THE LOST FUNK OF THE MONTGOMERY EXPRESS

The Montgomery Movement by The Montgomery Express

I think we all like listening to "lost" music or music that never gained any traction when it was originally released.  When it finally becomes popular or finds appreciation, as in the case of the lost music of Rodriguez or Nick Drake, its a very humbling feeling.  It makes you feel like anything is possible.  

The following artist is lost and probably will never be found.  How did I stumble upon it? I can't even remember.  The band is a funk/soul outfit called The Montgomery Express from Florida and their 1974 album is The Montgomery Movement.  There are zero reviews of this album on amazon.   In my google search, I found a few blog posts by writers who probably stumbled upon the music by accident.  Now, should you look through your uncle's funk and soul vinyl collection and happen to find a copy of The Montgomery Movement, keep it safe! Used copies run around $450. 

It took seconds only of listening to the opening title track of their album The Montgomery Movement for me to pay attention.  A quick and simple jam, "The Montgomery Movement" is built upon a slightly dissonant, cry-baby wha, guitar riff.  It is a guitar players dream! Totally irresistable.  Track two, "Who" is a ballad and the first song with vocals.  It is just as effective.  The expectations are set pretty high for the rest of the album and unfortunately, the remaining six tracks never quite reach the grandeur of the opening quarter of the The Montgomery Movement.   Good not great, but still absolutely worth listening to.  Still, If funk and soul is your thang, then do whatchu wanna do.  Me? I think whatchu wanna do is put this album on soon.  Do it.  

Not like it matters, but the two singers Paul Montgomery and Charles Atkins are both blind.  I think blind people would probably find including such a fact superfluous.  Unless someone commissions printing this blog into a braille text,  I don't think they will read this article anyway.  

The Montgomery Movement by The Montgomery Express

WHY JOE WALSH JOINED THE EAGLES (VIDEO)

In January 2013 I received an e-mail from a guy named Lee.  Here's his message:

Why did Joe walsh join the Eagles? From James Gang music to Peaceful Easy Feeling? Thanks, Lee.

I started writing him an e-mail back, but then I thought it might be more fun to answer his question by making a video.  

You can watch the video below:

Why Joe Walsh Joined The Eagles

Introducing Rozzi Crane

A couple years ago I was living in LA and I caught a set by Rozzi Crane at The House of Blues.  She was participating in one of those battle of the bands competitions.   Anyway, her performance was so good that during every other act's showcase, I couldn't help but think "If Rozzi Crane doesn't win, these judges don't know what's good."  To my great relief, Rozzi won—and damn, did she deserve it.  Will she become a star? Well, obviously I don't know.  But I'll say this—she has one of those voices that is so good, it will be impossible for her to not have a career as a singer.  And I'm not talking about Holiday Inns.  At the very least, she will be singing backing for superstars.

Which she has done, by the way. Crane has toured as a backing singer with Don Henley and Sergio Mendes.  And as a singer/songwriter, she has opened for acts as varied as The Steve Miller Band and Esperanza Spalding.   

Last year was a pretty good year for Rozzi Crane.  She sang vocals on "Come Away To The Water," a Maroon 5 song which appears on The Hunger Games soundtrack.  Incidentally, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine was so impressed that he made Crane his first signing for his 222 Record Label.  According to Levine,  "The first time I heard Rozzi sing I knew I had to find a way to be a part of it.  I didn't have to think about it.  She's THAT incredible."

One of the hipster-reasons I am writing this post is to have bragging rights of discovering Rozzi Crane early if she ever gets big.  I should add that as good as her voice is, she's also a pretty good songwriter, too.  Now, if for some reason she has a GREAT song inside her, there's no question that she'll find a large, dedicated audience.

Here's two songs.  One is an original cut called "The City."  The other is a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On."

"The City" and "Let's Get It On" by Rozzi Crane