Joe writes: Henry and Rupert Stansall, AKA Ruen Brothers, are two brothers aged 22 and 23. One of the songs in their live set, On The Sunny Side Of Town, was written when they were around 16. I mention this to illustrate that they have been playing and writing rock 'n' roll for years - it's their passion and they're not bandwagon jumpers. However, they have undoubtedly been helped by Jake Bugg's breakthrough and the hype around The Strypes. This could be their time - as long as they don't pause until they're huge. Fullish disclosure: I [...]

Even if you're a lifelong country and pop music fan of a certain age (40ish and thereabouts and above), who's never heard his name, chances are you've heard at least two of his songs: "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl." I'm told that in 1973 you couldn't really escape them. When the latter became his second No. 1 country single of that year and topped Billboard's Hot 100 as well ("Behind Closed Doors," the title cut of his quadruple-platinum 1973 album, was Grammy-winning a No. 15 pop hit), Rich found himself in the enviable and [...]

A late-bloomer who went from rock-and-roller to country hitmaker to Top-40 star, Charlie Rich scored a #1 in 1973 with "The Most Beautiful Girl."

This compilation is not accompanied by an instalment in the country history, because the next chapter goes with the next mix. And, in some ways, it makes sense that this mix has no history (of course, the timeframe is covered by past articles in the series) because the late 1970s was a time of hiatus. Many of the stalwarts of just a few years earlier ceased having strings of hits, and those artists who had grown out of the Outlaw movement now had their day. In this mix, the likes of Guy Clark, John Anderson, Larry Jon Wilson [...]

The traditional country stars — Conway Twitty, George Jones, Tammy Wynette Charlie Rich, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride — were still selling many records in the 1970s, and periodically crossed over to the pop charts. Singers like Donna Fargo evoked the good old days with happy songs like The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA. These were still the Opry years — in fact, in 1972 the Grand Ole Opry opened a theme park called Opryland, and wo years later moved out of its long-time home, the Ryman Theatre, to Opryland. But the Nashville scene no longer monopolised country, [...]

In the late 1950s and early ’60s country was in a good shape. The likes of Johnny Cash, George Jones, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline (who like Reeves would die in a plane crash), Don Gibson, Kitty Wells, Marty Robbins, Skeeter Davis, Ray Price, Faron Young, Ernest Tubb, ex-boxer Lefty Frizzell and Wanda Jackson were recording prodigious success, even in rivalry with its progeny, rock & roll.These were the comfort years before the social upheaval of the 1960s put into question old certainties, even in the world of country music. By now, country was no longer confined to the [...]

In this week's installment of In The Window , I hit up Soundscapes to check out their arrangement of albums. So it's CDs instead of vinyl, but big points are given for the elaborate display dedicated to The Luyas album, Too Beautiful to Work .
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NlMTa I5FIY John Carpenter 's drummer Joe Albanese happens to be a Youtube connoisseur and general master of music entertainment. He can engage a group of people for days on Facebook in a race to name bands with the word "black" in the their names. Today he sent over a link to the video seen above, "Old Electric Boogie," a Youtube gem, inspiring us to launch a new L.A. RECORD weekly blog column. IT'S ALL FOR YOU, TUBE will feature a Youtube Mixtape contribution from someone really cool who [...]

"Selling all my records. $40. Call 555-5555 for more information". He could've saved himself the $3 he spent for the newspaper ad and simply emailed me directly. Two hours later, I was in Dick's living room looking at "all" his records: three boxes of albums and a couple of boxes of singles. Turns out Dick sold cars from his front yard for "20-some" years and had some experience stretching the truth. Turns out that "all my records" were the 150 or so leftovers he hadn't moved to his girlfriend's 96-year old father's house. "The state bought [...]

Fifteen years ago this Sunday (July 25th) the world lost Charlie Rich . One of the most uniquely talented vocalists the music world has ever known, Rich could—and did—do it all. During his career, he recorded rock, soul, blues, gospel, and country. If you tried to pigeonholeRich, it was an impossible task, as his talent ran through so many musical styles, and he made each his own. Born December 14, 1932 in Arkansas, Rich started to embark on a musical career while serving Uncle Sam in the U.S. Air Force. After returning home in 1955, Rich split [...]

Fifteen years ago this Sunday (July 25th) the world lost Charlie Rich . One of the most uniquely talented vocalists the music world has ever known, Rich could—and did—do it all. During his career, he recorded rock, soul, blues, gospel, and country. If you tried to pigeonholeRich, it was an impossible task, as his talent ran through so many musical styles, and he made each his own. Born December 14, 1932 in Arkansas, Rich started to embark on a musical career while serving Uncle Sam in the U.S. Air Force. After returning home in 1955, Rich split [...]

Charlie Rich - I Take It On Home ( buy ) To quote an old Tom Waits song: "As the radio spits out Charlie Rich man... and he sure can sing that son of a bitch." Tom was right of course. Just listen to the Silver Fox takin´ it on home and you´ll see why.

Originally posted May 15, 2008 "Selling all my records. $40. Call 555-5555 for more information". He could've saved himself the $3 he spent for the newspaper ad and simply emailed me directly. Two hours later, I was in Dick's living room looking at "all" his records: three boxes of albums and a couple of boxes of singles. Turns out Dick sold cars from his front yard for "20-some" years and had some experience stretching the truth. Turns out that "all my records" were the [...]

Johnny Paycheck - I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised Bill Haley & The Comets - Real Rock Drive Tani Allen - Tennesse Jive Little Junior Parker - Barefoot Rock The Rockin' R's - Crazy Baby Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys - Never No More Blues The Hollywood Flames - Buzz Buzz Buzz Little Willie John - I'm Shakin' Sunnyland Slim - Highway 61 Bo Diddley - I Love [...]

Elvis Presley: Blue Moon Of Kentucky (alternate take) [ purchase ] Charlie Rich: Sittin' And Thinkin' [ purchase ] Record companies and the people behind them have been hugely important in the development of popular music in the 20th century. While some important musical developments probably were inevitable (i.e., The Beatles), many others can be traced to as much to the people behind the records as to the people behind the microphones. Probably the best example of a man in the music [...]

The move went fine, and all them boxes are more or less unpacked by now. The phone, iMac, stereo and fridge are connected already, and what more can one ask for really? But as I still got a million other things to do, I don´t really feel like blogging extensively at the moment. Here´s a few cool songs about houses and homes to keep you happy for the time being though. Two classics, at least in my book: Arthur Lee´s Love and Roky´s Elevators. A beautiful demo by that good ole silver fox Charlie Rich, plus a great song by [...]

Growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, there weren't many opportunities for "real" live music. There were the bars, and a few local (mostly cover) bands. My sister was in the high school choir, for what it was worth, and during my middle school years, a gothic/electronica club opened downtown that brought in a band every now and again. The main sources of professional live music were the universities (UW-La Crosse and Viterbo) and the civic center. As was to be expected, the universities tended towards upper-middlebrow culture--jazz, polite folk, anything with harps. The civic [...]