Southern Indiana Explore...

From our trip last month, I'm still working through the photos.  A fun explore: after spending the night in Corydon, Indiana (about 25 miles west of Louisville) we decided to NOT jump back on the interstate, and to wander the backroads for a bit.  

Our first stop was The Overlook at Leavenworth, Indiana.  We had a most-enjoyable lunch here probably 10 years ago [edit, looks like June of 2009].  This day we were there before the restaurant opened, but we enjoyed looking over the overlook:

And the view, looking upriver (with lots of effects).  It was a bit cloudy, and quite windy (see flag above), but not at all unpleasant....

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Eventually we found ourselves here...  A 1-lane bridge across the Little Blue River.  A bit south of the unincorporated community of Beechwood, Indiana.

The blue sign at the lower right says

NOTICE

 Historic bridge ahead

 May be replaced

 For more information

 call

(812) 338-2162

I kind of wanted to call, but didn't.  The weight limit was 8 tons, which doesn't seem too bad.

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Continuing along took us to Alton, Indiana.  Not to be confused with Alton, IL...  A small town, population 55.  Sitting right on the Ohio River, though.  There were quite a few campers parked near the river, I got the impression they were weekend homes rather than folks passing through.  thye just had a "settled" look.  But they did have a dock.  Of sorts:

The town was laid out in a small grid, and all of the streets were (barely) one lane wide (but not one-way).  The photo isn't really meant to tell a story about Alton, I just like dead tech...  Here's a longer view, you can see that it was still pretty overcast...

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Continuing on our wander, we next stopped at the unincorporated community of Magnet, just around the next river bend.  Looking south on the Ohio River...  the clouds were just starting to break up.

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All in all, a really pleasant side trip.  It added a couple of hours to our return trip, but was time well spent.

Album Review: The Kooks - Let's Go Sunshine

A little bit of a departure, this one was written by my son, and posted to the WPTS (university Of Pittsburgh radio station) web site.  Click through the link below:

Artist:  The Kooks

Album:  Let's Go Sunshine
Released:  2018


“Let’s Go Sunshine” by The Kooks – Review

https://wptsradio.org/lets-go-sunshine-kooks-review/

Untitled #6401 - Before and After

A grey day today, after a rainy couple of days.  But it was dry this afternoon, so I went out to the Old Chain Of Rocks bridge for some walking.

I took the base image for a challenge over at 365project.  Called Nifty-fifty-straight-out-of-camera.  The idea is to replicate the old days when we shot film with SLR cameras that had a "standard" 50mm lens.  So the goal is to replicate that experience.  I have a Nikon with a kit zoom...  a 35mm zoom setting is equivalent to a 50mm lens with 35mm film....

Anyway, the image above has little to do with the challenge.  The SOOC version is below:

Brussels Ferry

So...  last weekend I was talking with the wife. and we realized that I have never crossed the Illinois River on the Brussels Ferry.  29 years....   She has ridden it, but many years ago.  So we did a day trip.  Up through Alton to Grafton, the across the Brussels Ferry, and then up the land between the rivers (Illinois and Mississippi) to cross back at Hardin.  South from hardin back to Grafton, where we had a nice meal at the Grafton Winery & Brewhaus.

After some VERY good hamburgers, and a flight of beer samples, it was on to home.

Pulling out from the Grafton dock, looking off the port side.

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Looking out the front of the ferry.  Well the front of the ferry on this crossing.  It is the back of the ferry for the return trip!

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Looking back towards the Graftom landing

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And a little artsy B&W from midstream.  Looking up the Illinois river.  I must say I'm rather happy with this one.  Also posted at 365.  

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Album Review: The Kinks - One For The Road

Artist:  The Kinks

Album:  One For The Road

Released:  1980

This "Live" album  from The Kinks was recorded during 1979, mostly from shows in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  And released in the summer of 1980.  I received this album at the start of the '80/'81 school year (college) from my roommate the previous year. 

The playing is solid, the sound is good.  A double album, and included a nice double sided poster (folded).  This doesn't come off as a "contract filler".  It introduced me to several Kinks songs I wasn't very familiar with, or at least didn't have in my collection.  Such as Hardway, Misfits, Prince Of The Punks, and Celluloid Heroes.  All that said, it's never really been a favorite album for me.  Why?

Well, first flaw (IMHO) is a over-reliance on songs from the album Low Budget.  Low Budget had been released in the summer of '79, so this tour would've been in support of it.  Still, they didn't need to have it dominate this album.  Over 1/2 of low budget is here, and it represents about 1/3 of this album.   I had (and still have) Low Budget, so this level of content seemed excessive.  It's not like the Kinks don't have a solid catalog to draw from.  Nothing was included from Village Green,  and only one some from Muswell Hillbillies, and Lola.  Nothing from '77s Sleepwalker...

The other "flaw" from my standpoint is the prevalence of synthesizers.  I don't know if they were giving new member Ian Gibbons some extra spotight, or if (more likely) it was just a reflection of it being 1980... 

last "flaw":  I thought the album title was unoriginal, deriving from Synysrd's One More From The Road

Bottom line:  This is a decent album, one that gets played all along.  But not a favorite, certainly not essential.  I'd give it 3.0 out of 5.0. Allmusic was a little harsher, rating it 2.5/5.0.  They have 185 user ratings which come in at 4.0/5.0.  Their review calls the album "a fascinating document of trailblazing elder statesmen who paved the way for heavy metal and punk, but never felt a glorious pop song was out of their grasp."

One For The Road was a successful release, selling "gold" and reaching #14 on the Billboard album chart.  It is available on Spotify, and the CD is available on Amazon.  Not high on the "obscurity" meter....

Here's the back cover, inside the gatefold, and the poster (each side)
click through for larger versions...

rear cover

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inside gateway (the blur is not MY doing!)

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Poster - one side

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Poster - other sidce

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Album Review - Louisiana’s Le Roux

Artist:  Louisiana’s Le Roux

Album:  Louisiana’s Le Roux

Released:  1978

How do I know these folks:  The single “New Orleans Ladies”, which peaked at #59 (from this album).  I had this on 45 back when it was new.  I recently (8/2018) acquired the album (vinyl) from my brother.

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From the band’s web site:  “Louisiana's LeRoux (the first album) was a musical gumbo that blended various instruments and arrangements for some spicy, mouth-watering pop-rock. Using blues, R&B, funk, jazz, rock, and Cajun as their base, their Southern anthem "New Orleans Ladies" …, simmered with the laid-back feel of the "Big Easy," evoking images of Bourbon Street and the bayou.”

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So, what can I add?   I remember the song “New Orleans Ladies”, which was released in the summer of 1978, and got airplay on the AOR station I listened to at the time (WDVE).  I liked the song, and had the 45.  A quick check of the internet tells me it peaked at #59 in July 1978.  If I ever heard anything else from them, I don’t remember.  

Fast forward 40 years, last week visiting my brother.  As he occasionally does, he pulled out a stack of albums and offered them up to my son and I.  And this album was in the stack.  So I nabbed it, based on the one song.  

As I’ve been listening to it, I’m pleasantly surprised.  “New Orleans Ladies” is a wonderful piece of pop, a bit similar in tone to songs like Poco’s “Crazy Love”, Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why” or MTB’s “Heard It In A Love Song”.   The rest of the album is rather different, and reminds me more of Chuck Leavall’s Sea Level.  Most of it has a solid funky jazz groove.  Only the last song (I Can't Do One More Two-Step) makes me think “New orleans”, though, with a good Dr. John groove.

The sound fronts keyboards than guitars, and has nice bass and percussion…    I’m enjoying listening to it.  I’d rate most of the songs 3+ to 4 (out of 5).  No high peaks, but no valleys, either.  Call it 3.5/5 overall.  It’ll be interesting to see how it grows on me with more listenings.

On Allmusic, they rate it a lofty 4.5/5, with 12 user ratings also averaging 4.5/5.  They comment the band creates “a fusion drawing from pop, rock, blues, R&B, funk, jazz, and of course their Crescent City roots.”  And “a welcome diversion from the pop music disco dregs [that] remained nowhere as angst-ridden as the ensuing punk movement”.  

It looks like the band is still around, with 2 of the original 6 members still involved (guitar and keyboard players).  But there’s no shows listed on the band’s website.  I’d probably go see them at a cool venue like the Wildey.

Obscurity Index:   I'll call this 'moderately obscure".  The album made Billboard's album chart, but peaked at #172, and only charted for 2 weeks.   They had a minor hit (New Orleans Ladies reached #59), which they performed on The Midnight Special back in the day.  On the other hand, the album is available on Spotify, and Amazon has it on CD, MP3-download and streaming. - - - - 

Here's the back cover, and inner sleeve, click through for larger versions...