The College Crowd Digs Me

"She's an overnight sensation after twenty-five years." ~ Drive-By Truckers ~ Drive-By Truckers deliver up refreshing "new century" southern rock. Well-written songs...terrifically gritty with a heart-strong urgency to bring it. Their album... "Decoration Day" (2003) is a favorite...and ended up on several... "best of" lists . DBT are good...and don't they love proving it! Lost Gem:--> "Hell No I Ain't Happy" ...is an on-the-road bluesy thunder-bucket of rock-n-roll .  And the expressive title catch-phrase makes for a dandy crank-it-up & pop-another-beer sing-a-long . Have you heard this gem? There’s a lot of bad wood underneath the veneer She’s an overnight sensation after twenty five years Sharp fast curves, power steering unroll that twenty, buy me some beer Ain’t too bad, too bad at all, pick up the phone if I ever call Hell No, I ain’t Happy. There’s a purdy little girl outside ...

"The maids are in the hallway  bangin' on the door askin' what the funny smell was. " --> Joe Walsh <-- Wichita breeze... Joe Walsh ...was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998...as a member of The Eagles. But most Classic Rock aficionados agree, Joe's earlier work as leader of the legendary James Gang ...and... Barnstorm , along with several accomplished solo albums should easily provide more than enough cred for induction on his own merits. Once you factor in his achievements as a producer , along with the ticker-tape list of session work he's done over the years.... and I guess ol' Joe can make as many goofy guitar faces as he wants while laughing all the way to the RnR Hall of Mugs...I mean Fame. Forever adored by his Wichita, Kansas family... Joe Walsh is the real mccoy. Accept no substitute. Lost Gem:--> "Time Out" ...from Walsh's first solo album... "So What" (1974) ...has that ...

"Sign upon the bloody line.  A drop of yours, a drop of mine." --> Alice Cooper <-- Sometimes people forget. Maybe it's all his hobnob golfing. Maybe it's his friendly classic rock radio program. Or maybe it's because he once allowed himself to be tenderized by the dangerous...Muppets! I get it. Alice Cooper is a nice guy. But DO remember this. On stage... Alice Cooper is an original Rock and Roll bad ass! Long before there was a Marilyn Manson...Kiss...or...Rob Zombie, there was Alice. For over 40 years, he has been delightfully creeping us out. Trapping his fans in an unsettling Rock and Roll web. Both musically and theatrically...Alice is (and always will be) the "Showman of Nightmares" . Embarrassingly overlooked by the  RnR HoF , Alice Cooper was finally inducted in 2011. LOST GEM:--> "Nothing's Free" ..is from a must own and highly underrated... "The Last Temptation" (1994).   The band   s...

"I danced myself right out the womb. Is it strange to dance so soon?" --> T. Rex <-- "The Time Machine" -   H.G. Wells   (1895) ...is a classic sci-fi tale about a gentleman discussing his latest invention with a small and unbelieving group of dinner guests. Of course this intricate contraption is called...a time machine. (btw...the 'time machine' term we have all become familiar with was first coined by Wells .) The inventor tells of his strange traveling experiments that carried him off into the future where he finds himself way the 'H' in the 81st century. H.G. Wells H.G. Wells' thought provoking ideas on evolution are worthy of discussion...and appreciating the fact this novel was written nearly 120 years ago makes it all-the-more amazing. Long before our man Gene-O was writing about explorers " boldly going where no man had gone before " ...legendary sci-fi author, H.G. Wells was dreaming of doing a litt...

"And I had begun to doubt  all the things that were me." --> Jim Croce <-- Jim Croce's breakout album was "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" (1972) ...with the uptempo title track being his radio debut single. Three tracks from this album would become radio staples. The next year, Croce's follow-up record... "Life and Times" (1973) quickly went gold with another three singles taking over the airwaves. He had just finished recording the album... "I Got A Name" ...that same year with plans of a holiday release. Barely a week out of the studio, after doing a show in Louisiana, Jim and longtime partner Maury Muehleisen would tragically be involved in a fatal plane crash. Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen Made no difference whether you were a bruising truck driver or a scared young boy with a broken heart.   Redneck or longhair...it didn't matter. He was one of us and he was singing our life. LOST GEM:--> ...

"Impossibility. Impissibolity." --> Black Sabbath <-- "Born Again" (1983) is a pretty good Black Sabbath album...but receives even higher marks as a post-Ozzy album. Ronnie James Dio had a good run as the first Ozzy replacement. (four albums...the first one being diamonds.). But near the end of his tenure... Dio (may he RIP) was sounding a wee-bit tired and uninspired. Hence he cut bait. This allowed legendary screamer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple to be brought into the fold...(this move caused a nasty backlash from Sabbath fans...Dio wizards...and Deep Purple purists!) After one album... Gillan left. However, Gillan's banshee vocals wailing atop classic Sabbath thunder riffs sometimes worked. The album deserved better. LOST GEM:--> "Zero The Hero" ...is dark, heavy and catchy. Tony Iommi fires off blistering riffs and solos ...while Ian Gillan 's vocals give the song a fresh twist of metal magic. Nicely done. H...

"Offered us his hospitality but of course... we were too busy." --> The Embarrassment <-- The Embarrassment (Embos to their fans) were four young guys who seemed to have dropped through a weird..." CBGB Time Crack" ...that borned them smack dab in the middle of ... Wichita, KS ? Freshly original, Embarrassment were off-center but always on target, making music that connected with the stressed-out and the left-out. They were penguins on the prairie. They were kool. Casey Chambers...In the daytime...In the sunshine. LOST GEM:--> "Wellsville" ...a great roadtrip song with snapping drumbeats and bass runs. Snaggly guitar trim from Bill Goffrier almost disguises vocalist John Nichols' regret of rushing through life. Have you heard this gem? Driving fast down the road on the highway I guess so We stopped just past the Flint hills there's a sign it was Wellsville. Met a country man willing to lend a hand fix the ...