The College Crowd Digs Me

"Living In A Ghost Town" - Rolling Stones (10" single 2020) The first Covid lockdown.  There was an "all for one, one for all" kind of spirit that circled around us.  However brief.  An emergency that so often brings out the best.  Sadly, that was a castle built with sand.  And for a lot of reasons.  But for a moment, that spirit was real.  That's what I choose to remember.  That...and how stark the streets became.  Like walking into a Twilight Zone.  No one about.  Nothing moved.  Even the animals were hiding.   And it could have been anyone writing a song about this.  But it was The World's Greatest Rock And Roll Band that the world needed to address what we were all feeling.  And they did it pretty good.  It's not their greatest, and yet, it's perfect.  I spun the record exactly two times.  The second spin was to rip it and have it available to listen to whenever I wanted.  And I wa...

"The Natch'l Blues" - Taj Mahal (1968) Much like his first album,  Taj Mahal's  follow-up... "The Natch'l Blues" ...sounds like everyone just grabbed a piece of porch, kicked off their shoes, and got busy.  Working his resonator guitar like an ice cream scoop, Taj  along with a fine bunch of musicians, deliver another fun and easy-to-settle into blues square. I'm not a big blues connoisseur.  Johnny and Rory.   B.B . and, of course, Taj are my go-to's.  And I don't grab everything.  I'm not a completist.  But certain albums from each of these blues greats have become my candy when I need a fix.  And Taj Mahal's first two, released in the same year...1968...are must-grab in my limited book of spins. "The Natch'l Blues" - Taj Mahal (back) Favorites include the 7-minute always play... " Done Changed My Way Of Living."   The harp-painted  "She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride"  is a fine fr...

(4 For Friday) *   A surfer rescued from getting his swimmer's ass served up to him courtesy of a monster wave!    *   Here is a short Halloween Safety PSA directed by Herk Harvey (filmmaker of the very cool horror classic..."Carnival Of Souls"). *   The 100 greatest TV shows ever according to Rolling Stone .  Some you expect.  Some not even close!  But there's a short blurb about each one making the list interesting to peruse. *   The famous "Scream" painting in gif form. "99 Red Balloons" - Nena / "Nena" (1984) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK  

"Montgomery Chapel" - The Search Party (1969 - Rei 2015) This is a 'religious' psych-rock album.  Christian in nature.  And it's really good.  In 1969, The Search Party were getting their Jesus on...but their message is not delivered in an obnoxious heavy-handed manner.  In fact, if you were never told about the genre...well...you would never have guessed.  The music is West Coast familiar with haunting psych-folk ethereal trippiness one moment and heavy fuzzed-out acid rips another.   There are a couple of weaker tracks, but mostly "Montgomery Chapel" is a heady, mind-borrowing groove thing.  It's all quite a hypnotic and unexpected mystery how the musical journey gradually unfolds from needle drop to label.  Some accidental magic is how I choose to explain it.  It happened.  Only 600 copies were originally pressed.  I'd love to own one, like that will ever happen.  But in the meantime, this 2015 reissue is a nice squa...

(4 For Friday) *   30 interesting and seldom seen  photos you might enjoy perusing .  Several are pure gold. *   A welcome reminder on how to block those stupid unwanted phone texts. *  Ronnie and Donnie are American siamese twins who have been together quite a long time.  No pun intended. *   Take a look at 15 celebrities in their high school yearbooks and guess which one was always late for class. "Boogie Night" - Heat Wave / "Too Hot To Handle" (1977) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK 

(a short jaunt) "The Nazz Are Blue" - The Yardbirds / "Roger The Engineer" (1966) "I got a hundred and fifty things, now all I gotta find is you. And if the Nazz don't help me, baby you better forget about me too." I get it.  This is just a basic blues rock jam.  But  Jeff Beck makes it sound popping dough fresh right out of the oven.  I have no idea if Beck is the one singing, but if so...he gott'er done.  The UK album, "Roger The Engineer" ...was released as "Over Under Sideways Down" in the States.  Minus a couple of songs.  This one for sure.  Good Lord, why?!  This was their third US album. (NEED) "Liverpool 8" - Ringo Starr / "Liverpool 8" (2008) "Liverpool, I left you, said goodbye to Madryn Street. I always followed my heart, and I never missed a beat. Destiny was calling, I just couldn't stick around. Liverpool, I left you, but I never let you down." At a certain age, a sweet, simpl...

"Nutz" - Nutz (1974 ) "Nutz" was a blind buy I made at a swapmeet last year.  It was kinda dry that day and I just wasn't finding much.  The album had an $8 price tag.  The cover was an eye-catcher and the band on the back looked cool enough so I picked it up.  The dealer sold it to me for $5 so the blind-buy risk was negligible and home she went.  Turns out, the square was a tasty guitar-driven mid-70s hard rock spin.  There was also sort of a light prog-pop undercurrent that gave everything an interesting flavor.  Subtle, not jarring. "Nutz" - Nutz (back) The band hails from Liverpool and this was their eponymous debut.  The AMG gives the band 4 stars and that might be a "little" high...but what makes the album work so well is the variety of ideas and attacks that keep the listener unbored.  The album should have been FM radio fodder, but it just didn't happen.  Even touring with some of the more successful bands of the era did li...

"Julie Is Her Name" - Julie London (1955) "Julie Is Her Name"  is a late-night album spin.  The music throws a quiet and smoldering drowsy-cool aura in the air.  Julie London sings her words with pillows and lace.  No fluttering up and down the scales like a runaway alphabet.  No screaming high notes.  No high-roof bellowing.  Just words being sung in a soft whispery timbre that gently takes the kinks out of your tight stressed muscles.  And that's the awesome guitarist Barney Kessel floating accompaniment out into the great unknown.  Simply a nice square to play, whether alone or for background mood. And some of you might think you don't need this one.  But I'm telling you, you do.  "Julie Is Her Name" is like a time machine that'll make you feel like you're in an old Bob Hope picture finding yourself dreamy-eyed and goo-goo over a lovely songstress in a lounge somewhere singing her life story...and you wanting to be her hero....

"Satori" - Flower Travellin' Band (1971 - Rei 2021) We sometimes forget there were other bands from other places bringing the thunder and lightning.  In this instance, the Japanese metal-crushing... Flower Travellin' Band ...were blowing out windows.  If you like the early sounds of heavy metal with a psych crunch, the band's second album "Satori"  will be a mind-pleaser. Flower Travellin' Band were doing it, man, and doing it with their own style of wrecking ball trippage.  "Satori" is a psych-twisted heavy rock square.  Gloom-dusted and lightly prog-seasoned.  And all with a unique and delicious oriental exclamation.  Dropping the needle on "Satori" will call to mind a couple of other bands that were blowing up around the same time.  Spin this and you'll know.  But they ain't copy-cats.  Just influenced.  And the album holds up still. "Satori" - Flower Travellin' Band (back) Of the five tracks on ...

(4 For Friday) *  When the "Godzilla" movie soundtrack failed to include Blue Oyster Cults' definitive version of the song, the band responded with an awesome tongue-in-cheek parody..."Nozilla "... to throw back in their faces.  And it's fantastic!  *   Check out these 44 interesting and unusual historical photographs .  Really good stuff. *  Beavis and Butthead spend a minute explaining autotune .  This never gets old. *   A workout illusion that has one fella scratching his head. "Look Again" - Steely Crue mix (2022) Good stuff. Casey Chambers Follow Me On FACEBOOK