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“Let Me Do It To You” is a gem off of J.J. Cales unheralded1976 album Troubadour. While the lyrics are simple and to the point, it’s the music and catchy melody that really shine here and though Eric Clapton would make a hit out of another track off this album, “Cocaine” you can see the foundation of the groove for Clapton’s own “Lay Down Sally” in this fun track. Clapton might have got the rhythm of Cale’s guitar-work down, but his covers are nowhere near as funky as these originals, check out the bouncing lead on “Cocaine” that I’ve included as a bonus below.

Let Me Do It To You- J.J. Cale
Cocaine- J.J. Cale

The story goes that Mississippi John Hurt was at the ripe young age of 35 when he traveled up from Mississippi to Memphis to lay down the first recordings of his career on the legendary Okeh label, a hop and a jump later in December of 1928 he made this recording in New York City, a lyrical reworking of “Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor”. You have to love the sound of this old recording; mellow and oaken, a bright finger picked guitar and a voice that will last for the ages.

Ain’t No Tellin’- Mississippi John Hurt 

Classic Albums: The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)

I saw rock ‘n’ roll’s future—and its name is Bruce Springsteen

On August 25th, 1975, Bruce Springsteen’s musical career changed forever. Born to Run was a triumph of encapsulating the motifs of the American Dream, the hope of the future versus the world weary reality, the desire to make something out of nothing and never look back, audiences took to it immediately and a star was born.  Many thought that this Jersey boy had come out of nowhere (he had) and that this was a stunning debut (it wasn’t).  The genius of Born to Run lay in its absolute desperation, it’s all or nothing grandeur that was indeed the result of an artist taking his last shot at stardom, doomed to fade to obscurity if he failed.  The tales that came out of this recording were legendary, it took two years to make the album, with a good 6 months spent on the title track, complete with 12 guitar overdubs and a change in production and management halfway through.  The guitar slinger from Jersey had finally found critical and popular success, yet Springsteen had already touched upon the themes so heralded in Born to Run, and it was The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle that had brought him there.

Continue reading Classic Albums: The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)