Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1034 in the Series)  is Bob Dylan’s 1975 release, Blood On The Tracks. “A lot of people tell me that they really enjoy that album. It’s hard for me to relate to that, you know. I mean, people enjoying that type of pain ?” – Bob Dylan. It’s one of the most famous quotes in rock music history and he was referring, of course, to people’s reaction to “Blood On The Tracks,” not only his own personal best album but one of the greatest ever made, by anyone. Bob being Bob though, he also came out later and denied that the songs on the album were based on his own life, marriage or...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1015 in the Series) is Chris Squire, Fish out of Water I can’t give you the date. I wish I could, but I remember it like yesterday coming home as a wasted teen, turning on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and seeing  Bill Bruford with his Boston Bruins cutoff jersey, Chris Squire with his signature cape and Patrick Moraz standing in front of an orchestra performing the first two tracks on this gem of music.  I recognized it well, as I got it on vinyl as soon as I could. It would later remind me of Peter Gabriel’s first solo record, not sounding all that much like the famous and great band they...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#885 in the Series) is Alice Cooper, Welcome to My Nightmare Part Psycho Circus, part Jerry Springer show, part Quentin Tarantino shock-fest, Alice Cooper’s Welcome to my Nightmare album and subsequent tour was, depending on your point of view, either ridiculous or brilliant. The ultimate answer is of course given the benefit of historical perspective, that the album is ridiculously brilliant. Released in 1975, the album was Alice Cooper’s first post band break-up outing and is by far the best solo record of his decades long career. Giving up the comfort of a consistent touring band and going to ax person by committee was certain to be a calculated risk. It was going...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#882 in the Series) is Waylon Jennings, Dreaming My Dreams Carved in granite, right there alongside Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams on the country Music Mount Rushmore, and only two albums removed from virtually inventing the Outlaw Country movement with Honky Tonk Heroes, an album of stripped down honky tonk songs mostly penned by his friend Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings released Dreaming My Dream, which was to become his first number one record. Released in 1975, the record was in part a tribute album featuring “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way?,” a tribute to Hank Williams which was to become Waylon’s signature song and one of the few...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen Some of my favorite scenes from The Sopranos are when Tony Soprano is shown driving in his SUV rocking out and singing along to ‘70s tunes, usually by BTO or Journey. Today, I felt a little like Tony Soprano while driving to work, but instead of Journey or BTO, I was listening to one of the greatest albums ever released, Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. A strange and wonderful sensation came over me by the time the title track came on, which will always signal the beginning of Side Two to me even when hearing it on an iPod. “Born To Run” is still...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Harry’s House/Centerpiece” by Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell was coming off of Court And Spark, her most commercially successful studio recording to date, sporting several hit singles including “Free Man In Paris,” “Raised On Robbery” and “Help Me.” So by 1975 interest was very high as critics and fans alike awaited her next record which was believed to be the one that would take her to the next level of super stardom. Would she rock out like she did with the L.A. Express on the tour that resulted in the live double album Miles Of Aisles? Would it be a return to the voice-and-guitar folk roots of Ladies Of The Canyon? Would...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Win” by David Bowie Plastic soul…on a plastic record. Shifting gears was nothing new for David Bowie who seemingly shedded skin during the 1970s like others took out the trash. So when Bowie booked time in Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios during a two-week break during the Diamond Dogs tour, it should not have come as a surprise to anyone that he would emerge in the guise of a suave and sophisticated soul man, sans costumes, make-up and theatrics. The signs were already there. Bowie had begun to work on an album called People From Bad Homes for his protégé, Ava Cherry And The Astronettes who consisted of his friend Geoffrey...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “That’s Rock ‘n Roll” by Eric Carmen Eric Carmen was one of the prime purveyors of 1970s power pop with his group Raspberries and their hits “Go All The Way,” “I Wanna Be With You,” “Let’s Pretend” and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record).” With the breakup of Raspberries in 1975, producer Jimmy Ienner brought Carmen to the fledgling Arista record label where, under the aegis of Clive Davis, he took on a more baroque ballad style. Carmen hit the ball right out of the park with the first single from his self-titled debut album, “All By Myself,” which went all the way to the number two position on the charts. The...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#840 in the Series) is Tommy Bolin, Teaser Tommy Bolin, a shooting star if there ever was one. Here is an artist that crammed so much talent, inspiration, influence & music from so many different styles into one of the shortest career spans I’ve ever witnessed. In 1968 at the tender age of 17 he began working with a band called Zephyr. By 1969 the were recording their debut album and within a year or two Zephyr were opening for the likes of Led Zeppelin.  Two albums later they drifted apart due to various reasons including  the frustration of not being able to take the band to the next level. It...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Waters Of March” by Art Garfunkel Art Garfunkel certainly missed his calling during his post Simon & Garfunkel solo career. If ever an artist was better suited to cut a Bossa Nova album with his gentle, smooth voice and octave range, it was Art Garfunkel. Proof positive is his recording of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic “Waters Of March” from his second solo record, 1975’s Breakaway. “Waters Of March” was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim in both English and Portuguese (“Águas de Março”) and appeared on his 1973 album called Jobim. Although, the Bossa Nova craze was in the early 1960s, the song has since become a standard part of...