Playlist for 11/24

Adele - 30

Adele- One Night Only (TV Special)

Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise the Roof

Commander Cody - Hot Licks, Cold Steel  & Trucker Favorites

Commander Cody - Live From Deep In The Heart of Texas

American Music Club - Everclear

Billy Strings - Renewal

Gary Stewart - Live 1975

Donald Fagen- Nightfly: Live

Steely Dan - Northeast Corridor

Curtis Mayfield Songbook - Various (Ace)

Velvet Underground (2021 Documentary)

2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony (HBO)

An Album/Song A Week: Michael Jackson - Thriller

 One could always make the case that Off The Wall is the best Michael Jackson album.  And I could agree.  But Thriller was the one for a reason. It was a bid for even bigger crossover success.  And at a compact 9 tracks, it did just that.  The amazing thing about Thriller, is that the Jackson-penned first single, "The Girl Is Mine", a duet with Paul McCartney, was supposed to be a massive single along the lines of "Ebony & Ivory". But that's not what happened. Surprisingly, the song peaked at #2 (#1 R&B), and is generally considered the weakest song on the album.  Luckily for Jackson's label, "Billie Jean" would quickly follow it up and once the video for it got on MTV, Thriller was off and running. 

  Among the 9 tracks, four were written by Jackson, 3 by the Quincy Jones fave Rod Temperton, one co-written by James Ingram and "Human Nature" co-written by members of Toto.  All but two, "Baby Be Mine" and the Quiet Storm classic, "Lady In My Life", were Top 10 singles.  

  Jackson's bid for mega-stardom paid off.  Thriller is the biggest selling studio album ever. And it deserves its spot.  Quincy Jones' production reaches a peak here and Jackson is game for whatever is thrown at him.

  Michael Jackson's follow up albums all had their great moments, but Thriller came along at the right moment in 1982.  Perfect for the new MTV era of music consumption ("Thriller" video) and released at a time when the Music Industry was waiting for a massive seller.  Thriller achieved all that and more.

An Album/Song A Week: "Sara Smile" - Daryl Hall & John Oates

It wasn't "She's Gone" that broke Daryl Hall & John Oates, it was 1976's "Sara Smile".  By then Hall & Oates had left Atlantic, where "She's Gone" was first released in 1973 and signed with RCA.  Daryl Hall hates the term "Blue-eyed Soul", but that's what "Sara Smile", and many of their other hits were labeled.  It's also a nod to their Philly Soul roots, even though it wasn't recorded in Philadelphia.  It should be on any Philly sound collection.  In addition to peaking at #4 on the Pop charts, it got to #23 on the R&B one. 

This is as smooth as a Hall & Oates hit would ever get.  "One on One" comes close, but this is my go-to Hall & Oates song whenever I want to show people how R&B their sound could get.   Soon after "Sara Smile" broke, Atlantic re-released "She's Gone",  and it too went Top 10. An argument can be made that both of those songs are their best singles.  I'd add "Out of Touch", "Kiss On My List", "One on One", "Maneater", "Say It Isn't So", "It's A Laugh", "You Make My Dreams", "I Can't Go For That" to the mix, but you get the point.  They had a lot of great songs.  But "Sara Smile" sets the stage. 

Playlist for 11/16

Jason Isbell - Georgia Blue

Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Day

Natalie Hemby - Pins and Needles

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Love For Sale

Coldplay - Music of the Spheres

Elton John - Lockdown Sessions

Paul Carrack - One on One

War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

Felice Brothers - From Dreams to Dust

Asleep At The Wheel - Half A Hundred Years

Songs of John Prine Vol. 2 - Various

Record Company - Play Loud

2021 CMA Awards 

An Album/Song A Week: Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

 Bitches Brew is not my favorite Miles Davis album.  I'd rank it behind Kind of Blue and In A Silent Way, but just ahead of Jack Johnson. Hell, it's not even my all-time fave Jazz album.  That would be Giant Steps by John Coltrane. But it is the album that turned me on to Jazz.  It's not that I didn't know the big names or even the big Jazz albums.  In my teens Jazz was the smooth Jazz I heard on Top 40 radio: Chuck Mangione, George Benson.  It was not Miles, Coltrane, Ornette, Sonny Rollins.  The Jazz vocalists were in a different listening category for me.  I seemed to have heard more Ella, Billie Holiday, etc., than I did instrumentalists.  

  There's no denying that Bitches Brew was a game-changer.  Miles going even more electric than he did on In A Silent Way.  Jazz-Fusion was now in his wheelhouse.  Critics be damned.  And some purists weren't happy. But thanks to an all-star cast, Miles pulls it off. Improvised sounds collide, but they never go fully off the rails.  Credit the electric guitar of John McLaughlin for most of this.  McLaughlin had been doing fusion before joining Miles's band and after he left formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra which released their own acclaimed fusion albums. 

  It took me many years, mostly as I got older to catch up to all the Jazz that was missing in my life.  And I still don't feel like I've totally caught up to all of it.  It will never be my specialty, but I'm more comfortable talking about it now than ever before.  So, start with Bitches Brew.  Then work your way back or forward. 

Best of ZZ Top (Poll)

As a tribute to Dusty Hill, I participated in a Best of ZZ Top poll back in September.  Top 20 tracks, plus top 5 albums.

Songs

1. La Grange

2. Gimme All Your Lovin'

3. Tush

4. Sharp Dressed Man

5. I Thank You

6. Legs

7. Cheap Sunglasses

8. Sleeping Bag

9. Waitin' for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago

10. Rough Boy

11. Heard It On The X

12. Pearl Necklace

13. Got Me Under Pressure

14. I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

15. I Got The Six

16. Viva Las Vegas

17. Stages

18. Tube Snake Boogie

19. My Head's In Mississippi

20. Leila

Albums

1. Eliminator

2. Rancho Texicano: Very Best of

3. Deguello

4. Fandango

5. Tres Hombres

Playlist for 11/9

Lindsey Buckingham - s/t 

Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Vol. 16

Lil Nas X - Montero 

Yebba - Dawn

Anthony Hamilton - Love Is The New Black

Bela Fleck - My Bluegrass Heart

Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You

Charley Crockett - Music City USA

Adia Victoria - A Southern Gothic

Miko Marks - Race Records

Carly Pearce - 29

Family - Bandstand

Family - It's Only A Movie

My Top 25 Albums from 1996-2021 (Pitchfork Poll)

 For their 25th anniversary, Pitchfork asked their readers to list their Top 25 albums from 1996-2021. Not an easy task, which is why I went and did it anyway.  The list below is not in any kind of order, although my top 2 picks would probably be the same if I spent a few more days thinking about it. Most of these 25 choices were taken from my musical memory bank, but I did consult my year-end lists from the last couple of decades. Of course, right after hitting the send button, a bunch of albums popped up in my brain that I would have loved to include.   

• #1 : Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
• #2 : Adele: 21
• #3 : Moby - Play
• #4 : Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway  
• #5 : Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue 
• #6 : Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
• #7 : Lauryn Hill - Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
• #8 : DJ Shadow: Endtroducing...
• #9 : D'Angelo - Voodoo
• #10 : Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
• #11 : The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
• #12 : Rodney Crowell - Houston Kid
• #13 : Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
• #14 : Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
• #15 : Dixie Chicks - Fly
• #16 : The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday
• #17 : Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• #18 : Maxwell: Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
• #19 : Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
• #20 : Lizzo - 'Cuz I Love You
• #21 : Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
• #22 : Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
• #23 : Chris Stapleton - Traveller
• #24 : Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
• #25 : Jason Isbell - Nashville Sound
• 
  

An Album/Song A Week: Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours

  Released in 1955, In The Wee Small Hours is the ultimate late night album.  Hearing it, and reinforced by the album cover, conjures up late night walks in a big city and lonely nights all alone with your favorite vinyl album spinning on a turntable.  All ballads, Sinatra's vocals on these songs are just starting to reach a maturity that would peak by the end of the 50's.  With his best arranger, Nelson Riddle, this is a concept album that remains my favorite Sinatra album.  Besides the title track, classics abound like "Glad to Be Unhappy", "I Get Along Without You Very Well", "Mood Indigo".  

  Sinatra came close to matching this album's theme with 1958's downbeat Only The Lonely.  And would continue on into the 60's recording ballads only releases.  But I'll always prefer this one.  The best late night album ever.