Michael Fremer

The mid-sixties may not have been Monk’s most creative period but it was arguably his strongest and most focused both in the studio and onstage. If any jazz musician was poised to withstand the rock era it was Monk the performer and Monk the composer.

While two of the three previous jazz records guitarist/arranger Anthony Wilson made with producer Joe Harley were guitar/drum/organ sessions, this one also featuring those instruments is much different.

Caught in 1972 between The Beatles and Byrds pop/folk undertow and too early to catch the indie rock wave pioneered by bands like REM later in the decade, commercial failure was all but assured for Big Star, aided by what many at the time considered was a bad Memphis, TN based record company roll out with spotty distribution and less than stellar promotion.

Mac “Dr. John” Rebenack’s soulful plea for the resurrection of his beloved New Orleans comes on funky and optimistic on the opener “Keep on Goin’,” but on the next tune, “Time For A Change,” with Eric Clapton, Rebenack’s showing a little fed-upedness with lines like “Stop the money made at the cost of life.”