Chris Darrow may not be a name familiar to you, nor might Kaleidoscope, the ‘60s psych/folk band on Epic of which he was part. That band passed me by back then. Maybe I didn’t like the cover art, or thought Epic wasn’t in the same solid A&R league as was Elektra for instance, so I didn’t want to chance it. I never heard them on the radio and Epic probably did a crappy job promoting them.
When Buffalo Springfield broke up, Neil Young set about building his solo career. The high-production work with Jack Nitzsche that had created classics like “Expecting to Fly” and “Broken Arrow” brought Neil back to the producer/keyboardist/orchestrator, who gained fame working with Phil Spector but the results on Young’s eponymous debut album were not as memorable. In fact, many critics and fans alike back in 1969 considered the album a disappointment and a misstep.
Making a publicity appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show for the latest reissue of Exile on Main Street, Keith Richards professed a preference for vinyl. The audience applauded. Has an expression of a preference for CD ever gotten such a reaction—at least in the last decade? Not likely.
Elvis’s first post-Army album created a sensation when it was released just one month after he entered Nashville Studio B on March 20th, 1960, two week after his release from the Army. Unfortunately, for Presley and RCA Elvis Is Back! wasn’t a big seller because it didn’t contain any hits. Presley had been away for two years.
Listening to Elvis makes clear his indebtedness to Dean Martin and Bryan Ferry’s to Elvis. No doubt Paul McCartney was imitating growing up too. There’s not been a voice like it since, which for detractors is a good thing.
The first Costello album backed by The Attractions released in March, 1978 on Radar in the UK and Columbia in America (with differing song lineups) cemented the singer’s leadership in the “angry young man” wing of the late ‘70’s “New Wave” musical explosion. More than expressing anger, the album was a full-blown misogynist outburst that contains some really nasty stuff starting with the opener “No Action,” which is filled some deliciously ugly obsessive/compulsive sentiments.
Carla Thomas mocked Otis Redding as unsophisticated and “pure country” in their classic recorded duet “Tramp” and when Otis welcomes the “…ladies and gentlemens” to one of his Whisky A Go Go sets back in April of 1966 you get the picture.
The 37 year old bassist Christian McBride apparently assembled the powerhouse quintet "Inside Straight" at the behest of Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon, who told him he was welcome to play the legendary club anytime, but not with the “rock’n’roll” band he was playing with at the time.
Stars from across the musical universe donated their time and considerable talents to perform with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on this thoroughly entertaining and superbly recorded double LP set celebrating the Hall’s 50th anniversary.