Letter To You

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 42 - Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You

That's Letter to You the 20th Studio album by Bruce Springsteen from 2020 now upgraded from Download to CD

I now have all the first twenty studio albums on either vinyl or CD. The only one I don't have is number 21 Only The Strong Survive and I am in no particular hurry to obtain that. Having said that I would probably pick it up in a charity shop for the sake of completeness.

Letter to You will require some further listens before I could comment on it properly. I'm not that convinced after a cursory listen but it could well become a grower. It seems to have been pretty well received with a score of 88 out of 100 on Metacritic and 8.5/10 on Any Decent Music?.

Whether it is one of the finest achievements of Bruce Springsteen's career as proclaimed by one critic remains to be seen.

Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You

Bruce Springsteen - I'll See You In My Dreams

I Can't Help Myself

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 41 - Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself - The Collection

A few years ago I was quite rightly taken to task by Rol and others for not having anything physical by the Four Tops.

This was swiftly rectified with  the purchase of two Greatest Hits albums - one vinyl and one on CD.

Another one has now been added in the shape of I Can't Help Myself - The Collection from 2012 and on the Spectrum label.

There are enough new tracks to justify its purchase as if justification. was required.

Here are three which haven't appeared here  before and which I  have never knowingly heard. Simple Game in particular completely blew me away. You could say I can't help myself.

I defy you not to enjoy.

Four Tops - Simple Game

Four Tops - Love Has Gone

Four Tops -Walk With Me, Talk With Me Darling

Flaco's Favorites

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 40 - Flaco Jimenez - Flaco's Favorites

From 2001 the Dutch label FAB 14 give us 14 Fabulous Tracks from everyone's favourite Conjunto accordionist the legendary Flaco Jimenez.

The 14 tracks selected come from three of his albums namely Entre Humo y Botellas (Rounder, 1989), San Antonio Soul (Rounder, 1991) and Arriba el Norte (1998, Sound) . I only have the latter on the shelves.

Sadly Flaco is no longer with us having passed away in San Antonio on 31st July last year aged 86.

It seems sensible to feature one from each album in chronological order.

Enjoy.

Flaco Jimenez - Se Me Fue Amor

Flaco Jimenez - El Pantalon Blue Jean

Flaco Jimenez - Adios,Muchachos

Gospel Bombs

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 39 - Vincent Vincent and the Villains - Gospel Bombs

This album from 2008 on EMI Records replaces a burn of a CD taken from the CD section at Langside Library which cost me 50p to borrow (and copy!)

It was a bit of a punt at the time and was probably influenced by the title and the cover. The good thing was that you could experiment to see if your choices were worth following up.

I can't remember listening to it all that often. Giving it a spin it is reminding me of someone, Franz Ferdinand I think.

It seems that they evolved from the band The Double Card Bastards. I suppose Vincent Vincent & the Villains was slightly more radio friendly.

As far as I  can ascertain Gospel Bombs was the only album they ever released. They released 6 singles between 2004 and 2008 all of which appear on the album here  Here are a couple of them.

They were subsequently dropped by EMI and quickly broke up.

The jury is out as to whether or not this one is a keeper.

Vincent Vincent & the Villains - On My Own

Vincent Vincent & the Villains - Killing Time

Blog Country 152 - Puerto Rico

 

This one is going to be somewhat controversial given that Puerto Rico is not actually a country but rather a Caribbean island and an unincorporated US Territory.

It is a U.S. possession rather than a sovereign nation or a U.S. state which sounds like something Trump would have done when he was relevant. It is recorded as a country in the Google Blogger stats and that is good enough for me.

Somewhat less controversially I have decided not to include the biggest two acts from Puerto Rico namely Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny.

Instead let's start with Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, known professionally as Daddy Yankee who is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter and is dubbed the "King of Reggaeton" and "Godfather of Reggaeton" Reggaeton is a popular music and dance genre that originated in Panama in the late 1980s and was heavily shaped and popularized in Puerto Rico during the early 1990s. Here he is with Rosa Live.

Next up is Elvis - that's Crespo not Presley. He is a merengue singer  - that is a vocalist who performs  a lively style of music and dance originating in the Dominican Republic that combines African and Spanish musical elements.His offering today is Tu Sonrisa 

Ismael Rivera, also known as Mealo was a Puerto Rican composer composer and salsa singer.His contribution is Boma De Navidad

Olga Tañón has earned two Grammy awards, three Latin Grammy awards and 29 Premio Lo Nuestro awards.I'm not sure whether Asi Yo Soy was responsible for any of them.

Finally I give you the band Superaquello with Escuchate.

The next country raising its head above the barricades is one of the world's smallest countries which should make it even more trickier than usual to come up with some songs.

Daddy Yankee - Rosa Live

Elvis Crespo - Asi Yo Soy

Ismael Rivera - Bomda de Navidad

Olga Tanon - Asi Yo Soy

Superaquello - Eschate Esta

Saturday Shuffle 166

 

The Saturday Shuffle returns after a well deserved holiday.

It features songs by three musical legends that you may not necessarily be familiar with.

We start with the legend that is Jonathan Richman. Some of you may be disappointed that neither (the various versions) of Roadrunner or That Summer Feeling are not featuring.Instead you are getting the wonderful I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar.

If you recognised Charlie Daniels as today's cover star you may be eagerly looking for The Devil Went Down to Georgia. It's hard to believe but he and his band  has had other songs including High Lonesome.

Today's final offering is from John Mellencamp. Not the brilliant Jack and Diane but rather the B-Side Hurts So Good.

More dancing, hurting and lonesomeness next Saturday.

Jonathan Richman - I Was Drinking In The Lesbian Bar

The Charlie Daniels Band - High Lonesome

John Mellencamp - Hurts So Good

Dark Enough To See The Stars

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 38 - Mary Gauthier - Dark Enough To See The Stars

When I was courting Mrs CC I took her to see Mary Gauthier. It is fair to say that she was not impressed describing it as the most depressing concert she had ever been to.

Despite that I quite enjoyed her first few albums before and after the Millennium.

Step forward twenty years and we have her 12th album Dark Enough To See The Stars from 2022 on the Thirty Tigers label

And yes it is an album primarily about grief ! However for me it is far from depressing and I wonder just how personal an album it is .

John Apice from Americana Highways gives a good review and writes mourning those who passed is a way of celebrating them and certain songs can be therapy

I was pretty surprised as to how much this album moved me and I will certainly be dipping in on occasions whenever melancholia kicks in.

Mary Gauthier - Amsterdam

Mary Gauthier - Dark Enough To See The Stars

At our first holiday cottage a few miles south of Portpatrick it was dark enough to see the stars