Byron Lee & The Dragonaires- Tighten Up (1969) ***1/2
Paul Weller- 66 (2024) ****
Byron Lee & The Dragonaires- Reggay Blast off ! (1969) ***
v/a- Zulu Stomp!!- South Africa Garage Beats!! (2010) ***
Wanda Jackson- Queen Of Rockabilly (2000) ***
Yard Act- You're Gonna Need A Little Music (2026) ***1/2
L7- Smell The Magic (1991) ***1/2
Devo- Q:Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo!- Kevin Gray Master (1978/2026) ***1/2
The Beatles- A Hard Day's Night: MONO RM (1963/2009) ****
The Neville Brothers- Neville-ization: Live At Tipitina's (1984) ***1/2
The Neville Brothers- Fiyo On The Bayou (1981) ***1/2
• "Tighten Up" is a classic. It also has one of the best appropriations. The song "Chin To Chin," written by The Kingstonians, is pretty much "Cheek To Cheek" by Irving Berlin.
• "Zulu Stomp!!" is a very typical collection of garage rock featuring winners and losers. The most interesting thing is the only single by The Upsetters, a 1965 cover of "Daddy Rolling Stone." The Upsetters are Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar & his brothers, who then became The Flame, and then of course Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys.
• The Beatles are underrated.
• My feelings about the Nevilles remain the same after listening to two "classic" records. They are a live band and need to be seen live. Their records just don't do the talent justice. It's good stuff...the records, I mean. But live, it's a different story. It's magical. The records are too slick. Charlie's a great player, but when he takes his turn, like on "Saxafunk" on "Neville-ization," it's a speed bump. Aaron singing "Mona Lisa" with a string section? Not essential New Orleans.
1 comment:
I recall reading a comment about Aaron Neville praising his sing such that “he could make the phone book sound beautiful “ or something similar. Just because he could doesn’t mean he should. Mona Lisa and that train wreck version of With God On Our Side are both so out of place on the respective albums.
Yesterday I listened to a bunch of albums by people named Peter (Perrett, One, Murphy, Tosh, Manheim, Donovan, and Case), the best of which was a live set from 2004 Telluride Bluegrass Festival of Peter Rowan and The Burning Spear Horns. It’s almost entirely full of reggae rhythms. Peter One’s Come Back To Me (2023) was a close second.
- Paul in DK
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