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When I first listened to Black 47 I was astonished by their unique sound. I loved everything about them even before I discovered they were considered one of the elite Celtic-rock bands in America. Unfortunately, mainstream success always eluded the New York outfit despite working with highly regarded rockers such as The Cars' Ric Ocasek who produced their major label debut CD and live appearances on many of the biggest late night talk shows. They were guests of David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon. After listening to Black 47's fourth major label studio release, Trouble In the Land -   the CD that was on record shelves when I first discovered the sextet in 2000 - I wrote these words to describe their music: "The band played a loud mixture of Celtic folk music, punk rock, and reggae punctuated by Irish revolutionary politics. If you can visualize Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Chieftains, and The Clash all playing on stage together in the same band...

I don't know whether to file "Yellow Balloon," released by the band of the same name, under  Buried Treasure or under  Almost Hits   because both labels easily fit this little ditty by a forgotten "one-hit wonder" quintet.  This slice of Southern California sunshine reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was from the only LP The Yellow Balloon ever made - and believe it or not - it's still available for purchase on iTunes. The most interesting piece of trivia about the short-lived outfit was that the late Don Grady (1944 - 2012) was the group's drummer. He was better known for playing Robbie Douglas on  My Three Sons  and for being a Mouseketeer from 1957 to 1958. For reasons unknown the band sometimes billed him as Luke R. Yoo instead of using his real name. For a brief time the band's lineup also included Daryl Dragon (1942 - 2019) who later became the captain in The Captain & Tennille. "Yellow Balloon" is quite typical of the Laur...

Very early Poco. L to R: Jim Messina, George Grantham, Richie Furay, & Rusty Young I'm not sure I've ever posted anything on this blog two days in a row before today, but some unfortunate news broke yesterday that is forcing my hand. Even though it's another sad day for earthbound, classic rock fans Rock 'n Roll Heaven just added another member to its all-star band. Poco's Rusty Young passed away on April 14, 2021 at age 75. Young was one of the founding members of Poco, along with Richie Furay and Jim Messina. The latter two asked him to join their new band following the demise of Buffalo Springfield after the steel guitar virtuoso assisted them on the last Springfield album.   Young was the only member of the country-rock pioneers who played on every single Poco record. He was best known for composing two of the group's best known songs, "Rose of Cimarron" (#94 on the Billboard Hot 100) and "Crazy Love" (#17). Almost all of Young's ...

I was a Dire Straits fan from the very beginning. Their first single "Sultans of Swing," from their debut album released in 1978, knocked me off of my feet. The band's third and fourth albums, Making Movies (1980) and Love Over Gold (1982), were among the best rock records I heard in the 80s. Both were big hits in the U. K. and America. I have to admit I was a little smug when the rest of the world suddenly discovered the band a few years later with "Money for Nothing" from their 1985 album Brothers In Arms . I said to myself, "This album is good but you haven't any idea what you missed." The band's leader, Mark Knopfler, consistently mixed classy guitar playing and singer-songwriter intelligence within the framework of a rock 'n roll band. The combination placed Dire Straits way above many long forgotten 80s synth rock bands, hair bands, and punk rockers. To this day Knopfler remains my favorite guitarist. As much as I liked Dire Str...

Xander Hitzig and Nicole Olney are Desert Hollow , a young California duo who have been compared to Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Musical comparisons to those two 70s legends have become almost too commonplace with any new male/female couple working in country or folk music today. That early praise is often unfair because if the recipients of it do not live up to the positive advance notices they're often looked upon as disappointments. I don't want that to happen to Desert Hollow, but, after you listen to Thirsty -  the couple's five song, debut, EP - you'll know why those analogies are being made.  Olney sounds like Harris when she is front and center and Hitzig harmonizes perfectly with her when he's not singing lead. Hitzig is from rural West Virginia and Olney, his partner in more than just music, is from the California desert. Their rural upbringings heavily influence the pair's sound. Their songs are full of banjos, guitars, fiddles, and tin whistles. ...