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Every aging boomer has a vinyl recording with grooves worn from playing over and over. One of them must be a Beatles record that had to be replaced from constant use. One's musical tastes would allow for one or two others.
One of my favorites was Deep in the Heart of Texas by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, recorded live in Austin at the Armadillo World Headquarters which, sadly, met a wrecking ball on its way to a parking lot. I've been replacing my vinyl with CDs over the years, a project which has been somewhat expensive. Imagine my surprise to find the CD version on Amazon for LESS than I paid for the vinyl version in 1973. But would it sound as good as I remembered? Would it be as much FUN as I remembered?
This is what a live album should sound like. Not a note is wasted and every band member puts in an honest day's work. But a musician is only as good as his instrument, and a recording, vinyl or digital, is only as good as the sound technology. Happily, this CD is superior on all levels. The bass quality is particularly superb. It's almost like being there. The only thing missing is the smell. They make pot-scented candles, don't they?
The album opens with a rousing introduction followed by the boisterous Armadillo Stomp that announces we're here to blow your boots off! They follow this with a set of songs, from boogie-woogie, Texas swing, Cajun, rockabilly to straight-up rock-and-roll with Austin progressive country sensibilities. Even the stage patter is fun.
The comically mournful Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues turns the old crying-in-my-beer into an updated broken-hearted pot-smoking version:
"Well, my dog died just yesterday and left me all alone.
The finance company dropped by today and repossessed my home.
That's just a drop in the bucket compared to losing you,
And I'm down to seeds and stems again, too."
Riot in Cell Block #9 by Leiber and Stoller, and Mean Woman Blues by Roy Orbison, combine rock-rollicking fun with expert musicianship. Too Much Fun, written by two band members, is a libertarian manifesto:
"Every story's got a moral and mine does too
It ain't nobody's business whatever you do
All of us got weird notions of time
The Lord only knows that I sure got mine
I'm public enemy number one
All because I wanna have too much fun."
There may be a song not to your liking - for me, Crying Time Again - but they're all worth a listen because they're performed with such spectacular verve and vigor.
There is one serious flaw in this CD. It isn't long enough.
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Sometime in late 1974 or early 1975 a friend recommended that my buddies and we drive to Austin to catch this band, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. We said "Who???" My friend said, "Just go, you won't regret it."So we all went to the Armadillo World Headquarters. It was a night I'll never forget. I never enjoyed a concert as much before or since then.The next day, I promptly went out and bought "Live from Deep...." It had been recorded from a previous concert at the 'Dillo. I played the album until the grooves wore out, then bought a cassette. I played it to death, then bought the CD, when it became available. I now have it on my Ipod. Let's hear it for technology!!!This was probably the tightest live act to hit a stage.I continue to relive that fantastic concert over 30 years later.GET YOURSELF A COPY!!!!
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U. Schulze Rossbach
Austin TX prior to SXSW
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2013
