Bob Mould’s first solo album, was composed during the year following the dissolution of Hüsker Dü back in 1988. Released in the spring of 1989, Workbook presented a clear departure for Bob Mould after severing ties with Grant Hart.

The album picked up immediate airplay on Modern Rock stations across the country fueled by an infectious bit of jangly Byrd-esque power pop on the single, See A Little Light .  But that song belies the overall mood of the album; closer listening of songs like Wishing Well and Poison Yearswould provide the true spirit Mould set out to document – disgust, despair and catharsis.

Poison Yearsslowly builds to a climax as Mould recounts ‘poison years that are now just a memory’, seemingly clearly referencing the rancorous final year or two that Husker Du trudged through.   Later in the song, Mould states that ‘treason is the reason for his poison years’ as he slowly adds layers of acoustic and churning electric guitar to the track.

Buoyed by an excellent backing band featuring Golden Palominos drummer Anton Fier, Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone and cellist Jane Scarpantoni, Mould delivers a career best solo effort out of the gate.

For all the doom and gloom present in the lyrics, the music and melodies on most of these tracks transcend the emotional scrapheap and oddly offer glimpses of brilliant sunshine and the feeling of fresh air.  The opening track, Sunspots, is a jazz inflected instrumental that seems more likely to be found on a Pat Methany album.  Scarpantoni’s cello is featured on several tracks while Mould does bring out his Strat to great dyanamic effect on many of the songs.

Three short years later, Mould would form Sugar, the power pop combo that burned fast and bright for a few years before Mould moved back to solo efforts.  The July 1992 Cabaret Metro gig still ranks as one of the loudest musical events I have ever witnessed; the subtleties of the Workbook album were long gone and Mould’s candy blue Strat was put into overdrive as the band burned through Copper Blue two months before its release in its entirety.

It’s true that good  music can take you back to a certain time and place.  Nick Lowe’s album, The Convincer, brings back the autumn of 2001 in Munich for me; an unsettling time that became slightly more settled whenever I put this CD on.

Released in Europe in the first week of September 2001, the album snuck up on me and was purchased on a whim one evening after work in a music shop somewhere near the Marienplatz.  I often departed the S-Bahn at the Marienplatz  to stroll through the Viktualienmarkt before making the short walk home to Kanalstrasse for the evening.  It was on one of those jaunts that I found myself purchasing this album.

I was faintly familiar with Nick Lowe’s back story, kind of an uncle to the angry young men of England’s New Wave scenesters – Elvis and Graham particularly.  A songwriter extroadinaire, Lowe had also found success with Rockpile, the rockabilly pub band formed with Dave Edmunds and several classic and sardonic songs incuding What’s so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding, I knew the Bride when she used to Rock and Roll and Cruel to be Kind.

On this album, Lowe delivers a low key masterpiece, subtly sung and not overly crowded with too much instrumentation or technology.  It’s the kind of album that reaps rewards and illuminates hooks with multiple listenings.

Sonically, the album feels ‘lived in’ and exudes warmth and organic musicianship.  One can hear hollow body guitars, Wurlitzer organ,  stand up bass and feather light snare and bass drum accents throughout.  The songs are finely crafted and feature some choice phrases, puns and put ons.

Particularly satisfying is the track Lately I’ve let things slide, in which Lowe professes and confesses his daily failings like picking out the least dirty shirt in the bin and failing again to kick the cigarette habit.  His reworked Johnny Rivers classic, Poor side of Town, is heavy on the Wurlitzer with Lowe’s heartfelt lyric upfront.

All in all, an elegant album that deserves to be appreciated.

Hey I’ll probably get derided by the Twin Tone era Replacements purists out there but I’ll put a strong argument in to say that All Shook Down is indeed worthy of classic ‘Replacements’ status.  Yes, Bob Stinson was long gone and the tunes are almost polished, but the guitar work by Slim Dunlap and Westerberg still delivered the necessary sting and precursor-to-grunge sloppiness to push these songs along.

This album was originally conceived as Westerberg’s first solo album but eventually morphed into the final Replacements offering.  As a result, the full band actually only played together on one track together.   Those doubting the classic ranking would be well served to check out stand out tracks like Attitude, Torture (perfect pop in about 3 minutes time) and Sadly Beautiful for proof.

But, the album still has the band’s name on it and it’s a worthy final line in the sand.  Westerberg was in the middle of quitting drinking so many of the songs were acoustic based and introspective leaning.  Released in 1990, the band would stagger through a final tour before imploding on stage in Chicago during the summer of ‘91.  

In what has been posthumously espoused to be a staged exit, the various band members handed off their respective instruments to roadies in the wings to conclude the final concert.

Unfortunately there is nothing resembling  ‘Bastards of Young’ on this album but one should cut Westerberg some slack for give him credit for articulating the trials and tribulations of a troubled songwriter looking to put pills and alcohol behind him.  And…..if we forward into the present we can say he’s successfully kicked all old demons and continues to produce compelling music today.  

As for the other original ‘Mats, Bob Stinson has passed, Chris Mars is now an artist and Tommy Stinson continues to play bass for the current monstrosity erroneously billed as Guns and Roses.

If you don’t have this one (or haven’t listened to the Replacements in awhile), every album is highly recommended and they’ve all been newly remastered with bonus tracks and alternative takes.   Check ‘em out.

Here’s Paul Westerberg with some excellent insight into the recording of All Shook Down

Now that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are back out on the road again this year with Fleetwood Mac, we really should shine a light on the criminally overlooked Buckingham Nicks album, released back in 1973 on Vinyl and still today yet to be officially released on Compact Disc.   Buckingham and Nicks continue to share ownership rights to the album and have thus far only hinted at a possible re-released version.

Anyone who likes the Rumour-era Mac should make a point to find the blueprint for the late vintage classic California melancholy & euphoria which is the definitive sound of Fleetwood Mac these days thanks to the remarkable arrangement and producer skills of Buckingham, a self avowed Studio Rat.

Lindsey and Nicks were still a couple back in the early 70’s and managed to get a major label deal with Polydor for their debut album which featured an eye-catching topless cover pose by the couple.  The music inside is fantastically good and easily recognizable as signature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham as we all know and love them even today.  At the time of its release, Buckingham and Nicks had just broken up their mildly successful band, Fritz,  and were struggling to find their big break in the industry.  That break would come on New Year’s Eve 1974 with a phone call from Mick Fleetwood to Lindsey Buckingham..

I had the opportunity to catch Fleetwood Mac two weeks ago in Charlotte and was amazed at both the chops and stellar show put on by the band but also the groundswell feeling in the near capacity crowd that this band really meant something important to a certain generation born in the late ’50s or ’60s who reached young adulthood just as the amazing Rumours album was released; hot on the heels of post-Watergate America and a slap in the face to the short lived hedonism that Disco represented.

The Buckingham Nicks album includes four amazing songs (although there isn’t a bum tune on the album), Frozen Love, Crystal (re-recorded on the 1975 Fleetwood Mac Album), Crying in the Night and Don’t Let Me Down Again, which was actually performed by Fleetwood Mac years later during their 1979 Tusk tour and available on the 1980 Fleetwood Mac Live album.

Until the album is finally re-released and available on CD or Blu Ray…..it can thankfully still be found quite easily via several Torrent sites on the web.   Check it out.

Crying in the Night & Crystal from Buckingham Nicks (HD)

The Allman Brothers are currently wrapping up their annual New York City Beacon Theatre run of concerts which have been highly regarded as a return to form for the band.   I happened to read one of my favorite blogs the other night and had a chance to check out the band in HD via Moogis which seems to be a great concept but not cheap.

The Allman’s have dedicated the ‘09 Beacon run to fallen legendary brother Duane Allman and many special guests have dropped in on various nights; most notably Eric Clapton, Duane’s band mate in Derek and the Dominos.  I realized that I hadn’t heard the album in years so I managed to find a stellar remastered version in FLAC and gave it another spin.

Two words: Simply Awesome.   The interplay between Duane and Eric is unbelievable and you can easily see how this album and group spawned a virtual who’s who of imitators and aficionados including the likes of the Black Crowes and others.

Rolling Stone Magazine recently devoted a whole issue to the 500 best albums of all time.  I was stunned that this album did not appear at least in the top 10.  It drives me to drink that there are millions of rock fans out there who don’t even know this music exists.

The original version of this album, even the re-released remaster, sounds a bit muddy.  By that I mean you can hear vocals, bass, drums, and in the background the other guitar and organ.

This new remix changes all of that.  You can hear everything clearly, including all of Clapton and Allman’s guitar parts.

Take for example the excellent song,  “Why Does Love Got To Be Sad”.  In the original mix,when Clapton comes in towards the end of Allman’s solo, it sounds like Allman stopped playing after a few notes.  In this remixed version you can hear that he just moved lower on the neck, playing some very deep guitar lines.  In the original mix this is buried under Clapton’s playing.  Now you can hear how it was meant to be heard,with both Allman and Clapton playing leads.

Plus, on tracks like “Anyday” and “Key To The Highway”, you can hear Allman’s slide parts much clearer.  They ring out much more than the original versions.

It is well known what the back-story is for this record.  Clapton fell for George Harrison’s wife, Patty.  They had a fling and then she turned her back on him. The resulting emotional devastation for Clapton wound up expressed as these songs.  When the original album came out, we knew none of this. For the first couple of years, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs was overlooked not only because the public didn’t know the story but also because most didn’t even know Eric Clapton played on it.  But on first listen, we knew “something” happened.  For all we knew,  some girl who worked in a teashop could have dumped him.  It didn’t matter.  Something real and wretched happened-this wasn’t show business.

Check out this rare Duane Allman & Clapton Jam which is available on the expanded remastered version of the Album:

Song Highlights:

“I Looked Away” is the nice, gentle quiet before the storm.  It is deceptively a “light” beginning; but it immediately tells the listener what’s going on. “Bell Bottom Blues” is more dynamic but interestingly many dismiss it the first couple of listens.  Upon repeated hearings one becomes aware just how much this song “cooks”.  Thematically, I would argue that Clapton’s story is first summed up here. “Keep On Growing” seems to a positive, exciting “rave-up” except a few notes of self-doubt which seep in.  The end of the first LP side of the album is wrapped up with “Nobody Know You When You’re Down And Out”.  Compared to “Keep On Growing”, “Nobody Knows You…” is more somber.  It is a blues musing on how as times are good and bad friends come and go and after a while one is no longer so certain what those “friends” are worth.

“I Am Yours”,  an acoustic pleading that in spite the of the loved one’s coldness the singers love still flows from the heart. This followed by “Anyday”.  I am surprised how many people do not care for this song; but you would have to have a heart of stone not to feel the combination of hope and anguish as the refrain is repeated.

Then a long version of “Key To The Highway” and continues with “Tell The Truth”.  These two songs may seem to have little to do with the main story until one recognizes that both deal with “leaving”.  The album then continues with “Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad”.  While good in its own way, this version seems to be a mere blueprint to the extended one which appears on the In Concert album: one of the all too few examples of where the “live” version is much better than the original.  The third side concludes with “Have You Ever Loved A Woman”.  A sort of mediation and prayer over a love in which “the water is wide…I can’t cross o’er”.  It seems it’s all over.

But there’s more- “Little Wing”.  Clapton worshiped the ground Hendrix walked on and he cried at Hendrix passing not because he left but because Hendrix didn’t take Clapton with him.  So it has been all the more surprising and delightful that Clapton took Hendrix’ sad, quiet and gentle song and made it raw, emotional and thunderous.  It is a successful example of two contrary emotions being expressed at the same time: the lyrics are worshipping and loving while the music is heartbreaking and cries of desperation.  “It’s Too Late” is a relatively simply and “clean” realization that “that one last chance” is gone.   It is a little gem.

Then we end with “Layla”.  “Layla” restates the story of the whole album and begs the lost love to take the singer back. “Layla” ends with a dreamy, grand instrumental suggesting a sweet reconciliation of the two lovers.  The time of distress and torment is over.

But with “Thorn Tree In The Garden” we realize that dreamy reconciliation existed only in the hopes of the singer.  It is a new day and our lover is still gone.

This is one of the greatest rock and roll records ever made.  Do yourself a favor and get it.  Listen to it a lot.  Make it yours.  You will love it.  And then maybe after twenty years you’ll begin to understand it.  May you never have to experience something like it for yourself someday.

Track List
Disc One
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (The Original Album)
01. I Looked Away 3:03
02. Bell Bottom Blues 5:00
03. Keep On Growing 6:20
04. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out 5:00
05. I Am Yours 3:34
06. Anyday 6:33
07. Key To The Highway 9:41
08. Tell The Truth 6:37
09. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad 4:43
10. Have You Ever Loved A Woman 6:54
11. Little Wing 5:34
12. It’s Too Late 3:48
13. Layla 7:05
14. Thorn Tree In The Garden 2:52

Disc Two
Alternate Masters, Jams And Outtakes
01. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Alternate Master #1) 5:54
02. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Alternate Master #2) 4:59
03. Tell The Truth (Jam #1) 9:38
04. Tell The Truth (Jam #2) 13:47
05. Mean Old World (Rehearsal) 14:55
06. Mean Old World (Band Version / Master Take) 3:36
07. Mean Old World (Duet Version / Master Take) 3:50
08. (When Things Go Wrong) It Hurts Me Too (Jam) 1:56
09. Tender Love (Incomplete Master) 2:42
10. It’s Too Late (Alternate Master) 4:05

Disc Three
The Jams
01. Jam I 19:59
02. Jam II 12:24
03. Jam III 13:22
04. Jam IV 12:21
05. Jam V 18:24