The Weight

The Summer of Jerry: Days 5-8

2011-08-10T14:26:00.005-04:00

Because of an impromptu camping trip in upstate New York this past weekend, I was unable to post the final installments of The Summer of Jerry. So without further ado, I will consolidate all of the remaining clips into this last post. I hope everyone took a moment yesterday to remember Jerry in their own meaningful way.

Jerry & Bob poking fun at the media:

I've seen this next clip (circa 1978) before and found it especially intriguing. Jerry & a very-stoned and rambling John Kahn discuss the then fledgling punk/new wave genre, which includes commentary on Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, etc. Whoever compiled this montage also included some compelling sound bytes which he/she felt demonstrated the influence of punk/new wave in the Dead's own music:

This next clip actually comes from a small bit that originally aired on AMC called The Movie That Changed My Life. Here, Jerry candidly discusses the tremendous impact that Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein had on his psyche as a child and his artistic and creative endeavors as an adult. It is surmised that this film -- which was permanently engraved in Jerry's memory -- influenced much of the well-known skeleton iconography in the Dead's visual repertoire, including the animated sequences in The Grateful Dead Movie:

And lastly, former President Bill Clinton ruminates about Jerry's legacy, his line of neckties, his death, and his ongoing drug problem -- Jerry's that is, not Bill's. (note the trademark Clinton thumb gesturing at 0:46 when he starts lecturing about the dangers of drug addiction)

The Summer of Jerry: Day 4

2011-08-04T13:39:00.001-04:00

Those who have been to Bonnaroo are probably familiar with "SuperJam" -- an impromptu jam session starting at midnight which is comprised of different members from different bands (usually the headliners). The catch is that the audience typically doesn't know the lineup of the band until it starts. Well, in the continuing spirit of my Jerry-themed posts this week, this next clip immediately brought to mind the SuperJam tradition. Imagine stumbling into the Sweetwater Saloon, Mill Valley, CA on a random April evening only to catch this lineup: Jerry Garcia, Elvis Costello, Sammy Hagar, Commander Cody (a/k/a George Frayne), James Burton (Keith Richards gave his induction speech at the Rock 'n' Roll HOF), Pete Sears (a one-time nominee to replace Brent Mydland), and others. Too bad the 'Roo didn't exist in the 80's...

The Summer of Jerry: Day 3

2011-08-03T12:20:00.001-04:00

If only the Food Network existed in the 80's, we would have had a winner. In this most bizarrely comedic clip, Chef Jerry Garcia demonstrates his culinary skills backstage at a Dead show on 12/31/85. Jerry not only discusses his favorite hors d'oeuvres, but actually instructs on how to prepare them! His daily specials include: "lean" bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and bundt cake wedges. I repeat: bundt cake wedges. The Dead were known for their comedic interviews -- especially those done by Al Franken during the historic 1980 Radio City shows -- but this one takes the cake (pun intended).

And no, you're not imagining things -- amongst those in the clip's intro are Mickey Hart, Ken Kesey, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. Ummm...no comment.

My favorite YouTube comment:
"Doesn't EVERYONE keep their powdered sugar in a big zip lock bag?"

The Summer of Jerry: Day 2

2011-08-02T14:46:00.001-04:00


From left to right: V. Clements, D. Grisman, J. Garcia, P. Rowan

In yesterday's clip, I alluded to Jerry's underrated yet exceptional talents on the pedal steel and banjo and thought I'd expand on that a bit more today. In around 1973, Jerry formed Old and In the Way, a bluegrass "supergroup" of sorts, to pay homage to perhaps his first musical passion and the genre that undoubtedly influenced every facet of his diverse career. The group consisted of Garcia on banjo/vocals, Peter Rowan on guitar/vocals, David Grisman on mandolin/vocals, Vassar Clements on fiddle and John Kahn on bass, all of whom Garcia continued to collaborate with throughout his career. Up until that time, bluegrass records never achieved much in the way of commercial success, but all that changed in 1975 when the band's eponymous first album was released. Astonishingly, the album was, and still is, one of the best-selling bluegrass albums of all-time, spending an unheard of 90+ weeks on the U.S. charts (It's true: I picked up this album a few weeks back and haven't stop listening since). Unfortunately, little-to-no video footage exists online (at least not that I could find, though the film Grateful Dawg might have some clips), so I'll leave you with an audio clip of the band's rendition of Rowan's "Midnight Moonlight," a tune frequently covered by JGB in later years. I think this song does a stellar job of displaying Jerry's accomplished banjo styling and the band's magnetic allure.

I thought I'd throw in a bonus clip, which is too cool to pass up. This is brief silent footage of a 21-year-old Garcia (circa 1963) pluckin' away at the banjo. Most don't realize that the banjo was the first stringed instrument he learned to play.

You Like Me Too Much

2011-08-01T16:31:00.001-04:00

Could it be? Is George Harrison still alive and well? Or is Dylan attempting to revisit his 1975 glory days? Oh, wait...it's just Jackie Greene. I remember seeing Greene a few years back when he was a fresh-faced young lad touring with Phil & Friends, and I have to say, he's done some serious growing up. Going from Noel Gallagher-Brit-pop-sheik to Harrison-Dylan- outlaw-period in just under 4 years is no easy task. And for the record, I so wish I could grow hair like that.

And just for fun:

The Summer of Jerry

2011-08-01T11:35:00.004-04:00

Garcia and Hart w/ NRPS

In order to properly celebrate the legacy of Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia, I thought I'd post 8 different clips over the next 8 days, beginning today, his birthday, and culminating on 8/9, the anniversary of his death. This first clip, from the film Fillmore: The Last Days (2009), includes rare live footage of Jerry on pedal steel rehearsing with NRPS. There is a great quote from Bill Graham (included in the clip) who I think quintessentially sums up Jerry's mythic persona: "Jerry Garcia is the grand-daddy of them all...the big papa bear of what rock music should have been." And think, that was in 1971; time has certainly proved Graham correct.

Quick history for those who don't know: Jerry was a founding member of the New Riders along with David Nelson and John Dawson (and very early on, Robert Hunter on bass and Mickey Hart on drums) with whom he played full-time until around 1971 when his responsibilities with the Dead became foremost priority. Despite his short-lived career with NRPS, it is Jerry's contribution on pedal steel and banjo that in my view, exemplifies not only his immense instrumental versatility, but even more, confirms his unsung influence on the then pioneering alt-country genre.

Despite his parting with the band, Jerry continued to play on future NRPS albums and record for scores of other bands, as he was well-known for his skilled session work. Perhaps his most famous non-Dead contribution was for CSNY, for whom he played the haunting pedal steel part on "Teach Your Children." After a long hiatus, Jerry broke out the steel when the Dead toured with Dylan in 1987, a photo of which is included below.

Jerry rehearsing with NRPS, Fillmore: The Last Days (2009)

Throwing Stones

2011-07-29T13:59:00.000-04:00

There is nothing more entertaining than watching awkward celebrity encounters. So, I present for your viewing pleasure, one of the most awkward of such encounters I've seen, this time between Mick Jagger and Jerry Garcia. The quick backstory is that they were all waiting for helicopters to take them to Altamont, which apparently never arrived, so they were forced to wait even longer for a plane. No words can really describe the degree of awkwardness here, but Mick's reaction at 0:44 pretty much sums it up. When asked if he knows Jerry, Mick has the most disinterested, smug look on his face which basically tranlates to, "I don't give a fuck about Jerry Garcia, his poncho or his band of hippie weirdos. Just get me the fuck out of here!!!"

The Trial

2011-07-15T10:54:00.002-04:00

Good morning, Worm, Your Honor! The crown will testify that the prisoner who stands before you, was caught red-handed showing feelings. Showing feelings -- of an almost human nature. This will not do!

So much for The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist Sir David Gilmour, was sentenced today to 16 months behind bars for charges of "violent disorder." According to the BBC, Gilmour, 21, was jailed for defacing the Cenotaph, throwing a bin at a car carrying Prince Charles and smashing a window. He has since apologized for his behaviour. At the sentencing hearing, the Judge had this to say: "Such outrageous and deeply offensive behaviour gives a clear indication of how out of control you were that day. It caused public outrage and understandably so...For a young man of your intelligence and education and background to profess to not know what the Cenotaph represents defies belief. You have shown disrespect to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to those who fell defending this country."

For the full story, click here.

Day Trippers

2011-07-15T10:19:00.001-04:00

In recognition of Paul playing Yankee Stadium tonight (despite my not going), I thought this photo appropriate...and because it's just a f'ing classic shot. The photo, reportedly from 1975, depicts Paul, Linda and Dave Gilmour, all hanging out, probably at a concert, passin' around the dutchie (see Paul's eyes). Anyone out there know more details regarding the background of this photo?

Brothers in Arms

2011-07-13T17:14:00.000-04:00

No real back story here, but I stumbled upon this clip of legendary guitar greats Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and felt compelled to share it with y'all. The clip contains a medley of two songs: the 1920's pop standard, "I'll See You in My Dreams" and Lennon's "Imagine," and is absolutely brilliant. For those unfamiliar with the extent of Knopfler's solo work or with the storied career of The Country Gentleman himself, I think this clip exemplifies not only both guitarists' extraordinary technique and proficiency, but perhaps more importantly, a rare and genuine passion for the instrument and the unique range of sounds it is capable of producing.

Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler, The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1987:

Karas v. Robertson

2011-07-11T14:43:00.013-04:00

Cryptomnesia is a phenomenon that has always fascinated me -- especially as it applies to songwriting. For those not familiar with the term:

Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without it being recognised as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original. It is a memory bias whereby a person may falsely recall generating a thought, an idea, a song, or a joke, not deliberately engaging in plagiarism but rather experiencing a memory as if it were a new inspiration. Source: Wikipedia

A guitarist myself, I can't even tell you the number of times I've put together a series of chords only to realize that I've basically just re-written, for example, a Ryan Adams or Elliott Smith tune (which in turn, creates great anxiety that one is physically incapable of writing their own songs without the fear of plagiarizing, which is itself called, the anxiety of influence). And for the record, I'm in no way claiming to be even in the same stratosphere as Adams or Smith; rather, my point is that certain melodies or riffs stick in your memory more than others, and if you like them enough, your fingers naturally fall into those positions. Anyway. This isn't about me, so back to my original point.

This phenomenon afflicts not only amateurs, like yours truly, but the big-leaguers as well. Recall the case of Bright Tunes Music Corp. v. Harrisongs Music, where George Harrison was sued for "borrowing" parts of The Chiffons' "He's So Fine" (written by Ronald Mack) for his own "My Sweet Lord." As it turned out, Harrison was ordered to pay damages despite the Court's finding that his borrowing was "subconscious." On Harrison's cryptomnesia, John Lennon had this to say, "He must have known, you know. He's smarter than that. It's irrelevant, actually—only on a monetary level does it matter. He could have changed a couple of bars in that song and nobody could ever have touched him, but he just let it go and paid the price. Maybe he thought God would just sort of let him off." So much for getting by with a little help from your friends.

Maybe because I have a morbid curiosity with this occurrence, but I think my ear is always on the prowl for other examples in everyday music. Sexy trait, I know. So, I present another possibility for debate. This one involves Robbie Robertson, of The Band, and a one Anton Karas. Anton who, you ask? Karas, was a Viennese zither player who achieved international acclaim after composing the theme to Carol Reed's The Third Man, which was later used (and renamed) as the theme to the Orson Welles' radio show, The Lives of Harry Lime. The song, simply entitled, "The Third Man Theme," is perhaps the most famous song to feature the zither, and barring a major zither comeback, the only famous song to feature this most curious instrument. In any event, I'm on a recent kick of listening to old time mystery radio shows [insert un-original insult here] and in particular, The Lives of Harry Lime, and I couldn't help but notice that the theme to Harry Lime and the "Theme to The Last Waltz" are strangely similar. Now this is where it gets really freaky. As I'm typing this, I'm just seeing that The Band actually covered "The Third Man Theme" on their album Moondog Matinee. I swear on all things holy, I did NOT know this beforehand. So, my music genius aside, I think I just confirmed my theory, by sheer accident, that Robertson was in fact influenced (consciously or subconsciously) by the "Third Man Theme" when he composed the "Theme to The Last Waltz" (e.g. the arrangement, the phrasing, the picking style, the instrumentation, etc.). But judge for yourself. And Robertson, if you happen to get sued by some distant relative of the Karas family because of this post, I do apologize in advance (as Levon Helm snickers to himself).

"Theme to The Last Waltz":

or: http://grooveshark.com/s/Theme+From+The+Last+Waltz/1Wwfxf?src=5

"Third Man Theme":

or: http://grooveshark.com/s/The+Third+Man+Theme/m5PiL?src=5

The Band's rendition of "Third Man Theme"

The Other Mick

2011-05-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

And who says there can only be one "Mick" in rock 'n' roll? Despite a career cut far too prematurely after a bout with cancer, guitarist / composer / innovator / producer Mick Ronson contributed more to the rock arena than others could only hope to achieve in a lifetime. While Ronson is most notably remembered as the lead guitarist from David Bowie's Spiders from Mars/Ziggy Stardust era, his legacy looms much larger. Here is a short list of some career highlights for which he is owed due credit:

-He had a stint with Mott the Hoople and thereafter, remained a long-time friend/collaborator of Ian Hunter.

-John Mellencamp has credited Ronson with arranging key parts of his mega hit "Jack & Diane," including the "let it rock, let it roll" segment of the song.

-Ronson has collaborated with Van Morrison, Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Chrissie Hynde, Morrisey and...most importantly:

-Ronson had the honor of serving as a distinguished member of Bob Dylan's ROLLING THUNDER REVUE BAND -- which in my mind, and I'm sure most Dylan devotees would agree -- was the single greatest era of Dylan's storied career. Need I say more?

So hats off to Mick Ronson: guitar extraordinaire, rock visionary and all-around, well-respected bloke.

*Ronson's birthday was a few days ago -- May 26th -- and he would have been 65.

Here is Ronson's last major live performance: "All The Young Dudes" with Bowie, Hunter, Brian May, et.al. at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held on April 20, 1992. Ronson would pass away one year later.

An older clip of Ronson and David Bowie performing "Starman"

Frank Turner Live From the Knitting Factory

2011-04-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

Last night, Frank Turner brought his solo acoustic folk/punk show to the sold out Red Palace in the Atlas District of Washington, DC. He welcomed hometown singer-songwriter Justin Jones to open the show, who's own brand of folk music leans more towards Americana than Turner's punk stylings.

I've been following Turner's career for a few years now, first posting about him on this blog in May of 2007. He's reached a significant level of success around the world, but has yet to gain a large following here in the States, but I expect that to change pretty soon. He played a cafe tent at 2010's Bonnaroo festival and last came through this area as the opener for Social Distortion in Baltimore. In his home country in England, he's made it as far as the main stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals, opened for Green Day at Wembley Stadium, and received two nominations at the NME Awards for Best Solo Artist (alongside Paul Weller, Florence And The Machine, Laura Marling and Kanye West) and Best Band Blog or Twitter. Frank resonates with so many people, and has gained so many incredibly devout fans around the globe, due to his passionate, honest, 'working man', and often times biographical lyrics that are the antithesis of the current pop landscape of manufactured beats and hired songwriters. Frank's website says that he's due to come back through the States in the fall after his new album is released globally this summer. He's playing the New Jersey edition of the Bamboozle festival tonight.

Frank played the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Thursday night and fortunately for us, the venue recorded the live stream and has made the entire 100-minute show available for us to present to you.

theknitbrooklyn on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Alt-Country Pioneers: Jayhawks / Uncle Tupelo

2011-04-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

Not quite country; not quite rock n' roll. A little bit folk; a little bit outlaw. Alt-country as a genre is difficult to define, but you probably know it when you hear it. Even though veteran artists like Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, and Willie Nelson could now be thrown into this bucket, you wouldn't have given them that label before the early 90's, because it didn't exist. It was around that time that "Alternative Country" was born because of the recent crop of music that was rooted in traditional country but had no real similarities to the modern country sound coming out of Nashville.

I'd like to post a couple songs here that nod to two bands that don't get enough press these days for helping to establish the alt country movement. Before Ryan Adams and before the Drive-By Truckers, there was The Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo. The Jayhawks released their first album on a major label, Hollywood Town Hall, in 1992. As a matter of music history crossing paths, it was one of the band's two front men, Gary Louris, who was instrumental in getting Uncle Tupelo signed to their first major label deal, with Sire Records, also in 1992. Uncle Tupelo, as is now well known, was fronted throughout its short, tumultuous seven-year lifespan (only two of them after signing to a major) by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Son Volt's Jay Farrar. The Jayhawks continued to record and tour until 2003 when they went on an extended hiatus. In the last few years, they've reunited for a few one-off shows and there are rumors that they will record their first album in eight years some time before the end of 2011.

The Jayhawks
'Crowded in the Wings'
Hollywood Town Hall
1992

Uncle Tupelo
'Screen Door'
No Depression
1990

Introducing: Farewell Milwaukee

2011-04-24T22:02:00.006-04:00

Farewell Milwaukee are a five-piece band from Minnesota that focuses on roots/americana-inspired music who released their debut album, Autumn Rest Easy, in 2009. I learned of the group last year through a track from that record called Way Out, which I would consider to be one my favorite songs of 2010. I first discovered that song and this band on Pandora. It's gotten plenty of spins on my iPhone during my commutes to and from work on the DC Metro. The group fits very well into the same category of young bands like Dawes, Avett Brothers, and Trampled By Turtles who embrace acoustic instrumentation and vocal harmonies with a strong focus on lyrics and songwriting. At this point, they seem to rarely play outside of their home state, but I'm expecting that to change soon. Hopefully this new record pushes them into the national spotlight (and some dates on the east coast).

Their new album When It Sinks In will be released in three weeks, and I'm very much looking forward to hearing it. They have posted a video of one of the new tunes on YouTube and I'm hoping you'll take a listen. Given that the clip was just recorded informally in a living room, the fact that they sound this good proves just how talented they are:

Farewell Milwaukee
Come Back Home To Me

Also, here's a clip that includes portions of my introduction to the band, their song titled Way Out:

Led Zeppelin: Tangerine (Live), 5/24/75

2011-04-12T22:53:00.002-04:00

I was going to post a video of Robert Plant and his current touring band, Band of Joy, playing their rootsy, countrified take on the Zep classic 'Tangerine'....but really, why would I do that when I can post Led F-ing Zeppelin playing the same song....live, from May '75. Enjoy:

Bonus Content:

Plant has been closing his recent shows with the Band Of Joy with a cover of Dylan's 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall'. The performance features harmonies from his stellar backing band, including Darrell Scott (featured here on the pedal steel), who's album I bought a few months ago. I'm really digging this:

Austin's New Blues

2011-04-11T00:10:00.012-04:00

Two artists that I've been listening to quite a bit lately, that I want to share with you, both emerged in recent years from the extremely competitive and very crowded Austin, TX music scene.

The first is Gary Clark Jr, who is an incredibly talented guitarist and singer who's music is rooted in the blues, but also finds its way into straight up rock n' roll. He's only 27 years old, but he's been well known in the local Austin scene for quite a while. In 2001, when when he was just 17, the mayor of Austin declared May 13th of that year to be Gary Clark Jr. Day. That should give you some indication of just how talented he was before his eighteenth birthday. Also, around that time, Clark caught the attention of local promoter Clifford Antone, who was the man that cultivated the careers of Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughn.

I came to know Gary Clark Jr only recently after purchasing the DVD of Eric Clapton's 2010 Crossroads Festival a couple months ago. After watching Clark's performance, I was really amazed at the talent and youth of this guy who I'd never even heard of before. He played so well that day that he was signed to Warner Brothers as a result and he's currently working on his major label debut for them. His name caught my eye again just a few days ago when I saw that he was listed as the final name on the lineup of the Chicago tourstop of Dave Matthews Band's 4-city Caravan tour. That makes him yet another Mr. Irrelevant that I will be championing. Hopefully he's not relegated to a time slot and stage where he won't be heard by anyone.

Please take a few minutes and check out the phenomenal performance of Gary Clark Jr (with Doyle Bramhall II) playing Jimmy Reed's 'Bright Lights, Big City' at the 2010 Crossroads Festival in Chicago. During the song, he repeatedly sings the lyric "You're gonna know my name by the end of the night" and I'm sure its no coincidence that this was the song and the line he chose to sing to the huge stadium crowd at Toyota Park who certainly did not know who he was before showing up. He starts to really rip it up around the 3:40 minute mark, but let the slow build take its course.

The second act that I want to bring to your attention also came to mind recently because I saw that they were just added to a summer festival lineup. The band is Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears who only a few days ago were listed in the latest round of artist additions to this June's Bonnaroo in TN. [Note: They're also playing Coachella this coming weekend]. The Honeybears are an 8-piece band that mixes blues, soul, and rock n' roll to form a sound that can at times lean towards the Black Keys, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, or all three at the same time. On March 15th, just a few weeks ago, they released their second full length album for Lost Highway Records, titled 'Scandalous', which in its first week reached #1 on Billboard's Blues album chart. They also just played two sold out shows at NYC's Bowery Ballroom where their set featured a cover of Howlin Wolf's "Evil". I spent all of last Thursday and Friday listening to their new album. Check out their Sly Stone-sounding song from that new disc called 'You Been Lyin'.

Also, check out the band's official video for their 2009 song Sugarfoot, which sounds incredibly similar to the horn-driven groove that Trey has been cultivating with his Trey Anastasio Band over the last decade. With Lewis's James Brown-esque delivery in front of the horns, he takes this group where Trey just isn't able to take TAB despite his best intentions.

Guy Clark: A Dylan Favorite

2011-04-03T22:20:00.003-04:00

In April 2009, prior to the release of his latest album, Together Through Life, Bob Dylan sat down with rock critic and MTV producer Bill Flanagan for a rare interview. I'd like to share here two of Dylan's responses that I found the most fascinating. They both deal with his opinions on other musical acts that are his contemporaries. With Dylan so infrequently being quoted, they provide an interesting insight to how aware he is of the greater music scene, which breaks a misconception that he's lived his life out of tune with mainstream culture.

BF: A lot of the acts from your generation seem to be trading on nostalgia. They play the same songs the same way for the last 30 years. Why haven't you ever done that?

BD: I couldn't if I tried. Those guys you are talking about all had conspicuous hits. They started out anti-establishment and now they are in charge of the world. Celebratory songs. Music for the grand dinner party. Mainstream stuff that played into the culture on a pervasive level. My stuff is different from those guys. It's more desperate. Daltrey, Townshend, McCartney, the Beach Boys, Elton, Billy Joel. They made perfect records, so they have to play them perfectly ... exactly the way people remember them. My records were never perfect. So there is no point in trying to duplicate them. Anyway, I'm no mainstream artist.

BF: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?

BD: Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy [Newman]. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.

--------------------

The one artist on this list that you might be the least familiar with is Guy Clark. Clark is a songwriter's songwriter from Texas, inspiring Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, and as we've now learned Bob Dylan himself. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and at age 69 is still touring and playing live.

I encourage you to spend some time checking out Guy Clark's catalog. If my word isn't good enough, take it from Dylan:

Guy Clark
Dublin Blues
1995

Guy Clark
Hemingway's Whiskey
2009

The Weight

2011-04-03T20:29:00.001-04:00

I don't think I've ever heard a bad rendition of The Band's 'The Weight'. Honestly. I've heard dozens of them and we've posted quite a few of them on this site. There is something magical about the rotating vocals on the verses, the sing-along chorus, and the basic chord structure that makes it so much fun to play.

This version isn't just good, its great. It comes from the Elvis Costello-hosted music/interview show Spectacle. This episode aired in December 2009 and it features host Elvis Costello and his band The Imposters, Levon Helm, Richard Thompson, Ray LaMontagne, Allen Toussaint, Nick Lowe, and Larry Campbell. This was recorded for the same episode that also included a take on the Dead's Tennessee Jed, which we posted a few weeks ago.

Richard Ashcroft: Bowery Ballroom, New York, 3/23/11

2011-03-24T10:48:00.011-04:00

There is no point in being an apologist. As they say, "honesty is the best policy," so I'm just going to come out and say it: last night's R.A. show just wasn't that good. Ashcroft, who I've seen perform with The Verve back in 2008 at the WaMu Theater (MSG), is undoubtedly a charismatic guy. His vocals are sonic and gritty. He has a loyal following of fans who often deify him as one of the true greats -- not to mention he practically invented the look and style of the modern Brit-rocker. However, his songwriting ability as of late is quite frankly, deplorable. So bad, that at times, I was actually embarrassed for him. Performing before a sold-out crowd of 500+ at New York's historic Bowery Ballroom, there were regrettably less than a handful of moments that I felt justified Ashcroft's otherwise divine reputation.

For starters, the music, particularly the lyrics to his new material, is amateur at best. Singing trite songs about America, life, and repetitively asking (in his latest release) "Are you Ready?" just simply isn't gonna cut it, not in this city at least. At times, the vocals were uncomfortably loud and muddled (which was a major complaint of the aforementioned '08 Verve show) and the synth sounded more like looped back-tracking than a live instrument. On the plus side, his band was stellar. Equipped with a Questlove-type drummer and part-rasta, part-Prince influenced guitarist, I think these guys deserve much of the credit for carrying an otherwise lackluster performance by Ashcroft. Sure, there were a few good moments, like Ashcroft on acoustic for "Sonnet" or the band's decent rendition of "Lucky Man," but overall, I'm afraid this show will be filed in the back-catalog of forgettable concerts I've seen in my lifetime.

Note to Ashcroft: next time you make it back to NYC, do everyone a favor and belt-out some acoustic Verve favorites like we know you can. At the end of the day, that's what the people wanna hear.

Simpsons and Delilah

2011-03-23T18:27:00.000-04:00

The Simpsons are no strangers to good music. Over the years, we've seen cameos by The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Phish, R.E.M, and RHCP, not to mention music clips from hundreds of bands. Don't ask how I spotted this (okay, so I happened to have paused a Simpsons' rerun on DVR and glanced at the screen in the process), but in Episode No. 88, Bart's Inner Child, Homer comes across an ad for a free trampoline. Check the ad right below the trampoline ad...

Funny thing, the Dead were still alive and touring back then. Now if only there was a Dick's Picks for Capitol City, 1993...

Trampled By Turtles Returning to DelFest

2011-03-21T23:01:00.000-04:00

The WeightStaff will not be making their 8th appearance at Bonnaroo this June. I'm not willing to say that we'll never return there, but this year's lineup was not enough to get us back to the farm for another go. I don't regret any of the pilgrimages we've made to Manchester over the last decade, but each year the walks between stages got a little further, the wait times between bands got a little longer, the sun got a little hotter, and I kept getting older. The smaller, more manageable festivals seem much more attractive to me now and this year we are considering a trip to Western Maryland for the fourth annual DelFest. In my old age (full disclosure: 32), I am getting more and more into bluegrass and roots music, as I feel it represents the purity of music, with nothing but instrumentation and amplification, and none of the technical gimmickry that plagues so much of modern music. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from opposed to beats, samples, and synthesizers but there is something about being out in the mountains of Cumberland, MD, breathing in the fresh air and enjoying to some pickin' and grinnin' that I find really enticing.

One of the bands that I'm looking forward to seeing live for the first time is Trampled By Turtles. They are a young group of musicians from Duluth, MN that are keeping the traditions of Americana/Bluegrass music alive while bringing in some sensibilities of rock n' roll music. They fit very nicely in the same category as the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons. It may be only a matter of time before TxT find similar success.

Wait So Long

Codeine

DelFest takes place at the Allegheny County Fairgrounds on May 26-29.

Super Group Saturday: Black Country Communion

2011-03-19T22:22:00.005-04:00

Tonight, we bring the first ever (and let's be honest, the last ever) installment of Super Group Saturday. It features a band called Black Country Communion. Despite your initial suspicions, this supergroup does not include Clint Black or Darius Rucker. It actually features hard/prog/blues rock heroes Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian, and Joe Bonamassa. The band is named for the industrial West Midlands region to the north of Birmingham in the UK. So who are this band of merry men and why do they deserve to be called a Supergroup?

Black Country Communion is:

Glenn Hughes - Bassist/Vocalist for Deep Purple from 1973 - 1976 [The only years where Roger Glover did not play bass for DP; Fronted Black Sabbath in 1986. Served as frontman for Sabbath side-project Heaven and Hell after Dio's death.

Jason Bonham - Drummer and son of legendary Zep drummer John Bonham; Performed as drummer for Jimmy Page, Foreigner, Paul Rodgers.

Derek Sherinian - Keyboardist for Dream Theater from 1994 - 1998, incl. Change of Seasons album. He has toured with Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss, and Alice In Chains.

Joe Bonamassa - American blues/rock guitarist; Played with Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker, Gregg Allman, Steve Winwood, Paul Jones, Ted Nugent, Warren Haynes, Eric Clapton, and Derek Trucks. Opened for BB King at age 12.

The track featured here is from their 2010 debut album. Its called "Sista Jane". The chorus sounds interestingly familiar to Jefferson Starship's 1979 hit "Jane", which was featured in the opening sequence to Wet Hot American Summer:

Black Country Communion
Sista Jane

For comparison purposes, here is Jefferson Starship's Jane:

Dawes - My Girl to Me

2011-03-19T11:33:00.001-04:00

The WeightStaff is very excited at the news of Robbie Robertson selecting Dawes to be his backing band on a few select dates this year. The California rockers, at the Rock n' Roll Hotel in DC, put on probably my favorite concert of last year. It was certainly the one that most exceeded my expectations. Selecting Dawes was a very interesting choice, given that Robertson could have his pick of almost any working musicians. Robbie is pushing 68-years old and each of the members of Dawes are in their early 20s, even younger then The Band when they played Woodstock 42 years ago. This is just going to make Robbie look even older than he already is. But I think the guys in Dawes will bring an energy that a band of studio musicians could never create. Dawes are still on their way up in the world and they know that this is both another opportunity for them to get their name out there and a chance to work with one of their heroes.

If you're not yet familiar with Dawes, check out this video of 'Still My Girl to Me' that they recorded for the FUSE TV network just two weeks ago.

Ryan Adams Returns to Touring

2011-03-14T22:51:00.004-04:00

Ryan Adams will end his self-imposed touring hiatus by going out on a 12-date solo tour in Europe this June. All of the dates have him at traditional venues, with no festival dates included. This is a great sign for those of us holding out hope that he would hit the stage sometime soon. Hopefully he announces some Stateside shows rather than returning back into hibernation.

June 10 Stockholm, Sweden—Cirkus
June 11 Oslo, Norway—Folketeatret
June 13 Malmö, Sweden—The Consert House
June 14 Copenhagen, Denmark Koncerhauset
June 16 Lisbon, Portugal—Aula Magna
June 17 Porto, Portugal Teatro—Sa Da Bandeira
June 20 London, UK—Barbican
June 22 Brighton, UK—Dome
June 23 Manchester, UK—Bridgewater Hall
June 25 Glasgow, UK—Academy
June 26 Oxford, UK—Oxford New Theatre
June 28 Amsterdam, Holland—Concertgebouw

I'm not sure when this clip was filmed, but its definitely from the early 2000s, closer to when Gold was released. Its from the time before Ryan entered his Grateful Dead period where he replaced folksy Americana for Psychedelia and got himself a rock n' roll band. I really liked that Cold Roses-era (as does Phil Lesh who continues to cover material from that record), but I'm ready to see him go back to the Neil Young/Heart of Gold-style that he so perfectly plays in this video.

Ryan Adams (Solo)
Oh My Sweet Carolina

Call Me On Your Way Back Home

RIP Owsley 'Bear' Stanley

2011-03-13T15:12:00.002-04:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Owsley "Bear" Stanley, a 1960s counterculture figure who flooded the flower power scene with LSD and was an early benefactor of the Grateful Dead, died in a car crash in his adopted home country of Australia on Sunday, his family said. He was believed to be 76.

A statement released by [Sam] Cutler on behalf of Stanley's family said the car crash occurred near his home in far north Queensland. He is survived by his wife Sheila, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Source: Reuters (link)

While the music played you worked by candlelight

Those San Francisco nights

You were the best in town

Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl

You turned it on the world

That's when you turned the world around

Reaction from Phil posted to Furthur.net:

Fare thee well, Bear

I received a text in the middle of last night that Bear Stanley has died in a car accident in Australia. Bear, for me, was a true kindred spirit; when we first met, it was as if I had met a long-lost brother from another lifetime. I am heartbroken and devastated at his passing.

He was a friend, a brother, an inspiration, and our patron at the very beginning of our creative lives. We owe him more than what can be counted or added up- his was a mind that refused to accept limits, and he reinforced in us that striving for the infinite, the refusal to accept the status quo, that has informed so much of our work.

He never gave up his quest for pushing the limits of whatever he was working on. We had just been discussing his concept of point-source sound reinforcement in relation to a new project of mine, and his vision incorporated the latest developments in technology and perceptual research.

My heart goes out to his family, for whom he had such love and pride- his wife Sheilah, his children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren- who have lost their patriarch.

A mind like Bear’s appears very rarely, and it’s been my privilege and honor to have known and loved two such minds- Jerry and Bear. I always laugh when I think about what Jerry once said about Bear: There’s nothing wrong with Bear that several billion fewer brain cells wouldn't fix.

I am eternally grateful for all of the gifts that Bear brought to the scene and to the music.
Fare you well; I love you more than words can tell.

- Phil

Grateful Dead

Ripple

The Darkness Comes to Light

2011-03-10T23:40:00.004-05:00

English hard rockers The Darkness, who reached international prominence in the early 2000s, look set to reform with their original lineup, featuring singer and cat suit-wearer Justin Hawkins. The group won three BRIT Awards in 2004 in response to their debut album Permission to Land, with the band that year taking home awards for Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. The record charted in 16 countries, reaching the Top 10 in 4 of them including Sweden and New Zealand. The Darkness broke up in 2006 following Hawkins' entry into rehab for alcohol and cocaine abuse. The band have not officially announced their reformation, but an official Facebook page and a new website have cropped up recently.

While The Darkness at first glance appeared to be merely caricatures of British hard rock bands from decades earlier, if you looked past the cartoon-like aesthetic, you would have found some incredibly well- crafted and well-produced rock songs. If you're not familiar with the band or just haven't listened to them in a while, take a listen to a couple of my favorite tracks of theirs which were in heavy rotation on my first iPod back in 2003:

Love Is Only A Feeling

Growing on Me

UPDATE: Cap'n Ain't Goin' Nowhere

2011-03-10T11:48:00.002-05:00

Children's cereal mascots everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief this morning. On the heels of last night's unexpected news story that Cap'n Crunch would be forced into retirement by PepsiCo, the Cap'n took to his Twitter account this morning to squash the rumors of his demise. From the man himself:

@realcapncrunch ."I'm hearing the rumors. I would never retire. I love being a captain too much!"

Well there you have it, Horatio Magellan Crunch gets to keep his job after all. The WeightStaff was unable to to reach Cereal Mascot Union Chief Sonny the Cocoa Bird for comment.

Click here to follow the Cap'n on Twitter.

RIP Cap'n Crunch

2011-03-10T00:05:00.001-05:00

Reportedly, PepsiCo is retiring the image of Cap'n Crunch in order to no longer come across as marketing the highly sugary cereal directly to children. Out of respect for the good Cap'n, I bring you:

Ride Captain Ride

The Blues Image

Guests of Honor

2011-03-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

Okay. So I'm kinda bored and apparently into making lists lately. No, none of these facts will get you hot chicks -- or anywhere in life for that matter -- but you just might score that 5 seconds of fame you were hoping for at that next apartment soiree...

So, without further ado, the winners of the Top 10 Greatest Celebrity Guest Appearances on Rock/Pop Tracks are (in no particular order):

1) Eric Clapton on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (G. Harrison)
2) Duane Allman on "Layla" (E. Clapton)
3) Paul McCartney on "Atlantis" (Donovan)
4) Mick Jagger on "You're So Vain" (C. Simon)
5) Jerry Garcia on "Teach Your Children" (CSNY)
6) John Lennon on "Fame" (D. Bowie)
7) David Bowie on "All The Young Dudes" (Mott the Hoople version, written of course, by D. Bowie)
8) Jimmy Page on "With a Little Help From My Friends (J. Cocker version)
9) Billy Preston on "Don't Let Me Down/Get Back" (The Beatles)
10) Eddie Van Halen on "Beat It" (M. Jackson)

I know there are others, any other A-listers you can think of?

"All The Young Dudes" - Ian Hunter w/ David Bowie, Mick Ronson, et.al.

Sounds Like: The Acorn

2011-03-06T22:51:00.002-05:00

The Acorn are an indie band hailing from Ottawa, Canada that have been releasing albums since 2004. I became aware of them over the summer and I don't specifically remember how. I do remember though that after the first time I heard their song 'Flood Pt. 1' off of their 2007 concept album Glory Hope Mountain that I went on to listen to the song another five times straight. It's just that good.

I've put a bit of thought into how I'd describe the song to someone who hadn't yet heard it and the best I could come up with was: David Byrne fronting Arcade Fire covering Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints. If you find that at all intriguing, I urge you to listen to it. Let us know who you think it sounds like.

The Acorn
The Flood, Pt. 1

Do you know what's great about an awesome song with Part 1 in the title? That's right...there's always a Part 2. And this follow-up track couldn't be more different stylistically than the first, but its no less impressive. The Flood Pt. 2 is harder for me to classify, but it's something closer to Band of Horses covering a McCartney ballad with backup vocals from CSN.

The Flood Pt. 2

Phil Collins Says 'That's All' ...Again

2011-03-05T23:03:00.006-05:00

I read tonight on CNN.com that Phil Collins is retiring from the music business. Isn't this like the third time that he's made a similar announcement? I remember a while back reading that he'd never play drums again due to some progressively debilitating condition. He then went on to record an album of Motown covers on which he played...the drums. I also remember before that, with Genesis on tour in late 2007, Collins stated that it would be the band's last tour. So here we are again with another announcement from the drummer-turned-singer alluding to another chapter closing in his music career.

An article from London's The Telegraph from March 3rd wraps this story up quite nicely in saying:

Is Phil Collins really calling it quits? His interview with FHM certainly sounds very final, but we have heard this before. Collins first announced his retirement at an awards ceremony in April 2008, which came as a bit of surprise to everyone, since most people there seemed to think he had retired already.

He sounds even more gloomy than usual in the FHM interview, but I am sceptical about whether this threatened retirement will be any more final than his last. Frankly, an interview with a glossy men’s magazine that was presumably carried out a couple of months ago seems a strange way for a superstar to bow out from the world stage. Besides, in today’s veteran-oriented musical landscape, surely the only point of announcing retirement is to facilitate a comeback?

Read the full article here

Check out this performance from Genesis' 1987's Invisible Touch tour of 'That's All' at London's famed Wembley Stadium in front of an impossibly huge crowd. I really love this tune...for real. If there is one thing that the post-Gabriel Genesis could do, its write a fantastic pop song.

Bonus Content:
Two year's earlier, at the same venue, Phil Collins played a daytime set with Sting at the infamous Live Aid charity concert in London. He was the only performer to play at both the British event and at the simultaneous Philadelphia event by flying between the two cities on the Concord. His Wembley performance included a solo take on 'Against All Odds' with Collins seated at the grand piano. He does a beautiful job on the tune, except for one moment (at 1:09 in the video) that you'll have to see in context to truly appreciate. Phil is visibly disappointed with himself for the misstep he makes in front of 72,000 in person and far more in the international audience watching at home. If I know Phil Collins like I think I know Phil Collins, he still wakes up in a cold sweat wishing he could have that note back. If the WeightStaff put together their Top 10 favorite flubs of all time, this would easily be in the top three. We've gotten some great laughs out of this one over the years!

Youth Gone Wild

2011-03-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

On the prior post (OMG! It's ELO), a reader left a comment pointing out how Jeff Lynne was only 27 y.o. when he wrote ELO's classic hit, "Showdown." Impressive as that is, it got me thinking about other artists who wrote (or co-wrote) mega-classics all before the age of 30. Here are a few that come to mind:

Steve Winwood (21) - "Can't Find My Way Home"
Robby Krieger (20) - "Light My Fire"
George Harrison (26) - "Something"
Bob Dylan (21) - "Don't Think Twice It's Alright"
Eric Clapton (25) - "Layla" (w/ Jim Gordon)
Paul McCartney (22) - "Yesterday"
Billy Joel (28) - "Just the Way You Are"
Jimmy Page (26)/Robert Plant (22) - "Stairway to Heaven"
Donald Fagen (24)/Walter Becker (22) - "Reelin' in the Years"
Neil Young (24) - "Cowgirl in the Sand"
Robbie Robertson (26) - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

I hope you are all now as depressed as I am after putting your lives in perspective.

Here is a great clip of Steely Dan performing their hit "Reelin' in the Years" from The Midnight Special (1973).

Editor's note: Part of the reason I chose this clip in particular is because of the individual introducing the band. This is why I love the 70's!

OMG! It's ELO

2011-02-27T16:57:00.005-05:00

Yes, they are the band whose tune you're tapping your foot to, but haven't the faintest clue who wrote it. Whether or not you're man enough to admit it, it's hard to argue that Electric Light Orchestra, or simply ELO, wasn't one of the great pop-rock bands of all-time. With 27 Top 40 hit singles in both the UK and the U.S., ELO holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any band in U.S. chart history (without ever having a number one single). Black Eyed-who?? Yet, for reasons unknown to this author, ELO's legacy has failed to be taken seriously except for a niche of audiophiles, music dorks and "superfans" (I guess the spaceship theme didn't help the cause). Hell, most people born after 1980 probably have never even heard of the band, let alone their prodigious front man, Jeff Lynne. Lynne, who was sporting the beard, bushy hair, and aviators well before the popularity of the "L" train, single-handedly composed and arranged every one of ELO's infinite catalog of hits. It's no wonder that he was sought out by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to work on their respective solo releases at one time or another. In fact, Lynne was instrumental in helping to arrange and record both "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" for the Beatles' Anthology. Take that George Martin!

But back to ELO. I think it's time they seriously considered re-forming and re-touring. If history has taught us anything, bands go through waves of popularity and if you don't exploit those waves at the right times, you run the risk of falling into the much-dreaded void of rock obscurity. Take for example, Kiss and Eagles, both of whom famously reunited in the mid-90's and hit it big. Listening to much of their material as of late, I think ELO has a chance at redemption; a chance to reclaim the respect they once enjoyed. Why you ask? Because, first and foremost, their songs are "poppy" as hell. But more importantly, I think they exude that certain degree of kitsch that would undoubtedly appeal to the younger gens.

But despite their endless incarnations and offshoots, the surviving members of ELO have failed to tour since the early '80's. The closest we got to a "reunion" tour (in reality, Lynne was the only true member) was in 2001; however, the illness/passing of his close friend George Harrison caused a much distressed Lynne to cancel the tour indefinitely. So, here we are, roughly 10 years later, and I'm rallying the troops for a comeback. Why not try a limited schedule and test the market? Radio City perhaps? Strike that -- do it right: bring out the full orchestra and play Carnegie Hall. If Trey can do it, I'd be damned if they couldn't either!

Jeff Lynne fact #47: He co-wrote the Tom Petty mega-hit, "Into the Great Wide Open."

ELO, "Showdown" Rockpalast (1974)

G-day

2011-02-25T11:54:00.008-05:00

Happy birthday to George Harrison who would have been 68-years-old today. Those who regularly (or occasionally) read The Weight might recall that Harrison has been the subject of much reverence as of late. Everything from, "favorite Beatle" to "coolest Beatle" to "best hair in the Beatles," etc. etc. But corny checklists aside, I think all would be in agreement that George was all-in-all, just a good bloke. And put aside his music for a minute. George was a philanthropist -- his Concert for Bangladesh, despite its shortcomings, was one of the first "super-group" benefit concerts tied to an international cause. He was an avid gardener, a race-car enthusiast, and survivor of knife attacks. He was a devoted husband to Olivia and father to his twin-like son, Dhani. He was an accomplished ukulele player and lover of Monty Python. He was "betrayed" by his good friend Eric Clapton, yet was man enough to remain on the best of terms with him and Pattie Boyd in the years that ensued. In his later years, he bravely fought numerous battles with cancer, from which of course, he ultimately succumbed. Like his old friend John, he died much too young.

I think back to the 80's and 90's when I was much younger and recall having only a vague awareness of who George was. I knew, like everyone else, that he was the "lead" guitarist of the Beatles and singer of that still catchy pop-tune, "Got My Mind Set On You." I distinctly remember watching him perform with The Traveling Wilburys in music videos for "Handle with Care" and "End of the Line," but was more interested in Roy Orbison who had recently died around that time. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had never even heard of All Things Must Pass until college, and really only started seriously listening to it within the last ten years. Now, it is probably my favorite album, next to Dark Side of the Moon. After re-watching Anthology this past month, I saw a different side of George -- a more calloused, more cynical, and maybe even a more embittered George. I truly believe in his later years, he resented much of his Beatles legacy; that he refused to be perceived as "larger than life," unlike his Beatle compatriots (you know you are), but just a lucky guy from Liverpool, who "used" the Beatles as a means to an end. But what is evident, is that George adored his friends and family, his undying spirituality and the times when he could bask under the sun and play old tin pan alley tunes on the uke. Or maybe, George was acting, using his sharp wit, which he shared in common with his good friend Eric Idle, as a way of "humanizing" the Beatles and at the same time, humbling himself and his illustrious achievements. After all, he was the "shy" Beatle.

Happy birthday, L'Angelo Misterioso.

"It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one." -- George Harrison

"End of the Line," The Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Traveling Wilburys

Defending the Dead

2011-02-22T22:56:00.018-05:00

There is an unwritten rule amongst Deadheads that true aficionados of the band must only listen to the live albums. This makes sense in theory since after all, the Dead were at their core, a live band. Even the band themselves had reservations about spending too much time in the studio and probably only did so in order to honor "corporate obligations" and to help bankroll their endless tours. And while I, too, am guilty for subscribing to this "dead-code" of sorts, the myth that these albums lack the improvisation, the spontaneity, or even the soul that helped shaped their touring legacy, is unfair at best. In fact, the Dead’s studio catalog is quite impressive, and taken as a whole, is a rather breathtaking series of accomplishments. In response to those who snub the studio recordings as flat or emotionless, I think this is an ignorant statement. I challenge you to listen to American Beauty or Wake of the Flood in their entirety and not feel moved by the pristine musicianship and ethereal vocal harmonies. Nor is there any merit to the claim that these albums are devoid of improvisation. Listen to "Help->Slip->Franklin's" from Blues for Allah, which is the epitome of modern jazz improvisation; or "Weather Report Suite" from Wake of the Flood, an instrumental masterpiece few mainstream rock bands could pull off. Indeed, I'd venture to guess that each session varied considerably in terms of the solos, the riffs and the grooves and that no two takes sounded the same -- as opposed to say, the repetitive perfection sought by bands like U2, Metallica, or Sting, for example. Really, the only things missing from these albums are the band’s notorious lyric flubs, bum notes, and intensive, space-out jam sessions, which admittedly are some of the great moments of the live Dead experience. So despite only owning a handful of their studio material (as opposed to nearly 75+ live recordings), I refuse to be a hater. I proudly stand behind the Dead's studio albums and think they deserve greater recognition as being some of the archetypal examples of modern jazz, folk/blues and improvisational rock.

Some of my favorite album standouts include:

"Attics of my Life" - American Beauty
"Stella Blue" - Wake of the Flood
"Ship of Fools" - Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
"Help->Slip->Franklin’s" - Blues for Allah
"Terrapin Part One" - Terrapin Station

Judge for yourself.

"Stella Blue" - Wake of the Flood (includes backing vocals not typically heard live)
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Stella+Blue/2zrY5P?src=5

"Ship of Fools" - Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Ship+Of+Fools/1VGk59?src=5

"Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" -Wake of the Flood (great fiddle part that I don't believe was ever played live)
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Mississippi+Half+Step+Uptown+Toodeloo/tb9ml?src=5

Flashbacks: The Monkees

2011-02-21T22:42:00.011-05:00

On August 6, 1987 my parents took my brother and I to our first rock concert. It featured 'Weird Al' Yankovic as the opening act for The Monkees and it took place at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, MD, about 25 minutes from where we grew up in Baltimore. We sat in the very last row of the pavilion and passed binoculars between us to help us see what was happening on the stage, which seemed like miles away. I'm pretty sure they decided to take the two of us to this particular concert because we really enjoyed watching reruns of the Monkees' 60s television show, which were being replayed regularly on VH1 at the time. We also had vinyl albums of both acts,Weird Al and the Monkees, that we used to play on our brown and orange Fischer Price record player. I don't remember much about the Monkees performance from that night, but for whatever reason I remember Weird Al performing both 'Addicted to Spuds' and 'Like a Surgeon'. Maybe that's because I was only 8 years old and seeing Al with his long curly hair, costume changes, and cartoon-like songs was a bit more my speed. There's no doubt that this experience had a significant impact on me. I didn't get really serious about seeing live music until my friends and I were able to drive a good number of years later, but attending concerts has been my number one hobby for what is now around half of my life and that night was my introduction to it. I'll always consider Merriweather to be my home venue and I've seen some of my absolute favorite concerts there over the years. A few that come to mind are Tom Petty on the Wildflowers tour in August 1995, the Allman Brothers Band/God Street Wine in July 1996, and Phish in August 1998.

The reason I am writing and reminiscing about my first concert is that the Monkees today announced that they are going out for yet another tour, this one celebrating their 45th anniversary. The show I saw in '87 came one year after their 20th anniversary as a band. The only dates that have been announced for these 2011 shows are in the UK.

Just as was true at Merriweather 24 years ago when I saw them in concert, Mike Nesmith will not be joining his former bandmates Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, and Davey Jones on stage. A year before I saw them, in 1986, Nesmith sat in with them for a two song encore, which was the first time he played live with the group since 1969, nearly twenty years earlier. The only other appearances that Nesmith has made with the Monkees in concert are another one-off performance in Los Angeles in 1989, where he sat in for the last 11 songs of the show and a one-month UK tour in March 1997.

I have no idea whether the Monkees, or three-fourths of them at least, will sound any good in concert now that they are in their mid to late 60s, but I do know that they had some great pop songs written for and by them and that their records played a large part in my early years of listening to music. It's been quite a while since I've spent any time with their songs, but doing just that tonight has brought back some great memories.

Bonus Fact: In 1967, the Monkees outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.

Last Train to Clarksville

(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

Classic Albums: Joshua Tree

2011-02-20T23:23:00.003-05:00

I'm ending my Sunday night by watching an episode of Classic Albums on Netflix Instant dedicated to U2's Joshua Tree. One of my favorite components of this documentary, as with all of the records that have received the Classic Albums treatment, is watching the artist/producer sitting at the mixing desk bringing up and down different elements of the multi-track recordings. There are a few instances where they let us listen in on pieces of the recordings that never made it into the actual final album track, like a string section on 'Where The Streets Have No Name'. In this episode, much of the time is spent with Joshua Tree producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the unsung heroes and architects of much of U2s sound over the years, talking about the process of painstakingly building and layering the songs in the studio. One of the recurring themes that is discussed about this album from 1985 is how different it was from what was popular at the time. The band eschewed the drum machines and synthesizers that so many other groups were using in those days.

The hour long documentary almost exclusively discusses Side One of the Joshua Tree, and what an amazing set of five songs that is. The full tracklist, if you didn't already know it is:

Side One
1. "Where the Streets Have No Name"
2. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
3. "With or Without You"
4. "Bullet the Blue Sky"
5. "Running to Stand Still"

Side two
1. "Red Hill Mining Town"
2. "In God's Country"
3. "Trip Through Your Wires"
4. "One Tree Hill"
5. "Exit"
6. "Mothers of the Disappeared"

While it would be easy to feature here any one of hugely famous Side One tracks, instead I'm going to post the first two tracks on Side Two. Both of these songs are on my list of favorite U2 songs, on any album.

Red Hill Mining Town
This is the official video filmed by U2 for Red Hill Mining Town, the song that was supposed to be the second single off of the album. The band was not happy with how the video turned out (it wasn't released until the 20th anniversary Super Deluxe Box of the Joshua Tree in 2007). 'Where the Streets Have No Name' was released instead. Red Hill Mining Town has still never been played live.

In God's Country
Recorded live on 7/4/1987 in Paris, France, four months after Joshua Tree was released.

With Bono now recovered from back surgery and rehabilitation, U2 have restarted another leg of their 360 Tour with two shows in South Africa over the last week (2/13 and 2/18). The tour moves on to South America for seven shows in March. The band will then return to North America for 25 shows beginning in Mexico City on 5/11/11.

Bonnaroo's Mr. Irrelevant: Hayes Carll

2011-02-17T22:42:00.005-05:00

A few weeks back, we featured last year's 'Americana Music’s Best New Emerging Artist' Hayes Carll, as he was announced as the opener for one of Levon Helm's upcoming Rambles. I actually only learned tonight that he received that accolade in 2010, but as one of only a few musicians I latched on to after many hours of listening to Pandora over the years, its pretty satisfying to learn about it.

Two days ago, the day his new album KMAG YOYO was released, Carll appeared as the very last name listed on the extensive lineup for this year's Bonnaroo festival, the tenth year of the annual event in Manchester, TN, earning him the title of Mr. Irrelevant for 2011. Let's hope he takes advantage of the opportunity.

Past years' "Mr. Irrelevant" at Bonnaroo are:
2010 - Warpaint
2009 - Zee Avi
2008 - Your Vegas
2007 - The Biscuit Burners
2006 - Zac Brown Band
2005 - Alexandra McHale
2004 - Donavon Frankenreiter
2003 - Toots and the Maytals
2002 - DJ Z-Trip

Here is a video of Hayes doing his best Tom Joad-era Springsteen impression with his song Rivertown

Hayes Carll
Rivertown

May Your Song Always Be Sung

2011-02-17T22:41:00.004-05:00

I'm not into reading poetry or philosophy but I am pretty sentimental. To mask the sissy factor, I like my "thinking man"'s writings in the form of bad ass rock n roll. While Bob Dylan doesn't put fear into parents' eyes quite like Marilyn Manson or the Insane Clown Posse or that no good baddie Justin Bieber, he does have a certain mystique and cool that is oh so intriguing to a young college kid. And I chose to focus on a song that really reached out to me, Forever Young. After being subjected to the Rod Stewart version of Forever Young on countless bar mitzvah videos, the namesake title was initially ruined for me. And I'm not even sure on what album or live bootleg that I first heard the tune, but Bob's FY is a masterpiece to me and if I'm in the right mood, it really touches a nerve.

May you grow up to be righteous 
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth 
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous 
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

This is serious stuff when you are only 19. It's life affirming and uplifting and challenging when you try to grasp it. It sounds like Bob is singing it almost as a lullaby to a young daughter. But as I was beginning to make my way in the world, I felt like he was singing to me. And who wants to grow up?!? I wanted to be FOREVER YOUNG. Rod Stewart be damned. Bob was telling me something here! I got to see Bob perform it back when I was in college probably a year or so after learning of the song. He played on my college campus (with Joni Mitchell opening) and I was in one of those concert-lover moments of BEING EXACTLY WHERE I SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT THAT TIME!! Who hasn't said that at a show? So anyway, that song has always had a special place for me.

Fast forward, oh about...13 years. I'm at my parent's house watching "mature TV" fare with them after taking a few days off from my stressful NYC life. And they mention this show on NBC that they like called 'Parenthood'. It has a guy from Six Feet Under, Erika Christensen from Swimfan, Dax Shepard from Punk'd and banging Sarah Marshall (lucky mofo), Coach himself...Mr. Craig T Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia who was Bruce Willis's wife in Die Hard (and now amazingly is Craig T.'s wife...nice work Coach! Where is Dauber??), the mom from Gilmore Girls, and most importantly Minka Kelly who is honestly insanely good looking. Almost not human good looking. Wow.

And what is the theme song? A sped up version of Forever Young sung by John Doe and Lucy Schwartz. On an NBC drama. Bob...why oh why? And who the hell are John Doe and Lucy Schwartz? I know you like showing up at weird places at weird times Bob. Victoria's Secret ad, anyone? And fronting the Mumford/Brothers? Ok, I kind of get that. But an hour long, most likely canceled after two seasons, ensemble dramedy on a major network. You've ruined my song!!

Well, this was my thought before I watched more than 2 minutes. Hey, this show ain't half bad! I may WANT to be Forever Young, but most of my friends have kids, I'm trying to grow up, and the human condition stories they are peddling on this show are pretty fascinating. The grandparents have drama. The parents have drama. The kids have drama. It's like my life! Wait, what has happened to me?!? Where is my rebellion at these types of song placements? I guess if Wilco can do it in a Volkswagen commercial...

Looking back, I loved the song Forever Young when I was still wanting to live out my rock n roll fantasies. But now I love it again...opening this generation's freakin' thirtysomething. Forever Young, my ass. Now I'm thinking more along the lines of hoping to have Forever Hair. Or Forever Slim Waistline. How is that for a tune, Bob?

Dancing with the Stones

2011-02-15T10:46:00.005-05:00

There can only be one explanation for the ensuing video: endless mounds of cocaine. In all seriousness, despite the somewhat sheer ridiculousness of their bouncing around like a group of hyperactive 10-year-olds, it is indisputable that the Stones had an uncanny ability to make the absurd look cool. And as for Mick, I think it's safe to say he was the inventor of a very, very "unique" style of dance, known simply today as "the Jagger." Indeed, Mick himself has repeatedly acknowledged this much:

"What I'm doing is a sexual thing. I dance, and all dancing is a replacement for sex. What really upsets people is that I'm a man and not a woman. I don't do anything more than a lot of girl dancers, but they're accepted because it's a man world. What I do is very much the same as a girl's striptease dance." -- Mick Jagger, 1966

Hmmm...

So, if you need a pick-me-up on this otherwise miserable Tuesday morning, fast-forward to 1:55 and watch in awe as the inimitable Jagger performs some of his all-time best dance maneuvers, including the self-spank, the Ronnie Wood chokehold, the discus throw-cum-sumo crouch, the Kamikaze, and the ice-cream microcone lick. Classic.

The Rolling Stones, "She's So Cold" (1980)

Non-Televised Grammy Awards

2011-02-13T23:53:00.003-05:00

Here are a few highlights from the pre-televised ceremonies.
Courtesy of Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot's post-Grammy wrap-up

Though nominated for album of the year, Arcade Fire couldn’t win in a lesser category (best alternative album) for “The Suburbs,” losing out to the Black Keys, whose “Brothers” was not found worthy enough for an album-of-the-year nomination by the Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mavis Staples won her first ever Grammy Award for best Americana album (“You Are Not Alone”) and sang the praises of her late father Pops Staples. “You laid the foundation,” Staples said, “and I am still working on the building.” Other winners with Chicago connections included Buddy Guy (best contemporary blues album) and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which upped its lifetime Grammy haul to 62 with victories for best classical album and best classical performance (Verdi Requiem).

Neil Young won his first ever Grammy for music (he had won previously for best recording package). His nod for best rock song (“Angry World”) was greeted with typically wry humor by the straw-haired rocker. “I’m not Mavis,” he said, “but I’m close.”

Mumford and Sons: Live from Bonnaroo 2010

2011-02-13T23:11:00.001-05:00

Mumford and Sons put in a great performance of "The Cave" tonight at the Grammy Awards; one that will surely raise their profile even further here in the States. They were immediately followed on the same stage by the Avett Brothers, who played "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise" from their album I and Love and You.

Last summer at Bonnaroo, these same two bands played their festival sets at the same time, on different stages. In case you were at Which Stage for the Avetts instead of That Tent last summer in Manchester, check out Mumford and Sons' 2010 Bonnaroo performance, courtesy of NPR.

Bonnaroo's 2011 lineup will be released on Tuesday.

The setlist was:
Sigh No More
The Cave
Awake My Soul
White Blank Page
Timshel
Nothing Is Written
Feel The Tide
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light
Thistle and Weeds
After the Storm
Wagon Wheel
Roll Away Your Stone

Drive-By Truckers: The Movie

2011-02-09T21:47:00.005-05:00

One year ago, I had the pleasure of attending the world premier of a documentary film about the Drive By Truckers called The Secret To A Happy Ending. It was a very special occasion, as the band as well as the film's director were on hand to speak before the movie. I was also able to meet the guys and get a poster signed. I've now had the opportunity to interact directly with Patterson Hood on three occasions and he's always been extremely cool.

The film chronicles the band's activities between 2005 and 2007, which was a very tumultuous time for them, as these months included the firing of guitarist and songwriter Jason Isbell. Of course this drama also makes for a great movie. After some appearances at various film festivals and a number of sporadic showings around the country, the movie is finally being released on DVD on February 15th. The website describes the documentary with the following:

THE SECRET TO A HAPPY ENDING documents the Drive-By Truckers and their congregation of fans as they explore tales of human weakness and redemption. Filmmaker Barr Weissman followed the band during three critical years of touring and recording — years in which the band struggles to overcome the trauma of divorce and survives a near breakup. SECRET combines band interviews, behind-the-scenes footage on the road and in the studio, along with legendary live performances. Reflective of the band’s roots in Alabama and Georgia, the film explores the changing American South — its tangled past and strange beauty.

You can read the Washington Post's review of the movie here.

A few weeks back I went to see Jason Isbell play the 9:30 Club with his new band the 400 Unit. First and foremost, they are an amazing rock band and they are one of the few to still carry the torch of real southern rock. They absolutely killed it on a version of Neil Young's 'Like A Hurricane'. While I always enjoyed seeing Jason in concert as a member of DBT, he was always the third wheel in that group. He had the opportunity to step up on the few numbers he wrote for the group, but on most other songs he took a back seat to guitarists and singers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. There was just too much talent on stage to feature all of them. What's now great about seeing Jason with his own band is that he's clearly the star and he gets to really show off just how good he is as a singer, songwriter, and guitar player. I'm very much looking forward to hearing his band's new album, set to be released in April.

While there are so many great song's of Jason's to pick from, I'll share with you the one that stands out the most for me. It's 'Goddamn Lonely Love' from the Drive By Trucker's album The Dirty South:

American Beauty: In the Pines

2011-02-08T23:30:00.000-05:00

If I told you that Lead Belly, Rufus Wainwright, Nirvana, Tiny Tim, Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe, Hole, Dee Dee Ramone and the Grateful Dead all have performed a common song, you'd fairly assume that I had my facts confused and promptly call for my resignation. But despite the glaring absurdity of my contention, I'm proud to report that I am indeed correct (and if I'm not, blame Wikipedia!). "In the Pines," a/k/a "Black Girl" or "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (author unknown), is an old Appalachia folk standard believed to have been written in the late 1800's, and is arguably one of the first true American "pop songs." The tune itself has an interesting history; an oral tradition of sorts, it has been passed down from generation to generation, almost always reconfigured and reinterpreted as if it were a game of musical "telephone." And like most American folklore -- especially that conceived in the South -- its true meaning remains somewhat of an enigma, though I suppose that is what keeps it so alluring after all these years. Take for example 2 of verses:

Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me,
Tell me where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines,
I shivered the whole night through.

My husband was a railroad man,
Killed a mile, and a half from here.
His head, was found, in a driver's wheel,
And his body hasn't never been found.

The theories about the song's origins are as wide-ranging as the artists who have performed it, though the consensus is that it involves: prostitution, decapitation, a locomotive train, a murder, and of course, a pine forest. Happy times, no? And while my intention here is not to interpret or analyze the song -- as I'm clearly not well-versed enough in the subject matter to do so -- I merely wanted to point out that even today, a song as simple as "In the Pines" continues to inspire and enchant us, with its inscrutable history and evocative lyrics.

As for the various renditions, my loyalties lie with the Lead Belly version popularized in the 1940's and the Nirvana version performed in 1993 for Mtv Unplugged (credited as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"), which continues to mesmerize me since first hearing it upon its release. Cobain's shrieking vocals were particularly suited for this dark piece of American lore -- especially his last desperate gasps, which I think poignantly revived the spirit of this haunting masterpiece for years to come.

Lead Belly, "In The Pines" (circa 1944)

Nirvana, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night," New York, New York (1993)

The Bridge Blows Up

2011-02-08T23:15:00.007-05:00

Baltimore rockers The Bridge have recently released their fifth studio album called National Bohemian, titled after the unofficial official alcoholic beverage of Charm City. The album was produced by Steve Berlin, sax and keyboard player for Los Lobos. To support the CD's release, the band shot a video for what is presumably being considered the disc's first single, 'Rosie'. Rather than simply film a live concert performance of the song, the band donned matching pressed white shirts and skinny black ties and showed up to what looks like a proper soundstage to film an MTV-style music video. According to an interview with singer and guitarist Cris Jacobs, the shoot was filmed on a day off from touring, over a 4-hour period, in Louisville, KY.

We've covered the Bridge throughout the four years we've been around as a music site and we've been fans of theirs as far back as their inception in the early 2000s. We've also made no effort to hide the fact that we grew up with some of its members. They've come a long way since their early days, perfecting their sound through constant, now coast-to-coast, touring. They've played many of the major summer festivals around the US, including a near-annual slot at Tim Walther's All Good Festival in WV, where in 2008 Phish's Mike Gordon sat in when them and then just three days later he invited the guys to open for him on his solo tour.

We again attended the Bridge's annual pre-Thanksgiving show a few months back in Baltimore and we look forward to doing so again in the fall.

Take a look at The Bridge's new video for 'Rosie':

Listen to the band's new album, National Bohemian, released on February 1st.

Robbie Robertson Honored By Land of Snow

2011-02-08T22:06:00.002-05:00

It was announced today that Robbie Robertson is to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame. With Robertson's induction, for the first time, the Hall will be honoring the entire body of work of a songwriter rather than just a single original song.

In other news, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel were not inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

As much as we like to side with Levon in the infamous great divide between he and Robbie, I'm going to overlook that for just one day and admit that he did write some amazing songs. To commemorate the occasion, I'll offer up the studio version of The Band's 'Acadian Driftwood', a song penned by Robbie which was recorded and released by The Band in 1975.

Paul McCartney: Indie Pioneer

2011-02-03T16:05:00.013-05:00

Despite my being a fan of about 98% of The Beatles' catalog (I could truthfully do without "Birthday," "Good Day Sunshine," and "Mean Mr. Mustard"), I sometimes wonder how many of their songs would actually be "hits" by today's standards. Sure, one could argue "once a hit, always a hit" -- especially with The Beatles, but I think the legacy of their songs has more to do with the band's godly reputation than with the songs themselves. Take for example, "All My Loving" -- still a finger-snapping, head-bopping, feel good tune -- but a hit? In 2011, no less? Highly doubtful -- unless of course, your goal is to be the most uncool bloke amongst the young ladies. In reality, The Beatles "seal of approval" gave otherwise forgettable songs that extra sparkle in their eye (I mean, c'mon, if "From Me To You" was a Herman's Hermits song...you get the point). Nonetheless, it's hard to dispute that a majority of their songs -- and yes, even the early ones (which I admittedly have a soft spot for) -- remain as unique and inimitable today as they did when first released. I know -- enough stating the obvious -- I do have a point, promise.

In any event, there is one song in particular that I think stands in a category apart from the rest; a tune so dissonant, hypnotic, and disturbingly elegant, that I have no doubt it would serve as a modern anthem amongst the current hipster/indie/hard rock scene: "Helter Skelter." As edgy and raucous as it must have been when released in 1968 (to put things in perspective, Led Zeppelin I was released in 1969 and Black Sabbath's Paranoid in 1970), "Helter Skelter" completely enraptures us with Paul's grating vocals, George and John's lo-fi, sonic guitar riffs, and Ringo's uncharacteristic smashing about, all against a backdrop of pure unadulterated, cacophonous beauty. Panic sets in. Wasn't I just listening to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?" "Blackbird?" "Honey Pie?" "I Will?" What the fuck is going on?!? This is--is-- fucking BRILLIANT!

Little did he know it, while attempting to make the "heaviest" song known to man (in response to The Who's "I Can See For Miles"), Paul McCartney in effect, invented indie rock -- the same sound popularized years, even decades, later by bands like The Stooges, Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Strokes and The White Stripes. That my friends, was the genius of The Beatles (though, I imagine George Martin must have had a coronary at the time). So cheers to Paul, who despite his unabashed vanity and massive ego, albeit a deserving one, paved the way for a new generation of modern rockers; from Seattle to Manchester to Brooklyn and elsewhere.

And while I recently revered George Harrison as being the "coolest" Beatle, Paul was pretty hip himself -- stringy and bearded, thrashing around while an uber-cool Ringo goes cymbal crazy. Speaking of, rumour has it Paul and Ringo are playing a secret show at Music Hall of Williamsburg this weekend...

The Beatles, "Helter Skelter"

Headlines

2011-02-02T22:39:00.001-05:00

A deluxe package is set to be released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Derek and the Dominos’ essential Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Rod Stewart and Jeff Back are currently collaborating on new material in the studio for the first time in 25 years

Kiss drummer Peter Kriss to write autobiography with Larry 'Ratso' Sloman

The original lineup of Black Sabbath are set to record their first album together since 1979 with a possible tour to follow

Amos Lee achieves the accolade this week of having the lowest selling #1 album in Soundscan's history

Pearl Jam reissuing Vs. and Vitalogy to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the band

Stoleshine?

2011-02-01T23:10:00.004-05:00

Jesse Colin Young is an American singer/songwriter who is most well known for being a founding member of a folk/rock band called The Youngbloods. The Youngbloods' cover of "Get Together" has become synonymous with the peace and love movement of the 60s, featuring an uplifting, memorable, anthemic chorus of "Come on people now, smile on your brother / Everybody get together and try to love one another."

In April 1974, Young, at this point a solo act, released a new studio album called Light Shine which included an original song called 'Let Your Light Shine', featuring an uplifting, memorable, anthemic chorus.

In 1994, the Allman Brother Band released a new studio album called Where It All Begins, featuring a new original song written by Warren Haynes called 'Soulshine', featuring an uplifting, memorable, anthemic chorus.

Why is this all relevant? Well, I'm sure many of you are well familiar with Warren's Soulshine, as its been a staple of Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule concerts for over sixteen years now. I've always enjoyed hearing Warren sing Soulshine, despite its ubiquity. After all, it's a great piece of songwriting by him....or is it?

Take a listen below to Jesse Colin Young's original song 'Let Your Light Shine". Then, if you haven't heard it before or just want a refresher, listen to the the Allman Brothers' Soulshine. There shouldn't be a debate in your mind as to whether the latter song is a direct copy of Young's 'Light Shine'. The question is though, does it matter? Should Warren have given Young a songwriting credit on Soulshine? Would it be appropriate for him to introduce the song before he plays it as inspired by a Jesse Colin Young tune? Let us know what you think.

I can't take credit for discovering this musical connection, as I first read about it on PhantasyTour a few months back, but I figured now that The Weight is back in business, it would be interesting to bring this bit of music trivia to the attention of our readers.

Jesse Colin Young
Let Your Light Shine

Allman Brothers
Soulshine

And He Shall Be Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John

2011-01-31T23:33:00.002-05:00

The fourth song on Elton John's fourth album, recorded on February 27, 1971, is 'Levon'. The lyrics, like so many others, were written by the great Bernie Taupin. The track speaks of a son being born to Alvin Tostig on Christmas day ... sing it with me .... And he shall be Levon / And he shall be a good man. The song [and main character] was named in tribute to Levon Helm, as The Band was one of Bernie and Elton's favorite groups at the time.

Elton John and his partner David Furnish just a few weeks ago became the parents of a baby boy, born to a surrogate mother, a pawn as it were. The men named their son Zachary Jackson Levon in tribute to Elton's song from nearly 40 years earlier. And the best part of this story is that, just as the song goes, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born on Christmas Day.

Let's all tip our caps to Levon Helm and listen to the studio version of 'Levon' from Madman Across The Water, one of Elton John's best:

Chris Cotton: White Man Sings The Blues

2011-01-30T18:26:00.008-05:00

You know the feeling of elation after finding a 20-dollar-bill in last year's winter coat? Well, today, I got that same feeling after stumbling upon an artist I'd never heard while listening to the "acoustic blues" channel on AOL radio. "Acoustic blues," a long-time favorite of mind, normally digs deep into the back catalog of old Delta blues and folk standards; rarely do we hear any contemporary artists, and for good reason -- because the movement saw its heyday from around the turn of the 20th Century until the early 1950's. So I was somewhat surprised to hear a recording without the typical hisses, crackles and pops of most of the songs from that era. Even more surprising was my reaction to learn that the performer was white -- another paradox when talking about the Delta blues. Lo and behold, his name is Chris Cotton and I assure you, he is the real deal. Reminiscent of the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy, John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson, I was floored by his gritty tone and soulful finger-picking style -- an absolute must if you intend on channeling the spirits of the great ones. According to his bio on Last.fm:

"An aural portrait that owes a debt to Southern bluesmen and Americana pioneers alike, Chris Cotton’s Yellow Dog Records debut sounds like a house party caught on tape – world-weary men effortlessly strumming their guitars and bass, while passing around a jug of whiskey for sustenance. The barrelhouse piano, is, of course, pushed up against one wall; Cotton’s gravelly voice reigns over the debauchery. The scene is timeless – harkening back to days when the distinction between blues and country was hopelessly blurred."

How is that for an endorsement. Naturally, I searched YouTube but unfortunately found only a handful of amateur clips of Cotton playing on friends' porches, at house parties, and at chatty dive bars. Overlooking the obvious, I visited his website and MySpace page, where you can buy his studio releases -- which I plan on doing -- and listen to most of his catalog.

In any event, here is a clip of Cotton performing the Dixieland standard, "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey." And pay no mind to the cockeyed hat and grunge-inspired attire; Cotton is legit. You can see it in his face and hear it in his voice. And while Derek Trucks may be the heir-apparent of the blues-throne amongst the younger generation, I like Cotton as the dark horse candidate.

Chris Cotton, "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey"

Here was the song I hear today, "Louis Collins" -- another old blues standard:
http://www.myspace.com/cottonchris/music/songs/louis-collins-40956137

Cover Me Do

2011-01-29T14:54:00.003-05:00

Without checking any stats, I think it's safe to assume that The Beatles are the most frequently covered band in music history. And a cursory search of YouTube pretty much confirms this much. However, my search yielded some very interesting clips. The Weight wants to know which of these do you think is the most original (cheap attempt at boosting reader participation):

Jack White performing "Mother Nature's Son"

Franz Ferdinand performing "It Won't Be Long"

Soundgarden performing "Come Together"

Stereophonics and Oasis performing "I'm Only Sleeping"

Booker T. & The MGs performing an Abbey Road Medley

Nirvana performing "I Feel Fine" (sort of)

Elvis Presley performing "Yesterday" (brilliant)

And last but not least...a very tired and jaded Beatles covering themselves (this footage is unreal -- make sure to watch entire clip)

There are countless others -- if you find some good ones, let us know.

Turn The Page: Bob Seger On The Road Again

2011-01-29T14:25:00.001-05:00

Reclusive Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Bob Seger has announced plans to go out on a tour this spring with his Silver Bullet Band, his first tour since late-2006 and only his second since 1996. It's not yet known how many dates Seger will play on this year's tour, but I've read rumors of 20-30 dates with another possible leg of the tour coming in the fall. At this time, only four markets are highlighted on a US map for the spring dates on his website: Ohio, Michigan, New York and Missouri. The rest of the tour should be announced soon. Last March, Bob announced that he would be doing a full tour in the fall of 2010, but that outing never materialized with Bob instead choosing to continue working on the follow-up to his 2006 studio album, Face The Promise. I bought Face The Promise when it was first released back in 2006 and its got a ton of spins on my iTunes over the last few years. It was really a great album that not surprisingly didn't generate much Internet buzz, but it has sold over 1 million copies, certified platinum, when so few records achieve that status anymore.

In 1980, Bob Seger released the album Against the Wind and it became his first and only #1 album on the Billboard album chart. The first single "Fire Lake" featured Eagles Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Glen Frey on backing vocals. Glen Frey and Bob Seger's relationship goes way back to when both were working in the Detroit rock scene in the late 60s. Glen Frey's first recording gig was performing acoustic guitar and background vocals on Bob Seger's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1968.

Take a listen to the studio recording of Fire Lake featuring Bob Seger and the trio of Eagles:

Ramblin' Man: Hayes Carll To Open For Levon Helm

2011-01-26T23:41:00.005-05:00

When you're writing songs for Guy Clark, who's songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, and The Highwaymen, you know you're doing something right.

This afternoon, I received an email from Levon Helm Studios listing the dates for the next set of Midnight Rambles taking place at Levon's barn/studio/home in Woodstock, NY. The list of dates includes the artists that will be opening for each of the shows. Included as the opener and guest on February 12th, which is amazingly the 201st Ramble hosted by Helm on his property, is Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll, a name that I expect many of you don't recognize. I don't know alot about Carll, other than that it looks like his first and last name got swapped, that he is the songwriter I mentioned at the start of this post, and that his song 'Wish I Hadn't Stayed So Long' has existed on one of my Grooveshark playlists for well over a year.

Like all songs that end up on this playlist, I first heard it on Pandora on one of several custom stations I've created over time to discover new music. When I like a song I hear on there, I make a note of it and add it Grooveshark so I can then listen to it on demand. Doing some research tonight on Carll, I learned that before graduating from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas in 1998, he began writing songs influenced by Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, Jack Kerouac and Dead Poets Society. Looks like I was on to something with Hayes.

With my pleasant surprise in seeing Carll's name in my email today, I decided that I would introduce to you the song that introduced him to me.

Hayes Carll
Wish I Hadn't Stayed So Long

If you like what you hear, Hayes Carll will be opening for Jason Isbell at the Bowery Ballroom in April.

Bonus Content:

Interpreting the Grateful Dead

2011-01-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

This is hardly breaking news, but something tells me there are a few readers of The Weight that aren't aware of this. On their new album, 'The King Is Dead', released just last Tuesday, the Decemberist's cover the Grateful Dead's 'Row Jimmy.' While I admire the attempt at one of the Dead's best slow songs, their take falls far short of the emotive original.

Decemberists
Row Jimmy

Speaking of 'The King Is Dead', fortunately for us, Elvis Costello is far from dead and knows a little something about interpreting the Grateful Dead. This is how its supposed to be done:

Elvis Costello
Ship of Fools

Bonus Content

Elvis Costello, Levon Helm, Allen Toussaint, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, Larry Campbell, and The Imposters play 'Tennessee Jed' on the Costello hosted interview show Spectacle:

Waylon Jennings: Are You Sure Jimmy Done It This Way?

2011-01-24T22:23:00.004-05:00

I started this post to write about Jimmy Buffett playing his first concert in Australia in 24 years. Fortunately for me, I stumbled upon a video that led me down a different path.

In 2004, Jimmy Buffett released an album called License To Chill that featured many of the biggest country acts of the day, including Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, and Kenny Chesney. It's his only album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and we haven't been able to escape 'It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere' ever since. Its my opinion, and there is much evidence to back this up, that it was right at the same time that modern country artists started to make their money rehashing the Jimmy Buffett formula of singing songs about islands, surf, and sand to people who don't live near any of those things. This sound further commercialized country music, giving it a slick, produced veneer and removed much of the traditional elements of heartbreak and honky-tonk that make it so honest and relatable. Now don't get me wrong, I'm actually a fan of Jimmy Buffett and I think he does what he does well, but I don't want margaritas anywhere near my whiskey.

With this trend in modern country music to sway towards Jimmy Buffett's islands in the past decade, I was very surprised to find evidence that one of country music's superstars tackled a Jimmy Buffett tune way back in 1997, before it was financially advantageous to do so. Highwayman Waylon Jennings included his take on Buffett's 'He Went To Paris' on his All American Country album. Waylon's version does this song the real country music way, featuring steel guitar without a hint of steel drums.

The Weight Recommends: The Silver Seas

2011-01-22T20:59:00.012-05:00

I've had these two 'New-Music Sampler' CDs, that were packaged with a copy of Paste Magazine I'd gotten in the mail, sitting in my apartment since last summer. Every time I'd come across them while cleaning my place, I decided that I couldn't throw them out without first dropping them in the CD player. Well, here we are six months later and I've just gotten though the first one (July 2010) with the other one left to go (June 2010).

What I'd planned to do, in listening to each CD, is downselect the songs I liked and then from there I would pick a single favorite that I could recommend here on The Weight. I figured there'd at least be a few per disc that I'd enjoy enough to put on my short list.

I started working my way through each of the 20 songs on the first disc, including some artists I'd heard of before (Menomena, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, Andrew Bird) and many that I had not (Blue Giant, Wintersleep, The Young Veins, Spree Wilson). I'd gotten through 18 songs before I really liked anything that I heard. What's so disappointing is that Paste Magazine is a publication that I really respect. In a few cases, the intro was decent enough but I found myself turned off after a few vocal lines. I consider myself to be pretty open-minded about music, accepting that in all genres there are good and bad songs, and these songs didn't do it for me. At least based on my first listens.

So after suffering through 90% of the July sampler, I finally heard what I was hoping for. In the second to last track I found a song that I could confidently put my seal of approval on. It's Track 19 from the July 2010 Paste Magazine New Music Sampler. And its by Nashville band The Silver Seas on their April release Chateau Revenge. The song is called "Best Things In Life" and its not just the best song on the CD, its one of the best songs I've heard in months. The Pointer Sisters wish they could still groove like this!

The Silver Seas
'Best Things In Life'
Chateau Revenge

Bonus Content:
Here's another song by the Silver Seas that both nameschecks The Weight favorites ELO and also does a damn fine job of replicating their sound. Jeff Lynne would be proud.

The Silver Seas
"What's The Drawback"
Chateau Revenge

The Legend of Big Bill Broonzy

2011-01-22T15:19:00.007-05:00

Shame on me and shame on The Weight for failing to ever pay homage to this hero of a man -- a man whose life & times is as mythical as his musical legacy. Let me share a little of Broonzy's story:

(courtesy of Wikipedia)

Born William Lee Conley Broonzy, "Big Bill" was one of Frank Broonzy and Mittie Belcher's 17 children. His birth site and date are disputed...He began playing music at an early age. At the age of 10 he made himself a fiddle from a cigar box and learned how to play spirituals and folk songs from his uncle, Jerry Belcher... In 1915, 17-year-old Broonzy was married and working his own land as a sharecropper. He had decided to give up the fiddle and become a preacher. There is a story that he was offered $50 and a new violin if he would play four days at a local venue. Before he could respond to the offer, his wife took the money and spent it, so he had to play.

* * *

In 1916 his crop and stock were wiped out by drought. Broonzy went to work locally until he was drafted into the Army in 1917. Broonzy served two years in Europe during the first world war. After his discharge from the Army in 1919, Broonzy returned to Pine Bluff, Arkansas where he is reported to have been called a racial epithet and told by a white man he knew before the war that he needed to "hurry up and get his soldier uniform off and put on some overalls." He immediately left Pine Bluff and moved to the Little Rock area but a year later in 1920 moved north to Chicago in search of opportunity...

* * *

After arriving in Chicago, Broonzy made the switch to guitar. He learned guitar from minstrel and medicine show Papa Charlie Jackson veteran , who began recording for Paramount Records in 1924. Through the 1920s Broonzy worked a string of odd jobs, including Pullman porter, cook, foundry worker and custodian, to supplement his income, but his main interest was music. He played regularly at rent parties and social gatherings, steadily improving his guitar playing. During this time he wrote one of his signature tunes, a solo guitar piece called "Saturday Night Rub."

In 1930 Paramount for the first time used Broonzy's full name on a recording, "Station Blues" — albeit misspelled as "Big Bill Broomsley". Record sales continued to be poor, and Broonzy was working at a grocery store...In March 1932 he traveled to New York City and began recording for the American Record Corporation on their line of less expensive labels: (Melotone, Perfect Records, et al.). These recordings sold better and Broonzy began to become better known. Back in Chicago he was working regularly in South Side clubs, and even toured with Memphis Minnie...In 1934 Broonzy moved to Bluebird Records and began recording with pianist Bob "Black Bob" Call. His fortunes soon improved.

* * *

Broonzy expanded his work during this period as he honed his song writing skills which showed a knack for appealing to his more sophisticated city audience as well as people that shared his country roots. His work in this period shows he performed across a wider musical spectrum than almost any other bluesman before or since including ragtime, hokum blues, country blues, city blues, jazz tinged songs, folk songs and spirituals. After World War II, Broonzy recorded songs that were the bridge that allowed many younger musicians to cross over to the future of the blues: the electric blues of post war Chicago.

* * *

In Europe, Broonzy was greeted with standing ovations and critical praise wherever he played. The tour marked a turning point in his fortunes, and when he returned to the United States he was a featured act with many prominent folk artists such as Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Leadbelly. From 1953 on his financial position became more secure and he was able to live quite well on his music earnings. Broonzy returned to his solo folk-blues roots, and travelled and recorded extensively...In 1953, Dr. Vera (King) Morkovin and Studs Terkel took Broonzy to Circle Pines Center, a cooperative year-round camp in Hastings, Michigan, where he was employed as the summer camp cook. He worked there in the summer from '53-'56. On July 4, 1954, Pete Seeger traveled to Circle Pines and gave a concert with Bill on the farmhouse lawn, which was recorded by Seeger for the new fine arts radio station in Chicago, WFMT-FM...

* * *

By 1958 Broonzy was suffering from the effects of throat cancer. He died August 15, 1958, and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Illinois.

{wiping the tears from my eyes so I can continue writing}

One of 17 children? Minstrel and Medicine Shows? Fiddles made from cigar boxes? A sharecropper? WWI veteran? Pullman porter? Was working as a cook at a summer camp where Pete Seeger visited only to play a show with him? How is there not a national holiday celebrated in honor of this man? Or an Academy Award-winning film about his life? Or a widespread revival of his music? His story and achievements are simply epic. No doubt a musical journey even Dylan wishes he could claim for himself. Big Bill Broonzy, The Weight salutes you!

Below is an astonishing clip of Broonzy performing "When Did You Leave Heaven." The footage, shot in noir-type fashion, I promise will send shivers down your spine.

Big Bill Broonzy, "When Did You Leave Heaven" (date and source unknown)

Lennon & ...Garfunkel?

2011-01-19T21:29:00.000-05:00

At the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on March 1st, 1975, Paul Simon presented the Record of the Year Award with John Lennon. You'll be very surprised to see who the award is presented to.

Simon & ...Dylan!

2011-01-18T23:37:00.003-05:00

I've just stumbled on yet another amazing live performance on YouTube. Recorded during one of their on-stage collaborations during their Summer of '99 co-headlining tour, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, along with Dylan's backing band (featuring Larry Campbell at the time) tackle Simon and Garfunkel's 'Sounds of Silence'. As I've now learned, this song was performed by the two men on every night of the tour as a transition out of the opener's set into the set break, and I can only imagine that it was just as special every time it happened.

(Click the red link to launch the player)

Bob Dylan & Paul Simon - Sound Of Silence (Live) Vidéo gotti57 sélectionnée dans Musique

Bonus Content:

Dylan's recorded version of 'The Boxer' on his own Self Portrait

Simon & ...Oak Ridge Boys?

2011-01-18T22:31:00.008-05:00

I'm sitting here on my sofa, surfing the web, trying to find some interesting content to write a blog post about Paul Simon and the Oak Ridge Boys. While that might sound like an odd combination and a quite difficult task, the reason for it, is in 1977, Paul Simon hand picked the gospel-country Boys to back him up on one of the two new tracks that would be featured on his first greatest hits collection as a solo artist. The album, eventually titled 'Greatest Hits, Etc' after the original title 'Blatant Greatest Hits' was scrapped, was pulled together so that Simon could fulfill his contract with Columbia Records before leaving them for his eventual home at Warner Brothers.

Instead of my focusing on the task at hand though, I can't take my eyes off the TV where I've turned on Piers Morgan's interview of Howard Stern on his second episode after taking over for Larry King on CNN. Stern is a great get for Morgan's first week (he had Oprah on last night). I don't think I've ever seen him properly interviewed on TV before. Howard always tells it like it is, and with him in the hot seat for once, this is no different. He's coming across as a very humble, intelligent, witty, self-deprecating, and keenly observant dude; which are all of the reasons that, despite confessing that he came up with the moniker as a goof, he truly is the King of All Media.

....Anyway, back to the task at hand. Please enjoy this 1987 live performance, that took place during a concert curated by Paul Simon, later released on a DVD titled 'Paul Simon and Friends: A Night of Gospel Glory', featuring himself and the Oak Ridge Boys reuniting ten years later to perform 'Slip Slidin' Away':

Needful Things: James McMurtry Reissues

2011-01-17T22:43:00.001-05:00

Two of singer-songwriter James McMurtry’s most popular albums will be reissued by Lightning Rod Records on February 1, 2011. They are 'Live in Aught-Three', originally released in aught-four and 2005’s Childish Things. Novelist Stephen King, a longtime fan who has written about McMurtry several times in his Entertainment Weekly column (including the January 7, 2011 issue, where he hailed McMurtry as “the best songwriter in America”), described “We Can’t Make It Here” as the “best American protest song since [Bob Dylan’s] “Masters of War.”’ Childish Things and “We Can’t Make It Here” won the Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively.

The son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), James grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His first album, released in 1989, was produced by John Mellencamp. In September 2006, McMurtry received more Americana Music Award nominations for 2008’s Just Us Kids.

James McMurtry
Out Here in the Middle

James McMurtry
We Can't Make It Here

It Shall Be Released: Bob Dylan Chronicles, Volume 2

2011-01-17T22:12:00.002-05:00

Chronicles, Volume One, the first edition of a planned three-part memoir written by the hand of Bob Dylan, was released over six years ago. It spent 19 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and was one of five finalists for the American National Book Critics Circle Award in 2004. Since that time, there has been almost no news in regards to when the second volume would be penned by Dylan and ultimately released.

In today's email from Uncut Magazine editor Allan Jones, in regards to a second installment of Chronicles, he writes:

In news just in, though, we hear that Dylan has just signed a new deal, with Simon & Schuster, who published Chronicles and have long maintained they had an agreement with Bob to put out the two further volumes of Chronicles, as previously announced.

The deal is apparently for six Dylan books – the two follow-ups to Chronicles and four more apparently based on Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, which will presumably be based on Dylan's often hilarious commentary and links between songs, although this has yet to be confirmed.

There is no word on when the second book will be on shelves, but hopefully its any day now.

A Life of Illusion

2011-01-16T12:33:00.001-05:00

I have always been a huge admirer of Joe Walsh. Perhaps no better example of the roller coaster-type careers many great rock stars endure, Walsh was rarely shy about sharing his "story" with the general public. Most famous for his tongue-in-cheek poke at the excesses of stardom and the music industry in "Life's Been Good," his follow-up hit "A Life of Illusion," speaks more to the plight of the common man. Here, Walsh continues where he left off, expanding on his inherent skepticism of subjects ranging from chance to irony to the meaning of life. Take for example:

Hey, don't you know it's a waste of the day,

Caught up in endless solutions.

That have no meaning, just another hunch,

Based upon jumping conclusions.

Caught up in endless solutions,

Backed up against a wall of confusion.

Living a life of illusion.

Now that is some philosophical shit!

(The song was cleverly used by Judd Apatow as the main theme to The 40-Year-Old Virgin)

Joe Walsh - "A Life of Illusion" (1981)

Dead Funky: Etta James and The Grateful Dead

2011-01-13T22:20:00.004-05:00

Phish gave us 20 minutes of the Meatstick for our third set this past New Year's Eve. During their New Years's Eve concert in 1982, at the Oakland Coliseum, the Greatful Dead welcomed the Tower of Power horns and Etta James for their entire third set. Etta fronted the band for a four song mini set, including her own "Tell Mama," Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do," Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour," and Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle."

Take a look at this video of the Dead from that night backing Etta James on their last ever performance of "Hard To Handle."

The R Train

2011-01-13T20:11:00.001-05:00

The following clip has entirely nothing to do with music, film or pop culture, but I nonetheless couldn't resist posting it here as many of our readers and 2/3 of our contributors, including yours truly, reside in NYC.

Fucking up during a blizzard is one thing, but this is totally unacceptable! Please be a hoax!

Metamorphosis of a Rockstar

2011-01-12T16:30:00.019-05:00

I'm not quite sure what really prompted the idea, but while in the process of jotting down some thoughts for other posts, I got to thinking about why/how certain bands achieve years, if not decades, of success while others' careers end up in the shitter. My knee jerk response was that the type or genre of music ultimately determines whether a band will enjoy relative long-term success or notoriety. This would include the artist or band's technical ability, coupled with of course, that musical genre's ability to transcend specific time periods, like hard rock, which is no doubt as popular today as it was in the 70's. But while this theory seemed to make sense on its face, there were far too many exceptions. For example, it doesn't support why a band like The Rolling Stones, who were more or less known for their trademark blues-driven songs, are as immensely popular today as they were in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Now, I could be wrong, but I highly doubt Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters are amongst the top iTunes downloads with today's younger generations. So, it clearly isn't the genre of music that has driven the Stones' success over the years. Similarly, take U2, who, despite my unabashed disdain for Bono, has enjoyed infinite popularity and has seemingly mastered the ability to adapt to what the people want to hear -- little of which I attribute to worldwide interest in Irish rock/folk music. Metallica falls into this category as well.

My theory equally fails to explain why bands like King Crimson or E.L.P. -- who exhibited great technical aptitude and musical versatility -- remain virtually unknown by the general populous. Or why bands like The Monkees, Poison or even Bon Jovi for that matter -- who were once considered "cool" during each of their peak years of success (yea, I know, only here on The Weight is it possible to see The Monkees and Poison mentioned in the same sentence) -- have become cliches of decades past or survive solely by pandering to those audiences stuck in their respective generations (e.g. cruise-ship-goers and residents of New Jersey -- and I mean that endearingly, sort of...). So, after giving it more thought (about another minute or so to be precise), I'm afraid that the answer boils down to, you guessed it: image. Like it or not, there is probably a large element of truth to Peter Gabriel's timeless lyric, "if looks could kill, they probably will." Now, some of you might be reading this and thinking to yourself, "Well, no shit, Captain Obvious!" "Of course image matters." But the fact remains, there is a reason why Steve Miller and Three Dog Night continue to wear bad toupees and play to crowds of suburban Jewish housewives and the Stones can sellout a stadium in under thirty minutes. Apparently, change isn't that easy.

The Beatles of course, were the epitome of a band who mastered the art of adaptation (granted there are infinite other reasons for the Beatles' legacy, but there isn't nearly enough space to write about it here) and I think few artists typified this ability more than the Dark Horse himself, George Harrison. Indeed, I think it's fair to say that Harrison was known less for his guitar abilities than for his modest good looks -- and killer mustache growth. Sure, Harrison was set for life regardless simply because he was a Beatle, but I'd venture to guess that his ability to transcend and stay fresh over a period of roughly forty years, is what ultimately kept him appealing to a wide array of audiences, not just diehard fans of the Fab Four (compare with Ringo whose inability to change has somewhat kept him a parody of himself -- though, I still have much love for you Ringo if you're reading this!). So if we come full circle, take a look at Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, David Gilmour, Bob Dylan, etc. who I think tend to prove my theory that style + ability to adapt = long-term success. There will always be exceptions (i.e. Neil Young, Jimmy Page, all 4 members of Kiss, etc.), but I think it's fair to say that while regrettable, and even unfair to some extent, technical ability has little to do with longevity.

That, and because I really wanted to post a picture of Harrison in his Leon Russell phase (see row 3, photo 1) which is just cool as shit and worthy of recognition alone.

Hence, here is my George Harrison through the years (yes, I created this montage myself [insert nerd insult here]):

2011-01-12T10:16:00.001-05:00

In recognition of Mayor Bloomberg's superior *cough* job tackling last evening's snow (or lack thereof), here's a little GD to get you goin' on a morning you thought you'd still be in bed...

Grateful Dead, "Cold Rain and Snow" - Rich Stadium, Buffalo, NY, 07-04-86

When Dylan Met Bono

2011-01-11T22:56:00.004-05:00

On July 8th, 1984, Bob Dylan played a concert at Slane Castle in Dublin that was flimed for broadcast on MTV. His band that night, and his touring band for the entire '84 summer tour, included Mick Taylor formerly of the Rolling Stones on guitar and Ian MacLagan formerly of The Faces on keyboards. Sitting in on the final seven songs that night was Carlos Santana. During Santana's extended sit in, Bono traded lyrics with Dylan during "Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat" and a set closing "Blowin' In The Wind" and Van Morrison appeared on "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" and his own "Tupelo Honey".

On the day of the concert, the publication Hot Press arranged for the young 24-year old Bono to interview Dylan backstage. When Bono arrived, he found Dylan in the company of Van Morrison.

Read the fascinating full transcript of the interview/conversation between Bono, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison.

Bono's friend Neil McCormick was at Slane Castle that night, and in his book Killing Bono, Neil recalled:

"It seemed Dylan had asked Bono if he would like to join him for an encore. Naturally, Bono said it would be an honor, the problem was that Bono didn't have the faintest idea what the lyrics to 'Blowin' in the Wind' were, and for that matter, had only the vaguest notion of the melody. A roar went up as Bono took the stage with Dylan, grabbed a microphone and began to sing......the first things to enter his head. Dylan looked rather startled as Bono improvised lines about the northern Irish conflict....clearly Bono wasn't going to let a little thing like not knowing the words stop him from performing the song.

It was all going so well, and then the band launched as one unit into the famous chorus, while Bono, oblivious to the chord change, continued making up lyrics to the verse....Dylan's head swivelled as he turned to look at his guest with an expression of complete eye-popping, jaw-dropping disbelief. I watched transfixed as Bono hovered, on the verge of a spectacular crash, when, realizing his mistake, he started howling 'How many times? How many times?' like a blues mantra while the band brought the chorus home. Wisely, Bono let Dylan sing the final verse."

Listen to the 'Blowin In The Wind encore, where Bono ad-libs a verse of a song he clearly doesn't know the words to. It's nearly a train wreck.

The full setlist that night was:

1. Highway 61 Revisited
2. Jokerman
3. All Along The Watchtower
4. Just Like A Woman
5. Maggie's Farm
6. I And I
7. License To Kill
8. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
9. Tangled Up In Blue
10. To Ramona
11. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
12. Shelter From The Storm
13. Masters Of War
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man
15. Enough Is Enough
16. Every Grain Of Sand
17. Like A Rolling Stone

18. Mr. Tambourine Man
19. With God On Our Side
20. Girl From The North Country
21. Simple Twist Of Fate (w/ Santana, through to end of show)
22. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (w/ Van Morrison)
23. Tupelo Honey (w/ Van Morrison)
24. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (w/ Bono)
25. Tombstone Blues
26. The Times They Are A-Changin'
27. Blowin' In The Wind (w/ Bono)

Chairman of the Bards?

2011-01-10T18:32:00.007-05:00

Is Page the new Shakespeare? Last year, I uncovered a vintage Phish photo where I drew a comparison between a young Page McConnell and Tom Hanks circa the movie Big. However, a painting universally agreed by historians to be that of William Shakespeare, bears an even more uncanny resemblance to Leo himself (see below).

Editor's note:

According to The Phish Companion, "My Friend, My Friend” is one of the tunes in Phish’s repertoire that bridges the gap between compositional complexity and sing-along simplicity. The lyrics, with their references to knives and bombs are among Tom Marshall’s most unsettling, lacking the giddy smiles of so many Phish songs. Some have even written near-treatises drawing connections between “My Friend, My Friend” and that most unsettling of Shakespeare’s works, Macbeth."

Furthermore, according to Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts, "The subsequent nighttime interlude comes in the form of the paranoid nightmare of, “My Friend, My Friend,” formerly titled, “Knife.” With the opening verse, we see a picture of someone who believes his friend will murder him and marry his love. Rife with Shakespearean overtones, and parallels the deceptive plot of betrayal in Macbeth, this song is the darkest, thematically, on the album."

Coincidence? Judge for yourself...

I Don't Like Mondays

2011-01-10T11:31:00.006-05:00

I'm 32 and it's time I start expanding my musical horizons. While my roots are, and will continue to be, firmly planted in the realm of classic rock, I'm trying to impose upon myself in the new year a musical renaissance of sorts. So as part of this "awakening," I've been dedicating a few hours each day to various stations on AOL Radio that previously went ignored (Deep Tracks and 70's Country were the usual suspects). In recent months, I've been particularly drawn to the 80's alternative channel which highlights bands ranging from The Pogues to Public Image, Ltd to The Psychedelic Furs, etc. Now, don't get me wrong -- I've always been a fan of the music; my knowledge, however, was somewhat limited to anecdotal tidbits picked up along the way.

The Boomtown Rats are one of those bands that needs to make it to my iPod. Led by artist/activist Bob Geldof, The Boomtown Rats were a highly influential Irish punk rock band that undoubtedly spearheaded the burgeoning punk rock/New Wave movement, both in the U.K. and abroad. Hardly recognized in the U.S., one of their tunes did achieve some relative success in the States: "I Don't Like Mondays" -- a controversial song about the 1979 Brenda Ann Spencer shooting spree in San Diego, California. Due to the sensitive nature of the song, U.S. radio stations significantly limited its airplay, despite the fact that it went to #1 in the U.K. single charts. However, their success was short-lived; The Boomtown Rats' popularity faded and predictably, the band eventually parted ways -- purportedly because of the cliched "creative differences" (though like his good friend Roger Waters, I imagine this had more to do with Geldof's expanding ego and growing political activism). Geldof of course, went on to become the founder of Band Aid, chief organizer of Live Aid, a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and undeniably, one of the original pop-activists (take that, Bono!). Though, Sir Bob was not without his critics -- most notably, Morrisey, who had these choice words to say:

"I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."

But most of us will always remember Geldof as Syd Barrett's alter-ego "Pink" in the 1982 film, The Wall. So, here's to Mondays -- which controversies aside, I can confidently say are universally, not liked by all.

The Boomtown Rats - "I Don't Like Mondays" (Live from The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, Drury Lane Theater, London, 1981)

Don't Call It A Comeback

2011-01-10T01:00:00.003-05:00

2011 New Year's Resolutions:

1) drink less
2) eat better
3) go to gym
4) call my mother more often
5) bring back The Weight.

I can assure you that resolution #'s 1-4 will not happen; #5 however, starts today.
I'm proud to say that effective immediately, everyone's favorite all-purpose blog is back. Update your bookmarks & be sure to follow us at: twitter.com/theweightonline

More to come...

It's been a long time/Now I'm/Coming back home.
I've been away now/Oh, how/I've been alone.
Wait.

RIP Richie Hayward

2010-08-12T22:45:00.000-04:00

In August 2009, Richie Hayward, drummer for Little Feat from its origins in 1969 until 2009, announced that he had recently been diagnosed with liver cancer and would not be at work indefinitely. A benefit concert was organized and a website created where fans unable to attend could donate towards his treatment costs. Hayward lived in Canada, outside of his native USA, and did not have health insurance. Little Feat have announced that their drum technician Ford will take his place. He died from liver cancer on August 12, 2010.

In November 2009, Levon Helm auctioned his Last Waltz gold record to support Heyward's recovery effort.

Little Feat
Time Loves A Hero

It's All About Seoul!

2010-07-26T23:39:00.007-04:00

Well, actually Japan...but I couldn't resist. You have to check out this clip of a Japanese cover band playing Billy Joel's 'All About Soul' from the River of Dreams album. Great, great song.

But first I wanted to say that I've been on a major Billy Joel kick lately. And I feel about him the way I feel about Van Morrison. It's all about the back catalog baby. Brown Eyed Girl. Pop crap. Piano Man...well that's just a good song. But anyway, I've been mining the Billy Joel archives because life has thrown me a few curve balls in the last couple of months. And Billy speaks the kind of truth that I need to hear right now. Plus, anyone who can get Elle MacPherson and Christie Brinkley in the same lifetime is okay with me.

First listen to the Billy Joel version at least for 30 seconds to get the vibe of the song.

Then check out the Japanese cover band. Who knew the Piano Man translated to Japan? Actually maybe it doesn't! Love the vocals and the dedication. He's REALLY trying for the impersonation. Do they even know what they are singing???

UPDATE: 'A Voyage on the River of Dreams' is an Australian 3-CD box set released in 1994, which includes the studio album, River Of Dreams, along with a 6-track live CD from the '93-'94 River Of Dreams tour, plus a Questions & Answers CD recorded at Princeton University^.This boxed set made the charts in Australia (#33) and New Zealand (#47), the only places besides JAPAN where the set was officially released.

There you have it. The Japanese love them some Billy Joel. Who knew?

Frank Turner at Bonnaroo

2010-06-21T22:54:00.009-04:00

Back on May 1, 2007, in the early days of this site, I posted a video of English folk-punk singer Frank Turner performing his song "The Real Damage" on a barge in South London. At the time, Frank had just released his first studio album. I don't remember how I originally happened upon the video, but I remember being immediately taken with his impassioned acoustic performance of the song he'd written about waking up in a strange house, among strange people, with a dead cell phone and no memory of what he'd done the night before.

Three years later, after gaining increasing popularity around the world, Turner played at this year's Bonnaroo in one of the festival's smaller tents, the Troo Music Lounge. Just prior to the Stateside gig, Frank played a concert in Israel and earlier in 2010 he played shows in faraway countries like China and New Zealand. Even though he wasn't on one of the proper stages at Bonnaroo, his booking is recognition that his stock is rising in America.

One of the songs he performed at the festival is called "Nashville, Tennessee." No, he didn't write it specifically for the festival. He's actually been performing it since at least 2006 (evidenced by YouTube). Watching the video, its pretty cool seeing him finally performing the song inside of the state that inspired the title. He seems to being enjoying that fact as well.

"Nashville, TN" features the lyrics:

From the heart of the Southern Downs, to the North-East London reservoirs,
From the start, the land scaped my sound, before I'd ever been to America.
And if I knew anybody who played pedal steel guitar,
I'd get them in my band and then my band would get real far,
But I was raised in middle England, and not in Nashville Tennessee,
And the only person in my band is me.

Photo Monday

2010-06-21T11:53:00.000-04:00

The Band chilling in their kitchen in Williamsbur...I mean, Saugerties, New York (Photo by Elliott Landy, 1968)

Father's Day: My Father's Eyes

2010-06-17T23:50:00.007-04:00

With Sunday being Father's Day, I decided for tonight's post that I would do some searching online for an appropriate song to commemorate the occasion. Combing through the results, I concluded that: "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" is a little too funky and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" is just downright incorrect. Despite reviewing pages of search results, in my head, I couldn't get past Eric Clapton's "My Father's Eyes" from his 1998 album Pilgrim. This is an album that my parents bought for me while I was in college. It's the one that featured Eric's duet with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, "Change The World," that's been inescapable on radio ever since. The album got a good number of spins on my stereo before finding its permanent home in my Pro Logic CD book.

One song on the album that always stood out to me was My Father's Eyes. The lyrics are moving, Clapton's vocal is soulful and strong, and the guitar riff is clean and memorable. One negative, which doesn't totally detract from the song, is that the production is a little too slick; a little too perfect. Despite that complaint, I still do enjoy listening to it since it reminds me of the days where I actually flipped through my Pro Logic CD book looking for something to drop into the Discman to soundtrack my walk to class. It also happens to be an emotional song about the relationship between a father and a son, with the lyrics touching on both Eric never meeting his own father and the tragic loss of his son Connor.

As is many times the case with YouTube, this evening I stumbled upon a video that I never expected to find, since I never knew its contents took place. Even though My Father's Eyes wasn't released until 1998, on Pilgrim, it was in fact performed six years earlier by Clapton and his band on January 16, 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England. This was the session where Clapton resurrected his career by performing a set of acoustic songs for MTV's Unplugged series. As a result of this night's taping, Clapton won six Grammy's including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Rock Male Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song, with the majority of those accolades received for "Tears In Heaven".

I learned tonight that a number of songs that were played that night did not make it onto the album. One of them was an early version of My Father's Eyes. Fortunately, the video of this performance has made its way online. It contains all of the emotion of the original and drops the slick veneer.

Please take a listen to the unplugged My Father's Eyes performed by Eric Clapton and his band at the legendary 1992 session for MTV and remember to wish your dad a Happy Father's Day on Sunday. [The song starts at 1:38]:

The Old Grey Whistle Test

2010-06-16T22:38:00.010-04:00

The Old Grey Whistle Test was a British music television program running from 1971 to 1987 on the BBC2 channel which featured interview segments and in-studio performances. The acts were chosen not for chart position, a la Top Of The Pops, but rather for the quality of their songwriting and performing. A good number of very successful artists' first British television appearance took place on OGWT, so its clear that the show was both very willing to take chances on relatively unknown acts and had very very good taste. According to Wikipedia, in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programs compiled by the British Film Institute in 2000, The Old Grey Whistle Test ranked 33rd. Three volumes of DVDs have been released featuring performances that took place on the show.

I have compiled a few of my favorite videos from the The Old Grey Whistle Test:

1. The Wailers featuring Bob Marley and Peter Tosh performing Stir It Up in 1973. This performance took place one year before Eric Clapton had his only #1 hit with I Shot The Sheriff. The quality of the audio on this video is stunning:

2. John Lennon performs Stand By Me for the show in 1975. Lennon recorded this in a New York studio City because he couldn't leave the States due to his fight with US Immigration. During the song, John gives out a hello to Julian and everyone in England.

3. ZZ Top perform I Thank You and Cheap Sunglasses in 1980. This is a very rare glimpse at the band performing without their trademark cheap sunglasses, which eventually come out in time for the latter tune.

Three Years Ago On A Warm Dark Night

2010-06-14T21:15:00.007-04:00

Q: What do Gram Parsons and Back Fence superstar Mark West have in common?

A: The influence of George Jones and Lefty Frizzell

Our regular readers will remember that three years ago our WeightStaff field reporter snagged an interview with the elusive, notoriously media-shy Mark West. Mark is the bass player and vocalist in the Vinnie Ferrone Band, which performs regular gigs at The Back Fence bar in Manhattan's West Village. West was featured in our very rare "Ten Questions With..." series back in June 2007. Question Five (of 10) inquired about Mark's influences. Surprisingly, he responded with traditional country music performers George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and "old Kenny Rogers". I've always been surprised by this response, but it makes me respect the man even more. I superficially would have expected him to say Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Ray Charles. But Mark's response demonstrates his ability to appreciate real music from all directions.

Take a listen to Lefty Frizzell's recording of Long Black Veil from 1959, the original recording of this much-covered track. West's indication of Lefty as an influence makes so much more sense when hearing the soul in his vocal delivery of this dark tune. I can absolutely hear Mr. West delivering a killer vocal on this. I'll be sure to request it next time I watch him perform at The Back Fence.

Bonus Fact:
Long Black Veil appears on The Band's Music From Big Pink album and is the the only non-original (or non-Dylan song) on their first four albums.

Fallen Angel: Gram Parsons and Wild Horses

2010-06-14T00:28:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I watched an excellent documentary on the musical career and scandalous death of Gram Parsons. From The Byrds to The Flying Burrito Brothers to his work with Emmylou Harris and The Fallen Angel Band, Gram produced some phenomenal music before his tragic death at the age of 26 from a drug overdose. The movie makes clear Gram's love for traditional country music, including singers George Jones, Buck Owens, and Merle Haggard.

Gram brought his vast knowledge of country music songwriting to The Byrds in 1968 when he was invited to join as a keyboard player by Chris Hillman to help offset the departure of David Crosby. The music Gram produced with them on their Sweetheart of the Rodeo album in 1968 and later with The Flying Burrito Brothers between 1969 and 1970 significantly impacted the infusion of country music into the rock n' roll scene.

While a member of The Byrds, in 1968, through Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons met Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. He began to spend significant amounts of time with them, especially Keith, playing records and teaching them about American country music. As the story goes instead of traveling with The Byrds to perform a charity concert in South Africa, Gram instead opted to remain in Europe with Mick and Keith, which led to Parsons' dismissal from The Byrds.

Over three days in December 1969, The Rolling Stones recorded the song Wild Horses in the famed FAME recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The song was shelved by the band due to contractual issues with their record company, but Parsons heard it and requested permission to record it with The Flying Burrito Brothers even though the song had not yet been released. With Mick Jagger's permission, Parson's recorded the song and included it on the Flying Burrito Brothers' second album, Burrito Deluxe, released in April 1970. Gram honored Mick's request to not release the track as a single. One year later, in April '71, The Rolling Stones recording of Wild Horses was released on their own album, Sticky Fingers.

Take a listen here to The Flying Burrito Brothers' recording of Wild Horses:

Bonus footage:

The Flying Burrito Brothers performing Six Days On The Road as the third band of the day at the infamous Altamont Festival on December 6, 1969. They followed Santana and Jefferson Airplane and preceded CSNY and The Stones. This footage is from the documentary Gimme Shelter:

Lyrics As Poetry: Here Comes That Rainbow Again

2010-06-10T22:27:00.002-04:00

The following clip is from Kris Kristofferson's appearance on the Elvis Costello-hosted television show Spectacle. In introducing his own song, Here Comes That Rainbow Again, Kristofferson states that Johnny Cash wrote in his autobiography that this "might be his favorite song." Heavy praise for a musically simple song with only two verses that runs less than three minutes. One listen to the narrative lyrics and you'll know what Johnny was talking about. The song was released by Kristofferson as a single in 1981 and was subsequently recorded by Cash on his 1985 album Rainbow.

Watch Johnny Cash perform the song in a clip from The Late Show with David Letterman from 1985 featuring an appearance from Waylon Jennings:

From The Archive: Oysterhead

2010-06-09T22:47:00.002-04:00

Comprised of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, Primus bass player Les Claypool, and Police drummer Steward Copeland, Oysterhead formed in April 2000 for a one-off performance. They specifically formed for the Super Jam series organized by New Orleans-based Superfly Entertainment during one night of the city's Jazz and Heritage Festival. Despite their original intention to only perform together one time, the band went on to record a full length album in 2001, called The Grand Pecking Order, and go out on a short tour. I attended their show that year at Constitution Hall in Washington DC and I remember enjoying it, but the band definitely went off into some crazy, psychedelic, freak-out tangents.

Oysterhead reunited on the main stage at the 2006 Bonnaroo Festival, an event partially run by the aforementioned Superfly Entertainment. I was also in the crowd for this festival set, which was even more 'out there' than the show I'd seen in DC and although entertaining for a short time was difficult to stick with in the sweltering heat of the day.

Here's Oysterhead performing Oz Is Ever Floating on the Conan O'Brien show, presumably in 2001. The man mentioned throughout the song, Dr. John C. Lilly, died at the age of 86, two days before the release of the album.

According to Wikipedia, "In the early sixties he [John C. Lilly] was introduced to psychedelics like LSD and (later) ketamine and began a series of experiments in which he took the psychedelic either in an isolation tank or in the company of dolphins. These events are described in his books Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments and The Center of the Cyclone, both published in 1972."

Familiar Faces

2010-06-01T19:14:00.001-04:00

Stars are crawling out of the woodwork to join the band [The Faces] onstage for a reunion tour in early 2011 after their recent reformation. Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall is taking Rod Stewart’s place as vocalist, and Slash, Noel Gallagher, Kelly Jones from Stereophonics and Chris Robinson from The Black Crowes have all been associated with the tour. “There’s loads of people who have said ‘Oh please let’s sing with you’. And Slash is going to help us on guitar when he can fit in between his promotions,” Guitarist Ronnie Wood told the World Entertainment News Network.

The Faces split in 1975—with members going on to find success elsewhere—and reunited briefly for a charity show last year. Hucknall, Wood, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan will play their first gig as the reformed Faces in August in the U.K.

Source: Paste Magazine

Rock Family Tree: Sneakin' Sally

2010-05-31T22:50:00.023-04:00

I love discovering unexpected connections between bands, musicians, or songs that I hadn't previously known about. With a little effort (aka research online) I've been able to uncover countless examples where I'll learn that: a song I've known for some time was actually originally performed or written by someone else of note (see previous post re: The Band covering Marvin Gaye's Baby Don't You Do It), that one famous band was born out of another famous band (e.g., Neal Schon leaving Santana to help form Journey), or that well known musicians sat in to help another artist record an album (e.g., Stephen Stills first solo album in 1970 featured appearances by Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Jimi Hendrix, and Booker T. Jones in addition to David Crosby and Graham Nash).

It was a new discovery tonight that led me to write this post. To set some context, just yesterday morning while shopping at Burlington Records off of Church Street in downtown Burlington, VT, I picked up a vinyl copy of Robert Palmer's first solo record Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley. I was first introduced to the title track from this album in late 1997 when I'd read that Phish had resurrected it in their setlists after the song had been shelved from their live concerts for over eight years. After listening to the song a number of times back then and also hearing Phish play it live on 8/8/98, I was immediately drawn to it, with its relentlessly funky groove.

Fast forward to tonight where I was reading up on the album after dropping the needle on my new purchase. I was very surprised and very excited to read that Palmer was backed on the original 1974 recording of this particular song by some of my favorite musicians of all time, namely the original New Orleans funk pioneers The Meters (Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter, Jr., and Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste) and Little Feat lead guitarist Lowell George. I have been a fan of these other musicians for over ten years and had no idea that they were the musical force behind Robert Palmer's solo debut with Sally. In fact, the Meters and Lowell are featured as Robert's backing band on half of the album (4 of 8 songs), with Lowell George playing on a total of five of them. On the last track, one not featuring the Meters or George, an appearance is made by none other than Steve Winwood on piano. Not bad company for a guy to start off a solo career after three unsuccessful albums with a band called Vinegar Joe. Palmer's second solo album, Pressure Drop, including the title track cover of the Toots and the Maytal's hit, found Robert backed this time by the full Little Feat lineup, including friend Lowell George on lead guitar. On one other track on this record, legendary Motown bass player and Funk Brother James Jamerson lends his skills.

Take a listen to the original Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley, featuring Robert Palmer, the legendary Meters, and the incomparable Lowell George:

Bonus Facts [Source: Wikipedia]:

- This same year, 1974, Paul McCartney invited the Meters to play at the release party for his Venus and Mars album aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones was in attendance and was greatly taken with the Meters and their sound. The Rolling Stones invited the band to open for them on their Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76.

- Neal Schon was asked by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos, but since Santana called Neal only a few days earlier, he decided to join Santana instead.

Did You Know: Easy Rider Edition

2010-05-31T14:34:00.001-04:00

In reference to the previous post, The Band's version of The Weight appears in the Easy Rider film, but the version of the song that was included on the soundtrack was performed by the band Smith because of contractual problems preventing use of The Band's original.

Listen to Smith's take on our namesake tune:

Dennis Hopper: Liberta E Paura

2010-05-30T19:52:00.002-04:00

As I have proselytized in past posts, Dennis Hopper is, and should always be remembered as a true American hero (ironically, it was Peter Fonda's character in Easy Rider who was named "Captain America"). Not just because he was a gifted artist -- which he most certainly was -- but because he refused to take any shit from anyone; he stood up for what he believed in -- for what we all believed in but didn't have the balls to do or say. In fact, I will go as far as stating that without him (and I'm including his ideals, his attitude and of course, the films he bestowed upon us), the "Summer of Love" and on a wider scale, the entire hippie/counter-culture movement, might have been relegated to one forgotten footnote in the short history of this country (Easy Rider was released about 2 months before Woodstock occurred and many of the attendees, especially those from the East, would not have been exposed to what was going on out West but for the film's penetrating message). I firmly believe Hopper epitomized the true essence of being an American: liberty, fearlessness, and rebellion (yes, our country was more or less founded on these principles). And for this, I think we owe him a great debt -- or at a minimum, the proper recognition he deserves.

I will not attempt to eulogize Hopper here because there are far better websites and other outlets where you can read detailed accounts of his life and achievements. But I'll leave you with a quote from Easy Rider, where in his infinite wisdom, acute foresight, and comic irony, Hopper sums up nicely the significance of the counter-culture movement and even more, why this country would never be the same again thereafter:

George Hanson [Jack Nicholson]: They're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em.
Billy [Dennis Hopper]: Hey, man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut.

Well put.

Clip from Easy Rider that brought our namesake, The Weight, into national prominence:

Covered in Dust: The Ultimate Writer's Block

2010-05-30T13:36:00.003-04:00

The Weightstaff is comprised of 3 people. And throughout the lifespan of The Weight's existence, we have each had our time of being prolific and/or fading into the background. Usually, the exuberance and interest of 1 or 2 of the members carries the site and the the other is allowed to roam outside of the blogosphere. Well, considering how long its been since I have regularly posted (think the Nixon era...or so it feels) I have been more out of the loop than Walt from the Island on Lost. [Sorry, I couldn't resist as I'm listening to the Bill Simmons Lost season finale podcast.]

So I'm the guy covered in dust as alluded to in the title of this post. I finished graduate school in the last couple of weeks and was so buried in assignments and working full time that my interest in music and pop culture almost disappeared. So forgive me if this post is more to stretch my blogging legs rather than informing you, the reader, of anything all that interesting. But I am hoping this is the beginning of another beautiful blogship. So bear with me here as I divulge what I have found of note in reading the latest Rolling Stone:

1) The George Harrison/Martin Scorsese biopic is still happening! I love this pairing and am very intrigued by what the final result will be. I want to hear more from the Silent Beatle and will be able to in 2011. If this is as good as No Direction Home, I'll be pleased.

2) The Roots have a new tune called Dear God 2.0 with none other than jacketed Jim James. Back in college, I loved the Roots album 'Do You Want More??!??!' because they were playing instruments when Cash Money and their electronic blips and bleeps were all the rage. I respected it. Good for The Roots for staying (somewhat) relevant.

3) Santana continues his spiritual "whoring himself out" streak with a covers album. Clive Davis has convinced the guitar god to work with Chris Cornell on 'Whole Lotta Love', Joe Cocker on 'Little Wing', Rob Thomas on 'Sunshine of Your Love', and Nas on 'Back in Black'. Really Carlos? This sounds like next year's American Idol finale. Did you already spend all that Supernatural cash on a shrine to Metatron?

Lastly, did Bret Michaels sell his soul to the devil? He has worked the media perfectly so far in this latest "comeback". So, it took cheating death to become the focus of media attention. And I'm sure the attention will flame out. But he should be on Celebrity Rehab not winning Celebrity Apprentice! I applaud his latest "career". You think Vince Neil is trying to figure out how to almost kill himself?

In the upcoming week I'm hitting up Conan O' Brien at Radio City on Wednesday and a Levon Ramble with Drive By Truckers on Saturday. This post is hopefully the rebirth of a big part of my life over the last few years. Here's to wasting more time together in the future...

Levon Helm Birthday Week

2010-05-27T21:56:00.008-04:00

Not only is it Bob Dylan Birthday Week, but as one faithful reader reminded me today, its also Levon Helm Birthday Week! Former drummer extraordinaire for The Band, he celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday, May 26th. On Sunday June 4th, about 20 miles from his home in Woodstock, Levon will be performing on Hunter Mountain for the 4th annual Mountain Jam Festival where his current band will close out the last day of the event with a set labeled as Helm's 70th Birthday Jubilee. The performance is scheduled to include special guests Warren Haynes, Donald Fagen, David and Patterson Hood, Sam Bush, Ray LaMontagne, Steve Earl, and Jackie Greene.

To celebrate his birthday here on The Weight, we bring you a video capturing one of my favorite Levon-sung tunes, The Band's live take on "Don't Do It" from December 1971 at the Academy of Music in NYC.

"Don't Do It", while being famous amongst fans of The Band as being the song to close The Last Waltz (and open the Scorsese-directed film), is known by fewer as a cover of a Marvin Gaye track officially titled "Baby Don't You Do It" penned by legendary Motown writers Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was released in 1964 and features Hitsville USA musicians the Funk Brothers. If you did know that "Don't Do It" was a Marvin Gaye cover, you've likely not heard the original version. Take a listen here:

OK. So let's say you knew about the Marvin Gaye version and you've even heard it before, did you know that The Who recorded and released the song in the Summer of 1972 as the B-side to 'Join Together'?

Honorable mention goes to versions of the song by The Small Faces and The Black Crowes.

Which version is your favorite?:

Bob Dylan Birthday Week Part 3

2010-05-26T21:25:00.002-04:00

On 5/24/06, Bob Dylan's 65th birthday, at the start of Pearl Jam's first encore in Boston, Eddie Vedder sat alone with a guitar and a harmonica to play a heartfelt rendition of Forever Young. This was the first and only time that this song appears in a Pearl Jam setlist. The next track played that night was Dylan's Masters of War.

As a bonus, check out Pearl Jam performing All Along The Watchtower with Ronnie Wood at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on 11/08/09 (shaky camera alert):

Bob Dylan Birthday Week Cont'd.

2010-05-25T22:40:00.009-04:00

In the early 70s, Loudon Wainwright III was one of the many newcomers tagged as the "next Bob Dylan". Twenty years later in 1992, at the time of Dylan's 50th birthday, LW3 wrote a song to commemorate Zimmy's milestone and also address the impact the marker had on his own career. In typical Loudon Wainwright fashion, the song is introspective, catchy...and a little bit weird. Quite coincidentally, he name drops Bruce Springsteen and John Prine, who are both currently featured with Bob Dylan as part of this week's Photo Monday:

Hey, Bob Dylan, I wrote you a song.
Today is your birthday if I'm not wrong.
If I'm not mistaken you're fifty today
How are you doin', Bob? What do you say?
----
Yeah, times were a-changin',
You brought it all home --
"Blonde On Blonde", "Like a Rolling Stone" .
The real world is crazy, you were deranged,
An' when you went electric, Bob, everything changed --
A shock to the system.
----
Yeah, I got a deal , and so did John Prine, Steve Forbert and Springsteen, all in a line.
They were lookin' for you, signin' up others,
We were "new Bob Dylans" -- your dumb-ass kid brothers.
Well, we still get together every week at Bruce's house --
Why, he's got quite a spread, I'll tell ya -- it's a twelve-step program.
---
Yeah, had to stop listening, times were too tough,
Me bein' the new me was hard enough.
You keep right on changin' like you always do,
An' what's best is the old stuff still all sounds new.

Photo Monday

2010-05-24T14:23:00.001-04:00

Happy 69th Birthday to Bob Dylan!

(Dylan pictured here with a very "80's" Grateful Dead)

(Rolling Thunder-era Dylan pictured here w/ an impressionable Bruce Springsteen and John Prine)

Pearl Jam Hunger Strike w/ Ben Bridwell

2010-05-23T17:42:00.003-04:00

Two nights ago (5/21/10) Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell joined Pearl Jam onstage at the Garden in NYC for Temple of the Dogs' tune Hunger Strike.

Hunger Strike has only been played live by Pearl Jam 24 times since its debut in Copenhagen, Denmark on 2/9/92. It's been played only 7 times in the US and only 9 times since 1998.

Photo Monday

2010-05-17T14:53:00.002-04:00

In celebration of Page McConnell's 47th birthday today, here is a photo (circa 1991) of Phish looking like a pack of Williamsburg Hipsters. Is it just me, or does Page resemble a young Tom Hanks here?

The Concert I Missed...

2010-05-10T17:56:00.022-04:00

Grateful Dead, 6/25/95, RFK Stadium, Washington D.C.
Pink Floyd, 7/9/94-7/10/94, RFK Stadium, Washington D.C.
David Gilmour, 4/5/06, Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York (w/ the late Richard Wright and guests David Crosby and Graham Nash)
MGMT, 6/14/08, Late Night Set, Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee (w/ guests Kirk Hammett and Zack Galifianakis)

and most recently...

Mark Knopfler, 5/6/10, United Palace Theater, New York, New York

Due to an {cough} innocent mistake in scheduling by a fellow Weightstaffer, I am adding the recent Mark Knopfler show in New York City to my list of fateful missed concert experiences. While I can't offer any commentary on the show per se, I can say that after reading a short but pointed review (link below), I feel a bit worse than I did yesterday about not witnessing one of the finest guitarists/songwriters of the last 40 years. Knopfler, who is of course best known for his tenure as frontman and guitarist for Dire Straits, is undeniably part of the dying -- well, aging -- fraternity of real "guitar heroes": Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, etc. He has played with his good friend Clapton on several occasions and has recorded with Dylan, Elton John, and John Fogerty, just to name a few. He has scored films such as The Princess Bride and Wag the Dog. He has played venues as legendary as Wembley Stadium and Knebworth. And while bands like the Eagles and the Stones have played the same setlist for the past 30+ years, Knopfler has dared to explore new territories -- alternative genres that others were unwilling to risk -- and with great success. Indeed, he has three Grammys to his name -- all in the Country Music category. As late as 2007, he was nominated again for Best Folk/Americana album for his work with Emmylou Harris. Perhaps Robert Plant, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan are his only contemporaries who dared stray from the predictable path of "arena rock" retirement tours.

It would have been nice to have experienced Knopfler, under the lonely spotlight with his red Strat and his haunting guitar sounds, listening to him sing songs of the Welsh working-class and times of old. There is a great quote in the review from another fan that I'd like to re-state here for emphasis:

"After all this Lo-fi chill wave bullshit, it sure is refreshing to hear clear, confident, crisp instrumentation. Knopfler sounds GREAT."

I can only hope he will visit again...

The Concert I Missed:

Mark Knopfler, 5/6/10, United Palace Theater, New York, New York
http://stereogum.com/366081/mark-knopfler-united-palace-theater-nyc-5610/concert/

Photo Monday

2010-05-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

"Well, he's a frustrated musician, and I guess I was a frustrated filmmaker. So, it was a perfect connect. I would turn him on to music of great obscure things that end up in a lot of these movies, actually. I would try to think of something that would just blow his mind. And he would screen movies for me—like trashy B-movies that are amazing in their own way. It was never the obvious. He was never showing me D.W. Griffiths' movies or what are considered classic films. They were always off the beaten path, but very interesting—Sam Fuller movies, things like that. So, we traded back and forth on all these kinds of things. He knew that I was a film buff long before we crossed paths, and I knew that he was a music fanatic long before we crossed paths. So we had something to work with there."
--Robbie Robertson on Martin Scorsese, speaking about when they lived together while editing The Last Waltz

Awesome; I Phuckin' Shot That!

2010-05-03T23:08:00.001-04:00

Phish performing Sabotage at the Lemonwheel Festival in Limestone, ME on 8/16/98.

Jones Street Station: Tall Buildings

2010-04-30T01:17:00.006-04:00

Brooklyn's Jones Street Station (formerly Jones Street Boys) show off their five-part harmony on their cover of John Hartford's ode to city life, 'Tall Buildings'. I never get tired of listening to this. And Hartford's lyrics are fantastic.

Someday my baby, when I am a man,
and other's have taught me, the best that they can
they'll sell me a suit, and cut off my hair
and send me to work in tall buildings

and it's goodbye to the sunshine, goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers, and goodbye to you
I'm off to the subway, I mustn't be late
going to work in tall buildings

when I retire and my life is my own
I made all the payments, it's time to go home
and wonder what happened, betwixt and between
when I used to work in tall buildings

---------------
I hadn't planned on posting the John Hartford version of this song, hell I didn't even know this was a cover until after I'd started this post, but I was able to find a live performance of this song by its original author. Now I'm looking forward to digging into the Hartford catalog.

Photo Monday

2010-04-19T10:28:00.009-04:00

An incredible photograph of Dennis Hopper and director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar).

Hopper, who played a minor role in Rebel, was at the time romantically linked to the film's lead actress, Natalie Wood. During production, Wood, then only 16, also became sexually involved with Ray -- who was 27 years her elder. Ray and Hopper remained on bad terms for many years until, as rumor has it, they reunited at a 1970 Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore East and called a truce.

A much younger Dennis Hopper pictured here (second from left) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955).

Something Unpredictable

2010-04-18T00:28:00.003-04:00

Glen Campbell performs Green Day's 'Good Riddance'

Glen Campbell performs 'Sing' by Scottish band Travis