Review: My Hometown - A Tribute To New Jersey

The remains of Seaside Heights, NJ. These homes are barely standing. All are uninhabitable.

How soon we forget. According to CNN, from October 22 to November 5, 2012, Hurricane Sandy, as both a hurricane and a post-tropical cyclone, killed at least 117 people in the United States and 69 more in Canada and the Caribbean. The total death toll is estimated at 285. The cost is estimated in multiple billions.

While various government and emergency agencies, celebrities and even foreign embassies have been doing what they can to help financially ever since, the terrible destruction wrought by the storm is still being felt by many, especially those in New York and New Jersey, who lost their families, homes and businesses.

Since every little bit helps, New Jersey musician Mick Chorba decided to do what he could by assembling an album to benefit his fellow New Jersey residents, so they can continue to rebuild their lives.

"My Hometown" is a collection of 19 songs originally recorded by musicians from New Jersey, covered by an eclectic mix of current New Jersey bands and solo musicians such as Cliff Hillis, The Anderson Council, The Successful Failures, Bastards of Melody, The Cryptkeeper Five, Keith Monacchio, Tim Lee, Janet Labelle and more. The songs being covered include tunes by Bruce Springsteen, The Smithereens, The Shirelles, The Rascals, The Critters, Fountains Of Wayne, Yo La Tengo and more. All proceeds will go to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund. You can listen to the album and buy it at Mick's FDR Records website. It's only 12 bucks, the music's great and it's for a very worthy cause. Go do it!

Among the many great musicians on the album is one of my favorite bands of recent years, The Grip Weeds, who hail from Highland Park, NJ. They recorded a version of the 1965 hit, "Lies" by The Knickerbockers, exclusively for this album.

"Lies" is well known as the best Beatles song that The Beatles didn't write. It's often said that "Lies" was the first successful cover of The Beatles' sound, which many songwriters do to this day. It's kind of neat to hear any musician who, having developed their own unique sound, intentionally write a song that is a tribute of sorts to the identifiable sound of another band. I think it's a great songwriting exercise, as long as one steers clear of pinching a specific part. Mustn't land ourselves in court over a simple melody, eh?

Anyway, to help promote the album, The Grip Weeds shot this cool video for "Lies". I do wish the band could find a way to tour outside of the northeastern US. I'll bet they are just fantastic live. Enjoy!

And just because we always like to treat our readers to the original version, here's The Knickerbockers, who got their name from Knickerbocker Avenue in Bergenfield, NJ, just a stone's throw from where brothers Kurt and Rick Reil of The Grip Weeds grew up! Small world.

Now get yer Jersey on and go buy this album. You'll get some cool music and you'll be helping fellow Americans dig out of a terrible situation. If you hurry, you can download a bonus track. That'll be good for yer atty-tude! You can also get more info and music from the fantastic Grip Weeds at their website. It's always good to support independent musicians by buying their music directly from them, wouldn't you say?

Tonight

For the most part, I am a fan of deluxe reissues of older albums, as they usually contain previously unreleased material that rounds out the picture of the entire album. It's similar to an extended edition of a movie. Sometimes, as in the epic "Lord Of The Rings" films, the additional footage adds depth to the story and fills in some holes regarding character development and motivation. But then, there are some projects where the unreleased stuff only serves to illustrate that the film was just fine as released. It's called 'editing' for a reason, you see.

This album is NOT "Sticky Fingers". Seriously.

Such is the case with this 2008 reissue of the first album by hair-metal hellraisers, Motley Crue. While thankfully, there's no second disc of music or a dvd to ponder, there's enough extra stuff tacked on to market this to fans who've bought the album in various formats since its debut in 1981. Add some dubious 'remastering' to the package, which usually means "it's louder", and you've got a product to flog that should help keep the band members' 401K funds hopping. I should add that a quality mastering job can certainly provide an improved listening experience, but in some cases, the source tapes are only as good as they are and that's as good as it's gonna get. That's the deal here.

Among the new found filler is a cover version of the song "Tonight", which was the opening track from the 1973 album "Side 3" by The Raspberries. Although it's not uncommon for a stray cover tune to carry over from a bands' live set onto their recorded debut, I've gotta say that the Crue really whiffed this one. The track sounds like they listened to the song once on a boombox, then rolled tape and had a go at it. With some more work on the arrangement, it could have been a winner, but entire sections of the song are omitted, vocal cues are missed, and the take just falls flat. This recording is a very good example of what should rightly be left in the can. Down the road a bit, the Motleys proved they could do much better with their gritty take on "Smokin' In The Boys Room" by Brownsville Station, which scored well on the charts as a single and provided considerable help with record sales. Too bad they couldn't have done as well with "Tonight". Give a listen yourself and you decide.

The Raspberries

The one thing my wife will always have on me is the fact that the first rock concert she ever attended was The Guess Who and The Raspberries. My first concert was Golden Earring, Foghat, and Black Oak Arkansas; a show that could only sound good by drowning it in cheap beer. Although that billing was kinda cool back in '74, I wish I'd thought it through a little more, so my first show would have been something really awesome. But now, as then, I would have traded front row at that show, to sit in the nosebleeds to see The Guess Who and The Raspberries.

If Motley Crue had managed to capture half of the infectious joy that inhabits The Raspberries' original recording, they'd have nailed it. To be fair, that's kind of a tall order. Lyrically, the song is almost a sequel to their first hit "Go All The Way". The asking part about going all the way is done. Tonight, it's a given. That right there is Motley Crue's home turf, if you go by their album cover, and is all the more reason they should have put more work into their version of the song. Crank this one up and hope your kids don't figure out what Eric Carmen is singing about. This, my friends, is great rock and roll music. Enjoy!

As usual, Amazon is the online place to go for all things Motley Crue, if you are so inclined. As for The Raspberries, their original 70's albums are available on cd, but only as pricey Japanese imports. You and your wallet would be far better served with a solid "Greatest Hits" album. Vinyl lovers, take note. There is a very nice Mobile Fidelity vinyl edition of an earlier 'Best Of' album, coming out in early August.

I Live For The Sun

Well, I certainly wish this little scene was in my immediate future, but it's not. It's just time for me to take a short summer break to recharge the creative batteries, play some gigs with my musical friends, have some family time, and think a few other things through. It's needed and all for the good.

Kool Kovers feature articles will definitely be back very soon! Until then, I'll be leaving random updates, links & assorted driftwood on our Facebook page. C'mon by and visit.

As a summertime send-off, here's Beach Boys band anchor, Jeffrey Foskett, with his version of "I Live For The Sun", originally done by The Sunrays in 1965. That record featured a youthful Glen Campbell on guitar, back when Glen was a member of the fabled Wrecking Crew. One listen to this and you'll understand why Foskett got the gig with the Beach Boys. Enjoy!

Thank you for enjoying Kool Kovers. Hope all of you have a great summer! See ya soon!

Hallelujah

Do yourself a huge favor and go buy this album right now!

Jeff Buckley was born in California's Orange County in 1966 and died in a tragic drowning accident in Memphis on May 29, 1997. No drugs or alcohol were involved.

His debut album, "Grace", was released on August 23, 1994. "Grace" is one of those albums that you can just put on and play while you're doing stuff around the house if you want and that's all fine and good. But if you put this recording on and sit down to listen, I mean really listen, preferably in headphones, you will find it to be absolutely transcendent & transporting. This album is capable of taking you completely away to a strange, yet utterly beautiful place. That is something very rare indeed and is also why "Grace" is easily one of the very best records of the 1990's.

The first song that caught my attention was "Last Goodbye", with its less than subtle Led Zeppelin influence. But this is no copycat wannabe. Musically, it is completely original. The music rocks hard when it needs to and floats ethereally when it should. It also sounds completely organic, like this is how the band sounded live. No antiseptic, artificial, Pro-Tool'd tweakage is evident anywhere. I love that.

But then, there's the vocals. Jeff Buckley had a way of putting you directly in touch with his musical soul using his multi-octave vocal range. His voice was, by turns, sweeping, intense, gentle, wracked with heartbreak and bursting with joy. He could soar through difficult, emotional phrases like a bird on the wind. I've never heard any other singer, male or female, who could do what Jeff Buckley did.

Today's song at hand is Jeff's now famous cover of the Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah", that is certainly a highlight of "Grace".

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro, who recorded an instrumental take of "Hallelujah" said "When you hear Jeff's version, it's so intimate that it's almost like you're invading his personal space or you're listening to something private you weren't supposed to hear". I agree. Enjoy.

There's a book about the song that my wonderful wife picked up from the library, entitled "The Holy Or The Broken" by Alan Light. The book details the sojourn of "Hallelujah" from being just another song on a 1984 Leonard Cohen album entitled "Various Positions" that Columbia brass did not even want to release; so much so that they sold it off to an indie label, to the modern standard that it is today, though the song is often mishandled to the detriment of both the song and the performer. Bono has gone as far as apologizing publicly for his rendition, which he felt was ruined by the excesses of an overpowering trip-hop production. That recording, done around the time of U2's album, "Pop", appeared on a Leonard Cohen tribute album, "Tower Of Song", an overblown, big name project which is best left alone.

John Cale

Leonard Cohen's original draft of "Hallelujah" had at least 15 pages of verses. Not 15 verses, 15 pages! It proved a very difficult song for Cohen to nail down to its essence. It took a cover version by former Velvet Underground bassist, John Cale to distill the song to the 5 verse form we know and love. Cale's version first appeared as the closing track on a 1991 Cohen tribute album called "I'm Your Fan". Cale's recording has also appeared on the soundtrack album for the TV show "Scrubs" and was featured prominently in the movie, "Shrek".

It was Cale's edited rendition of the song that got Jeff Buckley's attention. Buckley first heard the "I'm Your Fan" album at a friend's house while he was appearing weekly at New York club called Sin-'e in 1992. It was soon added to his repertoire as a set closer.

About his selecting the song for the album, Cale said "I remember going to (see Cohen at) the Beacon in New York. I hadn't heard the song before and it just knocked me sideways". Cale said in the same interview that he had known Cohen for some time, yet was unaware of "Hallelujah"; further proof of the obscurity of "Various Positions", even among Cohen's acquaintances. Later, Cale said he called and asked Cohen to send him the lyrics. "I had one of those old fax machines. I went out to dinner and upon my return, my floor was covered in paper!"

Here's a live performance of "Hallelujah" by John Cale from 1992. It's not that far removed from Cohen's original, just distilled to its essential elements. This performance strikes me as more of a recitation than anything coming from somewhere deep or personal. But it was a major step along the way in the song's development.

Leonard Cohen's version can be heard as an old man looking back on what once was. But Jeff Buckley turned it around into a young man's first discovery of the power of love, the power of sex, and the connection between sexuality and spirituality, which is David's theme in the Psalms. That's not a cover version. That's a transformed song. Leonard Cohen wrote it and John Cale edited it, but Jeff Buckley owned it.

It took Cale, Buckley and a host of well meaning attempts by pros and pretenders alike to show Cohen the best route to the power of his own composition. The song has demonstrated that it works best when handled with the utmost care, lest it collapse under the weight of ponderous orchestrations. It would be the same as wrapping mist in stone. The song also does not work well with a calculated approach, be it falsely dramatic or datedly stylistic. It demands all of the naked, confessional honesty of the moment that the performer can muster; as if it will break if mishandled. Most American Idol types don't seem to understand that.

Here's Leonard Cohen, live at Montreal Jazz festival in 2008.

So where can you find all this stuff? Allow me to hook you up.

The book, "The Holy Or The Broken" by Alan Light, can be found at Amazon, your local Narnes & Boble, or with any luck, your public library. It's a detailed and entertaining book but it reads quickly and may just be way more info than you needed to get the gist of how it all went down.

Jeff Buckley's posthumous releases are all fine and good, but "Grace" is a must own. There's a standard single cd version available, but I'd really recommend that you spring for the 3 disc Legacy Edition with extra songs & a DVD documentary. It's worth it, just do it.

You can still find the entire Leonard Cohen catalog at Amazon, including an import box set for about $33 that contains all 11 of Cohen's studio albums. A bargain, in our humble opinion.

The indie tribute album, "I'm Your Fan" is available used, but is pricey in new condition, due to the popularity of John Cale's rendition, which is likely his most popular recording ever, except for his work with The Velvet Underground. The other Cohen tribute, "Tower Of Song", is still available, but unless you have to have absolutely everything by the artists involved, I'd skip it.