Joe Jackson — I’m the Man

Yes, you are the man Mr. Jackson. I have posted a number of your records already, with more to come. You also had a lot of hair back in 1979 when “I’m the Man” was released as this seven inch vinyl single. This is a great original song. On the flip is spunky, nay, punky I say, live cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.”

P.S. I think the button on your lapel says “I LOVE TO BOOGIE.”

The Bambi Slam — Self-titled

I really don’t know much about The Bambi Slam. My brother and I got this as a promo when (1988) we had record store. There was some buzz about this band at the time (is it just the one guy, Roy?) but I haven’t heard much about them, or him, since. Maybe I’m out of touch because he, or they, are still making music. Sounds like a less interesting version of Jesus and Mary Chain, but more hard rock. They, or he, describe their, or his, new stuff as “hard rock” and “techno.”

“Outa My Head” on the Bambi Slam MySpace page is from this record.

A-ha. Trouser Press explains it all, and they back up my Jesus and Mary Chain comparison.

The Leaving Trains — Fuck

• Artist: The Leaving Trains
• Title: Fuck
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Promo at Mother’s Records
• Keeper: Maybe

I apologize. And with that out the way let’s talk about the only record I have by The Leaving Trains that I didn’t buy. This one must have been a promo we got when I worked at a chain record store in a shopping mall. You can see from the last pic that the label, SST, ran a display contest. “Win a Plane Trip to a Trains Show.” I guess back in 1987 that would have motivated some folks, but there is no way a chain store in the mall was going cover a wall with record cover reprints, or “flats” as they were called, of an album titled Fuck that just happened to have “FUCK” printed big and bold on the front.

A couple decades later a title like that seems more like a cheap attention-getting gimmick than it did to me at the time. It might work now, but I’m pretty certain this did nothing to help them sell records then. It’s not my favorite of the three LT records I have, but there are some great garage-punk-rock, body-moving songs on this album.

Are The Leaving Trains still making music? I can’t tell.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble — In Step

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble -- In Step

• Artist: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
• Title: In Step
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy and Bob
• Acquired: 2005 – Inherited from Bob Bobala
• Keeper: Yes

In Step is the last album to come out from these boys before Stevie died in a helicopter crash. It’s also his first album after he had sobered up. The album definitely has a more upbeat vibe than the earlier records. But positivity and the blues don’t really go together. In Step seems to be missing the grit of the first three records, but if that’s the price of being sober please stop killing yourself. All that said, I do like the whole record. Surprisingly, my favorite song is the nine minute jazz instrumental “Riviera Paradise” that closes the album. It’s blissfully smooth and low-key, not what you expect from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

The Leaving Trains — Kill Tunes

• Artist: The Leaving Trains
• Title: Kill Tunes
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1986 – Probably at Mother’s Records
• Keeper: Yes

Kill Tunes is my favorite record by The Leaving Trains. It’s the first one I bought, and I believe it’s their debut. I don’t know why I bought it, but I’m guessing the cool cover and the record label being SST were a couple good reasons. This is probably their most rocked-out record, and it includes an excellent cover of an excellent song from an excellent band, “Private Affair” by The Saints. Covers are a sign there are real men in this band, especially since “Private Affair” was less than 10 years old at the time. As I’ve mentioned before, these guys produce a great mix of garage rock and weirdness. That’s really all I need to be happy.

Did I sell out? Call it survival
When everything I do smacks of revival
Cease fire? No way
There’s nothing left behind to save anyway

“10 Generations” — The Leaving Trains

Etched in the vinyl run out margins:
Side 1 – Tunes don’t kill, people do
Side 2 – I buried Manfred

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble — Couldn’t Stand the Weather

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble -- Couldn't Stand the Weather

• Artist: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
• Title: Couldn’t Stand the Weather
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy and Bob
• Acquired: 2005 – Inherited from Bob Bobala
• Keeper: Yes

Oh, too many to blogs to keep up with. I haven’t been posting as often as I want. It’s too late and I’m too tired to do this record justice. Suffice it to say that Stevie Ray Vaughan was a massively talented genius and Couldn’t Stand the Weather is an excellent album. I think if I listened to it for another day I’d probably rate it a “10.” From memory I was thinking that this record wasn’t quite as good as the first, but now I’m not so sure. Stevie and Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon on bass and Chris Layton on drums) are slamming on all eight tracks. My favorite is the heavy funk title track, “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” And their version of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” is phenomenal. I’m a huge Hendrix fan, but I like listening to this version just a little bit more. Vaughan’s tone is super fat. This is another record Bob should have kept.

More about Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

The Leaving Trains — Transportational D. Vices

• Artist: The Leaving Trains
• Title: Transportational D. Vices
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989 – At a record store I owned with my brother, RIP Records
• Keeper: Maybe

I have three records by The Leaving Trains and Transportational D. Vices is the newest. Somehow it got to the front of the line, but it terms of favorites it is at the back. Still, it’s a very listenable record, most of the time sounding like they have one foot in the garage, one in a combat boot, and another somewhere in space. It’s three-legged rock that manages to sound familiar and unique. One of my favorites on this one is “Store”, a high speed, rocked out number about going to “the store.” I guess singer Falling James really needed some milk or cigs or something because he sounds like he’s in a hurry to go.

Rodrigo y Gabriela — Rodrigo y Gabriela

• Artist: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Title: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Year: 2007
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Barnes & Noble in Asheville, NC
• Keeper: Yes

I was in the local Barnes & Noble the other day when I heard a great acoustic version of Metallica’s “Orion.” I headed straight to the music section where a woman in front of me was already asking about it. The clerk grabbed a copy of Rodrigo y Gabriela and I snatched up the last one. I’ve probably played it 20 times in the last few days. I bought it because of “Orion” but my favorites are the originals, especially “Diablo Rojo.”

This was the first I had heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela, but it turns they’ve been on Letterman, Leno, etc. earlier this year. This record came out late last year in the US. They’re from Mexico City, but have been in Europe for a while. They’re already popular there.

I told a friend yesterday that this album was “the greatest thing ever!” I don’t know if he agrees, but I’m sure he too thinks it’s slamming. They have few, if any stylistic rules, and they have some roots in thrash metal. (Gabriela apparently tired of the “testosteronic” vibe of the metal scene.) So how would I describe it? It’s not Flamenco, but it is rhythmic and energetic. It’s not jazz, they play structured songs. Other than “greatest thing ever” and “slamming” I’ll just add that it’s two people playing acoustic guitars and there is a tasty Latin flavor.

There’s a DVD included with some great live performances where the crowds are going nuts and raising the horns. Also included are interviews, a photo gallery, and a great tutorial where they step through the techniques they use so you can play just like them. Ha!

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — Damn the Torpedoes

• Artist: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
• Title: Damn the Torpedoes
• Year: 1979
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1979 – Fort Bragg Post Exchange
• Keeper: Yes

I’m not sure about writing this review. I don’t know much about Tom Petty or the Heartbreakers. I can’t compare it to their other work because I only own one other LP by them and it’s a CD. However, Tracy insists I’m the one for this job because: 1) it’s my album, 2) it is the first album I ever bought, and 3) I play it a lot.

It is my album, and when Tracy and I united our vinyl together in holy matrimony, there was no duplicate for Damn the Torpedoes. In fact it was our only Tom Petty record.

It is the first album I bought. I had been living in Germany where ABBA ruled. They were all I heard except for my sister’s cassettes in the car. She is six years older than me, and she forced Ted Nugent, Kiss and Queen on my younger sister and me at high decibles.

When we moved back to the USA my sister moved out to CA, leaving me in a musical void. The radio played disco (it was 1979) and the rock station (there was only one) played a lot of Jimmy Buffet.

One day my friend and I walked to the base PX (post exchange) where she wanted to buy the latest record by The Babys. Maybe I felt pressure to buy a record too – or maybe I was desperate for something better than the radio, or the Firefall and Toto cassettes my sister left behind. I specifically remember picking up an REO Speedwagon album at the store, something with Tuna in the title, but I bought Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes instead (Thank you, Jesus).

Looking back, I think I went with TPHB because of the album cover. It looked fresh. It didn’t look like anything my older sister had, and after years of being called a “copycat” by her, the last thing I wanted was more of her music. I mean, I was about to go into high school, I had to be me (Thank you, Marlo Thomas).

I do play this record a lot. I’ve liked it since the first listen. To me, it has a lot of energy, and in 1979, it sounded new and we all needed something other than Supertramp and Pink Floyd (we still do). The Babys were new too, and I liked my friend’s purchase, but I was always glad the Tom Petty record came home with me. I began to wonder if I was a musical geinus to select such a record with out knowing anything about the band.

There are nine songs on this record. I love eight of them. The ninth, “Louisiana Rain”, is a little too ballad-like for me, yet it is the chorus to “Louisiana Rain” that I am always singing when the album is over. Songs like “Refuge” still sound fresh, but my favorite song has to be “Even the Losers.”

The Leather Nun — Force of Habit

• Artist: The Leather Nun
• Title: Force of Habit
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought it when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA
• Keeper: Maybe

Yeah, I don’t really know much about The Leather Nun. I thought they were interesting back then because they had a hard rock edge when there wasn’t enough of that around. I would’ve guessed Force of Habit was their only album, but it’s not. If I remember correctly the pseudo-political “Pink House” was a college radio alterna-hit. I got to see them open for someone, can’t remember the headliner now, at the Richmond Mosque. Maybe I’m imagining the whole show.

Anyhow, Wikipedia describes the band as “Sweden’s dark answer to ABBA.” There’s even a cover of ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme” on side two. Singer Jonas Almqvist is really more of a talker, and the lyrics are… eh. The music is interesting, but I don’t think it’s a keeper. Is it?