The College Crowd Digs Me

"Garage Country" - Uncle Ben's Remedy (2026 )       From various small towns of Western New York, Uncle Ben's Remedy delivers a satisfying square of edgy, poignant, rockin' alt-country, double-dipped in outdoor Americana sauce.  It's fun, and it's real.  The band sounds totally locked and loaded and make it sound easy, like a spatula working flapjacks.  Their latest album  "Garage Country"  dropped October 16, 2026, and it's a player.        "Garage Country" is filled with real fire and passion, casting out one winner after another, with some songs having an almost country-rock Drive-By Trucker vibe and a little Todd Snider wink.   But just a little.  UBR bring their own ball to the court, and the listener quickly knows they’re in good hands.  Tongue-in-cheek one minute, heart-on-sleeve the next, and a whole lot of raucous joy.   And as good as the musicianship is and it's solid, it's  Ben...

"Flash And The Pan" - Flash And The Pan (1979)      Here is a good cheapie I found at the Maize Record Show a few weeks ago.  I went with a psych album intent, and if I didn't find anything that popped my cork, I would at least leave with a couple of low-dollar fun finds.  And that's exactly what I did.  I found Flash And The Pan's self-titled debut album at "Garageman G's" table for a measly $3 and snagged it.  I'd heard "Hey, St. Peter" from this very album the night before on KSHE's playlist, a song I had always liked but completely forgotten about. And the kismet stars just lined up for me to find it the very next day.  Things like that happen to me from time to time.  And what a surprising treat.  Just excellent.         Only after taking it home, spinning the square, and reading about the band did I learn they had more than just a bit of music cred.   Harry Vanda  and  George Young, wh...

"Vagabonds Of The Western World" - Thin Lizzy (1973 )    My gateway album for Thin Lizzy was "Vagabonds of the Western World."   It's the one I heard first.  And listened to a lot.  I loved it then and still love it.  It doesn't have the familiar twin-guitar Lizzy sound that later studio albums would possess, and where the band did their real banking.  But "Vagabonds..." , their last album as a trio, is an incredible album in its own right.       Phil Lynott's songwriting is wonderful, as are his warm vocals and his bass playing, which is always a good time.  Phil Lynott,  with co-writers Eric Bell and Brian Downey, delivers the definitive macho jammer, "The Rocker," then turns around and kills us with his kindest of ballads, "Little Girl in Bloom," a song that offers so much hope.  It's a beautiful ballad…and his best.  Longtime drummer Brian Downey is on time as ever.   And the often underapprec...

"The Forest Of My Mind" - Paul Parrish (1968 )      This is all flowers, patches, peace, love, and maybe something to pass around while everyone is in...the forest.  Looking a bit like Freddie Mercury trying to decide what to bag up at the Nifty Nut House, Paul Parrish brings us a cool, groovy spin for the mind-palette.  Included in The Acid Archives , the album "The Forest Of My Mind" is filled with well-written songs, with good melodies and nice arrangements, each lightly dusted in various shades of psychedelic folk-pop bliss.  A cash-in of the lysergic variety, perhaps, but the album sounds much better than that.  Nothing on this square is a mind-blow.  Nothing here is deepy-deep by any means.  However, "The Forest Of My Mind" is presented in such good faith that the spin makes it nigh on impossible to stay in a bad mood.        Bonus still, it's a square that somehow gets better with each new listen....

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. One & Two Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1930)  Hardcover, 1122 pages NO SPOILERS:      The two volumes include 56 short stories and four novellas.  I began  The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume One flipping imaginary pages on my Paperwhite.  With Volume Two , I grabbed the hardback version. (see pic above.)  Either way, it was a blast getting to know these famous fictional characters - Sherlock Holmes and his bestest friend, Dr. Watson.   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sure had himself a winner when he began writing his Sherlock mysteries in 1886.  The stories are clever and don’t waste much time dancing around.  Each mystery is quickly set in motion.  No dawdling.  Just kick back and read how Detective Holmes uses his powers of deduction to the nines.  Plenty of details and suspense, and sometimes a laugh or two.           Sherlock is a one-of-a-kind ...

"Lyle Lovett" - Lyle Lovett (1986 )       "Closing time.  Unplug them people."   I've been a fan of Lyle Lovett ever since watching him on Austin City Limits.  As I recall, he performed several songs from this album.  He had the audience in his back pocket.  I also remember watching a clip of him performing at a small summer outdoor get-together, before his name meant anything, where some people half-listen and the other half do whatever.  It reminded me of doing comedy at nowhere bars where they kept the TV on while you're trying to get some laughs.  You just keep doing what you set out to do, telling yourself somebody's listening.  And that's just what Lovett did.  Sang his songs like he's selling fresh butter for hot biscuits.  His debut album sounds a lot like that.  Even when his tongue is firmly in cheek, we still hear echoes of truth.  Drop the needle at the end of a long day, and it's a deep sigh. ...

Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers, Vol. 1 Stan Lee (Writer), Jack Kirby (Illustrator) (2002) (First issues #1-10) Hardcover, 240 pages      It's all about the nostalgia.  Especially if you were a kid growing up in the early 60s.  But it's still enjoyable and entertaining, even if you weren't.  This Marvel Masterworks volume contains the first ten  issues of  The Avengers  comic book that  Marvel  created in 1963, in all  its colorful, innocent glory.   The  Marvel Masterworks  are hardbound, look and feel classy, and bring to mind the old Time/Life books many of your parents might have picked up, now collecting dust on their shelves.   These offerings can be pricey, but you can often find used volumes for much less.  And the dust jackets can be just as cool, holding Easter Eggs for those who take an extra moment to look.  If you tilt the book at a certain angle, famous comic book heroes a...

"Alamo" - Alamo (1971)      Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Alamo's eponymous one-and-done album jams off and rocks out with classic acid rock aplomb.  Under the wide umbrella of early Grand Funk attitude, the album feels different enough, with its own strut, energy, and confidence to keep it real.   I just luv this era of classic rock and "Alamo" is a killer album when you just want to leave some highway miles in your rearview mirror.  Excellent guitar wahs and fuzz and churning Hammond organ strike a wonderful balance that's easy to like and hard to shake.  And the drummer on this album is the pusherman.  Good solid jammin' throughout.      The vocals are raw and raspy, melding perfectly with whatever track the band lays down.  It has a familiar Terry Kath-like timbre that sells every word.  And though the eight songs on this early '70s square don't especially push the envelope, they still bring the he...

"2 Originals Of Neil Young" - Neil Young (1975 )      Here's an album you seldom see.  It's the first one I've ever come across, and I would've passed right over it if I'd not seen someone in the vinyl community hold one up.  The square is easy to overlook because the album doesn't give off much of a Neil Young vibe, but more of a K-Tel Records compilation kind of thing.  Whatever vibe the cover may be casting, it certainly doesn't scream "Cinnamon Girl" or "The Loner."   But if you left it behind, you'd be missing something rather unique.       As strange as the outside cover of  "2 Originals Of Neil Young"  may be,   open the inside gatefold,  and  you'll discover two actual Neil Young albums.   The first is  "Neil Young" (1968), and the second is "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" (1969) with Crazy Horse.   It's a cool and surprising mind-flip.      The album was pressed in Ger...

"Mystery Ride" - Bay Station (2026) (CD front and back)      Sometimes Bay Station strolls up to the house through the front gate.  Other times they come around to the back door, like familiar company often will do.  Led by alt-country singer-songwriters Deborah Crooks and Kwame Copeland , Bay Station's latest offering, "Mystery Ride," is a collection of songs that are Americana-warm with an almost progressive root-rock dusting.  Hailing from Alameda, California, Bay Station  makes for good company.      There's a lot of good stuff to be found here.  "And I remember the road that went on for miles. We were laughing so hard, we were leaping turnstiles." ~ "Missed Exit" is a wonderfully sweet memory of once-upon-a-time love.  "Such stillness down the canyon, just water in motion." ~ "57 Crows" ...about having one of those rare, amazing mind-rushes that hit you like a personal, private gift...in this case, catchin...

"Golden Earring" - Golden Earring (1970)       Golden Earring's eponymous album, sometimes referred to as the "Wall of Dolls" album (just look at the back cover), was already the Dutch rock band's sixth album, and yet it still left them virtually unknown in the States.  I mean, Golden Earring seems to have already lived a lifetime before the US ever caught wind of them.   That, of course, would finally happen  three years later  when the band dropped what would become their signature song,  "Radar Love,"  from the "Moontan" album.  However, this 1970 offering already sounds like fractured pieces from Classic Rock albums yet to come.  Very balanced in the spectrum.   It's not easy to find, but definitely one with plenty of bang-bang in the wax.       The album has everything I want.  It's a banger with driving guitar that rocks, but then can chill in much the way Zeppelin could mellow out w...

Tripwire by Lee Child (1999) Paperback, 581 pages NO SPOILERS:       Tripwire is the third novel in the Jack Reacher series, though you don't have to read them in order.  I certainly haven't.  I just grab one off a shelf and kick it.  And I have become seasoned to our all-powerful coffee-drinking hero, Jack Reacher.  Knowing that Reacher is always going to out-think and out-fight the bad guys in the end allows me to curl up with my own cup of "Chock Full…" and enjoy all the ass-kickery.  Lee Child's  page-turning concoctions are so much fun and just perfect to cleanse the palate between the more challenging novels I have on my reading list.      And that's not a knock on Lee Child , the brainstormer of all these page-turners.  I luv'em.  I mean, if it was easy, everyone would be mega-successful.  Here, Jack Reacher has been keeping it on the down-low, digging swimming pools in Florida, when he learns a strange...

"SAHB Stories" - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1976 )       The Sensational Alex Harvey Band  has always enjoyed adding a little slice of avant-garde to their sound.  A little twist to their lemons.   On  "SAHB Stories"  (pronounced "Sob Stories"),   however, the theatrics are toned down just a smidge, and yet the album still delivers more often than the midwives at the Nonnatus House.   Everybody came to the party, especially guitarist Zal Cleminson and bassist Chris Glen , who always seem to play off each other with such ease and chapeau.  "SAHB Stories,"  the band's sixth album, has it all and with no drop-off.   The riffage bangs right alongside  Alex Harvey's  tongue-in-cheek swag without any problems.  Add a little atmosphere and attitude, and you have yourself a  surprisingly strong hoss for being this deep in their discog rodeo.         The Sensational Al...