Category Archives: Great albums

Great albums, Great Bands, Rolling Stones

September 4: Get Yer Ya-Ya’s out! The Rolling Stones in Concert was released in 1970

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September 4: Get Yer Ya-Ya’s out! The Rolling Stones in Concert was released in 1970

“I have no doubt that it’s the best rock concert ever put on record.”
~Lester Bangs

“Recorded during their American tour in late 1969, and centered around live versions of material from the Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed era. Often acclaimed as one of the top live rock albums of all time, its appeal has dimmed a little today…  it’s certainly the Stones’ best official live recording.”
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

Carol – 27 Nov 1969:

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Great albums, Music Calendar, The Who, The Who video

September 4: The Who released It’s Hard in 1982

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It’s Hard is the tenth studio album by English rock band The Who. It is the last Who album to feature bassist John Entwistle and drummer Kenney Jones, as well as the last to be released on Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was their last album until 2006’s Endless Wire. It was released in 1982 on Polydor in the UK, peaking at #11,] and on Warner Bros. in the US where it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts. It got mixed reviews on its release, but I find it interesting. It’s a bit different, but I love Townshend’s playfulness and willingness to seek new challenges.

The Rolling Stone Magazine’s Parke Puterbaugh gave the album a rave review and said it was their best album since Who’s Next:

“The key to the album is “I’ve Known No War,” a song that could become an anthem to our generation much the way “Won’t Get Fooled Again” did a decade ago.

…

The entire album is vibrant with the palpable energy of rekindled bonds and rediscovered group values.

…

It’s a long road the Who have traveled from the bristling, bare-knuckled fury of their early days to the present. They rank among a handful of vanguard rock musicians who show signs of pushing through the age barrier and creating a viable adult vocabulary for rock, one that faces up to the moral responsibilities of middle age and allows them to use their craft to effectively shape consciousness. It must seem especially ironic to Townshend that this is true of the band that sang “hope I die before I get old” back in 1965, but there you go: always the group that delivers the unexpected. “

Eminence Front (Live, official video):

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Great albums, Music Calendar

September 2: Bad Reputation by Thin Lizzy was released in 1977

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Bad Reputation is Thin Lizzy’s eighth studio album, released in 1977. As the front cover suggests, most of the tracks feature only three-quarters of the band, with guitarist Brian Robertson only credited on three tracks. He had missed most of their earlier tour, following an injury sustained in a brawl, and this album turned out to be his last studio effort with Thin Lizzy.

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Phil Lynott at Winterland 1977 Photo: Chris Bradford

Allmusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote:

“Teaming up with legendary producer Tony Visconti, Thin Lizzy managed to pull off a nifty trick of sounding leaner and tougher than they did on Johnny, yet they also had a broader sonic palette. Much of this is due, of course, to Visconti, who always had a flair for subtle dramatics that never called attention to themselves, and he puts this to use in dramatic effect here, to the extent that Lizzy sound stripped down to their bare bones, even when they have horns pushing them forward on “Dancing in the Moonlight” or when overdubbed vocals pile up on the title track. Of course, they were stripped down to a trio for most of this record: guitarist Brian Robertson (who’d injured his hand) had to sit out on most of the recording, but Scott Gorham’s double duty makes his absence unnoticeable. Plus, this is pure visceral rock & roll, the hardest and heaviest that Thin Lizzy ever made, living up to the promise of the title track. And, as always, a lot of this has to do with Phil Lynott’s writing, which is in top form whether he’s romanticizing “Soldiers of Fortune” or heading down the “Opium Trail.” It adds up to an album that rivals Jailbreak as their best studio album.”

My three favorite Lizzy albums are:

1. Bad Reputation
2. Johnny The Fox
3. Jailbreak

It is strange to listen to these albums now, they are so mellow and soulful. We regarded them as hard rock records in the late 70s, but now I will describe them as Hard-rock/soul albums. And how great is Phil Lynott’s singing, he’s a great soul singer!

Dancing In The Moonlight (Live and Dangerous, DVD):

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Country, folk, Great albums, Singer Songwriter, Townes Van Zandt

September: Townes Van Zandt released Townes Van Zandt (album) in 1969

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Townes Van Zandt is the third release by Townes Van Zandt, released in 1969. It includes re-recordings of four songs from his 1968 debut album, including the first serious song he ever wrote, “Waitin’ Around To Die”.

The cover photograph was taken by Sol Mednick in the kitchen of Poppy Records artwork designer Milton Glaser and features Van Zandt sitting at a table with his eyes closed. Comparing the album cover to the one that adorned Van Zandt’s previous album, Our Mother The Mountain, biographer John Kruth observes, “Where his black eyes once glared so hard you might’ve wondered if he shattered the photographer’s lens, Van Zandt now appears withdrawn…Here he sits resigned, head in hand, in a perfectly painted kitchen where everything is neatly arranged, as in a doll’s house.” Some fans refer to Townes Van Zandt as The Kitchen Album.

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Country, George Jones, Great albums, Music Calendar

September: George Jones released I am what I am in 1980

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September: George Jones released I am what I am in 1980

I love the voice of George Jones, and today we present his best album, I am What I am. It was released September 1980 on Epic Records label, then on July 4, 2000 this album was re–released with bonus tracks on the Legacy Recordings label. It peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and number 132 on the Pop Albums chart. I Am What I Am went Gold in 1981 and Platinum in 1983. We can not find the exact release date, but September it is.

Merle Haggard wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that “His voice was like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made.” This was never more true than on this classic country release.

When George Jones was divorced from Tammy Wynette in 1975, he went on an epic binge, an excess in cocaine and alcohol. His albums continued to sell ok and his singles were on the charts, he actually recorded some of his most popular songs between 1975 and 1980, but George was a wreck on a personal level.

He started cancelling concerts in large numbers and he got the un-flattering nick name, “No Show Jones”. George Jones went into rehab at a psychiatric hospital in Muscle Shoals. Thank God for that, it was the start of what would be his best record. It is a dark album, full of heartbreak and drinking, good melodies and the velvet voice of the restrained, but strong Mr. Jones.

George Jones – If Drinking Don’t Kill Me (1982) :

“I Am What I Am announced that George Jones had officially returned to form artistically and, in the process, it became his biggest hit album ever. It’s easy to see why — the production is commercial without being slick, the songs are balanced between aching ballads and restrained honky tonk numbers, and Jones gives a nuanced, moving performance. “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “I’m Not Ready Yet,” and “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” were the hits, but the remaining seven album tracks are exceptionally strong, without a weak track in the bunch.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic)

That is so true, all tracks are very good (not just the three hit singles!). This album is the sound of George Jones at his peak and it’s the highlight of his later years.

George Jones – He stopped loving her today (live, 1 July 1980, Canada):

George Jones – I am What I am on Spotify:

 

…and he has one of the best shirts in country music history on the cover!

– Hallgeir