Road listening report (part 1?)

One of the many things I enjoy about being on the road is catching up on my listening! So many CDs to review, so many shows to evaluate for my various radio gigs, and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of my own performances. I’ll spare you the report on my own sets, but here is a list (in no particular order) of some of the music I have heard since driving out of Oakland Monday morning:

  • Mike Agranoff, Ain’t Never Been Plugged – “The Wine Song” and “’60s Mudley” are two particular favorites from this disc.
  • Steve Goodman, Jessie’s Jig and Other Favorites – “Door Number Three” is so great, and Goodman’s amazing solo acoustic guitar work on “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie.”
  • Blind Corn Liquor Pickers, Appalachian Trail
  • The Pretenders, Break Up the Concrete – Chrissie Hynde is one of the great rockers of all time, and this album is right up there with her best work.
  • Grateful Dead 5/1/81 – Bob Wagner’s audience recording, coming soon to the Sirius XM Grateful Dead Channel. The set list is utterly typical of the era, but it’s all very well-played and powerful; this recording captures the excitement very well.
  • Beatles Beatles Beatles – I have a ton of Beatles albums in the iPod because I’m playing in a “Beatles jam band” called Rubber Souldiers and having the time of my life. Revisiting old favorites and becoming intimate with corners of the catalog that I hadn’t studied closely before – the genius of this band is inexhaustible, and so is the pleasure of hearing and playing these songs.
  • Mudcrutch – “Crystal River” in particular.
  • Harry Belafonte, Calypso – My parents listened to this record constantly when I was a kid, and hearing it again is a deep, deep journey into the roots of my musical consciousness. Plus: “Man Smart, Woman Smarter”!
  • Ry Cooder, I, Flattop – the man is a genius, a musical novelist, a national treasure.
  • Bourgeois Gypsies, Faulty Fairytales – I enjoyed my first pass through this CD and I will listen to it again.
  • Rodney Crowell, Sex and Gasoline -great songs, great-sounding record, passionate humanitarian expressions.
  • The Water Brothers Band, Back to the Barn – Pat Campbell sent me this CD. I love this kind of stuff.
  • Hot Buttered Rum – Zac Matthews’ songs. We’ve been playing together since he left the band and I am learning some of these songs to play with him.
  • The Felice Brothers – my pal Mike Shaw gave me this one to check out. I’m enjoying it.
  • Seconds on End, California Sky
  • Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Tangled Tales. Striking It Rich is one of my favorite records of all time (“I Scare Myself” is a classic!); glad to see him back in the saddle and I am looking forward to further encounters with this disc.
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