My Amazon Reviews: The Velvet Underground and Nico "The Velvet Underground and Nico"

Life on the underside
5 Out Of 5 Stars

By taking all the romantic aspects out from the musical visions others may have had concerning New York City, the Velvet Underground upended the NY Art scene by recording an album about kinky sex, mad drug use, pimps and dealers and femme fatales. Andy Warhol attached himself to the band's skewed vision and began to shepherd them, bringing singer/model Nico along. In 1967, The Velvet Underground and Nico was released, and during the Summer Of Love, nobody really got it. But as the famous quote (accredited to Brian Eno) goes, the Velvet Underground may not have sold many albums, but everyone who bought a copy formed a band.

Nowadays, the album is heralded as a seminal piece of the rock and roll puzzle, and listening to it years later will surprise you as to just how well the album has held up. The center of attentions were singer/songwriter Lou Reed and multi-instrumentalist and art-music fan John Cale. They teased and tormented conventional pop structures while still delivering hooky songs (like "Sunday Morning" or the haunting "All Tomorrow's Parties") before Cale would whip out a viola and draw his bow across some squealing noise ("Black Angel's Death Song"). There's even the fact that Nico's voice had just a mysterious quality to it that added to her allure. When she emotes on "Femme Fatale" that you're just a clown, it drawls out as "clowan."

But what attracted the bulk of the attention (and still does to this day) was the way the band cavalierly treated the dark underbelly of sex and drugs. Reed's "Venus In Furs" explicitly describes the trappings of an SM ritual with a mistress who wants you to "kiss the boots of shiny leather." The fixation of drugs in "Waiting For My Man" and the actual rush of using in "Heroin." There is the push-pull of addiction in an unromantic light that is positively brutal in its almost journalistic qualities. The Beatles were singing about a day in the life, Reed was saying "heroin be the death of me."

It's that kind of non-romantic bluntness that makes the best material on "The Velvet Underground and Nico" so compelling. While the group (it should be added that Maurene Tucker was the first great female rock drummer) rode the pulse of primitive and proto-punk music, they'd lose Nico by the next album and find their way to even more abrasive topics on "White Light White Heat." All the VU albums that featured the line up of Cale, Reed, Tucker and bassist Doug Yule are essential listening, this is the first step off a very steep cliff. Even today, it can be a difficult listen, but it is one of those kind of albums that bent the musical direction of bands to follow.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Pete Seeger "The Essential Pete Seeger"

An excellent overview of an American Icon
5 Out Of 5 Stars

At 36 tracks across two discs, "The Essential Pete Seeger" pretty much invalidates other, older compilations and sum up his time on Columbia Records. While Seeger was still recording albums into his 80's, this takes the prime period of his recordings and spreads it out.

Pete Seeger was an icon for all the best reasons. Picking up a banjo and guitar to makes statements about the nature of the times took courage then as it does now (quick, name on popular artist who uses his recorded output for challenging statements...could you?) and even got him blacklisted. Songs like "Talking Union" or the anti-Vietnam protest "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy," he not only found himself surrounded by controversy but actively courting it. He was the rare artist to put his beliefs before his career, even as it threatened his livelihood and even though he would ultimately be vindicated.

You'll also find the songs that Pete wrote or adapted that became hits for others, such as "Turn Turn Turn" (The Byrds), "If I Had a Hammer" (Peter, Paul and Mary), and "Guantanamera" (Trini Lopez). With both the adaptations of "Guantanamera" and "Wimoweh," a strong argument can be made the Seeger was one of the earliest purveyors of what everyone now calls "World Music," as he had the forethought to include them in he live concerts (and are both here as live versions).

Even with those convictions, Pete Seeger also approached his music with a wit and sense of humor. "Little Boxes" is a stinging indictment of class conformity, yet it's actually a pretty funny song. Same with "Talking Union." But there's no escaping the anger that underscores "Which Side are You On?" What will remain his lasting legacy encompasses songs like these, but the gentle heart that could deliver a searing protest of war ("Where Have All The Flowers Gone") along side the civil rights anthem of peace in "We Shall Overcome."

I was fortunate enough to see Seeger live at the 50th Anniversary of The Newport Festival. Even at his advanced age, his body may have been frail but his voice was a force of nature. Like all his best work, he was the conduit for the music and the audience, leading call and response verses and choruses till the throngs of people that filled the field sang in unison. Even typing this now brings back chills. Few artists can lay claim to making culture bend in their direction, and Pete Seeger is such a man. While even two discs of music is incomplete (no "Good Night Irene"?) but this set is as easy an instant collection for a man whose greatness will remain an influence not just on artists still taking cues from him today, but those who will come along.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Beatles "On Air - Live at the BBC Vol 2"

Hungry and Young Beatles Mount Their Plan for World Domination 2 1/2 Minutes at a Time
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second edition of The Beatles "On Air - Live at the BBC" is a collection of songs to remind you just how young and hungry The Beatles were in their early days. With a couple of exceptions, you've heard the studio versions of these a million times over, and the most rabid of fans likely have the bootlegs. But it's fascinating to hear how they sink their teeth into "I Saw Her Standing There" (complete with a 1-2-3-Fooour! count-off) or the already precise interlocking harmonies on the likes of "Chains" and "And I Love Her."

The intros and interview profiles also show how the Beatles were already establishing their individual personalities in the band format. George can be heard clowning around in the "Absolutely Fab" segment and Paul has fun with his old school house on "5E." The between songs banter is often as interesting as the songs themselves, but still, this was the height of Beatlemania, and each little 2 minute firecracker was a shout heard everywhere. "On Air - Live At The BBC Vol 2" still has a raw sound to it, and shows that George Martin was a main component to The Beatles' sound, but there's no escaping the amount of energy on display here.

What this disc also does is make me wonder why "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" has yet to see a reissue, or for that matter the compilations "Love Songs" and "Rock and Roll." There's obviously still an audience for all of these, so why are they still in the tape vaults? In the meantime, enjoy this, and Volume One, of The Beatles as they take over the world, one sonic boom after another.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Velvet Underground "Icon"

Comes up Short
3 Out Of 5 Stars

A spotty if still relevant compilation of Velvet Underground songs, this entry into the budget "Icon" series is a tough one to categorize. Every song here is revolutionary for its time, but the quality between the recordings was and remains spotty. The young Lou Reed already has the part down of underbelly poet, and songs like "Waiting For My Man," "Heroin" and "Venus In Furs" de-romanticize New York City long before punk rock found it fashionable to do so. But it does so at the expense of Nico, who's voice on "Femme Fatale" would be on my short list for any Velvet's anthology. I also would have preferred the studio versions of "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane" instead of the live versions included.

You're better off getting individual albums, and especially "The Velvet Underground and Nico" (aka "Peel it Slowly and See"). "Icon" makes a good toe-dippper, but it ultimately is not enough.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Simon And Garfunkel "The Best of Simon And Garfunkel"

All the Best, Remastered and Remembered
5 Out Of 5 Stars

What this "Best of Simon and Garfunkel" collection does is, simply, lay out all their amazing singles on one hour-plus CD. It outshines the original "Greatest Hits" by not overlapping songs and by having a much improved quality of sound. Sure, you've probably heard half (or more) of the songs in high rotation on classic pop radio stations, but hearing them in digital clarity really does - and I hate to use the cliche here - bring them back to life.

More than anything else, the best of these singles highlights the exquisite harmonies these men had together as well as spotlights the strengths of Paul Simon's and Art Garfunkel's singular voices. Garfunkel's young, angelic choirboy voice still elicits chills on "Bridge Over Troubled Water," while Simon's leads often show a potency that can be unexpectedly forceful ("Hazy Shade Of Winter"). Yet they are still at their best when the voices blend as they do so beautifully on "Scarborough Fair" or the 70's reunion hit "My Little Town."

The non-hits work in the collection's favor. Short of buying the complete collection box set, the pickings here are choice. "The Only Living Boy in New York," "Old Friends/Bookends" (the song they opened their concert with when I saw them a few years back) or the live version of "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her" will please the curious who are looking for more than just the hits. Some of the songs are a bit goofy/dated ("At The Zoo" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song"), but they can be forgiven when something as magnificent as "The Boxer" or as joyous as "Cecelia" play. For the value per dollar, "The Best of Simon & Garfunkel" is as good as you're going to get.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Rascals "Time Peace; The Rascals' Greatest Hits"

Time and place.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Craftily mixing the best of the British Invasion energy to Blue Eyed Soul, The Rascals ran up a string of terrific hit singles in the 60's and early seventies. "Time Peace" mixes those singles with a few choice album selections (many of them covers) to prove that vocalist Eddie Brigati, keyboardist/vocalist Felix Cavaliere, guitarist Gene Cornish, and drummer Dino Danelli were more than just a singles act, even if their albums were frequently spotty affairs. After all, who can't resist the infectious joy of "Good Lovin'" or the relaxed flow of "Groovin'?"

You'll also find the singles "You Better Run" (later a hit for Pat Benatar) and "How Can I Be Sure" (covered by of all improbable people, David Cassidy), but misses one of their most important singles of their career, "People Got To Be Free." Some of the earlier singles ("I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" being a major offender) are of a primitive recording quality and labor under dated production effects (switching the vocals from stereo left to stereo right in "Mustang Sally"), but this was the mid-sixties. Forgive those things and you have a document of The Rascals that holds together better than most bands of the same period.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Rolling Stones "Grrr!"

Every Generation gets its Stones compilation.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Just as 40 Licks was released to cover the Rolling Stones' 40th anniversary, it's time for a 50th Birthday set. "Grrr!" states the story of The Stones in multiple formats: you can purchase this album in 2, 3 or 5 disc sets. Way to market yourselves, guys.

That doesn't take away from the power of The Stones and their often ingenious singles. The first CD alone is a primer for rock and roll history, with "Satisfaction," "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Sympathy for The Devil" alone being the kind of songs bands would chew their hind legs off to compose...or even come up with a guitar lick as memorable. You'll also get a trio of the early, greasy Stones with "Come On," a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and Mick and Keith laying down some early blues with "Little Red Rooster." It's the kind of early material most compilations tend to skip over.

Disc two contains plenty of latter classics, like "Miss You," "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up." But it also reminds you why the band once titled one of their single disc sets "Sucking In The Seventies." It makes you stuck with weaker material like "Angie" or "Emotional Rescue," along with the 80's material that was the band turning into a polished hit machine. Some of these songs hold up surprisingly well, like "Undercover of The Night," but "Anybody Seen My Baby" could have been left off and I don't think I'd have noticed.

Of the new songs, "Doom and Gloom" has serious swagger while "One More Shot" runs on fumes, really. But that still makes a whole batch of Jagger/Richards composition (along with a couple covers, like the aforementioned Buddy Holly song and "Harlem Shuffle." And no-one keeps a beat like Charlie Watts. Like all Stones collections, you can't always get what you want (She's So Cold"), but sometimes you get what you need. Or depending on which set, what you pay for.