What Are You Listening To Right Now (Part IV)

[Zzzptm]

Been a while since I spun this platter and that don't make no sense! A blues rocker in his prime at the Armadillo Ballroom in Austin, TX back in 1978... some truly smoooooooooooth playing from Bugs Henderson and The Shuffle Kings.

[Zzzptm]

Going through old Cashbox mags again for my show, getting intrigued by ads in the magazine. In the 8 April 1972 magazine, there was an ad for Billy Joel's debut album, Cold Spring Harbor with the single "Tomorrow Is Today."

It's soft, sure, just Billy and his piano, but it also showcases the young genius he had at the piano and is quite touching. Thought I'd share it.

[Zzzptm]

Next to catch my eye was an ad for John Kay's solo album, Forgotten Songs & Unsung Heroes. Has a bluesy, heavy single with it, "I'm Movin On". Metal it is not, but heavy rock for sure. Steams along nicely and tastily. That Hammond he's got in the band is doin' it rite. 

[Charger]

Saxon - Madame Guillotine

Almost managed to go two weeks without listening to this album...that was enough!

[Zzzptm]

I was blaring that one and The Stripp's Ain't No Crime to Rock and Roll the other day. Great for driving!

[Zzzptm]

Bruch's violin concertos. On No. 3 in D minor, Op. 58. Previously listened to Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44, and Serenade for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 75.

Ahead of me is Scottish Fantasy (Op. 46), all 4 movements!

[Charger]

Candlemass - Lucifer Rising

[Vyn]

So, I'm working from my home office today.

I'm also tripping back in time with some Slayer!

[Zzzptm]

I'm going further back in time! 1958, to be exact - Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry.

[Vyn]

That's awesome! Well, the song is awesome but what makes it even better is that after I finished Slayer I dropped on Waysted's The Good, The Bad, and The Waysted, which finishes up side two with a Chuck Berry tune.

Coincidence? I think not! I think it is clear evidence that there are powers at work in the universe that are hidden from most people. But if a person listens carefully, their ears might bear witness to the reverberating tone of universal love...

...played across the multitudinous lines of creation...

...just like a-ringin' a bell.

I know where the door is, I'll just let myself out now.

[Zzzptm]

It's all interleaved, good man, it's all interleaved.

Had The Marcels' "Friendly Loans" at the top of my show today and finished with "Keep a-Knockin'" by Little Richard. Much fun was had!

[Zzzptm]

Funk from this week in 1972...

[Vyn]

That's very cool! Details aside, but when I was a kid I'd go work out with two Mexican dudes who were probably in their late twenties and both built like Arnold. The first time I heard Mandrill was in their workout "shed" - they had three 8-tracks of their albums and would always play at least one.

It's been a long, long time since I've heard anything from Mandrill!

[Zzzptm]

Cool, glad it got a memory there.

Now I'm on Sun Ra doing jazz-funk in 1978:

The album was recorded in one night, after they'd been a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. That cat Sun Ra could wail, man... and if you didn't wear the right color for a recording or performance, he'd send you back to wardrobe to get the right color because those colors give you an energy, man...

Yeah, man, Sun Ra...

[Vyn]

Sun Ra. He was...a man...with a plan...and a band...<modal jazz sounds begin>

In the heart of Alabama, 'neath the southern sky so grand,
Lived a man named Sun Ra, with a cosmic band in hand.
Not just a musician, but a voyager of the night,
His melodies and rhythms were stars, shining bright.

Sun Ra, oh, Sun Ra, with a mind so vast and wide,
He claimed he came from Saturn, in the cosmos to reside.
With a band that played the universe, in suits of sparkling hue,
Their music wasn't just a sound, but a journey, bold and new.

His family found it hard to grasp, this path he chose to tread,
For when the call of duty came, he sought the stars instead.
"I won't serve war," he firmly said, "My battle's with my art,"
And so he alienated kin, but followed his own heart.

His music, like a comet, blazed a trail both strange and rare,
Alien to some, but to others, a breath of fresh air.
Sun Ra, the man who lived his life as if a dream,
Creating worlds with every note, in his cosmic stream.

So here's to Sun Ra, a man beyond his time,
Who taught us that the universe can be a rhyme.
With every note, he reached for stars, and in his quest so bold,
He showed us there are wonders vast, in the music of the soul.

Never could get into that dude's cosmology. Or music.