..not ballads by rock bands, but ballads that rock.
They are, I believe quite rare.
Here's my current favourite.
Written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, but definitively recorded by Mountain.
Stay if you can for the two stunning guitar solos.

..is he the first major rock star to show a distinct Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen influence?

The wife is making Eggs and hash browns, we've already had "Stormcock" on vinyl, and now we've got champagne on ice and Steve Still's first solo LP, maybe Fairport next.
This afternoon we'll have Father Ted's Christmas Special and "Bad Santa"
Tomorrow we're off on tour playing blues finishing in Byron Bay.
Life, on the whole is good.
Merry Xmas all!

..and who better than Ronnie Lane?
(I miss the oboe, and ol' Ron ain't hitting the notes..but who really cares?)

Can we have some more rustic sounds?

..I'll start.

"Revolution In The Air"
I'm just reaching the end of this massive first part of Heylin's attempt to put Dylan's entire output in order and critique it.
While one can not question the mans ambition in doing such a thing it also can not be denied the thing is massively flawed.
The first thing one notices is Heylin's insitence on placing himself onto almost every page, usually taking pains to condemn almost everyone else who has written about Dylan. For a man who seems hell bent on the accuracy of others, his assertion that "Lay Lady Lay" was nixed from the "Midnight Cowboy" film in favour of Fred Neil's cover of Harry Nillson's "Everybody's Talkin'" is frankly laughable.
That, however is not my main gripe.
While Heylin is pretty sound on Dylan's trad "borrowings" (and why shouldn't he be, it's all on public record) he is absolutely rubbish on Bob's main wellspring, the blues.
His limitations in this area are apparent in his early statement, "Blues..that most limiting of musical forms". Bollocks..even more limiting than the three chords in "Blowing In The Wind"?
This casual aproach rears its head again and again.
"Maggies Farm" is appraised by Heylin as "..this 12 bar blues." Once again, for any professional rock critic that may read this, "12 Bar Blues" is not a musical style, it's a blues consisting of 12 bars with (usually) a 1 1V V progression, "Maggies Farm's" verses consist of a lot more bars than that (64, I think) and are really over one chord until the V1 V turnaround.
The musical framework of "Pledging My Time" is described as "Leftover strands of the blues" (Jeez, thanks Clint) No, it's a classic 8 bar format that goes back to The Mississippi Sheiks "Sittin' On Top Of The World," though Dylan probably derived it from Tampa Red's "It Hurts Me Too"
These are just two examples, it just goes on and on, God knows what he's going to do with Dylan's later almost excusively blues-based output.
Heylin only had to consult a blues scholar to clarify this, but obviously thought he didn't think it was important enough.
One day someone will write a great book about Dylans MUSIC. We all know that lyrics are important here, but Dylan is a singer/songwriter, not a poet.
P.S Clinton, if you're going to mention someone in passing, like..oh say Van Morrison, best not call him a "cunt" eh?

..Max Wall.

..here's Mr. Pastry.

Apologies if this has been done before, I did a cursory search, but...
Whilst on a looong car journey t'other day, I found myself playing "Moondance" for about the gazillionth time, and it struck me that side one (or part one in the new money) is about as perfect as you can get.
1/ And It Stoned Me
2/ Moondance
3/ Crazy Love
4/ Caravan
5/ Into The Mystic.
Well, excuse me, but there is a whole career right there. "Caravan" and "Into The Mystic" are two of the best songs ever written by anyone, and if "Moondance" has been sullied by over-familiarity, who doesn't crank it up when it comes on the radio?
I can think of only a few other albums with perfect side ones. The Band's second LP springs to mind, but unlike Mark Ellen, I (sanely) play side two quite often.
Other LPs deemed "classic" are often marred by weak or atypical material. "Rubber Soul" is scuppered by "Think For Yourself" and (for me) the utterly wet "Michelle," while "Revolver's first side carries the burden of "Yellow Submarine," great for kids parties but utterly unwelcome here.
Any other totally, unarguably perfect side ones?

..indeed.

Just finished watching (again) "Meeting People Is Easy"
Many bands have rejected superstardom for many reasons, usually involving drugs, squabbling over song royalties or women, but has any band (other than Radiohead) ever stepped back from the brink because, they were nice,British, middle-class and slightly bemused by it all?

..here's Bruce with Steel Mill,1970

..taking advantage of the weak pound against the Aussie dollar, I'd just like to thank the Word for adorning my first issue with the talentless homunculus some dickheads call "The Igster"
Cheers.

..that rock musicians have a 3 year lifespan has some merit.
Perhaps the same theory can be applied to music writers who, after an agreed time go off and write about something else.
Endless years of free music and exposure to everything must leave even the most rabid music fan a little jaded.
(Not Heppo...of course)
I'm thinking of people like David Marsh and Bob Christgeau here, who have been writing about this stuff for donkeys years now, and whose requirements for what constitutes a great record have been reduced to the Nth degree.
They so often lambast music that I think is great, that I can't really trust them about anything.
10 years for a rock critic, and that's it!