What Are You Listening To?

[Botch]

I'm Joking, I like Barb, Neil, The Bee Gees, Abba, etc.... Hell, you guys know what I like, you've seen some of it.

Bee Gees. Now that's another one that's a lot better than I wouldv'e expected. Granted, disco is still disco. But they've got some nice songs dating back to their pre-disco days and (gasp!) even some of the disco-pop is sort of catchy. Makes decent radio fodder, right?

Hell, I even like most of their Disco Stuff! :shhh:



Dennie

I hated them during the late '70's/early 80's, but about 5 years ago I picked up Saturday Night Fever and enjoyed the heck out of it. A lot of memories around that soundtrack for me...

 

[Dennie]

Some Enchanted Evening

Blue Oyster Cult

1978 Columbia Records

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING is a superb live record., November 2, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Some Enchanted Evening (Audio CD)

The only problems I can think of offhand are the fact that I don't like "Kick Out the Jams," (so what, the rest of the album more than makes up for it) and the fact that "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" is just a little lacking. Other than that, there is no way I can think of that it could be better. The band plays an amazing cover of the Animals' "We Gotta get Out of This Place," a good all-around song to play on Mondays, as well as a cool rendition of the eternally catchy "R.U. Ready to Rock." Also of note are the versions of "Godzilla" and "E.T.I.," both of which are just fantastic. The real star of the show, however, is "Astronomy," always a personal favorite of mine, but this version takes the cake. The soft but dense background keyboards and the crushingly hard guitar work from Buck Dharma (in relation to other versions of the song I've heard), and most especially the four-minute guitar solo that closes the song (primarily uninterrupted, except for "Astronomy...a star") all make this the best version I've heard yet (although I haven't heard IMAGINOS [yet...]). Also, as a final plus, the sound quality is still excellent, even after twenty years. Get this album if you want to hear one of the world's best live bands in close to top form (although I am not a huge fan of "Reaper" or "Jams," the playing is still excellent).

"R.U. Ready 2 Rock" - 5:29
"E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)" - 5:04
"Astronomy" - 8:18
"Kick Out the Jams" (MC5 cover) - 3:03
"Godzilla" - 4:10
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - 5:51
"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (The Animals cover) - 4:09

 

[Dennie]

I hated them during the late '70's/early 80's, but about 5 years ago I picked up Saturday Night Fever and enjoyed the heck out of it. A lot of memories around that soundtrack for me...

Funny how time changes things! :think:

I've got the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack waiting in line for the turntable. It is a fun album and brings back many, many memories! Some good, some....not so much! :laughing-rolling:


Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Okay, Switching gears...... :auto-layrubber:

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room

Dwight Yoakam

1988 Reprise Records

Amazon.com

Yoakam's third album finds him more daring in his incorporation of Creedence-style rock guitar fills--Pete Anderson, take a bow--and Tex-Mex polka into his Bakersfield stomp. Class resentment and murderous jealousy color this disc much more than its predecessors; "I Sang Dixie" is one of the all-time great I'm-just-a-country-boy-in-this-mean-ol'-city songs. And while Yoakam's version of "Home of the Blues" doesn't muster the drama of Johnny Cash's original, he'll forever deserve props for resurrecting the Buck Owens obscurity "Streets of Bakersfield"--not to mention duet partner Owens's then-dormant career. --Rickey Wright

Side One

"I Got You" (Dwight Yoakam) - 3:28
"One More Name" (Dwight Yoakam) - 3:05
"What I Don't Know" (Dwight Yoakam) - 3:46
"Home of the Blues" (Johnny Cash/Glenn Douglas/Lillie McAlpine) - 2:52
"Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)" (Dwight Yoakam) - 4:31

Side Two

"I Hear You Knockin'" (J.D. Miller) - 3:12
"I Sang Dixie" (Dwight Yoakam) - 3:47
"Streets of Bakersfield" [with Buck Owens] (Homer Joy) - 2:47
"Floyd County" (Dwight Yoakam) - 2:55
"Send Me the Pillow" [with Maria McKee] (Hank Locklin) - 3:00
"Hold On to God" (Dwight Yoakam) - 3:14

 

[Dennie]

Greatest Hits Volume #2

George Strait

1987 MCA Records

Greatest Hits Volume Two is George Strait's second greatest hits compilation and his 10th overall album. It was released by MCA Records in 1987. It features all of Strait's singles from 1984-1987. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and is certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

"Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" (Sanger D. Shafer, Darlene Shafer) - 3:13
"The Cowboy Rides Away" (Sonny Throckmorton, Casey Kelly) - 3:19
"The Fireman" (Mack Vickery, Wayne Kemp) - 2:33
"The Chair" (Dean Dillon, Hank Cochran) - 2:48
"You're Something Special to Me" (David Anthony) - 3:18
"Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her" (Dillon) - 2:49
"It Ain't Cool to Be Crazy About You" (Dillon, Royce Porter) - 2:49
"Ocean Front Property" (Dillon, Cochran, Porter) - 3:06
"All My Ex's Live in Texas" (S. D. Shafer, Lydia J. Shafer) - 3:18
"Am I Blue" (David Chamberlain) - 3:04

 

[Dennie]

It is a great album and I really like the review below! :text-bravo:

The Troublemaker

Willie Nelson

1976 Columbia Records

Willie Rocks The Gospel With Passion and Humor, June 16, 2005
By Todd and In Charge (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Troublemaker (Reis) (Audio CD)

I have a lot of Willie albums, and there are many exceptional ones out there, but I was a bit reluctant to purchase yet another Willie oldie recently re-released on cd. But the track selection intrigued me so I picked this one up. Am I glad I did! This is Willie loose and having fun, playing old gospel rave-ups with passion and good humor. Doug Sahm and a host of greats (including Larry Gatlin) support Big Willie as he takes us through a list of his favorites tunes.

But I really reserve my praise for the title track, The Troublemaker, an intimate selection that could have come right from The IRS Tapes. Buy the cd for this alone. Here Willie sings a parable about an anti-war, long-haired rebel, who preached peace in the face of war, wore sandals as he wandered from town to town, and riled up the populace to distrust their leaders and clamor for peace. Then the government hung him on a cross. I can't think of a more meaningful song for the times we live in today.

All tracks traditional compositions; except where indicated

"Uncloudy Day" (Willie Nelson) - 4:40
"When the Roll Is Called up Yonder" - 2:43
"Whispering Hope" - 5:35
"There Is a Fountain" - 3:13
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (A.P. Carter) - 4:35
"The Troublemaker" (Bruce Belland, Dave Somerville) - 1:52
"In the Garden" (C. Austin Miles) - 4:08
"Where the Soul Never Dies" - 4:14
"Sweet Bye & Bye" - 2:39
"Shall We Gather" - 3:07
"Precious Memories" - 7:36

 

[Dennie]

Quater Moon In A Ten Cent Town

Emmylou Harris

1978 Warner Bros. Records

WOW!, July 16, 2008
By Reijo Piippula "Rekko" (Turku, Finland)

This review is from: Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Audio CD)
After making many great albums, Emmylou still continues making great music, and makes her best album since "Pieces of the Sky". This is absolutely an amazing album! There's simply no fillers! Every song is great country music. There's three songs I especially like: "To Daddy", "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight", and "I Ain't Living Long Like This". Sometimes this album sounds even better than "Pieces...". I love this album also because it has all kinds of great songs from slow ones to up-beat ones. Emmylou has an amazing voice, and she is my country star number one!
Stars: Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight, To Daddy, I Ain't Living Long Like This

Side one

"Easy from Now On" (Susanna Clark, Carlene Carter Routh) – 3:07
"Two More Bottles of Wine" (Delbert McClinton) – 3:08
"To Daddy" (Dolly Parton) – 2:45
"My Songbird" (Jesse Winchester) – 3:07
"Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" (Rodney Crowell, Donivan Cowart) – 4:21

Side two

"Defying Gravity" (Winchester) – 4:16
"I Ain't Living Long Like This" (Crowell) – 4:08
"One Paper Kid" [with Willie Nelson] (Walter Martin Cowart) – 2:58
"Green Rolling Hills" [with Fayssoux Starling] (Utah Phillips) – 3:38
"Burn That Candle" (Winfield Scott) – 4:27

 

[Dennie]

My last one for the evening....

Speak Low 2 LP Set

Boz Scaggs

2008 Decca U.S.

About the Artist

Singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs enjoyed considerable solo success in the 1970's with several Top 20 Hits including "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" along with the top selling Silk Degrees album. Scaggs spent much of the 1980's in retirement, owning and operating the San Francisco nightclub Slim's and limiting his performances primarily to the club's annual black-tie New Year's Eve concerts. In 1988 he resurfaced and spent the years consistently releasing new material including Here's the Low Down, Fade Into Light, Dig and a collection of standards called But Beautiful.

Product Description

Singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs enjoyed considerable solo success in the 1970's with several Top 20 Hits including "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" along with the top selling Silk Degrees album. Scaggs spent much of the 1980's in retirement, owning and operating the San Francisco nightclub Slim's and limiting his performances primarily to the club's annual black-tie New Year's Eve concerts. In 1988 he resurfaced and spent the years consistently releasing new material including Here's the Low Down, Fade Into Light, Dig and a collection of standards called But Beautiful. Speak Low, his 17th studio album, a follow-up to 2003's But Beautiful--"a sort of progressive, experimental effort... along the lines of some of the ideas that Gil Evans explored" says Boz. Songs on the album include Chet Baker's "She Was Too Good To Be True," Johnny Mercer's "This Time the Dream's on Me," the often recorded "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and the Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track. "I'm a vocalist," Scaggs says. "I come more out of a blues/rhythm & blues background, but this is a different way of using my voice." CD version to be released on October 28, 2008


1. Invitation - By Bronislaw Kaper
2. She Was Too Good To Me - by Rodgers and Hart
3. I Wish I Knew - By Mack Gordon and Harry Warren
4. Speak Low - By Ogden Nash and Kurt Weill
5. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me - by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell
6. I'll Remember April - By Gene De Paul, Patricia Johnson and Don Raye
7. Save Your Love For Me - By Buddy Woodrow Johnson
8. Ballad Of The Sad Young Men - By Frances Landesman and Thomas Wolf Jr.
9. Skylark - By Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer
10. Senza Fine - By Cesarea, Paoli and Wilder
11. Dindi by - De Oliveria, Gilbert and Jobim
12. This Time The Dream's On Me - By Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer

8675

 

[topper]

(edit)

 

[Dennie]

Feels Like Home -- CD

Norah Jones

2004 Blue Note Records

Amazon.com

Norah Jones blew everybody away with her jazzy, country-tinged, Grammy-winning debut CD, Come Away with Me. On this recording, Jones doesn't mess with her trademark formula. Under Arif Mardin's cozy coproduction, Jones is supported by her writing partners, her Handsome Band, and some special guests (country legend Dolly Parton, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, and jazz drummer Brian Blade, to name a few). Jones's Texas-twanged vocals and her sparse acoustic and electric Wurlitzer piano lines enliven the CD's 13 tracks, from the light and lively single "Sunrise" to Tom Waits's "The Long Way Home" and the bouncy duet with Parton, "Creepin' In." Jones's soul-baring piano/vocal rendition of Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," retitled "Don't Miss You at All," proves she's a true Blue Note artist with unlimited potential. --Eugene Holley Jr.

1. "Sunrise" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:20
2. "What Am I to You?" Norah Jones 3:29
3. "Those Sweet Words" Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:22
4. "Carnival Town" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:12
5. "In the Morning" Adam Levy 4:07
6. "Be Here to Love Me" Townes Van Zandt 3:28
7. "Creepin' In" (featuring Dolly Parton) Lee Alexander 3:03
8. "Toes" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:46
9. "Humble Me" Kevin Breit 4:36
10. "Above Ground" Andrew Borger, Daru Oda 3:43
11. "The Long Way Home" Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits 3:13
12. "The Prettiest Thing" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:51
13. "Don't Miss You at All" Norah Jones, Duke Ellington 3:06

 

[Dennie]

~Magic Time~ -- CD

Van Morrison

2005 Geffen Records

Amazon.com

Like a human infusion of chamomile tea, hearing Van Morrison's voice has the effect of instantly soothing even the most stressed listener. That said, some of his releases have been so mellow that they muted the '60s soul influences that had been a part of Van's appeal. Not so with Magic Time, a wonderful balance of groove and smoothness, with a "live off the floor" feel evident throughout the disc. Right from the start "Stranded" shows Van at his crooner best--relaxed, present, and joyful. "Celtic New Year" comes next with a very Astral Weeks feel, leading one to believe that this disc might be sedentary through and through… until "Keep Mediocrity at Bay" kicks in, a feisty blues romp proving that though in his sixties, Morrison still has the sass of his best previous days. Morrison's cover of Sinatra's brassy "This Love of Mine" and Perry Como's "I'm Confessin'" are full of cheek and charm. Morrison-as-producer has chosen stellar horn sections that elevate the music from good to great and come from an obvious deep love of classic blues and soul. He's a lover and a fighter (the disc has two references to his disdain of the music industry: "They Sold Me Out" and "Carry On Regardless"), but ultimately true to his own musical vision. This destined-to-be-classic release will please a wide variety of his fans. --Denise Sheppard

All songs by Van Morrison (unless noted otherwise)

"Stranded" – 5:34
"Celtic New Year" – 6:10
"Keep Mediocrity at Bay" – 3:44
"Evening Train" – 2:48
"This Love of Mine" (Sol Parker, Henry W. Sanicola, Frank Sinatra) – 2:42
"I'm Confessin'" (Doc Daughtery, Al Neiburg, Ellis Reynolds) – 4:29
"Just Like Greta" – 6:25
"Gypsy in My Soul" – 4:04
"Lonely and Blue" ("Black and Blue" with altered lyrics) (Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) – 3:41
"The Lion This Time" – 4:56
"Magic Time" – 5:06
"They Sold Me Out" – 3:11
"Carry On Regardless" – 5:54

 

[Dennie]

Morning Dance

Spyro Gyra

1979 MCA Records

Morning Dance is Spyro Gyra's most commercially successful album. The title cut became a major hit (Billboard #24 pop, #1 adult contemporary.)

* Morning Dance
* Jubilee
* Rasul
* Song For Lorraine
* Starburst
* Heliopolis
* It Doesn't Matter
* Little Linda
* End of Romanticism

 

[Dennie]

Romantic Warrior

Return To Forever

1976 Columbia Records

Amazon.com

Originally released in 1976, Return To Forever's Romantic Warrior could be described as the high-water mark of jazz fusion's commercial popularity, reaching a spot on the Billboard charts and garnering the group a fanatical following of fans attracted to the band's technical prowess and bombast. Released on the heels of the breakup of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Romantic Warrior still sounds like a standard-bearer for jazz fusion, full of flashy solos and complicated arrangements that seem like collages of different moods, meters, and tempos. The album is much closer to the progressive rock of Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, or King Crimson than anything from the jazz realm. Return to Forever's rhythm team of bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White, who gives the group a subtly funkier sound than most of their contemporaries. Still, it's pianist Chick Corea, using a veritable arsenal of keyboards and effects, and guitarist Al DiMeola, only 21 at the time of this recording, who define Romantic Warrior as a fusion landmark. --Ezra Gale

"Medieval Overture" (Corea) – 5:14
"Sorceress" (White) – 7:34
"The Romantic Warrior" (Corea) – 10:52
"Majestic Dance" (Di Meola) – 5:01
"The Magician" (Clarke) – 5:29
"Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" (Part I & Part II) (Corea) – 11:26

 

[Dennie]

LIVE

Return To Forever

1977 Columbia Records

Return to Forever was jazz keyboard player Chick Corea's jazz-rock fusion band of the 1970s. Like Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it was a group formed by an alumnus of Miles Davis' late-'60s bands with the intention of furthering the jazz-rock hybrid Davis had explored on albums like Bitches Brew. At the time, this was seen as a means of creativity, a new direction for jazz, and as a way of attracting the kinds of large audiences enjoyed by rock musicians. Return to Forever started out as more of a Latin-tinged jazz ensemble, but Corea, influenced by the Mahavishnu Orchestra of John McLaughlin and some of the progressive rock bands coming out of Great Britain, notably Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, moved the group more toward rock, achieving considerable commercial success. A later re-orientation of the band gave it more of a big band style before Corea folded the unit, retaining the Return to Forever name for occasional other projects. Corea formed Return to Forever in the fall of 1971 while he was working in Stan Getz's band, and the two groups shared some members. In addition to Corea on keyboards, the initial lineup featured Stanley Clarke on bass, Joe Farrell on reeds, and the Brazilian husband-and-wife team of percussionist Airto Moreira and singer Flora Purim. "Return to Forever" was the name of the first tune Corea wrote for the outfit, and he then adapted it as the group's name.

Side one

"So Long Mickey Mouse" (Stanley Clarke) – 6:53
"The Musician" (Chick Corea) – 7:03
"Chick's Piano" (Corea) – 4:35
"Musicmagic" (Corea, Gayle Moran) – 6:29

Side two

"The Moorish Warrior and Spanish Princess" (Clarke) – 6:39
"Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 3:19
"The Endless Night (Part I)" (Corea, Moran) – 8:00
"The Endless Night (Part II)" (Corea, Moran) – 7:14

8699

 

[Dennie]

Return To Forever

Chick Corea

1972 ECM Records

Amazon.com essential recording

The soul of fusion lies not in the barrage of note clusters played through overdriven amplifiers but in the arresting beauty of Return to Forever's lucid vision of music without boundaries. The stunningly virtuosic pianist Chick Corea had already gone through an exploration of free jazz with Circle, tutelage in the Miles Davis Academy of New Electric Music and the soul-searching of "Piano Improvisations" when he arrived at his most brilliant conception. Corea and bassist Stanley Clarke fly through the proceedings, supporting Joe Farrell's flute and soprano sax playing in what may have been the performance of his life. Flora Purim's vocals and Airto Moreira's drums and percussion work discretely in service of the music's serenity. --John Swenson

"Return to Forever" – 12:06
"Crystal Silence" – 6:59
"What Game Shall We Play Today" – 4:30
"Sometime Ago - La Fiesta" – 23:13

 

[Dennie]

Light As A Feather

Chick Corea and Return To Forever

1972 Polydor Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Featuring the same band as the first Return to Forever album--vocalist Flora Purim, saxophonist-flutist Joe Farrell, bassist Stanley Clarke, and drummer Airto-- 1973's Light As a Feather was the result of a conscious effort on Chick Corea's part to communicate with a broader audience. Although Corea's electric piano and Purim's spacey-samba vocals might sound dated, the album includes a couple of Corea's most beloved compositions, "500 Miles High" and "Spain." Subsequent Return to Forever albums turned to conceptual bombast and silly fantasies. Here, Corea strikes an appealing balance between art and accessibility. --Rick Mitchell

"You're Everything" – 5:11
"Light as a Feather" – 10:57
"Captain Marvel" – 4:53
"500 Miles High" – 9:07
"Children's Song" – 2:47
"Spain" – 9:51

 

[Dennie]

Moonflower -- 2 LP Set

Santana

1977 Columbia Records

Moonflower is a 1977 studio and live double album by Santana. The recording features both studio and live tracks, which are interspersed with one another throughout the album. It is considered to be a fan favorite, and is perhaps the group's most popular live album, because Lotus did not receive a U.S. domestic release until the early 1990s. It displays a mix between the fusion of Latin and blues-rock styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the much more experimental and spiritual jazz fusion sound that characterized the band's mid-1970s work. The live material was recorded during the supporting tour for the Festival album, which displayed a similar mix of styles, and many of the album's songs are featured here – namely, the three song medley which opens Festival.

Side one

"Dawn/Go Within" (Coster, Santana) – 2:44 (studio)
"Carnaval" (Coster) – 2:17 (live)
"Let the Children Play" (Santana) – 2:37 (live)
"Jugando" (Santana) – 2:09 (live)
"I'll Be Waiting" (Santana) – 5:20 (studio) (also issued on single)
"Zulu" (Santana, Coster) – 3:25 (studio)

Side two

"Bahia" (Santana, Coster) – 1:37 (studio)
"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" (Green, Szabo) – 6:32 (live)
"Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" (Chancler, Coster, Rubinson) – 7:45 (live)
"Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" (Santana, Coster) – 6:07 (live)

Side three

"She's Not There" (Argent) – 4:09 (studio) (also issued on single)
"Flor d'Luna (Moonflower)" (Coster) – 5:01 (studio)
"Soul Sacrifice/Head, Hands & Feet" (Santana Band, Lear) – 14:01 (live)

Side four

"El Morocco" (Coster, Santana) – 5:05 (studio)
"Transcendence" (Santana) – 5:13 (studio)
"Savor/Toussaint L'Overture" (Santana Band, Santana) – 12:56 (live)

 

[Dennie]

E.C. Was Here

Eric Clapton

1975 RSO Records

Eric Clapton, December 3, 2007
By bepd527 "Bruce" (Seattle , Wa) - See all my reviews

I'm 55 yrs young and have enjoyed his music since I can remember. I purchased this LP when it was released and still do not regret it. What a talent and songwriter. Does anyone remember the Yardbirds and so forth ? It is a must for any blues fan ? of course it is . Just sit down , shut up and listen.

1. "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (Billy Myles) – 7:49
2. "Presence of the Lord" (Clapton) – 6:40
3. "Driftin' Blues" (Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams) – 11:30
4. "Can't Find My Way Home" (Steve Winwood) – 5:18
5. "Ramblin' on My Mind" (Robert Johnson) – 7:38
6. "Further on Up the Road" (Joe Medwick, Don Robey) – 7:30

 

[Dennie]

Chronicles

Steve Winwood

1987 Island Records

Chronicles is the first compilation album by blue-eyed soul artist Steve Winwood. The album contains some of his major hits and several remixes up to this point. One notable track, "Valerie", was originally released as a single for Winwood's 1982 album, Talking Back to the Night. Despite the original single being a commercial flop, a successful remix of the song is included in this album, peaking at #9 on the US charts.

1. "Wake Me Up On Judgment Day" 5:47
2. "While You See a Chance" 5:09
3. "Vacant Chair" (Remix) (Steve Winwood, Vivian Stanshall) 6:49
4. "Help Me Angel" (Remix) 4:57
5. "My Love's Leavin'" (Steve Winwood, Vivian Stanshall) 5:19
6. "Valerie" (Remix) 4:05
7. "Arc of a Diver" (Steve Winwood, Vivian Stanshall)
8. "Higher Love"
9. "Spanish Dancer"
10. "Talking Back to the Night" (Remix)

 

[Botch]

Not an album, but my buddy in Missouri posted this EweTube clip. I loved this song as a kid and don't think I've heard it in over three decades; brought a smile to my face.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX1BPItDcDo[/youtube]