Artist: Ray Materick, Album: Life And Times, Song: Linda Put The Coffee On

"Oh my soul, I lost control of my reality.  Cus I got sunshine and red wine but there's hardly nothing left of me.  Oh, Linda, put the coffee on."  Ray Materick is a singer songwriter from the Hamilton area.  In 1972, he released his debut album independently called, Sidestreets.  It was a folk rock masterpiece with wonderful lyrics and a gritty edge channelled through his distinctive vocals.  This led to a major label deal with Asylum Records and in 1974, he released his follow up, Neon Rain.  It spawned a top 20 hit called, Linda Put The Coffee On, which became his signature song throughout the years.  A blessing and a curse possibly.  He went on to release four more albums between 1975 and 1981.  Many of them featured a young Daniel Lanois (see blog 9/16/10) as an accompanying musician.  Then Ray decided to leave the business altogether and apparently worked as a craftsman for almost ten years.  He returned in 2000 armed with his own label, King Kong Recordings, and a boatload of music to release.  To date, the man has released over 20 albums of music and you could hardly describe all of it as folk.  He's become much like a Neil Young in that respect.  He plays what he wants, when he wants.  Check out the album, Born In Hell, Raised In Hell, Gonna Die In Hell, on Itunes after you check out the song, Linda Put The Coffee On.  This dude had some angst pent up in him!  He's awesome though and one helluva talent.  In 2003, Linus Entertainment released a retrospective called, Life And Times, which included some new material along with his various goldie oldies.  It is available at Amazon for $16.  There were vinyl copies of Neon Rain available on Ebay for $10 at the time of this blog.  You can follow the man at http://www.myspace.com/raymaterick.  You can hear the song, Linda Put The Coffee On, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRscWciMLzs).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!