Send us a text

On this episode, we discuss Waylon Jennings' 1973 landmark LP: Honky Tonk Heroes. While it may be up to debate as to which album marked the beginning of "Outlaw Country," there is little doubt as to the impact Waylon Jennings and Honky Tonk Heroes had on the burgeoning movement and country music in general. 

Jennings' groundbreaking LP stripped away the strings and lush vocals dominant in Nashville at the time, and instead presented hard-edged honky tonk music, with attitude to spare. Jennings also found a willing partner in crime in the little-known at the time Texas songwriter, Billie Joe Shaver, whose songs spoke of both the freedom and the consequences of living hard. Their partnership created a genre-defining album that changed country music and influenced a whole group of musicians that followed.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

On this episode, we discuss the 1995 LP by the Jayhawks: Tomorrow the Green Grass. It was the fourth (and final LP) of the initial Mark Olson/Gary Louris collaboration before Olson decided to leave the band (he would reunite with the band to record the fantastic Mockingbird Time). Tomorrow the Green Grass is exactly what you'd expect from a Jayhawks record; it is replete with their trademark harmonies, jangly guitars, unconventional song structures, and dreamy yet heartfelt lyrics. The addition of keyboardist Karen Grotberg brought additional depth and dimension to the band’s sound and resulted in an album that may just represent the Jayhawks at their musical zenith. 

 If you like your harmonies close, your guitars jangly, and your chord progressions unusual, then this is an album you are sure to enjoy learning more about. 

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Meat Loaf, a 350-pound Texan possessing an operatic voice both powerful and agile, was the Christian and Jim Steinman, a Jewish, leather-clad composer from New York with a sense of humor few in rock or theater ever have,  was Cyrano. Find out how the two found each other and created one of the best selling albums of all time (and meeting much resistance along the way) in this episode. The producer, Todd Rundgren, recognized almost immediately that this was exceptional material and assembled a team of some of the best side musicians in rock to make this fun, gorgeous, Broadway-esque album that has stood the test of time.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

John Cale was the most musically astute member of the Velvet Underground and on this album it shows. Soon after being fired from VU, Cale found work as a producer (The Stooges, Nico) and a collaborator (most notably with avant garde musician, Terry Riley). But he also began crafting songs influenced by the Beach Boys, the Band, and Phil Spector. He was also enthralled by Little Feat's Dixie Chicken enough to hire three members of the band, including Lowell George, to back him on this, his third solo album, Paris 1919. It also includes production by Chris Thomas, who we introduced you to in previous podcasts. Find out more about this album and this fascinating musician who went from working with Aaron Copeland to becoming the godfather of punk.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Pink Floyd's follow up to their 1973 classic, Dark Side of the Moon, was in part an homage to the group's founding member, main songwriter, singer, and guitarist, Syd Barrett, and in part a chronicle of the band's dissolution with the fame and success they had achieved. It's a favorite among the band members, but it was not easy album to compose or record. Find out more about Pink Floyd's 1975 release, Wish You Were Here.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Here's some outtakes from the Townes Van Zandt episode that you might find entertaining and informative.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt waited a long time before releasing this album in 1987. His song, Pancho and Lefty, had just become a hit for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, so he had money in the bank, and Van Zandt was struggling with demons that ultimately would help him succumb to complications from hip surgery on New Year's Day, 1997. On this album, Townes sings about aging and the disappointments that falling in love can bring. His voice is ragged, but the production and a crack band help move these songs along, especially on he album's closer, the Catfish Song, regarded by the TST crew as one of the greatest songs ever written.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

XTC was under the gun with this album. They were pressured by their record company to produce an album that would sell 70,000 units or they would be dropped. The cure? Sound less British. So, they brought in studio wiz, multi-instrumentalist, veteran producer Todd Rundgren, whom the band was only somewhat familiar with. The result? An album steeped in dreamy lyrics and atmosphere that evoked the English country side and working life. It is also is a continuous body of work that takes you through a day or a lifetime, depending on your perspective. And Tony introduces an album by a band that, surprisingly, had an influence XTC's front man, Andy Partridge: The Monkees' Good Times! 

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Badfinger is heralded as the seminal power pop band. And while they had all the ingredients needed to be a successful rock band (including catching the attention of the Beatles and being the first band signed to their Apple label), monetary and sustained commercial success eluded them largely due to the nefarious business practices of their manager. This album, the last of the classic line up, finds the band honing their skills and branching out into new directions, but still retaining their signature pop melodies and remarkable playing. Find out more about Wish You Were Here and about the tragedy Badfinger ultimately faced after releasing the album.

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.

Send us a text

Rod Stewart is perhaps the most frustrating figure in popular music. He is a man gifted with arguably the best voice in rock and roll and he can write some amazing songs, straight up rockers and heart-felt ballads. But Stewart eventually moved to cash in on that talent, epitomized in the 1978 album, Blondes Have More Fun. On this podcast, we look back at Stewart's most popular album before 1978, Every Picture Tells a Story, which finds Stewart, then a member of the ultimate pub rock band The Faces, in peak form both as a singer and songwriter. 

Visit us at www.tappingvinyl.com.