CD'S I BROUGHT ON MY TRIP!

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Like many of you, whether I am in my own car, or as in this trip, where I flew into one corner of Florida and used a rental car to cover 3,000+ miles on business, I always enjoy bringing along a handful of CD's from home. So, I thought it would be a cool idea to BLOG about just three of a handful or so I slipped into my suitbag.

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To say THE PRETENDERS have undergone multiple band personnel changes over the years would be an understatement. But this 1995 "Live" recording in England before an intimate audience finds Chrissie Hynde with an Acoustic Guitar along with Guitarist/Vocalist: Adam Seymour; Drummer/Vocalist: Martin Chambers; Acoustic Bass Guitarist Andy Hobson; Pianist: Damon Albarn, Percussionist: Mark "Wiff" Smith and The Duke Quartet: Viola: John Metcalfe; Violin: Louisa Fuller, Violin Richard Koster and Cello: Ivan McCready. This set list is a gem while tooling down the highway with: Sense of Purpose, Chill Factor, Private Life, Back on the Chain Gang, Kid, I Hurt You, Criminal, Brass in Pocket, 2000 Miles, Hymn to Her, Lovers of Today, The Phone Call, I Go to Sleep and Revolution.

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Yes--the band--is arguably one of the longest running Progressive Rock bands and this is unquestionably a Masterpiece of 3 songs in 37 minutes with the title song gradually building up to the band's attack of the suite "Close to the Edge" with the opening and closing sounds of a waterfall and birds. Lead Vocalist Jon Anderson's songwriting is a bit obscure and deep--such that the band members confessed they really don't always grasp his spiritually-driven themes of Rebirth, Regeneration and Renewal coming in full circle to Harmony. Bass player and Vocalist Chris Squire's Rickenbacher leads with the deepest if not infectious melodic riffs I have ever heard. Lead Guitarist and Vocalist Steve Howe appears as if he has just emerged from a "Peace-pipe" meeting with Segovia and Steve Vie (who would be impressed). In June 1972, as this album was just being mastered Drummer Bill Bruford whose off-beat precision and speed dazzles, left "Yes" for the band "King Crimson" leaving the band in a crisis to find his replacement to tour the project. The 3 LP "Yessongs" features Bruford's eventual replacement in former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White. Keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman had just joined the band and brought forth an intensity with Classical interplay between himself and Howe alternating between a "Phantom of the Opera" Chorale, to highly intricate moog synthesizer-driven dirges. To this day I have never heard a more tightly-produced recording project thanks to Eddie Offord. This belongs in every Progressive Rock collection. It delivers with a "wall of sound" and complexity I still love, (as I recently Blogged, "YES" was my very first band to see in concert and they played the entire "Close To The Edge" work. Rick Wakeman had left the group to pursue a solo career and Patrick Moraz filled in on the LP "Relayer"). Not to be missed in concert!

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When I was a kid Three Dog Night ruled the Pop/Rock world filling arenas with beautiful women throwing themselves at the bands three frontmen: Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron. The band was formed in 1967 and--unbelievably--scored 21 hit singles, with 11 winding up in the Top 10 producing 12 consecutive Gold Albums from 1969 to 1975. Their formula was soulful vocal harmonies, an excellent ear for quality material and the band's creative arrangements and interpretations of cover choices that gave exposure (and royalties) to several talented songwriters: Nilsson ("One"), Laura Nyro ("Eli's Coming"), Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not to Come)", Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World"), Argent's Russ Ballard ("Liar"), and Leo Sayer ("The Show Must Go On"). They took their name from an Australian expression describing the freezing temperatures in the nighttime outback (the colder the night, the more dogs needed to keep warm). The rhythm section included Guitarist Mike Allsup, Keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, Bassist Joe Schermie, and Drummer Floyd Sneed. "One" became the band's first Top Ten hit in 1969 (and the first 4 minute song we knew of to air on AM Radio), while "Mama Told Me Not to Come)" hit number one a year later. "Joy to the World" (included on this CD) became the group's biggest hit in 1971, spending six weeks on top of the pop charts. Their final number one hit was 1972's "Black and White" (a U.K. reggae hit for Greyhound), and their final Top Ten, 1974's "The Show Must Go On." By 1976, the band charted with a ballad called "Till the World Ends" and they sounded better than ever. But behind the scenes and endless television appearances, an internal power struggle ensued amongst the three singers who felt that the original concept of three equal singers had disintegrated with Negron taking the leads on most of their songs. A fed up Hutton left the group, and Three Dog Night officially disbanded a year later. Today, THree Dog Night is back with Hutton and Wells on tour with some of the original band members without Negron (who completed a drug rehab program and wrote a jarring book about it) who is now leading his own band. It's really a shame these guys can't reconcile decades of bitterness because they were so distinctive in their sound and this CD is just "proof" in the selections such as "One Man Band", "Joy To The World", "I've Got Enough Heartache" and "I'll Be Creeping" that they remain a powerhouse that is as relevant today as they were yesterday. I hope I can catch the new lineup in concert soon!

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I have another week here in Florida. The people are wonderful and the beach last night was moonless until around 11:30 PM. I finally had some "play time" from all the pressures to try and pinpoint the Treasure Island beach my late Father loved. I was last there at age 10. I actually recalled the "Thunderbird Hotel" which is still there. Just watching the "white caps" of warm water waves ebb and flow as I walked along the shoreline and savored some memories of Dad was nice.

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Have a Beautiful Sunday!