Bloggerhythms

Too few people are aware of the late, great Jimmy Lafave , one of Austin's finest and most revered musicians. His untimely passing from a rare and aggressive form of cancer at age 61 in May 2017 was sad indeed. While the Oklahoma native was never a household name the respect he earned within the Austin music scene was never ending. Critic Dave Marsh aired a deserved tribute to him on Sirius XM shortly before his passing and three days before Lafave died friends staged a sold out concert in his honor at the Paramount Theater in Austin. Fortunately, their honoree was able to attend. Lafave wrote most of his own material but unlike most singer-songwriters he also recorded a lot of cover versions, many superior to the originals. More than half of the songs on his eighteenth and final album, Peace Town , a twenty song, double CD set he released last year, are covers. A perfect example of Lafave's penchant for remaking a song is Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open The...

If you've heard Chicago's last two studio albums you would know that they were very unimpressive to say the least. However, when I first heard about the huge live set they released this past April that consisted mostly of songs from the Terry Kath years I was looking forward to it even though - based on what I've read and heard from other devoted fans - I was expecting a very mixed bag of treats. It turns out my expectations were accurate. As the title suggests, VI Decades Live is a large package of four CDs and one DVD that features performances from every decade of Chicago's career. The first three CDs are from their most artistically productive years and ends in 1977 after Kath's unfortunate passing. The fourth disc spans the rest of their career through 2014 and the DVD covers a single performance from 1977 along with a bonus track. The Booklet Let's start with the very colorful 24 page booklet. It contains some great, never-before-seen photos and ol...