The College Crowd Digs Me

The Dead Zone by Stephen King (1979) Hardback, 426 pages NO SPOILERS:       The Dead Zone was Stephen King's fifth novel (not counting Bachman) and had the unenviable task of following his epic tome, The Stand .  That's too bad for any book.  Whaddyagonnado?  But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I got into it.  It was also the earliest novel of his that I hadn't gotten around to reading until now.  It's not horror, this one.  The story is more of a slow-burning thriller wrapped inside a mystery.  The main character is John Smith.  Smith is a nice, average fella, a schoolteacher, who suffers an unfortunate accident and recovers only to find he has occasional premonitions.      John Smith is just another one of King's well-written characters who, through no fault of his own, catches the wrong end of the life-stick.  We like Smith, and we grow to hold a great deal of empathy for him.  King develops or ...

"Tales Untold" - Kopperfield (1974 - Rei-2024)      So what if this gnarly, cool album cover looks like it was ripped from a three-ring binder of that one kid who sits drawing fantasy characters by the corner window during Algebra class?  How can you not love it?  This was a blind purchase, except for the hype sticker.  Apparently, this 70s band had been drinking from the rock waters of Michigan.  That was all I needed to know to make up my mind.  Kopperfield's "Tales Untold" sounds like the kind of early hard rock album you'd hear on the cooler radio stations.  Which is also cool, 'cause I kinda like that early classic rock stuff.        The band sounds a little bit like Bloodrock, but without the gloom.  And there's a Grand Funk vibe hanging around, as well.  Prog rock dust is all over it, but not heavily so.  Stoners will have no problem getting behind this.  "Tales Untold" is a banger and a l...

"In L.A., it was The Wrecking Crew. And there was the equivalent in London as well.  I was a part of it." ~ B.J. Cole ~      Session musicians like B.J. Cole may never know when they'll be asked to come into the studio, or who they'll be working with, but the good ones, the very good ones, always know the ask is coming.  From Elton John to David Gilmour.  T. Rex to The Alan Parsons Project.  R.E.M. to Robert Plant.  And it must be a double-edged sword at times.  The anonymity of it all.  Only music aficionados of a particular song or album might know the names of everyone involved in the recording.  Perhaps a blessing and a curse.  But for the last six decades, London's B.J. Cole has been the premier pedal steel guitarist, called on when an artist needs a particular sound and vibe to enhance their song.        B.J. Cole has been adding his unique pedal steel flavors and flares in all the right measures si...

"Every One Of Us" - Eric Burdon & The Animals (1968 )      The album definitely has a smidge of ringwear front and back.  And by smidge, I mean, gangster whitewalls. There are no seam splits, but the darker album covers always seem to bring out the worst.  I would've left it behind, but the vinyl looked almost minty.  Played VG+ or better when I got it home.  And the songs are pretty good.  The music has a nice psychedelic dusting about it.  There are some jammin' fuzz burns and jazz flourishes.  A little experimental here and there, for sure, but overall, "Every One Of Us" is more acoustically driven than I expected.       As I said, the music sounds fine, but there are a couple of songs with spoken interludes in the middle.  And even that's not bad, the first couple of times you spin it.  Then it starts to wear out its welcome.   For me, anyway.  You'll want to pick it up for the song…...

"Phluph" - Phluph (1968)       Phluph (pronounced Fluff) is some cool organ-driven psych.  Much like The Doors in their approach, but without sounding the least bit dark or dangerous.  The music is pop-psych, less blues psych.  A little spacey, at times.  You've got some excellent organ-play shenanigans pushing things along with some guitar fuzz burns showing their head, which is always welcome.  Nothing here is a mindblow, but it's fun.  It's all a cool snapshot of the lysergic times and pretty good for what it is.            Think of Phluph's only album...as the square you needle drop early in the evening while friends are still coming in and out of the kitchen for a hit on the bong snake.  There'll be plenty of time for some Ultimate Spinach and other heavy hitters before the flavored Altoids have had a chance to kick in.  Phluph is an under-appreciated psych album that still flies under the ...

"Everyone Is Everybody Else" - Barclay James Harvest (1974 )      On  their fifth album,  "Everyone Is Everybody Else,"  the band leaves the proggy, symphonic Moody Blues sound they were  tagged with, stuffs it in their back pocket, and takes a different prog path.  Like travelers passing through the corners of Catan,  Barclay James Harvest bring a prog-pop CSN flavor to the wax.  Lighter on the prog to be sure, but I'm absolutely cool with that.  The harmonies are nice and confident, as ever.  The guitars bang when it's time to clock in.  And the beautiful Mellotron and other keys all help push things forward.         The song arrangements may not be as complex by prog standards, I suppose, but they are creative enough and definitely not cheap.  It's a really good square, yet nothing truly stands out.  Is that bad?  Not necessarily.  When the needle returned to its resting pl...