Tag: folk rock

456. Jorma Kaukonen and Hot Tuna

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(December 2022) Episode 456 is JORMA KAUKONEN and HOT TUNA. Jorma has been my favorite member of Jefferson Airplane for his finger-picking guitar style (on JA songs “Embryonic Journey” and “Third Week on the Chelsea” and his solo album “Quah”) and his amiable singing voice. Most of his albums are in the folk/blues/Americana vein and enjoyable, while the pop ones, not so much. Hot Tuna started out as a blues-rock JA side gig with bassist Jack Casady and has endured through five decades of touring, also generally enjoyable.

Favorite solo album: Quah

Favorite solo song: Genesis

Favorite Hot Tuna album: America’s Choice

Favorite Hot Tuna song: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: if you like finger-style guitar as I do, you’ll like Jorma

425. Donovan

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(July 2022) Episode 425 is DONOVAN. The Prince of Hippy Folk Rock. I had only known him through a greatest hits disc, but discovered there is a lot more to enjoy. His first two albums were Dylan clones, but he found his own original voice and style in a series of late 1960s albums, full of flower power, psychedelia, whimsy, and cosmic musings. Even the children’s music has charm.  The quality dropped in the 70s and 80s, but a couple of his 21st century albums were strong and creative.

Favourite album: A Gift from a Flower to a Garden 

Favourite song: Hurdy Gurdy Man

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: the greatest hits will suffice but you’ll probably enjoy a deeper dive into the 60s albums.

302. Belle and Sebastian

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(December 2020) Episode 302 is BELLE AND SEBASTIAN.  They’ve always seemed like the iconic indie band to me. If you can get past Stuart Murdoch’s twee vocals you’ll find an abundance of catchy, melodic pop songs. And as they moved into the 00s and 10s they expanded their vocalists, instrumentation and styles, so it never gets stale. 

Favourite album: The Life Pursuit

Favourite song: White Collar Boy

Best song that mentions the San Francisco Giants: Piazza, New York Catcher

Best non-album single and wannabe Austin Powers soundtrack: Legal Man

Compared to expectations: ↑

222. Joni Mitchell

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(July 2019) Episode 222 of my “opus project” is JONI MITCHELL. Who doesn’t love Joni Mitchell? I love Joni Mitchell. She’s a legend, an inspiration to countless artists (especially women). And yet … when I started this episode I realized I had not put on a Joni album in 25+ years. I guess the confessional singer-songwriter thing isn’t my thing. Her strongest songwriting, of course, is the early-70s folky/hippy stuff. Mitchell’s later journeys into light jazz, synth, EZ listening and re-arrangements of old hits are really not my thing.

Favorite album: Ladies of the Canyon

Favorite song: For the Roses

Worst album: Dog Eat Dog

Compared to expectations: ↓

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202. Love

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(February 2019) I have completed episode 202 of my “opus project.” This edition: LOVE. The distinctive style of this late 60s band is hard to label — “thespian hippy” is my best attempt. After their masterpiece, Forever Changes, their sound became more conventional for the era. Also noted (for the time) for the racial diversity of their lineup.

Favorite album: Forever Changes

Favorite song: Seven and Seven Is

Compared to expectations: same

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200. The Mamas and the Papas

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(January 2019) I have completed episode 200 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS. Groovy, hippy, warm rays of sunshine to bring a smile to your face. And, oh, those harmonies! Their run was brief, but their role in popularizing folk rock was huge.

Favorite album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Favorite song: Got a Feelin’

Special sauce: Mama Cass

Compared to expectations: same

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197. The Beau Brummels

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(January 2019) I have completed episode 197 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE BEAU BRUMMELS. Before there was the San Francisco Sound, there was The Beau Brummels. This relatively unknown Bay Area outfit not only earned the distinction as perhaps the first American band to mimic the music of the British Invasion, they also introduced folk rock before the Byrds popularized it.

Favorite album: Triangle

Favorite song: Laugh Laugh

Compared to expectations: same

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136. The Grateful Dead

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(August 2017) I have completed episode 136 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: THE GRATEFUL DEAD. I attended five Dead shows in the mid-1980s. As for the recordings, I prefer the studio work, especially the early psychedelic and folky material; I’m not a jam band guy. This effort included the 22 contemporary studio and live albums, and a dozen retrospective live, bootleg, box and Dick’s Picks recordings. Yes, there is plenty more, but I got what I needed. Once you’ve heard ‘Playing in the Band’ for the 8th time, you know it’s time to move on.

Favorite album: American Beauty

Favorite song: China Cat Sunflower

Favorite period: 1969-71

Worst studio album: Go to Heaven

Worst live album: Dylan and the Dead (saw them together; it was bad)

Special sauce: Robert Hunter

Compared to expectations: same

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125. Moby Grape

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(May 2017) I have completed episode 125 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: MOBY GRAPE. Their first album helped define the San Francisco Sound in the Summer of Love. They then journeyed through the modes of late 60s/early 70s rock — blues, country, folk, boogie — but unremarkably so IMO.

Favorite album: Moby Grape

Favorite song: Hey Grandma

Compared to expectations: ↓

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