ALBUMS

• JOHN STEWART: CALIFORNIA BLOODLINES: 1969: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Right before he struck “Gold” in the late 1979 I had bought a book that had a Top 200 albums ever in it- and one that was listed -was this album. After reading about it- I went out and bought the album. I wasn’t disappointed- it was a great album. Years later Rolling Stone had it among their Top 200 albums ever. Recorded in Nashville Stewart used many of the musicians who had just played on Bob’s Nashville Skyline album. It was recorded in the same studio. Stewart is the fella whose most famous song was a big hit by The Monkees “Daydream Believer.” This album and most of his albums were not commercial successes- it wasn’t until Bombs Away Dream Babies in 1979- with an assist from Buckingham and Nicks that he had a few well deserved hits. This is an album worth hearing.

• ELVIS COSTELLO: KOJAK VARIETY: 1995: 3 STARS OUT OF 5 ALBUMS- I think the album cover itself tells you a lot about what is inside. A covers album- Kojak Variety itself- the name of the album came from a store in Barbados near where the studio was where the album was recorded. A covers album- never got into this album much. On this album Elvis wants to be a crooner. The most famous song he covers is Days by The Kinks. For the most part he covers more obscure songs by some great artists. Elvis is a big music fan- and it shows. As far as cover albums go I’ll take his country covers album Almost Blue over this one.

• THE STEEL WHEELS: RED WING: 2010: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Around this time I saw them for the first time. This is the best studio album they had done up to this time- the one with the best songs / performances. It probably remains their best studio album. Red Wing- is their signature song. Favorites are many- Walk This Way For A While, Love You Like I Should, Red Wing, Working On A Building, Long Way To Go, Second of May, A bluegrass- Americana style band. I like their studio albums but they are even better live.

•  THE ANIMALS: RETROSPECTIVE: 2004: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The best -greatest hits I have come across on The Animals- it covers The Animals, Eric Burdon and The Animals and Burdon with War in the late 60’s-early 70’s. My favorite period is 1964-66 period- with a number of great hits they had back then like Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, It’s My Life, We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place, House of The Rising Sun. Love their gritty R&B sound. This is always an enjoyable listen and a good one to listen to as I took my daily walk.

• ELVIS COSTELLO: ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY: 1996: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS:  EC’s last album at Warner Brothers. It is also the last album with The Attractions -under that name. There are nine old and three new songs on here- some of them had been written previously for others- the songs for the most part are very good if taken separately. An underrated album in EC’s catalog.

• TERRY RILEY: A RAINBOW IN CURVED AIR: 1969: 4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: I shouldn’t like this album- it has two songs on it- its all instrumental- one song just under 20 minutes the other over 20- but I do like it- Riley is a minimalist- influenced by jazz and classical music- Riley plays all the instruments on this influential album- the keyboards being the most prominent. This album inspired the organ parts in Pete Townshend’s Who classics “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley.”An album I will spend more time with. In the early 70’s the progressive rock band Curved Air took their name from this album. Side note- in my quest to listen this year to as many 1969 album releases as possible- I have hit the 50 mark- on Day 38.