Music & More

Photo: Lineage Tree Care Seasons Greetings and thank you for reading about the new Christmas releases that are worth your time this season. The one thing we know is that if you wait 'till after Thanksgiving to play Christmas music, or even if you don't, one thing is true; there isn't hardly enough time to listen to all the good stuff before December 25th rolls around.  If you're anything like me, you don't want to hear Christmas music in the days immediately following the big day, with one exception: I have a playlist to run during the tree takedown day. And, believe me, that playlist is a real humdinger. Let's just say that one of the highlights of that list is an album called Merry Texas Christmas Y'all by Asleep at the Wheel, especially the track "Xmas in Jail." That album also has classics like "Pretty Paper" by Willie Nelson and it strikes just the right tone for such a day whether it be January 1st or 21st.  Back to my original poin...

  Photo: Ten Years After This week's batch of new releases was interesting, to say the least, but aren't they all. Amongst what came out on Friday, August 16th, I pulled out a few albums to listen to. These included new albums by Devon Allman, Ray LaMontagne and Charly Bliss, among others. But, the album that rose to the top of my list to listen to first was a live album recorded almost exactly 55 years ago in August 1969 by Ten Years After at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. Full Disclosure: I have been all about all things Woodstock ever since missing the festival because (at the time) I was not quite old enough to drive.  However,  I was right there when the movie opened in 1970. Not only was the Woodstock documentary movie so well made that it was easy to feel like you'd been there, but two of the most amazing performances in the movie were those by The Who and Ten Years After. The arrangements for the festival have been well documented, but of all the things th...

  Courtesy of The Police Listening to Synchronicity by The Police from their newly released 40th anniversary box set, I was immediately struck by how excellent this album was, and still is. The first CD in the box contains the original remastered album plus the B-side , " Murder By Numbers,"  that arguably should have been on the original LP.  The great songs come at you one after another and they're almost as familiar to fans as the Beatles catalog. For example, just look at the lineup of songs from Side 2:  "Every Breath You Take" is followed by " King Of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger,"   and  "Tea In The Sahara." With all but two songs  on  Synchronicity  credited only to Sting , any consideration of Sting's best work should include this album alongside his solo work.  Synchronicity was the fifth and final album released by The Police before the three principle musicians went their separate ways. For the purpose of thi...