Bloggerhythms

I was never one to be turned on by interminable jamming but I have nothing against inspired improvisation. The problem arises when bands sound like they're jamming to satisfy their own egos (hey, look what I can do!) and turn what starts out as an inventive solo into a half hour of tedium. (Please, at least have the restraint to do it only once per show). Now that I've got that off my chest I'm about to commit rock 'n roll blasphemy: one of the most boring live albums I ever heard is The Grateful Dead's three LP set, Europe '72 . It's the album that never ends. I do like the Dead but they were always better as a studio outfit. When the country-rock pioneers were tuneful and concise, as a recording studio forced them to be, they were usually quite satisfying. Proof lies with the record that has always been considered their studio masterpiece, the stunning American Beauty . This outstanding set of ten tunes gave birth to five FM radio staples, all o...

If you're listening casually Eilen Jewell's seventh full length album, Sundown Over Ghost Town , exhibits a quiet sameness to many of the tracks. So, in order to fully appreciate her work you need to pay attention. If you do the rewards are plentiful and the subtle differences in her arrangements become readily apparent. That's because the native of Boise, ID has several assets working for her: strong but very feminine vocal chords, the ability to write lyrics that mean something, and a highly professional band. Jewell's songs reveal an awareness of her surroundings and other people's lives. She lives on the folk side of country and has a little bit of Woodie Guthrie in her soul so she's not interested in the traditional, more commercial subjects of the genre. Instead of bars and trucks she sings about untamed horses and farmers who are about to lose everything. On "Half Broke Horse" Jewell sings, "No bridled horse can stand him / Or any ...

Are you old enough to remember the game show I've Got A Secret ? It was a TV program I watched a lot as a kid. For those of you who aren't familiar with it the premise was simple. A panel of four celebrities asked a series of mostly "yes" or "no" questions to a guest with the goal of uncovering his or her secret. In a lot of ways the show was nothing more than a TV adaptation of twenty questions, a game many of us have played at home. The original series was hosted for most of its run by the late Garry Moore who also had his own variety show that was instrumental in giving Carol Burnett's career a huge boost. The panelists during the years I watched were former Miss America Bess Myerson , game show host Bill Cullen , comedian Henry Morgan , and actress Betsy Palmer . The original and most famous version of I've Got A Secret aired on CBS from 1952 to 1967. The show was briefly revived in the 70s and there was even a cable version of it on...

Love & Mercy is indeed a very good movie and based on what I've read about about both Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys (which is a lot) what we see on the screen is very accurate. It's also extremely well acted and directed, a definite thumbs up as Siskel and Ebert would have said. Praise for the film has been nearly unanimous. I agree with most observers that Paul Dano was better than John Cusack at playing Wilson, Elizabeth Banks as his future wife (Melinda Ledbetter) was drop dead gorgeous, and Paul Giamatti was perfectly evil as Dr. Eugene Landy. The movie has been discussed endlessly in the entertainment press and on music blogs everywhere so for me to write a proper movie review at this juncture would just be redundant. Instead, it's time to look at this film biography from a slightly different angle and address a glaring omission director Bill Pohlad should have included. This post offers no defense of Landy's treatment of Wilson during the time period...