Odds and Ends
N’Awlins: Check out these amazing photos from the just wrapped-up Jazz Fest in New Orleans, which I plan to attend next year for the very first time. Who’s in? Hidden Track has the hot pics here. Photos courtesy of Danfun. Great fargin’ photos, Dan!
This is what it’s like in the Dream Factory: For some old school Prince goodness, head over to Gonzo’s place for a trip to The Dream Factory.
Ain’t that a bitch: Need more of a Prince fix? Head over to Horse Latitudes for a cool remix of “Bob George”.
Jefitoblog’s Latest Bootleg City: Jefito’s keepin’ it real with some classic ’77 Van Halen. The real Van Halen!
Save Internet Radio: New Orleans musicians unite to keep internet radio alive.
Charlie Rose Interviews Online: Over 4,000 hours of quality Charlie Rose interviews are archived in video format online, including this hour long interview with the Boss.
A Tasty Prince Aftershow at 3121 Jazz Cuisine
Fresh news out of the purple camp today, as Prince announced at a press conference that he will be setting up shop in London later this summer for 21 dates. These are the announced gigs, he’s also hinted at a healthy smattering of his infamous club aftershows. All I have to say about this is… BUGGER! BUGGER ! BUGGER! You Brits are in for something special.He also said he’d be mixing up the set list nightly, and even inviting Amy Winehouse out to perform with him. Apparently, he’s quite taken by the sexy soulful sot (as am I). After these dates, he’s taking some time off to study the good book. Doesn’t he know that the third commandment is “Thou Shalt Go On Tour for Pete’s Sake(th)??”
So speaking of aftershows, the first glimpse into one of the 3121 Jazz Cuisine aftershows has surfaced. Prince and his band usually hit the main stage at his 3121 club around midnight and play a 90 minute set or so. Not long after that, the band will occasionaly set up inside 3121 Jazz Cuisine, which is Prince’s own fancy shmancy restaurant. It’s an intimate affair (so I’ve heard), and only a lucky few are allowed in (for a fee). There’s also an adjoining room where people can look into the main room from afar (for a fee too – the man knows how to make money). Maybe someone who has attended can offer some insight into the experience.
This was Prince’s first night back at the Rio after his Super Bowl performance, so he was undoubtedly riding a high. His hits were covered during the main set earlier in the evening. As his aftershows tend to be, especially his recent ones, plenty of cover tunes are played, and the spotlight is handed over to others. In this case, Shelby and Sheila E. feature prominently, but the man gets his licks in too.
Check out the unbelievably sick groove they lay down with Billy Cobham’s “Stratus”. He also plays “Wasted Kisses”, a rarely played tune off his less than popular 1998 album, ‘New Power Soul‘. And you get your old school soul & funk, as they pull out the Rufus, Wild Cherry, Sly, and the Ohio Players. And a Coltrane cover to boot? *sigh* Enjoy, Europe.
Bugger.
- Prince’s Official Site.
- Buy: 3121
Local IckMusic: What Laura Says Thinks and Feels
As a married pops of two living in the sticks outside of Phoenix, my days of spending five out of every seven nights bar-hopping and band-watching have come to an end. So my knowledge of the local music scene is pretty much limited to the local press and the occasional night out.
Today, a columnist for the Phoenix New Times posted about a cool local band on his blog. The title of his piece is ‘Annals of Bad Band Names’, and he has a valid point in this case: the band’s name is What Laura Says Thinks and Feels. They may have a good story behind the name, so I won’t judge. And after hearing these tunes, I was willing to overlook the silly name, because this stuff is infectious… a retro feel but completely unique at the same time. Folky, trippy, Brit-poppy, Brian Wilson-y.
Add your -y’s in the comments.
What Laura Says Thinks and Feels – Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried (mp3)
The New Times post has another tune you can listen to.
Their MySpace has three other tunes, including a nice soft one called “Dot Dot Dot” (reminds me of Kings of Convenience). And of course it’s excellent karma to support an unsigned band, so go to their CD Baby page and pick up their album. Or get it on iTunes. After listening to these songs, I think a lot of you will.
Sunday Mini-Ick-Mix-Ness
A trip through a variety of tunes today…
To commemorate Paris Hilton’s first trip to the slammer, we start off with …Steve Earle and the V-Roys – InThe Jailhouse Now – from Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute
One of those songs that is perpetually in my head. “Sunday night and it’s half past nine…”
Bruce Cockburn – Northern Lights – from Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws
Heard this on the radio a few days ago for the first time in years. Excellent tune, great lyrics… it’s Cracker…
Cracker – Euro-Trash Girl- from Greatest Hits Redux
Upon hearing this song for the first time, my three year old daughter proclaimed: “This song scares me daddy”. Daddy turned it off. Another Italian film soundtrack that I heard on David Johansen’s Mansion of Fun.
Franco Ferrara & Goffredo Petrassi – Per Cercare Consolazione – from Cronaca Familiare (Score)
An old school joint from Masta Ace…
Masta Ace – Born to Roll- from Sittin’ on Chrome
Citizen Cope – Sideways (mp3) – from The Clarence Greenwood Recordings
My Singing Soul – Soel
Soel is Pascal Ohse, a Paris born and bred trumpeter and composer who’s a member of popular European group St. Germain. Memento is his first solo effort, where he pays homage to the American R&B, classic soul and jazz that he digs so immensely. What he have in this tune is a very obvious tribute to the Barry Whites and Isaac Hayeses of the world. Soel, you rascal! I kove it!
You can preview all the tracks on his official Warner Bros. site.
Buy Memento.
Beasties News and a Cool New Site
Couple of cool items…
The Mix Up: The new Beastie Boys album, The Mix Up, should be available to the masses in June, according to a recent interview between Mike D. and NME.com. The album is said to harken back to the sound of Paul’s Boutique (1989) and Check Your Head (1992), which I find to be great news (“B-Boy Bouillabaisse”, anyone?). Could be that I’m just nostalgic for that era in hip-hop, being an increasingly alienated older fart, who knows…
I love cool song names, and this track listing has ’em…
Be For My Name
14th St. Break
Suco De Tangerina
The Gala Event
Electric Worm
Freaky Hijiki
Off The Grid
The Rat Cage
The Melee
Dramastically Different
The Cousin Of Death
The Kangaroo RatUpdate: and then Stereogum comes out with this, completely contradicting the article above…
“This time out the trio are sticking solely to their instruments”
“Mike D told P4K that it’ll be nothing like The In Sounds From Way Out!, instead drawing on the likes of PiL, the Killing Joke, the Slits, and Gang Of Four for inspiration.”
Critical Metrics: A reader buddy of mine sent along a cool article from the Wall Street Journal profiling Critical Metrics, a brand new music aggregator site that ranks songs based on recent reviews in magazines, web sites, and yes, blogs. It’s sort of similar to Elbo and the Hype Machine, but a different look and feel. Quite cool. Go take a look. We’ll see how long it takes for Ickmusic to be added to their “Recommendation Sources” section.
Simple Twist of Fate, Jerry-Style
Regardless of your general palate for the Grateful Dead, it’s pretty hard to listen to this version of the Bob Dylan-penned “Simple Twist of Fate” and not be moved. Whether it’s Garcia’s pleading and perfect vocal, or his crisp and cascading guitar solos, this performance is simply gorgeous.
The Jerry Garcia Band was Jerry’s opportunity to let loose and play some of his favorite music outside of the Dead “scene”, from Dylan to Motown to gospel. And in my opinion, it got no better than this…
Jerry Garcia Band – Simple Twist of Fate
On the Sly – an Ickmusic Giveaway
Photo credit: SBMG Archives“Black, white, Puerto Rican everybody just a freakin,’ good times were rollin…” – Prince “Uptown”
Prince sang these lyrics on his 1980 album, ‘Dirty Mind.’ He practiced what he preached with his backing band from the very beginning. Surrounding himself with black folks, white folks, male, female. But it was nothing new. More than a dozen years earlier in San Francisco, Sylvester Stewart, aka Sly Stone, had assembled a band of much the same makeup. In 1967, Sly put together the now legendary Family Stone: Fred Stewart (guitar, vocals), Larry Graham, Jr. (bass, vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone), and Rosie Stone (piano), and Cynthia Robinson (trumpet).
Their mixture of funky, psychedelic, rock & soul shook up the Bay Area, at a time when bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead were doing some serious mind blowing of their own. Oh, to be a young person living in Haight-Ashbury in the late 60’s. Loord have mercy… Kaboom! goes the brain.
Sly and the Family Stone were signed to CBS’s Epic Records in 1967 by one Clive Davis. Between ’67 and ’74, they released seven groundbreaking albums which would go on to influence countless numbers of performers down the road, including our boy Prince. In fact, if you think about it, what band has been more influential overall on Prince? Larry Graham, after all, is the reason Prince won’t curse anymore, and the reason he changed “Sexuality” to “Spirituality”. Yep, Larry’s the one that turned Prince on to life as a Jehovah’s Witness. No birthday for you!
So Sly’s breakthrough album was 1969’s ‘Stand’, which included such funkalicious staples as “I Wanna Take You Higher”, “Sing a Simple Song”, and “Everyday People.” As the idealism and flower power of the 60’s ended, Sly pretty much lost himself in addictions to drugs, particularly cocaine and PCP. The man reportedly used to carry around a violin case full of drugs everywhere he went.
Sly pretty much dropped off the map as the seventies came to a close, and has struggled with addiction ever since. He popped up to help The Time’s Jesse Johnson on Jesse’s second album, ‘Shockadelica’, singing on “Crazay” in 1986. Since then, he was pretty quiet until 2006’s Grammy Awards, when he popped up on stage looking about 10 different types of cuckoo. I think he’s stil making an effort to clean up and get back on stage. I think I heard he showed up at a Vegas gig recently? There’s a great place to kick your addicitions…
So all seven of these albums (listed below) were reissued by Epic/Legacy in early April. I got my hands on ‘Stand!’, and for some reason, I’m going to give it away to one of you fine folks. This reissue has five bonus tracks: three mono singles and two previously unreleased bonus tracks.
The winner will be selected from the comments using a secret, proprietary formula. Or by having my one year old point to the screen. Or whichever one thoroughly entertains me. Or… you get the idea. No rhyme or reason really. Good luck! And check out some of these tracks and reissues.
Sly & the Family Stone Streamage – comin’ at ya in Real format! Keepin’ it real! Kaboom!
Everyday People (single version)
Stand! Track List
(Epic/Legacy 82876 75912 2, originally issued April 1969, as Epic 26456)
1. Stand! (3rd single, R&B #14, Hot 100 #22) • 2. Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey • 3. I Want To Take You Higher (4th single, R&B #24, Hot 100 #60/1969, Hot 100 #38/1970) • 4. Somebody’s Watching You • 5. Sing A Simple Song (2nd single, R&B 28, Hot 100 #89) • 6. Everyday People (1st single, Hot 100 #1, R&B #1) • 7. Sex Machine • 8. You Can Make It If You Try • Bonus tracks: 9. Stand! (single version, mono) • 10. I Want To Take You Higher (single version, mono) • 11. You Can Make It If You Try (unissued/cancelled single version, mono) • 12. Soul Clappin’ II (previously unreleased) • 13. My Brain (Zig-Zag) (instrumental track, previously unreleased). Produced by Sly Stone.
Note: All tracks recorded 1969, except: tracks 5, 8, 11 recorded 1968.
Buy it:
Sly & the Family Stone’s Official Site
The Reissues:
• A WHOLE NEW THING (1967)
• DANCE TO THE MUSIC (1968)
• LIFE (1968)
• STAND! (1969)
• THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON (1971)
• FRESH (1973)
• SMALL TALK (1974)Aaron Neville at the 2007 McDowell Mountain Music Festival
It was a loooong, satisfying day yesterday at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. My wife and I rolled up at about 1:30, right when the music kicked off. We made it until about 9:30, partly into Ratdog’s set. Unfortunately, Mr. Migraine decided to make an appearance and made my wife’s later evening an unpleasant one.
But the whole day can be be summed up in five simple words: Tell It Like It Is. Yep, the highlight for me was seeing Mr. Aaron Neville sing his 1966 classic. It was one of the most exhilarating and special live music moments of my entire life. I stood at the front of the stage and took it all in. And my Canon SD630 was there too to capture most of the song. I had it bumped down to low resolution, so the video and audio quality isn’t great, but this is what I got to experience.
At the end of the song, you’ll hear some yahoo scream “Yeeahh! – – baby!! – – I LOVE it!!”. Uh, yeah, that was me.
Rita Moreno and Animal: Fever
Since I introduced my daughter to the Mahna Mahna video, we’ve been on a YouTube / Muppet Show frenzy ’round here. She’s particularly fond of Animal. I warn you, if you’re in your 30’s and up, and you were a Muppet Show watcher back in the day, prepare to be sucked in for several minutes on end.
Here’s a funny one with Rita Moreno…
