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Category Archives: blues
What if the Light at the End of the Tunnel is Just the Headlamp of an Oncoming Train?
fter repeated listenings to Cream’s Born Under a Bad Sign a few years ago I went to my music room to play around on my bass. Rather than trying to copy Jack Bruce’s bass line, I played what it made … Continue reading
The Voice of the Story
he first time I watched Princess Bride I didn’t enjoy the song over the closing credits. Somewhere around the eleventh viewing I realised I was humming it through the whole movie. Mark Knopfler knows how to compose a soundtrack, eh?
Posted in Americana, blues
Tagged Mark Knopfler, William Elliott Whitmore, Willy DeVille
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2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: All Over the Place
s requested, my random opinionated rant about the 2012 inductees. If this is your first visit, I feel compelled to warn you that I write about music I like, and when I have a reason to write about music I … Continue reading
Posted in acoustic, blues, rock
Tagged Donovan, Faces, Freddie King, Glyn Johns, Small Faces, Tom Dowd
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Winwood Compilation with a Beatles’ Name?
ince I already own much of what’s on this 4-CD compilation I won’t be buying it (I’ll just get the few Winwood albums I don’t already own) but if you’d like a broad sweeping view of a rare musical wonder, … Continue reading
Blues, Polished, Yet Crunchy: Hollis Brown
t the opening guitar riff, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good crunchy blues or one of those polished pablum tunes from the radio. Turns out, Hollis Brown’s Show Love is polished and crunchy at the same time. I find myself humming the tune for hours after I’ve heard it, and the musicianship is a nice balance between expected and exceptional. It makes a real difference having a vocalist who sounds like a real person and not an escapee from a boy band.Neat use of two complementary guitars. Every time the opening riff is repeated it feels more fun. Then the song ends with an inverted version of the riff that seems to die out before it was finished; somebody didn’t feel the need to be overly serious about the whole thing (the word ‘fun’ keeps coming to mind about the whole song.) Continue reading
Les Paul; Nothing Else to Say
hese days everyone has a guitar named after them.Only one man had that guitar named after him. ’nuff said. Continue reading
Brand New from Old Lost John: Broken
ave a listen to Old Lost John’s Broken.Love love love the horn, the saw; the whole arrangement. This sounds like that time I thought I was dreaming, then I thought I woke up, but I wasn’t sure either time. Continue reading
Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
just watched the video for Bob Dylan’s wonderful new song Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ and felt compelled to warn you not to make the same mistake. Just listen to the song and don’t spoil it with twisted violent bizarre images. Dylan is often confusing, but I’ve never noticed his lyrics leaning toward gratuitous violence purely for shock effect.I’ve never understood the music video directorial mandate to create something as far removed as possible from the content and/or spirit of the song. I realize that videos aren’t just a visual representation of the song. But it seems intentionally perverse to take a song with a positive feel, both musically and lyrically (like these opening words) Continue reading
FAWM Over. We Win.
ebruary Album Writing Month is officially over for 2009. And I officially won.Which means I wrote or co-wrote at least 14 songs during the 28 days of February. (You’ll see on my FAWM profile that it lists 19; it’s actually only 18 because one is listed twice but I don’t want to lose the comments on my original post.) Continue reading
Posted in Americana, blues, country, folk, jazz, rock, rockabilly, swing
Tagged Joel D Canfield
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Like a Mattress Balances on a Bottle of Wine
have managed to go an entire year without writing about Bob Dylan. I managed to go 40 years without hearing Blonde on Blonde, other than the bits played on the radio.I’ve written about Dylan’s word play in an earlier post. The lyrics of Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat aren’t as disorienting as, for instance, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (on the same album, but ooh I love the live version on Hard Rain.) But it’s still Dylan. Not quite nonsense, but certainly not sensible. Continue reading
