Rhinofy-Random
"Wheels Within Wheels"
Rory Gallagher
I heard this on the satellite on the ride home from Palm Springs and it was so right, so in the pocket, that it’s never left my mind.
Rory Gallagher was doomed by being on Polydor, a second-rate label. I saw him open for Blind Faith with his band Taste, then he went solo, but never broke through. But if he didn’t drink himself to death, he’d be on a victory lap right now.
You don’t learn how to play this well overnight. You pay your dues. And your facility with the instrument translates. Come on, listen to these licks, they speak to your head and heart, they make your body writhe.
"Never Stop"
Jackson Browne
Sure, the lyrics are good, but this track is all about the groove, and the change. This is one time where Jackson plays with a band and it works, it’s better than the live solo acoustic rendition that was released a handful of years later.
Listen to the guitar accents. Hear how the band is locked into the groove.
But most of all, hang in there until the change at 3:55. It’s unexpected, you just think the song’s gonna repeat until the end…
Remember when you look into my eyes
I’m the one who took you by surprise
The time has come and gone and come back ’round again
And I’m still here to take you by surprise my friend
Relationships pay dividends. Hit and run can be fun, but when you hang in there with someone you get to fall back in love with them. It’s spontaneous, the b.s. drops away, you remember why you loved them to begin with, with a twist. It’s a look, it’s a feeling, it’s magic.
Show me your eyes, tell me again
Where you want to go
Now the night is glowing beneath your skin
And when you smile I’m the richest man I know
That’s true wealth. Being in a relationship.
"Get Up Jonah"
Bruce Cockburn
Music, when done right, instantly takes you away, deposits you in a place no other artistic medium can.
Whenever I hear "Get Up Jonah" I picture myself walking down the street in a new city, energized and aware.
I woke up thinking about Turkish drummers
Didn’t take long – I don’t know much about Turkish drummers
But it made me think of Germany and the guy who sold me cigarettes who’d been in the Afghan secret police
Who made the observation
That it’s hard
To live
Whew! Wisdom!
It’s like you’re in a bar in a foreign country and you run into an English-speaking denizen who starts telling his tale and all you can be is mesmerized. He’s not telling you he knows everything, he’s just laying out his story, but you’re impressed, because life is about living, and this person has…and the more adventures you have, the more you know, and the less sure you are of everything.
And ain’t that how it always is in a dream. Random, vivid connections.
And the lyrics are insightful, but the groove is wonderful!
You can play "Get Up Jonah" for anybody and they’ll get it.
"I Wanna Go To Marz"
John Grant
And they say there’s no good new music…
If this doesn’t remind you of lying on your bedroom floor, stoned, listening to great classic rock on headphones, you never did.
With everybody trying to crowd the hit parade it’s exciting to find someone doing it his own way…and succeeding.
"Country Doctor"
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
There’s a studio take of this, but this live version is better.
The improvisation is inviting, but it’s when Bruce starts pounding the riff a little after a minute in that you and he lock on to the groove. This is jam band music at its best. Not noodling, but expansion upon an underlying theme.
Imagine being at the gig, you wouldn’t be able to keep your body still. Hell, it’s almost impossible at home!
"The Song Of Purple Summer"
"Spring Awakening"
My introduction to music was show tunes, the Original Broadway Cast, my mother used to spin those records ad infinitum, I came to love them, I know every note.
And too many modern musicals lack memorable music.
But this hearkens back to "Hair" and that movie musical, "Fame". The vocals are mixed right up front, changes are important, a mood is set.
This is not hip, but that’s what’s wrong with the mainstream today, it’s an echo chamber, and everybody is desirous of getting inside, but the true rewards are outside.
If you’re too hip to like this, you’re too hip for me.
"Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)"
Glass Tiger
How many years has it been since you’ve heard this?
But admit it, not only do you know every lick, you like it! It’s a minor pop masterpiece, it’s like spending an afternoon at an amusement park, and Bryan Adams’s vocal is worth the price of admission, hell, pay attention at 2:35.
"Still Feels Good"
Rascal Flatts
AND IT DOES!
It’s almost like Skynyrd, when you hear the vocal imploring you to COME ON, you turn your head, drop your laundry and RUN to the sound!
Forget everything you know about modern country music, forget your preconceived notion of Rascal Flatts, just LISTEN!
That old t-shirt you wear to bed
Hangin’ off your shoulders by a thread
The one you ripped off me when we first met
Still feels good
Sharing clothes. It happens early in a relationship, and randomly thereafter, and when it does, it puts a smile upon your face. On a cold morning, when Felice dons my Two Elk fleece, I smile on the inside.
And she sleeps in a t-shirt. The softer and rattier the better. We’re attached to our garments, they’re our blankies, even though we’re no longer infants.
That old familiar song blarin’ from my car
We know every note, every word by heart
Puts a smile on your face ’cause you know it’s ours
And it still feels good
Come on, you know this feeling! Of cruising down the highway, wind blowing in your hair with no words being said, both of you locked on to the track, feeling both centered and ecstatic.
Your fingers hooked around my belt loops
The imagery is simplistic, but it doesn’t bother you, because it’s so in the pocket, it’s so right. Oh come on, if you haven’t put your fingers in her belt loops…you’ve never been with a her or a him, you’re a lonely bastard just waiting for intimacy, the true reward of life.
And the song is a tear, with great changes and piano notes that penetrate, but…
Hang in there, the ride doesn’t truly begin until two minutes in.
You’re ascending the hill of the roller coaster, there’s one more chorus and then the track slows down, you’re cresting the peak, it’s all anticipation, then the train starts to descend, the guitar begins to WAIL!
Really, at the 3:20 mark you’re gonna hear ferocious picking, guitar playing that can measure up to any speed metal band, any classic rocker, it makes you feel so good that your only option is to…
Play it again.
BECAUSE IT STILL FEELS GOOD!
