D. B. Rielly - Live From Long Island City (2017)

One of the benefits of running a music blog is that I've been exposed to artists that I would not normally get to hear otherwise and New York City's D. B. Rielly is one of them. The praise given here previously to Rielly's first two studio CDs was genuine which is why I was more than pleased at his invitation to listen to D. B. Rielly Live From Long Island City.

All three of the singer-songwriter's discs are uniquely packaged. They come in unusual shapes, sizes, and construction materials. The earlier ones were tin and wood and Long Island City comes in the shape of a large, cardboard postcard. Unfortunately, none of them are able to be filed with the rest of my CDs. Perhaps Rielly wanted to make sure his work had its own special place in my collection. Well D. B., if you're reading this, it worked. I've got your stuff stored in my stereo cabinet where I see it more often than my other discs so, guess what, they actually get played.

Both of Rielly's studio albums were full length discs using a band which makes this one, a solo, acoustic, live performance a big surprise. It's very brief and clocks in at just over twenty-four minutes and that includes three tracks of between song storytelling with his tuned in audience.

Of the seven actual songs there is only one Rielly recorded before, "Don't Give Up On Me" from his debut CD, Love Potions and Snake Oil. The rest are heard here for the first time and for that he is to be congratulated. Too many live albums are just rehash and serve as nothing more than a contractual obligation from an artist to his record company.

Rielly chose this format because he wanted to emphasize the songwriting and I don't blame him. His craft has matured to the point where these songs don't need anything else but his voice and a guitar and on one track, "I Believe, Angeline" he plays banjo. He shows off his fantastic and slightly bent sense of humor as well as a sad and ultra-serious side.

Highlights include "Nothing Like You" a tune that lists dozens of things the singer has witnessed during his lifetime but he tells the song's subject that he or she is the most unbelievable person he has ever witnessed. Rielly sings, "I thought I've seen everything there was to see but I never seen nothin' like you."

Rielly has a thing about addictive, non-stop, cellphone usage and is hurt that every time he wants to say those three little words to his girlfriend she answers her phone as soon as it rings. So, on "Let It Ring," he pontificates, "It ain't nothin' but a thing. Let the voice mail get it just this once honey, won't you let it ring." He's a man after my own heart.

On "Prenup" he tells his soon to be wife, "I trust you with my heart but not my stuff."

Rielly closes out the show with "I'll Remind You Everyday." In an email discussion with Bloggerhythms he talks about this very sad but beautiful song. He describes it as an Alzheimer's love song. The protagonist "goes through his & his wife's life together - reminding her and hoping to spark her memory - for any and every reason... to bring back to her some of the joys in her life, to entertain the woman he loves with her own stories, and maybe to snap her back into the present and be with him for a moment to rescue him from his own loneliness (since her mind is so infrequently present)."

The singer-songwriter continued, "The verses go from the beginning of their lives to the end so the last verse brings us to present day. He talks to his wife like she has come out of her Alzheimer's for a moment (as the disease progresses, the memory fades out more frequently and for longer periods but can still come back momentarily) and explains to his long life partner what is happening to her, and to them and most likely, even when her mind doesn't come back, he says this to her anyway, because of his complete love for her - and to remind himself why he's there for her every day."

Both Rielly's voice and songwriting should remind the listener of John Prine and that is always a good thing. "I'll Remind You Everyday" conjures up many of the same images and feelings about the fate and loneliness of old folks as well as Prine's great "Hello In There" does so easily.

Rielly deserves fame and fortune. It's a very sad state of affairs that in today's music world that there is almost no chance of that happening.

You can sample every song on the album on the artist's website.

Comments

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It
Read more

Laurie London - He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) (1958)

Image
Today we're going to discuss an almost totally forgotten hit record along with a little bit of related Billboard chart history. The inspiration for this post came about while sorting through some extremely old 45s that I didn't remember I owned. I've had "He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands)" by Laurie London - a rare, popular, gospel hit - in my record collection since my childhood, even though it wasn't really mine. The single belonged to either my mother or my grandmother who lived with us. I played it once in awhile because I was always allowed free access to their records, and it was eventually absorbed into my collection. Despite the name, teenager Laurie London (born January 19, 1944) was a boy singer who - at age thirteen - became a one-hit wonder in his native UK and in America the following year. Information about London is sparse. Details vary depending on the particular website you're reading, but according to Wik
Read more

Louis Armstrong - Louis In London (2024)

Image
Louis In London is a live album of a concert Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars recorded for the BBC on July 2, 1968. It was first aired by the network on September 22, 1968. Armstrong died in 1971 and his health was already taking a a sad turn when this concert took place. It's often been called his last great performance because his health deteriorated significantly shortly thereafter, and his ability to tour was severely limited. When the great tumpeter and singer received a tape recording of his London show he marked it "for the fans" because he was so proud of it. He also made copies on his recently installed high-end Tandberg tape system for each member of the All-Stars. In 1970, nine of the thirteen tracks from this new CD were released on LP as  Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits Recorded Live  on Brunswick Records in both America and in the UK. The CD was digitally transfered form the original BBC telecast recording and no
Read more

Why Do 45 RPM Records Have Big Holes?

Image
Today we're going to find out why 45 RPM records have much larger holes than 78s and 33s. Believe it or not I often wondered about this burning question when I was collecting hundreds of these little seven inch gems back the 1960s. According to several websites, including Answerbag , the reason for the large hole used by 45s was simple. It was difficult for the old 78s, with their smaller holes, to find their way onto jukebox spindles. The large hole effectively eliminated that problem. Strangely, seven inch 45s were often pressed with the smaller holes used for LPs in many countries outside the United States, especially in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Overseas the inserts (commonly know as spiders) were manufactured into the large holes at the factories but they could be punched out if desired. The Beatles' British single of "Love Me Do," pictured here, is a typical example. Why were the spiders built into English 45s? I was unable to fi
Read more