Monday, March 18, 2024

"Happiness Bastards" Has Made This Bastard Very Happy

 

My favorite Black Crowes member has always been drummer Steve Gorman. Having seen the band live over 30 to 40 times, I can attest to Gorman's ability to drive each and every song with John Bonham like power and precision. So I wasn't taking his absence from the recording of the first new Crowes album in 15 years lightly.  

I have now listened to "Happiness Bastards" three times, three different ways. First as advance files off my iPod and through my stereo. I enjoyed it. The second time with headphones on Amazon Music Unlimited. I enjoyed it even more. And then the vinyl arrived. I love this record. And I love you, Steve Gorman, but Brian Griffin is just fine here.

"Bedside Manners" is a nice opener, kicking things off with the type of Stones meets Faces rock and roll the Crowes have been doing for years. Nothing groundbreaking, but ain't nothing wrong with it either! ***

"Rats & Clowns" reminds me too much of "Lickin'" from "Lions." I never liked "Lickin'," with its choppy rhythm and Chris barking as opposed to singing, but the guitar break is a killer, taking a page from the best of AC/DC's early records, and it saved the song for me. **1/2

"Cross Your Fingers" was the second single and I love it just as much now as I did when it was first released. This feels a lot like Led Zeppelin in all the best ways. A really greasey groove. ****

"Wanting & Waiting" was the first single, and I dug it less than the second single, because I couldn't get around the lazy rip of "Jealous Again"...until now. The riff is unbeatable, and those handclaps into the backing vocals before the chorus are to die for. This is great record making. ****

"Wilted Rose" features country sensation Lainey Wilson and it is a solid ballad that is a wonderful way to end Side One. Big instrumental break. ***

"Dirty Cold Sun" explodes off the grooves! I haven't danced around this much in years. This is 3 minutes of fire, Zep and Faces meets Funkadelic. This one is a monster. *****

"Bleed It Dry" is a terrific, sloppy blues that feels like it came out of the "Exile On Main Street" sessions. ***1/2

"Flesh Wound" is weird territory for the Brothers Robinson. Maybe this is all in my head, but if you toned everything down, removed the distortion off the guitars, made the production a tad softer, the melodies and harmonies remind me of something off of "Help" or "Rubber Soul." Def a 60's psych thing happening. I don't love this track. **

"Follow The Moon" has a killer riff but the song doesn't go anywhere. I imagine this is what non-Crowes fans think all of their music sounds like. Still, not terrible. Just that I've heard it before. **1/2

"Kindred Friend" opens up like a Neil Young "Harvest"-era track, and breezes along, though the melody, or maybe it is the way Chris is singing the melody, seems forced. "Wilted Rose" is the better ballad. **1/2

"Happiness Bastards" is a worthy comeback, with at least half of the record rivaling The Black Crowes' best work. I'm happy to have it and after a few spins, I still want more. That's a good sign.

I'm giving it ****, which ranks it higher on my Crowes list than "Amorica," "Lions," "Warpaint," and "Before The frost...Until the Freeze."

 


 



Sunday, March 17, 2024

Songs Of The Week, 2024: 3/9-3/15

 


Shake, Shake Mama- Mance Lipscomb
Black Night- Snooks Eaglin
Bullshit- Grace Jones
Everybody's Falling In Love- World Party
Over The Hill- John Martyn
You Are Leaving Now- The Gaylads
Everybody's Talking About The All American- J.D. McPherson

zip

Shake, Shake Mama- Mance Lipscomb
Talking about Mance last week made me want to listen to Mance. And you absolutely should watch Les Blank's brilliant documentary on Mance, "A Well Spent Life." You can watch it four times and it still would come in under "Killers Of The Flower Moon."

Black Night- Snooks Eaglin
With the New Orleans' Jazz Fest right around the corner, friends and I always discuss all of our faves that are no longer with us. The great Snooks Eaglin tops the list.

Bullshit- Grace Jones

I rave often about the Grace Jones trilogy that includes "Warm Leatherette," "Nightclubbing," and "Living My Life." This is from "Warm Leatherette."

Everybody's Falling In Love- World Party

Still hard to believe the great Karl Wallinger is gone. This one is one of his most recent "new" songs, and one that feels very much like Neil Finn to my ears.

Over The Hill- John Martyn
The Brothers Robinson do a fantastic cover of this in concert. Here's the terrific original from one of Martyn's best.

You Are Leaving Now- The Gaylads

Yeah yeah. Nothing to hear here. Just a great old reggae track from one of my favorite old reggae records. Move along.

Everybody's Talking About The All American- J.D. McPherson

As Christine said in the comments on a recent post, " No need for morning coffee if you listen to this first."

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

New From Norah


 

The last Norah Jones record I listened to was the 2013 Everly Brothers tribute made with Billie Joe Armstrong. It did nothing for me. Her Blue Note debut in 2002 hit the spot, and 166 Grammys later, her follow-up, 2004's "Feels Like Home" was even better. I was now officially a fan and would see her perform live a half dozen times over the course of a few years. But then, rather than keep me on my toes with the genre-hopping and side projects, the way Elvis Costello, Todd Rundgren and David Bowie would, I lost patience and I started to care less and less about Jones' releases.

I'm not sure what made me listen to her new record "Visions." "Running" and "I Just Wanna Dance" were the first two songs I heard and I didn't like them at all! But, I still went back with a clear head and I am happy I did.

There is nothing groundbreaking here and I'm glad. Instead, there are a number of truly lovely songs, highlighting Norah's beautiful phrasing and vocal chops. "Alone With My Thoughts" sounds more than a little bit like "Ingenue"-era k.d. lang. "Swept Up In The Night" feels like lost Aretha ballad. And both the title track and "Paradise" have melodies to die for.

I don't love all of "Visions," but it was a nice reminder of what I loved about Norah Jones in the first place.







Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Eric Carmen

 

To say that Raspberries' records make up a major part of my DNA would not be an overstatement. That love carried over into Eric Carmen's solo career, at least up to his fourth album, "Tonight You're Mine." But Carmen has unfortunately complicated my life. The news of Karl Wallinger's passing hit me hard and I needed to say so. If this was 2014, and I had heard of Eric Carmen's passing, I would have written something as equally heartfelt. Instead, I am struggling with wanting to hear "Go All The Way" and "Let's Pretend" and the fact that Carmen was not only a MAGA-loving, Trump supporter, but a QAnon putz, as well. That may be easy to ignore for some. But it's mostly what I think about first, as I reach for a Raspberries record.

  That said, I am well aware of the fact that if we stopped listening to artists, or stopped watching films or going to theater, or simply ignored every sporting event based on the character of those creating it, we'd all be locked in a room with no windows, playing with a Rubik's cube. Still, it doesn't make it any easier to pay tribute to Eric Carmen upon his passing, except maybe...the best of his music was all created before Trump existed. I'll give him that.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Karl Wallinger

 


I have a hard time with social media when a celebrity or a rock and roll icon dies. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are full of posts that all begin with "I was lucky enough to...," and if you continue reading, it's mostly about the poster and not the deceased.

I never met Karl Wallinger. I have no story. But I was "lucky enough to" have the privilege of buying tickets to many live performances, as well as feeling "lucky enough to" own all his records. 

I received two texts almost immediately after the news broke. Both texts from old friends.

"Is it even worth it to love or admire anyone?? My heart can't take it"

"I just read it 1 minute ago. I think my hands automatically texted you."
 
Good looking out.
 
Karl Wallinger had something and it was more than his love of The Beatles and Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne and Prince and David Bowie. He had the ability to translate that love into music that we now refer to as World Party.
 
Check out that song at the top. We love The Rutles, yes? But what Karl did for the film "Reality Bites," a parody of Bowie's "Young Americans," is too genius for words.

Fucking Karl Wallinger! I have stories. But so what? They won't be better than his music.


Karl Wallinger, 1957-2024

 

 

I'm heartbroken.