Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, bass player extraordinaire – and best known for his almost 30 year association with Hall & Oates – unexpectedly passed away this past Saturday at the age of 59, apparently from a heart attack.  I had just watched the latest episode of Live from Daryl’s House last week. Daryl, T-Bone and the guys were on the island of Jamaica, jamming with Toots & the Maytalls. There’s a laugh out loud moment when they’re visiting Noel Coward’s estate, and T-Bone sits on an old chair and promptly breaks it.

What occurred to me while watching these episodes of Live from Daryl’s House lately, is that wherever you’d see Daryl Hall throughout his storied career, you didn’t have to look far to see T-Bone right along side him. In a statement earlier today, Daryl likened the loss of T-Bone to “losing my right hand. It’s not if I will go on, but how.” The loss is severe to T-Bone’s family, friends, and many collaborators – but Daryl Hall has truly lost a blood brother. My heart goes out to him.

T-Bone’s list of musical credits is a mile long. You can check out the 3 page list here on AllMusic. The list goes on and on: Carly Simon, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, B.B. King, Paul Carrack, and even Kurtis Blow. Did you know T-Bone played bass on Kurtis’ breakout 1980 hit, “The Breaks“?

T-Bone was always a friendly, familiar face to me. Coming of age in the 80’s, I remember him from those classic Hall & Oates videos, and I remember seeing him every Saturday night, playing bass next to guitarist G.E. Smith in the Saturday Night Live band.

I strongly urge you to watch the latest Jamaica episode of Live from Daryl’s House : http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/index.php?page=ep28. You’ll see a man who lived and breathed music, and you’ll sense his vitality and terrific sense of humor. And you’ll witness the bond between T-Bone and Daryl Hall. A bond that we all took for granted, and will never see the likes of again.

Rest in Peace, T-Bone.

Hall & Oates – “Maneater”

I started Last Train a week or so ago, and let’s just say I am enthralled by this book. Reading about Elvis’s early days recording for Sam Phillips at the Memphis Recording Service, his early tours around the South with the Louisiana Hayride and Hank Snow’s Jamboree – going from virtual unknown to the new “country & western” sensation… and up to where I currently am in the book: being scooped up by Colonel Tom Parker and signing with RCA (who bought out his contract from Sun for $35,000 – the highest price paid for a contract buyout to date).

It’s really a fantastic book, and I want to urge anyone who hasn’t read it to go pick it up (Amazon: Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley)

Many know that Elvis’s first hit with Sun Records was “That’s Alright Mama”. But those early sessions in 1954 started out with Elvis singing “Harbor Lights,” a ballad made popular by Bing Crosby. This is the very first song recorded in Elvis Presley’s very first studio session (with Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass):

—
From Elvis At Sun

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! I’ve donned my Cafe du Monde t-shirt and am ready to cheer on the New Orleans Saints later this afternoon. I’ll be thrilled if they win, but something tells me Peyton and the his Colts are going to come out on top. I hope I’m wrong.

Of course, I’ll be paying close attention to the halftime entertainment, which this year comes in the form of The Who. Original members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are joined by drummer (and Ringo’s son) Zak Starkey and bass player Pino Palladino. The spectacle and scale of Super Bowl Halftime is always interesting – and having some of my musical heroes involved the past few years – Bruce, Prince, Petty – has made it even more surreal. This year, a generation of younger people will collectively say: “Dude! These guys are doing the song from CSI!!”

You won’t be hearing “Eminence Front” today, but I have to say – it’s my favorite Who song. Enjoy yourselves today, don’t drink too much, yada yada yada…

Go Saints!

For those interested in downloading Sunday’s tour finale in Buffalo (where Bruce and the band performed Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ), head on over to super top-notch blog Addicted to Vinyl, where Matt’s got a zip file of goodness for you…

Greetings from Buffalo, NY (Addicted to Vinyl)

If you’re looking for other full album shows, don’t forget my recent posts:

Darkness in Philly (10/22/09, Philadelphia)
Bruce Takes NYC Down To The River (11/08/09, NYC)
Bruce’s Wild & Innocent Night in NYC (11/07/09, NYC)

Looks like we still need Born to Run and Born In The U.S.A., eh?

As bootlegs go, the tour that supported Bruce’s Darkness on the Edge of Town has to be my favorite (followed closely by The River). My favorite show? Without question, it’s July 7th, 1978 at the Roxy – a small club show in L.A. The quality is perfect, the intensity unmatched. In fact, let me play it now…. *click click*   ….. okay, that’s better.

So by popular demand, here’s the recent Darkness show at the Spectrum in Philly. Can you believe we’re down to only two shows left on this tour?? After Friday in Baltimore, and Sunday in Buffalo (with a full performance of Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ), that is it, folks. Sort of depressing, isn’t it?

As for the future of the E Street Band, I’ll quote Little Steven from this Rolling Stone.com article: “…if you ask me if I think we’ll continue I’ll certainly say yes. It’s just a matter of what happens to everybody physically, beginning with Clarence [Clemons] I suppose. He may fantasize about retiring, but with all his ex-wives I doubt it.”

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Philadelphia, PA
October 14th, 2009
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”

Part I

Thundercrack
The Ties That Bind
What Love Can Do
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Intro to Darkness on the Edge of Town
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Something in the Night
Candy’s Room
Racing in the Street
The Promised Land
Factory
Streets of Fire

Part II

Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Sherry Darling
Human Touch
Long Walk Home
The Rising
Born to Run
Ramrod
Detroit Medley
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Flying High (Theme to Rocky)
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

The tour started out in April with a healthy dose of tracks from Working On A Dream. Last night in Detroit, only the title track was played. The tour has morphed into more of a special treat for the fans – including full album performances, sign requests, and even Bruce regularly crowd surfing during “Hungry Heart”.

As I mentioned in last week’s The Wild, The Innocent post, a couple of special nights took place in New York City last weekend. Saturday was a full performance of The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle,  and Sunday was Bruce’s 1980 classic The River.

The River is special to me because it was the album in which I first became aware of Bruce Springsteen. I was only 10 years old, but my older brother Dave became a fan – and he got the chance to go see Bruce when the tour rolled though Minneapolis. “Fade Away” was the first 45 I ever owned. Sides 3 and 4 (“Point Blank” thru “Wreck on the Highway”) have probably had more playtime in my life than any other album (okay, right along with Purple Rain)…  it’s the slow burners like “Point Blank”, “Stolen Car”, “Fade Away”, “Wreck on the Highway”, and of course “Drive All Night” that still resonate so deeply within me. The River is a masterpiece, in my opinion, and last weekend, he played it straight through for an appreciative NYC crowd…

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Madison Square Garden – New York City
November 8, 2009

Part I
Wrecking Ball
Introduction to the River
Ties that Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

Part II
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway

Part III
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Atlantic City
Badlands
Born to Run
Seven Nights to Rock
Sweet Soul Music
No Surrender
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Higher and Higher

My uncle Jamie is a vocational therapist out in Salem, Oregon. A while back, he related to me the concept of risk and how it relates to developmental wellness. If someone is regularly taking emotional, mental, physical and spiritual risks, generally speaking, they are healthier people on a number of levels.

This doesn’t mean necessarily that individuals should go jump off a cliff or rob a bank. It does mean that people should try to stretch themselves out in all four of these areas as frequently as they can. How far one stretches depends on the person. Saying “Red wine and clits go quite well together” to a group of people at a wine tasting is not much of a risk for me but it could be a huge one for someone else. Hell, in Minnesota simply saying “hi” to someone you don’t know is an emotional risk.

Lately, I’ve noticed myself dragging a bit in the risk department. I started running again in the last year and plan on doing a 5K or two in the next month so I guess that’s something in the physical realm. And I’m still  my outspoken and opinionated self in regards to the topics of politics, sex, and religion which, in the land of rock granite rigidity, is a monumental risk on a number of levels. But I ALWAYS do that. I could hear my uncle’s voice in the background…”find something…take a risk.” For my entire life, I have always thought he was the coolest mother fucker (along with my dad of course) since James Dean so I was more than curious when an opportunity to take an emotional, mental, and spiritual risk…a substantially huge one considering who I am…arose.

I was asked to see a band of whom I had never heard.

Many of you may chuckle at this but for my entire life I have always been the one to dig on the cool, new bands first. I’m the one who cheerleads people into loving (insert Brit Rock band here) and goads people into going to shows with me. Invariably, they love the bands I suggest and I feel quite proud of myself. I led them to the Holy Land….

So when my friend Paul asked me to see White Rabbits, I hesitated at first. “Where are they from?” I asked. “Well, they are based out of New York but I think they are originally from Chicago,” he answered. Hmph, I thought all grumbly, not from the UK.

But I thought of my uncle and something inside of me told me to get a ticket and go. It would be an excellent emotional and mental risk to let someone else drive the Magical Mystery Tour bus for a change. And, since I am convinced that I am Holy Knight of Music, a spiritual risk as well. Perhaps Paul was a Holy Knight and I didn’t know it. He does have a good first name after all:)

I decided to be really daring and not even bother to listen seriously to any of their music. I would not buy either of their CDs and go see the show completely cold. I found out it was at a venue to which I had never been: The Cedar Cultural Center, located in the West Bank area of Minneapolis. Ah yes, even more of a risk…an untested venue with potential sound issues. I did find out, though, much to my delight that the band got their start in Columbia, Missouri. My place of birth…cool! So New York by way of Chicago and Columbia…yeah, I could dig it.

I found out that some other friends were going and, at the last minute, asked my friend Wendy to join. Wendy is an unbelievably cool chick (and accomplished artist) who loves all the same music I do. She had heard some of their songs and was keen to go. After spending an hour and half of cocktails and conversation over at the Cafe formerly known as the Riverside, my friends and I went into the CCC.

I was struck immediately by how much the place looked like a junior high school gymnasium. Wendy remarked that was because of the piano. It had that 1950s school gym look.  We had timed it out just right so we arrived just before White Rabbits were about to go on. I have to admit I was nervous. What if they sucked? What if I got bored? Would I be just a total music snob around my friends if I didn’t like them? As the music started, all of my fears were washed away.

To begin with, White Rabbits have two drummers, which can sometimes morph into three or four drummers as other members of the band set their respective instruments down and hit the skins. The primal pounding coursed through my veins. It was magnificent. This was not a granola drum circle barf fest. These fucking guys knew how to hit the skins and were so tight that THEY could be a metronome for a drum machine.

They could also sing. Man, can these guys sing! I have three words for all of you: Four Part Harmony. And that’s with the relentless and cacophonous drumming going on! The blend of their voices reminded me a lot of the Beach Boys. As the set progressed and I watched the lead singer of the Spin Doctors look-alike (who may have been totally naked) make an asshat out of himself doing a pogo dance down in the pit, I realized that my risk had paid off. This band was fucking amazing. And my uncle, as he has mostly been his whole life, was right. Go through the looking glass, Alice, and there you will find…White Rabbits. Take risks and ye shall be rewarded.

Rewarded with hearing the lead singer of White Rabbits, Stephen Patterson, sing the word “know” in the chorus of “Percussion Gun” and sticking it with such a herculean force that I was slayed. And reminded of a James Brown “HA!”  Rewarded with getting to experience a band live whose music I had never heard. Rewarded with a night of hilarity with friends.

But most of all, being rewarded with letting myself go…not being the music know-it-all…not being the leader…not being in control.

And loving every minute of it.

White Rabbits – Percussion Gun (mp3)

White Rabbits Official Site

I know pretty much nothing about The Bravery other than their new album cover above creeps me out.

But any established group who offers up a no-strings-attached mp3 of a brand new song has my support. The NYC-based postpunk alernative group will be releasing their third album, Stir the Blood, on December 1st, and are offering up a new track from the album – a song called “The Spectator”.

The album is co-produced by John Hill (M.I.A., Santogold), and the song itself is included on the Vampire Diaries soundtrack, which comes out Tuesday. What’s happening to those poor birds anyway?

The Bravery – The Spectator (mp3)

Visit: The Bravery’s Official Site

Since I saw the Boss way back in April on just the second stop of the tour here in Phoenix, the tour has rolled on across the continent, over to Europe, and back again. Since he’s been back stateside, fans have been treated to shows where Bruce and the Band play entire albums from his catalog. Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born To Run, Born in the USA…

But for me, the envy factor really kicked in this weekend with the shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Last night, the crowd got Bruce’s second album – 1973’s The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. Tonight, his classic 1980 double album, The River.

The two (well, three) albums are teeming with some of my all-time favorite Boss tunes: “Incident on 57th Street”, “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”, “New York City Serenade”, “The River”, “The Price You Pay”, “Stolen Car”, “Wreck On The Highway”…

In this spoiled & amazing day and age of the internet, it’s possible to sit in the comfort of one’s home and listen to the magic happen – the very next night. That’s exactly what I’m doing right now. And I thought I’d share the joy & magic for those that are interested. Enjoy…

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Madison Square Garden
November 7th, 2009

Part One

Thundercrack
Seeds
Prove It All Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
The E Street Shuffle [mp3]
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) [mp3]
Kitty’s Back [mp3]
Wild Billy’s Circus Story [mp3]

Part Two

Incident on 57th Street [mp3]
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) [mp3]
New York City Serenade [mp3]
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Raise Your Hand
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
Glory Days
Human Touch
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

Part Three

Wrecking Ball
Bobby Jean
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Higher and Higher (w/ Elvis Costello)

Here’s Bruce kicking off “The E Street Shuffle”, baton and all…

We’ve spent all this time building up our digital music libraries, so why not tinker around with them a bit and have some fun? Last week I explored tunes that clocked in at 2:28. This week, I take it to the streets.

The exercise this week is to locate your street songs. I’m not talkin’ lanes, avenues, roads, courts, and the like. Nuh-uh. I’m talkin’ Streets.

What’s more, I’m looking for songs that are simply names of Streets. “Oak Street”, “Main Street”, “This Street”, “That Street”. So that leaves out a lot of quality tunes obviously (“Positively 4th Street”, “Incident on 57th Street”, to name a couple). I’m interested to see what other “Street” gems are out there. So use the Search area of your favorite media player, look for some “___ Street” songs, and drop some into the comments.

Me? I came up with 17 streets. Here are four of my tops…

• Christian St. (mp3) – Marah | An ode to their hometown of Philadelphia, this is on Marah’s 2nd album, Kids in Philly. It’s my favorite Marah album – just bristling with life. I spent the better part of the year 2000 with this record.
• Straylin Street - Pete Droge | From Pete’s ‘94 album, Necktie Second.
• Great Jones Street - Luna | Never owned any other Luna albums other than Bewitched, but this song is a soft stunner. They had me at Great.
• Cherry Street – JJ Cale | From JJ’s latest, Roll On (a concept album about deodorant. Just kidding.).

The Others…

Alphabet Street – Prince
Boogie Street – Leonard Cohen
Dominick St. – Steve Earle
Grafton Street – Nancy Griffith
Grey Street – Dave Matthews Band
Highway One Zero Street – Joe Strummer
Lonely Street – Bap Kennedy
Love Street – World Party
Meadowlake Street – Ryan Adams
Rain Street – The Pogues
Shakedown Street – Grateful Dead
Shouting Street – Joe Strummer
South Street – The Orlons