Bonnie Raitt "Nick of Time"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#753 in the Series) is Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time. In 1988, Bonnie Raitt was one of many performers that would continuously pound out good release after good release but never really popped! We’ve seen a ton of these acts. “Wow is she good. I’m surprised that she’s not better known.” There was the odd “Me and the Boys” or “Angel From Montgomery,” but the lady from California still wasn’t a household name. Heck she might not have been as well-known as her stage star father John Raitt. Don’t get me wrong. She did have a nice following, she just wasn’t a star. Then she met Don Was. Don was a producer...
David Gilmour “On an Island”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#620 in the Series) is David Gilmour, On an Island I have never been one to think you had to choose between Roger Waters and David Gilmour. They were both part of the prime of cool bands and though it ended not as either wished, I recently saw a documentary that said they were both at peace about it. Gilmour said there were three versions of the band, one with Syd, one after Syd, and one after Roger. If I am forced to choose whose solo career I enjoy more, I choose Gilmour and it is largely due to this record. Waters of course has been much more prodigious, but my favorite...
Graham Nash “Innocent Eyes”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#472 in the Series) is Graham Nash, Innocent Eyes. I’m curious how many people even heard of this album much less remember it and even much less, even liked it! It wasn’t won of Graham’s better known albums, far from it. I liked it, and I want to tell you about it, that’s really all that matters I guess. This was 1985 and 1986. Graham didn’t really have much to do. His constant musical partner David Crosby was…. How can I put it nicely, ‘not available at this time.’ So he decided to record a solo album. He’d done three already. The first was Songs For Beginners in 1971. This album did quite well....
Rave On Buddy Holly
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#423 in the Series) is Rave On Buddy Holly. Back in the early 90s I worked as a District Manager for a music distributor. One of our accounts was Wal-Mart. We would stock them with their music and make sure they were fixture properly etc. (BTW, back then, they refused to stock AC/DC because their albums had parental warning stickers on them. Now I see there is a new AC/DC release and the ONLY place you can get it is Wal-Mart!) At one point, we were doing some major renovations that had to be done only at night after the stores closed. I was the head of one of these projects. I had...
Linda Ronstadt “Heart Like a Wheel”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#393 in the Series) is Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like A Wheel Laurel Canyon is a stretch of Los Angeles wonderland that runs through the Hollywood Hills from the Sunset Strip to the San Fernando Valley. That curving, stretching, boulevard of hipness and “California Noir” is where Carole King escaped to create her “Tapestry” masterpiece. It was in Laurel Canyon, while living on Lookout Mountain with Joni Mitchell, that Graham Nash wrote “Our House”. Leading the “Soft Parade” of Laurel Canyon artists, musicians, singers, and songwriters that included Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Warren Zevon, The Mamas and the Papas, the various incarnations of The Flying Burrito Brothers including Gram Parsons, most of The Eagles,...
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "Déjà Vu"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#158 in the Series) Is Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Déjà Vu. I was just sharing the story on Facebook about remembering buying Déjà Vu back in 1970. I purchased it at the famous Chicagoland record chain called Hegewisch Records. I was spending the summer at a cousin’s in Calumet City. We road our bikes to Hegewisch and quickly we were in the store. I plopped down my $3.49 and we we’re off. All their LPs were $3.49 back then. I still remember the sticker on the shrink wrap! On the way back I wiped out on the bike and the album went flying. Fear not, it was OK. I still remember the...
James Taylor “That’s Why I’m Here”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#157 in the Series) is James Taylor, That’s Why I’m Here. “Come on everyone, come on… let’s go! James is recording a new album. We all have to help him out! Was that the clarion call throughout Los Angeles in 1985 when James Taylor decided to record for the first time in years,who knows? ButI’m guessing it was close. It seems like every hot musician from within 100 miles played on this album. So before I get into the rest of album, let me make a list of who answered that call. Here’s who makes an appearance on That’s Why I’m Here. Don Henley, Leland Sklar, Peter Asher, Randy + Michael Brecker...
