Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#516 in the Series) is Nazareth, Hair of the Dog Listening to this album, along with good classic “old school” rock music in general, triggers a certain internal emotion that makes one long for the simpler times.  A time when being “face booked” meant waking up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, naked, with your face planted in the unshaven arm pit of a chick named Shasta or Magnolia, neither of which could be correct since most of your brain cells were probably so fried that morning you were rendered incapable of remembering whether or not you even knew her name in the first place. A time when you did not need mountains...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#513 in the Series) is Gino Vanelli, Brother to Brother. I’d love to know how many people freaked out when they saw today’s “Cool Album of The Day” is Gino Vanelli. I’ll say this, the real audiophiles are saying something like, “Amazing, a great album with an ultra-fantastic band.” Many though, only know him from his couple big hits like “I Just Wanna To Stop” and “Living Inside Myself,” and maybe even “People Gotta Move.” They probably know the look and the whole Gino Vanelli “thing” but have never heard some of the album cuts on this release. This album, and especially his live shows, featured some of the best musicians of their...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#508 in the Series) is the debut from John Prine It’s hard to believe it’s now been over 40 years since we first met Donald, Lydia, Sam Stone, the Angel and the Quite Man and all the great characters and interesting people that John told us about on his wonderful debut album. Yet again, the stories are so fresh that when we hear them again it’s almost like hearing them for the first time. Thirteen songs can be found here. I challenge you to find a debut album that has as strong a track listing as this album. It still amazes me that a songwriter could have this many pure and powerful numbers...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#505 in the Series) is Bill Withers, Just As I Am By all rights the Bill Withers album Just As I Am should never have been made. It’s not that the talent was not here, it certainly was, it’s just that it is not often that when a record company needs to take promotional pictures for an album that they have to work around the artist’s break times during his 8-5 job at a Boeing plant making airplane toilets. In 1967 Bill Withers, fresh from a discharge from the Navy and bolstered by his fellow sailor’s encouragement and recognition of his talent, moved to the west coast to make some demo records...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#503 in the Series and # 51 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Bob Marley, Live! This has long been considered the best live album of Bob Marley’s career. It’s also been considered the best live album of the reggae genre for some years now. I’ll let you make that call personally. To each his own as they say, I think the point that “it’s good” can be made, that the idea here. Me, I would have seen a live disc recorded on the next tour. That would have been the one for Rastaman Vibration.  That was my fave, but this will do.  This was the tour for Natty Dread. Bob...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#499 in the Series) is The Beach Boys, Surfs Up Sometimes the Mojo inspirations for my psychedelic meanderings for Cool Album of the Day come from lubricating the death machine, wandering in the desert aimlessly with an Indian Shaman by my side guiding me.  Other times I am in the Falcon’s Nest jungle room staring at the black light posters of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin wondering where I can put my next lava lamp while consulting my Todd Mcfarlane figures of Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, and Jim Morrison. Alice Cooper is usually the more vocal of this quartet. Dave Alvin (Cool Album of the Day #471) was his. Jim Morrison...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#497 in the Series) is Rory Gallagher, Irish Tour ’74. On top of the list there’s Jimi Hendrix. Look up anything on the genre of blues-rock bands, blues-rock music etc. and that’s who’s always at the top. Cast your eyes down a notch. Just a bit, not far, not far at all and you’ll land on Irish guitarist extraordinaire, Rory Gallagher.  If for some reason, you landed on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s name first, well then cast your eyes upward. Why, because in every way, Rory Gallagher’s name is listed above. It’s not even close. SRV should not be even mentioned in the same breath with this man. When I’m trying to decide on...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#496 in the Series) is Sea Level, Cats on the Coast. This 1978 was Sea Level’s second of what would be, five studio albums. They were part of the Capricorn Records family. So many of those great southern bands were from that 70s era.  They were from Macon, Georgia. Speaking of Macon, Georgia, Sea Level was kind of an Allman Brothers spin off, but not really. They were a little a little more ‘jazzy fusiony’ than the brothers. They would often play “Statesboro Blues” in their live shows. Three of the band members did play with the Allman Brothers at one time or another. Main founding member, Chuck Leavell was on keyboards....

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#485 in the Series) is Gordon Lightfoot, Sundown It’s really interesting to see what people think causes an album to be on their personal, “best of” list. In all actuality, if one hears about 10 percent of what’s released then they’re way ahead of the game.  If one hears 10 percent from even just the bands they love then they’re still probably way ahead of the game.  So why do we love some so, so much, and then there are others by the same artist, that we never even look into? For me, I’ve said many many times before, that I have a strong tendency to lean towards an artist’s albums that I...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#482 in the Series) is the debut from Lucifer’s Friend. If ever a band fit the category “cult,” it’s Lucifer’s Friend. I guarantee 90% of casual rock music fans will respond “Lucy-who’s what?!” Unfortunately, they also join the long list of bands that never were quite able to surpass, or even equal, their debut album. It’s like the old adage- bands have twenty years to make their first album. They’ve got six months for the follow up. I can still remember the day I bought Lucifer’s Friend’s 1970 debut, some 38 years ago. (It wasn’t released in the US ‘til around ‘73.) I was actually buying The New York Dolls debut when a curious-looking...