Archive Review: Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1993)

Some 16 years ago, an unknown vocalist by the name of Meat Loaf, fresh from a stint with Ted Nugent’s mid-’70 Free For All band, hooked up with a songwriter named Jim Steinman and recorded what was destined to become a rock classic: the Bat Out of Hell album. Critics hated it with a passion, but to an American audience sick of watered-down rock ‘n’ roll, disgusted with disco and unfamiliar with the punk stirrings a continent away, Bat Out of Hell – with its bombastic, guitar-driven tales of young lust, alienation, and romance – was bigger than life. The album has been a consistent best seller since its 1977 release.

After a much publicized and highly public split, Steinman went on to write a handful of hits for artists like Bonnie Tyler, while Meat Loaf recorded a bunch of albums (some good, some not so good) in a battle against obscurity. To the benefit of an audience still starved for the real rock thing, the duo has reunited to create a sequel to one of the most enduring albums in rock history.

Slapping Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell onto the CD player is like being 19 again. This is the elusive pulse of rock ‘n’ roll, that hard-to-capture spirit of the music and all of its promise that makes Bat Out of Hell II and its predecessor work so well. It’s like trying to tell a stranger about rock ‘n’ roll – if they don’t get it, chances are, they never will. This disc is loud, overblown, and exaggerated, but it’s also got more hooks than a Bassmasters tournament and it rocks like a house afire. Even as history repeated itself and critics slagged Bat Out of Hell II, it shot straight up to number one upon its release.

The world is a different place than 1977, though, and this sequel reflects the urgency and identity of the decade. The cynicism of “Life Is A Lemon and I Want My Money Back,” the erotic fantasies of “Out of the Frying Pan (and Into the Fire),” the confusion of “It Just Won’t Quit” all play to a different time and place. It’s the two key cuts here, however – the idealistic, decade-old “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through” and “Wasted Youth/Everything Louder Than Everything Else” – that serve as the youthful anthems around which all else revolves. It’s the energy, the hope provided by these songs, and in rock music, that attracts the audience. It’s what Meat Loaf does best. It may be better to burn out than to fade away, and I’m glad that Meat Loaf captured the chance to burn brightly again. (MCA Records, released 1993)

Review originally published by R.A.D! zine, December 1983

The Reverend's Guide to Record Store Day 2026

For those of you who celebrate the holiday, Record Store Day is rapidly approaching, and if you haven’t scanned the list of available hot wax at least a dozen times by now, what sort of record collector are you? It’s shaping up to be one of the best RSD events in recent memory – sure, there are a bunch of major label retreads, reissues of albums you didn’t want to buy when they were new, and gimmicky picture discs and 3” records (really…this is something we needed?) – but this spring’s sale also includes a bunch of previously-unreleased studio and live gems worth your time and money.

What follows below is the Reverend’s carefully-curated list of Record Store Releases that I’ll be spending my hard-earned coin on buying. There are other titles of merit on this year’s list – your tastes may vary – as well as more than a few albums that I already own on vinyl and/or CD and see no reason to part with a dollar to get the newest and hottest version of such. The below-listed flapjacks are those that I think will provide the most bang for your buck, and to buy every LP here will run you a cool $300+ so if you haven’t been saving your pennies (do they still exist?), well, shame on you… 

Marshall Crenshaw - The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 (Yep Roc Records)
    Crenshaw is a helluva songwriter and performer, so The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 promises to be a real banger. Marshall personally dug through his archives to assemble this special vinyl release, which includes unreleased recordings, demo tapes, and live takes recorded during the noted time period that resulted in acclaimed LPs like Downtown, Mary Jane & 9 Others, and Good Evening. The 14-track album includes a bunch of original tunes as well as covers of Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity” and Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” recorded with Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of the E Street Band. Fun fact: Crenshaw portrayed Holly in the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba, performing Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” in the movie and on the soundtrack album. 

The dB’s - Cycles Per Second: US Tour 2024 (Propeller Sound Recordings) 
    Peter Holsapple and the dB’s have enjoyed a modicum of “rediscovery” these past few years, and justifiably so…the band’s power-pop flecked, old school indie rock sound is unique to the dB’s, one of the finest bands from the 1980s ‘college rock’ era. Propeller Sound Recordings reissued the band’s first two albums – 1981’s Stands for deciBels and 1982’s Repercussion – a couple years back, which resulted in a 2024 reunion tour featuring all four original band members (yes, even Chris Stamey!). Cycles Per Second is a document of that tour, a baker’s dozen of classic dB’s tunes including fan faves like “Black and White,” “Love Is For Lovers,” “Lonely Is,” and the scorching “Amplifier.” The album has been pressed on ‘firework splatter’ vinyl for RSD and includes a full-color inset of tour photos.

The Dream Syndicate - Sketches For Medicine Show (Fire Records)
    The Dream Syndicate released a wonderful, deluxe four-CD box set of the band’s 1984 sophomore album Medicine Show late last year, and fans thought that was about all that the archives held for that period of the band’s history. Come Record Store Day 2026, however, a new chapter will be written with Sketches For Medicine Show, a collection of rare recordings circa 1983-84 that includes a handful of rehearsal recordings and live tracks including the band’s unique version of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” and Bonnie Dobson’s anti-war folk classic “Morning Dew.” Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn has assured fans via social media that none of the seven tracks on Sketches were included on the deluxe box set, so this LP offers all new munchies for your ears. This may also be the rarest of this year’s RSD releases, with only 600 copies distributed regionally.

Freddie King - Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts (Elemental Music)
    There aren’t that many blues releases on this spring’s RSD slate, but this triple-disc Freddie King live set should make up for the lack of quantity with a collection of unparalleled quality. Capturing the legendary blues guitarist performing before 50,000 fans at France’s Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival in October 1975, the album is previously unreleased. Produced by award-winning reissue wizard Zev Feldman, and sourced from original ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) recordings, the discs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl and the title is authorized by King’s estate. The release includes appreciations of the artists from his daughter Wanda King and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons as well as extensive liner notes from music journalist and historian (and a friend of mine) Cary Baker. If a three-LP set is a bit too rich for your bank account, budget-friendly CD and digital versions will be released on April 24th. 

Ngozi Family - Gate Crash ’78 (Now-Again Records)
    This Zamrock stuff scratches a 1970s-era rock ‘n’ roll itch you didn’t know you had, and everything I’ve heard from the Ngozi Family, Paul Ngozi, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Witch, and other bands from Zambia’s ‘70s rock scene is of uniformly high quality and high energy. Gate Crash ’78 is a long-lost Ngozi Family/Chrissy Zebby Tembo album that was test-pressed but never released back in the day. This is number one on my RSD hit parade, and once you’ve heard guitarist Paul Ngozi, it’ll be high on your list too. Now-Again Records has done an admirable job in documenting this obscure corner of rock ‘n’ roll history, and Gate Crash ’78 carries on the tradition with an eight-page booklet featuring rare photos and details on the Ngozi Family’s amazing history.

The Ramones - Live In San Francisco (Rhino Records)
    Another year and another live Ramones disc hits the shelves – and we have Rhino Records to thank! The tracklists on all these authorized live hubcaps, as well as most of the recent glut of bootleg vinyl, don’t vary by that many songs and, well, they’re the Ramones, so they mostly all deliver the same electrifying tightrope walk of sound. But we fanatics buy ‘em up anyway, like good little lemmings collecting baseball cards, and since this is a long overdue authorized release of the band’s 1979 City Hall Plaza show in San Francisco for the End of the Century tour, we’ll probably buy this one as well. Often bootlegged (notably as City Hall by Bad Joker Records and Live 1977 & 1979 by Live Wire Productions), the legit release offers up 27 songs on two LPs pressed on 140-gram ‘neon pink’ vinyl. 

Runt w/Todd Rundgren - The Necessary Cosmic Frenzy (Rhino Records)
    This is another title high on my “buy” list, the first ever solo performance by rock legend and innovator, Todd Rundgren. Runt was Rundgren’s first band after the Nazz – it was really a solo joint to begin with – and he’d be billed under his own name soon after the release of the lone, self-titled and excellent Runt album in 1970. This live performance from Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios took place on June 30th, 1971 and was broadcast by WMMR-FM radio. Rundgren was backed for the occasion by his future Utopia bandmember “Moogy” Klingman, bassist Stu Wood, guitarist Tom Cosgrove, and drummer Norman “N.D.” Smart. Rundgren would leave Runt in the rearview mirror with the release of the expansive Something/Anything? two-album set in 1972 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Thin Lizzy - Live In Cleveland 1976 (UMR/Vertigo Records)
    After several years spent treading the boards, British hard rock band Thin Lizzy, fronted by an Irish singer, songwriter, and bassist – the musical genius that was Phil Lynott – broke through to stateside audiences in 1976 with a pair of acclaimed albums, Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox. This FM radio broadcast was originally included as part of 2024’s six-disc 1976 box set, broken out here as a stand-alone 2-LP set pressed on transparent vinyl. The May 1976 concert, broadcast on Cleveland’s WMMS-FM, includes most of the songs from Jailbreak as well as a handful of earlier tunes. I have personal knowledge of the depth of WMMS’s tape archives, and if they’re starting to produce these live shows for vinyl reissue, we collectors are in for a treat!      

Honorable Mention (i.e. other groovy RSD releases to consider): Dr. Feelgood’s Oil City Confidential, the soundtrack to director Julien Temple’s 2009 film about the influential 1970s British R&B band; The Gits’ Etcetera, an odds ‘n’ sods collection of rarities and live tracks from the ill-fated but influential punk rock band; The Mooney Suzuki’s People Get Ready, a 25th anniversary reissue of the Detroit sound-adjacent rockers’ classic album with a bonus 1999 concert disc; John Prine’s BBC Sessions, a nine-song collection of material from the acclaimed singer/songwriter’s first two albums, performed live on BBC radio; Terry Callier’s At The Earl of Old Town, a cool live show from the 1970s-era folk/jazz/blues guitarist (who found a modicum of fame in the 1990s in the U.K.); and SRC’s Milestones, the Detroit rocker’s acclaimed sophomore album, a masterful mix of hard rock, prog, and British Invasion influences. 

The Reverend's Favorite Reissues & Archival Albums of 2025

As a child of the '70s, although my musical tastes didn't calcify after the decade like so many of my contemporaries, the exciting and adventuresome music I heard during my teenage years left an indelible imprint on the development of my musical preferences. My purchases of archival and reissue albums tend to be of the classic rock and blues genres, which is why the following list of my favorites in this category for the year tend to lean towards albums released during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s...

A lifelong curmudgeon, I bitch and moan and avoid pricey box set reissues that load multiple discs down with demo tracks and alternate takes...there's a reason why a lot of this stuff remained unreleased for decades and they largely bore me to tears. In many cases, unless a reissue provides a sonic upgrade on the CD or vinyl that I already own, or the value-added inclusion of an unreleased live set, I'll spend my money on graphic novels or music bios instead. But show me a long-lost rock or blues LP from the '60s and I'm all in. 

This year provided a wealth of archival releases, as well as a few surprises like the Dream Syndicate Medicine Show box and previously-unreleased live performances by Galaxie 500, Hüsker Dü, The Meters, and The Ramones. Here are my favorite reissue and archival albums of 2025...

Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show: I Know What You Like box set
Galaxie 500 - CBGB 12.13.88
Buddy Guy - This Is Buddy Guy!
John Lee Hooker - The Standard School Broadcast Recordings
Mississippi John Hurt - Today!
Hüsker Dü - 1985: The Miracle Year
Iron City Houserockers - Blood On the Bricks
Lonnie Johnson - Blues & Ballads
Furry Lewis - Back On My Feet Again
Mississippi Fred McDowell - I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll
The Meters - Live At Great American Music Hall
Montrose - Live 1973-KSAN Radio Session
New Order - Low Life
The Ramones - Live at CBGB, 1977
The Replacements - Let It Be [deluxe]
The Rolling Stones - Black & Blue [deluxe]
Salem 66 - Salt
Sex Pistols - Live In The U.S.A. 1978
Sly & the Family Stone - The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967
Spirit - Sea Dream import box set
Talking Heads - Live On Tour 1978
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & The Ngozi Family - I’m Not Made of Iron
Various Artists - Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972 box set
Various Artists - Rollin' & Tumblin' box set
War - Live In Japan

Links are to That Devil Music album reviews...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CD Review: Pink Floyd’s Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII (2025)

An often-bootlegged, fan-favorite performance(s) by classic rock legends Pink Floyd, the band’s four nights at the Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy in October 1971 was filmed by director Adrian Maben and released as a concert movie in 1972. It was expanded from 60 to 80 minutes for re-release in ’73, and finally made its way stateside the following year, grossing roughly $2 million at the U.S. movie box office (pretty good for those days).

The performance has released on home video formats several times over the years, and was restored to 4k resolution for an April 2025 theatrical release. For whatever reasons, however, the performance has never received proper CD release, appearing in truncated form on the 2016 Obfusc/ation box set, leaving it up to bootleggers like The Swingin’ Pig and Black Cat Records to satisfy fan demand in the Floyd marketplace with dodgy, illicit (albeit entertaining) CD releases.

Pink Floyd’s Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII

At long last, Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII restores the concert to its full-length across two CDs and long-suffering Floyd fans should be overjoyed. The sound quality is excellent, beating the pants off previous bootleg versions, and although the tracks could have been split more evenly between the two discs (CD2 is a spry 18 minutes), that’s a minor cavil at best. The performance is awe-inspiring, the material falling into the band’s proggy, space-rock period around Atom Heart Mother and Meddle, with trippy performances of the latter album’s “Echoes” and “One of These Days” that presage then-on-the-horizon Dark Side of the Moon.

There are nods to Floyd’s formidable Syd-embroidered psychedelic past with “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun” as well as Ummagumma’s celestial classic “Careful With That Axe Eugene” and the oddball obscurity “Mademoiselle Nobs,” a curious country blues vamp. This is primo grade Pink Floyd at its experimental and innovative best, and a long overdue release from one of classic rock’s signature outfits. (Columbia Records, released April 25th, 2025) Grade: A+
   
Buy the CD from Amazon: Pink Floyd’s Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII

Book Review: Al Kooper’s Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards (1999)

Musician, songwriter, label executive, producer – Al Kooper has made a living out of being the “Forrest Gump” of rock music. For better than thirty years, whenever something momentous was about to occur in rock ‘n’ roll, Kooper was certain to be involved in it. From his haphazard entry as a keyboardist on Dylan’s classic “Like A Rolling Stone” and playing with Dylan onstage in Newport to producing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first three albums, Al Kooper has a resume that’s every bit as long and impressive as anybody’s in rock music. With this revised and expanded edition of Kooper’s earlier memoir, Backstage Passes, Al brings the tales of his storied career full circle.

Al Kooper’s Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards

A lively writer with an easily read, conversational style and more than a few stories under his belt, Kooper documents with Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards a career that has seen its shares of ups and downs. Beginning with the earliest stirrings of his interest in music, playing in teen bands and sharpening his skills, Kooper takes the reader on a romp through his rock ‘n’ roll universe. High points of the book include Kooper’s early days as a musical hustler, a samurai of songs writing tunes on spec for producers in need of material. Here Al provides the reader with a lesson in the economics of songwriting and the real history of the Brill Building.

Kooper’s major league breakthrough as a session player begins with his hilarious story of the session for Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” and its aftermath. It’s as a session player that Kooper is best known, sitting in on recordings with notable artists like Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Mike Bloomfield, and far too many others to list here. Although Kooper speaks of his own solo career in Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards, he tends to give it short shrift in light of his stories of superstar session work. He goes into some detail on the formation and careers of Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears, both projects in which he was an integral part until egos got in the way and Kooper would move onto the next challenge. His discovery of Lynyrd Skynyrd is, perhaps, the real feather in his cap; Kooper producing and playing on that band’s first three albums, arguably among the most important Southern Rock records ever made.

By the end of Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards, circa 1998, Kooper has pretty much given up on the music biz, going into teaching at the noted Berklee School of Music in Boston. Some reviewers of this book have made much ado over Kooper’s distinctively sour grapes attitude during the book’s last few chapters, Kooper viewing with some bitterness the current atmosphere in the music industry. Given my own fringe involvement with the industry as a critic and journalist, I can’t say that I disagree with him. The industry turns its back on older artists who aren’t still cranking out hits (and, therefore, profits).

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

As an artist, musician and producer Kooper comes from a time when, perhaps, the music mattered more than the marketing and labels weren’t quite the greedy conglomerate bastards that they’ve become today. As such, Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards is a captivating document, the honest, heartfelt memoir of, as Kooper terms himself, “a rock ‘n’ roll survivor.” Anybody who loves music should have a copy of this book on his or her shelf, right beside their latest CD purchases. Kooper’s Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards will entertain you, inform you, and keep you honest. (Billboard Books, published 1999)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ music zine...

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Collage, The Exploding Hearts, Los Straitjackets, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Paul Stanley (December 2006)

December 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

COLLAGE – Changes
Further proof that progressive rock is a worldwide phenomenon, Poland’s Collage is one of the most innovative and interesting bands in the genre. Formed in 1985 by students of the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, the band released its first album, Basnie, in 1990. It was with the release of their 1993 sophomore effort, Nine Songs of John Lennon, which features Collage re-imagining classic Beatles and Lennon solo songs as exotic prog-rock compositions, that the band really caught on with audiences from Europe to Asia. They followed up that album with the melodic, pop-oriented Moonshine in 1994.
    Originally released in 1995, Changes revisits Collage material circa 1985 through 1992 with new vocalist Robert Amirian (who sung on Moonshine), including re-recorded songs from Basnie and previously unreleased songs. Even with lyrics sung in Polish, there is no denying the power of the music. Guitarist Mirek Gil is an inventive and skilled six-string maestro, while the rest of the band weaves a dense, multi-textured tapestry of sound behind Amirian’s lofty and passionate vocals. More than merely prog, Collage produce art-rock of the highest degree, dreamy and mesmerizing music that demands that the listener pay attention. Highly recommended for fans of the Flower Kings or Spock’s Beard, Collage is guaranteed to provide the same thrill of musical adventure as those legendary bands. (Metal Minds/MVD Audio)

THE EXPLODING HEARTS – Shattered
One of the most exciting and promising young bands to hit the scene in a generation, the Exploding Hearts literally came and went in a flash. The band released its excellent debut album, Guitar Romantic, in early 2003, the disc showcasing a brilliant mix of ‘60s-styled garage rock and vintage ‘70s power-pop, influenced by ‘80s-era punk and UK rock. Guitar Romantic was well-received by both critics and the ever-critical punk community, and the Exploding Hearts became a big draw on the west coast club circuit. In July 2003, however, fate struck in the form of tragic accident that took the lives of band members Adam Cox, Matt Fitzgerald, and Jeremy Gage.
    In a fitting tribute to the band, Dirtnap Records has assembled the appropriately named Shattered from the odds and ends of the band’s too damn brief career. Shattered collects the band’s early (hard-to-find) singles, various demos, unreleased songs, and alternative mixes from Guitar Romantic under one roof. The album offers a glimpse at a band that had the potential to become really big, one that drew its influences from a myriad of impressive sources, forging a distinctive and electric sound that was entirely its own. Shattered stands well on its own merits as a highly entertaining rock ‘n’ roll collection; coupled with the essential Guitar Romantic, it bookends the legacy of this fine band. Discover them now, boys and girls, ‘cause you’ll be paying mucho dinero for these recordings in ten years or so when the Exploding Hearts become a much-coveted cult band. (Dirtnap Records)         

LOS STRAITJACKETS – Twist Party
Twenty-something years ago, when guitarists Danny Amis and Eddie Angel launched a surf-rock band called the Straitjackets and began playing the honky-tonks and rock clubs of Nashville, who would have believed that these guys would still be grinding it out here in the new millennium? Yet here they are, Mexican wrestling masks intact, hooking up with vocalist/saxmaniac “Kaiser” George Miller for Twist Party. Taking their inspiration from the early ‘60s dance craze, Twist Party finds Miller and the Straitjackets pounding out 16 infectious tunes, all with a “twist” dance theme.
    Of course, this is the kind of riff-driven, tremolo-fed, Dick Dale-inspired soundtrack that the band can really sink its teeth into. From the hilarious “Twistin’ Gorilla” and the soulful “Twistin’ Out In Space” to the B-movie horror-flick theatrics of “All Back To Drac’s,” these tunes rock with a joy de vivre that transcends the ultra-cool retro-rock vibe that is the band’s trademark. Twist Party comes packaged with a bonus DVD, providing visual dance lessons courtesy of the beautiful and, apparently, “world famous” burlesque trio the Pontani Sisters. Somehow, I think that Chubby Checker would approve… (Yep Roc Records)

ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES – Love Their Country
You’d think that after five albums that this joke would have gotten tired, run its course, and been discarded. Not on your life, pal! The premise is simple, really – punk rock royalty (members of NoFX, Lagwagon and No Use For A Name) get together in the studio to torture other people’s songs. To date, the Gimme Gimme boys have tackled show tunes, R&B classics, and pop music, and with Love Their Country, they give the punk treatment to Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and even the Dixie Chicks. Funny thing is, the gimmick still works ‘cause the guys have a genuine fondness for the material that they reinvent.
    This means that they have a hell of a lot of fun while punking up such inherently country songs as “(Ghost) Riders In the Sky” and Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (tilting towards Celtic punk here). Other highlights on Love Their Country are the blazing cover of Dolly’s classic “Jolene,” a metallic interpretation of the Eagles’ “Desperado,” and an almost joyous reading of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Always good for a laugh or two and a half-hour’s entertainment, you can never go wrong with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. (Fat Wreck Chords)
 

PAUL STANLEY – Live To Win
The problem with Live To Win, Kiss frontman Paul Stanley’s first solo effort in nearly three decades, isn’t in the uber-slick production afforded these cheesy slices of nerf-metal composed with help from lite-rock scribe Desmond Child. No, the problem is in the high expectations afforded the legendary frontman of one of rock’s larger-than-life bands. Whereas Kiss managed to wrestle ‘70s metal from the grip of stoned proto-slacker adults and deliver it back into the greasy hands of stoned proto-slacker teenagers where it belonged, Stanley does little on Live To Win to challenge the sluggish new millennium musical status quo. The singer’s pipes are in fine form, Stanley’s vox on tunes like “Wake Up Screaming” and the title cut amazingly supple considering 30+ years of hard rock histrionics.
    Although Stanley would never be mistaken for, say, for Frankie Marino, his guitar playing is often underrated and overshadowed by standard Kiss theatrics; on Live To Win he delivers a passable performance as a modern rock axeman. What troubles me, perhaps, is that provided the opportunity (and budget) to create any sort of recording that his heart desired, Stanley chose to choke up the potential of Live To Win with creeping mediocrity and tortured cliché. When the album shoots for the moon – as it does with the anthemic “Bulletproof” or the soaring “Where Angels Dare” (with guitarist John 5) – Live To Win fulfills its promise. Otherwise, it’s mostly inoffensive and mildly entertaining filler. Kiss fans be warned…this Paul Stanley album has very little in common with his work in that great band, but it stands well enough on its own. (New Door/Universal)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Jeff Beck Group, The Buzzcocks, The Church, My Morning Jacket, Only Living Witness (November 2006)

November 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

THE JEFF BECK GROUP – Beck-Ola
No longer provided solo billing – they were a “group,” you know – this 1969 follow-up to Truth is no less entertaining if a wee bit less innovative. Beck and crew, which at this point still included charismatic frontman Stewart and sidekick Wood as well as pianist-to-the-stars Nickey Hopkins and bombastic drummer Tony Newman (who would later go on to form May Blitz), turn up the volume and deliver a red-hot slab o’ “heavy music.” “Heavy” as in heavy guitars, percussive rhythms, and explosive vocals, with Stewart shouting out the tunes like his life depended on it. Beck must have had Elvis on the brain at the time, covering not one, but two of the King’s tunes in “All Shook Up” and “Jailhouse Rock,” both slight departures from otherwise heady material like the riff-happy “Spanish Boots” or the chaotic “The Hangman’s Knee.”
    The handful of bonus tracks on this sonically-restored reissue include the ultra-bluesy “Sweet Little Angel,” recorded sometime after Truth sessions with drummer Waller and featuring some smokin’ Beck solo work, and the dramatic “Throw Down A Line,” which showcase’s Stewart’s soulful vocals at their best. Beck-Ola is a solid exercise in UK blooze-rock and a fitting bookend to the classic Truth. Beck’s fast track to stardom would be derailed shortly after the release of Beck-Ola, however, an auto accident putting the talented guitarist on the shelf for over a year, during which time Stewart and Wood defected to the Faces. As these two recent reissues illustrate, however, Beck was an innovative and exciting guitarist that deserves a better reputation, his skills equaling Clapton’s, his artistic vision easily surpassing that of his fellow Yardbirds’ alumni. (Sony Legacy)     

THE BUZZCOCKS – Flat-pack Philosophy
Never as nihilist as the Sex Pistols, nor social realists like the Clash, the Buzzcocks’ immense reputation was built on the band’s appropriation of the three-minute pop song for the punk milieu. Frontman Pete Shelley’s acute observations on the teenage condition, coupled with an undeniable sense of melody and a biting instrumental tact – courtesy of guitarist Steve Diggle – made the Buzzcocks one of the most influential bands to emerge from the class of ’77. If, after all this time, they’re not exactly a household name in the US, well, dammit, they should be!
    After breaking up in 1981, the Buzzcocks reformed a decade later around Shelley, Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Philip Barker. This line-up has now been around longer than the original band, and they have released music every bit as memorable as those now-legendary early albums. Flat-pack Philosophy is a perfect example of Buzzcockian rock; Shelley’s matured songwriting underlined by a fast-and-loud delivery and bold, bright instrumental hooks. Although Shelley no longer shares a teenage perspective, his romantic inclinations are no less clumsy, and songs like “Sell You Everything,” “Credit,” and “Between Heaven and Hell” showcase a wider, intellectual worldview. Altogether, Flat-pack Philosophy blows across the current musical horizon like a gale-force wind, proving that punk rock can grow old without losing amperage, fury or attitude. One of the year’s best rock ‘n’ roll albums, Flat-pack Philosophy stands proud alongside works like Love Bites and A Different Kind of Tension. (Cooking Vinyl)         

THE CHURCH – Uninvited, Like the Clouds
For better than a quarter-century, Aussie shimmer-pop kings the Church have suffered roster changes, label changes and fickle trends in popular music. Throughout it all, though, the creative core of Steve Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper, and Peter Koppes have found a way to keep making music the way they want make music. That’s no little feat, either, as proven by Uninvited, Like the Clouds. The Church do more than crank out a few tunes…they carefully craft each song out of gossamer and melody, creating an aural soundscape unlike anybody else in the history of rock’s storied “pop music” wing.
    Uninvited, Like the Clouds delivers more of the same for fans of the Church. In other words, lots of shiny, ringing guitar tones; thick textured production; Kilbey’s somber vocals caressing his oblique lyrics; and an overall sound that is prettier and more mesmerizing that just about anything else you’ll hear these days. Although the Church is unlikely to win many converts to their sonic signature with a new album at this late date, nobody does it better than these guys, guaranteed. (Cooking Vinyl Records)  

MY MORNING JACKET – Okonokos
Friends, acquaintances, and various industry insiders have passed along word that Kentucky rockers My Morning Jacket are nothing less than freakin’ awesome onstage, a claim only partially proven with the release of Okonokos. A two-CD live set reprising much of the band’s excellent 2005 release Z as well as 2003’s It Still Moves, the static recording medium only partially captures the textured nuances of the band’s performance, methinks. My Morning Jacket’s hybrid of jam-band-styled instrumentation, traditional country, SoCal folk lyricism and larger-than-life, ‘70s-influenced classic rock roots fits them extremely well.
    Vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jim James’ lofty, haunting vocals rise above the heady mix of guitar flash and pounding rhythms, and the band has the chops and the courage to pull off a sound that is at once both seemingly stylistically mismatched and courageously adventuresome. Okonokos showcases some of the band’s best songs – “Off the Record,” “Mahgeetah,” “What A Wonderful Man” – as well as a handful of early fan favorites, the band delivering a stellar performance that shines through the CD’s slick production and total lack of presence. Until the anticipated first wave of bootleg recordings force the band’s label to kick out a more honest representation of MMJ’s live show, Okonokos is an entertaining and lively collection of songs that will both please fans and attract new listeners to this excellent and exciting band. (ATO Records/RCA Records)

ONLY LIVING WITNESS – Prone Mortal Form/Innocents
Less a thrash band than apocalyptic sonic annihilators with an eye towards raising some hell, Only Living Witness were one of the unheralded icons of the dark days of ‘90s metal. While the rest of the world was enamored of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and all things grunge, Only Living Witness released Prone Mortal Form in ’93. A brewed-in-hell harbinger of Sabbath/Pentagram-styled HEAVY metal and brutal, unyielding, riff-manic tunes, the album plods across your stereo and out of your speakers like a rabid T-Rex with a hard-on for all things good and decent. Undaunted by a mid-decade mainstream music fan that preferred the pop-punk of Green Day and the Offspring, OLW released Innocents in ’96, further pushing the envelope of metal’s potential and laying the groundwork for bands like Mastodon and Meshuggah to plow the fields a decade later.
    Innocents carried forth the unrelenting musical bludgeoning of the band’s debut, adding blood red to its artistic palette with expanded, almost spacious instrumental passages fueled by Eric Stevenson’s vastly underrated and imaginative six-string pyrotechnics. Vocalist/lyricist Jonah Jenkins excelled at both, his vox as strong as, say, Chris Cornell’s, but with more soul; his wordplay every bit as poetic in the same eerie, angry, angst-ridden, and oblique way as Cobain’s. The explosive rhythm section of bassist Chris Crowley and drummer Craig Silverman kicks ass in so many ways that I won’t go into them here; suffice it to say that Only Living Witness was a band a good ten years before its time. This inspired reissue pairs the two OLW albums together in a single two-disc package as God and the Devil intended, with another album’s worth of cool bonus tracks tacked onto the end of each disc. If you’re a monster metal fan and you’re not listening to Only Living Witness, what the hell are you waiting for? (Century Media)

 

Planet of Sound 3: Even More Essays From the Rock and Roll Globe Era, 2021-2024

Planet of Sound 3 is the third and final archival collection of rants, raves, and reviews penned by award-winning rock critic and music historian Rev. Keith A. Gordon. The Reverend covers a diverse range of popular music with these 46 essays, from well-known artists like Frank Zappa, Neil Young, and rapper Ice T to cult favorites like Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, rocker Joe Grushecky, and punk godfather Johnny Thunders. 

Planet of Sound 3 expands the series' coverage of live albums, with in-depth reviews of legit and bootleg releases from rock 'n' roll greats like The Yardbirds, Rory Gallagher, and Michael Bloomfield. You'll find reviews of punk-rock (Hüsker Dü, Dead Kennedys), garage-rock (The Unclaimed, The Vipers), and the blues (John Lee Hooker, Skip James) as well as book reviews and tributes to artists like Keith Richards, John Mayall, and Spirit. 

The “Reverend of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Rev. Keith A. Gordon has been writing about classic rock and blues music over 50 years. A former contributor to the All Music Guide books and website, and the former ‘Blues Expert’ for About.com, Gordon has written for over 100 publications worldwide, including Creem, Blurt magazine, Goldmine, Blues Music magazine, High Times, The Blues (U.K.), and Live! Music Review. The Reverend has also written or edited 29 previous music-related books, including Nuggets Redux, The Jimi Hendrix Reader, and Sonicbond Publishing's Spirit...On Track! 

 Get an autographed copy from the Reverend for $19.99 postpaid! (U.S. orders only)

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 Buy the print version or an eBook from Amazon!

Have A Bo Diddley Holiday!

 

Having a hard time figuring out a gift for the rock ‘n’ roller on your Christmas list? Don’t wanna buy ‘em just another crappy CD or a ragged vintage band tee? Well, consider the problem solved me droogs, ‘cause here comes Bo Diddley to the rescue!

Rock ‘n’ roll innovator Bo is back in the form of three gorgeous bobblehead figures. These special edition bobbles were produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the help and support of the Bo Diddley Estate. Just look at ‘em! Three different classic Bo poses with the legendary guitarist wielding his trademark, self-designed rectangular “cigar box” guitar.

The ‘standing’ figure features Bo sporting the timeless red plaid jacket he wore on the cover of his sophomore album, 1969’s Go Bo Diddley. The figure of Bo astride his trusty custom scooter pays homage to the cover photo of Diddley’s 1959 album Have Guitar, Will Travel album, shot in Brooklyn, and re-used again for 1963’s Rides Again album. The ‘sitting’ figure looks like ‘70s-era Bo as portrayed on illustrated album covers for 1972’s Where In All Began and the following year’s The London Bo Diddley Sessions, with Diddley wearing his signature hat with the prominent badge.

In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past few decades and are unfamiliar with ‘The Originator,’ Bo Diddley (a/k/a Ellas McDaniel) was the prototype rocker, an influential guitarist and songwriter with accolades as long as your arm. In 1987 he was inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame; he made his way into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003. Diddley’s 1960s-era hits – classic tunes like the self-referential “Bo Diddley,” “Pretty Thing,” “Who Do You Love?,” “You Can’t Judge A Book By the Cover,” and “Diddy Wah Diddy” – influenced musicians on both sides of the ocean, from the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones to Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.

Diddley passed away in June 2008 at 79 years old after a lengthy illness. Over the course of his legendary career, Diddley released 33 studio and live albums, his last being 1996’s A Man Among Men, recorded with blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. Bo also recorded with blues harmonica wizard Little Walter, Chicago blues legend Muddy Waters, and fellow rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Chuck Berry. He toured with bands like the Grateful Dead and the Clash and appeared in movies like Trading Places and Rockula. When Bo died, artists as diverse as George Thorogood, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Tom Petty, and Elvis Costello, among many others, lined up to sing his praises.

In a press release for the bobbleheads, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar says “we’re excited to unveil the first bobbleheads of the legendary Bo Diddley as a tribute to the remarkable and groundbreaking musician. As one of the most influential performers of rock music’s early period, these bobbleheads are sure to be a must-have for music fans everywhere.”

Where can you get ‘em? The bobbleheads are individually numbered to 2,024 and are available exclusively through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum online store [link]. The cost of each figure is right around the average for these sort of limited-edition collectibles: $30 for Bo standing, $35 for Bo Sitting, and $40 for Bo on the bike, or a cool $100 for all three. Shipping is a flat rate $8 per order.

Shipping won’t be until January 2025 but you can print out a picture of your bobblehead gift and give it to its recipient on December 25th and they’ll be anxiously watching the mailbox for the next month! You can bet that the Reverend will be adding one (or more) ‘Bo’s to my own growing bobblehead collection!

Book Review: Jim Higgins’ Sweet, Wild and Vicious (2024)

On the Mount Olympus of rock ‘n’ roll, Lou Reed may be Apollo, the Greek god of music and poetry…or maybe he was the Oracle of Delphi, Pythia, whose prophecies are said to have come from divine possession. More likely, though, Reed was Hermes, the messenger god, who was also known as a bit of a trickster along the line of Loki of Norse mythology, for what else could Metal Machine Music be considered other than a terribly cheeky prank?

Perhaps Reed was an amalgam of all of these mythological figures. Over the course of a lengthy career that spanned six decades, Reed released nearly three-dozen studio and live albums – both solo and with his influential group the Velvet Underground – with more than a few clunkers in the mix, but enough solid efforts to build an impressive legacy. More importantly, he spread the message of rock ‘n’ roll, a particular gospel fueled by Reed’s unique and unparalleled creative vision.

Jim Higgins’ Sweet, Wild and Vicious

There is an entire shelf of books available that deconstruct Reed’s life and career, some obviously written by fans like Will Hermes and Anthony DeCurtis, which present the artist in an honest light, warts and all, while others (Howard Sounes, I’m looking at you…) seem to be purposely salacious, designed to denigrate Reed’s reputation without the good sense to realize that you can’t really tarnish a god’s image. Have these scribes ever read the story of Leda & the Swan? An entirely different bookshelf covers the lightning bolt-brief albeit influential existence of the Velvet Underground.

Yes, Lou was a prickly, contentious, misanthropic figure who particularly disliked the music media, and his feuds with critics like Lester Bangs are legendary in and of themselves. Reed could sometimes be hateful in words and actions, but looking at the artist from an arm’s length, it seems that most of the damage caused by Lou was targeted at himself. What few of the aforementioned books do, however, is really cover the man’s music in depth. For that, we have Jim Higgins’ Sweet, Wild and Vicious.

Higgins is a former pop music and jazz critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper – back in the day when arts coverage was valued by the mainstream press – and Sweet, Wild and Vicious is an invaluable listener’s guide to Reed’s largish catalog of music. Published by Ira Robbins’ Trouser Press Books, a commercial imprint with a fan’s perspective and plenty of rock ‘n’ roll history behind it, unlike most of these currently trendy “album-by-album” books, Sweet, Wild and Vicious doesn’t lapse into the “song-by-song” orthodoxy that tends to hamstring acute criticism in favor of word count (and, as author of one of these books – Sonicbond’s Spirit…On Track – I have some familiarity with the form). 

Lou Reed, Montauk Studio 2002, photo by Julian Schnabel, courtesy Light In The Attic Records

Lou Reed Album-by Album

Instead, Higgins treats each recording individually and organically in its entirety, providing context and history while calling out the best (and sometimes worst) of the songs. Sweet, Wild and Vicious begins, logically, with the four Velvet Underground albums circa 1967-1970 and, after a quick and insightful aside into the song “Sweet Jame,” dives into Reed’s solo career with his self-titled 1972 debut album, which I hold in higher esteem than does Higgins. Over the course of 246 pages, Higgins smartly and concisely tackles each album in the Reed milieu, including late-period VU live discs, up through Reed’s mischievous swansong, Lulu, his 2011 collaboration with heavy metal legends Metallica.

Higgins’ appreciation for even Reed’s minor works is obvious, but never fawning, and he seems to be able to pluck a gem or two out of even lackluster albums like Mistrial or Rock and Roll Heart. Higgins’ enthusiasm is contagious, his insight as thought-provoking as the artist’s work he’s writing about. The last few chapters of Sweet, Wild and Vicious go beyond Reed to discuss legendary critic Robert Christgau’s estimation of the artist’s body of work and “Children of the Velvet Underground,” i.e. musicians influenced by Reed’s work including some of the usual suspects – folks like David Bowie, Dream Syndicate, and Jonathan Richman – as well as some you may not have thought of like Yo La Tengo, Joy Division, and the Feelies.

The final two chapters feature “Orphans and Rarities,” significant performances that Reed contributed to various tribute albums or movie soundtracks, and “Remake, remodel,” tackling covers of Reed’s songs by other artists. As Higgins writes, “many people can claim to be better singers than Lou Reed, with a greater range or more technical skill. But that doesn’t mean they can improve on or even credibly deliver a Reed song.” His criticisms of the performances he describes are a perfect illustration of Reed’s unique ability to infuse a song with magic that is impossible for even more talented other artists to capture.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Higgins’ Sweet, Wild and Vicious is a quick read (no pun intended!), well-written and intelligent and providing even the casual Lou Reed fan with motivation to track down some of those albums you may have overlooked or forgotten about. I’d highly recommend it for anybody with any interest in the artist, the book a welcome addition to the rapidly-growing Trouser Press catalog, which also includes Mitch Cohen’s Looking For the Magic, a fascinating account of his tenure with Arista Records, several collections of Robbins’ wonderful writing on music, and the essential Zip It Up! The Best of Trouser Press Magazine 1974-1984, all of which deserve space on your bookshelf. (Trouser Press Books, published April 19th, 2024)

Buy the book from Trouser Press: Jim Higgins’ Sweet, Wild and Vicious

Archive Review: Mountain's Over the Top (1995)

The first time that I ever heard Mountain – the Mountain Climbing! album, I believe – was at an older friend’s house. I was twelve or thirteen, he was eighteen, and a bunch of us would gather in his basement to pass the pipe and bottle around and sample tunes from his large record collection. Many of the bands and artists that would come to influence my plunge into rock criticism were first experienced in that basement – Mountain, Spirit, Steppenwolf, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix...

From the 1970 release of Mountain Climbing!, the band’s second album, throughout their slow disintegrated and up to the break-up half a decade later, Mountain was one of the biggest bands in the land – and, perhaps, the most obscure. They played Woodstock, but were cut out of the movie; they sold millions of copies of their first few albums, but are remembered today for a single song: “Mississippi Queen.” A generation of kids that today still listen to Hendrix and Ozzie are unfamiliar with the rich body of work created by the genius of Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi, the odd couple behind Mountain’s success.

In the late 1960s, Felix Pappalardi was known as the producer of Cream, the biggest band in the world in their time. A classically-trained musician, Pappalardi was a deft producer, a multi-instrumental talent, and a skilled composer and arranger. West was a fat kid from Long Island, as raw as Pappalardi was polished. No lesser lights than Peter Townsend, Jeff Beck, and Mick Jagger considered West to be the best guitarist alive at the time. This unlikely pair came together to become the yin and yang of Mountain, feeding off each other’s energy and ideas. The music they created was an incredible blend of guitar-driven hard rock and jazzy improvisation layered upon a blues base. It was as complex as it was exciting, and it won the band a significant following throughout the early part of the 1970s.

The recently released Over The Top covers Mountain’s entire history, from their self-titled debut (ostensibly a Leslie West solo LP) through hit albums like Mountain Climbing! and Nantucket Sleighride to the band’s swansong, 1974’s Avalanche. The familiar songs are all here, cuts like “Mississippi Queen,” “Theme From An Imaginary Western,” “Flowers of Evil,” and “Silver Paper,” as well as lesser-known material and a smattering of live tracks. The band’s ill-fated 1985 reunion album is represented here by a pair of cuts, albeit without the presence of Felix Pappalardi, who had died tragically a few years earlier.

Two new cuts close out the 34 song, two-CD set. Recorded last year by West, long-time Mountain drummer Corky Laing, and Hendrix bassist Noel Redding, the two songs – “Talking To the Angels” and “Solution” – show but a mere fraction of the greatness that was Mountain some twenty years ago. Both feature West’s ever-maturing skills, the slimmed-down ‘90s version of the guitarist still one of the greatest players the world has seen. The new songs are nothing but soulless, pedestrian hard rock, however, missing the spark and the life that the duo of West and Pappalardi brought to their earlier creations. Over the Top is an excellent collection, nonetheless – buy it for the 30 real Mountain cuts and forget those from ‘85 and 1994. (Legacy Recordings, released 1995)

Review originally published by R Squared zine

Archive Review: Rich Robinson's Paper (2004)

After the Black Crowes went on hiatus back in 2002, guitarist Rich Robinson found himself without a band (and apart from his brother, Crowes’ vocalist Chris) for the first time in 18 years. His first inclination was to put together another band, and Robinson subsequently pieced together the pseudo-jam outfit Hookah Brown and toured the summer “shed” circuit. The same political BS and interpersonal dynamics that pulled the Crowes apart soon infected his new band and Robinson returned home to paint and write songs.

Because he was always overshadowed by his more flamboyant brother, the thought of a Rich Robinson solo album didn’t especially excite anybody but the most hardcore fans. ‘Tis a shame, because Paper – Robinson’s solo bow – is a damn good record. Not earth shaking, not the second coming, but a solid rock ‘n’ roll effort from a typically overlooked guitarist. Robinson wrote all the material here, plays most of the instruments and even took singing lessons to prepare for the recording.

To his credit, Robinson didn’t attempt to replicate the Stonesish swagger of the Crowes’ early recordings on Paper; neither did he try to mimic his brother’s Rod Stewart/Steve Marriott sandpaper vocals. Mostly, Robinson lets his guitar do the speaking, his wan vocals often lost in the mix beneath a swirl of instrumentation. The songs on Paper are a mix of jangling guitar pop and ‘70s-styled rock improvisation with a goodly portion of psychedelic flourishes and a hint of British folk-rock. Think Incredible String Band mixed with the Beatles, throw in some Dream Syndicate and you’ll be in the right ballpark.

Robinson’s songwriting is solid if unspectacular, his lyrics expressive and understated. The music on Paper is appropriately muddy and quite soulful, showcasing Robinson’s instrumental prowess and compositional skills. Paper is a lot better solo debut than anybody might have expected, Robinson clearly surpassing his brother’s recent musical endeavors and finally moving out of the shadow (and commercial expectations) of the Black Crowes to create music on his own terms. (Keyhole Records, released 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine

Archive Review: Joe Cocker's Joe Cocker! (1969/2009)

Years before he became the tragic burn-out parodied by John Belushi on Saturday Night Live, Joe Cocker was just another young soul rebel trying to grab the brass ring. The British singer came up through the ranks of various skiffle and jazz-blues bands like many of his contemporaries, but he distinguished himself from the rest of the pack through his gritty, rough-hewn R&B vocals and a car wreck performing style that had him staggering around on stage, flailing his arms in the approximation of a disoriented sand piper, and belting out songs in his best Ray Charles croak.

Cocker’s debut album, 1969’s With A Little Help From My Friends, represented more than just another rocker finding gold with Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting skills. His soulful take on the Beatles tune scored his first Top 40 hit and put Joe Cocker on the pop music map. He followed it up quickly with a similar, sorta self-titled collection, Joe Cocker!, that featured a mix of covers of folks like Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and John Sebastian along with originals penned for the album by Leon Russell.

Because Cocker was a superb stylist, there was very little drop-off in his performances during the months separating his first and second albums. Backed by the Grease Band, a solid group of punters led by keyboardist Chris Stainton and including the six-string skills of guitarist Henry McCulloch, as well as melodious backing vocals by Merry Clayton, Rita Coolidge, and Bonnie Bramlett, Cocker blows through the songs here like runaway freight train.

Several of the tunes featured on Joe Cocker! would become live standards for the singer in the years to follow. Russell’s “Delta Lady” is probably the best-known here, a fine gossamer bit of British soul better known, perhaps, for its soaring chorus and backing harmonies than for Cocker’s stellar vocal performance. Cocker’s take on John Sebastian’s Lovin’ Spoonful gem “Darling Be Home Soon” is pure magic, Cocker perfectly capturing the song’s desire and emotion. A cover of New Orleans R&B legend Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” is a real raver, even if Stainton does end up nicking pieces-and-parts of Alex Chilton’s “The Letter” for his keyboard melody.

Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, impressed with Cocker’s previous take of “With A Little Help From My Friends,” gave permission for the singer to use “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” and “Something” for Joe Cocker! The former is an unabashed soul-rocker with McCulloch’s imaginative, slightly-twangy fretwork while the latter is a showcase for Cocker’s interpretive skills, his high-flying vocals matched by delicious backing harmonies and Stainton’s half-gospel/half-psychedelic keyboard flourishes; McCulloch also throws in a few choice notes just to lively things up.  

Cocker would go on to find a greater measure of fame and notoriety in the wake of his 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, which would yield both an acclaimed film and an album, and which would also help launch Leon Russell’s solo career. By mid-decade, though, due to alcohol, Cocker had become a mere shadow of his former self. He would recover from this stumble and forge a satisfying and moderately successful career, but never again would he reach the Icarus-like heights that he did with Joe Cocker! (Hip-O Select, reissued 2009)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine

Hot Wax: Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs (1974/2024)

I spent untold hours circa 1974-75 playing Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs over and over again on my funky BSR turntable (you know, the kind where you stacked three or four LPs on the spindle and let ‘em rip!). Although I was a fan of Trower’s work with Procol Harum, his skills were often overshadowed by that band’s keyboard-dominated sound. I dug Trower’s debut, 1973’s Twice Removed From Yesterday, but the quantum leap the guitarist underwent for Bridge of Sighs was unparalleled. The ‘Master of the Stratocaster’ might have taken influence and inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, but he took his spacey, jagged, ethereal six-string experimentation into another realm with songs like “Little Bit of Sympathy,” “Too Rolling Stoned,” “Day of the Eagle,” and the title track, a classic stoner jam if there ever was one.

As amazing as Bridge of Sighs was and is, subsequent efforts like 1974’s For Earth Below and 1975’s Long Misty Days – while featuring fine craftsmanship – lacked the spark of Trower’s sophomore effort. Trower doesn’t get much love these days from classic rock radio, but the recently-reissued 50th anniversary edition of Bridge of Sighs is befitting the guitarist’s royal stature. Available as a two-LP vinyl set or four-CD box with demos and alternative takes, I opted for the vinyl set and was quite chuffed…the remastered sound adds depth and resonance to the recordings, and the classic songs really leap out of your speakers.

The second LP offers a May 1974 live show from The Record Plant in Sausalito, the band playing Bridge of Sighs in its entirety along with a pair of other songs – “Alethea,” which would appear on For Earth Below and “Rock Me Baby,” from the debut. The sound on the live disc isn’t as good, but the performance is fire, and special mention should be made of bassist/vocalist James Dewar, who brought a grounded confidence and immense soulfulness to balance Trower’s otherworldly instrumental trips. (Chrysalis Records, released March 7th, 2024)

Buy the vinyl from Amazon: Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs [50th Anniversary Edition]