dave’s picks 17, selland arena, fresno, ca 7/19/1974

this is a greatly anticipated release from the group. it has been a favorite of the collectors for quite some time, but for whatever reason has never made it on the dave’s or dick’s picks release choices. perhaps because it is partially flawed on a couple of levels. the first clue is the mixing issues on the opening song, ‘bertha’. all issues were cleared up about two thirds through the song, and by the time they got to the second song (mexicali blues), they had it right. this is a story of a show in the middle of the ‘wall of sound’ 1974 tour, when the band was at a creative peak but also struggling with the pressure of their fame.there was also the additional stress of managing the massive crew that was necessary to put together the immense structure of their cutting edge sound system.

the recording quality is solid. phil was probably the member most enamored with the ‘wall of sound’, and he is on top of his game here. he is simply on fire for the whole show. to a large degree the same could be said for keith. they are both up in the mix, and rightly so. the first set, other than the previously mentioned bertha, is fairly flawless. the ‘deal’, highlighted below, is a good taste of the overall feel. an early ‘scarlet begonias’ has a garcia solo that is on another level. it ends with a long ‘playing in the band’ (maybe five minutes too long).

phil comes on with ned lagin in the intermission for an interesting ‘sea stones’.

and then we head to the second set, where it really starts to get special. it opens with a good batch of standards – ‘brown eyed women’, ‘me and my uncle’, jack straw’, and then eventually goes to another level heading into ‘weather report suite’. halfway through the latter, and while they segue into ‘spanish jam’, you will hear some of the more inspired dead improvisations. they are all admittedly jazz fans, and this showcases their trends towards that genre. one can hear chick corea laced jazz fusion elements, and bill’s drum work during this set is a keen example of why i have always believed he is one of the most underrated drummers, period. they string this over into’ eyes of the world’, and then bring it to a crashing halt for an exquisite’china doll’. the ballad is so stripped down that you can hear a beer bottle roll across the floor at the 3:30 mark. ‘one more saturday night’ ends the show.

good stuff. great show. not perfect, but then none of their shows are. it just goes with the territory with this band.

update: hat tip to boot for the heads up on the rolling beer bottle. please see the comments section below for his thoughts on this release, specifically the ‘spanish jam’ section.

eilen jewell ‘sundown over ghost town’

i just love this album. do me a favor. order this. when you get it, put aside some time and get yourself a good bottle of bourbon. pour a healthy bit of that bourbon over ice in a tumbler, and then slip this album on in a room where you can listen up good. this girl can sing, and her band knows how to get behind her in a simplified but organically country way. there is not a mediocre cut on this album. check out ‘needle and thread’ below. i first got turned on to her stuff when i got her 2011 release ‘queen of the minor key’, and then quickly picked up her 2010 tribute to loretta lynn, ‘butcher holler’. she is coming to my favorite venue here on her current tour of this release, and i plan on being there.

“Needle and Thread” is about the mountain town where I spent a lot of time as a child: Idaho City, Idaho. It boasts a population of about 450 these days, though some maps list it as a ghost town.” “My family has some land up there. It’s mostly timber, dirt and rocks. Both Idaho City and the land around it have certainly seen better days. It was once the capitol of the Northwest — during the Gold Rush — but the miners took most of the gold out of it, and then it burned down twice. We love it though.

tedeschi trucks band ‘let me get by’

it was about this time two years ago that derek trucks announced that he would no longer be playing with the allman brothers, presumably to concentrate his efforts on his own band. legend has it that his name is one of the inspirations for the band name derek and the dominoes (his uncle is a drummer for the allman brothers). his wife susan is simply one of the flat out best blues singers around today. this is their most recent effort. if you are already a fan of the band, then this is an easy decision. it is worth the pickup. spend the extra to get the bonus version, as it has an extra disc that is worth it for the three live songs at the end – specifically the tribute back to the ‘layla’ album he is named after. david hidalgo from los lobos joins the band for a ripping version of ‘keep on growing’ .

redeye update

it has almost been a year since i first launched redeyegin. it has been fun, and i truly appreciate all the people who have been following, commenting, and sharing. it was well past time to revisit the structure of the site and improve a number of issues i had been having. my primary objective was to enhance the experience for the visitor, and above all, make it easy to follow the site and my postings. that is the purpose, after all- to share my findings in the music world with people who hopefully find it interesting – and i felt that aspect of the site was not going well as i had hoped. the links to follow – email, facebook and twitter – were not easy to find. donna witter is a friend of mine who does web consulting, and she has done a great job fixing my issues and getting it to be exactly what i currently envision. please take it for a test drive and give any feedback in the new suggestion box. if you do like the site, please consider sharing it with a few friends. again, that is the whole point of my little endeavor. enjoy.

just outside the country mainstream

you can have your own opinions on the current state of country music, especially the more commercial end of the business. but one thing that has been true forever – it has always been a good source of songwriters and homespun musicians. the key, i think, is to be open minded about anything that gets thrown into this genre, and to occasionally take a flyer on a few of them. here are three that i have found that you might find interesting.

turnpike troubadours is a band out of oklahoma that i have a been fan of for a few years. i have seen them live, and you should as well. this is their latest effort. i am not sure it is their best release, but it as good as anything else they have done (and i have everything, if that means anything). they have a knack of writing some great songs, and then marrying them to some good ol’ boy country licks. add a six pack of pabst blue ribbon tall boys, and you got yourself a hayride.

chris stapleton gets a nod for album of the year on this one. chris has one of the best country vocals out there today, period. previously of the steeldrivers, he set out on his own and this is pretty much his initial effort in this regard. produced by dave cobb, who also did the last two jason isbell releases, the overall sound is very well done. stapleton is a good songwriter (not great), and a few of the cuts here sound like an attempt to marry country with sammy hagar vocalizations. but he does touch a nerve overall, and here he makes a good stab at adding his name to some of the great outlaw country players. it is evident from the lyrics of a few of the songs that he is a veteran of the road, and the fabric of this experience is woven throughout this album. ‘whisky and you’ is one of the most honest songs about drinking this ear has ever heard.

Kacey Musgraves released her sophomore effort last year, and it is one of the most critically acclaimed of the year. her songwriting is simple but clever, and her harmonies sound natural and genuine. she is a big fan of alison kraus, but i also hear lucy kaplansky in both her timbre and phrasings. the back up band is spot on, and the guitar work, especially on the slide side, is top notch.