Dolly Parton “New Harvest…First Gathering” 1977. Paying tribute today to great Dolly (b. 1946, d. yesterday August 25th, 2026), along with the rest of the world. She was the most rare of musicians (humans, really) who is appreciated by, like, everyone. Yesterday (and continuing today) my feed has been filled with tributes from punks, goths, garage-rockers, boomers, zoomers, x-ers, hippies, folkies and everyone in between who adored her. Given my 80’s new wave/punk background I think she first came into my consciousness with 1980’s 9 to 5 (both the movie and the song), and then again when Whitney Houston covered Dolly’s epic, anthemic in 1992 (Dolly herself scored a hit with the original in both ’74 and ’82 but really only on the country charts, which I didn’t pay any attention to). As an adult my love for “Jolene” has grown and grown – damn, what a perfect song. Her grit, smarts, open-mind and generosity were legendary, on top of her jaw-dropping songwriting prowess. Anyway, while we’re not big on country music here, we do have a copy of New Harvest…First Gathering which was her 18th solo LP and the first she self-produced. It hit #1 on the country chart and went to #71 on the Billboard pop chart. The lead track, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” was released as a single; it reached #11 on the country chart. A couple of other tracks were also released as singles in Europe. While Parton wrote the majority of the album, there are two covers: the Temptations’ “My Girl (My Love)” and Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher.” Both are excellent, with creative reworkings making the tunes absolutely hers. Parton’s compositions are twinged with country twang but the arrangements are for sure more adult pop orientated (with 70’s flavor of course): “How Does It Feel” is a great example of the marrying of those two genres and “Getting in the Way” adds a little funk into the country hills. There is little folks agree on these days, but Dolly is  someone we all love.

Pink Floyd “Animals” 1977. Their 10th studio album, Animals went to no. 2 in the UK and to no. 3 in the US. It’s a continuation of the prog rock concept album format that the band started with their previous LP’s Meddle and Wish You Were Here. Apparently it’s now considered one of their best releases. I’m not a big prog-rock aficionado – I get way too bored and often irritated with navel-gazing noodling, so I’ll defer to the so-called experts on that best-of consideration. Except for “Pigs on the Wing (Part One)” and “Pigs on the Wing (Part Two),” the songs are long. Shocking, I know, “Pigs on the Wing” is/are my top track(s) mostly because they are strongly reminiscent of my favorite Floyd song “Wish You Were Here” (the only song I ever learned how to play on guitar). “Dogs” is far too long but I like the part towards the end of the song that strongly brings to mind the track “Have a Cigar” (also on Wish You Were Here), the same vibe continues on “Pigs (Three Different Ones).” I’ve only seen Roger Waters perform once (never saw Pink Floyd), in 2022 where he performed “Sheep” from Animals. Honestly I don’t really remember that one but the internet says it is so.

The concept of Animals, was – according to Wiki and album that was a commentary on the “sociopolitical conditions of mid-1970s Britain….loosely based on George Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm, the album’s lyrics describe various classes in society as different kinds of animals: the predatory dogs, the despotic ruthless pigs, and the mindless and unquestioning herd of sheep…The album is also in part a response to the punk rock movement, which grew in popularity as a nihilistic statement against the prevailing social and political conditions, and in response to the complacency and nostalgia that appeared to surround rock music.” We’re currently (always, actually) working to thin the vinyl herd – I’m ambivalent about this one, it could stay or go.

Maness Brothers “Hill House Sessions” 2026. Romanus Records, limited edition tricolor “Nebula” variant. Love love love these trad/garage blues rockers from Missouri. Maness Brothers are, indeed, brothers with David on guitar and vocals and Jake on drums and vocals. We first caught the duo back in 2017 when they opened for Brother O’Brother (along with SERVICE featuring former Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Russell Simins on drums — see here for that post and a great story David Maness told us about discovering JSBX when he was 11 years old) for BoB’s Neon Native album release show in Indianapolis. We caught them again in Indy in 2019 at Romanus Fest. Hill House Sessions is their first full length in over 5 years and it’s a scorcher (the liner notes state the album was recorded over the course of eight months back in 2021).  A mix of traditional Southern blues, grungy growls, electric guitar shreds and a family orientated DIY punk attitude. the opener “The Way That It Is,” “Tammy Jean” and “Let It Roll” are all rollicking blues ass-shakers with gravel country roads vocals; “Life” is a blues-country bender with an ear-worm infinity hook that excellently devolves into controlled garage chaos (one of my top picks for sure). “Workin’ Man” blends grunge and metal with bendy blues for a sound so big it rivals the 80s hair bands (but wins for better music). “Sometimes” too leans heavy and raucous while the album closer “Luna’s Lullaby” opens has an adorable spoken word from, I’m guessing, one of the bro’s young daughter and moves into a lovely, sparkling, dreamy instrumental that is, as advertised, a (blues) lullaby. It’s been several year since we’ve seen Maness Brothers perform and I’m hoping they will tour the upper Midwest soon.