That Dude That Was In That Awesome Band, But Then Made That Awesome Solo Album That No One Cared About.

As summer draws to a close, I feel the need to open a blog with the line "as summer draws to a close". So, I was watching The Last Waltz the other day, because I watch it at least 2 times a week. And, for me, the most moving and meaningful part in the film (For those who have seen it) has to be when Rick Danko and Scorsese are in the studio, and Danko puts on Sip The Wine for Marty. Something there moves me, and it's tragic to think of what became of Danko, but not before he put out a great, classic forgotten solo record. So, it got me thinking of some of my favorite solo projects from members of prominent bands. Starting with...

Rick Danko - Rick Danko (1977): Personally, I love Danko, he wasn't my favorite member of The Band, but that's like asking me to pick my favorite Ozzie Guillen meltdown. I just can't do it. I always leaned more towards Robbie Robertson, despite all of the negative everything around him. But Danko did it solo, where Robertson sure couldn't (Storyville? ewww....), and it made the claims of Robertson being an excellent craftsman for others but a poor one for himself seem true (Not to mention that The Band as a whole in general was just greater than it's parts, but...) here at least, Danko created a forgotten classic. People detract from this record because he had a lot of help. Every member of the Band played on at least one track. Also joining the fun were Eric Clapton, Ron Wood, and the horribly underrated Blondie Chaplin. But, with all of those guests, between them, they only played on about half of the songs. And the two finest songs (the aforementioned Sip The Wine, and What A Town) are all Danko. It's soulful, and pretty sad to listen to. You can hear that Danko was a guy who didn't have much to look forward to after the Band. He released a couple of live albums solo prior to his death.

Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane (1984): I know. Just another excuse for me to praise Lindsey Buckingham in a blog, but I've got to say it...this has to be one of the greatest albums of the 80's. The only bad thing about this record is the outrageous album cover. I would probably consider this the greatest breakup album of all time...if I wasn't such a crusader for music that came out post 2000 (So, as it stands, Taking Back Sunday's "Tell All Your Friends" holds that crown, but this is a close second...) If you take all of Buckingham's tracks off of Tusk (pretty much the only good songs on that album...), these are pretty much an extension. The odd studio tricks are in effect, as the first song ("I Want You") wastes no time layering odd vocals, much like "The Ledge" on Tusk. It follows a heartbreaking song cycle, and I know that Buckingham has never been the best lyricist, but always a better musician...his lyrics are at their best here. Not to mention, every instrument on the album is played by the man himself. Buckingham's new solo project, Gift Of Screws, is slated to come out on September 16th. Then again, it has been 9 years in the making.

Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul - Men Without Women (1982): Aside from the fact that it's named after, and inspired by a collection of Hemingway short stories, MWW is the only time an E Streeter struck out without help from The Boss to create something amazing (Springsteen does do some backing vocals on 'Till The Good Is Gone, but it's only like a minute.) I mean, Steven directed this album, and sang lead on most of the tracks, but it's tough to call it a solo project without facing a few things: Steven is, and always has been a better musical director than actual musician. There's a reason why Nils Lofgren is in the E Street Band now. Miami Steve is the show, Lofgren is the talent. Also, Steve can't really sing that well. I mean, let's face it. But, this album still works, thanks to the production, the songwriting, and yes, the help of almost every musician that Jersey has. Of the credited musicians, you'll see 3/4 of the E Street Band, Southside Johnny, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Felix Cavaliere, Dino Danelli, and La Bamba Rosenberg...just to name a few. If those names mean nothing to you, take a visit to New Jersey, and they'll mean a lot. Still, it's a soulful album that doesn't sound like Born To Run jr. Steve is at worst just a Jersey Shore bar musician who got by with a little help from his friends. Nothing wrong with that.

John Cale - Vintage Violence (1970) & Nico - The Marble Index (1969): Not knocking Nico, but these are both pretty much John Cale albums. The thing with Nico was that she was kind of like clay. She could take on whatever form that the group, producers, etc. wanted her to be molded into. With the velvets, she was this German femme fatal with street cred. On Marble, Cale made her dark, cold, and gothic. Even the album cover is all black. Not to discredit Nico, again, she was no slouch on this record. She wrote all of the lyrics, and they were pretty impressive. Dark, and sometimes scary, but impressive nonetheless. This makes for her best solo effort. John Cale's debut, to me gets less credit only because everything after it was less messy and more fine tuned (Paris 1919 is probably his most critically acclaimed work), but I like his kind of messy. It's something like an amateur trying to figure out the studio and just trying everything in sight. Obviously Cale was no amateur, but he played the role well. All of the Velvets had impressive solo albums. These two just stand out more.

Joe Strummer - Streetcore (2003): As big of a Clash fan as I am, I have to call this album on par with their finest work (probably not on par with London Calling, but Definitely on par with Sandinista)....completed and released after Strummers unfortunate and untimely death in 2002, this album was re-touched up by the genius of Rick Rubin, and due to Strummer's death, most of the vocal tracks on the album are first takes, which adds to it's appeal. Notable tracks are plentiful on this album. Whether it be "Long Shadow", a song that Strummer wrote for Johnny Cash, which Cash never got a chance to sing before he passed himself, or "Midnight Jam", a song in which Strummer and Mick Jones got to play on, but never got vocals laid down for, or the touching "Silver and Gold", the final song on the album that ends with Strummer telling the engineer "Ok, that's a take"...indeed it was. But what stands out the most is Strummer's rendition of "Redemption Song". Everyone does but not many do it like this (see link at bottom).

So, that ends my take on those fine solo efforts, and there's many more which I left out. Enjoy the final days of summer, folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukHt40-PiSE