Big Al

From today's FW Star Telegram (with occasional commentary by one very disgruntled Rangers fan): I don't know if Tom Hicks is the worst (or most inept) owner in MLB; but he is easily the worst one the Rangers ever had.

I am SO glad I started this thread. I think.

Yes, the box is worth it. You're missing a great session with Sweets Edison (Going for Myself, IIRC) and his last session in Paris. IMHO, that final session is actually one of the better sessions. You'd never know Pres was knockin' at death's doorstep, and he sounds much more confident and, ironically, full of life on that session.

Well, if that Larry Graham article I posted earlier is believable, there's a trombone on some of the early S&tFS tracks (Underdog, f'rinstance) that are played by Freddy Stone.

Same here. I know what I'll be listening to at work on Tuesday. I mean, I've probably got all of tonight's songs on my hard drive, but listening to Ghost's intelligent commentary makes the listening experience that much more pleasurable!

Al....explain something to me, will ya? Francisco Cordero, 15 saves, 0.54 ERA????? Simply put: he's not a Ranger anymore. Look at his stats prior to this season. Or for that matter, prior to the trade. Average at best. Now he's blowin' 'em away. He's not the first, and he sure won't be the last pitcher who flourishes once he's out of this hellhole. How I would love to get Chris Young back again.

All I'm askin' is that you manage to win one from them this week. I like our chances against Toronto; just give us a tiny bit of help, 'k? I am seriously thinking of flyin' me & my son (11 years old) to Yankee Stadium and force the Rangers to either start him as a pitcher or put him in the outfield. He's got a good arm (which means he can hit the plate from the outfield repeatedly, without fear of his arm wearing out), and he can't be any worse than the overpaid schmoes currently polluting the field. Of course, his bedtime is 10:00 pm, so we'd have to start the game a bit earlier.... Well, you had to wait til the last game to score 14 runs, huh? Spread those around the other games and maybe you'd come out better than 1-5. That's par for the course for the Rangers: they've used up their run quota for at least the rest of this month, maybe even June! It's about the only thing they do consistently. Well, besides lose & all.....

Found a vinyl Riot yesterday for $4.50. A little warped, and a hellacious scratch that renders the first three minutes of "Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle)" completely unplayable. BUT..... it has the lyric sheet! And the record jacket is this this thing called "Epic Undercover," edited by Mort Goode, and discussing (promoting) albums by Lenny Bruce, Malcolm X, Kris Kristofferson, Ray Stevens, Poco, Howard Wales & Jerry Garcia, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, Cymarron, Shuggie Otis, and Billy Paul. And the sound of the rest of the record..... yeah, I love the new CD, it sounds terrific and you should get it.... but the vinyl..... talk about being transported inside someone's mind. What a mindfuck! Not sure I wanna go there very often, but it's worth the trip every time.

That would be because he is a puppet. The hand belongs to alleged "consultant" John Hart.

All I'm askin' is that you manage to win one from them this week. I like our chances against Toronto; just give us a tiny bit of help, 'k? I am seriously thinking of flyin' me & my son (11 years old) to Yankee Stadium and force the Rangers to either start him as a pitcher or put him in the outfield. He's got a good arm (which means he can hit the plate from the outfield repeatedly, without fear of his arm wearing out), and he can't be any worse than the overpaid schmoes currently polluting the field. Of course, his bedtime is 10:00 pm, so we'd have to start the game a bit earlier....

Maybe Dirk will be so traumatized he'll decide to be more like Mike; give up basketball and try to make the Rangers as oh, how about a starting pitcher. Teix is only productive when the game is out of reach. What, he struck out three times last night? The guy is so overrated, it ain't funny. Not to mention he's a grade-A jerk (comes with the territory of being in the stable of Boras, I guess). As for Young, well.... maybe there's something about having signed a big lush contract that just takes the edge off a guy. I don't know.

My apologies to Red Sox fans and Yankee haters around the world as my Rangers collapse against the hated Pinstripes for the umpteenth millionth time (to be fair, I hate the Red Sox, too. But we can beat them occasionally). Maybe I should start a separate thread discussing how this year's Rangers could be the worst ever.

Guys, please, for the sake of those of us who want to discuss baseball WITHOUT having to wade through all the Bondstalk, take it over here! Thanks.

Those first three certainly aren't essential, but they are fun for the most part. If nothing else, snag DANCE TO THE MUSIC, as it lives up to its title in spades. Small Talk.... yer not missing anything, trust me on this one. We'll just have to agree to disagree on Small Talk, I happen to think it's a nice hidden gem of an album -- which seem to be the definite minority view on this cd.

The discussion over Bonds quest for the home run record is taking up so much space in the 2007 thread, that it's making it difficult to find any discussion about other baseball-related items. So, for those of us who are tired of having to slog through the back&forth about Bonds, please post your comments/arguments/rhetoric here. Thanks!

hell yeah. jj hardy and capuano are awesome. fielder too Man, I'm happy for those guys. They have been cellar-dwellers for too long.

Now that I see why this thread was bumped up, all I can say is... WOW!!!

When I saw this thread had been bumped, that was the first thing I thought of. The proverbial quiet before the storm. Absolutely beautiful!

Haven't heard GET YOUR SOUL TOGETHER, but if I ever run across a used vinyl copy, I'll snap it up in a heartbeat!

Wow! Nice to see this title get the upgrade. I've only heard "Big P" which was on The Riverside Records Story, and I liked that one a lot. It has what I consider to be the quintessential "Riverside sound," if such a thing exists. I'll definitely be picking this one up!

Honestly, I think I enjoy CTI-era Freddie more than I do Blue Note Freddie. I love those first four albums he did for CTI, as well as his work on the aforementioned Sugar. But then, I'm a huge sucker for Don Sebesky arrangements, so YMMV. Having recently acquired the LP Giant Box, all I can say is I'm in CTI-era Freddie heaven!

Wow, just when you think Clemens can't be any bigger whore....

Oh yeah, Paul Desmond's liners to any of his albums were always memorable. Pity he wasn't asked to write more liner notes, either for his own albums or others! Hands down, the most memorable liner notes for me are Jack Tracy's liner notes to TERRY GIBBS DREAM BAND, VOLUME 5: THE BIG CAT. A lot of times, I'll read these if I'm just needing a good chuckle. Which happens more often that you might imagine!

I agree. If anyone wants to know why I keep banging on about the genius of Idris Muhammad, compare Love bug to Blue Mode and hear the difference he makes. Hot Rod, the first and best track from Love Bug is all Idris. In the sleeve notes Wilson says that he gave this one to Idris to his own thing with, and what a groove. I don't mind one track albums if the one track is as good as this. (There are other good moments on Love Bug including the title track). Blue Mode is a more consistent LP but for my money, the man IM is sorely missing. True dat, and I wonder how different BLUE MODE might've sounded with Idris at the skins. Having said that, though, I'm glad he's not, just because of the sound that percolates the grooves on MODE. I'm sure Idris could've done that with one hand tied behind his back; question is would he have been content to just ride the groove the way Tommy Derrick does? Interesting thought, nonetheless!

A-frickin-men!!!