Hey gang--- We're still mining the old veins, it seems. After some digging, it turns out that more classic rock tunes remain from the summer, '10 session of my buddy Johnny Stack and me. What we have here is your basic meat and potatoes Rolling Stones fare, not quite bookending the tenure of guitarist Mick Taylor in the band (a.k.a. the "Golden Age" to many Stones fans).
"Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" bears one of the my favorite dumbest rock titles of all time (I dunno-- possibly to discriminate it from the Zeppelin song?). It hails from '73's "Goats Head Soup", one of the minor gems in the Stones' catalog. It's a fine and groovy and grimy tune.
"Gimme Shelter" (1969) is, of course, a certified rock classic, emerging from the Brian Jones- Mick Taylor interregnum. Given that, little needs to be said, other than that anybody trying to cover the song without the vocal assistance of Merry Clayton is probably gonna fall flat on their face one way or the other.
Links here:
Heartbreaker: http://www.box.com/s/5fb21b02093741059f81
Gimme Shelter: http://www.box.com/s/42352a13c81ee2267982
Stream/ download here:
Heartbreaker:
Gimme Shelter:
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Harpswell Hoot '11 redux, part 2: Thin Lizzy
Get right to the link: http://www.box.com/s/xzdkl69jtg8g59yfxf8a
Well, here's the last electrical hunk of Harpswell Hoot '11 for all of you. The long and short: this cover fell apart at the end, we had some drum mic drop-out and, as with the last Springsteen post, it took waaaaay too long in post-production. It still isn't quite where it should be, but what the hell--- one makes due, and it certainly beats a sharp stick in the eye. Time to get to wiping the slate.
Thin Lizzy. Sadly remembered by most people for "The Boys Are Back in Town", and only for that one (great) song. Take a listen to the records from around '75-'77-- "Fighting", "Jailbreak", "Bad Reputation" --- for the full story. Ever-changing lineups. Dual lead-guitar onslaught plus signature guitarmonies. Fat '70s tom-tom drums. Hard rock with a soft heart. Heroic rise, tragic fall. Phil Lynott, poet of the working class, and victim of the sad cliche ending. The only black English emigrant bassist rocker that I know of with a life-size bronze off of Grafton St. in Dublin, complete with afro and Fender jazz bass. Ran into it completely by accident a few years back. "Hey Oonagh, y'know that statue over there looks just like Phil Lynott......"
This was a Sunday tune, so Roger had already hightailed it back to the Pioneer Valley. The basics were recorded with Dillo on guitar, Paul B on Wurlitzer, RK on drums and me on the bass.
Running Back:
Well, here's the last electrical hunk of Harpswell Hoot '11 for all of you. The long and short: this cover fell apart at the end, we had some drum mic drop-out and, as with the last Springsteen post, it took waaaaay too long in post-production. It still isn't quite where it should be, but what the hell--- one makes due, and it certainly beats a sharp stick in the eye. Time to get to wiping the slate.
Thin Lizzy. Sadly remembered by most people for "The Boys Are Back in Town", and only for that one (great) song. Take a listen to the records from around '75-'77-- "Fighting", "Jailbreak", "Bad Reputation" --- for the full story. Ever-changing lineups. Dual lead-guitar onslaught plus signature guitarmonies. Fat '70s tom-tom drums. Hard rock with a soft heart. Heroic rise, tragic fall. Phil Lynott, poet of the working class, and victim of the sad cliche ending. The only black English emigrant bassist rocker that I know of with a life-size bronze off of Grafton St. in Dublin, complete with afro and Fender jazz bass. Ran into it completely by accident a few years back. "Hey Oonagh, y'know that statue over there looks just like Phil Lynott......"
This was a Sunday tune, so Roger had already hightailed it back to the Pioneer Valley. The basics were recorded with Dillo on guitar, Paul B on Wurlitzer, RK on drums and me on the bass.
Running Back:
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Harpswell Hoot '11 redux, part 1: Springsteen/ E. Street Band
Direct link for Appleheads, etc: http://www.box.com/s/us26se7acjuhp4339gig
Well, after additional recording in Lexington and Harpswell and Florence, and tweaking and re-tweaking, and incineration of my old laptop, and 3 months as houseguest of the Kindly FitzGeralds, and vacation and work and such, and them some more rearranging of deck chairs.... I think I finally done finished with the last two songs from the Harpswell Hootenanny 2011. This week is the '73-era E-Street goodness part of that.
I prefer not to think of Bruce Springsteen as having recorded much of anything after "Nebraska". At some point, the songs tended towards meathandedness, the production became too clean. Synthesizers appeared. For us diehard fans of '70s Bruce, it was about the crazy and sprawling, character-driven songs, and the rough-and-tumble bar-band onslaught of the E Street Band, with the Hammond organ, loosey-goosey drumming, squawling Telecaster riffs and all that. "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" has a little something that the other albums don't quite feature.
I'd been hoping to record this one for a long, long time, and my only regrets are that I wasn't able to get Roger to record a lead guitar track, or to to get Paul B to overdub vocals. Damn shame, especially as this cut was fully built upon Mr. Bonanos' shoulders. Matter of fact, it was a few years back that I determined to nail down a version of this tune, during a visit to Bonanos HQ, way out in San Fran's Outer Richmond. Paulie let fly a great version on the Lefferts' pianner, and I saw the goddarned future.
That future didn't exactly include the number of takes we needed on this one, nor the nearly full-blown mutiny it may have led to But hopefully the wait is worth it. Paul B is on the Wurlitzer, Roadkill on the drums, Roger on lead and harmony vocals.
Incident on 57th Street:
Well, after additional recording in Lexington and Harpswell and Florence, and tweaking and re-tweaking, and incineration of my old laptop, and 3 months as houseguest of the Kindly FitzGeralds, and vacation and work and such, and them some more rearranging of deck chairs.... I think I finally done finished with the last two songs from the Harpswell Hootenanny 2011. This week is the '73-era E-Street goodness part of that.
I prefer not to think of Bruce Springsteen as having recorded much of anything after "Nebraska". At some point, the songs tended towards meathandedness, the production became too clean. Synthesizers appeared. For us diehard fans of '70s Bruce, it was about the crazy and sprawling, character-driven songs, and the rough-and-tumble bar-band onslaught of the E Street Band, with the Hammond organ, loosey-goosey drumming, squawling Telecaster riffs and all that. "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" has a little something that the other albums don't quite feature.
I'd been hoping to record this one for a long, long time, and my only regrets are that I wasn't able to get Roger to record a lead guitar track, or to to get Paul B to overdub vocals. Damn shame, especially as this cut was fully built upon Mr. Bonanos' shoulders. Matter of fact, it was a few years back that I determined to nail down a version of this tune, during a visit to Bonanos HQ, way out in San Fran's Outer Richmond. Paulie let fly a great version on the Lefferts' pianner, and I saw the goddarned future.
That future didn't exactly include the number of takes we needed on this one, nor the nearly full-blown mutiny it may have led to But hopefully the wait is worth it. Paul B is on the Wurlitzer, Roadkill on the drums, Roger on lead and harmony vocals.
Incident on 57th Street:
Friday, March 2, 2012
Stackpole-Keating, part 3: Mr. Soul b/w Almost Cut My Hair
Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield):
http://www.box.com/s/dfuzhlh0qy0ri7pkvyd9
Almost Cut My Hair (CSNY):
http://www.box.com/s/q3tfd7q596oco18y945v
Neil Young.... What can I say? As covered in enough detail previously, there's Creedence and Dylan and the Band. The Who, the Stones, the Kinks, the Beatles, and a few other go-to's on my classic rock front. But NEIL! He's most often been THE guy, throughout all his phases and stages, whether folksy and warbling, fuzzed-out and stomping, oddball, overwrought or plain ol' cantankerous. That's one cat who's cut his own swath, deep, wide and however the hell he wants it. Yet there's something about his singing, and his playing (acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica), and his writing (and his failures) that's always seemed just within reach. His solos never move too fast, and he doesn't rain down notes or verses. It's more tone and phrasing and leaving spaces. But the whole package is inimitable. Even within his output with Buffalo Springfield (not as good as I always hope) and CSNY (not as bad as I always prepare myself for), Neil leaves a mark. Sometimes a welt.
Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield):
Almost Cut My Hair (CSNY):
http://www.box.com/s/dfuzhlh0qy0ri7pkvyd9
Almost Cut My Hair (CSNY):
http://www.box.com/s/q3tfd7q596oco18y945v
Neil Young.... What can I say? As covered in enough detail previously, there's Creedence and Dylan and the Band. The Who, the Stones, the Kinks, the Beatles, and a few other go-to's on my classic rock front. But NEIL! He's most often been THE guy, throughout all his phases and stages, whether folksy and warbling, fuzzed-out and stomping, oddball, overwrought or plain ol' cantankerous. That's one cat who's cut his own swath, deep, wide and however the hell he wants it. Yet there's something about his singing, and his playing (acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica), and his writing (and his failures) that's always seemed just within reach. His solos never move too fast, and he doesn't rain down notes or verses. It's more tone and phrasing and leaving spaces. But the whole package is inimitable. Even within his output with Buffalo Springfield (not as good as I always hope) and CSNY (not as bad as I always prepare myself for), Neil leaves a mark. Sometimes a welt.
Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield):
Almost Cut My Hair (CSNY):
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