Attention, Walmart shoppers!

Treasures await you at Walmart.

The other day I cut out of work a little early because I had to get some groceries for supper. So I thought I’d save some time and pennies by dropping in to the local Walmart. My attention was diverted by one of their distinctive “discount bins,” this one with CDs for five bucks apiece.

All this for 20 bucks!

Now this bin had nothing really rare, and there was an awful lot of junk – Reba to rappers to crappy country, you had to dig for the rock and roll. And although I already own most of this music, I found some keepers: Destroyer by KISS, Captured by Journey, a Lynyrd Skynyrd collection.

I also picked up Flashback with the Grateful Dead, a shallow best-of on Rhino Records’ budget Flashback label. With “Truckin’,” “China Cat Sunflower,” “U.S. Blues,” “Shakedown Street” and “Touch of Grey” among others, it’s a nice one to have in the car. Same with Journey’s 1981 effort Escape: studio versions of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Stone In Love” and “Open Arms,” and four bonus tracks including live versions of “Believin'” and “Open Arms” (recorded in Houston!).

There were a lot of those Millennium Collection discs from the Who, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Steppenwolf and others, as well as must-haves like School’s Out by Alice Cooper, The Captain and Me from the Doobie Brothers and Live at Budokan from Ozzy Osbourne. And there were some Elvis collections, lumping his stuff in packages like Elvis Country and Elvis Rock – a few well-known tunes surrounded by a shitload of filler.

I really didn’t need another copy of Destroyer and I probably won’t listen to the live Journey Captured unless I’m really drunk. But it felt strangely good to buy music in a physical form, even if it was at a Walmart. So if you need to get your classic rock on, or just need a CD or two to spin at your July 4 cookout, you know where to go.

MP3: “King Of The Night Time World” by KISS (from Destroyer)

MP3: “Too Late” (live) by Journey (from Captured)

MP3: “Shakedown Street” by the Grateful Dead

Rock and Roll Wine: Doobies and Whitesnake

(Editor’s Note: This post was written by our L.A. correspondent Randy Fuller, who operates a cool blog about wine called Now and Zin.)

Every time I go to the supermarket I am struck by the music that’s piped in for my shopping pleasure. Nowadays it’s usually the kind of music I remember going underground for as a kid, the kind I had to keep hidden from my parents, the kind that I just knew would brand me as “cool” if I embraced it.

The reality is, I never got too far underground where I grew up, my parents didn’t really care very much about what I was listening to and the “cool” thing never seemed to take.  The latter item is a judgment call, but I think my family and friends would vouch for my lack of “cool” in my teenage years, maybe even today.

Today all those underground cheap thrills serve as an aural landscape for shopping.   Personally, I like a little Jimi Hendrix while I’m picking out what cereal to buy.  I don’t even mind when people can overhear me singing along, “Move over, Rover, let Randy take over.”  I guess I’ll just never be cool.

Fittingly, a rock and roll wine event comes to the grocery store in West Hollywood Thursday afternoon.

B. R. Cohn is not only a winery owner, but a rock and roll manager.  He has put in around 40 years as manager of the Doobie Brothers.  His Doobie Red is a blend of Bordeaux-style varieties sourced from the North Coast appellation.  It’s aged in French oak, has 13.9% abv and sells for just under $20 a bottle.

To herald the release of his 2008 vintage of Doobie Red, Cohn and members of the Doobie Brothers will make an appearance at the Pavilions Supermarket in West Hollywood Thursday, June 17th from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.  You’ll be able to pick up a bottle right there and have it autographed while you wait, no doubt with the Doobie Brothers trickling down from the speaker above your head.

Cohn’s website states that a portion of the proceeds from Doobie Red go to veterans’ charities and other charitable organizations.  Doobie Red was originally produced in memory of Keith Knudsen, longtime drummer of the band who died in 2005.

All 90 acres of Cohn’s vineyards are sustainably farmed, and select blocks are farmed organically. The winery is located just north of Sonoma in Glenn Ellen, CA.

Eighties hard rock hair band Whitesnake will soon have their own brand of wine for their fans to drink while rocking out to their music.

Healdsburg, California, winemaker Dennis De La Montanya has partnered with the rockers to produce Whitesnake Zinfandel 2010.  The wine will be in stores in July 2010.  It will be no surprise to find that it’s a deep purple wine, good for both Saints and Zinners.

Band member David Coverdale says, “It’s a bodacious, cheeky little wine, filled to the brim with the spicy essence of sexy, slippery snakeyness.”  Top those tasting notes, Robert Parker.

MP3: “Listen To The Music” by the Doobie Brothers

MP3: “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

B. R. Cohn Winery official website

De La Montanya Winery official website

Randy Fuller’s Now and Zin wine blog

Sampler Daze: The WB/Reprise Loss Leaders, Part 10

The world in 1976 looked and sounded a heck of a lot different than it did in 1969.  When you went to a club it was most likely a fern bar.  The ladies wore hot pants and halter tops, men wore stacked heels and checkered pants.  The 1970s had its own stupid haircut: the shag (later replaced by another all-star stupid haircut, the mullet).  Music was becoming more rhythmic and slick, it would be another year or so before we’d call it “disco.”  Music more often than not was made for dancing – even at a fern bar.

And so there was Supergroup, the first Loss Leaders sampler from 1976.  We had come a long way from the first Loss Leader sampler in 1969, from the underground to the dance floor.  The sounds of disco were unmistakable: First Choice updated the Philly Groove for a dance audience, and “Are You Ready For Me?” addresses the Big Question.  In answer, everybody seemed to be ready: even the Doobie Brothers, taking to the dance floor with “Rio,” and even a nominally jazz artist like George Benson gets into the groove with “Breezin’,” the title song for an album that would ride all the way to the top of Billboard‘s pop album charts.  Leon Russell had just gotten married, and he celebrated by cutting a record with his new bride.  Hit singles included Seals & Croft’s “Get Closer,” and former Lovin’ Spoonful leader John Sebastian crooning his No. 1 “Welcome Back.”

Sampler Daze: WB/Reprise Loss Leaders, Part 7

By 1974, radio’s hard rock trend was going strong – Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Humble Pie dominated the FM rock airwaves.  Appropriately titled for the time, Hard Goods arrived in mailboxes with freshly minted rockers like Montrose, covering Roy Brown’s “Good Rocking Tonight” and Foghat, offering its cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day.”  Ted Nugent and his Amboy Dukes show up, and the perfect marriage between glam and hard rock emerges in the then-new KISS (Casablanca Records were distributed by Warner Bros. until about 1976).

The Doobie Brothers were still rockin’ behind guitarist/vocalist Tom Johnston and they were fresh off their 1973 triumph The Captain and Me.  The Doobies’ new “Pursuit On 53^rd Street” had a guitar crunch similar to the monster single “China Grove” but behind the scenes, Johnston’s health was becoming precarious.  He was able to stick with the Doobies through late 1974 even as new personnel were added, most notably ex-Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.  Finally in early 1975 Johnston had to quit the band, and a replacement was found in another Steely Dan alumnus, Michael McDonald.  The Doobies quickly became McDonald’s franchise, and everyone’s heard the rest of the story – with more than 30 million albums sold, the Doobies are still an active touring band with a rejuvenated Tom Johnston at the helm.

Rock Moment: Bob Seger, Pittsburgh Civic Arena, 1980

Bob Seger was flying high in 1980 and, for that matter, so were many in attendance on this hot summer night at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. His monster hit album, Against the Wind, was at or near the top of the charts and Seger was on his game this night ripping through hits like “Night Moves,” “Hollywood Nights,” and “Fire Lake.”

 

Being a sophomore in high school, older girls with a pulse always looked appetizing and I happened to notice a blond girl sitting/standing in front of me (put it this way, when I wasn’t looking at the stage, I was staring at her ass, a fact that is not surprising to anyone who knows me) who was extremely hot. A few songs into the set my friend turned to me and said; “That’s Bob’s (last name withheld to protect the “not so” innocent) sister.” Bob was on my baseball team and a good friend of mine, and yes, I dreamed about his sister who was a junior.

 

Well, lets just say, papa roach was getting a workout on this evening. The Doobie Brothers would have been proud. Everyone around us was taking a hit (I was too much of a goody two shoes to do it. It’s probably why I never got laid in high school, but I digress). Anyway, the joint made it to my friend’s sister and she was going to town. She and her girlfriend couldn’t get enough. Then in the spirit of sharing, she turned to offer it to us. The expression on her face was one of … I think I need a wipe.

 

She literally didn’t move the rest of the show, and after the lights went up, begged us not to tell her parents. Well, of course, we didn’t, and the next time I saw her, she didn’t know who the hell I was. Nice guys do finish last …

 

MP3: “Nine Tonight” (live)

MP3: “The Fire Down Below” (live)

MP3: “Feel Like A Number” (live)

 

Bob Seger official website

Review: “Soul Speak,” Michael McDonald

Michael McDonald has one of the most distinctive and best voices in rock and R&B. His last two discs of Motown classics were instant smashes and both sold millions. His latest, Soul Speak, follows the same the formula (although not strictly Motown), but sounds very tired.

McDonald seems to labor through classics like Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ for the City,” Aretha Franklin’s “I Knew You Were Waiting,” Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher,” and the Teddy Pendergrass hit “Love TKO.” The few bright spots include his take on Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which seems to be recorded a lot these days. He does offer a couple of new original songs, “Only God Can Help Me Now,” and “Can’t Get Over You (Getting Over Me),” but both are forgettable.

I’ve always thought that if you are going to record someone else’s material you have to either do it better or at least different. Unfortunately, McDonald doesn’t do either on the majority of the tracks on Soul Speak.

MP3: Into the Mystic

MP3: Only God Can Help Me Now

Michael McDonald Official Website