Re: v-roys/bare jr.
When Bare Jr. opened up for Black Crowes my first half-thought was that Billy Corgan had grown a lot of fuzzy hair and gained some weight... Combine that with the loud, repetetive sound and whaddya get? Smashing Bumpkins.
Clip==Gatton, Kirchen Reviews
Guitar Wizard A Posthumous Collection Celebrates Danny Gatton By Mike Joyce Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, April 21, 1999; Page C01 How did Danny Gatton acquire his nickname, "The Humbler"? Simple. By inspiring the awe and deflating the egos of countless guitarists around the world. The boy who seemed a natural musician to his parents -- he picked out "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on the banjo immediately after getting his hands on one -- later seemed a supernatural talent to his peers, a "master of the Telecaster" whose speed, dexterity and precision swiftly removed him from the realm of ordinary pickers. The new double-CD set "Red Hot Guitar: The Danny Gatton Anthology" (Rhino), is a 27-track celebration of Gatton's career, which ended tragically when he committed suicide on Oct. 4, 1994. A souped-up mix of rockabilly, blues, pop, jazz, country and Gatton's patented "redneck jazz," the music mostly derives from nine recordings released between 1975 and 1998, on both independent and major labels, and provides an unprecedented view of Gatton's broad stylistic reach. The first disc is nothing short of dazzling. It opens with performances by Gatton and the Fat Boys (featuring the late pianist Dick Heintze and rhythm guitarist Billy Hancock) and closes with Gatton's overdubbed performances for the 1992 Blue Note jazz album "New York Stories, Volume One." Particularly enjoyable is Gatton's subdued pairing with steel guitar ace Buddy Emmons, an alliance that produced, among other things, a shimmering arrangement of "Canadian Sunset." Other tracks, though, including "Honeysuckle Rose," "Redneck Jazz" and "One for Lenny," provide plenty of reason to keep listening as the guitarist demonstrates his flair for brightening or shading arrangements with melodic embellishments, rippling arpeggios, simulated horn and organ parts, atmospheric effects, anthemic blues riffs, rolling banjo-inspired patterns and chiming harmonics. The music on the second disc, while sometimes more polished, further illustrates Gatton's eclectic tastes and exceptional musicianship. The opening track, "Funhouse," lives up to its billing, thanks to the brash alliance Gatton forged with saxophonist Bill Holloman. "So Good," also from the 1993 album "Cruisin' Deuces," conveys a similarly exuberant spirit and momentum before Gatton evokes the chugging rhythms of Elvis's heyday in Memphis, with Delbert McClinton capably handling the vocals on a Sun Records medley. The mood shifts into a freewheeling club groove when Gatton teams up with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco for three tracks anchored and animated by bassist John Previti and drummer Timm Biery, then shifts again with a cool reprise of the Ahmad Jamal hit "Poinciana." Finally, the compilation closes with something that only Gatton could have imagined and executed: an imposing and improbable melding of "Linus Lucy" and "The Orange Blossom Special." In addition to the performances, a booklet accompanying the set contains detailed discographical notes and a reprint of a 1991 Washington Post Magazine cover story on Gatton, making this collection truly worthy of the musician it honors. (To hear a free Sound Bite from this album, call Post-Haste at 202-334-9000 and press 8181.) Gatton's 'Portraits' A notorious perfectionist and studio tinkerer, Gatton was his own harshest critic, which is why much of the music he recorded during his lifetime wasn't released until after his death. "Portraits" (Big Mo) rounds up 10 recordings that Gatton made in the late '80s and early '90s, both in the studio and onstage. The concert tracks, which include separate versions of "Linus Lucy" and "Orange Blossom Special," as well as "7 Come 11," Gatton's tribute to jazz great Charlie Christian, are vibrant reminders of the excitement he could create onstage when everything clicked. The studio tracks aren't as consistently rewarding, though beginning with the aptly title "Rambunctious," there's no shortage of six-string energy or invention. (To hear a free Sound Bite from this album, call Post-Haste at 202-334-9000 and press 8182.) Bill Kirchen: 'Raise a Ruckus' It's not hard to imagine Gatton getting a big kick out of hearing Bill Kirchen's new album, "Raise a Ruckus" (Hightone). After all, Kirchen is no slouch either when it comes to genre-jumping. There are 14 tunes on "Raise a Ruckus," and Kirchen moves from rockabilly shouts, honky-tonk laments and Western swing tunes to Tex-Mex musings and Southern soul ballads without missing a beat. Even if he weren't such a nimble guitarist and engaging singer, though, Kirchen's talent as a songwriter would warrant plenty of attention. Several tunes on "Raise a Ruckus" illustrate his craft and wit, particularly the album's title track, which sounds as if it were co-written by Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry. "Little Bitty Record," co-written by Kirchen, is another gem, recalling the great pleasures found on 45 rpm singles at the dawn of the rock
Re: No Twang, lots of stories -- Al Kooper 6th
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The twang content would be that he (RS Field) produced the Shaver album "Tramp on your Street" in 1993. Sorry! Kooper did not produce the "Tramp" album, As a Bobby (RS) Fields fan (Webb Wilder, Sonny Landreth) I wuz wonderin'Can anybody tell us why he's acknowledged in the notes for Del McCoury's "The Family"?
Re: Steve 'n' Del
Those of you who have seen the tour elsewhere, what type of reception is Del getting? In Atlanta I found the crowd mostly respectful and (more importantly) into it. I don't know if this is a Southern thing (let's face it, Atlanta ain't Southern like a lot of Southern towns), but I thought the audience was held rapt by Del's voice and his friendly, aw-shucks demeanor. Tucker
Re: Steve 'n' Del
Drove out to Annandale instead to catch the last set of an apologetically croaky Bill Kirchen. So how was Kirchen? (as if he could be anything but excellent) Amen...This man is a master. Can't wait for "Raisin' a Ruckus"... (I rate the songs I've heard from it "Two Scoops"!) Tucker
Clip Request: Widespread files
To whomever it was looking for the Widespread Panic article: It took me a while to find this...but it was clipped and save in my Word files...A good (but not exhaustive) look at grassroots band-building. (The original article also had some graphics and charts which aren't included here)...TE No MTV for Widespread Panic,Just Loads of Worshipful Fans By GREG JAFFE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Peter Smiley, a concierge at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Ore., first heard the band Widespread Panic when a friend played a bootleg tape for him several years ago. Today, the 26-year-old shares a strange intimacy with the group's growing community of fans. He receives as many as 20 e-mails a day from other Widespread Panic enthusiasts and trades bootleg concert tapes via the Internet. When the band sent out a message recruiting volunteers to promote its Portland concert recently, he responded. My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy, he says. But I'm just very loyal to those guys because they are so loyal and committed to all of us. In its 11 years of existence, Widespread Panic has never had a music video on MTV or an album that cracked the Billboard Top 200. But the six-member band has built an enviable following. During a nationwide tour last year, it pulled in $8.5 million, placing it in the top 40 tours of 1998, ahead of such established acts as Sheryl Crow and the Smashing Pumpkins. In the South the band's pull has become legendary. Late last year, it sold out four shows at the 4,700-seat Fox theater in Atlanta in four minutes. R.E.M. can do that. Elton John can do that. Not many other people, says Edgar Neiss, the theater's general manager. The band's success illustrates the potential of grass-roots marketing, particularly when it's linked to the rise of the Internet on college campuses. Widespread's fans are reminiscent of the legions that followed the Grateful Dead, but the Dead's following was relatively spontaneous. As Jerry Garcia, the Dead's lead guitarist, once said, We didn't invent Deadheads, they invented themselves. Widespread Panic, by contrast, is laboring hard to invent its following. It has made its fans, who are mostly in their 20s and early 30s, part of the band's everyday life. Earlier this month, fans could zap messages to Widespread in a recording studio and find out what band members ate for lunch via regular updates on the band's Web site. Fans can even get free bootleg tapes of Widespread concerts by sending in a blank tape and a self-addressed envelope. As many as 100 fans take advantage of the offer every month. At concerts, the band flashes audience pictures taken by fans at earlier shows on a large screen. 'A Big Family' At concerts, the band flashes audience pictures taken by fans at earlier shows on a large screen. It's like a big family flipping through a photo album, says Bryan Walters, a 26-year-old MTV production assistant. The band's strategy was born of necessity. The six-member group met at the University of Georgia in the early 1980s. After college, they stayed in Athens, which is also the birthplace of R.E.M. and the B-52's, devoting themselves to the band full-time. Their Southern rock musical style is eclectic, evoking everyone from the Allman Brothers to the Talking Heads. Unlike R.E.M., which made its name by landing a large record contract, Widespread took to the road, playing small bars, mostly in the South. Some success followed. In the early 1990s the band signed its first record contract with Capricorn Records, based in Atlanta. It also graduated to larger bars and then to small concert halls. But radio stations were often indifferent to the band's music, and reviews were mixed. Vacuous, carped a concert reviewer at Atlanta's main alternative newspaper after one of the band's first major shows in Atlanta. To promote its shows, the band began enlisting fans, first through its newsletter and later through its Web site. Before Widespread Panic played Houston last year, Jody Harrison was one of a dozen fans who spent two days hanging posters. The 27-year-old sales representative for a computer software company hit the four bars where he knew there was a Widespread Panic compact disc in the jukebox, as well as a vegetarian restaurant. He also plastered Rice University, the University of Houston and Houston Community College. I was totally in awe that they would ask for my help, Mr. Harrison says. In exchange for his time, Mr. Harrison, like other fans enlisted to promote the band's shows, received two tickets and backstage passes. He eventually spent about two hours eating and drinking with the band members, he recalls. The band has adopted a similar fan-friendly strategy for the Internet. Dave Schools, Widespread's bassist, happened on a Web site developed by Brian Sofer, a 25-year-old fan from Long Island, and complimented the site in an e-mail. A few months later, he met Mr. Sofer backstage at a
Re: $10 off Music Blvd coupon
Here's a special offer you can't afford to miss! We're giving you $10 OFF your next purchase over $20! Glad to hear it, but can't imagine we'll see as many of these after the merger of Music Blvd and CDNow is complete (soon, I hear). Both co's have stated their biggest post-merger goal is to "lower the cost of customer acquisition" -- aka: fewer freebies. Tucker, clickin' through for savings, while I still can np: Ronnie Dawson "More Bad Habits"
Re: $10 off Music Blvd coupon
All the more reason to patronize MoM, Village Records, Paul's CDs, and small stores who sell music online. Good point...Anyone want to post a few URL's and reviews?
Clip: rock critic weirdness (NY Observer)
Much bad craziness, aka A Small Circle Turns On Itself... == From Off the Record, New York Observer 3/22/99 A few weeks ago, several rock critics, music journalists and a publicist got an 11-page photocopied manifesto in the mail. Called The Rock Critical List, the homemade screed had one point, which it hammered for about 3,000 or so words. To wit: Music scribbling out of New York-based national publications at this exact moment is unnecessarily lifeless, artless and idiotically panglossed, useless even as a consumer guide. Signed by one Jo Jo Dancer, a.k.a. The Gay Rapper (a requisitely hip reference to a forgettable 1986 Richard Pryor film, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling), the self-hating analyst takes apart a bevy of pop music critics, backing the invective up with such pointed inside information, and in some cases, potshots at their personal lives, that those assaulted are wondering which one of their friends wrote it. The manifesto first appeared on the desks of a chosen few: Vibe music editor Sacha Jenkins, Spin senior editor Will Hermes, Spin senior contributing writer Mike Rubin and Girlie Action publicist Felice Ecker. Most got it the last week of February, when The Village Voices annual Pazz Jop pollor, as Jo Jo so assiduously puts it, self-serving year-end wankoramacame out. The hand-scrawled nature of [the envelope] kind of freaked me out, said one recipient, who said he thought about dumping it in the sink. As it turned out, it was fairly explosive, albeit only in the tight little world of people who write about Blur, Britney Spears and Biz Markie for a living. The bile comes pouring out in a top 10 list of rock criticisms worst offenders. Leading the pack is The New York Times Neil Strauss, a balding, dickless imp, writes Jo Jo, who has become the most craven, punch-drunk phony in the business. (Reached by Off the Record, Mr. Strauss had no comment.) The apparently once virtuous Rolling Stone music editor Joe Levy has morphed into an unabashed, self-righteous propagandist for pop musics ephemeral pleasures. In other words, indie-rock was over, he had a reservation at Union Square Cafe with Elastica, and hey, were a winner, baby! Venerable Village Voice critic Robert Christgau is taken to task for his sadly clotted prose, populist autism and total lack of feeling for todays most important youth musicship-hop and electronic dance. And New Yorks Ethan Smith has the profitable ability to prattle on like a mid-40s patrician (therefore pleasing his mid-40s patrician editors), yet still front like he relates to the wounded, channel-surfing troubadours of his generation. Understandably, reviews from the critics mentioned were mixed. I thought it was moderately witty, said Mr. Christgau. He slammed people who were asking for it, people I dont like either. Mr. Christgau thought he came out all right, though. Its extraordinarily rare that you see something that demonstrates this much intelligence and this much poor reasoning, sniffed Mr. Levy. Matt Diehl, who freelances for Rolling Stone, was summed up by Jo Jo, along with the writer Tour, thusly: No matter how you dress em up, a bitch iz a bitch iz a bitch. Mr. Diehl called it more of a drive-by than a critique and added that he was more concerned that this person went out of his way to humiliate me and then mail it to the people who I make my livelihood writing for. In the small, tightly wound subculture of pop music critics and the publicists who feed them, the list has caused a lot of internecine finger-pointing about who the real Jo Jo is. (Copies of The Rock Critical List are going for $1 at See Hear on East Seventh Street in the East Village.) Its obviously a white person obsessed with hip-hop who at the same time doesnt read any African-American writersor very few, said Mr. Diehl. Another editor noted, its such a small pool of people who could have written it. Not that many people know the detailslike that Boz Scaggs son fetches coffee for Mr. Levy at Rolling Stoneor care, and are as barbed, as funny. It seems like most people are obsessed by who it is, said Spin senior editor Charles Aaron, who received the Average White Man Award in the list for his cultural studies blood-letting in a recent Spin article defending white rappers. Despite his being slagged, Mr. Aaron has become the prime culprit in many of his fellow critics minds. One writer pointed to the apparently Aaron-ish phrases tiny lives and satori as textual proof. Mr. Aaron said he is not the real Jo Jo. In my circumstance, it would be really insane for me to do things like that because it would hurt people who are my friends, he said. I dont know who did it, and its not me. Besides, he added, the information thats in there was not privileged, its basically stuff that writers talk about. On top of that, he said, the list was apparently postmarked from California.
Re: shaver
np: Shaver, "Victory". Nothin' like a little sangin' about Juh-heezus before I start an evening of beer and loud guitars. You've inspired me...I'll try that out this afternoon, pre-BareJr./Black Crowes tonight. Hell yes.I've always liked Mr. Shaver however this record has taken that admiration to new highs. a masterpeice.. Do we (meaning any of you) have advance word on "Electric Shaver", the new, full-band and fully-e-lectric album? I can't help but wonder how it would sound with RS Field producing...and trying to top "Tramp" Tucker
clip: Steve Earle, Picking Up on Bluegrass
..some new quotes from Steve 'n' Del (and a commentator familiar 'round these parts)... Steve Earle, Picking Up on BluegrassWith 'Mountain,' Rocker Scales Skepticism of His Turn to Tradition By Bill Friskics-WarrenSpecial to The Washington PostSunday, March 14, 1999; Page G01 NASHVILLESteve Earle has been a lot of things since he started making music: hard-knocked troubadour, rockabilly punk, tattooed arena-rocker, real-life outlaw. It's tempting to write off these phases as caprice or artifice, but each has been an expression of his innate rebelliousness. His new album, The Mountain (E-Squared), a collaboration with the Del McCoury Band, which joins him for shows at the Birchmere on Wednesday and Thursday, finds Earle remade yet again. On the album cover, he sports banker's pinstripes instead of his usual biker black. And he plays bluegrass, a musical genre so traditional that for many of its fans, drums and amplifiers are anathema. It's a confounding move, but there's nothing ironic or false about it. As his heartfelt liner notes attest, Earle loves bluegrass, so much so that he slogged his way through weekly picking sessions, what he calls bluegrass boot camp, to hone his skills as a guitarist. Bluegrass is the original alternative country music, says Earle, sitting at his desk at E-Squared Records, the independent Nashville label that he runs with former Jason the Scorchers manager Jack Emerson. It was the very first music that the industry here targeted and marginalized intentionally. It was a conscious decision. Country radio's prejudice against traditional music is actually a bit of a tradition itself. By the early '60s, even the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, couldn't get his songs played on country stations. Prior to that, country deejays wouldn't think twice about spinning the latest Monroe or Flatt and Scruggs records alongside hits by honky-tonkers Hank Williams and Kitty Wells. God bless Chet Atkins's heart and Owen Bradley's heart, says Earle, referring to the architects of the uptown Nashville Sound of the '50s and '60s. But they wanted a larger, more urban audience, and the banjo was the first thing that went. It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but believe me, it's true. Earle, 44, is no recent convert to bluegrass. When he was 7, he saw Monroe play at the Grand Ole Opry. And he gravitated toward grassers when he moved to Nashville in 1974 as the bass player in Guy Clark's band. I was part of a little circle of Texas songwriters, and we hung out with bluegrass players because they were the other bohemians, Earle recalls. They were the other outsiders. Earle lost touch with the bluegrass community--and everyone else for that matter--around 1990, when he bottomed out on drugs for several years. Toward the end of 1994, he served 60 days for possession of heroin in Nashville's Criminal Justice Center--and since then, he says, he's been clean. Earle's 1995 all-acoustic Train a Comin,' though, found him turning to the bluegrass fold. The album featured several pickers well known to fans of mountain music. One of them, Peter Rowan--who like Del McCoury is an alum of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys--became Earle's mentor; another, the late Roy Huskey Jr., became one of his closest friends. Earle dedicates The Mountain to Huskey, while a cast of all-stars pays tribute to him on the album's closing track, Pilgrim, a song Earle wrote the morning of the upright bass player's funeral. Earle first hooked up with the Del McCoury Band in 1997, when he invited the band to play on I Still Follow You Around, a bluegrass song that appears on his otherwise rock album El Corazon. Before that, the McCourys had recorded a version of one of Earle's tunes, If You Need a Fool; Earle had also used Ronnie McCoury, the premier bluegrass mandolin player of the '90s, on his own recording sessions as well as those of acts he has produced. In the fall of '97, Earle and the McCourys then played a gig together at Nashville's Station Inn. (Earlier this month, they sold out four shows there in less than a half-hour.) That was when I decided that this record was going to be a bluegrass record, says Earle. Playing with Del and the boys that night was just the most fun I've ever had. That night the two acts huddled around a single microphone. Del's high, lonesome wail and Earle's nicotine rasp made for unlikely but affecting harmonies. Even more striking was the way the bodies of the six pickers would weave in and out as they took their solos in front of the mike. Earle and the McCourys recorded The Mountain, an album that conveys the immediacy of their live shows, in much the same way. Steve was on one side of the room, and we were all lined up across from him, explains Ronnie McCoury, 34. That's how we recorded. There were no overdubs, really. The biggest adjustment, says Del McCoury, 60, has been working with just one microphone live, something
Yin? Yang? Meet Twang
Just got back from Atlanta (a three and half hour drive) and The Mountain express, aka the Earle/McCoury extravaganza. I went in with high expectations -- they were exceeded. A large, appreciative crowd at the Variety Playhouse witnessed greatness Saturday night. There is combustion and (dare I say) synergy in the Steve Del pairing... However, the contrast took another form for me, for a while... Rather than a detailed review of this tremendous show, I'll simply shine a little light on a small dark spot.. Please visualize the great Mr. McCoury, his expressive and open face reflecting pleasant surpise at the sounds coming from his own voicebox and his band... ..and then listen as the great Mr. Earle -- onstage quiet and solo -- loses his (always tenuous) cool when a drunken fan begged for one song or another (I'm betting it was Copperhead Road, which was played with gusto later by the whole band). Would you shut the f#K up?! (another roaring request) Don't you know I could have you thrown outta here? (another shout from the lout) Man, do you even know I have a new record out? The guy shut up...or left...and to his credit Mr. Earle was his old pleasant self for the remainder of the show. Two very different voices (and temperaments). One great night of music. Tucker
Re: Scorchers
Don't forget Andy McLenon, who was right there with Jack at the late lamented Praxis Records...Remember the Satellites? The Questionnaires? Tim Krekel and the Sluggers? All Praxis...all good. Where are ya' Andy? Not online, I'm sure of that...Tucker Hanspeter Eggenberger wrote: BTW: The career of Jason The Scorchers was launched by Jack Emerson. Emerson ist, with Steve Earle, co-founder of E-Squared Records. Jack was also the band's original bassist. Dave
Re: Nick Hornby / Tom Perrotta
Thomas Mohr wrote: I know there are some Hornby fans around here Just finished "About a Boy", Hornby's new one. Again, his protagonist is a pop-culture-infused manchild and, again, he's produced a fine, funny book. Tucker
Re: More new releases (Art v. Commerce alert)
Also: Waco Brothers, The Del McCoury Band, Tom Russell and yeah! Kelly Willis Will Kelly's new one get played on (over the air) radio? Video outlets maybe? Anyone know what Rykodisc's marketing plans are (or if their capable of moving more than say, 20 or 30 thousand). I want the world to hear this woman's voice!! Tucker
Keith Christopher sighting
WARNING: Minimum twang content Caught a blooze double bill last night: Kenny Wayne Shepherd and (the reason for my being there) Bryan Lee of New Orleans. Bryan, your Braille Blues Daddy, was great, but the surprise of the night was seeing former Shaver (and GA Satellites?) bassist Keith Christopher gigging with KWS... He's affected a foppish stance...and it works. That is all. Tucker
Re: I don't know what to think of this
Last night, Chicago news radio station WBBM reported that Clint Black
may
have recorded Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes" for his next album,
(So, would he do a good job of it?)
HELL, YES, GIVEN DECENT PRODUCTION. BLACK'S PIPES ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD NOW
AS
THEY WERE BACK WHEN HE WAS KILLIN' TIME. BILL F-W
But aren't "pipes" (in the technical sense) besides the point when it comes
to Billy Joe's songs?
I mean, this song is about attitude and experience and any solid
interpretation would have to at least feature a believable replication of
that attitude and experience. In light of "Georgia on a Fast Train" by
BR5-49 (a band of solid interpreters), isn't it tough to outdo the Corsicana
Kid?
("Kid"?!, you ask...well "Old Guy" wasn't alliterative enough for me.)
Anyway, I can't wait to hear some Shaver new tunes, produced by Ray
Kennedy...Have details on the upcoming disc been posted 'round here lately?
Tasq
np: KGSR via broadcast.com
Re: I don't know what to think of this
If anything, Billy Joe's vocal limitations have held him back. I don't disagree, in the commercial sense...It's just that he invests so much personality in his songs and his performances that "interpretations" often don't measure up for me...But I'm a fan. And I still wish the Scorchers would cover "Hottest Thing in Town", one of Shaver's songs more likely to benefit from reinterpretation... Tasq
