You just gotta love Ringo Starr. He may not be the most sophisticated drummer or songwriter, but he’s just an awesome guy! As reported by Rolling Stone earlier today, Ringo is planning a virtual charity concert for his 80th birthday on July 7. The one-hour event will be broadcast on YouTube starting at 8:00 pm ET, and feature Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark, Jr., Sheila E and Ben Harper, among others. Appropriately called Ringo’s Big Birthday Show, the event will benefit Black Lives Matter Global Network, The David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares and WaterAid.
“…for 12 years, we have celebrated it by at noon going ‘peace and love’, wherever you are,” said Ringo during a more than 30-minute video interview with Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hiatt. “We’re still doing it, but this year is going to be a little different…there’s no big get-together, there’s no brunch for 100, and there’s no gangs of people outside.” Below is a clip of the entire interview. If you dig Ringo, I can highly recommend it. BTW, I do agree with Hiatt, he doesn’t look like 80!
As further reported by Rolling Stone, the event will also debut a special version of Give More Love, the title track of Ringo’s 2017 studio album, featuring guests like Jackson Browne, Jeff Bridges, Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. Ringo will also launch a series of tribute performances on his YouTubechannel, including artists like Steve Earle, Peter Frampton and Judy Collins. Last but not least, he is asking fans to “say, think, or post #peaceandlove at noon their local time on July 7th.”
Here’s the official video of the above noted Give More Love. Co-written by Ringo and Gary Nicholson, the tune is the title track of Ringo’s 19th studio release, which appeared in September 2017. His most recent album What’s My Name came out in October 2019. I previously wrote about it here.
I rarely post clips twice but felt the above warranted an exception. I previously included this amazing footage in a July 2017 post about the British TV music show The Old Grey Whistle Test. It captures Emmylou Harris, who appeared on the program in 1977 with The Hot Band, her backing group from 1974 until 1991. That band couldn’t have selected a better name – I mean, holy smoke!
Ooh Las Vegas was co-written by Gram Parsons and Ric Grech. Harris included her rendition of the tune on her third studio album Elite Hotel released in December 1975. She also sang on Parsons’ original from his January 1974 studio record Grievous Angel. I think both versions are fantastic and represent county rock at its finest. Call it hillbilly music, if you want – I don’t care, this just rocks!
The Hot Band featured Albert Lee (lead guitar, vocals), Rodney Crowell (guitar, vocals), Emory Gordy Jr. (bass, vocals), Glen D. Hardin (piano), Hank DeVito (steel guitar) and John Ware (drums). Harris provided lead vocals and guitar.
I really need to further explore Emmylou Harris. The more of her music I hear, the more I like her. It’s already clear to me she absolutely deserves more than just one clip. Look for a post on her in the near future.
I rarely blog back-to-back in the same category, but yesterday’s post about Red Rocks Amphitheatre was so much fun that I decided to do another one. And the Hollywood Bowl certainly isn’t just any place, at least not in my book.
The first time I heard of the legendary Los Angeles entertainment venue was in connection with The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. It was one of the very first Beatles albums I got on vinyl. I must have been around 12 years at the time. I still own that copy!
Then, in 1980 as a 14-year-old, I got to visit the actual venue (though not for a concert) during a summer vacation in the U.S., which included L.A. – my first visit to this country. Also my very first time on an airplane! I still have so many vivid memories about this trip. Seeing the Bowl where The Beatles once played remains one of them.
I suppose the trip planted the seed that led me to come back years later to study in America and eventually stay here for good. My girlfriend I met during my studies, who I’m happy to call my wife for now 20-plus years, also had something to do with it! 🙂
Back to the Hollywood Bowl and a bit of history before we get to the ultimate thrill. It all started 101 years ago in 1919 when the Theatre Arts Alliance asked William Reed and his son H. Ellis Reed to find a suitable location for outdoor performances. After the Reeds found and selected the natural amphitheater because of its amazing acoustics and convenient proximity to downtown Hollywood, the Community Park and Art Association began construction of the facility.
The Bowl began as a community space rather than a privately owned venue. The first events were held there in 1921. Proceeds from the early performances were used to finance construction of new elements, such as a stage, seating and background, which were added in 1922, 1923 and 1924, respectively. Initially, the Bowl served as a venue for concerts by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as a community space for Easter services, the Hollywood Community Chorus and younger musicians including children.
In 1926, the first band shell was constructed but it was considered unacceptable from both a visual and an acoustics standpoint. Lloyd Wright came up with the now-familiar concentric ring motif and the 120-degree arc in 1928. But his wooden construction was destroyed by water damage and replaced the following year by a shell with a transite skin over a metal frame. That structure stood until 2003 and evidently was the one I saw in 1980.
In the early ’80s an inner shell made from large cardboard tubes that had been there since the ’70s to improve the acoustics was replaced by large fiberglass spheres designed by Frank Gehry. Eventually, in 2003, the 1929 outer shell was replaced with a new, somewhat larger, acoustically improved shell. Initially, a curtain served as a backdrop until a proper back wall had been constructed, which was first revealed in 2005. I suppose that’s the structure that stands to this day.
Now on to the real fun. Those who’ve visited my blog more frequently won’t be surprised what comes next: The Rolling Stones – just kidding! I love the Stones, but the first clip must capture my favorite band of all time. And, yes, there is historic YouTube footage.
The Beatles played the Hollywood Bowl twice, in August 1964 and in August 1965. Here’s A Hard Day’s Night, the title track of the corresponding studio album, which as usually was credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This version is from the August 23, 1964 gig, an impressive illustration of “Beatlemania.” According to The Beatles Bible, all 18,700 tickets had been sold for the show. A Hard Day’s Night was the second-to-last tune of their 12-song set.
Are you ready to set the night on fire? On July 1968, The Doors did just that. Their performance that evening was captured on Live at the Hollywood Bowl, the band’s third official live album released in May 1987. A VHS version of the concert also appeared at the time. In October 2012, the full version of the show came out on CD, LP and Blu-ray as Live at the Bowl ’68. Credited to all four members of The Doors, Light My Fire originally was included on the band’s eponymous debut album from January 1967. Man, watching this footage gives me goosebumps, especially Ray Manzarek’s extended organ solo – even though by definition it doesn’t have any vocals! 🙂
Let’s get it on with a nostalgic piece, as Elton John called it during his September 7, 1973 gig at the Hollywood Bowl: Crocodile Rock. That show was also filmed, for inclusion in a documentary by English film director Bryan Forbes, Elton John and Bernie Taupin Say Goodbye Norma Jean and Other Things. Co-written by John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin, Crocodile Rock was first recorded for John’s sixth studio album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, which came out in January 1973. Now, that’s the Elton John I dig. You also gotta love the guy behind John in the crocodile outfit playing what looks like a Vox Continental keyboard!
Before jumping to the current century, let’s go to October 2, 1991, and a gig by Sting during his Soul Cages Tour that year. The show at the Hollywood Bowl also coincided with his 40th birthday. Here’s The Soul Cages, the great title track from Sting’s third solo release that appeared in January 1991. Like all songs on the album, the tune was written by him.
Next are two clips from the current century, for which it is easier to find YouTube footage. Let’s kick it off with The Rolling Stones and what according to Setlist.fm looks like the first of two dates played at the venue in 2005: November 6. There was another show there two days later. Both concerts were part of the Bigger Bang Tour. I caught the Stones for the first time during that tour on October 1, 2005 at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pa. I realize Satisfaction is the most overplayed Stones song, but unfortunately, it was the only complete clip I could find from their Bowl gig. Co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction became the first no. 1 for the Stones in 1965 and was also included on the American version of their fourth studio album Out of Our Heads released in July of the same year. Hey, it may be over-exposed, but it’s still one of the coolest guitar riffs in rock & roll! When watching Jagger in this footage I noticed he was still moving like this when I saw the Stones again last year – unbelievable!
The final clip I reserved for an artist who has been near and dear to me for many years. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us: Tom Petty. The following footage is from his final show with The Heartbreakers. This gig at the Hollywood Bowl on September 25, 2017 marked the triumphant finale of the band’s 40th anniversary tour. You can watch the entire concert here. I’ve done it twice and have to say it’s just amazing. For this post I’d like to highlight the final two songs of the night: You Wreck Me from Petty’s second solo album Wildflowers (November 1994) and the classic American Girl, off the November 1976 eponymous debut by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Sources: Wikipedia; The Beatles Bible; Setlist.fm; YouTube
In January 2018, I did a post about Bad Company’s album Live at Red Rocks. It keeps getting views, with the most recent occurring just a few days ago. This gave me the idea to write about what must be one of the most magnificent outdoor performance venues. Plus, my last post in the venues category dates back to August 2019 – another good reason to look at one of the places where the ultimate thrill in music takes place: The live experience!
Red Rocks Amphitheatre has a long history, something I had not been aware of and frankly had not thought about. How long? It somewhat depends where you start. Construction of the facility near Morison, Col., 10 miles west of Denver, began in 1936, though the first concerts there were produced by John Brisben Walker as early as 1906. Brisben, a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur, had the vision to leverage the site’s natural acoustics for entertainment purposes.
The next important milestone in the venue’s history occurred in 1927, when manager of Denver parks John Cranmer convinced the city to acquire the area of Red Rocks from Brisben. The price? $54,133, which is the equivalent of approximately $797,920 today – quite a bargain, if you ask me! Denver architect Burnham Hoyt was brought in to design the facility. After a five-year construction, Red Rocks Amphitheatre opened to the public in 1941.
What’s truly amazing to me is the age of the rock formations. It took the natural amphitheater more than 200 million years to form. There are traces dating back to the Jurassic period 160 million years ago, including dinosaur tracks and fossil fragments. In one of the less glorious aspects in Red Rocks’ history, the area around it was inhabited for hundreds of years by the native American Ute tribe, until they were displaced in the 19th century, according to this collection of facts about the venue, published by the Denver Post in June 2016.
Now let’s get to the fun part: Music performances at Red Rocks. And as you might imagine, there have been many. The challenge, however, is to find live footage from there, capturing artists I truly dig, especially old gigs from the ’60s and ’70s, such as Jimi Hendrix in September 1968 or Jethro Tull in June 1971. The latter unfortunately led to a confrontation between non-paying fans who had arrived to the sold-out show without tickets and the police. It resulted in a five-year ban of rock concerts at the venue.
The first show I’d like to highlight dates back to August 26, 1964, when The Beatles played Red Rocks as part of their U.S. tour that year. While according to The Beatles Bible, only 7,000 of the 9,000 tickets were sold, making it the sole show of the tour that wasn’t sold out, the Fab Four still set a box office record for the facility, marking the earliest notable rock & roll performance there. Here’s some historical footage I found, which includes concert snippets. It’s impossible to verify whether were actually captured at Red Rocks. In any case, it’s a nice illustration of the insanity of Beatlemania.
For the next gig, I’m jumping ahead 19 years. On June 5, 1983, U2 recorded their concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky, which also yielded their live album Under a Blood Red Sky released in November of the same year. The following clip captures the first 15 minutes of the film directed by Gavin Taylor. U2 almost looked like high school pals, but they sure as heck didn’t sound like a high school band. The energy they brought is just infectious. Appropriately, the boys from Dublin kicked it off with Out of Control, a tune from their October 1980 album Boy. It was a rain-soaked evening! This was followed by two other tracks from Boys: Twilight and An Cat Dubh.
While I couldn’t find a clip of the above noted Jethro Tull gig from 1971, here some footage from a show they played at Red Rocks on August 12, 2008: Aqualung, the title track of the band’s fourth studio album from March 1971. It was the only song on that album that wasn’t solely written by Ian Anderson. His first wife, English photographer, actress, playwright and life coach Jennie Anderson (born Franks), is listed as a co-writer.
The last clip I’d like to include captures one of my all-time favorite rock artists John Fogerty who played Red Rocks last year as part of his My 50 Year Trip tour, which is still ongoing though currently on hold because of you know what! Here’s Fortunate Son, a tune a wrote for Willy and the Poor Boys, the fourth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival released in November 1969. I can tell you one thing: I consider myself as fortunate to have seen the man in May 2018. He continues to kick ass!
Obviously, Red Rocks Amphitheatre is currently closed, and their website lists the many shows from April through October that have been cancelled or postponed/ rescheduled due to COVID-19. While this sucks for live music lovers like myself and creates a lot of pain for artists, the venue and all the connected vendors, it’s the right thing to do. Catching the bloody virus spreads many hospitalizations and lots of death, as this country has painfully witnessed over the past few months.
I’d like to wrap up this post on a more cheerful note with some additional Red Rocks facts noted in the above Denver Post article, which was updated in November 2018.
Red Rocks has seen nearly 2,700 shows through the end of 2016.
While the above Beatles gig may have marked “the earliest notable rock performance,” it was Ricky Nelson who played the venue’s first ever rock show in 1959.
The band that has performed at Red Rocks the most is Widespread Panic.
HueyLewis and the News are the band with the record for most consecutive shows in a row, with four gigs performed from August 9-12, 1985.
Electrical transformers were moved outside the venue, after Neil Young noticed they were causing feedback on his tube amps.
While Red Rocks has been successful in attracting big names, one of the biggest has yet to book the venue despite constant rumors they are going to do so: The Rolling Stones.
Sources: Wikipedia; Denver Post; The Beatles Bible; Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre website; YouTube
A selection of newly released music that caught my attention
I can’t believe this already is the 15th weekly post in a row in my recurring feature about newly/recently released music. Frankly, I did not expect that when I started the endeavor 15 weeks ago! This installment includes three singer-songwriters, a jazz funk outfit and a rock & roll band. I had not heard of any of these artists before and surely plan to further explore their music. Let’s get to it!
Sarah Jarosz/Johnny
Sarah Jarosz is a 29-year-old singer-songwriter hailing from Austin, Texas. Wikipedia characterizes her music as Americana, country folk and bluegrass. Jarosz who is of Polish ancestry learned how to the play the mandolin as a 10-year-old and later added guitar, claw-hammer banjo and octave mandolin. While still being a senior in high school, she signed with Sugar Hill Records and released her debut album Song Up in Her Head in June 2009. Written by Jarosz, Johnny is a great tune from her new album World on the Ground, her fifth studio release that appeared on June 5. The record was produced by John Leventhal, who has also worked in that capacity with an impressive array of other artists, such as Michelle Branch, Shawn Colvin and Joan Osborne. I hear some Sheryl Crow in here.
Tim Burgess/Empathy For the Devil
While Tim Burgess has been active since 1989 and apparently is best known as the lead vocalist of alternative rock band The Charlatans, I had not heard of the English musician, singer-songwriter and record label owner before. I generally don’t listen a lot to alternative rock, which at least in part may explain my ignorance. After recording seven albums with The Charlatans, Burgess launched a solo career in parallel and came out with his debut I Believe in September 2003. Empathy For the Devil, which Burgess wrote, is a track from his fifth solo album I Love the New Sky that was released on May 22. There’s just something about this tune that attracted me right away. Check it out.
Jess Williamson/Infinite Scroll
According to her website, Jess Williamson is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter who makesdeeply felt songs that orbit around her powerful voice, a voice that’s strong and vulnerable, big room flawless, quietly ecstatic, and next-to-you intimate...Williamson grew up in the suburbs of Dallas. An only child, she was raised by music-loving parents on a healthy diet of Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, and K.T. Oslin…In her last year of school [at the University of Texas where she was a photography major], following an impulse after seeing Austin’s Ralph White play the banjo at a house show in her friends’ basement, Williamson took up banjo lessons at South Austin Music, and soon after was writing songs and making home recordings. In 2011, the young artist self-released her debut EP Medicine Wheel/Death Songs. Following her relocation to L.A. in 2016, Williamson started work on what would become her first album released with a record label: The 2018 Cosmic Wink. Infinite Scroll is a song she wrote for her latest album Sorceress that came out on May 15. Here’s the official video.
Lettuce/Blaze
Lettuce is something I generally like as a side to a steak or other piece of meat or fish. It also happens to be the name of an American jazz and funk band initially formed in Boston in the summer of 1992 when all of its founding members attended Berklee College of Music as teenagers. It was a short-lived venture that lasted just this one summer, but the members reunited in 1994 when all them had become undergraduate students at Berklee. In 2002, their debut album Outta There appeared. And ever since the band has been, well, out there! Blaze is the opener of their new studio album Resonate that was released on May 8, their seventh studio record. Today, Lettuce are a six-piece, with four of their members remaining from the original lineup. Ready for some cool groove? Wait a moment, no vocals? Jeez, indeed! I don’t know who specifically wrote the track but I just dig when they play that funky music!
Low Cut Connie/Private Lives
“If an alien landed and asked what rock ‘n’ roll is, you could start here.” This is what Low Cut Connie confidently proclaim on their Facebookpage. Wikipedia apparently agrees, describing them as an American rock & roll band based in Philadelphia. And I love rock & roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby, to creatively borrow from rock dynamo Joan Jett! Low Cut Connie were formed in 2010. I’m afraid I hadn’t noticed! They self-released their debut album Get Out the Lotion in 2011. After their sophomore, another self-release, the band got a deal with Contender Records that issued their first label release in 2015. Private Lives is a single and the title track of Connie’s forthcoming double LP, which is scheduled for October 13. The cool rocker was written by frontman, pianist and songwriter Adam Weiner, who appears to be the band’s driving force. While it’s the only song I currently know, Low Cut Connie sound very promising to me. Here’s the official video.
Elvis Presley was my childhood idol. I was nuts about the man. I would try to imitate his hairdo and impersonate him in front of the mirror. Okay, to my defense, I was like 10 years old or so. 🙂
Then came The Beatles. They clearly crowded out Elvis, though he never faded away altogether. While I’m no longer obsessed with Elvis, I continue to believe he was a great vocalist and an amazing performer, especially during his early years. His moves were just crazy.
While Suspicious Minds isn’t from his early career, it’s always been one of my favorite Elvis tunes. The song was co-written by Francis Zambon and Mark James. It was also James who recorded and released it first in 1968. But after his version failed commercially, the song was recorded by Elvis with producer Chips Moman who had also produced James’ take.
Appearing in August 1969, Suspicious Minds became one of the most notable hits for Elvis that helped revive his chart success in the wake of his NBC televised concert ’68 Comeback Special. The tune hit no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Elvis’ 18th and final chart-topping single in the U.S., a success that had eluded him for seven years since his 1962 hit Good Luck Charm.
I deliberately let this one simmer for a while. As a more casual listener of Bob Dylan, I felt giving Rough and Rowdy Ways more time to sink in was the right thing to do. Dylan’s 39th studio album, his first with original songs since Tempest from September 2012, appeared yesterday on Columbia Records.
To be very clear upfront, I’m not trying to compete with clever music critics, so if you’re hoping for any sort of interpretation what the maestro’s lyrics mean and to what extent they are autobiographical, you can probably stop reading here. Frankly, I’m not sure anyone on the planet can fully figure out the man – I certainly can’t and won’t pretend I can!
When Dylan released the album’s first single Murder Most Foul in late March, I didn’t quite know how to feel about it. Clocking in at just under 17 minutes, my first thought was it’s massive. I also wondered whether we really needed yet another account about the murder of JFK, one of the most widely covered stories – not to mention all the crazy conspiracy theories around it!
Of course, I fully realize Dylan’s timing in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t look like coincidence and points to a broader meaning. But we’re getting into interpretation, which is exactly what I said at the outset I didn’t want to do!
Weirdly, the more often I listen to Murder Most Foul, the better I like it. To some extent perhaps it’s simply getting more used it. Another factor could be that Dylan without any doubt in my mind is one of the most significant contemporary music artists, so I kind of feel a bit reluctant to “dismiss” it outright. I mean who am I after all to judge him!
The next single was the record’s opener I Contain Multitudes, which came out in mid-April. While I didn’t exactly jump up and down, I felt that tune was easier to process. But it really did take the May 8 release of the third single, False Prophet, to get my full attention. I can’t deny the fact it probably helped that the track is a blues, one of my favorite music genres. Plus, at that time it also became clear we weren’t just looking at a series of one-off singles but a forthcoming new Dylan album.
Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP/REX/Shutterstock (6261732a) Bob Dylan Bob Dylan performs in Los Angeles. Fifty years into his career as a recording artist and a week away from release of an extraordinary new CD, Dylan spent his Tuesday evening where he seems to feel most comfortable – on a stage Music Bob Dylan, Los Angeles, USA
Generally speaking, when it comes to songs, I primarily pay attention to the music and the vocals, viewing great lyrics more like nice icing on the cake. Otherwise, how could I possibly explain that I love songs with lyrics like I want to hold your hand; she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah; or love, love me do, you know I love you! Nothing wrong with silly love songs, but that’s what they are: Silly, at least from a lyrical perspective!
So how about the remaining tracks on Rough and Rowdy Ways? Well, let’s get to some of them!
Here’s My Own Version of You. A lyrical excerpt: All through the summers, into January/I’ve been visiting morgues and monasteries/Looking for the necessary body parts/Limbs and livers and brains and hearts/I’ll bring someone to life, is what I wanna do/I wanna create my own version of you…cheerful stuff! Somehow as I’m reading this, I’m picturing the video of Tom Petty’sMary Jane’s Last Dance.
Next up: Black Rider, a quiet ballad. Is it about death? No idea! But a cheerful tune it certainly is not. Black rider, black rider, all dressed in black/ I’m walking away, you try to make me look back/ My heart is at rest, I’d like to keep it that way/ I don’t wanna fight, at least not today/ Go home to your wife, stop visiting mine/ One of these days I’ll forget to be kind. As Max from PowerPop and I were joking earlier today, one would hope these lyrics aren’t autobiographical!
Crossing the Rubicon is another blues-oriented track. I kind of like the slow burning groove of that tune. And, yes, you guessed it, there are more cheerful lyrics here: …I feel the bones beneath my skin and they’re tremblin’ with rage/I’ll make your wife a widow – you’ll never see old age/Show me one good man in sight that the sun shines down upon/I pawned my watch and I paid my debts and I crossed the Rubicon…Jeez, don’t mess with Bob!
The last track I’d like to call out is Key West (Philosopher Pirate). I think this is actually becoming one of my favorite songs on the album. I find Dylan’s singing here strangely pretty in spite of his less than opera quality vocals and the lyrics:…I was born on the wrong side of the railroad track/Like Ginsberg, Corsi and Kerouac/Like Louis and Jimmy and Buddy and all the rest/Well, it might not be the thing to do/But I’m sticking with you through and through/Down in the flatlands, way down in Key West…
In addition to Dylan (vocals, guitar), who is also listed as producer, Rough and Rowdy Ways features Bob Britt (guitar), Matt Chamberlain (drums), Tony Garnier (bass), Donnie Herron (steel guitar, violin, accordion) and Charlie Sexton (guitar). These musicians make up the band that has been backing Dylan on his Never Ending Tour, which is currently on hold due to the coronavirus. Additional musicians/guests, among others, include Fiona Apple (vocals) and Benmont Tench, founding member, keyboarder and vocalist of Tom Petty’s former band The Heartbreakers.
I thought I give the final word to Dylan, so naively went to his website to see whether there is any statement there. Since that would have been the obvious thing, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that my search came up empty. Instead, one of the first things you see is a news item titled Bob Dylan remains an immeasurable and inimitable force, a review by The Line of Best Fit, which by its own description is “the UK’s biggest independent website devoted to new music.”
Sources: Wikipedia; Bob Dylan website; The Line of Best Fit; YouTube
A selection of newly released music that caught my attention
This latest installment of the recurring new music feature must acknowledge two albums that dropped today by two of the most influential music artists of our time: Bob Dylan and Neil Young. I already covered Young’s record in my previous post, so I’m skipping him here. There is also a new band of veteran session musicians who recently released their first single in the U.S., a great rock tune by an Australian band and a song from a German blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Bob Dylan/Goodbye Jimmy Reed
Goodbye Jimmy Reed is a tune from Rough and Rowdy Ways, the new and widely anticipated album by Bob Dylan. It’s his 39th studio record and the first with original material since Tempest from September 2012. In-between, the great music poet put out three cover albums with standards from the American Songbook. I was going to add all that’s missing is a Christmas collection when I just noticed Dylan already checked off that box in October 2009 with Christmas in the Heart. If you’re frequent visitor of the blog, you probably know my sentiments about Dylan range from outstanding to less than brilliant and everything in-between. Regardless, there’s no doubt Dylan is one of the most important singer-songwriters of our time. I also give him huge credit that age 79 instead of releasing yet another cover album, he dropped a collection with brand new songs. Goodbye Jimmy Reed is a tribute to the American electric blues guitarist who influenced Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., The Rolling Stones and many other artists who I have no doubt include Dylan.
The Immediate Family/Cruel Twist
The Immediate Family is what you could call a super group featuring five veteran session musicians: Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Waddy Wachtel (guitar), Leland Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Steve Postell (guitar). Between them, they have worked individually and together with artists like Jackson Browne, Carole King, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh – and the list goes on and on. It’s yet another illustration that great musicians like to play with great musicians. But throwing together a group of top-notch musicians doesn’t automatically guarantee the outcome is as great as their skills. In this case I have to say I really like what I’m hearing! Cruel Twist is the group’s first U.S. single released on June 12. As reported by Rolling Stone, an EP is planned for October, followed by a full-length album next year.
Datura4/Give
According to their website, Datura4 are a Western Australian band combining full-tilt boogie, heavy psychedelia, blues and classic rock’n’roll for a sound heavy on riffage and mind-bending wig-outs – okey dokey. Founded in 2009, the band includes Dom Mariani (guitar), Bob Patient (keyboards), Stu Loasby (bass) and Warren “Wazza” Hall (drums). They released their debut album Demon Blues in 2015, followed by sophomore Hairy Mountain in 2016. Give is a great rocker from Datura4’s most recent album West Coast Highway Cosmic, which appeared on April 17. I dig the harmony guitar playing and the keyboard work. These guys are cooking – check it out!
Michael van Merwyk/We’re Human
Michael van Merwyk is a blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Germany. According to this biography, he has become famous as one of only a few lap steel guitar players in the blues business. Michael performs and entertains fans at large festivals and also smaller clubs throughout Europe, either together in an acoustic duo with a blues harp player and singer Gerd Gorge as Delta Boys or his own band called Bluesoul. The (German) website of Bluesoul also notes van Merwyk started playing guitar at the age of 15 and has been an active musician for almost 35 years. I had never heard of him before. We’re Human is from what appears to be his most recent CD The Bear released on May 8. According to Discogs, the CD was recorded live in studio in December 2019 and January 2020.
Sources: Wikipedia; Rolling Stone; Last.fm; Bluesoul; YouTube
It’s been a long time coming. Some 45 years. But it was worth the wait. Today, Neil Young officially released Homegrown, an album he initially had planned to put out in 1975. But written in the wake of the breakup of his relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress, it felt too personal to him, so he decided to shelf it.
According to Apple Music, Young also had an entire second album written: Tonight’s the Night. In fact, he already had recorded it in August and September 1973, but had not released it. After deciding to stash away Homegrown in the drawer, he put out Tonight’s the Night.
Back to Homegrown. While these songs were written during what arguably was Young’s most creative period, I think it’s fair to say we’re not looking at another Harvest or Harvest Moon, to name two of my favorite Young albums. Still, this is a fine record, which takes Neil Young fans on what I think is a fascinating time travel journey back to the mid-’70s.
All of the 12 tracks on Homegrown were written by Young. Five of the tunes previously found their way on other Young records: Love Is a Rose (Decade, 1977), Homegrown (American Stars ‘n Bars, 1977), White Line (Ragged Glory, 1990), Little Wing (Hawks & Doves, 1980) and Star of Bethlehem (American Stars ‘n Bars). Additionally, Young had performed other songs like Separate Ways or Try live but not officially released on a record.
I’d like to start with the opener Separate Ways, a tune directly addressed at Snodgrass: …Though we go our separate ways/Lookin’ for better days/Sharin’ our little boy/Who grew from joy back then…The little boy is Zeke, who was born in September 1972. According to this New York Times Magazine story from September 2012, Zeke has a very mild case of cerebral palsy and works at Home Depot. Young’s second son Ben who he had with his second wide Pegi Young (née Morton) is quadriplegic with cerebral palsy and non-verbal. Young also has a daughter, Amber Jean Young, his second child with Pegi, who is a visual artist. To me, Tim Drummond’s melodic bass line and the pedal steel fill-ins by Ben Keith are the song’s musical highlights. BTW, none other than Levon Helms manned the drums on this track.
As previously noted, Homegrown first appeared on Young’s eighth studio album American Stars ‘n Bars from May 1977. While the two versions are similar, the original take feels “less produced,” starting out with some studio banter. Karl Himmel played drums on this recording.
We Don’t Smoke It No More is a nice, largely instrumental blues tune. Unlike the title may suggest, it actually does smoke quite a bit. Ben Keith, who also provided backing vocals and produced the track, did a nice job on slide guitar. And Young proofed that when it come to the harmonica he also some blues chops.
White Line is one of the album’s gems. The original acoustic country-oriented version we hear here sounds significantly different from Young’s previously released grungy take on Ragged Glory. I also feel it’s superior. In addition to Young on vocals, guitar and harmonica, this recording featured Robbie Robertson on guitar. According to Wikipedia, Young also recorded White Line for Chrome Dreams, yet another album that wasn’t released at the time – gee, I don’t believe I’m aware of any other music artists who creates entire only to shelf them! In October 2007, Young released Chrome Dreams II, but other than being an obvious reference to the shelved record, I don’t believe the two have anything in common.
The last track I’d like to call out is Star Of Bethlehem. While this recording is pretty much identical to the version Young previously included on American Stars ‘n Bars, it’s another highlight and as such simply too good to skip. Undoubtedly, that’s largely because of the beautiful harmony vocals by Emmylou Harris. Ben Keith also provided backing vocals, as well as dobro, but it’s really Harris who makes the song shine.
Like most of Young’s records since 1989, Homegrown appears on Reprise. The album was co-produced by him, Elliot Mazer, Ben Keith and Tim Mulligan. Apart from the above mentioned, additional musicians include Stan Szelest (piano) and Sandy Mazzeo (backing vocals.)
The final word here shall belong to Young. If you’ve read my previous posts related to this record, these words probably sound familiar. “This album should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest, Young wrote on his website. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have shared it. It’s actually beautiful. That’s why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean.
Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; New York Times Magazine; Neil Young website; YouTube
This is another post I can blame on my streaming music provider. When I saw Watch by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band pop up as a listening suggestion the other day, I immediately recalled how much I dug that album as a teenager back in Germany. As such, I was curious to find out whether my opinion had changed since then and gave Watch another “spin.” Turns out I still like it!
Released in February 1978, Watch was the eighth album by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. I got it on vinyl at the time and still own the same copy to this day. The band and that particular record were very popular in Germany. Two of its tracks – Davy’s On the Road Again and Mighty Quinn – received heavy radio play. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Watch peaked at no. 3 in West-Germany and remained in the charts for an impressive 69 weeks.
Wikipedia also notes that Watch was the last album with Earth Band co-founding member and original drummer Chris Slade. Slade has played in many other bands, most notably AC/DC from late 1989 until 1993. He also joined them for their Rock or Bust tour in 2015 and 2016, and has appeared in the band’s promotional materials thereafter. His current status is unclear, given the reported possible return of Phil Rudd.
Watch also marked the first album with Pat King on bass. He’s a great bassist, which frankly I had not fully appreciated until I listened to the record again. King stayed with the Earth Band until 1982. Interestingly, from 1991 until his retirement in 2013, King was the band’s lighting designer. Time for some music!
Let’s kick it off with Drowning On Dry Land/Fish Soup. Drowning On Dry Land is credited to Chris Slade, while Fish Soup was co-written by Earth Band lead guitarist David Flett and Manfred Mann (keyboards, backing vocals). The tune definitely cannot hide its ’70s sound, but I think it’s cool and a great example of King’s melodic bass lines. Here’s the official video from Mann’s YouTube channel.
California wraps up the A-side in the album’s vinyl version. The tune was written by Sue Vickers, who according to Discogs was married to Mike Vickers, a member of Manfred Mann, Mann’s band from 1962 until 1969, which had a string of hits in the U.K., including Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Pretty Flamingo and Mighty Quinn. Mann subsequently formed experimental jazz rock band Manfred Mann Chapter Three and, following their break-up, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1971. California is another beautiful example of King’s melodic bass playing.
Here’s the aforementioned Davy’s On the Road Again, a classic, and the first song of the B-side. That tune, the first of two live tracks on the record, was co-written by John Simon and Robbie Robertson. Simon is primarily known as a producer in the ’60s and ’70s and his work for artists like The Band, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Leonard Cohen and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Robertson, of course, was The Band’s lead guitarist and primary songwriter. Here’s the official video of Davy’s from Mann’s YouTube channel, which features nice live footage. And for the gear geeks, you can nicely see a Moog synthesizer in action! 🙂
Let’s wrap things up with the record’s final tune, The Mighty Quinn, the second live track on the album. Written by Bob Dylan and originally titled Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn), it was Mann’s recording that was released first as Mighty Quinn in January 1968. The Earth Band turned the initial folk rock version into a more edgy rock song. Dylan originally recorded the tune during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. His first official release of the song was on his 1970 studio album Self Portrait.
In addition to Mann, Flett, King and Slade, the Earth Band’s core line-up on Watch also featured Chris Hamlet Thompson (lead vocals, guitar). Supporting the band on backing vocals were Doreen Chanter, Irene Chanter, Stevie Lange, Victy Silva and Kim Goddy. The album credits list Manfred Mann and Earth Band as producer.
Watch had much better chart success in Europe and New Zealand than elsewhere. In addition to the aforementioned performance in Germany, the album also placed in the top 10 in Norway (no. 2) and Sweden (no. 9), and climbed to no. 33 in the U.K. In New Zealand the record peaked at no. 29, while in the U.S. and Canada, it only reached no. 83 and no. 85, respectively.
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