I Admit It...I Love The Live Album

Well maybe not any released in the last twenty or so years but back in the day the double live album ruled.  I know that they are often heavily doctored in the studio but these live albums had a vibrancy that the studio efforts often did not have.  Usually, not always but usually, this was the case with bands that had not made what you would call a "classic" up to that point.  None of what follows will be a shocker to anyone, but I grew up with each of them and they still hold a special place in my collection.

Bob Seger had been huge prior to this 1975 classic.  The problem was he was huge in Detroit and maybe parts of the midwest.  This one put him on the map nationally.  I picked this up after Night Moves came out.  I tend ot go back and get everything an artist did when I find something new and back around 76 or 77 this was new for me.  It's hard to believe that as huge as Bob Seger got he was pretty much a non issue at West Babylon High School in the late '70's.  I think a friend and I were the only ones from school there when he played the coliseum on the Stranger in Town tour.   Oh well, I digress.  This one is rock solid from start to finish and Bob Seger rocks more and with more soul than he ever did again (and I really liked the next 3 albums).  From the opening of Nutbush City Limits to the hyper-speed Let It Rock this is a stone cold classic.

I've been buying records for as long as I can remember.  When I was but a young vinyl addict I often bought them because of the cover.  That's how I found Kiss at 13.  I was shopping with my mom at the old TSS store and there it was on the front rack.  I had to have it.  When I got home I think I played this non stop for the next month or so on my crappy little stereo.  Everything you could want at 13...

Now Destroyer was a fine record and I think I stayed on the Kiss train for another year or two, but the act wore thin as the music.  Not so with  Alive (and Destroyer).  This was a Rock & Roll Monster that still holds up today.  Art?  No.  A whole shit load of fun?  Yup.  Let Me Go Rock & Roll my friends.

My musical tastes expanded pretty fast and I grabbed a couple of Rush albums back around '76 or '77, All The World's a Stage and A Farewell To Kings (thank you Columbia House).  This was different.  A little spacey rock, a little Zep boogie and that voice.  Geddy Lee was, and is, an acquired taste as a singer but I always liked this stuff.  Rush didn't break big until Permanent Waves, but these got me on board early.  We must have drove around in my buddy's '59 Ford pickup listening to an 8-track of 2112 for a solid year straight!  I didn't much care for anything after Signals, but I still play those early records quite often.  Like all the other dads my age I got to take my son to see them a couple of time recently.  A pretty cool experience all around.

I got to see Rainbow at the Commack Arena right around the time this came out.  I think I prefer Rainbow to Deep Purple.  Ritchie Blackmore was a monster and Ronnie James Dio one of the finest singers of the era.  Too bad they couldn't get along.  Very much in the Deep Purple vein, Rainbow was all about mixing the blues with medieval images...Kill The King, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Man On The Silver Mountain.  A short lived burst of all sorts of musical goodness.  Then Dio left and Rainbow got wimpy.  Now Blackmore  literally plays medieval music in Blackmore's Night...what a waste.

There were so many more great live albums among them Frampton Comes Alive, UFO - Strangers In The Night, Foghat - Live.  There were also some that were less than stellar...The Song Remains The Same and the Stones Love You Live come to mind, but I can live with that.  It was a good time to be a music fan.

I'm am feeling a bit nostalgic of late, but these were great records.  I think I'm gonna keep on playing 'em.

It's 2012 and I Am Turning a New Musical Leaf

I have been thinking a lot lately about music.  I know it has been my passion for most of my life, but what do I really like?  It sounds like a stupid question but like many of you out there I can tend to be a bit of a snob.  I tend to want to discover artists before anyone and start to sun them when they "break".  Now I wouldn't call myself a hipster because I am firmly rooted here on Long Island listening mainly to rock, blues and country, but I do go through periods where I will stop listening to some things because I feel it is my "duty" to stick with the indie acts over those who have "made it"

An example...I really do like Hellbound Glory.  Great country music.  I also happen to love George Strait, Alan Jackson and yes, even Toby Keith.  I have even more trouble with rock music lately.  I have to say there isn't much that has truly fired me up over the past couple of years, but I still find something interesting every once in a while.

What do I listen to most of the time?  In the car I have a classic rock Smartplaylist with about 6000 songs that lasts for months.  And when I say classic rock that is exactly what I mean.  The newest thing on there is some Gaslight Anthem and a little Foo Fighters...the rest is pretty old.  And I don't care.  I love this stuff and always have.  In fact this morning I have played Rush, UFO and Thin Lizzy...and enjoyed every minute of it.  Now some of the stuff I liked in high school is a tough listen now, Black Sabbath in particular, but I don't think I ever really loved it even back in the day.  I like to rock but heavy metal has never been my thing.  I need a little groove, a little melody.

So what this all comes down to for me is that 2012 is the year I am going to be comfortable in my "musical skin".  No more feeling that I have to like something, no more working through music and hoping it grows on me.  I stand by every one of the albums on my top 10 this past year, but so many others were just not that exciting. I have a feeling that as the years progress that year end Top 10 will be more and more difficult to make.

Shit, maybe this is another midlife crisis.  Well if it is it's no big deal.  Maybe turning 50 won't be so bad.  And I can guarantee that I won't feel old if Rush tours this summer.

Oh yeah, and I can't wait for the new Springsteen album and tour.  2012 may be a good year yet.

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2012 is a good year for all!

Merry Christmas To All!

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the entire OldRockr1 family!

Best Records of 2011

And I do mean records.  2011 will be remembered, at least by me, as the year that virtually every new release I wanted was available on vinyl in addition to those other formats.  I love it.  Wanna stop piracy?  Release it all on vinyl.  One negative that has not been corrected by many of the labels is the failure to provide a download code. C'mon you money grubbing whores at the majors...those of us buying the new vinyl are your core customers so how about a little respect.

OK, enough of that.  2011 was for an OK year in music.  There were some really good releases but not as many as in years past...at least to these ears.  What I did like I enjoyed immensely with some great music coming from both new and established artists.  What follows is a list of records that did it for me in a bid way in 2011.  These are in no particular order and I am leaving what I think is the top album for the end.  So here goes nothing...

I know, I know this is chock full of the same old blues classics but you know what?  Johnny Winter is playing and singing better than he has in years.  This is a legend ripping through some of his favorites along with some top notch guests.  You can't go wrong with this one if you like the blues at all.  Good time, beer drinking rockin' blues.

John Hiatt has been making great records for decades.  All of them are good, some of them are great.  This one falls in the latter category.  This is the best thing he has done since Slow Turning.

Austin Lucas doesn't look much like a country singer, but he sure as hell sounds like one.  The best high-lonesome sound I have heard in years.  Real Country Music!

Speaking of real country music...it doesn't get much more real than this one.  The self described "scumbag country" band returns with their finest work yet.  Ever so slightly less in your face than last year's Old Highs and New Lows, Damaged Good benefits from the approach.  The song writing and performances are top notch.  You can trash all those Jason Aldean records...Hellbound Glory is the real deal my friends.

The hardest working man in rock & roll serves up his first solo project since the mid-90's.  Warren turns to the soul music he loves and gives it a little kick.  I haven't enjoyed a Mule record this much since Life Before Insanity.

I never much cared for The Decemberists.  That is until I heard The King is Dead.  With an REM meets Neil Young sound, The Decemberists take it in a much more accessible direction which is a very good thing.  This was my favorite album for most of the first half of the year and it is still right up there.  Love it, love it, love it.

By now you know the story.  Glen Campbell has early Alzheimer's and he wanted to make one last record and go out on the road before he can't anymore.  If this is his goodbye record he is going to be remembered for creating a classic.  A tremendous record from start to finish that rivals and often surpasses his best work from the late 60's and early 70's.  A shining example of how great music is timeless and ageless.

This one took a bit to grow on me.  I didn't dislike it at first...it just wasn't doing it for me.  More than a few folks whose opinions on music I respect said I need to give it a few more spins.  How right they were.  This record has grown on me to the point it is on my year end list.  Both Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are undeniable talents who have left me a bit cold on previous efforts.  This material fits them both quite well and all the Delaney & Bonnie comparisons are not that far off.  A very, very good listen.

Matt Schofield is a British Blues guitarist who has made quite a name for himself on the other side of the pond over the last couple of years.  He reminds me quite a bit of Robben Ford in his playing.  Definitely more polished than raw with some great vocals and never less than impressive playing.  I hope he gets over here this year for a couple of shows.

I know is voice is shot now but it wasn't too bad when this was recorded back in 2008.  I don't care about that.  The shear joy that jumps out of the grooves is worth the price of admission.  Levon Helm is an American classic!

They may not be the most traditional bluegrass outfit but they can sure play their asses off as this live document attests.  The best of the young bluegrass/newgrass/jamgrass bands.

Any record that starts off with a killer (pun intended) murder cut has to be good and this one is.  Cruz Contreras and the rest of the Black Lillies have turned in one of the best Americana releases of the year.  Tall trees is like some kind of bluegrass meets the Allman's with a kick of gospel mash up and it works really, really well.  I've been playing this since it ended up in my ReviewShine inbox.  I'm still playing in December.

And last but not least my favorite album of the year....

Former Hot Water Music vocalist Chuck Ragan has been leading the folk-punk charge for a bit now and he has released what may be the perfect example of this genre (whatever the hell folk-punk means).  A stripped down guitar/fiddle/bass sound to go along with his gruff but honest vocals singing songs of the road has kept me playing this over and over since it came out.  Think Springsteen rocking out with acoustics and no E. Street band with a little high lonesome sound thrown in for good measure.  A couple of cuts with Brian Fallon doesn't hurt either.  An instant classic.

So there it is,  my faves for 2011.  It wasn't the best year ever but there were some really great releases.  Let's hope 2012 is another good one.