With the holidays only a few weeks away, the time is now prime for purchasing music. This year was not overly memorable for music releases, and it could be tough to end the year without a single mention of Napster, N'Sync, or Eminem. Well, maybe we should feel sorry for old Em'. Poor guy has all those problems with his wife, mother, press, fans, Everlast, Christina, Britney, and just about everybody else. Must be all of them and not him.
Anyway, here are some new releases which may make good Yuletide gifts!!
Stevie Ray Vaughan
SRV
It's about time a Stevie Ray Vaughan set was released. In honor of the tenth anniversary of his being stolen from the music world, Vaughan's most luminous licks have been amassed in this extremely well chosen collection. Vaughan, much like his apparent hero Jimi Hendrix, didn't possess an outstanding voice - but he didn't need to. The yowl of his guitar more that made up for any of his vocal restrictions.
When listening to Vaughan, you can almost feel the atmosphere of the Texas barrooms and clubs where Stevie honed his skill. One of his later songs, "Crossfire," still makes your stomach knot intensely (especially during his proclamation of: "Trust nobody. Don't be no fool!). And when Stevie growls, "You mess with her, you see a man get mean" on "Pride and Joy," he conveys all the intimidation of a pissed off loan shark.
While Vaughan's music was not often heard on pop stations, it is also important to remember that he did the lead guitar work on David Bowie's smash record, Let's Dance. Certainly one of the highlights of Bowie's career, one wonders if it would have had the same success if Vaughan's contribution was not so overwhelmingly present.
The three CDs and one DVD that make up this set are more than enough entertainment for most Vaughan fans. For those who would appreciate a more comprehensive collection, all of Vaughan's discs were reissued a year or so ago and sound phenomenal - no shock there!
Electric Light Orchestra
Flashback
While there has been much talk over the past 15 years or so about Jeff Lynne as a producer (he did those "new" Beatles songs for their Anthology five years ago and has sat at the board for Tom Petty as producer a few times ) and as a member of The Traveling Wilburys, it was his work with the Electric Light Orchestra that brought him into prominence. While ELO has taken a back seat to Lynne's other projects in recent years, a triple CD set has just come out to chronicle the group's productive years.
A tad bombastic at times, ELO never droned on and on like other art rockers of the day (e.g. Yes). Formed from the embers of 60's rockers The Move, ELO's heyday started with the 1976 release New World Record and peaked in the early '80s. Not ashamed of their contribution to the 1980s cinematic dud Xanadu, Lynne has added his lead vocals to the track, replacing Olivia Newton-John's syrupy lead. While still not quite "rock," Lynne's voice does add more of an edge and at least now the song is pleasurable - though I wouldn't really call it a "bonus."
ELO was resourceful in adding orchestration to rock, which did swing without putting out brass-ridden sludge (e.g. Chicago). They could even do a grand, horn-drenched cover of "Roll Over Beethoven." Why this set omits the group's great instrumental track "Fire on High," is a mystery. Flashback is a great reminder of a group that history has not given enough acclamation to for their imagination.
DION
King Of The New York Streets
Could anyone but Dion go from a pompadour-topped street corner serenader to the voice behind one of the '60s most potent protest songs? Probably not, but don't forget that he also went on to become such a powerful influence that he was lauded by everyone from Dylan to Lou Reed in the '80s and '90s.
Dion DiMucci's long-awaited set, King Of The New York Streets, is three CDs worth of material tracking a musical progression that has rarely been seen in rock. While so much of '50s and early '60s music sounds so outdated, Dion's "Runaround Sue" still packs a wallop. Maybe it's that jackhammer of a saxophone, or Dion's all-too-real sounding burst of jealousy, warning, and heartache as he cautions of falling for a coquette.
While his hit-making days seemed over by the late '60s, he rolled up on the unsuspecting hippie counterculture with the subtle, yet prevailing, "Abraham, Martin & John." Though the song is now banished forever to the oldies radio format, it is as powerful a protest song as any one from that era (Beatles and Sly Stone included) had penned.
Still an active and popular live performer, Dion's hit-making days are history, but he gave us more than enough great musical reminiscences and thoughts for us to ponder.
Rick Nelson
Legacy
I honestly never gave Rick Nelson too much of a listen. Maybe I am still P.O.'d at him for siring those twin blond wigs who paraded around as a rock band in the early '90s. However, he truly was a pioneer of country rock.
Plus, as this box set substantiates, his music is quite good. True, he started out sounding like a lighter version of the Everly Brothers, but he quickly evolved into a bona fide rocker and became later became a groundbreaker (especially when he formed the Stone Canyon Band). Rick had a wonderful ally in the ultra-gifted guitarist James Burton who animates several of Nelson's tunes. Legacy is an expensive collection for a casual or curious fan. Probably better to just grab an inexpensive greatest hits CD unless four-plus hours of Nelson is really essential to your collection.
Nelson's subliminal blast at those who wanted to keep him in a TV time capsule is addressed in "Garden Party;" which was probably a great release for Nelson at the time. Curiously, it proved to be his last hit. Nelson toured relentlessly and spent his life trying to dodge the video image carefully crafted by his father. It was his constant touring that lead to a tragic New Years Eve plane crash 15 years ago and stopped any chance Nelson might have had to ever escape his past.
Badfinger
The Very Best Of Badfinger
Though the pressure of having the Beatles' shoes to fill was maybe too much for this power pop band, it did churn out some fantastic music. The Very Best Of Badfinger gathers the better sides of the group, but does more to chronicle the fact that without the Liverpool wonders by their side; they could easily have floundered into oblivion.
Band leader Pete Ham committed suicide in 1975 and was spine-chillingly joined in the grave 8 years later by Tom Evans, who also took his own life. An ironically upbeat and happy collection from a band whose legacy is anything but.
B.B. King
Anthology
As he is the really one of the few surviving forefathers of the blues - and after many years of lackluster sales for his releases - BB King must be relishing the fact that his collaboration disc with Eric Clapton was a big summertime hit. On the heels of this release, he now offers the double CD Anthology.
King's guitar solos (always plucked out on his black Gibson guitar, Lucille) are among the most stylistically recognizable around. Anthology is definitely the best compilation CD of King's work to date, and the re-mastered take of "The Thrill Is Gone" is so poignant and agonizing that it's literally unnerving. The only problem with this two-CD set is that it is not as inclusive as it should be - Anthology really should have been a boxed set of King's work. Maybe next Christmas....
Lynyrd Skynyrd
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
Quite simply, there will never be a better Southern Rock group than Lynyrd Skynyrd. They had staggering onstage bravado (not to mention a great "front man" in Ronnie Van Zant), outstanding songs, and a triple guitar assault that drove the songs into a powerful transitions and codas, without overindulging in overlong solos. Well, "Freebird" was the exception....
This Millennium Collection, part of a series of greatest hits collections, embodies ten of the best Skynyrd compositions. Yes, "Freebird" was way too overplayed the past two decades, but that does not diminish its status as one of the most endearing and loved epics in rock. There was never a better song about life on the road than "What's Your Name." Also notable is "Gimme Three Steps," which manages to be both funny, scary, and danceable as hell at the same time.
As amazingly lucky as they were - being the only Southern rock band other than the Allman Brothers to have monstrous mainstream success in the '70s - they were also just as unlucky. A plane crash claimed the lives of three members, including Ron Van Zant, in 1977. The band regrouped with Johnny Van Zant (Ron's brother) in '87, and has continued to tour ever since.
