Goodbye

Goodbye

So, with a tear in my eye, a skip in my step and my belongings draped over my shoulder in a red polka dot handkerchief, it’s time to walk off into the sunset and say a belated goodbye to Mol’s Sound Words (cue: the music to The Littlest Hobo).

I have to say it’s been a pleasure writing for you over the last 8 or so years and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it! I must give particular mention to the blogs lambasting X Factor, the Brit Awards and other jaaag laboratory-created pop stars as they are (as you well know) pretty pointless anomalies in the world of music which, sadly, captivate the imagination of the music buying public. Sad really as I feel the music buying/listening public have so much more to give and offer to feed peoples hunger and imagination for good, honest music. But, the light peering through the sunset is that some corners of the industry and slowly coming round to realising the fact that the afore mentioned shit is no longer appreciated and becoming slowly ‘old hat’. Fingers crossed eh?

So, as a final gesture of goodbye, I thought I’d share with you my favourite ten albums and the reasons I love them so much. And, as an added bonus, I’ll also share with you my 50 favourite songs. I hope you enjoy (and possess) them all. If not, as I am saying goodbye, go out and buy them! 

Albums

1.    Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones (1972).

Yup! It really is the coolest photo of Mick & Keef!!! 

Most of you will probably know this is no surprise as to my choice as number one! Exile was written in the south of France when The Stones were forced to leave the country due to problems with the tax man.

Exile is quite simply the most wonderful album to ever grace my ears! The emotion this album brings is nothing short of great! Exile is a great mix of bitter sweet ballads dedicated to the women in their lives such as ‘Shine a light’, ‘Sweet Black Angel’ and the tear-jerking ‘Let it Loose’, but also shows The Stones’ darker side when it came to the usual debauchery that entailed them with songs such as ‘Rocks Off’, ‘Ventilator Blues’, ‘Rip this Joint’, and ‘Turd on the Run’. But the album also contains a fun side with songs like ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘Casino Boogie’ and Keith’s only-a-mother-could-love-voice-sounding ‘Happy’!

There really is no doubt that Exile finds The Stones at the top of their game! I always remember one review that read “Exile on Main Street is like dark honey dripping off The Stones’ hands’ – perfectly summed up if you ask me!

Personal favourite: Ventilator Blues. Stolen by Sir Mick and Keith from Mick Taylor (the best guitarist The Stones’ ever had by the way), ‘ventilator Blues’ has the most hypnotic riff and has Jagger singing an effortless screech towards the end “what ye gonna do about it?”

For me Exile will always be the best as, to be blunt, my ears have never heard anything as good from a band that I will always love! The band’s situation at the tome and stories of how the album was made make even more captivating listening than the album itself!

Until a day comes when I hear better, Mol’s Sound Words may well return!

2.    Back in Black – AC/DC (1980)

Bon Scott (one of my all time heroes) tragically died. Fans mourned and the rest of the band considered wrapping up and calling it a day! In stepped an old friend of the band – Brian Johnson and the rest is history!

The intro to Back in Black was a perfect tribute to Scott’s death as ‘Hells Bells’ began with the sound of funeral bells followed by Angus Young’s creepy guitar intro! Magnificent stuff.

Back in Black spawned two of DC’s best songs ‘You shook me all night long’ and the title track ‘Back in Black’. The production from Mutt Lang on the whole album was quite possibly the best you will ever hear on any heavy rock album. The drums alone are nearly as superbly produced as they are on Led Zep 4! And that’s saying something!

Personal favourite: Back in Black. Take the best rock song you can imagine? Times it by ten and you are not even fucking close to matching this song! Johnson’s vocals scream in after what is an almighty intro with the power of a banshee being strangled! The guitar solo is typical Angus, but the section that follow is magnificent showmanship from the un-sung rhythm section of Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd

As for Johnson’s voice – not many people are convinced as Scott made singing the way he did sound easy and effortless, but you could say Johnson nailed it as he immediately earned the respect of the fiercely loyal DC’s fans by replacing Bon Scott with aplomb. Trying too hard on his debut? – You fucking bet!!!

The album finishes with ‘Rock n roll aint noise pollution’. The song begins with the sound of Johnson pulling on a spliff and berating a great statement from a band obviously celebrating the fact that they are still together after tragedy. The rest of the ‘middle men’ can pretty much go fuck themselves if they don’t like what their hearing! You may think its corny, but, as they say, they couldn’t give a fuck what you think – they are who they are and it’s as simple as that! “rock and roll it WILL survive”

By the way, DC used to get loads of shit for their videos, but ‘You shook me all night long’ has to be the funniest video I have ever seen! Go and Youtube it! If you don’t smile or laugh, you don’t have blood running through your veins!  

3.    Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin (1971)

I remember reading an old review by some hack in the 90’s who described Led Zep 4 with the most perfect summing up. He used one word – “mighty!” Utterly spot on!

The Druids Album (as it was officially named by the band) came on the back of three remarkably successful albums and notorious touring from the hardest working band on the planet! Stories of excess were stuff of legend.

Black Dog opens the album. This is one of Zep’s catchiest songs in my opinion. You could say it borders on Pop, but that’s where it ends! ‘Rock n Roll’ follows with typical Zep style boogie woogie with Jimmy Page throwing over dub after over dub guitar tracks into the song that, personally, go a bit over board! But, what comes next is utterly outstanding! The Battle of Evermore and the classic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (see previous blogs) give you a break from the heavy side of Zep and show the bands more mellow and intimate side with some of Robert Plant’s finest vocal performances. Sandy Denny’s collaboration with Plant on ‘Evermore’ complement each other perfectly with a haunting duet! 

Led Zep 4 finishes with ‘When the Levee Breaks’. The intro, like ‘Rock n Roll’ is John Bonham’s might and power that grabs your attention immediately! Rumour has it that the drums on the whole album were recorded on one microphone! Not too sure if it’s true, but, if it is, it proves that Jimmy Page and Peter Grant had more to their talents instead of being a musician and the ‘hired muscle’

Finally, if you own this album (and I’m hoping most of you do) – go and put this track on FULL BLAST with your headphones on and listen to the snare drum! Truly, truly wonderful! John Bonham – RIP!

4.    Let it Bleed – The Rolling Stones (1969)

The sixties were dead! Brian Jones was dead! And Altamont was the final nail in the coffin of the 60’s (and nearly for The Stones) and civil unrest was spreading across the world. Then, to make matters worse – The Stones released Let it Bleed. This is without doubt their darkest hour and the music on Let it Bleed reflected this!

Mysterious tracks like ‘Monkey Man’ ‘Midnight Rambler’ and ‘Let it Bleed’ show, once again, the more debauched controversial side to The Stones’ life, but true classics like ‘Gimme Shelter’ and ‘You can’t always get what you want’ show the band, although in turmoil and transition, that they can still produce sheer brilliance no matter what the circumstances are!

It’s also hard to believe that the album itself was recorded in bits in various locations with hardly each member present during recording sessions! How they ever came up with such a masterpiece while adopting such recording techniques is way beyond me, but it seemed to work brilliantly!

In my opinion the production of the album sounded pretty primitive and a bit cack-handed, but could you ever imagine ‘Let it Bleed’ with a perfect, polished sound? No, neither can I!  

A personal favourite on the album is the remarkably creepy ‘Midnight Rambler’. Allegedly about an American serial killer, this song always sends a shiver up my neck when I listen to it. Charlie Watts upping the tempo with Keith half way through is completely mind blowing and shows The Stones’ amazing ability to throw in the odd jam when least expected. Jagger’s harmonica comes up and is followed by a brilliant little bit of mischievous laughter (listen carefully to the track and see if you notice it) and some of Jagger’s most controversial lyrics about rape and murder show his more sinister side. The songs ends with the line “I’ll stick my knife right down your throat baby and it hurts!!” – Jagger at his true, dark best! Stunning!

Finally, ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ aside, if anyone can find a better Stones’ song other than ‘Gimme Shelter’ – you come see me and we’ll talk about it!  

5.    The Soft Parade – The Doors (1968)

A lot of people bang on about The Doors’ ‘LA Woman’ and ‘Morrison Hotel’ being their finest hour! Superb albums, but in my opinion ‘The Soft Parade’ is by far their best work! When you listen to the album you get the feeling The Doors really enjoyed themselves during the making of ‘The Soft Parade’!  Morrison sings with the most relaxed ease and, dare I say it, enjoyment that he makes singing sound effortless! ‘Tell all the People’ is the opening track! This is one of them songs that, as mentioned, shows of Morrison’s crooning ability the max! In my opinion, this is one of The Doors’ finest songs! Brilliant! Robbie Kreiger’s guitar work blends nicely into the back ground while the brass section (evident in the whole album) takes centre stage!

The most famous song (sorry) on the album is ‘Touch Me’. This is without doubt one of the best pop songs of the sixties and, as The Doors prove, shows Robbie Kreiger’s and Ray Manzeric’s ability to create great singles as well as supporting them with great album tracks! Again – the brass section create a great vibe that compliment The Doors’ music perfectly!

As for the album in general, it shows a variety of styles with songs like ‘Wild Child’, ‘Easy Ride’ and ‘Wishful Sinful’. The Doors obviously wrote the album without any sort of direction that resulted in a mish-mash of songs that have no genre or identity!  

Personal favourite: Wishful Sinful. As I keep banging on about – the string and brass section male this song! Throw into the mix Morrison’s effortless crooning and you have an album filler of the finest proportion! The clarinet towards the end as well gives another stroke of brilliance!

As for the lyrics, Morrison was without doubt at his utter (drunken) best! “YOU CAN NOT PETITION THE LORD WTH PRAYER!!” being the highlight of the album on the intro to the title track! Other classic is non-sense lyrics on this track include: “the monk bought lunch”, “peppermint mini-skirts, chocolate candy”, “catacombs, nursery homes, winter women throwing stones (carrying babies to the river”) and, Robbie Kreiger’s drug fuelled rant of “this is the best part of the trip” followed by Morrison saying “wadda he say” – superb!

Finally, towards the funky jam at the end – if anyone can find a better closing line to end an album other than: “when all else fails we can whip the horse’s eyes, and make them sleep ... and cry!” – come and see me! (again)

6.    The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion – The Black Crowes (1990)

Produced by the wonderfully named George Drakoulias, ‘Southern Harmony’ is the band’s second album which continues the rock and soul theme seen in their first album ‘Shake Your Money Maker’.

The Crowes have a very special place in my heart! They were way before their time, but ahead of the rest! Live – they are a wonderful band to watch! If you get a chance, go and see them! The line up may have changed over the years, but they are still great even though they are pushing into their ‘Autumn Years’

Southern Harmony is a bitter sweet mixture of blues, gospel, rock and soul! Rich & Chris Robinson are the lynchpins of the band, but for me guitarist Marc Ford and drummer Steve Gorman make the album! Their performances are repeated on ‘Amorica’, but it’s Southern Harmony where they truly excel! Ford left The Crowes after the following album, but has released many superb solo albums that I would recommend

The album also shows a more tender side with ‘Bad luck blue eyes goodbye’, ‘Thorn in my pride’ and a cover of the Bob Marley song ‘time will tell’. The constant use of gospel style backing singers Barbara & Joy throughout the album works perfectly

Personal favourite: Sting Me. This is the opening track from the album inspired by the LA Riots. The opening line “when the bells ring out for the crime of the century (courtesy of your mother) – this is your typical Chris Robinson opening line controversy (he has a habit of it). What it means, apart from a reference to the LA Riots, that’s anyone’s guess!

Other tracks on the album such as ‘Hotel Illness’, ‘My Morning Song’ and the marvellous single ‘Remedy’ show The Crowes at their raw, stripped-down best and proves that they always have been and always will be one of the best guitar bands the world has ever witnessed!! Long live The Crowes!

7.    The La’s – (1990)

Being a Scouser, it’s a natural part of your upbringing to listen to and love The La’s. Originating from my home town of Huyton, you also feel you have a certain allegiance towards them as well! In short – everyone loved The La’s as they were one of us!

Local legend has it that founder and lynchpin Lee Mavers wrangled so much with the label (Go Discs) that they released the album without his say so! Maybe they lost patience with his ‘difficult’ manner and stories of ‘60’s dust’ not being present in the amps (!!!), but the truth is – no one could have imagined the album sounding any better than it did!

Rush job? Who cares, this is a modern day classic written by a bunch of Scals who had a liking for hard drugs and taking the piss out of anyone who dare interview them! Again – Youtube the interview on Saturday Superstore - you’ll laugh your head off!

Personal favourite: Failure. I was gonna choose ‘Timeless Melody’ because of its simple, tuneful lyrics and outstanding guitar harmonics, but Failure is a brilliant song about the ‘Black Sheep’ of the family having the shame of being presented to his parents after a series of mistermeeners disgracing his family name. It reminds me of an old mate who, at Christmas, got nicked for having weed on him the same night his younger brother got nicked for robbing. The next day they both had their crimbo dinner together in the living room while the rest of the family spent Christmas day around the table! “And you go downstairs and you sit in your place” – I’ll tell you more about the story one day if you bump into me.

The album is a selection of 2 – 3 minute 3 chord wonders containing brilliant vocal-lead guitar solos, flat, dry sounding drums and of course, Mavers' enigmatic, brilliant, croaky voice! Songs like ‘Son of a Gun’, ‘Feelin’’, and of course, the classic ‘There She Goes’ make the   like it was knocked up in the back of someone’s shed!

One of The La’s strong points however is their ability to blend their harmonies! John Power and Lee Mavers complement each other perfectly. Have a listen to ‘There She Goes’, ‘Son of a Gun’, ‘Doledrum’ and ‘Way Out’ – the harmonies are utterly perfect! Why Mavers wasn’t happy with the final outcome is way beyond me! Maybe he was just booooorrrrn to be an awkward sod!

The final song however, is an utter classic! ‘Looking Glass’ is stuff of legends! A great great song from the darkest depths of Mavers’ mind about drugs, loneliness and paranoia! Sadly, the song’s finale, you could say, is a little bit corny to be honest as it creates a collage of the previous songs blending into a robust ending that kind of spoils what is one of the best La’s songs ever made.

But, the end of ‘Looking Glass’ doesn’t take the shine off a remarkable album written and produced by four scallies from a working class (you could say tough) part of Liverpool on a budget of relatively nothing on a small label that is nothing short of genius! That, in my opinion, makes the La’s the best album ever made a by a band from Liverpool!!

8.    Is This It – The Strokes (2001)

If I could sum The Strokes in one word it would be “cool”. 2001 was a really great year for music. The Vines, The Walkmen and Kings of Leon all jumped onto the Indie scene with great appeal. However, The Strokes were without doubt the best of the bunch! Scruffy, un-washed (maybe) with the ability to re-introduce the guitar to a music scene that had been missing this vital instrument for many years. Albert Hammond Jnr and Nick Valensi possessed superb guitar prowess as well as every celebrity female of the time hanging off their cocks!

The Strokes also had one of the most charismatic singers of the 00’s (I refuse to say “Noughties ..er, hang on!) in the marvellously named Julian Casablancas. Casablancas – scruffy looking, torn jeans, greasy hair, don’t-give-a-shit attitude and the ability to be originally shocking when he felt like, was almost Jim Morrison like in his vocal style and, believe it or not, the writer of all the songs on the album! - Some achievement for a singer in any day and age.

Songs like ‘Last Nite’, ‘Someday’, ‘The Modern Age’ and ‘New York City cops’ brought a whole new fresh sound to a very tired, post-grunge American music scene that had been in the doldrums for many years!

Personal favourite: Hard to Explain. This is the only song on the album that sounds completely different regarding the production to any of the other songs. The songs starts off with the most obvious sounding drum machine, but morphs into a brilliant guitar song! An excellent mix I think!

Sadly for The Strokes, they failed to create anymore of the success following ‘Is This It’ and disappeared into obscurity with a few lame follow up albums and some pretty naff tours! But, what they did possess and had in bucket loads was the ability to create a new type of hype (if you like). Be it live shows with just a female audience, or live videos to accompany singles (something rarely done in this day and age) – the Strokes knew how to entertain!  

9.    Appetite for Destruction – Guns n Roses (1987)

I know what you’re thinking – was Mol inspired by his dodgy shirt collection by the greasy rockers from the under belly of LA? Well, truth be told, when I was in school I fucking loved Guns N Roses. Everyone else was into Talking Heads and Grandmaster Flash so I got a bit of stick for being a fan of G ‘N’ R, but, like the band, I couldn’t give a shit. The reason why? Well, they were very different from all the other shit glam rock hair-obsessed dross like Poison, Europe and the god awful Bon Fucking Jovi that were plastered all over MTV them days. And, more important, they could play!

Guitarists Slash, a modern day folk hero, and my personal favourite Izzy Stradlin, played a style of guitar not seen since Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin ruled the world in the seventies!

Sadly for Guns n Roses they had one of the biggest bell ends in music fronting their band – Axl Rose. I never really liked his voice in all honesty, but he had a large degree of edgy, paranoid danger to him! Check Youtube for footage of their early gigs and you’ll see my point!

Personal favourite: Rocket Queen. Obvious reason – listen to guitar solo and the sound of the young lady enjoying a sexual moment (or, as Guns n Roses would out it – getting fucked!!)

Sweet Child o’ Mine – the most bitter sweet ‘balled’ to grace the nineties that threw Guns n Roses into the limelight was the album’s highlight and without doubt the best song on the album.

The band went onto record a few more albums, but like The Strokes, didn’t build on the success of their brilliant debut and disappeared into a haze of drugs, violence, drink and guns! Sad really as they were without doubt the most talented rockers of the eighties that truly excelled in playing what they did to a level Rock Music will never see again as their follow up albums, let’s be honest here – fucking stunk!

But, the world of Rock Music is without doubt a better place because of this album. Sadly, for the world of notoriety and controversy, Guns n Roses pushed the boat just that bit too far and many bands that followed seem like pussy cats compared to these bad motherfuckers (as the band would say)

10.  Vanishing Point Soundtrack – 1971

My final choice was a toss-up between ‘Funeral’ by Arcade Fire of ‘Paper’ by Rich Robinson, but my love of certain film sound tracks had to give way I’m afraid!

The only album sound track to make my top ten so as I’m not Barry Norman, I won’t give you a review of the film, but I will give you a run-down (no pun by the way) of the songs that MAKE the film!

Songs by Jimmy Bowen (not the Bullseye presenter in case you were wondering), Jimmy Walker, Big Mama Thornton, Mountain and many other make this soundtrack a truly peaceful, soulful and religious album of rare tracks by even rare artists!

Personal favourite: ‘Nobody knows’ by Kim and Dave and ‘Where do we go from here’ by Jimmy Walker. The Kim and Dave track is a superb mix of pop and gospel about a woman who believes she may be losing her faith in god. Magnificent song with truly haunting vocals and brilliant lyrics! If you ever get a chance to watch the film, this song is very significant towards the fate of the heroes of the film – Kowalski (played by Barry Newman) and Super Soul (played by Cleavon Little). This song also contains the killer line” whose gonna testify for me when I die?” – Brilliant!

Then again, you could say the hero of the film is actually the car! If you’ve never seen the film, watch it as the closing scene is very emotional – a truly great scene of pure 70’s cult film making!

The Jimmy Walker song is an un-heard classic! ‘Where do we go from here’ is, bizarrely enough, a song about Christopher Columbus and his sailing escapades. The brass section and guitar work on the song is nothing new to be honest, but in the context of the film, if you watch the driving scenes, fits perfect!  If you’ve never heard Jimmy Walker before, have a listen to his back catalogue as he has the most remarkable soul voice! Right up there with Otis Redding in my opinion!

Songs (no particular order)

1.    Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

2.    The Rat – The Walkmen

3.    These are the ghosts – The Bees

4.    Where do we go from here – Jimmy Walker

5.    Metarie – Brendan Benson

6.    Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon

7.    Remedy – The Black Crowes

8.    A quick one while he’s away – The Who

9.    The Seeker – The Who

10.  Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones

11.  Window Pane – The Real People

12.  Work, work, work, pub, club, sleep – The Rakes

13.  Can’t you hear me knocking? – The Rolling Stones

14.  Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones

15.  Hot fun in the summertime – Sly and the Family Stone

16.  Highway to hell – AC/DC

17.  Nobody knows – Kim and Dave

18.  Rocks off – The Rolling Stones

19.  54-46 was my number – Toots and the Maytals

20.  Still aging – The Soundtrack of our Lives

21.  Marquee moon – Television

22.  Let stay together – Al Green

23.  Rebellion (Lies) – Arcade Fire

24.  Stereo – Pavement

25.  The modern age – The Strokes

26.  You set the scene – Love

27.  Loaded – Primal Scream

28.  Yesterday I saw you – Rich Robinson

29.  Peaches en regalia – Frank Zappa

30.  Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space – Spiritualized

31.  Consolers of the lonely – The Raconteurs

32.  Tell all the people – the Doors

33.  Cut your hair – Pavement

34.  Hey lord, don’t ask me questions – Graham Parker and the Rumour

35.  Song of a baker – The Small Faces

36.  That’s all  you need – The Faces

37.  I am the unknown – The Aliens

38.  Freakin’ out – Graham Coxan

39.  Growing on me – The Darkness

40.  Badge – Cream

41.  Timeless melody – The La’s

42.  Two tribes – Frankie goes to Hollywood

43.  Paranoid android – Radiohead

44.  Black night crash – Ride

45.  White rabbit – Jefferson Airplane

46.  Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

47.  Dickie Davies eyes – Half man half Biscuit

48.  If I were a Carpenter – Bobby Darin

49.  Animal farm – The Kinks

50.  Moonlight mile – The Rolling Stones

So, good people, there you have it. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Mol’s Sound Words over the years. I can say it’s been an absolute pleasure and a privilege. My reason for going – I’ll leave that to your imaginations and maybe the stuff of legend!

Obey your ears, your heart and your life will follow

Peace

Mol