20th Century Composers Arthur Fiedler With Boston Pops Orchestra

The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits

Johnny Rivers Home Grown

Tex Ritter High Noon

Tex Ritter The Friendly Voice of Tex Ritter

The Call Reconciled

Various Early Soul Gospel

Marty Robbins 20 Golden Memories

Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson

Rockpile Second’s Of Pleasure

Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson

Rockpile Second’s Of Pleasure

Johnny Rodriguez Reflecting

Johnny Rodriguez Country Classics

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20th Century Composers Arthur Fiedler With Boston Pops Orchestra

Arthur Fiedler was often dismissed for creating nothing but pop music, particularly when adapting popular songs or editing portions of the classical repertoire. However, with Fiedler’s direction, the Boston Pops reportedly made more recordings than any other orchestra worldwide, with sales exceeding $50 million.

This box set comprises three albums of music, including a handy booklet that provides a brief overview of the recordings. This was an enjoyable listen, particularly the first record. For a newbie to classical music, this recording would be a good place to start.

The Righteous Brothers Greatest Hits

Quoted from Rolling Stone magazine: “Neither actual brothers nor particularly righteous (one died of cocaine-connected heart failure), tenor singer Bobby Hatfield and sepulchral-voiced Bill Medley’s ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,’ an epic 1965 example of producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, remains one of radio’s most-played songs of all time.”

They were good, but when it comes to duets, give me The Everly Brothers or Simon & Garfunkel any day of the week over The Righteous Brothers.

Johnny Rivers Home Grown

Johnny Rivers rode a series of hits, including classics such as “Memphis,” “The Seventh Son“, and “Secret Agent Man“. Rivers had a total of nine top-ten hits and 17 top-forty hits on the US charts from 1964 to 1977. The ’70s included this album, Home Grown, which is a forgotten favourite of mine. Home Grown is an album that is more in the singer/songwriter genre than the rock songs that made him famous. Home Grown didn’t sell all that well, but was received favourably by critics and album reviewers, including me.

Tex Ritter High Noon

Tex Ritter The Friendly Voice of Tex Ritter

Tex Ritter is best taken in small doses. He is an excellent example of the country and western tear-jerker songs. While he was a box office hit in the ’40s and ’50s, he didn’t do much for my ears this week.

The Call Reconciled

“Filled with deep spiritual imagery, some aggressive rhythms and grooves and an amazing cast of extras that included Peter Gabriel, Kim Kerr (Simple Minds) and the legendary Robbie Robertson, Reconciled packed a punch that the predecessors lacked and only “Into the Woods” has come close to matching.”

-https://greatestchristianalbums.wordpress.com

Making a list of the all-time greatest of anything is a daunting task and one that will most surely draw the derision of others. I copied the above quote from the page devoted to their number 24 pick, Reconciled, by a band that I greatly admire, The Call. I’m not debating whether Reconciled is worthy of 24th place; I don’t know where I would place it if I were to make a list like this one. I won’t. Reconciled is an excellent album from an often overlooked and undervalued band. I will put it in my basement stereo and listen to it again. The previous listen was in the car with my wife on a long road trip. It gave us something to talk about, not that we needed it; we talk to each other easily.

Robbie Roberson – Robbie Robertson

Wow, talk about a loaded album. There is a who’s who of rock on this album. It’s no wonder I like it so much.

Wikipedia with Grammarly and Norman:

“Robbie Robertson is the solo debut album by Canadian rock musician Robbie Robertson, released in 1987. Although Robertson had been a professional musician since the late 1950s, notably as a founder and primary songwriter of The Band, this was his first solo album. Robbie Robertson won the Juno Award for “Album of the Year“, and producers Daniel Lanois and Robertson won the “Producer of the Year” Juno Award, both in 1989.

The album includes contributions from Rick Danko and Garth Hudson of The Band, as well as U2 and Peter Gabriel, both of whom had worked with Lanois. U2 was recording The Joshua Tree concurrently with the early stages of this album, and Gabriel had recorded So the previous year. U2’s contributions are heard in the song “Sweet Fire of Love“, a duet of sorts between Robertson and U2 lead singer Bono, and in “Testimony,” again featuring backing by U2. Gabriel’s contributions are heard on the song “Fallen Angel“, which was dedicated to Richard Manuel, Robertson’s former bandmate in The Band, and “Broken Arrow“, which reverberates with Gabriel’s signature Yamaha CP-80 electric piano. In addition, Tony Levin and Manu Katché, who were recording with Gabriel, are featured prominently on this record.” That is some heavy-duty backing band, which pays off with an excellent album. I have to listen to this album again; it has many nuances that are easily overlooked in a casual listen. I’ll pay more attention this time to what the guest artists are doing. I also enjoy listening to the instruments and how they are used, as well as paying attention to what the lyrics are saying, if anything. In conclusion, I loved this album in the ’70s and I love it today.

Rockpile – Seconds of Pleasure

Wikipedia with Grammarly and Norman:

Rockpile were a British rock band of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly, and power pop influences, they were a foundational influence on the new wave movement. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar), Nick Lowe (vocals, bass guitar), Billy Bremner (vocals, guitar) and Terry Williams(drums). I’m not sure if Rockpile qualifies as a supergroup; they must be awfully close if they aren’t already.

Rockpile recorded almost enough material for five studio albums, though only one (Seconds of Pleasure) was released under the Rockpile banner. Three other albums, Tracks on Wax 4, Repeat When Necessary, and Twangin’, were released as Dave Edmunds solo albums, and one more, Labour of Lust, was released as a Nick Lowe solo album. Scattered Rockpile tracks can also be found on a few other Lowe and Edmunds solo albums. Additionally, Rockpileserved as backing group on tracks recorded by Mickey Jupp in 1978 and Carlene Carter in 1980.

This record cover has something I haven’t seen on any other album: a list of touring dates and locations for the year the album was released, 1980. A quick Google search revealed a handful of other albums that featured touring information, none of which were in my collection, making Seconds of Pleasure the only one that had that information in my collection.

Johnny Rodriguez Reflecting

Johnny Rodriguez Country Classics

If you had asked me who Johnny Rodriguez was two days ago, I could not have given you an honest answer. I can give you an answer today, after listening to him and reading about him. He was a down-to-earth Country and Western artist who had the backing of several Nashville heavy hitters when I was a novice in the Outlaw Country bracket,  Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare. Rodriguez was one of country music’s most successful male artists in the 1970s, recording a string of hit songs, such as “You Always Come Back To Hurting Me,” “Desperado,” “Down on the Rio Grande“, and “Foolin‘.” He recorded six No. 1 country hits in his career. I enjoyed listening to his music this week, and I don’t know how I had overlooked him in the past.

In conclusion, this was another good week of good music. Highlights for me were Reconciled by The Call and Seconds of Pleasure by Rockpile. Both of these albums have given me pleasure and continue to do so. I have made good progress in the letter “R”, with some good uns coming up this week. Until then, happy listening, my friends.

Happy Birthday to my sister Wanda, who likes Elvis. The Presley one, not the Costello one.