Ick’s Pick (Week II): Derek Trucks Band
Welcome to week II of my Ick’s Pick series – 52 weeks of hot new album action! My pick for the second “release Tuesday” of the year comes from the Derek Trucks Band. Derek Trucks is the nephew of original Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, so grew up very musically inclined, to say the least. The “Derek” was in tribute to Derek and the Dominos, the blues-rock group put together by Eric Clapton, and whose album included the slide guitar work of Duane Allman. Derek was drawn to the slide guitar at an early age, and by the age of 11 or 12, was playing gigs in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
Derek’s all of 29 years old now, and is already releasing his 7th album with the Derek Trucks Band – Already Free (his first DTB album was released in 1997, when he was 18 years old).
I’ve seen the Allman Brothers a handful of times, and only knew of Derek through his association with the band (he has toured and played in the band over the years). But I’d never taken the time to track down his work with his own band. So in listening to Already Free, there’s an instant familiarity, but at the same time, a sense of wonder at how mature and accomplished Derek and the band sound.
The album features some guests, including another guitar whiz, Doyle Bramhall II (he and Derek have been playing a lot with Clapton the last couple years), and Derek’s wife, blues singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi.
Standout tracks for me include the album opener, a gritty cover of Dylan’s “Down in the Flood”; “Maybe This Time”, which features Bramhall on guitar; “Don’t Miss Me”, one of the many tracks featuring DTB vocalist Mike Mattison, with some great blues riffs and tempo changes; but my favorite out of the gate is “Sweet Inspiration” – a song written by Memphis/Muscle Shoals songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (hear them do it). It’s a raucous and joyful gospel rave up, and it’ll have you dancing around the house. The Hammond B-3 intro sounds straight off the Stax label; and the combination of Mattison and Tedeschi’s harmonies, Derek’s slide guitar, the B3, and the amazing percussion work come together for 4 minutes and 39 seconds of halle-frickin-lujah! Track it down.
Buy: Already Free
Links: DTB Official Site
The Mellowness of the Shug
Like Michael mentioned in his 100 Words post today, when your music library gets too big, the challenge is to figure out what to even listen to. A lot of great artists and songs seem to go underground for a while, and pop up in a shuffle a few months down the road. One that plopped back on to my radar today was Shuggie Otis and his psychedelifunky 1974 album Inspiration Information.
It’s a mellow Monday, so a couple of laid back joints here. “Island Letter” sounds like a cousin of Prince’s “Crazy You”, if you ask me. And I know you did. I heard you.
Shuggie Otis – Island Letter
“Freedom Flight” is thirteen minutes of dream-inducing lite funky jazz and sweet sax & guitar effects. Close your eyes and drift off. But not if you’re at work. NSFW. Definitely NSFW.
Shuggie Otis – Freedom Flight
Check out Inspiration Information.
Year of the Boss, part 1
One more for the mantle And so it begins – the year of the Boss! Bruce picked up a Golden Globe award tonight for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “The Wrestler”. Mickey Rourke looked like he was on cloud nine watching Bruce thank him. That, or he fell off the wagon again. [Congrats also to Mickey for pulling down Best Actor – life imitates art.]
So congrats to the Boss for a great start to a very busy few weeks…
January 11 – Golden Globes
January13 – Greatest Hits released (exclusively at Wal-Mart) – looks funny, but it’s true
January 27 – Bruce’s 16th studio album, Working on a Dream, is released.
February 1 – Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show
April 1 – American Idol ** Untrue. At this point.
The Screen Door Breaks Down the Boss: Speaking of the Boss, Anthony K. is in the midst of an exhaustive album by album “review and reflection” of Bruce’s work, over at his blog The Screen Door. He’s four albums in (Darkness on the Edge of Town), and it’s full steam ahead. So head on over and delve into Bruce’s stuff with Tony, who writes as passionately as any Boss fan I’ve seen.
Ann Powers gets a night with the MPLS Genius
Well, not that kind of night. Ann Powers, a writer at the L.A. Times, just posted a full feature about her night out with Prince. It’s one of the more entertaining and comprehensive articles / interviews I’ve read about the purple man in a while.
Of note:
The website, still under construction, revealed the recognizable logo of a major big-box retailer with whom Prince is finalizing negotiations to distribute the albums. The three will hit the Web and that retailer, the artist said, “as soon as the holidays are over.”
Well? Let’s have ’em! Actually, some of my neighbors still have their Christmas lights up. Are the holidays over?
And also, Prince’s favorite show on the ol’ TV? Real Time with Bill Maher.
- One Night With Prince, by Ann Powers (L.A. Times Pop & Hiss Blog)
- Keep watching Lotusflow3r.com for the albums to drop.
Ick’s Pick (Week I): Glasvegas
One of my resolutions for the new year – other than cutting down on the mass consumption of junk food – is to listen to one new album release every week. That’s where that super clever title up there comes from. The title implies that I need to do this 51 more times this year. And that I’ll use Roman numerals for the entirety. I’m up for the challenge!
My pick for the first album of 2009 is the new self-titled Glasvegas album. You hipper people, especially over in the UK, have probably heard of them. The band is from Glasgow, Scotland, hence the ‘Glasvegas’. The album was released over there last year.
After a few listens, I can report that… this is my favorite album of 2009! Okay, it’s also my only album of 2009! Heh.. Seriously though, this immediately caught on with me. The opener, “Flowers & Football Tops” reeled me right in. Take some sweeping guitar driven melodies, a Phil Spector Wall of Sound vibe, and the heavy Scottish accent of lead singer James Allan, and you’ve got yourself a very enjoyable album.
Other randoms:
- Great Scottish accent moment: “What’s the story morning glory, I feel so low and hopeless.” – from the song “”It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry” – right now, my favorite song on the album.
- I could picture Joey Ramone, another Spector admirer, singing some of these songs.
- James Allan looks like a young Joe Strummer. Especially in the Letterman clip below.
Check out their Letterman performance of “Geraldine” from Monday night.
Buy: Glasvegas
Hometown Tunes: McDowell Mountain Music Festival
As an Arizona resident for the last sixteen years, there are a handful of things I look forward to each year – one is October, when the triple digit heat finally gives up and goes away for eight months or so. Another is Spring Training baseball – AZ is home to the Cactus League, where 14 major league teams come to train. Quickly inching its way up the list is the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, two April days of fun in the sun, great music, cold beer, and tasty food – all in my backyard, up in north Scottsdale at the Westworld grounds. I know it’s four and a half months away, but hey, I get excited, okay?
The festy launched a slick new web site today, with some lineup announcements, including Michael Franti & Spearhead as the Friday headliner. The Saturday headliner is yet to be announced, as are a few other slots on the bill. But so far, McDowell has a handful of national acts booked: Railroad Earth, Hot Tuna, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Assembly of Dust, and Young Dubliners.
The two headliners for Saturday are still pending, so I’m expecting that it’ll be worth the wait (I threw in my 2 cents, recommending Band of Horses). It shares the weekend with the first weekend of New Orleans Jazz Fest, which swallows up scores of talent, but I’ll have faith! So far, this year’s lineup hasn’t knocked my socks off, but I find that I always end up enjoying every set regardless – something about Arizona, April, beer, and music.
If you’re in the southwest, come on down… McDowell is still small enough that you won’t get swallowed up in a crowd, the people are great, it’s very well organized, and you may even bump into me as I stumble out of my rented RV! YoW!
McDowell Mountain Music Festival – 2009 (Web Site)
Friday, April 24th
- Michael Franti & Spearhead (Video: “Say Hey“)
- Hot Tuna
- New Riders of the Purple Sage
- Assembly of Dust (MP3: “Speculator“)
- Delcoa
- TBA
Saturday, April 25th
- TBA (headliner)
- Matisyahu (* just added 1/7/09)
- Railroad Earth (Video: “Elko“)
- Indigenous
- Young Dubliners
- Random Karma
- TBA
Light of the Moon
My main way of staying somewhat in tune with the jam band scene is by listening to Sirius-XM’s Jam_On channel. In rotation these days is this fun tune by Al & the Transamericans. They’re a supergroup of sorts: moe‘s Al Schnier is joined by members of Strangefolk, Okemah, and the Gordon Stone Trio. Okay, well supergroup to some, since I’ve only heard moe’s music.
The tune is a bluegrass / roots tune with a banjo leading the way. A fast paced knee-shaker. The crowning moments for me come during the guitar/banjo solo, where the band’s jam background sneaks in for some nice atmospheric playing.
Al & the Transamericans – Light of the Moon
Buy: This Day & Age
A Nudge in the Right Direction
Happy New Year, folks. I’ll get into the groove of posting some tasty tunes soon, but for now, here’s a few nudges and news nuggets to keep you occupied.
Oh, Twitter. I decided to join up and blast out random music-related musings at any moment’s notice. If you’re on Twitter, and feel like “following” me and my music-obsessed brain, check out my profile here, and let’s connect. I’m keeping it music-centric, so you won’t be hearing from me when I’m “tired” or “working” or “taking a dump”.
On to the nudges…
- Ann Powers, a music writer for the LA Times, was summoned to the Hall of the Mountain King, or in this case, Prince’s pad off Mulholland Drive. Prince shared his plans for ’09, which include 3 albums (‘MPLSOUND’, ‘The Lotus Flower’, and protege Bria Valente’s record). Prince also explains that “Jehovah’s Witnesses haven’t voted for their whole inception.” I did not know that.
- Mr. Malchus from the Popdose crew shares my love for the Los Lobos song “Be Still”. It was even his wedding “song”, along with Bruce’s “Book of Dreams”. Malchus and I – same wavelength…
- Speaking of Lobos, Gregor shares a show from ’84 on Captain’s Dead. Great to see love for the Lobos on the blogs.
- I am not a Zune person, but seems the 30 GB Zunes did not like the leap year, and decided to lock up. Any of you out there experience the Zap of the Zune?
- Last, and definitely not least, former Eurythmics-man Dave Stewart is releasing his own line of diamond-studded vibrators. How about that for extraordinarily random news? Oh, and be careful with that thing, ladies. I know diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but they also cut glass. Easy does it.
The Firecracker Show Turns 30
It was New Year’s Eve 30 years ago when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio. Just after the clock struck midnight, and the band had played “Auld Lang Syne” and “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, some jackass threw a firecracker on stage, coming dangerously close to Bruce. Well, the Boss was not happy, and admonished the dumbass.
Therefore, this close to 3 hour concert came to be known as “The Firecracker Show”, and quickly wove itself into the mythology of classic Boss bootlegs.
Nothing beats Bruce and the band during this era. I could unleash the superlatives till the cows come home, but that would delay you from hearing a classic E Street show – the Boss in his prime.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio
December 31st, 1978Disc 1 (zip)
- Badlands
- Streets Of Fire
- Rendezvous (mp3)
- Spirit In The Night
- Darkness On The Edge Of Town
- Independence Day
- The Promised Land
- Prove It All Night
- Pretty Flamingo
Disc 2 (zip)
- Thunder Road
- Jungleland
- The Ties That Bind
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- The Fever
- Fire
- Candy’s Room
- Because The Night
- Rave On
- Auld Lang Syne
- Good Rockin’ Tonight
Part 3 (zip)
- ‘Firecracker Incident‘ (mp3)
- Point Blank
- Mona / She’s The One (mp3)
- Backstreets
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Eartha Kitt
Purrrrrr I can’t pretend to know a lot about Eartha Kitt other than through her stint as Catwoman and her rendition of “Santa Baby” (eat your heart out, Madonna). It’s simply that this 1957 magazine cover took my breath away. Absolutely stunning.
This song goes quite well with it.
Rest in Peace, Eartha,
Singer, actress Eartha Kitt dies at 81 (CNN)
