Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#213 in the Series, #9 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Rush, All the World’s a Stage. We did 2112 earlier.  So I might be repeating some things here.  All the World’s a Stage was the top of the rock candy mountain for me as far as Rush was concerned.  I remember buying this album at old Hegewisch Records back in the Day. Many people loved Rush for years.  I fell off not long after this point.  Nothing day did wrong, my tastes just started to change a little. Plus sometimes, especially back then, it was more fun to follow a band when it seemed like only you and your friends were...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#211 in the Series) is Marshall Tucker Band, Where We All Belong. I’ve been thinking about featuring Marshall Tucker for a little while now.  Today I started listening to some of their old music and I learned something.  I’d forgotten how good these guys really are.  I liked but didn’t love most of their biggest hits. (There’s an upset, huh) Some of the songs on this album however are simply outstanding.  Not to mention that they were a little different than your typical 70s southern rock or country rock act.  They had just a little bit of jazz in their stretched out tunes which also included a reed player. Give a listen especially...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#206 in the Series) is Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentlemen… ELP were larger than life to me during my high school years. I just loved this band. I still do. This three album live set got a ton of play on my old Marantz. This 1974 release of a 1973 tour, had just about everything I wanted by them. It was about as close as you could get to a full concert experience on a live album.  The only things that were obviously missing were two of their most well-known pop hits, they being “Lucky Man” and “Still…You Turn Me On.”...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#205 in the Series) is Emmylou Harris, Luxury Liner. This album was released during the peak of Emmylou’s ‘Hot Band’ era.  They were Hank DeVito (pedal steel), James Burton (electric guitar), Rodney Crowell (acoustic + electric guitar), Emory Gordy, Jr. (bass), John Ware (drums) and one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Albert Lee (electric guitar). All of those musicians went on to marvelous careers. I’ve made it a project to find some videos from this era to attach below.  Be sure to give them some play. The highest charting hit here was Emmylou’s rendition of Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell (C’est la Vie).’  She also covered two songs either written...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#204 in the Series) is the debut, self-titled release from Toto. Could they be the most musically talented band of all time? Could they be the most misunderstood band of all time? Toto has always been an enigma. If you say ‘Toto’ you get some interesting takes. Someone who knows just hit radio…. We’ll they’ll most likely remember Toto IV and the huge hits and Grammy Awards that that album produced. ‘Rosanna, Africa, I Won’t Hold Back’ were all over the airwaves. As a rocker and you might get a look like ‘What the heck you listening to them for man?’ But ask a musician. Ask someone that can really play and they’ll...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#199 in the Series, and #7 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Ted Nugent, Double Live Gonzo. Ted Nugent lit up radio the mid to late seventies.  He released three huge albums after leaving the Amboy Dukes. They were the self-titled, Ted Nugent (1975), Free For All (1976) and Cat Scratch Fever (1977). Or as my dear friend ‘Hoss’ used to call it, Rat’s Ass Fever.  He always had an interesting way of renaming things you could say! Building on the success of those three albums, Uncle Ted released his classic live album, Double Live Gonzo. Released in 1978, Double Live Gonzo was another hit. It featured most of the best songs...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#197 in the Series) is Focus, Moving Waves. Focus was a Dutch seventies band that featured the keyboards and vocals of Thijs van Leer and the wonderful guitar work of guitarist Jan Akkerman.  The other two band members were Cyriel Havermans on bass and Pierre van der Linden on drums. Their second album was titled Focus II. Here in the United States it was known as Moving Waves. Moving Waves included one of the most original hits songs in US history, of course that would be “Hocus Pocus.” The music was quite experimental sounding even without a yodeling falsetto based vocal track. This was head of its time when this was released in...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#195 in the Series) is Bruce Springsteen’s Box Set, The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story. As it has been discussed for weeks, today is release day for the new Springsteen Box set. I had a chance to see the tour for this album at the spectacular Auditorium Theater in Chicago.  How have the times changed? Well I bought tickets the day of the show! Here’s what’s you’ll get. CD 1 – “Darkness On the Edge of Town” (Remastered) Badlands Adam Raised a Cain Something In the Night Candy’s Room Racing In the Street The Promised Land Factory Streets of Fire Prove It All Night Darkness On the Edge of...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#189 in the Series) is Jeff Beck, Blow By Blow. I once heard a great quote. It’s from a TV personality I can’t stand so I’m not going to give him credit. Sorry. Email me if it’s that important for you to know who it is. He said, “You’re not a house-hold name until my Mother knows who you are.” I love that quote!  It’s pretty true. Jeff Beck really was a ‘known’ guitarist after playing in the Yardbirds.  He also had released a few nice solo albums under the Jeff Beck Group banner.  His work with ‘Beck, Bogert and Appice’ was also received very well. Next up was his great album, Blow...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#185 in the Series and) is Loggins and Messina, On Stage. Loggins and Messina was a VERY good 70s band that history has not treated as well as it should. Why, my guess is that Kenny Loggins solo success, especially in the soundtrack realm, has had the most to do with it. Plus I don’t think their largest hit, ‘Your Momma Don’t Dance,’ was a very good representation of their sound. As good as it was, I always like others better.  But do you ever hear Loggins and Messina on classic rock stations, hardly. Not even great stations like WXRT play them nearly as much as they used to, if at all.  I’d...