Brown Eyed Handsome Man

We're back with the album of the week!

Released in 2004, Brown Eyed Handsome Man: St. Louis Salutes The Father Of Rock & Roll is a tribute album, celebrating the music of Chuck Berry as interpreted by bands from Berry's hometown of St. Louis, MO.

This project was the idea of St. Louis radio station KDHX, and if I remember the story correctly, took a little over a year to produce as there were some logistics issues getting some of the bands into the studio to record.

There are various musical interpretations of Chuck Berry's music, from jazz to punk to country to zydeco...  there's a little something to please everybody on this CD.  It also doesn't hurt that it's covers of some of the greatest rock and roll ever made.

Be sure to give this one a listen!

Brown Eyed Handsome Man: St. Louis Salutes The Father Of Rock & Roll

Enjoy!

Update

As it turns out, I happened upon a link for SiriusXM's Canadian site, which apparently has been free since last summer.

Well, for whatever reason, it decided to cut me off this morning (guessing they finally figured out I'm not in Canada), but I did find out you can sign up for a free 24 hour streaming trial with just an e-mail address (and last I checked, I haven't received any messages to that spam account, so...), so I did just that this morning as I still had a few shows I wanted to capture before this ended (and I had originally assumed it would only run through the weekend, so all is good in that regard).

With all of this in mind, I will have a ton of editing to do tomorrow (I think I'll have recorded about 30 shows by this evening)...  but hey, that's a good problem for me to have!

I'm going to get back to regular posting on Monday with an album of the week post, and hope to get back to my daily posting routine.  However, it may be a couple of weeks until I get another Now Hear This program put together.

Thanks again for stopping in and checking out the blog.  We will resume our regularly scheduled program on Monday.

On Hiatus

Just wanted to let everybody know that I'll be on a short hiatus...

I discovered last night that I'm getting SiriusXM for free right now.  Not sure if it's a free week or what, but I intend to record the shows I enjoyed listening to while I was a subscriber.

I'll get back to the blog and the Now Hear This show as soon as the SiriusXM free listening period is over.

Zydeco: The Essential Collection

I thought I'd go with something completely different for the album of the week...

Zydeco is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speaking people.  It blends blues, rhythm & blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and Native American people of Louisiana.  It is usually very uptempo music with a strong rhythmic core normally centered around the accordion and washboard.

I first got a taste of this music via a St. Louis band called the Zydeco Crawdaddies.  I also had a friend that let me borrow this very CD, and I've appreciated this style of music ever since as it's just fun music to listen to.

This CD offers a nice introduction to the style of music with many classics and great artists of the genre represented.

Zydeco: The Essential Collection

Give it a shot, and enjoy!

Get On The Bus

Last week, I mentioned I didn't get a Now Hear This show done because I "got a little wrapped up in things."  Well, this is the rabbit hole I found myself in.

Get On The Bus is a one hour NPR radio show that started this year on KACU out of Abilene, TX.  It is hosted by Corey Patterson, and is somewhat of a beginner's guide to the music of the Grateful Dead.

Now, the Dead is a band I've begun to listen to more and more over the past few years (mainly because their music and shows are posted on damn near every music blog I visit, so curiosity got the best of me), but by no means am I any sort of expert on their music.  This weekly one hour program offers a nice introduction to their music.

While most of the shows (so far) have been dedicated to various live performances, there was a show dedicated to their studio album, Workingman's Dead.

If you're interested in finding out what the Grateful Dead is about, I recommend giving this show a listen.  You can also download every show (which I have done), though they are at low bitrates (only 128 kbps, but very listenable).

You can find the shows at the following link:

Get On The Bus with Corey Patterson

Enjoy!

American Top 40 02.15.1975

This week's Radio Show Saturday brings Casey Kasem back...

It's the American Top 40 from February 15, 1975.  As is the case with the other countdown programs I've shared, it's a single file I recorded from SiriusXM.  This particular show clocks in right around 2 hours and 27 minutes.

Here's the track list, which will be followed by listening and download links:

Never Let Her Go  -  David Gates

Sad Sweet Dreamer  -  Sweet Sensation

Lovin' You  -  Minnie Ripperton

Don't Take Your Love  -  The Manhattans

Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne  -  Jim Stafford

You Are So Beautiful  -  Joe Cocker

Morning Side Of The Mountain  -  Donny & Marie Osmond

My Boy  -  Elvis Presley

To The Door Of The Sun (Alle Porte Del Sole)  -  Al Martino

Movin' On  -  Bad Company

Up In A Puff Of Smoke  -  Polly Brown

Poetry Man  -  Phoebe Snow

Mandy  -  Barry Manilow

I Belong To You  -  Love Unlimited

Express  -  B.T. Express

Please Mr. Postman  -  The Carpenters

Big Yellow Taxi (Live Version)  -  Joni Mitchell

Don't Call Us, We'll Call You  -  Sugarloaf

Roll On Down The Highway  -  Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Lady Marmalade (Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi)  -  LaBelle

I'm A Woman  -  Maria Muldaur

Can't Get It Out Of My Head  -  Electric Light Orchestra

Have You Ever Been Mellow  -  Olivia Newton-John

Lady  -  Styx

Laughter In The Rain  -  Neil Sedaka

Nightingale  -  Carole King

Get Dancin' (Part 1)  -  Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes

Sweet Surrender  -  John Denver

Doctor's Orders  -  Carol Douglas

Look In My Eyes Pretty Woman  -  Tony Orlando & Dawn

#9 Dream  -  John Lennon

My Eyes Adored You  -  Frankie Valli

Boogie On Reggae Woman  -  Stevie Woder

Lonely People  -  America

Fire  -  The Ohio Players

Black Water  -  The Doobie Brothers

Some Kind Of Wonderful  -  Grand Funk

Best Of My Love  -  Eagles

Pick Up The Pieces  -  Average White Band

You're No Good  -  Linda Ronstadt

Listen here

American Top 40 02.15.1975

Enjoy!

Now Hear This Show #4

We're back with the 4th edition of the Now Hear This show!

We went back to the grab bag for this show...  getting back to my original idea of putting music out there that you probably haven't listened to, or considered listening to before.  And to be honest, that's the idea of using music blogs.  Yes, I know most folks are looking to download things they like, but for the last decade or so, I've taken a lot more chances on music and have been led to an appreciation for all sorts of different music...  things I probably would never have given a chance in the past.  And yes, I've downloaded stuff I really didn't care for, but that's okay.  I gave it a shot, and in the long run, all I was out was the few minutes it took to download and the time it took to give it a listen.

Anywho...  enough of my internet music philosophies.  Here's a list of the songs you'll hear on today's show, with listening and download links to follow:

I'm The Man  -  Joe Jackson

Lucas With The Lid Off  -  Lucas

I Want You Back  -  Hoodoo Gurus

Texas Cookin'  -  Guy Clark

You Make My Dreams  -  Hall & Oates

Soul Finger  -  The Bar-Kays

Century City  -  Galactic

Now, Right Now  -  Reverend Horton Heat

Shotgun Willie  -  Willie Nelson

Swollen Princess  -  Nuno

Down  -  311

Wallawalla  -  Drop Trio

Window Pane  -  The Real People

Let's Go  -  Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas

Yesterday Girl  -  The Smithereens

Love Removal Machine  -  The Cult

LISTEN HERE

Now Hear This Show #4

Enjoy!

Watermelon Man

It takes a certain kind of brilliance to take a song that was already considered a jazz classic and rework it into something even better.  That's exactly what Herbie Hancock did with Watermelon Man.

What is offered here today is the 1973 version from the fusion/funk classic Headhunters...  and if you watched The Weather Channel years ago, you may have heard this song as background music as they were doing your local weather conditions and forecast.

Like most people my age, I became aware of Herbie Hancock thanks to his 1983 hit, Rockit, which reached only #71 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was in heavy rotation on MTV (and the other music video outlets of the era).

I had first heard this version of Watermelon Man on The Best Of Herbie Hancock: The Hits! and was immediately hooked (afterwards, I made the Weather Channel connection).

Enjoy!

School Days

Some 70s jazz fusion at it's finest...  Stanley Clarke's School Days.

This is the lead track from Clarke's album of the same name...  an album that reached #2 on the Billboard Jazz charts, and #34 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 1976/77.  The bass groove on this track is phenomenal, and the entire album is one that should be heard by everybody...  great groove throughout.

If you've never heard this one (it was an occasional play on Classic Rock stations years back, and a rare play in this day and age), give it a listen.  I'm sure you'll find it worth your while.

Enjoy!

Hideaway

Covered by many, but never quite duplicated...  it's the one and only Freddie King, who recorded the original version of Hideaway back in 1961.

Here's a live, and rather extended jamming version of the song from 1973 (recorded in Dallas, TX).

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Jazz

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

For our album of the week, I thought I'd go with Beegie Adair's Valentine's Day Jazz, though I'm not entirely sure this is so much of an album as it is a playlist (there are 52 tracks).  Either way, it was released a little over a year ago and contains a lot of lightweight piano trio music with a love theme.

I learned of Beegie Adair (who recently passed) by listening to the Christmas music channels on SiriusXM, where they played her piano trio Christmas songs quite a bit.  She was a long-time session musician (60 years in the business), before releasing albums of her own (the Beegie Adair Trio) starting in 1997.

Again, this is pretty lightweight stuff...  good for relaxing or enjoying as background music.

Beegie Adair: Valentine's Day Jazz

Enjoy!

Enjoy Yourself

At this point, they were no longer the Jackson 5.  Instead, they were simply The Jacksons.

Released in late October 1976, even though I had just turned 5, I remember this song.  Not exactly sure where I heard it.  Could have been on the radio, or it could have been from my friend who lived across the parking lot from us.  Either way, it's a song I remember fondly and still enjoy listening to it.  And if you look in the comment section, someone said "if this doesn't put a smile on your face, you have no soul."

So without any further ado, here's The Jacksons doing Enjoy Yourself.

Enjoy!

The Joint Top 100 09.27.2021

This week's Radio Show Saturday brings us some reggae.  The Joint Top 100 is a SiriusXM Xtra channel playing the top hits "totally devoted to the jammin' sounds of reggae and dancehall."  This show takes us back to September 27, 2021, and features a mix of reggae tunes new and old.

The show clocks in at just under one hour eight minutes, and if you're not familiar with reggae music, can be a nice introduction.  Here is a list of the songs you'll hear to be followed by listening and download links:

She's Royal  -  Tarrus Riley

Close To You  -  Maxi Priest

Under Me Sleng Teng  -  Wayne Smith

My Time  -  Barrington Levy

King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown  -  Augustus Pablo

Ring The Alarm  -  Tenor Saw

Caress Me Girl  -  Dennis Brown

Tour (Lil Jon & Paul's Remix)  -  Capleton

Loving Pauper  -  Dobby Dobson

Big Ship  -  Freddie McGregor

Rock Away  -  Beres Hammond

Equal Rights  -  Peter Tosh

Sweet And Dandy  -  The Maytals

War / No More Trouble (Live)  -  Bob Marley & The Wailers

Committed  -  Third World

Guns Of Navarone  -  The Skatalites

Shout It Out  -  Burning Spear

Boombastic  -  Shaggy

Listen here

The Joint Top 100 09.27.2021

Enjoy!

KISS: Live At The Whisky 2019

Sorry gang...  no Now Hear This radio show this week as I got a little wrapped up in some things.  Hope to be back next week with another show.

Now that I got that out of the way...

On this date 3 years ago (2019), KISS played a show at L.A.'s Whisky A Go Go to kick off yet another farewell tour (there has been a few, so forgive me for not knowing the name of this one).  The show was broadcast on SiriusXM.  This is a copy of that show.  It includes the pre and post-concert show with Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine fame) and Keith Roth (one of SXM's DJs).

KISS plays a dozen songs, and Gene screws up the beginning of Let Me Go, Rock And Roll (he forgets to start singing, so the band starts over).  If you didn't hear this show, and are a fan of KISS, give it a listen.

KISS: Live At The Whisky 2019

Enjoy!

Hourglass

Another song that often gets stuck in my head.  Sadly, until recently, I had no idea as to who did the song or what the title was.  Then I was listening to a VJ Top 40 Countdown where the song was played (I think it may have been #38 or something low like that).

Anywho...  the song is Hourglass by Squeeze.  And yes, I do remember hearing this one on the radio when I was in high school (it was released in the summer of 1987) and remember the catchy refrain.

Enjoy!

20 Essential Jazz Albums For Beginners

I found this article recently and thought it interesting enough to share...  it's a list of 20 albums for those who are new to jazz (you can read it here).

I started my journey into the world of jazz about 25 years ago.  Funny story...  I had gone fishing early one morning, and after a couple of hours of no bites, decided to head home.  I had the radio on, but was bored with what was being played on the stations I normally listen to, so I decided to use the search function.  I somehow ended up stopping on WSIE, and enjoyed listening to the music for the 45 minute trip home.

Now, fortunately I had a friend who had a vast jazz collection that helped me discover music that I would like (he asked me what I had heard and what I had liked, and was a bit surprised by my choices).  Also, at the time, there was a DJ on WSIE named Ross Gentile who also played a big part in getting me interested (man would bring in his own albums every day and build a show around whatever was in the crate that day).

Getting back to the article, I can say that I have 12 of the albums on the list, and all are excellent jumping-off points if you're interested in exploring the world of jazz.  And while I've not conducted a search myself, I'm sure you can find most everything listed in the article over at Myzuka (where you have the option to listen and download).

Enjoy!

The Best Of Sam Cooke

For the album of the week, I thought we'd go with Sam Cooke's Greatest Hits.

Originally released in 1962, this is Cooke's second "greatest hits" compilation, and covers his most well-known hits from 1957-1962.  By no means is this a complete collection of Cooke's work, but is still a nice listen featuring some great songs.

The Best Of Sam Cooke

Enjoy!

Chuck Berry Live In London 1972

Call me whatever names you must, but my opinion that Chuck Berry is the King Of Rock And Roll will not be changed.

Here's a great show Chuck did in London back in 1972...

Enjoy!

Organized 07.23.2021

I thought I'd break out another jazz show for this week's Radio Show Saturday.  Organized is a weekly show on SiriusXM's Real Jazz channel, and his hosted by Joey DeFrancesco.  This show takes us back to July 23, 2021, and as you may have guessed, features jazz music that features the organ.

The show clocks in at just under one hour, and here is a list of the songs you'll hear, with listening and download links to follow:

Ceora  -  John Simon Trio

Bags And Brown  -  Mike LeDonne

Project Freedom  -  Joey DeFrancesco

Makin' It  -  Oliver Lake Organ Trio

The Sermon  -  Jimmy Smith

Listen here

Organized 07.23.2021

Enjoy!

Now Hear This Show #3

This week brings us the 3rd edition of the Now Hear This show.

I decided to go with a Salute To 1984 theme for this show.  I've done many playlists based on tracks from 1984 in the past, so this one was pretty easy to put together.  All of the songs featured were Hot 100 hits, so I'm sure you'll recognize everything here...  unless, of course, you weren't around in 1984, or were just living under a rock.

Here's what you will hear on this show, with listening and download links to follow:

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go  -  Wham!

Let's Hear It For The Boy  -  Deniece Williams

The Reflex  -  Duran Duran

Jump  -  Van Halen

Rock Me Tonite  -  Billy Squier

Borderline  -  Madonna

The Glamorous Life  -  Sheila E

Love Somebody  -  Rick Springfield

Head Over Heels  -  The Go-Go's

Easy Lover  -  Philip Bailey & Phil Collins

I Feel For You  -  Chaka Khan

Eyes Without A Face  -  Billy Idol

Somebody's Watching Me  -  Rockwell

Strut  -  Sheena Easton

Let's Go Crazy  -  Prince

LISTEN HERE

Now Hear This Show #3

Enjoy, and be sure to check back next week for another Now Hear This show!

20 "Awesome" Albums That Critics Hated

I don't know why I get suckered into clicking links for stuff like this, but I constantly do.

This 20 Awesome Albums That Critics Hated list is pretty much absolute garbage, though there are a few albums listed that I appreciate.  You can check out the article here, or you can just watch me pick it apart, album by album.

1) Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin

Sorry folks, but Zeppelin is one of the most overrated bands on the planet, and their debut album was nothing special.

2) The Beatles: Abbey Road

Not sure why the critics would have picked this one apart...

3) Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath

Another debut album, and most music critics hate metal, so...

4) Paul & Linda McCartney: Ram

Sorry...  nothing really awesome about this piece of crap.

5) The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street

Don't really understand why this one would have gotten bad reviews...

6) Neil Young: Harvest

If you think whiney-assed Canadians are awesome, then good for you.

7) Miles Davis: On The Corner

Critics always seem to rip on something different.

8) Gene Clark: No Other

Sorry, but the Byrds sucked, and all of the solo efforts sucked as well.

9) Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks

Decent album...  one of the few of his I can actually listen to start to finish.

10) Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

Just don't get all the love for this band.  Guess I need to smoke some dope to figure it out.

11) AC/DC: High Voltage

See the Black Sabbath comments...  the Bon Scott era of AC/DC was fantastic.

12) The Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Sorry gang, but the Ramones did it better.

13) Queen: Jazz

Maybe my favorite Queen album, so...

14) Black Flag: My War

Never heard it, so...

15) Michael Jackson: Bad

Looking at it with an objective eye, it's hard to say anything musically Michael did was bad.

16) Pearl Jam: Ten

A festering pile of over-played shit, but shout-out for finally admitting the solo on Alive was a blatant rip-off of Ace Frehley's solo on She.

17) Radiohead: Pablo Honey

You can listen to Radiohead all you want...  I can't do it.  Garbage.

18) Korn: Korn

See Black Flag...  never heard it.

19) Oasis: What's The Story Morning Glory

The Brits are so damn desperate for a second coming of the Beatles, they'll over-hype any crappy band.

20) Weezer: Pinkerton

See Radiohead...  not overly listenable.

So there you have it folks...  the hard-hitting commentary I'm sure you all came to this blog for.

Pass The Dutchie

Going with another music video today...

Musical Youth's Pass The Dutchie is a song that easily gets stuck in your head.  I have the 45, and hear it every so often on the radio, and it always brings a smile to my face.

Hopefully you'll watch this and get a big smile as well!

Also, if you didn't know, this is a pretty blatant rip-off of a tune by The Mighty Diamonds called Pass The Kouchie...  if you've heard that one, you'll probably think it probably wasn't a good idea to have kids cover the song, even if they did make the lyrics a little more "friendly."

Enjoy!

Bad To The Bone

Can't remember which radio show I was listening to the other day, but they played George Thorogood's Bad To The Bone.  Well, I got to thinking about the video for the song, and thought it would be a good share here.

I've had an appreciation for George Thororgood over the years thanks to this song, and became a big fan after seeing him live...  great show, and great catalog of songs!  If you're not familiar with anything other than this song, do a little searching and give his music a listen!

Enjoy!