Random Shuffle: May 01, 2006 – Elton John, Sebadoh, Bob Dylan, Marc Cohn, & John Denver

elton john honky chateau “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself” – Elton John
from Honky Chateau

Remember the line in High Fidelity where Jack Black, speaking about Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” asks if it is unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter-day sins. A question that could easily be asked of Elton John, whose Lion King soundtracks and lyrical changes to dead princess’ are enough to put him on the bad artist list.

But it’s songs like this that make me resurrect the old man again and again. Suicide was never so fun, at least not until Heathers came along. The music is like a circus, with a choir-like chorus singing a hymn to the fallen egos of teenage life. Perhaps it is a bit morbid to smile so big while singing along to a song all about killing oneself, but John creates such a terrific melody that it’s hard not to jump up and dance around the room listening to this tune.

Revisiting his early 1970s albums make me remember what a really terrific artist Elton John really is, but like a lot of artists with a string of hits so overplayed on classic rock stations you have to dig into the albums themselves to understand.

bob dylan blood on the tracks “Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts” – Bob Dylan
from Blood on the Tracks

At nearly nine minutes this is one Dylan story song that I’d like to cut out a few verses from, but being the master storyteller, you’d have a hard time finding something weak enough to cut.

Supposedly this album was written at the time of Dylan getting divorced. But like much of Dylan’s life and music, there is plenty of information refuting this as well. Whatever the inspiration, this is one of the best albums by an artist full of great ones.

Like “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself” this song has a bit of a carnival going on in the music. The organ rolling in the background bounces as Dylan acts as the barker telling his story for all who will listen.

marc cohn album “Walking in Memphis” – Marc Cohn
from Marc Cohn

There was a period of four years that I often made the nearly 800-mile drive from Montgomery, Alabama to Claremore Oklahoma, and back, visiting my family from college. On almost every trip this song played while I traveled through the city of Memphis, and I swear to you it was always raining. Perhaps it was just me, or maybe Memphis radio stations like the idea of playing a song about Memphis in the rain while it is raining in Memphis. Whatever the case, it always produced a big smile in the middle of a long drive home.
I was fifteen when this song first came out. I grew up attending a conservative Christian church, but the first part of my teenage years was spent rebelling against those ideas. My parents were always urging me to make the commitment and become a Christian. There were too many questions that went unanswered in my head to take that step, yet the thought of being a heathen and rotting in hell kept me up more than one night.

I loved this song, but the lyric where the lady asks the singer if he’s a Christian, and his reply “Ma’am I am tonight” always gave me pause. I liked to think for that moment in the song, I too was a Christian and then I was pained to realize that I was not, nor necessarily wanted to be one.

sebadoh bakesale

“License to Confuse” – Sebadoh
from Bakesale

Speaking of college, I met my first real girlfriend via a Dinosaur Jr. t-shirt during my freshman year. It was her that turned me on to Sebadoh, being fronted by Lou Barlow, Dinosaur’s original bassist.

Though not really my style anymore, songs like this remind me of my long haired-hard rockin’ punk days. This is low-fi, loud guitar post-punk music. It’s a somber song, bad relationship singer-songwriter stuff, recorded in a bedroom and amped up to justify the grunge rockers’ credibility.

john denver rymes and reason “Leaving On a Jet Plane” – John Denver
from Rhymes and Reasons

I always duck my head when I admit I’m a John Denver fan. He’s just not hip, or cool anywhere in the world. But there is something about that nerdy folk singer that I dig to my core’s end.

Back several years ago when my wife was just my girl I finally made the jump from being in a long-distance relationship (she lived in Indiana, me in Tennessee) and moved to the same town as her to see if this could really work. She promptly moved to Montreal, Canada.

There were some major bumps in that road for the summer she was gone, and this song brought tears to my eyes more than once. She had left on a jet plane and though I knew she was coming back, I wasn’t so sure I’d be there to meet her. It all worked out well, and three years into a marriage this song can still bring back tearful memories.

Random Shuffle – (04/24/06)

ryan adams gold

“When Stars Go Blue” – Ryan Adams
from 05/07/05

I mentioned last week that Ryan Adams writes a lot of slow tuneless sad songs, this one is actually one of his sad songs that I really like. The reason why? He actually writes a melody. It’s a lilting little melody that floats like a paper boat on a lake. It’s a beautiful song, really. This version is with the Cardinals, his most recent touring band. This band rather rocks and so even this ballad has some loudish guitar noise with it. I like the earlier version with the acoustic guitars and the sadness.

But this is a nice version and the electric guitar solo here is quite fine. The Cardinals remind me in some ways of the Grateful Dead, and they are obviously fans since on this last tour they covered several Dead tunes. They also keep Adams expanding on his songs improvisationally, giving this tune a real jam. Something it has never had.

keller williams grass

“Hole in the Backyard” – Keller Williams
from Grass

Keller Williams is generally a one-man jam band. He tours as a solo artist but creates a thick, layered song with just him, a guitar, and a looping machine. With the machine, he can record a quick guitar lick or vocal sound and then continually play it back over and over, while he creates new music on top of it. Add more layers and you get a sound that is unique in the business.

This is one of the better songs off of his latest bluegrass disk, Grass. It’s full of clever, pun-filled lyrics about what they’re going to do with a giant hole in the backyard. The music is foot-tapping, shake-your-hips marvelous. It’s the kind of song that means absolutely nothing but is still a joy to crank up and boogie to.

tom waits rain dogs

“Midtown” – Tom Waits
from Raindogs

This is Tom Waits that I can dig. It’s an instrumental electric jazz number that sounds like it could be an outtake off of one of Miles Davis’ later albums, or part of a movie score circa 1970 detective stories.

It is only about a minute long, so I’m sure it’s part of a larger whole that I have yet to really listen to.

the libertines

“The Man Who Would Be King” – The Libertines
from The Libertines

As I start to listen to new music again (as opposed to my countless bootlegs) I find my musical tastes migrate across the sea to the shores of the United Kingdom. This is either because we’re experiencing another British invasion or because several of my writing buddies are from the UK.

These days Pete Doherty gets more press for his narcotics arrests than for fronting Babyshambles or previously, the Libertines which is a shame because he’s responsible for some of the best indie rock to hit the airwaves in some time.

This is a pretty straight-out rock number that takes some interesting changes in the bridge, and some impressive “la la la’s” in the chorus. And who doesn’t like la las?

bright eyes i'm wide awake its morning

“Train Under Water” – Bright Eyes
from I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

I swear I’ve written about Bright Eyes in Random Shuffle before, but looking through the archives I see nothing. Age is creeping in faster than I thought.

Bright Eyes is basically Ohioian Conor Oberst’s band with various side players thrown in when he wants. He writes painfully beautiful lyrics with a generally acoustic, folk-laden musical background (although Digital Ash in a Digital Urn is his attempt at Radiohead-inspired electronica).

Bright Eyes are one of my new favorite bands out there. Their lyrics are so often incredibly raw and honest to make one embarrassed while still being inspired. “Train Under Water” is a nice acoustic number with Conner whisper whining right along with the strums of the guitar. But there is enough of a melody and changes in the chorus to make it head-bobbingly terrific.

Bootleg Country: The Rolling Stones – Perth, Australia (02/24/73)

Sound quality is always an issue with bootlegs. We’re not dealing with official studio recordings here. The music isn’t mixed separately, onto individual tracks. A record producer isn’t standing over a mix board going through the music note by note painstakingly manipulating the sound to produce the optimal sound.

This is in the moment, live music. A singer’s voice is unfiltered and raw. Guitarists hit wrong notes, strings break, and a myriad of other problems can affect the final product. Soundboard engineers must make decisions on the fly to get the best possible product to an audience.

Bootleg sound comes in all shapes and sizes. The best come straight from the soundboard, mixed for the band. Many bands record their concerts so they can be played back later, and the performance can be reviewed by the musicians – much like a sports team will watch game tapes.

Other times concerts will be recorded with the intention of a later, official release. These tapes are sometimes leaked into the fan base, or stolen and slipped into trading circles. The sound quality is pristine and the tapes are treasured by fans and collectors.

FM radio is a treasure trove of concert recordings. Live music has been a staple of radio since the first transmitter released its madness. It is also an easy method for fans to get their first bootlegs. Landing a pre FM version of the same show makes it even more stellar for the sound must be compressed a great deal before it makes the airwaves.

Taper-friendly bands will often allow their fans to patch straight into the soundboard allowing phenomenal recordings of the show, recorded on DAT machines and then traded to the masses.

The worst sound comes from audience recordings. These come from microphones set up by fans smack dab in the middle of the audience. Depending on the equipment used, and the ability of the recorder these tapes can either give an excellent feel of what it was like to actually be there, or give an intimate portrait of the stoned-out, screaming fan sitting next to the taper.

There are also mixes between audience and soundboard recordings called matrix recordings. This usually consists of a soundboard patch with an audience mike filtered in. When done right this can produce the remarkable sound of a soundboard tape with the live feel of being there on the ground with the rest of the audience.

The Rolling Stones
02/24/73
Perth, Australia

I only recently started considering myself a fan of the Rolling Stones. All I ever really knew of them were the radio hits. Tunes like “Honky Tonk Women,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” are classics songs and I would never have knocked them (though for my buck, Otis Redding blows the Stones out of their own water on “Satisfaction”). But, they are so overplayed by classic rock and oldies stations as to make them tired and old.

For reasons I can’t remember I started making my way through their catalog and was blown away by the sheer magnitude of their collection. I’ve still not found an album that I love all the way through, but there is enough incredible music on albums like Exile on Main Street to make me put them on a Beatles-like level. I’m amazed that the radio only plays a handful of hits when songs like “Rocks Off” and “Dead Flowers” are rolling out there all by their lonesome.

Watching the Stones at the Superbowl at what must be their twelfth final tour makes me roll my eyes in disgust. Mick Jagger working the crowd like a teenager in his 60-year-old body just isn’t a pleasant sight. Keith Richards can still pack a power punch, but I still want to scream “Retire!” over and over.

This concert from 1973 shows the boys at what they could once do. This is a band at the top of their game, knocking the rocks off our collective socks. It is balls out thick and dirty sex rock. You can hear the lust oozing out of every pore of Richards’ proud lips.

They produce a rumble straight out of Thor’s gut.

The sound is from a soundboard, but you can tell it’s passed through a few generations. It’s a bit muddled in the mix and some external tape hiss is present, but what it lacks in sonic quality is made up for in the ferocity of the playing.

My copy is actually a liberated bootleg. Which is basically an illegal bootleg that has been released from its illegal bonds and passed through trading circles. Some punks got a hold of this music, threw a cheap cover on it, and sold it for way too many dollars. Smart traders, and self-appointed police of the legal bootleg world, took the recording out of the thieves’ hands and passed it along freely through trading circles.

Because of this, it is only a partial show, official set lists include four songs not included in my bootleg. What is included are scorching renditions of some hits and those that should have been.

Concert Review – Wilco – Bloomington, IN (07/17/06)

The last and first time I saw Wilco in concert I walked out. That’s right, walked right out the door on one of the best bands playing rock and roll today. This was just after A Ghost is Born came out, so it was well into all the hoopla over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Frankly, at the time I wasn’t much of a fan, I had only heard the Being There album and attended the show more out of something to do, than any real relationship to the band or their music.

They were playing a club way too small for them at the time. It was standing room only, and within a few songs into their set, the place was swelling. Everyone was jostling for position, pushing, squishing, and elbowing in every direction. It was more than my wife, and our friend could take.

The final poke was from an enormous young man who was not only pushing for the front row, but talking obnoxiously loud on his cell phone right in front of us. My two companions moved way to the back of the small club. I moved to a friendly section of the crowd but knew my time was coming. After a few more songs I found my people and we decided to walk out. The band was good, but not knowing any songs and the rotten crowd overruled anything our ears were hearing.

Fast forward to last night, I have since become a convert to the Wilco idolatry religion, and am very excited to see them again. Hoping to finally rid myself of the stigma of having once walked out.

This time the venue is much larger and more fitting to the band’s status. The IU Auditorium is a medium sized auditorium with lots of seats and space.

The opening band was local and an odd mix of the Meat Puppets, “Space Oddity” era David Bowie and Radiohead. They started promptly at 8:00 to a crowd at less than half capacity.

Opening acts are an odd thing to me. They say they are there to get the crowd jazzed and loosened up, but the crowds I’ve seen are usually bored by an opener and keep looking at their watches hoping those fools will get off the stage so the headliners will appear.

I guess it’s a good opportunity to hear bands you might not have heard before.

The opening band played a good 40 minute set. After a long 40 minute pause, Wilco finally took the stage at 9:20.

The crowd now at full capacity gave the auditorium a good holler.

They opened with a rumbling version of “Airline to Heaven” followed by a scorching “Kingpen.”

The crowd was pretty tame. My section of the balcony was half standing, half still in their seats. Songs from Yankee Foxtrot Hotel got the biggest cheers of the night, but songs from all of their other albums got noticeably less participation in the sing-alongs.

Actually my realization for the night is that Wilco has very little in terms of sing along lyrics. Sure, they have a few good belters such as the hillbilly bluegrass chanter “Forget the Flowers” and the nonsensicalness of “I’m a Wheel” is a hoot to scream a long with, but so much of their music has these sorts of odd tempos and changes that render any typical sing-along too difficult to enjoy.

They more than make up for this with the music. There are so many great hooks in their songs as to get lost in them trying to count. The quiet beginning of “At Least That’s What You Said” followed by the loud, pounding rhythm which is then followed by a louder, more pounding rhythm is a slice of pure rock and roll heaven.

More than once I reached the point of ecstasy where my body shook to the beat as only a white boy can, my eyes closed and my smile took over my whole person. Surely the sign of a great rock concert.

Lead singer/guitarist/primary song writer Jeff Tweedy goaded the audience by saying we were acting rather mild for an audience he had been pre-warned would be rowdy. This was the beginning of Little 500 week at Indiana University, the loudest, most party-rific week at a school which has often won the title of “#1 Party School.”

The audience responded by jumping over the rails at the front row and cramming right up against the stage.

The band closed a second encore with “California Stars” and we walked out into the cool spring night under lovely Indiana ones.

Setlist:
1. Airline To Heaven
2. Kingpin
3. Handshake Drugs
4. A Shot In The Arm
5. At Least That’s What You Said
6. Hell Is Chrome
7. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
8. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
9. Forget The Flowers
10. War On War
11. Jesus, Etc.
12. Hummingbird
13. The Good Part
14. Walken
15. Heavy Metal Drummer
16. Theologians
17. I’m The Man Who Loves You
18. Monday

Encore 1:
19. The Late Greats
20. I’m Always In Love
21. I’m A Wheel

Encore 2:
22. California Stars

Random Shuffle (04/17/06): The White Stripes, Ryan Adams, John Prine, Pearl Jam, & The Grateful Dead

“I’m Lonely (But I Aint That Lonely Yet) – The White Stripes
from Get Behind Me Satan

There was a period of about 3 years where my live music lust pretty much blocked everything else out. I had no interest in new music. The stuff I periodically heard on the radio was trash. Boy bands and Britney Spears, my life can totally live without that.

The thing was, live music moved me in ways that the typical studio album didn’t. Plus it was a lot cheaper to buy a blank CDR at about ten cents a pop than spend $18 for a studio album I wasn’t even sure was any good.

Slowly, I began coming out of my hibernation and came around to the idea that there was some good music out there that wasn’t live, that was produced in a studio, and that was worth my $18.

It is during this reemergence that my sister’s husband, Brian asked me if I had heard the new White Stripes album. I replied I hadn’t and he said I should check it out, that I would like it. I’m always a little annoyed when people tell me I’ll like something – whether it’s a song, or a movie or a book – most people have no idea what I really like, and to presume I’ll like something based on whatever is annoying. But Brian is usually pretty spot on with his recommendations (well except for talking me into seeing Shallow Hal, for which he will never be forgiven).

So, I got a copy of Get Behind Me Satan and freaking loved it. I had been hearing about the White Stripes for a while, about how they were the saviors of garage rock, but had pretty much ignored them. The album was so much more than garage rock, or punk, or just loud guitars. These were well-thought-out tunes, with insight into melody and song craft. The band could use a little filling out from their trick 2-person lineup. The songs need little more than guitar/drum, piano/drum, and solo piano. Would it kill Jack White to hire a bass player, and maybe a rhythm guitarist?

“I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) is a nice little piano ballad. It is a far cry from the pumped-up boom of “Seven Nation Army.” It’s also one of my least favorites from the album. There just isn’t enough to it. It’s got sad little lyrics, but it’s just pling pling on the piano and mopey singing from Mr. White. This seems to be a trend in ballads these days – write moody, poetic lyrics and a bland, unmelodic bit of music to go with it.

ryan adams rock n roll “So Alive” – Ryan Adams
from Rock N Roll

Ryan Adams came to me in this same musical awakening period as the White Stripes. I forget when I actually started to dig him. I absolutely loved “New York, New York” which got all sorts of airplay just after 9/11 what with the timely lyrics and the video on the bridge overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

But after that song, I looked no further into the Ryan Adams playlist. All the cool people seemed to dig him. I think I couldn’t get past that sloppy hipster hair. But slowly, somewhere I heard another song and another and became a fan.

Adams is the king of the no melody, just pluck on your instrument while singing a super sad lyrics ballad. He drives me crazy with that stuff, especially since he can write a darn fine piece of pop music.

“So Alive” is a rather upbeat, lively piece of tuneage. It’s actually a bit U2ish in its grandiosity, albeit with a Morrissey kind of vocal thing going. The results are interesting. It’s a good song, something that could easily blare out of my car speakers on a warm sunny day. It’s not really what I expect, or want from Ryan Adams though. He has the ability to write a real hook. His best songs keep me singing them for hours after I’ve heard them, this one leaves my head soon after the last note is played.

john prine souvenirs “Hello in There” John Prine
from Souvenirs

God bless John Prine. He’s been writing songs like a mystic sage living on a mountaintop since he was but a young man. His lyrics are some of the most beautiful, moving words sung this side of Bob Dylan. He likes to say that he is an old rock and roller who has made a living writing folk songs. We are better people because of it.

Souvenirs is Prine covering himself. It is a collection of songs he wrote some 20 years before, reworked for a voice that is much more mature, and a man who has lived enough life to live in lyrics written by a man too young to know better.

“Hello In There” is a song written for old people. It’s a sad, beautiful thing that makes you want to call your grandmother after a listen. I have to admit, this new version nails the song in ways the original just couldn’t. Prine’s voice, while never smooth and pretty, has taken a rougher edge, with a maturity that fits the loneliness of old age perfectly.

pearl jam riot act “I Am Mine” – Pearl Jam
from Riot Act

Speaking of Brian turning me onto music, he’s one of the last few die-hard Pearl Jam fans out there. Like a million other teenagers I fell in love with the band with their first release, Ten. The music was straight out of the 70’s hard rock box, with lyrics that spoke of alienation and hard times. It was perfect for a long-haired, mixed-up 17-year-old.

I listened to their second album Vs for several weeks straight, without playing any other album. This was my band.

Then I went to college, met a girl who was too punk for grunge, and Pearl Jam left me behind. Their very different, and ungrunge-like third album Vitalogy didn’t help much. Periodically I heard a new single from the band and had a brief thought that I should get back into them, but never got around to it.

As stated, Brian is one of the last of the die-hards. The boy loves him some Pearl Jam. His enthusiasm for the band always gets me and always makes me want to listen to the band fresh again. So, I buy an album or download a single and dig them for a little while.

“I Am Mine” is fairly typical of what I’ve heard from new Pearl Jam. The hard rock edge is lessened by a better melody. Eddie Vedder’s deep baritone sweeps the song along. The lyrics are mysterious, sounding vaguely political and meaningful yet difficult to decipher and make sense of, yet remaining thematic and full of sing-along ability.

grateful dead dicks picks 4

“Not Fade Away” – Grateful Dead
from Dicks Picks 4

My first time seeing any member of the Grateful Dead was at a Furthur Festival in Atlanta. This was a couple of years after Jerry died, and the surviving members were just starting to play music again. Bob Weir played a set with his band, Ratdog. Mickey Hart played all kinds of worldly drums with his ensemble, Bruce Hornsby had his band, and a few other Dead-like bands were invited along as well.

At the close of the night, all the bands joined together for a jam session. They closed with this Buddy Holly classic and Dead staple. As the song ended the musicians left the stage one by one, while those still onstage kept up the beat. Lastly, there were the drummers, banging out the bop, bop bop-bop backbeat. As they, too, left the stage the entire audience kept rhythm with hand claps and their own voices. I stood there in the hot Georgia night smiling in the knowing feeling that I’d just had the time of my life. Even if the band had played that song a million times, and a thousand other audiences had sung along in the exact same way, I felt special. I felt a part of something. It was magic.

The Grateful Dead did play this song a million times. It was a concert staple from their early years. This version, taken from a show in February 1970 exemplifies the Dead’s ability to take a very simple pop song and elevate it to something far more. It is some 13 minutes in length and never has a misstep or a dull moment. The Dead never takes it to the cosmic heights of say “Dark Star” but it is transcendent just the same.

Random Shuffle – (04/10/06)

heart like a wheel album

“Willin’” – Linda Ronstadt
From Heart Like a Wheel

My perception of this Little Feat ode to truck drivers comes from the James Cameron underwater sci-fi flick, The Abyss. It is the Linda Ronstadt version that plays when the underwater oil rig crew is shown doing their blue-collar work. The song plays as background music to the scene, but is also part of the action, being lip-synched by nearly everyone in a joyful montage that defies explanation.

It is a great sing-along song. The lyrics are all about being on the road for too long, with nothing but drugs and alcohol to keep you moving to that next stop, that next destination somewhere down the road.

The music is pure outlaw country. Ronstadt has that rock n roll vibe, with the country girl twang that just fits the song perfectly.

tom waits one from the heart

“One From the Heart” – Tom Waits/Crystal Gail
From One From the Heart

This is from the soundtrack to an unseen (by me) Francis Ford Coppola movie of the same name. Waits actually sings with a croon, rather than the drunken hobo ran over by a train voice he usually sings with. He’s accompanied by the sweet voice of Crystal Gail.

It’s all soft porn smooth piano and saxophone musically. It’s slow and sad, and probably romantic, but I’d have to see the movie before I let my vote out on that one. There isn’t much to it for me, honestly. It’s Waits with a better voice, but not much of his lyrical poignancy. At least that’s what I get from the casual listen I gave it.

“I’m Gonna Live Forever” – Highwaymen
From 06/04/96

The Highwaymen were country music’s version of Mount Rushmore. With Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings in their own supergroup, it’s too bad that most of their albums were only just ok.

It’s like the Beatles effect in reverse. Where John and Paul continually pushed each other to strive harder and create an even more perfect song, the Highwaymen seem to play yes men to each other creating music that while not bad, isn’t up to any expectation they create. Instead of Abbey Road, we get something more akin to McCartney’s post-Beatles solo work.

This is a pleasant Billy Joe Shaver tune, performed quite nicely with all of the Highwaymen trading verses and harmonizing on the chorus.

the cure wish “Wendy Time” – The Cure
From Wish

A lively, upbeat song from the masters of gloom. Well the music is fun and frilly, but being the Cure the lyrics are all sad and depressing. It is the story of a well-meaning lass trying to cheer up the gloomy singer by offering to be a friend or sister. Being Robert Smith, the singer continues to push her away to mingle and drown in his own misery.

I mentioned in a previous Random Shuffle how this album reminds me of a specific time and place. It is amazing how music can transport us to places. I would never call my high school years happy ones, and yet I am often drawn to that time, filled with nostalgia.

The intensity of emotion I felt during those years is something I’ve never come close to in the 10-odd years afterward. Those days it seems like every moment was filled with incredible highs of joy or immensely lows of sadness. The perpetual word days of drudgery keep me on a pretty even keel in these times. Oh, I’m not nearly as depressed as I was then, but I rarely feel as completely free or happy as I did on those good days either.

Wish reminds me specifically of a girl named Elise who I used to sing songs from this album to. It reminds me of sitting in my room (having lived in 20 odd houses as a kid, it is a very specific room, but one I am unable to describe here) and arguing with my sister about whose month it was to get the TV in their room and feeling all those emotions on my sleeve.

“Ride Into the Sun” – Velvet Underground
From Acetate Demos – 1969

Speaking of nostalgic memories the Velvets always remind me of my first love, Candy. If my feelings were worn on my sleeve, if I felt things with more passion then, she felt them 100 times more.

She was a lovely girl who taught me it was ok to believe in God and listen to wild music and live outside the cookie-cutter. We used to write long, passionate letters to each other with the margins filled with song lyrics.

She loved the Velvet Underground. We spent many an hour lying on a bed listening to Lou Reed sing about love, drugs and the underground. We’d play “Heroin” over and over and see who could get every lyric, every note exactly perfect.

This is a sloppy, loose demo version of “Ride into the Sun” off of their Another View album. It’s really for completists only, of which I am not. I got this along with other demos and live tracks from a download a few weeks back. I’m addicted to downloading perfectly legal live music and the like and so when I see a Velvet Underground set, I simply have to have it, even if I haven’t been much of a fan since high school.

Bootleg Country: David Nelson Band – Honeydew, CA (07/21/01)

Originally posted on April 9, 2006.

For years I have been collecting what I’ll call bootleg CDs. Though the term bootleg gives all kinds of wrong impressions as if I’m selling cases of scotch under the table during Prohibition.

The bootlegs I am referring to are not only legal but highly condoned in some circles. I’m talking about live concert recordings unreleased by the studios or the bands.

People have been recording concerts since there have been portable recording equipment. Alan Lomax was traipsing around the country recording folk and blues artists in the 1930s. Today, some bands allow fans to patch directly into the soundboard with pristine, lossless DAT machines.

The Grateful Dead were pioneers of bootleg trading. Instead of spending thousands of dollars trying to hunt down thieves and bootleggers selling live recordings of their performances, they killed the opportunity by giving their live recordings away. They set up a special taper’s section in the audience allowing anyone with a portable mike to set up shop and record every note. On many nights they would allow fans to patch directly into their soundboard. They always recorded their own shows, and often “leaked” copies to fans and allowed everyone to make copies, as long as it wasn’t sold for profit.

It became a profitable marketing adventure. Fans would turn on others to the band by sharing the live music, thus creating other fans who would then buy the band’s albums and pay to see their concerts in person. Through the years other bands have seen the wisdom in this policy and have followed suit.

There is a whole underground movement of fans trading live concert recordings. It is quite an addicting hobby, let me tell you. I’ve been trading for about 8 years now and have well over 800 hours of live music CDs.

My collection is more live music than I could ever listen to, and yet I am continually in search of more. With the advent of cheap, fast broadband connections there is more live music available than ever before.

Live music feeds weary ears. With the decline of actual music on the radio and the rising prices of studio albums, finding mind-moving, completely legal music available for the price of your time to download is an absolutely beautiful thing.

In Bootleg Country, I will attempt to go through my collection of live music and review every note.

David Nelson Band
07/21/01
Honeydew, CA

A few years back I worked with a guy named Bob. Bob was somewhere in his middle fifties, with a nice beer gut hanging over his belt loop and long, curly gray hair. He was a throwback from the 1960s Summer of love. He was a genuine hippy and remained true to those ideals even into the year 2000.

The David Nelson Band reminds me of Bob. They are still waving their freak flags, and playing music as if it could save our souls.

A David Nelson Band show is like a picnic on a sunny day. They mix old-time country music with the folk wisdom of 1960s San Francisco and sprinkle it with psychedelic jams.

You can picture yourself sitting in a city park, spread out on a blanket, belly full of fried chicken while listening to this band. They have the homely feel of any small-town local band playing songs that you’d sing to your kids. Although they have the chops to blow any local players through the roof, they maintain that intimate, down-home feel to their concerts.

It’s a band that can make a medley of “All You Need is Love” and “Put a Little Love In Your Heart” and play it without a twinge of irony.

Songs like “Panama Red” and “Ragged But Right” start off the show and they are just the type of songs I’m talking about. They are blue-collar songs with the kind of lyrics that truck drivers, hippies, and grandmothers could all sing along with and smile. The music is a country swing that would feel at home anywhere the grass is green and the sun is shining.

As the set carried on, some of the songs mixed in tried way too hard to be meaningful. Songs like “Last Lonely Eagle” just have cringe-inducing lyrics like

If you go down where the lights push the nighttime
Back far enough so you can’t feel the fear
Remember the boy who you left on the mountain
Who’s sitting alone with the stars and his tears

The second set really scorches it up with some very stellar improvisational jams. The music jumps into interstellar overdrive with a sweet instrumental jam of the Grateful Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain,” sending the grandmas to the snack shack and the rest of us into twirling heaven.

The third set brings us back down to earth with the aforementioned “Love Medley” and some more silly, hokey hippy music.

I don’t suspect the David Nelson Band will ever make it onto MTV, or Billboard’s Top 40 list. You won’t see them headlining a worldwide stadium tour in this lifetime. But as they continue to travel the country, small venue tour at a time, they’ll continue to play real music from the heart, with the chops to back them up and keep audiences of all sizes smiling and dancing through the night.

If you’d like a copy of this show, leave me a comment, and I’ll try to work something out for you.

Random Shuffle – April 3, 2006

magical mystery tour

“Your Mother Should Know”
By The Beatles
From Magical Mystery Tour

A throwaway song on a throwaway album. Ok, that’s sacrilege; there are tons of great singles on the album. Maybe that’s just it, Magical Mystery Tour sounds like a collection of singles instead of a cohesive album. It’s like a greatest hits package, and “Your Mother Should Know” is the new song added to give real fans a reason to buy it.

Really it’s not a bad tune. It’s actually pretty good, but when it’s a Beatles tune I expect greatness and this one just doesn’t live up. I mean, which would you rather listen to, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “I am the Walrus”, “Hello Goodbye”, or this? Not a tough choice, is it?

“I’ll Be Your Mirror”
by Velvet Underground
From a live show in Paris on 1/29/72

This is from some live Velvet shows I got on a vine a few days ago. I’ve not really given any of it a real listen yet, so I don’t know if it is any good.

The song is an absolutely beautiful one. Nico sings lead vocals and she’s got the voice of a broken angel. It is a simple, lovely song about seeing the best in someone. I’ve put it on numerous mix tapes for friends and lovers alike. It’s that kind of song. One whose simple message of love speaks to anyone of any size, sex, or creed.

This live version is nice, a little unpolished, but still sweet. Nico’s vocals are still sparkling, but the backups from the Velvets are a little rough. I’m a sucker for the in-studio, soft and fuzzy sound of love songs. They never sound the same live.

hard rain

“Lay Lady Lay”
by Bob Dylan
From Hard Rain

Rough, ragged, and ready to rock is how I would describe Dylan’s live album from his 1970s Rolling Thunder Review.

I’ve never been a fan of the studio version of “Lay Lady Lay.” Bob Dylan on the make is just kind of creepy to my ears. This is a balls to the wall, sweat-drenched rocker. The vocals are out there, the whole band singing back up, nearly screaming every refrain.

If the studio version is a crooning, slick, sleazy Dylan trying to cajole some lady of the night into his bed, then this live version is the command of a rough and tough bastard keeping his lover for seconds after a long night of sexual activity

“I Know Your Married”
By Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglass, and the Bluegrass Sessions
From the Strawberry Mountain Festival – 09/05/99

From an absolutely scorching show at a bluegrass festival. This is the masters of newgrass pickin’ and sangin’ for the sheer joy of it. You can hear how much these boys are enjoying themselves throughout the show, and trying to show each other up a bit.

This is a slow, old-timey song that was played toward the end of the show. It’s a front porch in the middle of summer kind of song. Something to sing along with your pa on a family reunion. The boys goof it up in the middle and everybody laughs along.

On my version, there is a couple of minutes worth of banter after the song that is priceless. Sam Bush ripping on Bela Fleck and Bela ripping right back. This is true, real music. Not the processed, stylized junk you hear on the radio these days.

tom waits bone machine

“That Feel”
by Tom Waits
From Bone Machine

I’ve never been much of a Waits fan. The guy can write some brilliant music, but that voice just gets me every time. He sounds like he needs a really good hacking cough. I know it’s styled that way, and I know a lot of it is purposeful, but I just can’t get past it.

I’m not really much of a lyrics guy. I mean there are thousands of songs with great lyrics that I love, that move me to my very soul. But as a general rule, I don’t pay much attention to them. My mind concentrates on the music, the instruments, and the melodies. If the lyrics are clear and understandable I might catch on and enjoy them. However, for most songs I just don’t understand what the heck people are singing about.

Start naming songs, and I can probably hum the melody, maybe sing the chorus, but after that, I’m at a loss. Add to it a singer who mumbles, or mutters, or distorts his vocals and you can forget it. I just won’t hear a line of it. This is a good example of that. I looked up the lyrics and they are actually kind of moving. But after multiple listens, I couldn’t gel what I was reading on the page with what I was hearing.

The melody here is pretty simple, it’s kind of a slow dirge, and Waits does his usual garbled garbage disposal vocal take which pretty much ruins the song for me. Find a sweet soul singer, add a couple of flourishes and this could be something amazing.

Random Shuffle – March 27, 2006

other voices other rooms

“Boots of Spanish Leather”
by Nanci Griffith
From Other Voices, Other Rooms

I first discovered Nanci Griffith on a whim. I was involved in one of those BMG get 8 CDs for the price of one kind of deals. I needed to buy a few albums to finish out my contract and her Blue Roses from the Moon album sounded very interesting. I was just starting my infatuation with folk music and so I ordered it. I quickly became a fan.

Other Voices is Nanci covering all her favorite artists and songs. “Boots of Spanish Leather” is a slightly obscure Bob Dylan tune off of The Times They Are A-Changin’ album. Nanci’s sweet, country voice and plaintive guitar picking turns a mournful song into a gorgeous dirge. Dylan plays harmonica on the track simply, understated so that the music is bettered by it without having to make some kind of statement of notice. If it weren’t for the acknowledgment in the liner notes, I wouldn’t even know he played on the track.

Bridge Over Troubled Water
by Paul Simon
From MTV – Unplugged

Unlike say Eric Clapton, I don’t believe Mr. Simon ever released an album from his Unplugged performance. There might be a song or two available out there on some of their packaged disks, I don’t really know. It is a shame though because the disk is quite nice and well worth seeking out from traders.

Being this is Simon without Garfunkel this song had to be reworked a little bit. Naturally, Paul sings it a little lower and the “Sail on silver girl” part gets a little bit funky. It’s still a cool version, and while not as touching as the original it is nice to hear it from a little different angle.

30 hits

“A Little Less Conversation (Radio Remix)”
by Elvis
From 30 #1 Hits

I’m somewhere in the middle of the Elvis fence. While I would fall greatly on the Beatles side of the Beatles/Elvis question, I still dig the King a good bit. I really dig some of his very early rockabilly tunes, but there is a special place in my heart for the big Elvis via the comeback specials.

This remix of a slight classic was a pretty big hit for Elvis a few years back. I dig the crap out of it. It’s got a nice dance groove while still maintaining that Elvis cool.

the cure wish

“A Letter to Elise”
by The Cure
From Wish

Like a lot of unhappy, mixed up, gloomy teenagers I too had my Cure phase. Wish was released during the post-Nirvana everybody’s Alternative years of the early ’90s. I believe it is their highest-selling album ever.

I listened, obsessed, and loved every note. “A Letter to Elise” is a sad, heartbreaking affair that became a favorite of mine from the album. I used to dream of singing this song on those lonely nights after a painful breakup. The problem was always I never had a girlfriend, much less a painful breakup. After 10 years, a few loves, and a couple of hard breakups, the song stands up quite well.

knocked out loaded

“Got My Mind Made Up”
by Bob Dylan
From Knocked Out Loaded

I know, I know more Dylan. Man, what can I say, I have nearly all of his albums on my hard drive and they come up a lot. (see the aforementioned suckiness of the shuffle function).

This track was co-written by Tom Petty (the Heartbreakers backed Dylan up on the album and a tour during the same late 80’s early 90s era). It’s a decent rocker but pretty much a throwaway as far as Dylan is concerned. The album is often considered one of Dylan’s worst and I’ve never managed to give it a real listen.

Keller & The Keels – Grass

keller and the keels grass

Interesting covers are nothing new in the bluegrass world. There are bluegrass covers of Prince’s “1999”, Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart, Hayseed Dixie did a whole album of AC/DC covers, and who can forget Dolly Parton singing “Stairway to Heaven?”

The ubiquitous one-man jam band Keller Williams has teamed up with Larry and Jenny Keel for an all-bluegrass album titled Grass. It is an interesting mix of original tunes and covers from the likes of Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, and the Grateful Dead, amongst others.

Keller Williams solo is something of a minor miracle. Playing a variety of instruments including a 12-string guitar modified into a 10-string instrument, bass, and synthesizers he creates a rainbow of sounds by looping them all together on a delay system.

The Keels add some nice flavors to the music creating a more organic sound than Keller normally creates as a solo player. The pickin’ and a grinnin’ is nothing but sunshine. The trio plays some mean bluegrass and is obviously having a great time doing it.

Keller, being the smart-arsed clown that he is, just can’t stop himself from tweaking the covers he chooses. So we get “Mary Jane’s Last Breakdown” which is a creative mixing up of the two Tom Petty tunes, and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” bookended by the chorus of Beck’s song of the same name. Both work better than they have any right to.

The low spot is the Pink Floyd cover “Another Brick in the Wall.” While the playing there remains solid, gone is the dark cynicism of the original version. Pink Floyd plays the song with a sneer toward the horror of elementary school. Keller plays it with a wink and a smile at how clever he is for doing such an interesting cover but misses the soul of the song.

The standouts are the three original Keller Williams tunes. The album opener “Goofballs” is a fast, hilarious ode to the drug-induced road trip. With lyrics like

Rockin’ it, never stoppin’ it,
Cap’n Kirk and Spock’n it
Transforming the road into the holodeck
Crunchin’ it and punchin’ it, casually lunchin’ it
Doin’ what you can to avoid the wreck

it’s hard not to smile like a freight train.

The other two self-penned tracks, “Crater in the “Backyard” and “Local” contain the same type of smart-allecked lyrics and jubilant melodies.

“Dupree’s Diamond Blues” might just be better than the original Grateful Dead version. There is a lightness of touch and buoyancy in Keller’s version that the Dead could never muster.

Grass is a jubilant touch of newgrass that for the most part will satisfy my bluegrass needs until the next summer festival.