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WILLIE NELSON
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JONES GANG Any Day Now (AAO)
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WIGWAM Some Several Moons (Major Léiden)
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THE ELECTRIC PRUNES California (Prune Twang)
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COODER Chávez Ravine (Nonesuch)
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With
his chameleon like musical personality, Willie Nelson could sing old
Jewish folk songs and it would sound great! Instead, with it’s
ganja leaf cover art, Countryman features Willie and a solid
band offering up a unique reggae-flavored country pop blend that’s
simply irresistible. Actually, the Countryman set dates back
to a shelved late ‘90s album slated for release on Island. Fast
forward to 2004 when the album was finally mixed and the net catch is
a CD long time Willie watchers and newbies will dig. As usual Nelson’s
guitar work is rock solid and abetted with top producer Don Was,
Willie aligns well with a solid crew including a number of guitarists,
including Robby Turner (steel guitar, dobro) Dan Bosworth
and co-producer Richard Feldman. On this funky collision
of country, reggae, soul and hillbilly music, Willie spins his tales
of good lovin’ gone bad and his voice still has that of so effective
tone. Countryman is better therapy than drowning heartaches in
your beer! Let’s hope Willie gets some top grade organically grown
sweet leaf for his next birthday! Willie watchers will want to check
out a pair of recent DVDs. A 103 minute DVD released by Eagle Vision,
Outlaws And Angels finds the country rock legend in concert
with friends in L.A. in 2004, appearing alongside Keith Richards,
Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Toby Keith, Carole
King, Joe Walsh, narration by James Caan and more.
The 2005 2+ hour DVD release of Songs For Tsunami Relief was
organized by Willie and features him rocking out in concert performing
some of his greatest hits on Sunday January 9 2005 with Patty Griffin,
Lukas Nelson, Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo and more
on Nelson’s charity drive from Austin To South Asia... 
Celebrating
35 years of great music, Songs From Tsongas: Yes 35th Anniversary
Concert features the core Yes lineup of Jon Anderson,
Alan White, Steve Howe, Chris Squire & Rick
Wakeman live in concert performing an array of fabled songs
from the band’s repertoire. Filmed live in concert in May 2004,
the double disc, 3 hour set on Image Entertainment, is broken
into two distinct parts. DVD one rocks out with some rarely heard Yes
concert pieces such as “Sweet Dreams” (from Time &
A Word) and “Mind Drive (Parts 1, 2 &3)” from their
unjustly maligned mid ‘90s CD Keys To Ascension. The second
DVD features acoustic Yes performing nearly unplugged versions of “Wondrous
Stories”, “Time Is Time”, a jazzy, bluesy version of
“Roundabout” and Howe’s solo piece “Second Initial”,
played during a stage adjustment. Following Howe’s solo piece,
electric Yes returns for more prog-rock classics including “And
You And I”, “Rhythm Of Love”, “Ritual” (from
Topographic Oceans), “Every Little Thing” (from their
‘69 Yes debut), before closing things out with “Starship
Trooper.” Expertly filmed and superbly packaged with prominent
Roger Dean graphics—with bonus tracks including extensive
interviews—Songs From Tsongas is the ultimate concert DVD
package from the band that originated progressive rock. 
Assisted
by his former band mates in The Small Faces—Ian MacLagan and
from The Faces, Ronnie Wood (Woody also designed the cover art)—drumming
ace Kenny Jones revives the pop sound he helped to pioneer in
the ‘60s. The song “Mr. Hart” would have made a perfect
paisley pop Small Faces hit—I can just picture Steve Marriott and
tearing it apart. Commanding this first Jones Gang CD, Jones is ably
assisted by bassist Rick Wills and singer Robert Hart,
who belts it out in the spirit of Faces singer Rod Stewart. With
the Gang’s guest guitarists including Wood, Dave “Buckett”
Colwell, Gary Grainger and Richie Barrett, Jones
Gang gets it right more often than not on a CD that rekindles the best
elements of ‘60s Brit-pop and early ‘70s stadium rock. 
Moving
to Helsinki from London back in the mid ‘60s, Jim Pembroke
became situated as one of a select few of first class U.K. rockers to
move their talents to the continent. Pembroke’s amazing songs,
vocals, lyrics and production has graced many fine rock records to come
out of Finland and even Sweden. Now 35 years after his early recordings
with Blues Section and Wigwam, Pembroke & Co. have recorded and
released another brilliant new studio album in 2005. Entitled Some
Several Moons, the eleven track CD keeps that patented
Wigwam album from their Love and Virgin records years. One song in particular
entitled “Deep Pop (Before The Only One Comes)” is among the
most effective songs among the many great ones Jimbo’s written
in 30 years. Not enough can be said of the great guitar work from Jim’s
long time Wigwam bandmate and song co-writing partner, Pekka “Rekku”
Rechardt not to mention a top performance from original Wigwam bassist
Mats Hulden. Also in this 2005 lineup is drummer... and the great
Finnish New Age keyboardist and composer Esa Kotalainen, who
rocks on with Jimbo and the boys. Killer cover art from Cady Pembroke
tags this art as kind of a laid back set ranging from sonic prog-pop
to a more country inspired Dylan & The Band kind of vibe that Pembroke
excels in. Maybe one day Wigwam’s deep pop will find the
wider audience they deserve, though time is running out. 
I
can remember grooving to “I Had Too Much To Dream”—the
great ‘60s hit single from The Electric Prunes. Lo and behold,
three decades later the original band has reformed for a 2004 studio
CD called California - A Sonic Landscape. Described
as containing ‘13 new intellectual tunes designed for stimulation,
a snootful of tremolo, fuzz beyond fuzz and all,’ California
is a brilliant return to form from a band that became synonymous
with late ‘60s psychedelia. Featuring album concept and production
from original Prunes’ James Lowe (vocals) and Mark Tulin
(bass) (and a guest appearance from Peter Lewis of Moby Grape),
California also features original lead guitarist Ken Williams.
Featuring a stunning selection of whirling, studio wizardry—complete
with ultra-psychedelic cover art—California will make you
tune in, turn on and drop out! For a vintage reminder of the Prunes
power as a live group check out their critically acclaimed reissue CD
on Byrdman Records entitled Stockholm ‘67,
featuring the great “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)”.
I
don’t speak the Spanish lingo well, but Ry Cooder’s 2005 CD,
Chávez Ravine is filled with the greatness that made him
such an icon of the electric guitar. For among the several English vocals,
Cooder and company tackles the 1962 Beatles chestnut “Three Cool
Cats”, which was actually written in 1953 by Leiber / Stoller and
is also associated with L.A. jazz pianist Hampton Hawes. A great crew
assist Cooder on his Spanish and World Beat music flavored set including
George Harrison’s drummer of choice Jim Keltner, Cooder’s
son Joachim Cooder, Hawaiian guitarist Led Kaapana and
vocalist Little Willie G. and his great singing on “3 Cool
Cats”. All kinds of outside pop culture eclectica like that abounds
throughout Cooder’s latest treasure chest of Latino pop-rock magic.
