Slightly Stoopid Blog

Thursday night, over a couple of beers, Marcos says to me, "I love every single song on Gomez's first three albums."

That's a bold statement, I replied. I couldn't think of any three studio albums by one artists where I loved every song on the album. My first thought was Van Morrison. But looking over my library he only makes the cut if I consider live albums. Then I wagered that Ozomatli had at least three albums where I loved every song. Again, turns out only if I consider live albums. If Marcos had said four I wouldn't be writing this.

Luckily I'm a fanatic about the statistics in my music library (play count, skip count, rating). And, apparently beer doesn't give me clairvoyance. Considering only studio albums, it turns out there are artists--four--who have three albums where I love every song on the album. The results surprised me. I'd hoped for some Talking Heads or something chic. Alas.

Looking at the list now, how could I forget the masters? Looks like I'm a die hard 'classic' rock fan still.

I should've realized Rusted Root would make the list though they disappointed me when I last saw them at the Fillmore. The fact that they sampled Neil Young's guitar when they covered his song left a bad taste in my mouth despite the rest of the well-performed set. Yet obviously I love their stuff.

The biggest surprise: Slightly Stoopid. Digging back through their earlier releases has really been a joy.

The List

Bruce Springsteen

Born in the USA

Born to Run

We Shall Overcome

Led Zeppelin

I

III

IV

Rusted Root

Cruel Sun

Welcome to My Village

When I Woke

Slightly Stoopid

Closer to the Sun

Everything You Need

Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid

The Fillmore

I had the good fortune to see Tracy Chapman at The Fillmore in San Francisco last night. Tracy and her three band mates delivered a soulful, nostalgic show that had the audience screaming and dancing with pleasure. Her funkified ending to "Give Me One Reason" brought the house down, as did her punk paced cover of "Proud Mary." Her cover of Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" inspired awe. She delivered a barrel-full helping of her greatest hits like "Change" and "Talkin About a Revolution."

I have to say that no other venue compares to The Fillmore. Here are 10 reasons why

1. Free apples.
2. Artists want to be there. Chapman mentioned several times how relieved she was to be back in San Francisco and how comforting it was to be back home, playing at such a historic venue.
3. So many great live albums have been recorded there. From my collection, Ozomatli and Lucinda Williams come to mind first. The Grateful Dead's Live-Dead compilation of 4 nights at The Fillmore in 1969 goes down as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time. Artists feel inspired there by the souls of Jerry Garcia, Bill Graham, John Lee Hooker and Janis Joplin still living there.
4. It's so easy to get there from the South Bay. Just get on the 101 , turn left on Geary, and park when you get to Fillmore.
5. There's always parking on Geary. On the street. For free.
6. It's across the street from John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room.
7. There's tons of delictable food on Fillmore and the food in the Fillmore bar is great and affordable. Plus you get to eat under all those historic, priceless psychedelic concert posters. Last night we stumbled into Kati's Kitchen around the corner. I highly recommend it. Sure it's theme is that trite word--fusion--that I hear way too much in SF, but, hey, generalities are true in general for a reason, right?
8. Everyone dances all the time at The Fillmore because there's no seats. And this makes the artists play better because they look out and see an audience digging their music.
9. Free concert posters handed out after selected sold out shows.
10. And the guy who says, "Welcome to The Fillmore," when you walk in always makes me smile. Especially right before I grab a free apple.

More Great Shows

In the last two weeks I caught both Ozomatli and the Indigo Girls shows again. Many of my friends know and love Ozomatli. They are out of this world good.

The same friends giggle and give me a quizzical look when I tell them I also went to see Indigo Girls. I don't understand--the Indigo Girls have such incredible talent. Very few performers sound better than their studio album when they perform. The Indigo Girls always do, even songs they first recorded 20 years ago. They harmonize perfectly and consistently. They both are master guitar players. They write their own material, songs that have become hits over the course of two decades. They are in a league that very few musicians reach. As Kim Ruehl wrote on About.com, "They still have a hauntingly impressive grasp on their mad skills as polyphonic harmonizers."

So I remain confused why my friends deride them. Give me insight between black and white.