The Son Is Shining

One man has a spot on top of the blues world. He’s not a multi millionaire like Eric Clapton. He’s not covered by millions like Robert Johnson or Willie Dixon. He’s not considered the greatest guitar player to ever live like Jimi Hendrix or Page. In retrospect he didn’t see much fame at all until in his later years and not much then.  His name is Eddie James House Jr., more commonly known as the great Son House.

House was born on March 21, 1902 in Riverton Mississippi. By the age of 7 he and his mother left his father and moved to Tallulah, Louisiana. There a young Eddie House was determined to become a Baptist preacher and by the age of 15 he began his preaching career. He rejected the church’s firm stance against blues music; House was attracted to it and taught himself the guitar by his mid-20’s. Inspired by a traveling musician named Willie Wilson, Son House traveled around Mississippi and Tennessee with such legendary blues musicians such as Charley Patton,  Robert Johnson, Willie Brown and Fiddlin’ Joe Martin.

To give House more of a blues credibility he spent 2 years at the Parchment Farm State Penitentiary. He spent all of 1928 and 1929 in the prison after allegedly killing a man and receiving a 15 year sentence. The story goes Son House was working a juke joint one night when a man came in and started shooting everyone. House got shot in the leg then shot and killed the man. It was self defense but Son still did the time.

Son’s early recordings can be heard on Paramount in the 1930’s and later he was recorded by Alan Lomax for his Library of Congress recordings in 1941 and 1942.

After that he faded into black. He was rediscovered in the 1960 after the huge country blues revival. He was found after a long search in the Mississippi delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro. They could not find him in the delta but later found him in Rochester, New York where he has lived since 1943. He had been working for the New York Central Railroad there and hasn’t played music in years. He had no idea that so many great musicians had been listening to his early recordings and built a career from his style.

He toured frequently in the US and Europe as the revival was growing and growing. Playing the Newport Folk Festival alongside of Mississippi John Hurt, Rev Gary Davis, Bukka  White, Skip James, Mississippi Fred Mcdowell, etc. They were loved everywhere they played alongside such amazing artists as Bob Dylan, Pete Seegar, Joan Beaz, Dave Van Ronk, etc.

The success of the touring took a toll on House. He started having a drinking problem and it showed at the Newport Folk Festival one evening. A dear friend of his and great blues musician Howlin' Wolf was performing on stage. Son was horribly drunk and making a lot of noise off stage to a point where Wolf stop playing to tell House that all he cared about was whiskey. Also that he could have had a great career but he threw it all away.

Drinking really distorted his style and had an effect on how House played. He couldn’t play like he did on those field recordings by Alan Lomax. To help him out Producer John Hammond Sr. asked Canned Heat guitarist Alan Wilson, who was a huge Son House fan,  to teach Son House how to play like Son House. So Alan went to work and the result was the Columbia recording The Father Of The Delta Blues – The Complete 1965 Sessions.

House later moved to Detroit, Michigan where he retired once again in 1974. Ill health plagued him and House died as a result of cancer of the larynx on October 19, 1988. The Detroit Blues Society performed benefit concerts to raise money to raise a fitting monument on his grave. RIP.

The influence of Son House can be seen everywhere in the music world. From Gary Moore to Andrew Bird to The White Stripes to Warren Haynes and Govt Mule. Lynyrd Skynard’s song  Swamp Music was a  tribute to Son House.

Long live the memory of the greatest blues musician to ever sing of love and pain. To ever write of whiskey and murder.  Be it belting out field hollars or Gospel tunes or just deep and dirty gut wrenching blues. The master of the slide guitar with just using a broken bottle neck as well as a great a capella  singer as heard in John The Revelator and Grinnin In Your Face. He could do it all before anyone knew what it was.

Get Yer Ya Ya's In The Record Player

Yesterday I took my weekly (at least) visit to the local record store The Record Exchange. With a huge supply of beautiful albums they never fail to impress me. I was looking through the usual Neil Youngs and Lenard Cohens but I was so drawn to the Stones today for some weird reason. There I picked up an album that I was totally surprised I didn't already have, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out. This is the first full length live album done by the Stones and they done it well. Recorded in Maryland in '69 and later in New York in '70 they ripped though their usual set on this album leaving the crowds happy and full filled without the tragedy that was Altmont. That's always a good thing.

At the beginning of the album they were introduced with screams blaring in the background. The screams were silenced with Jagger's own screams with the help of Richards' screaming guitar on Jumpin' Jack Flash. They picked the right song to open up with, killing the crowd with an amazing riff from one of the greatest songs ever written.

Next they cover one of their major influences Chuck Berry. Carol got the crowd dancing in the aisle's with a great twangy sound to it. The Stones really do Chuck Berry well as is heard on this live set. Then, later on the tour had Chuck replace BB King which must have been an honor.

Stray Cat Blues flows in next. One of the Stones' attempt at a deep down dirty blues song. It wasn't a huge hit for them but it did have a great guitar riff throughout it, Richards really did shine on this song like he did on Exile On Main St.

Next comes in one of my favorite songs of all time. Another cover by the Stones, Robert Johnson's Love In Vain. It has been done a million times by different artists., but one of my favorite covers come from the Stones. Done acoustically with just Keith and Mick at first it had that singing on your front porch feel to it. Then later the drums chime in with Keith switching it up with an amazing slide piece which goes really well with the blues. I'm a huge Robert Johnson fan and love hearing his influence in classic rock. You can really hear it here.

To end out the first side the Stones break in with one of my favorite songs by them The Midnight Rambler. Keith Richards has got to be the riff king. He powers his way through this song with an amazing solo, you can faintly hear Mick blowing the harp in the background but there's no way hes playing over Keith's gritty guitar. An amazing song from an iconic group.

Starting off Side two you can hear some silly girl yell out Paint It Black, the Stones didn't listen and started off with one of the most haunting of their songs Sympathy For The Devil. I've heard better versions of this song live but you just the fact of denying that girl at the beginning makes the song even that much greater. They start off slow like a lot of their songs and start getting more into through the middle. Keith's solos are always great and this one does not disappoint, he kills the song just like they kill Satan, or do they?

They come in next with Live With Me, one of their lesser known songs. Lesser known doesn't really mean bad. This song is great. With backing vocals from Keith, Mick kills they lyrics while Keith kills the strings. They rampage through this song, it sounded great and is better song live than on the album.
Next is another Chuck Berry cover song Little Queenie. It does have the twangy Berry feel to it, although I liked their version of Carol better, they seemed a little less impressed with this song and kind of walked through it. I wasn't at all impressed with it and think its one of the lesser songs on this album, hey 1 out of 10 ain't bad.

At the beginning of Honky Tonk Women Mick praises Charlie Watts because of his greatness on the drums though out the whole album. Honky Tonk Women is one of the Stones' most famous songs but really isn't my favorite in the studio or on this album.

They end the album with Street Fighting Man which left the crowd wanting more and more. Its one of those songs that can really get a person riled up and amped. They achieved what they wanted in giving everyone a great show, great album Stones.

This album was great, I've got the original copy with heavy vinyl which really makes a guy think he's right there. Nothing sounds as good as a great clean vinyl. Plus the cover alone was worth the money. Charlie Watts jumping in the air with two guitars in his hands and a huge smile on his face on one side of the road with a donkey with a drum set strapped to  its back and a guitar, pair of binoculars and a camera around its head. Which was inspired by Bob Dylan's lyrics from Visions of Johanna. The album Get Yer Ya Ya's Out was inspired also by the blues legend Blind Boy Fuller's song Get Yer Ya Yas Out.

Runaway With The Title

In my opinion these girls revolutionized the music industry. Yes there were girls in rock before them, but they didn't kick as much ass and force themselves to be in your face as much as The Runaways did. Forming in Los Angelos in the middle of the 70's they took the music scene by surprise. Facing ridicule from an industry run by men they pushed through and came out on top of the scene.

Joan Jett was the brains behind the band and real leader. Writing most of the songs and playing a mean rhythm guitar. With that bad ass punk edge of hers she was the face of The Runaways and was the reason the band originally formed. After the band broke up Jett was the most successful as a solo artist. Writing such hits I Love Rock And Roll, Crimson and Clover, and I Hate Myself For Loving You. A Legend in the punk scene Joan still plays and tours all over the world.

Sandy West founded The Runaways along with Joan Jett. As the drummer she was the backbone of the band laying down the beat. After breaking up, Sandy worked as a sessions drummer with The Who's John Enthwistle. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005. She died in 2006.

Cherie Currie was the lead singer. Coming into the band at the young age of 15 she was rattled with drug abuse early in her career. It later lead her to a downfall that she could not bounce back from.
The Runaways throughout their career went through numerous members. They defined girl punk and influenced countless bands such as Courtney Love, Germs, The Go Go's, L7, Pink, etc.

You should check out Runaways, the movie, it really gives you an insiders view of the formation and early years of the band!

There's a Storm Brewing

Art and music go so well together. They are like two conjoined twins that are too proud to be torn apart. But nothing's more brilliant than Album art. The size of a record is just too perfect to display beautiful artwork. It's not just all about the music anymore, a beautiful cover can sell a record just as well as a strong voice. I find no greater pleasure than listening to a great album and just staring at the album cover blankly trying to conjure up what the band or the cover artist was thinking about when they reached the conclusion to the completion of the then thought to be greatest album ever to be recorded on God's green earth.

So album art has been around since the beginning of albums. Around the '60's is when they just didn't feel the need to keep putting the artists face on the cover anymore. Something more surreal would be better. To keep the buyers not just interested in the artist but the art as well. The greatest surreal album artist of all time in my personal opinion and plenty of others as well has got to be Storm Thorgerson.

The man who did great albums for bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Peter Gabrial, Muse, Audioslave, Paul Macartney, Steve Miller, Styx, Yes, etc.

He was the main player in the graphic art group called Hipgnosis. From Houses Of The Holy to the iconic Dark Side Of The Moon they created amazing artwork that has been regarded as mind blowing by millions.
Storm artwork has been displayed in gallery's all over the world.

Blues Is Her Business And Business Is Booming

Her voice pairs well deep down in the delta. You can find her in the pubs and clubs of New England belting out a great diversity of songs such as the one posted (Willie and the Hand Jive), Midnight Special, Ring of Fire, Walking the Dog, etc. She recently started playing at GASWorks on Artists' Row in Salem, MA. There you can find her voice stopping people in their tracks. She can even be compared as the Siren of the blues, trapping people with her voice from far away and carrying them down the corridors of the Row to marvel in her ability to sing her heart out. I’m lucky enough to call her a friend.

Lisa Marie’s a Boston based blues singer that shares her talent all the way from RI up to Maine. Her voice is mostly compared to Janis Joplin (although she doesn’t really sing a lot of Janis) she explains that she loves just singing songs that she listens to and loves. I have no complaints, there’s no better feeling than sitting on a chair at the Row across from Lisa and listening to her wide array of songs (something different every time). She comes with her little box of musical nick naks and just sings better than anyone I’ve seen in years.

There’s no slowing down for her, from the first song she belts out to the very last she gives it her all. It’s not rare to see a crowd of dancing fiends shake their stuff while Lisa makes the songs her own. She always has an amazing guitarist sitting next to her be it Eric Reirden, Silvertone Steve, etc. Also the great Mamadou Diop sits in every time he has a chance and wails on the African drum on the other side of Lisa and never misses a beat with every song she puts down. I advise everyone who reads this to check out Lisa’s website at http://www.zyworld.com/lisamarie13/ and watch the video that I’ve posted above. She’s always amazing live. Not only is she an amazing singer but a really great person all in all. Thank you Lisa Marie for the fun times.

Closing Time opens up

Finally I’m going to review my first Tom Waits album. That gruff voice can never get old to listen to. There were a few albums that I was considering (Nighthawks at the Diner, Rain Dogs, Mule Vibrations, The Heart of a Saturday Night) but I thought it would be appropriate to review his debut. Tom did not let anyone down with this album, usually debut albums are a little less than desired but Tom hit this one out of the park. Waits has got to be one of my top five artists, if I really had to choose, up there with Neil  Young, Son House, Beatles and Leadbelly.  I just couldn’t wait to review one of his albums.


Ol’ 55 starts off the record. Now this song has been covered numerous artists, most famously by The Eagles on their One Of These Nights album.  The Eagles made it famous but Tom sang it the best ( too much harmony for such a down song).  From the first line “well my time went so quickly, I went lickety splitley out to my ol’ 55”, the line just rolls off the tongue.  It’s one of the great driving songs of all time, a story about just getting away and throwing caution to the wind. The song actually has a funny story behind it.  Tom had a friend that needed some gas money go drive the date he was out with back home. He was in an old 55 Buick. The car could only drive in reverse so his friend drove all the way home in reverse, hence the line “Now there's trucks all a passin’ me, And the lights all a flashing”. Amazing song, one of my favorite Waits songs.

Next we have a sweet melancholy song called I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You.  It’s a song about Tom finding a girl in a bar (of course) and wanting to pick her up and sleep with her, but he’s afraid that he will fall in love and have his heart broken.  He keeps mowing over in his mind about how to pick her up but just can’t figure out the right way. He finally grabs a seat next to her and orders a stout. Of course he falls in love in the end.

Virginia Avenue comes in next. Bringing in a jazzy feel to the album. The song just oozes cool. After a hard night drinking at a club there’s nowhere to go so he just walks down random streets contemplating on skipping town and hitting up another club with a later closing time.  The last line “The blues I leave behind, keeps catching up on me” just says it all.

In comes a country feel to the album, Old Shoes (& Postcards). This song is about a breaking up and getting back together. The vicious circle of a bad relationship.  It’s all there in the song, written out so clear. Cheating, lies, love, lust, this song has it all.


Toms jazzy lullaby flows on in with Midnight Lullaby. His attempt at a cute sweet song is failed, with quotes in them as “you can burn the midnight oil with me” and “Sing a song of six pence, pocket full of rye”. It just means that Tom’s not meant to write a cute sweet adorable song. Nor does he need to.

To round out side two it’s the first of two solo songs done on piano.  Martha, Martha was a long lost love of Tom’s in the song. Who knows if she was real or not but in this song it’s as real as it gets.  He gets a little teary eyed while calling her up on the phone.  Even though its been over 40 years since they last had contact he has never forgotten her.  She was his perfect mate, between laughing and sharing poetry.  At the end of the song it turns out it was never meant to be so they go their separate ways.   He still loves her and can’t seem to forget the nights of trembling close to her.  Let’s leave it at that.


Side two starts with Rosie, yet another song about a woman.  A late night thinking about Rosie and how could he win her heart. Beautiful piano and pedal steel guitar flows well together through this song.


The second solo song on this album is Lonely. It’s the only disappointment to me on this album, a little too strange and dragged out without making much sense. Not my favorite, its why I always skip pass this song and listening to it again I remember why.


Ice Cream Man drives on in next.  It has a 50’s be bop beat to it that makes you want to get up and dance around the room wishing you had a root beer float in one hand and your sweetie pie in your other.  The happiest song on this album since the others are kind of gloomy and about heartache.  I love the celeste bells at the end of the song, well done Tom.


Little Trip To Heaven sounds like Sinatra; Tom was the new age Rat Pack.  Booze, drugs and women all wraped in one skinny little kid.  I’m sure if sure if the original Rat Pack heard this song they would be proud. Maybe even cover it, everyone else covered Toms songs. He even throws in the Shoobedopapada in at the end. Sweet!!


Another song that I’m kind of on the fence about is Grapefruit Moon. The string arrangement in the background goes very well with Toms piano. A tune can breaks his heart and the only thing that can fix it is a grapefruit moon and one star shining.  I’m still a little confused about the whole lyrics in a whole. It’s hard to comprehend but that’s what makes Tom Waits, obscure.

The last tune is a instrumental that consists of piano, cello, bass and trumpet. Beautiful sounding. Tom pounds at the piano while the trumpet comes in and out . Tom on his debut shows everyone he can cover any genre of music, be it country, jazz, rock, 50s be bop, his diversity shines through on every album. Some artist are diverse from album to album covering different genres. Tom can do it on one. Well done.


p.s. Classic Rock named Tom Waits’ Closing Time as one of the greatest debuts off all time. I know why. Listen to the whole album and you’ll know why as well. Congrats on getting nominated to the rock and roll hall of fame.

My kind of Voodoo

Tonight I have to introduce to those who haven’t had the pleasure of hearing yet an amazing group of Londoners called The Urban Voodoo Machine. They call their type of music bourbon soaked gypsy blues bob and stroll. Unfortunately this group hasn’t made its way overseas to the states quite yet but believe me when they do you will know. They are however blowing up the European market with great live music and a huge stage of between 7 and 12 musicians playing every instrument between guitars, drums, fiddle, trumpet, banjo, washboard, upright bass, gong, mandolin, accordion, harmonicas, saxophone, tuba, sousaphone and even empty bottles & tie racks. I like to call them rockabilly horror punk myself but you can decide for yourself what (if any) genre you can classify them under.

Orphans Lament’s video is just outstanding. From the production to the lyrics to the transitions of characters in the story is phenomenal. The song has a pirate feel to it; it kind of sounds like a horror sea shanty which goes very well with the group.

The song is a tale of Snake Eyed Jack, the bastard child of a sailor and a whore. The life he lives is mean and cruel often being told that he’s the devils child. The father leaves him at an orphanage to rot. The orphanage could not hold him so he runs away with the circus at 13 becoming one of the scariest clowns that you’d ever seen.

The video defiantly has a creepy feel to it. Having the lead singer Paul-Ronney Angel change in the video from himself to a pirate to a whore to a blood covered just born baby and other numerous characters. It worked out really well and told this sad horrific story beautifully. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do again and again.

King of the fillmore

Earlier this week I strolled into my local record store  (not actually mine but I like to think it is). The Record Exchange as its called is a seond home to me. The guys are great!! Everytime I walk in it feels like I'm Norm from Cheers and everybody knows my name. Its a great feeling. Skip is the owner and he's the type of guy that just makes you feel at home as soon as you walk in, if theres anything your looking for this guy can find it. Paul is an encyclopedia of music, absolutely love talking to him about what's new and old. Barance is the king of funk, a great performer that also loves the blues. Jimmy is soft spoken but is an all around great guy.

So anyways, I walk in the other day and as usual as soon as I walk in and do all the usual greetings to the group, I tilt my head to the wall of fame to see what's new and if there's something I truely can't leave the store without. Today I really didnt know if I was going to get anything because it was about 10 mins before closeing time. I carry myself to the blues section of the store that I love flipping through to see what's new that I haven't seen 2 days prior. One album stuck out in my mind: Albert King, not only Albert King but Albert King Live. I have his sessions album with the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan and absolutely love it. The sessions album seems never to get old.

At the beginning of the album as with a lot of live albums its starts off an introduction. I'm sure the crowd had no idea what they were in for. Albert makes his way to the stage, in person this mammoth of a man has a sense of softness to him with a kind face. But as soon as he starts hammering those strings you can hear some cunning brilliance. The album was recorded live at the Fillmore. With a strange array of hippies that had no idea what blues was. But Albert didnt mind showing them with full force and they didnt mind taking it all in.

The album starts off with Why You So Mean To Me. Albert has a way with his solos. He has impressed and blown away the legends of the guitar away, including Vaughan. The man can twist those notes so smooth and crisp. Its a typical blues song about a man and his mean girl, its not the lyrics that impress the locals but the guitar work. It can't be explained in words, only in hearing it can you truely appriciate it.

After the 8 min Why You So Mean To Me Albert follows up with I Get Evil. A reworking of Tampa Reds Dont You Lie To Me, it wasn't rare to see blues artists to take other artists songs and tweek them a little to make it their own. The solos are impressive on this song, when he gets into them its just a tangled web of notes that string so well together.

The last song on side one is Got To Be Some Changes Made. You can hear Alberts influence on Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray more so on this song than any others. Its raw. Raw blues at its best. If there's a song that can introduce you to Albert King I would suggest listening to this song more so than ones before it. It showcases Kings guitar greatness and influence. He's a real powerhouse of a guitarist and you can really tell on this track. For you first time King fans I suggest skipping the first two first and going back to them after listening to this one, its nice to have your mind blown at first listen.

On to side two. Starting off the list is one of Kings slower songs. Its a slow blues ballad with a lot of picked up solos thrown in there. Personal Manager sounds a lot like something that Buddy Guy would have written one night while hanging out with Hendrix at a bar at 2 am. A beautiful song but at over 17 mins long Albert should have picked up the pace, it can get a little dragged out.

Born Under A Bad Sign is one of Alberts more famous songs. Covered by artists such as Cream, Hendrix, Booker T, Smashing Pumpkins, MC5, BB King, Blue Cheer, Tommy Bolin to just name a few. The lyric "if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" is one of the greatest blues lyrics of all time that has been reused over and over again. Great song live or in the studio. It can never get old. It's a shame that his most famous song is the shortest song on the whole album.

To close the album and the live set King fought tooth and nail through Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong. Brilliant twisting of chords on this tune. King glides from note to note like a songbird, his fingers do the talking through most of the song with an occasional "Wooooooo" heard in the background. Albert King is a legend's legend. You can  hear why on this album.  

Boomer's Story is worth reading

This is by far one of my favorite albums to just sit back and enjoy with a cup of coffee. Its one of those morning albums that takes you back to a time where everything was so simple and sweet. Its a happy album and Ry's guitar work is at its peak greatness on this album. Alongside Into The Purple Valley this album put the name Ry Cooder on the turntables of many. 1972 was a good year for Cooder, there must of been something he was drinking to put out both albums alongside each other and both to just blow peoples minds.

The first track is the title track Boomer's Story. Traditional songs have always interested me. Be it gospel, hollars, blues, folk, etc. I can never get enough of them, they just make me feel comfortable and warm. As soon as you hear the first few guitar licks on Boomers story you feel that this album is going to be good. Then as Ry's soothing voice starts singing you can just sit back on enjoy. The song like alot of tradtional songs is about heartach of a lost love and the life of a hobo. Its sad but sweet as you get more and more into the song you feel so bad for Boomer but somehow it makes you feel good. Great song.

As Cherry Ball Blues rolls in you can really hear Ry's beautiful guitar work. Written by Skip James (Devils got my woman, I'm so glad) it really say's it all without saying anything at all. Its just a wonderful instrumental and the blues really shows through in the guitar work.

Crow Black Chicken is a comedic song. It seems like Ry had a blast while recording it in the studio. There's beautiful slide work scattered throughout the song that truely makes the song work.

Ax Sweet Mama is a true blues song. Written by Sleepy John Estes it was recorded a number of times sometimes as a different name (drop down mama). The blues is and always will be Ry's forte. He really shines on this song between his slide work and yelling those blues out like a true down and out 50s blues hero.

Maria Elena. The name Leo Kottke comes to mind as I listen to this. Its such a slow beautiful song. I can just see myself somewhere in Italy dancing the night away with my sweetheart in my arms. It just shows how different of a style Ry has. Going from a deep blues song as Ax Sweet Mama to this wonderful soft spanish style melody. Its wonderful to me when I find an album that has so many styles from the same musician. Beautiful is all i can say for this song and it lives up to it greatly.

The Dark End of the Street starts off side two of Boomer's Story. The sound of so sad. I can hear a little bit of Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven in there. This song can bring a teary eye to a lonely heart. Even as an instrumental, Ry does not have to say a word in this song. The story is sadly told by his guitar.

Rally Round the Flag climbs in next. With Randy Newman playing piano on this war song. Its just Ry's voice and Randy's piano that starts off this song. Slowly but surely Ry's acoustic starts making its way into it. You can barely hear it but it pairs beautifully with the piano. Again another sad song as is most songs of war. But even though it is sad it is still beautiful.

Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer shows up next. Again its a very old tune that Ry seems to love. His soft voice go well with the simplicity of these old tunes. They may sound simple but as you listen closely to his guitar twang and twist in and out of note to note you can see how not so simple these are.

President Kennedy is the only tune that Ry does not sing on. Actually its the old dark voice of blues legend Sleepy John Estes. The pain in this mans voice truly shows on this tune. I'm a huge fan of the blues and Estes holds his own in this packed full of talent genre. Listen to this song and see why.

Last but not least is another tradtional train song. Good Morning Mr. Railroad Man sounds alot like a Woody Guthrie song that mated with gospel song. Its a great ending to an album that i can listen every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of.

I couldn't help but write a long blog for this album. There are so many great things to say about it. Every track on this album is just simply amazing and I fell in love with it after I first droped that needle to that last crackle at the end.

The piano has been drinking, not me.

I must say one of the best videos I have ever found scrolling through YouTube was a Tom Waits appearance on a spoof talk show called Fernwood Tonight. The song is just brilliant as Tom always punches the piano keys so softly with his finger tips as the words of the song, so hilarious and cruel, flow out like a dive bar beat poet. Not only is the song great, even though it only lasts a little over a minute but the banter that is exchanged between Tom, Barth (Martin Mull) and Jerry (Fred Willard) is unforgettable. Tom sucking back on his cigarette while throwing back a few swigs of drink is just classic Tom Waits. He announces to his interviewers that he resides at Bedlam and squaler then comes the famous quote "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than and frontal labotomy". Gotta love it. Tom knows skid row and you can really see his personality in this video. From his gravely voice to his beautiful piano playing to his clever lyrics to his broke down wit its all here in this video for all to see so enjoy cause it really is the piano that's been drinking, not Tom.

First cut is the deepest

How great is vinyl? Well to me its the greatest way to enjoy any kind of music be it old or new. Record collecting has been an addiction that I've embraced for about 8 years now, with a collection of well over 2000 albums. I am constantly adding as well as enjoying the sound the needle makes as it rotates around that crisp wax until it reaches the middle. I really enjoy the snaps and crackles of old records as it adds to its history. There's nothing better to me than closing my eyes while the record is spinning and just imagining how great would it be to be there in the studio, how personal it must have been for the artist/artists to have just finished the last cut and listen to their final product, their heart and soul poured into the songs, be it pain or love or both.

In my opinion vinyl is much better sounding than a digital cd can ever sound. Don't get me wrong, I must admit that I do have a cd collection of my own, not nearly as vast as my record collection though. As it is with vinyl you can find albums that are not and will not be released on cd, same goes for cds especially newer music. For instance Neil Young (one of my favorite artists by the way) has two albums (Time fades away, Journey through the past) that he has openly announced that will never be released on cd. Why you ask? Because he has said that those albums will never sound as good digital; which I agree with on most albums.

The first thing that drew me to love vinyl is the sound. It's just untouchable and never bettered. Second is the history and collectabilty of albums. There are so many different sub versions of records; be it first pressings, colored vinyl, imports, promos, etc. These can make the same album go from being $10 to $150. There is always that chance of finding a diamond in the rough, the thrill of the search. Thirdly its the Art. You can never truly appreciate a well thought out album cover by just a tiny cd picture.

A record cover is the perfect size to pick out the details of a brilliant cover. For instance Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. Its Egyptian flavor is great but the amazing part is when you get really up close and you can pick out all the details in the pyramids (a hidden Mickey Mouse head on the bottom left hand corner above the sphinx); a stoners paradise. There are banned covers such as Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland British import that had a fold out of nude women of all shapes and sizes (which I have in my personal collection) to the Beatles infamous Yesterday and Today Butcher cover that has all four Beatles sitting and standing, smiling, with baby doll parts laid out on their body's covered in blood. Not good for publicity so it was yanked from the shelves. Then you have the great cover art of Pink Floyd, King Crimsom, Mahogany Rush, Yes, Rush, so on and so on. In my blog which I will be posting to mostly every day, I will be discussing my love of music, from my album collection to video postings to live music that I have enjoyed that day. I love a huge array of music from classic rock to blues to folk to jazz to gypsy to country to celtic to prog to punk... so I can promise you there's something for everyone in my collection. Music is my passion and I really enjoy sharing that passion with everyone I meet and now people I may never meet.