Grateful Dead - KQED Studios, San Francisco, CA, August 30, 1970
The image quality of this half-hour live-in-the-studio performance is a bit abysmal, but the music is magnificent, especially the scorching “Easy Wind” that opens things up. I’ve made the executive decision that this year’s Summer of Dead extravaganza will focus exclusively on 1970. You’ve been warned!
Just heard that this pioneering rock writer passed away yesterday. Sort of the anti-Jann Wenner, Wiliams founded the original rock mag, Crawdaddy. Over the years I’ve enjoyed his passionate, enthusiastic writing about Dylan, the Beach Boys and many others. His Performing Artist series on Dylan in particular served as a great guide through the man’s life onstage, with detailed accounts of hundreds of shows through the decades. Rock on, Paul!
In what can only be described as a cosmic coincidence, yesterday I won tickets to see Fleetwood Mac in concert this June, just as I was finishing up Ken Caillat’s Making Rumours, the producer’s detailed account of, you guessed it, making Rumours. Incredible, I know. And while it’s a bummer that Christine McVie is no longer playing with the band, it’s still going to be fun, right?
The book is recommended! Not exactly a masterpiece of writing, but if you want to know how many lines of cocaine and Heinekens it took for Mick Fleetwood to get really wild on the drums, or how foxy the ladies of Sausalito, CA were in the mid-70s, or about that time Lindsey Buckingham tried to strangle Caillat for erasing one of his guitar solos … well, this is the book for you, my friend. There’s a segment describing the making of the very great half-hour film I’ve linked to above — very much worth your time. Stevie twirls, Lindsey shreds, John rocks some cut-offs, Mick makes ridiculous faces, and Christine is Perfect. A lot of the footage has been recycled endlessly, but I’d never seen the whole thing uncut ‘til this week. Man, I hope they play “I’m So Afraid” when I see them.
More Hex! Here’s something new to me — a recent cassette that seems to be a kinda experimental mix of ambient noise, found sounds and tracks from The Best of the Howling Hex,created in collaboration with the band Harpoon Forever? Something like that anyway. Scroll down at the above link to either order the physical thing or download for free.
The Howling Hex - Live at the Lost Lake, Denver, CO, June 21, 2012
Hey, I reviewed Neil Michael Hagerty’s latest/greatest (though not a greatest hits LP), The Best of the Howling Hex, over at Aquarium Drunkard. Here’s a video of one of those residency gigs I caught last summer. Man, the Lost Lake really needs someone to work on their lights — I took a similarly dark/murky video at one of the other shows. Surely they can afford more than one bare bulb? Maybe not.
“Get Off Of My Cloud / Sooner or Later” - The Feelies, Ottobar, Baltimore, MD, March 23, 2013
The Feelies added another cover to their massive repertoire last week. At least I’ve never heard them do this one properly — though I do have a tape of them jamming it out in instrumental form way back in 1978 with Richard Lloyd. Yes, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a nerd about this band.
John Fahey - Live at SUNY Stony Brook, October 1, 1972
The indispensable Delta Slider presented their annual Fahey Week earlier this month. This one is a choice live recording from right around what I think is the dude’s peak. A very clear, if occasionally wobbly, tape! Dig around and you’ll also find some extremely rare unissued stuff from 1959, a 1977 gig and — for those of you who want to make yourself crazy — some guitar tabs!
“1880 or So” - Television, The Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC, March 2, 1993
Your recommended weekly dose of Verlaine/Lloyd/Ficca/Smith, this time towards the end of their first reunion tour, in support of the self-titled third LP. Which is great, by the way — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. A whole different thing from their 1970s work, but killer nonetheless. This is a live rendition of that album’s opening track, and it’s basically perfect — a freakishly hopped-up Lloyd solo in the middle and an astonishing, Verlaine-led section at the end, with the whole band hurtling towards the sun.
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, July 4, 1971
God bless America. Also of interest: WFMU’s deep investigation into the mystical process known as Chooglin’. If you can choose it, who can refuse it?
The Madness of Love (take 2)
After I posted some of Richard & Linda Thompson’s “lost” 1977 tracks, a kind reader supplied me with the complete show from which those tracks came. Even if you grabbed the previous download, you want this — the more I listen, the more I’m convinced this unreleased stuff can stand up with the best of Richard & Linda’s work together. The added “lost” tracks here include “Rescue Me” and “The Fire In The Garden,” both great. There are also excellent versions of “Strange Affair” and “First Light,” both of which would turn up on First Light a bit later. The only weak link is “When I Get To The Border,” which Richard seems to have forgotten how to sing. Otherwise, a really fabulous set — as I said before, the songs are deeply religious, but in an earthbound, sensual way. Erotic, even! Sex Jamz To The Lord? OK, maybe not. But close! Dig it.
Cocksucker Blues (Robert Frank, 1972)
Hey, we’ve just got the Cocksucker Blues today. In case you’ve never had the pleasure, here’s the complete film. Worth your time!
I wrote a little something over on Aquarium Drunkard about guitarist Chris Forsyth’s hypnotic alternate soundtrack for the first ten minutes of the unreleased Stones doc, Cocksucker Blues. Forsyth is fairly new to me, but what I’ve heard so far has been awesome, especially the 2011 Paranoid Cat LP, which hits a sweet spot somewhere between Popol Vuh and Fairport Convention. Here’s a live performance from a few years back, courtesy the always reliable Free Music Archive and WFMU.
Head over to Aquarium Drunkard for a bracing shot of Neil Young on his legendary 1973 Tonight’s The Night tour! One of my favorites. Not incredibly rare, but if you haven’t heard it, you’re in for a treat. Over here on Doom & Gloom, I’ve got a bonus track — the single longest version of “Tonight’s The Night” … ever? Clocking in at just under 35 minutes, it’s the longest one I know of anyway. And it’s a motherfucker, maybe one of the most unhinged things Neil ever did. Kudos to the Chicago crowd for following the whole thing, they seem to be hanging on every note, even singing along to a tune they’d never heard before that night. Were they each given a bottle of Jose Cuervo at the door?
01 Fingal’s Cave (new remaster)
02 Crumbling Land (new restored extended version)
03 Oenone (new remaster)
04 Rain in the Country (new remaster)
05 The Embryo (remaster)
06 Interstellar Overdrive (remaster)
The Legacy of the Tower Recordings
The enormous Matt Valentine interview (conducted by the venerable Byron Coley) in the latest Arthur magazine sent me back to Tower Recordings, the pioneering psych folk collective that Valentine was a part of back in the late 90s/early 00s. The group has since splintered into many, many other projects, several of which are featured in this handy mix via the Free Music Archive. MV & EE, PG Six, Samara Lubelski, Hall Of Fame … all good stuff, all worth checking out.
