Ryan Adams: "Kim" (2014)

Ryan Adam's album called Ryan Adams is excellent and there are many nice cuts on the album. "Gimme Something Good", "Am I Safe", and "My Wrecking Ball" are all worth owning. According to Adams, he couldn't come up with a name for the album so just left it at his name. Years from now many people are going to mistake this work as his first album. This is the first all Ryan Adams produced album recorded in his home studio in L.A.

But back to the music...after listening to the album quite a few times, the staff at Monahan's Song keep coming back to his cut "Kim." The guitar work is crisp and clean and feels very original. The song really grabs you when the drums kick in. Don't look too much for clever lyrics on this one. The words convey an immediate and not thought out expression of pain and abandonment. This person who has lost Kim has not sat down and thought this all through yet:

I can't sleep, can't let go
Underneath my feet it's miles
Nothing, there's nowhere to go
With this key, scratched into my arm
I spell out your name, it's ringing in my head
Like a false alarm
As the leaves begin to fall and grey
Walking down the street I watched you walk away
To be with him
Kim, Kim, Kim
Oh Kim!

Parts of this song remind us of a more lilting version of "Allison Road" by the Gin Blossoms (written by Robin Wilson), which was featured in Monahan's Song on 9/11/13.

Our research finds that none other than Johnny Depp does some lead on this track. Listen for it at about 2:20 into the video below. He has played on stage live playing "Kim" several times with Adams.

We are not going to do better than Wiki's bio for Adams :
David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known for his prolific solo career, and as a former member of alternative country band Whiskeytown, with whom he recorded three studio albums.

In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released his first solo album, Heartbreaker, to critical acclaim. The album was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize. In 2001, Adams released the UK certified-gold Gold, which included the hit single, "New York, New York".

He released five albums with the rock band The Cardinals and in 2009 Adams married singer-songwriter and actress Mandy Moore. Adams left The Cardinals and announced that he was taking a break from music. He resumed performing in October 2010 and released his thirteenth studio album, Ashes & Fire, on October 11, 2011.^[4] The album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. In September 2014, Adams released his fourteenth album Ryan Adams on his PAX AM label.

So while "Gimme Something Good" is already the song leading in play from this album, we highly recommend "Kim".  Give it a listen. 

Gin Blossoms: "Allison Road" (1994)

According to a Billboard interview, Robin Wilson passed by a sign on his way to El Paso 1n 1989 that read "Next Exit Allison Road." His friend with whom he was riding had a sister named Allison, and so they stopped to take a picture. Five months later, Wilson had the picture and was bored:

"I walked to the other room, sat down in front of the television and turned on CNN. And the moment the TV turned on I heard that little melody in my head; 'On Allison Road.'  So I turned off the TV, climbed over the couch and went back in my bedroom and the song was pretty much done 20 minutes later.^"

The exit sign for Allison Road is located on I-10 in Roosevelt, Texas.

"Allison Road" is about a guy who breaks up with a girl and then realizes He's made the wrong choice but can't go back. which explains why he keeps saying 'I couldn't see I was lost at the time.' (quote from a fan entry about the lyrics).

I’ve lost my mind on what I’d find
And all of the pressure that I left behind
On Allison road
Fools in the rain if the sun gets through
Fire’s in the heaven of the eyes I knew
On Allison Road
Dark clouds file in when the moon is near
Birds fly by a.m. in her bedroom stare
There was no tellin’ what I might find
I couldn’t see I was lost at the time...
Yeah I didn’t know I was lost at the time
On Allison Road

Wilson replaced the band's co-founder Richard Taylor as guitarist of the Gin Blossoms in 1988, but switched places early on with vocalist Jesse Valenzuela. He remained a member of the band until their breakup in 1997, during which time the band came out with two albums.

Their hit debut album New Miserable Experience went double platinum and featured singles "Hey Jealousy", "Found Out About You", "Mrs. Rita", "Until I Fall Away", and Wilson's "Allison Road".

"Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You" are both excellent songs and are perhaps the best known by the Gin Blossoms. It would be negligent, in writing about the Gin Blossoms, to not mention the tragic genius of Doug Hopkins, the bands other co-founder.

Hopkins had suffered from chronic depression and had been battling alcoholism for years. At the time, the band was hugely popular in the Tempe, Ariz. area. As a result, they were signed to  A&M Records.

Hopkins thought this was a sell out, and went on drinking binges. According to Wikipedia: "It was reported that Hopkins was unable to stand during his recording sessions. Faced with the prospect of firing Hopkins or being dropped by A&M, the band terminated Hopkins. He was replaced by Scott Johnson. As a result, the band withheld $15,000 owed to Hopkins until he agreed to sign over half of his publishing royalties. Hopkins also had to relinquish his mechanical royalties to Johnson, his replacement. Hopkins reluctantly agreed to these demands because of his dire financial situation."

He would receive a gold record for "Hey Jealousy". But this made him feel even more despondent. He committed suicide 12/5/1993.

Another note via Wiki: "At his memorial service, band mate Robin Wilson recalls, a woman approached his former band members with a message from Hopkins upon his death: he was the one who had poured sugar in the gas tank of their tour van in 1992."

The first video is straightforward off the album. The second is an excellent live acoustic version worth your attention...

The band is currently touring and will be at the Hard Rock in Orlando on Oct. 31st.




Robin Wilson