Things are starting to get really good. This is the most fun post so far by far.
T-139. Boz Skaggs (72 points)
Total number of songs: 20
Average song score: 2.5
# of 5-point songs: 1 (Loan Me a Dime)
# of 4-point songs: 2 (Loan Me a Dime, live; Runnin’ Blue, live)
Top 50 track bonus: #30 Loan Me a Dime
Personnel bonus: none
Recommended listening:
Ask Me ‘bout Nothing But the Blues, live;
Georgia, live;
I’ll Be Long Gone;
Lido Shuffle, live;
Loan Me a Dime;
Lowdown;
We Were Always Sweethearts
We have our first top 50 track! In the Fenton Robinson entry, I talked about “Loan Me a Dime” being one of the greatest blue songs of all-time. His version of the song only received 4 points, however, because another version is considered the definitive version. This is that track. Duane Allman played lead guitar on this one, and it is probably my third favorite performance by Duane (I’ll mention the other two later in the countdown).
Boz (real name William Royce Skaggs) started his career playing with the Steve Miller Band. He had a number of hits, most notably “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle.” His bluesier stuff I like, but some of his more pop sounding music I’m not as big of a fan.
Of course, the most important fact about Boz Skaggs is that
his girlfriend was the inspiration for my favorite song of all-time.
T-139. The Invisible Whip and The Fourth Dimension (72 points)
Total number of songs: 7
Average song score: 4.43
# of 5-point songs: 3 (Be Happy, live; Eternity’s Breath Parts 1&2, live; Meeting of the Spirits, live)
# of 4-point songs: 4 (A Lotus on Irish Streams, live; Birds of Fire, live; The Dance of Maya, live; Trilogy, live)
Top 50 track bonus: none
Personnel bonus: #19 guitarist John McLaughlin (partial bonus); #20 guitarist Jimmy Herring (partial bonus); #14 bassist Etienne Mbappé (partial bonus); #3 drummer Jeff Sipe (partial bonus)
Recommended listening:
Birds of Fire, live;
Eternity’s Breath, Parts 1&2, live;
Meeting of the Spirits, live;
Trilogy, live
It seems appropriate to have this entry appear in the post immediately after the Mahavishnu entry.
This is probably the most interesting entry so far in the countdown, and the one that requires the most explanation. As you can see, there are only a few songs (from a single album) contributing to the score, but it has by far the highest average score of any artist thus far.
In 2017, Jimmy Herring, best known as the guitarist for Widespread Panic though also a former member of The Allman Brothers Band and The Aquarium Rescue Unit, formed a jazz fusion band which also featured one of my favorite drummers, Jeff Sipe. They came together with John McLaughlin’s Fourth Dimension (which already had its own individual entry in the countdown), for The Meeting of the Spirits Tour. During shows on that tour, both bands did their own set of 6 or 7 songs, and then the two bands came together and performed a set as one mega group.
Most of The Fourth Dimension set and the combined set featured the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra (you’ll notice that many of the songs listed above also appeared in the last post). They also did some stuff from McLaughlin’s other projects. The Invisible Whip sets featured a variety of jazz, rock, and blues songs.
I had the privilege of seeing one of the shows on this tour and it was incredible. One of the best concerts I have ever been to. The combined musical talent on the stage was amazing.
It isn’t easy to find much audio or video from the tour, but there are recordings from shows at The Warfield and at The Capitol Theatre that you can find if you look hard enough. That’s where most of the above material comes from.
Even though it is a limited amount of material, I did give partial personnel bonuses to the musicians for this entry because I was so impressed when I saw them live (though only a small fraction of their total personnel points).
T-139. The Other Ones (72 points)
Total number of songs: 11
Average song score: 4.36
# of 5-point songs: 5 (Estimated Prophet, live; I Know You Rider, live; Jack Straw, live; St. Stephen, live; The Eleven, live)
# of 4-point songs: 4 (China Cat Sunflower, live; Friend of the Devil, live; Playing in the Band, live; Sugaree, live; The Other One, live)
Top 50 track bonus: none
Personnel bonus: none
Recommended listening:
Estimated Prophet, live;
I Know You Rider, live;
Playing in the Band, live;
St. Stephen, live
This is another entry in which all the songs come from a single album,
The Strange Remain.
Following Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995, members of the Grateful Dead have been involved in many musical projects: Furthur, RatDog, Rhythm Devils, Phil Lesh and Friends, Billy and The Kids, and many more. Maybe the most authentic of them, even more so than the current incarnation of Dead and Company, is the The Other Ones (who later changed their name to simply The Dead).
The Other Ones had several lineups which at various points featured Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as long-time Dead collaborators Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti. Other members included Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco, and Susan Tedeschi.
Most of the songs, of course, were Grateful Dead songs. I’ll talk about a lot of them later so I’m not going to get into them too much right now. I’ll just say that these are really great versions of these songs that do justice to some of the best versions by The Grateful Dead themselves. One thing that makes these versions awesome is that heavy use of saxophone courtesy of Dave Ellis (Dave will also be discussed more later).
Because Bobby takes a larger role on vocals than he did with the original band, you might expect that some of their best performances are on “Bob songs.” For instance, this is one of my favorite versions of “Estimated Prophet.” This is also a really great version of “Playing in the Band,” which was never one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs but really shines here.
Since there are only 11 songs here from a single album, I didn’t give any personnel bonuses. Though, as you might expect, there was a pretty decent jam bonus here.
T-139. Rahsaan Roland Kirk (72 points)
Total number of songs: 29
Average song score: 2.14
# of 5-point songs: 1 (A Tribute to John Coltrane, live)
# of 4-point songs: 3 (Many Blessings; Pedal Up, live; Volunteered Slavery)
Top 50 track bonus: none
Personnel bonus: #19 mult-instrumentalist/saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Recommended listening:
Dem Red Beans and Rice, live;
Many Blessings;
Pedal Up, live;
A Tribute to John Coltrane, live;
Volunteered Slavery
I’m really interested to see how many people are familiar with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. For those who don’t know who he is, he may be the most fascinating musician who ever lived.
Blind from an early age, Kirk immersed his entire life in music, becoming proficient in dozens of instruments. He is best known for his ability to play multiple instruments simultaneously, including his use of advanced circular breathing techniques to play multiple horns and wind instruments at the same time. This is most clearly demonstrated on his album
Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata in which he basically plays every instrument except a couple tracks where someone accompanies him on drums or piano. But this isn’t Billy Corgan or Trent Reznor, recording multiple tracks to make a song. He records everything straight with no edits or overdubs. So if you listen to a song like “
Island Cry,” that is one take of Kirk playing every single instrument and making every sound on that track.
Some critics have called Kirk’s music gimmicky. Those critics are idiots. If you listen to him just play straight jazz on songs like “Many Blessings” or “A Tribute to John Coltrane,” it is clear that he is one of the greatest saxophonists who ever lived. Beyond just jazz, he had an immense knowledge of many genres of music including blues, pop, and classical. And he could write great songs as well. Here is a great cover by The Derek Trucks band of his song “
Volunteered Slavery.”
Among the musicians who have said they are huge fans of Rahsaan Roland Kirk are Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Derek Trucks, and Duane Allman. I think those guys know a little bit about music.