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For those of you that don't, please follow me on Twitter and Facebook.  I hit the "Like" button on many interesting Facebook articles.  I don't post as much on Twitter, but I am on there quite a bit reading Timeline stuff.  Feel free to check in on both.

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Jazz Top 10

Another odd list that caught my eye:  Top 10 Jazz artists. Came up with this real quick. No surprises in the top 10.  If I could have gone up to 20, then the list might have been more eclectic.  But these are pretty much the titans of my Jazz listening experience.

1. Miles Davis
2. Ella Fitzgerald
3. Louis Armstrong
4. Duke Ellington
5. Billie Holiday
6. Ornette Coleman
7. Sonny Rollins
8. Charlie Parker
9. Thelonious Monk
10. Charles Mingus

Close calls:  Count Basie, Fats Waller, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock.

Now for a anti-Jazz/Critic/Canon Top 10.  These names are popular with Jazz fans, but not Jazz critics.  Most get lukewarm notices from the Jazz elite.  They either strayed too far R&B or too far Pop or too far Rock.  And except for Chick Corea (Return to Forever) as a solo act, none are in the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame, and none have even gotten close as of 2013 (and most will never get close).  These 10 names always come to mind when I think of this category.

1.  George Benson
2.  Grover Washington Jr.
3.  Weather Report
4.  Return To Forever
5.  David Sanborn
6.  Crusaders
7.  Chuck Mangione
8.  Al Jarreau
9.  Larry Carlton
10. Lee Ritenour

John Lennon Auditions for the "Voice"

John Lennon Auditions for the "Voice"

The only good part of the "Voice" are the blind auditions.  The rest is just a showcase for the judges.  The contestants are secondary.

But how would a John Lennon do on a show like this singing "Imagine"?
And aren't viral videos like this the real reason we scan the Internet?

Might as well come clean.  While I despise the way the Voice showcases the judges more than the singers, I do watch the show, although I now find myself muting whatever the judges say.

Playlist for 6/25

Art Brut - Top of the Pops
Snow Patrol - Greatest Hits
Martha Redbone - Songs of William Blake
Alan Parsons Project - I Robot
Tindersticks - s/t
Gino Soccio -Outline
Trixie Whitley - Fourth Corner

First CD Bought

This is a great article:

First CD's We Bought

In it the author tells a tale that I often do on this blog:  How buying music isn't as fun anymore without holding something physical, CD or LP, in your hands.  Digital just isn't the same.

Anyway, the first CD player I bought was at a Macy's in early 1988.  I immediately went to the Wherehouse that was in the mall and bought 2 CD's.  But the first I picked up was Bobby McFerrin's Simple Pleasures which was high on the charts thanks to "Don't Worry Be Happy".  The other was Elton John's 1974 Greatest Hits album.  The choices weren't that great and neither were the prices.  The McFerrin I bought because I had read that it sounded great on a CD player.  It was one of those albums just made for the new CD market.  The Elton I bought because it was there and on sale.  I still have both, although I scratched the McFerrin soon after buying it by cleaning it (pressing down too hard on disc, until I realized later that you don't have to clean CD's unless you get them dirty).

RIP Chet Flippo

If you know anything about the great Rock and Roll critics of the Golden age of music criticism, then you know the name Chet Flippo.  But he was somewhat overlooked in the pantheon of the Marsh's, Christgau's, Williams, Marcus'.  But he was there.  Mostly known for his Country music writings, he also did many other articles on many different genre of artists for Rolling Stone magazine in the 70's.

Read this obituary and you will get a better understanding of Flippo's contributions to the crit-canon:

Music Row Obit

Playlist for 6/18

Huey Lewis & The News - Sports 30th Anniversary Live Tracks
Earth, Wind & Fire - Touch The World
Darius Rucker - True Believers
Ian Rubbish & The Bizarros - Best of
Peter Cooper & Eric Brace - Comeback Album
Deerhunter - Monomania
Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle

Father's Day

Last month I mentioned a song that my Mom always liked that would surprise anyone that has ever met her, "Whiter Shade of Pale".

For Father's Day I bring you a song that also may surprise some as one of my Dad's favorites.  He had mentioned it to me when I was a teenager and played the single in my room.  And when I was older we were at a Pizza place and the same song came on the jukebox.

My Dad had good taste in music. I often credit him with giving me my eclectic tastes.  But when you're a teenager and a young adult you never think your parents like the same stuff you do.  It's not something you sit around and discuss.

But whenever my Dad heard "Hey Jude" by the Beatles it always sparked a great reaction.  I don't know why that song was the one.  It was 1968 and my Dad was serving time in Vietnam, so maybe that song got played a lot on Armed Forces Radio.

But to this day, whenever it comes on I tell anyone within earshot what that song means to my Dad.  And to me.

20 Best Doors Song Poll

Been awhile since I've participated in one of these polls.  The artists the site has been doing lately are ones I've little interest in.  But this one on the Doors, prompted by Ray Manzarek's death, was worth it, as it gave me a chance to go back and listen to their catalog.  While my top tier below includes the usual classics, because I think they were best on those, the lower tier has some good album cuts worth exploring.

1. Light My Fire 2. Break On Through 3. Riders In The Sky 4. Love Her Madly 5. LA Woman 6. Love Me Two Times 7. Crystal Ship 8. People Are Strange 9. The End 10. Hello I Love You 11. Touch Me 12. Soul Kitchen 13. Unknown Soldier 14. Twentieth Century Fox 15. Peace Frog 16. Hyacinth House 17. Waiting For The Sun 18. Gloria (live) 19. Wasp 20. Wild Child

Playlist for 6/9

Wayne Hancock  - Ride
National - Trouble Will Find Me
Yes - Going for the One
Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe In Magic
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

21

The first songs my son ever remembered besides PBS' Barney ones were by Rod Stewart & Whitney Houston.  "I Will Always Love You" and Rod's Unplugged version of "Reason To Believe". Something about that Rod song caught his ear.  But it was the Whitney one, which was released late in 1992 that recognized, mostly because it was all over MTV & VH1. back when they used to play videos.

As he got a couple years older he used to imitate Elvis at family gatherings.
All of this is worth reminiscing about because today my son turns 21.  This is a milestone age for many teenagers, mostly because it's the legal drinking age in a lot of states.  But it's also an age that signals adulthood.

Happy 21st Birthday Anthony! And welcome to adulthood.

Huey Lewis

Read this article on Huey Lewis from Rollingstone.com:

Huey Lewis

This will tell you everything you need to know for now about what it's like to hit it big in the MTV era 80's, and the post-chart life.

Oh, and screw the critics, Sports is a classic album.