dave’s picks vol. 24, berkeley community theatre 8/25/72

in the last installment of the 2017 releases from grateful dead archivist david lemieux, we get a brilliant show from the summer of 1972, the final show of four in a row that they played at this venue. only three months after their legendary european tour, and the last show before they headed up to oregon for the fabled veneta concert, this show captures them at one of the peak periods in their career. recorded by owsley ‘bear’ stanley, the sound is clean and well balanced. the set list is very typical of the period (almost all of the songs would be on the soon to be issued ‘europe 72’). it is also the early stages of the configuration of the band that would no longer include pigpen, as he had played his final show in june.

the band is firing on all cylinders from the opening ‘cold rain and snow’ to the encore of ‘sugar magnolia’. of note is the ‘he’s gone’ and ‘birdsong’ in the first set. the only possible blemish on an otherwise stellar evening is ‘bertha’. in a song that they normally use as a set opener to get the juices flowing, jerry absolutely butchers the lyrics a number of times throughout the song. luckily he partially makes up for it, maybe out of anger, by closing with an energetic guitar solo to finish up the first set.

i have been subscribing to dave’s releases for five years, and 2017 offered probably the most consistently great four shows of the series. next year also has great promise as it was announced earlier this year that they have successfully negotiated with a few parties for the return of hundreds of missing tapes known as the ‘betty boards’. many of these tapes are from shows from one of their other classic periods -late 1976 to early 1978 – that were missing from their ‘vault’. the holy grail of this was of course the fabled run in may of 1977, notably the cornell university show (although i prefer the buffalo show the next night a little bit more). dave released four of these shows on the 40th anniversary of the cornell date as a boxed set this past may. i highly recommend getting that as well.

if you are a fan of the band, i highly suggest you consider signing up for the 2018 year (link below). they are going fast, and are capped at 18,000 subscribers. he has already announced volume 25, which will be the binghampton ny show from 11/6/77, which was one of the missing betty boards.

http://www.dead.net/store/music/new-releases/daves-picks-2018-subscription?intcmp=home/bigbanner3

whitney rose, ‘rule 62’

hailing from the canadian province of prince edward island, whitney’s grandparents owned a bar called union hall, and she spent much of her childhood there, singing hank williams and johnny cash songs for the customers. she still occasionally includes ‘ring of fire’ in her sets in her grandfather’s memory. she moved to austin to develop her sound and get more exposure. produced by raul malo of the mavericks and niko bolas, and recorded in nashville with a cadre of top shelf local musicians, the album is a mix of traditional country, soul swagger, and honky tonk. she wrote all but two of the eleven songs. the title is a reference to alcoholics anonymous rule 62, which states ‘don’t take yourself too seriously’. my favorite cut is ‘can’t stop shakin’, a thoroughly enjoyable funky groove. there are also a few phil spector sounding sixties throwbacks (‘better to my baby’ and ‘you’re a mess), but most of the rest of the songs could easily be enjoyed in any honky tonk joint. just another shining example of the type of young real talent out there, if you just go a’ lookin’. the liner notes curiously say ‘funded by the government of canada’, so i hope they get a good return on their investment.

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turnpike troubadours, ‘a long way from your heart’

this is their fourth album by my count, and i think it might be their best yet. twelve years of relentless touring on the red dirt circuit of oklahoma and texas have allowed this six piece outfit to hone and develop their own brand of country. there is a lyric from john prine’s ‘storm windows’ that goes something like ‘and a country band that plays for keeps’, and i am often reminded of that phrase when listening to these guys. they play so well and ably together, whether they are doing ballads or the occasional barnburner. the lyrics are usually character vignettes of small town folk, good and bad. evan felker is the primary songwriter for the group, but shares credit on a few here, including one with my old pal kev russell of prior gourds fame (lord, i miss that band).

as you can hopefully hear below, they have a knack for catchy lyrics without being artificial – well thought out stories about real life people. on this release they brought in grammy winning producer ryan hewitt, which felker says was ‘able to definitely distill it down to a little better liquor’. and i think that is right. their last album got to number three on the country charts, and i would not be surprised if this one gets them to the top, hopefully displacing a lesser bro country act. these guys are the real deal. . as i said in closing on my review of their last: get a 6 of pbr tallboys and enjoy the ride.

tyler childers, ‘purgatory’

i was at a small americana music festival in central ohio about a month ago when i wandered backstage to engage with a band i had just seen there, buffalo wabs and the the price hill hustle. they told me they were headed down to kentucky to open for a guy they felt was going to be the next big thing. it was one of those times when a stranger looks you in the eye and says ‘you have to check this guy out’.

tyler childers hails from lawrence county kentucky. he has made a name for himself in the taverns and festivals around lexington, but now he has put together a top notch nashville session band to showcase songs he has been working on for years. he was able to get grammy nominated sturgill simpson to produce his debut album. he may be only 27, but his songwriting reflects a lifetime of experiences from the mountains and small towns of appalachia. if you like sturgill’s recent work, you will appreciate this. if you like your country a little bit on the outlaw side and have an ear for great songwriting, then i can suggest this. he is coming to the beachland ballroom this thursday. see you there, tyler.

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eilen jewell, ‘down hearted blues’

eilen jewell and her wonderful band are at it again, this time delivering a compilation of blues standards that they spin in their own special way. even though she is often categorized in the country/folk/americana world, she has a vocal style that has more of a jazz/torch singer quality. sort of a billie holiday or madeleine peyroux cross with loretta lynn. which i really dig. an excellent songwriter in her own right, she foregoes that part of her talent here to cover classic blues offerings from the likes of willie dixon, otis rush, little walter and howlin’ wolf, to name a few. instead of trying to be something she’s not, she uses the blues idiom and structures and employs her usual vocalizations. on top of that, she lets the band do their usual twangy honky tonk accompaniment. i have often felt that her guitarist jerry miller should almost get equal billing, as he is that good. on this one he really shines, and the blues leanings give him an opportunity to add some really nasty riffs. everyone else is more than up to task here, and the whole thing really clicks and grooves.