"Time for Christmas" b/w "Old Fashioned Christmas"
Hey folks-- Merry/ Happy to you and all of yers!
I'd hoped to get electric versions done with Roady Roadkill, but only finished writing the darned things on Saturday, so they got the "Woodpile" treatment Sunday night after the joyless Patriotic drubbing of the Ravens. What's a fella to do but wrap it as-is and sneak it under your tree?
Irregahdless, these won't change your life, but it's fun to put together a seasonal tune or two every year. One's a soft-hearted weeper and the other's a footstomping boozer. I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which.
Safe travels if you're traveling. Either way, enjoy some downtime.
jk
RKBS SoundCloud page: https://soundcloud.com/johnk-rkbs
Or cut and paste into your browser:
"Time for Christmas": https://app.box.com/s/hogqu1t1l5ej231855vf
"Old Fashioned Christmas: https://app.box.com/s/i8yvq5a9y6wva5maw0jy
Or stream here:
Monday, December 23, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Woodpile 3: "Don't Change Your Snows" b/w "Down the Line"
Heya cats-- Happy pre-Christmas from the snow-covered but rapidly thawing northeast! What we pulled from the Woodpile for this post is a couple new versions of road songs originally part of the "Rock n' Roll Town" batch that I wrote back in '03-04 in the titular (though absolutely non-rocking) town of East Douglas, MA. As you probably recall, that's where the Rambling Roadshow temporarily decamped for a 2-year hiatus to kick off the Tufts Years. Down there off the Blackstone River Valley corridor, on the banks of the mighty Mumford, it was time well-spent, but loaded with highway miles and pining for the Midcoast ME metropolitan area. Though a dull slog at times, it certainly made for good songwriting material.
jk
Don't Change Your Snows: https://app.box.com/s/il10p3eah8ehq0j96qr5
Down the Line: https://app.box.com/s/k0d56a7y9cmiinlzkaui
Box may have conspired to make everything from this Woodpile appear in alphabetical order in one player window below, which would be OK by me. Or it might take two of their newly formatted, too-big windows. Dunno-- Still figuring things out:
jk
Don't Change Your Snows: https://app.box.com/s/il10p3eah8ehq0j96qr5
Down the Line: https://app.box.com/s/k0d56a7y9cmiinlzkaui
Box may have conspired to make everything from this Woodpile appear in alphabetical order in one player window below, which would be OK by me. Or it might take two of their newly formatted, too-big windows. Dunno-- Still figuring things out:
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Woodpile 3: "Coffee and Wine" b/w "Jenny Everyday"
Hey cats-
WAY, WAY, WAY too long since the last post! My very big bad! And it's not even a case of not having enough to post. Au contraire, mon freres, there's been too much music stuff on the plate, and a fair amount of non-music stuff, and a general need to find some hours, prioritize, refresh my memory as to what's what, tidy up the general area(s), recall how to play the danged instruments, lubricate myself with some coffee or a beer (or both), and keep all the beasts moderately quiet for a short interval.
Anyway, let's just bust the logjam open with a couple fresh cuts off the ol' Woodpile. Both songs are fairly vintage, but they both are tunes that I find myself playing now and again, and that's usually a sign that they've got something to them. Both are very hot off the presses and I'm sure could've benefited from some more mixing and mastering and all that, but to heck with it! Have at 'em!
I see, by the way, that my tricksy friends over at Box.com have altered their embedding a bit. We'll see how this goes this time and as I add posts to this "album". It's worked OK for me so far, but lemme know if there's any problem on the receiving end. Both tunes should open up in the same player window, and there seem to be the usual download options. Click away!
Yers, fondly as EVAH!
jk
Coffee and Wine: https://app.box.com/s/2u1kv9on539wlsstmfut
Jenny Everyday: https://app.box.com/s/8zd580je1npxn6vhsthv
WAY, WAY, WAY too long since the last post! My very big bad! And it's not even a case of not having enough to post. Au contraire, mon freres, there's been too much music stuff on the plate, and a fair amount of non-music stuff, and a general need to find some hours, prioritize, refresh my memory as to what's what, tidy up the general area(s), recall how to play the danged instruments, lubricate myself with some coffee or a beer (or both), and keep all the beasts moderately quiet for a short interval.
Anyway, let's just bust the logjam open with a couple fresh cuts off the ol' Woodpile. Both songs are fairly vintage, but they both are tunes that I find myself playing now and again, and that's usually a sign that they've got something to them. Both are very hot off the presses and I'm sure could've benefited from some more mixing and mastering and all that, but to heck with it! Have at 'em!
I see, by the way, that my tricksy friends over at Box.com have altered their embedding a bit. We'll see how this goes this time and as I add posts to this "album". It's worked OK for me so far, but lemme know if there's any problem on the receiving end. Both tunes should open up in the same player window, and there seem to be the usual download options. Click away!
Yers, fondly as EVAH!
jk
Coffee and Wine: https://app.box.com/s/2u1kv9on539wlsstmfut
Jenny Everyday: https://app.box.com/s/8zd580je1npxn6vhsthv
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
"Still Transmitting" b/w "Ashes to Ashes"
Alright, listening public-- Here are the last two cuts from the 7th-ish Roadkill Buttsteak recordings, from September 2012, a day or so from Torrey Smith and the Baltimore Ravens executing a jaw-dropping Sunday night comeback against the Pats at whatever they call that big purple-y stadium by Camden Yards.
"Still Transmitting" is a hat-tip to "Straightaways"-era Son Volt. Thinking a lot of goldrush/ boomtown '90s Baltimore when I wrote it, it's another song about just keeping at it, whatever "it" is, and generally enjoying the ride. I also figured I'd tack on the demo version, so you could see what, if anything, Roadkill gets in advance by way of song structure, and how much these things evolve as they go. "Are you receiving?", indeed!
We also did us a little David Bowie cover, in the usual slapdash fashion, with too much slathered on, or not enough. But what a fine tune, and fun to play. Back in the "Let's Dance" era, I remember going with my sister into the old music store on White Plains' Post Road, and he asking the guy to get the "Scary Monsters (...and Super Creeps)" cassette from the display case. I sort of got this song at the time, but I preferred his MTV stuff, if any at all, and it took decades for the album to sink in.... Such is life.
jk
"Still Transmitting": https://app.box.com/s/2ndefb66hzfrcm7rqr47
"Ashes to Ashes": https://app.box.com/s/273lqmozxapmuap8p9rm
"Still Transmitting" (demo): https://app.box.com/s/blen8ddldw4kdq4yfev9
"Still Transmitting" is a hat-tip to "Straightaways"-era Son Volt. Thinking a lot of goldrush/ boomtown '90s Baltimore when I wrote it, it's another song about just keeping at it, whatever "it" is, and generally enjoying the ride. I also figured I'd tack on the demo version, so you could see what, if anything, Roadkill gets in advance by way of song structure, and how much these things evolve as they go. "Are you receiving?", indeed!
We also did us a little David Bowie cover, in the usual slapdash fashion, with too much slathered on, or not enough. But what a fine tune, and fun to play. Back in the "Let's Dance" era, I remember going with my sister into the old music store on White Plains' Post Road, and he asking the guy to get the "Scary Monsters (...and Super Creeps)" cassette from the display case. I sort of got this song at the time, but I preferred his MTV stuff, if any at all, and it took decades for the album to sink in.... Such is life.
jk
"Still Transmitting": https://app.box.com/s/2ndefb66hzfrcm7rqr47
"Ashes to Ashes": https://app.box.com/s/273lqmozxapmuap8p9rm
"Still Transmitting" (demo): https://app.box.com/s/blen8ddldw4kdq4yfev9
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
"Caroline, Yes" b/w "The Ghost In You"
Summer wanes and whaddaya get? Well this week, there's a sweet ol' RKBS original instrumental, name of "Caroline, Yes". We are oh so clever for making this here wordless reply to the Beach Boy's "Caroline, No", aren't we? In any event, it's a nice lil' song, and we do hope you get to digging this one, too...
The other goodie continues our ongoing '80s revisionist history: a measured, somewhat "MTV Unplugged" version of the Psychedelic Furs' A-No.-1 classic, "The Ghost in You", from their last good album, "Mirror Moves", in 1984.
JK
"Caroline, Yes": https://app.box.com/s/bupsgqu658amy17j0w0t
"The Ghost in You": https://app.box.com/s/i37log22lz83tjbno0lb
The other goodie continues our ongoing '80s revisionist history: a measured, somewhat "MTV Unplugged" version of the Psychedelic Furs' A-No.-1 classic, "The Ghost in You", from their last good album, "Mirror Moves", in 1984.
JK
"Caroline, Yes": https://app.box.com/s/bupsgqu658amy17j0w0t
"The Ghost in You": https://app.box.com/s/i37log22lz83tjbno0lb
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
"Hot Rod" b/w "The Killing Moon"
One original for you cats, and a cover...
"Hot Rod" is the "original"-- a character study admittedly heavily influenced by the dearly departed Phil Lynott (he of the great Thin Lizzy). It came together last year and immediately earned itself a soft spot in my heart. This on account of the excuse to bust out the dumb rock thump, the guitarmonies and the wah-wah, but mostly on account of the subject matter. Gives me a warm late '90s Baltimore feeling all through my sullen bones, it does. "Hope you dig it, Jack!"
"The Killing Moon" is cover of Echo & the Bunnymen's dark classic from their '84 masterwork, "Ocean Rain", gussied up with a little REM-style Rickenbacker, tinkling piano and some swoops of pedal steel. I'd mentioned last time how nice the drums sounded in that torn-up, post-tenant/ pre-renovation room at Stately Roadkill Manor? Check 'em out on this one!
jk
"Hot Rod": https://app.box.com/s/su6ax7nd2h3u91vrcvmc
"The Killing Moon": https://app.box.com/s/guteahq16x5vljw9z7ph
"Hot Rod" is the "original"-- a character study admittedly heavily influenced by the dearly departed Phil Lynott (he of the great Thin Lizzy). It came together last year and immediately earned itself a soft spot in my heart. This on account of the excuse to bust out the dumb rock thump, the guitarmonies and the wah-wah, but mostly on account of the subject matter. Gives me a warm late '90s Baltimore feeling all through my sullen bones, it does. "Hope you dig it, Jack!"
"The Killing Moon" is cover of Echo & the Bunnymen's dark classic from their '84 masterwork, "Ocean Rain", gussied up with a little REM-style Rickenbacker, tinkling piano and some swoops of pedal steel. I'd mentioned last time how nice the drums sounded in that torn-up, post-tenant/ pre-renovation room at Stately Roadkill Manor? Check 'em out on this one!
jk
"Hot Rod": https://app.box.com/s/su6ax7nd2h3u91vrcvmc
"The Killing Moon": https://app.box.com/s/guteahq16x5vljw9z7ph
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
"Nicky, I Never Knew" b/w "Dominique"
Briefly, a couple more originals are up next, via me and Señor Roadkill. As with the rest of this batch, the drums were recorded at the Roadkills' Charm City Manor back in autumn '12, in a great-sounding room downstairs, post-tenant and pre-renovation. There's really not much to say about the songs otherwise. You decide:
"Nicky, I Never Knew": https://app.box.com/s/t3cvwg69omdaikb7dpk2
"Dominique": https://app.box.com/s/gkrg88p1scqyeaehgita
"Nicky, I Never Knew": https://app.box.com/s/t3cvwg69omdaikb7dpk2
"Dominique": https://app.box.com/s/gkrg88p1scqyeaehgita
Monday, July 29, 2013
"To the Moon" b/w "Buckout Road"
First off, to put our cards on the table, this is "fresh" product, rather than "new", these two tunes dating back to the old Honcho days of the roaring late '90s Baltimore. They've been gussied up a bit and, with any luck, generally given their due.
"To the Moon" is such a blatant Scruffy the Cat/ Charlie Chesterman lift that it barely needs mentioning to anyone familiar with those guys' records. But do I ever have a soft spot for it. And the Rickenbackers and cheeseball organ only help....
"Buckout Road" does refer to an actual road--- a mysterious, winding, hilly lane on the ass end of the area we knew as Silver Lake, NY (or East White Plains, though technically West Harrison). Buckout Road started (still does) behind the quarry and went way up and around, getting darker, curvier and more narrow as you went, eventually emerging lord knows where, behind one of the reservoirs, I think. It had dark aura of "no return", and was rumored to be the kind of place you'd be likely to find albinos, cast-outs, adulterers, criminals and all that kinda thing. It's even worse nowadays, and particularly scary if you have a fear of McMansions. Sad, sad, sad.
JK
"To the Moon": https://app.box.com/s/nkmcgrsdlbi6epd564ju
"Buckout Road": https://app.box.com/s/wgw5uu64vdnflmo3yq7r
"To the Moon" is such a blatant Scruffy the Cat/ Charlie Chesterman lift that it barely needs mentioning to anyone familiar with those guys' records. But do I ever have a soft spot for it. And the Rickenbackers and cheeseball organ only help....
"Buckout Road" does refer to an actual road--- a mysterious, winding, hilly lane on the ass end of the area we knew as Silver Lake, NY (or East White Plains, though technically West Harrison). Buckout Road started (still does) behind the quarry and went way up and around, getting darker, curvier and more narrow as you went, eventually emerging lord knows where, behind one of the reservoirs, I think. It had dark aura of "no return", and was rumored to be the kind of place you'd be likely to find albinos, cast-outs, adulterers, criminals and all that kinda thing. It's even worse nowadays, and particularly scary if you have a fear of McMansions. Sad, sad, sad.
JK
"To the Moon": https://app.box.com/s/nkmcgrsdlbi6epd564ju
"Buckout Road": https://app.box.com/s/wgw5uu64vdnflmo3yq7r
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Stackpole- Keating '12 (5): CCR, in case you needed more
Original RKBS tunes coming next post! But this one wraps up last year's Stackpole sessions, and just in time for this year's Harpswell Summer Rock Camp....
Fogerty, Fogerty, Cook & Clifford. What can you say? It's hard to overstate how good and how productive those guys were over the short blast of time centered on '69-'70. And how textured and varied they could be. It's also hard to overstate how little the world needs any more cover versions of Creedence tunes. But yet again that's what you get here. For completeness' sake:
Born on the Bayou: https://www.box.com/s/ow4fvquz6d3mcr1nd9tt
It Came Out of the Sky: https://www.box.com/s/tn4xwv8f12rm1k31ast0
Fogerty, Fogerty, Cook & Clifford. What can you say? It's hard to overstate how good and how productive those guys were over the short blast of time centered on '69-'70. And how textured and varied they could be. It's also hard to overstate how little the world needs any more cover versions of Creedence tunes. But yet again that's what you get here. For completeness' sake:
Born on the Bayou: https://www.box.com/s/ow4fvquz6d3mcr1nd9tt
It Came Out of the Sky: https://www.box.com/s/tn4xwv8f12rm1k31ast0
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Stackpole- Cardillo- Keating '12 (4): George Harrison, Led Zeppelin
Hope everybody's Independence Day weekend went swimmingly (perhaps literally), and the summah sweltah didn't weight too heavily on you. Admittedly, there was some intermittent shelter sought in the cool basement of the Buttsteak manse, but it's summer, after all.
Not much text needed for these posts from last year's Stackpole-Keating band camp. Both songs come from 1970, and both feature the remote bass-playing contributions of The One and Only 'Dillo.
"Isn't It a Pity" came off of George Harrison's sprawling, world-stunning post-Beatles triumph, "All Things Must Pass". This was another milestone rekkid that featured all those usual musical suspects of the time (talked about in detail a couple posts back), and we were again shooting for that loosey-goosey, barnstorming feel that we love so much.
"Hey Hey, What Can I Do" didn't make it onto "Led Zeppelin III", and remains one of the greatest non-LP cuts of the rock era, along with the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain" single. It provided good cover for me to bust out the acoustical instruments and try and hybridize them to the rock. Robert Plant I am not.
JK
Isn't It a Pity: https://www.box.com/s/2y0lwkevc6i4fnasvgz8
Hey, Hey What Can I Do: https://www.box.com/s/ifbviwj6qejeoq6mtke2
Not much text needed for these posts from last year's Stackpole-Keating band camp. Both songs come from 1970, and both feature the remote bass-playing contributions of The One and Only 'Dillo.
"Isn't It a Pity" came off of George Harrison's sprawling, world-stunning post-Beatles triumph, "All Things Must Pass". This was another milestone rekkid that featured all those usual musical suspects of the time (talked about in detail a couple posts back), and we were again shooting for that loosey-goosey, barnstorming feel that we love so much.
"Hey Hey, What Can I Do" didn't make it onto "Led Zeppelin III", and remains one of the greatest non-LP cuts of the rock era, along with the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain" single. It provided good cover for me to bust out the acoustical instruments and try and hybridize them to the rock. Robert Plant I am not.
JK
Isn't It a Pity: https://www.box.com/s/2y0lwkevc6i4fnasvgz8
Hey, Hey What Can I Do: https://www.box.com/s/ifbviwj6qejeoq6mtke2
Monday, July 1, 2013
Stackpole- Cardillo- Keating '12 (3): Small Faces, Traffic
Happy Canada Day, y'all! But it's back to the psychedelic '60s, England-style for these two hit cover rekkids from me and John Stackpole (and special guest):
"Tin Soldier" comes courtesy of the great, great Small Faces, released at the very tail end of 1967. Jeez, nobody much even knows about the Faces nowadays, and that's with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood on board. Prior to their drunky, good-time, groovy blooz-rock evolution, and before diminutive Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, there were the Small Faces. They had a sackful of great tunes, from the mod to the psychedelic. I've covered few songs that are more fun to play than this one, and few that are more vein-popping in their vocal demands.
"40,000 Headmen" is 1968 track from Traffic, of Steve Winwood and Dave Mason fame, Jim Capaldi transient quasi-fame and (yuck) Chris Wood non-fame (he of the flute and sax). Total gibberish, but a fun, moody groove to set, with room for some congas and lead guitar and keys and all that.
And one of the best part of these is that Stack and I had the great idea of using the recording process to virtually reforming our second-earliest high school band, and outsourced the bass duties to the one and only Dillo. Huzzah!
Tin Soldier: https://www.box.com/s/rmqla5lxzje32ipnw0y7
40,000 Headmen: https://www.box.com/s/urrr791kj54hlo8bj1ca
"Tin Soldier" comes courtesy of the great, great Small Faces, released at the very tail end of 1967. Jeez, nobody much even knows about the Faces nowadays, and that's with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood on board. Prior to their drunky, good-time, groovy blooz-rock evolution, and before diminutive Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, there were the Small Faces. They had a sackful of great tunes, from the mod to the psychedelic. I've covered few songs that are more fun to play than this one, and few that are more vein-popping in their vocal demands.
"40,000 Headmen" is 1968 track from Traffic, of Steve Winwood and Dave Mason fame, Jim Capaldi transient quasi-fame and (yuck) Chris Wood non-fame (he of the flute and sax). Total gibberish, but a fun, moody groove to set, with room for some congas and lead guitar and keys and all that.
And one of the best part of these is that Stack and I had the great idea of using the recording process to virtually reforming our second-earliest high school band, and outsourced the bass duties to the one and only Dillo. Huzzah!
Tin Soldier: https://www.box.com/s/rmqla5lxzje32ipnw0y7
40,000 Headmen: https://www.box.com/s/urrr791kj54hlo8bj1ca
Monday, June 24, 2013
Stackpole- Keating '12 (2): Back yet again to the Velvet Underground
Back in '11 the Stackpole-Keating organization played the obvious choices off the VU's "Loaded": "Sweet Jane" and "Rock n' Roll". Last year we dug one level deeper for a last-minute addition to the set: "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'". I haven't heard a version I disliked (and that list includes Phish, so that's saying something, lord save my eternal soul). Certainly it was fun to put this version together. Anyway, it's a sweet, languid time capsule of a song, and the cut (out of several on the album) that most benefited the from the songwriter (Lou Reed) having turfed it over to the new guy/ part time singer (Doug Yule).
Oh! Sweet Nuthin': https://www.box.com/s/84owpqqvsv19m92mj9mx
Oh! Sweet Nuthin': https://www.box.com/s/84owpqqvsv19m92mj9mx
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Stackpole- Keating '12 (1): Covers Clapton(ish) and Cocker(ish)
Hey alls-- The media output stalled out on account of a successful Harpswell Hoot '13 but we're back and broadcasting. The hope was to lay off the covers a while and get some new original RKBS goods posted (and we in fact have two batches in the can) but black-hearted technology went and bit us in the ass. So it's back to the boards for the hit records that never made it back from our Baltimore mixing session earlier this year and it's up on the site with some classic numbers from the Stackpole- Keating session of last summer.
These numbers both ring a similar turn-of-the-'70s "live at the Fillmore", raggle-taggle rock-meets-R&B bell for me. They key is the involvement of the musical giants maybe "best known" as Clapton's backing band in Derek and the Dominos: Bobby Whitlock on keys, Carl Radle on bass and Jim Gordon on drums, who carry, respectively, near-tragic, tragic and super-tragic rock n' roll biographies.
It all started with the loose roadshow of Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett and Friends, who really gelled in '69 while the tempestuous American rock/ R&B couple were touring with Clapton and Winwood's kinda crappy supergroup Blind Faith. D&Bs' "friends" came to include Dave Mason and the horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price and even a bit of George Harrison, but most prominently Eric Clapton and the musicians who happily jumped ship with him to record EC's first solo record, form the Dominos and record "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" (ALL in 1970!). Aaaannyhoo... This is hands-down, no argument, by far the greatest era of Clapton, and his association with the equally flawed Delaney Bramlett was a key part of his evolution at the time, moving generally away from the overdone noodling and pschedelia of the Cream era towards groovier, more interactive ensemble playing and tighter, hookier songs. "Got To Get Better In a Little While", to me, is that sound in a nutshell.
It's hard to believe how busy these guys were while not nearly killing themselves with lifestyle excess. In early 1970, between their last D&B tour and their brief time with EC, Gordon, Radle, Keys, Price and a bunch of other players agreed to help out the red-hot-at-the-time Joe Cocker with a contractually obligated US tour. "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" ended up another pillar of this era. "Darling Be Home Soon" was written by John Sebastian. His band the Lovin' Spoonful had a nice version, as did even Brit glam-rockers Slade, but Joe Cocker pretty much owned it, and this version slants towards his.
jk
Got To Get Better In a Little While:
https://www.box.com/s/ox38plbu3ts6o39ow97l
Darling Be Home Soon:
https://www.box.com/s/it0xi54qtxt2qa45hwyt
These numbers both ring a similar turn-of-the-'70s "live at the Fillmore", raggle-taggle rock-meets-R&B bell for me. They key is the involvement of the musical giants maybe "best known" as Clapton's backing band in Derek and the Dominos: Bobby Whitlock on keys, Carl Radle on bass and Jim Gordon on drums, who carry, respectively, near-tragic, tragic and super-tragic rock n' roll biographies.
It all started with the loose roadshow of Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett and Friends, who really gelled in '69 while the tempestuous American rock/ R&B couple were touring with Clapton and Winwood's kinda crappy supergroup Blind Faith. D&Bs' "friends" came to include Dave Mason and the horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price and even a bit of George Harrison, but most prominently Eric Clapton and the musicians who happily jumped ship with him to record EC's first solo record, form the Dominos and record "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" (ALL in 1970!). Aaaannyhoo... This is hands-down, no argument, by far the greatest era of Clapton, and his association with the equally flawed Delaney Bramlett was a key part of his evolution at the time, moving generally away from the overdone noodling and pschedelia of the Cream era towards groovier, more interactive ensemble playing and tighter, hookier songs. "Got To Get Better In a Little While", to me, is that sound in a nutshell.
It's hard to believe how busy these guys were while not nearly killing themselves with lifestyle excess. In early 1970, between their last D&B tour and their brief time with EC, Gordon, Radle, Keys, Price and a bunch of other players agreed to help out the red-hot-at-the-time Joe Cocker with a contractually obligated US tour. "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" ended up another pillar of this era. "Darling Be Home Soon" was written by John Sebastian. His band the Lovin' Spoonful had a nice version, as did even Brit glam-rockers Slade, but Joe Cocker pretty much owned it, and this version slants towards his.
jk
Got To Get Better In a Little While:
https://www.box.com/s/ox38plbu3ts6o39ow97l
Darling Be Home Soon:
https://www.box.com/s/it0xi54qtxt2qa45hwyt
Monday, May 20, 2013
Hoot '12: Steely Dan/ Nick Lowe
This wraps up the Hoot '12 recordings: "Barrytown" b/w "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding". Consider the decks cleared for Hoot '13, which convenes in Harpswell next weekend!
"Barrytown" is a weird, old Steely Dan song from the weird, old Steely Dan-- 1974's "Pretzel Logic", which any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you is their best album by far. Hmmm... Now there's an idea for some future Hooting... Anyway, Mr. Bonanos carried the weight on this one, taking up the Wurlitzer, singing lead and overdubbing some fine guitar.
Elvis Costello may have made the definitive angry young man version of "...Peace, Love & Understanding" but Nick the Knife wrote it. Nick's versions are a little slower and a little sweeter and a little more jangly, and that's what you get here. Few musical turns have warmed my heart so much as Nick Lowe's late-career renaissance. After starting up in the late '60s, achieving minor-league stardom in the late '70s, and hitting the shoals of major-label downsizing in the '80s (coincident with some stagnant songwriting and period-specific over-production), the Silver Fox commenced to putting out a series of great, low-key, soulful, funny records in '94 and probably hasn't looked back since. You should hear him or see him if at all possible. Just sayin'.
jk
"Barrytown": https://www.box.com/s/ylkqjl5vvrzksvlkrxym
"(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding":
https://www.box.com/s/p9ypl7fquvswa9cziwa9
 |
| Jerky deal goes down! |
"Barrytown" is a weird, old Steely Dan song from the weird, old Steely Dan-- 1974's "Pretzel Logic", which any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you is their best album by far. Hmmm... Now there's an idea for some future Hooting... Anyway, Mr. Bonanos carried the weight on this one, taking up the Wurlitzer, singing lead and overdubbing some fine guitar.
Elvis Costello may have made the definitive angry young man version of "...Peace, Love & Understanding" but Nick the Knife wrote it. Nick's versions are a little slower and a little sweeter and a little more jangly, and that's what you get here. Few musical turns have warmed my heart so much as Nick Lowe's late-career renaissance. After starting up in the late '60s, achieving minor-league stardom in the late '70s, and hitting the shoals of major-label downsizing in the '80s (coincident with some stagnant songwriting and period-specific over-production), the Silver Fox commenced to putting out a series of great, low-key, soulful, funny records in '94 and probably hasn't looked back since. You should hear him or see him if at all possible. Just sayin'.
jk
"Barrytown": https://www.box.com/s/ylkqjl5vvrzksvlkrxym
"(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding":
https://www.box.com/s/p9ypl7fquvswa9cziwa9
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Hoot '12: Simon & Garfunkel/ the Who covers
Hoot '12: "The Only Living Boy in NY" b/w "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand"
We were down for maintenance at the RKBS site but are back up and running... Don't forget to check out the other great Hoot covers posted recently, and we hope you dig these.
My history with Simon & Garfunkel is tangled and, truth be told, I really just never much cared for them. Being a child of the '70s, I could never really avoid them though, echoing across the airwaves and culture as they were. But listening to their records is tied in my mind to some very specific tedious, bleak, stuffy, precious (in the bad way) moments, such as dissecting "Richard Corey" in Miss Sweeney's afternoon English class, spring 1983. Few units of time are as long as the eternity that follows someone putting, say, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" on the turntable and saying "We'll hit the road right after this side is done.... Uggghhhh... I get a shiver even now. Still, every once in a while there's something I really love, whether the Concert in Central Park, or some lyric or musical turn or general vibe in "America" or "The Boxer", or the fraying working relationship on display on the beautiful "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album. And off that album, "The Only Living Boy in NY" is an an absolute favorite, and a song that says a whole lot while not saying much at all. It'll jerk a tear to yer eye! Plus the original version features some of LA's top "Wrecking Crew" hands: the great Joe Osborne (bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Larry Knechtel (organ) and Fred Carter, Jr (guitar)-- men who built a good number of your musical memories, whether you know it or not. So, yeah, we took a crack at it anyway, and turned Paul C loose on the bass and Paul B on the take-off guitar.
Now, the Who? I was always on-board for them from the moment I bought my "Hooligans" best-of compilation cassette at Sam Goody or Musicland in the Galleria in White Plains. We were children of "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia" primarily, Dillo and me, and the whole pre-"Tommy" output always confused me a bit. What was up with the baked beans, giant deodorant, zit cream, leopard skin and general shirtlessness of "The Who Sell Out"?!? As with the Kinks and Stones, this meant that a lot of the early gems went undiscovered for a while. Among them, "MaryAnne with the Shaky Hand". That's Paul B on the keys, RK power-popping it on the drums, Dillo on the bass and me on the Rickenbackers.
JK
"The Only Living Boy in NY": https://www.box.com/s/t65sp35v7r8pp5jvrlih
"Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand": https://www.box.com/s/uvgui0s9yjujd76hkjcq
We were down for maintenance at the RKBS site but are back up and running... Don't forget to check out the other great Hoot covers posted recently, and we hope you dig these.
My history with Simon & Garfunkel is tangled and, truth be told, I really just never much cared for them. Being a child of the '70s, I could never really avoid them though, echoing across the airwaves and culture as they were. But listening to their records is tied in my mind to some very specific tedious, bleak, stuffy, precious (in the bad way) moments, such as dissecting "Richard Corey" in Miss Sweeney's afternoon English class, spring 1983. Few units of time are as long as the eternity that follows someone putting, say, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" on the turntable and saying "We'll hit the road right after this side is done.... Uggghhhh... I get a shiver even now. Still, every once in a while there's something I really love, whether the Concert in Central Park, or some lyric or musical turn or general vibe in "America" or "The Boxer", or the fraying working relationship on display on the beautiful "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album. And off that album, "The Only Living Boy in NY" is an an absolute favorite, and a song that says a whole lot while not saying much at all. It'll jerk a tear to yer eye! Plus the original version features some of LA's top "Wrecking Crew" hands: the great Joe Osborne (bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Larry Knechtel (organ) and Fred Carter, Jr (guitar)-- men who built a good number of your musical memories, whether you know it or not. So, yeah, we took a crack at it anyway, and turned Paul C loose on the bass and Paul B on the take-off guitar.
Now, the Who? I was always on-board for them from the moment I bought my "Hooligans" best-of compilation cassette at Sam Goody or Musicland in the Galleria in White Plains. We were children of "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia" primarily, Dillo and me, and the whole pre-"Tommy" output always confused me a bit. What was up with the baked beans, giant deodorant, zit cream, leopard skin and general shirtlessness of "The Who Sell Out"?!? As with the Kinks and Stones, this meant that a lot of the early gems went undiscovered for a while. Among them, "MaryAnne with the Shaky Hand". That's Paul B on the keys, RK power-popping it on the drums, Dillo on the bass and me on the Rickenbackers.
JK
"The Only Living Boy in NY": https://www.box.com/s/t65sp35v7r8pp5jvrlih
"Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand": https://www.box.com/s/uvgui0s9yjujd76hkjcq
Monday, April 8, 2013
Hoot '12: Neil Young/ Dream Syndicate covers
Hoot '12: "Don't Cry No Tears" b/w "Still Holding On to You"
This raucous posting from the 2012 Harpswell Hoot is brought to you by The 2-Guitars,-Bass-and-Drums Corporation of America. For that is rock. I'd hoped to have some more pics posted, but missed that boat while in Harpswell over the weekend, so perhaps next time... As it turns out, these were last year's bookends:
The "A" side is courtesy of peak-era Neil Young and Crazy Horse ("Zuma", 1975). It's the kind of song that's perfect for getting sessions rolling (or for anytime at all, really), and it kicked us off at the '12 Hoot. Goes to show how deep Neil's catalog is, or maybe how shallow FM radio is and often was, that a tune this catchy is relegated to being a "deep album cut". Instrument-wise, Paul B played the part of Neil, I got to Gretsch it up as the Poncho Sampedro/ Danny Whitten figure, Dillo thumped it up as Billy Talbot and Roadkill got his Ralph Molina on. He'll deny it, but it's something he does, that Roadkill.
The "B" side comes from L.A.'s Dream Syndicate, from their red-hot "Medicine Show" record (1984). This was a quintessential 80's underground guitar band centered on songwriter and guitar-strangler Steve Wynn (fortunately still carrying the flag with his band The Miracle 3). They leaned heavily on Crazy Horse and the Velvet Underground, spun pretty dark tales and never made a mainstream ripple The tale of the tape is that their recorded legacy of live stuff packs much more of punch than their studio records. Much as I'd like to, maybe can't blame the listening public. Sadly this was a band that even I, particularly when flipping through the LP bins, would now and again mix up with the cruddy Dream Academy (you kept going past Thomas Dolby and Dramarama, and if you got to Dreams So Real, you'd gone too far). On our version, Roady kept the drum throne, the Pauls Bonanos and Cardillo played the guitars and I took up the bass. This was the last song we planned to cut, and we almost gave up on it-- We were losing patience trying to get on the same page as far as the verse-chorus structure and breakdown in the middle, and were ready to send it to the trash heap but, lo and behold, upon listening to the tapes afterwards we realized that it was a pretty damn solid version after all. Happens all the time.
Don't Cry No Tears: https://www.box.com/s/ytlj37c9j8cs6w6gl6nd
Still Holding On to You: https://www.box.com/s/teg0rm2ly4vxj3id1hhg
This raucous posting from the 2012 Harpswell Hoot is brought to you by The 2-Guitars,-Bass-and-Drums Corporation of America. For that is rock. I'd hoped to have some more pics posted, but missed that boat while in Harpswell over the weekend, so perhaps next time... As it turns out, these were last year's bookends:
The "A" side is courtesy of peak-era Neil Young and Crazy Horse ("Zuma", 1975). It's the kind of song that's perfect for getting sessions rolling (or for anytime at all, really), and it kicked us off at the '12 Hoot. Goes to show how deep Neil's catalog is, or maybe how shallow FM radio is and often was, that a tune this catchy is relegated to being a "deep album cut". Instrument-wise, Paul B played the part of Neil, I got to Gretsch it up as the Poncho Sampedro/ Danny Whitten figure, Dillo thumped it up as Billy Talbot and Roadkill got his Ralph Molina on. He'll deny it, but it's something he does, that Roadkill.
The "B" side comes from L.A.'s Dream Syndicate, from their red-hot "Medicine Show" record (1984). This was a quintessential 80's underground guitar band centered on songwriter and guitar-strangler Steve Wynn (fortunately still carrying the flag with his band The Miracle 3). They leaned heavily on Crazy Horse and the Velvet Underground, spun pretty dark tales and never made a mainstream ripple The tale of the tape is that their recorded legacy of live stuff packs much more of punch than their studio records. Much as I'd like to, maybe can't blame the listening public. Sadly this was a band that even I, particularly when flipping through the LP bins, would now and again mix up with the cruddy Dream Academy (you kept going past Thomas Dolby and Dramarama, and if you got to Dreams So Real, you'd gone too far). On our version, Roady kept the drum throne, the Pauls Bonanos and Cardillo played the guitars and I took up the bass. This was the last song we planned to cut, and we almost gave up on it-- We were losing patience trying to get on the same page as far as the verse-chorus structure and breakdown in the middle, and were ready to send it to the trash heap but, lo and behold, upon listening to the tapes afterwards we realized that it was a pretty damn solid version after all. Happens all the time.
Don't Cry No Tears: https://www.box.com/s/ytlj37c9j8cs6w6gl6nd
Still Holding On to You: https://www.box.com/s/teg0rm2ly4vxj3id1hhg
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Hoot '12: Clash/ Brian Eno covers
Hoot '12: "Julie's in the Drug Squad" b/w "King's Lead Hat"
More goods from last year's springtime Harpswell Hoot and beer-slaughterin'!
First one's originally off the Clash's rock-solid second album, "Give 'em Enough Rope" from '78. Second's off Eno's '77 "Before and After Science".
Dillo educated us to the fact that "King's Lead Hat" is an anagram of "Talking Heads", a band that Eno had just gotten to know at the time. You can certainly see the (mutual) influence even in our spastic version. It's a crazy chugging locomotive of a song, nonsensical though it may be.
I'm educating you to the fact that if it's the Clash that somebody's spinning, well, you'd better listen up because the odds tell you that it's probably gonna be goddarned great. Shaddup-a-you-face!
jk
"Julie's in the Drug Squad" (The Clash):
https://www.box.com/s/mz9mxos0kjeu27646zwi
"King's Lead Hat" (Brian Eno):
https://www.box.com/s/vlp2jryl5jcxohs0e4hb
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Hoot '12: NRBQ/ Billy Joel covers
Hoot '12: "Riding in My Car" b/w "Sleeping With the Television On"
Finally, finally, finally! With Harpswell Hootenanny 2013 almost upon us, we get around to sharing the hit rekkids we laid down at Hoot '12! Thems the hooty fellas responsible up there in the picture: Dillo, me, Paulie Bonanos and Mr. Roadkill. Roggie had to sit one out on account of a family addition, but the rest of us soldiered on in the face of all the drinks and fine dining. Looks like we'll be up to full strength by the end of May '12...
But, back to this post's fare... "Riding in My Car" is from one of the great all-purpose pop-rock-roots-bar bands ever: The New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. NRBQ to you n' me. Always loosey-goosey, they could be spastic, wacky, cornball, hangdog or heartbroken, and they were plum loaded with shoulda-been hits from their various incarnations. This one was a perfect little gem from 1977. On our version, Paul B played those clean little leads, I got to layer on some percussion and have fun singing some harmonies, and Dillo and RK breezily loped along in summery fashion.
"Sleeping with the Television On" was a no-brainer for us. It's a rocking Billy Joel deep cut off of 1980's angry, wanna-rock, wanna-punk "Glass Houses". Roger (Long Island) and Paul B (northern NJ) got the full Billy Joel indoctrination as young 'uns; me and Dillo (Westchester) listened to it on the 8-track back in the old Keating homestead; Roadkill soaked it up from afar down Roanoke way. Paulie did the hard work on this version, mostly by teaching us the chords (!), plus playing the Wurlitzer and over-dubbing that great organ solo.
jk
"Riding in My Car" (NRBQ):
https://www.box.com/s/b6lz152bimnuzm66tiwk
"Sleeping with the Television On" (Billy Joel):
https://www.box.com/s/fv9vizen9ry1ku5e04mc
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Holiday Special!: "Streams of Whiskey"
Ah, St. Patrick's Day just about sneaked up on me. It is something that one tries to avoid up here in the Boston metro area, as you might imagine. But I do have a soft spot and came up with a last-minute scheme to record an appropriately themed split single (appropriate for reinforcing stereotypes, that is!). Sadly, time ran out on completing the full package but I was able to squeak out this one session late Monday afternoon, trying to keep the dog collar jingles and (surprisingly loud) cat kibble crunching kept down to a dull roar. You'll have to wait a while for "The Old Black Rum" by Newfoundland's proud sons Great Big Sea...
So, yeah, the Pogues. I really don't play the Irish traditional music, which requires too much speed and precision for us sausage-fingered pickers, but I figured a slightly slowed-down crack at this hell-raiser would be fun. At the same time, it's a hard song to drain the brogue out of but it's worth trying, on account of it's such a a great free-standing song. Plus, I ain't gonna fake no accent 'cause I ain't Irish. Dirty secret: Neither were any of the Pogues except Shane MacGowan, who only barely squeaks by if you rummage carefully through the paperwork.
Fun tip!: You might want to write your Buttsteak representatives and suggest that they take this song up.
As we say in Harpswell: "Sláinte, y'all!!"
JK
Streams of Whiskey: https://www.box.com/s/egqfybpwqukzs41c9smn
So, yeah, the Pogues. I really don't play the Irish traditional music, which requires too much speed and precision for us sausage-fingered pickers, but I figured a slightly slowed-down crack at this hell-raiser would be fun. At the same time, it's a hard song to drain the brogue out of but it's worth trying, on account of it's such a a great free-standing song. Plus, I ain't gonna fake no accent 'cause I ain't Irish. Dirty secret: Neither were any of the Pogues except Shane MacGowan, who only barely squeaks by if you rummage carefully through the paperwork.
Fun tip!: You might want to write your Buttsteak representatives and suggest that they take this song up.
As we say in Harpswell: "Sláinte, y'all!!"
JK
Streams of Whiskey: https://www.box.com/s/egqfybpwqukzs41c9smn
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Dillo/ Buttsteak '11, part 3: Ringo plus Bee Gees plus...
Hey alls- As winter continues to treat us northeasterners to yet another aggressive lion-lamb spiral, here's pretty much the last of the stuff that Dillo and I completed from our N.C. heatwave summer shack-up back in 2011. In the interest of clearing the decks for the next batches of posts (the Harpswell Hootenanny, Stackpole and Roadkill-Buttsteak sessions from 2012), I figured I'd just send these off. I do hope you're enjoying them, and do love to hear back your thoughts on things, so don't be shy!
"Photograph" was a Ringo-George co-write on the "Ringo" album from '73. This particular version stays true both to the original version and the version by our old faves Camper van Beethoven off their late-80s chock-full-of-wonderful EP "Vampire Can Mating Oven".
"Massachusetts" goes even further back for the Brothers Gibb. 1967 to be precise. That's a good ten years before their full swing through R&B and then disco and then all the smooth, horrible, weird stuff that they closed out with.
There are a couple beautiful versions of "By the Time It Gets Dark" by Sandy Denny, she of Fairport Convention and "The Battle of Evermore" and a solo career and the usual substance-fueled self-destruction. You can check the YouTubes for a nice, smooth, Bonnie Raitt-like one, or a spare solo acoustic version, both from around '77, methinks.... The one here toes a hard line to Yo la Tengo's cover version of the song that showed up on their also chock-full-of-wonderful EP "Little Honda" in '98.
jk
Photograph (Ringo Starr- George Harrison):
https://www.box.com/s/zl4zcedwai724jra15lu
Massachusetts (the Bee Gees):
https://www.box.com/s/o2zukjg5k4decgbpwkp4
By the Time It Gets Dark (Sandy Denny):
https://www.box.com/s/222nokiqi9z10nx04ai4
"Photograph" was a Ringo-George co-write on the "Ringo" album from '73. This particular version stays true both to the original version and the version by our old faves Camper van Beethoven off their late-80s chock-full-of-wonderful EP "Vampire Can Mating Oven".
"Massachusetts" goes even further back for the Brothers Gibb. 1967 to be precise. That's a good ten years before their full swing through R&B and then disco and then all the smooth, horrible, weird stuff that they closed out with.
There are a couple beautiful versions of "By the Time It Gets Dark" by Sandy Denny, she of Fairport Convention and "The Battle of Evermore" and a solo career and the usual substance-fueled self-destruction. You can check the YouTubes for a nice, smooth, Bonnie Raitt-like one, or a spare solo acoustic version, both from around '77, methinks.... The one here toes a hard line to Yo la Tengo's cover version of the song that showed up on their also chock-full-of-wonderful EP "Little Honda" in '98.
jk
Photograph (Ringo Starr- George Harrison):
https://www.box.com/s/zl4zcedwai724jra15lu
Massachusetts (the Bee Gees):
https://www.box.com/s/o2zukjg5k4decgbpwkp4
By the Time It Gets Dark (Sandy Denny):
https://www.box.com/s/222nokiqi9z10nx04ai4
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Dillo/ Buttsteak '11, part 2: In which me and the Big Man head back to 1982 or so for some FM radio staples
True, Paul R. Cardillo and I go way back to the Silver Lake Day Camp/ St. Ant'ney's days, but the mind-meld really began with our time at the good ol' Iona Preparatory School. Before we'd managed to acquire a guitar or drumset or a bass, and before we'd finagled Cunningham or Stack or Maff or anybody else into a band, we managed to squeeze in a whole lot of riding the bus to and from New Rochelle, watching TV, eating cold cuts and sitting around playing records. To which end, this little two-fer posting could have just as well included something off of Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman" or the Stones "Tattoo You", The Who's "Face Dances", the Moody Blues "Long Distance Voyager", Blondie's "Parallel Lines", Blue Oyster Cult's "Extraterrestrial Live", the Cars' "Shake It Up", the Police's "Zenyatta Mondatta", or lord knows what. But what you get here is one big fish in particular and one big little fish.
The Kinks' "Give the People What They Want" came out in 1981 and pretty much capped a late-career renaissance for them. Little did we know that the real golden years for the Kinks were back through the late 60's and turn of the 70's (all the discs from "The Kinks Kontroversy" through "Muswell Hillbillies" are required for this course)---- There was too much crap to wade through, as the vinyl bins at the mall and everywhere else were choked with the band's confusing and generally cruddy Arista releases. Lacking all those whippersnapper internets, our launch points for the Kinks were the double-live (huzzah!) "One for the Road" and their follow-up retort to the punks and new-wavers, the studio "GtPWTW" (the former of which still stands up pretty well, and the latter even better). And, seriously, "Better Things" woulda/ shoulda been a hit record whenever it was put out. As with the Stones' "Waiting on a Friend", it is just that good.
The Monroes, on the other hand, never really had a career from which they could manage a renaissance, nor much of a history to talk about. It was pretty much the one hit single from 1982, and then back to obscurity in San Diego or wherever. Oh, but what a single it is! I'd totally forgotten about the song, which was a fairly sizeable national hit, until Dillo linked me to a YouTube vid of an appearance on the Mike Douglas Show. It also is just that good!
jk
Better Things: https://www.box.com/s/0wrathwnltg4pkfxa81u
What Do All the People Know?: https://www.box.com/s/dphf67dipp68no93e0hw
The Kinks' "Give the People What They Want" came out in 1981 and pretty much capped a late-career renaissance for them. Little did we know that the real golden years for the Kinks were back through the late 60's and turn of the 70's (all the discs from "The Kinks Kontroversy" through "Muswell Hillbillies" are required for this course)---- There was too much crap to wade through, as the vinyl bins at the mall and everywhere else were choked with the band's confusing and generally cruddy Arista releases. Lacking all those whippersnapper internets, our launch points for the Kinks were the double-live (huzzah!) "One for the Road" and their follow-up retort to the punks and new-wavers, the studio "GtPWTW" (the former of which still stands up pretty well, and the latter even better). And, seriously, "Better Things" woulda/ shoulda been a hit record whenever it was put out. As with the Stones' "Waiting on a Friend", it is just that good.
The Monroes, on the other hand, never really had a career from which they could manage a renaissance, nor much of a history to talk about. It was pretty much the one hit single from 1982, and then back to obscurity in San Diego or wherever. Oh, but what a single it is! I'd totally forgotten about the song, which was a fairly sizeable national hit, until Dillo linked me to a YouTube vid of an appearance on the Mike Douglas Show. It also is just that good!
jk
Better Things: https://www.box.com/s/0wrathwnltg4pkfxa81u
What Do All the People Know?: https://www.box.com/s/dphf67dipp68no93e0hw
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Dillo/ Buttsteak '11, part 1: In which we cover the Ramones
Catching up on old business now, we're delving into a batch of songs that started back in July of '11 during a visit to the Cardillo-Canada compound down in the woodsy outskirts of Chapel Hill, NC. As fate would have it, this ended up being in the middle of a swampy, mind-melting 105 degree stretch down there, so we weren't going much of anywhere between, say, 10A and 6P. Paulie and I locked ourselves in their tiny spare room with a guitar and a bass and an ample supply of beer and started laying things down.
"Danny Says" is a Ramones classic from their "End of the Century" (1980). Seems as if they were a bit homesick for Queens, being stuck in L.A. during Christmastime, recording with a lunatic and trying (in vain) to break through to mainstream success. As that fine record was a Phil Spector production, I couldn't resist the Hal Blaine tribute on the drums, nor the glockenspiel.
"Chinese Rock", as befits a scuzzy song about scoring heroin, was written either by that bizarre happy/ tragic trainwreck Dee Dee Ramone and/ or NYC punk pioneer Richard Hell and/ or textbook drug casualty and self-destruction icon Johnny Thunders of the Heartbreakers. Needless to say, we tried to put the fun back into narcotic dependence and the dirty downtown NYC of the late '70s. This is not the last you'll hear from Dillo's zany little synth drum box...
JK
Danny Says: https://www.box.com/s/wss9qsnriag3ynkeld0a
Chinese Rock: https://www.box.com/s/a6aem8xlwexzch9sqzdp
"Danny Says" is a Ramones classic from their "End of the Century" (1980). Seems as if they were a bit homesick for Queens, being stuck in L.A. during Christmastime, recording with a lunatic and trying (in vain) to break through to mainstream success. As that fine record was a Phil Spector production, I couldn't resist the Hal Blaine tribute on the drums, nor the glockenspiel.
"Chinese Rock", as befits a scuzzy song about scoring heroin, was written either by that bizarre happy/ tragic trainwreck Dee Dee Ramone and/ or NYC punk pioneer Richard Hell and/ or textbook drug casualty and self-destruction icon Johnny Thunders of the Heartbreakers. Needless to say, we tried to put the fun back into narcotic dependence and the dirty downtown NYC of the late '70s. This is not the last you'll hear from Dillo's zany little synth drum box...
JK
Danny Says: https://www.box.com/s/wss9qsnriag3ynkeld0a
Chinese Rock: https://www.box.com/s/a6aem8xlwexzch9sqzdp
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Band, covered acoustically
Hey folks--
These two covers were a long time in coming and, in all truth, they're a long way from sufficient. As with Neil Young on the last post, what can I say about the Band and the crater-sized impression they left on me? I've ripped SO MUCH off ALL of those guys that I barely know where to start. I guess the only exception maybe is Garth Hudson on the organ, because he inhabits such another universe that I can barely wrap my head around how good he is. But rarely a day passes when I'm not trying to pull off some Band harmonies, or lift something off Robbie Robertson's stinging guitar, Richard Manual's in-the-pocket piano, Rick Danko's thumping and off-kilter bass and, first and foremost, Levon Helm's drums.
Levon. Of them all he was/ is/ will be The Man, for his drumming, singing, occasional mandolin picking and mostly for his genuine Levon-ness. I was sad to hear about Richard's suicide back in my first year at JHU in '86 and Rick's slow-motion self-induced death over ten years ago, but learning of Levon's recurrent illness and then his death last spring was an absolute punch in the gut. I thought it would barely make a wider ripple, but was amazed to hear the outsized response that his loss engendered from all corners of the media, mainstream and other wise. It really renewed my faith in people, this expression of so much gratitude and respect and remembrance and sorrow and joy. So I set my mind on quickly posting a few covers and now, nine months on, here they are. And neither of them primarily sung by Levon. Go figure!
I hesitated to even try recording "It Makes No Difference" on account of just what the song means to me. It's late-era Band (1975), by which time the SoCal rock star life had splintered them and left them often musically scattershot, sterile and flabby. But they could still bring it, both live and in the studio--- in this case the stately progression and the broken narrator accompanied by the instantly recognizable harmonies and what are basically perfect guitar and soprano sax solos. It might be Rick's best vocal performance. I guess some would regard it as saccharine but it always seemed to me that there was really something at stake for the guy in the song. Stops me in my tracks every time. I've included both "full" and "bare bones" versions below.
"Katie's Been Gone" is lighter fare, dating (aside from maybe some overdubs) back to the 1967 Saugerties "Basement Tapes" days of Dylan and the Hawks/ the Band, with a fantastic, lovelorn vocal by Richard Manuel. It tells a great story. The very Band-y half-time/ minor and double-time/ major parts just about tell the tale on their own, with the fancy little bridge section adding a nice something.
jk
It Makes No Difference (full): https://www.box.com/s/wb5afi9hd9vc3fpgy7gq
Katie's Been Gone: https://www.box.com/s/xlsacqxr6e1m5dobny5a
These two covers were a long time in coming and, in all truth, they're a long way from sufficient. As with Neil Young on the last post, what can I say about the Band and the crater-sized impression they left on me? I've ripped SO MUCH off ALL of those guys that I barely know where to start. I guess the only exception maybe is Garth Hudson on the organ, because he inhabits such another universe that I can barely wrap my head around how good he is. But rarely a day passes when I'm not trying to pull off some Band harmonies, or lift something off Robbie Robertson's stinging guitar, Richard Manual's in-the-pocket piano, Rick Danko's thumping and off-kilter bass and, first and foremost, Levon Helm's drums.
Levon. Of them all he was/ is/ will be The Man, for his drumming, singing, occasional mandolin picking and mostly for his genuine Levon-ness. I was sad to hear about Richard's suicide back in my first year at JHU in '86 and Rick's slow-motion self-induced death over ten years ago, but learning of Levon's recurrent illness and then his death last spring was an absolute punch in the gut. I thought it would barely make a wider ripple, but was amazed to hear the outsized response that his loss engendered from all corners of the media, mainstream and other wise. It really renewed my faith in people, this expression of so much gratitude and respect and remembrance and sorrow and joy. So I set my mind on quickly posting a few covers and now, nine months on, here they are. And neither of them primarily sung by Levon. Go figure!
I hesitated to even try recording "It Makes No Difference" on account of just what the song means to me. It's late-era Band (1975), by which time the SoCal rock star life had splintered them and left them often musically scattershot, sterile and flabby. But they could still bring it, both live and in the studio--- in this case the stately progression and the broken narrator accompanied by the instantly recognizable harmonies and what are basically perfect guitar and soprano sax solos. It might be Rick's best vocal performance. I guess some would regard it as saccharine but it always seemed to me that there was really something at stake for the guy in the song. Stops me in my tracks every time. I've included both "full" and "bare bones" versions below.
"Katie's Been Gone" is lighter fare, dating (aside from maybe some overdubs) back to the 1967 Saugerties "Basement Tapes" days of Dylan and the Hawks/ the Band, with a fantastic, lovelorn vocal by Richard Manuel. It tells a great story. The very Band-y half-time/ minor and double-time/ major parts just about tell the tale on their own, with the fancy little bridge section adding a nice something.
jk
It Makes No Difference (full): https://www.box.com/s/wb5afi9hd9vc3fpgy7gq
Katie's Been Gone: https://www.box.com/s/xlsacqxr6e1m5dobny5a
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Neil Young via Stackpole-Keating: "Are You Ready for the County?" b/w "Cortez the Killer"
Here's the last of the Stackpole-Keating summer '11 sessions for you. Just how in the hell has it taken so long for me/ us to get some more Neil up on the site, since "Mr. Soul" last year? Absolutely unbelievable, I tell ya, for that man is IT! Always, always, always on our list, that ornery Neil!
Going way back, "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" were two of the first songs we used to jam out on back in '85 or so, Stack and Dillo and me down in the basement, while my parents presumably closed the door and turned up the volume on the TV, slipped on some ear protectors (as my dad was known to do) or maybe found something to do outside or in town. Anyway, by the time we had Maff and Andy O on board, Neil comprised basically half of our repertoire (and CCR the other): "Cortez...", "Powderfinger", "Hey Hey My My", "Ohio", "Comes a Time", "Like a Hurricane", "Burned", "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere", "Helpless", "Cinnamon Girl", "Southern Man", "The Needle and the Damage Done", "Sugar Mountain", and who knows what else. Jeans? Check. Boots? Check. Flannel? Checked. Ladies sure loved suburban NY classic rock high school cover bands!
Robbie Maff, I hope you're listening!
"Are You Ready for the Country?": https://www.box.com/s/rx1l501xfnf2rvyk9xb2
"Cortez the Killer": https://www.box.com/s/ppcel0e52d8mwahyscc5
Going way back, "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" were two of the first songs we used to jam out on back in '85 or so, Stack and Dillo and me down in the basement, while my parents presumably closed the door and turned up the volume on the TV, slipped on some ear protectors (as my dad was known to do) or maybe found something to do outside or in town. Anyway, by the time we had Maff and Andy O on board, Neil comprised basically half of our repertoire (and CCR the other): "Cortez...", "Powderfinger", "Hey Hey My My", "Ohio", "Comes a Time", "Like a Hurricane", "Burned", "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere", "Helpless", "Cinnamon Girl", "Southern Man", "The Needle and the Damage Done", "Sugar Mountain", and who knows what else. Jeans? Check. Boots? Check. Flannel? Checked. Ladies sure loved suburban NY classic rock high school cover bands!
Robbie Maff, I hope you're listening!
"Are You Ready for the Country?": https://www.box.com/s/rx1l501xfnf2rvyk9xb2
"Cortez the Killer": https://www.box.com/s/ppcel0e52d8mwahyscc5
Sunday, January 6, 2013
It's a Classic Rock Grab-Bag!!: "Spanish Moon"/ "PenthousePauper"/ "Sway"/ "Badge"
Yep. Not much rhyme nor reason here. Just cleaning out the archives and trying to catch up to "real time". The bones of this batch, as with last post's VU songs, were laid down by the Johns (Stackpole and Keating) at the Harpswell Estate in summer '11. The Great Lexington Fire that winter threw everything into utter confusion and these poor suckers have been in the birth canal since then. What you have here are two slightly funky numbers, and two rock classics.
- "Spanish Moon" by Little Feat makes me think of Charlie Sharpless and Jeff Darland, so that's a good start right there. I have trouble writing songs with any sort of real funk/ groove, so it's super fun to let loose on the drums and congas, bass and keys and all that, while letting an actual lead guitarist do his thing.
- "Penthouse Pauper" is a Creedence Clearwater Revival song that should be on their greatest hits package. Done about busted my pipes trying to sing this one, so listen forgivingly.
- "Sway" might be my favorite song off of the Stones' "Sticky Fingers" (On a good day, "Moonlight Mile" can give it a run for the money). The Stones' version is a great example of how they got by on great songs, great grooves, nice production and each player doing their thing, and didn't get bogged down by the details. If you listen closely to those old records, there are indeed some weird notes, flubs and clams, but
- "Badge" by (The) Cream, of course, is an FM staple. But man oh man, deservedly so. And I've discovered that it is one hard-ass song to sing. Sadly, this version's still not complete, even at this late date, on account of the lack of guitar solo, but the train was leaving the station....
Anyways, enjoy. Some Neil covers next time to wrap up this bunch of classic rockers.
JK
Spanish Moon: https://www.box.com/s/apnw21y8tvr5cax9i3z6
Penthouse Pauper: https://www.box.com/s/lqnv9kih92zpuh3a7xbt
Sway: https://www.box.com/s/g66m06dscm113nd7265y
Badge: https://www.box.com/s/3lbf1rvnesswvz6n7aic
- "Spanish Moon" by Little Feat makes me think of Charlie Sharpless and Jeff Darland, so that's a good start right there. I have trouble writing songs with any sort of real funk/ groove, so it's super fun to let loose on the drums and congas, bass and keys and all that, while letting an actual lead guitarist do his thing.
- "Penthouse Pauper" is a Creedence Clearwater Revival song that should be on their greatest hits package. Done about busted my pipes trying to sing this one, so listen forgivingly.
- "Sway" might be my favorite song off of the Stones' "Sticky Fingers" (On a good day, "Moonlight Mile" can give it a run for the money). The Stones' version is a great example of how they got by on great songs, great grooves, nice production and each player doing their thing, and didn't get bogged down by the details. If you listen closely to those old records, there are indeed some weird notes, flubs and clams, but
- "Badge" by (The) Cream, of course, is an FM staple. But man oh man, deservedly so. And I've discovered that it is one hard-ass song to sing. Sadly, this version's still not complete, even at this late date, on account of the lack of guitar solo, but the train was leaving the station....
Anyways, enjoy. Some Neil covers next time to wrap up this bunch of classic rockers.
JK
Spanish Moon: https://www.box.com/s/apnw21y8tvr5cax9i3z6
Penthouse Pauper: https://www.box.com/s/lqnv9kih92zpuh3a7xbt
Sway: https://www.box.com/s/g66m06dscm113nd7265y
Badge: https://www.box.com/s/3lbf1rvnesswvz6n7aic
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