neil young, ‘hitchhiker’

one evening in the summer of 1976, neil – along with his longtime producer david briggs and actor dean stockwell -settled in for the night at indigo studios in malibu. the idea was to capture neil doing ten new songs in acoustic solo fashion. recorded in one night, the set list features many songs that would eventually be well known to his fans, but not because of this recording. when it was pitched to the record label, it was dismissed because they felt that it sounded like a bunch of demos, as opposed to a finished product. and to an extent, they have a point. the project was shelved, until now. of the ten tracks, eight would eventually be recorded on a later release. it opens with the first known version of ‘pocahontas’ which, along with ‘ride my llama’, would be included on the ‘rust never sleeps’ album. ‘powderfinger’ is stripped to the bone here, as opposed to the revved up crazy horse version. ‘campaigner’ is offered, otherwise not seeing the light of day until his ‘decade’ compilation. ‘human highway’ was originally pitched as a studio project for csn&y in 1974, recorded here, and eventually wound up on ‘comes a time’. the only two unreleased tracks are ‘hawaii’ and ‘give me strength’, the latter being a song about his breakup with actress carrie snodgrass.

this is pretty raw stuff, complete with studio banter and uneven production. but neil sounds great and for the most part plays these cuts with conviction and depth. so why has it not been released till now? neil has certainly not been shy about slowly releasing items from his vast archives, much like dylan. and the session has been known to young aficionados for a long time. i have never come across an explanation, but i suspect it might have something to do with the recording quality. it is a very good historical marker in his career, but i get the impression from interviews that the three people in the room might have been a little too far gone to make good studio decisions. but being a big neil fan, this is a welcome addition to my archives.

iron and wine, ‘beast epic’

sam beam started recording as iron and wine 15 years ago, and this is his sixth album under that moniker. in many ways this is a return to his earlier stylings, but with another decade of life’s experiences imbued within. the instrumentation is stripped down, which allows his lyrics and melodies to get the attention they deserve. i have seen him live and i have watched numerous videos of him performing out of the studio, but i really think his best work is done in studio – be that his family room or more professional settings. his hallmark half whisper whiskey breath vocals and lush acoustic guitar landscapes seem to be best captured on tape. he really is a great songwriter and his body of work is very impressive. ‘beast epic’ refers to narrative verses where the characters are animals with human emotions. he has mentioned in the past that he thinks it is a good medium for songwriting, and if you listen to his songs there are many references to animals – mostly dogs and birds.

but that medium is not overly employed here, and the range of subjects and styles is enough to keep the listener engaged in each story. the lyrics are often a bit obtuse, but repeated listening is rewarded by the incremental appreciation for the underlying music as well as a deeper understanding of the meaning of the song.

overall i think it is great outing for sam, and a great introduction to his work, if you have never heard of him.

gregg allman, ‘southern blood’

short version: go buy this now.

long version: i was not aware that gregg had been working on an album while he knew his time on this earth was a known quantity, namely about nine months. released last week, i have listened to it all the way through three times now, and i can confidently tell you that it is a must add for the music collector that has at least a passing fancy in the allman brothers.

‘laid back’ was gregg’s first solo album, and many consider it to be a sort of eulogy to his brother duane. he does a version of jackson browne’s ‘these days’ that is one of my favorite songs, period. in many ways this is a bookend to that release and gregg’s life. this album ends with browne’s ‘song for adam’, and jackson duets with gregg. if you listen closely, you can hear gregg choke up in the last verse. they broke for the night, intending to come back the next day and get a better take, but they never did.

recorded at the legendary fame studios in muscle shoals alabama, and magnificently produced by the great don was, gregg uses his nine piece traveling band to lay down ten tracks that define his life and career. almost all are cover songs, chosen by either the material, the artist, or both. dylan’s ‘going, going gone’, lowell george’s ‘willin’, garcia/hunter’s ‘black muddy river’, willie dixon’s ‘i love the life i live’, to name but a few. the only allman penned tune (cowritten by guitarist scott sharrad) is his tribute to life on the road, ‘my only true friend’.

as the liner notes and other source material make clear, he knew that this would be his final musical statement in life. he was actually making final approval of the mixes on the evening of his death. knowing this background, and being a huge fan of his work for forty years, i will readily admit that this curmudgeon’s eyes get a little moist at each repeated listen. he poured his heart and soul into every cut, and i think it is one of the finest things he has ever done.

ohiolina music festival, day one

going down to this festival in mount vernon friday, mostly to see nikki lane, but there are a few other acts that look pretty interesting. first, we feature the headliner, with a new video she released today.

before them comes a bluegrass combo, whiskey bent valley boys, hailing from louisville kentucky.

preceding them is buffalo wabs and the price hill hustle, a four piece band offering americana and folk, coming up from cincinnati.

and on the side stage, minnesota native charlie parr. charlie is currently playing at the americana festival in nashville and will bring his unique songwriting up 71 to open this festival.

hope to see you all down there. more on nikki here:

nikki lane, ‘highway queen’

https://www.ohiolina.com/

the jerry douglas band, ‘what if’

what an interesting album. you may only know jerry douglas as a household name if you are a big bluegrass fan. hailing from warren, ohio, jerry is by far the world’s greatest dobro player. there really isn’t a close second. in his 45 year career, he has played on 1500 albums and won 14 grammys. he is perhaps best known as a sideman for alison krauss and union station. on this one he mashes progressive bluegrass, bebop jazz, gritty blues and all kinds of other genres into a captivating melting pot.

“…a flintstones rumble, with fred in the driver’s seat and charlie parker as his passenger.”

joined by an incredibly talented band, including horns, these guys can tackle any material and support jerry’s musical whims. words can only do so much justice to this recording – you really just have to check out the sampling of videos i found for their recent collaboration. if by some miracle you like ‘newgrass’, weather report, and jimi hendrix, then you might need to buy this album.