JDIZZY's 365 # 192: Estranged

Estranged - Guns N' Roses (1991)

It's odd, but I think Axl led me to my love of progressive rock more than anyone else. Sure, I had been a Genesis fan for years, but in 1993 I didn't even know that Peter Gabriel had been in the group, let alone that they used to wrote songs about Giant Hogweeds. Yes and The Moody Blues had drifted across my periphery, but mainly through singles which compromised their true leanings. G N' R however, no matter how subliminally, showed me that longer songs with time signature and key changes were badass. Use Your Illusion I and II are never mentioned in the same "classic" breath as Appetite For Destruction. They are seen as overblown extensions of a bloated drug and ego-fueled band that jumped the proverbial shark on their sophomore studio releases. I mean..... there's truth to that. Who in their right mine today would release a double album as separate discs on the same day? Granted, Bruce Springsteen would copy the format a few months later with Human Touch and Lucky Town, but that was The Boss. What were these metal punks from LA thinking?
Umm, they were obviously using the old noodles quite well through the haze of substance abuse and power struggles. Never has a major label release been more ambitious in scope and depth. The most growth seen by this band previously was the rootsy sound of "Patience" on G N' R Lies. Here, almost every genre was touched on. Use Your Illusion I is a powerhouse which gave us "Don't Cry", "November Rain", "Coma" and "The Garden". But II? Good God, two is the greatest thing they ever put to wax, Appetite be damned. Never has a seventy minute disc flowed so smoothly from as many different genres as they explore here. "Yesterday", "14 Years", "Pretty Tied Up".... Hell, "Don't Cry" 's alternate lyrics are great. Then, nestled near the end of the album, is G N' R's own "Love Lies Bleeding". I never wanted to be a guitar god more then after hearing Slash's second solo on this 9 minute epic. "Estranged" is their greatest work on their greatest album. No one, not Axl, Slash, Duff, Larry, Curly...... will ever top this gem. For almost twenty years I have listened to this song, and never once winced at its length. Those nine minutes go by in an instant of poetry, musicality and grace.
I think I've rambled enough today. Let's hear this beast, and thank G N' R for letting us Gen X/Y cusp riders know that rock and roll could be so much more.

JDIZZY's 365 # 191: Fancy

Fancy - Bobbie Gentry (1970)

Bobbie Gentry could have rode the residuals of "Ode To Billie Joe" for the rest of her life and lived quite comfortably. Thankfully, she was more of an artist than that, and gave us this ode to prostitution three years later. It shows that she was no one hit wonder. She landed 11 songs on the billboard charts and 4 in the UK top 40!



Here comes Reba again with her wacky videos!

JDIZZY's 365 # 190: Crimson & Clover

Crimson & Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells (1968)

It must have been nice to be The Beatles, that's all I can think. No one would have thought in 1968 of editing "Hey Jude" down when it was played on the radio. Tommy James was not as lucky. His masterwork from his greatest album was rarely heard in its original form unless you owned the LP. It's quite a shame because the extended version makes much more sense than the single, letting the song build majestically with fuzz guitar, vocal hijinks and studio trickery until we arrive at the wah - wah sung ending, which fits so much better when heard as it was supposed to be. This album is available in a beautiful reissue, so pick it up for the full picture of some of the finest psych-pop ever produced.



Covers also tend to cut it short.

JDIZZY's 365 # 189: Four Women

Four Women - Nina Simone (1966)

Never has a song about race been so subtle, shocking and powerful all at once. We should expect no less from Miss Simone, who in her lifetime could make any composition her own, but took extra care to produce tremors with her original work. The finest jazz voice of all time? Let's just say she, Ella and Billie have a comfortable three way tie going on.



Jill Scott and Co. bring it quite well!

JDIZZY's 365 # 188: Husbands & Wives

Husbands & Wives - Roger Miller (1966)

Man, this guy could write a catchy ditty. It wasn't just Roger Miller's music that got you, it was his clever use of language as well. Like a country Cole Porter, Miller was one of the greatest artists of the sixties, before becoming a Rooster in Robin Hood in the seventies and scoring one of the finest musicals ever made in the eighties. This song captures perfectly these sentiments. Here Roger looks at divorce from an analytical standpoint, recognizing similar patterns that have led to the decline in marriages. Another classic of the western persuasion that I was lead to by Ringo Starr, no less.



On Neil Diamond's finest MCA album, he gave us a stirring rendition as well.

JDIZZY's 365 # 187: Watching The River Run

Watching The River Run - Loggins & Messina (1973)

Folk Rock magic from the king of 80's soundtracks and that guy from Poco. Loggins & Messina made five great studio albums of original material which are all worth searching out. "Footloose" just can't hold a candle to this!

JDIZZY's 365 # 186: Mr. Tanner

Mr. Tanner - Harry Chapin (1974)

Some songs stick with you from the moment you hear it. I have loved this heartbreaking character study since hearing it on Chapin's Gold Medal Collection in 1996. I would listen to that two disc set while playing Super Nintendo games with the sound turned down. This one made me stop playing Super Mario Land II and just listen. Harry's music has the power to do that over a body of work that has long been ignored in critical circles. Listen to this track, then go on the 'ol Amazon and purchase a used copy of the aforementioned compilation. It will make you stop whatever you are doing and listen too, I guarantee.