Author: mark

old 97’s, ‘graveyard whistling’

11th studio album from this great texas band, this may be my favorite release of 2017 so far. the band has always rode that fine line between roadhouse rockabilly and l.a. punk, and as such they have always been on the outside looking in regarding mainstream rock, and this is no exception. in fact, it basically defines their career. i have listened to it at least a half dozen times, and i love it more after each spin. the first song (‘i don’t want to die in this town’) may be perfect, if you don’t mind a straight up, in your face high octane offering, replete with washes of twangy high reverb guitar swatches. it should be played loud.

recorded in the same venue they used for their first major label debut in 1996 – ‘too far too care’ – this is in many ways a return to their roots but with a nod to 20 years on the road. ‘good with god’ features brandi carlisle on vocals and songwriter credits. ‘jesus loves you’ is a great ditty about trying to woo a religious female at a bar, with such catchy pick up lines as ‘he’s got the whole world in his hands, i’ve got lone star in a can’. hard to argue with that.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/old-97s-full-session.html

nuggets volume 2: the fantastic expedition of dillard and clark

when most people think of the music of the byrds, they often think about two of the more famous alumni, roger mcguinn and david crosby. but a good argument could be made that they may have never hit the big time in the first place if it wasn’t for the singing and songwriting talents of one of the more introverted members – gene clark.

born in 1944 in missouri, gene was an early musical prodigy and eventually wandered west to the music scene in l.a. in the early sixties. after meeting mcguinn in the famous troubador club, they set out to find other like minded musicians, keen on grafting the influence of the beatles onto the local folk scene. gene wrote or co-wrote many of the byrds’ original songs on their first three albums.

eventually a management decision gave mcguinn the lead vocals on their major singles and dylan covers, and this started a chain of events that became the beginning of the demise of the initial lineup of the group. gene had a chronic fear of flying, which inhibited their touring options, and the band members were also growing jealous of the royalties he was receiving for his songwriting credits. he left the group in early 1966.

in 1968 he started a collaboration with a local bluegrass banjo legend named doug dillard. seeking a more traditional musical template that he had grown up with, they rounded out their group with bernie leadon on guitar (later with the flying burrito brothers and the eagles), bassist dave jackson and mandolinist don beck. they only made two albums, and this is the first one. it is just flawless, in my opinion. the song featured below, ‘ train leaves here this morning’, was co-written by leadon and was eventually covered by the eagles on their debut album.

his work with dillard rejuvenated gene’s creative fire but also greatly contributed to his growing drinking problem. they were rather legendary in their pre-concert preparations and were rarely as effective onstage as they were in the studio.

gene went on to make many fine solo recordings after this, and i encourage you to start with this one and explore more if you enjoy it. i have a couple i have been listening to that might find their way into another nugget entry.

tedeschi trucks band ‘live from the fox oakland’

this is quite simply one of the best bands out there today. they are captured here on tour in the most recent iteration of the group showcasing their current studio release, ‘let me get by’. recorded last year at the venerable old fox theater in oakland, it has a healthy mix of their originals plus a diverse offering of covers from artists such as clapton, dylan, beatles, miles davis, leonard cohen, santana, and others. the eleven piece band is a well oiled machine and can tackle all of the genres that derek and susan incorporate into their overall sound. accompanying the two cd set is a dvd of most of the whole show, with vignettes between songs introducing the main characters and the venue. of special note is derek and special guest alam khan dueting with derek on his gibson and alam on the sarode. i can think of no other guitarist alive today who could have pulled this off this beautifully. well worth your time.

dave’s picks volume 21, boston garden april 2nd 1973

entering the sixth year of this subscription series, we are offered a monster show that is the finale to their spring tour of 1973. by monster i mean that they play a total of 34 songs, with a run time of three hours and 37 minutes – it barely fits on 3 cds. the first set is comprised of 16 songs, heavily populated with their standard ‘cowboy songs’ of that era, but also peppered with a fine ‘china cat sunflower/i know you rider’, donna jean doing loretta lynn’s ‘you ain’t woman enough’, and capped off with a solid ‘playing in the band’.

the second set is a marathon, with a mix of established favorites but also some of their newer material (nearly every song from their ‘wake of the flood’ album is represented here, even though it wouldn’t be released for another 6 months). the ‘stella blue’ is pristine, maybe one of my favorite versions i have heard, and the ‘eyes of the world’ is fifteen minutes long, with the second half used as a foray into jazz fusion.

the overall playing is crisp and focused, and they are all on their game here. the recording quality is outstanding.

this was their first appearance at the boston garden, a place that they would return to another 24 times, more than any other band in the long history of that venue. they probably would have played more but they got banned for a few years because they got busted for grilling lobsters in a fire escape before a show. they had been intended to be the last band to play there and were scheduled for a run of six shows in september of 1995, but those shows were cancelled due to jerry’s death that august. previous to this release, the dead had also released two other shows from the venue – dick’s picks 12 (6/28/74) and dick’s picks 17 (9/25/91).

this was a great way to start off the 2017 series, and they have already announced the next release – the december 7th 1971 show at the felt forum in nyc. on top of that, they just announced that they have finalized a deal long in the making – the return of hundreds of reels recorded by betty cantor-jackson to the vaults. whether or not any of those become volume 23 or 24 is still to be determined, but it seems likely that at least one of them will be. stay tuned.

Dave’s Picks To Release Volume 21, Grateful Dead at Boston Garden 4/2/73

southern culture on the skids, ‘electric pinecones’

southern culture on the skids (also known simply as ‘scots’) is a trio hailing from north carolina and have been playing for over thirty years. this is the first album of theirs i have ever bought. the genres on display on this release run the gamut from rockabilly, surf rock, late sixties psychedelia, and campy punk. rick miller is the main songwriter and only guitarist, and he is a force to be reckoned with. he easily slides between all of the aforementioned styles, and does it with confidence and what seems like a natural lyricism. he can effortlessly switch from eddie cochran to dick dale to jorma kaokonen. witness ‘meximelt’ below.

if you left off the two campier songs (‘midnight caller’ and ‘rice and beans’), i would feel more comfortable giving this a more enthusiastic recommendation. but it is worth giving it a streaming test drive if any of this sounds intriguing to you.