well, i'm continuing on my quest to listen to full albums that i have ignored for far too long. but tonight instead listening on my nightly walk with lilly, they helped me get through an afterwork chore of mowing and yardwork.
my first choice of the night was traffic's "john barleycorn must die" (in reality, steve winwood's intended first "solo" album), from the opening notes of the jazz influenced "glad" i was instanty thrown into the "wayback" machine... while mowing the front yard. it's kind of amazing how music, like nothing else, can instantly transport you to a time and place of long ago. to a good place, a good memory, a good "time." this album was originally released just as summer broke after my freshman year of high school. to this day, the song "john barleycorn" holds it's own with anything in my catalog. a good listen. a damn good one. as is the whole record.
next up, a real change in pace, linda ronstadt's 1975 release, the beautiful and underrated "prisoner in disguise." i think this record (along with her "heart like a wheel") helped me rediscover country music, from the beautiful "love is a rose, hey mister..., many rivers to cross, the sweetest gift," to her incredible cover of dolly's "i will always love you" (eat your heart out whitney), her country influences made me take note and want to listen to that music again.
it was interesting and refreshing, in an odd kind of way, that this young, beautiful girl with huge dark, innocent eyes and a powerful, crystal clear voice could sing so sweetly of lost love, of heartache and sadness with so much reality, emotion and beauty. you could tell that she felt it in her soul, in her heart. i think ronstadt possibly never got much of the respect & creditability that she was due since she wasn't a "singer/songwriter" and was just a "cover artist." but, i think few have matched their talents to the music they performed better than she did during this period of her career. and she had a great knowledge, respect and reverence for the songs she chose to sing. going from country to motown to rock, back-to-back, and never missing a beat. all while backed musically by some of the best of the L.A session players available. now i'm feeling the itch to listen to "heart like a wheel"...
yep, music can take you back, maybe where you "want" to be, maybe where you "need" to be, maybe just help "root" you to where you are, to where you came from. i'm not sure why, i'm not sure that i care. i just want to go there for a while. and listen.
i'm kind of diggin' this idea...
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