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Showing posts from 2007

Ramblings:-->Randy Travis & Other Goodies

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"Seventeen and wild I hit the bottle. Doing anything I dang well please. Burning down life's highway at full throttle. While mama burned a candle on her knees." Randy Travis A truly enjoyable site is... "Shorpy's Historical Photographs" . Every day, new offerings of beautiful black-n-white vintage photos can be found...of the everyday common ways of life. Each photo can be clicked on to enlarge your entire screen for easier scrutiny. And...if coming across one you especially like...you may purchase it. I've always found vintage b&w photos haunting. Beautifully so. And calming...almost like an out-of-body experience. Lost moments in time. Good stuff ! AND ANOTHER THING:--> I finally took the plunge and installed the Operating System... "Mandriva 2008" by Linux ...and I'm glad I did. My E-machine was carrying a virus I could not lose. XP was running slower and slower. And my Windows boot was dropping drivers and hanging. After pl

Track 4:-->"Black Licorice" - Grand Funk - We're An American Band - (1973)

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"Watch out, whats that noise... there's somebody at the door. It must be black licorice... she come back to make me cry some more." Grand Funk "We're An American Band" was Grand Funk's seventh studio album...and it certainly turned out to be their lucky number. The band dropped "Railroad" from their name. They brought on-board a terrific keyboardist into their fold (Craig Frost). And they handed over production duties to an already recognized studio wizard... Todd Rundgren. Stir all these variables together and you have a band loaded for bear...with the attitude and energy to bring one back. Track 4 - "Black Licorice" is a rockin' number that was absolutely meant to be played loud. A forgotten highway song if ever there was one. The trade off between Mark Farner's guitar spanking...and new member, Craig Frost barely hanging on to his keyboard is classic. And it creates a powerful driving force. More guitar work fro

Interview:--> Craig "Twister" Steward - "Days of Harp & Frank Zappa"

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"Hey, hey, hey, all you girls in these industrial towns. I know you're prob'ly gettin' tired of all the local clowns." ~ Frank Zappa ~ Craig "Twister Stewsrard , who has played with some of the greatest musicians of our time and has been described as the "Hendrix of the Harp,"  was amazingly discovered by Frank Zappa whilst performing in Wichita, Kansas.  Frank was quoted as saying,  "He (Craig Steward) sounds like Coltrane on the harmonica.  And I mean fast like you won't believe.  This guy is like the Al DiMeola of the harmonica." Zappa , (RnR HoF inductee, winner of two Grammys, ranked #71 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time), invited Craig to record on three of his albums...one of which... "Joe's Garage" (1979) has been recognized as a "must own" album by All Music Guide.   And although Craig still finds time to perform...he is presently our local Wichita arborist.  

Ramblings:-->A Few Tasty Blogs To Visit - & - Manfred Mann

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"Down, down in Hollywood town... The lost and found come to find their way." Manfred Mann's Earth Band <-- Manfred Mann or Austin Powers? Today, I wanted to mention a few musical blogs that continually hold my attention...with their variety...with their writing...and with their song offerings. I'm preaching to the choir for most...but for those who haven't stumbled upon these sites. Check'em out. There are a couple of rarely heard Christmas songs posted daily over at Big Rock Candy Mountain. They are Country & Rockabilly & Blues mostly. And Am, Then FM is working his Christmas Mojo with a few daily holiday jams, as well. Both are always interesting! One of the hardest working guys in blog land... The Late Greats seems to offer something of interest all the time. A daily stop for this blogster. Tom , out east, has another - 5 on a Friday - selection of jams over at Bag Of Songs. A regular feature I never miss. For a musical blog with

Ramblings:-->Tin Man - Gladys - & - Sugarloaf

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"I would give you nearly everything... if you would only tell me just how much you really, really, really, really love me." Sugarloaf Clever. Very clever. I've been recording the Sci-Fi channel miniseries... "Tin Man" and just finished watching part 1. I'm really digging this updated homage to the classic "Wizard Of Oz". "Tin Man" is totally different...and yet...so many references from the classic movie are thrown in...that this mini-series is easy to warm up to. Did I mention...it is very, very clever! Of course...one has to throw away all expectations and leave critical comparisons to the classic aside. I mean...how could anything measure up? But with that out of the way...I recommend climbing on board. Good stuff. AND ANOTHER THING: My great-grandma passed away last week. She was 98. And as cool as a glass of sweet tea. Her name was Gladys. "Call me Glad-ass or Happy-butt" . She never took any medicine, 'c

Book Buzz:-->"Blaze" by Richard Bachman (SK) (2007)

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"She cast her spell all over me... and had this poor boy screaming... Is it real...or fantasy?" Billy Thorpe NO SPOILERS: The wordmeister ... Stephen King has always delivered us pretty good stories. And over the length of his career...(with the exception of a couple of clunkers)...his books weigh heavily on the "good stuff" side. Let's be upfront from the get-go... "Blaze" is Good King . The story grabs you from the beginning...and you will not want to put it down. This gritty crime tale revolves around Blaze (aka Clayton Blaisdell, Jr.) . Blaze is big and strong...sweet, actually...but very simple-minded. He's hooked up with this friend, George ...who together...work different towns pulling small-potato crimes that are obviously lame. However Blaze looks up to George like he's Al Capone. In a series of well-told flashbacks ...we learn how life was for Blaze growing up and we find ourselves sympathetic to the big hoss. And even

Ramblings:-->Some Country - Some Ozzy - & Aldo Nova

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"And the man that she loved left her for somebody new. And the girl, she dreams... That if only they could've seen... heart to heart." Aldo Nova If you like country music... People Online is allowing everyone to freely download a song from fifteen up-and-coming country singers. They're not bad either. Sunny Sweeney and Luke Bryan and Eric Church were three that jumped out at me right away. But most all are pretty dang enjoyable. Good Stuff! AND ANOTHER THING: Over at "Doctor Mooney's 115th Dream" ...I won a two-cd soundtrack of "I'm Not There" ...(a movie bio about icon Bob Dylan )...and it's filled with 34 tracks of different artists covering BD songs. And it's all over the board. Doctor Mooney's contest was simply a request for one's favorite era or phase of this word smith. The winner was chosen randomly. 'Cause it's all good. Anyway...check out Doctor Mooney's musical blog loaded with tastefully ec

Track Four:-->"Miracles Out Of Nowhere" - Kansas - Leftoverture (1976)

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"I sang this song a hundred, maybe a thousand years ago. No one ever listens, I just play and then I go... Off into the sunset like the western heroes do." Kansas In 1976 ...the Midwest band… Kansas …was flexing their progressive rock muscle...showing their prog brothers overseas…and everywhere else…a thing or two…with their tasty classic … "Leftoverture" . Filled with delicious electric violin and solid guitar work…along with sweeping keyboard play, driving drums and some choice vocals... Kansas was taking no prisoners. "Leftoverture" was majestic both in sound and power…as well as spiritually uplifting. With leader Kerry Livgren (guitars, synthesizers, piano, and clavinet) writing some of his best stuff and singer Steve Walsh owning each song with his vocals… "Leftoverture" sounds nothing less than epic! Ageless! The fourth track … "Miracles Out of Nowhere" is progressive hard rock at its finest…and arguably the best song on t

Classic Pick:-->The Raconteurs - "Broken Boy Soldiers" (2006)

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"When you're with me there's a light and I can see my way. When you speak to me it's a song and I know what to say." The Raconteurs That rapscallion guitar whiz, Jack White ( The White Stripes ) has been keeping his hands very busy the last few years. Jack’s over here. Jack’s over there. Jack's making a movie . Jack’s touring with his band, the White Stripes. Jack’s doing the talk show circuit. Jack’s working with Loretta Lynn . Jack’s getting into fights. Jack’s splitting coconuts with Renee Zellweger . Jack’s hanging with The Simpsons. Jack's comparing notes with Pete Townshend . (Feel free to continue the list). So, to suggest Jack White has been stretching himself... “Nicole-thin” ...would be a slight understatement. And then...when I learned he was recording an album last year with some buddies under the guise, The Raconteurs , well...I have to admit...I was not expecting all that much. In fact, after the initial media blitz and