Make sure you get to the 37-second mark…and keep a barf bag or bucket within arm’s reach.
Jun 302010
Mar 192010
So rock’s other big loss this week, the death of writer/DJ/indie label founder Charlie Gillett, has had me thinking about the title, if nothing else, of his classic early rock history book, The Sound of the City. The reason I stress the title is because I have a terrible memory and what I want to discuss may actually have little to do with Gillett’s book.
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Jan 292010
Elvis Costello & Bruce Springsteen together with just about the best band I could ever put together (Nils Lofgren, Steve Nieve, Roy Bittan, Davey Faragher, and Pete Thomas).
Seriously, this would be my dream band right here. (Or at least my dream back-up band.)
99% of the time this kind of thing is a train wreck, but EC and Bruce have bands that actually know their place as back-up musicians.
Having the balls to play a Sam & Dave song at The Apollo to boot!
Oct 192009
Decades after Beatles fanatics spent their hard-earned cash buying bootleg albums in search of the Great Lost Beatles Track, the band finally allowed for the release of that three-volume Anthology series. The series confirmed that, with the exception of a few well-known alternate takes, The Beatles had nothing more to give. There was not a treasure-trove of cool, unreleased original tracks.
Fans of The Kinks and The Who have been treated to some cool rarities and demos over the years. Some believe Bruce Springsteen‘s unreleased tracks are as good as his released ones.
The Rolling Stones never faced this question. Each new album since Black and Blue contains tracks that were revived from some aborted recording session in Jamaica or the Bahamas, circa 1974. A hundred years from now they will still be able to release a new album of material culled from one of those late-night jam sessions. And don’t think they won’t.
With each new reissue of the back catalogs of Elvis Costello and David Bowie, new previously unreleased tracks emerge, most of which are of better-than-current-day-release quality of either artist. The other night, however, I was thinking about one major band with excellent studio chops that seems to have nothing more to give: Continue reading »
Jun 172009
Recently Townsman E. Pluribus Gergely has begun his summertime Rock Town Hall duties, which include monitoring the films of Al Pacino; giving grief to the likes of Hrrundivbakshi, BigSteve, and yours truly; and pooh-poohing the collected works of Elvis Costello, Lou Reed (Mistrial excepted), and other high school favorites post-1983. Some of what my man Gergs will say in the coming weeks will hurt. In some cases it will be the pain of a cowardly stab in the back; in other cases, the pain you feel will be the result of his occasionally piercing insight. Wherever the pain registers for you, I encourage you to take it like a Townsperson and give it back to the man as you see fit.
To help EPG re-establish his footing in the Halls of Rock, I feel compelled to SUMMON him to comment on the following tracks from Elvis Costello’s new album, the one with some overblown title and produced by T-Bone Burnett. I have not yet heard these songs myself. Maybe these will be initial spins for you as well. Don’t put all the burden on E. Pluribus to comment, and please be candid when you share.
Elvis Costello, “Down Among the Wine and Spirits”
Elvis Costello, “Complicated Shadows”
Elvis Costello, “I Dreamed of My Old Lover”
I look forward to your comments!
Jun 072009
Exhausted?
It just occurred to me that I did not load a single track from Elvis Costello & The Attractions‘ Armed Forces onto my iPod. I love EC & The Attractions – everybody loves ’em – and Armed Forces is a strong record featuring some killer songs, but I rarely if ever feel the need to spin it. I’ve felt this way for most of the years that have followed the release of Get Happy!!, my all-time favorite album (period, not just among EC albums). I feel like I’ve got nothing to learn from Armed Forces. The arrangements lack mystery and unexplored nooks and crannies for me to stumble upon. The lyrics seem to have nothing more to reveal to me. I never found it to be a very emotional album, and what emotions I once felt for the album have long since passed from my daily routine (eg, “Party Girl”). It’s a closed book. A very good book, but closed for me.
Do you have an album or albums like I’ve described, albums you know you like by artists you definitely like yet that you have zero interest in playing?
Mar 312009
In the spirit of this morning’s All-Star Jam, here’s yet another rock ‘n roll tv ad. Mad props to Townsman Diskojoe for pointing out this old ad, which I don’t recall seeing in its time!
Do you have a favorite tv ad for a rock record, whether a single- or multi-artist collection?
