KISS DESTROYS ANAHEIM Kiss (Universal) ****+
Long available as a bootleg, this is a piece of Kisstory (excuse me) that is giving fans raging boners. Kiss Destroys Anaheim is a complete show in front of 42,000 fans, their largest audience to date at the time. Remixed by Eddie Kramer using the original multi-track tapes, the sound quality is somewhere between soundboard and Alive, which means it sounds great.
Kiss Destroys Anaheim was recorded August 20th 1976 during the band’s “Spirit Of 76” tour. It’s widely known that Alive! and Alive II¸ produced by Eddie Kramer were substantially reworded in the studio, but Anaheim surpasses both in terms of performance and feral intensity. There’s a rawness to these 17 tracks that, minor sound quality issues aside, buries the versions on other live records. The band’s performance is energetic and tight and the crowd is enthusiastic.
Kiss Destroys Anaheim is a smart survey of the band’s recorded output to that point, including no less than 5 songs from the then-new record Destroyer. That album was leaps and bounds ahead of their first 3 studio discs in terms of songwriting, sound and performance, and here it feels like Kiss elevated their live musicianship to match. They’re charging full steam ahead here with the confidence and bravado that comes with having just released a game changing record. Ace’s guitar solo, Gene’s bass solo and Peter’s drum solo all remain tedious however.
Will the public at large give a rat’s ass about KDA and any of the archival releases that are sure to follow? Of course not; but Kiss has always made a point of playing to their fans and we (I’ve been one since 1974) are happy as hell to have this in our collection. I bought this on I Tunes and will no doubt grab the vinyl from the local record shop when I have saved up enough loonies. I’ve seen Kiss 8 or 9 times over the years including twice in the 70’s, and this appeals mightily to the 18 year old that still lives somewhere inside of me.
HOT TRACKS: Detroit Rock City/ King Of The Nighttime World, Nothing To Lose, Black Diamond
REEL 2 REEL FOR REAL Ray Wylie Hubbard (Bordello Records) *****
This is the 20th album for the 80 year old Texas troubadour and there’s a rumor it could be his last. If that’s the case Reel 2 Reel 4 Real is a good one to go out on. A gloriously strange mix of blues, rock, folk and Americana with a Stones-like swagger as always, this is some fine work.
If you’re not familiar with Ray- and lots of people aren’t- he’s an outlaw singer/ songwriter mostly noted for writing Up Against The Wall Red Neck Mother, a hit for Jerry Jeff Walker. He has his share of famous fans too; Ringo Starr, Chris Robinson, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Steve Earle among them. I was introduced to Ray’s music a dozen or so years ago by a friend at the radio station I was working at, and the song that did it for me was Snake Farm. Hubbard is not a great singer as I’m sure he’d admit, but I was immediately drawn by his quirky storytelling over what is called “gruff, no frills music- a mix of garage, blues, country and roots rock with a nod to the Stones, Neil Young and Bob Seger”. Reel 2 Reel, as with other albums of his I’ve heard, has an addictive unpretentiousness that makes friends right away.
Reel 2 Reel is more than ‘boy meets girl/ boy loses girl’ stuff. For example, Gods Playing Poker imagines a card game between Zeus, Jesus, Odin, Buddha and others, and there’s a line in A Murder Of Crows; “don’t hold it in if you need to be peeing”. Like the rockandbluesmuse.com review says, “If Lucinda Williams had a male counterpart, it would be him.” Lots of great grooves on this disc as you would expect from Hubbard… bluesy, swampy and even driving rock on the opening track Cassette Mix Tape which recalls a rowdy night in his Chevy Vega. It reminds me of something Kim Mitchell told me about his then-lyricist Pye Dubois; “he likes to jam with the English language.” Ray is like that too.
Reel 2 Reel 4 Real is as raw as anything RWH has done since I’ve been listening and I get that his talking/ singing style doesn’t work for everyone, but that’s part of what makes his music so compelling that it really gets under your skin. The last line in that review I just mentioned is worth repeating here; “If this is indeed his final curtain call, he’s going out in his own honest, grungy, unflinchingly raw style”, and amen to that.
HOT TRACKS: Cassette Mix Tape, Cobwebs, Look What The Cat Drug In
PAST TIME SHADOW Thorbjorn Risager & Emil Balsgaard (Cope Music) *****+
I’ve been a fan of Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado for a few years, so imagine my delight at discovering he has a side career. Risager & Balsgaard’s association goes back over 30 years, and these Danish bluesmen make beautiful music. Past Time Shadow explores an intriguing territory where blues, roots, boogie-woogie and gospel intersect, and it’s wonderful .
Past Time Shadow is mostly guitar, piano, programmed percussion (?) plus Thorbjorn’s voice that feels like warm butter, and the combination is hypnotic. This is their 4th album as a duo and I hope there are many more in the future. TR’s music with The Black Tornado is darker, maybe even dangerous at times, but with Emil at his side things don’t come out the same. “When you strip everything away and it’s just the two of us in the studio something very special happens” he says. “The songs get room to breathe differently, and you can hear every little nuance.”
There’s a jaunty, old-timey vibe to Past Time Shadow that’s quite captivating, sort of a vintage/ modern thing. Piano leads the way on many of the songs and Risager’s vocal delivery is relaxed, almost playful. I love the way these 10 tracks move, ebb and flow, and as with the Black Tornado stuff it’s Thorbjorn’s voice that really commands attention here. That smooth baritone really pulls you into a song the way few other singers can, to a point where you’re grasping the stories without even having to really try and its unforgettable.
As much as I love what I’ve heard from Risager’s other band, I like Past Time Shadow even more. From the upbeat I Got A Feeling that starts the album to the acoustic ballad Buckets Of Rain at the other end, Thorbjorn & Emile leave no stone unturned. This is just all kinds of seductive fun, available on all major streaming platforms and on vinyl too.
HOT TRACKS: I Got A Feeling, Hesitation Blues, Buckets Of Rain
COVERED IN BLUES James Buddy Rogers (independent) ****
This is a groove-heavy thing of consequence. Covered In Blues, the 6th album for this Vancouver bluesman, is full of songs that shaped Rogers’ style, numbers he’s played on stage for years. Recorded by JBR and his trio in just a few takes, this is as raw and honest as it gets.
CIB 10 tracks in all, mostly from the pen of artists you’re familiar with like Kim Wilson, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Keb’ Mo’ and more. James took the rhythm section he usually works with when touring Alberta- Bill Price on bass and Kevin Belzner on drums- where they worked some serious voodoo, leaning heavily on the familiarity of having worked together before as a live band. These tracks feel kind of like Robert Cray (they do one of his songs) in terms of feel, sound and vibe, and I’m okay with that all day long. Rogers has spent decades honing his mojo on club stages and festival bills across North America and Europe, and you can feel that in the grit and relaxed confidence that these tunes are played with. This is guitar driven blues of course, my favorite kind of blues, although I appreciate all the other sub-genres too.
Sometimes a covers record in any genre and be cringey, but Covered In Blues does not have that problem. James, Bill and Kevin deliver these songs as if they were their own, and having played them on stage before certainly helps. They play with a groove and a cocky swagger that makes the album really likeable; I’d put CIB up against almost any other blues covers album you’d care to name. This one set that will take you places, and you’ll go willingly.
HOT TRACKS: Bad Boy (Eddie Taylor), Dimples (John Lee Hooker), I Lied (Robert Cray)
