Mike Zito “Wee Wee Hours” (2019)
Mike Zito takes an old Chuck Berry 12-bar blues tune and assails the listener with an overwhelming assault of chops that could go on until the wee wee hours. Whatever those are.... Read More
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead @ Capitol Theater (“Bertha”)
I didn’t see the Grateful Dead in concert this week. Nor did I see Dead & Company, or Furthur, or even Phil Lesh & Friends or Ratdog, or any of the other Dead iterations or derivations. The question is: Did I see something actually better?... Read More
The Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” (1966)
The O’Jays sang “I love music. Any kind of music.” The Doobie Brothers said “Music is the doctor. Makes you feel like you want to.” Joan Jett exclaimed succinctly, “I love rock and roll.” In The Big Chill, Kevin Kline’s character, Harold, could simply find no words.... Read More
Joel Paterson “Michelle” (2019)
One of the great benefits of the forthcoming Joel Paterson album “Let It Be Guitar!” – to be released by Bloodshot Records on September 20th – is that my wife can casually enjoy some beautiful, new arrangements of completely recognizable Beatles tunes, while I can focus intently on the fabulous intricacies of Paterson’s highly developed,...... Read More
Average White Band “Work To Do” (1974)
It’s Labor Day, which means the end of the summer, which for someone like me who so looks forward to the warm weather and so hates the cold, I can honestly only say, fuck that. But, in addition to its significance as a marker on the seasonal calendar, it is..... Read More
Cee Lo Green “Run Rudolph Run” (2012)
‘Run Rudolph Run’¹ is a song recorded in 1958 by Chuck Berry (and melodically identical to a more famous one he’d release one year later, ‘Little Queenie’). Since then it’s been covered by a remarkable array of artists – from Keith Richards, Dave Edmunds, Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, Billy Idol, Reverend Horton Heat, Foghat, and...... Read More
George Thorogood “It Wasn’t Me” (1978)
As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied “Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*cking songs that ever needed to be written.” I can’t quite call this a direct quote, but I’m pretty confident...... Read More
The Gourds “Gin And Juice” (2001)
I’m not into much Hip Hop. But I can appreciate a good song when it’s done right. The Gourds, a handsome alt-country / progressive bluegrass band out of Austin, take care of that for us here. And if you watch the second short clip, you’ll see the song’s originator can dig it this way too....... Read More
Gladys Knight & The Pips “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”
Maybe there’s a better example, but I can’t think of any, where there were three different hugely popular versions of the same song. That song, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ was a smash hit for three artists – Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye, and Creedence Clearwater Revival – all within less than...... Read More
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes “Blowin’ In The Wind” (2001)
Some readers of this esteemed blog expressed some objection to my all-too-casual dismissal of the “voice of a generation," Bob Dylan, within a prior post on the Drive-By Truckers. I’d like to try to atone for that now by featuring what is undoubtedly... Read More