The Everly Brothers Roots
Originally released in 1968, Roots was initially a commercial flop for the Everly Brothers. Containing none of their hits and only one original piece, the album failed to widen the Everly's audience as it was intended. Time however, has been good to Roots as it is now generally considered to be one the best early examples of the Country Rock genre. A loose concept album, Roots expounds upon the idea behind 1958s Songs Our Daddy Taught Us and finds the Everly's once again covering songs by the artists who influenced them like Merle Haggard and Jimmie Rodgers. It also finds them covering songs by more contemporary artists such as Randy Newman's "Illinois" and Glen Campbell's "Less of Me." Taking it a step further, the album is also interspersed with old clips of Don and Phil as young boys conversing with their parents on their father Ike's radio program, pulled from the family's own home recordings.
The production here is understated and simple, often featuring the brothers on acoustic guitars with little accompaniment. There's a very relaxed feel to the record even on the fully arranged pieces such as their take on Jimmie Rodger's "T for Texas" (complete with a wah-wah intro and a fuzzed out guitar duel). There are no true highlights to this album and thats on purpose. The Everly's conceived Roots as an album piece and it is certainly meant to be taken that way. Every song on this record is equally strong in performance and importance to the overall picture. A more beautiful and personal record you will not find in the Everly's catalog. You'll also be hard pressed to find an album this good in the whole of the Country Rock genre.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Lost and Found: The Everly Brothers
Monday, August 4, 2008
Lost and Found : The Outsiders
The story of the forgotten album is nothing new. For whatever reason many great albums were not initially received with the acclaim they deserved, either critical or commercial. Pet Sounds for example was more or less a commercial flop, but has become legendary as one of the most auspicious and brilliant undertakings in the history of Rock n' Roll. Nick Drake's entire catalog didn't see commercial success until "Pink Moon" was used in a Volkswagen commercial. Some albums were initially successful when first released, but for whatever reason lacked the staying power necessary to last in the ever changing face of popular music. And then there are those records which simply were never recognized critically and simply stalled in record sales. Throughout the week I'll be writing about a few select albums that have lived a life time of obscurity. Today I give you: the Outsiders.
The Outsiders Happening 'Live!'
Allmusic.com said of the Outsiders, "If any two-hit, dance-oriented band from the '60s ever deserved a crack at being voted in [the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame], the Outsiders do," and that couldn't be more true. The Cleveland, Ohio quintet only released three official studio albums and had a hit with the song "Time Won't Let Me," which peaked at number five on Billboard's Top 100.
Released on Capitol Records in August of 1967, Happening 'Live!' is cleverly misleading as it is not a live album in the conventional sense (hence the quotation marks around the word "live"). For a long time it was not uncommon for record labels to release live albums that were actually just compilations of studio recordings with audience noise mixed in. With Happening 'Live!" the Outsiders took it a step further by removing any and all over dubs from the tracks, stripping them of any horns, strings, or generally anything that couldn't have been played by the five members of the band live on stage. To further the illusion, lead singer Sonny Geraci introduces all of the songs and the band as though they actually were performing in front of a hoard of screaming girls.
All of that would really just seem like little more than gimmicks were it not for the quality of material on the record. Aside from the band's two hits and a few songs from their three studio albums, Happening also includes a handful of previously unreleased material such as a fairly straight forward cover of the Beatles' "Michelle." However, the real stand out tracks here are a fantastic cover of the Temptation's "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," the stripped-to-its-roots version of "Time Won't Let Me," another original called "Girl in Love," which has a poor man's Brian Wilson feel to it, and a kind of garage-band-meets-lounge-act cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria." At the end of it all Happening 'Live!' turns out to be one of the friendlier and more easily accessible concept albums of the 1960s. On a funny note, if you look closely at the album cover, the Outsiders appear to have two bass players. I have yet to find any explanation for this, whatsoever.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Chart Watch: Radiohead
Title: OK Computer (1997)
Label: Capitol
Genre: Alternative/ Industrial
Pro-Social Content: An isolated line on "Paranoid Android" states, "God loves his children."
Objectionable Content: "Exit Music (For a Film)" finds lead singer Thom Yorke waking a girl in the middle of the night to rebel against her parents and run off with him ("We hope your rules and wisdom choke you"). Anarchy and what sounds like a man's last words prior to committing suicide inhabit "No Surprises."
Summary/Advisory: According to the band's press materials, "OK Computer is a meandering, mournful, miserable celebration of loss and the unknown which aches relentlessly." Well put. The entire disc seems like the soundtrack for a despairing hallucination—dark and bleak. Even positive thoughts on "Lucky" and "Fitter Happier" seem sarcastic the way they're moaned. Don't let youngsters log onto OK Computer.
Yes, back by popular demand, it's Chart Watch. It's really hard to know where to begin with this one. Never mind that our authors clearly missed the point of one of the most important albums of the '90s, they can't even catch an obvious reference to Shakespeare. Yes, "Exit Music (For a Film)" does, in fact, tell the story of a boy and girl who decide their young love is bigger than the will of their forbidding, feuding families. Sound familiar? That's because it's not unlike the basic plot of one Romeo & Juliet, which also just so happens to be the "film" to which the song title refers. So if Thom Yorke, in his song, is encouraging the youth of today to rebel against their parents and run away, then I guess Shakespeare is further encouraging them to commit suicide. Following that logic, did you guys know that the Brothers Grimm's telling of "Little Red Cap" (more popularly known as "Little Red Riding Hood") is riddled with seriously perverse sexual overtones? Or that even the Bible itself is full of premarital sex, adultery, sodomy, incest, and murder? Nothing is safe! Parents don't ever let your children read or listen to anything ever! Keep them locked in the basement until their 31st birthday if you must!
Also, this entry contains one of my favorite closing lines ever.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Rush on Colbert
Don't even act like you don't like Rush. I mean, it's totally understandable if you don't, but unfortunately you're wrong. Here's a no-frills-just-Rush clip of the show.
The entire episode is here. Also, there's a huge article in this month's Rolling Stone on Toronto's greatest rock band. Much love this month for the nerdiest band in Prog, apparently.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pokey LaFarge
This is Pokey LaFarge.
Pokey is from Louisville, Kentucky. Here he is again. You'll need to turn up the volume for this one.
Pokey's not a joke. He's the real deal. He's also on tour. Here, straight from his Myspace page, is his current tour schedule. Go see him.
| Off Broadway *CD Release* w/ special guests | St. Louis, Missouri | ||
| New Delhi | Eureka Springs, Arkansas | ||
| White Rock Coffee | Dallas, Texas | ||
| Hole in the Wall w/ TBA | Austin, Texas | ||
| Mia’s Lounge | Flagstaff, Arizona | ||
| Private Party | Los Angeles, California | ||
| Socha w/ Karen Celia Heil | San Francisco, California | ||
| Sophia’s w/ Jeff & Vida | Davis, California | ||
| Jambalaya’s | Arcata, California | ||
| Axe and Fiddle | Cottage Grove, Oregon | ||
| Sam Bond’s Garage w/ Kit Stovepipe | Eugene, Oregon | ||
| Pickathon | Pendarvis, Oregon | ||
| Pickathon | Pendarvis, Oregon | ||
| Pickathon | Pendarvis, Oregon | ||
| TBA | Portland, Oregon | ||
| Burt’s Tiki Lounge | Salt Lake City, Utah | ||
| Front Range BBQ | Colorado Springs, Colorado | ||
| Replay Lounge | Lawrence, Kansas | ||
| The Mill | Iowa City, Iowa | ||
| Off Broadway w/ Strawfoot & Curtis Eller | St. Louis, Missouri | ||
| Backstage Cafe | Elizabethtown, Kentucky | ||
| Family Wash | Nashville, Tennessee | ||
| Al’s Bar w/ The Swells | Lexington, Kentucky | ||
| Jug Band Jubilee @ Brown-Foreman Ampitheatre | Louisville, Kentucky | ||
| Bread and Bagel w/ Jordan Pendley | Bowling Green, Kentucky | ||
| Parrish Baker’s Pub | Oxford, Mississippi | ||
| Maple Leaf w/ Mayhem String Band | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||
| Chelsea’s w/ Mayhem String Band | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | ||
| Finnegan’s Wake | Alexandria, Louisiana | ||
| Bin 612 | Starkville, Mississippi | ||
| The V Club | Huntington, West Virginia | ||
| Acoustic Coffeehouse | Johnson City, Tennessee | ||
| Blue Plate Special WDVX Radio | Knoxville, Tennessee | ||
| Preservation Pub | Knoxville, Tennessee | ||
| JJ’s Bohemia | Chattanooga, Tennessee | ||
| Reclaim Festival | Athens, Ohio | ||
| Bread and Bagel | Bowling Green, Kentucky | ||
| Barking Spider | Cleveland, Ohio | ||
| Christians Spring Hotel w/ Special Ed and the Shortbus and Two Man Gentleman Band | Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
Monday, July 14, 2008
Radiohead - House of Cards
So if you haven't heard yet, Radiohead made a music video for "House of Cards" without the use of traditional video, film, or digital cameras. No, they used lasers. That's right, lasers. It doesn't really get more Radiohead than that, especially if you've seen any pictures from their current U.S. tour.
Here's a brief article on the subject courtesy of Pitchfork. And here's the actual video.
And here's a video on the making of that video.
And here's a page at Google explaining how you can download this technology yourself and upload your own videos to Youtube.
And just for some fun with ironic juxtapositions, here's this. Really, Axl? I mean, you can only have your heart broken so many times before you just pack up and move on.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Greg Wood to Open for Coldplay... Maybe
As this article explains, Coldplay are auditioning unknown artists to open for them on their upcoming American tour, and Greg has entered himself into the running. I realize this isn't much of a post, but I felt more people needed to see this, and besides, Greg could probably use all the help he can get.
That's his real phone number. Give him a call, even if you're not Chris Martin. Tell him I told you to do so. He'll appreciate it.
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