Refreshed

AL KOOPER
Rare & Well Done: The Greatest & Most Obscure Recordings
(Columbia/Legacy)
You may not recognize his name, but chances are pretty good you've heard Al Kooper. Since the early 60s, when as a teenager he abandoned his parents' dreams for a life in rock 'n' roll, he's moved all over the musical landscape, spending time in New York, L.A., Atlanta, Austin, London, Nashville and Boston. Along the way he wrote "This Diamond Ring," a hit for Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and Donny Hathaway's R&B hit "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know." He played the distinctive, highly influential organ on Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," the French horn intro to the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and the keyboards on George Harrison's "All Those Years Ago." He's contributed to hundreds of sessions for artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Green on Red, the Who, Thelonious Monster and Trisha Yearwood. As a producer he's supervised landmark albums by the Tubes, Nils Lofgren, Rick Nelson, BB King, jazz trumpeter Don Ellis and Tom Petty (his first, unreleased album). (more)

Stagestruck

THE WILD SEEDS/WANNABES/RITE FLIERS
@Hole in the Wall, Austin, TX; October 5, 2001
The music scene of the 80s is remembered these days for post-new wave synth pop, melodramatic heartland arena rock and that weird gated drum sound that seemed to permeate every popular recording. But there was something else going on underground, something that had nothing to do with fashion or fame. Back then, the term "alternative rock" actually fulfilled its sobriquet by offering sounds that were different from the mainstream, that truly were an alternative to Bruce Springsteen and Duran Duran. One of the strains of underground music was a guitar-driven, song-based sort of rock/pop that emphasized melody by using a simple presentation with no image or gimmicks—just good songs played clean and neat. In Athens, Georgia, where many felt the style originated, they called it the New South or jangle pop, and R.E.M ruled the roost (and quickly outgrew the sound). In Austin, where the Reivers, the True Believers, Doctor's Mob, Grains of Faith, the Texas Instruments and the Wild Seeds rotated headlining slots, they called it the New Sincerity, and it was a scene every bit as vital as that of Athens. (more)