time from 04:30am to 05:12am. Its cover prompted controversy for featuring a rear-view nude photograph of the model Linzi Drew. In some regions, the album has been released with this picture censored.

In 1978, Waters played demos of this album and The Wall to his band mates, who decided that they preferred The Wall, although their manager Steve O’Rourke thought that Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking was better.[citation needed] In the end it was decided that The Wall would be a Pink Floyd album and, following the split of the band, this became Roger Waters’ first solo album.

The Pros and Cons cycle begins with a British man dreaming one night of driving across the German countryside, with "two hitch hikers slumped in the back seat". The protagonist wonders whether to indulge in his sexual fantasies with his female passenger. After an attack of fear, he awakens and propositions his wife, who rejects him. He dreams of a solution to their marital difficulties in which they move out of the city and settle with their children in rural America, the wife’s native land. The venture soon collapses, and the wife begins having an affair. The protagonist responds by telling her to leave and take the kids with her, so he can set out alone "on the road again". Picked up by a truck driver, he rants about his wife’s dismissal of him, and receives some sympathy that is short-lived. His dream "goes from bad to worse", moving from fantasy to nightmare, until he reaches a truck stop and a waitress treats him with kindness that restores his empathy. The moment having passed, and the "moment of clarity faded", he wakes up, reaches out to his wife and is reassured by her presence.

You stop dancing

inrumford — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:19:07 GMT

Pete Townshend now looks back on the album with great praise. "The music is the best music that I've ever written, I think and it's the best album that I will ever write."

When a man is running from his boss
Who hold a gun that fires "cost"
And people die from being cold
Or left alone because they're old
And bombs are dropped on fighting cats
And children's dreams are run with rats
If you complain you disappear
Just like the lesbians and queers
No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face
And you get beaten up by blacks
Who though they worked still got the sack
And when your soul tells you to hide
Your very right to die denied
And in the battle on the streets
You fight computers and receipts
And when a man is trying to change
But only causes further pain
You realize that all along
Something in us going wrong

You stop dancing.

Live Rhymin'

inrumford — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:57:39 GMT

A tune I used to play and still do on occasion performed here live

Corcovado

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:06:15 GMT

As the night winds down quietly we have Stan Getz from "The Bossa Nova Years

Rick Danko

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:57:46 GMT

A comet bursting across the musical horizon

He'll be home

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:45:47 GMT

While Randy is still active today, we lost Good Old Harry a few years back. This newly released version of "Nilsson Sings Newman" (with a few bonus tracks added for good measure) will remind you of just how much we did lose.

Some more collaboration

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:40:33 GMT

The enigmatic Harry Nilsson and his beautiful and gifted voice embraces some more Newman

The beauty of collaboration

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:30:01 GMT

When it is done right.I know generally record companies don't give anything away for free, but the rerelease of this 1970 album is certainly a gift for what has to be a small audience: Thank you, Buddha (Records)! What we have here must be one of the most historic matchups of talented songwriters, Harry Nilsson, who up until then had a big hit single with someone else's song (Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" from "Midnight Cowboy"), and three critically admired but poor-selling albums, and Randy Newman, yet to score even a major hit as a songwriter ('least he was on Warner Bros., a label that respected his talent, more than you can say for Harry's RCA deal)...So, as the publicity goes, it really was a brave thing to undertake this very low-key collection, mainly pared down to Randy's piano and Harry's lovely voice. Listening to it reminds me of attending a recital of art songs (and, you should turn this one up loud for full intimate effect, I think). For the most part, Harry has chosen the "nice-guy" (from the liner notes) songs from Randy's repertoire (the one exception, "Yellow Man," does sound better coming from Randy's ironic pipes), and they are simple songs that sparingly sketch out his scenarios of nostalgia ("Dayton, Ohio 1903," "Vine St."), loss/regret ("Living Without You," "So Long Dad"), and hey, even Love. Fans of Randy Newman will be intrigued by comparing the different versions both singers have laid down ('frinstance, I like Randy's version of "Love Story" much better than Harry's, no shame there though). Also impressive is that even with the spare instrumentation all around, Harry worked laboriously on multi-tracking his voice so that the results are fairly gorgeous, and the small flourishes (like the mallet keyboards on "Caroline") say so much with so little. Also (again!), it's fascinating to me that interspersed amongst the crystal clear production and the smooth vocals is Randy and Harry chatting--studio patter! (At the end of "Snow," I believe, Randy says "Bad ending I played." "Yeah, I know...") Makes it all that more intimate--there! Have I convinced you to go out and get this? For those pop lovers with a taste for something unique, I don't think you can go wrong with this, especially if you have even the slightest interest in these two artists.

30 days

inrumford — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:57:48 GMT

Time - how much have we "wasted"
30 days, 1 month - in the spring of our lives it is but the wink of an eye, in the autumn of our lives it is to be held onto and treasured for the precious treasure that it is...
if i don't kid myself today
if i don't care about a thing
would i be light enough to fly
and if i just rid myself
the weight of memories and doubts
would i be light enough to fly
if the world was flat would you jump off
i think i'd float down like a feather
she lights the stars in the sky
you know, angels can see them clear
through foul weather
and when the race ends
will we all fall down
safe and sound
30 days
as she wakes up
and i'm caught staring again
she asks me
"what did you dream?"
i haven't stopped and isn't this part of it
as we lay rivers where once were streams
and when the race ends
will we all fall down
safe and sound
if we lost our way
would we trade it now
for the way we found
the ground
and how
30 days
without the sun
30 days
just a little scared of what might become
and we're home when we're together
home when we're together
we are home when we're together
30 days

Where do I sign up?

inrumford — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:03:24 GMT

With the US government bailing out failed financial institutions left and right, I was wondering if perhaps I could apply for a bail out for myself.

She's about a mover

inrumford — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:43:36 GMT

To set the toes tapping on a friday night, a previously unreleased cover of a Doug Sahm tune by Los Lobos

sunday undercover

inrumford — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:34:56 GMT

Emmylou Harris from her 1995 release of the same name, does a commendable job with Neil Young's "Wrecking Ball" with Neil on harmony vocals

Another Song in C

inrumford — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:21:32 GMT

I fell in love with this heartbreaking song

I'm sure there are many folks out there who can feel what Loudon is singing

It has been well documented that Loudon and his kids aren't on the best of terms and if you've ever listened to Martha's or Rufus's music, you can pick up on this

No man is an Island, sometimes it just feels that way

And just for good measure

inrumford — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:51:05 GMT

A final tune from the aforementioned compilation.

Truth be told, I was a Donovan fan back in the day as were many artists at the time including the Beatles. He influenced both John Lennon and Paul McCartney when he taught them his finger-picking guitar style in 1968.

Goldwatch blues

inrumford — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:35:40 GMT

From the same compilation of Donovan tunes, which MOG does not recognize. Donovan was one of the most popular British recording artists of his day, producing a series of hit albums and singles between 1965 and 1970

Summer Day Reflections

inrumford — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:16:38 GMT

As summer in these parts begins to slowly fade, I came across this collection of tunes aptly named "Summer Day Reflection Songs

It is a UK 2-CD compilation from 'the British Invasion's answer to Bob Dylan' and contains all of Donovan's Pye output before he dumped his label and hooked up with Mikey Most.

It is certainly worth a trip in the wayback machine

Summers almost gone

inrumford — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:13:43 GMT

This album is everything the band wanted to create with Cheap Thrills when they tried to sound like a live concert. Songs like "Down on Me," with which the band opened and closed, grab the listener by the ear and refuse to let go, while the band's take on the Gershwin brothers' old chestnut "Summertime (and the Livin's Easy)" transforms a sweet but dippy show tune into a true mournful operatic cry from the heart.

"New" song by Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company

inrumford — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:04:33 GMT

Here is a new song by Janis Joplin and her band

This song is not only BOSS, but absolutely GROOVY, though the folks in New York may not like it :-)

Night Birds

inrumford — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:21:01 GMT

The album's cover art was drawn by Adams. Art appears to be one of his major non-musical interests, which makes perfect sense if one considers Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and all the cerebrally emotional artists who have graced us with their talents

Sweet Carolina

inrumford — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:57:09 GMT

Ignore him if you must, but Ryan Adams is a true talent

Keeping up the "Wood"

inrumford — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:27:04 GMT

Wood’s presence—happy-go-lucky face, sprightly stage-parading, forever bearing that fabled English mullet—as an integrated element of the Rolling Stones with whom he’s been a member since 1976, rather than his mountainous topography of guitar riffs over the years. Wood was hired by the Stones to do just that, to assimilate as a critical cog in the blockbuster machine, to spin sympathetic webs of sound with Richards’s guitar instead of overpower it. (Mick Taylor, the extraordinary guitarist Wood replaced, did the exact opposite and had a short tenure with the band as a result.) Wood had perfected his deep-cover commando style in the Faces, quite possibly the best meat-and-potatoes bar band the rock ‘n’ roll world will ever see, playing in tight union with the rhythm section and as a quick-witted foil to Rod Stewart’s rugged voice. In the land of the rock quartet, the guitarist may be king, but Wood never put much stock in performing from a royal pedestal.

to cap off funky Friday

inrumford — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:00:25 GMT

Ronnie's harsh, hoarse, but finally well-trained voice is put to perfect use, as it's less pretentious and a bit more 'user-friendly' than Jagger's: when you hear it, you know you're in for a good rock'n'roll party time. His guitar plaing is unparalleled: he lets loose with such a tremendous force that it really gives the impression he'd always been muffled by Keith as a Stone. All in all, a quality double cd's worth of tuneage

some more wood

inrumford — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:30:09 GMT

He became a star when he joined Faces, where his role was curiously similar to Keith's in the Stones, and by then he was already an established songwriter, alone and in collaboration with the likes of Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Bobby Womack, and many others. Wood's important role in the making of classic albums like (the Beck Group's) "Truth", as well as Stewart's five absolute best ever solo albums (the ones that made him famous, for the Mercury label in 1969 - 74), and his role in Faces proved was, and can still be, one of the most immediately recognizable and soulful guitar stylists of his generation; only Duane Allman, and Ry Cooder approach his beautiful and unique slide work

Everyone need's a little woodie

inrumford — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:19:36 GMT

It is impossible to appreciate Ron Wood's music and muscianship to the fullest without the context of the original albums. Buying every single album Ron Wood has ever been part of, however, is obviously not cost effective for the casual fan. So the compilation "albums" are the next best thing. Every music fan needs to have a little Woodie in their collection. That being said, "Essential Crossexion" is arguably the best Ron Wood compilation available; & a great place to start a Ron Wood collection for someone on a budget. The track selection here is phenomenal. The songs span from his early career as a bassist with Jeff Beck to guitarist & Keith's foil in the Stones. The sound quality is very, very good and a definite upgrade if you have some of this music on the original cd releases or even vinyl.

I'm the wrong kind of person" finale

inrumford — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:12:56 GMT

first the mic then a half cigarette
singing Cathy's clown
that's the man she's married to now
that's the girl that he takes around town
she appears composed, so she is, I suppose
who can really tell
she shows no emotion at all
stares into space like a dead china doll

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

now she's done and they're calling someone
such a familiar name
I'm so glad that my memories remote
'cause I'm doing just fine hour to hour, note to note
here it is the revenge to the tune
you're no good
you're no good, you're no good, you're no good
can't you tell that it's well understood

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

I'm here today and expected to stayon and on and on
I'm tired, I'm tired

looking out on the substitute scene
still going strong
XO, mom, it's ok, it's alright, nothing's wrong
tell Mr. Man with impossible plansto just leave me alone
in the place where I make no mistakes
in the place where I have what it takes

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow
I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow
I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

I'm the wrong kind of person to be really big and famous part 2

inrumford — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:04:39 GMT

"I don't know if it would be fun to live in that world"

Words spoken take on a larger significance when viewed through the spyglass of time

Steven Paul Smith was born at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Bunny Welch (née Bunny Kay Berryman), was a music teacher at an elementary school, and his father, Gary Smith, was a University of Nebraska medical student at the time. His parents divorced about a year later, and Smith moved with his mother to live in Duncanville, Texas. Much later in his life, Smith got a tattoo of a map of Texas on his upper arm and said "I didn’t get it because I like Texas, kinda the opposite. But I won’t forget about it although I’m tempted to ‘cause I don’t like it there."

Smith endured a difficult childhood and a troubled relationship with his stepfather Charlie.[6] Smith reflected the impact of this part of his life in the lyrics of "Some Song": "Charlie beat you up week after week, and when you grow up you’re going to be a freak." The name "Charlie" also appeared in the lyrics for "Flowers for Charlie" and "No Confidence Man". The family was a part of the Community of Christ through much of Smith’s childhood, but eventually began attending services at a local Methodist Church. Smith felt that going to church did little for him, except make him "really scared of hell". In a 2001 interview, he stated, "I don’t necessarily buy into any officially structured version of spirituality. But I have my own version of it".

At the age of nine, Smith began playing the piano, and at ten began learning guitar on a small acoustic guitar bought for him by his father. At this age he also composed an original piano piece, "Fantasy," which won him a prize at an arts festival. Many of the people on his mother’s side of the family were non-professional musicians; his grandfather was a Dixieland drummer and his grandmother sang in a glee club.

At 14, Smith moved from Texas to Portland, Oregon, to live with his father, who was then working as a psychiatrist. It was around this time that Smith first began trying drugs and alcohol with friends as well as experimenting with recording for the first time, borrowing a four-track recorder. During high school, Smith played clarinet in the school band and also played guitar, piano and sang in the bands Stranger Than Fiction,[6] A Murder of Crows and The Greenhouse, billed as either Steven Smith or "Johnny Panic". He graduated from Lincoln High School as a National Merit Scholar.

After graduation, Steven Smith began calling himself "Elliott", saying that he thought "Steve" sounded too much like a "jock" name, and that "Steven" sounded "too bookish". Biographer S. R. Shutt speculates that it was either inspired by Elliott Avenue, a street that Smith had lived on in Portland, or that it was suggested by his then-girlfriend. A junior high acquaintance of Smith speculates that it was so as not to be confused with Steve Smith, the drummer of Journey.

I'm the wrong kind of person to be really big and famous Part 1

inrumford — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:44:29 GMT

A troubled artist, but a talented artist - I hope he has found his peace

Motel Blues

inrumford — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:08:31 GMT

A free download from Amazon, certainly worth the price. Loudon has his issues

He's toiled like the rest of us, often scratching his head and wondering

The Envoy

inrumford — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:25:46 GMT

After The Excitable Boy and its attendant, longstanding hit, "Werewolves of London," Warren Zevon could afford to beef up his sound. His live show, captured fantastically on Stand in the Fire, clearly helped shape the richer guitars on 1982's The Envoy, and the prescient title track finds Zevon describing a chaotic, war-torn Middle East (and elsewhere) that's sadly familiar

Night time in the switching yard

inrumford — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:11:36 GMT

It is my humble opinion that Warren Zevon never got the props or love he deserved

I'm sure a lot of it had to do with his alcoholism. but even beyond that, it seems to me he is given short shrift in the music universe.

Quirky as he may have been, dude was brilliant

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

inrumford — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:52:45 GMT

Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Ani Difranco and Terence Blanchard join Dr. John and the Lower 911 in this musical paean to Dr. John's beloved New Orleans. This powerful new recording features stirring and thought-provoking songs about the post-Katrina crises in the ravaged jewel of the American South, including "City That Care Forgot," "Time for a Change," "Promises, Promises," "We Gettin' There" and many more.

Who loves you more

inrumford — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:32:16 GMT

Another great leftover from the Empire sessions

"Who Loves You More", is as good as anything that made the album

His Bobness

inrumford — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:44:38 GMT

I've always loved Empire Burlesque

One of the most famous outtakes from the EB sessions is "New Danville Girl." A satirical epic co-written with playwright Sam Shepard, it was originally an attempt at answering Lou Reed’s song, "Doin’ the Things That We Want To." (Reed was inspired to write "Doin’ the Things That We Want To" after seeing one of Shepard’s plays.)

"It has to do with a guy standing on line and waiting to see an old Gregory Peck movie (called The Gunfighter) that he can’t quite remember, only pieces of it," says Shepard. "Then this whole memory thing happens, unfolding before his very eyes. He starts speaking internally to a woman...reliving the whole journey they’d gone on...We spent two days writing the lyrics, Bob had previously composed the melody line, which was already down on tape."

As Clinton Heylin notes, "allowing each line to raise questions that lead the listener across the flatlands of Texas and time, Shepard contributes a conversational tone that hints at the very mundanity the song’s characters are seeking to transcend."

Session guitarist Ira Ingber recalls, "When we first recorded ‘[New Danville Girl],’ we...made a cassette. And he took it out and started playing it. He came back the next day we were working and said, ‘Yeah, a lot of people like this thing.’ And then he didn’t do anything with it. It’s like he was doing it to spite people who were all liking it, and he just held on to it."

"New Danville Girl" would actually be re-written and re-recorded as "Brownsville Girl" for Dylan’s next album, Knocked Out Loaded.

Last of Strawberry Fields

inrumford — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:14:34 GMT

And here we have Sir George Martin's interpretation of John's vision

Strawberry 3 Sir George comments

inrumford — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:07:45 GMT

George Martin comments on the finished product and his part in giving John what he was looking for

Strawberry Fields Forever Take 1 part 2

inrumford — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:57:24 GMT

This is take one of the George Martin produced version of this John Lennon classic

Strawberry Fields Part 1

inrumford — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:47:08 GMT

For those Lennon fans out there celebrating the denial of parole for his killer, George Martin

offers some insight on Strawberry Fields Forever

I've had enough

inrumford — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:51:01 GMT

An album that NEVER gets old, a true classic

Pete's opus on teenage angst

bell boy

inrumford — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:34:08 GMT

A beach is the place where a man can feel is the only soul in the world that's real

What stands out is Keith Moon's drumming

Totally classic

I'm one

inrumford — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:20:39 GMT

I've got a Gibson without a case and I can't get that even tanned look on my face

Scared at night

inrumford — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:32:06 GMT

Another beautiful and heartfelt song of life and death.

The lyrics are so evocative

SCARED AT NIGHT

As a child I would wake at night

I was scared, but I kept real quiet

Shadows on the walls moving in on me

Underneath my sheets I could barely breathe

Your room was only just across the hall

All it would have taken was a single call

Maybe sometimes you’ve got to trust yourself

Not to scream out loud and run like hell

Believe me

All the days you’re unsure

Believe in me

I don’t want to anymore

In the dark

Picture me in your mind

And I’ll lay with you

You don’t have to be scared at night

As a young man you were shooting rats

By accident you hit the farmyard cat

He ran for the fields and

came back the next day

You had blown out his eye

and you could see his brain

Your dad said "Boy, there are some things in life.

You don’t want to do but you know is right.

So take him out back and finish him off."

You got your gun off the shelf

it only took one shot

Believe me

All the days you’re unsure

Believe in me

I don’t want to anymore

In the dark

Picture me in your mind

And I’ll lay with you

So you don’t have to be scared at night

I flew to Winnipeg on your final day

They said that you waited until I came

We sang your favorite hymns

and we held your hand

You took your final breath and that was that

But I’d never seen a person die before

I tried so hard not to cry, you know

Maybe sometimes we’ve got to trust ourselves

That when you die you go someplace else

Believe me

All the days you’re unsure

Believe in me

I don’t want to anymore

In the dark

Picture me in your mind

And I’ll lay with you

So you don’t have to be scared at night

You don’t have to be scared at night

More Kathleen Sure as Shit

inrumford — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:27:46 GMT

Love is always the mother lode to be mined for songs. No less here.

SURE AS SHIT

Choosing my words carefully

has never been my strength

I’ve been known to be vague

and often pointless

But you sure as shit know me

better than anybody else

And for that in my heart I am hopeful

So I helped you pack your bags

and I folded up your snap shirts

When you come back

it will already be the winter

If you look at other girls

working out in the nighttime

I don’t mind but I don’t want to know it

And these years that I have known you

it’s gone and blurred my sense of time

Now I can hardly even recall

what came before this

Letters left on pillows

Messages left on phones

Postcards in the mail

when we sent them

Cobwebs all collected

Paintings on the walls

Lounging around all day

in a hot pink chenille housecoat

And the secrets that I whispered

in your ear while you were sleeping

You can call to mind when you’re

out in the world without me

Oh the denim king

I sure as shit do love you

And I cuss because I mean it

And for that in my heart I am hopeful

And these words that I chose

I was so careful

Kathleen Edwards

inrumford — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:21:48 GMT

My initial introduction to Kathleen’s work was through Amazon offering a free download from her latest album.

Never one to look a gift horse in the ole pie hole (hay hole??) I snagged said download.

And so began my love affair and from my perspective, there is not a bad track on this album.

The song "Alicia Ross" has an interesting background. I’ve included the link should anyone like to explore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Ross

An extremely heartfelt and lovely song from a very talented lady.

COMMENT FROM THE ARTIST

"I had just gotten off tour and the story of this missing woman [Ross, a 25-year-old who was brutally murdered by her next door neighbor] was all over the news. I really felt for her mother, knowing that with each passing day, it’s less likely her daughter is alive." All royalties from the song will be donated to Project Canoe, a charity for at-risk youth founded by Ross’ parents. [rounder.com]

ALICIA ROSS

I am a girl with a forgettable face

No matter my color, no matter my name

At work there is a boy and he treats me well

My old friends from high school,

I see them around

August is here I can’t believe how fast

Soon there will be winter and snow on the ground

Maybe by then I could get my own place

Closer to the city if that’s ok

But Mamma, can you hear me?

As I dragged on my day’s last cigarette

He pulled me so hard off my

very own back door steps

And he laid me in his garden

All the years I’ve watched him tend

And then he took me, Mamma

So I could never tell you about it

Inside of this moment there are

things I wish I could know

Like my ring size, your ring size,

and the hour I was born

My dad’s middle name, your favorite song

Was your darkest day as dark as this one?

Mamma, can you hear me?

As I dragged on my day’s last cigarette

He pulled me so hard off my

very own back door steps

And he laid me in his garden

All the years I’ve watched him tend

He took me, Mamma

So I could never tell you about it

Now I’m a girl who’s face they’ll never forget

Summer Breeze 2

inrumford — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:41:09 GMT

Summer Breeze 1

inrumford — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:38:08 GMT

An old promo video for Seals and Crofts. Released in the halcyon days of the early 70's. I was never a huge fan, but watching these videos, I have gained a greater respect for this twosome.

Kill to Get Crimson 3

inrumford — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:39:33 GMT

It is really hard to pick a favorite song from this wonderful collection, but I've found I've played this one much more than once.

‘In The Sky’-home from the sea, far away from here, weathered a storm,part of the fray, crossed every ocean in the boat that you made.

Kill to Get Crimson 2

inrumford — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:34:27 GMT

You can tell me your troubles

I’ll listen for free

My regulars trust me, it seems

You can come and see Uncle

To get through the week

Leave your pledges with me to redeem

Some folk sell their bodies

For ten bob a go

Politicians go pawning their souls

Which doesn’t make me

Look too bad, don’t you know

Me, with my heart full of holes

All my yesterdays broken

A watch with no face

All battered and old

Bits of the movement

All over the place

And a heart full of holes

A heart full of holes

Brass knuckles and banjos

Are out on the town

At the knees-up

In Teddy Boys’ Row

The gold block and tackle

Tells the time upside down

Rock n’ roll - well, I don’t know

Dead people’s wedding gifts

Walk out the door

A clarinet squeals to be free

Accordions hop

From the shelves to the floor -

Start playing their polkas to me

There’s a ringing of bells

A dunderhead’s curse

Fingers are pointing at you

And you take work in hell

And be glad it’s not worse

And you get to the back of the queue

Handcuffs and hunting knives

Clang on the bars

Air pistols shoot out the lights

I’ve a whole Wailing Wall

Of electric guitars

Could shatter the windows

Down Brick Lane tonight

If one of us dies, love

I think I’ll retire

See my boys and my beautiful girls

A Garden of Eden

No gates or barbed wire

Who knows, maybe gates made of pearls

Well, if we go to heaven

And some say we don’t

But if there’s a reckoning day

Please God, I’ll see you

And maybe I won’t

I’ve a bag packed to go either way

Redeeming your pledge, dear

I’ll keep it for you

It’s not going to go anywhere

But your soul, your soul

That is not what I do

There’s not a lot I can do there

I remember the officer’s watch

In my hand:

‘Repair it or die’ I was told

It’s a wonder to me -

I still don’t understand

Why I ever survived to be old

With a heart full of holes

A heart full of holes

Kill To Get Crimson 1

inrumford — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:25:29 GMT

Excellent album from Mark Knopfler. Full of narrative and wonderful storytelling. A CD that’s just gets better with each listening. Not a bad song in the bunch. As always superb guitar playing, with other musicians adding sax, flute, and organ. He weaves his magic throughout by fully fleshing out the characters in the songs.

"I wonder if there’s no forever

No walking hand in hand

Down a yellow brick road

To never never land

These days I get to where I’m going

Make it there eventually

Follow the trail of breadcrumbs

To where I’m meant to be "

-Mark Knopfler

‘True Love Will Never Fade’ is a quintessential Mark Knopfler song. It has the wonderful tune and the lyrics that paint a picture. ‘Kill To Get Crimson’ is a CD that takes a painter’s palatte and tries to get that certain color, Crimson.

Spirit part 7

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:35:22 GMT

especially memorable was Randy California's poignant "Nature's Way."which was in the forefront of what was soon to become a growing awareness of man and his environment.

Spirit part 6

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:27:17 GMT

What is widely considered to be their best LP, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, as noted previously, was finally released in late 1970. Especially memorable was Randy California’s poignant "Nature’s Way." Everybody involved felt that they had created a great album. Epic released an early mix of "Animal Zoo" as a single, which made it to #97 on the charts. Time would tell, however, and it is now regarded by many as one of the finest rock albums ever made. Not unlike The Who’s Tommy and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, it is regarded as a masterpiece of art-rock, with a tapestry of literary themes about the fragility of life and the complexity of the human experience; this is best illustrated by recurring lyric "life has just begun." However, the album is also appreciated for its songwriting quality and performances. Its inventive production and effective integration of the Moog synthesizer belied nearly every group in rock who tried using the instrument (apart from possibly The Doors and The Monkees, who used a Moog on Strange Days and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. respectively).

Spirit part 5

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:15:49 GMT

Meanwhile, Randy California had signed a solo contract with Epic and in the fall of 1972 he released his debut album, Kapt. Kopter & the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds. He reconnected with Cassidy, and the two hired a bass player, Larry "Fuzzy" Knight to tour Europe as Spirit during the spring of 1973. They also worked on a concept album called Potatoland, but Epic rejected it, and California temporarily dropped out of the music business and moved to Hawaii. Epic released a compilation album, The Best of Spirit, in the summer of 1973 and saw it reach the charts along with a single release of "Mr. Skin," a song from Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus that was a sly allusion to Cassidy's shaved head. Epic also released a two-fer LP combination of Spirit and Clear, and it too got into the charts. Responding to the resulting demands for a live act, Cassidy now hired some side musicians and hit the road as Spirit.

Spirit part 4

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:09:06 GMT

With the accelerated schedules typical of record releases in the 1960s, Spirit had to have another album ready quickly, and Clear appeared in July 1969. The album led off with the California/Ferguson composition "Dark Eyed Woman," another rocker in the "I Got a Line on You" mold that was released as a single but did not hit; the LP also contained material written for the Model Shop score that, not surprisingly, sounded like background music. Clear was a disappointment after the success of The Family That Plays Together, peaking at number 55 in October. In December, the band released a one-off single, California's "1984," and it gave early indications of becoming a hit, rising to number 69 by March 1970 before radio became resistant to its ominous lyrics, which referred to the dystopian novel of the same name by George Orwell. Produced by the band itself, it was their last release on Ode. Adler had negotiated a split from CBS in order to move his label to A&M Records, and in so doing he agreed to leave Spirit with Epic. The band then hired David Briggs, who had worked on Neil Young's albums, to produce its fourth LP. Sessions for that album commenced in April 1970, but they were interrupted when California suffered a fractured skull due to a fall from a horse and spent a month in the hospital. A single, Ferguson's "Animal Zoo," emerged in July and grazed the bottom of the charts, but ultimately, it took six months to complete the LP, released as Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus in November.

Spirit toured in support of the album during the winter and spring of 1971, but Epic failed to break a successful single from the LP, and it peaked at number 63 in February. Ferguson and Andes, frustrated at the band's lack of broad commercial success, quit Spirit to form a new band, Jo Jo Gunne, with Matt Andes and drummer Curly Smith. Initially, Spirit hired bassist John Arliss and played as a quartet. Then, California quit to launch a solo career. Remaining members Cassidy and Locke brought in two new musicians, brothers Al Staehely (bass) and Chris Staehely (guitar), and in November they began recording a new Spirit album. It appeared in February 1972 under the title Feedback. Like Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, it peaked at number 63 in the charts. When Cassidy left the band, followed by Locke, the Staehely brothers brought in a drummer and briefly toured as Spirit. They didn't get away with that for long, but it was easy to see why promoters were interested in having a Spirit band on the road, no matter who was in it. Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, though off the charts, had become an FM radio favorite and a perennial seller (it would be certified as a gold record in 1976), and Epic re-released The Family That Plays Together, which reentered the charts in July 1972.

Spirit part 3 (Stairway to Heaven)

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:52:09 GMT

After returning west, California and Cassidy formed a band called Spirits Rebellious, after a book by the religious mystic Kahlil Gibran, also featuring pianist John Locke (born September 23, 1943, in Los Angeles, CA), who had played with Cassidy previously in the New Jazz Trio. In the spring of 1967, California and Cassidy ran into Ferguson and Andes, who had continued to work as musicians while attending UCLA. After the demise of the Red Roosters, they had a band called Western Union, also including Andes' guitar-playing brother, Matt Andes, then Ferguson had tried to launch a solo career while Mark Andes served brief tenures with Yellow Balloon and Canned Heat. Now, they joined Spirits Rebellious, a name soon shortened to Spirit. By June, they were playing gigs and looking for a record contract. With Barry Hansen (later known as Dr. Demento, the novelty song radio host) producing, they cut a demo tape that finally found commercial release 24 years later on the anthology Chronicles (1967-1992). They also auditioned for record executive and producer Lou Adler. Adler, best known for his work with the Mamas & the Papas and his company Dunhill Records, had sold Dunhill to ABC Records and formed a new label, Ode Records, which had a distribution deal with Epic Records, an imprint of the major label CBS Records. Adler signed Spirit to Ode in August 1967.

Adler produced Spirit's self-titled debut album, which was released in January 1968. (Most of the songs were written by Ferguson, though California contributed a delicate instrumental called "Taurus" that would prove inspirational to Led Zeppelin, which based the introduction to the 1971 standard "Stairway to Heaven" on it.) Spurred by the single "Mechanical World," which had some regional success, the LP entered the Billboard chart in April and spent more than six months there, peaking in the Top 40 in September. Spirit toured extensively while working on their second album and preparing a score for French director Jacques Demy's film Model Shop (January 1969), in which they also appeared. (Sundazed Records belatedly released a soundtrack album from the film in 2005.) In October 1968, they issued a single, "I Got a Line on You," a driving rocker written by California. Peaking at number 25 in the Hot 100 in March 1969, it was the group's only Top 40 single. The second album, The Family That Plays Together, followed in December 1968. With the hit single spurring sales, it peaked at number 22 in March 1969. (Ferguson again dominated the songwriting, penning six of the 11 tracks, although California wrote or co-wrote the other five.)

Of this track Randy says "Written for my first love Robin, she was a Taurus.

People always ask me why "Stairway to Heaven" sound remarkably like "Taurus", which was released two years earlier. I know Led Zeppelin also played "Fresh Garbage" in their live set. They opened up for us on their first American tour."

Spirit part 2

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:41:18 GMT

Randy California was born Randolph Craig Wolfe on February 20, 1951, in Los Angeles, CA. His mother, Bernice Pearl, was the sister of Ed Pearl, who owned the Ash Grove, a nightclub in Hollywood, and California, who began playing guitar as a child, grew up listening carefully to the folk, blues, and jazz musicians who performed there. In early 1965, the Rising Sons, a folk-blues group featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, played the Ash Grove; the band's drummer was Ed Cassidy (born May 4, 1923, in Chicago, IL), who met and married California's recently divorced mother, becoming his stepfather. Cassidy had been drumming professionally since his teens in almost every conceivable style, though lately largely in jazz groups before he joined the Rising Sons. He left the band after injuring his wrist during a solo.

Meanwhile, California had met two aspiring musicians from the San Fernando Valley, singer/percussionist Jay Ferguson (born John Arden Ferguson, February 5, 1947, in Burbank, CA) and bassist Mark Andes (born February 19, 1948, in Philadelphia, PA) at a folk music camp, and in September 1965, along with Cassidy, and a second guitarist, they formed a band called the Red Roosters that played the Ash Grove.

The Red Roosters broke up when Cassidy moved his family to New York in search of work in the spring of 1966. There California had a fateful encounter with another guitarist at a music store in Manhattan; he met the still-unknown Jimi Hendrix, then going by the name Jimmy James, who invited him to join his band, Jimmy James & the Blue Flames, which was appearing at the Café Wha? in Greenwich Village. Since there was already a musician named Randy in the band, bass player Randy Palmer, Hendrix distinguished the two by their home states, calling Palmer "Randy Texas" and Randy Wolfe "Randy California," which he subsequently retained as a stage name. California played with Hendrix that summer, which was when Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler, who became his manager and took him to England to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix asked California to come to England with him, but at 15 he was too young. Instead, California moved back to his home state with his mother and stepfather.

Of this track, Randy says "Mark was very ill with the flu and was confined to his room for weeks, making him feel very depressed and mechanical. Towards the end of his sickness, Jay could be seen sneaking in and out of Mark's room with a guitar in hand. When Mark finally came out, there was a brand new song. The group really collaborated on this track and every one was happy to see Mark happy and healthy again."

Spirit Part 1

inrumford — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:31:03 GMT

The original lineup of the group was Randy California (guitars, vocals), Jay Ferguson (vocals, percussion), Mark Andes (bass), California’s stepfather Ed Cassidy (drums), and keyboard player John Locke. The band was originally named the Spirits Rebellious (after a book by Khalil Gibran) but was soon shortened simply to Spirit.

The group had an eclectic musical style in keeping with the early days of progressive rock; they were as likely to play a folk ballad featuring fingerpicked acoustic guitar, a jazz instrumental full of imaginative improvisation, or a driving rhythm tune dominated by acid rock electric guitar playing. The diverse tastes of the original quintet produced a hybrid style that delighted a core audience of fans but proved too wide-ranging to attract a mass following, and at the same time the musicians’ acknowledged talents brought them other opportunities that led to the breakup of the original lineup after four years and four albums, then kept them from committing fully to regroupings as their music began to be recognized in later years. While two band members, singer/guitarist Randy California and drummer Ed Cassidy, maintained the Spirit name, the others came and went as their schedules allowed, such that the group never fulfilled its early promise, although, as a vehicle for California’s songwriting and guitar playing, it continued to produce worthwhile music until his death.

Of this track, Randy said there was a garbage strike going on at the time and hence, the inspiration

It's Funky Friday

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:06:38 GMT

The turbaned Dr. Lonnie Smith -- along with guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith -- set themselves upon a grooving Smith tribute to John Coltrane, "Traces of Trane."

One more from the Shack

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:37:33 GMT

Another cut from Pushing the Salmanilla Envelope "Dropping Acnhor"

You can't eat just one!

Salmanilla?

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:34:56 GMT

Reading about the recent salmonella scare brought this to mind.

Jimmie’s Chicken Shack is an alt rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. JCS has always been hard to classify. No two records, let alone songs, have sounded the same. Though confusing to the commercial radio world, their fans appreciate the band’s independent attitude and the varied sounds that each record offers.

The name Jimmies Chicken Shack was pulled from the Malcolm X biography ...from a place where X used to hang out.

The Final Cut part 4

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:03:19 GMT

Unlike the majority of other tracks on The Final Cut, "Not Now John" remains rather intense throughout its duration, instead of switching back and forth between heavy/soft segments (although there are some "down" tempo periods in the song). Gilmour and Waters split vocals duties, similar to the song "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall, and they represent different "characters" or points of view - Gilmour is the self-serving ignorant layperson while Waters is the intellectual, responsible observer of the world’s woes. However, Waters sings verses associated with Gilmour’s character near the end of the song. When the album was in demo stages the song was actually sung by Roger Waters only. (of course)

The lyrics, written by Waters, deal with many of the themes he explored in other songs from the album, including war (particularly the Falklands War and British involvement therein) and criticism of UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as general criticisms of the greed and corruption that Waters saw as dangers to society.

Final Cut part 3

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:55:56 GMT

The lyrics of this tune speak of a man trying to re-adjust to being home after the war, and trying not to show weakness in front of everyone else. This includes not talking about his experiences, especially when directly questioned about them. The lyrics also express this veteran’s fear of the capabilities of human beings "Behind petrified eyes." It eventually displays the veteran’s retreat into alcoholism as he ages, and his disenchantment of the "Post-War Dream" ("You believed in their stories / Of fame, fortune, and glory / And now you’re lost in a haze / Of alcohol and soft middle-age / The pie in the sky / Turned out to be miles too high / And you can hide hide hide / Behind brown and mild eyes").

Final Cut part 2

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:48:33 GMT

This song deals with Roger Waters’ personal views on the Falklands War, mentioning many world leaders by name, including Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, suggesting that these "colonial wasters of life and limb" be segregated into a specially-founded retirement home. It labels all the world leaders as "overgrown infants" and "incurable tyrants", and suggests that they are incapable of understanding anything other than violence, or their own visages on a television screen.

In its concluding lines, the narrator of the song gathers all of the "tyrants" inside the Fletcher Memorial Home and imagines applying "the Final Solution" to them (i.e. having them all gassed) presumably to keep them from causing any more chaos and death. This ties into the general theme of the album in its entirety, which concludes with a song describing nuclear armageddon as mankind’s ultimate fate. As it is placed on the album, it is bracketed by songs that likewise deeply criticize the Falklands War. Waters perceived the conflict to sum up the betrayal of the British soldiers who fought and died in World War II, and that the lives of British and Argentine soldiers were being used as political pawns; for example, that Margaret Thatcher’s decision to go to war was, in his eyes, designed to give her a much-needed boost in popularity. In the song he also briefly touches on fascism and the Red Baiting of the 1950s by mentioning Senator Joseph McCarthy ("the ghost of McCarthy") in connection with all the other tyrants. Waters also implies that the majority of the public did not respect the "tyrants" as he clearly states "did they expect us to treat them with any respect."

Last Pink Floyd - first Roger Waters Solo??

inrumford — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:41:55 GMT

The Final Cut is the final Pink Floyd studio album to feature Roger Waters. The album is predominantly the work of Waters (similar to The Wall, but far more so), this being the only Pink Floyd album on which the composers’ credit on every track is given to Waters alone, with no songwriting credits given to any other member of the band. Keyboardist Rick Wright played no part in the recording of The Final Cut having been sacked by Waters during recording of The Wall, meaning that this is the only Pink Floyd album on which Wright does not feature at all. David Gilmour meanwhile sings lead vocals on only one of the album’s twelve songs, the rest being sung entirely by Waters. The recording of The Final Cut was marred by tension between Waters and his bandmates, particularly Gilmour, who has since expressed his dislike for much of the album. For these and other reasons, it is sometimes regarded as a Roger Waters solo album rather than a true Pink Floyd album. None of the album’s songs has ever been performed live by Pink Floyd, though some have been performed live by Waters during solo tours.

The Final Cut was originally scheduled to be nothing more than a film soundtrack album for the band’s 1982 movie The Wall. The album was originally to be entitled Spare Bricks and would have featured songs from The Wall which had been re-recorded for the film, such as ‘Mother’, ‘Bring the Boys Back Home’, ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)’, ‘Outside the Wall’ and the new versions of ‘In the Flesh?’ and ‘In the Flesh’ with the film’s lead actor Bob Geldof on lead vocals, as well as two songs included in the film but not on the original album (‘When the Tigers Broke Free (Parts 1 and 2)’ and ‘What Shall We Do Now?’). Roger Waters also planned to record a small amount of ‘new’ material for inclusion on the album (actually old songs he had intended for the Wall album but rejected at that point by the band) which would further flesh out The Wall narrative, such as ‘Your Possible Pasts’ (part of the lyric of which was recited by Geldof during the film), ‘One of the Few’, ‘The Hero’s Return’ and ‘The Final Cut’.

another one hitter

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:56:13 GMT

The Five Americans formed in 1966 and broke up in 1969 and went their separate ways.

Mike Rabon had a successful touring career afterwards and released two albums that sold well. He later returned to college and acquired a master’s degree in public school administration and has been in the Oklahoma school systems for 28 years.

John Durrill, the keyboardist, wrote "Dark Lady" for Cher and "Misery and Gin" for Merle Haggard and was also a member of the touring band The Ventures. He now lives in Los Angeles.

Norman Ezell (guitar) is a teacher and minister in northern California.

Jim Grant, bassist for the group, died November 29, 2004.

Jimmy Wright (drummer) is living in Oklahoma and is semi-retired.

more wonders

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:43:55 GMT

"Psychotic Reaction" is an early psychedelic/garage rock song released by the band Count Five in 1966, and also the title of their only album. Guitarist Sean Byrne was sitting in a Health Education class in his freshman year at San Jose City College in California, learning about psychosis. His friend Ron Lamb leaned over and whispered: "You know what would be a great name for a song? Psychotic Reaction." Byrne had been writing a tune in his head that day, and used the title to finish it, with the entire band given writing credit. The song hit number five in the Billboard charts.

and the one hit wonders...

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:32:42 GMT

The Hombres were a Memphis, Tennessee band that formed in 1966 with Gary Wayne McEwen on guitar, B.B. Cunningham on the electric organ (brother of Bill Cunningham of The Box Tops), Jerry Lee Masters on bass and John Will Hunter (died 1976) on the drums.

The Hombres’ "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" is included on the soundtrack of the Cameron Crowe film, Elizabethtown. It has also been used in an advertising campaign for Foster’s Lager. It was a hit originally in 1967, peaking at #12 in the U.S.

The origin of the other bizarre lyrics in this song is presumably from the songwriters, but the spoken introduction – "I preach, my dear friends, you are about to receive on John Barleycorn, nicotine and the temptations of Eve" – goes all the way back to 1947, when they served to introduce a song that was every bit as strange for its era as this one was in 1967: "Cigareetes, Whusky and Wild Wild Women" by Red Ingle and His Natural Seven.

-Wiki

It's still summer

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:22:06 GMT

We have Strawberry Alarm Clocks, Electric Prunes and of course :

From Wiki:

Vanilla Fudge was an American psychedelic band that recorded albums from 1967 to 1970. Members included organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist Vince Martell, and drummer Carmine Appice.

They had a number of hit singles, their biggest hit being "You Keep Me Hangin’ On," a slowed-down, trippy, hard rock cover of a song originally recorded by The Supremes, which particularly featured Appice’s energetic drumming.

More Summer More Love

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:05:01 GMT

And of course, there was always "Strawberry Alarm Clock"

From Wiki:

The group originally consisted of Ed King (lead guitar), Mark Weitz (keyboards), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar), Gary Lovetro (bass), and Randy Seol (drums). On their first and most famous single, "Incense and Peppermints", none of the band wanted to sing songwriter John Carter’s lyrics, so lead vocals were sung by Greg Munford, a 16-year-old friend of the band, although the regular vocalists sang backup. The song reached #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in late 1967. Mark Weitz and Ed King were denied songwriting credit by the band’s producer because they did not write the melody line or the lyrics, though the song was built on an instrumental by Weitz with a bridge by King originally intended as a B-side to "Birdman of Alkatrash," which ultimately became the B-side to "Incense and Peppermints." The original composition that became "Incense and Peppermints" was titled "The Happy Whistler."

Summer of Love

inrumford — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:57:00 GMT

Ah, "The Summer of Love" brought us none other than "The Electric Prunes"

From Wiki:

The group started in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, though during the group’s long disbandment, rumors circulated that they were from Seattle, probably because their records were very popular in that city. The first members, Ken Williams (guitar), James Lowe (lead vocal, autoharp), Michael Weakley (drums) and Mark Tulin (bass) called themselves The Sanctions, and later, Jim and the Lords. Soon, Dick Hargrave joined on organ, but shortly thereafter left to pursue graphic arts. Their lineup changed many times, including one lineup with Kenny Loggins.

Lowe, Tulin, Williams and Weakley were introduced to David Hassinger, then resident engineer at RCA studios, who arranged for them to record some demos at Leon Russell’s home recording facility (which he called Sky Hill Studios). Hassinger also suggested they needed a new name. In response, the band produced a long list of suggestions, with The Electric Prunes last as a joke. Somehow it stuck

what if the world didn't have stop signs?

inrumford — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:24:30 GMT

OK, so this is a little off topic but I had to share my world with some one

http://www.uglydoggy.com/2008/07/its-friday-just-stop.html

Human Highway (CSNY, Unreleased Studio Version, April 76)

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:20:38 GMT

Human Highway was recorded during the Stills-Young sessions in 1976. The song was always meant to be a CSNY track, but Neil had run out of patience by the Comes A Time LP, and so there it ended up.

A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:58:31 GMT

On the roller coaster ride
That my emotions have to take me on
I heard a newborn baby cry
Through the night.

I heard a perfect echo die
Into an anonymous wall of digital sound
Somewhere deep inside
Of my soul.

A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature
Dont judge yourself too harsh, my love
Or someday you might find your soul endangered
A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature.

Amazon
You had so much and now so much is gone
What are you gonna do
With your life?

What a lucky man.
To see the earth before it touched his hand
What an angry fool
To condemn.

One more night to go
One more sleep upon your burning banks
A greedy man never knows
What hes done.

A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature
Dont start yourself too short, my love
Or someday you might find your soul endangered
A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature.

Went to the rodeo today
I saw the cowgirls lined up on the fence
A brand new chevrolet
A brand new pair of seamless pants.

We watched the moment of defeat
Played back over on the video screen
Somewhere deep inside
Of my soul.

A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature.

thrasher

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:39:02 GMT

Again, a classic Neil tune

Here's what Neil said in a Musician mag interview, 11/85 about Thrasher being a reference to Crosby, Stills & Nash:

"Yeah. Parts of it were. Just dead weight. Well, at that point I felt like it was kind of dead weight for me. Not for them. For me. I could go somewhere and they couldn't go there. I wasn't going to pull them along, they were doing fine without me. It might have come off a little more harsh than I meant it, but once I write it I can't say, "Oh I'm going to hurt somebody's feelings." Poetically and on feeling it made good sense to me and it came right out. I think I'd be doing it a disservice to change it based on what I think a reaction would be. I try not to do that."

Zuma

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:15:36 GMT

Because it needs to be heard, because its Saturday night, because it is classic Neil Young stretching out old "Blackie"

Well, and because I like it

don't let me down

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:02:05 GMT

A classic John track as it goes through the polishing process

for you blue

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:47:31 GMT

a version of "for you blue" as George fine tunes one of the bones that Paul and John allow him to include on a Beatles album

The Two of Us

inrumford — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:34:32 GMT

Alternate version/in progress

Love to hear roughed out versions of any Beatle's music

The masters in action

New Heart

inrumford — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:19:57 GMT

Heart, the semi-legendary rock and pop band led by singer Ann and guitarist Nancy Wilson, has a new album out, Jupiter's Darling, their first album of new material in over a decade, which in addition to regular old CD, is available on a try it before you buy it basis via P2P:

TrustyFiles P2P File Sharing Software

TopP2P web site

The program provides distribution across all major P2P file sharing networks, including Kazaa, Gnutella, and eDonkey.

"Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart have always been an innovative force in music," said Paul Angles, Director of Internet Marketing at Sovereign Artists. "Their first concern is reaching out to the fans they love. That's why they made 'Jupiters Darling' and that's why we're distributing over P2P, where they can reach the most people."

RazorPop CEO Marc Freedman added "When a legendary band like Heart embraces file sharing, you know it's become mainstream. Don't be misled by the entertainment terror campaigns designed to instill fear and stunt innovation. The real focus should be on the artists and making music. A wide majority of musicians support P2P file sharing. There's been an explosion in its use by independent artists. Some, like the G-Man, have achieved success directly due to file sharing.

"Heart is only the first of many big name bands and other content providers that will discover the value and profit in reaching 100 million file sharers across the world. RazorPop and its partners help both new artists seeking free promotion and established bands adding a new sales channel."

....The files are in Windows Media Player format and can be played on most major media player software and portable music player devices. The songs are packaged as Weed files, which provide 5 free Heart songs for new users.

Quadrophenia

inrumford — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:37:57 GMT

Covered by Pearl Jam

Love this Album - a true classic

Paul in Quebec

inrumford — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:28:15 GMT

I don't care if he's 65 or 96, anyone who has this affect on this many people is the embodiment of what the power of music is all about.

I got the shivers just watching it, can you imagine the joy this one person brought to 200.000!

I've attached the link because video embedding was disabled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XN0Ji5_HZQ

ah, the human condition

inrumford — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:36:55 GMT

This was a free download from amazon, so I figured, what have I got to loose!

I like it, and the human condition to which it speaks resonates

Where do all those unrealisitc expectations come from? Hope springs eternal? Perhaps...

on a blues roll

inrumford — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:18:46 GMT

OK, once I dig into the archives, I can't post just one song so here is our man lightin' joined by Sonny Terry. Now outside of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin' Hopkins may be Texas's most distinctive and influential blues export. His easy, fluid fingerpicking and witty, extemporaneous storytelling are always a delight, and his performances on LAST NIGHT BLUES are no exception. The album is spare and acoustic, with Hopkins's voice and guitar accompanied by minimal percussion and Sonny Terry's harmonica.Terry's contributions really add a lot to these tunes, threading a high, lonesome whine on the downtempo tunes and a chugging, propulsive shuffle on the faster ones. Hopkins is, of course, one of the kings of the blues boogie, but he's equally compelling on the slow blues, and he never missteps throughout this fine set. All told, this dynamite disc represents what the blues should be: stripped-down, soulful, and full of truth.

lightin' strikes tonight

inrumford — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01:37 GMT

And it is stormin' outside

My quandary, shut down or post

Well I guess you know what won out

Growin up

inrumford — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:31:21 GMT

I don't know where to begin when it comes to Who music and my life

There is certainly a sound track experience happening here

A chance encounter

inrumford — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:42:32 GMT

I walked into my sisters house and this was blasting on the sound system

"So what is it about?" I asked

She said, well, Graham said " Hieronymus Bosch was a Flemish artist from the whatever century whose most famous work (a triptych), "The Garden Of Earthly Delights," is on display at the Prado museum in Madrid. I've always been in awe of his work and not long after visiting the Prado and witnessing his paintings up close, I composed the song. I was merely attempting to capture some of the rather bestial, carnal and quite frankly out to lunch atmospheres that the painting portrays so vividly, setting my vision of immoral chaos to more modern times without being either pedantic or literal. It is a fun little number, I must say."

Good tune

Kinda Funky Captain Beefheart

inrumford — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:59:19 GMT

for Funky Friday we have Rock 'N Roll's Evil Doll with the captain

Well,Well,Well-3 holes in the ground

inrumford — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:40:43 GMT

Some time ago, I posted this particular dylan cover as performed by ben harper and the blind boys of alabama

I have come across another iteration performed by ben with Bonnie Raitt

Sing that gospel