Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Revisited

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

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



Eddie Vedder - Masters of War

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



The O'Jays - Emotionally Yours

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



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



Neil Young - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

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



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



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

Ten Live Covers From The Black Crowes

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

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



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



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



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



The Black Crowes - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

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

The Black Crowes - Live Covers from 2008 & 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for checking this out everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "The Complex Sessions"

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"



"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 Young - Live on BBC TV in 1971

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

The Incomparable Bettye Lavette

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