Rush Caress of Steel

Right now, I am listening to the album Caress of Steel by Rush. This record is so unbelievably b b b b b b beast!!! The story of how I came to purchase this record is pretty funny. I was home in Canandaigua, NY and I went to a thrift store up there called Volunteers of America. As I was sifting through their records, which are all a dollar a piece, I came across Countdown to Ecstasy by Steely Dan. I am a huge fan of Steely Dan and immediately pulled it out with full intent of purchasing it. However, because I was at a thrift store I had to go through each record that I picked out just to make sure they weren't broken, too scratced or not even in the sleeve. When I got to Steely Dan, I pulled out the record and much to my surprise and delight, I found Caress of Steel!!! Woah!!! How Bizarre (as that shitty band from the 90's used to say) that the two nerdiest bands in the history of music are mixed up like that. It seemed so appropriate. I tell you the vinyl gods were smiling on me that day. From this moment on I will always refer to that experience as The Caress of Steely Dan. Now do you people realize how amazing they are?!?!?! Not only does their music kick ass but they also give you Rush albums!

Waylon Jennings Waylon Live

Right now I am getting my dose of country with Waylon Jennings album Waylon Live. You really can't go wrong with Waylon Jennings much like Willie Nelson. I have about 4 or 5 Waylon Jennings records and they are all b b b b b beast! Much like Willie Nelson, he has a great voice. His voice has this sound of a guy who has drank, smoked, fucked, snorted, drank some more, smoked some more, fucked some more and then snorted some more. So basically he has a country music voice.

The Fame Gang Solid Gold from the Muscle Shoals

Right now I am listening to a record called Solid Gold from Muscle Shoals by a group known as the Fame Gang. Apparently they were the session musicians at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama thus the Fame Gang (a name that is both lame and awesome). The album is a blend of funk, soul and jazz and the songs are all instrumental covers ranging from Sweet Caroline to It's Your Thing. I had never heard of the Fame Gang, Fame Recording Studios, or Muscle Shoals, Alabama but these guys are really great. It's a combo of four white guys and five black guys so it appears that Fame Recording Studios was doing the same thing as Stax Records in Memphis as far as integrating whites and blacks. Although Stax was clearly more famous than Fame since Stax was in Memphis. I find it weird that they would use the word Fame in naming the studio and band being from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and all. I can't imagine a whole lot of Fame coming from there. I sure as shit know we didn't experience a whole lot of it growing up in Tendon Sandbar, Mississippi.

Check 'em out:


Doing what you do in Muscle Shoals. Hanging out on an abandoned bridge.

Here's a sample:


Pretty Beast!! probably the most interesting thing to come out of Muscle Shoals since the name Muscle Shoals.

The Blues Brothers Made in America

I am currently listening to the Blues Brothers album "Made In America." As I listen to this record, I think for the first time, I realize how fucking brilliant the Blues Brothers were. I always appreciated the sketches on SNL and the movie is one of my personal favorites but the fact that they also turned it into a touring band, which was composed of some of the best session players in music history, opened for the Grateful Dead and put out albums is what Brilliance is to me. It's very similar to Paul Rubens and what he was able to accomplish with Pee Wee Herman. I'll admit, the Blues Brothers swing and miss sometimes on these albums that they put out, i.e. covering the Perry Mason theme and Paul Shaffer doing Booker T. Jones' organ riffs in the cover of Green Onions (disgraceful. I don't know what irritates me more: Paul Shaffer doing Booker T or John Goodman replacing Belushi in Blues Brothers 2000) but still their version of Soul Man in my opinion smokes Sam and Dave's. Yeah I said it. It's the first version of Soul Man I ever heard and personally I think they bring it a little harder than S&D. Now if it's Hold On I'm Coming that we're talking about then it's S&D in a landslide but perhaps that is the reason the Blues Brothers didn't cover that song, who knows. Overall, I've realized that this blog entry is lacking Vinyl Bloggers usual jokes and squibs but it's because all of the comedy and brilliance here is courtesy of the Blues Brothers....But seriously, Paul Shaffer doing Booker T's part in Green Onions? Talk about Onions that made me cry.

Willie Nelson Collectors Series

Listening to a new Willie Nelson record that I got, although it's hardly "new." 1985 to be exact and like every other Willie Nelson record that I own or have heard, it's beast. Even when the songs are slow and a little mopey it's still great to listen to Uncle Willie. His voice makes up for it. Much like Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Garcia, Van Morrison and Geddy Lee, the background noise could be sheep getting raped but if any of those guys were singing along with it, especially Willie, the song would still be totally listenable and straight beast!! I usually never pass up a Willie Nelson record. Even if an albums cover art was a leper orgy but I then saw that the album was called Willie Nelson Solid Gold, I'd still buy it and probably blog about how much it ruled. Then again, if I saw an album with such a cover, I'd probably still buy even if it was a Soul Asylum record only because you gotta admire someone for ever putting that on a cover. Short blog short, Willie Nelson has the best voice in the history of music.


Merle Haggard is no slouch himself but he might not fit in with the scenarios that I wrote about above.

Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands

The record I am listening to right now is called Lone Star Lowlands. It is from a company called Numero Group who put out complialtion records. Most of the compliations are funk, soul, gospel but this one couldn't be further from that. It's a compliation of rock and roll from Texas during the 60's and 70's. However, much like the funk and soul compliations that Numero Group puts out, none of these bands ever broke out into the mainstream or ever achieved a great deal of success. In fact, the best way I would describe the music on this record is just think of bands that didn't quite make it as big as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Another way I like to describe the bands on this album is they're the type of rock band your parents would have played in while they were in high school or college. The music on the album is fucking great but with names like 6 Easy Pieces, Six Deep, Buck Horn, Next Exit, and Trans Love Airway it's pretty easy to understand why these bands didn't make it. Those are such "bands that didn't make it that big" band names. However, you gotta love the people who release some of this lost and forgotten music because sometimes it's better than the stuff that makes it to the mainstream. But come on, 6 Easy Pieces?!?! That's like if I named my band Friday the 14th. Might as well just name your band Don't Sign Us. But seriously, the music is great. As well as the cover art. Check that crew out. 20 bucks that's Trans Love Airway.

The 9th Creation Bubble Gum

Right now I am listening to the album "Bubble Gum" from a band called The 9th Creation. I had never heard of the 9th Creation until I started shopping for records. They were a funk and soul group from the 70's that I don't believe made it into the mainstream. I can tell by listening. It's not that it is a bad record or that they are a bad group, it's just that if you were a funk and soul band in the 70's, chances are you sounded like every other funk and soul band (see my blog about Southern Funkin'). It must have been very difficult to really break through unless of course you were Sly Stone or Stevie Wonder whom this band clearly based their sound on. I would imagine trying to be a funk and soul group in the 70s was probably like being a grunge band from Seattle in the early 90's but with less flannel and maybe a tad more heroin but not too much more (See Cobain, Kurt).