The College Crowd Digs Me

"Down The Road" - Manassas (1973)      "Down The Road" (1973) was Manassas' second and final album.  Not quite as strong as their debut, but it piggybacks very nicely on the first.  The best part for vinyl lovers is that this album can be found in record bins for less than a buck or two all day long—a lot of bang for your zing-zang.  The cover may look lame…or not...but be assured, much goodness lies within. The band sounds like the album looks...rootsy, funky, and confident.  Led by Stephen Stills, but everyone contributes.  The band is top-notch with solid cred everywhere.  A primo guestlist, as well.  Manassas wasn't the greatest band or the last coming.  Nothing like that.  But the two albums the band left us are very good and the oft-ignored  "Down The Road" is an especially underappreciated gem.  Ain't nothing better than picking one up for a dollar and finding yourself spinning the square way more often than you thought you would. 

"Cosmic Sounds" - The Zodiac (1967)      First of all, if the album is on the Elektra label 4000 series, pick it up.  They are almost bullet-proof buys.  And that's exactly what I did.  "Cosmic Sounds" is a concept about the astrological signs wrapped up and bowed in a dreamy, atmospheric "Summer of Love" piece of trippiness.  This was 1967 after all when everybody was starting to get their hippie psych groove on.   A cash-in album, perhaps, but the very best kind.  This exploito square is faithfully delivered in primo satisfying fashion.  Nothing cheap or short shrift.  Zodiac's "Cosmic Sounds" is really good and an endearing snapshot of the times. The music was written by electronic pioneer, Mort Garson and performed by several members of The Wrecking Crew .  The album is mystical psychedelia, with a variety of instruments contributing to and floating above some very early Moog.  There is a spoken voice, with a Jim Morrison vibe br

The Eden Hunter By Skip Horack (2010) Paperback, 320 pages NO SPOILERS:      In the early 1800s, a pygmy tribesman named Kau (cow) was taken from his family in Africa and brought to the Americas to be sold into Louisiana slavery.  Kau tries to escape through Florida (before Florida became a state) to find his own place in the world.  During Kau's on-the-run journey, we learn how difficult and risky it can be to survive when facing different Indian tribes, soldiers, other renegade Africans, and whites.  A few helpful; others, not so much.  We also learn just how resilient Kau is.        Skip Horack's descriptive writing paints a clear picture of the dangers and challenges.  And reminds us of the cruelty humans will inflict on others.  And we pull for Kau to find his way.  The story reads quick and is fascinating although character development could be a bit stronger.  The Eden Hunter brings a unique period to the front and makes for a good historical fiction novel.  Give this

"Dynasty" - KISS (1979)      This completes my '70s studio KISS albums with the original Mach 1 members.  "Dynasty" was their 7th album, and at this point, the band was looking (and feeling) like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.  And yet somehow Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss did it.  It wasn't always friendly but somehow the music got waxed and it's an open-booth.  It wasn't what was expected, and haters gonna hate, but it was much better than mouths would lead you to believe.  This isn't "Destroyer" or "Rock and Roll Over,"  but I like it better than  "Love Gun."   Think of "Dynasty" as a hard pop-rock album.  Catchy and crankable.   Sure, it has their disco hit "I Was Made For Lovin' You" which must've felt like a sell-out to many fans, but the production is fantastic...and for what it is...the song is equally good.  But this is not a disco al

"In A Silent Way" - Miles Davis (1969)      One doesn't need to be a heavy jazz-junkie to catch a ride on the mind-boat.  This classic jazz album is ambient, atmospheric, airy...and electric.  Miles was pushing things forward with some early fusion on this one.  At times, psych-like in its delivery.  When I drop the needle, I find myself dropping in and out as well.  One can have this rotating in the background making the room instantly chill.  But you owe yourself to give this square some active listening time.  It's a rather hypnotic treat. Multiple listens bring pleasant rewards.  There is much more guitar sneakery running through here than first noticed.  And the minimal drumming shimmers when it comes around.  The keyboards are doing a waterfall of things.  And yet there is no crowding.  Space is the place.  Each musician slips pleasantly in and out of the water at just the right times.  Of course,  we're playing in  Miles's  river,  so consider him the

Billy Sumers By Stephen King (2021) Hardcover, 515 pages NO SPOILERS:      Billy Summers ...is not a horror novel, but this should not surprise any fan of Stephen King.  At this point in his life, he just writes stories and lets the genre fall where it may.  The story is, however, a fantastic crime novel about a seasoned gun-for-hire (with a moral compass) taking one last job.  What could go wrong, right?  Wrapped up between the pages is an assassination double-cross with an underlying 'story within a story' that King so often likes to employ.  Thankfully, this trope is nicely utilized allowing the reader to more easily empathize with the guy.  That's a big leap, but I can only say it works in this instance.  The story is suspenseful and meticulous in the telling; relentless in the dotting of i's and crossing of t's.  The pacing is just right.  As expected, characters are drawn to great effect with that confident Stephen King aplomb.  No surprise there.  And there a