Monday, May 12th, 2008
Over the last several days Silver has played the following:
- Dr. John: Gumbo
This is the definitive Mac Rebennack album. Great New Orleans gumbo music. This is what got me loving the good doctor oh so many years ago.
The obligatory Iko Iko, Big Chief, and Tipitina grace this masterpiece. Not to be overlooked, however, are Blow Wind Blow, Mess Around, and Stack-A-Lee. THere is so much good noodling here. Man, I am so in the mood for some crayfish right now!
- Bob Dylan: At Budokan
Over the years I have pulled this out just to listen to Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. Both of these tunes from the 1978 Japan tour are played raggae-style and Bob nails them both. Awesome stuff!
This two-disc set is a tour-de-force of classic Dylan. While I may construct a different set list for my dream Dylan show, one would be quite pleased with the 22 songs played here. Dylan and his band were definitely in uptempo mode in ‘78. This is something that unfortunately is missing from current Dylan shows. The Budokan was rockin’!
- Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding
The much-awaited album that followed Dylan’s motorcycle crash, this saw a return to acoustic music after having gone electric in 1965. I love this album!
There are religious tones to this that Bob would re-visit in the 1980s. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine and the Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest highlight this wonderful album. Dylan recorded this in three sessions totally a mere 12 hours of studio time. A month later it was on the shelves for consumers. I like the nakedness of the recording. More music should be this raw.
Of course, most point to the powerhouse All Along the Watchtower, which is included here. Even Dylan admits that this pales in comparison to Hendrix’s cover. And of course it’s Jimi’s version that everyone from the Dead to Neil have covered over the years. Even Dylan jacks it up later in his career ala Hendrix.
Garcia fans will like Wicked Messenger, which Jerry covered in 1975 with Legion of Mary. Again, Dylan’s original sets the tone for a scorching cover version. His music matters that much. I love the album closer I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, one of my favorite Dylan songs.
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Friday, May 9th, 2008
It’s been a hectic week and I am not as on top of things as I would like to be. Some of the music making its way through Silver has been:
- Jefferson Airplane: 2400 Fulton Street (disc one)
The early stuff. Ah, good stuff. Over the years I have found different facets of the Airplane to love. It began with White Rabbit, then the hits, the Dead influences, the Crosby influences, and am now a Jorma fan. As such, Embryonic Journey stands out. What a great tune.
- Grateful Dead: Hundred Year Hall
Europe ‘72. Deadheads recognize this tour as one of the monumental times of the band’s history. This release highlights the band at full speed, but only partially. One thing GDP has been irritatingly maddening with is releasing partial shows. This 26 April 1972 show is missing 14 songs from the night. Furthermore, the songs presented are not in chronological order. Argghh!
Yet, there’s the 19-minute-plus Lovelight and a 39-minute Other One! Yes, the band was on fire.
- Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Volume 11; 27 September 1972 Stanley Theater, Jersey City, NJ
After the Europe run, the band continued rocking back in the States. The complete show is captured on this release.
The thing that stands out for me is Brokedown Palace. It seems so fragile here. To think it was written in the same afternoon as Ripple and To Lay Me Down. That is some trio. Of course, the highlight of this show is the 30-minute Dark Star. Truly mesmerizing.
- Bob Marley and The Wailers: Live!
I have been a Marley fan from since I was a boy. I never got a chance to see him live, so this album has always gotten heavy play from me. Now that I do not have all my boots that I used to (I am convinced I once had every Marley show that circulated), this is all I have. The No Woman, No Cry is superb here!
- Dude of Life: Crimes of the Mind
I just read on Wikipedia that The Dude is now an elementary school teacher in NYC. That astounds me!
I recall this album’s release. I was very excited as it was at the height of my liking of Phish. THe Dude of Life was a close friend to the band having written several of their early songs, including my favorite Fluffhead. Crimes is a Phish album with The Dude singing his songs. Awesome! I was blessed at having seen a show on the brief tour that followed.
This album is not as weird as I sometimes think The Dude is. I really enjoyed listening to it this evening. Self is the highlight for me.
- Rhythm Devils: The Apocalypse Now Sessions
The epic movie with a legendary cast has a wonderful soundtrack. That music was played by none other than the Grateful Dead’s rhythm section: Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Great stuff here with the boys and their friends imitating the sounds of the jungle. The ambient sounds make for a pleasant listen. The river music is among the most harmonic of the releases I have of Mickey’s. I really like this.
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Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Today after listening to my podcasts for the week, I whirled through three CDs. It’s been fun traversing the basement and randomly selecting CDs out of the pile. Up today were:
- Trevor Pinnock: English Concert: Handel’s Water Music Suite In F
- Shadowfax: The Dreams of Children
- Henry Mancini: All Time Greatest Hits
Water Music was a purchase in the late 80s/90s to help add to my classical selections. I don’t have much, but thought it would be good to have some of the biggies. I’ve always liked this version. I find it soothing.
Shadowfax is yet another group I learned of from my time at the Mad Batter. This disc was one of the ones I truly enjoyed. It has a new age feel to it. It also has that 80s sound, a precursor to Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time (that may be a reference only meaningful to me).
In a bit of serendipity, I pulled out Mancini’s Greatest Hits. I picked this up in the mid-90s for my classroom. Mancini penned the theme to The Pink Panther. We were working on a mystery and I thought it would help set the mood. Well, just Wednesday, one of my students mentioned The Pink Panther. The movie has been re-done, apparently with Beyonce. So, when the disc appeared in my blind grab, it seemed appropriate. Mancini definitely was a sound of movies from my youth. Good stuff!
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Reinvigorated, I loaded some new music for today. I have decided to work my way through my commercial CDs . . . at least for a while. For today I put on Bob Weir’s Heaven Help the Fool and David Sanborn’s As We Speak. Both offerings remind me of college.
The first time I heard Heaven Help the Fool was my freshman year at the ‘Berg. I liked it. I always thought some of this should have shown up in the Dead’s roatation, but alas . . .
What really struck me today was how short albums used to be. I don’t listen to a lot of commercial stuff as I primarily put in complete shows. Three hours is normal for me to complete an offering. By contrast, the eight songs here came in under 35 minutes. Sheesh . . . I completed this before I made it to work today.
Some of the songs sound dated. Bobby did not record another Ace here. The album has a produced sound to it with some tricks along the way. But good songs are good songs despite the post production.
The first six songs are decent. Track seven, I’ll Be Doggone is the weak song and the closer, Wrong Way Feelin’ doesn’t do much for me. I’ve always liked Bomb’s Away and it gets the album off to an upbeat start. I actually quoted a verse of this for a geocache I placed four years ago.
The ballads, however, seem to be what I like most out of Bobby’s stuff here. Easy to Slip and This Time Forever are good. While neither is more than the requisite 4:09 for radio play, both are structured for a big Jerry solo in the middle. Oh wait . . . that’s not going to happen. Hmmm . . .
Salt Lake City, Shade of Grey (predates Touch of Grey), and the title song are all solid. Listening to this disk this morning had me easily seeing my dorm room, Craig, and the big stereo cabinet I used to have back then.
As I arrived at work As We Speak came on. This is another album from my college days. I kind of stumbled into this album and hence, Sanborn and jazz to boot.
It was circa 1984 and my friend Mike Rubinstein decided he was in need of a new pair of speakers. He asked me to come with him to Bryn Mawr Stereo. Back then, Bryn Mawr was the place to purchase high-end stereo equipment. They were eventually gobbled up by Tweeter.
We drove out to the Whitehall store. At the time I was a fan of Polk Audio and Rubes was taken by a big set. Soon enough someone came to help my buddy. We went into a private listening room to test out some stuff. This was pre-CDs folks. The salesman put on a record and then began his spiel about the speakers. I was right there, but not being the one putting out the cash, listened to the music. Things were crystal clear. I interrupted and asked what we were listening to. The guy told me a bit about David Sanborn and handed me the album cover.
This began my move to liking jazz. I even played the alto sax because of this album. There is a humorous story associated with that, which I will share some other time. Sanborn has played with all sorts of folks over the years and he was definitely it at this time. The restaurant I managed during this period played a lot of Sanborn and other kewl jazz. Fast forward a couple years and I purchased my first CD player. As We Speak was one of the first five CDs I purchased.
It’s been a while since I listened to this, but it never takes long to get into it. Port of Call moves! This is no Kenny G, folks. Sanborn lays down some serious grooves with his band here. Of course, George Duke makes an appearance on this opening tune.
The band includes Omar Hakim, Marcus Miller, and Micheal Sembello. among others. This is a fine band for Sanborn to rip his saxophone. Back Again is the highlight of the record followed by the aforementioned Port of Call and the title song.
This morning was a nice trip down memory lane. I don’t regret much in life and I don’t really want to go back in time, but I wouldn’t mind slipping into my 30″ Levis again. 
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Saturday, March 8th, 2008
It seems like I have been walking around with the same tunes all week. I finally finished the rotation and am preparing Silver for the weekend. Coming off are the following:
Grateful Dead
72-08-27: Old Renaissance Faire Grounds - Veneta, OR
There are legendary shows in the band’s 30-year history. This is one such show that I have listened to many times over the years, although it has been a while. The sound on this is excellent.
The set list is nice. Sunshine Daydream is interesting in its infancy.
92-03-02: The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Another show I attended. After Brent’s death, the band changed again. There was MIDI and Vince Welnick. I don’t listen much to 1990s Dead and this is why. While this is not as bad as the ‘94 show, in hindsight the band’s sound is not what I usually think of when I think of my favorite band. To be sure, I enjoyed the show. It just doesn’t hold up well with the rest of the catalogue. No standouts, but I enjoyed Hornsby helping out.
94-03-21: Richfield Coliseum - Richfield, OH
This show is highlighted as the show from 1994 to listen to. Somewhere I read that this was the last great Dead show. Hmmm . . .
Obviously, one thing that stands out is the Lovelight –> Stella Blue –> Lovelight. Everyone talks about it. On paper (in binary?) in looks wonderful. Forgetting just what this show was when I listened to it, my thoughts were that Bobby does a poor imitation of a blues singer with Lovelight. The song seemed forced. Stella is one of my favorites. It was good until the end where Jerry moaned offkey. Then to come back to Lovelight was a nice touch, but there was something about Bobby on this night . . . it just didn’t do it for me.
Peggy-O I thought was well-played. Another thing that occurred to me was how songs mature. I really liked West L.A. Fadeawy. When this song first came out, I was not thrilled. It was okay, but nothing I ever said, “Wow, they play West L.A. tonight!” This version smoked and had a nice jam in the middle. The song improved in the eight years since I first heard it. He’s Gone including the jam coming out of it was well done, but I am a huge fan of the song to begin with, so the standard is low. 
Once again, New Speedway was unrecognizable until Jerry began singing. The band’s sound is radically different than the band I grew up with. While there are moments late in the career that are nice, the MIDI sound is just not interesting to my ears. I am not a musician, but it sounds lazy to me.
Jerry Garcia Band
80-02-28: Wilkens Theatre, Kean College - Union, NJ
Robert Hunter guested for a few songs at the end of the second show. Hunter, longtime lyricist for Jerry, adds a different sound altogether.
This show is good. It’s a simple JGB band without Merl or Melvin laying in heavy keys. I like the sound of this band, even if it is not as mature as other incarnations.
83-12-04: Gym SUNY Stony Brook - Stony Brook, NY
I’ve been listening to a lot of ‘83 JGB recently. This is a short show, but my goodness it shines!
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door is up-tempo with a reggae feel, much like Dylan played it in ‘78. I really liked this version. Really, this whole set soars, particularly from Knockin’ on. A very good Mission in the Rain and Rhapsody in Red then a stellar trio of Don’t Let Go –> Deal –> Tangled Up in Blue. Awesome! It just smokes.
I was just about to type to make certain you download it, but I just found out my favorite site has just received a cease-and-desist order from Rhino Records. The Dead have outsourced their distribution to them. Not much has happened since. :( But to shut down sites sharing free music . . . errr . . . GD Productions is going to loose a lot of customers.
It looks like it will be the Archive only for a while.
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