Fwiw and I’m sure nobody cares but if my wife tunes the FM radio or Sirius XM in the car and Bruce comes on it is immediately turned off. Absolutely no redeeming value to me - only resentments and bad memories.
I think he's written some good songs, and I've always been sort of a populist myself (in a good way, I know that term is lightning rod-ish in some permutations these days, but I tend to side with workers as opposed to owners). But I've never connected to Bruce nearly as much as other artists I like. My favorite track is "Spirit In The Night," which is really sorta Van Morrison-y musically. Does that make Bono Irish Bruce?
That's actually probably closer to the truth than you might think. Bono called Bruce the "Buddha" of his youth.
I like the lyrics of "Born In The USA" but really don't like how it was mistook for some sort of national anthem. I chalk that up to the anthemic presentation of the music. He was sort of sly with this, downer lyrics in a boastful musical package. Sort of a Top 40 Trojan Horse. Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground End up like a dog that's been beat too much Till you spend half your life just covering up Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. Come back home to the refinery Hiring man said "son if it was up to me" Went down to see my V.A. man He said "son, don't you understand" I had a brother at Khe Sahn Fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone He had a woman he loved in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms now Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years burning down the road Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation (I had to cleanse myself of some of the dopey comments in one of the JA threads. 5oth anniversary for this one!) I still think I prefer After Bathing at Baxters, but this one is very good as well. "House at Pooneil Corners" might be the most misleading song title ever, given the content.
An awesome album. The Surrealistic-Baxter's-Crown trifecta is brilliant. And "House at Pooneil Corners" is one of the band's greatest achievements.
This is what I had for years, a cassette tape. This wasn't released on CD until 1995. I played the hell out of that tape. It was a great tape for the wee hours of a Sunday morning. I first discovered the Doors one summer at my grandmother's house when I was maybe 12(?) It all blends together now. Back in those days, each of the older grandchildren would spend a week at Grandma's over the summer, where each of us would take our turn making lemonade from lemons in the backyard, making macaroons, making strawberry jam or grape jelly (depending on what was in season in the backyard garden), and playing card games, of which she always cheated. This was the first year that my parents put me on a Greyhound all by myself, from Huntington Beach to Ventura, CA. My week at Grandma's happened to overlap a couple of days with that of my cousin. He'd be leaving in a couple of days. These couple of days was the most time I would ever have with him. He was what they would call a hippie. He was only a few years older than me but he had that same look as the people I had seen on the beach back home. And he had music. He would blare his tapes from his portable stereo from the porch and fill the backyard with these amazing sounds. I was already very much into music but I had never really had the liberty to "crank it" before. That would change soon enough of course, but at this point in my journey, that hadn't happened yet. So, to me, this was like sitting in the sweet spot of a Who concert. One afternoon he put this tape on. The lush backyard became the setting for this fascinating biography of American life in the late 20th century. I bought my own copy when I got back home. And I have been playing it ever since. It's probably the most important piece of music to me next to discovering Echo & The Bunnymen. Kudos to you, if you recognize the connection. I will probably feel inclined to play something from the latter after this. Awake.....
The Lucy Show was a great band with bad label problems. I loved this album. It was it's own thing at the time. In fact, I recall trying to woo my future wife with Part of Me Now on the B-side. It's a great song, as is everything else here.
It's excellent except for Jim's unfortunate fish joke, which I can't repeat here, and wouldn't want to anyway. I've made it through the first two shows. It has four, early and late. But it's probably peak doors or, right just after peak Doors. I'm not super conversant in their live history, brief though it is.
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper Deluxe 3LP version (includes Mr Noah EP) One of 2015's finest albums.
Time for some Argentine rock/jazz/prog/you name it. Serú Girán, a hell of a band, take my word for it. Bicicleta, released in 1980.
"Midnight Rambler" drags a bit for my taste, but the rest of the album is pretty top-notch Rolling Stones.
Barry Guy’s Blue Shroud Ensemble: Tensegrity This time most of Disc 4 including an 18+ minute group improvisation that starts with a double bass (Guy)/serpent (Michel Godard) that morphs into a septet that adds viola from an amazing lady named Fanny Pauccoud (who apparently comes from the world of classical/baroque music) then we start to hear the three young horn guys - and then the drumming from Lucas Niggli. Astounding super abstract improvised music with a tension & energy level of the highest order. Someone here one day buys this box and commits to full hearing at high volume with no distractions. As great of a new release of improvised music that I’ve heard in the past 10 years - the only rivals being the 2 previous Barry Guy box sets (Mad Dogs & Mad Dogs On The Loose) which also feature small formations of a large ensemble / with that large ensemble being the Barry Guy New Orchestra which features more well known and seasoned improvisors like Evan Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Trevor Watts & Herb Robertson. Both bands include the *GREAT* Agusti Fernandez on the grand piano and recordings of this quality with this great musician on them is more reason to buy these releases.
Hot Tuna - Yellow Fever I also listened to the second half of 'Crown of Creation' again, and now it's this gem: Ned Lagin - Seastones
Stereo downmix. Not the most balanced mix, but it has some extra details and differences. I simply love this album.
