An Album/Song A Week - "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" - Stevie Wonder

 My school years of 1st-12th grade were not year round ones.  Most schools today are on that schedule.  But all the schools I went to in the 70's-1982 were not.  The school year started the day after Labor Day and ended the last Friday in June.  But whereas schools today take a Fall/Spring Break, we had none of that.  Instead we had a 3 month Summer break.  From June until Labor Day.  My son went to a year round school.  And I have to admit that I preferred his school schedule more than the ones I had.  Three months off is a long time for parents and for kids.  

The last day of school was always a joyous, yet somehow bittersweet moment.  When I went to high school, the seniors graduated and drifted into their new life.  I spent 2nd through 5th grade in Germany.  Keeping friendships alive was not easy for Army kids.  Children came and went.  Army brats is what they were called.  Most never spent more than 3-4 years stationed in one city at a time.  We spent 4 years in Germany before moving to the States.  

But Summer break in Germany is always fondly remembered.  I spent many days going to the outdoor pool with friends.  And the great thing is that most people had their radios playing.  We certainly did.  Always tuned to the Top 40 Armed Forces channel.  1974 was my last Summer in Germany.  We moved after the school year in 1975.  And it's my most cherished of all the years I spent in Germany.  I had just turned 10 and had more friends to hang out with than in years past.  Music was also starting to play a small, but growing part of my youth.  We always had the radio playing while walking to the pool.  

The song I remember the most in the Summer of '74 was Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing", which was the 3rd and final single from his 1973 album, Innervisions.   The song was released in the spring of '74 and peaked at #16.  But it still gets a lot of airplay today.  And, no, it's not a song about Summer.  But it sounds like one.  It's the only thing that should matter to the listener.  Many Summer type songs don't mention the season but have the fell of it.  That Wonder song definitely does.  It's light, airy and you can sing-along to it. And it reminds me of those young, Summer days.  I hear it today and I'm right back at a pool in June 1974, 10 years old and not a care in the world.  My whole life still ahead of me.   

Playlist for 5/26

Miko Marks - Our Country

Mandy Barnett - Every Star Above

Raul Malo - Quarantunes Vol. 1

Charley Crockett - 10 for Slim: Sings James Hand

Midland - Sonic Ranch

Tune-Yards - Sketchy

Ringo Starr - Zoom In EP

What Goes On-Songs of Lou Reed - Various

Jon Savage's 1972-76 - Various

Next Waltz Vol. 3 - Various

Van Morrison - Latest Record Project Vol. 1

Eurovision Song Contest 2021

An Album/Song A Week: Gary Stewart - Out of Hand

 What if I told you the best Country album of the 70's was not by Willie, Waylon or Dolly.  But by a journeyman Honky-Tonk singer who finally found success at the age of 40.  Gary Stewart was indeed a Country music journeyman prior to breaking through with the #10 Country single "Drinkin' Thing" in 1974 and a year later with the album Out of Hand.   Stewart had one of the great voices in Country music history.  But newer Country fans may not of heard of him.  But to hardcore traditionalists, he's a hero. 

Before breaking through, Stewart had released records that didn't go anywhere.  But he found more success co-writing Country songs.  Finally in 1973 his future producer, Roy Dea, got RCA to sign him.  Out of Hand sounds unlike anything else you would hear on Country radio in 1975.  Stewart's voice is often described as having a "distinctive vibrato" and it's a wonder.  The album offers up 10 solid slices of honky-tonk music. I would even call some of the songs honky-tonk soul because Stewart's voice definitely had an R&B tinge. In 1970 Motown had Stewart record Country covers of some of their classics.  Honky-Tonk was still a sound you could still hear on Country radio in 1975, but it's peak years were in the 1950's. Which is why Out of Hand stood out in 1975.  I first heard of the album in the early 80's from music critic Robert Christgau's Rock Albums of the 70's book.  But my interest really peaked in the mid-80's when the late great critic John Morthland released the definitive Best of Country Music.  

Out of Hand was a hit.  Three singles from the album went top 10 Country.  Including Stewart's only #1, "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)".  Stewart would go on to release other good albums, but never reached that peak. He had chart hits through the early 80's.  In 2003 Stewart committed suicide less than a month after his wife passed away.

Hardcore Country traditionalists have never forgotten him.  In 2020 the Austin band Mike and the Moonpies released an album of songs co-written by Stewart that were never recorded.  

Post-USPS Retirement Life: One Year Later

 Well, that went by quick.  Today is the one year anniversary of my retirement from the U.S. Postal Service. For 34 years and 8 months, I delivered mail in Pacific Grove, California.  A great city to work in. If only I could say the same for the job.  To be fair, there were good Postal years and bad Postal years.  Ok, more bad than good. 

 

 To recap, I started my Postal odyssey on September 3, 1985.  I was the youngest employee in the office.  And for a small/medium sized office, we had a good amount of employees.  Automation was about a decade away, so we had many clerks and even more carriers than we needed.  But once automation kicked in, the downward spiral of the USPS began.  Slowly, year by year, offices were being adjusted to accommodate the new era of postal automation.  Clerks who sorted mail weren't needed as much.  And carrier routes were being added on to because we weren't spending as much time in the office.  So, the routes got longer.  The geniuses in postal management didn't think this through very well.  The more you add on to our street deliveries the longer the routes became.  It didn't matter if we were handling less in the office or not.  So, tensions among supervisors and carriers began to increase.  I was lucky to have good supervisors throughout my postal years.  And working in a relatively small office meant any tensions didn't get too far out of hand.

  There were two milestones I needed to retire.  Reach age 56 and have 30 years in.  The 30 years I hit in 2015.  But I was only 51 then.  Which meant trying to hang on for another five years.  As I said before, if the situation was better, staying until I was 60 might have been a possibility.  But nothing improved.  My route got longer.  The package business took off, making a large route even larger, and even worse, our office was short-staffed.  I never worked so hard in my postal life.  This was not how I thought it would be.  Seniority used to mean something in the postal service.  When I started, carriers who had been there 20-30 years basically did their routes and went home.  Maybe they worked some overtime on their own routes, but that was it.  This all changed as the 2000's went on.  Seeing that nothing was going to improve, and possibly get worse, I retired the minute I was eligible. 

  But what a time to retire! Right in the middle of the biggest global pandemic in 100 years. Any travel plans I had were nixed. Basically, I've stuck around the Monterey Peninsula since last May, and tried not to get COVID.  But hope is out there.  I've been fully vaccinated, and the world is slowly starting to open up.  Oh, and even more importantly, I have absolutely no regrets about retiring.  Today, there are only vague remnants of my former life.  My body clock is still on postal time though, so I remain a morning person.  The first months of retirement I still had postal nightmares about the job, just like I did when I was working. Those are now gone.  I left behind some wonderful customers, and many co-workers, who I don't see enough.  The USPS will always be a part of my history. It continues to play a big part in American life.  I'm proud of the work I did there.  But my life is so much more fulfilling now.  So, I think of this one year anniversary as Retirement 2.0, or a reboot, if you will.  And still waiting to see what post-USPS life will bring. 

Here's my first retirement piece I wrote last year: My 34 Years, 8 Months with the USPS

My Top 25 Rock Hall Snubs (Updated 2021 Inductees)

Below is a list of my personal Top 25 Rock Hall snubs as of the 2021 Inductees announcement. If you don't see your favorite artists listed, then they are probably included on my never-ending  Rock Hall Wish List

This list includes post-1955 era acts.  See below for artists who made their impact in the pre-Rock era ('54 and earlier).

1. Spinners

2. Rufus & Chaka Khan

3. Kool & The Gang

4. Willie Nelson

5. Dionne Warwick

6. Gram Parsons

7. Patsy Cline

8. Joe Tex

9. Meters/Neville Brothers

10. War

11. Smiths

12. Commodores/Lionel Richie

13. Marvelettes

14. Barry White

15. Warren Zevon

16. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes/Teddy Pendergrass

17. Cher

18. Joe Cocker

19. Monkees

20. Dolly Parton

21. Eurythmics

22. New York Dolls

23. Pointer Sisters

24. New Order/Joy Division

25. B-52's

Early Influence Era (Pre-1960)
Big Mama Thornton
Billy Ward & The Dominoes
Carter Family
Chuck Willis
Clovers

Ella Fitzgerald
Johnny Burnette & the Roll 'n' Roll Trio

Neil Sedaka

Wynonie Harris

Playlist for 5/19

Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, Jon Randall - Marfa Tapes

Loretta Lynn - Still Woman Enough

Ashley Monroe - Rosegold

Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

Kurt Elling - Secrets Are The Best Stories

Jon Batiste - We Are

Justin Bieber - Justice

Now 78 - Various

What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Anthem for the Ages (CNN Special)

An Album/Song A Week: "One Toke Over The Line" - Brewer & Shipley

Did I have any idea what this song was really about? Hell no!  I was seven years old when "One Toke Over The Line" was released.  Still living in North Carolina.  But not for long.  By the summer my Dad got his Military orders to move to Mannheim, Germany.  This is how I heard the song.  By the summer of '71, the song was ending its chart run, but I still heard it being played both before and after we moved to Germany.

Whenever I hear the song today, which peaked at #10, and think back to those days just before we moved out of the U.S. to Germany.  But I also think about other songs that my young never understood.  Because at a young age, it's the music more than the words, that stick with you.  And "One Toke" was indeed catchy.  

Honestly, I didn't even get the meaning of the song until I was in my late teens.  "Oh, that's what it's about", was a common reaction whenever I heard the song on an oldies station.  

For comic relief, I give you this 1971 clip from the Lawrence Welk show.  

Can't believe no one spoke up and said that maybe we should sing something else.

Lawrence Welk: "One Toke Over The Line"

Playlist for 5/12

Valerie June - Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers

Lake Street Dive - Obviously

Genius: Aretha (TV mini-series)

Eric Church - Heart & Soul

Gurf Morlix - Kiss of the Diamondback

Little Ann - Detroit's Secret Soul

Jackie Wilson & Count Basie - Manufacturers of Soul 

SiriusXM 1st Wave Deep Cuts (New App only channel)

An Album/Song A Week: "Shake You Down" - Gregory Abbott

One of the surprise #1 hits of any decade, "Shake You Down" by Gregory Abbott was as much of a throwback to 70's Male R&B hits as anything released in the 80's.  So who is Gregory Abbott?  Before this hit, he was an English teacher at Cal-Berkeley and had a master's degree in dramatic arts.  Abbott began pursuing music around the time he was teaching.  He produced some acts before releasing "Shake You Down" in 1986.  Abbott describes his sound as "groove ballad" and that's pretty much how all his music sounds.  "Shake You Down" sounded unlike anything being played on the Pop charts at the time.  Maybe Freddie Jackson's records at the time were similar.  And "Sexual Healing" was definitely Abbott's inspiration for the Shake You Down album.  And if you liked the single, the album has more of that sound.  "Shake You Down" topped the R&B charts in October 1986, and then the Pop chart in January 1987. 

My own affection for it goes back to my young days of going to nightclubs while dating my future wife.  "Shake You Down" was always the slow jam that DJ's would spin.  It takes me back to my bachelor days!

Today "Shake You Down" doesn't seem as remembered as it should.  When VH1 put together their Top One-Hit Wonders of the 80's, it wasn't on it.  One odd trivia about Abbott is he was once married to Freda "Band of Gold" Payne in the late 70's.

Gregory Abbott would turn out to be a one-hit wonder on the Pop charts.  On the R&B charts, he didn't fare any better.  A follow-up single from Shake You Down peaked at #5.  In 1988, the official follow-up album yielded only one hit, the #5 "I'll Prove It To You".  That album is good as well.  Since then Abbott has continued to release his music independently.  Again, if you like his "groove ballad" sound then check him out on the streaming sites.  

Best Mother's Day Songs

When most people think of Mother's Day songs, sentimentality usually wins out.  I've got a few of those listed below, but also some that avoid the teardrops.
                                                                                                                                             
Anthony Hamilton - Mama Knew Love
Beatles - Julia
Bill Anderson - Mama Sang A Song
Boyz II Men - Song For Mama
Bruce Springsteen - Wish
Carrie Underwood - Mama's Song
Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors
Electric Light Orchestra - Mama
Elvis Presley - Mama Liked The Roses
Gerry Rafferty - Mary Skeffington
Gregory Porter - Mother's Song
Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama
Jamie O'Neal - Somebody's Hero
Judds - Mama He's Crazy
John Lennon - Mother
Junior - Mama Used To Say
Lefty Frizzell - Mom and Dad's Waltz
Lenny Kravitz - Thinking Of You
Linda Ronstadt - Sweetest Gift
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
Merle Haggard - Mama Tried
Miracles - Shop Around
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Outkast - She's Alive
Paul Simon - Loves Me Like A Rock
Pink Floyd - Mother
Randy Travis - Angels
Ruth Brown - Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Shirelles - Mama Said
Sizzla - Thank You Mama
2Pac - Dear Mama
Spinners - Sadie
Sufjan Stevens - Fourth Of July
Taylor Swift - Best Day

Playlist for 5/5

Cloud Nothings - Shadow I Remember

Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade

Neil Young - Archives Vol II Box Set (72-76)

Neil Young - Way Down In The Rust Bucket

Hayes Carll - Alone Together Sessions

Cheap Trick - Next Position Please

Sparks - s/t

An Album/Song A Week: "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" - Procol Harum

 Gary Brooker was certainly the most soulful of all the Prog Rock singers.  And "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the most R&B Prog song ever recorded.  Brooker nicked a bit of Bach's "Air On The G String", and along with Matthew Fisher came up with the otherworldly sounding music. Keith Reid's lyrics are another story.  Some would say indecipherable.  But Reid has said it's a simple breakup song.  Others think there's more to it.  But Brooker's singing, to me, leaves no doubt about the lyrics' origins.  He sings it like an R&B singer would any other love gone wrong song.  Very passionately and soulful.

One day, when I was in my teens, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" came on the car radio.  I was driving with my Mom.  I would usually play some kind of music whenever we went somewhere.  She never said much about what was on the radio.  But that day she surprised me by saying how much she always liked that song.  Years later when I was older, and it was me driving, the song came on an oldies station and she said the same thing.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what about the song could have caught her ear.  I ruled out the lyrics right away and focused on the music.  It wasn't I found out that Bach was a German composer that it all fit.  The melody that Brooker nicked for "Whiter Shade" must of have caught my Mom's ear because it sounded familiar to a Bach song she must have heard growing up in Germany.  My Mom was born in Munich, 1929.  

Years after my Mom has passed away, whenever I hear "A Whiter Shade of Pale", my thoughts go back to happier days with her.  The power of music.  Never to be underestimated. 

R&B Hits That Never Made Billboard's Pop Top 40

My latest Spotify playlist focuses mostly on an era of Chart action that always fascinated me.  R&B Hits that never made Billboard's Pop Top 40.  And the era I'm talking about, which is heavily represented in this playlist, is the first half of the 80's.  While many big R&B hits crossed over to Pop in the 70's, that changed in the early 80's.  Some of the most memorable songs from that era, which are remembered today, like "Between the Sheets", "Juicy Fruit", "Square Biz", "If You Think You're Lonely Now", never hit the Pop Top 40.  A lot of #1 R&B hits never crossed over, which was something that didn't happen much in the 70's.  

My own feeling is that as CHR began to take over the airwaves in the early 80's, R&B hits were getting left out.  CHR started to play more Pop, Rock and AC songs.  And R&B songs that didn't fit into those genres got left behind.  

So, here's a Spotify playlist of the R&B hits that didn't cross over.