Hejira, Joni Mtchell

It's Women Week!

Hejira, Joni Mitchell, 1976, :52

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A very personal album, this is.  A journey, a the title says.  Mitchell's lyrics are both inscrutable and yet nakedly revealing, like Dylan's.  The jazzy intertwine of the guitar and bass form the white lines of the highway.  At times the vocals are ghostly and atmospheric.  I wouldn't put this on an all-time greatest albums list; to me, it drags a little in some places.  But it's a beautiful, impressive album.  Favorite tracks: "Coyote" (a masterpiece), the eight-minute "Song For Sharon," "Refuge of the Roads."

Zoot Allures, Frank Zappa

The alphabet of albums comes to sputtering, unsatisfying end. Z is for zany, I guess?

Zoot Allures, Frank Zappa, 1976, :42

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

One of Zappa's perhaps less fully fleshed-out projects.  The funky jazz-rock is fine, but the subject matter is typical Zappa shock schlock (example: "Find her finer, sneak up behind her / Unwrap like a mummy 'til you finally unwind her / Find her, blind her, see who designed her / Act like a dummy 'til you finally grind her"). "Wonderful Wino" is told by a bum, lyrically and vocally like a lost Tom Waits track. "Ms. Pinky" is catchy, but it's about a sex doll, the lyrics made even creepier by Zappa's oily crooning whisper.  I could do without hearing the ten-minute death knell of "The Torture Never Stops" ever again.  But "Zoot Allures" is a very pleasant instrumental, and I generally have little patience for rock instrumentals, the genre being so rife with monotony.  Favorite tracks: "Wonderful Wino," "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station."

Waking and Dreaming, Orleans

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1976.

Waking and Dreaming, Orleans, 1976, :39

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I thought I knew nothing about this band, but it turns out they're responsible for the ubiquitous monolith "Still the One."  Fellas, is it gay to release an album cover showing us shirtless, with our arms around each other, maybe lovingly pressing a stray hand to a nipple? Just asking. Orleans is one of the only musical acts to have a member later become a state congressman. Their fourth album is pleasant vocal pop. It's poppy and has some hints of disco; not really my thing, but it's decent. At times it even brings the straight funk ("What I Need" could appear on a Sly & the Family Stone album). Actually the instrumentation is better than the singing. Favorite tracks: "Still the One," the gospel-pop of "Reach," and the musical outlier "The Bum."

Warren Zevon, Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon, Warren Zevon, 1976, :38

 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I'm on a eponymous album kick!  No reason, though.  It just happened that way.  This 1976 album, although eponymous, isn't Zevon's debut (that was Wanted Dead or Alive).  But it is a truly impressive, slump-free sophomore album; fully half the track listing reads like Zevon's greatest hits.   This is swaggering Zevon in your face, mythologizing outlaws and wearing his out of control, lunatic persona on his sleeve, but also romantic and wistful.  Favorite tracks: "Hasten Down the Wind," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," "Carmelita."