Hello, Dolly

So the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did its thing, and I missed it this go-'round. I mean, I read about it, thought about it, voted on it, and intended to write about it. Whoops.

More to come on that in a soon-come post.

In the meantime... Dolly Parton. As discussed here last year, she was nominated and then inducted into the RnRHoF's last class. Despite her being pretty f-in far from rock and roll. 

Oh well... she handled it with the grace and style that everyone has come to expect from her.

And then, she one-upped the whole damn thing and did this.

On November 17, Dolly Parton will release an album called, plainly enough, Rockstar. The cover will feature... well, one of these images, presumably.

Interesting. And here's the track list:

1. “Rockstar” (special guest Richie Sambora)
2. “World on Fire”
3. “Every Breath You Take” (feat. Sting)
4. “Open Arms” (feat. Steve Perry)
5. “Magic Man” (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese)
6. “Long As I Can See the Light” (feat. John Fogerty)
7. “Either Or” (feat. Kid Rock)
8. “I Want You Back” (feat. Steven Tyler with special guest Warren Haynes)
9. “What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You” (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel)
10. “Purple Rain”
11. “Baby, I Love Your Way” (feat. Peter Frampton)
12. “I Hate Myself for Loving You” (feat. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)
13. “Night Moves” (feat. Chris Stapleton)
14. “Wrecking Ball” (feat. Miley Cyrus)
15. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (feat. P!nk & Brandi Carlile)
16. “Keep on Loving You” (feat. Kevin Cronin)
17. “Heart of Glass” (feat. Debbie Harry)
18. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (feat. Elton John)
19. “Tried to Rock and Roll Me” (feat. Melissa Etheridge)
20. “Stairway to Heaven” (feat. Lizzo & Sasha Flute)
21. “We Are the Champions”
22. “Bygones” (feat. Rob Halford with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5)
23. “My Blue Tears” (feat. Simon Le Bon)
24. “What’s Up?” (feat. Linda Perry)
25. “You’re No Good” (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow)
26. “Heartbreaker” (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo)
27. “Bittersweet” (feat. Michael McDonald) 
28. “I Dreamed About Elvis” (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guest the Jordanaires)
29. “Let It Be” (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood)
30. “Free Bird” (feat. Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle and The Artimus Pyle Band)

Huh. Prolific for sure. And a wide smattering. Would've liked to see more punk than Debbie Harry and Joan Jett, but no matter. I'm intrigued.

I did see Ronnie Van Zant's name there and thought for sure somebody bungled this and that it was little brother Johnny (singer in the bastard version of the band for 35 years). Nope, they're using RVZ's chops from the 70's as mixed in with Dolly and the late Gary Rossington. We'll see how that goes. 

Well then. Case closed. Just in doing this a year after she tried to take herself off the Rock Hall ballot for reasons she shouldn't have had to explain, Dolly Parton is a rock star. 

I say that -- sounds unheard. Yeah, this could be truly terrible, sonically speaking, but I dig the effort. And frankly, I wouldn't bet against Dolly.

Pronounced ˈjȯrj thə ˈblȯg (or ʤɔrʤ ðə blɔg)

50 years ago this month, five twentysomethings from Jacksonville and one transplant from California left the practice pit proving ground known as Hell House and trucked up I-75 to Studio One in north Georgia. Over the next five weeks, they laid down eight finished tracks -- 41 minutes of what would soon become Southern Rock Gospel for evermore. 

The young, longhaired redneck image of the sextet belied their stalwart virtuosity and dedication to the craft. The diesel engine of the Three Guitar Army, with legendary driver Ronnie Van Zant behind the wheel, fired off number after number. Songs like "Tuesday's Gone," "Gimme Three Steps," and, of course, "Free Bird."

The Call: What song is it you wanna hear?
The Response: Free Bird!

The musicians: 

• Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals, lyrics
• Gary Rossington – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, slide guitar
• Allen Collins – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
• Ed King – bass and guitar
• Billy Powell – keyboards
• Bob Burns – drums and percussion

Three months later, MCA released these tracks as the band's debut record. The album title is parenthetical and self-referential, a phonetic spelling of the band's name. Lynyrd Skynyrd, as they were called, was a play on their old gym teacher nemesis's name: Leonard Skinner. And the cover of the album showed a randomly captured lightning strike in the background over Ed -- surely a sign of the lightning in a bottle they had just captured.

For the math majors among you, yes, there's a seventh band member in the photo. Bassist Leon Wilkeson had left the band before the recording sessions, which led to them onboarding Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King to play bass, but as they were putting the finishing touches on the album, Ronnie convinced Leon to return and Ed to become the third general in the Three Guitar Army. Leon showed up in time to get in the cover pic.

We all know what happened four action-packed years later. "The rest, as they say is history."

Up until two days ago, Gary Rossington existed as the last remaining living member of this historic posse. Gary rejoined Ronnie and the rest of the gang in that fishin' hole in the sky this week. 

This song almost got scrapped from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd). Thank goodness Ronnie Van Zant knew a dandy when he wrote it. Gary Rossington co-wrote this gem and is featured prominently in its axe-wielding. Enjoy... some sunny day.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

I like simple pleasures.

Alright, maybe not like that.  But most of you guys are relatively simple too.  We're simple men.

Chances are you already have all the stuff you think you need, and most of the stuff you want.  With that in mind, here are a few simple Father's Day gift ideas to request this year.

A beef jerky subscription from Craft Jerky Co.  Options include keto-friendly for TR, booze-infused for Whitney, hot & spicy (like "hot hot caliente") for Dave, gluten free for Marls, and paleo for rob (because he's old).

Some new sneakers.  Like these Nike Killshots for about $69 or these Nike Blazers for about $52.

A slimmed down wallet.  Like this for $40.  I made the move from billfold to card holder a few years ago and it's liberating.  You don't need to carry every membership card, collect-10-punches-get-a-free-sandwich card, car wash coupon, or receipt you've ever been handed.  All you need is some cash, your license, ATM card, a credit card, health insurance cards, and maybe a subway/rail pass.  The rest is all bullshit.

A Spotify subscription.  Then you can make contributions to Notify.

An OXO computer cleaner.  You probably spent the past 15-16 months working and living at your desk so your keyboard is full of dust and crumbs and your monitor is covered in sneeze stains and fingerprints.  This $10 widget makes all that go away really easily.

A duffel garment bag.  Like this one for $95 or this big one for $275.  This is so smart I wish I came up with it.  It's a garment bag with three flaps that fold up to form a duffel bag on one side of the garment bag, so when you have a one-day trip that requires a blazer or suit you can pack it in your carry-on.  Or you could just be like me and wad your suit into a ball, stuff it in the rollaboard and hope for the best.

A mountain glass from North Drinkware.  These guys hand-make pint glasses and tumblers with 3D reproductions of famous mountains rising from the bottom.  I can't fully explain it, you have to click on the link.  They have nifty topographical map coasters too.  And I went to high school with one of the company founders.

Now when your wife or kids ask what you want for Father's Day you don't have to lamely say "I don't know" or "Just spending the day with you is all the gift I need."

Late Afternoon Filler on a Tuesday

Google...copy...paste embed code. Tuesday's (almost) Gone, indeed...



Wow, that is some dark, grainy footage. Doesn't diminish what a kickass song it is, though.