Peter’s fine Bob Mould post reminded me of…Bob Mould.
Like Steve I was a fan of Husker Du, and then Sugar, but I was more than surprised when Mould appeared as a contributor to Beat the Retreat, a compilation/tribute (ugh, I hate that word in this context) to guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson.
I am pretty out there as a huge Thompson fan. He is my favorite live performer and songwriter, and well, he was my favorite guitar player till I got turned on to Bill Frisell and appreciated Mick Ronson as much as I do now. Still top three with some pretty good company.
Anyway, Mould covers this fine Thompson tune, and kills on guitar, but he also really nails the timbre of Thompson’s voice. Best of all, I found a couple of other Mould covers of Thompson, so more to come!
Last Friday I was making my Passover Cheesecake (see Cheesecake post, in fact), streaming KTKE on the Bluetooth speaker Diane bought me for Valentine’s Day, and Jokerman, from Dylan’s album Infidels, was played.
It is a song I had not thought of for a while, but similarly, it is a song from an album I really dug when it came out, featuring Sly and Robbie holding down the rhythm section, and Mark Knopfler on guitar.
The thing is, Dylan has such a huge and extraordinary body of work that it is easy to simply forget about how many great songs over how many great periods Bobby has produced.
Hearing Jokerman was great in that it is really my favorite vocal period of Dylan’s, voice wise. His singing is so laid back and really sweet, especially on this cut.
I do find it interesting, though as I search through my archives and albums and CDs that as often as not I find myself going back to Bob, who is always so satisfying, irrespective of when and what he did.
Enjoy! Goes great with a cheeseburger and some curly fries, btw!
Another Steve Gardner fave, mostly based upon the wonderful tone invoked by Mike Campbell as the Heartbreakers axe-man channels Chuck Berry.
I was a huge fan of this band (seen them ten times) based upon fine lyrics (by Petty) and such a tight and clean sound of the band. In this cut, listen to Stan Lynch and his stellar drumming, in particular, though again not at the expense of Campbell’s fantastic guitar sound.
Damn the Torpedoes was the bands third album, BTW, and in my view, that is the one that seals the deal for a new and promising band. In this instance, the deal was closed with profit and great riffs for all.
Photos, Tout Songs, Obituaries, Name That Tune? OK, enough.
Let’s get back to what we really do best: uncover/present killer songs, past, present, and even some future.
I know there are those who dismiss Pearl Jam, but I think such critics are elitists.
Pearl Jam cranks, and probably wear the tough mantle–especially with the death of Kurt Cobain and demise of Nirvana–as the band from the grunge/Seattle environ.
There are a bunch of other great bands that did evolve from that scene (I am at least thinking Soundgarden) but when push comes to shove, Pearl Jam kick it, song-wise, songwriting-wise, and musicianship-wise.
I present, then, the following, among my favorite from the band’s catalog.
It does seem Eddie Vedder’s voice is not quite so powerful as it was 20 years ago, but the rest of the band certainly smokes. And, Mike McCready again shows that when push comes to shove, a great guitar player cranking through a Marshall stack via a Telecaster is probably the best sounding “axe” confluence there is.
I doubt your song can be much cooler (or classic) than mine.
They’ll also tell you what song was No. 1 the night you were conceived, a real rock ‘n’ roll moment for sure. (I’ve posted about this song twice before, with various versions but not the giant hit that was Tennessee Ernie Ford’s.)
I am not sure how the rest of the country is reacting, but my three canines have taken the news lying down. After all, it is sunny, and our pups are older, so, unless there is a reason to get up–like someone giving them a biscuit–that is what they prefer (to the left are Jazzmine’s and Pavlov’s heads, while the white fluff behind them is our white Shepherd, Mahi).
Anyway, dogs rule, so in honor of them and Walter Kendall’s Fives (beef, vegatable, cheese, charcoal, and ginger), the brand our childhood dog Babe got, here are Bowie and Ronson et al, with what I think is my favorite songus, canus.
Diane and I, as noted here before, don’t have a lot in common musically.
Surely, my partner has a shuffle, and a bunch of tunes she likes to listen to when she is running, but virtually none of the songs are ones that interest me. She likes hip hop, and dance songs from the 90’s, mostly, although occasionally an AC/DC (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) or Boston (Foreplay/Long Time) song will sprinkle into her play list.
Not so, JCSS, which, when we discovered we each loved, caused me to download the original 1970 version from Amazon. Diane also was most familiar with that version, that featured Ian Gillian and Murray Head, although she also likes watching the movie when it appears at Easter (kind of like I enjoy watching Ben Hur at Christmas time).
What is also funny, was shortly after we both discovered a mutual love for JCSS, I was at our local recycle center, where in addition to dumping cardboard and styrofoam peanuts, there is an area where folks dump books and old records and DVDs (well, more like VHS tapes), and what was on top of a stack of vinyl but a copy of the original album (no liner notes, though). So, I grabbed it, and played it last week going through my vinyl binging.
When that album first came out, in 1970, I confess that I knew virtually nothing about Jesus historically. Having grown up as a nice Jewish boy in Suburban Sacramento, the subject just didn’t come up.
But, I did buy the cassette for some reason back then, and at least learned the Rice/Lloyd Webber take on the final week of Jesus’ life. And, I thought (and still do) that the whole work–vocals, lyrics, arrangements, and the musicianship–are just fantastic.
In particular, that body of players who delivered the guitars and bass and drums were indeed the part that has intrigued me most. Culled largely from the Grease Band, who toured behind Joe Cocker (check them out at Woodstock: killer) the principle rock musicians in JCSS play so beautifully, and appropriately, that it is almost sick.
Led by Henry McCullough (the Grease Band, and Wings) and Neil Hubbard (the Grease Band, and Roxy Music) on guitars, bass player Alan Spenner (the Grease Band, Mick Taylor, Alvin Lee, and Roxy Music), and drummer Bruce Rowland (Fairport Convention, and the Grease Band), Jesus Christ, Superstar is arguably the best of that oddity known as the rock opera. That means I like it better than either Tommy, or Quadrophenia, both of which I love to pieces, meaning this is high praise.
I do puzzle, though for usually rock’and’rollers don’t sight read symphonic charts, which I would guess is what was produced, and conversely, I have a hard time with Rice/Lloyd Webber thinking in terms of bending an “A” to a “B” starting on the seventh fret of the fourth string, with a little bit of reverb for a fill, so I do wonder just where the collaboration starts and stops.
Fortunately, it is simply a philosophical question, and in no way interferes with just how dead on the drums are, how the strumming and guitar play just enhances the words (which are very good), and how the bass interplays with both.
You can look down your nose at this work, and it might not even be your cup of tea, but no doubt these guys can seriously play.
I got an email yesterday that tickets for the Mats were going on sale today, well, a pre-sale actually, and because I subscribe to LiveNation, I got a chance at them.
How exciting! So, I logged in this morning at 10 a.m. when the tix went on sale, got put in a queue for ten minutes, and by the time I was atop the queue, the pre-sale tickets were gone.
They go on regular sale tomorrow, so I will try again, but, well, I would be bummed to miss them, as would my friend Michele Friedman, with whom I usually go to concerts with these days. That is because Michele’s husband Jeremy Steinkoler, who is a fabulous professional drummer, just isn’t that into grunge, and my partner, Diane, only goes to concerts when my band is playing.
But, Michele’s friends Michael and Tracey wanted to come as well, as the three of them saw the Mats around 1980, so they wanna re-live their youth.
Keep your fingers crossed that we can get tix tomorrow.
In the interim, here is Paul and the guys at their loudest and bestest (no disrespect Tommy Stinson fans).
I had never heard of Hayes Carll (or the Drive by Truckers, for that matter) till I joined the BileTones, and our lead singer, Tom Nelson insisted we cover songs by each.
The Hayes Carll nomination was this song, which Peter’s last “Name That Tune” brought to mind.
It’s a killer song, very funny, and it rocks.
I tried to find a good live version, and this was the best (in fact, Carll opened for the Truckers at this gig). Most of the live stuff is digital phone, hand held. But, do try to catch the words if you dare.
Check him out, though. I mean, how can you not love a guy who wrote a song called One Bed, Two Women, Three Bottles of Wine?
