B-Side

50 years ago today, Tom Waits released “Small Change”. Arriving 11 months after his double LP “Nighthawks at the Diner” this fourth album by the 26-year-old pianist and songwriter was his first to reach the Billboard 100 ( #89), a level he wouldn’t surpass for 25 years. Tom was still in his “beatnik jazz” era, accompanied by Lew Tabackin (tenor sax), Jim Hughart (bass), Shelly Manne (drums) plus an occasional string section. The lyrics are often character sketches with tales of nightlife including the effects of carousing and alcohol, such as the darkly humorous “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)” and “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart”. Other fan-favorites include “Step Right Up” and “Tom Traubert’s Blues,” which integrates the 1890 tune “Waltzing Matilda”. Reviews are excellent. A 50th anniversary vinyl edition is coming soon. See a 1976 illustrated album advert + more in Comments.

September 21 Birthdays: Slam Stewart b.1914; Tommy Potter b.1918; Leonard Cohen b.1934; Sunny Murray b.1936; U-Roy b.1942; Bobby Tench (Jeff Beck / Freddie King) and Jesse Ed Davis b.1944; Rupert Hine b.1947; Phil Taylor (Motörhead) b.1954; Jon Brookes (The Charlatans UK) and Trugoy the Dove (De La Soul) b.1968; Don Preston (The Mothers of Invention) is 94; Dickey Lee is 90; David Hood (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) is 83; Don Felder (Eagles) is 79; Henry Butler is 77; Dave Gregory (XTC) is 74; Corinne Drewery (Swing Out Sister) is 67; Jorge Drexler is 62; Faith Hill is 59; Melissa Ferrick is 56; Kelley Stoltz is 55; David Silveria (Korn) and Liam Gallagher (Oasis) are 54; Jonas Bjerre (Mew) is 50; James Allan (Glasvegas) is 47; Wale is 42; Faris Badwan (The Horrors) and Blake Mills and Lindsey Stirling are 40; Jason Derulo is 37; Lizzy McAlpine is 27; Herman Bunskoeke (Bettie Serveert) is ??

Farewell Chad Gilbert, founding guitarist of New Found Glory, gone at 45.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released 35 years ago today: "The Pod" by Ween. Produced by Andrew Weiss (Gone / Rollins Band) this lo-fi second album by the Pennsylvania surrealist rock duo was recorded in their home apartment (aka The Pod) on four-track cassette. Arriving ten months after their debut “GodWeenSatan: The Oneness”, this 23-track album runs 76 minutes and, being early Ween, of course received mixed reviews, though SPIN ranked it in their Top 20 Albums of the Year 1991. Dean Ween was 20; Gene Ween 21. Fun fact: The cover art is simply a pre-Photoshop alteration of Deaner’s mom's LP copy of "The Best of Leonard Cohen." More in Comments.

September 20 Birthdays: Chico Hamilton b.1921; Jackie Paris b.1924; Bobby Nunn (The Robins / The Coasters) b.1925; Red Mitchell b.1927; Eddie Bo b.1930; Steve McCall (Air) b.1933; Margo Guryan b.1937; Eric Gale (Stuff) b.1938; Jim Cullum Jr. b.1941; Sweet Pea Atkinson (Was [Not Was]) b.1945; Billy Bang b.1947; Michael Cuscuna (Blue Note / Mosaic) and John Panozzo (Styx) b.1948; Keef Cowboy Wiggins (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) b.1960; Gerard Smith (TV on the Radio) b.1974; Laurie Spiegel is 81; Mick Rogers (Manfred Mann's Earth Band) is 80; Chuck Panozzo (Styx) is 78; Steve Coleman is 70; Alannah Currie (Thompson Twins) is 69; Dave Hemingway (The Housemartins / The Beautiful South) is 66; Randy Bradbury (Pennywise) is 62; Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) is 60; Gunnar & Matthew Nelson (Nelson) are 59; Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden) is 58; Tim Rogers (You Am I) and Patrick Pentland (Sloan) are 57; Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist) and The-Dream are 49; Rick Woolstenhume (Lifehouse) is 47; Laura Bettinson (Ultraista) is 39; Ayano Ōmoto (Perfume) is 38.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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50 years ago, JJ Cale released “Troubadour”. This 4th LP by the influential Oklahoma roots-rock / country-blues songwriter became one of his best-known, partly because Eric Clapton’s Top 30 hit single version of Cale’s song “Cocaine” the following year put a belated spotlight on this album. Before that, it reached #84 Billboard ( #53 UK). Other fan-favorite songs include “Hey Baby” + “Travelin’ Light”. Cover illustration by Charles E. White III. More in Comments.

September 19 Birthdays: Billy Ward b.1921; Nick Massi (The Four Seasons) b.1927; Muhal Richard Abrams b.1930; Brook Benton b.1931; Lol Coxhill b.1932; David McCallum b.1933; Brian Epstein b.1934; Martin Fay (The Chieftains) b.1936; Paul Siebel b.1937; Cass Elliot (The Mamas & the Papas) b.1941; Betsy Kaske b.1951; Jóhann Jóhannsson b.1969; Bill Medley (The Righteous Brothers) and Sylvia Tyson and Paul WIlliams are 86; Freda Payne is 84; David Bromberg is 81; John Coghlan (Status Quo) is 80; Lol Creme (10cc) is 79; Twiggy is 77; Daniel Lanois is 75; Rhys Chatham and Nile Rodgers and Henry Kaiser are 74; Tatsu Aoki is 69; Lita Ford (The Runaways) is 68; Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and Jeff Bates are 63; Trisha Yearwood is 62; Cuong Vu and Candy Dulfer are 57; A. Jay Popoff (Lit) is 53; Jimmy Fallon is 52; Jim Ward (At the Drive-In) is 50; Waylon Reavis (Mushroomhead) is 48; Tegan and Sara are 46.

Farewell Duncan Sheik, singer songwriter best known for his 1996 hit single “Barely Breathing”. Gone at 56.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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New Releases: We are STOKED to feature Madison’s own Slow Pulp (yes, we still get to claim them) and their new album “Melodie”! Three years in the making, this third LP by the acclaimed dream-pop band is already earning excellent reviews. Stop by for SP swag with purchase (while they last), and plan to see them live for their big homecoming show at The Sylvee, supported by Graham Hunt + Her New Knife, on November 21st!

More NEW this week: BECK; Rhiannon Giddens; Freak Slug; Jawdropped; Lizzy McAlpine; Rodrigo y Gabriela; Beabadoobee; Miley; Kristin Hersh; Emma Ruth Rundle; Orville Peck; Horsegiirl; Hannah Cole; Echo and the Bunnymen; Five Finger Death Punch; Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy; Bella Poarch; Team Dresch; Neil Young; Ken Carson ARCHIVAL: Grateful Dead 6/30/85; Hole ‘91 + ‘98; Redman ‘92; Lucsious Jackson ‘94

September 18 Birthdays: Jimmie F. Rodgers b.1933; P.F. Sloan b.1945; Mike Hossack (The Doobie Brothers) b.1946; Dave Benton (Spooner / The ghost particles) b.1948; Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones) b.1951; Emily Remler b.1957; Rachid Taha b.1958; Frankie Avalon is 86; Michael Franks is 82; Alan 'Bam' King (The Action / Ace) is 81; Kerry Livgren (Kansas) is 77; Steve Slagle is 75; Carl Jackson is 73; Keith Morris (Black Flag / Off!) Keith Streng (The Fleshtones) and Sid Griffin (The Long Ryders) are 71; Frosty Beedle (Cutting Crew) and Nils Petter Molvær are 66; Mark Olson (The Jayhawks) is 65; Joanne Catherall (The Human League) is 64; Ricky Bell (Bell Biv DeVoe) is 59; Cappadonna is 57; Adam Cohen is 54; Xzibit is 52; Dizzee Rascal is 42.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

If you enjoy our human-written (no AI) daily posts celebrating historic albums, songs & artist birthdays, please invite your friends to follow the B-Side page, thanks

35 years ago today, Uncle Tupelo released “Still Feel Gone”. Arriving 15 months after their debut “No Depression”, this second album by the influential southwest Illinois alt-country trio (Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, Mike Heidorn; all aged 24) was well received, including 4-star reviews in Rolling Stone and Q magazines. Farrar sang lead on 7 songs, Tweedy 6. Fan favorite songs include “Gun” “Looking for a Way Out” “Still Be Around” + “Watch Me Fall”. Cover design by Armind Paetzold. Fun facts: Uncle Tupelo played in Madison twice around this era: four months prior to this album at Der Rathskeller in the Memorial Union (May '91), and one year after (Sep. '92) at Club de Wash. More in Comments.

September 17 Birthdays: Hank Williams b.1923; Bill Black (Elvis) b.1926; Jack McDuff b.1926; Lamonte McLemore (The 5th Dimension) b.1935; Les Emmerson (Five Man Electrical Band) b.1944; Tom Stevens (The Long Ryders) b.1956; Keith Flint (The Prodigy) b.1969; SOPHIE Xeon b.1986; Fee Waybill (The Tubes) is 76; Ty Tabor (King’s X) is 65; BeBe Winans is 64; Jeff Ballard is 63; Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) is 61; Doug E. Fresh is 60; Anastacia and John Penney (Ned's Atomic Dustbin) and Lord Jamar (Brand Nubian) are 58; Mirah is 52; Flo Rida is 47; Chuck Comeau (Simple Plan) is 46.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released in the UK 35 years ago today: “Laughing Stock” by Talk Talk (Band). Led by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Mark Hollis (36), the London band quietly broke up after this 5th album, which arrived three years after their game-changing 4th, “Spirit of Eden”. Formed in 1981 as a synth-pop group, by the mid-eighties they were moving toward less-commercial art-rock, spearheading what became known as ‘post-rock’ with their final two LPs. Augmenting this somber, atmospheric project was a large group of studio musicians on strings, brass & woodwinds. As with Spirit of Eden, many improvised sessions were spliced and dubbed by producer Tim Friese-Greene (similar to how Teo Macero had cut/pasted Miles Davis’ B!tches Brew sessions in 1969). Laughing Stock saw mixed reviews in 1991, but in later years acclaim ramped up, with Pitchfork ranking it 11th Top Album of the 1990s; music writer Ned Raggett placed it as his 4th favorite of the 90s. Cover art by James Marsh. More in Comments.

September 16 Birthdays: Joe Venuti b.1903; Jon Hendricks (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross) b.1921; Charlie Byrd and B.B. King b.1925; Little Willie Littlefield b.1931; Dick Heckstall-Smith and Ronnie Drew (The Dubliners) b.1934; Gordon Beck b.1936; Hamiet Bluiett (World Saxophone Quartet) b.1940; Winston Grennan b.1944; Tom Leadon (Mudcrutch) b.1952; Alan Barton (Black Lace) b.1953; Frank Reed (The Chi-Lites) b.1954; Dave Schulthise (Dead Milkmen) b.1956; Billy Boy Arnold is 91; Joe Butler (The Lovin' Spoonful) is 85; Bernie Calvert (The Hollies) is 84; Betty Kelly (Martha and the Vandellas) is 82; Ron Blair (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Kenney Jones (Small Faces / The Who) are 78; David Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 76; Vince Bell is 75; Earl Klugh and Colin Newman (Wire) are 72; Peter Zaremba (The Fleshtones) is 71; Rodney Franklin is 68; Vicki Blue (The Runaways) is 67; Graham Haynes is 66; Bilinda Butcher (My Bloody Valentine) is 65; Stephen Jones (Babybird) is 64; Richard Marx is 63; Dave Sabo (Skid Row) is 62; Marc Anthony is 58; Justine Frischmann (Elastica) and Doug Martsch (Built to Spill) are 57; Musiq Soulchild is 49; Chris Cester (Jet) is 45; Blake Thomas is 44; Katie Melua is 42; Teddy Geiger is 38; Lauren Jenkins is 35; Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers) is 34.

Farewell Catherine Ringer (Les Rita Mitsouko) gone at 68.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released in the UK 55 years ago: “The North Star Grassman and the Ravens” by Sandy Denny. Following three acclaimed albums co-fronting English folk-rock band Fairport Convention, plus one leading offshoot band Fotheringay (all four LPs issued within a 19-month period!), this was the 24-year-old singer-songwriter’s debut solo LP. Produced with and featuring former Fairport bandmate, guitarist Richard Thompson (22), this is often regarded as Sandy’s best solo album. She wrote eight of its eleven songs including “Late November” “John the Gun” + “Next Time Around”. Another fan-favorite is her rendition of the traditional song “Blackwaterside”. Though Sandy would die too soon at age 31, three years ago Rolling Stone ranked her 164th Greatest Singer of All Time. More in Comments.

September 15 Birthdays: Roy Acuff b.1903; Kid Sheik (Preservation Hall Jazz Band) b.1908; Al Casey b.1915; Gene Roland and Snooky Pryor b.1921; Bobby Short b.1924; Cannonball Adderley b.1928; Signe Toly Anderson (Jefferson Airplane) b.1941; Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly / Captain Beyond) b.1942; Allen Shellenberger (Lit) b.1969; Jac Holzman (Elektra Records) is 95; Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) is 74; Maggie Reilly and Ned Rothenberg are 70; Mitch Dorge (Crash Test Dummies) is 66; Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (Misfits) and Naomi Yang (Galaxie 500) are 62; Huw Bunford (Super Furry Animals) is 59; KayGee (Naughty By Nature) is 57; Paul Thomson (Franz Ferdinand) is 50; Zach Filkins (OneRepublic) is 48; Sarah River Shook is 41; George Watsky is 40.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Released 60 years ago: the debut LP by The Remains. Backstory: The Boston garage rock band broke up around the time of release, after they were selected as an opening act for what became the final tour by The Beatles. Since The Remains didn’t stay together following this debut, the album was poorly promoted by Epic Records and was mostly ignored for years, though acclaim grew in later decades, acquiring the status “lost classic”. The band reunited several times for “garage” themed festivals. Six of ten tracks here are originals including “Thank You” & “Once Before” + “Why Do I Cry?” but perhaps best known are their covers of “Don’t Look Back” “Diddy Wah Diddy” + “Lonely Weekend”. More in Comments.

September 14 Birthdays: María Grever b.1885; Stuff Smith b.1909; Mae Boren Axton b.1914; Cachao b.1918; Jay Cameron b.1928; Don Walser b.1934; Joseph Jarman (Art Ensemble of Chicago) b.1937; Alex St. Clair (Captain Beefheart) b.1941; Fred 'Sonic' Smith (MC5) b.1948; Steve Gaines (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Ed King (Lynyrd Skynyrd / Strawberry Alarm Clock) b.1949; Paul Kossoff (Free) b.1950; Tom Cora (Curlew) b.1953; Barry Cowsill (The Cowsills) b.1954; Amy Winehouse b.1983; Oliver Lake is 84; Marcos Valle is 83; Pete Agnew (Nazareth) is 80; Bowzer (Sha Na Na) is 79; Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) is 71; Beth Nielsen Chapman is 68; Morten Harket (A-ha) is 67; Mike Cooley (Drive-By Truckers) is 60; John Power (The La's / Cast) is 59; Anders Svanoe is 57; Craig Montoya (Everclear) and Mark Webber (Pulp) are 56; Nas is 53.

Notice: B-Side is OPEN Mon-Thurs 10-6 / Fri+Sat 10-7 / Sunday 11-5. Email [email protected] or message here to support our shop with any Vinyl, CD, t-shirt or gift card orders, for pickup or shipment to your home. Thank you for shopping local 🙂

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Farewell Cheetah Chrome (Eugene O'Connor) best known as guitarist & songwriter in Cleveland proto-punk band Rocket from the Tombs (1974-75) then, more famously, in punk band Dead Boys (1975-79). Gone at 71.