Louisiana Soul Man by Dalton Reed

I was listening to Ross's iPod on shuffle a little while ago and I heard a song that I just loved. I looked to see who the artist was and it was Dalton Reed. The song was so good that I thought to myself, "The rest of this CD is probably as good or better than this song." Thus I put this CD in my listening rotation. I was disappointed to find out that the rest of the CD was not as good as this one song.

Dalton Reed is a soul, and rhythm and blues singer from Louisiana. All of this could actually be gathered just from reading the title of the CD. Duh! This CD is a set of "almost new songs" written by other people including Delbert McClinton, Dr. John, and Otis Redding. Dalton Reed's voice reminds me of Luther Vandross. It is as smooth as silk and as big as the room it's in. I like his voice, he could sing to me anytime. The songs and music that accompany the voice however are very dated. The CD was released in 1992 and it sure seems like it. I don't know how to describe why this CD sounds like the 90s but it is similar to that Taj Mahal CD I reviewed a couple of months ago. The band's groove is one I heard before, maybe from some old Luther Vandross or Billy Ocean album. There are a few blues songs on the CD that are ok and a song that has Louisiana roots so it isn't as bad as I am making it out to be. As a whole thought, it just wasn't working for me.

My favorite songs are "Read Me My Rights" and "Chained and Bound." The former song was the song I heard on Ross's iPod. I love the words of the song and I like the song's groove.
"The sun is shinin'
But you don't you know it's rainin' in my heart...
Before you do me wrong tonight
Baby, baby, read me my rights "
It has more of an old fashioned Motown beat than it does a tired 90s beat, like some of the other songs on the CD. The latter song is an old Otis Redding song and he does a great rendition of it. In that song he totally belts it out. Just like an Otis Redding song should be sung.

I don't know why Ross bought this CD. It was probably because of "Read Me My Rights." When I went back to look at his iPod and see how much of this CD he had on it, that was the only song on it. That told me a lot. He probably bought it after hearing that one song somewhere (KBEM or KFAI) and then felt the same way I did once he heard the rest of the CD, like he'd been jacked. I am not keeping a CD for one song. If you don't know me by now, there it is. I don't believe that you should keep a CD for one song. That is why we have CD burners in our computer to burn that one song you like then you can get rid of the CD. So if anyone wants this CD they are welcome to it. Just let me know.

[Just as an aside, check out the little player I added to the bottom of this post. It has the first song I talked about and you can just listen to it straight away. Thanks Mark B. for your help! By the way, if you ever want to send Mark B. fan mail, he will accept it. I can hook you up. Also if anyone else ever wants to comment on my posts, they can. He won't feel threatened by it.]

Read Me My Rights - Dalton Ree...

Okemah and the Melody of Riot by Son Volt

Listening to Ross’s CDs has been like opening a gift every week. Sometimes I open the gift and think “really, he shouldn’t have,” "it just doesn't fit," or “what was he thinking?” Then there are other times when I open the gift and I let out a small sigh of contentment and happiness because it was something unexpected yet truly wonderful. I know that seems a little over the top but I felt like this when I listened to this CD. I started listening to it when spring had really started to explode. I would play the CD in my car stereo really loud, roll all of the windows down, feel the breeze ruffle my hair, and think "this is perfect." It was cool to listen to as the landscape of pink, white, purple, and green trees and blue skies with small puffy clouds rolled past my window. Count yourself lucky to not be on the road when I was listening to this. I was probably paying more attention to the spring scenes than the road.

Son Volt, for those of you who don't know the band, are best described as an alternative-country band. The band was formed from former members of Uncle Tupelo, another alt-country band. The lead singer's voice has a slight twang to it, harmonicas can be heard in a few songs, the guitars are rocking pretty hard though so it isn't always sounding like country music. This CD reminds me of Jayhawks' CDs, lots of guitar and melodies, but without the harmonies.

My favorite songs are "Ipecac" and "Gramophone." Both songs are really mellow but I like the melodies. "Ipecac" is intriguing to me because the lyrics make absolutely no sense. Even the chorus doesn't shed much light on the meaning of the song.
"Watch out for love like Ipecac
A strange brew we're looking at"
Does that mean watch out for love that makes you vomit? That could be a good vomit (you're so excited you vomit) or a bad vomit (the love is making you sick vomit). Or is it a love that takes all of the poison out of your system from bad loves? The link below is from the second song. The second song is about how people used to listen to music. I tried looking up gramophone in the dictionary so I could make sure I knew what I was talking about. It's not even in the dictionary anymore! I love this line in the song, "Colors in sound jump out sitting by the gramophone." I think they are trying to say that music used to sound better when we listened to it from vinyl. It doesn't help their cause if they want to sell CDs but they do sound better. I always did love to hear the scratch of the needle on the record.

Ross really liked Uncle Tupelo and tried its spinoffs, Son Volt and Wilco. Although truly his favorite was Uncle Tupelo. I think he was always a little mad that they had broken up and formed these two other bands but he did start to enjoy the other bands. That's probably why he has this CD.

As I was thinking about this CD and why I liked it so much, I realized that it is the music I like to listen to. This CD has the music I turn to when I want some downtime from listening to Ross's CDs. I think that is why I felt so relieved when I started listening to it. It wasn't as though I would need to take a break from it to listen to my music. In the end, I'd liken it to opening a gift and finding that ratty old blanket you have been holding onto for years but you absolutely love and would never get rid of. I'm keeping this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZxW7U48CQY

I'll Play the Blues for You by Albert King and John Lee Hooker

This CD is a keeper. The first time I put it in the CD player, I knew. I had to keep this CD. It is just really good. Who would've thought I would be saying this 3 months into this project? I have never listened to the blues as much as I have since I started this. I can't say I will always like the blues that I listen to but I like this one. It is an interesting CD. It is a live recording done in Chicago. The first four songs are by Albert King and the last five songs are John Lee Hooker. It's a cool arrangement. I don't know much about either men but according to Mark B. (one of my followers who knows a lot more about the blues than I ever will) they are both great guitarists and blues singers. I have heard of John Lee Hooker before but never Albert King. Albert King, according to some of the stuff I have read, had influenced a lot of blues guitarists but also people like Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

My favorite song by Albert King is "The Very Thought of You." I couldn't find a version on YouTube of him singing it, there are a lot of versions out there though by people like Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday. I did include a link to him singing "Born Under a Bad Sign," which he is famous for and is also on the CD. I like "The Very Thought of You" because it is just a sweet song and from this song you can tell it is a live recording. He starts to sing and you can barely hear him, it does start pretty low. Then you can hear him clear his throat and he is much stronger. It just really makes it plain that this is a live recording, nothing is taped over or redone here. My favorite song by John Lee Hooker has got to be "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer." One of my younger coworkers saw this CD and that song and said "That's George Thoroughgood's song." I can say to him though, John Lee Hooker recorded it first. That song is the other link below. I just think, how can you hear that song and not smile, just a little.

"I ain't seen my baby since night before last
I wanna get drunk till I'm off of my mind
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer"

Gotta love the sentiment.

Ross loved the blues and jazz a lot. I am sure that is why he bought this CD. It's a CD that is cool in the way it is recorded with the two guys on it. In addition, it is another CD where it says in the liner notes, if you can't see the blues live then this CD is the next best thing. Sounds like seeing blues live with guys like these is darn near impossible since most of them are dead or close to it! Might as well get all the live CDs you can of them. If only I had some bbq ribs, a dark smoky room, and one bourbon, one scotch, one beer to go with these CDs. Then it would be perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIvka3SSv9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJ-lBOFYrQ

Tied & True by The Detroit Cobras

The Detroit Cobras are called "garage rock" when you google them. I am not sure what the definition of garage rock is. Is it rock you listen to in a garage or is it rock that sounds like it was recorded in a garage? Neither of those really defines the band for me. I think a better way to describe them is that they are a grrl band. The lead singer has a great gravelly voice that sounds like she has smoked one too many cigarettes. Her voice could rival Suzanne Pleshette for smoky. Then there are of course the prerequisite hard-driving guitars and hard-hitting drums. Their music reminded me of modern versions of songs from the 1960s, stuff like "My Boyfriend's Back." I think I even heard a motorcycle engine revving in the background of one of the songs. Then I looked up the band, which I usually don't do, and found out that they only do covers. That's why all those songs sounded so familiar. They pick songs that are from their own record collections, usually pretty obscure songs, and then redo them in their rockin' style. The song below is "As Long As I Have You." It is a good example of what the Cobras sound like and it is from this CD.

My favorite songs are "Nothing But a Heart Ache" and "Leave My Kitten Alone." I just like the beats in the first song. In "Leave My Kitten Alone" I love that the background singers just keep saying "Meow." It's kind of hilarious but the way they do it, it sounds like one tough kitty. The Beatles do a version of it but an even better version is the original by Little Willie John. I put that as the second YouTube clip. LISTEN to that. It is a great version.

Ross had a thing a couple of years ago for girl bands. He bought some Detroit Cobras, Shonen Knife, and the Soviettes. He bought a different Detroit Cobras CD but he liked them so much he bought this one too. I think he liked the tough girl thing. I like this CD and I am keeping it. (I know I am not really getting the CD collection culled like I should.) This CD doesn't have any real meaning or sentiment but it is a great CD to just listen to when you want to feel like you are sitting on a motorcycle, with a leather jacket, daring anyone to start a fight with you. C'mon, knock that battery off my shoulder, I dare you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8vSaT_4U20&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1y_FKlwdjk