Hey man watcha’ reading?

So other than listening to, talking and writing about music, I also read a lot about music. So here are some books that I’ve read recently, am currently reading or will be reading soon.

Are you Famous? by Ken Waldman

Just finished this one. This is Ken writing about his life, how he became an Alaskan Traveling Poet, and his life on the road. If you want to know what it's like to be a travelling musician, this is the book to read. It tells you the ins and outs of the music business from an independent fiddling poet.

Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, CSNY and the Lost story of 1970 by David Browne

Also just finished this one. This is the story of 1970 and the demise of the the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. The ups and downs of CSN&Y, and the rise of James Taylor and soft rock. I've been a Beatle fan for a long time, so the part about the end of the Beatles was familiar. The parts on CSN&Y were also familiar. I had heard about their problems long before reading this book. I hadn't read too much on Simon and Garfunkel or James Taylor, so it was interesting to read about how Simon and Garfunkel had their problems and how much of a junkie James Taylor was. One of the interesting things was how incestuous the rock world was at the time, Over the space of a couple of years, Graham Nash, David Crosby and James Taylor were all involved with the same woman...read the book to find out who.

Alan Lomax: Assistant in charge: The Library of Congress Letters, 1935-1945 by Alan Lomax

Still reading this one. This is a collection of letters sent by Alan Lomax when he was out collecting songs for the LoC. It shows what life was like in the 1930s, and how "cheap" it was to live. $50 was enough to keep him on the road collecting songs for weeks.
And

Woody Guthrie, American Radical by Will Kaufman

Just borrowed this and haven’t started reading it yet. I read Woody's Bound for Glory years ago, so I think this will offer a new perspective on the man.

Hey man, whatcha’ listening to?

Nowadays I find it hard to listen to music like when I was younger. I used to always be on the lookout for new music. I had friends who were also into music, and we’d always be talking about new bands.  This was back before the internet, and you had to go out of your way to find new stuff. You’d read all of the mainstream music magazines, read the ‘zines for the underground bands, listen to college radio to be exposed to unknown bands, or trade mix tapes with your friends. I’d listen to music all of the time but now I don’t have time to do all of that. If I listen to music now, it’s usually in the car, so here’s what I currently have in my car,

Ry Cooder – Boomers Story

Ry’s done a lot of good stuff. This was the first album of his that I bought, and it’s still my favorite. I prefer Ry's earlier albums, up to about the album Borderline. To me that is what Ry was all about, playing and exploring traditional music. Some of his mid period albums are okay, but I hear that his most recent couple of albums are really good. I haven't bought any of them yet, so I can't say.

Charlie Patton – Founder of the Delta Blues

It’s hard to pick a favorite blues singer, but Charlie is definitely up there. His playing is still causing people to say " How is he doing that?" Not to mention his vocals. There's a great quote from Son House, when asked in the 1960s to decipher what Charlie was singing on an old record, Son says that he couldn't understand what he was saying when he was sitting next to him in the 1930s. (When I find the actual quote, I'll post about it.)

Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne

The last album by Uncle Tupelo before they split up to form Wilco and Son Volt. When I first heard this, It didn't really do anything for me, so I put it on the shelf. A couple of months later, I gave it another try and I couldn't understand why I didn't like it the first time. It became one of my favorite albums of the mid 1990s.

Leoncavallo – Pagliacci (with Placido Domingo)

When I played in the Munier Mandolin Orchestra, I always enjoyed playing Vesti La Giubba, especially when we had a singer. To me opera has what I like in music. It tells a story, and touches on basic human emotions.

Grateful Dead –  Ladies and Gentlemen… The Grateful Dead- Filmore East April 1971

This is my favorite time period of the Grateful Dead, They still had the energy from the early days, and hadn’t yet become too spacey. Also Pigpen was still in top form with his raps. On this album, you can still hear them trying to find their way from the psychedelic music of the 1960s to the more folksy American Beauty/Workingman's Dead period.  On this, they cover songs as far apart as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "I second that emotion", to Merle Haggard's "Sing me back home."

NRBQ

I hate news like this, the other day, my wife asks me if I had heard anything about the drummer from NRBQ dying. I was like Tom Ardolino? No way! But it was true, Tom Ardolino had passed away at 56 … I was just introducing my nephew to their music over the New Year’s holiday, and didn’t expect to hear this.

 I first heard NRBQ from a cassette tape that I found at my parent’s house. It probably belonged to one of my older brothers, but was left when they had moved out.

 I had read about this band for years, but never actually heard them. When I first played the tape, I was hooked, by the catchy originals, great covers, and sense of humor, all topped off with fabulous musicianship. There was Terry’s unique keyboard style, Big Al’s guitar, and the rock steady rhythm section of Joey’s Danelectro bass and Tommy’s drums holding it all together. Now I know there were other members before, and after, but for me, that IS the NRBQ lineup.  They never made it big because they were too hard to pigeonhole.  I mean how do you market a band that covers Johnny Cash AND Sun Ra, that play songs like” Howard Johnson’s got his Ho-Jo working”, or  “R.C. Cola and a Moon Pie”?  They’ve been called “The World’s Greatest Bar Band”, and they sure earned the title, playing rock and roll, blues, jazz, pop, rockabilly, and everything in between for more than 40 years (20 years with my favorite lineup), and never having a hit or making it big.

 A couple of years ago, I was looking for NRBQ videos on the Internet, and there wasn’t a whole lot, now there’s some great stuff out there.  Where to start with all of this music, well how about we let the boys introduce themselves,

Here Comes Terry

I Got a Rocket in my Pocket

Ridin’ in My Car

Little Floater

Get Rhythm

Me and the Boys

Late 1980s band interview Part 1

Late 1980s band interview Part 2

This little post doesn’t even mention some of the other things that they did like having wrestler Captain Lou Albano as a manager, blowing up a New Kids on the Block album, exploding Cabbage Patch Kids on stage, and writing songs for Spongebob Squarepants.

When I watch those videos, it looks like they were having a lot of fun on stage, and I just love watching them play. Check out how Tom holds his sticks when he plays, (Rocket in my Pocket around 3:47 -3:54, Get Rhythm at 2:23)

 Although Tom’s gone, Terry is still touring with a new revamped NRBQ.

For more on NRBQ, check out,

NRBQ home page

Tour Dates

AllMusic

Wikipedia