1. Kirk Douglas or Burt Lancaster
2. Matthew Sweet or Elliott Smith
3. James Honeyman-Scott or Elliott Easton
4. “Cat Scratch Fever” or “Walk This Way”
5. “Cat Scratch Fever” or “Janie’s Got a Gun”
6. “Cat Scratch Fever” or “Free for All”
7. Rufus Thomas or Junior Walker
8. Isaac Hayes: pre- or post-1969?
9. RTH Chess or RTH Mercury?
10. “Night Moves” or “Down on Main Street”?
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
For those of you of a certain age, think of all the great songs from an earlier era in rock ‘n roll that you first heard through the hit cover versions by Linda Rondstadt. Take Betty Everett‘s “You’re No Good”. I know you, loyal Townsperson, are about as cool and knowledgeable as rock ‘n roll fans get, but if you’re of that certain age range, I doubt you’d ever heard of Betty Everett and her version of “You’re No Good” until years after you’d dug then completely denied the wonders of Linda Rondstadt’s string of ’70s hits. Excluding those of you younger than 38 years old, raise your hand if you honestly heard Everett’s excellent original before this major hit song. In fact, I’d bet that most of us didn’t know if was a cover until a good 5 years after the song’s release.
Linda’s version isn’t as cool as the original, but you’ve got to give her credit for looking good in a Plain Jane way.
Let’s pause for a second to reflect on just how cool the original version of “You’re No Good” is…and let’s give thanks to Linda for turning most of us onto this definitive version!
I dodged a bullet recently after having applied some of my tough love to the latest platter from The Raconteurs. Maybe you heard. A handful of Jack White’s biggest fans jumped me in a cubicle, took a red pencil to my draft – marking Roman at each instance of boldfaced text. “It’s my editor’s idea of a parody of a gossip column!” I pleaded, but that wouldn’t stop them. They called me names then shoved their iPods in my face, making me recite all the happening artists’ names as they scrolled down their menus. One guy even had the nerve to gun for my job! Damn college kid! I began to regret having spent so much of my Raconteurs review citing obscure bands like Boston and Foreigner. “Shoot,” I thought to myself, “is it hipster pride that makes me look beyond the obvious and informative Terry Reid reference I could have made while expressing my thoughts on ‘Rich Kid Blues’?”
Instead of harping on the difficulties of that experience, I decided to take away the one clear positive from the Phawker Mailbag: My readers care, my readers really care! A lot of responsibility comes with being a rock critic. One of my reviews could sink the career of an established, multimedia artist. One of my reviews could change the course of a college kid’s illegal downloading habits. And with that responsibility, I realized, comes a high ceiling of growth. If I get really good at this reviewing job, I might be able to work my way up to reviewing Pearl Jam‘s next concert tour. I might even land my dream job of writing a regular television or blog review column for a major metropolitan newspaper–or a glossy, weekly entertainment mag!
It’s with this new perspective, that I pledge to write a more fair-balanced and intellectual review of the latest CD from gutsy, often ironic roots rockers Drive-By Truckers, entitled Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. Recorded during and after the band’s acoustic Dirt Underneath Tour, the album is said to feature a more stripped down, country-based sound not heard since their sophomore release, Pizza Deliverance. Following twists and turns the band has been through since the release of the ambitious, breakthrough, double-album Southern Rock opera, The Southern Rock Opera–a virtual rock ‘n roll Vicksburg Campaign–it’s only right that the band would seek shelter in the values of their Muscle Shoals forefathers. Let’s have a listen!
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As mentioned by Townsman Oats…
If you know the drill already feel free to dig right into this week’s questions. If Rock Town Hall’s Dugout Chatter is new to you, the rules are simple: read the following questions – one at a time – and answer the following questions – one at a time – candidly and from your gut! There are no right or wrong answers, but follow-up questions and comments are encouraged. Let’s get a little chatter going!
Regardless of your talent – and assuming you’ve got the guts – what’s the one song you’d sing in public, if required? Dream on, if necessary.
Linda Thompson or Sandy Denny?
If you could erase one hit song by The Kinks from the public record, which song would it be?
Name a band you initially thought was cool based on the musicianship of a particular member but later realized that musician’s strengths were not enough to carry the day (most obvious example: Santana, thanks, initially, to the strength of the band’s namesake).
Sandy Denny or Emmylou Harris?
What do you most hope to get out of reading a record review?
If you primarily play a particular musical instrument (including vocals), what other instrumental role do you most covet?
Who’s the most effective artist at executing double-tracked performances (vocals, guitar, whatever)?
Fill in the blank: Songs about _________ typically annoy me.
Fill in the blank: The prime exception to the previous statement is __________.
I look forward to your responses.
So The Raconteurs are back with a second album (streaming at Phawker.com – click the title of this post to be magically transported there). Who woulda thought The Raconteurs would really be a band and not just a Jack White side project wank-off one-off? Not me, buddy boy. Not me. And while I tip my tri-corn hat to the Raconteurs for kicking it old school, turning this thing around so quickly, and releasing it without all the pomp and circumstance that usually precedes a White Stripes release, I just wish this album didn’t suck so bad. To wit:
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