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From the Stacks: Wet Willie – The Wetter the Better
Wet Willie was a Southern rock band who had their biggest success on the Capricorn Records label, home of the Allman Brothers Band. They never hit it really big, but they managed to crank out one hit (1974’s “Keep On Smilin”) and this spanktastic album cover.
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The (Kind Of) Complete Woodstock: Quill
The crowd enjoyed ten hours of rainy silence between Joan Baez closing day one, the “folk” day at Woodstock, and Quill opening the more rock-oriented Saturday performances. They kicked off a day that would see Santana, Mountain, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane kick out the jams. So why…
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From the Stacks: Dynamite Doo Wopps, Vol. 6
Green Beret and national treasure John Rambo was all about two things: kicking ass, and sweet a cappella harmonies. Please welcome this fine, fine album to the Bad Album Cover Hall Of Fame.
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Deep Cuts: Law Songs
Yeah, okay. I had no business being so mouthy with a law man. On the other hand, who the hell was he to hassle me about some bad fashion choices? If bad taste was a crime prisons would be filled with muffin tops and whale tails. Besides, the guy was just trying to help. I…
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Why It Matters Live! This Friday, 10/19/12
Under The Gum Tree is throwing itself a birthday party this Friday night, October 19, at Think House in Sacramento. Things get started at 7:00 p.m. over at 1617 18th Street. Have you ever wondered what a Why It Matters story sounds like read aloud in a nervous, adenoidal voice? Here’s your big chance.
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100. When Two Tribes Go To War
Dan from Camelot Music and I sat in a fiberglass booth, dipping french fries into our vanilla shakes and eating plastic hamburgers. “Frankie Say Nasty,” Dan said, and wadded up his burger. A cop walked past us on his way out the door. “Hey, why do you dress like that?” he asked me.
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From the Stacks: Moog Machine – Switched-On Rock
Moog’s synthesizer was a truly revolutionary machine though finicky. Early adopters had to deal with the fact that the beast would go out of tune as the temperature changed, repeating a given sound was next to impossible, set up was difficult, etc. But even with those limitations, Wendy Carlos put together one of the first…
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The (Kind Of) Complete Woodstock: Joan Baez
When Joan Baez stepped onto the stage at one a.m. Saturday morning she was six months pregnant and her draft protester husband was on his way to federal prison. Her set was the official close of day one: one hour and thirteen songs.
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From the Stacks: UFO – Force It
1975’s Force It has pretty much everything I want in a hard rock album from that era: lots of guitar, boogie rhythms, harmonies, horny lyrics, blah blah blah. You’re not here for a review of a forty year old album, you’re here for that controversial album cover so let’s get to it.
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Deep Cuts: Bowie Goes to the Movies
“This Is Not America” was not the great David Bowie’s first bit of film music, nor was it his last. That makes sense: Bowie was perhaps the most cinematic musician of the rock and roll era. His songs were little movies, his stage personae characters. Even his off stage life seemed fit for the big…
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