Category: Episodes

584. Babatunde Olatunji

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(July 2024) Episode 584 is BABATUNDE OLATUNJI, a Nigerian drummer who had big influence on American jazz and rock artists. Olatunji took up percussion while in college in the U.S., which led to a recording deal. His 1959 album “Drums of Passion” got the attention of John Coltrane, leading to a collaboration. Olatunji also worked with Cannonball Adderley, Quincy Jones, Max Roach, Stevie Wonder and Mickey Hart, among many others. It’s authentic music, unlike a lot of the “world music” stuff Olatunji helped inspire.

Favorite album: Drums of Passion

Favorite song: Akiwowo

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: All the “Drums of Passion”-titled releases are good.

583. Herman’s Hermits

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(July 2024) Episode 583 is HERMAN’S HERMITS. If the British Invasion had a bubblegum band, Herman’s Hermits would be it. They preceded the Monkees but there are parallels – light happy tunes, a pre-fab element, cross-marketing on TV/movies, the vocal similarities between Davey Jones and Peter Noone, and a mix of popularity and critical scorn. The Monkees’ reputation improved over time (they had damn fine songs) and I think so of Herman’s Hermits too. Overall their music was better than I expected, helped by trying not to compare it to what their peers were putting out. But their polite approach couldn’t survive the late 60s.

Favourite album: Blaze

Favourite song: I’m Into Something Good

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: A hits compilation is plenty.

582. Cracker

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(July 2024) Episode 582 is CRACKER. Following the eclectic approach of Camper Van Beethoven (episode 61), Dave Lowery went more conventional with Cracker. They got notice as 90s alt-rockers but the albums shift between alt, roots rock, and country-rock. Cracker is fine music: meaning, the songs are satisfying but it’s also not going to get you out of your seat. At times the songs tend to run together, but going through their discography, each album has its own personality, and that keeps it interesting. As do Lowery’s wise-ass vocals.

Favorite album: Kerosene Hat

Favorite song: Get Off This

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: For classic 90s alt, the first two albums (Cracker and Kerosene Hat); for a different 00s alt, Forever and Greenland; for curiously enjoyable “California country,” Countrysides and the second disc on Berkley to Bakersfield.

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581. Stefan Grossman

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(June 2024) Episode 581 is STEFAN GROSSMAN. He is an amazing figure. A Jewish kid from Brooklyn who sought out and took lessons from some of the aging masters of guitar fingerpicking blues, including Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt and Son House. He studied and collected recordings of others, connecting him with Marylanders John Fahey and the legendary 78s collector Joe Bussard. He pioneered guitar instructional records, later videos – a ton of them are available on YouTube. You can learn fingerstyle from him too! He recorded a bunch of his own albums, mostly blues in fickerpicking and slide, but some other styles too. This is my favorite kind of blues music so I eat this stuff up.

Favorite album: Yazoo Basin Boogie

Favorite song: Memphis Travelling Blues Show

Favorite song (with slide): Bottleneck Serenade

Recommendation: Highly recommend. Albums to seek out are Yazoo Basin Boogie, Bottleneck Serenade, Hot Dogs, and Love, Devils and Blues. But check out the guitar tutorial videos, especially if you are a player.

580. George Winston

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(June 2024) Episode 580 is GEORGE WINSTON. Back in the 1980s I had a phase with the Windham Hill label, particularly guitarists William Ackerman and Michael Hedges and pianist George Winston. As a student, it was good music to study and relax by. You could let the music transport your mind and mood to a different place, which is what the label was aiming for. This music was later categorized as New Age, although of the more earthy variety. I had Winston’s Autumn and December (both solo piano) in regular rotation, which were effective in evoking a pastoral aura of those seasons. But I hadn’t put on a Windham Hill album in decades. Returning to Winston, I did re-experience the mood but in a rote manner. But with time it comes off as rather vapid. His recordings were more than the “rural folk piano” style he was famous for; Winston liked to do New Orleans-style R&B and also played guitar and harmonica.

Favorite album: Autumn

Favorite song: Colors/Dance

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: This can still serve as pleasant relaxing piano music, but it is not going to offer anything more than that.

579. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

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(June 2024) Episode 579 is SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES. This episode covers the Miracles’ recordings with and after Smokey, and his solo efforts. The Miracles were the first Motown act to make it big, a legend in their own right. Plus, as Berry Gordy’s right-hand man with his own numerous hit songwriting and production credits, Robinson’s fame involves so much music we consider classic.  That said, the music recorded by Smokey and the Miracles tended toward safer pop, without the edge or social consciousness of peers, taking them down a notch among Motown artists for me. You know how I love falsetto, and Smokey is one of the best. But it’s 100% for him, and I find falsetto is used best in contrast with lower range singing, as with The Temptations or Marvin Gaye.

Favorite joint album: A Pocketful of Miracles

Favorite Smokey album: A Quiet Storm

Favorite Miracles album: Renaissance

Favorite joint song: I Second That Emotion

Favorite Smokey song: Cruisin’

Favorite Miracles song: Love Machine

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A complication of their hits is essential for any 60s R&B collection. For a deeper dive try the mid-70s Miracles cuts (after Smokey).

578. Acrimony

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(June 2024) Episode 578 is ACRIMONY, a band out Wales considered a pioneer of stoner metal in the UK. By now you know the reasons for my love for this subgenre. Acrimony combines the loud low fuzz with space rock elements, and at times delivers the deliciousness with a boogie not often associated with this music. Unfortunately, their approach didn’t catch on in the UK, and they broke up shortly after 1996’s Tumuli Shroomaroom, a masterwork of the subgenre.

Favourite album: Tumuli Shroomaroom

Favourite song:  Heavy Feather

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Strong recommendation for Tumuli Shroomaroom but also for the earlier EPs.

577. Manfred Mann

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(June 2024) Episode 577 is MANFRED MANN. Continuing my tour of British Invasion-era bands, I must clarify that this episode is about Manfred Mann the band, not group member Manfred Mann for whom the band was named over his objection, and went on to a solo career. Confusing I know. They got attention as an R&B outfit which, to my ear, is arguably second best among UK groups behind the Stones. Their early pop hit, however, the instantly recognizable “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” was not indicative of that sound. But variety was also their mark, as band members brought their interest in jazz to the mix. This makes their albums more interesting but less consistent, and there’s the typical complicating overlap of UK and US releases. After 1966, a new singer and a new label meant a new direction. Their three late-1960s albums offer a more sophisticated sound and some baroque rock gems; I like this stuff best although critics rate the R&B recordings higher.   

Favourite album: Mighty Garvey!

Favourite song: The Mighty Quinn

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I usually commend a greatest hits disc for such groups, but this might merit a deeper dive into the two periods to see which you prefer.

576. Venom

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(June 2024) Episode 576 is VENOM. They emerged late phase of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and became influential in extreme metal and thrash metal. And their album Black Metal gave the name to that subgenre. Lots of album and song titles featuring “Satan,” “hell,” “devil,” and “death,” and headbanging riffs, as we would expect. But listening from a four-decade distance, it’s hard to separate their music from the metal clichés that they helped create. I prefer the sound on the later (21st century) albums with a cleaner production.

Favorite album: Metal Black

Favorite song:  A Good Day to Die

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Metal fans will want to check out their first couple of albums to hear the influence, but I think there are better places to get your fix for thrash or black metal.

575. Paul Revere & the Raiders

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(June 2024) Episode 575 is PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS. I had long thought Paul Revere and the Raiders were a plastic contraption trying to ride the wave of the British Invasion, largely due to their Revolutionary War-era costumes. I was very wrong. They had their origins in Boise, Idaho, of all places, as an instrumental rock band, but were able to capitalize on the emerging popularity of guitar rock with a version of “Louie, Louie” as other Pacific Northwest bands were doing the same. This sound, led by the semi-snarling vocals of Mark Lindsay, helped define what we now call American garage rock. Moving to Los Angeles and absorbing its influences, the Raiders’ seven (!) albums recorded between 1966 and 1968 are all really good, with a fair number of original compositions (although their best songs tended to be written by others). They transitioned well into the 1970s with more earthy songs, before fading off into the nostalgia circuit. One knock on their status (for me) was frequent lineup changes, with Lindsay and the eponymous Paul Revere Dick being the only constants.

Favorite album: Midnight Ride

Favorite song: Kicks

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: A compilation of their hits will be good, but you can dig in further with any of those 1966-68 albums from Just Like Us to Something Happening.