Bloggerhythms

Below is a music related tribute I originally wrote for President Jimmy Carter over a year ago when he first entered hospice care in February 2023. I expected it would only be a short time until he passed. When he didn't, I decided to save it until October 1, 2024 to celebrate his 100th birthday should he make it to that milestone.  However, with today's unhappy news about the passing of Dickie Betts (1943 - 2024) I decided it is time to finally post the article because the great second guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band is quoted in it. Betts' most famous songs with the outstanding sextet are "Revival," "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," "Blue Sky," and of course,  "J essica," and  "Ramblin' Man." Because most blogs and websites will likely post more traditional news stories and tributes, I hope this essay serves as something a little different and as an homag

This CD's title couldn't be clearer. Rhino's  The Very Best of Booker T. & The MG's  has all of the hits and a few other gems released by Stax's famous house band that they recorded under their own name. There are many MGs compilations out there in musicland but this single CD with sixteen tracks is the one to get if you don't need a multi-disc collection. It has superlative sound and two non-LP singles - "Booker-Loo" and "Slum Baby," - that don't even appear on Fantasy Records' three disc set. The Very Best of Booker T. & The MG's covers the years 1962 to 1971, and as the back jewel box insert says, only "original singles masters were used on this collection." The CD includes detailed liner notes with a history of the quartet. For each track you'll learn who played what, the release date and chart positions. You really can't ask for more. The big hits included here are

Let's begin this post with a little history lesson about Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, a duo who are hardly household names even though they've been a consequential part of the American popular music scene since the 1960s. They'll never be deified by the masses like Taylor Swift. Wallace Daniel Pennington is a singer, a renowned composer, and a record producer. He has released only a handful of albums under his own name, and he is heavily associated with FAME Recording Studios  in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Penn has co-written many hits including "Dark End of the Street" for James Carr (#10 R&B, #77 Hot 100) and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (first recorded by Aretha Franklin) with Chips Moman and "Cry Like a Baby" (#2 on the Hot 100 for The Box Tops), "Sweet Inspiration" (#18 for The Sweet Inspirations), and "I'm Your Puppet" (#6 for James and Bobby Purify) with Oldham. He also produ

Kimmi Bitter with bass player Ben Neal and guitarist Willis Farnsworth There is an old saying that says "If you remember the '60s you weren't there," but it isn't always true. Californian Kimmi Bitter is way too young to have been there yet she remembers it all quite well. Bitter favors the sounds and fashion of that famously tumultuous and historically important decade that is both loathed and revered.  The singer-songwriter's outstanding new CD of classic country music connects with more than a few people. The music of that era is so important to Bitter that she named her debut album Old School . You can find my review  of it  here . Below are a dozen questions that Bitter generously answered for Bloggerhythms. Keep reading to discover what this talented s

Many artists record tracks that are never released on their albums. Sometimes, it's because the songs are deemed unworthy. Others are intentional one-offs intended for movie soundtracks or themed albums featuring various artists. Frequently, they serve as B-sides to hit singles. Billy Joel is no exception at having non-album songs scattered all over the place, so he released a full CD's worth of these rarities back in 2011. Complete Additional Masters is a seventeen song bonus CD included with Joel's Complete Albums Collection  that is only available at  Amazon  as the fifteenth disc in a package that will cost you an unfathomable $600. For some people that is a week's pay.  The good news is that you can also purchase the whole set on i Tunes for less than $100, or you can just buy the seventeen rarities as a standalone purchase for only $11.99, which is how I bought mine because I already have every one of his studio alb

The ghost of Patsy Cline has come to visit us in the form of Kimmi Bitter - the best, young, country singer I've heard in a long, long, long time.The Oceanside, California singer-songwriter is a throwback to another era and that's the way she likes it - not only with her music but right down to her 1960s mini-dress and go-go boots. Bitter told Saving Country Music that  "You can’t really explain why you love the things you love, but for me, I have this undeniable love for the 60s and earlier."   "To me, music peaked then and I have been wanting to do a straight up tried and true good old fashioned record for as long as forever." The appropriately named Old School is Bitter's first full length album except for a very limited edition LP only release of a few years ago. She also has a few singles and two EPs available for download on iTunes. The up-and-coming star's album has eleven new, o

It's St. Patrick's Day and time for this American of Italian heritage to celebrate his love of Celtic-rock. I don't mean U-2. I'm talking about bands that actually sound like they came from the Emerald Isle. While Bono and his friends embraced their roots lyrically and politically, there are many other bands playing today who sound way more Irish than they do. Among them are The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Corrs, and the late great Black 47. Irish musicians love to embrace their roots. In 2007,  The Young Dubliners  - a Los Angeles based rock quintet - recorded an entire album of fired up arrangements of thirteen traditional Irish folk songs and cover versions of more modern fare. Among The Young Dubliners excellent choices for  With All Due Respect, The Irish Sessions  are a hard rocking take on The Pogues' "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" plus a second Shane McGowan composed song, "Pair of Brown Eyes." The folk songs include

I'm a little sad today as I write this because Eric Carmen has passed away at age 74. I never followed Carmen's career closely, but I always liked what I heard whether it was with The Raspberries or later as a solo artist. Hardcore rock fans of the 1970s looked at Carmen's music as being too mainstream, and the guys in my dorm made fun of The Raspberries as nothing more than an early Beatles clone who wore matching suits while playing bubblegum pop. But, let me tell you, no bubblegum song I ever heard had a hard rocking intro - and a song title and lyrics - like "Go All The Way." The Raspberries were not The Ohio Express or The 1910 Fruitgum Company. There was nothing highbrow or avant garde about Carmen's music, but he recorded quality mainstream rock interspersed with a few ballads - most notably "All By Myself" - and he was a master at writing hooks and melodies that complemented his huge sounding tenor voice.