Chris Isaak: Classic or Dud?

yup

in more ways than one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K35PUYZJSw

still my fave despite its use in that dumb and occasionally creepy movie about how men are afraid of commitment (which i realize describes like hundreds of movies).

Depressing, sad story about James Wilsey's final days
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/king-of-slow-guitarist-james-calvin-wilsey-784335/

Wow. Thanks for posting, I guess.

“Jimmy Wilsey of the Avengers was a young musician doing really interesting stuff that was really supportive of the song,” Klaus Flouride, bassist for the Dead Kennedys said in an interview with the online site MusicRadar"

Avengers were so great, their music still sounds amazing

Anyway.... Wilsey used to post quite a bit on the Telecaster Discussion forums. Some great info there - recommend this thread for anyone interested in the 70s punk scene in SF.

Intense vivid memory of seeing Chris Isaak covering "Heart Full Of Soul" on Johnny Carson in 1987 and thinking to myself "that's exactly how I want my guitar to sound"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=304DVYd9SXc

Whatever you think of Chris Isaak or the song's overexposure, "Wicked Game" is an all-timer, if only for the guitar sound.

It's definitely worth owning his Best Of compilation.

Dude's songs are helped by always immaculate production.

The male Lana Del Rey

spot on

I love all his stuff, but especially Forever Blue and San Francisco Days. Totally classy, great songs and playing. He did OK for himself, but I was just thinking yesterday about a different timeline where he covered "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon" and it was used in "Pulp Fiction." Isaak's "Solitary Man" is super:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBV3topsAVg

lol Siegbrain totally!

Lots of guitarist biographies released this year, but this is the one I'm looking forward to the most.

https://www.seattlestar.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cover.jpg

"Wicked Game" alone is sufficient to ensure his place in the pantheon.

Love that guy’s music and the fact that he played both bass and guitar at such a high level. Apparently he had the classic super-addicted musician personality so I believe there will be a lot of S, D and R&R leading to agonizing inevitable slow and steady decay and organ failure.

He was quite a bit older than Isaak, right?

Isaak thoughts for the day:

San Francisco Days is the shit. I considered getting the red vinyl from RSD last year but apparently it's *not* the shit. The CD sounds pretty incredible anyway.

I haven't heard anything of his since The Baja Sessions, but everything up to and including that is pretty terrific.

He was always a musician following his own path, and he'd exclusively be a cult figure if "Wicked Game" didn't happen. As it is, he's both a minor legend and a cult figure. I think the LDR comparison is pretty apt, and he's also a bit like Richard Hawley. They're all retro-styled artists who manage to carve out a singular voice in a style which doesn't hide its influences and in fact displays them proudly, and never at all feels like a crummy watered-down version of the supposed real deal imo.

"can't do a thing to stop me" is the one that gets in my head the most, when "Wicked Game" doesn't.

I love the esprit du corps of "Two Hearts."

timeless + classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HLGHF-K75Y

He's so good. Funny, too.