Random Album Review 2.22.22 

Lucifer’s Friend [1970]

Where does one come across a band called Lucifer’s Friend? Why does one buy it? I came across this in a shop where my prog and psychedelic loving friend John works. Having tired myself of the same old same old [your Sabbaths, Zeppelins, Stones and Airplanes] I spent some time exploring the works of Deep Purple. According to the notes for Purple’s In Rock [or was it Fireball?] anniversary, the Heep and Purple has shared some rehearsal space in 1970, so I had asked about Uriah Heep. John said he was the right man to ask and led me to them.  Not having a good clean copy of The Magician’s Birthday, I wound up with Demons and Wizards.  Soon after I went back to the shop and John has the debut from Germany’s Lucifer’s Friend spinning.

Despite the evil name, the tunes stamped into the wax bear much more in common with Uriah Heep than Black Sabbath or even Deep Purple. To clarify that last bit: Any band that riffs and uses a Hammond organ is going to draw comparisons to Purple. However, the level of musicianship in Purple with Lord, Paice, Blackmore and Glover puts them two heads, shoulders and most of a torso above any other band employing this sound. But it would be very interesting to try and put a timeline together of LF, Purple and Heep to see who came out first and influenced the other. Or to talk to the principles and see where they all copped the idea for this sound. Listener reviews on Rate Your Music suggest Vanilla Fudge would figure prominently. [I checked, it does, at least for Uriah Heep’s Ken Hensley.]

As for the music, Heep is a close cousin. Maybe the early Rod Evans era of Deep Purple, Shades Of…, Book Of the Taliesyn. The band is also incredibly tight much more like Black Sabbath in that one regard. Guitarist Peter Hesslein rarely goes off on Blackmore-ish tangents and runs but matches and compliments what Peter Hecht is laying down on the organ. [Although he plays some tasty licks on Everybody’s Clown.] Vocalist John Lawton on the other hand lays down the blueprint for Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson and other metal screamers to come. Or matches up with Ian Gillan, although Gillan has much more power in his voice.]  Bassist Deiter Horns and drummer Joachim Rietenbach hold the whole thing down a whole lot like Vanilla Fudge’s Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice. The Fudge Connection can be heard very clearly on the final song, the eponymous Lucifer’s Friend. The lead track Ride the Sky features a bombastic blast the either inspired or quotes Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. [Indeed, the riding main riff here is one that Iron Maiden might have borrowed.] Keep Goin’ has a nice heavy Sabbathy feel, maybe with a touch of Jethro Tull’s influence.

This is a good album and one that is great for revisiting. And if you like Uriah Heep or Deep Purple and have a curiosity for some similar bands, then I would recommend this.

Ride  the Sky on Beat Club:  Lucifer's Friend - Ride The Sky (1971) - YouTube

Having purchased my first brand new out of the box turntable since 1985 I am playing some old favorites...

Random Platter Review 2.18  - Modern Times – Jefferson Starship [1981]

Jefferson Starship had proved themselves ready to step past the shadows of their former singers Marty Balin and Grace Slick and leap boldly into the 80s with the arrival of singer Mickey Thomas [and well-traveled drummer Aynsley Dunbar] on 1979’s Freedom At Point Zero. That streamlined and airworthy Starship continued that ascent with 1981’s Modern Times.

Modern Times continues to flex [power pop / hard rock] muscles that appeared on Point Zero. The band sounds like a lot of other bands out there in 1981. Except that they don’t. Very few bands paid attention to vocal harmonies like this band, one of the few carryovers from the Jefferson Airplane era, to which Paul Kantner was now the last remaining link. Having been restored [by default] as the undisputed leader of Jefferson Starship on Point Zero, Kantner falls back to a secondary role. Modern Times marks the emergence of the writing tandem of the multi-talented Pete Sears and his wife [and lyricist] Jeannette. They would contribute about one third of the band’s songs on the last three Jefferson Starship records. The second single Stranger [a Sears / Sears composition] also brought Grace Slick back into the band. Slick’s only [co-] lead vocal was with Thomas on Stranger, but she added backing vocals on several other songs. She would return to prominence with 82’s Wind Of Change. The ever electrifying Craig Chaquico contributes some [more] amazing lead guitar work, particularly on the side one closing Save Your Love. Mickey Thomas’ vocals soar over the whole thing in ways Marty Balin could never dream of. [But why would he? Marty has his own style. And he would have a couple of top 40 singles himself in 1981.]

The songs – well, the songs are good and mostly memorable. In addition to Stanger, Chaquico and Tom Borsdorf’s Find Your Way Back received some airplay and landed in the top 30. Save Your Love has been noted and Kantner’s Angel [Wild Eyes] is pretty good. The closer Stairway to Cleveland [We Do What We Want] is famously and literally Kantner’s “fuck you” to Roling Stone magazine. Mary and Free may be stock hard rock that could have been done by Heart and Alien might be an over-reach. But if nothing else, nowhere are there 10,000 uses of the word ‘baby’ which make 1975’s top 5 hit Miracles so hard to listen to now.

Modern Times is a good 80s record. [It’s also the last focused and coherent record the band would release in the 80s.] I have no problem saying that it’s at least as good as Foreigner 4 or Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No. and better than what some contemporaries like Steve Miller, Santana or Neil Young and Crazy Horse were putting out. I’d put it on before other 1981 releases like For Those About To Rock or Abacab.

 There are still songs that - no matter how many times you hear them - still send shivers up your spine and give you goosepimples. Those first notes ring out and it still takes you back to the first day you heard it and it perked your ears up and you went "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I HAVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT.' 

Like the first time you become 'aware' of the Rolling Stones. "What the hell was that?" "That's the Rolling Stones? "Well god damn, I gotta know more about his Rolling Stones!" Or the Beatles. Or the Who. Or Led Zeppelin. Or Motley Crue or Iron Maiden or Elvis Costello or the Police, the Pretenders, Van Morrison, Jackson Browne, Madonna, etc.  

The Cars. A lot of that first Cars album and Let's Go off the second just still take me back to the late 70s, end of elementary school, start of junior high and you're discovering things on the radio.

 

Revisiting the Rolling Stones

For reference, I’m going to use the U.S. releases as these were the prevalent CD’s until 2002. Note that the U.K. versions of 1965’s Out Of Our Heads and 1966’s Aftermath vary greatly [1967’s Between the Buttons less so] from what the U.S. market was given – like the Beatles, the Stones’ singles in the U.K. were not put on the album. And like the Beatles the two countries releases were synched up in 1967, in this case starting with Their Satanic Majesties.

 

1. Sticky Fingers – starting with Brown Sugar [did you know Mick wrote that while in Australia filming Ned Kelly?] and ending with the dreamy Moonlight Mile, this is just an amazing album. Wild Horses is just one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever done, the outro jam on Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, the hard driving riff and horns on Bitch, the Memphis inspired soul of I Got the Blues and Ry Cooder’s stinging slide work on Sister Morphine are all just jaw dropping even almost 50 years later. If you listen closely to the lyrics of Moonlight Mile, that’s about as personal as you’re gonna get from Mick.

 

2. Let It Bleed – from the opening notes of Gimme Shelter to the last strains of the London Bach Choir, this is perhaps the quintessential Stones album. It was my favorite and perhaps sits more of a 1-A [depending on the day] to Sticky Fingers. At times You Can’t Always Get What You Want seems bloated but you can’t argue with Gimme Shelter, Love In Vain, the under-rated Live With Me and Monkey Man.

 

3. Exile On Main Street – while it was not well received in 1972, this double album has risen to become many people’s “best” Stones album. I am not one of those people. Still, hitting on 15-16 of 18 tracks is pretty damn good! This album runs the gamut of basic Stones rockers [All Down the Line, Soul Survivor] to country tinged [Sweet Virginia and one of my favorites, Torn And Frayed] to blues [Slim Harpo’s Shake Your Hips, Robert Johnson’s Stop Breaking Down] to gospel [Let It Loose, Shine A Light]. Also has two of the best songs the Stones ever laid to tape: Tumbling Dice and Keith’s lead spotlight song Happy.

 

4. Some Girls – Ron Wood’s official debut as a full member of the band [though he was not made a full partner until 1990]. Some Girls is a great recovery from a band that had seemed in free fall for a couple of years. The songs are short and intensely focused thanks to Woody’s guitar style meshing with Keith’s into what Keith calls “the fine art of weaving.” And the Stones finally redeem themselves for two previous bad covers of Tempations songs with Just My Imagination [Running Away With Me]. While one can argue whether certain songs are now played to death [Miss You] and how Jagger’s syrupy faux country voice on Far Away Eyes [And Dear Doctor. And Dead Flowers] gets old after a few hundred plays, it’s hard to argue with these 10 songs as one of the strongest Stones albums ever.  ***

 

5. Beggar’s Banquet – a similarly critical turning point for the Stones as Rubber Soul was for the Beatles this album marks the beginning of a classic period of the Stones history. The Stones left pop and psychedelics completely behind and dug back into their roots in blues and country. It was the last album on which Brian Jones played a major contribution [notably sitar and tanpura on Street Fighting Man and the wonderful slide guitar part on No Expectations] and the first of a run of five with producer Jimmy Miller. While I could go a long, long time without hearing Sympathy For the Devil again, there’s a great pile of tracks I can enjoy: No Expectations, Parachute Woman, the extremely fun Jigsaw Puzzle, Street Fighting Man and the low down Stray Cat Blues.

 

6. Tattoo You – while this is a compilation of vault tracks from as far back as 1972 [Waiting On A Friend and Tops, with Mick Taylor on guitar, not Ron Wood] side 1 is a lineup of killer rockers, even if I could go a long time without hearing Start Me Up again. The 2002 CD version even restore about a minute and a half of the great groove tune Slave. Side 2 starters Worried About You and Tops are just okay, I always liked the sweeping tone on Heaven.

 

7. Through the Past, Darkly [Big Hits, Vol. 2] – You’re going to need some Rolling Stones compilation to get the two great singles Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Honky Tonk Women [and the good Dandelion]. If you’re just a casual fan of the band, this record or Hot Rocks 1964 – 1971] will fit the bill. *

 

8. December’s Children [And Everybody’s] – this collection of tracks released just in time for Christmas in 1965 compiles the single Get Off My Cloud and the rest of the UK version of Out Of Our Heads. It’s actually one of my favorites of the early period Rolling Stones. **

 

9. Between the Buttons – London peeling off two tracks to add Let’s Spend the Night Together and Ruby Tuesday actually works to make this a better record than the UK version. A lot of tracks I dig like Yesterday’s Papers, Connection, My Obsession and Miss Amanda Jones. [The Rolling Stones In Mono version is better – fixes some of the weird stereo separation that dogged the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, which I also prefer in mono.]

 

10. The Rolling Stones [aka England’s Newest Hit Makers] – the debut by the Stones is more memorable that the Beatles [Please Please Me]. Powered along by Muddy Waters’ I Just Want To Make Love To You and I’m A King Bee, Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away, Nat King Cole’s Route 66 and Chuck Berry’s Carol.

 

11. Black And Blue – While it holds a special place in my heart, being the first Stones record I was exposed to, this mishmash is what it is. I like Hot Stuff, Fool To Cry and Crazy Mama is a great little gem. But it’s the semi-autobiographical Memory Motel that’s the standout track on this album.

 

12. Goats Head Soup - while I have come to like this a little more over the last couple of years, coming off of the four albums before this, the Stones were due for a bit of a “coming down.” Angie is another song I’m tired of. It does have Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (yes that’s the official title) [Heartbreaker], another great track for Mick Taylor in Winter, the fun Silver Train and the evil Dancing With Mr. D. Again, a good record, just not one I reach for a lot.

 

13. Emotional Rescue – the Stones second album with Woody is an okay album. Despite how cringeworthy it is now, the title track was a top 5 US hit. But with songs like Down In the Hole, Let Me Go and She’s So Cold, it’s not terrible like say It’s Only Rock And Roll.

 

14. Steel Wheels – A return to form for the Stones – it’s amazing what a Mick and Keith can accomplish when they work together instead of against each other. Yes, it’s about two songs too long I’d cut Blinded By Love [although Willy Deville could do a great cover of it] and Continental Drift. [Break the Spell can stay on as that one song you always forget to program out when playing the CD]. Contains two of my favorite Stones ballads in Almost Hear You Sigh and Keith’s Slipping Away.

 

15. Blue And Lonesome – 2016 saw the surprise release of new Stones – sort of. An album of blues covers it’s mercifully short but surprisingly tight. The band is in really good form. Jagger concentrating on playing harp makes him think about where he’s fitting in with the music and don’t kid yourself, the man can blow a pretty mean harp. Eric Clapton guests on the very satisfying Everybody Knows About My Good Thing and [a very un-Zeppelin take of] I Can’t Quit You Baby. Other highlights: Just Your Fool, All Of Your Love and Hate To See You Go.

 

16. It’s Only Rock And Roll – with Keith deep into addiction, the Micks [Jagger and Taylor] try to soldier on with decidedly mixed results.  If You Can’t Rock Me, Fingerprint File  and the funky Dance Little Sister are pretty good. The title track I’m tired of but it’s a good song. And Time Waits For No One is absolutely stunning, a great showpiece for Taylor’s guitar playing. The cover of the Temptation’s Ain’t Too Proud To Beg is a cringeworthy as Emotional Rescue.

 

17. Out Of Our Heads– While the US version adds [I Can’t Get No] Satisfaction and The Last Time and also contains the hilarious Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man, the under rated Spider And the Fly and Play With Fire, the covers again slow this collection down.

 

18. Undercover – In reviewing this album in 2021, I have to admit, it’s not as terrible as its reputation. One of the problems is timing – it follows one of the Stones most accessible albums in Tattoo You. The second problem it has too many weird moments. Undercover of the Night is a great song – not a single though. It’s got too much going on with the reverb and trickery on the vocals. The dub feel of Feel On Baby. Too Much Blood is just something Let’s Dance era Bowie [OMG the horns!] but the spoken parts? What the hell are you talking about Mick? There was nothing else you could have put in that 6 minutes? Keith’s song Wanna Hold You is just too happy, too upbeat. The rest of the album is just as vintage Stones as anything else of this era. Too Tough is good and It Must Be Hell recycles the Soul Survivor riff pretty well.

 

19. Their Satanic Majesties Request – ah yes, the band’s acid tinged album. She’s A Rainbow, 2000 Light Years From Home and Citadel are great tracks. The Lantern is pretty good. But overall, yeah it’s pretty mediocre. Unless you like a lot of Mellotron.

 

20. Aftermath – While this does contain three of my favorite tracks from this period, Stupid Girl, Lady Jane and Under My Thumb, the rest of this album just really does nothing for me.

 

21. Voodoo Lounge – At 15 songs, it’s definitely too long. Great songs: Love Is Strong, You Got Me Rocking, Out Of Tears, Blinded By Rainbows, Baby Break It Down and Thru And Thru. I Go Wild is a rewrite on the opener Love Is Strong. Suck On the Jugular is passable. Keith’s The Worst may be the worst song in the Stones catalog – it’s definitely fighting for it with the two tracks that end Bridges. Sparks Will Fly just tries too hard.

 

22. Bridges To Babylon – Where Bridges To Babylon is good, it’s very enjoyable: Flip the Switch, Anybody Seen My Baby, Low Down, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me. But there’s 8 other songs on here and maybe only one worth revisiting. Three of them move slower than frozen molasses. Two of those are Keith’s numbers and they end the album.

 

23. A Bigger Bang – At 16 songs, again it’s just too long. Geez guys put out the top 10 or 11 and save some for Tattoo You II! But the boys still know how to kick off a record: Rough Justice, Let Me Down Slow and It Won’t Take Long. The blues of Back Of My Hand is a nice slab of Mississippi Fred’s You Got To Move. But not too much else is memorable. This one doesn’t even have a nice mid-tempo or ballad to balance things out a bit.

 

24. Dirty Work – reviewing again, this holds its reputation as the worst of the Stones records in the post Tattoo You period. But it’s really close. The production is a little odd – very midrangey, not a lot of bottom. [Had It With You may not even have a bass on it if it is it’s buried in the mix and unheard and unfelt.] One Hit [To the Body], Fight and the title track are the best things here. Even Keith’s two tracks don’t move the needle. Keith wanted to take this album on the road?!?

 

25. The Rolling Stones, Now! – again a lot of covers here. Stand outs include the 1940 boogie woogie number Down the Road Apiece and Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster [a long time favorite of mine]. Mick and Keith add Heart Of Stone and What A Shame but still a thin record.

 

26. 12x5– unlike the Beatles, who were writing their own songs from the get go, Jagger and Richards didn’t start writing their own songs until 1964. So the early, early Stones records are mainly covers. While this can be good if you’re picking good material, some of the covers here leave something to be desired. Not so of their takes of Chuck Berry’s Around and Around and Bobby and Shirley Womack’s It’s All Over Now. [The version of Time Is On My Side here starts with the organ – and I hate that version.] Jagger and Richards come through here with the very under rated Good Times, Bad Times [not to be confused with the Led Zeppelin song with the same title]. The band jam [credited to Nanker Phelge and names in honor of the location of Chess Records studio] 2120 South Michigan Avenue is surprisingly funky for English white boys. Bill Wyman smokes on this track!

 

27. Flowers – As noted, [and much as Capitol had done with the Beatles], the Stones US/Canada label London felt free to cut and paste the Rolling Stones catalog as it was received. In most cases this was to add whatever singles were out or had just finished their run. Flowers is the second collection of a couple of singles plus songs pulled from the UK versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons. [I actually would recommend seeking out the UK versions of those two CDs for your collection.] While it does contain Ruby Tuesday, Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby and Let’s Spend the Night Together, you will be getting those on other releases. The only real necessity here is the folky Sittin’ On A Fence.

 

28. Metamorphosis – As a result of splitting from Allen Klein at the end of the 60s, Klein’s company ABKCO won control of the Stones masters from 1962-1969*. This dump of 14 outtakes plus a decidedly morbid Heart Of Stone with an organ as the lead instrument and Out Of Time with strings is mostly bottom of the barrel dreck. Even the Stones take on Memo From Turner is pretty bad. [The London / ABKCO Singles Collection uses Jagger’s first solo single version with Ry Cooder on guitar.] Save your ears and just get Don’t Lie To Me, I Don’t Know Why, Jiving Sister Fanny and I’m Going Down off of Amazon and don’t look back.

* With the Stones ABKCO years, there’s a choice to be made for your “hits collections” because you WILL need one to complete your catalog. As with the Beatles, there are a few singles that never appeared on any LP. In the Stones catalog that includes the essential tracks Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women and 19^th Nervous Breakdown. 

On the collection Hot Rocks 1964-1971 you get those plus Under My Thumb, Sympathy For the Devil, Gimme Shelter, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, the smoking hot live Midnight Rambler, Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. The early [1964-1966] period though misses several of my favorite tracks which do appear on the 1966 comp Big Hits [High Tides and Green Grass] namely The Last Time and It’s All Over Now as well as Good Times, Bad Times, Tell Me and Not Fade Away. 

While 1969’s Through the Past, Darkly [Big Hits Vol. 2] [famous for its octagonal sleeve] does NOT have Under My Thumb, Sympathy, Rambler, Brown Sugar or Wild Horses, it does add Dandelion, Have You Seen You Mother Baby [Standing In the Shadow], 2000 Light Years From Home and She’s A Rainbow. 

Big Hits and Fazed Cookies [Big Hits Vol. 2] does have all the tracks I named as pros for Big Hits [High Tides] and Through the Past plus I’m Free, Lady Jane, Sittin’ On A Fence, No Expectations and Let It Bleed. 

Having said all that, I guess I would advise a casual, “how do I start listening to these guys?” person either Hot Rocks or 2004’s 40 Licks [covering the first 40 years, up to Bridges To Babylon]. If someone asked specifically about the “beyond what I hear on the radio,”  then Big Hits and Through the Past. 

** With the Stones, there are two major catalogs: the Pre-1971 ABKCO [originally on London Records in the U.S.] catalog which fell into the hands of former manager Allen Klein [as noted in the Metamorphosis review] and the Rolling Stones records catalog. 

Atlantic allowed the Stones their own label / company as the Beatles had done with Apple [and Led Zeppelin would do (also with Atlantic) with their very successful Swan Song imprint]. Although the Stones never developed other artists [they did release a few albums by reggae artists Peter Tosh ] their own catalog remained / remains a huge cash cow even to this day. So when CDs first came out, the Stones then current label CBS paid the Stones some cash and rushed everything from Sticky Fingers up to the then current Dirty Work out on CD. And of course people rushed out to add their favorite songs back into their lives on this new “forever” format. 

What we later learned was that these 1986 / 1987 versions were compressed and had flaws in the logic behind them – certain frequencies were chopped off because they are beyond the range of hearing. As a result, when listened to very closely by a fan who is really paying attention, they sound ‘clipped.’ 

In the one thing they may have ever gotten right with the Stones catalog, ABKCO brought in former producer Andrew Loog Oldham to oversee the mastering of the Stones catalog that they controlled for CD [Oldham ended up remixing some things as well] and in 1986 released them, including the favorites Hot Rocks collection. [ABKCO re-remastered their Stones catalog in 2002 and these are the versions still available.] 

When the Stones moved to Virgin records in 1994, they took that back catalog with them. Virgin then was able to issue Rolling Stones Records back catalog from Sticky Fingers up the Steel Wheels under their imprint [Voodoo Lounge was the first new release on the Virgin deal]. Virgin went back to the source tapes, the masters, and basically created a new “digital” master using much improved technology. The new masters usually allowed more range especially in the lower / bass registers that was missing in early CDs making them feel “thin” or “tinny.”  They were also remastered when the Stones moved on to the Universal Music Group [UMG] in 2009 and yet again in 2015 for vinyl.  

For my money, I prefer the Virgin remasters or the 2009 UMG remasters. Later remasters [like 2021's Tattoo You or 2020's Goats Head Soup] sound incredibly “bright” or excessively treble-y. [An issue I also had with Elektra’s HDCD versions of the Cars 1^st 3 albums.] 

 

*** My Uncle J. Michael Leone, God rest his soul, used to tell me that Ron Wood was “absolutely the worst choice” the Stones could have made to replace Mick Taylor. In a way, I get that – Ron Wood as a lead guitar player is not in the same class as Mick Taylor. However, Mick Taylor was not the kind of guitar player who really “meshed” with Keith Richards. Coming from being the lead and rhythm guitarist for the Faces, Ronnie would just switch between the two as the song needed. I think that this wall of guitars where you don’t know who played what [and Keith says sometimes they don’t either] allowed him to move around the rhythm as well instead of being forced to anchor it at all times. SOME people have called Ron Wood a “Keith Clone.” My take on it is that Ron Wood can play like Keith but Keith can’t play like Ronnie.

 

Twilight Of the Gods [Part II]

No one really ever wants to say it. That this might really be the Last Go ‘Round. But one day it really will be. Whether announced form the stage or some press conference [or not]. The Rolling Stones said it in 1974: Time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me.  But the Stones have withstood predictions that this will be The Last Time since at least 1972. But they’re still rolling..

Some might ask why. Well, damn, it’s what they do! For sixty years in the Stones’ or Paul McCartney’s case. They’re musicians, musicians need to play. [And some with Lead Singer Syndrome still need the adoration and approval of 40,000-50,000 people a night.]  I must say the Stones in November [2021] were tight and look like they are still having fun up there. And why not? The Rolling Stones have nothing to PROVE to anyone – except that they can still bring it.

Even though the Stones were good, it raised the question: Is it better if the artists just say “I’m getting too old for this”?

It kind of depends on your expectations.  It gets kind of silly to see faces lifted, hair dyed old men still doing pelvic thrusts and singing about “girls.” Ozzy and Peter Frampton have said that they can’t do it anymore [health reasons]. Elton John is doing one last goodbye tour. Bob Seger just wrapped up his farewell tour. David Lee Roth has said he’s hanging up his rock and roll shoes.

Kiss is on one last one for the road. Word is that they’re using taped / sampled vocals in spots, so maybe they really can’t bring it like they used to. But with Kiss you’re going mostly for the spectacle, right? Are you looking for substance or style when you go to that kind of show? Does anyone care if Judas Priest tunes down so Rob Halford [if they are, I don’t know] can hit the notes or do they just want to whip themselves into a frenzy, hear something loud and see Rob ride his Harley on stage?

But could James Taylor just take out his guitar and stand and sing? Sure. Jackson Browne?

Bob Dylan doesn’t care what you or I think. Does not give a fuck.

But one day there will not be a Rolling Stones to tour. No Mick coming out and shaking his ass. No band for Keith to command. Face it - they’re all well into their 70s. [But I also said that losing Charlie Watts would end the Stones but (with Charlie’s blessing) they came out again this time, so who really knows.] Bruce sadly moved on without Clarence Clemons but even Buff Bruce won’t be able to do it forever. Prince was already suffering from years of his on-stage work. I don’t know how Paul and Gene still get up on those platforms every night, yet they do.

But one day, they will not be there to tour and people will talk about seeing the Stones / Who / McCartney / Springsteeen / U2 on their “last tour.” Did the people who bought tickets to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers last tour think it might be Tom’s last tour? Are folks who said “ah we’ll see them next time” kicking themselves? Mom and I missed out to Ray Charles and George Carlin with this “We’ll see them next time” thinking. When I saw Queen with Freddie did I think that would be the last time they played U.S. dates?

Time waits for no one.

Think about this as well: the Stones haven’t toured new music in 15 years. To be fair, most people plunking down to see the Who, Paul McCartney or Elton John are NOT there to hear “Here’s one from our new album.” [With a temperamental artists like Bob Dylan or Nei Young, you should know going in what you get is what you get.]

For comparison, contemporaries who also put out albums in 2005 have. Paul McCartney has put out 4 albums of new music and an album of covers. Not exactly prolific but not the movement of glaciers either. Bruce Springsteen has put out 6 of new music plus the tibute album The Seeger Sessions. Dylan didn’t put out a record in 2005 but put out Modern Times in 2006. Since then he’s also put out 6 albums of new music and a Christmas [!!!] album. 

Neil Young on the other hand continues to pop them out, with varying degrees of my attention. I learned during the Geffen years not to just hop on anything with Neil’s name on it. I like some Neil Young but sometimes I find him preachy. And meandering. But since 2005’s Prairie Wind, Neil has put out 12 albums of new material [number 13 is scheduled for a December 2021 release], plus his archives series.

But it’s not just the Rolling Stones, it’s all of the artists from the golden age of Rock [say 1967 – 1976], those people who dominate the ever-shrinking playlists of Classic Rock stations that will soon be shuffling off this plane of existence. The tributes will pour out on Facebook and Twitter and people will all say “we’ll always have the music.” Which is true of course. Sales of back catalog will see an uptick for a couple of weeks and then things will return to normal.

But the list…

Eric Clapton. Mick. Keith. Paul. Ringo. Ron Wood. Rod Stewart. Jeff Beck. Jimmy Page. Robert Plant. Elton. Neil. Van Morrison. James Taylor. John Fogerty. Steven Tyler. Joe Perry. To name a few. Of course, there are those who have already gone on – Prince, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Rory Gallagher. And the trifecta of Jimi, Janis and Jim Morrison have been gone since I was a tyke. But all their legends and legacies live on. 

Even the bands of the Metal Years, the hair band guys are getting there. Nikki Sixx will be 63 in December. Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden is 62. Bret Michaels is 58. Axl is 59. Slash is 56.

It just puts a little bit of sadness in my heart is all. But I take it all a little too seriously anyway because of the way music affects me personally.

To quote the Stones again:

When you hear the music trouble disappear
When you hear the music ringin' in your ears
Can you feel the magic floatin' in the air?
Can you hear the magic? Oh, yeah, yeah

When you hear the music ringin' in my ear
Can you hear the music? Oh, yeah
Can you hear the drummer? Gets you in the groove
Can you hear the guitar? Make you want to move? Yeah

 Twilight Of the Gods?

No one really ever wants to say it. That this might really be the Last Go ‘Round. But one day it really will be. Whether announced form the stage or some press conference [or not]. The Stones said it in 1974: Time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me.  But the Stones have withstood divorce, slander, rip off, slagging, drugs and booze and predictions that this will be The Last Time since 1972. Or 1969. They’ve managed to keep rolling and here we are almost 5 DECADES later – 50 years folks! – and they rolled into the Cotton Bowl in Dallas last night.

Some might ask why. Well, damn, it’s what they do! For sixty years! They’re musicians, musicians need to play, [And Jagger I think still needs the adoration of 40,000-50,000 people a night. Lead Singer Disease.] The band was pretty tight and by God it looks like they are still having fun up there. Ronnie Wood still gets out there and proves the clown prince of Rock & Roll, Jagger still works the stadium with the moves he’s famous for. And I give Mick Jagger credit where credit is due – the man can blow on the harp. I kinda dig it when he stops strutting and jiving and running about and gets into the groove with the band! Keith… well, Keith is still Keith. At least on the video screen one could see Keith smiling a lot. 2 story tall nice white teeth, too.

Hits? Played several. Classic favorites? Yep. With the vote song winner Heartbreaker [Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo] the great run from Beggar’s Banquet to Goat’s Head Soup were well represented. Although oddly Sticky Fingers was not hit with the retirement of Brown Sugar from the set. 19^th Nervous Breakdown and Paint It, Black provided a couple of wild card songs. The new song Living In A Ghost Town was merely okay.

Keith’s segment… well as my brother in law said, you’re not going to remember Keith as a vocalist. Connection is an oddball if not fun choice and Keith and Steve used to do it with Keith’s other band. Slipping Away was beautiful. Keith had a beautiful Gibson and seemed to be searching for the right notes and tone to express some blues. Keith was flashing those teeth on the big monitors but it seemed like there was a touch of sadness in the corner of his eye. Lines like “Here comes just another day / That’s drifting away / Every time I draw a breath / It’s dying away” can carry more meaning than just a relationship on the rocks or missed opportunity.  [Yeah I’m reading a lot in there – artistic license. ]

I think the only points it seemed a little odd: a bass solo from Daryl Jones during Miss You and the drumming seemed off during Midnight Rambler. Charlie used to take his cues from Keith but this time it seemed that Jordan was pulling Keith along a bit. Maybe that’s just me again.

Time waits for no one. One day it there will not be a Rolling Stones to tour. No Mick coming out and shaking his ass. No band for Keith to command. Face it - they’re all well into their 70s. But I also said that losing Charlie Watts would end the Stones but [with Charlie’s blessing] they came out again this time, so who really knows.

So the big question: Did the show itself live up to my expectations? Absolutely! I am 111% happy that I got to see the Stones again and I gratefully thank my sister and brother-in-law not only for the fine birthday present but for coming along to make sure I didn’t get into any trouble.

So I am reworking some CDs as usual – “jeez, do I really want Jungleland there? I’m not a huge Boss guy or Born To Run guy and those nine minute epics get a little schmatltzy. I think a little Tenth Avenue Freezeout works better there…” And I’m at the spot where Billy Joel is needed. Now on the first mix, I had The Stranger here – good song, flexes a little muscle without being overpowering – but after Freezeout, it doesn’t quite roll right. Because of the long opening and coda with the whistling. So I tried a couple of things – right now All For Leyna from Glass Houses is holding the spot but I haven’t road tested this one yet, so we’ll see. But also considered Vienna and Get It Right the First Time [The Stranger] and Stiletto from 52nd Street.

But it got me to thinking about LPs I’ve had for a long time. And who listens to the B side.

Now The Stranger happens to have a couple of hits on the B side – Only the Good Die Young and She’s Always A Woman – so maybe it had a few more listens than the average album. Aerosmith’s Toys In the Attic side 2 kicks off with Sweet Emotion which slams into the really good No More No More. The Who’s Who’s Next has Going Mobile and Won’t Get Fooled Again on side 2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced has one of the greatest side 2s ever: The Wind Cries Mary, Fire, 3rd Stone From the Sun, Foxey Lady and the title track. I love side 2 of Little Feat’s Feats Don’t Fail Me Now with the medley of Cold Cold Cold and Tripe Face Boogie. I might argue that side 2 of Kiss’ Dressed To Kill is BETTER than the A side!

But Glass Houses? Probably could have been blank as far as most people are concerned. It is not littered with Joel’s best songs. The vocals on I Don’t Want To Be Alone and Sleeping With the Television On sound like they were recorded in desperation like two nights before the album was due and Billy suffering a head cold. C'Etait Toi (You Were the One) with William Martin Joel singing in French?

Having said all that, side 2 of Glass Houses was one of my bedtime albums. As was side 2 of the Cars Panorama. And The Beatles [aka ‘the white album’]. One might think that putting an album on to go to sleep to it would indicate a complete lack of interest, an argument not without merit. One thing I notice is that they winddown into softer 3rd songs [well nothing really hard on the white album – Don’t Pass Me By is maybe the hardest thing], so maybe 8-9 minutes to get settled in the a calming thing? But Panorama ends with a couple of upbeat numbers, really a couple of my faves: Running To You and Up And Down. Maybe the tone arm lifting after that last chord of Up And Down was the signal that it was over and it really was time to get to sleep? 

But all of that got me mulling over Billy Joel and I have finally come to the conclusion I was looking for. People LIKE Billy Joel or they like Billy Joel's songs. But no one's FAVORITE ALL TIME SONG is a Billy Joel song.

Billy Joel just doesn't inspire fanaticism like Led Zeppelin or the Beatles or the Stones or the Who or Kiss. You might turn up the radio when a particularly favorite Billy Joel comes on but it's not like Free Bird or Born To Run or Jumpin' Jack Flash or Won't Get Fooled Again. Not Big Shot [which I like] Piano Man [which I don't] Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Just the Way You Are, Honesty, We Didn't Start the Fire, Captain Jack, New York State Of Mind... None of them are someone's all time favorite.

It's weird because Billy has sold millions of records. But he's not cool. Liking Billy Joel was cool from about 1976 to 1982 when you couldn't escape the man's records. But none of those records no matter how many they sold are talked about in the same breath as Born To Run, Rumours or Hotel California. Because it's Billy Freaking Joel!