Steely Dan - Any Major Dude Will Tell You
(May 21, 2013 - 23:11) | What's to get? It's intelligent, hip, brilliantly arranged pop/rock/jazz music like no other created by a pair of geniuses that every great session player in the country would kill to play with. Guess you had to be there.
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John Lennon - Imagine
(May 19, 2013 - 15:34) | ziakut wrote: If the world had stayed a bit more like it once was in 1971...an innocence would still prevail and make this song more of a prevalent hope or a dreamy aspiration. Instead...it now sounds like a faded memory...or a relic of a time since gone. Make no mistake...there is still reason to hope and dream...and there is a lot of good left in this world. It just takes a bit more of an effort to see it clearly. Thankfully tunes like this one remind us that humankind can be simple and full of thought provoking "what ifs."
That is exactly what this song is about and always will be...the human race evolving in spite of itself...the journey...
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Rolling Stones - Winter
(May 10, 2013 - 06:23) | This tends to be an underrated album these days, but back in 73 they were at one of their many creative peaks and this was a gem. This song was one of my favs back then and brings back memories that are at once fond and wistfully sad...beautiful people in my life then that have fallen away over the years...exciting discoveries almost daily...to be young and knowing you'd live forever and the best days would surely come if you just didn't push on it...and I still miss her after all these years, my beautiful bride, so brilliant and strong and forever young, in the Spring of her life, nothing but a field of all possibilities ahead of her...before her own Winter came all too soon...I still love the girl you were back then, baby, when you still loved me unabashedly.
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Neil Young - Down By The River
(May 05, 2013 - 16:58) | Ha! Great comment, Bill. Hopefully, this girlfriend wasn't the Cinnamon Girl he claimed he could be happy with for the rest of his life!
The whole album's a 10, btw.
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Of Monsters and Men - Mountain Sound
(May 05, 2013 - 16:56) | Saw them on SNL last night and they were the first band in a long time on that show that I could listen to for more than 2 minutes. Loved 'em!
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The Beatles - Across The Universe
(Apr 13, 2013 - 07:52) | hd220 wrote:Always been a big Beatles fan. They have always been to me the best and most important band in our recent history. However, for some reason, over the past 10+ months, I have found a new fascination and appreciation of their music, both as a band and as individual musicians. This may have been triggered in part by one day listening to Tomorrow Never Knows on RP. In the past, I could never really get into this particular song but when I heard it that time on RP I thought - wow, this could have been created today, not sound dated and it would blow away everything current. Everything on this song - technique, style, experimentation, drumming (reminiscent of Ticket to Ride but faster tempo), etc pushed the envelope so far forward that no one has yet pushed it beyond it yet or created anything that has had so much influence on so many other musicians any other time in the past 50 years. (wow - half a decade ago(!) and we are still talking about this band). Don't get me wrong, so, so many great bands and so, so much great music out there . . . but, this band and this song, as well as a few other Beatles songs were pivotal to what we have been listening to over the past 50 years and even today (less much of the corporate "hip-crap" $—t glorifying particular lifestyles being fed down kids throats today). I've always been one to think that Sgt. Pepper was the big deal. It is a great album, but over time, I've come to the opinion that the turning point in the Beatles career were the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums. Sgt. Pepper was the icing. In addition, nothing has ever come close to the second side of Abbey Road in its polish, flow and beauty. Fitting that McCartney's chose to close off the album and their career with "The End" and the last recorded Beatles line "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." That line sums up the Beatles soul over the years and life in general. A highly recommended book I read last summer is: Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America, by Jonathan Gould, on Amazon. Long Live Radio Paradise and your so huge eclectic mix of music. Cheers.
I was going to make my own comment but I couldn't have said it better than this. I totally agree with all your points. I went through Beatlemania in 62-64 living in Germany (service brat) as a young boy just as they broke out of Hamburg. Then moved back to the states a few months after the Ed Sullivan show and all that. So major Beatlemania for several years as an impressionable kid who was really into music.
I felt the same about Sgt. Peppers but when I got older it became apparent that Rubber Soul & Revolver were the real turning points in what they became after. Revolver remains my favorite album and Tomorrow Never Knows my favorite from that album. 100 years from now The Beatles will still be out there.
Thanks for the book recommendation!
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Rush - Limelight
(Feb 15, 2013 - 22:14) | Thanks for playing Rush as always, Bill. Tremendously talented musicians. Neil Peart is the best living rock drummer in the world. Great that they will be inducted in the RRHOF this year, finally. Two of the best concerts I've ever seen were Rush at Red Rocks in 2008 & 2010 (with OV the second time, making it extra special). Brought the house down a couple of months ago in Dallas with a high energy 3-hour show.
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David Crosby - Tamalpias High
(Feb 09, 2013 - 22:44) | keller1 wrote:My joelbb wrote:
Yeah, if they'd just get rid of that jerk Crosby it would be terrific. I gave it a five, down from an 8 or 9 for those talented guys hangin' w/ bad company.
Reading these comments pages, it turns out that Crosby is a lot more controversial than I thought. For me, he was the genius of CS&N, and this album, which was the soundtrack of the summer of 1972 in the 8 track player in my Chev Malibu, illustrates why.
100% right on. One of the best albums in my collection, and Crosby is a genius, taking CSN(Y) to levels they never would have reached without him. Saw him and Nash in Denver a couple of years ago and he still has it, man. Opened with Eight Miles High "to get it out of my system" and it just soared from there for 2 1/2 hours.
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Madrugada - Majesty (Live)
(Feb 09, 2013 - 21:46) | This song used to make me cry. But I'm further down the road and healed now, and can relate to the story without it taking me back to the bad times and all the trauma. Thank God.
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Pink Floyd - Summer 68
(Jan 12, 2013 - 11:53) | Thanks Bill, nice to hear one of these once in awhile. Really enjoyed it in the context of where PF was at that point in their growth and where it fit into the times.
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Joseph Arthur - Travel As Equals
(Jan 05, 2013 - 12:41) | bentonian wrote: The RP crowd shows its age with their comments. Anything new, like spoken word songs, are derided and junked. More Neil Young and Cream, right gang? I like this song!
Wow, who's showing their age here? I don't like something you like so I'm old? And if I'm old, I can't like anything new? Ah, at that tragically hip age I see, and from Boulder to boot. 'Splains everything.
Generalizations don't work so well, do they?
Oh hey, Allman Brothers! NOW I'm feeling better!
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Beethoven - Für Elise
(Dec 29, 2012 - 20:41) | This was my first piano recital piece at age 10. A stripped down version to be sure. But it's been very special to me ever since. Also, in the way that became a pattern for my performance career evermore, I tripped going up the stairs to the stage and again going down the stairs on the other side - but I nailed the piece.
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Rush - Subdivisions
(Dec 28, 2012 - 16:03) | Great to hear a little more Rush being worked in, Bill!
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Kathryn Williams - Flicker
(Dec 27, 2012 - 12:28) | If I was Sinead O'Connor, I'd sue her for blatantly plagiarizing Black Boys on Mopeds.
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Rush - Tom Sawyer
(Dec 22, 2012 - 21:18) | lerxst wrote: My favorite band by a long shot & I've seen them at least once on every tour for the past 30 years. This is a great, richly-layered song, but frankly I'm burned out on it. They have SO many other brilliant songs that I'd rather hear at this point. RP is where I come to hear stuff I can't hear every day on local radio. Shake it up, Bill.
One of my favorite bands. Agreed, TS is a great song and maybe it's played so more people might recognize it's Rush, but hey....I'm not asking for By-Tor & the Snow Dog, but there are many "accessible" Rush tunes (if we have to go there), like The Analog Kid, Red Barchetta, Limelight, heck maybe even YYZ. Rush was voted into the R&R Hall of Fame this year with an overwhelming number of votes. It's nice to see them getting their due after 39 years.
If you're even remotely interested in seeing them live, I wouldn't miss their 40th anniversary tour next year, as they are sure to do one. They don't have opening acts, it's just 3 hours of Rush playing their asses off.
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The Animals - When I Was Young
(Dec 20, 2012 - 07:21) | 2cats wrote: Don't think I've heard this since '67.
Yeah, you don't here this everyday. It was sure a radical song back then! Animals at their peak.
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Pearl Jam - Black
(Dec 10, 2012 - 10:51) | Chills. Personally, I could hear this one everyday. Rock on, Bill....
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Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Compared To What
(Nov 23, 2012 - 10:06) | ziakut wrote: The first few melodies played on the piano sound like 'Age of Aquarius'. The rest does not. Love it.
It's called riffin'.....awesome tune as usual!
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Crosby Stills Nash & Young - 4 + 20
(Nov 22, 2012 - 07:30) | peter_thurlow wrote: david crosby at his best...play more from this album...thankyou from oz
Actually, this is Stephen Stills at his best. His song, his vocal & guitar, with Crosby on backing guitar.
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John Lee Hooker - This Is Hip
(Nov 20, 2012 - 06:52) | Johray63 wrote: I guess you got to feel seemingly simple music like the Blues and maybe know some of its history, to appreciate it.
Like in all genres there's indeed a lot of generic blues, but John Lee Hooker could move me, with just a few words and one chord, in a song that seemed endlessly. On the Waterfront, for instance.
This band is sublime in its musicality and subtlety. No drummer like Jim Keltner, to mention just one of them. An album with him on it, is always worthwhile.
Well said!
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Spirit - It Shall Be
(Nov 19, 2012 - 14:23) | Completely underrated band that should be in the R&R Hall of Fame.
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Tame Impala - Elephant
(Oct 27, 2012 - 09:34) | This could have been a great psychedelic song circa 66-68....very cool that it's current. Gonna iTunes this LP.
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The Cure - Purple Haze
(Oct 07, 2012 - 21:50) | I'm a diehard Hendrix fan from the late 60s and also a huge Cure fan. Amazing that they can take such an iconic song and make it their own.
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Neil Young - Natural Beauty
(Sep 25, 2012 - 20:53) | cmarcan wrote: A not so great voice. Mediocre guitar skills. Yet Neil has an amazing way of writing and delivering music that is so awsome. Great music creates a doorway to another place and it's the artists job to draw the listener in through that door and no one does that better than Neil.
I believe Neil has one of the most beautifully distinctive voices of his generation. He is also an amazingly skilled acoustic guitarist, with mad skills on electric. I totally agree with the rest of your points 
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Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
(Jul 20, 2012 - 12:10) | Given the usual crap being debated in the Forum at this very moment on this sad day, this couldn't be more relevant.
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Booker T & The M.G.s - Green Onions (Live)
(Jul 17, 2012 - 01:05) | Yer thinkin' too much. This is the cool you were looking for, my Padawan. Is cool, was cool, and ever shall be cool. It surrounds us, goes through us, and binds us together with the force of everlasting cool-cattiness. Ya dig?
       
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Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song
(Jul 16, 2012 - 22:19) | black321 wrote: Could or would there ever be a band as great as Zeppelin to again emerge from the rock music genre?
No.
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The Pierces - Sticks and Stones
(Jul 16, 2012 - 22:16) | Hey man, it's your station, you can play what you want. Obviously. I owe you large so spin on, man, spin on.
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The Bad Plus - Flim
(Jul 15, 2012 - 13:22) | A few minutes of my life I won't ever get back....oh wait, PSD!!!!
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Grateful Dead - Eyes of the World
(Jul 12, 2012 - 15:21) | johnjconn wrote: Hippies = nothing a job, shower and a haircut can't fix
Wow, hi dad, it's been a long time! Especially since you died 25 years ago. I thought you were the last of a breed, but clearly I was wrong. I'll make sure you get your Pat Boone records back from the attic. btw...having a job, shower, and haircut didn't make you any less of a major asshole. Way to stick to your guns!
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The Specials - Message to You Rudy
(Jul 12, 2012 - 10:01) | "What the hell do we have to do??!!!!!" cry out the hundreds of excellent bands never heard on RP that have to listen to this drivel played over and over....
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Neil Young - Natural Beauty
(Jun 23, 2012 - 11:58) | One of Neil's best somewhat unknown songs. Hauntingly beautiful on par with "Cortez the Killer"...
"A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument to nature..."
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Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde (w/ Pam Bricker)
(Jun 23, 2012 - 02:25) | newwavegurly wrote: This song always has me picturing that spin the bottle/rolling on x scene from "Garden State."
The intro to this song is just so... lush.
Actually, this was during the hotel visit to see Diego (Method Man)....spin the bottle was "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7....
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Elton John - Funeral For a Friend - Love Lies Bleeding
(Jun 17, 2012 - 23:37) | JoanneE wrote: Here here Bill, well said! Can't count the number of raised eyebrows I've encountered when telling people my favourite music includes Elton John, but absolutely ONLY the early stuff! Let's have more, how about Levon, Skyline Pigeon, Sweet Painted Lady .......?
And anything from 11-17-70....
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The Moody Blues - Om
(May 24, 2012 - 09:40) | IMHO, the best of the first 7 albums (or any since, for that matter). Everyone of those first seven being mind-blowing to a young junior high and high school kid in a small town in Texas. Why are these guys not in the R&R Hall of Fame, with the likes of ABBA being there (who are absolutely not R&R at all)??? Oh right - the R&R Hall of Fame is a commercial enterprise, and therefore a sham. Not to mention their bias against Prog bands in general. I'm not sure if anyone over the ago of 30 is on the selection committee. But wow, Guns & Roses finally made it!
Just sayin'.....
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Leo Kottke - Ojo
(May 18, 2012 - 07:47) | DigitalJer wrote: Every time I hear a Kottke song my jaw drops
Same here, since first seeing him live in 1975. My favorite acoustic player, hands down.
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David Crosby - Laughing
(May 13, 2012 - 14:17) | An amazing song by a great artist, and one of the most underrated albums of it's era. Artists participating on the album include Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, David's brother Ethan, David Freiberg, Jack Casady, Greg Rolie, Michael Shrieve, Laura Allan, and others not credited. If you're into this era and these artists, it's a must-have.
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Yes - And You And I
(Apr 25, 2012 - 17:36) | oldslabsides wrote: Perhaps THE greatest song they ever recorded; and they recorded a LOT of great songs. Jeebus.
Oh hell ya! It's playing right now, the perfect song at the perfect moment today. But then, I think that every time I hear it.
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Santana - Oye Como Va
(Apr 12, 2012 - 15:21) | Covered this tune in my first rock & roll band in 1972. I played bass and sang lead, phonetically, as I didn't know a word of Spanish. I have no idea if I was even close.
This one still rocks the house!
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Björk - Big Time Sensuality
(Apr 03, 2012 - 11:44) | I'd really love to hear some Sugarcubes. If you don't know them, imagine The B-52's with Bjork as the lead singer.
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Allman Brothers - One Way Out
(Mar 27, 2012 - 15:58) | kh808 wrote: OK yea its true I wore the album out...the 8 track...the cassette .. the CD ...can you wear out a MP3 file ?
You can say its my Favorite group of musicians tight , timeless, original and pure!
Wore out & had to buy multiple copies of all that plus of course the vinyl. And everything from their first album through Brothers & Sisters. Started a rock & roll band in 1972 - bass player - and the first song we attempted was Whipping Post. Lordy that was a badass bass line for a 19-year-old that had played bass for all of 2 months.
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Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song
(Mar 19, 2012 - 18:54) | flyboy wrote: It goes without saying that I gave this a 10, as I have given all Zeppelin songs, but this one is one of my favorite 10s.
Same here. Every LZ album is a killer, but this has always been my favorite because of what I had going on that year, and I saw the tour, etc. This one is my favorite from this LP.
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The Alarm - Rain In The Summertime
(Mar 19, 2012 - 15:51) | Ag3nt0rang3 wrote: Ah, the Alarm. The very first band to try to rip off U2. Sad.
Some bands almost create their own genre, as I believe did U2, from then until now - re, Jonny Buckland from Coldplay (guitar style, not the band - might as well be The Edge sitting in). Otherwise, about 90% of what came after 1964 was derivative of The Beatles. As long as it doesn't suck, why not?
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The Beatles - You Never Give Me/The End
(Mar 17, 2012 - 12:11) | michaelgmitchell wrote: My God, the guitar "discussion" from each channel near the end. Was that George and John just battling each other? Was it planned? Random? Can't believe that side was just a collection of unfinished tracks slammed together. I'm truly lucky to have lived in their era. Still remember begging my parents to let me stay up with my older sisters to see them on the Sullivan show.
As an aside, I wonder if McCartney, despite his recent stupidity with marriages and the like, really "gets" it, the breadth of his impact on music in the past 40 years? I hope so.
It was John, George, and Paul trading licks on the guitar. Planned. Believe it. You & me both. Didn't have to beg, my mom thought there were a "fun group". Forgive Paul his marriages, he's the kind of guy that needs a life partner, and believe me, good ones are hard to find. And he totally gets it, whether or not we get him.
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Jethro Tull - To Cry You a Song
(Mar 15, 2012 - 13:29) | fatcatjb wrote: this was my first Jethro Tull song...and I'll never forget it. 12 years old and very impressed with such an interesting sound
Same here, about maybe 15. Classic, old school, back in the day.....whatever, still awesome!
A friend of mine has a sign that reads....."I may be old, but I got to see all the cool bands!" JT was one of my first 2-3 concerts, Aqualung tour.
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Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
(Mar 09, 2012 - 07:58) | Dinges,_the_Dude wrote: please skip this far-overrated artist!
Yeah, and while you're at it get rid of those pesky Beatles!
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The Beatles - A Day In The Life
(Feb 25, 2012 - 01:10) | This was the first song that ever really blew my mind. I was different after it played than just before it hadn't. I bought the LP the day it came out. Must have played it end to end a billion times that week. This song was beautiful, confusing, even scary in an odd kind of way. I lived in Germany 1962-65 and experienced Beatlemania there...I want to hold your hand, yeah yeah yeah... and then here as it hit just when we moved back. At 14 in 1967 I just assumed they'd always be there, the soundtrack of my life. And indeed they always have.
It's cliche, but they just don't make them like this anymore. Pretty much haven't since that day I ran home from the record store with the new Beatles album.
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Leo Kottke - Vaseline Machine Gun
(Feb 23, 2012 - 11:23) | Gregorama wrote:Saw him live in'72 in Lincoln, where he had spent part of his youth. He always sounds like multiple players playing at once to me. Excellent groove.
Thought the exact same thing upon seeing him in '75. Been a huge fan to this day.
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Cream - White Room
(Feb 19, 2012 - 16:50) | keller1 wrote:For some perspective on where Ginger Baker stands in the pantheon of classic rock drummers, my suggestion is to track down some Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Jimi Hendrix Experience DVDs.
The consensus in the drumming community is that Bonham, Paice and Mitchell were the big three in classic rock drumming.
Honorable mention to Moonie and Ringo for style and being exactly the right guy for their respeictive bands.
Baker isn't in the conversation.
Don't have to track them down, lived through them. (gotcha by 3 years )
I'd agree with you on Baker & Bonham. But seriously...Paice & Mitchell? Can't go there with you. Neil Peart, Keith Moon, Carl Palmer, and Bill Bruford are ahead of them on my list. What drum community are talking about, btw? Just askin'....
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The Surfaris - Wipeout
(Feb 12, 2012 - 10:47) | I'll always remember when I first heard this on the juke box of a neighborhood soda shop. It was brand new and blew our little kid minds. We danced in the aisles and played it over and over all afternoon (for a nickel each).
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Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On
(Feb 11, 2012 - 08:22) | Cool tune. Saw her on this tour - if you have a chance to see her, take it. Great performer, and a very funny girl.
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K.D. Lang - Helpless
(Feb 05, 2012 - 10:05) | deadmessengers wrote: This might be the only thing KD Lang has ever done that I didn't like. Her voice, her delivery, everything, is just flawless - which is exactly the kind of voice that this song didn't need. To be fair, she was trying to improve on something that was damn near perfect to begin with.
I had the same reaction. No, not much you can do to improve on the beautiful, haunting Neil Young original. So chalk it up to (perhaps) a self-indulgent "nice try" for what surely is one of her old school favs. Now, let's hear her version of "Hallelujah", which is every bit as good as the Jeff Buckley, version, both being covers of the Leonard Cohen classic.
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Björk - Atlantic
(Feb 04, 2012 - 21:27) | Have always been a fan, going back to The Sugarcubes. Doesn't fit into the normal, expected, played-a-thousand-times category, hence a lot of people (especially guys) don't like her. Their loss.
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Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing
(Jan 30, 2012 - 19:53) | Remember making out in the back seat of my '67 Mustang with this on the 8 Track back.in.the.day. So fresh now it could have been recorded yesterday.
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The Shins - Simple Song
(Jan 16, 2012 - 13:00) | Sasha2001 wrote:+Interesting comments below. It makes me wonder though, if the last band wasn't contributing enough creatively (this is pure conjecture of course) what makes Mercer think a new band will be that much better? I'm considering the man's ego here. He might go out and get musicians he respects more, but at the end of the day, they're still glorified side-men and he's really just a solo act, no?
Mercer is clearly the artist here. It could be the other band members' egos at play and not so much his own. If they have nothing relevant to contribute artistically except playing their parts and yet want to exercise some creative control or direction, that would be their problem, not his (also pure conjecture). Given Mercer surely understands its "his" music, then perhaps labeling it "The Shins" is his way of keeping his own ego in check.
Also, re the Iron & Wine reference below: Mercer could be thinking of "The Shins" as a 'project', much as Steve Wilson has his Porcupine Tree and Blackfield projects. Just a thought.
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Florence and The Machine - Shake It Out
(Jan 08, 2012 - 07:56) | I'm reminded of "A Clockwork Orange" when Alex was put in a straight jacket with his eyes pried open and forced to listen to Beethoven while being tortured with scene after scene of death and destruction and violence in order to "cure" him of his own sadistic and violent behavior. He still had the urge to be a ruthless animal, but after that he couldn't listen to Beethoven without becoming violently ill.
And so it is with me, O my brothers and friends, whenever I hear F&TM, only while I do get nauseous upon hearing them, my only thought of violence is to smash my computer to bits with my walking stick and stomp on the pieces with my Doc Martens to just.make.it.stop!!!
So, my dear droogies,I'm off for some lovely eggiwegs and lomticks of toast before heading down to the old milkbar for a few lashings of the old ultraviolet.
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Gustavo Santaolalla - De Ushuaia a La Quiaca
(Jan 07, 2012 - 13:47) | Gustavo is amazing. He's done get soundtrack work (Babel, Brokeback Mountain, etc), which led me to his other work. He's been on my favorite list for awhile now. Worth diving into deeper if this is your kind of thing.
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Gustavo Santaolalla - Deportation/Iguazu
(Jan 01, 2012 - 12:44) | Gustavo is amazing. I highly recommend breaking out of the Babel soundtrack and into his broader work. Check him out on youtube and go from there.
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