19 March 2016

Gerry Hannah's Coming Home's Last Song



Added Gerry Hannah's "Coming Home" cd to my music library when I saw his band the New Questioning Coyote Brigade last weekend. I have only played it in the car. Been too busy this week to listen to much music at home. Played it in the car enough to take a shot at writing about it.

Just like the mid-'80s cassette release it is related to I find it is best to listen to this music in fresh air. Music about institution time is bound to be like that. Good thing it warmed up as the week progressed. I was catching a fucking cold enjoying this fresh air music.

I hope Gerry is real proud of this project. It is a great record. I am having trouble finding a comparison that might be useful to you. This is a record Willie Nelson may have made if he spent as much time in the hole as he spends smoking weed.

It is a great record that features a song that stands with the best rock 'n' roll songs ever recorded. A fucking masterpiece. It is the last song on the record and it is called "The Madness." It is the best song on the cassette release as well but this recording is maybe 1400 times better than the original.

It begins with a single drum beat. The sound of a door slamming behind you. It is about how you feel inside. It reaffirms my opposition to taking people's Liberty away from them. There are better ways to right wrongs.

It is a song that should be featured in a movie. It is a song that should be sung by Celine Dion. In Vegas, motherfuckers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the Madness is a song full of pain. I too hear the movie soundtrack potential on many of the songs. I am partial to the song, "The Women Reborn" which is about betrayal and a difficult chapter in his personal history. Gerry's band, in its current incarnation is more "rock" than Coming Home. BTW, I like your blog.

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

Do not often receive feedback nearly a year after I have written something so it is with more appreciation than normal I am thanking you for it. I recently gave away a signed copy of Gerry's first cassette, an unopened Glenn Gould album and a pristine 8-track copy of Johnny Cash's "San Quentin." I think the young person who won them, already making a difference in her world, is going to go on to make many more. The packaging of the three together ought to give you a pretty good idea of how good I think Gerry is.