Sep 272016
I was streaming some Fleetwood Mac this weekend, and taking a look at ther back catalog on Tidal — and came across this weird 1995 record Time—with Dave Mason! His song “Blow By Blow” is above.
Post-superstardom, I knew they did kind of a bad record without Lindsey Buckingham and one I actually like without Christine McVie, but replacing Stevie Nicks with Bekka Bramlett? Can you imagine in late 1995 or early 1996 going to see Fleetwood Mac and there’s no Stevie Nicks or Lindsey Buckingham?
I guess Mick Fleetwood thought he could assemble another “new” Fleetwood Mac for the mid-’90s like he did in the mid-’70s, but after listening to this, I will never complain about Mirage again!
What weirdo records have you come across lately?
I do have a weirdo record.
I have been going through discs I’ve bought over the years and not listened to. They are allocated a few shelves and I decided the situation was getting ridiculous.
Some dated as far back as 20 years (The Genius Of Dave Bartholomew). I actually have chosen what to listen to first based on my instinct as to whether it would be something I’d ever listen to again. Suffice to say the stack of “listened to once, ready to donate” is growing.
I have very little defense for having much of this. Partly, it’s more disposable income than sense. Then there were the critics’ darling discs where I saw so many great reviews that I decided to check it out to see if maybe, just maybe there has been good music since 1983 (can you say “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”?); 1983 remains pretty unassailable. Then there are the library/ cheap used finds which generally turn out to not be the bargain that $1 would suggest.
Anyway, in the course of all of this I discovered something. Only here, in the Halls of Rock, could I dare make this confession for only here could I ever expect, if not sympathy, then the recognition of a possibly understandable pathology.
Anyway, here goes: I have 16 Jim Lauderdale discs. There, I’ve said it.
I don’t really know how this happened. Most of them were relatively cheap. Most of them hadn’t/haven’t been listened to. I guess the first one I got I liked and then one thing led to another (without a lot of listeneing) but I can’t say I really recall what the first one was.
So, I’d guess this is some kind of weirdo record if not in the way you meant that phrase.
Holy Moses! 16 discs! That’s a lot of Jim Lauderdale.
Now, not to be overly inquisitive, but: who is Jim Lauderdale?
I understand inquisitive; that’s really the point – why should I have 16 albums by a guy you don’t recognize?!
He’s an Americana artist. I came to him through his association with Buddy Miller. I love Buddy Miller; he’s in my top whatever.
Lauderdale does country, pop country, bluegrass. He’s done a few albums with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and I think one with Ralph Stanley. Known more as a songwriter than performer.
I’m going on the Cayamo cruise in February. He’s one of the performers so I’ll get to see him live. Provided it doesn’t interfere with seeing Buddy or RIchard Thompson or Loudon Wainwright who are also performing that week.
Thanks for asking – I was wondering who Jim Lauderdale was, too. For some reason I was thinking 1970’s college swimming coach somewhere. Can’t imagine a guy like that would make good records.
Guess you better start listening to some of those records so you don’t freeze up and yell out, “Freebird!” by mistake.
This is my favorite Jim Lauderdale album — Pretty Close to the Truth from the mid-90s.
http://www.jimlauderdale.com/pretty-close-to-the-truth/
Posting here on a whim, though no one will see… A while back, I discovered that there was a Zombies record made in the 1990s, without Rod Argent. Apparently a legal necessity to retain the band name. So here they are, covering the Prefab Spout song, “When love breaks down.”
https://youtu.be/usvuOs7o944