SHOW US YER MUZAK

Well, it kinda went like this. I haven’t had an alcoholic beverage since Mudda’s Day so that’s what… eight nine weeks now… (don’t ask why, let’s just say that I needed a break…) anyway, no drinking meant no spending, lots of money saved when you ain’t paying for overpriced beer, taxis, door charges, bribes, phone calls, etc… but it also meant lots of spare time… what do with that time? Well, I coulda used it to work on a manuscript or look for a job or clean out the shed but I decided… why not spend that extra cash?! Why not buy yet more music that I may or may not get around to listening to to add to the pile I already have?! So I did. Here’s what I been spending my whiskey money on these last coupla months (instead o’ whiskey)

DEVIL’S REJECTS – SOUNDTRACK I’ve been told by a fairly reliable source (hey stud) that the movie sucked so I haven’t bothered to watch it. The soundtrack however is the fucking goods!! Allman Bros, Lynryd Skynyrd, Joe Walsh, James Gang and three Terry Reid corkers! Not a duff track amongst it all, the placement of each track is perfect, the whole thing runs smooth and true and opened up my eyes to the glory o’ Southern Rock… HENCE…

LYNYRD SKYNYRD – GOLD Double CD best of … 25 tracks of solid Skynyrd – loud, proud, barefoot southern boogie. Shit yeah I’m a Redneck and I’m damn proud of the fact!

GREAT SOUTHERN ROCK – VARIOUS Found this second hand for a tenner. Good selection if a little on the softer side – Marshall Tucker Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Outlaws, Allman Bros, JJ Cale, Wet Willie etc. Perfect hangover/Sunday mourning music though for when I inevitably fall off that wagon.

MY NAME IS EARL – SOUNDTRACK Cost me $8 brand new – never seen the show but hey, Jerry Reed, Los Lobos, Skynyrd, Nilsson…

RAINBOW – CLASSIC Big Star had a half price second hand sale so this collection cost me four bucks I think. 16 trax of solid Blackmore with a dash of Dio and Bonnet amongst others. All pretty good and a shitload better than what passes for Deep Purple these days.

TIM BUCKLEY – LORCA Another Big Star special and what a fucking bargain this was. Don’t go much for the son but dad, hell he had some fine moments, particularly later on when he let his hair down. Rambling psych folk jazz form 1970 that creeps up on you and wedges itself slap bang into yer psyche and wont let go.

JEFF DAHL – I KILL ME Yep, anudder second hand stunner. Why would anyone even part with this? Solid fuggin’ spew o’ mid 80s Dahl with Cheetah Chrome on Geetar!! Fuck the greenday/rancid dickheads, this is PUNK!

JB Hifi had a sale on – three cds for a redback – so I grabbed myself SCORPIONS – WORLD WIDE LIVE for the flashbacks it gave me of my mid 20’s drinking/partying daze, a FOZZY CD cos it was autographed and my daughter loves Chris Jericho (It’s a wrasslin’ thing) and the BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION – HERE COMES THE BRIDES cos I needed a third cd. Lemme tell ya, the Brides (featurin’ NIKKI SIX & TRACII GUNS) kicks some serious rock and roll arse!! 9 tracks, no filler, no alt takes, no “oh my gosh, lets get artistic after all we have 75 minutes to fill” just a slam bam thirty odd minutes of rock and damn roll, sleazy dripping fucked up fun. Why the hell did Nikki go back to Motley Crue when he had this goin?? Oh yeah, the money. Fuck him!

SHOW US YER VINYL

The last record fair unleashed some vinyl treats for yours truly too.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD – ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD Double live album of the Skynyrd at their peak! And for a measly five bucks!!

LYNYRD SKYNYRD – SECOND HELPING their second album with Sweet Home Alabama as an opener! Sure the radio flogs it to death but fuck me, it still kicks arse don’t it?!

BIG BLACK – ATOMIZER The Blast First reissue (I ain’t that anal) Kerosene is my song. Every country boy alive knows just what Albini means when he sings… “nothing to do but stare at the walls… nothing to do but stare at each other…kerosene around… etc etc…

ROCKWELL T. JAMES – A SHOT OF RHYTHM AND BLUES it’s the Aussie 70s completist in me that made me pick this up. With Sherbet, Ted Mulry and Cheetah amongst others helping Rockwell out I had to buy it… might even play it one day.

DROPKICK MURPHYS – WARRIORS CODE Only bought it cos it had Mickey Ward on the cover but it actually sounds pretty good too. Though I still prefer their earlier, rougher days.

THREE TOED SLOTH – SELF TITLED The muthafucking find of the day!! Feedtime offshoot (If you have to ask don’t ask me, I’ll just yell at you) Self released, 500 copies only from 1991 and I thought I’d never find a copy. The fact that I could get hold of a mint copy, unplayed, untouched and unwanted by the masses is a sad thing indeed but then fuck the masses… what do they know anyway?

MORE BIG STAR BARGAINS (ON VINYL) (AND ALL DIRT CHEAP!)

ZZ TOP – TRES HOMBRES c’mon, I don’t really have to explain this one do I?
I thought not.

SOUTH’S GREATEST HITS – VARIOUS The love affair continues. Charlie Daniels, Allman Bros, Elvin Bishop, Dr John etc etc

BROOOOOCE – BORN TO RUN Cos my cassette copy (purchased damn near 23 years ago) is sounding kinda worn…

GARLAND JEFFREYS – GHOST WRITER Incredibly under rated singer songwriter. Best known probably for Wild In The Streets (which appears on this slab o’ 77 wax) but he’s done so much more. Perhaps a little slick for his own good (or at least the musos he uses are) his ESCAPE ARTIST album (1981) is an undiscovered classic – hell, all his albums contain gems that just make your jaw drop. This ‘un is no exception with the stunning Spanish Town finishing off an album that contains nary a bad moment on it!

ELLEN FOLEY – SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS The lost Clash Album?? From 81 this lp was produced by Foley’s then beau MICK JONES (or as she puts it in the credits – ‘my boyfriend’) and featured all the band – Joe, Topper and Paul. In fact six of the twelve tracks were penned by Strummer and Jones! So what’s it sound like? Well, it ain’t a Clash album! Foley’s first album Night Out, produced by Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson was a solid rock and roll album but this one is more European, more esoteric. It wanders a bit, trying at times a little too hard to be, well, different I guess but over all its worth the effort and it certainly shows a different side of Strummer and Jones. The duet on Torchlight ‘tween Jones and Foley ain’t that far removed from London Calling era Clash and MPH rocks out too. In The Killing Hour is the funniest though – it just that da da da dum riff that builds up and up… (The Muppets did it best!)

(and apparently Should I Stay or Should I Go? was written about Foley and Jones’ relationship)

JOE WALSH – SMOKER YOU DRINK Hell, its got Rocky Mountain Way on it!! Who cares what the rest sounds like?

JOE WALSH – YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH A SICK MIND Joe Live! 17 minute version o’ Rocky Mountain!!! Whooo hoooo!!!!

Now if you’ll excuse me I gotta look over the shitload of books I just brought!