Bloggerhythms

A few years ago I wrote about Mark Knopfler's soundtrack to the movie Local Hero . It featured some of my all time favorite movie music and it just happened to accompany one of my all time favorite flicks. Back in 1983 I believed the situation was unique, but then the same thing happened again in 1991 with Thelma & Louise . Not only is Ridley Scott's picture another one of my most loved films it too has a soundtrack that moves me just as much as the film does. Because lightning struck twice I now firmly believe that great music and a great film will definitely complement each other. The eleven track CD is a real mixture of styles. It offers blues from B.B. King (a fine performance of "Better Not Look Down)" some R & B from Martha Reeves (a soulful cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Nights"), and British invasion star Marianne Faithful delivered "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" with lyrics by Shel Silverstein. Country singer Kelly Willis be...

Peter Wolf is no longer content to just pump out the boogie tunes he regularly sang with Boston’s favorite party band, The J. Geils Band. His new, fourteen song, Midnight Souvenirs is what JGB may have sounded like if they grew up and never disbanded. Wolf's stellar eighth solo album still discusses the same subjects his old band tackled but now, instead of proclaiming "Love Stinks," the protagonist takes on a more worldly and mature view of his situation. Today, when he falls for a girl he views her as more than just an "Angel in a Centerfold." There are three duets. The CD's opening track is an outstanding performance with country all-star Shelby Lynne. "Tragedy" is a gritty, up tempo ballad that is pure rhythm and blues peppered with just enough of Lynne's country twang that allows the song to please fans of both genres. There is a second duet, "It's Too Late For Me," with Merle Haggard, and just as Lynne does with he...

Research Turtles are back with a new EP, the independently produced Mankiller, Part 1 of 2 . It's a brief 15:38 set of music that shows off the Louisiana quartet's growing pop sensibilities while still taking advantage of their natural inclination to rock hard. They can write melodies and shatter windows at the same time. The short "Girl Like You" is mostly an acapella track with pleasant vocals and gentle acoustic guitar. It completes its job in just 1:13. "Bugs In A Jar" is a very nice ballad made for radio and "You Are So" is catchy pop-rock with some clever electric guitar licks. The band kicks things up a notch on the boisterous title track and then closes the disc out with the rampaging "Rhinestone Gal." Bassist-singer Jud Norman wrote all of the songs on their debut but this time around credit is shared with guitarist-vocalist Logan Fontenot, drummer Blake Thibodeaux, and newcomer Joseph Darbonne who replaced Jud's bro...

Yellow Submarine (1969) The soundtrack from The Beatles third movie is not much of an album really, just four new songs, a couple of older tunes, and a whole side of soundtrack music written by George Martin. Two George Harrison rejects from Sgt. Pepper , "It’s All Too Much" and "Only A Northern Song," both sound like they belong in the psychedelic period from where they were born and the childlike "All Together Now" is a catchy, fun, sing-a-long but not much more. The highlight is John Lennon’s "Hey Bulldog." With its tough, piano driven groove it should have been a hit single. Better is Yellow Submarine Songtrack , released in 1999. Abbey Road (1969) The Beatles saved their very best album for their final recording sessions. It is well known by now that Abbey Road was the last album the gang from Liverpool ever recorded together even though it was released before Let It Be . It is also the record that finally gave George Harrison th...

Five years after his brother's death Jimmie Vaughan organized a tribute concert to Stevie Ray that was broadcast on Austin City Limits on May 11, 1995 before it was released to the public on CD. In the CD's liner notes (it was also issued on DVD) Jimmie said, "Doing this has been in the back of my mind for a long time. But I wanted it to be far enough removed from Stevie's passing (August 26, 1990) that it could be a happy, celebratory event." Vaughan's timing was perfect because the concert became a giant blues party. In addition to Double Trouble (Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, and Reese Winans) everyone who played with Stevie on stage during his last concert just a few hours before he died was there: Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and Jimmie. Also invited to pay their respects were Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, and two keyboard players, Art Neville and Dr. John. Your first reaction may be, "Why get this CD when you can get the real thing?...