t bone's 2nd chance...

Nope! Couldn't get into it. The dramatic reading approach to rock'n'roll doesn't work for me, whether it's Steve Allen mocking the genre, or T Bone Burnett taking it in a new direction. I like his guitar all right, and the sound is really interesting...but the whole "performance art" style simply doesn't get the ole feet movin'.
I've been listening to that Paul Reddick album though, and it sounds great. Colin Linden slides all over the place. Fans of RPC's bottleneck playing will definitely find something to satisfy them with this release. And Reddick's vocals and harp technique are startlingly good!
Reading a book about Lenny Breau. It was my souvenir from Winnipeg (the city where Breau lived for some of his life, and where Randy Bachman met him, and learned his own jazz stylings). It's part cautionary tale, and part tribute to a guitar genius. One Long Tune by Ron Forbes-Roberts, is worth searching out.

t bone burnett...

Just listening to Twenty Twenty (the Essential T Bone Burnett). I recall buying many of these original albums both on vinyl and on cassette. That's right! I made the mistake of buying cassettes for a while. Packaging was even smaller than the dread jewel box! And now nobody wants cassettes. But my new car has a problem with the CD player (a CD from the previous owner is jammed in the 3rd slot) so I dug around for some of those cassettes to have some music of MY choice playing in the car (instead of what passes for radio these days.) So I started listening to The Criminal Under My Own Hat in the car and then decided to listen again to this 2-CD set from last year on the CD player at work. While I have to say I'm not crazy about T Bone's more recent explorations (the spoken word stuff on the true false identity is tough to enjoy) his earlier work is well worth digging. Even the spoken word stuff, like Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, seems to work. And the musicians are all great. Richard Thompson, Ry Cooder, Van Dyke Parks, Ruben Blades, David Hidalgo, Jim Keltner, Jerry Douglas, Marc Ribot, and they are given wonderfully open soundscapes to play in. T Bone toured with Jerry Douglas one time and I came upon a bootleg recording of one of these shows. Excellent. Maybe I'll give the true false identity another chance. I'll watch the DVD side of the dualdisc again, and see what I think. I'll get back to you later.

everybody's a critic...

I got an email the other day from someone who took exception to a review I wrote about two years ago. In my article about the Kevin Courrier Randy Newman bio, I happened to say something to the effect that Courrier did not tell any of Newman's secrets. Then I went on to describe the book as well written, interesting, fascinating, highly recommended...I think I stopped just this side of "book of the year, without which no self respecting reader should be..." Anyway, this fellow wanted to (and I quote) "demenstrate [sic]...[that you're an] idiot...[and that the author had] forgot more than you'll ever know, or ever experience." Well...I am thinking of getting out of the reviewing business. I confess...I'm sorry I mentioned that there were no 'secrets' in this book...I shouldn't have expected them. [In fact...I didn't.] I do realize what secrets are. And I see now, that if Courrier had divulged them...they wouldn't be secrets anymore. Doh!
Tomorrow...it's back to just talking about music. No more opinions.
HaHaHa!

another day...another DVD...

Went shopping this weekend for the new Lyle Lovett LIVE DVD, but much to my dismay...no-one had a copy of it. In fact at one of the local shops I had to spell L-y-l-e L-o-v-e-t-t TWICE!
So I special ordered it, see it in two weeks! Since I had an extra $20 in my pocket I decided to see if there was anything else musical floating around and then my eyes settled upon...The American Folk-Blues Festival: the British Tours 1963-1966! This is volume four! And I loved the other three. Well, volume four is no disappointment, at all. Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams (playing his 9-string guitar), Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, big Joe Turner and Junior Wells...oh, and the incredible Sugar Pie DeSanto doing 2 songs! Fantastic! And four bonus tracks, including 2 by Muddy and two by the always amazing Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This time (1964) she's outside a train depot, playing live to an audience of very interested British teenagers, and she rocks, even though it's later in her career. Great stuff.
My signed copy of the new Richard Thompson should be arriving in the next two days or so...I'll let you know how it is. Right now I'm listening to the new John Prine/Mac Wiseman disc. Country tunes. Well done. And then it's back to watching a very young Hubert Sumlin sizzling behind Howlin' Wolf. Oh, and if you haven't picked up Hubert's most recent CD...you should! It's a goodun!

a new week...

Greetings all (or should I say...both). If you read this blog I welcome you. I guess if you don't read this blog, it doesn't matter what I say to you, does it!
Listening to the new collection of Paul Reddick's music. This guy manages to capture the essence of the blues. He channels so many old bluesmen, I just can't believe it. Such a sound he gets! Plays the harp, sings great, is produced by (and features guitar by) Colin Linden. Check him out, and Reddick Revue is a fine way to start. It's 18 tracks from his whole career, lots of dandy guitar work, and sizzling harmonica. New from Northern Blues Music. Canajan blues! Aah!
I just heard that Rhino Handmade is releasing a T Bone Burnett collection, with the complete Proof Through the Night album (including contributions from RPC, Pete Townshend and Richard Thompson) as well as the 2 Trap Door eps. A double disc set, well worth the price. Rhino Handmade continues to find material that I'm interested in. And I love the smell of their insert booklets too!
I ordered the forthcoming Richard Thompson CD too, with a pre-order you get an autographed booklet! Who could resist. Check Newbury Comics for this offer.

home again...

...the streets are not much cleaner...the quaint old southside scenery is quaint no more...just older than before...sorry, that's Randy Newman for you. Well, I'm back from Winnipeg. The conference was worthwhile, and the board meeting went quite smoothly, now it's back to normal. Listening to Lyle Lovett's covers album which I found used in the old 'Peg. Excellent stuff. I read Kevin Courrier's 33 1/3rd book about Trout Mask Replica and it reawakened my interest in Mr. Van Vliet. There's quite a few mentions of RPC in this volume, as it tells the story of the Safe As Milk album in the leadup to TMR. Courrier is a writer I have admired, his book on Zappa (Dangerous Kitchen) is excellent, & his biography of Randy Newman (American Dreams) fills in all the details you need to know.
Step Inside This House is the name of the Lyle Lovett album, and it's well worth looking into. I'm still digging the Mavis Staples album, and can't quite figure out why people don't like it so much. She can sing, that's for sure, and Ry and the band play their butts off.

Portage & Main, 40 below...

Okay, it's not too cold...but I'm here in the 'Peg (home of the Guess Who and Neil Young) and where else would one go but to the famous corner of Portage and Main. Just on my way out the door. I didn't bring a hat because everyone warned me it would blow off! It's raining a bit, but, hey! I'm Canajan, eh! I did buy a hat at The Bay. Looks cool too!
So some people don't like the Mavis Staples album! If you aren't into that rich gospel sound, maybe you're just not going to get it...but to me it is a funky blast! I love it!
Even went so far as to pick up a copy of her Prince produced collection The Voice. I like the Ry album better!
Will write again soon!