The College Crowd Digs Me

"The Notorious Byrd Brothers" - The Byrds (1968) "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" is a very, very good album and way more psych-dusted than I expected.  Apart from the opening track that I've yet to warm up to and "Old John Robertson" which is a good song but sounds jarringly out of step with the rest of the more strange and floaty guitar passages, it is gold.  Mostly though, everything moves along as it should in a wonderful heady hippie bong-tipping flair. And my gosh, what a delicious flock of  Byrds shenanigans that were going on during the recording.  David Crosby was sent packing 3 months before the record dropped.  He was upset about many, many things.  As was the band, with him. (Wiki it.)  Halfway through the sessions, drummer Michael Clarke took off for a little while...to mend his mind, perhaps...and then returned.  He was immediately cut loose after the record was finished.  Even Gene Clark , who had left the band long ago, hoo...

"The Merry-Go-Round" (front) I passed on The Merry-Go-Round on a few occasions simply because I thought the music would be a little too bubbly for my taste.  Too sweet.  But I was way off base.  The Merry-Go-Round made a tasty pop-flavored...folk-rock album that offers up the kind of attention one might expect from Lennon-McCartney.  And yet, The Merry-Go-Round pull off their own vibe.  Emitt Rhodes , who just recently passed, was writing and singing good stuff even as a teenager.  There's nothing jaw-dropping, but the songs do have a maturity that impresses, especially for the times.  This, their lone album, is not a must-own, but it can still be found cheap, and I recommend picking up your own copy.  A bonus is that the record sounds better with every new spin. Favorites are "You're A Very Lovely Woman," which was a minor hit for the band...and way too good for Top 40.  I love the dark, brooding flavor the song offers, and it bears ...

"The Great Escape" by Paul Brickhill (1950) Softcover, 264 pages “The Great Escape” is an intensely detailed account of prisoners held in a German POW camp known as Stalag Luft-III .  The camp was made to hold the riskiest of war prisoners.  Author Paul Brickhill , who takes us into this camp, was himself a prisoner.  The guards were constantly on the lookout for any escape tricks.  Scrutinizing every movement they made.  Tunnels were not unheard of, but they were almost always unsuccessful and extremely dangerous.  And, as you can imagine, digging one is a ton of hard work and just one snafu and...pffft!  For the prisoners to have their best chance of pulling this off, the tunnel has to be deeper.  The tunnel has to be longer.  And the tunnel, of course, has to be dug in absolute incognito.  And not just one tunnel this time...but three!  And with prison guards constantly eyeballing them...well...that's a lot of major ...

"I'm Still In Love With You" - Al Green (1972) For whatever reason, I seldom see any Al Green albums in the wild.  Nice copies are just scarce and hard to come by.  For a guy who hit the sacred trifecta in the early 70s...well...those albums be hiding.  But hey, I finally have one now.  "I'm Still In Love With You" was his 5th studio album, but it was the middle child in his powerful trilogy of albums squeezed between "Let's Stay Together"  (1972) and "Call Me." (1973)  Each considered one of his masterpieces. Everybody should know Al Green by now, but for those who haven't the pleasure, Green's vocals are very distinct.  Beautifully unique.  Warm and romantic, and funky when funk is necessary.  And on this album...mercy!  The horns and drums absolutely pop.  And in just the right measure.  Just enough to let you know they are in the house but they have no plans of moving in. Al Green wrote seven of the nine son...