For some reason, out of all the New Riders albums it is this one which piques my interest, even though in many respects it could be considered as substandard as previous efforts. Certainly, they were on the decline here - they practically give over the title track to Sly Stone and his band, plus, there is an inordinate amount of guests and cover songs - more than normal, at least. But on the plus side of the ledger, the album has a crazy sort of energy going for it which none of the other NRPS albums ever had, which keeps me interested. It's as if they finally decided to break out of their eternal slumber, and finally let loose on a studio record. The title track with Sly Stone really sets the tone in this regard, just building off the same "oh, what a mighty time" lyric for what seems like an endless amount of time. Nothing else on the album even begins to match up, but at least some of the songs are funny when they are supposed to be funny ("Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother"), authentic ("La Bamba"), and so on.

The `Riders were a jittery distant cousin of the Grateful Dead, choosing to appropriate country music like them, but avoiding the lengthy jams and studious approach that the Dead was so known for. This was their biggest-selling album, because of the title track and a couple of other songs which have a bit more depth ("Lonesome L.A. Cowboy", "L.A. Lady") than usual NRPS material. But generally, it is the same gaggle of non-serious, laconic, unimpressive country-rock songs as what is on the albums before and after Panama Red.

Long story short, I am really divided on the unique nature of this one. Is it different because they hit upon some vein of slacker-dom which had previously not been discovered yet, or did they simply take a ton of drugs, cranked things up where it was necessary, and piled on the insanity/senility where it was required, etc., etc.? Or was it a portion of all of those things, and I am simply complicating this too much? My rough guess is that it’s just a little too weird to be 100% essential. But it’s there, and should be a necessary stop in your listening journey through the 1990’s.

This is often called the definite book about the ABA, but as far as I can tell, it may be the only book written about the ABA. Still, it's an entertaining tome. Pluto contrasts a year-by-year run down of the league with various stories relayed via an as-it-happened narrative, which, if you think about it, was really the best way to tell the league's story. This was a league that had no television exposure at all, and by its' last year of existence, was down to playing 7 teams in an 84-game season. The genesis of today's NBA started with the ABA, and the sheer number of characters contained within these pages is enough for me to recommend to any reader.

This was the first, if not one of the first, sports books I ever read. Jerry Kramer played on the offensive line for the Packers of the 1960's, a team that won five title games, including the famous "Ice Bowl" classic where Kramer was credited with the block that sprung Bart Starr with the winning run which clinched that victory. This book was his first-person account of his second-to-last season playing football, from the start of training camp to season's end. Kramer's account is clear-minded and thoughtful on a number of fronts, and of course, he had Schaap, an experienced writer, to help him in this regard. To this day, it may very well be the ultimate insider's look into what makes a football player and team tick. Not only that, it gave everyone great insight into the Packers who were coached by Vince Lombardi - who wasn't exactly known as a nice guy - and put more of a human face on his stoic character. One of the all-time great books in this category.