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Running on Empty by Jackson Browne (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Running on Empty
  • Artist name: Jackson Browne
  • Year: 1977
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $39.99

Running on Empty by Jackson Browne

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have no familiarity with this record, but I’ve previously reviewed two others by Jackson Browne:

What I expected

The other two Jackson Browne records were folk rock and country rock, and I was not that impressed. This one appears to be a live record, so maybe I will enjoy it better.

What it was actually like

This was mostly a country rock record, and for the most part, although I could generally tell that the songs were recorded outside of a normal studio setting, they did not sound like songs recorded live at concerts, and generally had the “produced” sound that comes from a studio.

Undoubtedly, the best song by far on the record was the Stay cover, but that’s really because it’s just an incredible song, and everyone should just listen to The Zodiacs doing it.

The title track Running on Empty was not a bad song at all and I was pretty sure that I had heard it before. I liked the droning background sound.

Cocaine was acoustic and the guitar and vocals made it sound folk, but then the violin gave it a bit of a country sound, and to me, it did not really sound much like a song about cocaine, but fortunately Eric Clapton‘s is a banger, and the Grateful Dead’s Casey Jones also fits.

Rosie was mostly piano and was bad enough to be an Elton John song, but still sounded a little country.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

James Taylor (1968) (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: James Taylor
  • Artist name: James Taylor
  • Year: 1968
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Apple Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $32.50

James Taylor (1968)

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record, but I’ve previously reviewed two other James Taylor records:

What I expected

Maybe folk rock.

Also, the label is Apple Records and there’s a song on the record called Something in the Way She Moves, but the lyrics are included in the album and it’s not the same song as George Harrison’s song Something.

What it was actually like

I think I probably liked this record a little better than James Taylor’s others, but not much better.

One interesting thing about it was the extensive use of harpsichord and violin. Songs with harpsichord included Brighten Your Night With My Day and Taking It In, which had a good, lively tempo also. Violin songs included Knocking ‘Round the Zoo, Sunshine Sunshine and Carolina in My Mind.

Rainy Day Man was more of a normal folk rock song in the style that I had expected.

Something in the Way She Moves was 100% forgettable, so here is George Harrison performing his completely different song that only suggests a similarity.

Don’t Talk Now was a totally boring folk rock song with a repeating “nah nah nah” line, but did have great electric guitar in the background, especially towards the end.

Something’s Wrong sounded like it started with Greensleeves, but was otherwise bad. Night Owl sounded like a marching band song, with a horrible atonal horns part.

Circle Round the Sun was Taylor’s version of I Know You Rider, but I don’t know why anyone would choose his version over another.

The Blues Is Just a Bad Dream had an intro that sounded like a Moody Blues song, but turned into a pretty standard good blues song.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Hunky Dory by David Bowie (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Hunky Dory
  • Artist name: David Bowie
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: RCA Records
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • “APRS-5947-35-A3E” and “R” scratched into side 1 of LP
    • “APRS-5948-35-A21” and “R” scratched into side 2 of LP
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.99

Hunky Dory by David Bowie

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never really gotten into David Bowie at all and never listened to any of his records, but I do know the song Changes that’s the first track on this record, and expect to recognize one or two others, as well.

What I expected

Bowie changed his musical style a lot, so I’m not really sure what kind of music he was making in 1971. Maybe soft rock?

What it was actually like

There was a lot of piano in this record, and it reminded me of Elton John (not in a good way).

Changes was about as I remembered it, which is sort of a piano-driven lounge-inspired pop-rock pop. Its piano and vocal parts are pretty distinctive and I guess it’s representative of David Bowie to me. One thing I realized about it, listening to it now closely for the first time, was that it’s really just a chorus that’s repeated a few times, punctuated by some totally useless verses.

That pattern of a song having quite a strong chorus, but very weak verses, was repeated a few times throughout the record, such as on Oh! You Pretty Things and on Andy Warhol, which also was a generally good acoustic guitar folk rock song.

Eight Line Poem was essentially just rambling with some piano chords, and Quicksand was similarly meandering.

Kooks sounded like Faul’s granny shit, and Fill Your Heart was in that same category, and was also a bit Oompa-Loompa, and had some terrible saxophone.

Song for Bob Dylan did have some Dylan style vocals, but with too much piano, and also not enough melody. The Bewlay Brothers had a bit of that same vocal style as well.

Queen Bitch was almost proto-punk, and I thought it was the best on the record.

Besides Changes, the only other song I recognized was Life On Mars?, from this television series. It was a pretty bad song, and more or less had zero musical value.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Urban Cowboy soundtrack (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  • Artist name: Various artists, including Jimmy Buffett, the Charlie Daniels Band, the Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers and Boz Scaggs
  • Year: 1980
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $28.09

Urban Cowboy soundtrack

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have heard of the movie Urban Cowboy, but have not seen it. I recognize a bunch of the artists’ names from the soundtrack, but only a few of the song names.

What I expected

Country, country rock.

What it was actually like

Side One

Rock was the dominant sound of this side, but it was definitely country rock.

I liked All Night Long by Joe Walsh the best, as it was more of a hard rock song that had a strong electric blues influence, with a very good guitar riff.

Jimmy Buffett’s Hello Texas was a very solid country rock song, and I liked the honky tonk piano in Nine Tonight by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

Dan Fogelberg’s Times Like These was very over-produced, like the worst of 1980s rock, and it sounded like it used a drum machine.

Side Two

This side was more line dancing music than the first.

Mickey Gilley’s version of Stand By Me was kind of sad, and I don’t object at all to reinterpreting this classic song, but I do think that if someone wants to mess with it, then it needs to be really impressive not to be treated as crap, since the original is such a classic.

Cherokee Fiddle by Mickey Gilley had great fiddle and steel guitar solos and a very country sound, but terrible percussion.

I’ve always considered the Eagles Lyin’ Eyes a potentially great country rock song, but I’ve never much cared for the vocals in it – they just felt too smooth, like they did not have enough emotion for the song’s lyrics.

Could I Have This Dance by Anne Murray was country, but really slow and boring.

Side Three

I’m aware that there are people who really like The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels Band, but I have always found it to be a little bit silly and melodramatic, especially the rhyming couplets and almost spoken vocals.

Lookin’ for Love by Johnny Lee, on the other hand, is one that I’ve always liked, especially the good harmony.

The Gilley’s “Urban Cowboy” Band version of Orange Blossom Special/Hoedown was atrociously turned into Oompa Loompa music for no reason that I can discern, but even though they ruined the song, the fiddle solo was still great[1].

I didn’t care much for Bonnie Raitt’s Don’t It Make Ya Wanna Dance, which was very country and had some good fiddle, but was just not a good song overall, and sounded like it was made for country radio. I felt similarly about Here Comes the Hurt Again by Mickey Gilley, which was too whiny for my taste.

Side Four

I thought that Love the World Away by Kenny Rogers, an easy listening song, would certainly be the worst on the record, but that was until I heard Look What You’ve Done to Me by Boz Scaggs. That was in fact easily the record’s worst song and one of the worst I’ve ever heard. “Easy listening” would not even begin to describe it, but “soporific” does, and if I had been listening on a digital format, there’s a 100% chance that I would have skipped this song after 30 seconds or so.

Falling in Love for the Night by Charlie Daniels Band was weirdly trying for that same Caribbean sound that Loggins and Messina were attempting, and also was not good.

Darlin’ by Bonnie Raitt was much better, and thought that she nailed her version.

I also liked Hearts Against the Wind by Linda Ronstadt and J. D. Souther. It was slow for my taste, but an excellent song, and they did a very nice harmony.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References

References
↑1 Just listen to this version instead.

Greatest Hits, Etc. by Paul Simon (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Greatest Hits, Etc.
  • Artist name: Paul Simon
  • Year: 1977
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.99

Greatest Hits, Etc. by Paul Simon

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I haven’t heard this record before, but I’m familiar with about half of the songs on it by name. Other Paul Simon records I’ve reviewed:

What I expected

Paul Simon’s hits from after his collaboration with Art Garfunkel, and also some non-hits.

What it was actually like

I’ve always thought that Slip Slidin’ Away was basically a good melody and a good concept for a song, but that it just never came together right. I could imagine a more rock version that could be great, or a simpler, more stripped down version like this one, which is excellent, but the version on this record just had too much weird instrumentation and too many sound effects to be enjoyable.

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover was half a good song, and half crap easy listening, but the good part, which was the chorus, was excellent, and I especially loved the bass guitar. Stranded in a Limousine mostly wasn’t bad, and musically sounded like 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, but had some really bad saxophone to ruin it.

Duncan was a pretty good folk style song, and I liked the flutes, but also thought they were a little too much.

I still loved Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, but also still thought that this version was superior. If that wasn’t the best Paul Simon song, then Kodachrome might have been, and it’s probably his only song that I sing whenever I hear it [1].

I had forgotten about Mother and Child Reunion, but it was a pretty solid reggae song, and I liked it!

Take Me to the Mardi Gras didn’t sound like very much of a mardi gras song until the horns kicked in at the end, but I liked that part a lot (and here is a better mardi gras song).

Still Crazy After All These Years was terrible, slow and boring – and that was before the saxophone. It could have been the worst Paul Simon song. American Tune sounded too much like Bridge Over Troubled Water, the worst Simon and Garfunkel song.

Have a Good Time was also terrible, and its atrocious saxophone solo at the end made me want to barf.

Something So Right and I Do It for Your Love were both also easy listening crap.

Loves Me Like a Rock was soul style, but too corny to be good.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References

References
↑1 And in my freezer, I have a factory sealed brick of Kodachrome that expired the month I was born, and I’m waiting to shoot it… any decade now.