I’ve never heard After Bathing at Baxter’s, the album between Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow and Crown of Creation, but I hear that it was a marked departure from the folksy noodling on Surrealistic Pillow in favor of for straightforward rock. But, one rock album must have been enough for them, because Crown of Creation is nowhere near the acid rock fest you might expect from Jefferson Airplane’s reputation (or the album cover–they’re inside of a nuclear blast! Come on!).
Month: March 2014
Record #251: Count Basie – …Plays his Hits of the 60s (1966)
In the fall of 2004, I was a guitarist in an emo band that somehow made it onto my school’s advanced Jazz Band. The first sheet of music handed to me was “Basie Straight Ahead” (which is not on this album), and I quickly realized how in over my head I was. And it wasn’t just me–it took the entire band five months to be able to play the entire song through.
Record #250: Burl Ives – My Gal Sal and Other Favorites (1965)
Even if you don’t know you do, you know who Burl Ives is. It may be only from his role as the sunglasses-wearing snowman in the claymation Christmas movies, but you know who he is. And even when he isn’t singing about the colors of reindeers’ noses, Mr. Ives brings the same timeless gentility to everything he does, as opposed to Bing Crosby, whose charm was lost as soon as he strayed from the fireplace-glow that made his Christmas songs so unforgettable. Burl Ives, on the other hand, is aware of the magic he conjures, and he casts his spell upon every song on this record.
Record #249: Bruce Springsteen – Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. (1973)
I’m a late comer to the Bruce Springsteen fandom. Just two years ago, I largely dismissed the Boss, until Born to Run (the single) caught my attention, followed by the album it led. Since, I’ve been getting into his catalog one album at a time, which usually followed me dismissing that album before conceding that it is, in fact great (see: Born in the USA). That trend has, to date, only moved forward. But I recently found his debut for four dollars, and took a gamble. And if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that a bet on the Boss is a good bet.
Record 248: Blondie – Parallel Lines (1978)
The mid-to-late seventies were a great time for punk. An unvoiced rebellion finally found its eloquence wearing ripped denim and filling CBGB & OMFUG (Joey Ramone having convinced the owner to let punk bands play there instead of just country, bluegrass, and blues acts).
Punk was fresh, it was real, and most importantly, no one knew what punk was supposed to sound like yet. Whenever I hear Heart of Glass between Brothers and Allman on the oldies station (my town’s radio stations are weird), I shake my head incredulously muttering, “these guys used to play with the Ramones.” And Television too, but Television isn’t exactly what you think of when you think of punk either.
Record #247: Bing Crosby – My Golden Favorites (1961)
I realized two things listening to this record. Number one: there are two tiers to my record collection. There are the records I pay more than four dollars for because I want to listen to them, and the records I get on the cheap and keep because they aren’t terrible. And number two: I’ve never heard anything Bing has sung besides Christmas songs.