Delaney & Bonnie - Motel Shot


Delaney and Bonnie captured the imagination of America with their brutal string of robberies and murders, and their almost titillatingly secret unmarried sex life. I'll be voting against everyone on Tuesday in Knierim where they robbed the State Savings Bank...

... no, i'm sorry, i'm being told that i've confused my Bonnies again. I must have misunderstood the title for a headline. Motel Shot appears to be a concept about the kind of late night jam sessions traveling musicians would have with their touring companions after the gig. Duane Allman, Gram Parsons, and Leon Russell appear courtesy of their own handlers, and Christgau gives it an A, for whatever that's worth. I've never heard it before, but i do know that they had a reputation for being spectacular in concert and underwhelming on record. I have no basis for comparison, so roll that beautiful bean footage (i also know i've used that joke before, but the image of eating canned beans on the lam was too great to resist given that we did actually have some variety of Bush's tonight).

Oh, yeah, a bunch of people in a big room making all sorts of racket. Obviously it's all miced up fancy, but the aesthetic is really nice. Ooh, Rock of Ages is deliciously terrible. It's all a little more Gospel than i was expecting, but i'm not complaining at all. If that confuses you, maybe i can help explain. I do not believe in religion, but i do believe that every person has to build some purpose for themselves. Quite a lot of my self constructed mental universe coincides with general "Christian" values, but without the authority of a god, or his kids, or his revolving cast of Press Secretaries. Complex causality by coincidence, C is for Cookie (that's good enough for me if you're a little slow on the draw). If you're a fan of quantum theory, everything moves in electromagnetic waves until you try to look at the place it might probably be. Go ahead and talk about Jesus, he's a pretty interesting character just trying to make his immediate surroundings less terrible for everyone to occupy. Who can't relate? Personally, i'm a lot closer to Stoicism than anything, but you gotta do you. The only line i draw in the sand is don't prey on me 'cause i'm the big mangy dog you mistook for a sheep.

Yeah, this is really enjoyable. It's ragged, but not in the "we secretly hate each other and want to die" kind of way. Most importantly, it sounds like people playing music because that's what they do. It's authentic. I can't dissect that one any further, i just know it when i hear it. What a great album. Definitely give it a listen sometime, i think you'll enjoy it too.

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