Bloggerhythms

"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...

The Worst Of Jefferson Airplane is a fifteen song, single LP or CD with a great title that covers most of the group's best songs and biggest hits from their inception in 1965 through the end of the decade when their classic lineup started to disintegrate. This anthology covers the psychedelic, San Francisco band's first five studio albums and one live record. It went platinum and reached #12 on Billboard's album chart in 1971. The Airplane only had two top 40 hit hits: "Somebody to Love" (#5) and "White Rabbit" (#8). They are both here along with a few other notable singles - "The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil" (#42), "Volunteers" (#65), and "Crown of Creation" (#64) - that were less successful on Billboard's Hot 100. "Plastic Fantastic Lover" from their live album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head only hit #133. The rest of the songs on this set are either "B" sides or choice album tracks.  Also...

After music baseball has always been my number two passion in life with the possible exception of a few Octobers when the Philadelphia Phillies made the playoffs. Both the sport and the art form have been a huge part of my life since childhood with the Phillies functioning as my primary obsession only until February 9, 1964. That Sunday evening, an unknown rock quartet from Liverpool, UK appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Music took over my life quickly after that and I never looked back. That same year, after The Beatles blew up all around America and the rest of the world, The Phillies were making what was then an extremely rare run for a National League pennant that seemed inevitable until September when they blew a 6 1/2 game lead with only twelve to play. They lost ten games in a row before winning the last two of the season. Sadly, by that time it was too late. Unfortunately, there are still fans who haven...

Sadly, John Lennon was assassinated forty years ago today and it was a shock to both music lovers and the rest of the world. It's true that the controversial Liverpool native was a massive contradiction. As a very young man he possessed a mile wide violent streak that he was able to suppress to a great extent as he got older. As Lennon matured he worked hard to promote world peace - frequently utilizing extremely eccentric public events - and outside of his great music that's how many people remember him. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas plea for peace during the war in Viet Nam that Lennon composed with Yoko Ono. On the classic record the couple was supported vocally by The Harlem Community Choir - a group that included thirty children. The original single has become a holiday standard. But now, there is an alternate version. It's a stripped down production featuring a crystal clear vocal by Ono without the choir backing her and - to the surprise of man...

Bloggerhythms doesn't post jazz articles very often because conversations about the genre often turn into deep, scholarly treatises that I'm not qualified to discuss.  Writing knowledgeably about how well a musician navigates unusual time signatures, chords and harmonics may be meaningful to the genre's more educated and devoted aficionados but those details are often bewildering to others. As an example, here is what  Wikipedia writes about "All Blues," one of the better known tracks from  Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the album regarded by many as the greatest jazz record of all time. "The chord sequence is that of a basic blues and made up entirely of seventh chords, with a ♭VI in the turnaround instead of just the usual V chord. In the composition's original key of G this chord is an E♭7. "All Blues" is an example of modal blues in G mixolydian." The  online encyclopedia  continues.  "A ...