Rufus and Chaka Khan...featuring Chaka Khan...

Rufus and Chaka Khan.  What a great band.  I've been going back and sample a bunch of sides of all of the Rufus albums I own (5), and finding some gems.  There in an instrumental on side two of this one called On Time.  I am also tweaking my photo image sizes here to show you clearer pictures.  I had been compressing the images in my photo editing software - then enlarging them here - but that turns them fuzzy.  Let's see how this looks.

Eric Clapton - Money and Cigarettes

Eric Clapton - Money and Cigarettes.   Maybe it is just because I like to compartmentalize and group things - but to me, this is the last record in Eric's 3-album trilogy that I categorize as his post-Tulsa era.   Money and Cigarettes was released in 1983.  The cover depicts Clapton, cigarette in hand, standing next to a melting Fender Stratocaster guitar.  Eric Clapton named the album like this "because, that's all I saw myself having left."  The rather wimpy single "I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart" became a modest.  The other three studio albums in this 3-record grouping are: No Reason to Cry, and Backless.  [He also had the one-off Slowhand in this era - which is the out-lyer, for many reasons, to be discussed.]  And  and a nondescript live album called Another Ticket - which was his last on Polydor.  Many artists' last albums on or for a particular label are greatest hits or live albums, put out just to satisfy (and thereby end) the contract.  Having fulfilled is commitment to RSO/Polydor, his next studio album would be on a label of his own making - Duck Records.

Climax Blues Band - two similar records; Couldn't get it wrong

Climax Blues Band.  Shine On and Gold Plated.  With sax-playing lead singer!  Climax Blues Band - (did not know they were originally known as the Climax Chicago Blues Band.  Formed in Stafford, England - in 1968.  Original members were guitarists Peter Haycock and Derek Holt; keyboardist Arthur Wood; bassist Richard Jones; drummer George Newsome; and vocalist and harmonica and sax player, Colin Cooper.  In 1970, they shortened their name to just Climax Blues Band due to "pressure" from the a band called Chicago Transit Authority, who in turn felt pressure from the actual CTA (our mass transit system), to shorten their name.  CBB released at close to 20 albums, with "Couldn't Get It Right" their seemingly sole hit.  What a band - what an era.

Country Joe and the Fish - played at Woodstock

Country Joe and the Fish.  First off - they played at Woodstock.  Next - "their biggest hit was the anti-war "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag", which debuted the same year as the band, but became best known after Country Joe's solo acoustic performance of it at Woodstock.  Country Joe was sued in 2001 by Kid Ory's daughter, Babette Ory, who claimed Joe's "Fixin" Rag infringed her copyright to Kid Ory's Dixieland jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble".  In August 2003, the court case was decided in Joe's favor, since Kid Ory, Babette Ory, and the Muskat Ramble publisher had all known of Joe's song in the late 1960s but no complaint was made for decades.  Finding the complaint objectively unreasonable, the court awarded McDonald some of his attorney's fees and costs.  Due to the long delay and prejudice, including death of key witnesses, the court did not even reach the lack of substantial similarity issue.  Babette Ory and her attorney appealed, and the appellate court affirmed the decision in favor of Joe McDonald.  Way to go, Joe!  Country Joe's anti-war activity led to his being called as a witness at the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial in 1969, where he recited the lyrics to "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag."  Nice.  Oh, and I bumped into Carlos Santana last weekend.  Almost feinted!

Brass Construction - they got up, in order to get on down

Brass Construction - their 2nd and 3rd albums.   I just can't figure out why I dig this group so much.  They are a bit like EWF with their bright, hornsy sound, but sadly with songs that are/were less catchy.  I made one mistake recently when I took many of my duplicate and "common" records to a huge, local vinyl record convention and sold them.  My copy of Brass Construction's eponymous debut album was surely in one of those 14 crates.  Oh well - I will probably find it again somewhere soon and then buy it back to fifty cents.  But what are Brass Construction?  First off, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in which the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.  But the band was signed in 1975 by Sid Maurer, and former Epic Records promotion man Fred Frank, they scored two US Billboard Hot 100 entries in 1976 - the most successful being "Movin'," which hit #14.  BC had success on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, with nine chart entries, including "Movin'," which one BC'er later had as a number of R&B hits when he joined Skyy.

BW Stevenson - His Maria...

This is a Best Of...record, and it's the only B.W. Stevenson album I own.  Known mainly (only?) for the catchy My Maria, B.W. Stevenson (October 1949 - April 1988), was born as Louis Charles Stevenson.  He was a country pop artist, working in a genre that would later become known as progressive country. "B.W." stood for "Buckwheat."  Born in Dallas, he attended W.H. Adamson High School with such other future noted musicians as Michael Martin Murphy, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Larry Groce.  "My Maria" became a large hit, reaching #9 on Billboard's Hot 100 for the week of September 29, 1973.   Co-written by him and Daniel Moore, that gorgeous guitar portion (I think that is called a bridge) was played by the great Larry Carlton.  As you probably know - it was covered much later by the country duo Brooks & Dunn, for whom it was a three-week #1 country hit in mid 1996.  I read that Stevenson had several other successful chart singles, including "A Little Bit of Understanding" and the original version of Daniel Moore's "Shambala,"  which as a cover version by Three Dog Night reached #3.  But alas - Stevenson never regained the success he had with "My Maria."  He did make one Contemporary Christian album later on.  Author Jan Reid devotes a chapter to Stevenson in his book, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, dubbing him "The Voice."  Sadly, he passed away while undergoing heart valve surgery at the age of 38.  A place called Poor David's Pub in Dallas holds an annual songwriting competition in his memory.

Kansas - Vinyl Confessions

This is Vinyl Confessions, the eighth studio album, and ninth album overall, by American rock band Kansas, released in 1982 (see1982 in music). It includes "Play the Game Tonight", which broke the Top 20 and is Kansas's third highest-charting single, surpassed only by "Carry on Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind".  The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 2011.  Apparently - the founding members became (were?, are?) born again Christians.  Then - on that topic, wiki reports...Vinyl Confessions was a major turning point for the band.  After the conversion of both guitarist/keyboard player Kerry Livgrenand bass player Dave Hope to Christianity, and the focus that Livgren placed on his religion in the band's lyrics, lead singer Steve Walsh did not agree with the new direction of the band and left to form his own band, Streets.  Walsh had also contributed much as a songwriter, so the band was forced to find a new lead singer who not only had a vocal style that fit the band's music, but also could contribute material for the upcoming album.  After a long audition process, the choice came down to three strong candidates: Warren Ham, Michael Gleason and John Elefante. The band eventually settled on Elefante.