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 HOLLY,BUDDY - MEMORIAL COLLECTION (DIG) (SLIP) $18.54 This is a great compilation of most of at least the less-obscure Buddy Holly songs. I really like it. However, being more of a casual fan than a hard core collector, it was almost a little too much material for me. The first disk contains three cuts from the original "Buddy and Bob" blue-grass-style group, which are mostly "interesting" for their novelty and historical value. The rest of the first disk contains primarily Buddy doing Elvis-style-knockoff songs that don't sound much like Buddy's later signature style. (Buddy admired Elvis, and many of Buddy's earlier songs tried to emulate Elvis.) From my personal viewpoint, the one truly classic Holly song on the first disk, "That'll Be the Day", could have been moved to the second disk, and the first disk eliminated. For a somewhat-serious collector this is a must-have. For someone looking for a Buddy Holley collection to listen to in their car while traveling, etc. there is maybe a little too much filler material. This consideration aside, many of the songs still sound fresh and original after 50 years. It would be a travesty to give this work by the legendary Buddy Holly anything less than 4 stars, even considering the filler material.  Insta-Gators $19.95 Insta-Gators: Insta-Gators! 1996 Independent Release! TRACKS: 1. Flames; 2. Bad Enough; 3. New Routine; 4. All Stirred Up Inside; 5. Daddy Digs His Rock`N`Roll; 6. Put You On A Train; 7. Your First Love WonĄt Be Your Last; 8. IĄm Guilty; 9. Rave On; 10. Pamlico Sound; 11. Pedal Down; & 12. I Wish I Was Over You.  The Restless Boys' Club $7.98 His voice isn't the best and the production sometimes threatens to overshadow the songs, but this album is terrific. "Summer of Love" is the best known (deservedly so) but there's more here. "Mirrored Ball" always brings me to tears, more now the grandmother who helped raise me is fading into Alzheimer's. I lied about some trivial thing. Don't remember what. She knew. "Let's Get Some Beers" cleverly goes through its verses and choruses with slight changes each round to cover the range of middle aged male lives, their successes and failures. The last verse is with the ex-wife. It's sweet, not mean, and deeply sad. "One Horse Town" is the breakup song. "This is a loser town/its just a Ground Round town/the single women you knew together/are afraid of you in this unfair weather/it's like they think you should have known better/[...]/so you spend your time in smoky bars/it won't kill the pain/but it will kill the hours". "Maggie's Lullaby" is exactly that, with the tinge of darkness a good lullaby ought to have. The songs as a total are about being a guy of a certain age. When I first heard it I wasn't but tracked him down and bought him a drink, knowing full well there's a line on it, "I'm drinking with children". |
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