Super Tuesday: Band of Horses, Stones, ACL lineup
May 18th – a date I’ve have had marked on my calendar most of this year, since learning that…
a) Infinite Arms, the third album by Band of Horses, is released (check out the CD
or the Deluxe Box Set
on Amazon).
b) The remastered edition of the Stones classic Exile on Main Street is released (check out the deluxe version
or thr Super Deluxe Edition
on Amazon).
c) The Austin City Limits Music Festival – which I will be attending for the third time – releases its lineup (check out the ACL Festival site). Pre-announcement rumors are pointing to Phish, the Eagles, Muse, and the Flaming Lips, among others. In fact, USA Today posted this on Monday night.
Keith Urban + “Tumbling Dice” on Fallon
Hats off to Keith Urban for offering up a killer version of “Tumbling Dice” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’s Rolling Stones week. You’ve undoubtedly noticed through some media outlet that the classic 1973 Stones album Exile on Main Street will be reissued this coming Tuesday (May 18th). I’ll be in line for the Deluxe Version.
This week on Jimmy Fallon has been a treat for Stones fans. Monday, Green Day performed “Rip This Joint”. Tuesday was Urban. Wednesday was Sheryl Crow’s version of “All Down the Line” (with Doyle Bramhall, Chuck Leavell and the Roots), which I thought she dulled down a bit. No animation. I mean come on, this is ALL DOWN THE LINE you’re performing Sheryl! Shake it a little…
Tonight, to wrap it up, Phish will take the stage – likely for “Loving Cup”, which they’ve played regularly through the years.
But I really want to highlight this Keith Urban version (also with Chuck Leavell on keys). I’ve only seen Keith here and there on TV, awards shows, etc., and I’ve never been unimpressed. But he just moved up a few notches in my book for taking on this great song – and doing it serious justice.
The Friday Five: August 21, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
Editor’s Note: I’m running short on time this Friday, but the tunes are cranking and getting me through the busy day before heading down to NYC for some Acoustic 80’s (featuring Jason Hare of Popdose). I swear it’s an odd coincidence that each tune this week has a title consisting of two words.
The Rolling Stones “Miss You” (from Forty Licks, 2002)
Green Day – “Brain Stew” (mp3) (from Insomniac, 1995)
Billie Holiday – “Blue Moon” (mp3) (from First Issue: The Great American Song Book, 1994)
Rufus & Chaka Khan – “Sweet Thing” (mp3) (from Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, 1975)
Alexisonfire – “Accept Crime” (from Old Crows / Young Cardinals, 2009)
What has got you moving today?
How Keef Handles the Stage Crashers
Okay, granted that Noel Gallagher had no time to react to the idiot who bum rushed him [01:30 in] on stage a few nights ago in Toronto. But I must recommend to Noel and all performing musicians worldwide that they take preventive action, and watch this video.
Learn from the master. Here’s what happens when you try that business on Keef…
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: August 15, 2008
Ah Friday. The day most of us look forward to beginning at around 9:30 AM on Monday morning. The gateway to the weekend and the only thing standing between you and the release from the daily grind… I think that I can easily say for everyone, Thank God it’s Friday.
Friday also means it’s time for the Five. This week I struggled a bit with the theme as we head into the final stretch of “The Theme Days of Summer”. It hit me that we’ve covered a good bit of ground to date and that one thing we’ve not covered is direction. Furthering upon that thought the “Feng Shui” playlist was born.
Match ANY of the following conditions
NAME contains North
NAME contains East
NAME contains West
NAME contains South
NAME contains Heaven
NAME contains EarthThe playlist populated with 216 tracks, with nearly half of them being Prince related, go figure!
Last week’s Olympic inspired theme saw everyone going for the gold and some bringing home the bronze. Everything from Dylan to Bowie to the Godfather of Soul made appearances (some more than once) to represent their home country and bring back the glory.
For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with some words (and on occasion the song itself) for each track.
Then it’s your turn! You can play along with the themed playlist or just share the first five of your shuffle, either way the fun is in playing musical voyeur for the day.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. The Rolling Stones – Beast of Burden (from Forty Licks)
Yes friends of Ickmusic, this is my favorite Stones tune. Actually it’s tied with “Waiting on a Friend” for the top spot. There’s something about the laid back soul side of Mick and the boys that resonates with me more than some of their more up-tempo numbers.
2. Donna Summer – Heaven Knows (from Gold)
I am surprisingly unashamed of having this disco-era gem pop up. Featuring Joe “Bean” Esposito (who you can find much more than you ever wanted to know about by paying a visit to our friend Jason Hare over at Popdose) this was a Number 2 hit for Miss Summer and was the last of her purely disco hits.
3. Bryan Adams – Heaven (from So Far so Good)
Did anyone else see Bryan Adams on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the other night? It was a far cry from the lackluster performance that he turned in at this year’s American Idol finale. He belted out “Summer of 69′” like it was 1984 all over again. This one brings memories of school dances and Saturday nights with Dr. John Barron on WSPK.
4. The Ohio Players – Heaven Must Be Like This (MP3) (from Skin Tight)
Back to the 70’s for what was likely the soundtrack to many a session of “7 Minutes in Heaven” in 1974. Clocking in at just over 7 minutes it’s hard to picture this track on the same record as the funk tour-de-force of the title track.
5. The Escape Club – Wild, Wild West (from Wild Wild West)
Cliché in just about every respect from the faux reggae breakdown to the super compressed guitar over the electronic drum beat to the innuendo laced lyrics you could not escape this tune in the late 80’s and well into the early 90’s. Released in 1988 the track reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November and lingered on radio playlists for damned near a decade. Oh and the video, how could I forget the video…
Well we started in the East and ended in the West with a whole lot of Heaven in between, what’s bringing balance to your day?
Gimme Shelter DVD, Live Stones 1969
I’ve been a Stones fan for a long time, but it took me until yesterday to sit down and watch Gimme Shelter. What kind of Stones fan am I, then, you say? Good question, I don’t really have an answer. It’s only one of the most important rock documentaries in existence. Shame on me! And thanks Netflix.
Gimme Shelter documents the tail end of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. tour, which wrapped up with a free show at the Altamont Speedway, near San Francisco. The Stones originally were going to hold a last minute surprise show at Golden Gate Park, but when Mick Jagger let it slip during a press conference earlier in the week, the venue needed to be changed, due to overcrowding and logistical concerns.
So on Saturday, December 6th, more than 300,000 eager fans, drugged out crazies, and a boat load of Hell’s Angels descended on Altamont. What transpired is the stuff of legend.
The stage was only about four feet high, so it provided easy access to the throngs of fans. Leading up to the Stones, the lineup included Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby Stills & Nash, and others. The Hell’s Angels – whether asked or not is debatable – ended up providing security around the stage area. The “security” included knocking Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin unconscious and bashing people with pool cues. The Grateful Dead, after arriving for their set, cancelled after hearing about the ugly scene.
During the Stones set, while “Under My Thumb” played, an 18 year old black man in the crowd, Meredith Hunter, pulled a gun. Before anything could happen, Hell’s Angel Alan Passaro pounced with a knife, stabbing Hunter multiple times, stomping him, and killing him. The film captures a lot of the violence and ugliness that day (it was impossible to avoid), and it really gives the viewer a firsthand feel of the tension around the stage area.
Altamont took place only four months after Woodstock, and is considered by many to be the end of the free love / flower power era, or whatever you choose to call it. The film is most notorious for capturing the event, but don’t forget about the music. We get some great live Stones footage from Alatamont as well as an earlier Madison Square Garden gig: “Street Fighting Man”, “Satisfaction”, “Love in Vain”, “Brown Sugar”, “Sympathy for the Devil”, among others. There’s also some studio footage from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Stones fan or not, this is a must see for any music lover. This is an amazing and fascinating document of a legendary band in their prime, and a very unfortunate event in rock and roll history.
So as I tend to do after watching an intense film about one of my favorite bands, I spent today listening to the Stones: Beggars Banquet
(1969) through Tattoo You
(1981) on shuffle. I also tracked down a boot from the same 1969 U.S. tour. It’s called ‘Secret Garden’, and was recorded about a month before Altamont in Oakland. Enjoy!
The Rolling Stones
November 9th, 1969
Oakland, CAJumpin’ Jack Flash
Prodigal Son
You Gotta Move
Carol
Sympathy For The Devil
Stray Cat Blues
Love In Vain
I’m Free
Under My Thumb
Midnight Rambler
Live With Me
Little Queenie
Satisfaction
Street Fighting Man
Honky Tonk Woman- Rolling Stones Official Site
- Click here to listen to songs from their latest, A Bigger Bang
, and be sure to check out the interview where the Charlie, Ronnie, and the Glimmer Twins discuss the recording process of the latest album.
- Here’s a clip from the film (YouTube): the Stones performing “Sympathy for the Devil”. This minute plus clip gives you an idea of how messed up and ugly the scene was.
- BUY: The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter – Criterion Collection
Live Earth Moment: Gimme Shelter
So I spent many a minute yesterday clicking around, checking out the different Live Earth performances around the globe. Kudos to MSN for their webcast coverage. They even made it user friendly for us Mac users (though you did need IE to be able to click around from city to city). One of my favorite moments yesterday was a Keith Urban / Alicia Keys performance of the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” during Keith’s set. Color me impressed, they rocked hard…. (and Alicia, you weren’t lookin’ so bad either).
By the way, did you guys see the Police play “Message in the Bottle” with John Mayer, and – uh – Kanye West? “Uh! Yeah! Uh. Uh. Uh. Yeah.” Um, no.
Harlem Shufflin
I’ve always loved the Stones version of “Harlem Shuffle” (and the video above, particularly the fine female dancing with Mick – rarrrr – feel like I’m 16 again). Silly thing is, I don’t think I had heard another version of it until recently (courtesy again of Sirius). It turned out to be the original version too, performed by Bob & Earl. The twosome, Bob Relf and Earl Nelson, wrote and recorded the song in 1963. It was later performed by the Righteous Brothers, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and of course the Stones on 1986’s Dirty Work.
So check out the original version. It’s interesting to note the similarities between the original and the Stones versions. You’ll notice Mick Jagger borrowed a lot of the same tones, groans, and moans from the Bob & Earl version.
I’ve still a looong way to go with my Booker T. & the M.G.’s education. As one of the tightest rhythm sections you could shake stick at, they were the Stax label’s house band for many years back in the 60’s. This 2003 release took a look at some of their unreleased sessions between 1965 and 1968. One of them is their own take on “Harlem Shuffle”.
Download the album on eMusic or buy the disc on Amazon.
Tattoo You Side 2
I had a nice “terrestrial radio” moment today. Since I signed up for Sirius Satellite Radio almost a year and a half ago, my non-satellite radio moments are pretty much limited to the parking garage at work (because I lose my signal). So it was a nice surprise when I turned on Phoenix station KDKB (tag line: “Everything that Rocks”), just when they fired up side 2 of the Stones’ Tattoo You uninterrupted. It was perfect: “Worried About You” started when I turned on my car; “Tops”, “Heaven”, “Ain’t No Use in Crying” took me all the way to the freeway exit, and “Waiting on a Friend” finished when I was pulling into my neighborhood. Magic I tell you.
This was the album that was out when the Stones entered my consciousness in 1981, thanks to my older brother. It wasn’t until a few years later that I began to unearth the wonder found in the Stones catalog. What a musical discovery: Tattoo You, Exile on Main Street, Sticky Fingers, the two Hot Rocks albums, It’s Only Rock and Roll, Black and Blue, Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, Beggars Banquet. Those albums were my introduction to the Stones.
Hearing side two of Tattoo You reminded me about the timeless quality of their music. People can joke all they want about the sixty something Stones touring today, but the fact is their music is as fresh and relevant as ever.
Side one of Tattoo You gives you the driving rock of “Start Me Up”, “Hang Fire”, and “Little T&A”. But when side two hits, it’s time to mellow out, sit back, and take in some down tempo classics from the Glimmer Twins.
Just like I discovered the music of the Stones in my mid teens, so too will countless teenagers today. Never close yourself off from the great music of the past based solely on today’s stereotypes. There would be no Killers, Strokes, Hives and all the other darlings of today’s music scene without the Rolling Stones.
And as far as the perfect tune to listen to after breaking it off with your sweetie, you don’t get any better than “Waiting on a Friend”… “Dont need a whore / dont need no booze / Dont need a virgin priest / But I need someone I can cry to / I need someone to protect…”. And a Sonny Rollins saxophone solo to boot? Sheesh….
And here’s the Video for “Worried About You”….
Keith Keith in the Coconut Tree
Oh Keith, what are we gonna do with you, man? I guess you’ve been unpleasantly reminded that – as immortal as you have proven to be – you’re no spring chicken any more. You’re 62 years old now. You can still rock out on stage my friend, but you, as a 62 year old man, should probably not be climbing palm trees to loosen the coconuts, and you should probably lay off the jet skis. Sure, 60 is the new 40, but pal, that doesn’t apply to you.
That being said, I’m glad you’re going to be okay. It’s been a rough few weeks. Why not take what you will away from this experience and go back in the studio for another solo album? We haven’t had one from you since 1992 when you released ‘Main Offender‘, a great, raw, rootsy rock & reggae album; much like your 1988 solo debut, ‘Talk is Cheap‘.
I think you need to be cheered up, Keith. Listen to this 1993 show from your ‘Main Offender’ tour. Take it in… get well, and EASY DOES IT!
Keith Richards
Live from the 1993 Tour – “The Vampire Strikes Back”Download ZIP (mp3)
- 999
- Wicked as it Seems
- Eileen
- Yap Yap
- Body Talk
- Hate it when you Leave
- Will But You Won’t
- Demon
- Before They Make me Run
- Happy
- Gimme Shelter
- Time is on my Side
