Kiss still draws capacity crowds in large arenas. Sure, they’re all AARP members, but still.

Back in the fall of 1975, when the monster album “Kiss Alive” was released, I remember buying it at Korvette’s for $5.99.

In fact, that might have been my first “hard rock” album. I was a junior in high school, and was just starting to get into Led Zeppelin, Kansas, The Who, all that, and Kiss was in the mix too.

Kiss, of course, was outrageous. They wore ridiculous makeup and costumes, and bass player Gene Simmons used to spit fake blood and do crazy things with his huge lizard tongue. To me, that whole thing seemed a tiny bit campy and silly, but they quickly developed a reputation as a great live act, and sold out shows accordingly. For me, it was more about (some of) the music. “Rock and Roll All Nite” was a decent party anthem, and I liked a few other songs, especially “Room Service” from the Dressed to Kill album.

But, seriously, if somebody had told me back then that 34 years later, Kiss would still be spitting blood, wearing ridiculous makeup, and selling out large arenas for live shows, I would never have believed it. Outrageous is strictly for the under-30 set, right?

Well, believe it, bucko.

The crowd at the United Center was a bunch of old guys and gals, some even dressed up like their favorite Kiss band member.

Yow! The mind reels.

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the founders of the group, must be doing pretty well for themselves: for just another $30 last Friday night at the UC, you could get a “USB leather wristband containing digital files of the night’s performance”.

Do the math on that profit margin, and multiply it by all that other crap you can buy at concerts. Think about all the other old fogeys doing concerts today, and how much cash is made from all that crap people buy at the shows. Say, how’s that career choice looking now?

My Kiss fascination ended pretty quickly. Within 4-5 years I wasn’t even listening to much hard rock any more. Maybe their wimpy ballad “Beth”, from their next studio record, had something to do with that. That song, in fact, might have started a huge 1980s trend: power ballads from hard rock bands. Gosh, thanks for that, guys! Really, that’s just awesome. Thanks again.

For completists only, I imagine: a 1994 tribute record called Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved, featuring Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Lenny Kravitz, among others.

 

Links and Notes

The Wildcat formation is causing defensive coordinators in the NFL to do some adapting, and this article does a nice job of explaining the whys and wherefores.

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Golf legend Arnold Palmer turns 80 on Sept. 10th, and USA Today has a bunch of reader rememberances.

In reading them, it’s very easy to see how he got to be so popular: he went out of his way to engage people. Probably because he’s just a nice guy and a people person. You know who could stand to loosen up a little bit in that department? Tiger Woods. But then, he wouldn’t be Tiger Woods. He thrives on focus and drive, and those things are incompatible with being a people person.

Golf could really use a guy like Arnold Palmer right now. How many people started playing golf entirely because of Arnold Palmer’s charisma? It sure sounds like a lot, from reading those letters.

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One of my favorite bands, Steely Dan, played the Chicago Theatre last week. Monday night they played “Aja” in its entirety at the start, and then a bunch of their other great songs. Check out this set list:

1 Black Cow
2 Aja
3 Deacon Blues
4 Peg
5 Home at Last
6 I Got the News
7 Josie
8 Black Friday
9 Time out of Mind
10 Daddy Don’t Live in that New York City No More

11 Bodhisattva
12 Babylon Sisters

13 Show Biz Kids
14 Hey Nineteen
15 Dirty Work
16 Love is Like an Itching in My Heart (Supremes)/band intros
17 Do It Again
18 Don’t Take Me Alive
19 My Old School
20 Kid Charlemagne

Encore
21 Reelin’ in the Years

Color me bright green with envy. I’ve listened to most of these songs sooooo many times over the years, I know every solo, every chord change, every note and lyric. Except for the songs on Gaucho … never a big fan of that record.

My favorite Steely Dan records, in order:

1. (tie) Can’t Buy a Thrill and Aja
2. Royal Scam
3. Pretzel Logic
4. Countdown to Ecstasy
5. Katy Lied

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Locally, Chicago’s attempt to remake public housing has fallen somewhat short. So, to review, the Federal Government created the publc housing mess which helped destroy our cities, and then the city government has distributed that mess into the neighborhoods and suburbs, and done an inferior job at it, too. Maybe it’s time to bring sanity back to housing policy?

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Finally, Tony Woodlief writes about the quality of education today. I agree with everything he says there. We don’t home school, but I support and sympathize with many of those who do. And then we have this Education school lunacy. Do people realize what is going on under their noses? On their dime? To their kids? I really don’t think they do.

Links and Notes

It must be Philosophy in Old Rock Songs Day today.

On the drive into work, I heard “Live for Today” by the Grass Roots, followed by “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. Also, “I Can Help” by Billy Swan was the first song out of the radio when pulling away from the house, a song that I really like a lot. There is a guitar riff in there that sure reminded me of Les Paul, a connection I’d never made before. One of those runs down the neck, and back up, repeating the same sequence of notes. Here’s a recent version:

Something about the mood I was in made it all sound extra good. I think it’s because I was already in a very good mood, after getting my first good night’s sleep in a quite a few nights. I’m pretty sure this is directly due to my bike ride last night, also for the first time in many days. Went with my youngest boy Jordan, just the two of us, so it’s a win/win. I’ve noticed over the last few years that on days when I get zero exercise, my sleep is low quality. It’s shorter and not as deep, and during the next day, I don’t feel as good, I don’t have as much ability to concentrate, my mood is often inferior, etc. I often wonder how many people who fight problems with sleep and are taking medication for it are sort of barking up the wrong tree.

On to the links:

A night of healing in Iowa – A summation of Friday night’s tribute to Ed Thomas, the coach at Aplington-Parkersburg who was killed by one of his former players in June. He was instrumental, also, in helping rebuild Parkersburg after a devastating tornado mostly destroyed the town in 2008.

Ichiro defies critics and odds – Computers sometimes don’t throw Ichiiro Suzuki lots of love. Proving, I don’t know … that computers can be stupid? Is there a GM that wouldn’t sign him if they had a chance to start a team from scratch and wanted to win a World Series? I sure would. The guy creates team offense by getting on base at a ridiculous rate.

Political Economics 101 – Eric Raymond explains how health care would respond to government intervention in that market. See if you can guess how it turns out!

Oh, come on: one extra club costs Jim Furyk over $130,000 – And that’s why golf is the most honorable game in the world. Rules is rules. It sucks when you forget and break one. Which encourages not breaking them, and rewards those who follow them. The higher the cost of breaking them, the more value they hold.

Chicago street-grid system turns 100 on Tuesday – So … I guess the Chicago City Council has done at least one thing right in the last 100 years.

Guitar players and rock and roll fans … a moment of silence. Les Paul dies at 94

Les Paul dies at 94

Every musician and music fan knows the name Les Paul. The Gibson Les Paul is one of the iconic guitars of the last fifty years, especially in rock music.

But what lots of people don’t know is that he was first and foremost a jazz guitarist, and a very good one.

If you’ve never heard this guy play a guitar, whether electric or acoustic, you don’t know what you’re missing. He was easily decades ahead of his time. Speed, dexterity, melody, power, style, subtlety, he had it all.

Ask any big-time guitar player, whether rock, jazz, country, or anything else, and they’ll tell you all about Les Paul. While his name is so well known, his music and legacy is not, and that is a crime.

Not only was he an amazing player, he also invented the solid body electric guitar, multi-track recording, and countless other things related to music performance and recording. See, for example, this list.

If there was a Music Recording Hall of Fame, he’d be the charter member.

The word genius is often misplaced, but not in this case. Les Paul was certainly a genius.

And even at age 94, he still had a weekly gig in New York City, every Monday night.

He will be missed. R.I.P.

Check out one of his anthology recordings some time. You won’t believe what this guy could do with a guitar back in the 40s ad 50s.

Weather Dorks and Rock Bands … Sure, Why Not?

There are some things that you just never expect to see in your lifetime.

The Cubs winning a World Series. Sensible politics in Washington. Being able to lose that last 15 pounds. A picture of Cheap Trick hanging with WGN weatherman Tom Skilling.

Oops, scratch that last one, because here it is.

Cheap Trick played live on WGN this morning: “I Want You to Want Me”, awesome as it ever was.

That Rick Nielsen, he can play guitar a little bit, eh? Funny, too. Watch the video.

“Thriller”? Mmm, Not So Much. I’ll Take the J5, Please.

Those who want to re-discover the musical catalog of Michael Jackson might want to skip right over the “Thriller” era and head back to 1969-1973, the height of the Jackson 5 and the beginning of Michael’s solo career

The Jackson 5 was quite simply one of the greatest soul/R&B/pop music acts in the history of popular music.

And so I generally agree with these thoughts by Jim DeRogatis on Jackson’s recorded output:

For that matter, more moving than anything on “Thriller” is the 1972 ballad “Ben,” another No. 1 hit and a song that Jackson, right at the start of his solo career, invested with so much emotion that it instantly transcended its origins as a love song to a killer rat from a B-grade horror film.

And, of course, there are the irrepressible, irresistible, unrelentingly upbeat songs of the Jackson Five, the family group that featured Michael and four of his eight siblings. Dismissed as bubblegum pop by some critics during their hit-making prime from 1969 through 1971, in retrospect, they stand as one of the most heartfelt and enduring acts that the legendary Motown Records ever produced. Michael’s vocals in particular shine through, with the prepubescent star somehow singing in a voice wise and soulful beyond its years.

Pop music just doesn’t get any better than the best of the Jackson 5, from “I Want You Back” to “The Love You Save” to ballads like “I’ll Be There”. At least, not in my world. That kid could sing, and the band was great too. Quality material and the full power of the Motown production powerhouse. What more do you need?

The opening guitar riff from “I Want You Back” still sounds as fresh and energetic today as it did forty years ago.

“The Love You Save” sounds a lot like the best of the Sly Stone output. “Never Can Say Goodbye” is still the best-ever version of that song. I forgot how much I liked “Maybe Tomorrow” until just now, after listening to it again. “Mama’s Pearl”, even though I don’t much like the chorus, is a pretty inventive piece of music, especially the instrumental breaks and vocal interplay.

And like Jim says above, “Ben” is a classic ballad. You just have to forget that it’s about a rat.

Even some of the more pedestrian material, like “Sugar Daddy” and “Little Bitty Pretty One”, is a cut above pretty much everything else that was going on with AM radio at the time.

Numerous other songs showcase their unique, youthful vitality, the kind of “it” factor that comes along once every generation. They stand frozen in time with that youth and energy, and who doesn’t gravitate to that?

His later solo output got progressively worse from a music perspective. Of course, these are just opinions, and others may disagree. But those of us that like music for listening rather than dancing tended to not like the influences that the disco era had on popular music. And that seems to apply here as well.

“Off the Wall” was largely a disco record during the height of the disco years. And that was just not the kind of music I was into at that point in my life. But I always did like “Rock with You”. And the song “Off the Wall” wasn’t bad either. Smooth R&B with killer harmonies has always been a favorite of mine.

“Thriller” had lots of energy and volume and rhythmic stuff going on, and sold gazillions of copies, but is far less musical than much of the best of the Jackson 5.  It wasn’t so much music as it was an event, larger than life. I do get why some folks would like “Thriller”, but it did little for me. Too many vocal hicks and tricks and breathy weirdness: hey, how about if you just knock all that off, and sing? Is that possible?

In fact, the more I heard “Billie Jean”, which was on the radio about 45 times a day back then, the more I started to believe her side of the story over his: she is too your lover, dammit! And the kid is your son! Come on, admit it!

At home I have my old Jackson 5 anthology album with the black cover and the familiar Motown blue and silver label on the records that I bought in, maybe 1979? Maybe tonight I’ll play it to remove all traces of “Beat It” from my brain, and give my kids an example of what Michael Jackson could do with a song before he turned into a psychotic freak-show.

For me, I guess it comes down to this: he was a better, more compelling artist when he had a melody to work with, and some harmonizing from a deeper voice like older brother Jermaine, and a band that stretched out musically a little bit, and a producer that forced him to focus on creating small works of art rather than giant masterpieces.

Two Things I Didn’t Know Yesterday

After hearing some of the lyrics to a few songs by “Peaches”, I’m glad she is no longer an elementary school teacher.

Australians call their high-alcohol, fruity style of Shiraz “leg spreaders”.

Carry on.

Comedy Genius Turned Up to “11″

Has it really been 25 years since This is Spinal Tap was released?

Yes. Yes it has.

But it’s still funny, and true.

Your Random Notes for the Day

Cain’t say I never gave you nuthin’!

• Phosphor Bronze guitar strings suck. I put some on my all-solid-wood Garrison acoustic, and they sound like they’re being played under nine sheets of kleenex. Avoid them. I’ve decided that 80/20 Bronze is my friend; even when they age, they sound great. If on the other hand you like the Phosphor Bronze strings? Well, I’m glad you like them! Keep them away from me though. And wouldn’t you know, I bought an extra set of these things.
• When you get in your car first thing on a Monday morning, and head to the Y for a workout, and a great song like “Who’s That Lady” by the Isley Brothers pops up on the radio, you just know it’s going to be a great day. Did you ever listen closely to the instruments on that song? Especially the guitar of Ernie Isley? Yow! Dude kicks serious ass. From the unbelievably great album “3+3″, which I bought used at a record store in Dekalb, Illinois, back in 1980 or so for $3, and still have to this day. Easily the best $3 I ever spent.

Wilco is Streaming

Pretty cool … the new Wilco record can be streamed here.

It’s called “Wilco (The Album)”. Just in case you forgot the name of the band.

The cover shows a funky picture of a camel on a patio. With a party hat on.

Kids today don’t know how lucky they are. Why, back in my day, we had to drive to Korvette’s and spend $3.99 of our hard-earned money on a new record! In the snow!

Bernie Williams: Former Ballplayer, Current Jazz Guitarist

Two of My Favorite Things Together: Baseball and Music

Check out Bernie Williams playing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” unplugged:

He does a very nice job interpreting that tired old sing-along in a new way. Quiet, reflective, acoustic. Nice.

Go ahead, click already, I can pretty much guarantee it will be the coolest thing you’ll hear all day. He has a new CD out Tuesday called Moving Forward, on Reform Records.

I think this is just outstanding.

Former athletes, for whatever reason, rarely embark on new creative challenges like “jazz guitarist”

As many of us can attest, it isn’t easy to take on new challenges in your forties. If it was, you’d see a whole lot more people doing it. Most of us slide quietly into whatever is easiest, whatever involves just about zero risk.  Becoming a professional musician at that age is usually not on the menu.

Yet Bernie Williams is ready to risk his very well-known name in a very public way.  For very little money, I suspect.

Of course, his risk might be mitigated somewhat by, you know, being Bernie Williams, and having made a whole bunch of money playing for the Yankees for 16 years. Unless he invested heavily with AIG or Bernie Madoff.

Still, I for one applaud his effort. And after watching that video, I think he’s got some pretty decent guitarist chops, too.

Your One-Stop Shop for Billy Corgan Recent Weirdness Updates!

Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins has been very busy annoying rock critics lately, and as we all know, rock critics hardly ever let sideshow issues color their opinions of music artists.

Conveniently, as a service to my literally dozens of loyal readers and also search engine bots, I’ve provided a handy guide to “Billy Corgan’s Recent Weirdness as Chronicled by Jim DeRogatis”.

First Billy came out in favor of the Ticketmaster/LiveNation merger. As one can well imagine, lots of important legal papers and decimal points are involved. Also, the opinions of rock critics. Fortunately for you I have no opinion on it whatsoever. This may save you vitally important seconds of your life; you can thank me later.

A bit later, he split with long-time drummer, Jimmy Chamberlain. Not sure why. Don’t really care either. Some folks might.

Here he is celebrating Sasha Gray’s 21st birthday. She is a porn star, I guess. Never heard of her. Click on the link for a boring picture featuring fully-clothed people. Regardless, Billy was on the VIP list for this one … for some strange reason that I don’t want to know, or picture. Mental bleach, please!

Then he appeared at some “peta2″ event protesting abuse of chickens. Chickens that are, it must be said, raised solely to be (1) killed and (2) eaten. Also, they are chickens. There, he posed in this awkward photo with Tila Tequila, who is somebody famous but I don’t know how or why. Possibly because she is hawt?

OK, so I was wrong … none of this is all that important, after all.  Sorry. There’s 45 seconds of your life you’ll never get back! Or just 30, if you’re a fast reader.

Songs I Like a Lot: “Reason to Believe”

Rod Stewart did the most famous version, and it’s the only one I know well. Here he is from 2008:

Partial lyrics and tab:

G             D              G
If I listened long enough to you
           C      D                     G
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
A                D             C             G
Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried
        Em             C         D
Still I look to find a reason to believe

CHORUS:
             C            D            Em      D
Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else
             C            D                Em          D
Someone like you makes it easy to give and never think about myself

.

Great use of words, timeless message, beautiful melody.

A perfect song, pretty much.

Which is one reason why it’s been recorded by at least 15 different artists, including Dashboard Confessional, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Paul and Mary, Bobby Darin, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Carpenters, Billy Bragg, and many others.

I suspect that most songwriters would sell their soul to write one song this good, this durable, this timeless, in their entire career.

“Reason to Believe” was written by Tim Hardin in 1965. He died in 1980, aged just 39 years.

Another good version, this one by Billy Bragg and Lisa Miller:

Rediscovering a Long Lost Classic

Eddie and the Hot Rods “Do Anything You Wanna Do”

An anthem for the young. And maybe, the not-so-young.

All-Time Stupid Lyrics: “Ventura Highway”

The early 1970s was a special time in American pop music. And by “special”, of course, I mean “drug-addled”.

One prime example, at least for my money, is the song “Ventura Highway” by America. This was an odd band; on one level, they had quite a few radio hits for a few years, and a pleasant, acoustic guitar oriented, folky/country sound, and could write a decent melody, but on another level, they also wrote some of the stupidest, most drug-induced lyrics of the decade.

And in the 1970s, that, friends, is saying something.

On “Ventura Highway”, the music is actually pretty good, and I generally like the song, but the chorus is … sort of … well, let’s take a look at the refrain:

Ventura highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine

The days are longer than … what? Moonshine? That makes no sense whatsoever.

And the nights are … stronger … than moonshine? Are you sure about that?

Those would have to be some pret-ty strong nights. Whatever that means.

You’re gonna go I know
cause the free wind is blowin through your hair

OK, this part is fine. But even a blind squirrel — or a stoned songwriter — finds an acorn once in a while.

And the days surround your daylight there

“The days surround your daylight there”? Um, what?

What does “the days surround your daylight” mean? Is this profound or something?

And the word “there” on the end? What is that? Maybe he just needed a rhyme with “hair”. A good songwriter would say, “OK, I should re-work this line so that the word ‘there’ doesn’t sound so, um, tagged onto the end for a rhyme”. This songwriter, however, opted to leave it tagged onto the end, for a rhyme, sounding stupid.

Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

Dude, what in the world are you talking about?!

Put. The bong. Down.

Of course, it’s possible America was not a drug-addled band, writing songs in a haze of pot smoke and spent beer cans.

But that would be more embarrassing, not less. And unfortunately, I’m not fascinated enough by this topic to Google it, so let’s just go with “drug-addled”. It’s a pretty good bet for a song from the early 70s, anyway.

Songs I Like A Lot: “Sunny Side of Heaven” by Fleetwood Mac

Just one of many great songs from the classic album “Bare Trees”, when the masterful and mercurial Danny Kirwan was the main musical influence in the band.

Kirwan’s “Sunny Side of Heaven” is instrumental, melodic, and positively hypnotic. If you’ve never heard any Fleetwood Mac from before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band, you ought to check into this song, and the rest of “Bare Trees”. Musically, there is a lot going on here; I first heard it back in 1977-8, and it still sounds fresh each time I listen to it today, 30 years later.

Last night I went running, and chose “Bare Trees” as my listening companion. I found it to be perfect for running or working out, because it is that rare combination: equal parts musical power and energy, beautiful melody, grunge guitar workout, calm peaceful interludes, and solid songwriting. It sounds good on earphones, too.

You can have your 23 minute Grateful Dead jams; I’ll take a beautiful, perfectly constructed 3+ minute instrumental like “Sunny Side of Heaven”, thanks.

As I’ve learned over the years, the trick is knowing where to leave the spaces between the notes.

Songs I Like A Lot: “Wedding Bell Blues” by the Fifth Dimension

Yes, I Know, It’s “Pop”, So It’s Kinda Lame, But I Don’t Care

This song is actually kind of an inside joke about the engagement between group members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. This wikipedia page says that when the song was recorded in 1969, they were actually engaged, but had yet to set a date. Their producer, Bones Howe, therefore thought it would be funny to record the song, which was written by Laura Nyro three years earlier. When performing this song on TV, as you can see in the video above, they would ham it up, her reaching out to him and pulling him closer, him giving the “uh oh, how can I get out of this” looks.

The song actually wasn’t released as a single until after a disc jockey in San Diego started playing it from the album, and once released, it went to #1 in the US for 3 straight weeks in October 1969.

The main reason I like it is McCoo’s voice: a lyrical, lovely combination of smoothness and power. Not real hard on the eyes, either.

Later, they formed a duo and had some hits of their own, like “You Don’t Have to Be a Star”, which is another song I should hate, but actually like.

And you gotta love this: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. are still married today, and even wrote a book in 2004 called “Up, Up and Away: How We Found Love, Faith and Lasting Marriage in the Entertainment World“.

What Do Frank Zappa, Vaclav Havel, and iTunes Have in Common?

OK, Since You Asked, I’ll Tell You

Frank Zappa was invited to Czechoslovakia in 1990 by President Vaclav Havel:

Havel was a lifelong fan of Zappa who had large influence in the avant-garde and underground scene in eastern Europe in the 1970s and 1980s (a Czech rock group that was imprisoned in 1976 took its name from Zappa’s 1968 song “Plastic People”). Zappa enthusiastically agreed and began meeting with corporate officials interested in investing in Czechoslovakia. Within a few weeks, however, the US administration put pressure on the Czech government to withdraw the appointment. Havel made Zappa an unofficial cultural attaché instead. Zappa also planned to develop an international consulting enterprise to facilitate trade between the Eastern Bloc and Western businesses.

So he wasn’t just a musical genius, prolific composer, and visionary bandleader. Now add freedom fighter to the list!

He was also about 15 years too early on an iTunes concept:

Before CDs came onto the market, Zappa had proposed to replace “phonographic record merchandising” of music by “direct digital-to-digital transfer” through phone or cable TV (with royalty payments and consumer billing automatically built into the accompanying software). In 1989, Zappa considered his idea a “miserable flop”.

The musical legend died 15 years ago this week.

The Blues, They Are A-Changin’

The changing face of Chicago blues:

Today, the Chicago blues scene is in stark transition. Younger blacks are failing to see the music as anything but a relic, leaving an entire tradition largely up for adoption by foreign-born players traveling halfway around the world to learn from the source. Their enthusiasm is helping move the blues from isolated neighborhoods to the global stage, evidenced by Chicago bands that very recently have come to resemble a United Nations portfolio.

This cultural exchange is expanding the music’s songbook with stories it never addressed before and is helping create sophisticated players schooled as much in Van Halen and Led Zeppelin as they are in Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. But advocates worry that the flashy guitar tones and studied technique threaten to replace the personal expression that has long made the music profound.

In Chicago, blues music has always lived, not through television documentaries or books, but primarily through people – the Southerners who populated the city’s South and West sides and who helped pass the music’s foundation on to the next generation. For this reason, the blues has always been a collaborative pact between fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, the grizzled mentors and the eager young followers who sought them out, either from the other side of town or from as far away as Japan.

Well worth reading, for fans of Chicago Blues.

Songs I Like A Lot: “More Than One Way Home” by Keb’ Mo’

Why I Like It

Keb Mo (real name Kevin Moore) sings about his childhood — in Compton — with obvious affection:

And the Thurmond boys on peach street, with only their dad
So proud of themselves, and that old Pontiac they had
And Miss Brooks, her bible, and her three little boys
At the Double Rock Baptist Church, makin’ a joyful noise

(Chorus:)
Well there’s more than one way home
Ain’t no right way, ain’t no wrong
And whatever road you might be on
You find your own way
‘Cause there’s more than one way home

Background

This song has a “relaxed energy”, and is great for working out or running on the iPod. It’s great for just listening, or driving, too. Pretty much great all the way ’round.

It’s from the CD “Just Like You” from 1996, his second on a major label, which I bought when it came out. The YouTube link above is for a live version of “More Than One Way Home”, but the studio version from the CD is there too, and I prefer it for the superior audio (though the live one linked above has better video).