Salty Salutes

U2's Tributes to the Victims of the 1998 Omagh Bombing

2011-05-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

On August 15, 1998, a car bomb in the Irish town of Omagh killed 29 people and injured 220 more. It was the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Troubles. It is a terrible story that has only gotten more difficult with the numerous setbacks in the long struggle for justice for the victims' families. If you'd like to learn more, there is a well written, comprehensive account of this atrocity here.

On November 20, 1998, U2 was part of a tribute to the Omagh victims on an episode of The Late, Late Show. The audience included many family members of the victims. The band opened the show with a reworked version of "North and South of the River," a song that they originally recorded as a 1997 B-Side with Irish singer Christy Moore. This version is much better, though every time I see this, I can't help but wonder just where the hell that piano and the horns are coming from.

U2 - North and South of the River (Live - 11/20/98)

After artists including Bob Geldof and The Corrs performed, U2 closed the show with "All I Want is You."

On their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2 included the song "Peace on Earth" about the incident, which referenced some of the victims' names.

U2 - Peace on Earth

At the end of the summer of 2001, U2 played two nights at Slane Castle in Ireland, which were filmed and released as the DVD U2 Go Home. At the end of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," Bono emotionally recited the names of all 29 people who lost their lives before playing the song "Wake Up Dead Man." This was U2 at their very best.

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live - Slane Castle - 2001)

U2 - Wake Up Dead Man (Live - Slane Castle - 2001)

Thanks for checking this out.

Buy the DVD U2 Go Home: Live at Slane Castle from amazon.com.

Radiohead & R.E.M. at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert

2011-05-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

On June 14, 1998, over 120,00 people attended the third annual Tibetan Freedom Concert at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. Many great bands played the weekend festival, including Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and A Tribe Called Quest. The Dave Matthews Band also performed.

Radiohead and R.E.M decided to collaborate a bit during their sets. First, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe sang lead for Radiohead on this incredible version of "Lucky."

Radiohead with Michael Stipe - "Lucky"

Second, Radiohead's Thom Yorke provided backing vocals for REM on their song "E-Bow the Letter."

R.E.M. with Thom Yorke - "E-Bow the Letter"

Both of these mp3s came from Radiohead's ridiculous and tremendous 24 disc bootleg compilation made by their fans called "Towering Above the Rest," all of which can be torrented here.

If you haven't done so already, check out the excellent records by both bands that came out recently, REM's "Collapse Into Now," and Radiohead's "The King of Limbs."

Thanks for reading.

The Beastie Boys' Rare 1985 single "Rock Hard"

2011-05-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, the Beastie Boys didn't rap, instead they played in a punk band with Kate Schellenbach, who would go on to be the drummer in the band Luscious Jackson. Here is an interesting three song set they played for the Scott & Gary Show on a public access cable in New York.

The Beastie Boys changed direction, much to the chagrin of these two guys below, and in 1985 with producer Rick Rubin, they put out a 45 locally for the song "Rock Hard." The Beasties rapped over a sample of AC/DC's "Back in Black" riff, leading to this single becoming very rare. This is quite the awesome video by Anna Hrnjak, it needs to be said.

Here's an mp3 of the full song:

The Beastie Boys - Rock Hard (1985 single)

The band tried their best to include this song on their 1999 compilation "The Sound of Science" but AC/DC wouldn't allow it. This is summed up in an article from the 11/11/99 issue of New Musical Express:

“We originally had ‘Rock Hard’ on there because it was never widely available,” Mike D told NME. “So we had to go back to AC/DC for sample clearance. Their lawyer said no, so I decided to call them myself.“

“So I tracked AC/DC down in the studio in Vancouver and talked to Malcolm (Young, brother of Angus). And they were just not having it. He goes, ‘I’d love to do it for you guys, but it’s ‘Back In Black’ - one of the top three songs we’ve ever written!’ Whatever. AC/DC could not get with the sample concept. They were just like, ‘Nothing against you guys, but we just don’t endorse sampling.’”

Adrock: “So we told them that we don’t endorse people playing guitars.”

‘Rock Hard’ has been replaced by ‘She’s On It’ which the Beasties describe as “not one of our top three songs.”

The Beastie Boys returned this week after a hiatus while Adam Yauch underwent successful cancer treatment with the tremendous album "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two." Even better is the 30 minute video for "Fight For Your Right Revisited" which was written, produced, and directed by Yauch and features a ton of great actors. It's a lot of fun to watch this and the original video from 25 years ago back to back, since the one leads right into the other.

Buy "Hot Sauce Commitee Part Two" by the Beastie Boys at amazon.com.

Marah - 10/18/06 - Bonn, Germany - Rockpalast Crossroads Festival

2011-05-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite shows that I will remember forever involved going to see this version of Marah. The band was fantastic, the venues were intimate, and the fans there were some of the best people I've ever met. This lineup toured for the excellent album "If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry." It featured founding members David and Serge Bielanko on vocals and guitar, Kirk Henderson on bass and keyboards, Adam Garbinski on guitar, and Dave Petersen on drums. These five guys together were incredible and this full show is great evidence of that. Check it out and if you like what you see, order the live dvd "Sooner or Later in Spain" below to see a longer show.

"It's Only Money Tyrone"

"Demon of White Sadness"

"For the Price of a Song"

"Barstool Boys"

"Roundeye Blues"

"The Apartment"

"Sooner or Later"

"City of Dreams"

"Feather Boa"/"Baba O'Riley"

"The Closer"

"The Dishwasher's Dream"

"Walt Whitman Bridge"

An Interview with Dave and Serge.

Thanks to YouTube user TURBOX for the videos. You can check out his channel, with a ton of great clips from The Faces, The Black Crowes, The Flamin' Groovies (!), and others here.

There are mp3s of a soundboard recording of a full show in Ferrara, Italy on 5/01/06 at the great blog Captain's Dead here.

Order Marah's live DVD/CD "Sooner or Later in Spain" from amazon.com

A Message From Your Blogger

2011-05-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a little time off from this blog... and somehow that became a lot of time off. I kept all the links working, unless a record company or an artist wanted the post or the mp3s deleted, and was pleasantly surprised to check today and see that this blog has had over 53,000 visitors. That's a lot of music collections that are just a little bit better and it feels good to have been a part of that.

I missed updating this blog a little too much. I've got a million ideas for what I want to put on here. I have a ton of music to share that isn't really out there on the internet, is pretty hard to find, or just deserves to be heard by a lot more people. So thanks for stopping by and except to see a new post here every few days or so. It's all happening... again.

Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Revisited

2009-10-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

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."

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

2009-10-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

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

Lindsay Buckingham's "Holiday Road"

2009-10-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-10-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

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"

2009-09-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

(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

2009-09-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

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

John Prine and Iris Dement's duets on "In Spite of Ourselves"

2009-09-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

In 1999, John Prine released In Spite of Ourselves, a brilliant album of duets with nine of his favorite female singers and an excellent group of musicians backing him up. The record was a collection of classic country covers that tells the story of the many ups and downs of a relationship. Mostly downs though since there are a ton of great cheating songs at the core of this album. John had some incredible duet partners for this, including Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and Patty Loveless. The highlight of In Spite of Ourselves though, and his classic concert promoting the album on the late great cable show Sessions at West 54th, were the songs he sang with Iris Dement, one of the most talented singer/songwriters to come from the country genre in the past 20 years.

Here are three of their duets from the best episode of Sessions at West 54th, followed by the studio tracks from In Spite of Ourselves.

John Prine w/ Iris Dement -We're Not the Jet Set

John Prine w/ Iris Dement -
Let's Invite Them Over Again

The best song on the album was the title track, the only song on the record that was a John Prine original. It was originally written for what became the unreleased Billy Bob Thornton film Daddy and Them, as he explains in a funny bit at the beginning of the video. This is the rare song that somehow manages to be hilarious, poignant, and beautiful and it is one of my all time favorites.

John Prine w/ Iris Dement - In Spite of Ourselves

If you don't own it, you should definitely pick up the John Prine DVD Live from Sessions at West 54th here, but in the meantime, here is one big mp3 file of the five songs John and Iris sang together that night.

John Prine w/ Iris Dement - Five Live Songs from Sessions at West 54th

If you'd like to listen to more from Iris Dement, check out a previous post on this blog abour her first album Infamous Angel right here.

Look for plenty more posts about John Prine and Iris Dement on this blog in the future. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy John Prine's In Spite of Ourselves from amazon.com

Ten More Covers of Bruce Springsteen's Songs

2009-09-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

Bruce Springsteen is turning 60 this week. In honor of him, let's put up ten more covers of his songs from some other great artists. If you missed it, there are ten more favorite Bruce covers from an earlier post on this blog here.

Ten more excellent covers of Bruce Springsteen's songs:

The Hollies - Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

David Bowie - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City

The Band - Atlantic City

Steve Earle - State Trooper (Live)

Johnny Cash - Highway Patrolman

Elvis Costello - Brilliant Disguise

Crooked Fingers - Mansion on the Hill

Damian Jurado & Rosie Thomas - Wages of Sin

Marah - Streets of Philadelphia

John Train Band (featuring Mike Brenner) - Independence Day

The last track was recorded to promote a concert celebrating Springsteen's birthday from Philadelphia's great public radio station WXPN at World Cafe Live on September 23rd. Many tracks were recorded at the XPN studios by local Philly artists who will all be performing these songs live on Wednesday night. The live show will be broadcast on www.xpn.org from 7-10, but in the meantime, check out a playlist of the recorded tracks here or below.

Buy the best Springsteen tribute album, Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska at amazon.com

The White Stripes covering Dolly Parton's "Jolene"

2009-09-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Our Dolly Parton weekend concludes with her biggest hit of the 1970's, her song "Jolene" from 1974. It is an emotional, powerful song and it is easy to see why it was so popular. This was her first #1 song and it solidified Dolly as a country star, launching her into much more mainstream and crossover success in the future.

Dolly Parton - Jolene

Very early on in their careers, the White Stripes took to covering the song in their live shows. Their version is phenomenal and it was the highlight of both their 2002 Glastonbuy Festival set, as well as their 2001 session for John Peel's BBC radio show, as you will see and hear below.

The White Stripes - Jolene (2001 John Peel Sessions)

For a link to the full John Peel Sessions, check out a previous post on this blog here.

The song was also an important part of The White Stripes' 2005 concert film Under Blackpool Lights.. Here's the video and audio of that performance.

The White Stripes - Jolene (from Under Blackpool Lights)

We're going to give Dolly a rest for a while, but there will be more on Jack White's other musical endeavors sometime soon. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy the White Stripes' DVD Under Blackpool Lights from amazon.com

Trio (Dolly, Emmylou, and Linda) covering Neil Young's "After the Goldrush"

2009-09-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Neil Young's third solo album, After the Goldrush was released in 1970. It featured more sparse and introspective songs than the heavier rock with Crazy Horse at the center of his second album, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. At the heart of this album was the title song, a brilliant, timeless classic that remains as powerful and relevant as ever. Here's live video from the concert film Rust Never Sleeps and the studio track (with a 17 year old Nils Lofgren on piano).

Neil Young - After the Golrush (1970)

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt reunited for their second album together Trio II in 1998. Their first album together, Trio, in 1987was one of the greatest records from that time, where all three women supported each other on classic country songs. When they finally recorded a follow up, they broadened their horizons with some inspired song choices. Nowhere was this more evident than in their cover of "After the Goldrush." Dolly sings the lyrics, while their angelic voices blend together to sing the choruses. The results were amazing.

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Trio (Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt) - After the Goldrush

Hopefully, these ladies will sing together again and there will be a Trio III someday.

Buy the album Trio II at amazon.com

Dolly Parton Covering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"

2009-09-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, this actually happened and amazingly, somehow, someway, it was awesome. Go figure. Everybody and their mother knows all about Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" so what's the sense of writing about it. Here are two live versions of the song. The somewhat lackluster performance from their MSG concert film The Song Remains the Same, followed by the tremendous version from their most recent live album, How the West Was Won.

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (from How the West Was Won)

Not many artists have ever dared to cover "Stairway to Heaven." Dolly Parton had just the right mix of ignorance and brilliance to pull off a very different, yet fascinating take on the song. Working with some top notch bluegrass musicians, Dolly pulled off the unimaginable and the results were surprisingly good. It was good enough for Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to approve of it, even letting Dolly add some of her own lyrics of her own at the end of it, as explained in this Entertainment Weekly article here. Here's Dolly describing why she covered the song on her 2002 album Halos & Horns.

Here's a live performance of the song, followed by an mp3 of the studio track:

Dolly Parton - Stairway to Heaven

Look for a post on The White Stripes covering one of Dolly's best songs very soon.

Download Dolly Parton's Halos & Horns from amazon.com

Emmylou Harris Covering Donna Summer's "On the Radio" (Link Fixed)

2009-09-03T20:45:00.002-07:00

Giorgio Moroder composed many of Donna Summer's huge disco hits in the late 1970's and early 1980's. One of the best tracks they made together was the song "On the Radio." Here's the music video for the song, followed by the studio track.

Donna Summer - On the Radio

On her underrated 1983 album White Shoes, Emmylou Harris covered "On the Radio." No, Emmylou did not go all disco on us. Instead, she chose to keep the slower tempo used at the beginning of Donna Summer's version throughout her take on the song. I've always thought that this was some of Emmylou's very best singing on this track, with the result being haunting and beautiful and in a way that only Emmylou could pull off.

Emmylou Harris - On the Radio

I don't know if I can promise you much more Donna Summer, though she is pretty great, but there will be plenty more from Emmylou here in the future, so keep checking back for that. Thanks for reading.

Download Emmylou Harris' album White Shoes from amazon.com

Gillian Welch covering Radiohead's "Black Star"

2009-09-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Radiohead released their classic second album The Bends in 1995. Though it wasn't one of the singles, one of the better songs on the record was "Black Star." Here's a live performance from London in 1994, followed by the studio track.

Radiohead - Black Star

"Black Star" became the basis for one of the best cover songs I have ever heard when Gillian Welch put her own spin on the song and then released it as a live download in 2005. Here's her performance of it with her frequent collaborator David Rawlings at the Bonnaroo Festival in 2007, followed by the originally released track.

Gillian Welch - Black Star

Check back here for a few more interesting covers this week and look for plenty more posts on Gillian Welch and Radiohead in the future. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Gillian Welch's excellent debut album from 1996, Revival, at amazon.com

The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Vol. 2 ("Cuffed Collared Tagged" and "Gag a Maggott")

2009-08-06T14:21:00.001-07:00

Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, Oscar Tony Jr., and Tommy Dowd at Capricorn Studio in Macon, GA, February, 1970

This is the second in a series on tbe reissues from one of the most underappreciated artists in pop music, Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams. You can read the previous post on this blog about The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Volume 1 here. This post focuses on Volume 2.

The first album featured in Volume 2 is Cuffed Collared Tagged. Swamp Dogg was very active in the peace movement during the Vietnam War and the first track on the record reflected that. In this extraordinary, soulful cover of the John Prine classic "Sam Stone," Swamp Dogg would have his biggest hit ever. Here he is performing the song at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on April 26, 2008, followed by the original album track.

Swamp Dogg - Sam Stone

Another moving song from the record was the autobiographical ballad "In My Resume." This performance is from the same 2008 show, followed by the original recording.

Swamp Dogg - In My Resume

If there was a favorite subject that came up in Swamp Dogg's early records, it would have to been marital infidelity. The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Volume 2 features two of his best songs on the subject. His vocals convey the crazed madness in the funkiest murder ballad you'll ever hear, "Your Last Dirty Trick," and painful helplessness evident in "Please Let Me Kiss You Goodbye."

Swamp Dogg - Your Last Dirty Trick
Swamp Dogg - Please Let Me Kiss You Goodbye

"Please Let Me Kiss You Goodbye" was originally on the second album featured in this collection, Gag a Maggott. Curiously, the closing track of that album, "Plastered to the Wall," didn't make it onto this collection. It is a great song though, so I'll include it here.

Swamp Dogg - Plastered to the Wall

In looking back for information on this record, I was pleased to find out that Swamp Dogg just released a new album of covers Give 'em as Little as You Can...As Often As You Have To...or...A Tribute To Rock 'n' Roll. I've been enjoying it and it is well worth checking out.

Thanks for reading. Look for more on the Swamp Dogg reissues in the near future.

Buy or download The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Volume 2 from amazon.com

Blind Willie McTell and Bob Dylan

2009-08-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Blind Willie McTell was a blues singer who was born in 1901. He is well regarded by many prominent musicians and critics today as one of the great blues legends due to his haunting vocals, brilliant lyrics, and deft picking on his 12 string. He spent most of his life struggling through many hardships. Although he never recorded what would have been considered a hit song, McTell would record under a different pseudonym for each record agent he encountered, using such incredibly cool names as Georgia Bill, Barrelhouse Sammy, and Red Hot Willie Glaze. In doing so, he left behind an interesting and prolific body of work that spanned over 50 years. Late in his life, McTell became a preacher before passing away in 1959. You can read more about him in this article by Jim Powers here.

Here are four of the best recordings from Blind Willie McTell:

Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues
Blind Willie McTell - Brokedown Engine
Blind Willie McTell - You've Got to Die
Blind Willie McTell - Deathroom Blues

Many musicians have named McTell as a huge influence, including such greats as the Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal, and Jack White. They've recorded many of McTell's songs and used some of their favorite lines of his in their own work. It can be argued though that no one has ever paid greater tribute to a fellow musician than what Bob Dylan achieved with his astounding song "Blind Willie McTell." Recorded in the early 1980's, Dylan chose to leave the song off of his Infidels album. Some have argued that Dylan feared writer's block and wanted to keep some of this best songs in reserve or never felt the song was fully realized, but for whatever reason it remained unreleased until a version from the Infidels sessions appeared on the 1989 box set The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3.

Bob Dylan - Blind Willie McTell (from The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3)

Another interesting take on the song from the Infidels sessions has been widely bootlegged. I prefer this version due to the looser, wilder feel that it has.

Bob Dylan - Blind Willie McTell (Infidels Outtakes)

Dylan began performing the song live in the late 1990's and it was often the highlight of the night when it made it into the set.

The best cover of the song that I've heard was recorded by The Band, who included this excellent version on their 1993 album Jericho.

The Band - Blind Willie McTell

Bob Dylan also paid tribute to Blind Willie McTell by recording two of his songs for his tremendous and often overlooked 1993 album of covers, World Gone Wrong.

Bob Dylan - Broke Down Engine
Bob Dylan - Delia

If you're new to the site, be sure to check out my post about Bob Dylan's appearance promoting Infidels on "Late Night With David Letterman" in 1984 here.

Buy Blind Willie McTell's Atlanta Twleve String, an excellent recording of a 1949 session at amazon.com

Ten Rare Covers from Lucinda Williams

2009-07-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Neil Young - 5/29/99 - Austin, TX - Audio from the Silver & Gold DVD

2009-07-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Neil Young released the concert dvd Silver & Gold as a companion piece to the 2000 solo album of the same name. While the album itself is very good, this live performance far exceeds it. On May 29, 1999, Neil took the stage at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX. From the full show, Neil included 13 songs on the DVD. The highlights on this record include three excellent songs from a mediocre 1999 CSN&Y album, "Looking Forward," "Slowpoke," and an absolutely stunning rendition of "Out of Control," a song that is astronomically better here than the original on record.

Other high points include a rare live version of "Philadelphia" and an interesting take on "Long May You Run" with Neil on pump organ.

I would highly recommend getting the dvd, but I decided to post the audio here because this is particularly great driving music, as well as some good stuff to go to sleep to at night. Enjoy the show.

Neil Young - Silver & Gold Live (Audio from the DVD)

01 - Intro
02 - Looking Forward
03 - Out of Control
04 - Buffalo Springfield Again
05 - Philadelphia
06 - Daddy Went Walkin'
07 - Distant Camera
08 - Red Sun
09 - Long May You Run
10 - Harvest Moon
11 - The Great Divide
12 - Slowpoke
13 - Good To See You
14 - Silver & Gold

Buy Neil Young's DVD Silver & Gold at amazon.com

The Beastie Boys - Live on BBC Radio from Manchester - 12/06/04

2009-07-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Beastie Boys' new album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 drops on September 15th. In the meantime, to tide you over, here is what I think is their best bootleg. It is a performance from Manchester on December 6, 2004 that was recorded for BBC Radio.

The Boys are in top form here but the real highlight of this bootleg is the amazing work from their DJ Mix Master Mike, who splices in so much cool music from countless classic records for the guys to rap over. If they attempted to put this many samples into an actual Beastie Boys studio record, it would probably cost a billion dollars. But on a live show, they can go nuts, and that's exactly what they do here.

This show also makes for some great workout music, although I speak from experience that you may get a few funny looks from people at the gym if you spontaneously declare that you are intercontinental when you eat french toast.

The Beastie Boys - 12/06/04 - Manchester, UK (Live on BBC Radio)

01 - Triple Trouble
02 - Sure Shot
03 - Body Rock
04 - Time to Get Ill
05 - Super Disco Breakin'
06 - Skills to Pay the Bills
07 - Shake Your Rump
08 - An Open Letter to NYC
09 - Right Right Now Now
10 - Paul Revere
11 - Body Movin'
12 - Three MCs and One DJ
13 - Check It Out
14 - Intergalactic
15 - Sabaotage

If you want more, here's video 45 minute set of the Beastie Boys performing in Amsterdam on the same 2004 tour. Thisfeatures an incredible six minute intro from Mix Master Mike Check it out here.

It will be interesting to see how they promote Hot Sauce Committe Pt. 1. They have hinted Pt. 2 being an mp3 only release, perhaps a free one. We shall see. I doubt though, that they could ever top this classic infomercial that aired on cable and public access television in the weeks leading up to the release of Hello Nasty.

Update: Adam Yauch recently announced in the video below that he has been diagnosed with cancer. He described it as very treatable and hopefully, that will be the case. The album release has been postponed for now and the upcoming shows have been cancelled. Hoping that all goes well and that they will be back soon.

Allison Crowe Covering the Counting Crows

2009-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I listened to the Counting Crows' debut album August and Everything After far too much growing up. I got tired of hearing it everywhere, but it still survived all this time on my Ipod because it is a pretty good album. As for the rest of their cds after that, well, let's just say they make some pretty good coasters.

Sometimes though, an artist can cover a song and bring a whole new life to it, arguably improving on the original version. Perhaps the best example of that that I have heard in some time is Canadian singer Allison Crowe's slowed down take on the Crows' song "A Murder of One" with just a piano backing up her powerful, moving vocals. Check out the sound clip from YouTube below before downloading the track.

Allison Crowe - A Murder of One

Allison also recorded a nice version of "Raining in Baltimore," another song from August and Everything After

Allison Crowe - Raining in Baltimore

There are free downloads of many of Allison Crowe's albums, which are filled with many other great covers, on her website here.

Thanks for checking this out.

Susan Tedeschi, Kenny Wayne Shephard, and Double Trouble covering Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll"

2009-07-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Bassist Tommy Shannon and Drummer Chris "Whipper" Layton were the two men, who as Double Trouble, backed up legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn during a successful run in the 1980's that ended with his tragic death in 1990. They went on to be part of the group Arc Angels, one of the better bands you will ever hear to only have one album, their self titled debut in 1992. During the rest of the decade, they were in demand session men, always working on projects together as a package deal.

In 2001, they recorded their first and only album as Double Trouble, Been a Long Time. The album featured many stellar guests including Willie Nelson, Johnny Lang, and Jimmy Vaughn. The best track on the record is when they are joined by Susan Tedeschi on vocals and Kenny Wayne Shephard on guitar for a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

Double Trouble (w/ Susan Tedeschi and Kenny Wayne Shephard) - Rock and Roll

Another great track that features Susan Tedeschi's vocals is "In the Garden," a song that she cowrote with Tommy Shannon.

Double Trouble (w/ Susan Tedeschi) - In the Garden

Look for a post on Susan Tedeschi's debut album Better Days sometime next week.

Buy Double Trouble's 2001 album Been a Long Time at amazon.com

The White Stripes - John Peel Sessions in 2001

2009-07-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jack White! These two sessions from 7/25/01 and 11/08/01 for the late great English broadcaster John Peel's radio show are phenomenal. Jack and Meg White bring the material from De Stijl and White Blood Cells to another level, with plenty of great covers thrown into the mix as well. This is rock and roll at its very best.

Download Here

Four of the best videos from the great Jack White, in all his various forms.

Tift Merritt's new live album "Buckingham Solo"

2009-07-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tift Merritt is a critically acclaimed and some would say under appreciated singer/songwriter who has released three excellent studio albums so far. You can check out some highlights from those records as well as download an acoustic radio performance in a previous post on this blog right here.

Tift's latest recording is the live album Buckingham Solo. For this record, Tift chose to release a solo performance from the Radcliffe Center, a converted church in Buckingham, England on November 29, 2008. Alternating between piano and guitar, Tift performed many songs from her last album Another Country as well as tracks from her first two records, in every instance improving on the original full band recordings of these great songs.

This was especially evident in the subtle, sparse treament she gave to her very first single "Trouble Over Me."

Tift Merritt - Trouble Over Me

The best moment of the record came when Tift took the piano to perform a beautiful rendition of George Harrison's classic "I Live For You." Cover songs don't get any better than this.

Tift Merritt - I Live For You

Tift Merritt is playing a dozen or so dates in the US this summer including the Newport Folk Festival. Check here for details.

Download Tift Merritt's Buckingham Solo from amazon.com

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's Reunion Tour in 1999 and 2000

2009-06-30T04:35:00.001-07:00

The E Street Band (from left) Danny Federici, Max Weinberg, Nils Lofgren, Roy Bittan, Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, & Garry W. Tallent

After going their seperate ways following the Tunnel of Love tour, Bruce Springsteen first decided to reunite with the E Street Band in 1995 to record new tracks for his Greatest Hits record. Some of these tracks ended up on the Blood Brothers EP and documentary, which you can read about in another post on this blog here.

A tour was discussed and by some accounts all set to go forward, but Bruce decided to wait, taking time to record an acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad and to embark on a solo tour in support of it. The Tom Joad tour was excellent and it was an important step in Bruce's development as an artist. Additionally, time away from the band for the other members of E Street allowed them the chance to grow and develop their skills and bring a lot back to the table when it was finally time for the reunion tour in 1999, shortly after Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Springsteen referred to the tour as the "rebirth and rededication of our band and our commitment to serve you." They did so by performing the best music of their career together.

This was especially evident in the now three guitar attack of Springsteen, Nils Lofgren, and the returning Steven Van Zandt. Most notably, this was demonstrated in the one-two punch of "Youngstown" and "Murder Incorporated," shown here in the DVD Live in New York City.

Springsteen also used different arrangements of old songs to cast them in a new light. The best example of this was an acoustic and powerfully poignant rendition of "Born in the USA," also from the Live in New York City DVD.

My favorite video from the Reunion Tour didn't occur live on stage, but was produced on a soundstage and served as a nice ending to the DVD release of the Bruce Springsteen Video Anthology. Here is the entire band joining in on a brilliant, moving reworking of "If I Should Fall Behind."

The audio for this performance is the opening track on this compilation I put together of some of the best moments from the E Street Band's Reunion Tour.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Reunion Tour Rarities

01 - If I Should Fall Behind (from Video Anthology DVD)
02 - Racing in the Street (10/26/99 Oakland, CA)
03 - Light of Day (10/23/99 Los Angeles, CA)
04 - The Ghost of Tom Joad (10/23/99 Los Angeles, CA)
05 - Roulette (5/08/00 Hartford, CT)
06 - Honky Tonk Women/Darlington County (5/08/00 Hartford, CT)
07 - New York City Serenade (6/20/00 MSG - NY, NY)
08 - The Promise (7/01/00 MSG - NY, NY)
09 - Blood Brothers (7/01/00 MSG - NY, NY)
10 - American Skin (41 Shots) (Studio)

If you want to hear more, I'd encourage you to seek out the full shows that these tracks appear on at the Bruce Springsteen MP3 Bootleg Index here.

Thanks for checking this out. Look for a future post that focuses on live renditions of songs from the box set Tracks during this tour coming soon.

Marah's debut album "Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight"

2009-06-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

If I had to pick a favorite band above all the rest, it would have to have been Marah. They've went through too many lineups to keep track of over the years, but at the heart of it was always two brothers from Conshohocken, PA, David and Serge Bielanko. Marah has went through some pretty distressing changes over the last few years, but regardless of what happens in the future, Dave and Serge worked with some great musicians to make their songs that were brilliant, poignant, and sometimes hilarious really come alive on stage and on record in all kinds of amazing ways. I cant really put into words how much it has all meant to me, so I'll hold back before I embarrass myself and just say that Marah was a great rock and roll band like no other, and if you have not done so, you need to investigate their music further.

On record, this all started with Marah's first album Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight, which was recorded in 1998 above an auto garage in South Philly. The band members at the time were David and Serge Bielanko, Danny Metz, and Ronnie Vance. Together, they threw all kinds of instruments, influences, and genres into the mix to make a record that is loose, sometimes a little wild, but always interesting and a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. Here's a few of my favorites.

A beautiful video made by Serge's wife, Monica, for "Formula Cola Dollar Draft."

Marah - Formula Cola Dollar Draft

Dave, Serge, and Kirk Henderson playing "Firecracker" at a Harley Davidson Rally in Oxford, England on October 1, 2005.

Marah - Firecracker

If you want to see my level of past Marah fanaticism on full display, you can check out the Marah Videos blog I've mantained over the past few years right here.

There will be plenty more posts on Marah in the future. Thanks for checking this out.

Download Marah's first album Let's Cut The Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight at amazon.com

Patty Griffin's Unreleased Album from 2000 "Silver Bell"

2009-06-20T03:25:00.001-07:00

The follow up to Patty Griffin's 1998 album Flaming Red, was supposed to be a record called Silver Bell, but it went unreleased by her label at the time, A&M records. It was recorded in March of 2000 at Kingsway Studio in New Orleans. The musicians were Patty (vocals, guitar, piano), Doug Lancio (guitar), John Deaderick (keyboards), Frank Swart (bass), and Billy Beard (percussion).

This copy was originally from a CD-R that a band member who worked on the sessions had and is the best copy yet of all the finished versions of the songs that were recorded for the album. Unlike some unreleased recordings, a final sequence was never decided upon and promo copies were never released. The music here was cleaned up and sequenced by a good soul who runs the blog Omnipop, which you can check out here.

While often it is not the case, sometimes albums going unreleased can work out for the best. While it had to be rough for this music to not come out at the time, Patty has since had the creative freedom at ATO Records to put out music that is a vast improvement over this. She has made three of the best albums of the past decade with 1000 Kisses, Impossible Dream, and Children Running Through. If you haven't given them a listen, you need to check them out. There is a link to get those records at the bottom of this post.

You can download a zip file of all of Silver Bell on Z-Share here. You can also get it track by track below.

Patty Griffin - Silver Bell (unreleased album from 2000)

01 - Little God
02 - Boston
03 - Perfect White Girls
04 - Truth No. 2 (w/ Emmylou Harris)
05 - What You Are
06 - Silver Bell
07 - Driving
08 - Sooner or Later
09 - Top of the World
10 - Sorry and Sad
11 - Making Pies
12 - Mother of God
13 - One More Girl
14 - Standing w/ bonus track "Kiss Them For Me" (Sioxsie and the Banshees cover)

Thanks for checking this out. Keep checking back for more rare stuff from Patty Griffin later on.

Download Patty Griffin's albums for ATO Records at emusic.com

Eddie Vedder & The Doors - 1/12/93 - LA, CA

2009-06-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

On January 12, 1993, the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder filled in for the late Jim Morrison and joined surviving band members Robby Krieger (Guitar), Ray Manzarek ( Keyboards), and John Densmore (Drums) at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, CA for this fun three song set.

Here is the video and the mp3s (in 320 kbps) of their performance together.

Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Roadhouse Blues

Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Break on Through

Eddie Vedder and the Doors - Light My Fire

Thanks for checking this out. Look for more posts here on Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam leading up to the release of the new PJ album Backspacer this fall.

Justin Townes Earle's "Yuma" and "The Good Life"

2009-06-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Justin Townes Earle is the son of Steve Earle. He spent a lot of time in various Nashville bands, including his father's touring version of The Dukes, before before beginning his solo career. Like his father, he is a talented artist who has learned a lot from his mentors and struggled with his own demons on his way to crafting his own songs. You can read more about Justin's career in this biography from allmusic.com here.

I first saw Justin when he opened for Jason Isbel in support of his first independently released EP, 2007's Yuma. The song that stuck with me the most was the one that closed the record, "A Desolate Angel's Blues."

Here's Justin and frequent collaborate Cory Younts performing "A Desolate Angel's Blues" on 4/23/08 in Richmond, VA, followed by the track from Yuma.

Justin Townes Earle - A Desolate Angel's Blues

Justin's first full length LP, The Good Life, was released in 2008. This time Justin employed a full band. The results showed a lot of promise of many great things to come. My favorite track from this record was another album closer, "Far Away in Another Town."

Here's Justin and Cory performing "Far Away in Another Town" on 10/11/08 in Chicago, along with the studio track from The Good Life.

Justin Townes Earle - Far Away in Another Town

Everyone should also check out Justin and Cory's excellent four song live session of songs from The Good Life for hearya.com, which you can download here.

I'll leave you with a video my friend John sent me that fits well with the last few posts on this blog. Justin covering two songs from the late great Townes Van Zandt:

Justin recently released a new album, Midnight at the Movies, in March. Look for a post on that record after I've given it a good listen some time soon.

Download Justin Townes Earle's records at emusic.com

Steve Earle's new record "Townes"

2009-06-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

On his new record Townes, Steve Earle pays tribute to his mentor Townes Van Zandt's legacy by covering 15 of his classic songs. Their relationship was a complicated and difficult one, as detailed in this interesting New York Times article here.

While some songs work much better than others, the album mantains a level of quality thoughout that does justice to all of these songs. Overall, what had to have seemed like a daunting task became quite an interesting and entertaining record in the end. Here are my two favorites that have really stood out on Townes.

He chose to give the song "White Freightliner Blues" a nice bluegrass feel, which worked out really well.

Steve Earle - White Freightliner Blues (from Townes)

Steve's gritty vocals really added something special to "Marie," one of Townes' most harrowing songs.

Steve Earle - Marie (from Townes)

Steve Earle has two other notable Townes Van Zandt covers that appeared previously on cd.

The first is a cover of "Two Girls" which appeared on the soon to be reissued compilation Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt.

Steve Earle - Two Girls

Also, a medley of a cover of "Rex's Blues" followed by "Fort Worth Blues" a song Steve Earle wrote shortly after learning of Townes' passing appeared on the soundtrack to the 2003 documentary Just An American Boy.

Steve Earle - Rex's Blues/Fort Worth Blues

I've always loved this video of Steve singing "Fort Worth Blues" on Austin City Limits during an in the round tribute to Townes Van Zandt.

If you'd like to read more about Townes, Steve Earle gave his thoughts on each of the songs he chose to record in this post on the blog An Aquarium Drunkard here.

Buy Townes by Steve Earle at amazon.com

Townes Van Zandt in the 1975 film "Heartworn Highways"

2009-06-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

Townes Van Zandt was one of the greatest songwriters ever. While there are now tons of audio recordings of Townes' work, thanks to many reissues and releases after his tragic death, there is very little video of him, especially in his prime from the early to mid 1970s.

Townes' best moments on film were captured in the 1975 documentary Heartworn Highways (which was released in 1981). This excellent movie looks at the lives of Texas country singers such as Charlie Daniels, David Allen Coe, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, and Rodney Crowell. The documentary is on DVD and is well worth seeking out. You can read more about it on Wikipedia here.

Heartworn Highways featured footage of Townes at home with his girlfriend Cindy and his good friend Seymour Washington. Townes interviews Seymour, a 79 year old blacksmith, who offered some great insights into his life and some words of wisdom before being visibly moved by the two songs that Townes then sings. Here is the video and the mp3s of both of these classic performances.

Townes Van Zandt - Waitin' Around To Die (from Heartworn Highways)

Townes Van Zandt - Pancho & Lefty

Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty (from Heartworn Highways)

Look for a post on Steve Earle's new album of TVZ covers, Townes, soon and much more to come about Townes Van Zandt's music in the near future. Thanks for reading.

Download the excellent 26 track long soundtrack to Heartworn Highways for $9.99 at amazon.com

Iris Dement's debut album "Infamous Angel"

2009-06-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Iris Dement's unique voice, classic style, and brilliant songs have allowed her to stand out as one of the most beloved and respected country singers of the past few decades. The youngest of 14 children, Iris was born in Arkansas but grew up singing gospel music with her family in California. After college, Iris moved to Nashville to pursue a music career. Four years later in 1992, she recorded a debut album Infamous Angel, that is one of the best records of the last 20 years.

For those of you who aren't familiar, this should serve as a nice introduction. For those out there who have been blessed with her music before, I hope this brings back some nice memories.

Here are live performances followed by album tracks of two of my favorite songs on Infamous Angel.

Iris performing "Our Town" in her first appearance on Austin City Limits.

Iris Dement - Our Town (from Infamous Angel)

From the DVD of Transatlantic Sessions in 1995, "Let the Mystery Be."

Iris Dement - "Let the Mystery Be" (from Infamous Angel)

The album is one of the rare records to receive 5 stars from allmusic.com in this review by Jim Smith here. Since it is so well written, I'll post the full text of the review:

A remarkable debut, Infamous Angel established Iris DeMent as one of the greatest artists of her generation. With her gift for poignant, confessional songwriting and a voice that makes raw beauty seem like a brand new thing, she invokes the elemental magic of the Carter Family while sounding as fresh and modern as John Prine (who, not surprisingly, is one of her biggest champions). DeMent's concerns are largely family and tradition, and many of these songs deal with memories of life and love. Her Carter influence is revealed in a spirited cover of the classic "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" as well as "Mama's Opry," a tribute to her mother, who also sings lead on "Higher Ground." These are wonderful, but DeMent's greater talent is the ballad, and she delivers an astonishing handful, including "When Love Was Young," "Sweet Forgiveness," and "After You're Gone," a tribute to her dying father that is so profoundly affecting that one is rendered nearly helpless listening to it. In the end, one finishes this record somber but refreshed by DeMent's charming, almost naïve, outlook on life. That naïveté isn't an act, either — DeMent claims in her liner notes that she's never thought of herself as a great singer. She couldn't be more wrong, and listeners can thank heaven that she changed her mind, for this is an album to be cherished and played as long as one has life to listen.

In short, you need to get this. Look for an upcoming post on Iris Dement's excellent duets with John Prine soon enough. Thanks for checking this out.

Buy Iris Dement's Infamous Angel at amazon.com

Patty Griffin's upcoming album "Downtown Church"

2009-06-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

Patty Griffin, on a break from recording at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville

I saw Three Girls and Their Buddy a.k.a. Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, and Buddy Miller in Atlantic City on Friday. It was an excellent show. The best moments for me were when everyone joined in on a few songs from Patty's upcoming album of gospel covers Downtown Church. The album was suggested to Patty and later produced by her friend and bandmate Buddy Miller and recorded with musicians at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. The record will be released on August 11th, but you can preorder it from Amazon here. (Today, June 3, the release date was changed to indefinite on amazon.com, but you can still track the cd through this link).

Gospel music has been an important part of Patty Griffin's work lately. Most recently, she collaborated on a duet of "Waiting For My Child To Come Home" with Mavis Staples for the benefit compliation Oh Happy Day. Here's some footage of Mavis and Patty recording the track, followed by an mp3 of the finished song.

Mavis Staples & Patty Griffin - "Waiting For My Child To Come Home"

Patty's most recent album Children Running Through featured two phenomenal songs which could definitely fit into the genre of gospel music, "Up to the Mountain" and "Heavenly Day." These videos and mp3s are from the DVD Patty Griffin: Live From the Artist's Den which you can also get at Amazon here.

Patty Griffin - "Up To The Mountain" (Live from the Arist's Den)

Patty Griffin - "Heavenly Day" (Live from the Arist's Den)

Thanks for checking this out. Make sure to pick up Downtown Church when it is released.

Download Patty Griffin's music at emusic.com

Big Star - Ardent Studio Sessions (Unreleased 1972-1973)

2009-05-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

This post has been removed at the request of Big Star's Jody Stephens.

The reason is that some of these tracks will be a part of a really cool Big Star box set coming out real soon. You can read more about the box set and other upcoming projects involving Big Star and Chris Bell in this article from Blurt Online here.

Merry Clayton - "Gimme Shelter" and Three More Amazing Covers

2009-05-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

We've all heard those amazing backing vocals on the Rolling Stones' song "Gimme Shelter." Those backing vocals were from the great Merry Clayton. Merry has a long and storied career in pop music though. In the early 60's, she was one of Ray Charles' Raelettes. She recorded tracks with Elvis Presley, Joe Cocker, and the Superemes, among many others. She has made a handful of her own albums and appeared on many soundtracks, but her best work was from her own records in the early 70's.

Mary's best moment of her career would come a year after she recorded "Gimme Shetler" for the Stones, when she laid down a cover of the song herself. There are no words to describe how good this is so just give it a listen. From the 1970 album of the same name, here's a fan made video and an mp3 of Merry Clayton's version of "Gimme Shelter."

Merry Clayton - "Gimme Shelter" (Rolling Stones cover)

One more classic cover that appeared on the Gimme Shelter album:

Merry Clayton- "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel cover)

In 1971, she made a great self titled record. Two more covers from Merry Clayton.

Merry Clayton - "Southern Man" (Neil Young cover)
Merry Clayton - "Grandma's Hands" (Bill Withers cover)

Much of Merry's recorded work is difficult to track down. For example, Gimme Shelter and Merry Clayton are both available from amazon.com as Japanese imports only for $63 each. However, she has contined playing shows nearly 40 years after these classic recordings and that phenomenal voice is still there.

Here's Merry on June 21, 2008 at the Toronto Jazz Festival still going strong.

Browse through Merry Clayton's music at amazon.com

Q- Tip's Unreleased Album from 2004, "Open"

2009-05-16T15:13:00.001-07:00

Last month on this blog, I wrote about and gave you links to download Q-Tip's unreleased album from 2002, Kamaal the Abstract. If you haven't checked that out yet, go here.

Following the disappointment of not having that great album released, Q-Tip made another record called Open with guests such as Common, Andre 3000, and D'Angelo.

It is another phenomenal album that deserves to be heard. Here is an interesting, in depth 2004 article on the making of Open.

If you don't mind some pop up ads and a little soft porn, you can do this the quick and dirty way and download a large file of the whole album here:

Download "Open" via Megaupload.

Or you can just go song by song right here:

Q-Tip - Open (Unreleased Album from 2004)

01 - Open
02 - Black Boy
03 - Official
04 - N/A (featuring Common)
05 - Say Something For Me
06 - Interlude
07 - I'm Not Gone Have It
08 - Unknown
09 - Feelings
10 - Where Do You Go
11 - Unidentified
12 - That's Sexy (featuring Andre 3000)
13 - Late Mornin'
14 - Compute
15 - I Believe (featuring D'Angelo)
16 - Lisa (Extended Instrumental)
17 - Instrumental
18 - Lisa

Q-Tip discussed some of the nonsense he went through when both Kamaal the Abstract and Open weren't released in this interview with Entertainment Weekly. Finally, in the fall of 2008, Q-Tip released his long awaited, official, and excellent second solo album The Renaissance.

Here are some really cool highlights from Q-Tip's record release party for The Renaissance at the Knitting Factory in New York City on September 27, 2008.

Buy Q-Tip's The Renaissance at amazon.com

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "The Complex Sessions"

2009-05-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

On October 3, 1994, director Johnathan Demme filmed Neil Young & Crazy Horse as they performed songs from their just completed album Sleeps With Angels at Complex Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. The result was a sort of video EP called The Complex Sessions, which at one time was released on videotape & laser disc (remember that?) but never on DVD and is now long out of print. Perhaps it will be a part of a future volume of Neil Young's Archives series but for now, it deserves to be seen without having to fork over cash to anyone who isn't going to get some of it to Neil Young.

This is beautifully shot footage of an emotional, amazing performance that was referred to by music critic Paul Williams in this review from June of 1996 as "Neil Young's - and rock n' roll's - finest moment."

Here are mp3s (320 kbps) of the audio from The Complex Sessions, followed by the four videos.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - The Complex Sessions

01 - My Heart
02 - Prime of Life
03 - Change Your Mind
04 - Piece of Crap

"My Heart"

Watch more Sleeps With Angels videos on AOL Video

"Prime of Life"

<a href="http://www.joost.com/08201ka/t/Neil-Young-Prime-Of-Life-Video">Neil Young - Prime Of Life (Video)</a>

"Change Your Mind"

Since it only plays instantly, here's a link to video of the final song, and my favorite, "Piece of Crap."

Buy Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young & Crazy Horse from amazon.com

Neil and Tim Finn in Split Enz

2009-05-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

Split Enz was an excellent band from the 1970's and 80's and the first group from New Zealand to become a worldwide success. The band began in 1972 and would go through many changes, but they were primarily led by brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn up until they disbanded in the mid-1980s. While Tim had a successful solo career, Neil would go on to form Crowded House, which became much bigger than Split Enz. Tim reunited with Neil on the Crowded House record Woodface, and they went on to work together on two Finn Brothers albums as well as each other's solo work.

Split Enz is fondly remembered as an amazing group that was ahead of their time. It was in this band that Neil and Tim Finn refined their craft for writing great lyrics with incredibly catchy hooks. They have a huge and rabid cult following and have been a major influence on many of the great bands of today. Most notable of these would be Pearl Jam and in particular, Eddie Vedder, as you'll see from a few of the great covers at the end of this post.

Here are some classic videos and mp3s of some of my favorite songs from Split Enz.

Split Enz - "I See Red"

Split Enz - "I Got You"

Split Enz - "History Never Repeats"

Split Enz - Six Months in a Leaky Boat

Here are two really cool live covers of Split Enz tunes by Pearl Jam:

Pearl Jam - I've Got You (From the bootleg comp 2000 Tour Live Rarities)

Pearl Jam (w/ Neil and Tim Finn) - History Never Repeats (from a PJ Ten Club Christmas Single)

To see more Split Enz, Crowded House, and Finn Brothers videos, check out this blog I made a few years ago, Neil Finn Videos.

Buy History Never Repeats: The Best of Split Enz from amazon.com

Adam & Dave's Bloodline: Acoustic on YRock at WXPN

2009-05-12T17:18:00.001-07:00

Philadelphia band Adam and Dave's Bloodline released their excellent second record, Boycott Classics today. You can check out an album preview that appeared on this blog a few weeks back with a video and two songs here.

Today they recorded some songs for Philadelphia's best radio station, WXPN. Band member Adam Garbinski sent me these tracks from their first live performance on YRock at XPN, back in the fall of 2007, for their first self titled debut album.

Adam and Dave's Bloodline - Live on YRock at XPN - 2007

01 - Aftermarket Blues
02 - Untouchable
03 - Cautious Again

Here's a faster version of "Untouchable" from the record release show for the first album.

"Cautious Again" is one of the cooler new songs on Boycott Classics. Here's a video for another good one, "It's a Crime."

Download the new album on the link below and if you are in the Philly area, go see them at Johnny Brenda's on June 20th.

Boycott Classics from Adam and Dave's Bloodline is now available to download at amazon.com here.

The Beach Boys' "Smile" Outtakes

2009-05-10T11:40:00.001-07:00

In 1966, Brian Wilson began work on the follow up to his classic album Pet Sounds. The Beach Boys were hit machines back then, and Pet Sounds was heavily praised by critics, but was not the huge commercial success that nearly everything they had released up to that point was.

The new album was to be called Smile. Wilson spent a long time working with a ton of musicians to complete the first track from the album, "Good Vibrations," which was released as a single and sold over a million copies. While the Beach Boys toured on the strength of this huge hit, Wilson wrote songs with Van Dyke Parks while recording tracks with many of the musicians on Pet Sounds. When the Beach Boys returned from the road to record their vocals, things began to fall apart. Wilson's mental state, after having endured a lifetime of abuse from his father, was already fragile. That mixed with his increasing drug use, pressure from everyone he worked with to keep making huge hits, and criticism from members of his band, particularly Mike Love, about where the direction of his art was going, led to Wilson shutting down the project.

That is the short version. If you want to read more, I would suggest reading this Wikipedia entry or buying this book here.

Most of the songs from Smile would be recorded by the band in some form over the next ten years but it took a long time for a lot of the original music from the sessions from 1966 and 1967 to come out. When it did, people could hear for themselves how brilliant and beautiful this amazing music was.

Brian Wilson peforming some of the songs planned for Smile in 1966:

Brian Wilson - Heroes & Villains/I'm in Great Shape/Barnyard
Brian Wilson - Surf's Up

The performance of Surf's Up was filmed for a television special and can be seen here.

Here are some of the highlights from the Beach Boys' Smile sessions:

Our Prayer
Heroes & Villains 1
Heroes & Villains 2
Do You Like Worms?
Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine
Wonderful
Cabinessence
Vegetables
Wind Chimes
Surf's Up
Child is the Father of the Man

After decades of addiction and exploitation, Brian Wilson got his life back to a place where he felt comfortable taking his own band on the road. After a tour where they performed Pet Sounds in full each night, Brian decided to finally finish Smile, 37 years after he had started work on it. Here is a nice piece on the process of finishing Smile from Fast Focus TV.

You can listen to an NPR webcast of Brian Wilson and his band performing his updated version of Smile here.

Buy Brian Wilson Presents: SMiLE at amazon.com

The Band - King Biscuit Flower Hour: Complete Masters - 7/17/76 - Washington D.C.

2009-05-07T03:18:00.001-07:00

This is as good as bootlegs get. It is everything recorded for The Band's appearance on the classic syndicated radio show "The King Biscuit Flower Hour." This performance was on July 17, 1976 from the Carter Baron Ampitheater in Washington D.C. Previous bootlegs featured only the 10 songs that were on the radio show. This Japanese bootleg from 2003 gives us 15 songs, taken from the pre-broadcast reels.

This would be the final year that Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson would perform live as The Band, culminating in their last show together on New Year's Eve, filmed by Martin Scorcese for his movie The Last Waltz.

For all you audio nerds, the mp3 files here are at 320 kbps. Enjoy.

The Band - 7/17/76 - Washington D.C. -
Complete "King Biscuit Flower Hour" Masters

01 - Don't Do It
02 - The Shape I'm In
03 - It Makes No Difference
04 - The Weight
05 - King Harvest Surely Has Come
06 - Twilight
07 - Ophelia
08 - Tears of Rage
09 - Forbidden Fruit
10 - This Wheel's on Fire
11 - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
12 - The Genetic Method
13 - Chest Fever
14 - Up on Cripple Creek
15 - W.S Walcott's Medicine Show

Some videos of The Band at their very best.

Look for a post on unreleased tracks from Bob Dylan & The Band's Basement Tapes down the road. Thanks for checking this out.

Mary Lee's Corvette - Blood on the Tracks

2009-05-03T12:08:00.001-07:00

In the summer of 2001, the New York City club Arlene's Grocery was looking for someone to attempt to cover Bob Dylan's legendary 1975 record Blood on the Tracks as part of their Classic Album Nights. Mary Lee's Corvette stepped up to this daunting challenge and succeeded where few could, faithfully and brilliantly covering the album from start to finish, with a little bit of fun fan participation thrown in during "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts."

Adding some new perspective to these songs with her powerful and soulful voice, singer Mary Lee Kortes was joined on this night by band members Andy York (guitar), Rod Hohl (acoustic guitar), Diego Voglino (drums), Brad Albetta (bass), and Andy Burton (piano/organ). A soundboard tape was first passed around and grew more and more popular until the bold decision was made to release it on cd. It was met with tons of critical acclaim, most importantly from the one person's opinion who would matter most in this instance, Bob Dylan, who liked it enough to feature a track on his website.

Here are two of the high points from Blood on the Tracks by Mary Lee's Corvette.

Mary Lee's Corvette - "You're a Big Girl Now"
Mary Lee's Corvette - "Idiot Wind"

Thanks goes out to my friend Will for first turning me onto this album on a long car ride home a few years ago. Look for a post on ten of my favorite covers of Bob Dylan's songs some time soon.

Buy Blood on the Tracks by Mary Lee's Corvette

Tom Waits' first album, Closing Time

2009-05-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

I never really got into Tom Waits. I appreciated that he was a storytelling genius. I often listened to other artist's covering his music, but outside of a handful of songs, I never really gave his catalog much of a chance.

That all changed for me on Valentine's Day of this year, when I was driving around that afternoon listening to Philly's best radio station, WXPN, and the song "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" came on. It just floored me. I thought it was one of the best songs I had ever heard and I had to hear more of Waits' earlier music. I'm hoping that there are a few of you out there who like me, never heard this incredible song and give it a listen right now.

Tom Waits - "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You"

So I went back to the beginning to where this song is from, and that is Tom Waits' debut album from 1973, Closing Time. In it, Waits' voice is in much different shape that it is now and he sings beautifully on a dozen songs that vary in style but flow together perfectly. A timeless, inspiring, and incredibly moving record, this one will stay with me forever.

Here are two more favorites from Closing Time.

Tom Waits - Ol' 55.
Tom Waits - Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)

Since then, I've been slowly working my way up through his catalog and I've spent a little too much time watching the full length concerts through the years at the best fan site I've ever seen, Tom Waits TV, here.

I am now finally, officially, a Tom Waits obsessed freak, so I'm sure you'll be seeing him around these parts quite often. Thanks for stopping by.

Buy Closing Time by Tom Waits at amazon.com

The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Vol. 1 - "Total Destruction of Your Mind" and "Rat On"

2009-04-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

On any list of the truly underappreciated geniuses in pop music, Swamp Dogg deserves to be near the top. His music has endured because there is nothing quite like it. It is at times hilarious, other times harrowing, but always interesting. This is one of those rare combinations where brilliant lyrics, excellent arrangements, and an amazing voice all come together to make music that is timeless and phenomenal.

"Little" Jerry Williams was a singer, songwriter, and producer who worked with such 1960's soul acts as The Exciters, Patti Labelle & the Bluebelles, and Gary U.S. Bonds. Over the decade, he released about 30 tracks of music under his own name, which are available on the cd The Little Jerry Williams Anthology.

As the 60s were ending, Williams began crafting songs about racism and civil rights, soldiers and the Vietnam War, acid and weed, and sex crazed psychos and cheating wives. Aside from Sly Stone and possibly Frank Zappa, it is hard to tell what his influences are and who was influenced by him. He made a decision that these songs were too much of a departure from his previous work and decided to begin his recording career anew under the name Swamp Dogg. Here's how he tells it in a must read 1998 interview for a chapter in the book "Unknown Legends of Rock N' Roll" here.

"I was thinking along those lines when I was doing my productions and cutting my soul records; actually starting in 1960, was my first nationally released records. At that time, I was in with the norm. I was being what everybody wanted, felt they needed. I was just trying to help supply the demand. But while I was out there watching what was going on, it hit me that I wasn't nearly as good as those people at the top of the ladder who were supplying the demand. And my songs were just as good, but I didn't feel that I had as much heart in my songs as they had in theirs. Because when I sang about being wonderful, I didn't really believe it. 'Cause I've never been caught up in a "I'm a great lookin' guy, and when I walk onstage, the bitches fall out." I never believed no shit like that. And I had good reason not to believe it, because it never fucking happened.

I was very disappointed with where I was going with something that I loved more than anything in the fucking world. So I just took a chance and bet on myself. And I said, I've got to change everything, and I've got to be drastic in this change. If you knew me, you'd know that it took a lot for me to make up my mind. Because I've always been crazy about my name-Jerry Williams Jr., I love my name, I love my father, I loved carrying my father's name. And to have to change it to something just to catch your ear was a heavy decision for me. But I did it. And that enabled me to jump into some music that I wanted to, some lyrics that I wanted to do."

He would bounce around from label to label, often being dropped in favor of the other one or two black acts at a record company, or leaving because he didn't want to compromise his artistic vision. Through it all, Swamp Dogg kept making music and performing to this day, when he now has a large cult following thanks to rappers sampling him and from the internet, where vinyl rips of albums that were once impossible to find have been posted and downloaded.

But what many who have shared and downloaded these records do not know is that Swamp Dogg has been rereleasing his music on his own label for the past few years, often on cds that feature two full length LPs. The first of these, "The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Volume 1", features his first two classic albums. Here are three of the best songs from each.

From Total Destruction To Your Mind:

Swamp Dogg - "Total Destruction To Your Mind"
Swamp Dogg - "The World Beyond"
Swamp Dogg - "The Baby is Mine"

From Rat On:

Swamp Dogg - "Remember That I Said Tomorrow"
Swamp Dogg - "God Bless America For What?"
Swamp Dogg - "That Ain't My Wife"

I'll end with some great videos of a few more recent performances by the legendary Swamp Dogg.

"Total Destruction To Your Mind" in April 26, 2007 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam:

"The World Beyond" on a Dutch radio show:

Look for future posts on The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Volumes 2-5 over the next few months.

Buy or download The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Vol. 1 at amazon.com

Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit (1993)

2009-04-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

When Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart released the Alfie soundtrack in 2004, I read a lot of paint by numbers reviews that mostly repeated what seemed like common knowledge for most music critics then, Mick Jagger's solo albums blow. With the bad taste of Mick's awful work with Rob Thomas still fresh/rotten in their minds, who can blame them.

But when Jagger released a solo best of compilation in 2007, I read a lot of positive things about the songs on the one Mick Jagger album that I know did not suck, 1993's Wandering Spirit. Produced by Rick Rubin and featuring an excellent backing band, Mick experimented with a number of different genres and included interesting covers. By tackling different musical styles from different eras, this is the one Mick Jagger solo album that didn't ape whatever was hot on the pop charts right that second, thus making something horribly dated and lame in the process. Wandering Spirit is one of those special records that I loved listening to when I was a teenager, but still go back to and listen to quite often because for me, it has held up over time as a really good album that belongs on the shelf next to the Rolling Stones records and Keith Richards' own great solo albums.

Here's a couple songs from the record release show for Wandering Spirit at Webster Hall in New York City on February 9, 1993, followed by some mp3s of album tracks.

Mick Jagger - "Wandering Spirit"

Mick Jagger - "Evening Gown"

The other great country song on the record was "Hang on to Me Tonight"

Mick Jagger - "Hang on to Me Tonight"

Look for a post on Keith Richards' solo albums from around this time coming soon.

Buy Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit at amazon.com.

Neil Young - Live on BBC TV in 1971

2009-04-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Neil Young recorded this short set for the television station BBC2 on February 23, 1971 at the BBC’s Television Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, London. Neil was on a UK tour supporting Journey Through the Past at the time, but chose to play some songs that would appear on his next album, Harvest.

Neil Young - Live on BBC2 - 2/23/71

01 - Out on the Weekend
02 - Old Man
03 - Journey Through the Past
04 - Heart of Gold
05 - Don't Let It Bring You Down
06 - A Man Needs a Maid
07 - Love in Mind
08 - See the Girl Dance

Bob Dylan on Late Night With David Letterman in 1984

2009-04-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Liberace, David Letterman, and Bob Dylan - NBC Studios, New York, NY, 3/22/84

On March 22, 1984, Bob Dylan gave this interesting three song performance on Late Night With David Letterman. Dylan was promoting his new album Infidels and decided to grab LA punk band The Plugz to back him up. The members of The Plugz here are Justin Jesting (guitar), Tony Marisco (bass), and Charlie Quintana (drums). This was this makeshift band's one and only public performance. I really wish there could have been more where this came from.

Dylan specifically wrote in his contract that he would not be interviewed, which explains the choice of this first song.

"Don't Start Me Talking" (Sonny Boy Williamson cover)

Bob Dylan - "Don't Start Me Talking" (Live on Letterman - 3/22/84))

"License to Kill"

Bob Dylan - "License to Kill" (Live on Letterman - 3/22/84)

"Jokerman"

Bob Dylan - "Jokerman" (Live on Letterman - 3/22/84)

The performance could have been even more interesting. In this rarely seen video from earlier that day, Bob and The Plugz soundcheck a cover of the Roy Head song "Treat Her Right."

Thanks for checking this out. Look for more Bob related stuff in the near future. I can't wait for his new album, Together Through Life, which will be out on April 28th.

Buy Bob Dylan's 1984 album Infidels from amazon.com

Ten Favorite Covers of Bruce Springsteen's Songs

2009-04-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not just a Bruce Springsteen fan, I'm one of those freaks who has every official release, a bookful of bootlegs, and a few thousand dollars less in the bank account thanks to all the shows I've been to. But you can only listen to so much Boss. Then you have to listen to people that covered the Boss.

So I decided to put together a list. In the end it was a little difficult, but I narrowed it down to ten favorite covers of Springsteen songs that I think everyone should hear. It also serves as a nice mix for an Itunes playlist.

If you like a particular artist's cover here, please investigate their own stuff further. Here's my top ten.

The Mendoza Line - "Tougher Than the Rest"

Laura Cantrell - "Used Cars"

Emmylou Harris - Racing in the Streets (remastered)

Patty Griffin - "Stolen Car"

Steve Wynn - "State Trooper"

John Wesley Harding - "Jackson Cage"

Cowboy Junkies - "You're Missing"

Pete Yorn - "New York City Serenade"

Johnny Cash - "Further On Up the Road"

Bettye Lavette - "Streets of Philadelphia"

P.S. A few really cool readers brought another one to my attention that I never knew was officially released, but it deserves to be in the good company of this list.

Maria McKee - "Backstreets"

Album Preview: "Boycott Classics" by Adam and Dave's Bloodline

2009-04-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Adam and Dave's Bloodline are a great band from Philadelphia who are getting ready to release their second record, Boycott Classics, on May 12th.

Band members Adam Garbinski, Dave Petersen, Kirk Henderson, Brian Newell, and Lois Volta have collaborated to make a phenomenal album that is the best record I have heard so far this year. I am really proud to preview it here for you.

Here is a fun video for "I'm a Secret," followed by two mp3s of "In the Zoo" and "Before I'm Free," my two favorite songs off of Boycott Classics.

Adam and Dave's Bloodline - "In the Zoo"

Adam and Dave's Bloodline - "Before I'm Free" (with Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner on dobro)

If you are in the Philadelphia area, there will be a record release show at Johnny Brenda's (the best music club in Philly) on Friday, May 1st. I hope to see you there.

Also, check back here for some exclusive Bloodline tracks when the new album drops on May 12th.

Boycott Classics from Adam and Dave's Bloodline is now available to download at amazon.com here.

Jerry Garcia & John Kahn - Oregon State Prison - 5/05/82

2009-04-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is a soundboard recording of Jerry Garcia at his very best, with John Kahn backing him up on bass, playing to inmates at Oregon State Prison on May 5, 1982.

It is one of my favorite bootlegs ever. With the tons of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia shows that are now for sale, it is amazing to me that this excellent show has never been officially released.

Enjoy it and pass it on.

Jerry Garcia & John Kahn - Oregon State Prison - 5/05/82

01 - Deep Elem Blues
02 - Friend of the Devil
03 - Jack-A-Roe
04 - Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie
05 - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
06 - Run for the Roses
07 - Ripple
08 - I've Been All Around This World
09 - Valerie
10 - Dire Wolf
11 - Reuben & Cerise

Tift Merritt - Highlights and a Solo Radio Performance

2009-04-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Tift Merritt is a singer from North Carolina blessed with an amazing voice and great taste. Her initial interest in music was inspired by a folk music playing father who taught her to play guitar and from listening to records by Emmylou Harris and Joni Mitchell, in particular.

After coming up with a few bands in North Carolina, Tift's music caught the attention of Ryan Adams, who was instrumental in getting her first record, Bramble Rose, made in 2002.

Bramble Rose is one of those great debut albums where every track is as good as the first. Here is the first song off the record, "Trouble Over Me."

Tift Merritt - Trouble Over Me

On Tift's second album, 2004's Tambourine, the sound was looser and the songs were more soulful. My favorite song off of that record is a great ballad that first got me hooked on her music, "The Plainest Thing."

Tift Merritt - "The Plainest Thing"

Tift on Austin City Limits playing the opening track from Tambourine, "Stray Paper."

Tift would not release another record until 2008. After a long stretch of touring, she decided to move to Paris, France for six months. The result was an album clearly inspired by Joni Mitchell's Blue called Another Country. The record is an amazing document of someone who had been through a lot and had come out of it with a genuine sense of peace and optimism about what lies ahead.

Here's the music video for the lead single off of Another Country and one of the catchiest songs in forever, "Broken."

Today, Tift released a live cd Buckingham Solo exclusively to independent stores for Record Store Day. There is a link to order it below, but here is more of Tift solo with a set of four songs from Another Country on the radio show Acoustic Cafe.

Tift Merritt - Live on Acoustic Cafe

01 - Broken
02 - Another Country
03 - I Know What I'm Looking For Now
04 - Mille Tendresses (A Thousand Tendernesses)

Thanks for checking this out everyone.

Buy Tift Merritt's Another Country from amazon.com

Buy the new live cd Buckingham Solo at newburycomics.com

Four Rarities from U2

2009-04-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

U2 was my favorite band growing up. When I was a teenager I was obsessed with Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and the ZooTV Tour. It still bothers me when I see Pop get slagged every time a new U2 cd comes out.

I've gotten into all kinds of other music over the years but I still always get a little too much into U2 when a new record comes out. Just like any good geek superfan, I enjoy a lot of songs that aren't on the main albums. So I'd like to share four of the best of those from this decade with you now.

First is a leftover track from the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sesssions called "Mercy." I thought this was a sure bet to make it in some form onto the new record, but listening to it now it doesn't seem to fit. Still, it is a great track that will hopefully be released someday, but deserves to be heard by all the fans now.

Here is a good fan made video and then an mp3 of "Mercy."

U2 - "Mercy"

Another lost classic is an earlier, better version of the song "Vertigo" called "Native Son." The lyrics are inspired by the story of Native American activist Leonard Pelltier (google and read up on his story if you've never heard of him). The song was released as part of the ITunes exclusive U2 box set (then subsequently bootlegged all over the net, of course). "Native Son" makes "Vertigo" sound like a bunch of cool sounding nonsense and breathes new life into a tune that became omnipresently annoying seeing that Itunes commercial a few bazillion times.

Another fan made video and an mp3 of "Native Son."

U2 - "Native Son" (early version of "Vertigo")

One more bitch about How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The record had the perfect album closer in the song "Fast Cars," but for some reason, it was cut from the final tracklist and then it only appeared as a international bonus track. Why should the rest of the world get to have all the fun? If you haven't done so already, I believe it is your patriotic duty to download this song and put it back in its rightful place in your Itunes library at the end of that record.

This is a fun live performance of "Fast Cars" to close a show in Boston on December 5, 2005, followed by an mp3 of the studio track.

U2 - "Fast Cars"

This last one is one of my favorite live performances from U2. At a Verigo Tour stop in Milan, they dedicated the song "Ms. Sarajevo" to the victims of the London train bombings that morning. What makes this stand out is Bono's singing of the opera part that Luciano Pavarotti sang in the original recording on the Passengers album.

This is from the Live in Milan dvd and the cd U2.Communication, a 2005 compilation that was a gift for members of U2.com.

U2 - Ms. Sarajevo (Live in Milan)

In case you were wondering, here are the translated lyrics to the Italian opera part in "Ms. Sarajevo"

You say that the river
finds the way to the sea
and like the river
you will come to me
beyond the borders
and the dry lands
You say that like a river
like a river...
the love will come
the love...
And i don't know how to pray anymore
and in love i don't know how to hope anymore
and for that love i don't know how to wait anymore

-----------

Thanks for checking this out. Look for some more rare U2 stuff here some time soon.

P.S. If anyone out there has an mp3 of U2's first live performance of the song "North and South of the River," let me know and help me out if you can. Thanks.

Pearl Jam and The Who

2009-04-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Most of us have been lucky enough to go to a Pearl Jam show where they belted out "Baba O'Reilly" in the encore. Over the years, Pearl Jam has continued to pay tribute to The Who. Here are a few of the best examples of that.

Eddie Vedder guested on the Who's 2000 cd/dvd release Live at the Royal Albert Hall. The three songs Eddie performed with the Who.

"I'm One"

The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "I'm One

"Let's See Action"

The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "Let's See Action"

One more mp3 I sadly don't have video for. Buy the dvd!

The Who w/ Eddie Vedder - "Getting In Tune"

Last year, Pearl Jam played two songs on the show "VH1 Rock Honors: The Who."

Pearl Jam - Love Reign O'er Me / The Real Me
Uploaded by IvorTheEngineDriver

Pearl Jam - "Love Reign O'er Me" (2008 VH1 Rock Honors: The Who)

Pealr Jam - "The Real Me"

One more video that is too good not to includue here is Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder performing "Heart to Hang On To" on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Buy The Who - Live at The Royal Albert Hall at amazon.com

Four Rarities from Josh Ritter

2009-04-07T17:08:00.001-07:00

Last summer I heard the album The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter and was instantly hooked. Not too long after that, thanks to emusic.com, I collected everything he had released. Finally got to see him perform live the other week and he more than lived up to my expectations. He was a hell of a showman, his band was on fire, and he played a handful of promising new songs that seem to point to another classic album hopefully being released very soon.

For those of you out there who haven't heard of him, I'll post a few videos.

Here are two acoustic songs and two covers from Josh Ritter. Give them a listen and let me know what you think.

Josh Ritter - "Golden Age of Radio" (acoustic - from the EP Four Songs Live)

Josh Ritter - "Wolves" (acoustic - from the EP Live at the Record Exchange)

Josh Ritter - "The River" (Bruce Springsteen cover - Live in Berlin)

Josh Ritter - "Blame it on the Tetons" (Modest Mouse cover from the Girl in the War digital EP)

Download Josh Ritter's music at emusic.com

Alex Chilton's Acoustic Set from "Big Star Live"

2009-04-07T16:15:00.001-07:00

The best cd I ever bought was the 2 LP combo of #1 Record/Radio City by Big Star. The cd Third/Sister Lovers is amazing as well.

If you don't have these, get them now.

There's only other Big Star cd worth having is the 1974 radio broadcast released as Big Star Live. It is mainly worth it for Alex Chilton's incredible acoustic set in the middle. Here is Chilton's four song set.

Big Star - "The Ballad of El Goodo"

Big Star - "Thirteen"

Big Star - "I'm in Love with a Girl"

Big Star - "Motel Blues" (Loudon Wainwright III cover)

Buy Big Star Live from amazon.com

"I Am the Cosmos" by Chris Bell

2009-04-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

The posthumous collection of Chris Bell's songs recorded after he left Big Star, I Am the Cosmos, together make for an amazing record.

I was going to write a short bio on Chris Bell, but I'll just use this excellent one here.

Biography by Jason Ankeny (From www.allmusic.com)

Chris Bell was one of the unsung heroes of American pop music; despite a life marked by tragedy and a career crippled by commercial indifference, the singer/songwriter's slim body of recorded work proved massively influential on the generations of indie rockers who emerged in his wake. Born January 12, 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee, Bell grew up enveloped by the city's indigeneous soul sounds — typified by the prodigious output of the Stax label — but his first love was the music of the British Invasion; inspired by the Beatles, he took up the guitar in his early teens. Within a few years, Bell was writing and performing his own songs with friends Richard Rosebrough and Terry Manning, but his Anglo-pop leanings set him squarely outside of the Memphis musical community.

In high school, Bell struck up a friendship with another young performer named Alex Chilton, who occasionally jammed with Bell's band but turned down an invitation to join on a full-time basis. While Chilton soon rose to fame as the frontman of the Box Tops, Bell became a fixture at Memphis' famed Ardent Studios, where he worked as a part-time recording engineer and also cut his earliest songs. While attending college, he roomed with former high school friend Andy Hummel, with whom Bell eventually returned to Memphis to form a new band with drummer Jody Stephens and, later, Chilton, who had grown frustrated with his role in the Box Tops and quit.

Together, the four musicians comprised the power-pop band Big Star. Their debut album, 1972's #1 Record, eventually earned mythic status as an underground classic, but, sabotaged by poor distribution, was deemed a commercial failure at the time of release. Crushed, Bell became suicidal and left the band, although he did contribute his skills to a handful of tracks on the follow-up, Radio City. While Bell continued working on music, his depression worsened; to help revitalize his career, his brother David led him to France's Chateau D'Herouville studios, where a batch of demos were cut for a planned album. After skipping over to London, the Bell brothers mixed the songs with Geoff Emerick, the engineer on the Beatles' final albums, at producer George Martin's Air Studios.

The completed tracks were roundly rejected, however, and Bell returned to Memphis, where he cut a few more songs with Big Star's Stephens and local musician Ken Woodley in 1974. He ultimately returned to Europe and played solo shows in folk clubs; after plans for a Big Star reunion tour fell through, Bell returned to the U.S. and dropped out of music, taking a management position in his family's fast food chain.

In 1977, however, the tiny New York label Car issued a remarkable single, "I Am the Cosmos," backed with "You and Your Sister," on which Bell was supported by Chilton; the record was well-received, and spurred him to form a new band. But on the morning of December 27, 1978, his speeding car hit a tree, and he was killed instantly. Over the course of the following decade, the legendary stature of Big Star continued to grow exponentially, and finally, Bell's long-unreleased demos were collected under the title I Am the Cosmos and released to wide acclaim in 1992.

Here are my three favorite tracks from this phenomenal cd:

Chris Bell - "I Am The Cosmos"

Chris Bell - "Look Up"

Chris Bell - "You and Your Sister" (Country Version w/ Alex Chilton)

Buy I Am the Cosmos by Chris Bell at amazon.com

Three Covers by Patty Griffin

2009-04-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love Patty Griffin? Only people that haven't heard of her yet, I guess.

Patty's last release was a cd and dvd of her performance on the television show Live from the Artist's Den. Here she sings "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" to close the show.

Recently, Patty has been touring with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, and Buddy Miller as the group Three Girls and Their Buddy. I am looking forward to seeing them perform at the House of Blues in Atlantic City on May 29th.

Here are three rare covers by Patty. Enjoy.

Patty Griffin - Take It Down (John Hiatt cover)

Patty Griffin - "Crazy" (Willie Nelson cover, made famous by Patsy Cline)

Patty Griffin - "Moon River" (Henry Mancini cover, right?)

Buy the DVD Patty Griffin: Live from the Artist's Den at amazon.com

The Incomparable Bettye Lavette

2009-04-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Bettye Lavette's career can be summed up as the comeback story that never should have been. She had some hits in the 60's, including the classic "Let Me Down Easy."

She was never supported by Atlantic Records, a label that twice picked her up and only released singles, but never full albums she recorded in the 60s and 70s. Bettye recorded sporadically over the years, but never gave up on performing until finally, much of this material appeared on Souvenirs, in 2000 release on a French label. Since you can only get a used import from amazon.com for $60, you might as well download that album right here:

Souvenirs by Bettye Lavette (Rapidshare link)

The release of this compilation led to a career resurgence for Bettye where she recorded three albums this decade. This culminated in the critically acclaimed album The Scene of the Crime in 2007, which she made with the Drive-By Truckers and Spooner Oldham backing her up.

Here is Bettye on Austin City Limits singing a track from The Scene of the Crime, a cover of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Talking Old Soldiers," followed by an mp3 of the album track.

Bettye Lavette - "Talking Old Soldiers"

A couple more excellent recent covers:

Bettye Lavette - "Streets of Philadelphia" (from the compilation Song of America)

Bettye Lavette - "Heart of Gold" (Neil Young cover - Live at Joe's Pub)

In recent months, Bettye has been all over the television, performing at the Kennedy Center Honors, Barack Obama's Inaugural Concert, and The Tonight Show. Sadly though, these performances involved singing for Barbara Streisand, singing with Jon Bon Jovi, and singing on a show hosted by Jay Leno. You can't have it all folks.

Although there is one more amazing performance from that Kennedy Center Honors show that I have to include here as Bettye sang The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" for Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.

Buy Bettye Lavette's The Scene of the Crime at amazon.com

Download tracks from Song of America on emusic.com

Bruce Springsteen - "Dream Baby Dream"

2009-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Bruce closed the "Devils and Dust" solo tour each night covering this song by the band Suicide. I always associate this performance with "Arc" from the Eddie Vedder solo tour below. Perhaps one inspired the other.

Bruce Springsteen - Dream Baby Dream (Live)

Eddie Vedder - "Arc" - Chicago 2008

2009-02-09T19:04:00.001-08:00

Eddie Vedder would close the opening set of his 2008 theater tour with this performance. He used different microphones and tape loops to create something amazing.

Pearl Jam - "Arc" (from the album Riot Act)

Alejandro Escovedo's "Real Animal"

2008-11-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

I got to see Alejandro perform at World Cafe Live in Philly here on Wednesday. It was the best concert I have seen in a long time, maybe the best ever. It was that great. Here are two of the best songs from his excellent new album, "Real Animal."

Alejandro performs "Always a Friend" with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Houston on April 14, 2008.

With his band, playing "Sister Lost Soul" at the Paradise in Boston on July 10, 2008.

The Drive-By Truckers - Austin, TX - 11/13/04

2008-11-11T06:47:00.000-08:00

I saw the Drive-By Truckers follow The Hold Steady at the Electric Factory in Philly on Saturday. They put on an excellent show where everyone was at the top of their game. It was good to see that they have fully moved on from the loss of Jason Isbell, who looks to have transitioned well to a pretty promising solo career.

I like to watch this video and look back on when they played together. This was shot as part of the "Texas Bootleg" series and it is about an hour long set from Austin on November 13, 2004.

Setlist:

The Buford Stick
Ronnie And Neil
Do It Yourself
Never Gonna Change
Lookout Mountain
Puttin' People On The Moon
Where The Devil Don't Stay
Nine Bullets
Let There Be Rock
Play It All Night Long

The Club is Open...

2008-11-10T20:15:00.000-08:00

Bob Pollard reuniting GBV at a kegger/picnic. Bob Pollard is awesome.

"A Salty Salute" by Guided By Voices

Disarm the settlers
The new drunk drivers
Have hoisted the flag
We are with you in your anger
Proud brothers
Do not fret
The bus will get you there yet
To carry us to the lake
The club is open
Yeah, the club is open
Hey, the club is open
Come on, come on, the club is open...