Bloggerhythms

New Jersey's Ben Vaughn is a well-known rocker and respected producer in the music industry. He has recorded several albums of his own and has produced discs for Ween, Los Straitjackets, and Alex Chilton, among others. He has also written music for That 70s Show and Third Rock From The Sun . Currently he also has a weekly, one hour, syndicated radio show, The Many Moods Of Ben Vaughn . Mostly forgotten today is Vaughn's eighth CD, released in 1997, Rambler 65 . It has one of the more bizarre behind-the-scenes stories in music. The CD's title refers to the fact that except for some dubbed in sitar on "Levitation" he played every instrument himself in the back of his car, a 1965 Rambler American. (Imagine the site of someone playing a sitar in the back of a mid-sized sedan). Within the limitations of his "studio" Vaughn produced some mighty fine old time rock 'n roll on his eight track tape recorder. He played electric guitar, bass, keyboards and,...

Research Turtles debut CD was released in August 2009 The young quartet from Lake Charles, LA, who call themselves Research Turtles, has put the "power" back in power pop. Their ear shattering guitar riffs and instrumental breaks remind listeners of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, and everybody else who ever turned the volume on their amps up to ten. The guitar assaults are mostly offset with melodic versus and choruses that scream The Beatles and Cheap Trick. The high voltage instrumental introduction to The Raspberries oldie "Go All The Way" that segues into Eric Carmen's joyously upbeat vocal is a perfect example of the Turtles' sound. Lyrically, the guys mostly sing about girls and relationships. They're not depressing like Kurt Cobain or political like Joe Strummer. They just like reckless, take-no-prisoners rock 'n roll. The CD's opening track, "Let's Get Carried Away" has some serious riffage and is ready made for modern ...

It's been quite awhile since Bloggerhythms talked about a popular classic rock album so it's time to discuss a record that, upon its release, significantly influenced what I'm still listening to today. It's not my favorite horn band record from that era but it's the one that ignited my love of brass and reeds in rock music. The LP is the eponymous, second album by Blood, Sweat & Tears (BS&T). From there it was an easy transition to Chicago, Chase, Ides of March, and BS&T's artistically superior debut album, Child Is Father To The Man . Before Blood, Sweat & Tears became a big hit bands with self-contained, complete horn sections played only a minor roll in rock. For instance, James Brown's band always had horns but Brown was the main man. Everyone else was there to make him look good. BS&T was the first time an album with a horn section as its featured attraction had gone big time on top 40 radio and spawned a slew of hit sing...

Singing, acoustic guitar soloists normally aren't my thing. I'm more of a rocker at heart. I like the sound of a full band and it takes a lot for a singer with nothing more than his unamplified ax to grab my attention. Fortunately for Craig Lincoln, Cats & Dogs , his brand new CD, is one that stands out among the coffee house crowd. First, a little biography. Lincoln began playing guitar at age thirteen and, as this disc shows, he became quite a master at it. He recently teamed up with another singer-songwriter, Sabrina Schneppat, and they just released their debut CD together as a duo. Long ago, Lincoln became one of the first multi-taskers. While studying his instrument he also worked hard enough to win an Olympic bronze medal in men's springboard diving for the United States at the Munich Summer games in 1972. He's quite a talented guy. There are several reasons Cats & Dogs should interest you. Lincoln's musicianship shines through on every so...