Album of the Evening

[wwaldmanfan]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum. I find this site fascinating and informative, so I joined!

Tonight, I'm listening to Wendy Waldman's "My Time In The Desert" (2007), which I bought directly from her website: http://wendywaldman.com

Wendy was a force in the 1970's on Warner Bros. records, and is still around, recording and performing occasionally, but now mainly writing and producing music for others in Nashville and L.A. This is her most recent solo album, and it is fabulous.

I rip my CD's with XLD as AIFF native (redbook), then upsample the files to 24/96 with Audiofile Engineering's Sample Manager. I store my library on a a G-Force 1TB 7200 RPM Firewire drive, and play them through a MacBook Pro 2.5gHz i5, 8mb RAM, running OSX 10.8.3 and Audirvana Plus > Wire World Ultraviolet 7 USB > Peachtree Dac*iT > Harmonic Technologies Harmony Link > vintage Yamaha AX-592 200w RMS integrated amp > JSC 12 AWG speaker cables (2 to each speaker, biwired) > B&W CDM7SE's.

 

Cheers!

[wwaldmanfan]

Toby Walker

"Shake Shake Mama"

 

 

[wwaldmanfan]

 

Wendy Waldman, "Back By Fall: A Retrospective"

 

Spanning her four-decade-long career as a gifted singer/songwriter, guitarist, pianist, arranger, and music producer. Includes 35 tracks, available as a redbook FLAC download only, for $15 from:

 

Wendy Waldman | Back By Fall: A Retrospective | CD Baby Music Store

 

This album will give your audio system, and ears, a workout (in a good way). I have all the original releases, and the remastering here, done personally by Wendy, is brilliant. I transcoded the download to 24/96 AIFF, and it sounds awesome on my modest system. For me, it remains one of the mysteries of the cosmos why Wendy did not make it "big" commercially (sort of like Vincent Van Gogh, who couldn't sell a painting when he was alive).

 

Her instrumental arrangements range from solo acoustic piano, to simple, double-tracked dulcimers and tabla drums ("Spring Is Here"), to full-blown orchestrations ("The Wind In New York City"), and everything in between. Many of L.A.'s finest musicians aupported her on her early, critically-acclaimed solo recordings (Linda Ronstadt sings terrific background vocals on "Eagle and the Owl").

 

This anthology includes many of her best, introspective ballads from her early career (forgoing some of her great, harder-edged rock songs, like "Train Song", "Racing Boat", and "Listen to Your Own Heart), plus a wonderful, alternate version of her signature song,"Mad, Mad Me", different from the take that appears on her 1974 album, "Gypsy Symphony".

 

Unfortunately, a few misguided, lesser, hard-rock numbers from the late '70's and 80's, the nadir of her career, when her record company was desperately trying to appeal to a wider AOR audience, are also represented. Her 1982 album, "Which Way To Main Street", produced by Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix's producer), never originally even made it to CD release.

 

However, this collection finishes very strongly with six exquisite tracks from her most recent solo album, "My Time In The Desert" (2007). Wendy is currently working on a new solo album.

 

if you buy this download and don't think it was worth $15, PM me here on this forum, and I'll personally reimburse you, via PayPal. I'm a lifelong fan, and believe in supporting struggling artists. (Not that she is struggling, read the "About This Album Notes" at the bottom of the web page at the CD Baby link. Wendy's songs have been covered by over 70 other artists!)

[wwaldmanfan]

 

Ry Cooder "Bop 'Till You Drop"

 

A Computer Audiophile shout-out for the first digitally-recorded "pop" music album on a major record label (1979). A great record from a musician's musician, and one of my all-time guitar heroes.

He's gotten bizarrely political as of late, but Ryland has explored a multitude of musical genres through the years, while always maintaining his immediately-recognizable personal style. His 1970's WB records were, and still are, one of the cornerstones of my music library.

[wwaldmanfan]

 

David Bromberg and Angel Band

Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival

8/16/07

 

24/96 download from HDtracks.com

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD810514010958

 

Killer live set from Bromberg and his quartet, plus his wife Nancy Josephson's vocal trio, Angel Band, featuring the incredibly hot Kathleen Weber. Bromberg must be seen live to be appreciated, and this recording captures the ambiance and performance very well. Sound quality is excellent.

[wwaldmanfan]

 

"Howling Trains and Barking Dogs" (2010)

Cindy Bullens

Available from HDtracks.com (16/44.1 downoad), or on CD

 

 

Solid, well-produced country-rock from this underrated artist. The CD is a compilation of co-written songs Cindy wrote in Nashville during the early and mid-1990's with Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Al Anderson, Matraca Berg, Mary Ann Kennedy and Kye Fleming, and Jimmy Tittle.

 

Cindy has flown under the commercial radar as a backup singer with Elton John, an award-winning solo singer/songwriter, and, more recently, a member of The Refugees trio, along with Deborah Holland (of Animal Logic, with collaborators Stanley Clarke and Stewart Copeland) and Wendy Waldman (all-around musical genius).

 

Cindy is now Cydny, a transgender (!) guy, but, her (his) music speaks for itself, and is worth a listen. Hey, it worked for Walter (now Wendy) Carlos, albeit the other way around...

[wwaldmanfan]

 

The Monkees

"Live 1967"

Available from HDtracks 24-bit/192kHz download for only $24.98

 

From the HDtracks website: "Live 1967 features performances from The Monkees’ exhilarating U.S. tour. The group performed hits including “I Wanna Be Free” and “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” featured on this twelve-track collection. The recording captures the band at its rawest."

 

 

Yes, those of us that are old enough remember that infamous tour, when The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the warm-up group, until he was fired from the tour after maybe two concerts for his lewd and lascivious behavior on stage. The music biz didn't get much stranger than that in 1967...

 

HDtracks, you've got to be kidding. Dreadful garbage does not even begin to describe this album. Who would buy this?

[wwaldmanfan]

 

Charles Brown

"A Life In The Blues"

 

This is a wonderful DVD + CD of a 10-song live concert performed at the Lone Star Roadhouse in 1990. The DVD includes bonus material, including interviews and short films from 1945, featuring his original band, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers.

Charles Brown was a brilliant musician, and one of the major influences on everyone from Ray Charles to Eric Clapton. I was fortunate enough to see him perform at Tramp's in NYC, before he passed away in 1999.

[wwaldmanfan]

 

Wendy Waldman

Seeds and Orphans (2003)

 

So, I've had crush on her for 40 years--what's wrong with that? This is musical nirvana, sheer genius. Download the redbook FLAC here ($15):

 

Wendy Waldman | Seeds And Orphans | CD Baby Music Store

[wwaldmanfan]

Gary Moore

"Blues For Greeny" (1995)

 

My favorite album from the brilliant Irish guitarist Gary Moore, a tribute to his mentor and biggest influence, Peter Green (founder of the original Fleetwood Mac). The album is, in fact, entirely comprised of Green covers, and played on Green's famous 1959 Les Paul Standard, which Moore came to own.

His fear of airplane travel limited his popularity in the USA, and sadly, he died from an alcohol-related heart attack at 58, but Gary Moore was one of the best British blues guitarists of all time. He had the touch, the tone, and the passion.

[wwaldmanfan]

Kenny Edwards (2002)

The eponymous first solo album by Kenny Edwards; His second and final solo record, "Resurrection Road", was released in 2009.

A founding member of the Stone Poneys, Kenny was instrumental in furthering the career of Linda Ronstadt, and also played guitar and mandolin for Stevie Nicks and Don Henley, among others, as well as recording three superb albums with his folk-rock quartet, the much-underappreciated "Bryndle", with his lifelong friends and collegues, Andrew Gold, Karla Bonoff, and Wendy Waldman.

Kenny Edwards died in 2010 at 64, from prostate cancer and a related blood disorder. Buy the redbook FLAC download here ($9.99):

 

Kenny Edwards | Kenny Edwards | CD Baby Music Store

[wwaldmanfan]

Gill Landry

"The Ballad of Lawless Soirez" (2007)

 

I first heard Gill Landry busking on Royal St. in New Orleans for tips, with his string band, The Kitchen Syncopators (Gill on lead vocals, National steel guitar, and banjo, plus three other musicians on harmonica & kazoo, washboard & fiddle, and washtub bass). To say that I was blown away would be an understatement. They self-published five albums (all now out of print, and virtually unobtainable) of their uniquely-styled covers of classic blues, ragtime, and mountain music, plus a few original songs, too.

 

Gill eventually moved on, playing with the Old Crow Medicine Show, and then released two solo albums. This one, the first, is a complete departure from what he had been doing previously. He's a great writer and musician, but his voice is truly distinctive and wonderful. I think that he is one of the best male vocalists around today.

 

[wwaldmanfan]

Toby Walker

"Live at The Bottleneck" (2004)

Long Island-native Toby Walker is a blues musicologist, virutoso fingerstyle and bottleneck guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and consummate entertainer with an ever-growing fan base in the UK, as well as here in the USA. He intersperses his unique arrangements of traditional blues, ragtime, country, bluegrass, rock, and old time jazz with clever humor.

I've got most of his albums, but this well-recorded live performance is one of his best. Get the redbook FLAC download ($9.99) here:

Toby Walker | Live At The Bottleneck | CD Baby Music Store

 

[wwaldmanfan]

Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" (1959)

 

My favorite Muddy Waters album, his tribute to Big Bill Broonzy, who pioneered electric Chicago blues in the late 1940's, and paved the way for Muddy to perfect the genre in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Featuring Otis Spann on piano, and James Cotton on harp.

The ambiance of the record is intimate, stripped-down, and accessible, raw, and polished, all at once. A classic from the master.

[wwaldmanfan]

Procol Harum, "A Salty Dog" (1967)

SALVO reissue (2009)

 

A desert-island disc, a timeless masterpiece by any measure. Fueled by the much-underappreciated drumming of the late Barrie J. Wilson, the innovative fuzz-toned lead guitar of Robin Trower, the soaring vocals of Gary Brooker, and the intertwined melodies of his piano, along with Matthew Fisher's swirling Hammond organ, this is a crowning achievement of 1960's progessive rock.

[wwaldmanfan]

Warren Zevon, "Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School" (1980)

 

I own his entire discography, but this is his most accessible, "mellowest" album, so my favorite. The credits read like a Who's Who of L.A.'s finest musicians: Jorge Calderón, David Lindley, Rick Marotta, Jackson Browne, Don Felder, Glen Frey, Don Henley, Ben Keith, Linda Ronstadt, Leland Sklar, J.D. Souther, Joe Walsh, and Waddy Wachtel.

 

I did not know this, but, according to Wikipedia, the term "dancing school" has been used as a euphemism for a brothel since the mid-17th century. That's typical Zevon. RIP, Warren.

[wwaldmanfan]

"Manassas"' (1972)

Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, et al.

 

Stills put out a lot of great music (Super Session, CSN, CSNY, solo) as did Hillman (Byrds, Burrito Bros., Desert Rose Band, etc.), but this collaboration is greater than the sum of its parts, and one of my favorites. A very enjoyable and diverse double album. Bill Wyman plays bass on and co-authored "The Love Gangster", and is reported to have said that he would have left the Stones to join Manassas.

[wwaldmanfan]

Great Blues album and even features Ry Cooder (*cough* wkhanna you'll like this *cough*). Recording is pretty darn good for a blues album, has a slight heavy sound overall... not that it's bass heavy, it's just like the upper bass has a slight boost to it. Not distracting as all but gives it a gritty sound vs clean and pristine. Which with the songs makes them really sound good.

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I dig Terry Evans! I have seven of his albums (solo & with Bobby King). Gotta see about getting this one.

Thanks for posting.

[wwaldmanfan]

"Avalon", Rory Block (2013)

 

Rory Block's last four albums have been tributes to her blues idols, Robert Johnson, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and now, Mississippi John Hurt. She's mastered each of their playing styles, but always covers their material in her own unique, increasingly eccentric fashion. If you like John Hurt, this album will put a huge grin on your face. Available in 24/96 from HDtracks.com.

 

BTW, kudos to the photographer/makeup artist for the cover photo. In person, Rory is a gaunt, 64-year-old, who does not resemble the hot babe on the cover photo at all. I say this with honesty, but fondness; I'm a big fan, and I just saw her play a few nights ago.

[wwaldmanfan]

"Old & In The Way" (1973)

The Complete Shows: 55 Tracks, inc. 14 previously unreleased

Download here: LIVEDOWNLOADS | Download Old & In The Way , The Complete Boarding House Shows: 10/1/73 & 10/8/73 MP3 and FLAC

 

Speaking of "The Dead", this is one of Jerry Garcia's more interesting side projects. Along with David Grisman, Vassar Clements, John Kahn, and the great Peter Rowan, this "pickup band" concert recording turned a lot of rock fans onto bluegrass music. Recorded over two nights, October 1st and 8th, 1973, Owsley Stanley's original 2-track analog soundboard recordings have been remastered by David Grisman in 24-bit/96kHz, and made available in their entirety to commemorate the projects' 40th anniversary.

 

BTW, for all you "Dead Heads", there are 60 Dead concerts also available for download on this site, if you are not already aware--pul out those wallets, and go nuts!

[wwaldmanfan]

The 2004 remaster, inc. 3 bonus tracks

 

Perhaps the greatest electric blues album ever recorded by a white musician. The 2004 remaster of his 1968 Columbia debut includes three additional tracks, including an alternate version of Johnny's bottleneck masterpiece, "Dallas", and a great version of Bobby Bland's, "Two Steps From The Blues". This record is so good that, in my opinion, Johnny himself was never able to surpass it on any of his subsequent recordings.

[wwaldmanfan]

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Put dog outside. Set volume to 11. Play.

 

When this album came out, it was VERY different, even from the likes of Led Zeppelin. We know now how influential it became, but, at the time, while we long-haired, Mexican-brick-pack-crap-smoking high schoolers embraced it, it was pretty controversial.

 

Anyway, a bunch of us went to the Fillmore East to witness the first-ever American performance by this radical new English group. To make the story short, The J. Geils Band, a favorite of Bill Graham, was the warm-up group, and they blew the roof off the place. They killed.

 

Ozzie Osbourne was seemingly terrified to have to follow them on. He routinely had stage fright in those early days, but on this momentous occasion, he was so shaken that he played the entire set with HIS BACK TO THE AUDIENCE. The big star was too scared to even show his face!

 

Also, my ears rang for three days afterwards....

[wwaldmanfan]

The Soul of O.V. Wright (1992)

 

This 18-track compilation of classic Southern soul/R&B/gospel was compiled from recordings Wright made from 1964 to 1973, after which his career took a bit of a detour when he was imprisoned for drug offenses, and he died shortly after his release without regaining the greatness he had previously exhibited.

However, along with Al Green, James Carr, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, and William Bell, O.V. Wright personified the very best of the Memphis sound, and this album is a great representation of his underappreciated talent. I'm a huge fan.

[wwaldmanfan]

Thanks for introducing me to him. Really enjoying this on MOG this morning. Can you suggest a hi res source or should i look for Redbook?

 

Glad I could share this with you.

I'm not aware of any hi-res sources, but several of his CD's are available inexpensively on Amazon.com, both new and used. I recommend "The Soul of O.V. Wright", "The Complete O.V. Wright on HI Records, Vol.1: In the Studio", and "The 45's".

[h=3][/h]

[wwaldmanfan]

Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen

Hot Licks, Cold Steel, & Trucker's Favorites (1972)

 

This blast from the past still puts a smile on my face whenever I listen to it. The group's second album features the classic lineup of George Frayne (Commander) on boogie-woogie piano, Billy C. Farlow on vocals, harmonica, fake guitar, and Elvis impersonations, Bill Kirchen on lead chicken pickin' Telecaster and vocals, John Tichy on rythym guitar, Bobby Black on pedal steel, Andy Stein on fiddle and saxaphone, "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow on bass, and Lance Dickerson on drums.

Maybe a bit lowbrow for some of the more cultured folks around here, but a great mix of Texas swing, rockabilly, country, and rock & roll, and a classic in my collection.