Charlie Watts (1941-2021)

Possibly the most enigmatic of the Rolling Stones, drummer Charlie Watts was solid engine that made that rock machine run for all those decades. He passed away this week at 80 years of age.

Watts was the tasteful engine that made the Stones rock machine purr right along all those years - and that is saying something because so much of the Stones catalog is downright vulgar. Watts just smiled passively through it all, coming across like an adult with lifelong duty to watch after his rowdy bandmates - the adult on the private jet that has been the Rolling Stones.

Watts was determinedly not flashy as a musician, quite unlike his contemporaries Keith Moon and John Bohham. 

In that, he was like his British Invasion counterpart Ringo Starr, another drummer whose musicianship was in service to the song, not the performer.

For my money, Watts' opening licks and infectious groove on "Get Off My Cloud" was one of the finest things to happen in all of rock history. It was disciplined perfection, quite like Watts himself.  

Don Everly (1937-2021)

Sometimes I think about those few giants of modern music history, who somehow were inspired to create musical forms that had never really existed before. Buddy Holly did that, as did Little Richard, as did Phil and Don Everly.

The Everly Brothers were born into a musical family and they were singing on the radio when they were children. And over time they developed a two-part harmony that still inspires chills in listeners to this day. It inspired The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkle, and it gave us some of the most wonderful songs of the 20th Century.

The brothers were around for so long as stars that it seems a shame that they'll be remembered in part for the way their relationship disintegrated in their later years. They disintegrated live on stage, with younger brother Phil smashing his guitar and ending their collaboration forever.

What a shame, because those two brought so many of the rest of us closer with their incredibly sensitive sound. - RAR

Jesse Lynn Madera

“I wrote ‘Revel’ around the holidays in 2020 after my mom recovered from COVID, and while our beloved cousins were suffering through it,” says Jesse Lynn Madera. The Nashville singer-songwriter has garnered attention for her vocal stylings coupled with the nature of her lyrics, which have been compared to those of the late Leonard Cohen. 

"At that time, one of our cousins was in the hospital, intubated for the second or third time. The world felt so dark and uncertain, and when I sat down at the piano I wondered how I could be of service. It’s no coincidence that some of the happiest songs in existence have come out of dire times. I think of ‘Revel’ as a meditation and a prayer."

Her debut LP, Fortunes, has been noted for its "otherworldly, mystical feel".  Learn more about her at her website.

Frank Ray Makes Country Headway

Cop-turned-Country-crooner Frank Ray has been a popular newcomer on Texas radio for the past few years, since he turned in his badge for guitar.

Ray just released this catchy tune, "Country'd Look Good On You",  his debut single with BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records. His new label reports that this clean Country ditty is presently the Most Added song on Country radio by a new artist (by impact day) in 2021, and third Most Added of the week behind Kane Brown and Keith Urban. So, he is now keeping company with established Country stars.

Here at the CCJ, you won't find many Country music fans, but you will find music lovers who appreciate high quality work, and that is on display in this track. It was produced by Frank Rogers, who is most well-known for his collaborations with Brad Paisley.

Ray is a staff songwriter at Spirit Music Nashville/Fluid Music Revolution.

  

David Starr Does Blind Willie McTell 

Like a modern take on some classic Blues? Nashville-based Americana singer-songwriter David Starr has been doing cover versions of tunes that he credits with influencing his musical direction. So far, he has released covers of  “Magnolia” (J.J. Cale), “Drive” (The Cars), “Angel From Montgomery” (John Prine), “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” (Gladys Knight), “Someone Like You” (Van Morrison), “These Days” (Jackson Browne), “Gotta Serve Somebody” (Bob Dylan), and “Every Kinda People” (Robert Palmer/Andy Fraser). With this video he takes on “Statesboro Blues” with the assistance of Mark Prentice on bass and organ, Matt Bubel on drums, Dan Dugmore on lap steel, and John Prentice on electric guitars.  

This lyric video was directed by Jason Lee Denton.  

 

Foxx Bodies - "Bad Kid"

 

 

Foxx Bodies often describe themselves as an accident. Bailey Moses, Adam Bucholz, and Matt Vanek came together in their shared home when their singer Bella Vanek asked everyone to play loud music she could scream over after she began unpacking her newly-recognized childhood abuse. While each of them had been practicing musicians from a young age, none had been in a band before Foxx Bodies.

On Vixen, their upcoming LP, Vanek makes her trauma sound dangerously intriguing, singing about her life in such a startling and honest way that it makes you examine your own ideas of mental illness, gender, and trauma. Marry that with Moses' salty, surfy licks, Bucholz’s elaborate fills, [Matt] Vanek’s infectious baselines, and it's all over. The four desert punks meld together to bring a magnetic, dramatic air to each song, delivering romping punk and the occasional piercing scream.