Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#984 in the Series) Big Star, Third/Sister Lovers This one goes down as one of the great enigma’s of rock music, an album by a band which had pretty much split up by the time it was recorded, which had no title and which didn’t even have a finalized track listing. For years it was, just like The Beach Boys “SMiLE”, more of a rumour, a myth, than an actual record. Thankfully it was eventually released, in an albeit limited capacity, and fans were finally able to hear what all the fuss was about. Was it worth it? Hell yeah. Big time. Big Star were founded in Memphis by  three friends who were deeply...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#978 in the series.) is  Old and In The Way. Five great musicians getting together for some great pickin’ and singin.’ I guess you could call it bluegrass but there’s more than a hint of old fashioned mountain music thrown in. For those of you not familiar with this project, Old and In the Way were Peter Rowan (guitar, vocals), David Grisman (mandolin, vocals), John Kahn (bass), Vassar Clements (fiddle) and Jerry Garcia (banjo, vocals.) Can I name a stand out cut? No, not really since EVERY track is a must listen. There’s no filler on this classic. This live album was recorded and released in October, 1973.  One you should be familiar...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#972 in the Series) is Richard & Linda Thompson, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. This is an album I’ve went back to recently and it’s captivated me, full to the brim as it is with wonderfully bleak, world-weary and fascinating songs. I actually found my old cassette copy of it and realized that I hadn’t played the full album in years, most of my Richard Thompson stuff is on compilations. Well, I’m glad I put it on because this is one of the best adverts you could ever get for the Keep The Album Alive! campaign, it’s magnificent from start to finish. Thompson, one of the very best British...

Today’s Cool album of the Day (#952 in the Series) is The Doobie Brothers, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits. Can you believe that this little gem was released 41 years ago this week!! I really enjoy the decade or so tradition of bands playing one of their albums in its entirety. I know it would probably never happen, but if the Doobie Brothers were to do add join that tradition, then they should play “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.” This was easily my favorite album of theirs. I always loved the overall sound of it. The breezy feel that it had, the use of harmonies and wooden instruments and yes, a trombone tossed in here...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive In 1971 the rock godz gave us Fragile by Yes…and three years later, they bestowed upon us the riff fest known as Not Fragile by BTO! There’s something to be said about what I call “big dumb rock records.”  They’re the riff-crazy tracks that make you grab for your air guitar whilst rocking your head back and forth…oh, and don’t forget the obligatory pain-ridden facial expressions a la Carlos Santana. We’ve all been there and I still go there today from time-to-time.  Anybody who’s been to a concert with me can attest to this fact.  It ain’t pretty…but it’s the rock abandon that...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Who By Fire” by Leonard Cohen Today’s Song Of The Day is a track from Leonard Cohen’s fourth studio album New Skin For The Old Ceremony. The song derives from the Unetanneh Tokef prayer that is said on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Holy Days. The song is sung as a duet on the album with fellow Jewish folk singer, Janis Ian. Leonard Cohen: “That song derives very directly from a Hebrew prayer that is sung on the Day of Atonement…according to the tradition, the book of life is opened and in it is inscribed all those who will live, all those who will die for the...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “The Worst Band In The World” by 10cc The premise of a super group is that all of the members are well known entities unto themselves. Everyone knew who Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were, and what bands they played with before they united. The group members behind today’s Song Of The Day were also a super group, however they were behind-the-scenes super stars that few people knew before they joined forces. 10cc consisted of two sets of incredibly talented songwriters: Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart, and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. Gouldman wrote the classic hits “For Your Love,” “Heart Full Of Soul,” and “Evil Hearted You” for The Yardbirds,...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Grimsby” by Elton John To use the title of one of the songs included on this album, Elton John’s Caribou is indeed a “Stinker.” That said, this beautiful turd of an album, his first to be recorded in the U.S., captures Elton John at his commercial apex and at the height of his creative powers. The fact that it contained two of his most indelible singles, “The Bitch Is Back” and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” was just the icing on the cake of a very hectic year. By the release of Caribou in 1974, Elton John’s career was so white-hot he could do no wrong. His previous...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Creepin’” by Stevie Wonder Today’s Song Of The Day is from Stevie Wonder’s 1974 album Fulfillingness’ First Finale which was released shortly after a car accident that almost took his life, making the album an all-the-more-important part of his canon. While on tour in North Carolina in August of 1973, Wonder’s car smashed into the back of a logging truck, and the bed of the truck crashed into the windshield of his car. Wonder suffered head injuries that left him in a coma for four days. He also partially lost his sense of smell and temporarily lost his sense of taste. The brush with death had a great impact on the...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Aire” by Chicago By the time of the sessions for their sixth studio album (and seventh overall), Chicago had dozens of hits behind them and had grown restless and unhappy with the concise nature of their previous two records. Sure the albums established the group as a hit making machine, but the band began to feel that their credibility was at stake. To that end, Chicago decided to use some of the leeway their many hits had bought them to stretch out and make the jazz album they always wanted to. Not all of the members were on board with the idea, especially Peter Cetera and producer James William Guericio...