The Forever Begging

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Click HERE to donate to The Midnight Cafe.

I started this blog on May 29, 2004, which means I’m approaching twenty years as a blogger. I think most of you know the basics of my blogging history – started out as a journal for my year in France, turned into a pop culture site, which then morphed into solely a live music station, and for the last year I’ve added back in some pop cultural musings.

I’ve made something like 10,666 posts. I’ve shared some 8,000 shows, written about movies over 500 times. I’ve talked about music and books, and I’ve shared videos and interesting links. I’ve shared personal pictures and talked a lot about my life. I’ve traveled all over the world and shared my adventures.

I don’t know how much this means to anybody but myself. I like to think I’ve made something of my little corner in cyberspace. I know most of you come for the music, but I hope at least a few of you enjoy the other stuff.

On a few occasions now I’ve asked for donations to help cover the cost of the Cloud Drives. You all have given generously to that cause, and I thank you sincerely. In previous donation requests, I’ve capped the donations to the actual cost of the Cloud Drives. In my last begging session, I noted that since I was providing more content than just music downloads I thought I’d leave the Paypal link up so that you could donate at will.

This is a continuation of that. I’m going to pin this to the top of the page so it is easily viewable by everyone. I may periodically post reminders or what you might call mini-begging posts, kind of like they do on Substack and similar operations.

The Midnight Cafe is a labor of love. I do this because I enjoy it. I’ve put a lot more time and money into it than I’ll ever get out of it. But if you think it is worth a little of your money I would greatly appreciate any donation you’d like to give. If you are unable to give, that’s okay too. This site will always be free.

You may send donations to my PayPal account.

Shows of the Day: May 16, 2024

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Ben Folds – 1998.06.07 – East Rutherford, NJ

Bob Dylan – 2013.04.05 – Buffalo, NY

Bruce Springsteen – 2012.01.14 – Asbury Park, NJ

Neil Young – 1978.05.25 – San Francisco, CA

Neil Young – 1978.05.26 – San Francisco, CA

The Rolling Stones – Orlando, FL (06/12/15)

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The Rolling Stones
2015-06-12 The Citrus Bowl
Orlando FLA, USA

Download FLAC: Google Drive

source : schoeps mk-4v > actives > nbox platinum > sony pcm-m10 > 24/96 wav
adobe audition > ozone 6 > sample manager > xACT 2.34 > flac 16
taper : edtyre

Intro
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
All Down the Line
Tumbling Dice
Doom and Gloom
Bitch
Moonlight Mile
She’s So Cold
Honky Tonk Women
Band Intros
Before They Make Me Run
Happy
Midnight Rambler
Miss You
Gimme Shelter
Start Me Up
Sympathy for the Devil
Brown Sugar
E
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
(with The University of Central Florida Chamber Singers)
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

The Decemberists – Portland, OR (01/12/11)

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The Decemberists
Oregon Public Broadcasting Studio
Portland OR
Jan. 12, 2011

Download FLAC: Google Drive

01 Don’t Carry It All
02 Calamity Song
03 Rise To Me
04 Rox In The Box
05 January Hymn
06 Down By The Water
07 All Arise
08 June Hymn
09 This Is Why We Fight
10 Dear Avery

The Decemberists performed all the songs from the band’s new album ‘The King is Dead’ live before an audience in the OPB Studio. This show was a gift to the group’s hometown of Portland before they head off on tour.

Digital recording from HDTV
Minor track editing with Cool Edit.

Bob Dylan – Vienna, Austria (06/28/14)

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concert poster

Bob Dylan
2014-06-28
Stadthalle
Vienna, Austria

Download FLAC: Google Drive

Set-01
Things Have Changed
She Belongs To Me
Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
What Good Am I?
Waiting For You
Duquesne Whistle
Pay In Blood
Tangled Up In Blue
Love Sick

break

Set-02
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Simple Twist Of Fate
Early Roman Kings
Forgetful Heart
Spirit On The Water
Scarlet Town
Soon After Midnight
Long And Wasted Years
-encore intervall
All Along The Watchtower
Blowin’ In The Wind

Murder Mysteries in May: P.J. (1968)

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poster

The movies of the 1960s remind me a lot of the movies from the 1980s. Both decades featured a lot of neon-colored, flashy, stylish films without a lot of depth to them.

There were massive cultural changes taking place in the ’60s, the studio system was dying while the Production Code was lessening its grip. All of this changed the ways movies were made and the types of films audiences wanted to see. The 1980s brought in the blockbuster age and the advent of home video created a surge of low-budget, straight-to-video releases.

I don’t quite have an over-arching thesis about this, although I do think there are also similarities in the decades that followed – the 1970s and the 1990s, but I’ll save that ramble for another day.

What I’m really thinking about is Marlowe and P.J., two detective films that are very much 1960s movies, but that both throwback to all those film noirs from the 1940s.

With P.J., George Peppard plays the titular Phillip Marlowe-esque down-on-his-luck private eye. He’s so far gone he doesn’t even have an office, just a bar he frequents where the bartender keeps his messages.

He is tasked by millionaire William Orbison (a deliciously sleazy Raymond Burr) to play bodyguard to his mistress Maureen (Gayle Hunnicutt) who has been getting some threatening letters.

Orbison takes the mistress and his wife (and P.J. and his business partner Grenoble) to the Bahamas for a little relaxation. When Grenoble finds himself murdered P.J. realizes he’s been set up. He was hired to become the fall guy.

Through a myriad of twists and turns he eventually clears his name and proves who did the murdering.

I’ll be honest, I watched this movie about a week ago and I’ve watched another eight films since then. The details of this one have grown hazy. I had to look up the plot and scroll the images on IMDB to remember anything about it. But I do remember liking it. I guess it just wasn’t all that memorable.

George Peppard is good. I’d only seen him in Breakfast at Tiffany’s but he’s incredibly charming and he works well as a private detective who’s both charming and headstrong. I love watching Raymond Burr play a heavy, especially one as slimy as he is here. I grew up watching him on Perry Mason reruns so it’s a lot of fun seeing him play someone so completely different.

The music and the feel of the film are very swingin’ ’60s. At one point there are a couple of girls in bikinis dancing in a giant martini glass. So, yeah, it is definitely worth watching, even if I can’t remember the details.

Shows of the Day: May 15, 2024

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Jeff Tweedy – 2006.02.02 – Seattle, WA

Mark Knopfler – 2008.05.28 – London, England

Van Morrison – 1993.03.21 – London, England

Van Morrison – 1993.03.22 – London, England

Van Morrison – 1993.03.23 – London, England

Van Morrison – 1993.04.22 – Chicago, IL

Van Morrison – 1993.05.04 – London, England

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood – Chicago, IL (06/17/09)

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ERIC CLAPTON & STEVE WINWOOD
06/17/09
United Center, Chicago

Download FLAC: Google Drive

— with special guest BUDDY GUY during the encore

Source: Core Sound Cartioid mics > Zoom H2 (48kHz/24-bit)
(8th Row, Section 220, Stage Right/House Left)

Transferred to the hard drive using my card reader.

Downsampled to 44.1kHz/16-bit using Audacity.

Misc. edits, fades and normalization to 95% using Cool Edit Pro.

Chopped up using CD Wave Editor. Mastered to fit on 2 audio CDs.

SBEs corrected using Trader’s Little Helper. (“-fixed” removed from filenames.)

Encoded to FLAC (Level 7) using Trader’s Little Helper.

Disc One

  1. Had To Cry Today
  2. Low Down
  3. After Midnight
  4. Presence Of The Lord
  5. Sleeping In The Ground
  6. Glad
  7. Well All Right
  8. Tough Luck Blues
  9. Pearly Queen
  10. Crossroads
  11. There’s A River
  12. Forever Man
  13. Georgia On My Mind (Winwood solo)
  14. Driftin’

Disc Two

  1. How Long
  2. Layla (acoustic version)
  3. Can’t Find My Way Home
  4. Split Decision
  5. Voodoo Chile
  6. Sweet Home Chicago < You Better Watch Yourself (encore)
  7. Drowning On Dry Land (encore)

Note: a few seconds of “Sweet Home Chicago” are missing because the recorder was in the process of saving the WAV file as it reached the maximum size limit.
Originally recorded in 48kHz, the maximum size of the WAV (which is 2Gb) was reached about 125 minute into the show (during the encore). The recorder saved the file, and continued recording in another WAV file. But, a little snippet was lost in the process. You’ll hear an abrupt edit in an other wise excellent, nearly error-free recording with minimal crowd distraction.

Band:

Eric Clapton – Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
Steve Winwood – Keyboards, Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
Chris Stainton – Keyboards
Willie Weeks – Electric Bass Guitar
Abe Laboriel, Jr. – Drums
Michelle John – Vocals
Sharon White – Vocals

Roy’s impression:

WOW – great show and one of the best concert tours of the year. The decision to bring on Buddy Guy seemed to have been spontaneous. After “Voodoo Chile,” Eric turned to Stevie and made a “cut it” gesture (hand across throat). Eric then declined the fresh guitar a stage hand had tried to offer (indicating to me that the stage crew was expecting the usual “Cocaine”) and promptly left the stage. The band left the stage for the usual false exit before the encore, and I noticed an additional amp being wheeled on and mic’ed.
An extra guest during an Eric Clapton show in Chicago can only mean one person – Buddy Guy, the Blues Mayor of the City. Buddy came on stage, and they tore the house down. Buddy played Stevie’s powder blue guitar, which was poorly mic’ed (and inaudible) for the first few minutes of the encore. After the fifteen-minute encore, Eric and Buddy left the stage rather abruptly. There was no final bow from the performers, as is common. Stevie Winwood merely walked off the stage without any acknowledgment from Clapton, and the house lights came on. I’m not sure how the egos of 60-something rock stars are, but I thought it was somewhat remarkable that Clapton seemed to be more interested in ending the show with his arms around Buddy Guy than waving a final farewell and bow with Steve Winwood.

Enjoy! Feedback is welcome.

——-Roy (roy_burns_cdrs@yahoo.com)

Bob Dylan – Osaka, Japan (03/11-16/10)

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cover art

Bob Dylan
Osaka, Japan
Zepp Osaka
11, 12, 13, 15 & 16 March 2010
Live At Oska, 5 Days Complete Box (Sylph)
10CD

Download FLAC: Google Drive

Disc 1 & 2 – 11 March 2010
Disc 3 & 4 – 12 March 2010
Disc 5 & 6 – 13 March 2010
Disc 7 & 8 – 15 March 2010
Disc 9 & 10 – 16 March 2010

Disc 1

  1. Introduction
  2. Watching The River Flow
  3. Girl Of The North Country (Bob on guitar)
  4. Things Have Changed (Bob on guitar)
  5. To Ramona
  6. High Water (For Charley Patton)
  7. Spirit On The Water
  8. The Levee’s Gonna Break
  9. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  10. Cold Irons Bound
  11. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

Disc 2

  1. Highway 61 Revisited
  2. Can’t Wait
  3. Thunder On The Mountain
  4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
    (encore)
  5. Like A Rolling Stone
  6. Jolene
  7. All Along The Watchtower

Disc 3

  1. Introduction
  2. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
  3. Lay, Lady, Lay
  4. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
  5. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob on guitar)
  6. The Levee’s Gonna Break
  7. Just Like A Woman
  8. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
  9. Make You Feel My Love
  10. Honest With Me
  11. Po’ Boy

Disc 4

  1. Highway 61 Revisited
  2. I Feel A Change Comin’ On
  3. Thunder On The Mountain
  4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
    (encore)
  5. Like A Rolling Stone
  6. Jolene
  7. All Along The Watchtower

Disc 5

  1. Introduction
  2. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
  3. The Man In Me
  4. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Bob on guitar)
  5. Love Sick
  6. Rollin’ And Tumblin’
  7. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carrolle
  8. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
  9. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  10. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
  11. Shelter From The Storm

Disc 6

  1. Highway 61 Revisited
  2. Not Dark Yet
  3. Thunder On The Mountain
  4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
    (encore)
  5. Like A Rolling Stone
  6. Jolene
  7. All Along The Watchtower

Disc 7

  1. Introduction
  2. Watching The River Flow
  3. Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
  4. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Bob on Guitar)
  5. High Water (For Charley Patton)
  6. The Levee’s Gonna Break
  7. Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
  8. Cold Irons Bound
  9. Desolation Row
  10. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
  11. Man In The Long Black Coat (Bob on guitar)

Disc 8

  1. Highway 61 Revisited
  2. Spirit On The Water
  3. Thunder On The Mountain
  4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
    (encore)
  5. Like A Rolling Stone
  6. Jolene
  7. All Along The Watchtower

Disc 9

  1. Introduction
  2. Cats In The Well
  3. This Wheel’s On Fire
  4. Summer Days
  5. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  6. Forgetful Heart
  7. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
  8. John Brown
  9. Under The Red Sky
  10. Honest With Me
  11. Masters Of War

Disc 10

  1. Highway 61 Revisited
  2. Po’ Boy
  3. Thunder On The Mountain
  4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
    (encore)
  5. Like A Rolling Stone
  6. Jolene
  7. All Along The Watchtower

Band Members
Bob Dylan – vocal, guitar, keyboard, harp
Tony Garnier – bass
Don Herron – pedal steel, lap steel, mandolin, violin, trumpet
Stuart Kimball – rhythm guitar
George Recile – drums, percussion
Charlie Sexton – lead guitar

Bob Dylan – Brussels, Belgium (04/06/07)

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image host

Bob Dylan
Brussels, Belgium
Forest National
April 6, 2007

Download FLAC: Google Drive

LB-4904

Taper: Condor

Lineage: OKM II R > Sony DAT TCD-D100 > CD > EAC > FLAC
(thanks oecourt!)

Disk One

  1. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Duml (Bob on electric guitar)
  2. It Ain’t Me, Babe (Bob on electric guitar)
  3. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (Bob on electric guitar)
  4. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
    (Bob on electric guitar, Donnie on violin)
  5. When The Deal Goes Down (Bob on keyboard)
  6. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
    (Bob on electric keyboard)
  7. This Wheel’s On Fire (Bob on electric keyboard and harp)
  8. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on electric
    mandolin)
  9. Boots Of Spanish Leather (Bob on electric keyboard and harp, Donnie on
    violin)

Disk Two

  1. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on electric keyboard)
  2. Spirit On The Water (Bob on electric keyboard and harp)
  3. Desolation Row (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on electric mandolin)
  4. Nettie Moore (Bob on electric keyboard, Donnie on violin)
  5. Summer Days (Bob on electric keyboard)
  6. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on electric keyboard and harp) (encore)
  7. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on electric keyboard)
  8. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on electric keyboard)

Murder Mysteries In May: Cover Up (1949)

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In my review of the 1935 adaptation of The Glass Key, I mentioned a scene in the 1942 remake that starred William Bendix. In that scene, Bendix plays a thug who gets to slap around Alan Ladd’s character. He does so with such gusto that he nearly steals the movie. It made me an instant fan.

I’ve since watched 11 films starring the actor where he’s mostly played tough guys, loveable lugs, and the like. He was a bigger man physically, and not exactly handsome so he fits the role of the heavy, but there is a goofy warmth to him, which makes him interesting.

In Cover Up he plays Larry Best the sheriff of a small, Midwestern town investigating a murder. Except he doesn’t seem all that interested in investigating it at all.

It is actually an insurance investigator, Sam Donovan (Dennis O’Keefe) who does most of the investigating. The dead man was shot and the sheriff ruled it a suicide. The trouble is the gun is nowhere to be found, and there are no powder burns on the body which would indicate being shot at close range. When Sam pushes Larry for answers he just shrugs it off. In fact, no one in the town seems all that interested.

Turns out the dead man was good and hated by pretty much everyone. Clearly, he was murdered and clearly, it is being covered up. Almost everyone in town is helping with the cover-up because whoever killed him is well-liked and the dead man deserves to be dead. To a normal investigator, this would be enough. Suicide prevents an insurance pay out and that’s that.

But Sam is no normal investigator. He pursues the matter strongly even if murder means a double indemnity payout. The film owes a clear debt to Double Indemnity but it is nowhere near as good.

Naturally, there is a girl. Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton) becomes the love interest. She’s also the daughter of one of the prime suspects. But there is little heat between her and Sam and almost no cleverness to their dialogue. Even my beloved William Bendix doesn’t add much. He’s fine, but rather more reserved than usual.

The mystery is serviceable and it is set at Christmastime which adds a nice holiday theme to what is really a rather cozy film noir. That’s the thing, it isn’t a bad film, it is exactly the kind of movie you might throw on during the holidays while you are at your in-laws, full of ham and good cheer.