The Doors – L.A. Woman

Released in April, 1971, three months before Jim Morrison’s death in July, 1971, this is obviously the last studio recording of the complete Doors.  They had brought in a couple of members of Elvis Presley’s band, Jerry Scheff (bass) and Marc Benno (rhythm guitar) to help in the recording. Here’s …

Simple Minds – New Gold Dream

I am an unabashed Simple Minds fan.  Somehow Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Derek Forbes, Mick MacNeil and their various drummers snuck into my subconscious in the early ’80’s and have remained there.  No permanent damage as far as I can tell (others may disagree). For those who think Simple Minds …

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges |David Bowie

A departure here in that I’m looking at a couple of EP’s.  EP’s (Extended Play) fit a niche for artists that were promoting new work, attracting interest in their catalogue, or wanting to get material out without having a full album ready.  In my record buying heyday, they were a …

Revisiting the Summer of 1970

I was thinking about summer playlists, given that it was a nice sunny, warm day on the deck.  I thought it might be fun to pick a year & see what songs were hot during that summer.  I thought 1970, then immediately had a temporal aneurysm as I realized that …

Pointed Sticks – Perfect Youth

This 1980 release from Vancouver’s Pointed Sticks hits all the right places in the New Wave scene.  It’s got the beat, pace & sound that made it one of my most played records at the time.  When I play it now, it’s the whole album, not a song or two….and …

Fuzz Effect Guitar

Musicians are always looking for new ways of expression, often leading changes to the sound from their instruments.  One of the most important changes for the guitar came about by accident. Glenn Snoddy, a Nashville recording engineer, created the fuzz pedal.  This came about by accident during a 1961 recording …

War – The World is a Ghetto

Time for some real latin-tinged funk.  Released in 1972, War’s The World is a Ghetto is their third album after Eric Burdon departed.  Many feel it is their best album, and I agree.  If you know War from “Spill the Wine”, “Low Rider” and “The Cisco Kid”, I believe you’ll …