Author: 2loud2oldmusic

The Original vs. The Cover – “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”

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For this episode of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going to battle it out with the song “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”. The original was done by the band Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes which has Teddy Pendergrass on lead vocals and The Cover is done by the band Simply Red. Both artist did really well with the song as Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes took the song all the way to #3 on the Billboard Charts in 1972 and Simple Red went all the way to #1 in 1989.

The song itself was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. They were a pretty mighty songwriting team with over 175 Gold and Platinum records between them. The song is a result of marital problems and those problems allowed them to touch in to a very heartfelt sentiment. They believed that if their spouse didn’t know them by now, they never would. Those marital problems certainly created an amazing song.

HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES:

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes didn’t actually play any of the instruments and only sang, but that don’t matter. The session musicians were incredible. The rhythm section of the song was incredible as they laid down a smooth groove and vibe. You had Earl Young on drums and Ronnie Baker on bass and both were stellar. The song was filled with a piano backing by the songwriter Leon Huff and a string orchestration from Don Renaldo. The tempo was slow, sultry and a little sexy. The song feels larger than life.

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Needtobreathe – ‘Live at the Paste Studio’ – 7″ Single

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Back on November 25, 2016, Needtobreathe released a two song 7″ Single to celebrate the band’s chance to record for Paste Magazine at their Paste Studio. And this is the only way you can own these songs is on the vinyl option. Otherwise you have to stream them. The band recorded the songs the previous Summer in Midtown Manhattan and the band set up to record the songs acoustically which we already know the band does so well. The band was promoting their current album at the time, “Hard Love” which is one of their best albums.

I was finally able to get my hands on a copy and not pay too much. The band has only released 4 vinyl 7″ singles and now I have 3 of them and this is the first one I was able to get. The packaging is stunning and even comes with a double sided insert with one side being the track listing and all the credits and the other side artwork that continues the theme of the packaging for the single and the album. The single itself comes in a solid black sleeve to match the color the vinyl as well.

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Judas Priest – ‘Ram It Down’ (1988) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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As you know, the Turbo album was supposed to be a double album, but the powers-that-be decided the band should only release a single disc album. That meant a lot of songs were scrapped. Well, at least four of those songs wound up on the band’s follow-up, ‘Ram It Down’. The rest of those songs wound up as Bonus tracks on the re-issues and a couple I don’t think have ever seen the light of day. Maybe someday we will hear them.

‘Ram It Down’ was recorded from December 1987 to March of 1988. It would finally be released on May 17, 1988 and would end up being the last album with drummer Dave Holland. There are a few people I know that were quite happy with that move as they always felt Dave’s drumming was a little on the lackluster side. The album would ship gold but only wound up going to #31 on the US Billboard Charts. The album was pretty heavy compared to Turbo, but the songs were no where near as strong and I believe most were disappointed with the end result. In fact, when we did the Nigel Tufnel Top 10 Judas Priest albums on The LeBrain Train several weeks back, none of the three guest even chose this album as one of their Top 10 if that clues you in on anything.

The album kicks off with the classic Halford scream and really slams it home with heavy thrash sounding drums and frantically flying fingers on guitar. The title track, “Ram It Down”, is doing just that. Slamming the fist down to show the world they weren’t a synthesizer band anymore. When compared to the rest of the album, this is one of the better tracks as it still has a little bite and a great dual guitar solo from Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing and man their fingers had to be smoking after the speed of those solos.

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My Sunday Song – “Best of Me” by Ratt

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For My Sunday Song #258, we are going to talk about “Best of Me” by Ratt. The song was the first single off their 2010 comeback album ‘Infestation’ and was the first signs that Ratt was back and back with a vengeance. When I first saw the video and heard the song, I was so pumped for this album. I hadn’t felt that way for a Ratt album in almost 20 years. This was the Ratt I knew and loved.  ‘Infestation’ was a beast of an album, but sadly, the band didn’t capitalize on it and ended up fighting and suing each other, it was a mess. But the song was great.

The song was written by Stephen Pearcy, Carlos Cavazo and Michael “Elvis” Baskette. “Best of Me” is about Stephen’s wife at the time, Melissa Pearcy.  He realized that she was the best part of him, but it took him to look elsewhere to realize what he had. He made the mistake and thought the grass might be greener on the other side and found out he already had the best thing in life he needed. Guys are stupid and get caught in this thinking all the time…they always want something newer or better…at least what they think is better…WRONG!! I think the band Cinderella summed it up nicely, “You don’t know what you got, ’til its gone”…that is the right saying for this.

That opening guitar riff by Warren DeMartini was pure Ratt magic. It immediately takes you back to the 80’s to when Ratt was in their prime. It sounds like it could’ve been on ‘Out of the Cellar’ or ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’. Bobby Blotzer’s drums sound great and he and bass player Robbie Crane are the driving force behind the song. Carlos Cavazo’s rhythm guitar is there is highlight Warren’s magical fingers. I mean his solo even sounds like it was ripped from the 80’s. And don’t forget Stephen Pearcy. His vocals are in great shape and still have that bluesy, gravely vocal he did back in the day. The song screams Ratt & Roll!! Yes, I went there!!

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Friday New Releases – July 30, 2021

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We are at the end of July already and dang the releases are still heating up and this week is a scorcher!! There is a battle going on in my house as one of my favorite bands is releasing and album and one of kids favorite artists is as well so it will be a fight on who plays what in the car. The girls will win because they have me wrapped around every finger!! I will go ahead and admit defeat. My choices this week are in Blue and I am sure there will be something for you as well as there are around 40 releases to choose. Let me know what you want to hear and what I may have missed so everyone knows it as well. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

  • 81hSQL7GTfS._SS500_  Needtobreathe – Into the Mystery – (Elektra Records): If you follow this site at all then you know Needtobreathe is one of my favorite bands of all time!! While in Quarantine in 2020, they couldn’t tour so they made a new album…hell, why not!! Can’t wait to see where their heads were on this one and glad we got one so much sooner than we probably would have. I guess Covid was good for something!!
  • 91L7BkHtcsS._SL1500_  Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever – (Darkroom / Interscope Records): Unless you’ve been under a rock the last few years, you know Billie Eilish is like the Big Cheese!! My kids love her and I will admit she has some great songs and teamed up with her brother who writes a lot of it, they are a pretty dynamic duo right now. I did really enjoy the single “Therefore I Am” so hoping the rest is as good.
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July 2021 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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We are about to the end of July so time for another wrap-up of my purchases for the month. We had a little quieter month and some things I am so happy to have in my collection. The vinyl was limited this month, CDs ruled the month and I even have a nice new book to read. I would say it was a really great month of finds.

We will start off with some simple finds from when my kids and I hit up Manifest Discs and a little shop called 2nd & Charles. At Manifests, I found a couple of Velvet Revolver CDs that were in my collection at one time, but we won’t go in to that right now, I am just happy to have them again. The one on the left, ‘Contraband’, is the one my brother-in-law was the engineer on so yes, he worked with Slash and Scott Weiland!! Pretty cool.

Then we went down the street to 2nd & Charles and my daughter picked up 7 Volume set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novels and I grabbed a couple CDs. These were two more that were in my collection years ago and now they are back as well. A nice Richard Marx one and Chickenfoot. And Richard Marx will come up again soon…

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Queen – ‘The Miracle’ (1989) – Album Review (The Studio Album Series)

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After the Magic Tour ended in 1986, which was supporting the album ‘A Kind of Magic’, the band took a break. Not much happened in 1987 and the band went its longest time between albums. They finally did start recording a new album in January 1988 and it took a whole year before they were finally finished in January 1989. The band was going through a lot during this time period. Brian May was going through a very tumultuous marital problems that actually put him in to depression. And to make matters worse, Freddie had been diagnosed with HIV and suffering through the effects of that illness. At the time, there had been speculation of Freddie’s illness but at the time, it wasn’t confirmed publicly although the band was well aware of the diagnosis.

The album was finished and was finally released on May 22, 1989 and titled ‘The Miracle’ which sounds like that is exactly what it was to get the album finished. At one time, the album title was going to be ‘The Invisible Men’ but was changed suddenly at the last minute. I think the final title fits what was going on in their lives. Thankfully, we got another album from the band. The album went to #1 in several countries, including the UK, but only hit #24 in the US. It was certified Platinum in the UK, but I don’t believe has ever been certified Gold or anything in the US. For me, it was a day one purchase so I know they sold at least one copy in the US.

The band did something different with this album as well. All the songs were credited to the band ‘Queen’ and not to each individual member that actually wrote the song. The band was being more collaborative and felt this was the right thing to do. Now, however, we know who actually wrote each song but I liked the fact at this point in their career, they felt that crediting it to each member was the right thing to do. The album cover with the faces morphed together as one is in line with the collaborative feeling.

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Whitesnake – “Fool For Your Loving” – Single Review (The David Coverdale Series – Bonus Edition)

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I was out and about with my daughter and we actually made an unexpected trip to one of our local record stores called Repo Records. I wasn’t expecting to find anything and I came across a great early Whitesnake single for the song “Fool For Your Loving” but not from the album you are thinking. Nope, this is the 1980 version that you might not known existed. Whitesnake fans that came on board in the late 80’s know this song from the album ‘Slip of the Tongue’.  However, this is the original and first release of the song which went to #13 in the UK and #53 in the US. It was actually the band’s first single and first hit outside the UK. 

“Fool For Your Loving” was written by Bernie Marsden (who had the riffs and the verses), Micky Moody (who wrote the bridge) and David Coverdale (who did the lyrics). The funny thing about the song is that it was originally written for BB King, however, they soon realized the song was too good to pass up…and they were right. This version of the song is more bluesy and has a nice groove and not as rocking as the hair metal version, but that is okay.  You have Bernie belting out a great solo that is so different than Vai’s version. 

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Judas Priest – ‘Priest…Live!’ (1987) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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It was time for Priest to release another live album. After the success of the band’s 1986 album ‘Turbo’ and the very successful tour called ‘Fuel for Life Tour’, the band was still riding high. It was decided to capture this new era of Priest with a live album. The album takes songs from two of the band’s shows on the tour. The first was from my hometown of Atlanta, Ga from the show on June 15, 1986 at the Omni. Back then I would’ve been 17 years old and about to start my Senior Year in High School which means I was in to the whole glam rock scene with the likes of Poison and Ratt and those bands. I wasn’t listening to Priest so completely missed that show…now I look on it sadly because what a show it would’ve been. The second show they took songs from was from the Dallas, TX show on June 27, 1986 at Reunion Arena. And from the sounds of this album, both shows were spectacular.

What I find really cool about this release is they did the same thing Kiss did with Alive! and Alive II. They did not repeat any tracks on the albums. Yep, all the songs on Priest…Live! were from the era after ‘Unleashed in the East’ so you get an entirely new set of songs. As a fan, I completely appreciate and love that fact. Then you can throw on both albums and play them back to back and get a killer show with no repeats. Good job guys.

The track listing is great with over 15 tracks covering the 5 albums. You get 5 from ‘Turbo’ which makes sense since that is the album they were touring at the time. You get 4 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 2 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’, only 1 from ‘Point of Entry’ and 3 from ‘British Steel’. The version I have has 3 bonus tracks which is 1 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 1 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ and ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ which would technically be the only repeat, but since this is a bonus track and not on the original album it doesn’t count.

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My Sunday Song – “Nobody Rides For Free” by Ratt

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For My Sunday Song #257, we are going to discuss the single “Nobody Rides For Free” off the Soundtrack to the movie ‘Point Break’ from 1991. The song was never on a studio album of Ratt, but has been on their Greatest Hits compilations. The song was played during the end credits of the movie and was sadly, the first single the band recorded without founding member Robbin Crosby who had been left the band due to drug problems.

The song was written by songwriter, Steven Carlton who was in the band Climate of Crisis. The band had performed the song many times so I guess that makes it a cover song which I didn’t know. The song was presented to the band for use in the movie, so Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini and Juan Croucier took the song and tweaked it fit the band. Mostly they played with the lyrics but there were some musical tweaks as well.

The song seems to be about how people hang on to the star as the star is trying to reach for his success. These people cling on and are only there because the person is famous. The singer is fed up with it and is telling people to get put up or shut up and get out of my life if you are going to get in my way. Nobody rides for free on his coattails so either help him achieve his goal or get the F#&@ out of his way.

The song sounds like classic Ratt with Stephen’s gravely vocals that are heavily blues influenced. Bobby Blotzer’s drums drive the song forward along with Juan Croucier’s thumping bass. But the star of the song next to Stephen is Warren DeMartini and that blazing guitar. He has a great simple riff, but that solo he lays down is the money shot of the song. It would’ve been nice to have him playing off Robbin, but Warren is talented enough to handle it on his own. The song rocks out in all the right places.

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