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Bad Girl Songs by Tony Kosinec (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Bad Girl Songs
  • Artist name: Tony Kosinec
  • Year: 1970
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics: clipped right corner
  • Buy it on Amazon: $8.00

Bad Girl Songs by Tony Kosinec

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have never heard of Tony Kosinec or this record.

What I expected

Maybe folk rock?

What it was actually like

Most of this record could best be described as folk rock, but it was also pretty jazzy, with most songs using jazz-style piano, and several using flute.

Medley: It’s Raining was the most piano-heavy and my least favorite, and it sounded like Faul McCartney at his worst.

Come And Go was my favorite, and was the most fun and lively, with simple vocals and the only track where it occurred to me that Tony Kosinec actually had a good singing voice.

Dinner Time was still folky, but much more blues influenced, and My Cat Ain’t Coming Back was more of a jazz rock song, but also pretty bad.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Get Closer by Linda Ronstadt (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Get Closer
  • Artist name: Linda Ronstadt
  • Year: 1982
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Asylum Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $3.99

Get Closer by Linda Ronstadt

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

This will be my seventh Linda Ronstadt record so far, and the latest chronologically. The previous six were:

What I expected

1980s style covers of popular songs.

What it was actually like

Mostly these songs were not good and I disliked them, but the second side was better than the first, and I still think that Linda Ronstadt has a great voice.

Easy for You to Say was especially bad, a clear case of easy listening at its most difficult.

People Gonna Talk was ok, but slightly Oompa Loompa.

Mr. Radio had more of a country sound and was fairly good.

Tell Him was a cover of this classic Exciters song that must have been in a dozen movies over the years. It was by far the best song on the record.

My Blue Tears with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris was not a great song, but Emmylou Harris is great and I thought she really elevated it.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

The Altered Nixon Speech by Richard Nixon (Vinyl record single review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Altered Nixon Speech
  • Artist name: Richard Nixon
  • Year: 1973
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: SRI
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Who owned it: my father
  • Buy it on Amazon: $19.79

The Altered Nixon Speech

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve heard a few Nixon speeches, but I’m not exactly sure which speech this will be.

What I expected

It’s a single that appears to have an altered version of a Nixon speech on side A, with the original version of the same speech on side B.

What it was actually like

I listened to side B (Original Material) first. It consisted of Richard Nixon denying any involvement in the Watergate break-in or the coverup of his cronies’ participation in it.

Side A (The Speech) was, as described, an altered version of Nixon’s actual statement, in which he was made to sound as if he knew about the Watergate break-in in advance, and authorized it, and is proud of breaking the law, &c, &c.

This must have been unbearably funny in 1973, but in 2022 we have deepfakes and so on, so I was not all that impressed.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

The Band (The Brown Album, 1969) by The Band (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Band (The Brown Album)
  • Group name: The Band
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Capitol Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned it
  • Buy it on Amazon: $33.96

The Band (The Brown Album, 1969) by The Band

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record before, but I expect to recognize a couple of its songs. I’ve previously reviewed one of the Band’s records, Stage Fright (1969), and I liked it.

What I expected

Country rock.

What it was actually like

I thought that I would enjoy this record, but I actually found it pretty boring, which was surprising and disappointing. Many of the songs seemed a little half baked, like they had come up with an idea for a song, but just hadn’t worked on it enough to record it.

Up on Cripple Creek, a blues rock song funky bass line, was one that I knew, and might have been the best on the record. Another that I knew was The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, a country rock song that was not as good as I remembered.

I liked the harmonica in Rockin’ Chair, and the tension in Look Out Cleveland that was produced by the contrast of the parts that were more upbeat with the other parts that had a darker tone. I also liked Rag Mama Rag, which was faster and had a country feel in a ragtime context.

I disliked Whispering Pines, which was slower, more wistful and piano-driven, and unsurprisingly I also didn’t care for the horns in Across the Great Divide.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Elton John Rock Hits Played By Kings Road (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Elton John Rock Hits Played By Kings Road
  • Group name: Kings Road
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Pickwick
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Who owned it: my mother was skeptical about the presence of this record in her and my father’s collection, but I think she was probably its owner.
  • Buy it on Amazon: $5.99

Elton John Rock Hits Played By Kings Road

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

This appears to be a cover record by a group called “Kings Road,” whose name immediately made me think of this high point of Israeli popular music[1][2]. I’ve never heard of it, but I have reviewed a bunch of Elton John records already:

What I expected

When reviewing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I wrote:

Overall, I was impressed at the level of rock-style electric guitar throughout the record, such as on Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – one doesn’t usually think of Elton John songs as being particularly guitar-heavy – but distressed at the amount of piano. I really think Elton John could have created much better music by focusing on a rock style and minimizing non-rock instrumentation.

So maybe “King’s Road” had the same idea and decided to show how much of a rocker Elton John could really be? I think there’s plenty of reason for optimism, as Elton John’s songs aren’t generally bad; they’re just consistently performed in a bad style.

What it was actually like

I would not exactly call myself an expert on the sound of Elton John, but for the most part, these songs sounded just like the regular Elton John versions of these songs.

Crocodile Rock was in an Oldies style, and I thought it was very good.

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, on the other hand, was pretty bad (when compared to the original – I’m not sure if Elton John ever covered it). The great thing about the Beatles song is that its sound almost sparkles, but this version was just kind of flat[3].

Though these were not exactly the rock reinterpretations of Elton John’s songs that I had hoped, they were at least some of his better songs.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References

References
↑1 It’s a very sad coincidence that Galit of “Gili and Galit” was killed in a car accident just two days before I wrote this review.
↑2 And whatever you do, do not watch the extremely bizarre and creepy hip hop version.
↑3 It really showed how talented the Beatles were as musicians, even when compared to rock bands who played their instruments extremely well.