Willie Simpson

Tag: British Rock

  • The Kinks, Autumn Almanac

    The Kinks.  I love them.  I love Ray Davies, the writer of this song, “Autumn Almanac,” an absolute stunning piece of musical genius from 1967.  A lot happened in 1967.  It was the year when the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper to critical and international fame, when Jimi Hendrix was revolutionizing the use of the electric…

  • The Rolling Stones, Some Girls

    Some Girls is one of the best Rolling Stones records.  It’s sleazy, dirty, punky, and country.  It came out in 1978, and has just been reissued it a nice little collectors package.  You should get it; I know I will.  To celebrate its corporate repackaging, I present to you a thoroughly scandalous fan made music…

  • The Black Keys, She Said She Said

    The Black Keys are guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.  Together they have forged a highly successful blues rock revivalist band that are the darlings of the upper tiers of the indie rock world.  I’ve always like them, but have not extensively combed through their catalog.  Perhaps I’ve finally found a reason to.  The…

  • The Beatles, I am the Walrus Remastered and in HD

    The clip below is how The Beatle’s “I am the Walrus,” will be preserved forever, remastered in HD stereo glory.  It’s hard to imagine the scope of the genius behind this song.  Lennon himself said, “Let the fuckers work that one out.”  By putting on fresh ears, and letting the song just hit you in…

  • Pink Floyd, Goodbye Blue Sky, Another Brick in the Wall

    Money, fame, power, and prestige; Pink Floyd had it all, but by their bloated 1977 stadium romp known as the “Flesh Tour,” Roger Waters and company became disgusted with what they had become.  Boorish fans in large intoxicated and stoned numbers were ruining the concerts, and Roger loathed them so much that he literally spit…

  • Pink Floyd, Pigs on the Wing 1 and Dogs (Live)

    Animals by Pink Floyd is my absolute favorite Floyd album and one of my favorite albums ever.  For me, this is the highlight of Pink Floyd week as I get to share a live performance of “Pigs on a Wing 1” as an intro to “Dogs,” my favorite Pink Floyd song.  Animals is Pink Floyd’s…

  • Pink Floyd vs. The Beatles, Time

    In yesterdays post I alluded to how Dark Side of the Moon reminded me strongly of Abbey Road.  I must not be the only one, because the image above is all over the internet.  This leads to an interesting debate amongst music fans, mostly ardent Pink Floyd people, that claim that Pink Floyd is the…

  • Pink Floyd, Money, Live 8

    As we have been progressing with chronological normality through Pink Floyd’s career during “Pink Floyd Week,” the video clips have matched the time in which the songs were produced.  Now that we have reached the seminal Pink Floyd record, Dark Side of the Moon, an album about madness and time, I figured we’d jump ahead…

  • Pink Floyd, Echoes, Live at Pompeii

    Pink Floyd has some lengthy songs.  I think most of the time, it sounds like they rode in on a long traveling cosmic wave from Neptune.  They made sure to reflect the journey accurately with long gentle harmonized verses and guitar solos that surge and bend like celestial orbits.  “Echoes,” from the 1970 album Meddle,…

  • Pink Floyd, Cymbaline

    So, despite their love for the man, Syd was barred from entering Abbey Road studios when Pink Floyd was recording.  Syd went on to do a few slapped together solo records, with Roger and Dave actually helping with the production, and then Syd entered oblivion, thus propelling his cult like status to mythic proportions.  In…