The Boss: AmsterDAM!
As Bruce and his Seeger Sessions Band recharge their batteries for another barnstorming fall tour of Europe, it’s time to revisit a couple of the Boss’s finer moments from the last couple of years.
Courtesy of Jefitoblog, we get ‘Love, Tears, & Mystery’, a compilation of tunes from Bruce’s solo Devils & Dust Tour (every song performed, apparently). The first volume is posted now, and keep an eye on Jeff’s site for the follow-ups. Everybody say “Thank you Jeff.” Thank – you – Jeff! Very good.
So it makes sense that I complement his post with some Seeger Sessions sounds – Amsterdam style. After the Seeger Sessions debut at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 30th, it was time to cross the Atlantic for a few weeks. On May 16th, the traveling troupe hit Amsterdam. I’m very curious to know how the logistics of this tour worked out behind the scenes. Over the course of the European and U.S. Tour, the Seeger Sessions Band consisted of, on average, about 17 people. Seventeen! The amount of coordination and planning involved is staggering to even think about. Planes, buses, hotels, food, equipment, road crew… I know they have this down to a science these days, but to an outsider like me, it’s pretty damn impressive.
Here are the scheduled tour dates for the next European leg, kicking off October 1st in Bologna, Italy, and wrapping up in Belfast on November 21st (right after a 3 night stand in Dublin). Ah, the luck of the Irish!
By the way, if anyone in Bruce’s camp wants to hire a music blogger to document this upcoming European tour, I’m available! Forget ’18 Nights of AOL’, I’ll give the world 2 months of ‘Ickmusic: The Seeger Sessions Tour’! I only ask for a decent wage, luxury accomodations, a bowl of peanut M&M’s refreshed bi-hourly (with the green ones removed), and an ample supply of Guiness stout. Is that too much to ask? Oh, and a 22 year old Swedish nanny for my two girls.
What changes await us? Will the band have some new or replaced members? What other songs will be given that Seeger Sessions twist? How many new Bruce fans will emerge? I can’t count the number of emails I’ve received from people who had never seen Bruce until this tour, and came out having witnessed one of the best musical experiences of their lives. The show is a remarkable and pure American musical journey, and I’m glad to see it’s not over yet.
So enjoy this flashback to May. Part one is coming at you tonight. Stay tuned for part two.
Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Sessions Band
Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
May 16th, 2006Part One
Intro
O Mary Don’t You Weep
John Henry
Johnny 99
Old Dan Tucker
Eyes On The Prize
Jesse James
Cadillac Ranch (w Mystery Train)
Long Black Veil
Erie Canal
My Oklahoma Home
Mrs. McGrathLondon to Lubbock: Joe Ely meets the Clash
Here’s a cool tidbit of Clash trivia. You know that part in “Should I Stay or Should I Go” where you hear Mick Jones yell “Split!”? It was actually an impromptu moment when Joe Strummer and Joe Ely snuck up behind Jones during the recording session, and basically scared the piss out of him. The moment made it on to the final recording.
Their relationship began in 1978, when Joe Ely was playing the Venue Club in London. The Clash were admirers of Ely’s most recent release, 1978’s ‘Honky Tonk Masquerade.’ Ely – a native of Lubbock, Texas – and the Clash met backstage and ended up spending the rest of the three night stand hanging around eachother, crawling the pubs, and gaining quite a mutual respect and admiration for eachother.
Ely opened for the Clash on the 1979 Texas leg of their Pearl Harbor tour. He also headed over to London in 1980 to open for the Clash on their UK London Calling tour, and opened a couple of nights during the Clash’s residency at Bond’s in NYC in 1981.
Well, fast forward to 1983. It’s a week before the US Festival in San Bernardino, CA, and the Clash are in San Antonio to play a warm-up gig before the 150,000 person event. Joe Ely is in the house that night, and joins the band for a version of “Fingernails” (from ‘Honky Tonk Masquerade”). Here’s the last three from that San Antonio night. The US Festival gig a week later would be Mick Jones’ final performance as a member of the Clash. The festival also included a backstage shouting match between Strummer and Van Halen’s David Lee Roth. Strummer was pissed about Van Halen demanding (and receiving) a cool million for the gig. Oh how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall that day.
The Clash, Live at the Majestic Theater, San Antonio, TX
May 22, 1983Fingernails (with Joe Ely) [mp3]
Should I Stay or Should I Go [mp3]
I Fought the Law [mp3]Here’s a cool collaboration that never was to be:
For years, Ely, a hard-charging alt-country Texan who emerged during Jimmy Carter’s reign, and Strummer, founder and lead singer of the politically astute Clash, the greatest punk band that Margaret Thatcher’s Britain ever produced, had promised each other that some day they’d head to Mexico and record an album just for the hell of it…But Ely, who turns 59 today, never got to Mexico with Strummer.
“I went to the funeral and got together with the guys and stayed up all night playing guitar,” he said. “I never believed someone with the vital energy he had would die. That’s a lesson that if you say you’re going to do something, you just do it.”
How cool would that have been? A Strummer/Ely Tex-Mex-World-Punk record? Like an idiot, I just missed Joe Ely at the very intimate Rhythm Room in Phoenix. Next time I’ll go, buy him a beer, and talk about Joe Strummer.
Here’s a couple from Joe Ely’s great live LP, ‘Live at Antone’s‘….
The Road Goes on Forever[mp3]All Just to Get to You[mp3]- Buy Joe Ely music.
- Buy Clash / Joe Strummer music.
- Check out Mick Jones’ latest project, Carbon/Silicon.
- Some information for this post came from these two articles: Lubbock Calling: Joe Ely Remembers the Clash and The regret of Joe Ely
Nino Knows Funky
Well here’s the coolest Prince song I’ve heard in a while, but not from the man himself, but rather an Irish-Italian living in the tiny California town of Friant (in Fresno County, 519 people). Nino Moschella does his own vocals, plays his own instruments, and knows how to get seriously funky. He’s channeling the sounds of Prince, Sly Stone, and Stevie Wonder. I’m just digging into his album now, but find myself stuck on this track here.
Funky beats, layers of Prince-like vocals, cool synths and handclaps. Yeah, this one’s for me. Thank you World Cafe.
Whaddya think, is someone beating Prince at his own game here? Isn’t this the kind of quirky, wildly original and FUNKY song that’s gone missing from the little man’s repertoire of late? Keep it comin’ Nino. If you come to Arizona, I’ll be there.
Nino Moschella:
Are You For Real(mp3) – from the May 2006 Ubiquity Records release, ‘The Fix’. Pick it up on the label’s site, eMusic, or iTunes.Another mp3 download, “Moved On”, is available here on Nino’s site.
Quickies
While I prepare another earth shattering music post, here’s a couple of items to check out…
- Supergroup Golden Smog (members of Wilco, Jayhawks, Soul Asylum) returns Tuesday with another record, ‘Another Fine Day’. The first single is called “5-22-02.” It’s quite enjoyable and you can check it out over at So Much Silence.
- I encourage all alpha males to head over to Iowa Hawk to cast your vote for Miss Hoosegow 2006, your choice for the loveliest of the incarcerated females at the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, Iowa (I agree with the majority of voters thus far).
New Tom Petty: Big Weekend
Well, I’m excited. ‘Highway Companion’, the new Tom Petty solo album – produced by Jeff Lynne, along with Petty and Heatbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell – will be released on July 25th. I’m enjoying the first single, “Saving Grace”, but hearing “Big Weekend”, another track off the album, has really got me fired up.
“Big Weekend” has that Jeff Lynne production signature sound that made ‘Full Moon Fever’ and the Traveling Wilburies albums such great guitar strummin’, carefree and loose records. “Big Weekend” certainly brings me back to ‘Full Moon Fever’, which came out in 1989 (anyone else hear a little “Yer So Bad” in there?). That was the year that my high school sweetheart and I split, and I hit the road on a long road trip with a friend (Graceland, South Carolina, Virginia, Philly, Ohio, back up to the thriving metropolis of Racine, Wisconsin). ‘Full Moon Fever’ accompanied me through both of those very different adventures. I don’t know how many times I sang “and I’ll probably be feelin’ a whole lot better when you’re goooone.” Ah, to be 19 with a broken heart.
I’m thinking that ‘Highway Companion’ is going to play that role in many people’s lives this summer. “Big Weekend” is definitely one of my top candidates for song of the summer. I’ll be jamming it on my 8 hour road trip in a few weeks, where I’ll really find out if ‘Highway Companion’ lives up to its name. I have a feeling it will.
Tom Petty: Big Weekend (Quicktime) | Big Weekend (WMP)
- Pre-order ‘Highway Companion’.
- Check out the video for “Saving Grace” here in Quicktime or WMP
- Check out Tom’s very cool Official Site.
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An Ode to eMusic
Yeah, I figured it’s time for a shameless plug. Hear me out though… eMusic.
eMusic is an online music store that focuses on independent record labels. I had never signed up for one of these subscription music services (Napster, Rhapsody, etc.), but when I found myself paying a buck per song on iTunes or MSN Music a bunch of times per month, I decided to give eMusic a try (especially given their support of the indy labels).
I signed up for the basic plan, $9.95 per month for 40 downloads. I find that to be a pretty sweet deal. If you’re a regular music blog reader, you like to be exposed to new music. The cool thing for me is it’s exposing me to a bunch of new artists. I just recently started running again, so my new favorite thing is to download a bunch of tunes I’ve never heard off of eMusic, load ’em up on my iPod, and hit the treadmill. Now I actually can look forward to my exercise because I know I’ll be checking out new music in the process. Today I listened to the new Raconteours (awesome), old Fugazi (one of those bands that I’ve never really exposed myself to), the Black Keys, and A.F.I. (great for bursts of energy).
Anyways, enough of my sales pitch, but I’m serious, you’ll love it. You can check them out for free and get 25 free downloads in the process. If you don’t like it (and you will like it, trust me), you can cancel and keep the tunes. Yes, I do get a couple of bucks if you sign up, but this will definitely benefit you more than it will me. Try it out…..
Woes is Me
Led by singer, songwriter, and banjoman extraordinaire Osei Essed, the Woes have been a staple of the NYC music scene since they formed in 2002. Described by Essed as “post-apocalyptic traditional music”, the Woes employ a number of unique instruments to lay down their brand of folk / blues: banjo, banjo-mandolin, french horn, accordion, melodica, and Fender Rhodes keyboard, among others.
So the instrumentation alone is a reason to dig their tunes. But it’s Osei’s voice – low, guttural, heartfelt and pure – that really pulls me in. Listen to this song for a taste. It’s available as a free mp3 download on the Woes official site. They have some other songs streaming on their site as well. I recommend “That’s All, Good Night”. You can also check out their MySpace site here. MySpace: for bands, teens, and the Dateline NBC-featured perverts who chase them.
The Woes: The Best is Yet to Come (mp3) – from their latest release, That Coke Oven March (available on their site here).
The Jam in San Fran
Stuart over at A Cultured Left Foot has been kind enough to bestow upon the blogosphere an additional live Jam show, from the Warfield in San Francisco, March 15th, 1980.
The Jam: Live at the Warfield (from A Cultured Left Foot). Stuart knows his football too (soccer to us Yanks), as you’ll see on his blog. A very good read, and another fine WordPress blog.
1980 Jam
Over the last few months, I’ve posted live performances by the likes of the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Style Council. Therefore, I’d be foolish not to explore the live experience of the Jam. Made up of guitarist Paul Weller (who later went on to form the Style Council, and is still a huge solo act in the UK), bassist Bruce Foxton, and drummer Rick Buckler, the Jam rose out of Woking, Surrey, England in the mid-70’s.
They were influenced by the mod culture of the 60’s (the Who, the Small Faces), the punk ‘revolution’ of the mid-70’s (the Clash in particular), and, increasingly, the Motown / soul sound (which would become increasingly apparent on their later albums, and the work of the Style Council). While they are often lumped in with coming out of the same ’76-’77 UK punk revolution as the Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks, and the Damned, they definitely insisted on maintaining their own style and identity, always sharply dressed in mod-style suits and ties.
This show took place on November 30, 1980 in Dortmund, Germany. They had just released their fifth album, ‘Sound Affects’, which Weller likened to a cross between ‘Revolver’-era Beatles and Michael Jackson’s ‘Off the Wall.’ The Beatles influence is apparent in the opening bassline of “Start!”, which is the same bass riff that opens “Taxman.”
The Jam disbanded in 1982, when Weller decided to call it quits to form the Style Council. The other two members apparently still hold some bitterness toward Weller about the break-up. They wrote a Jam biography in the early 90’s which contains some vicious attacks on Weller (has anyone out there read it?).
So here is a 75 minute set from The Jam, at the height of their popularity. Enjoy…
The Jam
“Set The Skies Ablaze”
1980-11-30
Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany01 –
Dreamtime
02 –Thick As Thieves
03 –Boy About Town
04 –Going Underground
05 –Pretty Green
06 –The Man In The Corner Shop
07 –Set The House Ablaze
08 –Private Hell
09 –Liza Radley
10 –Dreams Of Children
11 –The Modern World
12 –Little Boy Soldiers
13 –But I’m Different Now
14 –Start!
15 –Scrape Away
16 –Strange Town
17 –When You’re Young
18 –In The City
19 –To Be Someone
20 –David Watts
21 –The Eton Rifles
22 –Down In The Tube Station At Midnight- The Jam’s All Music bio.
- The Jam on Amazon.
- Paul Weller’s web site.
Stars and Stripes Forever
Happy Independence Day to my country, the United States of America. Granted, these aren’t the best of times politically, environmentally, etc., but she will endure. A step in the right direction would be to insert George W., Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the rest of the Washington bozos into the cargo hold of the space shuttle that launches tomorrow from Cape Canaveral. Drop ’em off at the moon. Thanks.
So allow me to queue up a John Phillip Sousa classic march. Composed by Sousa on Christmas Day, 1896, it soon became Sousa’s magnum opus. 110 years later, the march is just as moving and inspiring as ever. Sousa (1854-1932) was a very interesting man: freemason, trapshooter, horseman, and writer. He wasn’t too excited about the emergence of the phonograph (that’s a record player, young ‘uns) in the early 20th century. He submitted the following to a congressional hearing in 1906:
These talking machines are going to ruin the artistic development of music in this country. When I was a boy…in front of every house in the summer evenings, you would find young people together singing the songs of the day or old songs. Today you hear these infernal machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal cord left. The vocal cord will be eliminated by a process of evolution, as was the tail of man when he came from the ape.
An interesting thought. What would he think of the iPod? The Blackberry? The fact that Paris Hilton has a hit single on the Billboard charts? Speaking of the Billboard Charts, here’s the most recent Billboard Hot 100…
I’m at least familiar with 4 out of the 5 (they lost me at Yung Joc). Nelly Furtado and Shakira at the #1 and 2 spots? Approved! (on aesthetic quality alone).
So back to the 4th of July. Crank up the talking box and get in the spirit!
John Williams & the Boston Pops:
Stars and Stripes Forever(mp3)
