John Cale “Vintage Violence”

Pop

Vintage Violence

I was listening to a Paul McCartney album the other day, thinking about how when you listen to his solo work, you can then go back and hear just what his contributions were to the Beatles. More likely, you don’t even have to go back, if the Beatles albums are as ingrained into your head as they should be. We get that same opportunity with John Cale and the Velvet Underground, listening to Cale’s brilliant Vintage Violence.

Granted, John Davies Cale left the VU after finishing their second album, but you can tell they missed out on a good thing. This record, unlike the surprising cover would imply, is a perfect pop gem. You might think you’d be getting into a full LP’s worth of Sister Ray type viola droning and electric mayhem, but Cale proves he’s got mad pop song skills to match his solid, driving piano stomping.

No doubt some of these songs should have been hits. That’s what we’re here for though; I’ve got ten bucks that says a song from this album ends up in the next Wes Anderson film (editors note: fail), and if I had to pick one I’d probably go with Amsterdam, certainly a competitor to The Zombs’ The Way I Feel Inside.

If you are into Brian Eno this is going to be very essential for you. John Cale would go on to create more wonderful music and produce some seriously classic albums, so get started here.

“Big White Cloud”

Available At Amazon

The Idle Race “Birthday Party”

Pop,Psych

Birthday Party

The Idle Race’s “Birthday Party” is one of the great, neglected English pop albums. This was Jeff Lynne’s first album from 1968, although he had released some singles in earlier beat era bands. Even at this stage of the game, his refreshing melodies and lyrics were fully developed and realized and as a songsmith he was superb.

The Birthday Party is an unusual British pop album loaded with strange sound effects, buzzing mellotrons, tinkling harpsichords, great harmonies and the like. Lucky Man, I Like My Toys, and Pie In The Sky are joyously trippy, similar in tone to the Blossom Toes great first album, but maybe even better.

The album strongly recalls early Pink Floyd, late 60’s Kinks (just listen to Don’t Put Your Boys In The Army) and the early Move in the best possible way while keeping a strong flavor of originality. Even the ballads, like the heavily phased On With The Show are great listening, speaking of English life and its trials and tribulations. And then there is Morning Sunshine, one of the most beautiful English psychedelic pop ballads ever.

Anyone interested in the evolution of ELO or even fans of the Move, Kinks or Beatles should seriously check this one out!!

mp3: “Morning Sunshine”

Worth the Price of Admission

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band “Safe as Milk”

Art,Psych,RnB

Safe as Milk

We’ll be coming back to the more wild Beefheart stuff here in the future, but I thought we should start here. In case you don’t already know, the Captain’s got a hell of a voice. Kind of a Howlin’ Wolf tribute and Tom Waits rival. The best part of his singing, though, are the bits that squeak out in between words; his breathing has a sonic quality all its own.

Safe as Milk is a real winner, a very accessible debut for a band whose later album, Trout Mask Replica, tends to confuse a lot of first time listeners. But this is before the days of Zappa, Antennae Jimmy Semens, and Zoot Horn Rollo and features a straighter, tighter Magic Band.

Not to say it won’t blow you away. Apparently this one was John Lennon’s favorite album in 1967. The first track hooks any listener, and nobody can ignore that overpowering vocal. Kickass guitar lines and tight rhythm n’ blues. But a hint of psychedelia; just wait til they get to Trout Mask! Try this one first, it’s a winner!

Also of certain note, in the movie, High Fidelity, Jack Black won’t sell a record to this poor guy who isn’t cool enough for him, but he sells it for $40 to his friend when he leaves. This is that record.


“Plastic Factory”

Abba Zaba!

Captain Beefheart

Gandalf (self-titled)

Psych

Gandalf

If you couldn’t tell from the album cover, or the Lord of the Rings band name reference, then I’ll just tell you – Gandalf is trippy, dude.

First of all, if you are into The Zombies, this album is essential for you. Just imagine The Zombs with a slower tempo and a big dangerous tape delay pedal. Also, Tim Hardin fans are going to have to pick this one up for the few tracks written by the mad folkster himself. The singing is delicate and light over slow deep bass grooves, but the band has the knack for swirling into this big dangerous sounding beat.

Like most properly psychedelic albums of this era, this one isn’t for everybody, but if you are feeling adventurous I would check it out. DJ’s will find a few good tracks from here that will fill out their set with the soulful psychedelia it’s been missing.

“Me About You”

“Nature Boy”

Buy Gandalf ‘the Technicolored‘

T. Rex “Tanx”

Pop,Power

Tanx

If you love Electric Warrior and Slider then you’ll like like Tanx a lot!! For me, Marc Bolan has one of the greatest rock voices of the time. I don’t know what he was putting in his tea between 1971-1973, peppermint jasmine awesome, perhaps?

Tanx picks up right where Slider left off and even broadens the band’s sound adding horns and back up singers throughout the record. This album also serves as a perfect self confidence booster when you get ready to go out on a Friday Night, but don’t get too sexy!

In a way Tanx is a farewell album, mostly because the band would soon start to dismember, and Bolan would go on to make on a few more records that no one would listen to. Please do not let the ridiculousness of the album cover fool you, it’s a great listen; Bolan looks like a member of Gwar on the cover, no?

“Mister, Mister”

I too, was Born to Boogie

T. Rex

Electric Light Orchestra “Eldorado”

Art,Pop

Eldorado

If any album cover has begged/hinted to its listeners to watch the “Wizard of Oz” while listening to the record it’s this one, right? I haven’t done it but I bet it’s awesome. Why? Because anything involving Eldorado is awesome. Also check out The Wizard of Oz, it’s about this girl who gets caught in a tornado and well I don’t want to spoil the rest¦..

Jeff Lynne considers Eldorado the first album that accomplished the sound he had set out to make when starting ELO. Some even call it the Sgt. Pepper’s of their career. For me, it’s their best album, if you twist my arm, I might say, Face the Music but since you’re not I’m sticking with Eldorado. It’s start to finish fantastic, it even has a reprise at the end which always makes us think we’ve come full circle and that we may have missed the bigger picture. It marks the beginning of ELOs string of super albums (Eldorado, Face The Music, New World Record).

“Boy Blue”

Eldorado at Amazon

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado

The Who “Sell Out”

Concept Albums,Pop

Sell Out

I often wish I had a chance to go back and rediscover the discographies from some of the classic groups, namely The Kinks, The Boys and The Who! Discovering Who Sell Out for the first time is a dearly missed experience.

If you are one of the lucky ones without any early Who albums, you are going to have a magnificent time checking out My Generation and A Quick One, but you will probably have the most fun with Sell Out.

The tunes on this concept album are linked with wonderful PAMS Radio London jingles and ad spoofs that are just as memorable as the tunes themselves. Although, it’s hard to compete with the scorching I Can See For Miles. Something about the way this song is framed here really makes it cook compared to hearing it on the radio or a Who’s best of.

Other fun bits include scattered musical hints of the masterpiece rock opera to be, Tommy, a Townshend-led version of Hall Of The Mountain King, and a good bunch of songs that make a perfect full-listen when you’ve got the time.

It’s available at a stunningly low price at the link below and comes in a nicely remastered package. Buy what The Who sells! You won’t regret it.

“Odorono”

It’s Smooth Sailing With The Highly Successful Sound Of Wonderful Radio London

The Who - The Who Sell Out

Steven Stills “Manassas”

Country Rock

Manassas

Check out the album cover. Now, that, is boss! It’s kind of grungy, got every player’s name just as big as the title; it’s almost as if they decided to call the album Manassas because it happened to already be on the photograph. To me, it says, “Look, the 60s are over, we’re not making some artsy album, we just got a kick-ass crew here and we’re going to play it straight up for ya.” Yup, got to give it up for that classic album cover.

I figured this would be a good album with which to introduce the country rock angle of this here blog. But Manassas (technically the band and album name) goes a bit beyond simple categorization here. The album is divided into 4 parts, as briefly described below:

The Raven
Imagine you walk into a bar, and the dudes pictured above are all rocking. Yeah, ok, great, another bar band. But as soon as you order your beer and take your first sip, you suddenly realize you’re not blabbing on as usual, and nobody else is either, because the whole audience, yourself included, is entranced with the bar band, who, to your ultimate surprise, has been teaching your heart to pump to a new rhythm.

The Wilderness
Where I’m from, the kids used to say the same thing all the time: “I like all music… except for classical and country of course.” Hate to say I may have been one of them, but things changed when I finally caught the country bug… and my music collection started to get a lot better too. If you find the need to skip this whole section, basically straight-forward bluegrass and country music, the album is still worth your while, but I wouldn’t skip this part for my life, nor would I recommend skipping it.

Consider
This is the part you want to be driving on the open road with. By the time we get to How Far, it starts to feel like a folk-tinged shadow of the first section, but by now we’re firm believers. Damn, I’m glad I got this album, we say. And we keep driving on with that long-reaching look in our eye.

Rock & Roll is Here to Stay
And just when we thought we had made it, Manassas puts the nail in the coffin. Just in case you were braindead for the previous fifty minutes, the 8:00 minute Treasure is here and will serve to remind you what is going on.

Typically, an album this ambitious just couldn’t be good. No way could they pull it off. But, damn it all, Manassas really hits the spot, and it sounds great today. It’s hard to imagine rock music that makes you feel so good it’s like you already knew the tunes, but this is it.

“Anyway”

Go on and Get it

Stephen Stills - Manassas

Todd Rundgren “A Wizard, A True Star”

Pop,Power,Psych

A Wizard, A True Star

The suits at Warner Bros must’ve been scratching their heads with this one. Following the success of Something/Anything, Todd Rundgren was well on his way to becoming a superstar but he had something else in mind. The title of this album shows his wariness of his new found success. If Something/Anything was delicious bubble gum then A Wizard A True Star is delicious bubble gum with glass in it and Rundgren makes you like the taste of your own blood.

This album is the first of several of his more Zappa-esque experimental albums and an example of Todd refusing to stay in one genre (don’t worry, in 9 years he’ll write Bang On the Drum All Day which will remain on the radio until “Tubthumping” replaces it). A Wizard A True Star, is a bit of a slap in the face to his record label and a little self indulgent at times but the bottom line is that it works. It’s refreshing to look back at a time when musicians would turn their back on success and do whatever they wanted to musically before this behavior became cliche and annoying. (Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah! I ˜m looking in your direction). wink

This album deserves a few listens so be patient with it, there’s actually a lot of sincerity behind it and even a tribute to Motown! Your homework for the week is to listen to A Wizard, A True Star at least once a day in it’s entirety. Who knows? You might find a hit or two¦.make a game out of it, whoever finds the most hits wins!!!

“When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd”

Wizard For Sale

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star

Nilsson “Aerial Pandemonium Ballet”

Pop

Aerial Pandemonium Ballet

My friend actually got mad at me for not telling him about this album sooner. I had always thought it was one of those private albums, that you love but don’t really mention to anyone. But, as it turns out, this one is best shared.

So here it is, ladies and gentleman, may I present, in the center ring, Nilsson! And his mash-up album (way ahead of its time), Aerial Pandemonium Ballet. When Harry hit it big with The Point! and his rendition of Freddy Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin‘ practically scored the entirety of Midnight Cowboy, he went back in the vaults and re-released his first two albums (Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet), only mixed together as one.

Nilsson was the Beatles’ favorite American recording artist and he pays them a fitting tribute in the bonus tracks with “You Can’t Do That” which every Beatles fan MUST hear. Also, I heard once that Mr. Richland’s Favorite Song was about John Lennon but I’m not sure if this is true; this was recorded well before the lost weekend.

Can’t recommend this one enough, especially if you haven’t yet heard Harry’s beautiful three-octave crooning or his cyclical songwriting skills. Some folks think the original two albums are better, which is fine, but this must be the first mash-up! Go Nilsson.

“Without Her”

One is a Number Divided By Two