tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76420322780326792872024-03-12T16:42:38.171-07:00Boss TracksSoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-80359553616935253982010-01-20T06:12:00.000-08:002010-01-20T06:27:15.133-08:00Back to Business<a href="http://theuppershelves.blogspot.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 72px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428827746709777954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgxgxuTsbIElyBx2bxqpeOsaRCEWsiageWM9z9ze5BE-x6o3ojP6umHCHrLvuYsmLbtysQlytcGv1P6iSqL0O67d_-6zAm0BqBssjC8K7XDD4M1RwsvHkKxFjaMh52X0T7pSo97zgzexM/s320/Uppershelves.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Well sort off. I have launched a <a href="http://theuppershelves.blogspot.com/">new blog</a>.<br /><br />I haven't been active much on Boss Tracks in the past year or so. While it was fun to do, it was also very time consuming. Boss Tracks had many rewards like interviewing Eddie Floyd and Southside Johnny, getting an actual mention on Springsteen's official web-site and having many appreciative readers.<br /><br />Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the time any more to this blog right. Every interview literally took days to weeks of work of getting it together, preparing and making them into something you could read. Even the regular posts took many hours of research and writing. Unfortunately, it soon proved to be impossible to keep up with my ambitions for this blog, especially since it was a one man operation.<br /><br />I recently started from scratch, with a few friends, on a new blog, <a href="http://theuppershelves.blogspot.com/">the Upper Shelves</a>. This blog is a lot less ambitious, just a place to share some cool 45s we've found and like to play at parties. I think the average Springsteen fan is going to find a lot to enjoy over there. Most of the 45s are exactly the kind he likes to cover so much or at least the kinds Stevie likes to play on his radio show and the ones Southside Johnny like to collect.<br /><br />I hope that everybody who enjoyed this blog will come over to check it out.<br /><br />A big thank you to all my readers here,<br /><br />I've had a blast,<br /><br />AlexSoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-6839531168255816452009-02-27T22:57:00.001-08:002009-02-27T23:31:08.808-08:00Boss Tracks, Arthur Conley, Sweet Soul Music<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfG_vBXg5v1svMmt7hOL8_faNIly88VcWldHtQZxioVrbQb810w2J6qgqksA3g_zt6NTv5SWUuGpHE3q-xDBFxT2K-AGF1i-n2ioW4HcjVqtfS61W7n_89h6gCuum3u5Fu5cCENBZyWPr/s1600-h/Scan10003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfG_vBXg5v1svMmt7hOL8_faNIly88VcWldHtQZxioVrbQb810w2J6qgqksA3g_zt6NTv5SWUuGpHE3q-xDBFxT2K-AGF1i-n2ioW4HcjVqtfS61W7n_89h6gCuum3u5Fu5cCENBZyWPr/s320/Scan10003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307743395662473762" border="0" /></a>Arthur Conley arguably was one of Soul's most tender stars. Arthur's star shone short but bright, immortalizing himself with the smash Sweet Soul Music. The genre's anthem, one of those songs everybody knows and knows how to shake their hips to. Few might know Conley sang the damn record, but everybody knows how to participate in its joy. You'll find few, if any, folks who do not like that particular song. The song might have been a blessing to the buying public, one might wonder if it was such a blessing to Arthur. Sweet Soul Music defined the path his career was going to take. After hitting big once Arthur was surrounded by people who wanted to see him repeat that success. It locked a few doors Arthur might have taken and ultimately was one of the reasons why his career stalled.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sp3JOzcpBds&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sp3JOzcpBds&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Arthur started out as Otis Redding protégé, cutting sides for his Jotis label. But pupil or not, Conley was clearly the better singer. His voice was clearer and had a much better range than Otis'. Anybody who's heard "Let Nothing Separate Us" on the Sweet Soul Music album will adhere to that. Arthur was a mighty fine Deep Soul singer, able to instil a fragility in his testimonies, an honesty in his ache that was quite rare in the macho world of Soul. Arthur was one of those artists that gained an enormous respect amongst his peers. This was reflected in his inclusion in the Soul Clan, the only Soul super group the sixties ever knew. The Soul clan consisted of Solomon Burke, Wilson Picket, Ben E. King and Joe Tex. In sales Conley was a light weight compared to those, in talent he was their equal. But with his career being pushed in the direction Sweet Soul Music had taken, this talent never fully materialized.<br /><br />Conley was never cut for the music business , a sensitive Soul who just wasn't up to the harsh realities and strain the record biz brought. On top of that Arthur was a homosexual man in the masculine world of Soul, something he hid from his peers. After Otis, his rock of Gibraltar, died, Conley soon left the business. First living in Brussels and London, he finally found the love of his life in Amsterdam in 1981, a Dutch carpet weaver, who had no idea who Arthur Conley was, and miraculously had never heard Sweet Soul Music.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dSEdmrKFTnwA-7H4Cy6ifpGKEgKp1Mc9EXIGjiLEwgsrP0FThPmfucV07WfogkedsqrJ8o4y0Fgkyw5WBtfm9_cdIw01a4aVBbtqp8ICWabSBstGpfBLf2u7CnGYqoYV2kGFWwfilUm1/s1600-h/conley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dSEdmrKFTnwA-7H4Cy6ifpGKEgKp1Mc9EXIGjiLEwgsrP0FThPmfucV07WfogkedsqrJ8o4y0Fgkyw5WBtfm9_cdIw01a4aVBbtqp8ICWabSBstGpfBLf2u7CnGYqoYV2kGFWwfilUm1/s320/conley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307744119010471954" border="0" /></a>But before Conley said farewell to live and recording music for good he had something of a hidden comeback on the wrong side of the track in Amsterdam. In 1979 Conley lived in Amsterdam under the name of Lee Roberts. Conley formed a band under that name but was uncovered by drummer Dick Baars who happened across one of the band rehearsals. All though Conley refused to admit it at the time, Baars was sure it was Conley as he had just bought a record of his that same day. Here was the man on the cover!! Baars convinced Conley to join his band the Sweaters on the fact that he claimed to have a real Hammond b-3 organ and horns!<br /><br />Robert Lee & the Sweaters would ultimately perform four evenings in the ghetto of Amsterdam at a small cultural centre. The first night drew few people, without exception all from the former Dutch colony Suriname, where Conley had been a big star. The second night some returned with album sleeves to make sure. Although Robert Lee denied to be Conley the word spread like wild fire. By the final night the tiny cultural centre had people standing outside the door. Somebody in the audience was so smart to record this show, resulting in a live release under the name of Robert Lee in '88. Arthur Conley simply didn't want to be associated with the name that brought him fame.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIaVJkB6vH9DuSVorU1urqnzF5wbJWXOM3v9qFmI3_n2rrJ4rYBKZ5Fq0tAlN5jLOQ0DSDCEnVkjTH4zsbe8Yzp_5sL6_4gE728ZNKsQklgjxjM9xoA57LH0yvGRvJR5-yVdFZO-Djzb3/s1600-h/Arthur+Conley+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIaVJkB6vH9DuSVorU1urqnzF5wbJWXOM3v9qFmI3_n2rrJ4rYBKZ5Fq0tAlN5jLOQ0DSDCEnVkjTH4zsbe8Yzp_5sL6_4gE728ZNKsQklgjxjM9xoA57LH0yvGRvJR5-yVdFZO-Djzb3/s320/Arthur+Conley+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307746903876909922" border="0" /></a>Although the sound is raggedy, Arthur Conley and the Sweaters is one of Soul's greatest live albums. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Sam Cooke at the Harlem Square club. The backing band is far from tight but pure and raw Soul. Arthur's voice hovers somewhere between the raucous vocals of Otis and the near perfection of Sam Cooke. As the evening progresses and Arthur gets deep into the great Soul hits (none of his own) you can feel the excitement and the tension building. The crowd is almost visible hanging on his lips, knowing they are witness to a private comeback of one of Soul's legends. Arthur came back full force that night in the intimacy of a few hundred people. A few more performances would follow before the curtain fell for good. But thanks to that one recording his final moment of glory is kept for eternity. The Album is now finally available for the international market for the first time. Live in Amsterdam is an essential album in my book. Dick Baars released it through his own label with a minimum of distribution. So it might be hard to find. Luckily Baars now runs a small <a href="http://www.backbeat.nl/">record store</a>, remember those, in Amsterdam. Stop by if you’re ever in the neighbourhood.<br /><br />Arthur Conley, Sweet Soul Music<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P8d683d9e4750a4b107db2dad2629f070bF14QVREY2d8&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br />Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000024Z01?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000024Z01">Sweet Soul Music</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000024Z01" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /><br /><br />Read more on Arthur over at Red Kelly's excellent <a href="http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2006/09/arthur-conley-in-same-old-way-fame.html">"B" Side</a><br /><br />Springsteen performed the song regularly during the Tunnel of Love Express tour<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DsfZpMugrNk&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DsfZpMugrNk&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-83728333935042788352009-02-19T01:33:00.000-08:002009-02-19T11:53:37.208-08:00Boss Tracks, Knock on Wood by Eddie Floyd (interview)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA7bbvhDICgPdfxKnoJlBVQfHjbEpQ22DpLqikvKTjdo72iQsEkwfjnFOrh88MQN0maAlLXlVcCOEcJbs2oEhyphenhyphennzXSspZ4XG0TcS9u_3oQta89QFJTUNh6G_gxqGGQIoCPU5yssWnec9C/s1600-h/p09009k4839.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA7bbvhDICgPdfxKnoJlBVQfHjbEpQ22DpLqikvKTjdo72iQsEkwfjnFOrh88MQN0maAlLXlVcCOEcJbs2oEhyphenhyphennzXSspZ4XG0TcS9u_3oQta89QFJTUNh6G_gxqGGQIoCPU5yssWnec9C/s320/p09009k4839.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304441602724835122" border="0" /></a>Recently I was lucky enough to score an interview with the great Eddie Floyd. As a major Soul fan interviewing Eddie Floyd is a big deal. Though when mentioning mister Floyd to friends I got a shocking amount of raised eye brows from people in their thirties, Floyd was at the cradle of what we see today as classic Soul music. Though his star never has been as big as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles or Otis Redding, you can argue that his influence comes close to matching those legendary performers. Even today, Knock on Wood and Raise Your Hand are standards any bar band worth its salt should know by heart. Even though not everybody remembers him as sharply, Eddie wrote and first popularized those tunes, they are a big part of our collective musical memory through later versions by the Blues Brothers, David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen. So picking up the phone to talk to Eddie, I suddenly felt my palms go sweaty and my hands shaking. I was nervous, I was going to talk to a hero of mine.<br /><br />Eddie Floyd’s story is particularly interesting to tell, not just because he wrote some of those big hits, but because he was there from the beginning. Even though his recent performance on BBC’s Jools Holland shows a vital man seemingly in the prime of his life, make no mistake, Eddie is 71 years old, he’s been around long enough to tell us a story or two.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rW5fKdUbmlM&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rW5fKdUbmlM&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Floyd’s story seems to revolve around music, he lives and breathes it. Over the course of the interview his answers on the business or political side of things would be short, to Eddie they seem to be secondary to the process of making music. When I’d ask mister Floyd about that process his voice seemed to warm up through the crackling phone line, the chuckles and his voice would break in enthusiasm. His taste for music was spoon fed. “My momma would take me out to see everybody that had a record out,” mister Floyd remembers, “Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, I saw them when I was just a little kid and I sung all that!” His early musical influences didn’t stop at Jazz, “there was Country and Western as well, I hadn’t heard of Muddy Waters at the time, but Hank Williams was a local I guess. Franky Lymon and the teenagers was the first group I saw that I knew I wanted to be in a group.” Eddie picks Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as one of the biggest influences on the Falcons at the time, “we loved Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, they were the rough and tough sounding group!” Eddie Floyd incidentally is one of the many artists who mentions the Midnighters as an influence, a list that goes all the way up to James Brown. “They did the Twist,” Eddie adds exited, “everybody is giving it to Chubby Checker, but the Hank Ballard was the Twist ya’ll!!”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4J2I8kUi6pu_U2cnmoxuYP-ocb70ZmXn0wsuA56xWjlSZx7oJS0AiMaxS6HJwbcKWSBcnu6n7L4ay2HtRkpu808S833D_eUKCUDxLFeYp-lNnzO4OA0yCcsnUGio4pYpn-ko7yamoxbP/s1600-h/falcons3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4J2I8kUi6pu_U2cnmoxuYP-ocb70ZmXn0wsuA56xWjlSZx7oJS0AiMaxS6HJwbcKWSBcnu6n7L4ay2HtRkpu808S833D_eUKCUDxLFeYp-lNnzO4OA0yCcsnUGio4pYpn-ko7yamoxbP/s320/falcons3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304442341919656690" border="0" /></a>By 1956, when Franky Lymon hit big with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” Floyd had already formed his first incarnation of the Falcons. Eddie had moved from his native Montgomery Alabama to Detroit with his uncle Robert West. Ahead of his time the first Falcons were an integrated group, half the group, Bob Monardo and Tom Shelter, was white at the time. “The original Falcons only lasted long enough to take a photo,” Eddie laughs today, “no recording was ever made because Bob and Tom were drafted.” From there on the group would quickly take on the shape that would make the Falcons legendary later. Sir Mack Rice and Joe Stubbs (brother to recently deceased Levi Stubbs from Four Tops fame) were added to the group. With the hit single “You’re so Fine” shooting up the Billboard charts in 1959, landing a whopping #17 in the pop charts, the Falcons were flying. Joe Stubbs soon left for the Contours, who were signed with Motown, and was replaced by the exiting Wilson Picket. The sound of the Falcons had begun to shift Floyd recalls today, “we saw a shift from the Detroit sound to the Memphis sound,” something Floyd credits sir Mac Rice for.<br /><br />With Picket on board, the Falcons would score their last big R&B hit, 1962’s “I Found a Love” with the Wicked Picket on the scorching and wailing lead vocals. Though the song saw little action on the pop charts, peaking at #75, today it is considered as one of those tracks that is the watershed between R&B and Soul. Picket’s ambitions however would prevent the group from cashing in on the success of the single, soon after “I Found a Love” hit, Wilson went solo. Today mister Floyd looks back on the Flacons as the place where he could hone his skills, “the Falcons paid off eventually when we all could go solo,” he explains. It wouldn’t take long for Eddie Floyd to test his skills. Soon after the Falcons fell apart, he struck up acquaintance with future Stax president All Bell, who was a DJ in Washington at the time. “At the time I met All, [Stax recording artist] Carla Thomas was going to university in Washington. Al and I got together and wrote a few songs for her.” Those songs were the deep soul classic “Stop! Look What You’re Doing To Me” and “Comfort Me.” Those compositions would give Floyd a foot in the door at Sax when All Bell was landed at Stax in a promotion position. “I more or less just came along,” he laughs at it today.<br /><br />At first Floyd would be hired at Stax as a songwriter, coming in every month or so for some writing sessions. He fondly remembers those early Stax days, “everybody was having a ball, creating new songs daily.” Explaining further “most of those hit songs were accidents. We’d just go with the flow, we’d write a song but didn’t have tape recorders yet to put the idea down and go back to it.” As a result the recording process would often be a team effort, a more natural process. Stax studios at the time was equipped with a simple 4 track recorder, “we had to just pray it came together that particular instant.” The songs were often created on the spot, Floyd remembers, “everybody put a little bit in those songs, there was a great sense of togetherness.” Everybody would bring their own thing to the floor Floyd explains, “Steve Cropper would create all the Rhythm, he was great on playing those intros, when you hear his lick, you know what song it is. Booker T was great at absolutely everything” he recounts with still that sense of marvel in his voice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMKP1B9FNavH82mbz_qbm4BbAWqNM_FCTalgcEDfsKq4b4ZIfbqngZtaItuyzAE8Ykb6dbD9H5lzzSaXON3j0h8raudnEL6yFWwQE81fc2r7Mx4JrkqtrmOqfVIvNXaamdWFuZFt4zxtw/s1600-h/EddieFloyd-KnockOnWood.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMKP1B9FNavH82mbz_qbm4BbAWqNM_FCTalgcEDfsKq4b4ZIfbqngZtaItuyzAE8Ykb6dbD9H5lzzSaXON3j0h8raudnEL6yFWwQE81fc2r7Mx4JrkqtrmOqfVIvNXaamdWFuZFt4zxtw/s320/EddieFloyd-KnockOnWood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304442483780608722" border="0" /></a>Some of the biggest hits Floyd did for Stax were accidents, with a laugh Floyd entrusts how Knock on Wood is still a demo today. “When we’d go into the studio to record a demo, we’d play it together at that moment. No matter what the song was, it’s finished by the time you listen at it. Recording is much more technical today,” Floyd reflects. The songs signature lyrics came to Floyd when he was writing with Steve Cropper in the very Motel where Martin Luther King would be assassinated a few years down the line, a moment that would change Stax forever. Floyd and Cropper had hit writers block when a thunder storm hit, “It’s like thunder, lightings, the way you love me is frightening,” Floyd sings in the phone, still amused at how it all still clicked at that very moment. The song fleshed out further when “Al Jackson threw in that drum fill on the studio floor. It sounded funny at the time, we were enjoying what we were hearing, so it must have been right,” he laughs.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1p9h1ISE18I&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1p9h1ISE18I&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Springsteen’s signature encore song, Raise Your Hand, was written in much the same way during those sessions. In Floyd’s mind however, “We didn’t finish it, but when we came to London [for the Stax-Volt Tour] we heard both songs on the radio.” Mister Floyd is still thankful to Springsteen and others who helped his songs further along and collects all different versions today. “There’s so many artists that have done my songs. Eric Clapton is my favorite one [doing Knock on Wood],” adding with some amusement, “there was even one that was Disco, believe me, I wasn’t even thinking Disco!”<br /><br />April 29th 1976 The E-Street Band featuring Eddie Floyd<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P994a98976ed25e8213b0c5308d40ef77bF14QVREY2dy&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/P994a98976ed25e8213b0c5308d40ef77bF14QVREY2dy.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br />During the Born to Run tour Springsteen introduced himself to Floyd when the tour hit Memphis. “Him and Southside Johnny were just regular guys I hadn’t met before and I basically hadn’t heard of him back then. When [Springsteen] called there were people in the studio who did realize who was calling, I just said,” chuckling “do you know him? One of the cats was actually a big fan and went down with me, I guess he’ll never forget that, he was still talking about it years later!” Floyd was pleasantly surprised by the Boss. “I play a lot of your songs Springsteen said. The ones were Knock on Wood and Raise Your Hand, plus two or three others I had never played before live.” Floyd still laughs at Springsteen’s reaction when he exclaimed, “You don’t do those songs!” Floyd had shrugged and admitted, “No, I just play the hits.” Later that night, Floyd joined the young upcoming star on stage to play a few of those.<br /><br />The memories of Stax are fond and many, Floyd jumps through them throughout the interview. He still seems in awe about hitting Europe and being on the same stage as Sam and Dave or his good friend Otis Redding, “I was working with so many heavies, I mean being on the same stage, WOW!!” he exclaims, “We didn’t expect to be so big, we just went to play music,” he adds humbly. A few years after the Stax-Volt had hit Europe, Floyd was back in London when tragedy struck, Otis passed. Floyd had to hear the news from a reporter. The plane Floyd tried to take home to attend the funeral couldn’t take off because it mall functioned. Floyd´s homage to Redding was born out of that experience when he mumbled “get on up Big Bird” under his breath out of frustration.<br /><br />Soon after that Martin Luther King passed as well, an event that changed the face of Black music. All Bell, who had introduced Floyd at Stax, would go on to transform the company, as vice-president, to a mixture between a record label and a socially conscious movement, working closely together with various civil rights movements and releasing increasingly assertive music. Though Floyd admits, “it was great to be part of the times, it changed overnight everywhere, it didn’t stop [with King’s passing], we had to move on,” Floyd’s interest isn’t really in politics. His main motivation is Soul music and how that brings people together. “Soul music gotta be in there somewhere, it’s the main ingredient, it is the people putting it all together,” he elaborates, “Everybody’s got to be on that same number.” That is what politics and brotherhood seems to be to Floyd, regardless of race, creed or colour, Soul music unifies.<br /><br />In recent years, Floyd is enjoying a something of a renaissance in his career. The Soul sound he helped create is everywhere again in the sound of new and upcoming talents such as Amy Winehouse, Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and Duffy. Floyd himself is still finding new avenues for his Soul sound, working with Latin legend Poncho Sanchez, amongst others. “Poncho told me he used to do Raise Your Hand as a kid in school. The funny thing is Steve [Cropper] originally had a little Spanish type feeling to the beginning of the song that you don’t here on the record no more, but it was on the original one, so we always felt that it had a Spanish flavour to it. So now Poncho comes up, many, many years later, playing it how we used to do it.” So Floyd decided to re-cut the song with Poncho with the help of his old buddies Steve Cropper and Booker T Jones. “We sung it live!” Floyd proudly relates, “all my songs have always been one or two cuts, not ten or fifteen!”<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6kHyXSpXOrM&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6kHyXSpXOrM&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwXd9M_qDR-M3g_oFP8u95J2VyjDCyHhrJ3u2MAOe7uqhYWeI1MhdxwL2kQnX-gkfKwmFAY28FjnNPjrhJD2kpVn7E_GRia0YU7D2qsCru0whMQ1VwpxkqRa-vJSztW7-T3cLyrOX466H/s1600-h/100130795.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwXd9M_qDR-M3g_oFP8u95J2VyjDCyHhrJ3u2MAOe7uqhYWeI1MhdxwL2kQnX-gkfKwmFAY28FjnNPjrhJD2kpVn7E_GRia0YU7D2qsCru0whMQ1VwpxkqRa-vJSztW7-T3cLyrOX466H/s320/100130795.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304442770110559506" border="0" /></a>These days Floyd is a semi-regular with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings live band, but he still cuts records on his own. His most recent, Eddie Loves You So, revisits that classic Stax sounds and found its release on the recently rejuvenated label. Floyd’s voice sounds surprisingly young and hungry for a man in his seventies. “A band from Boston put the backing tracks together,” Floyd relates, “They did a great job sounding just like those Stax records. That’s just my state of mind, my mind is still there in ’67.” The recording process was swiftly Floyd admits, “I sang them out, bang, bang, bang! They had me scheduled for two days, I was probably up there for two hours,” he laughs, “I wouldn’t know how to sing them any other way than I did. It just fell into place, kind of amazing really, at least the MGs would hear me sing them, but these guys didn’t, but they just kind of locked in and kept it together. I was able to sing everything and feel comfortable.” What helped the process of course was how producer Mike Dinallo went back through Floyd’s song book, spot lighting some rarities to re-record. “Since You’ve Been Gone was a song he didn’t think I’d remember.” Floyd elaborates, “It was one of the first songs I did with the Falcons, I hadn’t heard it since. Mike send me a tape, I heard it once and it just kind of locked in my head, they all came back.” Eddie Loves You So came out as a great album, a Soul legend going full cycle.<br /><br />Since You've Been Gone<br/><iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='246' height='20' src='http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pc5d3ffec765f0a822af6182dd937059dbF14QVREY2d9&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21'> </iframe><br/><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000RIWAPI&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001B56I6I&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000UB054U&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br />Find out more on the Falcons <a href="http://home.att.net/%7Euncamarvy/Falcons/falcons.html">here</a><br />A big thanks to <a href="http://www.btinternet.com/~inthebasement/itb.html">In the Basement Magazine</a> for help on getting this together.SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-2662950531627833132009-02-13T00:59:00.000-08:002009-02-13T01:01:09.713-08:00Boss Tracks; California Sun by the Rivieras<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiye7V8UtcY4meEe3kJkRinGkofHHoJ4EkpbHr5KR-UTw65EftGmZ-8V3T07Ck090heJta4FjUNcV_bem3qQsmsF2jJfpkW3iKE7h5ot_db4KxxWe5Rj5vt1VIfJ1MQj1pXaN8PlT1LTJJw/s1600-h/Scan10002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiye7V8UtcY4meEe3kJkRinGkofHHoJ4EkpbHr5KR-UTw65EftGmZ-8V3T07Ck090heJta4FjUNcV_bem3qQsmsF2jJfpkW3iKE7h5ot_db4KxxWe5Rj5vt1VIfJ1MQj1pXaN8PlT1LTJJw/s320/Scan10002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302198860074375778" border="0" /></a>In this blog I strive to go for the original recordings of a song. On this occasion I felt it was warranted to go with the second recorded version. It was the Rivieras proto-Garage version that made this Henry Glover song into a hit after all. Joe Jones' original take on the song had barely dented the charts. The Rivieras' version however made it all the way up till the number two spot on the Billboard charts in 1964. Held back only by those pesky Beatles, who had just started to take the nation by storm with their first American release "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The Rivieras recording session pre-dated that Beatles release. In that sense it the Rivieras' success proves that self-contained bands were already scurrying in their garages before America noticed those British mods. Contradicting popular believe that the Beatles were at the root of the tidal wave of self contained American R&R groups. Though they no doubt enforced that development in R&R, it seems to me that it was more a parallel movement than is acknowledged in popular culture today. The Rivieras would soon disappear in obscurity however. Their musical chops were far to raggedy to produce a successful follow-up, plus the draft soon got about half of the band. It was the Rivieras version however that would lead to the song's most famous incarnation by the Ramones over a decade later when the world became sick and tired of the pompous album rock the Beatles had help create. The Riviera's California Sun would prove to be the kick start of the Surf craze, not bad for a band from Indiana.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdCs3wWguL49G-17lsDdmmAfZlSq5crJi4EgCtQNU0fhaX8lkfu56Qwgo2g_urHxfRPCP627hlA1LeS43TTYHSAVMM3rxxZDHzT4Sfm4hiAUuHUzXAsa879yQVSEnFd1szqFvbcc1J9gc/s1600-h/Joe+Jones.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdCs3wWguL49G-17lsDdmmAfZlSq5crJi4EgCtQNU0fhaX8lkfu56Qwgo2g_urHxfRPCP627hlA1LeS43TTYHSAVMM3rxxZDHzT4Sfm4hiAUuHUzXAsa879yQVSEnFd1szqFvbcc1J9gc/s320/Joe+Jones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302199469517709986" border="0" /></a>Still their fate was better than Joe Jones, who originally tried his hands on the song for Roulette. Label owner Morris Levy had convinced Henry Glover to come over to his label to set up the R&B department. While proficient in the Jazz market, Roulette still had to crack that far more lucrative market. That Joe Jones even came to record the song was something of an odd twist of events. Jones' run with the label had failed to produce any hits. Under the impression Roulette had forgotten about him, he cut You Talk To Much for the New Orleans based Ric label. The song had been written by Fats Domino's brother in law Reggie Hall, but rejected by the Fat Man because he felt the song had no potential. When New York radio stations started picking up Joe Jones' version on Ric, it appeared Fats' instincts had failed him. Roulette soon remember they had signed Jones and filed an injunction against Ric, re-releasing the song on Roulette, scoring a major national hit. So it was in pursuit of a follow-up that New Orleans based piano player Joe Jones came to record California Sun, half a continent away from the songs subject matter. As mentioned, without the hoped for success.<br /><br />Henry Glover's career however had been much more successful. As it often goes with producers, their significance to the history of R&R tends to get obscured by the performing artists. Many of them who wouldn't have been as successful without their producers in the first place. Glover was one of the first black record-executives the industry had ever seen. A status he acquired on the basis of being able to write hits across the board. Springsteen fans may be familiar with Glover's Seven Nights to Rock, Henry wrote for hillbilly piano player Moon Mullican over at Syd Nathan's King studios in Cincinnati. Just as easily Glover produced hits for the immensely popular and influential Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (the band that started the original Twist craze). Similarly Glover was at the cradle of many careers. Glover produced James Brown's early hits, guided Little Willie John's career and convinced the Hawks to pursue a career of their own, away from Ronnie Hawkings shadow, a move that led to the Band, Bob Dylan's most famous backing group and another source of inspiration for the Boss, who covered their Rag Mama Rag during the Seeger Sessions tour. But that's a story for another day. Meanwhile enjoy a little sunshine on the edge of winter with the Rivieras.<br /><br />The Rivieras<br/><iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='246' height='20' src='http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pb7202ec79df4dc3d10ac08119a95f210bF14QVREY2dw&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21'> </iframe><br/><br />Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K5OKIS?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000K5OKIS">Time Life Rock 'n' Roll Era Street Corner Serenade II</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000K5OKIS" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />Joe Jones<br/><iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='246' height='20' src='http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P0951df4e93cd41533d87adedff31f714bF14QVREY2dz&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21'> </iframe><br/><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CDF040?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CDF040">You Heard It Here First! (Original Versions of Famous Songs)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001CDF040" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (highly recommended)<br /><br />Sprinsgteen played a snippet California Sun in Light of Day during his infamous October 23rd 1999 Reunion tour show in L.A. and again on November 9th 2007 at a benifit show for Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation. See a video <a href="http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/psupamnj/Safe%20at%20Home%20Benefit/?action=view¤t=DSCF0037.flv">here</a> thanks to Pam from BTX.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-59837679378942694982009-02-06T22:47:00.000-08:002009-02-07T00:53:54.836-08:00Boss Tracks; Many Rivers to Cross, Jimmy Cliff<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7PT7h4ELR38WEt7yznC-_MSAqQRGuCb3kVG7280pN-OgDdTUZtapqP9C7akdTpF9cth0Wj_eMrYDNgfSkcdwtSSMPA4jkpSuWRO-Su1HLYPij3Jj00OnjekyT5n_jKLUa2uYSktv0IIU/s1600-h/Scan10001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7PT7h4ELR38WEt7yznC-_MSAqQRGuCb3kVG7280pN-OgDdTUZtapqP9C7akdTpF9cth0Wj_eMrYDNgfSkcdwtSSMPA4jkpSuWRO-Su1HLYPij3Jj00OnjekyT5n_jKLUa2uYSktv0IIU/s320/Scan10001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299969300692212258" border="0" /></a>Rolling Stone placed Many Rivers to Cross on the 317 spot of their top <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596162/many_rivers_to_cross">500 essential songs</a>, calling it a "hymn about struggle and perseverance." As a song it works on many levels. It is a song about personal everyday struggle first. The lyrics search for that strength and wisdom to overcome the obstacles that everyday life brings us. Wether it is a lost love or a lost job, Many Rivers to Cross seems to be the perfect soundtrack to adversity. On another level, the song has often been perceived as a civil rights anthem. The lyrics to Many Rivers to Cross have a pro-active feel to it. The protagonist to the song is looking to find his land of milk and honey in his life time, he refuses to wait on the here after. The level on which it found most meaning to me recently, is found between the lines. It is the level of that last river to cross, that journey from life into eternal rest. It feels to me like a song that can give one the strength to deal with those final moments, or a song to comfort those left behind. That Many Rivers to Cross works on so many profound levels is probably the reason why it became such a timeless masterpiece. An impressive string of artists have tried their hands on it, ranging from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0IAkrAmrpU&feature=related">Elvis Costell</a>o to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN-jNmzSTok&NR=1">Annie Lennox</a>, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUc7WHHbyeM">The Animals </a>to the Soweto Gospel Choir, or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1S8HWSWf4">Lenny Kravitz </a>to the Blind Boys of Alabama. Each version stressing yet another level of the song. Springsteen performed the song regularly during the later legs of his Lucky Touch tour, staying close to the Gospel feel of the song. I feel his performance of the song is as powerful as anything he's done in his own catelog, in theme and feel close to the Promised Land. Songs simply do not get much better than this.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGeCeK85sUg&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGeCeK85sUg&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />Jimmy Cliff, who wrote and originally performed the song was one of Reggae's first stars. Many Rivers to Cross first became a hit from his debut album, later once again on the sound track for the excellent The Harder They Come film. That movie, starring Cliff as a struggling singer and drugs dealer, was the Jamaican version of the Blaxploitation genre. A good argument can be made though that the film is better than any movie from America in that genre, save maybe for Shaft (he's a baaad mother....). Loosely based on the life of Ivanhoe 'Rhyging' Martin, considered Jamaica's original Rude Boy, the harder they come is a complex anti-esthablisment film. Though Cliff chooses a life outside the law in the film, often using brutal means to get what he is after, you tend to find symphaty for his dubious choices. The corruption of Jamaica and its highly stratified society simply make it seem like Cliff has little choice but to choose the life of a Rude Boy. In a sense, the movie is Jamaica's Johnny 99.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDryz3d06zdxI-5MxuAdoF7b698T-ynR6yHePBM578rN_T7N7beO_lyRzHj9aPo9mQyD9_ULvpATBlACu-4LSGhEkhW5wIWZl1ihXCOXnLdSAB2bJznguJNYIFa0sHUJd2pbpOX96t_VR/s1600-h/cliff.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDryz3d06zdxI-5MxuAdoF7b698T-ynR6yHePBM578rN_T7N7beO_lyRzHj9aPo9mQyD9_ULvpATBlACu-4LSGhEkhW5wIWZl1ihXCOXnLdSAB2bJznguJNYIFa0sHUJd2pbpOX96t_VR/s320/cliff.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299969611467608882" border="0" /></a>Jimmy Cliff's debut from 1969, Hard Road to Travel, still stands as one of Reggae's land marks. Produced by the immortal Leslie Kong, it featured a bold mix between protest songs, civil rights anthems and hymns. Though the album's second single, Vietnam, failed to chart, Bob Dylan called it the best protest song ever written at the time. On the strength of Hard Road, Chris Blackwell from Island records convinced Cliff to move to England and sign with his company. Unfortunately it would prove the descicion that would land his career in the shadow of Bob Marley. Sensing the latter's potential, Island focussed most of its energy on Marley, Cliff was poorly promoted as a result there off. What didn't help his career in the US was that, when the Harder They Come album was released around 1971, the movie wouldn't follow untill four years later. So Cliff remained something of a cult figure. Cliff's is however still out there on the road and held in high regard by his peers. In 1985 he was asked by van Zandt to feature on his Sun City, his 2002 album, Fantastic Plastic People, featured duets with Annie Lennox, Sting and Joe Strummer, coming back in 2004 with a reworked version of that album, Cliff added Wycleff Jean to the fold. Today, he remains one of those must see legends, if only because he wrote one of the most moving songs of all time.<br /><br />Many Rivers to Cross, Jimmy Cliff<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P73ad43ba4561bcc7730b7b17ffa807c2bF14QVREY2dx&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br />Many Rivers to Cross, Bruce Springsteen featuring Terrence Trent D'Arby<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P2587a8c73656c68a290221f8440c73bdbF14QVREY2d2&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/P2587a8c73656c68a290221f8440c73bdbF14QVREY2d2.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00005LZWR&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00009VTYS&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0000714F2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-90671420441022327672009-02-03T10:09:00.000-08:002009-02-03T21:36:39.440-08:00Buddy Holly; The Day Music Was Reborn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPthaczaDMonygmi2JgvQ4OGwuhXrMN6HQO8Hma4oxIpnmp-5uz-DnkYk7HsZ1lZxCWmZtkn8fOYyETXSKs_uwijNiV69wrgUlefQZBO20vxVGTmlLQoAuvB5w6VnMrE8tBjlfZXpb4LY7/s1600-h/wdp-poster-2a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPthaczaDMonygmi2JgvQ4OGwuhXrMN6HQO8Hma4oxIpnmp-5uz-DnkYk7HsZ1lZxCWmZtkn8fOYyETXSKs_uwijNiV69wrgUlefQZBO20vxVGTmlLQoAuvB5w6VnMrE8tBjlfZXpb4LY7/s320/wdp-poster-2a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298643944984326418" border="0" /></a>February 3 1959 is also infamously known as the day that music died. That fatal day Buddy Holly flew to his death while on tour with the Winter Dance Party, a package that included Dion and the Bellmonts as well. It was the first time Buddy Holly had flown. With Holly, R&R also lost famous DJ the Big Bopper and Richie Valens in a bizar twist of events. Eventually it were Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings who were going to board that plane. Jennings gave up his spot to the Big Bopper when he came down with the flu, in exchange for a sleeping bag. Allsup accepted a bet from Richie Valens and lost his seat in a coin toss. Valens even joked how it was the first time he had ever won anything. Years down the line Don McLean would give that date the name it had since when he looked back in the lyrics of his 1971 monster hit, singing "I can't remembered if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside, the day that music died.<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwQVvwnFvKHs3mhAGZp7FUIF7UA_8DpBwf9GOAbjULT0s_RVyyR0FhpBDPOLz6n1DZ7cwmRILOMigKuehS4ZFQgufnjwXF-5CG4AgVVXWUBBR7oLzp_pcgWh0DKLVVmnAE9p-lH57ODC2/s1600-h/Buddy_Holly.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwQVvwnFvKHs3mhAGZp7FUIF7UA_8DpBwf9GOAbjULT0s_RVyyR0FhpBDPOLz6n1DZ7cwmRILOMigKuehS4ZFQgufnjwXF-5CG4AgVVXWUBBR7oLzp_pcgWh0DKLVVmnAE9p-lH57ODC2/s320/Buddy_Holly.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298644035550230274" border="0" /></a>Don's lyric doesn't do a whole lot of credit to Buddy's legacy and the enduring appeal of R&R. True, with Elvis in the army, Jerry Lee and Chuck Berry entwined in sex scandals and Little Richard finding the Lord, R&R seemed to be hanging by a thread in 1959, but things were already bubbling. Holly had toured the UK during March 1958 and as legend goes had stirred the hearts and hips of a more than a few future key players. Future members of the Beatles and the Stones had seen Buddy Holly in concert, Eric Clapton would later acknowledge it was Holly, amongst others, who was the reason he took up the guitar. Robert Zimmerman, who had seen Holly at the January 31st 1959 show, would change his name in Bob Dylan soon after. Like most legends go, Buddy's rise to fame was almost the result of a few happy accidents. Presenting a demo of That'll Be the Day to manager Norman Petty, the Clovis born took it upon himself to sell the recording to Coral records as the finest deal. A star was born by taking a few lines from the Searchers, a John Wayne movie, and turning it into song. While Holly wasn't nearly as dangerous as Elvis, an argument can be made that it was him and his Crickets who became the blue print for future R&R bands. His Fender-Stratocaster sound was sharp and vicious (especially for those days), Holly wrote and sang his own songs and had a self contained band. Buddy's unique lo-fi sound made R&R accessible for a whole generation of teenagers aching to bust out their guitars themselves. I suspect that Buddy Holly caused more than a few teenage boys to lock themselves up in their garages, preparing R&R's second coming. February 3rd 1959 may have been the day that Buddy Holly died, but he had already helped to give birth to a new generation. As they say, R&R is dead, long live R&R! And God bless Buddy Holly.<br /><br />Not Fade Away, Buddy Holly<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P93f4dc89092bf28636c6cf6bb8913c8fbF14QVREY2d3&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br />Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ATJZ4S?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000ATJZ4S">Buddy Holly Gold</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000ATJZ4S" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" width="1" height="1" /><br /><br />I did two earlier posts for Boss Tracks on Buddy, <a href="http://bosstracks.blogspot.com/2008/04/boss-tracks-rave-on-buddy-holly.html">Rave On</a> and <a href="http://bosstracks.blogspot.com/2008/04/crickets-featuring-buddy-holly-oh-boy.html">Oh Boy!</a> I've restored the audio for both. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-52302969345637740982009-02-01T21:25:00.000-08:002009-02-20T03:08:46.096-08:00I Do Believe It's Superbowl Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNBsdwlTimxToTGvNdauiO0-eFN7vmPFHFy1D0gmcsJkprS7tBdktwFGIk0vQT3PB-kQC6mqYYl0B838hyFHZUPh99PhYn_AidwtBG9eSB3zO24YwFvkFIYBATexPRxkOnk2xdP9M6ZLr/s1600-h/6xwxaa.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298137539794578322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 258px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNBsdwlTimxToTGvNdauiO0-eFN7vmPFHFy1D0gmcsJkprS7tBdktwFGIk0vQT3PB-kQC6mqYYl0B838hyFHZUPh99PhYn_AidwtBG9eSB3zO24YwFvkFIYBATexPRxkOnk2xdP9M6ZLr/s320/6xwxaa.jpg" border="0" /></a>Despite all the reservations fans had about selling out I thought we just witnessed the hard rocking, pants dropping, booty quacking, Viagra tacking, history making, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band in all their glory. Springsteen promised us the final 12 minutes of the show and we got it in spades. This is probably the finest form we've seen the E-Street Band on television since that MTV Awards in 2002. It may have been awfully short for a man who is accustomed to bring us three hour shows, but he packed everything an E-Street show should have in to it. Posing with the Big Man, jumping on the piano, knee slides, howling with Steve and where the hell did that gigantic choir pop up from. Reservation about the new material aside, I though Working on a Dream worked great in its slot. And those horns..... we GOTTA have those horns on tour. By the time Steve called quitting time this fan boy was shouting; "SAY IT AIN"T SO!!!," behind his laptop.<br /><br />Fortunately the Superbowl was on YouTube faster than I could return from the fridge with an ice cold beer so we can watch it over and over and over again.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZQcqKUcQUU0&hl=nl&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZQcqKUcQUU0&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Watch part 2 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B3ydH13LTk&feature=related">here</a>.<br />From the NLF page, here's the <a href="http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80e6ec42">press conference</a>, so you can watch it again and judge for yourself if the Boss kept his word.<br />Visit Backstreets as more <a href="http://www.backstreets.com/news.html">news and reviews</a> will undoubtly trickle in, or to enjoy Killmo's excellent <a href="http://www.backstreets.com/btx/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=128972">Superbowl Blog</a>.<br />Find a great slide show of Reuters photos <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Super-Bowl-Halftime-Performance/ss/events/en/013009superbhalftime/im:/090202/ids_photos_sp/r1967015243.jpg/">here</a>.<br />On MSN.com there's an outstanding <a href="http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=350295&GT1=28107&silentchk=1&">review</a> for us to drool over.<br />Over at BTX evman was so cracious to post the audio for <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YZ15STTD">download</a>.<br />MTV <a href="http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/02/01/why-did-bruce-springsteen-say-im-going-to-disneyland-after-super-bowl-performance/">explains</a> what's up with "I'm going to Disney Land!"<br />Find the silloutte for your desk top <a href="http://s2.largeimagehost.com/HL/ecXtQXF/Sillouette+v1b.png">here</a>.<br />The NY Times has posted a lengthy <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/sports/football/02bruce.html?_r=1&ref=sports">review</a> for your enjoyment.<br />Photos from the Tampa Bay Tribune are also <a href="http://snap.tbo.com/galleries/index.php?id=345638">online</a>.<br />A nice collection of reviews can also be found on the <a href="http://freedomeden.blogspot.com/2009/02/bruce-springsteen-super-bowl-reviews.html">Freedom Eden blog</a>.<br />Here's another <a href="http://www.backstreets.com/btx/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=132155">topic of interest</a> over at BTX for those who forgot to set the VCR.SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-5520107779299597112009-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:002009-02-01T12:06:26.787-08:00Boss Tracks; Let The Four Winds Blow, Fats Domino<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCOSuSbfX1mW8eSHYfaZlXVvXIJZa9XozMrxyFa32oG68P8Gi4w_geTOX109W-ESenufEwr1Kfywg52Rl9urvw5BJcSPnq6JPS-nuibzTBGk4_T0-9O8Bc3moh-yKifo9IQ1C-39qjHA0/s1600-h/Scan10001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCOSuSbfX1mW8eSHYfaZlXVvXIJZa9XozMrxyFa32oG68P8Gi4w_geTOX109W-ESenufEwr1Kfywg52Rl9urvw5BJcSPnq6JPS-nuibzTBGk4_T0-9O8Bc3moh-yKifo9IQ1C-39qjHA0/s320/Scan10001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297915854642957602" border="0" /></a>Fats Domino is without a doubt one of the pillars of R&R. The amount of hits the Fat Man scored in his hey day is uncanny. For a while there it seemed that Fats had the Midas Touch. Yet, for some reason, Let the Four Winds Blow proved to be one of his last smash hits in 1961. By that time Domino had released 55 singles, most of which charted, 21 of which double. Domino’s first charting single, doing better on the jukebox charts they still had back in the day, was the rollicking Fat Man, defining his image for the rest of his career and selling over a million copies in the process. Released in 1949, it is regarded as the first R&R single by many. Not without good cause, the record predated Rocket ’88 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, sax-man for Ike Turner and his Rhythm Kings, by a full 2 years. The latter often gets the edge over Fats’ single since it was recorded by Sam Phillips of Sun studio fame and then covered by Bill Haley and his Comets. It may be knit picking, but I’d rather put my money on the Fat Man.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2OG3uPULQRs&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2OG3uPULQRs&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFv9jU1eQ6UvAHsrSYPYJIZsAONSEdiyAEyNB6e3Q08OLEj1O4F2_OGA3WyQDSMDa54Ar4i0AXfB3Cg7w4lJb-B8h3r9aH9EVUueHcT-EFQa3pKE4n4T4xRagR80JoYfXMEsrGNDyVwpYa/s1600-h/LindsayShannon5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFv9jU1eQ6UvAHsrSYPYJIZsAONSEdiyAEyNB6e3Q08OLEj1O4F2_OGA3WyQDSMDa54Ar4i0AXfB3Cg7w4lJb-B8h3r9aH9EVUueHcT-EFQa3pKE4n4T4xRagR80JoYfXMEsrGNDyVwpYa/s320/LindsayShannon5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297917648430033234" border="0" /></a>Domino was a New Orleans native. His style would define the sound of that city as much as it would define the sound of R&R. His piano style isn’t totally unique though. The rolling rhythms are highly indebted to New Orleans legend professor Longhair. The professor’s unique combination of Rumba, Calypso and Mambo, not only gave birth to R&R but would evolve into what we know today as Funk. Though the professor scored just that one minor hit with the delightful and ridiculous Bald Head, his approach to the piano is an influence still heard in New Orleans today. Fats Domino, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint would all pay tribute to the man and will gladly admit they owe their careers to the foundations the professor laid down. I suspect Roy Bittan enjoys himself a side of Longhair from time to time as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArPNA4BCnU_A9VfrJHeEi6HoqPe6W-zXOVTSTrldBzcMm4hKzAT8hO8f4VlXxiUhmJ1vLZ9fLsyf26lAp9Zd9UCccqomGO6VVmWktiT9wFTwB9CR-cAJ0vCqaSN5aNBbevcom4REig21o/s1600-h/earlpalmer1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArPNA4BCnU_A9VfrJHeEi6HoqPe6W-zXOVTSTrldBzcMm4hKzAT8hO8f4VlXxiUhmJ1vLZ9fLsyf26lAp9Zd9UCccqomGO6VVmWktiT9wFTwB9CR-cAJ0vCqaSN5aNBbevcom4REig21o/s320/earlpalmer1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297917933136530034" border="0" /></a>Another figure Fats Domino owes quite a bit of his success to is the late and legendary Earle Palmer, probably the greatest R&R drummer that has ever lived. Palmer provided Domino with that infectious back beat that made his single, including Fat Man and Let the Four Winds Blow so irresistible. Palmer played on such an impressive number of genre defining R&R singles that it is easy to argue that the whole genre might have had a whole different feel to it if Palmer had decided to focus solely on Jazz, in which he was trained. When Palmer passed on September 19th last year, Garage radio DJ <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/spazz/">Dave the Spazz</a> managed to fill a full three hour radio show with material Earle Palmer played on. Almost every tune featured on that <a href="http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/28738">show</a> was a classic. Go check it out for yourself, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Sam Cooke and Richie Valens are just a few of the impressive names you’ll find, Dave the Spazz makes radio that causes Little Steven to froth at the mouth.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1iaZROPRCSp1Y0JXCQrcWHo4mYE33Ic9o0_hO5xEcv8cteOVwMnyxhRjGvhmk8IenpRU8XUiqA840K0vpWcsJistntMHP_UhyphenhypheneOqdIejbh_1P_Ei5tYZlUpxRlc2eeMvgDZyrAp-yrKw/s1600-h/allentoussaint.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1iaZROPRCSp1Y0JXCQrcWHo4mYE33Ic9o0_hO5xEcv8cteOVwMnyxhRjGvhmk8IenpRU8XUiqA840K0vpWcsJistntMHP_UhyphenhypheneOqdIejbh_1P_Ei5tYZlUpxRlc2eeMvgDZyrAp-yrKw/s320/allentoussaint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297918062270804434" border="0" /></a>Fats Domino’s success kept the Fat Man busy and on the road. Too busy in fact to spend much time on recording sessions. Enter another legendary New Orleans figure, Allen Toussaint. At a mere 17 years he was asked to step to the plate and play the Fat Man’s parts for him whenever he was out doing his dates. Full backing tracks, including Toussaint on piano, would be send out to Fats, where ever he was at the time, all he had to do was provide them with the vocals. That’s how the hits were made. Taking is schooling with him, Toussaint would himself become one of those legendary figures in the New Orleans R&B scene. Over the course of his career, Toussaint released a mere 5 albums in the seventies that hardly made a dent at the time, but before that had already established himself as a reliable hit maker, producing sides for a wide arrange of people. Notable titles produced by Toussaint include Benny Spellman’s Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette and Fortune Teller, Irma Thomas’ Ruler of my Heart, or Lee Dorsey’s Working in the Coalmine and Yes We Can. Does the latter sound familiar? I thought so. Inspired by Katrina Toussaint was recently rehabilitated by Elvis Costello when he recorded River in Reverse with the man and subsequently toured behind it with Toussaint.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AZ_aOk2NY_k&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AZ_aOk2NY_k&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzbnsND2DTeey6pER2veiEPH5Ll8yXBVTXdw73pS_v-jhr4zCRhg08zxyNPisdVjd6J0mvJO2JID0okeoi8ogSJgfrSCPVgj78_lhC9aFto3TCQvWOiklzyyOEqP8gpIDr9jbqPI1FJnb/s1600-h/10103858A~Fats-Domino-Posters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzbnsND2DTeey6pER2veiEPH5Ll8yXBVTXdw73pS_v-jhr4zCRhg08zxyNPisdVjd6J0mvJO2JID0okeoi8ogSJgfrSCPVgj78_lhC9aFto3TCQvWOiklzyyOEqP8gpIDr9jbqPI1FJnb/s320/10103858A~Fats-Domino-Posters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297918181122647554" border="0" /></a>Back to Fats, born Antoine in 1928, Domino’s ground breaking career almost didn’t happen. Domino earned his first chops playing the local nightclubs for pennies. He earned his actual living by working in a mattress factory. When a pile of bedsprings fell on Fats hands one day, the doctors told him he would never play again. It took Fats a mere two years to be back in the game, this time playing in the Hideaway Club as a regular. Dave Bartholomew, a local trumpet player with a record deal in the pocket, was impressed by the man already called Fats. So when Lew Chudd, owner of the Californian Imperial records asked Dave if he knew some talent he could sign, Dave hipped Lew to Fats by taking him to the club. Lew signed Fats on the spot, the rest they say is history. Throughout his stint with that Californian label Fats stayed loyal to his home of New Orleans as much as to the label. When Imperial records traded ownership however, Fats took the opportunity to switch employers and signed with ABC in the fall of 1962, the label that worked wonders for Ray Charles’ career. ABC however forced him to leave his native home and record in Nashville. Significantly the hits stopped coming soon after.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Pf2J__nGjnPjNaVqd6nH0NgkQ06lQC5t4Ol2BJBj4bzbPRZ5WT7_Yl2XgtBFFDwvtFiKZvMLkvboQiEV-mYaKe_w7wCrJXvzY8PKR9Imz4az0WsrycCJKCzQzALENVrK1HtOdxAmOsLf/s1600-h/AP666~Fats-Domino-Posters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Pf2J__nGjnPjNaVqd6nH0NgkQ06lQC5t4Ol2BJBj4bzbPRZ5WT7_Yl2XgtBFFDwvtFiKZvMLkvboQiEV-mYaKe_w7wCrJXvzY8PKR9Imz4az0WsrycCJKCzQzALENVrK1HtOdxAmOsLf/s320/AP666~Fats-Domino-Posters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297919866477264338" border="0" /></a>Fats Domino continued to be a New Orleans resident for the rest of his life. Domino felt so rooted in the city that he refused to evacuate when Katrina was approaching august 2005. His house stood in an area that was heavily flooded, many thought that Domino had perished in the storm, somebody even wrote R.I.P on the remains of his house. Like many Fats Domino lost everything he had in that hurricane. One of the few things president “bystander” Bush saw personally to was that Fats got an replacement for the medal Bill Clinton had given him a few years earlier. Domino managed to rebuilt his sober house soon enough and has since dedicated his time and efforts to the <a href="http://tipitinasfoundation.org/">Tipitina Foundation</a>, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to provide musical instruments to school and keep New Orleans’ rich musical history alive. The foundation fittingly lends its name from one of professor Longhair’s most well known songs. The Fat Man’s latest contribution are the proceeds of an album recorded by some of R&R greatest in his tribute. Springsteen was at one point rumoured to contribute, which unfortunately never materialized. The list of names that did is none the less impressive. How many albums feature the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Randy Newman, Elton John and Tom Petty all paying their dues. If we should ever question the width of the Fat Man’s influence.<br /><br />Fats Domino<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pb437f5cc3f08aa75c64bd44af69b82cebF14QVREY2By&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br />Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S868Y6?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000S868Y6">Greatest Hits: Walking To New Orleans</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000S868Y6" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />Bruce Springsteen, Cambridge, 01-07-1974<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pc42fa92d181cfe67934ea2e4d88373febF14QVREY2Bz&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pc42fa92d181cfe67934ea2e4d88373febF14QVREY2Bz.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000SUKPH0&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00000334U&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000FA58IY&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-23377518673941275112009-01-30T03:45:00.000-08:002009-02-20T03:09:36.633-08:00This Train; This Land is Your Land<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWEl-TwVfqdUctmibuVsxEcwQ7kHk9y8os3lKCxrZmEOIGIoCxABRySnmi4Dt_Z9FBB4B-e1Jy6FD44hOH0IN_to40blUpLVWl-2-l0MKqRdGlrj-h0GrpucMURdlYUk1q-6FCZS8PZLw/s1600-h/Woody.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWEl-TwVfqdUctmibuVsxEcwQ7kHk9y8os3lKCxrZmEOIGIoCxABRySnmi4Dt_Z9FBB4B-e1Jy6FD44hOH0IN_to40blUpLVWl-2-l0MKqRdGlrj-h0GrpucMURdlYUk1q-6FCZS8PZLw/s320/Woody.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297052962054161826" border="0" /></a>Usually I save this feature for songs written by Springsteen. Today we’re making an exception by looking at the history of this seminal piece of song writing. This Land is Your Land, in my mind, reflects America and its dream better than the official national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. It certainly has more eye for the harsh reality of the American dream than the song <a href="http://www.woodyguthrie.org/">Woody Guthrie </a>wrote it in response to, Irvine Berlin’s <a href="http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/godblessamerica.html">God Bless America</a>. While Berlin had originally written the song in 1918, while serving in the U.S. army, it didn’t get a proper recording until 1938 when Kate Smith sang it on her radio show. The song soon became a hit. Round the time God Bless America hit the juke-boxes across the country, Woody Guthrie was roaming it like a hobo. During his travels Guthrie was confronted with the poverty and social injustices that gnaw at the American Dream. The rot in that apple was at the time amplified by one of the fiercest economic crisis the nation had ever known. The gap between the haves and have-nots seemed impossible to bridge. Guthrie felt God Bless America was too overtly patriotic to reflect the painful realities he was confronted with on the road.<br /><br />Guthrie’s first attempt at writing a response to Berlin’s saccharine anthem came to him on February 23rd, 1940. According to Joe Klein’s excellent biography on Woody Guthrie, A Life, the song was originally titled God Blessed America. Woody supposedly took the tune from the Carter Family’s Little Darlin’, Pal of Mine, which the Carters in turn swiped from an old Baptist hymn, Oh My Lovin’ Brother. So the basis of This Land is set in prayer. Seeing the form the song would take four years down the line, this seems strikingly apt. This Land is Your Land would become a song that reflects as much the harshness of the American dream as the yearning to make that dream more inclusive. Though the lyrics are very close to the shape they would eventually take, each verse closes with “God blessed America for me” instead of “This land was made for you and me.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQgVVUOgXewQ3cXlqd2S28HkyQZp7j-jWXYWIDMh7gfAP30saStaaV05SPeJaMg7SClqAWuZ25M2s0B4HS5uobB0ijBeEm3vDaAdlMKZoh6vI-SNSPcKwQHmjlCPv0Gap2QrggnniN63P/s1600-h/Lomax.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQgVVUOgXewQ3cXlqd2S28HkyQZp7j-jWXYWIDMh7gfAP30saStaaV05SPeJaMg7SClqAWuZ25M2s0B4HS5uobB0ijBeEm3vDaAdlMKZoh6vI-SNSPcKwQHmjlCPv0Gap2QrggnniN63P/s320/Lomax.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297053455410030690" border="0" /></a>At the time Guthrie’s biting social critique still found warm grounds in America. Steinbeck had just published Grapes of Wrath two years prior and it was already made into a John Ford movie. Tied in with that movie Guthrie appeared on a benefit for the “John Steinbeck Committee for Agricultural Workers,” where he announced to be pleased to be pleased to be performing in a “Rapes of Graft” show. It was on this show where he was discovered by <a href="http://www.culturalequity.org/index.jsp">Alan Lomax</a>. By the early forties, Lomax was hard on his way of becoming an institution himself. Spurred by his father John Lomax, Alan had made it his career to preserve the American folk song. Alan had travelled the Deep South with his father, recording prisoners and Gospel choirs with their 350-pound Presto machine, funded by the Library of Congress, of which archives the recordings would become a part. In his day to day business at the Library Alan was aided by the shy, skinny, acne covered, Harvard drop out <a href="http://www.peteseeger.net/">Peter Seeger</a>. In Woody, Alan saw a raw talent, untainted by the popular styles that had diluted folk music in Alan’s mind ever since Jimmy Rodgers broke through. Impressed by Woody’s performance at the benefit, Lomax convinced Guthrie to come to NY where he would record him. While in NY Guthrie struck up a friendship with Seeger, which would lead to the latter’s performing career. Guthrie and Seeger formed a socialist folk group called the Almanac singers of which they would be the core. Living in a Greenwhich village commune that stayed close to socialist ideals, while other musicians would drift in an out.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Woody Guthrie; This Land is Your Land</span><br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P0b323140330908b6d4aafaf7a220d791bF14QVREY2Bx&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br /><br />It wouldn’t be until April 16th, 1944 however that Guthrie would record the song that would prove to be his lasting legacy as part of what would become known as the Asch recordings. The recording session was ‘produced’ by Moe Asch of Folkway Records. The sessions recorded by Asch were mostly informal affairs. Moe would pay Woody twenty to twenty-five dollars and a steak dinner, Guthrie sang his songs in return. The results are rudimentary even for those days. The crackling nature of the recordings do not make them easy to digest, but for those willing to listen they’re a treasure chest of folk poetry and raw politically commentary with a satirical twist. Ironically Guthrie delivered his seminal works at a time where it would become increasingly hard for him and Seeger to perform in public. In the slipstream of World War II the cold war began, Guthrie’s vision of America would soon find itself in hostile grounds. The lines that Woody had written for This Land simply reeked too much of socialism for the likes of McCarthy and his committee for un-American activities.<br /><br />As I went walking I saw a sign there<br />And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."<br />But on the other side it didn't say nothing,<br />That side was made for you and me.<br /><br />In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,<br />By the relief office I seen my people;<br />As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking<br />Is this land made for you and me?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG5_MuFEzvPlODz2m7ChkfWVR12o0fI4cz9lJHLq6CqD1I2BWkzcFOJqM3uZgvF9U4HQ0SPoZD2LX5SJuQt1p-CNYgxSuhwOvwWvBakS8VYgOiFm1SkesgAzzS80jLsxRP2cqpDQhJx3h/s1600-h/weavers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG5_MuFEzvPlODz2m7ChkfWVR12o0fI4cz9lJHLq6CqD1I2BWkzcFOJqM3uZgvF9U4HQ0SPoZD2LX5SJuQt1p-CNYgxSuhwOvwWvBakS8VYgOiFm1SkesgAzzS80jLsxRP2cqpDQhJx3h/s320/weavers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297054304948700818" border="0" /></a>Though This Land became widely popular in school and scouting, these lines were dropped in popular use under the pressure of times. The same pressure that would seriously side track Pete Seeger’s career. When Seeger was forced to appear the House Un-American Activitees Committee, designed to smoke out communist by paranoid pit-bull senator McCarthy, Seeger was enjoying the golden age of his career with the Weavers, an enormously popular folk group. As a result of McCarthy’s which hunt, the Weavers and Seeger were blacklisted and found it difficult to find work. Seeger himself was initially even sentenced to ten years of prison for contempt of court in 1961 because he defied the committee. Seeger had refused to plead the Fifth (which asserted that his testimony might be self incriminating) when he appeared before the committee in 1955. Instead he opted for the First Amendment: "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." As a result of the blacklisting Seeger had to make a living out of teaching children banjo and folk songs for the longest time. Something he himself found highly ironic, as teaching children would be the perfect channel to indoctrinate a future generation with communist sympathies should that have been his objective.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1yuc4BI5NWU&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1yuc4BI5NWU&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Allegedly encouraged by Jon Landau, Springsteen began his life long obsession with Guthrie in the early eighties when Landau set him down to watch Ford’s Grapes of Wrath. This Land is Your Land first appeared in the set list in New York on December 28th, 1980 after Springsteen had read Joe Klein’s book on Guthrie. Introducing the song we hear a Springsteen that is still budding when it comes to his political awareness, though the song and Guthrie’s life grabbed him, much of it still appears to be on an instinctive level. Fittingly, Springsteen’s performances of the song in the eighties would be the ‘censored’ lyrics, with the earlier mentioned sharp edges taken off. Springsteen’s version of the song here is still a tad slow and dragging, feeling more like a meditation, evoking a feeling of America rather than a commentary. Ironically, with the lyrics cropped, the song, in feeling, feels a bit too close to Irvine Berlin’s God Bless America for comfort. After being frequently appearing in the sets throughout the River and the Born in the USA tour, the song was dropped for a near 25 years, getting a mere a sole appearance in 1996 during the peak of Springsteen’s Guthrie obsession with the Ghost of Tom Joad tour. Guthrie’s political vision had, however, firmly edged itself in Springsteen’s take on America. Nebraska, for a large part, was built around the people who fell short of the American Dream and you could argue that Born in the USA is Springsteen’s own This Land. Like Woody’s song Born in the USA is at once an anthem celebrating America while venomously biting at its dark shadow.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m2tvcsbWVjY&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m2tvcsbWVjY&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzo1mbG5WUybTJ5fHP_Mfik0QvonX-9uEuaKDpMIzkdDU1y2AHKDvOYqQ7Boc_n33_ab_Z3yn34WRa6_Hh7OTqtIQC7M1Uk-UwIKxs5kISlPPoKRy6Oia0dx4wrzbN-ZoeXnzXOXDaOjT/s1600-h/Rally.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzo1mbG5WUybTJ5fHP_Mfik0QvonX-9uEuaKDpMIzkdDU1y2AHKDvOYqQ7Boc_n33_ab_Z3yn34WRa6_Hh7OTqtIQC7M1Uk-UwIKxs5kISlPPoKRy6Oia0dx4wrzbN-ZoeXnzXOXDaOjT/s320/Rally.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297055628908040450" border="0" /></a>As the decades progressed, Springsteen’s political awareness grew more pronounced. The instinctive feeling would gradually be replaced by a sharper political vision that would eventually result in blatant and oft criticized partisanship under the Bush administration of the passed eight years. To underscore this, This Land started to resurface during last falls Obama Rallies, including some the lines that originally gave the song its sharp edge. With a more staccato and biting phrasing Springsteen added the relief office verse, before allowing the audience to take over, pushing the song in the Yes We Can chant he started it with. With the economic crisis, finding millions of Americans out of a job and thousands living in tents, those lyrics suddenly seem eerily contemporary. The song’s dark shadow feels as real today as it did when it was first written. Yet in Springsteen’s hands the song becomes an resilient pro-active anthem of hope, as much as his own song the Rising. Though the latter arguably will never become as engraved in our collective conscious as Woody Guthrie’s folk masterpiece.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5KnYADCSms&hl=nl&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5KnYADCSms&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8X4q1pBh464GNho5MDAZuLo_dSQ18GSFRv1MHkIWZuBlZJBpQ_Z2cdXG1BFpalOESO_l6qvXxzoACuOD538OrSytF3i-vMjpxtXDGOaAq-W21ezQw3M4Sl0L9DgF_loVnXAKuAEPNKRs/s1600-h/Seeger+Inauguration.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8X4q1pBh464GNho5MDAZuLo_dSQ18GSFRv1MHkIWZuBlZJBpQ_Z2cdXG1BFpalOESO_l6qvXxzoACuOD538OrSytF3i-vMjpxtXDGOaAq-W21ezQw3M4Sl0L9DgF_loVnXAKuAEPNKRs/s320/Seeger+Inauguration.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297058934191683394" border="0" /></a>After President Obama’s election Springsteen helped rehabilitate the song even further with the help of Pete Seeger, on who’s insistence the songs most controversial lyric was added, at then still President-elect Obama’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011800917.html">inauguration concert</a>. This performance also saw the “No Trespassing” sign lyric restored. No inauguration concert and no actual inauguration did ever breathe the sense of history in the making as much as Obama’s. The proceedings mobilized a staggering 2 million people wanting to be a part of it. Obama would be sworn into office not only after 8 years of devastating policies of the Bush administration, but also the day after Martin Luther King day, 40 years after he was shot outside his Memphis hotel. In all the fuss it is easy to miss that the event was also the rehabilitation of Pete Seeger who was blacklisted some 55 years earlier. Seeger, now 89, has found himself enjoying a full re-evaluation in recent years. Hot on the heels of Springsteen’s world tour and album, celebrating the music he had strived so hard to preserve, Seeger had been the subject of an impressive documentary that not only chronicled his life but was a testimony of the power of music as well. The inauguration concert seems like a crownpiece on this rehabilitation. Though perhaps only visible for the keen observer, to me at least, it added to the promise that America is able to rehabilitate itself and truly make this land a land for you and me.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The inauguration concert wasn't the first time the Boss and Pete<a href="http://blog.nj.com/ledgerentertainment/2007/06/seeger_boss_record_songs_for_u.html"> colaborated</a>. <a href="http://www.appleseedmusic.com/">Appleseed records</a> released two duets with both gentlemen in 2007, Hobo's Lullabye and Springsteen's own Tom Joad. The first featured on the <a href="http://www.giveusyourpoor.org/moviecd/cd.php">Give Us Your Poor CD</a> with the proceeds going to the homeless.<br /><br />Sharon Jones; This Land is Your Land<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Paeb969bb3d0618de2ed80e28a0316838bF14QVREY2Bw&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br />This wouldn't be Boss Tracks if I wouldn't slap you in the face with a fine serving straight from one of those half forgotten 45 rpm records. One of my favorite recent versions of This Land is Your Land comes from<a href="http://www.daptonerecords.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings.html"> Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings</a>. The Dap-Kings backed Amy Winehouse on her Back to Black album, but if you ask me Sharon Jones is the real deal. This serving is the flipside to her single <a href="http://store.daptonerecords.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=25">What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes</a>.</span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0018PH3OC&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0385333854&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000001DJY&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-23376825727473455232009-01-28T04:14:00.000-08:002009-02-20T02:53:37.713-08:00Right on Track, Working on a Dream<span style="font-size:78%;">An advance copy of Working on a Dream slipped into my mail box today. Exactly the excuse I needed to re-start this blog again. I realize I have been absent for a couple of months. A thing or two changed in my private life, things which are a happy distraction away from the Internet. Keeping up Boss Tracks in the way I did was time consuming, a luxury that only a single man can allow himself. I'll try to get things back on track, be it on a slowed down pace. Seems a waste to let all the work I had up till now go to waste.</span><br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_s7EgfxfgKi-fYPjeVISCrYb2VkdJoj6CJo-Qjrrbo23hlA8_35Qlgpqv_hmHjsP07EH31kJsiVOMhsy1U_MhzS3VX89jzg8Qdb55dPGMgjBm6N3Xe6AL4tSuQ6uSoFjlu-j6r0nGUmsk/s1600-h/CoverArt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_s7EgfxfgKi-fYPjeVISCrYb2VkdJoj6CJo-Qjrrbo23hlA8_35Qlgpqv_hmHjsP07EH31kJsiVOMhsy1U_MhzS3VX89jzg8Qdb55dPGMgjBm6N3Xe6AL4tSuQ6uSoFjlu-j6r0nGUmsk/s320/CoverArt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296335125132603218" border="0" /></a>Working on a Dream comes hot off the heels of the Magic tour. In advance press releases Springsteen had already explained that the album was born out of the excitement of that tour. Springsteen wanted to channel that excitement into the studio with tracks recorded in between dates and finished after the tour. Considering the schedule of the Magic tour and the events that followed, that notion alone makes the album a tour the force of sorts. Those who followed the tour closely will have noticed how that tour evolved from an angry burst of R&R exorcism of Bush's administration and the damage that did to America to a celebration of life and the following the tragic death of Dan Federici. Near the tail end of the tour that celebration was injected with a large dose of hope when Springsteen aligned himself closer to the Obama campaign. It is that energy that finds its way into his latest serving.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp896mn_Fi1TTgb2OINhlx_2RA7KmJsQgGdVgyCSfvLEEIIx8yMXWo3EEObclMlcOg30a0eF1a2_mjTJIE-Sb7Dzl5DtazV1QjgVLvY465uIg_56PfEnkPa-_lSagii50reMTDQ6Ciw36k/s1600-h/New+Image.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp896mn_Fi1TTgb2OINhlx_2RA7KmJsQgGdVgyCSfvLEEIIx8yMXWo3EEObclMlcOg30a0eF1a2_mjTJIE-Sb7Dzl5DtazV1QjgVLvY465uIg_56PfEnkPa-_lSagii50reMTDQ6Ciw36k/s320/New+Image.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296335592689911746" border="0" /></a>Working on a Dream is an album of mixed blessings. Like most fans I'm exited that there's new material the Boss is going to tour behind. But like a lot of those fans, I'm not sure what to make of this album. I've always been the type of fan who's admired his craftsmanship. In my mind Springsteen's lyrics were his forte. His economic cinematic portraits of America and his vivid sketches of human relationships were in my mind without peer. Influenced by Flannery O'Conner and other, Springsteen lyrics were short stories set to music with an uncanny eye for detail and the complexities of life. Springsteen's best lyrics, like Brilliant Disguise, Used Cars or You're Missing never compromised those complexities. This album, unfortunately, does. Though the album's lush production and graceful melodies breathe an hopeful, carefree and happy Springsteen dealing with his own mortality and the value of love and life, the lyrics never reach the level we've grown accustomed. The title track is a prime example of this. Never before was there a Springsteen song that breathed hope without reserve or fear like the first single of the album. Breezy and catchy the song sticks like bubble gum on your sneakers. While the song is nice enough to whistle along to when feeling down, it misses the double layers and complexities to make a real connection to our daily challenges.<br /><br />More songs suffer from underdevelopment of the lyrics. The opening track Outlaw Pete has the sound of grandeur. In quick passing it seems a Jungleland with a Morricone twist. Yet the song's clumsy comedy and likewise metaphors keep it from epic status. Something similar happens with Queen of the Supermarket, a rather akward tale about a crush on a checkout girl. While the arrangement is exceptionally subtle and graceful for a Springsteen song, it fails to hit mark, it doesn't become another Sandy, while the music promises just that. In short, I haven't been this ambivalent towards a Springsteen album since Human Touch and Lucky Town. Working on a Dream seems a photo negative of those two offerings. Where those '92 albums offered us some of Springsteen's best songs on relationship packaged in a dismal and uninspired production, his last goes the other way around.<br /><br />Because of its lush production however, Working on a Dream is much easier to digest. Set apart from his impressive catalog of lyrics, Working on a Dream works surprisingly well. On prize songs like What Love Can Do, Tomorrow Never Knows or the homage to Phantom Dan, The Last Carnival, Working on a Dream shines in pop delight. On the best moments this album becomes a forgotten relic from the sixties. Working on a Dream sounds like it drags the Byrds, Brian Wilson, the Stones, Leiber and Stoller up to E-Street. The band haven't sounded this good on a record since the River, which doesn't mean they are revisiting. Springsteen still manages to explore new forgotten corners of American music's past. Though the album doesn't have the backbone to really shelter you from winter's bitter cold, it is a nice and pleasant spring breeze that reminds you of the promise summer holds.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/25463406/review/25523370/working_on_a_dream"><span style="font-size:85%;">Rolling Stone </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">gives the album a full five stars. Let's be honest, three or four would have been enough.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">NPR offers an advance </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99173117"><span style="font-size:85%;">listen</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> for those who haven't made their minds up yet. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">The Boss himself talks extensively to the Observer about Working on a Dream </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jan/18/bruce-springsteen-interview"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">On a side note, you can find Van Zandt's comments on the Guitar Hero release </span><a href="http://www.shorefire.com/media/Time51208_20080512_131227.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span></div><br /><div></div>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-37456446509224493822008-11-03T21:36:00.000-08:002008-11-03T22:22:43.744-08:00Voting For Change: Bruce's Politics in the 21st Century<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre4mKQDYl0VWyvjGjx3PBzxiy9UC3dFrVMjyTkek7D4RvDrAq7baTSdWzlKxTnkxnWk0ERG5fYRlp_SFA3dZLQPW2E7qOMp5YSX08Id7k_iRZO-ZmcLmXhfreZl3zPcCQnB3a6_SvE-4/s1600-h/obbruce110208.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre4mKQDYl0VWyvjGjx3PBzxiy9UC3dFrVMjyTkek7D4RvDrAq7baTSdWzlKxTnkxnWk0ERG5fYRlp_SFA3dZLQPW2E7qOMp5YSX08Id7k_iRZO-ZmcLmXhfreZl3zPcCQnB3a6_SvE-4/s400/obbruce110208.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264675733024408770" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />For two P</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">residential elections in a row, Bruce has come out with a prominent endorsement of a candidate, in both cases the Democratic Party. While anyone listening close enough to his music over the last several decades, along with sca</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ttered side comments at various shows documented on various bootlegs, would know that Bruce tends to come down on the Democratic Party's side of the aisle, his endorsement of Senator John Kerry marked the first time his allegiance was made explicit. In this Election season, Bruce has chosen to endorse the Democratic candidate for President once more, Senator Barack Obama of</span> <st1:state style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><st1:place>Illinois</st1:place></st1:state><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In a PSA type speech Bruce has been giving on the campaign trail in support of Obama, he states "I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and Americ</span><span style="font-size:100%;">an reality...I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans." These statements level the playing field between artist and politician, making their values, their desires, and their goals similar so as to be indistinguishable. Surely any pure-bred Bruce Tramp will not deny the unfailing nuance and intellect with which he casts his eye towards the American character as a whole. The journey through America in Bruce's eyes beginning with Born To Run's "runaway American dream" continuing throughout the Darkness and River records and especially incisive on the Nebraska album, a stark black and white portrait of the country seen through the eyes of those not quite so lucky as to receive the benefits of the era of Reaganomics. There is an undeniable through line of dissection and thought, and it is through, not a telling, but a showing of what the country is, was, can be, can't be, will be, should be.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">In these recent years, Bruce has seen fit to make that which was implicit into something explicit. There has been a shift from allowing the music to show and demonstrate an idea to making that idea unmistakably clear through speaking it, preaching it, outright saying it free from metaphor or Flannery O'Connor-esque storytelling to shroud the point in drama and detail. The facts are these: Bruce Springsteen is a Democrat, Bruce Springsteen supports Democratic candidates for the Presidency, Bruce Springsteen believes his music and vision of <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region> within his music reflects a Democratic ideology.<br /><br />The first two facts no one may take issue with, as a man and his values are to be his own and his own alone. Personal freedom of voice, of expression, of opinion in this country are some of the best parts about <st1:country-region><st1:place>America and Bruce's integrity is admirable. Certainly no one in their right minds would accuse him of being anything but a patriot. </st1:place></st1:country-region>Where the train comes off the tracks is in the third fact, the idea that the vision of <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region> being represented in Bruce's music is a Democratic one.<br /><br />Fans and journalists alike, when praising the music, time and time again cite one the greater parts of the music is it's cinematic quality, the epic nature of the picture painted in the music. The canvas is as far and wide as this country is, and the trains carries all, saints and sinners, losers and winners, as started by one of his best songs about America, community, and redemption. The vision is larger than life...until now. It seems by aligning this music with a particular party, it goes against the very fundamental ideal of the music to begin with. The tent of Bruce fandom is a big one. When one partakes in the concert experience it is clear to see that it certainly takes all kinds. But the populist message of the music is significantly de-emphasized when Bruce sings and dedicates songs to people who are, at the end of the day, politicians running for office.<br /><br />The concern isn't a conservative one or a liberal one but rather the non-partisan plea of a passionate fan to not see music larger than life, larger than one politician or one party, be co-opted for a specific purpose and message that from now on resonates in the ears in the political context. As if now going to a concert and hearing "The Promised Land" will fill the non-registered Democrats ears with thoughts of Bruce slying winking to Democrats and singing "And I believe in the promised land....but really I'm singing about how great President Obama's universal healthcare program is gonna be"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In short, there is now a divide, a gap between between Bruce and those fans that may not be so quick to invest their faith in a politican, Republican or Democrat. These fans aren't crazy. They aren't gonna burn their records in effigy while waving Nobama signs in the air. They probably aren't going to stop going to the concerts and paying $100+ to see the best show by the best artist and the best band they know. But for these fans, the gap between artist and audience has become wider as the associations become entrenched. “No Surrender” was John Kerry’s campaign song and “Working On A Dream” was Barack Obama’s song on Sunday. For the people who gladly voted for these candidates, no dissonance exists. But for the other kind of listener, the dreamer who still dreams of an America too big for parties and politicians, Republican or Democrat, it up to this listener to reclaim the vision for their own and know that the land of hope and dreams lies not in the words of Barack Obama or John McCain but in the heart and soul of every American citizen who would believe in it. While his words outside his songs may fail to completely capture it, it is this truth that is self-evident in the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen.</span></p>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14528079291167076112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-63994281755275605232008-10-21T01:23:00.000-07:002008-10-21T03:51:51.698-07:00Boss Tracks, It's All Over Now, Bobby Womack and the Valentinos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlkSbQPJZI4hWasejfUml9zKY9r1Zr0x1tzQAJdoYinBA2MBSRFutl-xlhf97UcMV1FA7KI8kE6GV7qc4QvhXOe6pFSV48i8PdWNHmbRNZqob7HGLNrD-ipcFxoo5DYvXyqJ_KIBEANbE/s1600-h/valentinos_45.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlkSbQPJZI4hWasejfUml9zKY9r1Zr0x1tzQAJdoYinBA2MBSRFutl-xlhf97UcMV1FA7KI8kE6GV7qc4QvhXOe6pFSV48i8PdWNHmbRNZqob7HGLNrD-ipcFxoo5DYvXyqJ_KIBEANbE/s320/valentinos_45.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259548075776694130" border="0" /></a>The last leg of the Magic tour suddenly saw Springsteen going back to his bar band roots. Classic covers were flying all over the place, including some new ones. "It's All Over Now" was one of those debuts with Soozie taking lead vocal. Springsteen arguably first heard this one in the version by the Stones. The Valentinos version, however, is the original take and the more interesting to look at. In many ways "It's All Over Now," written by the great <a href="http://www.archive.bobbywomack.sofake.com/">Bobby Womack</a>, reflects an important shift in popular music and culture. The song is right on the edge of a movement toward black independence, the shift from Gospel to Soul and the turning point of what would become known as the British Invasion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioceCWzxSxJzMlw1i-woDiEzw3-ITbxWJGCwvkdhAql3MpftNnfLJROgr3InbW3IDDs-Nl5wxkulgL3JB32_GUB8FRuRH51JELKKwq9QRJylHBN8wpcCM0QwYE4XzL4e8Prdd3IkY13seo/s1600-h/sam20cooke5432.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioceCWzxSxJzMlw1i-woDiEzw3-ITbxWJGCwvkdhAql3MpftNnfLJROgr3InbW3IDDs-Nl5wxkulgL3JB32_GUB8FRuRH51JELKKwq9QRJylHBN8wpcCM0QwYE4XzL4e8Prdd3IkY13seo/s320/sam20cooke5432.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259548594622632306" border="0" /></a>The shift starts with the career of Womack's mentor, <a href="http://www.samcooke.com/">Sam Cooke</a>. As a Pop and Soul singer Sam is often recognized as one of those key figures in the development of Soul music. Sam had started his career as a recording Gospel artist, but soon took the leap to secular music. As a Gospel artist singing with the Soul Stirrers, Sam had been extremely popular. The label Sam had been signed to, Art Rupe's Specialty, didn't think a transition to secular music could ever work. Rupe felt it would destroy Sam's career if he started singing, what his core audience perceived as, the devil's music. Specialty let Sam go of his contract. A decision he soon learned to regret as Sam started scoring monster hits for first Keen records and later RCA. Sam's Gospel like approach to his big hits is part of what later became Soul music. Together with Ray Charles, Cooke would lay the foundation.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsB2RCrI-C_C-QZhnY_w0khL6LpT5x2576M_kulUK3fmxjG2bv4S7VnSJJ-hOwib799Vlc7ZkbDnvDtGMX7MLI13ofcM8sa-CUe48zApO2uVUcec6jjfYRAEsDxkpV9zx0R5aGuJifJai/s1600-h/Malcolm_X_-_mosque%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsB2RCrI-C_C-QZhnY_w0khL6LpT5x2576M_kulUK3fmxjG2bv4S7VnSJJ-hOwib799Vlc7ZkbDnvDtGMX7MLI13ofcM8sa-CUe48zApO2uVUcec6jjfYRAEsDxkpV9zx0R5aGuJifJai/s320/Malcolm_X_-_mosque%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259548725220178274" border="0" /></a>Like Charles, Sam was fiercely independent. Even though Sam had big ambitions in the Pop circuit, dreaming of playing the Copa like Sinatra, he never abandoned his roots. Sam openly associated with 'radical' black figures like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uZx2JF-IMc">Mohamed Ali</a> and <a href="http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/home.php">Malcolm X</a>. Both figures reflected strong independent black thought and business. <a href="http://www.ali.com/">Ali's</a> refusal to serve in Vietnam made him a highly controversial figure at the time, Malcom's "by any means necessary," even more so. Sam's firm believe in black independence prompted him to firm his own record company, SAR records, which would eventually release the 45 we're looking at today. Though SAR never became as big and successful as Motown, initiatives like these did reflect a shift in the civil rights struggle. Increasingly prominent black figures and entrepreneurs were striving independence and equality. For Sam however SAR reflected something more, he wanted to put his roots back on the map. SAR started out in 1959 recording Gospel records, even putting new Soul Stirrers sides on wax. When Specialty had dropped them and their new lead, Johnny Taylor, Sam saw an opportunity.<br /><br />One of the acts SAR would soon sign were the Womack Brothers, featuring the young Bobby. Sam had first met Bobby in 1951, when the Womack Brothers were opening for the Soul Stirrers. Bobby was eight years old at the time. Taken by them, Sam gave them money to buy uniforms so they wouldn't have to go out and steal them. Bobby and his brothers had started doing Gospel imitating their father's group the Voices of Love, hoping their mother would bake them a cake as she did for his father's group. Bobby later recollected his mother would say "you can have what ever's left. But these guys left nothing but the crumbs. Now we were from a very poor neighborhood (I mean cake was something special), and I said, Those guys don't sing that good and they eat everything! So that's how we started mocking them." So it was cake that led to the first Womack Brother's SAR session in 1961 for the Gospel and Pop classic "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray," on which Bobby first took lead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdNNzcfBKx6vS39FpefOw1SPotmeovcsUwet1i0wEP-C3eHK0blYKkv9k4kSfRCLzqx6p7f2wuxM_sn8ZaXuucZzJwk6R_4SDHLo3AI1EfCq0pRMBPSQfjrXRARq1dcavNTKPuOUfiRaS/s1600-h/bobby-womack-pic-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdNNzcfBKx6vS39FpefOw1SPotmeovcsUwet1i0wEP-C3eHK0blYKkv9k4kSfRCLzqx6p7f2wuxM_sn8ZaXuucZzJwk6R_4SDHLo3AI1EfCq0pRMBPSQfjrXRARq1dcavNTKPuOUfiRaS/s320/bobby-womack-pic-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259550900550147506" border="0" /></a>Sam was impressed by the young Bobby's voice, he felt he sang with authority. Cooke decided to re-cut the Gospel with the Womack Brothers as the Valentinos, re-writing the lyrics the #8 R&B smash "Looking for a Love" was born. Bobby would later recount his ambivalence toward the whole endeavor, feeling like he just made a mockery of God, telling Peter Gulranick, "He knew we were tripping because it was God's song, but he was laughing, cause he had been through it all before." Bobby remembers Sam fondly as a mentor, as the man who taught him everything he needed to know about singing, especially stressing diction, and writing, telling him "people will buy the news if it is sung with a melody." Sam's coaching eventually would lead Womack to write "It's All Over Now." Released in the spring of 1964, the record caught on fast, but the times were changing fast.<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzjLX7BjJJM">I's All Over Now</a>" was picked up by the Rolling Stones, who cut it in Chicago's Chess studios. By July 1964 they had their version out on the market, taking the winds out of Bobby's sails. Bobby was furious, feeling nobody could sing his song the way he did. He didn't feel the Stones' version was all that good. But Sam saw it differently. "This will be history" he'd tell Bobby, "This group will take the industry, They ain't like the Beatles, they are ghetto kids, they will make it loose for everybody." Sam strongly felt that singers like the Stones and Dylan were changing the way people were listening to music, "these writers start singing their own material. They might not sound as good, but people believe them more," he'd tell Bobby.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYWDgeVqP2U&hl=nl&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYWDgeVqP2U&hl=nl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Sam wanted to be part of that future. When Dylan came out with his "Blowin' in the Wind" he felt the Jewish bard had written a song that should have been written by a black man. Dylan inspired Sam to write his immortal civil rights anthem "Change is Gonna Come." Unfortunately, we can only speculate on how Sam's career would have developed further as he was shot in 1964, even before the song saw release as a single. To large controversy in the Black community, Bobby would soon marry Sam's wife, even turning up in Sam's clothes on Cooke's funeral. This momentarily stalled his career. It wouldn't be until 1968 before Womack would hit big again with the Soul stomper "What is This." From there on Womack's career would take many twists and turns, but he's always prove to be a Soul survivor. By the mid eighties, Womack's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G04UIM?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000G04UIM">Poets Trilogy</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000G04UIM" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> was a testimony of his Gospel Soul roots in a time when many artists had shifted to a bland middle of the road formula. Bobby also featured on the Rolling Stones' "Dirty Work" around that time, one of those Stones albums best forgotten.<br /><br />"It's All Over Now" by Bobby Womack & the Valentinos<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pa78ab94d3fbae7a98434a45797c970e6bF14QVREY2B3&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br />Available on<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003BD4?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000003BD4">The SAR Records Story</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000003BD4" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />It's All Over Now, Springsteen, Milwaukee 2008<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pd9295621509387393475119c0ca4a605bF14QVREY2B2&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pd9295621509387393475119c0ca4a605bF14QVREY2B2.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Sources and further reading:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316013293?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316013293">Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0316013293" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /> by Peter Gulranick<br />Sam Cooke's Sar Records Story, liner notes by Peter Gulranick<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844541487?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1844541487">Midnight Mover</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1844541487" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /> by Bobby Womack</span><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-19933308409679265532008-10-19T02:56:00.000-07:002008-10-19T03:14:04.181-07:00Boot Tracker: 12/31/75 – Last Tango In Philly<span style="font-size:85%;">With his first entry we're welcoming Kevin on board. I appreciate Kevin's kind words at the start of his review, but a little hunger is all it takes to start the madness that sucked me into the details of R&R history. I hope Kevin and his writing will be a regular around this place in cyberspace.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzwMy1vSwrNxGANkCKBpLfxAmrPDqGmPaING_LGuymWKGqgJpByo91eAmU57fnENIurG-3eyaYuwAPeNuL46klh65RMZOQ5EW6Y0yi7IOAXGDnZhbY_Kf-DlPpNPMFFu4y9xa_rqztKKp/s1600-h/_artwork_1970_19751231_2_back.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzwMy1vSwrNxGANkCKBpLfxAmrPDqGmPaING_LGuymWKGqgJpByo91eAmU57fnENIurG-3eyaYuwAPeNuL46klh65RMZOQ5EW6Y0yi7IOAXGDnZhbY_Kf-DlPpNPMFFu4y9xa_rqztKKp/s320/_artwork_1970_19751231_2_back.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258804380261674354" border="0" /></a>I asked Alex if I could contribute to this blog and he kindly obliged to let me help out. I lack the depth of understanding Alex has where music history and all of its wonders are concerned but I'm young, and I'm hungry, and I've got a lot to say. I could compare it to that time when Bruce was busting at the seams of his skin to tell it all to us, let us know everything rumbling around in that head of his, and give us a show worth the price and then some. The Last Tango In Philly, it should be said, is probably the best sounding boot of its time, surpassing even the legendary Main Point and Bottom Line FM broadcasts in terms of audio quality. The recently unsurfaced Uber Release from a 24-track source yields incredible fidelity and, as Ev2's liner notes state, you will feel as if the E Street Band is in your living room. Unfortunately, the catch is that the boot is only 9 songs long, cut in half from an 18 song show, but what remains represents a beautiful Technicolor portrait of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at the end of innocence.<br /><br />December 31st, 1975, finds Bruce not only on New Year's Eve but also on the Eve of his own entrance into adulthood. The Born to Run tour was a sounding bell to announce the arrival of Bruce and the band, but comparatively, it has a laid-back feel in some ways. It finds Bruce with a loose sense of focus, loose in the right ways. Even concerts as early as '76 have a sense of drive and mission, less soul rave-up with the shaggy haired Jersey kid and his band and more of a rock and roll statement of purpose, no doubt attributable for the most part to the lawsuit drama with former manager Mike Appel.<br /><br />It also stands as a stark contrast to the one officially released concert from '75, the first Hammersmith show, showcasing a Bruce far more comfortable in his own skin and supernova stardom. He gently pokes around at it, intoning before Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? that "Seasons come, seasons go, you get your picture on the cover of TIME and Newsweek but the bus never stops.""Night" blazes out of the gate and firmly roots titself as a Grade A opener, being used frequently as song number #1 for the setlists of the next two years. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" gets slowed down to a wonderfully lackadaisical pace, evoking nostalgia and the Bruce's ever developing sense of storytelling. The phrasing here wouldn't be repeated on the song until the infamous Christic shows, side stepping actually singing the words "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" until the last moment possible. On songs like "Bus Stop" and "Saint", The E Street Band rips through the tempo, straddling the genre spectrum in something that might be aptly called soul-punk-rock-and-roll. Bruce covers "It's My Life" by The Animals to blistering effect, starting off with a typical "daddy issues" yarn, a thread that would continue an arc within his music through songs like "Adam Raised A Cain" "Independence Day" and "Long Time Comin'". Despite the creepy-hilarious stalker story Bruce tells about him and Stevie chasing a girl, "Pretty Flamingo" is impossibly sweet, in no small part due to Phantom Dan's singular touch with the organ. It's interesting to note that the arrangement here is essentially a mirror image of the '75 arrangement of "The E Street Shuffle", complete with the pause in the middle for a rambling story about nothing/everything.<br /><br />Any serious collector should do themselves the good favor of getting this immediately. Not even the legendary Main Point show from '75 can compete in terms of sound quality. For those looking for essential versions of cover standards like "Pretty Flamingo", "It's My Life", and "Mountain of Love", it's a must. And if you listen close enough, you can hear Bruce leaving the boy behind and gearing up to meet the man.<br /><br />"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out"<br/><iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='246' height='20' src='http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P112cc04dce5c8f9c5d0d2fca69597c52bF14QVREY2B0&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21'> </iframe><br/><a href='http://www.hipcast.com/export/P112cc04dce5c8f9c5d0d2fca69597c52bF14QVREY2B0.mp3' rel='enclosure'>MP3 File</a><br /><br />Download the full show in mp3<a href="http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=NZHLW6MG"> here</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.</span><br /><br />Sound: 5 out of 5<br />Show: 4.5 out of 5<br />Artwork: 4.5 out of 5SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-38203004799113851342008-10-11T00:51:00.000-07:002009-02-20T02:58:41.829-08:00Down the Tracks, Tell Tale Signs, Bob Dylan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtF6bFcff7f4zH45vB2k5AEFhGeS_s_oR8h_GprZ_C57eSdJEzV2SKxDt96RuiUVBTE0HdEC2WoMHWDgdj5Nfi45aZLW0du33Zk9nZWLxSUyc13j2QuuPEzNhHYaicEWOpEqPz8gCRd_s/s1600-h/Scan1.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtF6bFcff7f4zH45vB2k5AEFhGeS_s_oR8h_GprZ_C57eSdJEzV2SKxDt96RuiUVBTE0HdEC2WoMHWDgdj5Nfi45aZLW0du33Zk9nZWLxSUyc13j2QuuPEzNhHYaicEWOpEqPz8gCRd_s/s320/Scan1.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255810104690225682" border="0" /></a>John Leland once called Dylan a trickster in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060528184?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060528184">Hip: The History.</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0060528184" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> He saw Dylan as one of those enigmatic people who we are unable to capture, unable to get a real grasp of. A sense of understanding of Dylan, according to Leland, bestows us with a sense of hipness, even though in silence we must shamefully admit to ourselves that the man totally eludes us. Ironically Dylan's trickster image that made him an icon of hip, wasn't something that Zimnmerman seemed to be striving for at the time. Zimmerman has always appeared to be uncomfortable with the iconic status of Dylan, or at least for a large part of his career. I think Robert Zimmerman might have felt he wasn't all that hot, or at least no better than the Woody Guthries or the Blind Willie McTells who inspired him. So Zimmerman spend his career trying to escape Bob Dylan. Not so much a chameleon, who adapts to his surroundings to gain invisibility, Dylan developed to be a lizard, trying to slither out of his status by alienating his fans. He went electric, he went Country, got religion, but to no avail. Ironically every time Dylan tried to slither his way out, it added to his enigmatic status. Dylan radiated an arrogance that only added to his hipness. By the eighties Zimmerman was sick of being Dylan and threatened to become sick of music all together.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D06SEI?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001D06SEI">Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001D06SEI" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, chronicles Zimmerman regaining a sense of himself and shows how Zimmerman grew truly comfortable with being Dylan for maybe the first time in his career. These days Dylan could rest comfortable on his past achievements, but that doesn't seem to be in his character. With the audience that once was hip, now settled and mundane, Dylan could spend the fall of his year blowing in the wind. To an extent he's doing just that. The post eighties Dylan sounds relaxed, at ease with who he his. His voice has grown both harsher and calmer. The wheezing has gone, replaced by a soulfulness that the early Dylan lacked. The current Dylan appears to allow you to get closer, or at least radiates a stronger sense of intimacy. This is a Dylan that allowed Scorsese to make a documentary on him, wrote volume one of his Chronicles and appears on the radio. But who thinks that we are slowly starting to get to know Dylan might be missing the point of what Dylan has been doing in this second phase of his career.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSXMF_BknSGF2tLLYBYacH_J0Nuimm-YVhqO09xgUe__k715Zw9dZVhpbl3McqjddZqENDC5dZg3UC_Ci22_4EDnxF-lRqNTIjtetGoVLbpGmrZcT42FCdKPNrWbo46WWFPhnPUZiDkjs/s1600-h/Scan10001.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSXMF_BknSGF2tLLYBYacH_J0Nuimm-YVhqO09xgUe__k715Zw9dZVhpbl3McqjddZqENDC5dZg3UC_Ci22_4EDnxF-lRqNTIjtetGoVLbpGmrZcT42FCdKPNrWbo46WWFPhnPUZiDkjs/s320/Scan10001.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255810182239121906" border="0" /></a>What Theme Time Radio Hour and Tell Tale Signs make clear is that this Dylan isn't as much opening up himself, but is opening his passion. Dylan is spending his career opening up a door to music that is threatened to be forgotten. Dylan is taking us along the houses of the great Blues and Folk legends that gave him his career. As Larry 'Ratso' Sloman writes in the liner notes, Dylan is creating his own archaic music. This Dylan realizes that he has finally lost his hip status, that the status of hip belongs to the rappers and the DJs. Yet it is also a Dylan that uses his iconic status to bear open the soul he thinks music is threatening to lose. As such Tell Tale Signs is a fascinating study of a man, not trying to escape, but pursuing something himself, trying to capture the magic that inspired him, trying to unravel what makes music tick. Though many of the tracks eventually found their way to earlier albums, in one form or another, Tell Tale Signs is still a great compilation to own in itself. Not just because most of the arrangements here are strikingly different from what they wound up to be, but because Tell Tale Signs tells a story in itself.<br /><br />Listen to Tell Tale Signs on <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95047293">NPR</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DFQFEG?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001DFQFEG">Tell Tale Signs</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001DFQFEG" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> will also be available in an deluxe three disc edition.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-67695666888886026162008-10-10T06:22:00.000-07:002009-05-03T00:18:11.213-07:00Boss Tracks, My Girl Sloopy, The Vibrations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSb9mewSt-0ocGfPTeqRjUWFoZHOW7bjqxOMLW-2OqgSu6UkRWEZnw-zWmfvHTmesOlwj1d8vh1DZfwj-wDMQ4EhfXuXP3LBVKM29yEEK2MYino54B1dBrGdNO32GMQ-b4gB2RpoSxsct/s1600-h/Scan10001.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSb9mewSt-0ocGfPTeqRjUWFoZHOW7bjqxOMLW-2OqgSu6UkRWEZnw-zWmfvHTmesOlwj1d8vh1DZfwj-wDMQ4EhfXuXP3LBVKM29yEEK2MYino54B1dBrGdNO32GMQ-b4gB2RpoSxsct/s320/Scan10001.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255515548341996322" border="0" /></a>At 33 years of age, most of the songs I review here were already ripe with age before I was even an idea in my parents mind. Hell my parents probably hadn't even met when this gem hit the market. The up-side of missing out on all this great music when it was first released, is that I can be taken completely by surprise by a song that is common knowledge for the sixties generation. A few weeks back, me and my buddy were spinning records at a club. Seemingly out of the blue, my buddy threw on this infectious record with a sturdy dragging beat and a chorus that immediately stuck in my head for days. The McCoys version of "My Girl Sloopy," retitled "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kubb6o9szZY">Hang on Sloopy</a>" after the chorus, proved to be a killer and instant floor filler. All around me people were waving their hands in the air, singing "Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on." Most people in their twenties and thirties who, like me, had no business with this record what so ever.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-AK6Ey1WNmF53IcEp854PlxedUmGGmT01fsn_d2p1sjZ-8Jpitj_-BN1N5U630vEdLrRS50mMJkyWtU8bPURBQNkuKDJcJNBHN2KECWcay_lBmh9J8rhQIXvM18cI9FG-PKJ6u6wECqM/s1600-h/McCoys.SWE.685.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-AK6Ey1WNmF53IcEp854PlxedUmGGmT01fsn_d2p1sjZ-8Jpitj_-BN1N5U630vEdLrRS50mMJkyWtU8bPURBQNkuKDJcJNBHN2KECWcay_lBmh9J8rhQIXvM18cI9FG-PKJ6u6wECqM/s320/McCoys.SWE.685.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253213523984402658" border="0" /></a>Digging into the elusive past almost made me feel like I had been living under a rock. It turns out that Garage Gods, the Kingsmen already had their version, it just wasn't on any of the LPs I own. The Five Yardbirds appeared to have a version as well, but I'm not much of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQqlfFoa0Bc">Yardbirds</a> fan, so Sloopy managed to elude me. I scored the McCoys' version on E-bay immediately after that evening spinning records. Turns out that the McCoys were just a mask the Stangeloves briefly wore to get the record out while their smash hit "I Want Candy" was still in the charts. The Strangeloves were touring with the Dave Clark Five at the time, who had expressed the desire to put Sloopy to wax for themselves. The Strangeloves, who wanted to do the song for themselves, realized that the Dave Clark Five would probably outsell them, so they rush released their version as the McCoys, with Rick Zehringers from Rick and the Raiders on lead vocal. After "Hang on Sloopy" hit, the Raiders changed their name into the McCoys officially. The rousing little Rock and Roller the McCoys made it into would eventually become an institute as the official Rock song for the state of Ohio and Ohio University.<br /><br />The story doesn't stop there. Because the song was renamed after the chorus by most artists who covered the song, I totally missed the original version by the Vibrations, released in 1964. "My Girl Sloopy" was written by the great Bert Russel, who got the quirky name Sloopy from jazz musician Dorothy Sloop Heflick, born and raised in Ohio, she recorded the forgotten classic Dixie and Sloopy in New Orleans, where she made name for herself as a piano player. I don't think Russel had ever expected the song to become an anthem, but the deceiving simplicity of the song along with the theme it addresses makes "My Girl Sloopy" more than just a little infectious ditty. In just two lines Russel made "My Girl Sloopy" a song about social stratification. "My girl Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town, and everybody tries to put my Sloopy down," the song opens, with of course love eventually triumphing over adversity as Sloopy's lover begs her to hold on. Something the authors of <a href="http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1878">House Concurrent Resolution no. 16</a> recognized which made "Hang on Sloopy" Ohio's official rock song, making Ohio the only state in the US to have one. Not bad for a little R&R boozer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUtTJmYwpO37gXUsNHfBpHvKz4sqLE1xlaaWa3D7IyJlOnm8rpgCapP7XlVLORBcoVucboUdsGGDqhZveL7cUZ_mZwTVFusznVPSZEkKOSz7AWkTquEHVZ76Npmb6WZFtt4Pc4QYI0iO7/s1600-h/eddie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUtTJmYwpO37gXUsNHfBpHvKz4sqLE1xlaaWa3D7IyJlOnm8rpgCapP7XlVLORBcoVucboUdsGGDqhZveL7cUZ_mZwTVFusznVPSZEkKOSz7AWkTquEHVZ76Npmb6WZFtt4Pc4QYI0iO7/s320/eddie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253213862800004834" border="0" /></a>The working class lament that is buried under that infectious beat makes "My Girl Sloopy" the perfect cover for Springsteen to do. Oddly enough he only did the song twice. Once in 1984 together with singer John Eddie, who is ironically best 'known' for his album "Who the Hell is John Eddie," in the mid eighties when they shared the stage for one of Eddie's shows. The second time Springsteen included a snippet in Light of Day when the Reunion tour touched down in the great state of Ohio. If you ask me though, "Hang on Sloopy" should be his next single and close his set at this year's <a href="http://blogs.townonline.com/Springsteen/?p=3051">Super Bowl</a>.<br /><br />"My Girl Sloopy"<br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="335" height="28" id="divplaylist"><param name="movie" value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=7265904-543" /><embed src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=7265904-543" width="335" height="28" name="divplaylist" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0010ZVOG8&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thsosh-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0012GMZFO&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-4705167851362752892008-10-07T13:06:00.000-07:002008-10-09T01:56:01.039-07:00Boot Tracker, Oktober 9th 1980, Cobo Hall, Detroit<span style="font-size:85%;">Today we've got a special anniversary conversion show submitted by John Urban, who aptly goes under the guise of Converted at Cobo on the forums. I think John captures the exitement of cherry poppin' time quite nicely!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYZmWBLjw_YCkxVXlbpvHSUp1PiX2ltxboKva5YkbrX94AsQ8adE3kGpnyWun5ETYNAV3VNemTtzxA9M28epIOwvCesGpl0BS1gDH-lM0DrTYrGKB9q4yFibd8clhrp703eHbrtavzLpK/s1600-h/Bruce+Sticker.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYZmWBLjw_YCkxVXlbpvHSUp1PiX2ltxboKva5YkbrX94AsQ8adE3kGpnyWun5ETYNAV3VNemTtzxA9M28epIOwvCesGpl0BS1gDH-lM0DrTYrGKB9q4yFibd8clhrp703eHbrtavzLpK/s320/Bruce+Sticker.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254506444198479250" border="0" /></a>October 9th, 1980 was the night I caught, or rather was caught by my first Bruce Springsteen concert, and though twenty eight years have passed, I still remember that night and its affect on what I would expect from Rock and Roll ever since. That year, I was the sixteen year old neighbor of a very dedicated Bruce fan, and he had loaned me his collection of Bruce's studio albums hoping to hear something other than KISS blaring out of my bedroom window. We used to sit in his basement with those albums; song after song would play and he'd give me the 'oh, and during this song, Bruce would….' so I was familiar with the music, I'd heard legendary tales of his performances and I'd had a taste of the live experience when I taped the Agora 78 rebroadcast on local station, WABX a year prior. I wanted to complete the circle though; I wanted to see him live.<br /><br />As my junior year in high school began, tickets went on sale for the River Tour. I was in a real bind though; my circle of friends didn't like Bruce's music, I didn't have a driver's license yet to get me there if I had a ticket, and while my neighbor promised me a ticket if one was left, they were eaten up right away, and now with less than a week until the show, I'd given up hope on going. I went to the first dance of the school year, and found my usual place in the corner by the bleachers. Another friend that I'd only just met the summer before found me there and bragged that he had tickets to the concert. Before I could congratulate him in as deep a sarcastic tone as I could muster, he followed with, 'and Mark has an extra ticket if you're interested in going.' I could have passed out.<br /><br />The day of the show was a beautiful Indian Summer day, and my friend picked me up in his Chevy convertible. With Born To Run blaring from his tape deck, we drove off to meet up with the rest of his friends and then headed down to Cobo Arena. (Many sources credit the name of the venue as Cobo Hall, but that is actually the adjoining convention center.) We passed the time buying our tour shirts and some Pepsi's, chanted 'BROOOOCE' along with the anxious sell-out crowd of 12,000 as each pre-show song faded out, and checked out the instruments on stage; Clarence's saxophone gleamed under the houselights, Roy's grand piano sat there like the long black Cadillac Bruce would be singing about later that night during Cadillac Ranch, and at the center of the stage, like a holy relic on an alter, Bruce's Telecaster.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQpQsb1AvM8XiUVJNfJS8OsRnTvG6Tc_ZmGKiayvfVohpj3wI_KSuITviVtqp9AGSIR9njs59N6mffolHxK_H_b36JFjGxZ5QAGKia4CTocWwn16TEmVALf0gzQm8o1AppOUgkA8q4OND/s1600-h/Cobo+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQpQsb1AvM8XiUVJNfJS8OsRnTvG6Tc_ZmGKiayvfVohpj3wI_KSuITviVtqp9AGSIR9njs59N6mffolHxK_H_b36JFjGxZ5QAGKia4CTocWwn16TEmVALf0gzQm8o1AppOUgkA8q4OND/s320/Cobo+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254506782544337122" border="0" /></a>True to form, the published start time came and went, and the crowd grew even more impatient until at last the pre-show music shut off mid song and simultaneously the houselights went dark. A thunderous roar rose from the audience as flashlights guided band members to their places, and then after a moment, Max's drum roll marked the beginning of Born To Run. They followed with Prove It All Night and then the account of the band's history in Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out before finally slowing down for Darkness on the Edge of Town and Independence Day. A song that had appeared during the Darkness tour, Independence Day was now an upcoming release on The River which was still another five days from the record stores. Bruce played brave that night; twelve of the twenty eight songs came from that album, yet it seemed the audience was still very much into the new music despite the unfamiliarity, not using those songs for bathroom or beer runs.<br /><br />This show confirmed what until that night had seemed like tales of legend I'd heard from my neighbor: Bruce went into the crowd to dance during Sherry Darlin', he climbed onto the speakers to lean out over the audience during Crush On You, he bantered with Clarence during Fire and dueled with him prior to their 'Bring It Up' shout during Rosalita, and ignoring Roy's finger shaking wave off, Bruce jumped up onto that grand piano for big air on one of his song ending leaps.<br /><br />The length of the show matched expectations as well. It seemed that Bruce would never leave, extending the Detroit Medley to include what turned out to be the first ever I Hear A Train. As 1980's only Quarter to Three followed, Bruce finally began begging the audience to let him go; late night Kojak re-runs were on, and Bruce never missed an episode. Assured it was an episode he'd already seen, Bruce broke back into the conclusion of that song and sadly, the end of the concert. As Bruce left, my friends and I sat back down in our seats exhausted and soaked with sweat, hoping for but not getting one of those mid tear-down surprise encores we'd heard about. But how it was that we seemed just as physically drained as Bruce looked reveals the connection Bruce has a talent for creating with his audience; he gives and the audience gives right back. Music isn't just played for the ears, it's owned, molded into something visual, then repeated over the course of three and a half hours with sheer determination.<br /><br />I arrived home about 12:30 am on that school night; aware of the length of his shows from that Agora broadcast, I'd luckily renegotiated my curfew with my parents ahead of time. I went to bed that night cemented as a fan, that Agora tape playing into my ringing ears, feeling lucky that I'd gotten that ticket, and replaying all that I had seen and heard. I fell asleep knowing that I would be preaching to my friends the next day, as much like the prophet that my neighbor had been to me. Bruce claims that he picks out one particular audience member and uses him or her as his inspiration for his shows. I doubt that he could see me in my upper deck, second from the back row seat, but I can let him claim another successful Brucifixion.<br /><br />"Born to Run"<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P0c95eab54a27cbffc4609863e328c4acbF14QVREY2F8&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/P0c95eab54a27cbffc4609863e328c4acbF14QVREY2F8.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The original recording of this show was not in the best shape when I received it. Drop outs due to tape flips have been patched, and the playback speed (which ran fast) has been corrected in the files submitted.</span><br /><br />Full Show:<br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZVQFYXTP"><br />Disc 1</a>, <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JH52BWMG">Disc 2</a>, <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RFVETMD4">Disc 3</a>.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.</span>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-91071419234227357212008-10-07T10:32:00.000-07:002008-10-09T01:53:24.830-07:00Boot Tracker, Oktober 5th 2008, Columbus Ohio"I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality." -Bruce Springsteen<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmzbc5EW5OyTFLAKcxqp3REC_s-Rn0xPiCBQURIc4W7r5lRumq2BBnlk1Bo1anVJ4NsIz5MCM_grWu8OGlf7v6efgg3ifxUW8HzWDaHTi1hjEIL85BcDzd3JPLWzNbKudeKjgxSIXVlde/s1600-h/C+Rally3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmzbc5EW5OyTFLAKcxqp3REC_s-Rn0xPiCBQURIc4W7r5lRumq2BBnlk1Bo1anVJ4NsIz5MCM_grWu8OGlf7v6efgg3ifxUW8HzWDaHTi1hjEIL85BcDzd3JPLWzNbKudeKjgxSIXVlde/s320/C+Rally3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254494390957403506" border="0" /></a>The above quote sums up Springsteen music pretty well. For years I've been trying to explain my fascination for that man to my friends, who more than once looked at me and my borderline obsession quite bemused. I can assure you, I've never been able to capture him in one simple sentence. Unfortunately I'm much to verbose for that. Springsteen's association with Barack Obama makes perfect sense when you set it off against his work and that one sentence. If I were to over simplify Barack Obama, he'd become an image of hope. It has been argued that Obama has been more image than content. In a sense that is true. Senator Barack Obama's strong charisma radiates a hope that America hasn't seen as strong since the mythic Kennedy was president. In a sense his image is as grand (and maybe overblown) as Springsteen's "Promised Land." Obama's image touches something that's bigger than himself, in the same way Springsteen's songs touch that big vision. Barack Obama radiates the vitality and youth that is the American dream. A dream that quite a few of us Europeans are smitten with as well. With its sense that every man is created equal and should have an equal chance to achieve his or her goals, how can you not be?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoRVkyu-OdZVoPJ4OcXovEJinySFFBciZZvY-LSMIVGqFP_rLcB_kUBjpGTdl5aKFF9YLj-5AstNWYh_4apvahnXeIWKTrxwdKdIBsTmIl3wVPNh-xEmD29tV6LVkwBQkKMNYVKsW7Jyh/s1600-h/barack-obama-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoRVkyu-OdZVoPJ4OcXovEJinySFFBciZZvY-LSMIVGqFP_rLcB_kUBjpGTdl5aKFF9YLj-5AstNWYh_4apvahnXeIWKTrxwdKdIBsTmIl3wVPNh-xEmD29tV6LVkwBQkKMNYVKsW7Jyh/s320/barack-obama-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254495598521101570" border="0" /></a>Yet, as the quote betrays, between dream and reality there's a gap. A gap that these days seems to be widening rapidly. With the stock market crashing, Iraq an continued bloody mess and New Orleans still struggling to get back on its feet, many of us are scared. Truth tell, I'm scared, afraid that I'll learn more about the era the Joads came from than I bargained for. America's brand of capitalism seems to have stretched itself beyond its capacity and once more there seems to be an awful lot of truth in these words, "if America sneezes, the world catches a cold." America has been sneezing big time as of late. So while a lot of Europeans look at the American dream with a sense wonder, we look at the American reality with a sense of fear or apprehension. Often this is mistaken as a form of anti-Americanism in more conservative circles, but it simply isn't. The world has almost as much invested in the American dream as America itself.<br /><br />The question is if Barack Obama can help restore that American dream. Strip away the image, a man remains, as vulnerable and prone to mistake as we all are. More importantly, as limited in capacity as we all are. Not one man can change society, it takes a nation to do so. Springsteen may claim that "One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down," but the current administration did it an awful lot of damage. Not just damage to the economy and its standing in the world, but to the spirit of America. Right now America needs a president that can built bridges, or rather that can inspire people to built bridges. I believe Barack Obama is that man. He has proved as much in Chicago with his community work, he has proved as much by building a grass roots movement that proved bigger and more powerful than the top brass in the Democratic Party. In the "Audacity of Hope" Barack Obama shows himself as a man of character, a man who is able to approach people with respect and leave room for other points of view. More importantly Obama demonstrates in his book sufficient concrete ideas on how to improve people's lives, he understands what the common American needs to achieve a base sense of quality in their lives and how to get it to them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfssYwxltUMcPpEUOV4TVApk6QBUjcZWLn1HMwfjC6Q_dhMwMlVdlWRkkuXmOzOCTH17yXIDACYwlAtfNN6-ui9hpLnXs_cw_gEM-Rbr2wdC4T_gsNV5Zfk7xLd84naiFgz3MLsH5tELBt/s1600-h/C+Rally2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfssYwxltUMcPpEUOV4TVApk6QBUjcZWLn1HMwfjC6Q_dhMwMlVdlWRkkuXmOzOCTH17yXIDACYwlAtfNN6-ui9hpLnXs_cw_gEM-Rbr2wdC4T_gsNV5Zfk7xLd84naiFgz3MLsH5tELBt/s320/C+Rally2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254495845776794050" border="0" /></a>In the light of the current economic crisis, both his image and his practicality are important. Economy, for a large part, is based on trust. When consumers and investors start to get cold feet, start to loose faith, the economy shutters to a halt. Practical measures are needed and in recent days Obama proved he was able to recognize the severity of the economic crisis, recognize the measures that needed to be taken and inspire people to make difficult choices. If that isn't the measure of leadership, I don't know what is. So in short, I fully support Springsteen's endorsement of Obama. While all three rally shows were sober and not really all that special, none of these versions will ever become a definitive version, these performances do radiate that electrifying sense of promise and resilience that makes the man so inspiring in the first place. The context is what gives these rally shows their edge. In a few years from now they'll probably won't sound like anything special, but right now I find it enormously exiting to hear Springsteen chant "Yes We Can" along with a crowd that is bigger than the crowd of the average Magic show.<br /><br />"Mr Spaceman"<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pc430c914ac562579b5bdb4d6ab375358bF14QVREY2F9&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pc430c914ac562579b5bdb4d6ab375358bF14QVREY2F9.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A short, but very cool samply. Bruce got introduced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn">John Glenn</a> in Ohio. Glenn is one of those few people who really seen it all. So if he takes pleasure out of introducing our man, that means something right?<br /></span><br /><br />Download the full show in mp3 <a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/151552987/2008-10-05_Columbus.rar">here</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.</span><br /><br />Read the review from the Columbus Dispatch <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_SPRINGSTEEN?SITE=OHCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">here</a>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-39703065054641793622008-10-01T10:09:00.000-07:002008-10-01T11:06:54.519-07:00Boss Tracks; Gino Washington, Gino is a Coward.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuxd49x5-Sg8aCLS99wgjbkPBd2-WK-ZmjgOXJlRph3uRPCWqdEhpBtTKtW_r7qDjgn7VQH7YkQHwFyf5TXMd8sPhCXPH3CiNL9d4xFSBJPUDWgRTci63pQECpakT88NguUtBpxHvhqmA/s1600-h/Scan1.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuxd49x5-Sg8aCLS99wgjbkPBd2-WK-ZmjgOXJlRph3uRPCWqdEhpBtTKtW_r7qDjgn7VQH7YkQHwFyf5TXMd8sPhCXPH3CiNL9d4xFSBJPUDWgRTci63pQECpakT88NguUtBpxHvhqmA/s400/Scan1.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252245752661330754" border="0" /></a>"Gino is a Coward" is the song Springsteen based his 1988 Tunnel of Love Express tour show piece on, "I'm a Coward." It's one of those songs that prove that R&R lyrics do not have to be all that elaborate or sophisticated to really make a connection. "Gino is a Coward" is of the most simple poetry, yet it perfectly captures an emotion a lot of us are only all to familiar with. Within those rambling guitars and gusto vocals <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=81252549">Gino Washington</a> bares his Soul, he confesses a fear most of us like to leave unspoken, that we're simply affraid of love. We might just feel more fear for love than that grizzly bear Gino likes to wrestle. Love does have that power to paralyze us, to make you feel like your heart is bleeding on the floor. Love is a roller coaster ride of emotions, where it is not all that certain that the cart will stay on the tracks. Now, be honest, who isn't just a little scared of that! It is not without irony that the B-side is the haunting "Puppet on a String."<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MzmbEPkhioE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MzmbEPkhioE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Gino Washington is one of those more rough and raggedy talents that got eclipsed by Motown's sun. With Detroit buddy's Nathaniel Mayer and Nolan Strong, he never gained the fame of a Marvin Gaye, but did become one of those cult figures that gained a quaint following amongst Garage bands and R&B fans who were drawn to the more unpolished side of the equation. Gino's dad had been a failed Blues singer, so Gino was aware of the disappointments the trade could bring. Yet when he saw Jackie Wilson perform, Gino knew what he wanted, he wanted to be on stage. After winning the talent contest on local television's Milky's Party Time four times in a row, Gino got his break with the fledging Correc-Tone label. "I'm a Coward" was the first single he ever cut, what a way to introduce yourself. Very few copies on this label were ever printed and very rare indeed today. The Ric-Tic version presented here is a re-recording of that very song, without the horn arrangement that is so prominently there in Springsteen's version. In the liner notes for the excellent compilation Gino explains what happened. "With the first time I cut the song, with the horns, it bombed! The arrangement was all wrong, so I went in with <a href="http://metrotimes.com/guide/musicians/artistprofile.asp?id=7598">Jeff and the Atlantics</a> and tried my arrangement". Correc-Tone than put the single out on their subsidiary Sonbert, when the song broke in Detroit Ric-Tic picked it up nationally.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4H8r3v41dMQBnZRT_H-3KWwsKs9I59IylYoPI9UZ8tSph_FJf3Z_AdFZffbYlSPNL-qQ9NviOGGpuDnm0GdEBWoKdqfVP7Nc42X9h90CR1ln4PfbMZpcBd6sk3zuqjt6pDsAzRS_YgZN/s1600-h/Scan10001.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4H8r3v41dMQBnZRT_H-3KWwsKs9I59IylYoPI9UZ8tSph_FJf3Z_AdFZffbYlSPNL-qQ9NviOGGpuDnm0GdEBWoKdqfVP7Nc42X9h90CR1ln4PfbMZpcBd6sk3zuqjt6pDsAzRS_YgZN/s320/Scan10001.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252247200146191922" border="0" /></a>By the time "Gino is a Coward" started to hit, there was only one thing keeping Gino from the top, those pesky Beatles. As influential as the Beatles may have been, they did change the market. Just when white teen-agers started to discover R&B and allowing people like Gino Washington and Gary 'US' Bonds some cross-over success, the Beatles gave those very white teens a clean cut, easier to identify with, alternative. Though in Gino's case it might also have had something to do with his way of doing business. As Jeff remembers in those same liner notes, the shows were getting bigger and bigger after "Gino is a Coward" hit. Gino got the chance to open up for quite a few big names, the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones. The problem was Gino was always late. He'd walk in the very last minute, dressed to kill looking ready to do business. The promoter got fed up with them and when Gino showed up late for the Beach Boys gig, he yelled; "That's it you're not doing the Beatles." If the reaction he evoked during the live shows is any indication, Gino could have been bound for much greater things. Not everybody gets an audience hollering his name, "Gino! Gino! Gino!," during a Rolling Stones concert! If you want to know what Gino is all about, keep an eye on him. He's still out there on the road somewhere, like at last edition of the <a href="http://www.ponderosastomp.com/">Ponderosa Stomp</a>! What ever you do though, don't ever mistake him for that fraud <a href="http://www.genowashington.com/">Geno Washinton</a>!<br /><br />"Gino is a Coward"<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P6c7cfa79c04e517959f640c93d8b3396bF14QVREY2Fz&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br />Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000JG1D?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00000JG1D">Out of This World</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00000JG1D" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-74636091000617514572008-09-28T01:35:00.001-07:002009-02-20T02:58:41.829-08:00Down the Tracks; Southside Johnny, Hearts of Stone beneath a Grapefruit Moon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvZ0a4fwsyFXznJssh3vAI8Y-2dlCLuWzkzE1N8XBqOtwIMK2I10znAXKe5YCgAEHZWPHqWbJh9LNvkYRSLoXr5Q3aDRu1JS4QlXku2vnUicei3quNyYGMfmLK9dlLfFG1oedxDpqloZA/s1600-h/Southside.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvZ0a4fwsyFXznJssh3vAI8Y-2dlCLuWzkzE1N8XBqOtwIMK2I10znAXKe5YCgAEHZWPHqWbJh9LNvkYRSLoXr5Q3aDRu1JS4QlXku2vnUicei3quNyYGMfmLK9dlLfFG1oedxDpqloZA/s400/Southside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250989469198852994" border="0" /></a>Some 30 years ago, when Springsteen released his seminal Darkness on the Edge of Town, John Lyon, better known as Southside Johnny did the same with his Hearts of Stone. Though the album didn’t sell all that well at the time years later Rolling Stone magazine would vote it as one of the best albums recorded at that period of time and it has since achieved some kind of cult status. Those in the know recognize Hearts of Stone as one of the best Rock and Soul albums of the late seventies. I sought out Southside Johnny to talk to him about that unrecognized master piece and was thrilled to find the man is as much a fan-boy like his audience. Throughout the interview Southside remained charmingly humble about his achievements and his talent, coming across as a man who is simply thrilled that he’s still able to perform in the shadows of his heroes on stage.<br /><br />Southside Johnny first started to make his mark at the Upstage, a club down the Jersey Shore. Which according to Southside was more or less a musicians bar, “after all the clubs had closed, we used to just come there and jam into the night,” he recalls some 40 years down the road. Because of its loose atmosphere the Upstage was a draw for musicians from all over the garden state. Southside lived not to far from the club so he would walk up there nightly. Pretty soon he was the constant factor on stage, “because I knew how to sing all those songs,” he explains today. Southside Johnny had been spoon fed Jazz and R&B by his parents. “There wasn’t any Monteverdi or anything like that in our house,” he remembers “they would come home from work and open a beer, have a great time listening to Big Joe Turner or Ray Charles.” His love for R&B made him a perfect match first for Garry Tallent, Springsteen’s future base player, and later for Miami Steve, whom he met at the Upstage club. Southside knew Tallent and Vini Lopez, the first drummer from the E-Street Band, through school, but Miami lived in a whole different area. So if it hadn’t been for the draw the Upstage had, Lyon and Van Zandt might never have met. With a similar sensibility to music his friendship with Miami would later prove key to Southside’s early career as van Zandt became his producer and manager.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQfLc2pS4NE5FhSI6G_mBIkx_DX7VkHkbnxPqXiulHQGiRzbsOPWaAOalXHRuhPDIREaP5yF3XlEii0zYDsi1e_LcXs6Hyzs8d0PnOVQ7myMgWpQSSjtlFmbzZ6uhnjHfEmqU5545JXuM/s1600-h/Little+Steven.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 385px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQfLc2pS4NE5FhSI6G_mBIkx_DX7VkHkbnxPqXiulHQGiRzbsOPWaAOalXHRuhPDIREaP5yF3XlEii0zYDsi1e_LcXs6Hyzs8d0PnOVQ7myMgWpQSSjtlFmbzZ6uhnjHfEmqU5545JXuM/s400/Little+Steven.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250989682864850530" border="0" /></a>The Asbury Jukes, as Southside’s band is called, didn’t form over night however. Southside recalls today that most of the time, whenever somebody scored a gig at the Jersey shore club scene, bands were just formed then and there for the occasion. Lyon was the logical choice to do the vocals, again because of his encyclopedic knowledge of the R&B classics. “It was all less formal than having a band just trying to make it, we were all just musicians learning,” Lyon explains “Nobody was really ambitious, we just wanted to make music and do things.” Things changed when Little Steven started to work in construction, “he was working on the New Jersey turnpike, working a jackhammer, he had been working the guitar for years and years, except there was no money and he had to do something.” Steven had no place to stay, so he was staying at Lyon’s, “one day he walked in, he was covered in asphalt,” Southside remembers “I looked at him and said, Stevie you can’t do this.” Realizing that day jobs wasn’t what was going to make them happy Steven and Johnny started to get serious about music again.<br /><br />Right around that time Springsteen finally got his big break with Born to Run. Southside got offered a record contract in the slipstream of that success. Something he still is baffled by today. Lyon remembers he was convinced that “they are never going to give us a record contract, they must be crazy! But they did!” Adding with a laugh, “up to this day I don’t know why!!” Steven and Southside went into the studio before all the formalities were taken care of, convinced the record company would change their minds. “We kind of sneaked into this recording studio, the Record Plant, and we didn’t have any money,” he confides today. Jimi Iovine, who had engineered Springsteen’s Born to Run, aided and abetted. “There really was a lot of pressure on us to go out there and make this happen right away,” Lyon explains “Once Born to Run hit, Bruce was swimming in a sea of sharks, he really needed somebody close who he could rely on and relate to, and that was Steven.” So it was also a matter of the Jukes signature guitar player being swooped up in the circus that Springsteen’s career would soon become.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQkbE8TQ8ZkcgaH1sVnPxIYAjujjmxOlYE6hhPJ1Fu6Odj_Y_RDVgjumf5kir0ZtZjbQ7d5wkHJWBxBmEGWJ6UyWuuMLQ6jX6Ne4J2FJphmIa94C2Mpcvv6rtfwx5Nwe0o2cTNmA49iT8/s1600-h/southsidejohnny_18_al.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQkbE8TQ8ZkcgaH1sVnPxIYAjujjmxOlYE6hhPJ1Fu6Odj_Y_RDVgjumf5kir0ZtZjbQ7d5wkHJWBxBmEGWJ6UyWuuMLQ6jX6Ne4J2FJphmIa94C2Mpcvv6rtfwx5Nwe0o2cTNmA49iT8/s400/southsidejohnny_18_al.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250990213047122882" border="0" /></a>By lucky coincidence Ronnie Spector made a cameo on that very first album. “Jimmy Iovine was engineering that first album, sneaking us into the studio” Southside elaborates, “He had just come of from working with John Lennon on that roots album. Phil Spector produced that, and Jimmy met Ronnie Spector.” While in the studio working with Johnny, Jimmy got a call from Ronnie. Jimmy seized the opportunity and asked Ronnie if she would be interested in recording a duet with Southside. Much to the latter’s excitement, she accepted, “for us she was just a Goddess from our youth!” That fan mentality, the sheer love of the music translated well unto the album and, for that time, it sold very respectable, some 250.000 copies, “so the record company looked at us with some favor” Southside laughs. Yet ’75 proved to be a watershed in the music business, just before the mega million sales started to dominate the market. Southside’s debut was released at the same time as Boston’s first album, “they broke right out of the box office!” Lyon recalls. “We did some shows with them,” he elaborates, “and we were the better band. But they sold 12 million copies, so now the record company is looking at us……”<br /><br />With the company aiming to repeat Boston’s success, Southside Johnny’s relationship with them would soon sour. Always convinced the record company wouldn’t allow him to do another album, by the time Lyon started working with Steven on Hearts of Stone, this fear was rapidly starting to become reality. To top it off the recording sessions for Hearts of Stone didn’t exactly go as smooth as planned, “we already recorded eight songs, but then decided that they just weren’t what we wanted. It didn’t sound right, it didn’t feel right, so we decided we had to start all over again. The record company by this time was fed up.” Complicating matters was the fact that Miami and Southside had already ran over budget even before they started working on the new batch of songs. “The record company was very, very unhappy with us. They didn’t like the music, they didn’t understand the music, they didn’t really like us. A regime change had happened, people we didn’t know, people who had no history with us. So I told Steven, it’s over”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPruQL3MMTFUeOTW4RWoDotL8CevAkSlDO5VYM9Z_c-N574gpopwKYp4QTCtNP8pJgnJM7lLKPmovpIi7wvt0EpInJbhWzyxhHxDnbQvsb1EtVXRDKilWMPUM1biIVrkUbXPv1r6asH3bI/s1600-h/southsidejohnny_04_al.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPruQL3MMTFUeOTW4RWoDotL8CevAkSlDO5VYM9Z_c-N574gpopwKYp4QTCtNP8pJgnJM7lLKPmovpIi7wvt0EpInJbhWzyxhHxDnbQvsb1EtVXRDKilWMPUM1biIVrkUbXPv1r6asH3bI/s400/southsidejohnny_04_al.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250990398520168738" border="0" /></a>Hearts of Stone was recorded Southside’s and Steven’s back against the wall, literally on their way out. It was possible that this was their last shot at ever making an album together. “We were under such pressure to make this record that it came out as an intense emotional experience” Lyon reflects on it now “it was one of those moments where you realize that making music is more important than anything else in your life, it made me dig deeper inside myself”. The difference between Hearts of Stone and its predecessor is indeed striking. Where This Time it's For Real was still laden with stylistic exercises (complete with a Leiber and Stoller pastiche featuring the Coasters), strings and sugar sweet blue eyed soul, Hearts of Stone became a whole different ball of wax. In little under 35 minutes all the anxiety and frustration from dealing with the record company, combined with the sheer love of the music, just comes poring out. Hearts of Stone is at the same time jubilant as it is uneasy, brimming with mixed emotions. Steven’s stiletto like guitar slashes though the Motown Soul with raging love. Lyon delivers a vocal performance of a man who is trying to cling on to the love of his life as she’s walking out of the door. In what sounds like a clash between the Four Tops and the King’s Men, Miami and Lyon delivered an album that is a text book case of how a Rock album should sound, a feverish exorcism, a raging celebration. But without the support of the record company, the album sank like a rock.<br /><br />Despite all that was going on, Southside Johnny remembers that working with Steven on the album, the latter being notorious for his headstrong views on how music should sound and be recorded, was easy. “Because we had faced the adversity of the record company, it gave us the inner strength to say; we know what we’re doing, so we’re going to go out and do it and come hell or high water we’re going to go do it the way we know it should be done,” he reflects on it now, “and of course Steven and I had the same view point on how recording should be done, that it should be a visceral experience, that it should be honest music. So that part was pretty easy, except it was late nights and I’d come of the road, the tour bus would drop me off at the studio and I would sleep on the studio couch.” Despite Hearts of Stone turning out to be one of the best Soul albums recorded after ’75, Lyon doesn’t feel he trumped his heroes, “we paid the best tribute we could” he humbly says today.<br /><br />When Hearts of Stones was released, Lyon was swimming against the current with his music. “It was actually a time when music had become a little bloated,” he explains “and I think we were part of the reaction against that.” Southside explains that “all the records that I love are moments caught in time, they are not as produced and structured.” From that perspective Lyon was able to relate to the punk movement as well, even though his brand of music (and the Asbury Park scene) was quite a bit more sophisticated. Lyon acknowledges they had different roots, “but we certainly understood each other. Steven and I used to go and see the Ramones in CBGB’s and they were great! Holy shit! The punk scene to me was kind of a breath of fresh air too, for some reason we managed to get along with them. I think there’s a real bond between people who are not part of the system and don’t want to be part of that system.”<br /><br />With Hearts of Stone sinking, the Jukes were threatened with a life in the bar scene again. Southside Johnny admits that he resented it at the time, “I felt we were better than that.” Lyon was determined not to give up and continued to keep touring while his career hang on a thread. “We just kept going and that’s 30 years ago” he laughs at it now. Lyon elaborating on how he “just want to have a chance to be me and be honest about what I feel,” might just be the key to why he continued to struggle with record companies. Lyon is not the type of artist to compromise his music in favor of current trends. He is first and foremost a fan of music like his audience. Lyon is capable of recounting is first James Brown concert in the early sixties in a fashion that makes it sound like he just stepped out of the venue, still brimming with excitement. Record executives concerned with sales figures, big sales figures, have a hard time following that train of thought. “Most of the people in the business have nothing to do with music,” Southside claims, “and that’s an immediate alienation for most of us.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN40iIMw_NNnKmnnsfB51kN9uNuSf9w5BPwpcB0exEAaVBvJ1wwj9j9rEJ8cVO_DVG6IE_yhImm7pvFGDkJi5flSFG738o5C4X4Z8-D4_4m7FkwTKhnczG4y40mRwKAxtZQv_IJh400vO6/s1600-h/51a0NA8dx8L._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN40iIMw_NNnKmnnsfB51kN9uNuSf9w5BPwpcB0exEAaVBvJ1wwj9j9rEJ8cVO_DVG6IE_yhImm7pvFGDkJi5flSFG738o5C4X4Z8-D4_4m7FkwTKhnczG4y40mRwKAxtZQv_IJh400vO6/s400/51a0NA8dx8L._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250991595977242146" border="0" /></a>It is the same fan boy like admiration that seeps through on his latest project, Grapefruit Moon, a big band take on the songs of Tom Waits. On the surface Waits’ music might seem like a big leap from the R&B records by the Drifters Lyon loves to collect, but as Southside explains, “I think there a real connection between that, there’s a little Howlin’ Wolf in Tom, there’s certainly a lot of cool Jazz like Charles Brown. There’s a real R&B background in Tom, you can really feel it,” adding with a laugh, “he sounds like he’s down on the street, where he belongs.” The big band project first came into fruition when Johnny met Tom after an Amsterdam show Waits just gave. Lyon sprang his idea on Tom and Waits immediately warmed up to it, “so I said ok, if he can understand it, than I’m alright.” Lyon admits that covering Waits was a challenge, “it had been done but it had not done very well. Not to be cool or anything, but I knew if we did it the way I wanted to do it, it would be different” Eventually Lyon got up the courage to ask Tom if he wanted to sing on the album, Tom agreed. “It was a great moment, I was standing in this funky little hippie studio in California, and it was one of these little moments in your life where you just say I’m grateful to have this opportunity.” Southside Johnny’s drive to approach music open and honest, maybe surprisingly, makes Grapefruit Moon an artistic success. The album is as much about the love of music as the music of Tom Waits.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWKJvvdbcXClztPyFAGPy_dL1htPoHPNNyf05xxfiPidI_NbbFXTc0Dx_5kHrlD8XucFKsKmVammd4qy1c5ydbr4HdnFwdLfAbgzFN4MHNJw2ShqrEqNfb3YlmG6HQ4M09D_vwgvHPh0f/s1600-h/SouthsideJ.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWKJvvdbcXClztPyFAGPy_dL1htPoHPNNyf05xxfiPidI_NbbFXTc0Dx_5kHrlD8XucFKsKmVammd4qy1c5ydbr4HdnFwdLfAbgzFN4MHNJw2ShqrEqNfb3YlmG6HQ4M09D_vwgvHPh0f/s400/SouthsideJ.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250999528526469922" border="0" /></a>Lyon’s career has been rough and bumpy, and as he admits not without regrets. "I’ve regretted it many times. I hate to be blunt about it, but its true. You know, pulling up four o’ clock in the morning at a gass station where they have a little lunch counter and you know you’re gonna eat a chili cheese dog at four in the morning and be sick, and you’ve got a gig to do that night and the next night, with ten hours of driving in between and you just think, What the fuck am I doing.” Still he is quick to add, “once you get on stage, it all clears up, you understand what you do.” With charming humbleness Southside admits that his aspirations were modest, “I just wanted a chance to tour, a chance to see the world, it may not see like much to most people, but that’s what I wanted.” The audiences all over the world still respond with a fervor to the Jukes on stage. Southside explains “mostly what I wanted to do is have fun. I know that seems like a small ambition but I never wanted to be a R&R hero. I wanted people to come to the shows and have a good time, just enjoy themselves.” Southside in that sense is R&R’s foremost anti-hero. Standing on stage in a plain jeans shirt and small sun glasses, he looks like he just stepped out of an auto parts shop or the construction site Little Steven escaped all those years ago. As such Southside Johnny is easier to connect to than most of R&R’s super stars, maybe even easier to connect to than Springsteen, in whose slip steam he got his first break. “I didn’t think my fans had to worship to any throne or anything like that,” Lyon says about it himself, “I wanted it to be like the music I used to see, where you would go and see the Drifters and just enjoy yourself, I never wanted anything more than that.” Going by that standard you might just say that Lyon’s career has been a great success, a success in honesty and love of music.<br /><br />"Gotta Find a Better Way Home"<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pbcbabe1678eb740e63167a1eae5d1929bF14QVREY2Fw&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><br />From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000025DM?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000025DM">Hearts of Stone</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0000025DM" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /><br /><br />Grapefruit Moon is available on line through the Southside Johnny <a href="http://www.southsidejohnny.net/ssjstore/shop.asp?sPage=theMusic.htm">store</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C28Z8O?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001C28Z8O">Amazon</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001C28Z8O" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-8441459431724504282008-09-28T00:34:00.000-07:002009-02-20T02:58:41.829-08:00Down the Tracks; Tom Morello, The Fabled City<span style="font-size:85%;">We're back on line! While being out of the loop I've made myself useful and prepared two articles that might be of interest to you. The review of Tom Morello's new album is one of them, but I've got a big surprise for you tomorrow!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKjMmDE8W2E9aoFWqVbZX9jyk_vA7xKf2Te8UL05nf244uLJW7kpTiwVbariuQH18LkFUFhK8MvKbDjnElWcSUUCJrrLGMFakN9h_UJVM_W9EZaNOSnTds8LYTZgE_qKCk8gfsHxgn9yN/s1600-h/morello.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKjMmDE8W2E9aoFWqVbZX9jyk_vA7xKf2Te8UL05nf244uLJW7kpTiwVbariuQH18LkFUFhK8MvKbDjnElWcSUUCJrrLGMFakN9h_UJVM_W9EZaNOSnTds8LYTZgE_qKCk8gfsHxgn9yN/s400/morello.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250975043394690722" border="0" /></a>“The Fabled City” is <a href="http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/">Tom Morello’</a>s second solo outing as the Nightwatchman. Though Morello admittedly performed a lot of these songs “amidst the tear gas attacks at the G8 protest,” there is, again, little common ground between this solo album and his work with Rage Against the Machine. Though in both projects Morello presents himself as a socially and politically engaged artist, the methods are strikingly different. Morello has called the Nightwatchman as his antidote against arena rock. In tone and approach of the complex social issues Morello likes to address it is exactly that, the opposite of Rage Against the Machine vicious guitar riffs and raging vocals. Morello’s album is more reminiscent of a Rubin produced Johnny Cash album, his voice strikes a resemblance to Iggy Pop, sans the irony, the content closer to a Steve Earle record. On the surface there’s little what links the two projects.<br /><br />Morello’s inspiration for the Nightwatchman came from a rather unexpected corner for most Rage Against the Machine fans, I can imagine. Explaining the project today Tom claims that “the clear model for me was seeing Bruce Springsteen on his Ghost of Tom Joad tour. I was stunned at how powerful and heavy a concert could be without any Marshall amps in the room.” For Morello fans who view Springsteen through Reagan’s patriotic shades this link might be somewhat of a shocker. But fans who paid attention to Rage Against the Machine’s cover of the “Ghost of Tom Joad” and managed to look beyond the synthesizer layered sound of the “Born in the USA” album, might have found quite a bit of common ground between the two artists. From Springsteen Tom went back and explored the extensive catalogs of Dylan and Woody Guthrie, from where the Nightwatchman started to take shape. Though the two artists shared the stage for a fiercely rocking version of the “Ghost of Tom Joad”, their approach to songwriting bares little resemblance to each other’s work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWPEBZnhd_kNRpaEJVwprI6PVbYozA5P-1KxQqJhFUmss0rQ80W_y_QRaC-zJLrZO2uH62wH2XVtoqqxu27I5v4nB5FkP77ECx9Ldc0dEYVwwOmMu8DV3RfbChSFFKyvi7rFshItAUCOc/s1600-h/Mural++-+Coit+Tower.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWPEBZnhd_kNRpaEJVwprI6PVbYozA5P-1KxQqJhFUmss0rQ80W_y_QRaC-zJLrZO2uH62wH2XVtoqqxu27I5v4nB5FkP77ECx9Ldc0dEYVwwOmMu8DV3RfbChSFFKyvi7rFshItAUCOc/s400/Mural++-+Coit+Tower.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250975273723744194" border="0" /></a>Where Springsteen constructs his songs as miniature novel or films, Morello’s songs are decidedly more abstract. Using quite a bit of biblical imagery, Tom paints a rather apocalyptic picture of American society. Though the protagonists Springsteen likes to use, you know, the working class and disenfranchised, Morello chooses to take snap shots of them rather than chronicle the events that mark their lives. Morello’s songs are more like the murals from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera">Diego Riviera</a>, images of working class heroes and victims of capitalism’s shadow populate his songs. Though explicit criticism of the current Bush administration drifts in and out of the songs, the songs keep a certain abstract quality. Where the songwriting at Rage Against the Machine was littered with the same catchy, though strikingly more vicious and rebellious, one-liners politicians like to use, Morello’s albums leave more room for your own reflections.<br /><br />Question is of course which approach is more the more successful. Graduated from Harvard university with honors as a Political Science master, Morello has always been more of a political activist than he was a rock star, even though his current appearance in the Guitar Hero video came might have you suspect otherwise. Like Woody Guthrie, Morello is a songwriter with a mission. Though lacking the depth Morello’s Nightwatchman has, Rage Against the Machines hard rocking one-liners might just be more effective in getting the attention of a large audience. On the other hand, Rage Against the Machine’s albums have never been as thought provoking as “the Fabled City.” One-liners can be rather off putting in their uncompromising insistence. Morello’s acoustic albums may never reach such a large audience as Rage Against the Machine has, but for who is willing to listen, there is quite a bit more room for developing your own opinion on the issues Tom addresses.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGrFqMrMj8-cbUipkQCn9D9CXNHQo3vjJjeiarZqFG-iTG-bQ9J4ZrUj6cpN7jYcKzOq4lxzfKtHSRmjt9JUn4-fTdyC8DNVqw7kupEXAFBARByU5f7UCZoaRPL5nnhHg9bgaAP-4aGZl/s1600-h/obama_saint.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGrFqMrMj8-cbUipkQCn9D9CXNHQo3vjJjeiarZqFG-iTG-bQ9J4ZrUj6cpN7jYcKzOq4lxzfKtHSRmjt9JUn4-fTdyC8DNVqw7kupEXAFBARByU5f7UCZoaRPL5nnhHg9bgaAP-4aGZl/s400/obama_saint.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250975853939203122" border="0" /></a>In all, while the record breathes a sense of resilience and rebellion, its atmosphere is dark and dreary. Another vital point where Morello differs from Springsteen, who’s records are always balanced with songs that breathe an enormous amount of hope (though less so in his acoustic albums). Morello’s more skeptical outlook on the elections is no surprise after listening to “the Fabled City”. Where Springsteen is an open supporter of Barack Obama, Morello’s opinion of the man is steeped in criticism. While he concedes that an Obama presidency would be a major step forward symbolically, he also adds :”I firmly believe that it’s the system that’s the problem, rather than one party or the other. When a candidate steps forward who will end poverty and end the war and save the environment and be unbending to capital, we’ll see. Racism is as American as apple pie and baseball. A black president would definitely be a step in the right direction for civilizing the nation. But at the same time there’s Obama’s vow to continue a war in Afghanistan and saber-rattling in Iran. Whatever the voice is in his soul that whispers the good things, there are political demands. That’s why I’m a guitar player and a singer. I answer to no one”<br /><br />"Whatever it Takes"<br/><iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='246' height='20' src='http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pb2d8a0396799c5aff6024b61e9700314bF14QVREY2Fx&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21'> </iframe><br/><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/">Morello</a> will tour behind “the Fabled City” this fall.SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-34400745788822505592008-09-23T07:32:00.000-07:002008-09-23T07:38:49.214-07:00Happy Bossday Everybody!!<div>The internet connection at home is still down. Its been more than a week now. But I couldn't let this day pass without a birthday wish for our man. So I'm borrowing a few more minutes of my Boss' time here and hope to be back soon! Meanwhile, if I'm able to give frantic 3 hour shows at the age of 59, I'll count my blessings. Though I suspect that even at 33 years of age, I wouldn't be able to do it today. 59 sounds old, but it sure as hell didn't look old over the past year. I've got a sneaking feeling that our man will be defying age for quite a few years yet! Have a good one! </div><br /><br /><a href="http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/03/27/18/495-7X30BOSSDT.standalone.prod_affiliate.4.JPG"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/03/27/18/495-7X30BOSSDT.standalone.prod_affiliate.4.JPG" border="0" /></a>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-51716450551000925522008-09-15T00:49:00.000-07:002008-09-15T00:55:05.245-07:00The Legend of sir Lattimore Brown<span style="font-size:78%;">Hi folks, my internet connection at home is on the frits. Till I get it back up I'm not able to create any new posts, so I hope to find out what's wrong with it soon! In the mean while, here's a post I did at Twangville earlier this week. A quick copy and paste in the boss', my boss, time. As far as I know there's no connection between Lattimore and Springsteen, save for the fact that the Boss enjoys his Soul music.</span> <span style="font-size:78%;">But I felt this story was well worth sharing.<br /></span><br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pce5500e2a0a1c0849d04fa060b79af00Z1x4R1REZmF3&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=000066&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" frameborder="0" width="246" scrolling="no" height="20"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pce5500e2a0a1c0849d04fa060b79af00Z1x4R1REZmF3.mp3" rel="enclosure">It's Such A Sad, Sad World</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uAFM4GRboBenQIBfqSjpmSahSpYruJR6ZCIWXiqo1aAAWxLaN9HWNMwP1tLty3ASTp6NG6lAF2eik_icp-rgHP6u1TsY5qOR_NAfkwFujZ78joJkzMM0fKo35WL34NZeC6oGdnj-nQc/s1600-h/Latt+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244840148740020786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uAFM4GRboBenQIBfqSjpmSahSpYruJR6ZCIWXiqo1aAAWxLaN9HWNMwP1tLty3ASTp6NG6lAF2eik_icp-rgHP6u1TsY5qOR_NAfkwFujZ78joJkzMM0fKo35WL34NZeC6oGdnj-nQc/s320/Latt+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Who you might say? That's what I thought when I first saw this name pop up over at <a href="http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2008/06/lattimore-brown-i-wish-i-felt-this-way.html">the "B" Side</a>, Red Kelly's excellent blog. These days the net is swarming with Internet publications, blogging is so easily accessible that anybody with a half functioning computer can work it out. People like me who just like to write, but people like Red as well, who actually can write! For the past few years Red has been calling himself the Soul Detective, digging up all kinds of half forgotten Soul platters while digging deep into the fabric of what made them tick. But it wasn't until Red started his Lattimore Brown chronicle last June that he really earned his self-given moniker. It is impressive enough that Red knows who Lattimore is. Though a stellar Soul shouter, sir Lattimore never had much of a career in the spot lights. It is even more impressive though that Red found Lattimore when he was thought dead since the eighties. Each of Red's entries is dressed up with a mind blowing music download that makes you wonder how it is possible that he was even forgotten or passed by.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yXVY6x-Adi6eKH9JZ_4THkhP9tmaGOPjKUK45kbPsE63VdKzRbczD81A9AL6Ci-Am9SCzwNKWD42H1g8Re2wB3pfOu6UARQUlfV3GsxaYVvMCwd658HGLzmdhBBXUTNi73JYDKiieiU/s1600-h/trouble.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244840279168734434" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 304px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yXVY6x-Adi6eKH9JZ_4THkhP9tmaGOPjKUK45kbPsE63VdKzRbczD81A9AL6Ci-Am9SCzwNKWD42H1g8Re2wB3pfOu6UARQUlfV3GsxaYVvMCwd658HGLzmdhBBXUTNi73JYDKiieiU/s320/trouble.jpg" border="0" /></a>The whole story started with a nurse, treating a delirious patient, after the patient had been stabbed with a rusty screwdriver. The patient claimed he was a singer. Going beyond her duty, she googled Lattimore and word eventually got to Red. It turned out that Lattimore had been living in Biloxi all these years. Though New Orleans got all the publicity, it was Biloxi that got the direct hits from Katrina. The town was devastated by the storm, Lattimore lost damn near all he had in it. Red decided to look him up and caught up with sir Lattimore after losing track of him a couple of times. In a series of lengthy posts Red chronicled his times with Lattimore. The story that enfolded is without a doubt one of the most impressive I've ever read in the blog sphere. Through Lattimore's story Red traveled an alternate route through the history of Soul music. Lattimore may not have made much of a name himself, it appears he was lurking behind the scene at quite a few key moments. From Isaac Hayes, to Wilson Pickett, they all pass by. Slowly his story gives you a deeper understanding of how music works and the significance it has in the lives of people who create it and the lives of people who are captured by it. In almost a Hollywood like script we bare witness to Lattimore getting back on his feet while the musical landscape of America passes by.<br /><br />That is, until Gustav hit. For the second time Lattimore lost all his earthly belongings. When Red finally caught up with him this 77 year old soul surviver was unsure where he would sleep that night, with only the clothes on his back to comfort him. Red opened up a fund to help Lattimore get back on his feet. I like to take this opportunity to ask you to support Lattimore anyway you can. If you want to know why, just take a few and read all about <a href="http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2008/06/lattimore-brown-i-wish-i-felt-this-way.html">the Legend of Sir Lattimore Brown</a><br /><br /><ul><div align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=rkeller3@optonline.net&item_name=Friends%20of%20Lattimore%20Brown&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%25252dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%25252d8"><img id="" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.ovwright.org/images/friends.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2008/06/lattimore-brown-i-wish-i-felt-this-way.html">THE LEGEND OF SIR LATTIMORE BROWN</a></div></ul>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-6039491259727839652008-09-12T01:05:00.000-07:002009-02-20T03:01:38.088-08:00Boot Tracker, On The Tracks: November 24th 2002, Tampa<span style="font-size:85%;">Another guest story by a fellow Tramp, Brian Frederick. Brian picked the story of his first show and is planning to do a series of them on the forums. His cherry busters happens to be captured on a stellar sound board recording. Without a doubt one of the finest bootlegs of the Rising tour. One of those tapes that trumps the official live in Barcelona release, even though the audience is a bit too distant for my taste. The <a href="http://www.brucebase.org.uk/gig2002.htm#62">set</a> however is a killer!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnmaMp47VMrnzCguXrDawuuWtQUhaabvJ5G1yaI_L2xQdBrS0g2V8eezHJNGWOmH-suJO8aD_eJ6s-aLzrFAzBJ3Y5z-xKXa73jYO0ljpzgtROFvig3s3kvSvNlqkCN3Z-UvO7EECPMeb/s1600-h/t.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnmaMp47VMrnzCguXrDawuuWtQUhaabvJ5G1yaI_L2xQdBrS0g2V8eezHJNGWOmH-suJO8aD_eJ6s-aLzrFAzBJ3Y5z-xKXa73jYO0ljpzgtROFvig3s3kvSvNlqkCN3Z-UvO7EECPMeb/s320/t.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245044976207340402" border="0" /></a>So much has and will be said of my adoration of the Rock and Roll legend that is Bruce Springsteen. In fact, that is what I am going to be doing here today. I am beginning a writing series….NAY, a writing odyssey chronically my brief glimpses of rock perfection. I am going to tell the amazing, zany, sometimes outrageous stories behind each time I have seen the Boss in concert. As I sit here today I have had the honor of doing just that Eleven (11) times in the last five (5) years. I realized today that each single concert has some epic adventure leading to, happening during, or taking place after. The year 2002 was an interesting year in my life. By the time half the year was gone I was once again facing a major crossroads in my life. I was living in Minnesota at the time and I had been there about 4 years. Soon after I moved there is when I discovered my admiration for Bruce and he really made a big impact on my life. It was my new "thing" that I loved to get immersed in. You see I was never a Bruce fan growing up in New Jersey. Sounds odd I know but it wasn't until I "busted out" of there that I grew to appreciate my home state and Bruce kind of represented that for me. Anyway things had gotten pretty rough in MN and one of my escapes was the fact that Bruce had a new cd coming out, 'The Rising.' It was his first new album in almost ten years and obviously his first new disc since I had become a fan. When the first single was released I would leave the radio and use a cassette to try and catch it and record it. The first time I did hear it I drove around aimlessly through the back roads of MN waiting for it to come on the car radio. The DJ kept saying it was coming right up but didn't play it for almost an hour. When he finally did I pulled over to take it in. I was not only like a kid at Christmas; I was like a kid at Christmas who had been blind his whole life then woke up Christmas morning to not only his presents but his sight as well. Ok, that might be a bit much, but I was excited. With a new record out Bruce and the E St band were due to go on tour. I was hell bent to catch him live. Only trouble was, life had blown up in my face and I knew I needed to make big changes. It was time to evacuate MN. But where to go? Back to NJ with my grandmother? Down to Tampa to live with my folks? Where would I see the Boss (yes, obviously priorities were firmly in order)? I chose to move to Florida but planned on hitting Jersey along my route to meet said grandmother. When I left the Midwest I missed Bruce there by only a week. When I made it to Jersey I missed him by only day. Feeling beaten I thought maybe life and got the joke over on me and I wouldn't add a Bruce show to my life's story. Then the fall dates came out. Bruce would play the Ice Palace in Tampa in November, mere months after I arrived. My plan started to take shape.<br /><br />Flash forward to August and I was a resident in Tampa Bay. I kept eyeing the November date when my idol would arrive. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. Not only would I see the show, screw it, I would get a job in the arena as well! And I did just that, working the next month as security. I figured I would get to see the show for free, get paid, and hell maybe meet the man as well. Well that idea went to heck quickly. I worked security for the arena but had a steady string of luck getting stuck outside telling folks where and where not to smoke. I missed quite a few good shows and feared the worst once the Jersey Boy came to my new home. Needless to say my stint working at the Ice Palace ended shortly thereafter. I obviously was not going to let a silly thing like work keep my dreams from coming true.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb1RtKF40OSZXXDMyo0xL1OLZeL5bWoZjnvNnCOI1oZ6YliPZia-quwzHKMFCWKRuvKk1LbJlYRfWT9o4S3A-WX9F0uRG1UXZoVPRCxvDYIFPmnAfGCZOi_NvxFxgbnUNkPB_bnbIMlLd/s1600-h/Tampa2002b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb1RtKF40OSZXXDMyo0xL1OLZeL5bWoZjnvNnCOI1oZ6YliPZia-quwzHKMFCWKRuvKk1LbJlYRfWT9o4S3A-WX9F0uRG1UXZoVPRCxvDYIFPmnAfGCZOi_NvxFxgbnUNkPB_bnbIMlLd/s320/Tampa2002b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245045245579866290" border="0" /></a>The days started to fade away and my first dance was about to take place. Somewhere on the net I came across a nice pair of women from the great state of California who were coming to town for the show. They just happened to have an extra ticket and I found my in. I met them at some swanky Tampa hotel and was so nervous I wouldn't find them or something would go wrong. This was before I was introduced to the world of cell phones. Well things worked perfectly and I got my ticket and headed off to the arena to prepare. I was there way before show time which allowed me ample time to purchase my first Springsteen shirt. It was kind of pricey and I think it exhausted all of my funds, which left me without toll money for my return. I didn't really seem to care. They let us in and I wasted no time finding my seat. I sat and just looked in awe at the stage. This was really gonna happen. I had been waiting almost 4 years for this night. I wanted to change into my new shirt but was not about to leave my seat, god forbid I miss a single thing! I ended up just putting it on over my existing ensemble which was fine because they didn't call the place the "Ice Palace" for no reason.<br /><br />"Good evening Tampa!" was all he said and off we went, 15,000 of my closest new friends and I with one of the greatest stage performers of all time. I don't have a problem telling you that when he took the stage I had tears in my eyes. I had such a blast cheering, dancing (!) and singing along. I laugh now because I had just purchased 'Born to Run' that day and wasn't familiar with all of it yet. So when he broke into 'Night' and 'She's The One' it was like hearing new songs, where today they are staples of a Bruce show and I know them like my birth date.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyja2uZGaNsnzccdxqTfJRl2_vZWdg7tEoJBf4q554w0Odcc1kYGcPZB5Jm5kB48rnvl5WJU0LFaGeVhE1bt5YaWJ-v3lbk9eMgOfcePLcc2w-doXNGud-TKdIl0ptPF0bELChsCqiuk3/s1600-h/Tampa2002c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyja2uZGaNsnzccdxqTfJRl2_vZWdg7tEoJBf4q554w0Odcc1kYGcPZB5Jm5kB48rnvl5WJU0LFaGeVhE1bt5YaWJ-v3lbk9eMgOfcePLcc2w-doXNGud-TKdIl0ptPF0bELChsCqiuk3/s320/Tampa2002c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245045436811314450" border="0" /></a>The show was marvelous and went by like a speeding train. When it goes by you look in the windows and make out bits and pieces of things. But once it’s gone you fondly look back as if you caught every color, every detail. The highlights were definitely towards the end of the set most notable Bruce playing 'Incident on 57th St' alone on piano. It was haunting and beautiful. At the time I knew it was amazing but it turns out it is kind of a rarity so I was very, very lucky. To this day it is my favorite performance of any of his songs that I have seen. The women I sat with went bat shit crazy when he did it. Now I do too when I listen to it on my Ipod. As the show was wrapping up it didn't seem like Bruce wanted to leave us anymore than we wanted him to. After the encores he took the stage to cover 'Twist and Shout' just to make sure he sent us all home in a frenzy. And like that it was over. The very first step in a long, beautiful journey I have taken with my musical idol. I suppose I couldn't even imagine the places I would end up and what I would experience. But I do now and I am gonna share it! My second go round would still be very amazing, but pretty much NOTHING like the experience I had the first time. My crazy Boss adventures were just getting started.<br /><br />Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P11c433dd69c6e0f04ae6e007f2074e30bF14QVREY2F2&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/P11c433dd69c6e0f04ae6e007f2074e30bF14QVREY2F2.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br />Download the full show in mp3 <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=80Y3FNVX">here</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.</span><br /><br />Recording: 5- out of 5<br />Show: 5- out of 5<br />Artwork: Various available through the link section.SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-23258710950192216672008-09-11T07:46:00.000-07:002008-09-11T09:16:23.227-07:00Boss Tracks, Boom Boom, John Lee Hooker<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicswkM32ndwCAPC6grz3WGU6-ZpmoMU4ytEzZLi1khNCnLXbkhS2FgCjdkFRNLbQ5Imwrt8_bOjj_E6cmHpO6ZudovCvijF8t4C96Zwin0BGQ0Jh7JjgLB5DPikQ1QzcgQBmdd2NiF8T43/s1600-h/Scan1.BMP"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicswkM32ndwCAPC6grz3WGU6-ZpmoMU4ytEzZLi1khNCnLXbkhS2FgCjdkFRNLbQ5Imwrt8_bOjj_E6cmHpO6ZudovCvijF8t4C96Zwin0BGQ0Jh7JjgLB5DPikQ1QzcgQBmdd2NiF8T43/s320/Scan1.BMP" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244794718416551138" border="0" /></a>Though Springsteen probably first got acquainted with this gem through <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPd5xltuAbQ">the Animals</a>, I decided to pick John Lee Hooker's original over Eric Burdon's straight forward cover of the song. We'll get to the Animals some other time. Like so many of those 45s a great piece of music history is attached to this one on various levels. The most obvious level is because of Hooker's own pivotal role in the redevelopment of Blues. His characteristic droning, one chord, Blues, redesigned the genre "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WGdtV6Af2U&feature=related">Boogie Chillun</a>" was released on Modern in 1948. With that single Hooker created a riff that would be recycled over and over again in R&R, most recently of course by Springsteen in his revamping of "Reason to Believe," some 60 years down the line. "Boogie Chillun" would become a million seller. Remarkable for a 45 that featured little more than John Lee's stomping feet and staccato guitar and vocals. Hooker's music worked on a very primary level which I imagine was quite a bit of the appeal when he was 'discovered' by the beat generation in the mid sixties. With one chord, Hooker's approach was basic enough ,and had more raw appeal to struggling and starting guitar players.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpeQdqxBeSm2krHduGcmNElYvbhbvhgEc1VqZfVUiCwHC97srOqvZsmpI2AVXeNl0UfmTYOHt6OGisgaXSXVAZZ7FwZyCU_K9BLUm2J1ocLeLXPCO160Qzc2RP_BBuw7y0BWJYuUDtLfq/s1600-h/JimmyEwartVivianCalvin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpeQdqxBeSm2krHduGcmNElYvbhbvhgEc1VqZfVUiCwHC97srOqvZsmpI2AVXeNl0UfmTYOHt6OGisgaXSXVAZZ7FwZyCU_K9BLUm2J1ocLeLXPCO160Qzc2RP_BBuw7y0BWJYuUDtLfq/s320/JimmyEwartVivianCalvin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244794468445771682" border="0" /></a>By the time John Lee Hooker was introduced to a broader audience and gained wider international appeal, he was one of Vee-Jay's biggest selling artists. Vee-Jay is most well known these days amongst Beatles collectors for those very hard to find first US Beatles 45s they released. <a href="http://hubcap.clemson.edu/%7Ecampber/veejay.html">Vee-Jay</a> saw the potential in marketing a black sound brought by skinny white boys with funny hair-dos before anybody else in the US. Maybe the fact that Vee-Jay was a black owned R&B label, well before Motown came around, had something to do with that. Nobody had to explain the appeal of R&B to Vivian Carter Bracken. At the start of the fifties Vivian had been a popular local DJ who also owned her own record store. Even before starting in the record business, miss Bracken was a black feminist avant la lettre. Getting an own enterprise together in the segregated fifties of Gary Indiana makes her accomplishment even more inspiring. Vee-Jay was of to a flying start when the Brackens produced a huge R&B hit for The Spaniels with "Baby Its You." Soon after that the label decided to move their base of operations to Chicago, right across the street from Chess records, where they would play an almost as determining role in the development of R&R as the Chess brothers. Carrying both an excellent Gospel as an R&B roster, many of the great R&B artists kick started their career at Vee-Jay. Next to John Lee Hooker, amongst the artists who found their first success at Vee-Jay were Jerry Butler, The Impressions, The Swan Silvertones, the Staple Singers and the Blind Boys of Alabama.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpoAeu_tfIV23go92eSVKyLY0XwUvTr2yrpFNhKomWP3OkQOF97uip_79j4GYePISq7-nMs_VHF7YAhjnKL1O5fon5K5XgfQnl2G1qiIi4QBlhbPdnPzzmwezJycEztyHwK-bYhgGkp37/s1600-h/JohnLeeHooker.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpoAeu_tfIV23go92eSVKyLY0XwUvTr2yrpFNhKomWP3OkQOF97uip_79j4GYePISq7-nMs_VHF7YAhjnKL1O5fon5K5XgfQnl2G1qiIi4QBlhbPdnPzzmwezJycEztyHwK-bYhgGkp37/s320/JohnLeeHooker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244794154536923858" border="0" /></a>It was at Vee-Jay that John Lee Hooker started fleshing out his style. Hooker started performing with a band and started to develop a more distinct electrified sound. Boom Boom even featured a horn section, which the Animals left out of their version, but Springsteen kept when he started playing the song regularly during the Tunnel of Love Express tour of '88, though adding a few more, with the Miami Horn section. By the time Springsteen covered "Boom Boom", it's original artists was all but forgotten until apparently out of nothing he scored a monster hit with Carlos Santana on guitar with '89's "The Healer". After that John Lee Hooker turned out to be one of the few Blues artists to sustain a comfortable level of success until his passing in 2001. The last years of his live Hooker lived in San Francisco, where he opened the <a href="http://www.boomboomblues.com/">Boom Boom Room</a>, in '97. Today this club is still open, keeping the Blues legacy alive on stage.<br /><br />John Lee Hooker<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P84927fa863dce47e8c1b13591f6fde06bF14QVREY2F3&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe>Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000033I0?ie=UTF8&tag=thsosh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000033I0">The Very Best of John Lee Hooker</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thsosh-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0000033I0" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /><br /><br />Bruce Springsteen<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P24963e89072cdb5126ab50441bb1ed1bbF14QVREY2F0&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/P24963e89072cdb5126ab50441bb1ed1bbF14QVREY2F0.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/link-enhancer?tag=thsosh-20&o=1"><br /></script><br /><noscript><br /> <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/s/noscript?tag=thsosh-20" alt="" /><br /></noscript>SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642032278032679287.post-16215380075678799592008-09-08T10:48:00.000-07:002009-02-20T03:01:38.088-08:00Boot Tracker, On The Tracks; May 9th 1974, Cambridge (E. St. Records)<span style="font-size:85%;">With the Magic tour behind us, I decided to try and revamp the Boot Tracker a little by combining it with the On The Tracks feature for fan stories. One of the reasons I like to browse the message boards are the stories that find their way there from time to time. Those first shows people have seen and the impression it left, lucky encounters with the man himself or just plain fan boy craziness. Like this first contribution by Brian Hawkins, first posted on BTX. Brian picks an especially historic show, the one where Springsteen met Landau. The best thing is, that May 9th 1974 show was captured and still available on a very nice tape that carries over the show that made Landau fall in love with R&R again quite nicely.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rleZVdiQW8BM7g51b23sDIMc-i0g1ljSpVLfTL73J_1e-_u7Sww3NZgIJY0NBQwq0nGNqf2EVifwrN13RRfhGoMxkxfJs8Fv7TbNICgSY_NcnUjYSIKVd3fmcbIF6H-hBkgCT4pl0S4j/s1600-h/Harvard+Theater.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 328px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rleZVdiQW8BM7g51b23sDIMc-i0g1ljSpVLfTL73J_1e-_u7Sww3NZgIJY0NBQwq0nGNqf2EVifwrN13RRfhGoMxkxfJs8Fv7TbNICgSY_NcnUjYSIKVd3fmcbIF6H-hBkgCT4pl0S4j/s320/Harvard+Theater.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243711230216207570" border="0" /></a>Got up to Boston a day early for the Foxboro Magic show, so I could see some of the city and soak up some history. And while I did indeed savor the Paul Revere house, the Old North Church, and Samuel Adams’ burial site, it turned out that Boston is also a cradle of Bruce history… and an adventure awaited! Pondering all things Bruce that morning, I suddenly realized that my Cambridge hotel was very close to the sacred ground of Harvard Square...particularly the Harvard Square Theater...the very spot where Rock and Roll saw its future in Bruce Springsteen so eloquently captured by Jon Landau. I set out on my pilgrimage and with a few quick stops on the T train, I rose from the subway. Feeling like something magical was about to happen, my eyes recognized the Church Street sign and I knew I was approaching hallowed ground: not only the site of the blistering life-altering <a href="http://www.brucebase.org.uk/gig1974.htm#51">5/9/74 show</a>, but the very pavement where a young wiry Bruce Springsteen and a doughy, be speckled Jon Landau had their first fateful meeting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmz1eE3-L4ICUXu3C3E7dzEcmPCZwTUojLXzEhE5w6ZiTmPlWIN7VsWKrr2UDw7aJAw0Rjz4rcoSwyTb1gKIibAk6yj4lJHw5MrMf5LEAZOAMQdqA0VqnrkAPwMHggx3cwGT9IsE02fYWC/s1600-h/Harvard+promo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmz1eE3-L4ICUXu3C3E7dzEcmPCZwTUojLXzEhE5w6ZiTmPlWIN7VsWKrr2UDw7aJAw0Rjz4rcoSwyTb1gKIibAk6yj4lJHw5MrMf5LEAZOAMQdqA0VqnrkAPwMHggx3cwGT9IsE02fYWC/s320/Harvard+promo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243712449185539906" border="0" /></a>Landau has often said in interviews that he saw Bruce reading “a favorable review” of the Wild and the Innocent album that he had written that was strategically posted on the window of the theater. They chatted and Landau has recalled Bruce saying how much he enjoyed the review. However, Bruce has since said that he thought it was only “pretty good." Like any new relationship, we can see that with those comments, one was enamored and one was more cautious. Thus begins 30-year dance of awkward miscommunication and compromises between Bruce and Landau that would some day culminate in Secret Garden being released both with and without strings. We all know the rest of the story...the bond, the friendship, the love, etc. that developed from those two crossed wires crackling over the course of 30+ years.<br /><br />As I stood on the sidewalk, my head was dizzy with 1974 images and figures (converse sneakers, floppy hats, bell-bottoms, tube tops, etc.). Needless to say, I was taking it all in as I walked up to the box office window. I literally felt as if I was back in time as my steps took me down the sidewalk to what appeared to be formerly stage doors. We viewed the top of the theater in a sky that was so blue and speculated that one end must have been the stage area given its distinct elevation. We walked to that end of the theater and witnessed another set of apparent stage doors and a ramp that led down into another set, imaging this area could have been where the trucks parked, groupies milled, and hundreds of fans anxiously anticipated the bounty of a searing Springsteen show that could not possibly include Bobby Jean. It was almost like we felt those kindred spirits of that show with us as we gazed upon this site...This sacred site. How could this get better?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJp1gzUr3ycco7K-4WdhuWy8anqZfTRhr-tku2nhTy9Ayguvz2t6Iaz4As2TV3KtwJjVkbT5PPKUMQLJ-6ALJ7rjJXeEGfF9q_5nZuRnxQEmvhJXzdjZ2XYlCs7lPtTCmfmcoUvIVI8Pr/s1600-h/Harvard+Running.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJp1gzUr3ycco7K-4WdhuWy8anqZfTRhr-tku2nhTy9Ayguvz2t6Iaz4As2TV3KtwJjVkbT5PPKUMQLJ-6ALJ7rjJXeEGfF9q_5nZuRnxQEmvhJXzdjZ2XYlCs7lPtTCmfmcoUvIVI8Pr/s320/Harvard+Running.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243712609574570098" border="0" /></a>Then I saw it. Treasure!!! Piled high by the same stage door where Bruce tuned his guitar, Mike Appel greedily counted up proceeds, and Clarence cleaned his spit valve all those years ago, there they were: dozens of old vintage upholstered theatre seats! The very seats where the nubile Harvard co-eds of 1974 writhed with pleasure to the strains of Kitty’s Back. Seats stained with Tab spilled in exhilaration as Bruce kicked into Rosalita. Seats pockmarked with long-discarded plugs of Juicy Fruit that may or may not have been nervously chewed by Landau (DNA tests pending) as he planned his overthrow of Appel. Seats that still held within them the energy and power of those epic concerts from another time. I had to have two of them (see below pictures). I’m contemplating what I should do with them now? Build an encased shrine with special lighting in my house or just leave them in the garage.<br /><br />I Sold My Heart To The Junk Man<br /><iframe src="http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pd81a8e97fdba87204872938441fc48bebF14QVREY2J8&buffer=5&fc=FFFFFF&pc=CCFF33&kc=FFCC33&bc=FFFFFF&brand=1&player=ap21" scrolling="no" width="246" frameborder="0" height="20"> </iframe><br /><a href="http://www.hipcast.com/export/Pd81a8e97fdba87204872938441fc48bebF14QVREY2J8.mp3" rel="enclosure">MP3 File</a><br /><br />Download the full show <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=XOV3IDC0">here.</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.</span><br /><br />Recording: 3+ out of 5<br />Show: 4 out of 5<br />Artwork: 2 out of 5SoulBoogieAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166276731612362941noreply@blogger.com2