The College Crowd Digs Me

"The United States Of America" - The United States Of America (1968) This was The United States Of America's only album and it is a tasty slice of some West Coast psych.  There is a lot of fascinating Joe Byrd electronic trickery and experimental knob-twisting on display and though there is not one single guitar on the album, this self-titled offering has its rock hard moments.  I'm a guitar man at heart, but I swear, I never missed them.  The album also has plenty of floaty, mind-stealing moments as well, and yet never loses its pop-sense direction.  It's a headphone smile-generator.  The vocals from Dorothy Moskowitz are a killer fit for what TUSoA was doing.  What a surprise!  She's a lost gem herself.  TUSOA was a talented five-member band, but it's the way Joe Byrd fills in spaces and dots the i's that coat everything with Lysergic dust.  "TUSoA" can be found on many essential psych lists and was one of those albums I wanted

"Doing Their Love Thing" - The Nickel Bag (1968) There is not a whole lot in the clouds about The Nickel Bag , but their gimmick was taking the words from famous poets and tripping it out a bit with really good soulful vocals and sometimes dipping them in a bit of pop-psych dust.  However, only a handful have that kind of flavor.  A little flute here.  A wee-bit of horns there.  A dabble of organ.  A sliver of sitar.  Some light fuzz in a few corners.  Kipling, Shakespeare, Byron and so on.  They all get The Nickel Bag treatment.  There are a few songs that trip rather nicely, though.  Mostly it's just straight-up soul-pop.  But it's the strange meter each poem has that...when set to music performed surprisingly well...gives the album a fish-outta-water vibe.  Nothing heavy or mind-blowing,  mind you.  But the vocalist (not sure who's credited) and everyone else sounds seriously committed.  It's kinda pop trippy and kinda pop weird.  Not for everyone,

"Spangle" - Gary Jennings (1987) Hardcover, 978 pages NO SPOILERS: This is another epic piece of historical fiction from one of the best... Gary Jennings .  This time taking us through all the ins and outs and the goings-on of an up and coming circus in the late 19th century.  Shortly after Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, a couple of wandering soldiers decide to throw in with Florian’s Flourishing Florilegium of Wonder Circus .  And from there we commence on an amazing journey that takes us through the South and across the big waters into Europe. Along the way, there are a variety of perversions to chew on, as well as violence in various shapes and sizes.  But of course, there is, because that is one of Jennings' familiar trademarks.  Nudging the reader into the uncomfortable.  His left-field surprises.  But around all these shenanigans, Jennings provides us with an absolutely wonderful detailed education in circus survival.  Plus we're

"Moses" - Jerry Hahn (1973) "Moses" was Jerry Hahn's first "solo" effort and the album has Jerry working his guitar with a more rockier jazz swag than expected.  Oh, there is still the familiar fast and swinging Barney Kessel flavor but there are three tasty surprises that really clean the pallet.  The funky Jerry Hahn penned title track, is a fantastic opener.  It's a real groove and gets interesting in the places Jerry takes it.  I never tire.  There is also an 'out of left field' surprise dive into Donovan's, “Sunshine Superman.”  Hahn fills it with wah-wah goings-on and other cool ear candy giving it a delightful jazzy psych dusting.  Surprise! Surprise!  Plus there is a wicked solo thrown in.  It's the kind of workout that makes me wonder if someone threw down a challenge...and challenge was accepted. Finally, buried on side two is a cover of "All Blues" from Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" album.

"You just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come running..." ~ Carole King ~ I first fell in love with Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) and the rest of the Walton family when she called her brothers and sisters “... a bunch of pissants ” for complaining about her plans to put a bird's nest on the Christmas tree in the holiday TV movie... "The Homecoming.”   I thought Mary Ellen was awesome!  First, because it sounded like she got away with a bit of cursing.  (I was nine, okay?)  And second, I thought she was very cool and really cute at the same time. (I was going on ten.)  "The Homecoming" was my first introduction to the Walton family and it immediately became one of my family's annual holiday viewing traditions.  But it was "The Waltons" TV series that became our goto when any one of us just needed to escape from the daily rat race and chill a while.  To this day, hardly a week goes by that we don't watch an