The View On Pop Culture: Jethro Tull, Sideswipe, Otis Taylor (2002)

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Dismissed – unfairly – by many critics during the 1970s as progressive-rock dinosaurs, the members of Jethro Tull have since had the last laugh. A new breed of music critics (your humble columnist included), raised on classic Tull albums such as Aqualung and Thick As A Brick have been more gentle in their consideration of the band’s legacy. From their first album, released in 1968, through the underrated1999 release J-Tull Dot Com, Jethro Tull has managed to put eleven Gold™ and five Platinum™ albums on the table during a nearly 35-year career. Fronted by colorful singer, songwriter and manic flautist Ian Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre, Jethro Tull has ridden out the ever-changing trends of pop culture with a unique mix of guitar-driven hard rock and British folk with threads of blues and jazz thrown into their heady musical brew.

Over the course of the band’s lengthy career, there have only been a few officially released live Jethro Tull albums, which makes Living With the Past (Fuel 2000 Records) a delight for old-school fans. Living With the Past was compiled from several live performances and television appearances, including a November 2001 concert in London’s Hammersmith Apollo. With this CD, Anderson and crew come face to face with the band’s historic past, revisiting classic and obscure songs alike. Unlike many affairs of this sort, which have the artist re-recording their biggest hits for a pittance so that some huckster can peddle them to old fan’s memories, Living With the Past plays as more of a career retrospective than as a jaded cash-grab.

Anderson is reunited with original band members Mick Abrahams, Clive Bunker, and Glenn Cornick, who join the current Tull line-up as guest performers to run through tunes like “Aqualung,” “Living In the Past” and “Jack In the Green.” The performances are charming and professional, befitting a group of master musicians in the fifth decade of their trade. A welcome addition to the band’s lengthy canon, Living In the Past closes a chapter in Jethro Tull’s history and offers a new beginning for the rock legends. A DVD release by the same name offers the complete London concert as well as interviews with band members and other special features certain to thrill old and new Tull fans alike.

Los Angeles is a veritable hotbed of indie rock, bands like Firebug or Sideswipe cranking out refreshing, powerful music without so much as a sidelong glance from major label scouts busy seeking the next trend. With Greatest Hits (HoJo Records), the distaff foursome Sideswipe prove that not only can girls rock as hard as the boys but also that the major label A&R drones have been living too high on their expense accounts if they’ve overlooked a band as obviously talented as this. The core members, guitarist/vocalist Sally Landers and drummer Michelle Mangione have been playing together for over a decade with mixed success. Along with bassist Nancy Doyle and keyboardist Angela Riggio, Sideswipe has toured the U.S. and Europe, placed songs on TV shows like Dawson’s Creek, and has won all sorts of critical accolades.

Sideswipe’s sound has been described by other critics as a mix of the Indigo Girls and the Who, and there’s definitely that aspect to their songs, an inspired blending of folk roots and rock energy. The sweet harmonies of “Never Gonna Be The Same” owe a large debt to the Beatles, while several other cuts tread much the same artistic territory as ‘80s bands like the Bangles. The powerful “Make My Own Tracks” is obviously influenced by Melissa Etheridge’s folk-rock style while “Crucify Me” starts out with a Stax soul groove and pairs wonderful harmonies with Landers’ stinging six-string work. The delightful “Prisoner of War” showcases the band’s lyrical talents, falling in much the same vein as songs by the Indigo Girls or Disappear Fear. Surprisingly, material produced by Landers and Mangione for Greatest Hits shows a subtlety and deft touch lacking in songs shaped by other produces; it takes some skill for an artist to frame their material in such a proper light. Although they haven’t had many hits, and have never received the attention they deserve, Sideswipe’s Greatest Hits is a wonderful introduction to a talented band that has a bright future to explore.

Otis Taylor is, perhaps, the most unique bluesman that you’re likely to hear. Born in Chicago and raised in Denver, he learned to play guitar, banjo, and harmonica at the city’s Folklore Center. He later became part of the city’s late 1960s music scene, associating with musicians like rock guitarist Tommy Bolin. A brief residence in England yielded a failed record deal and Taylor subsequently retired from music in 1977 to pursue a successful career as a broker in antiques. As luck would have it for music lovers, noted bass player Kenny Passarelli convinced Taylor to pick up his guitar again in 1995. Since that time, Taylor’s original and highly personal sound has impacted contemporary blues music like few artists have been able to.

As shown by his latest CD release, Respect the Dead (Northern Blues Music), Taylor has a tendency to push past the barriers of traditional blues, creating a new modern sound that incorporates his rock and folk roots with Delta-inspired blues and a literate and imaginative songwriting style. Taylor fearlessly runs across lyrical turf upon which even angels fear to tread, recounting in song the lives and experiences of African-Americans in a brutally realistic and often disconcerting manner. Respect the Dead offers many such dark lyrical moments, from the racially-inspired murder of “Black Witch” to the Civil Rights struggles of “32nd Time.” Although not a household name on par with contemporaries like Keb’ Mo’ or Alvin Youngblood Hart, the enormously talented Otis Taylor is nevertheless creating timeless music, important art that reflects the history, the hopes and the fears of the artist, his family and his ancestors. (View From The Hill, June 2002)

The Reverend's Favorite Rock 'n' Roll Records of 2014

OK, I’ll be honest here…the Rev is not the guy you want to go to in order to discover what’s “trending” in new rock music. The older I get, the more time I spend listening to the sounds of my youth, and an alarming percentage of my annual music-buying budget goes to picking up reissues of albums I had in high school, or in discovering bands I missed the first time around (like Gong or Amon Duul).

That’s not to say that I’m entirely deaf to what’s going on in contemporary rock ‘n’ roll currents…I read Blurt online every day, check out various other music blogs, and try to stay informed. But much of today’s “modern rock” is regurgitated from the 1960s and ‘70s, and I have little time for poseurs, pretenders, and corporate hacks. A lot of my favorite new music comes from veteran rockers, but there are a few adventuresome souls making good new music that I’ve picked up on.

This, therefore, is less a list of the “best” rock music of 2014 than it is a list of my personal favorites from throughout the year. These are the albums that spent the most time on my CD player or turntable, each and every one of ‘em worthy of your investment in time and money! (Links beneath each album cover to Amazon.com)

Buy or die!

Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell – Check Em Before You Wreck Em (Rise Above)
The oddly-named Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell pursue a hard rockin’ throwback proto-metal sound that is heavy on riffs and plodding rhythms and entirely lacking in patience for what’s happening in contemporary rock. This gang o’ British headbangers took Budgie, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore, (early) Sabbath, and Motorhead, threw them all in a blender with a sheet of blotter, and let it spin all over the walls. This isn’t any trendy “doom” music, kiddies, but rather a celebration of riff-rock in all its hirsute glory!

Buy or Die!

Ian Anderson – Homo Erraticus (Kscope Records)
It makes sense that Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson would end up on Kscope, the British prog-rock label, as his music inspired and influenced half the label’s roster (Steven Wilson & his various musical side projects, the Pineapple Thief, Gazpacho, et al). At this stage in his lengthy career, Anderson refuses to phone it in, instead delivering a delightful concept album in Homo Erraticus that retains enough of Tull’s old school charm along with the album’s contemporary prog sound to thrill old fans and newcomers alike.

 

Buy or Die!

Chrissie Hynde – Stockholm (Caroline Records)
The former Pretenders frontwoman proved to be as sexy and sassy at 63 as she was at 33 and Stockholm, her debut solo album, is as engaging and energetic as any but the first Pretenders album. Working with producer, musician, and songwriter Björn Yttling, Hynde delivered a wonderful collection of melodic rock ‘n’ roll with Stockholm that sounds fresh and yet as naïve as the early new wave era that vaulted her original band onto the charts.
 

Buy or Die!

King Tuff – Black Moon Spell (Sub Pop Records)
King Tuff brings a contemporary edginess to what is essentially classic rock music, the band (and its namesake bandleader) mixing punkish energy and power-pop cheap thrills to live-wire rock ‘n’ roll that channels the spirits of fave bands like T-Rex and Thin Lizzy. You’d never confuse anything on Black Moon Spell with early-to-mid-1970s rock ‘n’ roll, but it doesn’t stray far from the well from which the band's obvious musical influences drank themselves silly.
 

Buy or Die!

Rival Sons – Great Western Valkyrie (Earache Records)
A bunch of blockhead critics have dismissed Rival Sons as “classic rock revivalists.” If they’d pull their collective heads out of their asses and stop listening to those awful Spoon and St. Vincent albums for a moment, they’d discover that while Rival Sons certainly draw inspiration from classic bands like Led Zeppelin, what they’re doing is bringing the blues back to hard rock. The Sons’ fourth album locks in British blues-rock tone and psychedelic riffs to separate themselves from the creative rut that contemporaries like The Sword are stuck in. 

Buy or Die!

Temples – Sun Structures (Fat Possum Records)
The new flag bearers for the modern psychedelic sound, U.K. band Temples created quite a buzz on the other side of the pond with their wonderful debut album Sun Structures. Topping many a British rockcrit’s “best of 2014” list (and chosen as “Best New Album” by Shindig! zine), Sun Structures is a whirling dervish of Beatlesque melodies, Zombies-styled psych-pop, 1970s-era glam rock, psychedelic guitars (the Byrds), and Motown junk that sounds unlike any new band since the Flaming Lips, but with less inherent weirdness and more imagination.

Buy or Die!

The Black Keys – Turn Blue (Nonesuch Records)
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney took a lot of shit for Turn Blue, either because they continued their association with talented producer Danger Mouse, or because they didn’t make a sequel to El Camino, or maybe because they did…who knows? They’re either too commercial, or not commercial enough, or they sold out or…there’s really no winning for the band. Coming off an undeniably difficult couple of years, the duo experienced a whirlwind of commercial success balanced by personal turmoil, which is reflected in the lyrics of Turn Blue. Musically, the band continues to use the Mouse as a secret weapon (and third member), the album’s psychedelic soul ‘n’ blues foundation concealing some serious heartbreak ache. That’s what you call ART, people…

Buy or Die!

The Bluefields – Under High Cotton (Underground Treehouse Records)
As good as the first three Bluefields albums were (and make no mistake, they all kicked serious ass), Under High Cotton has ‘em all beat. The songwriting is just as solid as ever – Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites) and Joe Blanton (Royal Court of China) turn a phrase as good as anybody in the Americana field – and Warner Hodges’ (Jason & the Scorchers) hefty fretwork stings as deeply as ever. No, it’s the addition of drummer Brad Pemberton (Ryan Adams & the Cardinals) that makes Under High Cotton a near perfect hybrid of town and country, his talent and energy perfect complimenting the band’s high-octane twang ‘n’ bang sound.

Buy or Die!

The Empty Hearts – The Empty Hearts (429 Records)
The new millennium’s first bona fide power-pop “supergroup,” the Empty Hearts can boast of members from the Cars (guitarist Elliot Easton), Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Blondie (drummer Clem Burke), the Romantics (singer Wally Palmar), and garage-rock pioneers the Chesterfield Kings (bassist Andy Babiuk). As such, the band’s self-titled debut album sounds pretty much like you might expect, given that you’re the least bit familiar with the individual members’ past work. This is unvarnished, old-school rock ‘n’ roll with its roots in 1950s-era rock (think Chuck Berry), ‘60s-styled British Invasion (Beatles and the Stones), and vintage 1970s proto-punk (the Ramones, the Dictators…er, Blondie). These guys play their hearts out with a passion and fever that younger bands can only hope to approach.

Buy or Die!

The Strypes – Snapshot (Island Records)
Unabashedly retro, the Strypes wear their antique influences on their sleeves, the young Irish foursome drawing inspiration from the right folks, talents like the Yardbirds, the Stones, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, and Eric Burdon & the Animals, among others. The Strypes imbue the sound of their myriad of influences with youthful energy and attitude, extending the rock ‘n’ roll tradition from the 1950s to the 2010s, the latest and the greatest in a direct ancestry that covers almost 60 years. Never derivative, these guys lay a fresh groove on the old grease, and make it sound entirely new and vigorous once again.

Honorable Mention: Joe Grushecky's Somewhere East of Eden, Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Hypnotic Eye, Bigelf’s Into The Maelstrom, Tin Spirits’ Scorch, Opeth’s Pale Communion, Ace Frehley’s Space Invader, Handsome Jack’s Do What Comes Naturally, Radio Moscow’s Magical Dirt, and Warner Hodges’ Gunslinger. 

Looking for more great music? How about the Reverend’s choices for the “Best Blues Albums of 2014” and the “Best Blues-Rock Albums of 2014,” listed over at About.com!

Ian Anderson’s Homo Erraticus Special Tour Edition

Earlier this year, rock ‘n’ roll legend Ian Anderson released Homo Erraticus, the Jethro Tull frontman’s sixth studio album and most commercially successful solo work to date in the U.K. An old-school, 1970s-styled collection of hard rock, folk, and progressive rock that doesn’t stray too far from Tull’s roots, Homo Erraticus is a concept album that builds upon Anderson’s 2012 effort, Thick As A Brick 2.

The album’s story is based on Anderson’s fictional character Gerald Bostock (who should need no introduction to Tull fans), and features lyrics “written” by Bostock based on an old, unpublished manuscript that examines key events from British history and offers a number of prophecies for the future. That may sound kind of odd to 21st century rock fans who didn’t grow up during a time when conceptual prog-rock collections were the norm (Rick Wakeman, anyone?). But the music on Homo Erraticus is lush, exciting, and eminently progressive while Anderson’s signature vocals bring the words of each song alive with energy and gravitas.

On September 30th, 2014 Kscope Records will release Homo Erracticus as a two-disc CD/DVD “special tour edition” with the entire album on CD and an additional bonus DVD that includes a music video of the song “Enter the Uninvited” recorded live at the Swan Theatre in the U.K. as well as an interview with Anderson discussing the live visuals fans can expect to see when the legendary rocker launches his North American tour on September 12th. Billed as the “Best of Jethro Tull and Homo Erracticus,” Anderson and his band will perform the new album in its entirety, following with a selection of classic Jethro Tull songs; if you haven’t already picked up the CD, here’s your chance to get a bonus edition. You’ll definitely want it after seeing Anderson on tour at one of the dates listed below!

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Ian Anderson's Homo Erraticus (regular edition)
 
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Ian Anderson Tour Dates

09/12/14 @ McCaw Hall, Seattle WA    
09/13/14 @ Maryhill Winery Amphitheater, Goldendale WA    
09/15/14 @ Cascade Theater, Redding CA    
09/17/14 @ Fox Theater, Oakland CA        
09/18/14 @ Segerstrom Hall, Costa Mesa CA    
09/19/14 @ Pearl Concert Theater, Las Vegas NV    
09/20/14 @ Mesa Arts Center, Mesa AZ    
09/21/14 @ Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque NM   
09/23/14 @ Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, Dallas TX    
09/24/14 @ Wagner Noel PAC, Midland TX    
09/26/14 @ Austin City Limits, Austin TX        
09/27/14 @ Tobin PAC, San Antonio TX    
09/28/14 @ Stafford PAC, Stafford TX    
09/30/14 @ Symphony Hall, Atlanta GA    
10/01/14 @ Ryman Auditorium, Nashville TN    
10/03/14 @ Blumenthal PAC, Charlotte NC    
10/04/14 @ Durham PAC, Durham NC    
10/05/14 @ The National Theater, Richmond VA    
10/16/14 @ Pfeiffer Hall, Naperville IL    
10/17/14 @ Sangamon Auditorium, Springfield IL    
10/18/14 @ Pabst Theater, Milwaukee WI    
10/19/14 @ Gallagher Bluedorn PAC, Cedar Falls IA    
10/21/14 @ State Theater, Minneapolis MN        
10/23/14 @ Horshoe Casino, Elizabeth IN    
10/24/14 @ Clay Center, Charleston WV    
10/25/14 @ The Palace Theatre, Greensburg PA        
10/26/14 @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem PA    
10/28/14 @ Flynn Center, Burlington VT     
10/29/14 @ Providence PAC, Providence RI    
10/30/14 @ The Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield CT    
11/01/14 @ Lynn Auditorium, Lynn MA     
11/02/14 @ Palace Theatre, Albany NY    
11/04/14 @ Center For the Arts, Buffalo NY    
11/06/14 @ Lincoln Theater, Washington DC    
11/07/14 @ Caesars' Circus Maximus, Atlantic City NJ    
11/08/14 @ The Paramount, Huntington NY        
11/09/14 @ Count Basie Theater, Red Bank NJ    
11/10/14 @ Wellmont Theatre, Montclair NJ

Jethro Tull’s A Passion Play Gets Deluxe Reissue

By 1973, prog-rock legends Jethro Tull were in the middle of an unprecedented commercial run that began with their sophomore album, 1969’s Stand Up, and culminated with the audacious, chart-topping 1972 concept album Thick As A Brick. Tull frontman Ian Anderson and his band of merry pranksters were out-selling and chart-hopping such contemporaries as Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, so when they released their second consecutive full-length concept album, A Passion Play, it shot straight to the top of the charts.

Still, despite its chart success, A Passion Play remains the dark horse of the Tull catalog, an album often overshadowed by its louder and more “in your face” predecessors like Thick As A Brick and Aqualung. A brilliant hybrid of progressive rock, classical music, and British folk, A Passion Play was written and recorded in a mere nine days between tours after a disastrous experience recording at Château d'Hérouville caused the band to flee France.

A Passion Play was subsequently recorded by a band line-up that included frontman, flautist, and saxophonist Ian Anderson, guitarist Martin Barre, bassist Jeffery Hammond-Hammond, drummer Barriemore Barlow, and keyboardist John Evans. On July 1st, 2014 the album will receive a deluxe reissue as part of an enormous 2 CD/2DVD set from Rhino Records. The set will be packaged in a case-bound book which includes the original A Passion Play album on the first CD and the earlier, unreleased Château d'Hérouville sessions on CD two, both afforded a spiffy new stereo mix by Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, the go-to guys with the ears that discriminating prog-rockers call on these days for their studio work.

The first DVD of the deluxe A Passion Play set features audio and video, including Wilson’s 5.1 DTS and AC3 Dolby Digital surround sound mix made from a flat transfer from the original master at PCM 96/24 stereo. It also includes video clip of “The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles.” The second DVD is audio-only and includes the Château d'Hérouville sessions mixed to 5.1 DTS and AC3 Dolby Digital surround sound and PCM 96/24 stereo.

The book included with the set includes an extensive article by Martin Webb on the making of the album and the Château d'Hérouville sessions, Steven Wilson’s thoughts on mixing the recordings, and much more. For vinyl fans, a heavyweight 180-gram vinyl album featuring the new stereo mix of A Passion Play will also be available. We have the tracklist of the two CDs in the set below.

Disc One: A Passion Play
1. Lifebeats/Prelude
2. The Silver Cord
3. Re-Assuring Tune  
4. Memory Bank
5. Best Friends                 
6. Critique Oblique           
7. Forest Dance #1
8. The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles
9. Forest Dance #2
10. The Foot of Our Stairs *      
11. Overseer Overture
12. Flight From Lucifer     
13. 10.08 To Paddington     
14. Magus Perde
15. Epilogue

* Two extra verses found on the end of the multi-track reel have been added back in    

Disc Two: The Château d'Hérouville Sessions
1. The Big Top
2. Scenario
3. Audition
4. Skating Away
5. Sailor
6. No Rehearsal
7. Left Right
8. Solitaire
9. Critique Oblique (Part I)
10. Critique Oblique (Part II)
11. Animelee (1st Dance) [instrumental]
12. Animelee (2nd Dance) [instrumental]
13. Law of the Bungle (Part I)
14. Tiger
15. Law of the Bungle (Part II)

Buy the album from Amazon.com: Jethro Tull's A Passion Play (deluxe)