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Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I listened to Different Drum by Linda Ronstadt last month and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. “Simple Dreams” was recorded a few years later, but maybe it will be similar?

What I expected

Country, rock, country-rock, folk-rock.

What it was actually like

“Simple Dreams” had a bunch of covers, and Buddy Holly’s It’s So Easy was by far its best song, and the only one that I really liked at all – I thought Linda Ronstadt did a great job with it. Blue Bayou (Roy Orbison) and Tumbling Dice (Rolling Stones) were both all right, but nothing special. The rest of the record was quite boring.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Wabash Cannonball by Flatt & Scruggs (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

Wabash Cannonball by Flatt & Scruggs

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m a big Flatt & Scruggs fan (and am proud to have seen Earl Scruggs perform shortly before he died), and listen to the live record from their 1962 performance at Carnegie Hall more than almost any other record. I know the song Wabash Cannonball and it’s not really one of my favorites, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever listened to the “Wabash Cannonball” album.

What I expected

Bluegrass.

What it was actually like

I was extremely surprised at how little I enjoyed this record. Most bluegrass, and certainly most of the best bluegrass, is played at fast tempos – the whole genre is meant to be enjoyed at fast tempos – but this record had far more than its share of slower songs. I don’t mind a few, but to me, one of the great joys of bluegrass music is when the fiddle and banjo are on such a tear that I wonder how the mandolin and bass are managing to keep up the pace.

I also found it amusing that my father’s customary “G” was missing from the upper left corner of the front of this album; presumably he anticipated that nobody would bother stealing it.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me (anyone interested in trying out bluegrass should listen to Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall instead).

Clouds by Joni Mitchell (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

Clouds by Joni Mitchell

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I reviewed Miles of Aisles a month ago. I’ve never heard “Clouds” before.

What I expected

Folk.

What it was actually like

It was folk. I didn’t really like it. About “Miles of Aisles,” I wrote:

Ultimately I didn’t really like this record for the same reason that I don’t usually listen to Joni Mitchell: boring songs that exist to showcase a singer’s amazing vocal ability are… still boring songs.

From then to now and from that record to this one, nothing has changed to make me enjoy listening to Joni Mitchell any more.

Songs to Aging Children Come was instantly recognizable to me as the theme song of a radio program that my parents used to play when I was pretty young. It sounded like it could have used an overhaul by Joanna Newsom and her harp.

The best song on the record was Chelsea Morning. Both Sides Now was also good, and the self portrait on the album cover was slightly creepy.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Never A Dull Moment by Rod Stewart (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Never A Dull Moment
  • Artist name: Rod Stewart
  • Year: 1972
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Mercury
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned this record
  • Buy it:

Never A Dull Moment by Rod Stewart

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never been a fan of Rod Stewart, even though in high school I had a (female) physics teacher who looked just like him.

What I expected

Rod Stewart’s scratchy, unappealing voice.

What it was actually like

“Never A Dull Moment” is a bizarrely bold title for this record, as I counted more than a few dull moments on it. That said, for anyone who’s able to get past Rod Stewart’s abysmal singing voice, the music on this might be very appealing, with lots of great rock and blues-rock songs.

None of the songs stood out as particularly worse than the others, but I thought the most interesting was his cover of Sam Cooke’s Twistin’ The Night Away, a song that highlights Sam Cooke’s famously smooth and beautiful singing voice that is 180 degrees opposite from Rod Stewart’s. Cooke’s version is really all about his vocals, while Stewart’s version is a rock song and nearly stands on its own without vocals. If Cooke had lived, I wonder what his impression of it would have been.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Pearl by Janis Joplin (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Pearl
  • Artist name: Janis Joplin
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “DEMONSTRATION / Not For Sale” stamped on back
  • Buy it:

Pearl by Janis Joplin

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never been enough of a fan of Janis Joplin to listen to her music, but I definitely know her voice. Me and Bobby McGee and Mercedes Benz are the only songs I know on this record.

What I expected

Blues and blues rock with unforgettable vocals.

What it was actually like

As I remembered and expected, Janis Joplin’s songs are mostly vehicles to showcase her voice and vocal style, which is cool if you want to be impressed by someone’s ability to belt it out, but there’s a reason that I don’t listen to this sort of music very often.

Me and Bobby McGee was actually a much better song than I remembered. I have no idea why, but somehow it came to occupy the same space in my memory as Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World, a song so bad that it makes me want to stop listening to music altogether. Anyway, I would listen to it more frequently, but not the rest of this record.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me