Not as dark of a stain as The Berlin Wall, but pretty close, is the birth of David Howell Evans, better known as The Edge, on August 8. This means that U2 is getting closer to being a reality (again!) with two of the members born. Other musicians born in August are Pete de Freitas (Echo & The Bunnymen), John Farris (INXS), Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears), and Billy Ray Cyrus. August also saw the birth of a man who would make history in the US by becoming their first black president, the one and only, Barrack Obama. If he was born in Kenya or the US is only known by a clown called Donald Trump, but my money is on the birth certificate. And Steve Carrell is the last guy I’m gonna mention, cause he is funny as hell. Welcome to hell boys.

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THE ALBUMS

There’s a lot his month, so I’m just gonna get down to business straight away.

Oliver Nelson’s album «The Blues And The Abstract Truth» is out this month, and he is new to me. Shouldn’t come as a surprise as he is a jazz musician, but he seems to be somewhat important. The album is ok actually, could be one that I’d listen to further up the road, but I’ve decided to not put a lot of effort into this album. The first song on the album, Stolen Moments, is considered a jazz standard, so that’s the song I’m gonna highlight. Andy Stewart, a Scottish guy, released an album called «A Scottish Soldier». He was known to wear a tartan and a kilt, and had some international hits including A Scottish Soldier, the opening track on this record. This guy doesn’t interest me much…

There’s also The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem, an Irish folk music group who released an album called «A Spontaneous Performance Recording!». It’s Irish folk music. Not really my cup of tea. I mean, if it’s done superbly, it might be worth listening to just to check it out, but this old-timey vibe has just not survived the years. It sounds bad. However, the band was very influential in their time and had their most successful years in the ‘60s. Being a big part of the American folk music revival, and for some reason famed for the kind of sweaters they used. How about that? Pete Seeger plays banjo on this album by the way. The Limeliters is another band that didn’t impress me much. The album is called «The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters» and even though they tried to tone it down there, I still say they took it too far. Cause this is not really fabulous at all. It’s novelty/comedy music, and it just isn’t for me in the slightest.

«All The Way», the fifth studio album by Brenda Lee, the young lady who the French promoted as a midget, is quite alright. Nothing more though. Her hit single Dum Dum is featured, and a cover of the song Kansas City, also recorded by Dion earlier this year, is ok. I’m yet to be blown away by this girl, and at this point, I’m pretty sure she won’t be able to change my mind.

THE MAR-KEYS – LAST NIGHT!

Their debut album «Last Night!» was released on Stax and even though The Mar-Keys never really hit the big-time, this album is really cool because of the historical significance, but the music ain’t bad either. Historically it’s cool because this is kind of where Booker T & The M.G.’s started, or at least met and started playing together, and musically because it’s mostly on point and catchy.

What’s funny about this album is that there’s almost not a single song I don’t like, but the record is still just ok. I guess I feel that way because if I compare it to other bands that do the same thing, especially Booker T. & The M.G.’s. they just fall short. Mostly because the songs aren’t, I don’t know…hip enough. Like Diana, a good song, but it sounds like a song you’d play at a birthday party or something, maybe a bat mitzvah.

All in all, though, it’s a good album.

BUCK OWENS – SINGS HARLAN HOWARD

Buck continues his rise to country stardom with a beautiful country album. Harlan Howard is a songwriter, not a country artist from way back when as one would think, but a guy who wrote a lot of country hits. He’s written tracks for people like Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Ray Price, and Patsy Cline. And of course Buck Owens. But I don’t think this album was written for Buck. I’ve decided that this is just an album Buck decided to record because he liked the songs Harlan had written, and later they started working together. Maybe it was well planned by Buck to record this album just to get Howard to write some songs for him, I don’t know, but it seems plausible.

This record is not as good as Buck’s debut, but it proves the fact that he knows what he’s doing, and that he is really good at it as well. His soothing voice and laid-back arrangements make this a relaxed and enjoyable record that doesn’t disappoint. All the songs are worthy of a spot in this collection of Harlan tunes, and Buck delivers on each and every one of them. The only negative thing I can say about it is that it’s not as good as the last Buck album I wrote about. And that ain’t such a bad thing. I wouldn’t say that there are any hits here, but songs like Foolin’ Around, Let’s Agree to Disagree, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down, and Think It Over might be a few of the better ones.

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Ray Charles and Betty Carter released an album together named after themselves. They had a hit on the R&B charts with the song Baby, It’s Cold Outside, but it’s awfully boring. Betty sings like she hasn’t been able to travel into the 1900s, and it’s generally pretty boring all the way through. Frankie Laine, a guy who would establish himself as a cowboy singer in the ’60s (by the look of the album cover it’s not a secret that he tried to do so), delivers some pretty entertaining music on his “Hell Bent For Leather”. But that’s kind of all it is, entertaining. The classic Rawhide is present, but other than that it’s nothing to shoot your guns in the air about.

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BOB GIBSON & BOB CAMP – AT THE GATE OF HORN

Bob Gibson, an important artist in the folk music revival in the early ’60s, with half a dozen albums to his name, was teamed up with Bob Camp, an unknown from New York, by Albert Grossman. Grossman was the owner of The Gate Of Horn, a leading folk club in Chicago, where Bob Camp spent a lot of his time, and when Grossman spotted Camp he invited him to his club to play a show with Gibson. That’s the short story of how this album came to life.

While this album sounds very old now, 60 years later, it did not at the time. Considering that folk music was very stiff and boring, Gibson and Camp proved that you could have fun playing it and actually become successful as well. So let the revival begin! Even though it doesn’t come close to being as good as other folk albums that will be released in the future, and the fact that it has some tracks and bits that are completely worthless, I can still enjoy parts of it. Songs like Skillet Good And Greasy, Daddy Roll ‘Em, and Civil War Trilogy stand out as the best on the album.

Gibson and Camp work well together. Gibson shines on his twelve-string guitar, and Camp brings the harmonies together. This album might not be remembered as a legendary folk album, but it sure is worth a listen if you’re into this kind of thing. I’d say it could at least be the best of the rest, and it would be great if the quality of the songs were just a little higher.

JIMMY REED – LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL

Jimmy Reed is one of the most influential blues harpists according to Rolling Stone. Now for those of you who think that he plays the classical harp, like the word harpist implies, it’s actually the harmonica we’re talking about here. It’s new to me that a guy who plays the harmonica is called a harpist as well, so don’t feel bad if you were thinking the same thing. At least we learned something new today. But enough about my incompetence. Jimmy Reed began performing in the late ’40s in Chicago, and in 1953 he signed with Vee-Jay Records. His first big hit was You Don’t Have To Go in 1955, and he scored another the next year with Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby. Up until 1961, he made the charts another 11 times, including Honest I Do and Baby, What You Want Me To Do. All of these are included on this album, “Live At Carnegie Hall”.

Now this kind of blues music is exactly what I hear in my head when someone mentions blues. It’s classic. No frills. Just straight a forward blues beat. And it takes a lot for this kind of blues to make me excited. It’s good stuff, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nothing special. And considering that Jimmy Reed is supposed to be such a big man with his harmonica, there’s very little harmonica on here. But anyways, I’m not saying that this is a bad album at all, but I am saying that to truly enjoy this you need to love blues with all your heart.

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THE SINGLES

Mr. Elvis Presley likes to give, and this month he offers up a double A-side single with the songs Little Sister and (Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame. Both songs charted, and in my opinion, they both deserved to do so. I guess I like (Marie’s Her Name) His Latest Flame a little bit better, but there’s nothing to say to put any of them down. His Latest Flame was first recorded by Del Shannon a couple of months ago on his album “Runaway With Del Shannon”. Again with this releasing-the-same-song-as-another-guy-attitude. I don’t get it.

Ray Charles released his signature hit song Hit The Road Jack, and even though I’ve got this song rammed down my throat for so many years, it still works. Weird, cause I was pretty sure that I hated this by now. The song has been recorded by so many artists, and it’s been played to death over so many years, but listenin’ to Ray Charles playing it again kinda removes all the animosity I had towards this song. Ray is simply awesome to listen to when he’s at his best.

Walk On By was Leroy Van Dyke’s biggest hit, and Billboard named it the biggest country single of all time in 1994 according to Wikipedia. This is based on sales, plays, and weeks in the charts. I find that difficult to believe as I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song before, and I’ve actually never heard about Leroy either. Then again, what I know doesn’t mean shit, especially considering that I’m not gonna research that claim anyway. But the song spent 42 weeks on the charts, and 19 of them were #1 on the country charts. So yeah, it probably did pretty well. And it’s a pretty good country song as well.

The Marvelettes delivered a great song with Please Mr. Postman, the first Motown single to hit #1 on the pop charts. And it’s safe to say that this song is a classic. Covered by bands such as The Beatles and The Carpenters, this one has lived a good life for 60 years now and it still is a great song to this day. I guess I’ve listened to The Beatles version most of the times I’ve heard it, so it was cool to hear the original version for once and realize that The Marvelettes does it just as much justice as The Beatles will do in a few years. Great song!

The Dovells will start their string of hits with Bristol Stomp. This doo-wop group from Philadelphia isn’t anything special, but this song is quite alright. It sounds like a lot of the other doo-wop songs out there, to be honest, but I can’t blame them for doing what everyone loves at the moment pretty good. What I like most about it is that it sounds a bit rougher, not so polished, as many of the other doo-wop’s I’ve listened to lately. A fun fact is that all four of the guys in the group changed their name, and not to something crazy, when they started out as artists. Like Arnie Silver changed his name to Arnie Satin…

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THE CHARTS

The charts don’t offer up anything awesome this month. The new additions are Curtis Lee with Pretty Little Angel Eyes (Lee only had some hits with the help of Phil Spector, but when he stopped working with him the hits stopped as well), You Don’t Know What You’ve Got by Ral Donner (his biggest claim to fame was the fact that he sounded like Elvis), The Highwaymen with Michael (Row The Boat Ashore) (it’s a psalm or something, you’ve heard it before somewhere), and Timi Yuro with the song Hurt (this is her debut single).

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Petter Milde

This Band Could Be Your Life