For The People Who Died (2014)

A link to some of the musical people who died in 2014.

R.I.P. 2014

Playlist for 12/28

Swamp Dogg -  White Man Made Me Do It
Willie Nelson & Bobbie Nelson - December Day
Candi Staton - Life Happens
Ricky Skaggs - Highways & Heartaches
Henry Gross - Release/Show Me To The Stage
Thompson - Family
Beach Boys - Keep An Eye On Summer
Black America Sings Sam Cooke - Various
Flaming Lips - With A Little Help From My Fwends

Tom Lane's Top Reissues of 2014

1. "5" Royales - Soul & Swagger: Complete
2. Ned Doheny - Separate Oceans
3. Country Funk Volume II - Various
4.  Wilco - What's Your 20? Essential Tracks
5.  Otis Taylor - Collection
6.  Best of Blue Note - Various
7.  Bangles - Ladies and Gentlemen...The Bangles
8.  Johnny Cash - Out Among The Stars
9.  Jerry Lee Lewis - Knox Phillips Sessions
10. Elvis Presley - That's The Way It Is  (Box Set)
11. Cracking the Cosimo Code - 60's New Orleans R&B and Soul - Various
12. Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes Complete
13. Soul of Designer Records - Various
14. Ricky Nelson - Definitive Collection 57-62
15. Bryan Adams - Reckless  (reissue)
16. Donna Summer - Wanderer  (reissue)
17. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road  (reissue)
18. Carrie Underwood - Greatest Hits
19. Zac Brown Band - Greatest Hits So Far
20. Chicago Bound: Chess Blues, R&B and Rock 'N' Roll - Various
21.  Professor Longhair - Last Mardi Gras  (reissue)
22.  Henry Gross - Release/Show Me To The Stage (reissue)
23.  L.C. Cooke - Complete SAR Recordings
24.  Joe Ely - B4 84
25.  Michael Bloomfield - From His Head To His Heart To His Hands
26.  Jerry Lee Lewis - Southern Roots:Original Sessions  ('13)
27.  Elvis Presley - Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis  (reissue)

Joe Cocker

If all you know about Joe Cocker is "Up Where We Belong" and "You Are So Beautiful" then proceed directly to his first 3 albums.  Two studio ones and the live Mad Dogs and Englishmen document taken from a couple of nights at the Fillmore East.   After that his discography gets a little sketchy.  Alcohol and drugs taking a toll on the up and down quality of those albums.  He came back a bit in the 80's and maintained a steady stream of decent albums after that.  But he was still a reliable concert draw, and it's his live shows that I believe are his lasting legacy.

Joe Cocker is being described as a Blues-Rock singer, which he was, but I would also add that he was one of the most Soulful singers to come out of England.  He took these influences and used his remarkable voice to become a master interpreter of lots of different styles.

I saw Joe Cocker when he opened for Tom Petty in 2006.  His set was nearly 1 hour of hits.  He sounded great.

And over the years I've pondered why he isn't in the Rock Hall.  In fact he's never even been nominated.  Maybe he fell through the cracks.  Or maybe he just didn't make that late career comeback that could get him on the NomCom radar.

Regardless he's on of the names I chose in my First time nominated & inducted (lousy font on that page, sorry) post in May of this year.   If Lou Reed can get nominated a year after his death, then so should Joe Cocker.

The lasting image we all have of Joe Cocker will be his 1969 Woodstock performance.  And that's how it should be.  On stage, sweating out a lethal mix of Rock/Blues/Soul.  I wasn't there to see it in person in 1969, but in 2006 he was still something special to watch.

Tom Lane's Top Singles/Tracks of 2014

1.  Happy - Pharrell Williams
2.  Am I Wrong - Nico & Vinz
3.  Problem - Ariana Grande
4.  Stay With Me - Sam Smith
5.  Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj
6.  Turtles All The Way Down - Sturgill Simpson
7.  Jealous - Nick Jonas
8.  Seasons - Future Islands
9.  Latch - Disclosure f/Sam Smith
10. Quarterback - Kira Isabella
11. Jealous - Chromeo
12. Bad Self Portraits - Lake Street Drive
13. Take Me To Church - Hozier
14. All Of Me - John Legend
15. All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor
16. Bottoms Up - Brantley Gilbert
17. Boom Clap  - Charli XCX
18. Call Me - St. Paul & The Broken Bones
19. I Don't Dance - Lee Brice
20. The Man - Aloe Blacc
21. Fancy - Iggy Azalea
22. Right Time - Nikki Lane
23. Going Home - John Fullbright
24. Empire - Shakira
25. Turn Down For What - DJ Snake & Lil Jon
26. I Backslide On Friday - Paul Thorn
27. Digital Witness -  St. Vincent
28. Ain't It Fun - Paramore
29.. Leave The Night On - Sam Hunt
30. Cool Kids - Echosmith
31. Habits - Tove Lo
32. Yellow Flicker Beat - Lorde
33. Red Eyes - War On Drugs
34. Water Fountain - Tune-Yards
35.  Do You - Spoon
36.  Tacky - Weird Al Yankovic
37.  Song About A Girl - Eric Paslay
38.  Destination - Nickel Creek
39.  Pompeii - Bastille
40.  Marching Orders - New Pornographers
41.  Blank Space - Taylor Swift
42.  Violent Shiver - Benjamin Booker
43.  Disappear - Parker Millsap
44.  Hurt You - Toni Braxton & Babyface

Tom Lane's Top Albums of 2014

1.  Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
2.  Miranda Lambert - Platinum
3.  Parker Millsap - s/t
4.  Lee Ann Womack - Way I'm Livin'
5.  Nikki Lane - All or Nothin'
6.  St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Half The City
7.  Angaleena Presley - American Middle Class
8.  Benjamin Booker - s/t
9.  Rodney Crowell - Tarpaper Sky
10. Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis - Our Year
11. Lake Street Drive - Bad Self Portraits
12. Curtis Harding - Soul Power
13. New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
14. Lily Allen - Sheezus
15. John Fullbright - Songs
16. Rosanne Cash - River & The Thread
17. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
18. Ray Price - Beauty Is..Final Sessions
19. Willie Nelson - Band of Brothers
20. War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
21. Jack White - Lazaretto
22. Shaver - Long In The Tooth
23. Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans
24. Lost on the River:New Basement Tapes
25. Ryan Adams - s/t
26. Jack Clement - For Once And For All
27. Old 97's - Most Messed Up
28. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
29. Weird Al Yankovic - Mandatory Fun
30. D'Angelo - Black Messiah
31. Billy Joe Shaver - Long In The Tooth

Playlist for 12/19

AC/DC - Rock or Bust

Mary J. Blige - London Sessions

Bangles - Ladies and Gentlemen the Bangles

Jenny Scheinman - Littlest Prisoner

Candi Staton - Life Happens

Saturday Night at the Uptown - Various
Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways

2015 Rock Hall Reactions

The "5" Royales.  That's the name that stuck out the most when I saw the list of 2015 Rock Hall Inductees. I've championed this group in the past when they were nominees, so I was glad to see them get in.   I expected to see Lou Reed, Bill Withers, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Green Day.  It was the other 2 slots that were the tough ones.  I completely bombed on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.  But Joan Jett I had initially picked and then pulled at the last minute.  My 2 misses were Sting and Chic.
So, I was 4 out of 6 on predictions.  Not bad.

But back to the "5" Royales.  Their first record came out in 1952, and in 2015 that's good enough for me to be an Early Influence.  Doesn't matter if they were nominated before in the performer category.  The timeline is moving forward and acts that had hits in the 1950's should all be Early Influence candidates.  Let's get the Chantels, Chuck Willis, Clovers,  Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio, etc. in as Early Influences.

Yet, the skeptic in me can't shake the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's induction.  Maybe they got more votes then some of the others.  Or maybe they didn't.  The Hall won't release vote totals, and unless someone leaks them, we'll be left in the dark.
Definitely a surprise.

Not much to add with the Chic saga.  Saw some anti-disco posts on Facebook that ticked me off, but I've learned to let it go.  The Hall could end all of this by putting them in under the Musical Excellence category.  Why not?  As with other Hall of Fame's, sometimes the voters don't get it right.  That's why there are Veteran Committee's in Baseball and Football.  No Chic are not old-timers like a 50's/60's act is, but no one knows what the Musical Excellence category is about anyway.  Nile Rodgers seems to be taking all of this in stride, but deep down it has to be getting to him.  All of these current Hall of Famers that Chic (or Nile Rodgers) have either worked with or have influenced.  And after 9 tries he's still the one that can't get inducted?  A travesty.

Which brings us to Ringo Starr.  Not really surprised about this.  I've seen his name brought up before.  But what is he getting inducted for in the Musical Excellence category?  For his solo career, session work or just because he's a Beatle and the Hall sees a good TV moment when it staring right at them?  Come on, you know what this is all about.  Now they can invite Paul McCartney in induct Ringo and have them play a couple of songs.  A future perfect TV moment.

After the inductees were announced the 3 topics that got the most space in my timeline were Ringo, Chic and Green Day.  Lots of people don't think Green Day should have gone in right away.  Not ahead of some of the better and more important bands of the 80's.   There was also a sense that this year's class is kind of ho-hum.  Certainly no KISS controversy or Rush fan base to get the conversation going for too long.  Beatle-fanatics can speculate for the next few months what will happen at the ceremony.  And we can all wonder whether Bill Withers will take the stage or not.

One thing not discussed much was the absence of any of the other R&B names besides Bill Withers (like I said when I predicted he'd go right in:  Who doesn't love Bill Withers?).  The Spinners, Chic, Marvelettes, WAR,  The list of worthy names continues to grow.  Also no Rap acts for the 2nd year in a row, even if we all expect NWA will get in eventually.

But that's the way it is with the annual nomination and inductee announcements.  I have my favorites that I root for every year, so if one like the Royales sneaks in then I'm thrilled.  But then my beloved Spinners get passed over and I'm disappointed.
Guess I'll just have to play my Spinners albums and hope that they'll be back third time lucky.  

Playlist for 12/15

Joe Tex - Hold What You've Got
Bobby Womack - BW Goes C&W
Tony Joe White - Black and White
Eric Johnson - Tones
Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets
Devo - Something For Everybody

Playlist for 12/10

Johnny Jenkins - Ton Ton Macoute
Marshall Tucker Band - s/t
Whitney Houston -  Live: Her Greatest Performances
Soul of Designer Records  - Various
Little Big Town - Pain Killer
Pink Floyd - Endless River
Bryan Ferry - Avonmore

Playlist for 12/6

Kira Isabella - Caffeine & Big Dreams
Neil Young - Storytone
Art of McCartney - various
Garth Brooks - Man Against Machine
Bette Midler - It's The Girls

Playlist for 12/1

Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes Complete (6 CD's)
Lost on the River: New Basement Tapes  - Various