Love - Forever Changes Deluxe Edition

Love Forever Changes – Deluxe Edition 4 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

To quote Marty Balin, lead vocalist for the Jefferson Airplane/Starship, “’67 was heaven.” A generation of young musicians was asking questions about life and love in their music. The Beatles had launched the era of self-examination with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” their latest in a long line of masterpieces; Traffic, with wunderkind Steve Winwood, had made their debut with the eclectic “Mr. Fantasy;” Cream had revved up their image with “Disraeli Gears;” and the Lizard King’s mojo was rising with the release of The Doors’ first L.P. In San Francisco, a group of pessimists with the ironic name of “Love” was preparing to record their third and best known album, “Forever Changes,” a balance of flower power beauty and ominous dread.

Forty-one years later, listening to the acoustic/orchestral flavor of “Forever Changes” will still make you believe in magic. I recently stated in a review that some albums singled out for the deluxe 2CD treatment don’t deserve the attention. Ten hut! The deluxe edition of “Forever Changes” released by Rhino Records is a fitting tribute to an album that can still awe and inspire. It’s a reminder that the 60s wasn’t just bad acid, beads, and bongs; there were artists who’d lowered their rose colored glasses and were examining an unpopular war, racial injustice and sketchy politicians (sound familiar?).

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Posted June 17, 2008 Permalink

Steve Winwood - Nine Lives

Steve Winwood Nine Lives 3.5 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

Steve Winwood’s been making music for more than 45 years. He recently celebrated his 60th birthday. Do the math. The King of the keyboards had his first hit record when he was 15 years old! (Take that Britney Spears.) His new album, “Nine Lives,” a mixture of Afro, Cuban and rock, is another milestone in a legendary career that shows no signs of slowing down.

You know the resume. Barely out of his knickers, Steve and his older brother Muff joined the Spencer Davis Group in 1963. A child prodigy, Winwood played the Hammond B3 organ with the wizardry of Jimmy Smith, could pick the blues like Peter Green and throw down a bass run as thick as James Jamerson. But oh, that voice -- choir boy clarity mixed with Ray Charles grit and soul. With “Stevie” at the helm, the Spencer Davis Group racked up four top hits in the U.K., “Gimme Some Lovin’,” “Keep on Running,” “Somebody Help Me” and “I’m A Man,” the last song featuring Winwood’s future bandmates Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood’s party vocals in the background.

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Posted June 17, 2008 Permalink

Joe Cocker - Hymn for My Soul

Joe Cocker Hymn for My Soul 4 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

Joe Cocker’s 22nd studio album, “Hymn For My Soul,” makes ole sandy throat sound as fresh and vibrant as he did when he made his debut in 1969. One thing Cocker and his brain trust have always been good at is selecting outstanding material that suits his blast furnace emoting. For “Hymn For My Soul,” Cocker has cherry-picked material written by Lennon & McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Andy Fairweather-Low, Daniel Moore, John Fogerty and the Neville Brothers, among others.

Joe Cocker’s career has been comprised of a touch of luck, strokes of good timing and a heap of talent. Cocker’s abilities were touted by Mike Harrison of Spooky Tooth, who used Joe as a back up singer on the rock gospel shout out “Feelin’ Bad” on “Spooky Two.” (And why not, the two sound very much alike.) Like Harrison, Cocker was a student of Ray Charles and American R & B and had a talent for taking a song and making it his own. For his debut album, 1969’s “With A Little Help From My Friends,” Cocker was given access to the best studio musicians, including Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page, Procol Harum’s Matthew Fisher and B.J. Wilson, and in a stroke of irony, Spooky Tooth members Mike Kellie and Chris Stainton were also asked to participate. Cocker did a high profile gig at the original “Woodstock,” then teamed up with keyboard impresario Leon Russell, who arranged his self-titled second album and assembled a 30-member touring band appropriately referred to as “Mad Dogs & Englishmen.” Cocker joked he earned a little over $10 after the small army of singers and roadies were paid, but the die was cast. With his arms flailing as if in the thrall of an epileptic seizure, Joe Cocker became a rock icon barely a year after his debut album was released.

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Posted June 17, 2008 Permalink

Carly Simon - This Kind of Love

Carly Simon This Kind of Love 3 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

It’s hard to believe Carly Simon is 62 and is releasing her 24th album. In the dark recesses of what’s left of my mind, she’s still that provocative, carefree hippy chick who released a series of clever, semi-autobiographical hits in the early 70s, including “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” “Anticipation,” “The Right Thing To Do,” and “You’re So Vain.” Simon’s album covers remained great eye candy for years afterward, but she lost me in the 80s when her career was revitalized by “Coming Around Again.” “This Kind of Love” is her first album of new material in eight years. (Her last album, 2007’s “Into White” mixed standards with covers by Simon and Garfunkle, former husband James Taylor, and Cat Stevens, who penned the title track.) For her latest, Simon collaborated with composer Jimmy Webb, one of most celebrated composers in pop music, whose luxurious string arrangements for Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” and Richard Harris’ “MacArthur Park” made them orchestrated eargasms.

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Posted April 30, 2008 Permalink