Chicago Transit Authority (1969)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2002 reissue.

So I've conditioned myself to pick up anything released by Rhino that I see in the used bins. So while I've got the hits from this CD on compilations, I couldn't resist this for $3:

Prog rock with horns, it's a good album, especially for a debut (it really takes some balls to put out a double LP debut). Still, like most double album sets, this would have made a spectacular single disc by getting rid of the "jam band" and vanity cuts:

Side One (approximately 22.5 minutes):

1. Introduction
2. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
3. Beginnings
4. Listen

Side Two (approximately 19.5 minutes):

1. Questions 67 And 68
2. South California Purples
3. I'm a Man

But nobody asked me, probably because I was two years old when this thing was released (although there might have been other reasons I wasn't consulted). Still, I'm glad I picked it up to find a few album cuts with which I was previously unfamiliar: Introduction, Listen, and the bluesy South California Purples. I'm not wild about Poem 58 and Free Form Guitar.

Released in April, this is definitely a summer album.

Billboard, May 19, 1969

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #17

Tracks: see above

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The song Beginnings reminds me of a couples trip to Matagorda Beach during the Lost Summer of Mark. I took along my cassette copy of Chicago IX; Beginnings and the Steve Winwood hit Roll With It led to some sort of disagreement/fight with my companion.  But I suppose that bad memory isn't really associated with this CD so nevermind.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Only The Beginning: The Very Best Of Chicago (2002)
Greatest Hits 1982-1989 (1989)
Chicago 17 (1984)
Chicago 16 (1982)

Keb' Mo' - Live: That Hot Pink Blues Album (2016)

Is there such a thing as "feel good blues"? (The question is rhetorical - the answer is yes and the supporting evidence is right here.)

Most live albums seem like a shameless money grabs or concert souvenirs, but this double disc set simply makes the argument that all Keb' Mo' should be live albums. 16 songs from nine stops on his 2015 nationwide tour. Blues, roots, folk, pop, whatever you wanna call it, it's day-umm good. My only complaint would be the oversight of omitting the song Am I Right from the setlist.

I'm left with this question: how much would I have to pay Keb' Mo' to come sit on my porch and sing blues songs with me? 

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Peak on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart: #3
Peak on the US Billboard Folk Albums chart: #12
Peak on the US Billboard Independent Albums chart: #33

Tracks: From Disc One, my favorites are Tell Everybody I Know, Somebody Hurt You, The Worst Is Yet To Come, and the funk of Government Cheese. On Disc Two, my picks are More Than One Way Home, The Old Me Better, and Rita.

Favorite bit of patter: when one fan yells out "Freebird!" Keb' Mo' stops what he's doing, laughs along with the audience, then replies, "Ima learn that song to shut y'all up."

DownBeat, August 2016, p. 73

For the record, that 3 star rating is low, especially when you consider DownBeat has a reputation for handing out 4 stars like candy.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Live And Mo' (2009)
Suitcase (2006)
Peace...Back by Popular Demand (2004)
Keep It Simple (2004)
Just Like You (1996)
Keb' Mo' (1994)

Bernard Purdie - Soul To Jazz (1996)

Note: that's not Bernard Purdie on the album cover.

I picked this CD up on the (very) cheap based on Purdie's reputation as a groove/funk drummer who claims to be the "world's most recorded drummer" and inventor of a signature groove called the "Purdie Shuffle."

However, I didn't even glance at the liner notes so I wasn't expecting a big band album - that's on me. Purdie brings his A-game, as always, but most of these covers don't really work as big band charts. But I will admit that this is one of those albums that improves with each listening so I'm not giving up on it just yet.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

The tunes that do work are Iko Iko (saved by a sweet Dean Brown guitar solo), Sidewinder, and Work Song. Tunes that don't work so well: When A Man Loves A Woman, Freedom Jazz Dance, and Gimme Some Lovin'. The cover of Land Of 1,000 Dancers [sic] isn't a great arrangement, but may contain some of the best work by Purdie on the album. Dude is absolutely crushin' it.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: none

Leo Kottke - Guitar Music (1981)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

I originally found this album by happy accident when the vinyl was calling out to me from the $1 vinyl bin. I was completely unfamiliar with Kottke and his work so this was one of those chances that ultimately pays off. Got this CD in hopes the sound would be better that a scratchy record and I was right. This is the most fascinating album I've heard since I came across John Surman's work (note: I'm not comparing Surman to Kottke other than the fact that both musicians produce works like I've never heard before). The twelve brief instrumental pieces here, performed by Kottke on Gibson J-45 and Lundberg-Martin 12 string guitars, can be described as a melodic fusion of folk, blues, jazz, and New Age music or, as I would have called it 30 years ago, "NPR music." The playing is crisp and technically spectacular. Great for porch sittin' on a hot afternoon. My only complaint is the 35 minute playing time.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: I don't skip any, but I'm partial to Part Two, Perforated Sleep, Little Shoes, Agile N., and the two covers that end the album, All I Have To Do Is Dream and Sleep Walk, the latter with some fantastic chord substitutions..

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

The B-52's - Good Stuff (1992)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

As the follow-up to Cosmic Thing, I had high hopes for this album, and while there are some classic B-52's songs to be found here, it doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor (granted, that's asking a lot of the group). For reasons I won't go into here, the former quintet had become a trio, but it still sounds like pretty much any other B-52's album (except Bouncing Off the Satellites).  It's party rock and that's what I'm looking for - ballads need not apply.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #16

Rolling Stone, July 9, 1992, p. 101

Tracks: The production duties were evenly split among Nile Rodgers and Don Was; long-time readers of the blog would expect me to prefer the Rodgers tracks, and even I'm surprised that's not true. My top tracks are Tell It Like It T-I-Is, Revolution Earth (Rodgers), Hot Pants Explosion, Good Stuff, and Is That You Mo-Dean (Was). Fred shoulda left all the singing to Kate on Dreamland. I'm guessing I listened to side A of my cassette more than side B, probably because the album falls apart near the end - no particularly bad tracks, but nothing you'll be humming later in the day.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I remember getting rid my cassette during an ill-advised vinyl and tape purge in 1994. In my defense, I was starting...nah, nevermind. I gots nothin'. No excuse for that purge. None.

I often use the phrase "Tell It Like It T-I-Is" much to the chagrin and/or embarrassment of my family. Deal with it.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Funplex (2008)
Time Capsule: Songs For A Future Generation (1998)
Love Shack (1989)
Bouncing Off the Satellites (1986)
Whammy! (1983)
Party Mix/Mesopotamia (1981/1982)

CD Longbox, notable for the following
message from the band printed on the back:

Grover Washington, Jr. - The Best Is Yet To Come (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a "Target" CD.

Not the best GWJr album, but with one of the originators of the smooth jazz/instrumental R&B genre, you know what you're getting into when you buy the thing. It's predictable, formulaic, and even a little dated, but none of that matters because it's perfect music for relaxation, decompressing, and de-stressing. Grover is joined by some of my favorite studio jazzers of the time: Ralph MacDonald (percussion), Marcus Miller (bass), Eric Gale (guitar), and Richard Tee (electric piano).

The title track feature vocals by Patti LaBelle and I'm guessing it was an attempt to repeat the success of Just The Two Of Us from 1980. The single didn't make the Billboard Hot 100, bubbling under at 104, but it did peak at #14 on the R&B singles chart. It was also nominated for the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category at the Grammy Awards losing to Chaka Khan's eponymous fourth solo album.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #50
Peak on Billboard's Jazz LPs chart: #1
Peak on Billboard's R&B albums chart: #8
Peak on Cash Box album chart: #45

Tracks: The better tracks are Can You Dig It, the title track, and the cleverly titled Mixty Motions. Skip track 4, Things Are Getting Better, with vocals and scat solo by Bobby McFerrin and track 7, I'll Be With You, with vocals from Pieces Of A Dream bassist Cedric Napoleon.

The final track is bland theme music for the short-lived TV series Cassie & Co. I have no memory of that show, but I'm guessing they wanted a film noir kind of theme, maybe? Even an appearance from guitarist Lee Ritenour can't save it, though.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Prime Cuts: The Columbia Years 1987-1999 (1999)
All My Tomorrows (1994)
Time Out of Mind (1989)
Anthology of Grover Washington, Jr. (1985)
Skylarkin' (1980)
Mister Magic (1975)

Marshall Crenshaw - Life's Too Short (1991)

From the opening guitar crunch, you know you're in for some quality tunes, but you already knew that when you saw it was a Crenshaw album. Why I don't own his entire catalog is a mystery, even to me, but I picked this up out of the used bin recently. On a side note: am I the only person that comes home from the used music store with a bundle of goods and immediately proceeds to wipe the album jackets and jewel cases with disinfectant wipes? I don't know where those things have been.

Anyway, I was familiar with the album opener, Better Back Off, from its inclusion in the stellar Rhino compilation The Best of Marshall Crenshaw, but the other 9 tracks were new to me. Long story short: I wish I had found this back in 1991 and now, 25 years later, I'm going to ride around town with this in my truck's CD player for a few weeks.

Rolling Stone, June 13, 1991, p. 116

And because I love to pick at low-hanging fruit: the title is Life's Too Short, but unfortunately, Crenshaw's mullet wasn't. Full disclosure: mine wasn't either, but it met it's demise around 1986.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: In addition to Better Back Off, I'm digging the Smithereens-ish Don't Disappear Now, Delilah, Starting Tomorrow, and Everything's The Truth. There's nothing to skip here, even when Marshall tries his hand at grunge-lite with Face Of Fashion.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but all Crenshaw albums have the same effect on me: at some point today, I'll be singing one of these songs while going about my business. Which song and in what context TBD.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Jaggedland (2009)

What's In The Bag (2003)

The Best of Marshall Crenshaw (2000)