Hugs and Misses by Stephen Louis Hug Rosenbum’s Gin by TJ McFarland (Explosive Records)—This is a cool record from a relatively new guy on the scene who deserves a hearing. He’s out of Oklahoma but is based in California these days. In an email interview he wrote that he and his producers were trying “to create a record that would be somewhere between (the Rolling Stones’) Exile on Main Street and (Bob Dylan’s) Blonde on Blonde musically…the result was probably more Grateful Dead.” I didn’t hear Dead, but definitely Stones and Dylan. Anyway, what caught my eye and made me pick up the CD was the fact that guitar guy Waddy Watchel is on the record. Watchel has played with the likes of Randy Newman, Stevie Nicks and Warren Zevon (he was one of the writers of the great Werewolves of London song). “Waddy was brought in by Pride Hutchison, one of the producers. Pride has worked with Waddy on projects in the past and thought Waddy the perfect fit for the type of record we were making,” wrote TJ. For you purists, TJ sort of wrote the title track with Vassar Clements, utilizing a previously written Clements’ piece. “It’s a haunting tune…When I beganconceptualizing and writing thelyrics for Rosenbum’s GinI chose Vassar’s melody for the choruses of the song. Vassar was pleased with the result and gave his blessing not long before his battle with cancer began to take its toll earlier this year.” 3 ¼ bottle caps, a pretty darn good record. He’ll be playing in Texas, Oklahoma, California, Louisiana and Tennessee over the next months, which means I won’t get a chance to see him, since I’m up in the frosty Northeast. But maybe you will! Thanksgiving Day by Ray Davies (V2 Records)—While Ray Davies and his fellow Kinks were part of the 1960s British Invasion, I felt it appropriate to do a write up on this recording (which is an EP, and will be part of a full CD coming out next year) because of the influence Ray’s songwriting has had on musicians for decades (plus I’m a diehard Kinks fan). In case you don’t know, the Kinks were the ones who did the songs Lola, You Really Got Me (covered by Van Halen), Sunny Afternoon (covered by Jimmy Buffet), and Stop Your Sobbing (covered by the Pretenders). They also dabbled in country sounds long before country was cool (check out their Muswell Hillbillies album from 1971). Ray released this EP to raise funds for music education programs in New Orleans, where he was shot in the leg chasing a thief a couple years back. The title track will probably become a Thanksgiving standard for some radio stations—much like the Kinks’ Father Christmas became a holiday must at rock stations—and the other three songs will delight those who enjoy tunes with poignant commentary that make you want to tap your feet anyway. This CD is probably at your local record store, since Sony is handling distribution, so you might want to pick it up to help the folks in New Orleans at the very least. No rating because this is a benefit recording, but don’t expect to find another “Kinks Klassic” on it; still, it’s a load of fun and will pull on your heartstrings and make you think at the same time. God Save the Kinks!
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