Norman's Rockwell

Happy Boxing Day! Time for my Top 10s for 2014. Album of the Year and Record of the Year. What's the difference? I follow the guidelines of the good folks at the Grammy Awards. Albums are full artistic statements; Records are those singles or defining tracks that made the most impact on my playlists. These titles were enjoyed on my iPod, CD player and turntable. The Sonic Arts were alive and well this year. All of these releases came out in 2014 or made their greatest impact this calendar year (so Arctic Monkeys and Arcade Fire are absent). However, I like to wait until December to put out my lists because sometimes a record unleashes in the days before Christmas (ahem, D'Angelo & Mark Ronson) or late discoveries and re-evaluations (St. Vincent). Top Ten Albums: 1. Prince - Art Official Age . Yep, Prince crept up on me with this one. Not since "Sign 'O' The Times" has Prince put out what I would call my Album of the Year." Don't call it a...

Ruminating on the passing of Cream bassist Jack Bruce this past Saturday. Cream was the short-lived supergroup that also featured Eric Clapton (guitar) and Ginger Baker (drums). I do not own any music by Cream on vinyl or otherwise. I do not own any music that features Jack Bruce playing on it. Sure, I have heard it, but there isn't even any Cream on my iPod. So, why is Jack Bruce a critical cog in my musical career? Back in high school, my best friends and band mates, Mark & Mike were fans and brought Cream to the table. Mark went so far as to insist on naming our band the Flaming Yogurt in tribute to Cream. "Get it?" He would ask. The second number we ever performed in public was their signature hit, "Sunshine of Your Love." Probably because of the heavy bass lick Mark got to groove on. "White Room" wound up in our repertoire, too. This was a classic case of learning songs by repetition in the garage and listening to the records on Mark...

The vagaries of jet lag. So some musings on the Beatles in Mono. Glorious monophonic sound. Tonight, I bought two of the Beatles' albums on LP in Mono, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. I am saving Sgt. Pepper for after work (later today), but I listened to Revolver when I got the record home. Rather than blaring it out loud on the turntable, I put on my noise canceling headphones to absorb it. The album is such a fine piece of work. Most of you are familiar with the major songs on it; but in case, here are the evergreens from Revolver: "Got To Get You In To My Life" "Eleanor Rigby" "Taxman" "Here, There & Everywhere" "Yellow Submarine" "Good Day Sunshine" None of those are John's songs. His contributions are amazing, one in particular was game changing ("Tomorrow Never Knows"). However they are not well known to the casual listener. One of his songs, "And Your Bird Can Sing," did become th...

Miles Davis is a gateway drug. For my birthday, my man Mikey gave me the Miles Mono box. Boss. Now if you dig Miles, it's not too long before you get back to Trane. Then Herbie. Down the jazz rabbit hole. I have never been proficient at playing jazz, trust me I tried. I don't speak jazz very well; although I did take a course in college where I did audio projects on Charlie Christian and Theloniou s Monk (who remains an icon to me on a multitude of levels, and whose music I revisit regularly). But no, the hook that Miles has put into me is a mood elevator named Wayne Shorter . Yesterday was Wayne's 81st Birthday. So first off, Happy Birthday, Mr. Shorter. I had planned on penning this yesterday but with our Emmy adventure, I felt it better to wait. Second, the addiction reference is real. You all know how I am about music. Prior to being exposed to Mr. Shorter via Miles' 1960s Quintet (which featured Herbie Hancock), I only knew him as the cat that wailed on Steely Dan...

This past weekend on August 3 & 4, I was back in the studio (Karma Frog in Reseda, CA) to cut my contribution to an upcoming Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute album. My task was to cover the compilation's title track, "Commotion." The song was originally recorded by CCR in 1969 for their smash LP, Green River , which features their iconic "Bad Moon Rising." My usual producer, Adam Marsland was at the helm and he played the majority of the instruments as well, including some amazing organ parts. I took up my trusty American Fender Jazz for the funky bass. The session was a brisk two days. Musicians teleported from 1969 would have been pleased by the brevity of the time it took to record the side. None of this 21st Century month to record and tweak a track. We had a blast. After the rhythm tracks were put down, Adam asked do you want to put down a guide vocal or try a lead? Well, I went for it, and it was full-tilt chooglin' boogaloo after that. Our...

"Norman, how you gonna narrow down James Brown to your 10 favorite sides?" "Bobby, I don't know. But whatsoever I choose, they got to be funky." At Georgetown, I became obsessed with James Brown. I blame The Soul Brother #1 hisself. In "The Payback," James sang "I don't know karate, but I know karazy." Truer words were never sung. He was in prison, I was perpetually running for student government. Every year, lobbying for his freedom was part of my platform. In part, it was a joke. In part, it was wanting people to understand the power of his records and my own musical passions. It was the early days of CDs and I coveted the few JB discs I could find. In show programs, I dedicated my college theatrical performances to family and James Brown. I read every scrap I could find about him along with his autobiography, "Godfather of Soul." Trying to understand him. I never did. I've never been able to do the splits, never wil...

Happy Birthday, Huckleberry Finn! My music video for "Huckleberry Finn" turns one today! It's an antebellum slice of my life at this point.  Since I didn't get to promote it properly the first time around, (one show and out) set yourself down a spell by the virtual riverside and cool your h eels with me and enjoy it all over again. Perhaps it will hit 5K views. It's still an amazingly produced track (thanks, Adam Marsland) and a fun video to watch (thanks, Andrew Shuford). And I see the good-lookin' kid in the video and say: I remember him. Sip some sweet tea and dig "Huckleberry Finn."