Terry Reid was almost in Led Zeppelin. That I knew this fact and ignored Reid for decades seems foolish, for his River LP is at the top of my record rotation these days. It's hard to explain what River sounds like; the best I can come up with is it's like early Santana without electricity or the endless noodling crap associated with Carlos. It's also fair to say that Reid uses his voice where other noodlers prefer horrid guitar lines. Santana blows, and Reid doesn't, so my description fails on all fronts. Just buy the damn record and if you don't like it stop listening to music. River broke in 1973 and was apparently ignored by the world. It's a wonderful treat of seamless songs that makes one wish for an total album of greatness in these modern times.
Dr. Feelgood - Down by the Jetty - top notch bar boogie that sounds a lot less like Huey Lewis and the News and more like an The Stooges without distortion. A bunch of catch, hook, and play. It's weird how the songs blend and do not sound the same; if that last phrase sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about, I dont.
The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks never made a great record. They have no great records. They have very good singles, a few album sides that sound ok (Side 1 of Kinkdom is still my favorite), and then they have Village Green. It might be there most cohesive effort. It probably has the most number of fairly catchy Kinks tunes. I just wish it meant more to me.
Grant McLennan - Horsebreaker Star - I've been using Horsebreaker Star as a go-to Sunday morning record for about 5 years. It's one the great records of the 1990's in that it doesn't sound dated, it means more to me know than it did when I first bought in on the blind, and the performance of it, on a purely song-by-song basis, is superb. I don't know anything about Grant other than that he died recently, and the Go-Betweens were never my thing. Playing that jazz called rock and roll, indeed. Here's a link to Christgau's Horsebreaker Star review, and to his obituary for Grant.
6 comments:
Dr. Feelgood sounds exactly nothing like the Stooges. I know it's been a tough day, but, good time party nostalgia hounds? Stooges?
The Kinks have several great records, and one classic, the one you named. If those songs don't move ya and Terry Reid does, well, go Holland. It's the night of non sequiturs and bad judgment for all
I agree with the Dr. The Kinks are a great singles band. Village Green is good but it is by no means great. Name me the other good lps. Maybe I just dont know them. If you want great buy Australia's Pink Fits 6 song record. It came out in 2005, I think. Anyways, it rawks. Remember, rawk?
Face to Fave and Something Else are terrific, and I really love Muswell Hillbillies and Arthur- no those ain't gonna match the best of the Stones, but they're terrific records.
Village Green is a stone dead classic- if you can't hear it, sorry on ya
River is a complete, perfect record. Kinks never had one...
can you burn me a copy?
soon as i get some blank discs, of course...
Post a Comment