Month: September 2016

grateful dead, july 78 box set

in addition to the ‘dave’s picks’ quarterly releases from the archives, the dead have been also doing occasional theme releases, and this is one i pulled the trigger on this summer. it is of interest to me on a number of levels. the five shows included in this package were the entire tour dates of a mini tour they put together in the midwest – basically a week long 1800 mile road trip. outside of the last show (the second night at red rocks), most of these shows are fairly unknown to tape traders, for various reasons. the dead had almost no archive material of either the tour logistics notes or the shows. the latter all changed drastically as the archivists starting negotiating with a group of folks that are in possession of what are known as the ‘betty boards’. for those unfamiliar with the term, betty refers to betty cantor-jackson. she recorded many of their shows from one of their strongest periods, and her reputation for high quality is legendary. she recorded them on her own equipment and tapes and was on the dead payroll off and on through much of the seventies. when her romantic relationship with brent mydland fell apart, she became ostracized from the band, and the relationship came to a halt.

in 1986, encountering financial difficulties, she moved all of her tapes (including an extensive collection of jerry garcia band shows) to a storage facility and then couldn’t pay the rent on that, and the contents went up in auction. i am oversimplifying the entire history for brevity sake here, but in a nutshell, some of these tapes are starting to come back to the vault. rob eaton, from dark star orchestra, has been instrumental in getting the archivists in contact with the current owners of a large swath of these lost tapes, and this box set is one of the initial results of this negotiation.

on top of the outstanding quality of the recording here, the band is in fine form and there are very few lapses in any of the shows. each one is individual in character, but all stand alone in being top notch shows. in a year in which there were high points and low points, this week in their history they were flying at a higher level. jerry is particularly engaged throughout, with his vocals and guitar work having a pronounced feistiness to it.

the first show is somewhat of an anomaly, as they are the opening act in arrowhead stadium for willie nelson’s rock and roll picnic -with willie, waylon and jessi colter. instead of their usual two sets, they did one long set, and rocked it out.

july 3rd and 5th they did two indoor shows in st. paul and omaha respectively.

and then they traveled for the first time ever to red rocks in colorado. the second night there is pretty widely known in taper circles, and is generally considered to be the best show of all of 1978. i don’t have a lot of 1978 personally, so i can’t speak to that, but it is an awesome show. the lesser known first night is nearly as good, and might be the biggest nugget here for fans of the dead who really only know the second night.

the overall package is very well done, and the accompanying booklet of about 50 pages tells you everything you need to know about the whole tour and the process of getting the tapes. very glad i bought it. it was a limited edition – only about 15000 copies – and sold out quick, but you can still get it used on amazon.

http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/july-1978-complete-recordings

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-grateful-deads-sublime-wharf-rat-from-first-ever-red-rocks-run-20160315

What’s Become of the Bettys? The Fate of the Long-Lost Grateful Dead Soundboards

ernest ranglin, below the bassline

i find it hard to believe that this guy has fallen under my radar for this long. one of the things i like about pandora is that it often exposes me to things i haven’t heard of. last sunday i was on my back deck chillin’ to my reggae station there (breddabushrat), when on comes this tune that sounded like a cross between the wailers and dave brubeck. i liked it so much i got off my adirondack and went in and found it on amazon and ordered it. if you are of a reggae mind but also dig bebop era jazz, then you should hop on this.

ernest is a veteran of the jamaican music scene. he cut his teeth in his teens in the fifties with big bands in jamaica emulating the ellington/goodman sound. he then started his own bands, incorporating the more contemporary influences of charlie parker and thelonius monk with the burgeoning rhythms emanating from the local sound systems on the island. chris blackwell discovered him in a hotel lounge in ocho rios, and he became the first signing at island records – a label that was to become ultimately pivotal in bringing the reggae sound worldwide. ernest became the house arranger for the label, and is a session musician on many of the records there, as well as being a key innovator in the ska movement in england. joe strummer cites him as one of his major influences.

this album was recorded in 1996, and features monty alexander on piano. monty also hails from jamaica, but became famous on a different route – moving to nyc and getting discovered by sinatra in a jazz dive in 1961. he is a very accomplished jazz pianist, but also stays true to his roots and has made numerous recordings of reggae influenced pieces, most notably with the legendary rhythm sections of sly and robbie. the overall album is a mix of rangling originals and covers of some reggae standards (’54-46 was my number’ from toots and the maytals, for instance).

just a treat to listen to.

getting caught up

i have been gone way too long, for various reasons. probably the biggest reason is writer block, due to lack of inspiration. i have been listening to an awful lot of music this summer, but i really haven’t stumbled across an album that really catches my ear so far – a release that makes me want to sit down and compose a letter to my followers and tell them why they need to buy it. so instead let’s try an honorable mention column giving brief blurbs about what i have spent some time on, and why it may – or may not – pique your interest. these are in no significant order.

reminds me of a young and up and coming version of gillian welch and dave rawlings. a talented duo from the carolinas, this is their fourth release, from 2015, and they have a new one due out this month. andrew marlin does the songwriting, and most of the lead vocals. my only real beef is a desire to feature more of her vocals. she has one lead vocal on this one, and it is one of my favorites on the album.

sophomore release from them. became part of the sound track to our outer banks trip this summer.some real catchy tunes, but songwriting leaves a little to be desired. simple without being profound. but sometimes that is ok if it all you really want to do is hum along with the melody. if you liked the first one, you will like this one.

a group of musicians who regularly meet once a month in a bar in los angeles. featuring sean and sara watkins (of nickel creek fame), benmont tench, fiona apple, and a few others. all covers here – notably robert earl keen, gordon lighfoot, and the dead. plus a few country standards. playing is outstanding, and vocals are shared by all (although sara has the most). did i mention i have a crush on sara?

hayes carll is just flat out one of the best singer/songwriters in the country, hailing from texas. i am a huge fan of his overall work, and you will not go wrong by picking up anything in his catalog of work. this new one is a departure from his usual style of barroom stories laced with humor, alcohol, self deprecation and biting insight. having recently gone through a divorce and swearing off alcohol and cigarettes, this is a more stripped down version. honest and introspective, he seems to be using the process of creating this album to help him reestablish where he is in this life. and i am ok with that. i like the old hayes’ work better, but i will stick with him and support his new approach to the world. i look forward to his next release.