Songs The Lord Taught Us

Time for another installment of, I'm not really surprised that's in your collection post. While this band is credited for furthering the Garage Punk and Psychobilly genre's, it's probably not a shock to see it in my collection of material.

The Cramps were credited with starting the Pyschobilly genre. A genre that's an odd mix of Punk, Garage Rock and Surf Rock blended together. Think a mix of early Surf Rock groups like Dick Dale, The Trashmen, and Link Wray meets early Punk rock. While the sound is relatively simple, in most cases the band used two Guitars and no Bass along with a minimalist drum sound, the band had a rather strong cult following. Formed in the early 70's by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the band along with other CBGB's mainstays paved the way for American Punk in the mid 70's. The band had a solid lineup by '76, but only managed to release a few independent singles, before releasing their debut 'Songs The Lord Taught Us' in '80. The band in '78 however did give a landmark free concert to the patients of The California State Mental Hospital in Napa CA. That show was filmed and later released. However here we'll focus on the debut album. For a debut record, 'Songs The Lord Taught Us' is very well done. You can see the years of work leading up to this effort. Songs like "I'm Cramped", "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" and "Fever" are classics on this record. The dual Guitars and minimal drumming give the record a simple yet rounded feel. It's doesn't hurt either that the album was produced by Alex Chilton either. The band would continue on through the late '00's before the untimely death of Lux Interior. The Cramps remain that hidden gem in the movement that was early American Punk. This is also the Deluxe Version of this record with some bonus tracks of The Original Mixes of a few tracks.

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Collective Soul

Taking it back to the 90's again for some more Alt Rock from a band that had major success and still somehow kept it together and are still around today. Forming in the outskirts of Atlanta Georgia, Collective Soul broke into the mainstream in the early part of the 90's. While the band has had success through the years, we'll focus on their second album, the self titled 'Collective Soul'.

The band gained attention with their first hit "Shine". The band was signed to Atlantic Records, who quickly polished up their Demo 'Hints Allegations And Things Left Unsaid'. "Shine" received a ton of Modern Rock and MTV airplay, so much so the band played Woodstock '94. By '95 the band released their self-titled second album, often referred to as 'The Blue Album'. The album would go on to spend 76 weeks on the Billboard 200 Charts and eventually go Triple Platinum. It remains the bands highest selling record to date. The album churned out several singles including "Gel", "December", "The World I Know" and "Smashing Young Man". The band toured in support of the album, even at one point opening for Van Halen. The band tried to ride the success of the album with their follow up 'Disciplined Breakdown' but the album didn't reach the critical success as the previous record. Despite the letdown the band continued on through the 90's and into the new decade writing and releasing new material. The self titled record for me marks the pinnacle of 90's Rock for me. It was radio and MTV friendly while still able to hold it's own with the non single tracks. So bring out the combat boots and flannel jackets and relive your glory days.

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I'm Your Man

Time to go North Of The Border to focus on what is arguably one of the most respected Canucks ever to walk among us. I speak of Leonard Cohen. There's not a lot Cohen hasn't accomplished in eighty years. A noted poet, artist, novelist and singer, Cohen has been releasing works in one form or another since the early 50's. We'll focus on his rather well rounded music career here for the time being.

Cohen may be best known for a song that he recorded in '84 but wasn't made famous until a decade later when Alt Rocker Jeff Buckley covered "Hallelujah". Chances are you've heard either the John Cale version or the late Buckley's version. In either case, Cohen's career received a boost from that track. For the time being we'll focus on Cohen's '88 release 'I'm Your Man'. The album marked a shift in Cohen's musical direction, turning away from a simplistic Folk Rock sound to a more Synth Pop sound. Despite the shift the album features many of Cohen's concert standards. The album opens with in fact a cover track, well sort of. Cohen originally penned the "First We Take Manhattan" for an off again, on again backup singer for his band, Jennifer Warnes. Her version was released two years prior and featured Stevie Ray Vaughn on Guitar. Jennifer of course would go on to have a hit of her own when she teamed up with Joe Cocker for the song, "Up Where We Belong". The track also would later be covered by the likes of College Rockers, R.E.M and given a Metal twist by Female Fronted Synth Metallers, Sirenia. Back to the album though, while the sound is quintessentially 80's at times, very Miami Vice like, which Cohen actually did appear on, still remains a quality record. After all it's Cohen's voice that makes the album. A solid album here and perhaps a good starting point for listeners new to Cohen.

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The Coasters

Time to go back to the early days of Rock n Roll and revisting some old R&B/Doo Wop for this post. While the name may not be familiar, you've undoubtedly have heard some of this groups music at one time or another. The Coasters were an early R&B/Doo Wop that had a string of hits in the late 50's and left a legacy on future artists and the genre.

Formed in the mid 50's, The Coasters were fueled by the songwriting and producing duo of Leiber and Stoller, who crafted humorous story types songs for the group. For proof look no further than the bands hits "Charlie Brown" and "Yakety Yak". The band got their first hit after moving from LA to New York. "Down In Mexico" was a hit in '56. Years later the track would resurface in Quentin Taratino's movie Death Proof. Fifty years later the song and the group were still be showcased. The band would continue recording a releasing a series of successful singles up through the 60's. However a lack of commercial success and lineup changes would ultimately do in the group in a sense. While the group remains together still today and occasionally performs, the legacy of The Coasters reaches far and wide. Artists like Leon Russell, Elvis, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The Grateful Dead, would all cover the group and cite the group as an influence. The Coasters also hold the distinction of being the first group inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in '87. So take a trip back in time to a simpler time and enjoy the styling of The Coasters with 'The Ultimate Coasters'.

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Once In A Blue Universe

Switching musical gears to some laid back Smooth Jazz/New Age for today's post. But fear not there is a Rock undertone to today's artist. Craig Chaquico has been making a name for himself since the early 70's. Getting his start towards the end of career of Jefferson Airplane and then helping start what would become Jefferson Starship and later Starship. And yes those are his guitar riffs in the infamously bad hit "We Built This City". We will overlook that for the time being and focus on his post Starship career.

After leaving Starship, Chaquico formed a short lived Hard Rock band called Big Bad Wolf, who released one self titled album in '98. But even prior to that he was releasing solo records as a Smooth Jazz/New Age artist. For this post we'll look at his '97 release 'Once In A Blue Universe'. Helped here by other Smooth Jazz icons like Dave Koz and Richard Elliott, this album is chock full of quality Smooth Jazz. Included here is a cover of the classic Traffic song "Feelin' Alright", which is a great take on the original. Outside of recording Chaquico has also contributed music to Movies and is a supporter of the American Music Therapy Association, which promotes the healing factors of music. This is one of those albums to break out after a long day or just on a day of doing nothing.

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Captain Beyond

Time to dive into the the vault and feature some Psychedelic/Progressive Rock, that while you may not be shocked to see in my collection, but may be shocked to see at all. Captain Beyond was at best a short lived, lineup plagued American/British Prog Rock band that had some potential in the mid 70's, before imploding after a mere three records.

Formed by ex Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans and former member of Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond released their self titled album in '72. A fairly short record at just over a half hour total, the album in broken up into two "suites". The songs flow seamlessly into each other without missing a beat. As a special treat for US audiences the album cover is meant to be viewed in 3-D.  The album was dedicated to late Allman Brothers member Duane Allman. While the album was short and sweet, it was a solid debut and showed promise from a supergroup of sorts. However after the release tensions rose and lineup changes began. The  band somehow got it together for a second album and a short US tour in '73, but was done again until another reform and album in '76. Singer Rod Evans would leave the music business for good after the second album. Evans still hasn't resurfaced to this day. The band again was done by '78. Twenty years passed before the band reformed again and began to tour again. Sadly original members Lee Dorman and Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt passed in '12 and '11 respectively. This left original drummer Bobby Caldwell as the only original member left and in '13 he pulled together new members and began touring again.

Captain Beyond for me remains one of those hidden gems in Rock. The band did get some Metal love with the Doom veteran band Pentagram covering "Dancing Madly Backwards" for a tribute record. In addition the side project of at the time former Mercyful Fate guitar duo, Hank Shermann and Michael Denner, Zoser Mez covered the Captain Beyond track "Mesmerization Eclipse" for their album 'Vizier Of Wasteland'. This is a great album for fans of Jethro Tull, King Crimson and The Moody Blues. Enjoy this hidden classic.

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Lucy

Time to once again throwback to the Grunge heavy days and focus on a band that got lumped into the Grunge movement and like most were quickly forgotten after two albums. Hailing from the Grunge capital of America, Seattle WA, Candlebox made a name for themselves with their debut self titled album in the early 90's and quickly became a regular name in the Grunge scene.

Formed in the early 90's, the band by '93 had released a multi million selling debut self titles album and were becoming the next big thing in Grunge. Candlebox was the first band with success on Madonna's Maverick Records label, which would later go on to sign acts like Alanis Morissette, The Prodigy, and The Deftones. Songs like "Far Behind" and "You" coupled with the distinct voice of frontman Kevin Martin made it easy for Grunge fans to get behind the band. The band would play at Woodstock '94 and even make regular appearances on The Late Show. And I'll be the first to admit, I dug "Far Behind", it was a solid song. I could go with the debut album here, instead I'm going with the follow up and perhaps the beginning of the end of the bands career. 'Lucy' was released in '95 and while it didn't quite make the same splash as the previous effort, the album still managed to go Gold. Led with the singles, "Simple Lessons" and "Understanding" the album wasn't without it's fair share of Radio/MTV airplay. However like most bands of the era, the band soon fell apart by the end of the decade. Citing label issues, the band dissolved in 2000, but again like most bands of the era, reformed in '06 and have been back at it releasing new material and touring. 'Lucy' may not be a great record to most, but for me it's a prime slice of overlooked Grunge.

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