A Painter Passing Through

A Painter Passing Through.

That was the title of Gordon Lightfoot's penultimate album, a 1998 release that didn't really do anything for me. It was also the name of about the fifth song he played last night, and the first tune that I couldn't name within the first three notes. It was a lot better live.

"A Painter Passing Through" is an obviously autobiographical song about getting old and being past his prime. It has a certain poignancy live that you just can't catch in a studio album. Gord's voice isn't what it once was. The richness at the low end of the register is gone. And while that's not a good thing, it isn't all bad either. After listening to a few songs, I was reminded of a description Kurt Vonnegut wrote in The Sirens of Titan:

But Beatrice did have a face — and an interesting one. It could be said that she looked like a bucktoothed Indian brave. But anyone who said that would have to add quickly that she looked marvelous. Her face, like the face of Malachi Constant, was a one-of-a-kind, a surprising variation on a familiar theme — a variation that made observers think, Yes — that would be another very nice way for people to look.

And that's sort of what I thought about Gord's voice. It's not the voice he once had, but it's another very nice way for people to sound.

And the band was fantastic.

Really.

I don't remember the last time heard a band with such a tight sound live. If there was a last time.

All in all, a very good show. Well worth the time, the money, and the drive to and from Houston.

MAMA'S MAN

One of Monster Truck's greatest German hits.




This is what American soldiers do when forced to spend extended periods overseas.

That would be my brother on bass, by the way.

Bring the boys home.

For God's sake, bring the boys home!

I believe this was recorded somewhere around the first Gulf War.


And the lyrics are these:

Mama's Man
(N. Gifford & O. Cowan)

Daddy hit the bottle
When mama hit the bars
She spent a lot of nights
In the back of a lot of cars

I remember the day it happened
It came as no surprise
She knew he knew her secret
From the look in his eyes

And she knew she couldn't keep him
No words had to be said
He couldn't stand the shame
Of that stranger in his bed

Said he'd never really known her
And that ring on his hand
Couldn't stop my daddy
From takin' my mama's man

He spent his life a workin'
With all the men downtown
Oh they built this city up
But it tore our family down

As the love between him and mama
Withered and died
Oh the life he'd made it crumbed
'Cause he'd been livin' a lie

And she knew she couldn't keep him
No words had to be said
He couldn't stand the shame
Of that stranger in his bed

He said he'd never really known her
And that ring on his hand
Couldn't stop my daddy
From taking my mama's man

Couldn't stop my daddy
From taking my mama's man

By the way, Monster Truck is (or was):
Nathan "Giff" Gifford - Guitars and Vocals
Owen PD Cowan - Bass and Vocals
Scott Farnsworth - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
Dynamite Daniel Fischer - Drums

They've been slowly converting old videos to a MySpace compatible format. More of their stuff is posted here, now including their fabulous versions of YMCA (from before it made its comeback in the 90s), Hey Jude, and a host of others.


Corrections and addenda:

Mama's Man was written in 1992, and the video was from a June 10, 1994, show at Lucky's Bar in Augsburg, so it was a bit after Desert Storm. It was Monster Truck's second to last show, their farewell show being August 6, 2004.

The drummer, Daniel Fischer, was not an American soldier. He was from Romania, the son of a German father. He spoke very little English, so he shouldn't be blamed for the lyrics.

Scott Farnsworth had a great voice and played a mean bluegrass guitar, but he came to the band sort of late, so he didn't have very many songs to sing before it all ended. On Mama's Man, that's Giff singing the first half and Owen singing the second.

In newer versions of the song, the line "I remember the day it happened" has been changed to "I remember the day he left her" to for clarity's sake.

More Movie Recommendations

After the Virginia Tech shootings, I read that the shooter was obsessed with a Korean movie called "Oldboy," so naturally, I had to check it out.

Having seen the movie, I don't see how it might have related to the shooter's crimes, but I do see why he liked it. Sort of a Korean Quentin Hitchcock movie. It rates a four pancake stack.

Having liked one of Chan-wook Park’s movies, I thought I'd take a look at his other work. According to Netflix, Oldboy is is the middle installment in Chan-wook Park’s revenge trilogy, the first installment being Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and the last Lady Vengeance. Oldboy's clearly the best of the three, and the only one that merit's an unqualified recommendation. Mr. Vengeance is worth a look, while Lady Vengeance is probably best left to compulsive completests, in my opinion.

But he had another one on Netflix that I signed up for at the same time as the otehrs, and that was Joint Security Area.

I'm not sure that this one rates a full four pancake stack, but it's one that makes you think. Or at least makes me think. Pontius Pilate said, "What is truth?" This one asks, "What's it worth?" Like I needed more to think about. It's an interesting quesion, but I still haven't even worked through Pilate's problem yet.

Apocalypto

I finally got around to watching Apocalypto, I didn't look at my watch once. And that means it was a very well made movie.

But it didn't live up to the hype.

All the reviews I've read portrayed this as about the most gruesome, gross-out, blood-spurting movie you're ever likely to see. Perhaps I'm being a bit hyperbolic, but it's really not too far off. But in actually watching the movie, I didn't find it any more gruesome than Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan or anything Quentin Tarantino ever made, and it doesn't even come close to the graphic gross-out quality of stuff like Hostel or pretty much anything George Romero ever made, to say nothing of Japanese classics like the Lone Wolf and Cub series. I get the feeling that the reviewers felt that they had to find something to complain about the film because it was made by Mel Gibson.

But I've got to admit when I started the "making of" documentary on the special features, for those first few seconds Mel had crazy eyes. Demented and maniacal, he looked. Having said that, I feel like a proper film critic.

I don't know if I'll buy it, but it's definitely worth watching at least once.

ZZ Top at Ford Park

This was my second time to see ZZ Top at the spectacularly poorly managed Ford Park. For my thoughts on their idiotic security measures, see my previous post, Why I hate Ford Park: Reason # 23. Reason # 24 is that in the whole damn place, they don't have a single ATM. My son asked me to pick up a T-shirt for him, and after I'd spent $35 on that, I had very little cash left for food and beer, and for a show that's supposed to go from about 5:00 p.m. to midnight where everything's seriously overpriced, that can be a problem. Reason # 25 is that they'll let you leave to find an ATM elsewhere, but if you do, you can't get back in without buying another ticket.

Did I mention that it was about 40 degrees and raining? That part wasn't Ford Park's fault, but the fact that I had to spend at least an hour waiting in line in the 40 degree rain was. That was at least 45 minutes to get through "security," and then at least another 15 minutes waiting for someone to check my ID (I'm only 43 years old after all) so I could get a wristband and stamp that would allow me to buy their over-priced beer. Frickin' over-priced lite beer. Does that even count as beer?

But enough about the venue. Suffice it to say that it is something to be avoided. The bands were another matter altogether.



The first band to play after I got through all the lines was Cross Canadian Ragweed. I don't know if any other bands played before them. I could hear music coming from the pavilion while I was waiting in line, but I couldn't tell whether it was recorded music or a real live band. I wouldn't be surprised if Image 6 did a set early on, it being a Coondog Productions production and all.

I like Cross Canadian Ragweed. I like their music and I liked their show, but I think they need a smaller venue to really be at their best. But then, I think everyone needs a smaller venue to be at their best. At least from my perspective. I'm sure that if I'd been sitting closer or they were playing a smaller room, I'd have more to say. But they weren't and I don't.

After a not too long intermission, Los Lonely Boys took the stage. Although I'd heard of them, I'd never actually heard Los Lonely Boys play before last night. And dang, those guys can play. I'd seen a few people play a guitar one handed before, but I'd never seen a guy play the bass with one hand and the guitar with the other at the same time. They're an amazing act to watch, and the songs aren't bad either.

When Los Lonely Boys were finished, I was really looking forward to not hearing a set by Kid Rock, and he did not disappoint. maybe he closed the show or something after I'd left, but the only thing I saw him do was introduce ZZ Top. I'm not a Kid Rock fan, as you may have guessed.

ZZ Top does a lot of songs that I'm not particularly interested in hearing, and during the first half of the show, about the only song I even recognized was "Nationwide," and it's not one of my favorites. But ZZ Top isn't just a band, it's a show, and there was plenty to look at even though the songs weren't among my favorites.

Then about halfway through, Billy Gibbons started talking about going to the mall and buying jewelry for his girlfriend. (Or was it Dusty Hill? One of the bearded guys, anyway.) Something like that, anyway. The upshot was that she wasn't interested in sparkly things, she just wanted a pearl necklace. And at that point, things started looking up. El Loco came out when I was about 17, and it was my first ZZ Top album. And although I don't consider it to be a particularly good album overall, "Tube Snake Boogie" and especially "Pearl Necklace" have a tremendous adolescent appeal that has never worn off. Not long after that, it was "Gimme All Your Lovin'" segueing into "Sharp Dress Man," and a bunch of other good stuff until they finally switched to their furry guitars for "Legs," after which they left the stage.

But, of course, it wasn't over yet. After a few minutes they came back out and did "Viva Las Vegas" and then "La Grange" (which is really really good live), but at that point, I'd really had enough, and I didn't hang around to find out what, if anything, was next. I'm sure whatever it was was good, but five and a half hour was enough for me.

Incidentally, the boys' beards looked considerably whiter in person than they did in this picture, which was supposedly taken within the past couple months:

Fun with advertising.

This is a Pepsi commercial:



The song is "Ca Plane Pour Moi," performed by The President's of The United States of America. But that's not the version I remember. That tune goes with some very different words. I remember it as "Jet Boy Jet Girl" by Elton Montello.

According to my research (which consisted of consulting this article), Jet Boy Jet Girl is the original, but the lyrics (which can be found here), were a little too colorful for radio play, so an Elton Montello band member came up with alternate lyrics and, under the name Plastic Bertrand, recorded the song with inoffensively meaningless lyrics as "Ca Plane Pour Moi," which became a minor worldwide smash (peaking at 39 on Billboard's Hot 100), and which the Presidents of the United States of America covered on the Pepsi commercial.

You can listen to a snippet of Elton Motello's studio version here. When Elton Montello broke up, the author of this masterpiece, Alan Ward, went on to form the band The Damned (featuring Captain Sensible), whose poorly recorded live version of "Jet Boy Jet Girl" is available on YouTube, and is included here for your amusement:



Someone involved with this commercial had to know where the tune came from, but I expect it wasn't the guys at Pepsi who pull down the big bucks. Now their fine product is firmly linked in my mind with the words:

Jet boy jet girl
I'm gonna take you 'round the world
Jet boy I'm gonna make you penetrate
I'm gonna make you be a girl
Ooooohhhh
He gives me head

I don't know why, but I find stuff like this terribly amusing.

I think I'll have a Coke.

Courville's Wednesday Night

Strap them kids in
Give 'em a little bit of vodka in a cherry Coke
We're going to Oklahoma to the family reunion for the first time in years
It's up at uncle Slayton's 'cause he's getting on in years
You know he no longer travels but he's still pretty spry
He's not much on talking and he's just too mean to die
And they'll be comin' down from Kansas
and from west Arkansas
It'll be one great big old party like you never saw

Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's got a Airstream trailer and a Holstein cow
He still makes whiskey 'cause he still knows how
He plats that Choctaw bingo every Friday night
You know he had to leave Texas but he won't say why
He owns a quarter section up by Lake Eufala
Caught a great big ol' blue cat on a driftin' jug line
Sells his hardwood timber to the shipping mill
Cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
You know he likes his money he don't mind the smell

My cousin Roscoe Slayton's oldest boy from his second marriage up in Illinois
He was raised in East St. Louis by his momma's people
Where they do things different
Thought he'd just come on down
He was going to Dallas Texas in a semi truck called from that big McDonald's
You know the one they built up on that great big ol' bridge
Across the Will Rogers Turnpike
Took the Big Cabin exit stopped and bought a couple of cartons of cigarettes
At that Indian Smoke Shop with the big neon smoke rings
In the Cherokee Nation hit Muskogee late that night
Somebody ran a stoplight at the Shawnee Bypass
Roscoe tried to miss 'em but he didn't quite

Bob and Mae come up from little town
Way down by lake Texoma where he coaches football
They were two A champions now for two years running
But he says they won't be this year no they won't be this year
And he stopped off in Tushka at that "Pop's Knife and Gun" place
Bought a SKS rifle and a couple a full cases of that steel core ammo
With the berdan primers from some East bloc nation that no longer needs 'em
And a Desert Eagle that's one great big ol' pistol
I mean .50 caliber made by badass Hebrews
And some surplus tracers for that old BAR of Slayton's
Soon as it gets dark we're gonna have us a time
We're gonna have us a time

Ruth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs
That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas
Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store
That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there where everyone can see 'em
And they burn all night you know they burn all night you know they burn all night
Ruth Ann and Lynn they wear them cut off britches and those skinny little halters
And they're second cousins to me
Man I don't care I want to get between 'em
With a great big ol' hard on like a old bois d' arc fence post
You could hang a pipe rail gate from
Do some twisted sisters 'til the cows come home
And we'd be havin' us a time

Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots`
He sells 'em owner financed
Strictly to them that's got no kind of credit
'Cause he knows they're slackers
When they miss that payment
Then he takes it back
He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night
Drinks that Johnny Walker at that Club 69
We're gonna strap them kids in give 'em a little bit o' Benadryl
And a cherry coke we're goin' to Oklahoma
We're gonna have us a time
Gonna have us a time

I guess that pretty well sums it up.

East Texas, I mean, not Courville's on Wednesday night.

The song is Choctaw Bingo. It was written by James McMurtry, but it was sung by Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Did I mentiuon that it was Ray Wylie Hubbard at Courville's last Wednesday?

Well, it was. And, as always, the food was good and the show was better. But this time, it was even better than usual, because Hubbard had the band with him this time, and they're a very good band. Gurf Morlix plays a mean guitar.

Don't forget, Ray Wylie Hubbard and a host of others will be playing at Crystal Beach in April at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Music Festival. You know, we'll have us a time. We're gonna have us a time.

Last Call for Gordon Lightfoot!

Gordon Lightfoot, one of my all time favorites, will be appearing at Verizon Wireless Theater in Houston on Sunday, June 24, 2007. Tickets are on sale now on Ticketmaster or at the Verizon Theater box office.



I saw him several years ago at the Woodlands. His voice wasn't what it used to be, but it was still a very good show. Definitely worth the drive and the $45 per ticket(plus the $8 for parking and Ticketmaster's $5 "order processing fee" and $10 per ticket "convenience" fee).


Update:

I'll be in Section 102, middle of row B.

Boston Legal

While looking up the Massachusetts statute on "hoax devices," I ran across a few other amusing laws that are still on the books in the Bay State. I think that Boston Legal ought to do a show where a crusading prosecutor brings the lawyers of Crane Poole & Schmidt to justice for the crimes that they commit on a regular basis. For instance, there's a whole lot of this going on:

§ 18. Fornication.

Whoever commits fornication shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three months or by a fine of not more than thirty dollars.

ALM GL ch. 272, § 18.

And I'm pretty sure there's some of this too (surely someone on that show is married, or seeing someone who's married):

§ 14. Adultery.

A married person who has sexual intercourse with a person not his spouse or an unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with a married person shall be guilty of adultery and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

ALM GL ch. 272, § 14.

Heck, it appears that under Chapter 272, § 26 of the Massachusetts General Laws, you can go to jail for up to a year for going to a bar with the intent to score.

But here's the one that they'd get Alan Shore with:

§ 36. Blasphemy.

Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

ALM GL ch. 272, § 36

And they think Texas is backward because we still have the death penalty.

Dr. Who

Strangest thing happened last night. I was watching the second episode on first disc of season two of the new Dr. Who, and it morphed into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Seriously.

Most of the way through the "New Earth" episode, Dr. Who got pixelated and it switched over to a completely different movie. So instead of finding out how the Doctor and Rose were going to get away from the septic zombies and what was going to happen with the Doctor and the Big Giant Head, I saw some guy get his legs cut off with a chainsaw.

I can't believe they let that get by quality control. Don't they know children and people on acid watch that show?

What's the first song you remember liking?

For me, it's this:

Once You Understand by Think


It's variously been described as "one of the most frightening pieces of recorded music ever" and "the worst hit song of all time."

I understand that a lot of stations wouldn't play it because it was considered too controversial, but that never stopped WJIM.

Anyway, all I know is that it was hugely popular among all the third graders I knew.

Boston Legal in New Orleans

Does anyone in New Orleans really talk like that? Because I've been there lots of time, and I've never heard it. Their judge and DA sounded like they were doing bad imitations of someone from My Cousin Vinny.

Oh, what the hell. Louisiana..., Alabama..., what's the difference? It's all Deliverance country.

Mark your calendar!

Who: Hayes Carll & Friends.

Friends like Todd Snider, Ray Wylie Hubbard, The John Evans Band, The Dedringers and Graham Wilkinson.

What: Stingaree Music Festival.

Hayes Carll is hosting a music festival on the Bolivar Peninsula. Hayes and friends will be performing in a variety of different venues throughout the weekend. There will be beach performances, impromptu beach house concerts and evening shows under the big top.

Where: Crystal Beach.

When: April 13th, 14th & 15th, 2007.

Why: Because it just doesn't get any better than this.

I gotta rent me a beach house for the weekend.

Tickets are $65 and can be purchased here.

It's a Hootenanny!

They called it a "Big Damn Acoustic Jam," but it was really a good old fashioned hootenanny. Hayes Carll, Jimmy Kaiser, David Lee Kaiser, Roger Marin, Mark Jungers, Ryan James, Josh Langston and Big John Mills all sharing a stage at Courville's. Of course, they weren't really sharing a stage because the stage wasn't big enough to hold them all, so they had to extend it a bit. As Yogi Berra might have said, if you didn't see this show, you really missed it.

Every one of these guys is more than capable of pulling off a whole show by himself, but tonight it was all eight of them, one after another, occasionally accompanying one another--especially the Kaiser brothers accompanying each other and Big John Mills playing along with pretty much everything. When Hayes Carll broke a string in the middle of his unique version of "I've Been Everywhere," Big John had him covered so well that they didn't miss a beat while Carll traded guitars with Roger Marin.

I like Hayes Carll better every time I see him play. I would wish him only the best in his career, but I'm sort of selfish, so I hope everyone else continues to ignore him. If he ever gets the recognition he deserves, I'm afraid he'll be too big for Beaumont, and certainly too big to play the small sort of places that I like to go to listen to live music.

The music was great, the food was good and the drinks were cheap. What more could you ask for on a Wednesday evening in Beaumont? Special thanks to Jimmy Kaiser, who was credited with putting it together, along with Big Rich Courville for bringing this sort of stuff to Beaumont (and although no one mentioned his name, I suspect Donnie Courville had a bit to do with it too) and RadioFreeTexas, who also had something to do with making all this happen.

Edited to add: Read what Laurie Who Misses New Orleans had to say about it here.

BIG ACOUSTIC JAM

The Courville's website says:

NOVEMBER 15, 2006 - WEDNESDAY
BIG ACOUSTIC JAM
Join us for "Big Acoustic Jam" at Courville's on Hwy 90 between Beaumont and China. We will have Hayes Carll, Jimmy Kaiser, David Lee Kaiser, Roger Marin, Mark Jungers, Ryan James, Josh Langston and Big John Mills. Tickets are on sale now for this concert by calling 409-860-9811. Limited number of tickets will be sold.

I've had some pretty good things to say about Hayes Carll's past shows at Courville's, like this from November 2004 and this from January of this year. Those Kaiser boys are pretty good too. Seems like I saw Josh Langston there too, and he didn't suck either. I don't know anything about the rest of them, but I'm pretty sure they'll be pretty good. Donnie Courville knows how to pick his bands.

Don't miss this one.

Just Yesterday: An Al Stewart Retrospective

Laurie over at Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans did a post about Al Stewart in which she suggested that I do a post compiling the links to my Al Stewart concert reviews. On the off chance someone follows her link over here, here it is:

In MY SHOCKING CONFESSION!!!, I let the cat out of the bag regarding my unnatural fondness for Al Stewart's music. And then I proceeded to post reviews that I'd written of some of Al's past shows, like Al Stewart: May 26, 2001, Austin, Texas, and Al Stewart: September 2002, Austin, Texas, and Al Stewart: July 11, 2003, Houston, Texas. Then I felt the need to explain what I'd just posted in my aptly titled post, MY SHOCKING CONFESSION!!! explained. And then a few months later, I saw a couple Al shows in Houston, and I wrote a few words about Al Stewart at the Mucky Duck, September 8, 2005, and Al Stewart at the Mucky Duck, September 9, 2005.

I've also done a few album reviews over the years, and I've decided to include them here in the interest of completeness. Those would be Time Passages Live, Live at the Roxy Los Angeles 1981, and Orange/Past Present Future/Modern Times.

Although I've never gotten around to reviewing them (hence the links to Amazon), Year of the Cat and Time Passages are both great albums, but anyone who was alive during the 1970s should already know that. There's not a bad track on either (although some fans find "Song on the Radio" on Time Passages to be too "commercial").

There are also couple lesser-known albums that I haven't gotten around to reviewing but that I highly recommend. One is Between the Wars, which Al once told me he thought was his best album. I tend to agree:



The other is A Beach Full of Shells, which came out just recently and is really really good:



Finally, anyone who's interested in going a bit deeper would do well to pick up a copy of Just Yesterday from Amazon's UK site. It really is an excellent set, and it contains a lot of good stuff from albums that have been out of print for years. The packaging is about as nice as I've seen too. It's in book form with 70 pages of pictures and text and pockets for the discs.



It's $90 on Amazon.com, or about $60+shipping from some of the other Amazon sellers, but the best way to get it is from Amazon.co.uk (which is where I got mine). For U.S. orders, the total with shipping and after deducting the VAT is £26.03, or just a little under $50. And apart from being cheaper, it's fun to get a package from overseas now and then.

If $50 seems like too much to spend on a set from a guy who hasn't had a hit since the 70s, there's a shorter two disc anthology called Piece of Yesterday: The Anthology that can be had for about $20 on Amazon, or a little less (even with overseas shipping) from Amazon.co.uk.

Time Passages Live

As the name implies, Time Passages Live is one of Al Stewart's live albums, although it is not, as the name suggests, a live version of his album Time Passages. It's not currently in print, but it appears in full in the highly recommended Just Yesterday box set. For some reason, at one time I felt a need to write a review of it on Amazon. Not much of a review really, but in the interest of completeness, I'm including it here anyway. I said something like this:

This is a CD release of a limited production 1978 promotional LP officially titled "The Live Radio Concert Album" and known among fans as "The Blue Album." It's an excellent performance recorded at the height of Stewart's commercial success. No fan should be without it.

The initial release of this CD had a misprint on the spine of the CD case-- it says "TTIME PASSAGES LIVE." BMG has apparently pulled these from the market causing availability problems.

The track list is: (1) On the Border; (2) Sirens of Titan; (3) Time Passages; (4) Roads to Moscow; (5) Life in Dark Water; (6) Valentina Way; (7) Year of the Cat; (8) Pink Panther Theme; and (9) Song on the Radio.

Live at the Roxy Los Angeles 1981

Live at the Roxy Los Angeles 1981 is one of Al Stewart's live albums. For some reason, at one time I felt a need to write a review of it on Amazon. And I said something like this:

Live at the Roxy comprises the live tracks from the three-quarters live Indian Summer LP. If you want the studio tracks from Indian Summer on CD, you have two choices, and they're both 24 Carrots. The U.S. Razor and Tie edition of 24 Carrots gives you three bonus tracks ("Indian Summer," "Pandora" and "Here in Angola"), while the U.K. EMI release has all five (adding "Delia's Gone and ""Princess Olivia"). Unfortunately, both versions of 24 Carrots are long out of print and can get pretty pricey.

Al Stewart recorded some truly great studio albums during the 1970s, but he was and is at his best live. And Live at the Roxy contains excellent live versions of all of Al Stewart's commercial hits plus a few others that didn't get played on the radio, but are nonetheless fine songs. The quality of the recordings is excellent and the performances are very lively and tend to surpass the original studio versions. "Running Man," "Soho (Needless to Say)," and "Roads to Moscow" are real standouts in this area.

The only flaw in this otherwise impeccable album is "Clarence Frogman Henry," which is a bit of a shaggy dog story that gives a bit of the flavor of the between-songs banter at Stewart's concerts, but unlike the songs, once you've heard it once, it ceases to be of any interest. But it's short and easy to skip, and the rest of the album is superb.

Orange/Past Present Future/Modern TImes

Orange/Past Present Future/Modern TImes

This is a budget priced collection of three of Al Stewart's lesser-known albums. For some reason, at one time I felt a need to write a review of it on Amazon. And I said something like this:

Disc one contains the complete "Orange" and "Past, Present & Future" LPs. Disc two starts with the "Swallow Wind" bonus track and then moves on to the complete "Modern Times" album. The only thing that you don't get with this set that you would get if you bought the CDs individually are two bonus tracks from the BGO release of Modern times--the single version of "News From Spain" and "Elvaston Place," which was the B side of "News from Spain." Since the album version of "News Form Spain is included on "Orange," you only give up one song by buying this set rather than the individual CDs, and that song isn't one that anyone is likely to miss.

The set comes nicely packaged with a booklet that contains the lyrics to all the songs, plus an essay about the three albums. I did not notice any difference in sound quality between this release and the other CD versions that I have heard. That may be because there is no difference, or it could just be me.

The three albums in this set represent a transitional between Al Stewart's early albums (collected in the set "To Whom It May Concern") with their folk-rock relationship angst and his more pop-oriented 70s hits "Year of the Cat" and "Time Passages." The albums included in this set are "Orange" (1972), "Past, Present & Future" (1973), and "Modern Times" (1975).

A lot of people think "Orange" is a great album. I am not among them. Fans of Stewart's early work would certainly like it.

A lot of people also think "Past, Present & Future" is a great album. I would have to agree, and it is the one that earns this set most of its stars. It is definitely among Stewart's best work.

"Modern Times" is a bit of a let down from "Past, Present & Future," but still a very good album with some very good songs. This was the first of three Al Stewart albums produced by Alan Parsons--the others being "Year of the Cat" and "Time Passages." It's not as good as the albums that would follow, but still a very respectable effort.

A Discordant Convergence

I've written a few posts in the past about about a particularly virulent strain of political science that goes by the name of "Global Warming." Like this one and this one and this one and this one.

And I've also posted something that touched on the unfortunate decline of MTV from its innovative and creative start into something so wretched that I can't bring myself to watch it long enough to form an adequate description. That would be this post.

So when I saw this, it was just too much to let pass without comment:

Former U.S. vice president Al Gore addresses the audience about global warming at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York August 31, 2006. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (UNITED STATES)

Could either possibly sink any lower?