No wonder I had trouble finding a proper image.  Fixed.

100. Bobby Bare - Lullabys, Legends And Lies (1973)



I've hit the big 100 so I'm gonna drop lots of vids and links in for folks to feel free to ignore. 

This is two hours of Bobby Bare exclusively singing songs written by Shel Silverstein.  Who singing what now?  Glad you asked, because I was getting to that anyway: Bare is a country music stalwart known as a great interpreter of top tier songs rather than a top songwriter himself, and Silverstein was a singer/songwriter and poet whose most famous songs were made famous by other people.  Cases in point:







I'm partial to songs that sound like poetry, but I must admit I've never been a huge fan of traditional on-the-page efforts.  However, I do own one book of poems - all written by Silverstein.  They're great for big kids and little adults, and I used to read them to Tilly at bedtime.

This was our favourite:



And another, because it's that kind of post:



As a songwriter he goes in the master craftsman category for me.  Granted his songs often err on the humorous side, but when they don't they're still magic.   Roger Miller meets Jake Thackray with a touch of Spike Milligan via Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes might not be a terrible description of his cheeky lighter style.  There's also a deeper simplicity I'd liken to John Prine - he can hit the heartstrings with lines that might sound mawkish in isolation.

Two examples of Shel being awesome:





So what about the album I'm supposed to be reviewing?  It's mostly Bare performing to an enraptured audience.  There's a whiff of hand-picked fanatics about the whoops/hollers, guffaws & singalongs, so I assume this wasn't your usual Friday night ragtag rabble, but for a WE'RE RECORDING AN ALBUM TONIGHT crowd they hit their marks with gusto.

If you only click on one video don't click on this because you probably won't like it.  It's my second favourite link of the post though (The Dr. Hook performance takes the no.1 spot), and the meandering slice of pie/life tale where not much happens is the sort of thing I could listen to all day.

Billy Joel - The Stranger
Pop Rock (1977)



My ongoing exploration of 70’s music continues with an album originally released when I was six. Mum and Dad seemed more interested in Barry White/Leo Sayer when older me wished they stuck on some Joel. This is a solid album. Side A is much stronger but the big hitters are relatively spread out. An impressive 4 (out of 5) but I can see that increasing on repeated listens.

Must Listen: Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.

Green Day - Saviors
Pop Punk (2024)



I actually like Green Day a lot, but this is a bit Ronseal if you ask me. You know exactly what you are going to get with the band and any new release. Had a big deal not been made about them reuniting with Rob Cavallo, there’s nothing in their sound to suggest it - perhaps I’d argue the sound even sounds more watered down. Highlights for me are the punchy ‘Bobby Sox’ and the track mentioned below, added to my Post playlist.

Until the next time, lads!

Must Listen: Father To A Son

I'm a Coma City kind of guy.

g.man wrote:

Heh. Father To A Son is one of the tracks I would have thrown in the bin tbh.

Heh, that’s what makes us all so wonderfully different!

Ooh I did that one after Kris posted a track. Was v.good.

Diluted Dante wrote:

Lol, I'd have lobbed Bobby Sox in the bin as well. Lyrically awful and sounded to me like he'd been smacked over the head with a shovel before recording it.

Ma man!

1. Oakenfold - Bunkka


For some reason Id never actually listened to this cover to cover  despite obviously knowing a good few tracks off it.
Good, varied stuff all very much of the time but crosses a fair few genre boundaries. Would listen again.

Must Listen: Hold Your Hand

The Smile - Wall of Eyes



Got an early rip of this. I think it’s better than their first album, although if that wasn’t your bag then this won’t be either. There’s some really good tracks, and some more experimental filler. I reckon between the two albums they’ve done you could knock together one really good one.

30. Blaze Foley - The Lost Muscle Shoals Recordings (recorded 1984, released 2017)



Only heard one or two of these tracks before.  It's basically 'Blaze with horns and a hot band', neither of which feels like a particularly good fit.  See the cover shot there?  That's more or less how he should sound - he's not a big noise man and his songs lose their warmth with a full band rocking away behind him.

Must listen: nothing stood out on here tbh.  Try this one instead.  Jason Aldean take notes, this is how you small town:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

30. Blaze Foley - The Lost Muscle Shoals Recordings (recorded 1984, released 2017)

Whats the story with this then?

Real but still slightly ambiguous answer:

Reissue of the first album recorded by the legendary Austin singer-songwriter who was tragically murdered in 1989. Recorded with Muscle Shoals studio musicians in 1984, the album was never distributed due to “some trouble with the law” resulting in the confiscation of most of the 500 copies originally pressed.

32. Adrianne Lenker - Songs (2020)



Thanks to Oli for this one, turns out I have a few to check out.  There's nothing on this as immediately wonderful as Sadness As a Gift (absolutely beautiful recent single Gillian Welch would be proud of), but it's a lovely album and her vocals have a kind of enchanting allure that I won't attempt to explain.  I'd go as far as to say she has my favourite female singing voice at the moment; the vulnerability melts me and she makes everything sound comfortingly sad in an almost nostalgic way.  Eek, I tried to explain it there.  

I really need to devote more time to Big Thief.  Some of their tracks are among my favourites of the past decade or so but I don't know any of their albums inside out.  They probably top the list of bands that I should be more into than I am - I've said it before but I reckon if they'd been part of the American indie boom of the early noughties I would've been obsessed/worn T shirts/known all the words and tried to see them live as much as possible, but my listening habits have shifted slightly in recent years.  Big up Big Thief though.

I'm going to review Yard Act soon once their album drops but they have been fun.

34. Andy Irvine/Paul Brady (1976)



Not heard of either of them (turns out both were in Planxty with Christy Moore) but a track called Arthur McBride & the Sergeant popped up on my Tidal daily discovery playlist (a track I knew from a Dylan cover on a supposedly ropey early 90s album I quite like) and I loved it so I took a detour.  The album is a good mix of more of the same + instrumentals, with some wonderful playing throughout - especially on the opening track (Plains of Kildare) and Fred Finn's Reel/Sailing into Walpole's Marsh.  Nothing caught my attention quite as much as Arthur McBride, so I'll have that as the must listen (and admit it's miles better than Dylan's version), but there's good stuff here.