The College Crowd Digs Me

  "Mighty Baby" - Mighty Baby (1969 - Rei 2021) Mighty Baby's debut is a psych biscuit with whispers of proto-prog peeking through the curtains.  Add to this the influences of Haight-Ashbury and you have a wonderful spin. The square is solid from needle drop to label.  Very consistent, and with plenty of musical ducks and dodges to keep the mind entertained. The cool quirk about Mighty Baby is the band is not from the West Coast, but from London, England.  And the British flavor is there, and nicely so, but the hippie nuances are all over this keeper.   "Mighty Baby" (back) Favorites include the opening track "Egyptian Tomb" filled with a psych aura of guitars and organs on a subtle jazz-touched mystical ramble.  It's a really nice stoner trip.  "House Without Windows" has some killer fuzz guitars driving the acid truck.  "Same Way From The Sun" is another good head trip and has a fake fade-out/fade-in near the middle tha...

"...Your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea." ~ Looking Glass ~ Elliot Lurie was a singer/songwriter for the 70s band Looking Glass . The band recorded two albums and had a couple of hits along with a handful of deep-track FM cuts.  And as many bands are wont to do... Looking Glass called it a day and handed over the keys.  However, before cutting out, Looking Glass did leave us with the #1 hit song... "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)."   Now there have been plenty of #1 songs that have climbed to the top spot faster.  And plenty of #1 songs that have stayed at the top spot longer.  But the list begins to thin when it comes to #1 songs that have had some real staying power years and years after their run.  And as the 50th anniversary draws to a close, the song  "Brandy..." still remains an ageless and endearing wonder. A song of unrequited love without all the drippy, maudlin sadness that often stains so many other attempts.  Every boy dreams ...

(4 For Friday)    *   Here are a few affordable vinyl accessory ideas  you might want to consider this Christmas. *   This guy uses ordinary items to complete his clever artwork and it's amazing!   I had to go back and watch this twice to catch everything. *   My 10 favorite books read in 2022.  Still the best bang for your hard-earned entertainment buck. *   Artist Sergi Cadenas' created a portrait that ages as one's point of view changes.  Genius! "Rock & Roll Medley" - Junior Brown / Live at "The Ark" in Michigan (2003) "You're gonna wanna see this!" Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK

"Every book is a new book if you haven't read it!"    And so, let us begin. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss (2008) Historical fiction is spun near the time Alexander Hamilton was attempting to establish the country's first banking system.  Nasty goings-on between money manipulators and a few rebels who seek revenge.  Great characters throughout...all very easy to visualize with plenty of delicious mystery and suspense. (full review) Abandon by Blake Crouch (2012) Abandon was once a thriving mining town in the high mountains of Colorado, but then...poof.  The claustrophobic shadows rear their little heads and make for wonderfully uncomfortable times.  As does the urgency to be somewhere else.  Not Blake's finest, but the pages were well-flipped.  The snowy season ahead will make the perfect setting to curl and read.  (full review)  The Outsider by Stephen King (2018) A terrible murder occurs and a couple of detectives find themselves cau...

(4 For Friday) *   Here are 45 fascinating historical photographs to peruse and ponder. *   A pretty clever device that removes large blood clots and helps reduce heart attacks. *   This is useful when you can't figure out the strange charge on your credit card statement .   *   Ten psychological mind tricks to try out.  Or maybe you already have! "Circle Of Steel" - Gordon Lightfoot / "Sundown" (1974) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"Gypsy" - Gypsy (1970 - Rei 1979) Gypsy's self-titled double-album debut has a sort of splattered psych-prog vibe. There is an enjoyable headiness about it, but the album never quite commits to either genre.  This is not to disparage at all.  "Gypsy" is a highly enjoyable spin.  The music has a much more melodic sensibility than I expected, and not of the cheap variety.  The musicianship on this square is tight and intentional.  And well-honed.  And that's no wonder.  In 1969, Gypsy was the house band playing every night of the week at Whisky-a-Go-Go in West Hollywood.  They worked it out! There's some really, really good stuff to be found here.  Gorgeous layered vocals ride atop soaring keyboards and guitars that are both catchy and fearless.  Gypsy, from the Land of a Thousand Lakes, was a step or two ahead of other bands that would later become familiar AOR radio fodder.  Not everything rides the curl on this double album...b...

(4 For Friday) *  How to protect yourself in a rushing crowd. *   Thousands of apples carpet the grounds of an orchard after Storm Ophelia. *   Sometimes  suicidal people don't always look suicidal.   Please reach out. *   Some celebrities do stay married.  The marital connection seems so easily fleeting.  Anyway, I have no dog in the fight, but this pleases me.  Here are a few celebs still kicking it. "Take On Me" - A-ha / Recorded live at Giske Harbour Hall (Norway 2017) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

(a short jaunt) "(Do The) Instant Mash)" - Joe Jackson / "Look Sharp" (1979) "It's so easy.  It's so easy. Grab can, lift arm, stack can, turn around. It's so easy.  It's so easy. Do the instant mash." Man, but did  Joe Jackson have himself a band!  Step away from the vibe, people, and no one gets hurt.  Otherwise, this will groove your move.  Go on now.  "Make some instant cash."  This was JJ's debut album and one of my favorites from this year. (OWN) "Midnight Rider" - Gregg Allman / "Laid Back" (1973) "Well, I've got to run to keep from hidin' And I'm bound to keep on ridin' And I've got one more silver dollar But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me." This sultry groove thing is a timeless killer.  One of my all-time favorite songs.  And definitely my favorite version.  The album is really good as well.  I remember finding a near-mint copy in the dollar bin and I pic...

(4 For Friday) *   This is pretty cool seeing actors and actresses  hanging out with role characters  they made famous. *   The very coolest baseball  slide across home plate  ever. *  Imagine if  cartoon characters were human beings dressed like us. *   Twenty random facts that might be a little surprising .  Entertaining at the least. "That's Me Trying" - William Shatner - "Has Been" (2004) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"Os Mutantes" - Os Mutantes (1968 - Rei 2007) Oh man, but is this ever a wonderful psychedelic spin.  So well done.  Two brothers and a female singer from Brazil made quite a stunning debut.  Very strong for 1968 and holds up extremely well.  Os Mutantes' self-titled square is deep pop psych at its finest.  Beautifully trippy with surprising sounds layered and dusted throughout.  In much the way the Sgt. Pepper shenanigans play with the head, so it does with "Os Mutantes."   But then when you add their exotic flavors to the pass-around rug, you have yourself a turntable treat.  I knew " Os Mutantes" was highly regarded, but I held off listening to it until I could actually spin it for myself.  And it really is an enjoyable spin.  This has become one of my more played albums this year, and I'm still dumbfounded at how this slipped through the cracks.  This is an essential grab for any psych collection. "Os Mutantes" - O...