Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#453 in the Series) is Carly Simon, No Secrets A “Whale?” You’re actually putting this album in the “Whale Wednesday” category? If you’re questioning that, then you weren’t around in the late 1972 or early ’73.  If you were, you’d have remembered how big this album was. Singer-songwriters were all the rage at this time. A year and a half earlier, Carole King was top of the charts forever it seemed with her masterpiece “Tapestry.” That album was released in March on ’71 and she actually released another album, Music before ’71 was out. Carly’s No Secrets was not another Tapestry, but it may just have had a bigger hit than anything of...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#448 in the Series) is Peter Himmelman, From Strength to Strength   If there were a checklist of “Interesting Facts/Accomplishments of an Artist,” Minnesota native Peter Himmelman would have it nailed. Prolific songwriter? 20+ studio albums both with his former band Sussman Lawrence and solo, including 5 solo children’s albums. Award Nominations? Grammys, Emmys (for the “Judging Amy” TV series), and numerous awards for his children’s albums.  Famous Relatives? His father-in-law is Bob Dylan.  And he’s an Orthodox Jew who keeps close to his faith, saying “One of the secrets is to be able to lose yourself, your ego—in the music, in the Torah.” So either with him or not, his music is...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#438 in the Series) is Jimmy Buffett, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean Well it took us well over 400 albums but we have our first Jimmy Buffett entry.  Not only that, but we’re going way back, all the way back to 1973.  This was before he broke out. He was just getting out of playing folk clubs. Here in Chicago he was still hanging out with all the folkies like John Prine, Steve Goodman, Fred + Ed Holstein etc.  In fact, Steve Goodman was a ‘Coral Reefer’ for this album. He played some really nice lead acoustic on it.  Also, this album was the first time that Jimmy used the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#418 in the Series)is George Harrison, All Things Must Pass I know I’ve mentioned the purpose of the Whale Wednesday Series. Yeah, the plan was to feature some of the bigger releases and give them some representation on the site as well.  However I meant that to mean “bigger” in regards to profile or sales etc. I didn’t intend it to mean the actual size of the recording! So here we have one that fits the term ‘Huge’ on a couple fronts. The first of those being that it was recorded by George Harrison along with some well-known friends. The second being how well this was accepted.  All Things Must Pass sold over...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#388 in the Series) is John Fogerty, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again Creedence Clearwater revival, in 1973, was the hottest band on the planet.  The group  was praised as the successors to the Beatles hit making machine with a strong string of hit singles that included  “ Proud Mary”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Green River”, and many more. John Fogerty, the main songwriter, leader, and lead singer , was one of only a handful of artists to make The Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest guitar players (40), and the 100 greatest vocalists (72). So what do you do as an encore on the heels of...

As composer, guitarist and vocalist for the band Citadel, Rejyna’s sonic work ranges from searing to serene.  Her lyrics and vocals present phonic ponderings and philosophical premises that contemplate dreams and inner intuition as the source for true peace and happiness.  Rejyna often strays from standard song structure, such as using silence as a chorus, or putting two or three short songs into one interwoven full-length piece, straying from 4/4 whenever a chance presents.  The harmonic interplay and moods are intended to match lyrics and guitar phrasings to the message of the song. Taking time to return to her hometown for some overdue reunions presented Rejyna the opportunity to play some solo acoustic sets.  She put together a set...

Gram Parsons has been gone for over 35 years now. Yet his influence on Emmylou Harris isn’t just hinted at in her sound. No, every so often, she gathers up that internal feeling and writes another great song to honor her dear friend. See: Boulder to Birmingham. I want to make sure that people know the other side of the story. We always hear how much Gram had to do with Emmylou’s early career. I want to make sure that people realize that this wasn’t a one way street. Emmylou may have helped Gram even more. Yes, you read it right. I’m referring to the Flying Burrito Brother era of Gram’s career and even into the period where he...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#367 in the Series) is Ben Folds, Rockin’ The Suburbs Ben Folds’ 2001 solo debut Rockin’ The Suburbs is one of those albums that kind of took me by surprise. If you’ve ever listened to his work either solo or with his 90’s band Ben Folds Five, it’s like sitting down listening to a friend tell a story. This release, however, was his first solo effort, and manages to balance  cleverness and vulnerability while maintaining some pretty impressive consistency. North Carolina native Folds is reasonably prolific, with over 20 albums, EPs, and compilations, and if you think you haven’t heard him before…well, you most likely have. He contributed to the soundtracks of Over...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#349 in the Series) is Carole King, Tapestry. There has always been one thing that I’d love to know about an artist like Carole King, and about her writing her masterpiece Tapestry.  That is, do you really know what you’re writing when you write an album like this? Meaning, this just wasn’t your run of the mill singer-songwriter album.  This was indeed a masterpiece of music.  Did Carole know that this was something special? Did she know that although she’d written a ton of hits, mostly for others, that this was just different?  I really don’t know how to answer that.  I’d love to hear what you think. Please share your ideas below.  I’m betting she...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#341 in the Series) is P.J. Harvey, Rid of Me PJ Harvey’s second album sounded like a cry for help. Which was strange really since, on the surface at least, things seemed to be going pretty well. Her first two singles, especially “Dress”, and her debut album had been met with tremendous reviews and great acclaim from fans and the critics. Even better, she was loved by the legendary DJ John Peel, a man whose seal of approval could be the making of your entire career. Those first records had been released by the relatively small London-based indie label Too Pure but such was their impact that Harvey soon found herself signed up...