Walk Away Renee
Terry said: Anyhow, this is mainly just a sly plea for a modern alt.country band to cover "Don't Walk Away Renee." -- Terry Smith Jimmy LaFave does a great version of this song. -John
Swoop In Europe/New Bassist
Alright, I know it's self-promotional but this is our first time over there and I'm kind of excited about it. One Fell Swoop in Europe Bree, Belgium Thursday, 3/11 Toogenblijk - Bruxelles, Belgium Friday, 3/12 Fabriggli - Buchs, Switzerland Saturday, 3/13 Little Joe's - Siebnen, Switzerland Sunday, 3/14 Innsbruck, Austria Monday, 3/15 Le Bistro - Davos, Switzerland Wednesday, 3/17 Riverhouse - Fieberbrunn, Austria Thursday, 3/18 Stauffacher - Walenstadtberg, Switzerland Friday, 3/19 Folk Club - Interlaken, Switzerland Saturday, 3/20 Safari Beat Club - Chur, Switzerland Tuesday, 3/23 Bonanza - Berg, Switzerland Wednesday, 3/24 Franziskaner - Saulgau, Germany Thursday, 3/25 Mahogany Hall - Bern, Switzerland Friday, 3/26 Pfleghofsaal - Langenau, Germany Saturday, 3/27 Neue Welt - Ingolstadt, Germany Monday, 3/29 Also, we're kicking it off with a show in St. Louis this Saturday (3/6) at Riddle's. We have the good fortune of having Rich Griffith from Jim Roll's band/Brian Lillie The Mtn Squirrel Orchestra playing bass for these dates. Also, we just had a wonderful upright bass player named Mike Tiefenbrun join One Fell Swoop and he will begin playing with us upon our return. Life is good. -John http://www.musicfolk.com/swoop
Female Rock Album
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 23-Feb-99 Re: 50/90 by Christopher M Knaus@juno And honestly, I'm sorta surprised people rate Exile in the top ten of the decade. The year it came out, possibly, but the entire decade?? Name a more impressive better written female rock album of the 90s that actually got a teensy bit of airplay. Aimee Mann's "Whatever" and "I'm With Stupid". -John www.musicfolk.com/swoop
Mavis Staples/Bob Dylan
I think I just probably came off the best two nights of back-to-back music in my entire life: Friday - I made the last minute decision to drive two hours from St. Louis to see Bob Dylan at SIU-Carbondale. The Brian Setzer Orchestra opened up and were very entertaining. The predominantly college crowd of approximately 7,000-8,000 people were obviously there to see Dylan however. I've seen Dylan probably around 15 times dating back to 1977. In that time I've seen some awful shows. This show is the best I've ever heard Dylan. His voice sounded the best I've heard in a long, long time and he and his band were playing like they were flat-out inspired. It was interesting to see the majority of college kids going nuts, the older fans who have kept in touch with Dylan's music over the years enjoying the new songs, and the minority of older people there to see Dylan play his old songs completely at a loss to why he performs a number of his songs so differently than the recorded versions. He played five songs from "Time Out Of Mind", covers including "Rank Strangers" and "Not Fade Away", and a few songs I've never heard him perform live before such as "My Back Pages." It's fascinating to me how much he reinvents his music and keeps it relevant today (Rolling Stones take note). I believe it was Dan Bentele who questioned the relevance of "The Time's They Are A Changing" a few days back. Dylan skipped that song on Friday but played "Blowing In The Wind" instead. This should have sounded like an old tired warhorse but it was done completely different and was truly an amazing thing to behold. In a time where NYPD officers find it necessary to fire over 40 shots at an unarmed man and we're involved in skirmishes left and right, the lyrics to "Blowing In The Wind" sounded VERY relevant. Seriously, if you have a chance to see Dylan and have been a fan of him in the past, do yourself a favor and go hear him. One of the most inspiring shows I've r seen. At least until Saturday. Saturday - Mavis Staples was doing a special benefit concert in St. Louis for the Black Alumni Association at Washington University. This concert was held at the Sheldon which is the most acoustically perfect hall in St. Louis and seats perhaps 600 people. She was there to pay tribute to the music of Mahalia Jackson. Words can not express how powerful this show was. It was just Mavis Staples and a keyboard player (primarily organ) whose first name was Tony who she said has won a couple of grammys. I don't know his last name but the guy was so ridiculously good that it was a joke (BTW it's not the person playing keyboards on her CD). I'm a white guy who grew up Presbyterian in conservative Orange County. I've never been to a Southern Baptist church before. I can only imagine that this is what it is like but to the nth degree. I've seen the Staples play and steal the show at the Long Beach Blues Festival some time back but this was altogether different. To hear the crowd yelling out exaltations while Mavis Staples was singing in a what can only be described as divinely-inspired voice while backed by a man who played keyboards that sounded like Booker T.and singing wonderful harmonies is as good as it gets. I will never be more moved. God Almighty, this is the most amazing thing I've ever heard. What a gorgeous voice with the richest lows you'll ever hear that Mavis Staples has been blessed with. Her stories about growing up and being mentored and befriended by Mahalia Jackson were poignant and beautiful. Once she started singing these songs made famous by Mahalia Jackson and let go, it was impossible not to be totally swept away. I'm questioning why I'm trying to explain this when I can't possibly describe in words how good this show was. All I can say is I'll never hear or see anything better than that. -John http://www.musicfolk.com/swoop
