Old Dogs -- A Collection of New Interpretations of Vintage Songs From the Rock and Soul Repertoire

Track Listings

1. I Got You (I Feel Good)

2. Bo Diddley

3. Reelin' In The Years

4. Late In The Evening

5. Walkin' The Dog

6. The Book of Love

7. Hold on, I'm Comin'

8. Doctor, My Eyes

9. Just One Look

10. Dim

11. Shake, Rattle & Roll

12. The Human Cannonball

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
George Washington High School, Alexandria, Virginia, Spring 1956 — Recent graduate Willard Scott is launching a career in television that will lead to his becoming America's most beloved weatherman; alumnus John Phillips is dabbling in jazz group-singing, a la The Four Freshman, which will lead to his becoming the founder and leader of The Mamas and The Papas; and sophomore Michael Rand is forming Alexandria's first professional Rock & Roll band, The Spotlighters (At the height of their career, The Spotlighters were knocking down between sixty and eighty bucks per gig!). Michael Rand soon joined forces with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Bill Cleary in a vocal group called The Smoothies. They had released two singles on the Decca label, appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and were working on an album when they disbanded at the end of 1960.

It was the height of "the folk scare". Phillips and McKenzie, along with a startlingly talented five-string banjo picker named Dick Weissman, were enjoying modest success as The Journeymen, recording on Capitol Records. Michael Rand and Tim Rose were struggling along the coffeehouse circuit as Michael and Timothy. Late in 1962, Rand married his high school sweetheart and began to realize that the insecurity of show business was not the best atmosphere in which to raise a family. So he embarked on a career in education, working his way through college and graduate school as an almost successful stand-up comedian. During these years, he opened for Bob Dylan, Josh White, Ian & Sylvia, and many other top folk and folk/rock performers, and emceed concerts by Count Basie and Woodie Herman. He performed regularly at Washington's Cellar Door, Showboat Lounge, and The Bayou, and at Baltimore's popular Patches' Fifteen Below.

Shortly after the collapse of his marriage in 1973, he received an offer to join The Neons, a band whose roots were in a legendary D.C. honky tonk called Chick Hall's Surf Club. He spent the next decade juggling his career as a teacher of government and political science with weekends spent playing weddings, bar mitzvahs, Moose lodges, and Elks clubs—all the while building, almost single-handedly, MOUNT HOPE, his log-and-stone home deep in the woods of Virginia's Hunt Country.

The death of John Phillips in 2001 and of Tim Rose in 2002 gave Michael Rand a now-or-never feeling toward his music. With his partner and colleague, Christine Gresham, he installed a recording studio in his home and began to create the collection of unique interpretations of vintage rock and soul songs that make up his debut CD, OLD DOGS.

Product Description
Rand approaches the rock and soul repetoire from his own perspective and gives each vintage song his own unique interpretation.

Old Dogs -- A Collection of New Interpretations of Vintage Songs From the Rock and Soul Repertoire,Michael Rand,Mount Hope Records,Rand approaches the rock and soul repertoire from his own perspective and gives each vintage song his own unique interpretation, all carried by Rand's clever, sassy, true to the spirit--but not an echo of--the originals.

Old Dogs -- A Collection of New Interpretations of Vintage Songs From the Rock and Soul Repertoire

Tracks:

I Got You (I Feel Good)
Bo Diddley
Reelin' In The Years
Late In The Evening
Walkin' The Dog
The Book of Love
Hold on, I'm Comin'
Doctor, My Eyes
Just One Look
Dim
Shake, Rattle & Roll
The Human Cannonball

Album Description

Rand approaches the rock and soul repetoire from his own perspective and gives each vintage song his own unique interpretation.

Customer Reviews:

A compelling and brilliant new look at some old songs.......2004-06-06

"Old Dogs" is a great musical experience. It is a compelling contemporary, interpretive look at some truly old favorites. The sound engineering is good, the vocal singing is top notch, the arrangements are fabulous (reflective of Rand's great musical gifts and creative genius) and the disc compares favorably with anything of its kind. Mr. Rand's musical skills continue to be razor sharp. I last heard him perform in the early 1960's, and "Old Dogs" proves that he still has the goods; he should be on a oldies tour with the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, although his songs aren't oldies. He has produced newbies in old wine skins. I hope the musical world rediscovers his nectar.

Attn: oldies, jazz, and literate listeners.......2004-03-02

Whoa! This is good stuff, especially for anyone over forty or who remembers/values/reveres old rock tunes and is open to revivals that offer brand new enjoyment.

New, bouncing, listenable, interpretations of stuff everybody knows -- from I Feel Good (I Got You) to Walkin the Dog to Bo Diddley to Late in the Evening to Shake, Rattle and Roll. And one or two, this listener was not familiar with -- Dim and Human Cannonball.

Wonderful stuff -- most based on clear and rhythmic guitar work (with supporting mixes of instrumentation effects that defy classification into this bag or that) All carried by Rand's clever, sassy, true to the spirit (but not an echo of) the originals. Book of Love takes an R&B standard and turns it into a anthem of memory and longing. Dim ("before my life went dim") should spawn still more copies across mucial genres. Shake, Rattle and Roll reinvents the Joe Turner classic, and may be eclipse it entirely, and witout doubt eliminates Bill Haley's tepid whitebread copy from all consideration. Reeling in the Years should please any fan or anyone new to the tune. Human Cannonball is funny, smart, terrific satire in addition to its musical zing. Paul Simon should send a personal thank you note to Rand for this accessible, strong, touching version of Late in the Evening.

Get this CD -- you will be gifting your friends and calling up people you haven't seen in years to talk about it. This is a voice that can rasp, ring clearly, croon and tease the lyrics, and tell a story, with results that evoke pleasure in memories of past renditions while putting a bet on the table to challenge your appreciation anew.

My tastes run from doo-wop to MJQ to bluegrass to Beatles to obscure 50s groups to Mose Allison to Diana Klass -- but not to heavy metal, punk, easy listening, or Ricky Martin or the entire Jackson family. And you'll hear lyrics that you missed in the originals -- whether really there or added by Rand, I'm not sure, but they work.

Get this album. You will not be sorry.

from a Not-That-Old Dog.

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