According to The New Yorker, "All I want for Christmas is You" is "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon", and I rightly agree, especially after hearing Quickdraw knock it out of the park at the annual St. Nick Markos Holiday show last night. The Track's sweet Phil Spector Girl Group groove led to the common misconception that Carey covered this song,butthe track is actually an original written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

All I WANT

My two year boycott of Permanent Records finally ended last week, when I broke down and stopped in reluctantly in the midst of a vinyl fix while holiday shopping on Chicago Avenue. I had sworn off patronizing the store when they refused to carry David Singer's last album, indicating their lack of support for the local music community. I was amused to find that the fools had priced this Classic Jackson 5 album vinyl at 99 cents, and made it my only purchase, so feel vindicated for my transgression.

The 1970 album itself is a gem. Opening with I'll Be There, side one also includes a version of "Bridge Over Troubles Water" sung by Jermaine. I've chosen to post "The Love I Saw in you was Just a Mirage" from side two, which was penned by Smoky Robinson.

The Love I Saw in You was Just a Mirage-Jackson 5

I took a chance on this one at my visit to Amoeba Records last week, and it paid off.
This 1978 double studio LP from Marvin Gaye turns out to be soul's entry in the "greatest break-up albums of all time" category alongside Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Springsteen's Tunnel of Love, Beck's Sea Change, and El Perro Del Mar's Love is Not Pop.

The album is the sound of divorce on record, with titles like "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I stop Loving You" (3 versions!), "Anger", and today's post "You Can Leave, but its Going to Cost You". It's quite literal and direct...its long grooves peppered with lines like "Somebody tell me please/Why do I have to pay attorney fees?"

At the time of its release the album was poorly received, accused of being bizarre and uncommercial by fans and critics alike. In retrospect, though, its considered by many to be landmark in Gaye's career, one of the most intimate and personal artistic statements on record.

You Can Leave,but its Going to Cost You

I finally got to see the Musical "Hair" this past weekend in its Broadway revival.
I've known every word to every song on the soundtrack(8-track!) since well before I was old enough to understand what the lyrics meant. To my young mind, it was all just a rythmic and tuneful laundry list of vaguely forbidden and mysterious apsects of an irrestiabley seductive era-the 60's. Without a production to see in all of these years, I had to make do with the movie, a mediocre effort starring Treat Williams in a vastly plot-changed version. The broadway revival is true to the original, and worth the wait for me. It was extra cool when we were ushered up onto to the stage at the end during "Let The Sunshine In" facing a full house of waving arms and blinding orange light. Pretty light on plot, this show is all about the music, and its songs have been covered by everyone from Liza Minelli to The Lemonheads.

For your listening enjoyment today, I've included a mix of 5 cover versions including "Frank Mills" by both of the aforemnentioned artists.

In addition, here's Sesame Street's version of " Good Morning Starshine" the sappiest of the show's tunes, but perfect when sung by/to a muppet.

Hair Covers

Happy Turkey Day!

The soundtrack for this film is one my favorite Sunday Morning records. The movie itself is a must, with Sam Peckinpah directing James Coburn as Pat Garrett, Kris Kristofferson as Billy The Kid, and Dylan himself as Alias.


Bob Dylan-Turkey Chase

Any Chicagoan with an interest in music owes it to themselves to go check out The Kinsey Report at Rosa's or one of the other blues clubs. The Chicago Blues has never been my thing, but watching Donald Kinsey perform is a revelation for lots of reasons; his charisma, his vocals, and especially his guitar playing- which alternates between butter smooth rhythm and electrifying lead. Besided, the Kinseys play much more soul, funk, even reggae than they do Chicago Blues. The band plays Chicago frequently, and a word of caution that DK's performance can vary wildly from show to show depending on various external and internal factors. This past Saturday's was inspired.

Hailing from Gary, Indiana, young Donald moved to Jamaica in the mid-seventies and became a member of The Wailers, playing on seminal albums for both Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. After their deaths, he returned to Chicago, where he and his brothers Ralph and Ken formed the Kinsey Report to back their father, blues star Big Daddy Kinsey. They've been at it ever since.

The Kinsey Report is best experienced in a live setting as the recorded output just doesn't cut it. So instead of a KP track, I'll go back and post this one from Peter Tosh's Equal Rights Album, on which Donald plays guitar

Stepping Razor

David Berthy Posts

I don’t know how I made it so long without hearing the original
version of the touchstone song “Fever.” Less famous than Peggy Lee’s
1968 version, Little Willie John’s original is, in my opinion, far
superior. I also recently found this obscure Ray Peterson version on
the excellent blog Diddy Wah. Peterson’s version is an excellent B
side here, but John’s original is one no music fan should be without--
a true classic.

Fever

Great band with a terrible name

The debut album from Girls lives up to the hype, with a sound mixing GBV's low fi production, a nasally exuberant vocal reminiscent of Bob Geldoff or a young Tom Petty, T-Rex swagger, and impressive stylistic variance. Smart money says this band shows up on the fork's festival stage this year f'sho.


Girls-Summertime

New Music Monday-El Perro Del Mar +Girls

I stopped by Reckless last week and found these two albums on display side by side. I grabbed both and headed home and soon discovered that both artists were playing shows in town the following night. Sadly, I missed them both, but have been enjoying the records since. Love is Not Pop is a straight up break-up record, and like the tewo albums prior, is much more about creating a mood than song-craft. I happen to revel in that mood of doo wop melancholy, though, so this one's another home run for me. Plus, her sound has evolved and expanded to include some great new elements-some acoustic, some electronic. Though its not the best song on the album, I include for you today, her cover version of Lou Reed's "Heavenly Arms" (The Blue Mask 1980)

Heavenly Arms

David Berthy Posts


Having been reintroduced this last week to the harrowing experience of shuttling back and forth between the west and east sides of Los Angeles, I’ve had plenty of time to listen to music in the car. Santo and Johnny’s music is perfect for such a drive. When I put it on, my borrowed blue Camry becomes a beautiful lounge where banalities take on the qualities of dreams. Brothers Santo and Johnny Farina are best known for their iconic song “Sleep Walk,” but the prolific lounge masters have a considerable output worth checking out. Included here are versions of the Gershwin song “Summertime” and Juan Tizol’s jazz standard “Caravan.” Because “Sleep Walk” is always worth a listen, I threw that in too.

https://download.yousendit.com/ZW9DU2VnaFJ0TWwzZUE9PQ

The Hitmaker sent this one along while we were brainstorming new jams for Que Rico!
I remember some business a while back about the chanted vocal refrain "Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa" from Michael Jackson's 1982 "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" coming from an African hit and forgot to look it up. Here it is!

"Soul Makossa" is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango and It is often cited as one of the first disco records. Wiki reports that In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties.The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up and the song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record, and Atlantic eventually licensed the song ands their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart.

Soul Makossa

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

Having just returned from some errands on a recent Sunday afternoon, I was lamenting that I hadn't made time for a record-shopping stop when I noticed a pile of LP records sitting on top of my neighbor's garbage can. He had just put them there, and I saw him exit the alley into his garage just as I went over to investigate. Here's what I found-all in perfect condition:

CSNY- 4 Way Street
Dire Straits-Making Movies
Rod Stewart-Never a Dull Moment
The Cure- Standing on a Beach
Tears For Fears-Songs from the Big Chair
Gerry Rafferty-City to City (with both "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line"
Phil Collins- No Jacket required
Howard Jones- Dream into Action (crap! though No One is to Blame is a guilty pleasure)
Peter Townsend-Chinese Eyes
Squeeze- Argy Bargy (1980)

The treasure here is the Squeeze record, which I put on immediately. Though I love this band and know their greatest hits collection "Single 45's and Under" note for note and word for word, I never had a proper album of theirs in my collection. I was interested to hear what their album cuts were like. I've chosen "Wrong Side of the Moon" from side 2, the only track co-penned by Jools Holland and Chris Difford. Holland wopuld leave the band after the album's release.

Wrong Side of the Moon

David Berthy Posts

This Galaxie 500 cover of the Joy Division song "Ceremony," has to be
one of my favorite cover songs of all time. The wistful "can't-go-on-
must-go-on" quality of the song reminded me of this eighties number
from the Scottish indie pop band Close Lobsters, which is available on
the excellent album Foxheads Stalk This Land.

Favorite Cover

H. and I were watching the Double P last week when an ad for Sting's new album "If on a Winter's Night" came on. When we heard the song accompanying the ad, we looked at each other with jaws dropped. I mean, I've been disdainful of Sting since well before "Desert Rose", but "Soul Cake" sounds like a true Poncy Lads original. If he'd hired Sean Connery to sing it ala William Shatner, he'd a been on to something. Turns out he's off the hook for the writng (but doubly on the hook for taste), as its his version of a traditional song from Cheshire, recorded also by Peter Paul & Mary.

Consider the lyrics:

A soul cake, a soul cake,
Please, good missus, a soul cake,
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Any good things to make us all merry.

Consider also that this is the song he picked to advertise the album.

Its Akin to "Egg Cream" by Lou Reed in its food themed sing songy ridiculousness.

Sting-Soul Cake

Mr. Shankly's stellar set as XTC on halloween reminded me of just how much I love that band and their perfectly crafted pop confections. Take "Mayor of Simpleton" from Oranges and Lemons, a clever and catchy tune that takes "If I only had a Brain" and makes a love story out of it, with a terrific bass line to boot.

Check out Mr. Shankly's version here:



Mayor of Simpleton

Tomorrow at Silvies My Pretties

This is Halloween

David Berthy Posts

There’s an elderly, hunched-over woman who emerges daily from the building across the street and sweeps the sidewalk for hours--even when it appears devoid of debris. I’ve often felt sorry for her, especially on days like today, when I see the leaves dropping in wet clumps. For the sake of symmetry, it’s pleasing to think the woman occasionally wonders what I do in my office all day, but in truth I’ve never once seen her look up. My preference is usually for older music, but for the last week or so I’ve been listening to this hastily assembled mini-mix of mostly downbeat newish songs over and over. Playing beneath it, my neighbor’s broom scrapes sound like drum brushes.

mini-mix

I had a few minutes to kill between appointments downtown and wandered into the cultural center to see what I could see. I happened upon a photo exhibit about Hurricane Katrina, and this song was playing on a loop to accompany the images. I had heard this song before, in the film Young at Heart
, the one about the elderly choir who sings pop songs to stay young. Now, hearing the original, it strikes me as a perfect song for IMW bands to play-simple, positive, groovy.

Lee Dorsey-Yes We Can Pt. 1

Brian Black had this record on when we came over to watch the premiere of Benjamin's terrific film, Breaking and Entering. My interest was peaked, so I went out and bought it. Its total ear candy, a record you can throw on just about any time, and please everyone in the room. After a lovely opening track "Dear God Sincerely MOF", the album jumps right into Traveling Wilbury's territory-not just with the theme of folk hero supergroup (M. Ward, Jim James, Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis), but in the tossed off writing and overall sound, which apes Jeff Lynne's production to a tee. While there are some definite stinkers here, all four members make great contributions and the album overall is a joy to listen to.

Here's one of those Wilbury's sounding tracks for ya..

Say Please

David Berthy Posts

I've recently gotten into the solo work of singer David Ruffin. He's perhaps best known as the lead singer of Temptations during the group's sixties golden years-- it's Ruffin who sings "My Girl"--but despite his considerable talents, the singer was voted out of the band in 1968 due to increasingly erratic behavior. In 1969, Ruffin came back with his first solo album, "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)," which the tracks below are from. Both showcase the visceral, distinctive qualities of Ruffin at his best.


David Ruffin

BONUS POST

As you all know by now, I love Bob Dylan and am willing to go a long way in giving him the benefit of the doubt....but his new Christmas album is downright hilarious...playing like an SCTV skit of yore. A classic example of bad as good (ie comedy)

Click here for highlights

Despite the hyperbolic "return to their roots" ranting surrounding the new Flaming Lips album Embryonic, it really is a unique and sonically engaging record, and more interesting than anything I've heard from the band in years. If the last few albums were all blinding light and larger than life technicolor fantasies,this album lives on the dark side of psychedelia, turning inward to ponder and explore existential questions in relation to space and time. The sound is Krautrock meets Prog meets early Pink Floyd...the vocals often pushed back in the mix. Its not very accessible, sometimes impenetrable, but somewhat rewarding upon repeated listening.

I would love to see a rapid succession montage of facial reactions from people whose favorite Lips song was "Do You Realize" listening to this album for the first time.

I've included "Silver Trembling Hands" here, which was best described by a BBC reviewer as "Pink Floyd’s One of These Days performed by Bitches Brew-era Miles, conducted by Burt Bacharach, with Bill Bruford on drums and the Six Million Dollar Man on bass."


Silver Trembling Hands

Jon Singer Posts

My nanny's husband (and former Bloodshoot road manager) Paul M. Davis
dropped this gem in my public folder before a recent trip to Tulum.
Figuring I would have my share of Mariachi music while in the Riviera
Maya I didn't give it much thought. When I finally got around to
listening to it (and looking at the unique cover art) I knew I had
stumbled upon something special. Turns out Mariachi El Bronx is
actually the Los Angeles punk band El Bronx who have put their
hardcore career on hold to record an entire album full of Mariachi
smokers. Lead singer Matt Caughtran sites influences from Black Flag
to Los Lobos and it's easy to imagine how these two types of music can
coexist so harmoniously in Southern California. Whether you're on a
sun drenched beach, ipod covered in cocoa butter fingerprints, or
sipping English tea on a cold and rainy fall morning you will easily
fall under the spell of this hypnotic music.

Mariachi El Bronx

David Berthy Posts

This song by British soul singer Timi Yuro is like a torch song for the heartbroken. It's a rare thing indeed to have a song about heartbreak come across so strident. "It'll Never Be Over For Me" is probably too obscure to show up as a boozy karaoke number, but I imagine it would be just about perfect in that context.


Timi Yuro Torch Song

After 10 years of semi-monthly this-is-my-livelihood-not-my-hobby garage sales at my neighbor's place to the east, I finally found something neither overpriced nor useless to take home with me. Nestled in the back of a crate of vinyl albums consisting mostly of The Fixx (who knew they had so many records?), I found a bevy of Laurel Canyon gems including Linda Rondstadt's first album, some very early Boz Scaggs, two albums I'd never seen from the Byrds, and this rare and seminal contry rock LP from Dillard and Clark, the duo of former Byrd Gene Clark and Bluegrass banjo virtuoso Doug Dillard along with Chris Hillman, Sneaky Pete and others helping out. Released soon after Clark left the Byrds in 1978, Through The Morning, Through The Night contains a set of originals plus great versions of tunes by The Everly Brothers (So Sad), Bill Monroe (Roll in my Sweet baby's Arms), and even the Beatles (Don't Let me Down)

Kansas City Southern

While working on a Sasparilla Sling well into an evening with old friends at The Violet Hour, the "straight out of deadwood" bartender threw on this disk. Heather and I both thought it was Red Red Meat at first listen, its sound stuck as it is in Stones Exile on Main Street territory. Turns out that its The Deadstring Brothers, who hail from the motor city, along with our bartender. This track, "Some Kind Of User" is from the third album, Silver Mountain, released in 2007 on Bloodshot records.

Some Kind of User-Deadstring Brothers

Another band I turn to each year as Autumn arrives is Yo La Tengo, with their moody organ drones, hushed vocals, and bursts of guitar skronk. The timing is perfect this year, as they've just released a new album, Popular Songs. Here'e the album opener "Here to Fall" which adds Gainsbourgian strings to the mix.

Here to Fall

David Berthy Posts

My associations with Mel Torme have heretofore been restricted to
Seinfeld and goofy scatting, but this R&B track is making me want to
do some exploring. A leftfield hit in 1962, the song was arranged by
Claus Ogerman and later covered by Quincy Jones.

Mel Torme

Atumnal

And just like that, Autumn has arrived, which for me means its time to break out the Tom Waits records again. His rumble and growl has always fit the season to my ears. Here's one that I'd never heard before last week, when Marianne brought it in for the Sure Bet Quartet to play at this coming Saturday's Uke Cabaret.

A Little Drop of Poison

Atonement

Great debuts-First Song First Album.....Repent!

Pixies-Caribou

Unlikely Collaborations Pt. 2

Thanks to Jon Singer for this one:

Daryl Hall With Chromeo

Here's a rare soul classic brought in by IMW Guitar teacher Randy, who thought a tune one from Chicago Girl Group Lovelites would make a nice addition to all-girl teen band Fatal Attraction's repertoire. Lovelites were a 1960's high-school trio composed of sisters Patti Hamilton, Rozena Petty and friend, Barbara Peterman.

This track,"How Can I Tell My Mom & Dad" boldly addressed the then taboo subject of teen pregnancy and went on to sell 55,000 copies locally and 400,000 nationally, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's Soul chart and landing the group a deal with MCA-owned, Uni Records.

How Can I Tell My Mom & Dad

Poster's Paradise

The Fingerhut Invitational is looking for music bloggers for weekly or bi-weekly posts!

Take your own day of the week for a spell and share your musical likes, dislikes, quirks, and personal stories with the FI community. All we ask is a blurb, photo, and mp3 for each post. Interested parties should post in the comments and we'll send you admin instructions.

To celebrate a wider posting community for FI, please enjoy "You Can All Join In By Traffic"

You Can All Join In

As I ponder the idea of producing a city-wide youth battle of the bands in 2010, I harken back to The North Side Battle of the Bands in 2007, when one of the teen groups brought the house down with a full blown, uncensored version of Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh". I'm still kicking myself for being in the restroom for their performance,which blew minds by all accounts. The band lost the competition on a content technicality (facism, racism, homophobia), which I'm sure they had taken into account and blown off.

Do any of you fingrehutters who were present remember the band name?

In The Flesh

David Berthy Posts

Seeing the excellent Hayward show at the Hideout the other night
reminded me of how much I love field recordings of traditional music.
I first got into field recordings via an interest in the legendary
Alan Lomax. Included here is a version of "Joe Turner" he recorded by
Ed Young and Hobart Smith I've always loved. It's followed by "Lost
Indian" by Dallas Henderson, and "Tom Watson Tune" by Mabel Hawthorne,
both of which can be found on Art of Field Recording, Volume 1. As a
bonus, I've thrown in "O Day" by Bessie Jones and the Sea Island
Singers, which can be found on the box set Goodbye, Babylon.

Field Recordings

Join Hayward for Country Music Tuesday at The Hideout 9:30 tonight and you're likely to hear this Gem by Del McCoury.


Highway of Pain

Browsing the dollar bins at Rasputin records in Berkley over Labor Day weekend, I couldn't pass up this curiosity by Frank Sinatra. It was the cover that grabbed me, with its monochromatic air of desolation (it brings to mind Neil Young's Greendale)-so utterly unlike anything I've seen before from Old Blue Eyes. It turns out that Watertown is a 1970 easy listening concept album, with Sinatra narrating the story of a middle aged man down and out in Watertown, NY after being left by his wife with two sons to tend to. Its a complete song cycle, detailing the break-up of a marriage and its impact on the narrator. Easily the most interesting thing I've heard from Sinatra, the album is a mix of folk rock, easy listening, and swirling baroque pop coupled with an atmosphere of loneliness.

I've chosen to post the title track, which sets the scene as Sinatra tours the lonely town and finds himself at the train station in the rain, as his wife leaves him behind. The last sound we hear is the train pulling out of the station and heading away.

The album was a commercial flop, not even entering the top 100, but is hailed today by many as a lost gem in Sinatra's canon.

Watertown

David Berthy Posts

I was responsible for the music at a wedding over the holiday weekend,
a task to which I devoted no small amount of obsession. There was the
likes and dislikes of the bride and groom to consider, the diverse
nature of the crowd, and the eternal challenge of navigating the line
between the familiar and the trite without losing momentum. I’ve also
started planning the music for my own wedding sometime in 2011. While
it’s true that you really can’t play enough Michael Jackson at a
wedding, here are four songs that, at various points in the night,
were also perfect. Included is a Kenny Dope remix of the Sharon Jones
song “Keep On Looking,” a disco edit of the Jean Carn song “What’s On
Your Mind,” the Tiedye mic of the DJ Kaos song “Love the Nite Away,”
and the one that no mortal could resist, Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.”

Michael Jackson Wedding Jams

David Berthy Posts

While watching the Nicolas Roeg film Performance the other night, I
came across the Mick Jagger song "Memo From Turner," which is featured
throughout the film. This is the rare Jagger solo number that stands
up to his work with the Stones. The song, featuring Ry Cooder on slide
guitar, is the perfect compliment to a very strange, but highly
recommended film. Nicolas Roeg also directed The Man Who Fell to
Earth, starring David Bowie.


Memo From Turner

Strange Collaborations

Michael McDonald with Grizzly Bear-released this week ...enough said!

While you Wait for The Others

Here's a winner in the "perfect dinner music" category I found in a thrift store in Duluth, Minnesota last week. Its from Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, who got hitched back in 1973, the same year they released their first album Full Moon which was not surprisingly, a set of love songs. Listening to the first side, Heather asked if it was a KD Lang record, as the two singers have nearly identical voices and styles at times.

Though quite familiar with Kristofferson's work, I knew very little about Rita Coolidge, other than her "Summer Jamz" style hit "Your Love is Lifting me Higher".
Before her marriage to Kristofferson, Coolidge had romantic liaisons with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash; her leaving Stills for Nash has been cited as a contributing factor behind Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's initial breakup in 1970. She began her career as a backing vocalist for artists such as Delaney & Bonnie, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Leon Russell before becoming a successful solo artist.

The album became a number one country hit. Today's track was The album’s second single, a cover of Tom Jans’ “Loving Arms,” and it made the pop, country, and easy listening charts, while earning the couple a grammy nomination.

Loving Arms

David Berthy Posts

I’ve really fallen in love with these songs by French singer Dominique A from the album L’horizon. I find them especially moving while I’m working, though I suppose they’d be just as good at the end of the day or riding a train at night. Still, the leanness of the songs generates a spectral beauty I find particularly appealing while I’m writing.

Dominique A

Jon Singer Posts

My kids are huge fans of the Swiss claymation cartoon Pingu. The program, about Penguins, is set in Antarctica where the Penguin families all live in igloos. What has made this show such an International success is the absence of human language. The dialogue between characters is a honking high-pitched penguin squawk that allows children of different linguistic backgrounds to follow the story, laughing outrageously along the way.



I've been listening to Heroic Doses' self titled debut quite a bit as of late and I can't help but notice the similarities between Bill Dolan's utterly unique, jaw dropping guitar shredding and the call and response banter between Pingu and his cohorts. On this Heroic Doses track I always imagine a claymation music video with Pingu cavorting away in his frozen tundra while an impish little Bill Dolan teeters out if his igloo blasting away on a Gibson SG.

Heroic Doses

The stage at the Thirsty Pagan, Superior, WI

It was raining sideways as Heather and I rolled into the mini-twin cities of Superior, WI, and Duluth, MN. Looking for a respite from the rain, we turned off the main road to see what we could find. We soon happened upon the Thirsty Pagan Brewery, a promising name on a promising looking building with vintage signs and historic warehouse architecture. We made ourselves at home, ordered a couple of pints of Gitchigummi Gold and played a few hands of Rummy. As the afternoon became evening a band came in to set up and with the rain persisting, we decided to give them a listen. We felt instantly at home when the opening strums and harmonica wails of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" reached our ears, here just a few miles from Bob Dylan's home town of Hibbing Minnesota. It didn't hurt that the harmonica/guitar player vocalist had a voice like Townes Van Zandt either. We stuck around and were later befriended by the drummer, a Chicago Native (45th and Western), who soon insisted that we join them for a couple of numbers, which we were happy to do. The evening was one of those rare stream-of-consciousness moments that make road trips such a joy.

After returning home, I took out Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and have been listening to it all weekend. From the opening snare hit of "Like A rolling Stone" the album hits you like a blast of fresh North Woods air. Its astounding that this album, Bringing it All Back Home, and the double LP Blonde on Blonde were all released in an 18 month period.

It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

I'm off to the great North Woods for a spell, so I leave you with Wisconsin son and legendary guitar man Les Paul, who passed away today at the age of 94. Mary Ford joins him here on the track "That Old Feeling". See you back here on August 24.

That Old Feeling

David Berthy Posts

Today I thought I'd share the sweet soul sounds of Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose. Like a lot of soul classics, I recognized these songs from a childhood spent in cars with dials glued to oldies stations, but I haven't really listened to them with any attention until recently. This sound strikes me as conspicuously glorious, particularly the lavish, but never overwhelming production and the interplay between lead and backing vocals.

Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose

I've been exploring The Band's catalog courtesy of mp3panda as of late, and come back again and again to the track "Look Out Cleveland", the 9th cut on their self-titled 2nd album, released in 1969. I'm hooked by its timeless organic sound, boogie woogie piano, descending progression in the chorus, vocal harmonies, and especially Robbie Robertson's guitar licks in the breaks.

Lookout Houston

Win-Win Proposition

A friend came through yesterday with passes for Lollapalooza and I was excited until I took a close look at the line-up. Perhaps its a sign of losing touch due to age (so many names I've never seen before), but of the 150 bands listed, I can find only one that I'm truly excited about seeing; my clown prince hero Lou Reed. For me there is no downside to seeing Lou. I like him as much when he's bad as when he's good. If he comes out and plays a stellar set including some Berlin era songs I'll be thrilled. If he comes out and reads from The Raven while his Tai Chi guys "interprets" on the side, I'll shake with laughter at his ridiculousness.

Today's post includes both good and good-bad Lou. I've included "Sad Song", one his greatest songs ever from his incredibly ambitious, depressing and claustrophobic 1972 Rock opera Berlin. On the other end of the spectrum is "Turn To Me" from 1984's New Sensations, a great example of an album of bad Lou gone good when he tries to go upbeat for a set. You may remember that this was from the era when he was doing TV scooter ads with Grace Jones. Two years later, he would release what I believe to be the worst record of all time by any artist, Mistrial , featuring Lou trying to rap on "The Original Wrapper". Hilarious stuff.

Sad Song

Turn To Me

David Berthy Posts

Miike Snow is comprised of Swedish producers Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg. Pitchfork gave their album a decidedly lukewarm rating, but I'm quite taken with this single "Black & Blue." It isn't the most articulate endorsement, but when I play it loud up at the cabin it sounds amazing and everyone loves it, so I'll go with that. I'm also involved with the forthcoming video for the song, which is about an agoraphobic character inspired by Harry Nilsson as pictured on the Nilsson Schmilsson album cover. At this date, it's all going to take place outside Stockholm.

Black and Blue