Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Derek Trucks Band - BBC Radio 2 (2006)



Last one up in May, this recording is just like the rest of this month: short and sweet. For those of you unfamiliar with The Derek Trucks Band: Derek Trucks is Butch's nephew and plays guitar with The Allman Brothers Band. On his own it's a slightly different story. Here Derek explores the boundaries of soul, jazz, funk, fusion. But it's got southern rock sauce on it, don't you worry.
This is a four song session, played live in the studio for BBC Radio 2.
Can you hear the sun?

Recommendation of the month


Alright, this time I would like to suggest to you all to play some Les Dudek. Or maybe buy some of his cd's. Les Dudek's cd's all are rather funky affairs. Like Les' debut album with the wonderful parrot cover.


But things really started cooking on Les' third outing, Ghost Town Parade. Truly one of southern rock's finest offerings.


On Gypsy Ride Les toughened up even more. Alle Les Dudek is very funky and has great guitar playing a plenty. These records have all been released on Wounded Bird Records, and are easily available.


The sun is shining. Get a tan!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Then...Again...Live! (2004)



Another XM Satellite Radio broadcast. This time the 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up gives it a go at recreating their debut album (pronounced'leh-'nérd'skin-'nérd) live in the studio.
I'm not too wild about the 'new' Skynrd, but this I really love. Instead of their calculated southern boogie, here they really live music again. Like the band sounded with Ronnie, like friends. And for friends, not for marketing purpose!
I'm really not sure at all where I got both this show and the ABB show from. I think it was someone I found on DC++ hubs. Anyway, thanks to the one who made these available to begin with.
Cheers!

Please note: there are some encoding issues in the first half of Simple Man. It lasts approx. 10 seconds. Otherwise it's fine.

Allman And Woman - Two The Hard Way (1977)



Gregg Allman married Cher and obviously had to make an album with his new wife. It was something else... Mocked and ridiculed by the press at that time, but how do we feel about it now?
I've always liked this album. Sure it's slick, it's sugary sweet and has nothing to do whatsoever with The Allman Brothers Band. It's soul with a bit of rock, some funk and really nice vocals. Look, I'm no Cher fan, but she pulls this off quite nicely. And I even enjoy their vocals together. They match to my ears. These are the kind of songs I would want to sing with my wife!
This is the 128 kbps version. I also had the 320 kbps version (that's circulating in a Gregg Allman discography torrent), but this one definitely sounds far better. It's only love...

Atlanta Rhythm Section - Sleep With One Eye Open (1982)



I thought this was a true find. It's the follow-up to Quinella, but it was never released. These are great sounding studio recordings! So how cool is this?
Anyway, besides its curiosity, this is a really nice album too. If you were hoping to something similar to Quinella, you're in luck. Quinella is one of my favorite ARS albums (I felt it sounded a lot more livelier than their other studio outings), and this makes for a nice pair. And boy, do I like a nice pair!