Heat induced ramblings for July

Thea Gilmore – “JWH” is one of my top 4-5 Dylan discs, and the idea of a track-by-track cover, by a female artist no less, made me cringe.  Surprisingly, it works.  Gilmore pulls off the nifty trick of re-arranging each track so it stands on its own merits, yet is faithful to the original.  Ironically, this is a trick Dylan hasn’t been able to pull off when re-tooling his own songs. A sturdy, rootsy band delivers great backing, and Gilmore’s vocals are first rate. 4 stars

Warren Haynes – No questioning his guitar chops; he can play and the best tracks on this sound like they were lifted right out of the Allman Brothers playbook. Where the disc falls short is in variety. Just too many mid-tempo songs with the omnipresent big choruses that lead up to the lengthy guitar solo. Songs sounded a lot better in a shuffle than in one sitting. 2.5 stars

Mavericks – Glad this was submitted, I’ve wanted to check these guys out for a while.  Liked most of it, vocals are fantastic and the band is tight.  Where they lose me is when they stray from the path of the traditional Tex-Mex sound, notably the faux-jazz number and the gospel rave-up.  I appreciate them stretching themselves, but it didn’t work for me.  That said, two thirds of the disc are rock solid.  3.5 stars

Stevie Ray Vaughn – Yes, it’s blatant Mongillo-ing, but this is good stuff.  It was a slight step backwards from “Texas Flood”, but the band’s playing is simply brilliant.  How great do you have to be to take on a Hendrix standard and out-do him?  I had forgotten how awesome the first two SRV albums were; thanks for the reminder. 4.5 stars

Yo-Yo Ma – We have ignored classical music to date, so the “wild card” seemed like a chance to broche the subject.  I liked it, but found myself tuning it out about halfway through.  The playing is lovely and the disc makes for good background music.  I’m no expert on the style, but it makes a pleasant enough change of pace, and tell me it isn’t fun to say “Yo-Yo Ma.”  3 stars

Stiff  - Brought back many fond memories of my teenage years, as the heavy, heavy, Monsta sounds of Stiff Records were such a vital part of my musical education.  To me, the 3-minute single is still at the very heart of rock and roll music, and Costello, Lowe, Madness, etc were masters of the form. The best g-hits we’ve had in eons, IMHO.

Discussion Question

A brutal cut-down, as there was so much great stuff in that era. For purposes of discussion, "best record" = my favorite, not most important or groundbreaking...

15. Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
14. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
13. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
12. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
11. Nick Lowe - Pure Pop For Now People
10. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
9. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
8. Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
7. Rolling Stones - Some Girls
6. Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon
5. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
4. The Ramones - The Ramones
3. The Who - Quadrophenia
2. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
1. The Clash - London Calling