The College Crowd Digs Me

"Atom Heart Mother" - Pink Floyd  (1970)     I found "Atom Heart Mother" ... Pink Floyd's  5th studio album...in the used bin with a $10 price tag and a warning... "Sleeve = Bad.  Record = Good."   I always like checking these kinds of albums out and this time I'm glad I did.  The front cover did have a wicked water stain in the top-right corner and the name "MIKE" was printed from a letter gun in blue and placed near the bottom.  (Someone obviously was tired of having records lifted from their stash.)  Damage is never a good thing to see on an album, but here's the thing.  This was a German pressing and import album covers hold up very well.  Seldom do they have seam splits or crumbly spines.  And fortunately, both these rules held true. Next, I checked out the vinyl.  I took out the square and the vinyl looked very clean.  Very nice.  The appearance doesn't always mean what you hope for, but I could see ...

"Slow Train Coming" - Bob Dylan (1979)    "Slow Train Coming" was Bob Dylan's 19th studio album and the last album he released in the 1970s.  It's described as Dylan's first Christian album, and I avoided the record for, like, forever.  Yes, I dig the funky "Gotta Serve Somebody" but I'd never heard anything else from the album.  Nor did I care to.  Not because of the Christian sentiments.   I'm a Christian.  By faith, not proof.  I waver and wobble, but that's the road I've chosen to take.  No, the reason I avoided "Slow Train Coming" was because I've always found Christian albums to be very milquetoast.  Lame and cliched.  And ultimately boring.   But this ain't like any Christian album I've ever heard before! When I dropped the needle on this puppy, I was flummoxed!    "Slow Train Coming" is a surprisingly strong hoss.  No kidding.  The square has a funky Muscle Shoals breeze all ov...

"Ssssh." - Ten Years After (1969)     Ten Years After were four British blues rock guys that brought a nice stoner rock, psych-dusted attitude to their albums.  Led by guitar-bleeding Alvin Lee , Ten Years After could break the balls of the best of them.  "Ssssh." is a good example of the kind of blues rock that doesn't suck.  These guys weren't flashy, but they could play big.  And this one is a stoner's massage that spreads out in a variety of directions that sound anything but mundane.  No needle lifts are necessary. "Ssssh." was an album I'd been actively seeking out.  And is probably my favorite after "Cricklewood Green" and "A Space In Time."   In fact, their first six albums are pretty consistent, low-risk purchases.  Surprisingly, and this might sound a little blasphemous to some fans, I found the TYA Woodstock performance rather generic and boring.  But just one month after the Woodstock rain party, they ...

"I just always have played music.  For better   or worse, I banked my whole life on it." ~ Henry Lee Summer ~     It's strange how music lets you travel through time as if there truly was no time.  I played the shit out of this album growing up.  Nothing deep or complicated.  Nothing outta bounds.  Nothing to get hung about.  It's deceptively simple.  But here's the thing... Henry Lee Summer  is serving aces all over this heartland square. This is the 35th anniversary of Henry Lee Summer's self-titled album and this one falls under that sweet spot between raucous and chill.  It's a large cup of iced coffee with a nice soulful blend.  Not usually my type of go-to and yet this album easily fills a void I didn't know I had.  Let this spin be your own private Idaho.  " Check it out, Leroy!"   Henry Lee Summer... Go get you some. Henry Lee Summer Interview -- August 2023 Henry Lee Summer Casey Cha...