The College Crowd Digs Me

Here are 5 songs that were meant to be witnessed.  Something's happening.  Entertaining magic.  Your ears will love it, but your eyes will love it more.  ~Horsehead "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse ("Ragged Glory" tour 1991) I get it. A thousand times five you've heard this song.  But this particular performance is a bookmark.  One of those magical spells when the music and the audience become one. Neil Young and Crazy Horse play it crunchy, ...but this time, it is the collective mind of the rock crowd that carries the freight to a whole other level. In this joyful juxtaposition of Rock...in a little over five minutes, the audience becomes the teacher...leaving Neil Young, wearing his Elvis Presley t-shirt, very little doubt the imprint his rock-n-roll stones have cast. "So What" - Miles Davis (The Robert Herridge Theater, NY - April 2, 1959) I'm still amazed how cool early television could actual...

"Screams in the night...  sirens delight." ~ Blue Oyster Cult ~ Like all great bands and big bad wolves, Blue Oyster Cult will come and blow your house right the fawck down.  They can thunder your windows.  Speedmetal your doors.  But just as likely, they will have already slithered inside.  Slipped through the cracks in the wall.  Lying in wait.  Waiting.  Inside your dark closet.  Behind your bathroom curtain.  Underneath your safe cozy bed.  And it's there where Blue Oyster Cult will bleed you.  They didn't sing so much about the pompatus of love.  Or heaven and hell.  But about reapers and vampires.  Monsters, abductors and screamers. That was their job. Sure, the Boys in the BOC... Joe Bouchard, Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Buck Dharma, Allen Lanier ...could always get right smack in your face.  But they also enjoyed the subtle play and plunder before the confrontation.  They h...

7 Favorite  Books  I  Read  In  2016 Every book is a new book if you haven't read it yet!  And so, let us begin. "Doctor Sleep" - Stephen King (2013) ...I was just sure I knew how "The Redrum Kid" would turn out.  And, honestly, I was expecting King to fuck it up.  I mean, why play Jenga with The Shining anyway.  But I was wrong on both counts.  Now look, I don't know if I'll ever catch-up with the human printing press...but Lordy, ain't it fun trying. "Unbroken" - Laura Hillenbrand (2010) ...Holy Schnikes! How much shit can the human spirit handle?  Page-turning non-fiction about WWII survival and POW brutality.  Truly inspiring and hard to imagine. "Zero Cool" - John Lange (aka Michael Crichton) (1969)...This is pulpish fiction from early Crichton.  A slice of pulp, now and then, is great for occasionally breaking up the more pompous-ass novels that require just a tad more effort....

"Warning... Warning..." ~ Gypsy ~ Gypsy should be a classic rock staple everywhere.  The band had been fine-tuning their musical talents nightly, feasting on overlong house band hours before finally hitting the studio to record their 1970 self-titled debut. By this time, Gypsy was well-oiled and well-tested. And it showed. It was album rock with a shot of prog.  Cosmic vocals and harmonies with hits of jazz-psych.  Together, you have an almost majestic album. The band quickly followed with two more albums of equally enjoyable tracks while touring the world with songs just begging classic rock radio crankage.  By their fourth, and final album, Gypsy was long past frustrated and direction-torn. I was lucky to discover Gypsy while killing time on a recent vinyl-dig.  It was a total blind buy, struck by the beautiful album cover.  As any vinyl enthusiast will quickly tell you, there isn't a much better feeling than dropping the needle on a blin...

"...keep making music with conviction and passion and hope for the best." ~ Bob James ~ The smooth jazz genre has had more than its share of eye-rolling albums that got rushed into stores by maypop musicians hoping to cash in.  All air. No substance. Bob James doesn't play that.  This is the good stuff.  When it comes to smooth jazz...Bob James knows how to ice a cake. Whether solo or surrounded by jazz cronies, Bob has never...ever...kept his Fender Rhodes keyboard on a short leash. Bob James is 76 now.  At least that's what he claims it says on his passport.  He's a multi-Grammy award winner.  And for over 40 years, Bob's success and longevity can be seen and heard, not just from his own albums or the abundant work he's laid down with other artists...but within the hip-hop community, as well.  Yes, Bob James' work has become somewhat of a "go-to sample cabinet" for DJs and hip-hop producers. Bob continues to create inspiring jazz...

Let's do the Pandora Shuffle... ...and see what the fates allow. "Veracruz" Warren Zevon Excitable Boy (1978) I think God created Warren Zevon to help us all learn a bit of history and geography.  You know he's going to drop a name or place in somewhere...and I've come to appreciate his cultural awareness.  In this instance...the Spanish Civil War...delivered in an achingly beautiful Zevon way. Also, I believe he drops a pennywhistle into the arrangement. "Embraceable You" Barney Kessel Plays For Lovers (1953-1988) I have never met anyone that didn't like Barney Kessel...except for those who have not had the pleasure of hearing him play.  And that's a shame. "Sufficiently Breathless" Captain Beyond Sufficiently Breathless (1973) The title track has aged surprisingly well. Great arrangement. Has a groovy acoustic thing going on with a dusting of some tasty fuzz guitar. The group included member...

  "Elvis,  do you really want me to slap you?"  ~ Joan Staley ~     So my friends and I were talking about first crushes. First tv and movie crushes.  For me, it was easy.  It was Alma. (Joan Staley)   I broke into the double-digit age of 10 in 1993.  That was the summer I discovered my favorite Don Knotts movie while flipping thru cable one Saturday morning... "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." Everyone has seen it.  It was a funny haunted house story similar to an episode on Andy G. with a cast of familiar characters, trippy organ music, and the prettiest girl I had ever seen...Alma. She was beautiful alright.  I was love-stung so bad, I swear I could smell flowers coming out of the TV set.  And best of all, she was nice.  She didn't like the smart alec, the wise guy, or the show-off.  Alma was digging Luther (Don Knotts) and that just made her that much prettier.  And from then on... But unfortu...