I can't help but think Rick Beato's insides are twisting into pretzels as he struggles to find anything positive to say about the ten songs he is showcasing.
The title of the video is "The Spotify Top Ten Got Even Worse" and Beato, with his forced smiles and backhanded compliments, is clearly not enjoying what he is listening to. He says things like, "Well written!" Or,"nice change." But every one of these songs, to my ears, sounds exactly the same. He must hear that, as well. There isn't a memorable chorus to be found, or a pure, unaffected voice to be heard. It's all autotuned and soaked in reverb, with melodies that mostly go nowhere.
Rick Beato seems like he doesn't want to come off as the old guy screaming "Get off my lawn," but I have no problem coming across that way because in my heart, I know I'm not.
London's Brilliant Parade- Elvis Costello All Behind You Now- Galactic Too Soon Gone- Jules Shear Who's Your Boyfriend?- Piper Ashes By Now- Emmylou Harris How Can You Baby-Sit A Man- Ned Towns Blind Girl- Etta James
I've still got the music in me, so I decided to let some of it out. I hope you find something here to love as much as I love it all.
TRACKLIST:
Streetcar- Ray Heindorf Strom Warning- Mac Rebbenack Steppin' Out- David Torkanowsky Two Way Poc-A-Way- The Dixie Cups Wrong Number- Allen Toussaint Farmstead Antiques- Stanton Moore Trouble- The Rumble Backstreet Girl- Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris You Got Too Pt. 1- Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns The Joke- Reggie Hall Washington Post March- Tin Men O Sole Mio- Wingy Manone Our Day Will Come- Irma Thomas The Pumpkin's Lullbye- Wessell Anderson You Got Too Pt. 2- Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns Your Mama Don't Dance- James Andrews Construction Site Blues- Jon Cleary That Feel- Lil' Band O' Gold Save The Bones For Henry Jones- Danny Barker I'll Be Seeing You- James Booker
And if New Orleans don't float your steamboat, here's a bonus.
From 2014, here are Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, Nora O'Connor, Kelly Hogan and Alex Hall, aka The Flat Five captured live at Chicago's Hideout, performing the Beach Boys' "Friends" in its entirety.
I don't know all of the facts regarding Sal Geloso. I do know that he has somehow flown under my radar, and I consider myself a loyal follower of all things New Orleans.
Recently, I started seeing the name Sally Baby's Silver Dollars popping up while checking out the music scene a few weeks before my trip south. I did some YouTubing and found more than I bargained for, including a video from 2011 of Geloso busking in Brooklyn's Bedford Avenue subway station, a 50 minute film showcasing the Silver Dollars, an official video from 2025, and a Tiny Desk Concert that blew my mind.
I decided I had to see this band called Sally Baby's Silver Dollars and so on Saturday, 4/11, I caught the band at The Broadside on a perfectly hot New Orleans afternoon. Geloso, who also doubles as a New Orleans tour guide, introduced himself and the band, saying he was working on two or three hours sleep, but felt spirited. He then said, "I feel moved to play this one, a Ned Towns song called 'How Can You Baby-Sit A Man.'" (Opening with a deep soul cover? I'm in!) Within seconds, I knew there was no turning back. Geloso's voice is at times, somewhere between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding when he plays soul music. Occasionally, he sounds Cab Calloway when swinging, or Leon Redbone when he stays traditional. He and the band knocked every genre out of the park.
From what I could gather, Geloso is from San Francisco, where he started playing folk music. It is unclear how long he has been in New Orleans. One friend said, "He just moved here." Offbeat Magazine mentions how he has been playing in the French Quarter on Royal Street for 15 years. There is only one official release available on Bandcamp, a six track E.P. from 2025, that seems unreasonably priced at $20 for a half dozen MP3s. But almost everything I found on YouTube has turned me into a temporary fanboy. Watching these guys live, especially the brilliant horn section who have meticulously arranged their parts for each song, as opposed to just blowing solos, gives me a feeling that they are about to explode into the must-see act in New Orleans.
I was crushed to find out I had just missed their performance at Joe's Pub in N.Y.C. on March 31st, just a few days before I discovered the band.
Trust me, and find 20 minutes to check out Sally Baby's Silver Dollars' Tiny Desk Concert.
A friend, knowing I'm a vinyl guy, asked me to come over and go through his collection to help figure out what to do with it. Flipping through stacks of records is why I go to record stores so I said, "Sure".
We spent what could be described as all day, going through a large wooden box of LPs, one by one, checking the condition of somewhere between 300-400 of them. The covers showed their age, having been stored at times under sketchy circumstances, but the discs within were often very, very clean.
I divided them into "Dumpster", "Thrift Store", "Record Store", and "Mine". I found a few bucket list original copies I never thought I'd own, in particular, Billy Cobham's "Spectrum". I loaded up my car taking them all with me, got over $100 in record store credit, and took care of the rest.
From 1924, the premier release of "Rhapsody In Blue", featuring an arrangement by Ferdie Grofe, who you probably know from "The Grand Canyon Suite", and (The Composer at the piano).
