Overshadowed by bandmates

Bdp,

I agree that the Little Village album was disappointing on first listen - largely because I had such high expectations. As noted, I'm a big fan of Nick Lowe. Beyond that, I really like Ry Coder and was in the middle of a very intense John Hiatt infatuation at the time. I'd probably seen him a dozen times or so in the six or seven years prior to the LV debut release.

After several years, the LV record began to grow on me as a loose, fun, and engaging (if lightweight) collection. Very good, if not quite what I expected. As noted, the SHF record was IMO better than that.

BTW (per your earlier post), I do think we have a similar take on a lot of music. Half of your posts feel like they could have been written by me.

Good to see all the Mick Taylor love here, he definitely fits this thread, IMO. However, Ronnie Wood is a terrific player, too and - in some ways - may be a better fit for the Stones, IMO. He's got a kind of rambling, stumbling looseness to his soloing that fits the Stones perfectly, especially when they're in their drunken bar band mode. Mick may be the more accomplished player, but I think Ronnie's a great choice for that gig.

Wood's last studio album "I Feel Like Playing" is a great example. It won't be everybody's cup of tea, but I love it.

Marty,
I agree with you, he was really not the right fit for the band...too good, although he's been playing with them on tour recently.

Trivia question, on Get Yer Ya Yas Out, in Sympathy for the devil there is a long guitar break with two different guitars. Which one is Keith Richards and which one is Mick Taylor? The first solo is from right channel, the second from the left one.

Agree again Marty---Mick Taylor's playing is excellent on the Stones albums, but not quite in the same spirit as everybody else---too sober!

Nick Lowe is a long-time favorite of mine as well (and Rockpile the only "Super Group" I really like, though The Traveling Wilburys would be were it not for Tom Petty, who seems oddly out-of-place), and I just got some news on him. He's going to be doing a U.S. tour, and his backing band will be Los Straitjackets, the Instrumental Band on the same label as Nick, Yep Rock. What makes this of particular interest to me is that I used to be in a Band (The Hillbilly Soul Surfers) with their bassist, Pete Curry. We've known each other since the first day of 7th grade!

Here's a Ry Cooder/Keith Richards/Stones story ya'll may find interesting: Brian Jones had died, and he had yet to be replaced (by the way, one of those who auditioned for his job was none other than...Dave Edmunds!). Cooder got a call to come over to England to do some jamming with them. He went in and played along on some new songs they had ready, finding it odd that Keith wasn't around. One day he showed up early, only to discover Keith playing along with the tapes that had been recorded with Ry playing, learning Ry's parts! He packed his bags and returned home. I'm tellin' ya, Keith has been coasting for a long time, trading on his legend and image.