Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Walkin’ The Dog” by Grateful Dead/Record Store Day Recap I’m a dyed in the wool, straight up record collector. I’ve been collecting records for more than 40 years and my thirst for music is pretty much insatiable. Today, I got totally played on by “the man.” I’m talking about “the man” who presses the records I buy. The man that I help keep relevant by going back to the tap and sipping in new music in all different formats. It gives me pleasure and enjoyment. By now, record labels fully how to push record collector buttons to get me back into the record store. They’ve turned record buying into a holiday,...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#846 in the Series) is Devon Allman, Turquoise The first thing that hits you between the ears with a critical listen to “When I Left Home,” the opening track of Devon Allman’s fine new album Turquoise, a song that takes you through an autobiographical narrative that touches only sparingly on his rock royalty pedigree as the son of Gregg Allman and the Nephew of the late Duane Allman, is that Devon‘s musical path was not a gold and glitter strewn road that was pre-paved for success, but rather an ongoing journey that may have blessed him with some heavy-duty pixie dusting of artistic genes, but certainly did not come with a GPS...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#836 in the Series) is Paul Barrere & Roger Cole, Riding the Nova Train   Paul Barrere’s latest project is finally available; a collection of eclectic tunes reminiscent of the early days of Little Feat, recorded with old friend Roger Cole, Riding The Nova Train has a sample of influences through Paul’s long career. After the band plays at Feat Fan XI in Jamaica in March, Paul will be taking a year off to deal with treatment for Hep C. Below are some notes from Paul about the project and a link to hear a sample and order the CD….here’s a bit of the history of the album. An album, by...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#771 in the Series) is Ry Cooder, Election Special (Nonesuch) Ry Cooder’s on a roll! After an extended 18 year break from solo work, during which he was extremely busy on soundtracks and collaborations of course, he made a remarkable return to the fray with Chavez Ravine in 2005, a well-received release which was followed fairly quickly by My Name Is Buddy and then I, Flathead, completing what he dubbed his “Southern California” trilogy. Just last year he was at it again when he released the wonderful Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down, making four great albums in six years, a tremendous work rate in this day and age really. At...

  Today’s Cool album of the day(#770 in the Series) is the new self-titled release by The World Famous Headliners. (Big Yellow Dog Publishing) Out of the blue comes an album that I think will be in so many top 10 lists at the end of the year and no one even saw it coming. I think most reviews are going to start with who are these guys? That’s a good question and it’s a great answer but I wanted to start with what really matters, the music. The album’s 15 tracks slip effortlessly from rock and roll to funk, with bits of power pop, country, and 60’s style rock thrown into the mix. It’s a fun from the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#756 in the Series) is Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. One of the greatest albums of all time and one of the defining moments in Eric Clapton’s legacy is all you really need to know about this album. “The Layla Album” was released in 1970. It’s interesting to note that while it reached #16 in the US, the album did not chart in the UK.  What were they thinking? The band was made up of Eric Clapton on guitar vocals. Duane Allman on guitar; Carl Randle, bass; Bobby Whitlock, organ and vocals and Jim Gordon, Drums. Duane Allman did not play on three of the most popular songs....

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#739 in the Series) is JT Coldfire, Always and Never  (Crazy Sun Publishing) The first thing that hits you between the ears when you play the first song from the new JT Coldfire album, Always and Never,  is the finely crafted Chuck Berry Inspired “Get it on (In the Back of the Bar)”, a song that grabs your ears and staples them to the speaker. The second thing you quickly realize in listening to the whiskey soaked vocals and the somewhat bawdry lyrics, is that in Coldfire, you are in the process of being introduced to a pure and genuine “diamond in the rough” musical find, who adds some much needed “hair...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#727 in the Series) is Little Feat, Rooster Rag  Little Feat has been on the proud highway since 1969, their first release in nine years is a collection of good ole Americana music that may be appreciated by baby boomers only, just because they have been flying under the top 40 radar for 43 years. And of course some music historians will say, “It’s not the same without Lowell George” and since the passing of every drummers hero, Richie Hayward, how could they possibly go on. No, it’s not the same, but the boys are still getting it done. When I first heard a Rooster Rag preview, I skimmed through, looking for...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#618 in the Series) is J. Geils Band, Live Full House I don’t know who managed the J Geils Band back in the early 70s, but I do know this. He knew what he was Doing!  The band was formed in 1967 and within a few years released their first two albums, a self-titled debut and the follow-up called The Morning After. They were to fine albums that did OK in their hometown Boston market. However something was missing. What was missing was their live sound. All it took was a great live album to advance them into a national act. This was 1972 remember, and about three to four years before the...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#556 in the Series)is Sonny Landreth, Outward Bound In 1987, John Hiatt released his great Bring the Family album. This was the work that took him from being a guy just known for being a good songwriter, to a known musician and record maker in his own right. Part of the reason that radio found that album to their liking was that it featured some great backing musicians with well-known identities. That project included the likes of Nick Lowe, Jim Keltner and Ry Cooder  (who later would all record together again as Little Village). That album was a critical success and did not do badly sales-wise either. What would John do on...