Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll" (2009)

Hello Friends,

We're big fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs here on V-in-the-V.

This is from their third record, "It's Blitz!"

Its no "Maps" but it'll do!

Angel - "Tower" (1975)

Hello Friends,

Honestly we're not quite sure why the band Angel has been off our radar for so long!

Did you hear that song?  Did you see that video?  And those lyrics...

Wind is raw, the air is stale, on this cold winter's night
Sent alone to tell a tale from the land of Delmite
Journey starts at the edge of town with the stars as my guide
There's no one here but my empty thoughts and the sword by my side

A just a light from a tower
Burning on from dusk to dawn
Just a light, from a tower
Burning on from dusk to dawn

Get these guys on Game of Thrones stat!

Band of Brothers

Willie Nelson - "Band of Brothers" (2014) - Sony Legacy

Hello Friends,

We've lost count but this is probably Willie Nelson's 7000th release.  The pot-fueled ginger octogenarian with girl braids and the voice that makes angels cry refuses to quit and we couldn't be happier!

Nine out of the fourteen songs on the record are new Nelson originals which is interesting because he really hasn't had an album with this many new originals since 1996!  Of course, every single one of them is great and features Willie's signature laid-back vocals, his thoughtful, perfect phrasing and his inimitable nylon-string guitar picking on his battered and beloved Trigger!  

The songs are all reflective and nostalgic without being sappy.  Like some of his best work, to counterbalance the sincerity there's the ever-present irreverence ("Bring it On"), sarcasm ("I Thought I Left You") and tongue-in-cheekiness ("Wives & Girlfriends").  Years of vaping primo kush will do that to you! 

A big part of the record's sound has to do with producer Buddy Cannon's sensitive ear.  He doesn't crowd the songs with glossy overdubbing or muck it up with any over production. Many of the tracks sound like they could have been recorded by Willie in the late 1970's. A song like "Send Me A Picture" would not sound out of place on Nelson's classic, Red Headed Stranger.

Cannon also gets co-writing credits on all 9 of Willie's compositions.

Nelson, at 81, has long since graduated from Outlaw status to the elder statesman of American Music. He's a legend, an icon, and everything he churns out in his twilight years is going to be a worthwhile listen for sure.    

RATING: 4 guitars in the corner that used to have a song out of 5     

Happy Friday! Let's check in on our neighbor to the north, TONETTA!

Oh man, another A+ effort from Tonetta!

White Trash or not, we love Tonetta!

Happy Friday! 

Moistboyz - "My Time To Die" (2013)

Not sure what the heck is supposed to be going on in this video, but we like it!

Basically, The Moistboyz were Dean Ween's (aka Dickie Moist's) side project while he was in Ween and since The Ween are no more, it seems The Moistboyz are his full time gig. 

We won't complain!

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse - "Crazy Horse" (1971) - Reprise Records

Hello Friends,

Obviously most of us are familiar with Crazy Horse's work as Neil Young's backing band on so many of those epic records, but they had a few non-Neil records in their catalog and their self-titled, debut LP is nothing short of great! 

Released in 1971 and produced by Jack Nitzsche & Russ Titelman, Crazy Horse would become a footnote in annals of rock & roll history, which is a shame really, because its a great-sounding, influential album with a who's who of talent involved.

The record's opener, "Gone Dead Train" (written by Nitzche & Titelman) was originally recorded by Randy Newman for the film Performance and has since been covered by the likes of Nazareth, Izzy Stradlin & George Thorogood.  It pretty much sets the stage for what's to come: a bluesier, sloppier (in a good way) version of The Band if The Band replaced Robbie Robertson with Neil Young.

In fact, Old Neil would write the album's second song, the hoedown-sounding, "Dance, Dance, Dance" featuring drummer Ralph Molina on lead vocals.

The album's next song, "Look at All The Things" sounds like a song Neil Young wish he would have written.  It was written by Crazy Horse founding member & guitarist, the super-talented Danny Whitten.  The five songs he wrote on this record are all incredible and worthy of a lot more recognition than he or the band ever got.  Sadly, this would be the only Crazy Horse album he would appear on, just a year later, his demons would win out and he would die of a heroin overdose.

Mitch Hedberg?

(According to rock & roll legend, Neil Young-- who would fire Danny Whitten just prior to his overdose-- would carry the guilt of his friend's death around with him for decades to follow.  In fact, Neil wrote the heartbreaking, "The Needle & The Damage Done" for Danny.)

"Beggar's Day" was written and sung by the one and only, Nils Lofgren.  Yes, before The E. Street Band came calling, Nils was a full-fledged member of Crazy Horse which puts him in his own wing of the Backing Band Hall of Fame!

Side One ends with the second Whitten tune, the remarkable "I Don't Want To Talk About It" which is one of the greatest breakup songs of all time!  It, too, would be covered by a host of artists including Rita Coolidge, Everything But The Girl and Rod Stewart (who would have a hit with it on 1975's Atlantic Crossing.) 

Not the same "Crazy Horse"

Side Two kicks off with the rocking "Downtown" (co-written by Whitten & Young, who would also resurrect & cover the song on his seminal 1975 record, Tonight's The Night.)

Nitzche & Titelman wrote "Carolay".  Eh.

Also, not the same "Crazy Horse"

Next up is "Dirty, Dirty"-- another fantastic Whitten tune.  A sleazy, Stonesy blues rocker featuring some downright nasty slide guitar playing courtesy of Ry Cooder.  

Nils is back with "Nobody".  Eh.

"I'll Get By" would be the fifth and final Whitten-penned tune on the record.  Again, it sounds right up there with many of those vintage Neil Young tunes.

The album closes with Jack Nitzche writing & singing on "Crow Jane Lady".

A fantastic fucking record from start to finish!  Underrated and underappreciated with an undercurrent of sadness throughout.  The music world would lose a great talent in the untimely death of Danny Whitten.  Who knows what this cat was capable of?  Maybe in an alternate universe Ronnie Van Zant is buried in an Danny Whitten t-shirt!

RATING: 4.5 mississippi mud never touched her fingers out of 5

Hank Williams & Anita Carter - "I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You" (1952)

Happy Valentines Day love birds!

This fantastic clip of Hank Williams & Anita Carter (aka, the hot one) is from a 1952 episode of The Kate Smith Evening Hour Variety show.  

Probably the best surviving television footage of good ol' Hank performing.  (He'd be dead within the year!)

Is it me or are there real *sparks* between these two?

Its probably just a case of Hank's chloral hydrate wearing off!

C2H3Cl3O2 FTW!

(ed note: Not!)

Robyn Hitchcock - "San Francisco Patrol" (2014)

Nice aching ballad from Hitchcock's excellent 2014 release, The Man Upstairs.

He really nails that perfect balance of vulnerability & quirkiness

Is the song about a lonely guy wandering the streets of San Francisco or is it about a lonely guy stalking the shit out of someone?  Who knows?  Who cares?

Answer: Probably both!

Movie Night: Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back aka The Quiet Riot Movie

Are you ready to feel the noize, Friends?

Grab your popcorn and pull up a stool, its Movie Night again on Vinyl in the Valley! 

Tonight we're watching a surprisingly good documentary on the heavy metal band, Quiet Riot!

Produced by Showtime and directed by Regina Russell, Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back, gets us caught up to speed as to what the band Quiet Riot has been up to for the past, um, 30 years.

The documentary is a Spinal Tap-esque tale of the rise and fall (and rise again?) of one the 1980's top metal bands who in 2007 lost their longtime lead singer and songwriter, Kevin Dubrow, to an accidental overdose after a night of dancing with the white lady. The film chronicles the struggles of best friend and Riot drummer, Frankie Banali, as he tries to put the band back together without the iconic Dubrow as frontman.

To be honest, we haven't really thought too much about Quiet Riot since around 1985, but this film really does a great job showing how a band is much more than four guys playing instruments together.  Its about egos, and friendships, and fun, and frustration, and being on the road, and quitting, and drugs, and groupies, and families, and swallowing your pride, and paying bills, and knowing when to give up.

It just goes to show you that you gotta be nice to folks on the way up because 20 years later when you're playing a County Fair in Minnesota, those are the people who'll stick around! 

FUN FACT: Hey kids, did you know that Quiet Riot will forever be known as the first heavy metal band with a Number One record on the Billboard charts?   1983's Metal Health.

Bang your head!

(And speaking of banging, it seems that Banali and the film's director got engaged at some point during filming!)

Anyways, we give this one two raised cocktail glasses!  

We'll see you next time, friends, until then the Tiki Bar is closed*.  

(* not really)

Bee Gees - "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967)

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