From the music shelf

While I'm not very musically inclined my Mother instilled a love of music in me from a very early age. The staple in my house was country and western, blue grass and with what we would now call folk music mixed with a good dose of rock and roll as it came of age. Even so I was never dissuaded from listening to any type of music that I liked including some classical. My Dad while not as enthusiastic about the subject as my mother introduced me at an early age to Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and others from the big bands of the 1940's.

So like many my age I grew up with sex, drugs and rock roll. Somehow though I managed to miss the sex and drugs. I guess God was just watching over me. I came of age listening to "The Mo Town" sound along with Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones and the rest of the British invasion. My Mother tolerated it while my Dad thought it was going to rot my brain as many parents do when their children start to adopt music that the don't quite understand. I found this to be true as my boys turned into teenagers.

All of this brings me to my purchase over the weekend of a new two CD set. Long Road Out Of Eden by the Eagles was released last month and I kept meaning to pick up a copy but never managed to remember when it was available, more on that latter.

Let me tell you that the Eagles still have the magic after all these years. Unlike some of the groups that have made a comeback to cash in on the nostalgia of the baby boomer's these guys still have the voices and the talent that fans have come to know and love. There are twenty tracks in this two CD set and while some wonder off the beaten path in style that we have become accustomed too most are pure Eagles. Glen Fry and Don Henley don't disappoint either writing or singing. If you go to their web site, click on the blue word Eagles in this posting to take you there you can hear samples from the album.

The Eagles are the first major main stream band that I know of that has told the recording industry to take a hike. Long Road Out Of Eden will be available for the first year only from the group's web site or through and exclusive deal with WalMart and Sam's Club. With the advent of digital music and the Internet the recording studios have decided to fight any change to their business model and in the process created a great deal of problems and inconvenience for the listening public. Through the Recording Industry Association of America they have employed heavy handed gestapo type tactics in an effort to make sure that if you think about a song in your head they find a way to add to their coffers while doing all they can to make sure that the artists that create the music never receive the full fruits of their labors. If you are an Eagles fan I encourage you to buy this album over the Internet or from Walmart if for no other reason than to send a message that the times are indeed changing.

Well I'll stop down off my soap box now and add that despite my rant my reason for recommending this album is because I really enjoyed the music. I hope you do also.