Happy President’s Day!

“Nickel and Dime”, Allgood Uncommon Goal

The early 90’s produced some good jammy type bands right around the timeframe that grunge hit.  Allgood was a great example, forging a brief career during this period by offering up some Allmans-esque bluesy boogie rock with some tasty dual guitar work.  “Nickel and Dime” is typical of their style, offering up a laid back groove with a strong hook come chorus time and some smart guitar and bass work.  Dig into a live version from these Athens, GA boys.

“Son”, Jethro Tull Benefit

Yes Metallica fans, Tull were a “heavy” band although not entirely part of their makeup (and yes, Metallica should have won the Grammy that year :))  “Son” is an interesting twist of a cut, stomping through some sinister heaviness before breaking into their inner pomp with an acoustic and piano interlude before swinging back to the stomp.  Ian Anderson and Martin Barre really sell this one, kinda like a mix of Cream and the Beatles.

“Songbird”, Fleetwood Mac Rumours

I’ve always been a sucker for a song with minimal accompaniment, this song being “perfect” in many ways (pun definitely intended).  In an album full of hits, this is highly, highly underrated, one of those songs that would have sounded great tacked on the end of the album but we’ll do with it being the last cut on side one.  Christine McVie sings this beautifully, laying down an equally emotive piano part with lite acoustic guitar touches from Lindsey Buckingham.  My tastes in music definitely lean to the rock stuff but I love a beautiful melody.  Great recording  too with its concert hall feel.

“Wounded Knee”, Marty Stuart Badlands

Ahh, country music…  I own very little and dislike a lot of what’s popular today (with a rare exception or two), but I own quite a bit of Marty Stuart’s material.  To me, Marty is the real deal and shows huge respect to his forefathers Cash, Haggard, Williams, Tubbs, etc with his choice of material.  “Wounded Knee” is a bit of a country shuffle with great acoustic picking and other guitar coloring throughout, with a picturesque lyric sung from an Indian’s perspective (very Cash-esque in delivery).  Leans a bit gospel in vibe and delivery, which is a large part of country classics of yore.

“Descending”, The Black Crowes Amorica

If I ever put together a list of favorite Black Crowes songs, “Descending” would be damn near the top.  I would go so far to state it is my favorite Chris Robinson vocal ever-  the man brings the soul; a little bit of Rod Stewart, a little bit of Otis Redding, and a whole lot of Southern charm.  Sure, everyone knows the hits but this song is a great example of the all around talent in this band-  the slide work of Marc Ford is slick and sweet (“slide like mercury”… man!) and younger bro Rich Robinson rounds it out with some great guitar as well.  And that piano!  Holy schnikies….  just some fine, fine playing from Eddie Harsch throughout but he gets major points for that intro and the absolutely beautiful coda to round out the song.  One of those songs that may come up on shuffle that I have to replay a couple of times just to soak in the awesomeness of it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40RsqaEavk8

“No One To Depend On”, Santana The Best Of Carlos Santana

Originally on III, this Gregg Rolie penned tune is one of the stellar cuts from the early era, a simmering guitar and percussive led Latin groove until it pulls a switcheroo midway through for some mind bending solo work from Mr. Santana himself and a 17-year old wunderkind named Neal Schon (before he scooped up Rolie to go on and form Journey).  The first two minutes of this cut before the rock freakout in the middle are just a hot and steamy groove, so much so that I can picture the walls sweating in the recording studio.  Man, this band back in the day must have been something to see.

“Time After Time”, The Hooters Hooteriaztion:  A Retrospective

Your trivia question of the day… “who co-wrote the Cyndi Lauper classic Time After Time?”  Your answer… Rob Hyman, founding member of Philly’s favorite sons The Hooters.  This version is a bit of an oddity as it is sung by Hyman, although the arrangement and musical accompaniment are dead on the version made famous by Lauper, in which he also sang background vocals..  The fans on this live cut obviously dig it, but I’m so attached to the hit version that it’s a bit strange to hear this sung from the male perspective (although it is a song about relationships so it should work either way).

“Bad Karma”, Spiritual Beggars Mantra III

For the uneducated, Arch Enemy main man Michael Amott’s side project are these fellow Swedish stoner gods, Spiritual Beggars bringing a bit of Sabbath heft and Purple swing to their psychedelian stomp.  Not really a stoner band per se, the Beggars rock with more might and less sludgy tempos, more in line with their heavier 70s brethren although you get patches of fuzziness here and there (listen to that intro bass).  Great growly vocal from Spice with cool drum solo from sticksman Ludwig Witt and Robin Troweresque solo from Amott.  If you dig the bluesier rock bands that came along during the late 60s/early 70s these guys should be up your alley.  Cut below is an example of the band’s earlier style with Spice.

“Out Of The Night”, Steve Miller Italian X Rays

Early 80’s Steve Miller was a bit more experimental, introducing more keyboards, synthesizers, crazy sound effects and what sounds like obnoxious electronic drums.  That said, “Out Of The Night” is not a bad little cut but is definitely a sign of the times in the early 80s, new wave tics here o’er top a semi rockin’ groove (think ZZ Top’s Eliminator in spots).  Best part of the cut is Steve’s trippy, layered vocal, which is always a staple of anything he puts out.  I have a huge amount of respect for artists like Steve Miller, who are always willing to stretch here and there on records in order to bring you his next aural platter (“Fly Like An Eagle”, anyone?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAZ8F3R-No

“In Your Town”, Rory Gallagher Live In Europe

Rory Gallagher is an example of an artist that I’d heard about (especially in guitar circles) but never heard any material from.  He’s not someone that has a classic rock radio staple (at least here in the States), but my familiarity all changed one day as I was browsing through a local record store and heard the clerk playing Live In Europe.  It seemed that the intensity of each song went up a notch on cut after cut, so much so that I just had to find out just who in the hell this was that was playing.  “In Your Town” just has fearless, non stop boogie, almost John Lee Hooker-esque in spots as it runs down the same groove throughout with little change.  Rory is on fire not only lead wise, but vocally as well as the band bashes with all their might.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm99WtK_hPE

Song of the week goes to “Descending” by a country mile, and there are some very good cuts this week.