The College Crowd Digs Me

"Smooth Ball" - T.I.M.E (1969) "Smooth Ball" was T.I.M.E.'s second (and last) album and it's a solid mix of acid and bluesy psych-rock.  There's not a lot of information about T.I.M.E. , although their bassist Richard Tepp was a part of Richard and the Young Lions .  And Larry Byrom, who went on to play guitar with Steppenwolf and Neil Young and then later became a sought after session player in Nashville.  Almost all the songs from "Smooth Ball" have some tasty, sometimes aggressive, fuzzed-out guitars that we all like and the vocals are quite good.  The album opens with "Preparation G" ...a great psyched-out instrumental that sets the table nicely.   The 10-min. acid psych jam... “Morning Come” and the slinky... " I Think You'd Cry"  are both killer.  Strangely, I could find no credit for the Hammond, but it's perfect.  And the floaty "See Me as I Am" is a sneaky good psych biscuit. I thou

"Akira, Vol. 1" by Katsuhiro Otomo Dark Horse  (2000) (first published in 1984) 359 pages (I stumbled upon a good-sized box filled with a variety of graphic novels at an estate sale. No official count as I've just been pulling from the box when I find time to read one.  Afterward, I post the book and go from there.) NO SPOILERS: This is an anime neo-futuristic sci-fi story where groups of young, Japanese cyberpunk bikers run the streets of Tokyo.  A time of rampant kid-gang violence and anti-government terrorism.  And there are two friends...Tetsuo and Kaneda...who somehow get caught up in a nefarious and dangerous government cover-up involving powerful psychic energy.  And though the action is fast-paced, there is very little character development to hang a hat on.  At least with " Akira, Vol. 1." (There are six volumes in all.)  Adding to the lack of development, there was just a bare-minimum of narrative to further the story along.  Everythin

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" - Doobie Brothers (1974) Bars and Bikers.  Hippies and Stoners.  Tats and Ties.  They all think The Doobie Brothers are "righteous dudes!"  And they're right.  The band has that familiar sound that instinctively Pavlovs some good times.  Like when you hear Fogerty, you just know.  Get outta the house.  Go for a drive.  And the band's  "What Were Once Vices..." their 4th album, is a great outside album.  I was more than friendly with the wonderful, but over-played  "Black Water,"  however it was "Another Park, Another Sunday"  that I fell in love with.  For whatever reason, that song just takes me.  It's a bit atypical, but Tom Johnston  and the rest of the Doobs don't let the song get away.  And whenever I hear it on the radio, I turn it up.  But it wasn't until listening to the record in its entirety that my appreciation really grew.  On my first spin, I thought it was

"Goodthunder" - Goodthunder (1972) This self-titled album is filled with 70s hard rock dipped in some prog.  The vocals are really good and there is a wicked-smart balance between guitars and Hammond that are grin-makers.  Goodthunder doesn't really establish any new ground here, but they do sound like they've been chewing the same dirt as very early Deep Purple and Wishbone Ash.  The best parts.  And I love the prog breaks and the way they seamlessly feed the head without being rude.  This was Goodthunder's only cake, but the band sounds like they were ready to take names.  Crank-ready!  This was a blind purchase I made at a local swapmeet in March.  I wanted to leave with something and I"d never seen this one in the wild before.  Plus it was on the Elektra label so I took the blind-buy plunge. Favorite tracks are " Barking At The Ants" that closes the album.  It rocks and burns with guitars and keyboards fighting for purchase.   "

"We didn't know it was a British invasion. We just knew there was much more  enthusiasm over there." ~ Peter Noone ~ Peter Noone was just 15 when he became the lead singer for Herman's Hermits .  Before that, he had been a successful child actor in a TV soap.  Peter Noone was the perfect frontman.  He had a boyish charm that made all the little girls mad.  And an infectious, good-time goofiness about him that made it clear he didn't take himself too seriously.  And most importantly, he could sing.  Peter, along with the rest of the Hermits, made a lot of great AM radio-ready songs.  Their first single, “I'm Into Something Good” went to number one.  “Mrs. Brown...” did the same.  The British Invasion went down and the boys were off to the races.  In fact, for a while, Herman's Hermits were giving The Beatles a close run for their money.  They were that big. At 72,  Peter remains ageless, looking and sounding much the same as he ever

"Custer" by Larry McMurtry (2012) Hardcover, 178 pages The book "Custer" is a short biography about Gen. George Armstrong Custer and the players and events leading up to the historic battle at Little Big Horn  in 1876.  There are plenty of photographs and illustrations included to connect the faces and places and this really adds to the time-travel mind-experience.  Best of all, for a coffee-table book, Larry McMurtry provides us with a very readable biography.  Experts on this subject will doubtlessly discover nothing new, but for lay-folks like myself, it was a revelation.  McMurtry  does recommend a few books much better than his for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the subject.  But here, he simply gives us an interesting overview of the General and the goings-on during those tumultuous times in our country's history.  "Custer" is for readers who want to start with a light meal, rather than have a full course.  McMurtry gives us a