Bloggerhythms

It's a good thing that I don't live within walking distance of a used record store or I'd have to enter rehab to wean myself off of a potentially deadly addiction. Last week I visited  Siren Records  - in the small but very hip town of Doylestown, Pa - a well-known and much-loved retail outlet that has been in business at least thirty years, probably longer. The establishment is so popular that you need reservations to shop there on Record Store Day . I've found some good stuff on Siren's shelves in the past, and my visit there last week was no exception. They charge $5.99 a piece for used CDs that are in very good to mint condition, but if you buy five of them you'll pay only $20 for the whole pile. So much has been written about Elvis Presley's legendary, eponymous, major label debut for RCA that anything I add will most likely be redundant, but here are some thoughts on this gem I found in the store's abundantly stocked shelves. Even t...

I was hoping to come up with a unique post to honor Sly Stone, but so much has already been written about him that now I'm simply hoping that my words aren't going to be redundant. I'm late to the fair because I wanted my two tributes to Brian Wilson to go online quickly. Even if uniqueness is no longer a possibility I want this post to be - at the very least - worthy of such a talented musician. To this day, there has never been any greatest hits album that I've played more than the one Epic Records issued for Sly & The Family Stone in 1970, and I've been spinning records and CDs for a long, long, long time now. It's almost been a permanent fixture on my ipod. We were all taught in English class that a superlative should never be used with the word "unique" because it means "one-of-a-kind" and something can't be more "one-of-a-kind" than anything else. However, if I ever wanted to add a modifier like ...

How great was Brian Wilson? If you listen to At My Piano -  the late star's final, solo, studio album of fifteen unadorned piano tracks played by The Beach Boys' resident genius - you'll quickly understand the extent of his talent as a melodicist. The simplicity of this set allows the listener to fully appreciate the beauty of Wilson's creations performed on a musical instrument that is truly irresistible when played by a great talent. Some critics have said that Wilson took the easy way out, that these songs have been redone too many times to be appreciated again, but I counter with this: how many artists have issued multiple live albums with arrangements played very close to their original records or released remixes of old songs just to sell more product? At least Wilson offered listeners something quite different, although he admits that the original idea belonged to his record label, Decca. However, it was a request he willingly undertook. T...

Sadly, Brian Wilson has passed away. In only eight days he would have turned 83. He was born only two days after Paul McCartney, so maybe there is something to astrology after all. After The Beatles, the California band and Terry Kath era Chicago were always either number two or three on my list of musical loves. It often depended on my mood. My introduction to The Beach Boys was during the Summer of 1965. It will be sixty years ago next month when I heard "California Girls" for the very first time. It was among the first five records I ever bought with my own money. I've always loved vocal harmonies and nobody was better at creating them than The Beach Boys. To me, that fun, summer single was the most astounding piece of music I had ever heard at the time. I remember it well because it gave me goosebumps. Below this video is an old post I wrote in 2018 about my love for the band. It was originally titled In Defense of The Beach Boy...

The International Submarine Band (ISB) were named after a 1934 Our Gang comedy. Even though their name sounds like they should have been one of the many psychedelic bands of the era, in reality, they were one of the pioneers of country-rock. The quartet was led by the notorious Gram Parsons before his two brief stints with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Four country-rock devotees - Christian Parker, Patrick Cleary, Earl Poole Ball and Jay Dee Maness - joined forces to entirely rerecord ISB's only full-length album, Back at Home , from 1968 and released it in the original track order. It's best to begin with some background on the participants. Parker and Cleary are musicians deeply influenced by Parsons' music. They both played six and twelve string acoustic guitars on these sessions and do all of the singing. Parker has already recorded tributes to The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo  - an album on which Parsons was a major ...