The Non-Jazz, Non-Blues Albums That Changed My Life, part one
So these are not desert island discs per se, unless of course I had a huge solar driven cell for my iPOD or a hut full of shelves for my vinyl...These records represent big slices of time and memory, connection and discovery. And yeah, I own them all and rarely listen to many of them but I know they are there and most importantly, I know how they make me feel, even just the recalling of the sounds within them...so in no particular order, off the top of my head. Inspired by Rob Grant.
Beatles – every Beatles album in order of release, American versions
David Crosby – If I Could Only Remember My Name
Bob Dylan – Great White Wonder; Blonde on Blonde; Bringing It All Back Home; Blood on the Tracks; Desire; Time Out of Mind
Van Morrison – St. Dominic’s Preview; Common One; Moondance
Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Stephen Stills & Manassas - self-titled
Joni Mitchell – Hejira; Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter; Blue
Neil Young – On The Beach; Harvest; Time Fades Away; Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; Comes A Time; Tonight’s The Night…for starters
Willie Nelson – Sings Kristofferson; Red Headed Stranger; Teatro
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Burnin’; Catch A Fire; Exodus; Natty Dread; Rastaman Vibrations
The Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show; The Days of Wine & Roses
Ryan Adams - Cold Roses; Easy Tiger; jacksonville City Nights; Gold
Graham Nash – Songs For Beginners; Wild Tales
Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Blvd.
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Sky Blue Sky
The Who – Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy; Live at Leeds; Tommy; Quadrophenia; Who’s Next
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True; King Of America; Imperial Bedroom
David Bowie – The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust; Station To Station; Aladdin Sane
The Grateful Dead - Skull and Roses; American Beauty; Workingman's Dead; Europe '72; One From the Vaults
Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
Uncle Tupelo - Anondyne
Crosby, Stills & Nash – self-titled (1st album)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà vu; Four Way Street
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River; Born On the Bayou
Spiritualized -- Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space
Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby
Lou Reed – The Blue Mask
Jerry Garcia - Garcia
Fear - The Record
Whiskeytown - Stranger's Almanac
Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends; Bridge Over Troubled Water
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass; Concert For Bangladesh; Living in the Material World
Patti Smith – Horses
Old & In The Way - self-titled
Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs – Pigus, Drunkus, Maximus
Peter Tosh – Equal Rights; Legalize It
Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc
The Blasters -- The Blasters
Neville Bros - Nevillization, Fiyo On the Bayou
X – Los Angeles, Wild Gift
Aretha Franklin – that there isnt a boxed set is a sin..so Young, Gifted & Black; At Fillmore West; I Never Loved A Man...
Velvet Underground & Nico
Rock n Roll Gumbo – Professor Longhair
James Taylor – Sweet Baby James
Al Green – Call Me, I’m Still In Love With You
John Mayall – Turning Point
The Kinks – Schoolboys In Disgrace
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions, Anthology, Songs in the Key of Life
Marvin Gaye – What’s Goin’ On, Let’s Get It On, Anthology
Massive Attack -- Mezzanine
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, Born to Run, Nebraska
Todd Rundgren – Something/Anything
Violent Femmes - selt-titled
R.E.M. -- Reckoning
Talking Heads – Fear of Music
Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic
Prince - 1999
Jefferson Airplane – Crown of Creation, Surrealistic Pillow, Volunteers
The Pretenders – The Pretenders, Learning To Crawl
Public Enemy -- Fear of a Black Planet
Dusty Springfield – Dusty In Memphis
Brian Eno – Apollo sdtk
Jimi Hendrix – Axis Bold As Love, Band of Gypsys, Electric Ladyland
Elton John – Madman Across The Water, Honky Chateau
The Clash – Sandinista
My Bloody Valentine -- Loveless
Los Lobos -- How Will The Wolf Survive; La Pistola y El Corozon; The Neighborhood; and basically all of the rest
Carole King – Tapestry
Dr. Dre -- The Chronic
Merle Haggard – That’s The Way Love Goes
Roxy Music – Avalon
Santana – Caravansari, Abraxas
The Byrds – Greatests Hits, Untitled
Buffalo Springfield – Retrospective
The Pogues -- Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
Husker Du - New Day Rising
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here
Cream - Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire
Derek & The Dominos – Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
Big Brother & The Holding Company – Cheap Thrills
The Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Led Zeppelin - II, IV, Houses of the Holy
Jethro Tull – Aqualung
Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East, Eat A Peach
Duane Allman -- Anthology
James Brown - Love Power Peace
John Lennon – Imagine, Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Double Fantasy
King Crimson - Discipline
Tom Waits – Nighthawks at the Diner, Foreign Affair, Small Change
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles – Anthology
The Band - Big Pink, The Band, Northern lights Southern Cross
The Doors – The Doors. L.A. Woman
Frank Zappa - Overnight Sensation
Nilsson -- Nilsson Schmilsson
John David Souther – Black Rose
Ramone – Ramones
Buddy Holly – 20 Golden Greats
Dr. John – Gumbo
King Sunny Ade -- Juju Music
Jane's Addiction -- Nothing's Shocking
The Eagles – The Eagles, Hotel California
Richard Thompson – Hand of Kindness
Richard & Linda Thompson – Shoot Out The Lights
Spacemen 3 -- Playing With Fire
Meat Puppets -- Up On The Sun
Red Hot Chili Peppers – BloodSugarSexMagik
The Temptations – Anthology
The Police – Synchronicity
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music..Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
Steve Earle -- Guitar Town
Sam Cooke – The Best of…
Linda Ronstadt – A Heart Like A Wheel
John Prine – Common Sense
T-Bone Burnett – self-titled
Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, Graceland
Chuck Berry – Chess Box
Big Star -- #1 Record
Green On Red -- Gas Food Lodging
ELO -- Eldorado
Various Artists -- Phil Spector: Back To Mono 1958-1969
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Exile On Main St, Beggar’s Banquet..etc.
Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story
Johnny Winter – Still Alive & Well
Television - Marquee Moon
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Africa '70 -- Expensive Shit
Nirvana – Nevermind
Yes - Close To The Edge; The Yes Album
Sly and the Family Stone – Greatest Hits
Jackson Browne – Late For the Sky, For Everyman
Parliament - One Nation Under A Groove, Mothership Connection
Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner; Elite Hotel
Guy Clark - Old No. 1; Old Friends; Keepers
Townes Van Zandt - Live at The Old Quarter, Boston; The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt
Joe Ely - Live Shots; Musta Notta Gotta Lotta
Elvis Presley - Sun Sessions; The Memphis Record
please stop me before I lose my mind...
coming soon...the jazz and blues list..
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
TONY RICE
One of the beautiful things about lugging this humongous music collection around with me for 40 years is that every once and awhile I dig something up that not only takes me back to those first moments when some attractive new sound or song or style pinned me to the wall and forced me to re-investigate what all of this vibration of air was all about but also brings me a bit of fresh perspective about the timelessness of great music.
I remember distinctly the first time I heard bluegrass cross-picking master Tony Rice. I was working at San Diego State on the Cultural Arts Board, and our gig was to spend the University's money booking music, poetry, lectures and such onto campus for the edification and entertainment of the student body. I'll dive into that whole scene in a devoted blog at some later date but for now, let's just say we got a ton of music to whittle our way through each month to plan the semester ahead.
One LP that came across my desk was by a guy whose name I knew from my time in the trenches as a fledgling Dead Head--mandolinist David Grisman. I'd only heard his album with Old & In The Way at this point which was at the time the biggest selling bluegrass record in history thanks to the fact the the Grateful Dead's centerpiece Jerry Garcia was the resident banjoist in the band. So this album, along with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's groundbreaking release Will the Circle Be Unbroken were about all the average rock n roll fan knew of bluegrass and traditional country music.
So when I popped on Grisman's then new release, HOT DAWG, I was floored. Not only was this my first exposure to the legendary violinist Stephane Grappelli, and Grisman Quintet bandmates Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Todd Philips, and a guitar player who caught my ear and did not let go for a long tie tehreafter, the amazing Tony Rice.
This was not only an album of impeccable playing and arranging but it swung like crazy and set the stage for what would soon be called the New Acoustic movement melding bluegrass instrumentation, dexterity and speed, the swinging harmonies of the 30s music of the Hot Club of France, and an ear for great melodies and outrageous instrumental chops but also the open-minded and expansive repertoire that would change the face of acoustic music for years to come.
And in the middle of the mind-blowing record was the sheer stunning beauty of Tony Rice's fingerpicking. The fluidity and far-ranging and daring choices upped the ante on the great crosspickers of the previous two generations, Doc Watson, and Clarence White, both innovators in their own right. There were subtle nods to Charlie Christian, to the great jazz plectrists of the bop and post-bop eras but all within the context a a folky bluegrass root system.
As a fledgling guitarist who knew all the chords that flew by on his left hand, there was no hope of my understanding just what that miraculous right hand was up to. Like trying to watch a hummingbird's wings. Pointless. The difficulty of playing cleanly and quickly on the acoustic guitar is quite a bit more extraordinarily difficult than on the electric where you allow the volume and tone to do much of the work for you.
Like the first time I heard Jim Hall's album CONCIERTO or Bola Sete's exemplary OCEANS: SOLO GUITAR VOL. 1, I immediately knew I was hearing music that would remain a major part of my life's soundtrack from then on. All three of these records make my Desert Island selections, no question.
Funny thing is, I don't recall whether we booked the band with Tony or not though I remember going up to the Biltmore in L.A. for a booking convention and being floored by the DGQ as well as laughing my ass of to a then-funny unknown comic named Jay Leno. We did have the DGQ at SDSU in the next year or so, I believe.
So today listening to an advance of a wonderful new CD by guitarist Clay Ross, I heard his rendition of Norman Blake's "Church Street Blues" and was taken back to the recorded version by Rice. I listened it twice and on a whim headed to YouTube to see if I could get a glimpse of the hummingbird's right hand. After the third pass, I manually closed my gaping maw and moved on to the wonderful exploratory solo version of the folk classic "Shenandoah" and then onto one of Rice's favorite cover tunes, Gordon Lightfoot's "Cold On The Shoulder". Rice no longer sings so some of these videos are a tad sad for me but the smoothness of his right hand as he arpeggiates some of thes perfectly timed runs is truly a blessing to rediscover.
Enjoy and pick up any of Tony Rice's music. You can't go wrong
Buy HOT DAWG cheap here! Do not wait! Get it Now!
CHURCH STREET BLUES - Tony Rice solo guitar and vocal
DAVID GRISMAN QUARTET "E.M.D." Grisman/Rice/Mark O'Connor/Rob Wasserman
SHENANDOAH - Tony solo from the film Bluegrass Journey
BLUE RAILROAD TRAIN - Tony w/ Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Ronnie Simpkins
A blistering FREEBORN MAN for you bluegrass fans out there...Tony, Bela FLeck, Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush...
COLD ON THE SHOULDER w/ Tony, Jerry Douglas, John Hartford, Vassar Clements, Mark O'Connor, Roy Huskey, Jr.
I remember distinctly the first time I heard bluegrass cross-picking master Tony Rice. I was working at San Diego State on the Cultural Arts Board, and our gig was to spend the University's money booking music, poetry, lectures and such onto campus for the edification and entertainment of the student body. I'll dive into that whole scene in a devoted blog at some later date but for now, let's just say we got a ton of music to whittle our way through each month to plan the semester ahead.
One LP that came across my desk was by a guy whose name I knew from my time in the trenches as a fledgling Dead Head--mandolinist David Grisman. I'd only heard his album with Old & In The Way at this point which was at the time the biggest selling bluegrass record in history thanks to the fact the the Grateful Dead's centerpiece Jerry Garcia was the resident banjoist in the band. So this album, along with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's groundbreaking release Will the Circle Be Unbroken were about all the average rock n roll fan knew of bluegrass and traditional country music.
So when I popped on Grisman's then new release, HOT DAWG, I was floored. Not only was this my first exposure to the legendary violinist Stephane Grappelli, and Grisman Quintet bandmates Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Todd Philips, and a guitar player who caught my ear and did not let go for a long tie tehreafter, the amazing Tony Rice.
This was not only an album of impeccable playing and arranging but it swung like crazy and set the stage for what would soon be called the New Acoustic movement melding bluegrass instrumentation, dexterity and speed, the swinging harmonies of the 30s music of the Hot Club of France, and an ear for great melodies and outrageous instrumental chops but also the open-minded and expansive repertoire that would change the face of acoustic music for years to come.
And in the middle of the mind-blowing record was the sheer stunning beauty of Tony Rice's fingerpicking. The fluidity and far-ranging and daring choices upped the ante on the great crosspickers of the previous two generations, Doc Watson, and Clarence White, both innovators in their own right. There were subtle nods to Charlie Christian, to the great jazz plectrists of the bop and post-bop eras but all within the context a a folky bluegrass root system.
As a fledgling guitarist who knew all the chords that flew by on his left hand, there was no hope of my understanding just what that miraculous right hand was up to. Like trying to watch a hummingbird's wings. Pointless. The difficulty of playing cleanly and quickly on the acoustic guitar is quite a bit more extraordinarily difficult than on the electric where you allow the volume and tone to do much of the work for you.
Like the first time I heard Jim Hall's album CONCIERTO or Bola Sete's exemplary OCEANS: SOLO GUITAR VOL. 1, I immediately knew I was hearing music that would remain a major part of my life's soundtrack from then on. All three of these records make my Desert Island selections, no question.
Funny thing is, I don't recall whether we booked the band with Tony or not though I remember going up to the Biltmore in L.A. for a booking convention and being floored by the DGQ as well as laughing my ass of to a then-funny unknown comic named Jay Leno. We did have the DGQ at SDSU in the next year or so, I believe.
So today listening to an advance of a wonderful new CD by guitarist Clay Ross, I heard his rendition of Norman Blake's "Church Street Blues" and was taken back to the recorded version by Rice. I listened it twice and on a whim headed to YouTube to see if I could get a glimpse of the hummingbird's right hand. After the third pass, I manually closed my gaping maw and moved on to the wonderful exploratory solo version of the folk classic "Shenandoah" and then onto one of Rice's favorite cover tunes, Gordon Lightfoot's "Cold On The Shoulder". Rice no longer sings so some of these videos are a tad sad for me but the smoothness of his right hand as he arpeggiates some of thes perfectly timed runs is truly a blessing to rediscover.
Enjoy and pick up any of Tony Rice's music. You can't go wrong
Buy HOT DAWG cheap here! Do not wait! Get it Now!
CHURCH STREET BLUES - Tony Rice solo guitar and vocal
DAVID GRISMAN QUARTET "E.M.D." Grisman/Rice/Mark O'Connor/Rob Wasserman
SHENANDOAH - Tony solo from the film Bluegrass Journey
BLUE RAILROAD TRAIN - Tony w/ Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Ronnie Simpkins
A blistering FREEBORN MAN for you bluegrass fans out there...Tony, Bela FLeck, Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush...
COLD ON THE SHOULDER w/ Tony, Jerry Douglas, John Hartford, Vassar Clements, Mark O'Connor, Roy Huskey, Jr.
Monday, January 26, 2009
BESTS OF 2008 - Movies, Music, Food, Concerts...
FAVORITE FILMS OF 2008
Saw 278+ movies in 2008, close to 70 in theaters
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
THE FALL (though I think it was officially released earlier)
THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
IN BRUGES
CHOKE
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
TOWELHEAD
TELL NO ONE
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
BURN AFTER READING
THE DARK KNIGHT
STEP BROTHERS
A GIRL CUT IN TWO
TROUBLE THE WATER
VANTAGE POINT
VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA
FAVORITE CDs OF 2008
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals -- Cardinology
Greg Osby – 9 LEVELS
Charles Lloyd Quartet – Rabo de Nube
Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs: the B ootleg Series Vol. 8
Jimmy Herring - Lifeboat
Orchestra Baobab – Made In Dakar
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsman
Grateful Dead – WINTERLAND – November 1973 (boxed set)
SF Jazz Collective – Live 2008
Wood Brothers – Loaded
Sara Serpa – Praia
Lionel Loueke - Karibu
Dave Holland Sextet – Passing It On
Francisco Mela – Cirio
Mad-Sweet Pangs – Witness & Wait
Todd Sickafoose – Tiny Resistors
Neil Young – Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968
FAVORITE RESTAURANTS of 2008
Arroyo Chop House, Pasadena, CA
HARU, Philadelphia, PA
Indonesia Restaurant, South Philadelphia, PA
Fresh, Culver City, CA
Palomino, Westwood, CA
FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2008
Saw 63 concerts, a light year for me
Wilco -- 8/10/08 – Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE
Ornette Coleman – 2/15/08 -- Portland Jazz Festival, Schnitzern Theatre, Portland, OR
Bruce Springsteen for OBAMA -- 10/4/08 -- JFK Parkway, Philadelphia, PA
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – 1/22/08 – Bridges Auditorium, Claremont, CA
Charles Lloyd Quartet – 3/28/08 – Herbst Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
JAZZ FOR OBAMA – 10/1/08 -- Roy Haynes, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Kurt Elling, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Christian McBride, Charlie Hunter, Doug Wamble, Aaron Goldberg, Brad Mehldau, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roberta Gambarini, Stefon Harris, Stanley Jordan, Bilal, Robert Glasper, Matt Penman, Derrick Hodge, Willie Jones III, Steve Turre – New York, NY
Cecil Taylor, solo piano – 2/27/08 -- Portland Jazz Festival, Portland, OR
Dave Holland Sextet -- 10/10/08 -- New York, NY
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – 4/7/08 – Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
John Beasley’s Jazz Circle w/ Buster Williams, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Bennie Maupin -- 12/15/08 -- Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
Mad-Sweet Pangs -- 11/15/08 -- Recher Theater, Towson, MD
Saw 278+ movies in 2008, close to 70 in theaters
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
THE FALL (though I think it was officially released earlier)
THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
IN BRUGES
CHOKE
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
TOWELHEAD
TELL NO ONE
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
BURN AFTER READING
THE DARK KNIGHT
STEP BROTHERS
A GIRL CUT IN TWO
TROUBLE THE WATER
VANTAGE POINT
VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA
FAVORITE CDs OF 2008
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals -- Cardinology
Greg Osby – 9 LEVELS
Charles Lloyd Quartet – Rabo de Nube
Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs: the B ootleg Series Vol. 8
Jimmy Herring - Lifeboat
Orchestra Baobab – Made In Dakar
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsman
Grateful Dead – WINTERLAND – November 1973 (boxed set)
SF Jazz Collective – Live 2008
Wood Brothers – Loaded
Sara Serpa – Praia
Lionel Loueke - Karibu
Dave Holland Sextet – Passing It On
Francisco Mela – Cirio
Mad-Sweet Pangs – Witness & Wait
Todd Sickafoose – Tiny Resistors
Neil Young – Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968
FAVORITE RESTAURANTS of 2008
Arroyo Chop House, Pasadena, CA
HARU, Philadelphia, PA
Indonesia Restaurant, South Philadelphia, PA
Fresh, Culver City, CA
Palomino, Westwood, CA
FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2008
Saw 63 concerts, a light year for me
Wilco -- 8/10/08 – Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE
Ornette Coleman – 2/15/08 -- Portland Jazz Festival, Schnitzern Theatre, Portland, OR
Bruce Springsteen for OBAMA -- 10/4/08 -- JFK Parkway, Philadelphia, PA
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – 1/22/08 – Bridges Auditorium, Claremont, CA
Charles Lloyd Quartet – 3/28/08 – Herbst Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
JAZZ FOR OBAMA – 10/1/08 -- Roy Haynes, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Kurt Elling, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Christian McBride, Charlie Hunter, Doug Wamble, Aaron Goldberg, Brad Mehldau, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roberta Gambarini, Stefon Harris, Stanley Jordan, Bilal, Robert Glasper, Matt Penman, Derrick Hodge, Willie Jones III, Steve Turre – New York, NY
Cecil Taylor, solo piano – 2/27/08 -- Portland Jazz Festival, Portland, OR
Dave Holland Sextet -- 10/10/08 -- New York, NY
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – 4/7/08 – Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
John Beasley’s Jazz Circle w/ Buster Williams, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Bennie Maupin -- 12/15/08 -- Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
Mad-Sweet Pangs -- 11/15/08 -- Recher Theater, Towson, MD
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