Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Revisited

On October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden, Sony Music put on a pay per view all star concert to celebrate Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary on Columbia Records. Dubbed "Bobfest" by Neil Young from the stage, the four hour show featured a wide variety of artists performing Dylan songs. It was too bloated, but there were many highlights. Here are some videos (with some mp3s) of the best performances.

Eddie Vedder was joined by Pearl Jam bandmate Mike McCready and Saturday Night Live bandleader G.E. Smith for this seering version of "Masters of War."



Eddie Vedder - Masters of War

The night allowed for a variety of musical styles, usually to great effect. The best example of this was the O'Jay's reprising their classic cover of "Emotionally Yours."



The O'Jays - Emotionally Yours

There were also some fun collaborations. Here are Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, and Rosanne Cash taking turns on "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."



Booker T & the MG's backed up most of the artists on this night. Here they really got to show their stuff with Neil Young on a fantastic "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues."



Neil Young - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Another great moment was when George Harrison played what I believe is his only live performance of a song he covered early on in his solo career, "If Not For You."



The highlight of the show was when Neil and George joined Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, and the guest of honor, Bob Dylan, among others on "My Back Pages."

Bob Dylan - My back pages
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Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, etc. - My Back Pages

Of course, no all star concert would be complete without an even more gigantic singalong, this time on "Knocking on Heaven's Door."



After all of that, Bob came back to the stage alone for one last encore, singing "Girl from the North Country," before exiting to a huge standing ovation.



Hopefully, this concert will be available on DVD at some point, but in the meantime, you can order the live album below. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration from amazon.com

Neil Finn's First "7 Worlds Collide" Project in 2001

Neil Finn is the legendary singer/songwriter who has made a lot of great music with Split Enz, fronting Crowded House, and on his own excellent solo albums. This past winter, he again brought together a large group of musicians, including members of Radiohead and Wilco, to play a series of shows in his native New Zealand. This time, the group took the band name of 7 Worlds Collide and recorded a double album of new songs, Sun Came Out. There will be a post on this blog next week about this album, (I have to listen to it first!) but in the meantime, you can order it here.

Before that, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at Neil Finn's first "7 Worlds Collide" project in 2001. Neil put together a great group of musicians, including:

Tim Finn, his brother and collaborator in Split Enz, Crowded House, and Finn Brothers
Johnny Marr, guitarist and songwriter for The Smiths
Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam
Lisa Germano, a solo artist & former violinist for John Mellencamp
Ed Obrien, guitarist in Radiohead
Phil Selway, drummer in Radiohead
Sebastian Steinberg, bassist in Soul Coughing

The musicians rehearsed for a few weeks before playing a week's worth of shows in New Zealand. The final concert in Aukland was recorded for the DVD and CD release Neil Finn and Friends - 7 Worlds Collide: Live at St. James.

In this first video, Neil explains the process of putting everything together before the band opens the final show with the Crowded House classic "Fall at Your Feet."



Along with Neil's own songs, the band played music from each other's careers. One of the highlights was Neil singing lead on the Smiths' song "There is a Light That Never Goes Out." This video is followed by the mp3 from the live album.



Neil Finn & Friends - There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths cover)

Eddie Vedder was an important part of the shows, usually taking lead on some of his favorite Split Enz tunes. The first two videos here are followed by mp3s.



Neil Finn & Friends (w/ Eddie Vedder) - Take a Walk (Split Enz cover)


Neil Finn ft Eddie Vedder - Stuff and nonsense

Mauro|MySpace Videos

Neil Finn & Friends (w/ Eddie Vedder) - Stuff & Nonsense (Split Enz cover)

The coolest part of the DVD was when when Eddie joined Neil's son Liam's band Betchadupa (where Liam played drums) midset to cover a few Split Enz songs. What makes this especially cool in retrospect is that since then, Liam had made a great solo album, I'll Be Lightning, and has been the opening act on many of Eddie's solo shows these past few years. Here's their first time working together:



Liam's uncle Tim joined in on this wild performance of "I See Red."



The project also showcases Neil's phenomenal second solo album, One All. Here they perform one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear, "Last to Know."


Last To Know - Neil Finn

Neil Finn|MySpace Music Videos

Another great moment in the concert film came when everyone got together near the end for "Weather With You," another classic song from Crowded House.



To check out an older post about Neil and Tim Finn's first band Split Enz, (w/ some covers by Pearl Jam), go here.

Thanks for checking this out. Look for a post on the new 7 World Collide project next week.

Buy the CD and DVD Neil Finn & Friends - 7 Worlds Collide: Live at St. James on amazon.com

U2 - The Best of "Salome: The Achtung Baby Outtakes"

In 1990, U2 went to Germany just before the Berlin Wall came down and reunification occurred to begin recording their next album, the result of which would be my favorite album ever, Achtung Baby. They recorded in Berlin's Hansa Ton Studio where David Bowie worked with Brian Eno to create Low, Heroes, and Lodger. U2 went into the studio with Daniel Lanois and Flood with very little material and just tried to create songs while jamming around some song sketches and parts. Then the tapes got stolen and later bootlegged all around the world, after they had brought in Brian Eno and made significantly more progress but had a ways to go before finishing the album in Berlin.

From "The Origins and History of Salome" written by Sira Vista, which can be read in full here.

"In the winter of 1990, U2 were hard at work in Hansa Ton recording studios in Berlin, Germany. The ultimate result of this effort would be the November 1991 release of their next album, Achtung Baby. However, in December 1990 that album was a great ways off, because U2 (unlike most other bands) entered the studio with very few lyric or song ideas.

Instead, U2 came into the studio to create as well as record. Here they sought inspirations for songs from playing together. They would etch out ideas while improvising around some basic idea, or riff. Since all this jamming was taking place in a recording studio, even the simplest of ideas was captured on tape. The highlights of these tapes were then edited down and compiled into "working tapes" recorded onto DAT (Digital Audio Tape) cassettes. Tapes of this nature were used to hold possible song ideas, as well as a means for Brian Eno (and others) to hear the band's progress and make suggestions about the music.

In April of 1991, it was announced that the tapes had found their way into the hand's of bootleggers."

The ultimate result of this was a three cd set of all the tapes called Salome: The Achtung Baby Outtakes.

Sira Vista writes: With these releases U2 found themselves in the dubious position of being: "the first major band to have studio sessions released before the finished product was either released, abandoned or the group broke up".

U2's manager Paul McGuiness reacted to the bootlegs by releasing a press statement accusing the bootleggers of cheating the fans by passing off inferior material. He also stated that the finished product had evolved by leaps and bounds from what was being illegally circulated.

Regardless of the superior polish of the finished material released as Achtung Baby, the material found on the bootlegs is fascinating in and of itself. The most compelling aspect of the bootleged material is that, rather than offering slightly alternative versions of tracks found on the finished record, they instead reveal the songwriting process itself. Familiar solos, bass lines, bridges and riffs abound, and there is also a host of interesting songs that didn't find their way onto Achtung Baby.

There is a lot of repetitive tracks on these three discs, along with some stuff that just isn't all that good. But beyond that, as noted above, there is some very cool music here, which I've edited down to 13 tracks for you to checkout below.

Most of the song titles here were made up by the bootleggers and based on the lyrics of the songs. "Salome" appears very often, but this first track was the most interesting take.

"Doctor and Doctor" and "Heaven and Hell" are very similar ballads where Bono plays around with different lyrics, sometimes just mumbling whatever to keep the song going.

"Jitterbug Baby" is a fun track w/ Bono hamming it up and using the falsetto voice that he won't/can't sing with anymore lately.

The highlight of this was in the next three songs with "Chances Away" and "I Feel Free" as the band jams around the great riff that will later be used for "Until the End of the World."

"Morning Child/Don't Turn Around" has different lyrics set to the tune of what will become "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses."

"She's Gonna Blow Your House Down" is a loud rocker that would have made a great B-side.

"Laughing in the Face of Love" is an early attempt at what became "So Cruel."

The early version of "Acrobat" here has completely different lyrics, but the music remained intact.

The best song is the final track, "Take You Down," which is sometimes referred to an early version of "Wake Up Dead Man." Everyone really cuts loose here, especially Edge, as parts of what will become "The Fly" and "Ultaviolet (Light My Way)" are heard.

U2 - The Best of the Achtung Baby Outtakes

01 - Salome (Take 2)
02 - Doctor Doctor
03 - Heaven and Hell
04 - Jitterbug Baby
05 - Chances Away
06 - I Feel Free (Take 1)
07 - I Feel Free (Take 2)
08 - Morning Child/Don't Turn Around
09 - She's Gonna Blow Your House Down
10 - Someone is Watching
11 - Laughing in the Face of Love (Take 2)
12 - Acrobat (early version)
13 - Take You Down/Wake Up

The entire three disc bootleg can be downloaded here.

Those who want to read an inside look on the creation of Achtung Baby, the ZooTV Tour, and Zooropa album and tour should check out Bill Flanagan's excellent book U2 at the End of the World here.

Download U2's Achtung Baby album at amazon.com

Lindsay Buckingham's "Holiday Road"

In 1983, the movie National Lampoon's Vacation was released. This hilarious comedy followed Clark Griswold and his family as they traveled across the country to visit Wally World. The movie was a huge hit that spawned three great sequels and it is a classic that people watch again and again on DVD. If you've never seen it, you probably live in a cave and/or are severly deprived.

After taking the lead in creating the incredibly ambitous and adventurous album Tusk with Fleetood Mac, Lindsay Buckingham went on to release an excellent debut solo album Law & Order in 1981. The following year he returned in a much more limited songwriting role with Fleetwood Mac, and the result was the popular but artistically mediocre record Mirage in 1982. He then contributed a song to the Vacation soundtrack, "Holiday Road," that recalled the brilliance of Tusk. It was an infectious pop masterpiece that became something of a cult classic, due to the popularity of the movie and the song only being commercially available on the out of print film soundtrack.

Here's the song featured prominently in the trailer for National Lampoon's Vacation:



The popularity of the movie and the song led to the creation of this bizarre, but really cool video, which is followed by an mp3 of the original version.



Lindsay Buckingham - "Holiday Road"

In between his last two stellar solo albums, Buckingham released the concert cd/dvd Live at Bass PerformanceHall in 2008. It contained a rare live rendition of the song.

Lindsay Buckingham - Holiday Road (from Live at Bass Performance Hall

Look for plenty more on Lindsay Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac in the future. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Lindsay Buckingham's Live at Bass Performance Hall on amazon.com

The John Train Band (featuring Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner)

For many years now, one of the best bands in Philadelphia has been John Train. On stage and on record, lead vocalist and songwriter Jon Houlon does a deft job of mixing his great own songs with some well chosen covers pretty seamlessly. At his side since the beginning, playing amazingly on all kinds of guitars has been Mike Brenner, known for his excellent work with Marah and with his own band Slo-Mo. They've both been backed up by a talented group of musicians. The current lineup includes Steve Demarest (bass), Bill Fergusson (mandolin), Mark Tucker (guitar), and Mark Schreiber (percussion, drums).

Their most recent record, Mesopotamia Blues, was produced by Brenner and focuses on the war in Iraq. The songs look at the war and the region from a variety of perspectives. What really makes the record is the production and guitar work from Brenner, who helps to add some intresting Middle Eastern sounds, especially here.

John Train - Equipment Failure

At the center of the record are two songs that combine to tell an interesting story. The first of which is a cover of the late John Stewart's song "Draft Age," about a young man named Clarence Mulloy being sent off to Vietnam.

John Train - Draft Age (John Stewart cover)

This cover is followed by the song "Mulloy 2006" where Houlon writes of a middle aged Clarence Mulloy now faced with his son heading off to Iraq. This video and mp3 are from the band's performance at the Sellersville Theater on November 21, 2007.



John Train - Mulloy 2006 (Sellersville, PA - 11/21/07)

A typical John Train show features a lot of great covers. Here's a video and mp3 of one of my favorites, also from the same Sellersville show, Butch Walker's "Box Cars."



John Train - Boxcars (Butch Walker cover - 11/21/07)

Two more live covers of old folk traditionals recorded in Fairmount Park in July of 2007.

John Train - "I Know You Rider"

John Train - The Wind and the Rain

We'll close this one out with one last cover, Hank Williams' "You're Gonna Change or I'm Gonna Leave" from Johny Brendas in Philadelphia on September 21, 2007.



John Train is currently in the midst of their annual fall residency, playing every Friday night at 6 at Fergie's in Philadelphia, PA. It is always a great time so come check them out if you are in the area.

Download John Train's Mesopotamia Blues at amazon.com

The Levon Helm Band's "Electric Dirt"

(Note: due to someone who works for Levon Helm not wanting me to share mp3s, the two Levon Helm tracks are no longer available. Sorry about that.)

By singing many of their greatest songs, while also being a fantastic drummer, Levon Helm was an important part of what made The Band one of the greatest rock groups of all time. Here he is at his best, singing the classic "Up On Cripple Creek" on stage at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh in 1970, followed by the original studio track.



The Band - Up On Cripple Creek

In the late 1990's, Levon lost his voice and was diagnosed with throat cancer. In this interview here, Levon recounts what it was like to survive this and eventually sing again at the Midnight Ramble shows at his home in Woodstock, NY. The continued strength of these shows and Levon's improving health and voice led to the release of his solo album Dirt Farmer in 2007.

The album was recorded with his Levon Helm Band which featured his daughter Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis.

The highlight of this record for me was his cover of Steve Earle's "The Mountain." Levon's world weary voice added something special to this version. Here's a fan made video made up of some great old photographs.



The Levon Helm band engaged in successful touring along with continuing a run of Midnight Ramble shows in Woodstock that were more popular than ever and featured many great musicians joining in from night to night. This led to the recording of the excellent follow up Electric Dirt, which opened with a fun cover of Jerry Garcia's "Tennessee Jed." Here's the band's recent performance on The Late Show with David Letterman.



I got to see The Levon Helm Band open up for the Black Crowes in Atlantic City on July 29, 2009. While Levon had to rest his voice and could not sing, the rest of the band filled in admirably, taking some excellent turns on lead vocals for many new songs and classics from The Band. We also got a couple of fun surprise guests too.

Here's the Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson singing lead on "Tennesse Jed."



Chris and Rich Robinson joined in for the last song of The Levon Helm Band's opening set, "The Weight."



Look for plenty more on The Band, Levon Helm, and The Black Crowes here in the future. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Levon Helm's Electric Dirt on amazon.com

Ten Live Covers From The Black Crowes

Chris and Rich Robinson formed the Black Crowes in 1984. There are have been a lot of highs and some lows on their records over the years, but they have always remained a hugely successful live act. One of the big reasons for this is their ability to mix in great covers into their sets. Here are some of the best that have been captured on video over the years.

A fun video (with some hilarious crowd shots) of the Crowes covering Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" at the 1991 Monsters of Rock Festival in Moscow.



A cover of Joe Cocker's "Feelin' Alright" on the first anniversary of The Late Show with David Letterman in 1994.



The Crowes recorded the album Live at the Greek in October of 1999 (and later toured) with Jimmy Page. The album featured mostly Led Zeppelin songs and one of the better versions they did was for "What is and What Should Never Be."



After a three year hiatus, the band reunited in 2005 and recorded the live CD/DVD Freak and Roll... Into the Fog. The highlight was the closing song, a cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Here's the video and the mp3.



The Black Crowes - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

In 2006, keyboard player Eddie Harsch and guitarist Marc Ford left the band. They were eventually replaced by Adam MacDougall and Luther Dickinson (of the North Mississippi Allstars). Joining original members Chris and Rich Robinson, bassist Sven Pippen, and drummer Steve Gorman, they've made two excellent studio albums and released most of their concerts on their website www.liveblackcrowes.com. Here is a sampling of ten great live covers that they've mixed into their shows in the last few years. Listen to these tracks and you will hear why this latest Crowes lineup is one of the great live rock bands around today.

The Black Crowes - Live Covers from 2008 & 2009

Torn and Frayed (Rolling Stones cover) - from Warpaint Live

Can't You Hear Me Knocking (Rolling Stones cover) San Francisco, CA - 12/19/08

Ohio (CSN&Y cover) Cleveland, OH - 7/30/08

He Was a Friend of Mine (Bob Dylan cover) New York, NY - 11/03/08

The Mighty Quinn (Bob Dylan & The Band cover) Philadelphia, PA - 7/01/08

Don't Do It (The Band cover) Hampton Beach, NH - 6/19/09

Oh Sweet Nuthin' (Velvet Underground cover) Alantic City, NJ - 8/29/09

Boomer's Story (Ry Cooder cover) Westbury, NY - 9/04/09

Hot Burrito #2 (Gram Parsons cover) Asbury Park, NJ 9/05/09

So Many Times (Stephen Stills cover) Woodstock, NY 2009

The last track was recorded live in front of an audience, along with the rest of the double album Before the Frost... Until the Freeze, during a series of five shows at Levon Helm's barn in Woodstock, NY. Like the cover above, the whole album is phenomenal and well worth checking out. To truly get the most out of the Black Crowes experience though, you have to see them live, since they've never been better.

Thanks for checking this out everyone.

Buy the Black Crowes' Before the Frost... Until the Freeze on amazon.com