I look forward to Walter Martin’s vacations almost as much as he does. The man always returns with sweetly skewed descriptions of his adventures.
He’s pop music’s David Sedaris.
Some of his records are children’s records. But all of his records have a childlike nature. This guy stands on his tip-toes to see things in a way most of us have forgotten to look.
Like contemporaries Kansas, who leaned more toward progressive rock, Styx had a pretty clearly-defined two-album artistic career peak. Both bands released their two finest albums between 1976 and ’78.
Pieces of Eight, which followed platinum breakthrough The Grand Illusion, was a more than worthy follow-up. It combined some of the progressive tendencies of their pre-Tommy Shaw early work with tight, commercial singles like “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade”.
While all three of the album’s singles were penned by Shaw (the third being the joyous “Sing For the Day”) Dennis DeYoung’s “I’m O.K.” certainly could have been a single.
Perhaps the church organ solo disqualified it.
But this song is like DeYoung’s answer to Shaw’s “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” from the previous LP–uplifting pop/rock psychology from an era when so-called “classic rock” was trying to hold its own in a landscape altered by disco and punk.
Led by Jose Arcieniegas, Viento de los Andes are a group of musicians from Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and, uh, Canada who play music of the Andes region of South America using traditional instruments.
This is the kind of stuff you sprinkle like huacatay on your shuffle playlist for a little international flavor, rather, perhaps, than consume in 40-minute, full album servings.
British progressive folk rockers Magna Carta released 2015’s Fields of Eden on the actual date of the signing of the Magna Carta 800 years later, and few expected an album of its caliber 40+ years after the release of the band’s most iconic LP, Lord of the Ages.
But you can never write off the man who’s been called “the English Paul Simon”, singer/tunesmith Chris Simpson. Clearly there is life in the old dog yet.
I went out last night with a friend of mine, I bought eight, and he drank nine Just a shootin’ the breeze and we were havin’ us a good time too Talkin’ bout women and days gone by, and the feel of the road and an open sky And a guitar hummin’ like only a guitar do But we lied about the times we scored and laughed the night away It’s all dependin’ on your point of view They can’t take away you’re memories and I’m happy to raise the bet So watch out, there’s life in the old dog yet
Time waits for no man and the rest, you’re sometimes cursed and often blessed And the women all look a little bit older, that’s for sure Partying nights and truckin’ all day, saints and sinners and easy lays You just hang on in and take it as it comes along There are those that say, you’ve had your day, and you’ve come to the end of the line Well that’s dependin’ on you’re point of view and if you Sail through heavy weather, chances are you might get wet So what, there’s life in the old dog yet
There’s a face in the mirror I know so well a few more lines, a touch of frost, I can Tell it’s me and I’ve sure put on a year or two And I met this kid out on the street, he said hey old man I got you beat, I said Raise your glass and we’ll have ourselves a drink or three As the morning sun came through the door he measured his length on the baroom floor He never understood my point of view But he lifted his head as they carried him out, with a look I shalln’t forget Tough luck son, there’s life in the old dog yet
A good man knows when his time is come and turns his back on the things he’s done And gets a little worried ’bout the devil who’s a keepin’ score The hardest part is the sweet regret that comes to haunt us all in the wakin’ hours And tends to stay right with us, til the dawn There are things you should remember, there are things you’d best forget It’s all depending on your point of view There are fishes in the ocean, but a few have slipped the net Well thank god I’m one, there’s life in the old dog yet oh yeah yeah Thank god I’m one, there’s life in the old dog yet
From the 2008 limited tour edition EP Home, and saved from total obscurity by its appearance on the German band’s 2009 compilation High Times: The Best of Fool’s Garden.
The band hint in that compilation’s liner notes that the song’s title was inspired by the Clint Eastwood movie of the same name–which they, and I, recommend.
Fool’s Garden, fairly or not, are known as a one-hit wonder, that hit being the (nearly) worldwide smash “Lemon Tree”, which charted seemingly everywhere but in the US. If you want to hear their hit, click the link below, but not before checking out the very worthy “Million Dollar Baby”.
Every Moment Has A Song 