Rory Gallagher "Irish Tour 74"

 

Rory Gallagher is an Irish blues guitarist not very many people have heard of, but if you have, you know you can put him up on the same level as greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Rory was an exceptionally talented blues guitarist from the 1960's up until his untimely demise in the mid-1990's. I'm still trying to find out if there is a relation between us since my mother's maiden name is Gallagher, and Rory's dad would be roughly the same age as my great grandpa. Not only that, but they are from the same town in Ireland as well. Anyways, here is Rory's best known album, Irish Tour 74'.

The album starts out with one of my all time favorite songs, "Cradle Rock." It starts out with an intense riff that flies all over the E pentatonic scale. A very complex song that is widely covered incorrectly, and very difficult to play. The drummer (not named) rips with fills flying all over in the right places, with a jazzy influence similar to that of Bill Ward from Black Sabbath. Another thing that should be noted is the keyboard player is good enough to put the likes of Steve Winwood to shame. After the song continues for a bit, Rory flies into a very, very complex guitar solo in standard tuning, almost un-heard of. It's safe to say his slide playing could put Duane Allman to shame.

The next song "I Wonder Who" starts out with an "imaginary" blues shuffle that Rory plays in his head while his guitar solos over the entire thing. One thing I can really compare this particular song to is "electric" delta blues, to the likes of John Lee Hooker and Son House. After a bit of that, he goes into a very Freddie King like jam session, full of interesting chords and licks.

 

Another great song on this album would be "Too much alcohol." It starts off with an obscure little jam that doesn't make much sense in the rest of the song. Soon after the band evaporates, Rory goes into a nice blues shuffle, and tells the story of how he was trying to go sober when he was playing at a bar. The story progresses, and he precedes to tell you how he had a jug that he was supposed to fill with water and drink from, but when he went the man filled the jug with alcohol. The reason for this is because Rory is a high paying customer and he's trying to get him hooked again. That's Ireland for you.

"As The Crow Flies" is one of Mr. Gallagher's famed blues/folk songs he used to do. This song shows his diversity in taste of music. It shows how one minute he can go from a blistering insane guitar jam, to a nice slow and fast acoustic jam. The crowd really gets into  the song as they scream and clap along to the beat of the song. Rory sings EXACTLY like a white Hendrix. He just replaces Jimi's "black talking" with his own "irish talking" and by doing this shows how un-complicating that kind of singing style is. Also midway through, he shows his Neil Young side by playing the harp while he strums his guitar fiercely.

The next song on this Irish Blues master piece would be "A Million Miles Away." Rory tells the story I know all too well, about playing in a bar late at night, and how people are all still barely awake while they hold onto their bar stools with a drunken gaze on their faces, and how throughout the set of the night, they slowly start disappearing out the door. But no matter what is going on around him, he feels that he is a million miles away playing his guitar for the greatest people alive instead of some of the lowest. The lyrics are very soulful, and sad at the same time. It tells the story all too well that many failed musicians stuck in night clubs could tell you.

"Walk On Hot Coals" is the perfect upswing from the sad song previously played on this record. The song starts out with a jam session Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton would be most definitely proud of. Back in the 60's Rory played a few shows with the super group "Cream" and definitely picked up some things from them. Standing in at a blistering 11 minutes, the drums are pounding, the bass player is having a heart attack, and Rory is about to burst.

 

 

 

The beloved Rory Gallagher statue in his home town of Cork

 

R.I.P

Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"

 

Fleetwood Mac "The Chain"

Alright, this here is an album I would have never seen my self ever listening to, or enjoying in a million years, but I have fallen in love with Fleetwood Mac recently. From Lindsey Buckingham's searing guitar leads, to his chunky acoustic rythms, and travis picking style, he is an incredibly under-appreciated guitar player, as well as vocalist.

The first song on this record is "Second Hand News" and is a very caribean style type of music, with a very relaxed style beat to it. I'm pretty sure I have actually heard this on a cruise before. Lindsey Buckingham's voice is very twangy, like a Fender Telecaster set to the bridge position. It is almost like reggae meets pop rock.

"Never Going Back Again" starts out with acoustic guitar very similiar to "Blackbird" by the Beatles. Another very pop rock song from the 70's that I have heard in at least 2 dozen commericials in my 17 and a half years of life. Lindsey Buckingham yet again shows his mastery over the instrument with his "travis picking" style, and very proffesional sounding vocals.

Another great and well known song on this album is "Go Your Own Way." The song is very soulful, and sung with an almost "Crosby, Stills and Nash" style vocals, except with two women and one male. One thing most people don't really realize while listening to Fleetwood Mac, is the fact that guitar player Lindsey Buckingham is more or less the lead singer while Stevie Nicks just kind of harmonizes with him on a few bits, but listening to this track will definately show you the leader of this band.

My personal favorite song on this album would have to be "The Chain." A song that I believe to be about divorce, has very soulful lyrics with a very folk style guitar. This is a song most people can relate to, especially when Mr. Buckingham sings "If you don't love me now, You will never love me again" and that verse alone strikes me deep in the heart. The drums are very soft and smooth on this song, and it shows that drummer Mick Fleetwood knows how to show restraint on his playing, and doesn't have to fly all over the place all the time.

"Oh Daddy" is another great song, and is very mellow and sweet. Stevie Nicks finally takes over on vocal duties. Lindsey shows off his very sharp acoustic playing, which compliments Ms. Nicks's vocals very well. Bass player John Mcvie shows off that playing complex and with soul, doesn't have to be fast, or even on a guitar for that matter.

The next song "Gold Dust Woman" has Stevie Nicks taking over on vocals yet again. The song is very folk and eery. With more CSNY style harmonies, the song is very powerful and doesn't fail to strike a chord with me. Midway through the song Mick Fleetwood exemplifies a jungle-istic style back beat indicating that the song will soon be having a build up. And never to let you down, as the drums build up, Lindsey starts to fade in with his electric guitar very heavily, but adding more eeriness to the song while he does so.

The last song on this album "Silver Springs" is another relaxing song. Very pop rock, and not something that I really care for too much. Not saying that I don't like it, it just sounds more like it would fit a teenage girl going through a break up rather than a teenage boy whose a blues aficionado.

 

Freddie King "Live At The Electric Ballroom, 1974"

 

 

 

"Live At The Electric Ballroom, 1974" is an album that starts out with King talking to an interviewer back stage, and doing some things Ive never really heard him do before, like playing acoustic guitar. As Freddie King is playing, inbetween songs he says over and over again "I'm not an acoustic guitar player" after he shows his mastery over songs such as "Dust My Broom" and "That's Alright."

 

The first electric song on this live album is "Big Legged Woman", but this version is very different from any of King's previous versions, because it has an extended jam session. Big Legged woman is a song that alway's brought a smile to my face with lyrics such as "I love the tip, I love the top, I love you better than a hog loves slop" and will surely bring a smile to any big legged women lovers out there.

 

 

The next song "Woman Across The River" has a very peculiar chord change up that I haven't really heard in blues music before, so this really makes this song more of a rock song than anything else. The song shows the influences King had over other guitar players yet to come such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many, many others. King show cases his licks and flies all over the fretboard in ways that typically (excluding Hendrix) only white musicians of that era did.

 

"Key To The Highway" is a fast paced blues shuffle, with King throwing solo's in everywhere while the bass player thumps like hell. Excluding Freddie King himself, the real star of this song would have to be his bass player who plays intricate licks beneathe Freddie's creating an interesting sound.

 

"Let The Good Times Roll" is a Jimi Hendrix cover with a funky back beat to it. This is one of those moments where the pupil influenced the master, instead of the other way. On Freddie's version of this song, he slows it down quite a bit, and adds a more funky taste to it, with more solos as well. Roughly half way through, King throws a few vocal harmonies into the mix, and the crowd screams back in acceptance. Another thing King did that I loved was when he yelled out to the crowd "When I yell Let it Roll, you guys yell back Baby let the good times Roll" and of course the crowd played along with it, making it a fun experience for everyone.

 

 

The next song "Ain't Nobody's Business" is a slow blues jam in minor. Right from the get go, King starts talking to the audience making the concert very personable. He talks about who he thinks wrote the song, and the big names who showed him the song along the way. Soon after he speaks with the crowd he starts pouring his soul into every note he played. Just relentlessly, putting his soul into the instrument, and out into the crowd. His gospel style singing is also shown in the song, as he tells everyone how one day he cam be rich and the next day poor, and it Ain't Nobody's Business but his own.

 

 

The next song is one of my favorites, (and President Obama's) and it is called "Sweet Home Chicago." The song starts out with a slow blues shuffle, with piano soloing over it slowly, as Freddie takes a back seat on his guitar playing in this song while his vocals soar. The slow blues shuffle progresses for quite some time, until King takes over with his seering guitar leads, and the full band kicks in. After the band kicks in, it's about another 6 minutes of pure jamming.

 

Sweet Home Chicago

 

One of the last songs on this great album is an electric version of a song King did earlier in the album, "Dust My Broom" during this song it sounds as if King is playing lead while an unidentifyed 2nd guitarist plays slide in the background. This song is essentially the same thing he did earlier, just electric and with a full band.

 

The last song on this album is a medley of King's most famous song "Hideaway." This song is an instrumental jam, full of power from everybody in the band. A very more modern version of his early 60's classic. The song soon moves out of Hideaway, and quickly turns to a blues shuffle, and then soon after into another one of Freddie's jamming instrumentals, Boogie Funk. The transitions between each song during this medley are seamless, and to the untrained ear would sound like one giant jam.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Albert King "Live Wire/Blues Power"

 

                                                                    The King himself


Albert King is one of the most un-heard of guitar players, but one of the biggest names in blues. He has a vast catalog of albums spanning from early 1954, to the post humous albums still being released today in his memory. I've had the pleasure of meeting various people who commonly associated themselves with the blues master when he was here on this earth, such as his guitar technician and luthier Dan Erlewine. Dan told me a multitude of stories about the King, everything from how he built his guitars, to how passionate of a person he was. All of this shows in his live recording "Live Wire/Blues Power" where he demonstrates his mastery over his custom flying V.



"Watermelon Man" the first song off this album. The instrumental starts out with a nice slow "50's esque" kind of swing with guitar solo's peeking there head's around every corner. Albert King shows his love of the penatonic scale in this song, with his fingers flying all over the fretboard. About half way through the song, Mr. King greets the audience to ask them how they're doing and laughs with excitement for the show to come.

The next song, and title track of the album "Blues Power" is a nice slow jam session, full of slow soulful vibrato from his voice and guitar. One reason I really like this song is Albert explains why everyone can understand the blues, with examples from babys all the way up to teenagers and older people. If you haven't listened to the blues yet, this would definately be a good first song to listen to, because it really explains how the genre is universal, and how it can be applied to everybody. Lyrically, this is one of my all time favorite songs.

The third song "Night Stomp" is another 50's style blues shuffle, very similiar to watermelon man, but a lot faster. The difference between the two, is the rythm section is driven much more hard in this song than the previous. The song will change from fast and shredding, to soft and subtle, and also with intricate stops throughout the entire song.



"Blues at Sunrise" is a slow blues jam that Albert King had played with the big names, such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Every single note Albert puts forth is full of soul and vibrato. The lyrics are also pretty good as well, telling that we can all relate to about a man who can't find his woman, and thinks she may be out partying with other guys. This song proves Albert's statement in blues power is right, the blues are universal.

"Please Love Me" is a great medium tempo'd blues shuffle, with intricate bass work, and Albert showing his "texas side" with Chuck Berry style riffs similiar to his very famous song, Johnny B. Goode. King shows his very powerful voice in this song, forcing out in what sounds like a vibrato machine, every single soulful note. He adds an element of swing to the song as well with his guitar playing.




"Look Out" is the closing song on this album, and is another instrumental. Personally, the only flaw I find with this album is that this song was used to close it instead of open it. Is it a good song? Yes, but it is not a very strong. I like my music the way I like my meatballs, with such a strong bite that it leaves my mouth hurting for a couple of days. In my personal opinion, since the album is titles "Blues Power" that the song Blues Power would have been a very strong closer, since it was the best song on the album.
 

Stevie Ray Vaughan "Couldn't Stand The Weather"

 

 "Couldn't Stand The Weather" is one of the greatest sophomore albums every created by any kind of musician, especially a blues player. A follow up to his 1983 release "Texas Flood", Couldn't Stand The Weather has a very unique sound to it, and in my opinion sticks out from Stevie Ray Vaughan's broad catologue of guitar shredding.

The album starts out with the instrumental titled "Scuttle Buttin", which is an instrumental with that groovy texas guitar work slightly similiar to that on "Rude Mood" and Stevie's previous album. The song starts with a very quick complicated guitar riff, that would make any southern blues man smile from ear to ear.

The next song on the album is the name of the album, otherwise known as "Couldn't Stand The Weather." The song starts with a slow guitar solo backed by the "metal rain" of cymbals that sounds more similiar to the ending of a song rather than the begining. Vaughan's tone soars and is guranteed to bring a smile to strat-junkies face when you hear the faint sound of his Fender Vibro-Verb producing those late 60's sounds Gilmour, Clapton, and Hendrix are heavily acclaimed for. The song then moves into a very funky shredding guitar riff that sounds like a cross between funk, blues, and soul. You can really hear Stevie's soul shine throughout his solo's he plays during the song. Eventually the song comes to a close, with a very similiar "metal rain" sound you hear at the beginning of the song.

The next song on the album "The Things That I used to do" is a very texas-blues inspired Buddy Guy cover that does the old blues man justice. Vaughan was always very famous for his "call and response" method of blues playing where the singer 'calls' and the guitar provides the 'response' which is nearly exclusively used throughout this song.

The next song on this album (and one of my personal all time favorites) is a Jimi Hendrix cover that Stevie (and myself) had been playing since his high school days, and really shows of the southern gentleman's virtuosity he holds over the instrument. While listening to the song you can vividly imagine a very happy Hendrix playing this song next to a very happy Stevie Ray Vaughan up in the clouds. Stevie is definetely channeling his biggest influence on this song, and it shines as bright as the setting's on his mid-sixties Fender Super Reverb.
 

The next song on the album "Cold Shot" features Vaughan's Fender Vibro-Verb throughout the entire song, a rarity for him. While listening to this song you can nearly imagine all the young guitarists first learning how to play blues trying to play this song in a tiny bar of some sorts. The song also has a nice churning slow blues shuffle solo to go along with it.

The next song on the album "Tin Pan Alley" shows off again Vaughan's call and response method again, with slow soloing and harmonics popping up all over "Number One's" neck. Dynamics are heavily expressed throughout this song as Stevie sings "I heard a woman scream" and almost immediately after, his guitar let's out one hell of a wailing note.

To close this blues master-piece, Jimi Hendrix, whoops I meant Stevie Ray Vaughan closes the album with another Hendrix favorite, Little wing. Although Jimi typically sung when he played this song, Stevie decided to do an instrumental version more similiar to Paul Butterfield's when he famously played with Hendrix in France. Stevie yet again show's almost theatrical dynamics throughout the entire song, as well as harmonizing. Who said that being the best guitar player involved shredding the entire time? You can really feel, see, hear, and bury yourself inside of Stevie Ray Vaughan's soul as he pours every last ounce of it into this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Agp9mUG-M

Derek & The Dominos "Live at the Fillmore"

 

 

 

 

Derek & The Dominos is a very powerful, unique blues rock band, that does not get nearly as much credit as it deserves. Aside from the blues itself, this band has most definately had it's fair share of hard times, with the only surving member of the band being Eric Clapton. This blues band started out with a very bright future ahead, but that quickly deteriated after the death of guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. Not only did he die, but the bass player succembed to a nasty kidney infection after years of substance abuse, and the drummer ended up in a mental asylum after bludgening his mother to death with a hammer. This super group was doomed before it even had the chance to start.

This live album in particular really show cases every member of the band has immense talent, and is shown through pounding drum solos, or nearly 8-minute guitar solos headed by Mr. Slowhand himself, Eric Clapton. Unfortunately, Duane Allman had prior commitments with his own band, and was only able to make it to a few Derek & The Dominos show, with the Fillmore not being one of them. But with Clapton's prior experience being in bands such as Cream, he could handle guitar duties by himself pretty easily.

The first few songs on this album are truly a testament to blues rock music, with the particular diamond sticking out being "Got To Get Better In a Little While." The song starts out with a very funky rythmic drum beat, and Clapton's heavily wah-wahed guitar sustained a single low E note. Quickly after a few bars, Slowhand moves into a very funky guitar riff, and soon begins singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkOeA_UeNs&safe=active

The next high-lite of this amazing blues record is "Blues Power." Originally recorded by Eric Clapton while he was solo, he ultimately decided to play it live while he was with Derek & The Dominos. The song lyrically is pretty powerful, as Clapton tells how no one thought he could "rock n roll" because he was a white boy with an electric guitar. The song has a very slow blues groove to it, and some intense soloing as well.

"Have you ever loved a woman" Is a cover from one of the greatest bluesmen of the 20th century, Freddie King. Clapton delivers just as good as the King on this one, with soulful licks that can surely rival Freddie. When I close my eyes and listen to this song, I can imagine a very harry faced Slowhand up on stage with a big red ES-335 tearing away.

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" tells a story about Clapton while he was going through a rough time with drugs and alcoholism, and how everybody sadly abandoned him. He tells about his friends who he used to buy stuff for all the time, but when he fell on hard times they left him.

The next notable song on this record is "Little Wing" another cover song, orignally by Clapton's proffesional rival and friend, Jimi Hendrix. Recorded 8 days before Jimi's untimely demise, Clapton decided ultimately to start playing it live after the death of his beloved friend. This version sounds much harder and a little more gritty than Jimi's with harder solos and more gain and distortion.

The second to last song on this album is "Let it rain"  which is a song that show cases every one in the band's talents. It starts off with a nice happy guitar riff, with Clapton soon following with gruff vocals and a guitar solo. Soon after Clapton's nice extended guitar solo is a drum solo that could easily rival John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.

The last song on this fantastic album is one that Clapton recorded in his days with Cream, "Crossroads." This is typically a very fast blues shuffle, with searing guitar on top. For the live version though, Slowhand slows the song down rather quite significantly. Still retaining it's complexity through soloing and such, it does not cease to amaze.


 

Neil Young "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Neil Young had just finished his stint with the folk rock group "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young" or "CSNY" and was ready to move on to bigger and better things. He had formed a backing band named "Crazy Horse" and was prepared to unleash a record of epic musical finess. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash were just releasing their own debut self titled album with out Young, so this is somewhat of Neil's response.

The first song on the album "Cinnamon Girl" starts out with a jamming classic guitar riff that only Young could create in the depths of his mind. The vocal harmonies are very evident within the song such as in his previous works with CSNY, with Neil singing the lower harmony, and then rythm guitarist Danny Whitten singing the upper harmony. The song is evidently about a girl Young is love with, that he waits for in between shows.

"Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" is the title name, and also the second track on the song, and tells how Neil Young got so tired being out on the road all the time, and how he really just longed to go back home to be with his woman and lay in the cool breeze with her.

"Round and Round" is about growing older, and having to become a man and not being allowed to cry and such. This particular song is most definately the most folk driven song on the entire record, realling showing more of a folk sound than anything. This song is somewhat boring and repetitive and ironically sounds like it is the same song going round and round.

The last song on side one, "Down By The River" is a song that Neil wrote while delirious with the flu in bed. Sick and bed ridden, Neil wrote the simplistic lyrics to this song, about how he went down to the river and shot his baby. There are very, very strong harmonies in the song, and also a very long, very spectacular guitar solo. I personally think only true musicians would really be able to fully appreciate the almost 6 minute guitar solo by Young.

The beginning of side 2 of this fantastic record starts with the song "On the loosing end" and has a very southern folk sound to it. Neil talks about what life is like when your on the loosing end, and as he starts out the song he talks about how he used to be on the loosing end. But eventually Neil says by the end that he "feels this way again."

"Requiem for the rockets" is again the folk side to this very folk rock record, and shows Neil's acoustic style roots. Telling a story about how regretful he is for leaving his woman, and how he left her all pretty with tears in her eyes, and how he just wants her back. This is a song that every teenager could listen to after break-up, and how regretful they are, and wish they could've changed,

The last song on side 2, and the whole record, is my absolute favorite, "Cowgirl In The Sand." Cowgirl in the sand starts off with a very quite sounding acoustic guitar, and eventually erupts into a very funky style rythm guitar, lead guitar duet. After a few minutes of instrumental, Neil Young comes in with his signature voice, singing "Hello Cowgirl in the sand" just to be soulfully echoed by Crazy Horse. After the verse and the chorus, Neil rips into another guitar solo, in my opinion the best one he ever recorded, for another 6 minutes like in Down By The River.

If you are only going to listen to one song off this folk-rock master piece, listen to Cowgirl In The Sand. The song is filled with so much soul and power, it will send tingles up and down anyone's spine. I heavily recomend this whole album to anybody who likes folk or rock. It is one of the first album's of it's kind to transcend 2 generations and bring them together. And that is why this album will always be one of my personal favorite sound recordings of all time.

Jimi Hendrix "Band Of Gypsys"

 

 

 

 

Jimi Hendrix has always been known for his on stage antics such as playing the electric guitar in various positions, smashing his guitars, and also setting them on fire. But one thing Jimi never really was acknowled for was his actual virtuousity he held over the instrument. "Band Of Gypsys" really shows Hendrix's talent without any of his famous antics getting in the way.

 

Standing in at 6 songs, Jimi Hendrix show cases his talent with old military buddies Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, different then the "Jimi Hendrix Experience" which was Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding. The album holds nearly 15 minute long jam songs such as Machine Gun, and Who Knows, something Hendrix really hadn't experimented with too much in previous concerts.

 

The first song "Who Knows" starts at with an announcer introducing the Band Of Gypsys, and Hendrix quickly rolling into the slow guitar riff. The song is shared vocal wise with drummer Buddy Miles, who really shows his gospel singing influences on this album. Half way through the song, Jimi slowly fades his guitar out with the thunderous drums keep roaring while the heavy bass keeps thumping, and a very un-expected vocal solo happens. Buddy Miles literally sings the guitar solo out loud with his voice, and in his own very unique style.

 

"Machine gun" starts out with Jimi dedicating the song to soldiers all around, and also the "Black Soldiers" fighting in Chicago for their own cival rights. Soon after the song rips into a machine gun sounding guitar riff, absolutely dripping in vintage univibe. The song, even though called machine gun, emphasizes peace, and how all people are really only families apart. The song is similiar to a Frank Zappa tune, that really creates a movie for the ears, with screeching war sounds, and machine gun style beats lasting just over 12 minutes.

 

After Machine Gun, the show takes a light turn once again for Buddy Miles to take another swing at singing with an original song he wrote called "Them Changes." The song has a nice funky style groove to it that really gets your feet thumping along to the song, even when drummer Buddy Miles chimes in with his soaring vocals. The song eventually has a slight drum break in the middle where Buddy gets the whole audience involved and clapping their hands together to the beat of the drums, which was a very nostalgic point for me being a musician.

 

The next song "Power To Love" starts out with an intense Cream style jam with the whole band shredding away at their instruments. After the intense jam goes on for a brief minute, Jimi starts a funky blues esque rythm, that was mixing a few genres together. The whole song lyrically is my favorite with the mantra "With the power of soul anything is possible" and that really made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

 

"Message to love" was a song Jimi Hendrix wrote while with the Experience, and it was also his opening song he played at the very famous "Woodstock Music Festival" a few months earlier. Another long jam song, except with something Hendrix really hadn't done before, vocal harmonies. The song has another mantra in it that gave me tingles down my spine which was "Everybody come together, everybody love together, everybody come alive" another song emphasizing peace.

 

The very last song "We gotta live together" was written by Buddy Miles, and is yet another song that succesfully includes the audience clapping along to the beat, and singing along with the band one last time before they closed their stint at the Fillmore East. Another very groovy beat lead by Jimi, the whole audience sings along saying "Home Sweet Home" which I'm sure is what Buddy Miles was thinking after playing 2 shows a day for a straight  week.

 

Overall, Band of Gypsys is a phenominal album, and my favorite Hendrix album to this date, provided they don't release anything more from before he died. From the gospel influenced vocals, to the shredding guitar solo's, I can't find a single flaw with any part of this record. This record alone inspired so many guitar players from Kirk Hammett of Metallica, to Robert Cray, and is the shining diamond out of Hendrix's very long discography.

 

Frank Zappa "Joe's Garage Acts I, II, & III"

 

 

 

Frank Zappa has always been known for his more than unusual lyrics, his abstract interpretation of instrumentalization, and for pushing the political boundaries. All of the above statements hold true in "Joe's Garage Acts I, II, & III" where Frank tells the fictional story of an adolescent by the name of Joe who forms a band just as the government begins to outlaw music because of it leads to unusual sexual practice and drug usage. A little background on the record is, Zappa created the story for this album around the time where congress was considering censoring music, and 6 years before the Parents Music Resource Center was founded. In the fictional world of Joe's Garage, Zappa shows what "The Mothers of Prevention" could do to music if they had their way with music. Joes Garage is more or less a movie for the ears rather than an actual album to sit and listen to. With all acts totaling roughly an hour and a half, it is most definitely a play for your ears to enjoy. The first song "The Central Scrutinizer" introduces the government employee known as "The Central Scrutinizer" who is the narrator and tells you the tale of Joe whose life is ruined by playing music. The next song "Joes Garage" is the title name of the album, but tells the beginning of the story and how Joe starts out simply playing in a band, and playing every night to his mothers detest, practicing night after night to get as good as the people he idolizes. The band Joe plays in dreams of playing in "A go-go bar" and playing the same repetitive music that is played on the pop radio stations of the late 70's and early 80's. Eventually, the story progresses to where Joe's band starts to get some local recognition and he begins to date a "Catholic Girl" by the name of Mary, who he meets at the local church. Joe is out playing a show, but little does he know that his girlfriend Mary is cheating on him backstage at a seperate show so she can get a backstage pass to see a famous rock band, and The Central Scrutinizer uses this opportunity how music is causing more trouble. Once Joe catches wind of Mary and her dirty adventures, he falls in with the fast crowd, and starts to fool around with a girl named Lucille, who gives him an un-pronounceable STD, which leads Joe to sing the song "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” But even more unfortunate for Joe, he fell in love with Lucille, and we all know that sad teenage story about how a member of the opposite sex will break your heart, and this leads Joe to sing "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up". After Joe is left in a mental daze, the Central Scrutinizer uses this opportunity to interject by saying "Joe says Lucille has messed his mind up, but, was it the girl or was it the music?" and tells how Joe tries to make himself feel better by joining a church to retain some values he lost playing music. And that is the close of Act I of Joe's Garage. Act II starts out with Joe joining a very strange church, and his mind is still so messed up from Lucille, that he just goes along with all the craziness the church has. The church leads Joe to believe, that to make himself feel better he must join a club where you dress up as a house wife, speak german, and have sexual intercourse with robots, which is the last thing Joe needed. Joe finds a particular robot at a place called "The Closet" that he takes home to have relations with, and ends up breaking it. After Joe breaks the "Sy Borg" the Central Scrutinizer appears to tell Joe he has to pay for it, to which he replies "The church took all my money two songs ago!" and he is left to "Come out of the closet" with the Central Scrutinizer. When Joe does "Come out of the closet" he is sent to a prison particularly for people from the music industry, where he meets a former recording executive who tells him the story of "Bald headed John" who runs the prison showers. Joe spends a great deal of time in prison, where some real bad stereotypical things happen to him. The end of Act II leaves Joe saying he want to be "Outside now" where he slowly begins to lose his sanity even further than it was gone before, and you can clearly visualize as he bawls up in the corner and just repeats to himself "I can't wait to see what it's like on the outside now" Act III starts off with Joe finally being released from prison after his run in with Sy Borg, and breaking the music laws. His mental state is almost entirely deteriated after spending hard time in solitary confinement, and he never had the chance to recover from his broken heart after Mary left him and Lucille messed up his mind. Joe encounters an old lady that he used to cut the grass for when he was in his youth to get enough money to pay for his music addiction. He is just mindlessly walking around, his mental state entirely gone, imagining guitar solos, and vocal tracks to his songs, and imagining that the critics love his songs and praise him all the time, but sadly none of this is happening. The very old woman looks at Joe and is absolutely shocked after seeing the state that he is left in after his music addiction, and the only words she can really seem to get out is "He used to cut the grass, he was a very nice boy". As she is saying that Joe begins to have flashbacks of playing in his garage and her yelling "Turn it down! I'm calling the police" but he just simply keeps on moving. A very mentally disturbed Joe is walking down the street moving his lips and talking to himself about his music, as "Watermelon in Easter Hay" comes on, which takes you inside the mind of Joe and the music he is creating. At this point, the Central Scrutinizer states that this is Joe's very last song he will ever think of or play for the rest of his life before he gives up music forever. After Joe gives up music, he gets a job at the UMRK (Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, a reference to the song Muffin Man off of another Zappa album Bongo Fury) where he decorates muffins for a living and becomes a pretty happy guy after giving up music. After this the Central Scrutinizer doesn't hesitate to interject one last and final time to tell you of the evils of music. Joe's Garage is a phenomenal album and should most definitely be turned into a play or movie of some sort, with the great story that is told. The story of Joe is definitely an interesting one, and most definitely a bold one considering the politics surrounding music at the time. If this album is at least anything, it’s a giant middle finger to the Parents Music Resource Center, who if got their way, would have hundreds of Central Scrutinizers policing music every single day.

Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs"

Robin Trower's searing, powerful lead guitar immediately grabs the attention of anybody within earshot with "Day of the Eagle" the first track off of his 2nd, and arguably his most famous, album "Bridge of Sighs". The very Hendrix inspired guitarist takes you through psycadelic blues-rock dream that very few people have been able to create since the untimely demise of Jimi Hendrix. "Day of the Eagle" fades to silence with a stunning guitar solo that Jimi himself would be proud of, and quickly the title track of the album "Bridge of Sighs" begins with a "Voodoo Chile" style opening.

Robin Trower's use of the neck pickup on his fender Stratocaster and his Univox Univibe shows that not every great rock tone has to be a high gain amplifier with a humbucker. "Bridge of Sighs" then has a very nice smooth seamless transition into the slow blues song "In this place" where he shows the mastery of yet another effect, the wah-wah pedal.

Still using that sweet singing tone that only a Stratocaster can achieve, he lets his guitar sing sweetly and softly, until the song fades to silence yet again. The next song "The fool and me" is a delightful change to an up-beat rock song with a searing guitar solo starting the song, and eventually going into some nice funky rhythms. But in my opinion, the best song on the whole album is "Too Rolling Stoned" which show cases Robin's real talent while still using that amazing tone. The song starts out slow and bassy with some wah, and eventually moves into an all-out Cream style jam session lasting just under 8 minutes.

“About to begin” is slow and bluesy just like "In this place" and actually sounds pretty similar and is somewhat disappointing because I wanted to see what else Trower had up his psycadelic sleeve. "Lady Love" starts out with a cowbell and guitar solo similar to the famous "Mississippi Queen" and shows off that typical gritty 70's rock sound. The last song “Little Bit of Sympathy" is a good radio style rock song that tells that good ol' blues story about the bad woman in the relationship who never treats her man right. Over all, "Bridge of Sighs" is a phenomenal album that any guitar player or Hendrix fanatic should definitely check out if not for the Hendrix feel, definitely for the awesome guitar playing.