Bloggerhythms

The prolific John Gorka has released fifteen albums beginning in 1987 but like many highly regarded singer-songwriters he's barely known outside the realm of folk music. I've written before that I'm not a big fan of solo acoustic guitars accompanied only by a voice (I mostly find the format boring) but Gorka is one of the rare exceptions. He's so good that it is arguably the best way to listen to him because you don't want or need a band to divert your attention away from the stories he has to tell. The singer-songwriter's golden baritone is a perfect framework for his songs and, it doesn't matter if he's singing a ballad or an uptempo tune, his vocal chords never have to struggle to reach for the correct notes. The folkie's shows are also enhanced by his easy rapport with the audience, a necessary performance element for someone not prone to onstage theatrics. Gorka is from New Jersey (a subject he discussed in one of his more famous and h...

In their very early days The Beatles were known as a great covers band. The quartet not only played many of the more famous early rock 'n roll hits they were also admirers of a lot of obscure records they wanted to share with the World. But, after they achieved global fame, it wasn't long before other artists wanted to cover Lennon and McCartney. "I Call Your Name" was a song John Lennon wrote before the famed quartet even existed. It eventually appeared on an EP in England and on The Beatles Second Album here in America. In 1966 John Phillips, another artist with impeccable taste in cover songs and leader of one of the all-time great vocal groups, The Mamas & The Papas, recorded "I Call Your Name" for their first album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears . Phillips took a rocking song and turned it into an uptempo ballad. His arrangement featured his quartet's beautiful vocal harmonies and outstanding lead vocals by Mama Cass Elliott a...

I found another good CD recently while rummaging through a used music store. It's the second album by a band I previously never heard of: British Sea Power, a six piece outfit base in Brighton, East Sussex, England. The quirky band sounds distinctly English. Neither of the lead singers, brothers Yan and Hamilton Wilkinson, reveal any sort of British accent in their vocals but Americans never sound quite so cute while showing off eccentric songs filled with appealing, offbeat lyrics. Sonically, the album, Open Season , is full of loud, riff-filled, but melodic, modern rock with shimmering electric guitars. The disc opens with "It Ended On An Oily Stage," a song previously called "Elegiac Stanzas." When the band decided that radio personalities may have trouble pronouncing the title they renamed it. Titles such as this one and the lyrics that go along with it prove their music is not the stuff top forty songs are made of. "Everything you said w...

Freddie Mercury sang "Another one bites the dust" and unfortunately his words continue to ring true when it comes to rock stars of the 1960s. This morning news broke that Paul Revere (no, not the colonial silversmith and patriot) has died. The late keyboard player was the founder and leader of the mid-60s phenomenon, Paul Revere and The Raiders. Because they included a lot of slapstick in their live shows and wore campy revolutionary war uniforms on stage many critics and rock music fans refused to take The Raiders seriously. Yet Paul Revere Dick (yes, that was his real name) and the band he led were a loud, hard rocking outfit that could blow many other rock acts of the era right off the stage. Unfortunately, their carefully cultivated image virtually obliterated the fact they weren't Herman's Hermits or The Monkees. The Raiders were a favorite of Dick Clark and they appeared regularly on Where The Action Is , his TV show of the era. Listen below as Revere,...