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TIM BARRY – 40 MILER (WITH FULL ALBUM STREAM):

May 042012

As usual Tim kept the wraps tight on this one and aside from the live shows we really didn’t know what we would be getting and as far that goes we didn’t give a damn because we knew it’d be a damn good album. So when I finally got my greedy little mitts on this one I couldn’t wait to give it a spin. first thing that struck me about this album was little less “FUCK YOU” and a little more self deprecating humor. In other words it reminds me more of hanging out with Tim in person than of listening to his other albums. I once described watching Tim perform as “watching a man about to get in a fight with himself” and you could hear that in some of his other albums but it’s not really here on this one. Now don’t go off thinking I am saying that this album doesn’t have emotion running through it, it’s just that the emotions here are less anger and more walking around with friends with a 40 in a paper bag talking about life.

I really think that what makes this album what it is its familiarity. Not in the sense that I’ve heard these songs before but in the sense that they make me feel like I am part of the family. In fact there’s a lot on here I haven’t heard from Mr. Barry before. “Adele and Hell” is more like a country song than I honestly thought I’d ever hear from him. “Amen” is as Gospel as music gets. If I ever thought that I had Tim Barry figured out I know now that I was wrong. While 28th and Stonewall was a bigger sound than I expected 40 Miler is hard to even put a finger. Tim continues to do his thing and well it is what it is and as far as I am concerned he can do no wrong. So yeah this is Essential Listening and yeah I wish I could do it justice with my words because I really haven’t. I don’t even think I could if I re-wrote every word here. Instead of embarrassing myself even further I’ll just let you all experience this one for yourselves. You can stream the entire album below thanks to Tim giving us permission to give you a stream for a couple weeks!

Rae Rae – Hard Times and Alcohol

May 032012

There’s a fine line between country and cliche.

For every Dixie Chicks or Kelly Willis, there’s a glossier and less-talented SheDaisy or Shania Twain waiting to take center stage.

Rae Rae, a former California girl whose musical travels led her cross-country to Detoit, straddles the line between artistic and commercial country, often with mixed results.

With a voice that’s more Faith Hill than Marianne Faithful, Rae Rae fights to be taken seriously on some of the best tracks off her debut, Hard Times and Alcohol. She’s a little too chipper at times on the title track, sounding more like the life of the party than an average working-class woman stressing over her job and throwing back highballs at the bar.

“Drunk Drunk” takes the promise of “Hard Times” and strikes just the right note between exuberance and desperation. It’s not nearly as down and dirty as you might expect (or hope) especially from an album whose title sounds like a call to arms to line up at the bar. And if there’s a major criticism, it’s just that – Rae Rae keeps things light and buoyant at times when you want and need her to let all the pain and fear and anxiety take root in her voice in order to crawl under your skin.

We’re mired in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Gas is eclipsing $4 a gallon. Unemployment is rampant. People are frustrated and angry, and often during these times, they fill the small bars and neighborhood pubs, seeking solace and a reprieve. I wanted Rae Rae’s album to reflect that sense of now more, to give voice to the angst troubling the people.

This wouldn’t be a country album without a few plaintive ballads. “Mama Hold On” is perfunctory, a too-standard take on the ‘don’t give up’ proclamation that needs something more. “We’re Not Finished Yet” is fluffy but tailor-made for Natalie Maine’s voice. Then comes “93 in November,” and everything clicks. Rae Rae’s delivery tugs appropriately on your heart. “Love and Hate” is another mid-tempo ballad that showcases her voice and songwriting chops. “If We Become Lovers” continues the trend of really good song, followed by mediocre song, followed by really good song.

Thankfully, immediately after the too-pop confection of “Nice Girls,” Rae Rae breaks out her Motown swagger for the bluesy, achingly beautiful “I’d Rather Die,” which sounds like a lost Shelby Lynne track. And she finishes the album with the vintage-sounding “Blind Love.”

So, the final verdict? There’s enough here to recommend Hard Times and Alcohol to fans of female country singers. Though uneven, and marked by too many forgettable tracks, the songs that stick are worth revisiting, maybe on an edited playlist where you can excise the filler and focus instead on the prime cuts.

Bandcamp.com – http://raeraemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hard-times-and-alcohol

Reverbnation.com – http://www.reverbnation.com/raeraeqotv

Buy the Album – http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Times-and-Alcohol/dp/B005JQPVH2/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335364297&sr=1-1

BILLY + JOE — BREATHE

May 012012

Billy + Joe is the duo of Vancouver-based songwriter Billy the Kid and Richmond’s Joe McMahon, who fronts the rock band Smoke or Fire. Their first collaborative project was a youtube onslaught of 31 cover songs in 31 days this past January. Now, they’ve released their first batch of original songs–the Breathe EP. You should listen to it.

They make such interesting partners–Billy’s songs sound a little like a Smoke or Fire singalong anthem, and Joe’s songs seem to owe a lot to Billy the Kid’s bedroom chorales. The back-and-forth between them isn’t cheap lust, it’s total respect–like a Gaye/Terrell duet. They bring out the best in each other, they make riskier choices on this EP than in their solo work. It’s rare to hear a duo wherein both the male and female voices can be both muscly and vulnerable. It makes for a balanced album and a ton of great choruses. Listen to this if you like Archers of Loaf or Aimee Mann or if you know what’s good for you.

Billy + Joe – Blood
Billy + Joe – Falling
Billy + Joe – Whiskey

Buy Breathe on iTunes, keep up with Billy + Joe on Facebook, and watch all their videos, including the 31 cover songs (which prove to be one hell of a punk rock oral history), on the billyplusjoe youtube channel.

GUEST POST: RONNY ELLIOTT REMEMBERS DICK CLARK

Apr 232012

AUTOPSY IV NOTE: Ronny Elliott feels strongly about Dick Clark. So when I saw that Dick had passed I thought it might be fun to see if Mr. Elliott wanted to type a few words about his passing. I hope y’all enjoy the history lesson….

Hank Ballard told lots of versions regarding the origins of the twist. All of them centered around him seeing a dance that kids in Tampa were doing and being told that it was the twist. Hank borrowed several ideas and wrote a magnificent song. It was intended as the “B” side of Teardrops On Your Letter. DJ’s began spinning The Twist and it was something of a hit. Hank had made up a dance for his group, The Midnighters, the same dance that everyone would be doing a year later. All of this happened in 1959.

Dick Clark, never one to leave a buck unmade, began to search for an artist in the Philadelphia area that he could control and record. After approaching the managers of several of the acts that he had promoted on his American Bandstand, he discovered a young man plucking chickens in the region, Ernest Evans. Clark’s first wife dubbed the young man Chubby Checker, lifting heavy handedly from Fats Domino. The owners of Cameo Parkway Records in Philly had cut a version of Hank’s masterpiece with the aspiring rock’n'roll star, copying the original as closely as they could.

Clark worked a deal with Syd Nathan, Ballard’s boss at King Records in Cincinnati,that gave the big Dick, himself, half of the publishing on the song, The Twist. In exchange he promised to use Hank Ballard’s single, Finger Poppin’ Time, in a slot daily for the next dance contest, assuring King Records of a big pop hit.

Chubby’s inferior copy on that very ugly orange and yellow label became a national phenomena and lapped over all layers and levels of popular culture. Word has always been that the mob was involved in Cameo Parkway’s ownership. So was Dick Clark.

Alan Freed was incarcerated by this time for payola. Fine. ABC TV’s hotshot attorneys had gotten Mr. Clark off with a slap on the wrist. It seems that the Bandstand host had altered and cleaned up rock’n'roll to make it more palatable to a broader, whiter audience.

Where we once had worshiped at the altar of Elvis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis we now suffered Fabian. I didn’t like many of these losers. I particularly despised Frankie Avalon, keeping myself up at night worrying that he was doing Annette.

That probably would have been the end of what we have always called rock’n'roll if not for the one thing that old Dick Clark couldn’t control: the British invasion. The Beatles and their shaggy cohorts brought us back Arthur Alexander, Bo Diddley and the Coasters.

Clark couldn’t do anything about it. The Beatles would not appear on American Bandstand. They didn’t need to. Elvis had never gone on, either. Dick Clark changed his hairdo and pretended to like it all. We got some extra mileage before big business and crooked radio and greedy record company executives took it all.

R.I.P.
Dick.

Ronny Elliott – The Twist Came From Tampa

SO LONG, LEVON HELM

Apr 202012


Photo by Elliot Landy

Levon Helm was the man who left the infamous Bob Dylan 1966 tour early because he couldn’t take the boos. He was the man who led the once-elite The Band back into dive-bars and oldies circuits in the 80′s because he couldn’t stand the silence. It was a degrading routine that contributed to the deaths of his bandmates Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. He bore tremendous guilt for that decision. He lashed out at Robbie Robertson for not sharing songwriting royalties, blaming Robbie’s greed for Richard’s and Rick’s deaths. He dedicated each album he released since then to them, his brothers.

Levon Helm was, without question, among the best rock drummers ever. He was the backbone of The Band, their only American member, the singer of their most popular songs. He was one of the five souls in that group that changed the way art and folk music interacted with rock-and-roll. He played a gorgeous mandolin. He released pretty ok solo albums in ’78, ’80, and ’82. He had a significantly better acting career than Robbie Robertson.

Levon Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the early 90′s. But he beat that shit. That frog-howl of his floated on. He brought the W.S. Walcott Medicine Show back to life, hosting raucous Midnight Rambles at his barn-studio in Woodstock NY to pay for his medical bills. Musicians brought their instruments to sit in with Helm; fans brought potluck food and booze to sit and share and watch him. When his voice was strong, Levon sang the whole night. When it wasn’t there, he drummed, and let his collaborator Larry Campbell, his daughter Amy Helm, or whoever that night’s guest was take over the vocals. The Ramble’s resurgence led to live albums and DVDs, then, finally, to the comeback album Dirt Farmer, and it’s follow-up Electric Dirt–his opuses to his Arkansas childhood and the southern farmers’ cause he’d championed his whole career.

When I would come home from middle school and my parents weren’t home, I would put on the DVD of The Last Waltz and play a harmonica I didn’t know how to use, in the wrong key, along with The Band’s songs. I memorized all of their interview monologues. I learned their songs by singing them while I walked my dog in the morning, and while I drove to nowhere in particular at night. I put every penny I earned in high school towards collecting their entire discography–Big Pink through Islands, Jericho through Jubilation. When we learned rhetorical devices in high school, all of the sentences I wrote for practice were about The Band. They were the first band I obsessed over.

Now, seemingly all of the sudden, the cancer caught up with him. The man is gone, but, cheesy as it sounds, his beats live on. He was incredible and bitter and resilient, strong and beautiful. Mostly, he was the coolest mutherfucker ever in those Elliot Landy prints.

Listen to “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (The Last Waltz version is the best) on your own time. Right here, let’s go deep, with a million thanks to Levon Helm.

The Band – Ain’t Got No Home
The Band – All LA Glory
The Band – Atlantic City
The Band – Livin’ In A Dream
The Band – The River Hymn

Rick Danko & Levon Helm – Short Fat Fanny
Rick Danko & Levon Helm – Willie and the Hand Jive

Levon Helm – Anna Lee
Levon Helm – Dance Me Down Easy
Levon Helm – Growin’ Trade
Levon Helm – Little Birds
Levon Helm – Play something Sweet

Levon Helm – “Only Halfway Home” (a short film inspired by and featuring music from Levon Helm’s Grammy Award winning album Dirt Farmer.)

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