The Sunday Six

Welcome to a new Sunday Six and another hot weekend, at least in my area of Central New Jersey. This is the latest installment of my recurring weekly feature that celebrates music I love in different flavors and from different periods, six tunes at a time.

In some cases, my picks are songs that I earmarked over the course of the week. On other occasions, the posts are coming together pretty spontaneously at the last minute. This one predominantly falls into the latter category. I’m happy with the way it turned out. Hope you find something in here you dig!

Colin McLeod/Old Soul (featuring Sheryl Crow)

Starting this week’s set is Colin McLeod, a Scottish singer-songwriter and farmer I had not heard of until yesterday. McLeod got my attention when I spotted a clip on Facebook, featuring a song he recorded with Sheryl Crow and included on his new album Hold Fast, which was released on June 18. The mellow atmospheric tune spoke to me right away – I love these types of coincidences! For a bit of additional background, here’s an excerpt from his Apple Music profile: Raised on the Isle of Lewis, the largest island of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides archipelago, MacLeod amassed a wide array of influences, from regional folk and pop to widescreen Springsteen-esque rock, before leaving the island in 2009 to test his mettle as a performer. An A&R scout from Universal caught one of MacLeod’s gigs in Aberdeen, which resulted in the release of his debut album Fireplace, which he issued under the moniker Boy Who Trapped the Sun in 2010. The experience left a bad taste in his mouth, so, exhausted and homesick, he returned to the Isle of Lewis, where he spent his days raising sheep and growing crops. It proved to be a fortuitous move. Inspired by the sights, sounds, smells, and stories of his remote part of the world, MacLeod was able to parlay those experiences into his music, culminating in the release of the acclaimed Ethan Johns-produced Bloodlines, his first collection of songs to be issued under his own name. McLeod’s new album is his sophomore release. Old Soul was written by him. Call me crazy, I can hear a bit of Bono in his voice. I also think his vocals beautifully blend with Sheryl Crow’s.

Buddy Guy/Kiss Me Quick (featuring Kim Wilson)

On to some great electric guitar blues. Yes, it’s quite a leap. But you see, that’s the thing about The Sunday Six – it can be arbitrary. If you’re into the blues and see the names Buddy Guy and Kim Wilson, you know you’re in for a treat. What can I say about the amazing Buddy Guy? He’s the last man standing from the old Chicago blues guard, who played with the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter. Guy who is turning 85 in July is a force of nature. I’ve been fortunate to see him live twice over the past five years. Wilson, of course, is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of blues rockers The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I’d love to see these guys as well! So what do get when combining the two artists? A nice blues shuffle titled Kiss Me Quick that appeared on Guy’s 17th studio album appropriately titled Born to Play Guitar, which won the Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2016. The tune was co-written by Richard Fleming and producer Tom Hambridge. Makes me want to listen to the entire bloody album!

The Who/The Real Me

Let’s kick things up a notch with The Who and The Real Me. Why pick the second track from side one of Quadrophenia? To begin with, The Who’s sixth studio album from October 1973 is one of the gems in their catalog. Another reason why I chose this particular tune is John Entwistle and his outstanding bass work. As a former hobby bassist, perhaps I pay closer attention and get a little bit more excited about bass runs than some other folks. All I can tell you is this: Seeing The Ox with The Who at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2001 was an unforgettable event. In typical fashion, Entwistle was standing pretty much motionless on one side of the stage, while Pete Townshend launched from one windmill attack to the other, Roger Daltrey engaged in impressive lasso acrobatics with his microphone, and Zak Starkey (yep, Ringo Starr’s son) was working that drum kit. It was really something else! Sadly, Entwistle passed away about six months after that show in Las Vegas, the day before The Who were scheduled to kick off their 2002 U.S. tour. He was only 57 years old – what a loss!

Seals & Crofts/Summer Breeze

Time to slow things down again. And since summer is in full swing, here’s one of the warmest sounding tunes I can think of in this context: Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts. Every time I hear this song, it puts me at ease. Behind the soft rock duo were multi-instrumentalists James Eugene “Jim” Seals  and Darrell George “Dash” Crofts. Summer Breeze, the title track of their fourth studio album from September 1972, probably is their best known song. It peaked at no. 7 and no. 6 on the U.S. and Canadian mainstream charts, respectively. The album marked their commercial breakthrough. Seals & Crofts also scored two other hits: Diamond Girl (1973) and Get Closer (1976). Unlike Summer Breeze, I had to sample these tracks to remember them. Then the hits stopped, and in 1980, after their record company had dropped them, Seals & Crofts decided to go on hiatus. They have since reunited a few times. There are also younger torch bearers. Wikipedia notes in 2018, Jim Seals’ cousin Brady Seals and Darrell Crofts’ daughter Lua Crofts began touring as Seals and Crofts 2, performing Seals & Crofts music as well as some originals.

The Zombies/She’s Not There

The first time I heard She’s Not There was the cover by Santana from their excellent 1977 Moonflower album. Since it certainly sounds very much like a Carlos Santana tune, I simply assumed it was their song. Only years later did I find out She’s Not There was written by Rod Argent, the keyboarder of The Zombies. The tune first appeared in the UK in July 1964 as the British rock band’s debut single. Two months later, it came out in the U.S. She’s Not There was also included on The Zombies’ debut album. In this case, the self-titled U.S. version was first out of the gate in January 1965. The U.K. edition, titled Begin Here, appeared in April that year. As was common at the time, there were some differences between the two versions. After the breakup of The Zombies in 1969 and a couple of impersonating bands, Argent and original lead vocalist and guitarist Colin Blunstone reunited in 2000, moved to the U.S. and recorded an album, Out of the Shadows, released in 2001. Starting from 2004, they began touring again as The Zombies. There have also been three additional albums since, released under the name Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent/The Zombies. The most recent one, Still Got That Hunger, appeared in October 2015. The band is still around. Ticketmaster currently lists some gigs for 2022.

Gregg Allman/My Only True Friend

The time has come again to wrap up things. My final pick is by Gregg Allman. He and The Allman Brothers Band were a very late discovery for me. Fortunately, it happened just in time to see them once in New Jersey on their very last tour in 2014, a couple of months before their final curtain at the Beacon Theatre in New York. After exploring the band, I also got into Gregg Allman’s solo catalog. I particularly dig Low Country Blues from January 2011 and his final album Southern Blood, which I got on vinyl. It came out in September 2017, four months after Allman had passed away at the age of 68 due to complications from liver cancer. Even though I had only become fond of his music a few years earlier, his death really moved me. I still get emotional about it. There was something very special about Gregg Allman when he was singing and hitting those keys of his Hammond B3. I can’t quite explain it. Here’s Southern Blood’s opener My Only True Friend, the sole track on the album that was co-written by Allman. The other writer was Scott Sharrad, lead guitarist and musical director of Allman’s backing band. You can read more about the album here.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; YouTube

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The Venues: Beacon Theatre

In July 2017, I introduced The Venues, a category featuring famous concert halls, such as The Apollo Theatre and well known TV music programs like The Ed Sullivan Show. For some reason, the category fell off the bandwagon after the third post in November that year – not quite sure why. In any case, I felt the time was right for another installment. One of the venues that came to my mind immediately is the Beacon Theatre in New York City, in part because the beautiful historic theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is associated with two of my favorite bands: The Allman Brothers Band and Steely Dan, which both had frequent annual residencies there. The Dan still does! But first things first – a bit of history.

The Beacon Theatre opened as the Warner’s Beacon Theatre on December 24, 1929. It was designed by Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager as a venue for silent films. But when the original owners financially collapsed, Warner Theatres acquired the theater to be a first-run showcase for Warner Bros. films on the Upper West Side. By that time, the movie genre of silent films had already become obsolete. The Beacon, which subsequently was operated by Brandt Theaters, remained a movie theater over next few decades. It would take until 1974, when Steven Singer became the first owner who turned the Beacon into a venue for live music.

Fortunately, an effort in 1987 to convert the theater into a night club was blocked in court, given its historic and protected architecture. In 1982, it had been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Through the ’80s and ’90s, the Beacon Theatre continued to fill a spot in the midsize category venue in New York between the larger Radio City Music Hall and various smaller clubs and ballrooms. In 2006, sports and entertainment holding company The Madison Square Garden Company started operating the Beacon. In November that same year, the theater began a 20-year lease by Cablevision, which also leases Radio City Music Hall and owns Madison Square Garden.

Between the second half of 2008 and early 2009, the theater underwent a complete renovation. As reported by The New York Times, the work involved about 1,000 workers, lasted seven months and cost $16 million. The result can be seen in the above photo and is certainly stunning. I was fortunate to experience the mighty venue myself when I saw Steely Dan there in October 2018.

In addition to pop and rock concerts, the Beacon Theatre has hosted political debates, gospel choirs, comedians and many dramatic productions. The 2008 Martin Scorsese picture Shine a Light, which captured The Rolling Stones live in concert, was filmed there. In January 2016, Joan Baez celebrated her 75th birthday with a show at the Beacon. She also played the venue in May this year as part of her now completed 2018/2019 Fare Thee Well Tour. Time for some music that was performed at the Beacon.

Let’s kick things off with the Grateful Dead, who performed two shows at the theater on June 14 and 15, 1976. Apparently, the following footage of Not Fade Away was captured during a soundcheck there, not one of the actual concerts but, hey, close enough! Plus, it’s a fun clip to watch. Not Fade Away was written by Charles Hardin, a.k.a. Buddy Holly. His producer Norman Petty received a co-credit. The tune was first released as a single in October 1957. It was also included on Holly’s debut album The “Chirping” Crickets, released in November of the same year.

Next up: The Black Crowes and Remedy. Co-written by lead vocalist Chris Robinson and his brother and rhythm guitarist Rich Robinson, the tune appeared on the band’s sophomore album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion from May 1992. The footage is from late August 1992 when The Black Crowes played a series of four shows at the Beacon.

James Taylor is one of my favorite singer-songwriters. One tune I dig in particular is Fire And Rain.  He recorded it for his second studio album Sweet Baby James, which was released in February 1970. The song also came out separately as a single and became Taylor’s first hit, peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. This clip was captured during a show on May 30, 1998.

Here are The Rolling Stones with Jumpin’ Jack Flash from the aforementioned Martin Scorsese concert film. Credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the tune was released as a single in May 1968. The film includes footage from two shows the Stones played at the Beacon. This performance is from their second night there on November 1, 2006.

Starting from 1998, The Allman Brothers Band played spring residencies at the Beacon for 19 years in a row except for 2010 when the theater wasn’t available. This performance of Dreams is from their March 2013 series of gigs. The Gregg Allman song first appeared on the band’s eponymous debut album from November 1969.

On April 1 and 2, 2016, Bonnie Raitt played the Beacon Theatre as part of her extended Dig In Deep Tour, named after her most recent studio album from February 2016. I caught her during that tour in August 2016, which thus far was the first only time. Her gig at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark remains one of the best shows I’ve seen. Co-written by Gordon Kennedy  and Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gypsy In Me is one of the tracks from Dig In Deep. Not only is Raitt a superb guitarist and great vocalist, but she also is as genuine as it can get. There is no BS with this lady. What you get is what you see!

From The Allman Brothers Band it wasn’t a big leap to former member Derek Trucks, his wife Susan Tedeschi and the group they formed in 2010: Tedeschi Trucks Band. My knowledge of their music is fairly limited, and I definitely want to explore them more closely. Here’s their take of Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, another great tune written by Gregg Allman. It first appeared on the Allmans’ third studio album Eat A Peach from February 1972, long before Trucks joined them in 1999. The song was also released separately as a single in April that year. This clip was captured on October 11, 2017 during what looks like a six-date residency the band did at the Beacon that year.

The last and most recent clip I’d like to feature is footage of Steely Dan from their 2018 U.S. tour, which ended with a seven-date residency at the Beacon. Of course, I couldn’t leave out the Dan! This performance of Pretzel Logic was from their final gig on October 30. Co-written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Pretzel Logic is the title track of Steely Dan’s third studio album that appeared in February 1974.

Until last year when I saw them twice, which included the Beacon for an October 20 show dedicated to my favorite album Aja, I had never seen Steely Dan. Both concerts were fantastic. Fagen and co are currently touring again, which will bring them back to the Beacon in October. While the thought of returning to this beautiful venue is tempting, I can’t justify it to myself, given I saw them twice last year and other shows I’ve been to or still consider for this year.

Sources: Wikipedia, The New York Times, setlist.fm, YouTube