I “discovered” this album in Gregg Allman’s autobiography. Gregg off offhandedly mentioned that one of brother Duane’s greatest performances was on this album. To quote: “My brother played is ass off. His Dobro work on ‘Walk on Gilded Splinters’ was just flat-out evil, man, and that’s why we still do that song to this very day.”
Well that was enough to stir my curiosity and so I headed over to emusic to download a copy (sorry not exactly crate digging, but at $200 on eBay for an original vinyl, finding this at a garage sale would be real gold) .
I am currently obsessed with “Walk on Gilded Splinters.” This song was sampled by Beck in his breakthrough hit “Loser.” It is beyond brilliant – it is timeless. Evoking both soul/blues and hip hop. This song and the whole album should resonate with fans of neo-blues rock hipsters (e.g. Black Keys, Jack White, etc.). Walk on Gilded Splinters is the standout track, but the whole album is great.
I turns out that this was going to be Duane Allman’s solo album, but he got distracted by starting a little band called the Allman Brothers. Jenkins was no slouch himself – an established bandleader who first hired Otis Redding. The album foreshadows the innovative southern rock style the Allman Brothers would go on to invent.
I am real sucker for rock and roll autobiographies and biographies. I breezed through this one in about a week – fast for me. Not as good as Keith Richards’ Life – but that who can compete with a candid Keith Richards.
The Allman Brothers are one of the most innovative bands in the history of rock and roll – incorporating the blues, R&B, country and jazz into an amazing gumbo. Although they invented southern rock, they spurned the redneck pride associated with the genre. Their greatness can’t be denied and Gregg Allman is one of the all time great rock and roll vocalist and songwriters.
Gregg (or as we learn Gregory to his real friends) writes a candid autobiography. Living in the shadow of his brother Duane (who makes most top 10 lists of greatest guitarist) was a mighty curse. He avoided that challenge with drugs and alcohol. I am a fan of both the Brothers and Gregg solo – and I am amazed he produced the kind of excellence he did given the mess he was.
Gregg had so much bad press in his time: married to Cher (true), Narc (sort of), minor talent compared to his brother (not true), junkie (true), alcoholic (yeah), womanizer (hey only 6 marriages) and douchebag (yeah). It is amazing he was able to rise above all of that. His story is pretty compelling and the concept of the Allman Brothers is pretty amazing to survive multiple tragedies and abuse.
I have seen the Bothers twice – both times the modern Derek Truck/Warren Haynes version – and when you read this book it is even more amazing that they could survive into this millennium, let alone reinvent themselves into a band that rivaled their early greatness. Gregg literally took every opportunity to shoot himself in the foot and shit can his career, yet his artistic output transcended his stupidity.
If you are a fan, you should read this book. It will make you appreciate Gregg and the Brothers that much more.
As a side note, by reading this book I discovered Johnny Jenkins Ton-Ton Macoute!- a truly amazing album.
Back in my youth they called this a slow jam. This is a great album if you like simmer and not a hard boil. For me there is not an obvious breakout single, but that is OK by me as I am an album guy.
I know this guy has gotten lots of hype: member of Odd Future (which means nothing to me), straight/gay, Target controversy etc. All I know is that a couple of years ago when listening to pwelbs‘ radio show he would play these amazing songs and I would ask “who is this?” It was Frank Ocean (from his mix tape Nostalgia, Ultra). So when the hype machine started growling about this release I was all in.
The first thing that came to mind when I listened to this album was D’Angelo’s Voodoo (one of my favorite recent R&B albums – oops that was 2000, but recent compared to Marvin’s Sexual Healing to my old ears). Voodoo and channel ORANGE both are slow jams, they both have a hip hop point of view and a nod to sophisticated classic R&B. I hear so many influences: D’Angelo, Prince (another cat who played the straight/gay mystique early in his career) , Stevie, Marvin, and even a little Joni Mitchell (a huge influence on Prince too). “Sweet Life” would not sound out-of-place on Joni’s Court and Spark.
The masterpiece of the album is “Pyramids” clocking in at close to 10 minutes. Musically this a tour de force – defining the Frank Ocean sound: hip hop beats, soulful vocals, and a seductive narrative. It starts with the Cleopatra story and bridges into the ultimate male fantasy and nightmare (a first person lament from a guy whose girlfriend is a stripper). A contemporary twisted R&B symphony – eat your heart out Kanye.
On first listen I thought – epic. On subsequent listens I kept trying to knock it down (trying to dismiss it as nothing that special), but it this album keeps dusting itself off and standing tall – it gets better with each listen.
The only thing I knew about this book when I picked it up is that was about baseball and that it had received rave reviews. I found it a wonderful novel – entertaining and thought-provoking. It is rare that the major flaw in a book is that it ends – I wanted it to go on forever.
What I liked most about the book were the characters. They were richly drawn. They were brilliantly confounding:
- One moment heroic, the next moment merely ordinary
- Driven, then slacking
- Exceptional, ordinary
- Straight, gay
- Monomaniacal, dispassionate
I wanted to understand these characters and get under their skin. The more I got to know them, the more they delighted. They had depth and breadth. I want to know what happens to these characters over the next few years.
Great book, highly recommend.
Of the Minneapolis big three of the late 80s (The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, and Soul Asylum) only Soul Asylum was unafraid of success: hit songs, big time MTV rotation, a lead singer with a big time movie star girlfriend, major label, etc. Grave Dancer’s Union arrived on the scene at the perfect moment – in the wake of Nirvana’s Nevermind – the rock audience was looking for more of the same.
Although they never repeated the success of Grave Dancer’s Union, they have continued to put our quality material over the years. Their latest, Delayed Reaction, adds to the resume. It is the Soul Asylum sound, but not nostalgic. Instead this is mature adult alternative rock. Sneaking into their 50s these guys continue to rock with relevance.
I find this a wonderful album. This fits me well, but then I am a Minneapolis kid just a couple of grades ahead of these guys. It is great to see a band of this vintage continuing to work their craft with great finesse. There a few singles here that would sound perfect in rotation in the early 90s, yet they don’t sound our of place on The Current today.
This the first single by the Chicago band whysowhite. I have had the opportunity to see these guys live a couple of times now. They are fantastic live. I hate to pigeonhole them to a genre, as they mix funk, hip hop, rock, a capella, pop, blue-eyed soul, etc. This song is on the pop side of whysowhite – not hurt your teeth sweet, but cane sugar sweet. The song is now available on iTunes and other services. It can be streamed above. This song is a good representation of the band, but don’t think this what they are all about – when we get a full album it will take several sharp angles. For now we have a great roll down your windows, slip off your shoes, and cruise Lake Shore Drive song.
One more legend crossed of the bucket list. I have always heard that Neil Diamond is the consummate crowd-pleaser and now I know what all the fuss is about. He is like the ultimate lounge singer – with major distinction: he wrote all the songs. Neil panders to the audience in such an over the top way that it actually works.
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I can’t do a better review than the local papers – so listen to the experts:
Set list:
Soolaimon/ Beautiful Noise/ Forever in Blue Jeans/ Hello Again/ Love on the Rocks/ Play Me/ Shilo/ Red Red Wine/ You Got To Me/ Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon/ Cherry Cherry/ Kentucky Woman/ Solitary Man/ Glory Road/ I’m a Believer (both a slow talk-sing version and then a rock version)/ You Don’t Bring Me Flowers/ Crunchy Granola Suite/ Holly Holy/ Sweet Caroline/ I Am…I Said ENCORE Cracklin Rosie/ America/ Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show/ I’ve Been This Way Before
This 1973 release is under the strong influence of Miles’ Bitches Brew. By this point the sound had been perfected by the Miles alum. This was Herbie’s first album for Columbia after a short stay with Warner Brothers. Over three albums at Warner Brothers Herbie had taken his electric sound from accessible funk to an “out there” sound – almost the electric jazz version of free or avant-garde jazz.
This release was even more free with just a touch of the funk of the previous three albums. Evidently the poor sales of this album inspired Herbie to go mainstream with his next album, the legendary Headhunters.
As much as I love Headhunters it is refreshing to see how wild Herbie could be. This album is not for everyone, but if you love Headhunters, but are slightly burned out by its accessibility, give this album a spin. Herbie has a wall of keyboards and uses their many tones artfully and not gimmicky. The other players are all extraordinary instrumentalists. Fans of challenging electronica and dub-step may find this album appealing.
I consider Miles Davis Bitches Brew one of the great album covers of all time. Tonight I wondered who was the artist? It is Mati Klarwein and he had several great covers including Gregg Allman’s Laid Back. Check out his website and see some of his amazing stuff.
A special treat is the album cover for the ill-fated Jimi Hendrix/Gil Evans collaboration.
A big thanks to Oz from Crowdnoize and Rule No One Collective for the great new logo. Oz was a complete pleasure to work with. I gave him some vague concepts and he came back with a logo that completely captures the spirit of what I am trying to do here at catchgroove.com . Wonderful job Oz. Send him some work!
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