Johnny Cash - "Ragged Old Flag" (1974)

The man in black, I guess you can call him a legend by this time. This was his 47th album, believe it or not. I think you get that number when add together his studio albums, Christmas albums, collaborations, gospel albums, soundtracks etc. If you only count the Country & Western studio albums it seems to be the 34th, or 28th, depending on which list I'm looking at. In any case, he was a quite experienced artist in 1974. The reason I bought the album was it cost me only $1-2, and I wanted to give him a chance. I have some of his last albums, from the American Recordings series, and they are alright.

Although I have a lot of respect for Cash as an artist, this record mostly confirms that Country & Western isn't my thing. The LP opens with the über patriotic title song, a spoken word song that pays tribute to an old ragged American flag. I'm not a super fan of that kind of patriotism. The following Don't Go Near The Water is also alright, which focuses on environmental problems. Cash wasn't the one who avoided social or political issues. Another song I'm alright with is Pie In The Sky, which leans a bit towards gospel, and where Cash sings happily how pie is waiting for him up in the sky. But the rest of the album is rather boring. None of the songs stand out in any way, and it feels overall like rather average Country & Western. All songs are written by Cash, except I'm A Worried Man, where his wife helped him.

On the plus side, the arrangements are pretty stripped down, which appeals to me, and you don't have that whining form of Country & Western, where a steel guitar complains, and the singer has that typical whining voice. I like Cash's voice, he sounds experienced and serious, a person I instinctively listen to. Too bad he insisted on playing so much Country & Western.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Ragged Old Flag 3:07
2. Don't Go Near The Water 2:51
3. All I Do Is Drive 2:09
4. Southern Comfort 2:10
5. King Of The Hill 2:43
6. Pie In The Sky 2:25

Side B
1. Lonesome To The Bone 2:42
2. While I've Got It On My Mind 2:19
3. Good Morning Friend 2:06
4. I'm A Worried Man 2:11
5. Please Don't Let Me Out 2:42
6. What On Earth (Will You Do For Heaven's Affairs) 2:09

Paul McCartney - "Tug of War" (1982)

I have mentioned earlier that I've always been a bit hesitant towards McCartney, as he often leans towards the too jolly and feelgood, sometimes bordering on cheesy, kind of music. Both within and without the Beatles. Add that this record was created in the 80's, with everything negative it could mean to the sound. So it wasn't with great expectations that I dove into the LP. But it was a big positive surprise, it's a really great album.

This was Paul's third solo record, and his eleventh album after the Beatles era (the majority of his records had been with Wings). You'll hear a number of other big names on the record, his wife Linda, Ringo drums on a few songs, Carl Perkins, Eric Stewart, Stevie Wonder and others. And the record is produced by no one less than George Martin. Stevie Wonder sings duets with Paul on two songs, What's That You're Doing? and the big hit Ebony And Ivory. The first song is better, in fact Ebony and Ivory is probably the album's most boring song, shame that it became the super hit that represents the entire record.

Lennon was murdered in the middle of the recording, which led to a pause for a couple of months for everyone involved to recover mentally. The song Here Today is written about / to Lennon, it finishes side A and is the album's most low-keyed song. Tug of War is an album with no weak tracks, and a nice variety. Of course, Paul knows how to write songs, and here he excels. Lot of people experienced this record as a bit of a come-back for Paul, since the previous records had apparently been a bit so-so. Lots of songs were recorded during the studio sessions, and there wasn't room for all of them, instead some of them appeared on the following album Pipes of Peace.

So if you're into nice and easy-going songs, with no deep anxiety or pitch black desperation, Tug of War is probably a good listen. Suicidal blackness and difficult musical creations don't seem to be Paul's thing. Sometimes that may be a bit boring, but here it works great.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Tug of War 4:22
2. Take It Away 4:14
3. Somebody Who Cares 3:19
4. What's That You're Doing? 6:19
5. Here Today 2:27

Side B
1. Ballroom Dancing 4:07
2. The Pound Is Sinking 2:54
3. Wanderlust 3:49
4. Get It 2:29
5. Be What You See 0:34
6. Dress Me Up as a Robber 2:41
7. Ebony and Ivory 3:46

Rasa and the Family Krishna - "Alive!" (1980)

Today's album shares its name with KISS' first live album, but the similarities end there. In fact, I don't even know if Rasa's LP is a live album. According to Wikipedia it is, but I hear no live sound, and nothing on the album cover gives any clue. All songs fade out as on studio albums, no audience is heard and the sound is just like on every other album by Rasa. I believe Rasa's records, all recorded in the Hare Krishna movement's studio at Korsnäs farm in Sweden (the only Radha Krishna temple in Scandinavia), were recorded live in the studio. So in that sense I guess you can call it a live album. My guess is that the word Alive! here, is meant in a more spiritual way.

Anyway, this is a record with religious and look-deep-inside music, and it grooves really nicely. Rasa was a band where all members were Hare Krishna followers. Robert Campagnola, who then called himself Harikesa Swami and / or Visnupada, had built the studio. He also wrote the songs, produced and sang. Had all religious music sounded like this, the world would have been more fun and the church a groovy place. We have gospel in Christianity, but it has not spread to all churches yet. Usually we have to settle for a quiet hymn.

Rasa's music is really enjoyable. Generally, the songs' structure is the singer singing a shorter or longer part, then a chorus echoes him. Add to that a bunch of instruments, many probably of Indian origin plus drums, bass, piano, electric organ and saxophone, and a nice groove. It gets pretty repetitive, and the songs are relatively long, so the parts that are sung need to be interesting, otherwise a song becomes a bit boring. The A-side is good throughout, where I've always had Maha-Mantra I as a favorite. It's less groovy, but has nice melancholic parts, where humanity's deep longing for union with something greater emerges, which causes my heart to open up.

Side B is a bit more boring, the songs are less interesting so it gets too repetitive. But the patient one gets rewarded in the last four minutes of the album, when the song Namaste Narasimhaya suddenly changes atmosphere and delivers a really soft ending of the record. I have found all Rasa albums in the collection for $1-2 each, but only the covers are worth the money. They sing in Hindi (?), so I don't understand a word of the lyrics, instead it is groove that seduces me. But I haven't become a Hare Krishna follower.


Tracklist

Side A
1. The Call To Govinda 8:04
2. The Offering 7:10
3. Maha-Mantra I 8:47

Side B
1. Maha-Mantra II 8:45
2. Namaste Narasimhaya 12:34

Tony Carey - "Blue Highway" (1985)

Some may recognize Tony Carey from his time in Rainbow, where he was the keyboardist 1976-77. Personally, I know him through one of his solo projects, Planet P Project, since I as a teenager bought the album Pink World, one of PPP's creations. After his short stint in Rainbow, Tony has had a solo career that extends to the present day. I don't really know how successful he has been, but obviously he has been able to support himself through it, and has had some singles on the Billboard list. His solo career includes albums under his own name, as Planet P Project, and Rainbow revivals in different forms. He has also produced other artists and made some music for German films and TV, probably explained by him living in Germany since quite some time. If you take a look at his discography it is impressively long, so he seems to have been very active.

But today's album is not something I particularly like. First, it's a little too much of an 80's production. Unfortunately, the sound is characterized by this decade, although not in an extreme, there are worse examples. But the synths, guitars, and drums are enough molded in the 80's form for me to back off a few steps. Then the music itself is problematic, there are rock ballads, some soft rock maybe with a touch of pop. In any case, not my thing. And finally I have some issues with Tony's somewhat hoarse voice. I associate it too much with the album Pink World, which I today think sounds pretty cheap, pretentious and badly produced. That impression is automatically transferred to Blue Highway via Tony's voice, whether I want or not. So why did I buy the album, you might wonder. Well, kinda as usual, I found it for a couple of bucks or so in a local record store, got curious about how Tony sounded under his own name, so I wanted to satisfy my curiosity.

When I try to be more objective, I hear that some of the songs are not that bad really, as compositions. I think Tony is a pretty good songwriter. But the context, the 80's and the Pink World vibes, have such a negative impact on me that the experience becomes not so enjoyable. But hey, if you're fine with 80's productions, like (soft) rock, you might like this album. But it's not my thing.


Tracklist

Side A
1. We Wanna Live 4:18
2. She Moves Like A Dancer 3:57
3. Live Wire 4:42
4. 10,000 Times 4:08
5. Tear Down The Walls 3:43

Side B
1. Blue Highway 4:33
2. Love Don't Bother Me 3:58
3. Katy Be Mine 4:18
4. Like A Rock 4:12
5. Out Of Town Woman 3:43

Baby Grand (1977)

The cover looked interesting, the price was $1-2, so it was worth a shot. Also three guys pictured on the back, with perfectly long pot smoking hair. Purchased in a local thrift store here in Montreal. Another album where the visuals promise more than the music can live up to. A boring album with cheesy 70's rock. Nothing that's necessary in your record shelf.

The band consisted of David Kagan, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, this was their self titled debut album. As a producer, they had Rick Chertoff. The album was released on Arista where the legendary Clive Davis had started, but releasing Baby Grand was probably not one of his major achievements. If you know your music history, you may know that after two albums with Baby Grand, Hyman and Bazilian created The Hooters, a band that reached great success. Several Hooters albums were also produced by Chertoff. So if you are a Hooters fan (I'm not), the album can be interesting from a historical perspective, but then you probably need to be a pretty serious fan.

The music can generally be described as 70's soft rock, well produced for sure, and what it seems talented musicians. But oh so boring. The kind of record that is impossible to sit and listen attentively to more than a few minutes, due to boredom. Unfortunately, I'm also not a big fan of Kagan's singing, which strengthens the cheesy feeling. There's really no song that stands out in any way, and you can safely ignore this album if you happen to encounter in a record bin.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Never Enough 4:20
2. Can't Keep It Inside 4:36
3. Bring Me Your Broken Heart 3:49
4. Lady Of My Dreams 4:46

Side B
1. Down, Down 7:00
2. Alligator Drive 5:19
3. Shinin 'In The Spotlight 3:55
4. Boy In The Band 5:01

Electric Light Orchestra - "Out of the Blue" (1977)

This album was part of my parents' record shelf during my childhood. I don't think I ever heard them play it, instead I picked it out myself when I was around 11-12 years old, for exploration. It was a disappointment. The cover with a mysterious space station and groovy colors promised something special, but the content didn't live up to the expectations, I thought it was pretty boring music. Only one song got me going, Jungle, which became one of my childhood favorites. Even though I thought they sang about Coca Coca Cola Light in the chorus, but that misunderstanding maybe just made it better (the chorus actually goes Chooka chooka hoo la ley, Looka looka koo la ley). Jungle often had a spin on the stereo at home, but the rest of the songs remained in silence. When my parents decided to get rid of their LPs later on, I saved it, and it ended up with me.

It's a double LP where Jeff Lynn wrote all the songs and produced. He has his own sound with which he has become very successful, and here you get it. A lot. Lots of strings, harmonies and clear vibes of the Beatles, Beach Boys and Bee Gees. Very well produced. Lynn wrote all the songs in three and a half weeks during a stay in the Swiss Alps. To me it really has a 70s sound, mostly thanks to all the strings, I think. My first adult encounter with Lynn was via Traveling Wilburys, where the sound is recognized. Many people believe that Out of the Blue is one of ELOs best albums. As an adult, I like it much better than as a child, but it's still not really my thing.

There is no doubt there are generally qualitative songs on the album, Lynn is a skilled composer. A lot of songs get stuck in the brain, and the record resulted in a number of hits. The third side consists of a weather-themed suite, which apparently was Lynn's last attempt at a symphonic rock creation. I don't mind symphonic rock and concept albums, so I'm perfectly fine with that. But I think a double album is simply a bit too much. I probably would have liked this album better if they had picked out the best songs and created a single record instead. Now I get tired of Lynn's sound half way through, and switch to something else.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Turn to Stone 3:47
2. It's Over 4:08
3. Sweet Talkin 'Woman 3:47
4. Across the Border 3:52

Side B
1. Night in the City 4:02
2. Starlight 4:30
3. Jungle 3:51
4. Believe Me Now 1:21
5. Steppin 'Out 4:38

Side C (Concerto for a Rainy Day)
1. Standin 'in the Rain 4:20
2. Big Wheels 5:10
3. Summer and Lightning 4:13
4. Mr. Blue Sky 5:05

Side D
1. Sweet Is the Night 3:26
2. The Whale 5:05
3. Birmingham Blues 4:21
4. Wild West Hero 4:40

Lee Hazlewood's Woodchucks - "Cruisin' For Surf Bunnies" (1964/2018)

The label Light In The Attic has among other things released a number of fine reissues of some of Lee Hazlewood's albums. When they dug around in LHI's archive (Lee Hazlewood Industries, a record label he started and managed for some creative years in the 60s and early 70s), they came across a tape bearing the name Woodchucks. It soon became apparent that it was a pseudonym for Lee himself and his legendary studio band The Wrecking Crew. The music was recorded in 1964, and was instrumental surf music. Left over studio time was probably used, as no official studio booking for the band was found in the archive. People who knew Lee at the time, and who have now heard the music for the first time, think it is too well done to be a demo, but lacks the overdubs you usually find on finished albums. So somewhat unclear what the purpose of the album was. Some think it was just a cheap attempt by Lee to get a piece of the surf music wave that was happening at the time, and make some easy money. Who knows.

Personally, I think it's a fantastic album. A lead guitar that plays a fairly simple melody, with a reverb usually maxed beyond all boundaries, and a rhythm section that keeps it rather simple. Probably music any newly hatched teenage band could play. Nevertheless, I immediately fell for it. The songs are soaked in an almost surreal mood, sometimes bordering to the bizarre, and you almost want to laugh. Sure, there might be better surf music out there, and certainly the sound is extremely similar throughout the album, but knowing Lee is behind the music gives it an extra dimension.

Suzi Jane Hokom had a surf band for a while, she also became a producer at LHI, and Lee's girlfriend. As I understand it, it's her and her band colleagues on the album's cover. All of the songs are previously unreleased in these original versions, but two of them were released by Woodchucks as singles, and a bunch of them have been released by other well-known surf bands and artists, including John Paul Jones, before Zeppelin. A really fun album, and just as fun was that it was $10 cheaper in my local record store than on Amazon, which is unusual. If you want to read more about LHI's history, Light In The Attic has also released the LHI box There's A Dream I've Been Saving, in which a nice book is included, filled with photos from the LHI time and texts / interviews with people who were part of it. Fun and and fascinating reading.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Movin'
2. Baja Pt. 1
3. Bangkok Cock Fight
4. Johnny October
5. The Nomads
6. The Man

Side B
1. Angry Generation
2. Baja Pt. 2
3. Quiet Village
4. Batman
5. Tower Sarong
6. Crickets Of Karachi