Tommy Womack
No, Not That Womack & Womack
Tommy Womack: There, I Said It! (Cedar Creek '07)
Rising from the icky depths of the lyrically, vocally, and harmonically abject "A Songwriter's Prayer," a 40-year-old Nashville lifer finds solace in a forgotten WTF he wrote at 28 and by age 44 comes up with a bunch of new ones about bad jobs, fluorescent lighting, and low-grade cigarette, beer, and Xanax dependency. The climax would be the proud admission "I'm Never Gonna Be a Rock Star" except that the climax is the seven-minute must-hear "Alpha Male & the Canine Mystery Blood," a world-historically unromantic rocker about rock after 40. Also crucial is "Nice Day," about his boy and his wife and a friend's swimming pool. It won a prize. A MINUS
Tommy Womack: Now What! (Cedar Creek)
Reflective without wallowing in might-have-beens, his nasal drawl weary and at ease with itself, he's an established failure who's calmed down considerably for a pimple on Dylan's ass who believes the best thing about ADD is that it never bothers you too long. "90 Miles an Hour on a Dead End Street" is no advertisement for chianti just as "Pot Head Blues" is no advertisement for cannabis. In one strong song, he feels the heat of an old flame on a checkout line and is so glad the burns have healed. In several other strong songs, he pitches woo wifeward. A MINUS
For what it's worth, I would say "none" for vinyl. Probably a ton of personal reasons why but my preference for music is totally digital, and when I buy a CD it's so I can rip it in high quality. I have one small rack for CDs and right now it's holding 8 jewel cases. After I rip them, they just take up space and I've even thrown some away. Many have been lost.
I think in the beginning, the whole vinyl thing was a response to terrible mp3 quality. At that point (up to about 2006), vinyl often did sound better. Also, you're more likely to play a turntable through better speakers than crap powered computer speakers. But when affordable disk space allowed for great mp3 quality, a lot of peoples music collections became digital. Vinyl usually sounds pretty bad to me now. Dust on the thing, old and beat up needle, and this "warmth" that people talk about is really constant, low-level distortion. I have a small vinyl colletion that is on the top shelf of a closet, and my turntable is down in the basement with other stuff.
A few friends have turntables and it's like a conversation piece, it's more fun to take out the big sleeve and make a big to-do about putting it on.
One wonders how this will affect stuff like free mixtapes (yeah, probably legal, but try explaining that to your ISP), sharing of out-of-print vinyl rips, etc. If the article's to be believed (fwiw there are dozens of similar articles out there from more-or-less reputable sources) this deal was "coordinated by the Obama Administration."
Hello, to add to Dan's question on what records I still turn to in spite of the digital options. The classics that were analog to begin with...I have the Beatles on CD, digital, mono, stereo, you name it and yet I still yank the records off the shelf when I want to hear them clicks, pops and all. Abbey Road needs to be heard on vinyl. No CD captures the bottom end of that record like the vinyl does..IHO. Ditto for Born To Run. My copy of that album is well worn and yet I rarely pull the CD off the shelf. I don't even own any Zeppelin on CD or digital. CCR, Hendrix, Floyd, Marley. Jazz goes vinyl for sure if I have the option. But records can be a pain in the a$$. They attract dust like crazy. Static. They are easily damaged. You need a fairly good rig to get the most out of the medium. It's certainly not plug and play nor portable and modern recordings are less night and day. The whole "vinyl sounds better" is partly a consumer hook. My ipod sounds pretty damn great running through my amp and so do CDs. That said, on Record Store Day I have my eye on the releases of Hell On Heels and especially Funeral Dress on the black circles
A few random thoughts:
1. Loved Jim’s comments about Glen Campbell. Dementia is hell, and Campbell’s tour is indeed brave. I only ever got into his solo stuff as a hokey thing when Kris and I lived in Galveston for a few years, but for a brief period of time the Jimmy Webb material really clicked for Campbell. That’s the Jimmy Webb peak, probably, and Glen Campbell ain’t no Dionne Warwick, sorry Jimmy. Campbell’s guitar work gets short shrift though—very much in the Bakersfield style and pre-dating (and certainly influencing) surf. I can do without “Rhinestone Cowboy”, but go ahead, give it up for Glen Campbell one time y’all.
2. I just watched a guy playing trumpet in the middle of the intersection between State and Washington in downtown Chicago until the cops ran him off. Awesome. There is blues in my future tonight.
3. Gmort’s edit of The Promise sounds really special to me in the afterglow of the Springsteen show. Thanks Greg.
4. My eyes are bugging out at the posts today: Paul, Ryan, Bradleun, JeffJohnChris, all of you. Standing O.
I think in the beginning, the whole vinyl thing was a response to terrible mp3 quality
Let me assure you that that wasn't the case when I started buying vinyl in 1984. Later on, I kept doing vinyl because charging $5-10 extra for a CD was f**king robbery that I still don't understand why anyone tolerated (of course nowadays prices are the other way around and I pretty much ignore vinyl).
this "warmth" that people talk about is really constant, low-level distortion.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Speaking of vinyl to digital conversions - here's a question for Witnesses: which pieces of vinyl keep drawing you back despite having the digital version? And for what reason? Sound quality? Emotion?
As partial and wholly inadequate payback to Cam for all the goodies he's posted here, which I have been very happy to download, I offered to send him something in return from my meager collection. Amazingly, there was apparently one item he didn't have: "It Will Stand" Minit Records: 1960-1963, Xgau's top reissue of 1986 and resident of the "Gone But Not Forgotten" section of the 90s CG collection.
Allen Toussaint is all over the record as producer and songwriter, with 9 of the 14 tracks credited by Toussaint to his father or mother (Naomi Neville; no relation to those other Nevilles, as far as I can tell), and all but 2 of the others Toussaint originals or cowrites. It includes a couple of Aaron Neville's first recordings and the originals of "Lipstick Traces" and "Fortune Teller." It has never been reissued on CD. Enjoy: http://goo dot gl/4P4gw
Glen Campbell performed at our venue last night. Best description I could come up with is bittersweet. Great to see him out there still doing his thing but heartbreaking to watch him struggle. His guitar playing didn't seem to suffer but there were a few moments when he got lost with the lyrics despite the teleprompters. A glance at his band members then a gesture or helping hand from them got him back on track quickly. His daughter and two sons are in the band and they very obviously look out for him. He joked and rambled a bit between songs but seemed very appreciative of the audience's support. Sad, but at the same time, a stirring tribute to the human spirit.
Cam occasionally speaks here of the importance of his work in researching and treating heart disease and we've all been impacted in one way or another by cancer. It's vitally important that we continue to fight these horrible illnesses, but let's not forget the toll Alzheimer's and dementia takes not only on those afflicted but also their caregivers. What a cruel, cruel fate for anyone to be stricken with. An old friend just lost his mother last week after a 10-year bout with Alzheimer's. Fortunately, his dad was able to take care of her the whole time but the last 5-6 years were not pretty. Even though her personality did not turn "nasty" as sometimes happens, I admire the old man so much because I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for him.
Sorry for the sobering digression.....
We had Wilson Phillips the night before. God, they're awful. My co-workers commented how friendly the ladies were, but I found their stage presence/patter amateurish. The less said about their music, (mostly rehashing their parents greatest hits), the better.
On a more positive note, I enjoyed a few Tommy Womack cuts yesterday and look forward to hearing the rest of the two album picks soon.
Two "Young Frankenstein" performances today, so I need to sign off and get ready to do my thing. Should be a fun show but will be a long afternoon and night.
Have a good weekend all and "Go Gators!"
about the blogger
Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.
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