"colonialacres" <colonialacres at (no spam) comcast.net> wrote:
The remaster is better than the original but the 4 extra tracks are
crap.
They usually are. But if I get, I'll get that one anyway, it's a better
deal.
True dat.
Who's Next is another remaster with a bunch of garbage added-on.
If we're talking early high school (1st two years) I'd say our BTR was
"Are You Experienced," by Jimi. We overplayed that record constantly.
And when "Electric Ladyland" came out we overplayed that one.
For some reason, I had a deeper connection to "Axis: Bold As Love" than
Jimi's others.
I never knew "Axis Bold as Love" existed.
For me the sequence was: 1. Are You Experienced, 2. Electric Ladyland, 3.
Band of Gyspsys. I don't think I ever saw Axis Bold As Love on the store
shelves, although I did hear "If Six Was Nine" when I saw Easy Rider.
We bought our albums at R&S Records, on Armitage & Kedzie. That was
(still
is) a very rough part of Logan Square. There were about 15 major gangs in
the area, half white, the other half PR. The entire neighborhood was a
war
zone. The gangs used to firebomb each other houses and there were West
Side Story style rumbles (that ended in murders) all the time.
Sometimes we got a ride to R&S, sometimes we walked. When walking, as
soon
as you crossed Fullerton Avenue you were on the look out for other white
kids. The key was to find somebody that you knew from high school. If
you
ran into a bunch of other whites you were probably going to be safe. If
you
didn't, then you just wanted to get in & out of the neighborhood without
calling attention to yourselves. Not easily done when there's several of
you, all dressed greaser.
But R&S was worth it! Prices were dirt cheap. As late as the mid '70's
album prices were still only $2.75 per lp.
R&S didn't have everything, but because of the prices it was the only
place
we bought records. Bottom line: we bought what they had on the shelves.
I
don't remember ever seeing Axis Bold As Love. I think the first time I
saw
that album was 5 years after it came out.
But I mentioned Live At Leeds because it had lots of that young man angst
that BTR had.
Ah...now I see...
I was thinking purely in terms of what we played most often. In sophomore
year it was Are You Experienced. We wore that sucker out. In senior year
it was Blind Faith, Led Zeppelin #1, and Abbey Road.
Lotta young man angst on Led Zeppelin #1. "Good Times Bad Times" is every
bit the statement on teenage years as BTR; especially when followed by
"Babe
I'm Gonna Leave You". Hell, the entire LZ #1 album is male angst.
Not much young man angst on Blind Faith or Abbey Road. But those two were
definitely tied with Led Zeppelin #1 for most played.
Like I said, our alleys looked hellish under those sodium vapor lights,
and this record had a hellish sorta sound. So to us it was a stunner.
http://tinyurl.com/yf7wghx
That looks hellish enough in the daytime!
Actually, I bet you can see why I have always said that - in places -
Chicago looks a little like Oakland. Keep in mind that you are seeing the
backs of buildings. The fronts are what people driving through the
neighborhood see, so the fronts are what people tend to keep up. The
backs
are seen only by your neighbors, so you can put a little less work there.
It's kinda like nobody cares if your ass needs a scrubbing, so long as
your
face is clean. (Emoticon here).
There were and are lots of alleys like this in Avondale. There were and
are
also lots of alleys that are a lot nicer. And of course there were some
that were worse.
Most of the "centrally-located" (between Ashland and Pulaski) north side
neighborhoods have sections that are a hodge-podge of housing styles. On
some streets you have a bunch of houses all built at the same time and in
the same style, they look uniform. On other streets you have a bunch of
houses that went up at various times and in various styles, they look
"thrown together". The result is that some streets, like the one I grew
up
on, were quite nice and others, like the ones a lot of my friends grew up
on, looked like shit under shingles.
But it was precisely this heterogeneous quality that made our neighborhood
so diverse, and so much fun.
Every pair of streets in Chicago are separated by an alley. It's where
you
keep your garbage cans, where cars go in & out garages, where kids rule.
Kids use the alleys for everything, legal & illegal. They cut through
them
on their way to other places. They also cut through people's yards,
making
sure not to choose a yard with a German Shepard or a Doberman (today's
equivalent, Pit-bull or Rotweiller). They use the alleys to sneak smokes,
cut school, cause trouble. Later in life when they're with their girls
they
use the alleys to locate an abandoned building or unlocked garage, so they
can get a little private time.
And of course the alleys were where the gangs fought. Alleys,
schoolyards,
parks and RR tracks, those were the places. I used the past-tense
"fought".
Today's gangs are pussies, they can't fight. Have you ever seen them try
to
fight? Or throw a baseball? No wonder they have to shoot sideways at
each
other...they are fucking embarrassments to the male gender.
But the BIGGEST use of the alleys is for sport.
From your back upper windows you can look down over the alley and see
who's
out playing ball. In the summertime when the windows are open you can
shout
over to your friend's open window. As soon as you connect with someone
you
grab your shoes and peel out the house like a train. No need to tell your
parents where you're going; if it's daylight you're playing sports or
causing trouble. If it's nighttime you're wreaking some type of major
havoc just like they did when they were kids. They don't wanna know.
Since the alleys are where people take their dogs to crap (nobody picks it
up) when you shoot hoop you learn to dribble around it; when you play
football you learn to catch everything you can touch, lest the pigskin
skid
down the alley and land in a pile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9hNT0fvNgc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpCB-0d42-g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OBs6S1lW_Q&feature=related
The first two I'd call just okay; they sound dated, kinda remind me of
old
Amboy Dukes or something. The third one is outstanding and doesn't sound
dated at all.
The first two songs are eerie, evil-sounding little nuggets. They fit our
environment perfectly. The album came out in the summer, so hot, muggy
nights. You'd get a dozen hot sweaty kids walking down some back alley,
they'd ass-up along some garage wall, press play on the boombox and blast
BOC out to the stars. Pretty soon the atmosphere would come alive. Kids
crawling out of every gangway to see "what IS this music?"
The place was already surreal, BOC only made it more so. Nighttime in
Chicago is run by the kids. The adults stay inside and watch TV.
So...you take a hot, muggy night, add some strange, creepy music, the glow
of sodium vapor lamps, the various psychedelic recreationals, and the
normal
nighttime sounds...the sirens on call for purse snatchings, armed
robberies,
home invasions, arson, muggings, gang fights, stabbings, beatings and
shootings in sudden affray, you get an environment not unlike that
portrayed
on HBO's True Blood.
Not Louisiana and of course no vampires, yet a swampy, muggy, sexy,
concrete
jungle under a hellfire glow. A mysterious, yellow-green little nuclear
hellscape run entirely by kids aged 12 to 25.
In other words, the perfect setting for pure teenage FUN.
Yeah the 3rd song is pretty good...
No, it's not the Allman Brothers Band or Van Morrison, but I
still get a kick out of it, even after all these years.
