The College Crowd Digs Me

Something's Burning... and I got nuttin'! 1.   Just 3 days after "Sgt Pepper..." dropped, Jimi Hendrix learned it and opened his show with this little ditty. "SPLHCB" - Jimi Hendrix Experience December 22, 1967 2.   Can you name the Neil Young Songs  off these albums released before 1980? My score was 30/95.  (I crapped out. Just couldn't think!) 3.   I think Pink Floyd's... "Animals" ...is a tremendously underrated album and one of my "go-to" records when I want to hit the lights and unwind.  At Neptune Pink Floyd ...they share a few early outtakes from "Animals".  It's exciting hearing the small changes that would be made as each song evolved. Checkout... Neptune Pink Floyd 4.   I've read one of'em.  Own another that's on my "to-read" list.  And the other two sound worthy of a few late nights. 4 Books To Scare The Life Out Of You 5.   Stevie Wright was an Australian rock...

"Breakdown nearly every day. Shoulda known ya couldn't get away." --> Cheap Trick <-- "Valley Of The Dolls" is a guilty pleasure. A favorite mistake that rewards in spite of itself. It's a groan-fest frothing with over-the-top acting and show-biz cliches. But I absolutely dug it! Partly because of the look and vibe...but mostly because the actors are so freaking sincere. Without spoilers, 3 young girls (one very sweet...one very ambitious...one not so talented) get schooled in the shag-nasty ways of show-business circa late 60's New York City. Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate, Patty Duke Barbara Parkins , I suppose, is the Dorothy on this yellow-brick road. Patty... "a hotdog makes her lose control" ...Duke is still a cutie. And Sharon Tate (who we all know from...well, you know) was considered a star on the rise. I've never been a huge fan of singer, Dionne Warwick , but she was the perfect choice singing the the...

" Brothers fight or fall It's man for man and one for all." ~ Thin Lizzy ~ In the earlier classic, "The Three Musketeers" ...the swashbuckling Fab Four (D'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos, & Aramis) were reveling in the thralls of Musketeer-mania. But now,  "Twenty Years After" finds our beloved swordsmen thrusting their poniards in conflicting directions.  They're still like brothers, sure...but they're also different men with different interests, personal and political.    It's a confusing time in France.  Tense civil unrest has the country divided and the guys are smack dab in the middle.   Someone from their past is bent on inflicting some vicious sword-spanking revenge.  And a slimy adviser to the throne is  manipulating their Queen like a pawn on a Parcheesi board.    All of which finds the Musketeers with their  butts against the bowl. At nearly 800 pages, Alexandre Dumas weaves a ...

"And they told me that I looked a fool  And I said I'd let that go." ~ It's A Beautiful Day ~ A band often forgotten when discussing the  San Francisco hippie headspin... It's A Beautiful Day made some wonderful moments of  f rock trippage. However, IABD had a slightly more  prog vibe going on.  David Laflamme's unique  electric violin and harmonica play and s inging partner, Patti Santos'   vocal harmonies  created a haunting experience that blended smoothly like a Jefferson Airplane/Moody Blues milkshake. Life-partner Linda Laflamme's lava lamp organ riffs are magical and mysterious giving arrangements a smart,  edgier ride.   Listening to classic rock radio, one would think "White Bird" was all It's A Beautiful Day  ever did.    It wasn't.   Explore, my babies, explore. Lost Gem:-->   "Hot Summer Day" ... A dreamy coffee shop mind-hang.  Gorgeous harmonica a...

I'm going to skip the obvious,  over-played,  Beatle cover choices and include 9 other favorite covers.  "She's A Woman" Jeff Beck Blow By Blow (1975) ...One of my fav Beck instrumentals...has a kinda kraut-funk vibe-atude with outstanding phrasing utilizing the talk-box to amazing effect. "I Am The Walrus" Oingo Boingo Farewell (1996) Crazy energy with the band completely onboard. Here's another clue for your fanny. The walrus is Danny.   "Tell Me Why" April Wine Power Play  (1982) Gentle mellowed-down stamp that was risky and shouldn't have worked so well...and I enjoy it as much as the original.   "What Goes On" Sufjan Stevens This Bird Has Flown  (2005) Took my least favorite Beatle song...and turned it into something beautiful and quite inspired.   "Within You Without You" Sonic Youth Daydream Nation  (deluxe 2007) ...

Doing the Pandora shuffle. Check 5...and see what the fates allow. "Breaking All The House Rules" Budgie Bandolier (1975) A shame Budgie never broke.   This has good green riffage with heavy foot on the accelerator.  Starts the night with a shot. " Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall" Paul Simon The Paul Simon Songbook (1965) This was recorded in England apart from Garfunkel.  Maybe he was considering not to return. Nice gentle song that I've already forgotten.  Still, Paul was always a solo act...even as a duo.  Press play for affirmation. " Bouncing Around The Room" Phish Lawn Boy  (1990) Phish serves up worm jam for the mind that allows you to float downstream. This one's a signature.  The studio version is great.  But LIVE is the way to go. " Stone Free" Captain Beyond Live in Texas October 6, 1973 A really good Hendrix cover...but the sound is a little muddled.  Still it sho...

" if you're cosmic'ly conscious... you'll see." ~ Beach Boys ~ The Beach Boys were kinda funny, weren't they?  Not funny ha-ha...but "shake-your-head" funny. They created some of the most exhilarating music of the '60s...and then "Sgt. Pepper" comes along and before you could say "Mr. Kite" ...the Beach Boys were an oldies act. I exaggerate, but not much.  My point is they were still making really good music ...just nobody was hearing it.   Go back and listen.  They never were the Beach Boys ...really.  They were simply boys the world wouldn't let grow up. Lost Gem:-->   "Funky Pretty" ...the final track on "Holland" (1973) ...is filled with unusual lead vocal changes all over the place and has a groove that is simultaneously infectious and gritty . It takes a hard-left from their familiar sound but with a road-map arrangement that is still trademark Brian . Brian would sadly le...