I grew up on music. First my mother sang Country and Western and my step dad played it on his Martin Guitar. 🎻🎸Now, I hated it back in the day mainly because it was a parent thing and for other more personal reasons. However, as I got older I developed a taste for Willie and Waylon and Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash.  But, country wasn’t my youthful choice. Like most kids from my generation Rock was my choice.🎸

So, I was just thinking today about which music makes me smile. Small disclaimer here. I play the guitar (not well but I do play) I’m self taught in plunking out chords (however badly) on a piano. But, I’m not a huge music listener. I go through phases of listening but I don’t have and don’t want to have 2,500 songs downloaded on a loop.🎶 If you do that’s fine. I have really great friends that do. I just don’t. But, when I’m in the mood then I really do love to crank it up.🔊🎧🎶

I really enjoy a guitar riff and I can play air guitar even better than I play my actual six string. 👅  I can remember when Birmingham, Alabama had an album station. The D.J.  would call out the menu like a waiter. Very few to no commercials and I can still hear the menu. Tonight we have some Foghat followed by Jackson Brown. A little Molly Hatchet and some FleetwoodMac. Some Eagles and we will follow that with some Led Zeppelin. Finishing off with some Lynyrd Skynyrd and Marshall Tucker. I mean it was all night long and commercial free. The station was even written up in The Rolling Stone in what was then a major honor.🎹🎶

I really loved Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris and I enjoyed hearing Alice Cooper as he belted out some really good summertime lyrics with “Schools out forever. School’s been blown to pieces.”  But, some songs just made me smile. Ray Stevens had one called “Ahab the Arab”👅 and no you probablycan’t play it today. Matter of fact when I was really young back in Gadsden, Alabama there was a rock and roll song called “I want my baby back.” Complete with the lyrics of describing his baby after a wreck complete with sound effects. The singer wailed “There was my baby” and “over there was my baby.” And “Over there was my baby”

Baby had been really messed up in the wreck don’tcha know. The end had the sound of a coffin opening as the singer said “I got my baby back.”

So, even though I didn’t party to a lot of parody songs and that particular one was out when  I was a very young child. There are songs that still make me smile. So, I thought I would list a few albums. These aren’t parody songs however. But, it’s either the kick ass guitar or the lyrics on some of the songs that still make me smile a big ole “Lets party like it’s 1976 grin.” 👅✌🍺🍻

These are not my favorite albums of all time. As a matter of fact one of them by Kiss is really not very good at all musically or skill wise. At least my older self doesn’t think so. But, they did make me smile and party on so here they are.

1.       Nazareth “Hair of the Dog” 1975. This one has it all. Whiskey drinking woman. Love Hurts and my favorite is the title song “Hair of the Dog” with the really cool lyrics of “Now you’re messin with a son of a bitch. I love this album and if I’m anywhere near it then I  don’t need my hearing aid cause I’ll turn this sucker up and as we used to say in the 70’s “Tear the knob off the radio.”

2.       Foghat “Fool for the City” 1975. “Slow Ride.” It’s the perfect song for my little long haired hillbilly hippie soul. It starts out with steady beat and guitar and the singer gets into the high pitched rock and roll throaty heights. I used to sing along and since I have a naturally higher than it should be voice I was able to hit the notes back in the day. Loved this one and still smile when I hear it. I’d listen to the whole album just to hear Slow Ride again. The rest of the album isn’t bad either.

3.       Kiss “Destroyer.”  “Detroit Rock City” complete with the sound of a mighty gas guzzling 1970’s engine along with rattling keys and a screeching car wreck with “Rock and Roll All Night” playing on the car radio in the background. “God of Thunder” Which I really loved and of course the raspy slow rendition of “Beth”  in the midst of all the guitar and drums that preceded and followed it.

So, after a week of politics and hypocrisy from the left and the right i'm off. I no longer grab an 8 pack of Pony Miller's 🍺 or smoke a 🚬 or other things 😉😈. But, somewhere I like to think my teenage soul will be fulfilled and maybe on the flipside there may really be a version of Rock and Roll Heaven. 

"Oh, give me the beat boys, and free my soul I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away."
✌