There is a lot of great music being written and recorded now, if you can find it through the Clearchannel crappola. Hiatt, Lovett, Wilco, Norah, Krall, Peyroux, Los Lonely boys, and tons more. But for sheer volume of genius- pardon me for sounding antiquated- from, say, 64 until 70, when you had Motown, Stax-Volt, the whole British invasion (spare me Freddy and the Dreamers and "erman's "ermits" please), the Philly sound, the SF musical and cultural explosion, LA bands like the Doors and Springfield- there is no way current music stands up. Miles Davis, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Mann, Getz Gilberto Jobim, and on and on. My "kids", now 35 to 27, two of whom who have been professional musicians and one of whom is a studio engineer, listen to more music from that era than from any other. They turn me on to what's out there now, and they grew up listening to Dad's bands, scads of them, and the vinyl spinning on, throwing magic into the air as they grew up. Our eldest daughter teethed, literally, on Live at Fillmore East. "Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low....." Lord have mercy. Again, thank God for music. A world absent the speech of angels is unthinkable. "something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear...." Spring '67, Laguna Beach. Forty years ain't that long, friends. Carpe the heck outa the diem.

I have a 15 yr. old son and this summer he got into The Allman Bros.. He thinks In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed and Blue Sky and Melissa and Live At The Fillmore East are just the greatest and it pleases me to no end. I couldn't find some of my Van Morrison cd's the other day and found them in his room. He loves Moondance and his brother just bought him a Miles Davis Quintet box set and his favorite cd lately is Brubeck's Time Out. He went through some of that dark heavy teen angst stuff but I hear less and less of that now and that's OK with me. The great music still manages to break through to every generation.

I'll admit that there's a lot of good new music out there and I agree with those everyone has listed...they're some of my favorites too, but it still can't compare with the time periods we're throwing around here ...early 60's to at least 70 and I like to go a few years beyond that. In my limited listening scope at the time...high school from 68 to 74...I marked the end of the era by Clapton's 461 Ocean Blvd.,Rod Stewart's Never A Dull Moment,the Stones Goatshead Soup,and The Faces OOh,La,La,ABB Brothers and Sisters. These were some of my musical heroes and anything that they did after these LP's just wasn't the same to me.Those were all around 72-74 I think. I mean it's a big difference between Exile On Main St. and Goatshead Soup but there was still something left in The Soup but it was the last bowl for me. I bought maybe 2 Stones LP's after that but quickly gave them away. The rawness and edge was gone after Exile which leads me back to the technology in studios at the time. Was there an industry wide change sometime in that period that started to slick out the sounds? Or, were drugs and success sapping the life out of the bands?

cowboy camper,
At the risk of offending half of this Forum (?), I think the deal may have been that it's harder for older rich guys to create music like the young, not-so-rich guys who had the fire in their belly and couldn't get laid by just walking into a club. Sorry Mick. And sorry for my crude analysis. sonoman may have conveyed this thought in a more eloquent fashion, but, hey, I'm from Jersey.

Randy, I missed your post earlier on page 2 but I love what you said about the 33 1/3's and the album covers....man, I miss them too. Luckily, I still have a few hundred around to fondle now and then

Thanks to Acoustic Dave, Randy and the rest who mentioned Wilco. Don't know how I could have missed this band for 10+ years, but based on the recommendations I went out and bought "Being There" yesterday. This band indeed rocks! A bit of "Exile on Main Street" era Stones, maybe a dash of the "Clash", mixed in with their own unique sound. Looks like I've got some buying to do down at the local CD shop after the Niners kick the Rams this morning

Tom: How long has it been since the Niners were 2-0 and Cal was 3-0? Many moons. When I went to Cal, we have far more Nobel laureates than football victories. Priorities. Meanwhile, I played a three hour gig last night, albeit seated, so I'm semi off the DL. Man, did that feel good. Mercy!

Tom, good to hear your back out there gigging. Can't keep a good Collings (player) down

Thanks. I do love guitars, but only if I can play 'em. I ain't running a museum, even if I am rapidly becoming an artifact myself.

Well I've been playong guitar most of the day. Mostly electric but had to get out the om2hsb. It sounds wonderful on some of the the Eagles tunes. Has anyone cast a vote for the Eagles yet? Come to think of it Emmy Lou Harris put together one of the most talented bands ever. Oh well, it is like asking who is the hottest looking woman ever. It's Saturday night Just got in from a bon fire and hotdog roast at my place. Was requested to play, ok so they were 13 and 14 year olds. At this stage I take what I can get. I guess I'll get back to the Gopher game. I think Purdue is pounding them pretty good. I also have to cast a vote for SRV and double trouble. Certainly not in the greatest band of all time catagory, but very good.

Going back a few posts, Greg L., its not only Nels Cline's playing that grows on you, but the songs as well on Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky".

There's some albums (uh, I mean CDs) that get you the first time out, and others that really need a few more listens before you really get in tune with what the band's doing. Wilco is a classic example, and also Sky Blue Sky specifically. Having now listened to this one 5 times or so, the songs just give me (or more accurately, I get) more and more as I become more familar with them. And Nels unleashs one frickin incredible solo on a song that doesn't give you any indication a hot solo is coming (I won't mention the song, so those who haven't heard it yet can get the same surprise I did). Haven't heard Nels before, but I understand his background is jazz. Got to check out some of his other work.

I tend to overlook the Eagles, since their heyday was also the period during which we were procreating like crazed weasels. But they wrote some amazing songs, and rocked like crazy. And Emmylou's band- Albert Lee, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell just for starters- was the best country rock group I've ever seen. I helped set up their Jackson Hole concert in 1988, and I got to be backstage. The woman's a goddess, and a momument to good taste and vocal restraint- the un-madonna if you will. I would.

Hi Tom F,

Glad to hear you're enjoying Wilco. You might want to check out the new CD by the Sadies - New Season. "What's Left Behind" in particular has some excellent, interesting guitar parts.