Review: Dan Hicks Original Recordings

Dan Hicks is certainly one of the most unique artists to ever hit the American music scene. Coming out of San Francisco in the late sixties, you might think he would fall under the umbrella of "acid rock" His first album released in 1969, "Original Recordings", is anything but however. He and his band the "Hot Licks"sound was an eccentric combination of folk, country, and old-timey parlor music with some of Hick's signature twisted humor thrown in for good measure. I can't think of anyone else who could come up with a song title like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" Then there is the brilliant solo of violinist "Symphony" Sid Page on "I Scare Myself." To this day it still has a mesmerizing effect on me every time I hear it.
The original album had 11 tracks. It is still available on CD as an import but the sound quality is not the best. A good alternative and readily available is "The Most Of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks" It has 9 of the 11 remastered tracks from "Original" on it missing "Shorty Falls In Love" a great track, and "It's Bad Grammar Baby" which I think is marginal at best. Hicks also recorded a number of songs for a follow up album that was never released. "The Most" also contains 7 tracks that were meant for inclusion on that album. If you're trying to track down the original cuts, I think "The Most" is the way to go. Either way, this is a great album from a uniquely talented artist. Check out Dan's whole catalog with and without the Hot Licks. If you like the sound of this one, it's hard not to want them all.

In these hard times.......guitars as gold

We're all experiencing it. The home devaluations, the 401K's shrinking worth, gasoline and medical costs soaring. So what's this have to do with guitars? Well how about a place to "stash your cash." Let's face it, very few of us can afford to buy that perfect '59 Sunburst Strat worth $60,000. Or that pre-war Martin worth 100K. If you ARE one of the lucky owners of these fine instruments and can afford to sit on them, then you know their value will only increase over time. Some estimates have shown upwards of 25% per year for the right pieces. For the rest of us, there is still hope. It's been my experience that a quality guitar only gets better with age. This is more noticeable with acoustic and hollowed bodied electrics, primarily because the aging process of the wood tends to give the guitar a richer, deeper sound. I will say though the same is true for solid body guitars as there seems to be a "burn in" period for the pickups and playability of the fingerboard. Something like a finely tuned sports car. You gotta drive it awhile to see what it can do. The key word here really is quality. A guitar with an established brand name and design that's been around for many decades will stand the test of time. There are many "knock off" brands that can give you the look and feel of a Les Paul, Stratocaster, or Martin D-28. But believe me......it ain't the same! So if you're thinking of buying that knock off Strat 'cause it looks like the real thing, I would suggest thinking twice and saving up another few hundred bucks to buy a good new or used "original." History shows it won't lose value and if you take care of it, it just may be a better return on investment than those mutual funds we've all seen take a dive recently.

Review: Central Park Sheiks Honeysuckle Rose

Check out the album cover on the home page blog link. It's the Central Park Sheiks "Honeysuckle Rose". I'd like to make it an ongoing tradition at "tom sed what" to review some of my old and new favorite albums\cds from time to time. Yes.....I am old enough to remember and own many great old record albums. This is a favorite of mine from the mid 70's. The Sheiks were a great NYC based acoustic swing band. Richard Lieberson on guitar, who sadly passed away a few years ago, and Matt Glaser on fiddle were the mainstays of the band back then. This whole album is great with a combo of traditional and original tunes. I especially remember sitting in Homestead Music in Mercer PA with my old buddy Mike Reznor, who designed this website by the way, working out the intro and then learning the chords to Mr. Blake, a fun tune that I still like to sing and play. HSR is still available as an import and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.