CD Odyssey Disc 1928: Jimi Hendrix

As of today I am on holiday! My first official act (my second if you count that rum and coke last night) will be to do one of my favourite things – write a music review.

Disc 1928 is…Are you Experienced

Artist: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover? Trippy convex mirror action. This reminds me of Thin Lizzy’s first album (reviewed back at Disc 1251) although with people in fancy clothes instead of cars.

It also reminds me of the mirror on the blind corner of my parking lot to let you know if any cars are coming before you pull out.

Good for both the art world and the real world - all hail the flexibility of the convex mirror! But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: Everyone knows the songs off this iconic record, although I didn’t buy it until it was re-released about 15 years ago in a fancy new CD package. That’s how it was in the golden age of CDs, where the wise were out buying records at garage sales for $5 and the unwise were still collecting tapes and hoping for a comeback.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Jimi Hendrix studio albums, which is – sadly – all of them. Of those three, “Are You Experienced” is the best. There are people who may dispute that, but those people are wrong.

As this is the final Jimi review for my collection, here’s a full accounting*

1. Are You Experienced: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
2. Axis: Bold as Love: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1638)
3. Electric Ladyland: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 766)

*If you go and look at these reviews, you’ll see that I stubbornly put “Axis” in third, but if it is 4 stars, and Ladyland is 3, then that just makes no sense whatsoever. The Odyssey is a fluid experience, dear reader, and the final determination of how a record stacks up is at the end of each journey, so despite the err…er…’discrepancy’, the list above is the definitive one.

Ratings: 5 stars, but only because my ranking system only goes to 5.

“Are You Experienced” is one of the greatest records ever made. It reinvents what can be done with rock and roll, fearlessly blending genres sounds, and melodic structures, all the while showcasing some of the finest performances ever recorded in a studio. This is what perfect sounds like, and it sounds good.

Where do you start with one of the most iconic records ever recorded? Well, for starters, you probably know half these songs already from hearing them in a hundred places. When one of those hits comes on (“Purple Haze”, “Hey, Joe”, “Foxey Lady”) you never think “oh, no – not this one”. You might be at a diner, you might be at a pub, or you might be watching a movie that has (wisely) grabbed one of these for the soundtrack, but wherever you are, you will not blithely move along. You will stop, take notice, and think once again, ‘wow – great song’.

We’ll get into the “deep” cuts in a second, but let’s start with these songs. “Purple Haze” launches the record (at least the North American release as well as the blended/extended CD version that I am reviewing here). That opening guitar riff is as famous as “Smoke on the Water” and a lot more interesting. Jimi could’ve just let that be the song and it would still be a classic, but nope – he switches it into second killer riff (a third if you count that two note intro tag) and then morphs into a crazy psychedelic solo.

He does all of this in two minutes and fifty seconds. In under three minutes, Hendrix reinvents rock and roll, shows off on the guitar and makes every human for fifty years after look across the table at their lunch companion and sing “Purple haze!” with their best sneer.

At the other end of the spectrum you get “Hey Joe,” where Hendrix shows off his deep literacy with the blues in all its forms. The list of “man kills his woman” blues songs is long and illustrious, and yet this is the best of them. As is the case on a few of the songs on “Are You Experienced”, “Hey Joe” fades out with the musicians still going off. Usually this is the sign of a melody that doesn’t know to resolve but with Jimi, all is forgiven. The song is too awesome to know how or where to end and besides – if you heard the whole extended riff your brain would probably explode in ecstasy. That fade out isn’t a cop out– it’s a safety feature.

As for “Foxey Lady” believe it or not, it didn’t even originally chart above 67. But when I put it in the “three big hits” section earlier you didn’t question it for a second, did you? That’s how great it is. The third top ten hit is actually “The Wind Cries Mary” which is fucking awesome, but I’m running of space here and we need to move along.

Every listen to this record brings me a new joy and new favourite song. This time I enjoyed the warm bath of Jimi’s slow jam “May This Be Love” and the discordant glory of “Manic Depression”. The structure of this song bounces high and low and skips the connective tissue in between, making it a deeply evocative depiction of the subject matter. This approach would make a lesser song unlistenable, but instead it pulls you into discomfort and makes you like it.

“Manic Depression” is also one of many songs showcasing the record’s drummer, Mitch Mitchell. Mitchell’s drumming on this song (and this record) is as great an individual performance as you will hear on any record. Blending jazz and rock and hitting beats that don’t just fill space with interesting flourishes, but rewrite ways you can keep the beat. There aren’t many musicians that can go toe to toe with Hendrix’s guitar. Mitchell not only holds his own, he’s a big part of what makes the record great.

OK, we’re almost done with all this fanboy action (for which I am unapologetic), but on a personal note, it was very cool while I was grooving through the meandering but masterful “3^rd Stone from the Sun” to hear Jimi use the expression “superior cackling hen”. This is the title of one of my favourite early nineties albums by the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. (Disc 320). Yet one more brick in the road of inspiration this record has laid down for generations of musicians that have followed.

The iconoclast in me wanted to throw shade on this record – it’s my nature. Maybe the extended 17 track version was too much, or one of the songs was over-indulgent. Sadly, there were no gaps in the “Are You Experienced” excellence.

They forgot to punctuate the title? That’s all I got.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1862: Albert King

Welcome back, dear readers. I’ve had an exciting week of discovering new music, enjoying live shows and getting tickets to future live shows. As Frank Zappa once said, “music is the best!” Since you’re here, I assume you agree.

Disc 1862 is…Born Under a Bad Sign

Artist: Albert King

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover? A collection of five ‘bad signs’. From L or R we have poison, a black cat, Friday the 13^th, the ace of spades and snake eyes.

I take issue with the inclusion of poison, which isn’t a bad sign so much as it is a warning that says “don’t drink this!” or, in different circumstances, “have your enemies drink this!”.

Also as a fan of a) cats and b) Dan Marino, I take issue with the inclusion of the cat and the number 13.

Nevertheless this makes for a pretty great record cover, regardless of how you feel about cats, numbers, poisoning of one’s rivals or even Wild Bill Hickok for that matter.

As for that last one, as the kids say – IYKYK.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Chris brought some songs from this record to a music appreciate night we attended as part of a set list featuring Donald “Duck” Dunn on guitar (who also plays on this record). I liked what I heard a lot and…here we are.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Albert King record, so it can’t stack up. It is, however, released by Stax records, so it does ‘Stax’ up. Get it? Get it? Man, I crack myself up.

Ratings: 5 stars

If you listen to as much music as I do (i.e. a lot) you have heard plenty of people wank away on an electric guitar. And there are plenty of great players out there – Buck Dharma, Mark Knopfler, Brian May, etc. At the same time, as years go by it gets harder to impress me. Then along came Albert King. Consider me impressed.

When it comes to the blues, everyone fancies themselves a first-rate axeman, and you can get some unwelcome noodling and enough excessive blue notes to make even an enthusiast blue. It is every bad bar band you ever half-listened to because it happened to be on when you ducked in for a beer, or maybe just to pee.

Not so, Albert King. Every goddamn note King plays is purposeful, expressive and powerful. His guitar sounds like an apex predator, stalking these songs, slaying the chord progression and filling the empty space between attacks with purposeful growls.

And good God man, the tone! Notes boldly arcing through the night and into your body, making your spine twist in directions you didn’t know it could, and that feel so good. This being 1967, the majority of these songs hover between two and three minutes long, the effect being you are consistently left wanting more.

Like Jimi Hendrix, Albert King played a right-handed guitar upside down which is, for lefty players like me, extra cool. I play a left handed guitar built for lefties, but then I am not remotely as cool as Albert King.

As for the songs themselves, inspired stuff all around, and focused on all those usual bluesy topics. The title track being about how sometimes you just start out unlucky – although hard to feel sorry for Albert King in the moment, as that song is revelatory.

Alongside these we have the usual tunes bragging about the singer’s prowess in the bedroom. You can get this straight up (“Crosscut Saw”), a bit on the creepy stalker side (“The Hunter”) and my personal favourite, “Personal Manager” which is…er…service oriented. Best line:

“Yeah I want to be your milkman every mornin'
Your ice cream man when the day is through”

The Blues also often feature “cheat on me and regret it” tunes, and “Born Under a Bad Sign” has one of the greatest ever in “Laundromat Blues”. In this song, our protagonist has noticed that his lady is spending a lot of extended time at the laundromat ostensibly washing “a blouse or two” and likely hooking up with someone somewhere between the wash and spin cycles. Best line of this one:

“Yeah, you better hear my warnin'
I'm gettin' madder everyday
I don't want you to get so clean, baby
You just might wash your life away”

Because what’s an old blues album without a song featuring some threat of jealous domestic violence? I would advise the narrator to employ a marriage counsellor or divorce attorney instead, but I’m pretty sure this is one of those Biggy Smalls style “you don’t hear me, though” moments and he’s gonna do something that lands him the slammer.

Dark themes or romantic, Albert King’s smooth and sexy vocals are ever-present, as is some of the greatest guitar playing ever heard by human ears. If this isn’t the greatest blues record I’ve ever heard, it is certainly in the conversation.

Best tracks: All tracks, but if you only listen to one then the title track is “must hear before you die” level stuff. That said, if you only listen to one track on this record you are, sadly, an idiot.

CD Odyssey Disc 1857: Wicked Lady

With this next review (which spans 1968-1972) the last three reviews will have dropped in on four different decades of music. Fun!

Disc 1857 is…The Axeman Cometh

Artist: Wicked Lady

Year of Release: 1968-1972

What’s up with the Cover? I’m not one for censorship, but I’m also not keen on having my account suspended, so I will not be sharing the cover of “the Axeman Cometh”. Instead, you get this generic rendition of the band’s logo.

If you were to look up the cover (n.b. not to be done at work), you will not find an axeman. Instead you will find an old-timey photo of a wicked lady wearing nothing but a hat, a belt, and some jewelry standing in what could be characterized as an ‘immodest’ pose.

On reflection, this lady is not necessarily wicked at all. For all we know she’s a devoted mother of three who models for an avant-garde jewelry company. However, she is naked so before you search her out, you’ve been warned.

How I Came To Know It: I found this recently in my local record store’s metal section. I kept passing it over, and then somewhere I was reading a metal review and it was referenced in passing, igniting my interest. Since I had some gift money I decided to give it a chance, unheard, on a whim.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Wicked Lady album so it can't stack up. Technically it is their complete works, but I can’t confirm they ever released a studio album (their internet presence is very light) and there are only eight tracks, so I’m treating this as a regular record, rather than a compilation.

Ratings: 4 stars

While I found “The Axeman Cometh” in the metal section of the record store this is not strictly heavy metal. I call what Wicked Lady gets up to “Riffnoodle.” They like a good riff, but they like to noodle from that riff even more. It’s a psychedelic hard rock situation that really gets into itself and stays there for a very long time. All songs are played in the key of Wankery.

“Whoa,” you say with trepidation, “that sounds like it’ll be pretty self-indulgent” and you’d be right. This era of hard rock is full of bands that do whatever the hell they want, for as long as they want (n.b. often this is very long) and radio play be damned. I don’t have a lot of Riffnoodle in my collection for this reason, although some will swear by it, and if you love Cream, or Blue Cheer or Sir Lord Baltimore or other bands of this vintage and style, you are going to like Wicked Lady. If that’s not your cup of tea then – much like the album’s cover – you’ve been warned.

As for me, I wanted all these 6-10 minute long wank fests to annoy me, but it never happened. That’s for a simple reason, and that is guitarist (aka ‘axeman’) Martin Weaver is so damned good. This band plays songs that sound like extended jam sessions but they are so tight, and so deep into the groove that you don’t mind the excess of it all. Wankery here is a feature, not a bug.

According to the Internet (actual websites, not just the AI summary) the wah-wah pedal was invented in 1966, and Wicked Lady are early and devoted adopters. Many of these songs feature extended wah action, as well as various other filters and effects that I know nothing about, being mainly ignorant of the inner mysteries of the guitar once it has been plugged into an amp.

Again, this wah action could get annoying very easily, but in the skilled hands of Wicked Lady it never does. Yeah, it goes on for a long time, but the solos are delicious to the ear. You can practically smell the blue haze of a hotboxed recording studio, but miraculously no one loses focus or intent for a second.

In between solos, the band jams away, the riffs being the bread that lets you get your ears around all that meaty guitar work. It’s like a Montreal smoked meat sandwich – there’s clearly too much meat stuffed in there, but you can’t deny it’s tasty. Even the bass solos (there are extended bass solos as well) are delicious.

The production is what you would expect from a band you’d never heard of – not great, and at least on the CD it felt distant. In the 2012 re-issue liner notes Weaver writes “If you can’t play Wicked Lady loud – don’t play it!” and while this is true, the production doesn’t make it easy to accomplish. Don’t despair, however. I just keep doggedly turning the stereo’s nob to the right and eventually I got there.

Once I arrived, it was like a bath of excess rock and roll majesty that didn’t teach me any valuable lessons about life, but was fun to soak in nonetheless.

Best tracks: Run the Night, The Axeman Cometh, Wicked Lady, Out of the Dark

CD Odyssey Disc 1831: Tom Jones

As I pulled into my parking spot tonight my neighbour said with surprise and delight, “is that Tom Jones you’re playing?” Why, yes it certainly is – the skyscraper that is my musical tastes has many floors, and if you pick the right one you’ll find Mr. Jones waiting to escort you to the lounge for drinks, crooning, and whatever comes after.

Disc 1831 is…The Golden Hits

Artist: Tom Jones

Year of Release: 1986, but featuring music from 1965 - 1969

What’s up with the Cover? Feast your eyes, ladies, for it is Tom Jones, decked out in fancy blazer and ruffle-cuffed shirt, Behold the Welsh sex god, here to croon his way into your hearts, driving you to such distraction you may return home from his concert in a commando state of mind.

How I Came To Know It: My mom has been downsizing of late and recently passed along her CD collection. Some of those CDs belonged to my dearly departed stepfather, and Tom Jones is one of those (Mom’s more of a Johnny Cash kind of gal).

How It Stacks Up: This is a greatest hits record, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: Usually there is no rating for compilations, but this one is half songs from other records, and half singles? What to do? Stay strong, L – no rating!

Back in 1986 CDs were new to the market most who bought them were audiophiles willing to invest in new equipment – often middle-aged folks. With limited selection available, what to market to this demographic? How about some hits from yesteryear, showcasing the versatility of the new system: play whatever you want! No searching! No complicated needle drops! If the music is familiar, well, sometimes better the devil you know…

Tom Jones is definitely the devil you know. His manly crooning showed that you could be a little rough around the edges and still romance the hell out of that microphone. That deep and profound baritone vocal, reverberating through your bones, makes everything more important. And when Jones wants to climb up into a high head voice he does it with the sure-footedness of a man ascending a polished marble staircase in Cuban heels; dangerously, recklessly, and absolutely certain he will not slip or stumble once.

The songs on this compilation are all early Tom, from his first few records and singles in the mid to late sixties. There’s an undercurrent of that sixties British folk revival in the production and delivery, but Tom transcends that and makes things more grandiose and theatrical, like a collection of James Bond theme songs (n.b. Tom did to the Bond movie song for 1966’s “Thunderball” which is regrettably not on this record).

There’s little not to like in this collection of Golden Hits, as even the schlocky stuff like “Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings” and “Without Love” transcend their own silliness, apparently through little more than Jones’ will to overcome. He’s one of the only artists I know that can both embrace schlock and then subsume it into genuine art. It’s a dangerous line to walk, but once again, there’s no slipping.

Jones is no songwriter but with his voice he doesn’t have to be. Can you imagine anyone else sing the jaunty “Not Responsible”? the tragic hyperbole of “Delilah”? Reader, you cannot. And while Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard both do strong versions of “Green Green Grass of Home” I gotta give the edge to Tom again.

Things aren’t perfect, however, even on a collection of Golden Hits. I know that “What’s New Pussycat” was a big hit for Tom, but this song was silly when it came out and it has aged poorly. Worst of all they refrain line of “you and your pussycat…nose” (later eyes, then lips) ends with a flat and discordant note that I can’t forgive. As the repeat listens I came to dread its arrival at Track 6.

Fortunately, the rest of the record was a lot of good, semi-clean fun. A love letter passed down many decades later to my stepfather, to my mother, and now to me.

Best tracks: Green Green Grass of Home, Not Responsible, It’s Not Unusual, Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings, Detroit City, Without Love, Delilah

CD Odyssey Disc 1823: Various Artists do Doo Wop

It’s been a lovely weekend full of musical encounters, planned and unplanned. Yesterday, I had an impromptu conversation about Austrian band Son of the Velvet Rat in the post office lineup, and later that evening spent time with friends sharing music.

Along the way I ran a few chores, and had the happy soundtrack of Doo Wop tunes to keep me company in the car. Here’s more about that.

Disc 1823 is…Doo Wop Vocal Group Greats

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 2005 but featuring music from 1951 to 1963

What’s up with the Cover? It’s Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers dressed up and ready to doo wop you in your earholes. Don’t worry – it feels good.

How I Came To Know It: There’s a section on my local record store (Ditch Records) where they have a whole pile of box sets from the golden age of the CD, when this was a thing people bought. Even though I’ve been buying CDs faithfully since the late eighties, I never got caught up in the box set hype, preferring to buy studio albums most of the time. Also box sets are awkwardly shaped and hard to file.

However, one day I was in the cramped corner of the store housing the box sets (the tyranny of vinyl requiring the majority of the space these days) when my eyes alighted on this treasure. Doo Wop doesn’t have a bunch of studio records (back in the day pop music was mostly singles) so this was a great way to get a whole bunch of songs from a genre I love but have very little of.

How It Stacks Up: This isn’t an album, it’s a compilation, and so can’t stack up.

Ratings: compilations also don’t get ratings, since they’re not true albums. Rules!

Three discs and 60 tunes is a lot of DooWop, but at no point over the past five days did I ever feel that volume as a burden. If there is a style of music that lifts your spirits more than Doo Wop, I don’t know what it is. This stuff makes you feel good. It is the summer sun and holidays of musical genres.

If you aren’t familiar with Doo Wop it was a style of American music in the fifties and early sixties that featured multi-part harmonies, nonsense words often sung as musical accompaniment in place of instruments, and chord progressions that traipse along in a way that is both predictable and uplifting (lots of triumphant fifths).

This is early pop music at its best, and like a lot of good pop music you can guess what’s going to come next in a tune and then feel delicious joy in being right. On repeat listens, you can sing along and frankly, it is hard not to. When Barry Mann sings “who put the bomp in the bomp, be bomp be bebomp” if you don’t immediate respond with “who put the dip in the dip de dip de dip” then there is something wrong with you.

In this collection we have a wide range of what Doo Wop represents, although don’t expect a wide range of topics. It is mostly romantic warbles about how much you love your gal (or your fella), with a few featuring unrequited love. Even those are pretty gentle stuff. No murder ballads or self-harm here, beyond maybe some impassioned sobbing into one’s pillow.

Some of these songs are deep down in my marrow from early childhood experiences, likely appearing on AM radio in my family car growing up (a sky blue 1961 Rambler). Tunes like Danny & the Juniors’ “At the Hop”, the Platters’ “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, the Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and the Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” were instantly recognizable.

For all that familiarity, it was a joy to discover a host of other songs for the first time. I felt like I was getting a lucky peak into a simpler time – an idealized version of the fifties and sixties. The real version of those decades was a lot more complex, but listening to Doo Wop puts you in a dreamlike alternate universe where all things are rosier. A Pleasantville where the sun always shines, and milk never sours.

And while this music is simple fun, it also has had a lasting impact on music for generations to follow. Many of your favourite heavy bands of the seventies and eighties grew up on Doo Wop, and many bands twenty years later raided these records out of their parents’ or grandparents' record collection. I have a lovely version of Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma covering “Come Softly To Me”. Blind Guardian covers “Barbara Ann” in my last review. Even when bands aren’t always wearing it on their sleeves, you can be sure its working its happy magic under the surface.

Be warned that these songs have a heavy Pollyanna vibe. Doo Wop doesn’t veer into schmaltz so much as it is steeped in it. Art shouldn’t always be this easy and free, but in a complex modern world, it was nice to spend a few days in a stylized time where love is grand, and everyone has a swing in their step, and a song in their heart. Dip da dip da dip, indeed!

Best tracks: Come Back My Love, Out of Sight Out of Mind, Twilight Time, I Met Him on Sunday, Sixty-Minute Man, For Sentimental Reasons, I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Come Softly To Me, Little Darlin’, Don’t You Just Know It, Little Bitty Pretty One, Once Upon a Time

CD Odyssey Disc 1797: The Rolling Stones

The old question of “Beatles or the Rolling Stones” never held much water for me, and I typically reply with a flippant (but wholly accurate) quip of “Black Sabbath.”

However, it is also true that my love for the Rolling Stones has been a slow but steady burner over the years, and it all started with this little compilation record.

Disc 1797 is…Hot Rocks 1964-1971

Artist: The Rolling Stones

Year of Release: 1971

What’s up with the Cover? Long-time readers of my blog will know of my fascination for the Giant Head Cover, where an artist chooses as their cover…their Giant Head.

Here the Rolling Stones have come up with a clever way to make the album cover not one but five Giant Heads each more Giant than the last.

How I Came To Know It: When I was a teenager there was a thing called Columbia House where you ordered 11 cassette tapes for 11 cents. After that, you had to spend a year picking an album a month off a little folded pamphlet they’d mail you, and if you didn’t pick fast enough, they sent you something random (and subsequently billed you).

For a music-lovin’ kid living 20 miles north of what was already an isolated town with limited record stores, this was a pretty great deal, so I did it for a while. When I ran out of albums I wanted (this happens fairly quickly in the Columbia House experience) I cancelled my subscription.

In any event, “Hot Rocks” was one of my early choices, and my first meaningful exposure to the Rolling Stones outside of the radio. I liked it plenty, but when I converted from tapes to CDs I never replaced this one, instead – armed with increased purchasing power – I collected my favourite studio albums instead. To see what those are, check out my final studio album review, which includes the list.

Eventually, I realized that while that covered the majority of my love for the Rolling Stones, there were a bunch of earlier singles on Hot Rocks that I was missing, some of which weren’t even on a studio album. I succumbed and bought this album, mostly for Disc 1 (Record One for you vinyl types).

How It Stacks Up: Compilation albums do not get stacked on A Creative Maelstrom, because they are not real records. They are convenient ways to get a bunch of songs if you are too lazy or disinterested in the band’s catalogue. This is an entirely legitimate decision to make, as some bands may only rate a “best of” level in your preference, but that don’t make compilations a proper record, so no stacking!

Ratings: Compilations don’t get rated either. They do get talked about of course – why the hell would you be here, otherwise - and they are part of the CD Odyssey where there is no skipping allowed!

The Stones love their compilation albums. They have almost as many compilation albums (28) as they do studio albums (31), and “Hot Rocks” is arguably the most successful of them all. Whether someone owns 30 albums or 3,000 there is a good chance “Hot Rocks” is going to be on the shelf, nestled somewhere between “Jagged Little Pill” and the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever”.

Despite my earlier rants about compilations, there is no shame in this. This record is chock full of awesome. My CD copy is DSD remastered and while I’m not a super informed tech wizard when it comes to audiophilia, I think it sounds pretty nifty.

Because Disc Two is mostly loaded with songs I’ve commented on previously, I’m going to stick with Disc One. I listed to both, in keeping with Rule #3 (aka “A Full Listen, Monkey!) so my honour is nevertheless preserved.

Disc One is the earlier side of the Rolling Stones. I find the Stones’ penchant for blues covers competent but uninteresting for the most part, but fortunately the anthologists responsible for “Hot Rocks” picked what I would call “all the other good stuff”.

The fast-moving rock and roll jangle songs are OK, but I am more often drawn to the quieter tracks, which showcase the brilliance of Jagger and Richards as songwriters. “Play With Fire” and “Ruby Tuesday” come to mind as understated gems that rightfully remain famous decades later.

Some of the songs are “of their time”. Like horror movies, rock and roll is a genre that should lean a little into discomfort if its being done right. “Mother’s Little Helper” digs into the sixties phenomenon of Valium in a cheeky manner that makes you smirk and sing along to the refrain and then feel bad about yourself. Doubling down on this “catchy but not OK” action is “Under My Thumb” which is as controversial and troubling a song now as it ever was. In this case a bro bragging about what appears to be a mix of gaslighting and emotional abuse. But then why do these songs have to have melodies that are so damned catchy?

Hey, that’s between you and your conscience.

If you prefer to not be challenged so much, then just sink into the pure rock and roll of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which has been one of the all time great driving songs long before Arnold Schwarzenegger has his masterful aristeia in a gravel pit in 1986’s “Raw Deal.” I can confirm it remains great for driving to this day (no gunfight required).

Most of my Rolling Stones love is for the era featuring guitarist Mick Taylor and “Hot Rocks” overlaps about half of that “golden era” of the Stones. However, that’s the half I said earlier I’m not going to focus on today. “Hot Rocks” reminds me that there is plenty of brilliance before Taylor ever came along, and what a unique style of music these guys were pumping out back in the mid to late sixties.

Best tracks: (Disc One only): Play With Fire, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Mother’s Little Helper, Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday

CD Odyssey Disc 1714: The Chambers Brothers

For a short work week it felt like a long one, but I’ve made it to Saturday, and ready for another music review. Are you also ready for another music review? Well if so, please read on!

Disc 1714 is…The Time Has Come

Artist: The Chambers Brothers

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover? Some sort of nature shot. The tree on the right looks to have been previously struck by lightning. To the left we have a bloom of calla lilies.

In the middle the Chambers Brothers, sporting a wide assortment of striped pants. These are some great clothes but not ideal for whatever amount of hiking takes you to this woodland location. I hope they at least wore sensible shoes. Actually, who am I kidding? I’ve never had much time for sensible shoes. I hope they’re wearing shoes as dope as their pants.

How I Came To Know It: You know that Fatboy Slim song, “Weapon of Choice”? The one with the dope bassline, and the video with Christopher Walken dancing?

I loved that bassline and went on a journey to find out where Mr. Slim had sampled it from. Turns out, it was from the Chambers Brothers song “All Strung Out Over You”. That, plus knowing a few other tracks on the album and I was inclined to a deeper dive. And here we are.

How It Stacks Up: The Chambers Brothers released six studio albums, but this is my only one, and so it can’t stack up.

Rating: 4 stars

Half of the songs on the Chambers Brothers debut “The Time Has Come” are covers of other people’s tunes, but it is easy to forget that when you are immersed in the record’s magic. These lads put their own twist on every song, whether it is an original or a timeless classic.

The first song – and the record’s best – is one of the originals. As I noted earlier, “All Strung Out Over You” has a bassline that is so Goddamned groovy it carries the load for two totally different songs. The Chambers Brothers original is offset with hand claps, and some first-rate soul singing with the boys adlibbing off one another in a way that makes you wish it would never end.

“All Strung Out Over You” is also our first taste of the interesting mix of styles this record explores. The Chambers Brothers are one third gospel, one third soul and one third flower power. All that stuff was front and centre in 1967 but blending it all into a single sound is what makes this record stand out amongst its contemporaries.

After the original, we get into a cover tune. “People Get Ready” is a remake of the Impressions’ devotional released two years’ prior. The Chambers Brothers version is chunkier and more grounded (hard to ground the Impressions with the airy vocals of Curtis Mayfield). The remake also feels decidedly more…hippy. You can imagine hearing the original in church, but the Chambers Brothers version is more at home at a sit-down campus protest.

A similar treatment is later applied to Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour”. Is it as good as Pickett’s original? Reader, it is not, but is still awesome and puts a fresh twist on the song and lets the Brothers briefly call it their own.

Which brings us back to the album’s other original masterpiece, “Time Has Come Today”. With its signature guitar bit, and a sound that will make your soul be psychadelized” this is one of the great “restless youth” tunes of a generation.

And yet the Chambers Brothers manage to wreck it with a lot of excess noodling. The first three and a half minutes, pure gold. The next eight (yes, the song is 11 minutes long) a mix of distortion fueled stoner guitar and unfocused drumming. Yuck. I held hope for the fact that my CD copy had a bonus track of the song that was only 3:52 and called “radio edit”. Surely this would be the song minus the noodle!

Reader, it was not. It was the radio promo for the album, so you get the song in snippets with some sixties dude talking over it to exhort you to buy the album, “now available on Columbia records.” Barf.

Fortunately I have a five-minute version on the Crooklyn soundtrack, so I’m set. But since that version doesn’t feature on this record, it can’t help the ranking. Sorry - not sorry, Chambers Brothers.

Best tracks: All Strung Out Over You, People Get Ready, I Can’t Stand It, Romeo and Juliet, In the Midnight Hour, 1/3 of Time Has Come Today (up to the moment they start noodling incessantly)

CD Odyssey Disc 1712: Bob Dylan

Back from the stressful experience of taking the cat to the vet for a check up. Stressful for him and me both but over now, and ready to write a review. The last album in the Bob Dylan collection – at least for now. It is…

Disc 1712 is…The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Artist: Bob Dylan

Year of Release: 1963

What’s up with the Cover? Bob and a lady (artist and then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo) walkin’ in the snow. As you can see from the way Bob is hunched over, his jacket is not sufficient for a New York winter. Layers, Bob, layers!

How I Came To Know It: I don’t recall. I’ve always liked Bob Dylan and I would’ve bought this remastered copy of the record on CD back in 2003 when it was released.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Bob Dylan albums, which is around half of them. Of those 19, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” comes in at #2. Yes, second best in a list of amazing records. This is the last of my Bob Dylan’s awaiting review, so here’s the full accounting:

1. Blood on the Tracks: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 233)
2. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Highway 61 Revisited: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 367)
4. The Times They Are A-Changin’: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 399)
5. Oh Mercy: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 843)
6. Blonde on Blonde: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 306)
7. Another Side of Bob Dylan: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 414)
8. Infidels: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 908)
9. Slow Train Coming: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1480)
10. Bringing it All Back Home: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 159)
11. Time Out of Mind: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 334)
12. Desire: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1495)
13. Nashville Skyline: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1521)
14. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 681)
15. Self-Titled: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 653)
16. John Wesley Harding: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 650)
17. Planet Waves: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 69)
18. Together Through Life: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 404)
19. Tempest: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 793)

Wow – six 5-star reviews, but this is Bob Dylan we’re talking about, people. There’s Bob, and there’s everyone else.

Rating: 5 stars

In 1962 Bob Dylan released his first record. It was a lovely collection of old blues and folk favourites. Solid, but hardly revolutionary. One year later the artist that would change music forever with a run of six iconic albums that to this day are some of the greatest collections of songs ever written or recorded. That run starts with “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”.

There isn’t much to be said about this record that hasn’t been said before. The Wikipedia page alone is practically a book (I did not read it, because I prefer to confront the art directly).

In the case of Bob Dylan it is the art that confronts you, with difficult ideas and hard questions, structured into thoughtful lyrics that will put a quiver in your bones. The record starts with “Blowin’ In the Wind” a song that speaks to a better future simply through a recurring expression of uncertainty. Bob doesn’t always have all the answers, but he often has the right questions to set you on a journey to get there.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” and its sister in protest philosophy, “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” doesn’t lead you to a single place, but to a constellation of ideas. On both, Dylan treats us to some brilliant imagery. Consider these lines from “Hard Rain”

“I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard”

That’s just plumb perfect.

For all of Dylan’s serious messages, “Freewheelin’” also uses humour to make its points. My favourite on the record is “Talkin World War III Blues” where the protagonist dreams World War Three happens, and he staggers through a post-holocaust world. Turns out, other people are having the same dream, each seeing themselves as the sole survivor. Bob’s humorous, but on-point message at the end is simple, “You can be in my dream, if I can be in yours”. Current world, or post-apocalyptic horror-scape, one thing is certain. We’re all in this together. Dylan turns that reality into an invitation to understanding.

The song will make you laugh, but you’ll also nod and appreciate the message of sharing and mutual love for humanity that cuts a consistent line through Dylan’s music. Even when he’s angry (none more so than on the anti-war song “Masters of War”)  his anger comes from a place of optimism, and the desire to make the world a better place.

Throughout its perfect 50 minutes of music, “Freewheelin’” takes us through personal heartbreak, societal ills, efforts to connect with one another and to a world that can sometimes feel vast and emotionally distant. Dylan consistently connects us through those wild and empty spaces of the heart and mind. Listening to this record will make you pine for a better world, and at the same time show you that you’re already living in it, if you’ll just make it that way.

Best tracks: all tracks 

CD Odyssey Disc 1664: The Band

I’m pretty damned tired after a long day of work and would like nothing more than to sit catatonic on the couch and not write this review. But if I did that, I would be stuck with this record for another day, and fatigue be damned, for that I cannot abide.

Disc 1664 is…Music from Big Pink

Artist: The Band

Year of Release: 1968

What’s up with the Cover?  Here’s an idea – the next time you do an album named after the iconic house you recorded the album in, maybe just put a picture of the house on the cover?

This looks like The Band went back in time to when they were all toddlers and let them paint their future album cover.

Just kidding. This childlike monstrosity was actually painted by Bob Dylan. I wish I was kidding about that as well but alas, Bob really was responsible.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve known an iconic song off this album for years, and its reputation preceded it. Then I watched a solid documentary on the Band and in a moment of weakness bought this record and one other.

How It Stacks Up: I have two albums by The Band (but not for long). Of the two, “Music from Big Pink” comes in at #2. Both are leaving my collection shortly after I click “post”.

Rating: 2 stars and I’m being charitable

“Music from Big Pink” is a record that warbles its way between self-indulgent moaning and unfocused hippy bullshit. I don’t know how I was once far enough under the spell of The Band to buy one of their records, let alone two, but consider me cured.

Yeah, yeah. This is one of the iconic records of the late sixties, and when I watched the 2019 documentary “Once Were Brothers” about the Band I was temporarily swayed by its very memorable hit, and the reputation of the group’s musicianship.

That hit is “The Weight” and I still love this song. At one time I could even play it on guitar. The blending of the various vocals (mostly Levon Helm and Rick Danko) is sublime and despite this song having a hippy vibe I would come to hate on the rest of this record, it feels free and easy in the best way possible. You’ll feel a bit unfocused and lazy, but you’ll like the experience. This is a song for hitchhiking across the USA in a fringed leather jacket and an ironic cowboy hat. Maybe sandals as well, or maybe bare feet. Anyway, the song is great fun, both to play and to listen to.

Also passable is the cover of “Long Black Veil” but it isn’t anything special Danko does with the vocals (if anything it plods a little). It’s just that the song is so unassailably brilliant. But if you want to listen to it and only have room for one version, go with the Johnny Cash. This one is just…OK.

Not OK is the rest of this record, which sounds like what it is – a bunch of talented musicians getting high on their own supply after being cooped up in a house (apparently a pink one) for too many consecutive days. Yeah, they are talented, and they have a sneaky way to sound sloppy with each other while artfully playing around with the timing. That’s clever enough, but just because I could recite a poem in Morse code by turning the lights on and off wouldn’t make it fun for whoever was in the room.

In this case, I was the person in the room, subjected to each member of the band nodding sagaciously to whatever groove their compatriots were putting down, before dropping a riff or a beat or a run on the organ as the mood strikes them. Do they come in late? No. Early? No. They are all right in time, but it is still manages to end up a hot mess. Look at the Band play, ladies and gentlemen! Revel in their innovation! Just don’t expect to enjoy yourself.

There are so many frustrating masturbatory moments on the record, although I think the organ solo on “Chest Fever” is the worst of all. This song even has a passable hook, but the Band aren’t content to explore that. They need to sail off into some self-referential echo chamber. I can’t tell if they are deliberately drinking their own bathwater, or they are just so deep into the groove that they are creating this stuff accidentally through inadvertent and mis-applied genius. I think it’s the latter.

At least four of the Band take on lead vocals at some time or other, and I was amazed how they all annoyed me in unique and innovative ways. There are high pitched wails, and mid-range warbles and various call-and-answer moments, none of which (except on the aforementioned “The Weight”) gave me any joy.

I recognize that in having this reaction I am offside with the vast majority of music critics, music listeners and the very history of modern music itself. So be it. I can’t pretend to like this just because it is supposed to be good.

Not only am I getting rid of this record, I’m getting rid of their self-titled follow-up as well. It is better, but since I got these records three years ago I’ve never put either on, and now I realize I never will. Instead I’ll pass them both along to someone who likes it a lot better than I did. They won’t be hard to find.

Best tracks: The Weight, Long Black Veil

CD Odyssey Disc 1638: Jimi Hendrix

Upon arriving at home today there was a CD in the mail! While my favourite way to buy albums is from my local record store (support local business!) there is also something fun about ordering things that arrive at random times days or weeks later. A little delayed gratification of the musical variety.

Today’s arrival was the new album from the Brother Brothers. Last week two Rick James and a Pat Benatar arrived (I was feeling old school). Some of these old albums can be hard to get on CD, and often the way they become available is through Japanese re-issues. For whatever reason Japan continues to embrace the CD. Yay, Japan!

Disc 1638 is…Axis: Bold as Love

Artist: Jimi Hendrix

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover?  My edition of “Axis” Bold as Love” had two covers. One was a Giant Head cover, with Jimi looking all mysterious and artful. The other side of the booklet was the original art, which features a bunch of Indian religious iconography. According to Wikipedia (which as we know is never wrong) Jimi was disappointed in the Indian-inspired art, and so out of respect for his memory, I’ve opted for the Giant Head version.

If you want to see the original (warning – as noted above, this version takes liberties with Hindu religious iconography, so only look with that understanding), you can see it here

How I Came To Know It: Sheila doesn’t buy many albums, but many years ago she did a deep dive into Jimi Hendrix, buying all three of his classic albums. I’m glad she did!

How It Stacks Up: As just noted, we have all three of Jimi Hendrix’s studio albums. My friend Randall insists that “Axis: Bold as Love” is the best of these. With apologies to Randall, I rank it…third. Hopefully the fact that I still liked it a lot will salve any resulting offence.

Rating: 4 stars

There were many times listening to “Axis: Bold as Love” where I felt singularly unqualified to write about it. There is just too much going on here that I don’t fully understand. My musical vocabulary falls short. In summary this record is a panoply of musical styles and influences that leaves no stone unturned.

In lesser hands this “do whatever” attitude would have created a hot mess, but Jimi’s brilliance steers all the craziness safely home. His ecstatic love of music manages to fuse high art with the power of rock, then liberally sprinkling the resulting concoction with groove-juice. The result is a tossed salad of musical inspiration, heavily dressed.

It would be easy to focus on Hendrix’s mastery of the guitar. “Spanish Castle Magic” has reverb crunch and a perfect riff (and later an exquisite solo) and “Wait Until Tomorrow” has a light funky groove that shows Jimi can take any style and make it to his own.

Later Jimi will work a sixties hippy vibe on tunes like “You Got Me Floatin’” where he channels early Kinks and the Who and then brushes his guitar mastery all over the tune. Hendrix’s compositions are like an Impressionist painting of what rock and roll sounds like. It isn’t any single distinct image, or even collection of images, but the whole pastiche leaves you with something greater than the sum of its parts.

The record also features one of my favourite Hendrix tunes, “Castles Made of Sand”. If there is a better song about how the random universe can sometimes suck, I can’t think of it. This tune is a bummer about how things don’t always work out and where everything emphatically does not happen for a reason. That’s OK though. The song may make you confront an uncaring universe, but never was that meaninglessness groovier.

The album is not perfect, mostly because as brilliant as Jimi is, sometimes he’s too clever for his own good. The opening skit “EXP” is a goofy exploration of “alien appears on a radio station”. Ten years later the Carpenters would make this idea work (kind-of) on their cover of “Calling Occupants” but Hendrix’s “EXP” is before its time in a not-good way.

Also, some of the songs descend into a noodle so overcooked that even Jimi can’t get it to stick to the wall. Case in point is the overrated “If 6 was 9”. The first half of this song is all kinds of awesome, and vintage Jimi. The second half is a Doors-worthy journey into self wankery, culminating in some sort of flute/whistle that sounds like someone throttling a songbird. Proof that even the great Jimi Hendrix can overdo it.

However, that is a very small moment in what is overall a very great record by someone who helped change rock and roll for the better. Thanks for all the awesome stuff, Jimi. This record is bold as love, and I’d have it no other way.

Best tracks: Spanish Castle Magic, Wait Until Tomorrow, Castles Made of Sand, One Rainy Wish, Little Miss Lover

CD Odyssey Discs 1599 and 1600: Flying Burrito Brothers

It has taken a while, but here we are, 1,600 reviews in and nowhere near the end. I once had all these ideas for articles when the Odyssey completed. Like “best albums of 1982” or “best Giant Head album covers”. Now I realize as long as I keep buying music faster than I can review it, the journey never ends. And that’s OK with me.

On that note – here is a two-for-one special! This happens when (according to Creative Maelstrom common law) it is a double album set on a single CD. When there are two albums in one jewel case, but separate CDs, I pick one randomly and wait to roll the next.

Disc 1599 is…. The Gilded Palace of Sin
Disc 1600 is…Burrito Deluxe

Artist: The Flying Burrito Brothers

Year of Release: 1969 (Gilded Palace of Sin) and 1970 (Burrito Deluxe)

What’s up with the Cover?  It’s a mashup of the two album covers. The boys standing around in those honky tonk suits are original to the Gilded Palace of Sin, but we’re missing the wooden shack with the two fetching ladies from the original cover.

In its place we have the sequined burrito from the “Burrito Deluxe” album cover. I love a good burrito as much as the next guy (and just had tacos for lunch), but I’d have preferred the ladies. This is what happens when you cut corners and get two albums in one, though.

How I Came To Know It: I think about 8-10 years ago my friend Brennan put me onto the fact that before Gram Parsons was Gram Parsons, he was in a band called the Flying Burrito Brothers. I checked it out on his advice and was immediately hooked. Shortly thereafter I found this “two in one” opportunity and pounced.

How It Stacks Up: If just compared against each other, “The Gilded Palace of Sin” wins the war of the burrito. It is easily the better record of the two. Against all of Gram Parson’s body of work, “Gilded Palace comes in third, and Burrito Deluxe is last. And since Gram jumped around through so many bands, here’s the full accounting from that perspective:

1. Grievous Angel (as Gram Parsons): 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 1487)
2. GP (as Gram Parsons): 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 1486)
3. The Gilded Palace of Sin: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
4. Sweethearts of the Rodeo (with the Byrds): 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1021)
5. Safe at Home (as International Submarine Band): 3 stars (also Disc 1021)
6. Burrito Deluxe: 3 stars (reviewed right here also)

 Ratings: Gilded Palace of Sin: 5 stars; Burrito Deluxe: 3 stars

Disc 1599: The Gilded Palace of Sin:

It’s not often you listen to a record and witness the birth of a genre, but that’s how “The Gilded Palace of Sin” feels. Fresh from his exit from the Byrds, Gram Parsons took fellow former bird Chris Hillman and further pushes the Bakersfield Sound deeper into the backwoods of Americana (a term that didn’t even exist yet). Down that road you find the music equivalent of a dilapidated shack full of pot-smoking hippies playing folk music. Really fucking great folk music.

These songs have a lighthearted mid-tempo beat to them that belies their seriousness. The band is having a good time, for sure, but they are also crafting songs that are timeless and emotionally evocative. Gram Parsons may not have gotten a ton of radio play but his work with Chris Hillman and the rest of the band is seminal stuff in the history of country/folk crossover, which decades later still influences what today we is often called indie folk.

At first you might find these songs a bit tinny, but once your ear tunes into the jangle, which is simultaneously heart-worn and playful, you start to appreciate all that light and air. It is sneaky complicated with simple melodies with a hillbilly guitar and touches of piano that are almost ragtime. Every now and then a mandolin makes an appearance. It’s that meeting of the minds in a jam gumbo that should be a mess, but instead ends up as a celebration.

There are so many good songs on this record, that is it hard to single any out, but “Sin City” is about as good as it gets. The pedal steel feels like a hangover, and the slow mosey of the song is weary as hell, as the singer bemoans the wages of sin, presumably in Las Vegas but that could be the seedy underbelly of any American city.

The combination of “Do Right Woman” and “Dark End of the Street” book end an exploration of faithfulness. The former being an admonishment that if you want your partner to be true, you have to be a stand-up guy yourself. The latter is an exploration of the temptation and shame of infidelity. Both songs are masterclasses in songwriting by Chips Moman and Dan Penn who aren’t in the band, but penned tunes for many artists.

The rest of the record is principally written by Parsons and Hillman, with equally fantastic results. “My Uncle” protests the Vietnam draft and celebrates those who dodged it. Then – and this is weird – side two features songs titled “Hot Burrito #1” and “Hot Burrito #2”. Both are great, but both appear on this record and not “Burrito Deluxe” which has exactly zero burrito songs. I refer to this phenomenon as “hiding the burrito”.

Neither Burrito #1 nor #2 are actually about burritos, which I found annoying, but I forgave it because both songs are so fucking fantastic. The first, with its slow and accusatory dirge (the record explores a lot of bad relationships) and the second hits an up-tempo version of the same theme, with the best ever use of “Jesus Christ!” in a song’s refrain that I’ve ever heard. I imagine even the Lord would forgive his name being taken in vain in such an artful way.

The only weak spot on the record is the final track, “Hippy Boy”, which is a rambling talking bit over a bluesy tune. It features our titular hippy imparting some homespun (or possibly acid-induced) wisdom about the wages of sin. I think. It felt both preachy and aimless at the same time. However, despite this one misstep, the record is so good and so important to music, the real sin would be denying it a well-earned 5 stars.

Best tracks: all tracks except “Hippie Boy”

Disc 1600: Burrito Deluxe

The biggest challenge “Burrito Deluxe” experiences (outside of the dearth of burritos) is that it follows “The Gilded Palace of Sin”. As such the comparisons are inevitable, and “Burrito Deluxe” is left seriously lacking.

All of the qualities of sound and production I mention for the earlier record are all present here, but the songs are just not at the same consistent level. Instead, this record is that same aforementioned shack full of hippies that early in the evening were jamming out classics, but now are a bit too high and starting to spiral into self-indulgence.

“If You Gotta Go” is a solid cover of the Bob Dylan tune, and I like the way the guitar vibrates away throughout. The song features the dubious argument of “if you’ve got to go, go now/or else you gotta stay all night.” Er…there are other options, Burrito Brothers, and most of them are a lot less douche-y.

“Farther Along” is also awesome, although it is a timeless traditional tune, so credit to the Flying Burrito Brothers only in as much as they do a solid rendition. I’m a bit of a sucker for songs like “Farther Along” that always feels like it should be sung in some southern church during the Great Depression. This one is akin to “Keep on the Sunny Side” except it is a bit slower and doesn’t suck.

Yeah, I just called out “Keep on the Sunny Side”. What kind of monster am I? Who would not want to keep on the sunny side? Hey – I like the sunny side as much as the next guy, but the song is an anachronistic abomination that just won’t die.

But I digress…

Much better is the Burrito Brothers’ penned, “Older Guys” which is a bit of a goofy tune about what I think are the older shack dwelling hippies that have figured out how to do nothing in style. Listening to these songs I start to wonder just who pays the rent at these places, and how much of it is covered through bottle returns.

“God’s Own Singer” is also solid and written by Bernie Leadon who had just joined the band and gets a George Harrison helping of writing opportunity (i.e. 2-3 songs only).

The record ends with a great rendition of the Stones’ “Wild Horses,” although a lot of that can be ascribed to what a great song that is. If you play it straight it is hard to go wrong with a 5-star song like that, and the Burrito Brothers wisely stay in their lane and countrify the arrangement only, keeping the tune’s brilliance intact.

“Burrito Deluxe” is solid, but in the end I could only give it three burritos out of five, which is three more than the record features. I know I’m harping on this lack of burritos situation but seriously, it’s weird.

Best tracks:  If You Gotta Go, Farther Along, Older Guys, God’s Own Singer, Wild Horses

CD Odyssey Disc 1577: Linda Ronstadt

Hard news yesterday, with the report that Olivia Newton-John had died at the age of just 73. Rest easy, Olivia and know that wherever you are…a million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star.

Disc 1577 is…. Hand Sown…Home Grown

Artist: Linda Ronstadt

Year of Release: 1969

What’s up with the Cover?  Who is this mysterious forest angel flowing toward me, with the morning light cascading behind her?

Fear not my friends, it is Linda Ronstadt. And if she is going to whisk your soul away, you’ll at least get a pretty song out of the experience. Perhaps the whippoorwills will sing backup…

How I Came To Know It: I’ve known Linda Ronstadt since I was a kid, but never knew this particular record until about ten years ago when I was digging through her discography. It was hard to find on CD back then, but not only did I find a copy earlier this year, I also found a “3 in 1” CD with her first three records on it. All the same great music, but less space on the shelves.

How It Stacks Up: I now have five Linda Ronstadt albums (when I last reviewed one I only had two, but I’ve been busy). All those records are from the early part of her career, and competition in that golden era is tough. “Hand Sown…Home Grown is great, but I can’t rank it higher than #4.

Ratings: 4 stars

On “Hand Sown…Home Grown”, Linda Ronstadt opts for a wholesome vibe that lands somewhere between flower power and Tammy Wynette. It is sweet and simple, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it is undercooked; Ronstadt’s voice will roast you alive with its power.

Linda Ronstadt would go on to try on a lot of styles in her career, but the simplicity of her first record is a treat. It’s unadorned, yes, but it has a natural tone and vibrancy that makes it the Helen of Troy of sound. This voice would launch a thousand ships and burn the topless towers of Ilium. So, you know, a classic.

Ronstadt has the same power as Johnny Cash; once she covers one of your songs that song belongs to her. It is fitting then that the opening tune is a Dylan song, “Baby You’ve Been on My Mind” which Cash himself had covered four years earlier on “Orange Blossom Special.” Cash took it from Dylan, but Ronstadt just as deftly wrests it from Cash’s grip. Here she does something few singers can do, belting at full throttle and yet suffusing every phrase with passion and import.

Another standout is her cover of Waylon Jennings’ “The Only Mama That’ll Walk the Line” as she hits with all the considerable sass and jump that this barroom two-step classic deserves. This song also exemplifies some solid musicianship from the backing band. While “Hand Sown…Home Grown” doesn’t have any memorable hits, at least the studio surrounded Ronstadt with some great players.

Sassy tunes like “Break My Mind” are simultaneously filled with heartache and triumph, both dialed up to 11. It had me thinking of modern acts like Jaime Wyatt, and how much this style of country music owes to the sound of early masters like Linda Ronstadt.

Even songs where the subject feels a bit stilted worked for me. For example, “We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock and Roll)” is pure preachin’ action. While I wanted to be offended at this offhanded attack on the glory of rock and roll, instead I found myself swaying to the siren’s call of the pulpit, at least if the preacher can sing like this. It helped knowing that on future records Ronstadt would come around to embrace rock and roll after all.

I’m fairly biased in favour of singer-songwriters. I just like the combo, and so for someone to impress me with a bunch of other peoples’ songs requires some top tier stuff. Fortunately Ronstadt is as good as it gets, an iconic voice that can still blow the door down and then break your heart, more than 50 years after she first cut these tracks.

Best tracks: Baby You’ve Been On My Mind, The Only Mama That’ll Walk the Line, Silver Threads and Golden Needles, The Long Way Around, Break My Mind