Joe Bonamassa - Tour de Force (Abridged)

Since the cat is now out of the bag with respect to my ongoing chronicle of Joe Bonamassa's greatest hits, I figured it'd be a good idea to document my compilation of live tracks from Joe's phenomenal Tour de Force, which I put together a couple of years ago when those live albums/DVDs came out. As a bit of a preface, Joe's always been a hardy touring musician, but lately, with encouragement from record producer and creative collaborator Kevin "Caveman" Shirley (who has worked on records since the '90s by such high-profile bands as Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Journey, and more, and was also Silvertide's producer), he's done some spectacular themed live concerts.

As an example, there's one scheduled for this very month, in which Joe plans to honor three of the seminal legends of the British Blues explosion - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. (I'm looking forward to that CD/DVD)! I actually have yet another disc of greatest hits planned to honor Joe's Muddy Wolf (= Muddy Waters + Howlin' Wolf) and 3 Kings (B.B., Albert, and Freddie) tributes (I'm going to call it "Legends of the Blues"), but the one thing currently holding that up is that the 3 Kings concert has yet to be released due to (I hear) a petty complaint from Freddie King's estate (here's to hoping they get that settled, one way or another).

For the Tour de Force, Joe was tasked with performing on four separate nights at four separate classic venues in London, with four separate bands and four separate setlists. (Realistically, there was a little bit of overlap in bands and setlists, especially on the last two nights, but that was inevitable). On the first night, Joe dived back into his early years with a power trio approach at The Borderline club, which was a small affair. Then he put together a horn section for a blues-themed night at the larger Shepherd's Bush Empire. On the third night, he did a straight-up rock show at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo. And on the final night, Joe made his triumphant return to the Royal Albert Hall, with a half acoustic, half electric set.

It should go without saying that I was extremely excited when I heard about this special tour event in 2013. I waited with bated breath for the eventual release of the DVD (because as exciting as that would be, I'm not in any position to spend thousands of dollars to fly across the Atlantic for a concert). The concept of the tour was thrilling enough, but let me tell you, Joe was on fire all four nights. I easily rate it one of the live highlights of his career. I have no doubt that he was nervous, but with his talent, and the consummate professional that he is, he used that to his advantage and poured all of his energy into the music.

I couldn't even wait for the later CD release - I confess that I ripped the audio from the DVDs and started putting together a "best of" abridged version of the tour right away, which I only finalized when the CD came out and I was able to get my hands on the official audio. Each of the four concerts was a two-disc affair, so we're talking about distilling eight discs of high quality material. Needless to say, I ended up with not one but two discs of music. I call them the 'A' and 'B' sets, because each one could potentially stand alone (they both contain songs from all four nights), but I put the best songs on the first disc, and the only slightly less best songs on the second. Here's what I picked:

Joe Bonamassa - Tour de Force (Abridged)

'A' Set

1. Blues Deluxe               {8:38} [Borderline]
2. Pain And Sorrow            {7:54} [Borderline]
3. Midnight Blues             {8:38} [Shepherd's Bush Empire]
4. Chains & Things            {7:36} [Shepherd's Bush Empire]
5. The Great Flood           {10:17} [Shepherd's Bush Empire]
6. Tea For One                {9:43} [Hammersmith Apollo]
7. Sloe Gin                   {8:59} [Hammersmith Apollo]
8. The Ballad of John Henry  {13:13} [Royal Albert Hall]
                      Total: {74:58}

'B' Set

1. The River                  {6:57} [Borderline]
2. Happier Times              {7:53} [Borderline]
3. So Many Roads              {6:25} [Shepherd's Bush Empire]
4. Slow Train                 {6:45} [Shepherd's Bush Empire]
5. Dust Bowl                  {7:12} [Royal Albert Hall]
6. Dislocated Boy             {9:52} [Hammersmith Apollo]
7. Lonesome Road Blues        {4:57} [Hammersmith Apollo]
8. Just Got Paid             {12:25} [Hammersmith Apollo]
9. Django/Mountain Time      {11:44} [Royal Albert Hall]
                      Total: {74:10}

For those of you keeping track at home, here's a reminder of what each of the four nights were:

1st Night: Borderline = Power Trio
2nd Night: Shepherd's Bush Empire = Blues
3rd Night: Hammersmith Apollo = Rock
4th Night: Royal Albert Hall = Acoustic/Electric

Comments:

Conceptually, I think that the most interesting of these four concerts was the first - the Borderline gig - only because it was the most of a stretch for Joe. Blues, Rock, Acoustic/Electric - these are not only perennial elements of his live show (less so the acoustic, but that's certainly been a thing lately), but represent the kind of shows he's been doing of late. To see him turn back the clock about ten years, and return to the mindspace and musicspace he was in when he was just getting started as a solo artist - the point in his career that turned many of us, myself included, into Bonamassa fans (it was the A New Day Yesterday Live album that accompanied his first studio album - and particularly the title track from it - that turned me into a fan when I first heard it circa 2004 or thereabouts) - was fascinating.

And, true to form, the emphasis in a lot of these songs - performed in a power trio format - is guitar virtuosity. Not so much on the songcrafting, but just busting out stupid ridiculous extended guitar solos à la Cream. No track represents this better than Joe's cover of the Rod Stewart-penned, Jeff Beck-recorded Blues Deluxe. This is one of his best recordings of this song ever. Along with it, I put the slow burning Pain And Sorrow on the 'A' set as well, as it is one of my favorite deep cuts from Joe's early days (a shining beacon hailing from what most would consider his worst album, the sophomore record So It's Like That, recorded during the ill-advised period before he completely rejected the notion that a successful musician is defined by his commercial radio hits).

On the 'B' set, I chose The River, which is a bluesy, slide guitar song with a nice build to it that I've liked ever since seeing Joe perform it on the forgotten Live at Rockpalast concert DVD (advertising for which I don't doubt has been intentionally suppressed due to the venue's habit - as reflected in the way the show is filmed - of putting half-dressed girls on stage to dance while the band plays (not that there's anything wrong with that :p)). Along with it is actually a song from one of Joe's middle period albums (The Ballad of John Henry) - titled Happier Times - which is a bit of a sleeper hit that I never really latched onto until I heard him perform it here at these shows.

Musically, I think I was most looking forward to seeing the Shepherd's Bush Empire gig, just because I'm a huge fan of the blues. And, while I don't generally share Joe's opinion that a good blues band needs a horn section, I'd say their inclusion in this case was tasteful and not overwhelming. The two songs that made it onto my 'B' set are predictable, but excellent demonstrations of Joe's blues rock approach. The first one, So Many Roads, is an earlier cover of a track that was recorded in the '60s by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring one of my personal favorites, Peter Green, on guitar. The second one is Joe's Slow Train, from his Dust Bowl period, which is a powerhouse rocker that features a very convincing musical emulation of a train starting up. I saw him perform this one live in concert one of the several times I've caught Joe Bonamassa on tour.

The 'A' set features a few even more exciting tracks from this show. First is a cover of (sadly, the now late) Gary Moore (who inherited Peter Green's guitar)'s Midnight Blues. While most people probably remember Gary Moore for his flashy ballad Still Got The Blues (and in this case, with good reason), Midnight Blues is a great, minor key song that perfectly encapsulates the theme of Joe's blues night at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Following that on the 'A' set is a cover of Chains & Things, one of the most scorching guitar tracks in B.B. King's recorded legacy, and one of those rare cases of finding out a musician you like is covering one of your favorite less popular songs by another artist.

My final pick from this show is another of Joe's mid-period songs, The Great Flood, and another one (like Happier Times) that I didn't latch onto until I heard this concert. But it is now one of my favorite songs that the man performs (although there are a lot of those). I remember watching Joe perform it on the DVD, and wondering what song this was, because it's not one of the ones you immediately recognize when you first listen to it on the album (such as, for example, the title track from the same album, The Ballad of John Henry), and it doesn't have a catchy chorus or anything. But it's very slow, and melancholic, and lures you in to a false sense of security, until, towards the end, it unexpectedly erupts into a searing guitar solo. Rarely have I experienced a better musical rendition of depression followed by anguish, and watching it the first time actually caused my eyes to well up with tears (and I love it when music can touch me like that).

I'll give it to you straight, the last two nights of the Tour de Force aren't all that different, aside from the extended acoustic set at the Royal Albert Hall. But while a couple of acoustic tracks made it onto an early version of this compilation, I ultimately decided that they just aren't interesting enough, to me personally, to take space away from the electric tracks. But if the last two nights are similar, that doesn't mean they aren't spectacular. This is where the mainstays and concert centerpieces come to roost, and the best opportunity on this particular compilation to represent some of Joe's then-newer songs in the live format. To that end, the 'B' set's got Dust Bowl and Dislocated Boy. The former features an impassioned lead with some liquid guitar licks, and the latter, hailing from Joe's Driving Towards the Daylight album, features a maverick keyboard solo by Arlan Schierbaum (if you watch the DVD, you'll note that he stands up on his keyboard while playing during this solo)!

On the 'A' set I threw in a live version of Joe's cover of the Led Zeppelin track Tea For One, featuring Doug Henthorn on guest lead vocals. Joe is an incredible talent of a blues rock guitarist, and he's built a reputation on recording incredible covers of British blues songs, but Led Zeppelin is still rock royalty, and one dares not tread lightly on their legacy, if one expects to be well-respected on one's own merits. Hearing that Joe was going to cover a classic Led Zeppelin track alone is enough to get fans excited, but the somewhat underappreciated Tea For One - a mournful, slow blues - was an inspired choice, and Joe did an amazing job doing justice to the song, effectively conjuring the feel of the original. Even more incredible is the fact that he was able to perform it live in concert, as he did during the Tour de Force at the Hammersmith Apollo.

The other track from the Hammersmith Apollo that I put on the 'A' set was Joe's signature number, a cover that brought new life to a song first recorded by actor/entertainer Tim Curry - Sloe Gin. This song is, in essence, Joe's Stairway To Heaven (as clichéd or pretentious as it may be to say that), and is not only a concert staple, but always a highlight of Joe's live show. On the 'B' set, I ended up throwing in Lonesome Road Blues because, even though it seems like a "filler" song thrown in between greater spectacles, the energy and audacity with which Joe attacks the song is so palpable, and it's a perfect demonstration of the mindset Joe must have been in, completely daunted by the work flow propped up on his shoulders, but tearing through it with no less gusto, like a hungry wolverine.

Finally, closing out each disc, we come to the epic centerpiece songs - the ones that feature extended jams, and regularly exceed ten minutes in length from start to finish. I had to shuffle them about a little bit, due to time constraints, so that at least one of the two that turns up on the 'B' set is good enough to be on the 'A' set. On the other hand, the two that ended up on the 'B' set are also represented on one of my other Joe Bonamassa greatest hits compilations (from a different live album), so if anything, the one that made it onto the 'A' set is probably the most "essential" inclusion of the three. That one is Joe's The Ballad of John Henry, which, if Sloe Gin is Joe's Stairway to Heaven, this would be his Dazed and Confused.

But, speaking of which, one of the two that ended up on the 'B' set is Joe's cover of ZZ Top's Just Got Paid, which features an extended instrumental section in which Joe has taken it upon himself to resurrect the guitar solo from the actual song Dazed and Confused! (I hope this isn't too confusing). Suffice to say, it's awesome. This version comes from the Hammersmith Apollo, whereas the other two songs I've been talking about in these two paragraphs both come from the final night at the Royal Albert Hall. The last song I have yet to name, and the last song on the 'B' set, is the medley of Django/Mountain Time, the latter part of which is a pretty song that's long been one of Joe's concert highlights, that builds up to a crescendo, and is a nice way to end the compilation.

Altogether, this is two discs (or if you're really pressed for time, you could squeeze it down to just the first one - although I wouldn't recommend it) of incredible music, and some of Joe's best live performances ever recorded. To date, that is - as he is ever producing more material, in the studio and on the stage, and at an almost inhuman pace. But what may come in the future, no matter how good it might be, won't change the quality of what we've got right here, collected for posterity (and a damn good, rocking time)!

Black Country Compilation

For context, read the preface here.

It's a testament to how good this band is that I had a really hard time picking and choosing the best tracks to put on this compilation. Throughout their entire discography - which only spans three studio albums and one incredible live album - there are really very few tracks that feel like filler. The band is consistently firing on all cylinders. It would be extremely pretentious of me to compare this band to Led Zeppelin, but...well, I'll just leave that right there. -_^

Lol, anyway... Joe Bonamassa is on fire in this band, with myriad scorching guitar tracks. (Although, ironically - barring one or two exceptions - I tend to prefer him as lead guitarist to singer/songwriter - that's what his solo career is for!). Glenn Hughes is just an incredible rock singer (slash bassist), and he really brings it to every single track. Jason Bonham lays down a solid rhythm on the drums, with plenty of flair sprinkled over top - he's his father's son, there's no doubt of that. And while the keyboards are tastefully restrained throughout most of this music (too much keyboard can easily water down the sound of a hard rocking band - although considering Glenn Hughes' tenure in Deep Purple, one of the best and hardest rocking bands that featured a virtuoso keyboard player, I'm sure they knew what they were doing), Derek Sherinian adds a welcome rhythmic accompaniment to the rest of the music, and even takes a rare moment to shine here and there. Altogether, these four incredible musicians had a fantastic musical chemistry, and even though the band didn't stick around for long (albeit longer than some bands do - I'm looking at you, Silvertide), they left a fantastic recorded legacy.

Case in point - the trouble I had picking out songs for this compilation. Frequently - and to my surprise - I found myself ousting tracks that I would have thought were shoe-ins, because they feature some of the catchiest choruses (e.g., One Last Soul, Medusa, Man In The Middle, Smokestack Woman, I Can See Your Spirit, Cry Freedom, and the list just goes on). On another person's compilation - or perhaps even an official "greatest hits" package - these tracks might certainly have made the cut. But I opted less for the catchy radio hits, and more for the sort of hard-lined tracks that I feel represent the band at their absolute finest. But if there's a lesson to be learned, it's that this band brought their A game to every single track.

Oh, the incredible guitar solos I had to cut out (I'm looking at you, Common Man)! If you're so inclined, I would absolutely recommend you just go out and buy the band's entire discography - you won't regret it. I want to say that the first album is their strongest, but that might just be because it was my introduction to the band - it made the biggest impression on me, and is probably the one I've listened to the most times. But their second studio album is also fantastic, with a lot more great songs. Their last studio album is slightly less memorable, but it still features some fantastic music. And if you like live albums, you will not be disappointed by this band's. Like all of the best hard rocking bands, these guys were at their finest in a live setting. On the DVD, you can even watch them perform many of their greatest songs, some with extended jams. Don't miss their rendition of The Ballad of John Henry from Joe's solo career (a great choice for this band), and also their rollicking encore of Deep Purple's Burn.

Black Country Compilation (all songs by Black Country Communion)

 1. Black Country             3:15 {1}
 2. The Great Divide          4:45 {1}
 3. Beggarman                 4:51 {1}
 4. Save Me                   7:42 {2}
 5. Little Secret             6:59 {2}
 6. Cold                      6:55 {2}
 7. Midnight Sun              5:17 {3}
 8. The Circle                7:01 {3}
 9. Song of Yesterday (Live)  9:11 {Live}
10. Sista Jane (Live)         7:44 {Live}
11. Too Late For The Sun     11:21 {1}
                (Total Time) 75:01

Comments:

The first three tracks hail from Black Country Communion's self-titled debut album, released in 2010. I had the most trouble culling tracks from this album (as you'll see, I managed to sneak in a few more later). These three are probably the tip top. The first one, Black Country, opens the album, and is the perfect introduction and mission statement for the band (which was originally just going to be called Black Country, until there was a conflict with another band of that name). "I am a messenger; this is my prophecy: I'm going back - to the black country." The Great Divide is one of their best straight-up hard-rocking tracks. And Beggarman is a fun, catchy song with an incendiary guitar part. You have to love the way it opens with Joe just fooling around on guitar in the studio, and going right into the song. They did a good job duplicating this effect in concert, but it's impossible to copy the serendipity of the original.

The next three tracks hail from BCC's second album, simply titled 2, which was released in the following year. It was a little bit easier to pick out the standout tracks on this album, but that's not to say that the ones that didn't make the cut aren't really good. The ones that did are a little bit slower (but not necessarily any softer) and a little bit longer than the ones we heard from the first album. The lyrical material is also a little bit heavier. Save Me conjures an image of a man on a ledge, just crying out for a reason not to leap. And Cold, as Glenn does a good job of explaining on the live album, is a song about the friends we've lost, that we never had a chance to say goodbye to. I like the way it depicts the profound incredulity of being faced with the stark reality of death. "The sky is falling, now that you're growing old. And I feel I'm dying - how can you be so cold?" The song that's sandwiched between them, Little Secret, is one of Joe's best and bluesiest performances with the band.

We skip over the live album for the moment (with good reason, as you'll see), and jump ahead to BCC's third and final studio album, Afterglow - both of these were released in 2012. While this album isn't as strong as the previous two, it's still a solid album from start to finish, and it was the hardest one for me to pick out the standout tracks. The Circle was the only easy choice. "I'm in the middle of a dream - I just don't know what it means. I am at war with my fear, and I'm lost in the circle again." I wavered between Common Man and Midnight Sun, but while Common Man has an incredible ending guitar solo, I like Midnight Sun as a song overall a little bit better. Plus, it's still got some great guitar parts, and it's also a really great opportunity for Derek Sherinian to show off his keyboards.

The next two tracks come from the live album, Live Over Europe. It's a double album, with a lot of great material, so I really went ascetic on this one. I wanted to limit myself to tracks that could be considered both some of the highlights of the live show, and also songs that benefited from the live atmosphere, and are an improvement over their studio counterparts. In a lot of cases, I preferred the purity of the studio versions. That having been said, the live versions of Save Me and Cold are both fantastic, and I could easily have switched them out for their studio versions here. The ones I picked, however - Song of Yesterday, and Sista Jane - fulfill both of my conditions. Plus, they gave me an excuse to fit a couple more songs from the first album on this compilation.

But don't complain - both songs absolutely deserve to be on this disc - and their live versions are incredible. And they serve still yet another purpose, too - by bringing us back into the mindset of the first album, they pave the way for the closing track, Too Late For The Sun. Along with Little Secret, this is one of the tracks I discovered in creating this compilation that I hadn't realized were so good previously. This is a long, jamming track - when the last verse gives way to the instrumental outro, the song isn't even halfway over yet! - and my favorite choice to close the disc. You might note that this compilation both starts and ends with the opening and closing tracks of the band's first album, but again, that just goes to show. Still, don't let that be an excuse to ignore the rest of this band's output. (I'm sure no two BCC fans would agree on which songs belong on this compilation!).

Black Country Compilation (Preface)

So, I was starting to think about my fourth disc's worth of greatest hits that I've been compiling over the last ten years or so, as I chronicle the continuing musical career of Joe Bonamassa - who, through time and longevity, has proven to be my all-time favorite musical act, rivaling even the likes of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Actually, if you want to put it consecutively, while Pink Floyd was my favorite band and characteristic of my high school years, and Led Zeppelin was my favorite band and characteristic of my college years, you could say that Joe Bonamassa is my favorite musical artist and characteristic of my post-college, adult years.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was starting to think about my fourth disc's worth of Joe Bonamassa's greatest hits, and getting it into my head that I could someday do what my compadre Tenzin Swift has begun doing to honor one of his favorite musical artists - and another artist with a long and lucrative career - Neil Young, by compiling the artist's 100 greatest songs. (I have no doubt at all in my mind that even before the end of Joe Bonamassa's career, I will be able to put together 100 songs worthy of a greatest hits mega-compilation, and that's even if he's less prolific from here on out than he's been so far - I'm already at least halfway there and he's only been putting out music for about 15 years so far).

Ahem. So I was thinking about my fourth greatest hits compilation (not including two discs' worth of top quality live material from the Tour de Force), and it hit me that I could do a whole disc just from Joe Bonamassa's tenure in the supergroup Black Country Communion. You could probably do a whole other disc on Joe's collaborations with various artists - call it Joe Bonamassa & Friends - including Beth Hart and Rock Candy Funk Party, but frankly, I just don't find myself as inspired by those projects because they veer a little too far from what I like about Joe's music, which is the blues and the rock. I think it's fantastic that he has these projects for people who maybe have more eclectic tastes, or who are into other genres like funk and soul, and it definitely demonstrates his undeniable virtuosity.

But out of all his side projects, Black Country Communion is by far my favorite, because it's a good old-fashioned hard rock supergroup. And while compiling greatest hits for Joe's solo career is a messy endeavor, given that he's continuously and consistently putting out new material every year (I'm a huge Bonamassa fan, and I go out and buy his albums religiously, and even I have trouble sometimes keeping track of everything he's doing, and everything he's putting out); plus, there's the fact that there are not usually clear dividers between where one compilation should end and the next should begin. Eras and stuff like that become evident only in hindsight, and just not enough time has passed to determine that. I mean, you can't even separate it into decades because it's only been one and a half so far!

I was even toying with the idea of doing one disc of acoustic material (Joe Bonamassa Unplugged), culled from various albums and live shows (not just the Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House concert he put out), but my motivation wavered when I realized that while there are some great acoustic tracks, I just don't know that I like acoustic music enough to make a whole disc out of it. But I might change my mind in a decade or two.

Getting back to the topic at hand (I had no idea I'd end up going on this many tangents, but I guess it makes sense - this stuff has been brewing in my head for years, and this is the first time I've put it down on paper - er, typed it on a screen?). Barring a future reunion album/tour (let's all keep our fingers crossed!), for better or worse, Black Country Communion has come and gone. They put out three strong studio albums, and one fantastic live album, which means there's a finite amount of material for me to work through in order to pick out one disc's worth of the best (five discs - the live album is a double album - down to one is a pretty strong distillation). So I spent the last month or so totally binging on Black Country Communion (it was awesome - what a great band), and I think I've finally decided on a tracklist. It wasn't easy, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

See the list and my comments here.

Hippie Festival Trinity

It has long been my belief that the succession of Monterey, Woodstock, and The Isle of Wight make up a sort of holy trinity of hippie music festivals. The Monterey International Pop Festival kicks off the scene in 1967, the Summer of Love, with an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation. Woodstock follows in 1969, bringing with it an air of accomplishment and wonder at what the hippie dream is capable of. But by 1970 at The Isle of Wight Festival, the dream has already begun to become bloated, and the sustainability of such festivals (and, perhaps, the hippie dream itself) is falling under doubt. A lot of people select The Rolling Stones' performance at Altamont where a man in the audience is killed as the third piece in the triforce, but I think Isle of Wight better keeps to the theme of grand multi-group multi-day festivals.

And so, the other day I decided to make a three-disc compilation - one disc for each of the festivals - to chronicle my favorite tracks from the Trinity of Hippie Music Festivals!

A. Monterey International Pop Festival, 1967

Monterey was the hardest disc to compile, because I had not only the main setlist from the movie to cull from, but also the just-as-long list of bonus tracks that comes on the DVD. It's a lot of good songs to choose from, and I had to leave some good acts - like Ravi Shankar, whose set was just too long - out for that reason. I rearranged the tracks to put them in the order the bands played at the festival (as far as I know), except that I moved The Mamas & The Papas (who hosted the festival) from the end to the start, because I thought they made a better opening track, and because I think Jimi Hendrix makes a better closer, with his infamous performance of Wild Thing during which he lit his guitar on fire.

1. "Vibrations" (crowd track, girl talks about love-ins)
2. The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin'
3. The Association - Along Comes Mary
4. The Animals - Paint It Black
5. Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence
6. Big Brother & The Holding Company - Ball And Chain
7. Country Joe & The Fish - Section 43
8. Al Kooper - Wake Me, Shake Me
9. Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Driftin' And Driftin'
10. Quicksilver Messenger Service - All I Ever Wanted
11. The Byrds - Hey Joe
12. Jefferson Airplane - Today
13. The Blues Project - Flute Thing
14. Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
15. The Who - My Generation
16. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Wild Thing

B. Woodstock Music & Art Fair, 1969

Woodstock was the easiest disc for me to compile, possibly because I've done it before. Possibly also because all I had to cull from was the main sequence of tracks from the movie. I kept the tracks in the order of the movie, because it's become such an iconic document of the Woodstock festival - even more so than the other two, on account of Woodstock's [deserving] popularity. I wanted to put in even more of Jimi Hendrix's fantastic set, but I was already approaching the time limit and so The Star-Spangled Banner alone had to suffice. One track I reluctantly had to exclude on account of timing was Sly And The Family Stone's riveting setpiece, I Want To Take You Higher.

1. Richie Havens - Freedom
2. Canned Heat - A Change Is Gonna Come
3. Joan Baez - Joe Hill
4. The Who - Summertime Blues
5. Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
6. Crosby Stills & Nash - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
7. Ten Years After - I'm Goin' Home
8. Jefferson Airplane - Uncle Sam's Blues
9. Country Joe - Fixin' To Die Rag
10. Santana - Soul Sacrifice
11. Janis Joplin - Work Me, Lord
12. Jimi Hendrix - Star-Spangled Banner

C. The Isle of Wight Festival, 1970

Isle of Wight was the second easiest of the festivals to compile, mostly because all I had to cull from was the soundtrack (but harder than Woodstock because I hadn't done it before). In this case, though, I rearranged the tracks in the order the bands played at the festival (according to Wikipedia), since their positioning on Message To Love isn't nearly as iconic as Woodstock. I hadn't planned on it from the start, but as I was going through arranging the tracks, it just became obvious that Jimi Hendrix should end up closing each of the three festivals. One thing I like about Isle of Wight that the other two more popular festivals lack is the inclusion of The Doors. Also, this festival includes my favorite track among the three by The Who - the only band other than Jimi Hendrix to appear on all three discs.

1. Taste - Sinner Boy
2. Family - Weaver's Answer
3. Joni Mitchell - Woodstock
4. ELP - Blue Rondo A La Turk/Pictures At An Exhibition
5. Ten Years After - Can't Keep From Cryin'
6. The Doors - When The Music's Over
7. The Who - Naked Eye
8. Free - All Right Now
9. The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
10. Jethro Tull - My Sunday Feeling
11. Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child

Stone Unturned

The impetus for this compilation was a comment I made about the excellent tracks in The Rolling Stones' discography that weren't popular hits, which came out of a discussion over the tracklist of the Stones' Forty Licks, a pretty decent two-disc collection of their greatest hits, spanning pretty much their entire catalog, at least up until the year it was released, 2002 - before A Bigger Bang, incidentally. So I went through my collection of Stones albums (not complete, by any stretch), and picked out my favorite songs that do NOT turn up on the tracklist of Forty Licks, and that I don't think were ever big hits on the charts (although some of them may have had some play on the groovier radio stations).

One thing I realized when putting together this compilation, which I have dubbed 'Stone Unturned' in reference to the Stones songs that don't get as much attention (with relative obscurity balanced reasonably by quality - that is, I wanted a collection of great songs, not a collection of the most obscure songs), is that I'd like to fill in my discography between the Stones' first few albums that I have, and the golden era that covers Beggars Banquet through about Goats Head Soup. After that, I'm less enthusiastic, because quite frankly, the Stones' output has never been quite as good since the mid-'70s (although 2005's A Bigger Bang was a breath of fresh air).

I felt that Little Red Rooster, being one of my favorites, was enough representation of the early era, because I wanted to save lots of space for the Stones' golden age. That the albums most represented on this comp are Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers just goes to show the quality of those albums. Then, of course, there is Exile on Main St., but I've always had a hard time extracting tracks from that record, because it works so well on its own, with the songs in their context. But with so little of it mined for pop hits (the exceptions being only Happy and Tumbling Dice, a measly two from a double album during the Stones' heyday), it was rife for some representation on my compilation.

Fingerprint File is as much representation as I need from the Stones' latter genre-experimentation period (disco and '80s and all that), being an excellent song and no later than 1974. I threw in Cocksucker Blues at the end just for fun. All in all, I think it's a pretty awesome mix of music, although the perfect Stones comp would blend tracks like these with the best of their pop hits, because sometimes - even I have to admit - the masses do appreciate things that are genuinely good (somehow). But for its limits, I think this is a pretty damn good disc to listen to!

Here's the tracklist, for your consideration:

1. Little Red Rooster
2. Stray Cat Blues
3. Love In Vain
4. Midnight Rambler
5. Monkey Man
6. Sway
7. Can't You Hear Me Knocking
8. Sister Morphine
9. Dead Flowers
10. Rocks Off
11. Rip This Joint
12. All Down The Line
13. Dancing With Mr. D
14. Star Star
15. Fingerprint File
16. Cocksucker Blues

Back To The Garden

Back To The Garden is a compilation serving two complementary themes. I started putting it together because I was in need of something thematically appropriate to listen to on long car rides driving out to naturist resorts. Thus I began picking out songs honoring the natural life, depicting the need to escape the modern urban sprawl, and the inevitable damage mankind is doing to Mother Earth. The theme is summed up perfectly by the line from Joni Mitchell's song about Woodstock, where she sings, "we've got to get ourselves back to the garden" - the garden being, presumably, the Garden of Eden, where Mankind originated, and from whence was exiled after committing the Original Sin leading to the Fall.

The idea being, that it is time for Mankind to reclaim his innocence and divinity, and return to the Garden where he can live in peace and love and in cooperation with Mother Earth. Idealistic, for sure, but a beautiful vision nonetheless, and at least partly the feeling I get when I'm on my way to spend some time in a community that still values the natural, sensual experience of life, in spite of what the modern urban mindset prescribes, and does, at times, honestly feel like a little piece of Eden. Quite naturally, this theme bumps up against the free spirit ethos of the counterculture movement in America during the 1960s, and as such, consists mostly of songs from that era, and doubles quite well as a peace & love hippie compilation.

Back To The Garden

1. Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Woodstock
2. Canned Heat - Going Up The Country
3. Moby Grape - Naked, If I Want To
4. The Cowsills - Hair
5. Mother Earth - Mother Earth
6. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air
7. Neil Young - Homegrown
8. Bob Dylan - All Along The Watchtower
9. Sky High - Blues For The Green
10. Quicksilver Messenger Service - What About Me
11. Five Man Electrical Band - Signs
12. Ten Years After - The Sounds
13. The Animals - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
14. John Lennon - Imagine
15. The Guess Who - Share The Land
16. The Youngbloods - Get Together
17. The Grass Roots - Let's Live For Today
18. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
19. Joni Mitchell - Woodstock [Isle of Wight]

As you can see, the foundation of the compilation is the song Woodstock - it opens with CSNY's energetic rock n roll cover, and later closes with a more mellow (and haunting) live version by the original artist, Joni Mitchell. Canned Heat's Going Up The Country is included both because it is iconic to anyone who's seen the Woodstock film, and because its lyrics perfectly encapsulate the theme of heading into the country. Moby Grape's Naked, If I Want To and The Cowsills' Hair, both great hippie tracks, recall Adam and Eve, who, in the Garden of Eden, stood naked before the eyes of God, and (Eve, at least) are often depicted with long, beautiful hair.

Mother Earth is an excellent track, featuring Michael Bloomfield on guitar, which introduces the recurring theme of the primacy of nature, and the dire importance of honoring and not ignoring her. No matter how much material wealth you acquire in life, when it all comes down, you've got to go back to Mother Earth. QMS sings (presumably with tongue in cheek) about the restorative properties of fresh air, and Neil Young celebrates the value in homegrown crops. Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower warns of the danger of men raping the land, and Sky High (the only modern band on this compilation)'s Blues For The Green laments the damage that man is foolishly and ignorantly inflicting upon the Earth.

QMS returns with a paranoid track that really emphasizes the counterculture theme, taking The Establishment's treatment of nature and expanding it to cast doubt upon the entire system, while issuing a challenge and a notice that there are some out there who are not willing to fall in line. The Five Man Electrical Band continues the theme of becoming tired of the urban landscape with its scathing commentary on the authoritarian dictates of the scenery-blocking sign culture, and Ten Years After produces a poignant musical piece that echoes the madness of the constant and inescapable buzzing, mechanical, droning sounds that swarm the cities. Lucky for us, The Animals step in with their ballad of desperate escape.

Turning back onto our idealism, and forgetting again the neuroses of the city, John Lennon imagines a different kind of world, where the corruption of the modern system doesn't stand in the way of happiness. The Guess Who sings Share The Land, which taps further into the socialist implications of the previous song, and sets the stage for The Youngbloods' plead for us all to Get Together and love one another. Then The Grass Roots make their case for the value in living for today, and that leads into Neil Young and Crazy Horse's reprise of the theme of respecting Mother Earth, with a sorrowful warning of what will happen if we fail to do so ("respect Mother Earth, and her giving ways, or trade away our children's days"). Then Joni Mitchell sings her version of Woodstock, bringing us back full circle, but where we opened the disc with energy and optimism, Joni's haunting arrangement echoes the fear of all we have to lose if we don't get ourselves back to the garden soon...

Feelin' The Blues

My two musical loves are the blues and rock n roll. Rock n roll is all about attitude and energy and rebellion. The blues is about sadness and soul. Both feature a rich history of prominent guitarists, but it's always been the fusion of rock and blues that has been the primary target of my auditory affections. Rock songs that are steeped in the blues tradition, and blues that rock.

So in the music I listen to, I'm never far from either. I tend to gravitate toward the sort of rock that is more heavily blues influenced, and if you know me, you'll probably notice that I describe a lot of the music I like best as "bluesy". So when I described Joe Bonamassa's latest album as being heavily blues-inspired (even within the context of the very bluesy career of a very blues-inspired musician), my friend made a comment that emphasized, for me, the difference between traditional blues and 'progressive' blues, the latter of which is where I'd place Joe Bonamassa's music.

Now, when I think of the blues, I think of the 12-bar format, I think of shuffle beats, slow tempos, and I think of biting electric leads punctuating simplistic but stingingly depressing lyrics. Then again, I'm a fan of slow, electric blues. I imagine a lot of people think of something closer to folk blues, or more specifically, delta blues, where the modern blues tradition arose from. A lot of this is acoustic music, and so, although I've listened to it and have a lot of respect for it as a blues fan, I don't actually like it as much as electric blues (I'm particularly fond of the Chicago and Texas blues traditions).

In any case, thinking on this, I confronted the fact that a lot of the 'blues' music I listen to is derived, contributing to the fact that my CD collection contains at least ten times more blues-inspired rock (mostly classic rock bands who were heavily influenced by the blues) than actual blues musicians. Not that there's any problem with that - I listen to what I like - but it gave me the great idea to create a compilation of some of my favorite songs by genuine blues musicians, as a sort of document to myself and anyone else who might listen to it in my presence (or not) about what the blues is, as opposed to what the blues has inspired.

I call it - simply but effectively, as blues lyrics often are - Feelin' The Blues:

Feelin' The Blues

1. B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone
2. Albert Collins - Cold, Cold Feeling
3. Big Mama Thornton - Ball N' Chain
4. Freddie King - Going Down
5. Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got The Blues
6. Otis Rush - Homework
7. Albert King - Got To Be Some Changes Made
8. Jimmy Dawkins - Welfare Line
9. John Lee Hooker - Moanin' Blues
10. Lightnin' Hopkins - Bring Me My Shotgun
11. Muddy Waters - Still A Fool
12. Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'
13. Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying
14. T-Bone Walker - Stormy Monday
15. Robert Johnson - Me And The Devil Blues
16. Son House - Grinnin' In Your Face

My approach was to try to get as many different artists as I could (limited by my actual CD library), with an emphasis on covering 'all the bases' (or at least most of them) of your classic, traditional, blues artists. I decided to allow only one track per artist, to allow for more variety. Where possible, I have selected hard rockin' or slow and solemn electric blues (because that's just what I like), but I made a specific effort to include the old delta blues format as well, for a historical perspective.

Thus the tracklist reads as a veritable who's who of the blues. You've got the three kings - B.B., Albert, and Freddie. You've got Albert Collins, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy - who I've always considered to be the Jimi Hendrix of the blues. You've got Big Mama Thornton who sung Hounddog before Elvis picked it up. You've got Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. You've got John Lee Hooker who brought boogie to the blues. And I threw in Jimmy Dawkins as a personal favorite.

As you head towards the end of the disc, you start to move back towards the folkier roots of the blues. Lightnin' Hopkins sings Bring Me My Shotgun, a mellow but sinister blues that caught my attention the first time I heard it. Elmore James, the king of the slide, contributes The Sky Is Crying - a song that, like T-Bone Walker's Stormy Monday that follows it, has been covered ad nauseam yet is one of my all-time favorite blues standards.

By the end of the disc you've reached the legendary Robert Johnson, said to have sold his soul to the devil, and who has inspired generations of musicians across genres. But going back even further, you reach Son House, the Father of the Delta Blues. I had a hard time picking the song I liked best for this compilation, but I think that I ultimately chose the right one.

Grinnin' In Your Face represents the blues in its purest form, and echoes the first time I learned about Son House - in a video documentary of the Newport Folk Festival, where he talks about the soul of the blues. All of the trappings have been stripped away, and in this song Son House doesn't even play the guitar. It's just depression with a beat. But not without a faint glimmer of hope. After all, the blues, in all its sorrow, is a healing music.

Experiencing Jimi Hendrix

I love it when a friend of mine expresses an interest in some of the music I like, because I understand how individual musical tastes can vary, and if we're both going to be sitting in a car for an extended period of time listening to music, it's much more pleasurable if we can listen to something we both agree is good.

Of course, when that's not the case, I hold fast to the rule of driver's choice. Although I like driving, it requires effort and concentration, and the driver is the one in control of the vehicle (as well as the passengers' lives), and creating a pleasant atmosphere (which often includes putting on music the driver likes), is conducive to a smooth and unstressful journey (plus I've noticed that having good music on makes a long trip go much faster).

So, if necessary, I wouldn't hesitant putting on music I like that the rest of the car's passengers don't really like - if I were driving - but I'm always happy to put on something that the passengers can enjoy, too. Partly because sometimes I'm going to be the passenger, and it's always nice if the driver reciprocates that diplomacy and tries to find something they like that I don't object to, too. :p

So when my friend told me she likes Jimi Hendrix, and asked me to make a compilation for the car, I was ecstatic. I spent a week listening to my entire Hendrix catalog (which isn't that huge), and this is what I came up with:

Experiencing Jimi Hendrix

(I know, real original name)

1. Foxey Lady
2. Hey Joe
3. Purple Haze
4. Spanish Castle Magic
5. Bold As Love
6. Crosstown Traffic
7. House Burning Down
8. All Along The Watchtower
9. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
10. Hear My Train A Comin' [BBC #2]
11. Red House [Live at Winterland]
12. Machine Gun [Band of Gypsys]
13. Star-Spangled Banner [Woodstock]
14. Wild Thing [Monterey]

The compilation is split into halves. The first half is studio stuff. The second half is live. I wanted to pick out some of the best tracks from The Jimi Hendrix Experience's three studio albums, creating a balance between the pop hits that everybody knows and loves, and the deeper album cuts that are just as good or better but don't get played as often.

So I picked my favorite hits from Are You Experienced, opening the disc with Foxey Lady, which is an excellent opener on account of how the song begins. I included Hey Joe, which I've always loved, and Purple Haze, partly because how can you have a Hendrix compilation without that song? and partly because I've been learning to play that song and that tends to give you a greater appreciation for it. I skipped tracks like Fire, which is catchy, but I've never been super fond of, and Red House, which is one of my all time favorite songs, but I saved for later so I can stick on a live version instead.

The two tracks from Axis: Bold As Love fall into the 'overlooked album cuts' category, but are both really awesome. I didn't include Little Wing because, even though it's a great song, I actually like cover versions of it better (Derek and the Dominos and Stevie Ray Vaughan, for different reasons), and it's a bit too mellow for this disc which is all about Jimi Hendrix: Guitar God (seeing as I'm an electric guitarist).

Electric Ladyland, being a double album, contributes a whopping four cuts (lotsa great songs on that album). The first two are of the deep variety, Crosstown Traffic being a great, short rocker like Spanish Castle Magic, and House Burning Down featuring lotsa guitar tricks and effects and without a doubt the most contagious chorus on the compilation ("somebody's house is burnin', down down, down down..."). With the latter two we return to radio hit territory, with possibly Hendrix's greatest cover song (All Along The Watchtower), and the most incendiary track in his career (Voodoo Child).

Following Voodoo Child is the fantastic Hear My Train A Comin', the second version from the BBC Sessions, which follows in the spirit of Voodoo Child, and interfaces with the live tracks, having something of a 'live in the studio' atmosphere, having been recorded for the BBC.

The version of Red House I picked comes from an unofficial (I think) Live At The Winterland disc I have which is really a fantastic concert, featuring some of Jimi's best live playing that I've heard. Machine Gun (from Band of Gypsys) is the one song my friend required be on the compilation, and one song that I would have put on anyway. After that I have included Jimi's iconic performance of the Star-Spangled Banner from Woodstock, followed by Wild Thing from the Monterey Pop Festival, which was the Experience's American debut, during which Jimi Hendrix infamously set fire to his guitar as a sacrifice. The MC's wild cry of "Jimi Hendrix!" closes out the disc.

SRV - Slow Blues

Legendary British blues guitarist Peter Green (the man who formed Fleetwood Mac, and penned Santana's hit Black Magic Woman) once differentiated between the two styles of the blues, saying that he considered all the faster songs to be rock n roll, with the slower ones being the true blues. And while there is a long history of upbeat blues, this comment has always resonated with me, as it's the downbeat blues that have always spoken to me on a deeper level. In my mind there is a significant distinction between that style of up tempo blues that has a good rocking beat, that gets you jumping and moving, as if to dance your blues away, and the down tempo blues that seems to wallow and revel in sadness and despair. Both approaches have merit, and I do indeed enjoy both of them immensely for their separate appeals, but as a bit of a darker, more melancholic, inwardly directed person, it's the Slow Blues that truly calls to me.

So I took some time to dig through Stevie Ray Vaughan's discography recently. SRV is undoubtedly one of the greatest blues guitarists to ever grace this planet, and is probably my favorite artist whose career is situated primarily in the decade of the '80s. One of the most fascinating aspects about Stevie is his seemingly effortless combination of talent and popularity. Many pop artists rely on hooks to draw audiences in to their music, while many highly talented instrumentalists garner only a fraction of their popularity. It was more common in past decades, in my experience, for pop artists to be accomplished musicians, but Stevie Ray Vaughan is uniquely talented, even while being widely regarded and capable of writing a very good pop tune that demonstrates, rather than obfuscates, his mastery of the guitar.

But with my previous discussion of slow blues in mind, I have gone through Stevie's discography, skipping over those accomplished pop rockers (many of the ones you hear on the radio frequently), even [reluctantly] ignoring those tracks (several of them instrumentals) that showcase SRV's awesome guitar abilties, to focus in on the slow blues numbers that Stevie has recorded. As a result, I have compiled a nice, tight playlist of Stevie Ray Vaughan songs that emphasize the melancholy of the blues, the kind of songs that wallow in despair, the sort you might like to listen to on those days when you feel depressed, and you don't have a lot of energy, you're not ready to start feeling good again just yet - you just want to sit up in your room, as Son House once described it, and cry a while. Here's the tracklist:



1. Texas Flood
2. Dirty Pool
3. The Things (That) I Used To Do
4. Tin Pan Alley (aka The Roughest Place In Town)
5. Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love
6. Life Without You
7. May I Have A Talk With You
8. Leave My Girl Alone
9. The Sky Is Crying

The Who - The ELITE Collection

As an intermediate level fan of The Who (I think they're a great band, but I don't own their entire discography), I've found that The Ultimate Collection is actually a pretty satisfying collection of songs that represent The Who - from their early breakout singles (I Can't Explain), to their epic middle period (Won't Get Fooled Again), down to their waning hits (Eminence Front). In the world of greatest hits compilations, there are many methodologies, but two basic formats - the single disc "essential" collection, and the more comprehensive double disc compendium. The Ultimate Collection is the latter of the two, yet listening to it, I am taken by the desire to squeeze it down to a single refined disc by eliminating the lesser half of the songs on the tracklist. You know, just for fun. So here's what I would pick (your selections may vary):

I Can't Explain
My Generation
Substitute
Boris The Spider
I Can See For Miles
Magic Bus
Pinball Wizard
See Me Feel Me
The Seeker
Summertime Blues (Live)
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
5:15
Love Reign O'er Me
Who Are You
You Better You Bet
Eminence Front
I was especially harsh on the tracks from Who's Next and Quadrophenia, just because they're two of The Who's best albums, and contain several tracks good enough to include - but I wanted to keep the disc nicely distributed, without too strong a focus on any one period.

I was also tempted to put in A Quick One, While He's Away, which is a good, fun song, but it's a bit long. Other tracks I would have considered adding (if that were the task) include Water and Naked Eye, which you can get on expanded editions of Who's Next, as well as Heaven And Hell (a b-side I'm fond of) and Shakin' All Over (a great rock n roll cover in the vein of Summertime Blues) both from Live At Leeds. And lastly, I would consider throwing in Sparks, as it's probably my favorite track from Tommy, being a sort of thematic overture to the piece (and I do have a thing for instrumental tracks).

But, the tracklist is already maxed out as it is (time-wise). It proved to be a more difficult task than I thought it was going to be!

Pink Floyd - Rare Singles

So today Pink Floyd releases newly remastered versions of their 14 major studio albums, along with some other treats, like a six-disc version of Dark Side of the Moon, a new best of album to come shortly, and more. This is exciting for new Pink Floyd fans, who have yet to discover the band, and dedicated Pink Floyd fans, who have lots of money to shell out on fresher, cleaner, fancier versions of what they already have. Pink Floyd was my top favorite band in high school, and they remain one of my favorites to this day. But I guess I fall under that group who already has all this material (albeit in less shiny forms), but doesn't have the money to go out and buy new copies every time they release a new version (you know how many times they've re-released Dark Side of the Moon? And to this day, I've only bought it once).

However, this is a perfect opportunity for me to introduce you to a Pink Floyd compilation I put together myself a number of years ago. I call it Rare Singles, and it puts together a lot of the non-album material from the Floyd's early days. In 1971, the band itself released a compilation titled Relics, which consisted of a few early singles, some standout tracks from their first few albums, and one or two unreleased tracks. I eventually discovered that there were other early singles not appearing on this disc, or any other easily acquired disc (that is, without shelling out a fortune for one of the box sets). So, I decided to "upgrade" Relics by creating a new compilation that would dispense of all the album tracks, and replace them with more of the hard-to-find stuff.

I think it's a fantastic compilation, and it sounds really great. It brings out more of Syd Barrett's genius through those early singles that are mostly forgotten today, and it also has a nice balance of stuff that showcases the rest of the band. I also threw in the great track Embryo which appears only on Works, an otherwise unremarkable Pink Floyd compilation released in 1983, as well as a live version of the song which stretches it out and gives it more life. You know record companies are in that game to scam fans out of their money, so they'll release compilations with mostly stuff they already have, plus one or two rarities they can't get anywhere else. I think it's dishonest, and so that's the point of Rare Singles - to put all (or at least a lot of) that rare stuff together on one disc. You'll never see it on store shelves, but I think it would be very popular if such a disc were ever released.

Here's the track list:

1. Arnold Layne
2. Candy And A Currant Bun
3. See Emily Play
4. Apples And Oranges
5. Paintbox
6. Scream Thy Last Scream
7. Vegetable Man
8. It Would Be So Nice
9. Julia Dream
10. Point Me At The Sky
11. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
12. Biding My Time
13. Embryo
14. Embryo (Live at BBC 1970)

And for the cover, I made a point to search out a rare picture of the band that includes both Syd Barrett and David Gilmour, which bridges the gap between the two main and early lineups, and represents the spirit of the compilation.

Rockin' Out with Neil Young

Slightly belated, but since today was Neil Young's birthday, I figured it was worth celebrating. I felt it instinctively in my heart, but I didn't know it objectively until the middle of the day. I knew there was a reason I felt that November was a "Neil Young kind of month" - it's because the man's birthday is in November! Happy birthday, Neil!

Neil is one of the few artists I know that has mastered both the art of acoustic and the art of electric music. And me being more the type to be interested in electric music, I figure I'll celebrate by picking out Neil's ten(ish) best electric guitar-driven rock songs, from throughout his career. Let's get started.

Stop #1 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, from 1969. This was Neil's second solo record, and the first with his most frequent backing band, Crazy Horse, fashioned from a bar band previously titled The Rockets. The album itself is top material, one of the best in the history of rock, but the two standout tracks from an electric guitar perspective are the jammy Down By The River, and the epic Cowgirl in the Sand.

Stop #2 - After The Gold Rush, from 1970. Not as strong an album, from start to finish, as the previous one (Everybody Knows...), but it features the song Southern Man, which is a powerful and (not always the case) radio-friendly rocker that's endured through the years.

Stop #3 - Ohio, from 1970. Released as a single and recorded with the supergroup Crosby Stills Nash & Young, this song features a biting electric riff, and heavily emotional political commentary. Rumor has it, David Crosby broke down in tears immediately after this song was recorded. Like Southern Man, it still receives a fair bit of radio play even today.

Stop #4 - Harvest, from 1972. This is widely acclaimed to be one of Neil Young's greatest albums, if not the greatest - and it is a good acoustic album, but the highlight is the closing track - Words (Between the Lines of Age) - which is a meandering electric epic.

Stop #5 - Zuma, from 1975. This is Neil's second official and full album with Crazy Horse, and is more consistently electric than Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, if not, overall, as flawless. But it features an inspired piece that contains what I would argue is Neil's most hauntingly sublime electric lead ever committed to record - that piece is Cortez The Killer.

Stop #6 - American Stars N' Bars, from 1977. This was not a Crazy Horse album, but the standout track, Like A Hurricane, was recorded with Crazy Horse. Hurricane is, suitably, an electric powerhouse that reaches almost unbelievable heights of guitar wizardry. Live versions are consistently interesting.

Stop #7 - Rust Never Sleeps, from 1979. If Harvest is Neil's greatest acoustic album, this could be argued as his best "hybrid" album - combining both the acoustic and electric halves of his muse. It is also a Crazy Horse album (at least for those songs not performed solo by Neil). The track most worth mentioning is Hey Hey, My My (the electric version of the song), which is a marauding beast that foams distortion at the mouth. A bit subtler (relatively speaking), but also of note, is the track Powderfinger.

Stop #8 - Freedom, from 1989. We jump ahead to the end of Neil's experimental period, which doesn't get as much exposure as the rest of his catalog. Freedom introduced the world to the electric anthem (also providing an acoustic version) Rockin' In The Free World.

Stop #9 - Ragged Glory, from 1990. Another Crazy Horse album, and quite possibly Neil's finest fully electric album. There is no shortage of good, heavily distorted rock grooving on this album. In fact, it's hard to pick a single favorite, but the fight is between the two 10+ minute epics - Love To Burn, and Love And Only Love.

Stop #10 - Greendale, from 2003. Greendale is a fascinating rock opera that, despite featuring Crazy Horse, manages to stay focused on the story instead of wandering off too far into the realm of jamming. This makes for a more coherent and captivating conceptual album experience, but the highlight for me is still the jamming on Carmichael, which is exquisite. But the closing piece, Be The Rain, has a powerful driving riff, and a perhaps more radio-friendly structure (hint hint), in spite of its length (coming in at almost 10 minutes).

Honorable Mentions (because Neil's got way too much good music to try to contain within any boundaries): Last Dance from 1973's Time Fades Away (still unreleased on CD), an angry electric jam; and the title track from 1974's On The Beach, which is rather subdued for an electric song, but quite beautiful. And there's so many more less popular songs that I haven't even touched on...

Close Encounters

Note: This compilation was originally posted on Bridge To Better Days. I am reposting it here for archival purposes. It has been backdated to the date of its original posting.



In anticipation of the nightmares I am going to be havi--er, I mean, the impending release of The Fourth Kind (as in, Close Encounters of), I have put together a short playlist featuring a few of my favorite (rock) songs dealing with the topics of space aliens, interstellar travel, and extraterrestrial contact:

Jimi Hendrix Experience - EXP
Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun
Steve Miller Band - Serenade (From The Stars)
Foreigner - Starrider
Fleetwood Mac - Hypnotized
Robin Trower - For Earth Below
Ten Years After - Here They Come
The Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home
Pink Floyd - Let There Be More Light
The Byrds - Mr. Spaceman
Robin Trower - Day of the Eagle
Jimi Hendrix - Third Stone From The Sun
Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan
Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There?
Roy Buchanan - You're Not Alone

When God Gets The Blues

Note: This feature was originally posted on Bridge To Better Days. I am reposting it here for archival purposes. It has been backdated to the date of its original posting.

Birthing a God

If ever there were a guitarist that needed no introduction, a guitarist whose name implies legend, a guitarist whose licks are recognizable to the uninitiated - it would be Jimi Hendrix, who turned the guitar world (literally, during some of his solos) upside-down. But do you know who even the revolutionary Jimi Hendrix idolized? His contemporary and leader of the hit supergroup Cream, Eric Clapton - who, even among the slew of guitar gods arising out of the heady generation of the '60s, earned the illustrious, and potentially sacrilegious, title of "God" among his most obsessed fans (usurping his more modest nickname of "Slowhand"). Now, I've listened to enough guitarists with amazing talent to realize that there's just no point in arguing who's the best (because clearly, nobody will ever beat Roy Buchanan), but, unlike many of his contemporaries, Eric Clapton possesses a good supply of talent, fame, and longevity, for which he deserves recognition. And he's had his share of misery, too. You see, even God gets the blues from time to time.

Eric Clapton first made a name for himself in The Yardbirds, the premium guitar supergroup of the 1960s British blues scene. When he left the band to pursue a straighter blues outfit, he was first replaced by one Jeff Beck, and later by Jimmy Page, who retooled the band towards the end of the decade and birthed Led Zeppelin (a band that itself needs no introduction). Meanwhile, Clapton stepped into position as guitarist for the Bluesbreakers, a band that was John Mayall's pet project, and which also scouted some amazing guitar talent through the years - including, among too many to list here, Mick Taylor, who later played lead guitar for The Rolling Stones (self-described Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band in the World) during their most prolific period.

Members of the Bluesbreakers have a habit of breaking off and forming their own (in some cases, even more popular) bands (such as when Peter Green split with [Mick] Fleetwood and [John] Mc[Vie] to form the original bluesy incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, which would struggle for almost a decade before finally becoming famous), and so, after recording a landmark album in the British blues scene (simply titled Blues Breakers; also known as the "the Beano album", thanks to the comic Clapton is seen reading on the album's cover), Eric Clapton recruited former Bluesbreaker bass player Jack Bruce, and with Ginger Baker on drums, launched the most popular and revered band of Clapton's career - Cream. The band was short-lived, but it made its everlasting mark with staple radio hits like White Room and Sunshine of Your Love - hits you undoubtedly still hear on any self-respecting rock station even today.

In the aftermath of Cream, despite Clapton's lucrative solo career, there is little of singular recognition that stands up to his previous rise to rock stardom. Blind Faith was another go at creating a supergroup, this time recruiting Steve Winwood, well known member of Traffic, but it folded even quicker than Cream, and with less lasting critical acclaim. But following that was the shining exception to Clapton's decades long post-Cream fizzle - a motley band of traveling musicians who called themselves Derek and the Dominos. They released one album in 1970, Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (with beloved Allman Brothers Band slide guitarist Duane Allman filling out the sound), which was not-so-inconspicuously Eric Clapton's passionate declaration of his unrequited love for best friend (and Beatle) George Harrison's wife Patti Boyd (whom Clapton would eventually go on to marry, and subsequently divorce). In this humble rock fan's opinion, Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs is one of the pinnacle albums in modern musical history - and has the paradoxical distinction of being a great listen whether alone and miserable or with intimate company - in other words, you can play it on Valentine's Day regardless of whether or not you have a date. ;)

Unrequited love, heroin addiction, adultery, the deaths of close musical companions; despite Clapton's fame and musical success, he has had his share of demons, and does not play the blues in name alone. In fact, Jimi himself once said, "the more money you make, the more blues, sometimes, you can sing." The blues has been a lasting cornerstone of Clapton's legacy, evident in his 1994 solo album From The Cradle, his teamup with King of the Blues B.B. King in 2000's Riding With The King, and his 2004 tribute to the legendary folk bluesman Robert Johnson (titled Me And Mr. Johnson), the man who was alleged to have traded his soul to the devil at a certain country crossroads in Mississippi. Not forsaking his own legacy as a world-renowned guitar legend, nor his battle with drug addiction, Eric Clapton founded the Crossroads Guitar Festival in recent years as a benefit for his Crossroads Centre drug treatment resort in Antigua.

Live in the '70s

One of the best collections of blues/rock tracks I own is Eric Clapton's Crossroads 2: Live in the '70s box set, featuring four discs of outstanding - you guessed it - live material from the '70s. Depending on perspective, life experience, musical tastes, etc., I could foresee a listener describing the tracks on this box set as lazy, sloppy, unpolished, and similar adjectives, but here's the real truth: Crossroads 2 features some of the most passionate, feverish, downright depressed blueswailing I've had the pleasure of hearing. Many of the songs are slowed down from their smoother studio counterparts (which may not be a good thing for rock, but works excellently for the blues), and the vocals are grittier and less dynamic - in place of elegance, what we have here is pure, unrefined feeling. And with the blues, that's the most important quality.

So recently I decided, on a whim, to trim those four discs down to a single slim disc of the best tracks - for ease in traveling, for digging into when you don't have time for hours of listening, and just for plain old fun. It was not easy. Crossroads 2: Live in the '70s honestly has at least 3 discs worth of top notch material - it's just that good. So trimming it down to a single disc ended up being a painful challenge. But I succeeded. However, based on the tracks I had to leave out - including the (perhaps) best track in the set, which is a 24 minute jam with Carlos Santana (simply too long for a single disc compilation culled from this much material) - I had to concede the "best tracks" theme, and decided to go with more of a "cross-section" theme, which also conveniently alludes to the original title of "crossroads". Rest assured, each of the four discs is represented here by no less than one, and no more than three tracks.



Here is the resultant tracklist:

1. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
2. Little Wing
3. Layla
4. Tell The Truth
5. Stormy Monday
6. Goin' Down Slow/Rambling On My Mind
7. Wonderful Tonight
8. Double Trouble

You might notice a healthy contribution (the first half) of songs that appear on the Layla album - this is not necessarily intentional but merely a testament to the quality of those songs. Other songs include some excellent blues standards, and there's even a refreshing version of Clapton's pop ballad Wonderful Tonight (which, I assure you, is not as out of place in this collection as you might expect). Let us now take a look at each of the individual tracks that made the cut, and explore just a little bit of their history and why these versions are worth listening to...

The Songs

Have You Ever Loved A Woman [from Disc 1]

Nowhere else is Freddie King's influence on Clapton's playing style more apparent than in this soulful blues cover, recorded previously by Freddie himself, and covered by Clapton on the Layla album. Freddie King, known as the Texas Cannonball, had an immaculate combination of skill as a blues singer and axe wielder, and I recommend his music to anyone who enjoys Clapton's more soulful and cutting blues tracks. The song Have You Ever Loved A Woman fit Clapton's situation eerily well at the time of its recording for Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs, with lyrics that run, "have you ever loved a woman so much, you tremble in pain; all the time you know, she bears another man's name; but you just love that woman so much, it's a shame and a sin; all the time you know, she belongs to your very best friend." The live version here opens the compilation strongly, with some very piercing blues licks, and sets the depressed tone for the rest of the disc.


Little Wing [from Disc 1]

Little Wing is a gorgeous little number that Jimi Hendrix (honestly, I hadn't intended on his name coming up this many times - but that just goes to show :p) recorded for the Experience's second album Axis: Bold As Love. Beautiful as it was to begin with, it's been covered over the years, famously in an extended instrumental version by Stevie Ray Vaughan. But even before that, Eric Clapton recorded his own cover, in a unique arrangement, also for the Layla album. In this version, the "pretty" and "virtuoso" angle is tossed aside in favor of a harder, driving energy, which suits the depression theme of this particular compilation better. This live version is a bit subdued, but it transmits that sort of dragging feeling you get when you're in the doldrums.

Layla [from Disc 2]

Layla is, quite obviously, the title track from the Layla album, and the one song from that album that manages to sum up the album quite well, encompassing the theme of unrequited love ("please don't say we'll never find a way, and tell me all my love's in vain"), accompanied by searing rock riffage and emotionally strained vocals, followed by a soothing coda that offers some semblance of solace, and is thus the primary track picked and played on radios everywhere, as if to represent the whole album at once (which necessarily neglects the rest of the album's treasures). The live version here sadistically strips away any chance the listener might have at finding solace, by cutting the coda completely out - cruel, to be sure, but suitably conforming to the theme.

Tell The Truth [from Disc 3]

Tell The Truth, yet another song from the Layla album, is the sole track that offers some respite from the depressed mood of this compilation. It features a funky upbeat groove, with slide accompaniment, a catchy vocal line, and an extended jam outro. My advice would be to enjoy it fully before diving back into the down-trodden blues of the second half...

Stormy Monday [from Disc 3]

Stormy Monday is a good classic blues, that's been covered by just about anyone that plays blues seriously, and as a song separate from the specific musicians that play it, is one of my top favorite blues of all time. Originally an old T-Bone Walker tune, one of my favorite performances is the Allman Brothers Band's laidback performance on their acclaimed "At Fillmore East" live album (recorded in 1971). Clapton's version of it here does not disappoint, with a nice long 13 minute runtime, giving this slow blues enough time to settle in, with plenty of stormy licks punctuating throughout.


Goin' Down Slow/Rambling On My Mind [from Disc 3]

Goin' Down Slow (credited to St. Louis Jimmy Oden) is another one of my favorite blues, and another one that's covered often, which seems to tell the story of a man with a terminal condition facing his inevitable demise, while looking back and coming to terms with his lot in life. It's accompanied here in medley form by a song titled Rambling On My Mind, from Robert Johnson's catalog, which was previously recorded by Clapton (with John Mayall) on that seminal British blues album of the '60s - Blues Breakers. Together, these two songs combine to form a long blues jam with a dynamic energy that periodically flows into crashing crescendos at various points along the journey.


Wonderful Tonight [from Disc 4]

If you're a Clapton fan, you undoubtedly know this song. It's not really a blues, it's more of a pop ballad. I like it - it's a very romantic song. But, since it lacks the punch of rock, or the pathos of the blues, it has, to me, become fairly stale over innumerable listens (considering that, being popular, it also tends to get a lot of radio play). However, I promised that the song wasn't the non sequitur in this compilation one would think it to be, and I stand by that. This live version slows the song (which was already slow to begin with) down a bit; the unsterilized live guitar licks give it a little extra punch; and, true to the majority of the songs on this live set, the vocals and the energy of the song are deflated in the way that gives it a much more reflective, nostalgic sort of atmosphere: where the song was originally a happy romantic ballad, this version is more like the kind of pining you do in your room alone after a terrible breakup, remembering the better times that have come and are now gone...


Double Trouble [from Disc 4]

Finishing up the compilation is another searing blues, this time yet another of my favorites (although this is really not surprising, considering that I'm the one who handpicked these tracks :p). Double Trouble is not only one of the tracks by the great Otis Rush (recommended if you're looking for classic electric blues), but it also inspired the name of Stevie Ray Vaughan's backing band in the '80s. Here Eric Clapton does great justice to this worried blues, extending it to over ten minutes, and filling it with the fevered playing that characterizes this compilation, the box set in general, and Clapton's own bluesy style at large.


And there you have it. Despite all the tracks I had to cull (and believe me, choosing from the various medleys that included 3 or 4 of the same songs in various combinations was not easy), I feel that this is a very strong compilation. Other compilers may certainly have personal interests in other tracks, but for me, with this, I am indeed happy.

To conclude, there are many aspects of Eric Clapton's life and career that are beyond the scope of my discussion here, perhaps even of my interest - but from the perspective of the blues, I feel I have covered the basics. Perhaps not unlike a Guardian Angel that is frequently ignored, but stands ceaselessly by just the same, Eric Clapton, despite his reputation, may not be unilaterally hailed as the end-all be-all of guitar stardom (depending on who you talk to), but his musical output is impossible to ignore, and his influence (and his continuing respect for his influences) is pervasive and wide-ranging, and though other shooting stars have come and gone and made themselves known, sometimes in what seems as short as the blink of an eye, Clapton endures, and for the time being, he remains, inarguably, a living legend (if not quite a God).


Author's Background: Raised on classic rock via his parents' stereo, the author discovered the healing power of the blues while DJing a radio show in college. His enduring interest in the searing tone of an electrified guitar has propagated from eardrums to fingertips, and manifests itself regularly in the warm, loving embrace of a sexy guitar.