Songs Of The Week, 2024: 4/6-4/12

 

Mother's Little Helper- The Rolling Stones
Leave My Kitten Alone- The Beatles
I Am An Animal- Pete Townshend
Don't Talk- Charlie Hunter & Leon Parker
Nothing Doing- The John Sally Ride
Standing On Ceremony- Lou Reed
Nightingale- Detective

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Mother's Little Helper- The Rolling Stones
I found some old video on an external hard drive of what I believe was the very last rehearsal of The Hard Copies. We were set up in a different room than usual, a bright sunlit studio with a window at our backs, so all of the videos show the band in shadows. Kinda sucks, but the audio wasn't bad. We tackled this one from the Stones, and so that's where we begin.

Leave My Kitten Alone- The Beatles
One of Lennon's greatest lead vocals!

I Am An Animal- Pete Townshend
My friend Derek and I were talking about how great "Empty Glass" is and how great this song is.

Don't Talk- Charlie Hunter & Leon Parker
A stunning cover of the "Pet Sounds" gem. I highly recommend the entire "Duo" album.

Nothing Doing- The John Sally Ride
An oldie but a goodie. I loved singing the harmony on this one.

Standing On Ceremony- Lou Reed
Whenever I mention Lou Reed, either back in the days of NYCD or on social media now, my friend always needs to say. "Growing Up In Public is Lou's best record." I laugh at him and that's that. I decided to finally play it forty years later. I remembered none of it and somehow thought it was a stinker. It's not. It's also NOT his best, but it is a solid record. I owe my friend an apology.

Nightingale- Detective
This record blew my teenage mind when it came out and it still holds up. I love the way this song shifts gears. The second half really cooks.

BW's Saturday #14

 

Badfinger: THE WEEKEND BOINK!!

 

 

Loosely using The Replacements' "Boink!!" as a template---6 album tracks, a b-side and an unreleased track---here are my choices to rep Badfinger.

The Beatles connection was a big deal for me when I was a kid. I wanted to love everything on Apple Records, even the Radha Krsna Temple. But it was not to be. Even those amazing Badfinger hits were not enough to carry four very uneven records. By the time they hit Warner Brothers, I lost interest almost completely, save a track or two.

Of course, 50 years later, I don't feel that way at all. I not only love all four Apple Records, including the oft-maligned "Ass," I'd go as far as saying "Wish You Were Here" is better and more consistent than both "No Dice" and "Straight Up."

I used the single mix of "Baby Blue" for that bit of extra pop on the snare. "Baby Please" is an unreleased track from the "Straight Up" sessions. 

Hope you enjoy it.

TRACKLIST

Know One Knows
Baby Blue (U.S. Single Mix)
Lonely You
Baby Please
I Can Love You
Dennis
No Matter What (demo)
We're For The Dark

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The Dan Auerbach App

 

I've had a love/hate relationship with Dan Auerbach for some time now. As a producer, I thought he helped create one of the best Dr. John albums of his career. But he also had a hand in one of the worst Pretenders albums of their career. He made Shannon Shaw of Shannon & The Clams solo album "Shannon In Nashville" sound a bit like "Dusty In Memphis," but then made Yola sound just like "Shannon In Nashville." (Or was it the other way around?)  I guess my problem with Auerbach is that he has one trick, and it either works with the artist or it doesn't.

Which brings me to "Ohio Players," the new Black Keys record, an album I found myself enjoying until I realized, about halfway through, not much had changed. By the end, I thought, I liked every song. That every song sounded pretty much like the one before it was something I'd have to deal with, but what a solid one song...14 times. 

As an experiment, if I find myself incredibly bored one day, I'd like to make a playlist featuring Dan Auerbach solo tracks, Yola and Shannon tracks, Black Keys and Pretenders tracks and maybe a Dr. John track or two. I'd bet dollars to donuts it would play like one coherent Auerbach record.  Does that make Auerbach a consistent producer, or a producer that isn't really getting the most out of his artists and repertoire, but instead just makes everyone sound like Dan Auerbach, for better or worse? He should just create an Auerbach App so everyone could make a Dan Auerbach record.

"Ohio Players" was a fun spin and I imagine any song could pop up any time and I'd turn it up. But as a whole, it grows tiresome. Beck's involvement, by the way, was not lost on me. I've had a love/hate relationship with him, as well. Unlike Auerbach though, Beck has genre-hopped often enough to keep things interesting, but unfortunately, much of his work has left me cold and I don't believe his involvement with this new Black Keys album makes much of a difference. The Black Keys could have worked with Lemmy or Lily Pons and the records would still come out sounding like a Dan Auerbach record.

Preventive Maintenance

The mission statement of this blog from the very first post in 2008 was to create conversations similar to those that used to occur at record stores, or even better, those wonderful debates that happened among friends while listening to music.

I don’t know exactly when it started, but at some point, music fans stopped duking it out and debating the good versus the bad. I spent entire summers sitting on car hoods in Sheepshead Bay arguing with my buddies over who was better, Tony Iommi or Ritchie Blackmore, Ringo Starr or Charlie Watts. As quickly as we caught fire, we’d put that fire right out and we’d be off for some pizza, laughing with each other.

It was an event trying to sell your favorite over your friend’s favorite. We’d have exhibits A-G---cassettes, 45s, magazines---all making a case for why we thought this band sucked or why that band was better. In the end, we even changed some minds. 

 

Now, heaven forbid you say you think something stinks, it’s a choir of “Just move on. Let the people enjoy what they enjoy. Let the kids have fun. You don’t have to listen to it. Why ruin it for everybody?”

Why? Because it’s FUN to ruin it for everybody! It’s NOT all good! I don't want to pretend to like crap just to be diplomatic. I want to talk about it! That's the whole point of this damned place, to talk about the music we listen to. To share good and bad. To possibly change some minds.

 

I wrote what I thought was a solid piece about Beyonce's new release. I didn't trash the music, though some of it did make me cringe. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed a few songs and said so. My opinions on the agenda, the roll out, the labeling and the overall campaign of "Cowboy Carter" were not so positive and that seemed to ruffle some feathers. I don't mean the normal back and forth that happens in the comment section. As a matter of fact, C In California and I were having a pretty solid conversation about it, one that was exactly like those I mentioned up top. But then, a few people had to ruin it.

 

I received a few private comments, or to be more precise, threats. I was called a racist. Another more disturbing message was from someone threatening me. Yes, I've received comments like this before and usually I just delete and keep moving. But this one seemed a little too specific and it rattled me, so I took down the Beyonce post. I guess trolls come with the territory, but it still isn't much fun having to read this shit.

 

I could just post videos and zip files with no commentary at all and turn off the comments. But that wouldn't be any fun. That I think "Cowboy Carter" was a premeditated move to sell records, cause a stir and get a Grammy should not ruin your listening experience. The negative comments about reggae, hair bands and Todd Rundgren that I see time and again don't ruin mine. But I keep sharing that music in hopes of finally pushing a button. Hell, just yesterday Shriner said, "This might be the album that finally does it for the Lemon Twigs for me."

 

Okay. I'll shut up now.

Oh, one more thing.

 

I think it was Irving Berlin who said something to the effect of, "Popular music is popular because people like it."

 

I'd like to add, "McDonald's sells billions and billions of burgers a year, but that doesn't mean they are good for you."