306. James Brown: Live and Lowdown at the Apollo, Vol. 1
307. James Brown: Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
308. James Brown: I Got You (I Feel Good)
309. James Brown: Live at the Apollo, Vol. 2
310. James Brown: Sex Machine
311. James Brown: There It Is
312. James Brown: Hot on the One
313. James Brown: I'm Real
314. Les Brown and His Band of Renown: The Beat of the Big Bands
315. Marion Brown: Duets
316. Miquel Brown: Symphony of Love
317. Clifford Brown and Max Roach: Pure Genius Volume One
318. Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris: Battle of the Blues
319. Sam Brown: Stop!
320. Jackson Browne: Saturate Before Using
321. Jackson Browne: For Everyman
322. Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky
323. Jackson Browne: Running on Empty
Mixworthy: "Never Can Say Goodbye," #311; "Sentimental Journey," #314; "Doctor My
Eyes," #320; "Late for the Sky," #322.
So there's a James Brown song I can salvage after all--I forgot about There It Is,
his doleful contribution to what I count as soul music's greatest three or four-
year run ever, the neoclassical period of the early '70s. (In the age of trip-step
and dub-hop and post-grimeist, genre names are an endless source of amusement; I've
always felt comfortable using Vince Aletti's simple, almost elegant "neoclassical
soul," however.) I like "King Heroin," too. But placed alongside Les Brown fronting
Doris Day and two Jackson Browne songs, I still don't think I'll be guest-editing
an issue of Vibe anytime soon...Late for the Sky was one of my favourite albums
round about grade 12. I'd listen to it over and over again, almost always side one
(it would be more accurate to say it was one of my favourite half-albums). I don't
think my attachment had anything to do with Taxi Driver, which uses the title song
in that strange, numbing scene where Travis watches "American Bandstand" before
accidentally kicking over the TV--my most important encounter with Scorsese's film
wouldn't take place until the fall of my first year at university. (And yet, I'm
almost positive I bought Kris Kristofferson's The Silver Tongued Devil and I,
another album I strongly associate with Taxi Driver, before entering university...
the timeline's very blurry.) I know Late for the Sky's great cover art had some-
thing to do with it; even today, its twilight shot of the vintage car parked out
front of the suburban house, possibly meant to suggest the teenage Jackson Browne
picking up his prom date, evokes a certain mood that's very much in line with what
I loved about that first side. Cover art definitely mattered then.
___________________________________________________________________________
324. Sharon Bryant: Here I Am
325. The Peabo Bryson Collection
326. Tim Buckley: Goodbye and Hello
327. Harold Budd: The Pavilion of Dreams
328. Harold Budd: The White Arcades
329. Bebe Buell: Covers Girl
330. Buffalo Springfield: Last Time Around
331. Buffalo Springfield
332. The Beat of the Solomon Burke
333. Solomon Burke: "Silent Night" 12-inch
334. T-Bone Burnett: Truth Decay
335. T-Bone Burnett: Trap Door
336. T-Bone Burnett: Proof Through the Night
337. Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio
338. Burning Spear: Live
339. Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue
Mixworthy: "For What It's Worth," "Go and Say Goodbye," "Out of My Mind," "Mr.
Soul," and "Rock 'n' Roll Woman," #331; "If You Need Me," #333; "Lonesome Train,"
#337. "Once I Was" and "Morning Glory" (#326) are old favourites from my sordid
singer-songwriter past, but I did a quick check, and Tim Buckley's voice is not
aging well. There's some borderline stuff on the T-Bone Burnett albums, too.
I've got five Buffalo Springfield songs; almost as many as the Beach Boys, four
more than James Brown. Yet when I found out driving home tonight that they were in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (to which Toronto's Q-107 is devoting a big theme
weekend, possibly tied to this year's inductions, I'm not sure), it struck me
as silly. Solomon Burke's in there too, and yes, that strikes me as even sillier
still. Steve Rubio has written a lot about this on his site, drawing parallels
with various inductees (and controversial near-misses) over at the Baseball HOF.
The Buffalo Springfield were a working band for what, three years? If you're the
Velvet Underground, that's not a problem. But the Buffalo Springfield's three
years produced one very famous song, "For What It's Worth" (extra points, I guess,
for being one of those default songs for any stock footage involving the Viet Nam
War or hippies being clubbed over the head), three albums (of which one, two, or
all three are highly regarded, depending upon who you consult), a couple of famous
ex-members (one over-qualified for induction on his own merits, the other not even
close), and, all told, maybe 15 or 20 good-to-great songs. Their long-range influ-
ence, apart from the over-qualified ex-member, is basically nil--the Eagles, Poco,
"Your Mama Don't Dance," and it gets worse from there. Personally, I like the Buf-
falo Springfield a lot; I could have added another two or three songs to the five
I've listed. Objectively speaking, however, the idea that they've been put on a
plane with James Brown (who, again, I have little use for personally) in terms of
achievement, influence, and either "peak value" or "career value" (baseball writer
Bill James's guiding barometers for HOF inclusion), well, I don't get it. And Sol-
omon Burke's case is non-existent to me. Next borderline HOF member who turns up,
maybe I'll run down the entire list of inductees and keep them in or cast them
out.
___________________________________________________________________________
340. Kate Bush: Lionheart
341. Kate Bush: The Whole Story
342. Billy Butler and the Enchanters: The Right Track
343. Jerry Butler: Sweet Sixteen
344. Butterfield Blues Band: East-West
345. The Butterfield Blues Band Live
346. Butthole Surfers
347. Butthole Surfers: Live PCPPEP
348. Butthole Surfers: Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac
349. Butthole Surfers: Cream Corn From the Socket of Davis
350. Butthole Surfers: Rembrandt Pussyhorse
351. Butthole Surfers: Hairway to Steven
352. Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady
353. Donald Byrd: Fuego
354. Donald Byrd: The Cat Walk
Mixworthy: "Cloudbusting," "The Man With the Child in His Eyes," and "Running Up
That Hill," #341; "Wichita Cathedral," #346; "Gary Floyd," #348; "American Woman,"
#350; "Orgasm Addict," "What Do I Get?" and "Harmony in My Head," #352. The Jerry
Butler album is an early-70s studio job, not a compilation; his best stuff comes up
later on the Impressions' Vintage Years. The collection from his brother's group
(#342) is pretty good standard-issue mid-sixties soul, but no one song title is
jumping out at me.
I revisited my early fascination with (and subsequent dismissal of) the Butthole
Surfers writing about "Pepper" in an old Radio On, so I won't repeat all of that
here. Suffice to say they were the ultimate curio from that era, a band that would
make no sense at any other time in history. I shouldn't be listing three songs by
them--the whole mixworthy idea has no real relevance in their case, as they weren't,
uh, a song band--but for old time's sake, I've picked off three of their poppier
numbers. Pigfuck nostalgia is a powerful thing...There's a story that goes along
with my acquisition of Paul Butterfield's East-West, but unfortunately I've forgot-
ten the key part of the story. I got it at a big storefront sale on Royal York Road
seven or eight summers ago. The owner was selling off her brother's record collec-
tion, everything a flat $4. Mostly jazz--I got a couple of fantastic old Django
Reinhardt albums, French imports from the '50s in perfect shape--with blues and a
bit of R&B scattered throughout. The brother, from upstate New York, had been in
a doo-wop group responsible for a well-known hit. I have the song somewhere in my
collection and know it very well. Can I remember it now? No...Any middle-aged male
who were to undertake a project like this would list at least one Kate Bush song.
I've got three--"Cloudbusting"'s an all-time favourite. But obviously the songs
aren't "The Whole Story" with her. The decision-making influence of the penis in
all walks of life, aesthetics included, can be a powerful thing, and in a manner
that was arty and demure enough that no one was going to mistake her for Madonna,
Kate Bush played around with that truism very effectively.
___________________________________________________________________________
355. Byrds: Preflyte
356. Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday
357. The Byrds Greatest Hits
358. The Notorious Byrd Brothers
359. Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
360. The Best of the Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II
361. Byrds: The Original Singles 1965-1967, Volume 1
362. Byrds: The Original Singles 1965-1967, Volume 2
363. Time Between: A Tribute to the Byrds
364. John Cale: Vintage Violence
365. John Cale and Terry Riley: The Church of Anthrax
366. John Cale: Paris 1919
367. John Cale: Fear
368. John Cale: Slow Dazzle
369. John Cale: Honi Soit
370. John Cale: Music for a New Society
Mixworthy: "You Showed Me" and "Here Without You," #355; "So You Want to Be a Rock
'n' Roll Star" and "Why," #356; "The Bells of Rhymney" and "Eight Miles High," #357;
"Goin' Back" and "Wasn't Born to Follow," #358; "She Don't Care About Time," #361;
"Lady Friend," #362; "Hanky Panky Nohow" and "Half Past France," #366; "Fear Is a
Man's Best Friend," #367.
I said earlier that only the Beatles and Neil Young would get 10 songs; the Byrds
get 10 too, and so will the Who and the Velvet Underground (choosing their 10 might
be the hardest call of all). I don't think I'll need 10 for Dylan or the Rolling
Stones. Again: with the most colossal of the colossuses at the upper end, I'm nar-
rowing the mixworthy list to my absolute favourites, else choosing a cut-off point
would be almost impossible. For more minor artists where the cut-off point is cry-
stal clear, I may list as many as three or four songs. The relative weight of A to
B is not therefore 10/4 or 10/3--the ratio is meaningless...I've definitely come to
rank the Byrds as only one step down from the Beatles: almost their equal in terms
of peak value (their mixworthy 10 versus the Beatles' 10), definite advantage to the
Beatles on career value. I've managed to fill in some gaps in my collection online,
but I don't think there's anything essential on Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn!
Turn!, or Fifth Dimension not already covered by the compilations...The Church of
Anthrax and Family's Music in a Doll's House are the sole examples of a highly spe-
cialized branch of cover art: "Tributes to the mise-en-scène of middle-period Jerry
Lewis."
___________________________________________________________________________
371. Calloway: All the Way
372. Cameo: "She's Strange" 12-inch
373. Cameo: "Word Up" 12-inch
374. Cameo: "Back and Forth" 12-inch
375. Cameo: Machismo
376. Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits
377. Camper Van Beethoven: Take the Skinheads Bowling
378. Camper Van Beethoven: II & III
379. Camper Van Beethoven
380. Can: Ege Bamyasi
381. Capris: Gotham Recording Stars
382. Capris: There's a Moon Out Tonight
383. Captain & Tennille: Love Will Keep Us Together
384. Captain Sky: Concerned Party #1
385. Irene Cara: Carasmatic
386. Eric Carmen
387. The Best of Eric Carmen
Mixworthy: "Wichita Lineman," #376; "Take the Skinheads Bowling" #377; "Circles,"
#378; "Good Guys & Bad Guys," #379; "There's a Moon Out Tonight," #361; "Love Will
Keep Us Together," #383. With regret, I've omitted Cameo's "Word Up." You still
hear it now and again on the radio, and it doesn't do a whole lot for me anymore.
The two Capris albums are by completely different groups--not as in the real Drift-
ers vs. the people playing Casinorama next month who are billing themselves as the
Drifters, but rather five white guys vs. four black guys and a black woman. The
black Capris came along a little earlier. One thing you can deduce from this oddity
is that lawyers and litigation weren't as omnipresent in the '50s as they are today.
But if the chronology had been reversed, I bet it wouldn't have mattered anyway--
the black Capris would have been the Five Ringtones or Rena and the Four Galahads
instead...The one reason I'm glad Michael Moore is around: Bowling for Columbine
reintroduced me to "Take the Skinheads Bowling," maybe the greatest thing to come
out of the '80s...Anyone like to buy a Can album? They're, like, really, really
influential!