The College Crowd Digs Me

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (2003) Softcover, 935 pages NO SPOILERS:      The novel  Shantaram is an ambitious adventure loosely based on events that occurred after the author  Gregory David Roberts escaped from a prison in Australia.  Trying to avoid discovery, he finds himself swallowed up in Bombay, India, where the story begins.  Whether this is a 'true' story or one that has been carefully crafted and roadmapped doesn't matter.  It rings the bell of authenticity, and I was all in.         The exotic atmosphere of Bombay is captured in the traffic-heavy city as well as the crammed-together, slum-like villages.  The prose pulls it all in so tightly I could almost feel it, taste it, and smell it.  It's heady stuff.  Descriptive and emotive, dozens of characters pass through the pages, and I never lost track of a single one.  It's beautiful here and dangerous there.  Sometimes both. ...

"Violent Femmes" - Violent Femmes (1983 )      I picked up a copy of the Violent Femmes album in Goddard, KS, for $40 at a yard sale.  I've seen them go for much higher.  The record had three stickers plastered on the front cover, and after taking a closer look, I thought that when I took it home, I could remove them by using the blow-dryer trick.  I'd had some good luck in the past, and it almost worked...but then it didn't.  Not this time.        The first sticker came off easy-peasy.  It practically fell off on its own.  But the sticker right above was not as friendly.  It started coming up easy, but slower…at first.  And then right about in the middle, the sticker began pulling the ink from the album.  I wasn't rushing, but it was too late.  I don't understand it.  The third, smaller round sticker, I just left alone.  I'm so bummed.  I'll leave a picture of the album cover belo...

"Below The Salt" - Steeleye Span (1972 )      I don’t dislike the medieval Renaissance music, I do.  I just don’t actively seek it out.  But I will occasionally pick one up if it’s the good stuff.  I had recently read about Steeleye Span in the AMG and remembered  "Below The Salt"  was one of a couple of their albums that received 5 stars.  So when I saw a beautiful copy in a box on the floor with a two-dollar price tag, I couldn't leave it behind.  The album doesn't go for big money anyway, but $2 is still a win.      The album sounds like one might expect...except it doesn't.  The bar is higher.  You can hear it especially in the sound of the instruments, cast from long ago and electrified, adding a little meat to the bone.  And you can also hear the love of the song in their voices.  Especially, and those in the know, already know... Maddy Prior... who somehow slipped through a time-crack from 400...

"...but then they started playing the whole side  of the Zazu album.  For some reason, that became our trademark whenever the radio played us." ~ John Melnick ~      This is the 50th anniversary of the little-known 1975 " Zazu"  album filled with tasty prog-rock and prog-pop nuggets.  Led by John Melnick , Zazu's self-titled square fries and bakes while still maintaining a slice of pop sensibility.  Add the lightest of lysergic dustings, and it's a fun spin.   Upon its release, radio stations in Chicago, St. Louis, and New York, among other places, began spinning  Zazu  on their after-midnight airfare, and the album became a staple of late-night radio.   Then disaster.  Zazu's debut album had barely started shipping out the door before their record label, Wooden Nickel, suddenly closed up shop.  No forewarning.  No heads up.  Wooden Nickel was gone faster than 'Hey, Hi you.'   And unfortunat...

"Diamantina Cocktail" - Little River Band (1977 )      This was a bit of a nostalgic pick-up.  A good one, however, and a cheap one.  I readily admit I am not a serious Little River Band connoisseur.  I'm mostly just a cherry-picker of their singles. However,  "Diamantina Cocktail"  has staked out a piece of shelf at my abode.  The album strikes an emotional chord for me that continues to satisfy.  My Dad used to play this in his car aplenty, and he especially liked the song  "Days On The Road."    He liked'em all, but that was the one.  That song meant something to him.  I'd ask him about the song, and he'd give the smallest of smiles and shake his head.  The song got to him.  And he kept it close.  And, of course,  the song has since gotten to me.  But all the songs here play nicely together.  The better-known songs with the lesser-known.  And though the American tracklist fo...

"The Farm Band" - The Farm Band (1972 )      The self-titled debut album by The Farm Band is a bit of a rarity.  Probably 1,000 copies, give or take, were pressed.  Originals can sometimes get pricey and are not easy to come by.  I was lucky to find an original back in early July at a garage sale on the east side of College Hill, closest to the VA  Hospital.  Only a few records in a box, and I recognized it right away.  Unfortunately, the seller knew what he had, as well.        There was a $75 price tag on it, and he showed me how shiny and clean the vinyl was.  While talking, we learned that we both had spent some time in West Virginia.  Shady Springs, for him; Peterstown, for me.  It was the kind of coincidence that makes people instant friends.  After we shared a few stories, he decided he could let the square go for $50.  Still, a pony-up for this short-pocket fella, but way more than f...