Artist: The Rolling Stones
Song: “Plundered My Soul”
45 rpm / Bonus track from Exile On Main St.
Release Date: April 2010
Genre: Rock

HE SAID (DJ FATHERTIME):

“I hate quittin’ but I’m close to admittin’ I’m a sorry case.” And it took Jagger three verses into “Plundered My Soul” to tell us that. “Plundered My Soul” was supposedly a lost track / outtake from the original Exile sessions. But as information has seeped out and as Jagger hints throughout the song, was “Plundered My Soul” an actual gem from the Exile sessions?

No it wasn’t. Maybe it was a diamond in the rough, though.

What existed of the song was the basic lazy rhythm. There was no title. There were no vocals. There were no lyrics. There wasn’t even Mick Taylor. So Mick Jagger summoned Mick Taylor to the studio in 2009 and Mr. Taylor laid down some new rhythm tracks as well as new riffs. Jagger wrote the lyrics and sang them with Bob Clearmountain mixing it, trying to make it sound like the Mick of ’72. Now add Cindy Mizelle and Lisa Fischer singing background, and you have a new old Stones number.

Along with “Plundered” there are six other unreleased Stones numbers from the session included on the new Exile remaster as well as alternate takes of “Loving Cup” and “Soul Survivor.” But there is some public outcry that “Plunder” is fraudulent because of its limited lineage to the original sessions.

I say, “So what.”  It may have not been the best choice as a single to represent the re-issue. “Dancing In The Light” would’ve made more sense. Nonetheless, “Plundered My Soul” is a great song. One of the better tracks the Stones have recorded since Tattoo You. (And if I recall, Tattoo You included some “older” songs.) The song has Mick grappling with the identity of the number, the identity of the band and the identity of Exile On Main St.

Mick opens with, “Can you believe it? / I’ve won more medals in this love game /I’ve been resting on my laurels / I’m a bad loser / I’m a yard off my pace.” He’s openly admitting he’s been riding his fame and now he’s up against one of the most fabled records in rock history, and it’s his own. 38 years later he’s questioning can he ever hit that mark again.

“My indiscretions made a bad impression / Guess I was misunderstood.” Is this Mick projecting the backlash he’s going to get for messing with Exile or just a broader comment on his past. Either way, it’s a pealing away of the brashness of his character.

“Plunder” hints to Ronnie Wood’s recent backslide (“I heard some gossip, you’ve become an alcoholic, you’re dryin’ out./ So I phoned every clinic in the yellow pages, not a trace I found.”) Or is that a reference to Keith’s new direction?

Whatever it all means is open for interpretation, like great art is. It’s a song of self-reflection about a career in music. It’s an ode to Exile On Main St. It’s an anthem to rock and roll. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s the Rolling Stones, in all their newfound old glory.

Grade: A

SHE SAID (VERITY WELLS):

Exile’s exile.  Something has been plundered, to be sure.  Whether or not it’s Mr. Jagger’s by now splintered soul,  I cannot say with certainty.   I’ll ask him tomorrow at breakfast.  I love Exile On Main Street.  For all the reasons that rock historians love to rhapsodize about…Atmosphere. Lore. Soul. Murk. Mayhem. Excess & Exile.  Lots and lots of exile. It also has some of the most beautiful, life-preserving bridges ever erected in song.  Ever.  And it’s THE STONES!The flipping Rolling Stones.

I want to love this song.  I want to believe it could, some 38 years later, recapture that period of their lives for us to vicariously contemplate and get lost in.  Had they not gone into exile, they might have settled into semi-retirement writing songs about the bucolic joys of the countryside, replete with odes to their livestock.  Instead they finish off what is possibly the holy trinity of all their studio recordings.  The finest, most fully realized, most definitive Rolling Stones albums:  Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.  The previous were just them finding their feet after kicking off the boots of their heroes.  And a bunch of great songs, of course.  Plundered My Soul doesn’t inspire or transport and nor can it be expected to.   Technically this song should hold up and technically some of  the others on Exile should not.  But what makes Exile a wonder has nothing to do with such things.   It is another fine example of how the creative process can perform an alchemy of sorts when elements that can’t be charted are at play.

The opening guitar on Plundered My Soul is weak and sad, but it does fall into a more contagious rhythm as it goes along.   I like the splashiness of the cymbals and how the vocals almost lag behind them.   The piano should be higher in the mix, if you want to get all Jimmy Miller on it.   It is ultimately second rate, but better than anything they’ve done recently.  It is interesting to hear Mr. Jagger imitate his  70’s self, who was  imitating Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters…And yes, the lyrics reveal a more vulnerable Mr. Jagger than we’ve come to expect, but is this his attempt to write what he thinks the song and it’s inherent mythology demands?   Or something drawn from personal experience?  It’s hard to say.

Points for trying to keep it real and for the restraint and respect given it on the mixing board, which can be the cruelest of abattoirs.  Watch the excellent and fascinating Stones in Exile or read Robert Greenfield’s book on Exile or his more recent, A Day in the Life, for a glimpse into this period, both micro and macro (and macabre) , rather than a half baked song salvaged from it.

Grade: B-

Artist: The Bad Plus Joined by Wendy Lewis
Title: For All I Care
Label: 2009 Heads Up International Recordings
Release date: November 5th, 2009
Genre: Jazz

I remember working once at a music store with drummer Dave King and he said, “I have the worst taste in rock music.” Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far, Mr. King.

If you’re not familiar with King and his cohorts (Reid Anderson; bass, vocals, and, Ethan Iverson; piano, bells) in the jazz trio, The Bad Plus, they’ve earned a reputation for jazzing up some radio rock standards. On For All I Care they’ve added vocalist Wendy Lewis to augment the trio and their character.

In Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” Lewis sings,

“When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye.”

But when they turned to look it wasn’t gone and they did put their fingers on it. These are the melodies stuck in their heads from their past and this is how it is now processed.

Anderson underlying piano flourish during “Numb” is the equivalent of a morphine drip. During Nirvana’s “Lithium” intro, it starts as a rather straight read, until Anderson’s piano punctuates with dissonance. And Wendy Lewis’s shouts are primal releases playing off the non chalant delivery of the verses. Their combinations are disturbingly beautiful.

From Roger Miller to the Flaming Lips The Bad Plus venture into forays of discord, but always hold it all together. For All I Care should be the new benchmark for all jazz artists who attempt to cover rock songs.

A song like Heart’s “Barracuda” I never thought would work in a jazz arrangement, but it does. And even if King claims to have bad musical taste, “No right no wrong, you’re selling a song.” Selling and recreating the beasts.

Artist: Toots & The Maytals
Title: Flip & Twist
Label D&F Music 52722
Genre: Reggae

I love Toots and I’ll buy everything he puts out, with or without the Maytals. But this one, I have some regrets. The saddening aspect of this is that this CD could’ve been great by employing a horn section. Instead, we get a wash of outdated synth noise where the punch of brass should be. Toots still sounds great, the songs are good, sometimes better than good, but that synths just scream of budget cutting.

“Almighty Way” opens the CD with great promise. It’s a gospel driven number and Toots sounds sincere in his delivery.  Track two, “Perfect Lover,” another Toots original, is a warm authentic soul number. And when he finally kicks into a reggae beat, it’s on a cover of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, “Hope That We Can Be Together Soon,” featuring guest vocalist, Latoya Hall Downer. But then it appears, that awful synth sound where the horns should be. Why? Why? Why? And in the following track there’s a real sax augmenting the fake horns but it cannot hide what is really going on.

“Jungle” features cartoon sound effects and a sampled feline growl. It’s an attempt at club music and it’s corny as Hell. “Fool For You” has nice intentions but the arrangement lacks imagination and the the production on the background voices sounds tinny. “Bye Bye” is just plain strange. I’d like to hear a George Jones cover of that number.

“What Kind of Woman” reminds me of the same attempt Galactic did with Irma Thomas on the track “Heart of Steel.” The difference is, Irma’s works. “There Is A Reason” samples “Time Tough” and it works but good luck getting through the remaining four numbers.

Stylistically, it’s all over the board, from club to disco to gospel to very little reggae. My recommendation is to download “Perfect Lover” and “There Is A Reason” and forget about the rest. Sorry Toots. I still love you, but this isn’t working.

Artist: Johnny Moeller
Title: BlooGaLoo!
Label: Severn Records 0049
Released: April 2010
Genre: Blues

Johnny Moeller was billed as the next guitar phenom by club owner, Clifford Antone. Fifteen years later, with a history of live dates with Gary Primich, Darrel Nulisch, Doyle Bramhall II, LouAnn Barton, Guy Forsyth and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Moeller has the credits but I wouldn’t say he’s a household name. His latest CD, Bloo Ga Loo! is his third solo album and it exhibits a very credible blues based effort.

What shines through most of all is the tasteful phrasing Moeller incorporates on his licks. It is evident that it is based in Texas blues, very prominent in the shuffles, but I wouldn’t pigeon-hole his style there. The stand out tracks, “Shufflin’ Around, “Theme From the One-Armed Swordsman” and the title track, are coincidentally all instrumentals. Johnny doesn’t claim to be a great blues singer and is best letting his guitar do the talking. He has enlisted a couple of guest vocals to boost the album, including Shawn Pittman, Kim Wilson and LouAnn Barton.

Pittman, like Moeller is better off with this mouth shut and his amp turned up, Kim Wilson professionally strolls through the numbers like he does on a T-Birds album. Barton has always seemed a little on the edge which isn’t always as professional, but it makes it a helluva lot more interesting. Moeller duet with her on “I’m Stuck On You”is the vocal highlight of the album until somebody decided to had a ton of reverb to Bartons closing lines? What the Hell was that?

And whose decision was it to add baby talk to Earl King’s classic, “Trick Bag.” That is unforgivable. And speaking of Mr. King, Barton sings on “Everybody’s Got To Cry Sometime,” a song King did in his early days under the name of Handsome Earl. If it’s on purpose or not in respect to early Earl King recordings, Moeller’s solo is slightly off-key in a couple of spots.

This patchwork of blues is held together by a strong rhythm section of bassist Steve Gomes and the anchor, drummer Rob Stupka. Matt Farrell’s keys are a good compliment, he too shows the ability to work within various blues styles. I like the band and it shows that the guest vocas aren’t necessary. I’d happily welcome an all-instrumental album by Moeller and his men.

Artist: Bobby Sheen
Title: The Bobby Sheen Anthology 1958-1975
Release Date: May 25, 2010
Label: Ace 1257
Genre: Doo Wop, R&B, Soul

Bobby Sheen is best known as one of the two lead vocalists for Phil Spector’s Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, the other being Darlene Love. It was Sheen’s lead that carried the funkiest rendition of “Zip-A-Dee Do-Dah” to date. His other shining moment with the Spector crew was on A Christmas Gift To You, singing lead on “The Bells of St. Mary.” The relationship with Spector goes back to when Phil was an A&R man for Liberty Records, cutting the single “How Many Nights (How Many Days),” a Clyde McPhatter influenced gem of early 60’s r&b, which is also included on this collection.

Sheen’s early days were spent in West Hollywood after moving from his home in St.Louis at the age of four. He grew up in an upper middle class African-American neighborhood, hanging out with the offspring of the Mills Brothers as well as Marilyn McCoo, later of the Fifth Dimension. Show business was his destiny.

It was in 1958  that Sheen entered the studio with a revamped version of the Robins. The Robins had scored a big hit with “There’s a Riot Going On” and the group splintered into the Coasters and the Robins, with the Coasters gaining greater success. The Robins were recording for Knight Records, a subsidiary of Liberty Records. Sheen’s first lead came on “A Little Bird Told Me” a  song very similar to Bobby Day’s hit, “Rockin’ Robin.” The single went nowhere and the Robins didn’t record again until 1960. It was a single named “Just Like That” written by Robin H.B. Barnum and two studio L.A. musicians Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzschke.

Searching for work, the Robins recorded under the pseudonym, The Ding Dongs for Johnny Otis, cutting the single, “Ding Dong (Saw Wood Mountain).” Sheen also made a few guest appearances in the studio with Marvin Spence of Marvin & Johnny fame as the “Johnny” half of the duo, lending his talents on “A Second Helping of Cherry Pie,” which is not included int his package.

Lavender Records was the Last and final stop for Sheen as a member of the Robins in 1961, recording two singles including a doo-wop rave up of “White Cliffs of Dover.” With no success there, Sheen relocated to New York City and signed with Liberty Records. It was during this time he contacted Marshall Leib of the Teddy Bears, an acquaintance he knew from Clover Studios in L.A. And thus, Marshall was in the Teddy Bears with Phil Spector and the relationship began.

Sheen was the constant member of Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans on the package tours, riding high on the success of their Spector-produced hits. Darlene Love and fellow Blue Jean, Fanita Jones went back to Los Angeles six weeks into the tour and Sheen remained with Blossom, Gloria Jones and Carolyn Willis. Charles Wright, later of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band was their guitarist. Meanwhile back in L.A., Spector cut sides with Darlene Love as a Crystal as a solo artist and also signed the Ronettes. With the exception of the release of the full-length Bob B. Soxx & The Blues album and Phil Spector’s Christmas Gift To You, the brand of Bob B. Soxx had come to an end.

To keep the money coming in, Bobby called upon members of the Robins and they regrouped as The Coasters, Mark II. Members of the original Coasters toured the East Coast and Mark II took on the West Coast. during this time, Sheen also focused on his solo career. He signed with Dimension Records, the Brill Building styled label that was the home of The Cookies, Little Eva and had crack songwriters, Gery Goffin & Carole King as well as Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. It was a Barry/Greenwich song “I Want You For My Baby” that Sheen recorded as well as a drenched-in-church version of the country standard, “My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You.”

But by 1965, Dimension folded and Sheen signed with Capitol Records. Capitol had the Beach Boys and the Beatles as their top priorities. Sheen cut what is now a northern soul favorite, “Dr. Love” b/w “Sweet Sweet Love,” with background vocals by the Blossoms and arranged by Gene Page, who had also worked with Dobie Gray, Solomon Burke and the Righteous Brothers. Sheen recorded a few more singles for Capitol but none of them had success mainly due to lack of promotion. He stayed busy keeping his association with Phil Spector, singing background on various sessions including Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High.”

After he left Capitol in 1968 he continued to perform with the Coasters and didn’t find himself back in the studio until 1972, this time landing in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Under the production guide of Clayton Ivey & Terry Woodford, they secured two singles with Warner Brothers, but like Capitol, the label did not promote the songs. Still working with Ivey and Woodford, they cut a single for the tiny Chelsea Label, a soul cum disco song, “Come On and Love Me” b/w the smoldering “Love Stealing.” Once again, the label did not push the single, this time for the reason of lack of funds.

That was the end of Sheen’s recording career. He did jingle work, did the theme song for a television series called, Out of This World, and started his own label, Salsa Picante. Sheen passed on in 2000, from complication of pneumonia. He left behind many hidden gems, all of great quality. An artist of this calibre should’ve gotten better promotion from his respective labels. But that’s an old story; one that’s much too common for the extraordinary talents of Bobby Sheen.

Why not an A? the CD dances all around his varied career, going from soul to doo wop and back again and the Chelsea sides are of lesser sound quality. A chronological presentation would have made more sense.

The Litany:

There’s an identity crisis happening with this band. There is an obvious amount of production minutia to make the piece sound idiosyncratic. The most obvious is the arena rock power chords contrasting with simple single finger synth riffs and pop hooks. There is a youthful buoyancy in the female singer’s delivery with some sweet nonsense syllables, reminiscent of the sixties girl group sound, but, she also wants to have the moxie of Chrissie Hynde. The trouble is the adolescent lyric don’t support the attitude. Instead it comes off sounding like junior high girl’s bathroom gossip. (Not that I was spying at that time.)

There is future promise in this band, but they have to decide which road to travel. Is it the one that sells out hockey arenas to fourteen-year old girls, or do they want to swagger through adulthood with pop sensibilities?

I’m guessing this is a sophomore effort with limited success off their first album. The prior record probably had better songs since it drew from years of playing live gigs. This offering sounds a forced, but they learned a few tricks in the studio.

I’d scrap the power chords, hang onto the hooks and spend more than ten minutes on the lyrics. The musicians sound smart as far as constructing a song, but they also have to recognize limits. They need to define themselves because they sound like they are stuck in puberty. If it all goes right, their voice will change.

Summary:

This song seems to be the most realized of all on the disc. It melds their influences well and contains the best lyrics fit for this power rock style. the percussive intro grabs your attention, the vocalist delivers the lyrics with believable attitude along with some great placement of pop harmonies. Unfortunately , after the instrumental break, the singer states with no acting skills, “Come on bitches.” Was this to get the “Oh she swore!” response from twelve year olds?

I’m assuming this is called “It’s a Killer Life.” Now it’s time for the show…this is more of the power chord / pop vocal contrast. There are some Ronnie Spector-like “Oh-Oh-Oh’s” that work but are borderline cartoonish. Not a bad song, but listening to it as an adult sounds like the Disney Channel with attitude.

Terrible choice of production gimmickry only matched by Rod Stewart’s “You’re In My Heart.” The sexy whistles and the lyrics, “You’re so hot tonight” makes her sound like a horny teenager.

Possible the best song on the album but unfortunately I just heard the previous song and am having trouble with the bands credibility.

Hey! We’re in the 80s! I hated the 80s. I’m hearing the guitar through a phase-shifter again. She sings, “Hey, this is strange.” No, that would be a compliment.

I’m losing interest. The lyrics include a line about wearing American Apparel. I think this song is called “Sugar.” I’d take saccharine and the cancer.

More reference to “bitches.” OMG! She dropped the F-bomb! She’s serious!

The delivery by our lead vocalist during the chorus is a nice nod to Debbie Harry. I like the line, “I thought you were meant to be the reason I dream at night / but now I’m losing sleep.” Nice pop song. I was almost ready to eject the disc.

Eeeeewwwwwwww! Like the Divinyls but worse.

Again the phase-shifter guitar. I think I might like this better if it was Cheap Trick covering an obscure Big Star song. This might stand well on a mix. The bad cuts on this CD are affecting my judgement on the better songs. My cohort, Ms. Verity Wells warned me of the Stockholm Syndrome. Don’t worry, it ain’t happening here.

Okay, I listened to Run DMC too, but I never pretended to be them.

Can’t it be over yet? I don’t want to hear about foreplay which what this song “Electricity” is about. Lyrically, this is clumsy teenage sex.

What? A ballad? She sings, “I’m caught like a cat in a box, clawing to escape.” Me too. For once we agree.

Diamonds & Studs on Amazon + iTunes

Artist: Broken Bells
Title: Broken Bells
Label: Columbia 55865
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Genre: Rock

Broken Bells is producer extraordinaire, Danger Mouse, and Shins’ vocalist, James Mercer. Their mutual admiration goes back to a meeting at a music festival in 2004, but they did not start collaborating on the project until late 2008. 

Danger Mouse has worked his production magic, lending his skilled hand to the likes of Sage Francis, Beck, The Black Keys, the Gorillaz, and was, along with Cee-Lo Green of Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley. He also won acclaims for his mash up of the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album into The Gray Album. With Mercer as his new muse, Broken Bells could be Danger Mouse’s greatest feat.

Mercer went beyond his usual stylings in melody and voice, to distance himself from the  Shins, to make Broken Bells as distinct project, a separate entity of its own. By being so daring, he did expose himself and pushes the limits of his range. It becomes more apparent as the album plays on and I found myself more interested in the production than the songs themselves.

There are some stellar songs on the album, in fact they stand very well on their own out of context from the whole piece. But, there isn’t enough variance in tempo. the album bogs down in the middle and I found myself disinterested.

When I went back and revisited the album, particularly track 7, “Citizen,” a song I nearly dismissed when listening to the completed work, I enjoyed it much more on its own. I has touches of a classic Bowie/Eno composition. At that realization, I thought I’d love to hear Bowie and Eno traipse through the number.

I had similar thoughts with “The Ghost Inside.” How would this song sound with as a Gnarls Barkley record with Cee-Lo singing.

I respect Danger Mouse. His studio trickery makes all his endeavors interesting enought to plop a twenty on the counter. But this recording makes me somehow wonder if his production is supposed to distract me from the overall quality of the songs on Broken Bells. The piece is worth repeated listenings, but I don’t know if I trust it.

Artist: Kings Go Forth
Title: The Outsiders Are Back
Label: Luaka Bop 90075
Release Date: April 20, 2010
Genre: Neo-Soul

Miss Sara from the KFAI’s Rockhouse pitched this disc to me with the preface, “These guys are out of Milwaukee. They’re supposed to be the next big thing to challenge Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.”

For a reason I can’t wholly explain to my satisfaction, internally I went to the defense of Ms. Jones. I’ve been a fan of Daptone records, but I’ve run hot and cold.  Admittedly, I’ll confess that Jones’ most current release, I Learned the Hard Way is my most preferred from her catalog, but I really don’t have a personal connection with her nor does her record strike a nostalgic sentimentality that I deemed holy.

So I’m envisioning this musical boxing match and I’m in Jones’ corner before the first round ever began.  I slipped the disc into the player and The Kings come out swinging.“One Day” opens like the instrumental second half to Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up.” This is Chicago Soul. Black Wolf, the lead singer and poet behind the lyrics of Kings Go Forth, lacks the richness in vocal timbre that Mayfield possessed, or even Cee-Lo Green for that matter. It wasn’t a knockout punch but it was a swing that connected, but it didn’t floor me.

Track two, “I Don’t Love You No More” is more of the same but better. It stepped a little further away from mimicry. It almost makes the first song unnecessary. If you can write a song that clearly displays an allegiance to a sound, why be so derivative in the previous number? “I Don’t Love You No More” is a superior reworking of “One Day.”

“You’re the One” glides into a smooth uptown groove, which exhibits another weapon in the Kings’ arsenal. The band gravitates toward an upper register three-part harmony, which I find is prevalent throughout the recording.

It is easy to recognize the band respects its influences; they are technically sound. Production values are high and that’s why “Don’t Take My Shadow” works so well. “Shadow” is a roundhouse punch of Philly disco with strings and a signature percussion break. The only thing missing is Teddy Pendergrass and a Sigma Sound credit. This is the killer cut.

But I still think Sharon Jones will withstand anything this band can dish out. The production is so tight that if the band has grit, it has been glossed over. If people deem Sharon Jones the Queen of Neo-Soul, the Kings are kings only in name.  They need to fight through a few more tours and recordings to get that match.