Costa Rican Brew and a Band's Band

Howard Johnston's Got His Mojo Working- NRBQ

3/22/12

beeradvocate.com rating

Imperial Beer- Smuggled in from Costa Rica in 12 oz. bottle poured into Pub Glass 4.6% ABV

Head- 1 1/2 finger, foamy head. White

Color- Yellow

Mouthfeel- Light bodied heavy carbonation

Aroma- Beer

Taste/ Overall- This is my first Costa Rican beer which was generously brought to me by my friend who just went there on vacation. There is not a whole lot say about this beer but I imagine if I was sitting on a beach in Costa Rica I would probably love drinking these one after another. Good, simple lager.

On the turntable is Scraps and Workshop- NRBQ- This is a Two'fer LP set consisting of two LP's issued in 1972 and 1973. NRBQ is one of those groups from the 60's and 70's still around today. Today I was casually reviewing upcoming shows in the Village Voice and noticed that NRBQ is booked to play Brooklyn Bowl fairly soon. Pretty impressive considering Brooklyn is both fairly new and hip and tends to cater to bands a bit younger than NRBQ. I found this LP at a garage sale for a dollar and was pretty excited not just because it cost a dollar but this is a band I had heard good things about and never ever listened to. A band that is mentioned in the same way that Los Lobos is mentioned, a band's band. NRBQ which stands for New Rhythm Blues Quartet has a long history and you can see it here via wikipedia.

I am happy I found this LP in the way I did in a dusty old garage in Queens. It has a history separate than mine but I was instantly connected to it. The music, from the first needle drop, drew me in. Kind of a funky mish mash of The Band, Little Feat and Doug Sahm. Included her is the lead off track of LP #1 Howard Johnston's Got His Mojo Workin which immediately made me realize I made a good pick-up.

Have Guitar Will Travel

3/1/12

beeradvocate.com rating- http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/262/78791

He'Brew Hop Manna IPA- Whole Foods Houston St., NYC- 22 oz. Bottle into Pub Glass6.8% ABV

Head- 1 1/2 finger head. Light bone color.

Color- Amber, transparent

Mouthfeel- Medium to heavy bodied and carbonation

Aroma- Piney, resiny hops

Taste/ Overall- This is my first He'Brew Beer and its quite good. Its brewed by the Schmaltz Brewing Company in San Francisco and they also brew Coney Island Brews which is funny because I always felt like they had similar packaging but I didn't know they were brewed by the same company until today. This is my first IPA in a few weeks and is a nice change of pace from the dark brews I have been trying lately. I think I am an IPA and Pilsner man at heart.

On the turntable is Mr. Guitar- Billy Strange- released on Sunset Records, no date available probably mid-60's- I was informed this week via some internet posting that Billy Strange, guitarist and all around musical jobber, passed away at the age of 81. Ironically I just happen to be reading the recently published book The Wrecking Crew- The Inside The Best Kept Secret In Rock N’ Roll . The book is a good and is offering some new insights on what I have already read about these musicians. I am about halfway through the book and my one criticism would be that it was definitely written for an audience who probably had little knowledge of the “wrecking crew” outside of the music and takes more of a “novelistic” approach to telling the story. I would have preferred an oral history or at least a book focused more on detailed, oriented accounts of day to day session work.



Prior to the book I was familiar with Strange’s role in popular music courtesy of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds Box Set and the accompanying booklets. It is kind of sad that a guy like this is virtually unknown. He is certainly not the first musician to pass away to relatively little fanfare but his music is probably far more recognizable than most. It is actually hard to feature one of his songs because there are so many to choose from. Just take a look at his wikipedia page.

I got this record in a thrift shop a couple of years ago and at the time I did not know who Billy Strange was but the cover looked cool and I have always been of these 60’s style instrumental albums especially ones which featured guitar. That is actually how I discovered other guitar instrumental music of the same era by the likes of Chet Atkins and Duane Eddy. This is not a groundbreaking album in comparison to some of his more notable studio work performed by Strange but it does have a vibe that would probably warrant some type of Sundazed Records reissue or a Twofer cd package with one of his other solo LP’s. This LP is also a reminder of simpler times when guitar guys could go POP. Included here as an MP3 is the Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer penned song Charade.